Reviews.

Reviews .

THE DICTIONARY OF FREEMASONRY , by Bro . Rob Morris . —Bro . W . Bailey , Chicago , Illinois , U . S . We have received with gratification , and perused with profit , this well-got-up and very interesting compilation . In itself it is a neat , useful ,

contribution to Masonic archaeology and information , and will , we feel persuaded , be found very useful to the Masonic student and the Masonic writer . No lodge library should be without it , and it ought to find a place on the shelves of every Masonic individual collection ,

whether of old or new books . We thank Bro . Bailey for this valuable offering , ( not the only one by the way ) , which he has had the public spirit to make to the Masonic body in all countries . Bro . Bailey is well-known in the Masonic liter . ry world , and his high character and many

sacrifices demand the grateful recognition of Freemasons . We trust that his Dictionary of Freemasonry will find a hearty support alike in Great Britain as in the United States , and sure we are of this that it is a work which -effects equal credit both on editor and publisher .

THE FREEMASONS' . CALENDAR AND POCKET BOOK FOR 1876-77 . We rejoice to hail the appearance of this most useful little book , and to note its opportune publication . In one sense , it is indispensable for all members of our English Craft , in that it

is the official " vade mecum , " with reference to the lodges and chapters under the English Grand Lodge , the list of our Grand Officers and Prov . Grand Masters . It is very well arranged , and neatly got up , and we trust will have a large and remunerative sale , so as to benefit our Masonic

Charities . With the Freemasons' Calendar and the Cosmo , Freemasons are now well posted up in all the details of our large Masonic Family , and , deprecating all ideas of rivalry , much less opposition , both have their importance , both have their need for all who wish to master thoroughly

and statistically the interesting details of Masonic existence in the ' world , or to note those tell-tale indicia : which proclaim its advance or herald its triumph over intolerance and persecution . For one fact is plain , Freemasonry is moving on , and as long as it remains true to its

own principles , and marches on gallantly under its own banners , its victory is certain . The only fear is , lest dangerous or designing men abroad—happily not at home—should seek to lure it away from its " strait and narrow paths " by the shibboleths of faction , or the

" Will o' the Wisps " of revolution and the like , by concessions to an unbelieving faction , or surrender to a destructive liberalism . So far the FY ___ i __ o * i _ ' Calendar tells us only of great material prosperity , and vast numerical increase .

Esto perpetua ! and may each succeeding year only witness of the goodly success of that noble Order of men , whose motto is " Loyalty and Charity . " We wish all possible success to the Freemasons' Calendar and Pocket Book .

THE COSMO . Our Cosmo has appeared , and is again offered by our worthy publisher to the favourable notice , appreciation , and friendly patronage of the Craft . It is indeed , in our opinion , well worthy alike of the care which has been lavished

on its production , and the favourable reception which has been always accorded to it . Let us hope , as Freemasons , that we are above the baneful influences of trade jealousies or personal antagonism , and that our motto in this , as on all other human affairs , is " Palmam qui meruit

ferat . " No good Freemason will ever allow himself to be biassed either by low motives , unjust suspicions , personal animosities , or the dirty views of the " shop , " but will seek to look on all matters and judge all persons with an unprejudiced disposition and an unjaundiccd mind . The Cosmo has outlived the abuse of the

"cantankerous" and the opposition ofthe malevolent , and commends itself year by year to a large increasing circle of readers . And most naturally so , for it is in truth a Masonic record " sui generis , " and of much actual and needed importance to us all as brother Masons . When we open its pages we find that it contains information never

Reviews.

before collected , and not elsewhere procurable . To have in one work a list of High Grade chapters of all kinds , as well as of Templar Priories ; to find the names of Scotch , Irish , French , German , Italian , Spanish , and many other lodges in many other constitutions ,

together with English , is a work of no little cost and expense , as it is of no little use . and merit . Let us dismiss from our mind any idea that the Cosmo is run in opposition to the Freemasons ' Calendar and Pocket Book ; or , in fact , any

similar work at all . It simply appeals on its own merits , the needs and demands of the hour , alike to the cordial support of our English Brotherhood and the generous patronage of our Cosmopolitan Craft .

The unwary who take up at hazard Lady Herbert ' s "Wives , Mothers , and Sisters in the Olden Time" ( a vols . : R . Bentley and Son ) will be a little surprised , perhaps , to find a translation from French , Italian , and Latin originals of the lives of St . Paula , St . Olympias , and St .

Marcelhna—three devout women not quite unknown everrto Protestant students of Church history for their relations respectively to St . Jerome , St . Chrysostom , and St . Ambrose , and standing here as typical representatives , St . Paula and St . Olympias of the mothers and wives , St .

Marcellina of the sisters , of fifth-century Christendom . Were the work merely a translation of sympathetic and admiring " Lives of Saints , " executed with respectable ease and accuracy , criticism could have but little to say . Presented , as these lives are , as models for imitation , as glowing

contrasts to the want of self-denial , the luxury , and the frivolity , as conspicuous among fashionable ladies of our own days as among those of the Lower Empire , one is tempted to ask whether , among the countless memoirs of good women , examples could not bs found of a more

" reasonable service . ' Is there anything , for instance , to be imitated in such " superhuman ascetism " as this ?— "Though upwards of sixty years of age , shenever would allow herself a bath ; and , in order to mortif y herself still further , rarely washed anything but her hands . On one

occasion a young gentleman , named Jovinius , took great pains to prepare a bath and fresh water . Sylvia " reproved him severely , " and the rebuke had so wholesome an effect that Jovinius afterwards became a great saint and Bishop of Ascalon .

We go a little further than our contemporary . With due deference to him , and pace that excellent lady who has edited this work , we think that Sylvia must have been a very disagreeable person on near acquaintance , and we cannot but consider such superhuman ascetism , as our contemporary

terms it , simply folly and irreligion . Instead of rebuke , thc youthful Jovinius deserved all praise , and if his only claim to saintiiness rests on a reprimand for having suggested certain sanitary reforms and needful personal hygiene , we should be prepared for once to chime in with the " Avocato

del Diavolo . " "Cleanliness " we have always been told is " next to godliness , " though some writers affirm that this is " a mistaken Anglo Saxon proverb , and that the real reading , is " cleanliness is next to goodliness . " Be this as it may , we object in princi ple to a female , who never washes any p . rt of her person except her hands .

CRACROIT s TRUSTEES'GUIDE , 12 th Edition . Edward Stanfield , Charing Cross . This most useful and important work for trustees has reached , as our readers will perceive , a 12 th edition—and we can only commend it to the notice of all those who are trustees , as

it contains an enormous amount of information alike valuable and needful for them . The legal opinions as to the power of investment are very interesting and lucid , but yet we feel bound to add that , after all , it is safer in such matters to rely on legal advice , or the family solicitor , than as laymen attempt to decide as to what is law

which is beyond our grasp , especially ) when we have to deal with the subtleties of judicial dicta and legal phraseology . If you are ill go to your doctor ; if you are in a bother , go to your lawyer—is about as good advice as can be given to any one , for after all , it is no proof of wisdom in any to reject the skilled counsels ofthe one . or to ignore the special knowledge of the other . w . v . A ,

Interments In The Tower.

INTERMENTS IN THE TOWER .

There are now in the possession of the Governor of the Tower , to be restored in a day or two to their former place in the chapel of St . Peter ad Vincula , within the precincts of the Queen ' s most ancient Palace and Fortress , some human remains of great historical interest . The chapel is the building to the left of Waterloo Barracks , and some

70 yards to the north-west of the White Tower . Service has been held there for many hundred years , and up to the commencement of the alterations which are now being made . It was recently found necessary to repair the chapel , and the opportunity is being taken by the Office of Works of restoring the building in a way suitable to its original architecture . In making- a foundation for the

pavement it was found necessary to disturb some bones which were very near the surface . It was known from the registers of the prison that under the altar there had been hastily laid , in Queen Mary ' s reign , the body of John , Duke of Northumberland , the father-in-law of Lady Jane Grey : and the bones of a man of great stature answering to the descriptions of this ambitious personage have been

foun-l at the spot indicated . The head was with the body , and t :. ; Tower records show that the formality of placing the head on London Bridge had in this case been dispensed with . The remains of the Duke of Somerset have also been found , slightly displaced for the grave of the late Sir John Burgoyne , and , also in the chancel , the bones of an aged woman , supposed to be those

of the Countess of Salisbury , who , being of the blood of the Plantagenets , was executed by Henry VII . But the remains of the greatest interest are a collection of bones found carefully gathered together , and which have belonged to a delicately-shaped woman in the prime of life . They were discovered at or near the site of the burial of Queen Anne Boleyn , and the historian of the

interments in the chapel will be able to compare them with the description of her little neck so easily cut through , which , in a contemporary letter , the ill-fated lady is reported to have given to the executioner . A monograph on these interments is shortly to be published by Mr . Murray . The works have been carried out with the greatest care , and the principal removals were made in the presence of the

Lieutenant and Governor of the Tower ( Major-General Maitland and Colonel Milman ) , of the Rt . Hon . Gerard Noel , M . P ., and Mr . John Taylor , of the Office of Works , and of the Hon . S . Ponsonby-Fane and Mr . Bell , representing the Lord Chamberlain , who has the care of the Queen ' s Palaces . Dr . F . J . Douat , of the Local Government Board , was present as an exp-rt in anatomy . Most

of the orrgrnal interments appear to have been hastily made , and large quantities of lime were found in removing the bones . Care has been taken to keep the several collections of bones toge ' . her , and they are now enclosed in leaden caskets encased in oak . The undiscriminated remains which were found in thc nave of the chapel have been put into similar receptacles , and are , or will . be , placed in the crypt .

Sub Rosa.

SUB ROSA .

( tram the liauh ' utte , Nov ., 23 th , 1876 . ) Bv Bno . KARI . TANSBN . Mit seiner schonsten Gabe . chmuckt Der Friihling wieder Deine Brust . Du , Kind der VVittwe , feicrst heut Dein schonstes Fest in reiner Lust .

Die Konigin der Blumen zollt Der ew'gen . Jugcnd nun Tribut ; Sie opfcrt heut' lhr schonstes Kind , Das schmuckend Dir am Buscn ruht . Und das mit seinem Schmeichelwort In Lieb' und Schdnheit zu Dir spricht ;

„ 0 , halte , was Du hast gelobt , Vcrschsviegenheit ist Deine Pflicht 1 ' ' Daun kehrt der Fricde bei Dir ein Die Freude ist von Dir nicht fern Und zu den Beidcn unbewusst Gesellt die Einigkeit sich gem .

Und Friede , Freude , Einigkeit ; VV ' enn die beseelen unser Thu ' n , Dann feiern wir Johannisfest Und dCitfen unter Rosen ruhn .

SUB ROSA . The Spring with fairest gifts adorns Again thy breast in glad array ; Thou widow ' s child ' . in pure rejoicing Thou kcep'st thy festal day . Thc Queen of Flowers pays the tribute ,

Of youth eternal at thy behest , She offers now her darling offspring , Which rests in grace upon thy breast . And still with all caressing message , In love and beauty would implore , " Oh guard , I ask , what thou hast promised , Thy duty ' s Silence evermore . "

Then Peace to thee at once returns , And Joy is no more far from thee . And with the two if all unknown Companions willing Unity . Yes , Peace , and Joy , and Unity , When these our goodly toils disclose , Our St . John's Feast we rightly keep , And dare to rest beneath the Rose . A . F . A . W ,