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CONTENTS . L EADERS- PAGE East Lancashire Educational and Benevolent Institution ... ... 47 The " Century " Question ... ... ... •¦• — 47 The York Grand Lodge—A Brief Sketch ... ... ... 4 Craft Masonry ... ¦•• ••• ••• ••• ••• So

Science , Art and the Drama ... ... •¦• ••• ••• 5 i MASONIC NOTESMark Masonry in Derbyshire ... ... ... ••¦ 53 Dedication of a Masonic Hall at Hornsea ... ... •¦• S 3 Special Masonic Service in St . Giles's Church , Edinburgh ... ... 53 Correspondence ... •¦ •¦• ••• ••• ••• 54

POETRYGreat Britan ' s Appeal ... ... ••• ••• 54 Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... ... ... 54 Board of Benevolence ... ... ••• ••• ••• 54

Craft Masonry ... ... ... _ ••• 5 o Dedication of a Masonic Temple at Hornsea , East Yorkshire ... ... 58 Masons and the War ... ... ... ... ¦•• ••• 59 Obituary ... _ ... ... ... ... ••• 59 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ¦•• 62

East Lancashire Educational And Benevolent Institution.

EAST LANCASHIRE EDUCATIONAL AND BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

The annual general meeting of the Governors and Subscribers of the Kast Lancashire Systematic Educational and Benevolent Institution will be held at Freemasons' Hall , Manchester , on Tuesday , the 30 th instant , when a heavy programme

of business will be dealt with , the most important item being the Report for the past year of the- Finance and Audit Committees . From this wc gather that , having regard to the numerous calls which have been made upon the public for contributions to the various Funds that have been , and are

still being , raised for the sufferers by the war , the Committee are not dissatisfied with the amount that has been received in donations and subscriptions . In 18 9 S the total sum received under this head was within a shilling of / , ' ioSo , but during the

past year only about ^ 931 was obtained , the falling off reaching to close upon , £ 150—the precise sum being / J 4 S 3 s . 2 d . Towards this total of about , £ 931 , lodges , chapters , and other Masonic bodies contributed / X'i 2 10 s . 4 / 1 ., and individuals

£ 297 1 os . fid ., the remaining , £ 20 15 s . having been collected at the meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge , at Oldham , in May . The income from investments and interest realised ^ 139 , the total receipt , including the balance from the previous year and

two small sums , being upwards of ^ , ' 2154 . The disbursement under the principal sub-heads were as follow : For Relief , / 490 , of which £ 412 was expended in Grants , and £ ] S was disbursed b y the Almoners' Committee . The sum paid for the

education of the 26 children on the Fund was £ 268 , and for annuities among 13 brethren and widows of brethren , , £ 253 , the total thus disbursed being £ 1011 , as against £ 847 in 1 S 98 . I lie establishment charges—including the Secretary ' s Salary ,

I nnting Report , & c . —and certain small sundries , amounted together to ^ 169 , raising the outlay to / , ' nSo ; the balance in bank and Secretary ' s hands being about £ 975 . The value of the Investments slightly exceeds - £ 20 , 000 . so that the Institution

has a substantial nest-egg to fall back upon if in any future year the receipts should happen to show a very serious reduction . ' 1 here are two other matters mentioned in the Committee to which attention must be called , the first being the loss sustained b y the Institution through the death of Bro . Col . LE GENDRE N ,

East Lancashire Educational And Benevolent Institution.

STARKIE , Prov . G . Master . The late Bro . Col . STARKIE was the founder of this useful and prosperous Provincial Charity , and at all times had taken the deepest interest in its welfare . To this interest and the zealous efforts he was continually

making in its behalf , the Institution may justly ascribe most of its present prosperity , and the ' General Committee have done well in deciding that steps should be taken during the coming spring to establish a permanent

memorial to our late distinguished brother . The second matter is the resolution to hold another Festival in aid of the funds of the Institution . It was announced at the meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge , at which Lord STANLEY , M . P ., was

installed in office as the successor to the late Bro . Col . S'TARKTE , not only that such a Festival would be held some time during the month of May of the current year , but also that his lordship had kindly promised to preside on the occasion . It was also

stated that out of the amount of donations and subscriptions which might then be received the sum of 1550 guineas would be appropriated to the purchase of a Perpetual Presentation to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , to serve as an enduring

memorial to the services rendered by the late Prov . G . Master to Freemasonry generally and its Central Institutions , but more especially to the Craft in East Lancashire and its local Institution . Wc most cordially re-echo the wish expressed by the Committee

that the proceeds of the coming Festival may suffice for this particular purpose as well as for the general purposes of the Charity . We call to mind that a few years since , when the one and only Festival that has been held in behalf of this Fast

Lancashire Institution was celebrated in Manchester , under the presidency of the late Provincial Grand Master , the amount raised in Donations and Subscriptions was £ 4000 . In the face of the numerous calls we have before spoken of as being made

on the public in connection with the war , the Festival in May next may possibly not prove as productive ; but we are confident that our East Lancashire brethren will do their utmost to raise a sum that will reflect credit on the Province .

The "Century" Question.

THE "CENTURY" QUESTION .

We have no intention of prolonging the controversy with our worthy Bro . MAY as to whether we are now in the last year of the 19 th or the lirst year of the 20 th century . But we

consider it is due to one who has taken such pains to illustrate his views upon the question , that something in the nature of a reply should be forthcoming . Our remarks , however , shall be as brief as possible .

We are afraid that Bro . MAY has gone somewhat out of his way to needlessly enlarge the field of controversy . We make our start from a finite point—that is to say , from the Birth of CHRIST—and from that point we determine our calculations ,

cither backwards—B . C . —or forwards—A . D . He goes back to Chaos , and even to the infinities which may have preceded Chaos . If we follow him thither , we shall stand a fair chance of losing ourselves , and , therefore , as we are dealing with a finite matter ,

that ; is to say , with a period of time which starts from a finite or determinable point and is continued ( say ) to the close of the 31 st day of December , 1 S 99 , which is also a finite or

determinable point , we shall leave the infinite severel y alone . The question which has to be solved is : — "How many complete centuries have elapsed between these two finite points , namely , between ( i ) the Birth of CHRIST and ( 2 ) the close of the 31 s