Correspondence.

should know that they are not allowed to be worn in the Craft . In conclusion , after carefull y considering the Book of Constitutions , the Royal Arch Regulations , and the points raised by your several correspondents , I have no doubt that the Officers of Grand and Provincial

Grand Chapters are justified , and in fact , that it is absolutely necessary for them to wear the tricolour collars to carry the jewels of office they have been honoured and entrusted with , and which they are entitled to wear in lodges and chapters , should they desire so to do .

Thanking you , Bro . Editor , for your courtesy , —I am , yours fraternally , January 12 . P . P . G . J .

Reviews

REVIEWS

IRISH FREEMASONS' CALENDAR AND DIRECTORY FOR A . D . 1891 . Published under the sanction of the R . W . the Grand Lodge of Ireland . Dublin : Printed by Underwood for the Grand Lodge of Ireland .

This useful book of reference will be found to contain all needful information as to the Grand Lodge of Ireland , its Grand Officers and Committees , and its roll of lodges , as well as their distribution into provinces ; the Grand Chapter , the Order of . the Temple , the Grand Chapter of Prince Masons , and the Supreme

Council of the Ancient and Accepted Rite , and it is evident the greatest care , has been taken in its compilation , so that the information thus furnished maybe accepted as trustworthy . Then follow brief particulars relating to the Grand Lodges of England , Scotland , and other countries , as well as to the Masonic Orphan

Schools in Dublin , in whose welfare our Irish brethren take so deep and abiding an interest . Lastly , there is a roll of the Grand Masters of Ireland . It should be added that the Calendar is well and clearly printed and neatly bound , and to us and others like us , who have such frequent occasion for referring to its pages and those of similar compilations , it is invaluable .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Masonic Notes and Queries .

927 ] COPY OF THE " OLD CHARGES , " 1687 .

As announced in the Freemason of to-day ( ioth January , 1891 ) , my friend , William Watson , has become the fortunate purchaser of the old parchment roll of the year 168 7 , as first noted by me in the Freemason for the 13 th December , 1890 . Bro . Watson has consented to its becoming the property of the West

orkshire Library , and hence the esteemed Provincial Grand Master ( the R . W . Bro . Thomas W . Tew , J . P . ) has signified his desire to me that the document shall be called "The William Watson MS ., " as a welldeserved compliment to the Honorary Librarian . The roll itself is now in my hands for transcription

and description , and I hope will be ready for publication in a week or two . Meanwhile , I may state that the text is a most valuable one , and differs materially from every other roll of the seventeenth century . Some 600 and more lines of the celebrated " Cooke MS . " are almost exactly reproduced in the " William Watson MS ., " but the latter portion of the roll of

A . D . 168 7 partakes in some respects of the " Dauntesy " MS ., and so I propose to number it 24 A , according to Bro . Gould ' s numeration in his invaluable commentary to the " Regius" MS . ( Vol . 1 " Masonic Reprints , " Lodge No . 2076 ) . Permit me to add my congratulations to those of the editor of the Freemason in the accession of such an important version of the "Old Charges" to the West Yorkshire Library . W . J . HUGHAN .

Reports Of Masonic Meetings.

REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS .

Cratt flDasonrp .

METROPOLITAN MEETINGS . Albion Lodge ( No . 9 ) . —The installation meeting ol this old lodge was held at Freemasons' Hall , on 1 uesday , the Cth inst ., when as there was also a considerable amount of other business to be got through , the lodge was opened by the W . M ., Bro . Waller . After the readin " and confirmation of the minutes of the proceedings at the

previous lodge meeting , the Auditors' report was received and adopted , and other administrative matters disposed of . The ballot was then taken for the admission as a joining member of Bro . Chas F . Treble , and for Messrs . Howard Kent and Edwin Brydges as candidates for initiation , and was found to be in their favour . Bro . Walter Kettle was then raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason , and

thereafter Mr . William Brydges , being in attendance , was initiated into the secrets and mysteries of the First Degree . The lodge was called off for refreshment , and adjourned to the Gavel Room , where tea and coffee were served . In about half an hour the lodge was calltd on again , when after the usual preliminaries the W . M . vacated the chair in favour of Bro . S . Vallentine , P . M ., P . Z ., A . G . P ., the recognised Installing Master of the lodge , and Bro . Ernest Augustus

Reports Of Masonic Meetings.

Hamblyn ( late S . W . ) , was presented by Bro . Willey , P . M ., D . C ., as the VV . M . elect to receive at the hands of Bro . Vallentine the benefits of installation . Bro . Vallentine thereupon proceeded to address the lodge upon the Masonic custom in regard to the succession of the occupants of the chair , and the W . M . elect upon the obligations attaching to the office , and Bro . Hamblyn having then given his assent to

the ancient charges as recited by the Secretary , Bro . Harvey , was duty obligated as VV . M . elect . All but Installed Masters then retired from the lodge room , and these being formed into a Board of Installed Masters , Bro . Vallentine , in their presence and in a highly impressive manner , performed the customary ceremony with which a Master is inducted into the chair of K . S . The

new W . M . was then saluted and congratulated by the members of the Board . . The officers for the ensuing year were then invested by Bro . Hamblyn as follows : Bros . E . Waller , I . P . M .. A . G . Pritchard , S . W . j C . Sucker , J . W . j H . S . Friend , P . M ., Treas . j L . W . Harvey , P . M ., Sec . j W . Willey , P . M ., D . C . j H . Kettle , S . D . j VV . Drew , LD . ; E . Russell Beardmore , I . G . j A . Izard ,

Org . ; S . U . Thompson , P . M ., Steward ; and James Rawles , Tyler . The ceremony was concluded by Bro . Vallentine delivering the customary addresses to the Master , Wardens , and Fellows , concluding with the oration upon the nature and principles of Freemasonry . Bro . Hamblyn

then presented Bro . Waller with a Past Master ' s jewel , after which the lodge was closed ,. and the brethren adjourned to the banquet room , where they did ample justice to an excellent dinner , to which between 50 and 60 sat down . At the conclusion of the dinner the customary loyal and Masonic toast list was proceeded with .

After the toasts of "The Oueen and the Craft" and "The M . W . G . M ., H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , " had been honoured with true Masonic enthusiasm , ' The Worshipful Master proceeded to propose " The Health of the D . G . M ., the Earl of Lathom , and the rest of the Grand Officers , Present and Past , " and as the Albion Lodge possessed a Grand Officer of its own in Bro .

Vallentine , A . G . P ., he called on that brother to respond , in doing which Bro . Vallentine said that he was so young in office as a Grand Officer that the brethren must not expect him to say much about that grand body to which he had now the honrur to belong . All that he could venture to say was that the Grand Officers were among the most serviceable members of the Craft . In heathen mythology there were

superior and inferior deities . He was one of the inferior deities of Grand Lodge , notwithstanding which he was very proud of his office . When he was at the big function at Reading a while since , and saw representatives of the Army and Navy , and the noble and the mighty assembled round the Grand Master , the question arose in his mind—How were all these men , who had no ordinary interest in

Freemasony , congregated together to meet the Grand Master . He had found an answer to that question in a quotation from Geraint and Enid , which that night he found upon the toast list : " Grateful is the noise of noble deeds to noble hearts , " for on that occasion he saw the Prince engaged in the noble deed of installing his son into the chair of K . S ., even as he ( Bro . Vallentine ) had installed the W . M . that day .

Bro . Waller , I . P . M ., then rose and said he had much pleasure in pruposing the toast , which was in every way the toast of the evening , "The Health of the VV . M ., Bro . Hamblyn . " ( Applause . ) That applause accorded well with one of the quotations which stood under that toast upon the list : " A general welcome salutes you . " ( More applause . ) The second quotation under the toast was eminently appropriate to their VV . M .:

" Worthy man ! He cannot but with measure Fit the honours which we devise him . " The brethren knew that he ( Hro . Waller ) was not a fluent speaker , but that quotation was so apt that it expressed all that he would be able to say if he were to speak for a week in honour of their VV . M . Bro . Hamblyn had passed through all the offices in the lodge before arriving at the chair , and

there was no ground for doubt that he would fulfil the duties of his new office with honour to himself and credit to the lodge . Bro . Hamblyn , who on rising was received with a long round of applause , said that he felt deeply the few words which the I . P . M . had spoken . He thanked them all most heartily for having proved to him practically that a general

welcome awaited him . That quotation contained more sentiment than could have been expressed if the speaker had spoken for a week . The welcome that had greeted him upon rising was so spontaneous that he could not do otherwise than feel it greatly . That was not the first occasion , he had felt that the kindness of the brethren had been extended * to him ever since his appearance there as an

entered apprentice . Proud as he felt of the welcome he had received , he thought he ought to say that one of the most powerful impressions made upon him was when he attended the Board of Installed Masters in November Iastj it was not until then that he realised the solemnity of the obligations he was expected to assume upon taking office . He would add that he had not sought distinction , nor looked

for popularity ; but from the time when he was initiated he had just worked gradually forward from the office of I . G . Modesty forbade his appropriating the second quotation attached to that toast on the programme j but he could assure them that it would be his endeavour to be the worthy man they believed him to be , lit to bear the honours they had devised him . Bro . Hamblyn then proceeded to

say that in proposing the next toast he felt the obligations attaching to the honours they had devised him . What young Mason would not feel the task somewhat beyond him of proposing the health of their Installing Master ? I he simple truth was told in the quotation attached to the toast , " We needs must love the highest when we see it . " Bro . Harvey could not have found a quotation more

appropriate to that grand old Mason who had that day installed him . They had dear old friends in Bros " . Friend , P . M ., Willey , P . M ., Harvey , P . M ., Holroyd , P . M ., and many others ; but he was sure that there was no brother that occupied the same position in their hearts as that held by their dear old friend , Bro . Vallentine , P . M . He felt that it would be out of place in him to eulogise a man who had been

a Mason nearly double as many years as he ( Bro . Hamblyn ) had lived j it would be like holding out a lucifer-match to an electric light , or a glowworm seeking to add brilliancy to the moon . He would only , therefore , apply that quotation to Bro . Vallentine , and ask the brethren to join him in wishing health and long life to Bro . Vallentine , P . M ., the Installing Master .

Reports Of Masonic Meetings.

Bro . Valentine , in responding , said it was true he was a very old Mason , and was proud to believe that during the long years he had passed in Masonry he had endeavoured to do his duty to the Craft . The * night of installation was an occasion of great pleasure ; it awoke in him recollections of some of the giants of Masonry which the Albion Lodge had possessed . It recalled times when it was most

unusual for a lodge to have an Installing Master . Those were times when a brother who , perhaps , had not been successful on the rugged way of life would eke out a scanty income by attending lodges for the purpose of installing the Master . Times had altered , and he was quite aware that there were a number of brethren in the Albion Lodge who could take his place at any moment , and

that was true of many other lodges also ; but he questioned whether , with all that proficiency , they had the same number of earnest Masons as they had in former days . Thanking the brethren for their good wishes , Bro . Vallentine then proceeded to propose "The Health of the Initiate , Bro . Brydges , " in doing which he urged him to persevere steadily , and mentioned the fact that after his

own initiation he was associated with Masons whose notions of Masonry did not square with his own , and he decided to proceed no further . An old friend , however , had persuaded him to persevere , and he had taken that friend's advice , and after many years of useful work , had now been rewarded with Grand Office . The Initiate having replied , "The Health of the Past

Masters" was proposed by Bro . Sucker , J . W ., and was replied to by Bro . Waller , I . P . M ., and Bro . Willey , P . M . " The Health of the Visitors " was proposed by the W . M ., and responded to by Bros . Woolmer-Williams , P . M . 1275 ; Baron de Bush , W . M . 1 S 27 J and Harry Marks , P . M . * 349 ^ " The Health of the Treasurer and Secretary " was

replied to by Bros . Friend and Harvey , after which the toast of "The Officers of the Lodge" was duly honoured and acknowledged , and then the proceedings of a very pleasant evening were brought to a close by the Tyler ' s toast . The following brethren were among the visitors present : Bros . T . P . Bullen , 254 j R . Rulli-Johnston , P . M . 1777 j R . W . Forge , P . M . 1793 ; S . Birkin , 1599 ; W . Druyff , 65 ; D . Annan , I . G . 1804 ,- J . G . Tongue , P . M . 534 j R .

Gilles , D . C . 2242 j J . Vogleman , P . M . 657 j Nelson Prower , J . W . 1 745 j C . Woolmer-Williams , P . M . 1275 j F . W . Izard , 1617 j F . J . Eedle , P . M . 1441 ; C . J : Page , 109 ; H . T . Marks ,. P . M . 1349 ; O . Newman , 901 ; F . B . Smith , 1 743 j R . R . Green , W . M . 1804 j E . Isaacson , 1 S 8 j C . M . Simpson , 1056 ; Baron de Bush , W . M . 1827 j H . T . Birkbeck , 534 ; J . Williams Cook , 1572 J J . W . Marsell , 1563 j and F . Hurdle , 54 S .

Domatie Lodge ( No . 177 ) . —PRESENTATION TO BRO . W . J . FERGUSON , P . M . —This centenary lodge held its installation meeting on the gth instant at Anderton's Hotel , when Bro . Nathan Salmon , W . M ., presided , supported by a very full lodge , in which a large number of its Past Masters were ranged . There was no work before the brethren but the installation , and Bro .

Salmon , after the minutes had been disposed of , installed Bro . Thomas Bradley Goodfellow , P . M ., S . W . and W . M . elect , as Master of the lodge . Bro . Salmon was invested as I . P . M . ; Bros . E . A . G . Smith , S . W . j A . Piper , J . W . j George Everett , P . M ., Treas . j Thomas Morris , Sec . j John Barnett , jun ., W . M . 2192 , S . D . j W . E . Wigmore , I . D . j George Gardner , P . M ., I . G . j Carl Riechelmann ,

Org . ; T . H . Hobbs , D . C . ; James Stephens , P . M ., A . D . C . j T . M . Morris , Stwd . j and A . Walkley , P . M ., Tyler . A Past Master ' s jewel was presented to the outgoing Master . Bro . George Everett then introduced the great feature in the evening's meeting , viz ., the presentation of a beautiful chiming clock , of the value of 25 guineas , to Bro .

Ferguson , P . M . Bro . Everett said that for the last 25 years it had been their happiness and good fortune to have had associated with them in the management of the lodge a most genial soul , a good man , and an able and earnest Freemason ; a brother who , by his uniform kindness and unassuming manners , had endeared himself to everyone of its members .

The worthy brother to whom he alluded was their valued friend , Bro . W . J . Ferguson , P . M ., familiarly known by those who were his intimate associates as " Fergy , " and occasionally with a prefix , such as " Good Old Fergy , " "Dear Old Fergy , " and such like . Bro . Ferguson filled the chair in that lodge 19 years ago , and from that time until the present he had been one of its most useful and

popular members j in fact , he had been a sort of standing council to the lodge , for whenever a difficulty arose it was always , " Ask Fergy , " and his advice was generally followed . For many years he had regularly attended at the opening of the lodge , and was always prepared to fill any office that might be vacant . Certain of the brethren thought , with himself , that the time had arrived when they

should recognise in some way the many sterling qualities of their friend by presenting him with a testimonial . The movement when set on foot was , as was to be expected , readily and heartily responded to , and the result was the handsome clock now before them . It bore the following inscription : " Presented to Bro . W . J . Ferguson , P . M ., by the members of the Domatie Lodge , No . 177 , as a mark of

esteem , and in recognition of the many kindly services rendered to the lodge in his capacity of Past Master since 1 S 72 . January gth , 1 S 91 . " The honour of making the presentation had been deputed to him , and he assured them it was one of the most pleasing duties that had ever fallen to his lot . The token was one worthy to be handed down to Bro . Ferguson ' s descendants , and one that his

children s children might point at with pride , and say , this was " my Grandfather's clock . " He had now on behalf of the subscribers to beg Bro . Ferguson ' s acceptance of this small mark of their esteem and regard , and he trusted he might be spared for many years to hear its pleasing chimes , and as he listened to its ticking he hoped it would remind him of the many hearts that beat in unison with his own on the gth of January , 1891 .

Bro . Ferguson , who was very much affected , thanked the brethren for their presentation , and hoped it would be appreciated by his descendants as much as it was by himself . After the lodge was closed , an excellent banquet was partaken of , and the toasts were proposed . The Worshipful Master proposed the usual opening toasts of " The Queen and the Craft , " " The MostWorshipful Grand Master , " and "The Deputy Grand Master