The Approaching Boys' School Ceremony At Bushey In Herts.

shire . The latter is , in dut y bound , to meet on such an occasion in order to show its respect for Grand Lodge and thc Duke of CONNAUGHT , and yet , in order to perform that duty , its members will be called upon to pay for a journey they may not need to make—or , in addition , to another they may be

compelled to make—and for a luncheon they may not care to partake of . We do not think this part ol the scheme , will commend itself either to the brethren of the Province , or to others from town or country , who will readily , no doubt , pay a small fee for admission , if necessary , but are not prepared to spend a guinea for a short journey out and home and a little li g ht refreshment .

A Short History Of Freemasonry.

A SHORT HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY .

The following' paper was read at the 500 th meeting of the Royal Alfred Lodge , No . 877 , jersey , and was sent us a short time since for publication : In giving this account I do not vouch for anything save that I have been careful to verify dates cited in connection with English history , laying before you information I have gleaned from various sources . Some writers say our Order originated in a certain Dionysiac Fraternity , who were a

corporation of architects who monopolised all the building of temples , stadia or racecourses , and theatres . I personally hope the authority for this did not pitch upon this because of its semblance to Dionysos , the Greek Bacchus , as , we who know what Freemasonry is , know how far from the truth that stigma is . Anyhow , this Fraternity were said to know each other by signs and tokens , and according to their skill and ability were entrusted with certain portions of the work on which they left their registered mark just

like artists do nowadays . They were first heard of in Asia Minor about the year 1044 . B . C ., or just about 50 years before the building of King Solomon ' s Temple . If this be so , what more reasonable thing could be imagined than that , as we know from the Volume of the Sacred Law , when King Solomon sent to Hiram King of Tyre for skilled workmen , Hiram , the widow ' s son , a skilled artificer , should on account of his great ability have been sent to superintend matters .

Rebold one of the best authorities on the subj ect , states that there were many Masonic Corporations diffused throughout Europe at the beginning of the seventh century , which were known in Italy as Colleges of Architects , in France as Pontifical Brothers and Free Corporations , in England and Scotland as Free Masons , so called on account of the extensive privileges they enjoyed as a Corporation of Builders . Dr . H . Henry , in his History

of Great Britain , says that Italians , with some Greek refugees and with some French , Germans , and Flemings , formed a Fraternity of Architects , procuring Papal Bulls , or Charters , for their privileges ; they styled themselves Free Masons , and wandered from one nation to another as they found churches to be built . In the ioth Century , King Athelstan is said to have specially protected them and granted them a special charter to hold

their assemblies , and to embody them as a Corporation . They met at York in ihe year 926 A . D . and the regulations they then adopted under the title of ihe " Golhic Constitutions " were discovered by Mr . Halliwell in the library of the British Museum . By the way , in a short account of the origin of the Yarborough Lodge , No . 244 , in this province , it is stated that Prince Edwin granted these " Constitutions" in 926 ; this , I find , is as

copied from their Charter granted by the " Athol Grand Lodge . If you will refer to your English Histories , you will find that Prince Edwin ( afterwards King of England , and the only Prince of that name we know of living about that time , and the eldest son of Edmund 1 st ) was born in the year 944 and died in 959 , whereas King Athelstan , Edwin's Uncle , reigned from 923 to 941 . Edwin

when King might have confirmed them . We owe many of the splendid old Gothic churches of the Middle Ages that exist in Europe to this Architectural Confraternity , for instance , the Cathedral of Strasburg , founded in the year 1015 and finished in 1439 , and Cologne Cathedral , founded in the year 1248 but only finished in our time ; while i . l England we have grand specimens of their work in parts of York Minster , Salisbury and Durham

Cathedrals , and they also built many famous structures in Portugal , Spain , and Italy . The Abbey of Kilwinning , in Scotland , is said to have been built by this Fraternity in the year n 50 . This has given a name to the Scotch lodge , I think No . o under the Grand Lodge of Scotland , which is said to be able to trace its birth to an assemblage of Masons building this abbey . One curious fact in connection with this lodge , worth recording here , is that for a considerable time the St . Clair family , the Barons ol

Rosslyn , were hereditary Grand Masters of it , as they used to be called in those days . The first old lodge in England , that of York , is said by another authority to be able to trace back to an assemblage of Masons presided over by St . Alban , the proto-martyr , in 296 ; he suffered death , as no doubt you are all aware , in 303 . By the way , the Kilwinning and York Lodges are said to be the most ancient in Great Britain , and , unquestionably , were the parent lodges from which all the others have sprung .

When the braternity merged from the operative to the speculative bod y as we have it cannot be discovered ; no doubt it was the result of the introduction of non-operative members , and was very gradual . We find , however , that Henry , Dukeof Beaufort , Cardinal Bishop of Winchester ( 1422-3 ) , finding that Masons went outside their Craft and meddled with politics , prohibited , or got an act to prohibit them , from holding their usual chapters

and assemblies . This was while he was actirg as Regent for the young King Henry VI ., then a minor . However . whengrown to man ' sestate , the King is said to have becomea member of the Craft , and Henry VII . their Grand Master , 1480-15119 . So it is easy to imagine that from about this time other persons than those skilled in architecture were admitted to the Order ,

bearing out the words of our Entered Apprentice ' s song about Kings , Dukes , and Lords . Our great City companies are an instance nowadays of what must have been the case in those days , many men being made freemen of guilds whose trades they have never practised . Charles IL , 1603 , and William III ., 1685 , are said to have been both Freemasons .

Flias Ashmole , the great antiquary , says he was initiated into Freemasonry in 1646 ; and Preston informs us that 30 years before this the Earl of Pembroke was made Grand Master of the Order .

On St . John ' s Day , 1717 , the four lodges then in existence in London rret together at the Apple Tree T . T e-n in Covent Garden , and a Grand Lodge was formed under the Grand Mastershi p of Wor . Hro . Anthony

A Short History Of Freemasonry.

Sayer , with power to grant charters to other lodges , and the " Book of Constitutions " was first drawn up , and a formal resolution was passed to grant the privileges to men of various professions , "provided they were approved and initiated " into the Order . Sir Christopher . Wren , born 1632 , died 1723 , was said to have been elected Grand Master about this time , though he , through failing health , was unable to work perform the duties . Some doubts aro expressed nowadays as to whether he was ever a Mason .

After the formation of Grand Lodge it was on very unfriendly terms with the G . Lodge at York , owing to the London Lodge granting charters to lodges in the province which it claimed as its peculiar privilege . This Grand Lodge of York would appear in some way to have been associated with the Grand Lodge of Scotland , as the Scotch Grand Master , John , the third Dukeof Atholl , was elected its Grand Master 1771—1773 , and it was familiarly called after his name to distinguish it from the Grand Lodge of London .

In 1782 the Duke of Cumberland was elected Grand Master of the Grand l . odge of London , and when he died , he was succeeded by George Prince of Wales , who , afterwards became Regent for his father , George III ., when he resigned the Grand Mastership , and took the title of Grand Patron . Hence , this Grand Lodge became known

thenceforward as the Prince of Wales ' s Grand Lodge . In 1813 , after a lot of friction between the two Grand Lodges , an understanding was come lo , and a union arranged between the two rival lodges under the respective Masterships of the Dukes of Kent and Sussex , and from that time the Fraternity in England has been governed by the " United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England . "

The Grand Lodge of Scotland dates from 1736 , and held fraternal communications with the Ancient Grand Lodgeof England till 1805 , when they elected Prince George their Grand Master . Unfortunately , however , there seems to have arisen , in 1744 , a dispute between the Kilwinning Lodge , now No . o on the register ol Scotland , and the Lodge of Edinburgh , No . 1 , each of which claimed to be the oldest in Scotland , and eventually

after the lapse of time the matter was referred to the Grand Lodge for settlement , which gave it in favour of No . 1 ( Mary ' s Chapel ) , as it was in possession of the oldest charter , whereupon the Kilwinning Lodge separated itself from Grand Lodge , and established itself as a separate Grand Lodge . It would appear , however , that the schism was healed in 1807 , and the numbering of the two lodges is as I have stated .

Modern Freemasonry spread from Great Britain to the Continent , Lord Derwentwater being accredited with first introducing it into France in 1725 , and in 1756 the French lodges , finding themselves strong enough , became independent of our Grand Lodge , and in 1772 the two Grand Lodges—Le Grand Orient and La Grande Loge de France—were formed , which became united in 1779 under the title of Le Grand Orient .

Freemasonry was next introduced into Russia from England in 1731 , and was encouraged by the Empress Catherine II ., and to a great extent by the Czar Alexander , who was said to have been initiated into it . In Italy Freemasonry has not flourished , as it has been under the ban of the Popes and Inquisition . From England and Scotland it has spread to Holland , Poland , Denmark , Sweden and Norway , and Prussia .

As we know , wherever Englishmen and Scotchmen foregather in our Colonies or places under British sovereignty , there are to be found Freemasons' lodges and Grand Lodges , where they carry out the principles of the Craft with all fervency and zeal . Freemasonry , as we all know , is also widely diffused throughout the United States of North America , into which it originally found its way about 1730 .

1 ravellers assert that it existed in all parts of the world long before the introduction of modern Masonry , as in China and among the hill tribes of India they are said to have secret societies having similar signs and tokens to ours . Distinguished brethren have told me that by means of signs they have been permitted to visit certain places not open to ordinary travellers ; and in Arabia and Burmah Freemasons have been treated as Princes of their Order .

Our ritual in its present form may be modern , but who can fail to appreciate its many beauties ? and I trust that its principles of Brotherly Love , Relief , and Truth may be perpetuated , and that the Great Architect of the Universe will continue to preserve the Order ! C . G . V .

Craft Masonry.

Craft Masonry .

Richard Eve Lodge , No . 2772-This newly-established lodge is making rapid progress , and is likely to become a centre for brethren from Ihe far East . It will be remembered that amongst its initiates were Sultan Mohamad Khan , the Mir Munshi of the Ameer of Afghanistan , and the Prince Harman Singh . At its meeting held on Ftiday , the Gth instant , three gentlemen from India were initiated , they being resident in this country as students of law . Another of thc initiates of the lodge is the world-ienwned Dr . Christian David Ginsburg , one of the Revisers of the Old Testament and a ripe Oriental scholar .

At the banquet following the meeting Bro . J . M . McLeod , P . G . S . B ., Sec . R . M . I . B ., J . W ., read a letter from one of the members of the lodge , which he had that day received as Secretary of the Boys' School , the letter being as follows : " Poole , Dorset , " sth April , 1900 . " Dear Bro . McLeod , " As a ihankoffcring at the providential escape of the M . W . G . M ., H . R . H .

the Pnnce of Wales , I beg to enclose a cheque for 200 guineas towards the funds of your Institution , of which his Royal Highness is President . " I am , dear Bro . McLeod , " Yours faithfully and fraternally , ( Signed ) " J . H . WHADCOAT . " . The news of this further generous gift by our esteemed Bro . Whadcoat elicited murh enthusiasm , which became intensiiied when Bro . Richard live , the first Master of the lodge , announced his intention of supp l ementing ths funds cf the Institution with a like amount to endow the chair of the lodge in perpetuity as Vice-Patron .

There is some prospect , it seems , that Miss Ellaline Terriss . Miss Fanny Brough , and their English colleagues may be detained in New York by their gieat success in " My Daughter-in-Law " till the beginning of next year Miss Terriss was already known in the Empire City , and it is not surprising

that the New Yorkers at once " took " strongly to Miss Brough . " My Daughter-in-Law " is , indeed , admirably acted all round . We are sorry to lote Miss Terriss and Miss Brough for so long , but America always gives us a lair exchange for our benefaciions . Thus lor Miss Terriss it has given us Miss Gertrude Elliott , who seems likely lo stay permanently with us .