United Grand Lodge.

Leonard Potts ... ... P . M . 1716 John Robertson Reep ... ... ... P . M . 1260 George Graveley ... ... ... P . M . 898 Robert Colsell W . M . 1695 List of Lodges for which Warrants have been granted by the M . W . Grand Master since the last Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge .

No . 2705—The Playgoers' Lodge , London . 2706—The Foster Gough Lodge , Stafford , Staffordshire . 2707—The Weald Lodge , Brentwood , Essex . 2708—The Holmes Lodge , Wigan , Lancashire . 2709—The Royal York Lodge , Nailsworth , Gloucestershire . 2710—The Lodge Minchin , Trevendrum , Madras .

2711—The Imperial Lodge , Liverpool . 2712—The Jubilee Masters' Lodge , London . 2713—The Vanna Levu Lodge , Vanna Levu , Fiji . 2714—The Temperance Lodge , Liverpool . 2715—The Acanthus Lodge , London . 2716—The Midland and Oxford Bar Lodge , London .

Mark Grand Lodge.

MARK GRAND LODGE .

THE Quarterly meeting of this Grand Lodge will be held in Mark Masons' Hall , London , on Tuesday next , 31 st inst ., at five for six in the afternoon . The Grand Festival will be held in Freemasons' Tavern , at 7 o ' clock , at which the Pro Grand Master the Earl of Euston has promised to preside . The following is the Agenda of Business : 1 . Read and , if approved , confirm Minutes of Quarterly Communication of 1 st March 1898 .

2 . REPORT OF THE GENERAL BOARD . During the three months ending 31 st March 1898 there have been issued : —Mark Certificates , 631 ; total registered , 38 , 322 . Since the last report , four Warrants have been granted for new Lodges , viz . :

No . 515 , Addington , Natal , South Africa . No . 516 , Hammerton , Gibraltar . No . 517 , Wedad , Minieh , Egypt . No . 518 , Yeatman Biggs , Darjeeling , Bengal . Royal Ark Mariner Certificates , 195 ; number registered , 5 , 588 . Warrants for two Royal Ark Mariner Lodges , viz : Ragheb , attached to the Ragheb Lodge , No . 510 , Egypt . Al Hakeeka , attached to the Al Hakeeka Lodge , No . 513 , Egypt .

His Royal Highness the Most Worshipful Grand Master has been graciously pleased to appoint : R . W . Bro . Capel Jenner Hogg to be District Grand Master for th « Western Division of South Africa .

R . W . Bro . The Honourable Mr . Justice Burkitt to be District Grand Masttr for Bengal , vice Maj .-Genl . 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 . Col . Charles Hunter as Provincial Grand Master for North Wales . R . W . Bro . Thomas Cook as District Grand Master for Natal .

The Board have to record with great regret the death of R . W . Bro . Judge Donald Grant MacLeod District Grand Master for Burmah , who had held that office since 1891 , and under whose wise and able rule the Mark Degree had made considerable progress . His Royal Highness the Most Worshipful Grand Master has decided that for the present the District shall be placed in charge of the Deputy District Grand Master .

W . Bro . J . J . Lambert Past Provincial Grand Registrar , Lancashire , having in the following letter asked for the opinion of the General Board re Confirmation of Minutes : — 83 Mosley Street , Manchester , 25 th April 1898 . C . F . Matier , Esq ., Grand Secretary , Mark Masons' Hall , London ,

Dear Sir and Brother , —Referring to the correspondence which passed between us in January and February last , I shall feel obliged if you will place the following questions before the General Board , viz .: — " Except as regards the confirmation of the election of Master , or where specially required hy the Bye-laws of any Lodge , is it necessary or proper to confirm the minutes of each regular meeting of a Lodge ; or should a vote be taken onl y upon the simple question as to whether the minutes of the preceding meeting have been correctly recorded ?

In some private Lodges the proposition is put from the Chair that the Minutes are correctly recorded , whilst in other private Lodges the resolution is put that such minutes be confirmed . You are of course aware that in munici pal and other matters it is only considered necessary to confirm the proceedings of an inferior body , i . e ., the Council confirms the proceedings of the

Committees , and the Committees confirm the proceedings of Subcommittees , but the minutes of the Council are never put for confirmation , nor are the minutes of the Committee confirmed by such Committee , but are simply signed by the Chairman as being correctly recorded . The circumstances which gave rise to the question are as follow :

In November last a certain Lodge in this Province ( namely , The Chorlton Lodge , 394 ) voted a sum of money to a particular Charity . The Bye-Laws ° f the Lodge contain no provisions relating to the matter . At the January meeting of the same Lodge , a member proposed that the minutes of the preceding meeting should be confirmed , except the portion relating to the above

grant referred to . It was pointed out to the W . M . that this was in effect an attempt to rescind the grant , without giving notice of motion , and « was submitted that the W . M . should simply put the ' resolution that the minutes of the preceding meeting were correctly recorded , leaving it to the dissatisfied Brother to give notice of motion to rescind the particular grant ,

Mark Grand Lodge.

to which he took exception ; but the W . M ., in the exercise of his judgment , and relying upon the "N . B . " at the foot of Rule 126 of the Mark Constitutions , put the resolution , " That the minutes of the preceding meeting should be confirmed , except the portion relating to the grant , " and this resolution was carried . The result is , that the particular sum of money

voted at the November meeting has remained in the hands of the Treasurer , who does not know whether to pay it over to the Institution to whom it Iwas originally voted , or to retain it in hand until a fresh vote has been obtained from the Lodge . Was the W . M . in order in taking the vote of the members in the way that he did , or should he have simply put the resolution " that the minutes were correctly recorded ? "

I very respectfully submit that the " N . B . " to Regulation 126 is misleading and irregular , and that only in the case of the election of W . M . is it necessary to confirm the minutes ; and even in this case it is not the minutes that are confirmed , but the election of the W . M ., as recorded in the minutes .

I have the honour to be , . Dear Sir and Brother , Yours faithfully and fraternally , ( Signed ) JAMBS J . LAMBERT P . Pr . G . R . After due deliberation , the Grand Secretary was directed to reply as follows : —

Mark Masons' Hall , London , W . C , 6 th May 1898 . W . Bro . J . J . Lambert , Manchester , Dear Sir and Brother , —The several points raised in your letter of 25 th April were carefully considered by the General Board , who direct me to say

that in their opinion minutes of a Lodge , whether relating to grants of money or to general business , should always be put for " confirmation , " which is the word always used in the Book of Constitutions . I am , yours fraternally , ( Signed ) C . F . MATIER P . G . W . G . S .

The Rangoon Lodge , No . 369 , Rangoon , Burmah , having ceased to meet the Warrant has been returned to Grand Lodge . The Board have the pleasure to announce that the sum of £ 400 has been repaid by the General Fund to the Benevolent Fund , and that the said sum has been invested in 2 | per cent . Consols . The only debt now outstanding is the sum of £ 1 , 763 19 s 6 d due to the Annuity Fund .

FUND OF BENEVOLENCE . The R . W . Bro . Rt . Hon . Alan de Tatton Egerton , M . P ., Prov . Grand Master for Cheshire , has most kindly consented to preside at the Thirtieth Annual Festival in aid of the Benevolent Fund , which will be held at the Freemasons' Tavern , on Wednesday , 13 th July 1898 , and the Grand Secretary will be happy to receive the names of Ladies and Brethren willing to act as Stewards .

The Board have elected on the Educational Fund without a poll : William George Ellis Phillips , son of the late Bro . Charles Phillips , of the Alfred Lodge , No . 247 , Oxford . The Board have to report the death of an annuitant , Bro . Richard James .

Mrs . Mary Lord , widow of Bro . James Lord , of the Prince Edward Lodge , No . 14 , in the Province of West Yorkshire , has been elected on the Annuity Fund without proceeding to a formal poll . The following cases have been relieved :

Mrs . A . G . ( widow of a Brother of Lodge No . 105 ) ... £ 10 0 0 Mrs . F . W . M . ( widow of a Brother of Lodge No . 173 ) 10 0 0 Mrs . M . L . ( widow of a Brother of Lodge No . 14 ) ... 5 0 0 ( Signed ) R . LOVELAND LOVELAND President . FRANK RICHARDSON Vice-President .

C F . MATIER Grand Secretary . 5 th May 1898 . At the conclusion of the ordinary business , the following resolution was passed : — " That the cordial thanks of the members of the General Board be and are hereby tendered to their President , R . W . Bro . R . Loveland Loveland , Q . C ., for the very able and courteous manner in which he has presided over the meetings of the Board during the past year . "

( Signed ) CHARLES BELTON , Acting Vice-President . 3 . A Motion will be made that the Report be taken as read . 4 . A Motion will be made that tho Report be received and entered on the Minutes . 5 . A Motion will be proposed that the Report be adopted . 6 . Installation of the M . W . G . M .

7 . Appointment and Investiture of Grand Officers . 8 . Nomination by the M . W . G . M . of six members to serve on the General Board . 9 . Election , by Grand Lodge , of five members to serve on the General Board . ( The following present members of the Board only are nominated : Bros . Richard Clowes P . G . Overseer , A . Stewart Brown P . G . D ., Frederick West Deputy Prov . G . M . Surrey , T . P . Dorman P . G . I . G ., and Alfred F . Church P . G . Steward . )

Mr . Joseph Hocking has written a new serial story , entitled " Trevanion , " for " Cassell ' s Magazine , " which will be commenced in the June part .

Messrs . Cassell and Co . are preparing a sixpenny illustrated edition of Mr . Stevenson ' s well-known work " Treasure Island , " which will be issued during the month of June . Messrs . Cassell and Company ' s annual Exhibition of Drawings in Black

and White was opened on the 25 th instant at the Cutlers Hall , Warwick Lane , E . G ., and contains pictures by J . MacWhirter , R . A ., Alfred East , J . Pennell , H . G . Glindoni , H . M . and W . Paget , J . Charlton , Gordon Browne , H . A . Harper , W . H . Margetson , Sir J . D . Linton , T . Fulleylove , W . Hatherell , Hal Hurst , P . Tarrant , C . Burton Barber , W . H . Overend , and many others .

Mr . Bret Harte will contribute to " Cassell's Magazine" for June a complete story entitled" Salomy Jane ' s Kiss , " and the same issue will contain the first of a new series of stories by Mr .. E . W Hornung .