Contents.

CONTENTS .

L EADERS ¦ ••¦••¦ MS United Grand Lodge of England 146 rmisecration of the Earl of Leicester Lodge , No . 2337 . at Wells , No-folk , 47 mnsecration of the F . R . Sewell Lodge of Roval Ark Mariners , No . 213 148 _ . / -:- Mo . l ^ ilc Tj 8

Presentation to Bro . Sir Hedworth and I kdy Williamson 149 West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution .... " 49 The Leeds Masonic Educational and Benevolent Institution 149

COSRSSPONDh . -v- - * ' — Onr Masonic Charities—A Suggestion ... 151 The BenevolentFestiv . il 151 The Rulings of the Grand Registrar i « 2 Who is the Oldest Freemason ? 1 J 2 Reviews ii 2 Notes and Queries 152

REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry ij 3 Instruction 15 *; Royal Arch ,.., 15 S Instruction ¦ 156 Mark Masonry ijfi Knights Templar 157

Ancient and Accepted Rite 157 Red Cross of Rome and Constantine 137 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys 157 The Boys * School Football Club 157 The Savage Club Lodge , No . 2190 , and the Royal Silver Wedding 157 Royal Masonic Institution for Girls 15 S

The Recent Royal Masonic Benevolent Festival ij 8 Annual Ball of the Chiswick Lodge , No . 3012 1 J 8 Theatres 158 Obituary 1 J 8 Masonic and General Tidings ijg Lodge Meetings for Next Week 160

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THERE was a large attendance ot brethren at the meeting of 1 Jll * Grand Lodge on Wednesday , but though , as we anticipated last week , there was a certain amount of excitement over the election of a Grand Treasurer for next year , there was nothing passed that

calls for any lengthened remarks . The resolution of sympathy with the Crown Prince of Germany in his present severe illness vvas moved and seconded by Bro . the Earl of Lathom , D . G . M ., who presided as Grand Master , and Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., Prov . G . Master of Hants and the Isle of Wight , respectively , in speeches which left nothing to be desired ,

and it is hardly necessary we should add that it was agreed to unanimously . The Prince of Wales was re-elected G . Master , and of the two condidates . for the G . Treasurership—Bros . S . B . Wilson , P . M . 59 , and A . Barfield , P . M . 511—it will be seen from our report elsewhere that the latter was preferred by a large majority of votes . What lent additional interest to the meeting was the fact that the gift of G . Lodge , which is to be presented

to the Princess of Wales in commemoration of her Silver Wedding with his Royal Highness the Grand Master , was on view , and all who saw it were agreed that it was a worthy present to so gracious a lady from so ancient and honourable a body of men as the Freemasons of England . And we

doubt not it will be valued the more highl y by the Princess as she knows it is intended only as the outward and visible sign of the love and respect they entertain towards her and her husband , in common with the rest of their fellow countrymen . * * * .

The House and WE do not see how , under the circumstances , the General naftt eef of ° Committee of the Boys' School could have arrived at any Boys' School , other decision , at its meeting on Saturday last , than to reject the resolution for a further inquiry into the case ot the boy MOTION . As

the proceedings which then took place are recorded elsewhere , it is not necessary we should do more than refer to them , casually as it were , in the remarks we purpose making here . We will point out , however , in the first place that the resolution , as it was worded , prejudged the very matter

at issue between the boy and his friends of the one part and the House Committee of the other part . It declared , clearly and unequivocally , that a "wrong" had been "done" to the boy MOTION , while it was contended on behalf of the House Committee that he had been treated with

justice and in accordance with the laws of the Institution . Thus the General Committee , unless it was prepared to condemn the House Committee without hearing its defence , had no alternative but to reject the motion , and this it did by a very substantial majority . In our opinion , owever , there is another and still stronger reason , which , so far as we iow

" , was not referred to at the meeting , why the General Committee should e commended for its rejection of this motion . By the laws of the Institu'on the House Committee are entrusted with the performance of certain u les , and in the case of the particular duty they performed in their treat-. ? " ° the b oy MOTION , it is distinctly laid down in the law relating to it ,

"icy shall do it " at discretion . " This law provides that the House (( ° mmittee shall " make inquiries respecting " the " conduct " of the boys , secTh feward ' admonisb , or punish them at discretion , " and it is difficult to can ° , * 3 ny person * who is not blinded by anger to the dictates of reason , misinterpret its meaning . The case of the boy MOTION came before the

circ mmittee in the ordinary course of duty ; they inquired into all the to a . nceS ) anc ^> in the exercise of their "discretion , " they sentenced him CoiT- * * pun . isllment * Therefore , there is here no question of the House thai -u lttee having exceeded their duty , while it is monstrous to suggest

To co . of the boy MOTION had been otherwise unjustly dealt with . may 0 utsider , who is a near relative of the boy , the punishment inflicted ' Poss ^ h | t 0 be ° ° * P orlion t 0 the offence committed ; but it is stanr „ 6 , . such an outsider can be acquainted with all the

circumreason h * W 6 re brought to the notice ot the Committee , or with the the boy t 1 C ^ . ledthem « in the legal exercise of their" discretion , " to sentence Were so ° •particular kind . or ' degree of punishment ; and , even if he acquainted , the chances are millions to one that , as a near relative

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of the defendant boy , he would not exercise an unbiassed judgment . Moreover , in this particular case , at the instance of the boy ' s friends , a second inquiry was instituted and conducted by the House Committee , without the evidence adduced at the first being shaken in any point—material or immaterial . It cannot be said , therefore , that the facts have not been

thoroughly investigated , nor do we think any one , after what we have said , will venture to assert that the case has not been adjudicated upon with the strictest impartiality . For these reasons it appears to us it was the duty of the General Committee to withhold its assent from any proposal for a further inquiry . But there is yet another reason in favour of this

view which must not be lost sight of . In all that relates to the inner management of the School at Wood Green , the House Committee is the legally appointed representative or agent of the General Committee . Its duties are clearly marked out , and it is allowed the exercise of its " discretion" in the performancee of those duties . If it exceeds or fails in

that performance , it lays itself open to the censure of the General Committee of which it is the agent ; but if it performs its duties in the manner and to the extent prescribed by the law , the General Committee would itself become censurable , if it repudiated responsibilty for the acts of its House Committee . Now , as we have shown already , the course

adopted by the House Committee in the case of the boy MOTION was strictly in accordance with the prescriptions of the law , and , therefore , if the said Committee insists on carrying out its course to the end , it is impossible for the General Committee , without abusing its powers , to override or repudiate the decision of its legally appointed agent . If it considers the decision

harsh and that the punishment meted out tothe boy is disproportionate to the offence he committed , it may say to itself— -This agent of ours , this House Committee is getting us into disgrace , by the extreme severity with which it performs the duties which the laws have entrusted to it , and therefore when the time comes for us to renew the appointment of the House

Committee , we will elect other brethren to serve on it in place of its present elective members . But the General Committee , so far from considering its agent has acted in this matter with any undue severity , is firmly persuaded it has , to use an expression which was employed by one of the speakers on Saturday last , " tempered justice with mercy . " Here then the matter rests

and is likely to rest . Whether the friends of the boy MOTION will make any attempt to force the resignation of the House Committee remains to be seen . We trust they will not ; but , should they act so unwisely , we hope all friends of the Boys' Institution , who know that a school of 260 boys cannot be properly conducted unless strict discipline is maintained , will continue their support of the General and House . Committees ,

* * * WE publish elsewhere the result of the Cambridge Local S l f Succe s Examination held in December , 1887 , so far as it affects the pupils of the Boys' School who offered themselves as

candidates , and we doubt not our readers will be highly gratified vvith a success which is so creditable in all respects , both to the educational staff of t > he Institution and the boys themselves ; especially as it has been achieved under signal disadvantages , scarlet fever having broken out in the School last half and seriously interfered with the regular course of study .

In spite of this , however , two boys obtained second class and six boys third class honours , while four passed . The name of a 13 th boy was also given in , but illness necessitated his withdrawal , so that virtually the whole of our candidates from Wood Green were successful , and two-thirds of them were awarded honours . We warmly congratulate Bro . DR . MORRIS , the

headmaster , the governing powers , and the boys on the result . We are aware that it is only the latest of a long series of similar successes , but it comes the more opportunely and will therefore be the better appreciated just at the present time , when a determined and most discreditable attack is being made on the authorities of the Institution .

* * * TI N * ' s salisfectory to learn that , notwithstanding the lethargic Lodge condition in which , according to an excerpt we quoted from a m Norfolk . contemporary last week , our Norfolk brethren are sunk , a new lodge—the Earl of Leicester , No . 2237 , at Wells—was consecrated oh

Monday , and that there is every reason for its having before it a long and useful career . We are perfectly aware that Norfolk is an agricultural county , and that the recent hardness of the times has been felt more severely than in manufacturing districts . But we are also well aware that our illustrious GRAND MASTER has been one of its magnates for about a

quarter of a century , and likewise that at a very early period in the history of Modern Freemasonry Norfolk vvas one of our strongholds . We hear of there having been a lodge in Norwich as early as 1724 , and another in King ' s Lynn in 1729 . It was also ; at an occasional lodge at Houghton Hall , the seat of Sir ROBERT WALPOLE , in 1731 , that FRANCIS of LORRAINE had the Third Degree conferred upon him , while some years later—in 1759