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ARMFIELD'S SOUTH PLACE HOTEL , FINSBURY , LONDON , E . C , This new and rnndsomely-furnished Hotel is now FULLY LICENCED . Its position is central , and charges are moderate ; the sanitation is perfect . Passenger lift to each floor . SPECIAL CONVENIENCE FOR MASONIC LODGES , DINNERS AND CINDERELLAS .

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A Feature of the Metropolis . ;¦ SPIERS & POND'S / CRITERION RESTAURANT , PICCADILLY CIRCUS , LONDON , W . EAST ROOM . Finest Cuisine , unsurpassed by the most renowned Parisian Restaurants , Luncheons , Dinners and Suppers a la carte and prix fixe . Viennese Band . GRAND HALL . Musical Dinner 3 s . Gd . per head . Accompanied by the Imperial Austrian Band . WEST ROOM . Academy Luncheon 2 s . Gd ., Diner Parisien 5 s ., during both of which the renowned Mandolin Quartette performs . BUFFET & GRILL ROOM . Quick service a la carte and moderate prices . Joints in each room fresh from the Spit every half-hour . AMERICAN BAR . Service of special American Dishes , Grills , & c . Splendid Suites of Rooms for Military and other Dinners .

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Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The Secretary of the Royal Masonic Institution for Hoys , in addition to the Statement of Income for last year which he has sent us , and on which in connection with similar statements received in respect of the other Institutions we offer sundry observations in our article on " Masonic Benevolence in 18 97 , " has favoured us SATURDAY , J ANUARY 8 , 189 S .

with other interesting particulars , which show the financial progress made since the existing regime was inaugurated in 1890 . There is , in the first place , a tabular statement showing the yearly income of the School from 1 S 87 to 1 S 97 , both inclusive . From this it appears that the total amount received by the Institution during ( hose 11 years is . £ 213 , 205 12 s . 4 d ., giving

an annual average of . £ 19 , 382 6 s . 7 d . But during the first four years—18 S 7 , 188 S , 1889 , and 1 H 90—the old order of things was in force , and the total received was ¦ £ 55 . on 9 s . 4 d ., giving an average per year of £ ' 3777 ' 7 - - | d . During the seven years passed under the present Board of Management , the total received is . £ 158 , 094 3 s ., the yearly average being £ 22 , 584 17 s . 7 d ,

* * * It must be allowed that it is not altogether just to the old administration to institute a comparison between the average income during the closing years of its existence , when its rule had fallen into bad odour w 'th the Craft , and with the more prosperous years which the Institution has known under the existing ''egime . But even when due allowance has been made

Masonic Notes.

in respect of this very material consideration , there can be no doubt the progress made during the last seven years is well nigh unexampled in the history of our Masonic Institutions . Moreover , it has been well maintained , the only year in which the income is

below the average being 1892 , when the Benevolent Jubilee very properly absorbed the lion ' s share of the brethren's contributions . This is eloquent testimony

to the sustained energy of the Board of Management , proving , as it does , that it has never relaxed in its efforts to maintain the recovery which marked the commencement of its administration .

But this by no means represents the whole of the work so successfully accomplished since the summer of 1 S 90 . When the new era began , the invested capital of the Institution was £ 17 , 500 ; it is now £ 61 , 852 8 s . 5 d ., the increase in the septennial period being £ 45 , 352

8 s . 6 d . In addition , there is the sum of £ " 13 , 000 paid for the site of the new School at Bushey , Herts , so that had a change of locality not been determined upon there would have been an augmentation of capital in

the seven years amounting to upwards of £ 58 , 000 . This shows that with the increased income there has been no " material increase in the average annual expenditure .

We publish elsewhere a letter on the attendance of the brethren at Divine service in St . Paul ' s Cathedral on the 2 nd ultimo , which we feel sure will command the sympathy of our readers . The writer—Bro . Win " gate—lays stress on the difficulties which those in

charge of the arrangements had to contend with , and concludes a very admirable account of the service by suggesting that a subscription be opened in behalf of the Decoration Fund , and that the amount contributed by lodges and brethren may be in every way worthy of

the Craft . We must confess to having been surprised and disappointed at the offertory , and Bro . Wingate ' s suggestion offers a medium for augmenting the sum then contributed , of which we think full advantage should be taken . The offertory at the service in

StSaviour ' s , Southwark , at which the Eirl of Lathom , Pro Grand Master , and the Grand Officers and brethren wore present , amounted to upwards of £ 2300 ; but at St . Paul ' s , on the 2 nd ultimo , when over 5000 brethren attended , it reached but little more

than one-third of that sum . We feel sure there are numbers of brethren who would gladly assist in augmenting the £ ( 500 collected to such an extent as to allow of the cost of a substantial portion of the work

that is being carried out undtr the supervision of Sir W . Richmond being defrayed by our Society . For ourselves , we shall be pleased to do anything in our power to promote the success of the " proposal . ' '

We acknowledge with pleasure the receipt of Part III . Vol . X . of " Ars Quatuor Coronatorum , " or the Transactions of Lodge Quatuor Coronati , No . 2076 , for the closing portion of the year 1 S 97 , and shall take an early opportunity of commenting upon the several

interesting papers it contains . The most important of these are No . VII . of Bro . R . F . Gould ' s " Masonic Celebrities , " the subject of which is Bro . Josiah H , Drummond , Past G . Master of Maine , and one of the most distinguished members of the Masonic Fraternity

in the United States ; and the installation Address of the present W . M . of the lodge , Bro . Sydney T . K'ein , the subject being " Wisdom , Strength , and Beauty ; a Physical and Psychological Examination of Masonic

Symbolism . As the Address appeared in our Christmas number , our readers have already had an opportunity of forming an opinion of the merits of this very abstruse essay .

We have fuither to acknowledge the " St . John ' s Card , " which is issued annually on St . John lhe Evangelist ' s Day ( 27 th December ) , and conveys the greetings of the W . M . and officers of the lodge to the members of both Circles . This year the card is a

very elaborate one , and is , moreover , very beautifully engraved . It is accompanied by a brief address from Bro . Klein , who makes it the medium for explaining the hidden meaning of the Masonic symbols delineated therein and other matters connected with

the subject . There is also an illustration , excellently wcll-cngravcd , of the Socratic philosopher Aristippus , who , when wrecked on the shores of an apparently uninhabited island , caught sight of sundry geometrical

figures drawn upon the sand , and at once bade his companions be of good cheer , as in them he recognised the evidence of man ' s presence upon the island . To this also we shall lake an early opportunity of referring in detail .

Masonic Notes.

The School Quarterly Courts will be held at Freemasons' Hall next week , that of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , being fixed for the 13 th instant , and that of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys on the day following . The important business at both meetings will consist of the settlement of the lists of candidates and the declaration of the number of

vacancies to be filled in April . Certain motions will also be considered , there being a proposal to amend the laws defining the qualifications of candidates for the Girls'School , and one to suspend the law which sanctions the purchase of Life Presentations to the Boys' School . * * *

General sympathy will be felt with our Bengal brethren at the news that Bro . Gen . Yeatman-Biggs , their Dist . G . Master , died on Wednesday from dysentery contracted a few weeks back at the seat of war on the North-West frontier . The deceased was in command of one of the divisions of Sir W . Lockhart ' s force

and his death will be a great loss both to the sendee in which he had served so long and with such distinction , and to the Craft of Masonry . We hope to be in a position to publish a record of his Masonic career at an early date . * * *

We hasten , at the request of Bro . Major-General John F . Owen , District G . Master of Malta , to correct an error that appeared in the record of his Masonic career which , with the portrait of our respected brother , was published in the 'Xmas number of the Freemason . We appear to have misread the particulars we had received and returned him as having been initiated in

the Albion Lodge , now No . 196 , Barbados , on the nth April , 1861 , but not raised to the Degree of M . M . till the year 1 S 79 in the Lodge ' of Harmony , No . 1525 , Mauritius . The facts are that he was initiated in the Albion Lodge early in 1861 and raised on the nth April of that year . •» *

Thus the commencement of his record of service will read as follows : "Bro . Maj .-Gen . J . F . Owen , the successor of Rear-Admiral Markham , as Dist . Grand Master of Malta , was initiated in the Albion Lodge , No . 196—then No . 232—Barbados , in 1861 , and raised to the Degree of M . M . on the nth April of that year . Owing to the exigencies of military service , no Masonic

work is recorded of him until he joined , in 1879 , the Lodge of Harmony , No . 1525 , Mauritius , of which lodge he was appointed , and served as J . W . in 1880 , and since then he has taken a very prominent part in Masonry . " We regret and apologise for the error , which , however , in no way detracts from the merit of Bro . General Owen ' s services .

We are indebted to the courtesy of Bro . Stephen Berry , Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Maine , f or a copy of the circular addressed by Bro . Joseph Locke , M . W . G . Master of that jurisdiction , to the brethren under his obedience , forbidding all Masonic communication with the Grand Lodge of Peru and its

subordinate lodges , the ground of the excommunication being that the said Grand Lodge of Peru has altered its fundamental laws , so as to exclude the " Book of the Law , " i . e ., " The Great Light of Maso lry , " from its altars and those of its subordinate lodges . This excommunication , however , is not intended to apply to

those Peruvian brethren , who may sever their connection with the Peruvian Grand Lodge and the lodges under its obedience in consequence of this de parture from the great fundamental principle of the Craft , and with a view to maintaining , pure and unsullied , the principles which were recognised at the time they were initiated into Freemasonry .

# ? * We gather from the report of the proceedings of the District Grand Lodge of Canterbury at its regular quarterly communication on the 21 st August , that an important letter had been received from Bro . Richard Eve , Past G . Treas ., " with regard

to the recognition of the so-called Grand Lodge of New Zealand , " and at the request of the Dist . Board of General Purposes , the Dist . G . Master , after fully explaining the position of affairs , has sent Bro . Eve a reply thanking him for his trouble and e nbodying the views of the members of the Dist . Board of General

Purposes , The Dist . G . Master—Bro . R . Dunn Thomas—further stated " in proof of the steady progress English Masonry had made in this district , " that while in 1891 "after formation of so-called new Grand Lodge the E . C . retained seven lodges with a total of

Subscribing Members of 274 " therearenow—in 1897—" nine lodges with a total of Subscribing Members of 369 . " This does not look as if the lodges in the Canterbury District were in a very great hurry to unite their fortunes with those of the unrecognised Grand Lodge of New Zealand .

According to TaggarPs Times of Philadelphia , the Grand Master of Alabama has given it as his opinion that an obligation contracted " by an initiate under an assumed name" has the same binding force as if he had contracted it " in his proper name , " and the Committee of his Grand Lodge has sustained him in his opinion .