Contents.

CONTENTS .

LSADHRS— PAGE . The Boys'School Centenary Festival ... ... ... 6 l 7 Templar G . Encampment , U . S . A . ... ... ... , ¦¦• Gl 7 Great Priory ... ... ... ... ... ... ¦¦¦ J > iS Order of Malta ... ... ... ... ¦•• » IQ Board of Benevolence ... ... ... ... ¦•• ••• ^ Ladies' Banquet of the Albion Lodge , No . 9 ... ... •¦• ^ Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... °

MASONIC NOTESChristmas Greeting ... ... ... ... ... 623 Appointment of Earl Amherst as Pro Grand Master ... _ _ ... 623 Board of Stewards for Festival of Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... 623 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... 624 Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... 624

Reviews ... ... ... ... ... •¦• ••• " 24 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 62 . 4 Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... faO Instruction ... ... ... ... ... ... 62 S Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ¦•• — 630 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 630

The Boys' School Centenary Festival.

THE BOYS' SCHOOL CENTENARY FESTIVAL .

The final meeting of the Board of Stewards for the Centenary Festival in June last of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys was held in Freemasons' Tavern on Tuesday . Bro . C . E . KEYSER , P . G . D ., Treasurer of the School , presided , and . in

addition to the members of the Board of Management , who were in full force , there may have been about 100 brethren present ' . A very satisfactory audited statement of account was read by the Hon . Secretary , and from this it appeared

that the receipts amounted to over ^ Sooo , and the expenditure to about £ 6 , 200 , the balance remaining in hand being £ 1850 . The account was approved and adopted , and ordered to be entered upon the minutes of the proceedings ,

and it was subsequently resolved that the statement should be printed and a copy sent to every member of the Board of Stewards . A motion to vote 25 guineas for the purchase of a couple of house champion cups for cricket and

football having been adopted , it was unanimousl y agreed amidst hearty cheers that , subject to the payment of any just claims that might hereafter be made upon the fund , the whole of the balance aforementioned should be handed over to the Institution

A vote of condolence with the family of the late lamented Bro . the Earl of LATHOM , G . C . B ., Pro G . Master , who was President of the Board , was proposed in kindly and sympathetic

terms by the Chairman and adopted in silence , and then amid hearty votes of thanks all round , the meeting separated , and the Board of Stewards at the recent Centenary Festival became a thing of the past .

While we sincerely congratulate the late Board upon the satisfactory presentment that was laid before them on Tuesday , there are just one or two points which appear to need explanation . In the first place , why did the Board of Management

with so large a balance remaining in hand of the Stewards' Fee Fund , go out of their way to vote honoraria to the Secretary and his staff out of the funds of the Institution ? The existence of this large balance of £ 1850 must have been known

approximately—say , to within £ 50 or £ 100—certainl y ~ a month after Hie Festival was held . The Board of Stewards would have quite as handsomely recognised the great services rendered them by their said Hon . Secretary and staff

The Boys' School Centenary Festival.

and there would have been no reversal of the policy deliberately adopted nine years ago—that the money subscribed to the Institution should be devoted to the purposes for which it was subscribed . In the second place , why was not the meeting

held three or four months ago ? The account which was submitted was very simple , consisting of , perhaps , half-a-dozen items of receipt and about 20 or more of expenditure , and could not have taken six months to prepare ,

Templar G. Encampment, U.S.A

TEMPLAR G . ENCAMPMENT , U . S . A

Our old friend The Masonic Review of Cincinnati , which wc have not had the pleasure of greeting for some considerable time , has turned up again , and receives , as it deserves , a most cordial welcome . It claims to be the " oldest Masonic

publication in the world ; " but it is not the age of a review or journal that we concern ourselves about so much as the contents , and , as regards these , the Review will compare very favourably with its contemporaries , the November number containing much

valuable editorial matter , plenty of news , and reports of meetings , in some cases derived from other Masonic periodicals . Among the last mentioned is a highly interesting account from the American Tyler of the triennial meeting of the Grand

Encampment of the Order of the Temple in the United States , which was held in Pittsburg , Pa , on the 10 th—14 th October last , under Sir Knight WARREN LA RUE THOMAS , M . E . Grand Master . The chief value of this account , however , is to

be found in the introductory portion , in which particulars are given of early American Tcmplary , and the career traced of Grand Encampment , U . S A ., itself from its establishment in 1805 . As regards early American Tcmplary , an

extract is given fiom the minutes of the St . Andrew ' s Royal Arch Chapter , of Boston , Massachusetts , of the lirst recorded meeting , which was held in the Masonic Hall on the 28 th August , 1769 , when , so far as evidence has been handed down to us , the

degree of Knight Templar was for the first time conferred . The record says : "Bro . WILLIAM DAVIS came before the lodge , begging to have and receive the parts belonging to the Royal Arch Masons , which , being read , was received , and he

unanimously voted in , and was accordingly made by receiving the four steps—that of Excellent , Super Excellent , Royal Arch , and Knight Templar . " The account goes on to state that the charter of the Kilwinning Lodge , Ireland , which bore date the

8 th October , I 779 , was used as "the authority for conferring the Royal Arch , Knight Templar , and Rose Croix degrees as early as 17 82 . " We are further told that " the first permanent organisation of Knights Templar of the United States is claimed to have been

in existence at Charleston , S . C , as far backasl 78 3 , " andevidence is given in support of thisclaim in the contents , which are quoted in full , of " a diploma now in the archives of the Grand Encampment , " which was granted to a "Sir HENRY BEAUMONT" on

the ist August , 1783 , among the Degrees mentioned as having been conferred upon him being that ol " a Knight of that Most Holy , Invincible , and Magnanimous Order of Kni ghts Templar . " There are also , it seems , other di plomas in existence that were

granted by Baltimore Encampment , No . 1 , in 1802 , 1812 , and 1814 . Sir Knight ALFRED CREfGH , the historian of the Order in Pennsylvania , claims that Encampments Nos . 1 and 2 .

Philadelphia ; No . 3 , Harrisburg ; and No . 4 , Carlisle , were organised in 1793 and 1797 " under the authority of Blue Lodge warrants , " and avers that the degree was conferred b y Philadelphia Lodges as earl y as 17 8 3 . The Order also existed in New York in