The Recent Elections.

Dorset boys , being close up with 1562 rotes . No . 11 , C . E . Webb , hailing from Kent , had received at his three previous attempts only 330 votes , but his friends made a determined onslaught , and with a further poll of 1200 votes , carried him into tho eleventh vacancy , with a total

of 1530 , W . Conway , the Cheshire applicant , being close on his heels with 1 , 522 , all polled for him on this occasion . A London candidate , F . T . Tanner , with 422 votes from tho Ocfcoher election , was so well supported that ho was returned with 1454 votes , a North Wales ancl Salop lad ,

W . I . Williams , being only a short neck behind with 1451 , E . C . Lucas , Guernsey , coming next with 1445 , of which 968 were already to his credit from three previous ballots . Two London lads followed , one of whom , A . L . Lewis , with 925 to the good from October , increased it to 1431 ,

while the other , John Bloomfield , was a candidate for the first time , and scored 1423 . Grantlcy Wicks , from the Province of Cumberland and Westmoreland , received 1385 votes , and thus fought his way into tho School at his first and only trial , the nineteenth ancl twentieth vacancies

falling to London candidates , of whom the formei ' , C . N . Estling , with 896 votes from three ballots , raised his total to 1365 , while S . D . Stephen , who had been twice an unsuccessful applicant , ancl only procured support to the extent of 940 votes , received 416 additional , and thus raised his total to 1356 . Theso last two candidates are

the two Avhose admission into the School has been made to depend on tho result of further inquiries . Of the unsuccessful candidates , tho first is A . Fellows , from London , with a total of 1311 votes , mado up of 714 from his four previous ballots , and 597 cast for him

on Monday . Ho has one more chance of securing his election , and with such a credit may reasonably look forward to winning his way into the School in October next . George Wortley , a Durham boy , stood for the first time last October , when he polled 542 votes . This

was increased to * 12 b 3 on Monday , so that he , too , and indeed the seven next in order , stand well for the next election , namely , C . A . Gurney , Middlesex , who increased his votes from 761 to 1225 ; S . E . Lee , London , who scored 1134 , of which 662 were already to his credit ; P . H .

Mott , West Lancashire , 1113 votes , all polled on Monday ; H . A , Ecclestone , Hong Kong , who raised his total from 741 to 1087 ; H . Lloyd Jordison , Essex , 950 votes , of which 264 were brought forward , and G . W . K . Hill , and A . Kirkby , both of London ; the former raised his number

from 294 to 887 , while the latter polled 821 . Next is a Norfolk boy , W . B . Stanford , with 765 votes ; then a Warwickshire candidate , F . A . Clark , with 637 votes , 555 of which , however , "were brought forward , ancl then W . R . Watson , the Surrey candidate , Avhose poll was increased at

the election from 243 to 631 . However , it is hardly necessary we should go on enumerating the votes polled for all the unsuccessful ones . Suffice it that Nos . 33 ancl 34 have over 500 to the good , and No . 35 over 400 . The next five from No . 36 to No . 41 , both inclusive , polled over 300

votes , but No . 39 , H . S . J . Crane , will disappear from the list . At six elections he has only obtained 335 votes , and before October he will have attained the age of eleven . Nos . 42 to 40 , both inclusive , have each over 200 votes , No . 43 , C . S . V . Field being in the same unfortunate

predicament as the boy Crane , Nos . 47 to 54 have each scored "between 100 and 200 votes , while No . 55 is close up with 94 votes . All these have one or more chances of success still left them , bnt No . 56 , John Reed , though he has tried seven times has failed , poor lad , ignominously—no

ignominy , of course , attaches to the lad—ancl he , too , will disappear from the list . No . 59 , a Berks and Bucks lacl , was withdrawn , so that the 43 votes polled for him were wasted ; it would have been his only chance of securing a vacancy . Nos . GG ancl

67 , the former a London , ancl the latter a Worcester boy , were withdrawn , No . 74 , London , was removed , while No . 75 , a Devon youngster scored—how many think you , gentle reader , at his five attempts ? Well , a magnificent 0 . His friends must have been most energetic in their

support of his candidature . Five elections with 0 as the result . We suppose the poor boy has been living on hope for the last two years ancl a half , and now even that has deserted him , for he has no further chance of gaining even

a vote , much less a place among the successful candidates . Omitting two withdrawals ancl the one removal , there were no less than eight candidates for whom were cast under ton votes . This completes our survey of the result of last Monday ' s election . It only remains for us to add that of

The Recent Elections.

the unsuccessful candidates as many as forty-seven will have their names and the votes , if auy , polled for them , carried forward to tho October list , so that whatever may

be tho number of vacancies then competed for , there is every prospect of tho list of applicants being as formidable as at this election . Of these forty-seven boys ten aro London , and the rest Provincial .

Masonic Legend And Tradition.

MASONIC LEGEND AND TRADITION .

FUOM THE VOICE OF MASONRY . AN evening recently spent in tbe company of an old and osperi . enced Mason waa an interesting ono to tho writer . The venerable brother had been an active and stndions Craftsman from early life ; had read whatever camo within his reach in relation to tbe history of Freemasonry ; had formed opinions concerning the origin and history and growth of the Order , and was prepared to give

a reason for his belief . IIo is , occasionally , quite communicative on this subject , and when in such a mood it is extremely pleasant to pasa an honr or two in his company . On tho occasion allnded to I asked his opinion about the origin of Freemasonry— " Whence came it ? " Were the stories about its oi-gani . zation amon g tho workmen who constrncted the Temple at Jerusalem

founded on fact ? In brief , what where we to believe about it , or must we leave it whoro we found it , involved in fiction , legend , and tradition ? He seemed willing to communicate , and I listened with reverence and close attention . I now propose to give yon , substanti - ally , bis views in reply to my question . I may not hope to recall his exact language , bnt as near as I can , from my notes taken at the timo .

" Freemasonry , in its form and fashion of to-day , has a history of only a few centuries . Fort has collected most of what is known on that subject , and his work is quite exhaustive ; but beyond the facts and documents he has given us , there is a dim past , through the centuries of which thero is an occasional fact that refers to an association either Grecian or Eoman or Jewish or Tyrian , probably some from

each source , pointing to a real or supposed association of builders . To those half legendary facts , we owe the traditions we so often refer to in the rituals of the present Freemasonry . Even traditions must have some basis for support , and ours may rest upon the snatches of early history , some of which are facts and some the vagrant fancies of busy brains . Some of them were unquestionably facts—many of

them mere theories . Let me give yon mine , in which recorded truth and fanciful legend are strangely blended . Solomon was about to construct a magnificent Temple at Jerusalem , the capital of his king , dom , in which Goo was to be worshipped according to certain forms , and with certain symbolic ceremonies . The Jews knew but little of the art of building ; bnt men must be had for this great undertaking ,

workmen , architects , builders ; such as could ' hew the architrave ' from the cedars of Lebanon , and square great ashlars from the quar . ries , who could at least prepare the material from its unshapen forms , and then it wonld be a comparatively easy task to erect the structure . But most of all did ho need a ' cunning artificer , ' one capable of comprehending the whole plan of the building , of preparing designs and

models for the workmen , and of superintending the construction of an edifice , whose original designs were believed to have been furnished by the Snpreme Architect of the Universe . "Tho Tyrians , composing a small kingdom on tbe sea coast , were renowned as architects . Tyre was but a short distance from Jerusalem ; while its king ( Hiram ) was on the most friendly terms with

Solomon . To Hiram , therefore , overtures were mado to supply workmen for the great enterprise , and a favourable reply received . Tha result was an agreement that , for certain considerations , Hiram should supply Solomon with tho artists and builders that he needed . The letters which passed between these two neighbouring kings , in the progress of this negotiation , are still extant , and are invested with

tbe seal of unquestioned authenticity . You may read this correspondence , still preserved in that old work called the Bible—reverenced by Jew and Christian the world over . It is fonnd in the second chapter of the first book of Chronicles , and its authenticity is reliable . It will there be seen that Hiram not only supplied the desired workmen for tbe forest and tho quarries , bnt be found and furnished an

artist of extraordinary skill—just such a one as Solomon needed . Tb » king described him as ' tho son of a woman of the daughters of Dan , and his father a man of Tyre , skilful to work in gold , aud in silver , in brass , in iron , in stone and in timber , in purple , in blue and in fine linen , and in crimson ; also to grave any manner of graving , and to find out every device that shall be put to him . " This man , half Jew and half Tyrian , must have been a rare artist *

of wonderful and varied genius . The Freemasons of a century more ago , in arranging and adjusting tho rituals of the degrees , seem to have taken this Tyrian artist under their special care , and , adding fancy to fact , arranged a tragedy as a novelist does his plot , and then passed it upon the neophyte as veritable historic truth ! Or , * completing tho mystical structure , they may have borrowed some fiction

from tho Dyonisians to complete the ideal , half fact and half » which tbey constructed from tbe story of tbe Tyrian . " The mysteries of tho Dyonisians were originally instituted m hononr of Bacchus , and looked to Egypt , that land of mysteries , tot their parentage . The ceremonies at the reception of a novice wo ** solemn and impressive , and , like tho Third Degree in modern Macandi

sonry , well calculated to tost tbo virtue and integrity of the - date . Moro than three days were required in passing the tern" ' ordeal , ancl when he reached the object of his ambition , he was ff Bl " corned with shouts , and daily instructed in tho doctrines ancl symhp 1 of the association . This was not unlike the legend of the Thir Degree , and it is not difficult to trace tbo relationship . " In working out the analogies ! found in the foundation of oU