Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.*

reproduced in facsimile , and there is also a portrait ol Asil-MOLK " from a line specimen of the , engraving after FAlTilORNE , in the collection of Heralds' Portraits formed by Bro . Sir ARTHUR VICARS , Ulster King-of-Arms / ' to whom Bro . CRAWLEY acknowledges his indebtedness for his courtesy in permitting

the reproduction . There is also a brief account of AsilMOl . E ' S career , and if the facts recorded are not unfamiliar to some of us , they have the merit of being well arranged and clearly set forth . So , too ,, with JOHN AI . HREY and his " Memoires of Natural

Remarques of thc County of Wiltshire , " the same fullness of wellordered description is observable , but in respect of these our interest is the greater because it is perhaps not so generally known that it is " in these Memoires " that " occurs the only

contemporary statement of Sir CHRISTOPHER WREN'S connection with the Craft , " the next mention of him as a " Brother " being " in the year of his death , 1723 , when some of the newspapers in their obituary notices call him 'a worthy Freemason . '"

This also—that is , the passage- which contains the statement—is reproduced in facsimile , while , as regards A UDREY himself , there is plenty of information given as to his career . Naturall y enough , Bro . CRAWLEY notes the question which has been again . -. 1-1 ( 1 no-ain discussed as to the worth of the statement that WREN

was a Freemason , and , in regard to this , we hold that he has come to the rig ht conclusion when he sums up the case in the following paragraph : " In view of the more recent investigations , the case stands somehow thus . Omitting AUBREY ' testimony , we find , in the course of the Acception , in thc stream of

family tradition , and in the obituary notice of 1723 , such grounds for inferring Sir CHRISTOPHER WREN , like others of his stamp and day , to have been connected with the Craft , that we should be justified in feeling the liveliest surprise if it should be shown that the fact was otherwise . Admitting AllMREY ' s testimony , we

find the probability turned into such a certainty as actuates men in thc conduct of their daily life . Rebutting evidence there is none . Thc witness and his testimony are such as the Court must admit . It is for the jury to determine the precis-e amount of credibility . " We . have always held that

though there is no direct positive evidence that \ VREN was made a Freemason on the day mentioned in AUBREY ' Memorandum , the probabilities approximate so clearl y to a certainty , that the lithe of a hair ' s weig ht will not suffice to distinguish the former

from the latter . Happily , with AUBREYS and other statements in favour of WUEN ' admission into the Fraternity , the burden of disproof rests with the opponents of the theory , and we agree with Bro . CRAWLEY , whim he says— " we should be justified in feeling the liveliest surprise if it should be shown that the fact

was otherwise . " As regards " Dr . RlCMARI ) RAWLINSON and his MSS ., " which occupy full y three-fourths of the paper , the ni count which Bro . CRAWLEY has compiled contains more information about Dr . RAWLINSON , and a fuller description of the Masonic portion of his MSS . than we have met with heretofore .

There is a portrait of the Doctor and a reproduction in facsimile of a letter of his addressed to " Mr . Tllo . MAS ToWL , at Mr . HEATH ' S , near the Blackdo-g , in Shoreditch , " from which it appears that it was not Dr . R . RAWLINSON , but Mr . Towi ., who compiled the volume containing references to Masonry , which

has been hitherto attributed to the former . But this portion of the paper is so interesting that we must leave , the reader to stud y it for himself . As Dr . CRAWLEY himself remarks— " we are apt to lose sig ht of the true bearing" of " excerpts presented without their context , " and a few quotations taken at random would not suffice to show thc real merits of the essay .

We have , unfortunately , left ourselves no room to deal with Bro . Si'E'in ' s paper on " The Two Degrees Theory , " and , therefore , we reserve our remarks on it for a further article , but as regards the other contents of the Part in which appear the two contributions specially singled out for comment , they include Bro .

Kl . EINS "Hidden Mysteries , " which have alread y appeared in these columns , together w ith the usual "Notes and Oueries , " " Obituary , " in which will be found a brief account b y Bro . Major LESLIE , of the laic Bro . Major-General A . ( I .

YEATMANBlGGS , C . B ., Dist . G . Master of Bengal ; "Reviews , " and "Chronicle . " To this must be added the description furnished b y Bro . Kl . ElN of "the Symbolic Card for Christmas 1 N 97 , " which is reproduced in order that the render may be able Io follow Bro . KLEIN in his explanations . i

"Bell's Weekly Messenger."

" BELL'S WEEKLY MESSENGER . "

OLD LISTS OF LONDON LODGES-1706-7 . Through the courtesy of Bro . F . C . Crossle , P . G . Sec , co . Down , Ireland , I have been able to examine extracts from various numbers of Bell ' s Weekly . Messenger , from iSih September , 179 6 , to 5 th February , 1797 , inclusive . These papers purport to give a list of the days and places of meeting of the London lodges under the Grand Lodge of the " Moderns , " but the list is evidently unofficial and was probably compiled from information supplied by the lodges themselves .

In these lists I find two or three lodges still recorded as meeting , but they had been removed from the official register for several years . No . iSS , Corinthian Lodge , is stated on 16 th October , 14 th November , and 10 th December , 179 ( 1 , to be meeting at the " White Horse , North Street , Rathbone-place " —this is a place of meeting not recorded in the Grand Lodge Calendar , and should be noted accordingly . In the Messenger for 1 Sth September , 179 ( 1 , at p . ifiS , we

read" Several of the Fraternity having suggested the convenience and advantage that would arise to the different Lodges in London from a weekly statement of the Time of their respective Meetings ( as it might induce the members to attend more frequently , and thereby greatly promote the Interest of that benevolent Society ) , the Proprietor of REEL'S WEEKLY MESSENGER has determined to add such a statement to his

Diary . It is hoped , that the Plan , and the Paper that contains it , will meet with ihe liberal Patronage of the Fraternity , which will be a Favour essentially serviceable to one of the Brotherhood , who has almost been swept from the face ol" tho earth , by the nefarious conduct of an Individual , who took advantage of his credulity . In spite of this misfortune , he once more confidently calls the attention of the World to his efforts , to produce a Weekly Paper , which he hopes will prove useful to them , and beneficial to himself . "

" John Bell , of thc British Library , Strand , respectfully solicits , that any alteration of the Places or Times of meeting , and of the respective Lodges , may be communicated to him , which shall be punctually attended to in future statements . Any Ideas which may be suggested to promote the General Interest of Freemasonry , shall also be adopted in this Paper . "

In the Messenger for 2 nd October , 170 f > , a lodge appears , without any number , " Royal Coldstream , Blue Anchor , Petty France . " This lodge I cannot trace as belonging to the English Constitution . There was no "Royal Coldstream Lodge" on the registers of the "Modern" or the " Ancient " Grand Lodges . The Coldstream Regiment of Gmrds had a lodge , at that very time , No . 322 , called the " Royal York Lodge of Perseverance , " which was , according to these papers , then regularly meeting at " The Tower . "

The Weekly Messenger for 27 th November , 179 6 , has the following announcement : " Sunday , Nov . 27 , 179 6 . A select meeting of Freemasons at Surry Tavern , Surry St . ' Sunday was the date of the paper , and the foregoing also appears in the issues for 4 th , 11 th , and iSth December , 179 6 , whilst in those for Sth , 15 th , 22 nd , and 29 th January , and 5 th February , 1797 , the announcement reads : "A select meeting of Freemacons every Sunday Evening at the Surry Tavern , Surry St . Strand . "

In the Messenger for iSth December , 1796 , the following occurs : " The Prestonian Lectures . These Lectures have been again resumed at the Surry Tavern , Surry St ., Strand , and are to be continued every Thursday Evening , at 8 o ' clock , under the directions of that zealous and indefatigable Masonic Luminary , Mr . Preston , patronised by the Master , Officers , and a respectable Body of Members of the Lodge of Antiquity . We cannot ,

upon this occasion , withhold our due tribute of applause , particularly when we consider the simplicity , ( economy , and liberality of the means used by the Constituents of this Society so excellently calculated for the extending of Masonic Information . And we conceive ourselves further justified in pronouncing our opinion , that these meetings are likely to be respectable and durable , if not numerously attended . "

" Public Masonic Meetings . " On Monday livening the Harodim Chapter is held at liight o'clock , Freemasons Tavern , Great Oueen St . " One final excerpt from trie Weekly Messenger oi 25 th December , 1791 * ,

must close these notes : " On Tuesday livening next Dec . 27 , a General Board of Trial for all the Brethren belonging to the Lodge ot Antiquity , desirous to be raised to the Degree of a Master Mason , will be held at the Surry Tavern , Surry St ., Strand , at S o ' clock . " J NO . LANE . Torquay , May 6 th .

Masonry In Whitby.

MASONRY IN WHITBY .

Bro . the Rev . K . Fox-1 nomas , as the Historian of the " Lion l . ocge , No . , - 512 , wrote an excellent work on " F " reemasonry in Whitby , 1764-1 S 97 , " which was printed and published last year , with a brief Introduction by me . The Volume is a credit to all concerned in its production , and the Illustrations add much to its interest and value . ( Bro . George Kenning , 1 ( 1 , Great Oueen-street ) .

The Book was prepared for the Centenary Celebrations , the lodge , strange to say , in the Centenary year ( 1 S 97 ) numbering at the time exactly inn members .

An Appendix of some jo pages has just been printed giving a succinct ' Account ol the Centenary Celebration of the Lion Lodge and the meeting of thc Prov . Grand Lodge of North and Fast Yorkshire , held at Whitby , 15 th July , 1 S 97 , " the pagination being continued from the History of the Lodge , and thus may be bound up with that artistic volume in completion of the special Commemoration . The Celebration ol the Centenary 0 ! the Lodge began by a service at the Congregational Church , John-street , on July nth , 1 S 97 , when the