The Usual Questions.

THE USUAL QUESTIONS .

In the good old days , about vvhich some people are never weary of writing , it not unfrequently happened that those vvho declined , either with or without reason , to take the temporal or ecclesiastical authorities into their confidence were put to the question . The process vvas decidedly a painful one , and whether it was a thumb-screw , the boot , the wheel , or the rack which was employed to extract from him the required information , the

person operated upon had good reason to remember the kind of examination he was called upon to undergo . The inquisitorial arrangements of the present day are not quite so formidable . They involve no bodily torture , and those who are put to the question invariably emerge from the ordeal with their bodies and limbs in the same state and of the same dimensions as when they entered upon it . There is still , however , a good deal of

questioning and cross-questioning , which is often attended with excruciating mental torture , and among those who come in for more than a fair share of the trouble and annoyance thus caused are Members of Parliament , policemen , railway porters , and newspaper editors . These are all supposed or expected to know everything , and everyone , therefore , appeals to them for information . However , as we are not

Members of Parliament or ex-M . Ps ., railway porters or policemen , we must confine ourselves , for the present at all events , to the inquisitorial troubles which afflict the newspaper editor , and which in the case of a Masonic journal , are not made lighter or less irksome by the necessity he is under of being exceedingly circumspect in the information he vouchsafes . He must not be too outspoken in answering many of the queries

which are addressed to him , or he may find himself communicating what he is bound to keep secret , neither must he be too oracular or his querists will fail to understand him . However , it is not often that he is called upon outside the door of the tyled lodge for information which he is forbidden to divulge . The questions he is asked are of a simpler kind , and though they are no great test of his acquaintance with Masonic history , Masonic usage , or

Masonic precedent , they are mostly annoying from the frequency with which they are asked . For instance , one constant subject of inquiry—perhaps of all inquiries the most constant—is about the lady Freemason . Who was she ? Where and when did she live ? When , where , and how was she made a Mason , and for what reason ? Was she married , and . if so , was her husband a Mason ? Is she alive now , and

if not , why not ? The inquiries about this personage which have been again and again , and still and yet again , asked and answered in the columns of the Masonic press , both at home and abroad , are as numerous , if not as amusing , as those which , according to the late ARTF . WARD , were propounded some 30 years ago , when a census of the inhabitants of the United States was taken . Then it sometimes happens that your

querist has some slight knowledge of the circumstances , but this knowledge makes him none the less curious , though the series of questions with which he pursues you take a somewhat different form . The story has been told a thousand times , he has probably heard or read about it on a hundred occasions or in a hundred newspapers , but , just as the lady who is going a railway journey , and has studied BRADSHAW , the A B C , and every time-table that

is issued , considers it her imperative duty to pester every railway porter and half the intending passengers on a platform , as to which is her particular train ( say ) for Clapham Junction ; so dees the curious new-fledged Mason , who has heard of the Hon . Mrs . ALDWORTH , consider it his duty to learn the necessary details about her initiation , and why it took place . Did she hide herself in a

clock-case , or in an adjoining room and watch the proceedings through a chink in the wall ? Did the Tyler really threaten to stab her with his weapon ? Would she have been put to death if she had refused to be initiated ? Why was she not put to death instead of being initiated ? and so forth . We have read nearly every volume of every one of the Masonic

newspapers published in England , and of a large proportion of those which appear or have appeared in the United States and other foreign countries , and we venture to aflirm that the lady Freemason and her identity has been the subject of repea ' . ed and various inquiries , at frequent intervals , ever since a Masonic Press was started .

Olher frequent subjects of inquiry among new-made Masons , and not a few of their elders , concern ELIAS ASHMOLE and the Four Old Lodges ; Sir CHRISTOPHER WREN and the candlesticks he presented to the Lodge of Antiquity . It has been stated again and again that A SHMOLE was a Mason , and whence the information as to his initiation is derived , yet there is always someone who prefers giving other people the

trouble of re-stating thc facts to ascertaining them for himself from sources which are easily accessible . It has been constantly afiirmed , and as constantly denied that WREN was a Mason , yet the question crops up periodically in some Masonic journal at home , or abroad , and what is still more surprising secures that attention which it does not deserve . Other questions , of a more ridiculous class , are often asked in all sober seriousness . As when a brother is

desirous of leatning if it is true that when N OAH was told the Deluge was coming , he placed the Antient Charges inside certain marble pillars , which he had caused to be hollowed out for the purpose . The ancient York Rite is also the cause of much annoyance to the editorial mind , while as regards the terms " ancient , " " modern , " "time immemorial , " the status of "honorary members , " the rights and privileges of Past Masters , the proposition of candidates , and other matters of lodge procedure , from the frequency with

which brethren make inquiries upon these and other subjects , one might almost be led to imagine that nothing had ever been written about the history of Masonry , that it had no laws , and that its lodges were without established usages and customs ; or else that the bulk of the people who join its ranks are—well , weare not going to sayanything uncomplimentary . We fulfil our duties to the best of our ability , and if they are occasionally made somewhat more trying than it is in the nature of things they must be , that is no reason why we should retaliate by calling people names .

The "Quatuor Coronati" Lodge. No. 2076.

THE "QUATUOR CORONATI" LODGE . No . 2076 .

The last number or Part of Volume seven is now being distributed , and , as with its numerous predecessors , is of a very interesting character , and extends to a considerable number of pages . I will not say too many , but it is a question with me , how even the large membership of the " Correspondence Circle " can really meet the expenditure forsuch an artistic and Dulky part . The Editor , Bro . Speth , has assuredl y done wonders in the past , as respects

handsome and invaluable publications , so possibly when the accounts are presented , it will be found that the large outlay for printing has been met b y the subscriptions . There is one thing , the Editor is competent for almost any duty . He writes , speaks well , and can , does in fact , sketch well , and I have yet to find out what he cannot do , that can be done by any ordinary or extraordinary mortal .

Many of th ^ . illustrations in this number have the words attached , " G . W . Speth , Del , " and they are all most satisfactory . This gift of our Secretary ' s , thus utilised , adds much to the interest of the Transactions , and is most useful in affording a fair ide 1 of the curiosities noticed , especially for those members of either Circle , who , like myself , can rarely attend the meetings .

I his attractive part begins with an account of the summer outing at Salisbury and Stonehenge , and those vvho were privileged to take part were favoured by hearing a short paper read by Bro . Lovegrove on "Salisbury Cathedral "—that " glorious monument , " as he aptly terms it—besides hearing and seeing much else combining to render the summer treat " a perfect success from every point of view , and second to none of its predecessors . " The " snap shots " are good , and other views are well worth preserving .

Then follows a remarkable paper on " The True Text of . the Book of Constitutions , " by the Hon . W . H . Upton , our local Secretary for Washington , U . S . A . The title is not a happy one , as it is not suggestive of its dealing exclusively vvith the " Old Charges " of the Craft . Apart , however , from lhat trilling objection , let me say that Bro . Upton seeks to discover the true text of these ancient Masonic MSS . by reference to certain versions thereof , and takes as points for guidance ,

the ( n ) Invocation ; ( b ) the beginning of Masonry ; ( c ) Hermes , Abraham , Euclid , Bablyon ; (

Bro . J . C . Muylc sends . in article on " Chinese Secret Societies , " all the more welcome under existing circumstances , and Bro . John Yarker has brief " Notes in reference to H . A . B ., " especially to elucidate tho point as to there being " two Hirams , father and son , besides Hiram , King of Tyre , " and I hope , with him , that our esteemed W . M . ( the Rev . C . J . Ball ) as an able linquist , will give us his opinion on the subject .

Our old friend and-Bro . Jacob Norton is again to the fore , the question selected b y him being as to " The two Saints John legend , " about which he has had much to say previously , but the facts have evidently not been exhausted , for he furnishes several more this time . " Random Courses of Scottish Masonry , " by Bro . C . N . Mclntyre North , will be read with much interest , covering as it does , more or less , some four centuries , and ending with a portrait of " William Aytotine , Master Mason to Heriot ' s Vorke" from 1621 .

The meeiing on October 5 th was noteworth y for the announcement of the decease of our lamented friend , Bro . William Kelly , of Leicester , one of the full members of No . 2076 , and one of the best Masons that ever lived . A short memoir—appreciative and suggestive—by Bro . . Speth , was read , and an excellent portrait accompanies the accountof this honoured Masonic veteran . Singular to note , Bro . J . T . Thorp ( on whom the mantle has fallen in some respects , of Bro . Kelly s ) , sent for exhibition two jewels , skillfully pictured

by our Secretary , one being an old Master ' s , or Past Master ' s jewel , unique in style , dated 1769 , and the other resembles the " 9 Worthies' Medal . " Bro . Larter , ol Glasgow , also presented two jewels , one being already noted at page Sj of this volume , and the other is depicted on this part of A . D . 1768 , 0110 similar , being in possession of brethren at Leeds , who are about 10 reproduce it on a menu card , so Bro . Alfred Scarth tells me , and sent me a drawing of it . The field is cut out , and the emblems are quite artistically arranged .

The meeting was especially noteworthy for a most able and exhaustive paper by Bro . Gould ( vvho has done so much to add to the information of the members ) on " The Medical Profession and Freemasonry" ( in two parts ) , which is simply undescribable in this short article , because of its thoroughness and deeply interesting character . It ranks as one of his best efforts , and must have meant an enormous labour to produce , because so many authorities have been consulted , both ancient and modern . I sympathise

respectively with Bro . Ball ' s remarks and Bro . Sir Charles Warren ' s , after its reading , that it was possible to make another good paper for the ministers of religion , and one in respect , of the military side of the question . I can only say tne very valuable paper plea-. es me exceedingly , and it is to be hoped that our gifted brother will yet try his hand at the military profession and Freemasonry . Let those of us who have particulars be looking them out , so as to be ready when the call is made upon us , as I hope if will be ere long , by Bro . Gould , the Masonic Historian .

There are several useful reviews ( useful in affording information as to new Masonic works ) , one , quite a long-one , on the " Manuel de la Franc-Maconnerie , 1894 , " by Bro . Speth , who also attends to Bro . Conder ' s most important History of the Masons' Company , just published ( the latter being very brief and far from a full descri ption of this most opportune and welcome volume ) , and to Bro . Crowe ' s handy and well arranged catalogue of his