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^ BROTHER INTERESTED IN r \ making- a Collection of Home and Foreign Lodge Summonses , will gladly receive any , and would send some in exchange . — " COLLECTOR , " c / o the Editor of the freemason .

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Now ready , price 2 s . 6 d ., N OTES ON THE CEREMONY OF INSTALLATION , by H . SADLER , P . M .. P . Z ., Author of " Masonic Facts and Fictions , " with a Masonic Biography , Portrait , and Autograph of SIR ALBERT W . W OODS , C . B ., Garter King of Arms , Past Grand Warden of England and Grand Director of Ceremonies . G EORGE KENNING , 16 . Great Queen-st ., London , W . C .

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THE FOLLOWING HOTELS OF 'THE MIDLAND RAILWAY 1 COMPANY will be found complete in all the arrangements , and the charges moderate . MIDLAND GRAND ( St . Pancras Station ) London , N . W . The new Venetian Rooms at this Hotel are available for Wedding Breakfasts , and Public and Private and Masonic Banquets . ADELPHI ; ( Near Central Station ) , LIVERPOOL . QUEEN'S , LEEDS . MIDLAND , BRADFORD . MIDLAND , DERBY . MIDLAND , MORECAMBE . Tariffs on application . Telegraphic Address— " MIDOTEL . " WILLIAM TOWLE , Hotels , & c ., Manager .

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BRO . H . WITHEY would be glad to hear of a SITUATION as Masonic Hall or Club Keeper ( Ex-P . ) , Charge of Institute , Bank or Office Messenger , or any other position of trust . Highest References . Married . —Address : H . WITHEY , c / o The Editor The Freemason , Great Queen-st ., London , W . C

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PARTRIDGE & COOPER , "THE" STATIONERS , r ' 9- & 192 , FLEET STREET , LONDON . 1 HE ROYAL COURTS NOTE PAPER 't beilf lS i *^ cheapest paper ever introduced to the public , Price s ,, Shtly tinted , thick , and pleasant to write upon . THR per ream ' ^ VELLUM WOVE CLUB-HOUSE PAPER 'ivelon paper made * Send for sample box of paper and "PW i post free for 2 s . Catalogues Post Free .

To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

The following communications , amongst others , unavoidably stand over : CRAFT LODGES . —Perseverance , No . r $ <(; Royal Brunswick , No . 527 ; Zetland , No . 561 ; Florence Nightingale , No . 706 ; Strawberry Hill , No . 946 ; Lebanon , No . 1326 ; Liberty of Havering , No . 1437 ; . Sir Hugh Myddleton , No . 1 O 03 ; All Saints , No . 1716 ; I van hoe , No . 1779 ; and Cator , No . 3266 . ROYAL AKCH . —Duke of Fife Chap * cr , No . atie .

MARK . —Excelsior Lodge , No . 2 : 6 . Annual Supper of the Star Chapter of Instruction . Presentation of Ancient Documents to Howard Lodge of Brotherly Love , No . 56 , at Brighton . Laying Foundation-stone of a New Masonic Hall at Stokesley .

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S A * V ^* A < fe ^ A ^ . i » A ^^> 3 U ^ igg ^ SATURDAY . J ULY I , 1893 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

We are now enabled to state , subject to such slight alterations as may be made in the course of the next week or two , the result of the Festival campaign of the present year . In February the 51 st Anniversary of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , under Bro . C .

E . Keyser , P . G . D ., yielded £ 8856 ; in May the 105 th Anniversary of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls under the Earl of Euston , P . G . M . Northants and Hunts , resulted in a total of subscriptions and donations amounting to . £ 14 , 011 ; and on Wednesday the

95 th Boys' School Festival gave a total of ^ 21 , 340 . Thus in the course of this year the sum voluntarily subscribed by the English Craft towards their three Central Charities amounts to £ 44 , 207 . This is certainly

equal to , if not in excess of the average , and is all the more creditable to our Society , when it is remembered that last year the total contributed to the three Institutions reached the phenomenal sum of £ 91 , 642 . # # #

The largeness of the total , though the most important feature in connection with the Festival of Wednesday , was by no means the only one which gladdened the hearts of the Stewards and their numerous guests .

The clerk of the weather was in a more than usually happy form of mind , the consequence being that there was plenty of sunshine with a deliciously cool breeze blowing throughout the day , which enabled the visitors to Brighton to thoroughly enjoy their trip . It was ,

indeed , what is proverbially known as " Queen ' s weather , " and very properly so , the Queen having selected the day to unveil the statue of herself by her daughter the Princess Louise , Marchioness of Lome , which now stands in Kensington Gardens . And if

London-on-Thames put on its brightest aspect in honour of the Queen and her daughter , London-on-Sea could not well be otherwise than bright and cheerful in honour of the Society of which her Majesty is the Patron , and her Majesty's eldest son the M . W . Grand Master .

* * During Wednesday evening Lord Brooke telegraphed the M . W . Grand Master , sending hearty greetings to him as President of the Institution for Boys , and

informing him of the announcement . The following reply was received next morning " Many thanks for greeting . Delighted at success of Festival and large sum obtained . Albert Edward . "

An interesting ceremony , of which we shall give a full report next week , took place at Brighton on the 28 th ult . Advantage was taken of the fact that the Prov . Grand Master of Essex was presiding at the Festival of the Boys' School to restore to the Howard

Lodge of Brotherly Love , No . 56 ( Sussex ) , some documents which had accidentally come into the possessionjof Bro . J . H . Salter , Kelvedon , Essex . They relate to the early history of the lodge as far back as

1777 , and include minute books , & c , Irom that period to ** very recent date . Bro . Lord Brooke gracefully performed the little ceremony , and we need hardly say the gift , for such it was , was highly appreciated by the Howard Lodge of Brotherly Love .

* * It is very rarely that our ancient Craft becomes the subject of inquiry or discussion in Parliament , and all good Masons will be ready to exclaim " so much the better for the Order , " for even such a non-political and unsectarian body as we know our institution to be ,

Masonic Notes.

suffers injury when it becomes the subject of controversy in the heated political atmosphere of the House of Commons . * * * If in the controversy that has raged around the unfortunate references to our Order in the great debate

which is now proceeding in Parliament , there appear to be indications of an astounding ignorance of the constitution and the power and influence ot the

Fraternity on the one hand , there are not wanting signs on the other that party leaders are somewhat unfairly attaching an importance to certain utterances which are not warranted .

After the experience of a quarter of a century in the conduct of this paper , we feel more strongly than ever that the golden rule to be observed in Masonic journalism is to strictly avoid the pitfalls into which the discussion of political or religious questions ,

be they ever so pressing , would precipitate us . If anything more were needed to confirm us in that resolve , the manner in which the incident which occurred in the House of Commons last week has been dealt with by party writers on both sides , is absolutely confirmatory .

* * * For ourselves we have too much faith in the principles of toleration to doubt that whatever may be the result

of the present legislation , an attempt to circumscribe the liberties of such an organisation as Freemasonry would be the death-warrant of any existing government , either supreme or subordinate .

Correspondence

Correspondence

f We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed b y our correspondents , but we wish in a spirit of fair play to all to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . ]

SOME HINTS FOR THE COLONIAL BOARD . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , The recent discussions , in Grand Lodge and elsewhere , on the Cambrian Lodge , No . 656 , Sydney , have induced some reflections that the Colonial Board is not , but ought to be , the Institution it is described to be in the Book of Constitutions .

Brought into existence about the year 1857 , when the Canadian troubles were agitating the Grand Lodge of England , the functions of the new Board were then laid down , and are detailed at thc present day , to be : " The Board shall have similar powers , as regards

the Colonies and foreign parts , to those exercised by the Board of General Purposes . " All this is very plain , but unfortunately , so far as my limited experience goes , the Colonial Board literally does nothing else than meet once a month to listen to the reading of financial returns from abroad .

My present pu rpose is to endeavour to show that the Colonial Board might make the reason for its establishment more apparent , were the members to look carefully through the Book of Constitutions , and resolutely delermine to discard the old humdrum order of things . Take Article 95 for instance , where it is laid down most emphatically that a District Grand Master

shall correspond with the Grand Lodge , and transmit to the Grand Secretary , once a year , a report of his proceedings , " and of the state of Masonry within his province or district , " also " he is to forward , or cause to be forwarded , to the Grand Master , a summary of the minutes of every District Grand Lodge , & c . " Now , during the year I was a member of the Colonial

Board—and with , perhaps , two exceptions , I was present at every meeting—I never heard a single one of these reports read , or saw one produced . Again , Art . 111 enacts that private lodges in foreign parts " may make their returns and payments to the District Grand Master , or such brother as he may direct , but for the due remittance of which to the

Grand Lodge , the District Grand Master shall personally be responsible . " And then follows the power to issue Grand Lodge certificates , such certificates being sent out from England , in blank . The consideration—a grave consideration—consequently here is , that in the event of neglect on the part of District authorities , members of subordinate lodges find

themselves in the unenviable position of being ; made scapegoats for the laches ol their superiors , in other words—they are shut out from English Masonry . This has happened , and may happen again under the present lax system . Another illustration will serve to point the moral that our Colonial Board does not conduct its business

on systematic lines , or that it is not by any means in touch with lodges in foreign parts . I am now referring to the late District Grand Lodge of Victoria . For years there were included amongst the lodges of that colony , in our Grand Lodge " Calendar , " several lodges that had been extinct for years , and one of which the

then District Grand Secretary assured me he had never heard of during his 20 odd years tenure of oflice . Yet the whole of these lodges appeared in the Grand Lodge " Calendar , " as having formed the new Grand Lodge of Victoria I Goodness knows how many others are in in a like category , as regards South Australia , New-South Wales , and Tasmania .