The Wroxeter Excavations .

lig ht is there useful ; besides , the western sun shining therein produces heat , and makes that aspect warm and pleasant in thc evening . Bed-chambers and libraries should look to the east , for in these the morning light is required : it is also proper that the books in the libraries may not decay , for in those that look to the south and west they will be damaged by damps and worms , whieh the humid winds generate and nourish . The spring ancl autumn

triclinia should look to the east , for the windows being then turned from the sun , proceeding westward , render those places temperate at the time they are generally used . The summer triclinium should look to the north , because this aspect is not , like the others , rendered hot at the summer solstice ; for being turned from the course of the sun , it remains always cool , and when used is salubrious and pleasant . To the same aspect also should be

disposed Pinacotheca ( picture rooms ) , as well as embroidering and painting-rooms , that the colours used in the works , on account of the inequality of the light , may remain unchanged . A stream having its rise at Wcldon passes through the valley in which the villa at Apethorpe was situate , the water of the present clay putting in motion a Roman introduction into this country—a primitive-looking water-mill in the adjoining village of AVood

Newton , a-sketch of which some of our artists would readily obtain did they know of its existence . Views from this villa would not he extensive , thc land on thc cast and west sides being very high , and the great forest of tlie Coritani extended from the north side of the Nene as far as Stamford . In these immense woods thc wild bull , bear , and wolf roamed , the hunting of which afforded exciting but frequentldangerous sport : bones of wild animals

y haye just been found amongst thc long-buried debris at Apethorpe . It is asserted that the Anglo-Norman Earl Warren was the originator of the bull-running at Stamford ; but it was the Romans who first practised it in this country , and probably in this neighbourhood .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

HElSTFOlil . MASONIC LODGE . THE following notice of thc foundation of the above Lodge , extracted from Tumour ' s History of thc Ancient . Town and Borough of Hertford , Svo ., Hertford , 1800 , may be interesting to some of our Hertfordshire brethren , ancl worthy of a place among thc "Masonic Notes and Queries . " In section 6 , page 33 , headed Hertford Masonic Lod MrTumour makes a notein which he

ge , . , states "Avery strong desire having been expressed by several of the subscribers to this work , that some account should be given of the Hertford Masonic Lodge , an institution which has been established in the town within the last few weeks , the author presents them ivith the following very able and interesting article from the pen of Allied S . Dowling , Esq ., Senior AVarden of the bodge , whose kindness and attention in providing him with the

means of gratifying so general a wish , he takes this opportunity to acknowledge . " The article then commences as follows : — "Among the public institutions of this town , perhaps none is more interesting than thc subject of thc present article , namely , the Hertford Masonic Lodge . This opinion we arc led to form , not merely from thc unprecedented celerity with which its numbers have increased or the highly respected names attached to it , but from a view ofthe beneficial effects it is likely to produce in thc county ;

and a perfect conviction that the more the principles of the royal art arc disseminated , the greater will be those beneficial effects . Before ive proceed to give an account of the Lodge and its formation , our readers may perhaps not consider a short historical sketch of Masonry uninteresting . In doing this it will not be necessary to write a defence ofthe Craft against the absurd or wicked aspersions which ignorance or superstition may have cast upon it , for rational

no being can conceive anything objectionable in an institution cherished and supported by all that is great , illustrious , or good , in this country . " The writer then goes on to give the history and tradition of the Craft and tracing the same down to the union in 1813 , continues thus : — " According to the constitution thus formed , the Hertford Lodge has been established . Although wc have made a diligent search in the existing records ot

Masonry , and carefully examined its traditions , no trace can be discovered of a Masonic Lodge ever having existed in Hertfortsh . rc previous to the erection of the present . A strong wish having » een expressed by several of the leading gentlemen of Hertford and Ware , that a Lodge should be formed in thc county town , an apnlica , tion for the purpose of attaining that object was made to a brother of the Grand Master ' s Lodge . The signatures of seven Masons resident in Hertford ancl Ware having been procured , a petition in the usual form was presented to 11 . 11 . 11 . thc JJ"lve of Sussex , the M . W . Grand Master , for a warrant of

constitution . This H . R . H . was pleased to grant , and by it appointed Bro . Crew ( P . M . of the Grand Masters' Lodge ) as the first Master ; Bro . Dowling , ofthe same Lodge , as the first S . AA " ., and Bro . Rogers , I . G . of the same Lodge , as the first J . AV . Thc number from the present state of the fist is No . 849 ( now No . 578 ) . The Lodge was opened in due form on the 8 th of last September , by the V . W . Bro . Bott , P . G . D ., assisted by installed 7 "

Masters . The V . AA . brother then installed the new Master in antient form . The latter afterwards appointed his officers , and in thc course of that day fifteen candidates were admitted to the mysteries and privileges of Freemasonry . After three other meetings , no less than fifty subscribing members bad been enrolled in the books of the Lodge ; thirty-four of these bad been initiated at Hertfordand we are happy to state that they include a portion

; of the nobility , clergy , and gentlemen of the county , several members of the corporation , and many of the most respectable inhabitants of the borough . This rapid success , the oldest Mason in the Craft , R . AV . Bro . Harper , P . D . G . M ., states from his experience and reading , to be unprecedented in Masonic history . However , it is probable from what wc can learn , that the Lodge will continue to increase . Although we fear the length of this

article must have nearly exhausted the patience of our readers , we cannot conclude without expressing our confidence that if this Lodge continues to preserve , and no doubt it will , thc zeal , unanimity , and kind feeling which have hitherto characterized the meetings , it ivill become an ornament of the Craft to which it belongs , and a blessing to ' the county in which it is established . " May I venture to aild-a-word of advice to thc brethren of the

various Lodges , and to request that any such notices as the foregoing , with which they may happen to he acquainted , should be communicated to " Masonic Notes and Queries , " where they would be preserved , and in time will be of great value in writing a Lodge history , a task that sooner or later must be accomplished . —PF . TI ... . DI . VALENCE .

WAS THE LATE DUKE OK WELLINGTON A FKEICHASOX ? DEAI . SIR AXI > BI . OTIIEK , —The enclosed was communicated about the year . 1835 , it may be interesting at thc present moment . —Yours fraternally , WILLIAM LLOYD , Birmingham . ' ' Tlii .-j distinguished brother , when colonel in the " 3 rd regiment of foot , was initiated into Freemasonry in Lodge No . 49-1 , which ww at tho time held in the castle of Dangan , county Moatl ., the late Earl of

Mornington , his grace ' s father , being Master of the Lodge at the time . lie was duly passed after the usual examination , and fin the phraseology of the Lodge ) entered at the southern gate , and afterwards raised . "Tlle following brethren , being members , were present , many of them ( in the words ofthe Irish bard ) 'have been famous in story : '—Bros . Sir . Tames Somorville , Bart .: Sir Benjamin Chapman , Bart . ; Ham . Georges , MP . ; Kelvin ( late ) Earl of AYestmeath ; Robert Uniacke , M . P . ; Richard BoyleM . P . ; John Pomeroy ; William Forster ; George Low therM . P . ;

, , the Earl of Mornington ; the Marquess AVellesley ; V . North ( late ) Earl of Guildford ; Robert Percival ; Robert Waller ; Richard Lesley ; Arthur AA elleslcy . " The Lodge has for many years been in abeyance , but has never . surrendered its warrant . The venerable Bro . Christopher Carleton , through whose fraternal kindness the above interesting particulars have been communicated , filled tho offices of Master and Secretary for several years , and finding at length that he could not succeed in effecting a , sufficient

gathering of the Craft to work the Lodge , he prudently took the warrant into his personal charge , ancl , in order to preserve its reputation and Masonic honour he enrolled the above names , and maintained the credit of the Lodge by paying half-yearly dues fi'oni his private purse , as though it were working in prosperity . "

BOIIEIll ' s COLLECTION OF MASONIC SO _ S . CS . Iii the Musical Times for thc present month , p . 109 , reference is made to " the rich collection of Masonic songs , published in 179-1 , by Bdlieim , of Berlin . " Is thc work known in this country , and have the songs ever been translated ? A good collection ot English Masonic songs is a great desideratum— -the only work oi tbe kind of ivhich I am aware , and of ivhich I possess a copy , is "Thc Musical Mason , " without date on the title page , but which appeared in 1791 , according to Bro . Matthew Cooke . —WILT . IAII KELLY , Leicester .

MASONIC ANTIQUITIES . In the Court Journal of February , 1 S 52 , in an article on Freemasonry , after recording the proceedings in England in 1125 and 1501 , in France in 1757 , and in Russia , is the following sentence : — . "We find in England the most ancient traces of the Masonic Order , organized nearly in its present form . In 1 : !__ 7 all Beers were Masons . In 1502 Henry VIII . declared himself protector of the Order , and held a Lodge in his own palace . "It . E . X .