Transactions No. 2076, London.

TRANSACTIONS No . 2076 , LONDON .

Part 3 , Volume 3 , "ArsQuatuor Coronatorum , " beingtheTransactions of the Lodge " Quatuor Coronati , " No . 2076 , London , is now before me , and most gladly welcomed .

There are now three volumes completed of our Transactions , which reflect great credit on all concerned , particularly the indefatigable editor and Secretary , to whom so much of the success of this extraordinary organisation is due .

All will be delighted to greet an excellent portrait ( in this part ) , of our beloved Brother George W . Speth , and will rejoice that , at last , he has consented thus to make himself known to the thousand and one members of our ever-increasing

Correspondence Circle . " I presume we shall ere long have Bro . Robert Freke Gould in our portrait gallery , possibly very soon , for next to our esteemed Secretary , the Masonic Historian has done the most work for the lodge .

After him a few of us may be inclined to put in a claim for third place as respects our labours for the promotion of the same object . As to this point , however , we know nothing of first ,

second , or third positions in or for the lodge , for all of us cooperate most harmoniously for the benefit of the Craft , and certainly as regards our own welfare that has frequently to take a "back seat . "

The present part is strong , Masonically and generally , artistically and historically . In fact it is one of the best issued , Bro . Rylands' most interesting paper on " A Forgotten Rival of Masonry , " being the chef-d'ceuvre . The wonder to me is

how the author of this racy sketch of " The Noble Order of Bucks" has contrived to get hold of such a number of facts concerning that society . He considers that its origin was about the memorable year 1723 , and that the society lasted for

about a century . The single word thoroughness aptly expresses the character of all that Bro . Rylands has written for No . 2076 , and as members we feel indebted to him for his valuable papers , which have been prepared for our benefit from time to time .

Bro . Speth leads with a thoughtful article entitled , " A Masonic Curriculum , " in response to the request of the " South Australian Freemason" and others . Many times in the year do I get letters asking for guidance in the selection of Masonic Works ,

and especially what to read on the subject . For the future I shall refer my correspondents to this capital paper , which deals with the question so thoughtfully and discriminately . Beyond

question it will be eagerly read by many brethren who are qualifying to be students of the Craft , and prove a veritable boon for all who seek such trusty guidance .

The particulars afforded of the decision regarding the " Peeters-Baertsven Prize " confirm my own independent views on the matter . The prize would appear , in all fairness , to have been Bro . Gould ' s , for surely no one would venture to contest

his claim to the premiership , as a Masonic author , during the decade concerned . On technical grounds , however , he has been passed over , and the sum of £ 300 divided between six brethren

one of whom is my old friend Findel , the extraordinary feature of the award being that some of the successful writers do not owe their prizes to distinctly Masonic works , and Bro . Findel is one of the lowest down in the scale , though the chief of the six !

Better no prize than such a fiasco . The Grand Masters of Philadelphia and Canada visited the lodge on 4 U 1 September , 1890 , M . W . Bro . MacCalla reading a paper on " Freemasonry in America , " and M . W . Bro . J . Ross

Robertson taking part in the proceedings . The admirable paper is printed in full in this part , and so is Bro . Robertson ' s able address on the Canadian Craft . Bro . J . P . Horner , M . W .

Past Grand Master of Louisiana , also attended , with Colonel Ramsay , Dist . G . M . of Malta , and many other members of the " Correspondence Circle , " the meeting being one of the best and the largest yet held .

Bro . Gould appropriately follows vvith a brief but appreciative " Literary portrait" of Grand Master Robertson , who is an esteemed friend of several members of the lodge . But for an

accident , the actual portrait of this distinguished brother would also have appeared , but the delay in its reception by the skilful literary portrait painter unfortunately led to its omission .

The suggestive paper by Mr . Wyatt Papworth , F . R . I . B . A ., on Naynus Grsecus , is a valuable contribution to our Transactions , and though in the nature of the enquiry no positive decision can

be arrived at , Mr . Papworth has most ably arranged all known dates , so as to pave the way for a more thorough examination of this historic individual than has hitherto been attempted .

Transactions No. 2076, London.

The address of our dear Bro . W . M . Bywater on his installation as W . M . contains a trustworthy account of the proceedings of the lodge during the past 12 months . As are gular attendant and one of its first members our esteemed Master is thoroughly competent to speak of the progress of the lodge , which he does

with plenty of appreciation , and also gives us all good advice in regard to its future . It is true , as he says , that our lodge "has initiated a new condition of things , and has already been the means of supplying a much-needed incentive to Masonic enquiry and investigation . "

Bro . E . Macbean s most readable and important paper on the " Formation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland" was the attractive feature on the Festival day . His racy sketches of the old lodges , with records of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries , will be

perused with great delight by the many who value this "Elementary Llistorical Series , " intz * oduced by Bro . Gould . All will unite in the wish expressed by Bro . Speth , that our zealous Junior Deacon will now " devote his spare moments to carrying the history of the Grand Lodge of Scotland up to date . "

The " Notes and Queries" department is rich in contributions . So much more so than heretofore that I dare not spare time even to record the names of the several articles .

Reviews and the " Chronicle ' complete the part . " St . John's Card , " as usual , has a frontispiece by our artistic Past Master , Bro . W . Simpson , R . I ., and a Register of the members of the lodge and brethren of the " Correspondence Circle . " Thirty of the former , and 980 of the latter . Grand total 1010 !

Brethren not already supplied will be glad to hear that copies may still be had of the exact reproduction of the Book of Constitutions , " 173 8 , which is now the rarest and most valuable of all Masonic works . The cost is but half-a-guinea per copy . W . J . HUGHAN .

Lodge Of Harmony, No. 133, Faversham.

LODGE OF HARMONY , No . 133 , FAVERSHAM .

Bro . Speth ' s able paper on this lodge not only indicates what may be unearthed by diligent and careful investigation , but also shows how indifferently acquainted our ancient brethren vvere

with the merits and claims of the then two rival Grand Lodges , or they would never have taken an Athol Warrant without knowing that they were not obtaining the " genuine article " they needed .

I do not , however , agree with Bro . Speth that in 1813 the members , then working under the " Moderns '" Warrant could have elected to stand by their "Ancient" Charter , so as thereby to obtain a higher place on the new Register , because it is very evident that the Athol Warrant was as " dead as a door nail . " It

had not been acted upon since 1764 , and no contributions or communications had been made in reference to it to the Grand Lodge from which it emanated . The instances to which Bro . Speth incidentally alludes are not analogous .

As to the discrepancy between " Masonic Records" and the dates of removal to places of meeting , I may be permitted to state that I had to rely almost exclusively on official , and presumably authentic lodge lists and calendars , supplementing

them ( when necessary and practicable ) from lodge histories and original minutes whenever they could be obtained . It is obvious that in the present instance , and in many others , lodges failed to notify their removal to the Grand Lodge , hence the

Calendars are in some cases not absolutely reliable , ff the Secretaries of the past century were like our good Bro . Speth , Masonic lodge history would be a pleasant ancl profitable pursuit . I think Bro . Speth will find the date of the Centenary Warrant of No . 133 is 3 rd May , 18 79 , not 1869 . JNO . LANE .

ENGBUND was a formation of Masons about 1797 , though the movement had begun much earlier , to restrict the esoteric teaching of Masonry to that of the three symbolical Degrees , to do away vvith the influence of the high grade mysticism , and to return to a truer representation of Masonic principles . Many able men were mixed up in the meeting—such as the Brothers Mossdorf , Schneider , Krause , Bode , Fessler , Schroder , Heldmann , etc . It is true that Fessler and

Schroder divide on some points , as , the " Handbuch" fairly puts it . men do in the history of Church and State , who , though agreed on the main question , differ on subsidiary points . They called themselves at one time ' * Vertrauten Briider . " This system of instruction was also termed " Historische Kentnisstiife " —historical knowledge grades—and some have said that it was a fourth grade . But that was

incorrect ; it was an attempt to give an intellectual , scientific , humanitarian , and cosmopolitan character to Freemasonry . Our learned Bro . J . G . Findel might , perhaps , agree that Bode's Deutscher Freimaurer Bund at Weimar in 1790 vvas the germ , so to say , of the idea , vvhich was completed in the useful Verein Deutscher Freimaurer . —Kennintr ' s Cyclopaedia of Freemasonry .