Contents.

CONTENTS .

R EADERS , 6 gy Another Masonic MS ; ., 6 5 8 Roll of Grand Masters of Ireland 6 g 8 United Grand Lodge of England 6 9 8 Provincial Grand Chapter of Essex 6 99 Provincial Grand Chapter of West Yorkshire ' ,.,, 6 99

Provincial Grand Chapter of Oxfordshire ... 700 Provincial Grand Lodge County Down , Ireland 700 Complimentary Dinner to Bro . J . L . Mather , P . A . G . D . C - 701 Order of the Secret Monitor -Jot The Poet Burns 701

Contents.

CORRESPONDENCEMasonic Calendar of Middlesex 704 Notes on the Ceremonial of Installation 704 Viiitors from Abroad 704 An Important Point 704 Notes and Queries 704 RSPORTS UF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masnnrv * 7 Q (

Instruction 708 Royal Arch 708 Instruction , 709 Mark Masonry ( 70 5 Knights Templar ' 70 g Masomc and General Tidings 710 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 711

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THE programme of * business lo be transacted at the Quarterly GrandLodge . Communication of United Grand Lodge on Wednesday next is , with the exception of one item , of the ordinary character . There will be the usual nominations for brethren to serve the offices of

Grand Master and Grand Treasurer respectivel y during the ensuing year and the Reports of the Boards of General Purposes and Benevolence will be submitted . The exceptional item , however , is likely to be awaited with considerable interest , as it is a communication from the GRAND MASTER

relating to the newly-constituted " United Grand Lodge of New South Wales , " and contains are commendation from his Royal Highness to the effect that the application from that body for recognition by the United Grand Lodge of England be favourably entertained . Our readers must be aware , from the articles and reports which have latterly appeared in our

columns , that an entire change has taken place during the last few months in the relations hitherto existing between the lod ges in New South Wales and the Grand Lodges of England and Scotland . Till recently the Grand Lodges held supreme authority over the lodges working in that Colony according to the English and Scotch systems respectively ,

while the body which styled itself the Grand Lodge of New South Wales and its subordinate lodges were till lately regarded by us here as clandestine . The visit of the PRO GRAND MASTER of EeVGLAND to Sydney in the course of his Australasian tour , and the inquiries made by him personally on the spot into the position of the Craft in

the Colony , resulted in steps being taken by the various Masonic bodies existing to establish an independent Grand Lodge of New South Wales , which should be composed of the English and Scotch lodgesor , at least , of as many of them as were favourable to the movementwhich had hitherto paid allegiance to their respective Grand Lodges here ,

and those of the New South Wales Constitution , among these last being the lodges originally of Irish Constitution . The negotiations to this end having proved successful , and Bro . Lord CARRINGTON , P . S . G . W . of England , having been formall y installed as Grand Master of the " United Grand Lodge of New Sonth Wales , " the GRAND MASTER will , on

Wednesday next , recommend that the status quo be accepted , and that the newl ycreated body be formally recognised by our Grand Lodge , with , we presume , the usual reservations in behalf of such lodges as may elect to remain in their old allegiance . Thus the GRAND MASTER ' communication , and its adoption by Grand Lodge , will complete the Union which has

been established in New South Wales by the installation of Bro . Lord CARRINGTON in September last ; and everyone must hope that the new era thus happily inaugurated in this prosperous Australasian Colony will result in untold blessings to the Craft , both there and throughout the world at large .

WE have more than once remarked on the wonderful advance Can-mriei g ^ Vire . which the Craft has made during the past few years in the Province of Cambridgeshire . It is not so very long ago that the brethren in this Eastern County appeared to consider their interests and the interests of Freemasonry were best promoted

when they observed a strict silence as to their proceedings . We rejoice to say that this notion has passed away , and that while everything which is properly hidden from the public gaze is kept secret , the proceedings of the Provincial and private lodge and chapter meetings which may lawfully be made known are published with a

considerable amount of fulness and regularity . The change has worked most beneficiall y , and the greatest interest is now taken , not only by the brethren "emselves , but likewise by ihe outside public , in everything that pertains to Masonry in the neighbourhood . There has also sprung up as the result of 'his change a sort of friendl y rivalry among the lodges , which vie with one

another in their endeavours to fulfil both the duties which are required of "em , and the duties which are optional . Last week , for instance , as indeed We have done annually for the last five or six years , we published a full re Port of the proceedings of the Grand Lodge of the Province , which met *| Cambrid ge on the 16 th ult ., under the presidency of Bro . A . H . MOVES , ¦ deputy P . G . M ., Bro . the Earl of HARDWICKE , P . G . M ., being prevented

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at the last moment by indisposition from taking his accustomed place in Provincial Grand Lodge . This unlooked-for absence of their chief , who is deservedly popular with the brethren , was the subject of general regret , but Bro . MOYES acquitted himself well as the representative of his lordship , and the excellent account he will be able to render of what was done in the

way of business and of the reports presented by the Executive Officers will , no doubt have the effect of lessening the disappointment which Bro . Lord HARDWICKE must have felt in consequence of his enforced absence . The numerical strength of the Province is well maintained—indeed , the average number of enrolled members per lodge is somewhat high—and the condition

of the funds is decidedly healthy . But what the Province has the greatest reason to be proud of is the establishment of its Charitable Association , and the amount of good it has been enabled to do through its instrumentality . Though this Association has been in existence only five years , the work it has been the means of accomplishing is vastly out of proportion to the

number of subscribing members , the total raised by the brethren who have acted as Stewards for the different Masonic Institutions during the years from 1883 to 1888 , both inclusive , being ^ 1907 , while the present number of members is only 357 , Bro . MOYES alone having been instrumental in raising nearly £ 500 , namely , £ 131 for the Boys' School and £ 367 for the Girls '

School . Bros . V INTER and PAPWORTH—to the latter of whom , as its Honorary Secretary , the Association is so greatly indebted for its successhave also striven hard in the same field of labour , and with these at the

helm and other enthusiastic brethren to assist them , there is good reason to believe that the Province of Cambridgeshire having cast aside its lethargy , will continue busying itself in the same exemplary and successful manner with the discharge of its Masonic duties .

THE Prov . G . Lodge of East Lancashire did a very graceful aS and " S ' act at its half-yearly meeting in the Hulme Town Hall , on Prov . G . Master . th ( J l 6 th ultj when Br 0 > j # A , BlRCH , P . P . J . G . W ., on its behalf , presented Bro . Col . LE GENDRE N . STARKIE , P . G . M ., with a

receipt for the sum of 100 guineas , which had been subscribed by the P . G . Officers , and by them employed in converting his Vice-Patronship of the Institution for Girls into a Patronship . Bro . Col . STARKIE was appointed Prov . G . Master in 1870 , and , during the whole of the long period that has since elapsed , has exhibited a deep and unwearying interest in all that relates

to the Craft , but more especially to that section of it over which he has been p laced in charge . Under his auspices Freemasonry in East Lancashire has gone on flourishing more and more abundantly . Lodges sufficient in number and strength to constitute an average-sized province have been consecrated in his division of the great North-Western County since the date of

his appointment to office , and East Lancashire can now boast of having on its roll nearly , if not quite , 100 lodges , with an aggregate of subscribing members which must very closely approach to , if it does not exceed , 5000 . The executive officers of Prov . G . Lodge who have been appointed by him have fully justified his choice by the ability with which they have performed

the duties severally entrusted to their charge . Our great Masonic Institu tions have been generously and uniformly supported by the Province , Bro . STARKIE having himself presided with conspicuous success as Chairman atone of the Festivals of the Benevolent Institution ; and its Educational and Benevolent Association , which was established about ten years since , has

been the means of doing a vast amount of good locally . In short , Bro . STARKIE has more than realised the expectations formed of his career at the time he was appointed to office . He has won the confidence of the lodges and brethren under his authority , and it is not surprising , therefore , that the latter should have paid him the compliment which we have

described , and which all of us must feel was so entirely in consonance with his own predilections for our Charitable Institutions . We echo the hope expressed by Bro . J , A . BIRCH , when making the presentation , that Bro . Col . STARKIE may exercise , for many years to come , the additional privileges with which he has been thus honourably invested .

* {¦ * * THERE are some subjects upon which there is a greater danger The Gould 0 f saying too much than too little , and of these , the scheme Testimonial . , f , ¦ , r launched , as we hope , with every prospect or success , in our last issue furnishes us with an example . To the author of "The History

of Freemasonry " every Freemason in the world owes a debt of gratitude , and the contributions to the fund which is now being raised on behalf of Bro . R . F . GOULD , will show at the proper time how far this moral obligation has proved to be of any binding weight . The Committee which is

organizing the testimonial is both an influential and a representative one . In the Earl of CARNARVON , the very best chairman has been secured , for a Committee of brethren whose aim it is to adequately recognize the result of long years of Masonic study and research . No less fortunate is the acceptance by one of the most genial and popular of Grand Officers of the