Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 31 $ History , of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys ( Continued ) 316 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys—Annual Fete at Wood Green 31 J C

ORRESPONDENCESir J . Monckton ' s Testimonial 319 Thc Papal Encyclical and the Foreign Freemasons _ i q Cardinal McCabe 3 i g Reviews 3 i q Notes and Queries 33 o REPORTS OF MASON-IC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 320

REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETIXOS ( Continued)—Instruction 323 Mark Masonry 323 Red Cross of Constantine 323 The Pope ' s Encyclical Letter— " De Secta Massonum " ( ConcludeiQ 323 of tlie Crusaders ¦

Summer Outing Lodge , No . 1677 323 Complimentary Dinner to Uro . Dr . Samnel Henton , I . P . M . Aldersgate Lodge , No . ifiJ 7 323 . The Theatres 32 ^ Obituary 321 Masonic and General Tidings 32 . ) Lodge Meetings for Next \ Veek ... Pagii 3 Cover ,

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THE Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys will take place too late for this issue of the Freemason , and we can only hope next week to bc permitted to record another of Bro . BINCKES ' S great successes . Sure we are the Boys' School deserves the hearty , zealous , and liberal support of every member of our Craft . No Charity is more efficient , and certainly none more needed .

OUR esteemed Bro . W . J . HUGHAN in the last Freemason alludes to our leaderette anent the newly-formed Grand Lodge of Australia . He will see by our leaderette last week also that the subject is not without difficulty . We apprehend that our Grand Lodge will be willing to recognize a Grand Lodge

so formed , though the ostensible reasons for independence are utterl y baseless and untenable . The recognition will , however , undoubtedl y be based on the condition of recognizing , the rights of the minority who , by our revised Booh of Constitutions , have certain guaranteed and inalienable rig hts . Our esteemed brother was , like ourselves , ignorant when he wrote of the fact of a minority in each English lodge declining to join the

movement . # * * THE announcement of the resignation of Bro . Sir H . EDWARDS , Bart ., Prov G . M . of West Yorkshire , which has been officially communicated by Bro W . TEW , D . P . G . M ., to the W . M . 's of lodges , will be received by the bre

thren in West Yorkshire and elsewhere with much regret , especially for the reason assigned , continual ill-health . We do not pause to-day to ask why the announcement of the resignation of the PROV . GRAND MASTER was not made in the first instance to head quarters , or why it should reach them , so to say , second hand . It is however the fact , that when announced in the

Freemason as an " on dit" about which there was really no doubt , it was not credited in London , We pass over this little incident , as it is not our duty to animadvert upon it , and once more express our regret at our esteemed and gallant brother ' s resignation , and our hope that a successor may be found of high social position , who will preside with energy

and geniality over that most distinguished province . Bro . Sir H . EDWARDS when appointed PROV . GRAND MASTER , had a heavy task before him inasmuch as he followed , in an hour of great trial and anxiety , the most conscientious and courteous and constitutional of Masonic rulers , Lord RIPON . Those of us who lived under his rule in cheery days of old , when our good

Bro . BENTLEY SHAW and others were to the fore , will have grateful memories of his genial and gracious regime . But Sir H . EDWARDS has succeeded where others might have failed , in that , by his own great courtesy and consideration , his loyalty to his chief , and his good will to all the brethren , he has achieved in winning and retaining their affection and sympathy . Under

his sway West Yorkshire has greatly distinguished itself in Masonic work and charitable efforts , and never at any time probably was Freemasonry so flourishing or popular in this province . VVe may fairly attribute much to Bro . Sir H . EDWARD ' S hearty good Masonic feeling , though we should not-forget the careful and conscientious labours of his zealous Deputy ,

Bro . T . W . TEW . Our hearty good wishes , we know , from West Yorkshire and the Craft , accompany Sir H . EDWARDS on his retirement from his high office . The name of Lord WHARNCLIFFE has been mentioned as a probable PROV . G . W . But all , of course , remains with the GRAND MASTER . WC hope thc brethren of West Yorkshire will not fall into the mistake of seeking in any way to anticipate his decision .

# * # WE shall all regret to notice the death of H . R . H the Prince ' of ORANGE , Grand Master of Dutch Freemasonry . Independently of our regrets for his family , the Dutch nation , and the Order , we fear that this sad loss of a member of the Dutch Royal Family , as connected with Freemasonry in

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Holland , augurs ill for the future peaceful and loyal progress of Dutch Freemasonry . Their has long been a movement party in Holland , intent on assimilating the good old steady Dutch-English system , with the erratic programme of France , ' and Belgium . We may now fear very serious results . Wc did not and could not sympathize with the Dutch and Belgium

Masonic fraternization sometime back , because we knew well what it portended , and where it must end . VAN LENNEP and SCHUYME , two leading and well known Dutch Freemasons in 1 S 43 , state over and over again , " we cannot have anything to do with the Belgian Freemasons , as their tendency is undoubtedly political . " And though we do not believe the Roman Catholic

allegation , knowing the small number of Freemasons in Belgium , that they have had any effect on the recent elections , we yet are quite aware , that they have said and done many foolish things , have allowed many unwise addresses in their lodges , and have servilely copied the Grand Orient of

France . We shall be very sorry for their own sake if our Dutch brethren , forgetting their ancient precedents and their old caution , once more obsequiously seek to rival French abominations and Belgian weakness . " Stare super vias antiquas " ought to bc the motto of all Dutch Freemasons !

¦ * ¦ * ¦ * WE are much concerned to note that our esteemed confrere CLIFFORD P . MACALLA , in that " excellent Masonic journal the Philadelphia Keystone , is severely and seriously exercized about our " deliverance" in respect of " cork legs" not presenting an insurmountable objection to Masonic

initiation . In all that we ventured to put forth on so peculiar a subject we only , we assure him , sought to speak the language of actuality and common sense . It is quite clear that the old laws of the Operative Guilds cannot be maintained in 18 S 4 , nor have they in England been really maintained since 1717 . Questions no doubt have arisen , as questions always will arise , from

time to . time , on thc part of those who like little things and little difficulties , as to whether the olden regulations existed , and were binding still ; but we have known several one-legged Masons who have been most active members of our Order . Indeed , we venture to think that our very able confrere a ' nsWers his own evident objections to wooden and cork legs . He admits

that " wooden heads and "heartless Masons are not wanting under the American regime ; and why then should he , upbraidingly or sarcastically ( as far as he can be upbraiding or sarcastic ) , condemn our English laxity ( as he deems it ) , on the subject ? If "wooden legs" and "cork legs" are accompanied by Masonic zeal and fraternal energy , why should we be

arraigned if we think that these and similar laws were made for Freemasons , not Freemasons for them ? There is a slavery of Masonic rubricality which has always seemed to us the height of absurdity and the " ne plus ultra " of " red tape . " Surely laws made in a different state of society , —over 500 years ago , at any rate , —may be modified as time passes on , and in our newer and

altered generation to-day . If the Guilds naturally objected to serfs and vassals bought and sold , if in the then dread state of domestic , slavery the " villanus " could bc branded and mutilated by angry lords , and taken awiy from the boroughs ^ and from the Guilds . it was wise to enact such prohibitory laws then . But to deny to-day to an excellent person , lame by nature or accident , or

minus a leg , or an arm , or an eye ; admission . into a lodge on such account , would , to our minds , savour of barbarism , intolerance , and injustice in the hig hest degree . If our esteemed confrere ' s argument is good for anything , we say it respectfully , we must refuse a blind person admission to our Order , and even a person wearing spectacles ; indeed , any one suffering from

bodily imperfection or infirmity . And yet we know for instance how many suffering under that grave deprivation of si g ht are men of the greatest ability , power , and [ utility ; and surely any lodge would be graced with the presence of such a brother as her MAJESTY ' Postmaster-General , Mr . FAWCETT . But yet , according to the Keystone , we are wrong

in receiving any such , on the faith of an obsolete law passed hundreds of years ago , and which concerned a special condition of affairsof society then . If our esteemed confrere will think wilh his usual honesty , he will , we believe , sec and admit that logically and truly any such law as " prima , facie " seems to find favour in his sight , is absolutely cruel , as well as unsound , unfair , and untenable altogether .

# * # THERE is a mistake often made which we think it well to notice . Writers sometimes seem to deal with the " Charges" as if they were part of the " Law of Freemasonry . " The Law of Freemasonry is , however , contained alone in the Book of Constitutions , and unless the Charges are re-enacted , so to