Laying The Foundation Stone Of The New Docks At Ayr.

Dispensary , on condition that "the Committee of Charity be entitled to recommend such number of patients as the shares entitle them to . " On 6 th June of the same year , after tho election of officers , Bro . Do Witt Clinton reports that ho has had delivered to him the old warrant hold by Master ' s Lodge , Albany , and has issued them a new one , but that Union Lodge , Albany , declines to surrender its old

warrant , in consequence of which he recommends that decisive measures bo taken to enforce tho authority of Grand Lodge . This report is agreed to . Of six petitions for warrants , three were granted , ono of the three being the Lodgo U . D ., formed of a section of the members of "L'Unite Americaine . " The remaining three were ordered to stand over , or were referred to the Grand Officers . At

this meeting an annual salary of two hundred and fifty dollars , in addition to his fees , was voted to the Grand Secretary , in consideration of his increased labours and responsibilities . The installa tion of Grand Officers was fixed for the 25 th , and was held accord , ingly . No Grand Lodge was summoned in September , owing to tho prevalence of an epidemic in New York , in accordance

with the prayer of the Masters of tho Lodges in that city . On 5 th December eight petitions for new warrants were presented , of which three were granted , and the rest referred to the Grand Presiding Officers . Complaint was made against tho S . W . and others of Hiram Lodge , No . 7 , " for associating in tho higher Degrees" with an expelled member , and the complaint was referred to a Committee . A

letter was read from'Solomon ' s Lodge , No . 56 , Poughkeepsie , annonnc ing its vote of fifty dollars in aid of distressed brethren in the city . The G . S . is directed to acknowledge suitably the letter and rote . On 2 nd January 1799 , the Ind . Eoyal Arch , No . 2 , is censured for refusing to admit the S . G . W . De Witt Clinton into the Lodge on the 27 th nit . At the same time the assurances of the W . M . of Ind .

Eoyal Arch , No . 2 , that no disrespect was intended to the S . G . W . are accepted as satisfactory . At tho meeting on the 5 th March 1799 the warrant of L'Unite Americaine , No . 12 , is surrendered to Grand Lodge . A petition for a new Lodge is rejected for " want of a proper recommendation . " We again note that the Grand Treasurer is ordered to subscribe in behalf of Grand Lodge for ten shares in

the City Dispensary , under the same conditions as already detailed on a former occasion . Pending the adjustment of certain differences which appeared to have arisen in St . Alban ' s Lodge , a Committee is appointed on 5 th June , to receive the Lodge warrant , to inquire into the differences , and "to return or retain the warrant , as to them may appear the most eligible . " After the usual election of officers , the

W . M . s of the City Lodges are requested to forward the names of two members , one as Steward , and the other as Deacon , from whom to appoint the Stewards and Deacons of Grand Lodge . Complaint is also made that Temple Lodge , No . 13 , is working improperly , and a Committee of inquiry is appointed . At an extra Grand Lodge on the 11 th June , a warrant is granted for a new Lodge in Paris , County

Oneida . A Committee is appointed to inquire into the Lodge St . George ' s , Shenectady , reported not to be working under a warrant of New York G . Lodge . A letter from the Grand Master of Maryland , complaining of a censure passed npon him by that Grand Lodge , and asking advice thereon , is referred to a Committee . Arrangements having been made for celebrating St . John ' s day , the Eeport re the

associating m tho Higher Degrees of sundry members of Hiram Lodgo , No . 7 , with an excluded member is delivered , the result being the exclusion of the S . W . of that Lodge , and the suspension of the others concerned till the next regular Communication of G . Lodgo . On the 28 th August , we read that the Grand Secretary , with his books , attended , " and waited nntil near nine o'clock , when none of

the other members of the Grand Stewards' Lodge appearing he withdrew . " On the 4 th December , tho death of Grand Secretary , John Abrams , is reported , and it is resolved to erect some memorial as a tribute of respect for the services he had rendered . A letter from the Grand Lodge of Upper Canada , soliciting fraternal intercourse between the two Grand Lodges , and giving a list of the Lodges ,

fourteen in number , under its jurisdiction , is received , and a suitable reply , reciprocating the friendly feeling , is ordered to be written . Petitions for warrants for "Fortitude" and " Horizontal " Lodges aro granted , while a third petition from members of Master's , No . 2 , Albany , to form Hiram Lodge in Coymans County of Albany , is referred to the Grand Officers . A snm of 45 dols .,

collected tho previous St . John ' s Day for distressed prisoners in gaol , is ordered to bo expended for their relief . On the 23 rd of the same month an extra meeting was held for the purpose of taking the necessary steps to pay a just tribute of respect to the memory of Bro . General George Washington , deceased on the 14 th instant . After recording his many virtues and the eminent services ho had rendered ,

both as Commander-in-Chief and President of the United States , the resolution adopted is , that all the Lodges in the jurisdiction wear mourning for six months ; that a committee be appointed to take steps to place a suitable memorial of him in the room where Grand Lodge assembles , and that the same Committee further take steps with other committees of Americans in respect of some public

testimonial of respect and veneration . Permission ia granted to West Chester Lo ' ge , No . 40 , to meet , for tho convenience of members , at tho town of tho White Plains and East Chester alternately , and the warrant of Temple Lodgo , No . 13 , is returned . On tho 30 th of the month Grand Lodgo meets for the pui-pose of taking part iu the funeral ceremony of Washington . The offer of tho Grand Secretary to meet tho

day following in the Reformed Protestant French Church in Pine Street , and there join the procession , being accepted . A detailed account of the order of procession is given in tho minutes of the meeting . A petition to form " Abrams Lodge " is referred to the Grand Officers . In the minutes of the Stewards' Lodge , of the 2 Gth February 1800 , is entered an account of tho expenses incurred at the solemn funeral

ceremony , the amount being dols . 154-44 In the same minutes we find recorded the donation of 10 dols . to a " transient Mason of good character ancl Masonic conduct , named Vertlier St . Armand , " who had been robbed of all his property by privateers , and was m great distress . At the meeting of Grand Lodge , on 5 th March , reasons having been given for the delay in settling a variety of im .

Laying The Foundation Stone Of The New Docks At Ayr.

portanfc business , the 'Grand Secretary , who some time previously had been directed to obtain 24 copies of the Constitutions , announced that he had been unable to obtain them anywhere . A motion to print more copies was , however , negatived . We also learn that " two letters of importance for Masonry , directed to the Grand Secretary , by the Grand Lodgo of South Carolina , " are referred to a Committee

for report . It is then minuted that the Abrams Lodge had been duly constituted . The petition for a new Lodge , to be known , aa tho Washington Lodge , being duly recommended , is unanimously granted , but a second petition for the formation of a " Mount Moriah Lodge " is rejected as being neither properly certified nor recommended . The petition of the late S . W . of Hiram Lodge , No . 7 , who had

associated with an excluded member , and been expelled , having been considered , he is restored to his former Masonic rights and privileges . The Grand Officers are then directed to take measures for inquiring into certain irregularities complained of as prevailing in Steuben Lodge , No . 18 , Newburgh , County of Ulster . The Grand Secretary having made somo remarks on the inconvenience arising from tho

present mode of numbering Lodges in the City , and in the County , the subject is referred to the next regular meeting , and the Lodge is closed . At an extra meeting on the 25 th of the month , the Committee to see after the conduct of the Steuben Lodge state they have advised that a meeting of the Lodge be held , and that officers bo elected for the current year . Petitions for warrants for four new

Lodges , namely , " Warren Lodge , " "Asylum Lodge , " Coymans , Albany , and Mohawk Lodge , afterwards altered to " Morton Lodge , " Shenectady , County Albany , and for " Hiram Lodge , " Aurelius , County of Cayaza , are unanimously granted . The Committee appointed to consider the important letters received from South Carolina deliver their report , which is accepted , and a

Committee of seven is at once appointed to execute its terms . The other matters recorded are of the usual character , being ordinary motions , petitions in the ordinary way for relief , & c . & c . Among the Grand Officers who figure in this portion of the record may be men . tionedas eminent in the annals of New York State , as well as in New

York Masonry , the names of De Witb Clinton and Martin Hoffman , both Grand Senior Wardens , and John Jacob Astor appointed Grand Treasurer in succession to Hoffman . Having thus far noted the progress of the story , we await with interest the further numbers , and till they reach us must take leave , with regret , of this valuable publication .

Rides and Regulations of the Provincial Grand , Lodge of Devon . Tha Eev . J . Huyshe , Eight Worshipful Provincial Grand Master . Plymouth ; Leonard D . Westcott , Printer , 14 Frankfort Street . 1876 . THE mere publication of the Bye Laws of a Lodge or Province must be regarded as a necessity , but when we find , as in the case before us , that the publication of such Bye Laws is supplemented by that of a brief , yet sufficient historical sketch of the Province , we are jusfci . fied in considering it as pre-eminently a mark of zeal and energy in the Craftsmen who compose its several Lodges . The case of a member who will devote time , labour , and money to the preparation and issue of comparatively so slight a work as this without at least

a corresponding amount of encouragement from his brethren must be set down as exceptional . The rule we take it is , that where such calendars and histories are published , there will be found a sufficient number of active and intelligent Masons to encourage the good work . Were the good example set by Devon , Cornwall , and other Provinces we might name followed generally , the labours of writing a

trustworthy Masonic History would be very considerably lessened . Wa hail , therefore , with pleasure , the appearance of this short history of the Province of Devon , and we tender our thanks to Bro . Avery , the Provincial Grand Treasurer , for his kindness in forwarding us a copy . Nor must we pass unnoticed the name of the Provincial

Grand Secretary , Bro . W . G . Rogers , to whose editorial labour and researches we are indebted mainly , as we are informed , for the publication of this important little addition to the history of the Craft in this country . To him , likewise , we express onr warmest congratulations for the very able manner in which he has fnlfilledhis task .

As to the contents of the pamphlet , there is first of all given a copy of the warrant issued by our late M . W . G . M ., the Earl of Zetland , on the 22 nd January 1866 , and appointing the Eev . John Huyshe to the high position of Grand Master of the Province in which he had already obtained such high and well merited distinction . Then come the Laws and Eegulations which have been compiled for

tho government of Devon . These are followed by a short sketch of tho Provincial Grand Lodge , from its establishment in 1775 , to tho appointment of the present P . G . M ., together with some particulars of tho Union Lodge , Exeter , to whose exertions we mainly owe it that the Provincial Grand Lodge was established . This Union Lodge , wc are told , was warranted on 6 th August 1766 , was

consecrated 6 th October of the same year , and continued to hold its meetings regularly till 20 th October 1778 . It ceased to meet for some time , but it assembled again on 27 th April 1781 . After the year 1788 it appears to have transacted no Masonic business , and in the following year it was struck off the roll of Lodges . In 1769 it passed a resolution limiting the number of its members to twenty .

four . Among the brethren at different times borne on the register of this Lodge are tho names of gentlemen of good standing in tho County , as well as of " members of the Legal , Medical , and Clerical professions , " two of these last having been subsequently raised to tho Episcopal bench , namely , the late Dr . H . BathnrsfcBishop of

, Norwich , and the late Dr . Herbert Marsh , Bishop of Peterborough . The first intimation we have that the formation of a Provincial Grand Lodge was in contemplation will be found in the following extract from tho Minute Book of the Lodgo , dated 20 th December 1774 . Wo quote it in full : —