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* * ^^^^^S1 SATURDAY , OCTOBER 2 , 18 97 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

We remind our readers that the Quuterly General Court of Governors and Subscribers to the Roynl Masonic Institution for Girls will be held at Freemasons' Tavern on Thursday , the 7 th instant when , at the conclusion of the ordinary business , a poll will be

opened for the election of 15 , from an approved list of 26 candidates , the poll closing at 3 p . m . precisely . We have already referred at length to the number and distribution of these candidates as between London and

sundry of the Provinces , and it will suffice if we mention now that 21 out of the 26 are new cases , while there are three of the girls—severally placed at Nos . 2 , 14 , and 19—whose names will be removed from the list if they fail at this election .

The Quarterly General Court of Governors and Subscribers to the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys will be held at the same place , on Friday , the Sth instant , but here , while the number of vacancies to be filled is K—as in the Girls' School—the list of

candidates 49 , but reduced since the issue of thc voting papers , by withdrawals , to 47 . The contest is certain , tiercforc , to hi very kejn . Of these 47 boys , there are 19 whose names have been placed on thc list since thc Spring Election , while thc number of those who

will be removed if th ; y fail to secure election next week is two , namely , Nos . 29 and 33 . The poll for vacancies will be open : d as soon as the regular business has been trans icted , or , at latesl , at 1 p . m ., and remain open till 3 p . m .

Masonic Notes.

As usual we appeal to all Governors and Subscribers who have not promised to support any case or cases to give their votes and influence on behalf of the five children Nos . 2 , 14 , and 19 on the Girls' list , and Nos . 29 and 33 on the Boys' list , who must win places at these elections or be disappointed altogether . In the case of the other girls and bays they will all of

them have at least one further chance—and in most instances more than one—of being elected , and therefore the greatest disappointment they can possibly suffer is to have their success postponed for a further six months ; but the live we have specified will have exceeded the maximum limit of age for admission before another election comes round and must win

next week or be sent empty away . * * * The annual Court of Governors of the West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution will be held at the Masonic Hall , Hope-street , Liverpool , this ( Friday ) evening , the 1 st inst ., at 7 p . m ., for the election of two

children on the Educational Fund , four on the Combined Fund , and four on the Advancement Fund ; for the election of Officers , members of the Genera ! Committee , Auditors , & c , for the ensuing year ; and for the transaction of any other business that may be brought before tbe Court .

* * The proceedings at the recent annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Devonshire—of which we publish a full report elsewhere—may be adjudged to have been on the whole satisfactory . Since last year ' s meeting there has been an addition of five lodges to

the roll of the Province , and the number of subscribing members distributed amongst this increased array is 3425 . The Treasurer's Report showed a balance in hand at the close of the year amounting to upwards of . £ 290 . The Reports of the Fortescue Annuity Fund and Committee of Petitions , or Provincial Board o f

Benevolence , were also of a most gratifying character . Above all , the lodges and brethren appear to be working together most harmoniously , and would seem to have made up their minds to put a little more energy into their work , and achieve for this Province a position of greater prominence , and one that shall be in all

respects worthy of a Provincial Grand Lodge which has some 57 or 58 lodges on its register , ln respect of all these evidences of progress , or of the progressive spirit by which Devon Freemasonry appears to be animated , Bro . the Hon . Sir Stafford Northcote , Bart . M . P ., the Prov . Grand Master , and those under his charge , are to be heartily congratulated .

* * There is , unfortunately , another side to the picture which is not quite so pleasant to look upon , but even as regards this we cannot do less than commend the brethren in Devonshire for the determination by which they are manifestly actuated to alter for the better

those things that stand in need of alteration . It is not gratifying to be told that out of 3425 subscribing members there are 445—not far short of one in every eight—in arrear , 213 for one year , and 232 for periods ranging from two to nine years . There is some slight compensation forthe regret we feel at this

announcement in the statement that 15 lodges , or about onefourth of the total number , are responsible for threefourths of the total sum in arrear , and we trust the advice of the Prov . G . Master will be followed by the authorities of the lodges in question , and that steps will be at once taken to place them on a better footing

in this respect . Non-paying members only cumber the roll , and the sooner those in arrear pay up their subscriptions or have their names removed the better for the lodges and the better , of course , for the fair fame of the Province . In taking these steps there

will , naturally , be no difficulty in dealing kindly with those brethren who may be in arrear through monetary difficulties . Let us hope that at next year ' s annual meeting it will be in the power of the Prov . Grand Secretary to report a substantial improvement in this respect .

The other matter of an unpleasant kind to which the attention of the Prov . G . Lodge was called had reference to the Masonic Institutions and arose out of the contrast drawn by Bro . Gover , between the modest support given by the Province to the Central Masonic Institutions , and the very considerable amount of

benefit derived by Devonshire from those Institutions . Last year , for instance , Devonshire gave towards the support of the Benevolent and Scholastic Institutions about ^ 250 , whereas the annuitants and children deriving their claims to admission to thc benefits of thosj Institutions from Devon were receiving from them as much as . 61150 per annum . The contribu-

Masonic Notes.

tions during the four years preceding were on about the same scale and we must go back to 1892 to find Returns worthy of so large and influential a Province * * * We do not consider it just to compare too closely thc amounts contributed by a lodge or Province with the benefits it may receive , but we do think it desirable

that where a Province derives such advantages from Institutions which depend for support on the voluntary contributions of thc benevolent , it should be somewhat more generous in its contributions than Devonshire has been of late jours . It made a good beginning at its recent meeting by resolving to place 100 guineas on the Prov . Grand Master ' s list as Steward at the

approaching Boys' School Centenary , and we trust the lodges will do their part likewise in behalf of our Central Masonic Charities .

The reports on Correspondence which are appended to the Proceedings of the American Grand Lodges at their several annual communications ordinarily consist of reviews , more or less elaborate , of the proceedings of the G . Lodges with which they are on terms of friendly intercoutse . But Bro . William H . Upton , who has , at

the request of the Secretary , Bro . T . M . Reed , of the Grand Lodge of Washington , compiled the report on Correspondence appended to the proceedings of the 40 th annual Communication of thejsaid Grand Lodge appears to have taken a new departure . We judge so at least from the account given of his Report in tbe Voice of Masonry . #

» * One comment which we take leave to reproduce from our contemporary will take a good deal of beating in the way of sarcasm . A correspondent addressed to him the following question , which the writer no doubt intended to be very funny : " Is it any crime

against ye ancient landmarks , or fly-marks , or what not , to require a Master to acquire some Masonic education :- " To this Bro . Upton replied in the following terms : "As to a Master Mason , ' Yes , it is . ' While Masonry was both operative and speculative , when an apprentive was ' admitted Master' he was released from his indentures and became free .

And ever since . Masonry has been purely speculative , the instant a Mason is raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason he becomes entitled to all the ri ghts and privileges of Masonry , one of which is to remain an ignoramus as long as he lives , if he prefers to do so . And many are they who have availed themselves of this sacred right . "

» » Here , too , is a remark which the Voice has extracted from Bro . Upton'scommentson "Masonic Antiquities , " which we commend to the notice of Bros . W . J . Hughan , R . F . Gould , G . W . Speth , and other brethren , who take a special interest in the ejuestion of Degrees -.

We are fairly well satisfied , writes Bro . Upton , " that our legend of the Third Degree was used long before 171 . " We must wait for the Report itself , as appended to the Proceedings of the Washington Grand Lodge , at its 40 th annual meeting , to judge of the grounds on which Bro . Upton bases his proposition .

# » * The mention of " Degrees" reminds us thai we have received copies of Bro . Hughan ' s paper on "Thc Three Degrees of Freemasonry , " and Bro . Klein ' s ,

on "The Great Symbol , " which have been reprinted and issued separately from the Transactions of Lodge Quatuor Coronati , Part 2 , Volume X . We thank these brethren for their courtesy in presenting them . + * *

We have received a full report of the proceedings at the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Durham , which was held in the Borough Hall , Stockton-on-Tees , on Tuesday , the 28 th ultimo . This will appear in due course next week ; but in the meantime the very agreeable duty devolves upon us of

congratulating Bro . Robert Hudson , who , for the last 15 years , has so faithfully , and with such eminent ability , discharged the onerous duties of Prov . Grand Secretary , upon the recognition he then received of his valuable services . In the first place , it was decided unanimously that thc new Provincial Fund , which was

inaugurated last year , should be known henceforth and for ever as the " Hudson Benevolent Fund . " In the ncxt , the respected Deputy of the Province , Bro . the Rev . Canon Tristram , D . D ., Past Grand Chaplain , in the name and on behalf of the whole Province , presented Bro . Hudson with a silver tea and coffee service and salver , so that he might possess a personal

reminder of the love and respect in which he is held by the whole body of Durham Masons . Bro . Hudson has done some splendid Masonic work in the past , both locally and generally , and we hope he may be spared for many years to continue this work , and so place Freemasonry under still greater obligations to him than it is even at the present moment .