Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

R EPORTS OF MASONIC M EETINGS : — Craft Masonry 321 Royal Arch 322 Scotland : — Consecration of a Royal Arch Chapter in Glasgow ... 323 Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow 323 Royal Visit to Liverpool 324

Masonic Tidings 324 Masonic Notes and Queries 324 Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ... 324 Supreme Grand Chapter 326 Funeral of the Earl of Zetland 328 The Late M . W . Past Grand Master 328

CORRESPONDENCE : — The Cologne Charter 328 The Question of Hereditary Grand Master 328 Grand Officers 328 The Late . Earl of Zetland 328 The Boys' School 328 Within the Centre 329 Bro . Dr . Hodges , Bro . H ., and Bro . Hughan . —Re Province of Cornwall 329 The Earl of Zetland , M . W . P . G . M 329 Reviews 329 Provincial Grand Lodge of East Lancashire 329 Obituary 331 Lodge Meetings for next week 331 Advertisements 319 320 332 333 3 . 34

Reports Of Masonic Meetings.

REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS .

Craft Ulasanrjr . SUNDERLAND . — Williamson Lodge ( No . 949 ) . —The annual meeting of this lotlge was held on Monday , the 5 th inst ., when Bro . J as . H . Coates was re-installed VV . M . for another twelve months . Bro . W . Liddell , I . P . M ., P . G . J . D ., ably officiated as Installing Master . I'he

following is a full list of the officers for the ensuing year , viz .: —Bros . Jas . H . Coates , W . M . ; W . Liddell ; I . P . M . ; ] . Foster , S . W . ; It . Shadforth , J . R . W . Halfhight , P . M ., Treas . ; J . Barlow , Sec . ; A . Gray , S . D . ; J . Harrison , J . D . ; J . Taylor , I . G . ; E . Gardiner , M . of C . ; J . H .

Foster , O . j J . Thompson , Tyler ; E . Beck with and It . Richardson , Stewards ; C . Bell and J . H . P ^ gglestou , Auditors . The lodge being called from labour to refreshment , after the usual loyal and Masonic toasts had been duly honoured , Bro . Liddell , P . M ., proposed , " The Health

of the W . M ., " and expressed his conviction that the affairs of the lodge would be as efficiently conducted in the coming year as Bro . Coates had done in the past year . It was an honour ( Bro . Liddell said ) not accorded to many to be re-elected to the chair of their lodge ;

he only remembered of late years in Sunderland the case of Bro . Wade , who for two years filled the chair of No . 80 , but he was certain that the members of thc Williamson Lodge had done a wise act in placing their W . M . in the chair of K . S . for another year . Bro . Coates , in

responding , warmly thanked the brethren for the honour they had a second time conferred upon him , and assured them that as in the past , so in the future would he continue to do his utmost to promote the interest and prosperity of the Williamson Lodge , and from the experience he gained during

last year ' s working he hoped to be able still more efficiently to perform the duties devolving upon the Master of the lodge . Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather , nearly sixty brethren were present , among whom were Bros . J .

Davison , ! W . M . 80 ; S . J . Wade , . P . M . 80 , P . P . G . D . of C . ; J . S . Pearson , W . M . 04 ; T Henderson , P . M . 94 ; J . J . Clay , P . M . 97 ; H . Fryer , S . D . 97 ; G . Young , 80 ; & c . MANCHESTER . —Shakespeare Lodge , ( No . 1009 ) . —On Monday , the jth inst ., the festival _ r c T _ . _ ' 1 _ i _ . _ J : _ .: ...:. _ . 01 ceieuraieu 111 tuiuiLxiiuu wmi

m . JOHU was this lodge at the Freemasons' Hall . The members assembled in force , and were honoured by the company of a goodly number of distinguished visitors , including Bro . William Romaine Callender , W . D . P . G . M . of East Lancashire . The Worshi p ful Master elect , Bro . Thomas Biddulph , was installed in the chair of Kins Solomon in a

most impressive manner by the Worshipful Deputy l ' rov . Grand Master , assisted by Bros . Past Masters S . W . Petty . P . P . J . G . D . ; Charles Henry Coates , P . M ., Treas ., and J . A . Birch , P . M . After the lodge business was over , the brethren , to the number of about seventy , sat down to a sumptuous banquet served by the Freemasons' Club , in a very elaborate and artistic

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style . The visual loyal toasts were proposed b y the W . M ., and enthusiastically received by the whole of thebrethren . The W . M . also briefly proposed " The Most Noble the Marquess of Ripon M . W . G . M . of England , " and "The Rt . Hon . the Earl of Carnarvon , V . W . D . G . M .

of England . " Bros . Past Masters J . W . Petty , P . P . J . G . D ., and Charles Henry Coates , introduced respectively in very effective speeches , " Col . Le Gendre N . Stafkie , R . W . P . G . M . of East Lancashire , " and " William Romaine Callender Esq ., W . D . G . M . of East Lancashire . "

All these toasts were drunk with the greatest heartiness and greeted with the customary honours . Thc toast which has always been considered the greatest toast of the evening at the annual festivals of this lodge was entrusted to Bro . Chas . E . Austin , P . M ., and D . C . Its

announcement was welcomed with great enthusiasm . Bro . Austin said that the cordial welcome which had been extended in anticipation to the toast he had the honour to submit , did not diminish , but increased the feeling of diffidence with which he addressed them ;

nevertheless it was none the less pleasing , evincing as it did , the unflagging interest which the brethren continued to manifest , in the intimacy of theassneition which subsisted between itand the well-being and success of the lodge . Happily the great fact had never been lost sight of that this lodge

had not simply been baptised in the name , but was consecrated to the genius of their immortal bard . The g lorious banner under which they sailed had not been hastily or thoughtlessl y adopted as unlikely to exert much influence on the character of the lodge ; but it was carefully and wisely chosen i ' or the high tone it would

give , and the ever fresh and inexhaustible fountain of wisdom it would supply . Its selection was inspired by a somewhat similar wish to that expressed in Ben Johnson ' s lines on the portrait of Shakespeare : — " Wherein the graver had a strife , With nature to outdo the life ;

Oh ! could he but have drawn his wit , As well in brass as he hath hit His face ; the print would then surpass All that was ever writ in brass . " It was felt that , however futile the attempt must prove to imitate his sparkling wit , or emulate his

wondrous genius , they might at least hope to catch somewhat of his divine spirit ; unfold themselves as it were in the expansiveness of his grandly catholic mind , and sound the depths of his sublimely sympathetic heart . It was a matter of small moment to their founders whether

Shakespeare had been a member of a Freemason ' s lodge or no . Sufficient it was that his marvellous works were in perfect harmony with the princip les of the order ; that they contained as true a religion , as pure a morality , as lofty a philosophy , and as boundless a charity ; that

he not only understood and taught , but lived out the principles of Masonry , so that it was a happythought to identify this lodge with his deathless name , and seek its inspiration in the matchless products of his mighty mind . The ceremony , which was performed nine years ago was

more than a baptism , it was a betrothal—a union of the divine art of poetry with the mystic Craft of Freemasonry . The installation meetings were as much the reunions of a Shakesperian club as the festivals of a Masonic Lodge . From the outset they had been regaled

with a sumptuous intellectual feast in the introduction of this great toast . Discourses had been delivered of great power and varied styles , differing as did the impetuous mountain torrent from tne serenely placid stream in the vale beneath ; some carrying them triumphantly

forward with a rushingly brilliant flood of rhetoric , others winning their hearts and captivating their minds with a quiet , even , melodious flow of metaphor and simile . But if he ( Bro . Austin ) experienced a feeling of diffidence in handling this toast , because of the successes

which his predecessors had achieved , and the large expectations in which the brethren naturally enough indulged , how much more was that feeling increased by the nature and magnitude of the toast itself . In the first placv it was difficult to bring oneself to appioach the subject at all . Almost in propor-

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tion to the reverence they had for Shakespeare was the disinclination that was felt to speak of him . Perhaps it was because the delight he gave them was so inexpressibly sweet : he was a near and dear friend with whom they loved to commune , but were shy of talking about . And

then again his genius was so vast ; its range so illimitable : like Juliet ' s bounty , boundless as the sea , and like her love , as deep . To speak for a short time upon it was like making a first and flying visit to a new and charming country . It was impossible they conld even glance at

a thousandth part of its beauties in the limited time at their disposal ; and although they could not do wrong , strike which way they might , delight awaited them , as the country was rich with every variety of scenery which could please the eye , gratify the taste , or strike the

imagination;—the charmingly sweet , the fantastically grotesque , the touchingly beautiful , the grandly picturesque , and the awfully sublime ; still , the very infinitude of variety puzzled thein in their choice as much as it dazzled and delighted

them . In the few remarks he should make , lie should not attempt to proceed upon any particular road , but should ramble hither and thither without plan , though he trusted , not without purpose . It had , no doubt , occured to many of them what a vast difference there was between

the pleasure of seeing Shakespeie ' s plays represented on the stage , and the indescribable felicity of a quite perusal of them at home . It was because he was such a truly great poet that this was and must bs so . There were among his admirers , those who owed their acquaintance

with him solely to the representations of his plays upon the stage . Such people could never really know him . Indeed thev lost the better part of him . They were utterly unacquainted with his deeply spiritual and divinely poetical nature , which was his most endearing characteristic . Even in the historical plays , which least appealed

to the imagination , they were exhorted to " Piece out our imperfections with yourthoughtsj Into a thousand parts divide one man . And make imaginary puissance . Think when we talk of horses , that you see them Printing their proud hoofs in the receiving earth . " And again ,

" Still be kind And eke out our performance with your mind . " If imagination was necessary to the proper comprehension of such plays as " Henry the Fifth , " how essential was it in such enchantingly charming creations of the fancy as " The Tempest , " and the " iMid . suturner Nights' Dream . " These

inimitable productions were poems—poems of an ethereal lightness and beauty , which could neither be understood nor thoroughly appreciated in the theatre . It was only at the fireside that they could give the reins to the imagination , and unreservedly revel in their charms . Theseus

says , " The lunatic , the lover , and the poet , Are of imagination all compost . One sees more devils than vast hell can hold , That is , the madman , the lover all as frantic , See ' s Helen ' s beauty in a brow of Egypt .

The poet ' s eye , in a line frenzy rolling , Doth glance from Heaven to Earth , from Earth to Heaven , And , as imagination bodies forth , The forms of things unknown , thepoet ' spen , Turns them to shapes , and gives to airy

nothing A local habitation and a name . " Thc sympathetic Ariel who flies on a bat ' s back , and lies in a cowslip ' s bell ; the wanton Puck who lurks in a gossip ' s bowl , and the fairy elves who hide in acorn cups , were not beings to represent on

the stage in the form of flesh and blood , but beautiful poetical creations , " airy nothings" which could only properly be seen by ths * ' mind ' s eye . " They partook more of the character of personifications , than impersonations , notwithstanding their wonderful individuality . These remarks did not simply apply to the fairy pieces , but to

the comedies generally , and the tragedies in particular . In fact not a play 1 h . 1 t Shakespeare had written , but read infinitely better than it could ever be represented , however great the actor might be , however deep he might have studied , and howevet thoroughly he mig ht comprehend such wonderful voles as those of " Macbeth , "