Reviews.

Reviews .

"MASONIC CALENDAR AND DIRECTORY FOR THE PROVINCE OF SURREY , 18 99 . " —This is a very able and practically exhaustive publication , is orinted by Messrs . James Truscott and Son , and is edited by Bros . C . T . Tyhr and W . A . Latham , the Prov . G . Sec . and Assistant Prov . G . Sec . respectively of the county . The contents are so varied , interesting , and well-arranged , that its publication and circulation in the Province cannot fail to prove a positive boon to the Surrey brethren , and it is to be hoped that they warmly appreciate the distinction of possessing one of the largest and best Provincial Directories published in this or in any other country . The Preface alone

is worth a good deal as a guide to the History of the Province , and the statistic ii details are so numerous as to render the handy little volume a never-failing reference for all points concerning the progress of the Craft in Surrey , numerically and financially , for years past . There are 42 lodges in the Province returning to Juns , 1 S 9 S , a total of 1 OS 0 members , or exactly 40 on an average per lodge , so that with an addition to the number of lodges , there is also an increase of the average—a most satisfactory fact . The 17 Royal Arch chapters have a total of 326 companions , proving that there is still a small proportion of the Craftsmen who as yet have seen their way to exaltation . The nine

Mark lodges return 16 9 members , and there are three K . T . preceptories and one Rose Croix chapter . Full information is supplied as to all these Bodies , and so as to the various Provincial Grand organisations . The by-laws cf the Provincial Grand Lodge and the Provincial Grand Chapter are also printed , and much else which together make up a remarkable and most useful compilation . The Portrait Gallery includes the Prov . G . M . ( the Earl of Onslow , G . C . M . G . ) , the Deputy Prov . G . M . ( Bro . Fredk . West , P . G . D . ) , and the Prov . G . Sec . ( Bro . C . T . Tyler ) , whose brief biography has been written by Bro . R . F . Gould .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Masonic Notes and Queries .

1133 ] — LODGE No . 50 , HINCKLEY . Bro . John T . Thorp , P . M . 523 and 2429 , & c . ( Address , Freemasons' Hall , Leicester ) , has considerably increased the debt of gratitude we owe him as Masonic students by the writing and publishing , at his own expense , another history of an old lodge . This time it is the " Knights of Malta , Lodge No . 50 , " held at Hinckley . It has had an eventful career , the particulars of such being narrated

by a master-hand . Originally , the No . 47 was issued in 1756 , and described a lodge constituted in London . It fell through , however , almost as soon as granted , the number being again utilised for a new lodge at Macclesfield , Cheshire , in 1764 . It also collapsed , and in 1803 the number was again used , with the Charter of 1764 , for the THI : ; O new lodge , being No . 47 , Hinckley , Leicester , on the Roll of the "Ancients . " The "third time was lucky , " for at last the warrant found firm ground , and has remained in that town ever since . Bro . Thorp gives many

interesting details of its history , and likewise furnishes numerous particulars of a more general character , thus adding considerab ly to the value of the work . The author handsomely acknowledges his indebtedness to othei brethren , and quotes occasionally from their books respecting the Craft in early days . There are several plates of illustrations , some being very curious , and all valuable souvenirs of the past , the frontispiece of the warrant of 1764 being most appropriate . The

brochure runs to some 90 pages , but is not for sale . Copies will be presented to members of the Lodge of Research , No . 2429 ( to whom it is suitably and fraternally dedicated ) , and to those of the Correspondence Circle . Brethren desirous can join the latter body at once by communicating with the esteemed Secretary ( Bro . Thorf ) on payment of 5 s . per annum , and will thereby receive this handsome brochure and the " Transactions" of the lodge . " Delays are dangerous . " W . J . HUGHAN .

1134 ] THE "MINDEN" LODGE MEDAL . Dr . W . J . Chetwode Crawley has favoured us with a most interesting communication on the " Minden Lodge , " and especially in relation to the number an d date ot the warrant . There is an error somewhere by the author of the History of that remarkable Lodge noted by Bro . Henry Sadler , but possibly due rather to

an unfortunate description of the charter rather than to a mistake as to the number . I cling to the number 63 , and suggest , for Dr . Crawley' s consideration , that probably the warrant originally was of the year 1736 , but another was issued in 1748 , in consequence of the loss of the first document . This would not be a very extraordinary experience for a military lodge charter , and thus may explain the two dates—1736 for issue originally , and 1748 for the warrant of confirmation . W . J . HUGHAN .

Ladies' Night Of The Moira Chapter, No. 92.

LADIES' NIGHT OF THE MOIRA CHAPTER , No . 92 .

A highly successful ladies' banquet was given by the -above chapter on Thursday , the nth instant , at the Albion Tavern , Aldersgate-street , E . C . A reception was first held , at which there were present Comp . E . D . Oppert , Mrs . Oppert , and Miss Scheyer ; Comp . Abel Simner , J . 749 , and Miss Simnerj Comp . J . M . Mitchell , J ., and Mrs . Mitchell ; Comp . the Rev . R . I . Woodhouse , H ., and Mrs . Woodhouse ; Comp . G . Greiner , I . P . Z ., Mrs . Greiner , Miss Loader , Miss Lenna Noakes , and Miss Tibbs ; Comp . Edward Macbean , H . 2029 ,

P . G . Chancellor , Scotland ; Comp . R . K . Gould , P . Z ., P . A . G . S ., Scribe E . ; Comp . T . L . Wilkinson , P . Z ., P . D . G . R ., Treas ., Mrs . Wilkinson , and Miss Avis Wilkinson ; Comp . T . H . Gardiner , P . Z . 8 , P . G . S . B . ; Comp . W . Bohm , P . Z ., Mrs . Bohm , and Miss Bohtn ; Comp . W . H . Hooker , P . Z . ; Comp . Wickham F , Noakes , P . S ., and Mrs . W . F . Noakes ; Comp . ] . Norman Noakes and Mrs . J . N . Noakcs ; Comp . Stuart B . Noakes and Miss Millicent Noakes ; Comp . F . A . Donnison , Miss Maud Donnison , and Comp . Alfred Donnison , 227 ; and Comp .

Charles Wells and Mrs . Wells . A dispensation having been obtained for the purpose , the companions appeared in Royal Arch clothing and jewels . After a short interval spent in p leasant conversation the banquet was announced . A choice menu had been provided , the dinner—which was admirably served under the personal superintendence of the manager—fully sustained the high reputation of the Albion Tavern , while the floral decorations , as well as all the appointments of the table , won great praise .

On the removal of the cloth , and Grace— "Laudi Spirituali "—having been beautifully sung , The M . E . Z . proposed the loyal toast of "The Queen" in the following words : Ladies and companions , on festival occasions like the present , when loyal

British subjects are assembled , it is the first pleasant duty to drink to the health of the Queen . Within a few days she will have attained the more than patriarchal age of 80 years , and it is the prayer of all of us that during the years which Providence , may yet vouchsafe to her health and happiness may be her portion , and peace and prosperity that of the many millions who live under her sway . Miss Perceval Allen , who has a charming voice , sang the National Anthem , after which

Ladies' Night Of The Moira Chapter, No. 92.

The M . E . Z . again rose , and said the next toast on our list is that of " The Prince of Wales , the G . Z . ; the G . H ., the G . J ., as well as the Officers of the Grand Chapter , Present and Past . " It is needless for me to say much with reference to the Prince of Wales ; we all know how great a favourite he is amongst the Fraternity . As regards the Grand Officers present at our banquet to-day , I

regret that their number is small , but what we miss in quantity they certainly make up in quality . We have amongst us such men as Comps . Gould , the greatest living authority on Freemasonry ; Gardiner , and Wilkinson ; and I cannot better discharge the pleasant duty of proposing the toast than by coupling with it the name of Comp . Wilkinson .

Comp . WILKINSON made an eloquent response , in which , after gravely doubting whether any of the ladies present understood what was meant by a " Grand Officer , " he introduced several anecdotes so appropriate to the occasion , that to whatever extent the surmise of the speaker might have been correct , the ladies , at the conclusion of his address , could not fail to form other than a most favourable opinion of a class of companions , who were represented so ably and well in the speeches of the evening , by the Treasurer of the Moira Chapter .

The M . E . Z ., in proceeding with the toast list , then said : In rising to propose the toast of the evening , I am reminded of the days long gone by when I was a youth and spent most of my time on board ship . In those days it was the custom of the captains on certain days to propose a toast , which he always did with the greatest unction , and which we youngsters always received with the greatest enthusiasm , it was the toast of sweethearts and wives , not indeed that we had any wives ourselves . We were too young and what is more we were too

impecunious to indulge in such a luxury As regards the sweethearts , with my wife by my side , I decline to incriminate myself , but the ardour with which we responded to that toast was inspired by that feeling of affection with which we regarded the dear ones we had left at home many thousand of miles away , whom we could not expect to see for years to come and whom some of

friends might never live to see again . But though years have passed over our heads since then , painted our hair with streaks of grey , and dimmed the youthful lustre of our eyes , age has not dimmed that feeling of reverence and admiration which we as good Masons have always entertained towards the fair portion of God ' s creation , so admirably represented on the present occasion . We know that amongst outsiders , I mean non-Mascns , there are those who often jeer at

COMP . E . D . OPPERT , M . E . Z . womankind , and just before I came to this meeting I was made acquainted with a deplorable instance that happened at a ladies' meeting , I think it was a political meeting , to which one of the leading lady speakers had taken her husband . She ascended the platform in order to deliver her speech , and had already commenced with the words " What is woman ? " when the brute of a husband of hers called out from the back benches , "the white man ' s burden . "

On the principal of contradiction on which a statement of defence is generally drafted by the learned profession , which is so well represented here to-night , I repudiate this charge . The statement of defence of a person charged with owing money lent is , I believe , generally drawn in the following way . The defendant absolutely denies that he has ever seen the plaintiff or that he ever had any money from him . He then continues to say that he and the plaintiff have always been on terms of the most intimate friendship since they were boys together , and that

the money was g iven to him on his birthday as a free gift , finishing up by stating that if the money was really lent he has long ago repaid it with interest at five per cent , per annum . In the same contradictory spirit I say that we utterly deny that woman is a burden , but if she be a burden she is so charming and lovely a burden , that any man worthy of the name should only be too pleased to bear it . In whatever condition or character woman may appear in our lives , she has always an ennobling influence upon us , even the divine art of painting has never produced is

anything more sweet or sublime than the image of the mother and child ; and there one amongst us , unless he has suffered the grievous misfortune of losing his mother at a very early age , who does not remember carrying all his little sorrows to her , in order to receive that comfort and consolation which only a mother's heart ' can give . And this reminds me of a pathetic little incident which Mr . Lionel Brough told me the other day . It happened to his sister Lizzie , who was interviewing a nursemaid in order to see whether she was fitted to take charge of little children . She was asked whether she could

bath children , " Yes , mum , " she said , " I have bathed my little brothers and sisters ever since I was that heighth " ; and on being asked if she knew how to regulate the temperature of the water , she said , "Oh ! certainly ! to a nicety . If the children comes out blue the water has been frozen , and if they comes out red raw , the water has been biling . " In the capacity of wives have we not always found them our comfort under all circumstances of life ? When we come home after a day ' s hard work , and perhaps an evening ' s hard work in addition , having partaken of our frugal meal at the' Albion , ' who is there waiting up for us , receiving