Our Seventeenth Volume.

OUR SEVENTEENTH VOLUME .

/ ^ VUR first duty in announcing the commencement of a v - '^ new Volume , especially when , as in the present case , such commencement coincides with , the beginning of a new year , is the very pleasurable one of wishing onr readers all

the good things they can possibly wish for themselves during the one just opened . During the past few years we have apparently not had such bright prospects in store for ns as when peace abroad and contentment at home

were the order of the day , and we can only hope that the expression of hearty good wishes , whether one-sided or reciprocal , may exercise some sort of magic influence in bringing about the object with which they are uttered .

Our next duty is to convey to our readers , in terms the most loyal , our thanks for the support we have received at their hands , a support so freely extended as to justify us in the belief that it will . be forthcoming so long as we

continue to show ourselves worthy of it . It goes without saying that it is no easy task to continue year after year supplying a regular weekly budget of Masonic news and criticism that shall satisfy the tastes , we will not say of

every class of reader , but of the majority of readers . It cannot be said that Lodge reports are universally interesting , and now and again there comes a time when there is a comparative cessation of activity in Masonic

circles , and then , of course , the said Lodge reports are , to use a homely , but familiar simile , very much like the raisins in a workhouse plum pudding , but few and far between . Again , it happens not infrequently that the

course of Masonry runs on so smoothly and harmoniousl y that the difficulty we experience is to find anything worth criticising , and criticisms , it will be universally allowed , cannot be invented unless there be something to evoke

them . In this case also , there invariably follows a dearth of correspondence , especially as there appears to prevail on the part of members of our Fraternity an unwillingness to air their grievances , whether real or

imaginary , by means of letters addressed to one or other of their representative organs . A diary of Lod ge meetings is most decidedly useful , and even , indeed , necessary , but it is the reverse of attractive reading . Yet , in spite of these

difficulties , by which every Masonic paper must be surrounded , we seem to have jogged along during a period of ei ght years , and , accordingly , we comfort ourselves with the belief that our readers must have derived a certain amount

Our Seventeenth Volume.

of satisfaction from the perusal of our columns . At all events , as the Clown says in the pantomime , " Here we are again , " prepared to continue our labours as heretofore , and braced up to such continuance by the belief that our friends . ¦

who have helped us forward by their support during the past eight years will remain by us in the future . It will be readily gathered from what we have said that ours is no sinecure office . But if we succeed in pleasing our friends '

by supplying them punctually and regularly with the best budget of news possible under varying circumstances , and with kindly , yet impartial , criticism of the events that are passing around us , we are prompted to believe we shall

secure a portion at all events of the reward we look for at their hands , namely , their respect and patronage . In this spirit and with a determination to labour on to the best of our ability , we present to our readers the first number of our SEVENTEENTH VOLUME .

A Fortnight's Summary.

A FORTNIGHT'S SUMMARY .

IT is not often that so many important Masonic events are crowded together within the brief period of a fortnight , especially when the said fortnight falls at Christmastide . It is true our most busy season extends

from about the end of September to the month of May following , and therefore , in a certain sense , we ought not to be surprised , if occasionally , what is in family circles the essentially festive portion of the year should be marked by an unusual activity in Freemasonry . But even in this case we do not look for the consecration of sundry new Lodges and other well nigh equally notable events all occurring within the course of a few days . Yet on the

loth December , the Friday preceding the close of our last volume , was consecrated in the new Town Hall , Hove Brighton , the Stanford Lodge , No . 1947 , so named in honour of Bro . V . Fane-Benett-Stanford , Past Provincial Grand Senior Warden Dorset , in the presence of the Grand Master of the Province Bro . Sir W . W . Burrell Bart ., M . P ., Bro . J . H . Scott P . G . D . D . P . G . M ., and other prominent brethren of the district . On the Mondav

following , a similar ceremony was carried out at Southwold when Bro . the Rev . C . J . Martyn D . P . G . M . of Suffolk ' had the satisfaction of consecrating the Lod ge , No . 1983 ' bearing his respected name . Yet a few days , and Brother Rev . C . W . Arnold , M . A ., D . P . G . M . Surrey , discharged a similar function on behalf of the Arnold Lodge , No . 1981 Molesey . That three Lodges , each bearing the name of a brother of high standing in the Craft , should be

inaugurated at a longer or shorter interval from each other is by no meaus surprising ; but it is a matter worthy of note that in each of these three instances the brother thus honoured should havo been able to take a prominent part in the ceremonies . A few particulars of each event will not be without interest to our readers .

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