Consecration Of St. Alban's Mark Lodge, No. 344. At Nottingham.

misinterpreted by our envious fellow mortals , our attainments be underrated , and our reputations traduced by the envious and malicious , there is One , at least , who sees not with the eyes of man , but may yet make that stone which the builder rejected the head of the corner . The intimate connection , then , between the Second and Fourth Degrees oi Freemasonry is this—that while the one inculcates the necessary exercise of all the duties of life , the other teaches the importance of performing them with systematic regularity . The true Master is a type of that man , mentioned in the sacred parable , who received

from his master this approving language— " Well done , thou good and faithful servant , thou hast been faithful over a few things , I will make thee ruler over many things ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord . " Such , brothers , is the significant meaning of the rites which we perform as Mark Masters . I need not enlarge upon them further , their import and their application is familiar to you all . In their knowledge and their exercise may you fulfil the high purposes of the Masonic institution . Worshipful Master , Wardens , and Overseers designate of the St . Alban ' s Lodge , let me urge upon you , one and

all , that it be from this day forth your constant endeavour , when your new lodge shall have been dedicated , to add another column of strength to the cause , to cement more closely existing ties , to impress , if possible , your comrades in the attributes , moral , intellectual , and social , that give to Masonry its eminence , and to bear your share in the liberal encouragements of the charitable resources of the town and province . May you be roused to a generous and laudable emulation lhat shall be the forerunner of perfection j and , finally , brethren , let the prayer of all of us be—O grace this lodge , Great Overseer ,

With all Thy praise and earnest truth ; That it may flourish through all time , Ever with unabated youth . In this Degree we find the truth , On earth below , in heaven above ;

The corner stone of every work Should be unselfish , lasting love . Still will we work , and , working , pray , Trusting that in a better land Our mystic keystone may be raised , And fitted by Thy Master Hand .

The Installing Master , Bro . J . Young , P . M . 19 , P . P . G . S . W . Leicestershire , & c , then installed the W . M . designate , Bro . J . Toplis , in the chair . The whole of the working was admirable , and the brethren were loud in their approval of the masterly exhibition . The following officers were invested : Bros . j . Young , I . P . M . ; G . Chapman , S . W . ; H . Vickers , J . W . ; T . Roberts , M . O . ; R . W . Plummer , S . O . ; G . Baxter , J . O . ; A . J . Barber , Treas . ; W . E . Jefferson , Sec . ; J . Brown , Reg . ; H . E . Wilson , S . D . ; B . Crooker . J . D . ; O . A . Dennis , I . G . ; R . Topott , Steward ; and C . H . Benham , Tyler .

After " Hearty good wishes" the lodge was closed , and the brethren adjourned to the banquet , the W . M ., Bro . Toplis , presiding , having on his right that well-known veteran in Mark Masonry , V . W . Bro . Kelly , Prov . G . M . of Leicestershire , & c , whilst nearly the whole of the Provincial Grand Officers , Present and Past , honoured the lodge by their presence . The usual loyal and other toasts having been duly honoured , the brethren dispersed to their respective homes , well pleased with having been present , and witnessing from first to last one of those grand things in Masonry we read about , but very seldom see .

Review.

REVIEW .

ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH RITE OF FREEMASONRYEspecially in relation to the Royal Arch Degree . By Bro . W . J . HUGHAN . London : George Kenning , 16 , Great Queen-street . FOURTH NOTICE . Bro . Hughan , in his recent valuable work , has , for the first time , made available to Masonic students some very important documents and facts . For this all owe him sincere gratitude . The Charter of Compact is , for the

first time , printed by him " in extenso , " and a most interesting and curious document it is . To him we also owe the corrected list of Royal Arch chapters from 176 9 to 1813 , as well as the important list of extinct Royal Arch chapters from 176 9 to 1797 . The names of the Grand Superintendents of the Royal Arch from 1778 to 1813 are invaluable to Masonic students , original in themselves , and for which we are indebted most truly to Bro .

Hughan . Indeed , it is impossible shortly to sum up all that Masonic students owe , and must owe , to this interesting and able summary of facts and details , all more or less for the first time put forward , and demonstrating how carefully Bro . Hughan has gone over the whole field of Royal Arch evidence , of all available testimony , on this important question . Nowhere else , and certainly not until Bro . Hughan ' s last striking publication , do we

see what a fulness exists as to Royal Arch evidences , and how entirely we owe it to Bro . Hughan clear statement that the English origin of the Grade is all butesiablished , and that Dermott obtained it , mall human probability , from the Moderns , and that it was not an emanation either from his own * ' inner consciousness , " or borrowed from Ramsay or some foreign rite . Indeed , as Bro . Hughan seems to suggest , the whole Dublin story begins

to look slightl y suspicious . At any rate , if Dermott obtained the Royal Arch at Dublin it was in consequence of the proceedings of that mysterious brother from York and London , mentioned by Fifield D'Assigny . If this be not the case , why does all knowledge of the Royal Arch seem to pass away for a time from our Dublin brethren ? The difficulty of doing full justice to Bro . Hughan ' s interesting work arises from the reality that

each page is full of a marshalling of facts , —new , and if not new , hitherto not set before us clearly or completely , and that the whole volume is brimful of points most important for all students , and absolutely necessary for those to master who are interested in Royal Arch Masonry . We have thanked Bro . Hughan for the work before , we thank him again . _ It enhances the sense which all who look into such matters , —alas , we wish the interest was wider , —must entertain for Bro . Hughan's very important

and effective contributions to Masonic archaeology . In some respects we venture to think his last work , ( not the last we hope from his pen ) , is thc best , in that it gives to all studious readers plenty to think of , plenty to digest , and also a great deal that is absolutely new , and which no previous writer has collected or touched upon , from the first page to the last . May this valuable work do good to the cause , we know with ourselves Bro . Hughan has so much at heart , —the spread and progress of Masonic Light .

Some Ancient York Masons And Their Early Haunts.

SOME ANCIENT YORK MASONS AND THEIR EARLY HAUNTS .

BY BRO . T . B . WHYTEHEAD . Coitinuedfrom page 504 . On January loth , 1722-3 , the next record was made of a " Private Lodge held at the house of Mrs . Hall , in Thursday Market . On this occasion Henry Legh , Richard Marsh , and Edward Raper were admitted , and there appear to have been five visiting brethren , for it is added , " At the

Some Ancient York Masons And Their Early Haunts.

same time the following persons were acknowledged as brethren of this ancient Society , Edmd . Winwood , G . Rhodes , Jos . Hobson , John Vanner , and Francis Hildyard , junr . " The Raper family were in a very good position in York , and were

bankers and leading men in the tea trade ; several of them served as Lord Mayors and Sheriffs . It is now impossible to identify the house of Mrs . Hall , but in all probability in was the Golden Lion , a ver )* old inn , and where , much later in the century , the Union Lodge held its meetings . At this time Sir Walter Hawkesworth is said to have been President ,

but the minutes are silent on the subject . The next meeting was held on February 4 th of the same year , at " Borehams , " when John Lockwood and Matthew Hall were sworn in . Lockwood was , I believe , the owner of Lockwood ' s Coffee House in Micklegate , which was afterwards a place of Masonic meeting for the Union

Lodge . At this same meeting two visitors " were upon their examination received as Masons . " These were George Reynoldson and Barnaby Bawtry . Reynoldson became an active member and afterwards Grand Warden , and was one of those who assisted Drake to revive the lodge in 1761 .

The Bawtrys were at one time a distinguished family in York . Alderman Bawtry , who was Lord Mayor in 1670 , had a house in Micklegate , where the Duke of York was entertained at dinner in 1664 . On the 4 th November , 1723 , at a private lodge at " Mr . Wm . Stephenson ' s , in Petergate , " John Taylor and John Collings were admitted . I

believe that Wm . Stephenson at this time kept the White Swan , an old inn of good repute , which at that period had a good frontage into Petergate , but which has since , like many old houses , shrunk into small dimensions , and has its principal entrance from Goodramgate . Collings , who was made on this occasion , afterwards succeeded Stephenson in the house . At the time he was admitted he probably kept some other inn .

The next minute records the admission , at " Borehams , on February 5 th , 1723-4 , of Wm . Tireman , Charles Pick , William Musgrave , John Jenkinson , and John Sudell , several of them well-known York names . The following meeting was held on the 15 th June , 1724 , in Davy Hall , when Daniel Hervey and Ralph Grayme were admitted . Davy Hall no longer exists . It appears to have been the residence of a family

who held the hereditary office of Royal Lardiner in the forest of Galtres . In the reign of Henry III ., David , surnamed Lardinarius , held the hall as tenant to the King in capite by the performance of services . Hence probably the name Davy Hall . In later years the property passed into the hands of the Fairfax family , and in the seventeenth ' century it was let off in tenements to artisans , chiefly shoemakers . As the place was held directly

from the Crown , it was considered to be exempt from municipal law , and , this being a great inconvenience , the Corporation eventually bought Davy Hall from Lord Fairfax , and it was pulled down in 1747 . It stood in Davygate , at its junction with New-street . Weare told that Charles Bathurst , Esq ., was Grand Master in 1724 ; but these minutes make no mention of the fact , although we have two entries

of meetings in that year . The first is dated June 22 nd , and states that at a private lodge , held at " Mr . Geo . Gibson's , " there were admitted Robert Armorer , William Jackson , and Geo . Gibson . Wm . Jackson was Sheriff of York in 1712 , and Geo . Gibson was landlord of the house in which the meeting was held . This was one of the best hotels in the city , and existed within my own recollection . It was latterly known as " Ettridge ' s , " and

stood at the corner of Museum and Blake streets , on the ground now occupied by the York Club and the Poor Law Offices . Alderman Bluitt kept the inn after Gibson , and was followed by Eltridge , whose old-fashioned figure , in drab shorts , stockings , and gilt buttons , is remembered by many York citizens . The second meeting of this year was held on December 28 th , at " Mr . Geo . Collings , in Petergate , " when Wm . Wright , Ric . Denton , Jno .

Marsden , and Ste . Bulkeley were admitted . This was at the White Swan Inn before referred to . Wm . Wright most likely belonged to the Wrights who , like the Rapers , were great tea dealers in Ousegate . John Marsden was a wellknown citizen . He was an apothecary , and a man of excellent taste . He was a member of the Corporation , and in 1 730 that body entrusted to him the work of laying out and planting the New Walk , one of the most effective bits of artificial landscape work ever done in York .

Charles Bathurst , who is said to have been Grand Master at this time , resided in Micklegate , in the house at the corner of Barker-lane , opposite Holy Trinity Church , afterwards the residence of the late Dr . Williams , father of Bro . J . M . Williams . On the leaden spouting of the house can be seen the letters C . F . B . —the initials of Charles and Frances Bathurst—and

a view of the house is given in an old plan in the possession of the York Merchants' Guild . The family claimed to be descended from a common stock wilh the Earls Bathurst . The founder of this branch was Theodore Bathurst , a Leeds lawyer , whose son Charles built the house at York , and married Miss Potter , a York heiress . He died in 1724 , and was succeeded by his son , Bro . Chas . Bathurst , a bachelor . He had a country seat at

Glints , near Richmond ( Yorks ) , and was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1727 , and died in 1743 , when the family became extinct in the male line . We have had no record in these minutes , it will be noted , of the initiation of any Charles Bathurst . The next meeting was held at Ceiling ' s House , in Petergate , on July

21 , 1725 , when Luke Lowther and Char . Hutton were admitted , and it is added : " At an adjournment of a lodge of Free Masons from Mr . Jno . Colling , in Petergate , to Mr . Luke Lowther , in Stonegate , the following persons were admitted and sworn into the Society of Free Accepted Masons : Ed . BELL , Esq ., MASTER . Char . Bathurst , John Johnson , John Elsworth , Lewis Wood . "

It is quite plain that if Charles Bathurst was not admitted until 1725 he could not have been Grand Master or President in 1724 . It looks as if Charles Bathurst had joined the Craft upon coming to York and taking possession of his father's house . It may , indeed , have been that Charles Bathurst , senior , was President in 1724 , and if so he died during his year of office . His arms are emblazoned on one of the windows of the council chamber of the Guildhall .

Luke Lowther was the landlord of the Star Inn , in Stonegate , an old house that still exists , but , like many other ancient houses of entertainment on a much more limited scale than of yore . Within the recollection o living persons there was a garden between the house and the street , and a large portion of the old building has been let off as workshops . The old large room , which was most likely used for Masonic purposes , stands within biscuit-throw of the present Masonic Hall in York . ( To be continued ) .