Lodge Tercentenary At Edinburgh.

established fact , the three hundredth anniversary of the first written minute , which now remained . It would be fortythree years before another Scottish Lodge could celebrate such an event , and 126 years before an English Lodge could follow . Whatever doubts might be cast on the age of the

Lodge to which he had referred , or the manner m which it was arrived at , there could be no doubt whatever about the age of the first minute , the tercentenary of which they were celebrating that day ; for there was the Minute Book to speak

for itself , all duly dated and signed , and the gradual change of handwriting from the old Court-hand to the present day style might be clearly traced . The first item in the Minute Book was an order to elect Wardens and Commissioners

( proxies ) at St . John ' s Day yearly . The second was the Schaw Statutes of 159 8 applied to the whole Craft of Scotland . Then followed the first , the oldest Masonic

minute known , dated 31 st July 1599 , and signed by G . Paton . Since that date the minutes had been continuous down to the present day . To do honour to this marvellous record was what had brought them together that day .

The Chairman at this stage called upon Sir Lewis MTver , M . P ., to present the Tercentenary Golf Trophy presented by him for competition among the Lodges of Scotland , to the successful team , the Lodge of Edinburgh ( Mary's Chapel ) , No . 1 . Sir Lewis , said the Chairman , took

a great interest in all sports that tended to make Great Britain manly , and this trophy had been presented in honour of this memorable occasion . Sir Lewis , in handing the trophy over to the Chairman , said that although his Mother Lodge held this trophy this year he hoped she would not

show her maternal greediness in holding it too long . It was his desire that Mary's Chapel team would have to do hard battle to hold it another year . The Earl of Haddington then presented the badges to the four members of the team , and the Chairman , in accepting custody of the trophy , said

Sir Lewis MTver had always shown himself to be a devoted and loyal member of the Lodge . Led by the band , the company , upstanding , heartily sang "He ' s a Jolly Good Fellow , " and round after round of ringing cheers were afterwards raised for the donor of the trophy and Lady M'lver .

The Earl of Haddington gave the Provincial Grand Lodges . In any competition betwixt Grand Lodge and the Provincial Lodges there need be nothing , he said , antagonistic ; there need be only that healthful spirit of rivalry which made each Provincial Lodge strive to produce men

who were able to take their part m the highest offices in Grand Lodge . When Grand Master he had had ,, along with Grand Secretary , the opportunity of visiting all the Provincial

Lodges in Scotland , from Stranraer to Orkney , and they had hardly found a fault with any of them , so admirably conducted were they all , owing in a great measure to their having good Provincial Grand Masters at their head . The Prince of

Wales had said that if they were to be a lasting , a good , a permanent , and a useful institution , they must be religious , and as long as Freemasonry continued a charitable and religious body so long would Freemasonry not only exist , but flourish in " the land . With reference to what Brother

Lovegrove had said about charity , he would like to point out that there was hardly a Provincial Lodge in Scotland that did not have its Benevolent Fund , and in one week the sum of / 25 , ooo had been contributed as an addition to their

already established benevolent funds . He hoped that those Lodges which had not such funds would have them before long . Colonel Johnstone of Lesmurdie , Elgin , replied .

Sir Lewis M Iver proposed the toast of the City of Edinburgh , and Bailie Pollard replied . The toast of the Chairman was given by Bro . Sheriff Campbell , and was followed by that of the Secretary , the Past Masters , the Press , and the Croupiers , the very successful gathering ending with the singing of " Auld Lang Syne . "— " Scotsman . "

Mark Masonry.

MARK MASONRY .

— : o : — EAST ANGLIA .

THE Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of the Province of East Anglia was held at the Freemasons ' Hall , Soane Street , Ipswich , under the banner of the Albert Victor Lodge , No . 70 , on Monday , 10 th inst . Previous to the opening of the Lodge , a luncheon was

Mark Masonry.

served at the Great White Horse Hotel , over which Bro . Sir Francis G . M . Boileau , Bart ., Dep . Prov . G . M . presided , in the absence of the Right Hon . Lord Henniker Prov . G . M . M . After luncheon , the following toasts were proposed and

honoured : —The Oueen and Mark Masonry , M . W . Bro . H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , K . G ., etc ., Grand Master , M . W . Bro . the Right Hon . Lord Henniker Prov . G . M . of East Anglia , and Success to the Prov . Grand Lodge of Essex .

In proposing the latter toast , the Deputy Prov . G . M . referred to the alteration which had taken place during the past year , owing to Essex being constituted a separate Province . There was not , he observed , any jealousy entailed by the change , and East Anglia wished the new Province every success .

The Brethren then adjourned to the Hall , and the Lodge was opened in due form , the Deputy Provincial Grand Master in the chair . The minutes of the Prov . Grand Lodge meeting , held at Harwich on 15 th July 1898 , were read and confirmed . After

calling the roll of Provincial Officers and the roll of Lodges , reports therefrom were received . The report of the Board of General Purposes , together with the Treasurer ' s statement , were adopted after a short discussion , the Lodge voting the sum of £ 10 10 s to the Mark Benevolent Fund .

Bro . Francis Curry was elected Prov . G . Treasurer , and Bro . Jno . Hewitt Prov . G . Tyler , after which the Dep . Prov . Grand Master appointed and invested the Officers for

the year . After disposing of the remaining Lodge business of the year , the Provincial Grand Mark Lodge was closed in due form .

The Brethren attending the meeting then . accepted the invitation of the members of the Albert Victor Lodge , and were conveyed in open carriages to Freston Tower , Pin Mill , Holbrook , and Tattingstone , ending their journey at Ipswich

Railway Station . Everyone agreed that this was the most successful Provincial gathering held in East Anglia for many years , a fact largely contributed to by Bro . H . J . ' Wright , who acted as chaperone , and efficiently superintended all the arrangements for the meeting .

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