Contents.

CONTENTS .

LHADEBS— r-AGK United Grand Ledge ... ... - ¦ •¦• zS 5 The Queen and the Craft ... ... ... ••• 2 S 5 United Grand Ledge of England ( Quarterly Communication ) ... ... 2 S 6 Mark Grand Lodge ( Quarterly Communication ) ... ... — 2 SS Logic Club ... ... ... ... - ••• 2 S 9

MASONIC NOTESEx-pupils day of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ... ... 291 Approaching Festival of the Boys' School ... ... ... 201 Quarterly Communication of Mark Grand Lodge ... ... ... 291 Finance Committee of Prov . Grand Lodge of Hertfordshire ... ... 291 Correspondence ... ... •¦• ••• ••• 292 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire ... 292 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Middlesex—Consecration of the Oxford and

Cambridge University Lodge , No . 504 ... ... ... ... 292 Freemasonry and the Roman Church ... ... ... ••¦ 293 Our Portrait Gallery ... ... ... ... ... ... 293 Ladies Banquet at the Burgoyne Lodge , No . 902 ... ... ... 294 Consecration of the Roval George Lodge , No . 2643 , Krugersdorp ... ... 295

Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... 296 Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 296 Royal Ark Mariners ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 & 0 Maik Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 29 C Ledges of Instruction ... ... .,. ... ... ... 29 ( 1 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 29 S

United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

United Grand Lodge met in Quarterly Communication on Wednesday evening , when a somewhat fuller programme of business was gone through than usual . The motion , of which Bro . Sir J . B . MONCKTON . P . G . W ., had given notice , as to certain

grants from the Fund of General Purposes , was carried by acclamation , and as a result each of our central Masonic Institutions is the richer b y £ 2000 , while the Prince of Wales ' s Hospital

Fund is benefited to an equal extent . It should be mentioned , however , that it is a recommendation of Grand Lodge in respect of the grants made to our Schools and the Benevolent

Institution , that the former shall devote the sums they respectively receive to the establishment of Scholarships which shall be commemorative in perpetuity of the Queen ' s Diamond Jubilee , while in the case of the R . M . Benevolent Institution , the gift

shall be set aside to provide for a Diamond Jubilee Pension . In the event of these suggestions being accepted , the question will arise as to who shall make the first presentation , and we

would suggest that the first in all three cases shall be respectfull y placed at the disposal of the Queen herself , the arrangements for subsequent presentations being left for future consideration .

As regards the proposals of the Board of General Purposes , with reference to the enlargement of Article 21 S and the amendment of Article 219 , Book of Constitutions , all we need say is that they were adopted , but with sundry amendments

which , in-our opinion , will have the effect of rendering them more precise . Bro . EVE proposed that they should be held over for further consideration , but as Grand Lodge adopted this course at the suggestion of the same brother at the March

Communication , and Bro . EVE was unable to attend the deliberations of the Committee , it is clear that no advantage would have resulted from any further postponement , and we are glad to say that , so far as these questions can be dealt with , they may be

looked upon as settled , at all events for the present . The two appeals , one by Bro . CANE against a decision of the Board of tjeneral Purposes , and the other against a sentence passed upon

a brother by the District G . Master of Bengal , were dismissed . A full report of the proceedings will be found in another part of our columns , together with a list of those electee ! to serve on the Board of General Purposes .

The Queen And The Craft.

THE QUEEN AND THE CRAFT .

It is impossible for anyone lo glance down the columns of the daily and weekl y press without coming to the conclusion that however worthil y other auspicious events in the annals of this country may have been celebrated , the public has

determined that the completion of the 60 th year of her Majesty ' s reign shall be celebrated the most worthily of them all . It is right this should be so . Nothing of the kind has ever happened before , and it docs not need to be a prophet to foretel that many

generations must elapse ere a similar event is celebrated ; moreover , the relations that have always existed between the QUEEN and her people have been of so kindly a nature , her interest in everything that was calculated to promote the welfare' of her

subjects so keen , and her sympathies with them in the trials and afflictions , both general , and particular , which it has been their lot to undergo , so sincere , that it is impossible for the enthusiasm of her Majesty ' s lieges , how great soever it

may be , over this unique event in English history to be out of proportion to her Majesty ' s solicitude for their welfare . Hence , it is that for months past the public mind has been directed to little else than the celebration of the QUEEN ' S Diamond Jubilee ,

and as the time appointed for the celebration approaches more nearly , the excitement becomes infinitely greater , and the chief anxiety now is , firstly , that the arrangements now in progress

may prove worthy of so unusual an event , and , secondly , that the series of festivities , as arranged , may pass with the minimum of discomfort to the smallest number . of people .

As for the Masonic celebration of the Diamond Jubilee it may , to a certain extent , be said to have begun already and to have proved successful . When firstly the Benevolent Festival , and then that of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , were

approaching , we ventured lo point out to our readers that irrespective of the undoubted claims which each of them had , upon the support of the English Craft it was eminently desirable that in this year of years , when every possible effort was being made

in behalf of every Charitable Institution throughout the Empire , to raise cither a special Jubilee Fund , or a Jubilee addition to the ordinary funds , the contributions should be worthy of the occasion . In each case the suggestion would appear to have

borne good fruit , as shown by a total of donations and subscriptions to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution in February amounting to upwards of £ 19 , 000 , and one of over / j 6 , ooo to ( he Girls' School last month . But these are

festivals of every year occurrence and it may be we are wrong in ascribing these large totals to Jubilee influences . But the special service that took place on Ascension Day ( the 27 th ult . ) , in the Collegiate Church of St . Saviour ' s , Southwark , was

announced as being held to commemorate the Goth year of her Majesty ' s reign , and as his Royal Highness the M . W . G . M . has always taken the deepest interest in the work—which has been in progressforsome years—of rcstoringthisoldhistoricedilice

to something of its splendour , it was settled thatUhc Offertory should be paid over to the Restoration Fund , for which a further sum of £ 7000 was needed . The result was announced in our issue of last week , the product of the offertory being one-third of the

amount required . Again , on Wednesday , United Grand Lodge held its regular Quarterly Communication , at which , on the motion of Bro . Sir J B . MONCKTON , it was unanimously agreed to contribute £ 2000 to the Prince of WALES ' Hospital Fund , and £ 2000 to each of the Masonic Institutions , the grants