Brother Gould's "Four Old Lodges."

most reasonable opinion , based on a careful consideration of the abundant evidence submitted b y Bro . Gould . The third demands more attention than we can well afford or devote for the present article , as the reasons pro and con as to Brother Gould ' s views on the subject are very numerous , and would require the reproduction of many pages of the work to duly enable the able writer to properly state his ease . In briefwe may say that oriinal No . 3

, g ( which assembled at the Apple Tree Tavern , and under whose wing the first Grand Lodge pro tern , was held in 1716 ) , after removing to the " Queen ' s Head , " " upon some difference , the members that met there came under a ncno Constitution , tho' they wanted it not" ( Br . Anderson , A . D . 1738 ) , ancl from A . D . 1740 its number became 10 , until 1756 , when it was raised to 6 . From 1814 it has been No . 12 . Bro . Gould claimsthatas the continuitof the

, , y meetings of the Lodge had not been interfered with , its position as original No . 3 is still preserved , and that , consequently , whatever its number may be on the Roll at the present time , the " Fortitude ancl Old Cumberland Lodge " is in ' reality the original No . 3 . We have offered a few objections to this view of the matter , which have

occurred to us while in correspondence with Bro . Gould on the subject , some of which have been entirel y removed by his subsequent discoveries whilst searching amongst the old records in Grand Lodge , and which are clearl y explained in his excellent work . We still fail , however , to see any point in the members declining their privileges , if they were to retain them notwithstanding , ancl to accept a new Constitution , as Dr . Anderson states , is surely equivalent to resigning their time-immemorial usages . Bro . Gould has found that the Lod

ge objected to their being placed lower on the Roll , but on what grounds we still profess it difficult to understand , after again perusing the account of their difference , added to which , it appears to us that the members of the original No . 3 accepted a new Constitution , or joined a later Lodge , not that the junior Lodge joined No . 3 , which , to our minds , makes all the difference . The various paragraphs in the work relating to Lod precedency are most interesting

ge , ancl display a deep insight into the history of the old Lodges , as well as a complete mastery of all the intricate details of the various re-immberings ancl chronological arrangements by the G . Secretaries , ancl Pine ( the engraver ) , ancl others . The work is without a rival , and never is likel y to have one , all that is possible being accomplished , and the author most readily acknowledges the aid received from other students of the Craft in his admirable volume .

The information as to the old taverns , distinguished members of the " Four Old Lodges , " early customs of the Fraternity , the ancient guilds , the Masonic body in its operative ancl speculative character , its position and privileges last century , is so varied ancl complete that we cannot do more than pronounce the volume to be thoroughly practical and perfect in all its details , and a multum in , parvo for all Masonic students , who , for certain , can never feel too much indebted to the author for the vast attention and considerable time he has

devoted to these really important subjects . In fact , it contains so much that it has only been kept from being undul y bulky by the use of small type , the numerous notes being still smaller , and the whole so solid that it takes many hours diligent perusal to even cursorily manage the 82 pages . In our " Nuniismatical ancl Numerical Register of Lodges , " just issued , we take the numeration from 1863 back to 1813 , immediately before the Union , through the

changes of 1832 and 1814 . Brother Gould takes up the chain of evidence at 1813 , or rather 1792 , and traces every Lodge of the Moderns through all the re-numberings of 1781 , 1770 , 1756 , and 1740 , to the original numbers of the Lodges existing before that period , and in the several tables enriching the volume all the Lodges of the "Moderns" ( Avhether subsequently erased or otherwise ) are given , with full descri ptions . This has been , the most laborious part of the work , and is , in reality , its special value , as it is impossible to procure these engraved Lists and Calendars in any one library—that of