Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

every member of thc English Craft , we sincerely hope that our appeal for the support of the general body of English Masons—which , be it remembered is as necessary in 18 9 8 as in any other year the Institution has been in existence—will not bc in vain . Again , wc say , the money is needed and we trust will be forthcoming .

Lodges Of Instruction.

LODGES OF INSTRUCTION .

It is extremel y gratifying to note thc progress which has bcen made of late years in the matter of instruction , nor is this progress b y any means limited to a single Degree or branch of our Masonic system . Everywhere is to be seen an increasing desire

on the part of thc bretliren to become experts in the rendering of our beautiful rituals , ancl where , only a quarter of a century ago , one Mason was to be found who could work a ceremony

with anything like correctness and in a fashion that betokened a just and thorough appreciation of its beauties , there must now be at least a hundred who can work them all with something like a near approach to accuracy of detail , and with some understanding

of the inner meaning that is intended to be conveyed . We arc , no doubt , indebted for much of this advance to the steadfast labours of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement , which has graduall y won for itself not only the fii \ : t position among our

lodges of instruction , but has likewise extended its influence throughout the jurisdiction of Grand Lodge to such an extent as to bc now regarded almost as the official school of instruction . But in saying this , we are not desirous of detracting in the

slig htest degree from the merit of the brethren themselves who have taken thus kindl y to the task of stud ying the ; work done in our lodges and chapters . Emulation working is a power in the field of English Masonic study ; but its influence alone will not

account for the enormous increase which has latterly taken place in the number of our schools of instruction . A quarter of a century ago , that number in London alone was about 70 , but a reference to Grand Lodge Calendar forthe current year will show

that at the present time there are some 200 such schools . As for the Provinces , little , if anything , was done in the way of teaching , nor need we go very much further back than the period we have already specified for the time when it was

customary for our country lodges to invite a London expert to perform the most important duties of the lodge . Now there is hardl y a Province or District abroad which cannot boast of its own trained ritualists who are fully possessed of the requisite

knowledge ancl ability to work the whole of the ceremonies . Similar progress has been made in respect ofthe Royal Arch ritual , there being now some 20 Chapters of Improvement , where 25 years since there were barel y half a dozen , while in the Mark

Degree there has been , since 1 S 8 4 , one central lodge of instruction , known as the Grand Master ' s Lodge of Instruction for Mark Master Masons , which , it is almost needless to say , has proved of the greatest benefit to our Alark brethren .

We have said enough lo show the importance which nowadays attaches to thc work of instruction ; but further evidence will be found in the increasing number of annual festivals which

are held b y sundry of these lodges , the most important being those of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement in Craft Masonry , and the Grand Master ' s Lodge of Instruction in the Mark Degree-The latter of these great annual fixtures was held at Mark

Masons' Hall on Wednesday , the 16 th ult ., and when the ceremony of advancement had been most perfectl y rehearsed under the presidency of Bro . J . REYNOLDS , the Preceptor of the lod ge , and the lecture most ably g iven by Bro . JOHN SMITH , P . M ., its

Secretary , and when the invaluable services rendered b y Bro . Wll . LlAM VINCENT—Bro . GREEN ' S predecessor in office—during the 11 years of his Preceptorship hacl been recognised by the presentation of a handsome service of plate , the

brethren adjourned to the Holbom Restaurant , and there celebrated the occasion under the genial presidency of Bro . Sir J C . Dl . MSlMLE , the Junior Grand Warden , who dilated at length and to excellent purpose upon the admirable manner in which

the lodge ancl its principal officers discharged their duties . Ou Friday , the 25 th ultimo , the Emulation Lodge of Improvement held its annual Festival under the auspices ol Bro . R . D . M . LITTLER , C . B ., Q . C , Past Deputy G , Registrar , when , as usual , 1

Lodges Of Instruction.

there was a large gathering of our most accomplished ritualists , thc general tenor of thc speeches being to the effect that in these days of emulation—we trust we shall bc held guiltless of anything in the nature of a pun—it was more than ever

necessary that bretliren should make themselves conversant with the working of our ceremonies . Those who desire to know more of what passed at these two gatherings should

consult our last week ' s issue for the report of the Mark meeting , while as regards the Craft meeting , wc must refer them to the ample report which will be found in another part of thc present number .

United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

The Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England was held on VVednesday at Freemasons ' Hall , Great Queen-street , W . C . Bro . Earl Amherst , R . W . Dep . Grand Master , presided . Bros . Dr . Egan , D . G . M . South Africa ( E . D . ) , acted as Past G . Matter ; W . W . B . Beach , Prov . G . M . for Hants and Isle of Wight , as Dep . G . Master ; Robert Grey , P . G . W ., as S . G . W . ; and the Rev . C . J . Martyn , P . G . C , as J . G . W .

There were also present , among others—Bros . Thomas Halsey , Prov . G . M . Herts ; E . Letchworth , G . Sec ; Richard Loveland Loveland , Q . C , Pres . Bd . of Gen . Purposes ; Thomas Fenn , P . G . W . ; R . Horton Smith , Q . C , Dep . G . Reg . ; J . C . Malcolm , P . G . D . ; Henry Smith , P . G . D . ; A . C . Spaull , P . G . Std . Br . ; Richard Eve , P . G . T . ; Wm . Stiles , P . G . T . ; Sir T . C . Dimsdale , P . G . T . ; Alderman Vaughan Morgan , G . T . ; VI .

P . Lamonby ; C . E . Keyser , P . G . D . ; W . E . M . Tomlinson , M . P ., P . G . D . ; Dr . Balfour Cockburn ; R . Clowes ; the Rev . R . ] . Simpson , P . G . C , as G . Chap . ; the Rev . Canon Childe , LL . D ., G . Chap . ; Col . J . W . Woodall , P . G . T . ; James H . Matthews , Pres . Board of Bcncvolenco ; D . D . Mercer , P . G . P . ; II . Garrod , P . G . P . ; A . Lucking , P . G . P . j R . Clay Sudlow ; W . M . Bywater ; J . Boulton ; I . Newton , P . G . P . ; and W . P . Brown , P . G . Std . Br .

The minutes of the Quarterly Communication of December ist , 18 97 , having been read and confirmed , B . o . Earl AMHERST said the Grand Secretary would now read certain communications from the M . W . G . Master . Bro . E . I . ETI'IIWOUTII then read the following : The Most Worshipful Grand Master has been pleased to sanction

the following addition to the Regulations respecting the Charity Jewels , at P . 'ge 143 of the Hook of Constitutions , and has ordered that the same be inserted immediately after the paragraph relating to Vice-Patrons . " A Patron of any one or more of the Masonic Institutions may have embroidered on the right and left sides of the ribbon

referred to in the preceding paragraph a sprig of acacia one and a half inches long , meeting in the centre , over the colour appertaining to the Institution of which he is a Patron , and the jewel ensigned with a representation of the coronet of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , Most

Worshipful Grand Master ; the sprig of acacia and the coronet to be of silver for a Patron of any one of the Institutions , of gold for a Patron of two , and enamelled in their proper colours for a Pa ' . ron of the three Institutions . " This passed without any observation being made by the brethren .

Bro . I . F . TCHWORTII then said : I have also been commanded by the Grand Master to communicate to the Grand Lodge , that a brother having been convicted of felony , for which he is now undergoing penal servitude , and to submit to Grand Lodge the propriety under the circumstances of removing the said brother from the rank of Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies , to which ollice he was appointed in 1 S 05 .

Bro . RICHARD HORTON SMITH , Q . C , Deputy Grand Registrar , said : Most Worshipful Grand Master in the chair , the Grand Master has been pleased to communicate to us the fact that a Past Officer of this Grand Lodge has been convicted of felony , and for that crime he is now undergoing a sentence of penal servitude ; and the certificate which I hold in my hand is official proof of the fact . It is a certificate under the seal

of the Central Criminal Court , and it shows that " was on the 24 th day of May , 1 S 97 , convicted on his own confession for that he did feloniously steal ^ 2972 2 s . 4 d . of , and belonging to , the Royal Standard Permanent Benefit Building Society , his masters , and afterwards , to wit on the 14 th day of September , 1897 , he was ordered to be kept in penal servitude for two years to be computed from the said 24 th day of

May , 1 S 97 . " Now , stopping for a moment I put the position of our brother thus : I would ask first of all , what is his position with regard to ordinary lodges ; and asking that question I will answer myself in the words used by the Board of General Purposes in the year 1 S 33 in deciding certain questions which were put to them by the Board of General Purposes of Ireland with reference to a person under thetc circumstances . The answer

was this : " He ceased from the moment of his conviction to be a member of any lodge to which he belonged ; he cannot be recognised as a Mason or be allowed to enter any Iodge until his crime be expiated by serving the full term for which he was sentenced or otherwise until he shall have received a free pardon . " I think it will be sufficient if I move to deprive the brother of his rank as a Past Grand Officerand the way I

, propose to put it is this—" That Grand Lodge having considered the communication and submission of the Most Worshipful Grand Master and the certificate of the Central Criminal Court to the fact that a brother was on the 24 th May , 18 97 , convicted on his own confession of feloniously stealing- ; the sum in question , and that he was on the 1 -ith day of September ,

1 . S 97 , ordered to be kept in penal servitude for two years to oe computed from the said 24 th day of May , 18 97 , agrees in the propriety under the circumstances of removing the said brothsrr from the rank of Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies , to which ofibe he was appointed in 1895 , and deprives him of such ranK accordingly , "