The Question Of Degrees.

the "Grand Lodge of all England , ' there is nothing here nor in the Old Rules of the said Grand Lodge of the year 1725 , not even a word to indicate that more than one ceremony was in use . As to Dr . DRAKE , however , in his celebrated speech as J . G . W .,

delivered at Merchants' Hall , York , on the 27 th December , 17 ^ 0 , Bro . HUGHAN notes that " he refers to the possibility of the whole Earth being ' divided into E . P ., F . C ., and M . M . ' " We are further told that " Other printed books of early last century

( authorised or otherwise ) , preserve a ' sphinx-like silence as to degrees prior to A . I ) . 1723 , " though at the same time it is admitted as regards " Long Livers'' of the year 1722 , in the "Curious Introduction or Dedication ' lo the Grand Master

& c , of the Most Antient and Most Honourable fraternity ol Ihe b ' ree Masons of Great Britain and / re / and , " allusion is " made therein lo Brethren , & c , of the hig her class , ' whatever that m . iv mean . " Reference is also made lo the " ' Sloane MS ., '

vol . 3329 , No . 24 ( folios 142-3 ) , entitled 'Narrative of tin ; Free Masons' Words and Signs' ( British Museum ) , " in which "Specific references" are : made "to Ihe 'Inter printiees , ' ' Fellow Crafles , ' - and the ' Masters , ' as well as the peculiar

secrets connected with the last two , the survival of a still older form being indicated b y the one Oath at the end . " Bro . Ht'Gi / AN concurs with Bro . Dr . BKGF . MA . NN in ascribing the MS . to a date

" between I 7 I 0 and 1725 . " Others of ( he same class are merel y referred to , as " often lo be met with subsequent to ihe publication of the 'Book of Constitutions , ' A . l ) . 1723 . "

Bro . Hl'GHAN then passes , after noting sundry important matters bearing on the subject , to the earliest records in which references are made to different Decrees . These include the

" manuscript volume preserved in the British Museum { Add MS . 23 , 202 ) relating to an Organisation established for ' True Lovers of Music and Architecture , on a Foundation which will be permanent' and entitled ' PillLO-MuSICK ET ARi'HlTECTUR .-E

SOOKTAS—Al'OI . LlNI , the inaugural meeting of which was held on the iStli February , 1725 { New Style ); " and also the minutes of a regular lodge , the first volume of whose records are complete "from its constitution on 2 nd February , 1 725 { i . e ., 172 b New

Style ) . ror the perusal of and information respecting the minutes of this lodge , which was held at the Swan and Rummer , Finch Lane , London , Bro . HUGHAN acknowledges his indebtedness to Bro . ROBERT HUDSON and also for his

introduction lo the Masonic Hall Company , Stockton-on- 'l ees , and the permission thereb y obtained to reproduce in facsimile that portion of the earliest minutes which are appended to the paper . Other references to Degrees are also given , the conclusion at which he

arrives being thus described : " So far as actual minutes of Lodges are concerned , of which we have any particulars , separate Degrees cannot be dated farther back than 1724-5 , 01-omitting the Records of ihePhi / o-Mitsicv organisation , not earlier

lhan 1725 , as quoted b y me herein . As to Regulations or Bye Laws of Lodges relating to the Master Mason ' s Ceremony , then are none as yet traced prior to 1721 ) , if the simple rule as to tin fee be accepted as such ; but in a regular Code of Laws none havi

Leen discovered before the fourth decade of the last century . As respects the ' Book of Constitutions , ' I consider the regulations of 1723 , and the alteration agreed to in 1725 , concerning the ' Making of Masters , ' are alone sufficient lo prove that the

Three Degrees were known to the English Craft of that period ; the uniform silence as to the trio of an earlier date suggesting that the ceremonies were arranged subsequent to the inauguration of the premier Grand Lodge . " . Such is a brief sketch of the tenour of Bro . HUGHAN '

valuable paper , though , in order lo understand and appreciate it generall y and in its several parts , the reader must carefull y stud y it for himself in the pages of "Ars Oualuor

( oronatorum , " or as a separate reprint . The opinions expressed by Bro . GOULD and others in the discussion that followed must be reserved for description in another article .

The Origin Of Freemasonry.

THE ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY .

One of the best of the mail } ' addresses on the Nature and Princi p les of Freemasonry , which for some time past ii has been our privilege to read , will be found in the oration delivered b y liro . the Rev . P . II . DiTClll / IELD al the consecration of the Victoria Lodge ,

The Origin Of Freemasonry.

Windsor , as reported last week in these columns . Itwaslongerthan such addresses usually are , but not too long considering the able manner in which our brother treated his subject , nor do we doubt thai the lessons which he strove to impress upon his

audience will be taken lo heart b y them and hill y appreciated . As regards tho earlier part of the address in which he set himself to interpret the signs and symbols which are used in the consecration of the lodge , it is not necessary wc should

offer any remarks . These were correctly interpreted as they have been by other Chaplains . It is what followed this interpretation lo which wc are desirous of referring , and in which the orator pointed out that the lodge , born that clay had " an

ancient and honoured lineage , one whose lustre time has not diminished , and whose vitality age has not impaired . " True , " its orig in is veiled in the mists of bygone ages , " but it is older it may be than King Solomon ' s Temple at Jerusalem , within whose

portals Masonry is held to have sprung into being , ft is not for the first lime that we have been urged to look for the ori g in of Freemasonrv " in the shadowy realms of ancient Egypt and . Assyria , " or ( o recognise as our first parents "the builders of the

Pyramids and the carvers of the Sp hinx . It is , of course , impossible to determine precisel y a question of this character , but there cannot be any doubt as to the fact that " the princi p les which guide us to-day' are the same that governed the . minds and swaved the conduct of the fraternities

of old , which in dark days and dangerous times preserved the li g ht of wisdom and knowledge and p laced the love of humanity as the guiding principle of their system . " The philosophies of which we read in the history of ancient Greece and Rome , which

derived much of their wisdom originally from Egypt , were neither more nor less than " moralities , " all intended in their several ways and according to their several systems to promote the welfare of the nations . In later times these schools o (

philosoph y became guilds or fraternities , and doubtless we are justified in associating with them Ihe / 'collegia opificnm" mentioned b y Bro . Dnciii'li : i . l ) as organisations which throughout the Roman Empire did so much beneficent work for their own

community and the general body politic . It was also the guilds or fraternities " of Craftsmen , and merchants , and priests , and soldiers that carried men through the chaos that followed the wreck of the Roman civilisation . To them we owe our

freedom , our municipal governments , our rights of citizenship , and that which gave them their ehiefest glory—the principle of brotherhood and mutual trust—has been bequeathed to modern Masonry to be preserved by us as a precious heritage and

handed down inviolate lo our successors . " How their descent trom so remote a past has been effected it is impossible to tell , but there is nothing strange or incongruous , certainl y nothing that should involve our Order in that ridicule which so many

delight in levelling at us , in the association of our modern Freemasonry , which claims to be nothing more than a system of morality—a system which has al heart the good of man—with the moralities of the old world as set forth in the philosophies of Egypt , Greece , and Koine .

Provincial Grand Lodge Of Cumberland And Westmorland.

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORLAND .

Bro . Lord Henry Cavendish Bentinck , M . P ., Prov . G . M ., preside 1 at the anuual met-ling of the above Prov . Grand Lodge , which wis hell at I'Vremont on Frid . iy , the 1 gth instant . The attendance of brethren was

exceedingly large , all the : » i lodges in the province bsing represented bjt two . Among the Provincial Gr . md Officers elected for the emuin ^ year weie the following :

liro . Col . \ V . H . Atkinson ... ... ... Prov . S . G . W . ,, Dr . Samuel Braithwaite ... ... Prov . J . G . W . ,, the Rev . G . B . Armes ... ... ... ) , > , ., „„ u i ) ir i » u 1 J 1 rov . G . Chaps . ,, the Rev . II . I ) . Kawnsfey ... ... ) « ., R . I . Nelson ... ... ... Prov . G . Treas .

„ I ) . L . Thorpe ... ... ... Prov . G . Reg . ,, (} . Dalrymple ... ... ... Prov . G . Sec . „ f . Tofson ... ... ... ... Prov . S . G . D . „ J . Jones ... ... ... ... Prov . J . G . D . „ J . M . Briske ! ... ... ... Prov . G . S . of Wks . „ K . Jackson ... .. ' , ... ... Prov . G . D . C . „ W . ' KewIey ... ... ... ... Prov . A . G . D . C .

„ Isaac Maxwell ... ... ... Prov . G . S . B . ,, J . M . Clark ... ... .. ' . ... ) D ^ c .. „ ; , W . Matthews j Prov . G . Sd . Br . „ Henry Hallo , veil ... ... ... Prov . G . Org .