Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS j 8 [ Old Warrants . —XXVIII 582 England and Quebec 582 provincial Grand Lodge of West Lancashire 583 provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire 584 Consecration of the Chough Lodge , No . 2264 J 84

Consecration of the Hallamshire Lodge , No . 2268 , at Sheffield . " 586 provincial Grand Chapter of Cheshire 587 provincial Grand Chapter of West Lancashire $ 8 7 C ORRESPONDENCEThe Royal Masonic Institution for Boys 580 Reviews 580

Contents.

REPORTS or MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry £ 0 , 0 Instruction 592 Royal Arch S 93 Instruction 593 Mark Masonry J 93 Knights Templar 593 Consecration of a New Masonic Hall at Hull

: 503 The Fund of Scottish Benevolence 594 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys $ 94 The Girls' School Centenary Festival 594 Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution 594 Obituary 594 Theatres S 94 Masonic and General Tidings S 9 i Lodge Meetings for Next Week 596

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, „ EVERY now and then we obtain an insight into the work that The Influence _ " of is done by Freemasonry in other countries , and the influence

Freemasonry . _ it exercises on the community at large ; and it almost invariably is found that the work it does and the influence it exercises are beneficial

in their character . More especially is this the case in the newer and more remote colonies of the British Empire , or in countries like the United States of North America , which , as an independent political organisation , is of comparatively recent growth . In the latter country there are some

600 , 000 Masons , who are distributed very liberally , as regards numbers , among the States and Territories which compose it ; and we may reasonably expect that , ere many years have passed , when the country has become more thickly populated , the present number will have been very largely augmented . Had the United States been an old country , the progress of

Freemasonry would have been less remarkable , or , atall events , its position would have rested on less secure foundations . The reason of this is obvious . In a vast expanse of country , where even a numerous population seems scanty , and the statute law of an organised community is less implicitly obeyed than where the law has reigned more or less supreme for a long

course of centuries , men are apt to look to each other for that goodwill and neighbourly support which is essential to their happiness and success ; and there is no Society whose principles are so likely to prove efficacious in promoting this mutual goodwill and support as Freemasonry . It

instils into the hearts of men the nei ghbourly duty of doing unto others as they would be done by , and in the more sparselypopulated regions of the far West , where [ the representatives of the law , not being ubiquitous , are by no means ever present to impress people with

its transcendent powers , it is more often the influence of Freemasonry than the influence of the law which impels men to do the thing that is right . The same may be said of the influence exercised by our Fraternity in the Dominion of Canada and in our great Australasian Colonies , where , though

there are regularly organised governments , the influence of the law is but 'ittle felt in the remoter districts . At the Antipodes , in particular , where the several governments which have been organised are of comparatively recent establishment , the influence of Freemasonry is more real than

apparent . There are only some four or five hundred lodges scattered about among our Australasian Colonies , with only a few thousands of brethren a 'l told , yet it is only the other day that our Ri ght Rev . Bro . S . T . NEVILL , Bishop of Dunedin , New Zealand , who had been summoned to this country

to attend the Pan-Anglican Synod , paid a visit to his old lodge—the Mentuna , No . 418 , Hanley—of which in former days he had been W . M . —and , ln repl ying to the toast of his health , bore willing and grateful testimony to the beneficent influence which our Society exercises among the population

01 his diocese . He explained that , though as a bishop he had suffered just a '' ttle through allying himself with the Masons , he had never hesitated jtoout doing so , because , as a minister of religion , he had never discovered n "eemasonrv anything that was inconsistent with thf > nrinr-mlpc ™ wrh i , »

, jas called upon to preach . Moreover , as he pointed out , New Zealand is a p eW Colony , and inhabitedjby men of all nations , yet under whatever flag reemasons sailed thither , the moment they met together they were brothers , a consequentl y the service which Freemasonry rendered in uniting and

as th " Pe ° ° f different nationalities was incalculable . Such testimony his to the beneficent influence of Freemasonry from a distinguished an /^ ' ° P resides over a diocese as large as the whole of Ireland

h us iurther statement that , whenever the opportunity presented itself , church ° thC brethren t 0 assist him in la y ' ng the foundation-stones of cnes and other similar buildings , clearly prove that our estimate of rnu „ v ° as a civilisit , g influence in new or comparativel y new complies is very far from being exaggerated .

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CHESHIRE has latterly been one of the chief centres of Masonic Craft ' m activity . In addition to the ordinary lodge gatherings , there Cheshire . haye been meetingS 0 f the Prov . Grand Lodge at Knutsford on the 19 th ult ., and of the Prov . G . Chapter at Crewe , on the 27 th ult .,

an especial interest attaching to the latter of these in consequence of its being the occasion selected for the installation of Comp . the Rev . C . W . SPENCER S TANHOPE as Grand Superintendent of R . A . Masons , in succession to the late Comp . Lord DE TABLEY , who had occupied that post concurrently with the Prov . G . Mastership for many years . The Prov . G .

Lodge meeting at Knutsford was presided over by Bro , Lord EOERTON or TATTON , Prov , G . Master , in person , and his lordship in his address to the assembled brethren was able to congratulate them on the satisfactory con „ dition of Masonry in Cheshire , on its numerical strength—which had been well maintained during the past year—and on the state of their funds , the

amount of capital they have invested being £ 1200 . He also spoke of the lodges having been ably conducted during the year , and the obligations they were under to give as much support as possible to the central Masonic Institutions , more particularly as Cheshire was deriving considerable benefit from them . He also alluded to the loss sustained by Freemasonry as a

whole through the lamented death of the Emperor FREDERICK , protector of German Freemasons , and the splendid success of the Girls' School Centenary Festival , in which the Province , he rejoiced to say , had borne a useful and an honourable part , and he concluded by proposing that a sum of 100 guineas be contributed to the London Charities—a proposition

which , it is needless to say , was passed without a single dissentient voice . Subsequently , his lordship entertained the brethren at his seat at Tatton Park , and the day was brought to a close amid mutual demonstrations of respect and goodwill . The meeting of the Provincial Grand Chapter was necessarily less impressive as regards the number of those present , but it

had its compensation in the more imposing but less frequent spectacle which it offered of the installation of a new chief of the Royal Arch Degree in the Province . The companion whom the Grand Z . had chosen for the office of Grand Superintendent—Comp . the Rev . C . W . SPENCER STANHOPE—is in all respects worthy of the honour conferred upon him by his

Royal Hig hness . He has discharged the various duties which have been required of him during a career extending over the best part of a quarter of a century with exemplary tact and ability . He is deservedly popular in Cheshire , as he is likewise in London Masonic circles , and it is but

reasonable to expect that under his directing care and influence R . A . Masonry in Cheshire will continue to flourish as abundantly as under the late Comp . Lord DE TABLEY . We congratulate Comp . SPENCER STANHOPE on his appointment to so exalted an office , and the Province on having so . distinguished a Mason as the Superintendent of their chapters .

* * * The THE recent meeting of the Prov . G . Lodge at Gateshead , Prov . G . Lodge jer the auspices of the two lodges held in that town—the Durham . Industry , No . 48 , and the Borough , No . 424—was a great sue .

cess . Bro . Sir HEDWORTH WILLIAMSON , Bart ., Prov . G . Master , presided in person , and the attendance of brethren was larger than usual . The reports , too , which were submitted by the Charities' and other Committees were eminently satisfactory . The Prov . G . Treasurer ' s statement of account showed a balance in hand of over £ 292 . The Fund Committee ,

whose report was read by the worthy Deputy P . G . M ., Bro . Rev . Canon TRISTRAM , Past G . Chaplain of England , recommended that £ 2 $ should be given to the Durham Masonic Educational Fund , and 200 guineas distributed among our Central Charities , 100 guineas being allotted to the Boys' School , and 50 guineas each to the Girls' School and Benevolent

Institution . Bro . BRADLEY , Secretary of the Chanties Committee , handed in its nth annual report , and from this we learn that since the establishment of this Committee its ^ uccess has been most gratifying . It has carried the election into the London Masonic Institutions of n boys , three girls , three male annuitants , and one widow annuitant . It had a number of

candidates on its list , whose election it would be its duty to promote , and taking into consideration the benefits it was receiving from the principal Masonic Institutions , it strongly urged upon the Province to contribute to its utmost ability towards their maintenance and support . As regards the Durham Masonic Educational Fund ,

the work it was doing was considerable . It was assisting in the education and part maintenance of if children , at an annual outlay of over J ( , ; it had a capital of nearly ^ 8 32 , which had been all raised since 1882 , and the allowances to children per annum ranged from ^ 40 to ^ 90 . The address of the PROV . GRAND MASTER was characterised b y his usual

geniality . He congratulated the brethren on the numerical strength of- the province , the number of subscribing members being 2200 . He paid a handsome compliment to the entertaining lodges for the admirable manner in which they had received Provincial Grand Lodge , and he spoke in terms oi high commendation of the working in those lodges which he had had the