Cæmentaria Hibernica.*

of thc copy discovered by him , this " Enquiry " has been familial ' to most Masonic Students , but it has been reserved for thc author of " Crementaria Hibernica " to enlighten us somewhat as to Dr . D .-VSSlGNY himself . Accordinglv , in this section we have

particulars furnished of three generations of the family , beginning with PIERRE D'ASSIGNY ( or D'ASSIGNY , or DASSIGNY , for it seems to have been spelt indifferently in these three ways ) , who is said to have been " in early life a Walloon Monk . " and who " make ?

his first appearance in London in 16 3 6 and presently re-appears in Jersey in 1038 . " Me was again in England in 16 43 , and two years later was stirring up strife in the Walloon Church at Norwich , where he " set at naught the authority of his

ecclesiastical superiors , and all but ousted the rightful pastor , Dr . DE LAUNE , from his cure . " In 1 ( 351 he returned to Jersey , then in the hands of the Parliament , but on its restoration to CHARLES II . on his return to England , he seems to have "disappeared for

wood and all , leaving behind him the reputation of an ill-conditioned and unprincipled schemer . " This PIERRE D'ASSIGNY was twice married , leaving a son , MARIUS D'ASSIGNY , who wrote several theological works of considerable merit , and died

1717 ; and a daughter , ELIZABETH , by his first wife ; and a son , SAMUEL D'ASSIGNY , by his second . This SAMUEL was also an author and " a notorious figure in Dublin , " where "having apparently failed to obtain preferment in the Church of

Ireland , " he " betook himself to the profession of a ' Couplebeggar' or celebrant of unlicensed marriages . " Subsequently , he conferred upon himself the title of Doctor of Divinity , and died in 1737 , leaving a son FlKlEl . n D'ASSIGNY , author of thc

" Serious and Impartial Enquiry , " who was born in 1707 , and respecting whose career Bro . CRAWLEY has succeeded in obtaining some very interesting particulars for which we must refer the reader to the Fasciculus itself . Suffice it to say that he

" seems to have been a popular practitioner amongst the poorer citizens of Dublin . " He died on the ioth January , 1744-5 , the funeral , which was very numerously attended by civilians—including members of the Craft in their proper

clothing—and military , taking place on the following Sunday in St . Werburgh's , Dublin . An account from the newspapers of the day is quoted in full , and in this Dr . D'ASSIGNY is described as having been " a loving friend , true

to his trust , and a gentleman , always ready to do his duty , in attending the poor and ordering such medicines as he thought requisite to preserve life , which made his death greatly lamented . " On the title-page of his " Serious and

Impartial Enquiry" he is described as "M . D . "—though Bro . CRAWLEY has been unable to trace by whom the degree was conferred—and " Author of the Impartial Answer to the Enemies of Freemasons , " of which nothing is known beyond this mention

of the title . It may be added that a facsimile is given of the Title-page—or , rather , of one of the two Title-pages—of " The Enquiry , " of the list of Subscribers' Names , and ' of the Old and New Regulations , which form an Appendix to the said "

Enquiry , " the occurrence of the name of the Hon . Mrs . ALDWORTH in the list of Subscribers offering an opportunity for including particulars respecting the Lady Freemason which Bro . CRAWLEY compiled and read , if we remember rightly , before the Quatuor

Coronati Lodge some time since . As for the conjectures hazarded respecting the bearers of some of the other names in the list , we note the mention ol Bro . 11 UGl I AN ' S suggestion—which Bro . CRAWLEY considers reasonable—that " LAURENCE MCDERMOT" is one

and the same with the " LAURENCE DERMOTT" of the English " Antients . " \ t the same time we point out that the list includes also the name of "EDWARD MCDERMOT , " while as regards Bro . CRAWLEY ' S suggestion as to RlCHARD Al . I . EN and

JOHN ALLEN—on winch , however , he lays no stress—being the RICHARD ALLEN who sat for County Kildare and the J ALLEN who " may have sal for County Wicklow in the same Parliament , " we consider il well that he attaches no importance

to the conjecture . May not the suggestion as to two of the female subscribers that they were hostesses of taverns where lodges met applv equally to some ol the men subscribers ? In the

" Antient " minutes of the 2 nd March , 1757 , at the meeting on which day a certain HAMILTON brought charges against DERMD ' IT , Bro . THOMAS ALLEN , described as P . M . of "Antient " Xo . 2 , proved that D ERMOTT , prior ( o his leaving Dublin for

Cæmentaria Hibernica.*

England , had faithfully served all the offices " in a reputable lodge held in his house in the City of Dublin . " The four ALLENS contained in the list were none of them THOMAS , but they may have belonged to one and the same family with him .

As for the opinions expressed by Bro . CRAWLEY as to the character of the lodge in which Mrs . ALDWORTH , when the Hon . ELIZAHETH ST . LEGER , was initiated , and the points of

difference between it and other similar lodges on the one hand and the early Scottish lodges , we fully recognise their importance , and shall examine them more carefully when we have more leisure at our disposal .

A valuable Supplement on the subject of early Warrants in Ireland , on the continent of Europe , and in North America , completes the Fasciculus , and is well worthy of being carefully studied . We think there can be no doubt that we are indebted

for the issue of Warrants to the Grand Lodge of Ireland , and that other Grand Lodges must have adopted the idea from it more or less directly . However , we must bring our article to a close , and we cannot do so in better form than by expressing our

sense of Bro . CRAWLEY ' courtesy in so promptly affording us the opportunity of studying this further instalment of his important work , of the very great ability with which he has treated his subjects , and , above all , of the exceptional measure of success with which his researches have been attended ,

The New Zealand Question.

THE NEW ZEALAND QUESTION .

We have no desire to say anything which , in the remotest degree , may tend to a revival of that bitterness of feeling with whicli , till some nine or ten months ago , almost every stage in the New Zealand Question was discussed . We bear in mind

that Grand Lodge , at a special meeting held on the 26 th July , 18 9 6 , left it to his Royal Highness the M . W . Grand Master to take such steps as in his wisdom he might think desirable towards recognising thc body known as the Grand Lodge of

New Zealand , while at the same time doing what was necessary to safeguard the rights and privileges of those English lodges in the colony which do not desire to cast in their lot with the local Grand Lodge . Nevertheless , the three important

letters which appeared last week in our correspondence columns , and which—as two of them were replies to a letter that had previously been published in this journal , while the third was in explanation of the part personally taken by a

prominent English brother at the inception of the New Zealand movement—it was manifestly our duty to find space for , must not be allowed to pass unheeded . As regards ( l ) the correctness or incorrectness of Bro . WilYTEHEAD ' s account of the origin

of the New Zealand troubles and ( 2 ) the sufficiency or insufficiency of the statements made per contra by the District Grand Masters of Westland and Otago and Southland , we must leave the opposing parties to settle these points between

themselves . We imagine that Bro . WHYTEHEAD would not have made the statement whicli his opponents complain of except on good authority . The two District Grand Masters speak with an intimate knowledge of what happened in their respective Districts

when the question of establishing a local Grand Lodge was started and subsequently , and both challenge Bro . WHYTEHEAD to substantiate his allegations so far as they affect them personally and officially . Doubtless , Bro . WHYTEHEAD will see his

way to taking up this challenge , and producing the evidence on which he founded his statements . But his task will be a difficult one—at least , as regards the District Grand Master of Otai ^ o and Southland—in the face of the statement made b y B / o .

SYDNEY J AMES , P . D . Dist . G . M ., District Grand Secretary Otago and Southland , in his letter of the 12 th February , to the effect that in 1890 he presided , with the lull approval of his District Grand Master , at the meeting , held in Freemasons '

Hall , Dunedin , to consider the subject of establishing such a Grand Lodge . This , however , is a matter that concerns Bro . WHYTEHEAD . What we are desirous of pointing out is that the New Zealand Question at the present moment is

—wc may almost say , ever since the project was started has been—very much on all fours with the New South Wales and Victoria Questions as they were at thc time when the late Bro . the Earl of CARNARVON , Pro Grand Master ,