The Masonic Ceremony At Truro.

Lodge to be Iiolden at the Town Hall , Truro , on Thursday , the colli clay of May next , for the purpose of laying , in Masonic form , thc foundation stone of the Truro Cathedral . Thc Grand Officers . Past Masters , and Wardens of lodges arc to assemble at 10 . 30 o'clock . The Grand Lodge will be opened at eleven o ' clock precisely .

By command of the M . W . Grand Master , SlIADWKI . I . II . Cl . KRKK , Cr . S . Freemasons' Hall , London , W . C ., ist Mav , 1 SS 0 . NOTE . —It is particularly requested that all Grand Officers who intend to be present at thc Special Grand Lodge at Truro , as above , will signify such intention to the Grand Secretary on or before the Sth inst .

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .

The General Committee of this Institution met on Saturday last , at Freemasons' Hall , Bro . Raynham VV . Stewart in the chair . There were also present Bros . R . li . Webster , S . 15 . Wilson . VV . F . C . Moutrie , J . Rawson , D . M . Dewar , Herbert Dicketts , L . Ruf , A . H . Lilley , S .

Rosenthal , A . J . Duff Filer , Edward B . Grahliam , J . Terrv , C . H . Webb , H . Young , VV . Maple , John Constable , Joyce Murrav , Rev . Richard Morris , Thos . Meggy , W . Mann , 1 . J . Hooper Wilkins . Thos . W . C . Bush , F . Adlard , VV . " H . Pcrryman , F . Binckes ( Secretary ) , and 11 . Masscy ( Freemason ) . After reading and confirmation of ( he minutes , and the

reading of the Quarterly Court minutes and the House and Audit Committees' minutes for information , two petitions , adjourned from the . former meeting for further particulars , were received and passed . One new petition was accepted , and another conditionally on information as to compliance with rules being supplied . Outfits were granted to two cx-pupilsof the Institution , who have obtained

situations . The following brethren were nominated for election 011 the House and Audit Committees : For the House Committee : Bros . Joyce Murrav , H . B . Grabham . | . G . Chancellor , II . W . Hunt , VV . F . C . Moutrie , W . Paas , F . VV . Ramsay , G . J . Row , VV . Roebuck ,

S . Rosenthal , D . Rolls , G . Sanders , R . VV . Stewart , 1 ' .. L Mather , T . Meggy , Alfred Williams , R . P . Spice , T Cubitt , and Alfred Durrant . For the Audit Committee : Bros . J . Constable , C . F . Ma tier , D . M . Dewar , T . Meggy , VV . ' Mann , Alexander Wal lace , R . B . Webster , II . Venn , and C . K . Soppet . The Committee then adjourned .

Notes On The History Of The English Ritual.

NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH RITUAL .

HY THE EDITOR . PART II . ( Continued from page 104 . ) We have reached this position , therefore , which it is well to mile carefully before we go on to Part I / ., that imicli

that has been said respecting previous arrangements rests only on an lit dirilur . and that we have no authentic evidence exci'jit tradition , am ! that mainly Oliver ' s , after all , uf the successive alterations up to 1770 of the ritual bv Dosauglicrs and Anderson , Clare , and Manningliain . It may have been so , it probably was so , but as no M . S . evidence remains irrcfragahly of the fact , we can

only accept the slad-iiii-iil on Oliver ' s authority . No such ritual , as 1 have before pointed out , exists in the archives of Grand Lodge , or at Gulden-square . What , therefore , that ritual really was can only be a matter of speculation , and . in truth , as a thing of the past , except as of antiquarian interest , it concerns us to-day in infinitesimal measure .

From 1752 to 17 M , when Thomas Dunckerley appears as Senior Grand Warden , nothing clearly was done . Oliver is absolutely wrong in stating that in 1740 Dunckerley introduced Royal Arch Masonry , and he apparently antedates his active work in Masonry by about twenty-five years . Dunckerley is mentioned three limes in the Constitutions of 17 S 4 , as being present in Grand Lodge—when Senior

Grand Warden in 170 S , ( he was also Provincial Grand Master for Hampshire ) , in 177 .= ; , in 177 ( 1 , at the consecration of Freemasons' Hall . At a Grand Lodge in 177 S a report of his , as Superintendent lor Wiltshire and Dorsetshire is mentioned : perhaps a diligent search of the Grand Lodge minute books might discover other attendances . We shall not do wrong , however , in placing his active work of

Masonry from 1770 forwards , as it could not , I think , have begun much before that time . If , as reported , he revised the ritual , it would lie about that period . It is just possible that Dunckerley ' s activity in the Royal Arch movement about 176 S may have been transferred to Craft Masonry . At page 113 of " The Revelations of a Square , " Oliver gives us some of Dunckerley ' s . emendations . I wish I could

believe that they accurately represent Dunckerley ' s own words . They seem to me , I confess , mor ; than doubtful . Preston ' s ritual is in the possession of the Lodge of Antiquity . The First Degree has been given by the "I'rcstonian Lecturers . '' In respect of the Second Degree there seems to be some doubt . Hut the Third Degree—as Preston used it—is still in cypher , and has never as such been

given m England . We must not omit to mention here that from 1755 , •» ' thereabouts , the Antient Masons bad adopted a ritual of their own . What it was is not at all certain ; but such was the state of things when Preston undertook , about 177-. to revise and re-arrange the ritual . We have the proof of his revised ritual in that it still exists , its great prevalence at

our time in English lodges , and its influence on Masonry which even now has not passed away . At page 114 "Revelations of a Square , " Oliver imparts to us some test questions of Preston . If they IVCI ' L r , ally Preston ' s , ( which is doubtful on more grounds than one I , they have long become obsolete . Preston's

" working" was long popular in England , and it has been asserted that as he was originally an Antient Mason he incorporated into the modern " working" much of the " working" of the Antients . It has also been said that Preston had an earlier and a later system . Preston , in his first edition of his " Illustrations , " which then was not a history in 1772 , lias adopted the . " Universal Prayers , " and

Notes On The History Of The English Ritual.

probably the difference in his systems is one of cxpansivencss more than anything else . In 1798 J . Brown put out bis "Master Key '• ' in cypher , and in 1 S 02 thc charlatan Finch published his Masonic treatise , ( an utterly worthless production ) . It is said that in 1 S 02 a " Freemasons' Companion , " or " Pocket Preceptor , " was published at Philadelphia , U . S ., by John Philips , but 1 have not seen it .

Abroad the expositions of Masonic ritual , pretended and surreptitious , [ bad been incessant . They began so far back as 17 . ^ , 4 , when Prichard was translated into German , Dutch , and French . The Dutch translation dates from 1734 , the German in I 73 < "> , and the French in 1737 . Tile first original French publication seems to have been "Lc Secret des Francs Macons , " & c , by thc Abbe Pcrau , 1742 , and there is a German work called " Das Gehimniss

der Freirmaurer , & c , Pans , mentioned by Moss , 1739 , a copy of which I have seen . I need hardly detail to-day thc list of these French and German works , which are known to Masonic students , because they prove little or nothing , and are mostly copies one of another , and all are based on " Prichard , or the Great Mystery . " And here comes in the other view of the subject—they arc all utterly worthless , partly through their untruth , and

partly through their incorrectness , and , above all , through their exaggeration . They represent nothing , to my mind , but the outcome of vulgar curiosity or idle mendacity . But as base coin points to good coin , so these fictitious revelations prove thc existence of a true ritual . As far now as we can speak positively on the subject , there were in England at thc close of the last century , the following rituals : There was the ritual emendated by

Preston ; there was thc ritual in use among the Antients ; there was the ritual which bad been used by the York Grand Lodge , and there was the old ritual which bad come down through Clare , and Manningham , and Dunckerley , and which was worked in those modern lodges where Preston's emendations had not found entrance . Grand Lodge , as far as wc know , pursued , until 1 S 13 , a purely passive rule in the matter .

One great point of distinction , however , was the " univcrsalism" of some lodges and the Christianity of the ritual of others . From 1733 , according to the Rawlinson MSS . in thc Bodleian Library , Oxford , in which one or two prayers are found , the purely Christian forms of the earlier ritual were passing away , and we find , if wc look back carefully into the matter , tliat . as Barton U'ilsor used to like to say , "

tlietwo systems ran side by side , " pari passu , until the Gordian knot was cut , as we all 'know , in 1 S 13 , and this vexata qmestia deliberately and definitively settled in favourof universal prayers . It has been said that the ritual of the antients was more Christian than that of the moderns , because they leant more to the ancient York system . But liro . Iluglian and myself have long pointed out that there was no real

connection between Dermott and the \ ork Grand l * odge , and that the " York Rite" is a non-existent rite as such , a misnomer , a later invention altogether . I am not aware , as I said before , that any authentic copy of the Antient Ritual exists . 1 have always held that Browne in his "Master Key " leant more to the antient , and Gondall , in " JacViin and Boaz , " to the moderns , but others hold a contrary opinion .

Whichever be the true view of the matter is not a matter of great consequence , as all the pre 1 S . 13 questions resolve themselves into insignificance , and leinaiu simply as curious subjects of enquiry for the Masonic student and archx-ologist of to-day . As regards the- Christianity of the earlier rituals , I would just observe that Oliver , who is our principal authority , had taken up in his later years strong so-called " Johannite " views , and his statements must all be taken "cumgrano

salis , " as , for instance , when he quotes Dunckerley , in " The Revelations of a Square , " as mentioning the old Christian prayers and invocation . The words he used arc actually taken from the "Masonic Poem" of early 14 th century , which it is doubtful if Dunckerley ever saw . But then , on the other hand , we must not lose sight of the influence of llermeticism in Freemasonry and Christian Herim-ticism to boot , a point which has not received yet the attention it deserves .

A Visit To The Library At Golden Square.

A VISIT TO THE LIBRARY AT GOLDEN SQUARE .

By the very courteous consideration of Bro . Capt . Philips , 1 was , as a "Masonic Student , " enabled under his efficient guidance to enjoy a couple of hours most pleasantly and profitably in tbe library and museum of Golden-square . This is comparatively a modern creation , and reflects the

greatest credit on the authorities of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite , as they have in it tbe " nucleus " of a most valuable and important library . Many of the books are very curious , sume are very rare indeed , most rare , and all seem collected with care , acumen , and good taste . At present the library is not a large one , as libraries are reckoned , but it is , " be it noted , a most praiseworthy

beginning , and as a Craft Mason I regretted to think that Grand Lodge provides no such carefully ordered "feast of reason " for its numerous members . 1 am not unaware of the great difficulties of this special question in Grand Lodge , but it is n disgrace to the greatest Craft Body in existence , a standing discredit to ii , with all its wealth , that it possesses no fair collection of Masonic literature , nor provides a

library , where earnest Masonic students may read , study , and think . Thc authorities at Golden-square , wise in their generation , have commenced , and are keeping up , a most interesting collection of books bearing on Masonry , as well Craft as High Grade , and on cognate subjects and collateral studies , and if they continue in this good course they will in a few years possess a most valuable and important

library , one of which they will have good reason to be proud . Among tbe MSS . 1 observed a fine thirteenth century Latin Bible , most interesting and valuable in itself , and a " replica " of Matthew Cooke ' s . VIS ., which seemed In mc older than Reid ' s copy , now in Bro . Woodford's possession , from the great attention paid to " rubrication of passages

and donation of capitals . " I was also struck with several High Grade Rituals , and above all with the minutes of " La Grande Loge de France , " from 1713 , which had belonged to " Th ' ory , " author of " Acta Latomorum . " Among the printed books I was struck by the numerous and valuable collection of Hermetic works of Rosicrucian

A Visit To The Library At Golden Square.

treatises ( many very scarce ) , works on the "Cabala , " foreign and English Masonry . There is a good collection of thc "Constitutions" and ancient and modern Masonic works . Thc library is rich , as was probable , in High Grade Rituals , and in works relating to Theosophic Masonic literature . It is also making a good collection of works on architecture , and archaeology , and of such books as Calmel ' s "Dictionary of the Bible , " " Picart ' s " Ceremonies , " and "The History

of the Templars and Knights of St . John . Among the curiosities in the museum 1 noted thc apron ( Rose Croix ) of Henry IV . of France , the apron of Napoleon I . the snuff box of Frederick the Great , several very curious seals and antique jewels ,, and among them an old K . A . jewel , with three Hebrew words without thc vowel points . This must be very old . Two articles claim special notice , one is a jadestatuetteol Confucius , on which is seen the

square , two triangles , and an apron , and the other a jade enamelled square . Both must be very old , and the squarcsare 100 , not 90 Degrees . Among the swords picked up on one of thc French battle-fields in the last war was a Tyler ' s sword with . Masonic emblems . I need say nothing of the considerations arising out of some of these " evidences of Masonry . " but would merely premise that if thc apron of

Henry IV . of F-ancc is authentic , we shall have to re-write our Masonic history . Nothing could exceed the courtesy of the authorities at Golden-square , or their evident wish to oblige , and fraternal willingness to show their now curious and valuable collection . 1 am informed that they are at all times glad to receive bon ;\ -fide Masonic students , and to give them every facility to read and collate thc works in their

possession . I can on !} - say ( hat I left greatl y pleased and edified with my visit , and 1 hasten in the t rcemnson to communicate that pleasure and edification to others . Let us hope that the evident tendency of the hour to read more and think more about Masonry may be " auspicium melioris ; cvi " for Masonic literature and Masonic libraries . VV .

Freemasonry In Spain.

FREEMASONRY IN SPAIN .

( Continued from page 144 . J We have already said that the Spanish Revolution of 1 S 6 S inaugurated a new era of liberty -, it also marks a fresh departure in the chequered history of Freemasonry in Spain . A brief sketch of the state of affairs which immediately preceded the promulgation of the Liberal Constitution of

iSoi ) is necessary to enable our readers to appreciate the full significance of thc change brought about by the Revolution . The opening months of the year 1 S 6 S saw things political much disturbed in Madrid in consequence of the death of Narvaez—a soldier and statesman of no ordinary type , who ruled his country with an iron hand alternately with his

compeer O'Donell . He suppressed all liberty ; but , nevertheless , he kept the Carlist and other rival factions quiet , and , commercially speaking , he undoubtedly contributed to thc prosperity of tbe land . Of the three chiefs of the Isabellinist cause in Spain , who , for more than a quarter of a century , had successfully upheld the rights of Dona Crislina and her daughter

Isabel against the Carlist Pretenders to the throne of Ferdinand VII ., the greatest of the three—both as a statesman and as a general—was , undoubtedly , General N'arvaez . His compeers and coadjutors , Ualdomcro Espartero and Lcopoldo O'Donell , were brave men and true patriots , whilst always loyal to their Queen , but neither of them was a born ruler of men , which Narvaez proved himself to be . General

Espartero bad retired years before from politics , and O'Donell himself departed this life in the year 1 SI 16 , leaving Narvaez without a political rival possessing force of character sufficient to wrest the reins of government from his hand , and thus he was at the time virtual Dictator at Madrid . Narvaez was a relentless and autocratic minister—the true Bismarck of Spain ; yet withal an honest man , and sincere in his

belief that the stern and inflexible policy which he pursued was tile best for both Spain and the Spaniards . After the death of O'Donell Narvaez became still more ruthless , yet more autocratic and repressive in his rule . He brooked no interference with his will . He made short work of those of his political adversaries who dared to show their hands openly before him , and when on bis death bed his father

confessor put tbe usual question before giving him final absolution as to whether be forgave his enemies , Narvaez is said to have replied , with a relentless smile on his dying lips , " I have no enemies ; 1 have shot them all' . " The death of this resolute man was the signal for a general outburst of rival partisanship . Men whose hungry mouths had long been watering for the good things of office , but who had not dared to pit themselves openly

against the dreaded arm of Narvaez , now openly plotted against his immediate successor , Gonzalez Brabo . This Brabo was a cunning lawyer and nothing more , who relied upon Jesuitical support and Ultramontane intrigue to hold bis own against his various political adversaries ; but these , being men of the sword , prepared to meet him with their own doughty weapons , and they soon passed from intrigue to actual pronuncitimiento , and thus brought about the memorable events of 1 S 6 S .

The Revolution of September of that year was a true "Causa de Hspana . " Its promoters were themselves as surprised at the results achieved as were the most loyal and unaspiring of the lahradores of Old Castile . The sole and only aim of the conspirators was to turn Gonzalez Brabo and his ministry out of office , and to expel from the Royal palace the Out-en ' s special favourite , Marfori , and those

Jesuitical knaves—true wolves in sheep ' s clothing—Padre Claret and Sister Patrocino . When Admiral Topete entered the Bay of Cadiz at the head of a portion of the fleet of Spain , supported on shore by General Serrano in command of a few regiments of soldiery , bought for the occasion by Montpensier ' s gold , their hostility was directed solely against the ministers and courtesans then in power ,

from whose hands they desired to wrest , by force of arms , the reins of government ; partly with a vague intention _ of advancing the cause of Liberal constitutionalism , but principally with personal aims in view , for , in point of fact , this hronunriamienta was neither more nor less than a Spanish

military emeiile , the final object in view being tbe political aggrandisement of Messieurs Topete , Serrano , arul Juan Prim . There was not one of these actors who anticipated for a moment that their skilfully planned couf > d ' etat would assume the historical proportions of a dynastic Revolution . The subsequent flight of the Queen herself . took the conspi-