History Of No. 246, Cheltenham.

erected to Dr . Jenner ' s memory was placed in the West end of the Nave of the Cathedral , Gloucester , in 1825 . Can Bro . Norman tell us if Bro . Dr . Jenner was the father of the present Sir William Jenner , the Court Physician ? In 1827 a Committee was appointed to consider the expediency of having a Royal Arch Chapter attached to the lodge , but no further reference is made to the proposal . Prior to the " Union " the lodge had

the right to work that Degree , by virtue of its belonging to the "Ancients , " and might have continued so to do had application been made in time . Down to 1853 the lodge had " its ups and downs , " and often a preponderance of the latter , but in that year the joining of Bro . J . Brook-Smith soon altered the state of matters , "his influence upon its policy being speedily made manifest , " and in the following year , as S . W ., he proposed the lodge removing to " a building devoted to Masonic purposes rather than an

hotel , resulting in the change to the Masonic Hall , " its occupation of which has not since been broken . " The same beloved brother was the Master in the two succeeding and prosperous years . Several donations are recorded from time to time to Masonic and general objects , exhibiting the fact that the members of the lodge were most charitably disposed , and never backward in promoting aught for the good of the Craft or the benefit of humanity .

In 1881 the Right Hon . Sir Michael Hicks-Beach , Bart ., M . P ., succeeded the R . W , Bro . Lord Sherborne , as Prov . G . M ., Bro . Brook-Smith being appointed his D . Prov . G . M ., to the great advantage of the local Craft . Another of the P . M . 's was honoured in 1884 by being appointed as S . G . D . of England , Baron de Ferrieres , M . P . ; the D . Prov . G . M . in 1887 being one of the brethren selected as Past Grand Deacon

by H . R . H . the Prince of Wales . During this year their esteemed W . M ., Bro . Vassar-Smith , has been appointed D . Prov . G . M . of the Province , so that the lodge may well be congratulated on its present proud position in the province . Long may it so flourish , and may its records in the years to come furnish its future historian with similar gratifying facts to chronicle , as Bro . Norman has so happily and pleasantly made known in the pages

of his very readable volume . We must not forget to mention the illustrations which adorn the work , especially the reproductions of the seal of the Grand Lodge by Kirk , and the large oval brass medal , unique in that metal , and of rare and choice design . These plates are duly described by Bro . Hughan , and will also be referred to at length by Bro . W . T . R . Marvin , Boston , U . S . A ., in the supplement to his work on Masonic Medals .

Notes On The Ceremony Of Installation.

NOTES ON THE CEREMONY OF INSTALLATION .

BY BRO . H . SADLER . ( Continued from page 734 , vol . xxi . ) . Since the appearance of my last article on the ceremony of Installation of Master , I have been favoured with another interview by the venerable brother who formed the subject of the latter portion of it , and I learned quite enough from Bro . Canham ' s description of the method of performing

the . ceremony in his younger days to satisfy me that it was virtually the same as that which has been generally practised in London for many years past ; indeed , he never heard of any other way of performing it . Having been so long a time out of Craft Masonry , he owns to being somewhat " rusty , " and would not like to undertake to instal a Master now ; but , with

a little help , he thinks it would all come back to him . At our first interview , Bro . Canham enquired whether I knew Bro . Adlard , of High Holborn , and , on my replying in the affirmative , he informed me that he initiated Bro . Adlard , and he desired me to give his kind regards to that brother if I should see him , and tell him that Bro .

John Canham was often thinking about him . As Bro . Adlard has left his old quarters , and resides out of town , I have not had an opportunity of seeing him ; but I sent the message by his son at the earliest opportunity , and , being under the impression that so old and zealous a Mason would probably

be of material assistance in my undertaking , I wrote out the following questions ( in order to avoid giving him unnecessary trouble ) , leaving him to fill in the answers , and here they are -. You were initiated in the Lodge of Honour and Generosity in 18 32 ?—Yes .

Who initiated you?—John Canham . Installed Master of the same lodge in 18 34 ?—Yes . Who installed you ?—John Canham . Joined the Royal York Lodge of Perseverance in 1834?—Yes . Who installed you in that lodge ?—The W . Master of 1852 .

Do you remember any material alteration in the ceremony since you were first installed ?—No . Who generally performed the ceremony of installation in No . 7 ?—The outgoing Master or Bro . John Hervey for some years ; of late Bro . Murton .

Who in No . 165 ;—tiro . Canham during the two years I was a member . Is the ceremony done by you in the same way as the late John Hervey used to do it?—Yes . I think it only-right to state that , although I never had the smallest doubt as to either the veracity or recollection of Bro . Canham , yet in a

matter of such importance I deemed it prudent to have , if possible , corroborative evidence , and it will be seen that Bro . Adlard ' s answers may fairly be described as of that character . Before taking leave of Bro . Canham , I will endeavour to relate another

of his Masonic anecdotes , which I thought both amusing and instructive . At one of our interviews I mentioned the name of a brother who was rather celebrated as a " worker " about 60 years ago , and asked if he knew a Bro . G ¦ ? " John G ? " he replied ; " Oh , yes ; I knew him very well ; he was a good worker , and rather a consequential sort of person , fond of making speeches in Grand Lodge . We generally used to sit together on one of the front benches on the left hand side of the Hall , and one evening , when the Duke of Sussex was in the chair , G made rather a long speech about something . I forget what it was about ; but ,

Notes On The Ceremony Of Installation.

after he had been speaking for some time , the old Duke leaned forward and said , ' Will somebody tell me what that good brother is talking about ? He has been speaking for the last twenty minutes and I have not heard one word he has said ' * Bro . G was so disgusted that he said he would never go to Grand Lodge any more ; and he didn ' t

for a long time , but one day there was something particular coming on , and he thought he would go , and so he did . Well , as the Grand Officers came in we were standing in our usual places on the left of the gangway , and when the old Duke got up to us , he stopped and shook hands with G , and said , " Well , Brother G , and how are you' } Where have you

been ? 1 have not seen you here for a long timef That made him all right again , for he was as pleased as a little dog with two tails , and never missed a meeting after that . " In explanation of the Grand Master ' s ignorance , I may mention that "Business Papers" were unknown in Grand Lodge at that period .

In one of my previous papers I mentioned Bro . Thomas Cant , P . M . of the Albion Lodge , No . 9 , who was one of the members of the " Board of Installation" appointed by the Duke of Sussex . Since my last reference to this brother , I have met with several who knew him well , one of them being Bro . Canham , another is Bro . Barfield , Grand Treasurer ,

and a third is Bro . Samuel Vallenline , P . M . of No . 9 . From the last-named brother , with whom I recently spent an hour or two of a most entertaining and instructive character , I learnt that Bro . Cant was Sergeant Saddler , in the "Blues" ( Royal Horse Guards ) , that he always officiated as Installing Master in No . 9 , and that he

performed the ceremony on the elevation of Bro . Vallentine to the Master s chair in 1853 , since which period Bro . Vallentine has himself discharged the duties of that important office , having learnt the ceremony at the urgent request of Bro . Cant . The late Bro . William Watson , Past Grand Steward ,

was his instructor , he being at that time a member of the Albion Lodge , and Installing Master in many other lodges . Bro . Vallentine performs the ceremony now , nearly word for word as he had it from Bro . Watson , and he is morally certain there was no difference in the method of that brother and the " working" of Bro . Cant .

Bro . Barfield is my authority for the following anecdote : It appears that Bro . Cant was the fortunate possessor of a " Wateiloo medal , " and was , not unnaturally , proud of his decoration . On a certain occasion he wore it when attending Grand Lodge ; but the Grand Pursuivant refused to admit him unless he removed it , on the ground that the medal was not a Masonic

decoration , this the old soldier , very properly , I think , relused to do , and insisted on being admitted . A repetition of the " Battle of Waterloo " was only averted by the French officer—or rather the officer with the French name—sending a message to the Grand Master in the chair ( Lord Zetland )

asking whether the brother might be admitted wearing his medal . His lordship is said to have replied— " Most certainly ; and I only wish there were many more of the members of Grand Lodge wearing the ' Waterloo medal !'"

Having now , to the best of my ability , shown that there is an authorised ceremony of installation ; when that ceremony was sanctioned ; and indicated as plainly as I consistently can what that ceremony is , and the manner in which it has been transmitted to us , it would , perhaps , be advisable to explain my reasons for writing on the subject at this particular time . ' Some

time ago an eminent provincial brother , equally distinguished for his indefatigable zeal as a " worker , " and for his strong aversion to all innovations upon " the original Plan of Freemasonry , " being dissatisfied with the mode of performing the ceremony of Installation adopted by some of the lodges in his neighbourhood , applied to me for information , as he was about to

deliver a lecture on the subject . Replying to this application , I said I would go thoroughly into the matter at the first opportunity , but , instead of merely communicating to him the result of my researches , I would prefer to put it in print for the guidance of others , and also in the hope that it might be useful for future reference .

As I understand it , the practice to which my friend more particularly objects is a sort of formal ceremony of opening a Board of Installed Masters with certain secrets and modes of recognition which are quite unknown to the old Masons in London , thus making , what appears to me , from the description given , a distinct Degree , in addition to the three

mentioned in the "Articles of Union "of 1813 , wherein it is "declared that pure Ancient Masonry consists of Three Degrees , and no more , viz ., those of the Entered Apprentice , the Fellow Craft , and the Master Mason , including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch . " Whether this practice was referred to by the Duke of Sussex , in 1827 , as one of the

diversities in "the Ceremonial of Installation , I know not , neither do I know whether it is the ceremony occasionally mentioned in the Masonic journals , during the last 20 years or so , as the " Degree of Installed Master ; " but I am strongly of opinion that such ceremony or Degree never at any time formed a portion of -the recognised

system of English Masonry ; that it is either a foreign importation or a concoction of the Masonic Charlatan Finch , an expelled Mason who did a large business in the early part of the present century by manufacturing " Degrees , " selling pamphlets , and making Masons in his own house , and , I need not add , for his own profit . He had the assurance to defend an

action brought against him by his printer in 1815 to recover £ 4 2 s . for work done , with the plea that the plaintiff was indebted to him £ 16 19 s . 6 d . for making him a Mason and giving him instructions in the various Degrees in his Independent Lodge , at his own house , near Westminster Bridge . The jury , without hesitation , gave a verdict against Finch for the full amount of