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Now Ready . In Cloth , Red Edges . Price 2 s . 6 d . MASONIC PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY , Giving the Pronunciation and Definition of every word susceptible of a mispronunciation , used in the work of Initiation , Installation , Consecration , and Funeral Service , in the Craft Lodge , Chapter , Council , Commandery , and the Supreme Council , in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite , by REV . JAY A . FORD , Past Master , and Masonic Lecturer , and Prelate of Battle Creek Commandery , No . 33 , Knights Templar . LONDON : GEORGE KENNING , 16 & 16 a Great Queen-street , W . C .

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/ CRITERION RESTAURANT . EAST ROOM , DINNERS AND SUPPERS A LA CARTE . WEST ROOM , From 12 to 3 . ACADEMY LUNCHEON AT Us . Od . PER HEAV . LE DINER PARISlEN /' s-s . ; SUPPER , 4 s . INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC . GRAND HALL , HE POPULAR 3 s . 6 d . DINNER Is served at Separate Tables , 0 to y p . m ., During which the Celebrated "SPIERPON" ORCHESTRA . Will Perform .

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PARTRIDGE & COOPER , " THE " STA TIONERS , 191 & 192 , FLEET STREET , LONDON , Would invite attention to their LARGE AND WELL-SELECTED STOCK OF GENERAL & FANCY STATIONERY , Suttable for presents , such as Inkstands , Stationery , Cabinets , Ladies' and Gentlemen ' s Dressing Bags , Travelling and Brief Bags , & c , all of which are enumerated in their New Illustrated Catalogue , sent free on application .

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'^^Smas^gj SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER I , 1894 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

Not the least prosperous among our Provinces is that of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , which a quarter of a century ago was formed of what till then had been thc separate Provinces of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and placed under the rule of Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P . In the course of those years it has doubled the number of its lodges , of which there are now 48 , with an aggregate membership , according to

Masonic Notes.

the most recent returns , of 3378 brethren , giving an average of over 70 members per lodge . Moreover as regards funds , it is in a position to contribute largely to the support of our Charitable Institutions , the amount distributed amongst them during the past year being 250 guineas , while out of its own Charity Fund in to

it has dispensed ^ 114 grants widows and distressed brethren . It has , moreover , an Educational Fund , which was established a few years since , and in the maintenance of which a considerable sum is raised annually . These are the outward and visible signs of the prosperity of which this Province has enjoyed so

large a measure under Bro . Beach's rule , while the excellent working of the lodges and the harmony which prevails among them , though less familiarly known to the Craft generally , are equally clear evidence of the same fact . Indeed , Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is subject to the rule of one of the

most distinguished and popular Masons of our time , who is assisted in his labours by brethren of exceptional energy and ability , and its prosperity , though not to be wondered at under such circumstances , is none the less a subject for hearty congratulation . » * *

It is greatly to be regretted that measures could not have been taken at the time to prevent the erasure from the roll of Grand Lodge of the old lodge established at the East India Arms , Gosport , in 1724 , and was , as was pointed out at the recent annual meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

at Gosport , the cradle of Freemasonry in Hampshire . This lodge , according to Bro . Lane's " Masonic Records , " was numbered at the outset 35 . In 1736 it removed to Portsmouth , and became at the successive re-numbering of the lodges up to the date of the Union —in 1 740 , No . 31 ; in 1755 , No . 21 ; in 1770 , No . 20 ;

in 1780 and 1781 . N 0 . 18 ; and in 1792 , No . 17 . Afier the Union of the rival Societies in 1813 , it became No . 28 ; and in 1832 , No . 26 . It 1773 , during its career as a " Modern " lodge , it was erased from the list , but was reinstated the following year . In 1788 it took unto itself the name of the " Lodge of Antiquity , " and by

that title it continued to be known till its final erasure in 1838 . It was the mother lodge of Bro . Thomas Dunckerley , who was initiated in it in 1754 , and is frequently referred to by Bro . Sadler in his memoir of that distinguished * Mason . That a ' lodge which had existed for 114 years should have been allowed to die

out for want of a little help in the way of membership is not very creditable . Probably the fact is to be accounted for by the very general apathy which prevailed in official quarters during the closing years of the lodge ' s existence . Had there been Masons in

Hampshire and at head-quarters such as Bro . Beach , the late Bro . Canon Portal , and others , who , some years later , preserved the Westminster and Keystone Lodge from extinction , it is by no means unlikely that this old Lodgeof Antiquity might still have been on the roll of lodges .

# # # One of the most objectionable of the innovations which have Sound their way into the practice of Freemasonry in some few of the jurisdictions in the United States is the use of " robes , trappings , and other paraphernalia , " when conferring Degrees , and we are glad

to hear that the Illinois Freemason has set its face against it . We fully agree with our worthy contemporary , that the tendency of such practice is " very questionable , if not even dangerous to the best interests of the Craft and subversive of the teachings of Masonry . " What is needed is purity and simplicity of work , not theatrical representations .

In May last the Mary Washington Monument at Fredericksburg , Virginia , was solemnly dedicated with Masonic ceremonial by Bro . Mann Page , M . W . G . M . of the Grand Lodge of Virginia , who in the discharge of his duties was very ably assisted by his Grand Officers . There was a large concourse of spectators to

witness the imposing ceremony , among the most prominent personages present being the President of the United States and the Governor of the State , the former of whom , at the banquet which followed , made a very felicitous speech , in the course of which hc expressed his great regret that he was not a member of the Fraternity .

# # * Bro . John M . Ormsby , Grand Master of Arizona , in reference to the paucity of members attending lodge meetings , considers the oflicers of a lodge are primarily

to blame . He considers it is their duty to be early in attendance in order that they may see that everything is in order and to give a cordial welcome to any visitors who may be present , and introduce them to the members . He is opposed to the use of lodge funds fo r

Masonic Notes.

other than lodge purposes and Charity , but he considers a fund mig ht be raised with which to provide light refreshments for those present and promote sociability amongst them . It would be well if Bro . Ormsby's

advice were followed . One of the principal aims of Freemasonry is to promote goodfellowship , but how can this be done , if members and visitors depart to their homes without having enjoyed the opportunity of friendly speech ?

# # * "The Masonic Visitor" for August shows uimistakeable signs of vitality , and if the Freemasons of our sister isle respond as they should do to the efforts

of its promoters , its success is assured . The number for August contains an excellent portrait of the M . W . Grand Master , his Grace the Duke of Abercorn , and of the 20 pages of which the " The Visitor" is made up , every one is of interest to the Irish Mason .

# # # The Editor inserts amongst the odd corners of inevitable padding the following little joke : " At a card party one evening , the game went so provokingly against one of the company that he lost patience , and said -. ' Were it not that ladies are present , I should be

tempted to use some very strong epitaphs . ' This sally provoked a burst of laughter at his expense , and he good humouredly rejoined : ' I know very well what you are laughing at ; it was only a pennie lingua *; . I should have said epiteth . ' In spite of himself he could not get epithet , and in trying to

express his meaning , he had jumbled the two terms ' lapsus penna ; , ' and ' lapsus lingua :. ' " Although this bit of humour is hardly of sufficient merit for reproduction , curiously enough it serves to " point a moral " in connection with an explanation in which the Editor very gracefully corrects an error into which he had fallen as to the age of the Freemason . The paragraph in

question concludes : " We desire to make this erratum , as knowing that antiquity is always of value among Masons , we willingly give the honour where due , namely , to the Freemason—the oldest and largest Craft publication in England—which has lived a vigorous existence since 13 th March , 1869 . " Weare sure our worthy confrere will forgive us for asking whether he , too , has not perpetrated a " lapsus penna ; ?"

* * * The Daily Graphic of the 28 th inst . contains an interesting account , with illustrations , of the old Hostelry in St . Paul's Churchyard , the "Goose and Gridiron , " which is about to be demolished to make room for modern improvements . That the old house

possesses a history and has many Masonic associations is certain , but we regret , in the interest of historic truth , to find that the more thin doubtful legend that" at this house Sir Christopher Wren , during the rebuilding of St . Paul's Cathedral , presided for over 18 years over St . Paul ' s Lodge of Freemasons , " should

have been re-stated in the columns of our contemporary . Bro . Gould in his great " History of Freemasonry" deals most exhaustively with this subject , and the conclusion at which he arrives , both as to the alleged Grand Mastership of Wren , and of his connection at all with the Fraternity is shown by the following extracts -.

" The fable of Wren ' s Grand Mastership 1 shall not further discuss , except incidentally and in connection with Preston , it being sufficiently apparent—as tradition can never be alleged for an absolute impossibility —that he could not have enjoyed in the seventeenth century a title which was only created in the second decade of the eighteenth ( 1717 ) . "

" The popular belief that Wren was a Freemason , though hitherto unchallenged and supported by a great weight of authority is , in my judgment , unsustained by any basis of well attested fact . The admission of the great architect—at any period of his life—into the Masonic Fraternity , seems to me a mere figment of the imagination , but it may at least be confidently asserted that it cannot be proved to be a reality . "

PRESENTATION . —Bro . J . O . Widger , Inter . B . A ., Cornish Lodge , No . 2369 , and Pattison Lodge , No . 013 , has bcen presented with a handsome marble clock by the teachers and scholars of Purrett-road Board School , Plumstead , S . E ., on his promotion to the head mastership of Conway-road , Board School , Plumstead , S . E . ( London

School Board ) . Mr . Passmore Edwards' public engagements during the next two months promise to be very numerous . On Friday , Gth inst ., he will lay the foundation-stone of a Free Library at Redruth , Cornwall ; on Saturday , 29 th inst ., he will open the Free Library , VValthamstow ; on Saturday ,

Gth prox ., he will , with the Lord Mayor , lay the foundationstone of the Caxton Convalescent Home , near the site of the Charing-cross Convalescent Home , Limpslield , Surrey ; and a few days afterwards he will open the new Public Library at Barking . That event will be almost immediately followed by the inauguration oi the Colony lor Epileptics in Buckingham shire .