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^ fe ^^^^ g SATURDAY , DECEMBER 12 , 18 9 6 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

We acknowledge , with thanks , receipt of copy of the " Transactions of thc Provincial Grand Lodge and Provincial Grand Chapter of Durham " for the current year , to which we shall take an opportunity of referring at greater length at no very distant date . In the meantime we may state that , both in Craft and Royal Arch

Masonry , the Province appears to have fared most prosperously . Under the former there are 36 lodges , with an average membership of 77 per lodge , while the private chapters are 12 in number , with a "paying " membership of 405 , and a " subscribing " membership of 445 , the average in the former case being 33 . 75 per lodge , and in the latter a fraction over 37 per chapter . But the most notable proceeding has , un-

Masonic Notes.

questionably , been the establishment of a Provincial Benevolent Fund for providing annuities of £ 26 per annum ( or aged brethren and . £ 20 per annum for the widows of brethren . The Province is to be heartily congratulated on the institution of this Fund .

* * - * . We ' xi of the sam ? opinion as Bi 0 . W . F . Lamonby who , in the letter of his which will be found in our correspondence columns , considers that Bro . T . B . Whytehead has been overhasty in concluding that our

Grand Lodge has already accorded recognition to the Grand Lodge of New Zealand . Recognition will doubtless come at an early date , but as Bro . Lamonby points out , all that Grand Lodge has done up to the present time has been to acquiesce in the proposal of

the M . W . G . Master to leave it to his Royal Highness to take such steps towards bringing about the restoration of kindly feeling among the brethren of the different Constitutions existing in the Colony as hc may think necessary or expedient , with a due regard to the dignity of Grand Lodge and the interests of those

lodges which may still desire to remain in allegiance to it . Thus what Grand Lodge has done at the instance of his Royal Highness may be looked upon—at least we hope it may be looked upon—as the beginning of the end of the unhappy discord which for the greater part of the last six or seven years has divided New Zealand Masonry against itself .

By the way , we are not inclined to attach any great importance , as " Lex Scripta" apparently does in his lefler in our issue of the 28 th ult ., to the grant ol a warrant for the constitution of a " District Grand Stewards' Lodge of Canterbury , Christchurch , New

Zealand . " We take it that this lodge will be organised and conducted pretty much on the same lines as our Grand Stewards' Lodge , which heads the English Register of Lodges without a number ; that its membership will be restricted to Present and Past Stewards

of the District Grand Lodge of Canterbury ; and that it will not initiate , pass , and raise candidates as is done in ordinary private lodges . Thus if our surmise is correct , the new lodge will in no way contribute towards extending the area of English Masonic influence to the

detriment of thc New Zealand Constitution . It appears to us to be in the nature of a step in the direction of what the English brethren in the Canterbury District consider a more complete organisation within itself ol their District Grand Lodge and its roll of private lodges .

* * * One thing it clearly demonstrates , namely , that the Grand Lodge of England has not yet recognised the Grand Lodge of New Zealand , or rather had not done so at the time when the Grand Master was pleased to

grant his warrant for the constitution of this lodge . In fact , we believe we are correct in saying that the lodge was sanctioned provisionally by the District G . Master before the Special Communication of Grand Lodge on the 29 th July .

* * Wc sympathise most cordially with thc remarks of our correspondent " _\ " on thc speeches that follow , regularly as thc lodge meets , our observance of the "fourth degree , " constituting as they do , as he

suggests , a kind of " Self-laudatory " or " Mutual Admiration " degree . Doubtless , as a Mason of considerable experience , hc has listened to many suah speeches , but where he has listened to hundreds , we

have read thousands , and we hardly know which is the more trying ordeal , to listen to or to read them . There is , perhaps , this advantage which thc reader has over the listener , he can go to sleep over them without exposing himself to the charge of rudeness .

In thc old convivial days when a man dined out and on waking the next morning had a slight headache or dyspepsia , he invariably ascribed it to the salmon or the sauce . If the religious observance of this " selflaudatory " degree is continued much longer , it will

become the custom to ascribe the morning's headache or dyspepsia following upon an evening ' s symposium , not to the wine , or the salmon , or the sauce , but to " the speeches . " Fortunately the custom is growing apace in Masonic lodges of cutting short thc speeches and lengthening the intervals for music and conversation .

* * » It is by no means a new feature in connection with our Girls' School that its pupils should achieve success in music , but we cannot call to mind that on any previous occasion we have made announcement of so many of them having been entered for a public examination in music , and all acquitting themselves

Masonic Notes.

successfully . At the recent Examination in Practical Music of the Associated Board of the Royal Academy and Royal College of Music 11 girls were entered , namely , five for the Senior and six for the Junior ; all of them passedand one with honours in each examination . Wc congratulate thc School , and more especially its able instructress in music on a result so gratifying .

Bro . Hugh E . Diamond , in his comparison , at the recent annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Derbyshire , of the present strength of thc Boys ' School , with what it was 25 years ago , was somewhat inaccurate in his figures . In 1 S 71 the number of boys

on the establishment was considerably in excess of 100—we believe the number was 115—not 8 3 , as stated by him , while , at the present time , there arc not 250 , but 280 boys at Wood Green . The inaccuracy does not in any way detract from the force of Bro .

Diamond s statement , that in the period in question , the School has increased enormously , but it is just as well that a brother who is taking a prominent part in the vexed question of the day should be as nearly as possible correct in his statements .

We publish elsewhere a letter from a correspondent who signs himself as " C . " and utterly condemns the scheme for the removal of the Boys' School . We do not quarrel with him for this expression of opinions , which are entitled to as much respect as if we agreed

with him , more particularly as , unlike most of those who are protesting against the removal , he condesends to adopt arguments in support of his contention . What we do object to is the resolution at which he has arrived , not to support the Institution , because the

policy which the ruling powers of the Institution have adopted does not meet with his approval . There is no doubt the Board of Management has the sympathy and support of a very large majority of those interested in the School , and the more thc subject of thc removal

is discussed thc more apparent does it become that that majority is steadily increasing . Thus he exposes himself to the charge of discontinuing his support because he and those who think with him cannot have their own wav .

* * We are requested to state that , in contemplation of the departure of Bro . Will E . Chapman for South Africa on the 26 th instant , the Empress Lodge , the Eccentric Lodge , the Savage Club Lodge , and other

lodges with which he is connected , will entertain him at a Masonic dinner on thc iSth instant , and , as many brethren of other lodges may wish to join in the compliment to be paid to Bro . Chapman , the scope of the

entertainment has been widened , so as not to confine it to members of the lodges named . All information can be obtained from thc Hon . Secretaries of the movement—Bro . J . D . Langton , New Inn , Strand , W . C , and Bro . Clark , 3 , St . Peter ' s Alley , Cornhill , E . C .

* * * We beg to announce that H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , M . W . Grand Master , will lay , with Masonic ceremonial , the first stone of a new public building at Longton , in thc Province of Staffordshire , on Thursday , the 7 th January , 1 S 97 .

* * The Grand Secretary has received a communication from the Secretary of the Royai National Lifeboat Insiitution , informing him that thc lifeboat Alexandra , stationed at Hope Cave , Devonshire , one of the two lifeboats presented by the Freemasons of England to

the Institution in 1 S 77 ' commemoration of the safe return from India of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , rendered good service on the 1 st instant . The boat brought safely ashore the crtw , consisting of 43 men , from the steamer Blisk , of Odessa , which stranded in Bolt Tail in extremely dark and thick weather , and will probably become a total wreck .

At the half-yearly convocation of _ thc District Grand Chapter of Bengal , held al Freemasons' Hall , Calcutta , on Friday , the nth September , a letter was read from Comp . Sir H . Thoby Prinsep , announcing that hc had resigned thc office of Grand Superintendent . A resolution expressing the regret of thc Provincial Grahd Chapter at the resignation was carried by acclamation .

THE Christinas number of thc Freemason , is a bright ar . d bulky budget of short stories , and other contents with special reference to Freemasonry . —Star . THE Marchesa Vitellcschi , whose illustrations of old and modern Italian music at Queen ' s Hall last week weie so highly appreciated , is one of the most recent converts from thc ranks of the amateur to that of the professional musician . She is a sister of Lord Lamington ( the Governor of Queenslaud ) , the Dowager Lady Delawarr , and Lady Melville .