Grand Lodge Of Pennsylvania .

who is not one , and we should never in such cases disoblige a Brother , to oblige a Stranger . 6 . That any Member of this Lodge having a complaint against any other Member , shall first apply himself to the Wardens , who shall

bring tbe Cause before tbe Lodge , wbere it shall be consider d and made up , if possible , before tbe Complainant be allow'd to make that Complaint pnblick to the World : the Offender against this Rule to be expell'd .

The chief features in the next Quarterly Communication were the "donating" of 500 dols . towards the relief of Masonic brethren , their widows and orphans , of the city of Galveston , Texas , from the effects of loss bvflre on 13 th November 1885 : the election of Officers and ^^ — " — ----- - —

y * - Trustees to serve the ensuing Masonic year ; an edict commanding all brethren of that Grand Lodge to hold no Masonic intercourse with any member or members of any TindofA ATris + inc * in tho Pr » nvinr » A nf OnATion AnirillAd nn tliA

register of any foreign Grand Lodge other than that of the Grand Lodge of Quebec ; and the appropriation of 3 , 000 dols . to the use of the Stewards of the Stephen Girard Charity Fund . Voluminous financial tables are

then given , which , no doubt , possess local interest . At the Annual Grand Communication , held in Philadelphia on 28 th December 1885 , the R . W . Grand Master Bro . E . Coppee Mitchell delivered a lengthv and practical address .

occupying over twenty pages of printed report . In giving a review of the occurrences of the year , he opens by saying everything had been exceptionally peaceful in the Craft . The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania was in harmony with all the Grand Lodges recognised by it , and

nothing had occurred to interfere in the slighest degree with these pleasant fraternal relations . The correspondence with Grand Masters of several jurisdictions had been conducted with brotherly kindness , and there had not been thfl sliVhtAsf . Ofinaainn fnr atiir rJJconrd nv liovoVi -fooli-no

0 .- » V . - ~** J * *» WW-. — V-. * . M * . UU AWV . kUg . After referring to the Masonic dedication of the Washington monument , in Washington City , where the Officers of the Lodge were courteously and fraternally received by the M . W . G . M . of the District of Columbia and the brethren of that Grand Lodge , he reports a number of Grand

representatives of this Grand Lodge near the Grand Lodges of other jurisdictions , and the initiation at sight of the Rt . Rev . Dr . Wm . Stevens Perry , Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the diocese of Iowa , of

whom he says : — The gentleman who was thus made a Mason bad been long personally known to me as suitable in every particular for the distinction which was conferred upon bim , —a ripe scholar , a distinguished

clergyman , and an honest man . I have since been informed that he haB connected himself with tbe Craft in tbe State of Iowa , by joining a Lodge in the City of Devonport , where he resides . The Brethren of tbe Grand Lodge of Iowa will be pleased to receive the work we have done upon this most suitable material .

Everywhere , except in a few places for which special reasons exist , the Grand Lodge seem to have entered upon a prosperity and good fortune . Lodges which have , for a long time , needed few or no additions to their membership

are receiving applications from that class of the community whom we especially desire to see among us . There can be no better evidence of Lodge prosperity than this . He then enlarges upon the vital importance that new members

brought into a Lodge should be chosen from the beat in the community in which the Lodge exists ; and adds , " it is the character of the members , rather than their number , that gives tone to a Lodge and fixes its position in the

respect of the community in which it is situated . " Having acknowledged the services rendered by the Deputy District Grand Master , he observes that " we have endeavoured to preserve the ancient work of the Craft in all its didactic

purity , while m some other places the disposition to dramatise has been yielded to . If we are to keep our ancient Ritual it must be by constant watchfulness against the tendency to imitation , which is one of the instincts of

human nature . It had been his unpleasant duty , during the year , to issue a large number of edicts , in a great many cases declaring void the admission of members to Lodges , and the initiation of candidates . He had not been

unmindful ot the fact that in taking this method of rectifying the onus of a Worshipful Master , or the Secretary of a Lodge , the punishment falls most hardly upon the innocent man who has nothing to do with the unlawfulness of the method by which he has been taken into the Lodge :

and if another way of satisfying his obligation to see the regulations of the Grand Lodge fully expressed could have been discovered , he would gladly have taken it . A number of Dispensations had been granted during the year ,

Grand Lodge Of Pennsylvania .

chiefly to hold special elections for W . M . or one or more Wardens , or Treasurer or Secretary , and sometimes to elect all the Officers . He then speaks of the satisfactory work witnessed while paying an official visitation to tho

Lodges in Reading , Pottsville , Bloomsbury , Wilkesbarre , Manch Chunk , and Easton , where he was received in a truly loyal and fraternal spirit . The corner-stones had

been laid of the " Packer Memorial Church of the Lehigh University , " at South Bethlehem , Pennsylvania ; and a monument to the poet Schiller , in Fairmount Park , Philadelphia . The financial condition of the Grand Lodge was

very prosperous , the income being sufficient for all calls made upon it . They had been able , out of the income of Grand Lodge , to place in the Sinking Fund , during the vear 1885 , the sum of 15 , 000 dols ., and he looked upon this

Sinking Fund as a most important factor in the future prosperity of Grand Lodge . It now amounts to over 325 , 000 dols . securely invested . Coming to the question

oi Charity , with which he concludes his address , he says this is the vitalising spirit of our Fraternity , the source of our strength and power in the world ; the very reason why we should exist as a society . In the exercise of this , the

chief—Of the cardinal virtues , I am aware that the brethren of Pennsylvania have not been remiss . But as a G . Lodge we possess two large funds devoted exclusively to Charitable uses , —the G . Lodge Charity Fnnd and the Stephen Girard Charity Fund . At our last

Communication a Special Committee was raised to take into consideration the methods of dispensing the Charities of the Fraternity in the State , including the disposition of the income arising from these two funds . I do not desire to forestal the action of that Committee , but it may not be out of place to notice the immediate demand which

prompted Grand Lodge to authorise its appointment . It is that a system may be put into operation by which the worthy brother who needs immediate assistance and cannot wait , may have his case properly investigated xoithout delay , and the relief suited to his wants promptly afforded .

No doubt Brother Stephen Girard , in his varied experience as a merchant and mariner trading with many foreign countries , had in mind , when he established tbe fund which bears his name , the many vicissitudes in life in which a worthy and respectable man , abundantly able , under ordinary circumstances , to maintain himself ,

might find himself , through sickness , shipwreck , or other accident , far from home ; a stranger in a strange land , perhaps not even understanding the language spoken around him , penniless and friendless . Where could such an one go for help ? If a Freemason , he would naturally , inevitably , properly , go where he knows he has a

right to recognition and relief ; where , although a stranger , he is sure to find friends and to be recognised as a Brother by his Brethren . So precious and sacred a privilege as this , which can never be refused recognition , should be jealously guarded against imposture ,

We ought carefully to mature a plan by whioh we secure to the worthy Brother the absolute certainty of receiving the assistance which he has a right to expeot ; and just as thoroughly enable ourselves to detect the impostors who by fraudulent arts endeavour to share in the benefits to which they are not entitled .

Appended to the volume is a lengthy report of the Committee of Correspondence for 1885 , with which we have not space now to deal , but which is full of interest , not only to

our Transatlantic brethren , but to many on this side of the " pond , " including , as it does , many interesting communications with the Grand Secretary , and the Grand Lodge of England .

Who Is First?

WHO IS FIRST ?

EROM the utterances of most writers and speakers it appears that a great many persons believe that a Grand Master is an Officer of much higher Masonic character , and charged with more exalted duties and functions in Symbolic Masonry , than the Master of a Symbolic

Lodge . Doubtless some Grand Masters are of the same opinion , and not only regard themselves while in the "Grand East" as far more important characters in the Masonic scheme than any others whomsoever , but ever afterward when the grand gavel has , like the sceptre of a

dethroned monarch , slipped from their grasp , they still cherish a fondness for lingering superfluous on the oriental stage or " platform , " as the station of the East might now be termed , as though Masonry has some use or occupation

for them there . For the most part , the Grand Masters of Masons have well understood their position , and have recognized in

every Worshipful Master an equal , if not in all things or anything pertaining to the society of Masons , yet in that most important and exalted station known to Symbolic Masonry , beyond which it is impossible for a Mason to advance .