The Cross Of Honour,

whisky , and smiled benigiiantly around the room . Then the deep bass no' es of the big Draper ' s voice rolled out . " What nil awful mistake you made , Mac , regarding the charaelei of your old comrade . Prom your description of Duncan 1 had jumped to the conclusion that he was simply an old woman who had got into a soldier ' s clothes bv mistake . ' '

••Our friend ' s narrative . " joined in the Druggist , gravely , and using the measured tones of a magistrate . " contains a valuable moral , which we all ought ever to keep before us . It goes to prove that in the most unlikely persons we may occasionally discover the most valuable qualities . That is my own experience . Why , I ' ve extracted teeth for timid , shrinkim' little , women who never even

flinched ; and I ' ve heard brawny navvies scream and curse under the same operation . " " That ' s as it may be , " the Old 'Soldier replied , with a curious smile irradiating his grim features . " When I was paying Duncan his first quarter ' s ' Cross ' money I chanced to remark to him jocularly , ' Duncan , old man , you must have been in high fighting fettle that day near the Gogra when you laid about so lustily . '"

' •'Me ! ' he replied , with a rare twinkle in his mild ox-eyes . 'Me lay about . ' Why , man , I wasna there at a' ! I couldna both cook an ' kill , sac I just stuck to the cookiir . But it wasna for me to say "No , " when the Colonel speered nae questions at me . What wad ye ha done yersel ? Fifty shilliu' a quarter is aye somethm' when ye get it for only haudin' ycr tongue . ' " ' Then the company stared at one another without smiling . Only the Old Soldier ' s face wore a knowing grin .

The "Langdale " Masonic Ms.

The "Langdale" Masonic MS .

INTRODUCTION . F || srij |^ j 1 ' | T is always a pleasure for me to co-operate with V % M L fealjl students of the "Old Charges" ' in reproducing these f ^ MI iWl valuable documents , or in explaining their special f- jM . ) j i- ^' j-ll texts and peculiar readings . The latest discovery , fciSi !^_ -i ^) a { though most welcome , is not , however , a scroll of any great value , ( hough possessing sonic unusual features ; it least , not in its present slate , as we are unable to decide how

much is lacking both at the beginning and end of the Roll , and know not what the Invocation was like , or whether it was preceded by an Anagram * as with some of the interesting " York MSS ., and the "Newcastle College" Scroll ( 13 : 5 , 27 , and '' 7 ) . it is also most provoking that fhe preserved portion leaves off just when the brief admonitory obligation had been transcribed , as now if is

impossible to lei ) what more was writ fen . The last slip is so much shorter than the others that it is likely the "Apprentice Charges " were also given , as with sonic dozen other MSS . If so . it is all the more to be regretted that ( his very tender Roll is thus deprived of a special characteristic .

Bro . Schuitgcr has dul y and carefully described the main features of this ancient copy of fhe " Oltl Charges . which it appears to me may be accepted as dating from fhe hitter half of the seventeenth century , in common with sonic forty others : the lext

belonging to the prolific Grand Lodge Family I ) , this MS . being number-i-O ,, ' and possibly should be grouped with the branches ( c ) uh ( L ( fj-V for whilv it partakes of the former class , ft is often like tlio " Melrose MS . " .. 1 ) 12 , of . \ . i > . 107-1 . If the Roll was originally used al the formal reception of

Apprentices , m accordance with ( he custom of the Fraternit y for centuries , and as provided in the "Alnwick Orders , " of A . U . 1701 ( " he must enter him and give him his Clmrije within one whole year after" )* , the text was not perfect or cjinplete , for the transcriber was either unable to decipher portions of his prototype , or it also was alike deficient . 1 am not aware of any reason why incomplete

copies of these "Old Charges" should be simply looked at as transcripts made for literary purposes , and mil intended for actual usage , for wc know that sonic of these Scrolls that were read to the initiates did lack one or more sentences , and . moreover , other clauses could not have been intelligible either to the Brother whoso dut y it was to read flicin , or to ( he candidates who must have had to exercise patience during their recital .

The "Langdale and lhe ' "Melrose MSS . agree m the inclusion of " Christ inn m'n"i , with "merchants , plowmen , and tilers of ground'' in ( heir application of Geometry , for scientific purposes . These two scrolls also call the old worth y ( who was a rival of Methuselah ) . Xnmiim or Nimos . the Scottish MS . later descrihiug him as "' Xanua ' z ( . livid ' ax . " He was . so ii is gravely

asserted , " al y ' building of Solomon ' s Temple . ' and many centuries later was a friend of - ' Charles Marlell . King of ffrauce . ' ' so thai undoubtedly he was " an curious Mason . " The selection of Marble because it would " iudiire lire . " and of l < ult : i-en as il " will swim on the face of ( he water . " appear to be fanciful descriptions by ( he scribe of lhe " Langdale MS .. " the ordinary text reading substantially as fhe " Melrose " transcript •- ¦

The "Langdale " Masonic Ms.

'Marble , for it would not burne with fyrc , ye other is called Latterns for it would sinkc in no waiter . " Many of the MSS . omit the Latin clauses beginning with Tunc minx , $ -c .. but g ive , only fhe admonition in English as the " Langdale "

version . I'he " Book " noied on which the " newl y made " brethren were to be obligated , is stated in some of the Boll ' s ( o be the " I Fid if Bilde " ( " Daiintescy MS ., " 132 : 5 ) , or " IV IFoh / Scripture " ( " York MS , No . 2 . " 1 ) 27 ) .

The concluding Rule of the MS . was evidently too much for the transcriber , for though only a part of it now remains , the word " convenient " is given in error for covenant , lhe latter being the usual term that is found in the Scrolls that contain the full clause . The " Alnwick -MS . " reads :

" And alsoe yow and Every Mason shall serve Iruely the workers and truel y make an end of yo ' work : be it Task or Journey ; if yow may have yo ' pay as you ought to have . "

The "Newcastle College MS ., " however , ( the first of the trio of the Reproductions for the " Newcastle College of Kosicrucians " ) has an addition to this Regulation ( as with several other Rolls ) , viz ., '' and all other Coreitaiitt , " the "Langdale" transcri pt doubtless reading :

and cuery Mason to make an cud of his worke be it taske or Journey if he haue his ( Jocemmts ( or commands ) , and all that he ought to haue . Similar to the "' York MS ., No . 6 " ( 1318 ) . The word covenant seems to have been used as equivalent to "' bargain " ( " Rawlinson

MS .. ' F-l ) or agreement ; but sometimes the sentence reads : " If he have his Demand " as the " Inigo Jones" version , the •" . Dumfries Kilwinning M . S ., No . 1 . " and the old and important trio of MSS ., the two " Fhillipps , " and the "' G . W . Bain . " The Rule is clearly expressed in the York MS ., No . 2 :

" if he have his pay and all other Covenants performed to him by the Lord of the worke according to his Bargain . " There are several works that might be consulted with advantage , by brethren who are anxious to continue the stud y of this most interesting subject , such as the lie-productions already

noted , and those of the "Quatuor Coronati " Lodge ; also the handsonic volume devoted to the , " York MSS ., " edited by Bros . Todd and Whytehead , the series of Reproductions edited b y Bio . William Watson , and my own work on the "Old Charges of British Freemasons , " pnblished in October last .

There are now over sixty of these " Manuscript Constitutions , " or "Old Charges , " the most of which have been traced during the last thirty years . About a score else are known onl y by printed versions , extracts , or references , one half being so far undiscovered , and the whole unidentified . The "Langdale" is not the original of either of the latter class , i . e ., Printed Versions or Mism '/ nj MSS .+ WILLIAM J . HUGHAN ,

COPY OF THE CONSTITUTIONS AND CHARGES .

NEWCASTLE COLLEGE . —MA . NTSCIIII ' RKPIHXT NO . 3 . The first words traceable are " ( end ) ing Amen , " and the first sheet is only 1 ' 2 } " long over all . while the other sheets ( with

the exccjitiou of the last } are 1 ' : ! " in the clear . Allowing for head-room and calculating on the writing as in the general text , there was room for the prayer forming the preamble of the Newcastle College Roll , No . I , D : J 7 , namely : —

" lilt : CoxsTin-rio . v or M . \ SUM ; II ; . " ' The might of the father of heaven with the wis him of the blessed Son through the grace of God and goodncl ' s of the Holy Ghost that be three persons in one Godhead be with us in all our undertaking , and give us grace so to govern us here in flu ' s Life that

we may come to His blessing , that never shall have eliding . Allien . " The Alnwick Copy is similar as arc many others . Unless , however , there was an additional sheet or pari of a sheet before the one preserved , there was no room for the Anagram as in Noveastle College , No . 1 — I ) : > 7 and others , or for the drawing of the Masons Arms as in ( he Scarboio E 11 . or the Wm . Watson C 2 .

In my own opinion ( here was not any additional sheet or anagram , and the manuscri pt began same as the York M . S ., No d ( 1 ) IS ) , which is also contemporaneous with the present copy .

( en ) ding Allien ( and good brethren ) and follows our purpose ( is how and in ) what manner this Craft of Musnu ( ry ) ( was begun nnd all Jerwards how if was founded h \ - ( worthy emperors and prinjecs and many other worshi pful ! men

( and also to I hem tha ) t be hen re present we will declare ( the charge that e ) uei-y true inat ' on ought to keep and ( if you take go ) od head ! hereunto for it is a wort hie ( Craft l- ' or fhe ) r he ( i-iien Lihei-all li-iences of ( he which ( il is one of ) them A the names of lhe I ' elien Ic ' eaees be ( these . Thje lirsl is Grainer , v yt ( cache ! h A man lo speak