The Origin of Freemasonry and Knights Templar ... - Lodge Prudentia

SUPPLEMENTAL ENCYCLOPAEDIAthe death of Miriam, the murmurings of the people forwater, the miraculous supply, the sin of Aaron and Mosesin smiting the rock, and the fruitless request for a passagethrough Edom (Num. xx. 1-22). In the desert of Zin,Hagar and Ishmael dwelt (Gen. xxi. 14-21).Wilderness See DESERT.Wren, Sir Christopher One of the most distinguishedarchitects of England, born October 20, 1632 was the son;of Dr. Wren, dean of Windsor and chaplain in ordinaryto Charles I. ;was distinguished in boyhood for mathematicaland inventive genius entered Wadham College, Oxford,;at the age of fourteen. He built many fine buildings andchurches, but his fame rests chiefly on St. Paul's Cathedral,which he built in 1675-1710. He was elected Grand Masterof the Masons in1685, an office he held until after the deathof Queen Anne (1714), when he was removed by George I.He passed the few remaining years of his life in serene retirement.He was found dead in his chair after dinner onFebruary 25, 1723, in the ninety-first year of his age, andwas buried in the crypt of St. Paul's.York (Lat, Eboracum} It is the capitahof Yorkshire,at the confluence of the Ouse and Foss, and is one of theoldest and most interesting cities of England. It is surroundedwith walls, and generally closely built with narrowstreets and curious, old-fashioned houses. Its cathedral,built from the eleventh to the fourteenth century, is oneof the finest specimens of Gothic architecture in the world.It is built in the form of a cross, 524 feet long, 250 feetbroad across the transepts, with square, massive tower 225feet high, rising over the crossing, and two elegant towers196 feet high, flanking the western front. In the time ofthe Romans, York was the seat of the general governmentfor the whole province of Britannia; and here Constantinethe Great was proclaimed emperor. In the period of theScots and the Danes it offered a fierce resistance to William