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CONTENTS . LEADERConstitutions of the Freemasons ... ... ¦•• 3 7 St . David ' s Kettle and Other Matters ... ... ... •¦• 36 7 Provincial Grand Lodgeof Buckinghamshire ... ... ••• 3 < 5 S Provincial Grand Chapter of Kent ... ... ••¦ ' - 3 * 3 g Consecration of the Charles Dickens Lodge , No . 2757 ... ... ... 37 o Entertainment at the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... ... 37 i Board of Benevolence ... ... ... ••¦ ••¦ 37 i

MASONIC NOTESAnnual Meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Essex ... ... 373 Annual Meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodgeof Middlesex ... ... 373 Quarterly General Court Boys' School ... ... ... ¦•• 373 Correspondence ... ••¦ ••¦ — — 374 Reviews ... ... ••¦ - ••• ••¦ 374 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys ( Quarterly General Court ) * ... ... 374

Fortescue Masonic Annuity Fund ... ... ... ... 374 Summer Outing of the Earl ot Lathom Lodge , No . 1922 ... ... ... 375 Laying Memorial Stone of Queen Victoria Masonic Hall , St . Budeaux ... 375 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys ... ... ... ... ... 37 <> The Recent Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys ... ... 37 °

Craft Masonry ... ... ... - - - 37 * Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ••• - - 377 SCOTLAND—Grand Lodgeof the Royal Order of Scotland ... ... 37 S Instruction ... ... ¦¦• ••• ••• ¦•• ••• 3 jjo Obituary ... ... ... ... - - 3 So Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... 3-- *

Constitutions Of The Freemasons.*

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE FREEMASONS . *

It is very many years since Volume I . of " Kenning s Masonic Archreological Library , " containing the Constitution Book of 1723 , and the Phillipps MS ., No . 2 , as edited by the late Rev . A . F . A . WOODFORD , M . A ., P . G . C , was published ,

a nd most of us had gradually become reconciled to the belief that Bro . WOODFORD'S carefully edited reproduction of the Rev . JAMES ANDERSON ' S 1723 edition ofthe Book of Constitutions would prove the last as well as the first volume of the proposed

Library . But , thanks to Bro . W . J . HUGHAN , who , with Bro . R . F . GOULD , was engaged for so long a period on the same class of Masonic literary work as the lamented Bro . WOODFORD , and the enterprise of Bro . KENNING , Volume 2 of the aforesaid

Library has just been issued , and need wc say more in its favour than that the introductory chapter from the pen of our distinguished brother exhibits those qualities of clearness , conciseness , and the most scrupulous regard for accuracy , which characterise

all that Bro . H LGHAN has written , while the facsimile reproduction of the 177 6 Appendix lo the 17 6 7 Constitutions is valuable , not only on thc ground of its rarity , but also because it is the compilation of W ILLIAM PRESTON , and places him before us in

the humbler , but still creditable , role of the faithful copyist , rather than in that of the partisan historian of the modern or regular Grand Lodge of England , which it appears to have been his creat ambition to ( ill ?

As regards the Introduction , which forms the Editor ' s personal contribution to the Volume 2 , let it suffice to say that within the compass of between 25 and 30 pages , Bro . HUGHAN brings under notice the important features of all the successive editions

of the Constitutions of the Freemasons published under the authority of the Premier Grand Lodge of England , " beginning wilh those issued by the Rev . J AMES ANDERSON in 1723 and

1738 respectively , and the re-issue of the latter with a new title page in 174 6 ; the editions of 1756 and 176 7 , as compiled h ythe Rev . JOHN E NTICK , M . A ., and the 17 8 4 edition by J OHN

Constitutions Of The Freemasons.*

NOORTHOUCK . He also refers to the several editions of the "Ahiman Rezon , " that is , of the Constitution Book of the "Ancient" or "Atholl" Masons , which was compiled in the first instance and on his own account , by LAURENCE DERMOTr ,

and of which that brother subsequentl y made a present to that Grand Lodge , the later issues being revised and edited b y THOMAS HARPER , one of DERMOTT ' successors in the office of Deputy Grand Master . Subsequently , he enumerates the

several editions of the Constitutions issued since the Union of 1813 , commencing with that of 1815 , which was entrusted to Bro . WILLIAM WILLIAMS , Prov . Grand Master of Dorsetshire , and of which onl y the second volume was published , a second issue

appearing in 1827 , through those published in 1841 , 18 47 , 18 53 , 18 55 , 18 5 8 , 1861 , 1863 , 1866 , 186 7 , 18 71 , and 18 73 , to those of 1884 , and 1888 , the former of which was revised in accordance with suggestions of Bro . THOMAS FENN , President of the Board of

General Purposes , 188 4-94—to whom , " in appreciation of his devotion to the Craft for many years past , and his continued interest in all that concerns its welfare and prosperity , " Bro .

HUGHAN has appropriately dedicated his new work—down to the years 1894 and 1 S 9 6 , the last two having been published under the authority of Grand Lodge by the present Grand Secretary—Bro . E . LETCHWORTH , F . S . A . >

As for the facsimile reproductions , theycemprise , in addition to that of the 177 6 Appendix , those of the Title Pages of the ANDERSON Editions of 1 / 23 and 173 8 , and of the re-issue of the latter in 1746 ; of the Entick Editions of 1756 and 1767 . and the

NOORTHOUCK Edition of 178 4 . In addition , there is a portrait of the Rev . JOHN ENTICK , who looks more like the jovial friar of olden days than the laborious student and editor of new digests of our Gothic Constitutions , and also of W . PRESTON , while the

book is admirabl y printed and exceedingly well bound . We thank Bro . HUGHAN for his courtesy in sending us a copy of his new work for review , and heartily congratulate him on the able manner in which he has fulfilled his task .

St. David's Kettle, And Other Matters.

ST . DAVID'S KETTLE , AND OTHER MATTERS .

What is a kettle ? Well , it is not a culinary implement , although not unconnected with lhat homel y utensil . A Tweedside Kettle is a function Jt is something in the nature of a beanfeast or picnic , but it differs from both . Persons of dignity and position attend a kettle , quite superior parties who would

scorn to be associated with a beanfeast ; and there is neither cornet , trombone , nor concertina involved in the details features without which , I am informed , a beanfeast could not be . Neither is it a picnic , the essence of which festivity consists , I believe , in its discomfort during meal times , combined

with a plentiful supply of opportunities for retirement and flirtation . -Nothing so frivolous attaches to a kettle , which is a solemn function in honour of Salmo Salar , a mysterious rite or sacrifice where , as in many another sacrifice , the god himself provides the victim . And it has its restrictions . A kettle

cannot occur in any place other than on Tvveedside , in some nice grassy plain by the river , under overhanging trees , and close by a salmon fishery . It is confined to the salmon season and , above all , the god must be present—that is , no salmon ' no kettle . And the salmon must be caught immediatel y before

being placed in his predestined home—a large fish kettle kept ready boiling in the open . To purchase a salmon in the town and bring it with you would not answer the purpose at all . And moreover , the salmon must be crimped and eaten with no other sauce than appetite and the liquor it is boiled in , which is called