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THE MASTER MASON'S HANDBOOK , by Bro . FRED . J . W . CROWS , with an Introduction by Bro . W . J . HUGHAN , P . G . D ., & c . The Master Mason ' s Handbook is a compendium of all information necessary to a knowledge of English Masonry , comprising—An Historical Sketch of Freemasonry—The Grand Lodge : Its Origin and Constitution—Private Lodges , Metropolitan and Provincial—Visiting Private Lodges-Titles , their uses and abbreviations—The Great Masonic Institutions—The " Higher " or additional Degrees , and how to obtain them . Price is . GEOBCK KENNING , 16 & 16 A , GT . QUMSN ST ., W . O

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WANTED . —A FREEMASON TO give or procure a SITUATION for a Brother of large business experience and good abilities , whose distress arises from misfortunes and family troubles . He is a Brother well known in Masonic circles , a P . M . of three Lodges , a Past Grand Officer of England , Craft and Arch , P . Prov . Dep . Grand M . M . M ., Hon . Prov . Grand Secretary of his Province for 16 years , Vice-President of the Charities , 31 , P . P . Kt . T ., & c—Address , " MASON , " care of Mrs . Grote , 67 , Di . rham-road , S ' parkhill , Birmingham .

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PHOSNIX FIRE OFFICE , 19 , LOMBARD ST ., & 57 , CHARING CROSS , LONDON . —Established 1782 . LOWIGT Current Rates I Assured free of all Liability Liberal and Prompt Settlements I Electric Lighting Rules supplied W . C . MACDONALD , f Joint F . B . MACDONALD . I Secretaries .

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pAIETY RESTAURANT , STRAND . LUNCHEONS ( HOT AND COLD ) , At Popular Prices , in BUFFKT and RESTAURANT ( on First Floor ) , also Chops , Steaks , Joints , Entrees , & c , in the GRILL ROOM . AFTERNOON TEA , Consisting of Tea or Coffee , Cut Bread and Butter , Jam , Cake , Pastry , ad lib ., at Is . per head , served from 4 till 6 in RESTAURANT ( First Floor ) . DINNERS IN RESTAURANT From 5 . 30 till 9 , at fixed prices ( 3 s . 6 d . and 5 s . ) and a la Carte . Smoking after 7 . 45 . AMERICAN BAR . THE GRILL ROOM is open till 12 . 30 . ¦ PRIVATE DINING ROOMS for large and small Parties . SPIERS & POND , Ltd ., PROPRIETORS .

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w & 4 gi £ fa £ *^ fiflffl ^ i Hl i $ *> i K/jpilt/5/ma5y»^ SATURDAY , AUGUST 14 , 18 97 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

We mentioned last week that in the award of Past rank to distinguished Royal Arch Masons , while the full number of 60 was preserved , and the proportions among London , the Provinces , and Abroad , there were sundry of the companions thus honoured who had not

received Past rank in Grand Lodge , being appointed in place of those who bad , but were ineligible lor Grand Chapter office . We think it will be generally conceded that the standard of merit which characterised the Craft appointments , as a whole , has been well Maintained in those of the Royal Arch . Thus as re-

Masonic Notes.

gards the 25 appointments in London , we find prominent amongst them Comp . the Earl of Portarlingtonwho , as the Senior Grand Warden of United Grand Lodge , and the present ' / . . of a chapter , is eligible for office in Grand Chapter—has been appointed Past G .

Scribe N ., while Comp . Strachan , Q . C ., who , for his services in the Provinces , was awarded the rank of Past Grand Deacon , is now honoured with that of Past Deputy Grand Registrar , as a London Mason . Comps . Edmund Pontifex , the Rev . A . W . Oxford ,

M . A ., W . H . Stanger , J . Leach Barret" -, Captain R . Gresley Hall , Mihill Slaughter , W . B . Fendick , H . A . Tobias , and E . Cutler , Q . C ., are the other London companions who have been awarded Past rank in Supreme Grand Chapter , and though the names of some of them may not be familiar outside their own

circle of Masonic acquaintances , we know that such as Comps . the Rev . A . W . Oxford , M . A ., J . Leach Barrett , Captain Gresley Hall , and E . Cutler , who is Past Grand Organist of Grand Lodge , have done good services to Masonry * and its Institutions , and fully deserve the honours now bestowed upon them in Royal Arch Masonry .

Among the 25 provincial companions who receive Past rank in place of Jubilee Craft Past G . Officers who were not eligible for office in Supreme Grand Chapter will be found the following , namely , Comp . J . H . Salter ( Essex ) , who is made Past A . G . Soj . ; Comps .

John J . Williams , Prov . G . Scribe E . Buckinghamshire , and Bernard G . Edyvean ( Cornwall ) , who are now Past G . S . Bs . ; and Comps . Charles Bullock , Prov . G . Scribe E . Hertfordshire , and G . W . G . Barnard , Prov . G . Scribe E . Norfolk , who receive brevet rank as Past Grand Standard Bearers . Of the 10 hailing from

abroad the following did not receive Past rank in Craft Masonry , namely , Comps . E . J . Smith , Dist . G . Scribe E . Bombay ; Joseph Clarke , Dist . G . Scribe E . South Africa ( E . D . ) ; and A . O'Driscoll Gordon , Dist . G . Scribe E . Hong Kong and South China , who are appointed Past Grand Standard Bearers .

* Very sincere regret will be felt by a large number of our readers at the sad and unexpected news of the death of Bro . John Larkin , J . P . The deceased had been slightly out of health for a short time past , but

his condition was not of so serious a character as to cause any anxiety to his family and friends . However , he died on Saturday last , and will be greatly missed by all who had the privilege of his acquaintance . Bro . Larkin was a P . M . of the Lodge of

Fidelity , No . 3 , and of the Aldersgate Lodge , No . 1657 , but the generous support he gaye to our Charitable Institutions and the active interest he took in their welfare constitute his strongest claim upon the respect of his brethren . He was , as will be seen

from our report elsewhere , a Patron of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution and Vice-Patron of both our Schools , while he had served many Stewardships in their behalf . We offer our respectful sympathy to the widow , family and friends of our deceased brother on the loss they have just sustained .

Our respected contemporary the Keystone of Philadelphia , since it entered upon its 31 st volume , has appeared in a new form , the change , in our opinion , being greatly for the better . It retains all its old

characteristics . It is still the same well-edited , wellinformed Masonic journal , but in the matter of size , it is now a sixteen-page paper , and is far handier than when it was only an eight page .

* * The Grand Lodge of New York held its n 6 : h annual communication in the Masonic Hall , New York , on Wednesday and Thursday , the 2 nd and 3 rd June respectively . Bro . Stewart , M . W . G . M ., presided ,

and there was a large attendance of Grand Officers , present and past , and lodge representatives . The G . Master delivered a long and interesting address , in the course of which he passed in review all the principal events of the past year , and expressed his

opinions freely on questions of a controversial charac " ter . We are glad to find th at he is strongly opposed to the new-fangled idea of Masonic benevolence , which requires that "each Grand Lodge" should * ' enforce the reimbursement of moneys spent by their subordinate lodges in relieving the distress of visiting

brethren . " Bro . Stewart declares with reference to this " that the adoption of such a system would for ever be a blight upon the name of Masonry . The well-known and prescribed duties Masons owe to each other , the well-known and defined principles of our Craft , demand that our gifts must be a free-will offer-

Masonic Notes.

ing , emanating from a pure desire to perform those duties and uphold those principles . The very intimation of a return m'ist be rejected with scorn as insult - ing to the high calling of our Fraternity . "

* * » We are indebted to the courtesy of the Dist . Grand Secretary of Natal—Bro . John B . Cottam—for a copy of the Proceedings at ( 1 ) the half-yearly Communication of the District Grand Lodge of Natal , held in the

Masonic Hall , Avoca , on the iSth September , 1806 ; and ( 2 ) at the half-yearly Communication at the Masonic Hall , Durban , on the 16 th March last . At the former meeting Bro . George Russell , Dep . District G . M ., presided in the unavoidable absence of the Dist .

G . M ., and , in the course of the address which he had occasion to deliver , took the opportunity to congratulate the brethren on the prosperous condition of

Freemasonry in the District . At the same time he expressed his belief that District Grand Lodge should do more towards strengthening its funds for purposes of benevolence .

# ? * At the meeting in Durban in March last Bro . Wesley Francis , Dist . G . M ., presided , and was supported by his respected Deputy , the great majority of his District Grind Officers and the representatives of the

lodges . He , too , spoke in terms of satisfaction at the state of the Craft under his authority , and having called attention to one or two matters of detail in reference to the lodges , he went on to suggest that some steps of a Charitable nature should be taken

with a view to commemorating worthily the Diamond J ubilee of her Majesty the Queen . Bro . Francis , however , laid stress upon the desirability that such a scheme , of what nature soever it might be , should be adopted voluntarily by the lodges and brethren . " I

should just like , " said the District Grand Master , " to lay this down as a fundamental principle that I trust that whatever is done will be of an essentially voluntary character and that no call will be made upon lodges or brethren save in the way of a free-will offering on their

part , I do not wish to see any enforced subscri ption in the scheme which we propose now to initiate . " Subsequently the District Grand Master appointed his officers for the ensuing year , and the proceedings shortly afterwards terminated .

# # « With reference to a proposal initiated sometime ago by the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin to the effect that a lodge which has expended money in relieving a brother in distress should be entitled to reimbursement from the

lodge the relieved brother belonged to , and failing that to the Grand Lodge of the jurisdiction in which his lodge was situated , we note with pleasure that the Grand Lodge of Indiana has again declined giving its adhesion to the scheme . At the 76 th

annual meeting held at Indianopolis on the 25 th and 26 th May last , a resolution was adopted to the effect that " the Grand Lodge of Indiana has at all times contended and held that a Mason in distress is entitled

to aid and assistance from the Fraternity wherever he may be at the time of his need , and that , as a matter of law , his lodge is not bound to make any restitution , though it may always do so at its own option . "

1 he sooner Wisconsin sees its way to withdrawing its objectionable scheme the better , and we hope the other Grand Lodges in the United States which hive not already adopted a similar course to Indiana , will lose no time in doing so . The litter is quite right in its

declaration that as a matter of law , " a lodge " is not bound to make any restitution" of the sum expended in relieving one of its members who happened to be in temporary distress , " tluugh it may always do so at its own option . " If the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin has any

doubt upon the subject , let the next case in which a distressed member of one of its lodges h relieved by another of its lodges be brought into a court of law , and let the latter claim the restitution of money which it has never received , and cannot-show , authority for

spending , and we venture to think the statement in the resolution of the Grand Lodge will be found true to the letter—that no man or body of men " is bound to make restitution " of what is " freely and voluntarily " given in Charity .

* » * If the result of such a reference to the law courts does not satisfy the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin , then

let it organise itself as a Committee for consulting Noah Webster ' s Dictionary for the meaning of the word " Charity , " and if that does not satisfy it let it formulate a definition of its own of Masonic Charity ,