Contents.

CONTENTS .

L EADERS— P AQB . A Veteran Provincial Grand Master ... ... ... ... 395 Canadian Masonry ... ... ... ... ... .,, 39 ; Provincial Grand Lodge of North Wales ... . „ ... ... 39 6 The Craft Abroad ... ... ... ... ... ... 397 Ladies' Outing of the Skelmersdale Lodge , No . 1559 ... ... ... 397 Preservation of Historic Records .,. .,, .,. ... ... 397

M ASONIC NOTESAnnual Meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Worcestershire "" ... 399 Half-yearly Meeting of the District Grand Lodge of Bengal ... ... 399 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 400 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 400

General Committee of Grand Lodge and Board of Benevolence ... ... 400 Craft Masonry .,. ... . „ ... ... ... 401 Instruction ... ... ... ... .,, ... ... 401 How to Make Lodge Meetings Interesting ... .,. ... ... 401 Obituary ... ... .,, . „ ... .,, „ . 402 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 402

A Veteran Provincial Grand Master.

A VETERAN PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER .

During the current week Stoneleigh Abbey has been the scene of a series of festivities in celebration of the golden wedding of Bro . Lord and Lad y LEIGH , and the present is a favourable opportunity for tendering them our respectful

congratulations on the auspicious event . His lordship is the doyen of our Provincial Grand Masters , his patent of appointment as Provincial Grand Master of Warwickshire bearing date the ist of August , 1852 , as well as of thc Grand Superintendents of

Royal Arch Masonry in the Provinces , his appointment to that exalted position dating from the 17 th October , 1864 . Thus our noble brother has presided over the fortunes of Craft Masonry in Warwickshire for 4 6 years , and of the Royal Arch in the same

county for 34 years , and during thc whole of that protracted period there has never been a time when Masonry has not been , cither directly or indirectly , deriving benefit of some kind or degree from his watchful care and the attention he has

shown to its interests . Masonry , indeed , is in a far different position , both generally and in his particular Province , from what it was when , in 1852 , the late Bro . the Earl of ZETLAND , M . W . Grand Master , selected Lord LEIGH to fill the responsible office of Provincial Grand Master of Warwickshire . Then there were

in round figures some 880 lodges numerically on the register of United Grand Lodge , and on the closing up of numbers in 1863 these 880 lodges were found to be . about 600 . Then Warwickshire had a muster roll of its own of about a dozen lodges ,

while now the number over which he presides is 31 . In those days no such organisation existed as a Colonial Grand Lodge , nor was it till four years after his appointment as a Provincial Grand Master that the first secession of lodges from the parent

( jrand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland occurred in Canada . This was . in 1856 , and it was not till some short time later that the existence of the Grand Lodge of Canada as a sovereign and independent Masonic body was recognised by us . Now there are in the Dominion of Canada alone seven such

organisations , each being independent of the other six , as well as of the Grand Lodges of the United Kingdom , while each is supreme within the limits of its own jurisdiction . These seven Grand Lodges in British North America are those of Canada

( Province of Ontario ) , Quebec , Nova Scotia , New Brunswick , British Columbia , Prince Edward Island , and Manitoba . Again , "i those days the number of lodges established in our Australasian Colonies could not greatly have exceeded 20 , if , indeed , it was

"ov within that limit ; now there are the five independent Grand ' -odges of South Australia , New South Wales , Victoria , Tasmania , and New Zealand , while the lodges in the Districts of

y « censland and Western Australia and elsewhere are still on the reg ister of their parent Grand Lodges . Then the Mark Degree dm not exist as a separate organisation ; now it is presided over

A Veteran Provincial Grand Master.

by a Grand Lodge of its own , which was founded in 1856 , and presided over during the first four years of its existence by Lord LEIGH himself as its premier Grand Master , while under its banner are some 500 lodges , the great bulk of which are

arranged in Provinces and Districts . Then there were no such separate bodies as the Royal and Select Masters , no Order of Rome and the Red Cross of Constantine , no Allied Degrees , no Rosicrucian Society , no Order of the Secret Monitor , while the

Ancient and Accepted Rite had been only a few years in existence , the only branch of our Masonic System that could boast of a protracted organisation , being the Order of the Temple . Again , as regards our Charitable Institutions , the present premises

of the Girls' School at Battersea Rise were consecrated on the 2 nd August , 1852 , the year following that on which Lord LEIGH ' S appointment as Provincial Grand Master took place , while the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys' though it

had been in existence 54 years , had no local habitation , the children entrusted to its charge being located at schools in the neighbourhoods in which they lived . The Male Fund of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution had

been in existence 10 years , and the Widows Fund for three years , while the Asylum at Croydon had been dedicated two years previously . Now there are some 270 girls on the books of the Royal Masonic Institution for Qirls , who are clothed ,

maintained , and educated at the expense of some £ 13 , 000 a year ; the Boys' School provides in a similar manner tor some 280 pupils , and there are 200 male annuitants , 242 widow annuitants ,

and about 25 or 30 half annuitants ( widows ) , amongst whom is annually distributed over £ 16 , 000 ; the expenses of management and maintenance of Asylum exhausting a further £ 3000 .

Such are the principal changes which Lord LEIGH has witnessed since his appointment , 4 6 years ago , to the office of Prov . Grand Master , and towards llin bringing about of which he has himself so largely contributed . That he has borne a

part in so many and such momentous changes must be matter for self-congratulation to his lordship , and we trust the day is still far distant when the place he has so long and so ably filled in Masonry shall know him no more .

Canadian Masonry.

CANADIAN MASONRY .

If we may judge from the accounts we have received of the doings of the Craft in the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Canada ( Province of Ontario ) , there can be very little doubt that Freemasonry has prospered greatly during the past 12 months .

Grand Lodge , both numerically and financially , is in abetter position than it was at the corresponding date in 18 97 ; ^ e lodges have done their work admirably and care has been taken by the several DistrictDeputy Grand Masters , that both time and attention

should be given to the study of the ritual , the suggestion of Grand Master GlliSON to the effect that lodges of instruction should be held at certain localities , having been duly observed . On the 20 th July the 43 rd annual communication of the Grand Lodge was held

in the Temple Buildings , Toronto , under thc presidency of Bro . WILLIAM GIBSON , M . P ., M . W . G . M ., there being the usual large attendance of Grand Officers and the representatives of the private lodges , together with a delegation from the Grand Lodge of

Michigan , consisting of Grand Mastcr Bradley , his Deputy , Bro . F . E . LODGE , and several of die Grand Officers , and Bro . M . D . C . FRASER , a Past Grand Master of Nova Scotia . Unusual interest was attached to the visit of the brethren from Michigan , who were the bearers of a handsome gift from their Grand