Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGE FREEMASONRY IN ENGLAND 205 REVIEWSThe History and Development of Gilds , & c .... 205 THE LEGEND OF J OSHUA 206 UNITED GRAND LODGE ' 207 THE

CRAFTMetropolitan 207 Middlesex 207 Provincial 207 & 208 Foreign 20 S ROYAL ARCHMetropolitan 208 ORDERS OF CHIVALRY

Red Cross of Rome and Constantine 208 K . H . S 208 ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE 20 S PROVINCE OF DEVON 208 SCOTLANDCentenary of the Royal Arch Lodge , 122 ... 20 9 St . Andrew ' s Royal Arch Chapter , No . 69 ... 209

Funeral of Bro . R . Walker 209 BIRTHS , MARRIAGES AND DEATHS ' 210 ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 210 POSTPONEMENT OF THE GRAND FESTIVAL ... 210 MULTUM IN PARVO 211 ROSICRUCIAN SOCIETY OF ENGLAND 211 ORIGINAL

CORRESPONDENCELodge St . John , Melrose ... ... ... 212 Labour v . Refreshment in the Lodge 212 A Masonic Relic ... ... ... ... ... 212 A Query ... ... ... ... ... ... 212 Affiliation 212

The Freemasons'Life Boat ... ... ... 212 Solomon ' s Temple ... ... ... ... 212 J OTTINGS FROM MASONIC J OURNALS 213 PHOTOGRAPHY AND FREEMASONRY 213 MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK 213

Freemasonry In England.

FREEMASONRY in ENGLAND .

BY THE SON OF SALATHIEL . However great may be thc diversity of opinion as to the true origin of Freemasonry , few writers on the subject will be found to dispute the assertion that the institution as

a system , embracing a series of elaborate rituals , was first " formed and perfected " in England . Ceremonies of a similar nature were doubtless practised in the ancient world , cither as religious or philosophical

tests , and secret modes of recognition unquestionably existed amongst the Pythagoreans , the Persian magi , the Druids , and other mystical sects . Some of these signs and tokens may have been handed down

from age to age , and preserved in organisations of an analogous description , but the chain of absolute connection between the Masonic Fraternity and those earlier associtions has never , it must be confessed , been satisfactorily or clearly established .

One of the chief points of resemblance between thc ceremonies of modern Freemasonry and the occult rites observed in the " mysteries" of antiquity is the fact that both convey knowledge through thc

medium of symbols , and inculcate morality through thc agency of allegories conceived and expressed in dramatic " form . Thus thc tragedy enacted in the Master Mason ' s

degree was commemorated in thc Scandinavian mysteries as tlie death of Balder , in thc mythology of Greece the victim was Adonis , while the Egyptians celebrated the loss of Osiris .

Life—Light , Death—Darkness , and tlie final resurrection of the dead were thc principal subjects represented by the priests of old in a succession of scenes calculated to impress and awe the neophyte . In like

manner , Freemasonry illustrates the loftiest truths by a series of comprehensible images whose import once understood is seldom or never effaced from the mind . The traditions and emblems of the Craft are mainly

associated with the building of King Solomon ' s Temple , and certainly nothing more beautiful or instructive can be conceived

than the lessons evolved from the history of that stupendous structure . A boundless circle of thought spreads before the view of the truly earnest student of Masonic sym-

Freemasonry In England.

bolism . For him the Past , the Present , and the Future are linked together by the invisible chain of human sympathies and hopes . The temple itself is a type of an immortal spirit arrayed in all' the glories of wisdom and science . The busy craftsmen

represent the thoughts and deeds by which our daily life is continuously built up in strength and beauty , and the whole allegory presents a microcosm of man in every aspect and in every development of his earthly career . To quote the words of a fine poem on the

subject—Oh ' . that Temple of God , from the House of the Past , Shineth down o'er the centuried years And my heart , through the vail of its mysteries vast , The voice of King Solomon hears , Asking tne , with thc sign of a Master , Why my soul no temple rears ?

Witli the three Great Lights ever shining above , And thc tools of my Craft at hand , Why build up no fabric of prayerful love , With the arch of a lifetime spann'd ; And the wings of embracing cherubs , Overbrooding its yearnings grand ?

There ' s a Mountain of God in each human heart For that glorious Temple ' s base ; And the lives of each loyal Mason's art May its grand foundations trace ; And within it , thc wings of cherubs May the Holy of Holies embrace !

Through the beautiful aisles of the charmed Past , How its wonderful harmonies swell When their Meanings arise at the Templar ' s blast , From the mould of each darksome cell ; And the Soul of thc True no longer With dust of the False shall dwell !

Oh ! thc Cedars of Lebanon grow at our door , And the quarry is sunk at our gate ; And the ships out of Ophir , with golden ore , For our summoning mandate wait j And the word of a Master Mason , May the house of our Soul create !

While thc Day hath light let the light be used ; For no man shall the night control ! " Or ever thc silver cord be loosed , Or broken the golden bowl !" May we build King Solomon ' s Temple In the true Masonic Soul !

The truth of the legends which ascribe the origin of Freemasonry to the wise King of Israel is not , we conceive , a very weighty consideration in view of the more important fact that upon the basis of these traditions ,

an edifice of morality and virtue has been erected , by means of which all thc nations of the earth may bend before a common shrine , and rejoice together with mutual feelings of fraternity and affection .

It is evident that these great principles were recognised by the never-to-be-forgotten Freemasons who constituted the Grand Lodge of England in 1717 , inasmuch as they swept away every religious or social barrier which stood in thc way of those who desired to enter thc Craft . The

" Antient Charges breathe the truest spirit of toleration , and the leading revivalists were manifestly men of broad and catholic views who regarded the whole earth as a field not too wide for thc operations of the Order or for thc dissemination of liberal

and enlightened ideas . From 1717 , "Speculative Freemasonry , " in the modern sense of the term , may be said to date , although it is equally clear that much of thc technical language , and many of the forms and symbols , of the ancient Craftsmen wcrcretaincd

by their non-operative successors as thc groundwork of the remodelled institution . It is well known that four lodges united to form the Grand Lodge of England ; of these , strictly speaking , but one remains in existence , namely , the Lodge of St . Paul ' s , now called the Lodge of Antiquity , No . 2 , which

ought to stand at the head of the list of lodges , without a number , by virtue of its time-immemorial rank . Thc Royal Somerset House and Inverness , No . 4 on thc roll , claims a similar position , but it is really thc offspring of three lodges—the first being thc original lodge , held at the Rummer and Grapes Tavern , Westminster , in 1717 , and

Freemasonry In England.

which eventually fell into abeyance ; the second the " " Somerset House" Lodge , into which the few remaining members of the old lodge were received ; and the third , the "Inverness" Lodge , so named in honour of

H . R . H . the Duke of Sussex , who was also Earl of Inverness , and it may be stated that this lodge was the first constituted by the " United" Grand Lodge of England . It will thus be seen that the "Royal Somerset

House and Inverness Lodge" is one of a composite character . The first meeting of the present Grand Lodge of England was held on St . John the Baptist ' s Day , 1717 at the Goose and

Grid-, iron , St . Paul ' s Churchyard , where the lodge of St . Paul ' s was then located , and the first Grand Master was Brother Anthony Sayer ,

who was elected to that high office by a large majority of the brethren . He thereupon appointed as his Wardens Bros . John Elliott and Jacobus Lamball . . ( To be continued . )

Reviews.

Reviews .

* The History and Development of Gilds , and the Origin of Trades Unions ; by LUJO BRENTANO , Doctor of Laws and Philosophy . Triibner & Co ., 60 ,

Paternosterrow . The subject of guilds , or " gilds , " as out author spells the word , is a peculiarly interesting one to the Masonic student ,

inasmuch as many writers hold that our speculative Freemasonry is an outgrowth of those operative sodalities which flourished more especially in the Middle Ages .

Dr . Brentano ' s essay , as it is modestly called , was written originally as an introduction to a work on " English Gilds , " by the late Mr . Toulmin Smith , whose fitness for the task of investigation has never been

questioned . Dr . Brentano asserts , " most emphatically , " that England is thc birthplace of gilds , and this is noteworthy in connection with the fact , that our modern freemasonic society undoubtedly first emerged

whether from the operative system , or from more philosophic and occult elements , in " thc land we live in . " In the instructive book now before us , the learned author treats of : —1 , Thc Origin of Gilds ; 2 ,

Religious or Social Gilds ; 3 , Town Gilds , or Gild Merchants ; 4 , The Craft Gilds ; and 5 , The Origin of Trades Unions . The subjects are , as will be perceived , of a kindred nature , although great diversities of

practice may be readily traced . He deduces thc formation of gilds to a spirit observable in all ages , which expresses itself in that combination for mutual help and support , of which the modern trade-union is so ready

an example . Religious gilds are numerous at thc present time in Catholic countries , and are again springing into life in England , under thc pro-monastic principles of what is best known as " Ritualism . " The

Gild Merchants were a dcvelopnicnt of thc burgher idea , but the Craft gilds eventually obtained thc mastery , and ruled thc

dominions of trade . It is with these latter that Masons arc more immediately concerned , and wc propose , therefore , to give a few extracts from Dr . Brentano ' s able

treatise on thc subject . References to the gild of Masons , wc may remark , arc frequent throughout the work : — " The most renowned of these confederations was

that of thc various building-lodges of Germany . It was brought about in 1452 by Dolzinger , chief-master at thc building of Strasburg Cathedral ; and in 1454 common statutes were discussed and passed at a general meeting at Ratisbon , and were revised and