Royalty And The Craft.

ROYALTY AND THE CRAFT .

THE Installation of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales as M . W . G . M . is very likely to occupy the attention of the public for some time to come . There will , in fact , in the Masonic world , be hardly any othersubject of general interest not only between now and the 28 th April , the day fixed for

the important ceremony , but for some considerable period after . It may be as well therefore to place our readers au , courant of the past connection of the Royal Family with our Order . It is not , perhaps , generally known , even among Masons , that His Royal Highness is the third Prince

of Wales of the Hanoverian family who has been a member of tho Brotherhood . Twenty years only had elapsed since the revival of Freemasonry in 1717 , when Frederick Prince of Wales , son of George II . and father of George III ., became a Mason . He wasinitiated ,

daringtheGrandMastership ofthe Earl of Darnley , at an occasional Lodge , specially convened at the Palace of Kew , at which Dr . Desaguliers presided as W . M ., and His Royal Highness passed at the same Lodge . At a subsequent Lodge , specially convened for the purpose , at the same place , a short time after , His Royal

Highness was raised to tho degree of Master Mason . This happened in 1737 , but unfortunately the prince died in 1751 , just at the time when his connection with the Craft might have been of essential service to it . In 1765 , the Duke of York , according to Findel , became a Mason ,

at Berlin , while in the following year , during the Mastership of Lord Blaney , the Dukes of Gloucester and Cumberland , brothers of George III ., were initiated , the former at an occasional Lodge , holden at the Horn Tavern ,

Westminster , on the 16 th February 1786 , at which Lord Blaney presided in person ; the latter at an occasional Lodge , at the Thatched House Tavern , in St . James ' s Street , under the presidency of General Salter . The rank of Past Grand Master was assigned to these Princes . In 1782 the

Duke of Cumberland was elected Grand Master , the privilege being then for the first time granted to a Prince of the Blood of nominating a peer of the realm to be acting Gvand Master . His Royal Highness continued to preside over the Order till his death in 1790 , and was succeeded

by H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , afterwards George IV . In 1786 , Prince William Henry , Duke of Clarence , afterwards William IV ., was initiated at Lodge 86 , held at the Prince George Inn , Plymouth . —See Preston ' s Illustrations . He became W . M . of Prince of Wales ' s Lodge in 1828 , on

the death of the Duke of York , and on his accession to the throne , Grand Patron . On Thursday , 6 th February 1787 , H . R . H . the Prince of Wales was made a Mason , at an occasional Lodge convened for the purpose at the Star and Garter Tavern , Pall Mall , over which H . R . H . the Duke of

Cumberland , Grand Master , presided , and H . R . H , the Duke of York was initiated at a special Lodge convened at the same place for the purpose , on the 21 st November of the same year , the Grand Master again presiding in person , and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales assisting at

the ceremony of initiation . Grand Master His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland died in September 1790 , about the last public act at which he assisted being the reinstatement , after a separation of ten years , of the Lodge of Antiquity in all its Masonic privileges . On the 24 th

November 1790 , H . R . H . the Prince of Wales was elected his successor in the Grand Mastership , appointing Lord Moira , afterwards Marquis of Hastings ' , as Acting Grand Master , but it was not * till the 2 nd May 1792 , when the Grand Feast was held at the Freemasons' Hall , that His Royal Highness was dul y installed in his office . Mean-

Royalty And The Craft.

time , it had been announced in Grand Lodge , 19 th February 1790 , that H . R . H . the Duke of Kent had been regularly initiated in the Union Lodge at Geneva , and that H . R . H . the Duke of Sussex had also been initiated at a Lodge at Berlin . The Duke of Cumberland , afterwards

King of Hanover , and Gloucester , were also initiated , at a later period . H . R . H . the Prince of Wales having subsequently been chosen Grand Master of Scotland , in 1806 , remained Grand Master till 1813 , when , being Regent , he resigned the position to his Royal Brother of Sussex , who soon after became Grand Master of the United Grand

Lodge of Masons ( 1813 ) . In 1813 H . R . H . the Duke of Kent was chosen Grand Master of' the York or Ancient Masons , and it waa by the united efforts of these two Dukes , of Sussex and Kent , that the healing of the great schism was at last happily effected . The career as Grand

Master of H . R . H . Dnke of Sussex , is it not written m the chronicles of Masonry ? Suffice it that no one could have devoted himself more entirely to furthering the interests of the Craft . During his long reign of 30 years , Freemasonry continued to flourish , and our hope and

expectation is that , under the beneficent reign of his Royal grandnephew , the present M . W . G . M ., the success of the Order may be as prominent and as continuous as it was during the auspicious Grand Mastership of H . R . H . the Duke of Sussex .

Count Cagliostro

COUNT CAGLIOSTRO

THE history of imposture and popular delusion affords no instance of daring and successful swindling which can , in any degree , approach that of the subject of this article . Count Alessandro di Cagliostro , the self-styled pupil of the sage Athotas , foster child of the Scherig of Mecca , Prince of Trebizond , and Grand Master of the

Egyptian Lodge of high Masonic Science , was probably the most finished scoundrel that ever left a mark upon the world ' s chronicles . His career has been the subject of much investigation ; but , unhappily , the materials at the command of explorers have been meagre . An English

" Life of the Count Cagliostro " was published by Stockham , Bond Street , 1787 , but according to Carlyle , who is entitled to speak with authority , it deserves to be " spurned and torn into pipe matches . " The Memoires pour h Comto de Cagliostro , 1786 , are , we believe , quite fabulous . The

Lettre du Gomte de Cagliostro au Peitple Anglais , which was published about the same period in London , is a mere string of falsehoods . A brief life of the Count , written at Rome , and translated into French in the year 1791 , under the title of Vie de Joseph Bahama , conna sous le

Nom de Comie Cagliostro , is , we believe , a genuine document , although it was written by a stupid person , of whom Carlyle speaks scornfully , as the " wooden man . " From this life , and from Carlyle ' s admirable essay , we derive the materials of our sketch . Cagliostro , or to use

his real name , Joseph Balsamo , was the son of a small shopkeeper , and was born in a blind alley at Palermo , Sicily , in the year 1743 . His parents were very poor , although they appear to have had relatives who were tolerably well to do . The boy , however , was permitted to

play in the streets and alleys of Palermo , and soon developed a remarkable talent for every species of juvenile vice . He was a liar almost as soon as he could speak , and was as expert a thief as any of his age in the city . The father dyiug whilst Joseph was yet in petticoats , the ch irge of his education devolved upon a maternal uncle , who sent