United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

The regular Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge on Wednesday was a brief one ; there was but little business to transact , and what there was not being of a character to provoke discussion , the proceedings were little else than formal . The Acting Grand Master , by request of the Earl of CARNARVON ,

Pro Grand Master , moved the resolution of which his lordship had given notice—that an address of congratulation be presented to H . R . H . the G . Master on the occasion of the marriage of his eldest daughter with Bro . the Duke of FIFE , Provincial Grand Master of Banffshire , and the motion having been duly seconded

by Bro . Col . KAMSAY , D . G . M . Malta , was agreed to unanimously , amid hearty applause from all parts of the Hall . The Reports of the Boards of Benevolence and General Purposes were adopted , though , as regards the paragraph in the latter , in which it was announced that the Board had arranged for a reduction in

the price of the Charity jewel from £ 2 ios . to £ 2 , Bro . J . S . CUMBERLAND stated , on the authority of experts , that the same kind of article could be supplied for £ 1 Tos . Bro . FENN , however , considered the reduction was all that could reasonabl y be expected , and , as no amendment was moved , the Report was

adopted without alteration . We venture , however , to repeat the opinion we expressed last week that the Charity jewel should be presented by Grand Lodge itself , as in that case the honour would be much enhanced , and brethren would exhibit still greater readiness than they do now to serve the office of Steward . Let

the jewel be manufactured of less costly material , but let it be given to the brethren who become qualified to wear it in open Grand Lodge , as it is even now in several of the Provinces in open Prov . G . Lodge , instead of being left to be purchased by them . The existing arrangement entails a tax on the brother ,

who alread y is required to pay 24 guineas out of his own pocket for his qualification and fees together . Thus the change we suggest would abolish the tax , and enhance the value of the decoration—a brace of considerations which are certainly worth taking into account .

The Craft In Cornwall.

THE CRAFT IN CORNWALL .

The proceedings at the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall on the 27 th ult . were both interesting and in the main satisfactory . Bro . the Earl of MOUNT EDGCUMBE , Prov . G . M ., presided in person , and was well supported by his " rov . Grand Officers and the brethren generally , the number present being estimated at over 400 . The reports that were

submitted showed incontestably that the work of the past year had been admirabl y carried out . The statistical returns as to the strength of the lodges exhibited a slight reduction in numbers , to which we are inclined to attach no great importance ; but we re gret to notice that the Prov . Grand Secretary has reason to comp lain of the delay on the part of sundry of the lodges in urnishinp- the necessarv particulars from which these , re . hirns nr < =

compiled . On the other hand , the report as to the funds must have een most gratifying . The receipts , including a balance of nearl y £ x 53 from the previous year , amounted to close on -f . 181 . while

^ disbursements , consisting of £ 126 expended in Charity and * ° 9 ios . for expenses of administration , were only £ 215 ios ., so iat the balance remaining in hand at the close of the year was 'gntly in excess of £ 165 . The report of the Cornwall Masonic

^ nnuit y and Benevolent Fund disclosed a state of things which as even more satisfactory , as the balance remaining on the > ar account was £ 330 , while the capital account vvas £ 4514 , as fr lnst £ 4348 at the corresponding period of the previous year .

Brn r laudator y remarks will apply to the report delivered b y Cha •f LBERT B ' PEARCE - Secretary of the Cornwall Masonic | 5 y Association . From this we gather that every lodge ASso ^ P rovinc e , with one exception , is represented in this year ? " ' and that the receipts during the past indiv * - i the various classes 0 f subscribers , whether £ 28 Q , ° r lodges < was £ 5 i 2 s ., of which already am „ I ? ' [ been forwarded to London and appropriated M ason' -R 6 Institut - ons—namely , 125 guineas to the Royal ^ stitur r nevolent institution , 85 guineas to the Royal Masonic "on for Girls , and 45 guineas to the Royal Masonic Insti-

The Craft In Cornwall.

tution for Boys , the difference of 15 guineas required to make up the total forwarded not having been assigned at the date of the report . Bro . PEARCE , however , was careful to remind the brethren that , though the members of the Association had

increased during the year by 17 , many of the original members had already completed payment of the sums they had promised , and many more would do so in the course of the coming year , so that it was desirable the brethren should at once set about

renewing their subscriptions—as many had done already—or otherwise the Association would fall into decay . Bro . CHARLES TRUSCOTT , as manager of the votes for the London Charities , gave a full account of his Stewardship , not only for the jD'ist year , but for the whole of the period—since 1881—that he had been in office .

From this statement it seems that the voting strength of the Province , so far as Bro . TRUSCOTT was able to speak with anything like certainty , was 2386 , made up of 770 girls , 732 boys , and 88 4 benevolent votes ; while since 1886 he had received from the Province 11 , 908 votes , and by this means had been able to carry

the election of two boys , two girls , and two male and three widow annuitants , there being also 1326 votes already cast for , and therefore standing to the credit of a boy on the list of candidates for admission into the Boys' School . There were also submitted , and adopted with a slight addition , the

recommendations of the Committee appointed to deal with Bro . BAKE'S motion for a re-arrangement of the plans for administering the Charity Funds of the Province . This Committee gave it as their opinion that for the present no new organisation should be formed for the collection and management of these

Funds , but they proposed there should be a Charit y Committee , consisting of the Prov . Grand Master , Deputy Prov . Grand Master , the Prov . Grand Wardens , and others , with a representative from each lodge which had subscribed to the extent of £ 5 to the Cornwall Annuity and Benevolent Fund during the

previous year , increased power being given to this Committee as to annuities and grants , and the rules under which they should be made ; five to be a quorum . As regards the year on which they were entering , grants were voted of 50 guineas to the Cornwall Annuity and Benevolent Fund , and 10 guineas to each ofthe

general Masonic Institutions in London , Bro . HUGHAN , P . G . D ., in supporting the latter grant , very properly pointing out that the unfavourable report which had been delivered in respect of one of them must not be looked upon as affording a reason for the claims of the London Charities being overlooked or lost sight

of . The same brother also took the opportunity of referring in terms of eulogy to the valuable services which Bro . CHIRGWIN had rendered during the past 25 years in his capacity of Secretary to the Cornwall Annuity and Benevolent Fund , and this expression , emanating as it did from one so well qualified to speak ,

elicited loud applause from all present . The new Provincial Grand Officers were heartily cheered and congratulated on the honours bestowed on them ; and Cornwall has entered upon a new year , with the same disposition as heretofore to carry out its appointed duties , and with what we trust will turn out to be an

improved organisation at its disposal for the administration of its Charity Funds . We heartily congratulate the Grand Master and our Cornish brethren on the satisfactory position in which they are placed—a position which is all the more creditable from its being the result of their own energy and the desire they have always shown to promote the welfare of Freemasonry .

Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 3, Albany, New York.

MOUNT VERNON LODGE , No . 3 , ALBANY , NEW YORK .

The history of this old lodge is one of the most curious I have met with , and deserves to be fully written , and then printed in a separate volume , for careful study and preservation . Meanwhile , the interesting sketch furnished by the Masonic Historian of New York *—Bro . C . T . McClenachan—is a most welcome

contribution , and will doubtless be eagerly perused by numerous Masonic students . Bro . Speth , the ever active Secretary of 2076 , has also sent me a letter from Bro . Solomon Strasser , W . M . of the above lodge , with transcripts of its three