Contents.

CONTENTS .

LIMBERS j ; Koval Masonic Institution for Hoys 78 Pr 6 vinciolfir . mil Lodgeof Hampshire and the Isle of WiKht 7 s Provincial Cratuli haptcrof Hampshire ami Ihclslcot \ Vight fS Worship ful Masters—II , 7 s Tunc Immemorial Lodges 79 ConnEseoMiFX ' F . —

Apollo L'niversity Lodge So An Appe . il K ° Precedence in Lodge £ 0 A Query So Trinitarianism and Theistic Teaching ... So Theistic Principles of Freemasonry So Heegintf Masons Si Our Histnric . il Calendar Si The "Cosmo . " Si Reviews Si Masonic Notes and Queries Si

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution Sj John Hervey Memorial Fund Si Annual Hanquct of the Knars I . od . ee of Instruction , No . 1340 Sj The Great City Lod ^ c of Instruction Ka Female Freemasons Si KEI-iK-p : or . MASONIC MEEUXUSCraft Masonry Sj Instruction S ;

Koyal Arch 87 Mark Masonry S ; Ancient anil Accepted Kite SS Red Cross of Constantine 83 Koval Ark Mariners KS Scotland SS The Theatres Sg Music Sg Science and Art f ' g Masonic and ( iener . il Tidings on Lodge Meetings for Next \\ eek « i

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THE consecration and meeting of the Universal Chapter , recorded in our last , are memorable , if on no other Masonic grounds , for this one fact , the many excellent an J thoughtful speeches which are to be found in the report of the gathering and the proccdings . As a rule , all after dinner speeches arc rather a trial and a bore . " Cut it short , " is an adage very much in fashion and

favour just now , and not without good reason , not without many suliicient causes of often hard necessity . The utterers of words arc very many , — effective speakers arc very few . Nothing is so trying to men of intellect , as the wearisome , peddling , maundering speaker who has nothing to say , and docs not even know how to say that very nothing . Hut when " the fe .-. st of

reason and the flow of soul " accompany our symposia , then indeed the treat is great for the cultivated imagination and the healthy mind . We hardly ever remember reading speeches ( and actual hearers con ( inn our second-hand impression after some little experience too ) when more Attic salt was offered to an appreciative audience , when the points were better

made , the turns were more happy , and the clear and sensible words of the various speakers went more home to the " assembled selections . " How many a good speech , ( good perhaps relatively only ) , is spoiled by the speaker not seeing that he has made his point . No ; he will

boggle on , and generally winds up with two or three halting periods , several inconclusive illustrations , and , above all , a most obscure and meaningless peroration . Where all the speakers were so good it seems invidious to praise specifically . Wccan only commend their speeches and these remarks to the notice and thinking powers of our many indulgent readers .

* OUR attention is called elsewhere to a pamphlet entitled " Persecution of the Jews in Russia , " and which certainly represents a most distressing and shameful state of things . The cruelties , persecution , insults , and outrages lo which the Jews have been exposed , alike all sexes , ages , and conditions ,

almost sound as the very acts of barbarism , and if not , alas ! altogether unparalleled in the history of the world , strike us as something very dreadful in reality to bring before our minds , an everlasting reproach to the country which permits them , —a scandal lo our boasted civilization . There seems to be no possible exaggeration ; indeed , we greatly fear the stern reality of the horrors committed far exceeds the painful and humiliating narrative .

* * WE rejoice to note the continued and advancing prosperity of the Grand Lodge of Scotland . By the reports read at the last Quarterly Communication it seems that the income for the year was £ . 35 . 35 , including £ 863 of rents and £ 45 of interest ; and the expenditure , ( , ' 2253 , including interest £ 429 ;

excess of income over expenditure being £ 1282 . The funds and estate at the end of 1881 amounted to £ 'io > 3 7 > being over £ 1200 in excess of 1880 . The Masonic Fund of Benevolence now amounts to £ 5872 , and £ 482 have

been granted on charity in 1 S 81 . There have been eighteen charters granted to new lodges , and there word 3865 new entrants . Altogether the account is most satisfactory , and wc congratulate heartily all concerned in such salutary changes and such progressive ameliorations .

* * THE R . A .. compact , to which the GRAND SCRIBE adverted on Wednesday last , is historically for Royal Arch Masons a very interesting document . 1 hough the fact is not new in itself , and has long been known to students , yet we arc pleased to note that the GRAND SCRIBE mentioned the matter

officiall y to Grand Chapter , and has taken the proper means to preserve so valuable a document for inspection and reference . It is a fact , explain it as you will , that this quasi-rccognition of the Royal Arch was not officially made by Grand Lodge until 1813 , though in 1767 , as the GRAND SCRIER has pointed out , the Grand Chapter , if unofficially as far as Grand Lodge was concerned , was set up at Freemasons' Hall . The history of the Royal Arch

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is still in a certain manner somewhat obscure . 1 he old theory of OLIVER that DKRMOTT obtained it from RAMSAY , is not now accepted . DKRMOTT seems to have brought the Royal Arch from Dublin , where it may have come frcm RVMSAY , though that , too , is doubtful ; and though later the Irish Grand Lodge , despite the earliest acknowledgment of it at all by Fi FIELD D'ASSIGN Y ,

seems to have repudiated it . I he Royal Arch itself , nevertheless , seems to have come from DKRMOTT , who hailed from Dublin , in its distinct formation and its peculiar tcrminobgy . But the earliest mention of it in

the Antient Grand Lodge minutes is comparatively late . Whether "Scotch Masters , " to whom frequent allusion is made in Knglish lodge minutes from 1740-50 , had anything to do with this higher dcvelopcment must still bo left to time to demonstrate , and research to unravel .

THERE are some very interesting papers in Knowledge relating to the Great Pyramid , which wc commend to the notice of Bro . ROWIIOTTOM , the ingenious lecturer on the Great Pyramid and Masonry . The opinion of Mr . PROCTER , the able lulitor of Knowledge , is clearly that , whatever other use

the Great Pyramid was intended for , it was also astronomical , and so far he goes , or seems to go , along with the Pyramidal School . Where he differs from that School , and the difference is important , consists in this , that ho looks upon the astronomical knowledge of that day as practical and limitednot full or perfect , —and , above all , does not accept the theory that the mason

or astronomical builders of those days were enlightened beyond the age in which they lived , or were among the " Theodidaktoi . " We have always hesitated a little at one or two postulates of the Pyramidal School , wh . ch seemed to require that the knowledge of 1882 , with improved apparatus ami telescopic powers , must be identical with that of the times of AHRAIIAM .

* * OUR distinguished Bro . the LORD MAYOR ' Mayoralty will be memorable for the three great funds he is idcntilicd with . We are glad to see that the two Irish funds arc prospering , —that for property defence is now oyer , £ 17 , 000 ; that for the poor suffering ladies over £ 14 , 000 . We should be

glad to see the laller considerably increased , as the wants of many ladies are very urgent ; their real suffering and humiliation vciy saddening . Wc hope that Grand Lodge will make a lioeralgrant towards such an effort of real humanitarian benelicence . The fund for the suffering and outraged Jews

has already overpassed £ . 30 , 000 in a few days . We trust that it may still further increase . There is no doubt of its absolute need ; there is every ground , as we have sought to point out elsewhere in this issue , for its exis lence a . id application . It appeals forcibly to the humane feelings of all thinking persons .

* * THE Parliamentary Session has begun amid much of excitement and interest , and disinterested observers seem to presage a stormy gathering and protracted debates . 1 lappily , the Freemason is altogether removed from the

troubled sea of political questions and sectarian controversies , and looks philosophically on all such extraneous evidences of personal antagonism and heated combinations . Parliaments come and go , sessions pass and repass , and the world wends its way , and , as Mrs . Kendal ' s song has it , " Time moves on . "

* * THE monthly meeting of the Managing Committee of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution took place on Wednesday , when there was a food attendance . The number of candidates to be polled for and selected in May was finally declared for the two funds , and wc only regret , and regret

very much to add , that the number to be elected will be comparatively very small in respect to the number of candidates , and that the funds of the institution do not allow safely any larger number to be elected to receive the benefit of this excellent institution . Bro . Terry mentioned that the Widows ' Fund was overdrawn , and that the number of Stewards was still greatly in defect

of last year . It may be feared , we apprehend , owing to various contingencies , that with all the efforts of the Stewards there is all probability of a temporary falling off in the returns of the festival , unless indeed the intervening time is wisely used to assist the Secretary , and strengthen the hands of the Managing Committee . THERE ARE MANY BRETHREN , LODGES , AND

CHATTERS WHO HAVE YET DONE NOTHING AT ALL FOR THIS MOST NEEDFUL AND WELL-MANAGED ClIARITY OF OUR GREAT , ORDER . Let them bethink themselves and bestir themselves in the interval , and then the Managing Committee may feel themselves justified in recommending to the

Quarterly Court , in May , to extend the liberal provision of their invaluable annuities to a larger number of eager applicants for them than is now probable or possible . All who are thinking of becoming Stewards should send their names in to the Secretary , without the loss of a day .