Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS aj The Royal Masonic Henevolent Institution . ( Continue , !) 2 _| Royal Masonic Institution for flirls 27 Txv ' elfth-Night Entertainment at the Girls ' School 27 Royal Masonic Institution for Hoys 27

Dedication of the Nexv Masonic Hall at Crowle 27 Freemasonry in Devon and Cornwall , 1 SS 3 27 Complimentary Dinner tn l . ilerary Hrethren 27 ClIKHERI'OXllE . v ' cEAccommodation of Members of Grand Lodge 2 S Province of Went l-aiicashire 20 Visiting Hrethren , ele . —A Ouery ..... 29

CORRESPONDENTE ( Continued)—The Sackvillc Medal 29 llaverslock Hill Working Orphan Votes 2 tj Reviews 29 Notes and Queries , 29 Annual Masonic Hall in Lieerpool 30 Grand Masonic Charitable Hall at Leeds ... 30

Gallery Lodge Hall 30 RETORTS OF MASONIC MEETIXOSCraft Masonry 30 Instruction 36 Royal Arch 37 Mark Masonry 37 Scotland 37 Masonic and General Tidings 3 S Lodee Meetiiies for Next \ Veek ... Pai * e 3 Cover

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SOME recent changes in the laws of the Girls' and Boys' School deserve notice . Following thc example of thc Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , Patrons can qualify with two hundred guineas for eighty votes , ladies and Lewises for one hundred guineas , and lodges and societies with four hundred guineas . We deem these alterations wise and seasonable , nnd believe that they will work well .

•" * A VERY important question was raised on Monday last in respect of the boy HKRKI NO , which we arc glad lo report elsewhere as finally settled . It would

in our humble opinion , have been an exercise of " mala fides " toxvards the Province of West Lancashire , after a deliberate vote of a Quarterly Court specially on the point , and a successful election , if HERRING ' admission lo the School had been in anv way impeded further .

••* A VERV remarkable circular , in its representative character , . is regards lhc election of Grand Treasurer , which wc publish elsewhere , vvill command attention and invoke perusal .

Wir arc informed that lhc Revised Book of Constitutions is in the printer ' s hands , but is not expected lo be ready for delivery for some five or six weeks . »* # TIIE present position of French Masonry is a source of deep anxiety to nil

lovers of our good Order , to all loyal member ? , of our Cosmopolitan Fraternity . From the admission of friends , from thc inculpation of foes , ils official documents and contemporary independent publications , it is all but impossible to predicate whether it is really moving or in what form of departure from our ancient and sacred landmarks it will eventuall y settle

down . From the time that it opened its ears to the "Tempter , " from the hour it yielded to the fascinations of the destructive theories of MASSOL , from thc startling scene of that earthly " Apotheosis" of LITTRE , its course has been a downward o . ie . " Facilis descensus Avcrni . " Despite thc able defence of Bro . CAUHKT , all impartial readers felt that Monseignor

Dup . wuovi' had found out many weak points and had properly and forcibly exposed many deplorable offences against order , religion , law . As regards Anglo-Saxon FVcemasons , lhc follies of the Commune , outrageous and revolting , thc revolutionary changes in thc Old Formula , -, the hopeless position assumed by thc movement party and the " espirit forts " in thc

French Grand Orient , made them regard with impatience , disapproval , nay disgust , thc proceedings of a body so regardless of its own interests , so forgetful of the obligations of Cosmopolitan Freemasonry , as practically to take an entire " new departure , " and abjure and surrender venerable truths and cherished Formula ; , which had stood the test oi 200 years , and

successfully delicd the encroaching hand of time . At present French FVcemasonry stands before thc world , utterly ignoring the name of God , and welcoming within its pale , not only those who may be classed as Voltarian deists , but those foolish people who say in their hearts there is " no God . " Toleration is

thc"badgeofour tribe , but not tolerance of Atheism . Wc say nothing here of that mixing up with political questions and social discussions which constitutes Ihe great weakness of French Freemasonry , but we feel bound to premise , as our leading principle in the discussion , that until the French Grand Orient restores lo its Constitution the

declaration of belief in Gon , thc Great Architcknos , it is impossible for Anglo-Saxon Masons to share its labours , to partake of its hospitality , or to bid it " Go » speed . " Some of us may recall VOLTAIRE ' S famous lines , which wc commend to all French Freemasons * . Rcconnaissons un Dieu , quoique tres mal servi ,

De Iezards et rats mon logis est rempli ; Mais l'Architecte existe , et quiconque ne Lie , Sous le manteau dc sage est attcint de manic . We are sincerely sorry for French Freemasons and French Freemasonry . We receive authenticated statements of candidates rejected deliberately and

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avowedly because they do believe in Gon , and the effect of the recent most lamentable changes has been to discourage a large portion of religiously-minded French Freemasons , and to bring to the fore the Sceptic , the Positix-ist , the open unbeliever . What chance of success an appeal can now havc , practically , to ignore the past and renew intercommunication , is not

difficult to predicate . liven , at this very moment , new changes arc asked for , new departures are impending , and a Commission is appointed again to alter thc constitution , Anglo-Saxon Freemasons will naturally ask , Whither are you going ? Quo lendis ' ¦ ! What next ? With every good feeling for French FVcemasons and the Grand Orient of France , with every disapproval of

childish denunciations and effete persecutions , wc fear that many of their words and acts lay them open to the serious animadversions of the loyal and the reverent ; and until they change their practices nnd retrace their steps , and frequent more respectable Masonic company , we can only kindly , but firmly reply to circulars however plausible , nnd professions however sentimental , " Non possumus . "

•••THERE arc complaints sometimes made of typc-ical mistakes , and wc always bow to the accusation meekly , and submit lo lhc agreeable " apple-twigs . " Hut our esteemed contemporary thc Standard has made so amusing a blunder , gravely and laboriously , that we feel comforted and soothed when " hauled

over the coals . " ll may be meant as a joke ; if so , it is rather ponderous and far-fetched . Alluding to a Mr . GEORGE SMITH , whose best abode would seem to be a House of Correction , our contemporary goes on to say " It is really wonderful what a nnmber of errors SMITH fell into in a short

space of time . Me was obviously inaccurate in thc suggestion that Sir J AMES INGHAM obtained a Senior Wranglership nt Cambridge , for neither Sir J AMES nor any one else has ever done so , that distinction being confined to students at Oxford . " Such a sentence may be a joke j but wc arc in * clincd to think that it is a slight "lapsus pennre . "

•* . AMID the great destitution existing and so many sad cases of absolute penury coming before the philanthropic and charitable every day , the following paragraph , taken from a contemporary of FViclny last , seems to us absolutely appalling in its folly and recklessness and waste ; " The

CLAIMANT was visited in thc Convict Prison at Portsmouth yesterday by Mr . OUARTF . RMAINK FAST nnd other friends , who informed him that the lion . Miss UARINI ; had given J * LUIE four hundred pounds to enable him to go to Australia and obtain evidence . " That the most fearful case of

impudence and fraud and perjury combined that this age has seen should thus have good money thrown away upon it , when it is so much needed * for countless good claims , suggests many ' most painful considerations . We hope that there is seme mistake in thc matter .

The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

( Continued from page 14 . ) Two days later the first election came off , when 15 out of an approved list of iti candidates svere accepted , the amount of their several annuities being determined at a special meeting held on the 26 th May , the aggregate sum to be paid away amounting lo ^ " 305 and being made up of five annuities of

£ 25 each , six of £ 20 each , and four of £ i § each . In June it was resolved on paying thc Secretary an annual stipend of £ 50 as originally proposed , and a Finance Committee of Audit was appointed , the brethren selected to serve on it being Bros . John Havers , Isaac Walton , and John L . Hvans , and their days of meeting being fixed for the third Wednesday in July ,

October , January , and April . In August it was announced by the Secretary that he had taken the necessary steps to have the funded properly of the Institution , which up to that time had been invested in the names of the Marquis of Salisbury , D . G . M ., and Richard Percival , Grand Treasurer , only , as thc ex-oflicio Trustees , transferred to thc names of the Marquis of

Salisbury , Richard Percival , B . Bond Cabbell , and Isaac Walton , thc two last named having been in thc meantime elected by the subscribers to be Trustees in accordance with the regulations of thc Charity . However , this

arrangement did not stand for very long . The Marquis of Salisbury withdrew from Freemasonry altogether about this time and when Lord Howe was appointed Deputy Grand Master , his name was , as a matter of course , substituted for that of the Marquis .

In the second report which was furnished to Grand Lodge by the Committee of Management , stress was again laid on the importance of further exertions in behalf of the Fund , the character of which does not appear to have become much more widely known since the corresponding period of