Ar00600

NOTICE .

The Subscript on lo THE FREEMASON is now i o . f . per annum , post-free , payable in advance . Vol . I ., bound in cloth 43- 6 d . Vol . II ., ditto is . 6 d . Vols III ., IV ., V ., & c . ... each 15 s . od . Reading Cases to hold 52 numbers ... 2 s . 6 d . Ditto ditto 4 do . ... is . 6 d .

United States of America . THE FRSEMASON is delivered free in any part of the United States for 12 s . per annum , payable in advance . The Freemason is published on Saturday Mornings in time for the early trains . Tlie price of the Freemason is Twopence per week ; annual

subscription , IOJ . ( pavanlc in advance . ) All communications , letters , & c , to be addressed to the Editor , 198 , Fleet-street , E . C . The Editorvvil ! pav careful attention to all MSS . entrusted to him , butcannot undertake to return than unless accompanied bypostag stamps .

Ar00601

NOTICE .

Many complaints having been received of the difficulty experienced in procuring the Freemason in the City , thc publisher begs to append the following list , being a selected few of the appointed agents : — Abbott , Wm ., East Cheap . Bates , Pilgrim-street , Ludgate-hill .

Born , H ., 115 , London-wall . Dawson , Wm ., 121 , Cannon-street . Gilbert , Jas ., 18 , Gracechurch-street . Guest , Wm ., 54 , Paternoster-row . Phillpott Bros ., 65 , King William-street . Pottle , R ., 14 , Royal Exchange .

May also bc obtained at W . II . Smith & Son ' s Bookstalls at the following City Stations : — Broad-street . I Holborn Viaduct . Cannon-street . | London Bridge . Ludgate Hill .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

All Communications , Advertisements , & c , intended for insertion in the Number of the following Saturday , must reach the Office not later than 12 o ' clock on Wednesday morning . All Communications should be sent to 198 , Fleet Street .

Thc following stand over;—Comra unications from Bro . Poynter and W . B . Reports of Lodge 379 , Bath ; Lodge of Sorrow , Omagh , Ireland .

Births, Marriages And Deaths.

Births , Marriages and Deaths .

MARRIAGE . HAHOKEAVES—HOVI . K . —On the Sth inst ., at thc Parish Church , Haslingden , by the Rev . Godfrey Ashurn , M . A ., Manchester ; assisted by thc Rev . Weldon Champneys , M . A ., Vicar of Haslingden , and the Rev . G . W . Reynolds , Rector of St . Marks , Manchester , Bro . 'Thomas Hargreaves , ( Past Grand Deacon , " Mark , " ) of Well Meadow House , Haslingden , to Mary , only child of the late John Iloyle Esq ., of Haslingden .

DEATH . BRIDGES . —On thc 1 oth inst . at Long Thorns , Bridgwater , the V . W . Bro . Henry Bridges , P . G . S . B . England , and D . P . G . M . Somerset , aged 69 .

Ar00612

The Freemason , SATURDAY , AVRIL 17 , 1875 .

Ar00604

NOTICE .

Tlie Freemason of May ist , containing ' a full report of the Installation , will be considerably enlarged . Orders should be given at once , to any news-agent .

Ar00605

NOTICE .

We beg to caution our readeis once again against paying attention to any statements respecting the Installation , its arrangements , or its regulations , which do not emanate from Great Queen Street . We carefully keep the Craft

acquainted with everything that is authoritatively decided and announced . Everything is proceeding in the most satisfactory way , reflecting the highest credit on those who have many arduous duties to perform .

The Arrangements For The Installation.

THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE INSTALLATION .

We are authorised with reference to the correspondence on this subject in our last iinpressi on , to say ;

The Arrangements For The Installation.

1 . No suggestions are overlooked , all arc carefully considered , and those likely to be useful and practicable acted upon . 2 . The one ticket per lodge for M . M . ' s will amount , not to one in twenty-five , but to one in ten of thoss who have applied to be present .

To alter the system at the last moment would be simply impracticable , looking at the restrictions and precautious under which the ceremony must be necessarily conducted , it is not prr posed to extend special favours to London ove provincial lodges , in respect of Master Masons '

admission . 3 . Provincial Grand Officers , who attend as members of Grand Lodge , must wear , ( over their Provincial Grand clothing , if that be worn ) the light blue collars of the offices in virtue of

which they are members of Grand Lodge , in accordance with the Book of Constitntions . 4 . After the conclusion of the ceremony and the departure of the brethren , there will be no sufficient attraction in the hall to warrant the admission of the public to view it .

Prince Leopold.

PRINCE LEOPOLD .

Our Royal Bro . Prince Leopold has just given a fresh indication of his zeal for Freemasonry by joining a London Lodge . On Thursday , the Sth inst ., the Prince was duly elected a joining member of that old and highly distinguished lodge , the Westminster and Key Stone , No . 10 ,

which holds its meetings at Freemasons' Hall . On Thursday , the 4 th of March , His lloyal Highness was regularly proposed in open lodge by Bro . the Rev . T . Cochrane , Chaplain , and P . Prov . G . Chaplain , Oxon , and seconded by Bro . Lord Skelmersdale , Deputy Grand Master .

and Prov . Grand Master of West Lancashire , and our Royal brother was then duly ballotted for at the following regular meeting of No . 10 , on the Sth inst ., the ballot box going round the lodge in the usual manner . We need hardly add that the ballot proved unanimous in the Prince ' s favour . We feel sure that the whole Craft will

appreciate the conduct of His Royal Highness in submitting to the ordeal of the ballot , and in fact going through the same forms that any ordinary joining member would have to go through . We understand that the Prince ' s health being almost

completely re-established , it is now His Royal Higbness ' s intention to be " raised * ' to the sublime degree of a M . M . at an emergency meeting of his mother lodge , the Apollo University , at Oxford , this day ( Saturday , the 17 th inst . )

The Progress Of Masonic Archaeology, No. Vii.

THE PROGRESS OF MASONIC ARCHAEOLOGY , NO . VII .

It is important to note what documents , the subject perhaps of much controversy , have been identified , as the study of Masonic Archaeology has progressed . There is a document for instance , called the " Register of Wm . Molart , " which for a long time puzzled Masonic students . It is

quoted by most Masonic writers , principally on the faith of Wm . Preston , as a proof that in Henry VI . time Freemasonry was in existence in this country , and that Archbishop Chicheley was its patron , and that under his patronage a lodge was held at Canterbury during the early part of the

fifteenth century . Mr . Halliwell first threw doubts on its existence , and no such register could be found . At last it occurred to a very learned antiquary , not a Freemason , Mr . W . Wallbran , of Ripon , the editor of the Charterlaries of Fountains Abboy , that Wm . Molart was

a misnomer for Wm . Molash , a quondam Prior of the same epoch , whose register was said to exist in Christ Church College library , Oxford . And there sure enough it was found by the sub-librarian of the Bodlian , the Rev . A . Hackman , alsoanonraason . Thus the document was verified at

last , showing that Wm . Preston ' s informant had probably seen the MS ., but was too careless or too ignorant to transcribe its title correctly , much less its contents . On a page of the MS . is a record of the annual grant of " Murrey Cloth " by the priory to certain persons named , and at

The Progress Of Masonic Archaeology, No. Vii.

the head ofthe page , stands Archbishop Chicheley Armiger . Lower down is " Le Loge Latomorum . " On the same page of the register are the " Magister , " the two "Guardiani , " and seven " apprenticii . " All their names are givenwhich it is unnecessary to mention here .

Thus , then the document is a true document , and though it does not prove what it way , for in Preston , it does show that there was a lodge of operative Freemasons in the early part of the fifteenth century , attached to Christ Church , Canterbury , in an organized form , much

akin to our own to-day . In some of the historians we hear of a constitution of Edward the Third's reign that is only a mistaken use of either a portion of the MS . poem , or of the MS . commonly called Matthew Cooke ' s—which have had various ages given to them , practically

ad libitum , by Masonic writers , to illustrate views of their own . So too , as regards a MS . of the reign of Edward IV ., sometimes mentioned ; it is an extract from the Additional MS . just mentioned . The truth is , that the Masonic poem and the additional MS . were both well

known lo Anderson , at least , we believe so , for various reasons , and they have been made to do much service in the cause of Masonic enquiry . Of their reality and authenticity there is now no doubt . Ihe Masonic Poem is certainly very early fifteenth century , if it be not late ¦

fourteenth century , and we do not despair of yet finding its original , as the name of its " Latin original" is found in a will , bequeathing the book to a college library in the sixteenth century . The additional MS . edited by Bro . M , Cooke , is probably , as Mr . Bond , of the British

Museum , thinks , of the early part of the hfthteonth century , and these MSS . prove to our mind clearly , the truth of the old Masonic tradition , that the operative guilds of Freemasons , were directed and controlled by the Monastic orders and were under ecclesiastical patronage !

That they had a secret form of admission , and preserved certain modes of secret recognition is also , we think , now pretty clear , and hence the guild theory " as it is called , has received , day by day , as documents are sifted , and MSS . are collated , and compared , additional proofs of its inherent soundness , and historic truth .

The Attack Of The " Saturday Review."

THE ATTACK OF THE " SATURDAY REVIEW . "

The Saturday Review has been witty , " more suo , " at the expense of our good old Order . Well , we are of opinion that , as Mr . Sam Weller would say , we shall " surwive the operation , '' We have little fear , as we take but little concern of

such attacks . Indeed , we think on the whole we " rayther " like them . They do us a certain amount of good ; they serve as a literary " stimulant" to Masonic zeal and ability , and they only tend to show us and to convince mankind how

very ignorant a very witty " litterateur can sometimes be . All that the Saturday Review has , by way of a joke against Freemasonry , and it falls , we confess , somewhat " stale , flat , and unprofitable " on us to-day , is that we . " built the Tower of Babel , " and that we " like a good dinner . " These are two serious charges ,

and require an " exhaustive " treatment . If we did build the Tower of Babel we had a good deal to do probably with " bricks j" and that is why Freemasons are so often called " bricks , " figuratively , for " goodfellows . " That they like a good dinner is undeniable , and we do not think the less of them on that account . Who does

not ? We will venture to say that the Saturday Review critic does as much as any one , and whether he eats it , surrounded by fellow literateurs , equally bland and sympathetic , or with dear , dear Lavinia at Laurel Cottage , "Oxton , " we feel sure he enjoys it . Why should not Freemasons

like a good dinner ? We never could see , given the choice between a bad dinner and a . good dinner , why Bro . Spriggins was to prefer the bad , and reject the good , even on any grounds whatever of philosophic asceticism . The truth

is , that Freemasons , as men generally , do like good dinners , and when you have said that , you have said all , for they have a right to do so , and they are in the right in doing so . The Saturday-Review takes an exception to Freemasonry , that