The Meeting Of Grand Lodge.

THE MEETING OF GRAND LODGE .

THE Agenda of business to be transacted at the Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge on Wednesday next , although meagre in extent is not -without interest . The report of the Board of Benevolence recommends four grants of £ 50

ach and two of £ 100 each , while the Eeport of the Colonial Board further deals with the unfortunate grievance -with New Zealand , to which we devote attention elsewhere , under the heading " Secession . " There is also a renewal of Brother W . Woodward ' s

proposition that the Freemasons of England should contribute to the Decoration Fund of St . Paul ' s Cathedral , a scheme we consider to be outside the scope of Grand Lodge , and one

which we hope will be negatived by those present at next week ' s meeting . The new Lodges warranted during the quarter are sixteen in number , and carry the Boll up to 2581 .

A Thirst For Knowledge.

A THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE .

"V ^ EARS ago a talented English writer told the world that - * - " Fools rush in where angels fear to tread , " and although there may be few among us who care to admit they are " fools , " yet we think there are very many who share with us the desire to rush into that inner circle of Freemasonry of

which the Boman Catholic press so frequently tells us , and which appears to be beyond the ken of the " angels" of our secret Brotherhood . We should most certainly like to witness the immense power ascribed to its votaries .

The quotation we have selected from Pope may well be applied to the fools who rush into print in the Bomanist papers in regard to Freemasonry , and we certainly envy the patronage of readers such as those prints possess , if they really

show a relish for the nonsense provided for them . Would that we could find readers equally gullible as those of the " Catholic Times " must be , if they take any interest in the matter given under the heading "Freemasonry in Great

Britain , " which we reproduce in our pages as showing the idiocracy of its compilation , and wherein we are told , with apparent sincerity , that Lucifer himself has his vicar on earth ( in the form of a prominent Freemason we believe is the

popular legend ) with whom he visibly held conference at Charleston , South Carolina . We are not usually inquisitive , but we must confess to a great thirst for knowledge of the particular branch of Freemasonry viewed through the Boman

Catholic spectacles . But unfortunately Lucifer does not visibly appear to ordinary members of the Masonic Order , any more tuan do the saints and other luminaries of the Romish Church to ordinary members of that creed . Bigotry and

superstition may do much , but they cannot perform such miracles as to bring departed spirits back to earth . The position of affairs may be best expressed in the words of Shakespeare :

A Thirst For Knowledge.

. . . . " I can call spirits from the vasty deep . .... Why , so can I , or so can any man ; But will they come when you do call for them ? " We have previously said these senseless utterances of the

Romanists are beneath contempt , and would be unworthy of notice , were it not that uncontradicted they appear unanswerable , besides which we hardly think it right to deny our readers the enjoyment to be derived from the reading of such

wild stories as are from time to time put forward by the Roman enthusiasts , and the statements in which we should very much like to verify , not only for the purpose of convincing our readers , but also to satisfy our thirst for knowledge .

Secession.

SECESSION .

OUR views in regard to the split among the Brethren in New Zealand , and the establishment of a local Grand Lodge there , are known to our readers , and it 'will therefore occasion them no surprise when we say we very much regret the terms of the Report of the Colonial Board , which appears in this

quarter ' s Agenda of Grand Lodge . Therein we are told that twelve " seceding " Lodges of New Zealand had been duly erased from the Roll of the United Grand Lodge of England , and that

the Warrants of the said Lodges had all been returned to the District Grand Master of Canterbury—this being an outcome of the action of the members of these Lodges , who joined the " so-called Grand Lodge of New Zealand . "

How long is this absurd and most un-Masomc exhibition of temper on the part of the Grand Lodge of England to continue ? Can anyone actuated by true Masonic spirit , and uninfluenced by the lawyer-like disposition that seems to govern much of the

affairs of English Freemasonry at the present moment , believe that these New Zealand Masons would continue in their " secessions" without good cause ? or can anyone explain why

the large body of Masons who have formed themselves into the Grand Lodge of New Zealand should be treated as outlaws and designated as seceders ?

If our Grand Lodge was engaged in a contentious law suit , with eminent lawyers twisting Acts of Parliament and other documents this way and that way the case might be different , but here we have the Grand Lodge of England holding itself up

to the world as the truest exemplification of all that is good in Freemasonry , and at the same time being led by the nose by a body of Brethren who quibble and quarrel over a few forms and ceremonies , and seem to derive as much pleasure in maintaining

what has come to be a grievance , among members of the Craft , as they would from a snatch verdict in a law court . It should be possible to approach this question as a Masonic one , altogether ignoring the purely " legal" aspect of the case , if it is

necessary , in order to arrive at a settlement of the existing condition of affairs , which is a disgrace to Freemasonry , aud a reproach to all who take any part in upholding the un-Masonic position at present occupied by our Grand Lodge , which really