Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS " 3 Grand Festival . ' . = 14 The New Grand Officers 210

CORRESPONDENCERoyal Masonic Benevolent List for 18 S 2-3 218 Grand Lodge of Ireland 21 S Freemasonry in York 218 Retiews 2 ' Masonic Notes and Queries 219 Lord Wolselev and tire Mark Degree 219

REPORTS or MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 219 Instruction 222 Royal Arch 232 Mark Masonrv 223

Ancient and Accepted Rite 223 Royal Masonic Institution for Girls 224 Supreme Grand Chapter 224 The Theatres 224 Masonic and General Tidings 225 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 226

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THE Annual Festival has taken place under favourable circumstances and before a full " Grand Assembly , " under the distinguished presidency of the Earl of Lathom , Deputy Grand Master . There was a brilliant attendance of . brethren upon the dais , and the hall was filled with

collars of those below the dais . The following brethren were appointed to Grand office , as will be seen by the report elsewhere , to the offices attached to their names , and we congratulate the fortunate recipients of the " purple" on their attaining this

much coveted honour . May they have health to enjoy it . The two Wardens are the Earl of MILTOWN and the Right Hon . Colonel STANLEY , M . P . The two Grand Chaplains are the Rev . H . G . MORSE and the Rev , W OSWELL SMITH . The Grand Treasurer is Bro . J DERBY

ALLCROFT . The four Deacons are Bro . T . \ V . TEW , West York shire ; Bro . Dr . GOODING , Bro . DEVONSHIRE , and Bro . FRANK GREEN Bro . R AYMOND T HRUFP is Assistant Director of Ceremonies ; Bro THOMAS D OLLING BOLTON , Deputy Director of Ceremonies ; Bro . Lieut .-

Col . J . PETERS , Grand Sword Bearer ; Bros . EDGAR BOWYER and Lieut-Col . GOUGH , Grand Standard Bearers ; and Bro . W . STEPHENS , Grand Pursuivant . The festival conclusion passed over with great " eclat , " and we refer our readers to the various speeches duly recorded in our

careful report . The concert appeared to give universal satisfaction . English Freemasonry appears to be very flourishing and very progressive in its constant expansion and its numerical advance in its charitable work , and in its Masonic efficiency it is probably without an equal .

# * # IN the appointment to Grand office there must always be some * ' left out in the cold , " a few "disappointed ones . " But we beg to recommend to all such , and who have " legitimate expectations , " patience and calmness . A " good time " may probably in due season come to them .

* # WE call special attention to our report of the services of the Grand Officers elsewhere , which account will , we think , not be without -interest to all our readers .

• • • THE Annual Festival of our now great Order suggests many thoughts and souvenirs to the Masonic student , which ought not to be altogether ignored or lightly disregarded . As we look back on the Masonic annals of our

English Grand Lodge from 1717 , we find not only how much has been evolved , so to say , out of so very little , but what a cnange has come over the " spirit of our dream . " THACKERAY tells us in one of his satirical sketches that Freemasons and Freemasonry were one of the subjects distasteful to many good

people , their " bete noire " in fact , at the end of the last and the beginning of the present century . If H OGARTH ' S caricature of a Worshi pful Master be true , be , in fact , correct and historical , it is just possible

that Freemasonry had a " mala fama " for the thoughtful and the serious althrough the last century . And though it be true that we note in the annals of our Order how

Great kings , dukes , and lords Have laid by their swords Our myst ' ry to put a good grace on ;

And ne ' er been ashamed To hear themselves named With a Free and an Accepted Mason ,

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yet we have no reason to think , that the numbers which hailed each annual gathering were by any means as large as at present , ortheirsocial position as good . As time has run on , prejudices have been softened , objections have been renewed , sarcasm has been blunted , and antagonisms have passed

away . At no period of its history did English Freemasonry stand with fairer outlook or more genial colouring before its contemporaries and the world than at the present hour . With Royalty presiding over its destinies ; with the great , the titled , the enlightened assisting in its labours ; with its

Chanties living and really most striking in their actuality and outcome , English Freemasonry seems to have every claim to the confidence and good will of mankind , in that it most sedulously seeks to uphold piously and

fully its great principles of Loyalty , Charity , Toleration and Cosmopolitanism , and to surpass all other similar living organizations in its zealous endeavours for the progress and benefit of our common humanity . And if it be the patriotic boast of every English citizen that

It is a glorious charter , Deny it who can ? That breathes in the words , I ' m an Englishman ,

so equally may we of our good old English Jurisdiction , the fountain head and source of all existing speculative Freemasonry in the world be it noted , rejoice to think to-day that we are permitted to range ourselves under its noble and time honoured banners , and to proclaim ourselves faithful

members of its peaceful and wide extending field ! Whatever else happens in the Masonic world , whatever may betide other jurisdictions , we know that we in England all keep ever before us the safe sound adage , " Obsta Principiis , " that we shall never let go our ancient landmarks , nor depart

from our sacred principles , but shall still ever in our onward struggles seek to prove ourselves the same constitutional , law-abiding , loyal , faithful , large hearted , charitable body which the lapse of years has unmistakeably demonstrated us to be . This auspicious character we still hope to maintain

and safeguard , as years roll on on years , and our Order still as in the past , in the good Providence of T . G . A . O . T . U . and survives happily and peacefully the decay of mighty empires , and the destroying and encroaching hand of time .

* * THE votes for the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution election May 18 th are now out , and we are given to understand that the struggles for success will be very severe , and that the voting is likely to run very high .

We can only repeat what we said before , that we trust all who are interested in candidates and cases will contrive to see that their voting papers are properly filled in . It must strike us all as great carelessness or greater absurdity that any brother should deposit an unsigned voting paper in the box . Yet so election after election proves that it is .

* * MANY of our readers will hear with deep regret of the lamented death of Bro . J WORDSWORTH , of West Yorkshire , whose zeal for Freemasonry

and whose munificent support of our great charities is well-known . We shall hope to insert next week a life-long notice of his Masonic career , worthy in some degree of his faithful services to the Craft . The funeral took place on Wednesday last , at Wood Church , West Ardsley , Wakefield .

# * # THE distribution of prizes at the Girls' School will take place on Tuesday , the 8 th May , under the distinguished presidency of Bro . W . W . B . BEACH , M . P . A large gathering is expected , as we all alike we think

look forward with pleasure to the annual gathering at Wandsworth . The brilliant appearance of the Schools at those times , the undoubted witness the pupils set before us of health and happiness , the results of careful tuition , and the really marvellous calisthenic exercises all serve to convince the Craft

that their liberal donations are well spent in thus keeping up in full efficiency so admirable an educational institution . We hope that the number of the Stewards and the returns of the festival will be commensurate with the positive needs of the School ,