THE ARCANE SCHOOLS - Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge No. 362

Sweden, and various notables of the English Craft.
In December 1890 the Prince of Wales, G.M., Installed his eldest son Prince
Albert Victor Duke of Clarence and Avondale as Prov. Grand Master of
Berkshire; unfortunately his tenure of that office was very short as he died on the
14th January, 1892. The death of Brother Shadwell H. Clerke, the Grand
Secretary, on the 25th December, 1891, led to the appointment to that office of
Brother Edward Letchworth.
On the 27th January, 1892, the Grand Lodge voted an Address of Condolence to
the Queen, and to the Prince of Wales, G.M., on the lamented death of the Duke
of Clarence and Avondale, and the whole Craft followed this example. The
Jubilee of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution was celebrated the 24th
February of this year at the Covent Garden Theatre, with the Earl of {531} Mount
Edgecombe as President, when the unprecedented sum of 59,593 Pounds 15s.
0d. was contributed. In December, 1892, Grand Lodge again agreed to enlarge
the number of Grand Officers by the addition of a Deputy Grand Registrar, a
Deputy Grand Sword Bearer, additional Grand Deacons, and Grand Directors of
Ceremonies; the like appointments to extend to Provincial Grand Lodges,
according to their numerical strength. During this year the question of admitting
Jews as Freemasons was agitated in Prussia, and a new Lodge was established
for the special purpose of such Initiations. It is, however, outside a work of this
nature to print the ordinary and recent outline of the routine of Freemasonry,
which must give the world the idea that all is pomp, parade, man millinery, and
banqueting. Matters of this sort can be gathered from the ordinary Freemasons'
Journals, which make it their business to report every detail for the edification of
the members of Lodges. With the great increase that is constantly taking place in
the numbers of Lodges, innovations are constantly being introduced of a doubtful
character, not calculated for the good of the Society. We will, however, mention a
few more items of general interest.
At a meeting of Grand Lodge, 19th April, 1896, the rank of Past Grand Officer
was conferred upon 21 distinguished Masons, in commemoration of the 21 years
during which the Prince of Wales had filled the Grand Mastership. A
commemoration festival was held on the 14th June 1897 at the Royal Albert Hall,
in honour of her Majesty the Queen having attained the 60th year of her reign,
and which was one of the finest spectacles on record. Another, worthy of record,
was the Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys, on the 10th July, 1898,
under the Presidency of the Grand Master at the Royal Albert Hall, London, when
the unprecedented sum of 141,000 Pounds was reported as subscribed for the
purpose of erecting new school buildings, and removing the School to Bushey,
near Watford. At the meeting of Grand Lodge on the {532} 7th September, 1898,
terms were proposed and passed for the recognition of the sometime established
Grand Lodge of New Zealand.
On the 12th May, 1900, the foundation-stone was laid at Bushey of the New
Royal Masonic Institution for Boys; the inscription upon the plate deposited was
as follows: -- "This stone was laid on the 12th May, A.D. 1900, with Masonic
ceremonial, by H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, K.G., &c., &c.,