The Institute Of Journalists And The Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

ments in town caused him to be somewhat late in irriving . He had , however , heard and seen enough to make him desire much more , and he ventured to suggest to the Management that there should shortly be arranged a special press day ; he agreed with Sir

lohn Monckton that such an institution could not be too well or widely known , and he would be delighted to assist in bringing about so desirable an end . The resolution of thanks was carried by acclamation , and after coffee and tea had been served , the company dispersed .

The French Freemasons.

THE FRENCH FREEMASONS .

( FROM THE " GL 011 E " PARIS CORRESPONDENT . ) The role played by the Freemasons in the political situation of France having given rise to much discussion of late , a short account of the present condition of the Order , as furnished by a member of it , may be found both useful and interesting . The Grand Orient

is the most important of the French Masonic lodges , of which there are four . Its head-quarters are in the Rue Cadet , where a convent , or general assembly , composed of a delegate from all the Lodges of Obedience and 33 members of the Council of the Order , is held every year . These dignitaries are invested with administrative power , and are elected by the convent for three

years . The labours of the convent , which ended the other day in a banquet of over 400 covers , were particularly important this year , and will probably form the starting point of a fresh evolution of French Masonry , which considers it its duty to be foremost in the field of progress . As the reader is aware , the Freemasons are supposed to work in secrecy , but in

these days , when the public desire to be informed of every current event , the secret oozes out somehow or another . Thus it is that we know all the resolutions of general interest adopted by the convent , and , though it may be an indiscretion to divulge them , yet Masonry need not complain , since all its efforts tend towards the amelioration of the condition of the

people . Such being the case , publicity cannot fail to be productive of good . Under the Second Empire Freemasonry was checkmated by Napoleon III ., who forced the Order to accept as Grand Masters successively Piince Lucien Mural , Marshal Magnan , and General Mellinett . In 1870 , however , it regained its liberty , and proclaimed

in favour of the Republic . One of its first reforms at that date was the suppression of the phrase " Grand Architect of the Universe , " which caused an outcry , especially among the English Freemasons . This done , it entered the domain of practical reforms , and elaborated the laws which are now recognised as the foundation of French political institutions . Gratuitous

secular and compulsory education , and equality in the military are , according to the Freemasons , the work of the lodges , which , after having studied those great questions in the silence of their temples , propagated them in public lectures , books , pamphlets , and newspapers . They have not slept on their laurels , and are now pursuing the perfection and integral application cf the scholastic

and military laws as well as the separation of Church and State . On all these subjects the French Freemasons are distinctly intransigent . They hope to succeed because they say they never abandon a task before accomplishing it . With this object in view they are trying to induce the electors to refuse their suffrages to all candidates who do not accept these

reforms , which so far have not been exacted by Republican committees in a sufficiently decided manner . From a strictly political point of view , the opinions of the Freemasons are , we are told , equally firm and uncompromising . They are not likely to be gained over by those who have rallied to the Republic , although they have no great enthusiasm for the present policy

of the Place Beauvais or that of the Elysee . But it must not be imagined from this that Freemasonry will take up an attitude hostile to the executive power of the State . It will will work patiently and peacefully , as the best way of arriving at success . Respecting social questions , Freemasonry during the first years of its liberty was almost exclusively bourgeois .

to use the word now in vogue . Now and then in some unimportant lodge a member would present a resolution to favour of the study of such questions , and that was all . Last year , however , a decisive step was taken in this [ direction , and several lodges accepted the programme of the Socialist Workmen Party ; indeed , the current became so strong that the convent of 1802 , on

"ie proposal of some of the delegates , offered a money Prize for the best work on the means of extinguishing Misery . A number of pamphlets , many of them very " "" narkable , were laid before the convent of 1893 , but , as none of them realised the ideal desired , the prize remains open for next year . In the convent just held the area of social questions

J'as enlarged , and the great reforms which now occupy j | public mind were submitted to the examination of the lod ges , notably the laws necessary to prepare the Wa y for the separation of Churce and State ; the suppression of all religious congregations of no matter [ r creed , and the confiscation of their property to "e nation ; the abolition of monopolies of all kinds ,

"eluding railways , the Bank of France , and mines ; r the redistribution of property under all its various r ms . it appears that it was not without a vague rror that certain Freemasons saw placed on the table veral of these questions , particularly that concerning j * ° Perty ( and no doubt the next convent will be divided 1 " ™ , y of them . But the division will not go to the " ••¦gth of a schism .

The French Freemasons.

In regard to another delicate point , the patriotism of the Order , which is contested by the clericals , it is said that an opportunity took place during the last convent which enabled the Freemasons to make an imposing demonstration , showing their zealous devotion to their country . In two speeches made at Naples and Rome , Signor Adriano Lemmi , Grand Master of the Italian

Freemasonry , declared that he hoped in a short time to see the Italian flag floating over Corsica . This was no sooner communicated to the convent than all the members rose from their seats and proclaimed that if war broke out between Franee and Italy contesting the legitimacy of French rights over Nice and Corsica the French Freemasons would be found in the first rank

of the combatants . The incident wound up with enthusiastic cries of " Vive Ie France ! '*' It is scarcely requisite to give all the names of the celebrated personages who belong to the Order . Suffice it to say that the President of the Republic , the majority of his Ministers , and a great number of Republican deputies are Freemasons . Every day , we are assured .

fresh Masons are made . During the electoral period a new man often comes to the front . In nine cases out of ten he will be found to be a Freemason , brought forward by one of the lodges , the members of which have found him capable of supporting the reforms desired by the Order . Citizen Behoit Malon , who died the other day , has left a vacancy in it which will not be easily filled up .

Our Portrait Gallery Of Worshipful Masters.

Our Portrait Gallery of Worshipful Masters .

BRO . D . CAMPBELL , whose portrait we publish above , was initiated in the Clapton Lodge , No . 1365 , in which he filled all the principal offices , and was installed W . M . on the 21 st ult ., a report of which appears in another column .

Wills And Requests.

WILLS AND REQUESTS .

Leaving personalty of . £ 468 , 519 , Bro . J . D . Allcroft , late of 108 , Lancaster-gate , and Stokesay Castle , Salop , J . P ., F . R . A . S ., F . R . G . S ., and of the firm of Dent , Allcroft , and Co ., Wood-street , City , for many years the Treasurer of Christ ' s Hospital , who died on the 29 th July last , aged 71 , appointed as the executors

of his will , which is dated June 14 th last , with a codicil made the 24 th June , his wife , Mrs . Mary Ann Jewell Allcroft , his son , Mr . Herbert John Allcroft , Mr . William Cave Fowler , of 101 , Piccadilly , and Mr . Hy . Alfred Greig , of Crosby-square , to the two last-named of whom the testator bequeaths , 6500 each ; to Mrs . Allcroft , £ 1000 and a life annuity of £ 3000 ; to his

sister-in-law , Mrs . Whitmarsh , wife of Dr . Whitmarsh , a life annuity of . £ 200 ; to Mrs . Davies Drew , of Henswall , Cheshire , a life annuity of . £ 200 ; and annuities and legacies to other friends and relations . He bequeathed to each servant of one year ' s service four weeks' wages ; to the Church Missionary

Society £ 1000 , the Church Pastoral Aid Society £ iooo , the British and Foreign Bible Society , £ 1000 , the Royal Hospital for Incurables , Putney , £ 1000 , and the Worcester Infirmary , £ 100 . Bro . Allcroft devised the Stokesay Castle estate and all his manors in the county of Stafford , and bequeathed his leasehold house in Lancaster Gate and all his

furniture and household effects , to his said son , Herbert , absolutely , to whom also he left the patronage of the livings of St . Matthew ' s , Bayswater , . £ 1200 ; St . Jude ' s , Kensington , . £ 1000 ; St . Martin ' s , Kentish Town , £ 440 ; St . Michael , Onibury , £ 380 ; All Saints ' Culmington , £ 700 ; and all other his church patronage . To his second son , Walter Lacey Allcroft , the testator

bequeathed all his ordinary , preference , and debenture stock of the North British and Caledonian Railways ; to his third son , Arthur , £ 1000 , in addition to £ 10 , 000 transferred to him as capital in the Wood-street business ; to his fourth son , John Derby Allcroft , all his Great Eastern , South Western , and North Western Railway Stock ; in trust for his daughter , Elizabeth Mary , his Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway stock ;

Wills And Requests.

and in trust for his daughter , Harriett , his Great Northern Railway stock . The trustees may invest upon the security of freehold land in England and Wales , and the testator leaves all his residuary estate to his son Herbert .

By his will , dated February 25 th , 18 93 , Bro . Frederick Burgess , late of Burgess Hall , Finchley , formerly of St . James ' s Hall , Piccadilly , who died on the 26 th July last , leaving personalty valued at £ 10 , 8 94 8 s . yd ., bequeathed his collection of books , prints , and autographs , which he deemed to be of great value , in trust for sale at a suitable season by Sotheby , Wilkinson

, and Hodge . Bro . Burgess bequeathed to his wife , Mrs . Ellen Burgess , an annuity of £ 150 during her widowhood , and to his daughter , Florence , wife of Carl Schoell , of 20 , Belsize-park Gardens , his presentation plate , family portraits , and jewellery , and his one-third share and interest in the partnershi p business of the Moore and Burgess Minstrels , which he carried on in

conjunction with Mr . George Washington Moore , and in the lease of the premises in St . James ' s Hall , the goodwill , scenery , and upholstery of the business . All the residue of his property the testator left in trust to pay the income thereof to his daughter , Florence Schoell , during her life , and subject to her life interest to hold the trust estate in trust in equal shares for her

children , or in the event of her death without issue to pay a legacy of £ 1000 to the testator ' s nephew , Mr . Alfred Daffarn , and distribute the ultimate residue as to one-third to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , as to one-third to the Royal Masonic Institution

for Boys , and as to the remaining one-third to the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls . The executors of Bro . Burgess ' s will are his daughter , Mr . Henry Nathan Belchier , of 74 , Cornhill , stockbroker , and Mr . Ernest Howard , of Abchurch-Iane , solicitor , to each of whom for the executorship he bequeaths £ 100 .

Festival Of The Howe Lodge Of Instruction, No . 587.

FESTIVAL OF THE HOWE LODGE OF INSTRUCTION , No . 587 .

The first festival in connection with this general lodge of instruction was held at the Masonic Hall , Newstreet , Birmingham , on Friday , the 15 th ult ., when tliere were present Bros . J . T . Collins , P . G . Std . Br . Eng D . P . G . M . ; Turner , 88 7 , P . M . 2000 ; W . M . Adams

M . A ., P . M . 1644 , P . P . G . Std . Br ., I . P . M . ; Jeyes W . M . 1246 , S . W . ; Parker , S . W . 739 , J . W . ; Smith , P . M . 473 , S . D . ; Robb , I . G . 473 , J . D . ; H . J . Collins , 8 S 7 , I . G . ; Matthew Jones , VV . M . 43 ; Wills O . Hunn , S . D . 74 , P . P . G . D . Oxon ; Grant , J . W ., Hoskins , W . M ., Warr , Bell , and Beech , P . M ., P . G . Sec , P . G . Std . Br . Eng ., of 473 ; Swindtn , P . M ., P . P . G . D .,

Shakleford , P . M ., P . P . G . D ., Rollason , Blakeney , and Willmor , of S 8 7 ; Morgan , P . M ., P . P . G . Std . Br ., Edge , Turton , and Rooker , P . M ., of 925 ; Dingley , and Ault , of 1016 ; Waite , S . W . 1163 ; Locke , S . W . ' 1246 ; Grant , S . W . 1474 ; anci Newton , P . M ., Carr , S . W ., RatclifTe , Perry , and Powell , uf 1644 . The lodge was opened , and the minutes of the last

meeting were read and confirmed . The lod ge was opened in the Second and Third Degrees and resumed in the First Degree . Bro . Hoskins took the chair , and rehearsed the ceremony of initiation , Bro . Ratcliffe acting as candidate . Bro . Matthew Jones delivered the charge , and the lodge was called off for a short interval . Bro . Turner took the chair , and the lodge was then

called on . Bro . Dingley answered the questions leading to the Second Degree , and was entrusted . The lodge was resumed in the Second Degree , and the ceremony of passing was rehearsed , after which Bro . Rollason gave an explanation of the tracing board . The lodge

was resumed in the Third Degree and closed in the Third and Second Degrees . After the usual enquiries , the lodge was closed . The brethren afterwards adjourned to dinner in the adjoining room , where they were well catered for by Mrs . Whitfield .

After dinner the usual loyal and Masonic toasts were proposed and responded to . The toast of " The General Lodge of Instruction " was proposed by Bro . J . T . COLLINS , D . P . G . M ., who expressed his great pleasure at seeing the prosperous state of the lodge , which tended to spread uniformity of working throughout the province .

Bro . AUAMS , Preceptor , in replying , thanked Bro . Collins for his kindness in being present , and stated hat the lodge would soon attain its 50 th year , and had never been in such a flourishing condition , and hoped that the festival would become an annual fixture . During the evening Bros . Smith , Wills , Newton , Bee , and Hunn contributed to the harmony of the

evening . 'The Tyler ' s toast closed the proceedings . After paying all expenses , a surplus of £ 1 is . remained , which was voted to the Warwickshire Pupil ' s Aid Fund .

1 he Duke of Connaught will take over the command of the Aldershot Division on Monday next , and on the same day Bro . Lieut .-Gen . Sir Evelyn Wood will enter upon his new duties as Ouartermaster-Gencral . The annual regimental carbine match between the ist and 2 nd Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards took

place at the rifle range at Kunnymede , near Staines , on Wednesday , when victory declared itself in favour of the ist Life Guards team , which won by iS points from the 2 nd Life Guards , and 10 S from the Horse Guards . The result is that the Challenge Cup presented by the ofiicers of the three regiments will be held by the winning regiment for the ensuing 12 months .