Ar00100

CONTENTS . LttADBRS — The Mark Benevolent Fund Festival ... ... ¦•• ••• 353 Masonic Medals ... ... ... — 353 Mark Benevolent Fund Festival ... ... ... — »¦ •¦• 354

Provincial Grand Lodge of Berkshire ... ... — — 356 Consecration of the Earl's Court Lodge , No . 2765 ... •¦• 35 6 Summer Outing of the Royal Oak Lodge , No . S 71 ... ••• 35 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... — Z 5 j MASONIC

NOTESQuarterly General Court of Girls School ... . . .. — 359 Annual Convocation Provincial Grand Chapter of Surrey ... ... 359 Monthly Meeting of _ Committee of Management of Roj al Masonic Benevolent Institution ... ... ... ••• 359 Annual Meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex ... ... 359 Summer Outing of St . Luke ' s Lodge , No . 144 ... ••• 3 ° Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ... ... ... •¦• ¦•¦ 3 °

Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of East Anglia ... ¦¦• 3 " The Recent Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys ... ... 3 C ' S COTLAND—Masonic Functions at Perth ... ... ... ... 362 Great Masonic Festival in Edinburgh ... ••• 3 Craft Masonry ... . „ ... ... - - 3 3 Summer Outing of the Leopold Lodge , No . 1571 ... ... 3 > 4 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ¦¦ 364

The Mark Benevolent Festival.

THE MARK BENEVOLENT FESTIVAL .

Everything passed off admirably at this most agreeable of Masonic gatherings . There was an experienced Chairman , pleasant company , and a successful total of donations and subscriptions , amounting , in round figures , to £ 2070 . Tlie

result shows an appreciable advance upon last year s returns , and we warmly congratulate the EARL OF WARWICK , who presided so genially , thc Stewards who laboured lo such good purpose , and the Benevolent Fund , which has derived so full a measure of benefit from the celebration .

Masonic Medals*

MASONIC MEDALS *

Thc work , of winch this is the lirst volume , promises to be a most valuable addition to our literature in Masonic Numismatics . The contents of this volume treat only of those medals which have been issued in Germanv , arc commemorative of

particular events in German Masonry , or are to be met with in collections scattered throughout Germany , livery care has al so been taken to restrict the work to medals as distinguished from

mere badges , and as the second volume , which has yet to be issued , will treat of Masonic medals in other countries , the whole , when completed , will contain illustrations , with full particulars , of such Masonic medals as have come under the notice of those who

have undertaken the compilation . As regards the volume before us , nothing can be better than the style in which it has been produced . The letterpress is printed in the clearest of type , and the 21 plates or sheets of

illustrations are well-executed , and being photographic reproductions , both obverse and reverse , exactly corresponding in size , convey as perfect representations of the originals as can

possibl y be given . Thus , the lover of AIasonic numismatics will I'ave before him in this volume facsimiles of the original 'dedal s , and by means of these , and the very ample description

Masonic Medals*

of each which is given , will be able to form a pretty accurate idcaof the medallic treasures , to the number of upwards of 170 , vvhich our Hamburg brethren have included in this lirst volume of their valuable work . Itisindeedevidentthatnoefforthasbeenspared , no

amount of labour considered too great , in order to ensure the two important conditions of conciseness and accuracy in the letterpress , while the medals as reproduced in tbe several plates are carefully numbered , so that by means of the text and plate together it is possible to form a correct idea of each medal . As for the contents of the work we have first of all an

Introduction from the pen of Bro . G . W . SPETH , who briefly describes what has been clone in the past in the field of Masonic Numismatology , enumerating , and at the same describing in brief the particulars of such works as those ot ZACHARIAS

which was "published at Dresden in 8 parts with 48 engravings , 1 S 40-18 4 6 " under the title of " Numotheca Numismatica Latomorum ; " MERZDORF ' S " Die Denkmiinzen der Friemaurerbruderschaft , " published in 18 51 ; Bro . VV . J . HUGHAN ' S

' ' Masonic Register , " which , however , as it was compiled for a special purpose he says it would be unjust to compare with either of thc treatises before mentioned , and Bro . MARVIN ' S " Medals of the Masonic Fraternity , " published in Boston and

Philadelphia in 1 SS 0 . He also enumerates the most valuable collections of medals existing in various countries , and concludes his remarks by drawing attention to the special features of this new work , as to which he says " there is no pretence of giving

a description of all Masonic medals known , " and that , whilst thc compilers have strictl y confined themselves to describing the medals which have come under their observation , " they place , and rightly so , supreme confidence in the educational value of

thc eye , and , therefore , give , in every case , a photographic reproduction , obverse and reverse , in the exact size of the original . " Thus the work , when complete , will " contain no less than 600 exquisite illustrations of 300 medals , all commemorative ,

mere lodge badges being wholly excluded ; and if the picture sometimes suffers because the camera has reproduced too accurately the corroded state of the metal , at least all possible errors of draftsmanshi p are avoided . " This introduction by Bro .

Si'ETll is followed by a " Yorwort" or Preface , in which , after a few remarks on thc origin and development of our modern system of Freemasonry , Bro . CARL C . WlEUE also ^ refers to the different works that have been published on the subject ,

specifying certain medals , such as the Sackville medal by NATTER and others which are described in the bod y of the work . Then we have a list of those who have co-operated in the production of thc book , and then conies the main body of

the work , in which each medal is separately described , both as to its obverse and reverse , the number appended to each description corresponding with the number attached to the medal as reproduced in the several Plates . Thc whole

is completed b y sundry Tables , wilh the names oi the Persons , Legends , & c , represented or described on the medals . r J here is , therefore , as we have said , no difficulty in comparing the medals as reproduced in the Plates with the medals as

described in the letter press . The work has been produced under the auspices ofthe Hamburg Correspondence Circle and with the sanction and approval as well as wilh the cu-opcration of the lodges—Archimedes of the three Tracing Boards , Altenburo-,

Unity , at Frankfort on the Main ; Minerva of the three Palms , Leipsic ; and lhe others , as enumerated on the title-pao-e , and may , without the slighest exaggeration , be said to reflect the greatest credit on all who have had a part in its production ,