The " Red Cross " Degree (England).

their rank in Grand Lodge in each case , so as to show their status in thc Craft . Each full member ( Grand Cross ) was empowered to confer the " Novitiate Cross " on six brethren who were Master Masons , at least . Bro . W .

H . White , Grand Secretary ( whose father held that oflice from 1784 , and then with the son from 1 S 10 , thc latter succeeding from 1 S 12 and continued to 1 S 56-7 ) , was one thus honoured , and on 13 th March , 1 S 09 , was elected and installed as a " Knight Grand Cross , " thus following closely in the footsteps of his father . The novitiates had to retire before the formal closins- of the

" Grand Council , " or " Grand Chapter , " or " High Council , " as the Order was termed from time to time . Bros . Henry Woodthorpe ( S . G . D . 1819 ) and Joseph H . Da Costa ( Prov . G . M . Rutland ) with others , were promoted to the Grand Cross on November 22 nd , 1809 , and at that meeting it was agreed to petition " the

Grand Lodge of England for one of the vacant numbers in Craft Masonry , and also the Grand Master of the Knights Templar for a warrant of constitution to hold an encampment . " I do not know as to their success for a Craft warrant , but they obtained a charter for the " Palestine " Chapter of the Royal Arch , in 1 S 10 , as No . 154 , to assemble at the Freemasons ' Tavern , where the Knights also met .

On 15 th December , 1810 , Bro . W . R . Wright is styled " Grand Commander , " and throughout the minutes the knights are distinguished with the prefix " Sir" ( not "Sir Knight" ) , which is certainly correct , if such should be used to describe Masonic rank . The Rev . S . Hemming , D . D ., of Masonic fame ( S . G . W ., 1813 ) , Rev . John Austin , ( G . Supt . Sussex ) , and others , received the Grand Cross on May 23 rd , 1 S 11 .

" Sir " Richard Jebb obtained permission to create a certain number of novitiates in India ( as Prov . G . M ., & c ) , and " to instal two of such to be of the Grand Cross . " This was at a special Grand Chapter holden Gth June , 1811 ( Anno Ordinis 1498 ) . The next meeting was on 13 th April , 1813 , when " Sir A . Perkins and Sir J . White were elected and installed as Sovereigns of the Order , " and the " Cross , " it was stated , had been

conferred upon several brethren , including Simon McGillivray ( well-known for his valuable services in Canada Masonically and President of the Board of General Purposes ) , William Williams ( Prov . G . M . Dorset ) , Lord Hawke , and seven others , several receiving the "Grand Cross" at the assembly on 18 th May following . At this meeting Judge Wright resigned his highposition as Grand Master because of an appointment abroad , and

stated he should propose H . R . H . the Duke of Sussex to become a knight novitiate of the Order . Between then and the 19 th July he conferred that distinction on his Royal Highness ( then the Grand Alaster of England ) , and on the latter day the Duke of Sussex received the Grand Cross , " and made his offering according to ancient custom , " after which his Royal Highness was elected to be the Grand Master of the Order , and there and then

installed . There were then seven of the High Council , four Intendants-General , 23 Grand Crosses , and 11 Knights , 45 in all , on the roll ( A . D . 1813 ) . The sum of ^ . was raised by the members to purchase a sword for presentation to their late Grand Master ( Bro . VV . R . Wright ) , and duly ratified by the Duke of Sussex , the signature of the Prince to the document being still preserved .

For some years subsequently the Degree languished , and no actual records are preserved of any knights that were made down to the decease of H . R . H . tbe Duke of Sussex in 1843 . A few of the members met at the Crown Tavern , Clerkenwell , but no information has been obtained as to their proceedings . The Novitiate Cross was conferred on Bro . H yde Clarke in 183 7 by Bro . Da Costa .

The three knights who revived the Order were Bros . H . G . Buss ( Past Assistant Grand Secretary ) , VV . H . Hubbard , and Robert Wentworth Little ( Prov . Grand Secretary and then Deputy Prov . Grand Master Middlesex ) , who received the " Cross " from old members , viz ., H . Emly , VVilliam Henry White ( so long Grand Secretary ) , and Sir J . Doratt respectively . Bro . VV . H . White was elected Grand Sovereign , and was succeeded by Lord Kenlis , now Earl Bective , Prov . Grand Master of Cumberland and

Westmorland . On his lordships resignation , the late Sir I'redcrick M , Williams , Bart ., M . P . ( Past J . G . W . ) became the chief , and now , and for many years , Col . Sir Francis Burdett , Bart ., Prov . Grand Master of Middlesex , is the honoured Grand Sovereign , and Bro . C . F . Matier ( P . G . Std . Br . of England , and the Murk Grand Secretary ) is the efficient and energetic Grand Recorder of thc Order . VV . J . HUGHAN .

Are You A Masonic Student?

ARE YOU A MASONIC STUDENT ?

Brother reader , Are you a Masonic student ? If not , why not ? If you are a Freemason you are under obligation to be a student . A candidate cannot be advanced from an Entered Apprentice to a Fellow Craft without being a student . He must learn thc Craft ' s lesson , ancl recite that lesson to the satisfaction of the Craft . Thc rising generation of brethren , wc are proud to say , are students , all of them .

But Freemasonry proffers not a single stud ) - only to its initiates , but numerous studies . All of these may be classified in two sections , to which we invite our readers' attention . The work of Masonry is one study , and a noble one—noble in itself nnd noble in its method of instruction . It is noble in itself because its

substance purifies the heart , clarifies thc mind , and improves the life . Thc precepts of Masonry are perfect in their morality and nobility . Any brother who lives up to them will be acknowledged to be blameless , even in thc estimate of his most exacting critic . The study of such a system of truth must be pleasing and profitable . But il is more than this . It qualifies for office in thc Craft . It enables one to he elevated to stations oi honour and responsibility , and thus to be placed in positions to instruct and benefit his brethren and glorify Freemasonry .

We cannot say too much in behalf of the closest study of the work of the Craft . Brethren have spent their Masonic lives , almost , in acquiring and teaching it , and have thereby shed lustre on the Fraternity and themselves . But there is another class of Masonic students . They arc not set apart from the first class , but are those who have passed through that class , become expert workers , and then not satisfied with a knowledge merely of the verbiage of the work , have desired to understand its underlying mean-

Are You A Masonic Student?

ing , and to trace back , to some degree at least , its history towards its origin , and thereby discover its development . No one who has not become a Masonic student of this class , and shared in this most engaging quest , can measure the amount of pleasure and profit in store for himself should he pass into this higher class of students .

In our era thc Masonic world is more indebted to one lodge than to any other score of influence , for the congregation of Masonic students into one organisation , and the diffusion by and through them of Masonic light to thc entire Craft of Freemasons 'round the globe . That Lodge is the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , No . 2076 , of London , England , a lodge composed exclusively of Masonic students , whose only

ambition is to discover Masonic truth , to find old Masonic documents and records , and elucidate from them the facts of past and now unknown Masonic history . Days and nights , weeks and years are spent by these brethren as Masonic students . The } ' are illustrious in various exalted walks in life , but a large part of their ambition is to glorify Freemasonry . They will spend an ) - time or money necessary to enlarge the sphere of Masonic knowledge . They will dig and delve in old minute books , charters , Constitutions , and

recondite works of general literature to find anything shedding more light" on the Craft . All praise to such brethren as Hughan , Lyon , Gould , Speth , Bywater , Rylands , Fort , Schultz , Vaux , and their peers in the ranks of Masonic students . The Craft universal is under obligation to them , but they do not assert it . They are self-sacrificing , but not self-asserting . Their only aim is to benefit Freemasonry . They have their reward in their quest for Masonic knowledge in their discovery of Masonic truth and important facts in the life of the Fraternity in the past .

Brother reader , there is no reason why you should not be a Masonic student , in both of these classes . You may and should learn the work , and you may and should understand its philosophy , and the genesis and exodus of Freemasonry out of the past . The attentive ear qualifies one to be a student in the first class , that of the work and the attentive eye to be a student in the second class , that in Masonic philosophy and history . The first student hears and learns ; the second student reads and learns .

We would that all Freemasons were readers of the Craft's literature , that all took a Masonic journal , read Masonic histories , and manifested an interest in Masonic literary inq \ . iries . There is a world of pleasure to be derived from this source , which is open to all Craftsmen . Brethren , become greater Masonic readers , and you will become greater Masonic thinkers and greater Masonic actors . You will enlarge both your sphere of enjoyment and your sphere of usefulness . Are you a Masonic student ? If not , become one at once . —Keystone .

The Dignity Of Freemasonry.

THE DIGNITY OF FREEMASONRY .

Pride is commendable , provided it is tempered with wisdom . That is , wise pride is not to be despised . There is just pride of one ' s ancestry , whose names run back in the centuries untarnished , noted for deeds of valour and unsullied honour ; of our intimate friends , whose characters arc above reproach and whose reputations are honourable ; of our own lives , free from thc imputation of wrong-doing , and noted for righteousness . This sort of

pride begets dignity . We hold ourselves aloof from the baser part of humanity , not from a feeling of superiority ! hut because wc fear contact with evil . VVe recognise the fact that we arc mingling with those whose tastes differ from ours , whose preferences are for thc ways of sin , cannot benefit them , but must injure us . A pint of muddy water poured into a gallon of clean water will pollute it , but a pint of clean water poured into a gallon of muddy water will be lost in the pollution . And so pride or

dignity leads us to rather remain with the pure than mingle with the impure . There is a dignity about Masonry that ought to be observed . Masons arc but men , hut when they become Masons they add to their responsibility in the world . Masonry elevates , or should do so , every man who enters its mysteries . After a man has passed the threshold of the lodge room , hc enters upon a new life—one that should make him a more dignified and better man . He voluntarily assumes the uniform of virtue , and from thc moment he wears thc emblem of innocence he is marked . The world has a

right to expect that he will be a better citizen , a more considerate , truer friend , a man of probity , to follow whose example will be safe . In all the ceremonies incident to making a man a Mason , in all thc lessons that arc taught , in every lecture there is a marked dignity , and that man who fails to see the ennobling , elevating principle of the Institution loses thc true meaning of its existence . Masonry , like the Church of God ,

draws its inspiration from thc same divine source , and holds forth thc same sublime teachings . Many , perhaps the majority of Masons , fail to recognise thc real glory of the Institution . It is in no w . iy the Church . It never pretended to be . lt is in no way antagonistic to the Church ; it i . s a helper . It would dignify manhood , and elevate man to a higher and purer plane of

morality . Nowhere in all its multifariousavcnues is there a spot where vice can creep in . Every road in Masonry leads to God and truth . There arc inexhaustible mines of divine wisdom in it that arc yet to be explored . Every one who searches in its recesses beholds something new , and every new thought is ennobling .

It does not proscribe a man ' s religious belief . The real essence of Masonic teaching is a belief in God , and a reverential service paid lo His holy name , but the manner in which that service is to be rendered is left to each individual heart . The Christian of every sect , the Jew , thc Mohamedan may accept thc principles of Masonry , and living by tliem dignify their profession as Christian , jew , or Mohamcdan .

We ought to recognise the dignity of our position as Masons . The fact that a man was connected wilh the Institution ought to be a passport into any respectable society . Membership in a lodge ought to give a man an undoubted reputation for honesty and fair dealing . The reason such is not thc case is because we do not recognise the dignity that attaches to membership in the Institution . Men unite with it for mercenary purposes , and do

not respect the principles of virtue that arc inculcated . Such men arc not Masons , except in name . They do not possess thc qualification of heart or mind necessary to fit them for thc dignity of Masonry . They have falsified their very first statements . They were not " prepared in heart , " as the )' professed to be , for the revelations of Truth that were made to them . Alas ,

thai there are so many in the Institution whose lives belie their professions , and whose actions destroy the dignity of thc name they bear ! Thc dignity of Masonry cannot be preserved without a more careful selection of men u » members—those who will dignify the Institution and thc Institution will dignify . New York Dispatch .