The History Of Freemasonry.

of the finding out of the craft of Masonrie , and by whom it heth been cherished . " It is engrossed in the earliest minnte book of the Atcheson Haven Lodge , and boars date 1666 . No . 18 belongs to the ancient Lodge of Aberdeen , and is contained in the records of that Lodge , being inserted

after Laws and Statutes and with general laws , list of members , & c , all beginning in 1670 . No . 19 , which Bro . Gould considers of far greater value than Nos . 16 , 17 , and 18 , is Melrose No . 2 , of date 1674 , and Bro . Gould says , " One can almost positively declare it to be a transcript of

an extinct MS . of A . D 1581 ( which I term Melrose No . 1 ) , or even earlier , as the conclusion is a certificate from a ' master freemason , ' in favour , apparently , of the lawful service by his apprentice . " lt was discovered by Brother Vernon of Kelso , though Bro . Hughan , we are told ,

appears to have had an inkling of its existence , and is certified thus : " Extracted be me , A . M ., upon the 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 dayes of December MDCLXXIIII . " Bro . Vernon , it seems , suggests that " A . M . " may stand for Andrew Mein , " who wrote also a copy of the ' Mutuall Agreemint Betwixt the

Maisonis of the Lodge of Melros , ' of the year 1675 , which still exists . " The title of No . 20 , the " Hope" MS ., helonging to the Hope Lodge of Bradford , Torkshire , and assigned to the seventeenth century , is " The Constitutions , articles which are to be observed and fulfilled byall those who

are made free by the Rt . Wr M Fellowes and Brethren of Free Masons at any Lodge or assemblie . " Nos . 21 and 22 , are Tork Nos . 5 and 6 respectively , and of the seventeenth century . No . 23 , the " Antiquity , " MS . of 1686 , the date being fixed by the initials at the top , " I 2 R

( James II ., King ) . " The invocation , "In the name of the Great and Holy God , " differs from that in the majority of MSS ., which commence " The might of the Father in Heaven . " It concludes " William Bray , Free-man of London , and Freemason . Written by Robert Padgett ,

clearke to the Worshipful Society of the Free Masons of the City of London , in the second year of the Raigne of our most Gracious Soveraign Lord , King James the Second of England , etc ., Annoque Domini 1686 . " No . 24 was recently discovered by Bro . Colonel Shadwell H . Clerke ,

Grand Secretary , and presented by him to the library of the Supreme Council . The incription is " J . 2 d R . 1686 . " No . 25 , which is " Tork No . 4 , " bears the endorsement " Brother Geo . Walker of Wetherby , to the Grand Lodge of Tork 1776 , No . 4 , 1693 , " its date being further certified

by " These be the Constitucions of the noble and famous History , called Masonry , made and now in practice by the best Masters and Fellowes for directing and guiding all that use the said Craft , scripted p . me vicesimo terfcio die Octobris , anno Regni regis et Regina , Gulielmy et Marie

quinto annoque Domini 1693—Mark Kypling . " The " names of the Lodg " are appended at the foot of the Roll . This is valuable , as ifc contains the " Apprentice Charge , " not in the other Tork MSS ., and also from the anomalous instructions preliminary to the Charges , the word " shee "

being inserted , and suggestive of the possibility that females were admitted Freemasons , though it is reasonably submitted that this " shee" is a clerical error for " they . " No . 26 , is styled the " Alnwick " MS ., being " the Masons ' Constitutions , " preceding the records of the " Company and

Fellowship of Freemasons of a Lodge held at Alnwicke , " the first minute being dated the 29 th September 1701 . No . 27 , the second in point of number , but the youngest in point of age of the Tork MSS ., is entitled " The Constitutions of Masonrie , 1704 . " Like the oldest of the same series of MSS . —the No . 5 of Brother Gould ' s list as

already described—it commences with an anagram on Masonry . No . 28 , the " Scarborough " of the year 1705 , is in the possession of the Grand Lodge of Canada , and Brother Jacob Norton had a hand in tracing ifc . It is important as containing the following record : " We . .

That att a private lodge held att Scarbrough in the County of Tork , the tenth day of July 1705 , before William Thompson , Esq . P ' sident of the said Lodge and several other brethren Free Masons , the several ! p ' sons whose names are herevnto subscribed were then admitted

into the said Fraternity . Ed . Thompson , Jo . Tempest , Robfc Johnson , Tho . Lister , Samuel W . Buck , Richard Hudson . " Tho " Papworth , " No . 29 , bought by Mr . Wyatt Papworth some twenty years ago , cannot have been

written before 1714 , as " the ' Water-Mark ' consists of a crown and the letters ' G R . ' above . " No . 30 , the " Gateshead" MS . in the possession of the Industry Lodge of Gateshead , and No . 31 , "Rawlinson" in the Bodleian

The History Of Freemasonry.

Library at Oxford , are assigned approximately to 1730 . The former , according to Bro . Woodford , was bound up with a copy of the Constitutions of 1723 , the "Apprentice Orders" which , he says , "in their present form are unique , " being entered a little later . These " Apprentice

Orders" conclude with an admonition to the neophytes that they should " behave one to another Gentlely , Friendily , Lovingly , and Brotherly ; not churlishly , presumptuously , and forwardly ; but so that all your works ( words ?) and actions may redound to the Glory of God ,

the good report of the Fellowship and Company . So help you God . Amen . " Of the "Rawlinson" the original has not been traced , but it is said to have been " Copied from an old MS . in the possession of Dr . Rawlinson . " At the end , for the usual termination "the contents of this Booke . " or " some such form , " are substituted the words

" the holy contents of this Roll . " The second group , B , of "Late Transcripts , " comprises six copies —the " Spencer , " No . 32 , which Bro . Gould surmises is " in the main a copy of No . 8 "the " Inigo Jones MS . — " or , at all events , of one very

much like it . " It was purchased nt the Spencer sale in 1875 for Bro . E . T . Carson , of Cincinnati , the Masonic bibliographer , Its date is 1726 . No . 33 , " Wondford , " and 34 , " Supreme Council No . 2 , are copies of the Cooke MS . ( No . 2 ) , and both dated 1728 . The former , in the

possession of Bro . Woodford , contains " the arms plate of William Cowper Esq . Clerk to the Parliaments ( Grand Secretary 1723 ) , " the inscription being , " This is a very ancient record of Masonry , woh -was copy'd for me by W ™

Reid , Secretary to the Grand Lodge , 1728—Ld . Coleraine , Grd . Master , Al . Choke Depy . ; Nat . Blackesby and Jo . Higmore , G Wardens . " The latter , in the library of the Supreme Council , is termed in a pencil note the " Lord Coleraine MS . "

No . 35 , " Melrose No . 3 , " of date 1762 , m the possession of the old Lodge at Melrose , is " a transcript of No . 18 , " and is thus referred to in the Records : " Given out this day , the old Rights of the Lodge in a long Roll to be extracted by Nichol Bowr and Thomas Marr , and they are

to be allowed for their trouble . " No . 36 , once the property of the late Bro . Tunnah , of East Lancashire , after whom it is named , but now of Bro . Hughan , is assigned to 1828 , the watermark of the paper being of that year . Bro . Gould says it resembles No . 13— " Sloane " MS . 3941 of

1646 , in the British Museum . No . 37 , the "Wren" of 1852 , belonging to Bro . Woodford , is endorsed " Copy from an ancient parchment Roll , written in old Norman English about the date of 1600 , and said to be a true copy of the original found amongst the papers of Sir Christopher Wren ,

who built St . Paul ' s Cathedral , London . This parchment roll belonged to the late Rev . Mr . Crane , a very learned divine and most zealous Mason , and who was for many years P . G . Secretary for the Province , when Sir Robert S .

Cotton ( father of the present Lord Combermere , and now R . W . P . G . Master ) was the Provincial Grand Master for Cheshire . " This note is signed "Bro . S . Browne , Secretary and Treasurer of the ' Cestrian , ' 615 , Chester A . L . 1852 , December 4 th . " ( To be continued . )

Reviews.

REVIEWS .

All Books intended for Review should be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , Belvidere Works , Hermes Hill , Pentonville , London , N . —; o : — Masonic Calendar and Official Directory for the Province of Wiltshire , 1883 . Issued with the sanction of the E . W . P . G . M . Lord Methuen ancl tho Provincial Grand Lodge . Edited by William Nott P . M . 663 , P . Z . 632 , & c , Prov . Grand Secretary . Devizes : Printed by W . H . Bush , Wine-street .

Tins ia the third year of issue of this useful compilation , and we again congratulate Bro . Nott on the admirable manner in which he has fulfilled his task as Editor . It is but the other day , as it were , that we described at some length the contents of this Wiltshire Masonio guide , and thore is little that wo can add in the present instance . Bro . Nott has considerably enlarged his account of the local Charity

Organisation and Benevolent Fund Committee , so that the information it now contains is well nigh as complete as it can possibly be made . In fact , as far as wo can judge , nothing more remains for him to do in the futnre years of his editorship than to reproduce what is herein contained with , of conrse , such alterations aa each new year will

necessarily demand . We must , however , express regret at Bro . Nott ' s announcement that the Calendar in the past two years haa not been able to pay its way . For their credit ' s sake , the Wiltshire brethren shonld render such an announcement in respect of this and future years impossible .