Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

mitteehad lost three of its members by death , viz .: Bros . W . Hale , J . R . Gallant , and A . J . Duff Filer , whereupon the Secretary was instructed to send letters of condolence on behalf of the Committee to their families for the bereavement they had sustained .

An application from the widow of the male annuitant whose death is above referred to for a grant of a moiety of her deceased husband ' s annuity svas considered , and being found strictly in conformity svith the rules , the grant was agreed to . A draft of the annual report svas submitted and approved .

The SECRETARY read a statement of the attendance of the members of the Committee during the past year , to be submitted to Grand Lodge , and it appearing that three members svere disqualified , three others svere nominated for election in their stead .

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .

The General Committee of this Institution met last Saturday at Freemasons' Hall , Bro . W . Roebuck in the chair . There svere also present—Bros . John L . Mather , C . H . Webb , Thomas Cubitt , Raynham W . Stewart , Edgar Bowyer , F . W . Ramsay , Don . M . Dewar , W . Maple , Rev . R . Morris , D . D . ( Head Master ) , Joyce Murray , E . Johnson , C . E . Soppet , Joseph Clever , John J . Berry , Leopold Ruf , A . H . Tattershall , A . Williams , R . Berridge , E . Baxter , G . E . Gillard , G . P . Festa , F . Adlard , VV . Paas , H . Venn , Herbert Dicketts , James Moon , H .-S . Goodall , J . M . Stedsvell , George Motion , G . Skeggs , A . F . Godson , W . H . Saunders , F . Binckes ( Secretary ) , and H . Massey ( Freemason ) .

After the reading and confirmation of the minutes of the former meeting , and after the reading of the minutes of the House and Audit Committees , and of the special House Committee , the Chairman was authorised to sign cheques in payment of accounts . The SECRETARY reported that £ 2067 ios . had been invested .

Eight petitions svere read and approved , and the candidates named therein svere ordered to be placed on the list for the October election . Four grants ss'ere made to former pupils of the Institution . The follosving brethren svere nominated by Bro . C . F . Matier to serve on the House Committee for the ensuing year : Bros . R . W . Stesvart , J . L . Mather , Edgar Bosvyer , W . Ramsay , D . Sanders , Joyce Murray , W . Roebuck , H . W . Hunt , W . Paas , James Moon , Dudley Rolls , and A . F . Godson .

The follosving brethren svere nominated by Bro . R . W . Stewart to serve on the Audit and Finance Committee for the next year : Bros . W . Mann , C . F . Matier , T . Cubitt , H . S . Goodall , C . F . Hogard , C . F . Soppet , H . Venn , W . Maple , and R . Berridge ; and there being no other nominations an election svill not be necessary . The Committee then adjourned .

Fire At Freemasons' Hall.

FIRE AT FREEMASONS' HALL .

The following appeared in our Second Edition of last week . Freemasons throughout the svorld will learn with the deepest regret , that shortly before midnight on Thursday , the 3 rd instant , that portion of Freemasons' Hall , svhich is kr . osvn as ' * The Temple" svas totally destroyed by fire . An inspection of the premises the follosving morning shosved how completely the flames had done their svork . Of the valuable pictures of Past-Grand

Masters of the Society , of the valuable fittings and furniture , nothing but the charred remains are to be seen , except the marble bust by the late Bro . Bailey , R . A ., of His late Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex , Grand-Master 1813-43 , and grand uncle of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , the present Most Worship ful Grand Master . This , though it has been seriously affected by the heat and smoke , there lories of

is reason to hope may be retained as a valuable relic of the past g the Old Hall erected more than a century since by the oldest section of the Masonic Craft in the whole civilised svorld . Of the interior fittings sve shall have occasion to speak at some length later on . Suffice it to say here that this portion of the building , in Great Queen-street , is utterly destroyed . The magnificently-decorated roof is gone , and the svonder is , that ,

considering the position of the Temple and the difficulty the firemen experienced in their endeavours to cope svith the flames , the rest of the premises and the adjoining Freemasons' Tavern escaped the conflagration . Considerably over half a century elapsed before the Freemasons of England bethought themselves of erecting a special building of their osvn in svhich Grand Lodge might meet and discuss questions affecting the

government of the Craft . Anterior to the year 1776 our great Masonic Diet was wont to hold its stated and emergent communications , nosv in the Hall of of one of the great City Companies , nosv in some svell-chosen and commodious tavern . Thus , as Preston relates in his " Illustrations of Masonry , " it svas at the Queen ' s Arms Tavern , St . Paul ' s Churchyard , the then headquarters of the old time-immemorial lodge of St . Paul's , now Antiquity

No . 2 on the roll of Grand Lodge , that on the 24 th June , 1 7 , Grand-Master Payne and his Grand Wardens svith the former Grand Officers and the Masters and Wardens of tsvelve lodges , met the Grand-Master elect , His Grace the Duke of Montagu , and Grand Lodge was opened in ample form . When the proceedings of the previous communication had been duly confirmed , and several gentlemen , including

Philip , Lord Stanhope , aftersvards Earl of Chesterheld , initiated Grand Lodge marched in procession in their clothing to Stationers ' Hall , svhere the duke svas formally inducted into office as Grand Master , the learned Dr . Desaguliers , a Past Grand Master , delivering an elegant oration in praise of Masonry . Other city halls and other taverns svere similarly honoured , but aboul the year 1770 measures were taken to erect a home of

its osvn for Grand Lodge . A subscription was raised for the purpose , a committee svas appointed to superintend the management of the business , and so indetatigably svas the scheme svorked that on the 27 th of April , 1774 , the said committee ' svere in a position to report to Grand Lodge that it had entered into a contract for the purchase of a plot of ground and premises , consisting of tsvo large and commodious dsvelling houses , svith large garden

attached , in Great Queen-street , the sum agreed to be paid being £ 3180 , while the expense estimated for the erection of the Hall , it svas said , svould not exceed £ 3000 . The report having met svith general approbation , Lord Petre , Grand Master , and Past Grand Masters , the Dukes of Beaufort and Chandos , Earl Ferrers , and Viscount Dudley and Ward , were appointed trustees for the Society , and the conveyance of the premises aforesaid svas made out in their names . In February of the year follosving it svas agreed

Fire At Freemasons' Hall.

to raise £ 5000 by a tontine in order to carry out as completely as possible the designs of the brethren , and in three months the svhole sum svas forthcoming . On the ist May , 1775 , the foundation-stone of the Hall svas laid by Lord Petre , Grand Master , in the presence of a large and influential gathering of the brethren , and on the 23 rd of May , 1776 , the same Noble Grand Master had the good fortune to complete the svork , svhich had been so

happily carried out under his directing influence and zeal , by opening and personally dedicating the Hall to " MASONRY , VIRTUE , and UNIVERSAL CHARITY and BENEVOLENCE , " in the presence of one of the most brilliant assemblages of the Craft that had ever been svitnessed . The building thus solemnly consecrated to the use of Freemasonry is described by Preston as being of elegant proportions and design . In len < nh

it was 92 feet , 111 breadth 45 feet , and in height over 60 feet . The roof is said to have been , in all probability , the most highly-finished piece of svorkmanship in Europe , and conferred lasting honour on the architect Bro . Richard Cox . In the centre a splendid sun svas represented , and around this svere the tsvelve signs of the Zodiac svith their respective characters . The pilasters on each side of the hall svere

fluted and othersvise beautifully decorated , the places betsveen them being occupied svith full length portraits of the follosving Grand Masters , namely , Lord Petre , Grand Master , 1772-76 ; Duke of Manchester , G . M ., 1777-81 ; H . RH . the Duke of Cumberland , G . M ., 17 S 2-90 ; his nephesv , H . R . H . George Prince of Wales , G . M ., 1790-1 S 13 , and Grand Patron till his death in 1830 ; Earl of Moira , aftersvards Marquis of Hastings , K . G ., Acting or

Pro Grand Master , 1791-1813 ; H . R . H . Duke of Sussex , G . M . 1 S 13-1 843 ; and Albert Edsvard , Prince of Wales , present Grand Master . In addition to these portraits of the Grand Masters of the Grand Lodge " Moderns , " and the present United Grand Lodge there svere those of His Grace the Dukeof Atholl , G . M . of the " Ancients " from 1775 to 1781 , and for a second time from 1791 to i 8 i 3 , and H . R . H . the Duke of Kent , Grand Master of the same Grand Lodge in succession to the Duke of Atholl , through

svhose hearty and harmonious co-operation svith his brother the Duke of Sussex , ably supported , as it svas , by the Earl of Moira , the schism in English Freemasonry , svhich had endured for some three-quarters of a century , svas brought to a conclusion and our present Grand Lodge established . Besides these pictured memorials of our most distinguished brethren there svas a magnificent bust of H . R . H . the Duke of Sussex , by the late Bro . Bailey , R . A ., svhich , as a svork of art , must be set down as the most

valuable of all . Ihis , as sve have said , has escaped destruction ; but the heat and smoke have very seriousl y marred its beaut }' , and though it svill be cherished as a relic , sve fear it svill cease to be the accurate counterfeit presentment it svas of the illustrious Prince and Mason , svhose virtues it svas designed to commemorate .

Of the many splendid scenes that have been svitnessed svithin its svalls we have no lime or space to give more than a fesv brief particulars . It svas here that at the Grand Festival , held on the 2 nd May , 1792 , His Royal Highness George Prince of Wales svas installed Grand Master in the presence of his brother , the Duke of York , the Earl of Moira , svhom he appointed acting Grand Master , and over 500 of the leading members of

the Craft . Here—on the 13 th of May , 1795—His Royal Highness again presided as Grand Master , and svas accompanied by the Duke of Clarence , aftersvards William IV ., and Grand Patron , 1 S 30-37 . Here , at a meeting of Grand Lodge , on the 3 rd of June , 1800 , the Earl of Moira Acting Grand Master , delivered an admirable speech in svhich he svarmly vindicated the Society from attacks svhich had then recently been made upon it

by the Abbe Barruel and Professor Robison , and here it svas at the same meeting that an address svas unanimously voted to George III ., svhose life had been attempted the preceding 15 th May , at Drury Lane Theatre , congratulating his Majesty on his happy escape under Providence from the bullet of the assassin . But the most memorable events associated svith the late Hall belong to the year 1 S 13 . On the 27 th January a most

magnificent dinner svas given in honour of the Earl ot Moira , then under orders to proceed to India as Governor-General of that portion of the British Empire . The Duke of Sussex , D . G . Master , presided , and svas supported by the Dukes of York , Clarence , Kent , Cumberland , and Gloucester and fully 500 other brethren . In the course of the evening the illustrious Chairman invested his lordship svith a magnificent jesvel svhich had been

purchased by the voluntary contributions of the Fraternity to mark their sense of the splendid services the noble Earl had rendered to Freemasonry during his long tenure of the office of Acting Grand Master . And as this year was thus brilliantly inaugurated , so svas it brought to a still more brilliant conclusion by the ever-mernorable Act of Union of the 27 th December , an event svhich has been so olten described , that the mere allusion to it nosv

svill be sufficient . The last scene of all svhich deserves mention svas ihe Special Communication held on the 15 th March ot last year , svhen Grand Lodge voted an address to the Queen , congratulating Her Majesty on the providential escape from the attempt made on her life al Windsor a short time previously . On this occasion His Royal Highness , the Grand Master , presided , and his Brothers , the Dukes of Connaught and Albany , Past Grand Wardens , took part in the proceedings .

It should be added that the regalia of Grand Lodge have escaped destruction as svell as the throne used on the special occasions when the Prince of Wales presides . As to the origin of the lire , there appears to be little reason to doubt that it svas osving to a huge beam svhich ran athsvart a Hue communicating svith the kitchen of the Tavern , becoming ignited . It is due to Bro . H . Sadler , G . Tyler , svho resides on the premises , to say that but for his early discovery of the fire the svhole of the buildings svould in all probability have been destroyed .

KETTE , GESELLSCHAI-T DER . — Society of the Chain ( also called Ordeti der Kette der Pilgrime , Order of the Chain of the PilgrimsJ . Was an androgyne order founded at Hamburg in 175 S , and is said to have also existed iu Jena and Helmstadt . It is said to have still existed at Copenhagen in this century , and to have established and to maintain the Institute lor the Blind . It seems to have been composed of persons of high social position . Three letters—W , B , S—svere used by the members in their letters as signs

of recognition , and svere intended to represent Willfahrigkeit , Besuindigkeit , and Stillschsveigen—Complaisance , Constancy , and Silence . The jesvel svas a chain of three links svith the three letters above , svorn attached to a svhite ribbon at the top button-hole of the waistcoat . The members svere called Knights of the Chain , Ritter von der Kette ; their meeting svas called " Union , " and the assembled members ' * Favoriten . " They took all their teaching from the habits and usages of pilgrims . It svas not apparentl y Masonic . —Kenning ' s Cyclopiedia of Freemasonry .