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CONTENTS . LEADERS— PAGE The Recent Colonial Discussion in Grand Lodge ... ... ... 455 Freemasonry in the Western Division of South Africa ... ... 455 Supreme Grand Chapter and Regulation 43 ... ... ... 45 ft Provincial Grand Lod & e of Cornwall ... ... ... ... 45 G District Grand Lodge of the Transvaal ... ... ... ... 457

Provincial Grand Chapter of Devonshire ... ... ... ... 457 Danger Ahead ... ... ... ... ... ... 458 An Oration ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 45 S Christening of the New City Masonic Club Lifeboat ... ... ... 45 S Annual Summer Outing- of St . Andrew of Glasgow Chapter , No . 69 , Scotland 459 Presentation to Bro . Chapman ... ... ... ... ... 459 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 459

MASONIC NOTESQuarterly Court of the Girls' School ... ... ... ... 4 61 Quarterly Meeting ot the Boys' School ... ... ... ... 4 61 Recent Colonial Discussion in Grand Lodge ... ... ... 4 61 Death of Bro . Sir Lewis Cave ... ... ... ... ... 4 G 1

Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 G 2 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 62 Masonic Notes and Queries ... . . ... ... ... 463 Opening of a New Masonic Hall at Worcester ... ... ... 4 63 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 464 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 464 Lodges of Instruction ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 64 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 466

The Recent Colonial Discussion In Grand Lodge.

THE RECENT COLONIAL DISCUSSION IN GRAND LODGE .

It was doubtless a great surprise to the majority of those who attended Grand Lodge on the 1 st instant , that a motion should have been made for the non-confirmation of that portion of the minutes of the June communication which related to the additional and amended Articles of the Book of Constitutions

which had been then adopted ; and a still greater surprise that so unusual a motion should have been made by a comparatively inexperienced brother , who , however capable he may be , is evidently from the tenure of his speech as reported in these

columns , not particularly conversant . with the important ' question he was desirous of treating . It is very creditable to him that he should have taken so much trouble to be present in his place in Grand Lodge on this occasion and should have exhibited so

much sympathy with the lodges and brethren in the far-off Colonies and possessions of the British Crown . But he ought not to have lost si ght of the fact that the articles which more particularly affect our Colonial lodges have b ^ en discussed and

re-discussed times out of number during quite a long term of years and that on none of these occasions has there been any lack of sympathy with or consideration for their interests on the part of our Grand Lodge . When Grand Registrar appeared to

have placed a wrong interpretation on Article 219 , the subject was'brought to the notice of Grand Lodge , which decided that the said Article meant what it said , not what some supposed it ought to have said or was intended to say . When a difficulty

arose with one of the New South Wales lodges which claimed to have remained true to its allegiance to Grand Lodge , the question was fully considered , and the said lodge retains its place on the Grand Lodge Register of Lodges . When , in the course of the

summer of 18 9 6 , the question of recognising the bod y styling itself the Grand Lodge of New Zealand was referred lo Grand Lodge by the M . W . Grand Master , and his Royal Highness expressed it as his opinion , based on information derived

from the Colony itself , that the time had arrived to put an end to the discord existing among the brethren in New Zealand , and suggested that Grand Lodge should leave it to him to take the

necessary steps to achieve the end in view , while safeguarding the interests of our lodges , Grand Lodge adopted the recommendation , and the matter is still in the hands of the M . W . G . Master . Lastly , when it was considered desirable that certain of

The Recent Colonial Discussion In Grand Lodge.

the Articles in the Book of Constitutions relating to Colonial lodges should be amended and extended , a scheme was proposed by the Board of General Purposes in March ; but opposition being raised to parts , if not to the whole , of the said scheme , it

was , on the suggestion , we believe , of Bro . the Rev . R . J . SIMPSON , Past Grand Chaplain , referred to a select Committee , of which Bro . RICHARD Evii , Past Grand Treasurer , was a member . This Committee , the meeting of which Bro . EVE was

unable to attend , made their report in June , and the amendments and extensions they recommended were there and then adopted . It was to these amendments and extensions that Bro . THOMSON LYON felt himself impelled by his deep sympathies

with Colonial Freemasonry , to offer his most strenuous opposition , the principal , if not the only , ground of his opposition being that these arrangements and extensions afforded brethren " additional facilities" for the discussion in open lodge of

certain important questions , which , under the previously existing laws it would have been illegal for them to discuss except amongst themselves as individual Masons . During all this time our Colonial brethren have had it in their power to lay their views

upon these questions before the authorities of Grand Lodge , while it is a matter of common knowledge that they have been fully discussed in the columns of the Masonic press . It seems to us , therefore , to have been an idle suggestion on the part of

Bro . THOMSON LYON and those who supported him that there should be further delay in dealing with questions which have been before the Craft already for ' several years , it being most undesirable that the settlement of questions which have unavoidably

g iven rise to a considerable amount of lllfeehng on the part of some of our Colonial brethren should be put off indefinitely . It is to the interest of Freemasonry as a whole that sores which have been kept open for a very long time should be healed at the

earliest available opportunity ; and if the steps which are being taken by his Royal Highness , the Most Worshipful Grand Master , to establish peace among the brethren in New Zealand , where for years there has been no

peace , and the additional facilities which Grand Lodge has thought fit to offer to our Colonial brethren for the consideration of questions which vitally affect their interests , are at all likely to conduce lo that end , such a result should , in our opinion , be subject for congratulation . There is still one matter to which we are desirous of

adverting . Towards the close of the debate , Bro . C . J . EGAN , District Grand Master of South Africa ( E . D . )—not Bro . S . WAY , M . W . Grand Master of South Australia , as erroneously stated in our report of the meeting—rose and declared that the brethren in

South Africa were desirous of remaining under the English Constitution , and he plaintively added that the Colony had had no opportunity of discussing the question which he knew had given rise to a great amount of dissatisfaction . Thereupon Grand

Registrar , in a tone which will strike most of our readers as being somewhat dictatorial , pointed out that when Grand Lodge has resolved on adopting any course , every one , however distinguished his position may be , even to the M . W . Grand Master

himself , must be satisfied . Doubtless Bro . EGAN—who has been a District Grand Master since 1875—was already possessed of this interesting information ; but , whether he was or was not ,

it occurs to us that a heartier welcome might have been extended towards the remarks of so distinguished a Colonial brother upon a matter immediately concerning the welfare of our Colonial lodges .