Ar00100

CONTENTS . LBADERS— PAGH . Masonic Female Orphan School , Dublin ... ... ... ... 553 Blind Leaders of the Blind ... ... ... ... ... 553 Supreme Grand Chapter of England ( Quarterly Convocation ) ... ... 554 Bi-Centenary of the Opening of St . Paul's Cathedral ... ... ... 555

Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire ,.. ... ... ... 555 Grand Council of the Allied Degrees ... ... ... ... 556 Dedication of a Masonic Hall at Sligo ... ... ... ... 556 Masonic Female Orphan School , Dublin ... ... ... ... 556 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 557 MASONIC

NOTESQuarterly Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter of England ... ... 559 Consecration of the Victoria ' . Commemoration Lodge , No . 2 G 66 ... 559 Regular Convocation of the Provincial Grand Chapter of India ... ... 559 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 560 In Memoriam—H . R . H . Mary Adelaide , Duchess of Teck ... ... 5 H 0 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 561 Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 563 Lodge and Chapter of Instruction ... ... ... ... ... 563 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 564

Masonic Female Orphan School, Dublin.

MASONIC FEMALE ORPHAN SCHOOL , DUBLIN .

Heretofore the ceremony of distributing the prizes to the pupils of the Masonic Female Orphan School , Dublin , has taken place in the Leinster Hall in the early spring , and has proved one of the chief attractions of the Dublin season . The Grand Master

or his representative has presided on the occasion ; the brethren have appeared wearing their Masonic clothing and insignia ; there has been a very Jarge attendance oi the leading members of Society in the Irish capital , and the prizes have been given away

either by the Duchess of AuERCORN or some other lady of rank connected by blood or marriage with a high dignitary of the Craft . This year a party of some 400 ladies and brethren from the Province of Ulster visited the two Orphan Schools , and had

ocular demonstration ol the admirable manner in which the Institutions are conducted , while , as regards the distribution of prizes , it had , for sufficient reasons , lo be postponed till the autumn , and instead of being held in the Leinster Hall , which is

being reconstructed as a theatre , took place on Saturday , the 23 rd ult ., in the hall of the Institution for Girls at Ball ' s Bridge , where it was possible to find accommodation for a few hundreds instead of for the far greater assemblage which has ordinaril y

graced this annual function . However , as the report , which appears in another part of our columns very clearly shows , if the attendance was on a smaller scale than usual , and

though there was no grand procession of the G . Officers in their full regalia , the meeting proved , as it deserved to prove , a great success . The Grand Master—his Grace the Duke of ABERCORS '

—who presided , was well supported by his Grand Officers and the leading members of the Irish Craft , Her Grace the Duchess of ABERCORN distributed the prizes , and the speeches that were delivered by the Grand Master , the Deputy Grand Master ( Bro .

Dr . CREED MEREDITH ) , and Lord Justice FITZGIHBON bore abundant and conclusive testimony to the success which has attended the administration of the Female School during the past year . It must indeed have been most gratifying to the

authorities of the School and its numerous friends throughout Ireland to learn that of the 26 girls entered for the Intermediate Examination as many as 23 passed , two of them being successful in winning exhibitions of ^ , 20 a year each for three years in

the junior grade and two others exhibitions of ^ 20 a year each in the preparatory grade . When such facts as these can be recorded , there can be no doubt as to the ability with which the

educational staff of the Institution has fulfilled iu duties . We have used the term " educational staff , " because all the members composing it are entitled to a share in the praise that is due for the successes achieved during the past

Masonic Female Orphan School, Dublin.

year , but there can be no doubt from the remarks made by Bro . Lord Justice FlTZGlBBON that the guiding spirit in the training of the pupils has been Mrs . A EAf . E , who has just retired from the post of Matron after occupying it

for 16 years , and to whom , in recognition of her long and valuable services , a presentation was made at this meeting . Nor was this the only incident of exceptional interest which occurred on the occasion , the Duchess of ABERCORN , at the invitation of

the Deputy Grand Master , presenting to Bro . and Mrs . H 01 . DBROOK , who have just resigned the offices of Head Master and Matron of tbe Boys' School , after holding them for 14 years , with a silver salver and a eherjue for 100 guineas . These

presentations show that the services rendered by ( hose who are placed in charge of the two Schools are appreciated bv the Governors and supporters , and must prove an incentive to their successors in office to emulate their good work . We

congraulate our Irish brethren on the efficiency and prosperity which have characterised the labours of the past 12 months in connection with the Orphan Schools they have established , and are

fostering with so much loving care and kindness , and we trust that the reports of future years will furnish as satisfactory evidence of their efficiency and prosperity as have been forthcoming in the past .

Blind Leaders Of The Blind.

BLIND LEADERS OF THE BLIND .

We are not aware of any special reason why American Grand Masters and Grand Lodges , and following naturally in their wake , the American Masonic press , should , for some time past , have thought it worth their while to devote so much attention to the

question whether a Grand Master possesses or does not possess the prerogative of " making Masons at sight . " It is for the most part an academic question , highly interesting to the learned in Masonic usage and custom and jurisprudence , but the

prerogative , if it still exists , is rarely , if ever , exercised . There are certain well-established cases in English Freemasonry in which the prerogative has undoubtedly been exercised , such as those of the Dukes of GLOUCESTER and CUMBERLAND in 1766 and 1767

respectively in the Grand Mastership of Lord BLANEY , and those of GEORGE Prince of Wales , and his brother , the Duke of YORK , in 1787 , in that of the Duke of CUMBERLAND , and there are doubtless others to be met with in the records of Masonry in the

jurisdictions of other Grand Lodges . But , after all , the prerogative , as we have said , is so rarely exercised nowadays in countries where Masonic laws and customs are fairly well understood , that it seems hardly necessary to expend so much time

and ink in discussing its existence or non-existence . Still , if it should be thought expedient to consider it , the consideration should be undertaken by those who have some knowledge of the past history of Freemasonry . The American Masonic Home

Journal , for instance , appears to have been expressing an opinion in respect of " the claim that a Grand Master may 'make a Mason at sight . ' " It sees no good reason for such claim , and the only authority it has been able to discover for theexercise of this

prerogative is " that of the schismatic Laurence Dermott , " who lays it down that " It is the prerogative of the Grand Lodge and the Right Worshipful Grand Master has full power and authority ,

when the Grand Lodge is duly assembled , to make , or cause to be made , in his worship ' s presence , Free and Accepted Masons fit sight . " On this our worthy contemporary remarks— " That it dates back only to about 1738 . 2 . That Dermott was a ,