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GRAND LODGE OF THE PRO-. VINCE OF HAMPSHIRE AND THE ISLE OF WIGHT . THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL BRO . W . W . B . BEACH , M . P ., PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER . THE WORSHIPFUL BRO . W . HICKMAN , DEPUTY PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER . The Grand Lodge of this Province will assemble by command of the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master in the Lecture Hall of the Soldiers' Institute , Grand Parade , Portsmouth , on TUESDAY , the gth day of AUGUST , at high noon , and be closed tiled punctually at 1 p . m ., where the Provincial business will be transacted . A Banquet will take place at 3 p . m . precisely , at the Soldiers' Institute . Tickets 7 s . each , including Wine . The attendance of visiting Brethren is particularly invited . By command of the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master , A . J . MILLER , P . M ., Provincial Grand Secretary . Southampton , 22 nd July , 5 SS 1 .

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'T * HE JOHN HERVEY MEMO-•*• RIAL FUND . " Amount acknowledged in Freemason of 2 nd July - •••_ T < 5 7- 14 o Subsequent Receipts to 2 nd August . Mizpah Lodge , 16 71 ... ... ... 550 Friends-in-Council Lodge , 138 3 ... ... 550 Derwent Lodge , 40 ... ... ... 220 Bro . John Gibson , G . S . of Wks . ... ... 330 Provincial Grand Lodge of Berks and Bucks 550 Lewis Lodge , 1185 ... ... ... 310 Bro . G . Burt , P . A . G . D . C 330 Bro . H . Septimus Gill , P . M ., Z . 1125 ... 1 1 o Bro . J . J . Hamilton , P . M . 1692 ... ... 1 1 o Provincial Grand Lodge of Kent ... ... 10 10 o Victoria Rifles Lodge , 822 ... ... ... 220 United Chatham Lodge of Benevolence , 1 S 4 ... 2 2 o W . M . of United Chatham Lodge of Benevolence , 184 ... ... ... ... o 10 6 Carnarvon Lodge , 70 S ... ... ... 220 Total ... ... ... •¦•£ 717 9 o Remittances on account of the Fund , and all communications connected therewith , should be sent to Bro . R . R . DAVIS , P . M . 256 , Melvill Lodge , Manor-road , Wallington , Surrey , Hon . Secretary to the Fund .

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BOOKS , & c , RECEIVED . "The Sunday Times , " "Annals of the Grand Lodge of Iowa , " " Illustrated Catalogue of Improved Soda Water Machinery , by Dows , Clarke , and Co ., " " Der Long Islaender , " "Broad Arrow , " "The Lifeboat , " "Australian Freemason , " "The Freemason" ( Sydney ) , " Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , " " Le Monde Maconnique , " "The Masonic Review , " "The Keystone , " " West London Advertiser , " " The Central Glamorgan Gazette , " " The J ewish Chronicle , " "Thc European Mail , " "The New Zealand Freemason , " The Freemason ' s Repository , " "Allen ' s Indian Mail . "

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THEFREEMASON.SATURDAY , AUGUST 6 , 1881 .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ We do not hold ourselves responsible for , or even approving of , thc opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish in aspirit •

PRECEDENCE OF GRAND OFFICERS . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Will you allow me to make one remark on the letter of " Lex Latomica , " in your last issue ? Your correspondent will find that R . W . Bro . Sir Joseph

Bailey , the Provincial Grand Master of Herefordshire , was appointed to his high office when only a M . M ., and that , though made an Installed Master before his installation , he had not served the office of Master , nor , as far as I can learri , any office inhis lodge . 1 hesitate to . interfere even with this statement of fact in

a correspondence which : has been . 'conducted on both sides with _ so much . jbility-j-botas " York " Would appear to be taking hk " vvell ^ aroed'hafiday '' beyond the reach of the Fr . eevtaso « ,. my . temerity . may . 'be excused . ' Yours faithfully ' arid-Vaternally , ¦ •; G . NCheltenham , August 3 rd , ... " ....-. " '

'¦¦•' MASONIC CEREMONIES . To the Editor of thc "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — In a recent ceremony of laying a foundation stone ,

the distinguished Mason who presided is reported lo have declared the stone "duly laid in the name of the Father , Son , and Holy Ghost . " A question has suggested itself to some inquiring minds whether such a form of ceremony is consistent with the theory of an institution which proteste-

Original Correspondence.

to embrace all nationalities , and which ' admits all wellaccredited persons who believe in the existence of God as

T . G . A . O . T . U . Such a formula , it is true , might be beyond the limits of the early and , therefore , most generally known Craft Degrees ; but , considering that theologians hold that the world came into existence by the fiat of the second person of the Holy Trinity , that this ceremonial was performed in a

Christian land , and presumably in the midst of a Christian assembly , such a form is , I presume , quite consistent with the full scope and genius of our ancient Order . There is no institution which , without being professedly religious or sectarian , is yet so essentially moral , practicably charitable in the largest sense—yes , and Christian ,

too—as Masonry . St . John is the patron Saint of the Order among English Masons , and services are often held in a Christian church by Masons to celebrate his memory . Masonry may be atheous , just in the same sense as astronomy and its mathematical calculations are atheous , as not having God and religion as their primary and immediate

object ; but it is not antagonistic to , nor unconcerned with , such considerations ; on the contrary , all know that the book that stands en the pedestal of every Master of a lodge is the Holy Bible . I am , very truly , yours , A ROUGH ASHLAR . July 28 th .

THE OLDEST MARK MASTER MASON IN CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORLAND . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — I observe a letter in your'Jast issue , questioning the correctness of a statement in a former issue of the

Freemason , that Bro . Jos . Nicholson , P . M . 151 , is the oldest Mark Master Mason in the two counties of Cumberland and Westmorland . So far as the facts and figures mentioned by "An Old P . M . of the Mark" are concerned , he is undoubtedly correct ; but I imagine the original statement was founded on a circumstance appearing in Bro .

Lamonby ' s " History of Craft Mason'y in Cumberland and Westmorland . " I give the extract , as follows , viz ., from the minutes of the Lodge of Perseverance , No . 371 , Maryport , of which lodge , I believe , Bro . Nicholson is the oldest living member :

" The following brethren took the Degree of Mark Master Mason , and had their marks duly registered in the Book of Marks : John Wood , Joseph Nicholson , William Mitchell , John Fletcher , Jabez Alfred Pearce , John Andrew , George Green , and the visiting brethren , Daley and Gorton . '

The date ot the minute is July gth , 1 S 44 . Whether the ceremony in any way assimilated to thc Mark Degree as now practised I am unable to say ; but I will inquire of Bro . Nicholson on the first convenient opportunity . As to Bro . Nicholson ' s subsequent advancement in the Carlisle Lodge , in 1 S 67 , that may have been demanded as a sine

qua lion , in thc same manner as I know of a case where a brother advanced in a Mark lodge , under the Grand Chapter of Scotland , had to be re-advanced on joining an English lodge—a decided illegality . I may add I have heard Bro . Nicholson say he was a Mark Mason before there was a Grand Lodge of England—our supreme body having

been constituted in 1 S 5 G . There is , therefore , fairly some foundation for the statement that our veteran brother is thc " oldest Mark Mason in the two counties . " Fraternally yours , DELTA . July 30 th .

A CURIOUS OLD BOOK . " Fratimonium Excelsum , a new Ahiman Rczon . " Dear Sir and Brother , — I have read R . W . Bro . W . J . Hughan ' s article in the Freemason of 30 th ult ., and , as I am called upon by him , beg to give the following information as to this book : —

This book is given by our valued and esteemed M . W Bro . Enoch Carson , of Cincinnati , as No . 459 , in his most valuable Masonic Bibliography , as of 1771 . Fortunately , I possess three copies of it—two without plates and one with the two plates . The date of this book having been issued by Wilkinson

must have been after 1794 and before 1 S 13 . Until I examined into the matter 1 was , like M . W . Bro . Carson and others , led into thinking it was issued in 1770 , from that date being given , as mentioned by our M . W . Bro . Hughan , in _ the address to the Earl of Blessington at page 6 .

The Earl of Blessington , Viscount Mountjoy , was Grand Master for years 1783-84 and Sg , the Earl of Kingston from 17 S 9 to Si , and the Earl of Donoughmore from 17 S 9 to 1 S 13 . I have fixed the date of issue after 1794 and before iSi 3 for the four following reason :. : 1 st . 'The Earl of Donoughmore being only Grand Master from 17 S 9 to 1 S 13 .

2 nd . From page 13 stating" The first volunteer lodge 27-C 20 , meet every Monday at Shaw's , Capel-street . " Thc minutes of Lodge C 20 shows the lodge only met at Shaw ' s in Capel-strect during part of 1791 , and again from 3 rd

June 1797 , to January , 1 S 00 , the lodge meeting between these dates in Church-street , Cornhill , and at the Onnond Tavern . Page 13 also statos Lord Heath was Master . He only joined Lodge 620 on the nth October 1787 , and was

Original Correspondence.

installed Master on 24 th June , 1790 , and from that date up to 1 S 00 he was a member of the lodge . 3 rd . R . W . Bro . John Fowler ' s name is given at page 8 , as Sir John Fowler , and at page iS as Master of Lodge 141 . R . W . Bro . Fowler joined Lodge 620 on 27 th February , 1702 , and was

Installed Junior Deacon on 19 th April , 1792 . „ Junior Warden on 17 th May , 1792 . „ Senior Warden on Sth July , 1793 . „ Masteron the 3 rd December , 1793 . From the time R . W . Bro . Fowler joined Lodge 620 , on 27 th February , 1792 , until his death on 9 th June , 1 S 56

he never ceased being a subscribing member of Lodge 620 , being a period of over sixty-four years . He was also a subscribing member during portions of that period not only of 141 but also of other lodges . The first plate ( frontispiece ) is a reduction of the frontispiece of the Constitution of 1723 , four figures being only in

the plate instead of six , as in 1723 , Dr . Desaguliers being one of those left out . The plate is not only a reduction , but the figures are all reversed , the Duke of Wharton being on the left and the Dukeof Montague on the right in 1723 Constitution , whereas in this the Duke of Wharton is on thc right and the Duke

of Montague on the left . The second plate is simply a copy of the frontispiece of E . Rider ' s Pocket Companion of 1735 , the plate being also reversed . 4 th . In "the address agreed to at a meeting of the Grand Kilwinning Chapter of High Knight Templars Ireland ,

conveyned in Dublin on January 30 th , 1806 , " it is stated that the true source of Knight Templary in Ireland is from Mother Kilwinning by virtue of the charter granted in 1779 to the High Knight Templars Ireland , Kilwinning Lodge . Page S gives the Templar lists . The following is a copy taken from the original lodge

minutes ( now in my possession ) of the first time the Templar Degree was worked under this charter : " 17 S 0 . Monday , first May . Called off to High Templars , and raised Bro . Sission Darling to that Degree . " I may mention that Bro . Darling was one of the original founders of Lodge 620 , on 13 th September , 1783 .

He—27 th February , 1792—initiated R . W . Bro . John Fowler . R . W . Bro . John Fowler , on 4 th September , iS _ S , initiated V . W . Bro . Macsorley , the present father of Lodge 620 and Senior Grand Chaplain of our Irish Grand Lodge . Hence these three brothers prove the continuous working of Lodge 620 from 13 th September , 1783 , to the present , being a period of nearly eighty-eight years . Can any

brother give me a similar . case of lodge working being so proved ? R . W . Bro . Hughan will find the Earl of Donoughmore ' s name in its right place in this year ' s Irish Masonic Calendar . Yours fraternally , JAMES H . NE 1 LSON . 32 , Leeson-strcct Lower , Dublin , 1 st August .

THE LATE DEAN STANLEY . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — As I read your leader about the late Dean it occurred to me that the following verses , " In Memoriam , " which appeared in your contemporary , Thc Graphic , and may not have been seen by many of your readers , might

well find a place in your columns . They are by J . C . Conybeare : — Some fifty years save five have passed aivay Since fondly pacing Rugby , round "The Close , " Arnold's most cultured pupil breathed farewell To his loved school , himself beloved by all , As one who ne ' er had struck unkindly blow , Or spoke ungenerous word .

. His Oxford years His thoughtful boyhood's promise well fulfill'd ; And still , as time sped on , his influence grew Throughout the English Church , and Realm , and World ; The while his happy pen the story told Ot his great Master ' s life , or tribute paid

To memories dearer still— "Sweetness and light " In deed , and word , and thought were ever his Beyond his fellows , tolerance wide and free , And kindliest Christian thought—yet flash'd at times His generous anger up for right oppress'd , Or truth traduced , and from his lips burst forth Indignant eloquence and scathing scorn . FRATER .

A SHAKESPEARIAN QUESTION . As everything relative to William Shakespeare interests all of us alike , we take the following letter from the Timesol J uly 30 th , as some of our readers do not see that paper : — To the Editor of the " Times . " Sir , —Examining some old deeds in my possession

relating to lands in the neighbourhood of Penrith , Cumberland , I came across one bearing date thc 21 st Richard II ., being a conveyance from John Scott , of Penrith , and Elena Hogge , of Carleton ( a hamlet in the parish of Penrith ) , to" William Gerard , of Carleton , of several small parcels of land , measuring together an acre and a rood ,

lying "in campo de Penrith "—that is , in Penrith Field or Town Fields . The remarkable thing about the deed , however , is that one of the pieces of land is stated to lie " juxta terram Alani Shakespere , " and in thc testing clause the name of Shakespere occurs again , the words being as follows : —