The Grand Lodge of England. By A. F. Calvert. (H.
Jenkins. 12s. 8d. net.)—In this elaborate volume, half filled with portraits and illustrations, Mr. Calvert records the history of English Free- masonry from 1717, to commemorate the bicentenary of Grand Lodge celebrated the other day at the Albert Hall. He cites the diary of Elias Ashmole, the antiquary who was as great a benefactor to Oxford, to show that Freemasonry existed during the Civil Wars ; Ashmole says that he was " Malls a Free Mason " at Warrington in 1646 and attended a London Lodge at " MaliOna Hall" in 1682. Only four London Lodges took part in the forma- tion of Grand Lodge on Midsummer Day, 1717, at the ' Goons and Gridiron' in St. Paul's Churchyard, and three of these were probably composed of working masons and other artisans. There are now, it seems, more than two thousand Lodges under the Grand Lodge of England.
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