Contents.

CONTENTS .

LHADERS— PAGE Abuse of the Black Ball ... ... - - ¦¦• " 5 Freemasonry in Peru ... ... •¦• — ¦¦• " 5 Freeir . asonrv as an Ethical Religion ... ... •¦• ••• ' <(>

Consecration of the Comrades Lodge , No . 2740 ... ... ... 11 S Grand Lodgeof Ireland ( Quarterly Communication ) ... „ .... ... 11 S Ladies' Night of the Earl of Zetland Lodge and Chapter , No . 136 4 ... 119 The Late Bro . Frank Lockwood ... ... ... ... ... no Royal Ark Mariners ... ... ... ••• ••• ny

MASONIC NOTESGirls' School Examinations ... ... ... ... ... 121 Boys' School Examinations ... ... ... ... ... 1-1 Meeting of Committee of Management of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... - - - - *** ' Death of Bro . Leopold G . G . Robbins , P . G . D . ... ... ... 121 The Craft Abroad ... ... ... ... ... •¦• 121

Ladies' Night of the Lodge of Temperance , No . \ G _ ... ... ... 122 An Oration ... ... ... ¦•• ••• •¦¦ •¦• ' 22 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... . ... ... 122 The Recent Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... ... 125 Instruction ... ... ... ¦¦• — ••• 125 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 12 s Annual Banquet and Concert of St . Ambrose Lodge , No . 1 S 91 ... ... 125 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 125 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... •» ... ... i 2 <">

Abuse Of The Black Ball.

ABUSE OF THE BLACK BALL .

It is satisfactory to know that on the recommendation of the Grand Registrar , on the ground ? set forth by Bro . HF . RBF . RT A . RlGG , Dep . G . Registrar , the appeal of a member of one of our lodges in the Argentine Republic against the decision of I

lie-District G . Master in upholding the sentence of exclusion passed upon him by his lodge , was summarily dismissed by Grand Lodge at its meeting on the 1 st instant . Our knowledge of the circumstances , derived from the statement made by Bro ,

RlGG , who said that the appellant had been thus . severely punished because hc had openly avowed his intention of blackballing all candidates indiscriminately , and that " he did so , not because he objected to the Worshipful Master , but because he

had said he would blackball every one . " On this declaration becoming known to thc lodge , the offending member was called upon to " confess , apologise , and resign , " but lie declined to adopt these several courses , and thc lodge , by a majority of 24

votes to four—the number of members being only 20 , —or considerably more than the prescribed two-thirds majority , voted his permanent exclusion . The law on the subject—as laid down in Article 210 of the Book of Constitutions is very cleat * .

" Every Iodge , " says the article , " has the power to permanently exclude any of its members for sufficient cause , provided lhat such member shall have received due notice in writing of the complaint made against him , and of the time appointed

for its consideration when he may attend and be heard . This power of exclusion can only be exercised by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present . " From tlie description given by the Deputy G . Registrar in his speech in G . Lodge of

the grounds on which the appellant rested his appeal , we are justified in assuming that the formalities presented by Article 210 were strictly complied with , and the only question which the Grand Registrar liad to consider in his recommendation lo G . Lod «* e

of the course it should adopt under the circumstances was whether thc sentence passed upon thc offender was or was not commensurate with the offence hc had committed . We are glad to find that it has been so considered firstly by the Grand

Abuse Of The Black Ball.

Registrar in the recommendation hc made , and afterwards by G . Lodge , which unanimously endorsed the opinion of its principal legal adviser . To judge from the reasons furnished by the appellant for

bringing his case before Grand Lodge , wc should conclude that he must have regarded thc offence as being one of an exceedingly trivial character . His objections to thc sentence were that "the document of information was inadmissible ; that the charge against him was too vague ; ana that there was not

sullicicnt cause to justify his exclusion . " We cannot , of course , undertake to interpret what , in thc opinion of this individual Mason , constitutes vagueness , or what a sufficient cause ; but it must be evident to our readers that a brother who considers an

openly-avowed threat to blackball all candidates for membershi p of his lodge indiscriminately , is either an exceptionally stupid person , or has allowed his vindicliveness against one or more , or perchance the whole bod )* , of his fellow-members , to get the

better of his reason . We all know that lodges rely for continuance on obtaining new and worthy members to fill the gaps created in their ranks b y death or other causes , and we must all realise that a threat on the part of any member to stop these

relays of worthy applicants is tantamount to an avowal on his part that he will do his utmost to wreck the lodge . Such conduct as this i \ e regard in the same light as Grand Registrar , that

js , as " a very grave Masonic offence , " and we consider the authorities have done ri ghtly in upholding the sentence of exclusion .

It is to be regretted that such cases as this of the threatened abuse of the blackball should ever occur in any of our lodo-es , but we cannot say we regret the publicity which the circumstances in this instance have obtained . There is nothino * on

which bn-thren in authority amongst us ^ o strenuously insist as thc necessity for the exercise of the greatest caution in the acceptance of candidates , and we are not without hope that the

summary rejection of this appeal , and the circumstances from which it took its origin , will have thc effect of emphasising this advice .

Freemasonry In Peru.

FREEMASONRY IN PERU .

No doubt our readers will remember that at the Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge on the 1 st June , 1 S 9 S , a communication was read from his Royal Hi ghness the M . W .

Grand Master to the effect that trustworth y information had reached him that the Grand Lodge of Peru had adopted a resolution for the removal of the Volume of the Sacred Law from the altars of all its private lodges , and the substitution for it of

the ( onslitulions o [ I IK ; Grand Lodge of Peru ; and , further , that in the ritual ii hae ! struck out the word " Bible , " and inserted in its stead the Constitutions of the said G . Lodcre . Under these circumstances , his Royal Highness desired that the

sense of Grand Lodge should be taken on certain resolutions to the effectthattheGrand LodgeoiTeru could no longer be regarded as a supreme Masonic body , and that intercourse must cease between Knglish and I Vruvian M asuns so long as the obnoxious

tesoliitionsadopled by the latter bod y remained in force . Hardly more than two months had elapsed when intelligence reached us that the party of Grand Master DAM , through whose instigation the

resolution suppressing the Volume of the Sacred Law had been brought about , had been defeated , and that a new Grand Master —Bro . J . A . EGO . AGI ;* RRK—had been elected , whose intention it