Ancient And Accepted Rite.

The Chapter was opened by the Ex . and Perfect Bro . J . Rankin Stebbing , its M . AV . S ., assisted by Bros . Bradley , P . M . AV . S ., as Prelate ; Hollingsworth , Raphael ; McLaughlin , G . Marshal ; Bell , Organist ; Bros . Stcnning , Hulbert , ancl several other R . > J <' s being present . The visitors on that occasion were the M . P . Sov . G . Com . Dr . Leeson ; Lieutenant-Col . H . Clerk , 33 ° ; Hyde Pullen , Sec . Gen ., 32 "; Lieutenant AV . P . Dadson and Matthew Cooke 30 ° S . W . Eems— Branckleyand

, ; , , Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis , Bart ., Prov . G . M . for Hants , 18 ° , & c , & c , & c . There were several candidates for the degree , ancl those present who were admitted to it were Bros . Hickman , Lieut . A . AV . 0 . Sounders , ancl Captain Lloyd , each of whom had the distinguished honour of receiving the acolade from the hand of the M . P . Sov . Cf . Com ., Dr . Leeson . The ceremony was most

ably performed by the M . AV . S ., Bro . Stebbing , ancl his officers were efficient and painstaking . Bro . Bell presided at tho harmonium very satisfactorily ; bufc the singing was execrable . At a certain portion of the ceremony the M . P . Sov . G . Com . delivered a most interesting address , some of its chief points heing as follows -. —He said the term Mason was derived from the Coptic , in -which it literally meant " a loving brother , " and

that Egypt was the cradle of Masonry , the Egyptian priesthood being the depositaries of all the higher , as well as the lower , knowledge of mankind , more especially that of religion ancl medicine , ancl this knowledge was conveyed by them to such adepts only as were raised above the great mass of the peojjlo by their virtues , wealth , or learning . That a book , called tho Book of Enoch , was written before tho flood , and was confided to the priesthood , who handed the same down , traditionally ,

until it arrived in Egypt , ancl was there formed into a regular system , the Book of Enoch giving name to a city which was called " The City of the Book . " In this book were many of the secrets taught , aud made known to the initiated by Egj'ptian hieroglyphics , which he believed had a regular meaning , not yet understood by the learned , and closely allied to the writing of the antediluvian period . This view was sustained by the use of words and signs , which were a puzzle to most translators ; they were not intended for any particular events , but as watchwords amongst the initiated , and that brought

him to the practice of secret writing , or cyphers , derived , in the first instance , from hieroglyphics . These watchwords could only be understood by the priesthood ancl initiates in the mysteries . They alone had the key to them . He then exhibited and explained some of these keys . Such cyphers were extensively used by the old Eosicrucian writers , ancl whole books were written in them , so as to afford one construction to those not acquainted wifch the keyand another to those who

, had it . From Egypt this secret writing and its accompanying mystic knowledge was transmitted to the Essenes , hence arose the Jewish Cabala , and from these tho learned Doctor traced its passage to men in the middle ages , who became known us Rosicrucians . By these means they were enabled to evade persecution for their advanced opinions , and such men as GalileoCornelius AgrippaMelancthonLutherand many

, , , , others adopted them . They designated themselves as Latomi , or " hidden ones , " ancl boasted that they concealed their meaning from the prqfanmn vulgus . Cornelius Agrippa , in particular , who has been looked upon by the learned as an enthusiastic astrologer , says , in his letters , that all his works mean something different to that which appears to the ordinary reader . He calls the vulgar notion of astrology the most

wicked thing that could be supposed . His correspondents repeatedly ask him to furnish the key , ancl ho promises to do so . In the Themis , Aurea rules are given hy which this key may , by patience and study , be readily found , ancl a total , and unequivocal , denial is given to any such fable as the transmutation of the precious metals . 'The Doctor said that such books as those referred to were the exponents of reformers in Church and State . The wars of tbo Guelphs and Ghibellines , in Italy , was a

remarkable series of contests between the Jesuits and Masons , who were arrayed , the former under the Guelphs , ancl the latter under the Ghibellines . Another struggle of the same parties was now taking place in France , where the Supreme Grand Council was being attempted to be put down through the machinations of their old foes , the Jesuits . Recurring again to the middle age Rosicrucians , the Doctor claimed John Gower , the father of English poesy , as one of the brotherhood , adding that his monument in Saviour ' s , Southwark , represented him crowned with a wreath of roses , ancl having the three cardinal virtues at his feet . In his Confessio Arnaults he , too , concealed his

Ancient And Accepted Rite.

true opinions , as did Chaucer , Dante , and others . [ Tho learned Doctor explained how this was done , but which explanation we do not think proper to be inserted here . He then proceeded to point out the connection between tho Ancient York Masons ancl the Rosicrucians , and showed how , at the southern revival in Masonry , many of the York Masons burnt their books ; ancl that Payne , the first G . M ., in 1713 , was unacquainted with the true Master's word , which was not derived from the Hebrew , bufc

was composed of the initials of a certain sentence . The Philosopher ' s stone was not , he said , an alchemical figure , but a distinct acknowledgment of tho stone rejected by the builders . AVhen the York Masons were invited to join the Grand Lodge of 1717 , they found certain lodges combined together , who were the representatives of the ancient guild of Masons ; and in the Constitutions of 1722 it was expressly acknowledged as a guild of working Masons . Ho referred to this edition of 1722 to show that

, , under the Grand Lodge , it was decreed and enacted , that all Craft lodges ivere to receive every 30 ° Mason with the highest honours . He also went into the history of why so many degrees were denominated Scotch , and said , that there were amongst the friends of the Stuarts many Masons of high social rank ; and when they retired with the exiled family to the continent , they took with them many fragmentary ideas ; of masonry , which ,

under their hands , became expanded into separate degrees . Some of the various degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite had been manufactured on old masonic traditions . It had a Eoyal Arch degree , which differed from that worked by the Grand Chapter ; but rather than seem to offer any opposition to that body , it was not worked under tho Ancient Pate . He did not , for one moment , contend that all the 33 ° , under the rule of the Supreme Grand Council , wove of undoubted

antiquity as to working . He admitted that the essentials of each were very ancient , hut they had been frequently mashed up together , though now there was a series , recognised all over the earth , which was nnfa . it accompli . He , as an old York Mason , connected the Supreme Grand Council with the York Rite , ancl he gave some important information about the admission into that rite . He also contended , that no warrant was to he found earlier than those issued by Dunckerley . That the Baldwyn encampment at Bristol was founded by French Masons , who

had brought it from Canada towards tho close of the last century , a fact of ivhich he was certain , as the original books were in his own possession , ancl he concluded a very learned and elaborate address , by stating that , from the facts he had told them , every one present would see , for himself , that the ISth or Rose Croix degree had been practised so far back as the year A . D . 1-100 . The learned Doctor then resumed his seat . After the whole ceremony had boon concluded , the MW . S .,

Bro . STEBBING said from the very learned and lengthy discourse of the M . P . Sov . G . Com ., Dr . Leeson , he felt confident no one could have heard him without gaining great instruction and being deeply interested ; ( Hear , hear . ) anil he proposed that in order to mark their sense of the honour conferred upon the Roval Naval Chapter by the presence ofthe M . P . Sov . G . Com ., l ) r " Leeson and Lieut-Col . Clerk , S . G . I . G . 33 ' , that the thanks

of the chapter be engrossed on vellum and presented to each of the before-named S . G . l . G . ' s , which was carried by acclamation . The M . W . S ., Bro . STEBBING , also proposed that a vote of thanks should be recorded on the minutes to their excellent ancl perfect brother , Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis , Bart ., Prov . G . M . of Hants , for his kindness in visiting them , which was carried unanimously . Sir Lucira CUETIS begged to return than ' ,-s for the very

kind manner he had been received . No meeting he had ever attended had given him more pleasure , and he was sorry to say he had proved himself a very bad member-, for it was more than twenty years sinco he took the degree there , ancl had never visited them since , hut ho should take caro for the future , and be moro amongst them . That being the installation nihtthe M . W . S . said as he had

g , been installed last year , re-elected for another year , and as it was growing late , they would not go through the ceremony then , so he proceeded to appoint his officers as follows : —Bros . Bradley , P . M . AV . S ., Prelate ; Stcnning , First General ; Hollingsworth , Second General ; Langley , Registrar ; Major Hall , Raphael ; Lieut . McLaughlin , Grand Marshal ; Hnlbevt Captain of the Guard ; and Bradley , Outer Guard .

The chapter was then closed , and the brethren proceeded to the dining room , where a most excellent banquet was served . After the cloth had been removed , tho M . W . S . gave , as the first toast , " The Queen . " This was followed by " His Royal