Contents.

CONTENTS .

U « 339 United Grand Lodge of England 330 provincial Grand Lodge of East Lancashire 331 Consecration of the Viator Lodge , No . 2308 331 Consecration of the Blagdon Chapter , No . 6 _ o , at Newcastle 333 Mark Grand Lodge 333 CoRR * sr ° NDI , NC ? ¦ Royal Masonic Institution for Boys 377 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys and the Carnarvon Lodge , No . 1573 33 8 Curious Certificate 338 Cottage Hospital for the Cure of Consumption 338 Notes and Queries 338 Reviews 339

RIPORTS of MASONIC MIITINOICraft Masonry 339 Instruction 34 ° Royal Arch 34 ° Royal Masonic Institution for Boys 341 Order of the Secret Monitor 343 Scotland 343 The Wakefield Masonic Literary Societv ... 343 Laying the Foundation Stone of a New Masonic Hall at West Bromwich 343 Mark Masonry 344 A Review of the True Lines of Rosicrucianism 344 Proposed Presentation to Bro . Madell 34 $ Dedication of New Masonic Premises at Sunderland 33 S Masonic and General Tidings 336 Lodge Meetings for Next Week iv .

Ar00101

THOUGH there was a tolerably full programme of business United ^ be transacted at the Ouarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge . — J Grand Lodge on Wednesday , there was nothing appointed to be done which was calculated to arouse any feeling of special interest or excitement , and the proceedings were carried out quietly and

harmoniously , as usual . The Reports of the Boards of General Purposes and Benevolence were received , while the result of the various elections will be found in another column . A recommendation was read from M . W . the GRAND M ASTER to the effect that the United Grand Lodge of Victoria , having been established by and with the consent of 140 out of the 142 lodges in the Colony , should be recognised , and the recommendation having been

acted upon immediately , it was further announced from the chair that his Royal Highness had been pleased to accept the office of Grand Patron of the newly-constituted Grand Lodge . We , therefore , congratulate our Victorian brethren on the admission of their United Grand Lodge into the

congregation of lawful Grand Lodges , and express the hope that the career on which it has thus entered may be a long and prosperous one , and be the means of strengthening and extending still further the welfare of the whole Craft .

* * * THE Special General Court of Governors and Subscribers Special General ., „ ,,, . , .. , -, ,., Court of the of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys which was summoned to meet at Freemasons' Tavern on Thursday , at noon ,

for the purpose of considering the Report of the PHILBRICK Committee of Inquiry , and taking such steps as might be determined , was very numerously attended , very many of the most influential brethren in the Provinces and London being present , and among them R . W . Bro . W . W . B . BEACH , M . P ., Prov . G . Master of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , who

was invited to preside as Chairman , and very ably and impartially fulfilled the duty with which he was entrusted . The proceedings , too , were conducted , if not altogether in a spirit of harmony , at all events , in a manner which reflects no discredit on that impartiality—that love of fair play—which is characteristic of Englishmen , and which , though it may be occasionally

neutralised by a passing wave of anger , is sure , in the long run , to assert itself . There were , no doubt , some among those present who would like to nave seen a clean sweep made of everything and everybody , and , indeed , such a proposition , as the Report we publish elsewhere will show , was made an d seconded ; but the Chairman made it clear to the meeting that he was

esirous of affording to every one " a fair field and no favour , " and in 1 e end , after a motion to the effect that the Report of the Committee of quiry be adopted had been carried without a dissentient voice , Bro . f « ' ^ ° ' ^ " Secretary ° f Wiltshire , proposed , and Bro . SMITHSON , _ West Yorkshire , seconded , and it was unanimously agreed , that a Provisional Committee , consisting of Bros . PHILBRICK , Q . C , Grand Reg . ; Col T NALD HANSON , Bart ., Sir R . N . FOWLER , Bart ., M . P ., Lieut .-•IHRALE PERKINS , GERARD FORD , Deputy Prov . Grand Master rj Ussex ; HENRY SMITH , Deputy Prov . Grand Master West Yorkshire ; to th TERR YJ G - Treas - 5 RICHARD EVE , Past G . Treas . ; and others Bo H num ' ° f about 20 should be appointed to act as an ad interim also ° mm ' ttee for carrying on the administration of the School , and the , Committee to consider and report to a Court of Governors as to mitt means ° f giving effect to the several recommendations of the Com-° f th lnc < uiry . The result is that there will be no disturbance has Present position of affairs until this Provisional Committee > n ord u P ° the measures which , in their opinion are necessary , time th ° reor £ an 'se the administration on a sound basis j and in the meanbfethre g ° ?? rnment of the Institution will be in the hands of a body of ^ glish r * ' thoroughly representative , and in which the whole 1 " the fullest and most entire confidence .

Ar00102

The Bo s' ^ NICB 1 uest ' nas arisen out of the proceedings of the School House General Committee of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys Committee . at its meeting at Freemasons' Hall on Saturday last . By the rules of the Institution , the management of the School is vested in a body of Governors , which is known as * ' the House Committee , " and consists of

"Twelve Life-Governors , being Freemasons , " " with the addition of the Treasurer and Trustees ; " the said twelve Life-Governors being elected "from the General Committee . " The law further provides that " nominations of brethren to serve on this "—the House— " Committee " must be made " at the General Committee in May , " and that " the election from

the brethren so nominated shall take p lace by ballot at the General Committee in June , " when " Scrutineers shall be appointed for the purpose of taking the Poll , which shall remain open until 5 o ' clock p . m . " This year , 17 brethren were nominated to serve on the House Committee at the General Committee in May , and in the ordinary course of business , 12

of these 17 brethren should have been elected at the General Committee on Saturday . But the discussion over the appointment of Scrutineers was so protracted , that the hour of 5 p . m . arrived without any election taking place , and the meeting was adjourned till the first Saturday in July . The points which have now to be considered are —( 1 ) Is there a

House Committee in existence ? ( 2 ) If not , how can one be elected without undue straining or infringement of the law ? As regards the former of these queries , we are of opinion , after a most careful consideration of the circumstances , that the answer must be in the negative , and that there is no longer any such body as a House Committee in existence as part of

the administrative machinery of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . It has certainly been pointed out to us that the law which provides for the election of the House Committee does not , as in the case of the law concerning the election of the Finance and Audit Committee , lay it down absolutely , and in so many words , that the aforesaid " Twelve Life Governors ,

being Freemasons , shall be elected " annually . But this omission of the word " annually" is clearly the result of accident , as is shown ( a ) by the provision for the nomination in May and election in June ; and ( b ) by the fact of the election having been annual since the House Committee was instituted . Nor are we inclined to attach much importance to the opinion

that a House Committee exists in the persons of the Treasurer and Trustees , who , by virtue of their respective offices , are permanent members of the same . It may savour a little of hypercriticism , but it strikes us there is a marked difference between electing a number of persons " to act as a House Committee with the addition of the Treasurer and

Trustees , " and electing the same persons to act with the Treasurer and Trustees as a House Committee . In the former case , the House Committee is complete in itself , when the said persons have been elected , but the Treasurer and Trustees , being important functionaries , are allowed a voice in its deliberations . In the latter case , the Treasurer and Trustees would

constitute an integral part of the House Committee , or in other words , a House Committee which did not include the Treasurer and Trustees would be , ipso facto , incomplete . For these reasons , that is to say , because ( 1 ) the essential portion of the House Committee must be elected annually , and that which was elected in June , 1888 , has completed its term of service ; and

( 2 ) the non-essential portion has no status whatever , until the essential has been elected—how is it possible to add to what does not exist ?—we are of the opinion , that at this present moment , the Boys' School is without a House Committee and will so remain until the default of Saturday last is made good . Our second question therefore follows—How can this

default be made good without undue straining or infringement of the law ? and to this our answer is immediate and decided . The nominations of the 17 brethren , which were made , in accordance with the prescriptions of Law 37 , " at the General Committee in May" remain valid ; while as Law 3 6 provides that the General Committee , by which the

House Committee is elected , " may adjourn from time to time , " and , as we understand the said General Committee , in the exercise of its discretion , did so adjourn to its next regular monthly meeting—that is , till the first Saturday in July—it follows that the business which was not dispatched as usual at the meeting on Saturday last , and which includes the election , by

ballot , of 12 out of the 17 brethren nominated " to act as a House Committee , " must be carried forward , and disposed of at the General Committee in July ; or if not then , at some subsequent meeting , to which the General Committee may think proper to direct a further adjournment . Of course the position has been altered by the result of the Special General Court of

Thursday , and the Management of the Institution may be said , at the present moment , to be as it were " in Commission ; " but we have not disturbed Our argument as above , because we know this question , arising out of Saturday ' s proceedings , has been freely discussed , and that there

are many of our readers who have not yet made up their minds as to the existence or non-existence of the House Committee after Saturday last , and until the appointment of a Provisional Committee of Management on Thursday .