Masonic Notes And Queries.

expunged . Masonry is said to be " a progressive science , " and certainly its ritualistic language progresses Avonderfully . A little more conservatism of old forms , old modes of expression , and the old faith , might have been advantageously preserved . If any one pretends to say that , from our existing ceremonial , he can deduce expressions to prove its antiquity ,

depend upon it such assertions are mere " leather and prunella" — " sound and fury signifying nothing . " CEBTAYNE QUESTIONS . Where can I get a copy of " Certayne Questions " put to the Craft bKing Henry VI . ?—D . T . —

y [ Nowhere . "The pretended Locke paper is a sham . The " Certayne Questions" are to be found in Preston , and nearly every other Masonic book ; they are a gross and clumsy forgery .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The JSditor is not responsible for the opinions expressedly Correspondents . KNIGHTS TEMPLAR , TO THE EDITOR OF THE rEEEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC HIEItOE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —As I am not a regular attendant at Grand Conclave , or , if there , not blessed with that most inestimable of all giftsthe " gift of

, the gab , " Avould you kindly find me a corner in your pages , which may elicit a little wholesome discussion on the subject of the propositions and resolutions come to at the last Grand Conclave ; and here I would observe , that the MAGAZINE is the only organ through which proA'incial brethren can make knoAvn their

opinions and wants to their rulers , the London brethren , and therefore your independent and truthful paper Bhould receive tenfold and increasing support , from provincial brethren . " Innovation" is the Masonic " old bogie ; " but those who invoke it , forget , or are unaware , tbat all

English Masonry is an innovation—that by the 1717—1725 Constitution , before the alleged London revival , all degrees above initiate could be given iu a Grand Lodge only—the Grand Lodge at York ; that it was only gradually that other lodges from the period named obtained the privileges—occasionally

from one centre , and then from another—Scotland , Ireland , France , and America—of one degree after another , until the system of the ancient Masons was in full operation at the close of last century ; that there were no general assemblies of Blue Masons —how soon after 1717 was blue adopted ? I take the lamb skin apron to come from the Eastern girdle ,

and to have no necessary connection with the working apron of the smith or operative Mason . The early Templars always used a g irdle on investure in imitation of the Bssenes—at all , before 1717 , aud no general assemblies of Templars until 1701 ; and that these bodies could only come into operation by the

destruction of the York system of government . Of course , provincial assemblies are of still more recent date than the Grand Lodges and Encampments in London ; such being the case , and everything mutable , why not innovate still further , by restoring something like the ancient system of government—for a more

mongrel affair than the present never was conceived by the brain of man . Where on earth did it originate ? What is it ? What are we ? Until 1800 , 1 can find mention of no more than

three officers in a private encampment , viz ., the Royal Grand Commander , the Senior Grand Commander , and the Junior Grand Commander ( by-the-bye , a Malta title—for preceptor was the term used by the-Templars—though as Ave have now neither castles ormonasteries , there can be no house preceptors in the

sense in Avhich it was anciently used ) . So that to these ancient knights the present series—perfection itself in the eyes of some—would be innovation , and where is the authority for them ? As for the term " Masonic" Knights Templar , I can find no traces of its use in the best province in England before 1851 though Dunckerly uses the term in his Avarrants between 1791-1796 , but it was never adopted , and

is pure nonsense . In the Province of Lancashire there is now a proposition to place £ 5 5 s . in the hands of the Prov . G . Commander to send a brother , to London to represent the province ; but what is the value of such a proposition , for these innovations are scarcely yet recognised by Grand Conclave ; an d I would suggest that

the statutes recognised them as the Ancient Bailiwicks —provinces , in the Ancient Templar signification of the term they are not , for a province was alunyne like England—giving a vote to the Bailiff , Master , Prior , or Prov . G . Commander , and his two leading officers or captains ; and compelling the head of these

Bailiwicks to record the votes of each encampment , which , under the present system , are virtually unrepresented . Of course some sop should be throAvn to the oldest encampment in each province , for however much consternation the assertion may cause , its E . C . is , of descent and of right , the true Prov . G . Commander of

the province . It is rather a sapient idea to confine the recent concession of election of Prelate to the Colonies . If of use anywhere it would have been in England , where we have so many excellent brethren amongst the clergy . As to the Arch qualification , why not render a brother eligible Avho has received either the Arch or

the Rose Croix ? This , I know , is like making a Master before an Apprentice -, but then it will only be . imitating the policy of the S . C ., which has annulled the Templar qualification , throwing into the bargain a refusal to recognise the old governing body in any shape . Many years ago there was au encampment established at Stockport under warrant from the

Duke of Kent , which did not compel its members to be Masons at all ; aud the Jerusalem Encampment , Manchester , passed a law in 1786 , requiring all knights who had received the Templar degree before the Royal Arch to be " remade . " This encampment Avas formed by one Athol Lodge ( No . 39 ) . Qut of England ( Avhere

we are fortunately blessed with universal Masonry , and Avhere there is universality there must , of course be , the greatest freedom ) say in Ireland , a brother would be admitted into an Apprentice lodge in the clothing , of any Masonic degree he preferred ; and if a visitor , on his admission the Master would address him thus :

Brother , from Avheuce come you ? A . From the worthy and worshipful Lodge of St . John in the East . Q . What rank do you hold ? A . ( say ) A Knight Templar . W . M . Brethren , I call upon you to salute the worthy knight . But this is nothing to us ; the Irish are a benig hted race - , they practise Ancient York Masonry ; they dwell in the Masonic