Provincial Grand Lodge Of Durham.

proud , as an officer of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Durham , to wear that clothing . Twenty-five years ago he was invested with the clothing of a Junior Steward , and in receiving it he was very proud , and the most he expected then ever to attain was the office of VV . M . of the lodge . Fortunately for himself , he h ; d had many honours bestowed upon him during the 25 years he had labouied amongst them . If during that time he had , either in anything he had said or in anything he had written , offended any

one , he trusted they would believe that he was acting to the best of his judgment . He was anxious at all times to meet the brethren in a fair and impartial manner , and wished them to be kind enough to remember that if he filled a very honourable office , it was also a very difficult one . He begged to thank them again , and to say that he trusted to continue to perform his duties with pleasure to himself , and satisfaction to them all . The lodge was then closed in due form .

The brethren afterwards adjourned to the Royal Hotel , where the annual festival was held . Great credit was due to Bros . C . S . Lane , E . Hudson , and the W . M . ' s of the lodges at West Hartlepool , together with the other brethren , for the admirable manner in which all the arrangements were carried out , making this meeting one of the most successful ever held in the Province or Durham .

We may mention that the Grand Lodge clothing and jewel presented to Bro . R . Hudson , P . G . Swd . Br . Eng ., was manufactured by Bro . George Kenning . It was greatly admired by the whole of the brethren present at the meeting .

Provincial Grand Lodge Of New York Under The "Ancients."

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF NEW YORK UNDER THE "ANCIENTS . "

Bv BRO . G . B . ABBOTT . As regards the Warrant itself—of which I have seen only the reprintand such internal evidence as it may be supposed to afford of its authenticity , it is my belief , so far as I have been able to compare it with other " Ancient " documents of a similar character , that the body of the Warrant , if not word fcr word the same , is the same in all material points . Itcarefully secures to the new

body created under its authority all the rights and privileges it confers , and contains the usual reservation as to obedience to the Supreme Body which issued it . If I were justified in accepting the punctuation of the reprint as affording conclusive evidence on a matter of fact , then there could not be the slightest doubt about the accuracy of its description of the Grand Master at the time it was granted , who is spoken of as the " Most Noble

Prince John the third , Duke of Athol , " & c . The placing of the comma after the word "third" clearly indicates—what was indeed the fact—that the Grand Master of the "Ancient" Grand Lodge at the time was the third Prince bearing the name of John , who had held the Dukedom of Athole , the first , third , and fourth Dukes being respectively John I ., John II ., and John III ., and the second Duke James . In this case , what I have

called a " far-fetched " suggestion would be realised , while Dermott , Dickey , and Bearblock would be shown to have had a more intimate knowledge of the Scotch peerage than I have given them credit for possessing . As a rule , however , punctuation in all legal and quasi-legal documents is conspicuous by its absence , and the copyist may have inserted this particular , but very important , comma , without anything in the original to justify its

insertion . Nor can I draw any conclusion from the description contained in the letter already referred to as having been addressed to the Grand Lodge of Scotland on the ist November , 1775 , during the Grand Mastership of the same Duke of Athol , for in that he is described as the " Most Noble Prince John ( the third ) Dukeof Atholl , " & c . the words " the third " being enclosed in brackets . In any circumstances , even if the fourth Duke

of Athole has been mistakenly described as the third Duke , it is a pardonable error , and one that should not be allowed to vitiate the charater of a document which in things material has about it the stamp of authenticity . I will state further as regards the Warrant itself , or rather the reprint I have seen , that the signature of Grand Secretary Bearblock is the same as

in the Grand Lodge Minute Book—that is to say , his Christian name is not indicated by the initial letter " C , " or written in full as " Charles , " or abbreviated in the usual fashion as " Chas ., " but abbreviated , as it is reprinted , * ' Char ' s . " This may be a trifling matter in appearance , but we must not forget that such small matters are of great value in this class of

questions . By way of conclusion , I will sum up the various points I have sought to establish , in opposition to the opinions of Bro . Findel which I have seen , as based upon those expressed by Bros . R . Barthelmess and F . G . Fincke , which I have not seen , as to this New York Prov . G . Warrant being a forgery .

In the first place , it is perfectly true that the grant of such a Warrant is not mentioned in the Minute Book of the Grand Lodge " Ancients ;'' but there are three entries in those minutes in which certain brethren are

described as Prov . G . Officers " elect , " while , in the Grand Lodge Register , there is not only an entry of the Prov . G . Lodge with the same three brethren similarly described , but there is likewise a notification that the fee for Warrant amounting to £ 3 3 s . was received . In the second place , if the Grand Master , on the 5 th September , 1781 , •s erroneousl y described as third instead of fourth Duke of Athol , the

error is comparatively venial , while it is quite within the bounds of possibility that there is no misdescription whatever , but that , as in the reprint of the charter , the Grand Master ) being said to be the " Most Noble Prince John the third , Duke of Atholl , " & c , is correctly described . It is moreover the fact , that the Sth September , 1781 , comes within the seventh year ot the Grand Mastership of the Duke of Athole , who was the Grand Master at the time .

In the third place , there being an interval of some duration between the date of grant—viz ., the aforesaid 5 th September , 1781 , when there was a wand Master—ar . d the date of issue for use at some subsequent date , when there was no Grand Master , the absence of that dignitary ' s sig" , jre 'rom its usual place on the Warrant , and the presence only of that of the

Grand Secretary—who was the only installed G . Officer entitled to sign " -are full y and satisfactorily accounted for . The Duke of Athole , having ceased to be Grand Master , would not sign the warrant as issued , though tif ^ G . M . when it was granted ; and there was no one else to sign it but ™ e Grand SecretaryBro . Charles Bearblock .

, 1 trust I have succeeded in putting the claims of the alleged Prov . G . orjge of New York Warrant of Constitution to be accepted as a genuine be , Ume 2 ' 'n a new li ght ' and tllat ^ r 0 , Finde- > w ith the 4 acls * have P ^ ced ore him , will see fit to change his opinion as to its being a --very equivocal Constitution . "

English Authors And American Pirates.

ENGLISH AUTHORS AND AMERICAN PIRATES .

" That Enter'd Prentices at their Making shall be charged not to be Thieves , norThieves' Maintainers . "—Constitutions , 173 S , p . ji . Throughout the progress of my work—The History of Freemasonry—I have indulged in frequent speculation with regard to the amount of encouragement I should meet with from American readers on the termination of

my labours . Ihe result I now purpose to give in as few words as possible , and though the matter is one which at first view mi ght appear to fall within the stereotyped definition of "being of interest onl y to the parties concerned , " on a closer examination it will be found , I think , to possess features not wholly without attractions tor even the most cursory readers , or indeed , all persons—Masons or otherwise—to whom the practice of fair play and the principle of acting on the square are congenial .

The sixth and final volume of my History of Freemasonry was published in March last , and under the date of May 20 th I was informed by a valued correspondent at Portland ( Maine ) : —

"In regard to yourjbook . . ' . Cormack , who is canvassing Maine , will soon be here ] and I will talk with him in regard to it . He says in a late letter— ' I wonder if Bro , Gould is cognizant of the many battles I have to fight for him , and the number of times per day I have to use his name . '" Shortly afterwards my attention was drawn to the following , which ap « peared in the Liberal Freemason ( Boston , Mass . ) for June last :

" The History of Freemasonry . —To this , the leading title , is added on the title-page Mts Antiquities , etc ., etc ., John C . Yorston and Co ., Publishers . ' This title-page is illuminated , and is followed by another , repeating in part , but telling us that the work is by ' Robert Freke Gould .- . assisted by William J . Hughan . * . Rev . A . F . A . Woodford . •. David Murray Lyon . * . Enoch T . Carson , Deputy of Northern Supreme Council 33 °

, , for Ohio , and Past Grand Com . K . 1 ' . of Ohio ; Josiah H . Drummond , P G . M . of Maine , and P . G . Com . Northern Supreme Council of the United States ; T . S . Parvin , P . G . M . of Iowa , and Grand Recorder G . E . K . T . of the United States ' . \ . * . Bro . H . c ! Cormack , agent tor it , is reaping the benefit arising from sales of a valuable work energetically handled . "

Upon this I wrote to the Masonic journals in England and America , pointing out that the edition was a piratical one , published without my knowledge or consent , and that the "assistance" received from Bros , Carson , Drummond , and Parvin was altogether unknown to me . These communications evoked a reply from Mr . John C . Yorston , of Cincinnati ,

Ohio , whose ordinary note-paper , so far at least as I can judge by the specimen before me , contains on the upper part of the page a flaming advertisement of himself as publisher of the " History of Freemasonry , " together with my own name in l ? rge letters , and those of Bros . Hughan Drummond , Carson , and Parvin in smaller ones as the authors .

In substance , the explanation given by Mr . Yorston is as follows : Mr . Jack , of Edinburgh , held the copyright of the English work—therefore exit Gould ; but as this is legally inoperative in the United Slates , therefore exit ] i \ z \ ' ; or , in other words , he proceeds to erect a barrier which shall effectually keep weout of the discussion , and then forthwith knocks it down in order that he may rifle Mr . Jack with impunity .

" Personally , " Mr . Yorston states , "he bears me no ill-will" but he dilates on having been badly treated by the late Mr . Jack , which , indeed , is the only reason why I notice his communication at any length . According to the old proverb , " If you slander a dead man , you stab him in the grave . " This , in effect , has been done by Mr . Yorston , but I

shall attempt to show that the imputations which he has so freely cast upon the memory of the late Bro . Thomas Chisholm Jack are entitled to about as much weight as the loose statements of his canvasser in Maine , or of his own positive assertion with regard to myself on the title-page of his reprint . Mr . Yorston reminds me of a former King of Ashantee , who , as we

learn from the account of Major Bowditch ' s visit to that potentate ( 1819 ) , desired to have his portrait taken , but wanted to be pointed white ? Let us , however , refrain from Iaughingat the poor African , for a great many people are actuated by very kindred sentiments to those so frankly expressed by the negro king , and would like to appear before the public in a different colour from that which fate has really given them .

The correspondence between Mr . John C . Yorston and the late Mr . TC . Jack is before me—that is to say , the original letters written by the former and copies of those penned by the latter . From these documents I shall extract all the material facts , or those which have any bearing whatever upon the points at issue between the parties , merely pausing to explain—as

a selection from correspondence is always open to invidious remark—that I do so on two grounds—in the first place , because a short and concise statement has more chance of being read than a prolix one dealing with much irrelevant matter ; and , lastly and chiefly , because there are limits even to editorial indulgence .

The correspondence during 1883 calls for no remark . On January Sth , 1884 , Mr , Yorston made some proposals for being supplied with plates and text from Edinburgh , and his letter concludes ; "In the absence of any copyright treaty between this country and Great Britain , we could , if we chose to , set tip the work , and print ourselves ; but this is something we

would prefer not to do , preferring to pay you a fair price for the work . " In reply to this , Mr . Jack writes—January 23 rd—that having seen Mr . Yorston ' s prospectus of the " History of _ Freemasonry " [ the issue of which it seems the latter had not considered it necessary to mention in his letter ] , it

had made him cautious—a sentiment he twice expresses in the same communication—adding : " I am not inclined to play into your hands if you are reprinting the book , " but concludes by giving him the benefit of the doubt , and admits the possibility of the prospectus having been got up ( to use his own words ) " in expectation of arranging with me . "

The next letters from Cincinnati are dated February Sth and March 27 th respectively . In the former Mr . Yorston writes : "We are not reprinting the work , and prefer " ( italics his ) " not to do so , " and makes an offer of seven shillings and sixpence a page for the work to Mr . Jack , being the

price at which it could be reset in America , stating : " We would prefer paying this price per page to you , to having it done here . " There is also a variation of this offer , some proposals regarding portraits and other things , and the alternative is suggested that if the offer made was not satisfactory , Mr . Jack would make one of his own to supply the work in sheets .