Proposed Removal Of The Boys' School.

sooner was that the funds would not allow of its being done There was at one time , we admit , a great unwillingness on the part of the Subscribers to erect or hire school premises , but when once it became clear , from the greater interest in

tin- Institution that slowly , but surely , made itself felt among English Freemasons , that the funds necessary for the purpose would be obtained without serious difficulty , the present system , which has been in force since 1857 , was eagerly adopted .

With all deference to our correspondent , it would , in ouropimon , be the height of folly , from a monetary point of view , to revert to a system which , even in " the altered circumstances in which

we now live , " would be decidedly less beneficial to the children . As for the suggested comparison between " the Mark Educational Charity" and our Institution for Boys , it is almost too grotesque to be treated seriously .

There are some other points in our correspondent s letter on which we think some comments may be necessary , but we have dwelt upon the more important of his arguments , and shall leave the minor ones for some future article .

Freemasonry In Canada.

FREEMASONRY IN CANADA .

The address which Bro . W . R . WHITE , Q . C ., M . W . G . Master of Canada ( Province of Ontario ) delivered at the annual meeting ot his Grand Lodge in July last , was characterised by exceptional brevity , but unusually brief as it was , it contained reference to one or two matters of more than mere local interest .

Thus as regards "the General Relief Association of the United States and Canada , with which , " as he was careful to point out , " this and many of the leading Grand Lodges of the Continent are affiliated , " Bro . WHITE had nothing but praise to utter in

respect of the work it does . Its system and methods have resulted in the greatest benefit to the Craft . "The experience of the past eight years has shown that thousands of dollars have been saved by the jurisdictions of the Continent affiliated

in the Association , and that the work has been so effective that the energies of the impostor and tramp Mason have not only been materially weakened , but the field of labour has been so surrounded with difficulties that many of them have gone into

other pathways , where , perhaps , the opportunities of success are greater and the chances of detection less than under the lynxeyed vigilance of the General Relief Association . " This is

unquestionably good news—that " the Masonic Vagrant s occupation is gone , or almost gone in the Dominion of Canada , in consequence of the completeness of the system adopted by this Central Masonic Relief Association . But if an effectual

stop has been put to Masonic vagrancy m Canada by the very simple methods of this Association , why cannot we in England take similar steps with the certainty that if they are are continued , there will be an end , sooner or

later , of the Masonic Vagrant . Last year we brought the question to the notice of our readers , with the result that for a time our Correspondence Columns were filled with letters from lodge Almoners and Secretaries , in which they narrated their

experiences of the Masonic impostor . This year , in consequence of the proceedings of one of these fellows , notwithstanding the imprisonments he had undergone , we have reverted to the subject : but , though the Vagrant is a nuisance , no one seems to

think it worth while to establish or support a kind of central bureau in which not only his peccadilloes may be recorded , but likewise such particulars noted as may lead to his identification and ultimate punishment . Why there should be such apathy in

this matter we cannot pretend to explain , unless , indeed , it be on the principle that what is everybody ' s business is nobod y ' s . Possibly the testimony of the Grand Master of Canada , when he tells us , of his own knowledge , that during the last eight years

" thousands of dollars have been saved by means of this Relief Association , may arouse our English brethren to greater energy and incline them to the adoption of a system somewhat similar to that which has proved so successful in Canada and the United States .

Another matter referred to by Grand Master WllITIC , though primarily , of local interest , is yet worthy of being noticed if only that we may lake the opportunity of congratulating the

Freemasonry In Canada.

brethren on the termination of the schism by which their jurisdiction has been disturbed during the last few years . There is no longer in Canada a " so-called Grand Lodge of Ontario , " Bro . WHITE being enabled to announce—to his own satisfaction

as well as to that of his audience—that " during the past year ( pursuant to the authority granted at our last meeting ) such arrangements have been made with the members of this organisation as to effectually sweep this body out of existence for , I

trust , all time to come . Their charter ( granted by the Provincial Government ) has been transferred to myself and the Grand Secretary , as Trustees for this Grand Lodge ; all warrants issued to subordinate lodges , the seal and all other books

and properties of this so-called body , have been , or are being , delivered up , and are now in possession of this Grand Lodge . All members of this so-called Grand Bod y who have applied have been healed , and declared their allegiance

to this Grand Lodge . Many of them have applied for affiliation to our lodges , and are now active and useful members of this Grand Body . The surrender is voluntary and complete—the only concession granted being that members of

the extinct body holding the rank of Past Master therein are conceded that rank in any of our lodges with which they may affiliate or to which they may be admitted . " This is , indeed , good news , and we hope that Bro . W . GlBSON , M . P ., who is the

present Grand Master of Canada and to whom the Grand Lod < re has left it to determine what recognition shall be given to those brethren of the extinct body who were mainly instrumental in the healing of the long-standing schism , will deal generously with those from whom Bro . WHITE tells us lie received such valuable

assistance , and to whose " . patient , intelligent efforts and wise counsel" it is due "that the difficulty has been so happily adjusted . " The rest of the address dealt with matters of local interest ,

but it is worth while noting that , from the particulars furnished by the Grand Master , there is little doubt that during the second and concluding year of Bro . WHITE ' Grand Mastership the success of Freemasonry in this jurisdiction has been great beyond all previous experience .

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.*

ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM . *

This second instalment of Volume IX . of the Transactions of Lodge Quatuor Coronati contains two papers of exceeding value to the Masonic student . -The first of these is entered in the proceedings of the meeting held on the 14 th May . Its title

is " German Freemasonry in the Present Era , " and it has been compiled with infinite pains by Bro . Gotthelf Greiner , P . M . 92 , who has since had the honour of being elected a member of the Inner Circle of the lodge . To attempt to give in brief , any

adequate idea of the wealth of information which Bro . Greiner has compressed within the narrow limits of a single paper—the paper , by the way , is of unusual length , but , having regard to the importance of the subject of which the author treats , the limits are

of necessity narrow—would be in vain . It must suffice , therefore , if we state that the Paper , or Essay , is in three Parts , of which Part I . contains such information concerning the establishment and organisation of Freemasonry in Germany as is necessary

to anything approaching to a clear appreciation of its present condition , systems of Degrees , the inter-relations of its Grand Lodges , and their relations with the Grand Lodges of other countries . There is , perhaps , one matter which is deserving' 0 '

special mention , namely , that the doctrine of " concurrent jurisdiction" finds favour throughout the Fatherland , but it is a " concurrent jurisdiction " which differs materially from that practised by the three Grand Lodges of the United King dom .

If we are correct in our interpretation of Bro . Greiner ' s statement , every Grand Lodge in Germany has the right to constitui < - private lodges in every part of the Empire ; but before a ]¦

John ' s Lodge can be established " in any p lace where there n > already one under a different system , the latter has to be consulted , " and if the two Grand Lodges are unable to come to an