Vanitas Vanitatum.

given him as to many details of operative Masonry which he was previously ignorant of . But although I have taken the degree of Ark Mariner in all its points , I must confess I cannot see its utility or its necessity ; and I should be glad to hear from the brother in question the grounds on which he makes this extraordinary statement .

The degree is worked in Scotland under the authority of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter , and any subordinate Chapter has the right to confer it on a regularly exalted Royal Arch Companion ; but I can assure " Scribe " it is a degree very little worked , and still less talked about , as men are almost ashamed to say

they have taken it . It is " more honoured in the breach than the observance . " The other degrees sometimes worked in England , " Ark , Mark , Link and Wrestle , " are chiefly confined to the counties of Lancashire , Cheshire and Yorkshire , and are generally conferred for the low charge of one shilling and three half-pence for the lot .

I may mention that the degree of " Mark " alluded to above is that of " Mark Man , " and not " Mark Master , " and does not give those secrets peculiar to the Mark degree proper . I perceive in your last impression , a letter from Bro . Frederick Binckes , which contains a few words which ought to be printed in letters of gold , and read in all the lodges : —

" I would myself , in the most earnest manner , recommend every brother under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge to refrain from any attempt to introduce another Supreme Masonic Body pending the negociations now in progress , having for their object the promotion of unity among the members of the Orders and Degrees not recognised by the Grand Lodge of England . "

I cordially agree with Bro . Binckes , and only wish the Grand Master of Mark Masonry of England had supported the ideas of the Grand Secretary by deeds , not words . Bro . Binckes says , " It is the Grand Mark Master ' s opinion , that it is extremely unadvisable for any English

Mark Master to commit himself to the support , in any way , of the new movement referred to by your correspondent , " ( i . e . the establishment of a Grand Lodge of Ark Mariners . ) The italics are mine . In another part of your impression we read , " A combined meeting of the Most Antient

and Honourable Fraternity of Royal Ark Marineis , and of Mark Masters was held at Masons' Hall , " by the authority of the Grand Master of Mark Masons and the Grand Commander of Royal Ark Mariners , both of whom were present . We find that when the vessel was

floated ( Anglice , the lodge was opened ) the Grand Mark Master , cum multis aliis , " came or board and took the A . O . B ., " & c , & c . At the end of this report occurs the following passage ; conclusive , I think , of the contradiction of words by deeds . " This will be the first instance on

record , of two Masonic bodies of separate jurisdictions meeting on neutral ground preserving their own privileges intact , and yet working together without any difficulty occurring in the arrangement of the ceremonies . " The only way in which this mushroom growth

can be stopped is for the Grand Lodge of England to make a law that no brother under her jurisdiction shall take any so-called higher degree without the permission of a Committee of Inspection , appointed for the purpose in each province ; and that each so-called higher degree

shall register their style , title , and authority , which must receive the sanction of the Grand Lodge , and their permission towards the degree in question . Also that any brother conferring or receiving any degree in contravention of the above statute

shall be immediately suspended from all Masonic privileges . In this manner the Grand Lodge of England , through whose degrees we must all pass to gain admittance to the hautes grades , would act as

the doorkeeper of pure and ancient Masonry ; and although not acknowledging these high degrees as part of their system , would , as the dweller on the threshold , only admit through its portals brethren of approved worth and tried discretion .

Reminiscences Of Worcestershire Freemasonry.

REMINISCENCES OF WORCESTERSHIRE FREEMASONRY .

From ( Berrovfs Worcester Journal . ) Bro . C . C . Whitney Griffiths , who has long been known as a zealous and accomplished Freemason who has done distinguished and wellrecognised services to the Order , has written and

compiled a neat and attractive volume in which he has preserved the records of Freemasonry in the province of Worcester . By the courtesy of the Worcester Lodge of Freemasonry , 280 , we have been permitted to peruse a copy of the book ,

and we propose to detail some of the more salient points contained in it , as they may be of interest to many who are without the pale of the Masonic body , and will certainly be read with deep interest by members of the Fraternity . Bro .

Griffiths seems to have collected during his lengthened Masonic experience materials which have enabled him to supply the information he imparts , and this has no doubt encouraged him in the production of his book . Nothing but

very considerable Masonic knowledge , an indomitable determination to exhaust all known sources of information , and unquenchable enthusiasm in the laborious task of research , can account for his having so successfully indicated

the history of the Order in the province of Worcester , notwithstanding the grave drawback presenting itself in the fact that from the commencement of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Worcester , in 1790 , no record is extant except what

he has gathered here and there , so to speak , from old constitutions and all sorts of miscellaneous sources , until the year 1820 , since which time records have been duly kept . The writer has divided his work into three separate parts . In

the first part he furnishes the history of the Provincial Grand Lodge , in the second the history ol the Worcester Lodge , of which he is an honoured and prominent member , and in the third he describes the introduction of the Royal Arch Masonry in Worcester and Chapter of St . Wulstan .

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF WORCESTER . On opening Bro . Griffiths' book we find that the first known record of the Province of Worcester occurs in the year 1752 , when Sir Robert de Cornwall , Baronet , was appointed the

first Grand Master of the Province , his jurisdiction comprising the counties of Worcester , Gloucester , Salop , Monmouth and Hereford . In the present day such a jurisdiction seems to be overwhelmingly comprehensive , but this assumption

disappears when it is explained that at that remote period throughout the entire authority there were but three lodges on the roll of the Grand Lodge of England , which were established at Stourbridge , Gloucester , and Leominster . The second

Grand Master for the Province was appointed in 1792 by H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , the gentleman upon whom the distinguished office was conferred being John Dent , Esq ., a partner in the eminent banking firm of Child and Co .,

London , and M . P . for Lancaster , and subsequently for the borough of Poole . This appointment was held by Bro . Dent no less than thirty-four years , death occasioning its relinquishment . By further reference to Bro . Griffiths' book

we find that during the next twenty years the brethren of the Worcester Lodge and other lodges made repeated applications that a Grand Master should be appointed for their province , and yet that , strangely enough , their requests were

without effect . It was not , in fact , until August , in the year 1847 , when Bro . Roden was appointed Deputy Grand Master by Bro . Dobie , the then Grand Registrar , that the province had any regularly recognised head . Dr . Roden , of

Kidderminster , held rule as a Deputy for two years , when a Provincial Grand Master was appointed , in the person of Henry Charles Vernon , Esq ., of Hilton Park , Staffordshire , his installation taking place on June 17 th , 1851 , in the city of Worcester . Bro . Vernon continued in office

fifteen years , when by reason of failing health he surrendered his post in favour of the present honoured Grand Master of the Province , Albert Hudson Royds , Esq ., of Falinge , Rochdale , Lancashire , of Crown East Court , and of Malvern . Bro . Royds was installed on June 21 st ,

Reminiscences Of Worcestershire Freemasonry.

i 860 , and the event was the occasion of the largest Masonic gathering ever known in Worcester .

THE WORCESTER LODGE , 280 . Bro . Griffiths enables us to trace the history , so far apparently as it is ascertainable , of Freemasonry in Worcester , and of the existing lodges in the city . It is noted that antecedent to the Worcester Lodge a lodge of Freemasons , under

the Athol or York Constitution , was held at the Stonemason ' s Arms , Great Fish-street , although of its working or character literally nothing is known . The names of thirty-nine of its members have been collected , but no information is given concerning either their calling or habitations .

"What is known of them is not creditable , however , to more than one of them , sincee one was excluded and deemed unworthy , and another was similarly dealt with , for making Masons under circumstances which are certainly not in accordance with Masonic notions in the present day .

Here we may perhaps opportunely mention the fact that the columns of Berronfs Worcester Journal , extending as they do as far back as 1709 ( and so rendering the Worcester Journal the second oldest in England ) , have fortunately aided Bro . Griffiths in his industrious researches ,

have supplied proofs of the existence of the early lodge upon which he has commented , and with reference to which he remarks , " A paragraph in Borrow' ' s Worcester Journal , in 1769 , justifies a belief in its existence at that date , where it is announced that ' A Company of Comedians ,

from London , would perform by the desire of the Lodge of Freemasons . '" The next reference to Freemasonry in Worcester , is also found in the Journal in the form of an advertisement . It is dated April 1 st , 1790 , and the following is a verbatim copy of it : —

" MASONRY . —In all ages , by all sectaries , and in all nations the advantages of Masonry have been manifest . No society since the creation of the globe have ever been so universal and so respectable . They never have contaminated their laws , nor , like many premature societies , exposed themselves to ridicule and contempt . The

brethren must feel a secret satisfaction when they are informed a lodge under the auspicious names of the Right Honourable Lord D ly and W d , the Right Honourable the Earl of Ply th , and the Right Honourable the Earl of Cov—try ( gentlemen andbrothers resident in this county ) will be instituted ; and when the

brethren recollect the politeness , affability , and humanity of the nohle patrons , who can doubt of success ? For the purpose of promoting a constitution , chapters ate held every Sunday evening at the Rein Deer , till it is brought to its wished-for crisis . The company of every brother is requested . "

Bro . Griffiths infers that " the wish was father to the thought" in the mind of the advertiser , and thereby strongly hints a question of the genuineness of the advertisement . When we come to examine it we detect appearances justifying the doubt . In the first place the date of

the month , April 1 st , is suggestive , if not , in sooth , suspicious ; the word " chapters , " too , is evidently used instead of lodges—an error that no Freemason could well make ; and , lastly , none of the noblemen referred to were

Freemasons then , if indeed they ever were . It may be stated , par parenthese , that an ancestor of the Earl Dudley , who is referred to , occupied , fortyeight years before , the distinguished position of Grand Master of England .

On October 2 nd , 1790 , an interim warrant , signed by the Grand Secretary , was granted to the Worcester Lodge , upon which the brethren proceeded to initiate and receive members , and the charter of the lodge is dated seven days

afterwards . Bro . Griffiths remarks of the occasion : — " For a record of the eventful ceremony we are again indebted to the Worcester Journal , which , in its issue of May 25 , 1791 , records

that" The Worcester Lodge of Free and Acctpted Masons , No . 574 , held at the Rein Deer Inn , in this city , was regularlyconsccrated on Thursday , the 19 th instant , after which the members in regular order proceeded to St . Martin ' s Church , when an excellent sermon was preached on the occasion by the Rev . Brother T . Heynes , from

the 10 th chapter of St . Paul ' s Epistle to the Hebrews , and 24 th verse ; ' And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works . ' They afterwards returned to the Rein Deer Inn , where they dined , and spent the evening with the utmost harmony and decorum , and many loyal and constitutional toasts were drunk , "