Bro.The Right Hon. Lord Arthur Hill, M.P., Prov. G.M. County Down (I.C.).

photograph of Sir Hastings Doyle , the likeness of the first Lord Combermere ( Lady Downshire ' s father ) , the portraits of Lord Arthur Hill as a stalwart Life Guardsman of twenty , and of his sister , Alice Lady Bective , as a charming girl of fifteen ; but the sounds of music call you away to another room overlooking the sunny garden with a southern aspect , where Lady Arthur is seated at the open piano . Through the broad mullioned

windows you see the flower-beds bright with geraniums , lobelias , cactusdahlias , asters , verbenas , and Indian pinks , and you just catch the sounds which come from the cricketers in the field , partly screened from view by a belt of beeches , yews , and chestnuts . Prints , photographs , etchings , fans , brasses , and china hang in picturesque confusion on the rone-coloured walls ol this delightful boudoir ; rare specimens of

Chelsea , Sevres , Dresden , and Crown Derby china jostle each other in the crowded cabinet opposite the oaken over-mantel , with the carving of which the Comptrollor of the Household , in the old days of leisure , farming , and field-sports , took more than ordinary pains ; the neat brassbound writing-table is pushed up to the open window , and it is here , in the congenial company of her husband ' s photor / raphs , that Lady Arthur Hill

composed many of the songs which the public have learned to appreciate and admire . " Our Farewell , " "The Veteran" ( which Sisrnor Foli sings admirably ) , " Yester Year , " and "The Lost Husband" ( for which Caroline Lady Downshire adapted the libretto from the French ) , were ^ all thought out at Wakehurst , and it is here that her children Arthur and Nina learned to sing "In the Gloaming" to their mother ' s accompaniment .

Close by Lady Arthur ' s own apartment is the long drawing-room which still recalls in many wavs the memory of the departed Culpepers . It was the hall once , and a porch ornamented by two stories of columnar architecture takes you to the flower-bedecked parterre in sig ht of the cricketfield and the far-off Brig hton Downs . The greater magnificence of the embossed stucco ceiling and the frieze of mermaids may possibly prevent

your noticing the curiolis figure of a Scotch piper on one side of the corbel of the outer door , for which the cunning architect provided a suitable pendant in the portraiture of an Irishman extracting melody from a pig . The walls are nearly entirely draped with French tapestry ; majolica vases stand on the Italian and English marqueterie cabinets ; the Venetian mirrors , with green enamelled leaves , red fruit , and gilded cherubim , are fittinsr companions for the dark oak of the chimney-piece and the

straightbacked tapestry-covered chairs . A sliding panel communicates with the dining-room ( the counterpart of the library ) , where you admire the wainscoting rescued from the degradation of whitewash and paint , and the two wooden ecclesiastics from Dieppe , who have abandoned their original functions to support the weig ht of one of the carved over-mantels , which share with Toryism and Protestantism a very high place in the affections of Lord Arthur Hill .

From the garden you have an uninterrupted view of the south-front of Wakehurst Place . The wanton destruction of three-fifths of the long wings , perpetrated many years ago , has failed to wholly destroy its original beauty . The stout beams of heart-oak still support manfully the weight of the roof ; Virginia-creeper , myrtle , jessamine , Japanese honeysuckle , wistaria , and Banksia roses climb over the rough stone and shade the mullioned windows ;

and you still hear the music within as you walk up and down the broad gravel walk beyond the flower-beds , and enjoy the breeze which blows in fresh from the Channel . The Deputy Grand Master of Orangemen can talk to you about a great many things belonging to the present and the past . He can tell you the truth about the Belfast riots and their origin ; he may be induced to unfold the mysteries of the Orange fraternity ; and

you will doubtless be surprised to hear that no initiation oath is required , and that after all there is next to nothing of the secret society in that most powerful organisation . You will find little sympathy for Mr . Gladstone at Wakehurst , and you will stand aghast at the graphic picture of the woes of civil war in Ireland which have only been averted by Lord Salisbury ' s " final verdict . " Lord Arthur Hill will fig ht over again for your edification the

battle of the rival meetings of 1884 . The story of the great Orange gathering in Newry and the causes which led to it is well worth listening to , but the Comptroller of the Household takes a decidedly cheerful view as to the waning power of the Parnellite chiefs . " I am perfectly convinced , " he says frankly , " that thousands of Irishmen wish for no greater boon than to be released from the dictatorship of the Land Leaguers . The refusal to

pay rent in a majority of cases is only the outcome of tyranny and compulsion . Many tenants plead a non possiimus stoutly in public to satisfy Mr . Parnell and his friends , and afterwards pay their just debts secretly with fear and trembling , and many injunctions to secrecy . Instances of this are now of almost every-day occurence , and they speak for themselves . " Lord Arthur Hill is no mean authority on soldiering , for he was four years

in the 2 nd Life Guards , and still commands the 2 nd Middlesex Artillery Volunteer Corps . It may be added that he occupies an exalted position both as an English and Irish Freemason , and is a magistrate in three counties . His farm ( which is now cared for by his talented and energetic mother ) is a model for all Sussex agriculturists , and he devoutly hopes that

Parliament and politics will not prove entirely fatal to the prospects of partridge shooting at Wakehurst he has so much looked forward to . In any case he will do his duty loyally to Constitution , Crown , and country , and the almost irresistible attractions of his Sussex home will not , as long as the Session lasts , tempt him to a momentary absence from his post at Westminster . —The World .

French Freemasonry In England.

FRENCH FREEMASONRY IN ENGLAND .

Bro . C . L . Mason , of Leeds , has kindly sent mc verbatim extracts from a minute book of an old lodge in his town , respecting certain French prisoners of war , who were Masons , and who formed a lodge , apparently without any proper authority , about the year 1756 . The first regular lodge warranted in Leeds by the "Moderns" ( or

premier Grand Lodge ) was chartered 28 th March , 1754 , as No . 243 , originally at the Talhnt , in that year , but also at the " Parrot" ( later on ) , assembling at the latter house for some years . Bro . J . Ramsden Riley says of this lodge , "Yorkshire Lodges , " 1885 , p . 20 : " It was the first Leeds odge , and exerted a powerful influence in favour of our Order during its existence . "

The second lodge was granted on 8 th January , 17 G 1 , to assemble at the " Talbot , " and it is evidently this lodge which is relerred to in the address to the Grand Master of England , of the year 1761 . The particulars afforded , signed by the Master and two others , indicate that several lodges were held in this country by French brethren in an irregular manner , and possibly many English candidates were accepted and initiated . The

French Freemasonry In England.

singular fact is , that so little has transpired of such proceedings , and hence the following extracts will , I feel sure , prove most welcome , arid more than the writer will feel indebted to Bro . Mason , for the trouble he has _ laken in the matter . Should there be any other records throwing any additional light on the subject , I should like to see them , or have copies , and especially if there are any certificates of the period 1756-C 3 . W . J . HUGHAN .

Address of A . D . 1761 . To the Right Worshipful Grand Master , Grand Wardens , and all other brethren ! members of the Grand Lodge , held at the Devil's Tavern , Temple Bar , in London . Right Worshipful brethren , We , for ourselves , as well as for the rest of the members of the lodge , return you our humble and sincere thanks for the' favour you have bestowed upon us in granting us such a constitution as gives us the advantage of being afiliated to your lodge and

joined to so many others besides , and enables us to open a regular lodge , without any fear of being interrupted in the course of our meetings ; We in particular return you our hearty thanks for having nominated us officers of the said lod ge : We beg leave to assure you that we shall always use our utmost endeavours , not only to keep and maintain the good order and harmony that has from time immemorial reigned in the Fraternity , but also to promote in like good order and harmony our Royal Art as far as it shall lye in our power .

It is with those intentions , and to prove you our real zeal for the Craft , that we acquaint you , that some time since being informed of some French brethren ( that are here in this town amongst the prisoners of war ) having formed a lodge , some of us went to visit them in order to examine their manner of working ; and upon our inquiring of them what authority they had to work , or at least to make Masons , we observed they were not Constituted , as it appears by the following account , which they related to us , viz .:

—That some time before the War was declared there were some of our Brethren commanding French ships that were taken and carried to Halifax , in Nova Scotia ; being arrived there , they made themselves known to some of our Brethren that reside th * re , who introduced them to their Lodge , of which Bro . Charles Lawrens , Governor of that Place , was then Master . Sometime after , they were brought here in England , and Quartered at Basingstoke , where , finding themselves a competent Number , they formed a Lodge j making you at the same time their due submissions , which was about the

latter end of the year 1756 , and to which you answered , ihey said , that if they chosed to have their Lodge constituted , it would cost them such a sum ; but their not being fixed in England in any place , and even not knowg . how long their stay wou'd be in England , did not permit them to be at the expence of having their Lodge properly constituted ; however , they continued working and to make Masons . About Eighteen months after , Part of them were removed from Basingstoke and ordered to Peterstield : These finding themselves a sufficient Number , formed a Lodge there , and presented you , they said ,

their due submissions for the same , which was about the beginning of the year 175 S ; but they never had an answer to them . Notwithstanding that , thinking , they said , that by your silence you approved their work , they continued working and making Masons untill the middle of the year 1759 , that they were again changed of Quarters , as were also those remaining at Basingstoke , and ordered to different Places ^ viz ., some were sent to Darby , others to Pontefract , others here in this town [ Leeds ] , and others were exchanged and sent to France , those that are in this Place , being part of those that

remained at Basingstoke and part of those that were made at Petersfield , formed a Lodge about the latter end of the year 1759 , and have worked and made Masons untill the present time : —This is what they have told us upon our asking them if they were Constituted , and which we have thought proper and our duty to acquaint you with , that you may not be ignorant of what passes in this Place ; the more so , because we find that they don't work with good harmony amongst themselves , for we hear that it is four months since that the Master ot that french Lodge and his two Wardens fell out , upon which

they parted . The two Wardens with their Secretary formed a Lodge by themselves , which they held at the Turks head ; and the Master with the rest of the Members formed another at the Talbot . Our Bror . Bastide and other Brethren being acquainted with their Quarrel , used their utmost endeavours to reconcile them ; but to no purpose ; for neither of them wou'd come to any reassociation , but exclud one another from each of their Lodges ; so that nothing but animosity has reigned amongst them since ; making Masons in spite of one another in such a Manner , that Masonry suffers much by their proceedings . And we have proofs as those at the Turks Head have made

people Masons whom we wou'd not have for many good reasons . Therefore we beg you'll take the whole into consideration and put a stop to all these bad proceedings , which tend but to the dishonour of the Craft , or give us power to do it , with your directions how to act . The Lodge at the Parrot shou'd we think have informed you of this before now , and their not doing it , and observing besides that they are not very regular in the usual forms , make us suppose they never were regularly Constituted ; of which you may be better judges than we , who have never seen theit Constitution . Greeting- you by 3 times 3 , we sincerely remain , * Your most faithfull Brethren , H . IBBETSON , Master .

LEWIS BASTIDES . GEO . LAWMAN . 14 th January , 1 S 12 . Brother T . Trant has a Peculiar Pleasure in directing the Eye of the curious Bre thren to the Lodge held on the April , 1763 , and also more particularly to the transac

tions registered in the Archives of the same Date , in which it will be perceived that a compleat Reconciliation was brought about with the French Brethren complained of in last minutes and that previous to their quitting this Country at the Peace , they claim ( and it seems to be allosved them ) the merit of establishing this Lodge .- \ The names of six of them are recorded as above , for see 20 Leaves further on in this work .

Copy of minute . 17 G 3 , April 16 th . We , the members of this Lodge , Extraordinary , in ample form assembled , With our right Worshipful Bro . Holstead in the Chair , Bro . Geo . Scott , S . W ., and Bro . Benj . Glover , and have opened on Master Lodge in due form and gone trough the Master Work being visited by Brother Jno . Pickering , of ye Parrot Lodge , Brother Frederick Pain gave his thanks to our Royal Lodge in a very elegant writing . J out name of all the French Brothers Visitors , this was answered in no less elegant manner by Brother Thos . Wolrich , out name of al the Brethren of this Lodge . The French visitors are

Brother I ' redenck Pain . Brother Odon la Porte . Brother Francois dii Pree . Brother Francois Fournett . Brother Etiennc la Porte . Brother Dominique Mazet . _ After this was signed a certificate for the good behaviour of Brother Francois dii Pree , and Business being over the Lodge was clos'd in due Time .

* No date but written before minutes of 14 th January , 1761 . t This reference is not borne out by facts , and I fancy is an error . X 1 S 12 , April . 16 . Bro . Thos . Trant had great pleasure in finding the said writing and securing it in a book of Archives of the Lodge of date 1763 , Sic . ( It is not with the minute book now unfortunately ) .

EGLINTON MANUSCRIPT is a valuable MS . found in the E glinton Charter Chest , a copy of which appeared , as we understand , in the " Memorials of the Montgomeries , Earls of Eglinton . " This interesting work , containing this until then unknown MS ., was presented in 1861 by the late Earl of Eglinton and Winton to the Grai d Lodge of Scotland , through Bro . J . Whyte Melville , then Depute G . M . It has been

transcribed by Bro . D . Murray Lyon , and is to be found at page 12 of his valuable history of the Lodge of Edinburgh . It is signed by W . Schaw , " Maister of Work , Wardane of the Maisonis , " and is dated 28 th day of December , 1599 . It is , as Bro . D . Murray Lyon says , one of the few existing Scottish Masonic documents of the 16 th century , and is alike interesting and important to the Masonic student . It deals with the regulations of Operative Masonry . — Kenning ' s Cyclopedia of Freemasonry .