Contents.

CONTENTS .

I , AD » BS **!? Royal Masonic Institution for Girls 218 Roval Masonic Institution for Boys 218 Consecration of the Cotehele Lodge , Nc . 66 , at Calstock 219 Consecration of the Ashburton Lodge , No . 2198 . Ashburton 220

provincial Grand Lodge of Cheshire 231 Provincial Grand Chapter of Cumberland and Westmorland * . 222 Provincial Grand Chapter of Cornwall ... 222 The Chairman of the Coming Girls' School Festival and his Province 222

Masonic Collectors 223 The "Pythagoras " Lodge Library 223 The Masonic Celebration of the Queen ' s Jubilee . * 22 3 CORRESPONDENCEThe Jubilee—Boys' School 225

Reviews 22-J Notes and Queries 226 Annual Banquet of the Logic Club of Instruction 226 REPORTS of * MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 226 Instruction 228

Royal Arch 229 Instruction 229 Mark Masonry 229 Knights Templar . 230 Rosicrucian Society of England 230 Gibraltar 230

Board of Benevolence 230 Gallery Lodge Concert 230 The Craft Abroad 230 Obituary 231 Masonic and General Tidings 231 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 232

Ar00100

THE Grand Festival will take place on Wednesday next , the Grand 27 th instant , and we shall then know on whom the GRAND Festival . MASTER has been pleased to confer the honours of the muchcoveted purple for the current year . That his Royal Highness will exhibit

his usual discrimination in selecting the new Grand Officers is a matter of course ; but his choice is not yet known authoritatively , and all speculations on the subject must be reserved till next week , when those who have a weakness for prophecy will be in a position to corroborate their own announcements . In the meantime , however , we see no great harm in mentioning

that Dame Rumour , as usual , has been mysteriously announcing what she believes to be the veritable secrets of the GRAND MASTER ' S inner Council Chamber , and that for some days past she has been indicating H . R . H . Prince ALBERT V ICTOR of WALES and Bro . General Viscount WOLSELEY as the new Grand Wardens : Bros , the Rev . CARTWRIGHT SMYTH , D . D .,

and WELDON as the Grand Chaplains ; Bros . BURDETT-COUTTS , M . P ., KNYVETT , V . P . FREEMAN , the worthy Provincial Grand Secretary of Sussex , and GEORGE COOPER as the Grand Deacons ; Bro . BAYLIS as Grand Deputy Director of Ceremonies ; Bro . J . L . MATHER as Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies ; Bro . W . M . BYWATER as Grand Sword Bearer ;

Bros . FENDELOW and GEORGE BEACH as Grand Standard Bearers ; Bro . Sir ARTHUR SULLIVAN as Grand 'Organist ; and Bro . HOPEKIRK . as Assistant Grand Pursuivant , vice Bro . W . H . FERRYMAN , promoted to the Grand Pursuivancy . On Wednesday , the precise amount of truth in these indications will be known .

-, ., WE print elsewhere the second circular vvhich has been addressed The Masonic ** Jubilee by the PRO GRAND MASTER to the Worshipful Masters of all eenation , j ^ g ];^ lodges on the subject of the celebration by the Freemasons of England of the Jubilee anniversary of the Q UEEN ' accession to

the throne . We shall have occasion to remark at greater length in a future article on the announcements it contains , but we lose no time in expressing ° ur satisfaction that the appeal in respect to the Imperial Institute has been favourabl y answered , and that the arrangements , so far as they have been roade , are likely to prove so advantageous to the Institutions .

* * * The comi We are pleased to find that a substantial increase in the num-Fcstivai ber of Stewards for the Girls' School Festival next month , has R M I C ' taken place since we drew attention to the subject last week .

Ihen the Board of Stewards consisted of 214 brethren , now the number is 2 3 ° , and there is still time for others to volunteer their services , and raise the strength to a round 250 . However , as we pointed out in the remarks we are alluding to , it would be unjust to expect much in the way of canvassing

r ° m these later additions , and vve must still look to the older Stewards to iL * "row , if possible , an extra amount of energy and persuasive force into eir labours , and so counteract the numerical inferiority of the Board , by the extra wei ght of their subscription totals .

* * * The Provinc f A GOOD example is generally contagious , and we are glad to W « t ' ani 1 and finc * the course adopted by West Yorkshire and East Lancashire p ' in commemorating the Queen ' s Jubilee is being imitated by the r pvince of Cumberland and Westmorland . At the annual meeting on

'day , the 15 th instant , of this Provincial Grand Lodge , it was unaniousl y resolved on the proposition of Bro . G . J . MCKAY , Provincial Grand Cretar y , to commemorate the auspicious event by raising a contribution of . ° guineas ( £ 1050 ) in aid of the funds of the Royal Masonic Benevolent 'Uution . This is good news for Bro . Terry , who , if the donations keep

. ein g raised in this wholesale fashion , will soon be as perplexed what ^ ., ° h his numerous moneys as the old woman in the nursery tale was her numerous offspring . However , if the offspring were not needed , the pa . ^ oni 3 are > and all we can hope is that the rest ofthe Provinces will take th . '" tlle 2 00 d work , and that all three Institutions will receive a share o ne result .

Ar00101

T 1 B , 1 THE usual Spring election of candidates for admission into the School Royal Masonic Institution for Boys took place on Monday , and the excitement which invariably attends these contests may have been somewhat enhanced by the fact of there being no ballot in the

case of the Girls School , the authorities of that Institution having resolved on accepting the whole of the 28 candidates instead of filling up only the 24 vacancies that had occurred since last October . At all events , there appears to have been some very close polling , there being a difference of not many in excess of 500 votes between the boy who figured No . 1 on the

poll and him who vvas placed No . 25 , while Nos . 4 . 5 , 6 , and 7 , and Nos . 18 , 19 , and 20 constituted in each case a group of consecutive numbers , the former four polling 1853 , 1852 , 1851 , and 1850 , and the latter three 1711 , 1 7 , and 1709 . Both London and the Provinces may claim the honour of heading the poll , the boy FREDERIC WEBBER , who had this first and last

chance of winning admission , and who turned it to such excellent account as to be returned No . 1 with 2094 votes , hailing partly from London and partly from the Province of Middlesex . J . H . MARSDEN , who stood second , with 200 9 , hailed from Derbyshire , and H . A . PATIENCE , who was third , with 1863 votes , from London , so that the advantages as

to place were pretty fairly apportioned between the country and the Metropolis . As regards the number of those elected the former seems to have had rather the best of the struggle , London having returned just one half of its 12 candidates , while the Country carried 20 out of 32 . West Yorkshire succeeded in placing two outof its three candidates

at Nos . 16 and 20 , and it helped N . and E . Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire to secure the success of No . 11 , and shared vvith East Lancashire the good fortune of placing ALBERT STEPHENSON at No . 21 . Essex carried one of its three candidates , and Surrey one of its two , while Cambridgeshire ( No . 13 ) , Cumberland and Westmoreland ( No . 26 ) , Hants and Isle . of Wight

( No . 18 ) , Kent ( No . 12 ) , Lancashire , West ( No . 19 ) , Monmouthshire ( No . 6 ) , Oxfordshire ( No . 15 ) , Somersetshire ( No . 9 ) , South Wales , East ( No . 8 ) , Staffordshire ( No . 4 ) , and N . and E . Yorkshire ( No . 7 ) . in addition to Derbyshire ( No . 2 ) already referred to , had the satisfaction of severally winning places among the successful ; W . Lancashire , Cheshire , and North

Wales , together obtaining the 17 th place for C . J . J OHNSON , and Berks and Bucks , and Gloucestershire between them securing the last place among the winners for their candidate , and * that too by the narrow majority of three votes , their boy , R . J . TOMBS , polling 1265 votes , and D . W . E . CABLE from Surrey heading the array of Unsuccessful with 1262 votes . In the

result 27 out of the 45 boys have been elected , while of the 18 unsuccessful , only one will have his name removed from the list under the operation of Law No . 53—namely , A . H . SCHOLES , who polled only 32 votes all told . As to the number of votes , there were 3672 brought forward from October ,

and 55 , 980 issued ; but of the latter only 49 , 822 was recorded , the balance of about 6000—with the exception of the few that may have been spoiled—¦ never having been made use of , this being rather in excess of the average of unused votes .

* * * „ , .. . WE welcome any step that may be taken vvhich is calculated Change of date , ' , of School to enlarge the comfort and convenience of those brethren who Eicctuns . are unc j er t ] ie necessity 0 f being present at the various

elections of candidates into our several Institutions , and we shall be glad if the Committee to which the General Courts of Governors of the two Schools have agreed to refer the proposal to hold their Spring elections as proximately as possible to the Benevolent Institution election in May , are able to suggest an arrangement by which all , or at least , the great majority

of Governors and Subset ibers will be benefited . But why postpone the April Schools' Elections to May , when it seems to us it will involve far less trouble to all concerned if the May elections of the Benevolent Institution are advanced to April ? The elections into the Schools are half-yearly , in April and October , those into the Benevolent Institution are yearly , in May .

Substitute May for April in the case of the Schools' Spring elections , and you will have to follow it up by postponing the Autumn elections from October till November , thus necessitating four changes in the year . On the other hand , if the Benevolent elections are altered from May to April , there will be needed one change only . Thus , the present arrangements for the

two Schools elections would remain undisturbed , and the only thing requried to be done would be that the Governors of the R . M . B . I . should arrange for the elections to the Male and Widows' Funds in 18 S 8 and following years , being held either on the Friday preceding the April Girls' School eleclion or on the Tuesday following the April Boys' School election , and the change is made

with the smallest possible disturbance of existing arrangements . We do not commit ourselves absolutely to this suggestion ; if a bettercan be offered , by all means let it be adopted . But we think it will be worth while for the Committtee , to whom the question is referred , giving heed to our proposal . It has at least this merit , that it will necessitate only one change instead of four changes ,