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Bro. John Lane's "Masonic Records."*

BRO . JOHN LANE'S " MASONIC RECORDS . " *

" f \ 3 . ! that mine enemy would write a book " is a wish V _/ ascribed to some vengeful individual anxious of letting off some of his superfluous spleen ; but there will be no such utterance in respect of the elaborate and useful volume which Bro . Lane has presented to the Masonic

world . In every way it is one of the most compendious and complete " records " ever yet published , and places on our bookshelves a highly valuable addition to the literature of the Craft . We have often heard the opinion expressed that in taking up the collation of Masonic research the compiler enters upon a thankless task , foritisundoabfcedlv

too true that Masons , as a body , do not read , and it is only the intelligent minority -who make a study of the Art a very considerable portion of their every-day life and enjoyment . Thus , what is caviare to the many is of almost inestimatable value to the few who , assisted by references placed at their disposal by " the leading lights " of Masonic literature , are enabled to drink deeper draughts at the "Piersean stream , " and to leave those who are content with

" a little knowledge" far in the rear . To essay a task like that just completed by Bro . Lane is a feat in literature that has called forth the highest and most deserved eulogies from Masonic critics everywhere ; and , in adding our tribute of admiration to the many others that have been expressed on all sides , we do so with the most profound appreciation of the enormous amount of patience , research , and discrimination which must have been required at the hands of the compiler . It is perhaps fortunate for Bro . Lane that

so gifted and distinguished a Masonic authority as Bro . W . J . Hughan found it advisable to resort to the salubrious climate of the charming watering place of which the author of these " Masonic Records " is a native . Prom an

acqnaintenceship with Bro . Lane , extending over many years , we have reason to know the deep and unwearying interest he has ever evinced in the inner life of Freemasonry . Not content with throwing his energies heart and soul into

the work of his own particular Province , and stimulating all around him into something more than ordinary zeal and assiduity in all that practically concerns the Craft , he

has gone far into the " hidden recesses of nature and science , " and unearthed for the benefit of the Fraternity a vast amount of information , for which every true Mason

will ever be indebted . In the bulky and elegant volume before us we have facts and figures of incomparable value

to every student of Freemasonry , nor is there any of the Dryasdust element in the composition of the work , such as we have met in some previous efforts of a kindred character . Of course , the very nature of the work necessarily involves

an enormous amount of actuarial labour , in the comparison of dates and places , and the formulation of a mass of figures in consecutive order so as to render them easy for reference . But all this has been done with such rare

skill and tact that men of even ordinary insight into the history and progress of the Craft will find a profitable interest in the perusal of its pages . The " Records , " which are dedicated by permission to

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales Most Worshipful Grand Master , comprise a list of all the Lodges at home and abroad , warranted by the four Grand Lodges and the " United Grand Lodge" of England , with their dates of

constitution , places of meeting , alterations in numbers , & c , exhibiting all the Lodges on the English Register for 1886 , together with those previously on the roll , specially

arranged in tabular form , to allow at one view all the numbers taken by each Lodge during the successive alterations to the present date . In addition , particulars aro given of all Lodges having special privileges , centenary

Bro. John Lane's "Masonic Records."*

jewel warrants , & c . It will be seen , therefore , that the work has an absolutely comprehensive scope , and the manner in which the various subjects have been treated by Brother Lane must commend the entire work to tin approval of all into whose hands it may pass . In this pre *

liminary notice of a volume which necessarily involves long and earnest perusal before any definite estimate can be found of its intrinsic value it is not our intention to ^

enlarge upon it critically , even if there is room for criticism of any kind , except from a favourable point of view . We hope to return to the subject in future articles , when we may have had sufficient time to go more thoroughly into the solid mass of matter with which Bro . Lane has favoured us .

In his friendly introduction to the volume , Bro . Hughan rightly describes it as a work of " magnitude and importance , " and in order to explain the circumstances which led to the formation of the Premier Grand Lodge , he gives us the chief materials accessible for examination whioh contain reliable particulars as to Lodge nomenclature , numeration , and location . He reverts to the fact that there were at least four , but probably five or six , Lodges

that took part in the inauguration of the Grand Lodge of England in 1716-17 . In spite of what has been advanced by contemporary writers , he contends , after a careful scrutiny of the earliest Engraved List , issued in 1723 , that there were five " Time Immemorial Lodges " then on the roll . When and by whom these and other old Lodges

were constituted cannot now be decided , " but that they , or similar combinations of Freemasons existed centuries before the Grand Lodge era , cannot be doubted . " The term " Lodge" is met with so early as the fourteenth century , and actual records of Lodge assemblies in Great Britain are still preserved , dating from

the year 1599 , the succeeding century being especially rich in minutes descriptive of the initiation of " Geomatic , " or non-operative members , many of whom were prominent and distinguished personages of that period . Bro . Hughan points out that " the Grand Lodge , therefore , did not introduce speculative Freemasonry , but simply gave it such an impetus that it rapidly attained the

ascendancy which has since been maintained and intensified as the years have rolled on ; the operative regime being gradually ignored , and ultimately discarded . " Information is scanty on the point as to how many independent Lodges

were working in England immediately preceding and succeeding the establishment of the Grand Lodge , bnt it is known that there were several which so existed , the rolls and other MSS . of their transactions being preserved in many instances , notably those of the old Lodge at Tork

Lane describes it as No . 3 ; but that does not alter the case or assign any reason why the Cheshire Cheese , No . 5 , should have taken priority of No . 3 . The Cheshire Cheeso Lodgo was undoubtedly iu existence when the Four

from 1712 ( earlier documents being entered in the inventory of 1799 , but are now lost ) , of Alnwick from 1701 , of Gateshead from 1725 , and others , some of which never fraternised with the new Grand Lodge , whilst several eventually petitioned for and obtained warrants . The first " Book of Constitutions , " based in part on the " Old

Charges , " was published in 1723 , but contains no list of Lodges of any value ; the second edition of 1738 , however , has particulars of a number down to the year of issue , chartered for England and abroad ; so also the third edition of 1756 , but not those of later years . It would be interesting here to enquire the causes which

led to the erasure of the old " Cheshire Cheese " Lodge , which is described in the list of Lodges in 1723 , copied from the engraved list in the library of Grand Lodge , London , as meeting on the first Thursday in every month ,

at a house in Arundel-street , Strand . In Bro . Gould's " Four Old Lodges , " we observe the " Cheshire Cheese " Lodge stands fourth on the list of 1723 , though numbered 5 ; but Bro . Lane , giving the old Lodges the same order of

precedence , attaches no number whatever to the " Cheshire Cheese" in his 1723 list , whilst the Lodge disappears altogether from the list of 1725 , only two years later its place being left " blank . " We imagine some information

might be supplied as to the vanishing of such a Lodge as the " Cheshire Cheese " is supposed to have been , and how in the earlier list so reputed a Lodge as " The Horn , " No . 3 , meeting at Westminster , should have allowed the

" Cheshire Cheese " to take precedence of it on the list , though numbered 5 . In the " Four Old Lodges " we see this Lodge , " The Horn , " numbered 4 , whilst Brother