Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.

Bro . CHETWODE CRAWLEY on the same subject , in which he includes the marriage licence , dated 7 th April , 1713 , of RICHARD ALDWORTH and ELIZABETH ST . LEGER , and in which , as well . -is in the comments that were read for him at the conclusion of

Bro . CONDER ' S Paper ,, our worthy brother shows that the lodges 44 , 95 , 150 , which have been usually connected with Miss ST . LEGER ' S initiation , could not have had anything to do with it . To appreciate the full merit of Bro . CONDER ' s and Bro .

CRAWLEY ' S work , the reader must carefully study their contributions to these Transactions . A brief sketch of "Freemasonry in Portugal" by Bro . G . W . SPETH and a paper by Bro . W . F . LAMONBY , entitled " Some Notes on Old Cumberland

Lodges , " arc also to be commended . The members of Lodge No . 119 in particular will be delighted with the additional information contained in the latter about their lodge . There is also a sketch given by Bro . J . RAMSDEN RILEY of his

workwhich has since been published by the Quatuor Coronati Lodgeon " English Masonic Certificates , " but as we had the pleasure of reviewing it last week , we need not offer any further remarks on it . Bro . W . J . HUGHAN contributes an account of " The

' Lambton ' Lodge Medal , " and then follow the proceedings of the meeting in March , when the Note by Bro . CRAWLEY on the Lady Freemason , in which her marriage licence is given , and to which we have already referred , were read . Bros . SpETH

and GOULD figure conspicuously among the writers in the section devoted to " Notes and Queries , " the former being responsible for the contributions relating to " Captain Herbert Vaughan and Freemasonry , " and the " Migration of Myths , " while the latter

furnishes a most interesting Note about " Robert Samber — author of the " Preface to Long Livers . " Bro . GOULD has likewise done some excellent work in the Reviews department—Bro . C . LETCH MASON ' " History of the Philanthropic Lodge

No . 304 , Leeds , " Bro . HOPE ' S " History of St . John the Baptist Lodge , No . 39 , Exeter , " Bro . DIXON ' S " History of Freemasonry in Lincolnshire , " and Bro . W . F . BUNTING ' S " History of St . John's Lodge , F . and A . M ., of St . John , New Brunswick ,

1784-18 94 , " being all of them favourably—and very justly so—commented upon by him , while Bro . EDW . MACBEAN sends Notices of the Histories of the Menturia Lodge , No . 418 , by Bro . GREATBATCH , St . John the Baptist Lodge , No . 39 , by Bro . HOPE , and

LONGMAN ' S Lodge of Fortitude , No . 281 , together with a full account of " The Scottish Master Mason ' s Handbook , " by Bro . F . J . W . CROWE . Bro . W . J . HUGHAN deals with "The Rosiecross , " being the paper read before the West of Scotland College of the

Societas Rosicruciana in Scotia , Vol . 2 , Part i . The remaining paper to which we are desirous of calling attention was read at the March meeting by Bro . F . J . W . CROWE , the subject being " Freemasonry in Brixham , Devon , 1781—1840 . " Bro . CROWE

has been so fortunate as to gain access to the old minute books of Lodge " True Love and Unity , No . 248 , " held in that town , and , having gone through them most carefully and critically , has written what is almost tantamount to a history of the lodge . At

all events , with a little embellishment here and there and some filling out in oilier places , what he has compiled might without any great difficulty be converted into a history . However , what he has done in the way of noting the leading events in the career

of the lodge , its by-laws , the conduct of its members , & c , forms , as it is , a most interesting narrative . There appear to have been some few matters which puzzled the writer , such as the elasticity of the fees paid in the early days of the lodge for different

Degrees with or without membership ; the closing of the lodge and its being afterwards re-opened for the purpose of conferring a Degree upon some candidate ; and other matters . In the majority of these cases we should be inclined to attribute the

doubts and difficulties he has experienced lo the imperfections of the scribe who wrote the minutes , for it is clear , from several oS the extracts he gives , that the brethren of this lodge were not-overburdened with a knowledge of their mother tongue ,

and it is reasonable to suppose that they knew as little of the art of computation as of grammar and spelling . There is indeed one extract—from the minutes of the 20 th

November , 17 88—which has puzzled not only Bro . CROWE but likewise the brethren who were present when his compilation was read . We refer to the passage in the last paragraph on page 5 8—" A lodge held to male a play , & c . Present Bro . PARKINSON ,

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.

MR . " As regards the meaning of " to mak a play , " Bro . SPETH ' suggestion that it had reference to the " bespeaking a play " at the theatre—which was by no means an unusual occurrence in former days—seems reasonable ; but the interpretation of the

mysterious letters " MR" appended to Bro . PARKINSON ' S name does not appear to us to offer any very serious difficulty . Bro . CROWE himself suggests " Master of the Revels " as an interpretation , while Bro . CONDER in his letter thinks " Master o {

the Revels" smacks rather of the Elizabethan age than of that of George III ., and adds " However , it is an interesting point and will well repay investigation . " To us the letters appear as if they merely designated the office held by Bro . PARKINSON ,

who was the Master at the first meeting on the 17 th October , 17 81 , under the dispensation by the Prov . Grand Master , and at the constitution of the lodge by Bro . Poi . UXFEN on the 20 th May , 1782 , and may very easily have been from time to time re-elected

to office during a long term of years . Or , he may have quitted the chair for a time and been re-elected so as to have been Master at the date of this meeting . At all events we suggest that "MR . " stands for "Master" and nothing else , so that Bro .

PARKINSON had the meeting all to himself , and proposed , seconded , and unanimously adopted or rejected whatever resolutions were submitted to the meeting about " making a play . " We

are surprised that so simple a suggestion did not occur to the writer of the Article or those who heard it read . There is also one remark in Bro . SPETH ' S comments on Bro . CROWE ' S Notes of

this Lodge at Brixham , to which we cannot help taking exception . As regards the office of Past Master , Bro . SPETH is reported as having reminded his audience that " no such rank existed in

' Modern ' lodges , " and that it was " the ' Ancients who invented the Installation Ceremony . " If Bro . SPETH will refer to the minutes of the Grand Committee of the " Ancients " under date

24 th June , 1752 , he will hnd that DERMOTT , after he had been re-installed on that day as Grand Secretary , " repeated the whole ceremony of Instaling Grand , & c , in the manner which he had learn'd from Brother EDWRD SPRATT , Esq ., the celebrated

Grand Secretary of Ireland . " We would suggest likewise a reference to Bro . CRAWLEY ' S " Caementaria Hibernica , " and to other and later "Ancient" minutes , in which the installation

ceremony is referred to at some length . With this remark we take leave of this Part I . of Vol . VIII . of the Quatuor Coronati Transactions . It is a valuable addition to the best class of

Masonic literature , and like all its preceding volumes , is a credit to the lodge and the editor ( Bro . SPETH ) , under whose auspices it has been published .

Provincial Grand Lodge Of West Lancashire.

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF WEST LANCASHIRE .

By command of Bro . the Right Hon . the Earl of Lathom , G . C . B ., Pro G . M . of England , Prov . G . M . of West Lancashire , the annual meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge of West Lancashire was held on the 19 th inst . at the Town Hall , Bootle , where there was an attendance of upwards of 1000 brethren from all parts of the extensive division , which now comprises more than 100 lodges .

Amongst those present were— Bros . Lord Skelmersdale , P . S . G . W . ; R . G . Bradley , P . P . D . G . D . C . ; J . Cunliffe , P . G . S . j W . Bowdon , P . P . G . S . B . j R . White , P . G . D . C ; J . Piatt , P . P . G . D .

Thomas Vernon , P . G . S . ; T . Forrester , P . G . Std . Br . England ; T . J . Jarman , P . D . G . D . C ; J . J . Lambert , P . P . G . R . ; Dr . J . D . Crawford , P . G . Treas . ; J . D . Murray , P . G . Treas . ; J . B . Mackenzie , P . P . G . D . ; H . Gardner , P . P . G . S . B . ; j . Utting , P . P . S . G . D . ; J . W . Burgess , P . P . G . D . ; J . Wells , P . P . G . D . C ; \ - Buxton , P . P . G . R . ; T . A . Witney , P . P . D . G . R . ; J . Tarbuck , P . G . S . B . ; G . SWillingsP . P . J . G . D . ; Rev . W . H . BaynesP . P . G . C . ; W . PiattP . P . G . f . ; W .

, , , Savage , P . P . G . T . ; Squire Chapman , P . P . S . G . D . ; W . Dwerryhouse , P . P . S . G . D . ; M . Alexander ; P . D . G . S . B . ; L . Peake , P . A . G . D . C ; J . Newell , P . P . S . G . W . ; R . Robertson , P . G . R . ; J . M'Carthy , P . D . G . R . ; J . J . Ramsay , P . P . G . P . ; J-J . " Tickle , P . P . G . S . B . ; C Fothergill , P . P . G . D . ; G . W . Phillips , P . P . G . O . ; JW . M'Tear , P . P . G . D . C . ; E . George , P . P . G . D . C ; C . Arden , P . G . S . B . ; »• Armitage , P . P . G . R . ; Rev . T . Barton Spencer , P . G . C . England and P . P . G . C Barrotf

A . Kirkpatrick , P . P . G . S . B . ; R . Warriner , P . P . G . S . of W . ; J . H . , P . P . G . D . ; T . H . W . Walker , P . P . G . T . ; J . Macnab , P . P . J . G . W . ; J- Hatc "' P . J . G . D . ; Eli Brooks , P . P . J . G . D . ; W . B . Ackerley , P . P . G . W . ; D . W . Finney , P . P . G . D . C . ; G . A . Harradon , P . P . G . T . ; T . Chesworth , P . P . G . D . C . Cheshire , J . T . Callow , P . P . G . T . ; Walter Simpson , P . P . S . G . W . ; Joseph Bell , P . 1 " , ' £ " . T . Salter , P . P . G . D . ; J . C . Robinson , P . P . A . G . D . C ; J . P . ttaway , P . F . D . G . ^" . ' J . L . Tunstall , P . P . G . P . ; J . Hocken , P . P . D . G . D . C ; D . Jackson , P . P . G . S- "" ' J . Hayes , P . P . G . S . B . ; and R . H . Williams , P . P . G . S . B . ' ,

Al-. — . i __ / - J nai J 11 .- . •...- •1 /• 1 •»<» - ,,. „^ ont aflO After the Grand Officers and Provincial Grand Officers , Present * Past , had entered the hall in procession , the Provincial Grand Lodge « opened , the P . G . Master being saluted according to ancient form . , ^ The roll of Prov . Grand Officers and lodges in the province was reafl J the P . G . Secretary , Bro . W . GOODACRE , P . G . S . B ., every lodge in