Contents.

CONTENTS .

l . E . UIERS ¦••¦¦ . ¦ ; ' , 2 . 1 ' nitcd Grand l . odgc-Ouartcrly t iiimnmu- j cation •¦•¦•¦•. •¦•, j 6 i Consecration of the- Huh I ' cak Lodge , . \ o .

ici ; 2 , at C Impel cn-le-lmh lis laving Ill" - Foundation Mono of a New Lodge at Ad . dngion , Natal > = <) Peifcc ' l Ashlar Lodge Dall I . ' ' ) COUUEMOMIF . NTF . — . Knv . ll Masonic Institution fori . iris IJI > The K .. M . IU . Festival i . io Apollo l ' nhcrsity Lodge M ° Ali-ent Members U °

Provincial Returns In Hie ( hanties l . ; o Reviews ' . ?" Masonic Notes and Onirics iji Rotall ' niou Lodge of In-lrnclion , No . jS > IJI Consecration of a l ' rccma-ons' Hall at Aiickl . mil , N . Z > i >

| REI ' IRTS OK . MASONIC Mr . ETixus—(" raft Masonry 13 : Instruction i . w Ro \ al Arch 115

Mark Masonry 13 J Instruction ... ' 1 . 1 J Ancient and Accepted Kite 135 Knights Templar i ; 0 Knsicrucian Society 13 d

Victoria i . S > WedJim ; l- ' esti \ itics 13 ( 1 Uliituarv 13 I 1 The 'Iheatres i . ?; Music 1 . 17

Science and Art 117 M : i > unic ami General Tidings 13 S Lodge Meetings for Next \\ eek I . Historical Calendar 140

Ar00100

Tin : whole of our loyal (' raft will hear with horror and indignation of thc attempted assassination of Ilcr Majesty the Qui ; EX , on Thursday last , at Windsor . * * * Tm ; meeting of Grand Lodge in Ouarterly Communication , on Wednesday ,

was an interesting one , and wc refer our readers to ils report elsewhere for a minute account of proceedings . We onl y propose to give a general sketch . The portion ; , of the minutes relative to an additional grant of £ Soo per annum to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution was non-conlirmcd , and the whole matter referred to a special Committee to report at the next Quarterly Communication . 1 I . U . I 1 . thc Prince of WALKS was

unanimously re-elected Grand Master amid much applause , and Lieut-Col . CREATOX Grand Treasurer amid many manifestations of approval . The Report of the Hoard of General Purposes about divisions was , after a long discussion , referred back to the Hoard for reconsideration , liro . Xuxx ' s motion for altering the hour of meeting of the Hoard of Benevolence was negatived , as also wen- HID . UISITTKX ' and Pro . I )\\ isnx ' s motions .

: ; t : ; t THK returns of thc Royal Masonic Benevolent Festival arc now before us , and very wonderful returns they reallvVire , suggesting many gratifying considerations in respect of the inherent reality and the unabated benevoler . ee of our common Order . The returns from the metropolis amount to ^ , " odS . ) 10 s . Of this large sum , very creditable to the London Lodges , the Mizpah Lodge ,

No . 1671 , Pro . Miiwux , Steward , sent up the largest return , namely £ iS 7 10 s . ; which was followed by the Victoria , 1050 , Hro . J . POI ' . TOX £ 180 5 s . The Prosperity , (> , v Hro . W . C 1111 KEX next appeared with £ 142 ids ., which was succeeded by Yarborough . 554 , Pro . J . J . HKRRV , £ i 2 S ( is . Sincerity , 174 , Pro . FREDK . B ROWX next appeared on thc scene with /' i 17 17 s ., closely followed by Merchant Navy , 781 , Hro . F . Ronixsnx ,

£ 115 iSs ., and Friends in Council , 13 N 3 , Hro . W . H . G . FARMER , £ \ U Three lodges send up / , " i «» . S . viz . 1 Icunsey , 8 yo , Hro . T . G . SMITH ; Montague Guest ; 1 yon , Pro . G . N . FESTA ; and iy . } y , Pro . II . P . MVKSKAI . I ., C . C . Three more lodges also followed with over £ 103 and under £ 104 , namely , Burlington , , Pro . J . A . W 11 . 11 ; I ' liiiedStrength , 228 , G . H . PVT . MORE ; and Temple Par , 1728 . i ' . Prn HER . Old Antiquity , Hro . F . G . POXTTIKS ,

came forward with / . ids ., while one lodge sends up / , ' > 3 s ., and two lodges exactly £ u « i , the former being Tranquillity , 1 S 5 , Hro . I ' " . CROAKER ; the two latter being Temperance , lfiy , GEO . WATSOX , the latter St . Leonard , 1766 , Pros . J . Joxr . s and A . A . C LEMENTS . It may be properly noted here that the Sovereign Sanctuary , A . & P . P . Pro . J . II . SIIUTHWOOI ) remits £ 110 iSs Od . Our readers will see , like ourselves , with pleasure , that one of

the most recently consecrated lodges , 1949 , sent up the kindly contribution ° f J 6 ' 5 ; and that 1 « . ) " <> , though not quite a year old , also forwards £ 105 . It is worthy of remark and consideration , that while from No . I to 300 there are 53 remitting lodges , from 1700 to 1950 there are only iS ; while from 300 to 1700 there are 33 . In the provinces , Herts leads the van with £ 533 14 s ., and Fast Lancashire comes next with . £ 41- * 15 s . ;

Middlesex presses hard on thc heels of Fast Lancashire with ^ , 408 2 s ., which latter province is followed by South Wales , Western Division , with , £ 360 3 s . Kent is within an ace of South Wales , with £ 359 lys . 6 d „ and West Yorkshire is close behind with i , " 35 « . Hants comes now , at sonic little distance , with , £ 272 10 s . ; succeeded by Monmouthshire with 257 7 s ., and Berks and Pucks with - £ 243 14 s ., and West Lancashire £ 237 19 s .

Cornwall , after another interval , appears with , £ 17 8 ms ., to which Oxon is neat with £ \ y 6 iSs ., and Worcester , also , with £ 176 8 s . Sussex next puts in « in appearance with £ 162 ys ., and Surrey is almost up with it with £ 162 is . ( id . Leicestershire and Uutland sends up ^ " 152 15 s ., and North Wales and Salop are here with £ 149 17 s . ( id . ; while Suffolk remits £ 130 3 s ., Cumberland and Westmorland £ \ 15 10 s ., and Gloucestershire £ 110 5 s . The other provinces are under , £ 100 .

WE are greatly amused by a letter from a French Mason in London to our esteemed Bro . HUBERT which appears at p . 38 of his January and February number of the Chaine d'Union , Paris . It seems that this worth y Brother , whoever he maybe , complains of thc " apathy" of Fnglish Masons and Masonry . And why ? Because , forsooth , they lake no part in political

agitation or social controversies . We could hardly believe our own eyes . I low could Pro . I k'HKKT permit such an absurd paragraph to appear in his carefully edited journal , when lie knows better , perhaps , than any , that Fnglish Freemasons are absolutely forbidden to discuss either reli gious , political ,

or social questions , which lead to controversy , debate , disunion . That which is the fault of Fnglish Masonry in the eyes of this intelligent French observer is the very glory of Fnglish Fiecmasonry ! We shall recur to this subject , but our columns are full to-day of more important mailers .

PRO . HUBERT give us , in the Chaine d'L ' itiou , a remarkable proof of the imperious demands of French Masonic literature on its writers , when lie tells us that , whereas he was onl y bound to give his sub .-, crihcrs in 1 SS 1 45 ( 1 pages of matter , he has given them 376 . In ten years lie has printed for

them an excess of 264 ( 1 pages ; and whereas he was only bound to give them ten volumes of 33 ( 10 pages , he has actually given seventeen volumes of iiimii pages . We only trust that oar worthy confrere has found bis / eal rewarded and his sacrifices repaid . ...

+ ¦ : < A <;<> on deal is said just no . v in Australia and America about unoccupied countries and the creation of Grand Lodges , but we recommend many kind friends of ours to master the pertinent remarks of our GRXXII UI . UISTRAK in respect to the claim to recognition of the so-called Grand Lodge of Australia .

There were at the lime this body started into life three legal jurisdictions and ciglity-six legally warranted lodges in Australia . Thirteen lodges out of two jurisdictions affected to create a Grand Lodge , one whole jurisdiction not abetting thc attempt , and seventy-three lodges being outside the new departure . These thirteen sought to tin-mason seventy-three loyal lodges

and a host of Masons good and true ; and as the GRVXII HEIJISTIUR put it so well in bis amusing " rcductio ad absurduni , " if there had been 3011 lodges , these thirteen would have sought to do the same . That three lodges can constitute a Grand Lodge under any circumstances is a dogma which will njyer be accepted by Fnglish Freemasons , as it is utterly absurd in itself .

and entirely opposed to all Alasonie law and precedent . When an overwhelming ; majority of the eighty-six lodges in Australia express their wish in form a Grand Lodge , it will be time for the Fnglish Grand Lodge to re-consider the question , —but only then . We bring this matter clearly before our

good American and Canadian brethren , as the recognition of this so-called Grand Lodge has been all too hasty , in fact without Alasonie justification , and is , we fear , likel y some day to create most mischievous precedents for themselves . *

IT seems that the lodge " I . es l . ibres Penseurs , " Orient de Pecq , France under the G . L . Synibolique , itself an illegal body , is the peccant lodge which has been initiating a certain Mdllc . MARIA I ) ER \ ISMI : S . Pro . I Irnnur well

remarks that nothing , so far , has proved that thc admission of a female as a man was cither necessary , reasonable , or regular . But then illegality makes illegality , and we are astonished at nothing under such abnormal circumstances as those in which French Freemasonry is placed .

* * Tin ; Nappe / , a French paper ( no good authority ) , according to Bro . IIiMii' . RT , reports a discovery at Lichfield , Kentucky , I ' . S ., by a Mr . J

STOXES , of a buried Fgyplian pyramid , a Masonic altar , and some mummies , akin 10 Fgvplian ones . We fear that we cannot say , " si noneveio , c ben trovato , " as we apprehend that this is another pious fraud . Tit ; tale of the Masonic altar appears to us too sublime .

* * MR . PROCTOR deals in last week ' s Knowledge ( a most admirable instructor , by the way ) with what may be called , he says , " the divine inspiration theory of thc Pyramid . " He then goes on to say , "with the discovery that the base of the Pyramid is several feet shorter than had been supposed , a

number of relations supposed to connect the Great Pyramid with astronomy go overboard at once . " The whole article is well worth reading , alike ° y Fgyplologists and Pyramidalists ; as though no doubt some very singular coincidences and relations remain , a good deal of what has been put forward

always , wc confess , has appeared to us to be " post hoc propter hoc , " and to constitute ingenious trilling , rather than serious and important realities . At the same time thc coincidences , as Mr . Proctor fairly points' out , are many and curious . *

I UFA- say , " Never give a reason for what you decide or what you contend for , " and certainly the wisdom of this ndage was never more full y exemplified than in the recent explanatory statement of the SECRETARY of th e