Ar00103

CONTENTS . PAGE •uBAnBRS— t The King and the Craft ... ... ..- ... - .. 65 The Funeral of our late Gracious Sovereign Qieen Victoria ... ... 65 The late Bro . Thomas Fenn , P . G . W . ... ... ... „ ... 66 Approaching Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... 66 Masonic Jurisprudence ... ... ... ... ... •••66 Supreme Grand Chapter of England ( Quarterly Convocation ) ... ... 6 7 A Risk We All Run ... ... ... ... .... •¦•6 S Instruction ... ... ... ... ... ... •••6 S Science , Art , and the Drama .. » ... ... ... ••¦ 6 9 POETRYTo the King ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 9 MASONIC N

OTESThe King and Parliament ... ... ... ... ... 7 ' Quarterly Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter ... ... ... 71 Death of Bro . Crosoer ... ... ... ... ... 71 A Risk we all Run ... ... ... ... ... ... 7 « Transactions of the Provincial Grand Lodge and Chapter of Durham ... 71 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 72 A Friend to His Majesty—Bro . Lord Suffield ... ... ... 72 United Grand Lodge ... ... ... ... ... ... 73 Bro . Horniman ' s Gift to the People ... ... ... ... 73 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 73 Wills and Bequests ... ... ... ... ... ... 75 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 75 POETRYVictoria Regina Imperatrix ... ... ... ... ... 75 In Memoriam ... ... ... ... ... ... 75 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 76

The King And The Craft.

THE KING AND THE CRAFT .

The special meeting of Grand Lodge , to which reference was made in our columns a fortnight since as about to be held for the purpose of voting a " Loyal and Dutiful Address to His Majesty the KING , " conveying ( i ) the sympathy of the Craft on

the death of our late Gracious Sovereign Queen VICTORIA ; and ( 2 ) the congratulations of Grand Lodge to his Maj ' esty on liis accession to the throne , has been appointed for Friday , the 15 th instant , and will take place in the Queen ' s Hall ,

Langhamplace , at two for three p . m . But as will be seen from the paper of Agenda we publish elsewhere , the business will not be restricted to the passing of this Vote . A communication will

be received from the M . W . Pro Grand Master " respecting the Grand Mastership , " and a motion submitted to the effect that the said communication " be recorded in the minutes of

Grand Lodge . ' This will be followed by a further motion , that Ihe nomination for the office of M . VV . Grand Master , which was made at the Quarterly Communication on the 5 th December , 1900 . having become inoperative , " Grand Lodge do now

protreed to a fresh nomination , " and it will so proceed accordingly . There is no need to offer any remark on this latter part of thc Agenda . It must be evident that his Majesty the KING has resolved on vacating the office of M . W . Grand Master , which he

has held so greatly to the advantage of the Craft during the last 26 years ; nor have we any reason to alter the opinion we expressed in our article of last week as to the course that will A followed on its becoming officially known to Grand Lodge that his MAJESTY has . retired from office .

The Funeral Of Our Late Gracious Sovereign Queen Victoria.

THE FUNERAL OF OUR LATE GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN QUEEN VICTORIA .

No more magnificent pageant was ever witnessed than that with which the mortal remains of our late Most Gracious Sovereign were borne from the palace in which she breathed

her last to their final resting-place in the Royal Mausoleum at I ' rogmore . Not only was there a greater naval and military display than has ever been known on any similar occasion ; "ot only was there a larger gathering of Sovereigns and Princes

The Funeral Of Our Late Gracious Sovereign Queen Victoria.

and Princesses of our own and other Royal and Imperial States to do honour to the clearest and greatest monarch that ever occupied the British throne ; but the ceremonial throughout was both solemn by reason of its unparalleled mao-

nificence , and mournful in the extreme by reason of the intense grief and sincere sympathy with which the countless thousands of people that lined the route followed by the procession patiently awaited its arrival and watched its slow * and measured

progress . On Friday the senior or naval service performed its part in doing honour to the illustrious dead , and when the coffin had been reverentl y removed from the Chapelle Ardente at Osborne , placed on the gun carriage , and . conducted

under escort of the military to the strains of a funeral dirge by the late QUEEN ' pipers , with the KING , the German EMPEROR , Queen ALEXANDRA , and the rest of the Princes and Princesses of our Royal House following

as mourners , to Trinity Pier , Cowes , and then taken on board the Royal yacht Alberta , it was the Navy of Great Britain , supplemented by ships of war from other naval Powers , that did homage to its late mistress . When all was ready , the

Alberta , with its precious freight on board , preceded b y . a small flotilla of torpedo boat destroyers in double line , and followed by the Victoria and Albert , with the KING and KAISER and Royal Family , and the Osborne , the Admiralty , and Trinity

House yachts , steamed slowly between the lines formed by the British and foreign ships of war to the accompaniment of a salute of minute guns , and the naval bands playing Chopin ' s funeral march . The spectacle was a most impressive one , and

will never be forgotten by those who had the privilege of witnessing it . When thc procession had passed between the lines of the fleet , the salute was continued by the forts and the ships in harbour . At length the Royal Yachts reached their

destination , and guards having been set , the Alberta and the attendant Royal and other yachts cast anchor and lay till the following morning , when a further stage in the last sad journey of our late beloved QUEEN was begun . The . colfin was

transferred to the funeral car prepared for its reception in thc Royal train , while the mourners were conducted to their seats , and the train was rapidly wheeled Londonwards , Victoria Station being reached punctually to the minute . Here were

already assembled many of the princes and representatives of other States , and when the usual greetings had passed between the King , Emperor , ancl the Royal Family ancl them , the coffin was again placed on a gun-carriage drawn b y a team of

the QUEEN S famous cream-coloured horses , thc coffin itself being covered by a white satin pall , with the emblems of sovereignty—the crown , sceptre , and orbs—resting on it . The stately procession then moved slowly along the chosen route

the streets being lined on either side by the soldiers , behind whom were dense masses of people clad in black or wearing some of the usual tokens of mourning . In Hyde Park , acros * - which , from Apsley Gate to the Marble Arch—which

half a century ago was the central gateway to Buckingham Palace — the procession moved between the lines of the military , was gathered such a concourse

of spectators as was probably never before assembled within so small an area , while along the Edgwareroad and thc rest of the route to the Great Western termimiat Paddington , other thousands of people were congregate * ,