Original Correspondence.

the Professor star "' utmost alone , for how much soever th ^ c wdio have , made the history ofthe Hebrew race the object of study may differ as to the destiny of the ten tribes , after they were carried into captivity , there are very few who hold that they were extinguished , either in

absorption by the people amongst whom they were placed b y the Assyrian kings , or in amalgamation with the tribes of Judah antl Benjamin ; or partly by the one and partly by the other . On the contraryg they have been sought for , and found everywhere . As the Professor himself says , " the lost tribes have been found a hundred times

by a hundred different travellers , and in a hundred different localities . Elaborate articles have been published to shew that they are identical with the people of Malabar , with the Mashmeerees , with the Ali ghans , with the Kards , with the Anglo-Saxons , and wdth the Red

Indians ; " and quoting on with , he adds , " There is scarcely any human race so abject , forlorn , and dwindling , located anywhere between the Chinese antl the American Indians , wdio have not been stated to be the Ten Tribes , which disappear

from history , during and after the Babylonian captivity . That a man should stand alone is nothing to his disparagement ; it may bc much to his honour . But then he must be ableto show

good reason for it . Pie must show that all , or nearly all , wdio have given attention to the subject on which he is at variance with them , are wrong—that they read the " lessons of history " inaccurately—and that many as there may be of them , and painstaking and capable of forming a sound judgment , as they may seem to be ; they

have spent their strength for nought , and occup ied their time in " idle and unprofitable exercitations , " spinning "arguments of the most flimsy and unprofitable kind , " which are , in " a short time , forgotten , " not " having been adopted by any writer of any ( or even of no ) reputation . " Professor Rawlinson has done nothinsr of

this ; bnt he expects us to accept his peremptory decisions as decisive of the question ; or , when he condescends to argue , or to produce wdiat he deems proofs , he builds upon false premises , or draws false conclusions . But , indeed , any such attempt as this of Professor Rawlinson to answer the question , " Where are the Ten Tribes ? " must fail . It demands a careful and

patient investigation . It must be shown that we misinterpret scores of prophecies and promises which seem to be so plain and explicit as to be almost incapable of misinterpretation , aud that we imagine obvious correspondences between those prophecies and promises , antl

numerous facts in history , where no such correspondences exist . It must be shown , for example , that the Get .-e found , wdiere they had been traced to , from the place of Israel ' s captivity , in the neighbourhood of the Caspian and Euxine , subsequently known as the Goths , wdio overran the

Roman Empire , planted themselves in the chief countries of Europe—branches of whom , as Saxons , Angles , and Jutes , occupied these islands , and are now colonising , civilising , and evangelising the world , do not present very striking evidences in their history , of being the

direct descendants of representatives of that people whose punishment , mission , achievnients , and position amongst the nations of the world , occupy so prominent a place in the role of prophecy , as Israel or Ephraim , wdio , thought to be scattered were to be gathered , —were to be saved

" from afar off ; " and from " the land of captivity , "—were to " build vast cities and inhabit them , " were to plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof , were to be " sifted among all nations , like as corn is sifted in a sieve , yet without the least grain falling upon

the earth , were to obtain possession of " the islands in the midst of the sea , " were to possess " the blessings of the heavens from above , the blessings l ying in the deep beneath , with the blessings of the eternal mountains , with the innermost bonds of the . everlasting hills ; " so

extending their habitations b y conquest and colonization as to encompass the earth , giving birth to powerful nations , and " filling the face of the _ earth with the fruit of righteousness , as the missionaries of good tidings in almost every island of the ocean , as elsewhere ; so that the uttermost parts of the earth have heard songs

Original Correspondence.

even glory to the righteous , " the land being " g lorified in the valleys ; even the name of the Lord Gotl of Israel in the isles of the sea . " When any fair attempt may be made to show this , those wdio believe that they trace " our

orig in" to stock of Israel must pause , and review the ground they have taken up . But towards this Professor Rawlinson ' s contribution is nil . Yours fraternally , AVILLIAM CARPENTER .

Bro. Eara Holmes And The Good Templars.

BRO . EARA HOLMES AND THE GOOD TEMPLARS .

To the Editor of the Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , — My good friend , Bro . K . T ., finds fault with me in your last issue , for speaking as I have done , in my lecture on the Order of the Temple , of the Good Templars . Alay I be

allowed to say that I felt bound to speak as I did , not because I am an enemy to the Total Abstainers , but because I object , as many more object to them , when they assume titles to which they r can have no possible claim , and so bring into contempt a time-honoured name .

When the Temperance folk organised Bands of Hope , we , as Alasons , could make no objection . When they called themselves the " Ancient Order of Rechabites , " or some such name , we mig ht smile , perhaps , at the oddness of the title ; but there was a significance in it , which those

who knew wdio the Rechabites were , admitted , and acknowledged the name was a good one , antl suitable to those wdio professed their principles . But when " K . T . " says the Good Templars have as good a claim to . their title as the Knights Templar , I join issue with him at once , and

challenge the proof of his statement . Admitting , for the sake of argument , that the Knights Templar possess no proofs of their descent from the Red Cross Knights , wdio were persecuted by Clement V . ; admitting that they

claim only to be Knights , by adoption , as some of our Scotch brethren teach ; still , I suppose , " K . T . " wull allow that we have records of our existence for the past hundred years . Can the Good Templars claim so great an age as this , or even a fifth of it ?

It is unpleasant to see a statement in the newspapers to the effect that the Prince of Wales was installed as Commander of the Good Templars in the Faith and Fidelity Encampment , and with all due respect to the Tetotallers , I would say—leave our names and titles alone .

What had the Templais to do with total abstinence—I mean lrom intoxicating drinks ?—A total abstinence of another sort they shared with other monastic orders ; but why a new crusade should be preached against drink by respectable mechanics , in gaudy crimson collars ,

wdio dub themselves Worthy Chief Templars , and Sister Right and Left Supporters , whatever that may be , I am at a loss to know ? Those who know me best wall not , I think , accuse me of favouring the publicans . I have refused to join a lodge before now , because it

was held at a public house , antl have always warmly advocated the meeting of masonic bodies in their own halls . At the same time I must protest against the Teatotallers calling themselves Good Templars , as strongly ns I should if they took it into their heads to call themselves Good Alasons .

Fraternally yours , EMRA HOLMES , A Knight Templar , And I hope a Good Templar , too .

MASONS AT PUBLIC MEETINGS . Tu tlie Editor of the Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , —¦ I observe b y thc Suffolk Chronicle of last week , that a series of lectures have been given in Ipswich lately , against the Roman Catholic Church .

At the last of these lectures it was stated that the Rev . C . Woodward , Chaplain to the Alasonic Institution , offered up prayers , and then the lecturer , a Mr . Owens , proceeded to say all that was unpleasant and priuriently suggestive about convents and nunneries . Now , Sir , I am not a Roman Catholic , and I certainly am not a

Bro. Eara Holmes And The Good Templars.

particular friend of the Catholic reli gion , but I strongly object to brethren bawling their Masonic ware at political or religious meetings . The Rev . C . Wootlward ( who I believe to be a thoroughly amiable man in private life ) is quite

at liberty to preside , if he likes , at anti-papal or Orange meetings , if he pleases ; bnt I deny that he has any right to do so in his Masonic capacity . What has Masonry to do with rabid Protestantism , and men who preach down Ritualism

as if it w ere of a Satanic origin ? Why , as a writer in the Shipping Gazette once said , when speaking of the Dedication of the Masonic Temple in London , — Masonry is full of Ritualism . Besides we are liberal , or profess to be , and as Masons , all religions founded on

morality , and especially all Christian forms of religion should be treated with respect . Alasonry should not be in antagonism to religion , nor should it be allowed to interfere with it , any more than with politics . Yours fraternally , VECTIS .

To the Editor ofthe Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , — I have seen with regret in the Suffolk Chronicle of Tuesday the 13 th inst ., an account of a meeting here got up against the Roman

Catholics , when an itinerant lecturer abused the monastic systems . The proceedings were opened with prayer by the Rev . C . Woodward , described in the paper as Chaplain to the Masonic Institution for BOYS . If the Rev . C .

Woodward , in his private capacity , or any other clergyman , thinks fit to attend a meeting got up antagonistic to their fellow Christians , I have no objection ; but I must protest against Alasonry and Alasonic Institutions being drafted into the

quarrel . Fremasonry has an equal respect fot all reli gions whicli acknowledge a Supreme Deity . Yours fraternally , A PAST MASTER . Ipswich , 19 th , Aug . 1872 .

THE BALLOT FOR W . AIASTER

To the Editor of the Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , — I do not think that there is much difficult ) ' in answering the query , in yonr last number , of ouf worthy brother , W . Date . He

must either be a very young Alason , or not have attended much to Lodge business for some years , or he wonld not have suggested as an amendment on the present system , a method of procedure , wdiose only merit appears to be that

it is certain to entail the greatest amount of hopeless confusion , and give the greatest amount of trouble to the officers of the lodge , which it is in truth possible to conceive . The usage of the Craft has long been to elect

the W . AL and those other officers whose annual election is imperative , by scroll , and not by the pure ballot . I cannot conceive a more simple , fair , or convenient system in itself , it has all the sanction

of iccognized law by custom and use , and any change would act most detrimentally to the interest of the Craft , and the convenience and comfort of the lodges themselves . Sir and Brother , I am , A MAS - OVIC STUDENT .

To the Editor of the Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , — I am glad Bro . William Date has directed our attention to the above subject , as there appears to be in many quarters great laxity

and irregularity respecting the election of a W . M . We should know nothing of wdiat he terms " opposing candidates , " for there never should be any necessity to justify to the use of of such a description in a Alasonic Lodge . All

Past Masters of the lodge , as also all Past Wardens , in addition to the present W . AL and Wardens , are elig ible for election to the firs chair , and it is their decided right to be considered as candidates for that office without any

seeking on their part . The method of proposing a W . AL , say in November , and electing in December , is open to objection , because then those not proposed would be considered ineligible for election in December ; whereas they would be quite as eligible as those pro-