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Article GRAND LODGE. ← Page 3 of 5 →
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Grand Lodge.
" In order to the building of the new great banqueting room of the Tavern it is necessary to remove a portion of the partywall of Bacon's Hotel , and it Avas found that it would be very desirable to cany the east wall of the banqueting room 9 to 15 in . further east , thus encroaching to that extent upon the premises now held on lease by Mr . Bacon . The ground upon
which Bacon's hotel now stands was bought by the society in ISIS , subject to a lease to Mr . Mann ( who sub-lets to Bacon ) of which three and a half years are unexpired at a rent of £ 210 per annum . Mr . Bacon is anxious for a renewal of his lease and in consideration of the society renewing his lease for ten years from the termination of his present tenure at a
rent of £ 360 per annum , he has consented to allow the society to build over that portion of the ground now held by him which is referred to above : to this the committee have agreed , subject to the approval of Grand Lodge . " It was for Grand Lodge to say whether they would sanction this arrangement . Bro . Bacon had built with his own money
the two houses , and he ( Bro . Havers ) thought he was not a wise man to build such a large property on land not his own . Bro . Bacon , indeed , was born on their property , and , as stated in the report , he had three and a half years of his lease unexpired ; and , if he chose , he could have stood out for that
time , preventing them from taking a foot , or even an inch , of his property , by which they would have been put to considerable inconvenience in proceeding with their new buildings . It was , however , a satisfaction to him ( Bro . Havers ) to say that Bro . Bacon , like a good member of their fraternity , said he would never stand in their way if they would give him a fair
¦ and liberal arrangement as to his lease . Some of the brethren might think that for Bacon's Hotel £ 210 Avas too small a -sum , but he thought that was a mistake . Under the new arrangement he was to pay £ 300 a year , and , with the growing number of hotel companies that were established all round him , he thought but for tho influence of Bro . Bacon in retaining
his custom , that the present business could not be maintained . As Bro . Bacon had met them in a fair , honourable , and brotherly spirit , he had no hesitation in asking Grand Lodge to consent to the terms which were proposed by the committee for the ¦ renewal of his lease . He should now move " That subject to the conditions agreed upon between the Building Committee
and Bro . Bacon , a lease be granted to Bro . Bacon of the premises now held by him for 10 years from Christmas , 18 GS , at a rent of £ 3 G 0 per annum . " Bro . IIEEVEY , P . S . G . D ., said the statement of Bro . Havers was so lucid , that he should content himself by simply seconding tile motion .
I ho G . MASTER said ho was sure that Grand Lodge would not be hard upon the Building Committee . The grand staircase , although not finished , every one who had seen what was iu progress admitted that it was an exceedingly handsome thing , and was in every degree worthy of Grand Lodge ; and , such being tho case , he was sure that the Grand Lodge would
not say one hard word against the Building Committee . As to the second part of the report contained in the motion , after the lucid manner in which it had been stated by Bro . Havers , no words were necessary , and he should at once proceed to put the motion . The resolution was put , and carried unanimously .
THE MARK DEGREE . At the last Grand Lodge a memorial was received from the Grand Chapter of Scotland , submitting the following points for the consideration of Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter : — " Whether these grand bodies are prepared to sanction the working
of the Mark Masters' degree m England , either as a part of the second or Fellow Craft degree ( as has been done by the Grand Lodge of Scotland ) , or as a separate degree , as in the case in the lodges holding under the sister Grand Lodges of Ireland , Canada , and America ? " And " Whether these grand bodies are prepared to recognise the body styling itself the Grand Lodge of Mark Masters of England , AVales , and the
Colonies and Possessions of the British Crown , as the lawful head of the Order of Mark Masters in England ? " A long discussion ensued upon these points , and eventually it iva 3 resolved " That the Grand Lodge of England , in its ' Book of Constitutions , ' has declared and pronounced that pure ancient Freemasonry consists of three degrees and no more , viz ., those of
the E . A ., the F . C ., and the M . M ., including the Supreme Order of the Royal Arch , and consequently it gives no sanction to the making of the Mark Masters' degree in England . That the Grand Lodge of England does not acknowledge the Mark Masters' degree to be part of pure ancient Freemasonry , and does not recognise the body styling itself 'The Grand Lodge of
Mark Masters of England , Wales , and the Colonies aud Possessions of the British Crown . '" It was also agreed that these resolutions should he transmitted to the Grand Chapter of Scotland . This day a letter was received from the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter acknowledging the receipt of the resolutions passed by Grand Lodge in which they declined to
accede to the memorial of the Grand Lodge of Mark Masters , but indicated no course of future proceedings . The G . REGISTRAR moved that the reply be received and entered on the minutes , which was agreed to .
APPEAL FROM HALIFAX , NOVA SCOTIA . The next business was to consider the appeal of the St . Andrew's Lodge ( No . IIS ) , Halifax , Nova Scotia , against its susjiension by tho Provincial Grand Master . The G . SECRETARY' read a communication from Bro . the Hon . Alexander Keith , Provincial Grand Master of Nova Scotia ,
stating that he had suspended the St . Andrew ' s Lodge from its functions ; and it appeared from it that on the Provincial Grand Master's annual visitation on St . John's Day he nominated the W . M . of the St . Andrew's Lodge ( Bro . Macdonald ) to an office in the Provincial Grand Lodge , which he considered was not in the usual progression observed in that colony , and
he declined to accept the nomination . It was then asked if any other member of the St . Andrew's Lodge would accept it , when Bro . John Dean Nash stepped forward , and he was installed into the office of S . G . D . At the next meeting of the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , Bro . Nash was censured for accepting the office after it
had been refused by their W . M . Bro . Macdonald , and a resolution of censure was passed upon him . This resolution was communicated to the Provincial Grand Master b y Bro . Nash , and in a few days afterwards tho Provincial Grand Master wrote to the Secretary of the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , who returned to him a copy of the amended resolution which had been passed by the
lodge . In February , 1 SG 5 , the Provincial Grand Secretary addressed a letter to the St . Andrew ' s Lodge requiring them to expunge the resolution of censure upon Bro . Nash from their books for the reasons therein stated . A further correspondence took place , in Avhich a hope was expressed that the obnoxious resolution would be expunged before the Provincial Grand
Master ' s next visitation . On the 3 rd of January , 18 G 5 , the Provincial Grand Master made his visitation to the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , when finding the resolution had not been expunged he refused to confirm the minutes . In the month of March he summoned the Master and Wardens to show cause why tho resolution had not been expunged , and they produced
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Grand Lodge.
" In order to the building of the new great banqueting room of the Tavern it is necessary to remove a portion of the partywall of Bacon's Hotel , and it Avas found that it would be very desirable to cany the east wall of the banqueting room 9 to 15 in . further east , thus encroaching to that extent upon the premises now held on lease by Mr . Bacon . The ground upon
which Bacon's hotel now stands was bought by the society in ISIS , subject to a lease to Mr . Mann ( who sub-lets to Bacon ) of which three and a half years are unexpired at a rent of £ 210 per annum . Mr . Bacon is anxious for a renewal of his lease and in consideration of the society renewing his lease for ten years from the termination of his present tenure at a
rent of £ 360 per annum , he has consented to allow the society to build over that portion of the ground now held by him which is referred to above : to this the committee have agreed , subject to the approval of Grand Lodge . " It was for Grand Lodge to say whether they would sanction this arrangement . Bro . Bacon had built with his own money
the two houses , and he ( Bro . Havers ) thought he was not a wise man to build such a large property on land not his own . Bro . Bacon , indeed , was born on their property , and , as stated in the report , he had three and a half years of his lease unexpired ; and , if he chose , he could have stood out for that
time , preventing them from taking a foot , or even an inch , of his property , by which they would have been put to considerable inconvenience in proceeding with their new buildings . It was , however , a satisfaction to him ( Bro . Havers ) to say that Bro . Bacon , like a good member of their fraternity , said he would never stand in their way if they would give him a fair
¦ and liberal arrangement as to his lease . Some of the brethren might think that for Bacon's Hotel £ 210 Avas too small a -sum , but he thought that was a mistake . Under the new arrangement he was to pay £ 300 a year , and , with the growing number of hotel companies that were established all round him , he thought but for tho influence of Bro . Bacon in retaining
his custom , that the present business could not be maintained . As Bro . Bacon had met them in a fair , honourable , and brotherly spirit , he had no hesitation in asking Grand Lodge to consent to the terms which were proposed by the committee for the ¦ renewal of his lease . He should now move " That subject to the conditions agreed upon between the Building Committee
and Bro . Bacon , a lease be granted to Bro . Bacon of the premises now held by him for 10 years from Christmas , 18 GS , at a rent of £ 3 G 0 per annum . " Bro . IIEEVEY , P . S . G . D ., said the statement of Bro . Havers was so lucid , that he should content himself by simply seconding tile motion .
I ho G . MASTER said ho was sure that Grand Lodge would not be hard upon the Building Committee . The grand staircase , although not finished , every one who had seen what was iu progress admitted that it was an exceedingly handsome thing , and was in every degree worthy of Grand Lodge ; and , such being tho case , he was sure that the Grand Lodge would
not say one hard word against the Building Committee . As to the second part of the report contained in the motion , after the lucid manner in which it had been stated by Bro . Havers , no words were necessary , and he should at once proceed to put the motion . The resolution was put , and carried unanimously .
THE MARK DEGREE . At the last Grand Lodge a memorial was received from the Grand Chapter of Scotland , submitting the following points for the consideration of Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter : — " Whether these grand bodies are prepared to sanction the working
of the Mark Masters' degree m England , either as a part of the second or Fellow Craft degree ( as has been done by the Grand Lodge of Scotland ) , or as a separate degree , as in the case in the lodges holding under the sister Grand Lodges of Ireland , Canada , and America ? " And " Whether these grand bodies are prepared to recognise the body styling itself the Grand Lodge of Mark Masters of England , AVales , and the
Colonies and Possessions of the British Crown , as the lawful head of the Order of Mark Masters in England ? " A long discussion ensued upon these points , and eventually it iva 3 resolved " That the Grand Lodge of England , in its ' Book of Constitutions , ' has declared and pronounced that pure ancient Freemasonry consists of three degrees and no more , viz ., those of
the E . A ., the F . C ., and the M . M ., including the Supreme Order of the Royal Arch , and consequently it gives no sanction to the making of the Mark Masters' degree in England . That the Grand Lodge of England does not acknowledge the Mark Masters' degree to be part of pure ancient Freemasonry , and does not recognise the body styling itself 'The Grand Lodge of
Mark Masters of England , Wales , and the Colonies aud Possessions of the British Crown . '" It was also agreed that these resolutions should he transmitted to the Grand Chapter of Scotland . This day a letter was received from the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter acknowledging the receipt of the resolutions passed by Grand Lodge in which they declined to
accede to the memorial of the Grand Lodge of Mark Masters , but indicated no course of future proceedings . The G . REGISTRAR moved that the reply be received and entered on the minutes , which was agreed to .
APPEAL FROM HALIFAX , NOVA SCOTIA . The next business was to consider the appeal of the St . Andrew's Lodge ( No . IIS ) , Halifax , Nova Scotia , against its susjiension by tho Provincial Grand Master . The G . SECRETARY' read a communication from Bro . the Hon . Alexander Keith , Provincial Grand Master of Nova Scotia ,
stating that he had suspended the St . Andrew ' s Lodge from its functions ; and it appeared from it that on the Provincial Grand Master's annual visitation on St . John's Day he nominated the W . M . of the St . Andrew's Lodge ( Bro . Macdonald ) to an office in the Provincial Grand Lodge , which he considered was not in the usual progression observed in that colony , and
he declined to accept the nomination . It was then asked if any other member of the St . Andrew's Lodge would accept it , when Bro . John Dean Nash stepped forward , and he was installed into the office of S . G . D . At the next meeting of the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , Bro . Nash was censured for accepting the office after it
had been refused by their W . M . Bro . Macdonald , and a resolution of censure was passed upon him . This resolution was communicated to the Provincial Grand Master b y Bro . Nash , and in a few days afterwards tho Provincial Grand Master wrote to the Secretary of the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , who returned to him a copy of the amended resolution which had been passed by the
lodge . In February , 1 SG 5 , the Provincial Grand Secretary addressed a letter to the St . Andrew ' s Lodge requiring them to expunge the resolution of censure upon Bro . Nash from their books for the reasons therein stated . A further correspondence took place , in Avhich a hope was expressed that the obnoxious resolution would be expunged before the Provincial Grand
Master ' s next visitation . On the 3 rd of January , 18 G 5 , the Provincial Grand Master made his visitation to the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , when finding the resolution had not been expunged he refused to confirm the minutes . In the month of March he summoned the Master and Wardens to show cause why tho resolution had not been expunged , and they produced