Mark Grand Lodge.

5 . Recommendations arising out of the report : ( n ) That the Garnet Lodge , No . 228 , Dinapore , India , and the Ark Mariner Lodge attached thereto , be removed from the roll of lodges . ( b ) That the Grand Inspector of Works be an ex-officio member of the General Board : and that Article 154 ,

Book of Constitutions , be altered as follows : After the word "President" to insert "Grand Inspector of Works . " ( c ) That the sum of £ 25 be voted to a brother of the Prince Edward Lodge , No . 14 . ( a ) That the sum of £ 25 be voted to a brother of the Simon de St . Liz Lodge , No . 245 .

( e ) That the sum of 100 guineas be voted from the Benevolent Fund to the " Daily Telegraph Widows' and Orphans ' Fund . " 6 . A motion will be proposed that the report be adopted . 7 . Nomination of the M . W . Grand Master for the ensuing year . 8 . Nomination of Grand Treasurer for the ensuing year . 9 . Presentation of Charity jewels to the Stewards of the last Benevolent Fund Festival .

Art And The Drama.

Art and the Drama .

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH ARTISTS ,

On Saturday last , we paid our second visit to the above gallery . After a careful survey of the pictures exhibited , we were confirmed in our original impression—that the high standard of excellence had not been attained this year . There was much commendable mediocrity , but there were no pictures we could take away with us—in our minds , we mean , not literally ; for if we did , it is extremely probable that the Secretary would rise from his table ,

and make strong objection , unless we were previously prepared to " pay , pay , pay . " We will say a few words about those pictures which we consider worthy of notice . No . 3 , "The First Sign of the Cross , " by N . Prescot Davies ; we pass no opinion on the execution of this picture , but we most strongly object to the title given it . We would remind the artist of the proper reverential manner in which this subject has been previously treated

by Holman Hunt . It came upon us as ^ a shock to see so awful a title assigned to such a picture ; in all kindness , we would counsel the artist to assign another title to his work . No . 15 , " The Dying Year , " by Frank Dickson , is a pretty little bit . No . 96 , " Flying Cloud and Swaying Poplar , " by Walter Fowler , shows good artistic work ; the lights and shadows are well contrasted . No . 119 , " Dunottar , " clearly and carefully painted by Alfred T . Edward . No . 135 , " At the Top of the Tree , " by W .

Luker , jun ,, shows most skilful industry . No . 149 , " Companions , " careful work . Nos . 44 , 162 , and 23 7 , by Sir Wyke Bayliss ( Cathedral interiors ) , are deserving of high praise from the beautiful way in which the architectural details are rendered , No . 162 , " The Beautiful Savage" ( Siena Cathedral ) , especially . No . 279 , " A Study " ( Pastel ) and No . 279 , " Simplicity , " both by J . Ernest Braun , are charming , but not high art . We have only given individual opinions , let visitors judge for themselves . Honestly we think , on the whole , that the pictures are worth seeing .

LYCEUM THEATRE . We accepted an invitation the other evening to see "The Silver King , "' the joint production of Henry Arthur Jones and Walter Hermann . Mr . H . A . Jones is very much " en evidence" just now , but we have lost trace of Mr . Hermann for some time . Some of our readers may recollect that many , years ago there was a difference of oninion between the ioint authors as to their separate contributions towards

" The Silver King . " We are not quite sure on the point , but we think that alter some unpleasantness they arrived at an amicable arrangement . It is not our intention to weary our readers with any details of the plot . " The Silver King " is so well and deservedly known that they would be superfluous . We confine our remarks to the chief interpreters of this important and popular drama . " Facile princcps" is Mr . Wilson Barrett .

It has always appeared to us that the principal charm of this actor is his beautiful sonorous voice , how skillfully he modulates its tones , so as to express the varied emotions of the mind—this is , and ever ought to be , a point which should be well studied by the intelligent actor . As the face is the index of the mind , so should the voice be the outward exrjonent of the feelings of the heart . This gift Mr . Wilson Barrett

especially possesses . Believing in himself , he succeeds in making others believe in him . His art is so realistic that it ceases to become art , and is the reflex of true nature . Mr . Wilson Barrett has , evidently , not forgotten the maxim of Horace , in his " Ars poetica "— " Summa ars est celare arlerri . " " The highest art is to conceal art . " We accord high praise to Miss Maud Jeffreys for the beautiful sympathetic manner in which she deoicts the trials and sufferincrs o ( the heroine , the outward traces of the

varied conflicting emotions of the mind are well and ellKiently portrayed on her intelligent face . We must now bring our notice to a close . The acting of the little girl is natural and not overdrawn . We believe the present delineator of Jakes is the son ol Mr . Wilson Barrett ' s brother— -he is the worthy successor of a worthy and well-appreciated father . The villain of the piece is artistically impersonated by Mr . Percival . After a lapse of many years " The Silver King" can be seen with renewed pleasure .

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE . " KING J . " Before dealing with the play , as at present acted , it may be interesting to consider it as a literary work . There can be little doubt that Shakespeare's " King John " was founded on a former play , entitled " The Troublesome Raigne of lohn , King of England , with the Discoverie ot

King Richard Cordelion ' s base son , vulgarly named the Bastard t < auconbridge ; also the death ' of King John at Swinstead Abbey . " What a contrast is this long , tedious , rambling title to the terse one . in modern times , of " King John . " The play was printed in I 59 t < The first edition has no author's name , the second , of 1611 , has , " Written by W . Sh ., " and the third , of 1622 , gives the name of " William Shakspeare . " We think

Art And The Drama.

there can be little hesitation in affirming that the attempt to fix this play upon Shakespeare was fraudulent . Steevens , in his valuable collection of " Twenty of the Plays , " that were printed in quarto , says , " The author ( meaning Shakespeare ) seems to have been so thoroughly dissatisfied with this play as to have written it almost entirely anew . " Strangely enough , Steevens afterwards seems to have receded from this opinion , and to have

been in great uncertainty whether the immortal bard had any part in the original play . Among learned men there have been , and still are , many conflicting ideas on this point of disputed identity . We do not care to pursue the subject further . From the mass of evidence we think we may safely consider that our poet adapted , with most material alterations , portions of the old play , incorporating them in his own work , " the metal

base , he changed to purest gold . " Shakespeare's " King John " was first printed , in the folio collection of his plays , in 1623 . It is a curious fact , observed by Malone , that " King John" is the only one of our poet ' s uncontested plays that is not entered in the books of the Stationers' Company . " After this preface we will consider the last modern representation of " King John , " now playingat Her Majesty ' s Theatre . Inthefirstplace . wemay observe that Mr . Tree has had the boldness to shake off the chains of slavish

custom , and refuse to conform to the hitherto enforced custom of representing the play in five acts . We think the manager is quite right in his new departure , and if , in his experienced judgment , he considers the work , as a whole , is more adaptable for acting purposes and the elucidation of the author's ideas , he is justified in compressing it into three acts . When Shakespeare wrote his plays the usual time for their representation was

about 4 p . m ., and as time then was not so valuable as it is now , people had the patience to sit out a play of fully four hours' duration . Were " Hamlet" played now in its entirety , how many of the audience would remain till the fall of the curtain ? The old hackneyed quotation of " Tempora mutantur " is well known , but many forget the words wh ' ch follow— " nos et mutamur in illis . " " King John , " as staged by Mr . Tree ,

is a most magnificent production ; it is , indeed , a thing of beauty j the mise-en-scene is perfect , even to the minutest details ; the costumes are strictly accurate—the highest and most reliable authorities have been consulted ; the whole action of the play is so harmonious that acting seems merged into reality , and we ourselves by the magic of the scene are carried back to times of old . Let us now briefly review the leading characters of

this interesting play , and see how they have been interpreted . The most beautiful and powerfully drawn figure in the pottic picture is that of Constance , undertaken by Miss Julia Neilson . We consider she has reached the acme of art ; we always admired her as an intelligent painstaking actress , but on this occasion we are lost in simple admiration at the wonderful realism she exhibits ; doubtless , long latent , she has had the opportunity afforded

her of bringing it into view . The musical pathos of her voice , the play of conflicting emotions , as exhibited in her face , evince the true artist—true , indeed , because Nature has been her model . Mr . Tree , enacting the title role , looks every inch a king ; in the early part of the play he shows both physical and moral courage , the latter especially in his determined resistance to the encroachment of the Papal power in England . Mr . Tree has

one grand scene , in which he shows himself to be a consummate artistit is his interview with Hubert , when he carefully and craftily unfolds his designs against the life of his unhappy nephew—his looks are terrible and full of meaning , as are the inflections of his voice—it is an artistic study , well thought out ; the by play when Arthur boyishly puts on the crown which his uncle snatches from him , is well conceived . Mr . Lewis Waller ,

as Philip the Bastard , has a fine manly bearing , and well carries out the author's ideas . The great scene between Arthur and Hubert was well played by Mr . Franklyn McLeay and Master Charles Sefton , though why Hubert should be made to look so repulsive we cannot tell , surely , there was no necessity for this . Master Charles Sefton's acting was better than his vocal delivery . Queen Elinor was judiciously played by Miss Bateman ( Mrs . Crowe ) , nor did she make this disagreeable character too

prominent . Lady Falconbridge , rendered by Miss Helen Ferrers , has little to do , but it was well done . Pretty Miss Lettice Fairfax , properly and consistently , undertook the part of Blanche of Castille . Mr . Wm . Mollison arid Mr . Gerald Lawrence showed regal and princely bearing as King of France and the Dauphin . Mr . Louis Calvert invested the Cardinal with ecclesiastical dignity . The two tableaux were very fine—the battle scene especially—it reminded us of one of the old engravings of Albert Durer .

The Degrees Of Freemasonry And The Royal Arch.

THE DEGREES OF FREEMASONRY AND THE ROYAL ARCH .

The above paper was read at the meeting of the members 01 the Provincial Grand Chapter of West Yorkshire , held at Milnsbridge , on Wednesday , the 22 nd ult ., by Comp . C . Letch Mason , P . P . G . H .: By the solemn Act of Union between the two Grand Lodges of Freemasons of England in December , 1813 , it was " declared and pronounced that pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees and no more , viz ,: those of the Entered Apprentice , the Fellow Craft , and the Master Mason , including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch . " *

Before we proceed , it may be well to explain what is meant by a Degree . Let us adopt the definition of Bro . Gould , who says : " A degree in its present Masonic sense represents a rank secretly conferred . " ! Now the question of degrees is a vexed one , and thoroughly to go into the matter would take more time than I have at my disposal . Bro . Hughan holds

that originally there was but one degree . This opinion he supports very strongly in a paper on " The Three Degrees of Freemasonry , " which he read before the Quatuor Coronati Lodge on Thursday , the 24 th June , 18 974 . Hear what he says : " It is still a difficulty with me to understand how brethren versed in Craft lore can see any proof that more than one esoteric ceremony was known to and p ractised bv our Masonic forefathers anterior to the Grand Lodge era .

" Bro . D . Murray Lyon and I have laboured in this particular field of research for over 30 years , have made ourselves acquainted with all known minutes and records of the period , have discovered not a few important manuscripts , have been assisted by numerous willing and earnest students , especially in more recent times , and yet have failed to find aught that weakens our position .