Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 4-3 Lodgeof Benevolence 424 London Masonic Charity Association 424 Hlovahle Grand Mark Lodge at Shelllcld ... 424 Masonic History antl Historians 42 . - ; Some Famous Masonic Relics 425

CoRRESt'ONnENCEA Query Answered , 42 G The Masonic Reception at York 426 Tne Approaching Elections 426 Texas Representative in Grantl Lodge ... 426 Reviews 427 Masonic Notes antl Queries 427 Consecration of the St . Thomas ' s Lodge , No . 1914 , at Kidsgrove 427

West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution 427 ' Complimentary Masonic Supper to Bro . Walter Beniley 428 The Reasons Why Ladies Have Never Been Made Freemasons 42 S RETORTS or MASONIC

MEETINGSCralt Masonry 429 Instruction 429 Royal Arch 429 South Africa , 430 Amusements 45 G Masonic and General Tidings 430 American Ti flings 431 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 432

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THE entire Masonic Fraternity , at home and abroad , patriotic citizens as tbey always arc , wherever their lot be cast , will be deeply grieved to bear of the untimely and mournful death of the President of the United States , General GARFIELD . The first feeling which predominates in our minds 011 reading the sad telegram is one of personal sorrow , —earnest and sincere ; but

the second is one of overpowering indignation and shame that this distinguished man should , in all the maturity of his powers , and with thc prestige of an honourable and gallant life , be prematurely struck down by the hand of a cowardly assassin . In this most untoward result of a fearful and cruel crime , America , Great Britain , and the Canadas mourn as one

people . It is , indeed appalling to realize to what desperate lengths thc fearful iniquity of " Nihilism " will go , and how deeply the baneful principles of hateful violence can sway thc minds of men , and prompt thc obscure agent or thc hired "bravo" to perpetrate deeds which are a degradation to our common humanity . We , as Freemasons , have another lie with thc

ever-gracious memory of thc murdered PRESIDENT—lhat hc was a brother of our Order ; and wc cannot help feeling and hoping- that the loyal nnd beneficent principles of Freemasonry have been intensified in his distinguished career , in that detestation of unbridled violence , that respect for order and for law , that faithfulness to duty , and that adherence to principle

whicii have so significantly characterized his utterances and acts , and so emphatically represent thc true " outcome" of a real and living Freemasonry . Our sympathies , as Freemasons , naturally turn to the poor mourning widow and orphan children , for whom wc wish , witli earnest aspirations , all that strengthening help and those benign consolations which in the good

providence of T . G . A . O . T . U . religion can place within their reach and realization . And then we must sympathize with the American people , deprived of their head under such afflictive circumstances , trusting , however , that in thc moral government of the world by HIM who always brings good out of evil , the peaceful progress and happy advance of that great

people may be protected and developed . But what a warning wc have in this awful crime , and in similar atrocities , against the tendencies of those hateful associations which preach assassination , and whose open aim or covcrt end seem to be thc uprooting alike of the rights of property , thc fruits of industry , every tsnurc of authority , and every principle of loyalty ,

duly , and public security . It is wilh such abhorrent teaching that the minds of many arc leavened just now , which fact seems to prompt the desperado and the coward to deeds whose result is , and can only be , thc

suffering of the many for the wickedness of one . H . M . thc Q UEEN , to do honour to the memory of an illustrious brother , has ordered a Court mourning , which , unprecedented in itself , has just now a deep significance , both for the American and English people .

* * OUR readers will have noticed , as wc did , with deep pleasure , in our last issue , that most sympathetic testimonial of attachment and appreciation which has recently been offered by thc worthy brethren of the Temple Lodge , No . 1094 , Liverpool , to their esteemed ' and valued Treasurer of

many years , Bro . J OSEPH WOOD . Vve think that it is a most touching fact "i itself , and one that reflects abiding credit on the kindly donors and the venerable recipient . Bro . J OSEPH WOOD has , during a long career , properl y earned the respect and regard of all who have come in contact with

him , and we always rejoice to place on record , if in this special case under Eome very afflictive circumstances , all such just tributes of fraternal regard and goodwill towards modest merit and unpretending worth . We think that this affecting tribute of fraternal sympathy rcilects most truly thc benevolent spirit of genuine Freemasonry .

• it * >> i . arc always glad to recify an error , or apologize fraternally for a misquotation . It seems that our admirable contemporary , the "Masonic Advocate , " has to complain of a slight misreading by us of one of its

paragraphs . It appears that we attributed to our respected Bro . G . M . ' RATHER , Indiana , U . S ., some remarks really delivered by thc Hon . N . " -fMBAcii . The report in our contemporary is very concise , and if our memory serves us , the division was not accurately marked between the

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speeches of the GRAND MASTER of the Freemasons and the GRAND MasTER of the Odd Fellows . Hence our editorial remarks that the laudation of " Odd Fellowship " seemed to us out of place at a " Masonic ceremony . " We are , however , glad to alter the allusion , and to say that it is now clear to us that the speech remarked' upon was delivered by

the GRAND MASTER of the Odd Fellows , and not by the GRAND MASTER of the Grand Lodge of Indiana . Ought not , however , Masonic ceremonies to be purely Masonic ? Freemasonry and Odd Fellowship proceed on such

totally different lines as to have little in common . The "Odd Fellows " constitute a beneficiary association , —a pure benefit society . Freemasonry has nothing to do , either in principle or practice , with any such organizations , however good in themselves .

* * " FREEMASONRY IN UTAH " sounds somewhat strange to English ears , and to all who remember the peculiar proceedings of "Saint SMITH " and BRIGHAM YOUNG . It has been said that at one time there was a sort of Masonic reception and association among the Mormons themselves ,

Though , of course , Freemasonry was itself in perpetual antagonism with a people who professed to believe in a miraculously discovered golden book . Thc subsidiary tenets of Mormonism were also in entire disagreement with the unchanged moral , domestic , social teachings of Freemasonry . We trust that thc beneficent principles of true Freemasonry may take root , and bear much good fruit in Utah .

\ VK vc . lurc to think that thc members of thc Everton Lodge , No . 823 , were very right in seeking * to vary the somewhat rigid uniformity of lodge festivals , by organizing and carrying out a trip from Liverpool to Llandudno . Everything seems to have gone off most successfully , and we feel sure lhat our lady friends and sisters , and the brethren all , were

mutually pleased and benefited by such a charming little expedition , and by such a graceful fellowship—those innocent pleasures and that harmless sociality which tend so much to lighten the " wear and tear" of life

illuminate its dark hours , and to develope its sunny ones . Such " reunions " must do good , despite Bros . "G ROWLER , CYNIC , & Co , " and we trust that they will be persevered in , and that they will increase among us for the good of the brethren , and the happiness of Freemasonry .

* * AFTER all KING KALAKAUA had a quasi-Masonic reception in " Auld Reekie . " He was duly installed " Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine " before a distinguished conclave , and as we note that some of the leading members of the Grand Lodge of Scotland were present , including Bro ,

D . M . LYON , G . S ., —a host in himself , wc are warranted , wc think , in using the term with which we began , —" quasi-Masonic . " The Order of Constantine , whether you accept the fuller history of thc Abbe GUISTINIANI or thc more limited view of Pore HONORE St . MARIE , has an historical past , and sets forth a pleasing ceremonial , and its accessories are all graceful

and decorous . What the actual intrinsic value of this and similar modern revivals may be it is impossible at present to measure or realize ; the more so as patient researches seem to demonstrate this one fact , undoubtedly and unmislakcably , that thc only two organizations which appear to satisfy the demands of historical criticism , and outlive the decay of passing

time , —" arc Craft Masonry proper , " and the "Ancient and Accepted Rile . " But having said this , we are by no means insensible to what has been so ably urged by others , and , above all , by our lamented Bro . R . W . LITTLE , in defence of the Order of Constantine , and there is a

large amount of presumption , wc think , at any rate , in favour of the fact that thc Order of Constantine represents an Order founded by the Emperor ISAAC ANGELOS COMNENIUS , at Constantinople , in the thirteenth century , and which was , in itself , a revival of an older order , founded in the fourth century by CONSTANTINE THE GREAT himself .

. fi : je THE difficult question propounded by Bro . J OSEPH LAMBERT deserves careful consideration , and we think that Bro . MASKELYNE ' S letter " hits the nail on the right head . " As a rule , one jurisdiction has no right to intrude into thc jurisdiction of another ; but if it be doubtful whether a proper

Masonic jurisdiction exists at all , then in such cases everything must turn on the reality and necessity of the movement . Wc are inclined ourselves at present to think that thc course suggested by " MASKELYNE " is the safest and the best for Bro . J OSEPH LAMBERT and others to follow , as there can be no doubt but that such lodges will be both "legal" in the eyes of Masonry and as before thc laws of the land .

* Bv a letter from the Secretaries and by a report of the London Masonic Charity Association elsewhere , we find that that vcry unpretending but useful Association is " again to the fore , " and wc trust lhat all success will attend its operations . We never could understand the secret and the spirit of opposition