Consecration Of The Chiswick Lodge Of Mark Master Masons, No. 357.

The WORSHIPFUL MASTER next proposed " The Health of the Consecrating Officer , Bro . Binckes . " He was not at all surprised at the app lause svith svhich the toast had been received . Those si'ho attended Grand Lodge and other important meetings would agree svith him that in Bro . Binckes they had an eloquent exponent of Masonic law and custom , and , whether they alsvays agreed with him or not , th- ; y felt that he was

alsvays manly and sincere in the expression of his viess's , and most happy in the expression of them . His special thanks were due to Bro . Binckes on that occasion for so ably performing the beautiful ceremony they had svitnessed . Bro . BINCKES , in reply , said he regretted lhat he had not had the opportunity of proposing the health of the VV . M ., for whom he entertained

thc deepest feelings of respect and esleem . Hc thanked the W . M . heartily for svhat he had said . As for the Mark Degree , it was svell knosvn that from the first it had enlisted his , the speaker ' s , sympathies ; and , if at first it had received the cold shoulder , it had nosv for some time been ruled over by those who had occupied the highest positions in the Craft . Quoting the svords in the toast

list" A braver place In our heart ' s love hath no man , " Hc felt that if those words were deserved he should go away the happiest man amongst them . Next June it would be 25 years since he became Grand Secretary , and although claiming no merit himself , from seeing the jM ark Degree just tolerated , he had lived to see it as a Constitutional Degree recognised in every quarter as an integral part of the great family of Masonry .

" The Health of thc Newly-advanced Brethren , " " The Visitors , " and " The Officers of the Chiusvick Lodge" followed , and the Tyler's loast concluded a most successful inauguration , and a pleasant social evening . An attractive programme of music was carried out under the direction of Bro . E . J . Hoare , Grand Org ., the vocalists being Bros . Egbert Roberts ,

Jno . Probert , Arthur Tilbury , and Miss Rosina Stanford . The lodge was furnished by Bro . George Kenning , P . M . No . 1 , and each article of furniture , clothing , & c , was presented by the founders—the jesvels , svorking tools , pedestals , & c , bearing an engraved silver plate with the name of each donor .

Masons Eminent In The State.

MASONS EMINENT IN THE STATE .

In proposing the toast , at the recent Festival of the Boys' School , of the Pro Grand Master , the Deputy Grand Master , the Provincial Grand Masters , and otherOfficersof our Order , the Marquisof Hartington very gracefully alluded to the presence in the nesv Ministry—the Ministry svhich has displaced that of which he himself was so capable a member—of the Earls of Carnarvon and Lathom , their exalted position in the-Craft , and the services

they are alsvays willing to render the Sovereign of this realm in matters political . He mentioned the very great probability that the train in svhich hc and other members of Mr . Gladstone ' s Administration had travelled lhat very afternoon from Windsor to London , after surrendering the seals of office lo her Majesty , may have passed on its svay another train journeying ^ from London to Windsor , which included among its passengers those

distinguished brethren who , with their colleagues , were about to receive the seals of office their predecessors had only a lew minutes previously resigned . His lordship added that he should have been greatly disappointed had he missed the opportunity of proposing their health , and still more seriously concerned if any one imagined that mere differences of political opinion svould have prevented him from doing so . In olher words , Lord Hartington made

the fact of certain Grand Officers being members of the incoming Conservative Ministry , while he and other brethren had belonged to the outgoing Liberal Ministry , the occasion for lauding one of the chief characteristics of Freemasonry , namely , that it is a non-political body , thc members of which , when gathered together as such , sink all differences of opinion of a political nature , and meet on the common grounds of mutual respect and perfect

good fellowship . 'I here are many people who cannot , and others who svill not , understand this . But it is an indisputable fact , nevertheless , however much it may be questioned by people who are prejudiced against our Society , as the follosving particulars will show : — The late Administration included in its ranks many brethren of greater or less distinction as Masons . Six of thc sixteen members composing the

Cabinet belonged to our Society , namely , Earl Granville , Foreign Secretary , who was initialed in the Apollo Uuiversity Lodge of Oxford , No . 357 ; the Marquis of Hartington , M . P ., Secretary of State for War , Prov . G . M . Derbyshire ; the Right Hon . H . C . E . Childers , M . P ,, Chancellor of the Exchequer , Prov . G . S . Deacon West Yorkshire ; the Right Hon . Sir Charles Dilke , Bart ., M . P ., President of the Local Government Board ; the

Right Hon . G . O . Trevelyan , M . P ., Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster ; and the Right Hon . G . J . Shasv-Lefevre , M . P . Of subordinate Ministers who were Masons we find Lord Richard Grosvenor , M . P ., Secretary to the Treasury , and Past G . S . Warden of England ; Lord Wolverton , Paymaster-General , initiated in Apollo University Lodge ; Lord Alcester , a Lord of thc Admiralty ; and Sir Thomas Brassey , K . C . B ., Secretary to thc Admiralty—the latter initiated in Apollo University Lodge ; and Sir Farrcr

Hcrschell , Q . C , M . P ., Solicitor-General . Among the Great Officers of State and Officers of the Household were the Earl of Breadalbane , Treasurer ° f the Household , G . S . W . Scotland , and Prov . G . Master East Perthshire ; Lord Kensington , M . P ., Comptroller of thc Household , Prov . G . Master south VVales ( West Division ); the Earl of Cork , Master of the Buckhounds ; Lord Methuen , one of the Lords-in-Waiting , Prov . G . Master of Wiltshire ; and Lord Carrington , Captain of the Corns of Gentlemen-at-Arms , P . G . S . W . of England .

As regards the new Administration , four of the sixteen Cabinet Ministers belong to our Society , namely , the Earl of Carnarvon , Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , Pro Grand Master of England , and Prov . Grand Master of Somersetshire ; Sir M . E . Hicks-Beach , Bart ., M . P ., Chancellor of the Exchequer , ' ast G . S . Warden England , and Prov . G . Master Gloucestershire ; Colonel Stanley , M . P ., Past G . S . Warden England , and Deputy P . G . M . West ' -ancashirc ; and the Right Hon . E . Gibson , Lord Chancellor of Ireland , , , --, -... — ... w £ ¦ ' - --- •¦ ' -- ¦ « . — .. v .., .-. w . U WKU . O-W . U . \ J , .. w . t . KU ,

, " » o is a member of Chapter No . 2 , Dublin , of Prince Masons of Ireland . Among subordinate Ministers are Sir VV . Hart-Dyke , M . P ., Chief Secrecy Jor Ireland ; the RightHon . D . Plunket , M . P ., First Commissioner ° - Works , Past G . S . D . of Ireland ; H . S . Northcote , who will henceforth •e known as Viscount St . Cyres , Financial Secretary War Office , initiated " ' 86 7 in Apollo University Lodge , Oxford ; Aretas Akers-Douglas , M . P ., atronage Secretary of the Treasury , Past Prov . G . Registrar Oxfordshire ; --naiies Dalrymple , a Lord of the Treasury , Prov . G . Master of Argvlc-

Masons Eminent In The State.

shire and the Isles ; the Earl of Dunraven , Under-Secretary for the Colonics , Past Prov . G . Secretary Oxfordshire , initiated in Apollo University Lodge , No . 357 > nnd joining member of Westminster and Keystone , No . 10 ; Baron H . de Worms , Parliamentary Secretary Board of Trade ; and VV . T . Marriott , Q . C , M . P ., Judge Advocate General , G . Stesvard 187 S-9 , No . 6 . The great officers of the State and officers of the Household include the

Earl of Lathom , Lord Chamberlain , D . G . M . England and Prov . G . Master West Lancashire ; the Earl of Mount Ed gcumbe , Lord Stesvard , Prov . G . Master of Cornsvall ; thc Marquis of Watcrford , Master of the Biickhounds , installed VV . M . of Lodge No . 5 , Watcrford , Ireland , in January , 1869 ; Lord Arthur Hill , Comptroller of the Household , Prov . G . S . Warden Sussex , 1 SS 1 ; the Earl of Kintore , Substitute G . Master Scotland , and Prov . G .

Master Kincardineshire , and Lord Henniker , P . G . S . W . England , and Past G . Masier of Mark G . Lodge , England and VVales , both Lords in Waiting . Those who denounce the Society of Freemasons as being a body of men leagued together in opposition to the moral , social , and political good of man will do svell to read , mark , learn , and at their leisure digest the foregoing particulars , in the teeth of which it svill be somesvhat difficult for them to maintain their thesis .

Review.

REVIEW .

THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY . Volume IV . By Bro . ll . F . GOULD , P . G . W . Thomas C . Jack , 45 , Ludgate-hill . Fifth and Concluding Notice . VVe are nearly arrived at the end of our self-imposed task , thinking it but right that the Freemason , all other consideration put on one side , should seek to acquaint the Crafl universal , ( for svhich it appears ) , svilh ihe claims

and merits of a remarkable work . Bro . Gould brings out very clearly the history both of the Antient and Modern Grand Lodge " One important point is very ably put before us . It is the comparatively modern date of ihe antient scheme . There has been a modern idea that the scheme dates much earlier , indeed , almost synchronoasly svith 173 S . But it is nosv quite clear from their own authentic records , that the Anlients had no Grand Lodge before 1752 , at any rate , and that hosvever private lodges may have met ,

hosvever Morgan may have sought to create a separation , whatever discontent or heartburnings prevailed , Dermott is , and remains , the real fautor and perpetuator of the Antient Grand Lodge , svhich his peculiar combative and determined character , —may sve not say unscrupulous proclivilies '*' greatly fostered and brought to a point both of energy , reality , and prosperity . We cannot say that we think the Masonic history ' of those times is very edifying , or likely to redound to the credit of our Order , or offers any fitting or becoming commentary on the principles of Freemasonry .

That the Craft flourished under such circumstances is in itself somewhat striking , and the slow progress of the Order in the eighteenth century may be fairly accounted for by these undoubtable annals ' of its progress and management . While the history of the then Craft Degrees seems to be a

natural history of readaptalion , rearrangement , accretion and developement , the history of the Royal Arch remains more or less in haze and uncertainty . V We may hazard conjectures , as il seems to us , and advance theories , many and interesting , but certainty is wanting , assurance is not forthcoming .

Dermott professes to have brought it , whether truly or not , from Ireland , yet in Ireland much later they equally professed officially lo knosv it not . How can we explain and reconcile such a " seeming paradox 1 " Bro . Hughan has most ably and conscientiously tried to lift the veil over this mystery of our Masonic annals , and if he has only in part succeeded , svho else can hope to prevail ? VVe agree with him , that the

general theory , that it is demised to the Moderns from the Antients is untenable , and sve recur to what sve believe is the safest explanation , lhat whether borrosving his ideas from a foreign source , or from other ceremonies , Dermott , in order to make an impassable gulph betsveen the tsvo bodies , svhen the scheme was fairly a matter of history and fact , like the vendor of all quack medicines , lauded superabundantly his osvn wares , and

made that temporary distinction betsveen the Moderns and the Antients , which was only dispelled in 1 S 13 , by new and magnificent accessories , and a deliberate developement of a less icsthctic if customary ceremonial . And yet , thanks to Bro . Hughan , the earliest allusion to the Royal Arch , qua the Royal Arch , and its ritual accompaniments and decorations , is to be found in Fifield D'Assigny ' s pamphlet , and theminutes of a modern chapter

in 1761 . If Fifield D'Assigny ' s words are to be understood literally , ihe Royal Arch was practised in London early in the eighteenth century . Indeed , if we may judge safely and reasonably from Dermott ' s osvn minutes , 1771 may be fairly fixed as the time when the Royal Arch , under the Antients , was in full force , though Dermott alludes to it in print in 1756 , and there is a public notice of it in the same year . There is ,

hosvever , no early list ot" Ancient Royal Arch Masons ; indeed , such as it is it isquite late , and , for anything thus far shosvn to the contrary , Dermott may have appropriated it , in fact , from the modern ceremonial , not from Ireland at all , and simply worked it as an adjunct to the Antient scheme . Bro . Gould is of opinion apparently that it is ol foreign origin , a " side Degree , " and that it and Installed Master were gradually adopted and svorked into

one system . We cannot agree svith him . VVe think the evidence greatly preponderates now of its home origin and growth , as well as that some Installed Masters' ceremonial was recognized in 1723-38 . Sure it is that Dermott invented and svorked successfully the svords Modern and Antient , though the evidence in favour of even the usage of Royal Aich is

more " Modern " than " Antient . " And if we cannot speak positively on all these subjects , as we think we cannot , or svith the lucidity and accuracy to be desired , let us rejoice to note and remember what progress wc have made , and how far more satisfactory is the result of our " authentic school , " than the painful and uncritical condition of Masonic studies which sve had to contend with , say , 30 years ago .

We owe a great debt of gratitude to those many worthy adepts and students who , like Bro . Gould , set before us thc result of their conscientious conclusions and careful researches in a svork of such merit , value , and benefit to Freemasonry universal . Bro . Gould has , with au honesty and boldness and clearness worth y ; of all commendation , unravelled many knots , solved many Cruxes , and his history will remain a lasting monument of erudition , ability , and power .

If wc have not been able to agree with all his conclusions , we have never ceased to admire his forcible . utterances and his admirable collocation of facts , his untiring industry , and his fair statement of the case , and on these accounts our reviesv has its value , inasmuch as it is only the " output " of honest commentary , and of friendly and fraternal criticism .