The Literature Of The Craft.

any sound argument . Our early Masonic authors all , more or les ? , complainel of the lack of interest shown by those wbo they had been led to believe would havo supported them in the heavy tasks they had been induced to undertake , while tco often wo are assured such labour

resulted in heartburnings , to say nothing of pecuniary loss and bitter disappointments . In tho present day , however , a better state of things seems to be in the ascendant , and wo bail the advent of so welcome a spirit with gratification . But let us take a retrospective glance , and seo how matters stood gome fifty or ono hundred years back .

One of the most popular works of tbe old series that has been banded down to us is tbo " Illustrations of Masonry , " by the late William Preston , P . M . of the Lodge of Antiquity . Tho first edition of this book was published in 1772 , and so well was the work received that in the

interval of its first issue and the year 1866 no less than seventeen editions appeared . Many of Preston ' s theories have been exploded by late writers , but still tho Masonic student reads and profits by some of Bro . Preston ' s statements . The Kev . George Oliver was another popular writer , and his Masonic works still hold a high position

witb the Craft . In 1793 appeared the first volume of the Freemasons' Magazine , and of this series no less than nine volumes wero issued , the work being continued without intermission till the year 1797 . A now title was then introduced , and two more volumes were produced ; these

were entitled the Scientific Magazine and Freemasons ' Repository , and comprise Vols . X . and XI . of the series . We need scarcely add thafc complete copies of this work are now rarely to be met with ; when they appear in tho market the fortunate holder need have no fear but thafc he

will find a ready customer for them . The next feature of the periodical issues we desire to call attention to is the Freemasons' Quarterly Review . The first number appeared in 1834 , and for seven years the publication was superintended by Bro . Dr . Orucefix . It was continued under

other supervision till 1854 , after then it was still published , but under the title of the Freemasons' Magazine and Masonio Mirror , * and the serial was continued in octavo form until the first half of 1859 . In July of this year a new series was commenced , and the size was increased to

4 to . Tho work was continued in this enlarged form until the year 1871 , and in its entirety comprises a perfect record of the principal Masonic events that occurred during the period of nearly forty years in whicb it was issued , under its various changes of title and shape .

In the year 1869 the Freemason was issued for the first time , and since then it has regularly appeared , week by week . It deservedly holds a place in the estimation of the Craft as an advocate of Masonry ' s best principles , and is a fair exponent of its working . Our own venture was

started in 1875 , and dnring the period the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE has been before the Masonic world it has steadily and sturdily done its best to sustain the dignity and promote the teachings of Freemasonry . The article

that appeared in this journal last week , from the pen of Bro . Robert Freke Gould , introduces us so emphatically to the excellent work being dono by the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , by its production of Masonic Reprints , that we feel we cannot do better than refer our readers to that article

for any further explanation tbey may desire . We may , however state , that when our good Brother Dr . James Anderson accepted his commission to digest the " Old Gothic Constitutions" into a new and better method , he undoubtedly took a free hand wherewith to approach his

task . Later writers continued on the same lines , but the deep research and scholarly labours brought to bear by Bros . Gould , Hughan , Lane , Whytehead , Speth and many others , have dispersed the mists and dispelled much of fche gloom that had hitherto hanged over our past history . It

is gratifying for us to be able to record tbe success that has attended the productions of these authors , and we feel we cannot do better than continue these remarks by briefly summarising some comments that have recently been brought under our notice .

Bro . John Lane ' s Masonic Records , 1717-1886 comprise a complete list of all the Lodges warranted by the Four Grand Lodges and the United Grand Lodge of England

The Literature Of The Craft.

with their dates , places of meeting , successive numbers , & c . The work is dedicated , by gracious permission , to H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , and contains a fac-simile of Pine ' s Engraved List of 1725 , and an introduction by Bro . W . J .

Hughan . The work contains 40 pages more than originally contemplated , and the price is £ 2 2 s nett . Application for copies ( of which but a few remain ) should be sent to the anthor , Brother John Lane , Bannercross , Torquay .

Another work that has already secured a place in tho estimation of the Masonic student is Bro . Lane ' s Hand y Book to the study of the engraved , printed , and manuscript List of Lodges of Ancient , Free and Accepted Masons of England ( Moderns and Ancients ) , from 1723 to 1814 .

Of Bro . Hughan s latest contributions we may refer to the fac-simile of the unique copy of the engraved list of

Lodges , 1734 , Grand Lodge of England . The Lodges noted are 127 in number , and brief histories are given of the most important , comprising the present Nos . 2 , 4 , 6 , 8 ,

10 , 12 , 14 , 16 , & c , down to the Old Lodge at Boston , New England , then numbered 126 , warranted in 1733 . All tho curious signs of the taverns in which the Lodges assembled look as fresh in the fac-simile as if the original was onl y engraved of late years , and the copious notes appended

render this volume one of the most interesting and valuable of Bro . Hughan ' s series of Masonic sketches and reprints . The History of the Apollo Lodge , York , in relation to Craft and Royal Arch Masonry ; with' brief sketches of its

local predecessors and contemporaries , the Grand Lodge of all England ( York Masons ) , the Provincial Grand Lodge , and various Lodges ' from 1705 to 1805 , by the samo author , is also a valuable contribution to tbe Craffc .

We feel we could easily extend this article , but space will not permit . Still wo cannot close our remarks without a brief reference to the bitter disappointment Bro . Gould must have encountered when he realised the conviction

that scarcely any pecuniary benefit would accrue to him from the sale of his " History of Freemasonry , " in America , consequent upon the issue of a piratical edition . He ,

however , has not faltered ; he is still the plodding , painstaking student ; and we trust that not only he , but others , with those we havo mentioned , may long be spared to continue their contributions to the Literature of the Craft .

Who Comes Here ?

WHO COMES HERE ?

A SENTINEL posted at the forefront of an army is a trusted soldier and servant . Upon his vigilance depends tbe welfare of all . If there is an enemy at hand he should be the first to discover ifc , and sound fche alarm . His ringing inquiry , " Who goes there ? " as it vibrates on

the air , is a challenge to friend or foe to declare himself . If he proves to be a friend , witb tho countersign , ho is passed through the lines and enters the camp ; if he has not the password , he is arrested and reported at headquarters .

The Masonic Fraternity has its sentries . No army in the field is better sentinelled than it . No enemy should ever penetrate its camp , and no unqualified seeker after Light should be permitted to enter its mystic oblong .

The enemies of the Craft belong to one or other of two classes—impostors , on the one hand , and unqualified applicants for initiation on the other . Both of theso classes will be considered . But first let us refer to the

Fraternity itself . Every Lodge is a Masonic camp . Now stationary , originally it was movable . Because the Craft was of operative origin , and we were primitively a race of

master-builders , the Lodgo for centuries was raised by the side of temple after temple , and cathedral after cathedral , in turn . When one work was completed the Lodge was

removed to another field of labour . Wherever the Grand Architect was to be honoured by fche erection of a temp le to His glory , there His subordinate architects congregated , to raise the minster with their deft handiwork .

In and around this Masonic camp numerous sentinels are stationed . The Tyler , with a drawn sword , guards the outer door , to keep off cowans and evesdroppers .

Examining committees , with the Tyler , closely scrutinise , test and expose the pretensions of impostors . Of impostors puro and simple there are almost none . The impostors with