Masonic Notes And Queries.

first Grand "Warden of England , namely , Saturday , Peb . Sth , 1724 . Where was he buried ? In the cathedral ? He laid the first stone and the last of the cathedral . Now , was it in laying this last stone that the relics of the Lodge of Antiquity were . employed ? '—HYDE CLARKE .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

' ¦ IThe Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents . LODGE WORKING ; . —CEREMONIALS . TO THE EDITOK OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE A > "D MASONIC MlItTtOH . Dear Sir and Brother , —Though the letter on page 30 !) of your last numbersigned "A M . M . of ten

, years' standing , Province of Devon and Cornwall , " is especially addressed to and seeks a reply from yourself as an undoubted authority , yet , for several reasons , I am induced to endeavour to satisfy the requirements of the writer . These reasons are the following . Some months ago I brought prominently

hefore your readers the ritualistic deficiencies in some quarters , and suggested a remedy , on which opinions have since been offered by several , especially Bros . White and Hughan , the plan of the former being the most practical , in default of a more complete and universal arrangementwhich appears to me the most

, desirable . I am a Master Mason of twenty , and a Past Master of seventeen , years' standing , and have -kept up my work BO as to give help whenever and wherever required . I have had exnerience in several

lodges of instruction , and was the sole and responsible 'instructor in one of them . I have belonged to two provinces widel y distant from each other , having passed ten years in one and eight in the other , and have lately settled and joined a lodge in Devonshire , to which province your correspondent belongs , but

my knowledge of it is at present too limited to enable me to judge of the correctness of his remarks by personal observation . I can , however , fully endorse his expression that " we have many very clever and , indeed , first-rate men among us , " for several of them have for some years been well known to me b y

¦ correspondence , and now I have a better chance of personal acquaintance with them . I fear that the "M . M . of ten years' standing" is not a regular reader of your journal , or he would have gained most of the information he needs from the recent communications of myself and others , and thus his inouiries miffht have been more limited .

As to the first question on the most approved form of ritual , there are , I believe , two distinct ones used , the one in the west , the other in the east of London . The difference is capable of explanation , but it need not be stated here . The lodges of instruction in both these districts are numerous , but those in which these

two systems are best taught are , as I understand , the Lodge of Union , No . 25 G ( Emulation Lodge of Improvement for M . M . ' s ) , Freemasons' Tavern , Priday , at seven , and the Lodge of Stability , No . 217 , Masonic Rooms , Bell-alley , Moorgate-street , Priday , September to Aprilat six . These titles are taken

, from the list of London lodges of instruction in the "Freemasons' Calendar . " Besides these there is the old York rite , practised chiefly , I imagine , in the north of England . Of these three , it is generally

understood that the first has the approval of the Grand Lodge of Eugland , though I am not aware that there i 3 any definite declaration to that effect , a desideratum which , as I have elsewhere stated , should be supplied , in order to obtain due uniformity wherever the English Constitution is recognised .

Having settled the system to be adopted in a newly-formed lodge of instruction to which your correspondent alludes , the next point is , How is an accurate' knowledge of it to be obtained ? . 1 cannot give a better reply than by recommending the course pursued in Birmingham about the year 1 S-18 , one ,

the beneficial effect of which is still felt there . An application was made to the lodge of instruction in London I have just named , and the result was that an experienced member was sent down , who spent three months at the houses of several of the brethren

in succession , devoting a portion of each day to private instruction to a few individual Masons , among whom were divided the ceremonies of the three degrees , the charges , the tracing boards , the fifteen sections of lectures , the Craft installation , and the ceremony in a Royal Arch chapter , each of them

undertaking to become verbally correct in his own part . On two or three evenings of each week the brethren met for united practice , so as to become an , fail in the manner of conducting the work , as well as in the verbiage . All having become perfect , and competent to teach othersthe instructor returned

, home , having received a douceur for his trouble . After his departure , the lodge of instruction , to which there was a separate subscription by its members , independently of lodge duties , met once a week ; the work for each evening was definitely fixed , and no departure ' from it was permitted , so that the whole

might bo gone through once a month ; each guarantee undertook to be present when his portion was rehearsed , and no one else was allowed to dictate or correct . If any of us imagined that a mistake was made by him , the first of the party who should visit London was requested to call on the original

instructor , and obtain a solution of the difficulty . In addition to the regular weekly meetings , private arrangements for instruction were often made by young Masons who were auxious to progress rapidly , in some cases a pecuniary acknowledgment being made .

In the second province to which I subsequently belonged , I found , on a visit to it in 1 S 5-1 , that the work was on the whole very correct . On inquiry I learnt that some years before , the aid of a member of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement had been obtained , the effects of which were very visible , nor

are they yet entirely lost , though to some extent counteracted by other iniluences . When I joined it as a resident in 1 S 5 S , I found an instructor appointed , who periodically met those seeking his aid , and ( very properly , as I think ) , received a fee from each as a compensation for the sacrifice of his time , for it is

unreasonable to expert any one to go on labouring year after year for the benefit of others , and to the neglect of his business or his family , without remuneration . Here the strict Emulation ritual is not now followed , for the instructor has made many alterations , both in verbiage and in form of ceremonial , in conformity with his own ideas , a practice of which I do not approve , though to some extent justifiable