G. Lodge Of Massachusetts.

G . LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS .

IT appears from a copy of the Proceedings of this Grand Lodge , which has come to hand , and for which we beg to express our thanks , that a Special Communication was held at Amherst , Mass ., on the 14 th January 1882 , for the purpose of dedicating the new Masonic Hall of Pacific

Lodge and installing its Officers . The ceremonies were performed by Grand Master S . C . Lawrence , who was supported by Bros . Edwin Wright Deputy Grand Master , Wyzeman Marshall as Senior Grand Warden , Charles C . Spellman Junior Grand Warden , William Parkman as

Recording Grand Secretary , Eev . Fielder Israel Grand Chaplain , William H . Chessman as Grand Marshal , Chas . H . McClellan D . D . G . Master Dist . No . 8 , Henry J . Parker Grand Tyler , John W . Felton Master Bethel Lodge , Geo . A . Paull J . W . Bay State Lodge , the brethren of Pacific

and neighbouring Lodges being present in strong force and accompanied by their ladies and other officials . Bro . Merrick N . Spear is the new W . M . of the Lodge , and was inducted into the chair of K . S . by Bro . Lawrence , while the

Wardens were installed by the Grand Wardens , and the other Officers by the D . G . Master . Bro . C . McClellan was subsequently installed District Deputy Grand Master of the 8 th District , having been unavoidably absent from the Annual Communication on the 27 th December last . It will be

seen from this slight summary that Massachusetts Masonry differs from pure and ancient Masonry aa it is known in England , in this respect at least , that the ladies and other friends of brethren are received in a Lodge , and we infer , are permitted to witness , and for aught we know to the

contrary , take part in such important ceremonies as those of dedicating a Hall to Masonic purposes and installing and investing the principal and subordinate Officers of a Lodge . Perhaps the time is not far distant in Massachusetts when we may look to have women as well as men

Masons , or what , in the absence of a suitable word , we mus describe as such . In any case it must be clear to our readers that Masonry , as practised in Massachusetts , is something else than the Masonry of England and its founders in that country .

The Quarterly Communication was held in the Masonic Hall , Boston , on the 8 th March . Present—Bros . Samuel Crocker Lawrence Grand Master , Edwin Wright Deputy Grand Master , William Babson Senior Grand Warden , Charles C . Spellman Junior Grand Warden , Samuel Wells

Grand Treasurer , Sereno D . Nickerson Eecording Grand Secretary , Theodore C . Bates Corresponding Grand Secretary . The principal part of the business was an address from the Grand Master , in which he cautioned brethren against hawking and peddling spurious degrees and rites ,

and especially one known as the Egyptian Rite , or Rite of Memphis , and he proposed a certain amendment to the Constitutions , which should render such practices illegal . The essence of this addition will be found in the following paragraph , which , with what precedes it , has been referred

to a Special Committee , who were to report upon it this month : — " Sect . 25 . Any Mason in this jurisdiction who shall hawk and sell any of the degrees , so called , herein before forbidden , catling them degrees in Masonry , may be expelled from all the rights and privileges of Masonry . " The rest of the proceedings are merely of local interest .

Sir Christopher Wren.

SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN .

PEOM THE VOICE OF MASONRY . I WAS lately examining the recent publications its a bookseller's __stall and discovered Sir Christopher Wren : His family and times , with original letters , and a discourse on architecture hitherto unpublished , by May Phillimore , the preface of which is dated 1 st August 1881 . The authoress states she enjoyed the good fortune

of compiling her work from an old heirloom copy of that scarce and little known book , the Parentalia , which contained many prints and engravings , clippings , MS . letters , rongh draughts of treatises , GaTter records and other valuable papers , some of them in the cbirography of Sir Christopher himself . Some of the omissions and digressions of the Parentalia she asserts she has been enabled to supply and rectify by the aid of Notes and Queries and Evelyn ' s

Diary , and she expi esses the hope that her labours "may serve as a contribution towards that full and worthy biography of the great architect , which may yet , she trusts , be written before London is finally robbed of the churches with which Wren ' s genius endowed her . " With visions of much new and valuable information about the last Operative Grand Master I bought the book , and although the subject

has been very thoroughly written I venture some extracts from this latest biography , in which the anthoress has sought , aud with but little success , to establish his Masonic character . She devote 3 about one-fifth of her Preface to this subject , as follows : — " Little is known of Wren in his Masonic capacity , lie is said to have been a member and a Master of the Old Lodge of S . Paul now

known as the Lodge of Antiquity . All the records of the Lodge belonging to that time have , unfortunately , been lost , so that they can . not be consulted with reference to this matter . The question has been raised whether Wren was a Freemason or not . On this point the Parentalia makes no explicit statement , though it appears to impl y Wren ' s connection with the Order . The Duke of Sussex caused a

plate to be engraved in 1827 , and affixed to the mallet which Sir Christopher was said to have presented to the Lodge . " This inscription she has mutilated , and adds that " the Lodge pos . sesses also three gilt woodeu candlesticks in the form of columns , in . scribed Ex dono Chr Wren Eq A . L . 5680 . " In Chapter vi , 1664-1667 , she says : " He had long been a member of the Order of Freemasons

and had distinguished himself by the attention he gave to the Lodges under his care . At the time of his journey to France * be was Deputy Grand Master under Earl Rivera . No donbfc he availed himself to the full of the opportunities which Freemasonry afforded him for observing the details of the work , and becoming acquainted with the workmen , the architects and the sculptors , whom Louis XIV . had

brought in great numbers to Paris . In chapter vin . she says : " On June 21 st 1675 , the first stone of St . Paul's was laid by Sir Christopher and his Master Mason , not by King Charles , as is sometimes Baid , " and in a foot note adds that the mallet and trowel used on the occasion were presented by him to the Freemasons' Lodge , of which he was Master . In chapter xii ., 1697-99 , it is stated that " he was again

chosen Grand Master of the Freemasons , and continued in that office until 1702 . " These are the only direct allusions to his Masonio career in the book , aud are so unsatisfactory that all my pleasant anticipations vanished . She doss not appear to have used the same discernment in gathering Masonio faots as in her other efforts . With respect

to the candlesticks she says there are three gilt ones , while Masonic authorities mention tivo carved in mahogany . Her assertion of his membership in the Masonio Society in 1665 appears to havo been taken from Anderson ' s " New Book of Constitutions , " Part 3 , Chapter 2 viz ., " The fire having ruined St . Paul ' s Cathedral , the King , with Grand Master Eivers , his Architects and Craftsmen , nobility and

gentry , Lord Mayor and Aldermen , Bishops and Clergy , & c , md due form leveled the footstone of New St . Paul ' s , designed by Depnty Grand Master Wren , A . D . 1673 . " If she did not get her information from this sonrce , it wonld be of much Masonio value to learn where she did . The only intimation we have when Wren was initiated is the statement of Aubrey , the antiquary , that it was to take place ,

Monday , 18 th May 1691 , twenty-eight years after the biographer states be was Depnty Grand Master . The unimpeachable record states the foundation-stone was laid 21 st June 1675 . If Wren had been a Freemason would he not have deferred the event three days and celebrated it on St . John the Baptist ' s Day , at that time a festival day by the Craft 1 It also appears that the ceremony was of

the most simple character , neither king , prelate , nor municipal officer was present , and the act was simply an Operative Mason ' s act , Bro . Anderson to the contrary notwithstanding . Again , the inscription on the mallet avers that the stone was planted in 1673 , doubtless taken from Anderson , for he simply mentions the year and so does the inscription , and if Wren had been a prominent Freemason at that

date it is not reasonable to suppose that more that fifty years could have elapsed before so valuable a relic would have been suitably and accurately inscribed . Aside from her Masonio inaccuracies her book appears to be accurate and very readable . When the rebuilding of St . Paul's had been determined upon it

was directed that the old materials should be sold and the proceeds applied in the construction of the new , and although much of it had been disposed of in this manner , the ground was by no means clear . The walls , which were eighty feet high and five feet thick , had been warped and cracked by the fire , but were yet strong enough to make the labour of tearing them down difficult and tedious . Wren was a

member of the Royal Society , and concluded to avail himself of the Society ' s recent experiments in raising weights by means of gunpowder , to remove the walls . The progress of the great fire had been stayed by blowing up honses , but to employ gunpowder to raise a definite weight and throw it a fixed distance was a novel use . When the old central tower was reached , the labourers were afraid to work

at the height of two hundred feet , and Wren thought tho time had arrived for his experiment . By careful computation he found that eighteen pounds of theexplosive would blow up the the northwest angle of the tower , and so precise were his calculations that although over three thousand tons weight were raised the stones and debris

were not scattered and no damage was done . This success encouraged Wren to prepare another mine , but he was unfortunately compelled to leave the firing of it in charge of his next officer , who wishing to improve upon his Master , increased the charge , which caused an explosion that shot stones far and wide , terrifying the whole citv , and resulting in having the further use of powder

forbidden . As the work proceeded , and tho choir rose , the time came when the great dome was to be marked out . Sir Christopher called to a workman to bring him a stone to mark a special spot , and when toe man obeyed Wren saw that the stone he had brought bore the

inscription , the single word , " Resurgam , " supposed to have been a portion of the gravestone of the Bishop of London 1611-21 . » u Christopher regarded the incident as a singularly happy omen , an evinced great pleasure in relating it to his friends . , Many from the country were attracted by the fame of tno cathedral and sought employment upon the building . Among