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CONTENTS . L EADERS- PAGE The Province of Cheshire ... ... ... ... ... 499 C-ementaiia Hibernica ... ... ... ••• 499

Masonic Jurisprudence ... ... ... ... ... ... 500 Masonic Library Sale ... ... ... ... ... ... 501 Provincial Grand Lodge of Guernsey and Alderney ... ... „ ... 502 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 502 Science , Art and the Drama ... ... ... ... ... 5 ° 3

M ASONIC NOTESProvincial Grand Lodge of . Devonshire ... ... ... ... 5 ° 5 Provincial Grand Lodge of Guernsey and Alderney ... ... 505 Scottish Freemasonry in India ... ... ... ... 5 ° 5 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ¦•• 506 Board of Benevolence ... ... ... ... ... ... 506 K . VIGHTS T EMPLARProvincial Priory of Dorset ... ... ... ... ... 506

Clonfert Cathedral ... ... ... ... ... ... 507 Masonry ' s Objects and Ends ... ... . ... ... ... 507 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 50 S Ancient and Accepted Rite ... ... ... ... ... 50 S Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... •» 50 S Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ¦•• 51 ° Wills and Bequests ... ... ... ... ... ... 510

The Province Of Cheshire.

THE PROVINCE OF CHESHIRE .

The regret we have recently expressed at tlie contemplated retirement of thc Earl EGERTON OK TATTON from the office of Provincial Grand Master of Cheshire was fully justified by the proceedings at the recent annual meeting at Stockport of the

Provincial Grand Lodge . All the lodges on the roll of thc Province were represented and the attendance of the bretliren , lo the number of between 500 and 600 , was almost unprecedently

large . Moreover , the reports were , save in one or two respects , to be noted hereafter , uniformly encouraging . The finances of the Province were believed to be in a sound condition with

balances to the good on both Funds—of General Purposes and In'nevolence . There are , as mentioned by Lord EGERTON , 54 lodges , including one that has been consecrated this year , and before the present month is ended there will be still another

added to the list , . while , as regards membership , the number has increased , under the presidency ol " his lordship , from 1623 to 2729 . The Cheshire Masonic Benevolent Institution which has been established during thc present reiriiiit ; has

received during the past year a fair measure of support , while Hie Cheshire Masonic Educational Institution , which dates from the year 1 & 6 3 , and has been the means of materially helping on the children of our deceased or necessitous Cheshire

hrethrcn , has also been tolerably well encouraged . I'lie former of these Institutions provides small annuities for aged and indigent members and their widows , while the latter provides education and clothing for 47 children ,

Hie amount expended on whom during the year reached £ 425 . But Ihe hel p these local charities receive from the lodges is by no means equal to what it might , could , and should be if all the lod ges in Cheshire discharged theirduty towards them equally well ,

'md it is just this lack of support on the part of sundry which constitutes the weak point before referred to in the record of the past year . According to the report of the Benevolent Institution there were as many as 15 lodges which had

allowed the special appeal for an extra donation of two guineas to pass unheeded , and we trust these lodges will lose no time in answering the appeal on the grounds stated 111 the Report of the Managing Committee , namely , that " the

necessity for their support is urgent in the interest of necessitous brethren and widows . '' So , too , as regards the Educatlona * Charity , the Managing Committee report that " out of the

54 lod ges in the Province onl y 34 have sent in any contributions 0 our funds , and your Committee regret to observe that several

The Province Of Cheshire.

ofthe non-subscribing lodges are drawing considerable sums for the maintenance of children . " This is decidedly not fair to the Institution , which deserves help from those who do not scruple to solicit for themselves the benefits it confers . Members of

our lodges are assumed to be in reputable circumstances , and though that does not imply that they are wealthy , it ought not to be beyond the compass of their ability to reciprocate to some extent the benefits they are deriving . Neither is

it just to the subscribing lodges , to whose generosity the Institution is indebted for its funds , and vve most cordially endorse the remark of the Committee , that " it is their duty to support the Institution which is rendering them

such assistance in clothing and education . " However , save as regards this solitary shortcoming , which there ought to be no difficulty in remedying , the different reports that were submitted at the recent meeting of our Cheshire brethren were , as we

have said , most encouraging , and we trust that after the kindly and earnest appeal of Bro . Sir HORATIO LLOYD and others , Lord EGERTON ' S idea of resigning , will not , at present at all events , get beyond the initial stage of being in contemplation .

Cæmentaria Hibernica.*

C ? MENTARIA HIBERNICA . *

It has been given to few brethren to render to Masonic literature thc services that have been rendered b y Bro . VV . J . CHETWODE CRAWLEY , Past Grand Deacon of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , and Secretary of its Grand Lodge of Instruction .

Those who arc familiar with the Transactions of our Lodge Quatuor Coronati , No . 2076 , do not need to be reminded that from the very outset of its career , he Ins been a frequent

contributor towards its self-imposed task of enlightening the Craft generally on all matters of public and private interest—so far as these latter may properly be dealt with in publications that are as accessible to the non-Mason as to the Mason—which concern the

history , laws , customs , organisation , and inner life of Masonry and all its several branches . On all the knotty questions which have exercised the minds of the more learned among the brethren more especially during the last quarter of a century

his opinions have been eagerly soughtforandas readily expressed , nor is there one of which it can be said that we are not indebted for its clearer and more acceptable elucidation to his great erudition and indefatigable zeal . Of him , indeed , it may be

affirmed , not in any mere complimentary sense , but with perfect justice , that in thc necessarily restricted field of Masonic research , there is no branch of our literary work which he has not succeeded in illumining .

Thus far generally . But the field of research in which Bro . Dr . CRAWLEY has laboured more especially , and in which his success has been most conspicuous , is that ot the history of Freemasonry in Ireland , as to which there has prevailed a

considerable amount of ignorance , which we are glad to say has been steadjly diminishing ever since he appeared upon the scene , and gave his mind seriously to the subject . Formerl y

the general idea as to the Grand Lodge of Ireland , based on the very meagre information obtainable or vouchsafed to us b y those who knew anything , was that it was founded in 1730 , Lord