The Ashton District Mark Lodge And The Grand Mark Lodge Of England.

and all , are prepared to extend the right hand of fellowship , give the most hearty welcome and cordial reception possible to every member , and the terms of union suggested are most magnanimous and liberal . THOMAS . D . FOREMAN P . P . G . W . Lane . Denton , 26 th Sept . 18 99 .

The Dispute At Ashton-Under-Lyne.

THE DISPUTE AT ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE .

THE rupture between the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons and the Mark Master Masons of the Ashtonunder-Lyne district had a sequel last week in London , when the Worshipful Masters of the Craft Lodges of the district were summoned to appear before the Grand Lodge of England

to account for having committed a breach of the Book of Constitutions by granting the use of the Lodge rooms for Sunday Mark Masons . The various Lodges were admonished , and requested to adhere in the matter to the regulations of the Order . — ' ' Manchester Courier . "

Continental And Outside Masonry.

CONTINENTAL AND OUTSIDE MASONRY .

A TELEGRAM from Madrid through Reuter ' s Agency states that the Bishops who attended the Catholic Congress at Burgos have addressed a message to the Queen Regent , assuring the King of their respect , and requesting the

Government to put an end to the abuses of Protestantism and Freemasonry . In a message to the Premier , the Bishops demanded that Freemasons should be disqualified from sitting in the Chamber . — "Daily Chronicle . "

AT a time when Freemasonry is thought by the clerical section in France to be the root of all civic evil—and it has been solemnly averred , for instance , that Captain Freystaetter changed his opinion as to Captain Dreyfus because of the order of a Masonic Lodge at Versailles , of which he is said to be a member—it is of the more interest to know that

the Duke of Connaught has consented to lay the foundationstone of the proposed new building at Bushey for the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . But , while the Grand Orient of France—the name of which is reversed by M . Guerin ' s anti-Masonic "Grand Occident" in the Rue Chabrol—has

always been " suspect" by its critics on the ground that it trespasses upon politics , Freemasonry in this country has been ever associated with the convivial and charitable side of life . Over a century and a quarter ago this latter point was curiously illustrated in "A Discourse upon Masonry , "

published in Dublin , to which was added a "Fraternal Melody , Consisting of Original Odes , Cantatas , and Songs for the Use of Members of the Most Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons , the Most Noble Order of Bucks , the Honourable Order of Select Albions , the

Honourable Lumber Troop , the Ancient Corporation of Stroud Green , the Ancient Family of Leeches , the Worthy Court of Do-Right , and the Free and Easy Counsellors under the Cauliflower . " The Free and Accepted Masons

are still with us ; but where are now the Bucks , the Albions , the Leeches , and the Cauliflowers , to say nothing of "the Ancient Corporation of Stroud Green ? "— " Westminster Gazette . "

WHILE there is not the slightest chance of the invitation being accepted which has been given to the Prince and Princess of Wales by the Grand Master of the Freemasons of Virginia to attend a tercentenary celebration in that State , a certain piquancy attaches to the fact because it is announced simultaneously with the decision of the Roman Catholic

Bishops of Spain to ask the Government to put an end to "the abuses of Protestantism and Freemasonry . " To the average Englishman this juxtaposition will seem quaint , but an even more curious collocation , in which the Papacy itself as well as Masonry was involved , is to be found on the

titlepage of a book issued in London in early Georgian days , by Edmund Curll , immortalised as the litigious publisher of the poet Pope . This ran in the formidably verbose fashion then customary : " Ebrietates Encomium : or , The Praise of Drunkenness , wherein is authentically , and most evidently

proved , the Necessity of frequently getting Drunk ; and , That the Practice of getting Drunk is most Ancient , Primitive , and Catholic . Confirmed by the Example of Heathens , Turks , Infidels , Primitive Christians , Saints , Popes , Bishops ,

Continental And Outside Masonry.

Doctors , Philosophers , Poets , Freemasons , and other Men of Learning in all Ages . " But the Bishops at Burgos assembled are not likely to have heard of this work of the learnedthough imaginary—Boniface Oinophilus , de Monte Fiascone , A . B . C . —" Westminster Gazette . "

The Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , having secured a " record" collection of £ 140 , 000 at its Centenary Festival last year , over which the Prince of Wales , as Grand Master , presided , intends to put most of the money in bricks and mortar by transferring its School from the present site at

Wood Green to a more open and extensive position at Bushey . The Duke of Connaught , who is the Provincial Grand Master of Sussex , has consented to lay the foundationstone of the new building in May of next year ; and it may be expected that the occasion will prove a very striking one

in Masonic annals . Few outside Freemasonry realise how much good work is done by its three great English Institutions —the one for Girls , the other for Boys , and the third for Aged Masons and Masons' Widows . These have virtuall y no endowments , and are supported simply by subscriptions

mainly given at the annual Festivals ; and when it is said that the total realised at those Festivals amounts on the average to £ 50 , 000 a year , and that this does not touch the amounts voted for charitable purposes by the Board of

Benevolence of Grand Lodge , by the various Provincial Boards of Benevolence , and by the Almoners of the several Lodges , it will be seen that the claim of Freemasonry to be more than a social and much of a benevolent Institution can be easily demonstrated . — " Birmingham Daily Post . "

The Chairman of the Bath Surveying Committee , at a recent meeting , said he had received a letter from Mr . Davis , of Walcot Street . It included a request to know whether a Freemason was a proper person to hold a high civic office

( laughter ) , and asked about something that would happen in the sixth year of the next centur }' . Alderman Taylor suggested the chairman ' s table was broad , and the letter might lie there .

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