Consecration Of The Anglo-American Lodge, No. 2191.

feeling of American and English Masons . That was the thought which would be appreciated in America . He was sure that there was not an American who would not be as gratified as he had been at the interesting occasion , and no thoughtful brother could go away without being deeply impressed with the solemnity of the ceremonies of the great Fraternity to which he belonged . Speaking of the remarkable increase in America , he

could not but notice that the progress of civilization westward was marked by the establishment oF three constructions : the church , the school house , and the Iodge . These were in their natural order Faith , Hope , and Charity ; and the three were properly and intimately connected . There were secrets in Masonry , thev might not tell the outside world , but they might well say that Masonry was the handmaid of religion , and tended to

make them better fitted for this world and better fitted for the world above . "The Visitors" was given by Bro . F . K . ED " rE , J . W ., who said he performed the duty with pleasure , for he was sure it would be received vvith enthusiasm , They had been told in the lodge to unite in the grand design of being happy and communicating happiness . They were carrying out that precept on the present occasion , and he hoped the endeavours of the founders had been successful . The visitors , he was happy

to say , far out-numbered the members of the lodge . H e should couple with the toast the names of Bro . J . C . Parkinson , P . G . D ., and H . H . Bro . Prince Ibrahim Hilmy , of Egypt . The first was well-known and respected by all , and the other had come among them having recently joined Masonry . He could only say on behalf the members of the lodge , they were pleased to have the visitors amongst them , and trusted to be again honoured with their presence on some future occasion .

Bro . J . C . PARKINSON , P . G . D ., replied , and said he felt it rather hard on the brethren that he should for a moment interfere with the musical performance they desired to hear , but he would promise that the interval should be brief , and that he would compress the gratitude of the visitors into the fewest words . They had just heard one of the most admirable and touching orations which it had been his lot to

listen to . As those words of ready eloquence fell from the lips of Bro . Consul General Waller , the walls around him seemed to fall , and he saw in his thoughts the mighty West . The kindness he had experienced there had been in his case two-fold , and had been reproduced during the last few moments . When he spoke of the church , the schoolhouse , and the lodge , beautifying the previously sterile soil , he thought how ,

when he went West , he had found the land enclosed and cultivated where he had expected to find the American prairie . Masony had had something to do in that great development . The lessons of Masonry found , in America , a fertile soil . They are always ready to hand and invariably enforced . In returning thanks for the visitors he could only say he discharged a small

installment of a deep debt of gratitude he owed to that country . However slender an introduction a visitor might have , they took him for what he was , and if they liked him , there were no such people in the world to entertain him . It was his privilege to retain , in that country , some of the kindest friends his life had given him . It was , therefore , with peculiar pleasure that he returned thanks for that toast . There would follow him a brother who

represented the most ancient country in the world , and whom he initiated into Freemasonry in the Drury Lane Lodge a few weeks previously . If there was anything that could warm the heart of a Mason it was to welcome the brother of the reigning sovereign of an ancient country such as Egypt . Bro . H . H . Prince IBRAHIM HILMY said that as the present occasion was

only his second visit to a Masonic lodge , he did not think he should be called upon to respond . He did not think he could add anything to the excellent speech of the brother who had preceded him . He would say that if there was anything that would give him a deeper interest in the Craft , it was a ceremony which ushered in a lodge which had such a bright future before it as the Anglo-American .

" The Masonic Charities" was given by the W . M ., who observed that this toast was always honoured and accepted with cordiality . He was glad to say they had a representative of the Institutions present in Bro . F . Binckes , P . G . Stwd ., Sec . R . M . I , for Boys . Bro . F . BINCKES , Sec . R . M . I , for Boys , said , in speaking of himself as . a visitor , he thought his name was not altogether strange to his friends on

the other side of the Atlantic , and he had done his best to welcome the visitors from that country . He was pleased to say that Bro . Major Lambert , to whom he had before alluded as the embodiment of Charity , had consented to again serve as Steward for the Institution he represented . The Institution for Aged People had had a splendid success , and the Girls ' School also received a fair share of support , but he represented the most needy of the three Institutions . He was sorry to say that the Boys' School

was in debt to their bankers to the amount of £ 4000 . Much had been said in days gone by that they had been extravagant , and it had been stated in many lodges that the boys were costing between £ 60 and £ 70 per annum . With a new organisation , he was able to tell them that , in the past year , with the introduction of better supervision , they had reduced the amount in round figures from £ 4 6 in 1885 to £ 40 in 1886 . He sincerely trusted the members would give their cordial support to Bro . Major Lambert .

Bro . Major LAMBERT responded for "The Officers , " and said his remarks would be very brief indeed , for his motto was " et res non verba . " He assured the VV . M . that the officers would cordially support him during his year of office . The Tyler ' s toast then closed a very successful meeting .

The enjoyment of the evening was enhanced by an excellent programme of music given under the direction of Bro . C . S . Lodge , and supported by Bros . Herbert Schartau , R . Mackway , Franklin Clive , T . Adams , T . J . Robins , and C . Ralph . The officers' collars , jewels , working tools , founders' jewels , etc ., were designed and manufactured by Bro . George Kenning .

The Palladian Chapter, Hereford.

THE PALLADIAN CHAPTER , HEREFORD .

Bro . the Rev . J . Horden Jukes , M . A . ( Oxford ) sent me some particulars of the ori gin of the Palladian Chapter , Hereford , the only one really in that province , and since then I have looked Up a few points relating to its early history . That zealous Craftsman and Companion copied for me the second warrant , by which the chapter now works , which runs as follows : —

Augustus Frederick , Z . Dundas , H . john Aldridge , J . IN THE NAME OF THE GREAT ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE . To all the Enligh ened our Brethren of the several Degrees of the Royal Craft , but more especially those Citizens of the World and Servants of the Omnipotent , who have been hor . oured by Exaltation to our Sublime Degree . '

The Palladian Chapter, Hereford.

Health Peace Goodwill . Be it known that our Excellent Companions , James Maddy , William Preece , John Hawkins , Richard P . Scudamore , Thomas Bird , William Lane , William Garstone , William Cooke , and John Allen , junior , having made known to Our Supreme Grand Chapter their desire of holding a Chapter of our Order for the cultivation of this Grand and Universal Science , in Hopes thereby the more to extend their aid to , and promote

the Happiness of , all our Brethren , and link Mankind together by indissoluble bonds of Friendship , Peace , and Harmony , And that Our Grand Chapter having taken their Petition into consideration , and finding it concordant with our Grand System of Universal Benevolence , We do hereby , with the consent of Our said Grand Chapter , grant unto the said Companions this Our Charter of Constitution , to be held with , and attached to

the Warrant of the Lodge No . 196 , called "the Palladian Lodge , " with full power for Them , their Companions and Successors , to Open and Hold a Chapter of Our Ordftt at the Bowling Green Tavern in the city of Hereford , or at such other Place , and at su ^ Time , as Our said Companions and Successors shall , with the consent of US and Our Successors , Grand Officers for the time being , think meet . The first Chapter to be opened on Tuesday , the iSth day of December now next ensuing , by the Title oS

PALLADIAN CHAPTER , with such Privileges , Powers , and Immunities as do of Right belong to regular established Chapters and Companions of Oursaid Most Excellent Order , Subject nevertheless to the General Laws and Ordinances already or to be hereafter enacted by Our Most Excellent Grand and Royal Chapter . Given at London under Our Hands and the Seal of Our Grand and Royal Chapter the 7 th day of November , A . L . 5821 . A . D . 1821 .

William H . White , E . . Edwards Harper , N . What became of the original warrant I cannot say ; but probably it was returned to London in 1821 , for in the minutes of that year , on December 26 th , it is noted that , in response to a communication from the Grand Chapter , the names to be found in the foregoing document were sent for insertion in the new charter . The two rival Grand Chapters united on

March 18 th , 1817 , forming the " United Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of England , " from which period it was required that " every chapter shall be attached to some warranted lodge , " the precedence of the several chapters being determined by the " priority of the lodges to which they may be respectively attached . " The authorities appear also to have required the old chapters to take out new warrants , several doing so , the "

Palladian " being of the number . Before the Union of 18 th March , 1817 , its number was 80 * on the Grand Chapter roll ( " Moderns " ) , the numbers being separate or distinct from those of the lodges . The original warrant —according to the minutes of the chapter—was dated " 14 th day of August , A . L . 5795 , A . D . 1791 , " the Principals being the Rev . Richard Underwood , Z . ; Robert Phillips , H . ; and the Rev . Thomas Kidley , J .

A Provincial Grand Chapter was held on August 31 st , 1791 , b y "Thomas Dunckerley , Esquire ( P . G . M . ) , Grand Superintendent for the province ( a Provincial Grand Lodge having been held on the previous day ) , when the warrant of dispensation for holding a chapter having been read , the following appointments were made . " The latter included M . E . Comp . Thomas Callender as " Deputy Grand Superintendent . " The next meeting , being

the first since the constitution , was held at the "Bowling Green Inn' on February 7 th , 1792 . According to Bro . Lane ' s invaluable " Masonic Records , " the " Bowling Green " was the houseof meeting for the " Palladian " Lodge from 1788 to 1806 , and again was so selected from 1818 to 1837 . The lodge was chartered 12 th October , 1762 , and has a special centenary jewel

warrant . The first , however , formed in the city was on 16 th January , 173 S , but was erased on November , 1754 . It is singular that the " Palladian " Chapter is the only one which has ever been chartered for Hereford , its numbers having been 80 until 1817 , then 196 , as the lodge , becoming 141 in 1832 , and from 1803 has been 120 , at which , I hope , it will long continue . W . J . HUGHAN .

The Sacred Ark.

THE SACRED ARK .

Masonic antiquarians , musing upon the mysteries of the Royal Arch , have given us learned dissertations upon the Ark of the Covenant , upon the seraphim , and upon every other other particular which Masonry has borrowed from the Hebraic worship , and still they seem never to have prosecuted researches elucidating the sources whence the Hebrews themselves derived knowledge of the mysteries transmitted to us in various

degrees of dilution . It is assumed that during the reign of the Pharoah Menephta , about the year 1300 before our Christian era , occurred the exode of the Israelites from Egypt under the leadership of a man learned in all the knowledge of that country . Having been reared under royal protection , Moses must have been a resident of the royal cities of Thebes and a devotee at the shrine le

of Amen , the god for whose worship Rameses erected the great temp whose ruins are at present known as those of Luxor . In the shrine of this Thebian temple was conserved the sacred ark , or boat , which , upon stated occasions , was carried around the streets , or upon the Nile , with a great public demonstration , accompanied by festivities and musical performances in which the royal princesses conceived it to be an honour to participate '

This ark procession appears to have been peculiar to the city of Thebes and to have bestowed upon it its name , for the word theba means boat or ark . Hence , it is but fair to presume that from exp lora * lion of the remains of the temple of Amen we can g lean the most accurate idea as to the manner of the original ark's fabrication ana the object for its construction . Fortunately upon the walls of an innermost

chamber of the vast temple , within the confines of one of its halls—Notr Dame of Paris could stand without touching its sides—there remains a richly-coloured painting of the sacred ark in bas-relief . The bark is s ' , " ing upon an altar , covered by a red cloth . On smaller altars stands ve ^ l for libations or for incensesurrounded bflowers . In the centre 01 t

, y bark is the ark itself , a sort of chest partially veiled , in which is ' oreV , hidden the mystic symbol of the God . In the boat are small images men , kneeling in adoration , and immense artificial lotus and V $ V „ flowers . On the prow ol the boat is the sacred hawk , and behind it srjhinx . emblem of the kins . At this Doint our curiositv is baffled , f ° V .

know nothing about the worship of Amen , whose name has descended to a sacred word , or the cause for his connection with an ark , which assure ; must have been based upon some event of more than national importa" ^ transpiring many years before the days of Moses ' s exode , and of vvhic has made no mention , while transferring the ark to his own relig ious monials . Faber . author of " Origin of Idolatrv . " inclined to the opi

that the sacred ark bears some relation to the legend of a universal de B ^ but it would be safer to presume that it has some connection with ; 0 gcasket , in which Isis discovered the mutilated remains of Osiris " ° ^ upon the waters of the Nile , after his murder by his brother Set . - " Zealand Mail .