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The annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall will be held at the Star Hall , Saltash , on Monday , the iGth inst . The programme of business to be transacted is a tolerably full one , but there does not appear to be anything of a special character to be brought under the notice of the brethren . We have been requested by the Proprietor of this journal to acknowledge , on

his behalf , the very many letters of kindly and fraternal sympathy which he has received from members of the Craft on the loss he has sustained through the burglary that was successfully effected on these premises on the night of Wednesday-Thursday , the 2 ist-22 nd ult . He has been greatly touched by these letters , many of which have been received from brethren with whom he hasjbut a slight personal acquaintance .

We regret we should have assigned to Bro . Lamonby a rule to which he tells us he is not entitled . We publish elsewhere the letter of his on " Uniformity ol Ritual , " which appeared in the Australasian Keystone , and from which we in .

ferred that he regarded himself as "the accepted authority on ritual in this country . " We were wrong , it seems , in our inference , and it only remains for us to make the amende honorable . Bro . Lamonby lays no claim to being the accepted authority on this subject in this ' or any other country .

We cannot , of course , hold ourselves responsible for the difficulty in which Bro . Lamonby is placed by this declaration . He has treated the ' pronouncements of a couple of Grand Secretaries on a particular mode of working the installation ceremony with scant courtesy , and has spoken almost scornfully of Emulation working . This might have passed without comment had he been a recognised

authority on ritual . As he is not we can attach no greater importance to his remarks than to those of any other brother who knows there are sundry modes of working this particular ceremony—one which is Emulation and others which are

not ; or to put the matter slightly differently , one which is recognised of Grand Lodge as the official mode , if we may term it such , and the others which Grand Lodge does not recognise , though it does not interfere with those lodges in which they are practised .

As we have said before , we consider Grand Lodge acts wisely in not interfering with lodges in which unusual modes of work are adopted , so long as the essentials are upheld ; but if it ever came about that Grand Lodge considered it to be its duty to forbid all other modes of working than that which it officially recognises or approves we think the pronouncements of its Grand Secretary would have a most decided

" effect on Installing Masters in the Country . Bro . Lamonby does not appear to understand that the condemnation of a particular mode of working by a responsible officer of Grand Lodge carries with it just a trifle more weight than the condemnation of thc same working by an irresponsible critic like himself , who , as he declares , is not an accepted authority on such matters .

As regards Bro . Sadler's " Notes on the Installation Ceremony , " we are aware they contain that brother ' s opinions on the subject , but they also contain a number of facts which he has succeeded in unearthing as well as a number of other people ' s opinions , which are not unworthy of being treated with respect . ******* On Thursday next , the 12 th inst ., Bro . A . F . Godson , M . P ., whom the M . W .

Grand Master has appointed to succeed the late lamented Bro . Sir E . A . H . Lechmere , Bart ., as Provincial Grand Master of Worcestershire , will be installed in office in accordance with ancient usage . The ceremony will be performed by Bro . the Earl of Lathom , M . W . Pro Grand Master , who will be assisted by sundry Grand Officers , in the Shire Hall , Worcester , and will be followed by the usual banquet .

Correspondence.

Correspondence .

[ We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish , iu a spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . J

COLONIAL BOARD V . CAMBRIAN LODGE OF AUSTRALIA , No . 656 . To the Editor of ihe "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I am compelled to again ask your kind indulgence and permit me to correct the wilful misrepresentation of some of our opponents , and which is

causing us great injury among our friends throughout the Empire . The statement openly made is that we have removed the cancellation from our warrant . There is , I understand , a photograph of the warrant with the disgraceful and unauthorised defacing printed matter upon it , in Grand Secretary ' s Office , so that you can verify any words here given , viz .: " Re-issued by the United Grand Lodge

of New South Wales . With an annexure in accordance with articles of union The within named lodge having declared its allegiance to the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales is entitled to work only under its jurisdiction as more fully set forth in the ' Annexure , ' under the hand cf the Most Worshi pful Grand Master . "

The above ijuotation is every word which apjicars in red print on our warrant . As you will perceive , there is no signature , no date , no cancellation , and no seal , or mention of authority for disfigurement . The last paragraph of the quotation is a falsehood . Are we bound to continue to promulgate falsehood ? If so we have done wrong in wiping it off the face of the document , which never belonged to the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales , but did belong , and docs still belong to thc United Grand Lodge of England .

Will the Grand Registrar , or any other legal member inform the Craft whether this document , unsigned and unstamped , would hold good in a Civil Court ? Will a banker cash an unsigned cheque ? Will a Court hold an unsigned agreement binding on a party ?

The writer , with full power of his lodge , has tried repeatedly to settle this long standing dispute , without seeking the ordinary civil remedies , as in the case of other persons' property . " ( See Grand Registrar to D . G . M . Otago and Southland ) . |

Correspondence.

I regret having to trouble you so often , but in the interests of justice , and as it is evident our own people have been made use of to carry out the exceedingl y brotherly threat made some years ago by leading members of the so-called Grand Lodge of New South Wales that they would wipe out the English and Scotch Constitutions in this Colony . I ask your powerful aid and assistance , —I am , dear Sir and Brother , yours fraternally ,

GEO . ROBINSON . Sydney , 24 th July . Cambrian Lodge of Australia , No . 656 . P . S . —Will Bro . Grand Registrar inform your readers why Paddington Ionic , No . 2179 , was dealt with in a similar manner to 656 , when the former did not fall nto the Local Grand Lodge for months after its inauguration ?

BRO . WOODWARD'S MOTION . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , Permit me to offer a few words of explanation as to the part I ventured to take last night in Grand Lodge in reference to Bro . Woodward ' s motion . My attention was drawn to that motion for the first time only two or three minutes

before we went into lodge , and I had only time to glance cursorily over it . Hence I hastily concluded that Bro . W ' s . object was to obtain a . grant from Grand Lodge Funds for St . Paul ' s . In order , therefore , to avoid a possible conflict , to maintain what I honestly believe to be the broad Masonic principle so often referred to last night , and yet to soften down the refusal and prevent a blunt negative , I proposed the following amendment : " That while sympathising with the interesting work of Decoration at St . Paul ' s , this Grand Lodge does not deem

it expedient to vote any grant from Grand Lodge Funds for that object . ^ ' Of course , when I discovered from the remark of the M . W . Grand Master in the chair that this was not correspondent with the exact wording of the motion I was quite ready to correct my amendment accordingly , but I was only too glad to withdraw it in view of the appeal of the M . W . G . M . in the chair to Bro . Woodward to withdraw his motion , and of the graceful manner in which the latter assented .

Although , in " the letter , " my amendment clashed with the motion , "in the spirit" it was substantially consistent , for—as Bro . Philbrick afterwards said—for Grand Lodge to vote a grant or to give its authority to issue a circular to raise funds came really to the same thing and involved the imprimatur of Grand Lodge . All of us must-have sympathised with the object Bro . Woodward

had in view and with the zeal he displayed in advocating it , but I venture to think that the discussion is a significant warning to all of us Masons to avoid proposing motions which may tempt us to " sail too near the wind , " and to violate that wholesome and fundamental principle of English Freemasonry which prohibits all political or theological controversy .

Let me add one word as a voice from " the West" of Grand Lodge ( the acoustic qualities of which are not of the first order ) . Would brethren speaking from the North or South sides ( though , of course , addressing the chair ) kindly remain on the square instead of generally turning to the east , whereby dozens of the brethren lose at least half their speeches , as I did in the case of Bro . Woodward and of some others . —I am , dear Sir and Brother , fraternally yours ,

R . J . SIMPSON . Richmond , September 5 th .

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF NORTH WALES . Tothe Editor of the " Freemason , " Dear Sir and Brother , My attention has been drawn to an inaccuracy in your report of the

meeting ot the Provincial Grand Lodge of North Wales , viz .: that "On the motion of Bro . Edwards a Charity Committee was formed . " The motion of Bro . Edwards was not carried , but that of Bro . Benson was , i . e ., " That the by-laws of the North Wales Masonic Charitable Association be adopted as the Charity bylaws of the Province . "

Hoping that you will be good enough to correct this . —Yours truly and fraternally , HERBERT R . HEAP .

BOARDS OF INSTALLED MASTERS . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I have read with some degree of interest the letter of Bro . Lamonby in the Freemason of the 31 st ult ., particularly so as the ceremony of opening and closing a Board of Installed Masters at the installation ceremony to which he refers has long been practised in a number of lodges in Yorkshire , as well as in

some other provinces . Some time since I was shown a printed circular that was issued a few years ago by the then Grand Secretary ( the late Bro . Col . Shadwell H . Gierke ) , which doubtless was aimed at the ceremony referred to , and which was characterised as being an American innovation and was denounced as spurious . I made inquiries at the timeot several experienced P . Ms ., one of whom informed me that the ceremony referred to was practised during his late father's lifetime in the South of England as well as in Yorkshire .

I have sometimes wondered whether the late Grand Secretary , Col . Clerke , issued the circular referred to with the authority of Grand Lodge or upon his own responsibility ; if the former , perhaps some of your well-informed readers will be good enough to refer , those interested to the records of Grand Lodge where the matter is recorded . If the ceremony dates from the time of the

Ancients , as Bro . Lamonby states , it is at least some justification for its continuance by those lodges where it has been in vogue for many years , and it occurs to me as being somewhat unbecoming on the part of Masons who use the Emulation working to speak of the ceremony as " spurious , " as I remember a visiting Past Master once doing at an installation ceremony at which he was present .

Let it be clearly shown by sufficient authority that the ceremony is wrong beyond a doubt , and then probably it will be discontinued . I neither incline the one way or the other regarding it , but am looking for more light on the subject—Yours fraternally , EX-SECRETARY , P . M .

OUR BROTHER'S BED . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , The list of contributors to this bed in the Free Home for the Dying shows that . £ 28 12 s . 2 d . is now needed to complete the amount required for >'

maintenance this year , and , while thanking all the contributors , I would ask y readers , not only to send me their five shillings , but also to bring the Masonic be before their respective lodges asking for a similar donation from the Chan j Fund , which none will miss . —Very truly and fraternally yours , W . PORTLOCK-DADSON , 1383 , P . M . 1771 , Hon . Sec 1 281 , Strand , W . C , August 31 st .