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CONTENTS . PAGE . L EADERSThe Province of Middlesex ... ... ... ¦•• ¦•¦ 453 Perpetual Jurisdiction ... ... ... •¦• •¦ 45 C Provincial Grand Lodge of Devonshire ... ... ... 454 Provincial Grand Ledge of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ... 455 The Family of Grand Lodges ... ... ... ... 455 Masonic Ceremony at Dunedin ( N . Z . ) ... ... ... ... 457

The Kaiser and the Freemasons ... ... ... ... 457 M ASONIC NOTESArticle 219 , Book of Constitutions ... ... ... 459 Admission of New Members ... ... ... ... ... 459 Powers of Grand Lodges _ ... ... ... ... ... 459 Minutes of Provincial and District Grand Lodges ... ... ... 459 Masonic Visitation , & c . ... ... ... ... ... 459 Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... ... 4 60 Centenary of the Loyal Volunteers Preceptory , No . 7 ... ... ... 4 60

Laying the Foundation Stone of New Masonic Rooms at Ilkley ... ... 4 60 Devon Masonic Widows' Annuity Fund ... ... ... ... 4 60 Empress Lodge , No . 25 S 1 ~ ... ... ... ... ... 4 60 General Committee of Grand Lodge and Board of Benevolence ... ... 4 60 A Masonic Processional Cross ... ... ... ... ... 4 61 Secret Monitor ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 61 Maik Masonry ... ... ... 1 .,, ... ... 461 Lodges of Instruction ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 61 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 ' Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 462

The Province Of Middlesex.

THE PROVINCE OF MIDDLESEX .

There are fevy Provinces , more especially among those of recent constitution , that have fared as prosperously as that of Middlesex . In 186 9 , the few outlying lodges , to the number of nine or 10 , in the extra-Metropolitan portions of the county

were grouped together and placed in charge of the late Bro . Sir FRANCIS BURDETT as Prov . Grand Master , and during the 23 years' presidency of that most genial and popular chief those few lodges so increased and multiplied that when his death occurred in the spring of 1892 , the Province of only nine or 10 lodges had

become one of 40 . Since then further progress has been made , not , it may be , so much in the way of additional lodges , as in strengthening and confirming those already established . In Royal Arch Masonry similar progress has been made , the three chapters in existence in 187 r , when Sir FRANCIS BURDETT was

appointed Grand Superintendent , having grown to 13 ; while in the Mark Degree , the progress is not perhaps quite so apparent in consequence of Middlesex having been incorporated

with Surrey as one Province under Sir FRANCIS BURDETT , while since his death , not only have the two counties been formed into separate Provinces , but the Metropolitan district has been changed from one of uncertain strength to one

covering a given area , with a fixed radius from Mark Masons ' '' all . Under these circumstances , it is not surprising that during the past year , when , not for the first time in its history , it bore a leading part in our Festival celebration , its

proceedings should have been more than usually brilliant . The annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge was held at J Jarrow , on the 27 th June , under the auspices of Bro . Lord GEORGE HAMILTON , M . P ., Prov . G . Master , and the reports

t'tat were then submitted , as well as the proceedings generally , testified to the fact that in no previous year of its existence Jiad e * rovince of Middlesex fared so prosperously as in that of tfc 95-6 . In the first place , it had tuported its distinguished chief as

' - "airman atthe Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Insli"tion in February by raising for that Charity a total of con trillions amounting to no less than £ 3726 , and in commemoration of that event , Bro . J AMES TERRY , P . G . S . B ., the Secretary of the

je nevolerit Institution , attended the meeting in question , and Presented an illuminated address of thanks to his lordship in cognition of his services . But this , though the most note' " ) ' event of the past year , and one that marks it as the most

- lorable epoch in the annals of the Province , was not the Ro ' ' presentation tnat was tlien made . Bro . HOWARD H . M i who has been Prov . G , Secretary for the past seven or

The Province Of Middlesex.

eight years , and who , last year , was appointed G . Std . Br . of England , was presented with a gold watch to mark the valuable services he had rendered to the Province during his tenure of the Secretaryship . The watch was purchased with the balance

of the fund raised for the purpose of presenting him with his Grand Lodge clothing , and in handing it to him , the Prov . Grand Master spoke in terms of the highest encomium of the able manner in which Bro . ROOM had carried out the

duties of his office . Additional evidence was also forthcoming as to the success of the past year , the report of the Auditors showing that a very considerable balance remained in hand after meeting all liabilities , while the

Provincial Charity Committee were able to announce that the candidates from the Province for the benefits of the Masonic Institutions had one and all been fortunate enough to secure their election . Thus the congratulations exchanged between the

Province and its chief at this meeting were amply justified by the circumstances . A week later the annual convocation of Prov . G . Chapter took place at Hampton Court and the reports that were then submitted and adopted , all testified to the

prosperity of the Koyal Arch during the past year , the onl y drawback to the pleasure of the gathering being the unavoidable absence of the Grand Superintendent , Comp . Lord GEORGE HAMILTON , the success of whose administration during his two

years of office was the subject of eu / ogistic comment by Comp . THRUPP , who , as Prov . G . H ., presided in his lordship ' s absence . As regards Mark Masonry in Middlesex , the annual meeting of the Proviucial Grand Lodge was held in the Holloway-road on

the 23 rd July , when advantage was taken of the opportunity afforded by so numerous a gathering to consecrate an additional lodge—the St . Pancras , No . 494—with Bro . W . A . SCURRAH , an old and experienced Mark Mason , as first Worshipful

Master . The number of lodges previously on the roll was 10 , and as in the course of one of his speeches , Bro . Colonel A . B . COOK , Provincial Grand Master , was able to announce that application had been made to him for permission

to found another new lodge , it follows that before another year has passed the muster-roll of the Province will comprise a dozen lodges , all well furnished with members and in a prosperous state as regards their funds . Thus in the Mark , as well as in the

Craft and Royal Arch , thc past year has been one of progress , and we trust that evidence may always be forthcoming at future annual meetings that the degree of prosperity to which Middlesex

has attained has becn upheld , if not surpassed . We congratulate the brethren on the unprecedented success of the year 1895-6 .

Perpetual Jurisdiction.

PERPETUAL JURISDICTION .

In more than one previous article we have taken occasion to express a strong objection to the monstrous dogma which finds favour with some of the Grand Lodges in the United States , and is known as that of "Perpetual Jurisdiction . " But

the subject has been again brought lo our notice on reading a review in the Voice of Alasonry for the current month of the proceedings at the 75 th annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Indiana , which was held in the City of Indianapolis on

the 26 th and 27 th May last . From this we gather that there is a complete concurrence of opinion on the part of the Grand Master of the said Grand Lodge , the Grand Lodge itself , and

the compiler of its Report on Foreign Correspondence—Bro . WILLIAM COMMONS—as to the absurdity of this dogma . We are not acquainted with the precise circumstances of the par-