Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS .., 541 Provincial Grand Lodge of Durham 542 Provincial Grand Lodge of New York under the "Ancients "—( Continued ) S 43 English Authors and American Pirates ... 543 Old Warrants . —Ill 544

Complimentary Dinner to Bro . A . C . Wylie , P . M . S 69 , P . ' P . G . S . B . Herts est , The Lord Ma'or Elect 545 Knights Templar 545 Ancient and Accepted Rite 545

Province of Middlesex $ a Theatres 545 Notes and Queries 547 Royal Masonic Institution f . ir Boys 547 REPORTS OF MASONIC

MEETINGSCraft Masonry 547 Instruction 550 Red Cross of Rome and Constantine 550 Masonic and General Tidings 55 T Lodge Meetings for Next Week 553

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„ , WE would draw the attention of our readers to the imminence The School of the autumn School Elections . The Quarterly Court of the Elections . Q \ T ] S' School will be held at Freemasons' Tavern to-morrow ( Saturday ) , when , as an additional vacancy has been created by the death

of F LORENCE WEBER , it will be proposed to elect 16 instead of 15 children from an approved list of 30 candidates . The Boys' School Quarterly Court will be held at the same place on Monday next , the 10 th inst ., and if Bro . J OYCE MURRAY ' motion to declare an additional vacancy is carried , 12 instead of 11 boys will be elected from an approved list of 54 candidates .

We have already offered the usual remarks as to the special features , if any , of the two lists of applicants , We shall , therefore , do nothing further than express a hope that the friends of the children , whose names will be removed from the lists in the event of their failing to obtain places , will succeed in carrying their candidates . # .. #

THE Report we published last week of the Special Committee The Girls'School . r v .,.,,,. , Centenary Cele- appointed to arrange for the due celebration of the Centenary bration Scheme , of our G j r , , School has this great merit , that the more carefully it is examined and tlie more minutely its several provisions are

considered , the more acceptable is it likely to become in the judgment of all impartial critics . A less costly proposal might have been formulated , had the Committee confined their attention to the present requirements of the Institution in the matter of accommodation ; but with their experience of the amazing development that has taken place during the last 15 years , it

would have been little short of madness on their part had they ignored the possibility , amounting to an almost absolute certainty , that in the course of the next 20 or 30 years a further augmentation of numbers will become necessary , and consequently that had they looked only to the present , much of the outlay which is now in contemplation would have to be incurred again .

It is true that both the schemes , marked B and C respectively , have been framed with an eye to the future as well as for the immediate present , but the former is the more acceptable , though the costlier , of the two , because it contains a more liberal provision for the increases which are inevitable than the latter . But let us consider the various proposals in that portion

of the Report which deals with the intended re-arrangement and enlargement of the present buildings . Scheme A , which concerns the Junior School , stands by itself . It provides for the two newly-purchased houses and Lyncombe House being converted into one building , with enlarged accommodation for the 39 present occupants , and extra

dormitory space for some 35 additional girls , the cost of the whole , including drainage , ventilation , & c , being estimated approximately at under ^ , 2000 . Scheme B has reference to the main building . The outlay it will involve , exclusive of the cost of lighting and warming , is set down at £ 20 , 000 , but it will provide enlarged dormitory and school-room space for the present

205 girls , and will , at the same time , allow of about 40 additional children being received into the building . The chief details of this Scheme are as follow : The present domestic offices will be removed to a new building to be erected on the ground recently purchased . The present large Schoolroom in the Alexandra Wing will bs converted into a much-needed Dining

Hall of adequate dimensions , and the present Dining Hall and Cooking Class-room into one large School-room , with additional space in the dormitory above . Adjoining this will be built a new School-room , measuring 76 feet by 22 feet , with dormitories above it for 7 6 children •and , in addition , •t is proposed to build a "Centenaiy" Hall which will be large enough to

accommodate at one time not only the Upper and Lower Schools at drill and for recreation , but also ihe whole of the children , with the Stewards and their friends , on Speech-day and other State occasions ; and which will at the same time serve to commemorate the celebration of the approaching anniversary . These are the main features of Scheme B , which the

general Committee , on the recommendation of the Special Committee , have unanimously adopted . Alternative Scheme C provided for the rearrangement of the present building , with enlarged space and increased accommodation for only eight children above the present number ; but the

new Hall , if erected , would stand on the recently acquired ground , and , s Peaking generally , the advantages of Scheme B over Scheme C are so obvious , that we consider the conduct of the Committee in preferring is worth y of all praise , There are likewise certain other considera-

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tions of a general character which are mentioned in the Report , and on which it is desirable we should offer a few remarks . The question of electric lighting v . gas is one on which only an expert can safely pronounce an opinion , but if the electric light is shown to be more conducive to health , on the ground that it insures greater purity in the air that is breathed

and greater cleanliness , while at the same time it affords greater security against fire , then there is no doubt it should be substituted for the present system of lighting by gas . Nor if the corridors are found to be too cold , especially during the winter months , can there be two opinions as to the desirability of their being warmed , the warmer temperature being necessary to

maintain the children in health . It is also most important that the means of exit from the building , and the interior communications , should be as free and as substantial as possible , so that in the event of a fire breaking out the danger to life through doors and windows that will not open easily or to their full extent , or from the staircases being winding and

narrow , may be reduced to the lowest minimum . The possibility of such a catastrophe happening in such an Institution as our Girls ' School is almost too terrible to contemplate , but , nevertheless , it is a possibility that must be taken into account , and the authorities would be wanting in their duty if they omitied to provide the

amplest and best means of escape lor the inmates , in the event of an outbreak of fire occurring . There is yet another consideration to be dealt with , namely , that in the re-arrangement and extension of the present premises care must be taken to give every child in both Schools an ample amount of breathing space . It will surprise no one who has given the

matter the attention it deserves that an Institution which in the last 15 years has considerably more than doubled its strength should , in spite of the additional buildings it has erected or purchased , have become unduly crowded , and it does not need a Solon to point out that the conditions of an overcrowded establishment must be prejudicial to health . Fortunately , the

several Schemes , A , B , and C , which were submitted to the Committee were framed to satisfy these indispensable requirements as regards abundance of breathing space , and to whatever extent it may be found possible to carry out the plan for the extension and re-arrangement of the School buildings , provision will be made ior giving every child ample dormitory and

schoolroom space in accordance with Government prescriptions and as nearly as possible in accordance with the recommendations ot the medical officer of the Institution . Let us hope the Centenary Festival will be sufficiently productive to allow of the Committee ' s Schemes for the improvement of the School being carried out in their entirety .

BRO . SPETH ' S letter in the Freemason of the 24 th ult . is pleasant L ° Ujroiiati tUOr reac- 'n £ 'or us > ab he tells us that our efforts to rightly appreciate and make known , the various objects of the members of the " Quatuor Coronati " Lodge—all of which are most worthy and important —have met with the warm approval of its chief supporters . Beyond question ,

the founders may congratulate themselves on the success of the new movement , and though there are yet many of its aims to be accomplished , it goes wi . hout saying , that with such Masters as Bros . Sir CHARLES WARREN and R . F . GOULD , and such a model Secretary as Bro . SPETH—not to speak of the other active members—whatever they set before them as their ultimate

goal will be reached sooner or later . The lodge will need a permanent home and a resident Secretary , so that a library may be formed , and adequate means offered for the realization of a Masonic Students' Atelier in the Metropolis , easy of access and capable of accommodating the members of the " Inner" and "Outer" circles , from time to time , and of

providing premises in which the brethren can meet for fraternity and converse , irom all parts of the Masonic world . The first volumes of the "Reprints" promised by the lodge will be most welcome , especially the complete facismile of the HALLIWELL MS . of the fourteenth century , with a typographical reproduction . Mr . HALLIWELL PHILLIPS brought out an

excellent copy of the document in 1840 and a second edition in 1844 , either of which , as Bro . Si'ETH . states , is ' * now only procurable with great difficulty , " and we may add , at considerable increase on the original subscription . Bro . SPETH has engaged to be the Editor of the volume 1 , and Bro . GOULD , the Masonic Historian , will write the introduction to each of the

" Reprints , " so that we may rest assured that the who ! e thing will be well done , artistically and masonically . Strictly speaking , the " HALLIWELL MS . " ( British Museum , "Royal Library , " ) is not a copy of the "Old Charges , " but founded on a transcript of a version of the latter ; by which we are enabled to know the general character of such documents at a period

when no transcripts of the actual MSS . are available . It is doubtful if any exist prior to the sixteenth century , so that the " HALLIWELL " and " COOKE MSS . " are most valuable and trustworthy documents of their kind . The curious article in the "Plain Dealer " of 1724 respecting the Gormogons is to be reproduced from a rare copy owned by one of the members of the lodge ( Bro . J . RAMSDEN RILEY , the Yorkshire Masonic Historian ) , and