Lodge Quarters.

LODGE QUARTERS .

EBOM an extract from the Portsmouth Times , which appears elsewhere in our columns , it will be seen that the authorities of Grand Lodge are strongly opposed to the meeting of Lodges in hotels and taverns . Our contemporary , in speaking of the grant of a Warrant of

Constitution to the William of Wykeham Lodge , No . 1883 , Winchester , and the nearrapproach of its consecration , informs its readers that originally " it was intended that the new Lodge should he held at the George Hotel , but it seems that objections exist in Grand Lodge to granting

Warrants to new Lodges if held at hotels . " For this reason the Prov . Grand Master , instead of pressing Grand Lodge to issue its warrant , very wisely suggested that the proposed new Lodge should elect to meet at the Masonic Hall , and the suggestion having been accepted by the founders

of the William of Wykeham Lodge , the Warrant has been issued , and the Lodge will he constituted in due course at as early a date as possible . Now the resolution above referred to as having been adopted by Grand Lodge , indicates a very important change of policy on its part , and one

which , as involving somewhat momentous consequences to the Craft , seems to demand some passing consideration at our hands . It must be obvious to every member of our Society that it is most desirable every Lodge of Freemasons should have quarters of its own , if its finances will allow of so desirable a consummation . In the event of this

being out of the question , its next best course is undoubtedly to endeavour to find its local habitation in some private hall or an Assembly Rooms . Even the most enthusiastic admirers of what is known as " the fourth degree" must admit that it is desirable the work of our Lodges should be

kept as distinct as possible from the necessary , if most agreeable , task of satisfying the appetite . Some men live to eat , but the wiser and more sensible among us eat to live , and the association of the Philosophy of Freemasonry with the everyday life of a public house may do something

towards elevating the latter to the dignity of a Masonic Hall , but it cannot be said to add lustre to the fair fame of the Craft . It is true that on examining the earliest extant Lodge lists we shall find that our Lodges were almost without exception in the habit of meeting at taverns , and

many of the localities in which these taverns were situated were even then of somewhat dubious respectability . This , however , must be set down to the fact of there being few , if any , places of a private character where our brethren could meet . Even Grand Lodge had no abiding place of its own , and its Communications were held sometimes at the more

renowned hostelries of the time , and sometimes in the halls of our City Companies . But there are many Masonic Halls now standing in the metropolis , and in most of our large Provincial towns . Elsewhere Town Halls are available for the gatherings of the Craft , and in addition are to he found

many other appropriate places for the same purpose . Wherever then there are available Masonic or other Halls , we think it a wise policy on the part of the Grand Lodge authorities to insist on new Lodges at all events taking up their quarters in them . We must not lose sight of the fact

that our system of Masonry was not started for the purpose of benefiting the tavern or hotel keepers , though the services of the latter may be as necessary to Masons as to

others among Her Majesty ' s lieges . It may be , of course , that a Masonic Hall is not adaptable for the purpose of a Masonic banquet , in which case doubtless an adjournment will take place to the nearest refectory , be it either

Lodge Quarters.

a tavern , hotel , or even the more common public house . No very serious amount of hardship , or inconvenience is likely to follow from such a plan . Under any circumstances , however , we hold it to be both expedient and desirable that in the cities and towns

which are fortunate enough to possess Masonic Halls , Grand Lodge should make it a rule , requiring such new Lodges as it may think proper to constitute to hold their meetings on premises especially set apart for the purposes

of Freemasonry . Thus in the case of the William of Wykeham Lodge , the City of Winchester has its Masonic Hall , and what more reasonable than that Grand Lodge should regard such Hall as being more suitable for Lodge meetings than an hotel ?

We do not suppose the authorities of Grand Lodge have resolved on issuing warrants only to such Lodges as are prepared to find quarters of their own other than are to be had at hotels or taverns , nor must we be taken as arguing in favour of such a policy . In London , for

instance , there are so many Lodges , and they are scattered over so wide an area , that even if there were a dozen Masonic Halls erected in as many central localities , it would still be found impossible to accommodate them all . Nor is there , in our opinion , anything in the slightest

degree derogatory to the character of Freemasonry , when we find Lodges meeting in such places as the Albion , Aldersgate-street ; Anderton ' s , Fleet-street ; the City Terminus Hotel , Cannon-street ; the Ship and Turtle , Leadenhall-street ; the Imperial , Holborn Viaduct ; the

Inns of Court , Lincoln ' s Inn Fields ; Masons' Hall , Masons' Avenue ; and others we might name , as possessing an equally high character . These are to all intents and purposes as private as any Hall could be , and there is no likelihood that a Masonic meeting at any one of these

establishments could ever degenerate into a vulgar or disreputable orgy . Their proprietors and managers are men of too high a stamp to allow anything of a doubtful character to pass unnoticed . The same remarks apply with equal truth to many hotels in our provincial

townshotels which , for generations , the worthiest and best members of the community have been in the habit of frequenting . For these reasons , we shall be sorry to see anything like an indication on the part of the moving spirits of Grand Lodge to discountenance Masonic meetings

at hotels and houses of good repute . While , as we have before said , our system of Masonry was not invented in order to benefit hotel and tavern keepers , it is very certain that we owe a debt of gratitude to them for having placed

the needful accommodation at the disposal of our Lodges . What is needed is , that a Lodge shall provide for ^ itself reputable quarters , and these are to be found in all parts of London , as well as in our provincial towns , without the slightest difficulty .

The Glorificatoin Of Freemasonry.

THE GLORIFICATOIN OF FREEMASONRY .

r reproducing the excerpt from the pages of the Christian Age , bearing the above title , we take the opportunity of suggesting to our Christian (?)

contemporary that , whatever may be the shortcomings of Freemasons—and Freemasons are but fallible—they are ever ready and anxious to think charitabl y of all men . They willingly accord to others the right they claim for them-