Masonic Impostors.

known gentleman in the States , professionally and to the fraternity , having been many years actively connected with the body in our national capital . I wish to have my case examined , and be enabled to proceed 'to Loudon by this night ' s train . "I respectfully ask that the D be informed of this appeal . " Fraternally yours

, " J AS . B . SMITH , M . D ., Assist . Director U . S . Mint , Washington , D . C . "Howard , 35 , Washington , D . C . " Aftersotneerplanatory remarks he offers the second letter , which you perceive is written by a very different hand on first sightbuton a close scrutiny , by the

, , same , and on paper bearing the impress of the Royal Alexandra Hotel , Liverpool . " Liverpool , March 2 , 1869 . " My Dear Doctor , —In consequence of the absence < if Mr . Dudley , our Counsel ( gone to the races ) this a . m ., I cannot leave in time to connect and meet you

at Crewe as arranged . Consequently , the better plan will be to proceed directly to London and go to Charing Cross Hotel by first train . I have sent all our baggage there by the train leaving here at 5 p . m . this day . I know no other direction to give this than " to be called for " at the P . O . at Crewe .

" Respectfully yours , " Dr . J . B . Smith . " " E . N . KENT . " The Secretary sends him with a note to our Almoner , and from him fte gets over £ 1 of our lodge funds . You will say , I think , that , coupling the composition and style of the letters , with a good address ,

education , and appearance , there is a strong probability that the Doctor would succeed . His two victims , however , posted a couple of hundred circulars to lodges warning them of the Doctor who was " travelling on Government business , connected with coinage . " True enough ! hut I should be delihted

g to hear also of his having " board and lodging " for 12 months at our Government ' s expense . I should imagine that , if such cases as this were sent to the Grand Secretary and re-issued with the " Quarterly ¦ Communication" to every lodge in its jurisdiction , neither harm nor much expense would be incurred

, and thus the career of these worthies would be considerably impeded , if not entirely cheeked . Oh ! Masonry—Masonry ! "How many swindles are committed in thy name" in the provinces , because , with all our great organizations , we have allowed " Charity " to rule supreme when " even-handed

justice" ought to have reigned instead . Yours fraternally , WM . JOHN BULLOCK , P . M . 979 & 321 . P . S . The " borrowing a railway fare " seems to be _ s very common dodge , and ought at once to put Almoners on their guard .

TO TUB EDITOtt ' OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR . Dear Sir and Brother , —My attention has been ¦ called to a letter from Bro . W . D . Keyworth which appeared in your impression of the 10 th ult ., containing a statement that he wrote twice to the Whittington LodgeNo . 862 respecting a Masonic impostor

, , , without receiving any reply . As the Secretary of the said lodge , permit me to explain that no letter from Bro . Keyworth has reached my hands , and I should like to know how the missing letters were directed .

Masonic Impostors.

I may add that no such person as "Henry Thompson " ever belonged to the Whittington Lodge . Yours fraternally , R . WsimvoETH LITTLE , ( P . M . & P . Z , 9 , 75 ) Secretary , Whittington Lodge , No . 862 .

Masonic Celestial Mysteries.

MASONIC CELESTIAL MYSTERIES .

10 THE EDITOR OF THE " FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR . Dear Sir and Brother , —I have read , not without considerable amazement I confess , the papers on " Masonic Celestial Mysteries , ' ' by Henry Melville , which have recently appeared in your Magazine . I am not ashamed to acknowledge myself too stupid to

comprehend them ( or , at all events , a great portion of them ) , and therefore I do not propose to say a word on the subject ; but to the paper , No . 4 , which appeared in the Magazine of the 17 th inst ., there is a note appended which I cannot allow to pass unnoticed . In this note it is stated that " No Masonic lodge can

be opened without the Bible , aud yet it is never studied , for no living English brother ever heard read a single verse in open lodge . " To this latter assertion , I , a " living English brother , " can give as flat a

contradiction as courtesy permits . Why , Sir , when I first became a Mason , and certainly for several years afterwards , no lodge was ever opened or closed without reading a portion of the Bible . Before the closing , that most beautiful chapter , 1 Corinthians , 13 , was read on all occasions , and a few verses ( of a valedictory character ) followed—the chapter whence

taken I do not at this moment recollect . Further than this , no initiation , passing , or raising , ever took place without some appropriate passages from the Bible being read . If Bro . Melville will refer to Ruth , chap . 19 , he will have no difficulty in ascertaining what part of it would bo applicable in the case of an

initiation , and the 7 th chapter , 1 st Book of Kings would no doubt show him also a verse by no means out of place either at an initiation or a passing , and which was never omitted at the latter . I could

mention other passages from the Bible which were invariably read in the course of our different ceremonies ; but I have said enough to show how utterly Bro . Melville is mistaken in the bold assertion made in the note to which I am referring , and that is the only object I have in addressing you . As regards the "Masonic Celestial Mysteries , " they are , I confess , far beyond the comprehension of—Yours fraternally , SENEX .

Zetland Commemoration Fund.

ZETLAND COMMEMORATION FUND .

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR . Dear Sir and Brother , —Doubtless , when the list is closed , there will be at least £ 10 , 000 subscribed . All honour to a good man , and I wish the amount could be doubled . But ( and this little word will constantly " crop up " ) why for distinguished brethren

only is the sum raised to be devoted ? Please define the word . Supposing a provincial brother , many years subscribing , has filled every office in his lod ^ a ( though never figuring at Grand Lodge ) , has frequently given his mite to the Charities , and has always been held in good repute , would he be

considered a distinguished brother ? Would not deserving be better than distinguished ?—Yours fraternall y , Brighton , April 22 , 1869 . T . J . S . E .