Contents.

CONTENTS .

LBADBRS— PAGE . News About Masonry in Peru ... ... ... ... ... 375 Freemasonry in Natal ... ... ... ... ... 375 Hidden Mystery , No . 4 . ... ... ... ... ... 37 6 Provincial Grand Chapter of Middlesex ... ... ... ... 377

MASONIC NOTESHungarian Freemasonry ... ... ... ... ... 379 Annua ! Meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge of Essex _ ... ... 379 Annual Meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge of Devonshire ... ... 379 Annual Meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge of Shropshire ... ... 37 } Province of Hertfordshire ... ... ... ... ... 379 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 S 0 Masonic Memorial of the late Lady Lathom ... ... ... ... 3 S 0 Grand Lodge of Scotland ( Quarterly Communication ) ... ... ... 3 S 0 A Visit from Grand Lodge of Scotland to the Prov . Grand Lodge of Middle

Ward of Lanarkshire ... ... ... ... ,., 3 S 1 Summer Outing of the Whittington Lodge , No . S 62 ... ... ... 3 S 1 ' Freemasonry at the Cape .,. ... .,, ... .., 381 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 382 Mark Masonry ... .,. ... .,, ... ... 382 Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... ... .,. ... 3 S 2 Minutes of Supreme Grand Chapter ... ... ... ... 382 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 3 S 4

News About Masonry In Peru.

NEWS ABOUT MASONRY IN PERU .

At the Quarterly Communication of the United Grand Lodge on the ist June last , a message from the M . W . Grand Master was read in which his'Royal Highness drew attention to tlie facts ( i ) that the Grand Lodge of Peru had some time previously " decreed the removal of the Volume of thc Sacred Law from

the altars of all lodges under its jurisdiction , substituting therefor the Constitution of tlie Grand Lodge of Peru and replacing thc word'Bible'in the ritual by the words ' of the Grand Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Peru / " and ( 2 ) " that the said Grand

Lodge of Peru has not only refused to reconsider its decision authorising such a decree , but requires obedience thereto from the several lodges under its jurisdiction . " Under these circumstances , the communication went on to say , "his Royal Highness

is of opinion that recognition of the Grand Lodge of Peru as a Masonic body ought no longer to be accorded , until that body shall have returned' to its observance of the ancient landmarks , and , therefore , desires that the sense of Grand Lodge shall be

taken " on a series of resolutions , the main purport of which may be briefly described as a determination to ignore the existence as a Masonic body of the Grand Lodge of Peru ; and to refuse admission to our lodges to all who have not been initiated in accordance with the ancient landmarks and

themselves reject the fundamental Masonic principle of belief in the Great Architect of the Universe . Thc resolutions suggested hy the MAV . Grand Master werc brought before Grand Lodge b y the Grand Registrar in an able and exhaustive speech , and

drand Lodge adopted them seriatim without a dissentient voice . As there was no interchange of representatives between our ¦ jrand Lodge and that of Peru , there was no need for any official

withdrawal of intercourse on our part , but the resolutions of Grand Lod ge are themselves tlie best condemnation of members of the 1 ' eruvian body which styles itself Masonic .

We now learn through the medium of the Voice of Masonry that what may be described as a revolution in Peruvian Masonry "lay shortl y be looked for . Our worthy contemporary , on the uilhorit y of thc Masonic Standard of New York of nth

June—• -hat is , only 10 days after our Grand Lodge had adopted its ¦^ -solutions of non-intercourse—has published a letter from Bro . STEPHEN BERRY , Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of line

' "¦ , U . S . A ., to Bro . DUNCAN of the New York Masonic ^ Itindard , in which it is stated that he has received a letter from a "" -respondent dated " Lima , Peru , May gth , " in which it is '¦ cclared that the " Dam part y "—that is , the party which

News About Masonry In Peru.

influenced the Grand Lodge of Peru to adopt its recent non-Masonic course—had been defeated ; that a " Bro . J . A . EGO AGUIRRE ( former Grand- Secretary ) " had been " elected and installed Grand Master , " and that as a consequence " the Bible " would be " at once restored " * to the altars

of all the lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Peru . This , so far as it goes , is good news . Bro . STEPHEN BERRY is too trustworthy and too experienced a Masonic official to permit himself to publish or secure the publication of any

communication in the truth and bona fides of vvhich he did not himself place the utmost confidence . We may reasonably assume , therefore , on the authority of so entirely reputable a brother that the election of Bro . J . A . E . AGUIRRE as Grand Master

means a return sooner or later on the part of the Grand Lodge of Peru to the ancient landmarks of our old and honourable Society . But though sucli G . Lodges as have not yet severed intercourse with Peru on account of its banishment of the Volume of

thc Sacred Law from the altars of its lodges may calmly await the issue that is expected from thc election of the new Grand Master , in the hope and belief that it will be unnecessary for them in the altered circumstances to pass an edict of nonintercourse with the Grand Lodge of Peru and its lodges and

members , our Grand Lodge will find itself compelled to wait until a return on the part of the latter to the fundamental principles of Freemasonry has become officially known to it . A dignified body like the Grand Lodge of England cannot be enacting and annulling important resolutions , as it were in the same

breath . It very carefully assured itself of the authenticity of the statements that reached it from different sources as to the change that had taken place in the character of Peruvian Masonry before it adopted its resolutions of non-intercourse of the ist June ; and it must be

equally careful to certify itself as to the authenticity of the news which Bro . STEPHEN BERRY announces he has received , on authority in which he evidently has entire conlidence . But his Royal Highness , the Grand Master , and the experienced

advisers he has about him are not likely to do anything hurriedly . For the present , it is enough for us to know that a speedy return to the ancient ways oi the part of the Grand Lodge of Peru is probable , and the sooner it takes place the better pleased shall we be .

Freemasonry In Natal.

FREEMASONRY IN NATAL .

Wc have received the printed reports ofthe proceedings ofthe last two half-yearly communications of the District Grand Lodge of Natal held at Bellair and Pietermaritzburg respectively . The District Grand Master , Bro . WESLEY FRANCIS , presided on

both occasions , and there appears to have been a fair amount of important business to transact . Thc District G . Master , at the earlier of the two meetings took the opportunity of congratulating the Dep . Dist . G . Master on his appointment to' the brevet

rank of Past A . G . D . C . in Grand Lodge , and Past G . Std . Br . in Supreme G . Chapter , expressing his belief that these honours could not have been conferred upon a worthier Mason . In thc same address he referred to the proposed scheme for tlie

establishment of an Aged and Indigent Freemasons' Benevolent Fund in commemoration of the QUEEN ' S Diamond Jubilee , and recommended that District Grand Lodge should accept thc same as far as its general principles were concerned

and then refer it to the lodges for their careful consideration of thc details with a view to its being settled and arranged at the Communication next ensuing . He was careful to point out that the Scheme had been carefully prepared b y the