Our Grand Master's Accident.

OUR GRAND MASTER'S ACCIDENT .

THE Masonic sentiment—Loyalty to the throne , devotion to the best interests of the Craft—has seldom had a better opportunity of asserting itself than has , most unfortunately under the circumstances , occurred during the last few days , when the accident

to our Royal Grand Master has not only called forth a hearty outburst of loyalty from the people of the British empire towards the heir to the throne , but has

led to a display of Masonic sympathy which , probably , has never been equalled in connection with a Grand Master of our ancient Order .

Particulars of the mishap which befel the Prince of Wales on Monday , when he was the guest of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild , M . P ., at Waddesdon Manor , Bucks ., are too well known to our readers to need

recapitulation here , the injury to the knee cap is unfortunately of so serious a character as to occasion real alarm as to the ultimate results , it being freely hinted that the Prince may remain permanently lame

as a consequence , but we hope for the best , and trust that our Grand Master may be wholly restored to health , and then live for many years to enjoy the love

and esteem of the people of the British nation and his fellow members of the Masonic Order , and , as has been so strongly manifested during the week , the respect of every other country in the universe .

Masonic Progress In Scotland.

MASONIC PROGRESS IN SCOTLAND .

f ) ROBABLY in no corner of the world has more * genuine progress been made in Freemasonry during recent years , than in that part of the British Isles situate north of the Tweed . On more than one

occasion we have been pleased to avail ourselves of the opportunity of bearing testimony to this progress , just as we have , from time to time , felt it desirable to criticise some of the acts of our Scottish Brethren ;

but we can look around now and commend them for much that has been done in the way of improvement , and also congratulate them on the spirit , that

is manifest on every side , which seems to urge them to . seek for further improvements , and never leave a discovered evil until it is remedied , and the matter put upon a firm and substantial basis .

The way in which our Scottish Brethren have advanced in the matter of Masonic Benevolence is , perhaps , the most marked feature in the improvement —it is , indeed , almost marvellous what has been

accomplished in this direction—and with even so brilliant a record there is a strong and ever growing desire to do more . On the occasion of a public assembly , some short time back , at which the Grand

Master of Scotland delivered an address , Lord Saltoun said there was one thing he had very much at heart . He had not then spoken about it in Grand Lodge , but he trusted he might live to see it accomplished . It

Masonic Progress In Scotland.

would not come in his time , he said , but he trusted that those who succeeded him in the Office of Grand Master would bear it in mind and carry it out to a successful issue . Of course it was a fact that in

Scotland they had not the wealth that their Brethren in England had , and therefore there were great difficulties to contend with , but what he hoped to see established was a School for orphans—boys and girls

who were orphans of deserving Masons , and he really thought that in a short time they should make a great effort to realise such a scheme . This wish of the Grand Master of Scotland is

one that will be hailed with delight in many quarters , and we hope he may not only live to see it fully realised , but also live long enough to take part in its working

for many years . While it is true that Scotland has not the wealth of England we believe it will be found the Scots have warm sympathy for the orphans .

From a report given last week it will be seen that Lord Suffield has decided to resign his position as Provincial Grand Master of Norfolk , not , as he happily observed , on account of ill-health , but because he thinks that after his twenty-eigth years occupancy of the position a change of ruler would be

beneficial . Knowing Lord Sumeld ' s interest in Freemasonry , and the love that is shown towards him by the Brethren of his county , we hardly imagine his retirement is desireable in the interests of the Craft , but happily he has a worthy

successor , in the person of Bro . Hamon le Strange , who has long discharged the duties of Deputy Provincial Grand Master , and has been honoured by the Grand Master with the superior appointment , in succession to Lord Suffield . We trust both Lord Suffield and the new Provincial Matter

of Norfolk may each live for many years , to watch the progress of the Order in the eastern county with which they are so intimately associated .

Freemasonry In The Philippines.

FREEMASONRY IN THE PHILIPPINES .

ri ^ HE " Siglo Futuro " ascribes the native revolution in the I Philippines to Freemasonry . The statement has seemed quaint , but it has the merit of being exact . At Cavite there is—or was—a Lodge known as the Primera Luz—the first Light . Affiliated branches are encounterable throughout the

archipelago . In all there are nearly two hundred . Each branch is a revolutionary centre . In earlier days the fragmentary state in which the tribes subsisted precluded any idea of national unity . The solidarity which was lacking Freemasonry brought . To the natives the rites represented a form of sorcery fresher and even more mysterious than ancestral superstitions . The

enthralment of the unknown , attractive to all , but irresistible to primitive natures , captured the most influential among them at once . They found in the Brotherhood dignities which they craved , ceremonies which appealed , and therewith uniiiiagmed opportunities tu rebel . In her three hundred years of dominion Spain failed to touch the native heart . There is one of her

oveisights . Where she has not massacred she has alienated . She repels and never endears . As a consequence , when it was found that Freemasonry , in addition to other charms , offered opportunities at table-turning , the latter were not suffered to go to waste . Once introduced—and introduced throught processes

too complex lor recital here—it spread , and , in spreading , developed into a vast association known to-day as the katibuan , which in some respects presents a curious resemblance to the Ku-Klux Klan , and of which the watchword is " Hasta la muerte , " and the signiiiance , " Hatred of Spain . "— " Globe . "