The Masonic Home Of Pennsylvania.

to note that all the Grand Bodies in the State contribute towards the maintenance of the Institution , the amount given by Grand Lodge being 500 dollars , by the Grand Chapter 300 dollars , by the Grand Commandery 300 dollars , and by the Ancient and Accepted Rite 100 dollars . The amount raised on ist January , 1895 , including estimated value of gifts in kind , is set down at 27 , 400 dollars , the number of contributors being given

35 339 . The figures we have been at the pains of furnishing in some detail demonstrates clearly enough that the brethren in Pennsylvania , having established a Home for aged and decayed Masons , are sparing no efforts to establish it on a firm basis . The amounts received annually in subscriptions , donations ,

and bequests are considerable , while the Institution is being conducted economically , and at the same time with a due regard to the comfort and convenience of its inmates . The assets already amount to a goodly sum , and , what must be still more gratifiying , there are absolutely no incumbrances on the property of the Charity . We therefore congratulate most

heartily the brethren in the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania on the ample measure of success which has thus far attended their efforts in behalf of the poorer members of their body , and we sincerely trust that their Home , which has already attained considerable proportions , will become year by year worthier , and still more worthy , of the generous support of the lodges and brethren in the Keystone State .

Lady Freemasons.

LADY FREEMASONS .

The announcement in the Daily Telegraph of Monday—whether intended as a " goak " or seriously , is immaterial—that " a Cambridgeshire lady has determined to start a Iodge of Freemasons on her own account " and that " the number of applications she has received from sisters anxious to become acquainted with the ancient secrets of the mystic order , testify to an

earnest desire on the part of many women to assist men in the working of lhe craft " —amuses , but does not surprise us . We have grown accustomed to the assertion of women ' s rights , and are , therefore , to a certain extent , prepared for any and every development of feminine eccentricity which is possible or probable . But we are curious—as descended from Eve , not

unnaturally curious—upon sundry points . Whence will this Cambridgeshire lady obtain her Masonry , whence her authority to constitute lodges , and when she has succeeded in obtaining her Masonry and setting up her lodges , how will she instruct them to discharge their appointed duties ? Our contemporary suggests that as , according to popular tradition , the Master

of a Mason ' s lodge is the representative of King Solomon who presided over the building of the Temple at Jerusalem , the Mistress of a lady-Mason ' s lodge might dub herself the representative of the Oueen of SIIEBA . But this would hardly do . According to the Biblical account of the meeting of these ancient monarchs , the Oueen was attracted to Jerusalem by the

fame of SOLOMON ' wisdom , and , finding how infinite ! ) ' greater it WAS than report had represented it , she made him costly gilts of gold and spices and precious stones , and did him reverence . If , then , the Mistress-Mason proclaims herself the representative of the Oueen of SIIEBA , it will be tantamount to an acknowledgment of the superiority of Male Masonry , and the

whole fabric of women's rights , which the fair sex have been striving for so many years to establish , will totter to its very base . Hut , if we assume that this difficulty is surmounted , there are still others , which it will tax all the ' r energies and inventive faculties to overcome . If they establish lodges they must improvise some system of governing them ; if they accept candidates ,

they must formulate a ceremony of initiation . They will require signs , tokens , and words to know each other by , and distinguish those who are Masons from the outside feminine world who are not . Si ill , the difficulties in the way of accomplishing all this , though undoubtedly great , are not insuperable , and England may come to possess an " Eastern

Star" organisation such as the Americans have to-day , or a Maconnerie d'Adoption such as found favour in France in the latter half of last century . But whether , when the Cambridgeshire lady and her friends have set up their Temples of Sheba , it will be found that they bear any resemblance to

Freemasonry as it has been handed down from time immemorial to the inferior male sex , , is a point on which we offer no opinion . We await , as we have said already , the result of these efforts to establish lady Masonic lodges in England with true feminine curiosity .

Provincial Grand Mark Lodge Of Leicestershire And Rutland.

PROVINCIAL GRAND MARK LODGE OF LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND .

INSTALLATION OF PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER . The inauguration oi this province took place on Wednesday , the 30 th ult ., and under such favourable auspices as will doubtless ensure for its future a marked and continued success . Originally , Leicestershire formed a province by itself , but in course of time as Mark Masonry took root in the

neighbouring counties of Northampton and Derby , it was found convenient for these to be added , and subsequently the Howe Lodge , No . 21 , whose home was at Melton Mowbray , being authorised by Grand Lodge to meet alternately at Oakham , where some of its members resided , the county of Rutland was thereby attached . The rapid increase in the Degree caused

the united province to become at length unwieldly and unmanageable , and much difficulty and inconvenience was experienced by many of the brethren in meeting together at any given centre . Under these circumstances there

naturally sprung up a growing desire for a division to be made , and whilst the matter was being freely discussed , the decease of our late revered and veteran Prov . Grand Master ( Bro . William Kelly ) afforded the opportunity tor the M . W . Grand Master to take the matter into consideration , and decide upon

Provincial Grand Mark Lodge Of Leicestershire And Rutland.

its becoming a fait accompli—Derbyshire being constituted a separate province ; Northampton united to Huntingdon and Bedfordshire ; and Leicestershire and Rutland reverting practically to its old and original boundaries . Bereft of so grand a chief as Bro . Kelly , under whose genial sway the province had for six-and-thirty years been ruled , and to whom its ever-increasing prosperity was mainly due , it was pardonable if the

Leicestershire brethren felt their loss irreparable , and knew not whither to turn for a like successor . The province may now be heartily congratulated on the appointment by the M . W . Grand Master of so eminent and distinguished a brother ns the Pro Grand Master to rule over its destinies , and the thanks of the brethren are due to Lord Euston , who amid the multiplicity of other masonic engagements had so kindly consented to take the province under his charge .

The proceedings of Wednesday were opened under the presidency of the Viscount Dungarvan , D . G . M ., assisted by several Officers of Grand Lodge . Col . A . B . Cook , Prov . G . Master of Middlesex , acted as D . P . G . M . ; A . Woodiwiss , Prov . G . Master ot Derbyshire , as S . W . ; R . Berridge , P . S . G . W . ; C . F . Matier , P . S . G . W ., Grand Sec ; C . H . Driver , P . G . O ., G . L of W . ; J . Balfour-Cockb-irn , P . G . D ., G . D . of C . ; Gordon Miller , P . G . Treas ., as A . D . C ; Major Clifford Probyn , G . S . B . ; and Charles Belton , P . G . O ., as Grand Inner Guard .

The D . G . M . having been saluted by the brethren assembled , and the preliminary proceedings gone through , a procession was formed and the Provincial Grand Master designate introduced in proper form . Then followed a brief address by the D . G . M ., who in the course of his remarks , alluding to the high office held and the estimable services rendered by the Prov . G . Master designate , said there was little need to remind him of the nature of the duties and the qualifications of the office to which he had been nominated , being already so well acquainted with them .

The Prov . G . Master having been obligated and conducted to the right of the Deputy Grand Master , was invested and inducted into the chair . After being proclaimed and saluted , he announced the appointment of Bro . William Jesse Freer , P . M . 21 , P . P . G . W ., as Deputy Provincial Grand Master . The D . P . G . M . was then addressed on the duties appertaining to his office , and upon taking the customary obligation was invested and inducted into his seat on the right of the R . W . Prov . G . Master .

On the Roll of Lodges being called , a goodly response was made in the number of brethren present . The Treasurer was then elected and the appointment and investiture of officers made as follows : Bro . B . A . Smith ... ... ... Prov . S . G . W . „ W . D . Grant ... ... ... Prov . J . G . W .

„ T . Paget ... ... ... ... Prov . G . M . O . ,, j . Thorpe ... ... ... ... Prov . S . G . O .

„ T . S . H . Ashwell ... ... ... Prov . J . G . O . „ Rev . R . W . Lancaster ... ... ... Prov . G . Chap . ,, J . H . Thompson ... ... ... Prov . G . Treas . „ F . S . Preston ... ... ... Prov . G . Reg . of M . ,, Rev . H . J . Mason ... ... ... Prov . G . Sec . „ W . Vial ... ... ... ... Prov . S . G . D . „ W . W . Vincent ... ... ... Prov . J . G . D . „ T . W . Lumley ... Prov . G . D . C . „ j . H . Gilbert ... ... ... Prov . G . S . B . „ C . Oliver ... ... ... Prov . G . Std . Br . „ W . H . Barrow ... ... ... Prov . G . Org . ,, S . Cleaver ... ... ... ... Prov . G . I . G . „ W . Bream ... ... ... ... " - ) ,, W . A . Spencer ... ... •••ID < - c . 1 „ T . Corcoran j-Prov . G . Stwds . „ P . Joseph ... ... ... ... J „ J . Taneer ... ... ... ... Prov . G . Tyler .

lhe clothing and regalia of the late Bro . Kelly being presented tothe Iodge by Bro . Freer , on behalf cf the executors , was thankfully accepted , and the proposal of thc Prov . Grand Master , that the same be suitably framed and hung up in the lodge room as a memento of the long : ervice rendered , and the interest taken in Mark Masonry by our late brother , met with the unanimous approval of the brethren .

A well-timed reminder by the Grand Secretary of the claims of the Maik Benevolent Fund reaching many of the brethren by the morning ' s post , the newly-appointed D . P . G . M . seized the opportunity of doing the proper thing by volunteering to become a Steward at the ensuing festival , which , is quite unnecessary [ to add , received lhe commendation of Provincia l Grand Lodge .

Hearty votes of thanks were passed to Lord Dungarvan and the officers of Grand Lodge for their services , and acknowledged in suitable terms by his lordship . Provincial Grand Lodge was then closed . A banquet was subsequently held in the Masonic rooms , at which about

60 of the brethren were present . The customary loyal toasts having been given , the PROV . GRAND MASTER proposed that of "The Deputy Prov . Grand Master , " and Bro . Lord DUNGARVAN responded in a very happy and humorous vein .

Ihe DEI ' PROV . GRANO MASTER then proposed that of " The Prov . Grand Master , " and in his reply Bro . Lord EUSTON spoke in eulogistic terms of the Mark Degree , and of its close alliance with the Craft Degrees , and expressed his readiness to come at all times amongst the brethren and to do whatever lay in his power for the good of the Order and its extension

in that province . The enthusiastic spirit which dominated the remarks of his lordship were heartily reciprocated , and ever ) one felt that a fresh impetus had been given to the furtherance and well-being of thc cause with which it wis his privilege to be connected .

Ihe PROV . GRAND MASTER proposed "The Deputy Prov . Grand Master and the rest of the Prov . Grand Ollieers , Present and Past , " which was responded to by Bro . FREER , who , speaking for himself and the officers ,