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Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The Quarterly Convocation of Supreme Gaand Chapter was held at Freemasons' Hall , on Wednesday , the 2 nd inst . There was about the usual attendance , but , as will be seen from our report in another column , the only business that was brought before the companions was the Report of the General Committee , which was submitted and adopted . SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 5 , 1898 .

» » * We have very great pleasure in announcing that Bro . Charles E . Keyser , J . P ., P . G . D ., Patron and Treasurer of the Institution , has very kindly consented to preside as Chairman at the 101 st Festival on behalf of the Boys' School . This will not be Bro . Keyser ' s

first experience as Chairman at one of our Masonic Festivals . In 1893 , when Bro . Terry's endeavours failed to obtain the services of a Chairman from the ranks of he Prov . G . Masters at the Benevolent Festival , Bro . Keyser , who happened to be President of the Board of Stewards , very generously offered his services , his presidency proving , under the circumstances

Masonic Notes.

a very successful one . We trust that at next year's Boys' School Anniversary Bro . Keyser ' s advocacy of its interest will be followed by equally satisfactory results . * # *

We are informed that on the recommendation of the Earl of Ilchester , Lord Lieutenant of Dorsetshire , the Lord Chancellor has placed the name of Bro . J . H . Whadcoat , Mayor of Poole , on the Commission of the Peace for that county . Bro . Whadcoat has rendered important services to the town of Poole during his

residence there , but more especially during his mayoralty . He is also well known to our readers as a consistent and generous supporter of our Masonic Charitable Institutions , the latest illustration of this being his magnificent gift of iooo guineas to the Boys '

School , as announced in the Royal Albert Hall at the Centenary Festival of that Institution . We heartily congratulate him on the honour just conferred on him , and sincerely hope that others still may be awaiting him in the future .

* » * Thf banquet recently given by the Right Hon . the Lord Mayor of London—Bro . Alderman and Colonel Davies , M . P . —though by no means the first of its kind that has taken place under the hospitable roof of the Mansion House , may be said to have been in its

way about the most successful gathering during the present year . In the first place , it does not often happen that so large a number of the elite of English Freemasonry is congregated together on such an occasion . In the next , the prestige of our City Magnates was grandly upheld , as was only natural it should be

so upheld , where the guests—as well as the host himself—were chiefly members of our Grand Lodge ; and , lastly , the after-dinner speeches were far more felicitous and to the point than the speeches made at the festive board usually are . They had the further merit of being brief , and not a few of our more windy

afterdinner orators might with advantage . to themselves , and still more to the advantage of their auditors , take example from such accomplished speakers as Uro . the Earl of Halsbury ( Lord Chancellor ) , Bro . Sir Gainsford Bruce ( one of the judges of the High Court of Judicature ) , and Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., Prov . G . Master of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight .

* * Bro . Lord Mayor Davies , too , was very happy in his remarks , more especially in his sympathetic references to the Prov . G . Master , the many parts he filled with such exemplary tact and ability , both in public and private life , but above all in what he said of the kindly feelings that were universally exhibited towards his

lordship both a year ago when the great calamity of his life befel him and recently , when he was overtaken by the serious illness from which he is still suffering . Doubtless the Lord Chancellor was right in his surmise when he ascribed that illness to the mental suffering caused him by the terribly sudden death of the Countess of Lathom .

•» * The Lord Mayor ' s suggestion that he might hold a close-tyled lodge of Masons in the Mansion House , with himself in the chair ot W . M ., his Sheriffs—Bro . Alderman Alliston and Col . Probyn , G . Treas ., as Wardens , the Sword and Mace as Deacons , and the

City Marshal as I . G ., was a piece of pleasantry which all who heard it uttered must have appreciated . But what must have greatly pleased his hearers was his reference to the friendly relations existing between the Corporation of London and the Society of Freemasons .

Not all who occupy the position of Chief Magistrate of the City are members of any Order , whenever it happens that he is a Mason , there is invariably such an interchange of hospitality and courtesy between the two bodies as we had the pleasure of recording last week .

* * * Nor was Bro . Beach , M . P ., less fortunate in his contribution to the evening ' s oratory . He carefully impressed upon his hearers that while brethren were naturally proud of their Masonic Charities " as an exemplification of the manner in which Masons acted

up to their obligation , the generous support of those Charities " did not alone constitute Masonry . " It was part of their duty to apply the principles of the Craft to bear upon our everyday life , to take a charitable view of the failings of a brother to strive each in his

own day and sphere of life to rub away the asperities by which the world is troubled , and to endeavour to promote the good and happiness of all . In our zeal to support those Institutions which we have established and so liberally maintain , we are apt to lose sight of those other constituents of that virtue which we rightly

Masonic Notes.

claim tc- be the distinguishing characteristic of our Society . * * * Equally truthful was his explanation of the reason why Freemasonry had increased and multiplied as it had done of late years , namely , that the Provincial and District Grand Masters had been at such pains

" to impress upon every individual member of the Order the necessity " of illustrating in his own person the fact of his being a creditable member of the Craft , and that he was never to accept as a Freemason anyone who was unworthy . Those who insist most earnestly , as Bro . Beach did upon this occasion , on the necessity of doing those things are the truest friends of our Society .

* * * Our readers probably will not be greatly surprised at the information which Bro . W . F . Lamonby was kind enough fo furnish in the letter of his we published last week . It appears from a communication he has received from the District Grand Master of Canterbury

( N . Z . ) that of the lodges under his rule all but two have declared unanimously in favour of remaining , under their mother Constitution , while the other two were all but unanimous in the same direction . No doubt the day will come when all the lodges in the colony will acknowledge the supremacy of the recently

recognised Grand Lodge of New Zealand . But it was hardly to be expected that our recognition of that body as a sister Grand Lodge would have an instantaneous effect in removing that bitterness of feeling which existed for so long between the Masons of the New

Zealand and those of the English , Irish , and Scottish Constitutions . That bitterness is undoubtedly less acute now than it was a year ago , but it would have been little less than miraculous had it disappeared entirely in so brief a space of time .

# * * The case mentioned by Bro . J . T . Last in his interesting letter of last week entitled " Re English View of American Freemasonry , " of a blind candidate having been , not many years since , initiated in a London lodge , is paralleled by that of the late

George V . of Hanover , who became blind through an accident , and who , on succeeding his father Ernest as King , had himself proclaimed Protector of the Grand Lodge of Hanover , which was disestablished by a Prussian State Order after the war of 1866 , when

Hanover ceased to be a kingdom . A few years later —if we remember ri ghtly , in 1857—King George was initiated in the Lodge of the Brown Bear . He was at once elected Grand Master , and is said to have taken a great interest in the work of the lodge , often attending their meetings , and mingling freely with the members .

» » * The Royal York Lodge , No . 2709 , which was consecrated at Nailsworth , on the 6 th ult ., by Bro . the Right Hon . Sir M . E . Hicks-Beach , Bart ., M . P ., Prov . G . Master of Gloucestershire , is the 17 th on the roll of that Province and the third that has been constitued

since the year 1880 , when the present Pro G . Master was appointed to office , the other two being the Hicks-Beach Lodge , No . 2407 , Stroud , which dates from 1891 , and the St . Andrew's , No . 2541 , Avonmouth , which was warranted in 18 95 . But if the Province is of

moderate strength , it does some splendid work , as the character of the work it does and more especially the consistent and generous support it gives to all our Charitable Institutions most amply testify . * * *

We see it was stated in the report of the meeting at which the consecration took place that Gloucestershire was formed into a Province under the late Bro . Lord Sherborne " in 1856 . " But a reference to Grand Lodge Calendar discloses the fact that Sir Robert de Cornwall , Bart ., was Prov . G . M . of Gloucestershire —and likewise of Herefordshire , Monmouthshire ,

Shropshire , and Worcestershire — in 1753 ; Bio . Thomas Dunckerley in 1784 ; the Marquis of Worcester—afterwards sixth Duke of Beaufort—in 1 799 j and the seventh Duke of Beaufort in 1 745 . In 18 56 the Hon . J . H . Legge—afterwards third Lord Sherborne—was appointed to the office , and in 1880 was succeeded by the present ruler .

? * * The Asaph Lodge , No . 1319 , which this week held its annual meeting for the installation of its Worshipful Master for the ensuing 12 months , is to be congratulated on its prosperous condition both generally

and financially , the worthy Treasurer being able to announce a balance in hand of . £ 1000 in favour of its Benevolent Fund . There are not many of our private lodges that can point to so large an accumulation of funds as the Asaph for charitable purposes .