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CONTENTS . L BADEBS— PAGE Grand Lodge of Manitoba ... ... ... ... " ... 547 Ars Quatuor Coronatorum ... ... ... ... ... 547 Masonic Jurisprudence ... ... ... ... ... ... 54 S Freemasonry in South Australia ... ... ... ... ... 549 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of West Yorkshire ... ... .,. 549 Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland and Westmorland ... ... 550 Science , Art and the Drama ... ... ... ... ... 551

M ASONIC NOTESAnnual Meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Durham ... ... 553 Annual Meeting of the Jordan Lodge , No . 1402 ... ... ... 553 Annual Meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland and Westmorland ... ... ... ... ... ... 553 The Mark Degree in VVest Yorkshire ... ... ... ... 553 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 554 Board of Benevolence ... ... „ . ... ... ... 554

SCOTLANDLaying Memorial Stone of the Rutherglen Parish Church ... ... 554 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 554 The Influence of the Masonic Press .,. . „ .,. ... 55 G Instruction ... ... .,. ... ... ... ... 556 Obituary ... .,. ,,, . „ .,. ... ... 55 6 Wills and Bequests .,. ... ,,, . „ ,,. ... 556 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 55 S

Grand Lodge Of Manitoba.

GRAND LODGE OF MANITOBA .

Of the seven Grand Lodges which have been established at different times in thc different Provinces of British North America , or , as it is more commonly spoken of nowadays , the Dominion of Canada , that of Manitoba has had b y no means the least successful career . It has been in existence for a

quarter of a century , its 25 th annual communication having been held in the City of Winnipeg on the 13 th June last under thc presidency of its then Grand Master , M . W . Bro . J LESLIE . In that time , though the district over which it exercises

jurisdiction is hut sparsely populated , it has gone on increasing the number of lodges on its register to close upon 70 , while at the annual meeting in question , the aggregate subscribing membership , according to the Grand Secretary ' s report , was 3091 , or

221 in excess of the previous year ' s aggregate . These lodges we arranged for administrative purposes in 10 Districts , each of which is presided over b y a District Deputy Grand Master , and from thc reports annually submitted by those officers , the bulk of

the lodges carry out their duties satisfactorily , and arc in a fairly prosperous condition . Indeed , when we look at the vast extent of territory of which this Grand Lodge is the supreme governing liod y and the sparscness of its population , there can hardly be

two opinions as to thc progress of the Craft in Manitoba , the r > " ivcturns for the whole 25 years showing that the number of new members has been 6134 , of whom 3626 were' initiated and 2215 joining- members , the small remainder of 293 being brethren

who have been restored lo their Masonic rights and privileges . Ur > the other hand , the number of those who have dimitted or otherwise disappeared from the ranks either through death or ^ pension is 3292 . ; the dimitted being 1885 and the dead 286 .

"tis the net gain is 2482 , which is at the rate of considerabl y ¦ "ore than 100 per annum . Moreover , the financial state of tlie , raf t appears to have kept pace with the numerical , the balance ln l : uul ° » the General Fund of Grand Lodge being stated on the 3 ' « t March last at close on 950 dollars .

As regards the past year , we gather from the synopsis of the ^ rand Master ' s address , which is to be found in the Canadian ^ ' "flsnian for last month , that it has not been the least gratify ^ . tne 2 5 that have elapsed since the formation of the cjwv ° . ge ; in ^ ct , in one part of the report of the proings it | s pronounced to have been " the most prosperous in s history . " Naturally , one of the chief topics to which the

Grand Lodge Of Manitoba.

Grand Master referred in reviewing the events of his Grand Mastership , was the war in South Africa and the gallant part played by the Canadian troops . " We knew , " said the Grand Master , " when they went away that they would nobly uphold

the honour of the Maple Leaf , and our expectations have not been disappointed . They have borne themselves as citizens of no mean country , and we are proud of them . " He also mentioned that the Finance Committee , adopting his

recommendation , had remitted a sum of 100 dollars to the " India Famine Fund . " As regards most of the circumstances he noted they are for the most of local rather than of general interest . He impressed , however , upon the brethren the

importance of establishing and attending lodges of instruction , and expressed regret that there appeared to be " a tendency among some of the lodges to neglect the time-honoured custom of attending Divine service at some recognised place of Christian worship , "

on the ground that , " though Masonry is not Christianity , " and though there are many Masons who are not Christians , " yet , " in his opinion , " anything that looks like a severance of Masonry and Christianity cannot but be mischievious to the best interests

of the Craft . With reference to the " large number of our brethren , men who are Masons in the very highest meaning of the term , " who " have objection to appearing in public dressed in Masonic clothing and to taking part in Masonic parades , " the

Grand Master pointed out that " even these "—objections— " may be removed by arranging a Masonic service from which the features objected to could be eliminated . " Another matter on which he laid great stress was "the importance of collecting historical data for

the purpose of writing a history of Masonry in Manitoba during the first quarter of a century of its existence , " and he suggested the " advisability of each lodge having a well-digested history . " The advice is all the more worthy of being followed , as the

Grand Lodge is still young , and the difficulty ol compiling an acceptable record of its proceedings from the very earliest period of its existence will be of the very smallest . Half-a-century

hence , if the Grand Lodge and Lodge records are carelessly or indifferently written up , the task of compiling such a history might prove a somewhat serious undertaking . However , under the guidance of such able and discreet rulers as the Grand

Lodge appears to have had to preside over it , there does not appear to be much likelihood of any such difficulty presenting itself .

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.*

ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM . *

In our Note of last week we briefly acknowledged the receipt of Part II . of the current volume of these Transactions , and in doing so laid particular stress on the number of illustrations with which it is embellished . These include a photograph ofthe

statue of Ignatius von Born , who founded a lodge in Austria in March , 1786 , which Bro . Bennett H . Brough , the author of the very interesting paper to which the illustration belongs ,

describes as " an Austrian Precursor of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge . " The statue appears to be a magnificent work of art which is to be seen in the Austrian Museum for Art and

Industry in Vienna , and for which the world is indebted to the sculptor , Franz Zauner . Von Born was , the paper tells us , the leading authority on mining and metallurgy of his time , and it was in the course of his inquiries into the history of Mining