Masonic Notes.

However , there is a goodly contingent of representatives from . 1 majority of the other Provinces , in whose exertions we have the utmost confidence , and from whom we hope to see a return commensurnte with thc efforts they have been making for some time past . London , we understand , is less numerously represented than in some years we have known , but just as the race is not always to the strong , so a large subscription may be obtained by a Board or section of a

Board which is below the avcr . ige strength . However , a fortnight hence , when the result has been announced , it will be possible to determine the measure of value to be attached to the conjectures in which we have latterly been indulging . We shall then know what has been accomplished , nor shall we be greatly concerned about our reputation as a prophet , provided always that a plentiful harvest of donations and subscriptions has been gathered in by the Stewards .

What we are anxious about is that enough will be obtained ( 1 ) to make good the year's deficiency of income—that is about . £ 12 , 000 or , £ 12 , 500 ; and ( 2 ) to increase still further the invested capital , and by so doing augment the very limited permanent income of the Institution . May it devolve upon us to announce in our issue for the 6 th July that both these purposes have been accomplished !

We have been requested to announce that Saturday , the 29 th inst ., will be " Ex-pupils' Day" at the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls . We trust the number of those who will avail themselves of the opportunity thus afforded them of re-visiting the home of their girlhood , and renewing their acquaintance with former school-fellows , will be still greater than it was last year . Old pupils may be sure of the welcome that awaits them .

A grand function will take place at St . Bartholomew ' s Hospital on Saturday next , the 29 th inst ., when the Rahere Lodge , No . 2546 , will be consecrated in the great hall of that ancient institution . H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , M . W . G . M ., who is president of the hospital , will be present , and the ceremony will be performed by Bro . the Right Hon . the Earl of Lathom , M . W . Pro Grand Master , The usual banquet will follow at the Albion Tavern , Aldersgate-street .

The vacancy which has recently been created by the resignation hy Bro . Lord Carrington of his office of Prov . Grand Master of Buckinghamshire was filled on Thursday , the 20 th inst ., at Aylesbury , when Bro . Lord Addington was installed as his successor , and Prov . Grand Officers for the ensuing year were appointed .

Thursday , the 27 th instant , will , doubtlesss , be a memorable day in the annals of Lincolnshire Masonry . Bro . Major W . H . Smyth , D . L ., who has held the office of Prov . Grand Master for the last 17 years , having resigned his post early in the current year , H . R . H . the M . W . G . M . has been pleased to appoint Bro . the Right Hon . the Earl of Yarborough , P . S . G . W . of England , his successor , and his lordship will be solemnly installed according to antient usage on that day .

The ceremony will take place in the Corn Exchange , Lincoln , and the Installing Master will be none other than Bro . the Right Hon . the Earl of Lathom , M . W . Pro Grand Master , and Prov . Grand Master of West Lancashire . A prominent feature in the proceedings will be the valedictory address Of Bro . Major Smyth , the retiring P . G . M ., to whom a resolution of gratitude for his eminent services to the Craft in the Province , and of regret at his enforced retirement from a position

he had so long adorned , will be proposed . In the evening there will be held in thc County Assembly Rooms , in celebration of the auspicious event , a reception by the newly-installed P . G . M ., to be followed by a conversazione and dance , the reccptionbeingsetdownforSp . nl ., and the dance for 9 . 30 p . m . An efficient Board of Stewards has been formed , and some competent brethren appointed as Directors

of Ceremonies , the whole of this portion of the day ' s proceedings being under the auspices of the three lodges in Lincoln , viz ., the Witham , No , 297 , the St . Hugh , No . 1386 , and the Ermine , No . 2351 , of which Lord Yarborough is a P . M . Our Lincolnshire brethren have our best wishes for the success of their meeting . a ***** ft

On Saturday , the 6 th July , the Right Hon . the Earl of Onslow , who has been appointed Provincial Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of Surrey , in succession to the late lamented Col . G . Noel Money , C . B ., will be installed in those offices in the County and Borough Halls , Guildford . The ceremony will in both

cases be performed by the Right Hon . the Earl of Lathom , who is M . W . Pro G . M . and M . E . Pro G . Z . The hour fixed for the Craft installation is 12 . 30 p . m ., and for that of Grand Superintendent of Royal Arch Masons 3 . 45 p . m . In the interval between the two ceremonies luncheon will be served in the Constitutional Hall at 2 p . m .

It has been arranged lhat the annual distribution of prizes to the successful pupils of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys shall take place in the Great Hall of the School , Wood Green , on Tuesday , the 2 nd July , under the auspices of Bro . Lord Egerton of Tatton , I ' rov . Grand Master of Cheshire , who will preside at the Festival to be held at the Royal Pavilion , Brighton , the day following . The prizes will be given away by hc-r Grace the Duchess of Buckingham and Chandos .

For the convenience of the brethren attending the Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys at Brighton on Wednesday , 3 rd July ncxt , the Committee of the popular Smugglers Club , whose cheerful and pleasant premises are located at 130 Arch , Kings-road , Brighton , have considerately decided to make all the Stewards attending the Festival , honorary members of the Club for that

day . The brethren will find the Club ( which has recently 'been re-decorated and much enlarged ) a most agreeable resting place for an hour or so to meet their friends , and will nbo have the opportunity of seeing the excellent lodge room which is justly appreciated by the Masons in the Province of Sussex . The Stewards will do well to avail themselves of this friendly action of the Brighton Alasonic Smugglers ,

The annual meeting of the I ' rov . Grand Lodge of Berkshire will be held in the Town Hall , Reading , on Tuesday next , the 25 th instant . Lodge will be opened at 4 . 15 p . m ., and the customary banquet will take place at 5 . 30 p . m . The business on the agenda includes the consideration of the reports of the several executive officers , and the appointment anil investiture of I'rov . Grand Officers for the ensuing year . The Great Western Railway Company have very ^ considerately

arranged to issue first and second class return tickets at a single fare and a quarter from the requisite stations on their line , and the same will be done by the London , Wokingham , and Reading Line from all stations , except Wokingham and Farley , between Waterloo and Reading , and by the South Eastern Line from Aldershot , Blackwater , and WeUington College to Reading . But in order to benefit by this arrangement the summonses to attend I ' rov . Grand Lodge must be produced at the various booking offices .

Correspondence.

Correspondence .

j \ Vc do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed hy our correspondents , hut we wish , in a spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . ]

THE GRAND TREASURERSHIP . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sil and Brother , I should like to see some better mode of electing the Grand Treasurer , and so avoid what a brother refers to in your last issue .

Ample time could be allowed to consider the above subject , and the Craft greatly benefited by a year uf peace , and I suggest that having a brother of good means and social position , an experienced Mason , and one in every way qualified for the office , we abstain from any other nomination , and unanimously elect Bro . Alderman Walter Vaughan Morgan as Grand Treasurer for 1 S 96 . For the sake of the dignity of the Craft and the prestige of the office , I throw out the above suggestion . —Fraternally yours ,

HENRY LOVEGROVE . Eboracum , Herne Hill , S . E .

SINGLE , LODGES IN FOREIGN PARTS , To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , More than once since my return from Australia I have heard a

prominent brother question the desirability or utility of the presence of a single lodge under the English Constitution where there is an existing Grand Lodge of another Constitution . It has , in effect , been urged that nothing but friction and ill-feeling can possibly be the outcome of a solitary lodge preferring to remain under the banner of the Grand Lodge from which it received its charter .

In the city of Melbourne , as most of your readers know , there has been working , since the year 1 S 58 , the Combermere Lodge , No . 752 , in fact , it is one of the two lodges that elected not to join the United Grand Lodge of Victoria at its foundation , the other having since gone in . It is true that at the outset some bad blood prevailed between the contending parties . That , however , has long since evaporated , and at the present time the sole constituent ofthe Grand Lodge of England is working in perfect amity with the supreme Colonial body , and it has a membership of about 100 .

Reading my Australasian Keystone for May , I note that at the installation meeting in April , Bro . Dr . F . W . W . Morton was placed in the chair of my old lodge , in the presence of a Board of Installed Masters numbering nearly 150 , many of them members of both the English and Victorian Constitutions . Add to this , that the M . W . Grand Master of Victoria , Bro . Sir W . J . Clarke , Bart ., is a member of the Combermere Lodge .

These faefs , f think it will be admitted , disclose a most harmonious state of affairs ; and , if I may be permitted to urge , the same happy result would ultimately be the outcome of the long-pending Cambrian Lodge trouble in Sydney , were the hatchet buried by those responsible for the delay . —Fraternally yours ,

W . F . LAMONBY . June 15 th .

THE COLONIAL BOARD ELECTION . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , Kindly allow one of your old subscribers to insert a few lines on this subject .

Next year it will be possible to select from the members of the Board of General Purposes such brethren as have had Colonial experience , and if Bro . Lamonby , at the recent election , had contented himself with quietly nominating two suitable brethren , he and they would probably have been elected . As it is , he made a great stir , and introduced a certain clique to upset the old members , with the result that Bro . Lamonby has been placed at the bottom of the poll with one of his nominees just above him .

In your report you very properly omitted the number of votes recorded for each brother , but a member of the Colonial Board has had the bad taste to publish the numbers to show what a lot of votes he obtained . Now—though my remarks are not intended to apply to the brotber referred to —I must point out that votes do not necessarily show the position of a brother in the Craft , but oftentimes only the result of sending out hundreds of circulars , and touting incessantly in lodges of instruction . —Yours , & cv ,

OBSERVER . IN THE MATTER OF WAISTCOATS . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , 1 wish the Prince would set the fashion for waistcoasts for dinner

and other dress occasions of patterned silk as referred to on page 342 of your issue to-day , but on ( and this is a slue and tion ) this condition , viz ., that no waiter be permitted to wear such an one . At a ball last week the band wore Cambridgeblue neckties , and very well they looked ; why should not all waiters be thus or otherwise differentiated V

The Prince and I are disinterested " spectators of the mistakes that occasionally occur , he on account of his exalted station , and I on account of—well—the exact reverse . —Faithfully and fraternally yours , 15 th June . D .

Reviews.

Reviews .

"GUIDE TO PAKJNTO . N * AND HANIHIOOK TO TORHAY AND DISTRICT . "—By W . Eliot Thomas , M . J . I . — 'lhis handsomely got up souvenir of a well-known waterin * , ' place , in a convenient form , with map and many illustrations , supplies a long felt want , and is published at the right time , being at the beginning of the season of 1895 . Mr . Thomas describes " Prim , pretty , popular Paignton" as the " most rising waterinj , ' place in Devonshire . For situation , scenery , and salubrity of climate , it is unsurpassed . As a health resort , it is becoming more and more fashionable , and as a seaside town , it is increasing in popularity . " Historically , the author of this brochure begins with

Torliay when selected by the Roman legions as the landing place , noting vestiges or encampments in the neighbourhood , and then gracefully introduces a still tnorc momentous landing , which was effected at Brixham ( near hy ) in iCSS , by the Prince of Orange , who slept in Paignton on November Oth of that year , at the "Crown and Anchor Hotel , " since pulled down . Other incidents are graphically recorded with commendable brevity , and then modern Paignton is done justice to in a series of paragraphs , with appropriate headings , which captivate the eye , and induce the reader to

peruse the whole of the book at one sitting . At least that was our experience , lor we felt constrained to do it right off ! Full particulars are afforded as to boating * , steamer , and coaching trips of all kinds , and neither is Torquay neglected—its big sister living * in the same bay—and another good feature is the attention paid to all important sig hts within a fair walking distance of the town . A new and correct map also adds much to the value of the publication , which may be had post free for sevenpence only , from any of Smith and Son's bookstalls , at the Railway Stations of Paignton . Torquay , llrixham , and others on the Torquay Branch of the G . W . R . Co . It is both cheap and good .