Quatuor Coronati Lodge Conversazione.

QUATUOR CORONATI LODGE CONVERSAZIONE .

rplHE second annual conversazione of this Lodge was held in X the King ' s Hall , of the Holborn Restaurant , on Thursday of last week , under the most favourable auspices , a numerous company , including several Grand and Provincial Grand Officers and a large proportion of ladies assembling to take part in the proceedings , among them being some foreign Brethren , dressed in the regalia of their respective countries .

These gatherings promise to become very popular among the members of the Craft , and the thanks of the Brethren are certainly due to this Lodge for the researches its members have made into the antiquity of Freemasonry , and other matters that pertain to fche Order .

A very interesting exhibition of jewels , medals and clothing from various parts of the world was displayed in cases about the room , and attracted considerable attention from the fair sex , some of whom openly expressed the gratification they would have to wear such lovely adornments . From a Masonic point of view the principal objects of the exhibition were : —A Senior Warden ' s

Silver Collar jewel engraved with emblems of Lodge Ballygawley , No . 679 , Ireland ; a medallion jewel of Battersea enamel ; an oval pierced gilt jewel , dated 1722 ; a very gorgeous Past Master ' s jewel in brilliants , presented to Bro . George Scott by Lodges 124 , 145 and 374 , in 1819 ; bronze square and compasses dug up at Corfu with coins and vessels of ninth century ; a silver gilt

medal of Lodge La Vertu , at Leyden , 1807 ; Badge of the Genera Grand Chapter of Topeka , Illinois ; a jewel of an Officer of the Grand Lodge of the three Globes , Berlin ; an old Scottish 32 " Eagle beautifully carved in mother-of-pearl ; an old French Star for Royal Order of Scotland , partly worked in silk thread , eighteenth century ; several jewels and badges from Denmark , Hungary , Switzerland and Germany , which we are unable to detail .

Among the clothing shown by the Lodge was an ancient hand painted apron , collar and jewel of 1750 ; a Royal Arch Apron and sash , 1797 ; some old Knight Templar aprons o leather , & c . There were also some rare and quaint French Masonic engravings , and some specimens of Masonic pottery in the shape of punch bowls , mugs and firing glasses .

The entertainment was under the direction of Bros . Edward Macbean W . M ., R . F . Gould P . G . D ., Dr . W . J . Chetwode Crawley P . G . D . Ireland , T . B . Whytehead P . G . S . B ., and Major J . H . Leslie . Bro . W . H . Rylands P . A . G . D . C . was in charge of the Masonic exhibits , and Bro . Sydney T . Klein , F . R . A . S .,

undertook by means of numerous microscopes to illustrate some of the hidden mysteries of nature and science , including the famous Rontgen X Rays . The musical arrangements were under the direction of Bro . Gotthelf Greiner and Max Laistner , of the Pilgrim Lodge , and formed not the least attractive feature of the evening .

A telegram to the Gahgnam " Daily Messenger , " dated Rome , Sth November , states : " The Grand Master of the Italian Freemasons Signor Ernest Nathan has gone to Milan with a view to end' a discord which has broken out between the

Freemasons of Milan and their Brethren in Rome . The Milan Lodges , it appears , complain of the abolition of certain longexisting ceremonies by the Grand Orient Lodge of Rome , and have at the same time assumed a rather Radical attitude . To

give an opportunity for discussion and reconciliation a large banquet was prepared in Milan , at which twenty-four representatives of twenty-two Lodges , Lombardian , Piedmontese ,

Ligurian , Venetian , and Lodge Emilia of Switzerland , were present , but the recalcitrants held aloof . Signor Nathan has shown signs of a disposition to favour innovations . "

The Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of the Transvaal Bro . Geo . Richards has consented to take the chair at tbe first annual festival to be held at Johannesburg next April in connection with the Transvaal Masonic Educational Institution , which is about to be erected in the Golden City .

A special service for Freemasons of the neighbourhood will be held at St . Paul's Church , Devonport , on Sunday afternoon next , when the preacher will be Bro . the Rev . H . M . Millett , Vicar of Millbrook , P . G . C . Cornwall S . W . 893 . The collection will be given to the Royal Albert Hospital .

The Countess of Warwick , who was accompanied by the Provincial Grand Master of Essex , distributed the prizes to the successful pupils of the Barking Technical Education Schools on Wednesday .

Freemasonry.

FREEMASONRY .

By Archibald T . . Dunn , F . R . H . S ., in the " Catholic Times . " 1 .-ITS HISTORICAL POSITION .

ryiHE fact that the Anti-Masonic Congress which has been recently held - * - at Trent was attended by so many eminent Catholics and representative men from many countries , and that its labours were blessed by the Holy Father in a special message , has attracted attention to the Order or Craft known as " Freemasons . " In this country we are accustomed to look upon

Freemasonry as a social organisation , similar to many others , such as the Oddfellows , " the "Foresters , " tbe " Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes , " the ' Shepherds . " the " Hearts of Oak , " and many others having titles which ara ridiculous and puerile .

But tho Freemasons' Craft stands at the head of these , both in antiquity and number . It has . been established in many countries both of the Old and the New World ; it counts among its members the most eminent personalities both in social and political life ; it commands the Governments and the Press of many States ; and , finally , its work , where it has the power , is

distinctly anti-Christian , and specially directed against the Catholic Church These tendencies and these results have been detected by the occupants of the Ohair of St . Peter , and pointed out to the Catholics of the world in solemn Bulls which have been issued by several Popes—by Clement XII . in 1738 ; by Benedict XIV . in 1751 ; by Pius IX ., who called it " The Army of Satan " and finally by the Holy Father Leo XIII .

These Apostolical Letters point out to us Catholics our duty and our attitude towards Freemasonry in general . But , on the other hand , Freemasonry in England is so apparently harmless , and so evidently " respectable " through the dignity of the names connected with it , that we are sometimes tempted to believe that the accusations made against the Craft must be either

libellous or based upon misunderstanding . So we are assured by friends who are members of the Craft , some of them Masters or Past Masters of Lodges , and therefore , presumably , persons whose opinions and statements are worthy

of credit . And they inform us that there is nothing in the teachings of Freemasonry which is at aU antagonistic to the principles of the Church . What , then , are we to believe ? Our belief naturally accords with that of the Holv Father . For " Roma locuta est . "

It seems , therefore , that the time has come for us in England to examine into the origin , history , and objects of the craft . And first , as regards the assumptions made by Masonic writers as to its supposed antiquity . These are sufficiently amusing to justify us in reproducing some of the assertions made from time to time by prominent members of the Order—one might even say leaders . Let us hear them .

Mr . B . Freke Gould , who describes himself as " Past Senior Grand Deacon of Grand Lodge of England , " has recently written the " History of Freemasonry , etc ., derived from official sources . " The work is an important one , in six volumes quarto , and is dedicated by permission to the Prince of Wales , Grand Master of Grand Lodge of England . It would be impossible to quote a higher or more reliable authority on the subject . Mr . Gould says :

" Masonic writers have made Masons of every man of note from Adam to Nimrod and Solomon . Some say that Masonry was introduced into England by ' Brank , a King of the Trojan race , and into Ireland by Jeremiah ( 1 ); that 27 , 000 Masons went to the Crusades ; and that Luther was received into the Society on Christmas night , 1520 , just fifteen days

after he had burned the Pope ' s Bull . These are all creations of the fancy and fabulous narrations " ( Vol . II ., p . fi ) . This is , at least , honest on the part of Mr . Gould . But it must be pointed out that in the speeches of prominent Freemasons , which appear now and then in the public Press , these or similar pretentions to antiquity continue to be put forward . These amusing and fanciful pedigrees are by no means new in the Craft , however .

In 1730 a Freemason named Pritchard wrote a work called " The Origin of Freemasonry , " in which he said : " At the building of the Tower of Babel the art and mystery of Freemasonry was first introduced , and from

thence handed down by Euclid , and he communicated it to Hiram , the Master Mason of Solomon ' s Temple " (!) . Now , Solomon ' s Temple was built 1004 years before the Christian era , while Euclid lived only 270 years before Christ .

Agam , in 1783 , Captain George Smith , Inspector of the Boyal Artillery Academy at Woolwich , the Provincial Grand Master for Kent , published " The Use and Abuse of Freemasonry , " in which he tried to show that it was coeval with the Creation . The Rev . Dr . Dodd , " Grand Chaplain of Grand Lodge , " in his oration delivered at the opening of

Freemasons' Hall , London , quite agreed with this theory . Another Masonic writer said that " Masonry is derived from the religion of the ancient Druids , who were priests of the sun , which they worshipped . The sun is the central figure on their aprons , and they wear it also pendant on their breasts in their Lodges and their processions . The Druids , like

the Magi of Persia and the priests of Heliopolis in Egypt , were priests of the sun . They paid worship to this great luminary as the great visible agent of a great invisible cause , whom they styled " Time without limits . " Another

favourite fiction of the Freemasons is that their Craft was founded by the Templars of the Middle Ages . Now , the Order of Templars was suppressed in 1312 , and all its members were dispersed at ' once , while the Freemasons only came into existence , as Mr . Freke Gould informs us , in 1717 .

lt would seem that one of the boasted mysterious secrets of the Craft must be tho art of reconciling incompatible dates and historical facts . ( To be continued . )