Great Priory Of England And Wales.

Sir Knig ht Lieut .-Colonel G . Haldane ... Sub-Marshal . „ The Rev . A . J . Hayman Cummings Almoner and Chaplain . „ Major George Lambert ... ... Warden of Regalia . ,. T . E . Le Feuvre ... .,. Herald .

,, J . W . Monckman ,,, .,, Std . Br . ( Beauceant ) . „ Robert Berridge ... ... Std . Br . ( Vexillum Belli ) . „ E . B . Bright ... ... ... G . Prior's Banner Br . „ Dr . T . B . Purchas , R . N . ... Aide-de-Camp . W . G . Lemon ... ... Aide-de-Camo .

„ Edwin M . Lott , Mus . Doc . ... Chamberlain . „ H . L . Hollingworth ... ... Captain of Guards . „ Pelly Hooper ... ... Captain of Guards . „ Major Mortimer Hancock ... Sword Bearer . „ W . Ganz ... ... ... Organist .

E . Sir Knight Ralph Clutton was unanimously re-elected Treasurer . The members of the Council appointed by the Great Priory were the same as those named last year , viz ., S . Rawson , Lieut .-Col . Somerville Burney , Lieut .-Col . G . Haldane , and Dr . Ralph Gooding . There was a slight change in the elected members of the Council , the names being , H . C . Burt , T . W . Coffin , Charles Goolden , C A . Newnham , and Reginald Young . The Members elected on the Grand Master ' s Council and Court of

Appeal continue as before , viz ., Col . Shadwell Clerke , Capt . N . G . Philips , and Capt . C . R . N . Beswicke-Royds . At the conclusion of the business of the Great Priory , a Priory of Malta , under the banner of the Oxford and Cambridge University Preceptory was held , and eight Knights Templar vvere installed Knights of Malta . A considerable number of members afterwards dined together under the genial presidency of Colonel Adair .

Early Mention Of "Deacons" In The Athol Grand Lodge Register.

EARLY MENTION OF " DEACONS" IN THE ATHOL GRAND LODGE REGISTER .

The case cited by Bro . John Lane , in his interesting "Notes on the Minute Book ol an early Athol Lodge , " in the Freemason of the 7 th instant , of " Deacons" being included among the officers of an Athol Lodge , though undoubtedly earlier than any I have seen or read of , is by no means unusual . At least , I judge so from the fact that the roll of members of the Athol organisation contained in the

newly-discovered Register of the Athols includes three instances in which those officers are specified . The first is that of Lodge No . 34 , constituted 18 th April , 1734 . Here Michl . Thorpe is entered as Master , and then immediately following him are Robt . Fisher and Jas . Murray , severally described as "S . D . " and "J . D . " Here , however , I imagine the transcriber has written "S . D . " and "J . D . " for "S . W . " and "I . W . "

respectively . The second instance is furnished by the entries under Lodge No . 37 , constituted 19 th August , 1754 . These are as follow , viz .: VVm Cowen , Mastr . ; VVm . Osborne , S . VV . ; Jno . Nelson , J . W . ; Chas . Buss , S . D . ; Leonard Holiday , J . D . ; Wm . Child , Sec ; Thos . Field , Membr . ; Richd . Houlditch , Membr . The third and last is that of Lodge No . 36 , constituted 14 th August , 1754 , but registered after No . 37 . These are Jno .

McCormick , Mastr . ; Fenwick Hederington , S . W . ; Jno . Buckley , J . W . ; Wm . Healy , S . D . ; Jas . Scolefield , J . D . ; Saml . Galbraith , Mr . 3 . ; Lau . Dermott , G . S . ; Richard Gollins , Membr . ; Robt . Whitehall , Membr . I mentioned both these cases of Nos . 37 and 36 in the last of my series of Papers on "The Early Organisation of the'Ancients , '" on the 7 th August ,

1886 , but the question of early " Deacons" formed no part of the limited task I had then set myself . However , though nearly a year later as regards date than the Lodge No . 20 cited by Bro . Lane , they are to this extent of greater importance , as they make it clear that Deacons vvere recognised thus early by the Athol Grand Lodge authorities as being amongst the regular officers of a lodge .

I fully agree with Bro . Lane when he says , apropos of "Deacons " as lodge officers , " One may , I think , reasonably and fairly infer that the Antient Masons copied this practice from Ireland . " It is no more than a natural inference that Dermott , the organiser of the " Ancients , " who was originally an Irish Mason , should have derived most of his ideas as tc lodge constitution and ritual from Ireland . But there is something more than opinion and inference to justify this view . The Athol G . Committee

Minutes of 1752 contain direct evidence that the laws for the government of subordinate lodges vvere taken from Ireland , and the ceremony of installation as well . In the minutes of meeting held at the Griffin , Holborn , on the ist April , 1752 , Bro . Christopher Byrne , Master of No . 6 , in the chair , it is recorded that " The copy of the Bye-laws for private lodges , as written by the late G . Secretary , J . Morgan , vvas read and compared with Bro . Lau . Dermott ' s copy of the Bye-Laws of his former lodge , No . 26 , in the city of Dublin , and the latter being deemed the most correct , it was

" Unanimously resolved that the most correct copy should be received and acknowledged as the only Bye-Laws for private lod ges in future . And public thanks given to Bros . Philip McLaughlin and J . Morgan for their good intentions and trouble in drawing up the former Bye-laws . " At the meeting held at the Temple , Shire Lane , Temple Bar , on St . John ' s _ Day , 24 th June , 1752 , Bro . John Morris , Master of No . 9 , in the chair , it is recorded— " Having no Grand Master nor Grand Warden to

install the Grand Secretary "—L . Dermott—" was Reinstall'd according to the Ancient Custom and manner of installing Grand Secretaries . And having gone through the Ceremony he was proclaimed and saluted accordingly . After which he repeated the whole Ceremony of Instaling Grand & c . in the manner which he had learn'd from Brolher Edward Spratt , Esq - > the celebrated Grand Secretary of Ireland . The long Recital of this Solemn Ceremony gave great satisfaction to the audience , many of which who never had an Opportunity of hearing the like before . "

At the meeting at the Temple , Shire Lane , on the 2 nd September , 1752 , Brother George Hebden , W . iVI . No . 4 , in the chair , it was " Resolved that this Grand Committee shall be formed immediately info a Working Lodge ol Master Masons in order to hear a Lecture from the Grand Secretary , Laurence Dermott . . The Lodge was Open'd in Ancient form of Grand Lodge , and every part of Real Freemasonry was traced and explained : except the Royal Arch .

" The Lecture ended , and the Lodge vvas closed with the most agreeable and harmonious humour . " The first and second of the foregoing extracts show ( 1 ) that the Byelaws of the private " Ancient" lodges were derived from those of Dermott ' s

Early Mention Of "Deacons" In The Athol Grand Lodge Register.

Mother Lodge—No . 26 , of Dublin ; ( 2 ) that the ceremony of installing " Grand & c . " was derived from Dermott ' s knowledge acquired from Edward Spratt , Grand Secretary of Ireland . Nor do I see any just cause or impediment why we may not assume that the working of " every part of Real Freemasonry , " as traced and explained at the meeting recorded in the last extract , was derived from the same Irish source .

As regards the mention among the visitors to Lodge No . 20 of " L . Dermott , G . S . 1 , " and the inference Bro . Lane would seem to derive from this description , that , " as these entries take the Lodge ( No . 1 )"—by which I understand him to mean Grand Master ' s Lodge , No . 1 , warranted 13 th August , 1759—" a considerable period further back than has just been mentioned , " this No . 1 was constituted some six years before it was

warranted , it seems to me the No . 1 noted in these entries is either the Grand Committee or Grand Lodge , according as the said entries were made before or after the installation , in December , 1753 , of Robert Turner as G . Master . It is , I believe , Bro . Gould's contention that first the G . C . and then the G . L . was the Ancient No . 1 , until the warrant and proclamation of Grand Master ' s , No . 1 , in 1759 , and these entries do not appear to disturb this

view . I have gone carefully through the Athol Grand Lodge minutes for these years , and in the few cases in vvhich " No . 1 " is ascribed to a brother , it is to a Grand Officer of the year or a Past Grand Master ; nor , after Grand Master ' s Lodge , No . 1 , was " proclaimed and took the first seat accordingly , " do I find that any of the brethren previously described as "No . 1 " retain the description . G . BLIZARD ABBOTT .

A Valuable Work.

A VALUABLE WORK .

The Yorkshire Lodges . —A Century of Yorkshire Freemasonry , by J . Ramsden Riley , Bradford ( Historian of 387 ) , P . Prov . Grand D . C ., West Yorkshire . Leeds and London , T . C . Jack . Brother Riley has done for Yorkshire what other competent brethren should do for the remaining provinces in England whose annals are still

unpublished . I trust there are many vvho will be inclined to follow his excellent example and thus take part in the production of similar handsome volumes for the intormation of the tens of thousands of the " mystic tie , " who , without such aids , will continue in ignorance of the histories of their own local lodges and Provincial Grand Lodges .

Bro . Riley has been most industriously accumulating facts for many years past relative to the origin and progress of the Craft in the third largest province in the country , and has grudged neither time nor expense in the search after authentic details of all and every kind whatsoever , that could possibly be of interest and value with respect to such a praiseworthy object . Nor has his labours been restricted to West Yorkhire , for the indefatigable historian of the " Airedale " Lodge considerately included the

North and East Ridings of the county within the scope of his researches , thereby completing a history of all the lodges now or previously working in the two provinces into which the large county of Yorkshire is divided . Hence , while vastly adding to the labour of the compilation , - the result is most gratifying and comprehensive in character , as the whole of the lodges from 1729 to the present time are now included in the survey , and the work has been made a thorough County Masonic History .

Evidence is to be found on every page of Bro . Riley ' s conscientious endeavours to exhibit as fully as possible the main features in the eventful careers of nearly one hundred and fifty lodges , warranted from time to time , either by the Grand Lodge of England—the premier of its kind in the world—or its successful rival , the Grand Lodge of the " Atholl Masons , " and subsequently by the present United Grand Lodge of England .

So interesting are the numerous details , especially those affecting the old lodges , whose centennials and sesqui-centennials have been celebrated of late years , and so vivid are the sketches presented of Masonic life in the olden time , that I feel assured the work cannot but prove to be almost as acceptable and entertaining to students of the Craft generally , the " wide , wide , world " over , as to members of the Yorkshire lodges in particular .

Then again , the extinct " Grand Lodge of all England " so long held at York , comes in for its share of attention and description , the transactions of that ancient and honourable Atelier , being again and again noticed as the history is unfolded and the facts made known . The simple and handy system adopted by Bro . Riley enables him to give all the lodges according to the years of their formation , so that the

tables admit of easy reference , even when the years of constitution are not known by those who consult its pages . Should the subject be quite new , or not familiar to readers , these well-arranged lists ( marshalled according to seniority on the roll , or placed so as to exhibit the numerous numerical alterations from 1 740 to 1863 ) , will be found equally useful for consultation and recognition , as for more critical purposes .

In a short notice such as this , vvhich is simply intended as a friendly acknowledgment of the valuable services of one of my esteemed confreres , one must refrain from undue particularisation of the many excellent features in the fine volume , but it is hoped that sufficient has been said to indicate

the importance of Bro . Riley ' s researches , which have culminated in the publication of his " Yorkshire Lodges ; " and that its circulation will be such as to encourage the spirited Publisher , who has done his best to make the work look attractive , typographically and artistically . In this he has succeeded to such an extent as to put most Masonic volumes in the shade in

such respects . The five plates which adorn the work , are not only most artistic in character , but are of considerable value , containing as they do the Arms ol the Stone Masons and the several Grand Lodges of England , besides a number of curious Seals of various Lodges and Grand Bodies from early York

last century , particularly those relating to Masonic Organisations in - shire . Such a collection has never been produced before , and hence the numerous examples of Masonic devices for Seals , & c , cannot fail to pro ye of considerable utility to members of Lodges which are thus so cap itally represented in the Engravings .

I warmly support Bro . Riley ' s advocacy of Lodge histories from minutebooks , as also most strongly his advice that such labour should be accomplished whilst the materials are to be obtained , for past experience prove that accidents may at any time deprive us of the precious orig inal record . l

The introduction ( which was written by me and gratefully accepted by Author ) , will be found useful in relation to the extinct Grand Lodge ot « England , held last century in the city of York , and will likewise serve illustrate the esteem in which Bro . Riley is held by the undersi gned , W . J . HUGHAN .