Masonic Rambles.—Ii.

which the poor Tyler has to tremble , shiver and shake . Bro . Hall must be a patient good creature , entertaining a kindly wish towards the widow Klitz , or he would , long ago , have complained of his rheumatic sufferings ' . — Amongst its members four copies of the MAGAZIXE are subscribed for . The furniture of this modern lodge is a pattern worthy of imitationexcept one glaring

incon-, sistency—on the front panel of the W . M . ' s pedestal are the armorial bearings of Bro . W . W . Beach , 3 I .. P ., who although the first W . M ., and so well beloved as lie is for his many excellent virtues iu the neighbourhood and far off , such position and circumstances have nothing to do with a Masonic lodgenor should such an use have been

, made of the chief pedestal to gratify any individualthe arms are excellently emblazoned , but they are unfit for their present position . The working of this lodge is not so satisfactory as it ought to he . I found the cause resided in . unfit appointments , the W . M . and Wardens being unable to attend more than once during

their year of office . Bro . W . AA . Beach is again the AV . M . with a change in the appointments in the rig ht direction —and if the brethren will only confine their choice of W . M . to those resident at or near Basingstoke , and the AV . M . regulate his appointments by the same rule , matters there will be very much benefited . The lodge

appears to have neither candlesticks or tracing boards . At 3 S " ewboro ' , the Lodge of Hope is not in a vigorous state . The proprietor of the Three Tuns Hotel , ivhere the lodge is held , could not explain the reason , but I found from another source that several members had

resigned in consequence of damages done a year or two ago , which will require great care and much circumspection for the future . The working at this lodge is is considered very fairly performed . The furniture here is appropriate , but not elegant ; better chairs should be procured , when the funds will permit the outlay . No candlesticks or tracing boards are to be found in this

lodge . The ornaments for the AV . M . ' s pedestal should be improved , and the D . G . Master ' s emblem thereon removed—replacing it ivith what is suspended from the AV . M . ' s collar of office . —Only two copies of the MAGAZIXE arc taken in . The Lodge of St . John at Maidenhead , held at Arkney

Arms Hotel , I found to he a neiv lodge in a vigorous state . There the pedestals and furniture are ofthe most appropriate description , and well designed : thc pedestals are well painted , and bear the proper emblems . The proprietor ofthe hotel was very careful to avoid answering many questions . After some delav the ivorking tools

were produced from the interior of the pedestals , there kept by each officer locking his implements within—an excellent arrangement . They were new . hut not complete . The Sacred Volume was a very handsome present from one of the brethren . The AVardens' Columns were also presents . There ivere no candlesticks or boards for tracing , or the essentials required for the third ceremony .

The _ working I found to be " first-class , " the W . M . guiding the ivork with great credit . Ihe lodge is about to present him , on his retirement from office , with a jewel to mark their esteem and goodwill towards him . Three copies of the MAGAZIXE are taken inhere . At AVindsor there are the Castle Lodge and the Etonian

Lodge , the former being composed of a different class of men , and part of them seceders from the latter ; this should not be : amity , unity , universality should be their watchwords , and not division into classes or sections . The working at the Etonian I found to he fully equal to the Castle . The furniture at the Castle is of a superior class than the other ; but in the hope ihatthc advice I have given may produccfa better state of affairs , I will let them

Masonic Rambles.—Ii.

reside quietly until another visit . Four copies of the MAGAZIXE are subscribed for . , At Aylesbury , I found the J 3 uclcinyliam Lodge vigourously at work at the Eoyal AVhite Hart Hotel . This ought to be called the CLERICAL LODGE , from its containing more clergymen of the Church of England amongst its members than any lodge of its extent within

my knowledge . There are several good ivorking men amongst them , but their furniture , working tools and implements may be improved with considerable benefit to the lodge . Four copies of the MAGAZIXE are taken in . At their last meeting they decided in not annexing a E . A . Chapter to the Lodge at present . In this they are

evidently wrong- ; their reasons are necessarily only known to themselves ; but every W . M . should , after the usual probation , have the opportunity afforded him of being exalted to that eminent degree , and no chapter is so proper than that attached to the present Lodge , the want of which is a bar to many completing their Masonic

studies , and attaining that eminence which should be , and doubtless is , the aim of eveiy true Freemason . By the attachment of a chapter to the Lodge that exalted degree might be conferred at one-half the cost to the Candidates they have now to bear . The subject ought to be reviewed by our Eev . Bro . Farnborough , Prov . G . Ch . I shall next address you from another province .

Architecture And Aechæology.

ARCHITECTURE AND AECH ? OLOGY .

Ox Tuesday , the 11 th instant , the foundation stone of the enlargement of St . Sepulchre ' s Church , . Northampton , ivas laid by tho Lord Henley , J . I . P ., who delivered an address . A general meeting of the Northamptonshire Architectural Society , who havo identified themselves with the work , was afterwards hold in St . Sepulchre ' s school-room , the mayor presiding . The report wasreadby thc Eev . T . James . In ifc the committee said : —

"During the year , a most interesting , communication ivas made to tho society by 3 . r . Canon Ai-jrlcs , rclatine ; to tlic discovery of a stone sedile and benches , in the Saxon tower of l . arnack . A niche in thc West wall , formed by a trianariilar heading of beam-shaped stones , which had gveatiy puzzled the antiquaries , was found , on the removal of the soil , to be the canopy of a stone sedile , no doubt a scat of great honour in Saxon times , when tlic fine tower arch opened into the church , and formed probably , a chapter-house for the ecclesiastics connected ivith ( he building , or , possible , tlic triennial of some secular power . But , whatever its use , it must undoubtedly bo pronounced tha most ancient place of solemn , session and couciave existing in this Kingdom . "

A paper , on '' St . Sepulchre ' s Church , " was' read by thc Eev , G . AylilTc Pool , vicar of Wei ford . I said that "the most worthy motives for thc restoration and enlargement of a church , and those by which , happily , persons are generally influenced iu this good ivork , aro those which appeal to our piety ancl charity ; but a special interest of another kind will " sometimes attach to a particular church ; and it is allowable

to invoke that interest in aid , at least , of those which are higher and better . It is the object of the present very rapid sketch to point out in , what respects the church , of St . Sepulchre ' s , Northampton , on the enlargement and restoration of which we arc now entering , may fairly claim to belong to the special class . " It is scarcely necessary to remind that there are four

you round churches , and four only , still remaining in . England , and that these woro founded during a time when pilgrimages to thc Holy City , or the defence of the pilgrims by the united chivalry of Christendom , or the attempt to wrest tho sacred places from tho hands of tlic infidels , formed a great part of the serious business of churches and nations of Europe . These churches owe their peculiar form and

arrangement to a desire on the part of their founders to embody their recollection of thc Pound Church of the llcsurrectionin tlic Holy City , iu which they had worshipped as pilgrims or crusaders . Inferior as they may be iu grandeur , as thoy certainly must lie in intrinsic interest ; imperfect as they doubtless all are as copies of a remote original , this ivas the type after which all our round , churches ivere erected , and this the spirit which led to the adoption