Grand Lodge.

report which related to their executive duty , he would now refer to the four paragraphs which ought not to be entered upon the minutes . In moving that they should not be so entered , he was , he conceived , taking the course which was most kind and least offensive to the Colonial Board . First of all , he had thought that the best way would be to refer the report back to them for amendment ; but after more mature consideration , he came to the conclusion that it would be better to adopt all the portions of it which referred to their executive duty , and to leave out all those which might be

considered as dictatorial or uncourteous . Grand Lodge would , he hoped , bear with him while he called their attention to these offensive paragraphs . In one it was said that " having regard to the many unhappy circumstances connected with the present state of disunion in Canada , it appears the duty of G . L . to spare no effort to restore that province to a condition of Masonic efficiency , union , and harmony . " Now he would appeal to Grand Lodge if those were the terms in which they ought to be addressed by a subordinate body . Grand Lodge might indeed submit to the consideration of

the Colonial Board the unhappy differences which at present exist in Canada , and warn them to spare no means for securing a definitive and amicable settlement of them . But here the case was totally the reverse . It was the Colonial Board which presumed to warn the Grand Lodge , and called on them to do what they had not done themselves—to devise a plan which would have the effect of putting an end to this distressing state of things . But they had themselves no such plan . If they had one , in heaven ' s name let them come forward with it ; but if they were not in that position ,

they should not tell G . L . to spare no efforts . He appealed to all present if G . L . had spared any efforts to bring about a desirable settlement of the differences referred to . There was no man among them who would not strive to the utmost to bring about a reconciliation ; but he was not to be told to do so in terms so vague —he might say so full of mockery—as those in the report . But one part of the report was at variance with another . There was a regular contradiction of terms . In this paragraph they called upon G . L . to spare no effort ; and in another paragraph they called upon it to delay any further action . If words had any meaning , he gathered from this , first , that they were to act , and next , that they were not to act at all ; so that , upon the whole , the matter could not be made consistent with itself . He now begged to draw

attento paragraph No . 7 . It stated that "the steps which might be necessary for the attainment of a settlement of the question would be in due course pointed out . " But by whom ? Was it by the Colonial Board ? No such thing , but by the P . G . L . of Canada West . He did believe that there was no man present who would not kindly receive any suggestions which the P . G . L . of Canada West might offer ; but the G . L . was not to be dictated to by the Provincial Lodge . Anything more absurd he had never heard ; and bs only wondered that the worthy Br . who had drawn up the report ,

whoever he might have been , had not his attention drawn to the strange significance of that proposal . He would now proceed to show how these references to Canada affected the G . M . ; and he would be forgiven for saying that , after the concessions made by his Lordship on the 3 rd of March , they appeared to him to re-open bye-gone grievances in a most ungraceful and ungenerous manner . After a man had made an acknowledgment of errors , and given the most earnest proof of his determination to set matters right , and to take every step to remedy past shortcomingsnothing could be more

, ungraceful or ungenerous than whether directly or by a side-wind again to throw those errors in his face . His Lordship had been kind enough to take more than his share of past errors . He had in the handsomest manner acknowledged that there had been errors , but he ( Bro . Havers ) knew that only a very small portion of those errors attached to the G . M . He must therefore repeat , that , whether it was done directly or by a side-wind , nothing could be more ungraceful or ungenerous than to rekindle old disputes . He did not wish to throw any disrespect upon the Colonial Board in

calling upon G . L . not to adopt those paragraphs , as he thought they would be doing all that was necessary if they adopted those only which referred to the executive duty of the Board . He had the strongest feeling that there was not one man belonging to that Board who wished or intended to cast disrespect upon the G . M ., or to dictate to him what he should do . ( Hear , hear . ) Among no class of men was there a stronger desire to pay deference ( o constituted authority than among Masons ; and that feeling redounded to their own credit : but it was with ten times that feeling of loyalty

that they paid obedience to their G . M . After what had taken place in Canada , he should not now allude to that question , for he was not there as the apologist of any man or of any set of men ; but he did believe that imtheir report the Colonial Board had , as regarded that question , invaded and made war upon the authority of the G . M ,:

for that reason , and believing that he had laid before G . L . sufficient grounds for supporting him in his motion , he would move that only the first two and the three concluding paragraphs of the report be adopted . W . Bro . SLIGHT seconded the motion . W . Bro . Rev . G . R . PORTAL . —R . W . Deputy Grand Master , in replying to what has fallen from Bro . Havers , it will perhaps lie more convenient if I first explain how it happens that the Colonial Board has recommended that the appeal from the lodge in Hobart

Town should be disallowed , and the suspension of that lodge by the P . G . M . confirmed . The fact is that two documents were submitted to our consideration , —one , a letter from the Master of the lodge , the other , a communication from the P . G . M ., in explanation of his conduct . The former was directed to the G . M ., the second wan directed to Grand Lodge , or , at least , implied that it was to be laid before that body . We not unnaturally thought that they were to be considered as one , and it was under that error that we recommended that the appeal should be dismissedand the suspension

, confirmed . ( Hear , hear . ) I cannot pass from this explanation without taking exception to the doctrine laid down by Bro . Havers , that the Colonial Board has no power to pass an opinion upon the matters brought before it . The Colonial Board was appointed to save delay in the consideration of communications from the Colonies ; and when we are bound to read through those communications carefully , it does seem to me absurd to say that we should not express our opinion in reference to them , but should hand them on

to G . L ., to be , in all probability , sent back again to us for consideration , after a delay of three months . ( Hear , Hear . ) We do not wish to dictate either to the G . M ., or to G . L ., but we say that we have read certain documents , and that they have made such and such impressions upon our minds , leaving it of course to G . L . to act as they think fit . ( Hear , hear . ) Now to touch upon the main part of Bro . Havers' charge : —If anything which occurs in Grand Lodge could astonish meI shouldI confessbe astonished in being

, , , told that it is we who are raking up bye-gones . It is not we who are raking up bye-gones , but . those who after they have kept this Canadian question out of Grand Lodge for the last four years , by the most dexterous management , have now raised an issue upon it , and have forced us , neck and crop , into its consideration . ( Hear , hear . ) It is they , and not we , who have hurried this question on . A nobie

lord ( The Earl of Carnarvon ) whom I am sorry not to see present , had given notice of a motion upon the subject of Canada , which motion was subsequently withdrawn at the request of several R . W . Brethren , that the discussion upon it might not be hurried on prematurely . It is not then , I think , fair treatment of my noble friend , that we should now be taken by surprise , and called upon to discuss this question . ( Hear , hear . ) ' l will now enter into the merits of the report , but first , I must ask G . L . to recollect how it is that we came to report at all . These papers received from the Colonies

were submitted to us by G . L . itself , to be reported upon , and therefore we have only complied with the desire of G . L . It is however said that we have exceeded the limit of our duties . Let us see how that stands . The papers were , as I before said , given to us to report upon : we have read them through , and in our report we have given you a summary of them , telling you that they show that if concessions had been made at an earlier period Canada would not have ceased her connection with us . ( Hear , hear . ) I

fully agree with Bro . Henderson in what he has said with regard to the advantages of the craft standing firm as one body , but are we to compliment away Canada out of deference to any man , however exalted may be his rank ? ( Hear , hear , and cheers . ) The Colonial Board has , under all the circumstances of the case , done no more than it was their duty to do . In one of the papers submitted to us , Bro . Beach , who has lately visited Canada , tells us that at the funeral of a distinguished Brother—Brother Zimmerman—which took place while he was in the Colonya large number of

, very Masons attended , to demonstrate their respect for the deceased ; that the Deputy P . G . M . of Canada West , and the Grand Master ( so called ) of the independents were both present , but that in order to prevent any nnpleasing demonstration of feeling , it was thought advisable to request an American Grand Master to preside on the occasion . When such is the state of things , so opposed to the grand principles of our order—Brotherly love , relief , and truththe sooner they are settled the bettterana I can see nothing either

, offensive or dictatorial in our saying , that it is our duty to spare no effort to restore the province to a condition of Masonic efficiency , union , and harmony . ( Hear , hear . ) The report , in fact , tells you , in a short form , what the letters tell you in a longer form . But where is the remedy for these evils to come from ? Without doubt it must be suggested by the Provincial Grand Lodge . If we , in England , know what it is , and how it is to be applied , how comes it