Amusing Episodes In "Ancient" History.

elected subject to the approval of the Grand Master , while Bro . Osborne departed from the scene as bare of thanks as Mrs . Hubbard ' s cupboard was of bones . On this occasion Bro . Dermott spoke patronisingly of the Grand Officers , saying " that he did not imagine that any of the Grand Officers ever had a thought of defrauding the Grand Lodge , that he verily believed that they were very honest men , yet extremely negligent in theV duties . "

About two years later I find reference in the minutes to what must have caused no little amusement during the hearing in Grand Lodge . A Brother Richard Swan—who was at the time J . G . W . —appears to have been ahTcted with an inordinate love of practical joking , though his jokes would seem to have been generally a nuisance and not infrequently offensive , On the 3 rd September , 1766 , it is recorded as follows : " Heard a long Complaint against

Gd . Warden Swan by Bro . William Dickey , Junr ., Past Master of No 14 , Alledg ing that he the said Swan had lately publish'd ( or caus'd to be publish'd ) a certain Copy of Verses containing false and malicious Reflections on the said William Dickey , Junr ., and which Verses were produced and publicly read at the same time . " Whereupon it was " Resolved It is the Opinion of this Gd . Lodge That the Verses now before us ( Entitled ' The

Swan and the Dickey Bird' ) and the publication of them are malicio is and unbecoming a Brother and that If it should be found that the said Verses were composed by a brother the delinquent shall be fin'd One Guinea and ask pardon of Bro . Wm . Dickey , Junr . " Whether it was Bro . Swan who published the Verses is not in evidence , but on the same day the sam ? Bro . Swan was found guilty of an offence against another member of Lodge

No . 14 , and adjudged to ask pardon of the aggrieved brother . Numerous other quaint entries are to be found in " Ancient" History , as for instance in the minutes of an emergency meeting on 13 th June , 1767 , when the Hon . Thomas Matrew , G . M ., occupied the chair , and Grand Secretary having invited the Grand Master to " nominate" a text for the sermon on St . John the Baptist ' s Day , the latter gave it in Latin ,

on which the minutes tell us " the Grand Secretary made a bow and said — ' Fungor officio meo . '" Elsewhere we find the said Dermott conversing in Hebrew with an Arab Mason , who was out at elbows and applied for relief . But the most remarkable scene in the strange eventful history of this remarkable man will be found to have been enacted in Grand Lodge on the 6 th June , 1770 , when a vote of thanks to Bro . W . Dickey for his services as

Deputy Grand Secretary having been passed , Bro . Dermott protested , on the ground . that the said Dickey had resigned of his own free will just at a time when he ( Dermott ) " was so ill with the gout that he was oblidged to be carried out of his bed ( when incapable to wear shoes , stockings , or even Britches ) to do his duty at the Stewards' Lodge . " But this has already been referred to in these columns in a previous issue , and need not be repeated . Indeed , this article has already ran to greater length than I had

contemplated , and if it is continued further , will weary , instead of entertaining , the readers of the Freemason . I , therefore , close it—somewhat abruptly perhaps—with the remark that if there are any brethren who imagine that s 11 minute books are dryasdnst , let them spend an hour or two in Grand Lodge Library in reading the minutes of the Scciety according to the old Institutions , of which Bro . Dermott was the guiding spirit for some 38 years . They cannot fail to be edified , and occasionally they will have amusement as well as instruction . G . BLIZARD ABBOTT .

The Craft Abroad.

The Craft Abroad .

Royal Prince of Wales Lodge , No . 867 . A special meeting of this lodge was held at the Freemasons' Hall , Trinidid , We-t Indies , on the 20 th September , for the purpose of- unveiling a portrait of his Royal Hiwh ness the Prince of Wales , M . W . Grand Master , presented to the lodge by Bro . Samuel Henderson , I . P . M ., on his return from a visit to the Mother Country . Those present were Bros . Carl 0 . Bock , W . M . ; his Excellency C . C . Knollys , Acting Governor and

P . D . D . G . M . of the District Grand Lodee of Barbadoes ; Samuel Henderson , I P M . H . Wainwright , P . M . ; R . Stiven , P . M . ; Edgar Tripp , P . M . ; S . Wood , S . W •V H . Hart , J . W . ; W . H . Higgins , acting D . C . j Theodore Tanner , Treas . ; G . F ~ Hug ? ins , Sec . ; E . j . Holt , Org . j J . Henderson , S . D . ; S . Hammond , actine ] D •' A . H . Wight , Stwd . ; Wm . Lunt , I . G . ; A . R . Thornhill , Tyler ; F . O . Harris l ' Logie , J . Barclay , Cyril Monier-Williams , and J . H . Perreira ; besides many visitors

Lodge was opened , and notice of the meeting having been read , the Worshipful Master directed two Past Masters to retire and receive the Acting Governor , on whose entrance the National Anthem was played , and the whole lodge remained standing until he took his seat in a place set apart for him in the East . The Worshipful Master then extended a welcome to Bro . his Excellency C . C Knollys , and said that it was the second time in his Misonic career thtt it had fallen to his lot to welcome into that lodge the Governor of the Colony , the first being in 1881 when hethen occupying the lowest office in the lodge Guardreceived

, , Inner , Sir Sandford Freeling at the door on the occasion of his initiation into Freemasonry , and that night " as Worshipful Master , he welcomed his Excellency Bro . Knollys in the name of the lodge , and he said he could not help thanking him for laying aside the many and weighty duties of a Governor , and coming dawn to the lodge to unveil the portrait of the M . W Grand Master , thus showing what great interest his Excellency took in Masonry . ' la conclusion , he wished him a happy evening , and assured him that it afforded one and all the greatest pleasure to see him at all times .

His Excellency Bro . C . C . Knollys , on rising , thanked the W . M . for all he had said and the lodge for according him so warm a welcome . He said it had been his good lo- ' - tune to join that lodge when it was strong and prosperous , and that he was proud to b > a member of so fine a lod ^ e . He alluded to its foundation over 30 yea-s ago , and its varying and eventlul career , and considered it had an antiquity to be proud of , as its number on the Grand Lodge roll was S 6 ; , and there were now considerably over 2000 lodges on the list . He expressed the hope that its prosperity would continue for nunv years to come , and that it would see its centenary with ever-increasing success still

attending it He alluded to the special occurrences during the past year , beginning with the dedication of the new Temple , next the meeting held by Bro . J . Ross Robertson M . W . Past Grand Master of Canada , then the reception of Bro . the Ri ght Honourabl ' the Earl of Lathom , M . W . Pro Grand Master of England , and the subsequent unveiling of his portrait , which he presented to that lodge as a memento of his visit , aad last of all , the purpose for which the lodge had assembled that night—the unveiling of the portrait of the M . W . the Grand Master , his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , from whom the lodge took its name . He thought the beginning of the lodge ' s present great

prosperity dated from Bro . S . _ Henderson ' s year of Mastership , when it acquired premises of its own and moved into them . That he considered the most important step in the career of any lodge . He alluded to the success that had attended it all through the present year in the extraordinary acquisition of members , and spoke of it as being the only Colonial lodge in the world that had received a visit from the Pro Grand Master , and had been presented by him with his portrait , and th it the lodge ought to be justly proud of that , and he thought a more fitting place could not have been chosen to ham *

that picture than in the West , directly opposite that of the Grand Master to be unveiled that evening . Speaking of the size of the Royal Prince of Wales Lodge , which now comprised over 80 members , he said that the time was not far off when it might b : found necessary and advisable to send out a daughter lodge , having one common interest with it in their traditions and sharing their building . He thought the question required very careful consideration . He alluded to the progress Masonry had made of late years , and said that since the Prince of Wales had become a Mason it had acquired a much higher

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INFANTORPHANASYLUM, WANSTEAD. PATiiO . vs—HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN . —H . E . H . THE PRINCE OF WALES , MOST WORSHIPS , GHA . NI > MASTKU . AnnualSubscriptionsareGreatlyNeededandwillbe Thankfullyreceived. NEARLY 600 CHILDREN , FED , CLOTHED , HOUSED . AND EDUCATED . The Managers ask for Christmas offerings to Maintain this good Work in Unimpaired Efficiency . Bankers-Messrs . WILLIAMS , DEACON , & Co . Office-63 Ludgate Hill . HENRY W . GREEN , P . M . No . 108 , Secretary .