Contents.

CONTENTS .

PAGE FREEMASONRY AND THE PRESS HI OUR SIGNED ARTICLE : No . I . — BY-LAWS OK FRENCH LODGES , 1799 — 1820 in ROUND AND ABOUT . BY " THE DRUID" 112

THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS 114 THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS 114 MASONIC MEMS 115 SUPREME GRAND CHAPTER ... 117

EMINENT MASONS AT HOME : No . 8 . —THE RIGHT HON . SIR HENRY ISAACS , LORD MAYOR , I

PAGE AT THE MANSION HOUSE { with a Portrait ) 1 iS THE J UNIOR DEACON 120 THE LATE \ V . WIGGINGTON ... 120 ROBERT BURNS AND FREEMASONRY { concluded ) ... 121 FACTS AND FANCIES .- —SIR

! ARCHIBALD C . CAMPBELL , BART . ; COL . SHADWELL H . CLERKE ; MARQUIS OE GRANBY LODGE ; MEDLEVAL GUILDS 122 AMONG THE BOHEMIANS ... 124 COLONIAL AND FOREIGN ... 125 GATHERED CHIPS 126

Freemasonry And The Press.

FREEMASONRY AND THE PRESS .

ALTHOUGH there is a marked objection among the members of the be . tter-class Lodges in this country to their proceedings in Lodges or out of it being pencilled by the voracious reporter , either Masonic or alien , it must touch the dignity of the Craft to see the outside Press no longer passing over the greater questions which affect it in silence . It is only within the past few months , somewhat

coincidently perhaps with the birth of this journal , that the " greater " Press has opinioned the more important movements in Freemasonry . There can be no objection to this movement so long as the subject is treated in a sound and serious , manner , and it may have the effect of bringing up still higher the -irestige of

the Craft in the minds of the greater public . That we do not get the best men to join our ranks is lamentably a fact , which in no small measure may be caused by the indifference with which the Craft , as a recognised society in the State , has been treated by the newspapers of the kingdom . There

are men who are strongly opposed to anything in the way of journalistic Masonry , men who are " faddists" to such a degree that they consider a Masonic journal against the laws of the Craft . These will look upon the new aspect of affairs with horror , but it will be pleasant to think the Craft itself will benefit to a great extent by the universal importance thus given to it . In the United

States , where a dozen stockmen ' s huts constitute a settlement sufficiently extensive to possess a representative newspaper of its own , the Masonic Column is one of the features of the publication . But they give their readers , not the verbatim report of speeches and a census of names with the capital alphabet tacked on , as if a Lodge

meeting consisted of an assemblage of ratepayers voting against the £ 5 rise in the collector ' s salary , but chatty , descriptive notes that are news and of interest to the Mason , and readable and instructive to the man who is not .

Our Signed Article.

OUR SIGNED ARTICLE .

No . 1 . —BY-LAWS OF FRENCH LODGES , 1799-1820 . I HAVE lately come across some " Statuts et Reglemens" ol Lodges in France of especial interest and importance . They are bound in one volume and extend from 1799 to 1820 ( 68 pages 16 mo . ) Taking them in the order of their present arrangement ,

the first Code is for the Lodge " Saint Jean de Jerusalem , a L'O . de Nancy . " This carefully-compiled series of Regulations were suggested at a meeting of the Lodge held on the 18 th of the fourth month ( i . e . June ) , 1799 , and were agreed to and adopted by the members 10 th

of third month ( May ) 1800 ( V . L . 5 , 800 ) . The heading reads , "A la gloire du G . A . de 1 'Univers , " and " Au nom et sous les auspices du G . O . de France . " Article 1 provides for the working of the three symbolic grades of Apprentice , Companion , and Master in the respectable Lodge ; those of the Elect , Scottish Master , and Knight of the Sovereign Prince Rose Croix being conferred in the "Ateliers des hauts grades . "

The number of ollicers run to eighteen , the last being " Depute au G . O . de France . " The three principal officers were distinguished with jewels , similar to those under the English regime , and the brethren were required to be clothed according to their degrees from the first to the Rose Croix , as may be . The three degrees cost ninetytwo francs . Elaborate rules were made respecting the attendance

and reception of visitors , the " premier Maitre des Ceremonies " having no little responsibility in carrying out the numerous provisions . The rules were duly signed by the members , sixty-two in all ( who are arranged in five classes , viz ., Rose Croix , Elect , Master Masons , Companions , and Apprentices ) ; besides being

certified by Charpentier , whose title as given was " S . G . des S . T . et A . R . C , " and a waxen seal duly attests the same . The latter , which is circular , has a number of emblems represented , enclosed with the words , " Loge de Saint Jean de Jerusalem , Orient de Nancy . " I believe the Lodge is still active on the Roll of the Grand Orient .

The next " Reglemens " are those of the " R . L . St . Jean , sous le titre distinctif de la Trinite , O de Paris , " and were carried on the 10 th of the fifth month ( July ) V . L . 5805 , " et de 1 'Ere de la Republique le vingt-un" ( i . e ., 1805 ) . They arc elaborate in character , the Code extending to 128 pages , including the index . The Lodge was constituted by the Grand Orient of France on the

26 th of the 7 th month ( i . e ., September ) , 1783 , and the first By-law of 1805 fixes the number of members , " en activite on cotisant , " at 81 . The Ex-Venerable ( i . e ., the Immediate P . M . ) had to sit at the right of the presiding officer , which is exactly the reverse of the usual custom . The Orators , Treasurer , Architect , and " Manager of the Banquets" sat in the south , and the Secretary ( with his