Reviews.

with the subject of Masonic inquiry in the spirit of a student anxious to draw his conclusions from existing records . Bro . Murray Lyon says : — " If it is greatly to be regretted that the exhumation of long-buried and " forgotten facts in Masonic history proceeds so slowly , how ought carelessness "to be guarded against in placing upon record notes of the every-day life of " of our presently existing Lodges . From mistaken notions regarding the true " scope of their obligation to secresy in matters Masonic , the early Craftsmen

" confined within the narrowest limits possible the written records of their " operations—hence the paucity of data from which can be drawn reliable " information as to the laws and customs obtaining within the Mystic Circle " during any period prior to the adoption of that Speculative element of Free" masonry in which have been absorbed the more distinctive features of the " ancient Guilds of Operative Masons . In like manner , out of a constitutional " dread of Masonic records falling into profane hands , minutes of the proceed" ings of many of our dormant Lodges arc known to have been consigned to " destruction by their custodiers , who thereby became the instruments of

" inflicting irreparable injury upon the Order which in their mistaken zeal they " sought to serve . Again , from a misapprehension of the importance of the " work , no inconsiderable number of our Lodges deepen and perpetuate the evil " adverted to , by a total indifference as to the style in which their exoteric " transactions are recorded—the bearing which such records are to have upon " the future history of the Lodge Universal , being an idea quite foreign to the " minds of those by whom they are penned .

" Animated by the desire in a humble way to aid in the preservation of " what , besides being of local interest , may at some future period be considered " worthy of a niche in the mystic fane , the Brethren of Thornhill requested " the writer to gather together and condense some of those rays of light which " a peep into their records might discover as diffusing themselves throughout " the area of the Lodge's operations during half a century ' s existence . The " warpwoofand thread of our subject being liberallfound in the StJohn ' s

, , y . " minute-books , as well as in the published reports of recent demonstrations in " which No . 252 was the principal actor , our task has been a comparatively " easy , as it was also a genial , one . " Our Recollections , somewhat desultory in thou- character , are , with all their " imperfections , respectively dedicated to the Lodge of Thornhill . "

We are tempted to reprint the whole of these Recollections , so attractive do they appear , but it would be an act of piracy ; therefore , to show what the book is made of , we select one extract—rather a lengthy one—but it is too good to curtail . Bro . Murray Lyon tells us that : — " The manner of celebrating the 27 th of December has in Thornhill alternated " between a public procession through the village , going to church to hear

" sermon , dining . together , and holding a ball in the evening ; but only on one " occasion ( 1826 ) is it recorded that the programme of the St . John's Day " observances embraced the whole routine of ceremony just quoted . The pro" priety of such a mixture of the sacred with the profane appears more than " once to have been questioned ; for on St . John ' s Day , 1823 , the Kev . Edward " Dobie is found ' thanking the Lodge for relieving him from a promise to " preach to them on that day , there being so much objection to it '—objections offered thinkb

" , as some may , y one or other of the 'hizzies' thus depicted in " Burns' 'Holy Fair' : — . "' The twa appeared like sisters twin In features , form , an' claes ! Their visage wither'd , king , and thin , An' sour as ony slaes : . , , This is Superstition here , An' that's Hypocrisy . '