The Province Of Cornwall.

scription , in the course of which it was stated to whom and in commemoration of what event the gift was made by our Cornish brethren , and that it was made " as a mark of regard for the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe , their Prov . Grand Master . " That these gifts will be highly valued by the fair recipients is beyond question , while thc estimation in which they are held by thc Earl

himself was evidenced by the kindly reference he made to them in his address and the cordial thanks he expressed to the donors . But this formed only a part of the episode in which were illustrated the kindly personal relations existing between the brethren of Cornwall and their ruler . His lordship had barely concluded his thanks to those present , when Bro .

ANDERTON , who acted as Steward for the Province generally at the Jubilee Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , rose and explained that he had been deputed by Bro . TERRY , the Secretary of that Charity , to present to their Prov . Grand Master in open Provincial Grand Lodge the resolution of thanks engrossed on vellum , which had been voted

to his lordship by the Committee of Management at their meeting in March last in recognition of the great services he had rendered as Chairman at the aforesaid Festival ; and his lordship having acknowledged the presentation , it was unanimously agreed that the incident should be noted at

length in the minutes of Provincial Grand Lodge , so that a complete and trustworthy record might always remain of the honour paid to his lordship by the authorities of an Institution whose wellbeing he had laboured so successfully to promote .

What followed more immediately concerned the Province itself and the events of the past year . These were so fully described in the report published last week , that we need not concern ourselves to repeat them . However , a bare reference to them will serve to emphasise the fact lhat last year Cornwall maintained the condition of prosperitj' which has been its lot under

the auspices of its present Provincial Grand Master . The returns showed a slight numerical increase in membership , and a substantial enlargement of voting strength . Moreover , the local Charities were shown to be in a flourishing state , and fully competent to discharge their responsibilities . It is undoubtedly most creditable to Cornwall that its Masonic Annuity and

Benevolent Fund should be shown to possess a funded capital of upwards ol ^ 5000 , out of a total subscribed since its establishment in 1864 of more than ^ 8500 , and after an expenditure incurred for annuity and other benevolent purposes amounting to very little short of , £ 3500 . In fact , whether we have regard to the remarks made to the brethren by their respected chief on

the subject of Masonic clothing , the incidents of a personal nature which passed between them , or the very satisfactory reports handed in by the various Committees and executive officers of Provincial Grand Lodge , we find the report of the proceedings at the recent annual meeting of the

brethren of this Province constitutes yet another interesting chapter in the annals of Cornish Freemasonry , and we heartily congratulate both them and their Provincial Grand Master on the success which has attended their labours during the 12 months now so happily concluded .

The "Hughan Ms."

THE "HUGHAN MS . "

Several months ago R . W . Bro . T . W . Tew , the Prov . Grand Master of West Yorkshire , generously presented to the Library of his province another fine old parchment scroll of the Ancient Constitutions , and he has not only laid the Craft under obligation by authorising the publication of the text in these columns , but also by defraying the entire cost of its reproduction in pamphlet form . By his special desire , the scroll has been named

the " Hughan MS ., " in grateful recognition of the many great and inestimable services to the cause of Freemasonry in all its branches rendered by Bro . William James Hughan , of Torquay , Past Senior Grand Deacon of England , the Masonic author of world-wide repute . Seeing Bro . Hughan's unparalleled labours and great experience with regard to the Old Masonic MSS ., the compliment thus paid him by the R . W . Prov . Grand Master of West Yorkshire is peculiarly happy and appropriate .

The past history of the " Hughan MS . is virtually unknown , as is the case with many other such rolls . The probable date is late 17 th or early 18 th century . Though recently traced to the Midland Counties of England , a Scottish origin has been suggested , but further evidence than is contained in the document itself is called for before this view can bc fully adopted .

The manuscript consists of five strips of parchment of almost equal length ; total measurement from end to end being about 8 i feet and nearly 6 inches in width throughout . It is finely , it may be said , elegantly written , but shows evidence of much usage , and is endorsed " Account of the Masons Charge . " On the assumption that the scribe has copied the MS . from an older and somewhat illegible roll , certain peculiar readings in the text may

be accounted for . Ihe phrase used "first rough house of Stone or Tree" for " wrought" is a case in point . In the line where the wages ] aid in St . Alban's time should appear , a vacant space has been left , the original having' been , we may assume , undecipherable . A similar instance occurs in that part of the MS . containing the injunction " to keep these charges , " the words " peril ! for , " which should appear , being left unwritten .

A few weeks since a most valuable critique on the " Hughan MS . " appeared in your columns in the form of a letter from Dr . W . Begemann , the Provincial Grand Master of Mecklenburg , one of the highest authorities on Masonic and other ancient MSS . His opinions on these subjects command our most respectful attention and consideration , and a portion of his remarks on the MS . now before tis are quoted as follows : —

" The ' Hughan MS . ' is of thc Dowland Branch o [ the Grand Lodge Family , partaking of some particularities of the Dowland MS . itself , as well as of the Clerke , Phillipps , No . 3 , and Papworth MSS ., that are of the same

The "Hughan Ms."

Branch . There are a few peculiarities in the Hughan MS ., for instance in the Hiram legend : 'A man named also Ham , ' which was intended to be ' also Hiram , ' besides , he greatly practised Geometry , ' where the other MSS . of the Family have ' a great practise ! " of Geometry' ; and ' that ye be no Thieves nor Thieve ' sfell 010 s , ' and a few omissions . The opening lines of the Hughan MS . are almost the same as in the Spencer Family , the

Spencer MS . oi 1726 itself reading : 'The Beginning and first Foundation of the most wortliy Craft of Masonry with the charges thereunto belonging' ; the Cole and Dodd prints offer quite the same reading . The 1 Hughan MS . ' adds the ' ¦ oath' and ends ' belonging to yt : same , ' the rest being identical with the Spencer Family . This is a new corroboration of my leading back the Spencer Family to the Grand Lodge Family , the latter

being much more original than the former , which was not compiled before 1725 , the Inigo Jones MS . being a falsification fabricated after the Spencer MS . There cannot be any doubt that the Hughan MS . has been transcribed from an older copy that was rather illegible in some passages , so that the scribe misread some words , ' rough ' for ' wrought , ' ' Tubalkaine ' for ' Tubalcain , ' ' alone' for ' a none , ' 'Ham' for 'Hiram , ' ' madestanding '

for ' /( urferstanding . ' There is an omission after the word , ' Geometry , ' caused by the same word at the end of the next phrase of thc presumed original , the eye of the scribe running from the first ' Geometry' to the second , and thus omitting the passage . On the whole thc Hughan MS . is more correct than most of the other MSS . " In the historical portion , when speaking of the two pillars , the word

" Latent" is used . This coming at the end of a line , and close to the edge of the parchment , it might be supposed that the word as it originally stood was " Lateralis , " and that the last two letters had been grazed off or cut away . A close and careful examination , however , of the document shows that the word now stands as it was originally written , " Latent , " there being no appearance of abrasion or cutting away . It may interest Mr .

Papworth to know that another form of spelling the name , which recently formed the subject of a valuable and interesting paper read before the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , No . 2076 , can now be supplied . In the " Hughan MS . " it is spelt " Naintts Greecus , " the nearest approach to this being , perhaps , the form in the " Briscoe MS ., " where it appears " Nainus Graecus . "

" The Hughan MS . " now makes up the 12 th in number of the scrolls having their resting-place in Yorkshire , and n of these have recently been noted in detail by Bro . Hughan , in one of the Series of West Yorkshire Reprints of Masonic MSS . One of these scrolls has , however , since

changed hands and provinces , the R . W . Bro . Tew having purchased the " Waistell MS . " and presented it to the Provincial Library of West Yorkshire . Perhaps for the purposes of correct reference in the future , it will be as well now to give the respective names and location of these documents and how published :

THE YORK MSS . ( LODGE No . 236 ) . York MS . No . 1 ... 1600 circa ... Hughan ' s " Old Charges . " York MS . No . 5 ... 17 th Century ... Hughan ' s Reprints . York MS . No . 6 ... 17 th Century ... Hughan ' s Reprints . York MS . No . 4 ... A . D . 1693 ... Hughan's Masonic Sketches . York MS . No . > ... A . D . 1704 ... Hughan ' s Masonic Sketches .

WEST YORKSHIRE LIBRARY . Thomas IF . Tew MS . ... 16 S 0 circa ... West York Reprints . William Watson MS . ... A . D . 168 7 ... West York Reprints . Clapham MS ijoo circa ... West York Reprints . Hughan MS 1700 circa ... West York Reprints . Waistell MS A . D . 1693 ... West York Reprints .

" LODGE OF HOPE , " NO . 302 , BRADFORD . „ „ , rc . ro ¦ ( Hughan's" Old Charges " and lhe Hope MS . ... 1680 area ... I fc West York ReprfnU .

" PROBITY LODGE , " NO . 61 , HALIFAX . Probity MS . ... 1736 or earlier ... West York Reprints . Of the twelve known Yorkshire MSS . it will be seen that seven are lodged in the West Riding , and five of them the property of the Provincial Grand Lodge . West Yorkshire is therefore ahead of all other provinces in

the number , value , and representative character of its Masonic MSS . The acquisition of these treasures within a comparatively short space of time is in itself a triumph which will shed lustre upon the period of R . W . Bro . 'few ' s genial rule , and mark this era in the history of his large Province , as one when the study of Masonic literature and archaeology was fostered and encouraged to a degree hitherto unprecedented , either in this county or elsewhere .

WILLIAM WATSON ( Leeds ) . TEXT OF THE "HUGHAN MS . "

The beginning and first foundation of y most worthy Science of Masonary w'h . yc Charges it oath belonging to y - same . The might of y - fiather of Heaven wth . yc wisdom of y - glorious Son thro' y - grace and goodness of y holy Ghost that is Three persons in one Godhead be with us now in our beginning it give us grace so to gouern our selves here in our Life living that we may come to his bliss that never shall have ending Amen .

GOOD Bretheren & fellows our purpose is to tell how & in-w' maner this worthey craft of Masonry was begun and also how it was found by worthy Kings & Princes Ik by many other worshipfull men it also to them that be here we will declare y - ' . charge that belongeth to euery true Mason to keep for in trood faith if they take good heed thereto it is worthy to be

well kept as being a worthy craft and curious Science for there be seven liberal Sciences ot which Seven it is one and ye . names of y - be these 1 Gramar which teacheth a Man to Speak truely it write truely ye . 2 •j Retorick it y - teacheth a Man to Speak fair in Subtil Tcrmesye- 3 . is l ^ !' ectike and that teacheth a Man to discerne truth from falsehood y ' . 4 '' ' ? A •_ . _ . , , . . , . , n M . _ i _ _ o _ _____ _ it « . o .- »_> r OI Arithmetick which teacheth to reckon it account all maner

a Man Numbers ye . 5 th . is Geometry Ik that teacheth a Man to mett Ik ineas " ^ ° Earth & all other things which Science is called also Measure y - y ''' , called Musick and teacheth a Man ye . craft of Song it y - tuneinj , ' y- Voice of Tongue Organ Harp & Trump : and ye . 7 th . is called Astron 0 ' ) which teacheth a Man to know y - Course of ye . Sun y- * - Moon and S ta •• Those be v - Seven liberal Sciences which 7 be all founded by one Scie 1

viz' - Geometry And this a Man may prove y - ye . Science of all wor founded by Geometry for Geometry teacheth a Man mette and Meas ^ Ponderation it weight of all manner of things on ye . Earth for there 1 , Man that worketh any craft but he worketh by some mette or M easure >