Contents.

CONTENTS .

th ^ Forthcomins Centenary Celebration of 11 he Girls ' School 262 A , Ouatuor Coronatorum—Part 3 20 a c „„ remc Grand Chapter 26 3 ?„„ = ecration of the St . David's Lodge , No 2226 , at Rhymney 2 I 4 provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland Westmcnana 2114

ind Provincial Grand Lodgeof West Yorkshire 26 4 Masonic Offences and Masonic Punishments s 6 i Com . smxBi . sCm—Freemasons and Education 26 *; Dibdin Memorial 26 7 Reviews 2 M Notes and Queries 268 R EPORTS OF MASONIC M EETINGSCraft Masonry 26 S Instruction 271

REPORTS UF MASONIC MEETINGS ( Continued)—Royal Arch 271 Mark Masonry 273 Ancient and Accepted Rite 273 Red Cross of Rome and Constantine 273 Allied Masonic Degrees 274 Annual Supper of the Covent Garden Lodge of Instruction , No . i 6 r . | 274 The Centenary Festival of the R . M . I , for

Girls 274 Masonic Presentation at Worcester 274 A Special Masonic Service at Beswick , near Manchester 274 Star Chapter of Instruction , No . 1275 27 J The Fourth City Masonic Benevolent Association 27 $ Bro . Dr . Haskins' Concert 275 Theatres 275 Masonic and General Tidings ...... 276 Lodge Meetings for Next Week iv .

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IT will be seen from our report of the proceedings at the s "P " Quarterly Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter , on Wednesday , that the Grand Officers for tbe new year have been appointed in accordance with the well-known rule that those who are honoured with the purple in Craft Masonry should receive as nearly

as possible corresponding honours in Royal Arch Masonry , provided of course they possess the requisite qualifications . Thus , with a few exceptions , the brethren whom the Prince of WALES , as Grand Master ,

appointed last week to office in United Grand Lodge were on Wednesday appointed by his Royal Highness , as Grand Z ., to R . A . Grand Office , and we beg to tender them , one and all , our hearty congratulations on this further evidence of the Prince ' s favour .

* ** * * The Girls' ' ^ HE arrangements for this important celebration are progress-Schnoi ing most satisfactorily , and what is of still greater consequence c " enar ) * the names of brethren as Stewards are being received daily at the offices of the Institution . Already the Board musters upwards of 1200

members , among them being no less than 22 Provincial Grand Masters , so that there is no doubt whatever that the Prince of WALES will be supported at the Festival by a majority of the ablest and most experienced brethren in the country . Nearly all the Present and a large proportion of the Past Grand Officers have also consented to serve , and both the London

and the Provincial lodges are represented as they never have been at any previous Masonic Charitable Anniversary . It follows as a matter of course that the proceeds of the Festival will be large beyond all precedent , but we must request our readers not to run away with the idea that there is any foundation whatever for the suggestion that the subscriptions are expected

to reach £ 40 , 000 . We shall all be rejoiced if the surmise proves correct , but the very multitude of Stewards will make it more difficult for them to obtain subscri ptions and donations . Our own more modest anticipations arelimited to about £ 30 , 000— although that is a very large sum , and will need a arge amount of canvassine- —but . of course , we shall not obiect to find our

calculations exceeded . It is enough for the moment that the number of stewards keeps on increasing daily , and that with this increasing number e are justified in speculating more favourably than heretofore as to the total which will be announced . **

T | > eapproaching * ' important we should again impress upon our readers % s ' sc ° hoo i that the services of additional brethren to act as Stewards at j ^ approaching Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution r ° are most urgently needed , The position of things was bad " u W ' We wrote on this subject a fortnight since , and vve regret to

we n materia » improvement has taken place in the interim . There tim h I 5 ° Stewards , as compared with the 200 who , in ordinary when ' ennal jed themselves by about the end of April , whereas now , and tlTV ^ 6 VVIthin two months of the day appointed for the celebration , nnmk •meetin g of the Board has been fixed for Monday next , the

Power ° aS a £ ainst t , le 2 35 wllich it was in Bro . BINCKES ' 'ake Lt ann ° Unce at the corresponding period of 1 SS 7 . Therefore , if vve citer" ^ S li ' ' which was b y no means a brilliant success , as a that of V Q 6 t ^ t , le P resent Board is weaker by 75 members than even ; r D ^ w ' makes the outlook still more unpromising is that ,

n ° w and h KES succeeds in enrolling as many more Stewards between Board rl ^'1 * June > as ^ e d'd ' y ear between the first meeting of the it then w day ° ' tlle festival , the number will still be 75 short of what ' ' pos ^ i * about 6 ° below the average strength of the last 13 years , account i c ° urse , as we remarked in our article of the 21 st April , to beitiD-m-j £ reat measure for this diminution by the supreme efforts which are ry ro

^ e Centefr 3 p V ^ PP ' y made—in order to ensure a brilliant success at to Point out " * 1 esl - ' ' ^ the Girls' School . But as we were likewise careful tlle 'ast , oc m * VSry Same article > th ' neither the first , nor will it be a s Pecia ' l eff ° " ° which ! t has been , or will be , found necessary to make resultin foe * ° behalf oi one or other * of our Institutions ; but though the Se Cases has always been—and alwayswill be , we hope—a brilliant

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success , the paramount duty of providing the necessary funds for the maintenance of the other Institutions at their established strength has never been lost sight of by the Craft as a body . Yet to judge from present appearances and the unusually slow rate at which the names of additional Stewards for the Boys' School have been forthcoming during the past two weeks , there

is every prospect that the Returns at its Anniversary Festival next month will amount to considerably less than the sum imperatively required for the year's expenses . A Board of 200 Stewards—it is doubtful il it will reach that number—even under the most favourable circumstances , and with the high average of ^ 50 per list , could hardly be expected to . raise more than

£ 10 , 000 , while the year's expenditure for ordinary purposes , taking the cost per boy at £ 40 , and the number of boys at 260 , will be ^ 10 , 400 . But if there has been a difficulty in obtaining the services of brethren as Stewards , the Stewards will experience an equal or it may be even a greater difficulty in obtaining

subscriptions and donations , and so far from the lists averaging as high as £ 50 , vve shall in all probability find them ranging about the same as for the last three years , namely , at between £ 41 and £ 42 , or even lower . In this case the total vvould be between £ 8000 and £ 8400 , and the deficiency of income as compared with the necessary expenditure for the year would amount to

about ^ 2000 . Or , if we take into our calculation the £ 700 or thereabouts of permanent income , and exclude all notion of anything in the way of extraordinary expenditure being incurred , there will be , on the supposition that the prospects of the approaching Festival do not appear more favourable than we have reason to fear they will in the course of the next few weeks , the

certainty of a deficit at the close of the year amounting to about £ 1300 . It may seem strange and out of p lace that we should enter into these minute arithmetical calculations when urging the claims of one of our Charitable Institutions upon the support of our brethren . Rut the Boys' School has a much smaller permanent income than either of the other Charities , and for that

reason it is under the necessity of trusting more largely than they do for the wherewith to defray its year ' s expenses to the proceeds of its Festivals . Its permanent income is about ^ 700 ayear , while its fixed expenditure , taking one year with another and reckoning extraordinary as well as ordinary , averages about £ 11 , 000 . Therefore , unless the difference between the two amounts

is furnished by the Craft , through the medium of the Festival Stewards or by other channels , it does not require the knowledge of " a great arithmetician" like Cassio to demonstrate that the balance at the year ' s end must be on the wrong side of the account . We have spoken plainly and emphatically , because vve consider it is a case in which plain and emphatic speech is

necessary , and we can only hope that belore another fortnight has elapsed the prospect now awaiting the friends and supporters of the Boys' School in connection with its 90 th Anniversary will have brightened , and that more brethren , both from London and the Provinces , will have tendered their services as Stewards .

* # * IT is high time that some determined steps should be taken in The Boys' ° , ,, , ,-, , ¦ School General order to put an end to thc disgraceful attacks which are being Committee . regUiar ] y directed against the House Committee and officers

of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . The General Committee will hold its usual monthly meeting at Freemasons' Hall to-morrow ( Saturday ) afternoon , when , in accordance with notices duly given , two motions will be submitted , of which it may be said that one is obstructive , without being directly offensive , while the other is both obstructive and offensive . It is

well known that at the last meeting of this Committee the language of one or more of the members present was so abusive and their demeanour so deliberately opposed to all sense of decency , that a proposal was made to biing their language and conduct under the notice of the Board of General Purposes . But it is evident from the motions of which notice has been given for

to-morrow , and the other tactics which we understand are being arranged by the promoters of these attacks , that this proposal or threat , whichever it may have been , has not had a deterrent effect , and the Committee , therefore , must be prepared to witness a repetition of the offences perpetrated at its last meeting . Should this be the case , it will be the duty of the

members to adopt measures which shall have the effect of preventing a continuance of this misconduct , and it may be even to pass a law whicn , while depriving members who are guilty ol abusive language or offensive conduct of the privilege of attending the meetings of the General Courts and

Committees , shall leave the voting rights they have purchased uuact . One thing is certain , that something of this kind must be done , either in the direction vve have indicated or some other , or tne interests of the Institution will be seriously , if not irretrievably , damaged .

The letter of "A Past Provincial Grand Chaplain , which appeared in the Freemason of the 7 th ult , suggesting that a certain school which has done good work for many years , should be converted into a Public School specially ( but not exclusively ) lor the sons of Freemasons , lor whom a high

class education is sought , and to which Scholarships and Exhibitions could be attached , has not been without fruit . The writer informs us that he has received many letters of approval from parents desirous of availing themselves of such a school , and from others . It is hoped that an influential Committee will soon be formed to carry out the scheme .