Cæmentaria Hibernica.*

KINGSTON , who had -presided the previous year as Grand Master over the Grand Lodge of England , being elected and installed its first Grand Master . Bro . CRAWLEY , by his laborious invostio-ations into Masonic documents and contemporary

publications of various kinds , has succeeded in establishing two principal facts , namely : { a ) that the existence of Freemasonry as a Society was a matter of common knowledge in llic University of Dublin in 16 SS ; { b ) that in 1725 the Earl ol

ROSSE was installed as Grand Master of Ireland in 1725 , and has thus -succeeded in antedating by five years the existence of a body which hitherto we have bcen led to believe- was only formed in 1730 . Other facts , but of subsidiary importance , hc

has also been able to establish , but what we are chiefly indebted to "him for is the publication , at intervals , of a connected scries of the laws and regulations of Freemasonry in Ireland , and other matters bearing upon its history . This series , which he has

given to the world under the general title of " Crementana Hibemica , " comprises three " Fasciculi , " or Parts , of which the first was published in 1895 , and contains , among other matters , valuable information concerning the Grand Lodge of Minister

from 1726 , and a facsimile reprint of the Constitutions as published in Dublin , in 1730 , by Bro . J . Pennell , afterwards Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , 1732 fo I 73 8 . In the second Fasciculus are to bc found particulars relating to

the installation of the Earl of ROSSE as Grand Master ol Ireland in 1725 ; a reprint , with carefully compiled introduction by Bro . CRAWLEY , of SMITH ' S " Pocket Companion , " Dublin ; and an account of FIFIELD D'ASSIGNY , author of thc

wellknown pamphlet entitled "The Serious and Impartial Inquiry , ' which was published in Dublin in 1744 , with particulars of other members of the D'ASSIGNY family . This part appeared in 18 9 6 , and now we have before us the third and concluding Fasciculus ,

which covers the period from I 751 to 1807 , and may be said to establish , in conjunction with its two predecessors , the virtual continuity of the Grand Lodge of Ireland from I 725 onwards to

1807 , since when an unbroken record of Grand Masters , &<* ., leaves no doubt whatsoever as to ( he regularity of the descent till this present year of grace .

Touching the contents of this third Fasciculus , receipt of which we acknowledged in one of our Notes a fortnight since , and speaking generally , there , cannot be the slightest question as to their importance . They comprise , firstly , a Reprint of ( he

Constitutions published in 1751 by Bro . Edward Spratt , to whom pointed reference is more than once made by Laurence Dermott in the minutes of proceedings of the " Ancient' ' Grand Lodge of England , of which he was , as Grand Secretary ,

the real organiser , and which for two different periods he subsequently administered as the Deputy of the third and fourth Dukes of Athol . This is followed by the " Rules , Orders , and Regulations , " for the government of the Fratcrnitv in Ireland ,

as compiled and published under the authority of tin * Grand Lod < n : in 17 68 . Then comes a reproduction of the prominent portions of-Bro . C . Downes ' s second edition , published in 1807 , ol "Ahiman Rezon , " originallv compiled by Laurence

Dermott for the government of the " Ancient 1 * raternily in England , which became so popular that it was used as a text book—with such additions and adaptations as were locally necessary—of the Irish and other Masonic bodies . Lastly , we

have an almost unbroken '' Succession of Grand Officers of the Grand Lodgeof Ireland , 1725-1900 . " Xo such list has ever before been published and from this circumstance aloiu-the reader will be able to form a tolerably correct ol its value lo tin- student ol

Irish Masonic History . Moreover , in bis brief introduction to this portion of the Fasciculus , Bro . Cu . WVI . KY tells us that " ' no name has been admitted to the List , " " except on documentary evit ' ence derived at first hand lrom contemporaneous public or

private sources , " a solitary exception -the reason I ' or it being riven- —bavin "* been made in the case ol Lord George Sackville ' s second Grand Maslcrship in i / . i- ' . We an * liirllier informed as

to the nature of the authorities from which the compilation has been made , that they comprise " the Minute-books , Registers , and official publications ol Grand Lodge , as laras tbey serve ; the sit / natures and endorsements of Warrants , Petitions , and Certificates ; together with the notices , sometimes intentional , sometimes onl y incidental , that occur in the records of sub-

Cæmentaria Hibernica.*

ordinate Lodges , and in the recognised literature of the Craft . " But even these , wc are told , "have been supplemented by a vast and heterogeneous array of paragraphs , anecdotes , and announce , mcnls scattered through the newspapers , magazines , and

ephemeral literature . " We may safely lea \ * * e our readers to form their own opinion , without comment of ours , of thc apparentl y endless labour involved in the preparation of this List , while the

known accuracy which has characterised whatever has emanated from Bro . CRAWLEY ' pen is voucher , ample and to spare , fruits trustworthiness .

There are , doubtless , many things in this third " Fasciculus " to which we might profitably call attention , and as to which we shall take such early convenient opportunities as may present themselves of offering some further observations . For the

present wc shall content ourselves with adding that thc publication of these valuable "Camie . ntaria Hibemica" by Bro . CRAWLEY constitutes the closing years of this 19 th century one of the brightest epochs in the annals of Masonic literature .

Masonic Jurisprudence.

MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE .

[ COMMUNICATED . ] The penalty of expulsion is referred to in Articles 5 , 7 * 3 , n * ., ** ..- ' , * - JI / OI j _\ and too . Article 5 says" Grand Lodge alone has the power of . . . expellino * brethren from the Craft , a power which it docs noi delegate to any subordinate authority in England . "

Article 73 provides that the brother incriminated shall be summoned to answer the complaint made against him . Articles 93 and 106 refer to the attitude of subordinate authorities . A subordinate authority in England can onl y make a report on the subject to Grand Lodge , The subordinate authorities in foreign

parts and the colonies , however , have wider powers , and a District Grand Lodge can expel a brother—subject , of course , to an appeal lo Grand Lodge . In England it is not llic Provincial Grand Lodge but the Provincial Grand Master who makes the report referred to .

The usual procedure is for the lodge to exclude the brother in the lirst instance , and , in accordance with Article 210 , a notification of the facl , together with a . statement of the reason is sent to the Grand Secretary and the Provincial or District Grand Secretary . The lodge may add its own recommendation

for expulsion to the Provincial Grand Master , or the latter may sno mot 11 make a recommendation of his own on the subject . As stated in our last article , a conviction for felony has generally been regarded as " sufficient cause" for expulsion , aud the proved fact that the brother is in gaol expiating his offence has

on occasion been held to justify a departure from the strict letter oi Article 73 . No useful purpose , however , would be served by entering into any detailed discussion of this subject . Above all things Grand Lodge is a common-sense body . The Constitutions

serve as a "light to its path and a lamp to its feet , " but when questions of such grave import as erasure , and expulsion arc before il it is always guided b y princi ples of equity rather than bv the letter of the law .

There never was a brother expelled yet nor a lodge erased , as to which every brother who interested himself in the subject was not convinced that substantial justice had been done , and Ihe duly of the reviewer is simply to refer to the modus operandi , and lo explain what it means .

It has already been explained that any penal proceedings involving a lodge as such , do not affect injuriousl y the Masonic standing of any member . The property of the lodge is dealt with by mutual consent , lt lias sometimes happened that a neiv

lodge has been founded on the ashes of the old one , ami succeeded lo everything but the number that was possessed !>} its predecessor . This occurred to Lodge Southern Cross , e- ' * 1758 , Madras , which was formed in 18 7 8 , and was returned i " 1880 as " extint't " and removed from the * list .

\\ hat really happened—if the writer ' s recollection serve nun aright—was that the warrant was eaten up either by rats rf white ants . Instead of applying for a warrant of coiifiriiKiti ""

a new one was applied for anil came out in Ihe same year , 1 ' " * % ' with the important difference that its number was 2298 , or 54 ° lower down , and under that number , and 11 years younger tha " il ought to be , it still works .

Article uh would have enabled the members to procure '* warrant ol confirmation , and its position in the tabic ol precedence would have remained the same . A lodge ' - "' *'*' removed lrom the register loses , of course , any votes it nl ** . liave acquired in a corporate capacity in any charit '* ' * '