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FOR SALE . —CROSSLEY'S GAS ENGINE , 3 ^ - H . P ., in good working order . To make room for larger one . —GEORGE KENNING , Freemason Office . 16 and 16 a Great Queen-street , W . C .

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ADVERTISEMENT SCALE OF "THE FREEMASON . " Per Insertion S INGLE C OLUMN per inch £ 050 O NE P AGE ... 10 o o O NE C OLUMN 3 10 0 P UBLIC C OMPANIES' & PARAGRAPH ADVERTISEMENTS , IS . PER LINE . W ANTS , & C , FOUR LINES , 2 s . 6 d , and 6 d . PER LINB additional

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. . , ¦ : , THE FOLLOWING HOTELS OF THE MIDLAND RAILWAY COMPANY will be found complete in all the arrangements , and the charges moderate . . MIDLAND GRAND ( St . Pancras Station ) London , N . W . The new Venetian Rooms at this Hotel are available for Wedding Breakfasts , and Public and Private and Masonic Banquets . ADELPHI ( Near Central Station ) , LIVERPOOL . OUEEN'S , LEEDS . MIDLAND , BRADFORD . MIDLAND , DERBY . MIDLAND , MORECAMBE . Tariffs on application . Telegraphic Address— " MIDOTEL . " WILLIAM TOWLE , Hotels . & c , Manacer .

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/ CRITERION RESTAURANT , PICCADILLY . No . 1 EAST ROOM—CUISINE VERITAULEMENT FINE , Specially devoted to the service of A LA CARTE DEJEUNERS & DINNERS In the most Recherche Style of French Cookery . CUISINE UNRIVALLED IN ENGLAND . LARGE SELECTION OV CHOICE WINES . No . 2 EAST KOOM , A SPECIAL DINNER AT IOS . 6 d . EACH Will be served in this Room at Separate Tables , Between the hours of 6 and t ) p . m ., Composed of a selection of Dishes from the Carte du Jour of the East Rooms . P ARTRIDGE & COOPER , . A "THE" STATIONERS , « 9 i & 192 , FLEET STREET , LONDON , Would invite attention to their URGE AND WELL-SELECTED STOCK OF GENERAL & FANCY STATIONERY , Suitable for presents , such as Inkstands , Stationery , TV , w ' Ladles' Gentlemen ' s Dressing Bass , Mi- 'SF-SS ? B ft ** > & c " * " of which "e enumer ! cafini the " ^ Illustrated Catalogue , sent free on apph-

To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

UR PORTRAIT GALLERY OF WORSHIPFUL

, MASTERS . Sivin re n « mbers o £ the Freemason we purpose whc h * ? . er , es 0 f P ° rtraits of Worshi pful Masters faci u . . een recentl y installed . Recognising the

orothprtV S reater honour can be bestowed on a desirei to H ' ° eleCted the Master of his lodge , we r < * ord"f . P towards creating a permanent h 's DorirU ? . i : , event in his Masonic history by placing to futtvut Q ° re our waders . We shall be pleased tilke an int Cre ' aries of , od S es and others who may " % be j ? ln our project whatever information Pro cedure as to our P P ° sed method of

Ar00708

SATURDAY , J 22 , 1893 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The Anniversary Festival of the Mark Benevolent Fund will be held at the Freemasons' Tavern on Wednesday next , the 26 th inst . Bro . Col . G . Noel Money , C . B ., Prov . G . M . M . of Surrey , will preside on the occasion , and the Board of Stewards which will

support him numbers up to the present time about 140 ladies and brethren . This is a smaller Board than we have known for some half dozen years , but we trust the efforts of the Stewards both individually and collectively will result in a goodly subscription .

The Mark Benevolent Fund , though among the youngest of our Masonic Charities , and of necessity limited in its operations to the members of the Mark Degree and their widows and children , is in every way worthy of support . We have already pointed out—in the article which appeared in our issue of the Sth inst .

—that this Fund comprises three branches . There is the Benevolent Fund proper , which administers temporary relief to distressed Mark Masons and their families , corresponding with our Craft Fund of Benevolence . This has an invested capital of £ 3400 , and last year its receipts amounted to ^ 652 and its disbursements in relief to £ 243 . The Educational Branch , which

educates and in part clothes 31 children , has a capital of ^ 2900 with an income and expenditure of £ 643 and ^ 453 respectively , while the Annuity Branch , with a capital of £ 4300 , an income in 1892 of £ 700 , and an expenditure of ^ 3 25 provides annuities for eight men and three widows , the former receiving £ 26 and the latter ^ 21 per annum , with a Christmas gift of £ 5 each to both classes of annuitants .

* There is then no doubt as to the substantial character of the benefits conferred by the Fund , and we trust our appeal to our Mark readers and their friends will not be made in vain . Last year , with a Board of about the same strength as this , the subscriptions amounted to

, 61636 , but with the exception of the year 1 SS 6 , when a Board of Stewards of 109 brethren raised . 61534 , this is the lowest total that has been known since 1885 inclusive , and it is about time the Returns showed an upward tendency . 1 * * *

To-morrow ( Saturday ) Bros . C . E . Keyser , P . G . D . and James Terry , P . G . S . B ., Secretary of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , leave Southampton for the United States , where they purpose visiting the International Exhibition at Chicago and other places of interest under the Stars and Stripes . We wish them bon voyage , and trust their excursion will be one of

unbroken pleasure . In the event of their being able to visit any of the Grand Lodges or lodges in the States , we know full well they will meet with the heartiest of welcomes from our American brethren , who will be only too delighted to have the opportunity of showing hospitality to two such excellent representatives of our English Craft .

* * * We gather from the address delivered by Grand Master Niccol at the annual meeting , on the 30 th April , of the unrecognised Grand Lodge of New Zealand , there are now 89 lodges on the roll of that body , many of which have been founded since 1890 , when the

Grand Lodge was constituted . At that time there were only 41 lodges which adopted the policy of secession , and as there were then about 150 English , Irish , and Scottish lodges in the Colony , the seceding bodies mustered less than one-third of the whole body . Since then other lodges , warranted by the Grand Lodges in

the United Kingdom , have cast in their lot with the seceders , the roll having increased to 73 in 1891 , to 78 in 1892 , and to 89 , as aforesaid , in the current year . As regards membership , it has increased from 1236 to 2193 , 2897 , and 3090 . So far the irregular New Zealand Constitution has gone on prospering , nor do we grudge them their success .

But the success of which they are justly proud does not relieve them of the reproach of having thrown the whole of Freemasonry in New Zealand into a state of turmoil in order to compass their own ends . The general feeling appears to be that in our self-governing Colonies the affairs of Masonry should be administered by local Grand Lodges , but to justify the introduction

Masonic Notes.

of any change into the Mnsonic relations existing between a Colony and the mother country there ought , in decency , to be some approach to unanimity among the members of the local Craft . Here there was nothing of the kind , and the promoters of the secession are not absolved by the present success of their policy from the responsibility of having engendered ill-feeling among those who differed with them .

The Grand Lodge of Victoria , of which Bro . Sir W . J . Clarke , Bart ., has been again elected Grand Master , appears to be in a highly prosperous condition . The general account for the year 1892 , which opened with a balance of £ 299 , closed with one of , £ 287 , the receipts being about ^ 1780 , and the expenditure some . £ 12 more . As regards the Fund of Benevolence , the

opening balance in hand on 1 st January , 18 92 , was . 6843 , and the receipts were ^ S 6 . The sum disbursed in relieving 289 cases of distress was £ 1777 2 s . 6 d ., while donations to sundry hospitals , amounting to . £ 50 , raised the total outlay to £ 18 77 2 s . 6 d ., the balance remaining in hand on the 31 st December last being , in round figures , ^ 877 . We trust that this prosperous condition of things may be continued for many years .

Yet another has been added to the already formidable roll of United States Grand Lodges in the shape of the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma , which held its first annual communication at El Reno , in February last , under the presidency of Bro . A . J . Spengel , M . W . G . M .

Resolutions of gratitude were passed to the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory , but more especially to Bro . L . E . Bennett , its Grand Master , and Bro . J . S . Murrow , its Grand Secretary , for the services they had rendered in forming the new body . This new Grand Lodge has on

its roll 11 lodges , and a membership of between 400 and 500 . Bro . Spengel is Grand Master , and Bro .. James S . Hunt , Grand Secretary . The Grand Lodge of Oklahoma has our heartiest good wishes for its future prosperity . * * *

Bro . Spengel has shown sound sense in his decision on a question that was submitted to him as to whether a candidate with only one eye , but in all respects qualified , was eligible to be made a Mason . Bro . Spengel decided in the affirmative , on the ground that it is "the mental and moral condition " which is " the paramount requisite of offered material . " True , he qualified this

by adding " so long as the physical defect is not so serious as to prevent the candidate from complying with the Masonic requirements . " But it is something to have obtained the decision that it is the mind and morals which are of the chief importance , not whether a candidate has the regulation allowance of legs , arms , eyes , & c . # #

* In our account last week of the Masonic career of our late esteemed Bro . H . G . Buss , P . G . Asst . Sec , we omitted to state that he was a founder and Secretary ( or Treasurer ) , from its foundation till the year 1 S 79 . of the Burdett Lodge , No . 1293 .

Correspondence.

Correspondence .

f We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed b y our correspondents , but we wish in & spirit of fall play to all to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . ]

THE COLONIAL BOARD . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , My attention has beei . called to a letter in your last issue , signed " T . B . Whytehead , " in which he asserts that the members of the Colonial Board

seem to be shovelled into office simply for the sake of office , and with no special view to their qualifications .. This statement is altogether inaccurate . Under thv : Constitutions three members are appoint .,-. ! by the Most Worshipful Grand Master and seven are elected by Grand Lodge . The three appointed by the M . W .

G . M . this year were V . W . Bro . Philbrick , Q . C . ; W . Bro . Brackstone Baker , and myself . Bro . Baker is universally acknowledged to possess great Colonial experience , and I owe , no doubt , my appointment as Chairman of the Board to the fact of being Past Master of a Colonial lodge and long resident in the

Colonies . Of the seven members elected by Grand Lodge the Vice-Chairman is P . M . of two Indian lodges , and during a long succession of years joined and worked in four district lodges , besides being a member of an , Australian lodge of some distinction .

Bro . James Balfour Cockburn is P . M . of a Colonial lodge , and was long resident in the Colonies . Bro . Lennox Browne has been many times at the Cape , and is P . M . of the Empire Lodge , founded expressly to receive Colonists on their visiting this country . It is true that one brother of considerable Colonial experience , to my regret , was not re-elected on the last occasion by Grand Lodge .