Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS— PAGB . The Province of North and East Yorkshire ... ... ... 3 ! 9 Freemasonry in the Transvaal ... ... .,, " ... - ... 3 ' 9 Negro Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 320 Consecration ot the Weald Lodge , No . 2707 ... ... ... ... 32 ° Mithraic Worship ... ... ... ... ... ... 32 [ Grand Council—Secret Monitor ... ... ... ... ... 3 22 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Northumberland and Durham ... ... 32 3

MASONIC NOTESAnniversary Festival of the Mark Benevolent Fund ... ... ... 325 Annual Meeting of the Prov . G . Lodgeof Hertfordshire ... ... 325 Quarterly General Court Boys' School ... ... ... ... 325 installation of Bro . the Duke of Portland as Prov . G . Master of Nottinghamshire ... ... ... ... ... ... 325 Laying the Foundation Stone of All Saints' Church , Weston-Super-Mare ... 325 Annual Convocation of Prov . Grand Chapter of Kent ... ... 3 5

Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 326 Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... ... 326 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 326 Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ... ... ... ... ... 32 C Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 32 C

Royal Arch ... ... :.. ... ... ... ... 327 Mart Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 327 Kirby Lodge of Instruction ... ... ... ... ... 32 S Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ... ... ... ... ... 32 S Obituary ... ... ... ... ... .., ... 32 S Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 330

The Province Of North And East Yorkshire.

THE PROVINCE OF NORTH AND EAST YORKSHIRE .

Tlic annual communication of tlie Provincial Grand Lodge of North and East Yorkshire will be held in the City of York on the joint invitation of thc four lodges of York , No . 236 , Eboracum , No . 1611 , Agricola , No . ioqr , and Albert Victor , No .

2328 , on Thursday , the 14 th inst . There is no business of exceptional interest or importance on thc paper of Agenda , while as regards the reports that will be submitted for adoption , it is satisfactory to note that those of the Prov . Grand Treasurer

in respect of the Provincial Grand Lodge Fund and thc Fund of Benevolence show capital balances on the right side of the account , lhat of the latter amounting to £ 1013 gs . 1 id ., of which £ 16 7 is in thc York Union Bank and the rest invested in India

Ihrce ancl a half per Cent . Stock . What , however , we are desirous of calling attention to is not the absence of any special business from the Agenda at thc approaching meeting

or the prosperous state of the Funds , but the handsome course of conduct adopted by the Province towards the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . It will , doubtless , be in the recollection of our readers that when it was announced that the Board of

Management intended to apply to the Quarterly Court of Governors and Subscribers of that Institution to confirm the provisional contract it had entered into with the owner of the Bushey Grove Estate , near Watlord , in the county of Hertford ,

for thc purchase of that property for - £ 13 , 000 , North and East Yorkshire expressed itself as being strongly opposed to the scheme . A kind of circular was issued in which so costly a proposal was deprecated . It did this partly without waiting to

learn the reasons which had led the Board of Management to adopt this course , and we believe we are correct in adding , in opposition to the opinion of its representative on the said Board as lo the desirability ofthe step proposed , and there are not a

few who consider that its action in the matter was , to say the least , precipitate . Since then , the opposition to the removal appears to have become gradually less and less pronounced and

though there may still Se brethren who retain their views as to its unwisdom and inexpediency they gracefull y acquiesce in the inevitable and finding that everywhere throughout the country there is a preponderance of opinion in favour of the proposal ,

The Province Of North And East Yorkshire.

they are now prepared to do all in their power to ensure the success of the scheme . Hence it was that early in the year , Bro . the Marquis of ZETLAND , Prov . Grand Master , decided to hold a special meeting of Prov . Grand Lodge for the purpose of votine * a donation from its Fund of Benevolence " to the

Royal Masonic Institution for Boys on the occasion of its Centenary . " The meeting was held , and , in proposing a grant of 100 guineas , thc Prov . Grand Master referred to the controversy that had taken place with reference to the action of the Board of

Management , and the feeling that existed in his Province . He added that , though under these circumstances he should have felt considerable hesitation in proposing a vote of money , he had

none * 'in recommending the propriety of giving support to the M . W . Grand Master , who had consented to preside at the Festival in question . His lordship likewise referred to the benefits . which the Province had received from the

Institution in the past , was receiving at the present , and hoped to receive in the future . He had , he said , consented to act as a Steward on the occasion , and he urged upon the brethren present to support his motion from the still higher

motive—that by so doing they would be "taking steps calculated to enable Freemasonry to continue its beneficent work in this direction , and supporting his Royal Highness the M . W . Grand Master as Chairman at the Festival . " Bro . the Very Rev . the

DF . AN Oh' YORK , P . G . Chaplain , in seconding the motion , while he endorsed the views so freely expressed as to the course pursued by the Board of Management , was , nevertheless , of the opinion that this was a case in which they might with propriety

forego their own private convictions . The Board of Management had given the subject their best consideration , and whether the plan was a wise one or not , it had been adopted , and under these circumstances it was " no sign of weakness , but rather of

courage , " to put their own feelings on one side and support the chairmanship of the Most Worshipful Grand Master . Bro , T . B . WHYTEHEAD , Past G . Std . Br ., spoke in a similar strain , He had been strongly opposed to thc removal , but he , too ,

considered it was their duty to support the Festival , especially as West Yorkshire , which , like their own Province , had set itself , in the first instance , in opposition to the removal , had adopted the principle which Lord Zetland had urged upon them , and had

voted a grant , and raised a handsome subscript ' ion towards the Centenary Festival . The motion of the Prov . Grand Master was therefore adopted unanimously , and on Thursday next the

Prov . Grand Lodge will be called upon to confirm the proceedings . In adopting this course , we consider our North and East Yorkshire brethren have acted wisel y , and in the true spirit of Masonry .

Freemasonry In The Transvaal.

FREEMASONRY IN THE TRANSVAAL .

It is only about thrce and a half years ago that the lodges in the Transvaal , numbering at the time a dozen all told , were constituted as a District Grand Lodge , the patent of appointment of Bro . GEORGK RICHARDS , the first and still the District

G . Master , bearing date the ist January , 18 95 , but in that brief space of time the Craft has gone on prospering , until there are now 20 lodges on the roll with a subscribing membership of

1838 brethren . Moreover , there are lodges under other Constitutions working in the district , so that Freemasonry must have shown a large amount of energy to have attained to such a position in the few years the country has had for the develop-