Rite Of Misraim.

connection is most likely to lead many to believe that these proceedings , if not authorised by Grand Lodge , are at least sanctioned by it . It has long ago been mentioned in certain quarters that the motive for establishing these quasi-Masonic

Orders was to sap the foundation of the veritable high degrees , —in fact , it is whispered in well-informed circles that this is the justification to Craft Masons who have questioned the propriety of these proceedings . May not this Jesuitical notion have a still

deeper significance ? May the mine thus professedly laid at the foundations of the higher degrees not also contenijilate the destruction of the whole edifice of Masonry , including the Craft ?

TO TUB IDITOR OF THE FKKEirASOSS' MAGAZIIfE AHD MASOIflO MIBBOB . Dear Sir and Brother , —I am directed by the Su . \ Co / . 83 ° of the A . and A . Eite to request you to find a place in your Magazine for the accompanying letter from the Grand Orient of Prance in reply to the inquiry put to it by this

Sup . . Co . * . in consequence of the following passage , which appeared on page 683 of the "Freemason * ' of the 31 st of December , 1870 : " A Supreme Council General of the 90 ° having been regularly formed under the authority

conveyed in a diploma granted to the 111 . ' . Bro- . Cremieux , 33 ° . \ of the Eite Ecossais , and a Member of the Grand College of Eites in Prance . " I remain , Dear Sir and Brother ,

Yours faithfully and fraternally , J . M . P . MONTAGU " , Sec" . Gen . " .

A . -. L . \ & . - . D . \ G . - . A-. D . - . L-Univ .- . Grand Orient de Prance . 0 . -. de Paris , le 24 Mars , 1871 ( E . \ V .- . ) Au Supiv . Cons . -, du 33 ° degre pour l'Angleterre , etc .

Illustres ete Tres Chers Freres , Je suis charge de repondre avotre fraternelle pi . -, dull de ce mois , et de vous dire que le Grand Orient de France n'a autorise personne , ni le f . \ Cremieux ni d ' autres , a efcablir dans votre pays le

rite de Misraim . Le Grand Orient de Prance n ' a jamais rapporte la declaration de Fill . * , f . " . Beurnouville , en date du 7 Decembre 1817 . L ' etablissement de ce rite , en Angleterre , au nona du Grand Orient et sous les auspices du f . \ Cremieux serait

done une supercheriej nul ne peut invoquer ces deux autorites pour un fait semblable sans faire un mensange . Je vous engage , du reste , a . vous addresser directement h , Fill . ' , f . " . Cremieux , au secretariat particulier du Supreme Conseil , 46 , rue

de la Yictoire , a Paris , et vous aurez la confirmation de mes declarations . Heureux de pouvoir vous fournir ces renseignements , je vous prie d ' agreer l'assurance de mes sentiments fraternels . Le chef du Secretariat , THEVENOT .

TRANSLATION . A . - . Le / . G . \ D . - . G . \ A . - . D .-. L'Unive . Grand Orient of France . 0 . - . of Paris , the 24 th of March , 1871 ( E . \ V . - . ) To the Sup . - . Co . ' . of the 33 ° . \ for England & c .

111 . -, and very dear Brothers , I am directed to reply to your fraternal letter of the 11 th of this month , and to tell you that the Grand Orient of France has authorized no one , neither Bro . Cremieux , nor any others , to establish

in your country the Eite of Misraim . The Grand Orient of Prance has never recalled the declaration of the 111 . . Bro . . Beurnouville , of the date of the 7 th of December , 1817 . The establishment of this Bate in England in the name of the Grand

Orient , and under the auspices of Bro .- . Cremieux , would therefore be a cheat ; no one can invoke these two authorities for such an act without telling a lie . I ask you for the matter of that , to write personally to the 111 . . Bro . - Cremieux ,

Secretary ' s Office of the Sup . - . Co . -., 46 , Euede la Victoire , Paris , and you will have the confirmation of my declarations .

Happy to have it in my power to furnish you with these particulars , I beg of you to receive the assurance of my fraternal sentiments . THEVENOT .

BOOKS . —God he thanked for hooks ! they are the voices o the distant and the dead , and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages . Books are tho true levellers . They give to all who will friendly use them the society , the spiritual presence of the best and greatest of our race . No matter how poor I am ; no matter though the prosperous of my own time will not enter my ohscure dwelling . If the sacred writers will enter and take up their ahodo under my roofif Milton will cross threshold

, my to sing me of Paradise , or Shakespeare to open to me tbe worlds of imagination and the working of the human heart , and Franklin to enrich me with his practical wisdom , I shall not pine for want of intellectual companionship ; and 1 may become a cultivated man , though excluded from what is called the beat society in the place where I live .