Consecration Of The Portcullis Lodge, No. 2038, At Langport.

The Consecrating Officer having taken his scat , appointed his officers , pro tem ., as follows : Bros . C . Fry Edwards , S . W . ; Ashley , P . P . G . J . W ., as P . G . Junior Warden ; R .-Bailey , 261 , P . P . G . R ., as I . P . M . ; J . G . Vile , 261 , D . of Cers . ; Rev . A . G . How , Prov . G . Chaplain , and J . C . Hunt , Prov . Grand Secretary . ' After the usual preliminary Masonic rites , the CONS * EURATING OFFICER addressed the brethren on the nature

of the meeting . He said they had assembled to-day for thc purpose of dedicating to Masonry a new lodge in this important town . Several zealous Masons in the neig hbourhood had for some years been anxious to make Langport a centre of Masonic life , and the time had now arrived when their wishes might be successfully carried out . The Most Worshipful the Grand Master had been pleased to grant a warrant , and , in accordance with that

warrant , they had met to consecrate this lodge . He had indulged the hope that the Right Worshipful the Provincial Grand . Master , the Earl of Carnarvon , would himself have been able to perform the ceremony ; but he was sorry to say that his lordship ' s public engagements would not permit of this . He would ,, therefore , himself at once proceed with the ceremony , with the assistance of . the Provincial Officers present .

The ceremony was then impressively performed by the Consecrating Officer , the sacred elements being borne by Bros . R . C . Else , the Rev . A . G . How , Prov . G . Chap . ; and T . Jelley , P . M . * 79 6 ; and J . Cornwall , P . M . 762 , both P . P . G . S . W ' s . The incidental music during the ceremony was ably performed by the P . P . G . Organist , Bro . Nosworthy , and the following

anthems were sung by the brethren -. Before the consecration— " Behold , how pleasant and how good ; " during the ceremony—Weldon ' s " O praise God in His Holiness ; " after the ceremony—Haydn's "The Spacious Firmament on High . " The Rev . A . G . How , the Prov . Grand Chaplain , delivered an oration on the nature and principles of the institution .

The lodge having then been duly constituted , the assembled ( brethren sang the National Anthem , and the dedication ceremony proper terminated . The lodge then proceeded lo instal the W . M . designate , Bro . John Hughes , as first W . M . of the lodge . The ceremony of installation was performed by the R . W . P . P . G . M ., Bro . R . C . Else . The newly-Installed Master then appointed and invested the following officers : Bros . Wm . Trevena , P . M .

1255 , P . P . G . D . C , S . W . ; W . E . Bennett , 814 , J . W . ; Morgan , S . D . ; Hobbs , J . D . ; Vincent , I . G . ; and Webber , Tyler . The lodge passed votes of thanks to the Consecrating and Installing Officers , and to the officers of Grand Lodge , and then adjourned to a banquet at the Langport Arms , which was served up in admirable style by Bro . Baring . The menu included every delicacy of the season . The W . M ., Bro . Dr . Hughes , presided , and was supported by the P . P . G . M ., Bro . R . C

Else , and many officers , Past and Present , of Provincial Grand Lodge . The usual Masonic ' toast list was subsequently gone through , and after dinner the sum of £ 5 5 s . was subscribed to the Masonic Charities , in the names of the _ Masters of the lodge , who will thus have two votes annually lo the Masonic schools . We may mention that the lodge volume of the Sacred Laws , so essential to the ceremonies , was presented to the lodge by Mrs . Barling . The founders of Lodge Portcullis are Bros . John Hughes , W . E . Bennett , J . Vincent , A . E . Hobbs , Trevena , Morgan , and Barling .

English Freemasonry Before 1717.

ENGLISH FREEMASONRY BEFORE 1717 .

The recent discussions which have taken place in regard to pre-1717 Freemasonry in England have led me to put into a connected form a few notes-on the subject which have been accumulating for some time . We have a ' great difficulty to contend with when we seek to construct a . system , or order , of Masonic life and continuance before 1717 , from which the movement in 1717 naturally or specifically emerged . I repudiate " ex irno corde "

the absurd , inconsistent , and ridiculous 1717 theory , as it is termed , as not only contradicted critically by every fact we have of archaeology and history but most derogatory to the dignity of our Order even to discuss . That any one can seriously propound the theory that our Freemasonry is the outcome of a convivial club in 1717 hasalways appeared tome such an aberration from right reason , and Such a perverse paradox , that I have always felt it was beneath

our dignity ' as Masonic writers seriously for one single moment to dilate upon it . But the outlook is very hazy indeed when we seek to link on the Grand Lodge of 1717 with any form of seventeenth century English Freemasonry . One of our most patent difficulties is the little knowledge we have of what took place in 1717 . VVe have , so far , no contemporary account of the proceedings as known to exist , and none apparently earlier than 1738 , 21

years afterwards . We have , indeed , in 1723 some Regulations drawn up by Payne in 1722 , and by implication . we may , I think , fairly assume that such are older Regulations than 1717 , that Payne did not draft them afresh , and that therefore we have in them traces of earlier legislation , customs , precedents , Masonic usages , and Masonic verbiage . Payne does not seemingly treat them as new matter ,. and there appears lo be running through

almost all a sort of silent witness , —if I may so say , —of previous laws and earlier enactments . If so , that would take us back before 1700 , with Freemasonry under some form of legislative provisions for the supreme . body and for private lodges . Some think they observe traces of a two-fold government , —a Northern and a Southern system , —but I confess , though the probability of such a state of things need not be denied , its traces to me appear

very doubtful indeed . I know of no earlier minute than one of 1722 in a lodge minute book , " and that merely seems to confirm Anderson ' s statement as to four lodges meeting in 1717 . But even its verbiage requires careful study , as it is not quite clear that only four lodges are intended by the words . But of the proceedings of 1717 , as I said before , or 171 S , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , except this partial minute , no record so far as is known at present

is extant . I say so far as known , because so great have been the apathy and le ' thargy of our lod ges in . these respects , that many collections of records are still untouched and unopened , and are lying in lumber rooms , in dirty boxes , stowed away anywhere , perishing often with mildew and decay . . I for one never could understand why , with our professions of light , we should guard our old minute books like the apples of the gardens of the Hesperides , or why practically we should imitate the

perverse and childish conduct of some of our older forefathers , who burnt Alasonic records . From 1700 lo 1717 is , as older writers have it , "hiatus valde defiendus , " a Masonic chasm , which at present we cannot bridge over , or fill up satisfactorily , . and therefore , " a fortiori , " the difficulty as we seak to get into the seventeenth century becomes more serious and intense . We have evidence indeed quite early in the eighteenth century of a lodge at Alnwick , and if Preston is correct , and the minute book he mentions turns up of 1705 at York , we inay learn much of that period of our annals . But so far as we have discovered this is all our present or available evidence

English Freemasonry Before 1717.

in the early , say , eighteenth century of an existing body , and of this evidence so far only the bit of Alnwick evidence is verifiable . What then can we say as regards the seventeenth century Freemasonry ? The answer to this query I propose to give in the next Freemason , as I do not think it wise to increase this paper , and I am well aware how few Freemasons read these

archaeological contributions , and feel that except to a few earnest students they present but little attraction . But still , unless the Freemason is to degenerate into a mere publication of lodge reports and after-dinner speeches , not the most intellectual form of Masonic study or thought , some such essays as these must from time to time appear . DRYASDUST .

History Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

HISTORY OF THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .

CHAPTER VIII . FROM THE- INAUGURATION OV THE SCHOOL AT WOOD ' GREEN TO THAT OI * THE NEW BUILDING , 1857-1865 .

( Continued from page 331 . ) We are now entering upon what many brethren at the time must have regarded as the most critical epoch in the history of thc Institution . Hitherto the Executive had succeeded in performing their allotted duties with

exemplary skill . Their management of . the funds had been both economical and liberal . They had carefull y watched over their young charges and had done the best which the means at their disposal permitted in educating them . But this latter part of their duty had been of necessity entrusted to a number of agents—namely , the Masters of the different schools at which the boys were entered . They had thus acquired little or no practical experience

of school management or school disci pline , beyond what the parents or guardians of all children may be supposed to possess . Now they were about to have a school of their own , with an educational staff appointed and paid by themselves . By a stroke of the pen , as it were , they found themselves suddenly transmuted from a governing body with no establishment to govern ' into a proprietary body with the full powers to regulate everything of material

importance , from theduties and emoluments of the Master , Matron , and the subordinate staff to making contracts for the supply of food and clothing , from electing new and retiring old pupils to settling the character of their training and the discipline to which they should be subjected . There may have been some misgivings as to whether they would figure so successfully in their new as in their old . capacity . But a very short time sufficed to

prove the efficacy of the system they adopted , and from the day when thc premises at Wood Green were opened as a School till now , when it 1 ms been resolved for the fourth , filth , or sixth time to enlarge them , so as to provide more accommodation for the ever-increasing number of applicants for the benefits of the Charity , but little doubt has arisen asto the capacity of the Executive to fulfil their important duties . It may not always have been

clear whence the nioney that was needed year by year was to come , but there has never been experienced any want of confidence in the ability . and faithfulness of the Committee to discharge its trust . The School , as distinguished from the Institution , of which at first it was only the smaller part , began well ,-and _ has gone on prospering more and more abundantly ever since . It was wisely started as an experiment with Only 25 of the boys .

as inmates , the" other 45 remaining under the old system . It is now a large * and successful educational establishment , the cases in which a boy ' s parents or guardians withhold their consent to his being received into the School being of the rarest occurrence There is , in short , only one regret we feel in contrasting the old and the new order of . things . It is that , with the evidence ever present before them of the gdbd resulting in the

Girls _ School from having the children lodged under one roof , the adoption of a similar plan in the case of this Institution was delayed so long by the conscientious , but unwise , scruples of sundry brethren of influence and standing , not only in the Craft , but on the School Executive . However , the change , if resolved on late , was promptly and effectively carried out , and , as we have said before , no doubt has ever since arisen as to * its wisdom .

Having made their purchase , the Committee resolutely set about organising the necessary arrangements , adapting the premises for the reception ot 25 pupils , electing a Master and Matron , and appointing a House Committee with power to superintend the conduct of the School . This Committee at first consisted of 12 brethren chosen from the General Committee , with the Treasurer , Trustees , and the Chairman , for the' time

being , of the General Committee , as ex-officio members . An Audit Committee was also appointed , to consist of 12 Governors and Subscribers not on the House . Committee . The Committees were chosen at an early date , that of Finance and Audit consisting , however , of only five members . The Rev . C Woodward and Mrs . Woodward were elected to the offices of Master and Matron respectively , their duties and emoluments having been

previously settled . The rules and regulations were carefully revised so as to suit the altered arrangements , and the children that wcre found eligible to be received at Wood Green having been placed in readiness , the new building was formally and ceremoniously inaugurated on the 15 th August , 1857 , Divine service at Tottenham Church , with a sermon by the Rev . J . E . . Cox , G . C , being a part of the celebration , while the pupils of the Girls '

School took part in the musical portion of the proceedings . On 15 th October , the House Committee attended at Wood Green and admitted the boys into residence , and some short time later the customary votes of thanks were passed to all who had taken part in the joyous event . In February , 1858 , the report for the previous year was submitted , the Committee strenuously insisting on the necessity for making further exertions with a view to

enlarging the School . It was provided that the children elected under the ' old system should ; remain as before if their parents and guardians preferred it , and at the same time it was pointed out , as a principal reason for having more boys resident , that the same supervision on the part of the Committee as regarded the 45 non-resident was impossible . . The attention of the Craft generally was further drawn to the apparent indifference of the provinces to the requirements of the Charity , it being at the same time pointed out

that out of the 70 boys in the establishment , no less than 36 hailed from the country , of whom 15 were at Wood Green , while the remaining 21 continued under the old system . Moreover , cases were constantly being recommended to the Committee by Provincial Grand Oflicers , who contributed nothing , nor did their lodges contribute in any way , towards the funds of the Institution , and the hope was expressed that a greater amount of practical sympathy might be shown by the provincial Craft . ( To be continued . )