Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADER— I-AUU Our Brethren of the Transvaal ... ... ... ** " •••" % pi The Lodge Room ... .. ... •••••¦ — _ " 35 The Knights Templar Christmas Observance ... ... ... •••*¦; ° 30 Art and the Drama ... ... ... •¦••••- , p 7 Provincial Grand Lodge of Leicestershire and Rutland ... ... —^ . 37 IRELAND— ' ' : '''^ T ;

Grand Lodge ... ... ... - •¦••••6 i s Freemasonry at Abergavenny ... ... ... ••••¦•6 39 Secret Monitor ( Grand Council ) ... ... •••••••••6 39 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... — •¦•^ 4 ° MASONIC NOTESConsecration of St . Alban ' s Lodge , No . 27 S 6 ... ... ... ^ 4 * Lord Kitchener of Khartoum Lodge , No . 2767 ... ... ... f > 43 Monthly Meeting of the Committee of Management of the Royal Masonic

Benevolent Institution ... ... ... ... •••G 43 Presentation by the Cambrian Lodge of Australia to Bros . R . Eve , S . R . Baskett , and W . F . Lamonby ... ... ... ... (" 43 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ••••¦•( 44 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ••••••644 Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... ... G 44 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... •••¦••644

The Craft Abroad ... ... ... ... ... ... 646 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... •¦•... C 146 Cryptic Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... ^ 47 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... (" 47 Instruction ... ... ... ... ... ... ... < * 47 Ancient and Accepted Rite ... ... ... ... ... f * 47 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... G 50

Our Brethren Of The Transvaal.

OUR BRETHREN OF THE TRANSVAAL .

We have frequently had occasion to remark on thc wonderful progress which Freemasonry has made in the Transvaal , but more especially since the year 18 95 , when the Republic was erected into a District under the English Constitution , and R . W .

Bro . GEORGE RICHARDS was appointed by his Royal Highness the M . W . Grand Master to preside over it as District Grand Master . The introduction of the Craft into this part of South Africa dates from no very remote past , the senior lodge on the

District roll being the Iransvaal , No . 174 . 7 , which meets in Pretoria , the capital of the Republic , and was consecrated in 18 7 8 , when the Transvaal was a part of British South Africa . The establishment of this lodge was . however , followed bv several

years of serious internal disorder , and it was not till 1888 that matters settled down somewhat , and warrants for three lodges —the Johannesburg , No . 2313 ; thc El Dorado , No . 2314 , Zeerust ; and the Prince Alfred , No . 2315 , Klerksdorp—were

applied for and granted . Between this date and 18 95 the number of lodges was increased to about a dozen , but since then , when , as we have said , the Transvaal was formed into a District , and a District Grand Lodge organised under Bro . RICHARDS

as District Grand Master , the rate of progress has been amazing , and there are now on the roll quite double the number in existence at the time of his appointment . But , in addition , there is likewise a number of Scottish and Dutch

lodges , and also a few Irish lodges at Johannesburg , so that there are here , as elsewhere in S . Africa , lodges of as many as four different Constitutions , which heretofore have worked side

by side together in peace and harmony , each of the four groups of lodges exerting themselves , both severally and collectivel y , to the utmost of their power to strengthen and advance the interests of our Order .

We have said there , are some 25 lodges on thc roll of thc English Dist . Grand Lodge , and if we allow an average of 50 members per lodge , we arrive at the very respectable aggregate of about 1200 , allowing for those brethren who may be members of more

than one lodge ; and of these , as we have been informed b y Bro . RICHARDS himself , some four-lifihs are of English , and the remaining fifth of Dutch nationality . But the war now raging in S . Africa has utterly destroyed the serenity of this beautiful scene of brethren of different nationalities ,

Our Brethren Of The Transvaal.

different political aspirations , and different ideas and habits of life dwelling together in unity . The lodges , we are informed by the same high authority , are in recess , and the English fourfifths of the Masonic community have found themselves under thc necessity of abandoning their homes and household gods

and seeking refuge in Cape Colony or Natal , or wherever else it mig ht be in their power to find shelter . On the sufferings , by the way , of these English Masons and their wives and families , in common with the wholebody of British refugees from the Transvaal , there is no need for us to dwell ; they have been alread y described in thc columns of the daily Press with a realism that is

more than painful . What we are desirous of impressing upon our readers is that these Refugee English brethren were but a few months ago in receipt of comfortable incomes , ranging , in very many cases , from £ 400 and £ 500 upwards , ar . d in some instances to £ 1000 a year , while , as they were all of them

subscribing members of lodges , wc take it they were at least in reputable circumstances . Now they are homeless and without occupation , while the majority are destitute of even the simplest necessaries of life . They do not , as a rule , belong to that class of people who go about proclaiming their misfortunes from the

housetops , but are rather of those who endure their sufferings in secret . Moreover , they are , after all , but a very small minority of thc thousands upon thousands of people who , owing to the same cause , are in the same terrible plight . But they are our brethren in distress , and to us , as members of the same ancient

and honourable society , their misfortunes , if not their voices , appeal with tenfold force ; nor shall we be discharging our duty as Masons if wc do not extend to them the hand of fellowship with a something in it that will , at least , enable them to tide over their present

difficulties until peace is restored and they are again in a position to help themselves . Special grants have before now been made to brethren in various of our Colonies and in foreign countries , who have suffered from lire and flood and other similar calamities ; and there is equal , if not far greater , reason

why we should succour our distressed brethren of the Transvaal who have been among the first to sufTer from a War that is being waged against the supremacy of our common country in South Africa . The District Grand Master of the Transvaal , in the exercise of his judgment and with that fuller knowled ge of the

circumstances which he necessarily possesses , considers the time has arrived when a special appeal in behalf of the suffering Masons under his government may with propriety be made to their brother Masons in England . He has addressed that appeal for help to the generosity of the English Craft through the medium

of our columns , and we trust that appeal will not have been made in vain . Be it added , as regards ourselves , that we shall gladly do all in our power to promote the object which Bro . RICHARDS is desirous of attaining , by opening , as he requests ,

a Subscribers' List 111 our columns for a Fund in aid of our brethren of thc Transvaal . Our R . W . Brother has sent us already a donation of £ 100 with which to inaugurate the Fund , and by next week , perhaps , we shall be in a position to announce our lirst list of subscribers .

The Lodge Room.

THE LODGE ROOM .

III . THE GAVEL .

[ COMMUNICATED ] . There are several implements in the lodge room which at one time or another are described as gavels , not only by unlearned brethren , but even by well-informed Worshi pful Masters . It is , for instance , not at all unusual for the gavel to