Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 391 Ro \ -al Masonic Institution for Hoys—Placing the Comer Stone i . f the Xew Memorial Hall bv liaroness Burdett-Coutts ' . 301 Provincial Grand Chapter ot Devon 393 Consecration of the Rose and Lily ( Mark )

No . 354 , Waltham Cross 303 Grand Lodge of Scotland 393 Provincial Grand Lodge of Renfrewshire , East ( S . C . ) 394 Goethe as a Freemason 394 On some Esoteric Signilications of the Sixpointed and the Five-pointed Stars 394

Royal Masonic Institution for Hoys 393 Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution 395 Provincial Grand Chapter of Somersetshire 39 S Laying the Foundation Stone of the Com Exchange , Abingdon 395 IntcrestingMasonicCercmonyat Ednburgh 39 J

! Presentation to Bro . Surgeon-Major \ . A . ! Campbell , at Bermuda 39 J Grand Lodge of Alt Scottish Freemasonry in India 395 The Theatres 30 jj

CORRESPONDENCESt . John's Festival 397 Which shall it be— "Charity" or " Dinners ? " 397 Notes and Queries 393 REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 397 Instruction 39

X Mark Masonry 398 South Africa 308 Picnic of the Royal Preston Lodge , Xo . 333 , Preston 398 Masonic and General Tidings 399 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 400

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BRO . BINCKES was favoured with exceptionally line weather for his gathering . A goodly company assembled , under the able presidency of Bro . Gonsov , and the proceedings which passed off with great eclat , gave complete satisfaction to all present . Baroness BURDETT-COUTTS made a very interesting and effective address , and we rejoice to think that , with her wonted

benevolence and discrimination , she takes an abiding interest in our Masonic Schools and Charities . But other thoughts supervene , and other considerations press themselves upon our minds . Bro . BINCKES may well be , anxious as to the future of the Boys' School finances . Eleven hundred pounds , in round numbers , the Baroness giving one hundred , and

the Chairman the same , and several other liberal donations represented the benevolent outcome of Tuesday : but it is needless to observe that , if the Preparatory School is to fulfil the object of its creation , a still larger amount than any yet realized is required from the Craft to keep it in thorough working order . We wish therefore to

impress on all our readers that they should avail themselves of the well thoughtout and liberal offer of the Executive , —to give the great privilege of double voting to those , and to those only , who previously constituted themselves , at least , Life Governors of the Institution . VVe press the matter also on all lodges and chapters . As it will not be absolutely necessary to pay the amounts before

the close of the year , as resolutions will be held perfectly sufficient to entitle them to the privilege , if only passed before December 31 st , and the payment be made in 18 S 6 . The same will apply to individual donors . We trust , then , shortly to hear that a liberal respon se from the Craft , even in these unsatisfactory times , will remove all cause for anxiety , and render

the completion of the new buildings a thorough success . Ihe new buildings , as well as the old , were admired by all present on account of their substantiality , appropriateness , and general effect , and it is not too much to say that when completed the Boys' School will be unique , and almost without its equal as regards scholastic buildings in England .

We congratulate all concerned on this fact and the great success attending the very needful movement in favour of a Preparatory School . We were also pleased to note a little incident at the meeting reported elsewhere , namely , the presentation by Bro . J . S . CUMBERLAND of the four bibles for the four " Lewises , " with an appropriate inscription in each .

* * * ENGLISH Freemasonry seems to be still progressing , and with rapid steps . Fresh applications for lodges are being made , and , with the " revival " of lodges in October and November , we shall , no doubt , hear of several consecrations . There are those who often deprecate the creation of new lodges ,

but we think unwisely . We have before us as wc write the case of several lodges in which , owing to prestige and popularity , it is impossible for the younger Masons to " get on , " in which , humanly speaking , it must take years before any one of them can reach any legitimate object of attainment Masonically , before they even can obtain fairly office of any kind

at all . Surely in such cases a " swarm" is desirable , and which so far from weakening the parent hive , very often tends , curiously enough , to augment its numbers , and increase its strength . Another point which often arises in lodge work and life is the existence of a select body within the lodge which practically settles who its officials shall be . Constitutionally ,

of course , the votes in this respect , especially for the Worshipful Master and Treasurer , are decided by the whole body ; but practically , as we all know , it is not always so , and a " Caucus within a Caucus " often rules the destiny of this or that good lodge . If we always succeeded in getting " the

right man in the right place , " if " round men " were not sometimes put into " square holes , " and " square men " into " round , " we should have little to complain of in that onward progress of Masonic life and lodge formality amongst us , which certainly seems to evidence a " prosperous connection "

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and "increasing business . " But it is often the case , as we all know , when all seems smooth and prosperous on the surface , that as there are few outward signs of dissatisfaction and disapproval , all is held to be , all seems to be , serene . Vet it very often happens , —nevertheless , as each body , great or small , has its laws of " action and counteraction , " is governed by the laws

of the Medes and Persians in this or that respect—lodge promotion does not always satisfy some ardentspirits , some worthy Masons within a lodge , and they think they discern a sentence and a system of perpetual ostracism from office , except in respect of a favoured few , who constitute the managing and ruling clique . And do not let us be surprised that such things occur

in Masonic , as in other august or smaller bodies of ours . We are still all mortals , and " mortals only , " and the lesser and lower principles and professions which are marked by the incongruities , the weaknesses , the imperfections of earth govern too often our procedure , sway our manners , and characterize our " outcome . " So in all these cases

and all these ventures there should always be a " safety valve , " an outlet for laudable ambition or commendable zeal , and the creation of a new lodge often soothesand smoothes away incipient discontent and heartburnings , and becomes the means of enlisting in the active and official work of the Craft many who have been kept back , purposely or accidentally , as the case may

be , from " foregone conclusions , " or " the secret counsels of the few . " There are always " wheels within wheels" in this life of ours , those little intricacies of management and government , which loo often , neither wisely nor Masonically directed , constitute an injustice for the ardent and cultured , and too often elevate into hasty and ill-proportioned rank the incompetent and the

" faineant . One of the greatest results of philosophy is never to be astonishedjat any thing here , and though there are things we have never dreamt of , or have even partially realized here , often in what goes on before our very eyes , in what is familiar and commonplace enough apparently , yet we may all rest assured , that as it is impossible for us always to explain or account for

everything now , so what is normal yields frequently to what is abnormal , especially whenprinciple does not dominateourproceedings . and lesser interests and lower sympathies , as we said before , control and measure our system of action or use of patronage . And independently of these and many other considerations , we hail the appearance and creation of new lodges as centres of

Light , Toleration , Sympathy , Goodwill , and Charity . An older school amongst us rather looks to lodge work and lodge sociality as the " summum bonum " of Masonic fellowship and Brotherhood . We , on the contra ^' , feeling that just now few institutions survive which cannot demonstrate their efficiency , utility , and " raison d ' etre , " always rejoice when Freemasonry

developes nobly and fully its utilitarian and beneficent programme , as in this way , and this way alone , fully confident of the love and affection of its own members , it best illustrates its own meaning and reality , and best commends itself to the appreciation and admiration of an often doubting or sneering , and once openly hostile , world . If the old opposition and petty

sarcasms in the world without , and of mundane writers have gradually faded out and given way , it is to be attributed , we venture to think , mainly , if not entirely to those higher and more beneficent attributes of good , utility , and help , which English Freemasonry in these latter days has openly taken up , and consistently carried out .

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .

PLACING THE CORNER STONE OF THE NEW MEMORIAL HALL BY THE BARONESS BURDETT-COUTTS .

Tuesday last was an eventful day in the annals of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys at Wood Green , it having been selected for placing the corner-stone of the new Assembl y Hall in connection with the Preparatory School buildings , which are rapidly approaching completion . The ceremony was performed by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts , who is a

Vice-President of the Institution , in the presence of—for the time of year—a numerous and distinguished assemblage of the Craft . During the afternoon the sun shone brilliantly , and a fresh breeze served to keep the bunting with which the grounds were profusely decorated in lively motion , and to make the atmosphere cool and refreshing . As our readers are aware ,

the erection of this latest addition to the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys is the outcome of a long-expressed desire for an extension of the advantages of the Institution as originally devised , by increased accommodation for the maintenance and education of children of a more tender age than have

hitherto been received , and for others who , from various causes , may be unable to do justice to the educational benefits at present provided , but for whom a sound education of a more moderate nature , and of a less expensive character , may prove valuable , and be attended with successful