Reviews.

brother should pay to the Treasurer " one dollar . " The petition of St . John ' s Lodge of New York to become Ancient Masons was granted , and the price to be paid for a warrant was fixed at six guineas , and for a book of bye laws at one guinea . On the 5 th August 1783 , a Committee of Charity was appointed , and it was further resolved that the Grand Deacons and Grand Stewards , in the event of neglecting

to attend on the stated Lodge nights , except from unavoidable causes , should be suspended , and others appointed in their stead . On the 19 th September 1783 , it was resolved that the Grand Warrant , establishing the Lodge , should bo left in charge of the Grand Officers , to be appointed in succession to those about to leave the city , and Grand Master Wnlter beins of this number , he is succeeded

by and instals as his snccessor the R . W . Bro . William Cock , who had become Junior Grand Warden . On the 1 st October the thanks of Grand Lodge are unanimously voted to their late G . M . Walter and G . S . W . Brownrigg ( who , temporarily , occupies the chair of Deputy Grand Master ) . On tho 5 th November a Committee is appointed to consider tho state of tho Lodge in Connecticut . On the 3 rd

December it is resolved to hold Grand Lodges tho first Wednesday in every alternate mouth , instead of monthly . On the 4 th February 1784 , Samuel Kerr , W . M of No . 169 , is elected Deputy Grand Master , and R . W . Bro . Cock having announced his intention of resigning the Grand Master ' s Chair , Bro . Livingston is elected his successor , and installed by proxy . At tho same meeting , it was resolved unani .

mously that a Committee of Charity or Stewards' Lodge be appointed , and meet the third Wednesday in every month , the three oldest Masters of Lodges meeting , however , " as often as possible , " to grant relief to petitioners . It was further determined that , henceforth , Grand Lodge should meet quarterly , namelv , on the first Wednesday in March , June , September , and

December . Thenceforth we have minutes of the meetings of the Grand Stewards' Lodge of Charity . On the 3 rd March the newly appointed G . M . Bro . Livingston is in person installed and proclaimed , and a vote of thanks , to be accompanied by a ring , is passed to P . G . M . Cock . At an Emergency Meeting of Grand Stewards' Lodge , on the 27 th March , it is resolved unanimously that St . John ' s Lodge , No . 2

having surrendered its warrant on the 3 rd , be admitted to all tho rights and privileges of members of Grand Lodge , and take rank of all Lodges constituted after date of the said surrender . It is further agreed that all other Lodges similarly situated to St . John ' s , No . 2 , and who should follow their example , would be similarly received . It is also agreed that the election of Grand

Officers be at least fourteen days before the feast of St . John the Baptist . At a Grand Stewards' Lodge on 21 st April , Bro . Clark attends and surrenders warrant of Royal Arch No . 8 , exhibiting also the proceedings respecting tho appointment of Officers and the Lodge Bye-laws . A Committee is appointed to investigate and report , and this report , delivered the 19 th May , is confirmed and

a recommendation made to Grand Lodge for a renewal of warrant . All which is renewed and confirmed b y Grand Lodge on 2 nd June . At a Grand Lodge of Em rgency on the 23 rd of the same month representatives of Solomon ' s Lodge No . 1 , of Poughkeepsie , Union Lodge of Albany , Masters Lodge No . 2 , and St . John ' s Lodge No . 1 , of Clarkstown appeared , acknowledged the jurisdiction of

Grand Lodge and took their seats accordingly . A resolution to the effect that the officers of tho Country Lodges not having produced and surrendered their patents should not be allowed to vote was negatived . Tbe patent of St . Patrick ' s Lodge , Tryon Connty , being reported to have been either destroyed or carried off to Canada , it wns resolved to grant a new one free of cost . At the Grand Lodge

on the 1 st September members requiring a Grand Lodge Certificate were to pay for stationery , & c , and to G . S . for filling in and signing same tho sum , altogether , of ten shillings , no such certificate to be granted without production of the Master ' s or presiding officer ' s certificate . It was further agreed that Lodges should make returns of their members , " noting Admissions , Initiations , and Casualties , in order that a Register may be made . " These returns to bo delivered

to Grand Secretary at every Quarterly Communication . At the meeting of Grand Stewards' Lodge , on 16 fch February 1785 , a Committee was appointed to prepare a code of Bye-laws for the govern , ment of Grand Lodge . This report was delivered at a Grand Lodge of Emergency , on the 21 th February , and referred to the next regular meeting on the 2 nd March , when the report was submitted and accepted , and the Bye-laws ordered to be published , ( To be Continued . )

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Cor respondents . IPe 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 .

BIBLICAL RESEARCH . To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' CHKONICIE . Manchester , 26 th July 1876 . DFAR SIR AND BROTHER , —The author of the article upon the fight ot the Israelites from Egypt , ( in your number of 15 th July ) may not havo perused a little w-rfc issued this year by Sir G . B . iiirey , ou the " earlier Hebrew Scriptures . " He would there find corroborative deductions , confirmatory of the interesting discoveries of Dr . Brugacb .

Sir G . Airey , moreover , inclines to tho belief that there were volcanic eruptions occurring among the Sinaitic range at the period : he thus accounts for " the burning bash , "—a lambent flame streaming OB the wind out of a Volcanic fissure j—and for the pillars of fire and

cloud . " So long as the Mokattam hills were between the Israelites and the Sinaitio Peninsula , nothing remarkable was seen . But aa soon aa they had made the turn which led them to Pi . hahiroth , they saw in front a pillar of cloud by clay , and a pillar of fire by night . This continued until they changed the direction of their march to go from Pi-hahiroth to the passage-place , and then the pillar of fire was

behind them ... It will be seen that the march which terminated at Pi-hahiroth was directed exactly towards Horeb , and that there were no intervening hills to interrupt the view of Sinai . We have seen that some months before Horeb exhibited signs of heat ; and six weeks after this time it presented all the appearance of Volcanic eruption . . . The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire

were accompaniments of that eruption . Therefore , when the direction of march was changed . . . the pillar of fire was nearly behind the Israelites , not because it had changed place , but because their faces were turned in a direction nearly opposite to that in which they were turned before . " Whilst deprecating the confident tone assumed by the writer of the

above , I am not one of thoso who consider that the received conjectural traditions as to the interpretation and original statements of Holy Writ ( especially in the earlier portions of the Pentateuch ) bear the stamp of finality . Sir G . Airey , however , continues his hypothesis to account for the subsequent flames and thunders of Sinai at tho delivery of the Tables of the Law . Yet it would appear that although the rocks of that region are igneous , there is no

Volcanic lava in the neighbourhood . Metamorphic rocks have never been seen as the produce of modern Volcanoes , and it needs , I imagine , some strain upon received geological bases to assume that it was so in this case . As regards the aerial pillar , it has been often remarked by observers of Volcanoes , that what by day appeared like a dense column of cloud issuing from the crater , had at nighttime a highly luminous aspect . I beg to remain ,

Dear Sir and Brother , Yours sincerely , A . ClESGIMAS

Lodge Fees.

LODGE FEES .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHBONICXE . Glasgow , 28 th July 1876 . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I havo heard of a case where a candi . date for initiation , after payment of the entrance fee and subscription , retracted and declined to proceed . Is he , in such a case , entitled to have the fee returned , or should it bo held forfeit ?

Years fraternally , GIENDHU . We opine that the fees would be returned . Notwithstanding a case , cited at p . 48 of Oliver ' s Masonic Jurisprudence , where it is

stated that , at the Tralee Sessions , a person sued for the return of his fees under somewhat similar circumstances , and the plaint was dismissed on the ground that the plaintiff had voluntaril y handed over the money , and was not entitled to compel its return .

Charity.

CHARITY .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —A copy of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE having accidently come into my possession , dated 1 st January 1876 , I read , with a great amount of pleasure , the poetical effusion of Bro . Walter Spencer . " As we gaze thro' months to come

Before our eyes the pathless Future reaches ; Expected weal will fructify for some , And some will learn the moral Sorrow teaches ; To Brethren dear , whose hopes are soaring high , The year beams , as with Gladness' oil anointed ; Others may think the months too loth to fly And linger , disappointed .

How good , great and generous are the sentiments here expressed —and yet how true . Yet I fear that , in this money-making age , we do not act in accordance with the author ' s meaning . How many members of the Craft , overloaded with this world ' s wealth , fail to see , or pass coldlyon the other side , a humble Brother thafe may perchance be contending against unmerited poverty , sickness and want .

On the day in which Bro . Spencer gave to the world—and to the Craft in particular—the lines previously quoted , after enjoying the festivities of the day , I determined to call upon an old Masonic friend who I had been informed resided in the neighbourhood where I was at that moment a visitor . Intending a little agreeable surprise , I entered his residence , the door of which stood invitingly open . There

bnfore me , on a bed of sickness lay one , the remnant of her former self . That wasted form , those sunken eyes , pale and hollow cheeks , with an occasional hectic flush , told mo , at a glance , that want , suffering , pain and sorrow were before me ; by that couch sat my friend , affectionately trying to soothe the dying form on which I gazed ; his words fell on the ear , clear , distinct , loving and affectionate , " Trust in God j cast all your cares upon Him ; He is ever ready to help those

that call npon and put their trust in Him . He is now our only friend . " In a moment I realised the whole scene , it needed no words to inform me that want and suffering were here . In silence I took the small , thin , transparent hand in my own , and reverently bent my lips towards it . Half an hour afterwards , this unfortunate couple were thanking the Giver of all Good for having sent them a friend when almost every hope had died within them . Yours fraternally , QHS Of IBS CSAWi