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CONTENTS . LEADER— PAGE United Grand Lodge ... ... ... - - ' 3 ° The Lodge Room ... ... ... ... - - ' 39 Freemasonry in Faversham ... ... — — ' 4 ° United Grand Lodge ( Quarterly Communication ) ... ... M ' Ladies' Night of the Crichton Lodge , No . 1641 ... — ¦•• ' 43

MASONIC NOTESQuarterly Communication of Mark Grand Lodge ... ... ... ' 45 Annual Festival of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement ... ... H 5 West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution ... . ... •¦• > 45 Cambridge Masonic Charity Association ... ... - ' 45 Correspondence ... ... ... — — H *" Annual Festival of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement ... ... M

The Craft Abroad ... ... ... ... ... - ' 47 Knights Templar ... ... ... ... ••• ' 47 Science , Art and the Drama ... ... ... — > 4 ^ Grand Lodge ot Mark Masons ( Quarterly Communication ) ... 149 Craft Masonry ^ ... ... ... ... ... — ' 49 Instruction ... \ ... ... ... ... ... ' 5 The Recent Benevolent Festival ... ... ... ... — ' 5 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ••¦ ' 54

United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

The chief interest in the proceedings at the Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge , which was held at Freemasons' Hall on Wednesday , under the presidency of Bro . Major-General LAURIE , M . P ., Prov . G . Master of South Wales

( W . D . ) , as M . W . G . Master , centred , as a matter of course , in the message from the M . W . G . MASTER , in which his Royal Highness was pleased to recommend the formation of a " South

African Masonic Relief Fund , " under the management of the Board of General Purposes , and that a sum of money be granted thereto out of the funds of Grand Lodge . The proposal was received with acclamation , and the resolutions

embodying the several suggestions of his Royal Highness having been adopted , a sum of 1000 guineas was voted as the nucleus of the said Fund , which , as it has started under such favourable auspices , will , -we doubt not ,

receive the generous support of the Craft throughout England and in the Districts abroad which are comprised within the jurisdiction of Grand Lodge . We understand that Bro . GEO . RICHARDS , District Grand Master of the Transvaal , proposes to

incorporate his Fund , which was opened some . w ; eks since in these columns , in this new South African Fund , which will be applicable to the whole body of English Masons throughout South Africa . We offered a suggestion to this effect in our

Notes of last week , and are , therefore , ihe more gratified to find that there will be the one Fund only as recommended by the Grand Master . As regards the o . her

business that was brought under the consideration of the brethren , a full report will be found elsewhere , and , therefore , it is unnecessary to do more than slate that Bro . HARRY MA * FIELD is now Grand Treasurer-elect for the

ensuing year , and to him accordingly we extend our most heartv congratulations ; and that the proposal to recognise the Grand Lodge of Western Australia , as recently formed by the lodges under our District Grand Lodge in that Colony , was adopted

with practical unanimity , there being only a very few voices raised in opposition . Under these circumstances , we imagine it will not be long before the lodges under the Scottish arid Irish

Constitutions accept the new position , and that in the future the bulk of Freemasonry in West Australia , as in nearly all the other Australasian Colonies , will be under the jurisdiction of an in dependent Grand Lodge .

The Lodge Room.

THE LODGE ROOM .

VIII . —THE BRETHREN . [ COMMUNICATED ] It has been suggested to the writer of these notes that the most important contents of the lodge room have been unnoticed . It appeared , on inquiry , that the brethren present were referred to . Certainl y the brethren are a very important

element . A lodge room , io be entitled to the description at all , must be just , perfect , and regular ; that is to say , there must be present in it the Volume of the Sacred Law , a certain

number of officers and brethren , and a regularly obtained warrant . Without these essentials—or any of them—no Masonic business , or , in fact , any other business could be transacted .

It maybe mentioned that the word " perfect" has no special moral significance , but simply means " complete , " and is the translation of the Greek reX ^ ' et ? , and , reduced to plain English ,

it means simply that there must be a quorum . For the transaction of Masonic business a quorum comprises a Worshipful Brother in the East and Master Masons occupying the chairs in the West and South . For an initiation seven

brethren must be present , including the three named , but the 'Other four need not be Master Masons . For a passing or a raising the Master and Wardens are a quorum . Let us now refer to the landmarks , using , as on previous occasions , Mackey ' s list . Those in which the brethren are

specifically referred to are the election of the Grand Master by the brethren , the right of eery Freemason to be represented in all general meetings of the Craft and to instruct his representatives , the right of appeal to Grand Lodge , the necessity for brethren

to congregate in lodges , the amenability of Freemasons to Masonic jurisdictions whether members of lodges or not , the right of Freemasons to visit lodges other than their own , and the equality of all Freemasons .

The first three of these may be considered together , as collectively they define the direct relationship of every Freemason with the Grand Lodge . It may be prefaced that as far as the landmarks are concerned , Grand Lodge—that is the body to which every brother has the right of appeal , and the body which

elects the Grand Master—comprises the whole assemblage of Freemasons . In order to bring it into something like reasonable dimensions , it has been generally agreed upon by the Craft

that right of membership shall be limited to those brethren who have attained a certain eminence ( i . e ., have passed the chair )' , and all other brethren shall be present by proxy , every lodge sending three delegates—the Master and Wardens .

Next we have to consider the necessity of brethren being attached to lodges . The lodge is the unit of Freemasonry , and the brother who has withdrawn himself from lodge membership has no locus standi , and whilst , as shown above he can never put himself out of the pale of Masonic jurisdiction ( i . e ., he may

for cause shown be expelled ) , still he can never put forward any claim to Masonic privileges . Article 152 Book of Constitutions recognises him in a contemptuous sort of way by decreeing certain limits as to his right of visitation , and that is all the notice the Book of Constitutions takes of him , except to lay

down that after a year ' s lapse of membership he forfeits if a P . M . his right to sit and speak in Grand Lodge . Nevertheless , the great majority of applications for casual relief come from brethren whose interest in Freemasonry has long ago ceased , and who , in fact , only remember Freemasonry when there seems any prospect of getting anything out of it .

There are two classes of unattached brethren who need not be discussed at great length , the expelled and the excluded brother . The latter claims a short consideration however . The reason for a great proportion of the exclusions is inability to pay lodge dues , and we may consider the case of the brother excluded on these grounds , with that of him who has resigned