Masonic Medals.*

MASONIC MEDALS . *

In one of our last week ' s Notes , we acknowledged thc receipt of the second volume of the important work on "Masonic Medals , " which is now being compiled and published under the auspices of the Hamburg Correspondence Circle with

Bro . CARL WlEDE as the principal editor , and Bro . F . W . KADF .-MACHER , of Hamburg , as thc printer . We further expressed our opinion that this further volume was in all respects worthy of the high character by which its predecessor had been

distinguished , and a fuller acquaintance with its contents confirms us in this view . A brief preface , by Bro . CARL WlEBE , serves at once to introduce us to the contents , which extend to 18 fullpage plates of illustrations of 115 medals ( 173-287 ) , both

obverse and reverse , and corresponding in size with the originals , t ogether with the necessary descriptive letter-press and such historical and biographical particulars as have been considered necessary for purposes of explanation and elucidation . Plates

XXIII . to XXVII . containing photographic copies of the medals , numbered from 173 to 202 , both inclusive , relate to Sweden , into which Freemasonry was introduced within 20 years from the establishment of our own Grand Lodge in 1717 , and which for

fully a century has been Masonically on terms of the most cordial friendship with England . Plates XXVIII . to XXXIV ., inclusive , containing illustrations of medals numbered from 203 to 243 , concern Freemasonry in the Netherlands , with the exception of

No . 203 , which relates to St . Petersburg and bears date 17 80 , and No . 204 , in illustration of a medal struck at Copenhagen in i SG 3 , on the death of the late King Frederick VII . of Denmark .

The other plates , XXXIV . to XXXfX ., contain copies of medals numbered from 244 to 280 , relating to Belgian Freemasonry , while Table XL . comprising copies of medals , 281-28 7 , relates to German Freemasonry of recent date .

The earliest of the Swedish medals bears date the 13 th January , 174 6 ( old style ) , and was struck in commemoration of the birth of the Prince who , in 1771 , ascended the throne of Sweden as GuSTAVUS III ., and who , according to FlNDEL ,

"himself was a Mason , and actively sympathised in tlie propagation and consolidation of the confederacy . " The next in order arc Nos . 174 and 1 75 , and were struck at Stockholm in 1753 in honour of the birth of the Princess SOPHIA Af . BERTINA—sister

of ( ii STA \ US—and to commemorate the foundation 01 the Masonic Orphan Asylum . Other medals are No . 183 , commemorative 01 CHARLES , Crown Prince of Sweden , Duke of SunEUMANlA , and afterwards King CHARLES XIII ., who , in 1811 ,

founded the Order of CHARLES XIII . No . 1 S 4 , is in memory of the death of GUSTAVUS III ., who was mortally wounded at a masked ballon thc 16 th March , 1792 , and died the 29 th day of the same month ; No . 1 S 9 , in honour of the death of CHARLES

XIII . ; and No . 190 , in honour of thc 25 th year of the reign of GlARl - KS XIV . No . 192 was struck in commemoration of the death of CllARLES XV ., in 18 72 , by whom and the present King ( OSCAR il . ) our Grand Master , H . R . H . the Prince of WALES ,

was initiated into Freemasonry , while No . 194 marks the centenary of the St . Andrew ' s Lodge—the Three United Crownsin 18 77 . No . 199 was struck at Stockholm to commemorate the silver wedding of the present King and Queen of SWEDEN ; No .

201—Gothenburg , 188 S—the centenary of the Provincial Grand Lodge ; and No . 202—Stockholm , 1897—the 25 th anniversary of the accession of his Majesty King OSCAR II ., who , in the

year 1 SS < S , had the rank conferred upon him of Past Grand Master of England , and took part in the celebration of the Girls ' School Centenary .

' 1 he Netherlands collection of Medals , as shown in plates XXVIIL-XXXIV ., commemorate for the most part similar events in lhe Masonic history of that country , thc earliest ( No . 205 ) ,

however , of the year 1742 , being illustrative of Friendship , and , hence , distinguished by the title of " Freundschafts Medaille . " On the Obverse are two men clad as Roman

Masonic Medals.*

warriors , grasping each other ' s hand , on the shield of the one being inscribed " David , " and on that of the other , " Jonathan . " No . 206 commemorates the union of the Dutch lodges with those of the Strict Observance in 1781 ; No . 207 , thc 25 th anniversary

in 17 S 3 , of the Constitution of the Lodge of Virtue , at Leyden . No . 209 was struck in honour of the 50 th anniversary of the Grand Lodge of Holland . No . 211 , of the year 1818 , commemorates the establishment of a Grand Lodge for purposes of

administration—a kind of Provincial Grand Lodge—for the Southern Provinces of the Netherlands , Belgium , at the time constituting a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . No . 215 was struck in 1825 in honour of the marriage of Prince

WILLIAM FREDERICK CHARLES , of the House of Orange , who was at the time M . W . G . Master ; Nos . 221 and 222 , at the Hague , in 1841 , as memorials of the 25 th year of the Prince ' s G , Mastership ; No . 226 , of his Silver Wedding ; No . 228 , of the

Centenary of the Netherlands Grand Lodge and the 40 th anniversary of his G . Mastership ; and Nos . 236 and 240 , of the 50 th and Goth anniversaries respectively of the same auspicious event . No . 219 was struck in 18 35 in honour of the Tercentenary of the

socalled Charter of Cologne ; No . 22 g , of the Centenary of the Lodge of Virtue , Leyden , 1857 ; and No . 235 , of that of the Lodge Perseverance , Dordrecht , in 1863 . No . 239 commemorates the

virtues of Bro . Merzdorf , the distinguished Masonic Numismatist ; and No . 242 the death of Bro . LA CAPPELLE , and bears date , Arnheim , 1891 .

The Belgian section includes photographs of medals Nos . 244-280 , the most prominent among them being No . 244 , commemorative 01 thc foundation of the Grand Orient , and No . 246 , of the installation of Bro . VAN STASSART as G . Master ; No . 250 , of the

consecration , in 1839 , of a new Hall for the Lodge La Parfaite Unionat Mons by Bro . Baron VON STASSART , G . M . Nos . 257 and 258 , commemorate the 25 th year of the reign of LEOPOLD I . and the death of that monarch in 1865 ; and No . 275 , the 50 th

anniversary of Belgian Independence . There are also memorials of the Centenaries ofthe United Lodge "Vrais Amis de I'Union et dr . Progres" ( No . 276 ) in 18 S 2 ; and of the Lodge "Les Amis Philanthropes " ( No . 279 ) in 18 97 . The remaining Plate XL . contains

copies of seven medals relating to Germany , of which No . 281 commemorates the Silver Wedding in 188 3 ofthe Crown Prince of Germany and Prussia , FREDERICK WILLIAM , and VICTORIA , Princess Royal of Great Britain . Theadditionof anlndexof names

referred to in the volume willbe found of great assistance in stud ying its contents . In fine , whether wc have regard to the excellence of the Illustrations , the fulness of the descriptive information concerning the different medals that are reproduced , or the

admirable manner in which the book has been printed and published , there can be no two opinions as to the greatness of its merits . We may add that there is still a third volume

forthcoming in order to complete the work , and to this we are looking forward with the well assured hope that when it is published it will be found the equal in all respects of Volumes I . and II .

Still Another Old Masonic Manuscript.

STILL ANOTHER OLD MASONIC MANUSCRIPT .

Many of the readers of the rreemason will doubtless be interested in knowing that another MS . of the Old Charges of the operative fraternity has come to light , and has been secured for the Library ofthe Grand Lodge of England , making the sixth of these quaint historical documents now in the archives of the Grand Lodge . For the acquisition of this , I believe , hitherto unknown version , our thanks are due to 1-ord Amherst , of Hackney , Past

Grand Wardtn of Imgland , who , last week , was good enough to call my attention to the fact of its being for sale on Monday last in the valuable collection of books and manuscripts , known as the " Tixall Library , " lately the property of Sir F . A . T . C . Constable , of Burton Constable and Aston Hall . Yorkshire .

The MS . in question is in the familiar for : m of a roll consisting of three strips of vellum or parchment j * ined together , the whole being six feet , eight inches in length , and eight inches in width , the writing occupying six feet , three inches , and sevtn inches respectively , leaving a margin ol one inch all down the right side of the document . It is very neatly and carefully written in red and bUck ink , now somewhat faded , every word , however , beine quite legible . The character of the writing is similar to that of what

is known as the ' •Inigo Jones MS ., with the Roman capitals , only the 1 nes are closer together , and the principal words are in red ink . The roll is surmounted by a somewhat crude sketch of the Masons Arms—the three towers , etc ., and the motto , " In the Lord is all our trust , " in red and black ink , evidently the work of the writer of the document , whom I should imagine to have been a much better penman than heraldic artist . Unfortunately this portion of the manuscript has suffered from the ravages of vermin , the edges being partly eaten away ,