Contents.

CONTENTS .

L SAD « RS 39 ' provincial Grand Lodge of Kent 393 provincial Grand Chapter of Durham ... 393 Review 303 The So-called Inigo Jones Mi > . of the Old Charges of British Freemasons 39 + Gould ' s History of Freemasonry 395 Early Mention of " Deacons " in the Athol

Grand Lodge Minutes 306 The Order of the Secret Monitor 3911 Funeral of a Veteran Freemason at Liverpool 397 Masonic Jubilee Celebration at Blackpool 397 The Craft Abroad 397 (' ORRESPONnENCEThe Ancient and Moderns 399

i CORRESI ' ONOENCE ( Continued)—Secresy of the Ballot—Blackballing 400 A Masonic Impostor 400 West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution 400 Reviews 400 REPORTS or MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 400

Instruction 402 Roval Arch 402 Knights Templar 402 Allied Masonic Degrees 403 Ancient and Accepted Rite 403 . Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution 403 Masonic and General Tidings 403 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 404

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Con secration TO-DAY ( Friday ) Brighton will be the scene of an mterestof the j . J \/ Ias 0 nic ceremony , in which for the first time since his Earl of Sussex *» J ' Lodge , No . ssor . installation in office as Prov . Grand Master of Sussex , the Dukeof CONNAUGHT will take the principal part . The ceremony we

allude to will be that of consecrating the Earl of Sussex Lodge , No . 2201 , so named in honour of his Royal Highness , and will take place at the Royal Pavilion , Brighton , and when it is completed Bro . GERARD FORD , D . P . G . M . Sussex , will be installed as the first W . M . We anticipate that everything will pass off satisfactorily , and we trust the high expectations formed as to the future of the new lodge will be fully realised .

* # * IT seems there are some 160 Stewards for the 19 th Anniversary Benevolent Fund Festival of this Fund on Wednesday next , the 20 th inst . —not estiva . aS ) , a cierj ca ] error ) we were made to say last week , on the

27 th instant—and that the prospect of a generous response being made to Bro . Earl Amherst ' s appeal for funds is reasonably good . We trust it may turn out to be in fact , what it seems to be in prospect , and that next week we shall have the privilege of recording the highest total of subscriptions ever yet announced at the Anniversary of this Fund ,

NEXT week there will be published in our columns the first T for Girls ' ' instalment of the " History of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls . " It is intended as a memorial of the Centenary of

the School , and will be written by Bro . G . B . ABBOTT , at whose disposal the Secretary has very courteously placed the Minute Books and other official archives of the Institution for purposes of consultation and reference . The history will be continued week by week , and will be a companion to the Histories of the Boys' School and Benevolent Institution by the same writer .

0 nr FRIDAY , the 22 nd inst ., is to be a "high time" for the Eng-American lish Rosicrucians , the Metropolitan College , of which the U " ' R . W . Frater ROBERT ROY is the Master , having - decided to

entertain M . W . Frater C . E . MEYER , S . M . of the United States , and other distinguished Rosicrucians , who will then be on a visit to this country . Dr . WOODMAN , S . M . of England , Bro . HUGHAN , Past S . S . M ., and other ' Rosicrucian Lights , " have promised to attend , so that this reception bids

• air to be one of the most important of the many to be tendered our respected American guests . The assembl y is to be held in the Masonic Hall , I 6 A , weat Queen-street , and the banquet is to be served at the Holborn Restaurant . There is no lack of business , according to the agenda paper issued b y Frater Dr , W . WYNN WESTCOTT , the honorary Secretary .

# OUR worthy contemporary , the Canadian Craftsman , appears Jwisdktion . to nave Deen somewhat amused at the expression— " the beauties of concurrent jurisdiction "—we used in one of our articles on the

Quebec question a few months since , and to which we referred incidentally ast week . Possibly the language may have been a little too ornate , or more { el y still , the idea we sought to convey by it may have been so entirely range that our Canadian friend had no other course open than to treat w'th a little ridicule of the mild and inoffensive order . We have no

obiecn to this mode of dealing with a statement of fact . It betrays a certain acuit y of mind on the part of our contemporary that it should laugh at at it does not understand , but clearly that is no fault of ours . Let it laugh th ' r W '" ' tflere is not a Colony or Dependency 0 / the British Crown , in which wand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland , exercise concurrent

Th k ' ' but l ' iat tne beauties are as patent as the jurisdiction itself . e brethren under the three Constitutions work together in perfect har-( , , " When a question of procedure or of law arises , it is settled off''ttiir / h ^ ' . 3 y' So that but for the differences of system which exist , it alle ima g ' ned that the English , Irish , and Scotch lodges owed and paid Oisfr ' 31106 t 0 ° ne and lhe Same Su P reme authority . In Bombay the English best" ? Grand Lodge and the Scottish Grand Lodge of all India are on the P ° ssibl terms ' meet ' ng in the same Hall , exchanging courtesies on every e occasion , and assisting each other whenever the occasion may seem ,

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to demand assistance . In Victoria the harmony is so complete , that the three jurisdictions are presided over by the same brother—Sir W . CLARKE , Bart . —who is District Grand Master for England and Scotland and Prov . Grand Master for Ireland . Even in Nova Scoti 3 , which has a Grand Lodge of its own , while there is one English lodge remaining in its orig inal

allegiance , it is not so very long since Bro . Major-General LAURIE , at the time Grand Master of Nova Scotia , was in the habit of visiting , in company with his Grand Officers , the said English lodge , and he expressed his opinion that by its presence within the jurisdiction of Nova Scotia " a healthy emulation" was " promoted , " and both pinies were " the better for it . " In all

these instances "the beauties of concurrent jurisdiction" are so manifest that we need not apologise for being somewhat proud of them . Yet , if the Canadian Craftsman wishes it , we are prepared to believe that what was possible in Canada , when the Grand Lodge of that name presided over Freemasonry in the whole of that part of the present Dominion , and what

is possible now in Nova Scotia , in Western India , in Victoria , and elsewhere , is so ridiculously absurd as to be quite out of the question in the Province of Quebec . In that case , however , we must be pardoned if we do not think very highly of Freemasonry as it is interpreted by the Grand Lodge of Ouebec , which has made it impossible for the lodges of two branches of the same system " to dwell together in unity . "

*^ TheG . r .. of ail THE report of the Grand Lodge of all Scottish Freemasonry Scottish ; n lnfJia for the past year is highly satisfactory in all respects . Freemasonry L J . , , , .... , , in India . Returns have been received from the majority of the lodges ,

and these show a slight increase in the number of subscribing members as compared with 1885 , while two new lodges , the " Lyon , " No . 735 , and the " Royal Jubilee , " No . 742 , have been placed on the roll ol the Grand Lodge of Scotland . The Grand Master , Bro . Capt . HENRY MORLAND , reports having visited every lodge in Bombay but one , which he was

prevented attending by unavoidable circumstances , and the Depute Grand Master , Bro . J . Y . LANG , had visited the Calcutta lodges , where the welcome accorded to him was of a most enthusiastic character . A fitting tribute of respect is paid by the Grand Master to the memory of the late Bro . J AMES GIBBS , Past D . G . M . Bombay , and Honorary Past Grand

Master of the Grand Lodge of all Scotush Freemasonry in India , and it is announced that anew edition has been issued of the Book of Constitutions . Financially , the Society appears to be in a very prosperous position . The General Fund shows a total of receipts , including a balance of 2000 rupees brought forward from previous account , amounting to upwards of 6487

rupees , the expenditure being slightly in excess of 4175 rupees , and the balance remaining in hand over 2312 rupees . The Fund of Benevolence has a capital of 13 , 400 rupees , lucratively invested , the amounts expended during the year being—for " the education and maintenance of orphans , " 840 rupees ; 5 60 rupees for the relief of widows ; and 590 rupees

for the relief of necessitous brethren ; while the expenses of administration were under 33 rupees . The Hall Fund Account is equally gratifying , the amount received during the year in respect of rent being 8257 rupees , and the balance in favour of the Hall Committee somewhat in excess of 6500 rupees , or rather more than the balance to the goodwill which the year

opened . We must congratulate our Scottish brethren in India on the exemplary condition of the Craft under their Constitutions , as well as on the evidence furnished by the concluding paragraph of the report— " Our relations with the sister Constitution continue to be of the most fraternal character "—that it is quite possible for lodges under two different Constitutions to work together harmoniously .

* * * WE anticipate that Bro . Dr . BEGEMANN ' remarkable article Inigo Jones on the " So-called INIGO J ONES MS . " is being carefully studied ¦ by our English experts , and that soon one or more of them will

be in a position to either support or object to the theory advocated so ably and persistently by the brother referred lo . This is , beyond question , a " time of trial "for all documents relating to the Fraternity , and whilst it is true that some have nobly stood the ordeal , and even come out of the "fire" older than they were previously supposed to be—notably the "COOKE

MS ., " now referred to early 15 th century—others have certainly suffered not a little through the examination . Bros . HUGHAN and GOULD , who have made the " Old Charges of British Freemasons " their special otudy , were probably aware of what may be termed Dr . BEGEMANN ' theory ; but to all our other readers we anticipate that the publication of his opinion of the

" INIGO J ONES MS . ' has come upon them as asurprise , and that they would hail with satisfaction the publication of any facts which favour its 17 th origin . Already it has been lowered from 1607 to a period near that of 16 70 , but now it is claimed for 1725 , or thereabouts , and declared to be " a

falsification—nothing else . ' Well , if it is of 1725 , let it be so agreed j but meanwhile we await criticism on the subject , and are not inclined to the later date at present , though we are bound to admit that the arguments and statements ' relied upon by Dr , BEGEMANN are very weighty and most destructive of the