Ad00703

pASTLE HOTEL , HASTINGS , COFFEE ROOM , BEDROOMS , SMOKING LOUNGE , BILLIARD ROOMS , ASSEMBLY ROOM FOR BANQUETS , & c . Headquarters of Craft , Arch , Mark , Ark & Lodge of Instruction Extensive Stabling . Busses meet Trains . Apply—H . BOYCE .

Ad00705

TOWER BRIDGE HOTEL , TOOLEY-STREET , S . E . PROPRIETOR : C . J . BROWN . Within five minutes L . B . andS . C . Railway , and S . E . Railway ( London Bridge ); 10 minutes from Liverpool street and Broad-street Stations . S PLENDID A CCOMMODATION FOR M ASONIC LODGES AND C HAPTERS . L ARGE BANQUETING HALL . All up to date , and latest improvements . Acknowledged by the Press to be the finest Masonic Hall in London . Telephone No . 222 Hop . Inspection invited .

Ad00704

H " OSKIN'S HOTEL , OXTED SURREY , One minute ' s walk from S . E . and L . B . & S . C . Rly . Stations . Proprietor—Bro . THOMAS TUCKER . SPECIAL ACCOMMODATION FOR LODGES AND CHAPTERS . Spacious Banquet Room , Ante-Rooms & other conveniences . EVERY FACILITY FOR SUMMER OUTINGS . C ULINARY A RRANGEMENTS PERFECTION . WINES , CIGARS , & C , FINEST B RANDS . The East Surrey Lodge , 27 69 , meets at this establishment . GOOD STABLING . SPLENDID SCENERY . Charges very moderate . Fwiher particulars of the Proprietor .

Ar00706

SATURDAY , AUGUST 3 , 1901 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The Quarterly Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter will be held at Freemasons' Hall on Wednesday , the 7 th instant . The business will not differ

materially from what is usually transacted , but those among the brethren who had Past Grand Rank conferred upon them at the recent installation of H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught as M . W . G . M . wilJ , if eligible , have Past rank conferred on them in the Royal Arch .

• » * It is reported in the printed proceedings of the Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , on the ist . May last , that the Grand Master , in his address , included among the presents which had been received from sundry donors a silver

commemorative medal which had been struck in honour of the consecration of the new Masonic Hall ( Ordenshaus ) of the Grand Countries Lodge at Berlin , and which had been presented to the Grand "Lodge of Scotland by Bro . Von Kuycke , the Grand Master of

that Grand Lodge . Bro . Hozier further announced that he had had conferred upon him the honour of Honorary Membership of the Grand Countries Lodge of Germany , and was at the time wearing the decoration of Honorary Membership . » * *

According to the report of the Standing Committee on Finance the income of the Grand Lodge of Scotland for the first six months of the current year—that is , from the ist December , 1900 , to the 31 st May , 1901—amounted to £ 4702 17 s . 3 d ., as compared with A 123 J is . 6 d . for the corresponding half of the preceding year , the increase being £$ 79 5 - 8 d .

* * * It is also recorded in the report of the Foreign and Colonial Committee that a letter had been received from Bro . E . Pretty , P . M . of the Bonnie Doon Lodge , No . 8 39 , Perth , Western Australia , bearing upon the proposal that the Grand Lodge of Scotland should

recognise the Grand Lodge of Western Australia , and suggesting that in the meantime the Grand Lodge of Scotland should consent to the interchange of fraternal intercourse between its lodges and those of Western Australia . Bro . Pretty also stated that Bro . J . D .

Stevenson , Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Western Australia , was on his way to Edinburgh to discuss the question of a union of the lodges . Hence the Committee resolved on deferring compliance with Bro . Pretty ' s suggestions as to recognition until after

Masonic Notes.

Bro . Stevenson had been heard on the subject , but in the meantime Grand Lodge would not object to an interchange of fraternal intercourse with the lodges in Western Australia . * * *

Bro . the Rev . ] . H . Pilkington whp . has been appointed to succeed the late lamented Comp . the Rev C . J . Matlyn , M . A , as Grand Superintendent of Suffolk , is a P . M . Fidelity Lodge , No . 555 , Framlingham , and P . P . G . Chap . Suffolk , and quite recenth at the annual meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge was appointed to the chair of Prov . S . G . Warden . He is

also a P . Z . of Chapter No . 555 , and P . P . G . O . He will have a hard task to follow in the footsteps of so distinguished a companion as the late Rev . C . J . Martyn , but we have little doubt that he will in time exercise a beneficial influence among the chapters , while we are sure that he will use his utmost endeavours to promote the well-being of those under his charge .

» * » The Canadian Craftsman for last month contains a report j > i the 26 th Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba , which was held in Winnipeg on the 12 th June , under the presidency of Bro . Dr . R . S . Thompson , M . W . G . Master , who , in the

course of his address , referred in sympathetic terms to the great loss which the British Empire and British Freemasonry had sustained by the death of Queen Victoria . Among the various subjects to which he deemed it his duty to make reference was that of " Physical Qualification . " It seems that the Grand

Master had during the past year had tour cases submitted to him for decision—( 1 ) of an applicant with an artificial left leg ; ( 2 ) of one with an artificial left arm ; ( 3 ) of one with an artificial foot ; and ( 4 ) of one who was minus his right arm . In the first three he gave permission to " reserve and act on petition , " but withheld it in the fourth . He explained that the

course he had pursued was in accordance with the views set forth in the address of another Grand Master , which he strongly recommended to the attentive perusal of the brethren , on the ground that it prepared the way for a more liberal interpretation of the point than has hitherto found favour . * *

The Grand Master further explained that he withheld permission in the fourth case—that of the appli . cantwho was minushis right arm , because he considered it was "too great a departure from established customs in some jurisdictions , " and he mentioned that he had been in correspondence with our late Bro . G . W ,

Speth , who appears to have expressed it as his belief that it was quite on the cards there might be a lodge in England which would initiate a candidate who had none of his four limbs provided he had a tongue to prove himself with , for , though " he could not give the tokens , he could describe them . "

* » * We quite agree with Bro . Dr . R . S . Thornton when he points out that too rigid an adherence to the strict letter of the law is harmful . "The Craft is unnecessarily deprived of the support of many who would make good members , while the man who has had the

misfortune to lose a limb , perhaps in his country s service , has his misfortune aggravated by its being made a bar to membership in a Society towards which he feels himself attached . " We are glad to find the Grand Master thus expressing himself in accordance with the dictates of common sense . But it strikes us that his refusal to grant permission in the case of the

man who was " minus his right arm " is somewhat inconsistent with his views . He , too , might have lost it in his country ' s service , and the Craft is thus deprived of the support of a good member and the applicant of the opportunity of joining a Society to which he is attached . » » »

According to the Grand Secretary ' s report to the 27 th December , 1 9 , the number of subscribing members then on the lodge rolls was 3238 , or mo ' re by 14 6 than at the corresponding date of the previous year . The principal Grand Officers for the ensuing

year are Bro . Dr . R . S . Thompson ( re-elected ) , Grand Master ; Bros . E . A . Braithwaite and the Rev . A . Chisholm , S . G . W . and J . G . W . respectively ; Bro . J . Mckechnie ( re-elected ) , G . Treasurer j and Bro . f . A . Ovas ( re-elected ) , G . Secretary .

» * * We learn from an " Important Notice" in the Indian Freemason for the 15 th June that our contemporary , which started on its career some eight years since as a monthly paper , and for some time past has been issued as a bi-monthly , is about to revert to its old form , and will be published once instead of

Masonic Notes.

twice a month . It is stated in the Notice that the bi-monthly series would have been continued , quite regardless of monetary considerations , could it have felt that " it had any tendency to add to the wider dissemination of news , or have been more availed of by lodges and brethren for that purpose . " It seems

that some time ago an overwhelming majority of its subscribers , in response to a circular on the subject , expressed a decided preference for a monthly over a bi-monthly issue , and we think our contemporary has done right in making the change . * * *

We gather from its pages that a regular communication of the District Grand Lodge of the Punjab was held at Freemasons' Hall , Lahore , on the 22 nd April . In the absence of the District Grand Master , His Excellency Bro . Sir A . Powell Palmer , the chair was

occupied by the Deputy District Grand Master , Bro . the Rev . H . J . Spence Gray , M . A ., Past Grand Chaplain of England . The attendance , which included several visiting brethren , appears to have been fairly good , especially as the business doss not seem to have been of a very serious or important character .

* * * . We have been favoured with copies of the printed Reports of proceedings of the District G . Lodge and District G . Chapter of Malta , and of the District G . Mark Lodge of the Mediterranean , so faras the lodges in Malta are concerned . The District is not an extensive

one , but it is a compact and well-ordered , and to judge from these reports , the past year would seem to have been successful . The number of Craft lodges—exclu - sive of No . 1717 which is located at Tunis , in North Africa—is seven , the senior of which—the Lodge of St . John and St . Paul , No . 349—dates from the year

1815 ; the Union of Malta , No . 407 , warranted in 18 31 , ranking second , followed by the Zetland Lodge , No . 515 , of 1845 creation ; the United Brethren Lodge and the Wayfarers Lodge , Nos . 1923 and 1926 respectively , which were warranted in 18 S 1 ; and the Waller Rodwell Wright and the Royal Naval Lodges of 18 99 creation , and numbered respectively 2755 and

2761 . The three senior lodges have chapters attached to 1 hem , while of the four lodges in the District the Mediterranean , the Keystone , No . 107 , the Ramsay , No . 248 , and the Union of Malta , No . 263 , meet in Malta . Bro . Lt .-Gen . J . Fletcher Ow <; n , R . A , is the District G . Master ( Craft ) , G . Superintendent ( R . A . ) , and District G . Mark Master .

* * The District , as at present constituted , but with only three lodges on the roll , was organised in 1 849 , with the Ven . Archdeacon Burrows , D . D ., as Provincial or District Grand Master , who also was subsequently appointed Grand Superintendent of the Royal Arch .

But Bro . Waller Rodwell Wright , who was one of the most distinguished Masons about the time of the Union of 1813 , had previously held the office of Provincial Grand Master of Malta and the Ionian Islands , and to him we owe the constitution oi the St . John and St . Paul Lodge , No . 349 . The present strength of

the Craft in Malta dates from the time of the late Bro . William Kingston , who was District Grand Master from 1869 to 1888 , and under whose auspices Lodges Nos . 1923 and 1926 were founded . He was succeeded by the late Bro . Col . Marmaduke Ramsay , and he by Bro . Vice-Admiral Markham in 1893 , and the present

District Grand Master in 18 97 , under whom have been constituted Lodges Nos . 2755 and 2761 . That the Craft is in a prosperous condition may be judged from the fact that the number of subscribing members on the rolls of the seven lodges is 584 , as against 587 in the year 18 99 , the difference in the totals being very

slight considering how , owing to the frequent military and naval changes , the membership is affected by resignations . At all events , the average number of members per lodge is 83 , there being three lodges with over 100 each and only one which has fewer than 40 . « *

We have said there are three Royal Arch Chapters . These are the Melita , No . 349 , with 54 members ; the William Kingston , No . 407 , with 45 ; and the Resurrection , No . 515 , wiih 62 ; the total membership being 161 , which gives an aggregate of 53 per chapter . There are many chapters in England which would crow lustily if they could point to such a membership .

The three Mark lodges in Malta—Nos . 107 , 248 , and 263—muster in all 84 members , being at the rate of 28 per lodge , which , if not very large , will at all events compare very- favourably with the membership of lodges of this Degree at home . We trust this state of prosperity will be continued through a long series of years .