Masonic Mems.

The Grand Master has fixed November iG for the installation of Colonel Lumsden , of Pitcaple , as Provincial Grand Master of Aberdeenshire West . * * * The article " Freemasons , " in the fourth volume of " Chambers ' s Encyclopaedia , " just published , is contributed by the historian of

Scottish Masonry , Bro . D . Murray Lyon , Grand Secretary , who is acknowledged an authority on the history and antiquity of the Craft . * * *

The foundation-stone of the Church of St . Simon and St . Jude , at High Park , Southport , was laid on Saturday afternoon , the 19 th ult ., with Masonic honors , by the Earl of Lathom , Provincial Grand Master . The Provincial Grand Lodge of the Western Division of the Count ) ' of Lancaster mustered at the schoolrooms and formed in procession , marching to the site upon which the

church is to be built . The arrival of the Provincial Grand Master was announced by a flourish of trumpets , and the procession then entered the enclosure . The ceremony was a most imposing one , and was witnessed by a large concourse of people . For some years past there has been a lack of church accommodation in the district

of High Park , and the energetic Rector of North Meols , the Rev . C . Hesketh Knowlys , has for some time been taking steps to remedy the deficiency , and at last his efforts have been crowned with success . The church will be a commodious structure , with sittings in nave and side aisles for 6 4 8 persons . In addition , there will be ample accommodation for school-children in the chapel and extra

vestry on the south side of the choir . The church will have two excellent entrances at the west end , with screen doors . Additional entrances on the north and south side will also be provided at the east end of the aisles . The nave will be lighted by a range of clerestory triplet windows on each side , above the aisle roofs , and also a fine western window in four

compartments . Great care has been taken in designing the church to obtain the best acoustic effects compatible with the peculiar mode of construction . The style adopted is a severe treatment of Early English . Before presenting the trowel and mallet , Mr . Charles Scarisbrick , Lord of the Manor , thanked the Earl of Lathom and

other gentlemen on the platform for being present . His Lordship was associated there and elsewhere in all good work and charitable institutions , and he could assure him that the family of Lord Lathom was deeply beloved and respected . The Earl of Lathom said it gave him great pleasure to come there that day , and lay that foundation-stone . He took a greater pleasure because it was done with Masonic rites . He thanked them for the kind references to his

family , and assured them that he would do the best he could for that town , and make himself useful to his fellow creatures . His Lordship then laid the corner-stone . At the conclusion of the ceremony the procession was reformed , and the members marched back to the school-room , when the Provincial Grand Lodge was closed . In the evening an excellent banquet took place at the Prince of Wales ' s Hotel , which was presided over by Bro . W . Goodacre , Past Grand Sword Bearer , and Provincial Grand Secretary .

* * * " It is a fact much regretted by Masons in the West " ( writes a correspondent ) " that no Masonic Temple exists in Glasgow . In this respect we are very far behind our Southern and Continental neighbors , and every fourth-rate city in the United States boasts of a building of importance worthy of the Craft . It only requires the

energy of some Mason of standing to set the matter in motion , and he would receive ample support . When so many churches have of late been going begging for ownership , the brethren have suitable buildings ready to hand , all that is wanted being the man and the funds . Are there no public-spirited brethren in this city ? "

* * * If greater strength can be given to our arguments in favor of far greater caution being used in admitting men into Freemasonry , a comment from a Scottish journal will do it : — " There have been quite a number of claims made upon Lodges in Glasgow recently for pecuniary assistance . These have been responded to either by

way of a grant or in the negative , according to the best judgment of the officials of the Lodge appealed to . These conclusions have not always been come to b y a course of reasoning that could be called just . Some of the cases , however , have been very perplexing . Two in point were for assistance on the strength of membership , while the subjects had not been seen in the Lodges on any occasion after the nights on which they had received the degrees , though eight and eleven \ 'ears respectively had elapsed . "

" Freemasonry v . Christianity is the title of a lecture about to be delivered by a young Mason , member of Lodge Athole , Kirkintilloch . An enterprising youngster this ! * * * Rare Bits , of all papers under the sun , is imbued with Masonic history , and says this : — " All Masonic schools agree that the First

Grand Lodge was created by four London Lodges in 1717 , and consequently there could have been none at York . There were Masons , however , in abundance , a century prior to that event , as Elias Ashmole , the antiquary and author , chronicles his having been made one in 1646 , and that he presided over a meeting at London

in 16 S 1 , where a number of titled gentlemen were made Free Masons . Cromwell was one of the fraternity , and Charles II . was made a craftsman while in exile in Holland . In fact , all the Royalist refugees were members of the society , and very properly designated themselves ' children of the widow , ' meaning thereby in the service

of the Queen of Charles I . ( H . A . ) , murdered by three assassins ( England , Scotland , and Ireland ) to obtain authority ( the Master ' s word ) . "

* * * " No sooner was the Grand Lodge of England established in London , than another composed of Masons of ' a lodge of St . John ' s in Jerusalem , ' which means non-affiliates , started as a rival , calling itself the ' Ancient , ' and that of 1717 , the ' Modern ' Grand Lodge , while the last comer , a pretended revival at York , assumed the title

' Grand Lodge of All England . ' To head off the pretensions of this latter , Laurence Dermott , Grand Secretary of the second London Grand Lodge , claimed to work ' according to the Ancient Constitutions , ' enacted by Prince Edwin at York , which were not at the time in existence , nor probably ever had been . "

* * * " The earliest Masonic Lodges were merely social gatherings at public-houses , with a charitable fund attached , the first Grand Master , Anthony Sayers , being among the earliest applicants for relief . They had no distinctive titles , but were designated by the signs of the taverns at which they assembled , ' The Goose and

Gridiron , ' ' King ' s Arms , ' ' The Queen ' s Plead , ' & c . After a time , as the Moderns grew in importance , noblemen accepted the Grand Mastership , so that , under the Dukes of Wharton and Montague , they became a power in society . Dermott , who had appended a Royal Arch degree to his York antiquity , although imported from

France by the way of Dublin , secured as his Grand Master the Duke of Athol , in whose name the indefatigable Dermott issued these equivocal constitutions to Lodges in America , giving rise to the theory of Ancient York Masonry , as the Grand Lodge of York sent abroad but few warrants , and none to America , it being a purely

local institution . Should York Masonry ever have existed it was obsolete when , in 1813 , the Ancients and the Moderns fused to form the United Grand Lodge of England , as it continues until to-day without the faintest tinge of York about it . " * * *

An office-bearer of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow , in addressing a Lodge meeting at Springburn the week before last , touched upon the diversity of styles adopted in the work in the various Lodges in Glasgow . " I have long wondered , " said that officer , " why this important matter has been neglected by the

proper authorities . Instead of there being uniformity in the teaching of the work , there is great divergence . Lodges of Instruction , such as are in vogue across the Border are greatly needed here , and now that the matter has been brought to light I hope the P . G . L . will at once take steps to supply the want . "