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PAIETY RESTAURANT , STRAND . LUNCHEONS ( HOT AND COLD ) , At Popular Prices , in BUFFET and RESTAURANT ( on First Floor ) , also Chops , Steaks , Joints , Entrees , & c , in the GRILL ROOM . AFTERNOON TEA , Consisting of Tea or Coffee , Cut Bread and Butter , Jam , Cake , Pastry , ad lib ., at ls . per head , served from 4 till 6 in RESTAURANT ( First Floor ) . DINNERS IN RESTAURANT From 5 . 30 till 9 , at fixed prices ( 3 s . 6 d . and Ss . ) and a la Carte . Smoking after 7 . 45 . AMERICAN BAR . THE GRILL ROOM is open till 12 . 30 . PRIVATE DINING ROOMS for large and small Parties . SPIERS & POND , Ltd ., PROPRIETORS .

To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

J . S . D . —The rank of Past G . Master of England was conferred upon H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught in 1891 . See " Grand Lodge Calendar " for current year .

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f&Sftl*ftGUIBSO^li SATURDAY , AUGUST 28 , 18 97 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

Of the io warrants for the constitution of new lodges which his Royal Highness the M . W . G . Master has been pleased lo grant since the June Quarterly Communication , one is for London , five for the

Provinces , and four for foreign parts . The new London lodge bears the style and title of the " Victoria Diamond Jubilee Lodge , " No . 2675 . The five Provincial lodges are , the Victoria , No . 2671 , Windsor , in the Province of Berkshire ; the Ravensworlh , No .

2674 , Gateshead , in Durham ; the Royal Connaught , No . 2676 , named after his Royal Highness the Prov . G . Master , and meeting at Eastbourne , in the Province of Sussex ; the Victoria . No . 2669 , to meet at Bradford , in Yorkshire ; and the Calcaria , No . 26 77 , to meet

at Tadcaster , in the same county . The new lodges abroad are the St . John ' s , No . 2668 , Lagos , on the West Coast of Africa ^ where there is no Provincial organisation ; the Sandgate Lodge , No . 2670 , Brisbane , in the District of Queensland ; the

Yeatman-Uiggs Lodge , No . 2672 , Calcutta , so called in honour of the new Dist . G . Master of Bengal—Bro . Brig .-Gen . Yeatman-Biggs , C . B . —and the inaugural meeting of which , under a provisional warrant , we reported recently ; and the Lodge of Northern China , No . 26 73 , lo meet at Ne « chang .

As regards the new Berkshire Lodge—the Victoria , No . 2671 , Windsor—we have much pleasure in announcing that its consecration has been appointed to take place on Saturday , the 9 th October , when the ceremony , which will be held in the Masonic Ha // ,

Masonic Notes.

Windsor , will be performed by Bro . ] . T . Morland , Past G . D . England , Dep . Prov . G . M . in charge . The principal officers designate are Bros . Edward Prince , P . M . 209 , Past Prov . G . S . of Wks . Berkshire , W . M . ; John J . Wolff , 209 , S . W . ; and John Baynes , 209 , J . W . Bro . W . A . Cocks , P . M . 2163 , will be appointed to the responsible office of Secretary .

The next regular quarterly Communication of the Grand Mark Lodge will be held at Mark Masons' Hall on Tuesday next , the 31 st instant . The principal business will be to read the Report of the General Board . From this we learn that during the quarter to 30 th June last , warrants for two new lodges -the Noel , No . ^ o ? , Kingston-on-Thames , in the Province of

Surrey , and Mizpah , No . 506 , Woodstock , Cape Colony —have been granted , and also for two Royal Ark Mariner Lodges , namely , the Martaban , to be attached to No . 79 , Moulmein , Burmah , and the Sarnian , to be attached to the Mark Lodge of the same name , No . 425 , Guernsey . The number of certificates issued during the same period is 190 Mark and 81 Royal Ark Mariner .

* * * The report further announces that his Royal Highness the M . W . Grand Hark Master has been pleased to appoint Bro . William Andrews to be Dist . Grand Master of Jamaica , vice Bro . Col . J . C . Macglashan , J . P ., resigned , and Bro . Idris Bey Ragheb—Grand

Master of the National Grand Lodge of Egypt—to be Dist . Grand Master for North Africa , while he has reappointed for a further term of three years Bro . the Rev . J . S . Brownrigg , as Prov . G . M . Bucks . Finally the congratulations of the Board are tendered to Bro .

Lieut .-Col . A . B . Cook , Prov . G . M . Middlesex , and his Board of Stewards on the success of the 29 th Anniversary Festival in behalf of the Mark Benevolent Fund , when the unprecedented sum of . C 3100 was announced as the total uf the donations and subscriptions .

» # * We call attention to a letter from Bro . J . Ramsden Riley which will be found in our correspondence column . We very sincerely regret the circumstances under which Bro . Riley feels himself called upon to part with his unique collection of certificates , and we

fully agree with him as to the desirability of its being retained in England . In fact , we think he deserves to find a liberal purchaser in response to his thoughtful offer , and trust that no serious delay will occur in disposing of it to advantage . It must be a terrible wrench to Bro . Riley to part with such a collection ,

accumulated with such infinite pains and labour during the long period of 27 years , and so far as it is in our power to be a medium of communication with brethren desirous of treating for the purchase , he may rely upon our doing all we can in furtherance of his project . * * *

It is with great satisfaction we learn that the brevet rank of Past G . Master was conferred upon Bro . Kivas TuUy , a . distinguished Canadian Mason of more than 50 years' standing , who for some time past has been the representative of the Grand Lodge of Ireland at the Grand Lodge of Canada . It is , indeed , not so very

long since that Bro . Tully visited Ireland and was present at a meeting of its Grand Lodge where , it is needless to say , he met with a most cordial reception . We congratulate Bro . Tully on the distinction which has been conferred upon him and which he fully merits by reason of the length and value of his services .

» The Freemason ' s Repository ior the current month contains some interesting particulars as to the new Masonic Hall which is in course of erection in the City of Providence , Rhode Island , a view of the Hall

forming the frontispiece to the number . From these particulars we anticipate that the new building , which occupies tho site of the hall destroyed by fire in March , 18 95 , will be in every way a credit to the Masons in Rhode Island . # * *

We acknowledge with pleasure the receipt of thc first number of a new Masonic periodical , entitled The Masonic Sun , which was published at Toronto on the 2 nd instant . To judge from the contents , our new contemporary , if only it succeeds in obtaining a fair measure of support , is likely to do good service to the

Craft in Canada . In its first article it gives an account of the Masonic career of H . R . H . tho Prince of Wales , M . W . G . W . of England , which is accompanied , and greatly enhanced in value , by a capital half-tone portrait of the Prince in his Masonic clothing . Of the next article—which we quote elsewhere—our readers

Masonic Notes.

will be able to form their own judgment , while the third , from the pen of the Editor , entitled "Salutation , " is an address to the readers , in which the policy of the periodical is foreshadowed . There is also an ample report of the recent meeting of the Grand

Lodge of Cam da , and , in addition , there will be found plenty of news and sundry well written notes and criticisms . We congratulate the Masonic Sun on the success of its opening number , and we trust it may have before it a long career of usefulness .

* * In the jurisdiction of the Grand Lod ge of New York , which now has on its roll some 93 , 000 subscribing brethren , a fund has recently been started , out of which to pay to the children of the New York Masonic

Home on leaving that institution a something which will enable them to make a fair commencement in life . It is known as the "Joyce Fund , " and the amount of the initial list of contributions to it is announced as being in excess of 1100 dollars .

* * * According to one of the by-laws or Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of Colorado , " non-affiliation is cause for discipline , and all non-affiliates who have not made

application for membership to some lodge in this Grand Jurisdiction within one year shall not be allowed to visit any lodge more than twice during the year or join any Masonic procession , nor be entitled , as a matter of right , to Masonic relief or burial . "

* In reviewing the proceedings from which the above law is quoted , Bro . ] . C . W . Cox , of Washington , Iowa , in his " Report on Fraternal Correspondence , Grand Lodge of Iowa , June , 1897 , " remarks that while this is " in harmony with the recent trend of

legislation " on the subject , he has repeatedly expressed his dissent from it and believes that it is calculated " to aggravate the very difficulty which it is intended to relieve . " He points out that what he calls "the thumb-screw process of enforced affiliation " has utterly failed in New York and expresses his belief that such

a result " may safely be forecast for every jurisdiction which attempts to make that a Masonic offence which should always be a matter of private judgment , and is often not even a mistake . If this trend is not in the direction of making merchandise of Masonry we are at a loss to know what more would be required . "

Somewhat similar remarks appear to be contained in the Report of the Delaware Committee of Correspondence , which declares unreservedly that " Compulsory membership is unmasonic , and we have never seen any good result from trying to hold a brother contrary to his will and inclinations . " The Committee

might have gone still further and declared not only that no good had ever resulted , or was likely to result from any attempt to compel a brother to act contrary to his inclination , but likewise , that it was in direct contravention of that spirit of freedom upon which Masonry 30 justly prides itself . The only compulsion

a brother is under is to obey the laws of Masonry in the jurisdiction of his Grand Lodge . But as regards ceasing to be a subscribing member to a lodge in that jurisdiction , he is as free to quit our ranks as he was to join them . The idea of compulsion in connection with Masonry—except as regards paying due obedience

to the taws of the Cratt—is utterly foreign to the principles of our Order . It is one of our proudest boasts that we are forbidden to invite men to become Masons ; those who join us do so freely and voluntarily , and it ought to be a matter of equal pride that men are as free to quit as they are to join our ranks .

We are glad to find that Bro . W . Gibson , M . W . G . Master , in his address at the recent annual Communication of Canada , entertains aa high an opinion of the " General Masonic Relief Association " to which it subscribes as his predecessors in the chair . He , too , declares that during the last 10 years it has saved

many thousands of dollars per annum to the Craft , by the very valuable aid it renders in detecting impostures , and he affirms boldly that " no organisation in connection with Craft work has done more good than the General Masonic Relief Association of the United States of Canada . "

* * * It is to be regretted that some such organisation as this—which is intended not , as its name at first sight seems to betoken , for the relief of Masons , but to put a stop to imposture—is not established in England . The correspondence which has at different times

appeared in our columns testifies to there being a considerable amount of imposition practised by vagrant Masons . We have more than once suggested that steps should be taken to stop it as far as possible , but we suppose there is a certain amount of fascination , which kindly-disposed people take in being "done , "

and , therefore , we are content to make public the cases that reach us . Some day our lodges and their members may find it worth their while to effect a saving which shall be equivalent to the " some thousands of dollars per annum" referred to by Bro . Grand Master Gibson of Canada .