Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 207 1 Masonic Facts versus . Fictions 208 j Consecration of the Euston Lodge , No . 2283 208 Consecration of the Euston Lodge of Mark Master Masons , No . 399 208 The Masonic Brotherhood 20 ) j A Catholic Church built by Freemasons ... 209 , CJR « KSPONDENCE— j Ihe Gould Testimonial 211 i Masonic Charity Statistics 212 Reviews 212 Notes and Queries 212 R IPORTS OF MASONIC MIITINOSCraft Masonry 212 Instruction 21 J Royal Arch 215

REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS ( Continued)—Mark Masonry :.... i 21 / j Ancient and Accepted Rite 216 Knights Templar ' , 516 Annual Festival of the Grand Master ' s Lodge of Instruction for Mark Master Masons 216 Royal Masonic Institution for Bojs 317 R . iyal Masonic Benevolent Institution 317 Complimentary Dinner to Bro . Edward Terry 217 Masonic Lecture at Torquay 218 Obituary ' . 218 Devon Masonic Educational Fund 219 Masonic and General Tidings 320 Lodge Meetings for Next Week iv .

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RUMOUR , with its hundred tongues , is always , about this Gra ^ d omcer . s . ilme > busily engaged in circulating all kinds of reports as to the brethren who will be appointed to office in Grand Lodge at the approaching Grand Festival . Many , indeed the majority of these reports are valueless , and were probably never intended to do

more than flatter the self-complacency of the members to whom they relate ; but occasionally one is heard to which reason inclines us to attach a certain amount of credibility . Thus , in the present instance , but without committing ourselves to the truth of the report , we are in a position to announce that Bro . LORD GEORGE HAMILTON , M . P ., First Lord of the

Admiralty , a younger brother of the Grand Master of Ireland , and W . M . of the Chiswick Lodge , No . 2012 , and Bro . Sir J E . GORST , Q . C , M . P ., Under Secretary of State for India , and l . P . M . of the Drury Lane Lodge , No . 2127 , are spoken of in well-informed circles as likely to be appointed Grand Wardens for the ensuing year ; Bro . the Hon . and Rev .

F . BYNG , Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons , and Rev . T . B . SPENCER , the Grand Chaplains ; Bros . Sir LIONEL DARELL , Bart ., Alderman Sir P . KEYSER , Colonel ADDISON POTTER , and CHESTER CHESTON , as likely Deacons ; Bro . CHARLES BELTON , as

Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies ; Bro . MONTEUUIS , a Founder and Past Master of La France and the Argonauts Lodges , Grand Sword Bearer ; Bro . GEORGE TAYLOR , of Kidderminster , Prov . G . Secretary Worcestershire , asa Grand Standard Bearer ; Bro . W . MAYBRICK , Grand Organist ; and Bro . MERCER , Assistant Grand Pursuivant If rumour

proves true in the case of the above , or any of the above brethren , we must congratulate both the brethren themselves on the honours awaiting them , and his ROYAL HIGHNESS on the selection he has made . The A SUFFICIENT interval of lime has elapsed since the news of

Provinceof Bro . General BROWNRIGG ' death was made public , for the rey ' quidnuncs to have become busily engaged in speculating as to the chances of this or that distinguished brother being appointed his successor , and it will doubtless interest our readers to hear that the report to

which most credence is attached is that H . R . H . Prince ALBERT VICTOR of WALES will be chosen b y his Royal Highness the M . W . GRAND MASTER to fill the vacant Provincial Grand Mastership ot Surrey . The appointment would certainly be popular , both generally and in Surrey . The members of our Royal Family are prevented by the multiplicity of their engagements

from taking a very active part in the proceedings of our Society ; but what they do is always done well and thoroughly , and they are ceitain to exercise a beneficial influence in our behalf among the public at large . Hence , though we do not commit ourselves to the truth of the report , we are glad to hear there is some talk of his Royal Highness receiving the appcintment .

The late Bro . YET once again , within the brief period of a few weeks , the Portal " " melancholy duty devolves on us of recording the death of ¦ Chaplain . one 0 f ihe ablest and most experienced members of our Craft . In March it was three brethren of distinction in the Provinces to

whom we paid our customary tribute of respect . Last week we announced the death of a brother who had won still higher distinction in our ranks as a * rov . G . Master , and was a leading member of some of our foremost London lod ges ; and now we are sorrowing over the loss of a reverend brother who had secured both Grand and Provincial Grand Lodge honours ; and

nad not only presided as Grand Master over the Mark and other A grees or systems of Masonry , but had likewise been their guide , philosopher , and friend during LO long a term of years at his loss , if not irreparable , will be most difficult to repair . fo . the Rev . Canon PORTALalmost from the time of his initiation until ¦

, i . - " *"«—> . * . . . . « - . . .. . * . . w ~ -. — . . . . . . . . Is death , was a busy as well as an able member of the Craft . Two years » er he had been made a Mason , we find him presiding as Master over ne of our most important Provincial Lodges , and assisting in the

resuscia 'on of another , which , but for his fortunate intervention would , in all Probability , have then and there disappeared from the roll of Grand Lodge , 've years later , in conjunction vvith other Oxford brethren , he took a leadn g Part in the revival of one of our oldest and now one of our most dis-

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tinguished Metropolitan lodges , while , about the same time , his voice was frequently heard in Grand Lodge on the stirring question of the Canadian lodges and their alleged neglect by the home authorities . In 1856 he turned his attention to the Mark Degree , and on the establishment of the Mark G . Lodge was appointed one of its Grand Chaplains . Thenceforward he

appears to have devoted almost the whole of his attention to this particular branch of Masonry , and there can be no question that the Mark is chiefly indebted for its success to the efficient services rendered by our late Bro . PORTAL in one or other of the numerous offices he filled almost from the date of his advancement , but more particularly as Deputy Grand and

Grand Master and President of its General Board . In him , too , the Mark Benevolent Fund has lost one of its founders and early patrons , while the . Allied Degrees and Royal and Select Masters will hardly know themselves now that he who had presided over their respective councils from their organisation as Grand Bodies is no longer here to watch over and protect

their interests . In short , Freemasonry has lost in Bro . Canon PORTAL one of its most cultured and most capable members , who had been the friend and associate in Masonic labour of many of the chief dignitaries of our Order , and who leaves behind him not only many sterling memorials of his wisdom and strength as a ruler , but likewise a reputation for kindliness as well as ability which few will rival , and none surpass .

THE tale of our recent losses , however , has still to be com' F ! ! bnseiey , ' p leted . As will be seen from the report we furnish elsewhere , Bart ., P . G . Chap . ^ following that on which the death of Bro . Canon

PORTAL occurred , another distinguished Mason , in the person of Bro . Sir F . GORE OUSELEY , Bart ., was overtaken suddenly by illness while standing in the streets of Hereford , and within one hour from his seizure had ceased to breathe . Bro . Sir F . G . O USELEY will be remembered as the practised musician , the composer of sacred music , and the able instructor who had

occupied the professorial chair of music in the University of Oxford for 36 years and upwards . But his services to Freemasonry were neither few nor far between . He had presided as Master in more than one of our lodges ; he was a Past Grand Chaplain of nearly 25 years' standing , and Past Prov . G . Chaplain of Oxfordshire of still earlier date ; while within the last half

dozen years he had been Grand Organist in the urand Lodge of Mark Master Masons . He , too , is a loss which , conjoined as it is with so many others , will be very generally felt , and we should have been wanting in our duty if we had not paid this last tribute of respect to the memory of so worthy a brother .

VERY general and sincere sympathy will be felt with the Duchess of QUEEN , the Prince and Princess of WALES , the Duke of Cambridge . CAMBRIDGE , and the other members of the Royal Family in

the loss they have sustained by the death of the Duchess of CAMBRIDGE . The venerable lady would have completed her 92 nd year in the coming month of July , but though her days had considerably exceeded the allotted span of life , they were cheered to the very last by the devoted love of her son and daughters and her numerous other relatives , as well as by the

esteem and respect of all who had the honour and privilege of her acquaintance . The deceased lady , who was born the 25 th July , 1797 , married the late Dukeof CAMBRIDGE in I 8 I 8 , by whom she leaves issue the present Duke , who has just entered his 71 st year , the Grand Duchess of MECKLENBURGH-STRELITZ , born 1822 , and the Princess MARY ADELAIDE , Duchess

of TECK . Shortly after the death , in 1850 , of her husband , her Royal Highness took up her residence at St . James ' s Palace , where , and at Cambridge Cottage , Kew , with the exception-of occasional visits to Rumpenheim , Italy , and Switzerland , she spent the long days of her widowhood , and where the QUEEN and the members of the Royal Family , when they

came to town , rarely failed to visit her . Since 18 73 , when she had a paralytic seizure , which partially disabled her left side , she had been confined to the Palace , but she retained her faculties to the last , and it was only some 10 days prior to her death that she gave a dinner party in honour of the 70 th birthday of her only son . By the demise of this aged lady one of the

remaining links , which connected the present with the stirring times of the great Napoleonic wars , is broken , and though there are doubtless many persons surviving from those days , there is probably no one who can boast , as her

late Royal Highness could , of having seen the great NAPOLEON on his retreat from the disastrous field of Leipsic , and having been on terms of friendship with the greatest of NAPOLEON ' S antagonists , the victor of Waterloo .

* * * A LETTER from Bro . Dr . R ALPH GOODING , P . G . D ., which Gouid will be found in another column , seeks to accelerate the rate

Testimonial . c pr 0 gress at which contributions are flowing into this fund . The exhortation of the distinguished and energetic Honorary Secretary , will , we doubt not , have its due weight with intending subscribers , and we i would fain hope may also have the effect of increasing their number .