United Grand Lodge Of England.

, . j , of his Imperial Majesty , the late Emperor , having occurred just tar the vote of Grand Lodge , the Grand Master , on behalf and in the ame of Grand Lodge of England , addressed the following letter of condolence to his Imperial Majesty : - Freemasons' Hall , London , 13 th March , iSSS . To his Imperial Majesty Frederick the Third , German Emperor , & c , & c , & c , Illustrious Sireand Most Worshipful Brother—On behalf of the United Grand

, , , 4 „ of England , of which 1 am Grand Master , I beg to offer to your Imperial Majesty tip sincere condolence of our English Brotherhood on the recent death of the venerated d august Brother , his Imperial Majesty the Emperor William , a melancholy event a JJiich has deprived the German nation of one of its greatest Sovereigns , and Freeasonry of one of its most illustrious members . 1 has ' en at the same time to congratuin the ot Orand accession

late vour Imperial Majesty , name my Lodge , upon your co me krone and to express our most heartfelt prayer that your Majesty ' s most valuable life '" ijngbe spared to the great country over which his Majesty has just been called to Ilidj p _ ,. , _ (¦ /—l t __ . !_ *_ t I -..-. l \ it « A ,-. t . « . linn r . n In ma- rM-nt-Dl ^ f D / I to thebrethren of Orderwhose interests Majesty has long protected

. _ . rule and our , your so . l _ VVith the most fraternal greetings , I have the honour to remain , your Imperial Majesty s faithful Brother , ALBERT EDWARD , M . W . G . M . England .

The following is the reply : To the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England , His Royal Highness the Brother Albert Edward , Prince of Wales , London . Illustrious Prince , and Most Worshipful and beloved Grand Master and Brother , —I have with deep emotion , and with grateful brotherly feeling , received the intimation

, of the sympathy which your Royal Highness expressed on behalf ot the United Grand Lodo-eof England , and am convinced of your sincere interest in the demise of my beloved father , the glorious Emperor William , who wis in the whole world praised alike as Ruler and as Freemason . Under his most noble Protectorate , Freemasonry has properly preserved the appellation of the " Royal Art . " Pure and elevated in mind , in word , in

deed , and inspiring the brethren vvho imitate him on the road to wisdom , beauty , ancl strength , he remained till his entrance into the Eternal East a beaming pattern for all brethren Freemasons , who , although scattered through the whole world , are united in the

Royal Art . I accept , with fraternal thanks , and in the hope of their being fulfilled , the kind wishes which your Royal Highness and your Grand Lodge express for me and the debased Emperor William . I shall not fail to bestow in the future , as hitherto , my sincere interest in Freemasonry . A salute in our Holy Number .

Dated Charlottenburg , 31 st March . FREDERICK I . & R . The reading of these communications was received with loud applause . The Earl of CARNARVON then said : Brethren , before we proceed to the business which stands upon our paper , I have a communication to make to you from his Royal Highness our illustrious Grand Master , and , in the

absence of our Grand Master , I shall conclude with a distinct proposal . It is now some 20 years since his Royal Hig hness our Grand Master was initiated into Freemasonry , and it will be in the recollection of many in this hall that that initiation took place in the kingdom of Sweden and Norway . It was conducted in part by his present Majesty King Oscar the Second ,

and by King Oscar ' s predecessor . It has so happened that that Sovereign , King Oscar the Second , is at this moment an honoured and a welcome guest in this country , and it has seemed to our illustrious Grand Master that no occasion could be more fitting than this to reciprocate , so to say , the kindly office vvhich 20 years ago was performed by that illustrious Sovereign .

Brethren , it is the hope of his Royal Highness that you will this evening in this full and most crowded Grand Lodge , agree to a vote that I shall shortly put to you to confer upon his illustrious brother his Majesty Oscar the Second , King of Sweden and Norway , Master of Free and Accepted Masons of Sweden , the rank of Past Grand Master of the United Grand

Lodge . ( Applause . ) I vvill only add this one remark that whilst in many countries in Europe , Masonry , as you well know , has been looked upon sometimes vvith doubt , sometimes with suspicion , in Sweden it has enjoyed the full sunshine and sanction of Royal favour , and that the King of Sweden and Norway and the Masons of Sweden and Norway have been

friends . ( Cheers . ) I think we owe a debt for the initiation 20 years ago of our illustrious Grand Master —( cheers)—and I am sure that vve have it in our power to discharge that debt to-nig ht in a most graceful fashion . Brethren , I beg to move that the rank of Past Grand Master of the United

Grand Lod ge of Free and Accepted Masons of England be conferred upon the illustrious brother his Majesty Oscar the Second , King of Sweden and Norway , Knight of the Garter , Most VVorshipful Grand Master of Free and Accepted Masons of Sweden , vvho is at present visiting this country .

Bro . W . W . B . BEACH , M . P ., Prov . G . M . Hants and Isle of Wight , said : Most Worshi pful Pro Grand Master , I vvould only add to your remarks that it is a matter of great congratulation to us as Freemasons that a monarch in his high position has not thought it derogatory to his dignity lo patronise our mysteries and join in our assemblies . It is no doubt a

h ° i " * ° PP ortun - ty when he is visiting this country for us to confer upon 'he King of Sweden and Norway the rank which the Grand Master and you have the privilege to confer upon him . I beg to second the proposal . the motion having been carried " nem . con ., " The Earl of CARNARVON said he had the satisfaction of declaring that

e motion had been carried by acclamation . oro . the Earl of CARNARVON next said , before they proceeded to thenext c ommunication which he had to make he thought he should construe the eelmgs of the brethren rightly if he moved that the correspondence , so uable

a historicall y , and so interesting , vvhich had just been read by the ¦ " and secretary should be printed . He begged to ,: make this motion . S [ W . BEACH had the greatest pleasure in seconding the motion . ihe motion was carried . scrutineers of vntM fnr thp plertinn nf inpmhprs nf the Board nf General

j , P oses a nd the Colonial Board were then chosen and obligated , and 'ng collected the balloting papers , retired to count up the votes . _ ne following brethren were elected as members of the Board of Wall c P ° ses : Worshipful Masters Bros . C . Belton , T . C . Ma f currah > R °° m , J . Holah , Clever , and E . Monteuuis ; Past Pn- ! 1 Bros - Edward Terry , Dawson , Miller , Cumberland , Read ,

, Th f \ ritchard - Bro e J ,, ° wing brethren were elected members of the Colonial Board : GJ ' rett > Lieut .-Col . Haldane , Walls , Cumberland , Escott , Col . Br Y Roumieu * "¦ unicat ^ ^ ° ^ C ARNARVON then said * . Brethren , I have a further comrelatpc t'f ma ' ce to you by the permission of the Grand Master , and it ii „ totlvn nut n ( > k . . 1 .. A .. _ . 1 : _„ —ir „ „ J r r-.. i ™ : Lllc wi ttusiictidsiaii acii i ^ uiunica ha

"hat I L , * "" ec great -guvcmcu ucc . to Ne ^ *• ve to say refers firs t of all to South Australia ; secondly , addre tr ?" ' ^ ' * ^ - " be ' » the recollection of most whom I now Un derth R a ?^ tllme since , at the desire of a large majoiity of Masons Lodg \ v 8 ' lsh Constitution in South Australia , an independent Grand meeting f accorded t 0 them * That Grand Lodge I had the pleasure of l ' satisf monlhs ago when I vvas on the other side ol the world . I had how [|^> tlon ° f seeing with my own eyes and hearing with my own ears anc * I must f " ^ P P > ng ir > the great Colonies of South Australia , also add under the guidance of that most able and loyal subject

United Grand Lodge Of England.

Chief Justice Way , the Chief Justice of the Colony . Good work in a Masonic point of view is , I think , being carried on there ; and though the Grand Lodge of South Australia now enjoys entire self-government and independence , I rejoice to think that there has been no wavering whatever of affection and the old Masonic loyalty to the mother Craft here at home . ( Applause . ) And perhaps one of the best illustrations of that is to be

found in the request which has unanimously been preferred by the Grand Lodge of South Australia to our Illustrious Grand Master that he would be pleased to accept the office of Grand Patron . Brethren , the Grand Master has considered carefully that request , and it is my duty to announce to you to-night that he has been graciously pleased to accede to the request , and become a Grand Patron of the Grand Lodge of South Australia . ( Cheers . )

I think it is possible—I might even say probable , though I wish to state this simply on my own personal notion—that some public request may before long be made to his Royal Highness that he should consent in some way to undertake the duty of discharging in certain very limited cases the decision of certain appeals . It is a great request to make ; it will be a great privilege , in my point of view , to accord . I would not now prejudge

questions by one single word , though I felt that it would be interesting to Grand Lodge that I should state as much as I have said . I would only say that if such a request should come , I am certain that it will be considered by his Royal Highness our Grand Master with the most favourable disposition , at all events towards the wishes of those vvho make them . ( Cheers . ) Brethren , I pass now to the second subject on which you , as a Grand

Lodge , will ultimately have to be consulted , and in vvhich you are distinctly concerned . It is , perhaps , within the knowledge of many in this hall that for some time past there has hardly been that amount of Masonic unity in the great Colony of New South Wales vvhich vve could all desire , for a constituted body has sprung into existence—a powerful body both numerically and from personal position—and that body subsists side by side with the

District Grand Lodge under the English Constitution . All true lovers of Freemasonry have deplored that state of things , but till lately there has seemed to be no satisfactory solution for it . It has been a peculiar condition of affairs , for whilst on one hand there has been this strong desire for selfgovernment on the part of a large and powerful bod y in the Colony , on the other hand there has been also great affection for the Mother Craft in

England , and for all concerned in English Masonry ; and lastly , there has been a universal desire to find in the present Governor of New South Wales , my noble friend and Bro . Lord Carrington , vvho is there among all classes , whether Masons or any other persons , a man of extraordinary popularity —( cheers)—a solution of the difficulty . I said there has been a desire on the part of all to find in Lord Carrington the common meeting-place , so to

say , of all desires . His Royal Highness our Grand Master , who has for some time past been cognisant of , and taken a deep interest in , the Masonic affairs of New South Wales , has recently , by appointing Lord Carrington District Grand Master of New South Wales , largely facilitated a friendly and satisfactory solution of this matter . That appointment when I was in the Colony was only partially known ; but so far as it

was known it commanded the most cordial and hearty concurrence . Brethren , there have been negotiations , friendly arid unofficial , vvhich have now been carried on for several weeks , and even months . I am not yet in a position to announce anything definite , or to ask this Grand Lodge to ratify any conclusions that may be arrived at in the Colony ; all I can say novv is this—that I am convinced whenever the question comes before this Grand

Lodge in its proper form it will be accepted and considered in the most friendly spirit . ( Hear , hear , and applause . ) Brethren , from one end of that great continent of Australia to the other I was the fortunate witness of the great work of Masonry . Nowhere in the world , I think I may say , has Masonry during a limited space of time achieved more ; nowhere is it doing better or more wholesome work . I have seen it uniting various classes aud

interests together ; I have seen it composing differences and soothing animosities ; I have seen it discharging a great duty which it knows so well how to discharge here in England , and of which it has been for so many years the foremost champion , for the support of law and order —( applause)—and of hearty loyalty to the throne —( renewed applause ); and I may say indeed that throughout the length and breadth of that great continent of Australia

Masonry has formed no exception whatever to this general rule . Brethren , you vvill see that I ask for no concurrence , but that I have felt—as did our illustrious Grand Master—that this was a fitting and a proper time at which I shall lay before you matters which very likely are to come before you , and on which , unless I greatly mistake the feelings of this Grand Lodge , vvill be received in the most friendly and most fraternal spirit . ( Cheers . )

The Earl of CARNARVON next said : Brethren , I have to announce that the Grand Master has appointed—and I am sure with very great satisfaction to Grand Lodge—our excellent Bro . Fenn as President of the Board of General Purposes . ( Cheers . ) Bro . Thomas Fenn then advanced to the M . W . Pro Grand Master , and shook hands with him on beine re-invested with the insignia of his office .

On the motion of Bro . CHARLES BELTON , duly seconded , Bro . John Smith was unanimously re-elected Grand Lodge Auditor . The following brethren were declared elected members of the Committee of Management of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institutions for Aged Freemasons and Widows of Freemasons : Bros . Charles Alexander

Cottebrune , P . M . 733 ; Hugh Cotter , P . M . 554 ; John E . Dawson , P . M . 404 ; Charles George Dilley , P . M . 1155 ; Major Alfred Durrant , P . M . 569 ; Albert Fish , P . M . 1366 ; Charles Kempton , P . M . 1287 ; Alfred H . Tattershall , P . M . 140 ; Japheth Tickle , P . M ! 1196 ; and Isaac Dixon , P . M . 1567 .

The following recommendations of grants by the Board of Benevolence were , on motion by Bro . J AMES BRETT , S . V . P ., and seconded by Bro . C , A . COTTEBRUNE , J . V . P ., confirmed : The orphan daughter of a brother of the Royal Preston Lodge , No . 333 , Preston ... ... ... ... £ 50 o o The widow of a brother of the Paxton Lodge , No . 1686 ,

Camberwell ... ... ... ... .., 50 o o A brother of the Emblematic Lodge , No . 1321 , Southwark ... 50 o o The widow of a brother of the Oakley Lodge , No . 694 , Basingstoke 75 o o Five orphan children of a brother of the Earl Spencer Lodge , No . 1420 , London ... ... ... ... 60 o o A brother of the Vale of White Horse Lodge , No . 1770 ,

Fanngdon _ .., ... ... ... ... 50 o o A brother of the Friars Lodge , No . 1349 , London ... ... 100 o o A brother of the Alexandra Palace Lodge , No . 1541 , London ... 50 o o A brother of the London Lodge , No . 108 , London ... ... 100 o o The widow of a brother of the Cabbell Lodge , No . 807 , Norwich 50 o 0 The widow of a brother of the Harbour of Refuge Lodge , No .

764 , Hartlepool ... ... ... ... 50 o o The following report of the Board of General Purposes was taken as read , and ordered to be received and entered on the minutes * .