Contents.

CONTENTS .

LSADERS I Ancient and Accepted Rite 5 History of No . 246 , Cheltenham 2 Order of the Secret Monitor 5 Notes on the Ceremony of Installation 3 CORRESPONDENCEMasonic Benevolence in 1888 4 Rule "io 1 Annual Dinner of the Langton Lodge of Calendar and bVectoVyof the ' Pro ' vince of Instruction , No . 1673 i Middlesex- ' 1 Masonic Entertainment to the Aged Poor „ ° ™ g es ^ r 07 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::. ? on Christmas Eve $ N , » fineries 1 Inauguration of a New Roval Ark Mariners 1 Noles ana yuenes ¦••••7 Lodge , at Torquay . " . j REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGSTestimonial to Bro . Thomas Poore i Craft Masonry 1 Royal Arch 5 Instruction , 9 Mark Masonry j Masonic and General Tidings 10 Knights Templar 5 Lodge Meetings for Next Week iv .

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IN expressing the hope that the New Year on which we have New Year , just entered may be one of happiness and prosperity to all our constituents , our attention is not unnaturally directed to a circumstance in our own career which is worth a moment's consideration .

Last week we completed our 21 st Volume . The Freemason made its first appearance in the world of journalism at the beginning of 1869 , the first year's numbers having been published afterwards in half-yearly volumes ; while during the rest of its existence each bound volume has included a whole year ' s issue . With the current number , however , we enter on the

year of our majority , and we are thus in a position to greet our readers as a journal of staid fortunes on the very threshold of mature age . We do not forget , indeed we have no desire to forget , that it is to their kindness , rather than to our own energy and ability , that we are indebted for our present position as the Masonic organ of the United Kingdom ; and , in

greeting them on the present occasion , we are more than ever desirous of impressing upon them the deep sense of gratitude we entertain for thei past kindness , and the confidence we feel that , so long as we follow in the

path which we have chosen , and which , in all things essential , has met with their approval , they will continue to extend towards us the same generous support as heretofore . And , saying this , we wish all our friends and the Craft generally a happy and prosperous New Year . THE full returns of income as received by our various Institu-Masomc , . , J . Benevolence tions during the past year have now been issued , and will be found in another part of our columns ; and if any evidence were needed that those Institutions had firmly established themselves in the affection of the Craft , it would be found in the statements thus furnished .

The Receipts from all sources of the Girls' School are onl y a few hundreds of pounds short of £ 50 , 000 , the bulk of this enormous sum having been received on account of the Centenary Festival Donations and Subscriptions The Benevolent Institution , though its total of Receipts is less by some £ 7500 than it was in 1887 , is still able to show an income of upwards of

£ 21 , 3 60 ,- while the Boys'School , though it laboured under the serious disadvantage of having its Festival held within three weeks of the Girls ' Centenary , and in spite of the virulent attacks directed against its management , is able to show a total of nearly £ 12 , 300 . The totals of the Donations and Subscriptions , as finally settled in respect of the Anniversary

Festivals , amounted altogether to close on £ 75 , 500 ; while the amounts actually received under this head will be found to reach upwards of £ 69 , , a very considerable percentage of the balance still unpaid being what is known as Association Money , which will be paid over—no doubt during the present year—as the Life Governorships or Life Subscriberships

are balloted for and assigned . The Benevolent Institution has received £ 14 , 9 82 under this head as against £ 15 , 296 announced at the Festival , the difference between the two totals being hardly appreciable . The Girls ' School has received £ 44 , 660 , while its Festival produced over £ 51 . 500 , so that there is still due and payable between £ 68 oo and £ 6900 , and as we have

said , a very large proportion of this is Association Money and will be received in the course of the present year . The Boys' School Festival yielded only £ 8673 * but its receipts in the way of donations and subscriptions amount to £ 9384 , or upwards of £ 700 more than was announced at the Festival—a result which , under the special circumstances in which the

School has been placed during the year , is undoubtedly satisfactory . We note also the receipt , in the case of each Institution of the grant of £ 2000 made in honour of her MAJESTY ' S Jubilee in 1887 , but owing to the absence from England of Bro . the Earl of CARNARVON , one of the Trustees of the Grand Lodge , not paid over until 18 S 8 . The total of these three

sums amounting to £ 6000 must be looked upon as properly forming a part of the assets for the year 1887 , but they must be taken into account in the year in which they were paid . But for this accidental absence of Lord CARNARVON , the receipts

in 1887 would have been £ 6000 more , and those of 1888 £ 6 ooc less than they were in reality , and the excess of the latter year over the former , instead of figuring as £ 21 , 930 , would have been no more than £ 995 As regards permanent income , ihe Benevolent Institution still retains its lead , the annual contributions from Grand Lodge and Grand

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Chapter amounting to £ 1750 , and its dividends on invested capital to £ 2253 , or > together , £ 4003 , or , with interest on cash at deposit , £ 4179 The Girls' School , with £ 160 10 s . from Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter , and dividends amounting to £ 1978 , stands second , with £ 2138 , or , if we add the interest on deposit , to £ 2250 ; while the Boys' School is a long way

behind , with £ 160 10 s . from Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter , £ 658 in respect of dividends , making together no more than £ 818 . The amount disbursed by the Board of Benevolence in relieving 439 cases reached £ 11 , 468 , to which must be added the £ 800 paid to the Benevolent Institution , making altogether - £ 12 , 268 . As the income of the Board is only

between £ 8000 and £ 9000 , and as £ 12 , 000 of its surplus has already disappeared , while a further £ 3000 Stock will have to be sold out in order to free it from debt , and enable it to pay its way , it is clear that at the present rate of expenditure the balance still remaining of the surplus will be

exhausted , and it will then become the duty of Grand Lodge to consider what , if any , increase must be made in the quarterages , so that the Fund of Benelence may be in a position to keep pace with the heavy demands which are being made upon its resources . * ''

_ , _ „ It is exactly'Jo years since Bro . the Marquis of HARTINGTON The Prov . Grand . , . . , . , . , , r ~ . . , Lodge of was appointed , in succession to his relative , the late Duke of Derbyshire . DEVONSHIRE , to preside over the Craft in Derbyshire , and though , as his lordship is one of our foremost men in the world of politics , it is difficult , if not impossible , for him to devote much of his time to

Freemasonry , there is no province in England in which Freemasonry has made greater or more substantial progress than in this section of the Midlands . Where , at the date of his lordship's accession to the office of Prov . Grand Master , there were only some eight or nine lodges , there is now a wellorganised body of 22 lodge ? , which meet regularly and transact their

business with an enthusiasm which was almost unknown at the earlier period . Much of this change is due to the silent interest which Lord HARTINGTON takes in his Province , the readiness with which he attends the meatings of its lodges whenever the more serious demands upon his time as a political leader will admit of his so doing , and the very great popularity which he

enjoys in consequence . He has also been extremely fortunate in the selection of his chief executive officers , there being no two brethren in whom it would be possible for a Prov . Grand Master to repose greater confidence than Bro . H . C . OKEOVER , his Deputy , and Bro . WILLIAM NAYLOR , the Provincial Grand Secretary . Under these circumstances , it is not

surprising that at the annual meeting of the Prov . G . Lodge on the nth ult ., the reports which were handed in by the different officers of the proceedings of the past year , as well as of the present position of the Province , both as regards its membership , and its funds , and its future prospects , should have been so particularly satisfactory . It is also well known that our

Derbyshire friends are generous supporters of our various Charitable Institutions . What they are capable of doing in an emergency was shown when Lord HARTINGTON presided , two or three years since , at the annual Festival of the Boys' School , and his Province grandly supported him to the extent of some £ 1700 . It has been shown again during the past year

at the Centenary Festival of the Girls' School , while it is a matter of everyday knowledge that there are few of the Provinces in England which are more regular in their contributions to our Charities . Not without reason was it that these things were not only the subject ot pointed reference in

open Prov . G . Lodge , but were likewise the occasion for a passing display of very natural self-congratulation at the banquet which followed ; and we trust our Derbyshire brethren may always have as admirable an account to render of their doings as was rendered at the annual meeting in Derby on the 1 ith ult . * IN reverting to this topic , our chief desire is to enlist the active Gould co-operation of the Masonic Press in the Colonies and the Testimonial , United States of America . They , like us , must long since have come to the conclusion that Masonic literature is seldom remunerative ; that

the most strenuous efforts of author and editor alike are usually doomed to experience a " succes d ' estime " only , and that the recognition of the Fraternity rarely manifests itself in the welcome and tangible shape of " a thumping balance at the bank . " The quiet demise , after more or Itss protracted struggles , of one Masonic journal after another , the

non-appearance every now and then of magazines once familiar to many of us ; the unsold editions of Masonic works of great value that crowd the publishers' shelves , all testify to the unprofitable nature of Masonic literature , looked at in the light of a commercial speculation . In Bro . GOULD we recognise a member of our Fraternity who ,

for 30 long years , has devoted himself , heurt and soul , to the most intellectual side of Freemasonry ; who during all that time his never ceased from diligently diving into the troubled waters of Masonic history ( so-.: alled ) , and who , from their unfathomable depths of ignorance , imagination , slander , bombas . 1 , and legend , has brought tp the surface and light , of day no less