Masonic Red Cross Order And The Imperial Constantinian Order Of Saint George.

ing knowledge , " "Of late , " says he , "the historical position of the Red Cross (?) has been called in question , by one of the Commissioners on behalf of the Grand Conclave of England . " He has no doubt that these promoters of the spurious

Order , on whom he depends , " will show the world that there is no deception in the case . " lie reverts to the doubts expressed by Lupus , and gives , or seems to give , as the unequivocal evidence to winch he alluded , " A series of articles

by Bro . R . W . Little , " lastly , his struggle between conviction of the real truth , and a friendly desire to protect the deception results in the admission — that " None of tho Masonic

chivalric degrees have any other origin than Masonic , and that after tho revival of Freemasonry x . rj . 1717 . " In other words , he finds unequivocal evidence in the writings of Bro . B . W . Little , that the " Imperial , Ecclesiastical , and Military Order of

. Knights of the Bed Cross of Rome and Constantine " is the true representative of the Imperial Byzantine Order of St . George , and that it is , at the same time , restricted at present , to Masonry ; while , on the other hand , he discovers

that there is no Masonic chivalric degree or Order ( lor that is the meaning ) of higher antiquity than A . D . 1717 . Thus on the one hand , he professes reliance on the foundation of the Order in

England by the Abbe Giustiniaui ante 1685 , and on the other , equal reliance on the fact that there were no such Orders before 1717 . But he recovers himself gradually , and proceeds to make the following sufficiently explicit admissions ,

presumably with the tacit consent of the promoters of the imposture . " The Articles of 1813 / says he , " clo not say a word about Constantine , but as regards this . . I leave it to my friend , Bro . Little , to answer ; I

only know that the Eed Cross degree was that under H . R . H . the Duke of Sussex , " & c . " The Masonic Order called Constantine did '/ : ot exist in tlie last century . " Bro . Hughan now throws his authority ( R . W . L . )

over , honestly admits his suspicion of deception ; and recognises tlie necessity of the Grand Recorder producing some better authority than he has yet done . Following this , is a further admission on the

part of it . W . L ,, which is thus acknowledged by Lupus—'• Bro . R . W . L . ' s word is quite sufficient , that the ritual he possesses is in tho handwriting of of the well-known Mason , Bro . W . R . Wright .

. . who had possibly , or even probably , compiled this ritual himself from a ritual of the old Masonic Red Cross Order , which was not called " Constantine ; " and this is the document written within , probably , two years of 1811 , which R . W . L . refers to when he says , " We now quote the words of an old ritual . "

Archceologists know what is implied by old under such circumstances . But Count Miffei had been already referred to , ancl his explanation reveals the fact , that his Excellency supposed that when holding the

celebrated conference with Bros . Little ancl Busher , * " he was only receiving an application from a Masonic lodge , which is intitled the Eed Cross of Constantine . " At this concluding stage of the argument or

discussion , R . W . L ., i . e ., The Grand Recorder of the Constantinian Order , not only retracts what he had all along persistently maintained , but goes a step farther , and in the face of his own published letters , assures us that he did not say so !

"I have on several occasions , " says he , " stated that the Masonic Order of Constantine , has never claimed connection , with the ( late ) public Order belonging to the extinct kingdom of the two Sicilies ; and as that Order has ceased to exist , " & c .

" It is well-known that all Masonic Orders are based mainly upon tradition preserved in their rituals , and not upon actual historical proofs ; and the same observation may be said to apply to the Red Cross Order , '' & c .

" The theory that the Abbe Giustiniani perpetuated the Order is . . . purely speculative , ancl does not account for its introduction as a Masonic degree . " "I am therefore quite content to accept the

alternative which "Lupus " places before me , and to acknowledge that the Order must now rely upon its Masonic acceptance only . " Any admission more humiliating to a man of honourable feeling , it is not possible to conceive ,

for "R . W . L . " owns to his identity , as the author whose name appears on the title page of the Statutes , of the spurious Order , and who , along with its quasi Grand . Master , must be held responsible for the deception ; ancl it is their imperitive duty , to reduce forthwith , their present " Insignia , " and erase from their Statutes ,