Mark Masonry.

to take it a second time from the chapter into which he seeks admission , but should he not have received it , he shall be obliged to take it from that chapter . 5 th . " That as regards the E . A . Degrees , this

degree shall be reckoned the fourth degree in Masonry . 6 th . " That nothing in the foregoing regulations shall interfere with the superintendence which the Supreme G . E . A . Chapter claims over Mark

Masonry out of Scotland , or with the lodges holding of it in England or abroad . " In Ireland , Canada , and in all the Grand Lodges and Chapters of the United States , the degree of

Mark Master is recognised and worked for the most part , not as a portion of the Fellow Craft Degree , but as a separate degree antecedent to the Royal Arch , and England is the only country speaking the English language in which this most

interesting degree is not recognized by the Grand Lodge or Grand Chapter . It will be fresh in the memory of a few of our brethren , that in 1855 , the M . W . Grand Master the Earl of Zetland appointed a committee

consisting of members of the G . L . of England , and the S . G . R . A . Chapter of England to investigate and report on the Mark Degree , Avhich was accordingly done .

The committee reported that in their opinion the Mark Degree was not positively essential , but was decidedly a graceful appendage to the degree of Fellow Craft . This report was presented at the Quarterly Communication of the G . L . in March

1856 , and was unanimously adopted . At the next Quarterly Communication , a special motion was duly proposed , seconded , and carried , that , that portion of the minutes of last meeting referring to the Mark Degree , should be rescinded and non confirmed .

Why this should have taken place , and Avhat influence Avas brought to bear , to insure the rejection of the report must be better known to the brethren in London than to us . We deeply regret the result but do not presume to suggest a remedy .

MES . STL M ™ ' 8 READINGS . —Mrs . Stirling will read Slmkspere ' s Tempest , at St . James ' s Hall on IMday evening , tlio 11 th , inst , on which occasion the incidental music composed by Arne , Purcell , Linley , and Stevens , will be sung by Miss Edith "W ynne and a choir of 400 voices . This will introduce some of the most familiar and charming pieces of vocal music ever written ; and in confirmation , we need only mention . "Where the bee sucks , " " 0 bid your faithful Ariel fly , " " Come unto these yellow sands , " and " The cload-capp'd towers . " The whole will be under the direction of Mr . F . Kingsbury .

American Correspondence.

AMERICAN CORRESPONDENCE .

BY BRO . MORRIS , LL . D . Since my last , written early in January , I havebeen but little at home . On my return from a lecturing tour of three months I found greatsatisfaction in the perusal of a file of your MAGAZINE .

Thanks to you and to the worthy little band who , against so many discouragements , work out your weekly task so honourably to the Craft and pleasantly to yourselves . The FREEMASON ' S MAGAZINE brings me its freight of fraternal

salutations as regularly as Saturday comes round-May its file be extended to " the crack of doom " ( Avhatever that means ) . I am only sorry that while its contributors ansAver so well to Robert Burn ' s epithet , '' Favoured and enlightened , "

they should also answer so literally to his word " few . " Few they are , and pity 'tis they are sofeAv !

What you say of the Avearing of Masonic emblems has struck me with interest . There is no doubt that these insignia are too often worn for unworthy purposes . And yet I must confess to a fancy in that direction . While I wear none iny ~

self , and have not these ten years , yet I carry a number of them about , ready for exhibition , should occasion ever require it ; and I Avas glad to see upon the person of that good Mason and exemplary English gentleman , Bro . E . J . Rogers ,.

English Consul at Damascus , Syria , some . Masonic emblems worn in no obtrusive manner ,, yet distinct enough for recognition to the man

who knew how to look for him . That is my style ; and I confess that the sight of a Masonic , emblem upon the person of a stranger , kindles my eye , as that of the tartan is said to do a Scottishman ( you see how carefully I write the word ;

there may be some critic " over the border . " ) Many a pleasant acquaintance have I made , through this simple medium . I observe that your correspondents are excessively " down " upon the officious Bro . Slack Avho .

invited the Prince of Wales to become a Mason » Now this is all natural enough for the American press to do , because in this country Ave require a . candidate to declare upon his honour , before en-