The Year 1883.

Yorkshire , of which York is Masonically the centre , but likewise from the adjoining Province of West Yorkshire , from London , and other districts . The other event is the installation of H . R . H . the Duke of Albany as Prov . Grand Superintendent of Royal Arch Masons for Oxfordshire ,

which took place at Oxford during Commemoration week , when , as invariably is the case , there is an exceptionally large gathering of the brethren . On this particular occasion tho meeting was numerous , beyond comparison

with other meetings of a similar character , and Oxfordshire can now boast a ruler who in himself combines the important offices of Prov . Grand Master and Prov . Grand Superintendent .

One signal misfortune befel us this year . Before midnight on the 3 rd May , there was an alarm of fire at Freemasons ' Hall , and in a very short time it was discovered that the portion of the building known as the Temple had been

attacked by the flames , and in spite of the efforts made by the Brigade , in a very few hours th'eTe "was but little left beyond the bare walls of one of tbe handsomest structures of its kind in England . The catastrophe has been generally attributedto an overheated flue in tbe kitchen of the

Tavern , which set fire to a massive beam that ran athwart it and was somehow connected with the Temple . At all events , the Hall with its magnificent roof , its handsome furniture , and its array of p ictures of former Grand Masters , no longer exists , nothing of any considerable value having

escaped except the marble statue of his late Royal Highness the Dak © of Sussex , G . M . 1813-43 , by Bro . Bailey , R . A ., which is only slightly damaged by the heat and smoke . At the meeting of Grand Lodge immediately following , the question what course should be pursued was discussed at

some length , and , in the end , a Committee was appointed to consider what steps should be taken . However , the arrangements proposed do not appear to have been acceptable to the brethren , and it has now been resolved to rebuild the Temple with the moneys due by the Insurance

offices , the question of enlarged accommodation being left to be dealt with at some future time . We cannot , however , dismiss this subject without expressing our satisfaction that the loss caused by the destruction of the portraits of certain Grand Masters has been already to a certain

extent repaired , so far , at least , as this , that other counterfeit presentments of these worthies have been obtained by G . Lodge , chiefly through the kind instrumentality of sundry brethren , we ourselves having the satisfaction of having been able to supply the one needed to complete the series .

It should also be mentioned as a subject of congratulation that the regalia of Grand Lodge remain intact , the destruction caused by the fire having been confined entirely to the Temple , its furniture , and appointments , the Grand Master ' s and other chairs , which were carefully stowed away in another part of tbe building , being an exception .

Our further remarks will be limited to a brief sketch of

Mark Masonry , which , from its extremely flourishing condition , and the interest its doings have so generally excited , may be said in a certain sense to have for the moment eclipsed the other branches of Freemasonry . It is well known that the Mark Degree has for many years past been

rapidly increasing in favour among the brethren . At the time this journal was started there "were considerably under two hundred Lodges ranged under the banner of the Mark Grand Lodge . There are now considerably over three hundred subordinate Lodges . Its financial condition is

equally prosperous . Its invested moneys have been largely added to , and the Educational Fund , which is an offshoot from the Benevolent Fund , has for some time past been demonstrating its utility in a very practical fashion . The Festival of the Benevolent Fund , which was held in this

instance under the auspices of Sir Pryse Pryse , Bart ., P . G . Mark Master of South Wales , proved a far more successful gathering than any that had taken place in previous years , the aggregate of the subscriptions announced being over £ 710 , the next highest amount being over £ 557 , contributed in 1882 . So considerable an advance must be

accepted as an indubitable evidence of what we have already stated as to the increasing estimation in which the Degree is held among all classes of brethren . But the crowning illustration of this increase will be found in the

advancement of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , and his subsequent installation as a Past Grand Master of the Order at an especial Grand Lodge beld at Freemasons ' Tavern , on Saturday , the 8 th December . At the Summer Half Yearly Communication in June , Lord Henniker M . W . G . M . had the satisfaction of announcing that the

The Year 1883.

Prince had expressed a desire to be received into the Order , though such reception was not to be taken as any indication on His Royal Highness ' s part of a wish to disturb tho relations heretofore existing between Craft and Mark Masonrv : or , in other words , that it was not his intention

or desire to do anything to bring about an amalgamation of the two , as it was once proposed in the Craft Grand Lodge some quarter of a century since . The Prince ' s wish was received with acclamation by the brethren , and on the 30 th October a Special Meeting of Grand Lodge was held

at the Masonic Hall , 33 Golden Square , when His Royal Highness was advanced to the degree , in accordance with the established ritual laid down , by his brother , H . R . H . the Duke of Albany , after which Lord Henniker installed him as Worshipful Master of a Lodge of Mark Master Masons .

On the 8 th December His Royal Highness was further installed as M . W . P . G . M . M . M ., and assigned rank at the head of the distinguished brethren who have passed the chair of Grand Lodge . That an event so auspicious must exercise a beneficial influence on the future fortunes of tbe

degree is more than probable , and as its influence is always being exercised on behalf of whatever gives lustre to Freemasonry , we feel sure the general body of Masons will cheerfully wish it God speed in all its undertakings .

Martin Luther. 1483. 10th November. 1883.

MARTIN LUTHER . 1483 . 10 th NOVEMBER . 1883 .

W"E have just passed an anniversary which all through the intellectual world called to mind one of those great mortals who have , at intervals , appeared upon earth . Not all are born with great ability , nor amid those circumstances which help make or reveal all the high attributes , nor do all have greatness thrust upon them . As

when diamonds are sought for in the rich sands the hard toilers wash out many a hundred and many ten thousand before they find one that is large and dear , fit for a Queen ' s crown , so these rare things from heaven—the human soul —pass along in mighty multitudes before the world can

with one accord point toward one man who is high above the great throng in all that confers excellence ! The days and weeks have led us gradually toward a point in the calendar made illustrious by him who at that place in time

wept his way into this world . Martin Luther was born the 10 th of November 1483 . Four hundred years have passed since Margaret and Hans Luther looked upon the face of that infant , which was to become a turning point in the march of mankind .

Luther repeated history by being born in humble life . The wheels of youth rest or rust in riches ; in poverty they all run . Wealth says , How shall I enjoy myself ? Poverty says , What labour shall I perform ? Out of the former come those who play ; out of the latter those who work .

But the scarcity of money must be joined to a great degree of sensibility and culture inherited from ancestors or found in the earliest surroundings of youth . For if poverty alone were able to make greatness , the African tribes and the Zulus should be supplying the world with

statesmen , and the mud huts of New Mexico should be sending forth poetry . That hardness of childhood which grows mental force must be attached to an awakened mind —it must be a hardness like that of Shakspeare and Franklin and Lincoln in hearts surrounded by civilisation . There are women in India who have more sorrow than fell to the

lot of tbe Bronte sisters , but in India the suffering is not joined to a cultured brain . Thus it is hardship and civilization combined that make the wheels of the brain go . The infant Luther enjoyed such a twofold impulse . Christ was indeed born in a manger , but that manger was

carpeted with all the wisdom of the East , and canopied by the love of an enlightened mother , so that while the little body of Jesus was near the straw and hay , His soul was where Greek and Roman and Hebrew wisdom and taste combined to make a new air . Thus Franklin and Lincoln were born

in poverty of money , but in the perfect splendour of liberty and education and hope . Luther was the son of a slate digger and cutter , but of a slate cutter who had refinement enough to desire to educate his little boy up to the highest

standard of that period . When the child was only six months of age the parents moved to where there could be found in a few years the good of education . . Thus the natural power of the child enjoyed that advantage found