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JOHN NOBBS AND SONS , d T A 1 LORS , 154 and 155 , UPPER STREET , ISLINGTON , N ., AND 77 , FINSBURY PAVEMENT , E . C . SPECIALITY TROUSERS from JM . net cash

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PHCENIX FIRE OFFICE , rg , LOMBARD ST ., & 57 , CHARING CROSS , LONDON . —Established 1782 . Lemur Current Rates I Assured free of all Liability Liberal and Prompt Settlements | Electric Lighting Rules supplied VV . C . MACDONALD , 1 "Joint F . B . MACDONALD , _ f Secretaries .

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pAlETY RESTAURANT , S T U AND . LUNCHEONS ( HOT AND COLD ) At Popular Prices , in BUEEET and RESTAURANT ( on First Floor ) , also Chops , Steaks , Joints , Entrees , & c , in the GRILL ROOM . AFTERNOON TEA , Consisting of Tea or Coffee , Cut Bread and Butter , Jam , Cake , Pastry , ad lib ., at Is . per head , served from 4 till 6 in R ESTAURANT ( First Floor ) . DINNERS IN RESTAURANT , From 5 . 30 till g , at fixed prices ( 3 s . 6 ( 1 . and 5 s . ) and a la Carte . In this room TIIE VIENNESE BAND peiforms fiom 0 till S . Smoking after 7 . 45 . AMERICAN BAR . THE GRILL ROOM is open till 12 . 30 . PRIVATE DINING ROOMS for large ami small Parties . SPIERS & POND , Ltd ., PROPRIETORS .

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NORTHERN ASSURANCE COMPANY . Established 1836 . LONDON : » , MOORGATE S TREET , E . C . ABERDEEN : 1 , UNION T ERRACE . INCOME AND FUNDS ( 1895 ) . lire Premiums £ 732 , ° oO Life Premiums 239 , 000 Interest 172 , 000 Accumulated Funds - - - £ 4 , 671 , 000

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SATURDAY , OCTOBER 2 J , 1896 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic notes .

In the cour ; e of thc discussion which took place at * " ¦ recent Ouarlcrl y Court of this Institution as to , le purchase of a new site for the . S . - . hool al Bushey ,

" - 'is , Bro . Harry Bevir ha / . irded the conjecture lhat ' m - 'jority of the brethren then present hailed from ¦< - * Provinces . We thought he was right , but wc * lv'e since been favoured with a statement , which 0 Ws fl'it of the brethren who signed lhc * attendance

Masonic Notes.

book , 86 were Provincial and 8 9 London . Doubtless , also , there were others in attendance who omitted to sign , but taking the figures we have just stated , it will be seen that practically there was an equality between

the two sections of the Subscribers . It follows , also , that as only nine Subscribers voted in the minority the voting was practically unanimous in its approval of the steps taken by the Board of Management for the purchase of a new site at Bushey .

* * * Wc have no desire to be thought too urgent in reference to this subject of the Removal of thc Boys ' School , but , while we are dealing with it , it may not be altogether out of place if we draw attention to an opinion which appears lo prevail in some quarters that

there must be—at all events , that there is—a kind of natural antagonism between town and country in all matters affecting the interests of our Masonic Institutions . These Institutions are located near—in the case of the Schools , we may almost venture to say—in London , and the belief which prevails , as wc have said ,

in some quarters is that the London hrethren havc come lo regard them as their own property . Provincial candidates may be admitted to the benefits they severally dispense , but as regards their control and management , that is , or ought to be , entirely in the hands of thc London subscribers . It is an erroneous

opinion , but it exists . * + Wc know not whence the opinion originated . But our readers are doubtless aware that for somcycars pasl , especially in connection with thc Boys' School , the tendency has been to place town and country on as

nearly as possible the same footing as regards its administration . Years ago , before Bro . Binckes was appointed Secretary , the government of the Institution was in thc hands of the London Subscribers . The Festival Stewards were almost invariably London brethren , and the sources from which they obtained

their contributions mostly London . Shortly after Bro . Binckes ' s appointment , he sought and obtained permission from the General Committee to visit the Provinces , and plead the cause of the Institution in the country lodges . The result of this wise proposal of Bro . Binckes was that a deep interest in an

Inseitution of which they had previously known but little was awakened among the Provincial brethren , and in a very few years the support they gave equally and occasionally exceeded that obtained from the London brethren . * * *

But the administration remained in the hands ot the London subscribers and so continued to remain until about eight years since , when a grave sense of dissatisfaction was aroused in London as well as in the country , as to the manner in which the affairs of the Institution were being managed . This led to the

establishment some time later of the present Board of Management , which is composed , in equal moieties , of London and Provincial brethren . Thus the administration , which was formerly in the hands of London brethren , is now equally apportioned bntween London and the Provinces .

* But somehow the feeling remains that thc Pro / inces are not always fairly dealt with , and every now and then , when some change is in contemplation , grumblings , and not always good-natured grumblings , are heard that sufficient consideration is not being

shown to the Provinces . But why should there be this jealousy between the two sections of those who support the School and are equally interested in the maintenance of its prosperity ' i If a measure is proposed which is likely to prove of benefit to the

Institution , what can it matter generally whether the proposal emanated in the first instance from the Provinces or from London , or whether it is likely to obtain a larger share of support from the former than from the latter , or vice versa A It the measure is calculated to do good , it matters little who proposed it .

» * But , perhaps , we are wrong in stating our proposition so absolutely . It does matter in this sense—that if a measure lh . it is likely to prove beneficial to the School emanates from thc Provinces , the Provinces are justly entitled to the credit of having proposed it ; if il emanates from Loneion , then London has the credit .

But in either case it is intended for thc common good , and holh have an equal interest in supporting it in common . Thus the question of removing the School was intimated some years ago by thc Grand Master of one of ejur largest Provinces , and to the Provinces , therefore , belongs the credit of originating the proposal . Bui both sections of subscribers will supporl it ,

Masonic Notes.

the only rivalry likely to arise between them is as to which of them shall contribute most towards carrying out the scheme . * * * ln the report of Mr . Hawkins , the geological expett , whom the Board of Management consulted , that

portion of the property purchased at Bushey , which he described as having a clayey soil , was indicated in the Plan prepared for the Board of Management by blue dots , and the soil that was sandy with loam by red dols . In the reduced Plan wc published last week

crosses were substituted for the blue dots , and simple dots for thc red . A glance al lhc spaces on our Plan , occupied respectively by crosses and dots , will serve to show how much of truth there is in the criticism that thc soil of the Bushey property is " almost , if not equally , as clayey " as that of thc Wood Green property .

* * * Thc annual meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge ol Gloucestershire will be held in thc Lansdowne Hall , Stroud , on Tuesday , the : 7 th instant , at 3 . 15 p . m . In the course of the proceedings , Ihe brethren will be invited to consider a proposal " that Provincial Grand

Lodge should pass a vote of confidence in the Board of Management " of thc Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . When thc Prov . Grand Lodge has been closed , thc brethren will adjourn to a banquet , which will be served in thc Subscription Roomstickets 5 s . each . # * *

in hro . Upion s Report on Correspondence attached to the Proceedings of the Grand Lodgeof Washington , hc offers , in his review of Wisconsin—so wc gather from the Canadian Report on Coirespondcnce lor this year—certain very interesting remarks on the question of Degrees . Bro . Upton believes that in earl y days ,

" long before the ' work ' of Masonry was divided into three Degrees , there was a secret ceremony to which mere Fellows were not admitted , in which a Fellow was made a Master ( that is the Master ) , " and "that that ceremoi . y was not our Third Degree . " When the Degree system came into use , "The Third Degree was

used , so to speak , in making Fellows ' virtual , ' but not 'actual ' Masters , and the term ' Master' acquired an additional meaning . " But " the older ceremony became , or rather continued to be , a part of the ceremony of making , by installing a fellow , or ' virtual , ' Master ( Master Mason ) an ' actual ' ( Master of a

lodge or Passed Mason ) ; " that " that ceremony has been used continuously in some jurisdictions from the earliest times , and is the one used in convocations of ' actual' Past Masters ; " and " ( though of this we feel less sure ) that that ceremony and not our third degree is ' the Master ' s part' which Laurence Dermott accused

the founders of the Grand Lodge of the ' Moderns ' of being ignorant of . " Wc commend thc remarks as quoted at p . cvii ., of the Report on Foreign Corre ' spondence appended to Proceedings of Grand Lodge of Canada , 1896 , to those who take an interest in the subject of Degrees . * # #

It appears from certain tables published in the prjceedings of the Grand Lodge of Canada ( Province of Ontario ) that the number of private lodges on the roll is 357 , and that the total number of subscribing members in the jurisdiction to the date of the last return prior to 31 st May is 23 , 351 .

* * * We call attention to the letter in our Corrcspon . dence Column from Bro . T . B . Whytehead , who ex . presses it as his opinion that the sum proposed to be paid ( . £ 13 , 000 ) for the property at Bushey is far too large , having regard to the present valei 2 of land . Wo

must leave it to others competent to speak on this subject to decide the point . We may , however , remark that if the price is , as Bro . Whytehead states , excessive , there are compensating advantages in the "sewers" which Mr . C E . Hawkins in his report states " have been constructed along two of the three r . oids bounding the whole area ; " together with the '' main

of the Colne Valley Water Company" along thc Avenue and the " gas main to thc boundary of the estate" referred to in the report of Messrs . Sedgwick , Son , and Weall . These reports appeared in our issue of last week at p . 556 . We will add that we shall be pleased to insert any further lettcri with which Bro . Whytehead may favour us .

BRej . LORD WOLSELEY completed his first inspection of the garrison at Devonport , on thc 2 ( jth inst . In the morning he visited the new barracks that are being erected at Crenvnhill , near Plymouth , at a cost of £ 100 , 000 , and subsequently the Royal British Orphanage Asylum , Slotte . Late in the afternoon he returned to London , accompanied by some members of the Head-quarters Stall .