Mark Grand Lodge.

MARK GRAND LODGE .

THE Quarterly meeting of this Grand Lodge will be held at Mark Masons' Hall , Great Queen Street , London , on Tuesday next , at five for six in the evening . The following is the Agenda of Business : 1 . Read and , if approved , "confirm minutes of Quarterly Communication of 31 st May 1898 .

2 . REPORT OF THE GENERAL BOARD . During the three months ending 30 th June 1898 , there have been issued : —Mark Certificates , 347 ; total registered , 38 , 669 . Royal Ark Mariner Certificates , 98 ; number registered , 5 , 670 . His Royal Highness the Most Worshipful Grand Master has beon , graciously pleased to appoint :

R . W . Bro . The Honourable Charles Ellis Davies , M . L . C ., fco be District Grand Master for Tasmania . R . W . Bro . The Honourable Mr . Justice Burkitt to be District Grand Master for Bengal , vice R . W . Bro . Major-General A . G . Yeatman Biggs , deceased . His Royal Highness the Most Worshipful Grand Master has been graciously pleased to re-appoint for a further term of three years : .

R . W . Bro . Rev . Canon Tristram as Provincial Grand Master for Northumberland and Durham .

R . W . Bro . Charles Letch Mason a 3 Provincial Grand Master for West Yorkshire . R . W . Bro . Col . George Singleton Tudor as Provincial Grand Master for Staffordshire . R . W . Bro . The Right Honourable The Viscount Valentia as Provincial Grand Master for Berks and Oxon . R . W . Bro . Lieutenant-Colonel Sir George Montgomery John Moore , R . A ., as District Grand Master for Madras .

FUND OF BENEVOLENCE . The Thirtieth Annual Festival was held at Freemasons' Tavern on the 13 th July , under the presidency of the R . W . Bro . The Honourable Alan de Tatton Egerton , M . P ., Provincial Grand Master for Cheshire . The sum of £ 1 , 728 was announced as having been paid and promised . The Board have great pleasure in congratulating the Chairman and the ' Board of Stewards .

The Thirty-first Annual Festival will be held in July 1899 , under distinguished presidency , and the Grand Secretary will be happy to receive the names of Ladies and Brethren willing to act as Stewards .

The Board have tp reporfc the death of an annuitant , Mrs . Mary Bird . Bro . R . V . Allison , Founder and first W . M . of the Copley Lodge , No . Ill , in fche Province of West Yorkshire , has been elected on the Annuity Fund without proceeding to a formal Poll . The following cases have been relieved : — Bro . H . M . W ., Lodge No . 251 ... ... ... £ 5 0 0

Bro . R . V . A ., Lodge No . Ill ... ... ... £ 15 0 0 Bro . T . C , Lodges No . 75 , 86 , 164 ... ... ... £ 10 0 0 ( Signed ) R . LOVELAND LOVELAND President . FRANK RICHARDSON Vice-President .

C . FITZERALD MATIER Grand Secretary . August 1898 . 3 . A Motion will be made that the Report be taken as read . 4 . A Motion will be made that the Report be received and entered on the Minutes .

5 . A Motion will be proposed thafc the Report be adopted . 6 . Presentation of Charity Jewels to the Stewards of the last Benevolent Fund Festival .

Speaking Masonically.

SPEAKING MASONICALLY .

Frank Stevens , in " Indian Masonic Review . " HOW often we do hear this phrase ? and what does it really convey to us—too often it convey nothing , at other times ¦ vve lind it used where its use cannot be justified by the established customs of the Craft . Speaking Masonically , that is , a Masonic admonition , encouragement or advice from one Brother to another .

should be one of the most valued privileges of ancient Freemasonry . Thus on the proposal of a candidate , it is the custom in many English Lodges to add a few details concerning the postulant ' s character , to which the seconder generally adds his tribute . Again , -when the candidate is being admitted , we hear that the tongue of good report has spoken in his favour ; and what

is that but the verdict , Masonically speaking , of the assembled Brethren . In the earlier rituals the Masonic tongue was much insisted upon ;• it was called the key to the secrets of a Mason . Again , when Lodges used to meet round a table with tyled doors , one of the toasts was , " To that excellent key , a Mason ' s tongue ,

which ought always to speak as well in the absence of a Brother as in his presence , and when that cannot be done with honour , justice or propriety , that adopts the virtue pf every Mason , which is silence . " This precept , belonging as it does to a past century , has lost none of its application in these later days .

The truth of the danger of un-Masonic speaking was felt , indeed , by our Grand Master Solomon , for he says " There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword . " To rightly appreciate what the Masonic Ay , Ay , and Nay , Nay , should be , it would be better for us , then , to see what it is not . For instance , it would

Speaking Masonically.

be speaking most un-Masonically to say half truths , which would tend to deceive or convey a wrong impression . Above all things , it is well to be careful when a Brother wishes to communicate something to us " strictly on the square . " This is , of course , speaking Masonically , but under this guise how many unkind words may be spoken against an absent Brother .

Conversations of this kind should be discouraged , for we have pledged ourselves to maintain oiir Brother ' s character in his absence as well as in his presence , and the Brother who under the seal of Masonic confidence would seek tp cast a suspicion upon an absent Brother may well be held to have acted in violation of the spirit of his obligation . Again , speaking Masonically in the presence of

non-Masons is a source of great danger to the Craft . By this is implied not the well-managed discourse of the expert Brother , who so manages the conversation that it may redound to the credit of the noble Craft , but the eager chatter of the indiscreet Brother , who cares not for cowans or eavesdroppers ; and who makes Masonry the excuse for covert winks and nods as one who

enjoys some private joke . Even the Masonic joke itself , when told in the presence of non-Masons , takes from the honour of the institution . But above all must we deprecate the earnest proselytising Brother , who , when but newly raised , greets each and every one of his acquaintances with some covert invitation to join the Craft , such as " You ought to be a Mason , " " I wonder

you are not a Mason , and so forth . Were this enthusiastic Brother to be asked but a few leading questions on the relations of one degree to another , it is doubtful if he could answer . He means well , and doubtless seeks to do his duty by the Craft , but he is hardly speaking Masonically . And then there is our old

aquamtance , the Masonic loafer , who is not only content with speaking Masonically , but before introducing himself goes through the signs of the three degrees with the smartness of a newlydrilled private , irrespective of time or place , cowans or eavesdroppers . Need we say that though dealing with Masonry , his manner of speaking is not speaking Masonically ?

In fine , when speaking Masonically , each Brother should remember that the honour of the Craft is in his hands , and so weigh his words as to reflect credit upon the Craft and upon th e Lodge of which he is a member . He should be careful to remember when speaking Masonically of another Brother , that to a certain extent that Brother ' s character is in his hands , and

above all he should avoid , if possible , the discussion of Masonic differences in the presence of others . He should remember that by their words as well as by their actions Masons prove themselves before the world , and that it lies within the power of each unit in the vast system of Masonry by his discourse to add to or detract from the credit of that great Brotherhood .

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