Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS— PAGE . The Festival of Wednesday Next ... ... ... ... 7 ' The Past G . Master of Canada ... ... ... ... ... 71 " Our Veteran General" ... ... ... ... ... 72 First Ladies' Night of the Alfred Newton Lodge , No . 26 S 6 ... ... 72 First Annual Supper of the Brondesbury Lodge of Instruction , No . 269 S ... 72 16

Ladies' Night of the Crichton Lodge , No . 41 ... ... ... 72 Masonic Ball at Cromer ... ... ... ... ... "" ... 73 Ladies' Night of the Ebury Lodge , No . 134 S ... ... ... ... 73 Masonic Banquet to the Mayor of Carlisle ... ... ... ... 73 St . Culhbert ' s Lodge , No . 1902 ... ... ... ... ... 74 General Committee of Grand Lodge and Board of Benevolence ... ... 74 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 74

MASONIC N OTESConsecration of the Grove Park Lodge , No . 2732 ... ... ... 77 Death of Bro . Lieut .-Col . A . B . Cook ... ... ... ... 77 Death of Bro . C . W . Hudson ... ... ... ... ... 77 Annual Festival of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement ... ... 77

Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 78 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 78 Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... ... 7 S Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 7 S Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 81 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... Si Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Si Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... Sz

The Festival Of Wednesday Next.

THE FESTIVAL OF WEDNESDAY NEXT .

A week hence it will be our privilege to report the result that has attended the very strenuous efforts which for several months past have been made on behalf of the Anniversary Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , and we

sincerely hope that result will prove satisfactory in every way , not only to our R . W . Bro . Lord LLANGATTOCK , Prov . G . Master of South Wales ( E . D . ) , who has so kindly undertaken to preside as Chairman , and the Board of Stewards which is so

energetically assisting him in his task , but also to the Institution itself , which , for reasons that have already been explained , failed last year to obtain the amount of support it is , ordinarily , in a position to secure . Present auguries are certainly favourable to a

good round subscription list . According to the latest information obtainable , the Secretary—Bro . JAMES TERRY—has succeeded in enlisting the services of some 435 ladies and brethren as Stewards for Wednesday next , while in 1897 , when

his Royal Highness the Duke of CONNAUGHT , Past G . Master , Prov . G . M . of Sussex , presided as chairman , the number of those who acted as such was 432 , and these amongst them had the satisfaction of raising the splendid total of £ 19 , 000 .

But a Royal Chairman with a strong Board of Stewards at his back might reasonably be expected to secure a generous response to his advocacy , more especially as the year 18 97 had not been preceded by one in which

exceptional demands from other quarters had been made upon the purses of the brethren . Hence , we must not look , as a matter of course , for a big return , merely because Bro . TERRY ' efforts in obtaining the help of brethren as Stewards

have been more successful than might have been expected . All we can do is to hope that , as both London and the Provinces are fairly well represented , the total of the Donations and Subscriptions which it will be the duty of the Secretary to announce

on the eventful evening will be commensurate with the number and energy of those who , at the moment we are writing this brief article , are no doubt still engaged in the task of trving to

bring " grist to the mill" of our Benevolent Institution . We , too , arc not without hope that our successive earnest appeals for support in behalf of a Charity which annually disburses about £ 16 , 500 in annuities to aged brethren and

The Festival Of Wednesday Next.

widows , and which invariably has an immense number of . can ? didates for the benefits it dispenses always on its lists , may bq at least as successful as in former years . There are , indeed , two grand reasons why those appeals should be responded tq generously—the cause we have been advocating is a good one , and this year the needs of the Institution are greater than usual .

The Past G. Master Of Canada.

THE PAST G . MASTER OF CANADA .

When , in July last , Bro . WM . GlBSON vacated the office of M . W . G . Master of Canada ( Province of Ontario ) , and was succeeded by Bro . E . T . MALONE , the Grand Lodge resolved on recognising the great services he had rendered to the Craft in the Dominion , and for that purpose appointed a Committee composed of the

Dep . G Master ( Bro . R . B . HuNGERFORD ) , the Grand Treasurer ( Bro . HUGH MURRAY , Past G . M . ) , and the Grand Secretary ( Bro . J . J . MASON ) , to consider and report as to the best way of paying Bro . GlBSON the honour to which he was so justly entitled . The result of their deliberations was made apparent

at a meeting of the Barton Lodge , No . 6 , Hamilton , on the 28 th December last , when , in the presence of the Grand Master and a large gathering of G . Officers , as well as of the members of Barton Lodge—in which Bro . GlBSON first saw the light of some 28 years ago—the Deputy G . Master , on behalf not only of

Masonry the Committee , but also of the officers and members of Grand Lodge , formally presented him with a magnificent cabinet of silver ware . A plate on the cabinet bore an appropriate inscription , while accompanying the gift was an address in album form , beautifully illuminated and engraved , in which the services of Bro . GniSON in the various offices

he had filled , but more especially in that of Grand Master , 1 S 9 6-98 , were extolled , and the feelings of respect and gratitude entertained towards him were expressed in terms of simple and unadorned eloquence . When the ceremony of presentation was ended , and Past Grand Master GlBSON had

returned his thanks for the honour done him , the representatives of the Grand Lodge , on the invitation of the members of the Barton Lodge , partook of a banquet , which had been prepared for them , at the Royal Hotel , and there , in the course of the after-dinner proceedings , a number of eloquent speeches

were made , all tending in the one direction of bearing testimony to the zeal and ability which Bro . GlBSON had exhibited throughout his whole Masonic career . The recipient of these honours , on rising to acknowledge them , was greeted with the most enthusiastic cheers . Naturally he reiterated the , thanks he

had returned in the lodge ; but the greater part of his speech was occupied , firstly , in sketching briefly the career of the Lodge at whose hospitable board they were seated , and then in extolling the splendid benevolent work that was being done by the Craft

in the jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge , as well as the cordial relations which ' had always existed between it and the American Grand Lodges ; in evidence of which he mentioned that the first Grand Master of Canada had

to Detroit to be installed , and also that only a few months since a deputation from the Grand Lodge of Michigan had visited their Grand Lodge and presented it with a set of working tools . The speaker concluded his eloquent remarks by some very happy references to the Grand Lodge of England and its

illustrious Grand Master , and after other speeches all couched in the same strain , the brethren rose and one of the most pleasant Masonic functions , of which it has been our good fortune to

read , was at an end . We owe it as a duty to a very \ vorihy contemporary to state that the particulars from which we have framed our article will be found in the Canadian Craftsman for last month .