English Mark Lodges.

Now , what can be their reason for such a course ? Can it be that they are so loath to give up the trifling fees which found their way from the twelve lodges in England , that to retain them they would prevent the spread of Mark Masonry throughout

England and Wales ? Oh ! no ! They say that , as in England the Craft G . L . does not acknowledge the degree , they cannot recognise any other foody that does . Absurd . Let us ask , are the Knights Templar acknowledged in Scotland

and Ireland , or not ? Are , and how long have been , Scotch Royal Arch Masons received as such , in England and Ireland ? and , as the G . L . of Scotland does not , or , at all events , not long ago ,

did not acknowledge the Grand Chapter , would they think it right that we or the Irish should establish R . A . Chapters in Scotland , and refuse to recognise their chapters , because not recognised by their own G . L . We quote the regulation .

" All lodges holding of the G . L . of Scotland are strictly prohibited and discharged from holding any other meetings than those of the three orders of A ., F . C ., and M . M ., and from giving countenance , as a body , to any other order of Masonry ,

either by paying or receiving visits , or by walking in the same procession , or otherwise ; under -certification that such lodges as shall act on the contrary , shall be struck from the rolls of the G . L . and their charter recalled . "

Then , that is the position of the Grand Chapter of Scotland , unacknowledged by its own G . L ., and yet granting warrants for Mark Lodges in England , where their is a special governing body for Mark "Masons on the ground that they cannot

recognise such body , because it is unacknowledged by the G . L ., or Grand Chapter of England . Meanwhile this persecuted body flourishes , it has more than one hundred lodges on its rolls , and the number is rapidly increasing both at home and abroad . Let us ask our Scottish

brethren to hasten to remove this barrier to friendship and good feeling ; let us urge the Scottish Mark Lodges in England , if any such still exist , to hasten to change their warrants before it is too late , and they find themselves left out in the cold ; and finally let us have no rivalry , but that of who

can best work and best agree . If the regulation quoted from the laws of the G . L . of Scotland is not intended to exclude the Grand Chapter , though it would appear to be so meant , there is still no reason why English Masons should not work Craft and Mark degrees under two separate heads if they please , and both be acknowledged .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

THE ANTIQUITY 03 ? FREEMASONRY ( p . 251 ) . I am afraid that " F . I . W . " is rather mistaken in the inference he draws from the word " speculatyf " occurring in the paragraph which he quotes ; said word could then have had no connexion with our speculative Masonryfor it was not in existence until

, long after the 15 th century . I take the meaning to be simply , — " and learned the practise of that science to his knowledge . For of learning he was a master , " & c . Symbolism was greatly in vogue before this time ( 15 th century ) , but was not confined to Masons . The era of the Building Fraternities was the 12 th and

13 th centuries ; the date of the imaginary Charter of Edwin is 926 ; while the idea of " a union of operative and speculative Masons at the date of the York Constitutions in the reign of Athelstan ! " is simply a dream ; further this MS . of Bro . Matthew Cooke is not " evidence that at the time it was

writtentowards the end of the 15 th century—there was a distinction drawn between operative and speculative Masonry , " and the latter did not " then exist . " First prove the existence of the doctrines , rituals

ceremonies , degrees , & c , of speculative Freemasonry in the 17 th century before you begin to speculate about its existence in the hoary depths of antiquity . Our pseudo Masonic historians have been pegging away at this for the last century and a half—more especially since the issue of " Masonry Dissected " in 1730—but their progress has been nil !

Dr . Anderson , who was living both before and after A . n . 1717 wrote " A Defence of Masonry , published A . D . 1730 , occasioned by a pamphlet called Masonry Dissected , " but he tells us nothing ; he quotes largely from the Classics , and refers to the Egyptians , Jews , GreeksRomansand the Druidsbut that is all the

, , , length he gets ; not a word has he to say about our Building Fraternities , or the building of our cathedrals , monasteries , & c , from the llth century to the 16 th . In short , read . "Masonry Dissected" ( the historical part I refer to ) , and then peruse Dr . Anderson ' s " Defence" full of quibbling and sophistryand

, , the idea will be forced upon you that speculative Freemasonry cannot be more than about a century and a half old . And no one knew that better than Dr . Anderson himself . — ~ W . P . BUCHAN . GORMAGONS .

" M . D ., " in Notes and Queries ( 6 th S . IV ., Sept . 25 , p . 253 ) , inquires as to a handsome decoration of which he has casts . The obverse is a bust of a prince or chief with a high cap , legend , — " + C . R . ET . PO . OECUM . YOL . GORD . COE—GO , " with the date " AN . REG . XXI . " The reverse iias the sun , with the legend , " UNIVERSES SPLENDOR . UVIVERSA . BENEVOLENTIA , " and a date , "AN . INST . S 799 . "

Does not this refer to the famous opponents of the Freemasons , the Gormagons ? Does the last date represent 1799 , the period of the approaching extinction of the Society ?—NOTA . TRADES UNIONS . Does not Bro . J . A . H . go beyond the mark in stating that trades unions have no grips and signs , for no one has suggested they have ?—S . S .