Original Correspondence.

Counties " Masonic lodge , and shall be glad to assist in this laudable object , as I think the object is a good one . It would be still better if rooms could be got near Freemasons' Hall , Great Queen-street , one , at least , of which might be used as a reading and writing room by brethren from the provinces of Yorkshire who have to attend the Masonic elections , or who may attend Grand Lodge meetings . I take it that the idea is to admit as joining

members brethren initiated in or belonging to Yorkshire lodges , or Yorkshire gentlemen residing in or near London who may wish to join our Order .. The initiation fee would , of course , be in accordance with the revised Book of Constitutions , but the joining fee and annual subscription should be made as reasonable as possible . In time , perhaps , we might hope to have a library and museum of Masonic books and curios , as suggested , but that would naturally be

a work of time . If there are , in London , any brethren approving of the project I shall be very glad to hear from them as early as possible , with any suggestions , as a meeting will be held at ICA , Great Queen-street ( kindly placed at our disposal by Bro . George Kenning ) on Wednesday , the 4 th Marchthe day of the meeting of Grand Lodge—at 3 . 30 p . m .

prompt ., to consider the matter , and all brethren , qualified as before explained , are fraternally invited to be present . I ought to say that 1 have not initiated this movement , It has been suggested to me as one likely to be received with the approval of many Yorkshiremen resident in or near London , and I have gladly fallen in with the idea . —I am , dear sir and brother ,

J . S . CUMBERLAND , P . M . 1 G 11 , P . P . G . J . W . N . & E . Yorks 110 , Cannon-street , London , E . C .

Reviews

REVIEWS

THE LIFE ALMANACK AND DIARY OF THE BRIl'ON LIFE ASSOCIATION , LIMITED , 1 SS 5 . Head Office—429 , Strand , London . Printed and published by Veale , Chiffen ' el , and Co ., 31 to 37 , Cursitor-street , Chancery-lane , E . C . This is something more than the ordinary year-book or diary . In addition to the usual contents of such

publications we find here an amount of valuable information which is not often met with in a guide compiled and published for a specific purpose . Life assurance , and particularly as regards the condition under which it can be effected at the offices of the Briton Life Association , has very properly engaged the chief attention of the Editor , but the array of useful matter to be found in these pages beyond that

which pertains distinctly to this subject is very considerable . In fact , the Briton Life Almanack will be found both specially and generally serviceable . Its chief merit is that it tells us all we require to know about life assurance , but in its character of a general guide , it contains authentic information about such diverse matters as the City companies , food importations , hospitals , newspapers , taxes , and stamp duties , & c . It is , indeed , and in the very best

of senses is a "sumnicum gatherum of knowledge , and whoever is fortunate enough to procure one will find it invaluable as a handy book of reference in respect of all kinds of subjects . It is more than probable that the merit of having compiled so admirable a guide belongs to Bro . John Messent , P . G . S . B ., who is actuary and secretary to the Briton Life Office , and well deserves our congratulations on the judgment shown in the fulfilment of his task .

A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF MARY ANDERSON . London : David Bogue , King William-street , Charing Cross . A pleasantly-written sketch of the life and professional career of Mary Anderson , by Mr . J . M . Farrar , has recently been published , and to the many admirers of the celebrated actress will be welcome , as giving authentic

information about her youth and early studies , all tending in the one direction—of the stage . Many anecdotes enliven the book , and the true story of her introduction to the Prince of Wales is given . Mary Anderson was ( as every one else is ) charmed with the Prince ' s kindly manner , and says : " He said to me more charming things than ever

were said to me in a few minutes in all my life . " The writer has endeavoured to be impartial in his memoir , and if he has at times erred , the fascination of his subject is a sufficient excuse for him . Fronting the title-page is a very good photo-gravure portrait from one taken by Van der Weyde , and the volume generally , as to print and paper and binding , does credit to the publisher , Mr . Bogue .

PROVINCIAL CALENDARS . THE FREEMASONS'CALENDAR AND DIRECTORY FOR THE PROVINCE OF GLOUCESTER , 1 SS 5 . The publication of Provincial Calendars is of great use and benefit to the Craft . Not only available for the special locality , they aid in giving us a satisfactory " coup d ' ceil " of the life and working of our Brotherhood generally and nationally . This very interesting compilation for the good

Province of Gloucestershire is edited by our esteemed Bro . Captain R . V . Vassar-Smith , well known for his many labours , and as a member of that remarkable "Compact , " which , under the able management of Duke Humphrey ( Homfray ) , performs such wonders at our annual elections . Bro . Vassar-Smith is a most kindly and zealous Freemason , and has most ably edited his handy little Provincial Calendar .

MASONIC CATALOGUES . LIST OF OLD AND SCARCE BOOKS ON FREEMASONRY , & c . Walter Spencer , 23 A , Great Queen-street , W . C . Ever since the foundation of the Freemason , three great aims' of the proprietor have been loyally to uphold allegiance to the rulers of the Craft , to advance the great cause

of Masonic Charity , and to extend the . influence and sphere of Masonic literature and culture . He has from time to time made liberal offers for the extension of lodge libraries , and to-day is still willing to assist in that good object . All catalogues of Masonic books are therefore welcomed gladly and noted from time to time in the Freemason .

Reviews

Both in America and England there is a general collection going on of rare books and interesting curios , and Bros . Hughan , Cumberland , G . Taylor , Shackles , and not to forget our Grand Secretary , and many more are hard at work collecting and arranging . Bro . Kenning himself has some curious specimens of old Masonic jewels and the like . Bro . Spencer's list of books , prints , jewels , and engravings contains much that is valuable

and more that is rare . To the Masonic student and arhca ; - ologist , and numismatist and print collector , many of the subjects he has got together afford matter of interest and subject for thought . We think it right to note its appearance and commend its idea , as we shall all agree that the diffusion of Masonic light and knowledge , the extension of Masonic literature and culture , is a good thing , a very good thing , for our Cosmopolitan Fraternity .

CALENDAR OF MASONIC MEETINGS IN EAST LANCASHIRE , 1 SS 5 . Edited by Bro . John Chadwick , P . G . Secretary . Thirty-fifth issue . Published by Bro . O . C . Crompton , Bury . The compilation of this guide to the meetings of the Craft , Arch , Mark , Templar , Rose Croix , and other Masonic bodies meeting in this portion of Lancashire , has

been done admirably , as usual , by Bro . Chadwick , who has spared no pains to make it as complete and as accurate as possible . Unfortunately , his efforts do not appear to have been uniformly appreciated . Hence the delay in issuing the calendar , which is due ordinarily on ist January , but which has only just reached us , the returns from lodges , chapters , & c , not having' been received as promptly as

they should have been . We trust this dilatoriness will not be repeated , as it has been decided to omit in future years particulars respecting those bodies which do not respond promptly to the request of the editor and publisher for the requisite information . This is a very proper resolution , which , however , in the interests of East Lancashire itself , we hope it will not be found necessary to carry out .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Masonic Notes and Queries .

513 ] COUNTRY STEWARD'S LODGE . I see in a list of scarce works , & c , issued by Messrs . Spencer and Co ., occurs the following : " Antique Jewel ; Massive Silver Allegorical ; set round with white crystals on one side , and green on the other . Granted by G . L . to

the Country Steward's Lodge , 17 S 9 . " As no account of this jewel occurs in the financial statements of the Grand Lodge , 17 SS-93 , I presume the grant refers to permission for the members to wear it . Perhaps some London brother will ask for the privilege of examining this medal , and then describe it for the information of all interested , as

W . J . HUGHAN . 514 ] MASONIC BIBLIOGRAPHY . In answer to "A Student in Masonry" ( 512 ) , I have pleasure in informing him that of Preston ' s ** Illustrations " there have been issued editions for 1772 , 1775 , 17 S 1 , 17 S 8 , l 79 2 , ' 799 , 'Sol , lSo 4 > lSl 2 > 1 S 21 , 1 S 29 , 1 S 40 , 1 S 46 , and i 860 . It has long been a most popular work .

Hutchinson s " Spirit of Masonry " I have seen many editions of , those for England ( I believe ) being 1775 , 1795-6-7 , 1802 , 1813-4-5 , 1843 , and 1853 . Pritchard first appeared in 1730 , and there were at least three editions issued in the same year ; 4 th edition was in 1731 , according to Dr . Kloss , who is , as Bro . Speth truly says , a most excellent authority—none better . There were many published

during the last century , but as several had no dates to the title pages , but contain his affidavit (?) of 1730 , many imagine them to be of that year ( 1730 ) . The list of lodges at end of the late pamphlet in late copies , is fair evidence of their approximate age . Browrie's "Master Key" came ont in 1798 and 1802 . The "Ahiman Rezons" of the "Atholl Masons" were published first of all in 1 756 , and

other editions were printed in 17 64 , 177 S , 17 S 7 , 1800 , 1801 , 1807 , and 1813 , the last two having lists of lodges usually added to the volumes . Of course I refer only to English editions of the foregoing works . There must have been others published of Preston ' s " Illustrations" between 1775 and 17 S 1 , in order to make the _ total seventeen , but it is likely some . foreign editions were included . W . I . HUGHAN .

515 ] THE STATUTES OF 1755 . I certainly shall not attempt to seek to rival the length of our good Bro . Speth's note , on what is , after all , a somewhat secondary question , the more so as we shall both of us probably have written more about it than your readers will care to peruse . I will therefore only very shortly reply to his remarks . It seems to me perfectly plain , and I am sorry

he and I do not agree on the subject , that the Statutes of 1755 are the Statutes of a Rit Ecossais Body , and not of a Craft one . There really would be no sense or meaning in them as the latter . The G . L . of France , so called , had put out earlier " Reglemen . " The allusion in these Statutes to Scottish Masters , being sealed with the Rit Ecossais seal , the very terminology of the Statutes themselves , all serve

to show that they were the Statutes ot a special body , a Scottish body of so-called Scottish Masonry alone . The very allusion to the rules of the G . L . of France , which Bro . Speth triumphantly brings in , is a convincing proof to me , —if proof were needed , —that these are the rules of another body . Otherwise , what need of the allusion ? Bro . Speth , who " seemeth to delight in paradoxes , "

propounds two in this discussion , which are highly original and not a little amusing . The first is , that if the G . L . of France ever was called the G . L , Anglaise at all , which he ( Bro . Speth ) " seemeth to doubt , " it was so-called to show that it was governed by the Rit Ecossais , and had recognized and adopted its grades . Such a " reductio ad absurdum " proves to me the dilemma in which our worthy friend finds himself in his evident zeal ' to back up Kloss . But 1 confess I cannot seriously argue it out . The second

paradox is , that everybody is wrong in assuming that the G . L . of France ever did call itself the G . L . Anglaise . Yet even Kloss and Findel both say so , to leave out many French writers , and Findel even gives the year 1744 when it took this special name , and says it then issued certain " Reglemens , " & c . 1 therefore also must again decline in our little space to discuss what , wirh all respect to Bro . Speth , I must say can only be a logomachy , and is

Masonic Notes And Queries.

a pure waste of time . From the Handbuch , Lenning in his older form , Kloss , Findel , Thory , and several French writers , it would seem as if the first title of the French Body was G . L . Anglaise la France ; then it became the G . Loge de la France . Findel and Kloss think , no doubt , it is the same with the " G . and Souveraine Loge de St . Jean , " and here it is I venture to differ from them , as I have for some time accepted

Daruty ' s contention that the G . L . of St . John , of 1761-62 is a High Grade Body , the successor of the Respectable Loge de St . Jean of 1 755 , in fact a pure Rit Ecossais Body , though it is true that the same G . M . ruled both the G . L . de la France and the G . and Souveraine Sic ., at the same time , and that under that G . and Souveraine Logewerealso Craft lodges—RegulierLodges , " Loges

Kegulieres , ' & c . Findel says no known copy of the French Statutes was extant when he wrote , and that Kloss translated them from the French , but gave only a portion of the French Statutes of 1755 . Some writers have hesitated about accepting them ; but I for one think they are genuine , and that a copy of them may yet be found , either in Kloss ' s library at Frankfort , at the Hague , or in the

archives of the G . Orient of France , which has many of the minutes and records of the old G . L . of France . Findel evidently does not like them , and knowing this occur . I do not wonder at his manifest hesitation . They could not possibly have been drawn up by a pure Craft Body ; they could not have emanated from the G . L . of France , which repudiated Scottish Masonry , so-called , altogether , and

therefore , despite Bro . Speth , I again say they must have been the product of a Rit Ecossais Body . I find no fault with them as Rit Ecosais Laws , but I deny they are or can be Craft regulations . If applicable to any Symbolic Lodge they could only apply to them under the Rit Ecossais itself . I have always until Bro . Speth ' s "Gloss" understood the French writers to say that the G . L . of France

was called the G . L . Anglaise , to show that it adhered to the three Craft degrees alone worked in England , and thus to distinguish it from the Ecossais Degrees . Bro . Speth's is a truly original idea that it was called Anglaise to show it had taken up with the Ecossais movement . And if it be true that Chapitres Irelandais preceded Chapitres Ecossais , and has not our good brother drifted almost

unconsciously into a genuine Irish Bull ? But here I stop to-day . To sum up—I venture to repeat that Stephen Morin's Patent was signed by a G . Body of " Perfect and Sublime Masonry , " that the Statutes of 1755 were not in any sense and could not be Craft Statutes , but , were rightly , those of a Rit Ecossais body , that the G . L . of France never in any form recognized the

so-called Higher Grades , and that Kloss is utterly wrong in making the G . L . of France and the G . L . Souveraine Loge of St . Jean one and the same body . I am afraid that , after all , my communication must be long , as one or two facts have come before me when looking into the matter . When , in 1771 , June 21 and 24 , the G . L . of of France , after a "sommeil" since February , 1767 met

, and adjourned to August 14 th that year , to elect its G . Officers and put forth some Statutes and Reglemens , and circulars , which contain not the slightest allusion to the Rit Ecossais , or any but the Three Degrees , the death of the Comte de Clermont is alluded to , and therefore Kloss is utterly mistaken in assuming that there ever was any formal recognition of the Rit Ecossais by the G . L . of

France further than certain late tentatives at a sort of "Concordat , " which came to nothing . In a Dutch work , printed at Gravenhage , Holland , 1772 , a history of these "Statutes and Code Maconniques " is given . But nothing is there said of the Statutes of 1 755 . What Kloss published Kloss alone seems to know about , and it would be interesting to see the original French , as so much must depend

on the original French words . Kloss admits they were not transcribed until 1761 . Giving Kloss every allowance for great correctness , it is impossible in a critical discussion to accept any " ipse dixit" as infallible . These Statutes may still exist ; but I wonder that Bro . Speth does not see that if their origin is a High Grade collection of rules and rituals , the presumption is at once that they areas I

con-, tend , purely High Grade themselves . 1 cannot see the object of Bro . Speth attempting to connect the G . L . of France with the Rit Ecossais , unless it be to prove that Kloss cannot make a mistake . Misled by the words " Grande Loge , " Kloss wrote at a time when the history of French Freemasonry was in absolute haze , and he did

not realize what now is clear—a succession of short-lived High Grade Bodies . The G . L , of 1761-2 is not the G . L . of France , but a G . L . of " Perfect and Sublime Masonry , " and the Statutes of 1755 are the "Statuts" of a body under the Comte de Clermont , yet existing distinct from the G . L . ot France . A . F . A . W .

516 J MASON MENDICANTS . Here is a delicious little extract from Kauffmann Cherpin , Hist . phil . de la Francmaconerrie : — "There exists in Freemasonry a type which is curious to contemplate , the travelling mendicant . He has been initiated one knows not how , sometimes he really does not belong to the Craft , but he has found an accomplice , a frienda guileless soulwho

, , has taught him more or less what he should know in order to make a creditable appearance when claiming succour . He produces a diploma ; his pocket is always full of certificates , delivered and visid with much too easy a complaisance . In one sense he resembles closely the Wandering Jew—he stops nowhere ; he only sojourns in a town long enough to gather in the counters which attest his

presence in its various lod ges and the individual donations of a few brothers ; then he resumes his route . Whither does he wend his way ? He follows his nose . He has no fixed destination . His diploma is given at Paris , vised not long since at Havre ; he had intended to take ship there for London , where he was promised employment , when , at the last moment , he received advice that the post was filled up .

Now he is proceeding to Marseilles , where a kind brother has told him that some other kind brother will perhaps be able to give him recommendations which may procure him a place . What sort of place ? He does not know . What can he do ? Oh ! as for that , anything and everything ?

In reality he goes nowhere with the intention of staying ; he goes everywhere to exploit Masonic Charity . He makes the tour of France , he traverses it in all directions , his most precious weapon , an almanack , which indicates where lodges are to be found . " This was written in 1 S 50 . How true to life ! But I fear my clumsy translation has spoiled the exquisitely light humour of the French original . G . W . SPETH .