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SATURDAY , J 28 , rooo .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The regular Quarterly Communication of Supreme Grind Chapter will hi held at Freemasons' Hall on Wednesday , the ist prox ., when the usual formal business will be dealt with . The only noticeable '' aiure about thc Report of thc Committee of General I ' urposes is that it contain * recommendations for thc grant of two warrants , one for the constitution of a n 'vv chanter at Bccclcs in thc Province ot Suffolk , to

Masonic Notes.

be attached to the Apollo Lodge , No . 305 , and to be known as the St . Michael ' s Chapter ; and the other for the Engineer Chapter , to be attached to the Engineer Lodge , No . 2599 , in the London district . » * »

The summer entertainment on Thursday , the 12 th instant , to the annuitants of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution in residence at Croydon , passed off , as it invariably does , with great success . Regret was expressed on all sides at the unavoidable absence

of Mrs . and Miss Terry , who , whenever possible , make a point of being present , and lay themselves out to contribute to the entertainment of the Old Folk ; but Bro . Terry hims 1 ; and the members of his Committee vvere there , and > : nder his direction and with the

kindly support of Bro . James and Mrs . Stephens , the fete , as we have said , passed off admirably . The worthy residents thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the excellent musical programme which Bto . Herbert Schartau conducted with his accustomed ability . And

so the evening passed , all too quickly , to the mutual gratification of hosts and guests , and one more vvas added to the long list of red-letter days for which the inmates of the Benevolent Institution at Croydon are indebted to the initiative of Bro . Terry .

* * * Bro . Charles E . Keyser , who presided at the recent Quarterly Court of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , took the opportunity of describing , as far as vvas possible , the progress that has been made in the

erection of the new School buildings at Bushey , and expressed his opinion that a fair proportion of the work had been done . He mentioned , however , that the architects vvere not so sati slied with the rate of progress , the great difficulty experienced by the

contractors being to obtain the necessary amount of skilled labour , the result being that additional money vvas being paid , with—apparently—the possibility that the building might not bc completed within the specified

time . In the event of this possibility being realised , the consequences , as Bro . Keyser pointed out , might be serious . We trust , however , that the difficulties which the builders are experiencing will be overcome , and that the work will be done in time .

» •» It is some time since that Lord Henniker , who has been absent at his post of Governer ot the Isle of Man , has found it possible to be present at the annual meeting of his Provincial Grand Lodge of Suffolk ,

and therefore thc pleasure which his lordship and the brethren experienced at their re-union at Ipswich , on the 13 th instant , must have been greater than usual . Lord Henniker was appointed to office in 1886 , and in the interval that has since elapsed Suffolk

has made great progress . It is not so much that the Province has increased in strength , as only one lodge has been added to the roll since his appointment . But the reports that have been presented annually during his

14 years of service have invariably shown that under his lordship ' s government , or during his enforced absence elsewhere , under that of his able and experienced Deputy—Bro . the Rev . 0 . J . Martyn—the lodges have carried out their duties admirably .

It is , however , as one uf the most consistent and most regular supporters of our Institutions , that Suffolk has more especially distinguished itself , nor , though the aggregate of its subscriptions has not been on thc same scale as we have known it to bc , has the present year proved by any means an exception , the

total distributed among the three Central Charities being in excess ot ^ , 800 . We trust that when Lord Henniker is again in a position to meet his brethren , hc may have thc pleasure of being greeted with reports as satisfactory ; u were submitted on the occasion of his recent visit .

•* * The annual meeting , at Hitchin , on thc iSth instant , of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Hertfordshire proved , as usual , a success . Bro . Halsey , M . P ., presided , and had the pleasure of inducting into office

Bro . F . Sumner Knyvett , P . G . D ., as his new , Deputy . Moreover , a worthy successor to Bro . Knyvett as Prov . Grand Treasurer , was unanimously elected in thc person of Bro . J . R . Cocks , the senior P . M . of the Hertford Lodge , No . 403—the senior lodge in the Province—and a P . P . G . W . But the number of those who

remained to the banquet was small . Whether this was owing to the price of one guinea , which it is the custom in this Province to charge per member for a dinner ticket , or to other circumstances , we are unable to say . We understand the matter was informally discussed among thc brethren , and it certainly appears advisable to consider whether if a more modest charge

Masonic Notes.

were made for dinner , and each brother left to choose his own liquid refreshment , and pay for it himself , the attendance at the banquet might not be far greater . It does not look well for only about 30 or 40 brethren to dine together at the annual meeting of a Province

which , to speak roughly , must number quite 800 subscribing members . At all events , it seems to us that the experiment is worth trying , for this , if for no other , reason , that the respected Provincial Grand Master may have the pleasure of meeting more of the brethren he has presided over for so many years .

It is , indeed , to be regretted that Hertfordshire , which is in so many respects strong and enthusiastic in its Freemasonry , but more especially in its support of our Masonic Institutions , should exhibit such marked indifference to the annual meetings of its Provincial G . Lodge . Even in the years in which the

attendance has been described in our columns as a full one or considerable , it has rarely happened that the number ot those present at such gatherings has greatly , if at all , exceeded a round hundred , and we venture to say that if anything like a record has been kept of , the number that have remained to the banquet ,

it has been more often below than in excess of onehalf . For several years past the subscribing members in the Province have mustered about 700 , and now they are probably nearer 900 than 800 , though in the preceding paragraph , in order to be on the safe side in our reckoning , we have given the latter figure . At all events without diving too minutely into these

matters , we consider the annual meetings leave much that is to be desired in respect of the attendance , and it is by no means improbable that a moderate charge for dinner , leaving it to the brethren to provide their own liquor , each at his own cost , might bring about an improvement . * * *

The great function at Leeds on Wednesday , the iSth instant , when the Right Hon . the Earl of Warwick , Deputy G . Master of England , laid the foundation stone of the Masonic Hall which is about to be erected in that city , was worthy of the Province of West Yorkshire , while all the arrangements , from

first to last , were carried out with a completeness which refltcts the greatest credit on the Committee in charge . It was his lordship ' s first visit to West Yorkshire , and the brethren , therefore , made it the opportunity for presenting him with a beautifully illuminated address , which his lordship briefly but

gracefully acknowledged . As for the proceedings , they were similar to those with which we have become familiar . They were , however , more imposing in consequence of the large number of brethren that attended , all but three of the 81 lodges in the Province being represented , while the Leeds lodges were in great

force , ar . d there vvas , in addition , a most brilliant muster of the members of the Prov . G . Lodge . A lengthy report of the meeting appears elsewhere , and will , no doubt , be welcomed with appreciation by our readers . We congratulate the Province on the success of thc function . * * «

The Province of Essex had a most successful fieldday at Clacton-on-Sea on the 17 th instant , when the Earl of Warwick had the pleasure of presiding at the annual meeting of his Provincial Grand Lodge , the arrangements for which by the entertaining lodge—St . Osyth ' s Priory , No . 2063—were gratefully

recognised by the Provincial Grand Master and the brethren present . The past year has been a most successful one . There have been no new lodges added to the roll , but there has been u substantial increase in the number of subscribing members . The stale of the funds is also most satisfactory , while the Charity

Committee were able to report that since their last annual meeting they had succeeded in carrying the election of one girl , three boys , and two widows . Above all , the support which has been forthcoming from thc Province to the Masonic Institutions has

been considerable , amounting , as it has , to upwards of _ £ _ . 'OOo , made up of . £ 1381 to thc Old People , in February ; JC UJI to the Girls' School , in May ; and £ 470 to the Boys' School , early in the present month . ••>

1 he Earl of Warwick , who must be proud of pre . siding over a Province that is so favourably circumtanced , and can accomplish such thinys , announced that hc had accepted an invitation to preside at next year ' s Festival in behalf of the Royal Masonic Bene

vo ( ent Institution , and , bearing in mind how loyally he was supported as Chairman at the Girls' School Festival in 1884 , and at that of thc Boys' School in 18 93 , we augur favourably as regards the prospects of our Old People ' s anniversary in Febnury next under his lordship ' s auspices .