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^^^„„¦JBL a^^^^^^^p w r ~ fil SATURDAY , 14 TU OCTOBER 1893 .

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Tho cry of free education for the young lias already made itself felt in Masonic circles , among those who are ever striving to benefit their felloAV creatures . We have lately recorded that in Lancashire ancl

Cheshire some alteration is contemplated in the local Masonic Educational Funds as a consequence of government grants being UOAV available for educational purposes , and something of the sort will probably be attempted elsewhere .

In Devonshire , for instance , the Secretary of the local Educational Fund has found it necessary to contradict a statement that has been made to the effect that the Fund is self supporting—as a consequence of free education , it may be assumedwhereas the facts of the case are that Devonshire has

a sum of £ 1 , 000 invested for this purpose and has twenty children on its hands , whose education , & c , entails an annual outlay of £ 300 ; a sum it would puzzle even the most enthusiastic devotee of the government system to secure for such a number of children .

It is undoubtedly true that some help will be in future obtainable from government under this head , but we fear it will never be in the power of the State to do the work so efficiently and so thoroughly as many of our Provinces are doing . It has always been the aim of the Masonic Order to educate its ornhana

as well or even better than would have been their lot had their parents lived , and we hope the same spirit will actuate them in all their dealings with the distress Avhich arises around them .

The brethren of the Transvaal seem to be sincere in their desire for a District Grand Lodge to manage their affairs , and have passed a resolution at one of their Lodges to apply for the necessary Avarrant . This means progress , and as it is being promoted in regular form Ave wish its movers every success in their efforts .

The Hon . Charles Maule Ramsay , Brechin Castle , was recentl y initiated in Lodge St . James , Brechin , No . 123 . The accession of this prominent member of the noble house of Ramsay to the ranks of tho Brotherhood has created

considerable interest . Tbe Maules and the Ramsays have always taken a lively interest in Freemasonry , and dono much for its advancement ; and that their services have been appreciated is evidenced by the fact that so many belonging to these noble families have been raised to the

highest honour the Craft has to bestow . In looking down the list of Grand Master Masons of Scotland we find the following distinguished names connected with these families : —George , 5 th Earl of Dalhousie ( 1804-5 ); the Hon . AVilliam Ramsay Mauleof Panmureafterwards

, , Lord Panrauro ( 1808-9 ); James Andrew , Lord Ramsay , aftenvards 10 th Earl , and first Marqnis of Ddlhousie ( 1836-37 ) ; Fox Maulo , 11 th Earl of Dalhousie ( 1867-69 ) . It

will be within the recollection of most that the late Earl of Dalhousie held the high and responsible position of Provincial Grand Master of Forfarshire for several years before his death . Dundee Courier .

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum (Vi. Part 2).

ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM ( VI . PART 2 ) .

BY Bno . B . F . GOULD . ( Continued from page 218 ) . PASSING from theso speculations , let me next come to Stukeley ' s statement tint be " waa the first person

made a freemason in London for many years , " which is in direct conflict with Anderson ' s acconnt of the proceedings of the Grand Lodge at its fourth meeting , in Juno 1719 , where we are told that " some Noblemen were also made

Brothers , and more neiv Lodges were constituted . Also , according to the same authority { Constitutions , 1738 ) , the Duke of Montagu baing very popular , the brethren , in 1722 , wished him to serve another year aa

G . M ., ancl therefore " delayed to prepare tho Feast . " Bat a reference to the extracts which I have given from the Diary , will Jiow under 25 th May 1722 , that Stukeley then met three noblemen at the " Fount . Tav . Lodg . to consider

of Feast at St . John . " Again , the Constitutions say , that having been irregularly placed in the Chair on the 24 th June 1722 ( St . John ' s day ) " the noble Brothers " and others disowned Wharton ' s

, Authority , until the breach was healed by the Duke of Montagu on 17 th January 1723 . With this , however , compare the entry in the Diary under 3 rd November 1722 — "The Duko of Wharton and Ld . Dalkeith [ G . M ., Jane

1723 ] visited our Lodge at the Fountain . " The Daily Tost , 20 th June and the Weekly ^ Journal or British Gazetteer , 30 th June 1722 , have been cited in my History of Freemasonry , but the proceedings of the Grand

Lodge , held 24 th June in that year , as described m the latter paper , will again bear reproduction : — " they had a most sumptuous Feast , several of the Nobility , who are members of the Society , being present ; and his Grace the Duke of Wharton was thon unanimously chosen Governor

of the said Fraternity . " Second period , 1723-26 . —Stukeley was present in Lodge on 4 th October 1723 , and so far as the evidence extends , it

Avas his last attendance at any Masonic meeting , prior to his removal from Loudon to Grantham , in 1726 . There is , indeed , only one clue to guide us in forming any judgment in the matter . In his Common-Place Booh , after recording

the circumstances attending his initiation , he observes" Immediately after that it took a run & ran itself out of breath through ihe folly of its member . " Something is here satirized of which Stukeley strongly disapproved , ancl what it Avas we may not indeed be able to

ascertain , but it is au undoubted fact that from 1722 down to 1725 , nnd perhaps later , the bonds of discipline so recently forged Avere unequal to the strain which was imposed on them . The evidence confirming this is abundant , and can bo readily referred to .

I shall , therefore , content myself with a few remarks on tho centralizing tendency of the Grand Lodge , as exemplified by a publication ( the ^ Booh of Conttitutiins ) of 1723 .

Subject to some trifling alterations , this work Avas compiled betAveen 29 th September and 27 th December 1721 , as the " manuscript" Avas ready for examination on the latter of these dates . The book introduces three striking Innovations . It

abolishes Christianity as the religion of Masonry , forbids the working of the " Master ' s part" in private Lodges , and arbitrarily imposes on tho English Craft the use of two compound words—Bntered-Apprentice and FelloAV-Craftwhich had no previous existence in its terminology .

Against these deviations from established usage the brethren rebelled , aud the more earnestly , because it gradually became apparent that the Grand Lodge , designed at first as a governing body for London and Westminster , Avas slowly but surely extending its authority over the whole country .

The threo Innovations Avhich havo been instanced , can only of necessity receive the briefest notice at my hands in tbe present article . The first of them , the drawing a sponge over tho Ancient Charge " to be true to God and the Holy Church , " was

doubtless looked upon by many Masons of those days , in very much the same manner as we now regard the absence of any religious formulary whatever , in tho so-called Masonry of Mexico ancl Franco . It is possible that Stukeley was among tho number , and