" On Earth Peace, Goodwill Toward Men."

not press his triumph to the utmost verge of vengeance . Let the Divine message which found a ready echo in the ears of the Syrian shepherds be not forgotten now— " On earth peace , goodwill toward men . "

Lodge Of Benevolence.

LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE .

The usual monthly meeting of the Lodge of Benevolence was held at Freemasons ' Hall , on Wednesday , the 21 st inst , at 7 p . m ., under the presidency of Bro . Jno . M . Clabon , P . G . D ., who was appointed to the

office of President by the Grand Master at the last Grand Lodge . Bros . J . Nunn and James Brett were in their respective positions as Senior and Junior Vice-Presidents , and among the brethren present we noticed

Bros . Joseph Smith , E . H . Patten , H . Garrod , Sam . May , C . A . Cottebrune , W . M . Bywater , Benjamin Head , & . J . Mclntyre , J . Hervey , H . G . Buss , R . W . Little , J . Savage , W . Mann , Bentley Shaw ,

D . P . G . M . West Yorkshire ; W . Smith , E Vorley , John Boyd , F . Walters , G . H . Swan R . Risden , J . Bellerby , R . W . Stewart , T

Meggy , G . King , W . Smeed , R . B . Newsome and W . Carter . The lodge was opened in due form , and the sums voted at previous meetings were unanimously carried .

Seventeen applications were made for relief . The sum of £ 275 was voted to relieve the distressed , as follows , viz ., one £ ^ 0 , one £ \ o , two £ 25 , three £ 20 , two £ 15 , three . £ 10 and three £ 5 . Two were

deferred until the next meeting . Notice of motion was given by Bro . Smith , P . G . P ., to alter the hour of meeting to six o ' clock by making the necessary application to carry out that object . The lodge was afterwards closed .

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

Multum in Parbo , or Masonic Notes and Queries .

— . BRO . W . P . BUCHAN ON FREEMASONRY . I must confess to an utter inability to understand what Bro . Buchan really intends by objecting to the statements of Bros .

" Lupus , " " Rev . P . H . Newnham , " and myself . I have not written in any mood to either give or receive "jokes , " but solely to set at rest a disputed point with respect to the "Historyof Freemasonry , " and

therefore if our friend Bro . " Buchan " will say why he objects to our views of Freemasonry being revived A . D . 1717 , and seek by fads to show why we should not accept the Freemasonry of that period as a

continuation of the Operative and Speculative Masonry of former centuries , I will examine the evidence submitted on proof of such a negative position very carefully . W . J . HUGHAN .

THE APRON AND THE 1717 THEORY . I think in courtesy , I ought to reply to " A Masonic Student , " although I do not propose to continue a discussion in which all evidence is utterly disregarded . " W .

P . B ., in triumphant tones , challenges me to produce ( in support of my statements ) a public Act of Parliament referring to Masons alone . I at once produce such Act . What is the result ? " W . P . B . " " carefully

reads the remarks , " and then proceeds in the old strain , as if I had been utterly unable to prove what I had asserted ; whilst , in fact , the very tone in which the challenge

was given was an admission that if I produced such an Act "W . P . B . ' s" statements must be very much qualified . In replytothe"Student , " I would explain

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

that the " minute book of a Speculative , " lodge referred to by me , is the book-of the Warkworth and Alnwick Lodge , from which we have had an extract of 1708 , and after which any more talk of 1717 appears mere waste of time and space . I am not aware that the meaning of the word " speculative " in the MS . published by Bro . Cooke is at all at issue ; there was a strange suggestion

that it meant " knowledge , " but the context gives no room for the slightest pretension to this . The statute which " Student " cannot find is , 3 Edward VI ., c . 15 . Perhaps he has seen 34 Edward III ., c . 9 . I am

unable to find 2 Henry VII ., c . 3 , 4 . lhe second Parliament of Henry VII . appears to have been held in the third year of his reign , and C . ' s 3 and 4 do not refer to Masons .

1 here are other Acts more or less directly affecting Masons , but they are not to be found in all the copies .

I am aware that lodges were attached to the monastic institutions , but I have no doubt that many of your readers will find interest in the extract to which the "Student " alludes . LUPUS ,

THE TEMPLARS AND THE CRAFT . I notice a communication from the respected Prov . G . M . for Leicestershire and Rutland , with the above "heading , " and have already expressed my appreciation of the

history of that flourishing province , which has been so ably written by R . W . Bro . William Kelly , and in which particulars are given in reference to the above subject . I write now to ask Bro . William Kelly if he will favour the numerous readers of THE

FREEMASON with an explanation of the following statement made by him on concluding the interesting paragraph on the " Templars and the Craft . "

" I may- mention that I possess the seals of the old Athole Lodge , No . 91 , formerly held in this town . They comprise seals for the Ark Mariners' , Red Cross of Babylon , Royal Arch

and Knight Templar Degrees , all of which , in like manner , were worked under the Craft Warrant . " It is very desirable to know what authority

was given in the "Ancient" Craft Warrants to work these degrees . I have never been able to find any such an authority in any of the old ' ¦ Ancient" Warrants which have been carefully perused by me , and

therefore if Bro . Kelly has , I know he will gladly afford others the information which they have not been so fortunate as to discover . W . J AMES HUGHAN .

MASONIC MSS . As Bro . Forsyth seems to think that the MSS . he alludes to , are unknown to Masonic students , and are the earliest in the British

Museum , I send you a few notes on the subject . These same MSS . have long been known to Masonic students , have been quoted frequently , and often alluded to in our Masonic oeriodicals . The MSS . to

which our brother alludes so far from being the earliest , are nearly the latest in the Museum . I append a list of all existing MSS . there ,

with their approximate dates : — 1 . Bib . Reg . 17 a . 1 , f . 32 , 1370 to 1390 . 2 . Additional MSS . 23 19 S , 1460 to 1490 . 3 . Lansdowne 98 , f . 276 , 1590 . 4 . Sloane 3849 , f . 213 , 1646 . 5 . Sloane 3323 , f . 195 , 1659 .

6 . Harleian 2054 , after 1660 . 7 . Harleian 1942 , f . 1 , after 1660 . But in addition to these MSS . Constitutions ! in thi » British Mnspnm thf > rr » is trip

--.. * -. - . . - . » -.-, -. . « . - — . w . . . IS , interesting transcript sent by Dowland to the Gentleman ' s Magasiue in 1806 , which is

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

evidently an earlier MS . than the Lansdowne , and may be fixed at about 1550 . There is the copy belonging to the Lodge of Antiquity which is fixed by them to be 1686 , there is a copy at York 1693 , and

a second also there 1704 , while Bro . W . Passworth is also in possession of a copy date , he says , 1720 ; Bro . Findel says 1714 . There is also a copy in the possession of Lodge of Hope , Bradford , which is about the

end of last century . These are all the existing copies at present known ; they may no doubt be found in old libraries , and are hidden away , long forgotten amid the dusty papers of our English lodges .

Next week I will allude to copies which have , however , been in existence , and are said to have been lost or destroyed . A MASONIC STUDENT .

A BATCH OF QUERIES . Is it irregular to wear a P . M . jewel on the breast in a R . A . Chapter ?—No . 2 . Who should instal the W . M .-elect . ? Can

the latter choose his own installing officer , or can the retiring W . M . claim the privilege of installing officer ( if able ) as his by right ?—The retiring Master has a positive right to install his successor .

3 . Can a lodge fix in its by-laws any time for the installation , or should all ( English ) lodges have it as near St . John's Day ( 27 th December ) as possible ?—Any day can be fixed , provided it

be stated in the by-laws . 4 . Is it irregular to wear silver braid on the collars and on the ribbon of the apron of officers or members of private lodges ?—Yes . A PAST SENIOR WARDEN .

May I inquire , through your paper , whether any of the following lodges are now in existence ; if so , I should be glad if I can communicate with the respective W . M . 's , through you : —

White Swan Lodge , Norwich ... 1789 Maid's Head Lodge , Norwich M , 1776 Castle and Lion Lodge , Norwich ... 1800 No . 103 , Elusinian Mysteries Lodge , Masonic Tavern , Elm Hill , Norwich 1822 Angel Lodge , Great Yarmouth ... 1 774 C 8 s .

W . & A . GILBEY ' STORES . —The Standard of the 16 th inst ., in a long account of Messrs . W . & A . Gilbey ' s New Stores at Camden Town , gives some interesting details . It appears that the Stores in question have a cellarage and floorage space of upwards of five acres , and were formerly used as

the principal Goods Station of the London and North Western Railway . Connected with these Stores by the canal arc Bonded Cellars covering several acres , in which the various Wines and Spirits as they arrive from Xeres , Oporto , Bordeaux , Cognac , Sec , are stored under bond . Upwards of 300

hands are employed , principally on piecework , and an average of 3 , 000 dozens or about 100 tons weight of Wines and Spirits are sent out daily , in addition to which , every day , from 30 , 000 to 40 , 000 bottles are washed by steam . The business here carried on , according to the Government Returns , amounts to about one-twentieth part of the entire Wine

trade ; while from the fact of this firm having agents in almost every town and village in the United Kingdom , their goods can be obtained everywhere at the same price , and their position in the trade affords a guarantee of uniform quality and good commercial value . Thus , each one of their 1 , 500 agents , instead of supplying his customers from some two or three varieties bottled and

purchased on his own judgment , holds m reality tlie key to a stock embracing more than 200 varieties . The Standard points out that the position selected for these Stores combines the advantages very difficult to obtain in London , of road , rail , and water carriage , and concludes its remarks as follows : —

" Altogether this Establishment is well worth inspection ; and to visitors to London , with whom a day at tlie Docks has always represented one of the standing sights , wc can only say that they will

find a visit to the Stores of perhaps greater interest , as here they will see all the various processes of bottling , packing , & c , on such a scale as certainly cannot be seen elsewhere , not even -in the wineproducing countries . "—Standard , 16 th Dec , 1870