Freemasonry In 1893.

FREEMASONRY IN 1893 .

Generally speaking , there is in Masonry little to choose in lhe matter of good or evil fortune between one year and those which have preceded it . This is in a great measure accounted for by the peculiar character of the Institution , which is in no way dependent for its success , or non-success , on the outside worle , and is , therefore , except at times of serious national

emergency , to a great extent uninfluenced by passing events . Of course it happens every now and then that ' occasion is offered us for rejoicing over some exceptionally fortunate occurrence , which has either enabled us to extend our sphere of beneficent operation , or has favourably impressed the community of which we are a part , with the beneficent character of the work

we set ourselves to do . Occasionally , too , we experience difficulties in the fulfilment of our self-imposed duties , or grieve over losses which it is wellnigh impossible to make good . As a rule , however , wc go on our way quietly and unostentatiously , without due cause either for special rejoicing or special lamentation , and this is probably the judgment we are called upon to

pass upon the events of the year which is now upon the eve of closing—lhat there is very little to record during its progress which has been productive of extraordinary satisfaction or regret . We have had our gains , we have had our losses—what society , what institution is there in the whole world , which can honestly claim that in the course of any one year of its existence if has not

sustained either or both ? and if in carefully noting those gains and those losses during thc year 18 93 , we feel inclined lo persuade ourselves that there is a preponderance in favour of the former rather than of the latter , it is because we consider that the general tenour of our customary review of Freemasonry during that year is on thc whole in favour of that opinion . This is more particularly shown by the work that has been done in

CRAFT MASONRY , which naturally claims our first and the largest share of ovir attention . One of the most convincing evidences of the prosperity of our Order during thc past year will bc found in the number of lodges for which his Royal Highness has been pleased to grant warrants . We have said the Society has gone its

way without either special good or evil foitune , but that it has undoubtedly held its own is borne out by the fact that 37 new lodges have been added to the roll , as compared with 36 in the year 1892 . Of these nine are located in the London distribt , 17 in the Provinces , and 11 in the Colonics and Abroad , theMetropolitanbeingas follow , viz ., the Chancery Bar Lodge , No . 245 6 , which ,

though itwas lhe first to be authorised by thc Grand Master in 18 93 , was not constituted till the 28 th November . But though , owing to unavoidable circumstances , a longer interval than usual occurred between the grant of the warrant and the consecration of the lodge , the members have every reason to bc gratified with the unwonted splendour of the inaugural ceremony ,

which was conducted by Bro . the Right Hon . the Marl of Lathom , Pro G Mastcr—the Prince of Wales , M . W . G . M ., being present , and himself " constituting the lodge "—and witnessed by such an array of Grand and Past Grand Officers as is not often assembled at the consecration of a private lodge , the most prominent among the Craftsmen present being , in

addition to his Royal Hig hness and thc Earl of Lathom , Bros , the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe , D . G . M . ; Lord Herschell ( Lord Chancellor ) and Lord Halsbury ( ex-Lord Chancellor ) , P . G . Wardens ; A . Akers-Douglas , J . G . Warden ; the Earls of Jersey and Euston ; Lords Suffield and Brooke ; Lord G . Hamilton , M . P ., W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., and Colonels Caldwell ,

Le Gendre Starkie , and G . N . Money , Prov . Grand Masters ; Lord Ashbourne , Sir Francis Knollys , P . G . W . ; Justices Romer , Bruce , and Kenned y ; SirJ . B . Monckton , P . G . W . ; Sir Albert Woods , P . G . W ., G . D . C . ; E . Letchworth , G . Sec ; T . Fenn , President Board of General Purposes ; S . Pope , Q . C , P . G . D . ; and others . The ceremony itself was performed b y

the kind permission of the Benchers in the Library of Lincoln s Inn , while the banquet took place in the Hall , and it is difficult to imagine how any lodge could have been ushered into existence amid more imposing surroundings , or in the presence of a more distinguished gathering of brethren . Be it added that the lodge has been formed on the lines of the Northern Bar

Lodge , No . 1610 , and will , no doubt , prove as great a boon to the Bar generally as the latter has to the section with which it has been so honourably associated . The remaining new lodges in the London district are the Cheerybles and the Pickwick Lodges , Nos . 2466 and 246 7 respectively ,

which have been singularly happy in the selection of their titles , there being an undoubted odour of Masonic sanctity about the Brothers Cheeryble and Mr . Samuel Pickwick , as they are depicted in the pages of Charles Dickens , which , in their works of genuine kindliness and beneficence , the members of the ntwly-born lodges will strive to imitate ; the Hortus Lodge , No ,

Freemasonry In 1893.

2469 , intended for members of the horticultural profession ; the Telegraph Cable Lodge , No . 2470 , for the benefit of telegraphists and telegraph engineers ; a semi-military lodge , bearing the style and title of the Second Middlesex Artillery Lodge , No . 2484 , which will be associated with that corps of Volunteers ; the Eccentric Lodge , No . 248 S , for literary men ; kttd

two lodges located in the suburbs , namely , the Walthamstow Lodge , No . 2472 , and the Willesden Lodge , No . 24 S 9 . Of the Provincial Lodges , one bearing the name of the Ampthill Lodge , No . 2490 , meets in thc town in Bedfordshire , from which Bro . Lord Ampthill , the Grand Master of thc Province takes his title , while a second

is located at Ascot in Berkshire , and increases the number on the roll of that Province to 15 . Buckinghamshire has added two to its roll , and can thus boast a total of 18 , or half as many again as \ yhen it was separated from its former associate , Berkshire ; and constituted as a separate Province under Bro . Lord Carrington , P . G . W ., the two are thc Eton , No . 2458 , meeting in the

town of the same name , and the Concordia quartered at Wendover . Durham has made one addition to its roll , the Clarence , No . 2492 , which meets in West Hartlepool , while Essex and Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have had their respective totals raised to 34 and 48 lodges , the Colne Lodge , No . 2477 , Wyvenhoc , having been consecrated in the former , and the Border Lodge ,

No . 2475 , at Blaekwater , in the latter . East Lancashire has two new lodges , thc Longsight , No . 2464 , Longsight , and thc Duchess of York , No . 2482 , Manchester ; while West Lancashire has kept pace wilh its Eastern neighbour by the addition of the St . Anne's , No . 2457 , meeting at St . Anne ' s-onthe-Sea , and the Bootle-Wilbraham Lodgci No . 2463 , so called after the

family name of the Earl of Lathom , its Prov . Grand Mastcr , and meeting at Knotty Ash . Staffordshire has had two lodges placed on its roll , and thereby raised its total to 31 ; the Hathcrton Lodge , No . 2474 , having been consecrated at Walsall , and thc St . Michael's , No . 2487 , at Stone . The remaining four are the St . John's , No . 246 S , meeting at Douglas in the Isle

of Man , and increasing the number of lodges in that Province to nine ; the Molesey , No , 2473 , meeting nt East Molesey , Surrey ; the Hadrian Lodge , No . 2483 , meeting at Westham in Sussex ; and the White Rose of York , No . 2491 , which raises the number of lodges in Sheffield to nine , and the number on the roll of the Province of West Yorkshire to 76 . The last of

these was consecrated on thc 25 th November , in the presence of a very numerous gathering of the Fraternity , the ceremony being performed by the newly-installed Prov . Grand Master in person , Bro . thc Right Hon . W . L . Jackson , M . P . Of the n lodges which have been constituted in the colonics or abroad , all but four arc located in British South Africa or the

South African Republic , the four in question being the Quilmes Lodge , No . 2459 , which meets in the town bearing the same name in the Argentine Republic ; the Trident , No . 2465 , meeting in the Island of Bermuda j the Avon , No . 2471 , Northam , under the District Grand Lodge of Western Australia ; and the Ubique , No . 2476 , at Barrackpore , in thc District Grand

Lodge of Bengal , which now has 43 lodges on its roll , Thc seven new lodges in Soulh Africa arc the Duguza , No . 2461 , meeting at Stangcr in the District Grand Lodge of Natal ; Rhodesia . No . 2479 , Salisbury , in Mashonaland ; and the Franklin , No . 2486 , at Barkly West , in South Africa , but not under any District Grand Lodge ; and the Goldficlds Lodge

No . 247 8 , Johannesburg ; the Boksburg , No . 2480 , Boksburg ; thejeppestown , No . 2481 , meeting in the town of the same name ; and the Zoutpansberg Liberty Lodge , No . 2485 , at Pietersburg , all in the South African Republic . On thc other hand , there have been struck from the roll 13 lodges , whicb have made no returns for years , and of which one was located in Greet * .

one in New Granada , one in Pernambuco , one in Berbice , two in tho Mauritius , six in Smyrna , and one in Ephesus . The loss of these lodges is , however , merely nominal , one of them having apparently made no return since its constitution , and another none since 1857 , while as to the rest nothing has been heard of them for 15 , 20 , or even 30 years , the only two

which appear to have kept up communications with Grand Lodge being the British Lodge , No . 736 , in the Mauritius , thc date of whose last Return is 1887 , and the Homer Lodge , No . 806 , Smyrna , which sent Returns till i 8 "S 3

Thus while the erasure of these 13 lodges nominally reduces the additions to our Grand Lodge to 24 , we may take it that the 37 lodges constituted in 1893 arc a real gain , and that the removal of the 13 which have been struck off is an advantage .

Turning to the proceedings of United Grand Lodge , our first duty is T ^ express satisfaction at the very material addition to the list of Grand Officero , which it is now in the power of the Grand Master lo make annually , as well

as those which have been sanctioned in the case of the larger Provinces , The additional Grand Lodge Officers are six in number , and include a Deputy Grand Registrar , two Grand Deacons , two Assistant Grand Directors of Ceremonies , and a Deputy Grand Sword Bearer , while the