Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS s 8 r Consecration of the Gordon Lodge , No . 2149 , at Hanley 282 Provincial Grand Lodge of Wiltshire 283 Provincial Grand l . odge of Herefordshire 284 Provincial Grand Chapter of Essex 284 New Regulations , Grand Chapter 28 $ 01 ocotianu

( Tranu uouge vo * . Review—Concluding Notice 285 The Early Organisation of the " Ancient " Masons—IV 286 Interesting Masonic Ceremony at Durham 287 Masonic Entertainment and Distribution of Prizes at Foyle College 2 S 7 CORRESPONDENCERoyal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... 289 Abuse of the Ballot 289 Past Masters 290

REPORTS OP MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 290 Instruction 292 Royal Arch 293 Mark Masonry 294 Ancient and Accepted Rite 294 Scotland 204

Ireland 294 Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ige The Logic Ciub 29-Laying Foundation-stone of New Masonic Hall at Pontypridd , and Installation of W . M 295 Obituary 295 Masonic and General Tidings 296 Lodge Meetings for Next Week v .

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IT is desirable we should say a last word about the 9 8 th Anniversary Festival on Wednesday next of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls . Of course , in saying this , it is inevitable we should traverse familiar ground , ground that has been traversed annually during the past history of the school and which , if the Institution is to be maintained in a proper state of

efficiency , and continue in the future the beneficent work it has accomplished heretofore , must be traversed year by year with the same pertinacious regularity . So keen is the competition among Charitable Institutions for that public support on which their very existence depends , that it is a matter of extreme difficulty to raise by voluntary subscriptions a sum of only ten

hundreds of pounds sterling and "A fortiori , must it be difficult to raise a sum amounting to considerably more than as many thousands . Moreover , it is a serious strain on our energies and resources to accomplish this , even at the best of times , when the commercial and political horizon is bright and cloudless , but the strain is infinitely great , when , as happens just now

unfortunately , the public mind is seriously disquieted by a sense of some great danger impending over the country . But danger or no danger , the Girls ' School , like our other Institutions , must be maintained at its present strength , and this can only be done by constantly reminding the brethren that the celebration of such a Festival as that of Wednesday next is not

a simple affair of a pleasant dinner , followed by a dozen or more congratulatory speeches and a little music , but the fulfilment of a very grave responsibility . The English Craft , in its wisdom , has determined there shall be a school for the maintenance and education of some 240 daughters of deceased or indigent brethren . The cost of such an establishment , under

the most careful administration , is little , if anything , short of £ 10 , 000 a year , and as is the case with all similar societies , the outlay of a further considerable sum is sometimes found to be imperative . This has happened just now , when owing to the purchase of a contiguous strip of land , to which we have referred on several previous occasions , and the erection of anew boundary wall ,

new gates , and two lodges , an outlay in excess of the ordinary annual requirements of the Institution by about £ 7000— £ 5700 forthe land , £ 1300 for the wall , gates , and lodges—has had to be incurred . Under these circumstances it is a matter of the most urgent necessity—and we arc not using so strong an expression lightly—that the proceeds of Wednesday's celebration should

be substantially the same as last year . This brings us to a consideration of the supreme point of all . Is there any chance of such a result being realised ? Well , Bro . HEDGES will have a Board of Stewards of about the same numerical strength as in 1885—at present it musters 265 brethren , as against the 273 of last year , and there are generally a few who give in their names at

the last moment . He has had the good fortune to enlist the services of an able and experienced Chairman who , when he acted in a similar capacity in 1883 for the Benevolent Institution , succeeded , with the assistance of his Stewards , in bringing grist to its mill t o the extent of over £ 13 , , towards which his own province contributed £ 900 . The Metropolis will be

represented by 132 Stewards , including the Unattached , and the Provinces , with Surrey included , by 133 . So far , perhaps , the outlook may appear favourable . But we are fain to admit there is also a less promising side to the picture . There will , on Wednesday next , be no Thousand Guineas Presentation Fund to swell the general total , and West Yorkshire , instead

of figuring as it did in 1885 , with between £ 1500 and £ 1600 , will probably contribute only its usual , perhaps less than its usual , few hundreds . The CHAIRMAN ' S province , though willing enough , we are well assured , to support its respected chief , is unfortunately weak as to its representation , owing to circumstances which , of themselves and quite apart from all

Festival considerations , cannot be too seriously deplored . When General B ROWNRIGG presided at the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution Festival in 1883 , Bro . the Rev . C W . ARNOLD , P . G . C , was his D . P . G . M ., and Bro . C GREENWOOD , P . G . S . B ., his Prov . G . Secretary . These knew the

province intimately , as it would , be absurd to suppose that any other brethren could know it , unless they had had an equal amount of experience ; while as to their readiness to help in so good a cause , it goes without say ing . But Bro . A RNOLD is in Florida , and Bro . GREENWOOD , now

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D . P . G . M ., though at the outset he threw himself with energy into the work , has not only , we regret to say , experienced an irreparable loss in his domestic circle , but he is and has been for some time past personally incapacitated by illness from taking an active part in supporting the Prov . Grand Master . Thus , though there is no lack of will on the part of Surrey , there is little

likelihood of its efforts being made the most of by a skilful organisation of its strength , and we can only hope that its score of Stewards will make up in zeal what they lack in numbers . If the £ 900 of 1 S 83 cannot bc equalled , let us hope it wil be approached pretty closely . Then in addition to these drawbacks , there is generally prevalent the uncomfortable feeling that the present

depressed condition of things will have the effect of appreciably , if not seriously , reducing the usual average of from £ 45 to £ 50 per list , in which case the falling off in the returns as compared with those of last year will be very considerable . However , we must hope for the best . The Chairman and the Stewards will do their duty manfully , but they will need

strengthening as regards numbers , if they are to have a chance of coping successfully with the difficulties and drawbacks we have enumerated . Perhaps some of our friends may be in a position to volunteer their services . If so , let them

not be over-scrupulous about doing so , even at the eleventh hour . Let them remember that , in a pressing emergency like this , where a further amount of assistance is sorely needed , that additional assistance will be forthcoming , "better late than never . "

* # * ANOTHER new lodge with special associations has been consecrated this week—the Huguenot Lodge , No . 2140—which was formally constituted at the Criterion on Monday by V . W . Bro . F . A . PHILBRICK , Q . C , G . Reg ., assisted by Bros . Sir J B . MONCKTON , P . G . W ., as S . W . ; RALPH

CLUTTON , G . J . D ., as J . W . ; the Rev . J . S . BROWNRIGG , P . G . C , as Chaplain ; FRANK RICHARDSON , P . G . D ., as D . C ; and EDGAR BOWYER , P . G . S . W ., as I . G . That a lodge which has been ushered into existence under such favourable auspices should have before it a bright and promising future may be reasonably assumed , and these

prospects are considerably enhanced by the fact that the brethren installed or invested as the first principal officers of the lodge are—in two cases , at all events—Masons of long experience and great ability r—Bro . R . HERVE GIRAUD , P . G . D ., who served his first Mastership more than half a century since , being the first Worshipful Master ; Bro . C J .

SHOPPEE , P . M . 3 82 , the first Senior Warden ; and Bro . ARTHUR G . BROWNING , the first J . W . There is , too , the experienced and capable Bro . Major GEORCU LVMBERT , F . S . A ., P . G . S . B ., who is a Huguenot of Huguenots , and , what is of greater consequence in this connection , the acting I . P . M . and real moving spirit of the new lodge . However , we trust

we shall be able to give full particulars of the ceremony in our next issue . Till then we must content ourselves with congratulating all who had part in it on the admirable manner in which the successive functions of consecration and installation were performed , and give expression to our very sincere hopes for the future well-being of the lodge .

* # * Too much praise cannot be given to our worthy Sunderland brethren for the generous help they have given to the children of their town during the period of almost unexampled distress , which the country has experienced almost everywhere this year . We know not to whom belongs the

honour of having started the scheme , but there can be no doubt about its success . On the 16 Sunday mornings which preceded Good Friday , and on Good Friday itself the members of the Sunderland lodges provided breakfasts for their poor children in the different Board and Church Schools and Coffee Taverns , as many as 4000 being entertained on Good

Friday itself , when each received a pint of good wholesome cocoa and an 8 oz . bun . The total number of breakfasts thus given was 22 , 000 , the sum raised by subscription from the lodges , chapters , and brethren being £ 130 18 s . Sd ., of which £ 127 7 s . 8 d . was spent in breakfast , and the small balance of £ 3 us . in postages and petty disbursements . This is by no

means a solitary instance of good work done by the Craft for the poor during the past winter , but it is worth referring to editorially , if only that we may congratulate the Sunderland lodges on their having so practically illustrated , and to such excellent purpose , the beneficent principles of our Society .

* * * THE twenty-third report of the Cheshire Educational Masonic Institution proves that solid work has been done during the past year . The Treasurer's financial statement , as audited , shows that , with a balance brought forward

from the previous account , the receipts amounted to £ 1090 14 s . 7 d . ; the fees , donations , and subscriptions from lodges , chapters , and brethren being £ 259 is . 6 d . ; and the interest on investments £ 225 16 s . 2 d . The total expenditure was £ 733 4 s . iod ., leaving balances in bank and Treasurer ' s hands , amounting together , to £ 357 9 s . gd . The incidental