Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 29 ? United Grand Lodge of England 298 provincial Grand Lodge of Staffordshire ... 298 Great Priory of England and VVales 299 Early Mention of " Deacons " in the Athol ' Grand Lods » e Register 300 A Valuable Work 300

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... 301 Supper of the Chaucer Lodge of Instruction , No . 1 S 4 O 30 i C ORRESPONDENCEMasonic Celebration of the Queen ' s Jubilee 303 P . Lambert 304 Rare Masonic Engraving 304 Reviews 3 ° 4 Notes and Queries 304

REPORTS OK MASONIC MK ^ TINUS — Craft Masonry 304 Instruction .,,. „ 307 Royal Arch 30 J Mark Masonry 30 S Red Cross of Rome and Constantine ... 308 Rosicrucian Society of lingland 308

Order of the Secret Monitor 308 Jubilee Banquet ofthe Derby Allcroft Lodge , No . 2168 308 Masonic Lecture by Bro . Hughan , P . G . D . of England , at Taunton 309 Consecration of the Fearnley Lodge of Royal Ark Mariners , No . $ 8 309 Masonic and General Tidings 309 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 310

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THERE is an exceptionally heavy programme of business to United Grand ^ transacted at the Communication of United Grand Lodge Lodge . , . on Wednesday next , and vve anticipate , therefore , there will be a more numerous attendance of brethren than usual . The

recommendations contained in the Report of the Board of General Purposes will doubtless command a ready assent from the members present , that relating to the proposed increase in the GRAND SECRETARY ' S salary being no more than is just and proper , having regard to the increasingly onerous nature of the duties he is now called upon to discharge , the efficiency vvith which he discharges

them , and the kindness and courtesy he uniformly displays towards all who have occasion to consult him on the business of the Society . Ths notices of motion are three , but the third in order relates to a matter of annual occurrence—the grant of £ 70 towards providing coals for the inmates of the Asylum , at Croydon , during the winter months . The first and second

motions are directed towards the fulfilment of the same object—namely , a Jubilee contribution from the funds of Grand Lodge towards our three Institutions , but while Bro . J OSEPH CLEVER , the author ofthe first proposal , would limit the donation to - £ iooo to each of the three Charities , Bro . RAYNHAM W . STEWART , P . G . D ., considers it should amount to

^ 2000 . The only question , therefore , which the brethren will have to consider—the propriety of making some such memorial presentation being generally admitted—is as to the amount to be voted , and that again must be governed by the amount of available resources at the disposal of Grand

Lodge . However , vve doubt not that Grand Lodge , being actuated by a desire to do something . worthy of the occasion , will exercise its usual discretion , and will contribute a sum that will be both generous and just , and at the same time a substantial addition to the proceeds of the Masonic meeting in the Albert Hall , on the 13 th prox .

• • • Th . FAIR progress has been made during the last few days in the Boys' School important work of strengthening the Board of Stewards for the Festival . Boys , School Festival on Tuesday , the 14 th prox ., and the number of brethren who have volunteered their services for this year's

Anniversary , according to our latest returns , is 262 . As there 13 a clear fortnight between now and the eventful day , we may hope to see this figure still further enlarged , so that , as far as the number of active workers is concerned , the outlook is by no means unpromising . There is also a reasonable ground for anticipating that the selection of the day immediately following

that of the grand convention of brethren at the Royal Albert Hall , in honour of the Queen ' s Jubilee , when so many of our provincial friends must visit London , will not be without its effect in swelling the general total of contributions to the greatly impoverished exchequer of the Boys' Institution . But though the array of Stewards is fairly numerous , it contains within

'tself certain elements of weakness which it is just as well we should lay before our readers , while there is slill a chance of their being—vve will not sa y removed altogether , but—made less momentous than they appear at Present . The constitution of the Board is by no means what we have been accustomed to see it . There is usually a preponderance of provincial

brethren , but this year the weight of numbers is on the side of the Metropolis , vvhich with about 350 lodges has some 140 representatives , while the Provinces , with quite thrice as many lodges , have only 120 . Last year the numbers vvere London 125 Stewards , Provinces 165 Stewards ; in 1885 , London 119 StewardsProvinces 156 ; and in 1884 -London 130 Stewards , — „_ , __ — _ _ _ . ,

, , „ „ ,, , _ , rovinces 160 Stewards . London , moreover , will not only send up the rger humber of Stewards , but more of its lodges will be represented . _ -n 18 S 6 or 1885 , and about as many as in 1884 , though the number st 'H short of what is regarded as a fair average . Unfortunately , the m encal weakness of the Provinces more than neutralises the London

oyery . LaS ( . year we na ( j t | ie satisfaction of pointing out that the Procial returns were spread over a more extended area than usual . This , r " -ore than a third of the Provinces are unrepresented , among the entees being several whose non-participation in the Anniversary will be a l fi ct of surprise as well as regret with our readers , while with the excepof West Yorkshire and some others , those that have sent up Stewards e fewer representatives than usual . Let us hope the example of Bro .

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FORD , D . P . G . M . of Sussex , at the recent Festival of the Girls' School , who gave his name as a Steward almost at the moment of sitting down to dinner and made up a neat little list under the circumstances , rather than allow his Province to go unrepresented , will be followed , while there is yet time to lend a helping hand vvith a chance of lending it to good purpose . But

Jubilee or no Jubilee , there is , in the case of the Boys' School , a heavy deficit of over £ 2000 to make good and an extra number of Boys to provide for , so that we trust the Returns , whether they be mostly London or mostly Provincial , will be sufficient to satisfy the absolute necessities of the Institution during the current year .

* * . _ The annual meeting , on Friday , the 20 th inst ., of the Royal of the Masonic Benevolent Institution passed off most satisfactoril y ' " '' the Report presented by the Committee of Management being in all respects most encouraging . As we publish this Report in full

elsewhere , we need not do more than invite our readers to study carefully its contents , and note how marvellously the youngest of our Institutions—which has not yet been in existence for half a century—has progressed , and what a vast amount of good it is rendering to our poorer brethren and their widows . Considering , too , how successful have been the labours of the past

year , and how unprecedentedly large is the total of contributions , both received and promised , we are not surprised at thc modest self-gratulations in which the Committee have seen fit to indulge . We heartily congratulate them on the splendid results they have achieved , and we trust that , for the sake of the Institution as well as to the further enhancement of their own fame , they may long continue to exercise their present functions ,

. * * ., , „ , WE have said the Report of the Committee of Management Male Fund f a i-. iection was in all respects satisfactory , but , as we have noted on pre'' vious occasions , probably the most gratifying among the announcements it contained was that relating to the elections which were

to follow immediately , and at which they recommended that 16 men and 41 widows should be placed on their respective Funds , including permanent additions of five to the former and 25 to the latter . Such welcome news has not been heard for many a day , and , as may be imagined , the ballot that followed caused more than the usual amount of excitement , vvhich , in the

case of the Male Fund was not allayed till Saturday , an error in the returns having necessitated a scrutiny . The result has since been made known , and from this it appears that from the list of 51 candidates , ultimately reduced , by two deaths and a withdrawal , to forty-eight , London succeeded in electing only two , from a reduced contingent of 15 ,

while East Lancashire carried her two and Warwickshire two . Devonshire and Hants and the Isle of Wight placed each one out of three , and Cheshire and Northumberland each one out of two , the other successful candidates hailing from Essex , Kent , Suffolk , Sussex , West Yorkshire , and Guernsey ( Channel Islands ) . The highest successful candidate—from

Hants and the Isle of Wight—polled 4665 votes , and the lowest 1880 votes , several of the unsuccessful being well up and polling votes which in ordinary years have sufficed to win places . The votes brought forward from last year were 7620 , and the votes issued were 48561 , making a total available of 56181 ; but of those issued only 44 , 666 were passed by the Scrutineers , so that the unused votes with the usual small array of spoilt ones numbered 3895- #

* WE must all rejoice that , thanks to the generous contributions Widows ; Fund of the Craft in February last , the Committee of Management lection . , iave seen t j ie j r w to e g ect so substantial an increase in the

number of applicants on the Widows' Fund of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution . The list of candidates as settled in February comprised 77 names ; but three widows having died in the interim , there remained 74 on Friday , the 20 th inst ., and out of these as many as 41 have been elected , and for the rest of their lives will be in receipt of a comlortable little annuity

of £ 32 , so that those who remain over for a further trial , or trials , are considerably fewer than seemed inevitable two or three months since . As regards the successful , we find that London has carried 13 out of its 23 candidates , reduced by death to 22 ; Suffolk and West Yorkshire each its three candidates j and East Lancashire two out of five ; Kent and Hants

and Isle of Wight each two out of six ; and Lincolnshire two out of five ; one other hailing originally from Ireland having died before the poll . The remaining 14 , making up the 41 elected , hailed from 13 Provinces and the District of Bengal , the candidate from the latter taking the first place vvith 2570 votes , of which 680 were brought forward from last year , Tne lowest

who obtained a place polled 812 votes , while tlie highest unsuccesstul , vvith 792 and 791 respectively , were well up , and will find , no doubt , some slight compensation in the cheques they will severally receive from the Trustees of the " HERVEY Memorial Fund . " As to votes , the number brought forward vvas 23 , 663 , and the number issued 51 , 034 , making a total of 74 , 697 . But