The Old Year And The New.

THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW .

TO-DAY brings to a close the year 1881 , a year which , in Masonic circles , may be described as having been one of quiet and uneventful progress . Nothing has happened that would be likely to evoke a sense of enthusiasm , yet it cannot bo questioned that ' the Graft has

strengthened and confirmed ifcs interests everywhere . There may have been bickerings in our ranks , but where is the Society or Community that can boast itself as being entirely free from such ? Quebec has raised a question as to the legitimate status of the English

Lodges in Montreal , and certain Lodges in New South Wales have presumed to constitute themselves into a Grand Lodge , in territory already occupied by the District Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland ; but such minor difficulties are inevitable .

The fact remains that the year 1881 , albeit distinguished by no remarkable occurrences , will bear fair comparison with the preceding six years during which the Prince of Wales has been Grand Master of English Freemasonry . Exactly sixty-one Lodges have been added to the roll of

Grand Lodge , the youngest Lodge for which a Warrant has been issued being No . 1953 , while at the close of 1880 , the youngest was No . 1892 . Of new Lodges only seven meet within the Metropolitan area , twenty-three have been established in the Provinces at home , and the remaining thirty-one in Districts abroad . The new Provincials are

thus distributed -. —Berks aud Bucks , two ; Cheshire , one ; Derbyshire , one ; Durham , one ; Hants and Isle of Wight , one ; Kent , two : Lancashire , one ; Lincolnshire , one ; Middlesex , one ; North Wales and Salop , one ; Norths and Hunts , one ; Northumberland , one ; Notts , one ;

Oxon , one ; Somersetshire , one ; Staffordshire , three ; Surrey , two ; and Sussex , one . Among the Districts abroad , Malta has two new Lodges ; Newfoundland , one Lodge ; Jamaica , one ; East Indies , three , namely Bengal , two , and Madras one ; China , two ; S . Africa , five Lodges ,

namely , Eastern Division , two , Western , one , Griqualand , one , and under no D . G . L . one ; Fiji , one ; New South Wales , three ; South Australia , two ; and New Zealand , nine , namely , Canterbury , five ; Auckland , one , and Wellington , three . If we compare the total for this year , we

find it is , as stated before , sixty-one against sixty-six in 1875 ; sixty-nine in 1876 , of which one has since dropped from the roll ; seventy-three in 1877 ; sixty-five in 1878 ; fifty-three in 1879 ; and thirty-nine , of which one has ceased , in 1880 . This gives a " grand total for the seven

years of 426 Lod ges for which warrants havo been granted ; but , as two have already passed away , or , as is more probably the case , as in the case of two , the warrants were never acted upon , the net addition to the Grand Lodge roll is 424 . We do nofc say this implies so much additional strength ; the

on contrary , there are grounds for believing thafc much of it will be found to contain a certain element of weakness . Under any circumstances , however , there is no doubt that during the Grand Mastership of His Royal Highness tho Prince of Wales there has been thus far avast increase in the strength , as well as in the zeal ancl activity , of the Craft . But the mosfc satisfactory feature is , thafc a

The Old Year And The New.

very large proportion of this increase has taken place in ouv Colonies : this is , indeed , a point on which the Masonic World is to bo congratulad . Nor is it in Craft Masonry alone that we notice this advance . The Royal Arch Degree has shared in the general impetus which the

election of the Heir Apparent as given to the spread of our principles ; while the prospects of the Extra-legitimate Degrees have correspondingly improved , the improvement being especially noticeable in the Mark Degree , which ,

with the Arch , will make still further advance now that Prince Leopold Duke of Albany has been installed Pasfc Grand Master of the ono , and has been appointed by the Prince of Wales a Provincial Grand Superintendent in the other .

The proceedings in Grand Lodge , with two exceptions , demand no special notice . Bro . C . J . Perceval brought forward a motion which , in our opinion , should have been adopted , namely , that in tho case of grants recommended by the Lodge of Benevolence in excess of £ 50 , the second

confirmation by Grand Lodge ,, as prescribed in the Book of Constitutions , should bo dispensed with . Our readers are aware that , as the law stood , a distressed brother to whom it was proposed to grant a sum , say , of £ 100 , had to wait for payment till the minutes of Grand Lodge confirming it

had themselves been confirmed , a sum of £ 10 being all he was allowed to draw on account . This entailed a delay of at the least four months , during which , of course , the brother in distress was under the necessity of getting on as best he could . Grand Lodge , however , did not adopt Bro .

Perceval ' s motion , though it had the good sense to meet it to the extent of allowing £ 50 to be drawn after the first confirmation ; which , it must be admitted , would suffice to meet the most pressing necessities of the case . Another motion , submitted by Bro . Raynham W . Stewart P . G . D ., to

theeffect that the grants to theMale and Female Fundsof the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution should henceforward be £ 1000 and £ 600 instead of £ 500 and £ 300 respectively , was carried unanimously , the grants to be paid out of the funds of General Purposes . This may be looked upon as

a graceful act , especially when we remember that three and twenty years have passed since the last additions to the grants were made . As regards our Institutions , the brethren have shown their accustomed liberality , the three Anniversary Festivals

having together yielded , in round numbers , something like £ 37 , 500 . The Benevolent Institution had Sir H . Edwards , Bart ., Provincial Grand Master West Yorkshire , as President of the day , ancl with such a Province at his back , it is not surprising that the total of the subscriptions should

have exceeded £ 14 , 300 . Sir M . Hicks-Beach , Bart ., M . P ., signalised his accession to the Provincial Grand Mastership of Gloucestershire by taking the chair at the Festival of the Girls' School , about £ 11 , 500 being the result , Gloucestershire—a small Province—loyally supporting its

Chief to the extent of £ 1 , 000 . As to the Boys' School , at whose Festival the Marquis of Londonderry , K . T ., Provincial Graud Master of Durham , presided , there was a departure from the usual order of things , the Anniversary being celebrated at Brighton , instead of in the immediate neighbourhood of London . The experiment may be set

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EPPS ' S ( oSSJSSo ) COCOA .