Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGE NOTABLE ROSICRUCIAN WORKS 49 LINES ON THE RETIREMENT OF THE M . W . G . M .... 49 THE BADGE OF FREEMASONRY AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE 49 and 50

LEAVES FROM MY LIBRARY 50 THE C RAFT 51 , 52 and 53 ROYAL ARCH 53 ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 53 BIRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS 54

A NEW MASONIC PROVINCE 54 and 55 MULTUM IN PARVO 55 INAUGURATION OF THE PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF MIDDLESEX , AND CONSECRATION OF THE BURDETT LODGE , No . 1293 55 and 56

MASONIC BALL AT NEWBURY 56 and 57 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE 57 OCCULT SCIENCE 57 and 58 ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION ... 58 ROSICRUCIAN SOCIETY OF ENGLAND 5 S MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK 59

Notable Rosicrucian Works.

NOTABLE ROSICRUCIAN WORKS .

BY WILLIAM J AMES HUGHAN , IX . ( Continued from page 239 , vol . 2 . ) I am again indebted to my friend Capt . F . G . Irwin , of Bristol , for the perusal of another work , interesting to Rosicrucians ,

as it is by Thomas Vaughan , alias "Eugenius Philalethes . " The title is " Lumen de Lumine , or a new Magical Light discovered and communicated to the World , " London : 1651 , ( pp . 101 , 32 mo . ) Time will not allow

me to quote all I should like from the scarce little book , but the following , entitled "A Letter from the Brothers of R . C ., concerning the Invisible Magicall Mountaine , and the Treasure therein contained , " ought at least to

be reproduced in THE FREEMASON . Strange titles , and still stranger customs , seem to have been in favour with the early Rosicrucians , especially as they served to veil the character of their teaching from the world ,

and thus the initiated only participated in their esoteric mysteries and discoveries . The letter is written both in Latin and English , and no doubt Captain Irwin would spare the volume to the Editor of this paper , in

order that its contents may become known . Thomas Vaughan says of the Letter of the Brothers R . C ., that " They have described unto us the Mount of God , the mysticall philosophical ! Horeb ; which is nothing else

but the highest and purest part ofthe earth . For the superiorsecrct portion of this clement is Holy Ground , and Aristotle tells his Peripatetics Locus quo Excelsior co Dumoir . It is the seed-plot of the cternall nature , the

immediat vessell and rcceipient of Heaven , where all minerals and vegetables have their Roots , and by which the animal monarchic is maintained . The Philosophicall Black Saturn mortifies and coagulates the

invisible Mercury of the stars , and on the contrary the Mercury kills and dissolves the Saturn , and out of the corruption of both thecentral and circumferential ! suns gencrat a new body . Hence the Philosophers

describing their stone , tells us it is Lapis niger vilis , and fceteus , dicitur origo mundi et oritur sicut Gcrminantia . As for the epistle of the Fraternitie , I shall , for satisfaction of the ordinary reader , put it into English . I

know some doctors will think it no advantage , but then they convess their ignorance . I can assure them , the subject is nowhere so clearly discovered , and for

the first abstruse prcperation there is no private author hath mentioned it , but here we have it entirely , and withall most faithfull y , described . I confesse , indeed , that

Notable Rosicrucian Works.

instruction wears amask ; it speaks in tropes , but very plaine and pervious . " Another work by the same writer , is called

" The Second Wash , or The Moore Scour'd once more , " London : 1651 , ( pp . 188 , 32 mo . ) The whole that we know of , are as follows : —

Anima Magica Abscondita , " . D . 1650 . " The Fame and Confession , " A . D . 1650 . " Magica Adama , or the Ancient Magic from Adam . "

" Aula Lucis , or The House of Light , " . D . 1651-2 . " Discourse ofthe Waters ofthe East , " A . D . 1655 . " Lumen de Lumine , " . D . 165 r . " The Second Wash , " A . D . 1651 .

Thomas Vaughan , who wrote under the assumed name of Eugenius Philalethes , was a noted alchymist , and was quite an enthusiastic supporter of the Rosicrucian Society

in the middle of the seventeenth century . We are unable to say who he was . Any positive information as to his history will be much esteemed by the writer , should any of his readers be aware of such .

John Heydon , an attorney of London , devoted much of his spare time to the study ofalchymicaland Rosicrucian philosophy , so also did Robert Fludd , M . D ., JacobBohmen , Peter Mormuss , and Branda Borri .

As we intend ere long to compile a list of Rosicrucian works published during the seventeenth century , as also works bordering on that subject , we shall feel greatly obliged if brethren would send us the titles of works

in their possession , or which they have perused , as also any notes taken of their character . To suppose that the early Rosicrucians were the absurd impostors their enemies declare , would require more

credulity than we would credit their most determined opponents of the present day with , and therefore it would be superfluous to endeavour to answer many of the puerile objections made by their contemporary

writers . Dr . Mackay , in " Popular Delusions , " states that no lover of poetry can wish that such a sect of philosophers had never existed , although he is very far from being a favourable reviewer of their history ,

and the works now extant pro . and con . sufficiently exhibit the tendency of Rosicrucianism to clear their members from the false imputations of witchcraft , irreligion and immorality .

Lines

LINES

Written on hearing ofthe intended retirement ofthe Most Worshipful , the Grand Master of Freemasons , the EARL OF ZETLAND , K . T .

DY BRO . A . C . SWAIN . Thou art leaving the office thou long hast adorn'd , And thy loss to the Craft will be generally mourned ; Tho' the life wc so value is spared to us yet , Thy retirement will cause universal regret .

For every true-hearted Freemason hath known , That during the years thou hast sat on the throne . Our Order hath flourished , and Heaven hath blest Thine efforts to succour the poor and distressed .

The Charities , Brother , we point to with pride , Whose fame , fast increasing , extends far and wide ; Our Homes for the Aged , our Boys and Girls'School , Have prospcr'd beneath thy beneficent rule .

Tts true thy successor is greatly esteemed , That the light of benevolence also hath beamed In the efforts with which lie has aided thine own , In the spirit of kindness his actions have shown .

Yet still wc look back with a sigh to the past , As we pray that thy life will for many years last ; And when thou art summon'd to mansions above , May we meet thee again in God ' s haven of love .

The New Vadc Mccum ( invented and manufactured by Charles II . Vincent , optician , of 23 , Windsorstreet , Liverpool ) consists of a telescope well adapted for tourists , Sec ., to which is added an excellent microscope of great power and first-class definition , quite equal to others

sold at ten limes the price . Wonderful as it may seem , the price of this ingenious combination is only 3 s . 6 d ., and Mr , Vincent sends it ( carriage free ) anywhere , with printed directions , upon receipt of post-office order or stamps to the amount of 3 s . iod , —[ Advt . l

The Badge Of Freemasonry And The Golden Fleece.

THE BADGE OF FREEMASONRY AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE .

BY BRO . CHALMERS I . PATON , P . M . No . 392 , ETC ., ETC . The badge of Freemasonry is the Lamb's Skin , or white leather apron . The apron is worn by operatives to preserve their garments from stain . We use it for a nobler purpose . By the

whiteness of its colour , and the innocence of the animal from which it is obtained ( for the lamb in all ages has been deemed the emblem of innocence ) , we are admonished to preserve that blameless purity of life and conduct which will

alone enable us hereafter to present ourselves to the Master of the Universe unstained with sin , and unsullied with vice . The Iamb ' s skin is presented to every newly-made brother as the badge of our Order , and is the emblem of

innocence and the bond of brotherhood . It is more ancient than the Golden Fleece , or any other order that can be conferred on earth . Emperors , kings , popes , and potentates have not thought it beneath their dignity to put aside the crown and

tiara , doff the trappings of state , and lay down the sceptre and the sword , and , putting on this simple badge , join in the celebration of our mysteries . Members of the Craft are never to put on that badge if at variance with any brother who may be in the lodge . You must first

attempt to reconcile your differences , but if you find that impossible , you must retire , that the assembly of the brethren be not disturbed by your unseemly strife . Freemasons are ever expected to wear the badge worthily , for it would be a disgrace ever to cast a stain upon its purity .

" It is more ancient than the Golden Fleece , " is a word familiar at the investure to all intrants . Many have enquired as to what is the history or legend of the Golden Fleece ; having , after a long time , gathered it together , I now proceed to explain .

Ihe Golden Fleece occupies a prominent place in foreign tradition , concerning the legendary and mythical pre-historic period of Greece , and was a favourite subject of the Grecian poets and dramatists . It was , according

to the most ordinary form of the legend , the fleece of the ram Chrysonallus , the recovery of which was the object of the Argonautic expedition . The legend seems , or professes , to relate , to a period about a generation before the Trojan

war . Homer refers to it , and it is related by Hesiod and many other of the most ancient Greek authors . It is not wonderful that their accounts differ widely and irreconcilably from each other . According to the ordinary form of the

legend in which it is related by Apollodurus , Jason was commanded by his uncle Pelias , King or Chief of Toleus , in Thessaly , to fetch from . Colchis the Golden Fleece , which was suspended on an oak and guarded by a sleepless dragon .

He therefore caused Argus , the son of Phixus , to build a ship of fifty oars , and gathered together the choicest heroes of Greece to partake in this adventure . Their first landing-place was Sennois , where they stayed two years , because the women ,

in consequence of the wrath of Venus , had slain all the men excepting Thoas . Tlieir subsequent voyagings and adventures arc related by Appolodorus in the same minute and particular manner , but so contradictory are the accounts of different

authors that it has been pronounced impossible to say whether the expedition sailed north , south , east or west . Of course , it is vain to conjecture as to any reality covered by sucli a myth , although it probably derives its origin from some really

adventurous enterprises . Hercules and Polyphemus are represented by Appollodorus as taking part in the expedition , but they wandered too far inland when it touched at the shores of Mysia , in pursuit of the lost Hylas , and were left behind . The adventures of the Argonauts with

those winged monsters , the harpies , are very particularly narrated ; and how , by the advice of the blind seer , Phineus , whom they delivered from the harpies , they were enabled to steer through the Symphlegades and lo escape their wondrous dangers . Phineus advised the Argonauts to let loose a dove when they approached