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Article FREEMASONRY IN 1889. ← Page 4 of 5 Article FREEMASONRY IN 1889. Page 4 of 5 →
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Freemasonry In 1889.
27 th April , the Committee of Investigation , which we mentioned in our Summary of last year as having been appointed in July , 1888 , to inquire into the discipline , management , and expenditure of the School , and which had been closely engaged during the winter months in performing the duties entrusted to it , handed in its report , signed , sealed , and delivered , by Bro . Philbrick and the six distinguished Masons he ' ll id ' invited to assist him . The report was at once ordered to be printed and
circulated among the Governors and subscribers , and after an unconscionable delay in the issue of the ° document , the brethren had the opportunity of reading the conclusions at which the Committee had arrived . What these conclusions were is now a matter of history , and it is only necessary for us to point out that the effect of such a . report , following closely as it did upon the heels of the unseemly disputes of the previous year , has been most disastrous , nor are we by any means at the
end of the turmoil in which the affairs of the Institution have since been placed . The first effect was to convert the meeting of the General Committee , on the 1 st June , into a bear-garden , the uproar being so great that the business , which ordinaril y includes the election of the House and Audit Committees , could not be transacted , and the meeting was adjourned . On the 6 th June , a Special General Court of Governors and Subscribers was held in Freemasons' Tavern for the
purpose of considering the report of the Committee of Inquiry . Bro . W . W . B . Beach ,, M . P ., Provincial Grand Master of Hants and the Isle of Wight , occupied the chair , and amid a good deal of excitement , and after many uncomplimentary remarks at the expense of the House and Audit Committees , the report was accepted . The Court then seemed for a time at a loss as to the steps that should be taken in order to give effect to the recommendations contained in the
report , and at length Bro . Bevir , Prov . Grand Secretary of Wilts , proposed that a Provisional Management Committee should be appointed in order to carry on the affairs of the School and at the same time take such measures as they might . consider necessary to win back for the government of the Institution that general confidence among the Craft which had been so rudely shaken . The Committee , as proposed by Bro . Bevir , consisted of some 20 brethren , among whom were Bros .
Philbrick and other members of the Committee of Investigation , and on whose ability and impartiality the Governors might rely , and the proposition having been duly seconded , was unanimously agreed to , and the Court adjourned . The Committee thus appointed at once entered on its duties , and having elected Bro . the Earl of Euston as Chairman , and Bro . Philbrick as Vice-Chairman , it set about its task in earnest , its position being at the same time considerably strengthened by
the fact of its being assigned for the time being the position ordinarily filled b y the House and Audit Committees . On the 6 th July it presented its first report at the meeting of the General Committee held that day , the recommendations it contained being to the following effect—that , as the House Steward and Matron had tendered their resignations , which had been accepted , the office of House Steward should not be filled up for the present but that the Committee should be empowered to elect
a new Matron ; that a new Medical Officer should be appointed ; and that authority should be given to them to treat with the Secretary on the terms and conditions of his retirement , it being , in their opinion , necessary that a change in the office ol Secretary should be made at as early a date as possible . After a brief discussion , this report was unanimously accepted , and , so far as the Committee have been able to carry them out , effect has been given to the recommendations . A new Matron ,
in the person of Miss Herkomer , has been appointed , and has been fulfilling her duties to the satisfaction of the authorities for some time past , while at the Quarterly Court in October , Bro . Porter , who resides in the immediate neighbourhood , was appointed Medical Officer , the Provisional Committee having recommended him out of 35 candidates who were ready to fill the vacancy . At the General Committee on the 5 th October the Provisional Committee handed in a
further report , in which it was proposed that Bro . Binckes should vacate the office of Secretary at the close of the present year on a pension for life , and that the Provisional Committee should receive authority to terminate the engagement of Bro . Dr . Morris as Head Master , in accordance with the terms of the agreement made with him at the time of his appointment . As regards the first of the propositions , the brethren reserved their right to deal with it at the Quarterly Court
to be held towards the close of the same month , while , as regards Dr . Morris , it was thought desirable that the question of Bro . Dr . Morris ' s retirement should be reconsidered by the Provisional Committee with a view to its seeing whether or not some pecuniary recognition mig ht not be made of the services he had rendered during his 14 years' tenure of the office . At the Quarterly Court on the 26 th of the same month , after Bro . Porter had been elected Medical Officer , the
recommendation relating to the retirement of Bro . Binckes and the grant of a pension of £ 350 a year for life was considered , and , after two or three motions for " no pension , " for one of £ 200 , and one of £ 250 had been disposed of , the Court divided , when there appeared in favour of the recommendation 220 , and against it 213 . Since then , in consequence of the smallness of the majority by which their proposal was carried , the Provisional Committee have considered it desirable to
modify their recommendation , and the pension they now recommend should be awarded to Bro . Binckes is £ 250 . They also recommended that a sum of £ 500 should be paid to Dr . Morris in full of all demands , but the motion has been rejected , and it remains to be seen what will be done in his case . In the meantime , the Rev . H . Hebb has been elected to succeed him , and will take over the duties after the Christinas holidays . Among the other recommendations which
have been made by the Provisional Committee and agreed to by the Governors must be mentioned one involving an outlay of £ 1000 " to provide additional baths in the School Buildings , and for general sanitary requirements , " and a second for the erection of a swimming bath at a cost not exceeding £ 2500 . It remains to add that at the Quarterly Court , in April , 20 new boys were elected from a list of
72 candidates , and at the October Court 16 boys from a list of 70 candidates . With this our record in respect of this Institution is closed , and our readers , to whom the circumstances must be well known , will be able to judge for themselves if our estimate of the difficult position in which the School is placed has been in any way exaggerated .
PROVINCIAL AND OTHER CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS . If the account we have given of the Central Charities is not quite all we could have desired , the remarks and particulars we shall now offer concerning the various lodge and provincial organisations are entirely satisfactory . The associations established from time to time by individual lodges have been the means of raising considerable sums of money for our Institutions , while those of a permanent ,
such as the Provinces of Staffordshire , Cambridgeshire , the associated Western Counties , and others , have been similarly productive of good in the same direction . The more ambitious organisations , that is to say , those which undertake to educate children and make some annual provision for poor brethren , have been continuing their beneficent work with even greater effect than in preceding years , and there seems every probability of their becoming still more useful . The West
Lancashire Institutions , which are three in number , are in a most prosperous state , and so are those of Cheshire and East Lancashire , the former province having had such an organisation for about a quarter of a century , while the latter , though it established its Educational and Benevolent Institution more recently , has worked and supported it most generously , its invested capital being about £ 9000 , while the receipts
during the current year have been double what they were in 1888 . The Devonshire Funds have also made fair progress , while at the festival recently held at Landport of the Hampshire and Isle of Wi g ht Association , when Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., presided , the returns from the 23 Stewards amounted to only a fraction short of £ 45 0 , with two lists still to be accounted for . At this banquet it was mentioned incidentall y that , aipart from the sum it had contributed to the principal Charities , the Province had raised no less than £ 1764 for this local
Freemasonry In 1889.
association in the course of the last three years . But the most noteworth y event in connection with one of these Provincial Charities occurred at York , on the 8 th May , when the first festival " of the North and East Yorkshire Educational Fund was held under the presidency of Bro . the Earl of Zetland , P . G . M . The occasion will always be memorable from the fact that among the visitors present at the banquet was H . R . H . Prince Albeit Victor of Wales , P . S . G . W ., who was at the
time quartered with his regiment at York , and who took the opportunity then afforded him of exhibiting his interest in the charitable proceedings of the Craft . The Stewards were over 100 in number , and the amount of donations and subscriptions they were successful in raising was upwards of ' . £ 1000 . Such a result as this is the most eloquent testimony our North and East Yorkshire brethren could give
of the respect in which they hold the great Masonic principle of Charity . Nor is there the least likelihood , after such an inauguration of the Fund , that it will ever want for support as it grows older and becomes more useful . For ourselves , we hope the day is not far distant when all those Provinces which are sufficiently strong will have some such institution established to meet the needs of the local brethren .
THE BO . ARD OF BENEVOLENCE . In our Summary of last year we mentioned that the Board of Benevolence would enter upon its duties in 18 S 9 with an indebtedness hanging round its neck , so to speak , of £ 1100 . That , under these circumstances , it has exercised the greatest possible economy in the distribution of its funds cannot be doubted , and from the figures we append , we have reason to believe it has succeeded in keeping
its expenditure within its income . At all events , the reader will be able to judge as well as we whether the prospect ol re-establishing an equilibrium between incomings and outgoings is near or remote from the following monthly record of cases relieved and the total of the amounts granted . January , 40 cases relieved with . £ nSo ; February 30 cases with £ 845 ; March , 35 cases with £ 1085 ; April , 34
cases with £ 802 ; May , 32 cases with £ 725 ; June , 25 cases with £ 510 ; July , 6 cases with £ 660 ; August , 19 cases with £ 485 ; September , g cases with £ 26 * 0 ; October , 41 cases with £ 1005 ; November , 31 cases with £ 805 ; and December , 33 cases with £ 7 82 ; the total for the whole year being 358 cases , relieved with £ 9144—as compared with 439 cases and £ 11 , 4 68 in 1888 .
MASONIC LITERATURE . The Craft has no reason to be dissatisfied with the literary work that has been done during the past twelve months . It is true the additions to our store of literature are not numerous , but those which have been forthcoming have been much appreciated and will be of lasting value to the Craft . Bro . Henry Sadler has greatly strengthened his reputation by the publication , in book form , but with
additions and notes , of the valuable series of articles on " The Ceremony of Installation , " which first appeared in the columns of this Journal . Bro . Gould's Commentary on the Regius MS ., which appeared under the auspices of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , is a work of the greatest erudition , and has gained for its learned author an amount of commendation from the more learned members of the Craft which is most richly deserved . It is only such a man as Bro . Gould who could
have dealt with this ancient MS . in the thorough and masterly st yle which characterises his commentary throughout , and it is much to be regretted that there are not more brethren among us who will direct their attention to this most valuable and interesting branch of our literature . Bro . W . J . Hughan has again figured , and with as great success as in former cases , as an author , his contribution being the " History of the Apollo Lodge of York , " while Bro . John Lane has enlarged his
claims upon Masonic students generally by the compilation of his Handy Book to our Lodge Lists . Both these works b y Bros . Hughan and Lane were published recentl y by Bro . George Kenning , and both have been highly spoken of , as indeed they well deserve to be , in these columns , and by those brethren whose opinions are worth having . As regards our periodical literature , what little we have to sayconcerns this Journal , and we do not think our readers will blame us over-much if we express the gratification we must naturally feel at the encomiums expressed
at its further development , and the generous manner in which its proprietor has responded to the desire of the brethren for a fuller and more detailed weekl y record of Craft doings . The changes introduced into the Freemason during the past six months have been favourabl y received in all quarters , and with this open encouragement to make it more and more representative of the Craft in this country , it is scarcel y necessary for us to say here , what we have said so often before , that wherever we see any improvement is possible , we shall spare no effort to make it . r
OBITUARY . We do not think our losses by death have been more numerous than usual , but there can be no question that they include a somewhat formidable array of distinguished brethren to whose valuable services during a long series of years the Craft is deeply indebted , and whose memory , therefore , will be sacredly cherished , not only by those of the present generation , to whom they were personall y known ,
but also by those who will come after us , and benefit by their services . Among these must be mentioned Bro . General Brownrigg , C . B ., who died at Colombo on the 1 st April , on his return from a visit to Melbourne , whither he had voyaged for the purpose of recruiting his health . Bro . Brownrigg had presided as Provincial Grand Master of Surrey since 1871 , and as Grand Superintendent of its Royal Arch Masons since 18 73 . He was also Provincial Prior of Kent and Surrey in the
Order of the Temple , and Grand Prior in the Supreme Council , 33 , of the Ancient and Accepted Rite . He had also presided as Festival Chairman for the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution in 1883 , a"d in the same capacity for the Girls' School in 1886 . Later in the year the announcement of the death of Bro . Sir Daniel Gooch , Bart ., came upon us sadly , but not unexpectedly , as his health had for some time past been greatly impaired . He , too , had in his day worked
well and faithfull y , firstly , as D . P . G . M . of Wiltshire , and since 1868 as Prov . G . M . of Berks and Bucks , as well as its Grand Superintendent since 1875 . Another familiar brother who will never again be seen in Grand Lodge is Bro . tineas Mclntyre , Q . C ., who , on his retirement from the office of Grand Registrar in 1883 , after 21 years' continuous service , was rewarded by H . R . H . the Grand Master with the rank of a Past Grand Warden of England . We also have to deplore the
death of Bro . the Rev . Canon Portal , who had been some 40 years a Mason , and whose great services to the Craft had been recognised by his appointment as Grand Chaplain in 1885 . But Canon Portal ' s greatest achievements were in connection with the Mark Grand Lodge , over which he had presided as Grand Master , and whose interests he had assisted in promoting in various other offices , but chiefly as President of its General Board , since its very establishment . Bros , the Rev . Sir F .
Gore Ouseley , Bart ., and the Rev . G . W . Weldon , M . A ., both P . G . Chaplains , are also gone , and so , too , are Bros . John Watson , P . G . D . of England , D . P . G . M . of Nottinghamshire ; Gerard Ford , P . G . D . of England , D . P . G . M . and Grand Superintendent of Sussex , and Provincial Grand Mark Master nominate ; Fred . Davison , P . G . D . England , and for many years Grand Treasurer of the Mark ; C . Spence Bate , Provincial Grand Master nominate of Devonshire ; and Henry
Greene , P . G . Std . Br . England . Another most prominent brother is also lost to us in Bro . Brigadier-General Adair , P . P . G . M . of Somersetshire , and its Grand Superintendent , as well as G . C . of the Gds . of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Rite . Among other deaths we note those of Bros . W . Biggs , P . P . S . G . W . of Wilts , and P . P . G . Sec . of Berks and Bucks ; the Rev . A . B .
Coomb , Prov . G . Chaplain of West Yorkshire ; G . M . E . Snow , P . P . G . W . Kent ; John Toplis , P . P . G . Treasurer Nottinghamshire ; John Cobham , P . P . G . D . West Lancashire ; E . Simpson , P . P . G . P . East Lancashire ; J . A . Birch , P . P . J . G . W . East Lancashire , and Chairman of its Charity Committee ; R . Brown , P . P . G . Treas . West Lancashire ;^ . G . Franklin , P . Prov . G . Treas .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In 1889.
27 th April , the Committee of Investigation , which we mentioned in our Summary of last year as having been appointed in July , 1888 , to inquire into the discipline , management , and expenditure of the School , and which had been closely engaged during the winter months in performing the duties entrusted to it , handed in its report , signed , sealed , and delivered , by Bro . Philbrick and the six distinguished Masons he ' ll id ' invited to assist him . The report was at once ordered to be printed and
circulated among the Governors and subscribers , and after an unconscionable delay in the issue of the ° document , the brethren had the opportunity of reading the conclusions at which the Committee had arrived . What these conclusions were is now a matter of history , and it is only necessary for us to point out that the effect of such a . report , following closely as it did upon the heels of the unseemly disputes of the previous year , has been most disastrous , nor are we by any means at the
end of the turmoil in which the affairs of the Institution have since been placed . The first effect was to convert the meeting of the General Committee , on the 1 st June , into a bear-garden , the uproar being so great that the business , which ordinaril y includes the election of the House and Audit Committees , could not be transacted , and the meeting was adjourned . On the 6 th June , a Special General Court of Governors and Subscribers was held in Freemasons' Tavern for the
purpose of considering the report of the Committee of Inquiry . Bro . W . W . B . Beach ,, M . P ., Provincial Grand Master of Hants and the Isle of Wight , occupied the chair , and amid a good deal of excitement , and after many uncomplimentary remarks at the expense of the House and Audit Committees , the report was accepted . The Court then seemed for a time at a loss as to the steps that should be taken in order to give effect to the recommendations contained in the
report , and at length Bro . Bevir , Prov . Grand Secretary of Wilts , proposed that a Provisional Management Committee should be appointed in order to carry on the affairs of the School and at the same time take such measures as they might . consider necessary to win back for the government of the Institution that general confidence among the Craft which had been so rudely shaken . The Committee , as proposed by Bro . Bevir , consisted of some 20 brethren , among whom were Bros .
Philbrick and other members of the Committee of Investigation , and on whose ability and impartiality the Governors might rely , and the proposition having been duly seconded , was unanimously agreed to , and the Court adjourned . The Committee thus appointed at once entered on its duties , and having elected Bro . the Earl of Euston as Chairman , and Bro . Philbrick as Vice-Chairman , it set about its task in earnest , its position being at the same time considerably strengthened by
the fact of its being assigned for the time being the position ordinarily filled b y the House and Audit Committees . On the 6 th July it presented its first report at the meeting of the General Committee held that day , the recommendations it contained being to the following effect—that , as the House Steward and Matron had tendered their resignations , which had been accepted , the office of House Steward should not be filled up for the present but that the Committee should be empowered to elect
a new Matron ; that a new Medical Officer should be appointed ; and that authority should be given to them to treat with the Secretary on the terms and conditions of his retirement , it being , in their opinion , necessary that a change in the office ol Secretary should be made at as early a date as possible . After a brief discussion , this report was unanimously accepted , and , so far as the Committee have been able to carry them out , effect has been given to the recommendations . A new Matron ,
in the person of Miss Herkomer , has been appointed , and has been fulfilling her duties to the satisfaction of the authorities for some time past , while at the Quarterly Court in October , Bro . Porter , who resides in the immediate neighbourhood , was appointed Medical Officer , the Provisional Committee having recommended him out of 35 candidates who were ready to fill the vacancy . At the General Committee on the 5 th October the Provisional Committee handed in a
further report , in which it was proposed that Bro . Binckes should vacate the office of Secretary at the close of the present year on a pension for life , and that the Provisional Committee should receive authority to terminate the engagement of Bro . Dr . Morris as Head Master , in accordance with the terms of the agreement made with him at the time of his appointment . As regards the first of the propositions , the brethren reserved their right to deal with it at the Quarterly Court
to be held towards the close of the same month , while , as regards Dr . Morris , it was thought desirable that the question of Bro . Dr . Morris ' s retirement should be reconsidered by the Provisional Committee with a view to its seeing whether or not some pecuniary recognition mig ht not be made of the services he had rendered during his 14 years' tenure of the office . At the Quarterly Court on the 26 th of the same month , after Bro . Porter had been elected Medical Officer , the
recommendation relating to the retirement of Bro . Binckes and the grant of a pension of £ 350 a year for life was considered , and , after two or three motions for " no pension , " for one of £ 200 , and one of £ 250 had been disposed of , the Court divided , when there appeared in favour of the recommendation 220 , and against it 213 . Since then , in consequence of the smallness of the majority by which their proposal was carried , the Provisional Committee have considered it desirable to
modify their recommendation , and the pension they now recommend should be awarded to Bro . Binckes is £ 250 . They also recommended that a sum of £ 500 should be paid to Dr . Morris in full of all demands , but the motion has been rejected , and it remains to be seen what will be done in his case . In the meantime , the Rev . H . Hebb has been elected to succeed him , and will take over the duties after the Christinas holidays . Among the other recommendations which
have been made by the Provisional Committee and agreed to by the Governors must be mentioned one involving an outlay of £ 1000 " to provide additional baths in the School Buildings , and for general sanitary requirements , " and a second for the erection of a swimming bath at a cost not exceeding £ 2500 . It remains to add that at the Quarterly Court , in April , 20 new boys were elected from a list of
72 candidates , and at the October Court 16 boys from a list of 70 candidates . With this our record in respect of this Institution is closed , and our readers , to whom the circumstances must be well known , will be able to judge for themselves if our estimate of the difficult position in which the School is placed has been in any way exaggerated .
PROVINCIAL AND OTHER CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS . If the account we have given of the Central Charities is not quite all we could have desired , the remarks and particulars we shall now offer concerning the various lodge and provincial organisations are entirely satisfactory . The associations established from time to time by individual lodges have been the means of raising considerable sums of money for our Institutions , while those of a permanent ,
such as the Provinces of Staffordshire , Cambridgeshire , the associated Western Counties , and others , have been similarly productive of good in the same direction . The more ambitious organisations , that is to say , those which undertake to educate children and make some annual provision for poor brethren , have been continuing their beneficent work with even greater effect than in preceding years , and there seems every probability of their becoming still more useful . The West
Lancashire Institutions , which are three in number , are in a most prosperous state , and so are those of Cheshire and East Lancashire , the former province having had such an organisation for about a quarter of a century , while the latter , though it established its Educational and Benevolent Institution more recently , has worked and supported it most generously , its invested capital being about £ 9000 , while the receipts
during the current year have been double what they were in 1888 . The Devonshire Funds have also made fair progress , while at the festival recently held at Landport of the Hampshire and Isle of Wi g ht Association , when Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., presided , the returns from the 23 Stewards amounted to only a fraction short of £ 45 0 , with two lists still to be accounted for . At this banquet it was mentioned incidentall y that , aipart from the sum it had contributed to the principal Charities , the Province had raised no less than £ 1764 for this local
Freemasonry In 1889.
association in the course of the last three years . But the most noteworth y event in connection with one of these Provincial Charities occurred at York , on the 8 th May , when the first festival " of the North and East Yorkshire Educational Fund was held under the presidency of Bro . the Earl of Zetland , P . G . M . The occasion will always be memorable from the fact that among the visitors present at the banquet was H . R . H . Prince Albeit Victor of Wales , P . S . G . W ., who was at the
time quartered with his regiment at York , and who took the opportunity then afforded him of exhibiting his interest in the charitable proceedings of the Craft . The Stewards were over 100 in number , and the amount of donations and subscriptions they were successful in raising was upwards of ' . £ 1000 . Such a result as this is the most eloquent testimony our North and East Yorkshire brethren could give
of the respect in which they hold the great Masonic principle of Charity . Nor is there the least likelihood , after such an inauguration of the Fund , that it will ever want for support as it grows older and becomes more useful . For ourselves , we hope the day is not far distant when all those Provinces which are sufficiently strong will have some such institution established to meet the needs of the local brethren .
THE BO . ARD OF BENEVOLENCE . In our Summary of last year we mentioned that the Board of Benevolence would enter upon its duties in 18 S 9 with an indebtedness hanging round its neck , so to speak , of £ 1100 . That , under these circumstances , it has exercised the greatest possible economy in the distribution of its funds cannot be doubted , and from the figures we append , we have reason to believe it has succeeded in keeping
its expenditure within its income . At all events , the reader will be able to judge as well as we whether the prospect ol re-establishing an equilibrium between incomings and outgoings is near or remote from the following monthly record of cases relieved and the total of the amounts granted . January , 40 cases relieved with . £ nSo ; February 30 cases with £ 845 ; March , 35 cases with £ 1085 ; April , 34
cases with £ 802 ; May , 32 cases with £ 725 ; June , 25 cases with £ 510 ; July , 6 cases with £ 660 ; August , 19 cases with £ 485 ; September , g cases with £ 26 * 0 ; October , 41 cases with £ 1005 ; November , 31 cases with £ 805 ; and December , 33 cases with £ 7 82 ; the total for the whole year being 358 cases , relieved with £ 9144—as compared with 439 cases and £ 11 , 4 68 in 1888 .
MASONIC LITERATURE . The Craft has no reason to be dissatisfied with the literary work that has been done during the past twelve months . It is true the additions to our store of literature are not numerous , but those which have been forthcoming have been much appreciated and will be of lasting value to the Craft . Bro . Henry Sadler has greatly strengthened his reputation by the publication , in book form , but with
additions and notes , of the valuable series of articles on " The Ceremony of Installation , " which first appeared in the columns of this Journal . Bro . Gould's Commentary on the Regius MS ., which appeared under the auspices of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , is a work of the greatest erudition , and has gained for its learned author an amount of commendation from the more learned members of the Craft which is most richly deserved . It is only such a man as Bro . Gould who could
have dealt with this ancient MS . in the thorough and masterly st yle which characterises his commentary throughout , and it is much to be regretted that there are not more brethren among us who will direct their attention to this most valuable and interesting branch of our literature . Bro . W . J . Hughan has again figured , and with as great success as in former cases , as an author , his contribution being the " History of the Apollo Lodge of York , " while Bro . John Lane has enlarged his
claims upon Masonic students generally by the compilation of his Handy Book to our Lodge Lists . Both these works b y Bros . Hughan and Lane were published recentl y by Bro . George Kenning , and both have been highly spoken of , as indeed they well deserve to be , in these columns , and by those brethren whose opinions are worth having . As regards our periodical literature , what little we have to sayconcerns this Journal , and we do not think our readers will blame us over-much if we express the gratification we must naturally feel at the encomiums expressed
at its further development , and the generous manner in which its proprietor has responded to the desire of the brethren for a fuller and more detailed weekl y record of Craft doings . The changes introduced into the Freemason during the past six months have been favourabl y received in all quarters , and with this open encouragement to make it more and more representative of the Craft in this country , it is scarcel y necessary for us to say here , what we have said so often before , that wherever we see any improvement is possible , we shall spare no effort to make it . r
OBITUARY . We do not think our losses by death have been more numerous than usual , but there can be no question that they include a somewhat formidable array of distinguished brethren to whose valuable services during a long series of years the Craft is deeply indebted , and whose memory , therefore , will be sacredly cherished , not only by those of the present generation , to whom they were personall y known ,
but also by those who will come after us , and benefit by their services . Among these must be mentioned Bro . General Brownrigg , C . B ., who died at Colombo on the 1 st April , on his return from a visit to Melbourne , whither he had voyaged for the purpose of recruiting his health . Bro . Brownrigg had presided as Provincial Grand Master of Surrey since 1871 , and as Grand Superintendent of its Royal Arch Masons since 18 73 . He was also Provincial Prior of Kent and Surrey in the
Order of the Temple , and Grand Prior in the Supreme Council , 33 , of the Ancient and Accepted Rite . He had also presided as Festival Chairman for the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution in 1883 , a"d in the same capacity for the Girls' School in 1886 . Later in the year the announcement of the death of Bro . Sir Daniel Gooch , Bart ., came upon us sadly , but not unexpectedly , as his health had for some time past been greatly impaired . He , too , had in his day worked
well and faithfull y , firstly , as D . P . G . M . of Wiltshire , and since 1868 as Prov . G . M . of Berks and Bucks , as well as its Grand Superintendent since 1875 . Another familiar brother who will never again be seen in Grand Lodge is Bro . tineas Mclntyre , Q . C ., who , on his retirement from the office of Grand Registrar in 1883 , after 21 years' continuous service , was rewarded by H . R . H . the Grand Master with the rank of a Past Grand Warden of England . We also have to deplore the
death of Bro . the Rev . Canon Portal , who had been some 40 years a Mason , and whose great services to the Craft had been recognised by his appointment as Grand Chaplain in 1885 . But Canon Portal ' s greatest achievements were in connection with the Mark Grand Lodge , over which he had presided as Grand Master , and whose interests he had assisted in promoting in various other offices , but chiefly as President of its General Board , since its very establishment . Bros , the Rev . Sir F .
Gore Ouseley , Bart ., and the Rev . G . W . Weldon , M . A ., both P . G . Chaplains , are also gone , and so , too , are Bros . John Watson , P . G . D . of England , D . P . G . M . of Nottinghamshire ; Gerard Ford , P . G . D . of England , D . P . G . M . and Grand Superintendent of Sussex , and Provincial Grand Mark Master nominate ; Fred . Davison , P . G . D . England , and for many years Grand Treasurer of the Mark ; C . Spence Bate , Provincial Grand Master nominate of Devonshire ; and Henry
Greene , P . G . Std . Br . England . Another most prominent brother is also lost to us in Bro . Brigadier-General Adair , P . P . G . M . of Somersetshire , and its Grand Superintendent , as well as G . C . of the Gds . of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Rite . Among other deaths we note those of Bros . W . Biggs , P . P . S . G . W . of Wilts , and P . P . G . Sec . of Berks and Bucks ; the Rev . A . B .
Coomb , Prov . G . Chaplain of West Yorkshire ; G . M . E . Snow , P . P . G . W . Kent ; John Toplis , P . P . G . Treasurer Nottinghamshire ; John Cobham , P . P . G . D . West Lancashire ; E . Simpson , P . P . G . P . East Lancashire ; J . A . Birch , P . P . J . G . W . East Lancashire , and Chairman of its Charity Committee ; R . Brown , P . P . G . Treas . West Lancashire ;^ . G . Franklin , P . Prov . G . Treas .