Contents.

CONTENTS .

LiADSR" ior ) Lecture on Freemasonry 120 United Grand Lodge or England no Cardiff Jubilee Masonic Ball 120 R 0 val Masonic Benevolent Institutution- ^ 1 ™* QuerieS !" Annual Festival in Reviews 1 . 0 Consecration of the St . Chads ( Mark ) REPORTS or MASONIC MEETINGSr . ndee . No . ill , West Yorkshire n 6 Craft Masonry 120

Consecration of the Adoniram Rose Croix R 0 va " Mch \ % Chapter n ? Instruction 126 'ffiffirfto Collars n ^ M ^ £ == Z = »« 11 •!„« . A , Toat ; ,, nr T ™ Knights lemplar 120 ff B ^ fc ::: zzYYY :::::: "I „ ™» - »* Wed R , te „ , A True Masonic Jubilee 120 Ba " ° £ the Royal Jubilee Lodge , No . p ... 127 The Jubilee Jewel 120 Masonic Ball at Torquay 125 Bro . T . W . Fleming , P . P . G . M . of the Masonic and General Tidings 125 Isle of Wight 120 Lodge Meetings for Next Week ... -. 128

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IT is probable that Grand Lodge will be more numerously Un Lod e rand atte"ded than usual at its Quarterly Meeting on Wednesday next . Apart from the interest which always attaches to the election of a new Grand Treasurer , and which , with two such strong candidates as Bro . A . F . GODSON , M . P ., D . P . G . M . Worcestershire , and Bro .

RICHARD EVE , Prov . S . G . W . Hants and the Isle of Wight , to choose from , will be exceptionally great , there are several motions of which notice has been given , and which will successively be submitted for the consideration of those present . The first of these by Bro . MEITER , for the consecration of a foundation stone , to be followed by the collection of funds all the world over with the ulterior object of erecting on , or as near as possible

to , the original site of King Solomon ' s Temple , an international " House of Prayer , " may be dismissed almost without comment . It is a grotesque proposition and will serve to amuse the brethren , if they need amusement , as well as anything else of its kind . But apart from this , there are several motions which are likely to cause a

considerable amount of discussion . The great Collar question will be revived , there being two proposals bearing on the subject in the agenda paper by Bros . E . T . BUDDEN and WILLIAM NICHOLL respectively . Bro . J AMES STEVENS is anxious for the repeal of Article 153 of the Laws , the effect of which , if carried , will be to do away

with the London district ; his aim being , in all probability—though as we are not in his confidence , we cannot speak with absolute certainty—to revive a plan of his , which was defeated some time back , for converting the present area of Masonic London into a number of Provincial districts , each having a separate organisation of its own and a complete set of Provincial

officers . We do not anticipate that Bro . STEVENS ' S motion will be entertained , but members of Grand Lodge will do well to reflect that , if it should be carried , and London is henceforth parcelled out into a number of provinces , the gain of a little purple will be obtained at the sacrifice of not a little gold to the Fund of Benevolence , the quarterages payable by

members of London lodges being just double those of country lodges . As regards Bro . CLEVER ' resolution to vote £ 1000 from the Fund of General Purposes to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , we are decidedly '" favour of its being passed , but at the same time we trust that a similar sum will be voted towards the support of each of our Scholastic Charites ,

so that all of them may obtain some special benefit during this year of 'he Queen ' s Jubilee celebration . The last resolution of all—by Bro . W . NICHOLL —relates ( 1 ) to the election of officers , Boards and Committees , with a view to seeing whether or not it may be " desirable or Practicable to adopt some system of voting by proxy papers , or otherwise ,

n ° t necessitating personal attendance from a distance ; " and ( 2 ) to the P sent method " of recording and counting the votes in Grand Lodge . " fts regards the former of these objects we will content ourselves with remarking that grave objections appear to have been always held by members the Craft to any system of proxy voting , except in the case of the

echons of candidates to our several Chanties , and that in our opinion otning has happened of late to disturb or destroy those objections , while , regards the latter object , we are certain Bro . NICHOLL will deserve and ec eive the thanks of the brethren if he succeeds in devising any arrangeent b y which the recording and counting of votes in Grand Lodge can be Militated .

ihe p t- THE first ° f our Anniversary Celebrations of the year has 'Ui ' rT ^ " y realised the expectations even of those who were most

sanguine of a brilliant success , while it has undoubtedly gone , be yond the hopes of the people who make a point of looking every thing le face coldly , and never believe in the probability of anything happen-£ until it is accomplished . We , who were among the sanguine , are Sbted , but not surprised , at the result which it was Bro , TERRY ' S good

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fortune to announce on Tuesday . Many of our readers , whose experience of names and figures is necessarily more limited , will be both surprised and delighted with the account we publish of the Festival this week of the Royal Masonic Ben . Inst . The Chairman of the day , Bro . W . W . B . BEACH , M . P ., Prov . G . Master of Hants and the Isle of Wight , has presided twice

before on similar occasions ; but , though the results in both cases must have been gratifying to him personally , to the Stewards who assisted him , his province which loyally supported him , and the brethren at large who are always pleased when success attends their Festival gatherings , they will not bear comparison with the far heavier total that was accumulated on Tuesday .

Bro . TERRY has done great things in his time , but never has he achieved a triumph such as that we are dwelling upon now with such pertinacious thankfulness , nor have Bro . MASON and the other members of the staff ever worked harder or to better purpose . The . Benevolent Institution has seen many great benefits conferred upon it in the course of its long

and not uneventful career , but great as they may have been , and subject matter as they were at the time for general congratulation , they are cast into the shade by this—the latest and most splendid of them all . A total of ^ 18 , 700 , made up of nearly equal amounts from London and the Provinces , was announced in the course of Tuesday ' s

proceedings , while the total we now place before our readers is ^ 18 , 974 2 s ., and as there are still some lists to be accounted for , there is small reason to doubt that the sum ultimately reached will be fully , if not in excess of , ^ 19 , 000 . Writing—it may be , somewhat hastily—the other day , we suggested that , considering the difficult circumstances by which the Institution was

presently surrounded , and seeing how the brethren were sending in their names to act as Stewards , a grand total of somewhere about £ 20 , 000 was on the cards . That amount has not been reached , but we do not regard our anticipation as a complete failure , when we find that nineteen-twentieths of

it have been realised . Details apart , however , the event of the week has been a signal success for all who took part in it , and the result will materially assist in lightening the pressure under which , in spite of its productive Festivals , the Institution has been labouring for some few years . May the Celebrations of future years bear fruit still more abundantly 1

* # * IT would be an act of great discourtesy if we allowed the andhis Province wee ' to P without offering our hearty congratulations to R . W . Bro . BEACH , M . P ., the Chairman , and his Province of Hants and the Isle of Wight . Bro . BEACH has now presided at a Festival

of each of our Institutions , and has had the satisfaction of witnessing a generous total of subscriptions on each occasion , his advocacy of the three in turn being both able and earnest , and what is more to the purpose , in all three instances , as we have before said , most successful . Similarly his Province has always seconded his efforts most loyally , and the brethren must feel

proud at having played the chief part on Tuesday especially , and in a lesser degree at the Boys' Festival in 1877 , and that of the Girls' in 1883 . This latest total of upwards of £ 1750 from Hants and the Isle of Wight is a splendid return , and the Stewards who had a hand in building it up deserve the warmest thanks of all true Craftsmen .

WE congratulate Bro . FORD on his appointment by H . R . H . The New Dep . „ . . „ „ „ . . . „

P . G . M . the Duke of CONNAUGHT to the Deputy Provincial Grand Mastership of Sussex , rendered vacant by the death of Bro . J . . SCOTT , P . G . D . Bro . FORD is a Mason of recognised ability and

influence , and has held the office of Grand Registrar of the Province over which he is now called upon to exercise , under , and in the absence , of his Royal Chief , the authority of Deputy . We must also congratalate the illustrious Duke on the excellence of his choice , and the brethren on having so able a brother to represent his Royal Highness .

* * * OUR readers will hear with regret of the death , after a some-E . D . Davis ) what prolonged illness , of Bro . E . D . DAVIS , who was initiated fi . Std . Br . „ „ ,. . - , . ., and invested

into Freemasonry some fifty years since , was as one of the G . Standard Bearers of England last year . Bro . DAVIS was highly respected in the Masonic circles in which he moved , as much so , indeed , as he was in the dramatic profession with which he had been associated during the greatest part of his career . The funeral , which took place

on Wednesday , at the Jesmond Cemetery , Newcastle , was attended by a ¦ very large muster of brethren as well as of the general public . We defer giving a full report of his career until next week , the demands on our space being so heavy ; but we take occasion to express our warm sympathy with the members of his family , and his brother Masons , on the heavy loss they have sustained .