Masonic Charities.

The vote of Grand Lodge on the last occasion raised the annual subscription to the Fund for Aged Freemasons , to £ 500 per annum , which , contributed by individual subscribers , would give them 2000 votes . Each Lodge having four votes , the number of Lodges possessing the privilege should , strictly speaking , not exceed 500 . The highest number of a Lodge is now ... 1057 There are various numbers absent from the List , amounting in all to 134

There are Lodges on Foreign Stations ( some of them are within such easy distance as to be able to vote , but it shall be assumed that none can do so ) 312 There are Military Lodges ( some of which also might vote ) 9 There are entered as " erased" 4 459 ¦ Leaving 598

Strike off for Lodges not yet erased from the List , but which are not likely to be revived 48 Remain 550 After , therefore , making the most liberal deduction , there remain

550 Lodges possessing the privilege of voting , and fully capable of exercising that privilege . These 550 Lodges possess 2200 votes ; whereas the £ 500 subscribed , only entitles them , if the rule which regulates individual subscriptions be applied , to 2000 votes . The additional £ 100 per annum now voted , only partially redresses the balance against individual subscribers , which has been steadily increasing with the increase of Lodges . In 1842 , when £ 400 per annum was first voted , the highest number of a Lodge was little in excess of 700 , now it is more than 1050 .

BOYS' SCHOOL . The Quarterly General Court of this school was held at the offices in Great Queen Street , on Monday , July 19 , Bro . Benj . B . Cabbell in the chair . The minutes of the last Quarterly Court , and of the general and house committee , having been read , it was proposed and seconded , that the of Thiselton

salary Bro . , the Secretary , be increased to the amount of £ 150 . After some discussion , the proposition was amended by substituting an annual gratuity of £ 50 , in consequence of the long and faithful services rendered by Bro . Thiselton , thus leaving the salary £ 100 per annum . An election for the Boys' School will take place in October . There will be eight vacancies to be filled up from a list of sixteen candidates . The girls have had a summer fete , when will the bovs have theirs ?

The Provinces.

The Provinces .

SCOTLAND . THE NEW FREEMASONS' HALL IN EDINBURGH . On Thursday , the 24 th of June , the imposing ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the Freemasons' Hall for Scotland , took place in Edinburgh with great magnificence . At an early hour the city was in a state of bustle and excitement .

Members of the Craft were everywhere seen hastening to their respective places of meeting ; and at the doors of each Lodge-room crowds of curious spectators were soon collected , anxious to catch the first view of the various contributary streams which were to unite and form the great procession of the day . The weather was peculiarly favourable to the display . The heavy rain of the preceding night had cooled the air , and the sun shone out cheerily and

pleasantly , without creating any inconvenient heat . Twelve o ' clock had been announced as the hour for opening the Grand Lodge at Holyrood ; and as the time drew near all the approaches to the Palace were filled with a dense mass of human beings , through which the members of the several Lodges , in their gay costume , and accompanied by bands of music , banners , and their mystic paraphernalia , slowly made their way . Soon after the members of the Grand

Lodge had assembled in the picture gallery of the Palace , the Duke of Athole , M . W . G . M ., proceeded to open the Lodge , and the aspect of the vast assembly was then imposing in the extreme . Rarely has that noble chamber witnessed so brilliant , and at the same time so popular a gathering . In addition to the ordinary constituents of the Grand Lodge , the office-bearers , Masters , Wardens , and representatives of Lodges

holding of the Grand Lodge , were numerous stranger Brethren of distinction . After the usual formalities , the reception of the deputies from the sister Grand Lodges of England and Ireland took place with the stately ceremonial which the Brethren love to practice on such occasions . The deputation from the Grand Lodge of England consisted of the R . W . Lord Panmure , D . G . M . ; the Hon . Fred . Duudas M . P ., S . G . W . ; Wyndham Portal , J . G . W . ; and R .

Jennings , G . Dir . of Cers . The deputation from the Grand Lodge of Ireland consisted of Bros . Quinton , G . Treas ., and Dr . Hidman , G . Sec . After the necessary business had been gone through , the Grand Master adjourned the Lodge . The Brethren who were not members of the Grand Lodge having in the meantime been marshalled in the Palace yard , the grand procession was then set in motion , the junior Lodge taking the lead . Notwithstanding the great numbers . present , and the difficulty of moving large bodies of men unnaccustomed to march in concert , the arrangements were so expeditiously carried out that less delay took

place than might reasonably have been expected , and the proper order of the Lodges was maintained without the slightest confusion . As the Lodge of Edingburg , Mary ' s Chapel , No . 1 , which as the most ancient Lodge of Scotland , had the privilege of immediately preceding the Grand Lodge , began to move off the ground , the office-bearers , of the Grand Lodge were seen issuing from the portals of the palace . The vast procession , without a break in its

magnificent entirety , then moved along the densley crowded Canongate , escorted by guards of honour , while , the line on each side was kept clear by the military . The scone was one of the most astonishing kind . The procession itself was full of varied interest . The quaintly decorated flags , the diversified costumes of the several Lodges , and the gorgeously decorated office-bearers , presented a unique and dazzling picture , while the usual numbers that took

part in the procession imparted to it great dignity and impressiveness . Scarcely less extraordinary , however , than the procession itself was the aspect of the streets . Although the roadway was thronged with human beings , the crowds there seem to have afforded no relief to the living swarms congregated in , on , and about the houses . Every window had its cluster of human faces . Every balcony was crowded . The gabled housetops , the roofs of churches ,

the most inaccessible ledges of wall , had all their contingents of gratified spectators . No spot from which a glimpse could be gained of what was going on was without its occupant . When the head of the procession reached the High Church , the line halted , and formed open order . The Grand Lodge , preceded by a band of music , passed up through the ranks , the Lodge of Edinburgh , and the other Lodges according to their seniority , following . Arrived at the High

Church , the Grand Lodge proceeded to the gallery , the other Lodges following into the body of the building . The Rev . Dr . Arnot the Grand Chaplain , then delivered an able and most appropriate discourse , selecting for his text the 8 th verse of the 13 chapter