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ferS-f * i 0 l > f ¥ l SI ^ flfl / ftS fsTiP l vjrjjiw p v't ^ i SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 20 , 1897 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

In reply to sundry inquiries which have reached us , we beg to state that a circular letter has been addressed to the Worshipful Masters of all the lodges in London and the Provinces , containing instructions as to the manner in which they should proceed in order to obtain tickets of admission to St . Paul ' s Cathedral on

Thursday , the 2 nd December , when the Craft will attend Divine service therein in commemoration of the 200 th anniversary of its being opened for public worship , and out of respect to the tradition that Sir Christopher Wren , the architect of the Cathedral , was a member of our Order . This circular letter was addressed to the Worshipful Masters at the places where their respective lodges are in the habit of meeting .

* * * It is not often that we are in a position to furnish news of the doings of the Craft in Herefordshire . Not only is it a small Province—probably , as regards the number of its lodges , tbe smallest in England—but apparently it has had no desire to court publicity . It is

therefore with all the greater pleasure that we publish in another part of our columns a full report of the proceedings at the annual meeting at Hereford of its Prov . Grand Lodge . The brethren appear to have assembled in considerable strength , while the reports that were presented by the executive officers were in all respects most creditable .

* » » We have said there was a numerous attendance , among thosepresent being Bro . H . C . Beddoe , D . P . G . M ., who presided in thc unavoidable absence ofthe P . G . M ., and Bro . Sir O . Wakeman , Bart ., Prov . G . Master of Shropshire , with his worthy Deputy , Bro . Rowland G . Venables , P . A . G . D . C . Bro . Sir Joseph R . Bailey , Bart ., who has been Masonically in charge of Here-

Masonic Notes.

fordshire since 1 SS 0 was absent unfortunately , owing to the serious illness of a very near and dear relative , but with this single and regrettable drawback , the Province may be held to have made a brave show and we trust it will not be the last occasion on which it will be our privilege to record the proceedings of the Provincial Grand Lodge . # # *

But though this privilege may again devolve upon us , there is but little prospect of the special circumstances under which the meeting was held being for a long time repeated . Many , many years must elapse before , in the ordinary course of things , any body of Craftsmen will assemble for the purpose of celebrating

the Diamond Jubilee of an English Sovereign . But though they are not likely to do this , there is no reason why their meetings in the near future should not De attended with the same success as this , or , at least , with a similar measure of success . There was , as we have said , a full attendance , as well of distinguished brethren

from adjoining Provinces and from remote distances as of the local Craft . The service in the Cathedral was most imposing , and , as will be seen from our report , a most eloquent sermon _ was preached by the Very Rev . the Dean of Hereford , on whom the office of Prov .

Grand Chaplain had been just previously conferred , and who is a brother of our Lord Leigh , who for the last 45 years has presided , with so much dignity and so" greatly to the advantage of Masonry , over the destinies of the Craft in Warwickshire .

* We have to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of a copy of a reprint in exact facsimile of the " Antient Constitutions by Benjamin Cole , with an Introduction by William James Hughan , P . G . D . " The reprint is the work of Bro . William Jackson , of

Commercialstreet , Leeds , upon whom it reflects the greatest credit , while as regards the Introduction by Bro . Hughan , it is hardly necessary for us to say that it contains all the information that can possibly be desired or needed respecting this and similar

publications of the character which were published at or about the same time . We have so many demands upon our space just at this time that we find ourselves , to our great regret , under the necessity of holding over the remarks we have to make on the reprint till next week .

* * It is with very great regret we announce elsewhere the death on Tuesday , the 16 th inst ., of Bro . Alderman Walter Hopekirk , of Croydon , who in 1887 was appointed Assistant Grand Pursuivant of Grand Lodge , and the year following was advanced to Grand

Pursuivant , while in 18 91 he had conferred upon him the office of Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies in Supreme Grand Chapter . Bro . Hopekirk was a most genial man as well as an able and experienced Mason . He had done excellent service in his day not only in lodge and chapter , but likewise on behalf of our Charitable Institutions , his interest in them being

exhibited as recently as the earlier half of last month , when though , apparently very far from being in his usual health , he was present at the Quarterly Court of one of our Schools . Wt feel sure that our readers will join with us in tendering our respectful sympathy to the family of our deceased brother on the loss they have just sustained .

» * * The latest of the class of special lodges which have been so greatly in favour for some years past is the Sancta Maria Lodge , No . 2682 , which will be associated with St . Mary ' s Hospital , Paddington , and was consecrated in the Great Hall of Freemasons '

Hall on Monday , the 15 th instant . The ceremony was performed by no less a personage than Bro . the Earl of Lathom , Pro Grand Master , while the lodge is honoured by having his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , M . W . G . M ., as its first W . Master . "Sancta

Maria " starts well with a body of 50 founders , and under the circumstances we have mentioned there is little doubt as to its career being a prosperous one . We wish it every success , and shall be but too pleased to do what is in our power to promote its interests .

* # * We are glad to find that some slight progress has been made in strengthening the Board of Stewards in connection with the Festival which will be held in February next in behalf of the Royal Masonic

Benevolent Institution , under the presidency of Bro . the Earl of Jersey , Prov . Grand Master of Oxfordshire . But there is still a considerable amount of leeway to be made up , and unless a further spurt is made between now and the ist prox ., there is every likeli .

Masonic Notes.

hood of the Board being weaker by some 50 members than the 1897 Festival Board was at the corresponding period of last year . We must remind our readers that , while incomes fluctuate from year to year , the amount of expenditure remains permanently the same . Between £ 16 , 000 and £ 17 , 000 is required annually , in addition to which there are the expenses of

management and for the maintenance of the Asylum at Croydon . This raises the total annual outlay to some £ 19 , 000 , and unless the friends of the Institution are prepared to see it sell out some of its hard-earned capital , or reduce the number of annuitants , this is the amount that must be raised for the year's expenditure .

* *¦* * We understand that there are those who argue that as the Benevolent Institution , in common with our two Scholastic Institutions , has been the recipient of two substantial windfalls during the present year in the shape of a special grant from Grand Lodge of £ 2000 ,

and its proportion of the fees received for admission to the Royal Albert Hall meeting amounting to some £ 1166 , it will not greatly matter if there is a large diminution in the Returns at the 1898 Festival . It is not by encouraging such ideas as this that oiir Charitable Institutions have been enlarged to their present

splendid condition of efficiency . Moreover , between 1892 and 18 97 there have been Festivals which have produced by many thousands of pounds less than the , £ 19 , 000 which is permanently needed for the maintenance of the Institution . Let it suffice for us to

realise that in the year 18 9 8 in which the Boys' School Centenary will be celebrated , the Girls' School and Benevolent Institution are prepared for lower totals of Returns , but let us at the same time carefully abstain from saying or doing anything which will still further reduce the totals in prospect .

» * Those who suggest that there may be a time when the authorities of an Institution , which is mainly supported by voluntary contributions , would , to a ccrtai n extent , be justified in relaxing their efforts in order to bring the ever-needed grist to the mill , can have very

little idea of the enormous amount of labour which the raising of from £ 14 , 000 to £ 16 , 000 every year for each of our Masonic Institutions entails upon their several Secretaries and Committees , and the very serious responsibility which any of them would incur if it could be shown that an inadequate

return—inadequate , that is to say , for the purpose of the year affected—had resulted from any relaxation of effort on his or its part . It is one of the most remarkable of the features which characterise our Anniversary Festivals , and those of other Institutions which are similarly circumstanced—we are speaking , of course , of ordinary , not special Centenary and jubilee Festivals

—that , no matter how successful a Return may have been obtained in any one year , it must in its very infancy—we ought almost to say , at its very birth—be ignored as the greatest success achieved since the Institution for which it was held was founded , and at once pronounced to be the lowest standard which can be taken as the criterion of success for the brief term of years that may immediately follow .

* * » In short , there is never in the ] work of obtaining voluntary subscriptions in behalf of a Charitable Institution a greatest Return that was ever obtained at an anniversary but that it immediately becomes the duty of the Secretary and the Committee through

whose exertions it was raised to look upon it as the lowest which they will regard as a success for the future . The reason for this is obvious : there is no knowing when the rainy day may come when the donations and subscriptions will constitute only the minor part of a year ' s income instead ot what we

ordinarily expect it to be—the major part , and this is more especially the case with institutions such as those which Masonry has established and which , as a rule , have only very small permanent incomes derived from invested capital on which they could afford to fall back at a time of dire extremity . Let those who

suggest that after so productive a year as this has been the Benevolent Institution can afford to put up with smaller proceeds from next year ' s campaign keep in mind these remarks we have just made , and at the same time remember that the greater successes of 1897 and 1896 have , after all , accomplished no more

than make up for the deficiencies of the three preceding years . There can never be finality in a success connected with a Charitable Institution ; it is only the standard of success which is always and regularly year by year to be exceeded by that progress of arithmetical progression which is described in the pages of the immortal Cocker .