Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

I think it is right that I should express to you why it is that I occupy the chair this evening . In this country if there is one sport which is more popular than another , or one thing that is more characteristic than another of Englishmen , it is the grand sport of fox hunting . It requires skill , judgment good sight , a good seat , and a great many other good qualities . The only

being that does not enjoy the pastime is the hunted fox , and his is the position in . which I find myself this evening . I have been fairly hunted and worried by Bro . Terry . If you strike out the " y " from his name and substitute an "i" for it , and add to the letters " er" then you have ' * Bro . Terrier , " who has been hunting me . In Surrey this fox that he has been

hunting has 25 or 36 earths where he is able to shelter himself . In good sporting counties when the fox takes his departure there is an old earth stopper to prevent his getting back into it , and the fox makes for another which is left open . If he has afforded good sport and a good run , and if the hounds have been fairly beaten he gets into it . But what happened

to me in my own province was when I got to a new earth Bro . Terry got there , dragged me out , and worried me till I promised to be here on this occasion . He succeeded in his object ; there he is , he has broken the old fox up and I congratulate him very much on the result . If it had not been as it has been you would have had to blame not the fox but the terrier . ( Laughter ) .

The Rev . C . J . MARTYN , D . P . G . M . of Suffolk , said : Brethren , a toast has bcen put into my hands to propose in which I am sure we must all feel deeply interested ; it is " Success to the other Institutions , the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls and the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . " As Bro . Terry has said they have got their work cut out to beat the result of this

festival , but if you cannot do it , go ancl clo likewise . I cannot give you a better sermon than that , " go and do likewise on these occasions . " The festival of the Girls' is in May , that of the Boys' is in June . Let your subscriptions on those occasioes be equal to those of to-night , if you do not surpass them . All I can ask you to do now is to drink success to them .

Bro . F . R . VV . HEDGES in reply said * . R . W . Sir , Bro . Martyn , and brethren , I rise with great pleasure to acknowledge on behalf of the Boys' and Girls ' Schools Jthe very kind manner in which this toast has been received this evening and to tender in their name my warmest thanks . Thc generous support accorded to these Institutions during the past year demands our

sincerest acknowledgment , and I avail myself with pleasure of this most fitting opportunity to express our unfeigned gratitude and thanks on their behalf . We have met together this evening , R . W . Sir , to celebrate the first Masonic Festival of the year . The result of which has been such thai we must and do congratulate most heartily both the Benevolent Institution and its executive

upon it . I may , however , R . VV . Sir , on this occasion be allowed to remind the brethren that thc Festivals of the other two Institutions have yet to follow , and I would earnestly plead on their behalf that they may have as great a success as that which we have witnessed to-night . Bro . Terry , sir , has thrown us down a challenge this evening , and I can only say

lhat if the Craft will back us as it has the Benevolent Institution we shall be only too happy to do our best to meet it . The Boys' Festival , as you are aware , takes place in June ; and while we all must sincerely regret the illness which has prevented Bro . Binckes being wilh us this evening , I am sure all will join with me in wishing him a speedy restoration to health and strength .

The Girls' Festival takes place on cjlh May , under thc presidency of the R . W . Provincial Grand Master for Hants and Isle of Wight , and it is only right that I should mention that at present the list of Stewards is not so large as it usually is at this season of the year , and that , therefore , in order lo ensure its success a very considerable effort will be necessary . R . W . Sir , I thank you for associating my name with this toast .

The CHAIRMAN : Brethren , my next toasl is that of "The Stewards . " I am sure our hearty thanks are due to them . Not to be invidious I cannot help thanking with all my heart the 22 Surrey Stewards who have come up from my own province lo support mc en this occasion . For the last 13 years now I have been so accustomed to their kindness and support that I

knew they would not fail me on this occasion . There is another oody also , the Stewards from the Western Division of Yorkshire . I was there in the autumn of last year and I assure you I met wilh a right royal reception . If I had bcen the Prince of Wales himself I don't think I could have

received a greater ovation from those kind brethren . I do not venture to think thai it was on my account they did it , but still . I avail myself of this opportunity of thanking them for their kindness on that occasion , and also for so largely contributing to the success of this .

Bro . EDUAR BOWYER in reply said : I beg to thank you , sir , most heartily for the very kind compliment you have paid the Stewards to-night in proposing their heallh , and you , brethren , for so cordially drinking it as you have . 1 take it lhat the duties of thc Stewards of to-night have been twofold—first , in endeavouring to get together thc magnificent list of

subscriptions which you have just heard announced , and , secondly , in seeing to your comfort at the banquet table to-night . If we have secured your approval in the one respect , I trust we have in the other , and I beg to thank you most heartily for the kind compliment you have paid the Stewards in drinking their health .

Ihe CHAIRMAN then proposed "The Ladies , " and the brethren adjourned to the Temple where a delightful concert was given under the direction of Bro . Will-elm Ganz , Past Grand Organist , and Bro . S . Lehmeyer , by Miss Clara Samuel ! , Miss Mary Beare , Miss Francis Hipwell , Miss Marie Belval , Bros . Faulkner Leigh , Franklin Clive , Egbert

Roberts . Bros . Wilhclm Ganz , and S . Lehmeyer presided al thc pianoforte , and Herr Poznanski performed on thc violin . The toastmaster of thc evening was Bro . James Hayho . The concert grand pianofortes were supplied by Emil Ascherberg , of Dresden and London .

Freemasonry In England In 1743.

FREEMASONRY IN ENGLAND IN 1743 .

In some researches the other day in Horace Walpole ' s " Letters " I came across the the following reference to Freemasonr } -. It ocenrs in a letter addressed to Sir Horace Mann , British Minister at Florence , and bearing date 4 th Ma } -, 174 . 3 . " The Freemasons are in so low repute now in England that one has scarce heard the proceedings at Vienna against

them mentioned . I believe nothing but a persecution could bring them into vogue again here . You know , as great as our follies are , we even grow tired of them , and arc always changing . " The proceedings mentioned as having been taken against thc Freemasons in Vienna must be held to refer to the suppression of "The Three Cannons "

—Die Drei Kanonen— -which had been established in the capital of Austria only the year previous . It is on record that , though Francis I ., Emperor of Germany , who was initiated into Freemasonry in 1731 , did all he could at Florence , when lie assumed the government of Tuscany , and subsequently at Vienna , to protect the Fraternity , his wife , the

Empress-Queen Maria Theresa , was strongly opposed to it , and , according to Findel , in 1764 strictly prohibited its meetings . It is said that on an occasion mentioned in the " Pocket Companion " of 1754 a lodge meeting in Vienna was broken up by a body of grenadiers , who made twelve of the brethren

prisoners , the Emperor himself narrowly escaping by a back staircase . Be this as it may , the condition of the Society in the Austrian capital was a precarious one , both in the year noted by Horace Walpole and during the whole of Maria Theresa's long reign of 40 years .

As regards the low repute of the Craft in England at the time referred to , I presume that to whatever extent it prevailed it must have had its origin in the dissensions which had broken out in the Craft a few years previously , namely , about 1738 , the year to which is usually assigned the beginning of those troubles which culminated in the establishment

subsequently of a second grand lodge in England in rivalry to that of London . During the years 1742-44 , when Lord Dudley and Ward was Grand Master , there was , says Bro . Findel in his examination of Kloss' treatise " On the Ancient Masons , " complete peace in the Fraternity . But he goes on to observe , " The war in Flanders , from 1740-48 , brought the English and

French Masons into closer proximity , who had then an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the newly-devised so-called High Degrees ; and wilh the invasion of thc Pretender , Charles Edward Stuart , 1 745-5 6 , an offshoot was probably transplanted into Scotland . Thc seeds thus disseminated had the more time lo thrive , as the Grand Master

Byron , from 1747-5 2 was constantly absent from the country and the Grand Lodge became completely powerless , as no regularity in the business was observed . " It is probable the " complete peace " which prevailed 1724-44 , during Lord Ward ' s Grand Mastership , must have becn inlerpreled by Horace Walpole as such a stale of complete stagnation that in his opinion

" nothing but a persecution could bring thc Freemasons into vogue again in England . " That in the long run he was wrong in his belief has been proved by events , yet the peace of Lord Ward's time may have been more apparent

than real , and following as it did on thc differences of 173-, and being followed by the apathetic rule of Lord Byron , may have exercised in connection wilh the newly-imported " so-called High Degrees , " no little influence in bringing about the establishment of the Schismatic Grand Lodgeof London .

MASONIC HALLS . —One of the most important adjuncts of and requisites for Freemasonry . All the evils cf , and nearly all the attacks on , the Masonic system have sprung from thc meeting in taverns . No doubt in former days such a state of things arose from the necessity of thc case where lodges were sparse and brethren were few . Bui " nous avons change tout

ccla , " and let us hope permanently for the better . The first Masonic Hall was erected in Philadelphia in 1754 , which is clearly established in the memorial volume , edited by Bro . C . E . Meyer and others . The second seems to have been the one at Marseilles , in the year 1765 , if Smith ' s description can be relied upon . Freemasons' Hall was first opened and

dedicated May 23 rd , 177 C But the hall did not suffice for the wants of the brethren , and in 1 S 64 the foundation stone of the new buildings was laid in the presence of our old and lamented Grand Master , Lord Zetland . That building , now completed , reflects thc greatest credit on all concerned , and is fitly the head-quarters of English Freemasonry . During the last

quarter of a century the building of Masonic Halls has set in with commendable zeal and great energy ; Leeds , Liverpool , Manchester , Bradford , Sheffield , York , Plymouth , Devonport , Bristol , Birmingham , and innumerable localities boast of buildings which say much for the skill of their designers , and are an honour to the Craft . Nothing , weare certain , will so

tend to elevate condition of Freemasonry , and to raise it also in public opinion , as the fact that thc Fraternity is accustomed to meet in private halls for all the work and all the gatherings of Freemasonry . Of course , no rule is without its exception , and it is impossible to lay down even on this most important subject a law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not . But

we feel sure of this—that thc more Freemasonry is segregated from houses of public entertainment in Masonic Halls the beller will it be for FYcemasonry in every respect . We will not go into Dr . Oliver ' s well-known description of what a Masonic Hall is , as that 'will more properly come under lodge room : but there can be little doubt that a good deal of the present

prosperity of English Freemasonry is owing to lhat movement in favour of Masonic Halls and . esthetic tastes , and a more ornate ceremonial , which , impossible in an hotel or public house , however respectable per se , arc the necessary concomitants of a Masonic Hall , solely devoted to Freemasonry , and simply destined to Masonic ceremonies . —Kenning ' s Cyclopccdia .