The Western Division Of South Africa.

reduced balance of £ 462 but this appears to be due to the payment to the Pension Fund of £ 500 and other smaller payments of a similar character . The District Joint Benevolent Fund closed with a balance of £ 151 , owing to the receipt of £ 135 , as

its share of the Fund raised to commemorate the Queen ' s Diamond Jubilee , while the Festival Pension Fund closed with a balance of nearly £ 826 . There is also an Education Fund , which at the close of 18 9 8 was providing for the Education of

31 boys and 33 girls . As for the statistical returns , it appears that the aggregate of subscribing members for the 15 lodges in the District was 959 on the 31 st December , 1898 , as compared with 845 on the corresponding day of the preceding year , the

increasebeing 114 . The strongest lodgesarethe British Lodge , No . 334 , with 123 members ; the Wynberg , No . 2577 , with 83 ; the Metropolitan , No . 253 8 , with 79 ; the Phoenix , No . i 860 , with 7 8 ; and the Woodstock , No . 2379 , with 75 ;

the average number per lodge being within a minute fraction of 64 . We congratulate the District Grand Master , the lodges and brethren of the Western Division of South

Africa , on the success of their proceedings during the year 1898 , and trust that future annual reports may be at least as gratifying as the one we have made the subject of these remarks .

Freemasonry In The Transvaal.

FREEMASONRY IN THE TRANSVAAL .

There is probably no country in which English Freemasonry has established itself that has taken so kindly to the Craft and made such rapid progress in developing its Masonic resources as the Transvaal The circumstances have been the reverse of

favourable . A determined attempt , and one which we sincerel y hope will prove successful , is being made to bring to an end the political differences which have so long prevailed . Yet , in spite of these differences , English Masonry has advanced "by

leaps and bounds , and , what is still more creditable to the brethren , the lodges andtheir membershave been throughout , so far as we are aware , on the friendliest possible terms . There are at the present time 2 L lodges , including one working under a

Provisional Charter from the Dist . G Master—for which as yet no regular warrant has been granted by his Royal Highness the M . W . Grand Master—on the roll of the Dist . Grand Lodge . Of these only one—the Transvaal , No . 1737 , Pretoria , which was

warranted in 18 7 8—has a career extending further back than 18 S 9 ; so that in the course of the last 10 years not fewer than 23 lodges have been started in the District , over which Bro . GEORGE RICHARDS SO ably presides as Dist . G . Master . This

brothers patent of appointment dates from ist January , 1 S 95 , since when the number of lodges has been exactly doubled , and , if we estimate the number of subscribing members per lodge at 50 , we have an aggregate of 1200 , as compared with the 50

enrolled as a lodge 10 years ago . Other evidences exist in the shape of chapters and Benevolent organisations of the progress which has been made , but , while we do not lose sight of these , they do not immediately concern us at this moment .

The annual communication of the Grand Lod ge of this flourishing District was held at Freemasons' Hall , Johannesburg on the 25 th April last . In the unavoidable absence of the District Grand Master , who has been on a visit to England ,

Bro . CHARLES ABURROW , Dep . Dist . G . Master , presided , and was well supported by the District Grand Officers and the representatives of the private lodges . But though absent , the District Grand Master " had been kept , by his Deputy and the

District Grand Secretary , ait courant of what was passing and found himself in a position to express a favourable opinion of the state of the Craft in his jurisdiction , which in the letter regretting his detention in England on private business , he

attributed " as much to the evident desire of the brethren generally to act up to and maintain the high traditions of our Order as to the zeal and ability of the District Grand Officers , who , through a year of almost unprecedented depression and

drawbacks , have so well and ably controlled and guided the the work of the District Grand Lodge . " The report of the District Board of General Purposes , though referring here and there to sundry irregularities—which appear to have been easily adjusted when the explanations called for

Freemasonry In The Transvaal.

were furnished — is on the whole satisfactory , the matters on which the greatest stress is laid being the organisation of a "Central Masonic Relief Fund to be applied in special cases not referable to the Benevolent Fund of the

District Grand Lodge or of local lodges , ' and " only to be employed when called for by special or urgent circumstances in the relief of unattached brethren ( or their families ) under the English Constitution ; " and the collection " of the outstanding amounts due to the Transvaal Masonic Educational Institute . " In both

cases a certain amount of success appears to have resulted , and as the objects for which both Funds have been established are praiseworthy , we trust that further efforts will be still more successful . The Board further suggested that a grant of ^ 50

should be made to the District Grand Lodge Benevolent Fund , and that the Reserve Fund of the District Grand Lodge should be augmented from £ 50 to £ 200 , the whole sum to be placed " on fixed deposit . " These recommendations were

unanimously adopted , and after the District Grand Treasurers statements of account had been adopted , and some appropriate remarks had been addressed to the meeting by the Acting

District Grand Master , who had previously appointed and invested the District Grand Officers for the ensuing year , the proceedings terminated . We trust that a year hence it may be our privilege to receive a report as favourable . .

Consecration Of The Aldermaston Lodge, No. 2760.

CONSECRATION OF THE ALDERMASTON LODGE , No . 2760 .

About two months since , a party of brethren drove from Newbury for the purpose of holding a lodge of instruction in the picturesque village of Aldermaston , and the visit was attended with so much enjoyment and success , that the suggestion was made that the foundation of a summer lodge in this delightful part of the country would prove acceptable to the brethren of the Province of Berks generally , and to those of the Reading

and Newbury lodges specially . Happily , the idea met the approval of the genial squire of Aldermaston , Bro . Charles E . Keyser , who further promised his support to the project , the ultimate success of which , therefore , became a foregone conclusion . Anything Bro . Keyser takes in hand is carried out with an amount of earnestness and liberality which renders failure well-nigh impossible , and this is specially the case as regards his

active and prominent association with Masonry . It is no exaggeration to say that among the thousands of energetic Masons to be found throughout the length and breadth of the land , no member of the Craft can possibly work harder , or serve the cause of the Masonic Charities with more princely generosity than Bro . Keyser , who is simply beloved by a host of Masons in all parts of the country . This cannot be a matter of surprise , even to the

uninitiated , when we explain that Bro . Keyser has , in the course of his distinguished and honourable career , been installed Worshipful Master of no less than eight or nine lodges , three of which he has practically founded , one bearing his own name as its registered title in the roll of the Grand Lodge of England—the " Charles Edward Keyser " Lodge . Nor is this all . Bro . Keyser holds the high and responsible position of Treasurer to the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , and some time since gave the

magnificent donation of 5000 guineas towards the cost of erecting a chapel in connection with the new Masonic School buildings in progress at Bushey . Next week Bro . Keyser will preside at a great Festival , to be held at Brighton , on behalf of the current expenses of the School . No wonder , then , that the proposal to found a Iodge under the very shadow of his stately home—Aldermaston Court—should have proved popular , or that he should have been unanimously nominated as its first Master .

The great reputation Bro . Keyser had won as a Mason during his residence in Hertfordshire has been more than sustained since his settlement in Berkshire , where his liberality and activity in the more ordinary paths ol duty—both public and private—are too well-known and acknowledged tc need further reference now . It must , indeed , have been gratifying to him to find himself so quickly and readily supported by a body of between 30

and 40 founders—at once an assurance of the success and stability of the lodge . The M . W . G . M ., H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , having granted the necessary warrant for the constitution of the lodge , arrangements were promptly made for the consecration ceremony , which took place under the most favourable auspices on Monday afternoon , when charming summer weather prevailed ; and the pretty village of Aldermaston , with its gabled

ivy-covered dwellings and lovely surroundings , looked particulary fresh and beautiful after the welcome rain which fell during the preceding night . Most of the Reading and Newbury brethren drove in two-horse brakes to what may accurately be described as the half-way house , the Hind ' s Head Hotel , at the foot of the yillage street , a roomy and comfortable house , which in by-gone days has been the scene of much local festivity-Here the county families were in the old days wont to assemble at stated

times , and enjoy a dance ; and the capacious apartment in which these gatherings were occasionally held is the identical room in which on Monday was consecrated with solemn rites and ceremonies the Aldermaston Lodge , No . 2760 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of England . , The brethren arrived between three and four o ' clock , and the afternoon s ceremonies were proceeded with in rigid accordance with the ancient land * marks and usages of the Masonic Order ,