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ARMFIELD'S SOUTH PLACE HOTEL , FINSBURY , LONDON , E . C , This new and handsomely-furnished Hotel is now FULLY LICENCED . Its position is central , and charges are moderate ; the sanitation is perfect . Passenger lift to WFCIAL CONVENIENCE FOR MASONIC LODGES , DINNERS AND CINDERELLAS .

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WASHING WELL DONE AND ACCURATELY RETURNED . Old Established . VICTORIA LAUNDRY WORKS , Child ' s Hill , Hendon . Prospectus free .

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QHCENIX FIRE OFFICE , 1 I 0 , LOMBARD ST ., & 57 ; CHARING CROSS , LONDON . —Established 1782 . Low IST Current Rates I Assured free of all Liability rubral and Prompt Settlements Electric Lighting Rules supplied Liberaia v w Q MACDONALD . f Joint F . B . MACDONALD . I Secretaries .

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A Feature of the Metropolis . SPIERS & POND'S pRITERION RESTAURANT , PICCADILLY CIRCUS , LONDON , VV . EAST ROOM . Finest Cuisine , unsurpassed by the most renowned Parisian Restaurants , Luncheons , Dinners and Suppers a la carte and prix fixe . Viennese Band . GRAND HALL . Musical Dinner 3 s . Cd . per head . Accompanied by the Imperial Austrian Band . WEST ROOM . Academy Luncheon 2 s . Cd ., Diner Parisien 5 s ., during both of which the renowned Mandolin Quartette performs . BUFFET & GRILL ROOM . Quick service a la carte and moderate prices . Joints in each room fresh from the Spit every half-hour . AMERICAN BAR . Service of special American Dishes , Grills , & c . Splendid Suites of Rooms for Military ami other Dinners .

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Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

It will be seen from our advertisement columns that , annuaI ^ stival of the Emulation Lodge of improvement will be held at the Freemasons' Tavern , ''"day , the 2 Sth instant . Lod ge will meet at 1 SATURDAY , FEBRUARY IO , 189 S .

£ ...., wnen the Second Lecture will be worked , after " ¦ eh supper will be held in the adjoining room , the c » 'rbetng occupied b y Bro . R . D . M . Littler , C . B . dut' T P' G' Reg " Tickets t 0 incl "de lodge N oil ' l ? , M UppCr ' but 0 xc ! usive ° f wines - Ss . each . '¦ ° » e but Master Masons are eligible to attend

» * » No 4 « " ? f [ meetin 8 of th <* Salisbury Lodge , Bro 43 T 5 ' r on Tuesday , the > th instant , when M « teJ . rh ° ^ r Sta"ley WaS insta , led int ° ^ c as <^ chair , before a representative Board of

Masonic Notes.

Installed Masters . During the banquet the music of an orchestra , afterwards followed by a choice selection of concerted vocal music and songs , all under the direction of W . Bro . John Read , P . M ., P . P . G . Org . Middx ., was highly appreciated . Full particulars are promised for our next issue .

* * * We have great pleasure in announcing that the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls has scored another success in connection with the Cambridge Middle Class Examinations . Twenty-one of its pupils were entered for the Preliminary , and of these all but two were successful in satisfying the I Examiners .

* » * Few among the Charitable Institutions which have recently been established appeal more strongly to the sympathies of the Craft than the " Home of St . Barnabas , " which was founded in 18 95 by Bro . the Rev . Canon Cooper , P . P . G . C . Sussex , for the purpose of

providing "perittanent homes for destitute and disabled clergymen of unblemished character . " Its patrons are Bro . the Earl of Jersey , Prov . G . Master of Oxfordshire , and Bro . Lord Leigh , Prov . G . Master of Warwickshire , while among the members of the Council are Bros , the Very Rev . the Dean of York , P . G . C . ;

the Dean of Hereford , Prov . G . C . Herefordshire ; the Ven . the Archdeacon of London , P . G . C ; the Rev . Canon Tristram , P . G . C , D . P . G . M . Durham ; and the Ven . the Archdeacon of Essex , P . G . C . Three clergymen who are members of our Society have been already admitted to the Home , the latest case being

that of a brother who had been for 15 years a subscribing member of his lodge , but is now sick and penniless . We strongly commend this useful institution to the support of our readers , in the hope that the list of subscriptions and donations from lodges and brethren may be appreciably increased .

• # Our Toronto brethren are to be congratulated on their good fortune in having securedfor their meetings new premises which , from the description given of them in the Canadian Craftsman for last month , would appear to be in every way suitable for Masonic

purposes . These new premises were formally opened by Bro . J . Ross Robertson , Past G . Master of Canada ( Province of Ontario ) , on Wednesday , the 29 th December , 1897 , in the presence of some 150 Past Masters , among whom were Bros , the Rev . J . D . O'Meara , Past G . Master of Manitoba , and E . T .

Malone , Dep . G . Master of Canada , and many other Past and Present G . Officers . Our contemporary has for its frontispiece an illustration of what is known as the " Blue Room , " which strikes us as being a hall of ample proportions and in every way suitably fitted and appointed . Among those who have assisted in

decorating the wall of this handsome apartment is Bro . Robertson , who , in the course of the proceedings at the opening ceremony , unveiled and presented to the Trustees of the Hall eight life-size portraits in oils of past Masonic notabilities , the most prominent of whom are Bro . William Jarvis , the first Prov . Grand Master

of Upper Canada ( 1792-1817 ); Bro . Simon McGillivray , Prov . G . Master 1822 to 1840 ; and Bro . Sir Allan N . Macnab , who was Prov . G . Master from 1845 to 1857 , and G . Master from 185 7 to 1862 . A cordial vote of thanks was passed by acclamation to Bro . Robertson for his generous and appropriate gift .

* * A quarterly communication of the District Grand Lodge of Queensland was held at Freemasons' Hall , Brisbane , on the 1 st December last , under the presidency of Bro . Barron L . Barnett , P . G . D . England , Dep . District Grand Master as District Grand Master ,

and from the Treasurer s statement then presented it would seem that the District Grand Lodge is in a prosperous condition . On the general account the fixed deposits and balance in bank amounted together to £ 277 , there being " other investments " amounting to close on / 1439 . On the Fund of Benevolence

Account , the balance was in round figures £ 59 , while the investments were not very far short of . 62000 . Before District Grand Lodge was closed , the District Grand Master in the chair brought to the notice of the brethren the death of Bro . G . B . Allen , Mus . B . Oxon ., the District Grand Organist , whom every one honoured and respected for the geniality of his

disposition and the reputation for talent he enjoyed in musical circles , but who had not been successful in life and had died in poor circumstances . He , therefore , invited District Grand Lodge to pass a vote of condolence with the widow and vote a sum of money sufficient to cover the funeral expenses . This was accordingly done on motion made , seconded , and [ carried nam con ., the

Masonic Notes.

amount of the grant thus made being , £ 25 . The timely aid thus promptly rendered to the widow in her affliction is to be commended . * * * A feature of the proceedings at this meeting was the absence of any report from the District Board of General Purposes , the explanation being that , though

the meetings of the Board had been regularly held , there was no business done of sufficient importance to need reporting . The Acting Dist . G . M . suggested that it would have been better had a purely formal report been presented just to show that the Board had met as required and done what it was called upon to do , and this suggestion appears to have been very favourably received by the brethren present .

* The Philadelphia Keystone has in its issue of the 5 th instant a very excellent article entitled " Improper Material , " in which the necessity for inquiry into the character of candidates for the mysteries and privileges of Freemasonry is strenuously insisted upon . As

our contemporary justly observes : " It needs no argu- ment to prove the utmost importance of thorough investigation of the character of all applicants for admission into each and every Lodge of Freemasons wherever located . Improper material , if accepted anywhere , brings discredit everywhere . " Remarks in a similar strain are being constantly addressed to

the brethren here , more especially on those important occasions when new lodges are consecrated and the Consecrating Officer , in the exercise of his duty , considers it devolves upon him naturally to warn the members to exercise the greatest caution whom they admit to their lodge as members . We trust the advice tendered by our contemporary will have the desired effect among the lodges in Pennsylvania .

* * * Lodges under the English Constitution transact their business in the First Degree on the ground that all who are subscribing members , of what grade soever they may happen to be , have an inherent right to a voice in all matters wheh affect the general welfare of

the lodge as a corporate bidy . In the Grand Lodge jurisdictions in the United States—at all events , in most , if not in all , of them—business is transacted in the Third Degree , because a brother is , we suppose , not looked upon as a full-fledged Mason until he has obtained that rank . That the latter rule , however , is

looked upon with considerable disfavour in sundry quarters is evident from the remarks ivhich ar ; to be found in the Ohio Report on Foreign Correspondence , under the head of " Washington , 1896 . " Moreover , the rule is of comparatively recent adoption , as witness the remarks apropos of the E . A . P . Degree in Rhode

Island , of Bro . Thomas M . Reed , who states that " at . a time not further back than 50 years ago , " " in many ' Grand Lodge jurisdictions , the general business affairs . ' of the lodges as now transacted in the Third Degree , were transacted while the lodge was open in the First Degree . Of this fact we have personal knowledge . " * *

Upon this , the Ohio reporter , Bro . W . H . Cun- ' ningham , Past G . M ., delivers himself as follows : "That this was almost , if not quite , the universal rule prior to 18 45 , and that the business originally transacted therein , with the right and privilege of Masons of that Digree of saying by their vote who or who

should not be made Masons , and that they were deprived of their inherent rights and privileges without any voice or vote in the matter , would seem to hive been perhaps sufficiently noted hitherto by the writer ; but a return to ' the ways of the Fathers' is never too late , and the restoration of their rights to Entered

Apprentices—of which they were unnecessarily and unjustly deprived , that the business of Freemasonry pertaining to its Degrees might correspond to usages prevalent in modern organisations—is certainly desirable , and is a sufficient reason for its further notice . " Here , then , we have an acknowledgment by a

competent authority ( 1 ) that the adoption of the rule as to the transaction of lodge business in the Third Degree " unnecessarily and unjustly" deprived the . E . A . Ps . of "their inherent rights and privileges " and ( 2 ) that a return to the ancient ways is "certainly

desirable . " Wc do not always get such straightforward acknowledgments of error as this even from competent authorities in the United States ol such exalted rank as Bro . Past Grand Mister Cunningham of Ohio .

H . R . H . TIIK PRINCE : or WALBS , attended by Bro . Major-General Sir S . Clarke , was present at the christening of the infant son of the Earl and Countess of Albemarle , at the Chapel Royal , St . James ' s Palace , on Wednesday afternoon , and stood as a sponsor . In the evening his Royal Highness was present at the performance of " The Dove-cot , " at the Duke of York ' s Theatre .