The School Elections

stood four contests , and No . 5 has 1418 votes , No . I > only 27 votes brought forward . Nos . 7 to 15 , both inclusive , have each had threo trials , and the votes already recorded for them range from 850 in the case of No . 8 to 3 in that of No . 9 . Nos . 16 to 24 , both inclusive ,

are competing for the third time , and No . 10 has 1687 votes to his credit , No . 17 1207 votes , No . 20 1 , 301 votes , while Nos . 18 , 21 , and 23 have 10 , 4 , and 11 votes respectively . Prom No . 25 to No . 46 , both inclusive , the hoys were candidates for the first time last October ,

and No . 25 has 994 votes , No . 32 1023 votes , and No . 35 677 votes to tho good . Nos . 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , and 44 polled 2 , 7 , 5 , 3 , and 5 votes respectively , and Nos . 41 and 42 polled none . It is worthy of note that tho father of No . 3 has been a subscribing member 27 years , the father of

No . 22 , 22 } years , and tho father of No . 41 for twenty years . In the case of Nos . 29 and 77 , the fathers died when they had been subscribing members only about fourteen months . This point , by tho way , has passed unnoticed in tho case of the first candidates . We add ,

therefore , that the term of subscribing membershi p ranges in the case of the Girls' fathers , from 18 years in tho case of No . 19 , 15 ^ in that of No . 23 , and 15 in that of No . 15 , down to f year in the case of No . 3 , who lost her father within less than a year from the date of his intitiation .

Wo can only say , in conclusion , that wo trust the most deserving cases will be successful . All are worthy , for all have been approved ; but as all cannot be taken on on this occasion , we can but express the hope that , wherever there

may be specially painful or emergent circumstances , those who have votes unpromised will give them to those . This is the extent of our partiality for any over their fellow competitors .

Soc: Rosicr : In Anglia. Yorkshire College. "Freemasonry In York."

SOC : ROSICR : in Anglia . YORKSHIRE COLLEGE . "FREEMASONRY IN YORK . "

A Paper Head before tho Members of tho College , at their Mooting , in York , on tlio 20 th January 1878 , by W . Prater T . B . Whytehead , V ' ., Celebrant . E . W . Crr . ADEPT AXD FRATRES , — IT lias always appeared to mo that tho study of Freemasonry is so intimately connected with that of Archaeology that tho

two may bo fairly regarded as kindred or sister sciences . " Not that every Archaeologist must necessarily bo a Freemason , although I quite think that snch a condition of enlightenment wonld materially aid the student of tho beautiful and tho antique in architecture ; but the converse certainly holds good ; I mean , that every intelligent Free , mason , and moro especially a Itosicrucian , must bo to a great extent

an Arclucologist . I do not , of course , suggest that he must be possessed of a , vast quantity of technical knowledge , and have at his tongue ' s end all the patois of tho arcitect or tho builder . lie need not qualify himself to talk learnedly of crockets and corbels , of foils and ftuials , of mullions and transoms , of spandrils and soffits , but ho should certainly possess a general , what I may call a dilettanti , sort of know .

ledge of the general principles of that great science , and its history , -which wo aro bonnd to regard as synonymous throughout all past lime , with the science and practise of that Eoyal Art , with which we pride ourselves on being connected , Yfo aro often reminded , Fratres , that wo aro " the heirs of all tho ages , " but so far from a consciousness of this fact adding to our self

complacency , I , for one , think that our responsibilities aro thereb y so enormously increased that , in common self respect , we can do no less than qualify ourselves to be no nnworthy possessors of tho glorious inheritance which has been handed down to us by our ancient brethren , some of whoso marvellous handiwork wo havo glanced at this afternoon .

The old capital city of the north of England within whoso ancient ramparts we are gathered to-day is so associated with both tho legendary and the recorded history of Freemasonry that over tho whole globe , wherever that wondrous organisation flourishes , tho name of York is sufficient to warm into activity in the breast of every brother thoughts of onr great unwritten history of tho past . I say

advisedly , " unwritten , " for although many able writers , prominent amongst whom aro Bro . Hughan , Bro . Findel , and Bro . Fort , have recorded everything that their researches havo enabled them to authenticate regarding tho history of Freemasonry in this city , and in this country , tho whole of their facts amonnt to very little as

compared with tho lapse of centuries sinco York first became a city of note , since tho Sixth Legion of the conquering army of Eome was stationed within its walls , and the Emperors Severns and Constantius held imperial state on tho banks of the Ouse , or since the Danish fleet , under Tosta , anchored almost under the shadow of the ancient Saxon earthworks .

The story of the Athelstano Charter will , of course , occur to your minds as one of the oldest of Masonic legends connected with York PerhapsI ought not to use the term "legend" in reference to this document , since onr woithy Deputy Provincial Grand Master , Dr . J .

Soc: Rosicr : In Anglia. Yorkshire College. "Freemasonry In York."

P . Boll , who , you know , is not only an earnest Masonic student , but an author of mark , is lirmly convinced that tho " charter " iu question is still in existence , or at any rate that it did exist up to within a very recent period . I must admit that in tho course of a number of inquiries made by me into this subject , I havo been more than onco startled by coming upon what seemed to bo a real clue to tho

whereabouts of some very ancient Masonic document , formerly in tho possession of tho old Grand Lodge of All England at York , aud which , at tho dissolution of that body at tho close of last century , fell into the hands of a legal linn representing tho last Grand Master ( Bro . E . Woolley ) , by whom several of tho ancient properties of tho ( fraud Lodgo wore presented to tho Union Lodgo ( now tho York

Lodge , No . -3 G ) . This document has been described to mo by a brother who onco had it iu his hands , bnt who was not able to decypher it , as being in shapo about four inches square , of parchment , closely covered over with elaborate characters . Tlioso acquainted with tho common aspect of very ancient Charters will at onco recognise tho possibility of this parchment having been , as it undoubtedly

was , of great antiquity , and not improbably a copy of a still more ancient document . It almost would seem strange that such uncertainty should exist on any point so important , but you must remember that it has only been within tho last fifteen or twenty years that anything like close attention has been given to the subject of Masonic investigation . Tho mania ( I can call it nothing else ) , for the

indiscriminate destruction of old papers , which existed unhappily some forty or fifty years ago , and more especially tho holocaust of Masonic documents , which took place just prior to the publication of I ho first book of Constitutions , have , no doubt , deprived tho world of many priceless treasures , and it may bo that tho old relic in question has ere this been consigned to tho dust bin .

But even before tho days of Athelstano it seoms likel y that Freemasonry in some form found a rallying point in York , for in tho days when tho Collegium Artijicv . m at Rome sent out its little bands of highly skilled and educated graduates to tho various chief Colonies of the mighty Roman Empire , we may bo snro that tho important military station of Eburacum or Eboracum , tho key of tho North of

England , would not bo forgotten . And , indeed , in tho remains of tho ancient structures of that era , iu tho elegant designs of tho tesselated pavements of their baths , iu the sarcophagi and votivo altars and tablets , specimens of which aro preserved in tbe Museum of tho Yorkshire Philosophical Society , wo have evidence iu abundance of tho existence of a class of workmen far removed above

uneducated and unskilled ignorance . We may bo very sure too that such a point as tho site of the present city , a spot which always seems to havo possessed a name ever sinco tho first occupation of the country by the earliest inhabitants , one of whoso evidences of antiquity is to bo found in tho fact that no cortain root of that name has been discovered , I say , we may be quite

sure that at Urewio or Eburwic , in tho centre of tho vast Forest of Galtres , the ancient Fraternity of tho Drnids , many of whose rites so closely resembled ours , often gathered in solemn conclave , and hero , on this very ground whore wo are now met , an oasis in tho midst of a wild expanse of tangled thicket , rank swamp vegetation , and forest undergrowth , formed their M . C . and initiated , beneath the shade of stately oaks , trembling aspirants into their awful mysteries .

Those who aro members of tho Order of tho Red Cross of Constantino well know tbe connection between tho history of this City and that of their founder , who is said to havo been crowned here , and that of tho pious St . Helena , whose memory is still preserved as the patron saint of tho little church of St . Helen ' s , iu Stonegate , ono of tho gems of our many specimens of Church architecture , tho last remaining ono of four churches dedicated to tho memory of tho mother of Constantino tho Great .

Passing onward wo come to tho Middle or Dark Ages , the days of mediaeval church building , when tho glorious Abboy of St . Mary , the remains of which you have soon to-day , rose in stately grandonr under the hands of those wondrous builders , tho relics of whose art aro still amongst tho marvels of Europe , and stand as monuments of the grandeur of the past . Now , during this long period , Fratres ,

I do not find anything surprising in . the circumstance of tho absence of documentary evidence of the existence of any esoteric teachings under the garb of Freemasonry . Indeed to my mind the marvel would havo been seen in an exactly opposite condition of things . If for one moment wo reflect upon tho very meagre condition of our national history , how many of its long received narrations have been

proved by modern historians to have been apocryphal , and what largo and unaccountably unbridged gulphs are to be found in its records during that long series of years , when so crude and sparse was education , that tho worst criminal found refuge behind the "Benefit of Clergy "—in such days and under such circumstances was it probable , or even possible , that any records

could be preserved of tho proceedings of a branch of a Society whose very organisation and existence depended largel y upon its secrecy ? Oral tradition was tho only possible channel by means of which any account of esoteric Freemasonry could havo reached ns . Of the operative section we have certain relics , notably the fabric rolls of that glorious old Cathedral we havo

visited to-day , and in whose crypt tho Masons are said to havo held their secret assemblies . To Frater Hughan wo are largely indebted for reproductions of some of these relics of bygone ages in a form accessible to every Masonic student . Contemporaneously with the existence of tho Lodges of travelling Masons , the Abbey aud Cathedral building Brotherhood , we have the rise , progress , and fall of the Templar Order , au organisation for many

reasons possessing great interest for us , particularly in view of so many of their teachings and practices closely resembling oar own . What the connection really was , if , indeed , there was any connecting link , between the Templars and the Masons , which is denied by many of onr best men , is a mere matter for conjecture , but is well worth the close investigation of every Masonic student . Of course aknightly and monastic order must very frequently have been brought into close and intimate relation with the builders of their