Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS , 2 j Hro . Hughan ' s New Work 26 Consecration of the West Ham Abbey , . „ ,.,, , Lodge , No . 2291 , at Stratford 26 Consecration of the Empire Chapter , No . 210 S 27 Bro . Broadley "At Home" 29 Coming of Age of Mr . R . Percy Clowes ... 29 ~ & - > ¦ —J Obituary 29 Theatres 30

CORRESPONDENCEHistory of No . 246 , Cheltenham 31 Yl Rule ?« " "•' 3 * Notes and Queries % 2 RBPORTS OF MASONIC ME * TINQICraft Masonry 32 Instruction 37 Royal Arch 37 S $ - f 7 , Maso ? ry ¦ , •, -- .- " •. 3 ' Red Cross of Rome anil Constantine 37 Masonic and General Tidings 38 Lodge Meetings for Next Week iv

Ar00101

The IT IS to be regretted that at the most critical period in tbe R toe oient w ^ ° ' e year > when the officers of the Royal Masonic ] Benevolent Institution . Institution and those brethrenjwhohave volunteered their services as Stewards at its approaching Festival are using their utmost endeavours

to raise the necessarily large sum required for the expenditure of the coming year , there should be found brethren so car eless , or so ignorant of the consequences which are likely to follow from their conduct , as to have chosen this particular period for publicly denouncing , or , at all events , for gravely calling in question , the management of the authorities of this particular

Charity . We have no intention of claiming for these latter , nor , so far as our experience goes , that they ever , themselves , set up a claim that they are above and beyond the pale of just and reasonable criticism ; but , in accordance with an old and true saying , there is a time and place for everything , and though it is no part of our duty to determine the time when , and the place

where , the administration of the Royal Masonic Benevolent , or either of the other Masonic Institutions , may be justly and reasonably criticised , we have no scruple in asserting that it isnot within six weeks of the day appointed for its Anniversary Festival , when , as we have already said , all its officers and those who have given their services as Stewards are straining every

uerve to raise the required amount of supplies for the ensuing year . Our readers do not need to be reminded that the report and accounts which are now , for the first time , being publicly and violently criticised , were submitted and adopted withoutquestionatthe Annual General Meeting ofthe Governors and Subscribers of the Institution , held in the great hall of Freemasons '

Tavern on the 18 th May , 1888 , and were further submitted , in accordance with Rule 47 of the Rules and Regulations , and passed—similarly , without question—at the Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge , on the 6 th June following . The Committee oi Management have held their monthly meetings at Freemasons' Hall , as usual , since the said report

and accounts were made public , but no complaint about extravagance in administering the Funds of the Charity has ever been made , either orally or in writing , by any Governor or Subscriber , nor has any attempt been made by any body of Governors to call a Special General Meeting , in accordance with the provisions of Rule 8 , for the purpose of discussing the

question of expenditure . It cannot be asserted that such a discussion would have been inopportune at the Annual General Meeting , in May last , or when the accounts and report were submitted to Grand Lodge in the following month of June ; or that nearly eight months out of 12 are not a sufficiently long interval in which to prepare and bring before the proper

tribunal almost any number of charges against the Executive of extravagance or other form of mismanagement . Yet all these months liave been allowed to pass without , as far as we know , a complaint of any kind having been laid before the governing body of the Institution , nor has a whisper of discontent that we are aware of with the present condition of things been

heard of in any quarter—except , it may be , amongst those who make grumbling about everything and everybody the be-ail and end-all of their existence . And then , when everyone is hoping that the difficulties which

are inevitable in the attempt to raise annually so large a sum as £ 15 , will be overcome , down comes a whole avalanche of inflammatory criticism , which is certain to make the existing difficulties greater , and to add to their number as well . However , it is not our intention to assist the authors of those

criticisms in their ill-timed crusade against the authorities of the Benevolent Institution . It is enough for us to point out that last week we considered it our duty to urge upon the friends and well-wishers of this Charity the necessity of doing their utmost by supporting its officers and Stewards , to ensure the success of the Festival , which will take place on the 27 th February

next . This week we repeat the exhortation , but with greater emphasis than ever , because the need for their co-operation has been made more imperative by reason of these charges . The authorities cannot deal with complaints of which they have no official cognisance , and we have shown there has been ample time for such complaints to have been laid before them ;

nor , however easy it may be for them to meet these allegations of extravagance , would it be more dignified on their part , or the interval between now and the date of the Festival long enough to allow of any such refutation obtaining the necessary amount of publicity in order to make it of any

value . We therefore impress upon our readers that it is their duty to resent this ignorant and ill-timed criticisim by supporting the Executive and Stewards of the Benevolent Institution in their efforts to make the coming Festival a success . There will be plenty of time for a reply When the Anniversary is past ,

Ar00102

WE congratulate the members of this young but flourishing Chiswick Lodge , lodge on the success of its recent installation meeting . It 1 o . 2012 . yigs a * - jy ( * some excellent work , especially in aid of our various Charitable Institutions , during the five years of its existence and under the auspices of so influential a man as its nevvly-instalied W . M .,

Bro . Lord GEORGE HAMILTON , M . P ., there is every reason to hope that its career will be still more prosperous . His lordship is a member of a family which has made its mark in Masonry , his father , the late Duke of ABERCORN , and his elder brother , the present Duke , having been both of them English and Irish Craftsmen , and both of them elected to the Grand

Mastership of Ireland . Other members have been , or now are , Masons , and though it is not to be expected that his lordship , as one of her MAJESTY ' S Ministers , will have much leisure to devote to the pursuits oi Masonry , there can be no doubt he will do all in his power to promote its welfare , and especially the welfare of the Chiswick Lodge , No . 2012 , over which he has just been called upon to preside as Master .

* . * WE dare say it has surprised many people , as , indeed , it has Empire Chapter , surprised us , that some of the busiest professional men of our ' 0 l 2 I ° ' day are also among the most active members of our Society . It is certain that men who have attained great eminence in the legal and

medical professions never , as a rule , have a moment to spare—a moment which they can reasonably call their own—and yet it is from the ranks of these two particular callings that some of our brighest and most particular Masonic stars have been recruited . Bros . MCINTYRE , Q . C , PHILBRICK , Q . C , SAMUEL POPE , Q . C , the late Dr . ALFRED MEADOWS , and others

we might name , are cases in point , and the same may be said of Bro . LENNOX BROWNE , F . R . C . S ., who , though his Masonic career is of comparatively recent origin , has already made his mark in our Fraternity as the founder of one of our most successful lodges—the Empire , No . 2108 —which is intended for brethren having relations with , or hailing from , the

colonies ; and who has still more recently figured as a founder of the Royal Arch Chapter attached to and bearing the name of that lodge . We congratulate Bro . LENNOX BROWNE on the successful manner in which he has fulfilled his duties as a Mason , and we trust the future may have in store for him many other opportunities of winning distinction .

* „ ., „ , WE have already remarked on the almost complete unanimity llie Grand . - * ' . ¦ ' Lodge of New with which the proposal lor the establishment of an independent South Wales . Grand Lodge of New South Wales was received by the lodges

and brethren of the several Constitutions in the Colony , and the conspicuous success which attended its inaugural meeting , when Bro . Lord CARRINGTON , Governor-General , and a Past S . G . Warden of England , was installed its first Grand Master ; nor have we the slightest doubt that its future career will harmonise well with the brilliancy of its commencement . But the

ramifications of English Masonry are so great , and the Colony of New South Wales itself is so remote from our shores , that it will not be amiss , perhaps , if we take stock of the lodges—now constituting a large proportion of those on the roll of the new organisation—which only a brief year since paid a willing obedience to the United Grand Lodge of England . The

number of such lodges as have thus passed from their old allegiance is very considerable , being , we believe , 82 , as stated in our recent review of "Freemasonry in 1888 ; " but , as may easily be imagined , there are not many among them which can boast of anything like a protracted existence , the highest on the roll being the Australia , No . 390 , which was warranted by

the late Dukeof SUSSEX in the year 1828 . However , considering the facility with which other lodges , even in the Old Country , have disappeared from the roll , an existence of 60 years must not be spoken of lightly , and we dare say the lodge will remain in the future what it has been in the past—a very stronghold of the Craft and an example of all that is wise and

excellent in Masonry to its younger sister lodges . Next in order of seniority , but following at an interval of nearly 20 years , is the Maitland Lodge of Unity , No . 547 , which was warranted by the late Earl of ZETLAND , G . M . / in 1847 , and close to it , having been constituted only the year following , is the Australian Lodge of Harmony , No . 556 , which , like the Australia , No .

379 , is located in the capital of the Colony , the intermediate lodge being located at West Maitland , The Armidale Lodge of Unity , No . 595 , quartered at the town of Armidale , was founded in 1851—the year of the Great Exhibition ; and then we have the Independent , No . 621 , Lithgow , warranted in 1853 ; the Zetland and Cambrian Lod ges of Australia , Nos .

655 and 656 respectively , both founded in 1855 , and both meeting in the capital of Sydney . The Wellington , No . 741 , Mudgee , and the Ophir , No . 759 , Orange , date from the year 1858 , and the Robert Burns , No . 817 , Sydney , from 1 S 60 ; while the Balmain , No . 868 , meeting at a town frorn which it derives its name , is of 1861 creation . The Mountain