United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

VVe trust that Grand Lodge will lose no time in extricating itself from the very awkward dilemma in which it has undesignedly placed itself by its rejection on the 7 th inst . of one part of the scheme for the advancement of its interests which was then submitted to it by the President of the Board of General Purposes . In our Notes of last week

we expressed our belief—a belief which we still retain—that Grand Lo . [__ when it accepted Bro . Past Grand Treasurer EVE ' S amendment to tho resolution of Bro . President FENN , intended no affront to His Royal Hig hness the Grand Master , the Pro Grand Master , or the Board of General Purposes . But there are not a few brethren , who , with only an

imperfect knowledge of the circumstances , will nevertheless arrive at the conclusion that if an affront to these dignitaries or this Board was not intended , it has been offered , and the sooner any such notion is dispelled the better will it be for all interested in the steady and undisturbed progress of Freemasonry . There can , indeed , be no two opinions , either as to

the justice of the reasons which led to the proposal being made or the desirability of the proposal itself . The Craft in this country has increased in numbers so marvellously during the last seventeen or or eighteen years , that the honours which it is in the power of the Grand Master to bestow annually on worthy brethren , though they may

have been sufficient in the past , are no longer adequate to meet the just claims of the Fraternity in the present . Doubtless there are those who will insist that the multiplication of honours cheapens them . This is true in ordinary circumstances , and would perhaps be true if it were proposed to double or treble the offices in Grand Lodge ; but nothing of the kind is

contemplated . What it was proposed to create was one additional legal office which , we believe , it was intended to make virtually permanent , and to which were to be assigned rank and precedence next after the Grand Wardens ; four additional Grand Deacons ; and an additional Sword Bearer ; these last five appointments being neither more nor less

ornamental and useful than the similar appointments already existing . The one change which , if we rightly understand the case , it was proposed to make in offices already existing was in that of the Grand Registrar , which has been held heretofore during pleasure , the brother once chosen to fill it being annually re-appointed so long as he desired

re-appointment . This it was proposed should be filled up annually , as is now the case , but with this difference , that a new brother should be chosen every year . Thus as regards the new legal adviser of Grand Lodge , he was to rank before , instead of after , the Chaplains and thc Treasurer , while the Grand Registrar was to retain his present place in the table of

precedence . We see no objection to the proposed arrangement , nor do we think any objection would have been raised in Grand Lodge on the 7 th instant , had the Board of General Purposes seen fit to insert in their Report a few words of explanation . As regards the rest of the proposal—for the appointment of four additional Grand Deacons and an additional Grand

Sword Bearer—there is little or nothing to be said . Grand Lodge was and still is prepared to accept it . Indeed , it would be absurd if it were otherwise . The desire for an increase in the number of Grand Officers has been pretty general . His Royal Highness the Grand Master and his alter ego , the Pro Grand Master , in proposing an addition of six ,

admit the reasonableness of thc desire , and it certainly appears to us to nave been both impolitic and ungenerous to raise an objection to their scheme , because one of the proposed appointments was of an exceptional character , and involved a slight disturbance of the present order of Precedence .

Mare Grand Lodge.

MARE GRAND LODGE .

fhe report of the General Board of Mark Grand Lodge , which was submitted at the Quarterly Communication on the 6 th inst ., was not allowed t 0 pass unchallenged , opposition being raised in respect of two matters , of which , however , only one was a recommendation of the Board , while "e other arose out of an act done bv the Grand Master in the exorcise nf

e prorogation conferred upon him by the Mark Constitutions . Our readers Me aware that until quite recently the counties of Middlesex and Surrey "stituted a province under thc Mark Grand I . odge , and as there was , in ct , no clearl y defined London district , the lodges comprised in such

pro'ce were exceptionally numerous , far more numerous than would have n the case , had there been at the time , as there is now , and as there always * been in Craft Masonry , a metropolitan area , the lodges within which p re under the direct control of Grand Lodge . While the late Bro . Sir c , s Burdett was alive , it was recognised that any alteration in the

Mare Grand Lodge.

existing order of things—which left London undefined and gave him control over the counties of Middlesex and Surrey—might be interpreted into an act of disrespect towards him . But on his death in the early part of the present year , it was thought desirable in the interests of Mark Masonry that a new arrangement should be

adopted , and the M . W . Grand Master , acting in accordance with 0-i' provisions of Article 70 of the Mark Constitutions , determined that in future all lodges meeting within a radius of two miles from Mark Masons' Hall should be formed into a London District , while as regards the extra-London portions of the two counties of Middlesex and Surrey ,

which together constituted the late Bro . Sir F . BURDETT ' S Province , those in Middlesex should be erected into a Province of Middle , sex , under Bro . Lieut .-Colonel A . B . COOK as Prov . Grand Master , and those in Surrey into a Province of Surrey under Bro . Colonel NOEL MONEY , C . B ., as Provincial Grand Master . It cannot be alleged that this

rearrangement was in any way calculated to prove detrimental to the interests of the Mark Degree ; but , even had there been a likelihood of this being the case , it was not in the power of Grand Lodge to question the Grand Master ' s exercise of a prerogative which itself had conferred upon him . Had there been any grounds for the fears expressed by Bro .

BRIGHTEN and others—that the rearrangement would be detrimentalthe proper course to pursue under such circumstances would have been to propose a resolution for the repeal of Article 70 , and the enactment of a new law in substitution thereof ; or , at all events , for such an amendment of the said article as would transfer the prerogative , now

legally exercised by the Grand Master , to some other authority—say to the authority of Grand Lodge . Of course Bro . BRIGHTEN—whose conduct was marked by strict propriety throughout—was acting within his right when he rose and asked if he would be in order in moving an amendment—the nature of which he was pleased to

foreshadowto so much of the Board ' s Report as related to this matter . The Pro Grand Master , however , had no alternative but to declare him out of order , a declaration which was at once supported by the Deputy Grand Master and Bro . FRANK RICHARDSON in his capacity of Grand Registrar . This being the case , it was manifestly a still greater divergence from order

and regularity , when Bro . LOVEGROVE and others rose and continued the discussion . If our Mark brethren arc desirous that their Grand Master shall have no prerogatives to exercise , they must not confer them upon him ; but it is absurd to confer prerogatives and then take exception to the manner in which they are exercised .

Provincial Grand Lodge Of Worcestershire.

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF WORCESTERSHIRE .

On Friday , the ioth inst ., the annual meeting of the above Provincial Grand Lodge was held at Dudley , on the invitation of the members of the Harmonic Lodge , No . 252 , who made admirable arrangements for the convenience and comfort of the visitors , who numbered upwards of 200 . More than ordinary interest was taken in the proceedings by reason of the fact that arrangements had been made to unveil a very handsome marble tablet

which had been erected in St . John ' s Church , Kates-hill , to the memory of the late Bro . Masefield , who was identified with Masonry for more than half a century , and who not only held high honours in the Province of Worcestershire , but also some of the Grand Lodge of England . In the iVIidlands he was regarded as the father of Masonry , and was always looked up to as an authority on everything appertaining to Masonry . A

Craft lodge was opened in the Public Hall by Bro . li . J . Chamoers , 252 , P . S . G . W ., assisted by Bro . Hanson , S . VV ., and Bro . James Jones , J . VV ., in the three Degrees , after which the Deputy Prov . Grand Alaster , Bro . A . F . Godson , iVI . P ., together with the ollicers of Provincial Grand Lodge , Present and Past , entered the lodge , and was received by the assembled brethren with the accustomed honours .

There are now 13 Craft lodges in the Worcestershire Province , viz . : Harmonic Lodge , No . 252 ; Worcestershire Lodge , No . 2 S 0 ; Open Charity Lodge , No . 337 , * Royal Standard Lodge , No . 498 ; Semper Fidelis Lodge , No . 560 ; Stability Lodge , No . 564 ; Perseverance Lodge , No . 573 ; St . Michael ' s Lodge , No . 1097 ; Royd's Lodge , No . 1204 ; Lechmere Lodge , No . 1874 ; Masefield Lodge , No . 2034 ; and Godson Lodge , No . 2385 .

Amongst the brethren present were—Bros . A . F . Godson , M . P ., D . P . G . M . ; H . Wilson , P . P . J . G . W . ; W . H . Westwood , P . P . S . G . W . ; H . Rowe , P . S . G . W . ; Samuel Smith , P . P . S . G . W . ; G . W . Grosvenor , P . P . J . G . W . ; T . E . Smith , P . M . 280 ; William Waldron , P . P . S . G . W . ; C . E . Bloomer , P . M . ; R . Broomhall , P . P . S . G . W . ; Rev . W . J . Down , P . G . C ; Rev . J . Knight-Law , P . P . G . C ; J . Joseland , P . G . Treas . ; A . Green ,

P . P . G . T . ; J . Mossop , P . G . Reg . ; W . E . Walker , P . P . G . R . ; George Taylor , P . G . Sec ; G . H . W . Mounson , P . M . 529 , P . G . S . of W . ; T . E . Lucy , P . M . 529 , P . P . G . S . of W . ; J . F . Hoult , P . M . 560 ; S . P . Rowe , 280 , P . P . G . S . of W . ; W . Warner Hotley , 1204 , P . P . G . D . C ; A . Fraser , P . M . 1204 , P . G . S . B . ; G . Hotchkiss , P . M . 529 , P . P . G . S . B . ; W . C Box , 529 , P . G . O . ; H . N . Jackson ,