Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 239 i United Grand Lodge 240 Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ...... 241 Royal Masonic Institution for Girls 242 Consecration of the Prince Edward of Saxe-. Weimar Lodge , No . igoj , at Portsmouth 243 Services of Grand Ollicers . " 244 Provincial Grand Lodi * c of North Wales and

Shropshire 245 j Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of C heshire 245 CORRESPONDENCEThe Girls'School 246 Book of Constitutions , 1723 246 ¦ An Error of the Scrutineers 246 The Banners of Freemasonry 246 A . Vagrant Mason 246

Reviews 246 Masonic Notes and Queries 247 Consecration of the Citadel Lodge , No . 1897 247 REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 248 Instruction 249 Royal Arch 249 Instruction 249

Mark Masonry 249 Cryptic Masonrv 249 Scotland . ' 349 Royal Masonic Institution for Girls 249 Ireland 250 . Masonic Tidings 250 Lodge Meetings for Next Week I . Advertisements II ., III ., IV .

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ALL the members of the Craft will hear with deep satisfaction that H ER MAJESTY has called H . R . H . PRINCE LEOPOLD tothe House of Peers , by the title of the DUKE OF ALBANY . The public , as well as the Masonic Order , have been able to realize his many and great gifts of eloquence and power , while his friendly sympathy and his " don de pluire , " very much

resembling the PRINCE OF WALES , have endeared him to all who have heard his kindly utterances , or have been permitted in any way to form part of his society . We feel sure that as the DUKE OF ALBANY he will be greeted by all classes alike in this country , if it be possible , with renewed interest and increased admiration .

* * * THE Stewards' returns for the Girls' School are very interesting , for various reasons , for while they point to much good , hard work , they also suggest several very important considerations as regards the continual and lively interest exhibited by our good brethren in our great Masonic Charities .

Despite bad times , and hard times , notwithstanding depression of trade , and pressure , and uneasiness in various departments , agricultural , commercial , exporting , and monetary , the zeal of Freemasons has not slackened , their love of charity has not grown cold . At the recent festival , the metropolis has sent up £ 5570 7 s . 6 d ., with a few lists to come in , the provinces / 5 SS 4 17 s . . id ., in all £ 11 , 455 4 s . iod ., and which probably before the end

of 1881 will reach ^ 12 , 000 . Of the metropolitan lodges , No . 1642 , the Earl of Carnarvon , whose zeal for the Charities is most commendable , with three Stewards , Bros . GEO . PENN , E . M . LUNDER , and S . H . PARKHOUSE , has brought up the eoodly amount of £ 300 . Next to it appears No . 6 K

Prosperity . Bro . G . T . BROWN , with ^ 246 15 s ., while succeeding it in order of amount is the Grand Stewards' Lodge , Bro . FRANK RICHARDSON , with £ 156 gs . No . 1383 , Friends in Council , Bro . Capt . W . R . G . FARMER , is next with ^ 140 14 s ., and No . 657 , Canonbury , Bro . Wm . MAPLE , succeeds with ^ 136 ios . Five lodges now appear , No . 1563 , City of Westminster ,

Bro . EDWIN J . SCOTT , £ 119 14 s ., No . 1608 , Kilburn , Bro . J . W . CUFF , £ 108 19 s ., No . 1719 , Evening Star , Bro . ALFRED WILLIAMS , £ 105 , and No . 862 , Whittington , Bro . J . IRVINE , £ 103 19 s ., and No . 167 , St . John's , Bro . GEO . DAVIS , £ 100 16 s . This summary exhausts the returns with " three figures , " and though many of the other returns are doubtless very

praiseworthy , especially if we knew the exact position of affairs , we can only allude to them here " in the gross , " as making up the metropolitan total of ^ 557 ° 7 s * 6 d . We notice that from 1700 to 1800 only eight lodges in London make returns , and from 1800 only two . This fact we confess to think not at all a healthy one , either as regards the lodges themselves or the

great work of Masonic charity . In the provinces the list is gallantly and significantly headed by Gloucestershire with twenty-four Stewards and with ; £ iooo , as our esteemed Bro . C . J . MARTYN , P . G . C , remarked in his excellent speech at the festival , a very praiseworthy and striking return for that province—comparatively a small one . Gloucestershire is followed by

West Yorkshire , always liberal and " in earnest , " with £ 500 , and we mayobserve that its Prov . Grand Master , and Deputy Prov . Grand Master , and twenty-three Stewards attended the festival , and we believe several other West Yorkshire brethren . Kent comet , next with ten Stewards and ^ 340 , and is succeeded , at some little distance , by Middlesex , with nine Stewards and

£ 307 3 s ., as well as by South Wales , W . Division , with one Steward and ^ 300 . This is a very noteworthy return . Three provinces , Lancashire , Western Division , with eleven Stewards and £ 277 3 s ., Essex with four Stewards and £ 221 3 s ., and Devonshire with three Stewards and £ 201 7 s ., next appear on . the scene . In the " hundreds" we have fourteen provinces ,

Lancashire , Eastern Division , £ 197 18 s ., Somersetshire , with one Steward , £ 181 13 s ., Staffordshire ( a very striking list ) with one Steward , £ 157 ios . , Yorkshire , North and East Riding , three Stewards and ^ 134 8 s ., Cheshire , with six Stewards and £ 129 3 s . nd ., Berks and Bucks , six Stewards and , £ 122 17 s ., Dorsetshire , two Stewards and £ 122 17 s ., Durham , one Steward

and £ 121 15 s . 6 d ., South Wales , Eastern Division , one Steward and £ 120 , Norfolk , with two Stewards and ^ 111 6 s ., and Sussex , with one Steward and £ 105 . Eight other provinces , with sums under £ 100 , make up the provincial returns to £ 5884 17 s . 4 d . In the provinces we note that from No . 1700 to No . 1800 only two lodges have sent Stewards or returns , and from No . 1800 to No . 1900 only two more . Surely this is a fact which deserves atten-

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tion , a state of affairs which calls for amendment . Still , as we said before , the Stewards' returns are very noteworthy in themselves .

* * WE see that the Stewards for the Boys' School Festival have decided to hold their gathering at Brighton , in the Royal Pavilion . We trust sincerely that this change will be for the benefit materially of the Boys' School , and a striking success . Our worthy brethren in Sussex are very zealous Masons ,

and there are amongst them many who we doubt not will wish to assist what Bro . BINCKES terms " the most deserving of all our Masonic-Institutions . " We trust that a " visit to London on the Sea , " as Brighton has been named , may give pleasure , and health , and a holiday , and good

digestion to many of our readers and many warm friends of the Boys' School , and that the festival for 1881 may indeed , by its happy and goodly returns , enable the governing body to add essentially to the funded capital of that important and much needed Institution . It is understood that the distribution of prizes will take place on Tuesday , June 28 th .

* * * WE said that we should recur to the subject of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , and , aided by a kind friend , we do so to-day . The polling on Friday , the 20 th inst ., was in many respects remarkable and very high indeed ; in fact , never so high before for the number elected . In May , 1880 ,

twenty-two " aged Freemasons were elected , the minimum successful being 320 ; hence it might fairlyhave been expected that 500 this year would have been a safe number for the twenty-fifth on the list , but , as a matter of fact , it was not so . The lowest successful polled 719 , and one with 705 was "left out in the cold . " Every year increases the number of

votes , and the management improves likewise , for there are fewer thrown away now than there used to be . In 1880 the highest number was 2163 , and in 1 S 79 the maximum reached 2079 . In 1881 the first on the list only polled 1 5 11 , and from the first to the twenty-fifth of the successful there was only a difference of 792 . For the " widows" the maximum in 1880 was 1259 , and

the twenty-sixth of the successful won with 545 , but this time several are disappointed who polled over 700 , the minimum successful of the fifteen elected being 872 , the maximum only reaching 1697 . We understand that as many

as 3 L 5 I 3 votes were polled for the " aged Freemasons , making , with 208 left over , a total of 31 , 305 . The total votes used never to reach 28 , 000 before this election . For " widows , " with [ those left over , the number polled amounted to 29 , 919 , which was largely in excess of any previous election .

WE were pleased to have to record in our pages last week the pleasant and seasonable testimonial of the Britannic Lodge to our esteemed Bro . J . SAMPSON PEIRCE , G . D . of England . No more worthy and hard-working Mason exists in our Order , and no one has more fully gained the attachment of many friends .

* * WE call attention to a report elsewhere of the distribution of prizes to the Masonic Orphan School , Dublin , by the COUNTESS OF COWPER , wife of the LORD LIEUTENANT , on the 13 th inst ., before a brilliant assemblage , in

the Exhibition Palace . The whole affair appears to have been a great success , and we offer our " Hearty good wishes " for the progress and prosperity of that excellent Institution . We only wish that the pressure on our pages admitted of a fuller report .

* * * BY the Agenda Paperfor next meeting of Grand Lodge , besides the normal and general business , is the Report of the Board of General Purposes , anent Bro . TUDOR TREVOR ' S appeal . The report is unfavourable to Bro . TUDOR TREVOR ' application for aid , and is an unanimous one . The Board of

General Purposes proposes to buy an adjacent piece of property for £ 600 , no doubt a wise of act of foresi ght , and in the best interest of Freemasons ' Hall . Bro . Col . CREATON proposes the usual grant for the coals for the Asylum , and Bro . Major BOND proposes to remit the two shillings a year paid by provincial brethren to the Fund of Benevolence , and return it to

the provincial bodies . We hardly think that he realizes the full effect of this proposal , which must deprive the provincial brethren of all ^ further claims on the Fund of Benevolence , and is the " narrow end of the wedge" for the dislocation and breaking up of our now united and homogeneous jurisdiction . Such a resolution has no chance of being carried , and is , in fact , a " Masonic

revolution . " The important question of increase of Grand Officers and Prov . Grand Officers will also come before Grand Lodge—we venture to think wisely and seasonable . To such a proposal there can be no possible objection . As we have been reminded by a very able correspondent , it is interesting to remember how this " accretion " of Grand Officers has proceeded gradually

and carefully . Indeed , the motto of Grand Lodge seems to have been " Festina lente . " A Past Grand Directorof Ceremonies was appointed on the 29 th of April , 1829 ; Grand Pursuivant , 24 th of April , 1833 ; and a Past Grand Pursuivant , June , 1 st , 1859 . Two additional Grand Deacons were appointed June 5 , 1861 ; Presidentof Board of General Purposes , September