United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

fTlHE Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge of X England was held on Wednesday , at Freemasons' Hall , and was very numerously attended , on account of the election of Grand Treasurer for tlie year . Grand Lodge was opened at

2 p . m . by Bro . Bear-Admiral Markham District Grand Master of Malta . Bro . Aretas Akers Douglas , M . P ., took the chair of Grand Senior Warden , and Bro . the Rev . Robert James Simpson the chair of Junior Grand Warden .

Before the minutes of the December Communication were read the Acting Grand Master referred in feeling terms to the loss Freemasonry had sustained in the death of Col . Gerald Noel Money , G . B ., Provincial Grand Master for Surrey , who presided

& t the last meeting of Grand Lodge . Col . Money was a very active , good and enthusiastic Mason , whose loss would be deeply felt by the Craft generally , as well as in his own Province . The Minutes were then read and confirmed .

Bro . Charles Swinfen Eady , Q . C , LL . D ., Past Grand Steward , afterwards rose to move the election of His Boyal Highness the Prince oi Wales as Most Worshipful Grand Master for the ensuing year . It was the twenty-first year in succession Freemasons had approached His Boyal Highness asking him to

accept the highest honour they could bestow , and the twentyfirst year he had conferred on them the highest honour and distinction he could bestow . He then referred to the great interest the Prince of Wales took in Masonry and everything that concerned its welfare . He showed the greatest concern in

the chanties of the Order , which might be pointed to by any Mason who was asked , as a reason for the existence of Masonry . It was mainly due to the Prince of Wales that more than £ 50 , 000 was raised in one year for the Girls School ; but the Boys School and the Benevolent Institution were also his

debtors . The great addition to the number of Lodges was due to His Boyal Highness becoming Grand Master . His interest in the Order vvas shown also by the members of his family joining it . The Duke of Connaught was Grand Master of Sussex . In

the course of time when the Prince of Wales had ceased to be the head of the Order it was to be hoped his son would be prepared to follow his footsteps , and keep the connection of Masonry with his Boyal Highness unbroken .

Bro . E . St . Clair Past Grand Steward having seconded the motion , Admiral Markham declared the Prince of Wales duly elected , and he was proclaimed aa regularly elected Grand Master .

Bro . William H . Arber P . M . 206 proposed , and Bro . B . P . Upton W . M . Granite Lodge seconded , Bro . C . W . Hudson for Grand Treasurer ; Bro . D'Arcy Prower proposed , and Brother Poulfcney Griffin W . M . Grand Master ' s Lodge seconded , Brother Walter Vaughan Morgan ; and Bro . H . J . Lardner proposed , and

Bro . E . M . Money P . G . Steward seconded , Bro . William Mason Stiles . The ballot was then declared open till a quarter past seven o ' clock . The Master ' s chair was taken in the interval by relays of Grand Officers , the last one being Bro . L . G . Gordon Bobbins P . G . D .

At seven o clock Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., Prov . Grand Master for Hants and the Isle of Wight presided , and shortly afterwards the poll was closed . The result of the election was that Bro . W . M . Stiles was elected by 932 votes , Alderman Vaughan Morgan polled 787 , and Bro . Hudson 440 . The result was received with loud cheers .

The grants recommended by the Board of Benevolence for the last quarter were confirmed , and the Eeport of the Board of General Purposes was adopted , Bro . Loveland explaining the reasons for referring to the Board the subject of having only the Board of General Purposes instead of that Board and the Colonial

Board . He proposed that the Board of General Purposes be requested to submit to Grand Lodge proposals for the purpose of bringing the jurisdiction of the Colonial Board under that of the General Board , and unifying the management of the affairs of the general Craft as was the case before the year 1838 .

Dr . Pocock seconded the motion , which was put and carried . The Grand Lodge Auditor ' s accounts were received , after which the resolution passed at the Special Meeting of the Benevolent Institution on 13 th February , in substitution for those submitted to and referred back by Grand Lodge last Debember , was adopted .

In the case of the following three appeals , on the motion of Bro . F . A . Philbrick , Q . C , Grand Begistrar , seconded by Bro . T . L . Wilkinson Deputy Grand Begistrar , Grand Lodge dismissed them all , and affirmed the decisions appealed against . In the case of No . 2 a very interesting discussion took place , Brother

Philbrick holding with the District Grand Master and District Board of General Purposes that a Brother withdrawing his resignation of membership of a Lodge before his letter of resignation is laid before the Lodge that the resignation is withdrawn . For six years past the Brethren have generally understood that this was not so , and that even Bro . Philbrick himself held that if a Brother had posted his letter of resignation , another

United Grand Lodge.

letter written immediately withdrawing the resignation was of no avail . In the case in question the Brother had sent a letter to the Secretary of the Lodge on 13 th March 1894 , and sent

another to him on 14 th March , saying he wrote the resignation in a passion , aud he now withdrew it . The Lodge did not meet for some days , but when it met the Secretary read the resignation , whieh , notwithstanding the withdrawal , the Master upheld

The appeal by Bro . W . F . Lamonby P . M . of Lodge 962 , & c , and Member of the Colonial Board , against the action of the President of tbe said Board in requesting him to withdraw from the meeting of the 18 th January 1895 , was , after a long explanation by the appellant of the circumstances of the case , and a

different explanation by Sir George David Harris , by the permission of Grand Lodge withdrawn , Sir George Harris saying he did not request Brother Lamonby to withdraw , but put it to him whether he should not withdraw while the Cambrian Lodge of Australia ' s matter was being considered . This he did

more out of consideration for Bro . Lamonby than for the Board , because he thought Bro . Lamonby , being a member of the Cambrian Lodge , would be sitting as Judge in his own case , and thus place himself in a false position . Grand Lodge was then closed .

The weekly meetings of the W estbourne Lodge of Instruction , No . 733 will be held on Tuesday evenings , at 8 o ' clock , instead of Wednesdays as hitherto , at Bro . J . J . Houghs ' s Prince Alfred Hotel , 112 Queens Road , Bayswater .

° ° ° , The ballot paper for the April election of the Eoyal Masonic Institution for Boys shows a list of forty-seven candidates , of whom twenty-three are to be elected on Friday , the 19 th prox .

Twenty-six of the applicants now appear for the first time , sixteen have already made one appeal , and five others have each taken part in the last two elections . We shall refer to the list more fully at an early date .

We tender our hearty congratulations to Bro . W . M . Stiles , on the success that attended his candidature for the Grand Treasurership on Wednesday , and we hope he will live many years to enjoy the well deserved honourable appointment . As

recorded elsewhere he is the Worshipful Master Designate of the Clissold Lodge , No . 2551 , which is to be consecrated this month , and which will start with even greater eclat than was anticipated now that its first ruler has won the distinction of Office in the Grand Lodge of England .

On the social side of life the Cornish Lodge of Freemasons is doing a great deal to justify its existence and to give pleasure to Cornishmen in London , says the " Western Morning News . " Its Cinderella dances have become exceedingly popular and are

the means of occasionally bringing together many who are united by a common love for the county of their birth . Another of these functions is to take place on Friday , the 15 th inst ., afc Anderton ' s Hotel , Fleet Street . The event will no doubt bring a

large number of Cornishmen and Cornishwomen together . As any profits made by the gatherings are devoted to the Benevolent Fund of the Lodge they serve a doubly useful and altogether pleasant end . Bro . G . Lory , 16 Myddleton Boad , Bowes Park , the Secretary of the Lodge , is responsible for the arrangements .

Correspondence .

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Correspondents . All Letters must bear the name and address of the writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith . We cannot undertake to return . rejected communications .

Toasting Our Candidates.

TOASTING OUR CANDIDATES .

To the FBEEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAE SIB AND BBOTHEB , —I have frequently seen it recorded in different reports of meetings you publish in your columns , that the Master or other Officer of Provincial Lodges proposes a special toast in honour of newly-passed or newly-raised Brethren , a custom which , 1 think , is not general in London , where the only time a new Brother is specially honoured in this way is on the night of his initiation .

It seems to me the Provincial system is much the best , as a special welcome is almost as much due towards a new Fellow Craft , or a new Master Mason , as towards an Initiate . I shall be pleased to know if the custom is general in the Provinces , and also whether it is usually omitted in London , or only in my own Lodgo and two or three I have visited . Yours fraternally , LONDONEB .