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ARMFIELD'S SOUTH PLACE HOTEL , FINSBURY , LONDON , E . C , This new and Isndsomely-furnished Hotel is now FULLY LICENCED . Its position is central , and charges are moderate ; the sanitation is perfect . Passenger lift to each floor . SPECIAL CONVENIENCE FOR MASONIC LODGES , DINNERS ANO ClNDERELLAS .

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WANTED BY A FREEMASON , aped 30 , a SITUA 1 ION as Manager of small Public . First class reference . —W . L ., Freemason Oflice , 16 , Great Oueen-street , W . C .

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hmfmmmmm ff ry '"¦¦¦ gaggggWffOT'rwi itwl $ * 4 ~~ » 9 * m ii ^ TTTT » . » a . jjj 3 rtarjrai SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 13 , 18 97 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The grand function which is arranged to be held in St . Paul ' s Cathedral on Thursday , thc 2 nd December , bids fair to be one of the most notable events in the history of a year which will always be a memorable one in the annals of English Freemasonry . To judge from the number of applications for scats which , wc

understand , arc being daily received , there is every likelihood of a large attendance . It will have been seen , Irom the particulars wc published last week , that it will be possible lo accommodate some 5000 , and , as thc lodges both in town and country have been invited to send representatives , wc imagine there will be little , if any , difficulty in filling the Cathedral .

* » * His Royal Highness , the M . W . G . M ., will be unable to be present in person , but hc will bo represented on the occasion by his alter ego , the M . W . Pro G . Master , Bro , the Right Hon . the Earl of Lathom , G . C . B . The

Grand Officers of the year and the Past Grand Ofiicers will also muster in great force , and to each of thtse will be accorded the privilege of introducing two ladies , for whom seats will be provided in the vicinity of the choir .

Masonic Notes.

All applications lor tickets must be addressed , in thc case of the Present and Past Grand Ofiicers , to thc Grand Secretary at Freemasons' Hall , W . C , but in thc case of all other brethren , they must be sent through the Worshipful Masters of their respective lodges to

Bro . Vernon Taylor , Hon . Sec , thc Chapter House , St . Paul ' s Cathedral , not later than Monday , the ujnd instant . A circular letter on the subject containing the necessary instructions has already been sent from

the Grand Secretary ' s Ollice to the Worshipful Masters of the lodges in London ar . d thc Provinces , who will accordingly apply direct to the Chapter House for the number of tickets which may be required by the members of their respective lodges .

A very influential Committee of brethren has been organised to co-operate with the Dean and Chapter of St . Paul ' s to make the necessary arrangements , among them being thc Lord Mayor and Sheriffs who will attend in State , the Bishop of Marlborough , Dean

Currie of Battle , P . G . Chaplain ; thc Dean of Gloucester ( thc Very Rev . H . D . Spence , D . D . ) , P . G . Chaplain ; thc Archdeacon of London , ( the Ven . W . M . Sinclair , D . D ., P . G . C ); the Archdeacon of Essex , ( thc Ven . — Stevens , M . A ., P . G . C );

Alderman Sir R . Hanson , Bart ., M . P . ; Alderman Sir J . W . Ellis , Bart . ; Sir John B . Monckton , Thomas Fenn , and Robert Grey , Past G . Wardens ; the Grand Treasurer , ( Alderman W . Vaughan Morgan ) , Alderman Sir J . C . Dimsdale , and Maj . Woodall , Past G

Treasurers ; the G . Registrar , the G . Secretary , Alderman Sir Joseph Savory , Bart ., M . P . ; Alderman Sir W . Wilkin , K . C . M . G . ; Alderman Sir David Evans , K . C . M . G . ; John Aird , M . P ., P . G . D . ; C . E . Keyser , P . G . D . ; R . Loveland Loveland , Pres . Bd . Gen .

Purps ., & c . Ihe offertory will be set apart for the decoration of a panel , or bay , with mosaics , in accordance with the scheme iii progress , under thc direction of Sir W . B . Richmond , R . A ., K . C . B ., and will thus enable the Freemasons as a body to take a distinct share in the completion of Wren ' s great work .

* * A warrant has been granted for the establishment of a new lodge in connection with St . Mary ' s Hospital , which is likely to have before it a long , useful , and prosperous career . It will be known as the " Saucta

Maria Lodge , No . 2682 , and will be consecrated on Monday , the 15 th inst ., in the Great Hall of Freemasons' Hall . The ceremony will be performed by Bro . the Karl of Lathom , Pro G . Master , and a large attendance of Grand Oilicers and other prominent

brethren may be expected . H . R . H . the Prince of VVales , M . W . G . M ., has graciously consented to hold thc office of W . M ., and Bro . Edmund Owen will be

installed as his first Deputy Master , the Wardens designate being Bro :-. Reginald F . Bootle Wilbraham and James Ernest Lane . The number ot petitioners is 50 .

At the usual monthly meeting ol the Committee ol Management ol the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution which was held at Freemasons' Hall , on Wednesday , under thc presidency of Bro . John Newton , P . O . P ., Vi e-Palron , the Secretary reported the death ul one

male and two widow annuitants , while 10 petitions ( one male and nine widows ) were considered , with the result that all were accepted save two widows' petitions , which are deferred for further informition . There wis a very fair attendance of members .

' We I avc been icijuestcd to correct a slight error which occurred in our report of thc meeting of Supreme Grand Chapter on the 3 rd inst . Comp . S . K . Baskett did s' . ale that hc agreed with Comp . Fenn , but be did not express agreement with Comp . Strachan

lo ( he effect that to reverse the decision arrived at by Grand Chapter in May , and conlirmed in Augusl , would stultify Grand Chapter . On the contrary , it is Comp . Baskett ' s belief that to adhere to such decision would do far more to stultify it than would its reversal .

• * Thc annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Chapter of Hertfordshire will be held at Bishop

Stortford , on Tuesday , thc 23 rd instant , under thc auspices of the Stortford Chapter , No . 409 . Thc principal buiness will be the appointment of officers tor the ensuing year .

Ihe Report on Correspondence , appended lo the Proceedings at the annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Maine , in May last , would appear to

be more interesting than such Reports usually are . It has been compiled by Bro . Josiah Dnmimond , who is rightly deemed an authority on Masonry in the United States , especially as regards the statistics of the Cralt .

Masonic Notes.

From him we learn that at the date of his compilation there were in North America 57 Grand Lodges , with an aggregate subscribing membership of 804 , 706 . Ot these Grand Lodges , however , seven are in British Territory , namely , those of Canad 1 ( Province ol

Ontario ) , ( Jtiebec , Nova Scotia , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island , British Columbii , and JI inttoba . These probably comprise from jo . ooo to 35 , 002 subscribing members , so that ih- ; 50 Grand Li Ig : > in the United States muster altoielacr ab ul 771 ,-333 .

* * Bro . Drummond also makes a very sensible pronouncement in reference to the physical question , his remarks , which are quoted in thc Voice of Masonry , being well worth reproducing . "The whole aim of Masonry" says Bro . Drummond , '' is intellectual ,

moral , and spirituil improvement . Thc old law ot physical qualification had reference , in express terms , to ability to do Masonic work , and the perfection required was that degree , and that degree alone , which enabled one to do the work of a Jtison ; and as the physical work of JI isons has changed , the qualifications for it have changed with it , and the ability to do the

Masonic work of the present day is all that the law , sound sense , or Masonic usage requires . " This is so plain and straightforward , and at the same time so sensible , that we should hope it will not be without its influence on thc minds of those who hold that thc physical qualifications of the Speculative Mason must be the same as those that were required in the old days of Operative Masonry .

* » In reference to th- ; complaint which of lite years has been so frequently made as to there being " a tendency lo too much legislation , " Bro . D . uui'nond is ot opinion from an observation extending over some 40 years that " the evil is not so much in thc legislation

as in the causes for it . Almost all Masonic legislation is caused by an abuse ot privileges or an evasion of thc existing law . " On this we feci inclined to join issue with him . It is not thai there arc now so many more abuses of privilege than formerly , but thai so many more things have bcen declared to be abuses .

So , too , as regards the evasion of the existing laws , ' we do not believe that the existing generation of Masons arc more prone to evade the law thin their predecessors . lt is . that the Wws are nowadays so numerous and al thc same time so comprehensive

that it is difficult , we may go further and say , barely possible for anyone , how great soever may be his respect for the law , to take any step or turn in any direction without doing something which tho extremists set down as " evasions of thc law . "

VVe have but lo turn to thc question of jurisdiction in all its many varieties for an illustration of our meaning . Thus there is the jurisdiction of thc Grand Lodge , thc jurisdiction ot Ihe private lodge , the jurisdiction over rejected material , and so forth . These arc all new causes for legislation which have been created

by American Masons themselves , and laws have , ol necessity , had to be enacted in order to regulate these matters , lu this and other instances which wc coald mention , il any advantage were to be gained by doing so , there has been an excess of legislation arising oul of the creation of a number of questions which assuiclly never had any place in the scheme of

Speculative Freemasonry as promulgated by Drs . Desaguliers and Anderson , their associates and their immediate successors in legislation . Hence , though , in a certain sense , it may be true that excessive legislation in the American Masonic communities is due to excess in the number of causes calling for il , it must not be forgotten that in a very large number of cases the causes have been themselves created .

Much has been said of late about that very beautiful theory of Masonic Charity which has been originated by the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin , and to the principle of which that Grand body has invited thc adhesion of thc other American Grand Lodges . The Grand Master of Maine , in the address hc delivered at

the recent annual meeting ot his Grand Lodge , mei - tioncd that two claims for reimbursement ot Masonic relief had bcen forwarded to him , one from thc Boaid ol Relief of San Francisco , which he had satisfied , and one from the Board of Relief of San Diego , which he had disallowed on the ground that the said Board

had been notified by thc lodge alu-ctcd not to incur any expenditure . It seems that in this case the lodge itself had disbursed 172 dollars tor funeral expenses and relief before notifying the Board not to spend more , but that the latter , notwithstanding this caution , had made a further outlay on behalf of the family

amounting to 1070 dollars ( £ 214 ) . The very proper refusal by the Grand Master of Maine to allow so monstrous a claim may have the effect of placing the San Diego Board of Relief in a difficulty , and we hope it will have the further effect of putting an end to the Wisconsin theory of Charity .