Grand Lodge Of Mark Master Masons.

GRAND LODGE OF MARK MASTER MASONS .

The following is the business to be transacted on Tuesdiy , the ist prox .: — i . Read and , if approved , confirm minutes of Quarterly Communication of 2 nd June , 1 S 9 G . 2 . Report of the General Board . 3 . A motion will be made lhat the report be taken as read . 4 . A motion will be made that the report be received and entered on the

minutes . 5 . Recommendation arising out of the repo-t" That Grand Lodge do confirm Bro . Ed vard B ish in the rank and privileges of Past Master . " fi . A motion will be proposed lhat the report be adopted . 7 . Presentation of Charity jewel * to the Stewards of the last Benevolent Fund Festival .

The Family Of Grand Lodges.

THE FAMILY OF GRAND LODGES .

BY BRO . R . F . GOULD . ( Continued from page 457 ) . It is greatly to the credit , or , perhaps , it may be a preferable expression , if I say it is only what might be expecled from the able and conscientious brethren who review the Proceedings of other Grand Lodges for the benefit

of their own particular jurisdictions , that with scarcely an exception , they censured the indecent haste displayed by the Grand Lodge of Texas in its recognition of the Gran Dieta , and assumed with a confidence—which , however , seems to have been thoroughly misplaced—that the example thus set would certainly not be followed , for sjrrie time at least , by any of the remaining Grand Lodges in the U . S . A .

The observations of the Corps of Reporters ( U . S . A . ) at this juncture supply very interesting reading , but events have since moved so fast that the commentaries of the " Guild " had better be reserved for a later stage of this article , when the evidence has been more fully laid before the reader . But to this plan I shall make one exception , and quote a few words from the Reportof" The Grand Old Man" cf Pennsylvanian Masonry ( my honoured

friend ) the late Richard Vaux , presented at lhe annual Grand Lodge meeting held at Philadelphia , Decemb ; r 27 th , 1893 , " of the bizarre performance , " to borrow a phrase from Bro . Joseph Robbins of Illinois , " christened by G . M . Tjler , of Texas , the Treaty of Monterey , " Richard Vaux wrote : " This whole proceeding , as it is given in the Statement of the M . W . G . M . of Texas , is so astonishing , so wholly without due Masonic

authority , so entirely at variance with the principles which the Grand Lodges o ( the States of the United States have asserted as essential to the recognition of bodies claiming to b 3 G and Lodges of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons , that we felt it a duty , most painful in its performance , to deny the Masonic validity of the action by the M . W . G . M . of Texas .... We do not comprehend on what ground [ the Grand Dieta Simbolica ]

can obtain Masonic recognition by any Grand Ledge of the States of the United States . It is without Masonic capacity . It is a mixture of Rites . It is composed of any body that claims to be Masonic , cvtn though one of the constituents is in hostility to the Sovereign and Supreme Rite of Ancient Free and Accepted Masonry . A body that inherently possesses , as it claims , the Masonic faculty to act in the Symbolic 0

Degrees [ ihe Supreme Council , 33 , of Mexico ] , though it may profess to renounce such action , cannot be lecognised by a Grand Lodgeof Masons that denies such a faculty in any other body but itself . Besides , this Sjmbolic Diet was endorsed by the M . W . G . M . of Texas , thus giving it a colour of authority , under circumstances , and by a process , that is unknown to Masonic jurisprudence . If such a proceeding is ever acknowledged as

within the scope of Masonic Grard Lodge action , then the door is open for the entrance of any body of men which can by treaty , without other process or examination , investigation , test , or historical inquiry into its Masonic •¦ landing , come into our temple , fraternise with our Craft , and be left at liberty to destroy the very foundation of ancient Masonry . " ( Proceedings Orand Lodge Pennsylvania 1 S 93 )

, lo proceed , however , with the narrative . On November 12 th , 1893 , at the annual meeting of lhe Grcnd Lodge of Missouri , the report of the l '"nmitteeappoinied in , the previous year to consider the expediency of continuing Toltec Lodge , No . 520 , at the cily of Mtxico , was received and

** ' opted . 1 he Committee jay ihey propounded to Bro . Ermilio G . Canton , ( j *'• Sec , Gen ., a number of questions concerning the formation and present status of ( he Gran Dieta . " While the Committee cannot say that the < i > iswers to these questions were wholly satisfactory " [ italics mine ] " they J ' ' oehtve and earnestly hope that lhe dilliculties which have beset Masonry »** Mexico are in progress of settlement . " The report winds up with a ^ commendation to the Grand Master lhat the authority given to Toltec . ocjge , No . 520 , should be withdrawn and annulled , but with an assurance

of 11 - ? mbers thereof tf the appreciation by lhe Grand Lodge of Missouri ^ ineir loyalty and fidelity to the principles of Freemasonry , and of the ' ^ t experienced b y the same Grand Body " at the necessity of the sever-C ( - of their connection as a lodge . ( Proceedings Grand Lodge Missouri ,

s A little later the followirg appeared in the Constellation , publ ' shed at ¦ -ouis ( Mo . ) , over the signature of "John D . Vincil , " Grand Secretary Cr- A 1 j " Lo ( ? g Missouri : " The Gran Dieta was recognised by the follm A ° u ' exas w i : hin lhe , ast ttlree years . and the demand instantly tion ' ^ ould withdraw Toltec Lodge , No . 520 , from the jurisdic-Gr- C ri f and occupied by the Gran Dieta aforesaid . This placed the ""• ' * ••/ * , of Missouri in an awkward position . Having planted and tiic h a " '' ° dg' in that country for 10 vcurs , it seemed a hardship for . ^ parent bod y to desert her child , or , ixhut was worse , kill it ' outright . ' e' > ibod H J endcrcd toll , e Grand l-oc ? ge of Missouii , at its last session , touchi / 1 I stnl - " * myself and other members of the Committee , n g the status of affairs in Mexico . We could not but regret the

The Family Of Grand Lodges.

ecessity of such action as we recommended , but we did regard it as the best thing * to be done . " ( Proceedings Grand Lodge District of Columbia , 1 S 94 . ) In an article written at the time ( 18 94 . ) , I criticised the action of the Grand Lodge of Missouri in the following terns : " American writers are fond of lecturing the Grand Lodge of England on the impropriety of its

ways , and particularly with regard to the practice of maintaining on its roll lodges in foreign parts , after local Grand Lodges have been established and lay claim to Exclusive Jurisdiction . But if we are slow in this country ( and it is to be hoped we shall ever remain so ) to cut adrift any Colonial or foreign lodges that are desirous of preserving their allegiance , the American doctrine ( if the recent action in Missouri is to be viewed as a precedent ) seems

to err very much in the opposite direction . English warrants , in effect , continue to be held during good behaviour . But thi G * and LoJge of Missouri recalls the charter of a subordinate , not for any fault committed , nor because the Grand Dieta of Mexico has satisfactorily established its claim to Exclusive Jurisdiction in that Republic , but in order not to stand in the way of so desirable a consummation ! " ( Ars Quatuor Cor . natorttm , vii ., 75 •)

The scene must now be shifted to Mexico City , where , in February , 1894 , a Charter was granted by the Grand Dieta to ToLec Lodge , No . 520 . The latter retained its old title , but became No . 214 on the local roll , and was placed under the immediate jurisdiction of the State Grand Lodge , Valley of Mexico , No . I . The Boletin Mastinico of February , 1894 , from which I quote , also states that the Iodge was solemnly installed—February

5 th—by the G . M . of the Grand Lodge , Valley of Mexico , No . I . —Bro . Ermilio G . Canton—amid the happie . t omens with respect to its future career , but of what these consisted , and whether in part of services dutifully rendered as " Grand Officers " in their respective stations , by Clio , Euterpe , Calipso , and Armenia does not appear , and must , therefore , afford food for speculation . We now approach one of Ihe most remarkable episodes of thecuiious

story I am relating , but a word or two with regard to the involuntary transfer of allegiance by Toltec Lodge , nova No . 214 , must be found room for . This body , according to Past Grand Master Matthews , in his Report on Correspondence " presented December 4 th , 1894 , is now working contentedly in the York Rite , by virtue of and under a charter granted it by the Gran

Dieta . ( Proc . G L . Texas ) . Upon which , wilh a grim pleasantry , Dr . Joseph Robbins remarks : " His reference to Toltec Lodge working contentedly under a charter from the Gran Dieta reminds us of the man who was asked by a friend whom he had informed of the death of his mother-in-law , if she was resigned . ' Resigned ! She h id to be . '"

Toltec Lodge , as we have seen , affiliated with the Gran Dieta of Mexico , in February , 1 S 94 , and four months later the latter body was duly recognised as a Sovereign Masonic Power by the Grand Lodge of New York . On the 7 th of June , 1 S 94 , the Committee on Jurisprudence reported : " The charges made by the Master of Toltec Lodge , were so fully met by the Gi"in Dieta [ italics mine ] , that the G-and Lodge of Missouri have revoked their Charter of Toltec Lodge , No . 520 , and the members petitioned

for and have received a Charter from the Gran Dieta S : mboI ;' ca , which ends all dispute , and leaves the Gran Dieta in undisputed control of Symbolic Masonry in the Republic of Mexico . We , therefore , recommend that the Grand Symbolic Diet of the United Slates of Mexico be duly recognised by this * Grand Lodge and welcomed to the Circle of Symbolic Grand Lodges , " —which recommendation wasadoptcd . ( Proceedings Grand Lodge New York , 1 S 94 . )

The Grand Lodge of New York rules over the largest number of lodges and brethren in any Masonic jurisdiction of the U . S . A ., the lodges under its obedience forming a total of 734 , with an aggregate membership of 88 , 573 . The moral effect , therefore , of the resolution passed by this Grand Body on June 7 th , 1 S 94 , was very great . Not , ii . deed , that the vigilant and well-directed criticism of the Guild of Reporters was in anyway relaxed ,

for a proof of which 1 turn to some out-spoken remarks by a brother for whom I entertain a great respect and esteem , and who is frequently referred to by his fellow members of that confrerie as the " Ajax of the Corps . " After reviewing the facts ( already recorded ) of lhe Initiation of Women into Masonry iu Mexico , certainly as early as 1889 , and of Doctor ( or

Doctoress ) Montoya having been approvingly referred to in the Boletin Masonico as the W . M . of No . 27 , Bro . Robbins continues : " That they were in print , accessible , and undiscovered by the New York Committee , is strongly confirmatory of the internal evidence furnished by their report that no such first-hand inquiry was had as the gravity ol the situation demanded .

The nearly identical language of the reports of thc Missouri , Texas , and New York Committees , indicate the extent of the investigation made by the latter , while the absence of reference to those portions of the Missouri report adverse to the cliim of established regularity on the part of the Gran Dieta , emphasise an apparent disinclination to find anything that would forbid a recommendation for recognition . Whether accidental or designed ,

the contrast in the attitude of New York towards Grand Lodges whose constituent lodges are known to be composed of lawful Free and Accepted Masons , and the regularity of whose organisation is conceded , and socalled Grand Lodgts of Scottish Rite parentage , whose constituents of questionable legitimacy rest under the added suspicion of disregarding the conceded landmarks of the Institution , is too striking to escape notice . The

former are kept knocking for admission for years upon the plea of courtesy towards parent bodies ; while the latter , with less scrutiny than would be given to a visitor to a lodge , are admitted with little delay . It is inevitable , under such circumstances , that the composition of the Committee should attract attention ; and in view of the wide-spread feeling that an active propaganda exists which loses no opportunity to further the pretension of some

of the imperialists that Scottish Rite ' Masonry has , under certain conditions , the same right to establish Symbolic lodges as the Masonry from whose original plan it is a dissenter , and that the lodges it so establishes can form Grand Lodges recognisable as governing bodies of Free and Accepted Masonry , lt is an unfortunate coincidence lhat the Chairman of the New York Committee , and presumably the author of its whitewashing report , is the Grand Secretary General of the Holy Empire . " ( Proctedings Grand Lodge Illinois , 1894 )

The "Chairman" referred to is Bro . Clinton F . Pdige , a Past Grand Master of the G'and Lodge of New York and the Secretary General of the Supreme Council , 33 ' , U . S . A ., Northern Jurisdiction . This circumstance may tend to explain much that is otherwise mysterious in the positive statement made , without the toil of inquiry , by the Committee