Contents.

CONTENTS .

LSADERS— PAGK . Recent Provincial Meetings ... ... ... ... ... 365 Belfast Masonic Charity Fund ... ... ... ... ... 365 Supreme Grand Chapter of England ( Quarterly Convocation ) ... ... 366 Provincial Grand Lodge of Devonshire ... ... ... ^ ... 366 Provincial Grand Lodge of Shropshire ... ... ... ... 367 Summer Outing of the Earl of Carnarvon Lodge , No . 1642 ... ... 3 ( 7

M ASONIC NOTESQuarterly Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter of England ... ... 3 6 9 Quarterly Communication of District Grand Lodge of Canterbury ... 369 Correspondence , „ ... .,, ... ... ... 370

Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 370 Provincial Grand Lodge of Essex ... ... ... ... ... 370 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... ' 371 Instruction ... .,. ... ... ... ... ... 372 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 374

Recent Provincial Meetings.

RECENT PROVINCIAL MEETINGS .

The recent annual meetings of many of our Provincial Grand Lodges all tend to show that Freemasonry in the English Counties is in about as flourishing a condition as we could desire it to be . The reports of the chief executive officers make it

clear ( l ) that their financial position is sound , and ( 2 ) that the lodges have either maintained their numerical strength or are steadily increasing it . There is , indeed , a uniform level of

prosperity to which all of them appear to have attained , nor is there—as far as it is possible for us to judge—any reason why that level should not be easily maintained . Here and

there we meet with cases in which lodge Secretaries have failed to make their returns to the Provincial Grand Secretary by the appointed time , and here and there we hear of a small proportion

of the members of private lodges being in arrear of their subscriptions ; but these arc the onl y blemishes we note in reports which , on the whole , are exceptionally favourable . Moreover ,

nearly every Province that has met recentl y has had good reason for congratulating itself on the support it has found it possible to give to the junior of our two Central Scholastic Institutions on the occasion of its Centenary Festival . All of them would

seem to have done at least as well as they did for the Centenary of the senior School or at the Jubilee o ! the Benevolent Institution , while the majority of them have greatly exceeded the limits which might

m reason have been assigned to their subscriptions . i luis Norfolk , which is principally an agricultural county , and lias but 18 lodges , raised for this important celebration upwards ° f / . Soo , or almost twice as much as it has ever subscribed at a

Hngle Festival , while Buckinghamshire , with icj \ odgcs , subscribed nearl y £ 1130 , or nearl y four times what it gave to the benevolent Jubilee—which , however , was celebrated during the second year of its existence as a separate Province . North and

Last Yorkshire , which raised about £ 500 , shows a substantial falling off as compared with the £ 7 60 it gave to the Girls' Cent enary , and the , £ 720 it is entered for in the Benevolent Jubilee Returns ; but at the former date it had no Provincial Educational

Pi * i ' unci with a first claim upon its benevolence , while in the year w the latter celebration , that claim upon its resources was , doubt'' « , smaller than it is now . In the report we published

' week it was announced that the expenditure < Ur "ig the past 12 months amounted to some £ 270 so 'at the Province has maintained its total of subscriptions but ' ^•portioned them differently . Suffolk with its contingent of 22

Recent Provincial Meetings.

lodges contributed £ 1500 , which is nearly three times what it gave to the Girls' Centenary , and fully £ 200 in excess of its total at the great Benevolent gathering in 1892 . Surrey has beaten its previous best by a round £ 1500 , and Hertfordshire ,

22 lodges , made Returns which exceeded all its previous contributions save at the Benevolent Jubilee . The Provincial Grand Lodges of Devonshire , Essex , and Shropshire all met on the same day—Tuesday , the 26 th ult ., and in each case there

was the same pleasant unvarnished talc to unfold . Devonshire in June last , raised twice as much as it has ever raised at any previous single Festival , and we trust that now it has brought the sum of its contributions to correspond fairly well

with the number of lodges it has on its roll , it will do what is in its power to maintain that position . Essex , as is mentioned in the report we publish elsewhere , stood sixth in order of contribution at this memorable ' gathering ,

the total it subscribed amounting to upwards of ^ 900 , while SHROPSHIRE , which numbers only a dozen lodges , raised £ 1170 , which is quite £ 150 better than its previous best in 1 SS 7 , when its Prov . G . Master , R . W . Bro . Sir OFFLEY WAKEMAN , Bart ..

presided as Chairman at the 99 th Anniversary Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls . These , then , are the indications , not selected with difficulty , from a long , series of reports , for the purpose of showing what can be doiie under exceptional

circumstances , but quoted from each and every of the reports we have had the privilege of lately publishing , with a view to showing what they have , one and all , done in honour of an especiai anniversary of one of our Institutions . Provinces that are not

well-administered , or are wanting in the essentials to ensure them strength and stability , could not have accomplished these great things . We are , therefore , justified in our assertion that the position of Freemasonry in the English counties is one on which we may be reasonably allowed to pride ourselves .

Belfast Masonic Charity Fund.

BELFAST MASONIC CHARITY FUND .

We have been favoured with a copy of the 36 th annual report of the Committee of the Belfast Charity Fund and are gratified beyond measure at finding that during the year 18 97 the

Institution has prospered to a greater extent than at any previous period of its existence . More especially is it a satisfaction to be told that " those sources of income which mark the interest taken

by lodges in the work of this Charity show a continuous increase . " It is easy enough for a wealthy man or body of wealthy men to make a large donation to a Charitable Institution which depends principally , if not entirely , for its maintenance on voluntary

contributions . It is equally easy in a Society like ours , for the presiding body to make a liberal grant from its funds towards the support of such a Charity . We say this is easy enough and we recognise at the same time that it is an honourable act on the

part of the donors . But the greatest credit of all is due to those , be they man or bodies of men , who subscribe without being specially solicited to do so , that is to say , when , as in the case of this

Charity " no special effort has been made " by the Committee " to bring the claims of the Fund more particularly under the notice of the Lodges and individual brethren . " As the Committee

very properly remark , " the unselfish kindness which prompts such action is worthy of more than a passing commendation , and is convincing proof , if such were needed , that the true spirit and genius of our noble Order flourishes with unabated vigour in our midst . "