New South Wales.

NEW SOUTH WALES .

THE following is the text of the Grand Master ' s address , at the Quarterly Communication in September : Peace , progress and prosperity are the distinct features of the past quarter in the history of the Craft in New South Wales ; and I desire to tender my warmest thanks to all who have made my duties as Grand Master so light during , this portion

of my second year of Office . The Board of General Purposes have with zeal and assiduity disposed of the large accumulation of business submitted to them at each month's meeting , of the extent of which some idea may be gathered from their report now in your hands . The Board of Benevolence have

also emulated the faithfulness of . their predecessors in the discharge of the most important work of dispensing charity , after careful enquiry into the merits of each case . The Grand Lodge Officers have given diligent attention to the visitation of Lodges , and the Brethren generally have been so faithful

to their obligations that not a single Masonic offence has been reported during the quarter . A few days ago I had hopes that for once I would not have any important loss by death to chronicle this time , but , just as I began to prepare my address , I received a circular from the Acting Consul of

Sweden and Norway notifying that his predecessor and our Bro . C . A . Falstedt , Knight of the Grand Order of Vasa , had died suddenly at Stockholm , on the 28 th August last . I have thus to record with profound regret the loss of a zealous Freemason to whom only nine months ago I had handed

his Patent of Office as Grand Representative of Sweden in our Grand Lodge . At last Quarterly Communication you adopted my suggestion by felicitating the Grand Master of England upon his delivery from the hand of the assassin . I have now the pleasure to convey to you His Roval Highness ' s

warmest thanks for your loyal and Fraternal congratulations on his providential escape from the recent attempt upon his life . On the 1 st August I issued a Warrant for Lodge Mosman , No . 228 , to meet at Mosman , and duly Consecrated and dedicated it on the nth idem , when there was a very

large muster of the Grand Lodge Officers , and a gathering of Brethren auguring well for the future of Masonry in this flourishing suburb of Sydney . To-night Lodge Unity , No . 6 , is celebrating at Armidale its 50 th Installation ceremony , and ( the date making it impracticable for me to attend ) I

accepted with pleasure the offer of Bro . F . E . Wmchcombe S . G . D . to represent Grand Lodge on so important an occasion as the Jubilee of Freemasonry in that flourishing northern centre . To-morrow week I hope to be accompanied by many Grand Lodge Officers to another important function , viz .,

the first meeting at Bathurst of Lodge Bathurst United , No . 79 , for which , as an amalgamation of Lodges Phcenix and Caledonian , I have granted a Warrant in the usual form . Two hundred and twenty-one Master Mason certificates have been issued during the quarter , and I am happy to find by the

Grand Secretary ' s statistics that my anticipations of a substantial increase in our ranks during the year ended 30 th June last have been fully realised , the number being 7 , 500 as against 7 , 164 on the 30 th June 18 99 . Forty-eight dispensations were issued since last report , viz .: —Change of night of

meeting ( Clause 115 ) , 12 ; Change of time of meeting ( Clause 135 ) , 4 ; Change of place of meeting ( Clause 140 ) , 2 ; Emergencies ( Clause 155 ) , 11 ; Initiation of a Lewis ( Clause 157 ) , 1 ; Initiation of six candidates ( Clause 163 ) , 1 ; Permission to wear regalia ( Clause 178 ) , 27 . The Indian

Famine Relief Fund , to which at the Special Communication on 8 th August last you voted 100 guineas , seems to have also awakened considerable interest in our private Lodges . It is difficult to ascertain exactly how much they have given , as in many instances contributions have been forwarded

through local organisations ; but the Grand Secretary estimates that at least another £ 250 has been thus donated to " relieve affliction and succour distress" in that great portion of the British Empire in which Freemasonry nourishes among Her Majesty ' s subjects without regard to race , colour , or creed . So , I trust , may it always be said of the work of Benevolence and Charity under our Grand Lodge .

Freemasonry differs from any other Institution . It has its - own laws , customs , usages , symbols , signs , secrets , and modes of recognition , arid these are the same the world over , and they cannot be improved on , nor will its teachings admit of their being tampered with . How much better then , to stud y these , and learn their meaning and uses ; how much

better , then , to try to find the objects and ends of Freemasonry , and live for some noble purpose , than to abandon what we have begun , and try to improve on that which is a perfect system of morals within itself . —A . H . Barkley , Mississippi . » #

The world moves on , but we see it not ; we only know that it has moved by comparisons as between the present and the past . The church and the school house are the mile stones by which the advance , though gradual , has been

constant , and which indicate that the demands of the present and the needs of the future differ materially . It is essential that we keep pace with the advanced ideas of the times , and not allow our Order , in any manner , to retrograde . — Geo . H . Jenkins , Kansas .

* * The visit of a Grand Master to subordinate Lodges is the life-blood through which they flourish . No system of visitation will ever be originated that will take the place of it . It is the Fraternal greeting , hearty handshake and

kind words of his worship that stimulates Lodges and inspires them to press forward in the good work of Masonry . No individual , be he clad with all the powers the Grand Lodge can give him , will ever take the place of a Grand Master . — T . O . Morris .

* * » Freemasonry , which we all recognise as a philosophical science , most properly portraying an upright life , may well impress upon the mind our duty to our fellow man , and to our Creator . What then could better demonstrate true

charity than a determined effort by the united branches of our Masonic order toward the establishment of a Masonic home for the comfort and relief of the widow , the orphan and the distressed brother Mason?—Robert Marshall , New Brunswick .

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