Church Services.

her ideal—she had let prudence direct her , temperance chasten her , fortitude support her , and justice be the guide of all her actions , and so had bound to her the heart of the people . The people had also their part to act . Look back not sixty years , but 600 , when the English Parliament , newly constituted two years before , first asserted its rights . From that time

English monarchy and English freedom had grown hand in hand . Therefore it was England ' s life had been so little overturned and her monarchy so secure . How many other Kings could boast a Eoyal ancestry of 1 , 400 years ? In 493 the Saxon Cerdic came to Britain , after the fall of the fortress of Anderida had established the kingdom of the West Saxons , and Cerdic

was made king of the West Saxons . Of that Cerdic our own Queen was the direct representative . Sir Henry Maine writes , " Our own Queen Victoria has in her veins the blood of Cerdic of Wessex , the fierce Teuton chief , out of whose dignity English kingships grew . " But the ideal of kingship had grown indeed from the fierce autocratic chief to the Queen , who had learned

the lesson familiar to us that the Crown should ever remind her that to reign in the hearts and affections of men was more gratifying to a generous mind than to rule over their lives and fortunes . Yes , in God ' s providence both King and people had had a long and happy education in this realm of England , and in this education Masonry claimed to have had no small part .

They looked back on a Eoyal line of 1 , 400 years . But if historians were to be believed the first Masonic Lodge in Great Britian was founded two centuries earlier still by St . Alban . At any rate , King Athelstan granted a charter in 926 . Assemblies were prohibited in 1425 , but 25 years later Henry VI . was initiated , King after King being subsequently

admitted" Brother joining hand with Brother —till 30 years ago Albert Edward Prince of Wales was added to Eoyal members of the Brotherhood . And how had they helped ? By no mere formal bond of union , but by practising those great -virtues of Brotherly love , relief of the distressed and zeal for truth , which were the soul of Masonry . ' Might they ever continue so . Might those

badges of heavenly blue which they wore that day , in the sight of God and man , remind them of that charity and universal beneficence which in the heart of a Mason should be as pure and extensive as the blue arch of heaven itself . That day they were asked to give , by their offerings for the Masonic charities ,

a practical expression to the feeling of their hearts . Even to those outside , the great Masonic charities must be more or less familiar . Finally let them once more give all honour and thanks to God for the long and happy reign of that noble and gracious Queen who , in the kindliness of her true English heart , added by

grace from the Most High , had ever shown herself so full of

Brotherly love , so keen to relieve the distressed , and so zealous in the defence of truth and justice . Long might God spare her to them . — " Eastbourne Chronicle . "

Scottish Notes.

SCOTTISH NOTES .

THE representatives of the Lodges in Scotland decided with no uncertain sound at the meeting of Grand Lodge on Thursday last that there is no wish , and certainly no need , to tinker with the law which requires an interval of two weeks between each of the three degrees . By a motion of which notice had been given it was sought to give power to Provincial Grand

Masters and District Grand Masters to " grant a dispensation under which a candidate may have the degrees conferred at intervals of not less than one week . " The motion was persuasively presented , and every art in eloquence used by the mover and seconder to influence the minds of the members of Grand

Lodge to see eye to eye with them . Of course , every proposal has a certain following , and it was not to be thought that a proposal to go back to a system , even in part , which was so reluctantly relinquished only eighteen months ago , would be

without supporters . Yet it is gratifying to reflect that of the total vote on the subject last Thursday only a sixth were in favour of giving power to the representatives of Grand Lodge in the various Provinces to relax the rule now harmoniously followed throughout Scotland .

An instance of how careful the Officers of Lodges should be in making periodical inquiries into the condition of those in receipt of annuities has come under my notice within the last few days . The supposed recipient having become an inmate of a parochial establishment could no longer receive the annuity in

person , and by some loose arrangement the money has been paid to a relative . There is no saying how long this might have gone on had this relative not incautiously boasted of how he disposed

of the money . Certainly the Lodge was not likely to trouble itself in the matter , though it should have been the first to find out and to report the circumstance to Grand Lodge . The need pf a careful scrutiny in every case is obvious when it is

Scottish Notes.

remembered that at the last meeting of the Annuity Board only seventeen grants could be made , though there were forty-nine applications , leaving thirty-two applicants unprovided for till next year .

The M . W . Grand Master Brother Lord Saltoun is of opinion that , above all others , Bro . Murray Lyon Grand Secretary is the person who should be credited with the great change which has been wrought in Grand Lodge during the last twenty years . — " The Mallet , " in " Glasgow Evening News . "

Durham.

DURHAM .

THE regular communication of the Provincial Grand Lodge is fixed for Tuesday , 28 th September , at the Borough Hall , Stockton , the meeting being arranged under the banner of the Fraternity Lodge .

The annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall , to which we referred last week , is now arranged for Tuesday , 31 st inst ., at Liskeard . o o o The members of the Stockton Lodge presented Bro . E .

Tinkler Secretary with a handsome testimonial on the occasion of his marriage . The gift consisted of a very handsome marble timepiece and two bronzes . Bro . W . J . Watson , Town Clerk of Thornaby , made the presentation on behalf of the subscribers , and Bro . Tinkler made a suitable response .

Freemasonry may prove an uniting force in India between the races , says the " Indian Mirror . " Lord Sandhurst , at a meeting of Freemasons at Bombay the other day , said , " I am

glad to remark that here on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the reign of our beloved Queen-Empress , we meet in fraternity and unity—Mussulmans , Hindoos , Parsis , and Christians , cemented by the Craft , to which we are devoted . "

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