Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERSApproaching Festival of the Royal Masonic fnstitution for Girls „ ... 16 7 British Columbia ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 O 7 The Lale Robert William Shekleton , Q . C ., Dfp . Grand Master of Inland ... iGS

A Masonic Veteran ... ... ... ... •••••¦ 16 S Provincial Grand Chapter of East Lancashire ... ... ... 1 G 9 Ladies'Night of the Stuart Lodge , No . 1632 ... ... ... ... 1 C 0 Masonry in the Province of Cheshire ... ... ... ... 1 G 9 Triennial Convocations in Ireland ... ... ... ... ... 16 9

MASONIC NOTESQuarterly General Courts of Girls'and Boys'Schools ... ., 171 Royal Cumberland Lodge , No . 41 ... ... ... ... 171 Death of Bro . R . W . Skeklelon , Dep . G . M . Ireland ... ... ... 171 Address by Bro . H . Sadler , G . Tyler ... ... ... ... 171

Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 172 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 172 Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 172 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 173 Thirteenth Annual Dinner of the Old Masonians'Association ... ... 173 Instruction ... ... ... . ... ... ... ... 1 74 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 174

Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS .

The time is again opportune for calling attention to thc approaching Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls . Next week we shall be in the midst of the bustle and excitement which usually attend the election of children into our two

Schools , when the brethren from the country , but especially from ( he Provinces which are more immediately interested in the success of any of the candidates , are present in considerable numbers , and there is , at all events , a chance for a

Secretaryof which we maybe sure he will not be slow to avail himself—of enlisting support where none has been as yet forthcoming , or of strengthening and extending what may already have been promised . Thc 11 tth anniversary of the Girls' School will be

celebrated on Wednesday , the 10 th May , under thc presidency of I ! ro . Viscount DUN'GARVAN ' , Prov . G . Master of Somersetshire , and the preliminary arrangements have , WL rejoice to say , so far progressed satisfactorily that Bro . HEDGES already lias enrolled

upwards of 350 ladies and brethren as Stewards for the occasion . Considering there are still between four and five weeks lo elapse before thc day of celebration , this is distinctl y a favourable position , on which the friends of the

Institution may congratulate themselves . But it is evident , as was the case with the Benevolent Festival in February and as , indeed , we pointed out in our article of the

4 th March , that , this year at all events , an exceptionally strong Board of Stewards is not of itself suggestive of an exceptionall y high total of Donations and Subscriptions . For Ihe Benevolent Festival there were more ladies and brethren

•Jiving their services as Stewards than on any previous occasion , ihe Jubilee Festival of 1 S 92 being alone excepted , and yet the sum raised had been more than once exceeded . Thus , if the

''Herts which are being made by Bro . HEDGES to still further ¦ '"igment the Board of Stewards for thc roth prox . are crowned «' ilh more success than in previous ordinary years , we must not ' 'C so unwise as to anticipate a corresponding measure of success

> n the Returns . We are sanguine enough to believe that a good result will be forthcoming , one with which the Chairman , his Stewards , and thc Institution itself will have excellent reason to be satisfied . We think the Craft will be content if the total

ls large enough lo make good the shortcomings of last year , and meet the requirements of the present , and if there is something '' ft over , no doubt the executive of the Institution will be onl y loo glad to turn it to account as an addition to the modest amount

Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

of the invested capital , modest , that is to say , by comparison with thc responsibilities which the Institution has taken upon itself to meet . There is no need to repeat the oft-told story of the claims

which our Girls' School has upon thc kindly sympathies of all English brethren ; the prospects that appear to await us next month are sufficiently encouraging to justify us in passing them by , if not unnoticed , at least without special reference . But

there arc probably not a few brethren who have newly joined our ranks who may not know that to meet an expenditure of between £ 13 , 000 and £ 14 , 000 the Institution is in possession of a permanent income amounting to no more than about £ 2500 .

Hence the sum which must be annuall y raised , chiefiv by the medium of the Festival , in order to meet the excess of outlay over income is about £ 11 , 000 , and this , as we have more than once remarked , takes a good deal of raising . Again , it is quite

possible that our newly-enrolled brethren may not have heard that as an Educational institution our Girls' School occupies a foremost place amon ^; the best English Middle-class Schools . Year after year the great majority of the children it enters as

candidates for thc Cambridge Local and other public examinations are successful in passing , while many of them are awarded Honours and distinctions . But above all there is no Institution of its kind in the United Kingdom in which greater care is

bestowed on thc moral and physical , equally with the mental , training of its pupils , or of which the funds are administered with a more scrupulous regard for economy . An Institution of

which this may be said does not stand in need of recommendation , but unfortunately , it is in need of annua ! support , and that we both hope and believe will be forthcoming at the approaching and all subsequent Festivals .

British Columbia.

BRITISH COLUMBIA .

There are not , so far as we are aware , many cases on record in which a Grand Lodge is found to have more than doubled the number of its lodges and almost doubled the aggregate of its subscribing members in the brief space of ei « 'ht years . We

know that in thc United Slates there are some of conywatively recent constitution which have gone on increasing and multi plying to an extent that would hardl y be credible , were it not that under the Stars and Stripes it seems to be almost a matter

of course that everything , be it population , wealth , institutions , or what not , should grow apace . But the Grand Lodge , which is about to claim our attention , is located in British territory where the rate of progress is more deliberate . Moreover , it has

not been long organised , while the territory over which it exercises jurisdiction is very far from being thickly populated . At all events , the Grand Lodge that can point to such an increase as we have mentioned has every reason to be proud

of its good fortune , and will highly appreciate any congratulations that may be tendered by other bodies . It was in the year 18 71 that the Grand Lodge of I iritis )) Columbia was founded , and for many years the rate of progress was slow

In referring to the report of its proceedings at the 19 th annual Communication , which was held in the city of Vancouver , on the 19 th June , 18 90 , we find that it then mustered only 10 lodges of

which two were located in Vancouver and two in Victoria , the remaining six having their quarters in as many other places . The number of subscribing members was onN' 6 78 , while the total receipts of Grand Lodge from all sources was only 1253 dollars .