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^pRelmasoygSATURDAY , MARCH 6 , 1897 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The Quarterly Communication of United Giand Lodge was held on Wednesday , the 3 rd instant , in the first instance , under the presidency of Bro . the Earl of Lathom , Pro Grand Master , and on his retirement from the Hall , under that of Bro . Earl Amherst , D . G . M . The earlier portion of the business on the Agenda , including the proposal requiring that a brother

joining a lodge under the English Constitution from another Constitution should make a declaration of allegiance to our Grand Lodge , was quickly dispatched . But the proposed additions to the Book of Constitutions , of which notice had been given by the Grand Registrar , led to a long dij « cussion , with the result that , after in amendment by

Masonic Notes.

Bro . Past Grand Treasurer Eve , referring the proposals to the Board of General Purposes , had been defeated by a substantial majority , a suggestion by Bro . the Rev . R . J . Simpson , P . G . C , acting Grand Chaplain , to the effect that they should be considered by a Committee and reported upon at the Grand Lodge in June , was , " with the G . Registrar ' s acquiescence , adopted item con . #

* * The Committee , to whom [ this reference has been made , consists of thc Grand Registrar ( Bro . Philbrick ) , Bros . Lieut .-General J . W . Laurie , P . G . WEngland , Past G . Master Nova Scotia , Prov . Grand

Master nominate for South Wales ( Western Division ); Thomas Fenn , P . G . W ., Past President Board of General Purposes ; and Richard Eve , Past . G . Treas . ; and the Colonial Committee ol lhc Board of General Purposes .

* * * . Thc only other matter of comment was the appeal of Bio . R . W . Bourne , P . M . No . 32 , against the sentence of suspension from his Masonic privileges passed

upon him by the Prov . G . Master of West Lancashire ( the Earl of Lathom ); but as that brother did not put in an appearance , it was , on the proposal of the Grand Registrar , seconded by the Dep . G . Registrar , dismissed .

* * A very short space of time sufficed to dispose of the business on the Agenda paper at the Communication of Mark Grand Lodge on Tuesday . Bro . George S . Parke was elected Grand Treasurer without a contest

and Bro . the Earl of Euston , Pro Grand Master , who presided , congratulated Grand Lodge on the happy avoidance of a competition for the office . The Report of the General Board was adopted and ordered to be entered on the minutes , and Grand Lodge was then closed .

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , M . W . Grand Master and Grand Z . of Supreme Grand Chapter , has been pleased to appoint Bro . Major . General Fletcher Owen , R . A ., to be District Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of Malta , in succession to Bro . Rear-Admiral A . H . Markham , who has resigned those offices .

* * It will be seen , from our report of the Annual Festival of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement , that , in the course of the proceedings , the Grand Secretary mentioned that Bro . Lieut .-Gen . J . Wimburn Laurie , M . P ., P . G . W . of England , Past Grand Master of Nova

Scotia , and the Representative at our United Grand Lodge of the Grand Lodges of Nova Scotia , Maryland , and New York , has been appointed by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , K . G ., & c , M . W . G . Master , to succeed the late lamented Bro . Lord

Kensington as Prov . Grand Master for South Wales ( Western Division ) . We congratulate both Bro . Laurie—who is a Mason of long standing and large experience—and the Province over which he has been thus chosen to preside , and we trust the association of the two may continue for many years .

* ? * A new lodge under the style and title of the Allcyn , No . 2647 , and so named after John Alleyn , founder of Dulwich College , was consecrated at the , Half-Moon Tavern , Herne-hill , on Saturday last . The ceremony was performed by the Grand Secretary , who was

assisted by Bro . J . H . Matthews , President Board of Benevolence , as S . W . ; Bro . Henry Lovegrove , G . S . B . ; Bro . the Rev . J . S . Brownrigg , P . G . Chap ., as Chaplain ; Bro . Frank Richardson , P . G . D ., as D . C . ; and Bro . W . Lake , A . G . Sec , as I . G . The function passed off excellently well , and when the lodge was constituted , Bro . Chas . lies Axford , W . M .

designate , was installed in the chair of K . S ., and afterwards invested the Wardens designate , namely , Bros . G . W . Capel , S . W ., and J . Joel , J . W ., while Bro . John Read , who is Past Grand Organist of Supreme Grand Chapter , was appointed to the onerous post of Secre . tary . Among the principal guests was Bro . A . F , Godson , M . P ., Prov . Grand Master of Worcestershire , We heartily wish the new lodge a long and successful career . * * *

We feel sure we are only correctly interpreting the feelings of our readers when we say that they , as well as we , most sincerely sympathise with our respected Bro . Edward Terry , Past G . Treasurer , in thc severe family bereavement which has recently overtaken him . Mrs . Terry died suddenly at Priory Lodge , Barnesour brother ' s residence—on Friday , the 26 th ult ., after a very short illness . In consequence , the arrangements

Masonic Notes.

which Bro . Terry had made for the performance of " The Holly Tree Inn " and " Love in Idleness , " at a matinee at the Theatre Royal , Brighton , on Thursday , the 4 th inst ., were cancelled . The funeral took place

at West Brompton Cemetery , on Tuesday afternoon , there being a large gathering of friends and relatives present to pay their last tribute of respect to thc deceased lady . # # *

At the Quarterly ] communication of the United Grand Lodge of Victoria which was held in Freemasons' Hall , Melbourne , on Monday , the 21 st December last , under the presidency of his Excellency Bro . Lord Brassey , M . W . G . M ., his lordship was nominated by the Pro G . Master , Bro . Sir W , J . Clarke , Bart .,

for the G . Mastership for the ensuing year , and as there was no other candidate proposed for the office , Bro . Sir W . Clarke expressed the pleasure it gave him to declare his Excellency elected , as in his opinion it was of great advantage lo the Craft to have the Governor of the Colony for its presiding officer . His

lordship , in returning thanks to the brethren for the continuance of their confidence , expressed regret at his unavoidable absence from the previous Quarterly Communication , and promised that he would do his utmost to so regulate his engagements as to allow of his being present at the meetings of Grand Lodge .

* * * At the same meeting of the same Grand Lodge a resolution was adopted , by which it is provided that the Board of General Purposes be requested to revise the Book of Constitutions , but our contemporary . the Australasian Keystone points out that this must not be

taken to indicate a desire on the part of members of G . Lodge for " any violent change in the Constitution . " What they desire is that " the slight alterations which have been made since the adoption of the Book of Constitutions , " shall be "properly engrafted , " and that " any errors or anomalies which may exist" shall be rectified .

* » The Voice of Masonry for last month contains a review of tbe proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky , which held its 97 th annual communication in Louisville on the 20 th to 22 nd October last , unde r the presidency of Bro . F . C . Gerard , M . W . Grand

Master , and which is evidently in a very prosperous condition . There are 469 lodges on the roll , and the subscribing members number 18 , 3 67 . The General Fund , including the balance from previous year , was 26 , 383 dollars , and the expenditure 18 , 240 dollars .

According to our contemporary , the Report on Correspondence by Bro . W . M . Clarke , which is appended to the Report of Proceedings , is " an excellent compilation of the sayings and doings in other Grand jurisdictions , with fraternal criticisms . "

* *» Certainly , Bro . Clarke's observations relating to non-affiliates are more reasonable than the majority of those we are accustomed to meet with in American addresses and reviews . He remarks , " Doubtless a Grand Lodge may decree that an unaffiliated Mason

shall not appear in a Masonic procession , or visit a Masonic lodge more than three times , or not at all ; but , this being true , we are constrained to urge that it is not only not good Masonry , but is contrary to ancient usage . We remember that the time is not very greatly in the past , when there were no chartered lodges , and when the neophyte was made a Mason , he

was made such , not for a particular place or time , but for all places and all time . One difficulty that modern Masonry is labouring under , is that there is too much legislation , and much ot its legislation swings clear of the ancient customs of the Craft , and before a great while , the Order will be ancient only in name , certainly not in practice . "

# # # We trust our Bro . W . M . Clarke may not be a true prophet , while as regards his objections to Grand Lodges ruling that a non-affiliate should not visit a lodge more than a certain number of times , we must point out that if the non-affiliate were allowed

to visit lodges whenever he pleased , the affiliate who contributes his share towards the cost of maintaining the lodge would be at a decided disadvantage ; indeed , would in time cease to be affiliated , and there would be no lodges if the non-affiliate were allowed to enjoy all the rights and privileges of il-asonry without

contributing a stiver towards the expenses . What we object to is that the American Grand Lodges seem unwilling to leave the non-affiliate alone ; that they fail to perceive that as he was free to join their ranks , so is he free to quit them . However , it is something to

find an American Compiler of Correspondence acknowledging that what Masonry in the States suffers from chiefl y is "too much legislation . " This is precisely what we have been saying for a long time past ,