Correspondence.

seen a letter in The Guardian from a Chaplain to a Masonic Lodge , that to which I presume you have referred . The incumbent of Rhyl is a Freemason , and he , I suppose , invited the Masons to attend . „ I am , yours faithfully , " TOWNSHEND . MAINWARING .

"It strikes me that you should send THE EREEMASONS MAGAZINE to the Bishop , which contains my letter ancl the Knt's . reply . " T . "W . Cooper , Esq ., Wolverhampton . " Upon the receipt of the above , I wrote to Bro . Cooper , giving him certain reasons why he should not address the

Bishop of Salisbury , and asking him to furnish me with a copy of his letter to Mr . Mainwaring and also to communicate to that gentleman that he had sent me his letter and that it was my intention , with your leave , to rjublish it in THE EREEMASONS MAGAZINE . Unfortunately he did not retain a copy nor did Mr . Mainwaring return his note , so Bro . Cooper sent meas nearly as he could recollectits

pur-, , port , thus : — " Wolverhampton , June , 1861 . "SIR , —I have read your 'Appeal to the Ereemasons of England ancl Wales ' in The Guardian , and if you havo not read Mr . Matthew Cooke's reply to it in the columns of THE EREEMASONS MAGAZINE of the 15 th of June , I would urge you to do so .

"As a Freemason , I am , with many others , anxious to know what your rejoinder is . My own opinion , if I may be allowed to express it , is that you have made a great mistake , and your misrepresentations require some adjustment . " I am , Sir , yours truly , "T . W . COOPER . " Townshend Mainwaring , Esq ., M . P . "

The second letter from Mr . Mainwaring to Bro . Cooper follows next : — " Gallifanan , Rhyl , July 9 th . " SIR , —A death in my family , which occured a day or two before I received your letter of the 4 th inst ., has prevented my replying to' it at an earlier period . I cannot lay my hand at present on your letter , but I do not think it would

throw much light upon the question at issue . If you have not written to the Bishop , I would advise you to read another bishop ' s opinion upon Preemasonry , which you will find in the life of Bishop Armstrong , before you write to the Bishop of Salisbury . I am quite prepared to write to the Bishop of Salisbury when I see his reply to your letter , but I hope I shall not have occasion to do so , as such correspondence does not generally tend to edification . " I am , yours faithfully ,

" TOWNSHEND MAINWARING . " T . W . Cooper , Esq . Wolverhampton . " Mr . Mainwaring seems to have misunderstood Bro . Cooper , and supposed that I had replied to his letter in The Guardian . This is evidently a mistake . The letter that did appear in that paper of June 26 th is subjoined , but who tho writer was I am entirely ignorant .

"REPLY TO MR . MAINWARING ' S APPEAL . " SIR , —As chaplain to a Masonic lodge , I trust you will allow me to say , in reply to Mr . Mainwaring ' s appeal , which appeared in The Guardian the week before last , that Preemasonry is not to be blamed , so far as I can see , for anything which took place at Rhyl , as described in Mi-. M . ' s letter . "The questions arise— the Freemasons of Rhl in

were y - vited to attend the foundation-laying of the church , ' or not ? Was the Provincial Grand Master desired to lay the stone , or not ? If these questions be answered in tho " affirmative , where , then , was the blame ? Certainly not in the Freemasons . "I myself should strongly maintain , though a Mason , that the foundation-stone of a Christian church should be laid

in the name tho Holy Trinity , and should not say that I had a prejudice in favour of it . Mr . M . states that he "may have a prejudice in favour of the church , " as compared with the society of Freemasons . For my own part , I dare not venture to compare the two ; the one being a Divine

institution for man ' s salvation , the other a human society which seeks to promote morality and other useful ends . I do not see any antagonism between them , neither am I aware that Freemasonry , as such , contemplates any . "A FREEMASON . "JimelOth , 1 S 6 I . " The first fallacy in Mr . Mainwaring ' s letter is the

assumption that because the Bishop of Salisbury is a brother Mason he is to subscribe to a certain formula set forth by Mr . Mainwaring for the purpose of quieting Mr . M . 's conscience as to the form of invocation used , and to which he objects . Mr . Mainwaring shows himself " cunning of fence " in this suggestion . He does not say to Bro . Cooper " I will put myself in communication with the bishop" but"if tho

, , Bishop of Salisbury will write to you and say , " - —that which Bro . Cooper has no right to ask his lordship for any more than Mr . Mainwaring . The words used , "in the name of the Grand Geometrician of the Universe" are neither improper or irreverent . The Almighty is the Great Architect , as well as the Grand Geometrician of this world . He is its designer , creator

aud maker , and in each of these characters has frequently been addressed by Saints and Holy men of old . The style is reverent , inasmuch as to no other person is the invocation offered . But to any one inclined to cavil at an old-fashioned form , it may be necessary to add that its quaintness does not stamp it as improper , or if so , what becomes of the prayers in the ancient Gallican liturgy which commence

" Bon Sire Dieu ! " —In the early fathers , in collections of hours , in glosses , in paraphrases , of writers both of the Eastern and Western churches , the Deity is frequently addresed as "God of the World , "— "Pramer ; of this earth , " —Maker of all things , " and under a variety of forms of the ineffable name . The Jews with their caballa include twelve varieties .. The Mahomedans have a science called " Ism Allah . " The

Hindoo uses a mystical word which he learns , but never speaks . The Druids used a sacredfigure , and in the Litany of the Romish Church we find him apostrophised as " The-Rose of Sharon , " & c . ¦ See also in A Hymnal for use in the English Church , published by Mozley , Masters , & c , 1855 , the following forms ot Invocation used : —

" Lord of eternal truth and might , Ruler of nature ' s changing scheme !" so also a translation of " Creator alme siderum " " 0 blest creator of the light I " and another rendering " Creator of the starry height , Th le liht

y peop ' s everlasting g . " or again , where God is addressed as "Health of the world" ( Advent Hymn So . 10 . ) . and in the " Septuageshna Hymns" the first commences "Maker of earth , to thee alone Perpetual rest belongs . "

All precedents both Jewish , Gentile , and Christian , are against Mr . Mainwaring ' s objection , the Almighty having been addressed in terms as numerous as the sands of thesea , and according to the fervour of imagination , antiquity , or custom , which his worshippers have selected . Whilst Mr . Mainwaring "hopes he is a plain-dealing honest man , and though he still ventures to think , for christian men

in a christian country , the services appointed for the layingthe foundation of churches oughttobe considered sufficient by Freemasons , " & c , he has proved himself to be anything but a plain-dealer . —AVhere are the " services appointed" to be found ? Can he show any such form in the Prayer Book P Do the _ Canons ancl Constitutions of the Church of England recognise any such forms ? Who drew them up ? Are they

to be obtained , for the Diocese of St . Asaph , at Queen Anne ' s bounty office ? Mr . Mainwaring must know that there are no such services having any authority . There are two or three forms , used in as many dioceses set forth by their respective bishops , and to be had of Mr . Hodgson , but there is none for the diocese of St . Asaph , ancl none of authority for the Church of England . Fie on such " plain dealing . " But does Mr . Mainwaring recollect that Dr . Short , the Bishop of St . Asaph , was present at Rhyl , and that he