At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar

What his predecessor has considered a sufficiently effective discharge of the duties of the office , the newly-installed master olten weakly accepts , and in order to preserve peace and tranquility choses ( he plane of least resistance . , ( L- " "G '» ^ J "

Next to the accurate records of the transactions of the lodge and the tactful dealing with all matters in relation to individual members is the proper rendering of the annual returns and other communications to Grand Lodge . We have a shrewd suspicion that if the staff in the Grand

Secretary ' s office were consulted , it would elicit an expression of opinion as to the capabilities of a great number of these officers sufficient at least to ruflle their self-complacency if net to demonstrate their utter inefliciency for performing the simplest duties of their office . Unreasonable delay in the

rendering of the returns—neglect to comply with the requirements of the constitutions b y failing to notify resignationsexclusions and the decease of members , thus necessitating repeated applications for particulars , neglecting to retain copies of their returns from year to year , together with other lapses from the paths of rectitude too numerous to mention .

V' -ft 0-In connection with the proposed readjustment o [ the rules relating ( o the constitution and membership of Grand Lodge dealt with in our last issue , a correspondent sends us the following suggestion , which he thinks worth a

consideration , if only to clear the ground . That is a movable Grand Lodge . Hold the quarterl y communications , say in London , York , Manchester and Bristol . This sounds well on a first hearing , but the result would be that there would be no continuity . North country members would attend one meeting , West country brethren another ,

and so on , and the conduct of affairs would inevitably drift into the hands of the few whose Masonic duties called upon them to attend every meeting . In other words , instead of the Craft being managed as is now alleged to be the case by a few hundred London brethren , it would be dominated by

half-a-dozen officials . As things are , a considerable number of those present at one meeting attend the next , and are well informed of what goes on . But this would not be the case with a movable Grand Lodge .

« S > £ » < 2 > Instead of brethren being London or Provincial , we should have a fourfold classilication , and whatever uneasy feeling may now exist would be intensilied , for the North country brother for instance would , when he looked at the honour list , compare the amount of recognition he received ,

not alone with London , but with the other centres , and there would be four centres of Masonic interests and we should be infinitely worse than before the Union . Moreover the foreign brother would be out in the cold quite as much as he is at present . Under the arrangement previously described the interests of District Grand Lodges would be fully conserved , for they could elect representatives resident in England .

'' ' ¦ . '> *& Q The real difficulty is not one of providing accommodation for a full meeting of Grand Lodge . No practical suggestion could be made that would meet this difficulty . But it has been suggested that the representation of each lodge might be reduced ; that membership of Grand Lodge should be

reserved for Worshipful brethren ; or that even this number should be reduced by selection . This proposal if acted upon would reduce membership to something approaching

reasonable limits ; but it would not touch the difficulties of time or expense , nor would it benefit the foreign brother . It would certainly remove one anomaly . The qualification for membership of Grand Lodge should be on a higher plane than that for membership of the provincial assembly , and so far so good . But the proposal would not , in effect , do anything

more than rectify that anomaly . It might also afford some brethren the satisfaction of feeling that they were not si likely to be outvoted by London brethren as they are . But we repeat such feeling should be discouraged .

< 5 i >& « 2 > Bro . Thomas M . Davis , Grand -Master ot Virginia , in The American Tyler , writes : — "After forty years of active Masonic work , embracing and covering duties from the ground lloor to the grand East , I am

yet without knowledge and experience enough to give a succinct and definite answer to the interrogatory , ' What is Masonrv ?'

" I know that I could not frame one so terse and compact that , after hearing it , all Yirginia Masons would stand up and say , ' That is the meat of the whole matter . ' " The philosopher tells us that man , though he separates himself from his fellow by the physical mountain and the intellectual doctrine , is , after all , generously gregarious in

his nature and seeks the level of association with his kind . " If this be true , he must have originated Masonry as a means to the end , for of all the organizations devised by the wit , wisdom and experience of man , this Order of Orders touches more points of the compass of our human needs and nature than does any other whose records we know

from history or tradition ; in fact , it could not be otherwise , for beneath the universal surface is the great core of brotherly love , which unites men of every country , sect and opinion .

"S » W " 3 » "Many are made Masons who take no further interest save and except to pay their stipend of dues and keep in fair standing . These may be termed surface Masons and whose use is to assist in supporting the inevitable expense

which follows every effort of organized man . Of others ' the scythe of time cuts the brittle thread of life ; ' and of others , the undeposited and inoperative dimit does its work of disintegration ; then again , through the gate , over whose portals is inscribed the legend , ' Non-Payment of Dues , ' many wander out and , few returning , swell ( he ranks of

those derelict known Masonicallv as non-affiliates . " These negative classes 1 dismiss and turn to the rare few—those splendid spirits whose inspiration and industry and whose efforts and esprit de corps are ever feeding the fires on the altars of Masonry .

© ® < S > "The young and enthusiastic Mason who is charmed with the rhythm of the ritual ; he of maturer years who begins lo penetrate the inner courts , and here and there catches faint glimpses of the high morality and human philosophy

which dwell therein ; and he who has wrought his regnlar hours and earned the wages of knowledge and virtue and learned his duty to God and man , and who has clearer visions as to how that duty should be performed , and who has imbibed the great truth that while Masonry is not a religion , there is a religion of Masonry which teaches him virtue and

morality ; to be temperate , industrious , honest and just ; to be kind , compassionate and merciful ; to be benevolent , forbearing and patient , and , above all , lo be truthful and

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