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rpHE MASONIC AND MILITARY 1 ORDERS OF KNIGHTS OF ROME AND Of THE RED CROSS OF CONSTANT 1 NE , K . H . S ., AND ST . JOHN THE EVANGELIST . COI-O NEI . SIR FRANCIS BURDETT , BART ., M . HI . Grand Sovereign and Grand Commander of St . John . BARON DS FERRIERES , M . Eminent Grand Viceroy and Deputy Grand Commander of St . John . THE ANNUAL ASSEMBLY OV THE . GRAND IMPERIAL CONCLAVE WILL HE 11 OLD EN AT MARK MASONS' HALL , GT . QUEEN ST ., W . C , ON MONDAY , MARCH 2 ND , 1 S 91 , At FIVE o'clock in the Afternoon . Nominations for Grand Senate , Executive Committee , and Grand High Almoner ' s Fund to be sent to the Grand Recorder before 16 th February . A B ANQUET will be provided at Half-past Six o'clock . Tickets , One Guinea each ; and it is requested that every Knight Companion intending to dine will forward his name to the Grand Recorder with as little delay as possible . Knights will not be admitted unless they appear in the insignia of their rank in the Order , Knights of St . John in White Sashes . CHAS . FRED . HOGARD , Ouuid Recorder and Registrar-General . 16 , Great Queen-street , W . C . THE GENERAL STATUTES OF THE ORDER , with an Appendix and Engravings of the Jewels and Regalia—Price , Cloth , is . Gd . —can be obtained of the GRAND RECORDER , IC , Great Queen-street .

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NEW VOLUME OF THE "FREEMASON . " NOW READY , bound in cloth , lettered , price us ., Vol . XXV . of "The Freemason . " London : GEORGE KENNING , IC & I 6 A , Gt . Oueen-st ., W . C .

To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

W . A . asks us to give the origin and derivation of the word " Skivet . " Our correspondent must certainly mean sliirret , a tool which we should imagine every Mason is familiar with , but for W . A . ' s benefit we quote the following from Kenning ' s " Masonic Cyclopaedia , " Skirret . — " One of the working tools of a Master Mason , with a most appropriate moral teaching , but delivered in lodge . "

I he following communications unavoidably stand over : t ' liAH- LODGESRoyal Lodge of Faith and Friendship , No . 2 } o ; South Saxon , No . 311 : Lion , No . 3 . 3 ; Scarsdale , No . 681 ; Nelson , No . 700 ; Newall , No . 1134 ; Corinthian , No . i 2 cS : Duke of Edinburgh , No . 1259 ; Kennington , No . 13 S 1 ; St . leciha , No . 1 ( 136 ; Caxton 18

, No . 53 Asricola , No . 1991 ; St . Botolph , No . 2020 St . Nicholas , No . 2259 ; and Zetland-in-the-liast . MARK — Royal Sussex Lodge , No . 7 $ . Royal Savoy Lodge , No . 355 . Consecration of the Merse Lodge of Mark Masters , No . 425 . Annual Meeting of the Committee of Petitions Province of Devon .

\\ e have again to ask the indulgence of our good friends who «> regularly furnish us with reports of the meetings of Lodges of instruction for the omission of a large number from our columns »» s week owing to more than ordinary pressure of matter .

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SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 7 , 1891 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

We warml y sympathise with the members of the u'e and Calder Lodge , No . 458 , Goole , on the serious ° « they have sustained by the conflagration of their '' asonic Hall , furnitureclothingwarrantRoyal Arch

, , , carter , & c . We understand that the fire of last "ursday week has destroyed all their effects , and that lu recor ds , as well as the regalia , have been consumed .

1 ] e province of West Yorkshire has photographic ^ Productions of all the warrants of the 7 s lodges h hls excellent idea was started b y Bro . Watson , the onorary librarianadopted bthe provinceand the

, y , 10 e of the warrants are thus preserved and the Jfnes of the promoters duly chronicled . The members ' ' ° - 458 will thus have the satisfaction of seeing a rf

R P * ative of their defunct warrant , but not of their ^ yal Arch charter , as these , we believe , have not been t | , e ' 0 ClUCed as yet We can on , y express the hope that se nous loss is wholly covered by insurance .

Masonic Notes.

A special compliment has been paid Bro . W . J . Hughan , of Torquay , in his election as honorary member of the " Cyrene" Preceptory , Toronto , on December 19 th , 1890 . One of the latest expressed wishes of the lamented Colonel W . ] . M'Leod Moore ,

G . C . T . ( Great Prior of Canadian Knight Templars ) , was that his old and attached friend should thus be honoured , and the members of this distinguished preceptory lost no time in carrying out the desire of their beloved chief .

We beg to thank Bro . Lieut .-Col . Gough , Prov . Grand Master of Staffordshire , for the copy he has kindly sent us of the letter he recently addressed to the lodges in his province on the subject of our ritual .

We understand his views have been very favourably received outside as well as within the limits of his authority , and we hope to be able to offer a few remarks with reference to them next week .

Many of our readers are probably aware that the late Mr . Bradlaugh , junior M . P . for the borough of Northampton , was once upon a time a Freemason , though it is so many years since he threw up his connection with the Craft that the fact has probably been

overlooked or forgotten . It may not , however , be so generally known that by his death the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys has lost a staunch friend and generous supporter . Of late years Mr . Bradlaugh had found it necessary on sundry occasions to seek a

remedy at law against people who had libelled him . These cases were generally settled in his favour , and a sum of money as a kind of solatium for his wounded honour was paid over to the late honourable member . But to his credit , be it said , Mr . Bradlaugh , though

commonly reputed to be far from a rich man , never used any of this money for his own purposes . Instead of this he handed over the amount to our Boys' School , and by his successive donations had thus constituted himself a Patron of that Institution . To the end of

December , 188 S , he had given to it over £ 60 , and was a Vice-President ; in 188 9 he gave a further ^ 100 , and became a Vice-Patron ; last year he added to his previous payments , £ 52 ios ., and thus became a Patron . * * *

We heartily congratulate our worthy Melbourne contemporary , the Australasian Keystone , on the conclusion of its third annual volume . It has no doubt had to bear those trials which fall to the lot of nearly every Masonic journal at the outset of its career .

But it appears to have been conducted from the very beginning not onl y in a spirit of complete independence , but with great tact and judgment . It has had the courage of its opinions ; its news , so far as we are in a position to judge , has been invariably trustworthy ; and the

confidence with which it appears to have inspired its readers is bearing good fruit in the extended support it is receiving from the lodges and brethren in Victoria and Tasmania . For its own sake , therefore , as well

as for its strenuous advocacy of everything which either directly or indirectly affects the well-being of Freemasonry , we wish it a long continuance of public favour .

We learn , however , with very great regret , from its issue in December last , that a dispute between two prominent Melbourne Masons , in which our contemporary is concerned , has been referred to a court of law , and that the case will in all probability be tried some time

during the present month . We know nothing whatever of the circumstances , beyond what we have read of them in the columns of the Australasian Keystone , or of the plaintiff and defendant brothers . We are deeply concerned to hear that any differences between

Masons should , in any circumstances , be referred for settlement to a court of law , and we trust that though the attempts hitherto made to settle this dispute have failed , a way will be found of determining it without invoking the aid of the law .

The Australasian Keystone is but echoing sentiments we have again and again expressed , when it says that lodges cannot be too careful in the admission of candidates . We do not like the idea . which has been adopted by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts , and which our worthy

contemporary appears to favour , ot having a committee of investigation or inquiry , whose business it will be to inquire into the antecedents of those seeking admission

into i reemasonry . Indeed , we do not see how such a plan could be carried out , and we are very certain it would meet with the most strenuous opposition in this country if it were attempted .

Masonic Notes.

What is wanted is that brethren who propose candidates should have some strong evidence of the responsibility which attaches to those who offer to introduce new men into our ranks . Let them fully realise that the proposing of candidates is not a mere formal . ty ,

which is of no greater consequence than pulling on their gloves or arranging their neckties . Let them understand that though it may be very desirable they should oblige an outside friend by becoming his sponsors , it is still more desirable , indeed necessary ,

that they should oblige their friends inside the lodge by recommending as candidates onl y men whom they know to be of good report . Let them understand and act upon this , and we venture to think the experiment of an Inquiry Committee will be as unnecessary as it is undesirable .

I he Philadel phia Keystone of the 24 th ult . contains a full account , to which we have briefly referred in a former issue , of the attempt successfully made six days previously at Chicago , III ., to graft skin cut from living human beings on the thigh of a Sir Knight

Dickason , of the St . Bernard Commandery , K . T ., of that city . The latter had some time previously had a cancer removed from his thi gh , but the wound caused by the incision was so wide and deep , exposing a surface of over 140 square inches , that nature was unequal to

the task of healing it . Hence the experiment of grafting the skin of some of the lower animals was attempted but failed . The surgeons then expressed the opinion that if the experiment was tried with human skin , it mig ht prove a success and the patient's

life be saved . On hearing this , the whole of the members of the St . Bernard Commandery , which is about 300 strong , offered to submit themselves to the operation . Arrangements were accordingly made , and after a selection had been made from the members , a

square inch of cuticle was cut from the left arm of 146 templars , and transferred to the thigh of the patient , The hope is entertained that the experiment will be successful . The sacrifice is in every way honourable to the members of the St . Bernard Commandery .

The Scottish Grand Lodge In India.

THE SCOTTISH GRAND LODGE IN INDIA .

The annual convocation of the Grand Lodge of All Scottish Freemasonry in India , otherwise known as the St . Andrew ' s Festival , was held at Freemasons' Hall , Clare-road , Byculla , on Saturday , the 29 th November , 1890 , for the installation of the Grand Officers for the ensuing year . The M . W . G . M ., Sir Henry Morlar . d ,

having been suddenly called away to Calcutta the same evening on official business , was unable to preside . The Depute G . M ., Bro . K . R . Cama , opened the Grand Lodge , and installed Bros . J . W . Smith and P . N . Wadia as Depute and Substitute G . M . 's respectively . The Depute G . M . then installed the undermentioned

Grand Officers : Bro . A . W . Seabrooke S . G . W . „ G . W . Roughton J . G . W . „ Capt . C . D . Wise ... ... G . Sec . „ B . V . Kirtikar G . Treas . „ Surg .-Maj . C . K . Kirtikar ... S . G . D .

„ H . M . Chichgar J . G . D . „ F . W . Stevens G . Architect . ,, Ruston M . Chichgar ... Asst . G . Sec . „ A . F . Solon G . Jeweller .

,, K . N . Kabrajee Asst . G . Jeweller . ,, C . Anderson G . Bible Bearer . „ C . J . Kambatta G . ZendAvestaBr . ,, Damodhur Nathoobhai ... G . Gita Br . „ F . F . Pickard Chief G . D . of C .

,, Pallonjee Nusserwanjee ... 3 rd G . D . C . » ?; S . Lamb ] G . S . B . ' . „ D . D . Curranee ) „ J . Hindle 2 nd G . Std . Br . „ J . Hartley Pres . G . Stwd . ,, Currimbhoy Ebrahim ... 3 rd G . Marshal .

„ W . Tata J „ H . G . Meakin j ,, Ruttonsha Dadabhoy ... [ p < - , , '

„ C . H . F . Underwood , M . D . \ ~"""""• „ N . D . Bhada | ,, Fazil Janmahomed J E . F . Underwood , M . D . ... G . Purst . „ J . W . Watson G . Tyler .

There was a large attendance of Masons of the Scotch as well as of the English Constitutions . After the appointment of Grand Committees and Grand Auditors , an adjournment was made to the banqueting hall . Bro . J . W . Smith presided , and the usual toasts of obligation and courtesy were proposed , and responded to in some very able speeches .

Songs were contributed at intervals by some of the more gifted brethren present . One zealous Mason contributed , in addition to a song , 100 rupees to the Scottish Masonic Benevolent Fund , which is doing such an amount of good in this city by the education ol the orphans of Masons and by the maintenance of the widows . A very pleasant evening was spent , and the festival broke up at about 12 o ' clock .