Correspondence.

neighbour ' s landmark , and all the people shall say Amen . Nice—Nise—INi' san !—the 21 st is the vernal equinox ! Yours fraternally , HENRY MELVILLE .

THE BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS . 10 THE EDITOR OF TEE FREEMASONS' . MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR . Dear Sir and Brother , —Now that Bro . Melville has died out here , it is refreshing to find that his disciples at the antipodes are not defunct , and that Bro . of Hobart

Evans , Town , firmly believes that events , theological , mythological , and historical , have been compiled from the objects delineated in the Celestial Atlas . Bro . Melville made a very false step when he left such believers in Tasmania toperil himself among the doubters at home . Theology , mythology , and learnedl

history are y mixed up together and derived from the same fount . Bro . Evans , however , asks a question not yet solved by the Celestial Atlas : how it is that the editors and publishers of the Book of Constitutions have not given an account of the oriin of ? I

g Freemasonry apprehend it is for a very good reason , that they now think they do not know and wait to be informed . Time was when they believed what is published in the Calendar , that St . Alban was the proto-martyr and the proto-Mason of England . Luckily they are now ashamed to believe thisand there will he harm

, no in waiting until we know with some degree of safety what to believe . In the meanwhile , Freemasonry will not be less good . Yours fraternally , P . M .

SCOTTISH LODGES . TO THE EDITOR OJ ? TEE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR . Dear Sir and Brother , —If J . A . H . will take the trouble of again referring to the latter portion of my communicationhe will see I did not " admit that I

, never even heard of a certain part of the O . B . ; " on the contrary , I said , " I cannot dispute at present " that the St . Clair Lodge , Glasgow , swears a profane to exclude from the Order lame men , etc . But I know the Grand Lodge of Scotland does not exclude such . I am aware such injunctions were given in

the ancient eliargeo , but , to meet the altered circumstances of speculative Masonry , these injunctions have been pronounced obsolete , and several Grand Lodges have decided that such admissions are both justifiable and legal . J , A . H . does not seem to notice the former and principal part of my letter , unless "I spoke of

what I knew , and testified to what I had seen , " refers to it ; if so , he will greatly oblige by giving the number of the lodge or lodges whose ordinary practice is to make a profane a full-fledged Master Mason in one evening . Yours fraternally , E . W . M .

MASONIC DISCIPLINE . TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR . ^ Dear Sir and Brother—I regret that the letter of " Crux , " which appeared in your number of Sept . 11 th , should not have been answered sooner , hut as

several thousand miles have to be traversed before your Magazine reaches me , delay in reply is unavoidable . I must express my surprise and sorrow that my courteous article should have made " Crux " so angry , and I must say that I think he is inconsistent ; he

invites other brethren to give their assistance , and then is annoyed at anyone else daring to suggest other modes for arriving at the same end . As to " dragging behind , " instead of " pushing behind , " if my partner in the shafts be taking a downhill journeyor the wrong roadit may be the most useful

, , thing to do . As to a breach of " press etiquette , " in writing an article on the same ftubject as " Crux , " I confess I was not aware that a subject was closed for ever because one writer had indited an article thereon .

Such a title as a "Masonic Discipline is public property , like such titles aa " The Irish Church , " " The State of Europe , " & c . May I not write an article , if so disposed ( which I decidedly am not ) , on " Masonic Celestial Mysteries ? " May not an article appear under the heading " Grand Lodge . " Again

, what does it matter whether I am , or am not , " accustomed to literary labours ? " I am , at all events , accustomed to Masonic labours , and therefore my opinion may be worth hearing . It is also possible that " Crux " may , in this , as on other points , be mistaken .

" Crux ' says that I have " overlooked the fact that a brother cannot be a Master till he has served one year as Warden . " This is an error : I have never thought otherwise ; but in whatever " Crux " graduated , it could not have been logic , for he goes on to say , " consequently either the S . W . or J . W ., in

a properly regulated lodge must become the W . M . ! " Why ? There may be twenty brethren in the lodge who have served the office of Warden ; all the P . M . ' s must have done so , and there may be many Past Wardens who have never obtained the chair , and all these are eligible , as well as the S . W . and J . W . of the year .

As for the examination for certificates of efficiency , I do not see that it matters much whether it be in a college by a board of examiners , Grand Lodge of Instruction , or what " Crux " will see by my subsequent articles , that I suggest something not very different ; but a plan to be useful must be practicable

, and , though London brethren could easily attend and pass , the Craft generally could not and would not . lam not stating what I would do , for J should take the earliest opportunity of passing ; hut of the chance of the plan being successful , and unless you made it a sine qua non that a candidate for the chair

should possess a certificate , brethren would not see the use of travelling long distances to obtain it . How could brethren from Cornwall , Northumberland , Wales , and the Colonies attend this London Lodge of Instruction till perfect , and then pass ? I think the plan suggested by me at page 203 would be more useful .

As but few brethren would have an opportunity of passing , it is probable that but one brother in a lodge might have done so , whilst the lodge desired some other brother for Master . " Crux ' s " logic turns this into a statement that " the fact of his having shown himself thoroughly qualified would render him undesirable . " Let me remind " Crux " that post hoc need