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^^^^^^^ SATURDAY , J ANUARY 27 , 1900 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

A special service will be held in the Cathedral Church of St . Giles , Edinburgh , at 3 p . m . on Sunday , the 4 th prox ., which will be attended by the lodges in the Metropolitan District and nearby . The offertory and the contributions otherwise received will be handed

over to Bro . M . Thomson , Lord Provost of Edinburgh , to be appropriated as may seem best to him , " in aid of soldiers disabled and the widows and children of soldiers killed in the rebellion of South Africa . " The

Church , we are told , will to a limited extent , be open to ladies and non-Masons , but none will be admitted without tickets , and as no charge will be made for them , lodges obtaining tickets will be expected to contribute in return .

The contiibutions thus obtained will be handed over lo the Lord Provost in one sum , se that no invidious distinction will be possible among the lodges in respect of the amounts they may severally contribute . Brethren who cannot be present are requested

to remit to their respective lodge Treasurers , so that the total may be a represenUtive one , and worthy of the Scottish Craft . Bro . the Hon . James Hozier , M . P ., M . W . G . Master , will attend , and it is expected that the regimental band of the Gordon Highlanders will take part in the service .

We learn also from another source—the Secretary of the Lod ge of Edinburgh ( Mary ' s Chapel , No . 1—that the celebrated prima donna , Madame Ella Russell ,

has most generously undertaken to journey all the way from London to Edinburgh in order to sing a solo at this Masonic service , and that she will do so without tee or reward—her usual fee we arc told is 80 guineas ;

Masonic Notes.

that the Town Council of Edinburgh , headed by the Lord Provost , will be present in their robes of office '; and that Bro . Lord Elphinstone , of Carberry Tower , Musselburgh , who is a member of No . 1 , though unable to attend in person , has forwarded a cheque for n vc guineas as a contribution to the proposed fund .

* * * The following is a copy of the letter received from Lord Elphinstone by the Secretary of the Arrangements Committee : — ' 13 th January , 1900 . " Dear Sir ,

" With reference to your letter of the 6 th inst ., I now beg to enclose cheque for £$ 5 s - towards the Masonic Fund for Widows and Orphans , to be raised at the proposed Masonic Service on the 4 th Feb . I very much regret it will be impossible for me to be present at the service myself , but I heartily wish the movement every success . " I am , yours faithfully , ( Signed ) "ELPHINSTONE . "

* * * Our Derbyshire Mark brethren had a very successful meeting at Chesterfield on the 9 th instant , when Bro . A . Woodiwiss , the popular Grand Mark Master of the Province had the satisfaction of inaugurating the Scarsdale Lodsre , No . 529 , the first that has been

warranted since Derby was constituted a separate Province under his rule . Bro . Woodiwiss himself performed the ceremony of consecration , while the duty of installing Bro . W . W . Jeudwine , P . M ., as the first W . M . was assigned to Bro . Percy Wallis , P . G . Treas . of England , P . P . G . W ., Prov . G . Secretary . A singular coincidence

may be mentioned in connection with the latter cere , mony , Bro . Jeudwine having 21 years ago , when presiding as the W . M . of the Duke of Connaught Lodge , No . 246 , Buxton , "advanced" the Bro . Wallis , who on this occasion returned the compliment by installing his mentor in Mark Masonry in the chair of A . What . nakes the coincidence still more strange is that Bro .

C . F . Matier , the Mark G . Secretary , who was present and took part in the ceremony , stated in his speech in acknowledging the toast of the Grand Officers , that 21 years ago , he , too , had had the pleasure of installing Bro . Jeudwine as W . M . of the Duke of Connaught Lodge . The addition of the Scarsdale Lodge to the roll of Derbyshire augments the number of Mark lodges in the Province to eight .

* We heartily congratulate the brethren of the Alexandra Lodge , No . 1511 , Hornsea , on the brilliant success of the important function in which they figured on the 17 th instant , when their new Hall , the first stone of which was laid some six months ago by

the Marquis of Zetland , Prov . G . Master of N . and E . Yorkshire , was solemnly dedicated to " Freemasonry , Virtue , and Universal Benevolence . " The ceremony was to have been performed by Bro , Lord Bolton , P . G . W ., Dep . Prov . G . Master , but his lordship found himself at the last moment unable to fulfil his

engagement , and his place was taken by Bro . M . C . Peck , Past G . Std . Br . Eng ., the Prov . G . Secretary . And a most able substitute he proved himself , as a perusal of our report of the proceedings will show . The address he delivered was , indeed , a most eloquent one , worthy of the occasion and the lodge which provided it , and a credit to Bro . Peck himself .

» We may also congratulate the brethren of North and East Yorkshire and their rulers on this latest addition to the already long list of private Masonic Halls which from time to time have been erected in the Province . There is hardly a lodge in the two

Ridings which meets at an hotel or tavern , the majority of them having either Halls of their own or the use of those erected by lodges in the same locality , or else meeting in Assembly or private Rooms . Possibly the further brethren reside from the headquarters of Freemasonry , the more determined are they that the Craft shall receive all possible honour , and the readier to

furnish means for the erection of premises especially dedicated to Masonic uses . At all events , in the north of England the Masonic Hall is ths rule , and the hotel or tavern the exception ; while , in other parts of the country , the latter it ii which mostly provides the lodge quarters , and the purely Masonic Halls are few and far between .

» » * Quis custodiet ipsos custodes ? There appears elsewhere a letter—the publication of which we held over from last week in order that we might make inquiries of the brother implicated—from Bro . J . E . Le Feuvre , P . G . D ., in which , in criticising what appears to—at all events we may charitably suggest—

Masonic Notes.

to have been a slip of the pen on the part of one of our reporting staff , the writer himself falls into a more grievous error still . At the annual meeting of the La Tolerance Lodge , No . 53 8 , on the 4 th inst ., the W . M . would , on the confirmation of the minutes of the previous meeting relating to his election have been

installed in the chair . Unfortunately , to the deep regret of the lodge , the brother to whose installation as W . M . the members were looking forward , was on the morning of that very day struck down by paralysis . Inquiries were made at the W . M . elect's home , and the report that was brought back being unfavourable , the lodge , on the advice of Bro . Terry , P . G . S . B .,

confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting with the exception of that portion relating to the election of W . M ., and Bro . Thomas A . Tidy was called upon to act as such for another year . Our report goes on to state that " Bro . James Kench afterwards proceeded with the installation , and Bro . T . H . Clear was again appointed I . P . M ., and the following brethren received the other collars of office , " & c , & c , & c .

# * We have inquired of Bro . Terry as to the part taken by him in the proceedings—which our report shows was restricted to giving advice—and the result is as follows : As Bro . Terry happened to be on the premises , the lodge , in their difficulty , consulted him . He

informs us that he told them no installation ceremony was necessary ; that Bro . Tidy , the W . M ., must remain in office until his successor had been installed ; but that he might appoint and invest the officers for the new year . He then left the lodge—which he had only entered for the purpose of giving his advice—taking no further , as he had taken no previous , part in the

proceedings . Thus Bro . Terry did no more than give , with his usual courtesy , the advice that was sought of him , and , from the above particulars , it is clear the advice was such as might have been expected from so experienced a Mason . Hence if any error was committed , it must have been by Bro . James Kench , P . G . P ., whom we have not had the opportunity of consulting .

+ * * As to the report , which will be found in the Freemason of the 13 th instant at p . 25 , there can be no doubt as to what it says . We can do no more than suggest that our reporter—who is as experienced in Masonry as he is in his profession—may not have

been in the lodge during the whole of the meeting , and that this portion of the report was based on information obtained at second-hand , and not , therefore , always to be relied upon . However , there appears to have been an error in the proceedings which has escaped the eagle eye of our

critical Bro . Le Feuvre . The report tells us that the I . P . M . presented the W . M . with " the handsome Past Master's jewel , " which the brethren had voted—no doubt at the previous meeting , when their very natural expectation was that Bro . Tidy would vacate the chair at the usual time ( this very meeting ) . But Bro . Tidy is not a P . M . He is

still W . M ., not because he may have consented to act as such until the next regular period of election , but because he cannot help himself , and it is duty to remain in office until his successor has been installed in his stead . Thus the gift of a Past Master ' s jewel to a brother who is not a P . M . is not only somewhat pre . mature , but , also , in our opinion , irregular . Bro . Tidy's present service as W . M . is not a new , but a continuing , service .

» » The Special Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph , In a letter dated " Cape Town , Jan 3 , " cites as evidence of the very great losses which the Boers have sustained by the war , a statement made at a Masonic meeting in Durban , to the effect that " the Worshipful

Master and all the officers of the Ermelo ( Netherlands Masonic Lodge)—it is believed , indeed , every member —had been killed in action or died of his wounds , so that there was absoutely no one left entitled to take care of the regalia of the Craft . " We can trace no such lodge in the " Cosmo " under the Netherlands

Constitution , but there is an Ermelo Lodge , No . 2516 and also a Concordia Lodge , No . 2685 , both meeting at Ermelo , in the Transvaal , and both belonging to the English Constitution , under the government of R . W . Bro . George Richards , Dist . G . Master Transvaal . It may be true that the W . M ., officers , and all the

members of the Ermelo Lodge , No . 2516 , have been killed in action or have died from their wounds , but they may not all have been of Dutch nationality , as some four-fifths of the members of the English lodges in the Transvaal are , wc understand , of English nationality . Perhaps Bro . Richards , the District Grand Master , may be able to throw light upon the matter .