United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

THE regular Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge was held in the Temple , at Freemasons' Hall , on Wednesday evening , at the usnal hotir of 7 . The Earl of Carnarvon Pro Grand Master occupied the throne , and was supported by the Earl of Limerick Prov . G . M . Bristol as Deputy G . Master , and E . W . Bro . W . W . B . Beach ,

M . P ., Prov . G . M . Hants and the Isle of Wight , as Past G . Master . Lord Cremorne G . S . W . and Alderman Fowler , M . P ., G . J . W . were present in their appointed places , as likewise were most of the other Grand Officers , while there

were present on the dni ' s very many Past G . Officers and in the body of the Hall the representatives of the different Lodges . The minutes of the last Communication having been read and confirmed , His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales was nominated for election to the Grand

Mastership by Bro . fioldney , who , in the course of his remarks spoke in high oulogium of H . R . H . ' s regard for Freemasonry and the deep interest he took in its welfare . There were then nominated the following candidates for the office of Grand Treasurer , viz ., Bros . R . P . Cama , Major

J . Woodall Woodall , and James Willing , who may be said to represent respectively the foreign , the provincial , and the metropolitan elements in the constitution of the English Brotherhood . The Grand Secretary then read a letter which had been addressed bv the Grand Master of

the Grand Lodge of Quebec to H . R . H . the Prince of Wales Grand Master of tho United Grand Lodge of England , in which the former requested His Royal Highness to withdraw the warrants formerly granted to three English Lodges in Montreal still retaining their allegiance

to England , and the Grand Master ' s reply in which , he expressed his unwillingness and inability to compel the said Lodges to sever their connection with the parent Grand Lodge which created them . The Earl of Carnarvon thereupon addressed Grand Lodge ,

explaining the subject more fnlly than was possible in the narrow limits of a correspondence , and , while deprecating any bitterness of feeling in respect of the somewhat peremptory demands of the Grand Master of Quebec , pointed out that the action of our Grand Master was in accordance with

precedent , and indeed that , in his opinion , no other course would have been possible under the circumstances . Here his lordship explained that it was necessary he should leave the chair , not only on account of engagements he had elsewhere , but likewise because he had observed that later

m the evening a motion would be submitted having reference to himself . The Earl of Limerick , therefore , supplied his place , and at once announced that the Grand Master had re-appointed Bro . Joshua Nunn to be President

of the Board of Benevolence , and that , as no other brethren had been nominated , Bro . James Brett P . G . P . and C . A . Cottebrune P . G . P . would resume their old positions of Senior and Junior Vice President respectively .

The next bnsiness was the consideration of the Report of the Special Building Committee , which was submitted by Bro . Sir J . B . Monckton , tho chairman , and was of a highly satisfactory nature . Briefly it was to the effect

that the Great Hall had been enlarged so as to afford sitting accommodation for about one hundred more brethren ; that the decorative portion of the work would in all probability be completed in time for the Grand Festival of next year ; that the cost of restoration , save as regards the additions

United Grand Lodge.

the new exits , the new pictures , & c , had been kept within the amount of the insurance ; and that complete accounts would be presented at tho next March Communication . Bro . Monckton further pointed out that , by the re-arrangoment of the interior fittings , an additional half-panel on

the proper right of the dai ' s had become available for decorative purposes , and the Committee recommended that the vacant space should be filled by a half-length lifesized portrait of the M . W . Pro Grand Master tho Earl of Carnarvon , as a memorial of the affection and respect

with which his lordship was regarded by the Craft , and of the valuable services he had rendered during his many years of service as Pro Grand Master . The report was adopted , as wero likewiso the recommendations of the Board of Benevolence . The report of tho

Board of General Purposes contained a recommendation that Bro . H . G . Buss Assistant Grand Secretary , whoso state of health did not permit of his continuing his duties in the office of G . S ., should be granted a retiring pension of £ 400 per annum , being the full amount of the salary he

had been receiving for many years past . After submitting this report , Bro . Fenn , President of the Board , proposed a resolution in accordance therewith , and , in so doing , spoke in the highest terras of the valuable set vices rendered by Bro . Buss during the thirty years he had hold office under the

Grand Secretary , and Bro . Walls , a member of the Board , having seconded the resolution , it was carried unanimously , amid the strongest manifestations of pleasure on tho part of all present . Of tho two appeals published in these

columns last week , the first was allowed , and the second dismissed , and Bro . James Stevens's motion about Masonic Mendicancy was summarily , and very properly , rejected . Grand Lodge was then closed .

The above sufficiently describes the business that was transacted , but we cannot let the occasion pass without offering some few remarks as to what was done , and what was not done . Taking firstly , for the sake of convenience , the business which was omitted , but which we think should

have found a place in the programme of proceedings , we would point out as a conspicuous oversight all reference to the death of Bro . Lieut .-Col . Creaton , Past G . Treasurer . Tt was only in September last that a tribute of respect was openly paid by Grand Lodge to the memory of a distinguished brother whose death had occurred somewhat

suddenly juSt a few days before that appointed for the Communication of Grand Lodge . We allude of course to the late Brother John Havers , P . G . J . W ., of whose valuable services to Freemasonry it is quite unnecessary we should say anything here . Brother Creaton ' s death

occurredalso , we believe , somewhat unexpectedly—the Thursday before Grand Lodge , and the sad event was permitted to pass without notice of any kind whatever , even without a single word of regret . And yet Col . Creaton had worked hard for more than a quarter of a century in helping to

promote the interests of Freemasonry , and especially of the Institutions connected with it . These labours had been recognised by the Grand Master , when he appointed him a Grand Deacon in 1862 , and by the Craft when it elected him Treasurer in 1879 . His regular attendance at the

various Committee meetings testified to his enduring interest in onr Charities , and yet his death has occurred without a word of regret being uttered that one who had done so much for the Craft had passed for ever from our midst . The oversight is greatly to be regretted , and we feel confident it would never have been allowed to occur