Ars Quatuor Coronatorum*.

draw attention to the Report of the Permanent and Audit Committee , which was presented and approved at the regular meeting held on the Sth January . The Committee , with very good reason , commence their remarks by congratulating the members

nn the continuance of the lodge ' s prosperity during the year 18 9 6 , pointing out that the general character of the proceedings and the quality of the Papers that were read at the several meetings were such as to maintain , if not to raise still higher , the prestige

which the lodge has enjoyed even from the very outset of its career . True , the sudden death of Bro . Sir BENJAMIN WARD RICHARDSON , M . D ., F . R . S . —one of the most eminent and respected members of the lodge—threw a gloom over the

closing days of the session ; but there is , at least , some compensation for this severe loss in the acquisition of three such capable and energetic brethren as Bros . G . GRF . INER , the Rev . J . W . HORSLEY , and the Rev . C . II . MALDEN—the last of whom has

already made his mark in the world of Masonic literature by his admirable " History of Freemasonry on the Coast of Coromandel "—a work of exceptional merit , of which any author would have good reason to be proud . It must likewise be a

source of satisfaction to all Masons who are in sympathy with the objects of our great literary lodge to know that , though the increase in numbers of the Outer , or Correspondence , Circle has not been as great as in some previous years ; there has been a

substantial increase , and that the Circle in question now numbers 2310 , or more by 175 than the number recorded at the corresponding date in 1 S 95 . It is also a pleasure to be told that , financially , "the lodge stands on a linn foundation . " The

amount owing " is slightly lower than at thc close of the preceding year , " in spite of an increased membership , " though it is to be regretted that the Committee should feel it necessary to remark on "the negligence of many members in failing to remit

their dues with punctuality . " It ought not to be in the power of the Committee to report that there are outstanding " 18 9 6 subscriptions " amounting to £ 237 6 s ., and " Back Subscriptions , " lhat is , belonging to vears preceding 18 9 6 , amounting to £ 88 7 s .

However , it is well to know that there was a balance of assets over liabilities on the 30 th November last . We learn , also , with at least equal pleasure , lhat "during the past year the

Library and Museum have considerably increased in volume and importance , " and that " some very valuable gifts from various brethren have been received . "

Turning to the Transactions proper , wc note , in the lirst place , Bro . R . F . GOULD ' record of the career of the late Bro . Sir BENJAMIN WARD RICHARDSON , who was elected a joining member of the Inner Circle of the lodge in November , 1889 ,

and had always evinced the deepest interest in the work of the lodge . The paper bears the impress of that exceeding care with which liro . Goi'LD treats every object with which he is called upon to deal , and is indeed a most admirable , and , at the

same time , true record of the life of a very able and amiable man , who worked hard in the vocation he elected to follow , and had the satisfaction of realising that he had been the means of

conferring many benefits on the public , both as a medical practitioner and as one of thc greatest authorities of his time on all matters relating to sanitation . There is onlv one

passage in Bro . GOULD ' S record of our deceased brother to which we are disposed to take exception . After enumerating the actual or full members " of the lodge who have quitted this mortal scene , " and among whom are included Bros , the Rev . A . F .

A . WOODFORD , WILLIAM KELLY and other Masons of distinction , Bro . GOULD proceeds , " another and a greater name has now to be added to the list . " We concede that Bro . RICHARDSON as an authority on all matters relating to medical science and

sanitation , had a greater name than any of the members of Lodge Quatuor Coronati who predeceased him , but it is as a Mason , not as a man of science , that we in Masonry must regard the career oi Bro . RICHARDSON , and in that character he

was a very long way behind the late Bros . VYOODFO . , KELLY , FINLAYSON , and WHYMPER . These , and especially Bro . WOOD - FORD , did splendid work for our Craft , with which nothing that the laic Bro . RICHARDSON did can for one moment be suffered to compare . The paper by Bro . G . W . SPKTH , entitled— " Free and Free-

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum*.

masonry ; a Tentative Enquiry / ' which was also read at the January meeting , is most interesting , and the theory propounded by the author is well worth considering . It is , as he says , very far from being proved , but we agree with him that " it is a fairly

reasonable one . We most cordially echo ( he hope expressed by OIK * ol ( hose who took part in the discussion which followed the reading of the paper that Bro . SPF . TH , if he has the leisure , will carry his present "tentative enquiry" a little

further . It certainly strikes one as a startling theory to propropound , that " Free Masons " were so called because they were " free from , and not free of , trade Guilds and municipal authority . "

At the March meeting two papers were read , one by Bro . J , J ARVIS RAINEY , P . M . 426 , giving an "Account of Shakespeare Lodge , No . 426 , from its foundation in 18 35 to 1 S 95 , and of the old Furniture belonging to it ; " and the other b y Bro . GuSTAVE

JOTTRAND , of Brussels , "On the Antiquity of Lodge 'La Parfaite Union , ' at Mons , Belgium . " The value of the former lies in the interesting description—accompanied in sundry instances by some very well-drawn illustrations—of the old

furniture , & c , belonging to the lodge , which was originally the property of the Shakspere Lodge , No . 516 , meeting at the White Lion Inn , Stratford-on-Avon , which was warranted on the ist February , 1 793 , ancl erased in 1 799 . When this lodge

ceased working , the furniture went to St . John ' s Lodge , No . 583 , " meeting at the 'Talbot , ' Henley-in-Arden , which subsequently changed its name to Shakespeare . " This lodge was erased in 1 S 37 but , doubtless , had ceased working some years before , as the

furniture , we are told , was purchased in November , 18 34 , some four months before the Shakespeare Lodge , now No . 426 , meeting at Spilsby , was founded . From Bro . RAINEY ' account , we should judge that the furniture is , as Bro . RAINEY describes it ,

" very unique and interesting . " Appended to the account of lhe lodge and its furniture is the song composed and sung at thc dedication of Hie Shakspere Lodge , No . 516 , which originally owned the furniture , and was constituted at Stratford-on-Avon

on 4 th June , 1 793 . As regards Bro . J OTTRAND ' S paper , the weight of evidence is decidedly against there having been a lodge at Mons constituted in 1721 , and in the discussion

which followed , and in which Bro . SPETH , GOULD , CHETWODE CR . VW 1 . EY , and others took part , this point was , we think , made sufficiently clear .

The other contents of this Part I . comprise Reviews , Notes and Queries , " A Russian Masonic Anecdote . " contributed bv Bro . SPETH , Obituary , & c , & c , thc whole constituting , with the papers and minutes of proceedings , a most interesting number .

Freemasonry In Whitby.

FREEMASONRY IN WHITBY .

Bro . the Rev . F . Fox-Thomas , P . M ., & c ., has written a most interesting History of Freemasonry in Whitby from 176 4 to iSy 7 , especially in relation to the Centenary ofthe Lion Locke , No . 312 , which is to be celebrated under the wing of the Provincial Grand Lodge on the 15 th July , ancl was started on the 14 th January , 1797 .

The handsome little book is a credit to author and publishers , and , being issued at such a reasonable sum ( three shillings and sixpence ) , bids fair to be soon out of print . It i . s dedicated , by special permission , to the Marquess of Zetland the

esteemed Prov . Grand Master of North and Fast Yorkshire , by the Rev . Egbert Fox-Thomas , P . M . 312 , P . Prov . G . Chaplain , and assuredly thc brochure will be much in request at the Prov . Grand Lodge .

1 hc author devotes a few pages to an admirable sketch of Freemasonry in earlier days , antl then introduces the " Golden Lion" of "Ancient" origin , A . D . 176 4 , of which the seal remains as a witness of its labours , and is carefully reproduced . Then follows the "Britannic" Lodge of ' Modern" establishment ,

A . D . 1772 , of which many particulars are given , and then the full history is printed of thc present " Lion " Lodge from 1797 . The clearance certificate plate of early this century makes a

handsome illustration , with the choice seal to imitate wax , and so also does another plate of the form of summons used about the same period , with the two shields of the Masons'Arms and those of the ( irand Chapter , for the Lodge No . 312 ( present number )