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invasion of our rights and privileges as they are now , while the proposed Grand Lodges do not as yet exist . Such a proviso will prevent such difficulties as have arisen with the Grand Chapter of Canada , and greatly tend , therefore , to the future well-being of Masonry in the British Empire .

* * * THE annual meeting of the Grand Lodge of Canada , at Grand Lodge of the Grand Opera House , Toronto , in July , appears to have been attended with more than the usual eclat and to have

attracted greater notice than usual among the public . The attendance too was very large , quite 500 brethren being present when the Grand Lodge was opened and the proceedings commenced . Before this was done , however , the Grand Master , Bro . HENRY ROBERTSON , and the officers of Grand Lodge , gave audience to a deputation from the City Council ,

composed of the Mayor and several of the Aldermen , who were anxious to extend a hearty welcome to the brethren on the occasion of their visit and express their respect and that of their fellow citizens at large for the society of which they formed part . Bro . Mayor CLARKE , who was the first to address the GRAND MASTER and brethren , described in exceedingly eloquent

terms the hig h estimation in which , in Toronto and throughout the Dominion , the Craft of Freemasonry was held , and the admiration which was felt for its principles of loyalty and Charity , as well as for the faithful manner in which they were carried out . Similar sentiments were uttered by Alderman KING DODDS , Chairman

of the Reception Committee , who , though not a Freemason himself , was deeply imbued with respect for its principles . The speeches over , and the Deputation having retired , the G . Lodge was opened , an early but unusual incident in the proceedings being the presentation of a beautifully illuminated address to Bro . HENRY ROBERTSON , M . W . G . Master , in which the

brethren of Toronto expressed their thanks to that brother for his eminent services to the Craft , and gave him a most coidial welcome to their city . These are pleasing episodes introduced into an annual gathering met together for the dispatch of business , and will no doubt have been appreciated as such by our Canadian brethren , for this among other reasons of

moment , namely , that such manifestations of public favour must have the effect of strengthening the feeling of the outer world for Freemasonry , and must therefore be of infinite value to it in the carrying out of its principles . We trust that a similar welcome will be forthcoming when the Grand Lodge of Canada holds its annual communications in future .

* * * WE are not sufficiently conversant with the funeral customs of "ARousing our American brethien to be in a position to describe accurately " a rousing funeral . " It may be a function of more than the usual solemnity , or attended with heavy cost , or possibly it may be in

the nature of an Irish wake , with lashings of whiskey , and the brethren present at the scene may be furnished with sprigs of shillelagh instead of sprigs of acacia . Be it what it may , it must be something out of the ordinary course of funerals , or the one of which we have just been reading would not have been made the subject of comment by one United States

Grand Commandery of Knights Templar and attracted the attention of the Grand Recorder of another in his report on Foreign Correspondence . It seems that the Grand Captain General of the Grand Commandery of Michigan died suddenly at Painesville , Ohio , and the Grand Commander at once telegraphed to Ohio with instructions to consult the reasonable

wishes of the family and report the necessary expense to him . The Ohio sir knights , however , were equal to the occssion . They " ignored the family , gave Sir KELLY "—the G . Captain General who had died so suddenly— "' a rousing funeral , ' and sent a bill for § 332 'Q 7 to Michigan Grand Commandery to pay . " As

is the custom with American Masonic authorities when dealing with ticklish questions , the bill was referred to a Committee , which recommended that . it should be paid , but , at the same time , it protested that the Ohio sir knights would have had no cause to complain if the demand on the treasury of the Grand Commandery of Michigan had not been honoured .

We think the Committee were quite right in the recommendation they submitted , and Sir Knight KELLY , the suddenness of whose death is greatly deplored , may now rest in peace . His Templar brethren of Ohio have honoured him with " a rousing funeral , " a Committee of his native Grand

Commandery of Michigan have sat upon the bill of costs , and the Grand Commandery itself has ordered it to be paid . So at least we gather from the Report on Foreign Correspondence appended to the Records of the G . Commandery of Pennsylvania for the past year .

A Curious Book.

A CURIOUS BOOK .

Before us lies a miniature "Almanack Des Francs-Massons Pour L'Annee , 1769 , " issued in the preceding year . Its size is 32 tno , 4 8 pp ., and concludes with the words "A Amsterdam chez Jean Schreuder . "

The frontispiece is a most suggestive and artistic plate representing silence —a female with her fore finger resting on her lips , and holding a roll in her left hand ; tools and figures being on the pedestal , at the back of which is a column .

, After the Calendar portion the Masonic particulars begin with England , " Tres-illustre & Tres-Respectable Frere Henry Somerset Due De Beaufort , La Grande Maitrisse Nationale . " A few of the chief lodges are then

enumerated , such as the Antiquity , Friendship , St . Albans , Old King ' s Arms : and others meeting in London ( but long ago extinct ) . One of these —erased in 1775— " La Loge VImmortalite de I'Ordre , qui s ' assemble dans 1 'hotel du Qrown & Anchor , rue du Strand , " We should like to know more

A Curious Book.

about it , as a medal was struck in its honour , now exceedingly rare . A lodge warranted in 1749 , and meeting in 17 6 S at the "Sun" ( p . 56 , Lane ' s " Masonic Records" ) is described as " L'Ancienne Loge du Soleil . " n never appears to have had a name , however . Two lodges are noted at Cambridge and at Bristol , but only one at Bath , and that the least promi . nent . One at Birmingham , three at Norwich , and one at Portsmouth , so the list is more curious than valuable . The names of a few Prov . Grand

Masters are also given . For Scotland , the roll of the Grand Officers is duly detailed , it lorjrr described for Edinburgh , and one each for Aberdeen , Brechin , Dumfries and two for Glasgow , one of the latter being " I'Arciie Roiale . " The Earl of Cavan appears as the G . M . of Ireland , though evidently but little was known of that country Masonically . Page 22 is a mystery , if the Calendar was published in 1768 . Quite a number of lodges are noted under France seven being held in Paris , and not a few are entered for Germany , & c .

With Bro . Lane's work in hand , those under Asia are easily traced , and so those in Africa . Under Amerique , we read , " La R . G . L . d'Ang leterre a etabli le R . F . Jeremie Gridley , Grand Maitre Provincial pour toutes les parties de VAmerique qui n'ont point de Provincial particulier . " Prov . G . Masters are inserted lor Canada , New York , Pennsylvania , 8 cc . Under

Maryland appears " a Joppa , comtc de Baltimore , les Freres maoons ; 346 Joppa , was chartered in 1765 . One or more lodges are noted under most countries , and , evidently the editor intended to furnish the leading facts relating to the Craft , for his brethren , and for the period he certainl y did exceedingly well in such a small compass .

Scottish Masonry.

SCOTTISH MASONRY .

An enthusiastic and popular brother , William Black , P . M ., has just sent me a copy of the History of the Old Falkirk Lodge , formerly No . 14 , now No , 16 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , dedicated to St , John . As this tastefully got up little volume may be quite unknown to most of your readers , I cull a few items that may interest the rapidl y

increasing guild of Masonic students . The cover bears the arms of the lodge , prominent in the quarterings being the Scottish claymore , with two supporters who appear to be bellicose journeymen brandishing war clubs , above is the Latin sentence " Tangite itnum , Tangite omnes , " while below in the vernacular is " Better middleivi ' ' the deil than the bairns o' Falkirk , " which is quite in keeping with the style of their heraldry .

Although the warrant has never come to light it is believed this lodge was originally chartered by " Mother Kilwinning" at an early date . Whenever that may have been we do not know , but it was in working order in 1736 , having in that year assisted in the establishment of Grand

Lodge . The oldest minute extant bears date Sth October , 1739 , and is signed by James Logan , D . M . The unfortunate Earl of Kilmarnock , afterwards executed for complicity in the Stuart cause , was elected Master on St . John ' s day , December , 1740 , shortly after the initiation of Sir Archd . Primrose , of Dunipace , who shared

a similar fate . We here find a minute that the funds or " stock should be laid out in meal , " in order that the brethren might provide themselves with this staple article of diet at " cost price . " On account of the Jacobite rising , and the connection therewith ot some of their prominent members , the lodge was dormant lor about four years , but very soon after tranquillity

was restored , we find that sons of the late Earl were appointed to the chairs of the Master and both Wardens , thus testifying to the warm attachment that was felt for Kilmarnock . William Boyd , the Junior Warden , was only admitted a member a year after his election to office , so that doubtless he was made somesvhere else .

In common with many other Scotch lodges , Falkirk suffered from the reception of candidates on credit , so that in 1756 they resolved in futuresave for special reasons—no applicant should be admitted till after payment of the fees , which appear to have been ios ., with 2 s . 6 d . for Grand Lodge registration and is . to the Tyler . No Apprentices could be advanced to F . C . in less tha . n six months , nor again to M . M . without a similar interval , and only then on being certified by two examiners , offering a sharp contrast to more recent experiences in Scotland .

A few years later , in order to iree the lodge from debt , it was enacted , inter alia , that punch was to be sold at a profit of five pence per bottle , and every brother who did not consume half a bottle was to pay a fine of six pence . The scheme subsequently fell through , but it is very unlikely that teetotalism was the cause ot it . At the St . John ' s Festival in 17 62 a very interesting communication was read from the Grand Master , which , for the

reasons set forth , ordained that every body under his jurisdiction should enrol as an honorary member Bro . Don Antonio de Pizarro , Governor of Terragena , in Spain . A Scotch Mason , Bro . Dickson , having been shi pwrecked on the Spanish coast , was , with his crew , seized and imprisoned , but , on satisfying the worthy Governor that he was a Mason , was kindly treated ,

and the whole of his party safely conducted to Gibraltar , the commandant of which was so pleased , that he immediately returned 16 of Don Antonio s countrymen whom he had in durance . These facts having been intimated to Grand Lodge , resulted in our chivalric brother being made free of a " Scotch lodges .

At the beginning of this century mention is made of 70 lodges of ' * " " struction , " but these seem to have been merel y for rehearsal of the ceremonies . A few years later we find this venerable lodge sinking deeper and deeper into debt , until at last the members had to part with their house pre perty , and in 1838 they had to borrow six pounds from their Treasurer , on the security of the jewels and clothing , in order to settle a pressing

claim-From this date there was profound silence till 1864 , when a vi gorous rnov was made , and under the energetic management of well-qualified brethren an era of unexampled prosperity has been experienced , and now , meeting in their own handsome rooms , the old lodge of Falkirk St . John , seem ^ with a good record for the last 24 years , likely to maintain its position a one of the best country lodges in the North . * So mote it be . EDW . MACBEAN , 207 6 ( E . C )