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CONTENTS . PAGE L * The " Boys' School Festival ... ... ... - - 329 Masonic Jurisprudence ... ... ••• ¦•__ - 3 ^ 9 Provincial Grand Lodge of West Lancashire ... ... ... 330 So Very Human ... ... — ••• — 331 Board of Benevolence ... ... — — - — 33 ! Banquet given by the Empress Lodge , Nj . 25 ?! ... ... ... 332 Science , Art , and the Drama ... ... ... — — 333

MASONIC NOTESDistribution cf Piizes at the Boys' School ... ... ... 335 Final Meeting of the Board of Stewards of Girls' School Festival ... 335 Ex-Pupils' Day of the Girls' School ... ... ... ... 335 Annual Meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Kent ... ... 335 Annual Meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex ... 335 Ouatuor Coronali Lodge , No . 2076 ... ... ... ... 335

Correspondence ... ... ••• ••• ••• •• 33 b Reviews ... ¦•• ••• ••• — — •¦• 33 " Craft Masonry ... ... ••• - — 337 Instiuction ... — — ••• ••• 31 ° Royal Arch ... ... ... - - - 33 S Improvements in the Summer Train Service of the Midland Railway ... 338 Obituary ... ... ... - ••• 333 Masonic and Genera ) Tidings ... ... ... ... 34 °

The Boys' School Festival.

THE BOYS' SCHOOL FESTIVAL .

We are now within measurable distance of tlie day appointed for the third and last of the great Anniversary Festivals of the year—that of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys—which will be celebrated at tlie Crystal Palace on Wednesday , the 26 th

instant , under the presidency of Bro . thc Right Hon . W . W . B . BEACH , M . P ., Provincial Grand Mastcr of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight . That the prospects awaiting us are encouraging we have already said , and nothing has happened since we first

expressed that opinion to alter it . On thc contrary , the number of those who are prepared to give their services as Stewards has

gone on increasing steadily , if not in a very marked degree , and the Board now numbers considerably over 500 ladies and hrethren , the result of whose efforts in behalf of our Boys ' School it will be our privilege to record next week . Indeed , we

fail to sec how the prospects could be otherwise than as we have described . The Chairman is one of the most popular among our rulers , and has had a large experience in presiding at such gatherings . His Province , which he has ruled for more than 30

years , is a strong one , with 48 lodges on its roll , and not onl y loyal to the backbone to its chief , but also actuated by the sincerest goodwill towards our Institutions , while the numerical strength of the Board that will . support him bears witness lo the

large extent of the support which will be forthcoming from London and the other Provinces . Thus we are justified in hoping that the total realised on Wednesday will provide not only the £ 12 , 000 that is needed to meet the year ' s expenditure , but also a further sum for investment and the resultant increase of the

permanent income . When the outlook is so promising there is little need for us to say anything in accentuation of our appeal for the necessary " aysand means . It is recognised on all sides that our

Benevolent and Scholastic Institutions do their work admirably . In 'ebruary , the Benevolent Institution had a bumper Festival inder the auspices of thc Earl of WARWICK , Deputy Grand Master of England , and Prov . Grand Master of Essex . Last

'" onth the Masonic Institution for Girls ; with Earl AMHERST , M . W . Pro G . Master , and Prov . G . Master of Kent , had still "lore of a bumper , and next week it will be tho turn of the Boys ' School , and we trust we shall have the good fortune of

contrratua "ng the Chairman , the Board of Stewards , and the authorities ° the Institution on the total of thc donations and subscriptions > at is announced . There is need for a big result , notwithstanding the unprecedented success of the Centenary Festival

The Boys' School Festival.

in 18 9 8 . The School maintains , clothes , and educates some 300 boys and thus fits them to earn an honest and honourable livelihood . How well they are trained physically was shown at the annual athletic meeting in the playing fields at Wood Green on the ist instant . How excellent is the education

is already sufficiently well known to our readers by the series of annual successes which are achieved at the Cambridge Local and other public examinations , and will be made still more apparent at the distribution of prizes by Mrs . W . W . B . BEACH

on Monday . Thus the ladies and brethren who give their services as Stewards and the lodges and brethren who subscribe the funds are thoroughly well assured beforehand that their contributions will not only be gratefully received , but also—and

this is the most important point of all—faithfully applied , and to good purpose . There is no need for us to say more ; with such a Chairman , supported as he will be by so loyal a Province and a Board of Stewards gathered from all parts of the Metropolitan

district and the country generally , the Festival of Wednesday cannot be otherwise than successful , though whether the result will be greater , ' equal to , or less than those of the other Anniversary Festivals is a matter which cannot be determined beforehand .

Masonic Jurisprudence.

MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE .

[ COMMUNICATED . ] THE ROYAL ARCH .

In all cases not specially provided for in the Laws and Regulations which govern the Order of the Holy Royal Arch in England , the Order shall be considered to be bound by the Book of Constitutions . This statement , which is prefixed to the Regulations , considerably simplifies the work of the Royal Arch jurist and narrows his field of investigation .

It is rather difficult to say exactly what thc Royal Arch is . It is not a Degree , but it is the completion of one . It is an Order . According to Oliver it was introduced into this country about thc year 1740 . Kloss says it was imported from the

Continent during the Austrian war of Succession in 1742 . It was worked as a separate Degree by Dermott , but at the Lodge of Reconciliation , the Royal Arch was ofiicially recognised as a part of pure and Antient Freemasonry , included in the three Degrees of Symbolical Freemasonry .

VVe are not , however , proposing at present to write a history of the Order , but rather to explain the Laws and Regulations under which it is worked at the present time . Thc governing body is the Supreme Grand Chapter , presided over by the First Grand Principal or his Deputy . It is composed

ol officers , past and present , the three Principals of every subordinate , or private , chapter , and all Past First Principals of such chapters who have been subscribing members at any time within 12 months of the occasion on which they shall claim their right . Rulers of Provinces and Districts arc , of course , included ,

but the principles of nomenclature differ somewhat from those which obtain in Grand Lodge . Whilst the head of the Order is ofiicially described as Grand Z ., there is no such term as Provincial or District Grand Z . Such officers are described as Grand Superintendents of Provinces or Districts ( as the case may be ) .

It may bc added that whilst the term Grand Z . may sometimes appear in the printed reports of the Supreme Grand Chapter , the abbreviations Z ., II ., and J . appear in the Royal Arch Regulations in only one place , that is , in thc form of petition to be sent up when it is desired to form a new chapter . Certain officers ofthe Grand Lodge hold corresponding appoint-