Masonic Benevolence In 1899.

CASES RELIEVED . A MOUNT . January ... ... 18 ... ... £ 46 ° February ... ... 22 ... ... 53 ° March ... ... 39 ••••••93 ° April ... ... 24 ... ... 5 J 5 May ... ... 25 ... ... 7 5

June ... ... 15 - — 5 > 5 July ... ... 24 ... ... 690 August ... ... 13 •••— 395 September ... 13 ... •••3 * 3 October ... ... 25 ... ... S 95 November ... 42 ... ... 1075 December ... 26 ... ... 7

286 £ 7803 These figures show an appreciable reduction both in the number of cases relieved and the amount distributed amongst them as compared with the year 18 9 8 , when there were 337 cases relieved with £ 9105 .

Be it added , that the Anniversary Festival in aid of the Mark Benevolent Fund , which was held in July , under the auspices of Bro . the Earl of WARWICK , Grand Master of the newly-created Province of Essex , produced donations and

subscriptions amounting in the aggregate to £ 2073 , while a large amount of support has been g iven to the Provincial Benevolent and Educational Funds , which have , in

consequence been doing good service to the poorer members and their families ; the most noteworthy case being that of Durham , which , at thc first Festival held in April in behalf of its two Charities , raised thc handsome total of £ 2500 .

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.

ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM .

Perhaps no better evidence could be found of thc services rendered by Lodge Quatuor Coronati to Masonic literature than is contained in the third and concluding Part of thc Transactions for 1899 . In the whole of it there is not a paper , article ,

or review , which does not exhibit , on the part of the author , deep research , a thorough grasp of his subject , a sound and well-balanced judgment , and a scholarly mode of treatment which cannot be tbo greatly admired , while as regards the

illustrations , we cannot call to mind any previous Part in which they are more numerous and more artistically delineated . Thc lecture , or paper , by Professor SWIFT P . JOHNSTON , M . A ., Trin . Coll ., Dublin , entitled "Seventeenth Century Descriptions of Solomon ' s

Temple , " which was read , or delivered , at the meeting on the 24 th June , exhibits in full measure the several characteristics we have enumerated . It is not , so far as our knowledge goes , a subject that has often been dealt with in the pages of our

literature , but it offers a wide field for inquiry on the part of our more studious brethren , and Bro . Professor JOHNSTON is to be commended for having introduced it lo our notice in so acceptable a form . As to thc paper itself , it would be idle to attempt

anything like a satisfactory description in thc compass of a few sentences , but the favourable impression it created in the minds of those who were privileged to hear it , may be gathered from

the remarks of such competent judges as Bros . Dr . CHETWODE CRAWLKY , W . II . RYLANDS , W . J . HUGHAN , and the other brethren who took part in the discussion that followed its reading .

Appropriately enough , the paper that follows Professor J OHNSTON ' is an elaborate account by Bro . Dr . CRAWLEY of "Rabbi J ACOIS J EIIUDAH LEON , " a Spaniard by birth , who migrated early in life to Middclburg , and subsequently became

Rabbi of the Jewish communities at Hamburg and Amsterdam , and Chief Master of their Schools in thc latter city . He wrote much relating to the Temple of Jerusalem , of which he constructed a model , which was exhibited in London and other European capitals .

Another article is from the pen of Bro . Dr . BEGEMANN , and is entitled " A Few Remarks on the Establishment of thc Grand

Lodge of Ireland , " nor must we omit to refer to the very admirable inaugural address delivered by Bro . T . B . WHYTEHEAD , P . G . S . B ., the present W . Master of the lodge , shortly

after his installation in the chair ; thc paper read by Bro . C , PUKDON CLARKE—now I . P . M . —at the October meeting , entitled " Vestigia Quatuor Coronatorum ; " and the biographical sketch by Bro . EDWARD MACHEAN . P . M ., on lhe same

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.

occasion , of the late Bro . WILLIAM SIMPSON , who presided as W . M . of the lodge during the year 1888-9 . There are several well-written reviews , the most important being that of "The Book of Constitutions , comprising the Laws and Regulations

of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Ireland , " by Bro . G . W . SPETH ; that of " The History of Freemasonry in Canada , " by Bro . J . ROSS ROBERTSON , Past G . Master , which is most exhaustively dealt with by Bro . R . F . GOULD ;

that of Bro . A . J . CALVERT ' S " History of the Old King ' s Arms Lodge , No . 28—1725—1899 , " for which one is responsible whom we regret to say we must now speak of as fhe late Bro . JOHN LANE , P . A . G . D . C . ; and last , but certainly not least , that of Bro .

R . F . GOULD ' S " Military Lodges , " to the merits of which the strongest testimony is borne by Bro . Lieut .-Gen . Sir CHARLES WARREN , the first W . M . of Lodge Quatuor Coronati . As for the Illustrations , they arc , as we have said , very numerous , and

include a portrait of Bro . C . PURDON CLARKE—who vacated the chair in November in favour of the present W . M . —to serve as a Frontispiece to the Volume ; several of the Temple at Jerusalem

in connection with Bro . Professor JOHNSTON S lecture ; a Facsimile of the Frontispiece of LAURENCE DERMOTT ' " Ahiman Rezon , " 1764 ; and representations of a Masonic Jug belonging to Bro . the Rev . E . FOX-THOMAS .

The St . John ' s Card is , as usual , quite a work of art , designed by Bro . HAROLD GRIFFITHS , I . P . M . 1347 , with a descriptive letterpress accompanying it ; and with it is also published a

portrait of Sir WALTER HAWKESWORTH , Bart ., "President of thc Lodge at York , " together with a short address of kindly greeting to the members of both Circles from Bro . WHYTEHEAD , W . M .

The Late Bro. John Lane, P.A.G.D.C.

THE LATE BRO . JOHN LANE , P . A . G . D . C .

Freemasonry has sustained a serious—we may almost venture to say an irreparable—loss by the sad and sudden death of Bro . J LANE , compiler of the well-known " Masonic Records 1717—1 S 94 . " Bro . LANE , in the course of the 21 years over

which his Masonic career extended , had filled the principal offices in lodge , chapter , preceptory , and other Masonic bodies ; and in each case had discharged their several duties in a manner so conscientious and efficient as not only to secure the respect

and approbation of his superiors , but also to receive at their hands the honours it was in their power to bestow . In this , however , he did not stand alone , and not only in the Province of Devonshire , of which hc was so distinguished a member , but in

other Provinces likewise are to bc found many brethren who have equalled , if they have not surpassed , him in the matter of lodge and chapter work . But in lhat particular branch of Masonic labour which hc marked out for himself , and which he

may bc said to have made all his own , Bro . LANE stands unapproached . No one , indeed , though he may have had the whole of his time to dispose of as he listed , has had the hardihood to attempt a task such as Bro . LANE was able lo accomplish in the

leisure hours of a busy life , and , in our opinion , many and many a year must elapse ere any aspiring literary brother shall enter the lists with the idea of sharing with Bro . LANE thc honour which now is his and his alone .

What must greatly intensify thc sorrow with whicli the news of our brother ' s death will be received everywhere throughout the Craft is the knowledge that he has been taken from us in the very prime of life , in the fulness of his intellectual powers ,

at an age when his friends and admirers might in reason have anticipated that it would still be in his power to continue for many years his researches , and thereby confer still greater obligations on our Society . But that hope is now extinguished ,

and the one sad duty that remains to us is to give utterance to the grief we all experience at his untimely death , and the sincere sympathy we feel for his famil y and friends in the time of their bereavement .

THE POSTAL AUTHORITIES of the district having intimated to Bro . Driver that all his letters should be uniform in direction , he requests , for the future , that all letters and communications from his numerous Masonic friends should bs kindly addressed to Prof . F . W . Driver , M . A ., 62 , Lancaster-road , Notting Hill , W . H . R . H . THI- ; PRINCE OF WALES , as Grand Master of English Freemasons , has conferred on Bro . the Hon . C . E . Davies , member of the Legislative Council , Tasmania , who is Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tasmania , the rank and dignity of Past Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of England . Bro . Davies is proprietor of the chief Tasmanian newspaper ,