Ancient And Accected Rite.

Ancient and Accected Rite .

METROPOLITAN . MOUNT CALVARY ROSE CROIX CHAPTER . — On Saturday , July 1 , 3 th , 1872 , the members of the Alount Calvary Rose Croix Chapter , held their annual meeting at the Masonic Hall , 33 , Golden Square , when Bro . William Dewar was admitted into the order , by his brother Donald

Dewar , who presided and conducted the ceremony . Bro . Donald Dewar then requested Bro . Hyde Pullen to assume the chair of the Chapter in order to install the M . W . S . Elect , Bro . F . Binckes , AVIIO having been duly presented , undertook the duties of the chapter , and was regular ly

installed in ancient form and saluted accordingly . The AI . W . S . then appointed his officers , and the ceremony being completed , the chapter was closed in regular form . Among the Brethren who attended , were III . Bro . Capt . N . G . Phillips , , 33 ° , 0

Lt . G . Com . S . C ; 111 . Bro . Hy de Pullen . 33 : Bro . Binckes , 30 ; Bro . D . M . Dewar , 18 ; Bro . E . Kimber , 18 ° ; Bro . W . Roebuck , , 30 ° ; Bro . f . Stohwasser , 18 ; Bro . J . Read , . 3 d ; Bro . W . Dewar , 18 ° ; and others .

The Annual Festival of this Chapter was held on the following Monday , on which occasion the brethren were accompanied by their wives and daughters , and a most agreeable and delightful afternoon was spent in the beautiful grounds of

Hampton Court Palace , and afterwards , at the festive board . This arrangement might very properly be imitated by other chapters and lodges . The party separated , with mutual congratulations and expressions of pleasure and satisfaction .

GIBRALTAR . EuRor . v . CHATTER ROSE CROIX . — Notwithstanding the tropical heat which has environed the Rock for the last fortnight , the energetic AI . W . S . convened a meeting of the Princes of the Chapter on the sth of July , for

the , ' purpose of admitting to the mysteries of the A . A . R . Bro . Alatthews , Colonel in the American Army and Minister for the American Government at the Court of Alorocco ; and Bro . Richard Hopper of Gibraltar . Although since the last

communication many changes have taken place in this garrison and several very illustrious brethren have left this station with their regiments , it afforded us very great pleasure to seeso numerous a gatherinsr of the members

assembled to support the AI . W . S . Amongst those present , we noticed P . M . W . S . Price , III . Bros . Cornwell , Danle / .-Trenery , Marin , Weir , Wortniann , Wall , Haynes , Alorgan , Relle , Thornton , and others . Jl ' l . Bro . P . M . W . S . Alton , at an early period of the evening had personally come

to explain to the AI . W . S . that important public engagements precluded his entering the Council Chamber . 111 . Bro . AIc'Lotighlin , of the Royal Naval Chapter , was present as a visitor . The ceremony of exaltation was conducted by the M . W . S ., III . Bros . Wall and Haynes performing

the duties of Grand Alarshal and Raphael , respectively , with great ability and excellent judgment . At the conclusion of the second point , the M . W . S ., III . Bro . Balfour Cockburn , having directed 111 . Bro . Cornwell , the Senior Prince present , to marshal P . AI . W . S . Price to the altar .

presented to him a very beautiful 50 star , prefacing the act of p lacing the same on 111 . Bro . Price ' s breast , with a few appropriate remarks . P . M . W . S . Price expressed himself so taken by surprise at this unexpected proceeding that he fell quite unable to express to the princes

assembled how very highl y he appreciated the honour } that had been conferred upon him—he would indeed treasure the valuable star that had that evening been given to him as a jewel above all price—not alone for its intrinsic value , but for the happy association with which ii was

connected and for the gratifying manner 111 which it had been presented . The star bore the following inscription : — " Presented by the M . W . S ., Officers , and Princes of iheEuropa Chapter to 111 . Bro . T . ( . ' . Price , P . M . W . S , in recognition of his

energetic exertions and zealous services in behalf of the Chapter , " Gibraltar , 1872 . At the conclusion of the third point the Princes retired to the banqueting hall where a cold collation awaited them .

Ancient Grand Lodge Of York.

ANCIENT GRAND LODGE OF YORK .

The following is by a Correspondent of the New York Dispatch : •—I distinctly recollect the strange impression it made on my mind when , for the first time , I visited a lodge in the United States , in iS 42 , and

for the first time heard in a lodge the phrase , " Ancient York Masonry . " Be it remembered that I was then regarded as a well-posted Mason ; I was perfect in the English ritual , had read Anderson ' s " Constitution , " also Preston ' s "

Illustrations , also a book by the Rev . Bro . Ash . I have also made an attempt to read Dr . Oliver ' s "Antiquities , " the last , however , acted on my mind the same as an emetic would on my stomach , ¦ — " I could not go it nohow . " I had some idea

that there was then a great main' other Alasonic books to learn from ; but yet I found , both in Europe and here , among my associates in Afasonry , very few who even pretended to know more of Alasonic history than I did . I knew that a body

of Masons at one time called themselves "Ancients , " or "Ancient Y ' ork Masons , " and that they united with the Grand Lodge of Phigland in 1813 . This I have not only read about , but I conversed with several brethren who were Masons

at the time of the union in 181 . 3 . Some belonged to the "Ancients" and some to the "Moderns , " but I thought since the said union had taken place , the brethren had everywhere ceased to talk in a lodge about " Ancient York . " I was therefore surprised to hear the phrase of " Ancient York "

so emphasized 111 American lodges . But what surprised me still more was , that very few , both in Boston and New York , had ever heard of a union ever taking place between the York and London Alasons ; and even as late as 1851 , a prominent active member of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts looked thunderstruck when I

assured him that no such a thing as a Grand Lodge of York exists , or has existed since 1813 . It will readily be perceived that at that time I imagined that the "Ancients" were really a branch of the old Grand Lodge of York , or in

some way or other derived its authority from that body . Nor is that superstition yet extinct , for in the Alarch number of one of our Alasonic periodicals I find an able writei still censuring the London Grand Lodge of 1717 for its

secession from the Grand Lodge ot 1 ork ol 1556 . An examination , however , of the state of England prior to 1717 , must at once dispel the error of such an organisation as a Grand Lodge of York exercising jurisdiction over all the Masons in England , not only as a probability , but even

as a possibility . Be it remembered that every Master Alason—which means every employerwas in olden time obliged , by his obligation , to attend annually , or tri-annually , to the Masonic assembly ; from this he was not exempt , unless prevented by sickness , IlalliwcH ' s poem says :

"That every maystcr that is a Mason Alust ben at the generale congregacyon . So thai he hyt reasonably y-lolde Where that the senible schal be . holde , And to that the semblc lie must nede gou , But he have a reasonabui skusacvon ( excuse ) . "

The excuse refers to sickness : otherwise he was obliged to attend . I have already stated in a former communication thai the word " York " is not mentioned in llalliwell ' s poem . , The lines in the above extract ,

" So that he hyt reasonably y-tohle Where that the sembie schal be holde , " make it evident that the annual assembly was not always held in York ; for , if it was M > , there could have been no necessity to notify

anyone where it shall be held . But I imagine > hel somebody may argue , " What of il ? Suppo-v I they do not assemble in Yi . rk ? Aiay livy not j at iiiat time have such an organization Iii e our \ Scotch Rife have here in America , orfkeour I Chapter or Knights Templar organization -., who I

meet periodicall y in different parts o ' " the i country ? " But the question i ' ' ouhl if -- . in ' those days , have such an org ; ' ' in ' - L' ¦ now , somebody proposed lire '• - ' e : . shall be held ever ) - year , or o- ' : ' tin . in London , lo which ever ) ' Ala . ei oi .. ¦ - . ' ¦ ¦¦ :... ; ... in the l . ' nited States shall be < ' jliged to attend .

Ancient Grand Lodge Of York.

The Masters from California will have rather a long journey to perform . It will take them seventeen or eighteen days travel from the Pacific coast to the metropolis of England . Now , if such a proposition was made , would not everybody laugh at it ? We would immediately ask

ourselves , " Will it pay ? " Of what use is it to waste so much time , to undergo so much hardship , to run so much risk , and to waste so much substance ? Now the distance , or rather the time necessary . or travel in those days from a remote part of England to Y ' ork , or even from London

to l ' ork , was fully equal to the time necessary now to make a journey from California to London . I remember reading somewhere , that it took a month travelling from London to Edinburgh , and , consequently , it must have taken seventeen or ei ghteen days to reach York . And

as to dangers and hardships of travelling , the hardships , etc ., of travelling six thousand miles by rail and steamboat is no comparison to the hardships of travelling a distance of two hundred miles in the days of Charles II . How much worse travelling in England must have been in

the time of Elizabeth—how much worse still it must have been previous to the conquest , let the reader judge for himself . Macaulay , in the third chapter of his History of England , furnishes a very graphic description of the dangers and hardships of locomotion two hundred years

ago . Beside being liable to be attacked , plundered , or even murdered by robbers , the mere hardships undergone in those days in moving from place to place , not of the poorer or middle classes , but of the rich and noble , must convince anyone that an annual or triannual

assembly at York of the operative master builders was simply absurd—even more absurd than the supposed proposition to make all the Alastcrs of lodges in the United States travel to England periodically . And now let us read something from Alacaulav : —¦

" On the best lines of communication the ruts were deep , the descents were precipitous , and the way often such as it was hardly possible to distinguish in the dark from uninclosed heath and fen , which lay on both sides . Ralph Thorsby , the antiquary , was in danger of losing his way

on the north road between Barnley Moor and Tuxford , and actually lost his way between Doncaster and York . Pepys and his wife , travelling in their own coach , lost their way between Newbury and Reading . In the course of the same tour they lost their way near Salisbury , and were

m danger of having to pass the night on the plain . It was onl y in fine weather that the whole breadth of the road was available for wheeled vehicles . Often the mud lay deep on the right and left , and only a narrow track of firm land rose above the quagmire . At such times

obstructions and quarrels were frequent , and the path was sometimes blocked up during a longtime by carriers , neither of whom would break the way . If happened almost every day that coaches stuck fast , until a team of cattle could be procured from some nei ghbouring farm to

tug them out of the slough . But in hard seasons the traveller had to encounter inconveniences still more serious . Thorsby , who was in the habit of travelling between Leeds and the capital , has recorded in his diary such a series of perils and disasters as mi ght suffice for a journey to the

frozen ocean or the desert of Sahara . On one occasion he learned that the floods were out between Ware and London , that passengers had to swim for their lives , and that a nigger had perished in the attempt to cross . In consequence of these tidings he turned out of the high road , and was

conducted across some meadows , where it was necessary for him to ride to the saddle-skirts in valev . In the course of another journey he narrowly escaped being swept away by an inundation of the Trent . lie was afterwards detained at Stamford four days on account of the state of the roads , and then ventured to proceed only

because lourteen members of the House of Common s vho weiegoing up in a bod ) ' to Parliament , e "ides and numerous attendants , took him ' •¦ : ;¦ ir company . On the roads of Derbyshire ¦¦ s were in constant fear for their iiccks , ere frequently compelled to ali ght and lead i-. e V . asts . The route from Wales to Hol yhead W .. J 1 ; such a state that into in 16 S 5 a viceroy .