Contents.

CONTENTS .

L BAOERS— PAGP . The Order of the Temple in the United States ... ... ... 73 Freemasonry in Hungary ... ... ... ... ... 73 Grand Lodge of Scotland ... ... ... ... ... 74 East Lancashire Systematic Masonic Educational and Benevolent Institution ... 75 Annual Ball of the Lodge of Industry , No . 1 S 6 ... ... ... 75

Annual Ladies' Night of the Skelmersdale Lodge , No . 165 S ... ... 75 Annual Ball of the Camden Lodge , No . 704 ... ... „ . ... 75 Seventeenth Annual Banquet of the Logic Club ... ... ... 75 First Ladies' Night of the Lodge of Prosperity , No . 65 ... ... ... 7 6 Presentation to Bro . Milton Smith , Past Secretary of the Bishopsgate Lodge , No . 239 6 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 7 6 Craft Masonry ... ' ... ... ... .,. ... 7 6 MASONIC

NOTESCentenary Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys ... ... 79 Annual Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... ... 79 Provincial Grand Lodge of Durham ... ... ... ... 79 Provincial Grand Chapter of Durham ... ... ... ... 79 Bro . Klein ' s Demonstration ... ... ... ... ... 79 Correspondence ... ... .,. ... ... ... So Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... ... 80

Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ,,. 80 Royal Arch ... ... .,. ... ... ... ... 82 Knights Templar .,. ... ... . „ ... ... 83 The Craft Abroad ... ... .,. ... ... ,,, 83 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 83 Lodges and Chapter of Instruction .,. .,. .,. .,. ... 83 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 84

The Order Of The Temple In The United States.

THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE IN THE UNITED STATES .

In the United Kingdom the Masonic Order of Knights Templar , though it includes in its ranks a considerable number of the most distinguished Masons of our time , is by no means numerically strong . In all probability the members holding under the Great Priories of Ens-land and Ireland and the

Chapter General of Scotland do not , in the aggregate , greatly exceed 3000 ; the meetings of the preceptories , as far as we are in a position to judge from the paucity of tV . e reports which are sent to us for publication , are infrequent and the attendance

limited , and it is only when the Supreme Bodies hold their annual or semi-annual meetings that we obtain anything like a fair insight into the proceedings of the Organisation . In the United States matters are on a far different footing . There

is , to begin with , a Grand Encampment which presides over the Order throughout the whole country , and meets trienially . Under this are some 40 Grand Commanderies , one in each of those States and Territories in which the Knight Templar body

has established for itself a home of suihcient strength to require some such superior authority , while the knights enrolled in ihe private commanderies which are thus regulated and directed

considerabl y exceed 100 , 000 . Those who desire to learn how this immense force is distributed throughout the States and Territories of the Union will do well to consult the Tables

annuall y compiled by the eminent Masonic statistician to whom we are all so greatly indebted for our familiarity with the statistics of Masonry and ils branches in America . But those lables will only enlighten them numerically , and if they

desire further information as to the origin and development of the Order of the Temple , we cannot do better than refer them to an article entitled the " Evolution and Growth of American Templary , " which appeared in the pages of the f

reemason ' s Repository for December , 1897 , and which was read h y Sir Knight GEORGE H . BuRNHAM , Past Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island , it a meeting of the " Massachusetts Union of Knight Templar

Commanders" at the Parker House , Boston , on the iSth November last . From this it appears that the earliest known instance in the United States of the conferring of the Templar Degree is contained in the records of the " Royal Arch Lodge ,

The Order Of The Temple In The United States.

which was set up by the side of the old Lodge of St . Andrew , and worked by virtue of the charter of that Lodge , which was loaned to the Royal Arch brethren for the purpose , until the adoption of the present , or American , system of Royal Arch

Masonry , about 1793- The actual date is the 28 th August , 1769 , and Sir Knight BURNHAM remarks , on the authority of "that eminent Masonic historian , Bro . JAMES HUGHAN , of England , " that " it is the oldest record in the world of the conferring of

the Order of Knights Templar under Masonic auspices . " From that date forward until 1802 , the Degree was , as Sir Knight BURNHAM suggests , no doubt conferred many times at occasional encampments opened under the authority of Lodge charters ,

issued by competent Masonic power . The diplomas or certicates that have been handed down , and furnish evidence of the Degree having been worked , all bear date , we are told , " from 17 ^ 0 or thereabouts , to 1 796 , " and purport to have been issued b y

Encampments , one such certificate of the year 1 793 being in the possession of the St . John's Commandery , though no evidence has thus far been obtained as to the existence of the body which granted it , or of the identity of the officers whose names appear

thereon . It belonged to one of the knights which opened the aforesaid St . John ' s Encampment or , as it is now called , commandery , who had been a Mason in 178 7 , and whom it recommends as having been " Knighted at the General Assembly

held on the field at Concordia , to the kindly consideration of all Knights Templar throughout the world . However , in 1802 , the owner of this certificate , with five other knights , founded thc St . John ' s Encampment , or Commandery—now No . 1 on the

roll of the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island . In 1805 this encampment , in conjunction with others which had previously constituted themselves by inherent right , took steps for the formation of a Grand Encampment of

Massachusetts and Rhode Island , and in 1816 the Grand Encampment of the United States was founded by four delegates from the Grand Commanderies of Massachusetts and Rhode Island , and New York . The progress of the Order at first was slow , the

three encampments under the former Commandery having been augmented to five in the first 20 years , and to no more than six in the next 20 years . However , by the end of 1865 the number had been increased to 22 , and by 1885 , to 40 , there being at the

present time 46 commanderies under the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island , with an aggregate subscribing membership of 12 , 3 13 . In other jurisdictions almost equally marvellous progress has been made , ano * at the present

time the Grand Encampment of the United States is the supreme authority of the Order , having , as has been said , as constituent members no less than 40 Grand Commanderies , while the subscribing Sir Knights throughout the Union muster in all 106 , 552 . Such progress is , to say the least , astounding .

Freemasonry In Hungary.

FREEMASONRY IN HUNGARY .

The Grand Lodge of England is in friendly communication with the Grand Lodge of Hungary , and , as will be seen from the Grand Lodge Calendar , our esteemed Grand Registrar is the representative of the latter at our Grand Lodge , while Bro .

GEORGE VON J . NNOVICS , M . W . G . M ., represents England at the Grand Lodge over which he presides . This was founded as recently as the year 1886 , and has some 40 lodges on its roll , about one half of which work in the German language , and the rest in the Hungarian , thc number of subscribing members