Freemasonry In 1899.

special service held in Portadown Church on behalf of what is known as thc Century Fund which is being raised by the Irish brethren for their Orphan Boys' School at Dublin , while three days later Bro . Sir James C . Meredith , Dep . G . Master , laid with full Masonic ceremonial the foundation stone : of the new Masonic

llall at Lurgan , there being a numerous attendance of Grand and Provincial Grand Officers to do honour to the occasion . A ^ ain , in September , the Worshipful Master , officers , and many of the members of the Blagdon Lodge , No . 659 , Blyth , in the Province of Northumberland , paid a three davs' visit to the City

of Belfast ancl neighbourhood , the members of the Irish lodges vicing with each other in their efforts to show hospitality to their Jiii'dish Masonic visitors and affording them such an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the attractions of the capital of Ulster as must have gladdened the hearts of our Blagdon

brethren . This is not the first time , and we trust will not bc the last , when our Irish ancl Northumbrian brethren have fraternised together . It remains for us to add that a new edition of the Irish Book of Constitutions has been issued during the year under the auspices of Bro . Dr . Chetwode Crawley .-

THE COLONIES , & c . There are no districts in our Colonial Empire which come under thc jurisdiction of our Grand Lodge , nor any foreign States in which English Freemasonry has bcen established which have not had their share of the prosperity which it has been the good fortune of our Craft to enjoy . Warrants for one new Lodge and

two Royal Arch Chapters have bcen granted in the East Indies , and one of the latter—the Chapter of St . George , No . 549 , Bombay—was inaugurated under exceptionally favourable prospects , its three Principals' chairs , being occupied by Comps . Lord Sandhurst , M . E . Z ., the Hon . Mr . Justice Parsons , IL , ancl

I . M . Shields . J . But in all thc District Grand Lodges into which India is parcelled out , notwithstanding the difficulties which operate in Indian Masonry owing to the sudden transfer of men from one station to another , the lodges , chapters , and other Masonic bodies have fared on the whole satisfactorily .

Our brethren in Bombay have reason to congratulate : themselves on the acquisition of a new Masonic Mall , which was solemnly dedicated to thc purposes of Masonry , on the 25 th March , by His Excellency Lord Sandhurst , in his dual capacity of Pro Dist . G . Mastcr under the Emrlish Constitution and G . Master

of All Scottish Freemasonry in India . Mis Lordship ' s influence in obtaining the site and raising the funds for the erection of the Hall very materially contributed to thc success of a scheme on which thc brethren in the city and district generally had long set . their hearts , nor must we pass unheeded the

valuable services rendered by Bro . I ) . R . Chickgur , whose zeal for the project knew no bounds , ancl to whom the hrethren presented a handsome testimonial in recognition of his labours . A similar project is on foot among onr Bengal brethren for the

erection of a new hall in Calcutta , and already sufficient funds have been obtained to pay for the site , and at the same time to leave sufficient in hand with which to commence building operations , but the Dist . G . Mastcr—Bro . Sir II . Thob y Prinsep—has advised that having regard to the state of the

money market , no undue haste should be shown in realising their investments , and the brethren have very wisely taken the advice . In the Punjab , Lieut .-Gen . Sir G . IL Wolseley has been succeeded as Dist . G . Master and G . Superintendent , by Sir Powell Palmer , while our Burma brethren have to lament

the loss of Bro . Mutter , Dep . Dist . G . Master , whose death occurred in August , and who has been succeeded by Bro . Dr . N . N . Parakh . The Eastern Archipelago , loo , has had the misfortune to lose ils able and popular chief , Bro . Sir Charles B . II . Mitchell , G . C . M . G ., Dist . G . Master , who died at Singapore from a stroke of paralysis on Thursday , thc 7 th December . As regards

Freemasonry In 1899.

the several Educational Associations in India which have been in existence for many years , ancl proved highl y beneficial in helping the children of deceased and indigent Masons , they have been invariably well supported , so that in our benefits it confers as well as in its organisation , the Craft in the Eastern Empire

has done well in 18 99 . In South Africa , such news as we have received from time to time is far from discouraging , but it is inevitable that many of our brethren must suffer from the war now raging in that portion of Her Majesty ' s Dominion . However , warrants for six new Craft Lodges ancl three R . A .

Chapters have been granted , and of these , three lodges and two chapters are or will be located in the Transvaal , while in Ladysmith , which is now surrounded b y the Boer armies , the foundation stone of a new Masonic Mali was laid by Bro . Wesley Francis , Dist . G . Master of Natal , on the 20 th

September , only a few days before thc war broke out , and about thc same time Bro . T . Cook inaugurated a new Mark Lodge at the same station . While , however , it is hardly to be expected that Masonry will be able to prosecute its labours in South Africa while the war is in progress wc are not without

hope that consistently with their allegiance , the brethren may have it in their power to do something towards mitigating the suffering which a state of war engenders . In Queensland ancl Western Australia , which still remain in their old allegiance , considerable progress has been made , but more especially by

the latter . In Queensland there have been warranted " one English and two Scottish lodges together with one English R . A . chapter , two Mark , and two Royal Ark Mariner lodges , under the Mark Grand Lodge of England , while in Western Australia nine English ancl seven Scottish lodges have been

sanctioned , an increase which is not improbably connected with the news we published last week that a Grand Lodge is 011 the eve of being founded in the latter Colony . There is , perhaps one circumstance which from its unusual character deserves mention . On the 15 th June , Bro . the Rev . C . 0 . L . Riley , D . D ., name of Walter Rodwell Wri ght , who in the first quarter of the present century , was Prov . G . Master of thc Ionian Islands , ancl was one of the most distinguished members of our Order , while the other is named , very appropriately , the Royal N . ivv Lodge , and ranks as No . 2761 . There is also a new " lodge named the

Abercrombie , and ranking as No . 2788 , placed at St . Lucia in the West Indies , where new lodges are not very frequently constituted . On the other hand , it will be seen from the report of the Board of General Purposes submitted at the Quarterly Communication on Wednesday , the 6 th December , ~ lhat 20

lodges in different parts of thc Colony of New Zealand , have decided on placing themselves under the jurisdiction of the newly-recognised Grand Lodge of New Zealand , and in accordance with the Board ' s recommendation have bcen removed from the roll of United Grand Lodge . The change in their position

however , though it causes a reduction in the number of our Colonial lodges , involves no loss to Freemasonry . But perhaps the most interesting fact in connection with English Masonry Abroad , is the creation of a new District for Egypt and the Soudan , over which his Royal Highness , the M . W . G . Master ,

has been pleased to appoint Bro . Lord Kitchener of Khartoum , P . G . W . of England , to preside as Dist . G . Master . There are already three lodges in Cairo , ancl one at Alexandria , and as the Soudan becomes settled , no doubt we shall hear of applications

to establish new lodges at Khartoum and elsewhere , in equatorial Africa . At all events , we hope so , and that wherever these and our other lodges arc located , good fortune may attend upon the Craft . G . B . ABBOTT . P . P . G . D . Herts .