Freemasonry In 1884.

partly in aid of the Orphan Schools at Dublin . The Dean and Chapter officiated , and when all was over , the Bishop pronounced the Benediction and the brethren left the sacred building . At the same time it must not be supposed that the Craft has been left unassailed by the priesthood of the Romish Church in Ireland any more than it has elsewhere , neither has it

escaped attack on the supposed Orange proclivities of the Irish Craft . Against the latter charge , however , Bro . the Hon . D . Plunket , one of the members in Parliament for the Dublin University , most ably and eloquently vindicated the Society ; while as to the former , this kind of attack is now so frequent that all we can do or advise others of our brethren to do is to " grin and bear " them .

SCOTLAND . Under the wise rule of the Earl of Mar and Kellie , as under that of Sir M . Shaw-Stewart , Bart ., the Grand Lodge of Scotland has gone on so prosperously that not only has it emerged from the financial difficulties which so heavily pressed on it a few years since , but it has thoroughly overhauled its affairs , and has organised also a new and promising scheme for

the administration of its Charity Fund . Its daughter lodges have increased in number ; it has established two new provinces , one for Gibraltar , and one for the counties of Caithness , Orkney , and Shetland ; it has a fair average number of " entrants , " or initiates , as we term them , and it can boast of a new Masonic hall at Kirkwall for the new Home Province , and of various Masonic functions discharged in connection with public buildings .

Lastly , it is just entering on a new year under the auspices of Sir A . C Blythwood , Bart ., as G . Master—the Earl of Mar and Kellie having expressed a wish to be relieved from the cares and responsibilities of a further year of office—with the Earls of Haddington and Kintore as Depute and Substitute G . Masters respectively . Under these circumstances , and as Bro . D . Murray Lyon is still exercising the important functions of G . Secretary ,

we may anticipate for our brethren north of the Tweed at least as successful a career under their new Chief as they enjoyed under the two predecessors we have named . We may also mention that friendly relations are on the eve of being established between the Supreme G . R . A . Chapter of Scotland and the Mark Grand Lodge of England , . the Earl of Kintore , who is G . Master of the latter , and a G . Officer of the former , having been chiefly instrumental in bringing the two bodies more closely together .

FREEMASONRY IN OUR COLONIES . For the most part what we have said as to the position of the Craft at home will be found applicable to that of British Colonial Masonry . Generally it is prosperous , and there are few , if any , clouds darkening the horizon . In Canada matters have gone smoothly , the most prominent event being the complete establishment of independence by the Great Priory of the

Dominion and its recognition as a separate body by the Grand Encampment of the United States . The neighbour i ng Grand Lodge of Quebec is unfortunately placed . The Grand Chapter associated with it is engaged in a battle royal with our Mark Grand Lodge . For itself , it appears to be anxious to enlarge the sphere of disputation , and has already favoured the Grand Master of our United Grand Lodge ( Craft ) with a threatening

letter , and the time it has chosen for this display of eccentricity is a few months after a bill to absolve it from the penalties of the local act against secret societies has been lost in the Provincial Legislature . Much study has made the worthy brethren out here mad , and , what is more remarkable still , is there is clearly no method in their madness . In Africa we have to note the establishment of anew Mark province for Natal ; while in Australasia , except

in one of the Colonies , there have been no material changes . The presence in Victoria and New South Wales of so called independent Grand Lodges appears to have had little or no prejudicial effect on the District Grand Lodges holding under England , Scotland , and Ireland . The new bodies meet , and are recognised by quite a number of other Grand Lodges in America ; but they seem to fare very much like a play which , after an

indifferent first night , is announced for further performance . They make no impression on the brethren whose sympathies they stand most in need of . The majority of the old regular lodges take no notice of them , and if this state of things continues much longer the so-called Grand Lodges of Victoria and New South Wales will die of inanition . Moreover , in Victoria , the three concurrent jurisdictions are governed by the same Chief , Bro . Sir

W . J . Clarke , Bart ., who , in the first place , was appointed Provincial Grand Master of the Irish lodges , and then in March , with the consent of the Duke of Abercorn , G . M . of Ireland , was installed District Grand Master for the English and Scotch lodges . This step will certainly not have the effect of hastening the consummation desired so much by the spurious Grand Lodge of the Colony . In South Australia they have carried out the

purpose of setting up a Grand Lodge ot their own successfully , and in a manner to which no reasonable objection can be taken . In the preliminary arrangements complete unanimity was hardly to be expected , but something very like it was obtained , and there is now a Grand Lodge of South Australia established by the concurrent voice of , as nearly as possible , the whole of the English , Irish , and Scotch lodges in the Colony . There is a

complete organization of Grand Officers and three lodges have been constituted under the new rcigime . The greatest respect was shown at the time the separation was being effected for the mother Grand Lodges of the United Kingdom , and we doubt not that at some not very remote period the independence of the new body will be recognised here . We offer no opinion on the policy which has dictated this movement ; we merely state

what has happened . In New bouth Wales the Urder ot tne Ked Cross of Constantine has been established on an apparently firm footing ; while at Gibraltar there is a new Mark Province under our Mark Grand Lodge , and a new Craft Province under the Grand Lodge of Scotland . In Egypt , China , India , and elsewhere the Society has gone on strengthening and extending its position slowly but surely .

FREEMASONRY IN F OREIGN PARTS . We have no time or space to do more than bestow a passing glance on the doings of the Craft in foreign countries . That which most , and most naturally , interests us here is the position occupied by Freemasonry in the United States of North America . Their ideas and ours may not harmonise very well together in matters of detail . They seem to us—just as , no doubt , we seem to them—to have strange notions about interjurisdictional

rights , the eligibility of candidates in certain respects , the amount of privacy that must be observed as regards certain of our ceremonials , & c „ & c . But the fundamental principles of Freemasonry , as understood and practised by them and us , are to all intents and purposes the same , and when anything occurs which is likely or intended to injure or benefit the Craft , we are both equally interested , though the chances are that neither will be seriously affected for evil or for good . There is probably more show

Freemasonry In 1884.

there about Masonry than here , and there is room , perhaps , in some of the jurisdictions for a little more practice of , and a little less preaching about , the beauties of Freemasonry . But , after all , Freemasonry is well-established and well organised in the United Stales . It thrives there immensely , if numbers are a criterion of strength , and there is a vast amount of good work done by the brethren in the several jurisdictions under the auspices of their respective Grand Lodges . The meetings are held frequently , and

when held are numerously attended . In their ranks are very many of the most respected and ablest citizens . In short , Masonry enjoys a welldeserved popularity in the United States , and is prosperous there as well as here , for pretty much the same reason , namely , lhat there as well as here it deserves to prosper . May its present state always continue , except where changes may be introduced which will strengthen and enlarge its claims on public respect !

We wish we could speak in the same strain of Foreign Freemasonry in some other countries . Early in the year there were fetes held in Brussels in honour of the reconciliation of the Dutch and Bel gian Lodges . This means neither more nor less than that Masonry in Holland , which has heretofore inclined more in our own direction than in any other , now approximates very closely in character to Freemasonry as understood in Belgium ,

and Belgian Masonry in its turn is in almost complete sympathy wilh thc Grand Orient of France . This change that has taken place in Holland is , no doubt , a result of the death of Prince Frederick , for so many years the Chief of the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands , and is all the more to be regretted because by the death , this year , of Alexander , Prince of Orange , the one brother who had the will and the power to do anything to

counteract the vicious effects of French Masonic influence , has been taken away . As regards other foreign countries , there is little to be said . It may or may not be true that Alphonso of Spain has become a Mason ; if he has , we can well imagine the horror and indignation with which such a fact must have inspired the Vatican . But it is not in Latin Christendom that we look , in these days , at all events , to learn much that is likely to strengthen or promote the well-being of Freemasonry .

MISCELLANEOUS AND CONCLUDING . There are , of course , many occurrences to which particular reference has not been made , the great length of our remarks being the plea we offer in extenuation of their omission . To some of these , such as the Centenary of No . 252 , at Dudley , and the Jubilees of the Surrey Lodge , No . 413 , Reigate , and Menturia Lodge , No . 418 , Hanley , we should have gladly

allotted some space , had it been possible to find any . In these circumstances we must refer our readers to the table of " Occurrences " which is appended , and which , if of necessity it is briefer , in treating individual events , contains a much stronger array of details . We commend it to their notice as calculated to prove a useful chronological guide to the year of which it treats .

The " Red Apron " Lodges.

THE " RED APRON " LODGES .

BY BRO . E . L . HAWKINS . The Book of . Constitutions ( 18 S 4 ) says ( Rule 39 ) : "Eighteen Grand Stewards shall be annually appointed for the regulation of the Grand Festival , under the directions of the Grand Master . " ( Rule 40)— "The

Grand Stewards shall be appointed from 18 different lodges , each of which shall recommend one of its subscribing members , who must be a Master Mason , to be presented by the former Grand Steward of that lodge , for the approbation and appointment of the Grand Master . " ( Rule 41)— "The name and residence of the brother recommended as Grand Steward shall be

transmitted by his lodge to the Grand Secretary , 14 days at least previously to the Grand Festival . " ( Rule 42)— "No Brother shall bc eligible as a Grand Steward unless he was initiated in the lodge by which he is recommended , or has been 12 months a subscribing member to it . " ( Rule 46)— " If any lodge possessing the privilege of recommendation shall neglect to send to the Grand Secretary the name of one of its members , or to supply

the place of one who shall decline the office or become incapable of discharging the duties thereof , as required by the preceding articles , the lodge shall forfeit its privilege , and the Grand Master shall nominate some other lodge to have such privilege in future . " ( Rule 47)— " The Grand Stewards shall have the exclusive privilege of becoming members of the Grand Stewards' Lodge , subject to its by-laws and regulations . "

Taking the above extracts from the Book of Constitutions as my text , I shall endeavour to show by what steps 18 lodges have acquired the exclusive privilege of nominating Grand Stewards , subject only to the approbation of the Grand Master .

The earliest reference to Grand Stewards that I have been able to find occurs in Anderson of 1738 , on p . 112 , where it is slated that at the Grand Lodge , held on Lady-day , 1 7 , " the Grand Wardens were ordered , as usual , to prepare the Feast , and to take some Stewards to their Assistance . Brothers of Ability and Capacity , and to appoint some Brethren to attend the Tables ; for that no Strangers must be there . But the Grand Officers

not finding a proper number of Stewards , our Brother Mr . Josiah Villeneau , Upholder in the Burrough Southwark , generously undertook the whole himself , attended by some Waiters , Thomas Morrice , Francis Bailey , & c . " At the next meeting of Grand Lodge , on 24 th June , 1 7 , Bro . Villeneau was appointed Grand Warden , and was thanked ' * for his care of the Feast . " Next , on 25 th April , 1723 , it was ordered that the tickets for the next

Feast should be disposed of by the Grand Wardens and the Stewards ; and accordingly Anderson ( page 116 ) gives the names of the six Stewards who were publicly thanked for their services at the Feast on 24 th June , 1723 . How these six were appointed he docs not explain ; but we may presume it to have been in accordance with Rule XXIII . of the Constitutions of 1723 , which says : " If it be thought expedient , and the Grand Master , with the

Majority of the Masters and Wardens , agree to hold a Grand Feast , according to the ancient laudable Custom of Masons , then the Grand Wardens shall have the care of preparing the Tickets , seal'd with the Grand Master ' s Seal , of disposing of the Tickets , of receiving the Money for the Tickets , of buying the Materials of the Feast , of finding out a proper and convenient Place to feast in ; and of every other thing that concerns the Entertainment . But that the work may not be too burthensome to the two

Grand Wardens , and that all Matters may be expeditiously and safely managed , the Grand Master , or his Deputy , shall have power to nominate and appoint a certain Number of Stewards , as his Worship shall think fit , to act in concert with the two Grand Wardens ; all things relating to the Feast being decided amongst them by a Majority of Voices ; except the Grand Master or his Deputy interpose by a particular Direction or Appointment . "