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Answers To Correspondents.

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The Freemason , I SATUKHAV , iM . urcii i \) , 1 S 73 .

Pro. Holmes's Additional Notes Of The 15th Of March.

PRO . HOLMES'S ADDITIONAL NOTES OF THE 15 th OF MARCH .

JJiuirr Riri'i . n-s nv Lurtis . " () that mine enemy would write ; i book . " This wns an uncharitable desire , fur is it no ' , full

ol fervent hope , nny ceitninly , that in tripling himself to literary eil ' orls the enemy must assuredly st .- ]) into n pii-fnll , nnd thus become tin * prey of his adversary ?

II I could dispose myself to unseemly rejoicim ; over the- self-inllieied inimolal ion of liro . I lulme . s rni'l to exultation at his still di : iliii" out lh-. se

mnrvels , 1 . 'liould pcihnps be U'lnjitcd to exclnim ' O that liro . Ilnlmc-s , may continue to publish additional notes in The Freemason . ' ' Your readers would , however , view this ns a

Pro. Holmes's Additional Notes Of The 15th Of March.

piece of unmitigated vindictiveness , and I admit at once that it would betray a gross absence of that charity which specially should mark the members of our ancient Craft ¦ but I would say

in all brotherly regard , that if Bro . Holmes will persist in [ the course hc has commenced , he should be more sure of his facts , and less reckless in his statements . Bro . Holmes has placed his

foot upon ground which he need not have approached , and ns some " rush in where angels fear to tread , " so hns our brother ventured npon

treacherous places and they have let him in . I will spare your readers to my utmost power , and be as brief as possible in my replies .

1 . I repeat that in i 8 *; , 3 " Grand Conclave having no fnith in its claims abandoned the Masonic Order of Multa , but in i 85 a set up a new Alasonic Order" of the same name * I say

emphaticall y an entirel y new Order . This is a mere fact , and beyond the necessity for controversy .

Perhaps in inadvertently conveying the impression that the Grand Conclave enjoyed the exclusive merit of inventing the ritual for the

new Alasonic degree at the same time , I was not literall y correct ; I should perhaps have distinctly placed on record the sources whence that farrago of absurdity , which Bro . Holmes , with all his Alasonic acumen , must well know is a ridiculous

concoction , was derived ; but I will now , since he will have the whole truth , put myself in a position of more perfect accuracy . The ritual of the Masonic Order of Alalia which was severed

from the Temple and abandoned in 1853 , is very simple , consequently not wanting in some dignity and is in strong contrast with the ridiculous concoction which was not brought from Malta ,

but was , in fact , the selected ritual of two curious specimens from the respective manufactories of Bros . Emly , and Shuttleworth nnd I am bound to say that it bears complete impress of its

brilliant origin . There were no Alasonic Templars at Alalia until thc , not very archaic year 1850 . a . It is 11 simple fact that the Alasonic

Templars in Kngland did " appropriate , " and usurp , the jewel of the " Ordre du Temple . " I run imnble to say how they attempted , if at all , to justify the act , hut I may confess to some

surprise that liro . I lohnesshotild think such n proceeding creditable : Would Bro . Holmes think the ' * Gooel Templars" justified in adopting the regalia of Grand Conclave ? I am in a position In

give considerable information relative to the " Ordre du Temple" and its insignia ; but eui hmo A II is utterl y beside tlie present question ; it wns not a Alasonic hotl y 3 the Alasonic

Templars in Kngland have no connection with it , and the usurpation of the jewel by the English Alasons could in no gienter degree give them

additional claims , than would the purchase of the insignia of thc Garter entitle Bro . Holmes to 11 stall in the Chapel Koyal at Windsor .

; . I called attention to the Baldwin document some weeks . since , -so it is no novelty to your readers . The private jewel of that Encampment hns no resemblance to the cross of the . French ,

or any other Knights of the genuine Order of St . John . It is nn interesting jewel to the Alasonic Templars , as it bears , in its engraving , a combination of the emblems of the High

Pro. Holmes's Additional Notes Of The 15th Of March.

Grades , and is no doubt a relic of the period when these Masonic degrees could only be obtained in an Encampment . The kindly observations of the Baldwin brother do him

much credit ; he will now have seen that thc sections of the genuine Order of St . John are , and have been since the fall of Malta , independent institutions ; that the Order was lawfully

revived in England by an overwhelming majority of its remaining divisions ; that its validity has never been impeached , and that it stands in the same position as the Priories of Russia , Austria

or Poland . As the language of the Baldwin document has been quoted , I may here express my belief that the introduction of a Maltese degree into the Masonic Templar Order had its

orig in in the absurd confusion of names at 1 period before any popular historic knowledge of the orig inal Order had been disseminated . In old Alasonic books and magazines they were

styled " Knig hts Templar of St . J ohn of Jerusalem ; " the titles were used synonymously and the old lectures exchange them with charming confusion . This absurd admixture no doubt

became apparent with the dawn of more extended information , and I conclude , and believe , that in seeking the explanation of such a jumble it was assumed that , in the confusion of

the one name , two Masonic degrees must necessarily exist . 4 . Bro . Holmes has the hardihood to affirm that the members of the English Langue of thc

Order of St . John " seek to crush the Masonic Order of Alalia j" But Bro . Holmes knows full well that they have never interfered with Masonic , or any other Order ; that they do not

now object to its only proper title , the " Masonic Order of Malta ; " that they made no sign whatever , even respecting recent occurrences , and hc as well knows that he himself made a public ,

voluntary , and entirely , unprovoked attack for which his utmost ingenuity can find no palliation , but for which his sense of justice should induce him to apologise in the same public

manner . 5 . Bro . Holmes says he has " yet to learn that in the Masonic Order we have an equal number of men of rank and family with those

gentlemen who have joined the Manchester branch . " I assume he means he still has to learn that we have noi an equal number ; but I have never cast any reflection upon the social status of thc

Masonic Templars , nor do I treat their Alasonic title with the terms of discourtesy and disrespect in which I regret that Bro . Holmes should permit himself to indulge . Tho exclusiveness vvhich

onr brother seems so much to desiderate appears hardly consistent with the principles of thc ancient Craft . I have been under a considerable delusion if Freemasonry does not aim at an universal brotherhood of all classes . The ' * men

of rank nnd family , " suggested by Bro . Holmes , in entering the Alasonic Fraternity , show that ihey do not consider themselves out of the pale of common humanity , and that they know they

form part of the universal brotherhood of man ; each one thus declares with Terence ; Hour . ) sum human } nihil a me alienttm pulo . Would our brother exclude from the association of these men , their fellows who are less fortunately placed in life ? Would he preach a new doctrine