Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS , OiJ Consecration o £ the United Northern Counties Lodge , No . 2128 6 rJ Consecration of the Cama Lodge , No . z \ ni 617 Provincial Grand Lodge of Derbyshire ...... 61 S Progress of Grand Lodge in 1885 619

CORRESPONDENCEA Question of Precedence 621 Notes and Queries 621 Reviews 621 REPORTS OP MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 622 Instruction 627

REPORTS » t MASONIC MEETINGS ( Continued)—Royal Arch 627 Scotland 627 India 6 aS Presentation to Bro . F . \ V . Mrodie 62 S Provincial Priory of Hants and Isle ot

Wight 62 S A Noble Mason 62 S Masonic Conversazione 628 Old Masrmians' Annual Dinner 629 The Craft Abroad 629 Masonic and General Tidings 620 Lodge Meetings for Next Week iii ,

Ar00103

A CURIOUS case is quoted in the October number of the Canadian Craftsman as having recently occurred in the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts . It appears from the record that ' one who is now a brother , having been initiated , passed , and raised in the usual manner in a regularly constituted lodge , has been pronounced clandestine under the following circumstances . Six months previous to his initiation in this lodge he had been proposed , balloted for , and rejected in another lodge . The six months which , in compliance with the requirements of the G . Lodge of

Massachusetts , had elapsed between his rejection in the one case and his acceptance in the other turn out , however , to have been lunar instead of calendar months , it being held as a kind of law absolute that , where not otherwise stated , a month means a calendar not a lunar month . The result is unfortunate in one sense , for the man who has been thus made a Mason in a regular lodge cannot enjoy the privileges of Masonry , though , as far as he is concerned , there is not the shadow of a pretence that he has done anything

to justify the infliction of this sentence . If blame attaches to any body , individual or corporate , it must be to the lodge that elected him , and then initiated , passed , and raised him . But the Massachusetts Committee on Jurisprudence—at least , we presume that is the body which had entrusted to it the consideration of the case—has sapiently determined that the innocent must suffer for the guilty , the man who has committed no further offence than that of being urgent in his desire to become a Mason notwithstanding he had been rejected once , for the lodge which has committed the

very flagrant (?) default of interpreting the expression " six months" as six honest lunar instead of six honest calendar months . Here then is a man who has been made a Mason in the usual manner by a regular lodge , but about twelve or fifteen days sooner than he was entitled to be made , and who for that trifling default—for which it is ridiculous to suppose he could have been responsible—is summarily deprived of his Masonic privileges . But though a rose may be designated a upas-tree , it does not smell less sweetly or cease to be a rose ; and this brother , though he has been pronounced

clandestine for no default of his own , is a genuine made Mason in spite of all the quasi-legal absurdities that have ever been pronounced by Committees on Masonic Jurisprudence . This , though differently expressed , is the opinion of our Canadian contemporary and the Masonic Advocate , from from which it has derived its information . We will go further , and say that legislation of this kind is a farce and calculated to bring Masonic legislators and law administrators into public contempt . * *

* WE have grown so accustomed to the attacks made on Freemasonry by a section of the press that it comes upon us as a most agreeable surprise when we meet with an article which seems to regard our Fraternity with a considerable amount of favour . Such an article appeared in the English Churchman of the 10 th inst ., and though we cannot endorse all the parts of its historical account , the tone and character of the remarks are very friendly . The article is entitled "The Origin , Meaning , and End of Freemasonry , " and it is evident the writer has been at great pains to gather together all the information that was likely to assist him in his elucidation of the

subject . Nor do we propose to criticise the several sections of his essay seriatim ; those who would learn more of it are referred to the issue itself of the English Churchman . It is , perhaps , unfortunate he should have adopted two traditions ascribed to the Freemasons , of which one is unsupported by any direct evidence , the indirect evidence being most unfavourable ; while in respect of the other , what we know about it is vague , like all the rest of the history referring to the same period . These traditions are ( i ) , the story which assigns the establishment of the first Grand Lodge in England to ATHELSTAN ' S

brother EDWIN , in 926 A . i ) . ; ( 2 ) the theory about HENRY VI . having interrogated the Freemasons , as set forth in the Locke letter . The introduction of these into the article must have the effect of lessening its value , but ¦ t will not destroy it absolutely . Thus there cannot be any objection to the descri ption of Freemasonry as " an art in the highest and noblest sense of the word , an art of a purely aesthetic nature , a liberal art , combining and cultivating in its bosom that which is good , true , and beautiful , and excluding triviality and meanness . " Nor can we be otherwise than gratified with the

Ar00100

following , with which the article is brought to a conclusion : " All liberal arts have their origin in man ' s own heart and mind ; the human mind yearns for spiritual gifts and blessings ; such blessings cannot proceeed but from a spiritual source ; this spiritual source cannot be conceived by the senses , but by reflection only ; the faculty of reflection means the activity

of producing ideas ; the highest idea imaginable is that of ' 0112 invisible Creator of all creatures . ' Among these creatures man is the noblest—man in the collective sense of the word , and in his individuality ; the recognition of the claims of the latter as such a nobis , work of God constitutes the essence of all trite Liberalism , the Alpha and Omega of the

art of Freemasonry . " This complimentary language's in striking contrast to the denunciations which are so frequently directed against us , and wc thank the English Churchman for having spoken so boldly in our favour . There is just one other point which may be noticed—the assignment of the word Freemason to a Hebrew origin . The writer states that " mas" in

Hebrew means " tribute , levy , tributaries ; " and that the words in Exodus , which have been rendered in our English version as "task-masters , " means " lords of tributary services . " Moreover , " mas " meant also those in Israel who were " selected to do a distinct work , " as well as " captives in war , " and in the First Book of Kings " King SOLOMON" is described as

having " raised a * tribute of select men ( a ' mas ) , and placed them under the superintendence of ADOKIRAM ( " sublime or excellent master " ) , "the levy , " or " mas , " which was " a class superior to the reft of non-Israelite working men , " being " ' thirty thousand _ men . " These , it is argued , " were a body of comparatively 'free ' men of the ' mas ' ( unlike their

forefathers in Egypt ) , and remained a select and distinguished class , rich in instruction , culture , and refinement , and proud of their distinction as ' mas , ' by which collective name they may have formed a respected and respectable Brotherhood in Israel . " Hence the " Brotherhood of Masum , or Mason , or Masoni , or Macons , or Masons , as they variously were called at their

spreading over the various civilised countries of the world . " This is the explanation offered as to the origin and meaning of the term " Freemason , " and it is justified on the ground that the names and titles and important words in use within the Order were , and are , Hebrew . We commend the suggestion to the notice of those among our readers who have devoted themselves to the consideration of this question .

Consecration Of The United Northern Counties Lodge, No. 2128.

CONSECRATION OF THE UNITED NORTHERN COUNTIES LODGE , No . 2128 .

On Monday afternoon , the V . VV . Bro . Col . Shadwell H . Clerke , Grand Secretary , consecrated this new lodge at the hall of Grand Mark Lodge , No . 8 A , Red Lion-square . The lodge has been established for the convenience of brethren who are natives of the Northern counties of England , but who have migrated , or may migrate , to London . The objects of the lodge have for some time past been fully described in these columns , which have

also detailed as they arose the different progressive steps which have been taken in its formation . It started on Monday with the best sign of success , the approval of those brethren who might be supposed to be the most affected by it—the brethren of the Northern counties from which the members of the lodge come . Notably among these were the Provincial Grand Master of West Yorkshire , Bro . Thomas W . Tew , who was present , and Bro . Woodall , of Scarborough , Grand Treasurer , who was also present ,

and both of whom threw their whole soul into the work , and seemed highly delighted with the proceedings of the day . Bro . Col . Shadwell H . Clerke was assisted in the ceremony by Bros . T . Fenn , P . G . D ., President of the Board of General Purposes , who acted as S . W . ; Bro . Edward Letchworth , P . G . D ., who acted as J . W . ; Bro . the Rev . J . Studholme Brownrigg , P . G . C , who performed the duties of Chaplain j Bro . Frank Richardson , P . G . D ., as Director of Ceremonies ; and Bro . Edgar Bowyer , P . G . Std . Br ., as l . G . The other brethren present

were—Bros . H . Hughes , 869 ; H . Baldwin , P . P . G . S . D . Middlesex , W . M . 1949 ! C . b . Matier , P . G . W . Greece , P . G . Stwd . Scotland : R . Berridge , P . M . 21 , P . G . Stwd . ; G . Ratcliffe , P . P . G . D . C . Berks and Bucks , P . M . 841 and 979 ; J . Halden , Sec 1009 ; J . W . Catterson , P . M . 1981 , W . M . elect 548 , P . G . P . Surrey ; S . P . Catterson , P . M . 54 8 , P . Z . 79 and 54 % P . P . G . Std . B . Surrey ; C . W . Pearce , 9 C 9 ; C . O . Tagart , P . G . S ., J . W . 2 ; H . Massey , P . M . Gig and 1028 : T . C . Duckworth . I . W . igaS ; E . W . Collins , 25 ; W . VV .

Morgan , 211 ; T . Tremere , P . M . 1029 ; A . S . Browning , P . M . 33 ; H . Sadler , O . Tyler ; J . Terry , P . P . G . S . W . Norths and Hunts ; VV . Soden , 1287 ; A . BamMl , P . M . 35 ; H . Lovegrove , P . Z ., W . M . 1507 , P . M . 1777 , 1948 , and 204 S ; J . Green , 1962 ; H . J . Gibbs , W . M . 1984 . P . G . P . Herts : N . G . Philips , P . G . D . ; V , S . Vickers , P . M . 109 , P . G . Chap . Kent ; W . M . Mitchell , 1365 : A . McDonald , P . M . 948 and 19 C 2 , P . P . G .

D . C . Berks and Bucks ; Neville Green , P . M . 1962 ; A . Weston , W . M . 1929 ; J . G . Burnard , P . M . 16 G 2 and 17 66 ; and F . Binckes , P . G . Stwd . The founders present were Bros . J . S . Cumberland , P . P . G . J . W . ; W . F . Smithson , P . P . G . S . D . ; Wm . Masters ; Fitzherbert Wright , P . P . G . S . W . Derby ; J . L . Cooke j W . H . Bullock ; H . J . Almond ; J . L , Potts ;