Freemasons' Hall—The Main Building.

surpassed , that elegant and highly-finished room in Great Queen Street" and adds , somewhat pathetically , that " it is to be regretted that the finances of the Society will not

admit of its being solely reserved for Masonic purposes . " The regrets of the chronicler might have been assuaged if he had been dowered with the mantle of prophecy . If we make our inspection of the main

building we shall have occasion to glance at the capacious room used as the Clerks' Office , and at those of the three great Charitable Institutions associated with Masonry , and may then find our way into the Board

Room , ornamented with admirably painted portraits of , amongst others , the R . W . Bro . Sir John B . Monckton , P . G . W ., and of Bro . Thomas Fenn , P . G . W ., both Past Presidents of the Board of General Purposes , so well

known , also , as aut horities on matters of jurisprudence . There is also one of the Marquis of Ripon , P . G . M ., and of his predecessor , the Earl of Zetland , P . G . M . Both the Board of General Purposes and the Board of Benevolence meet in this room .

GROUND FLOOR STAIRCASE .

We may now enter the resplendently ornate Masonic Temple , some notion of which is given in the accompanying illustration , although some of the effect is lost in this particular photograph by its being taken from the far end of the structure , i . e ., from the point of view of the throne ,

which is thus lost to view . There is a large gallery of portraits , including those of various Past Grand Masters : the Earl of . Zetland , the late Duke of Kent , the first Duke of Athole—one of the pictures which survived the fire—and there is also a fine statue of the Duke of Sussex behind the

Grand Master ' s Throne . On the qth May , 188 3 , a fire , caused by the overheating of a flue , broke out in this portion of the building , and resulted in the total destruction of the portraits and decorations .

Fortunately the Grand Lodge had possessed itself of engravings of each of the pictures , and in this way it was found possible , by the aid of competent artists , to restore the walls to their former condition . After this event the whole of the Hall was re-decorated and re-furnished .

THE BOARD ROOM .

It will have been observed that the Hall is connected with the adjacent building , the Freemasons' Tavern , so that when the Grand Festival of Grand Lodge is held the brethren dine in the Great Hall of the Tavern , and the concert thereafter is held in' the Temple , to which they adjourn .

Outside the door one is interested to observe that " this pavement is formed of antique tesserae collected at Jerusalem by the W . Henry Maudslay , P . G . D ., and presented Grand Lodge . " On the second and third floors are a considerable number

of handsome rooms for lodge meetings . These rooms are occupied almost nightly by one or more of the five hundred lodges existing in London , a considerable number of which have their homes in Freemasons' Hall .

ENTIfANCK 'I'd HALL .