A Year's Benevolence.

ing on the work of tho hvo Schools on anything l . iko : i sirailav basis , but tkut doc ? not detract i ' v . an the b ^ vtlts of tho system vlr . C'h is possible in connection with tho Old People ' s Fund .

Besides tho three Institutions hero referred to , there is , as usual , the total grants of the Board oi Benevolence to bo included in our Summary for the Year , and these amount to a total of £ 7 , 732 , a sum

showing an appreciable failing oh as compared with tho last two years , a result not only politic , but absolutely necessary in view of tho very heavy drains made during recent years on the invested funds of this account . We now append particulars of tho several totals ,

and express a wish that tho year just started upon may bo as successful for each as tho ono to Avhich these figures refer—not only so , but that in every case an improvement may result , and increased

prosperity mark the future of tho various Funds . Eoyal Masonic Institution for Girls . B a Donation from Grand Lodge - - 150 0 0 Donation from Grand Chapter - - 10 10 0 Donations and Subscriptions - - 12123 0 10 Balance Life Presentation ( Harlech )

Centenary - - - 275 0 0 One Admission by Purchase - - 178 10 0 Admission by Annual Payment - - 150 0 0 Dividends - - - 2232 4 0

Interest on Deposit ... 10 ( 3 10 0 Receipts for Musical Instruction - - 221 0 G Sale of Old Pianos and Old Materials - 42 0 0

Sale of Books of Subscribers - - 13 0 Itccoived from L . B . & S . C . R . ( as per Agreement ) - - - 5000 0 0 Window Memorials - - - 1274 0 0 217 G 3 19 1

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution .

£ B d Donations and Subscriptions - - 15074 10 0 Dividends .. ... 2882 12 11

Interest on cash at call - - - 98 10 5 Grand Lodge .... 1 G 00 0 0 Grand Chapter .... 159 (; 0 Legacy ( on account ) - - . 1500 0 0 21305 13 4

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

Royal Masonic Institution for Boys .

; 8 a rl Donations and Subscri ptions - - 11596 2 0

United Grand Lodge - - - 150 0 0 Supremo Grand Chapter - - . 10 10 0 Dividends - - - - - 538 14 8 Music Fees - - - - 70 6 0 Miscellaneous ... . J _ § 14 1 12472 6 9

The Board Of Benevolence.

The Board of Benevolence .

Month . Cases relioved . £ s d January - - 36 - - 775 0 0 February - - 34 - - 920 0 0 March - - 32 - - 650 0 0

April - 37 . 800 0 0 May - . -25 - - 555 0 0 June 20 600 0 0 July - - 25 - - 575 0 0 August - - 6 - - 125 0 0

September - - 17 - - 360 0 0 October - - 37 - - 872 0 0 November - 34 - - 925 0 0 December - 27 . - 575 0 0 330 £ 7732 0 0

Ar00205

TMFORTANT NOTICE . —Confidential Advice free per post to all JL in weak and failing health , with loss of strength and vitality . Fifty years experience in Nervous Ailraonts . Address , Tho Secretary , 3 Fitzallan Square Sheffield , form of Correspondence Free . Write to-day . CO years csperiencn ' AH Uisoascs arising from impurity of tho blood absolutely cured .

Royal Masonic Rite.

ROYAL MASONIC RITE .

A BRIEF SKETCH OF ITS HISTORY .

A CCORDING to traditional and documentary evidenco JLX in po .-. sess on of tho Union Sovereign Sanctuary of i ' : > Royal Masonic Bite , Masonry had its origin in Egypt . \]> , ' -: v \' ent Masonry > s entirely Egyptian . All who take r ' ' . o Hghe : dogrrps hrive convincing proof that many

eeniv . ' . ' ur . b :-f -vo Chmt E ~ vpt practised Masonic , wotk . Men ol' Tyro received their education by initiation into Egyptian Masonry . Hiram OL Tyro gavo Solomon , King of Israel , authority to establish and work the lower degrees . Masonic

degrees were worked by tho Colleges of Builders at Rome 715 B . C ., and Masonry in Great Britain was derived from these Colleges . In A . D . 926 , King Atholstnne gave to British Masons a Constitution , now called the Charter of York , authorising the working and conferring of tho lower

or symbolic degrees . Edward III . revised this Constitution in A . D . 1850 . In A . D . 1314 , Robert Bruce , King of Scotland , gavo Masons tho right to work certain degrees , and in 1 GS 5 tho Knights of Sfc . Andrew were worked by authority claiming to have been derived from James Third , King of

Scotland . In 1754 , twenty-five degrees , under tho name of Tho Rite of Strict Observance , wero worked at Paris , France , by Jesuit priests . In 1758 , twenty-five degrees , under tho namo of tho Emporors of the East and West , were worked at Lyons , Prance , by Jesuit priests . Iu

1780 , twenty-five degrees , under the tifclo of a Consistory of Princes of tbo Royal Secret Rite of Perfection , were worked at Bordeaux , France , by questionable authority .

It is claimed that from theso twonfcy-five degrees the socalled Scottish Rito of thirty-three degrees was arranged at Charleston , S . C ., in 1801 , but by what authority no one has ever been able to ascertain . It is a well-known fact

that philosophers , king 3 , and priests , prior to I 7 o 0 , wero generally instructed in Egyptian Masonry ( Egyptian Mysteries ) ; therefore , it will be seen how easy it was for

this class of men to establish now Rites from the old mysteries . But all Masonic degrees came , directly or indirectly , from Egypt , and the 96 degrees of the Royal Masonic Rite include all ancient Masonic work . Tho most

direct transmission of the ontire 96 degrees of Masonry from Egypt to Europe occurred about 1766 , after which , for several years , a portion of the degrees wero worked under different names iu various countries . The first recorded work by Egyptian Rito Masons of high degree in the

U . S . A . wa-s the establishment of Providence Royal Arch Chapter , No . ] , at Providence , R . I ., in 1793 , Thomas W . Morso 28 degree , Peleg Clarke 28 degree , aud Moses Seixas 45 dormer , Deonty Inspector-Genera ] of all Masonry in

Rhode Island , officiating . Theso facts aro now to bo seen on tho Records of Providence Chapter . Ninety degrees , under the name of Rite Mizraira , were established under a self-constituted Grand Body , at Milan , Italy , in 1806 . Tho decrees of this so-called Rite were introduced into the

United States in 1862 . Ninety-six degrees , under the namo of " The Egyptian Masonic Rite of Memphis , " were established at Montauban , France , under a self-constituted Grand Body , iu 1814 . This Sovereign Sanctuary was transferred to Paris in 1838 , and established the first body of tho Rito

in the United States in 1856 . In 1865 a few of the members in New York claimed to have reduced the degrees of the Rite of Memphis to 33 degrees , under the name of the Ancient and Primitive Rite , in consequence of which differences arose , and , in addition , three Sovereign Sanctuaries

of the 96 degree were finally organised in the United States—two of these united in 1883 . In 1884 , a careful organise anew , by a convention which was held in Boston , 8 th Dec . 1884 , in response to a summons , properly prepared and mailed to every person known to have received the 30 ,

33 , 90 , 95 or 96 degree of these respective Rites or bodies . At this convention all working bodies in tho United States were represented ; 1 , 007 members were present , representing twenty-four States of the Union , and since the convention nearly all the working bodies have ratified its action .

It was unanimously voted that the proposed union was very desirable ; that the first 3 degrees ( Craft Masonry ) be left to its control , aud thorough investigation made concerning the oriyin of the charters of these different Sanctuaries ,

and it was thought best to the Craft Lodges and Craft Grand Lodges , and that , as representatives of all tho working bodies in the U . S . of the three Rites , they ignore all former Charters , and constitute and proclaim themselves the Union Sovereign Sanctuary of the Royal Masonic Rite ,