United Grand Lodge Of England.

UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND .

The Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge was held on Wednesday evening at Freemasons' Hall , London . The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe , R . W . Deputy Grand Master , presided . Bro . W . VV . B . Beach , M . P ., Provincial Grand Master of Hants and the Isle of Wight , acted as

Deputy Grand Master , and Bro . Col . Le Gendre N . Starkie , Provincial Gran d Master of East Lancashire , as Past Grand Master . Bro . the Earl of Yarborough was in his place as S . G . W ., and Bro . Rev . R . J . Simpson , P . G . C , acted as Junior Grand Warden . About iooo brethren were

present . After Grand Lodge had been opened , The Earl of MOUNT EDGCUMBE said he had to express his regret that he was again in the chair at this meeting of Grand Lodge in consequence of the indisposition of Bro . Lord Lathom , the Pro Grand Master . He hoped his lordship was going on satisfactorily , but he was suffering from a severe attack of influenza .

The minutes of the Quarterly Communication of March ist and of the Grand Festival of April 26 th were then read and confirmed . The scrutineers of votes for the election of members of the Board of

General Purposes were selected and obligated to make a faithful return . Bro . J . H . Matthews was appointed Chairman , the ballot cards were collected , and the scrutineers retired . The Earl of MOUNT E DGCUMBE announced that the M . W . G . M . had appointed Bro . Thomas Fenn to be again President of the Board of General Purposes , and Bro . Fenn advanced and was re-invested .

On the motion of Bro . J . S . CUMBERLAND , seconded by Bro . Dr , ERNEST POCOCK , Bro . John Smith was unanimously re-elected Auditor of Grand Lodge accounts . The following brethren were declared elected as members of the Committee of Management of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution : Bros .

Charles A . Cottebrune , P . M . 733 ; Robert Daniel Cummings , P . M . 1677 ; Lieut .-Col . Alfred Durrant , P . M . 569 ; Charles Kempton , P . M . 12 S 7 ; Isaac Dixon , P . M . 1567 ; Wm . Henry Hubbert , P . M . 1625 ; John L . Anderson , P . M . 554 ; Theophilus I . Bird , P . M . 1897 ; Alfred H . Hickman , P . M . 228 ; and Nelson Reed , P . M . 1671 .

The report of the Board of Benevolence for the last quarter was read by the GRAND S ECRETARY , and , on the motion of Bro . ROBERT GREY , President , seconded by Bro . J AMES BRETT , Senior Vice-President , the following grants were confirmed :

A brother of the Leopold Lodge , No . 1571 , London ... £ 50 o o The orphan children of a brother of the Lodge of Sincerity , No . 428 , Northwich 5 ° ° ° The orphan children of a brother of the Royal Forest Lodge ,

No . 401 , Slaidburn 50 o o A brother of the Beacontree Lodge , No . 1228 , London ... 50 o o The widow of a brother of the Druids Lodge of Love and Liberality , No . 589 , Redruth 75 o o A brother of the Commercial Lodge , No . 411 , Nottingham ... 75 o o The widow of a brother of the Pythagorean Lodge , No . 79 ,

Greenwich 5 ° ° ° A brother ( a lunatic ) of the Sincerity Lodge , No . 1019 , Wakefield , West Yorkshire 100 o o On the motion of Bro . THOMAS F ENN , President of the Board of General Purposes , seconded by Bro . Dr . E RNEST POCOCK , Vice-President , the report of the Board of General Purposes was taken as read , and ordered to be received and entered on the minutes .

Bro . THOMAS FENN then said that although this report appeared very formidable , the resolutions arising from it were not so numerous , nor did he expect that they would create much discussion . With regard to the first recommendation , he thought it would recommend itself to the brethren . In making it , the Committee had no personal complaint to make of anyone

° f the officers , but Grand Secretaries hitherto got themselves in the case of a vacancy into the habit of promoting the officers in rotation without regard to their fitness . It was therefore thoug ht better to propose this resolution as removing some onus from the Grand Secretary to the Board of General Purposes . He thought that the burden thrown upon them would not be too beavy for them to bear . The resolution was not to be carried into effect at

Present ; there was no necessity for any immediate action upon it ; but he thought it desirable that this should be recorded as approved by the Grand '* od ge in order that it might be acted upon should necessity arise . He Proposed , therefore , the first recommendation .

» t was seconded by Bro . Dr . E . POCOCK , and carried . The second resolution was also carried . f wo . THOMAS FENN , in moving the appointment of a shorthand clerk , L Gral "* d Secretary , said that the temporary appointment mentioned i lt -e resolution had been found of very great assistance to the Grand

United Grand Lodge Of England.

Secretary . It was a want that had been felt for a very long time , and it was hoped that the brother who had filled the place for a short time would be found by practice to be of some use in reporting ; he had had a situation before , and the salary it was thought was not at all excessive . Bro . POCOCK having seconded the proposition , a BROTHER objected to the appointment being declared by the resolution to be permanent .

Bro . FENN agreed to strike out the word " permanently , " and with that omission the resolution was agreed to . On the fourth resolution , Bro . FENN said Bro . Hodgins was formerly a schoolmaster , and when he ( Bro . Fenn ) had to superintend the issuing of tickets for the Jubilee meeting at the Royal Albert Hall , Bro . Hodgins came

into the Grand Secretary ' s office . Finding him qualified they had him for an assistant , and he was ascertained to be so useful that as the work had got behind Colonel Shadwell Clerke retained him for a short time longer , and the result was he had been there ever since . Bro . Dr . POCOCK seconded the motion , which was put and carried .

Bro . THOMAS FENN , in moving the fifth resolution , " That the work of the Grand Secretary ' s office having materially increased , they recommend that an additional clerk be engaged at a salary of £ 100 per annum , " said the proposed additional clerk would be a junior clerk—in fact a lad would do for the office , but as they must be Masons in the Grand Secretary ' s office he could not be a Mason before he was 21 , and for a young man of 21 years of age £ 100 a year was not too much . Bro . Dr . POCOCK seconded this resolution also , and it was carried .

Bro . tENN then said , with regard to the next resolution— " That the report of each Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge be sent out as nearly as possible 14 days after the meeting "—that some years ago that plan was adopted , but somehow it was discontinued . It was very desirable that the report should be sent out as soon as possible , instead of l ying two months in the Grand Secretary ' s office , because someone might want to

give a notice of motion arising out of the report , and if the report was not published until a few days before the meeting of Grand Lodge , it was too late to give notice of motion . With reference to the books and curiosities in the library and museum , they had proposed to publish a list of the presentations once in every year , and they commenced last March , but that publication had brought so many presentations that they considered it ri ght to publish the list every quarter . Before the last publication many

brethren did not appear to know that they had a library and museum at Freemasons' Hall . Those brethren possessed many articles in Masonry which were of no particular value to themselves , but they were of value to the library and museum . The Board recommended that alterations should be made in the Book of Constitutions , which were necessitated by the resolutions come to to appoint new Grand Officers , and they embodied these recommendations in their report . The motion was then put and carried .

On the motion of Bro . Sir G . D . HARRIS , which was duly seconded , the Report of the Colonial Board was taken as read , and ordered to be received and entered on the minutes . The Annual Report of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and Widows of Freemasons , dated iqth Mav . 180- ? .

was laid before Grand Lodge . Bro . J ALBERT FARNFIELD , P . A . G . D . of C , moved . * That the sum of ^ 70 be given from the Fund of General Purposes ; that the money be placed in the hands of the Secretary of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and Widows of Freemasons , to supply the inmates of the Institution at Croydon with coals during the winter season .

He said he was sure the brethren would not want many words from him in support of this motion . They knew how necessary warmth was to those old people . If the brethren went down to the Institution at Croydon even in summer time they would find the annuitants with a fire to keep them warm . Bro . Dr . JABEZ HOGG , P . G . D ., seconded the motion , which was then put and carried .

Bro . RICHARD EVE , P . G . Treas ., next rose to move-That this Grand Lodge declares that the conclusion of the Colonial Board , viz ., that Article 219 did not apply to the case of the Cambrian Lodge , No . 656 , of Australia , is totally opposed to the uniform practice of Grand Lodge since 1779 , and that the correct construction of the law is that laid down by the V . W . Grand Registrar , Bro . Philbrick , and the V . W . the President of

the Board of General Purposes , Bro . Fenn , on the 3 rd June , 1885 , by the late M . W . Pro Grand Master , Lord Carnarvon , on the 5 th December , 1888 , and by the R . W . Bro . W . W . B . Beach , and by the V . W . Grand Registrar , and the V . W . President of the Board of General Purposes on the 2 nd December , 1891 , and adopted by Grand Lodge on those dates . And that the alleged cancellation of the warrant was in direct contravention

of the terms on which Grand Lod ge granted recognition to the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales . And that these brethren who adhere to their allegiance to this Grand Lodge are therefore entitled to recognition as the lodge . He said he had to express his regret that he was under the necessity of moving this resolution . He felt that regret because the report of the

Colonial Board , which had been taken as read , showed facts which did not enable anyone to say that the Board had reasonably , logically , or legally come to the conclusion it had come to . He felt he represented a case of very great importance , and hc was sorry it was not in the hands ofa brother more powerful than himself in Grand Lodge to enunciate the princi ples which would be before them that night . He was very sorry that Bro . Biackstone Baker was not present ; he was 82 years of age ; he was a man of