Correspondence.

Truro , will be placed to the Masonic Fund , and that duo information will bo given to all contributors before the special object to which it is proposed to apply tho money is decided upon . fts nature must necessarily depend in somo measure upon the

amount collectod . Yours obediently , MOUNT EDGCUJIRE , P . G . M . Cornwall .

VISITING SECRETARIES .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —The establishment of a second Masonic Girls' School , whose Secretary should visit Lodges , & c , might prove a success . I havo no doubt ifc would be supported . Grand Mark Lodge has proved successful , and so has its Benevoleut Fund . Yours faithfully and fraternally , A P . M .

THE MARQUIS OF RIPON .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Can you or any of your subscribers imform a brother Mason what tho general opinions and sentiments of the Craft are rolativo to tho appointment of tho Marquis of Ripon

( Past Grand Mastor ) as Governor-Goneral of India . Yours truly and fraternally , NE VARIETUR . 6 th May 1880 .

[ Wo think a matter liko this , which can only bo described as a political questiou , is outside the scope of Freemasonry . Doubtless most Masons havo an opinion on tho subject , which as men they are at liberty to entertain , but as Freemasons they are , or should be , independent . —ED . F . C . ]

Mark Masonry.

MARK MASONRY .

THE GRAND LODGE OF MARK MASTER MASONS OF ENGLAND , & c .

THE Mark Grand Lodgo will hold its Snmmer Communication on Tuesday next , and , in anticipation of this event , the General Board ' s Report and that of tho Grand Treasurer havo been published , both of them being most satisfactory , and showing the great advance in prosperity which this branch of Masonry has recently made .

According to the Report of the General Board , no less than 60 b certificates of advancement havo been issued in the half-year ended 31 st March last , so that the number of those at present registered as M . M . Masons is 13 , 514 . During the same period warrants for the following new Lodges have been issued , namely : —

No . , No . 40 " Shakespeare , " Warwick . ! 254 " St . Louis , " Goletta , Tunis . 44 " Florence Nightingale , " 255 " Robinson , " Maidstone . Woolwich . 256 " Five Arches , " Tenby .

2 o 0 " Darlington , " Darlington . " 57 " Jersey , " Maidenhead . 251 "Tenterden , " Buckhurst 258 "Sntlej , "Ferozepore , Punjab , Hill . 259 " Snowdonia , " Portmadoc . 252 " Natalia , " Pietermaritzburg , 2 G 0 " Comet , " Emerald , Qneens-Natal . ! land .

253 "Spes Bona , " Port Elizabeth , 261 "Zealandia Marine , " Port Cape of Good Hope . | Chalmers , N . Z . ' There have likewise been issued 144 certificates of elevation to tho degree of Eoyal Ark Mariner , while warrants for two new Lodges , —the " Natalia , " attached to the " Natalia" Mark Lodge , No . 252 , and the "Charles V . " attached to the "St . Louis" Mark Lodge ,

No . 254—have likewise been issued . The Province of South Wales has been temporarily placed under the charge of Grand Registrar . It is farther announced that a scholarship of the annual value of Fifteen Guineas has been placed at the disposal of the General Board for educational purposes by Bro . Dr . Passawer W . M . Mallet and Chisel Lodge , No . 5 , and Head Master of the Notting-Hill School ; that the

Annual Festival of the Mark Benevolent Fund is fixed to take place at the Crystal Palace on 7 th July under the presidency of Bro . Col . Burdett Prov . G . M . M . M . of Middlesex and Surrey ; and that , aa the Earl of Lathom M . VV . G . M . M . M . will preside at the Annual Festival of the Boys' School on Thursday , 1 st July next , it is recommended that a sum of Twenty Guineas be granted to tho funds of that Institution .

The Board ' s accouuts are most ; satisfactory . The Grand Treasurer ' s accounts for the half year could not well be moro favourable . The General Fnnd , including balance brought forward , shows receipts amounting to £ 9 G 8 14 s 2 d , and disbursements , including purchase of , £ : 200 Cape of Good 4 J- per Cent . Debentures , to the extent of £ 1119 lis lid , leaving a balance at bankers' of

£ 348 10 s 3 d . The BcuevolentjFund , balance and receipts together , gives £ 257 14 s 2 d , and disbursements £ 145 I 9 < ( H , leaving balance in hand of £ 111 15 s Id . The Education Fnml , mi Debtor side , show 3 a balance and receipts amounting together to £ 171 3 * 2 d , and as the disbursements arc represented by tho small sum of four guineas ,

there is a balance to the good of £ 169 193 2 d . The Invested Funds inclnde , in respect of the General Fund £ 1 , 500 ; of the Benevolent Fnud £ 1 , 200 ; and of the Educational Fund £ 300 , tho interest on which amounts in the aggregate to £ 115 per annum . From this brief resume of particulars our readers will sec that tho

Mark Masonry.

Grand Mark Lodge has of lato been making most rapid and snbstantial progress . Financially its condition is most satisfactory , while as regards its numerical strength tho advance speaks for itself . This is not to be wondered at , perhaps , when we bear in mind tho names of thoso distinguished brethren who , since the establishment of the

Grand Lodgo in 1850 , have presided over its destinies , and the energy of Bro . Binckes and others of its Grand Officers . Nevertheless , even the most enthusiastic and hopeful Mark Mason cannot bnt feel grati . Red at tho well nigh unparalleled success achieved by their degree iu so brief a space of time .

Kingston Lodge , No . 222 , at Tunis , North Africa . — A meeting of this Lodge was held on tho 12 th May , at the Masonic Hall , Tunis . Present . —W . Bros . G . Pentecost ( P . G . J . W . ) W . M ., Dr . Perini S . W ., Professor Souiller J . W ., Professor Clement M . O ., Chevalier Edward Rosenbusch ( P . G . Reg . ) S . O ., A . Bokobsa J . O ., Rev . E . B . FrankelChaplain , J . Barsotti Treas ., C . Carriglio as Sec . and

R . M ., S . Sessing S . D ., J . B . Cassar J . D ., Commander Bridger , R . N ., Organist , I . Boccara I . G ., and J . Eymon Tyler . Bros . Delsol , Hannen , Chaigno , Cassnto , & c , Bro . T . F . Reade ( 33 Turkey ) , British Consul General at Tunis . The Lodge boing duly opened , W . Bro . C . J . T . Hambro of Milton Abbey , Dorsetshire , P . M . Lodge 1266 , at Blandford , and D . P . G . M . for Dorsetshire , was unanimously approved of as a

candidate for advancement . On an alarm being given R . W . Bro . Montague Guest , M . P ., ( P . G . M . M . M . for Dorsetshire ) , and A . M . Broadley ( P . G . M . M . M . for Tunis and Malta ) , entered the Lodge , and were received with grand honours . The P . G . M . assumed the gavel , and advanced Bro . Baron Hambro to the honourable degree of a Mark Master . Bro . Broadley expressed the keen pleasure felt by

tho Lodge in general , and by himself , as a Dorsetshire Mason in particular , in receiving R . W . Bro . Guest as a visitor , and his Deputy Bro . Hambro as a candidate . Ho then gave Bro . Guest a short account of the rise of speculative Mark Masonry in Tunis , and of the various circumstances whioh gave an additional interest to the degree as worked on the site of the great architectural efforts of their

operative predecessors—the Phoenicians . On Bro . Broadley concluding his remarks , the R . W . P . G . M . M . M ., of Dorsethire , expressed his surprise and pleasure at what he had witnessed , and the satisfaction he felt at knowing how great a share a Mason of his own Province , their P . G . M ., had had in the extraordinary success of Mark Masonry in their midst . He should certainly return to England much enlightened

as regards Mark Masonry , and fully determined to profit both by the example he had seen of efficient working and the explanations he had heard of the archaeological associations connected with the degree . He would certainly do his best to support tho degree in England , and he shonld much like that the P . G . M . of Tunis and Malta should give an adress on the antiquity of the degree in Mark Grand Lodge . He

also warmly thanked the brethren for the reception he had received at their hands , and especially for conferring the degree on his Deputy Bro . Hambro . Tho P . G . M . acknowledged the kindly commendation of Bro . Guest , who was , at the proposition of the S . W . Dr . Perini , elected an honorary member of the Lodge . The charitable collection being made the Lodge was closed and adjourned .

London Lodge of St . Lawrence—A meeting of this Lodge was held on Saturday last , at 2 Red Lion Square . Bro . C . F . Matier D . G . M . presided as W . Master , tho Senior and Junior Warden ' s chairs being filled by Bros . D . M . Dewar ( G . Sec ) ., and P . C . Dibdin respectively , and there were present besides , Bros . Alfred Williams Conductor , J . E . Anderson as I . G ., Thos J . Pulley , George Gravely ,

C . H . Driver , Thomas Keene , George Lambert , H . C . Lambert , Walter Spencer P . M ., and R . P . Spice . After the usual preliminaries the degree was conferred on tho following brethren , viz ., W . W . Morgan , Henry Hacker , Thomas Benham , Frederick Walters , Thomas W . Adams , Thomas Meggy , and E . B . Florence . After the leoture

explaining the mysteries of the degree had been given by Bro . Matier , in his most able and impressive style , Lodgo was closed , and the brethren adjourned to the Holborn Restaurant , where the customary grill was most excellently served , and a pleasant evening , enlivened by toasts and agreeable chit-chat , was passed .

Tbe pnblic celebration of the sixty-first anniversary of Her Majesty ' s birthday will be held this day ( Saturday ) , amid the enstomary demonstrations of hearty loyalty . The Prince and Princess of Wales , H . R . H . the Dnke of Cambridge , Commander-in-Chief , and other illustrious

personages will be present at the time-honoured ceremony of trooping the colours on the Horse Guards' Parade . The principal ministers "will give the usual bauquets in hononr of the auspicious event . Parades will be held at Woolwich and other garrison towns , at the Headquarters in

Finsbury of the Honourable Artillery Company , and elsewhere ; while in the evening there will bo a brilliant display of illuminations at the West End , but especially in Pall Mall , Bond Street , St . James ' s Street , Piccadilly , Regent Street , and the other principal thoroughfares in that part of the

metropolis . No doubt if the weather turns out as brilliant as it has been thus far in the present week , the parks and streets will be thronged with crowds of sight-seers , all

eager to enjoy themselves . Let us hope—though wo fear the hope is a vain one—that the rough element will be as little demonstrative as possible , and avoid molesting ladies and gentlemen who are only desirous of moving about in jicacc .