Craft Masonry.

SCOTLAND .

The course of Scottish Freemasonry during ( he year 1895 has been one of uninterrupted progress , while sundry of the events that Have occurred are worthy of a foremost p lace in the History of the Craft North of the Tweed . The roll of lodges has been substantially increased , the numler of those for which warrants have been granted being 17 . Off hose , three are located at home , namely the St . Andrew' .

No . 814 . Piiloehrie ; IheBreadalbane . No . 815 , St . Filhvns Killin ; and the Blythswood , No . 817 , Glasgow . The remaining 14 arc located abroad , and include len located in Queensland , one in India , one in Chili , one in Torrea Straits , and one in the Hawaii Islands Las ! year 14 new lodges were wan anted , all of which , with the silifarv exception of the Balfour Melville . No . 809 , belong to Foreign

parts . The proceedings on Crawl Lodge do wot call for any special comment . Last month Bro . Sir Charles Dalrymplc , Bart ., of Newhailes , M . P .. was re-nominated and re-installed as M . W . G . Master , the Festival of St . Andrew , which was last year held in Glasgow , being celebrated last week in Edinburgh . Among the meetings which were attended bv lhe G . Master may be mentioned the Masonic

Service in St . Giles ' s Cathedral , Edinburgh , when Bro . Sir Charles Dalrymplc , many of his G . Office Bearers , and about , 500 brethren were present : and a Special Meeting on the 6 th June at Dunblane of the Prov . G . Lodge of Perthshire West . On the day following this visit , ( he St . John ' s Lodge , No . 9 , meeting at Dunblane , celebrated the Ri-Ccu ( eu ;\ vy of its Constitution , and after the lodge

duties had been performed the brethren adjourned to a Grand Banquet in the Victoria Hall , under the presidency of Bro . Col . Stirling , Prov . G . Master of Perthshire West , with the R . W . M . of No . 9 as Croupier , while among the guests were the M . W . G . M .. and Bro . John Graham of Broadstone , Prov . G . Master of Glasgow , Substitute G . Master of Scotland , Ex . Provost George Christie

Prov . G . Master of Stirlingshire , and D . Murray Lyon , G . Secretary . The proceedings were of a very enthusiastic character , and the congratulations on the lodge having lived to witness such a celebration were as hearty as they were natural . From the other events of the year we are , unfortunately , only able to select a few ; such as the laying of the foundation-stone of a new Masonic Hall at "Wick

by Bro . Sheriff Thorns , Prov . G . Master of Caithness , Orkney , and Shetland , and the similar , but far more important ceremony in connection with the new Masonic Hall at Glasgow . Some 18 months previousl y a limited liability company was formed for the purpose of raising a sum of £ 20 , 000 with which to erect a hall that should be worthy of the Craft and the city , and a ' very desirable site

having been obtained in West Regent Street , building operations were at once begun and the foundation stone laid with full Masonic ceremonial on the day specified by Bro . John Graham , of Broadstone , the Prov . G . Master of Glasgow , and substitute G . Master of Scotland , in the presence of fully . 1500 members of the Craft . There was also , as already described under the head of " Chivalric

and High Grade Masonry , '' a congress in Edinburgh on the 10 th April of the three Supremo Councils , 33 ° , of the Ancient and Accepted Rite for England , Ireland , and Scotland : while on the 27 th of the same month St . John ' s Lodge , No . 102 , New Abbey , was resuscitated by Bro . the Hon . Hugh Dulrvmplo , Prov . G . MastorforWigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire .

But the most notable event of the year , in our estimation is the Union of the Fairly Grand and Supreme Gi-and Chapters of Scotland . These bodies had heretofore worked in rivalry with each , the former representing the Chapters formed under the authority of the Early Grand Encampment of the Order of the Temple , while the latter , which was regularl y ami constitutionally organised in 1817 , claimed

to be the Supreme authority over all Royal Arch Masons in Scotland . The initiative for the union of these bodies was taken in 1890 by the members of the Early Grand Chapter , and after a long course of negotiations carried on under many and great difficulties , the terms of a Union were agreed upon , and the Union itself was consummated in Glasgow on the 11 th Mav . The Special Meeting of the Supreme

G . Chapter was held in St . Mark ' s Hall , under the presidency of Com ]) . Major F . W . Allan , Deputy G . ' Principal Z , while ' tin companions of the ' Earl y Grand Chapter met in the ndjoiuiu < j St . John ' s Hall , and having formally dissolved that body for ever were introduced into the Supreme G . Chapter by Coinp . R . S . Brown

Grand Scribe E , and having taken lhe oaths of fealty , were at once received into communion and fellowship therewith . Such an event as this is , we believe , unique in lhe history of the Royal Arch Degree , and as a great historical event in the annuls of Freemasonry , will give lustre to the year , which , in a few weeks' time , will , like lhe Early Grand Chapter itself , have passed forever out of existence .

IRELAND .

Our anticipations that the publication of the Irish Masonic Journal known as the Jhtsoitic \ 'i * ili > r would enable ns to obtain a fuller insiglit into the proceedings of the Craft in Ireland have been verified . We have learnt and been able Io record for the information of our readers much that is interesting in connection with the proceedings of its lodges and their members . We confess to being

very much in the position of poor little Oliver Twist , when , to the great consternation of Mr . Bumble , he presented his bowl for a fluther dose of porridge . We shall gladly receive any waifs and strays of Irbh Masonic information that may from time to time be vouchsafed to us . Still , we are grateful for the ampler knowledge which has reached us through the pages of our worth y contemporary , its well as from other sources , and shall always be delighted to

Craft Masonry.

publish in our columns any news of importance with which we mav lic favoured . The chief annual event in Irish Masonry is the Fete that is held in the , Leinster Hall , Dublin , in the early days of May , when the prizes are distributed to the successful pupils of the Masonic Female Orphans' School . There is always a large and fashionable company present to witness the proceedings , and the

brethren muster likewise in great force . This year the dut y of distributing the prizes was undertaken most kindly and giuccfully by Viscountess Teuipletown , wife of Bro . Viscount Templetown . J . G , Warden of Ireland . In August an address of congratulation was presented to Bro . R . W . Shekleton , Q . C ., in recognition of the many valuable services he bad rendered to the Craft during the 26 years

he had held the office of Dcpnty G . Master of Ireland . In February Bro . Lord Wolscley was the recipient of a P . M . ' s jewel presented to him b y the Military Lodge , No . 728 , Dublin , on vacating the chair , while in Juno , when he vacated the , office of King of the Military Chapter , he was presented with a Past King ' s jewel . In May the brethren of the Province of North Minister gave a handsome silver

cup to their respected Prov . G . Master , Bro . Sir C . Barring-ton , Bart ., on the occasion of his marriage . On the 3 rd September the rare event of a new lodge being consecrated took p lace , the lodge in question being the Harlech , No . 165 , Sligo , so named after Bro . Lord Harlech , Prov . G . Master of North Conuaught , by whom the ceremony of consecration was performed . On the 24 th June and

following days , a grand Masonic Bazaar was held in Brownlow House and grounds , Lnvgan , in behalf of the hall that is to be erected in the town of Lurgan , for the use of the Lodges which meet there ; while in Belfast the annual meeting of the Belfast Masonic Charities , and a grand concert in their behalf , were held in the Ulster Hall , Belfast , in March . We have also to announce the

publication of the " History of St . John s Lodge , No . 891 , Lnniskillen , " by Bro . J . L . Carson , to which we have referred under the bead of " Masonic Literature , " and to the valuable assistance which has been rendered by Bro . Chetwode Crawley by the publication of the first part of " Civnientaria Hibernica , " and the various papers lit has contributed to the Lodge Quatuor Coronati , No . 2076 . Bro

Crawley has taken upon himself to unravel , as far as possible , the early history of Freemasonry in Ireland ; or perhaps we ought to say , he is engaged in accumulating as much material as he can for a history of the early days of the Irish Craft . What he has done thus far is of such interest and importance that we are anxiously

looking forward to the publication of the later parts of the work he has entered upon . With more from his pen to enlighten us , and more in the Masonic Visitor to keep ns posted in the Masonic news of the day , we shall in time be almost as familiar with Craft doings in Ireland as with those of the lodges on the roll of our own Graiul Lodge .

THE COLONIES , & e .

It will be impossible in the limited space remaining at , onv disposal to do more than mention a few of the more prominent events that have occurred in connection with English Freemasonry in the Colonies and Dependencies of the British Crown . But the omission of so much that concerns ( he progress and well-being ol our Society abroad is of less importance seeing thai in British North

America and in . sundry of the great Australasian Colonies , when lhe Craft has established itself most firmly , the supreme authority if vested in a number of independent Grand Lodges , of which there an only two ( hat are not recognised as such by the Grand Lodges of ( lit United Kingdom . Thus in British North America there are seven of these independent Grand Lodges , namely those of Canada (

Province of Ontario ) Quebec , Nova Scotia , ^ iew Brunswick , Prince Etlward Island , British Columbia , and Manitoba , and it is only with that of Quebec that our Grand Lodge docs not exchange representatives . But the Masonic journals which are published in the Dominion of Canada , as well as the communications with which we are from time to time favoured testify undoubtedly to the fact that the Crab

on the whole was never more prosperous than it has been during lhe year of grace 1895 . At the Antipodes ( heieare the United Grand Lodges of South Australia . New South Wales , Victoria , and Tasmania , ami here , likewise , ( here is not the least rea . 'on lo doult thai progress has been made dating the year . In New Zealand , unfortunatel y , there arc still two opposing sections of the Craft , th 1 '

unrecognised Grand Lodge of New Zealand on the one hand and lhe previously existing District or Provincial G . Lodges of the English . Irish , and Scotch Constitutions from which the lodges consti 1111 i 11 - ' the opposing and unrecognised body have revolted . In Queensland and Western Austral ia , however , whore I he authority of ( he home Grand Lodge is undisputed , the Craft has made substantial gains , four English

II nd I ! I Scot eh lodges having been added to the roll of the Dist . G . I . odgr * in the former and I wo to that of the Dist G . L . of ( he hitler . In lhe Kast Indies the published Proceedings of the I'higlish Dist . G . Lodges and el the Grand Lodge of All Scottish FYeoinasonry in India , together with lhe published reports of the various Ktlncalional and Benevolriii Institutions which have been established under their auspices , all testify to ( he undoubted prosperity of lhe Craft there existing . T « 'u

events of some importance are deserving of record—the installation of Bro . Lord Sandhurst , Governor of Bombay , as the Pro Distrh ' Grand Master of Bombay , under the Grand Lodge , of Kuglau'lin accordance with the new law which pel-mils of a Prince of lh '' Blood , who is a Provincial or District G . Master , appointing a I ' ' " Prov . or Pro Dist . G . M . The other is the installation of ( lie IK ,, V Governor-Geiieral of the Straits Settlements , Bro . Sir Churl " - B . H . Mitchell . G . C . M . G , as Dist , G . Master of the Easter"