History Of Voting By Ballot.

Hampton Court ; that Council met on the 17 th of September , and the King appeared in person to denounce this unmanl y invention of the ballotingbox . The Lords of Council sympathized in his rage . Things were coming to a pretty pass , when a mob of City merchants not onldared to assert their

y right to mind their own business , but proceeded to elect their own servants against the King ' s express command , by means of a wooden box and a few little balls ; and yet nobody could be burnt on the cheek and shorn of his ears for the offence ! That

was not a state of things to be borne . The King and his lords drew up two orders of the jury against that box , and these two bits of the unwritten history of England I shall now cite : — "' At Hampton Court , 17 th September , 1637 . "' His Majesty , this day present in Council , taking

into consideration two several petitions presented to His Majesty and this Board , in the name of the Governors , Assistants , and Fellowship of Merchant Adventurers of England , against Mr . Edward Misselden , whom His Majesty had formerly recommended to be chosen Deputy of that part of the said

Company which reside at Rotterdam , and having heard some of the said Company , and finding that neither the Governor nor the Deputy of that Company did personally appear in preferring either of the said petitions against the said Misselden , notwithstanding that by the said Company ' s Charter it is alleged the government is committed to the Governor or his Deputy and to twenty-four discreet persons of the said Fellowship , and notwithstanding that the said

Company did use a balloting-box in the choice propounded by His Majesty to be made of the said Misselden as aforesaid , it is ordered by His Majesty , with the advice of the Board in the ' first place , that a balloting-box shall be no more used by the said Company , nor by any other Company , in any of their *

elections or other business , as they tender His Majesty ' s displeasure , and will answer the same at the Board . And as concerning the nomination of a fit man to be Deputy at Rotterdam for the said Company , it is by His Majesty ' s express command ordered that the Alderman and all the grave and most ancient

and experienced men of that Company be forthwith called together , and that they join with the said Governor and Deputy in the said nomination , and make such choice as they shall hold fit both for His Majesty ' s service and reducing of things to better order abroad than they now stand . "Whereof the

Governor , Deputy , and Company of Merchant Adventurers are to take notice , and to give account of the same to the said Board with convenient speed . ' " The second paper runs thus : —

" * At Hampton Court , this 17 th of September , 1637 . "' His Majesty , this day sitting in Council , taking into consideration the manifold inconveniences that may arise by the use of balloting-boxes , which is of-late begun to be practised by some Corporations and Companies , did declare his utter dislike thereof , and with the advice of their Lordships , ordered that no Corporation nor

Company , either within the City of London and liberties , or elsewhere in this His Majesty ' s kingdom , shall use or permit to be used in any businesses whatsoever any balloting-box , as they tender His Majesty's displeasure , and will answer the contrary at their peril . Whereof , as well the Lord Mayor of the City of London for the time being , jmd all other Mayors and head officers of Cor-

History Of Voting By Ballot.

porations , as all Governors , Masters , and Wardens of all Companies in and about the Cities of Loudon and Westminster , and elsewhere , are to take notice and to see this His Majesty ' s pleasure and commandment duly observed . ' " In that way the principle of free voting made its final invasion , its final conquest , of this country . But this was not the first time the ballot-box had been

used in England ; though it is likely enough that its rapid growth and constant use among us date from that time , and derive from these orders of the day . It is not beyond suspicion that we English may have been the original revivers of the method , and that the Dutch patriots may have first heard of the ballot from

their English friends , the Puritan exiles , The ballotbox was certainly in use in London more than a century before it was re-introduced from Holland . In the city manuscripts ( cited by Orridge ) we have the following entries : —

"' 1526 , Sept . 19 . " ' In all matters concerning the election of Aldermen , etc ., which need to be written and tried fay way of scrutiny , such matters shall be tried by the new gilt box , brought in by the Chamberlain , whoreon is written these words , "Yea , " "Nay . " " This city chamberlain may turn out to be the

orig inal contriver of the modern ballot-box . The method was in use for some years , as we see by a later entry , 1533 : — "In every matter of gravity the box shall be brought into Court , and by putting in of white or black peas , the matter is to take effect or not . ' " Can any reader of these words supply me with an earlier instance of the use of a ballot box , either abroad or at home ? " W . HEPWOHTH DIXON . "

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

SPECULATIVE 1 IASONEX DEPOSE 1 / 17 . I shall be glad to hear what constituted the speculative Masonry which we are told existed before 1717 ? I am quite sure it was not the speculative Masonry or Freemasonry we now practise . Therefore , what was it ?—W . P . BUCHAN " .

THE ANTIQUITY OE PEEEMASONBY . Bro . Buchan has before given us his interpretation of " speculatyf , " which I venture to say is utterly unwarranted either by passage or context . It is quite clear that here " speculatyf " means he was acquainted with both the mechanical and scientific , or secret lore

of the Craft ! Bro . Buchan is in complete error when he says the " era of the building fraternities was in the 12 th and 13 th centuries . " They had been in existence long before , and culminated indeed in the 14 th and 15 th centuries . I recommend Bro . Buchan to read Mr .

Hope's Essay on Architecture , and he will there see how continuous was the action of the building sodalities from the fall of the Roman empire . Dr . Anderson ' s view of the history of Freemasonry is no doubt an erroneous one , and one which has long been given up . But does Bro . Buchan forget that Preston adopts the operative theory , and links on the speculative Grand Lodge of 1 . 717 to the operative assemblies ?—A MASONIC STUDENT .