The Approaching Election For The Girls' School.

need . Of course , it is quite impossible to decide on this point , and all we can therefore hope is that she may receive as much support as the merits of her case deserve . Her father was initiated in the Marquis of Granby Lodge , No . 124 , Durham , became a Past Master thereof and G . S . B . of the Province . He

subscribed for 15 if years and , we trust , made a sufficient number of friends to ensure the early admission of his daughter to the benefits of the Boyal Masonic Institution for Girls . The remaining cases we shall leave , as usual , to speak for themselves . We are sure all are deserving of support , and our principal regret—as it is the

regret of many others—is that they cannot all be admitted at once to the full enjoyment of the benefits they are seeking . An alteration has been made in the arrangement of the ballot papers which does not strike us as being any improvement , rather the reverse . We have been accustomed to see the list of candidates in order

according to the date of their being passed as eligible to compete . Then it was possible to at once judge how long a candidate had been before the subscribers ; now the list is given in alphabetical order , and , except that it may be somewhat easier for reference , we cannot see any advantage in the change , as it appears to make the list very confusing . For instance , No . 1 on the list is a third armlication case . No . 2 a first . No . 3 a fourth .

No . 36 a fourth , No . 37 a first , No . 38 a third , and so on throughout . Unless there is some manifest advantage in the the new arrangement which is not as yet apparent to us , it would be much better to revert to the old system , which at least has the merit of showing the candidates in regular sequence , no small consideration to those who make a point of studying the lists issued from time to time , as the elections ocme round .

A Misunderstanding Explained.

A MISUNDERSTANDING EXPLAINED .

By BRO JACOB NORTON . WHILE pondering over the Ashmole question some time ago , that is , whether he was our brother Mason ? tlie old adage came into my mind , " Tell me what company you keep , and I will know what you are ; "

hence , as Ashmolo told ns , that he was " the senior fell' . w" of a "Masons' organisation which met at Masons ' Hall , nnd as I knew tbat the Masons that met at tbe

paid Lull were not our kind of Masons , I concluded that Ashmole was not our brother Mason . A short timo after 1 came to the above conclusion , I happened to see an article in the Freemason , by Brother

Hughan , headed " Ashmole as a Mason , " and seeing therein the well known extracts from Ashmole ' s diary , I supposed that the article was a mere repetition of the oft-to ! d Ashmolo story , I therefore neglected to read it ,

but merely copied from it the said extracts , and made ray comments on the question I had in view . To my surprise Bro . Hughan ' s reply was mainly confined to finding fault with my misquoting the said extracts , and

to a stranger ifc must have appeared that I was charged with misquoting for the purpose of misleading the reader . I endeavoured to correct Bro . Hughan ' s mistake , but this did not conciliate him , so I submitted the whole question

to an impartial friend , and begged him to discover in what way I have sinned against Bro . Hughan . In due time my friend said , " You have not read carefully Bro . Hughan's article , and consequently you did not

know what his aim was for writing it . Bro . Hughan merely wished to call attention to tbe fact that Ashmole ' s MS . diary varies somewhat in spelling from the printed copies of tbe said diary . " Now while begging Brother

Hnghan ten thousand pardons for my carelessness , I must still insist that he has exaggerated greatly my sin , for either version of the said diary does not at all influence the main question as to which kind of Masonry Ashmole

received in 1646 . To make the subject clear I herewith place tbe two versions side by side : —

A Misunderstanding Explained.

Prmted version . MS . version . 1682 , Mar . 10 . Abont 5 Hor . March 1682 . —10 . About 5 post morici ,, I received a sum- p . m . I received a summons < i mons to appear at a Lodge to be appear at a Lodge to be held tho held next day at Masons Hall , in next day at Masona'Hall , London .

London . 11 . Accordingly I went , and 11 . Accordingly I went , and about Noone were admitted in about noon was admitted into Fellowship of Freemasons , the Fellowship of Freemason ? , by Sir William Wilson , Knight , Sir Wdliain Wilson , Knight j Cap . Capt . Rich . Borthwick , Mr . Will .

tain Richard Borthwick , Mr . Woodman , Mr . Wm . Grey , Mr . William Woodman , Mr . William Samnell Taylou " , and Mr . Wil-Grey , Mr . Samuel Taylonr , and liam Wise . Mr . William Wise . I waa tho Senior Fellow among

I vi as the Senior Follow among them ( it being 35 years since I them ( it being 35 years since yraa admitted ) . There were I was admitted ) . There were present besides my selfe tho present bei-idos myself the Fellowes after named : — Fellows after named : —Mr . Mr . Tho . Wise Mr . of tho

Thomas Wise Master of tbe Masons Company this paent Masons' Company this present yeare , Mr . Thomas Shorthose , year , Mr . Thomas Shorthose , Mr . Mr . Thomas Shadbolt , —Wains . Thomas Shadbolt , Waidflord Esq ., ford , Esq ., Mr . Nich . Young , Mr . Mr . Nicholas Yonng , Mr . John John Shorthose , Mr . William

Shorthose , Mr . William Hamon , Hamon , Mr . John Thompson , Mr . John Thompson , and Mr . and Mr . Will . Stanton , William Stanton . We all dined We all dyned afc the Half

afc the Half Moon Tavern , in Moone Taverne , in Cheapside , at Chonpside , a noble dinner pre- a noble dinner : prepared at the pared at the now accepted Mason , charge of the new-accepted Mason .

Now , no ono appreciates Bro . Hughan ' s services to the Craft more highly than I do , and those who know me , know that I am not apt to flatter ; but for all that I firmly believe that Bro . Hughan can make a mistake as well as I can . I pointed out that thoro were two disconnected

Mnsonic Societies in tho days of Ashmole , and gave my reason why I supposed that Ashmole ' s Masonry would not have entitled him to enter a Lodge of our predecessors ; but instead of proving that the Lodge at Warrington of 1610 , or the London Lodge , which Ashmole visited in 1862 ,

imparted secret modes of recognition . My good friend , Bro . Hughan , replied by asking " How does our brother know that in order to gain admission to St . Paul ' s Lodgo ( Antiquity ) , in or about 1717 , it was necessary to show a sign , to give a grip , and to whisper a word ? We are

quite ignoi ^ ant of the esoteric character of this old Lodge in 1717 , " & c . And after asking me to send him evidence that tho pre-1717 Masons had secret modes of recognition , ho went again at me for not reproducing the improved

version of Ashmole ' s diary . Now , with all due respect to Bro . Hughan , he ought to have known by this time that such kind of reasoning would not convince me that he was right .

In his last brief reply Bro . Hughan called my attention to Ashmole ' s using the word " Lodge " both in 1646 and 1682 . Hence , he must have meant by it , what we now call a Lodge . I beg , however , to remind my good brother—1 st . There can bo no doubt that the first Mason ' s Guild

organised by the Lord Mayor of London in 1356 were altogether Operative Masons . 2 nd . There is no doubt that perhaps for two hundred years after 1356 the London Guild called themselves " Freemasons . " It is not unreasonable , therefore , to suppose that the word " Lodge " may also have been retained for many years by tbe London

Mason ' s Guild , and although the said Guild discarded tho old words , yet , who knows , whether the Mason ' s Guild at Warrington in 1646 did not retain the old words and phrases of the early Operative Masons ? Besides which ,

Ashmolo was an antiquary , and men of his proclivity are very apt to make use of antiquated phrases . Indeed , Bro . Gould seems to look upon Ashmole in the same light he does upon Aubrey . "As a rule ( says Bro . Gould )

Ashmole ' s Diary is trifling where it is not simply nauseous . " I do not , therefore , attach much importance to the words "Lodgo" or "Freemason , " which Ashmole incidentally used in his Diary .

Another argument in behalf of the old belief of Ashmole ' s Masonry is that Ashmole was not a member of tbe London Masons' Guild . Bufc suppose he was not ? Cannot a Master

of a Guild invite to-day a distinguished gentleman to the Guild ' s feast , and could not the Master of the London Masons' Guild have invited Mr . Ashmole , who was Mazonised in a similar Guild at Warrington in 1646 ?

And aa the Guild bad no secrets to conceal , I cannot sec why any friend of an influential member could not havo been invited upon that occasion . , Curious stories have been circulated about Ashmole * manufacturing Masonic rituals , Brother Gould ( vol . 2 , page 136 ) , says :