Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS .

Donations and subscriptions 10 . S 38 18 11 Paid direct to bankers 19 9 0 10 , 858 7 H Dividends 1 . 3 G 5 1 8

Grand Lodge Donation 150 0 0 Grand Chapter 10 10 0 Sale of Old Stores - - 3 3 0 Musical Instrnotion , & c 169 1 0 Gift to Prize Fund 110 £ 12 , 557 4 7 Number of Girls in School , 233 .

Lodge Of Benevolence.

LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE .

Month of Meeting No . of cases relieved Total sum grantee January 19 £ 520 February 35 813 Maroh 44 1 , 435

April 20 535 May 30 760 June 23 960 July 19 735

August 16 500 September 16 365 October 24 810 November 55 1 , 630 December 27 890

328 9 , 953

Less the balance of grant of £ 150 revoked on reconaideration of case , ordered by Grand Lodge of 7 <) h Dec . 140

£ 9 . 813

Freemasonry In The Seventeenth Century.

FREEMASONRY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY .

WARRINGTON 1646 . AN article bearing the above title , from the pen of Bro . Kylands , appeared in the December number of

the Masonic Magazine . * It is one of the most interesting and valuable contributions to Masonic literature which it has been our privilege to read for many a long day , and as such , it is impossible to give it too much publicit y in the columns of the Masonic press . Ouv readers will remember

that it was at Warrington that , on the 16 th October 1646 , the Antiquarian Elias Ashmole and his cousin Colonel Henry Mainwaring of Karincham or Kermincham were made Masons , Mr . Richard Penket being the Warden of the Lodge . The question has often been discussed as to

the character of the Lodge into which these brethren were admitted . Was it a Lodge of Operative Masons , in which case it would follow of necessity that Ashmole and Colonel Mainwaring were the first gentlemen in England who were received into the Fraternity . On the other hand ,

many have inclined to the belief there were Speculative Masons , as it is the custom to describe them , already in such Lodges as existed at the time . With the evidence now furnished by Bro . Rylands it would seem as though the Warrington Lodge contained no Operative Masons at

all , or , at least , that none were present at the initiation of Ashmole and Mainwaring . If this can be shown to bo the case , it will go a long way towards proving that Speculative Masonry existed in this country for very many years anterior to the date usually ascribed to its birth , namely ,

1717 . It is of course a most reasonable argument to adduce in favour of this view that , as the Warden and brethren of the Warrington Lodge who wore present when Ashmole and Mainwaring were received by them into the Fraternity were not Operative Masons , the old limits of the Mason Guild must have been extended some time pre-

Freemasonry In The Seventeenth Century.

viously to the year 1640 . How long previously , however , they had been so extended , it will be difficult to ascertain , having regard to the present sources of information that are open to investigation , with anything like an approach

to certainty . Further inquiries may possibly result iu tho acquisition of further knowledge on this interesting question , and some day we may wake up to the pleasing fact that the Speculative system of Freemasonry is , in truth ,

much older than it is generally supposed to havo been . For the present we must be content to remain as we are ; but , in the meantime , it will be worth while to give some idea

of Bro . R ylands ' s article , for the reason we have stated , viz . that it throws so much light on the great Masonic event of 1646 , and the individuals who took part in it .

Bro . Eylands ' s researches have been most ample . The sources of information to which he has had access , and which includes Ashmole ' s own Diary , have been ransacked with a will , and in a manner which testify to his great

ability as a student of antiquarian lore . He shows in this article that he possesses great tact in formulating his opinions ; and consequently his judgment , whenever he feels justified in giving one , may bo accepted as

trustworthy , atleast to theextent ofitshaving been most carefully weighed and considered . He begins , in the article which forms the text of this paper , by noting the records of the two events referred to in Ashmole ' s Diary , as signalising

that gentleman ' s connection with the Craft . They are probably well known to our readers , but as they are given in fuller detail than usual , they will bear to be reproduced here . They are as follow : —

( a ) " 1646 . Oct . 16 , 3 . 30 P . M . —I was made a Free Mason at Warrington in Lancashire , with Coll . Henry Mainwaring , of Karincham in Cheshire . The names of

those that were then of the Lodge [ were ] Mr . Rich . Penket : Warden , Mr . James Collier , Mr . Rich . Sankey , Henry Littler , John Ellam , Richard Ellam , and Hugh Brewer .

( 5 ) " March 1682 . —10 : About 5 P . M . I rec a Sumons to app at a Lodge to be held the next day , at Masons' Hall London . " 11 : Accordingly I went and about Noone were admitted into the Fellowship of Free Masons .

" Sir William Wilson Knight , Capt . Rich : Borthwick , Mr . Will : Woodman . Mr . Wm . Grey , Mr . Samuel Taylour , & Mr . William Wise .

" I was the Senior Fellow among them ( it being 35 years since I was admitted ) . There were p sent besides myselfe the Fellowes after named .

" Mr . Tho : Wise , Mr : of the Masons Company this p sent year , Mr . Thomas : Shorthose , Mr . Thomas : Shadbolt , Wainwright Esq , Mr . Nich : Young , Mr . John Shorthose , Mr . William Hamon , Mr . John Thompson , & Mr . Will : Stanton .

"Wee all dyned at the halfe Moone Taverne in Cheapside , at a noble dinner prcpaired at the charge of the New-accepted Masons . " Bro . Rylands , taking the statement in Bro . Kenning ' s

Cyclopsedia to the effect that " recent researches have proved that Ashmole was not a member of the Masons ' Company , though almost all the persons he named were , " and consequently that it is " clear that the ' Fellowshi p of

Freemasons ' was a Lodge of separate Freemasons more or less speculative , " goes on to argue that , under these circumstances , " the meeting , although held in ' Masons ' Hall , ' could not be ' a meeting of the Masons' Company . ' "

Otherwise , he very pertinently remarks , " Wh y was Ashmole , the ' Senior Fellow ' present , ' summoned' to , and present at , what must havo been a private meeting whero a number of gentlemen were admitted Fellows ? " He also

is careful to point out that , although Ashmole " was first admitted to the ' Fellowship ' at Warrington , he was summoned thirty-five years afterwards to a Lodge held in London , is particular to specify that Mr . Thomas Wise was

the- Master of tho Masons' Company , and is equally particular to call the 'Fellowship' that of the 'Freemasons , ' except where ho writes ' New-accepted Masons . ' " Taking

these and other circumstances into account , Bro . Rylands snys : " If I were asked to express an opinion on the Warrington Lodge of 104 G I should feel obliged to say that ,