Templar Masonry.

TEMPLAR MASONRY .

THE Grand Priory of East Anglia was held at Norwich , on Thursday of last week , when the

Grand Prior presided , and was supported by the

Preceptories stationed at that city , at Cambridge , Ipswich , Lincoln , and Great Yarmouth .

Royal Arch.

ROYAL ARCH .

BLAIR CHAPTER , No . 815 .

THE Annual meeting and Installation in connection with this Chapter took place at the Hulme Town Hall , Manchester , on Tuesday , tho 27 th ult . After the ordinary business had been concluded , the following were duly presented by Companions Col . H . L . RoccaP . Z . P . P . S . N . Dir . ol Ceremonies , viz ., Comps . F . G . Berry as First Principal , J . W . White as Second Principal , and J . W . Atkinson as Third Principal .

The ceremony was most ably performed throughout by Comp . Major W . H . Hopkins P . Z . P . P . G . DC , the requisite portions of the Holy Scriptures being admirably rendered by Comp . William Harris S . E . P . Z . P . G . S . B .

Comp . Hopkins also invested the following Officers , viz ., Comps . Rocca S . E ., R . W . Atkinson Principal Soj ., H . H . Ward 1 st Asst . Soj ., and W . H . Flower Janitor . Addresses having been given by Comp . Hopkins , the ceremony

of Installation was completed , and tho Companions adjourned to dinner , which in turn was succeeded by the usual festive board , when Loyal and Royal Arch toasts were submitted and regularly responded to .

Mark Masonry.

MARK MASONRY .

ROBINSON LODGE , No . 255 .

THE regular meeting was hold at the Masonic Hall , Maidstone , on Tuesday , 27 th ult . After the business had been transacted , the Brethren adjourned to the Mitre Hotel , where a banquet was given by the Worshipful Master , Past Masters , and Brethren of the Lodge in honour of their Senior Warden , Bro . G . F . Baker P . M ., on his election as Mayor of Maidstone .

After the usual Loyal and Masonic toasts had been honoured , Bro . Geo . Ker P . M . proposed the health of the guest of the evening , the Mayor of Maidstone , Bro . G . F . Baker P . M ., alluding to the fact that Bro . Baker had been twenty years a Mason , and was the first initiate in the Robinson Mark Lodge .

Bro . F . G . Baker responded , and thanked the Brethren warmly for the great honour they had done him , in inviting him to be their guest . Much as he valued the confidence of his fellow townsmen , who had placed him in the civic chair , he esteemed in a

still higher degree the Brotherly and Masonic feeling that had prompted them to do him this honour , and he would endeavour to carry out the duties the town had entrusted him with , in the spirit of the three grand principles of Freemasonry—" Brotherly love , Relief , and Truth . "

The younger members of the police force in our midst have not , it seems , yet got their grievances disposed of . The question of promotion is still causing

jealousy and disappointment ; and , as usual , favouritism having its foundation in Freemasonry is still the culprit . A correspondent writes to us to-day , pointing out that while the attention which has been directed to this

subject has , in general , produced some satisfactory results , the promotions are not of the class that give satisfaction . — " Irish Times . "

The Brethren of Penzance have fixed Friday , 18 th

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January , for their annual ball in St . John ' s Hall , in aid of the Cornish Masonic Charities . This is always a popular engagement , says the " Western Morning News , " and will doubtless draw , as in previous years , a large

number of Masonic Brethren and their friends o o o

The Marquess of Zetland Provincial Grand Master North aud East Yorkshire will , on the 30 th of January , conduct the opening ceremony and laying of the last stone , with Masonic honours , of the Missions to Seamen Institute at Middlesbrough .

Devon Educational Fund Concert.

DEVON EDUCATIONAL FUND CONCERT .

BOTH as regards patronage and musical excellence , the third concert in aid of the Devon Masonio Educational Fuud , in the Plymouth Guildhall on the 28 th ult ., was an unexampled success and extremely satisfactory . The Guildhall was completely full , and although the audience appeared a trifle unenthusiastic for

Plymouth , that was probably mainly due to the length of

the programme . Chief interest centered in the re-appearance of Bro . W . Willoughby ' s charming chorus of 100 childrens ' voices , girls and boys , mostly girls , decked out in the prettiest of costumes , and evidencing very strongly the

excellence of the training to which Bro . Willoughby had subjected them . Bro . Willoughby , who arranged and conducted the concert , composed specially for them and the occasion , a vocal waltz aud a vocal polka . Both

were rendered charmingly , and the polka , " The toy band , " introducing very effectively a variety of instruments commonly supposed to be the reverse of musical , was as novel as it was engaging .

Considerable benefit to the Fund may confidently be expected to be derive ;! from the proceeds of the concert , which was held under the banner of Lodge Fidelity , Devonport . There are at present twenty children being

supported from the Fund , at an annual expenditure of over £ 300 . Beyond the source of income aceuring from these annual concerts the Fund is entirely maintained by the voluntary contributions of the Brethren . — " Western Morning News . "

The Continuity Of The Craft.

THE CONTINUITY OF THE CRAFT .

BRO . W . J . Hughan delivered a lecture on Wednesday , 21 st ult ., at Exeter , before a large gathering ol Freemasons from all parts of the county , many being from Torquay , on " The Cathedral Builders in relation to the Old Charges of the British Freemasons and the continuity of the Craft under the operative and speculative era of the Fraternity . "

Bro . Huguan remarked , at the outset , that the St . John ' s Lodge , No . 39 , under the banner of which they had assembled , was fortunate in possessing the oldest original Warrant of Constitution in England , dating from 1732 . The continuity of Freemasonry beyond the

beginning of the last century had been denied . It was that fact which led him to enter upon his researches some thirty yeais ago . There was no doubt that , originally , candidates were entrusted with a copy of the Old Charges ,

of which he had several fac-similies . When he commenced his researches there were only twelve know manuscripts containing the Old Charges ; now there were about sixty . Up to the beginning of the past century Freemasonry in England was Christian , but now it was cosmopolitan .

That was clearly proved by the Old Charges , which

contained invocations to the Trinity and numerous Biblical references . It probably arose from the fact that Masons were associated with religious teaching in consequence of their being the builders of the old cathedrals . In that way their continuity could be proved

during the past five centuries . They had particulars in the records of 1350 which were preserved at York Minster . At that time Freemasons practically possessed a monopoly , and no one had the power to act as an operative Mason without belonging to a Lodge .

Freemasonry as they had it at the present time , and as it had existed during the past five centuries , was English in origin . Records even went back so far as 500 years . He suggested that some of the Old Charges should be read in open Lodge . They showed

that their society was ancient as well as honourable . It had been suggested that the prefix Free had its origin in Free-stone Masons , although some preferred Free Stonemasons . In that connection they had Free Sewers in Exeter in the fifteenth century , as well as the various

Freemen in connection with the London and other guilds . Although they had not the records of those times , they had tne marks of the Masons in the old cathedrals , particularly in the crypts , and all the principal buildings all over the world . The Masons' Company in London had records of both operative and speculative Freemasons