History Of Freemasonry In Worcestershire.

In December , 1858 , a silver inkstand is presented to Bro . Griffiths , P . M ., in recognition of his services as Treasurer . In October , 1859 , a Benevolent Fund is established at the suggestion of Bro . Woof , S . D ., to

be supported by collections after refreshment , and Bro . Griffiths presents a suitable box . New by-laws , with historical notice by Bro . Woof , F . S . A ., are printed . The fifth volume of the records of the Worcester

Lodge commences with the minutes of a meeting held 15 th November , 1866 , when a vote of thanks to the Treasurer , P . M . Griffiths , is passed ; and it is resolved "that a testimonial be presented to him on his retirement , as an evidence of appreciation of his services as Treasurer for the past ten years . "

At a subsequent meeting an address , handsomely illuminated and emblazoned , together with a gold key , emblematic of his late office , were presented to Bro . Griffiths , with kindly expressions of gratitude and good will from the assembled brethren ;

and at his request , the lodge marks the occasion by making its successive Masters life Governors of the Institution for Aged and Decayed Freemasons in perpetuity . At this meeting , the Roll of members of the Worcester Lodge , from its

commencement to the present time , compiled by Bro . Griffiths , and appended to this chronicle , was presented by him to the lodge , and the thanks of the brethren were accorded to Bro . Griffiths for this most useful and interesting record of information which had never before been collected ,

In January , 1867 , reference is again made to the beforementioned " Roll of Members , " when it is resolved to print it , together with abstracts from the minute books and other information

relative to the history of the Worcester Lodge , collected by P . M . Griffiths , and which formed the nucleus of the present book . " Thus , " says Bro . Griffiths , "have we arrived at the conclusion of the seventy-ninth year [ 1869 ]

of the Worcester Lodge , during which period many brethren have passed in and out of its portals , let us hope with credit to themselves , benefit to their fellows , and advantage to the times in which they lived . And as it may be seen by the

foregoing notes that some good has been achieved , and much more we trust that is not recorded here , let ns humbly pray that the Worcester Lodge may still pursue its onward career in ' Faith , Hope , and , Charity / endeavouring to do its duty in enlarging as far as possible the happiness of mankind , and

History Of Freemasonry In Worcestershire.

steadily preserving the tenets of our system in their purity and integrity , and heartily do we add' ESTO PERPETUA . ' "

Masonic Red Cross Order And The Imperial Constantinian Order Of Saint George.

MASONIC RED CROSS ORDER AND THE IMPERIAL CONSTANTINIAN ORDER OF SAINT GEORGE .

By E ., 33 ° . We may pass over in . silence , the moderate historical pretensions of Bro . Boric , who now steps in ; * for the present object is not to discuss literary merits , but to rescue an ancient chivalric

Order from an unprincipled appropriation—not to pause to unravel the tawdry fabric of perverted history , as such , but to trace the progress of error , on a moral question . R . W . L ., unabashed by his evident

discomfiture , again ' comes forward , and retracing * his steps persistently refers , with an assumed confidence ,, to the " Statutes of the Red Cross Order , which contain information , "f that the opponents of the " Order would do . well to pei-use before again

rushing against the facts of its history . " R . W . L . also returns to the subject of the conference with Count Maffei , ancl somewhat rashly invites an inquiry , by reiterating his previous

inferences . The Order of Constantine , he remarks , " is no longer a public one , " and " I have consulted various works on Chivalry and the Orders of Knighthood , and am unable to find any evidence that the Order has been conferred except

in Italy as a public Order , and in England as a Masonic degree since 1699 . " This writer seems to infer from the reticence of the Italian Count , that his master—not unreasonably ignored his own claims to the Order—that it mi ght lawfully be

appropriated as an honorary waif ; and that as the suspected founder of the spurious Order—Walter Rodwell Wright , a consular agent , ancl the "friend " of two royal dukes—likewise a " Christian " and a " scholai * , " J hacl been silent on the subject of

descendants of Constantine existing in the island of Ohio—that silence was "fatal to the latter's pretensions . " Repeating the caution attributed to him by Lupus , Bro . Hughan again breaks in on the principal disputants , with " words of counsel darken-