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Article UNITED GRAND LODGE. Page 1 of 2 Article UNITED GRAND LODGE. Page 1 of 2 →
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United Grand Lodge.
UNITED GRAND LODGE .
THERE is a fair amount of business to be transacted on Wednesday next , when Grand Lodge will hold its regular Quarterly Communication . Then will be held the election of members of the Board of General Purposes , of the Colonial Board , and of the Committee of Management
of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution . The report of the Lodge of Benevolence contains recommendations of grants amounting in the aggregate to no less than £ 1300 , two of the grants recommended being for the very considerable sums of £ 250 and £ 200 respectively . One point in
connection with these recommendations is worth noting . Many of our readers , perhaps , are not aware that , in the case of all amounts exceeding £ 50 the minute confirming the Lodge ' s recommendation must itself be confirmed ere the brother whom it is proposed to relieve can derive any
appreciable benefit from the grant . For instance , a brother in sore distress applies to the Lodge of Benevolence for some help , let ns say in the month of July , and £ 100 or £ 150 is voted him after due inquisition into the circumstances . This , however , is not a grant absolute , but only the
recommendation of a grant which must be submitted to the meeting of Grand Lodge next ensuing , in order to receive confirmation . This is given , but not until the grant has been re-confirmed at the December Communication can this poor brother in distress receive the sum awarded to
him . He is , we believe , allowed to draw a small sum on account , but that will go only a very little way towards assisting him in the interval of four or five months that mnst elapse between his application to the Lodge and the re-confirmation by Grand Lodge of the sum recommended
to be granted to him . On the other hand , the sum of £ 50 , though it must be confirmed by Grand Lodge , needs no further confirmation ; so that , as far as immediate or
early relief is concerned , those brethren to whom the Lodge of Benenevolence grants , or recommends to Grand Lodge to grant , relief for smaller amounts fare better than those towards whom , after full consideration of their
circumstances , they consider they are justified in acting more ^ bountifully . This is certainly an anomalous state of things , which requires amendment . "Wh y , in the case of the larger grants , should not the brother seeking relief he entitled to draw £ 40 or £ 50 on account to meet his
immediate necessities ? As well may happen , let us suppose the poor brother who has been granted £ 100 dies in the interval between the confirmation of the grant and the next regular meeting of Grand Lodge ; has not this needless delay frustrated the kindly intentions both of the Lodge
or Benevolence and Grand Lodge itself ? It may even have been indirectly the means of hastening the very catastrophe which the grant was intended to prevent . Even if the Lodge of Benevolence were prodigal of the funds entrusted to its administration , so considerable a
ueiay would be unnecessary ; but , as it is well known the Lodge is careful to relieve only when it has fully satisfied itself of the necessity there is for relief , a second confirmation by Grand Lodge is certainly supererogatory .
The Report of the Board of General Purposes makes mention of a very unusual occurrence . A complaint appears to have reached the Board that a brother had violated the Constitutions by appearing in a Public Place or f Bsembl y—one of Her Majest y ' s Levees—wearing Masonic jewels without having previously obtainet ^ tbe sanction of ™ o Grand Master . On inquiry it' turned out that the
United Grand Lodge.
brother had misinterpreted the Constitutions , and as he at once made clue submission and expressed regret , tho Board very wisely passed over tho offence with only an admonition . Then are mentioned two cases in which in certain Lodges
brethren have been advanced to a higher decree after aa insufficient interval of time as required by the Constitutions , and the Board directed the brethren to be re-obligated , and fined each of the offending Lodges in the sum of Two Guineas . This is as it should be , but we should like to see
the Board direct its attention to the very lax observance of the law in respect of proper intervals of time in the case of candidates seeking initiation into Freemasonry . "We have reason to believe that cases are frequently occurring of candidates being proposed , balloted for , and initiated in
far less time than is prescribed by the Constitutions , and we all know how earnest Past Grand Secretary Hervey and other prominent brethren have been of lato years in urging on Lodges the dangers likely to ensue to Freemasonry from too hasty and indiscriminate an admissiou
of candidates . Tho same suggestion occurs to us in tho case of joining members , whose candidature with even less reason , is but too frequently hurried forward . It is very difficult to assign , though we admit there may be in somo rare instances , a cause for urgency in respect of proposed
joining members . Though it is open to sucb brethren to be present at the meetings of the Lodge they wish to join in the capacity of Visitors , they are often proposed and balloted for with undue haste , it being within our personal
knowledge that but for the firmness of one of the Officerswho by the way is a Grand Officer for the current yearof a certain Lodge , two brethren would have been balloted for without due proposition in open Lodge .
The last recommendation of the Board is to the effect that Grand Lodge " should authoriso an expenditure not exceeding £ 25 per annum" for the purposo of preserving , "by binding where necessary , " and improving " by addition" the Grand Lodge Library iu their charge . We cannot congratulate the Board on this
recommendation . "With balances in bank and in hand amounting together to over £ 6 , 000 , an appeal to Grand Lodge for authority to spend a sum not " exceeding £ 25 per annum , " after the grave consideration they appear to have given this " important question , " reminds us very much of the old
adage about the mountain in labour bringing forth an idiotic little mouse . If it is worth while having a library , and that already existing is described as an excellent one , though we fear it is not much patronised by the Craft ; if , we repeat , it is worth while having a library , it would seem
to be most desirable that it should be one in every respect worthy of the mother Grand Lodge of Freemasonry of the whole world . But a maximum annual expenditure of £ 25 —how far will that immense sum go towards " the due preservation by binding where necessary , and tho
improvement , by addition , of the excellent library belonging to Grand Lodge ? " It will not suffice to purchase many of those rare books which constitute the strength and pride of a library , and it must be remembered that Masonic books , being printed as they are for a very small circle of readers ,
are published at prices out of all proportion to the cost of production . There have of late been , it is true , a few departures from this rule , but it stands to reason that books written for a class which includes but very few readers must
be sold at hi gher figures than those for which there is sure to be something like a demand . Then , in the case of books wbich it is likely may be in fair request , there ought to be several copies , so that those who are anxious
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge.
UNITED GRAND LODGE .
THERE is a fair amount of business to be transacted on Wednesday next , when Grand Lodge will hold its regular Quarterly Communication . Then will be held the election of members of the Board of General Purposes , of the Colonial Board , and of the Committee of Management
of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution . The report of the Lodge of Benevolence contains recommendations of grants amounting in the aggregate to no less than £ 1300 , two of the grants recommended being for the very considerable sums of £ 250 and £ 200 respectively . One point in
connection with these recommendations is worth noting . Many of our readers , perhaps , are not aware that , in the case of all amounts exceeding £ 50 the minute confirming the Lodge ' s recommendation must itself be confirmed ere the brother whom it is proposed to relieve can derive any
appreciable benefit from the grant . For instance , a brother in sore distress applies to the Lodge of Benevolence for some help , let ns say in the month of July , and £ 100 or £ 150 is voted him after due inquisition into the circumstances . This , however , is not a grant absolute , but only the
recommendation of a grant which must be submitted to the meeting of Grand Lodge next ensuing , in order to receive confirmation . This is given , but not until the grant has been re-confirmed at the December Communication can this poor brother in distress receive the sum awarded to
him . He is , we believe , allowed to draw a small sum on account , but that will go only a very little way towards assisting him in the interval of four or five months that mnst elapse between his application to the Lodge and the re-confirmation by Grand Lodge of the sum recommended
to be granted to him . On the other hand , the sum of £ 50 , though it must be confirmed by Grand Lodge , needs no further confirmation ; so that , as far as immediate or
early relief is concerned , those brethren to whom the Lodge of Benenevolence grants , or recommends to Grand Lodge to grant , relief for smaller amounts fare better than those towards whom , after full consideration of their
circumstances , they consider they are justified in acting more ^ bountifully . This is certainly an anomalous state of things , which requires amendment . "Wh y , in the case of the larger grants , should not the brother seeking relief he entitled to draw £ 40 or £ 50 on account to meet his
immediate necessities ? As well may happen , let us suppose the poor brother who has been granted £ 100 dies in the interval between the confirmation of the grant and the next regular meeting of Grand Lodge ; has not this needless delay frustrated the kindly intentions both of the Lodge
or Benevolence and Grand Lodge itself ? It may even have been indirectly the means of hastening the very catastrophe which the grant was intended to prevent . Even if the Lodge of Benevolence were prodigal of the funds entrusted to its administration , so considerable a
ueiay would be unnecessary ; but , as it is well known the Lodge is careful to relieve only when it has fully satisfied itself of the necessity there is for relief , a second confirmation by Grand Lodge is certainly supererogatory .
The Report of the Board of General Purposes makes mention of a very unusual occurrence . A complaint appears to have reached the Board that a brother had violated the Constitutions by appearing in a Public Place or f Bsembl y—one of Her Majest y ' s Levees—wearing Masonic jewels without having previously obtainet ^ tbe sanction of ™ o Grand Master . On inquiry it' turned out that the
United Grand Lodge.
brother had misinterpreted the Constitutions , and as he at once made clue submission and expressed regret , tho Board very wisely passed over tho offence with only an admonition . Then are mentioned two cases in which in certain Lodges
brethren have been advanced to a higher decree after aa insufficient interval of time as required by the Constitutions , and the Board directed the brethren to be re-obligated , and fined each of the offending Lodges in the sum of Two Guineas . This is as it should be , but we should like to see
the Board direct its attention to the very lax observance of the law in respect of proper intervals of time in the case of candidates seeking initiation into Freemasonry . "We have reason to believe that cases are frequently occurring of candidates being proposed , balloted for , and initiated in
far less time than is prescribed by the Constitutions , and we all know how earnest Past Grand Secretary Hervey and other prominent brethren have been of lato years in urging on Lodges the dangers likely to ensue to Freemasonry from too hasty and indiscriminate an admissiou
of candidates . Tho same suggestion occurs to us in tho case of joining members , whose candidature with even less reason , is but too frequently hurried forward . It is very difficult to assign , though we admit there may be in somo rare instances , a cause for urgency in respect of proposed
joining members . Though it is open to sucb brethren to be present at the meetings of the Lodge they wish to join in the capacity of Visitors , they are often proposed and balloted for with undue haste , it being within our personal
knowledge that but for the firmness of one of the Officerswho by the way is a Grand Officer for the current yearof a certain Lodge , two brethren would have been balloted for without due proposition in open Lodge .
The last recommendation of the Board is to the effect that Grand Lodge " should authoriso an expenditure not exceeding £ 25 per annum" for the purposo of preserving , "by binding where necessary , " and improving " by addition" the Grand Lodge Library iu their charge . We cannot congratulate the Board on this
recommendation . "With balances in bank and in hand amounting together to over £ 6 , 000 , an appeal to Grand Lodge for authority to spend a sum not " exceeding £ 25 per annum , " after the grave consideration they appear to have given this " important question , " reminds us very much of the old
adage about the mountain in labour bringing forth an idiotic little mouse . If it is worth while having a library , and that already existing is described as an excellent one , though we fear it is not much patronised by the Craft ; if , we repeat , it is worth while having a library , it would seem
to be most desirable that it should be one in every respect worthy of the mother Grand Lodge of Freemasonry of the whole world . But a maximum annual expenditure of £ 25 —how far will that immense sum go towards " the due preservation by binding where necessary , and tho
improvement , by addition , of the excellent library belonging to Grand Lodge ? " It will not suffice to purchase many of those rare books which constitute the strength and pride of a library , and it must be remembered that Masonic books , being printed as they are for a very small circle of readers ,
are published at prices out of all proportion to the cost of production . There have of late been , it is true , a few departures from this rule , but it stands to reason that books written for a class which includes but very few readers must
be sold at hi gher figures than those for which there is sure to be something like a demand . Then , in the case of books wbich it is likely may be in fair request , there ought to be several copies , so that those who are anxious