Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Correspondents . All Letters must bear the name and address of the writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

AN HISTOBIC PEN .

To the Editor of the FBBBMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —In your very interesting and accurate report of the grand meeting at the Royal Albert Hall , on Monday last , you do me the honour of noticing my alacrity in securing the pen with which the M . W . Grand Master had signed the important document which had just been read and approved , and you rightly conjecture that it is intended to be added to the unique collection of historical Masonic relics belonging to the

Grand Lodge . Very few of those who were privileged to take part in that grand gathering were aware of the fact that this was the identical pen and nib with which His Royal Highness signed a similar address to Her Majesty in the same building on the 13 th June 1887 , when it was purchased for that purpose by tho R . W . Bro . Thomas Fenn , who also lent the handsome Masonic inkstand bequeathed to him by the late Bro . John Hervey . Bro . Fenn subsequently presented both pen and inkstand to tbe Grand Lodge ,

and I naturally took them to the Albert Hall for the M . W . Grand Master ' s use on the 14 th . Being in a measure responsible for their safe keeping , and knowing from experience how very easy it is for a small article such as a pen to go astray , I concluded that the best way to prevent the loss to the Craft at large of this now historic and doubly valuable souvenir would be to secure it at once . A suitable case has been made for the pen , and it is now on view with the other Masonio curios at the foot of the grand staircase at this place .

I may add that should any Brother be at a loss for a really good pen with which to write a cheque for the Prince of Wales ' s Hospital Fund I feel sure His Royal Highness will have no objection to its being used here for that purpose . The inkstand may also be available .

Yours fraternally , HENRY SADLER , Grand Tyler and Sub-Librarian Freemasons' Hall , London , 21 st June 1897 .

Church Services.

CHURCH SERVICES .

AT Battle Church on Wednesday , 16 th , a Masonic Service of thanksgiving for the Queen ' s reign was largely attended by Brethren and the general public . Bro . F . G . Ticehurst , as Master of the Ceremonies , made very complete arrangements . The brethren , headed by the choir , walked in procession round the church , wearing full regalia , the hymn being " God " of Supreme

Dominion . ' Special Psalms were sung , and for the anthem the National Anthem was rendered . Following the sermon the Brethren sang their hymn , " Now the evening shadows closing . " Brother the Eev . G . Hodges P . P . G . Chap . took for his text " And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all

Israel , and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel . " Solomon , said the preacher , came to the throne when 15 years of age , and made a religious pilgrimage to the house of Gibeon , and there made his vow and request before God . There was a parallel of this scene

in that which took place in Kensington Palace in the middle of the night , when the high officers of state informed the Princess Victoria that her uncle , the King , was dead . There was a something very touching in the way in which she , feeling , like Solomon , her weakness and insufficiencv for such a task , turned

fco the Archbishop and said , " Pray for me . " Those Privy councillors must have been without any sense of feeling if they were not touched by the first words that were delivered by her to them as they came to take the oath of allegiance . " The nation , " she said , " has sustained a sad and afflicting loss in the death of

my uncle , the King , and by his death there has devolved upon me the administration of the Government of this realm . This responsibility , this awful responsibility , has eome upon me at so early an age that I should feel it an oppressive burden if I did not realise that the same Divine providence that has called me

to this work will also sustain me in its discharge . " He thought that those Privy Councillors , as they looked upon that slender maiden and heard those simple words—and yet so strong—that fell from her lips , must have realised that before them was more than a young girl , and that in her was the invincible strength of

the King of Kings . The preacher reviewed the advances made in all directions during the Queen ' s reign , and the service closed with a Te Deum . Many of the brethren afterwards adjourned

to the George Hotel , where a banquet was held . Bro . the Very Eev . E . E . Currie , Dean of Battle , proposed the toast of the Queen , and , later in the evening , the Craft . — " Sussex Daily News . "

THE Brethren of Brighton celebrated the Jubilee by a Church Service , which was largely attended . Previous to the sermon the National Anthem was sung , then the Vicar gave an

Church Services.

exceedingly appropriate discourse from the words " The King and all Israel with him . " After graceful allusions to Her Majesty ' s long reign , he pointed out how the strength of a King was in the multitude of the people , while the people ' s strength was in their king . It was , he observed , that glory of Freemasonry which brought about such combination as ruler and the people

that day . During the Queen ' s happy reign Masonry had played a no small part . For centuries Masonry had existed , and at the present day they had as Grand Master the Prince of Wales , and other Eoyalty joined hand in hand with Brethren , cementing together in the bonds of love and trust the highest and lowest .

Might their badges of heavenly blue remind them of that charity and universal beneficence which in the heart of a Mason should be as pure and as expansive as the blue of heaven itself . The offertory was on behalf of the Masonic Charities . — " Sussex Daily News . "

Interesting Ceremony In Scotland.

INTERESTING CEREMONY IN SCOTLAND .

ON Saturday afternoon the Earl of Eosslyn was installed as Provincial Grand Master of Fife and Kinross-shires . In the ordinary course this would have been done within that Province , but in view of the ancient and continuous association of the St . Glairs of Eosslyn with Freemasonry , and the attachment to that Order by the more recent Earls , the Committee

of the Grand Lodge •of Scotland granted permission to hold the function in the chapel of Eoslin , which is full of Masonic and historic interest . About 500 Masons travelled from Fife by special train , and walked in procession to the chapel , within which about half of the number obtained seats . In the absence

of the Grand Master Mason of Scotland Lord Saltoun , the installation was conducted by Past Grand Master Sir Charles Dalrymple of Newhailes . Later in the afternoon Lord Eosslyn entertained the members of the Grand Lodge , the office-bearers of the Provincial Grand Lodge , and some friends , at a banquet in the Town Hall .

It is stated a movement is on foot on the part of the Barry Lodge for the erection of a Masonic Hall for the district , and a committee has been appointed to choose a suitable site at Barry Docks .

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