Her Majesty's Father On. Masonic Templary.

Masonic correspondence amongst them , and , if so , no doubt a respectful application would be met with a permission to take copies of them . Who can tell where Dunckcrley ' s portrait , for which the Prince returns thanks , is to be seen now ?

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

THE HIGH GBADES UT 1731 . Within a very few days a charter , empowering certain high grade Ereemasons to confer the Rose Croix aud 30 th degraes , dated 1721 , and signed by Prince Charles Edward Stuart ( James III . as he was called by his adherents in 1715 ) , with a very perfect seal of the chapter of Arraswas placed in my hands as a curiosity worth

, y of attention . Its possessor has also , in his collection , several letters of Charles I ., in which Freemasonry is distinctly mentioned . I am not at liberty , at present , to say more , but I hope this note will be acceptable to Delta who has written so learnedly and conclusively on the antiquity of Masonic degrees . —MATTHEW COOKE .

ANCIENT l'OKK MASONS . Aii old Masonic writer says " the ancient York Masons and their constitution , was entirely drojDt at the revival of the English Grand Lodge in 1717 . " By whom was the York rite dropped , so entirely except by Sayer , Desaguliers , and Co . ? Was not York Masonry English Masonry ? The inference to be drawn from the

quotation above is , that it was not . The Yorkshire brethren of the present day are said to be the most bright of all Masons , does this follow from their being the descendants and countrymen of the old York Masons ? - —J . T . W . — [ The York rite has never been dropped , it is in dailyuse aud flourishing in more than half the universe . The passage is ambiguous , the writer intended to make the

Grand Lodge of 1717 the Grand Lodge of England , in opposition to the Grand Lodge of York , and expressed himself so awkwardly as to produce a momentary doubt , such as occurred to J . T . W ., but his meaning cannot really bo misunderstood . There is no question as to the Masonic talent of the Yorkshire brethren , but there are , in every province , quite as bright Masons as they , and as to their connection with the old York rite it is as nothing . ]

THE MAINWAIIINGS . A brother some time ago made inquiry respecting tho Mainwarings : — " The only child of Joshua Radclifl ' e , Esq ., of Todmorden , married Roger Mainwaring , of Kerringliam , in the county of Chester , who dissipated the possessions , and , about the year 1700 , sold the Todmorden estates . " —Baines . A .

SUPPRESSION 01 ? RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS . In a short account of York , I find the following respecting the " Pilgrims of Grace , " which account is extracted chiefly from Graud Master Drake ' s Eboracum ; it may help us to a proper understanding of the secret meetings and secret methods of the York brotherhood , as well as the interference of Elizabeth in 1561 ( two years after the

second dissolution of the Order of St . John ) . Was the Order of St . John revived at York during the reign of Mary ? Could any brother give me proof , previously to 1787 , that York Templary included the Order of St . John ? This is denied by some , whilst on the other hand it appears probable such was the case ; and wherever the York degrees are practised , the two Orders are

united ; under any circumstances the Templars must have been the predominant element in the North . I trust no attempt will be made to make the Order of Malta a higher degree , as the Templars were always considered the more noble order . Judging from the minutes of the Scotisk lodges , previously to Bro . Desaguliar ' s visit to Edinburgh , the meetings in the crypt could not apply to a craft lodge . Also , I would observe that if our present ceremonies were

possessed by the craft masons , our master ' s degree , according to the minutes and even to tbe sense of its own legend , must necessarily havo been the Fellows' Ceremony . What , then , was the speculative masters' ceremony ? It is not sufficient to refer me to the ceremonies established after 1717 , because there is ample evidence that the best part of the speculative ceremonies , as

practised centuries before , were omitted , aud it is useless attempting to conceal the fact that , until a very recent , period , all Masonry was Christianism . It is rather singular De Quincey should fix on the date 1646 as the period when the Rosicrucians assumed the name of Ereemasons . These Rosicrucians had several degrees , aud was it not about that period the TemplarsFree and

, Accepted Masons , < fec ., in England , claimed to represent — -by some supposed imaginary—fraternity of the Cross of Roses ? "From this period the annals of York contain scarcely any important transaction , till the year 1536 ,. the 27 th Henry VIII ., when the suppression of the monasteries and the progress of the Reformation excited

a great sensation in the northern counties . The suppression of the religious houses inflicted a terrible blow on the grandeur of York . In tho reign of Henry Y ., this city contained , besides the Cathedral , 41 parish , churches , 17 chapels , 16 hospitals , and 9 religious houses , including the noble Abbey of St , Mai-y , ivithout Boothwood Bar . No soonersays Drakewas the word iven

, , g , than down fell the monasteries , priories , chapels , and hospitals in this city , and with them , for company , I _ suppose , 18 parish churches , the material revenues of all being converted to secular uses . The lazars , sick and . old people were turned out of hospitals , and priests and '

nuns out of religious houses , to starve or beg their bread . The natural consequences of such sweeping and indiscriminate reforms was to excite a spirit of rebellion , and in Yorkshire a formidable insurrection , was raised by Robert Aske , a gentleman of considerable fortune , who possessed great influence in the county . The other chief persons concerned were Sir Robert

Constable , Sir John Bulmer , Sir Thomas Percy , Sir Sfcojjben Hamilton , Nicholas Tempest , and Wm . Lumley , Esquires . Their enterprise they called ' the Pilgrimage of Grace , ' ancl they swore that they were moved by no other motive than their love to God , their care of the King ' s person and issue , their desire to purify the nobilityto drive base-born from

, persons about the King , to restore tbe Church , and to suppress heresy . Allured by these pretensions about 4-0 , 000 men , from the counties of York , Durham , and Lancaster , flocked to their standard , and their zeal , no less thau their numbers , inspired the Court with apprehensions . When the army was put in motion , a number of priests marched at their head , in the habits of their Order ,

carrying crosses in their hands ; in their banners was woven a crucifix , with the representation of a chalicej , and the five wounds of Christ , and they wore on their sleeve an emblem of the five wounds with the name of Jesus wrought in the middle . All that joined them took the oath that they entered into this Pilgrimage of Grace for the love of God , the preservation of the King ' s

person , the restitution of the Church , and suppression of heretics . The rebels succeeded in taking both Hull and York , and laid siege to Pontefract Castle , in which , the Archbishop and Lord Darcy , at the head of a body of the King ' s troops , had thrown themselves . The Castle speedily surrendered , and the Prelate and the noblemen joined the insurrection . The Duke of Norfolk ,,

at the head of a small army of 5000 men was sent against the rebels , and the King issued a proclamation , in which ho told them that they ought no more to < pretend DO give a judgment with regard to Government than a blind man with regard to colours ! and we , he added , 'with our whole council , think it right , strange that ye , who are but brutes and inexpert folks , do take upon you to appoint us who be meet or not for our