Recollections Of The Lodge Of Freemasons At Thornhill.

bridal day , on the ground of the Prmce not being frater , nor yet the son . of one : but though this be true , the Royal Family have been so intimately connected with Freemasonry that it would have ill become the brethren to have remained

quiescent amid the universal outburst of loyalty which the nuptials of the grandson of his late Royal Highness Bro . the Duke of Kent had called forth ; for to the father of her Majesty were the Craft laid under the deepest obligations . One of

the most accomplished of British Craftsmen , he rendered signal service in the reorganisation in Scotland of the degree of Knight Templar at a period in the history of the high grades when these had become so . identified with illegitimate

Masonry as to lead to their repudiation by all Avho wished to see Royal Arch and Knight Templary placed under the jurisdiction of properly constituted Heads in each country ; and the Avise and energetic steps taken by the Duke of Kent to facilitate the

erection of the Supreme Grand Encampment of Scotland , led ultimately to the formation of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland . It is well known that the late lamented father ofthe

Prince of Wales declined to become a freemason , Avhenon a visit Avifchher Majesty to this country some years ago he was invited by the Grand Lodge of Scotland to do so ; but it is not so generally knoAvn that the death of Bro . the Duke of Sussex had

an important bearing Avith regard to the connection of Prince Albert Avith Freemasonry . From the period of Victoria ' s accession to the throne , her uncle , the Duke of Sussex , had been her principal adviser and guide , and , acting the part of a father

to his youthful Sovereign , he it Avas Avho gave her away to Prince Albert at the altar in the Chapel Royal , St . James ' s Palace , six-and-twenty years ago . The Duke Avas then the Grand Master Mason of England , and holding such a prominent ] 0 osition among the Craft , and at the same time

continuing to occupy to some extent the position of counsellor to the young couple , it may naturally be inferred that Freemasonry Avould , in his frequent interviews Avith the Prince , form the subject of conversation . That such was really the case is

placedbeyortddoubt , it being stated on the authority ofthe London Freemasons'Magazine , that "prior to the last illness of the Duke of Sussex it had been arranged to have a special meeting of a lodge at Kensington Palace for the purpose of initiating Prince Albert , but the death of his Royal Highness caused the postponement of the ceremony .

Recollections Of The Lodge Of Freemasons At Thornhill.

Subsequently , under the advice of Sir Robert Peel that he should not in auy Avay connect himself with , any party in the State , the Prince abstained from joining the Order—Sir Robert , who was uot a Mason , evidently having formed an erroneous

impression of the Craft , not being aAvare IIOAV studiously Freemasons , as such , keep themselves aloof from politics . " Had the Duke of Sussex , then , uot died at the time he did , in all probability the late Prince Consort would have joined the Fraternity ,,

and , as a lewis , the Prince of Wales might ere this have claimed the privileges belonging to one in that favoured position .

Lodge Officers, Their Powers And Duties.

LODGE OFFICERS , THEIR POWERS AND DUTIES .

Continuation of a Lecture delivered "before Stella Lodge ( No . 485 , N . Y ., TT . S ) .

{ Continued from page 407 . ) THE SECKETABY ( Continued ) . The bad habit of Avriting the minutes on loose scraps of paper , and making short-hand notes , illegible to himself or any one else five minutes

after they are made , should be sedulously avoided ; the practice , apart from its slovenliness , involves a dependence on memory , AA'hich , somehoAV or other , invariably fails us when Ave charge it with a miscellaneous collection of odds and ends , so that ,

the Secretary Avho flatters himself that he can next day recollect everything which transpired at the lodge will be apt to find more than one item turn up missing . Ifc is a good plan , in making the final copy , to

give each item a paragraph by itself , to separate them by a blank line , and to make the marginal notes before referred to in red ink .

The charge to the Secretary at his installation describes , as part of his duty , that ff he is to receive all money from the hands of the brethren . " This is an onerous and delicate duty , from the performance of which , in a lodge of extended

membership , he ought to be relieved either by the appointment of an assistant , or , as is the practice in European lodges , by making it the duty of the Treasurer to receive the money due to the lodge , as Avell as pay out such sums as may be ordered .

In advocating such a change we are not to be charged with a desire to remove the landmarks ; for the office of Secretary is not a landmark at all , having only come into existence since the revival , of 1717 , none being required iu the occasional