Consecration Of The Cranbourne Lodge, No. 1580, Hatfield.

CONSECRATION OF THE CRANBOURNE LODGE , No . 1580 , HATFIELD .

THE consecration meeting of this Lodge was held at the Red Lion Hotel , Hatfield , on Wednesday , tho 29 th inst . The ceremony was ably performed by Bro . F . II . Wilson lies , P . G . S ., who was appointed by the Provincial Grand Master to perform tho ceremony . Tho brethren assembled iu tho ante-room , and marched in procession to tho Lodge room , where tho Consecrating Officer appointed Bro .

Lowthin P . G . S . W . to be Senior Warden , and Bro . John Hervey G . S . to bo J . W . Tho Lodgo was then duly consecrated and constituted , tho musical portion of tho ceremony being ably rendered by Bro . Patorson P . G . O . After tho consecration of tho Lodgo , Bro . Edgar Bowyer was regularly installed into tho chair of K . S ., tho installation ceremony being ably performed by tho Consecrating Otlicor ,

assisted by Bro . Terry P . G . D . C . for Ilorts . Bro . Bowyer then invested his officers as follow : —Bros . Mather S . W ., Bansor J . W ., Cook Treasurer . Terry Secretary , Cox S . D ., Hal ford J . D ., Hollier I . G ., Killick D . C ., Verry A . D . C ., Massey and Beadell Stewards , Steedman Tyler . Upon tho brethren being invited , several propositions for initiation and joining wero made . A letter of regret was road from

E . W . Bro . Halsoy Prov . G . M ., at not being able to be present , a regret that was universally felt by the brethren . A voto of thanks was unanimously given to tho Consecrating Officer , Bro . lies , Bros . Lowthin P . G . S . W ., Hervey G . S ., and Paterson P . G . O ., for their respective services . Tho Lodge was then closed in duo form . Tho brethren then adjourned to tho banquet , which was most ably served . The

usual loyal and Masonic toasts wero given and responded to , and a very agreeable evening was spent . Bro . Hervey , in responding to tho toast of the Grand Officers , made some very pertinent remarks on tho present prosperous condition of tho Craft , and warned the brethren to bo most careful in tho selection of candidates ; not to

study numbers , but to admit none but those who would becomo a credit to tho Craft . Bro . Bincko 3 , in responding to tho toast of tho Masonic Charities , mado a very ablo speech , as also did Bro . Terry , in response to tho toast of the Officers . From tho success attending tho consecration mooting , wo entertain no doubt that tho future of tho Lodgo will bo a . prosperous one .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Correspondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . All Letters must bear the name and address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith .

THE MARQUESS OF RIPON" AND " Q " To the Editor of Tin : FREEMASON ' S Cinioxicu :. DEAR SIR , —I do not know what answer tho Secretaries of tho E . M . Institution for Girls and Boys will make to Bro . Q . ' a opportuno query ; but I do know that " 071 . ee a Grand OJpecr always a Grand Officer" is the law of tho Grand Lodgo of England . It seems to mo most unfair that tho Officers or Past Officers of tho Grand Lodge

should havo ono law for them , and another law to be in force for the Officers ( Past and Present ) of tho Provincial Grand Lodges , and individual Lodges , and yet so it is . I believe the Most Noble the Marquess of Ripon , K . G ., has ceased to subscribe to any Lodge , under the English jurisdiction , and yet his Lordship is still legally ( it seems ) styled Past Grand Master . Now if a Provincial Officer ( Past or

Present ) ceases to subscribe to any Lodge in his Province he forfeits de facto his Provincial honours ; if a Past Master ceases to subscribe to a Lodge under tho English jurisdiction ho thereby forfeits his membership of the Grand Lodge , and if a Brother ceases to subscribe to a Lodgo he loses his membership , aud his Masonic rights . It is evident , therefore , that Grand Officers have tho peculiar privilege of

retaining their honours , oven when they cease to subscribe to a Lodge under tho Grand Lodgo of England , and have , therefore , no need to pay aught to secure them admission into tho Grand Lodge , and vote at all the Quarterly Communications . I hope this anomaly will bo attended to in duo course , and tho present rule pointc "' , oat hy " Q , " through his energy , will soon be abrogated . Under my Grand Lodgo ( Ireland ) wo havo an annual payment in such instances as the foregoing . MASOXIC INVI :, V rtuAroi ; .

Answers To Correspondents.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS .

All Letters and communications mud be addressed to the Editor of THE FIUIKMASOX ' CHUOMCLK , 07 Barbican , London , E . C . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . T . B . W . —Many thanks for vour kind enclosure . Vou have , however ,

been forestalled , as you will see by our issue of to-day . Wo have to direct tho attention of our correspondent A . K . T . to the UiirnuTanas Lead in ? this column , aud upon his comp'ianiM with tho contlitions , wo shall havo pleasure in answering his question ,

Reviews.

REVIEWS .

All Books intended for Eeview should , be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , G 7 Barbican , E . C . Old Truths in a New Light . —By tho Countess of Caithness . London : Chapman and Hall . Tru ; discrepancies , or apparent discrepancies , between some of tho more recent discoveries of scienco aud tho truths of religion havo

been discussed by numerous writers , and from various standpoints . From tho author of <; Knife and Stoff , " who iu tho ontiro range of Nature could find no placo for a Deity or a Creator , to tho zealous Ultramontane , who has hardly yet becomo reconciled to a belief in tho rotundity of tho earth , a list of writers could bo cited representing almost evcy oouceruablo shade of opinion and predilection with

regard to this important question . The present work , aptly characterised by tho authoress as " an earnest endeavour to reconcile maternal scienco with spiritual scienco and with Scripture , " odors many foaturos of originality . Considerable stress is placed , at tho outset , upon some remarks of Professor Tyndall at the recent meoting of tho British Association at Boli ' ast . '' Tho whole process of

evolution , the Professor affirmed , " is tho manifestation of a power absolutely inscrutable to tho intellect of man . As littlo in our day as in tho days of Job can man by searching find this power out . Uonsidored fundamentally it is by tho operation of an insoluble mystery that life is evolved , species differentiated aud minds unfolded from their prepotent elements in the immeasurable pust . " In the

courso of the same address tho Professor referred to the immoveable basis of tho religious sentiment in tho emotional nature of man , and added , " To yield this sentimeut reasonable satisfaction is the problem of problems at the present day . " Now it is precisely this problem of problems of which tho present work is intended to offer tho solution Tho authoress , iu common with a largo number of ominent

and distinguished persons , both in this country and on the Continent , is a beliovor iu Spiritualism , or , to adopt hor ladyship ' s own expression , in Spiritism . Tho speciality of this belief may bo said to bo that ib offers something approaching to scientific demonstration in support of tho , primary truths of religion . Tho doctrine of tho immortality of tho soul for example needs no longer to depond upon abstrnso

metaphysical arguments or tho testimony of past ages if , as tho Spiritualists assort , communication with tho souls of tho dead has already boon effectively established . If Spiritualism can bo shown to bo no delusion , if it is ablo to set at rest questions of such vital importance to tho woll boing of humanity as this , wo think it cannot fail to

be admitted that tho purpose of this work has been accomplished , aud that Professor Tyndall ' s " problem of problems" has boon shown to bo capable of solution . Apart from tho main thread of tho argument , moreover , the book is full of matters of interest , and will woll repay perusal . A mass of curious information with respect to tho ancieut faiths and traditions of tho world is introduced iu

sunport or illustration of the views of tho writer , which perhaps has never been collected iu a rcadablo form before . In particular , we may mention tho subject of Freemasonry is more than once touched upon , and in a manner which proves that tho authoress is deoply impressed with a belief iu its great antiquity and in tho profouud wisdom of its teachings . Tho origin of tho earlier rites and symbols

ot the Craft must be looked for , 111 tho opinion of tho Countess of Caithness , as far back as tho reign of Osiris . Somo remarks ou tho origin of the Roso Croix order of Freemasonry , erroneously confounded by somo writers with tho cabalistic sect of Rosicrucians , our readers will thank ns for quoting , " I was not aware , " she writes , " any doubt existed as to the tlato or origin of this most ancient and

important order , but upon referring to Maukey s ' Lexicon of Freemasonry , ' I find it staled that although it is agreed by all writers on Masonry 10 be 0110 of tho earliest , if not tho very earliest , of tho higher degrees , yet the most inextricable confusion reigns as to its origin The roso , in ancient mythology , was consecrated to Hippocrates , tho God ot * Silence , lloneo this flower was considered the emblem of knowledge , silence and secrecy . When anything was

intended to bo kept secret it was said to bo delivered sub roso ,, or ' under the rose' Ragon , in explaining the jewel of the Rose Croix ( of which he gives a long and minute description ) , says that the cross was , in Egypt , an emblem of immortality , and the rose of secrecy ; tho rose , followed by tho cross , was therefore tho simplest mode of writiug tho secret of immortality . ' " The work is in a high degrco thoughtful aud suggestive , and will probably be extensively read and discussed .

THE DATE or EASTER 1 S 7 U . —Iu tho ecclesiastical year , according to the rule in tho Prayer-book , " Easter-day ( ou which tho other movable feasts and holy days depend ) is always tho first Sunday after tho full moon which happens upon or next after the 2 lst day ot * March ; aud IF tho full uroou happens upon 11 Sunday , Easter-day is the Sunday after . " Nov . - , look at tho almanack on the wrapper of

the " Leisure Hour , " ( which is specially prepared for it each month by Mr . Diuikin , of the Eoyal Observatory , and contains some valuable astronomical notes ) . Tho full moon next after the illsfc March is set down fur Sth April . Tho first Sunday after this is 9 fch April , whereas the true date lot" Easter is lGth April . This discrepancy has sorely exercised many minds , as on previous

occasions when the Ciiurch Calendar and tho astronomer seemed to bo at variance . The truth is that the rule iu tho Prayer-book is wrong in two points , and needs correction . It is wrong in referring to the visible moon in the heavens , aud wrong iu referring to full moon iusieiid of the fourteenth day atLcr the Calendar moon of March . The Calendar 11100 . li ' alis ou -7 th March , the fourteenth day after which

is Li in - \ pril , the first Sundayuiter which is loth April , Eastor Sunday . The error of referring to the moon iu the heavens is obvious , for it is full moon at different times in dii ' ereut places . Even within so short a . iistaucj as London and Westminster , with rliiiereuce of longitude i . e .. > ve .. i ; si : ; r . u . 1 sxti . ^ . vsus : ; . I ' . i .-. tor < .. lj , ~ L l ' all t . u c . 10 ' . vu .-da / iu ut . i ' dui ' s , aud not tui LUO following oiuiuay m \ vC 3 t 1 uiasier Abucy i — Leisure Hour for April .