English And Scottish Masonry.

ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH MASONRY ,

THE Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge of Scotland will be held on Thursday next , 3 rd August , at the Freemasons' Hall , Edinburgh , an item of the Agenda being a recommendation from Grand Lodge Committee that Earl Amherst be appointed Grand Representative from the Grand Lodge of Scotland near the Grand Lodge of England .

East Anglia.

EAST ANGLIA .

7 I lHE following Officers were appointed at the meeting of JL this Prov . G . Mark Lodge reported in our last issue : Bro . H . J . Wright ... . Senior Warden G . W . G . Barnard - Junior Warden G . H . Lovewell Blake ... Master Overseer G . Ivers Bland .... Senior Overseer H . G . Monteith .... Junior Overseer

Rev . Dr . Cunningham ... Chaplain Francis Curry .... Treasurer S . R . Anness .... Registrar of Marks C . Denton Laech .... Secretary W . Kemp ----- Senior Deacon S . H . Sharman - Junior Deacon Arthur J . Wells - - - - Inspector of Works

C . E . Boughton .... Director of Ceremonies Capt . R . J . Carthew - Assist . Dir . of Cers . W . Patrick .... Sword Bearer G . E . Holland - Standard Bea , rer John Thompson - - - Organist E . Sparke ----- Assistant Secretary P . H . Potts ----- Inner Guard John Hewitt - Tyler .

The annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Northumberland and Durham is announced to be held at the Freemasons' Hall , 18 Grainger Street West , Newcastle , on Thursday , 3 rd August , the Provincial Grand Master Rev . Canon Tristram , D . D ., presiding . The meeting is expected to be honoured with the presence of Bro . the Earl of Euston Pro G . M . M .

The Duties Of Masters.

THE DUTIES OF MASTERS .

THE Worshipful Master of a Lodge is an officer whose duties are multiform and manifold . Those who suppose him to be merely a figure-head make a gross mistake . True , he is an imposing figure ; true , this figure has a head ; but while all eyes look to him , and all ears are open to him , and he is " monarch of all he surveys , " if this imposing figure expects the office to take

the place of the man , or supply his deficiencies , he is woefully mistaken . No oue should aspire to be the Worshipful Master of a Lodge , the ruler of a host of his Brethren , the arbiter of the Craft , who is not possessed of wisdom , learning , judgment , tact , and whose heart is not overflowing with Brotherly love .

Many Brethren appear to think that if they know the work they are qualified to sit in Solomon ' s seat . Solomon did not think so . He qualified himself for the right performance of all his duties by first asking from the Grand Architect wisdom , and obtaining that wondrous gift from His dispensing band .

What the Master needs to-day is WISDOM—wisdom in all things , not only that petty wisdom , that technical wisdom , that narrow wisdom , which qualifies merely for the performance of one duty , but that enlarged spirit of understanding which is as broad as tha office the Master holds ; that appreciation of all the needs of his

Brethren whom he has been selected to preside over ; that devotion to duty which waits not to be sought , but goes out to find occasion for the exercise of the beneficient prerogatives with .

which his office is endowed . Symbolically he is a luminary , actually he should be a dispenser of light . The sun should shine . And yet , how many suns are obscured by clouds ? How many Masters are servants ? How many Secretaries are Masters ?

Of course a Master should be a good worker . The Master who cannot work is an absurdity . Work is one of his primary functions . If he cannot work he should not be Master . And he should not only work , but work well . In this era of light and

knowledge the ignorant are wilfully and inexcusably ignorant . The prevalence of Schools of Instruction renders it absolutely unpardonable for a Master of a Lodge now to be unable to do his own work . But work is not the whole of Masonry ; no , not by a vast deal .

An important part of the duty of a Master is the government of his Lodge . To do this with justice and equity requires the possession and exercise of knqwledge , wisdom and prudence . He

who rules at discretion should rule with discretion . A Master should be acquainted with the main provisions of the Ahiman Eezon . or Constitutions of the Graft , with the Bye-Laws of his own Lodge , with the decisions of the Grand Lodge , the usages , customs

The Duties Of Masters.

and Landmarks , and with Masonic parliamentary law . Without a knowledge of these he will suffer his Lodge continually to go astray and fall into difficulties which will draw down upon it Masonic penalties , necessarily administered in the way of corrective action by the supreme Masonic authority .

Another duty which the Master owes to his office to perform is a personal oversight of his fellow-members , especially when they are in sickness or distress . His Brethren are a part of himself , and when one suffers he should suffer with him to the extent of relieving the suffering , in accordance , with his own and the

Lodge ' s ability . The sick , the dying and the dead are especially the charge of the Worshipful Master . Their condition he should report to the Lodge , so that it may minister to their needs . But primarily , they are under his charge , and for them he should hold himself Masonically responsible .

Another duty which is his is to maintain harmony and fraternal feeling throughout the membership of the Lodge . He will always be favourably listened to on account of the dignity of his office . He can wield an influence for good which no other

member can . Hence he is derelict in the exercise of his functions if he is not continually labouring to promote universal good feeling in the body of the Craft over which he presides . A harmonious Lodge is a successful Lodge . A harmonising Master makes a harmonious Lodge .

The Lodge which has for its Master a Brother who knows the work and performs it impressively , * who knows Masonic law and executes it impartially ; who is paternal as well as fraternal in his oversight of his fellow-members , and who ever bas in view

the promotion of universal harmony—such a Lodge is a true Masonic Lodge , the Master is a true Master , and the Masonry therein taught and exemplified is pure and undefiled . — " Keystone . "

Universal Brotherhood.

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD .

''TTNIVEBSAL Brotherhood ! " That we may obtain a true y _) understanding of these words , let us do a charitable and unselfish act to the poor , the needy , the sick and the helpless , and feel for once the barriers of every-day hardness fall away at the glad and grateful expression called forth by our loving deed ,

This will give us a tangible something which the mind may realise and grasp , thus giving meaning to an expression which to many has no special significance . The warm glow of love and compassion passing between the one doing and the one receiving is anew born fire , a spark from the Divine Man , which permeates

the whole being with a new life , once experienced never to be forgotten . This is the true source of brotherhood—brotherhood of a kind scarcely to be conceived by the men of to-day , but which many men in all ages have laboured to bring about and make universal . They have been those who were more or less initiated into the mysteries of life , and have realised the necessity

of bringing into the world of forces this living fire , and they know full well that its only source is in the hearts of men , from whence it must spring into the world to envelop all men with its force and power . The mystic tie existing between all who have laboured and are labouring still exists . The principle of brotherhood , in its best sense , underlies our beautiful Masonic art , and has been the corner stone of its foundations from time immemorial .

The same influences which stimulated our ancient Brethren are still at work , and our ranks are being slowly but surely swelled by those who have learned that without keeping alive this small flame of Divine Love the world would soon go down in ignorance and darkness .

Suppose , for a moment , that this work became universal , what would be the result ? In a few years the sword would be hung in the hall ; there would be no armed ships ; deadly explosives would be forgotten * , centralisation of immense wealth on one hand and deepest poverty on the other would cease ; crime would lose its attraction for men ; and our prisons would stand

useless . But in this modern world of ours , outside the ranks of those who are earnestly working for a nobler manhood , the gospel of every man for himself meets with approbation , and selfishness is on every side . The use of power for one ' s own purposes is never questioned ; on the contrary , it is believed to be right and proper .

Yet this is but repeating the same things which existed in Rome fifteen hundred years ago . Men have not yet been taught wisdom from the pasfc , and they have not yefc grasped an incentive fco aid them to reach to the ideal . That incentive musfc be given , otherwise there will be no change . For the purpose of giving and fostering this incentive have our noble Masonic Institutions

existed from time immemorial . They gather fche flower of the world into a bond of Brotherhood , and the day will come when our noble teachings shall encircle the whole family of mankind , for when they are ready to receive the benefits of universal Brotherhood , Freemasonry will open its doors to them with gladness . — " Freemason ' s Magazine . "