Original Correspondence.

Fund of General Purposes , except three pounds odd , in other words , the cost per head for dinner and wine , exclusive of music and printing , amounted to one pound seventeen shillings for each brother who dined . 1 am hoping that during the coming summer my

suggestion made last year will be adopted , and the provincial grand chapter held just before the meeting of the provincial grand lodge in many of our provinces , to the great advantage of the Order , and to make a provincial grand chapter something more than the solemn farce it usually is . —Fraternally yours , ' OBSERVER .

EXCHANGE OF VOTES . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — 1 hope you will insert these few lines of mine in regard to what I venture to think , and others do so too , a growing evil , namely this exchange of votes of our different

Masonic Charities . In your last issue you yourself touched upon the subject , when you said that you had heard that seven or eight Girls' votes were being given for one Boys ' vote , and three Widows ' , for one Boys' vote . I have heard that at the last election ten Girls' votes were given for a Boys' vote , and five or six old men , even more .

And then as if to add to this jumble and confusion we have "Commercial Travclleis , " "Aged Pilgrims , " "Clerks and Warehousemen , " "British Orphans , " "Jnfant Orphans , " " Idiots , " ( how significant ) , " Licensed Victuallers , " " United Kingdom Benificent , " and many more , offered in profusion , and handed round with purely feminine assiduity .

For all , or some of these , Masonic votes are exchanged . Now what I want to ask in the Freemason is , Is this fair , or just , or proper ? The votes are votes for special charities . \ Vha f authority has any one to offer , say , 300 or 400 votes , viz ., for Girls' for Boys ' , or " vice versa , " Men for Widows , or Widows for Men ? Above all for the Masonic Charities ? Uughc nut all these

votes to be polled for some one candidate in the respective lists without exchange ? I am aware that the old argument is used , " you have a rig ht to do what you like with your own , " but are not these votes a trust . I leave the question for wiser heads than mine to settle , but I am sometimes fairly puzzled to know whether I am doing right in taking part in such exchanges ?—Yours fraternally , A VOTER .

Reviews

REVIEWS

NEWFOUNDLAND TO MANITOBA . By Bro . W . F . RAK . Sampson Low and Co ., iSS , Fleet-street , E . C . Bro . W . Fraser Rae , a well-known " litterateur" and worthy member of our Order , published in 18 S 1 a book under the above taking title , the greater portion of which had originally appeared in the Times , of which journal Bro . Rae was the Correspondent in the summer and autumn of 1 S 7 S . As just now we hear and read a good deal of

Manitoba and emigration and the like , it has occurred to us that it might be alike seasonable and useful shortly to run over the chapters of this interesting little book , which , alike in its convenient bulk and literary merit , we can safely recommend to the notice of all intending emigrants , settlers , and travellers . We can only , however , in our very limited space give an " epitome , " or synopsis , of its contents , and must refer our readers to th . i original for more minute

details . We met , by the way , with a good story about the use of hard words the other day . A certain D . D . was examining a school , and he teimed the Church Catechism a " valuable epitome . " " Perhap > , " said the master meekly , " you would explain to the children what epitome means ?" " Hum ! ha ! " said the D . D , " epitome means , my children—hum ! ha ! well—synopsi- ! " When we open Bro . Rae ' s book , whether straying in Newfoundland our oldest

colony , but still not completely explored , or amid the Copper Mines of Lake Superior , once worked by a vanished race , whether in the Great Lone Land , among the Blue Noses , whether in Prince Edward's Island , from Dulith to VVinnipeg , or the Canadian Far West , we must be struck with the intense immensity of space included in this great empire , the vast and wearying distances travelled over . We feel then inclined to forgive the American stump orator who

described the American eagle as fly ing over an extent of territory which had for its northern boundary the North Pole , its western and eastern the Atlantic and Pacific oceans , and for the south , " my friends , "—here he paused , and with a wonderful effort of imagination and realism combined , — " for the south , my friends , the Day of Judgment ! " As we travel along pleasantly and chattily and cheerily with Bro . Rae we must be equally interested and struck by

the minuteness of his details , and the variety of his experiences . We shall probably not be anxious after we have read his amusing description to obtain or renew any acquaintance with a " skunk ; " but whether as settlers or travellers , we shall be glad to remember and to realize what he tells us in such clear and effective words of the wondious growth and the probable developement of a very noble country . There is something very taking in the

idea of a new home , a fresh start , a freehanded beginning , with life and the world before you . Such an idea has great attractions for the young and hardy , it can even impel the old and wayworn . The old country has , become too strait and too narrow for some of us . We want to create a better p lace for ourselves and ours than , humanly speaking , in this " worn out and exhausted

soil" can ever be our lot , and so we " make tracks . " We settle down in Australia , Canada , Manitoba , the great prairies , the virgin forests of the great west , and set ourselves vigorously to work , to " civilize the wilderness and build the plains . " For all such , apart from its literary merit , which is very great , Bro . Rae ' s little work will be a useful companion . It may make them smile in solitary hours , it will give them good advice and fair

Reviews

encouragement ; and if we y ho , sitting , like Longfellow ' s contented traveller , by his fire side , and yet " wander all the world over , " can gain pleasure and information , and even become moved by its perusal , what must lie the feelings of those who shall see with their own eyes the mighty forests , the rolling plains , the noble rivers , and the stormy seas it so graphically seeks to put before us ?

HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY IN WILTSHIRE . By Bro . F . H . GOLDXEY , M . P . Privately printed . This is really and truly one of the m-ist interesting books we have perused for soinn time , and which pleasure we owe to the kindness of a Masonic Jriend and the . courtesy of the able writer of the work . To the student and the expert the"excerpta" from old minute books will be probably novel and certainly striking , inasmuch as they open out

certain consideration ? , and lead up to certain matters of fact , which are of untellable importance to Masonic history , and on a right understanding of which the true history of English Freemasonry can alone rest . Our esteemed friend , Bro . R . F . Gould , alluded to the same work some time back in the Freemason , in 1 SS 1 , but wc think , and most of our readers will agree , that we cannot have too much of a " good thing . " Bro . Goldney is quite right in ascribing great laxity to

our Grand Secretary ' s office in those days , ( happily all is changed now ) , and in asserting and believing that many lodges existed without warrants before 1727 . The very fact that the minutes of the Salisbury Lodge in 1732 evidently treat Masonic life and customs as well known and established before tlic constitution of a lodge by warrant , seems to show whit has long been suspected , that many lo ; lge =, like that at which Dr .

¦ S'ukely was initiated in London , 1 xis ^ ed without a warrant . In Bro . Gould ' s list , for 173 ( 1-39 , a lodge at Salisbury , No . 107 , Old Mitre , appears as warranted December 27 , 1732 . Bro . Giklney gives UJ the origin :. ! minute anen ! it , sparse as it is , by which it serin's that it was const ! "jicrl December 27 th , 1732 , at Ihe Th e .- Lyi n . Inn . It seem ; t . i have ! , ec ; i m vol in a fe . v years to the Oil Mi' . re . In al probability the lod ^ e lists are not to be depnjei upon for abvjlute

accuracy , but are a little deficlive , as more truly in accordance with the general inaccuracy whi h prevailed ns rcr . ir . N things Masonic . In January , 1732 , a ! odg- » clearly cxi ^ t-d i " Salisbury , inasmuch as £ 2 12 ; . fid . arc pail the D . G . M . for charity money and Ihe S . cretary for "jri'ttirg dispensation , " probably a dispensation allowing th . ' m eting of a charterless lodge . Je . vc ' s w ro p . vd for , ^ ' 1 15 s . ; a pair of compasses , 7 s . ; gloves when Bro . LCJTGT » -ai

made , Ss . ; a Constitution Book , the 1723 one pr . jhablv , two lodge books and aprons . Does this Conctitutii ' n Book exist ? On the 11 th December , 1732 , arrangements were made for a warrant and constituting the 1732 lodge . All these entries serve to prove incontestabl y the existence of an older lodge . Some of the entries are very interesting indeed , viz ., one of 1746 , " 174 G , October 19 th . At this lodge were made Scotts Masons , five brethren of the lodge ,

including the W . M . Staples . " Can any one explain this entry ? The well known Dunckcrley was at one time in constant communication with the Salisbury Masons , and in 1779 October Oth , occurs this touching item in the accounts "lo Bro . Dunckerley ' s son in distress , ios . Cd . " The good brethren of Salisbury seem to have been most large hearted as they gave £ 31 10 s . for the relief of the poor of the city during the inclemency of the season in that year , 1770 . The

Salisbury Lodge after one or two divergencies with Grand Lodge was formally erased about iSo 2 , and though it essayed to keep up an independent existence and held a public procession , and even to set up an opposition Grand Lodge it finally disappeared about the end of the first decade apparently of this century . The minutes of the Turk ' s Head Lodge , held in Greek-street , Soho , are very interesting indeed , as pointing apparently at first sight to

an absorption into the Salisbury Lodge . They date from 173 S to 1739 , and then abruptly terminate . Curiously enough , in Pine ' s List of 1740 the Salisbury Lodge is " out , " and the Turk ' s Head , Greek-street , Soho , is in , 107 , as in 1736-39 . It was constituted December 12 th , 1732 . In the List for 1756-69 the Turk ' s Head is No . 50 , and the Salisbury 56 , at the Three Swans . In 1770-S 0 , 50 has become 41 , Ark Lodge , and 56 , 47 . In 17 S 1-91 the Turk

' s Head Lodge seems to have passed away . The Sarum Lodge is now 37 . Hence we are inclined to think that the minutes of the Turk ' s Head , though Salisbury brethren belonged to it , were independent minutes of a London lodge . We find reference in those minutes to the Rev . Dr . Hody ( a well-known name ) as W . M ., Samuel Smith , Philip P . Hetherington , and John Chalmers . A Bro . Adams was its W . M . before 1735 , and in 173 S we find Bros . Bishop , Winkles , Adam , Pelatan , Porter , Tristram ; Bro .

Delarant was the proprietor , and Bros . Goodchild and the Rev . Dean Bruce were members in 1739 , as was a Bro . Francis Burton , who " entertained the lodge with an agreeable lecture on architectural proportions . " Here we stop today . The subsequent prosperous condition of Wiltshire Freemasonry under its distinguished chief , our faithful and meritorious brother , Lord Methuen , is well known . Neither must we omit the services of Bros . Sir G . Goldney H . C Tombs , F . H . Goldney , W . Nott , and others . Wc thank Bro . Goldney for a most lucid and interesting work .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Masonic Notes and Queries .

145 ] FREEMASONRY IN DONCASTER . On looking over a manuscript book , containing a list o ( members of Yorkshire lod ges during the latter part of the last century ( which I believe formerly belonged to Ihe Apollo Lodge , in York ) , I find amongst the lodg : s therein recorded " The Duke of York ' s LodgeNo . 5 : 9 IJ

011-, . caster , " with the names of 16 members all " made or admitted " in September and November , 17 SS . As this lodge does not appear on the Roll at the Union of 1 S 13 it must have had a brief existence . I find it mentioned however in "Browne ' s Master Key , " edition 179 s , which contains " A list of Freemasons' 1 , ' dges with their numbers as they

now stand in the bo"ks ol the Grand Lodge , 179 S , " as follows : "Duke of York ' s Lodge , White Hear Inn , Doncaster , 1 st Monday , '' and numbered 43 S , but I c-innot trace it further . Probably "Masonic Student , " or B'o . Hughan , or Bro , Gould may know something about this lodge- JOSH . TODD , P . M . York , 23 O . '

Masonic Notes And Queries.

1- | 6 ] THE TITLE "FREEMASON . " In sending the note referred to by Bro . Gould , I felt that the evidence was not complete , but the extract was sent to me by a skilful genealogist , and one who has had considerable experience in dealing with ancient records . For tin ' s reason I did not hesitate to publish it—at the same time writing for any further information that could be obtained , which shall appear in the Freemason as soon as it is received .

My attention has be < -n called to the following . Mr . j . H . Parker , C . B ., etc ., in his " A . B . ' C . of Gothic Architecture , " London , 1 SS 1 , reprints a papei on "I in late or debased Gothic Buildings of Oxford , " read by the late Orlando Jewitt at the meeting of ihe Royal Archaioioijical Institute of Oxford in 1 S 50 . " It has never been much circulatedand has been quiw

, forgotten , ' writes Mr . Parker , but as it contains a reference to the word I'ree-mason with some other information on the subject , I have abstracted that portion as being an interesting addition to the discussion . Wadham Collegewas commenced in 1610 and finished in 1613 . It was founded by Sir Nicholas and Dame Dorothy Wadham , but was not begun until aftei the death of Sir

Nicholas in 1609 . ' . ' I ' foundress seems to have had a proper itfea that a building used for Divine service should have a different character from those which were intended for domestic uses , and therefore , as the regular masons at that period could not have been much used to church-work , and as it is shewn by theaccounts that the masons employed were brought in

Oxford from a distance , it seems probable that she brought , from her own county of Somerset , ivoikmen who had been used to this kind of work . The churches of Somersetshire are mostly of rich and late Perpendicular character , and it is probable that the style might continue later there than in other places . It would , therefore , be a curious subject to inquire if any churches were built so late as thai on

which these masons might have been employed . " In a note Mr . Jew . tt continues : ' •In the .-e accounts ( f . ^ r an opportun ty of exnnrning <» hii . h I am indebted to the Rev . ] . Gufh'h , Su ' i-Warden [ now in 1 SS 1 the Waic ' ci ]) , the masons who worked t ' ie stone for buil ins-Ere ceiled t'rre ni . is-ns , or Freestone Masons ( which is [ . ' rob il . ly the line meaning of the term ) , ivh le the ic-t are nwe' . y call . , laboure

" rs . " The coat of each > vi dmv , with the mm . of the . vnikm . in , is put down separately , the price ,. f a chap .-1 1 v 1 nd . 11 vb .-1 n 2 i , , while those ol ihehdll weie . 6 ' 3 iSs . eacn . It is curious , too , to rind that the thiee stv . uiS over the entrance t . i ' ll . e hall and clu . pel Were cut by one of the fire maions ( William BlacKh . w ) employed on the other pa ts ' ol ihe building , l- oreai h statue he was paid tilt sum » t 3 , ' . " far

S » Mr . Jciutt , other examples of masons doiii " - ' im-iK ' ry ' at ab .-ut the same date might be quot . d , and connected with tnis subject it is interesting to note that in the list of companies given at the end of Stowe ' s Survey of London , 1633 , the Marblers rank 37 on the list ( 11 . uvi ) and are thus described : "The Company called by the name of Marblers , for their excellent knowled ge and skill in the Art of 'Inscul pting personages for Tombes , Gravestones , and Monuments in Churches , and elsewhere in Religious places ; their antiquity and what respect they have carried , is unknowne to me ; nor can I finde them to be incorporated , but hold some friendship with the Masons and are thought to be esteemed among them in Fellowship . " They seem to have borne for arms Gules a chevron between two chi pping axes in chief , and a mallet in base ar ent W . II . R .

147 J SPECULATIVE FREEMASONRY A . D . 1603 . As the Editor of the " Freemason , " reiterates his statement that the discovery of a baptismal register of 1603 in connection with a speculative Freemason upsets all previous theories , and antagonises many dogmatic assertions , " with every desire to give all credit that is due to the valuable find of Bro . VV . H . Rylands , I fail to see it merits the

prominence given to it by that diligent Masonic student the Rev . A . F . A . Woodford . It follows that if all previous theories are upset , that we have all been in error hitherto as to the subject , and that this register traces speculative brcemasonry farther back than has previousl y been possible I was intending to write to demur to such a view last week ' but did not , but l see that the Masonic historian , Bro ' Gouldhas done

, so in No . 143 of " Notes and Queries . " I do not consider however that Bro . Gould emphasises the fact of John Boswell ' s membership of lodge No . 1 Edinburgh , in 1600 so much as it deserves , because for what we know to the contrary that gentleman may have been connected with that old lodge several years earlier , thereby dating back speculative Freemasonry to the sixteenth century . Vol . II . of Bro . Gould ' s History will be found

to pe a . ncn mine of wealth as to the prevalence of Speculative Freemasonry early in the seventeenth century , as well also the noble work of the Scottish Masonic historian , Bro D . Murray L yon . Itis wcllalso to remember that the mcml berslnp of Boswell in 1600 is alluded to , in prinr . as early as 1 S 04 , so that it seems to me impossible to a-nee with the statement of the Rev . Editor , much as I appreciate his many services on behalf of Masonic archrcolo < ry , and his perseverence and success in tracing old documents

, 48 ] W . J . HUGHAN PEGGING

AWAY-STEINMETZ-MAURERLEVVIS . "Masonic Student " has misunderstood me . Far be it from me to object to pegging away . I rather intended to express unqualified approval of the proceeding in irencral and of " Masonic Student ' s" own indefatigafele exertfons in particular . As regards the derivation of SteinmPf , I

cannot wonder at " Masonic Student" holding to " Mei / en " to cut , and thus arriving at " Stcinmetz , " a stonecutter I his source appearsltoo obvious for cavil , all the more so as wc still have the analagous derivatives " Meizel , " a chisel "Messer" a knife ; " Mdzger , " a bu . cher , o , meat cutter ; "Metzeln , " to slaughter ; & c , & c . I am quite aware that every German authority would quote the same derivation and am conscious that the adhesion of Masonic Student to this view , even after the exnlam . -

tion in my last note , will prove an additional obstacle to mv contention gaining supporters . But if our editor will « rant me a little space I hope to shake " Masonic Student ' s " conviction , and perhaps that of any German brother who may read tins note . In the . , 459 Strasburg ordinances wc linda clause stating ( he nature of the work which the otcininetzen ' claimed ai their prerogative , which thev were n . it allowed to teach except 10 a regularly entered stonemason apprentice , and which they took power to pre