Grand Lodge.

tiitioiij and he died a broken-hearted man . If these facts had been laid before the Boai'd of Benevolence he had no doubt they would have recommended a much larger sum , and although lie ( Bro . Havers ) felt the full force of what had been said with respect to giving force to the recommendations of the Board , he yet thought G . L . would do itself credit and honour in agreeing to the amendment . W . Bro . PORTAL said he was entirely a stranger to the Board of Benevolence , but he thought that their recommendation ought to be attended to . He questioned if G . L . set aside that recommendation

whether it would not amount to a vote of censure upon the Board . ( No , no . ) Ho apprehended all the circumstances of the case had been laid before that Board , and he should pray the Brethren present to hesitate before they allowed so large an increase to be made to the recommendation of the Board , unless it could be shewn that there had been a great many facts concealed from their knowledge . If the chairman ! of the Board was present he hoped he would toll them how far that had been the case , and he also hoped the Brethren would not allow themselves to be led away in this matter .

W . Bro . KING judged from the amount recommended , as compared with that now proposed , that some of the circumstances of the case must have been omitted , and thought that it would be better that the question should be referred back to them for further consideration . W . Bro . SMITH , as Chairman of the Board of Benevolence on the evening the case was inquired into , said that he had expected that their recommendation would have been unanimously adopted . There had been at the Board a division of opinion , as some members wished to recommend a donation of £ 20 and not one of £ 30 for they

, , had , in the petition before them , been kept quite in the dark as to any peculiar circumstances , to distinguish this from any other case ; and those Brethren who recommended the petition did not attend to support it , although it had been two or three times before the Board , and this was the difficulty in sending it back to them for further consideration , for they could not secure the attendance of those Brethren who ought to attend to support the case . W . Bro . ROXBURGH , G . S ., concurred in the opinion of those who thought it the duty of G . L . to support its subordinate Boards , but

did not think that G . L . could abdicate its own power of altering their decisions upon being furnished with reasons for doing so . It had been suggested that this case should be referred back to the Board for further consideration , but that would occasion a delay of at least three months , and they knew the old adage said , that while the grass grows the stud starves . That was not a position in which to leave the widow of a Brother when they had ample evidence before them , in the personal knowledge of very many of their members , of the urgent character of the case . That distress existed was evidenced

by the recommendation of the Board , while the peculiarity of the case consisted in this , that the husband of the applicant had served the stewardship of all the Charities . He should cordially support the amendment . W . Bro . DE BERNARDY explained that it was in consequence' of the death of the M . W . of Bro . Foreman's Lodge , that the petition had not been supported by him when before the Board . Bro . Foreman had been a patron of the Charities of the Order , the father of the widow ,

and ever ready to dry the orphan ' s tear . ( Applause . ) G . L . was now asked to do towards his widow that favour which he had ever been ready to show to those who were in distress . He had done honour to the Craft , and the Craft should now prove its gratitude for his services . ( Hear , hear . ) Bro . K . BENSON , as a matter of order , wished to know if it were competent for him to move an amendment upon an amendment . The M . W . the GRAND MASTER : One amendment must be disposed of before another can be proposed . It is quite competent for any

Brother , should the present amendment be negatived , to move another upon the original resolution . W . Bro . SYMONDS remarked , that according to the Book of Constitutions , no motion for a grant of money could be made without due notice ; and he wished to know if it were competent for any Brother to move an increase upon the sum notified to them in the recommendation of the Board of Benevolence . The M . W . the GRAND MASTER considered it was . At all events , it had been constantly done ; and practice , he conceived , established the right . The amendment was then put , and carried by a large majority . The result was received with great approbation .

r-HINCE FREDERICK WILLIAM OF PRUSSIA . The M . W . the GRAND MASTER then said : Brethren , I know that it is the anxious wish of H . R . H . Prince Frederick William , of Prussia to pay the Freemasons of England every mark of esteem in his power ; and I now venture to offer to him , in the name of Grand Lodge , a copy of our Book of Constitutions .

His Lordship then placed a handsomely bound copy of the Book of Constitutions in the hands of H . R . H . CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES . W . Bro . BINCKES rose to move the non-confirmation of the minutes , so far as related to the rejection of certain portions of the report of the Colonial Board . He could have wished that no difference of opinion might have been shown on that evening , but a sense of duty compelled him to take this course ; and he onlhoped thatthroughout the

disy , cussion , there might be mutual forbearance and gentlemanly feeling . He regretted his absence at the last G . L ., when the report was brought up , a portion of which had been rejected upon two distinct grounds ; the first being , that the Board had exceeded its power—and the second , that the language of the report reflected upon the G . M . With regard to the first objection , it was desirable they should see what was the original constitution of the Colonial Board itself ; and he would refer to the resolution of Grand Lodge appointing the Colonial Boardand

, forming it upon the same basis as the Board of General Purposes . The Book of Constitutions , defining the power of the Board of General Purposes , clearly shewed that it had power to offer an opinion upon all matters brought before it when reporting upon them to Grand Lodge ; and hence , he argued , the Colonial Board had the same power . The M . W . the GRAND MASTER : Bro . Binckes , without wishing to interrupt you , I think it may greatly assist us , if you will , in the first

instance , state what your motion is . W . Bro . BIXCKES replied , that iiis motion was the non-confirmation of that portion of the minutes , which rejected a portion of the report of the Colonial Board . The M W . the GRAND MASTER here intimated , that it was the desire of H . R . H . Prince Frederick William to retire . On this announcement being made , Bro . Jennings , G . D . C ., marshalled the Grand Officers in regular orderto conduct H . R . H . from

, the Lodge . H . R . H .: Brethren , I take leave of you with regret ; and I again assure you how deeply sensible I am of the welcome I have received among you . This is the first time I have been in this house , but it shall not be the last . ( Cheers . ) I cannot express to you how much attached I am to your most respectable Order . ( Great cheers . ) H . R H . was then conducted from the Hall . The Grand Officers having returned to their proper places in the

Lodge , W . Bro . HAVERS said , he wished , before Bro . Binckes made any farther observations , to state that there was no motion for the confirmation of any minutes , relating to the rejection of the report of the Colonial Board ; and he thought the minutes , if correctly entered , would bear him out in saying so , for it had been his most earnest wish , and he had been particularly attentive in framing his motion , so that it might not give offence to any Brother . The words he had used were , that certain paragraphs of that report should be accepted ;

but he denied that he had moved for the rejection of any part of it . Bro . Biuckes ' s motion , therefore , went for the non-confirmation of a matter , which did not at all appear upon the minutes . Bro . R . BENSON did not see how Bro . Havers ' s explanation rendered the motion of Bro . Binckes unnecessary , which was the non-confirmation of that portion of the minutes , which related to the rejection of certain portions of the report of the Colonial Board . Surely , their non-acceptance meant their rejection . The M . W . the G . M . said , that as he understood Bro . Havers ' s

explanation there was on the books no mention of the rejection of any portion of the report ; all that appeared there being , that certain paragraphs had been adopted without any reference to the nonadoption of others . W . Bro . HAVERS said that such was the case . W . Bro . BINCKES . —Well , if that be so , it is the most Jesuitical piece of special pleading I ever listened to . 'Die GRAND REGISTRAR here informed Bro . Binckes that if he carried his motion it would amount to the non-confirmation of all

the minutes . W . Bro . BINCKES referred to the Freemason ' s Magazine as the authorised organ of the Grand Lodge , reading extracts from it to show that Bro . Havers had spoken in favour of the rejection of certain portions of the report of the Colonial Board . The M . W . the G M . explained that the editor of the Magazine was allowed to take notes , but Grand Lodge was not responsible for their

accuracy . W . Bro . BINCKES proceeded to say that even should his motion have the effect of rejecting all the minutes of the last meeting of G . L ., he should now persevere in it . The fault would not be his , but would attach to those wdio met him with a line of argument which he had already described as Jesuitical special pleading . He conceived that great injustice had been done the Colonial Board in the course taken