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NOTICE . A SPECIAL EDITION" will be issued on SATURDAY MORNING containing a full Report of the Quarterly Court of the R . M . I , for Boys , with the result of the Election .

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SATURDAY , OCTOBER 9 , 18 97 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The Quarterly General Court of Governors of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls was held at Freemasons' Tavern , on Thursday , the 7 th inst ., when 15 children were elected from an approved list of 26 and will be received into the School in due course . The

names of the successful candidates will be found in our advertisement columns . There was also a long and interesting discussion on the subject of the amount to be paid in future for a Perpetual Presentation , the question being ultimately referred to a Special Committee to which the other Institutions are to be invited to send representatives .

» * » The Quarterly General Court of Governors of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys is being held to-day ( Friday ) while we are going to press , the number of boys to be elected being 15 , and the number of

candidates , 47 . A supplement to this issue of the Freemason will be published to-morrow ( Saturday ) and will contain the names of the successful candidates , as well as a full report of the proceedings at the Quarterly Court .

# * * The Supreme Council , 33 ' ' , for England , Wales , and the Dependencies of the British Crown , will hold a convocation at Mark Masons' Hall , on Tuesday , the 12 th inst ., at f > p . m ., when a number of candidates will have the 30 conferred upon them . A banquet will follow at the Freemasons' Tavern at 7 . 30 p . m . —tickets price 21 s . each—and those desirous of attending it should

Masonic Notes.

fill in and return the form sent them , three days previous to the meeting , to the Secretary of the Council , as scats and dinner can be provided only for those who comply with this request . * # #

The annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cheshire , held on the 29 th ult ., was very largely attended and the reports of the principal executive officers showed that Freemasonry in this favoured county has been making very considerable progress of

late . But greater interest than usual was taken in the proceedings of this communication owing to the fact that it was proposed to present to the Grand Master of the Province , Bro . Earl Egerton of Tatton , an address of congratulation upon his promotion to

the dignity of an Earl , Her Majesty the Queen having done his lordship the honour to include him among those upon whom it was her pleasure to confer some special mark of her favour in connection with her Diamond Jubilee . When this became known our

Cheshire brethren determined on offering their felicitations to his lordship at the next annual meeting of their Provincial Grand Lodge . Hence the large attendance on this occasion and the enthusiasm shown

by those present when the address was presented by Bro . Sir Horatio Lloyd , D . P . G . M ., in the name and on behalf of the Province , the terms in which the presentation was made reflecting credit upon both the Dep . P . G . M . and his respected chief .

Bro . Earl Egerton of Tatton has , indeed , done good service to Cheshire Masonry ever since his Royal Highness , the M . W . G . Master appointed him in November , 1 S 86 , to succeed the late Bro . de Tabley as G . Master of the Province . Under his auspices some eight or 10

new lodges have been added to the Provincial roll , while a new Provincial Charitable Institution has been established for granting annuities to aged poor brethren and their widows . Moreover , the Province has on more than one occasion taken a prominent part in

aid of the Festivals ot our Central Institutions , Lord Egerton himself having presided as Chairman at the Boys' Festival in 1 S 95 . The Mark Degree , of which he is a Past G . Master , is also greatly indebted to his lordship for his invaluable aid , and other branches of our Masonic system have also been supported and

encouraged . Then , the address with which he was presented some 10 days since , reflects the feelings ol respect and affection in which he is held by his Province , and is as honourable to those who presented it as to the distinguished brother who received it . May his lordship long be spared to preside over the destinies of the Craft in the County Palatine of Cheshire

* * * The meeting at the Grand Hotel , Eastbourne , on Tuesday , the 5 th instant , when the Royal Connaught Lodge , No . 2676 , was consecrated by Bro . the Right Hon . Sir W . T . Marriott , Q . C ., P . G . D ., D . l' . G . M . of

Sussex , was a great success , the one subject of regret being that the Duke of Connaught , Prov . G . M ., was unable to perform the ceremony in person , his Royal Highness , who had given the lodge permission to bear his name , having written to say that his military duties prevented his attendance . However , save in

this respect , the proceedings passed off most satisfactorily , and " Royal Connaught , " No . 26 7 6 , has our heartiest good wishes for a long and prosperous career . We have received a full report of the meeting , but too late for insertion in this issue , and accordingly it is held over till next week .

Freemasonry has lost a strong supporter in Bro . C . F . Hogard , Past Grand Standard Bearer of England , who died very suddenly on Monday , the 4 th instant . Latterly , it is true , Bro . Hogard , had been prevented by ill-health and other causes from taking a very active

part in our proceedings , but till within a few years he was a most zealous member of our Order , nor was there any branch of Masonry in which at some time or other he did not win distinction . He had conferred upon him by his Royal Highness , the M . W . G . Master ,

the brevet rank of Past Grand Standard Bearer in connection with the celebration of the Queen's Jubilee in 1 S 87 , and shortly afterwards was appointed Deputy G . D . of C . in Supreme Grand Chapter . He was also a Past Grand Standard Bearer in the Mark ; Past G .

Recorder ot Rome and the Red Cross of Constantino , and a member of the Allied Degrees and Royal and Select Masters . He was also a staunch supporter of our Institutions , and , speaking generally , had

devoted both time and means in order to promote their success . We tender our sympathy to the members of his family and his numerous friends , both within and outside Masonry , on the loss they are now , unhappily , deploring .

Masonic Notes.

The Times' Ottawa correspondent on October 5 th telegraphed " Much feeling has been aroused in Masonic circles in Montreal by the invasion of the territory of the Grand Lodge of Quebec by the Grand Orient of France , which has chartered a lodge in Montreal . The members of the new lodge are nearly all

old-country Frenchmen , Italians , and Syrians . The Grand Lodge of Quebec will respect the edict issued a few years ago by the Prince of Wales " - — " or rather as it should be , the resolution of Grand LuJge unanimously arrived at on March Gth , 1 S 7 S—and refuse to recognise the French lodge . '

* * * It appears from a review in the Voice of Masonry of the proceedings at the 33 rd annua ! meeting of the Grand Lodge of Nevada , in June last , that the Grand . Master attended two public installations of lodge officers , at which there was a large attendance of

persons who were not Masons , and that the . Masonic ceremonies were followed by those of the Eastern Star , the Grand Master going so far as to compliment " one of the lady installing officers as ' certainly a success . ' " It is evident that very little is known about Freemasonry in the jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge , or

the Grand Master would not go the length oi sanctioning by his presence , or in any other way , what is directly in opposition to the law and custom of the Craft . In Freemasonry proper , as it has been handed down to us from the past and as it is practised in jurisdictions which know something about it , there

is no such thing as publicity in connection with any of our ceremonies , either in conferring Degrees or installing officers . What is done is done in a properly tyled lodge , nor , indeed , can anything be done until it has been satisfactorily proved that the lodge is so tyled . Can nothing be done by the older Grand Lodges of the United States , such as those of New

York , Pennsylvania , Massachusetts , and others that might be mentioned , to put down these flagrant violations of Masonic law and custom ? We fully realise that one Grand Lodge cannot sit in judgment upon another , but it can denounce the conduct of , and refuse to hold intercburse with , one which sets all law and usage at defiance .

Tt must be borne in mind that this Grand Lodge of Nevada , which , happily , musters only 20 lodges , and some S 30 subscribing members , claims to be the peer of all the other Grand Lodges , and that the laws it enacts and the decisions it approves may some day be taken as guides or precedents for future generations to

follow . Wc are aware that Nevada does not stand alone in its contempt for the sacred past of Free ' masonry , and that other American Grand Lodges sanction and approve of these public installations , but this only furnishes a still stronger justification for the older Grand Lodges wc have referred to taking upon themselves to condemn these and other malpractices .

» » * Again , as regards the association of Eastern Star with Masonic ceremonies , this Grand Master of Nevada is said to have remarked that the ritual of the former " is very similar to our own , and to an outsider it would appear that in a few years more , with their advanced

ideas of Masonry , we will be able , no doubt , to read the installation services from the same Monitor . " Let the reader understand that this Order of the Eastern Star—of which as an Order we have not a word to say in condemnation , but only of its association with Masonry—is composed chiefly of women , and let him further note that in the passage wc have quoted

this Grand Master openly approves of printed rituals . But what is the good of condemning the Gran Dieta of Mexico on the ground that some while since it sanctioned the initiation of women into Masonry and the establishment of lodges for women , when this association of the Eastern Star with Masonry is openly allowed and encouraged ?

* The Sovereign Great Priory of the Order of the Temple in Canada , held their annual assembly in the City of Montreal , on the 19 th August . The Supreme G . Master , Sir Knight W . H . Whyte , presided , and according to the Canadian Craftsman , the attendance

was good and gave " evidence of the progress made by the Order in Canada in recent years . " The Supreme G . Master delivered the customary address in which he reviewed the events of the past year and especially congratulated Great Priory on the progress made during that period , the increase in the number of

members after allowing for deaths , removals , % c ., S : c ., being 230 . He also paid a just tribute of respect to the late Sir Knight Daniel Spry , whose funeral he attended , and to whose great services as a member of the Templar Order , he referred in the most eulogistic terms . During the meeting , Great Priory was visited by two

American Commanderics , to which a most hearty welcome was accorded . In the evening the Richard Cctur de Lion Prcceptory gave an " At Home" to the Great Priory , which proved a very brilliant affair , while , on the following day , the Mayor of Montreal welcomed

the Sir Knights , who subsequently paraded and witnessed an imposing review of the Fire Brigade . Sir Knight Whyte is succeeded as E . G . Master by Sir Knight D . F . MacWatt , while the office of Grand Chancellor rendered vacant by the death of Sir Knight Spry , is now filled by Sir Knight Whyte ,