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CONTENTS . L EADERS— " " The Festival of Wednesday next ... ... ... •••215 Ars Quatuor Coronatorum ... ... ... ... ... 215 Supreme Grand Chapter of England ( Quarterly Convocation ) ... ... 216 Centenary Medal of the Minden Lodge , formerly No . G 3 on the Registry of the

Grand Lodge of Ireland ... ... ... ... ... 217 Past Grand Officers ... ... ... ... ... ... 217 Royal Ark Mariners ... ... ... ... •••••¦ 219

MASONIC NOTESQuarterly Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter of England ... ... 221 Earl of Mornington Lodge , No . 2000 ... ... ... ... 221 Provincial Grand Lodge of Staffordshire ... ... ... ... 221 Great Priory of the Order of the Temple ... ... ... ... 221 Consecration of the Thomas a Beckett Lodge , No . 2754 ... ... 221

Reviews ... •••„ „ „ •••- - ••••••2 = 2 Provincial Grand Lodge of Suffolk ... ... ... ... ... 222 Masonic Service at St . Peter ' s Church , Walworth ... .. ... 222 Annual Supper of the Star Chapter of Instruction , No . 1275 ... ... 222 Social Meeting in Crumlin Road Masonic Hall , Ireland ... ... ... 223 Craft Masonry ... ... ... . ... ... ... 22 4

Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 225 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 225 The Craft Abroad ... ... ... ... ... ... 226 Instruction ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 22 ( 3 Royal Masonic Institution fir Girls ... ... ... ... 22 G Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 228 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 22 S

The Festival Of Wednesday Next.

THE FESTIVAL OF WEDNESDAY NEXT .

The ruth Anniversary Festival 111 behalf of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , to which we have all been anxiously looking forward for some time past , will be celebrated at Freemasons' Tavern on Wednesday next , the 10 th instant .

The chair will be taken by the R . W . Bro . Viscount DUNGARVAN , Prov . G . Master of Somersetshire , and we hope that his advocacy will be even more successful than it was in 18 95 , when he presided at the Festival of the Benevolent with such

signal benefit to the funds of that Charity . There is , indeed , a fair prospect that it will be . Already the Board of Stewards which has undertaken to second his lordship's elTorts comprises upwards of 4 x 0 ladies and brethren , and it

may be that , when the eventful day arrives , there will be quite as many Stewards as there were at the February gathering . We must not , however , allow ourselves to be too sanguine of the result . Had there been no extraordinary pressure

brought to bear on the Craft generally in respect of the Boys ' Centenary last year , and had not that pressure produced a return such as is quite unprecedented in the annals of ( our

Institutions , we should have been looking forward , not without reason , to an exceptionally big total for an ordinary year . But whether we turn to London or the Provinces , we find almost everywhere that the contributions from the several sections were

on a scale that surpassed even the most sanguine expectations , Still the Old Peoples' Festival in February is to this extent ^ assuring , that it shows the brethren as a body are determined ,

as far as possible , to make good the deficiencies in respect of last year ' s Festivals of the Girls' and Benevolent Institutions , and hence we are hopeful that the success in February will be in a measure repeated next week . We iiave reason to believe that the result will be satisfactory , but wc do not share the

exaggerated anticipations in which wc understand that some brethren are , '" dulging , though none will be better pleased than we shall lj e if those exaggerated hopes are realised .

As for the Institution , and the claims it has upon the benevolent , there is nothing left us to say that has not been said before at each recurring Festival . The number of girls who are maintained on the establishment , and trained and educated in a

The Festival Of Wednesday Next.

manner that cannot be too highly extolled , is about 270 , at a cost to the Institution of between £ 13 , 000 and £ 14 , 000 per annum , while the permanent income does not greatly exceed £ 2500 , or at most some £ 2700 . There is . therefore , a sum of about £ 11 , 000

and upwards which must be provided , chiefly , if . not entirely , through the medium of the approaching celebration , in order to to make both ends meet . The number of children who have been benefited by the Institution is very considerable , and there

is no doubt that the great majority of them owe whatever success in life they have acquired to the excellent training and education the } received under its protection . The girls who arc entered for the different public examinations compete creditably

with those of other Middle-class Schools , and the moral and physical training they receive is on a par with the mental . In fact , as regards the educational status of the School , it stands deservedly high , nor is there the slightest doubt that the authorities

administer the funds at their disposal in a matter that leaves nothing to be desired so far as economy is concerned . The knowledge that whatever the brethren contributes will be turned

to the best possible account has always had the effect of ensuring the needful ways and means , and we trust that the meeting on Wednesday will prove no exception .

The distribution of prizes and calisthenic display will take place , as usual , at the Institution , Battersea Rise , on Monday , when , doubtless , there will , if the weather is favourable , be a large gathering ol the Stewards and their friends .

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.*

ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM . *

The Transactions contained in this 1 st Part of the Volume for the current year embrace the proceedings at the January and March meetings , together with Statements of Account for the year ending the 30 th November , 1898 ; sundry papers not read

in Lodge , but none the less interesting on that account ; and the Reviews , Notes and Queries , Obituary , & c , which always so greatly enhance the value of this publication as a current record of what is passing in the Masonic world , but more particularly in

the literary world of 1 * reemasonry . As far as the Accounts go , the financial position of the lodge appears to be at least as firm as it was in the preceding year . There are cash balances to the good on the General Cash Account and the Lodge Account ,

while the Assets are in excess of the Liabilities . In short , the statement contained in the Report of the Permanent and Audit Committee of the 15 th December last appears to be fully justified , namely , that " financially , as will be seen by the

accompanying statement , the lodge stands on a firm foundation . " We should gladly see a diminution in the amounts outstanding and due to a Lodge , which during the years of its existence has not only done such splendid work in disseminating knowledge

of every kind respecting Freemasonry among the brethren , but also , to use an ordinary commercial expression , has given such exceedingly good value for its money . The annual subscription which the members of the Correspondence Circle are called upon

to pay is only haif-a-guinea each , and , to say nothing as to the privileges accruing to them from their membership , such as full liberty to attend the lodge meetings , & c , there can be no doubt that they receive an ample quid pro quo for their subscription in the Printed Transactions and St . John ' s Card , to which they are