Sussex And Its New Provincial Grand Master.

RICHMOND and LENNOX , who was at that time Master of the Lodge at Chichester . His Grace was proposed and elected Grand Master for the following year ; and , having engaged Sir CHRISTOPHER WREN to act as his Deputy , he appointed EDWARD STRONG , sen ., and EDWARD STEONG , jun ., his

Wardens . His Grace continued in office only one year , and was succeeded by Sir CHRISTOPHER , " & C . This , by itself , might not be of any great value as evidence of the fact that CHARLES , 1 st Dutfe of RICHMOND , was not only a Mason , but " Master of the Lodge at Chichester" at the time mentioned—16 97 . Bro .

HENRY SADLER , however , in his interesting "Masonic Facts and Fictions , " makes , at pp . 18-19 , the following quotation from the Grand Lodge minutes of the 2 nd March , 1 732 : " The petition of Brother EDWARD HALL , a member of the Lodge at the Swan , in Chichester , being there made a Mason by the late

Duke of RICHMOND , SIX and thirty years agoe , and now recommended by the present Duke of RICHMOND as a proper object of the Charity of the Free and Accepted Masons , his Petition was read , and Bro . HALL was called in , and after some questions asked him , he withdrew and the question being

put— ' Resolved : That six Guineas be given to Bro . EDWARD HALL for his present subsistancei '" Bro . SADLEK subsequentl y mentions that "the Duke of RICHMOND was present in Grand Lodge at the time Hall ' s petition was read , indeed the record implies that he brought it forward himself , at all events he must

have had some good reason for believing in the truth of the story . " Here , then , we have it in evidence , on the authority of the official minutes of proceedings of our Grand Lodge on the 2 nd March , 1732 , that the then Duke of RICHMOND—that is , CHARLES , the 2 nd Duke—recommended the petition of a

Brother HALL , who had been made a Mason in the lodge at the . Swan , in Chichester , 3 6 years previously—that is , in 16 9 6—by his father the first Duke ,- while PRESTON , to whom the Grand Lodge minutes must have been familiar , states that the same first Duke was elected Grand Master

in 1697 , being " at that time Master of the Lodge at Chichester . " In these circumstances we feci justified in accepting these as statements of a fact , namely , that CHARLES first Dukeof RICHMOND—who was created Baron SETTRINGTON , Earl of M ARCH , and Duke of RICHMOND in the peerage of

England in 1675 , and was Baron METHUEN , of Tarbolton , Earl of DARNLEY , and Duke of LENNOX , in the peerage of Scotlandwas a Mason and Master of the lodge at Chichester in 16 96 or thereabouts . He died in 1723 , and was succeeded b y his son CHARLES , the second Duke—whoa few years later became Duke

D'AL'HIGNY in France . This second Duke was installed Grand Master at Merchant Taylors' Hall , on the 24 th June , 1724 , and under his administration the Committee of Charity—now the Board of Benevolence—was instituted . He died in 1750 , and was succeeded by his son CHARLES , third Duke , but

whether the latter was a Alason or not wc are unable to say On his death in 1806 , his nephew CHARLES succeeded to thc Dukedom , and it has already been stated that the fourth Duke was Prov . Grand Master of Sussex from 1 S 14 till his death in Canada in 1819 . CHARLES , who became fifth Duke on his

father ' s death was also Prov . Grand Master of Sussex , and held the office from 1823 till his death in i 860 , when he was succeeded jn the title by his son CHARLES , 6 th Duke and present peer , who , we believe , is not a member of our Society . Thus , as with the Dukes of ATHOLL in Scotland , the Dukes of RICHMOND

have been warm supporters of our Society throughout—the ist as Master of the lodge at Chichester more than 200 years ago ; the 2 nd as Grand Master in 1724-5 ; the 4 th as P . G . M . Sussex 1814-19 ; and the 5 th also as P . G . M . Sussex 1823-60 .

Thus four of the six Dukes , to whose honours thc Earl of MARCH is heir , have . been distinguished Masons , and this fact , apart from his own claims , will ensure to him the respect of the brethren he has been called upon to rule as Prov . G . Master of his native County and Province .

The Masonic "Old Charges."

THE MASONIC "OLD CHARGES . "

Since the publication of my work on the " Old Charges of British Freemasons , " in 1895 , a"d ° f one or two supplements subsequently , there have been some important additions and alterations in the list , requiring some such particulars as the following to bring the subject down to date . The capital letters indicate the Families or Groups in which the MSS . are arranged by numbers , as far as possible , chronologically ; an asterisk

The Masonic "Old Charges."

being used for the first half of a century , and a dagger the second half , and the pagination being that of my volume referred to , of 18 95 : C 4 . " Henery Reade MS . " A . D . 1675 . This MS . is described in Cochrane ' s Catalogue of 1826 , No . 6 33 , and and subsequently in Libri ' sSale Catalogue ( 1859 ) of his valuable MSS . &< :.

, as No . 65 . The late Mr . J . O . Halliwell-Phillipps , F . R . S ., bought it from the latter , and at the sale of his library it was secured for the Inner Temple Library , London , and is duly noted in the nth Report of the " Historical Manuscripts Commission , " Part VII ., but incorrectly described as the ' Hen . Neale " ( p . 308 ) . It is written on paper , dated 1675 , and is similar to the very valuable " VVilliam Watson MS . " of 1687 ( C 2 , pp . 34-39 ) . A transcript is much needed .

D 38 . " H . F . Beaumont MS ., " A . D . 1690 . The text of this Scroll was known in 1 S 94 , through a transcript being traced , and was published by Bro . VVilliam Watson in the Freemason of nth August of that year . The original roll of parchment ( six feet in length and n inches in width ) was found in the fall of 1900 at Whitley Beaumont , owned by , and in the occupation of , Bro , H . F . Beaumont , for whom the copy was made , and who kindly consented to the treasure pissing

into the Library of the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire . This makes the ninth MS . in that collection , being the largest number in any Library . An exact Typographical Reproduction was published in 1901 for the Series ot MSS ., so ably edited by Bro . William Watson for West Yorkshire , with Commentaries b / Dr . Begemann and myself , as well as an Introduction by the indefatigable Editor . The number , D 38 , is now utilised for the original scroll instead of for the late transcript .

D 40 . " Langdale MS . " 17 th Century . f The document is written on paper and alter transcription by Bro . F . F . Schnitger , was published in the Freemason for December 7 th , 1895 , with an introduction by me . It belongs to the York Branch , which includes the York MSS . 1 , 5 , and 2 . This is now the property of Bro . G . W . Bain , of Sunderland , who is already the owner of several important MSS .

D 41 . " Thomas Foxcroft MS . " A . D . 1699 . This copy has a heading of the Masons' Arms , with the motto " In the Lord is all our trust ; " below being the words " Fear God and keep his commandments . For this is the whole Duty of Man . " The text is just the same as the " Antiquity MS ., " and has been transcribed and published by '

Bro . Henry Sadler in the Freemason for January Gth , 1900 , and also separately . It was in the " Tixall Library" lately belonging to Sir F . A . T . C . Constable , deceased . In 1 S 99 , the document was acquired for the important collection of the Grand Lodge of England . The roll is of vellum , and runs to fully six feet in length , and is some eight inches wide .

E 16 "J . T . Thorp MS ., " A . D . 1629 . This fine Roll of Vellum ( eight feet by five inches ) of A . D . 1629 , owned by Bro . Henry Brown , of Northampton , after whom it was called , has since become the property of Bro . John T . Thorp , whose name it now

appropriately bears , and who has transcribed and published it ( as a gift ) with the Transactions of the " Lodge of Research , " Leicester , 1898-9 , of which he is the accomplished Editor . The scroll was also reproduced in the Transactions of the " Cjuatuor Coronati Lodge , " London , Vol . XL , 1 S 98 , from a copy made for me by the lamented Bro . John Lane .

Had it been traced sooner , no doubt Dr . Begemann would have called the family after its name , being 17 years earlier than the " Sloane MS ., No . 384 S " ( A D . 1646 ) , and a much superior text . In the " Sloane " scroll there are a number of corrections and interlineations , 38 in all , lirst noted by my dear friend , the late Bro . G . W . Speth , all of which , save some two or three , are to be found in the " J . T . Thorp MS . " The latter concludes in a different manner to the other Rolls , but else its text is similar to the "Sloane , " including the additions noted .

E 17 . "John Strachan MS ., " 1700 circa . I called this Roll after the late Mr . Bohn , of Brighton , when it was introduced to my notice by Col . Mead ( since deceased ) , but , unfortunately , it was soon lost sight of ( p . 159 " Old Charges " ) . Later on it was again brought to the light , and purchased by Bro . G . W . Bain , who has given it

the title of the "John Strachan MS ., ' as a compliment to the esteemed Grand Registrar . Bro . Thorp transcribed and published it in the Transactions of the " Lodge of Research , " 1899—1900 , with Notes , and also an Introduction by the fortunate owner . It is written on parchment , the length being only a little over four feet and seven-and-half inches in width . The text is similar to the " Alnwick " Branch of the " Sloane " Family .

F 5 . The " Macnab MS ., " A .D .1722 . The roll has been nude up in book form of late years , the paper scroll being dated 1722 . It is in the celebrated West Yorkshire Maso ic Library , and is one of the series of R > productions edited by Bro . William Watson , the Honorary Librarian , with an Introduction by me ( 1896 ) . The text is important , because it contains the " New Articles" as well as the " Apprentice Charge , " which are not in the majority of the MSS .

These additions to the "Old Charges" require several changes to be made in the analysis of the scrolls , based on those known to the year 18 95 . The " Beaumont MS . " has seven miles , within whicii distance attendance was obligatory at the annual assembly , making four in all so distinguished . There are seven liaving five miles , and five with ten miles ( including

the " Macnab . " ) Besides these variations , one MS . has 30 miles ( "Pirillipps , No . 3 ) rend two have 40 miles ( ' * Melrose , No . 2 , " and " Embleton" ) : the remainder having the customary 50 miles . The " Aberdeen MS . " ( D 11 ) has been published b y me in the Freemason , November 23 rd , 18 95 , and also a few copies in separate form .

There are still several MSS . to trace , two especially which ought to lie found , viz ., the MS . alluded to b y Bro . T . Lamb Smith ( deceased ) , located as X 1 , and the " Anchor and Hope Lodge" MS . numbered X 12 . I am always glad to communicate with brethren as to such documents . W . J . HUGHAN .