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The same paper quotes a "high authority" in Masonic circles , as stating to a representative , " that the Act had singularly little application to London , yvhere there are absolutely no clubs , and dinners are almost invariably held on licensed premises . The experiment , " he said , " yvas made twenty or so years ago of forming a London Masonic club

in Queen Victoria Street , but after a trial of about three years the club yvas dissolved as impracticable . The premises are noyv in use as the head-quarters of the Salvation Army . In the provinces Masonic clubs had ahvavs been common , smaller toyvns having the advantage of London in such matters , and there the Act will have general application ,

and the Grand Registrar ' s digest will prove of the greatest utility . " -S < B » <& The Arts Lodge , No . 2751 , in common yvith a large number of Masonic bodies and individuals , has availed itself of the opportunity afforded b y the marriage of the Grand Secretary to offer him a token of the regard and esteem in yvhich he is held , and , as befits a body of men yvho , in addition

to Masonic ties , are bound together by art associations , the form of their gift has assumed the shape of a bronze basrelief executed by one of its members , the yvell knoyvn sculptor , Bro . Simr / ionds . The obverse is a life-like portrait in profile of Sir Edyvard Letchyvorth , and on the reverse a

( J'lln / ii .- Elite furl rail Co . ) graceful design representing Faith , Hope , and Charity , surrounded by the folloyving inscription : — " Presented as a yvedding gift and token of esteem and fraternal regard , 1 9 , from the Arts Lodge , No . 275 1 , to V . W . Bro . Echv . Letchyvorth . " The bronze is mounted on a handsome ebony stand .

On Wednesday , ] an nary 21 st , at the Masonic Temple , Margate , Bro . W . H . Bennett yvas installed as Worshipful Master of the Union Lodge , No . 127 , which enjoys the distinction of being one of the oldest lodges in the district . There yvas a large gathering of members of the Craft , including Past and Present Masters of other lodges in Kent and

Provincial Grand Officers , and the ceremony yvas very impressively performed by Bro . E . L . Dixson , P . M . 429 , P . P . G . D . C , the I . P . M ., yvho discharged the duties of Installing Master in a fautlcss manner . The neyv Worshipful Master appointed and invested his officers for the ensuing year as folloyvs : —Bros . E . L . Dixson , I . P . M . ; E . Coleman ,

S . W . ; G . W . Sexby , J . W . ; Rev . W . Taylor Jones , Chaplain ; F . W . Willett , Treasurer ; F . Stanley , Secretary ; C . E . Perret , S . D . ; E . Padget , J . D . ; T . W . Stigant , I . G . ; J . Moore , D . C . ; J . M . Mttnns , A . D . C . ; T . Coleman , Organist ; F . J . Doughty and E . S . Whitehead , Steyvards ; and George Layvrence , Tvler .

(©> q , . ©> The customary banquet took place at the Cliftonville Hotel , yvhere no efforts had been spared on the part of the management to make the repast a yvell-served and enjoyable one . The neyv Worshipful Master presided over a company numbering betyveen seventy and eighty , and the proceedings

yvere of a very enjoyable character . " & < s » 3 » ¦ The Law Courts at Montreal have had before it recently a case in yvhich a member of one of the three lodges still remaining in that territory under English jurisdiction

brought an action against a member of the same lodge for defamation of character and claimed S 500 damages . We are not concerned yvith the details of the case , but the plea to the action yvas from the Masonic point of view of considerable interest , and it yvas that the defendant had acted

in accordance yvith the rules of the Order by bringing the conduct of the plaintiff before the lodge , and that the trial in lodge yvhich followed the complaint had resulted in the plaintiff ' s charge being shoyvn to be unfounded , and his being excluded from the lodge until he had apologised .

« £ ¦ < S > © In rendering judgment the court held that the promotion of harmony betyveen the members of a lodge is one of the guiding principles of the Masonic Order , and , under Masonic rules , the defendant had the right to place his differences yvith the plaintiff before his lodge . Further , if plaintiff complained

of the decision of the lodge , he yvas obliged , under Masonic rules , to appeal to higher Masonic authority . The question was one coming within the jurisdiction of the Order . Under these circumstances the action yvas dismissed yvith costs .

The brethren ol the old lodge ot Edinburgh St . Andreyy , No . 4 8 , celebrated on the 12 th January the date of Burns ' visit to their lodge , on yvhich occasion he yvas hailed and toasted as " Caledonia ' s Bard , " Robert Burns . This yvas the first public recognition of his poetic genius and talent , and Burns , writing to his friend , James Ballantine , Banker , in

Ayr , described yvhat occurred : — "Iyvent to a Mason lodge yesternight , yvhere the Most Worshipful Grand Master , Charteris , and all the Grand Lodge of Scotland visited . The meeting yvas numerous and elegant ; all the different lodges about toyvn yvere present in all their pomp . The Grand Master , yvho presided yvith great solemnity and honour to

himself as a gentleman and Mason , among other general toasts gave ' Caledonia ' and ' Caledonia's Bard , Bro . Burns , ' yvhich ran through the yvhole assembly yvith multiplied honours and repeated acclamations . As I had no idea such a thing yvould happen , I yvas doyvnright thunderstruck-, and ,

trembling in every nerve , made the best return in my power . Just as I had finished , some of the Grand Officers said , so loud that I could hear , yvith a most comforting accent ' Very yveel indeed ! ' yvhich set me something in rights again . " The lodge possesses some very valuable relics , and not the least

interesting and valuable of these is the Right Worshipful Master ' s chair , yvhich yvas made b y the hands of George Meikle Kemp , the architect of the Scott monument , and presented by him to his mother lodge .