Freemasonry In 1899.

Beach , M . P ., Prov . G . Master of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , who , having announced Lord Amherst ' s appointment as M . W . Pro G . Master , directed that the usual deputation should be formed , and escort his lordship into G . Lodge , and his lordship having been so introduced and taken the prescribed obligation

was invested with the insignia of his office , saluted with the customary honours under the direction of Bro . Thomas Fenn , Past G . W ., acting G . D . of C . ancl placed in the chair of Grand Lodge by Bro . Beach ,-who then took the seat of Past Grand Master . Thus by a remarkable coincidence Bro . Beach had the honour of

installing as Pro G . Master one whom it hael fallen to his lot to initiate into Freemasonry some 43 years previously in the Westminster and Keystone Lodge , No . ro . The newly-appointed Pro G . Master at once proceeded to obligate , invest , and instal the Earl of Warwick in the office he himself had just vacated as

Deputy G . Master . Attention was then called to a message from the M . W . G . Matser , in which his Royal Highness recommended that the Grand Lodge of Peru having restored the Volume of Sacred Law to its place upon the Altar ancl in the ritual , was entitled to recognition as " a true and lawful MasdTiic body , " and

the resolution embodying these views and recognising thc Grand Lodge of Peru was put and carried nem con . Subsequently , the Grand Lodge adopted the Report of the Board of General Purposes , and , in so doing , confirmed the arrangements which the Board had entered into for the extension of the Grand Lodge

buildings by the demolition of certain houses which were its property , and also for the purchase of certain additional premises . It must also be added , that in view of the very large attendance of brethren , who were expected to record their votes for the contested election of Grand Treasurer for the ensuing year , Grand

Lodge met at 2 p . m ., and from that time forward till a quarter past seven , a continuous stream of members entered , and , having placed their voting papers in the ballot boxes , retired . The rival candidates were Bros . A . H . Bevan and Harry Manfield , and when the Scrutineers handed in their report it was found

that the former had been elected by a substantial majority , the number of votes recorded being'close on 2350 On the 26 th April , Grand Lodge held its annual Grand Festival when the new Grand Officers were appointed and invested , the clay concluding with the Grand Feast , arranged by the G . Stewards at

Freemasons Tavern , among the visitors of distinction being Bros . General J . Corson Smith , Past G . Master of Illinois , and Major F . W . Allan , S . G . Warden of the Grand Lodge of Scotland . The one point of difference between this ancl the majority of preceding Grand Festivals , will be found in the , bestowal of

brevet rank as Past G . Officers on 25 prominent Masons in commemoration of its being the 25 th anniversary of the Prince of Wales's installation as M . W . G . Master , among the brethren thus honoured being Bros , the Hon . Mr . Justice Bigham , Mr . Justice Bucknill , and Sir John Edge , late Chief Justice of the

N . W . Provinces of India , who were severally made Past G . Wardens ; the Hon . anel Very Rev . the Dean of Hereford , the Rev . R . Peek aiul thc Rev . E . R . Parr , who were appointed as Past G . Chaplains , and G . Pitt-Lewis , Q . C , appointed a Past G . Deacon . At the June Communication , the business of chief moment had reference to a motion of which Bro . Frank

Richardson had given notice , that Article 137 ol the Book of Constitutions , reepiring that the Masters and Wardens of London Lodges should sign their names in a book provided for the purpose in the Grand Secretary ' s office before being allowed to take their seats in Grand Lodge , shoulel

be expunged . Bro . Richardson pointed out that the law , which was enacted about a century previously , pressed very unfairly on the London lodges , ancl Grand Lodge being of thc same opinion , adopted the resolution all but unanimously At the September Communication , a message from his Royal Highness , the M . W .

Granel Master ,-to the effect that he hael been pleased to appoint tlie Right Hon . Lord Kitchener of Khartoum , Past Grand Warden of England , District G . Master of Egypt ancl the Soudan , was received with loud applause , ancl the report of the Board of Benevolence having been adopted , there arose a

very interesting discussion on that part of the report of the Board of General Purposes , in which it was recommended that the irregularities committed by the Cambrian Lodge , No . 6 56 , New South Wales , under circumstances of acknowledged emergency , should be condoned . The discussion was initiated

oy Earl Carrington , Past Prov . G . Master of Buckinghamshire , who had served as the last Dist . G . Master of New South Wales , under the English Constitution , ancl had been elected and installed the first M . W . G . Master of the United Grand Lodge of

New South Wales , at its formation in 1888 . Doubts appear to have arisen as to thc formality of the discussion , but Lord Carrington was , by the courtesy of the Earl of Warwick , the presiding Grand Master , and Grand Lodge , given the necessary opportunity for addressing a meetin , and spoke very warmly , and irom his knowledge of the circumstances attending the establish-

Freemasonry In 1899.

ment of the New South Wales , witli great weight as to the harm which was likely to be done by allowing the Cambrian Lodge , No . 656 , to hold itself aloof from the N . S . Wales G . Lodge . But though mueh sympathy was felt for his lordship ' s opinion , there

was a still stronger feeling exhibited in favour of adopting the report of the Board of General Purposes , ancl with it of course , the Board's recommendation in favour of the Cambrian Lodge , and there the matter ended . At the recent Communication on

the Gth December , there were the usual nominations for the offices of Grand Master and G . Treasurer for the ensuing year , the Prince of Wales , being as a matter of course , the only nominee for the former , while for the latter Bro . Harry Manfield was nominated . The report of the Board of General Purposes

in which it was recommended that 20 lodges , as enumerated , heretofore under the jurisdiction of United Grand Lodge of England , but which have placed themselves under that of the newly-recognised Grand Lodge of New Zealand , should be erased from the register of lodges , was adopted . There were

also two motions , of which notice had been given , one by Bro . the Rev . F . Bethune N . Norman-Lee , Grand Chaplain , for an addition to Article 165 , of the Book of Constitutions , relating to cases in which it was found impossible to hold the regular meetings of lodges on the clays fixed by their bye-laws , while

the other was brought forward by Bro . Sir Reginald Hanson , Bart ., M . P ., Past G . Warden , and was to the effect that the sum of 1000 guineas ( £ 1050 ) , be voted from the funds of Grand Lodge to the Mansion House Transvaal War Fund . As regards

the latter motion , it is needless to say it commanded the sympathy of the entire meeting , and was passed with the utmost enthusiasm , it being referred to the Board of 'Benevolence to decide as to the manner in which the money should be distributed among the several branches of the Fund .

Among the more important events in Craft Masonry that have taken place in London ancl the Provinces the installation of the Earl of Lathom as Prov . G . Master ancl G . Superintendent of West Lancashire , ancl of Lord Stanley , M . P ., as Prov . G . Master of East Lancashire are thc most prominent . The Public Hall , Preston ,

was the scene of the former , and on the ist June , in the presence of some 1500 brethren , his lordship was installed in office in succession to his lamented father as the Grand Master of the largest Province under United Grand Loelge , the ceremony being performed by Earl Amherst , M . W . Pro G . Master—himself the

successor in this capacity of the late Earl—who was assisted b y several of the Officers of Grand Lodge , among whom were the Grand Secretary ancl Bros . R . Wylie , P . G . D ., J . D . Murray , Past G . Treasurer , and Rev . T . Barton Spencer , Past G . Chaplain . The scene was both a brilliant and an impressive one , and when

the new Prov . G . Master had been placed in the chair and reappointed ancl invested Bro . R . Wylie as his Deputy , the regular business of Prov . G . Lodge was proceeded with , and when the reports of the Prov . G . Treasurer and Prov . G . Secretary had been submitted , and the latter hael had an opportunity

of laying before the brethren a detailed—and be it added , a highly satisfactory—account of the stale of Masonry in the Province ancl the flourishing condition of its four Charitable Institutions , a sum of 200 guineas was voted to the " Lord Lathom Memorial Fund , " to' be devoted to the Educational and

Benevolent Institutions of the Province , while a sum of £ 48 was collected in the Hall for the Preston Infirmary . Earlier in the clay Lord Lathom was installed as G . Superintendent b y Comp . Earl Amherst , M . E . Pro Grand Z ., assisted by Comps . E . Letchworth , G . Scribe E . ; R . W . Wylie , P . Prov . G . H . ; W .

Goodacre , Prov . G . Scribe E . ; and others ; a sum of 60 guineas being subsequently voted to the Lathom Memorial Fund . The other installation—that of Bro . Lord Stanley , as Prov . G . Master of East Lancashire , in succession to Bro . Col . Le Gendre N . Starkie , deceased—took place in the Free Trade Hall ,

Manchester , on Friday , the 3 rd November , the Installing Ollicer being the Earl of Lathom , Prov . G . M . West Lancashire , there being on this occasion also , an attendance of visitors of distinction and brethren of the Province tint was in all respects worthy of the second largest Province in the country . In the course ol the

proceedings clue honour was paid to the memory of the late Bro . Col . Starkie , ancl it was announced that Lord Stanley had consented to preside at a Festival to be held in the month of Mav next , on behalf of the Systematic Masonic liducational ancl Benevolent Institution of the Province , and that it was intended

to appropriate out of the amount then raised the sum of 1550 guineas with which to purchase a Perpetual Presentation to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution as a memorial of the virtues and Masonic services of their late Chief . The

Province of Nottinghamshire has been also fortunate , there having been two gatherings during the year at which honour was paid to his Grace the Duke of Portland , who was installed its Grand Master during the session of 1898 , in succession to the Duke of St . Albans . The