Grand Mark Lodge.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , M . W . Grand Master , has been p leased to recommend that the words " if possible" shall be inserted in Article 32 , Book of Constitutions , before the words " a Peer of the Realm , " and the Board , feeling that this addition to the clause would give the Grand Master greater freedom in the selection of a Pro G and Master , most heartily recommend Grand Lodge to adopt the suggestion of His Royal Highness .

During the three months ending 30 th June , 1892 , there have been issued : — Mark Certificates , 421 ; total number registered , 29 , 895 . Warrants for new lodges , 4 , viz : No . 443 , Elias de Derham , Salisbury . „ 444 , Shropshire , Shrewsbury . „ 445 , St . Swithun ' s , Horncastle . „ 446 , Prince of Wales , Brighton , Victoria , Australia . Royal Ark Mariner Certificates , 92 ; total number registered , 3670 .

The Board have to record with sincere regret the death of Sir Francis Burdett , Bart ., Provincial Grand Master for Middlesex and Surrey , vvho had ruled over that large and important province for 21 years with the greatest benefit and advantage to the Older . In consequence of the great increase of lodges and brethren in this province , as well as in the London district , his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , M . W . Grand Master , has bren pleased to

direct—1 . That the present Province of Middlesex and Surrey be , and is , hereby abolished . 2 That all lodges meeting within a radius of two miles from Mark Masons ' 'tall shall bt-lung to ihe London district , and be under the direct control of Grand I ody ** . 3 . rhat all other l . idg « -s outside this radius in the county of Middlesex be c . nsiuu ed a province bv the title of the Provincial Grand Lodgeof Middlesex . 4 . 1 hut all other lodgrs outside this radius in the county of Surrey be constituted a province by the title of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Surrey .

His Royal Highness has been pleased to appoint R . W . Bro . Col . Arthur Bott Cook , ] . P ., to be Provincial Grand Master for Middlesex . H . W . Bro . Col . G . Noel Money , C . B ., J . P ., to be Provincial Grand Master for Surrey . His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , M . W . Grand Master , has been pleased to re-appoint R . W . Bro the Most Honourable the Marquess of Hertford ( M . W . Pro Grand Master ) Provincial Grand Master for Warwickshire for a further term of three years .

R . W . Bro . William Kelly , F . S . A ., Prov . Grand Master for Leicestershire , Northamptonshire , Rutland , and Derbyshire for a further period of three years . I he Board recommend to Grand Lodge that Article 62 be altered to read as follows : " Six lodges in the London district and eight Provincial Grand Lodges shall , in rotation , each recommend to the Grand Master for approval a Mark Master , who shall not necessarily be a member of that lodge or province . Brethren so approved and appointed are entitled to wear the insigniaand clothing of Grand Stewards , and take rank as officers of Grand Lodge . "

Bro . Arthur Roger Carter , P . G . Std . Br ., having designed a new Tracing Board for the Mark Degree , has presented to Grand Lodge a large and valuable painting of the same , and has also assigned to the Trustees of Grand Lodge his copyright therein . The Board recommend that this design be adopted as the official Tracing Board of the Degree , and would also suggest that the best thanks of Grand Lodge are due to Bro . Arthur Roger Carter , P . G . Std . Br ., for this presentation , as well as for a magni ficent suite of Moorish armour , also given by him , and hung in the Grand Master ' s private room .

FUND OF BENEVOLENCE . The 24 th Annual Festival vvas held at Freemasons' Tavern , on the 20 th July , under the presidency of the R . W . Bro . Sir Reginald Hanson , Bart ., M . P ., Past Grand Warden , and the sum of ^ 163 6 , was announced . The Board have elected on the Educational Fund , without a poll—Arthur Nicholl , Percy Bouverie Primrose , and Stanley Thorn . And have to report the death of Bro . Thomas Pickering , an annuitant . The following cases have been relieved :

Mrs . M . A . W ., widow of a brother of No . 95 ... £$ o o Mrs . M . F . M ., widow of a brother of No . 261 ... 500 And the Board recommend that the sum of , £ 100 be granted to Bro . W . N ., of Lodge 34 . And the sum of £ 25 to Mrs . J . W ., widow of a brother of Lodge St . John , ( T . I . ) ( Signed ) FRANK RICHARDSON , Vice-President . 4 th August , 1892 . C . FITZGERALD MATIER , Grand Secretary .

At the conclusion of the business it was unanimously resolved that the Board do most heartily congratulate their late President , Bro . Col . Arthur Bott Cook , J . P ., on the distinguished ofiice to which it has pleased the Grand Master to appoint him . And they also desire to record their high appreciation of the many services he has rendered to the Order while acting as President of the General Board . ( Signed ) FRANK RICHARDSON , V . P .

The following motion arising out of the above report had to be made : a . That Article 32 be altered to read as follows : " The Grand Master , if a Prince of the Blond , may appoint a Pro Grand Master , who shall be , if possible , a Peer of the Realm , and who shall , in all respects , rank as Grand Master . " b That Article 62 be altered to read as follows : " Six Lodges in the London

District and Eight Provincial Grand Lodges shall , in rotation , each recommend to the Grand Master for approval a Mark Master , who shall not necessarily be a member of that Lodge or Province . Brethren so approved and appointed are entitled to wear the insignia and clothing of Grand Stewards , and take rank as officers of Grand Lodge . "

c . Tbat the best thanks of Grand Lodge are due , and are hereby given to W . Bro . Arthur Roger Carter , P . G . Standard Bearer , for the gift to Grand Lodge of a large Painting of the Tracing Board and a Suite of Moorish Armour .

d . Fund of Benevolence—Grants recommended , . £ 100 to Bro . W . N ., P . G . D . ; £ 25 to Mrs . W ., widow of Bro . W . W ., St . John Lodge , T . I . ; also , that the report be adopted . Bro . FRANK RICHARDSON , Vice-President of the Board , in moving " Tnat Article 32 be altered , " Sic , said that sometimes it vvas found difficult

t ¦ obtain a penr ol the realm to be Pro Grand Master , and his Royal High-• io-s Hio' . i , 'lu thai in that case it would be better that Clause 32 in thc Book C'nisiiiiiiioiis should be more open . He would always like to have a peer ol the realm for Pro Grand Master , but , assuming that it might be difficult to gel ' . nc , he would wish to have power to make choice outside thc House of Lords .

Bro . ROBERT BERRIDGE seconded the motion . Tin * Marquess of HEKTFORD said he had had a correspondence with the ! W ( i . \ I HI ihe snbjeci . and his Royal Hi ghness seemed to think that the i - 1 •>¦ pr-. pom-d was desirable . I h in . tnm w is carried .

'• f . vi ; \ i livuDsoN' moved thc alteration in Article 62 , concerning , 1 . 1 im . 111 ol Grand . Stewards . The Article as it appears in the Book o ! Constitutions is as follows : " Two lodges in the London district and four lodges in the Province of Middlesex and Surrey shall in rotation

Grand Mark Lodge.

each recommend to the Grand Master for approval a Mark Master , vvho shall not necessarily be a member of that lodge . Eig ht other Provincial Grand Lodges shall in rotation recommend to the Grand Master for approval a Mark Master , who shall not necessarily be a member ot that province . Brethren so approved and appointed are entitled to wear the

insignia and clothing of Grand Stewards , and take rank as officers of Grand Lodge . " In consequence of the alteration the Grand Master had made by dividing the Province of Middlesex and Surrey into two provinces this clause required amendment , lt was proposed not to alter the number of Grand Stewards but to keep them exactly as they were according to the Book of Constitutions .

Bro . BERRIDGE seconded . Bro . BRIGHTEN said he had an amendment to propose but he did not know whether now was the proper time . His amendment concerned the Province of Middlesex and Surrey . Perhaps the time for proposing his amendment would be when the motion was made that the report be adopted . The proposition of the Vice-President vvas made on the supposition that the

Province of Middlesex and Surrey was already defunct . With great hesitation and respect that up to the present time this proposition was not according to the Book of Constitutions , as first of all they must abolish or erase the Province of Middlesex and Surrey . If it were convenient to raise the whole question he thought it ought to be done when the adoption of the report was moved , but he would foreshadow what his amendment was . It

vvas " That the consideration of that portion of the Report on page 2 from the sixth line to the 27 th inclusive be adjourned till the December communication , " and he vvas prepared to give his reasons . He wished to be not only in order , but to act in the most courteous and deferential manner to the chair and to the brethren generally . He wished to know whether he would be in order in moving his amendment now .

Ihe Marquess ot HERTFORD did not think Bro . Brighten was in order . Bro . the Earl of EUSTON said he did not think Bro . Brighten was in order in moving an amendment . The proposition of Bro . Richardson simply arose out of an item in the Report of the General Board which came not at all to Grand Lodge as a recommendation but was a result of the Grand Master ' s direction . The Grand Master had been pleased to

directwhich he was in perfect order to do when he found he had a province consisting of more than one county which was very large and was ruled by such a Provincial Grand Master as the late Sir Francis Burdett , who vvas kept on because he was so worthy a brother—it was quite within the Grand Master ' s right to separate the province into more than one . Other provincial Grand Lodges had been broken up into two or three provinces

tor the good of the Order in many cases . With deference to the Pro Grand Master he did not look on this proposition so much as an amendment as a command from the Grand Master , whom they know always looked into these matters very carefully before he made a recommendation , and did not do it for any individual or personal motives , but for the good of the Craft and those in the Craft . He vvas speaking in all friendliness towards Bro .

Brighten . He would like to hear from the Grand Registrar what the law was on the subject . Bro . FRANK RICHARDSON said he mi g ht be wrong in his law as he had not looked into the matter very carefull )' , but he thought Bro . Brig hten was not correct in his amendment . It vvas to his ( Bro . Richardson ' s ) mind the absolute prerogative of the Grand Master to divide the country into provinces j and if that were so , having once made Middlesex and Surrey

one province it would be equally part of his prerogative to sub divide it . It did not lie vvith any Mason to cavil at anything the Grand Master did which is within his prerogative . His Royal Highness had divided the province of Cheshire and North Wales ; the province of Berks and Bucks vvas divided . What had been done previously vvas most strictly followed in the present case . The Grand Master dissolved the province of Middlesex and Surrey

absolutely , and therefore no motion could now be made with respect to it . Not only had he abolished the province , but he had exercised his undoubted prerogative of constituting new provinces out of it , and appointed by patent a Provincial Grand Master for Middlesex and another Provincial Grand Master for Surrey . Both of these brethren were going to be installed in the . course of a few days . Therefore no resolution that could be passed

could alter vvhat had been done , or would be of any avail . No doubt when there was a division of a province it was for the good of the Order . When the Province of Berks and Bucks was divided , no doubt a great number of the brethren of the Province of Bucks would have prelerred to have a Prince of the Blood Royal as their head , but they were obliged to submit to the will of the Grand Master , and therefore he presumed the brethren must

now do the same . He ( Bro . Richardson ) belonged to a lodge meeting in the province , but he accepted the division as being for the good ot Masonry that the two provinces should be divided . He might point out that in the united province there vvere ever ) ' year but 12 collars to give awayi but with two provinces , instead of one province , there would be 24 collars at the disposal of the Provincial Grand Masters , and when there were so large

a number of worth y and deserving Masons in the province it must be lor the good of Masonry that brethren who had done good suit and service should have their reward , instead of standing out in the cold . But , '" addition to that , he might say the Deputy Grand Master of the province had been appointed , and this could not be if Bro . Brighten's view was correct that the Province of Middlesex and Surrey had not been abolished . " '' :

Provincial Grand Master had authorised him to say that he entirely approved of the action of the M . W . G . M . in dividing the province , and that was a very strong argument to show that the Grand Master had done what w for the good ot the Order and of the province . Those were his reasons l ° saying tl * is proposed amendment could not be moved ; the thing had been done ; the province had been divided

. . Bro . HENRY LOVEGROVE submitted that Bro . Brighten and those who took the same view as he were not raising this question merely in their ow ' interest and out of their own feelings ; they had nothing to gain or to lo 5 "' But thev felt that bv this division of the nrovince certain lodtres would U "M . t-tn-y l ^ ll . kiltl ,. viy una U 1 VI 3 IUU \ JL IUC IJlUVlll ^ U I . CIICLUI IUUgl . J ,

taken out of the London district , and they had no chance . Some he M no doubt would surrender their warrant . ( " No , no . " ) There would f novv nine lodges in Middlesex and six in Surrey . , The Marquess of HERTFORD thought , alter what they had heard vo the Grand Registrar , that any discussion on the action taken by his W Highness was clearly out of order . ( Hear , hear . ) , 0 ( i ll i lw 1

IJ _ I . _ 1 . _ , __ . _ . 1 1 . , l . _ .. ' . nrp . u Bro . HENRY LOVEGROVE wished to understand when the province been divided . Bro . GALE CROWDY : It has been done ; actum est . .., Bro . BARNETT said , as a Past Grand Officer ot Middlesex and Sur ^* he was thoroughly in accord with the late Provincial Grand Master Deputy Provincial Grand Master .