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Ir ^ gi ^^^& x ^^^^^^^^^^ y ^ i Mfe ^ masoii ^ ^ L ^ -. ' - 1 ' —^ jLtiiiilLinr ^ ZZLlLlir'JMiiPTirtt ^ wT SATURDAY , APRIL 17 , 18 97 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

At the Quarterly Court of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls on the 8 th inst ., the only matters of interest that occurred outside the election of candidates were the announcement , which was made to the great regret of all present , that Bro . Henry Smith , P . G . D ., Past Dep . P . G . M . West Yorkshire , Vice-Patron of the Institution , had expressed a desire to

vacate the office of Treasurer , which he had held since the retirement of the late Bro . Horace Brooks Marshall , Past G . Treas ., and the election of Bro Alderman Sir Reginald Hanson , Bart ., M . P ., Past G . W ., and Vice-Patron , as his successor . . The announcement was , as we have said , received with the utmost regret by the brethren present , and that regret is felt as keenly by the general body of Governors and

Masonic Notes.

Subscribers , but more especially by the members of the House Committee with whom Bro . Smith had been so intimately associated during his tenure of the office .

Bro . Smith has taken a great and active interest in all our Masonic Charitable Institutions . His connection with the Girls' School dates , as he said , from the year 1857 ; that is to say , some four years before the present prosperous era was inaugurated under Miss

Davis , and it was a fitting tribute of respect that was paid by the Court to one who had known the Institution so long , had served it so faithfully , and had so endeared himself to all connected with its administration , when it adopted unanimously the resolution of

thanks , proposed and seconded by Bros . A . C . Spaull and Frank Richardson , respectively , " for his fraternal , kindly , and sympathetic services as Treasurer for the last seven years , during which period of office he has neither grudged nor spared any effort to do all in his power for the welfare of the School and the happiness

of those within its walls . This is praise indeed , of which even Bro . Smith , with all his great services to Freemasonry and its Institutions during a period of 40 years , must feel especially proud , and we trust he may be spared for many years to enjoy that love and respect of which this justly eulogistic resolution is the

expression . # # ? We may also take upon ourselves to congratulate the Institution on the choice which the Governors have made of a successor to Bro . Smith . Bro . Sir Reginald Hanson , Bart ., M . P ., holds high rank in the Craft ,

and has always shown himself a staunch supporter of our Charities . As a public man , Bro . Sir Reginald Hanson has many calls upon his time , but though he may not be able to spare the same close attention to the administration of the School as his predecessor , his sympathy and the influence he will be in a position to command will tell immensely in its favour .

* » * At the Quarterly General Court of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , there was a good deal of business to transact , and besides theelection of candidates for admission into the School there was a contested elec '

tion tofillthe five vacancies on the Board of Management by the retirement of five Provincial brethren , the retiring members being , as provided by the laws of the Institution , re eligible , in the event of their being desirous of serving again , and the Govenors and

Subscribers prepared to return them . However , only four out of the five offered themselves for re-election and they were returned together with Bro . Matthias Barker ( nominated by the Province of Staffordshire ) , vice Bro . VV . H . Bailey , G . Treas ,, who declined to offer himself for further service on the Board .

* » The five thus elected are Bros . W . F . Smithson , M . Barker , John E . Le Feuvre , R . V . Vassar-Smith , and James W . Burgess , this being the order in which their names were placed on the poll when it closed . There are not a few who will regard this re-election of Bro .

Smithson at the head of the poll as something of a rebuff to the Provinces of West Yorkshire and North and East Yorkshire , by which he was nominated . Bro . Smithson , when the question of purchasing a new site for the School was brought forward , staunchly supported it , while the Provinces of which he was the nominee as strenuously opposed it .

* » » We notice also , and the fact is by no means without its significance , that , at the recent meeting at Bradford of the Prov . Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire , the proceedings of which we reported last week

an amendment to the resolution brought forward by Bro . W . C . Lupton for the adoption of the rules and regulations of the new West Yorkshire Masonic Educational and Benevolent Fund was moved by Bro . R . I . Critchley , P . P . G . W ., to the effect that it was not desirable to proceed further with the formation of

such a fund until the lodges had had an opportunity of considering the question . The amendment was ruled to be out of order by the Deputy Prov . Grand Master , who presided at the meeting , but a straw serves to show which way the wind blows , and Bro . Critchley's amendment looks very much like a substantial bundle of straws .

We regret to say that our somewhat sanguine anticipations of steady progress in organising a strong Board of Stewards for the approaching Festival of the R . M . Institution for Girls are somewhat less encouraging than they were two or three weeks ago . Then there was a slight excess over the number at the correspond-

Masonic Notes.

ing period of last year , now there is a sli ght falling off . There is , of course , time between now and the 12 th May for this to be made good . Unfortunatel y , as the day for the celebration approaches , there are those who withdraw their names and in the event of their

being representatives of lodges and chapters there is no time to find new men to fill the vacancies thus caused . We therefore desire to impress upon lodges and chapters which as yet have not appointed Stewards to represent them at this important gathering , to lose no time in doing so . The Institution has succeeded in

obtaining the services of a distinguished and very popular brother as Chairman , and as a compliment to him as well as from the very natural wish that the year of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee may prove exceptionally beneficial to all our Institutions , we hope that a strong Board will be constituted and a strong array of donations and subscriptions compiled .

* Our readers will no doubt share with us in the deep regret we feel at the news that Bro . Thomas R . Arter , a very prominent Mason in Worcestershire and Warwickshire and a most generous and enthusiastic supporter of our Charitable Institutions , succumbed a short

while since to ar . operation undergone while he was under the influence of chloroform . For many years past Bro . Arter's name has figured in the list of Stewards for the Festivals of the three Charities . He had , we believe , just contributed such further sums as were necessary to constitute him a Patron of each ,

and doubtless , had his life been prolonged , he would have continued his generous support . It was , indeed , but the other day that some brethren in Worcestershire , by way of showing their respect for Bro . Arter , combined together and formed a new lodge named in

his honour . But he has gone , and the love and the respect with which his memory is cherished are al ! that are left in Masonry to remind us of his admirable services to Freemasonry and its Institutions . We tender to his son and other relatives and his friends our most respectful sympathy .

* * * We gather from the opening remarks of the Toronto Freemason for last month that our worthy contemporary has just completed a career of 16 years . We heartily congratulate it upon its success so far , and trust that in the future it may meet with the same good fortune as in the past .

The Province of Surrey , under the auspices of Bro . the Earl of Onslow , Prov . Grand Master , would appear to be making considerable head * way . Last week we reported the consecration of a new Lodge—the Albany , No . 2652—at

Kingston-on-Thames , and there w . ere previously 41 lodges on the roll . Kingston , too , must be attracting to itself popularity asa meeting place for lodges , the Albany being the fifth which has its quarters at this well-known riverside resort . The consecration took place on Friday , the 2 nd inst ., and before lodge was closed as many as 10

candidates were proposed , two for joining and eight for initiation , and coupling this with the fact that the lodge has been established in connection with the Albany Club at Kingston , there seems to be good reason for anticipating for it a long and prosperous career . It certainly has our best wishes for its success .

* » * The instances are few in which a brother has taken part in the foundation of a lod ge and survived long enough to be present in spirit , if not in the flesh , at the celebration of its Jubilee , or 50 th Anniversary . One such case , however , was recently brought to our

notice in connection with the St . Matthew ' s Lodge , No . 539 , Walsall , which was founded in 1847 , an ^ report of whose jubilee celebration was published in our columns last week . In this report it was stated that a brother who had assisted at the birth of the lodge was still living , and that an attempt had been

made to induce him to be present at the jubilee , but that , owing to his great age and declining hsalth , he had been compelled to decline the invitation . The absence of this brother on so auspicious an occasion is to be regretted , but the lodge had some compensation

for his absence in the fact that a brother who had become a Mason shortly after the lodge was founded , and occupied its chair as W . M . 42 years ago , had been unanimously chosen to preside during the present year , and was installed in office at this meeting .

* * Two other cases of a similar character occur to us . In 1879 the Hertford Lodge , No . 403 , which was founded in 1829 , celebrated its Jubilee , and the W . Ji , in the chair on the occasion was Bro , Stephen Austin , who had been initiated in the lod ge six weeks after its

constitution , and had remained a subscribing member from that day forward ; and matters were so arranged that Bro . Austin was able to celebrate the jubilee of his initiation at the same time that he presided at the Lodge Jubilee . The other case was that of Bro . the Rev .

S . Lea Wilson , who was installed first W . M . of the Berkhampstead Lodge , No . 504 , in January , 1845 , ani was invited to be present at the jubilee meeting in January , 1895 , age and feeble health being the reasons which prevented him accepting the invitation .