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Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

United Grand Lodge will hold its Grand Festival on Wednesday , the 27 th inst ., when the brethren whom n 's Royal Highness the M . W . Grand Master has been pleased to appoint Grand Officers for the ensuing year ' 'nd the Grand Treasurer electwill be invested with SATURDAY , APRIL 23 , 18 9 S .

, their several collars and jewels of office . There will , 0 course , be the usual number of disappointments among those who have done good service and are not , dt present , numbered among the recipients of the Purple ; but we are convinced that next week when

c "r readers look through the list of brethren appointed ' < l read the records of their services they will be wtisfied that , taken as a whole , no better body of men ""•'d have been selected , and lhat the prestige of •^ and Lod ge will not suffer at their hands .

•* * ' •is with the greatest pleasure lhat we call attention , » ie announcement made bv Bro . R ' . rhurA Rv ~ „ t u , „

^ . 'arterl y General Court of the Boys' School , on the ^ mst . , to the effect that her Royal Highness thc n « ss of Wales has graciousl y consented to present Half "' " ! 0 the succcssful P"pils , at the Royal Albert " . ° n Tuesday , the 7 th June . Bro . Eve further

Masonic Notes.

intimated that the Centenary Festival Stewards would receive tickets for distribution among their friends and others desirous of witnessing the presentation , and when the claims of the Ste wards had been satisfied that tickets would be forthcoming as far as possible for those who were subscribers to the Institutions . Thus , all who are interested in the School may have an opportunity of attending this very graceful function .

* * * The information which Bro . Eve , as Chairman of the Board of Management , was in a position to lay before the Court of Governors and Subscribers on the same occasion as to the progress and development of the Bushey site for the new School was necessarily

meagre . The Board had held a special meeting for the purpose of visiting Bushey , and had fixed the exact site on which the new Schools would be erected . Smaller plans had also been drawn out in order to give effect to what the brethren had seen , but nothing further could be done until the quantities had been

taken out and they had had the opportunity of considering the very important question of ways and means . « - The plans for the new buildings had been accepted , the prices were settled , and the quantities were being taken out , but until this necessary process had been completed , no further information could be given .

» » In addition to the resolution respecting Perpetual and Life Presentations , to which we have referred at some length in our leading article , a motion was brought forward by Bro . Stanley J . Attenborough , and we are glad to say unanimously accepted by the General

Court , to the effect that by way of celebrating the Centenary year , an allowance should be made to all the unsuccessful candidates at this year's election , commencing from the date on which , if elected , they would be admitted into the School , and to be continued until they should be received into the School , or become ineligible , on the score of age , for admission . The

allowance , which will be at the rate of . £ 20 per annum , will go towards the maintenance and education of those children but the schools to which they are sent must be approved by the Beard of Management , and the boys will be subject to the rules and regulations applicable to those children who are maintained and educated out of the Institution .

* * * In submitting his motion Bro Attenborough was careful to point out that the names of these unsuccessful candidates would be retained on the lists until such time as they were regularly elected by ballot or became ineligible for admission in respect of age . All Governors and Subscribers would thus have the usual

opportunities for exercising their privileges as voters . He added that the cost which his proposal would involve had been carefully reckoned and that it had been found that from first to last it would come to about , £ 1000 . ft was further stated that it would be impossible to admit any additional boys , as the premises were already as fully occupied as they could be . * * *

There is just one remark we purpose offering , and it has reference to the unfortunate lad who , at the recent election , had that one and only ch ance allowed him of gaining admission into the School and failed . He will be 11 years old early in May and consequently his name will disappear from the list under the provision

of Law 70 . Can nothing be done during this year of the School Centenary for this boy , who is the only one out of the 49 boys on last week's list , who will derive no benefit from the very generous proposal brought forward by Bro . Attenborough and unanimously adopted by the General Court ? We know nothing whatever of the

circumstances of his case beyond the particulars furnished against his name in the list of candidates . We only know that 27 out of the said 49 candidates have been elected into the School and will be maintained , clothed , and educated , until they severally attain the age of 15 years . We know further , that of the 22 boys who were not elected 21 are still eligible

and will , in due course , share in the benefits about to be conferred on the unsuccessful under Bro . Attenborough ' s resolution . But this unhappy youth has no further chance of election and no share in thc centenary benefits . This one boy out of the 49 , must he be left out in thc cold altogether ? Can nothing be done to lessen his disappointment and make brighter the remaining years of his boyhood ?

Universal regret will be felt at the news that Bro . W . IT . Lee , P . M ., P . Z ., who , a year or two since , retired on a pension from the post he had so ably filled for many years in the Grand Secretary ' s office ,

Masonic Notes.

died suddenly on Sunday last . He was well known in the Craft , but more especially in the Province of Middlesex , which he had loyally served during the greater part of his Masonic career , and by all w ho knew him , he was greatly and deservedly respected .

The funeral took place on Thursday , and a brief record of his services will be found in another column ; but we cannot allow the sad event to pass without tendering our most respectful sympathy to the members of his family . #

* » It is clear , from the report we have received of the District Board of General Purposes for the Western Division of South Africa for the year 1897 , t ' " at very great progress was made , and that Freemasonry is now on a far more substantial footing than it was 12 months

ago . Much of this is due to the great activity shown in connection with the Queen ' s Diamond Jubilee ; but the good work done appears to be as promising for the future as it is substantial . There are now 14 lodges on the roll of the District Grand Lodge , one having been

transferred from the Eastern Division , while one entirely new lodge—the Lodge of Israel , No . 2691 , Cape Town—was consecrated by the District Grand Master on the 4 th August last , and the Board remarks that "from the number of founders and also of the

initiates who have been made in it , it is evident that it supplies a much-needed want . " There have also been the usual private lodge visitations , while , in addition to the annual and half-yearly meetings of the District Grand Lodge , the District Grand Master and his officers were present when the foundation-stone of the new wing of the New Somerset Hospital , intended to

be a permanent memorial in Cape Colony of the Diamond Jubilee , was laid by the Governor ( Sir Alfred Milner , K . C . B . ) with Masonic honours , under the District Grand Master ' s direction . There was also a special meeting in the Hall of British Lodge , No . 334 , and Divine service in St . George ' s Cathedral in honour of the same event on St . John ' s Day , at both of which the District Grand Master and his officers

were present , as well as a number of distinguished members of the Scottish and Dutch Constitutions .

* * * But the activity of the lodges and brethren was not confined to this class of work or meeting . We learn that in August of last year , when the Management of the Masonic Educational Fund issued its report , there were as many as 45 children being educated under its

auspices . The main source of income of this Fund is the subscriptions paid by the lodges , but it has been materially assisted by the collections made at the installation of new Worshipful Masters of lodges . As the calls upon the resources of the Fund have been exceptionally numerous , the amount thus received has

been most welcome . As for the District Grand Lodge Benevolent Fund , there can be little doubt as to its position being fully assured . It commenced the year 1897 with a balance in hand of close upon , £ 1000—the precise sum being ^ 998 lis . 2 d . It received during

the year in Subscriptions , £ 88 13 s . and in Interest , £ 33 7 s . 2 d ., or together £ 122 os . 2 d ., while it disbursed in aid , for individual relief , and for other purposes . £ 103 5 s . fid ., the balance remaining at the close of the year being ^ 1017 5 s . iod . * *

But the principal result of the year ' s labour is the the establishment of a Masonic Pension Fund . It was resolved at the annual meeting of Dist . G . Lodge that the memorial of the Diamond Jubilee year of her Majesty ' s reign should take this particular form , and at the half-yearly meeting in September , it was

unanimously agreed thas £ 500 should be transferred from the District Benevolent fund to the Pension Fund , and at the same time subscriptions were invited from lodges and individual brethren . So far as time had allowed of a response being made to this invitation there had been received from lodges and brethren and in other ways

a sum of £ 208 6 s . 7 a ., making with the D . G . Lodge ' s contribution before mentioned £ 708 fis . 7 d . Of this only £ 1 13 s . 3 d . had been expended , so that there remained in hand towards the object of the Fund upwards of £ 706 . It seems , however , that several of the larger lodges had not completed their lists of

subscriptions in time for the publication of the Account , but the Board expresses a hope that the result of the first year ' s organisation of the Fund will be a total receipt from all sources amounting to about , Ciooo . Such a result as this cannot do otherwise than refect the

greatest honour upon the lodges and brethren in this Western Division , and we have no doubt that when the Fund has been thoroughly well-established it will be liberally maintained and thereby enabled to confer its benefits upon all who apply to it for help in their time of need .