The Masonic Vagrant.

the temptation to try again , and so a possibly honest and unfortunate brother was induced to lose his self-respect . His principles were debauched in fact , and doubtless he has by now joined the professional crowd . He has been initiated into the antient order of the " Sons of Rest" who never

work between meals . That kind of relief which is just meant to pass the applicant on to the next street , is not and never was the purpose of Freemasonry . The charity with which we are identified is of the kind

that the private brother is not competent to administer , not for lack of means so much as for lack of technical knowledge . It is not the Board of Benevolence nor the Lodge Almoner who is responsible for the Masonic tramp . It is the private brother who finds it easier to part with

( we shillings or half a sovereign to get rid of his visitor than to take his name and address and then to make communications in the proper quarter . And , in conclusion , it must not be forgotten that all these brethren , now so lost to self-respect , were once ballotted for

and were received as worthy members of an antient and honourable order . Sufficient care was not taken to ascertain that they were able to incur the expenses in which they became involved , and with equal probability sufficient care was not taken to ascertain what motives prompted them to seek admission to the order .

At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar.

At the Sign of the Perfect Ashlar .

The retirement of the Pro Grand Master , Earl Amherst , from the office of Provincial Grand Master of Kent , which we announced in our last issue , has been quickly followed by the appointment and installation of his successor , Bro . F . S . W . Cornwallis , which ceremony took place at the Annual Provincial Grand Lodge of Kent , held at Bexley Heath on the sth Tune .

<• » <& < s » After the formal business and the re-election of Bro , William Russell , P . A . G . D . C , as Provincial Grand Treasurer , Earl Amherst proceeded to instal his successor , and , in introducing him to the assembled brethren , offered his congratulations to the province on having found a new ruler

who had shown so much zeal and energy in the Order . Bro . Cornwallis had served in the high rank of Past Grand Warden of England and Senior Grand Warden of Kent . The Provincial Grand Master designate was also known to them in other matters and in the management of many Kent

affairs , and had conducted himself in all these positions in such a way that the county of Kent had found him an able , efficient , and very zealous man . It was for all these reasons he ( Earl Amherst ) congratulated the province on having obtained such an excellent Grand Master . It was his duty

to ask the brethren to give to Bro . Cornwallis that unanimous and hearty support which for the past forty-live years had been given to him . Earl Amherst concluded his remarks by tendering his hearty thanks to the Grand Officer , Masters , and brethren who had served in various offices . He had

always found them zealous , and ready to attend and give their best services in the various matters to be considered . Bro . Cornwallis was then introduced , and his patent from the M . W . Grand Master read , and he was duly installed , proclaimed , and saluted .

After the appointment and investiture of the Provincial Grand Officers for the year , Bro . Alfred Spencer , Deputy Prov . Grand Master , moved the following resolution : " The

brethren of the province , in Provincial Grand Lodge assembled , desire to place on record their appreciation of the benefits the Craft has received from the zeal and devotion of Earl Amherst during the forty-live years he has been their Provincial Grand Master . They desire also to express their

deep regret that he has considered it necessary to resign , and wish him many years of health to enjoy the high position of Pro Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England , and to continue to take a benevolent interest in the affairs of the province . " The motion , having been seconded by Bro . W . Russell , was carried by acclamation , and Provincial Grand Lodge was closed .

O < S > o At the subsequent Banquet the speeches , both valedictarily and congratulatory , were received with much applause . In responding to the toast of " The Pro Grand Master and the rest of the Grand Officers" ( proposed by the

Provincial Grand Master ) , while thanking the brethren for such a reception as he had never experienced before in all the years he had served them , he did not think it was a good thing to go on prolonging farewell speeches . He had thanked them in Provincial Grand Lodge and at the

preliminary meeting , and they could be assured it was a wrench to part from the old province in which he had formed so many friendships , which he should carry with him in his retirement .

As far as his office of Pro Grand Master w ; is concerned , there were duties to be done there that might be of service to the Craft . They had arrived now at a state in their history in which their very success involved them in certain difficulties . They were endeavouring , with nearly 3 000

, lodges , to carry on their business and the whole affairs of the Craft with very much the same accommodation and the same restrictions as they Had with only 700 lodges . About 30 , 000 brethren were now entitled to attend Grand Lodge , and at the outside they could only seat 650 . That was only ,

and only , one of the many difficulties which the large increase and the increasing prosperity was entailing upon them to manage their affairs at head-quarters .

< s > © < j > Questions such as these were coming before them , and it it should be his good fortune to preside when they were satisfactorily solved , and they could lit out the Craft with a newer and larger regulation adapted to their numbers , then

he should feel that he had done a good work for Freemasonry , and look back with satisfaction upon the years he had been Pro Grand Master . The proposition , he feared , must of necessity curtail the privileges of individual members of Grand Lodge , but he relied on their heart } ' good wishes

in the somewhat difficult task he had still to perform at Grand Lodge . 1 } o o The connection of the Mark Degree with the Grand Lodge of Scotland is , as our readers are aware , of a much

more intimate character than that which obtains in England , and it is now sought to recognise it still more distinctly by charging a separate fee for conferring the degree instead of including it in the second degree . "The Mallet" of the " Glasgow Evening News , in the issue of June 7 th , has the following observations on the proposed change .

e > c > 0 '' One of the notices of motion before Grand Lodge , copies of which have been sent to the daughter lodges by Bro . David Reid , Grand Secretary , involves the change of a fundamental principle in our system , and constitution and should not be

takenliglitly . The Mark degree is a heritage from the operative lodges of Freemasonry , demonstrated by a special committee in Grand Lodge in i 860 , on the claim of the Lodge of Glasgow St . John , No . 3 Bis , to confer that degree . From that time the Mark , as a result of the investigations of the committee , was included in the Grand Lodge Laws as a completing part of the Fellow Craft , the discovery being