Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 283 Communique 28 4 Lodgeof Benevolence 2 S 4 Consecration of thc Thames Lotlge , No . 1 S 93 2 S 4 Consecration of the Kastcrn Star Chapter , No . 95 * 285 Fjeemasonry in Spain 286

Masonic History anil Historians 2 S 7 Masonic Otles and Poems 2 S 7 CORRESPONDENCEMasons' Marks 2 SS Bro . Hughan ' s "Masonic Register " 28 S ' * Bro . Quotation "—A New Grand OHiccr 2 S 9 Thc Punjab Masonic Institution 289 A Vagrant 289

Reviews 28 9 Masonic Notes and Queries 2 S 9 Roval Masonic Benevolent Institution 2 S 9 Provincial Grand Lodge of Northants and Hunts 290 Provincial Grand Lodge of Berks and Bucks 290 Precedence of Provincial Grand Ollicers 291 REPORTS OF MASONIC

MEETINGSCraft Masonry 293 Instruction 293 Scotland 293 Australasia 294 Alleged Discovery of the Morgan Mystery ... 294 MastmicTidings " 295 General Tidings . » -. 29-Lodge Meetings for Next Week 296

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WE hope our readers have thoroughly digested Bro . BINCKES ' S copious and lucid directions for thc great gathering at Brighton on the 29 th instant . Wc invite all who intend to visit Brighton on that occasion carefully to read the " circulars , " to avoid mislakes and confusion . If only they will peruse them , and will attend lo

them , the festival will probably be a complete success . We trust that it may be so , and that Bro . BINCKES will be able to announce a result alike most creditable to thc Stewards , most satisfactory to the Charity , and which will prove thc soundness of the advice and the propriety of the move to Brighton . Thc meeting at the School for the prizes will take place on the 28 th inst .

* * WE repeat our hope that the Boys' School Festival at Brighton may be a most successful one in every respect . If wc may have our " doubts , " we keep them wisely to ourselves , as it is just possible that the result may surpass all present expectation , and if so we shall very sincerely rejoice . Before

we again greet our readers the festival will be , in its turn , a " thing of the past , " and we shall hope to be able to chronicle another striking and startling proof of the zeal of Freemasons , thc energy of the Stewards , and the inherent excellency of one of thc most needed and important of our great Charitable Institutions .

* * WE think we are expressing thc hopes of many subscribers lo the Charities when vve say that we trust the common rumour that we are to be favoured with furtlier personal explanations at thc next meeting of the

General Committee of the Girls' School is a pure canard . In this hot weather , and vvhen time is short and precious , and vve are all wanting a holiday , let us all separate with that good feeling and those friendly associations which ought to actuate and distinguish us as gentlemen and Freemasons .

* * * MASONIC archaeology is making great 1 strides , and at this moment we hardly see where it will all tend to or how it will all end . We have practically to rewrite our Masonic history . The theories which sufficed our forefathers do not suffice us , and even new views and clever theories have had their dav ' ,

and fallen into the " sere and yellow leaf of doubtful acceptance , and 01 a hesitating criticism . And yet how many difficulties and " cruxes " have to be solved before we can hope to submit both what is readable and reliable , and yet historical and veritable , to our Masonic public to-day . OLIVER started the theory of the Mysteries ; FINDEL put forth the idea of the

German Steinmetzen ; other writers have taken a Guild theory , going through Anglo-Saxon times and Roman Collegia to Dionysiac and Phoenician , and Egyptian sodalities . Others have a Pyramidal theory , not a few cling to Oriental and later Hermeticism . Thus student and reader are always , as it seems , both on " dcbateable ground" and in " a slough of despond . "

We can get no further forward . Recent discoveries do not make the matter more clear or certain . The Guild theory has its weakness ; the Templar perpetuation notion is given up ; Hermeticism seems coming to the fore in some measure ; and in all probability , we say it in all reserve and diffidence , the "history of the future" will resolve itself into the joint and concurrent history of secret building societies and an Hermetic association .

* * THE question of the admission of ladies to some of our Masonic gatherings finds some strung supporters and encounters at the same time some keen antagonists . On the whole we feel persuaded that , once in a way , on a special occasion , the presence of ladies is a great good " per se , " and

independently of the pleasure of their company , the attractions of their society , the charm and the good they really impart by their always elevating and benign influences , they will also lend lo elevate and improve those far too merely material " symposia" which wc " Lords of thc Creation " claim as our own exclusively . Woman , created by T . G . A . O . T . U . as the helpmate of man

m all things here below , is often his surest guide , and his safest counsellor and we confess thai as years have passed on we have come to the conclusion that the entire absence of ladies from all the gatherings of some of our lodges constitutes a blot on our Masonic escutcheon , and is a weak point in our otherwise genial and excellent system . It only wants a little courage

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to break through the stereotyped objections of those , vvho have as yet failed to appreciate that the entire exclusion of our fair sisters from our innocent social festivities constitutes a somewhat serious charge against us—of something approaching to—to—to—well—yes—selfishness , good brethren all .

* * * LONDON lodges are gradually closing their meetings and separating for the Recess . In two or three weeks , or even earlier , we shall be most of us upon the wing , and until October or November , or unless we meet in Grand Lodge in September , we shall hardly don our Masonic clothing , or proclaim

ourselves brethren of the " mystic tie . " It is not a little singular , and even affecting , this sudden cessation of Masonic life for a season , year by year ; this severance of old friends for a time—perhaps not destined in the good I-Yovidence of T . G . A . O . T . U . to meet again in an earthly lodge , —this often hastv' and regrettable termination of long-life frendships and pleasantest

associations . l < or , say what we will , and do what we will , life is uncertain and lime is fleeting . We are some of us getting on in years , and though , let us all hope , when our W . M . summons us once again in this good year of light , wo . may all answer to the Secretary ' s call , yet it may , perhaps , be our destined lot before then even to leave this scene on which we have played

our humble part , to " shuffle off our mortal coil , " to pass from that great stage of life on which we have played our parts , well or ill , successfully or unsuccessfully , as the case may be . There is no harm in such remembrances as these , for they are often serious realities , or rather it may do us all good , vve who live , and live in some

respects so purely a material existence to-day , to call to mind such truths , and meditate on such contingencies . Freemasonry always would teach us the same useful and valuable lesson , and let us , therefore , not be ashamed , any of us , be we who , or what , or where wc may , to be affected by such considerations , and controlled by such sympathies .

* * ' •WHERE do you mean lo go for the summer ? " is a question we often hear repeated in expiring lodges and closing symposia . And various are the " points " to which wc are all wending our steps ; as various , indeed , as there are places and scenes to see and visit on this fair and wondrous earth

of ours . Some of us are off to Welsh vales and Welsh hills , some mean to sojourn amid Westmorland and Cumberland lakes . Some are thinking of Scarborough , not a few of Harrogate , and a large section is wending its way Scotland-wards . We are afraid that poor Ireland will have but little attraction for visitors or wayfarers this year , amid this "bubble bubble " of uneasy

landlords and recreant tenants , a harassed police , marching soldiers , and mutilated cattle . Travellers want calm and quiet , good food and peaceable hotels , they eschew the outbursts of patriotism , and even the factitious enthusiasm of mobs . They want good food and pleasant associations . No doubt Margate , and Ramsgate , and Brighton , and Felixstowe , and countless

other locales of ozone and hygiene , will attract many , of our brethren , their wives , and their families . The Continent will also welcome , we fancy , a good contingent . So all we can say to-day , may they all , wherever they be ,

find health , and rest , and comfort , and happiness ; may they enjoy themselves to their hearts' content , and may they come back to our "little village " in due and good time , anxiously looking forward to that pleasant hour which shall see them in some favourite and genial lodge again .

* * WE quite agree with the conclusions of an article which appeared last week in thc Freemason—though not in the leading page—with reference to the socalled " public installations " in America . They are both a misnomer and serious departure from Masonic precedent , utterly unconstitutional , and likely

to be productive of most serious evils . Perhaps it is not for us to criticize overmuch what takes place outside our own jurisdiction ; but as we believe that this new excitement is both a " fad " and a blunder , vve think it well , in all deference and goodwill , to call the attention of our good brethren in the United States to this altogether mistaken view both of what an installation of a W . M . is in Masonry and what it is meant to be .

A " COMMUNIQUE " elsewhere calls attention to a state of affairs deeply to be regretted in the best interests of Masonic comity and good feeling . The course pursued , strange and unprecedented in itself , seems to us to be liable to great objection and greater abuses . How true it is still in the history of

the world in whicii we live , that the little word " ego " has such an influence over the words and acts of men , and how much is done , and more is attempted , amongst us all to-day , which have no possible concern with the

public good , but are simply actuated and coloured by the personal idiosyncrasies of some , the personal interests of others . We quite concur with the remarks in the " Communique , " and think they deserve noting by all .