Ad00703

PHCENIX FIRE OFFICE , 19 , LOMBARD ST ., & $ 7 , CHARING CROSS , LONDON . —Established 1782 . t uw IST Current Rates I Assured free of all Liability LiberalandPromptSettlemcnts | Electric Lighting Rules supplied VV . C . MACDONALD . f Joint F . B . MACDONALD . I Secretaries .

Ad00704

PAIE T Y REST A U R A N T , STRAND . LUNCHEONS ( HOT AND C OLD ) , At Popular Prices , in BUFFKT and RESTAURANT ( on First Floor ) , also Chops , Steaks , Joints , Entries , & o , 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 RESTAURANT ( First Floor ) . DINNERS IN RESTAURANT Frcm 5 . 30 till 9 , at fixed prices ( 3 s . 6 d . and 5 s . ) and a la Carte . In this room THE VIENNESE BAND performs from G to S . Smoking after 7 . 45 . AMERICAN BAR . THE GRILL ROOM is open till 12 . 30 . PRIVATE DINING ROOMSJor large and small Parties . SPIERS & POND , Ltd ., PROPRIETORS .

Ar00705

^^^^^^ r 3 SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 25 , 18 97 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

We have much pleasure in announcing that Bro Terry has at length been successful in enlisting the services of a chairman at the Festival which will be held in February , 18 9 S , in behalf of the Royai Masonic Benevolent Institution , Bro . thu Earl of Jersey , G . C . M . G ., Prov . G . Master for Oxfordshire , having very kindly undertaken to preside on the occasion . * * *

A new ludge will be placed 0 / 1 tlie register of United Grand Lodge , on Monday , the 4 th prox ., when the Past and Present Lodge , No . 266 $ , will be formally consecrated . The ceremony will be performed by the Grand Secretary , and when the lodge has been constituted , Bro . C . W . Hudson , Prov . G . D . C . Sussex , will be installed as the first W . M . " Past and Present " has our heartiest good wishes for its success .

* » * We are indebted to Bro . John T . Thorp for a copy of the Transactions of the Lodge of Research , No . 2429 , Leicester , for the year 18 9 6-7 , and promise ourselves the pleasure of reviewing the book in next

week ' s issue . Our experience of former Transactions of this lodge has been always satisfactory , and a hasty glance through the pages of the present pamphlet is enough to satisfy us that the issue fur the current year is on a level with , if it does not surpass , those which have already appeared ,

* » * Lodge Quatuor Coronati , No . 207 ( 3 , will hold its first meeting after the holidays at Freemasons' Hall on Friday , the ist proximo , when Bro . Hamon Le Strange , P . G . D ., will be balloted for as a joining

Masonic Notes.

member , several members of the Correspondence Circle elected , and a Worshipful Masler , Treasurer , and Ty ler chosen for the ensuing 12 months . Bro . G . L . Shackles will deliver a lecture on " Masonic Medals , " with lantern illustrations . The brethren will afterwards dine together at the Holborn Restaurant .

Among the papers announced to be read at future meetings of the lodge are one by Bro . C . Purdon Clarke on " Building Societies in Persia , " and another by Bro . R . F . Gould on "The Degrees of Pure and Ancient Freemasonry , " which is certain to offer special attractions to those brethren , among whom we include

Bros . W . J . Hughan and G . W . Speth , who have paid particular attention to this branch of Masonic study . Other promised papers are "Freemasonry in Canada , " by Bro . J . Ross Robertson , P . G . M . ; " The Arms of the Freemasons , " by Bro . W . H . Rylands ; "Wisdom ,

Strength , and Beauty : a Physical and Psychological Examination of Symbolic Masonry , " by Bro . S . T . Klein ; "The Rawlinson MSS ., " by Bro . Dr . Chelwode Crawley , which is to be read in November ; and "The Bi-gradal Theory , " by Bro . G . W . Speth .

* * We have much pleasure in announcing that a new work from the pen of Bro . R . F . Gould , P . G . D ., is now in the Press , and will be published at an early date , on " Military Lodges ; the Apron and the Sword : or , Freemasonry under Arms , " being an

account of Lodges in Regiments and Ships of War and of famous Soldiers and Sailors ( in all countries ) who have belonged to the Society , together with Biographies of distinguished Military and Naval brethren , and anecdotes showing the influence of Masonry in warfare . The publishers are Messrs ,

Gale and Polden , Limited , 2 , Amen-corner , Paternoster Row , E . C , and the net price will be 5 s . We have no doubt whatever from the thoroughness with which Bro . Gould carries out everything he undertakes , from his intimate knowiedgc of our

Organisation , and from his known ability and experience as an author , that his new work on " Military Lodges" will prove a valuable addition to our historical literature and give an increased lustre—if indeed that be possible—to his fame as the historian of Freemasonry

» » Apropos of a remark quoted from the Masonic Journal to the effect that " there is no power in any Grand Master to make a Mason at sight and any one who has assumed to do so within the last quirter of a century has been severely condemned , ' the Philadelphia

Keystone quotes a number of cases which occurred during the last century in English M isonry , and which the said Masonic Journal will have some difficulty in disposing of as precedents in support of the practice it so roundly condemns . The cases quoted include that of Lord Lovell , who in 1731 , held an occasional

lodge at Houghton Hall , in Norfolk , for the purpose of raising Francis , Duke of Lorraine—afterwards Emperor of Germany—and the Duke of Newcastle to the Degree of Master Mason and those held in 1737 at the Palace of Kew , at which Frederick , Prince of Wales , was initiated and passed Fellow Craft , and afterwards raised M . M .

* * * The other instances are those which were held in l / GG and 1767 respectively , Lord Blaney , G . Master , presiding in person at the former occasional lodge and initiating , passing , and raising the Duke of Gloucester brother of Ring George III ., while al the latter Bro .

John Salter , Dep . G . M . in the absence of Lord Blaney , conferred the Degrees upon the Duke of Cumberland who was subsequently G . Master from 17 S 2 till his death in 1 ^ 90 . Again in 1787 , an occasional lodge was held at the Star and Garter , Pall Mall , at which the Duke of Cumberland made his nephew George Prince

of Wales a Mason . Thus it is one thing to question the expediency of a Grand Master in these days exercising this particular prerogative , but in the face of of the precedents which our Philadelphia contemporary has quoted , it will be difficult to deny thu existence or the exercise of the prerogative by G . Masters of England during the last century .

There has been a good deal of activity exhibited recently by our Scottish brethren in Calcutta . On the 2 nd August , Bro . Capt . C . D . Wise , Grand Secretary of All Scottish Freemasonry in India , accompanied by Bro . C . Furdoniee , visited Calcutta , and Bro . Capt .

Wise , acting as Grand Master , consecrated the new Anglo-Scottish Masonic Hall , in the presence of a numerous gathering of the officers of the District Grand Lodge of Bengal ( E . G . ) , headed by their District Grand Masler , Bro . Brigadier-General Yeatinan-

Masonic Notes.

Biggs . When this ceremony was ended , Lodge Albyn , No . 813 ( S . C . ) , assembled , and was officially visited by tho Acting Grand Master , who warmly congratulated the members on the prosperous condition of the lodge and the harmony existing amongst them . The following evening , Lodge St . Andrew-in-the- East ,

No . 404 ( S . C . ) . was resuscitated . The next evening , Bro . Capt . Wise officially visited two lodges . On Thursday , Chapter Star of India , No . 203 , was resuscitated , and on Friday the Degrees of Royal Ark Mariner and Red Cross of Babylon were conferred on a number of companions to enable them to organise a chapter of those Degrees in Calcutta .

* * * The District of Bengal is somewhat unfortunately circumstanced at the present time . The District G . Master—Bro . Brig .-General Yeatman-Biggs , C . B . —is away on duty in command of one of the brigades on the North-west frontier , while his respected Deputy , Bro . J . R . Maples , has been ordered home on the

ground of ill-health . However , there arc doubtless some good men whose services will be available in such an emergency , while the District G . Secretary , Bro . H . M . Rustomjee , is a host in himsell , and will keep things going smoothly in the absence of the Chief and his Deputy .

According to the Pacific Freemason there are certain questions which a man who petitions a lodge to be made a Freemason must answer satisfactorily in writing before his candidature can be accepted . But in addition to these there is a number of other questions

as to which it is most desirable the lodge shall satisfy themselves before they finally resolve on accepting him as one of their members . These questions it seems are : Is he intelligent ? Is he a man of fraternal disposition ' i Is he a gentleman ? Is he discreet r Is he honest : Is he selfish ?

# # # As for the reasons assigned by our contemporary for asking these questions , they are undoubtedly sound . It is of little good , for instance , accepting a person as a Mason who is wanting in intelligence , and who , for that reason , will be unable to understand and

appreciate the " grand moral truths contained in its ritual ; " nor is he likely to prove a credit to any lodge which may accept him who does not possess " lh . it social disposition which enjoys the companionship of fellows . " He ought undoubtedly to be a gentleman , that is , "a man of cultured habits , " and there is

equally no doubt that he should exhibit the qualities of discretion , honesty , and unselfishness . But while wc readily concede that a candidate for the mysteries and privileges of Freemasonry should possess all the attributes which the Pacific Freemason deems necessary , we do not see how such a series of inquiries could be conducted without causing serious offence to more than

one of the persons concerned . If those who become sponsors for a candidate arc able to salisfy their brother members that he is a man of reputability—a man whom it is a pleasure to them lo be associated with in the daily concerns of life , and in whose manly q lalities they have the utmost confidence , we do not see how the lodge as a body can expect more specific information .

This , indeed , is what our contemporary mojt probably intends—that a candidate should be in a position to satisfy the lodge he aspires lo j lin , through his sponsors , that he is a fit and proper person to be made a Mason—fit , that is to say , mentally , morally , and socially , to become one of them . This kind of

general assurance , made with a due sense of responsibility by those who recommend the candidate , is what we look to receive in England , and it is only b 2 cause many Americans appear to favour the inquisitorial process , that we imagine the Pacific Freemason considers inquiry under the heads he specifies is necessary or , at least , desirable .

* * * We learn from the Indian Freemason lor last month that the District G . Lodge of Burmah at its Quarterly Communication held on the 24 th June decided to commemorate her Majesty ' s Diamond jubilee by foundin r a ward in the Dufferin Maternity Hospital .

We unite with our contemporary in congratulating the brethren in Burmah on having adopted so benevolent a scheme and have no doubt that under the auspices of so able a chief as Bro . D . G . Macleod , Dist . G . Master , it will be successfully carried out . * *

A new lodge under the Scottish Constitutions was successfully inaugurated at the Masonic Hall , Zetlandstreet , Hong Kong , on the 24 th June last . Bro . F . Howell had been appointed to perform the ceremony of consecration , and in due course , the Naval and Military Lodge of Scotland , ranking as No . 848 on the roll of Grand Lodge , was constituted and its first

R . W . Master installed in the chair in the person of Bro . T . Spafford . The officers for th 2 ensuing year were invested and the brethren afterwards celebrated the auspicious event by dining together and doing honour to the usual loyal and Masonic toasts . We trust the new lodge may have before it a long and prosperous career .