The Province Of Cornwall.

THE PROVINCE OF CORNWALL .

It is evident , from the proceedings which took place at the recent annual meeting of its Provincial Grand Lodge , that Freemasonry in Cornwall is in a generally satisfactory condition .

The lodge returns showed a slight but sufficient increase in the number of subscribing members , while the several statements of account that were submitted furnished the needful evidence that

the funds of the Province are carefully and economically administered . It is true that the Provincial Grand Secretary , Bro . E . D . ANDERTON , in referring to certain grants which had been made—we presume , by the Board of Benevolence—to Cornishmen

in London , mentioned that a feeling existed in the Metropolis that Cornwall was not upholding the status of the Craft as carefully as it should be upheld , but the cases were not spoken of as being many in number , nor , so far as we are aware , is there

any reason to suppose that they occurred more frequently in respect of Cornwall than of other Provinces . Bro . ANDERTON , however , made a suggestion which , if acted upon strictly , cannot fail to exercise a beneficial effect in preventing undesirable

persons from being admitted to Masonry , namely , that when a man applied , not to the lodge which was located in the immediate vicinity of his own home , but to one located at a distance , the strictest inquiries should be made by the latter

as to his character and antecedents . If this suggestion is acted upon and those other precautions taken , in all cases , which are so earnestly enjoined on all lodges both in town and country by the leading dignitaries of our Order , there is no reason

why the unpleasant feeling mentioned by the Provincial Grand Secretary as to the character of Cornish Masons shall be otherwise than complimentary . Indeed , if the suggestion is acted upon generally throughout the Provinces as well as by

lodges in the Metropolis , Freemasonry will benefit largely by the observance of so salutary a precaution . As regards the Cornish Masonic Annuity and Benevolent Fund , the report showed a substantial improvement on the preceding year . The donations

and subscriptions amounted to ^ , " 244 as compared with £ 230 , the die total of the income from all sources being £ 6 7 6 , while after clearing all expenses in the way of grants to six aged Masons •ind as many widows and for educational purposes to the extent

of j £ ioo , the balance remaining in hand was ^ , 43 6 as compared with £ 236 in the preceding year . There appears also to be good reason to congratulate the Province on its voting strength in respect of the Central Masonic Charities and the

excellence of its organisation for promoting the success at the polls of those candidates who are adopted by the Committee in charge of the election arrangements . In short , Cornwall has done extensively well during the past \ z months ,

'I'stinguislung itself move particularly hy the generous manner in which it supported its respected Prov . Grand Master , Bro . the ' -arl of MOUNT FDGCUMIIK , Deputy Grand Master of England , when he presided in May last at the 107 th Anniversary Festival

° f Hie Royal Masonic Institution for Girls . We notice , also , with Pleasure that though Bro . Sir C . B . GRAVES-SAWI . E expressed a Wls 'i to be relieved of his office of Deputy' Provincial Grand

' «* sier on the ground of advancing age and feeble health , the rov - Grand Master exhibited his sense of the services ^ tiered by him to Freemasonry , not only by declining to

enter-Ins wish , but likewise by the handsome way in which he spoke of his Deputy . " It might be easy for him , " said Lord j 0 lJ NT KliGCUMliK , " to find a younger man for the position , " iul "if would be difficult for him to find a better man to take

The Province Of Cornwall.

his place , ' and subsequently , he added , " They did not desire to part with old friends , because they could not do what they had done a few years since , and if he " ( Sir C . GRAVES-SAWLE ) " could not do all that he had done , they would not require at his

hands what he was not able to perform . " These remarks must have been deeply appreciated by the Deputy Prov . Grand Master , and may be taken to indicate the feeling with which ecnerous-minded Masons are wont to res ? ard those brethren who

have done good service in their time and arc capable of rendering still further service at the Council Board , if not by the actual discharge of the more exacting duties of their office . We

sincerely congratulate the Province of Cornwall and its respected chief on the satisfactory manner in which the duties of the past twelvemonth have been discharged .

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.

ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM .

VOL . VIII . —PART I . The first Part of Volume VIII . of the Transactions of Lodge Quatuor Coronati , No . 2076 , opens with a brief report of the proceedings at the Conversazione held in the King ' s Hall of ihe

Holborn Restaurant on the 28 th November , 18 94 , together with a transcript and description of the patent appointing " H . R . H . the Duke of YORK " to be the representative at the ( Regular ) Grand Lodge of England of the National Grand Lodge Royal York of

I'nendship in Berlin . As regards this document , which bears date the 6 th September , 1 799 , we suggest that the royal brother whom it appointed representative was not the Duke of YORK , whose Christian name was FREDERICK , but the Duke of

SUSSEX , whose names were AUGUSTUS FREDERICK- ^ - set forth in the patent—as many documents still extant bearing his signature will show . Moreover , there is a propriety in

the selection of the latter Prince for such a post , seeing that he was initiated in a lodge in Berlin in the year 179 8 , while we have never heard that the Duke of YORK—son of GEORGE III . —was

in any way connected with the Grand Lodge in question . We may also note that the date " III . Idus Junii MDCCXCVIIL , " which is given in the " irradiated circular seal , " is the date 11 June , 179 8 , when , according to FiNDEL , the Grand Lodge

Royal York of Friendship was actually formed . The paper next in order treats of " The Arch and Temple in Dundee , " and is from the pen of Bro . TiiOMAS R . LlNDSAV . It contains much valuable information on these branches , and cannot fail to prove

of the greatest interest to our brethren North of the Tweed . The minutes of an emergency meeting , held on the 1 rth January last , with the report then adopted by the Lodge Committee and a complete statement of account , constitute

the next item in the Part , and then we come to the important paper which was there read by Bro . EDWARD CONDER on "The Hon . Miss Sr . LKGER and Freemasonry , " in which the writer , who has evidentl y taken the utmost pains in

the compilation of his paper and spared no opportunity of obtaining trustworth y information as to the lady and her initiation into Freemasonry , entirely upsets all the versions hitherto current about her , and proves / as nearly as possible

conclusively , that Miss ST . LEGER must have been initiated somewhere about 1710 , that is to say , some few years before Grand Lodges were brought into existence . With this contribution by Bro . CONDER must be read the supplementary Note by