Freemasons' Hall— Thenew Wing.

oft" Little Queen Street , is now called Parker Street . The Crown was a popular Tavern on the north side of this lane in 1717 . It was in this house that one of the old lodges met . It must have been in early days a street of some repute , for in 1661 are described some houses " lately in possession of

the Dutch Ambassador . " There is no trace of the Crown in the London Directory of 1754 or subsequently . The Rummer and Grapes Tavern , in Channel Row , Westminster , is the fourth tavern mentioned in the early records as a meeting place of the Masonic Lodges . Drinking vessels were also appropriate for all house signs . The flask or the

pewter pot and the familiar jug were used in numberless instances . The rummer was a well known drinking vessel . It was a large glass or goblet , which our ancestors formerly used after business hours , in conjunction with a large clay pipe . From 1729 until about 176 3 most of the meetings were held at the Devil Tavern in Fleet Street , near Temple Bar , London . It was opposite St . Dunstan's Church—Child ' s

Bank , No . 1 , Fleet Street , stands upon its site . The saints and martyrs were frequently used for public-house signs in London . " St . Paul" was a common sign— "St . Peter and his keys " another ; the " Cross Keys " were also common . The sign of the Devil Tavern is explained in a legend . St . Dunstan , who was a patron saint of the well-known

parish of that name in London , was said to be the godfather of the Devil , that is to say , to the sign of the tavern known as the Devil and St . Dunstan , near Temple Bar . " The legend runs , " says Hotten , " that one clay when working at his trade of a goldsmith , he was sorely tempted by the Devil , and at length got so exasperated that he took the red hot

tongs out of the lire and caught his infernal majesty by the nose . The identical pinchers with which this feat was performed are still preserved at Mayfield Palace , in Sussex . They are of a very respectable size , and formidable enough to frighten the arch one himself . This episode was represented on the signboard of that glorious old tavern . By way

of abbreviation , this house was called the Devil , though the landlord appears to have preferred the other saint ' s name , for on his token we read ' The D ( sic ) and Dunstan , ' probably fearing with a classic dread , the ill-omen of that awful name . "

Grand Lodge first acquired property in Great Queen Street in 1774 . The Craft Hall was at the rear of the Tavern and had no street frontage until the structure was erected in 1865-7 . The old tavern was pulled down and rebuilt in 1789 . " Reilly " was the tenant of the Grand Lodge and leaseholder of the tavern for many years . The corner stone of the hall

was laid 1 st May , 1775 , and the hall was first occupied by the Grand Lodge on the 23 rd May , 1776 . It had not been materially altered prior to the fire of May , 1883 . Since 1776 the meetings of the Grand Lodge havegenerally been held in the Grand Lodge building in Great Queen Street , with the exception of such gatherings as that at the Royal Albert Hall , when H . R . H . the Prince of Wales was installed , and the Jubilee meetings of 1887 and 1807 .

It was on the 4 th of May , 188 3 , that a fire , caused by the overheating of a Hue , broke out in the Great Hall , after which the Hall was completely renovated and re-furnished . Seventeen years later , in the present year of grace 1900 , we lind the new wing completed . It should be added that the Grand Lodge of the Ancients

continued at the Crown and Anchor until the union of the two Grand Lodges in 1813 , when the United Grand Lodge met in the Freemasons' Hall in Great Queen Street , and since that date has been the sole and undisputed governing body of the Craft in our country , whilst the present body is the Mother Grand Lodge , directly or indirectly , of every other Grand Lodge in the world , and , as everyone will acknowledge , its dignity and perfection of organisation stands unrivalled amidst all its descendants .

( In our next issue ice shall give iiu inlcivstiii / i scries of pictures illuslrntiiig the older port of the hnihliiig ) .

THE GRAND SECRETARY'S ROOM .

United Grand Lodge Of England.

United Grand Lodge of England .

The September Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge was held on the 15 th ult . at Freemasons' Hall , and was presided over by the Right Honourable W . W . B . Beach , Prov . Grand Master for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , who was supported by Lt .-Gen . J . Winburne Laurie , M . P ., Prov . Grand Master for South WalesWestern Divisionas Deputy Grand

, , Master , and as Past Grand Master , Sir Gerard Smith , K . C . M . G ., formerl y District Grand Master for Western Australia , and now Grand Master of the newly-formed Grand Lodge in that Colony . The Wardens' chairs were filled respectively by R . W . Bro . Sir John B . Monckton , P . G . W ., and R . W . Bro .

Thomas Fenn , P . G . W . Notwithstanding that all London is supposed to be out of town at this period of the year , there were certainly Masons in sufficient number to fill the Hallalthough the agenda of business did not contain any special feature of interest . After the reading of the minutes the acting Grand Master proposedin sympathetic termsa

, , resolution of sympathy with the M . W . Grand Master , on the loss His Royal Highness and the Royal Family had sustained by the death of His Royal Highness the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha , who , although not a Mason , was so nearly related to the head of our Order . He remarked also that it