Notable Lodge Meetings.

visitors to the Gresham Lodge must have noted with pleasure the errand appearance of this noble apartment , with its array of portraits and armour , flags and banners , and so rich in its association with many a monarch and statesman of former days , and must have left it with a feeling almost akin to envy that the

lodges they belonged to were not located in similarly attractive quarters . But the reader will naturally ask—How is it the Gresham Lodge has secured the unusual privilege of meeting in this Hall ? Well , a reference to the short but interesting history of this

lodge by Bro . W . A . Gompertz , P . M ., Secretary , enables us to answer this question offhand . The lodge was consecrated , and during the first half of its existence , held its meetings at the well known hostelry of The Four Swans , Waltham Cross , the proprietor of which showed them every kindness and attention in

his power . But the Gresham is a summer lodge , and though everything was done to ensure its complete privacy , it was not in the power of mortal landlord to prevent the pleasure parties and excursionists who were continually passing on their way to or from Broxbourne and the Rye House from giving free vent to

their somewhat boisterous merriment . This often caused serious interruption to the work of the lodge , and on one occasion , as Bro . Gompertz tells us , during the most solemn portion of the Third Degree , a lively German band struck up "directly under the window of our lodge room , " the by no means solemn strains

of " When Johnny comes marching home again , hurrah . " Under these difficult circumstances , the late BrQ . the Rev . C . Erskine Mayo , who was trustee of the property , and who had been initiated in the lodge some time previously— -in September , 18 73—was consulted as to whether or not he would allow the lodore to

hold its meetings in the banqueting hall of Cheshunt Great House , and to this request that lamented brother , with a readiness which did him infinite honour , and which we are confident will be remembered with gratitude by the lodge while it retains its place on the roll of our lodges , at once acceded , and on the 9 th

October , 18 75 , the Gresham held its first meeting in the Flail , under the presidency of the late Bro . Allan C . Wylie , W . M ., by whom a resolution of thanks to Bro . Mayo , for his unexampled kindness , was proposed , and it is needless to say passed by general acclamation . At a subsequent meeting , Bro . Mayo

introduced his youthful relatives , for whom he held the property in trust , at the banquet , so "that they might , in time to come , remember and respect his wishes regarding our accommodation . " Since then , the lodge has continued to meet in this historical mansion , and though Bro . Mayo is dead , his wishes have been respected , and the lodge still meets in Cheshunt Great House .

There is but little to add to this account , for the material portions of which we are indebted to the labours of Bro . F . D . R . Copestick , P . M . and Treasurer , and author of the " History of Cheshunt Great House , " and Bro . W . A . Gompertz , P . M . and Secretary , and author of the " History of the Gresham Lodge ,

No . 86 9 . " Those who have enjoyed the privilege of visiting the lod ge , especially on the day which is reserved for the entertainment of " The Ladies , " know well how great is the pleasure of meeting in so sequestered a place " in the midst of fields and

pastures , far from the rush of life and discordant sounds of revelry and strife , " and how admirable are the arrangements made by the members for the entertainment of their guests ; and we can only express the hope that the good fortune which has befallen the lodge during the past 14 years may be long continued .

A Curious Certificate.

A CURIOUS CERTIFICATE .

My good friend , M . W . Bro . John C . Smith , Grand Master of Illinois , has sent me a copy of a curious Certificate of the year j 7 " 6 , beautifully written on parchment , and granted by a Craft Lod ge , held at Middletown , State of Connecticut , being evidently a " Demit" to Bro . " Charles Magill , " or " McGill . " Hie following is a transcript of the minutes of his reception .

MINUTES OI .- 1786 . p At a lod ge of Free Masons held at Bro Richard Hamlins , March is" ^ 786 Carles McGill was made a mason . 0 ft a lod ge of Free Masons held at Bro . Richard Hamlins March 23 d 57 86 upon ° pecial ocasion . Present Asher Miller M . R . Stephen Ranney Umberton Cooper S . W . Robert Warner P . M . Ebenezer Sage j . W . Edward Miller 1 notnpson Phillips Treas Stephen Clay Wm . joyce Sec p Tem Samuel Willis Wm Stowe S . D . Wm Douglas \ u Cotton P - - PeIe S Sanford Wm Redfish P . M . Joseph King ^ athaniel Otis Jacob Hubbard ^ 'chard Hamlin Wm Parsons

w . Charles M . Gill b (_ : „ J " Charles M . Gill was raised to a fellow craft this fellow craft Lodge of BroV ^ -n Master Masons Lodge on the special ! imergency of the request w hen R rl Knowin £ he is bound to sea the Master Masons Lodge is opened , ro Charles McGill was raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason . lzur Andrus Sec . Wm J oyce Sec P . Tem

A Curious Certificate.

COPY OF CERTIFICATE , 1786 . AND the DARKNESS Comprehended it not . /^ - \ In the East a place of Li ght , where reign Silence & Peace . / 4 . \ We the Master Wardens ' and Secretary of the wor' i ty shipful Lodge , of free and accepted Masons held at Middletown in

\ J the State of Connecticut by proper Authority , do hereb y declare V ____/ certify and attest to all men enlightened and Spread upon thc face ; " of the Earth that the Bearer hereof , our trusty & well beloved 3 Brother Charles MaGill of Middletown hath been received

$ > an entered apprentice , passed a fellow Craft & after a short space § raised to the Sublime degree of a Master Mason : & he may law-« fully & safely without any Dimurr be admitted into & accepted of Tj as such by any Society to whom these Presents shall come around J 3 ye Globe .

Asher Miller i Master , Given under our Hands and ( the Seal of St . Johns Lodge ? in said Middleton this 7 Day of Lamberton Cooper ) S . Warden , April AD 1786 & of Masonry ( 57 86 and have caused our Brother r to sign his Name in ye Margin . Ebert Sage ) J . Warden . Elizur Andrus , Secy .

M . W . Bro . Smith tells me the ori ginal certificate ( in possession of the great grandson of Captain Magill , now of Chicago ) is in an excellent state of preservation , every word beino- leo-ible excepting the name of the Secretary , Bro . Elizur Andrus . The extraordinary feature of the document is ( or was , as the

Mark has disappeared ) that at the north-west corner Mao-ill ' s Masonic Mark was attached . There still remains the " gold " leaf circle , " with another of three-quarter inch inside , the two

enclosing at the upper part a full-rigged Brig , and below is the word ' Navigation . ' At the South , the Brother ' s name is given . Within the two circles are the letters H . T ., W . S ., S . T ., K . S ., two of each being at the four cardinal points of the compass .

ft is possible that Magill was advanced as a Mark Master Mason later on , as the Three Degrees were concluded on March 23 , 1786 , whereas the certificate is dated 7 th April following I

do ' not think at that period any lodges in America conferred the Mark Degree with the " Third , " but there were Mark lodges working separately , and the ceremony was likewise given as preliminary to the Royal Arch .

It seems to me , however , likely that the " Mark " was at that time worked as a " side Degree " at Middletown , and may thus have been the concluding ceremony of the evening ' s proceedino-s . It is the first of the kind I have met with . W . J . HUGHAN .

Provincial Grand Lodge Of Cheshire.

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF CHESHIRE .

On Wednesday , the 18 th instant , the annual assembly of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cheshire was held at H yde . The business was transacted at the Mechanics' Institute . The Provincial Grand Lodge was opened , and the roll of lodges called , every lodge responding with the exception of " The Four Cardinal Virtues'' ( Crewe ) , some 400 brethren being present . The Provincial Grand Officers present were as follows : Bros . Lord Egerton of Tatton , P . G . M .

Horatio Lloyd , D . P . G . M . ; Sheldon , P . S . G . W . ; Francis Preston , P . J . G . W . ; Richard Hodgson , P . G . C . ; William Coleman Martin , P . G . C . ; Charles Booth ' P . G . S . D . ; W . H . Maxfield , P . G . O . ; J . Humphreys , W . M ., P . P . G . S . ; Edward Rush , J . W ., P . P . G . S . ; John- Beresford , P . P . S . G . D . ; Thomas Moore , P . P . G . S . B . ; Simpson Booth ; J . G . P . ; Enos Andrew , P . P . G . O . ; James Henry Turner P . M ., P . G . S . ; E . G . Simpson , P . M ., P . P . J . G . D . ; G . Hammond Danby , Pp ' S . G . D . ; Samuel Jones , P . P . J . G . D . ; John Lee , P . P . G . S . ; James Gamlin , P . M . P . P . G . S . ; J . Sheriff Roberts , P . P . G . S . ; John Leigh , P . P . G . S . ; S . W . Wilkinson ' P . P . S . G . D . ; Thomas Bowers , P . P . A . G . D . C ; Peter Wadsworth , P . P . G . Treas . ; Jas ' Needham , P . S . G . D . ; T . Milton , P . P . G . Std . Br . ; James Salmon , P . P . S . G . D . ; Frederick Stevenson , P . P . G . S . B . ; Samuel Thompson , P . P . G . P . ; L . Bentley ' , P . P . G . R . ; Thomas Pattinson , P . G . R . ; Robert Henry Swindlehurst , P . P G S B ¦ Joseph Slack , P . P . S . G . D . ; Thomas Brookes , P . P . A . G . D . C ; Alfred Ingham ' P . G . S . ; H . Miller , P . P . G . O . ; Geo . Moss , P . P . G . S . B . ; H . Holbrook , P . P . G . s ' of W . ; J . K . Green , P . P . G . S . ; Wm . Harrison , P . P . S . G . D . ; James Cookson , P . G . S . East Lancashire ; J . Baines , P . G . S . B . ; W . Kenworthy , P . D . G . D . C . ; w ' Barker , P . A . G . P . ; J . Clayton , P . P . S . G . D . ; G . R . Brady , P . P . G . S . B . ; J . W Newell Tanner , P . P . G . C ; J . Haynes Bellyse , P . P . J . G . W . ; R . G . WalkerP . G

, S . B . ; J . Coxhill , P . M ., P . A . G . D . C . ; W . Booth , P . P . G . D . C . ; H . Jackson , P . P G . P . ; Alan de Tatton Egerton , P . P . S . G . W . ; J . E . Steward , P . P . J . G . D . ; J . G . Smith , P . P . J . G . W . East Lancashire ; J . Hamilton , P . P . G . S . of W . ; J . MacLaren , P . P . S . G . W . East Lancashire ; and J . Wakefield , P . P . G . S . The lodges in the district were represented as follows : Bros . J . Foden , S . W ., J . Davenport , Stone , P . M ., R . Hodgson , P . G . C , andH . Gilbody , P . M ., of 1 045 ! - Morgan , W . M ., G . Bowen , '

S . W ., A . Ingham , P . G . S ., J . W ., A . T . Pearce , P . M ., Sec , E . G . Simpson , I . P . M ., P . P . J . G . D ., W . Forster , Org ., W . Morris , W . Moody , and J . Crawshaw , Stewards ; J . W . Lowe , and J . J . Rourke , of 2144 ; E . G . Parker , P . M ., P . P . G . P ., W . H . Pugh , W . M ., T . W . Millar , Stwd ., G . J . Plimmer , G . G . Kertin , William Skilling ' William Hooper , P . M ., William Bradford , P . M ., Thomas Hancock , John Lewis , P . M ., and James Taylor , of 1565 ; Lance Bentley , P . M .,-P . G . R ., J . H . Turner ,

P . M ., P . G . S ., E . G . Parker , P . M ., D . of C , W . C . Martin , Chap ., J . T . Appleb y , S . W ., J . Beswick , J . D ., G . W . Bebbington , Org ., J . Pearson , George Wildgoose , and J . H . Bebbington , of 941 ; Miller , P . M ., P . P . G . Org ., George Collier , P . M ., M . Longridge , P . M ., and A . T . Pearce , P . M ., of 1357 ; John Bell , P . M . and Sec , J . Lee Newton , W . H . Harrison , S . D ., Wm . Gleave , I . P . M ., Henry Cropley ,

Joseph Fox , P . M ., J . A . Jones , John F . Lomas , Stwd ., Charles Clarkson , W . M ., George Gaskill , S . VV ., James Stafford , J . W . Elderkin , J . W ., and George F . Bowdon , P . M ., of 104 ; John Smith , W . M ., Christopher Atkinson , P . M ., Wm . Walmsley , J . O . Wild , J . W ., James A . Penny , Wm . Johnson , Henry Newton , I . G ., and Wm . Morrison , S . W ., of 323 ; and G . S . Smith , P . M . 1134 .

Letters of apology from Prov . Grand Officers vvere read , including one from Bro . Wildgoose , who was absent in America . An animated discussion took place upon the election of Provincial Grand Treasurer . Bros . James Hepworth and Thomas E . Mason were proposed , and supported , but , on a vote being taken , Bro . Mason was elected by a considerable majority .