Lodge "Victoria In Burmah."

munication of grand lodge , accompanied by a certificate , that notices and copies of the appeal have been sent by the appellant to the party against whoso decision the appeal iV made , and also to tho opposite party , and upon receipt of the appeal and certificates by the grand secretary , he shall

forthwith give notice thereof to the party whose decision 1 thereby called in question ; and on the hearing of the appeal , the proof of tho service of the notices aud copies of appeal shall be upon the appellant unless admitted by

the parties , and such service shall bo considered valid if sent by the ordinary post . " Afc the hearing of the appeal no fresh evidence shall be adduced by either party .

" No appeal can be received unless couched in proper and respectful language . " All this is clear enough . Now let us turn to what Grancl Registrar said when he moved thafc the sentence of exclusion against these brethren be quashed , and that they be

restored to their rights and privileges as members of the Lodge "Victoria in Burmah . " Bro . Mclntyro laid it down thafc this question—that is , tho countercharge by the retiring W . M . against the members who had appealed to the Deputy District G . M . against the

ruling of tho W . M ., as to Bro . Marks ' s eligibility to fill the chair of this Lodge— " was not a question to be decided by the Lodgo , and for them to say whether these brethren should be excluded or not . It was a complaint made by brethren to a competent authority , who had to deal with all

such questions , and nofc for any member or any number of members of a Lodge to say , ' In making your complaint against us , you have said that which is not true , and wo will exclude you . ' " Then further on , wo have Bro . Mclntyre pointing out what steps ought to have been taken . " What

they ought to have clone , if they complained of falsehood , was to have made a counter-complaint to the Deputy District Grand Master ; have had witnesses called to prove whether the statements wero true or false ; and had complaint heard and decided by him , who was the supreme

person there . But ifc was nofc competent , when a complaint was made before a higher tribunal , to make the same matter subject of complaint before tho Lodge , as Grancl Lodge decided some time ago in a case from Trinidad . " Moreover , Bro . Mclntyre added , " Pending the decision of

the Deputy District Grand Master , the appealing members were treated by the Lodge most unfairly , " and then wo have , tho grounds on which Bro . Mclntyre felt himself bound to arrive at this conclusion , all which will be found in tlie proceedings of the December Communication of

Grand Lodge . This is how , so far as we know , this distressing case stands at this moment . The sentence of exclusion against Bro . Vaillant and other members of Locige " Victoria in Burmah , " has been declared null and void by our Grand

Lodge , which , bo it remembered , the Constitutions declare " possesses supreme superintending authority , and the power of formally deciding every case which concerns the interest of the craft . " Bufc the Lodge in question has so far declined to obey the resolution of Grand Lodge , and the

brethren whom it has restored to thoir Masonic rights and privileges , are still denied them . And we are invited to believe that Grand Lodge has " based its decision in ignorance , " and has " made some mistake in procedure . " We do not of course take upon ourselves

to say that our Grand Lodge authorities are infallible . They are men , ancl as such are liable to error , bufc wo think it is too much—whether it be intended as a joke or in earnest—on the part of Lodge " Victoria in Burmah " to ask us to believe that our Grand Lodge , including Grand

Secretary Hervey ancl Grand Registrar , has gone all wrong , while brethren of far inferior experience—as the officers of Victoria in Burmah havo proved themselves to be—are all right . Wc have no wish to say anything which will hurt the feelings of brethren who arc entire strangers

tons , and we shall , therefore , say nothing further on this point than that we prefer to believe that the Grand Secretary has done his part as required by the Constitutions , and that the ruling of so distinguished a brother as the Grand Registrar , who , it must be borne in mind , is a

Queen ' s Counsel , and therefore one pre-eminently learned in the law , is preferable to the opinions of the members of the Lodge Victoria in Burmah ! We must , however , take

upon ourselves to point ont that the position of this Lodge is very different now to what it was three months ago . Then it had only displayed ignorance of its duties , now it has shown itself contumacious and has deliberately set the

Lodge "Victoria In Burmah."

edict of Grand Lodge at defiance . The first duty of a Mason is obedience to constitued authority , ancl Grand Lodge "possesses tho supreme superintending authority" over all Masons within its jurisdiction . What Lodge " Victoria in Burmah " should havo done was to have obeyed Grand

Lodge unhesitatingly and then respectfully submitted to its authorities a statement setting forth in what particular respects Grand Lodge had acted in ignorance , and how ifc had erred in its procedure . As the case stands now , " Victoria in Burmah" may be suspended , and if ifc

perseveres in its contumacy may be erased from the list of Lodges holding under Grand Lodge . And we feel bound to add , that in our humble but sincere opinion , Grand Lodge will sustain no very serious loss if so inharmonious a Lodge is swept away , so that no evidence of its existence is left behind .

Reply To "Tolerance."

REPLY TO " TOLERANCE . "

BY BRO . JACOB NORTON ,

I DISTINCTLY remember the predictions of wise-acres .- that when Catholics were emancipated the streets would be deluged with blood ; thafc tho Reform of Parliament , would produce anarchy , and thafc the repeal of tho corn-laws would ruin tho country . Some denounced the contemplated reforms as crimes , while others declared that they wero blunders which wore worse than crimes , & c . But tho Catholics wero emancipated , the Reform Bill was passed , and tho

coi-n-laws wore repealed , and nobody icas hurt . On tho contrary , the obstructionists themselves wero afterwards ashamed of tho ridiculous arguments thoy used on those occasions . Progress has also been made in the scientific world , as well as in tho theological world , within the last fifty years , in spite of obstructionists ; nor has Masonry been altogether standing still for the last thirty-six years ( since I

was initiated ) . Then Dr . Olivers "Antiquities of Masonry" was regarded as a profoundly sublime work , but now it is conceded to bo ridiculous ; then , beliefs in Masonic legends and aucionfc landmarks wore universal , bufc now these fade away liko a scone of dissolving views ; then we believed that an atheist was necessarily stupid and immoral , but now , even " Tolerance , " my opponent , admits thafc

atheists are respected in the best circles of society ; then editors wore too illiberal to have published " A Plea on behalf of the Grand Orient of Prance , " bnb now Masonic editors aro liberal . And , last , ifc cannot be denied that my present opponent is more generous and candid than my Masonic opponents havo hitherto been ; all which proves conclusively thafc tho world has progressed in every direction ,

in spite of obstructionists and wise-acres , and I really believe thafc we shall continue to make progress , as hitherto , notwithstanding tho opposition of timid conservatives , & c . Tho dimensions of a Lodgo are given as follow : " As long as from east to west , as broad as between north and sontb , as deep as from tho surface of tbo earth to tho centre , and as high as tho heaven , "

meaning tho utmost universality ; with a proviso , however , for tho brethren to be good and true , or men of honour and honesty , with just enough of theology to cement the harmony of tho Locige . Bo it remembered that the religious clause of 1723 was really an innovation upon the old Constitutions , which required prayers to be addressed to the Trinity , and an unqualified submission to the doctrines of tho

Church ; furthermore , tho religious clause seems to have been inserted into tho Charges of the Constitutions , because ifc was believed in thoso days that atheists were stupid and immoral . Sweden , Denmark , Prussia , Prance , & c , havo all received their first Masonic charters from the Grand Lodge of England , and each alike wero bound to adhere to the Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of

England . And now , our boasted Masonic universality amounts to this , in the first three of the above-named countries a Lodgo has dwindled down to the size of the geometrician ' s point , viz . : without length , breadth , or thickness . In the United States the Lodgo work is strongly impregnated with sectarianism , and even in England , though not quite as bad as in the previous jurisdictions , tho dimensions of a

Lodge do not como up to the plau marked out on her Masonic tracing board . Now , it has recently been reported ( whether rightly or wrongly is immaterial ) that tbe Grand Orient of France has extended the circle of Masonic universality by expunging all theological requirements

from candidates for Masonry , thereupon the Grand Lodgo of England expressed great regret , and appointed a committee to search its old records , and there seems a disposition on the parfc of somo to follow the lead of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , by expelling tho French Grand Orient from the Masonic association .

At the very same meeting tho departure from Anderson ' s landmarks by the Three Globes at Berlin was also brought to tho notice of tho Grand Lodgo of England , but no committee was appointed thereon , either to search the record or to do anything else . The same members who were fierce against the Grand Orient of France considered ifc indelicate to disapprove of the nn-Masonic conduct of tho Berlin Grand Lodgo . Admitting then that both France and Prussia

have disobeyed Anderson's constitution , I want to know why tho Grand Lodge of England has a right to interfere in France ? and why ifc has no right to do the same thing in Germany ? My opponent , in the FREEMASON ' S CIII-OXICLE of 5 th of January , in a liko manner confines all bis indignation towards France , and has not a word to say abont Germany . And hero is the drift of his arguments . Tho world consists of believers and disbelievers in a Deity . Likewise of believers aud disbelievers in tho necessity of a govern *