The Police And Masonic Meetings.

Craft of Freemasonry might well add tho weight of its support to what is being done by other Societies , which are very similarly circumstanced , in this direction . Moral encouragement might be given , without any loss of dignity , but we

suppose the law had so seldom been put in force that the matter may be dismissed for the time being as unworthy of serious consideration at the hands of the Craft . If ever it

becomes a common practice for the police to exercise their power and enter our Lodge rooms at most inconvenient times we suppose such action will be taken as may then appear best .

Royalty And The Craft.

ROYALTY AND THE CRAFT .

THE Welsh Masonic paper , the " Craftsman , " has heard from a trustworthy source , and publishes the statement in its February issue , that His Eoyal Highness the Duke of York

is to be initiated into the mysteries of Freemasonry during the present year . Eumours of a like character have been so frequently circulated that we look upon the announcement as belonging to the very hardy " big gooseberry " crop , still there is no reason why the Duke of York should not become a Freemason , rather , on the contrary , many reasons why he should , and we believe

his admission into the ranks of the Craft would be generally hailed with an outburst of loyal enthusiasm , although such an initiation—to be in keeping with similar events in the pastwould be arranged and carried through in a quiet dignified manner , without any fuss or excess of ceremony such as many among us would like to witness .

The Indian Famine Fund.

THE INDIAN FAMINE FUND .

IT is stated that , at the instance of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales Grand Master , a vote of one thousand guineas in aid of the Indian Famine Relief Fund will be proposed at the next meeting of Grand Lodge , to be held on Wednesday , 3 rd March .

The Grand Lodge of Scotland is also proposing to aid the Fund , the suggestion there being to make a donation of £ 100 , a course that has the heartiest approval of the Senior Grand Warden the Earl of Rosslyn , who , on the occasion of a recent

official " visitation , " when he presided in place of the Grand Master of Scotland , who was snowed up at Fraserburgh , urged the Brethren of the country to give the movement their warmest support . The Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow has already voted £ 25 for the help of their Indian fellow subjects .

Cornwall Benevolence.

CORNWALL BENEVOLENCE .

THE annual financial report of the Cornwall Masonic Annuity and Benevolent Fund has been issued , and is a most encouraging and satisfactory publication . The invested capital is now £ 5 , 591 , producing an annual income of £ 241 . Since the start of this most useful society , in 1864 , the large sum of £ 10 , 689 has been received . The expenses of management

during the last thirty-two years have been £ 446 19 s lid , or only about £ 14 per annum , the economical management of the fund being a feature of the good work achieved by the Officers and the Committee . There are at present four male annuitants

receiving together the sum of £ 60 per annum , seven female annuitants with a total of £ 105 per annum , and eleven educational grants amounting to £ 310 per annum . — " Western Morning News . "

Papal Toleration.

PAPAL TOLERATION .

FROM a Masonic point of view we are probably wrong in allowing the insertion of the following comments , but the writer is a well known member of tbe Fraternity , and desires to offer his protest in our pages , which have lately afforded many instances of the lack of toleration on the part of Roman Catholics towards the Masonic Brotherhood . The remarks here given go far to prove it is not Freemasonry alone fchat calls forth the uncharitable interference of the Eomish Church .

THE writei- of this paragraph was some years ago actively connected with various Friendly Societies , and often attended Sunday services promoted in the cause of charity . He noticed that on these occasions several prominent members who belonged to the Bomish Church , although they joined in the processions , and parnd ° d the streets in company witb tho Brethren , invariably absented themselves from the service itself . Not being able to assign a

Papal Toleration.

sufficient reason for this abstention , lie made enquiries , and was emphatically told by a respected connection of a very old Catholic family , that the members of his Church were taught and expressly forbidden to enter the precincts of a building which was devoted to any religion other than their own . The writer has long hesitated to believe that such intolerance and bigotry could be formulated by any religious body , but what can he now think in face of the following paragraph , which went the rounds of the newspapers bearing date 1 st February ?

CORK CORPORATION AND A PROTESTANT BISHOP . The Mayor and other Catholic members of the Cork Corporation having accepted the invitation to attend the ceremony of consecration of the Protestant Bishop of Killaloe to-morrow , the Catholic Dean M'Swiney writes : — - ' I feel I would be wanting in my duty if , in the Bishop ' s absence , I did not draw the attention of those gentlemen and of Catholic people at large , to the grave sinfulness of such an action , forbidden as it is under special penalties by divine and ecclesiastical laws . "

Surely Dean M'Swmey does not represent the intelligent portion of the Roman Catholic community , and we anxiously wait for some denial of the above newspaper statement , or at least a modification of the same .

DEVON AND CORNWALL FREEMASONS' HALL AND CLUB Co . BRO- J . R . Lord , chairman of the Directors of the Devon and Cornwall Freemasons' Hall and Club Company , Limited , presided , on the 29 th ult ., over tho shareholders annual meeting at Plymouth . There were also present the following directors - . —Bros . J . B . Gover , William Allsford , D : Cross , J . W . Cornish , John Goad , J . Wallis , and R . Cawsey . The Chairman presented the report , which was adopted . It showed that 1896 had proved a successful year ' s working . It was estimated that the recent action taken by the Inland Revenue would prove a great advantage

to the company , by giving every member a voice in the management . A dividend of three per cent , on Preference Shares and four per cent , on Ordinary Shares was agreed upon . It was pointed out that a recent change had been made in the Steward and Stewardess of the club , in consequence of the impaired health of Mrs . Harvey . In Bro . and Mrs . Batchelor the Directors were of opinion that they had a Steward and Stewardess who would maintain the status the Club had achieved under Bro . and Mrs . Harvey ' s management .

Bros . Wallis , Lord , and Littleton , the retiring Directors , offered themselves for re-election , and were unanimously replaced upon the directorate . Bro . T . Gibbons was also re-elected auditor . It is hoped that members of the Order , who have not yet taken a pecuniary interest in the club , will do so promptly , says the " Western Mercury , " and thus relieve the Directors of mortgage on the building . With greater scope it is estimated that a much larger advantage would accrue to the Club Company . Votes of thanks to the Directors , Auditors , Secretary , Steward and Stewardess , and the general staff closed the proceedings .

Writing in his Masonic column in the " Glasgow Evening News , " our contemporary "The Mallet" says : — "The Lodges in Edinburgh have been exemplary in the observance of the new law dealing with the interval to be observed between degrees . Whilst it was common to give two and even three degrees on

one night , nofc a single case of such practice has been noted by the Visitation Committee during the past year . " We should like to know that this rule had been observed , not only in Edinburgh , but in all Lodges under the Scottish Constitution , as being more in keeping with the practice of Freemasonry in the present age .

The " Western Mail , " referring to the current number of the " Craftsman , " says it is the best number yet produced , being of general interest , and then adds : — " more than this no one can say of a paper devoted to Freemasons , who seem to load their literature with the nods and winks and chains of capital

letters which make their everyday conversation so mysterious . " When one remembers the string of initials that usually appear in an ordinary report of an important Masonic gathering it is easy to imagine that the loading of Masonic literature " with the nods and winks and chains of capital letters " is regarded as an absurdity by the ordinary outsider .

The Brethren of Scotland are taking steps to induce the Grand Master of their Constitution fco arrange for the presentation of a dutiful address to the Queen , congratulating Her Majesty on the completion of the sixtieth year of her reign .

"A Sprig Of Acacia."

" A SPRIG OF ACACIA . "

THE funeral of the late Bro . David Leyshon , of Pontypridd , took place on Saturday , 30 th ult ., at Glyntaff Cemetery . The procession was one of the most impressive ever seen in Pontypridd , and included representatives of the Freemasons , the Oddfellows , the Foresters , and many other bodies with which the deceased was associated .

THE death is announced of Brother Charles Harris , who had long taken a prominent part in the theatrical world of the metropolis . The deceased was the brother of the late Sir Augustus Harris P . G . Treas ., and was associated with him in many of his theatrical enterprises .