Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The Editor is not respantibl-i for the opinion ? expressed hy Coneiponacnts . MAS 01 YIC LIFEBOAT . TO THE EDITOR 0 ? TH 3 EHEEriASO ^ S' 3 IAGAZIXE AND 3 IASOXIC MlttsOI ! . Dear Sir and Brother , —I hope that the brethren

of the south , who were Join ! in advocating the Masonic lifeboat fund , are sending to you their subscriptions . I should like , if it would not be out of place , to see the list of subscriptions sent each week to your valuable paper . I have great pleasure in saying that I have pounds sterling in my possession ;

and , when the rest of the lodges of this province send in theirs , I will let you know the amount . Yours fraternally , ARTHUR "WOODHOUSE , P . G . S . Treasurer to the Lifeboat Pund .

Palestine Exploration Fund.

PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND .

IO-IHE EDITOE OE THE riEjaTASOXS' 3 TAGAZIXE AXD IIASOSIC JIiaHOR Dear Sir and Brother , —In a recent number of your magazine it was announced that a distinguished American brother was about to undertake a Masonic pilgrimage in the Holy Land . May I express a hope that you , or others who may have influence with

that brother , will dissuade him from making the pilgrimage too much of a demonstration , especiall y in visiting the Holy Places . The Committee of the Palestine Exploration Puud have obtained special privileges for carrying on investigations which have alreadborne good fruits

y , and which , if properly supported , and not interfered with , will doubtless result in discoveries of the greatest interest to the historian , to the religious of more faiths than one , and last , but not least , ' to the Preemason .

Any _ demonstrative visits of examination mi ght arouse jealousy , and cause a withdrawal of the special facilities now enjoyed hy a practical body , seriously engaged in the great work of discovery ; and while we must all respect the spirit in which tho pilgrimage has been proposed by our brother , it is not only morall

y true that the great secrets of the Hol y Land lie beneath the surface , but it is specially the case materially , where the accumulations of past ages have deeply covered the ancient sites , and where wellorganised excavations may bring to light the landmarks and ruins of the old Cityand precious

, many relics , which , if not recovered now , may remain unknown , at least for our generation . The Palestine Exploration Committee have , indeed , commenced a new crusade , confined to no sect or class , to win back the Holy Places , peacefully , not only for Christendom but for the whole world . They have appealed to the

world for the needful funds to carry but the great work , and , as an old Mason , I add my appeal to you and your readers to support the work , not only b y funds but by influence . ~ I believe that the question is likely to be brought before Grand Lodge under high and honourable auspiees , _ but I trust that any grant from Grand Lodge will not be the limit of the assistance given by English Masons , and that we shall not wait " for tho

Palestine Exploration Fund.

action of Grand Lodge ; and I venture to suggest that private subscriptions be organised in our lodges , and that each lodge should send its collective subscription to the Honorary Secretary , Mr . George Grove , Crystal Palace , Sydenham , as soon as possible , as a lodge donation to the fund .

If we modern Preemasons cannot leave upon the earth such monuments as the works of our brethren of the Middle Ages , or of still more remote antiquity , we may have the satisfaction of helping to throw new light upon our traditions and our mysteriesand showing to others that our aspirations

, are not limited to sociality or even to charity . Yours fraternally , 0 . H . G . The Athenaeum , 2 \ ew Years Day , 1 SCS .

The Royal Arch.

THE ROYAL ARCH .

TO THE EDITOE 01 ? THE EEEEJTASO-VS MAGAZINE AND JTASOXIO MIB 10 B . Dear Sir and Brother , —I have read Bro . Hughan ' s remarks in your number of the 4 th inst ., and trouble you with a short reply . Bro . Hughan seems not to have understood aright my allusion to Bro . Dr . Oliver . That learned writer had in the edition of 1847 distinctly stated that the

Royal Arch was of English fabrication , if you will ,, and "not included in any other system which was ever practised on the Continent of Europe , " yet he mentions no less than nine grades , of which he sought to commemorate the events contained in their legends —grades all of them of very questionable antiquity .

But in his last work he seems to refer the Royal Arch to an ancient rite—Le Bouillon , equally , I venture to say , very dubious , and I therefore mentioned this great contradiction in order to strengthen my own position . Indeed , Dr . Oliver gave the clue to the real history of the degreewhere he alludes to

, the division of the third degree . That is the whole point of my humble argument—that the Royal Arch , as we have it , is identical in substance with the second part of the Master ' s degree , though , no doubt , Dermott , for his own purposes , adopted the name of Royal Arch , aud may have incorporated with his

rendering some of the fancies of Ramsay .- Bro . Hughan says that not only does he question the antiquity of the Royal Arch , but he has been unable to trace as well as Dr . Findel the third degree before 1717 . If he v . 'iil look at the MS . presented hy Dr . Pindel marked " L , " in his appendix , and which is certainly as old as the middle of the seventeenth century , he will , I think , see cause to change hi . 3

opinion . With respect to the immediate evidence , I have written to a friend and brother , who either has it in his possession or knows where it is to be found , and ., when I have heard from him , I will write again . I can only add that , despite Bro . Hughan ' s strong expression of opinion , I venture to express my firm

belief , on very many grounds of evidence , that the Royal Arch degree is far more ancient than 1740 , and is really what it professes to be , the completion of the third . Tours fraternally , A MASOXIC SXUDSKT .