Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 237 Consecration of I . odge Dalhousie , No , 720 ( S . C ) , at Bonnyrigg 238 Prince Leopold Lodge of Royal Ark Mariners , No . 238 23 S Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire 238 Freemasonry in the Soudan 339 Freemasonry in South Australia 240 fieneral Pike ' s " Masonic Origines " 340

Thomas Dunckerley—His Mother Lodge ... 241 CORRESPONDENCEA Question o £ Priority 343 The Past Master Question 343 Boys' School Election 244 Athol Grand Lodge 244 Notes and Queries 244 REPORTS or MASONIC MEETINGS— . Craft Masonry 244 Instruction 247 Royal Arch 247

REPORTS OF MASONIC M EETINGS ( Continued)—Mark Masonry 248 Knights Templar 349 Red Cross of Constantine 249 Weymouth Freemasons and Bro . Admiral Sir W . King-Hall 249 New Masonic Hall for Pontypridd 249 Conversazione of the Wilberforce Lodge , No . 2 r 34 , at Hull 249

Masonic Ball at Lichfield 249 Lecture on " The Great Pyramid and Freemasonry " 249 The Gavel Club 249 Presentation and Banquet to Bro . Gill , Three Grand Principles Lodge , No . 967 , Penryn 350 Obituarv 25 c Theatres 250 Masonic and General Tidings 231 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 252

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THE Grand Festival takes ' place on Wednesday next , and as it will be held under the genial presidency of the Earl of LATHOM , D . G . M . of England , there is every likelihood of its passing off with unwonted success . The proceedings in Grand Lodge will be of the usual imposing character , and assuming that Dame Rumour is correct as to the brethren who are about to

be appointed to Grand Office , we may venture to congratulate both the Grand Master and the Craft on the worthiness of the selections that have been made . A . s to the banquet , we are satisfied the Grand Stewards will do

their appointed duty admirably , and that at the close of the evening , when the parting bumper has been quaffed , and the brethren are on the eve of separating , the general verdict of all present will be that the Grand Festival of 1 S 86 will compare worthily with the worthiest among its predecessors .

*»* THE news that the GRAND MASTER has appointed his brother , the Duke ol CONNAUGHT , Provincial Grand Master of Sussex , in place of the late R . W . Bro . Sir W . W . BURRELL , Bart ., will be received everywhere with the heartiest acclamation . His Royal Highness not only enjoys a full measure

of therespect and popularity which belong hereditarily to our Royal Family , but he is also an able Craftsman , and has evinced on all occasions , so far as his military and other avocations would allow , a great personal interest in the concerns of Freemasonry . The Duke was initiated in the Prince of Wales Lodge , No . 259 , in 1874 , and raised to the Degree of M . M . the

evening before the Prince of WALES was installed Grand Master in the Royal Albert Hall , South Kensington , a circumstance to which his Royal Highness alluded in his speech at the banquet which followed his brother ' s installation . He is a Past Master of the Royal Alpha Lodge , No . 16 , and in 1877 was Grand Senior Warden of England . In 1878 he presided at

the annual Festival of the Boys' School , while during his recent command in India he took every opportunity of sharing in the duties and responsibilities of the Craft . His Royal Highness is an Honorary Member of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , and outside the limits of Free and Accepted Masonry is an Honorary Member of the Supreme Council , Thirty-third

Degree , of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of England , and Great Prior of the Orderof the Temple in Ireland . Such , in brief , are the achievements of the new Provincial Grand Master , and it only now remains for us to congratulate the GRAND MASTER on having made so happy a choice , the Duke

of CONNAUGHT on having been chosen as the recipient of so considerable an honour , and , above all , the Province of Sussex on its great good fortune in having had placed over it so splendid a successor to their late respected and beloved chief .

* * * IT is about time we reminded our readers that the Girls' School Festival is rapidly approaching . We are within four weeks of the day appointed for its celebration , and it behoves us therefore to look about us and see what prospect there is of a success worthy of the Institution and the Craft

generally . We have already enumerated the especial necessities which have arisen during the past year and made heavy inroads upon the funds of the School . We have also stated the amount that is required for the ordinary expenditure , and have pointed out that between its exceptional and regular requirements the Institution will need not far short of /' i 4 , ooo for the year

now current . The prospect of obtaining this amount was not very clear when we last wrote on the subject , that is , on the 20 th March ult . The Board of Stewards consisted of only about 190 brethren , and was consequently behind its usual strength with the Festival then distant no more than

two months . We naturally pressed this discouraging state of things on the Craft generally , and urged them , while there was yet time to render material service to the School , to do their best to strengthen the Stewards' list in numbers . We are glad to see that some progress has been made since then , and that the Board which was only 190 strong is , at the time of writing ,

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quite 250 , of whom some 132 hail from London lodges and chapters or as unattached , while the rest figure under the provinces . There can be no doubt about this being a great step in advance , and as there is still the best part of a month remaining , there seems to be a fair prospect that on Wednesday , the 19 th May next , Bro . HEDGES

will be in a position to announce a Board of Stewards numerically the equal oS that which stood him in such good service last year . We are not altogether so sure , however , about its being financially quite as promising as that of 1885 . True , we hear of there being some 18 or 20 Stewards for Surrey , the Chairman ' s province , but on the other hand , we believe we are

right in stating that quite half of its lodges are as yet unrepresented on the Board by any of their members . This is not quite so gratifying a picture as we hope it will be in our power to present ultimately , neither so gratifying to the Institution nor to Bro . General BROWNRIGG , who has gallantly taken upon himself the responsibility of presiding at the Festival , and so

benefiting the Funds of the School . When that respected brother presided at the Benevolent Festival in 1883 , his province helped him with contributions amounting to over £ 900 , and every Provincial Chief , who has since undertaken a similar duty has been supported with a like display of generosity . But in each of those cases the province mostly interested has polled its full

strength , while here we are within four weeks of the event , and , as we understand , one half of the lodges in the Chairman ' s province are still unrepresented . We are sorry for this ; because , as we argued in our former article on this Festival , when it is known that the province of the day is working hard , there is a kind of guarantee that the general result will be favourable .

However , let us hope the interval between now and the day appointed will be made the most of and that , at the critical time , Surrey will be able to show that its love for our Girls' School , and its respect for the esteemed Craftsman who has so long and genially presided over its fortunes are as great as ever . As regards the rest of the Board , it seems as if London were

likely to do well ; but the other Provincial representatives are not quite as numerous as we should like to see them , and as we hope to see them on the eventful day . Of course it is always on the cards that mere numerical weakness may mean no more than that a few brethren have taken upon themselves the duty of representing whole provinces or important sections of a province ,

so that the strength of their returns will more than compensate for their paucity of numbers . We trust this may be so , and that if there are fewer Provincial Stewards than last year , that they will raise amongst them by way of compensation a heavier aggregate . There is no doubt about the

nature and extent of the School's requirements , and we hope it will be the particular business of the Craft , both in London and the Provinces , so to exert themselves during the next three or four weeks that those requirements will be fully satisfied .

*»* THE voting papers for the annual election of candidates into the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution on Friday , the 21 st May next , have been issued , and it does not need much of a glance down the lists for the two Funds to see how terrible is the disproportion between the numbers that can

be elected , and the numbers from which the election must be made . It is sad to think how many of these poor old people , who have all seen better days , and all been recognised as worthy of being received into the Institution , must of necessity be disappointed . As regards the Male Fund there are 58 candidates , but only 15 , including the three deferred annuitants , can

be elected , this number , however , being liable to increase , in the event of further vacancies having occurred since February and the meeting being prepared to fill them up . In the Widows' Fund there are no less than 71 candidates , while the number to be elected , including the deferred annuitants , is only 9 , which latter figure , as in the case of the Male Fund , and

subject to the same conditions , is liable to be increased . Thus , speaking roundly , there are some 40 old men and 60 old women , who , in any circumstances , must be left in their present condition of poverty for a further period of 12 months or , it may be , even longer . Many of our readers will naturally be anxious to know how it is there is such an excess of candidates

over vacancies , when during the last few years the Committeee has taken every opportunity of sanctioning or recommending an increase in the number of annuitants on each Fund . The inquiry is easily satisfied . The successive increases , great as they have been undoubtedly , have not been sufficient to reduce appreciably the array of applicants—at all events as

regards the Widows' Fund—while , in the case of the Male Fund , the hard times we have had to endure latterly are responsible for the present increase in the number of candidates . Of the 71 widows , 46 remain over from last election , and of these 46 one has been on the list for eight years ; five for six years ; one for five years ; eight for . four years ; 11 for three years ; and 20 for two years . Only 14 old men remain over from the election in May , 1885 , but