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gratifying . The Report of the General Board also contained the following recommendations , each of which required special

motion for adoption by Grand Lodge : — i . —Abolition of qualification of W . M . of a Craft lodge as necessary for a candidate for the office of W . M . of a lodge of Mark Masters .

2 . —Recognition of Dep . Prov . Grand Masters as Grand officers , with seats on the dais , during their absolute tenure of office as such .

3 . —That ten guineas be contributed from the funds of Grand Lodge to the " Binckes Testimonial . " 4 . —Presentation of jewels to Chairman and Stewards of Mark Benevolent Fund Festival in

July last . Bro . James Stevens , G . S . O ., moved the abolition of the qualification of W . M . of a Craft Lodge as necessary for a candidate for the office of W . M . of a Lodge of Mark

Masters . He . did not think there was any necessity to take up time by referring to the circumstances which gave rise to the motion . There had been a great hindrance to this Degree in consequence of thc

difficulty hitherto existing of the necessity of having a brother for Master of a Mark Lodge who had filled the chair of Master of a Craft Lodge previously . It had been objected to the alteration that there was a

portion of the ceremony of installation similar in both degrees , but he based his motion on the understanding that the Board of General Purposes take care to make such a change in the ceremony of

installation that the similarity should not exist . At present , if a brother who had not been a P . M . of a Craft Lodge was by dispensation installed as Master of a Mark-Lodge visited another Mark Lodge on

Installation day , he was not allowed to remain in the lodge during thc ceremony of Installation . His natural condition was completely set aside , although he had perhaps been very serviceable to the Order .

lhe old rule was got rid of now by a sidewind , which he ( Bro . Stevens ) thought unworthy of this Grand Lodge , and he would

therefore move that the qualification be abolished on the understanding that thc Board of General Purposes altered the ceremony of Installation .

Bro . II . C . Levander , G . J . O ., seconded the motion .

Bro . Stebbing , Grand Treasurer , was afraid there were too grave objections to the motion to justify its being passed . Some modification might take place to meet the occasional difficulty and relieve brethren

of the inconvenience of passing a resolution actually to abolish thc qualification for lh _ * chair of Mark Lodges . If the qualification be abolished altogether , brethren would very readily obtain the chair without

sufficient exertion being made to obtain a duly qualified brother . He was aware that in other degrees thc qualification was not insisted on ; but they must recollect that Grand Lodge of England , thc parent Grand

Lodge of all Masonry , was their sovereign , and they must be especially jealous that nothing be done to cause reflection that they were at all interfering with the ancient rites and usages of Craft Masonry ,

or had actually abolished that which had been held so essential . It was a grave thing for Grand Mark Lodge to do . A brothcrshouldnot be placed lightlyorhastily i : i thc chair without due exertion being

made to find a properly qualified Master . Tncrc might be reasons where on occasions they might have to depart from this rule , but those reasons should be thoroughly

examined and tested , and if urgent cases did occur , then the Grand Master being satisfied that every exe . tion had been made should have the power of granting dispen-

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sation . In the country there was great difficulty to get officers to take the chair at Masonic Lodges and Chapters , but he thought that with a little exertion they might get helf without breaking the laws of Masonry .

Bro . Morton Edwards , who was a W . M . of a Mark Lodge by dispensation , said he had been obliged to quit a lodge-room lately during the installation of the W . M .

One or the other must be wrong , —either the Mark was interfering with the Craft , or the dispensation of the Grand Master was not sufficient to provide for the irregularity of a W . M . not properly qualified .

The Grand Secretary said there could be no doubt it was inconvenient for a Master

installed under dispensation , to be be rerefused to assist at the installation of a properly-qualified brother . It appeared to be an anomaly . In the case of Most Wise Sovereigns of the Rose Croix Order , or a

Commander of an Encampment , they could be installed without having been Master of a Craft Lodge ; but in thc Royal Arch a companion could not be even a third principal without having first been a W . M . For

himself , he hardly knew which way to vote upon this motion . There was no question that there was a dispensing power in the Grand Mark Master , according to the Book of Constitutions * , but if dispensations were

too often granted , they lost their force , and he therefore thought this question required a large amount of consideration . He was one of those who had become converts to the opposite side of the question he had

originally advocated . No one would regret more than he , if anything was done needlessly or idly—he would not say to aggravate , but—to excite the feelings of Craft Grand Lodge against this Grand Lodge .

If he thought such could be the case , he did not know that he should take a contrary course . He could not lose sight of the fact , that thc resolution was adopted when this Grand Lodge was in a very different

position to that which it now occupied . As a matter of fact , there did once exist a very strong feeling of antagonism in Craft Grand Lodge to this Grand body . Our ancestors , he thought , were wise in their generation in

adopting the rule . Thc body was then a very small one , and there was a difficulty experienced in selecting a brother for W . M ., but now thc body had increased to an enormous extent—they had 140 lodges , and that

number was rapidly increasing—and there were plenty of qualified Masters to be found . He thought that a little more consideration should be given to thc question , before a decision was arrived at . There was power

given to the Grand Master , by the Book of Constitutions , to meet a case of urgency , and , he would ask , was it worth while to offend thc prejudices of brethren by making thc road to the chair too easy ?

Bro . J . C . Parkinson cordially agreed with Bro . Binckes ; they ought not to make the chair too cheap . He thought good fruit would be borne from this discussion , and he should move that the matter be referred

back to the General Board . Bro . C . Hammerton seconded it . Bro . Stebbing would remark that there was a state of things elsewhere similar to this . A brother took the chair of a lodrrc

to qualify him for the Royal Arch ; bt . t he never was allowed to attend the installation of Master of a Craft lodge . If they could

refer the matter to thc General Board , let them do so ; but do not instal Masters into the chair without giving them first an insight into the Craft . The Grand Master asked , whether it was for the interest of Grand Mark Lodge that

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a brother who had worked hard in Mark Masonry should be debarred from entering the chair because he had not filled the chair in another degree ? He would suggest the following alteration in Brother Parkinson ' s

motion : " That it be referred back to the General Board , to effect such an alteration in the obligation of an Installed Master , "

in the first place , " and in the chair secrets , " in the second place , "as that a dispensation of the Grand Master would enable a brother to take the chair . "

Bro . Parkinson agreed . Bro . Stebbing would propose that no brother should have access to a Board of Installed Masters , unfess he had been

admitted to the full ceremony of installation . " Bro . Duncombe , Prov . G . S . D . Leicester and Rutland , seconded it . Bro . Parkinson ' s motion was carried .

. On the motion of Bro . R . J . Spiers , Oxford , the recognition of Deputy Provincial Grand Masters as Grand officers , with seats on the Dais , during their absolute tenure of office as such , was carried .

On the motion of Br . Parkinson , seconded by Bro . Magnus Ohren , ten guineas were contributed from the funds of Grand Lodge to the Binckes' Testimonial .

Jewels were then presented to the following Chairman and Stewards ofthe Benevolent Fund Festival in July last : —Bros . Parkinson ( chairman ) , the Rev . A . B . Fraser ,

thc Rev . L . O . Bigg , T . Strahan , Magnus Ohren , J . H . Wynne , R . J . Spiers , F . Davidson , the Rev . D . Shaboe , and the Rev . Vyvyan H . Moyle .

Bro . James Stevens , G . S . O ., rose and said : This evening , our Deputy Grand Master , Earl Percy , has been nominated as your Grand Master for thc ensuing year , and of course this sounds the token of a very speedy parting from our present M . W . G . M .

I believe it is customary that on the G . M . leaving thc chair of office , to present him with the Past Grand Master ' s jewel , an honour which has been conferred on his predecssors ; but I have been giving some slight consideration to the services our

M . W . G . M . has rendered to you during thc past three years . I hope you will take me as meaning fully what I state , when I say I think his services during the past three years have been somewhat in excess of any

similar period of time since the working of thc Mark degree , seventeen years ago . I have looked through thc various reports connected with Mark Masonry from that

time , and I am quite certain that , however you may follow up my idea in making some remark upon it , it will interest you to know to what a considerable extent our present

M . W . G . M . has carried out the duties of his exalted position , and thc progress the Mark Degree has made under his most admirable superintendence . At the time when our E . W . G . M . took charge of us , we numbered 103 lodgcs . and those 103 lodges represented

all that had been formed both antecedent to and during the years of our former Grand Masters , four iu number , representing a period of about 17 years . During the two years and a half—that is , from the time of

bis election to thc present time—no less than 38 new lodges have been connected with thc Order—twice the average of the number of lodges previously connected with it . The number of certificates appear to

me to have gone on 111 an increasing ratio , from thc date of our M . W . G . M . ' s accession to office , to 150 , in one half-year to 4 89 , and now nearly 530 during thc past six

months . Our receipts have also increased very greatly indeed . In addition to which 1 have noticed by our reports many works that have been carried out through our