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ROYAL MasonicInstitutionfopGirls. The 112 th ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL WILL BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY , THE I 6 TH MAY 1900 , THE RIGHT HON . THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH , R . W . PROY . GRAND MASTER STAFFORDSHIRE , IN THE CHAIR . Brethren willing to act as Stewards are earnestly solicited to send in their names to the Secretary , as early as convenient . Stewards are much needed , and their services will be gratefully received . E \ K . W . HEDGES , Secretary . Office—5 Freemasons' Hall , London , "W . O .

The Queen And Irish Freemasons.

THE QUEEN AND IRISH FREEMASONS .

ON Wednesday of last week Her Majesty the Queen was pleased to receive a number of addresses from public bodies at the Viceregal Lodge , Dublin , among them being one from the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland , which was presented by the Duke of Abercorn Grand Master , and Sir James G . Meredith Deputy Grand Master , and was in the following terms ;

MAY IT PLEASE YOUB MAJESTY , — We , the Freemasons of Ireland , in Grand Lodge assembled , venture with the most profound respect to offer to your Majesty a right loyal and most hearty welcome upon the occasion of your Majesty ' s present visit to this portion of the

United Kingdom . We remember with gratification that it has been our privilege upon many former occasions to address your Majesty , and to assure your Majesty of our unswerving loyalty and attachment to our beloved Sovereign . We can assure your Majesty that when His Eoyal Highness the Prince of Wales

stated in the Albert Hall , in 1897 , upon the celebration of your Majesty ' s Diamond Jubilee , His Eoyal Highness ' s conviction that your Majesty had not amongst your Majesty ' s subjects any body of men more loyally devoted to your Majesty than the Brethren of the Masonic Fraternity , we felt that we , as Irish

Freemasons , were justly entitled to regard ourselves as included within the class towards which His Eoyal Highness was expressing himself in such welcome , but at the same time may we venture to add such well-deserved , words . We , as Freemasons , have been taught to reverence and revere our Sovereign , and it

affords us no small gratification to remind your Majesty that many of your Majesty's illustrious ancestors have been members of the Masonic Brotherhood , and that the Craft in England has the advantage of having had as its Grand Master for many years past His Eoyal Highness the Prince of Wales , and that many

other of your Majesty ' s decendants have been enrolled in the ranks of Masonry . We humbly pray that your Majesty may continue to enjoy all happiness and prosperity , and that your Majesty's visit to Ireland upon this occasion may not only afford pleasure and gratification to your Majesty , but may mark a new era for your Majesty ' s loyal subjects .

On Tuesday afternoon , 24 th inst ., in the course of a long drive , Her Majesty paid a visit to the Irish Masonic Schools at Balls Bridge . The girls of the School awaited the coming of the Queen in front of the Institution , while the boys lined the carriage drive by which the building is approached . On Her

Majesty ' s arrival the girls , who looked very neat in their blue serge dresses with white aprons , gave three cheers for the Queen . A number of prominent Irish Masons had the honour of being presented to the Queen , including Lord Justice Fitzgibbon , Sir J .

C . Meredith , Bishop Downe , and Archdeacon Irwin . Her Majesty accepted two bouquets—one from the youngest child in the Institution , the other from Marian Vance , a girl who was first in all Ireland in a recent competition for Scriptural knowledge .

The same evening , at the installation banquet of the Duke of York Lodge , No . 25 ( I . C . ) the health of the Queen was drunk amid a scene of the greatest enthusiasm , the newly-installed Master the Earl of Shaftesbury drawing attention to the fact that his was the unique privilege of proposing at a Dublin

Freemasons Lodge the toast of the Queen while Her Gracious Majesty was actually on Irish soil . The Brethren present included the Lord Mayor of Dublin , the Earl of Portarlington , Sir J . C . Meredith Deputy Grand Master , Lord Justice Fitzgibbon , Sir Robert Seaton , Sir C . A . Cameron , Sir G . F . Duffey , the Bishop of Ossory , Mr . Justice Eoss , and Professor Ball .

New Hall At York.

NEW HALL AT YORK .

ON Monday , 23 rd inst ., an important function in connection with the Graft was performed at York , a new Masonic Hall , situate in Ogleforth , being dedicated for the Agricola Lodge , No . 1991 , and the Worshipful Master for the coming year Bro . James Pickersgill Gill being formally installed in the chair of King Solomon .

The dedication ceremony was performed by the Eight Hon . Lord Bolton P . G . W : England Deputy Provincial Grand Master , and the installation ceremony was undertaken by Bro . John Haughton Hill W . M ., assisted by Bro . Fredk . Wm . Halliwell

P . M . 1611 . In the evening the installation banquet took place at the Bay Horse Hotel , Marygate , the attendance there , and at the previous ceremonies , including a large number of Visiting Brethren .

Church Service.

CHURCH SERVICE .

ON the occasion of the meeting of the District Grand Lodge of Bengal , at the Bishop ' s Palace , Calcutta , on 27 th December last , a special service was held at St . Paul ' s Cathedral , when the sermon was preached by Bro . the Most Eeverend the

Lord Bishop of Calcutta and Metropolitan of India , P . P . G . Chaplain Middx ., who took as his text Eevelations xxi 22 : " And I saw no temple therein : for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it . " Our esteemed Brother said :

In the history of the Jews since their entrance into the Promised land no event was more striking or inspiring to the national mind than the erection of the temple under _ King Solomon . It was the consummation of their national unity ; it was the consecration of their national life . The temple itself , as

the sacred historian in his Chronicles has related , was designed to be " exceedingly magnifical , of fame and of glory throughout all countries . " For it Hiram , King of Tyre , sent his " timber in abundance "—the cedar and fir trees and algum trees out of Lebanon , and a cunning artist " to grave any manner of graving

and to find out every device . " Its rich adornments , its porch , its pillars , its precious stones , its brazen altar , its molten sea , its lavers , its candlesticks , " the silver and the gold and all the instruments" that were " put among the treasurers of the house of God " rendered it glorious and gracious above all buildings

that the people had seen or imagined . It rose majestically in stately solitude " there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool ol iron heard ID the house , while it was in building . " In the words of Bishop Heber ' s well-known poem , which in this Cathedral , if anywhere , may be fitly

quoted" No workman ' s steel , no ponderous axes rung , Like some tall palm the noiseless fabric sprung . Majestic silence !" And when the building was complete the King himself dedicated it in the language which exalted the minds and hearts of all the people from the temple on earth to the spiritual temple not made with hands in Heaven .

That day was the beginning of a new conception of the national life and the national religion as associated with a splendid divine building . It was a thought that never passed from the popular mind , it never failed , it never faded , but was always present ; it was the theme of sacred song and prophetic vision .

You can discern it in the pathetic plaint of the second Isaiah at the Captivity . " Our holy and beautiful house , where our fathers praised thee is burnt up with fire , and all our pleasant places are laid waste . " You can discern it too iu the glowing hope of Haggai in the day of restoration from Captivity , under

Zerubbabel ; " The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of Hosts , and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of Hosts . " Nay it is more remarkable , as an instance of the feeling of the Jews for the temple not now Solomon ' s temple nor Zerubbabel ' s , but King Herod's , but still a

temple , still the centre of the national religious life , that our Lord ' s words respecting the temple of his body so strangely misunderstood as they were , should have been construed into blasphemy , and that when He hung upon the Cross the passers-by reviled Him saying : " Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days , save thyself . "

The temple then , sublime and splendid , was in Jewish eyes an essential feature of religious life . Without it religion itself seemed poor , inadequate and unhallowed ; but in it the highest aspirations of religion found at once a sanctuary and a home . Let me now invite your attention on St . John ' s Day to his own words in the Apocalypse : " I saw no temple therein . "

Who would not have anticipated that St . John , who had been himself a pious Jew , whose mind was filled with the imagery of Judaism , as he contemplated in prophetic rapture the spectacle of " the holy city , the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" would