The Masonic Year 1877.

Lodges among them , and ono Irish Lodge in Bermuda , oue in Jamaica , and one in Trinidad . Ono of the most interesting events in connection with tho Craft in these parts was tho consecration of a new Masonic Hall by the St . John ' s Lodge , No . 492 , Antigua , English Constitution .

This event occurred in February , and was the cause of deep satisfaction to all connected with the Lodgo . During the year the District Graud Master of Jamaica , Dr . Robert Hamilton , paid a visit to England , and experienced a most gratifying reception . Dr . Hamilton is Grand Chaplain

to tho Supreme Council of tho A . and A . Rite , 33 ° , and prior to his return to Jamaica the members of that body entertained him at dinner , in order to show their appreciation of his eminent services to Freemasonry generally . In North America , ifc will be readily understood that there

aro but few Lodges under the English , Irish , and Scotch Constitutions . Masonry has firmly established itself in this part of the world , but the Grand Lodges of Canada , etc ., & c ., aro sovereign and independent bodies . Thus wo find only four English Lodges in Montreal , ancl these aro governed

by a District Grand Lodge . There aro five in the Island of Newfoundland , under a District Grand Master , being an increase of one over last year ; two in Cape Breton , ancl one in Nova Scotia . Last year there was a District Grand Lodge of Prince Edward Island , with seven Lodges on the

roll of England , but these have been dropped , as there is an independent Grand Lodge for this portion of British N . America . There are also a iew Scotch Lodges , and one Irish . In South America there are ten English Lodges , ancl about a dozen Scotch Lodges , the majority of which

are in Peru , under a Prov . Grand Master ; and two Irish , which are also located in the same Republic . But it is at the Antipodes we find the greatest progress has been made . In Australasia there are 135 English Lodges , while in the G . L . Calendar for 1876 will be found only 125 . These

are distributed among six districts , but that of West Australia is as yet without a District Grand Lodge . The Lodges in New South Wales have increased by five , from twenty-eight to thirty-three . There were sixteen Lodges in Queensland last year ; there are now seventeen . The

number in South Australia remains the same , namely , fourteen . There is an increase of three in Victoria , from sixty-three to sixty-six Lodges ; in West Australia there

are five instead of four Lodges ; while in Tasmania the number is still seven . There are , besides , over thirty Lodges under the Scotch Constitution contained in the four Provinces of Australia Felix or Victoria ,

South Australia , New South Wales , and Queensland ; ancl not far short of fifty Irish Lodges , also apportioned under four separate Provincial Grand Lodges , namely , those of Victoria , New South Wales , Queensland , and South Australia . Thus , in Australia , there are upwards

of two hundred Lodges , subordinate to one or other of the Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , or Scotland . Of the English Lodges , there are ten in Sydney , the capital of New South Wales ; three in Brisbane , capital of Queensland ; four in Adelaide , capital of South Australia ;

nine in Melbourne , capital of Victoria ; three in Perth , capital of West Australia ; and two in Hobart Town , the capital of Tasmania . In New Zealand there are now six District Grand Lodges as against five last year , and two districts which have not District Grand Lodges as against

one . Three of the District Grand Lodges are in the South Island , namely , those of Canterbury , Otago and Southland , and Westland , with three other Lodges—one each at Blenheim , Nelson , and Wakefield . In the North Island there aro two District Grand Lodges , Auckland having been

erected mto a separate District , with Bro . George Samuel Graham as the first District Grand Master ; and there are , further , two new Lodges , which are not included in either of these Districts . In all there are forty-six Lodges in these Districts , namely , nine in that of Canterbury , being an

increase of two since last year ; nine in Otago and Southland , six in Westland , or two more than there were in 1876 , and three apart . In the North Island there was last year only one District Grand Lodge , with thirteen Lodges . Now the District Grand Lodge of North Island includes

nine Lodges , of which three are afc Wellington , and that of Auckland , eight Lodges , four of which are in the City of Auckland . This , with ( he two new Lodges , one at

Newmarket and one at Warkworth , gives an increase over 1876 of six in this island , while that in the South Island is four , making a total increase of ten Lodges—from thirty-six to forty-six—for the whole of New Zealand . There are , in addition , some two dozen Scotch Lodges , under a Provincial

The Masonic Year 1877.

Grand Master , and eleven Irish Lodges similarly governed , so that New Zealand can boast of over eighty Lodges hailing from ono or other of our home Grand Lodges . Among the events which have happened during the period , wo must not omit to mention the consecration , in May , of a Masonic Hall at Onehunfra . This event had been looked

forward to for some time , especially by tho Lodgo Mann-Kau , No . 586 , on the roll of Grand Lodge Scotland ; for it was under its auspices the consecration took place , and it was by the R . W . M . of the Lodge , Bro . M . Nichol that tho ceremony was conducted . Among thoso present wero

the Provincial Grand Master under the Irish Constitutions , ancl the Acting District Grand Master , English Constitutions . The consecration was well done , and was followed by a banquet ; and this , in its turn was followed by a concert , the whole proceedings of the day being brought to

a close with a ball , which was kept up with vigour till early tho next morning . Nor must we allow this sketch to be completed without referring , be it never so briefly , to the sad death of Bro . Sir Donald McLean , K . C . M . G ., District Grand Master of North Island . The funeral took

place on the 8 th January , and was conducted with Masonic ceremonial . Tho deceased had not long held the District Grand Mastership , but he had presided long enough to have become very popular , nofc only with the English Craftsmen over whom he ruled , but among the brethren of

the other Constitutions ; and in proportion as he was esteemed and respected , so was his untimely death regretted . Sir Donald McLean had been the architect of his own fortune , and we are pleased to have found this opportunity of paying our humble tribute of respect to the memory of so

worthy a member of our Fraternity . We have now completed our survey of Freemasonry in our colonies , and have proved the statement we made at the outset , to the effect that we have every reason to be contented with the

progress made during the year . We how pass on to note , so far as we can do so , the most remarkable occurrences in other Masonic jurisdictions . The first we shall take will be France , our nearest , and we fear we have no option but to say , our errant neighbour .

There is no question that the event which will render the year 1877 ever memorable in tho annals of French Freemasonry , we may almost say of the Craft Universal , is the important alteration in the first article of its Constitution to which the annual Assembly of tho Grand Orient assented

in September . This time last year we expressed a hope that the French Lodges would not sanction so important a change , but this hope has , unfortunately , not been realised , and it has been our painful duty , as an organ of Masonic opinion in this country , to express , not only our regret that

the change should have been made , but also our strong condemnation of it . We have endeavoured , to the best of our humble ability , to point out how violently opposed to the radical principles of the Craft is the alteration now accepted by the Grand Orient . We have gone further , aud

endeavoured to show thafc , from an interested point of riew , the change now inaugurated is most impolitic . The enemies of Freemasonry in France are numerous , but hitherto their denunciations of the Craft as being a Godless Society , have been untrue , and therefore , all their attempts to ignore it have been futile . Now that so much of the first Article

as enunciated a belief in the existence of God as the fundamental principle of Freemasonry has been abrogated , the charge is unfortunately true , ancl we fail to see how it is possible for the Society to escape loss of credit in public

estimation . As we have said more than once of late , by the adoption of this change the Grand Orient has been playing into the hands of its enemies . Monseigneur Dupanloup could not have found a more terrible weapon wherewith to attack tho Grand Orient than that which it has

gone out of the way to furnish him with . But the matter is of such recent occurrence , ancl we have dealt with it in so many recent articles , that we need do no more than briefly recapitulate the circumstances . Last year the question of strikingout of the Constitutions the first and most important

article of Masonic faith was remitted to the different Lodges for them to report upon . Tho Lodges reported accordingly , ancl the result is that , from and after the 13 th September , the French Masonic creed has solemnly ancl

deliberately excluded from its declaration of principles that of belief in God and the immortality of the soul . Thus the atheist ancl the theist are alike eligible to be admitted into the French Lodges , and the whole original character of Freemasonry , so far as France is concerned , is utterly ancl entirel y destroyed . Already has the Grand iodge