United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

The regular Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge will be held in Freemasons' Hall on Wednesday next , the 6 th inst ., when the usual business , which includes the nomination of ( i ) a Grand Master and ( 2 ) a Grand Treasurer for the ensuing year ; the appointment and investiture of , * i President of the Board of Benevolence ; the election of the Senior and

Junior Vice-Presidents of , and of 12 Past Masters to serve upon , the same Board ; and the consideration of the Reports of the Boards of Benevolence and General Purposes , will be transacted . As regards the office of Grand Treasurer , we understand that two brethren will be nominated , of whom one -Bro . WILLIAM SHURMUR , P . M . of the Lodge No . 2374 , Chingford , which

bears his name , and of which he was the principal founder—may be taken to represent the Provincial candidate ; while the other—Bro . W . M . STILES , a P . M . of the Strand Lodge , No . 1987—may be looked upon as the London candidate . For the Board of Benevolence 15 Past Masters have been nominated to serve , and , as only 12 can be elected , three of the

former number will have to stand out , indulging in hopes of better luck at the election in 1894 . The Report of the Board of Benevolence contains fewer recommendations than usual , while that of the Board of General Purposes , though exceedingly formidable in appearance , contains , in fact , only a few simple propositions , to which we

venture to think that little or no exception will be taken . Thus as regards the case of the P . M . and late Treasurer of a London lodge who failed to handover to his successor the balance of the moneys entrusted to his charge , and who , on being summoned to appear before thc Board , first of all pleaded illness as an excuse for non-attendance , then pleaded no excuse at all , and

finally treated with contempt a third and still more peremptory summons , the Board , under the provisions of Article 274 of the Book of Constitutions , report that they have passed a resolution to the effect that the brother in question " be suspended from all Masonic functions and privileges for contumacy , " and there is little likelihood that Grand Lodge will hesitate to

endorse the resolution . As regards certain lodges which " have failed to make returns for many years , notwithstanding repeated applications , " the Board recommend " that these lodges be summoned to show cause why they should not be erased . " The lodges scheduled are 14 in number , of which all but one belong to foreign parts , the list

being headed by Pythagoras , No . 447 , Corfu—one of the Ionian Islands formerly under the protection of Great Britain but now part of the Kingdom of Greece ; this has made no return since 1877 . The lodge Amistad Unida , No . 550 , located at Santa Martha , New Grenada , which was constituted in 1848 , has made no returns since

1857 , while the lodge of the Southern Cross , No . 672 , which was warranted in 1856 , and is circumstantially in our Grand Lodge Calendar at " No . 7 , Rue do Tropiche , Pernambuco , Brazil , " has furnished no evidence of its vitality since 1871 . Two lodges , located in the island of Mauritius , namely , British , No . 736 , and the Lodge of Harmony , No . 1535 , have failed to

send returns since 1887 and 1884 respectively , and there is Lodge Phosnix , No . 1183 , which was warranted in 1867 to meet in New Amsterdam , Berbice , but has sent no returns to head-quarters for close on 20 years . The six lodges entered in Grand Lodge Calendar as located in Smyrna , namely , Homer , No . 806 ; La Victoire , No . 896 ; St . John's , No . 952 ; the Dekran , No .

1014 ; St . George's , No . 1015 ; and the Sion , No . 1340 ; and the Eleusinian Lodge , No . 978 , Ephesus , complete the roll of lodges in foreign parts , from which all attempts on the part of our Grand Secretary to obtain anything in the nature of evidence that they are doing , or in the case of the lodge at Ephesus , have done any work , have failed utterly . The last heard of the

Homer Lodge was in 1888 , and of Lodge La Victoire in 1880 , but as to the rest , the very latest return belongs to the year 1876 , and it is not surprising therefore that the Board should be desirous of clearing the roll of lodges of such as have furnished no evidence of their existence for so prolonged a period . There is also one lodge in the Province of North Wales—the

St . Cybi , No . 597 , Holyhead , of which nothing has been heard since 1889 , but four years is so short an interval by comparison with those that have elapsed since some of the above derelict lodges have been heard of , that it is just possible we may learn some news of it , now that a determined tffort is being made to ascertain what has become of it

and its members . It is also reported that in the case of a warrant recently granted for the constitution of a new lodge to meet as No . 2445 , at Blenheim , New Zealand , arrangements have been made which render its establishment unnecessary , and the warrant having been returned , the name will be erased . There is further a recommendation from the Board that , in consequence of the great increase in the work thrown upon the Grand

United Grand Lodge.

Secretary ' s staff , the salaries of the several members may be revised in accordance with a certain scale . The last revision took place in 1874 , when there were 1380 lodges on the roll ; the certificates issued by Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter in 18 73 having been 8766 , while the receipts of Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter amounted to £ 17 , 891 . In 1892 the

number of lodges was 2024 , and of certificates issued 10 , 242 , and the amount received in fees upwards of £ 25 , 118 . In the interval , the third , fourth , and fifth clerks have had their salaries increased , and there have been appointed at different times four additional clerk =, vvhile the Grand Tyler ' s salary remains as fixed in 1874 . It is now proposed to augment the salaries of the whole staff ,

taking the amount now annually received by each clerk and the Grand Tyler as the minimum , rising by annual increments of £ 20 , £ 15 , and £ 10—according to rank—to in each case a certain maximum ; and it is also suggested that , as the Grand Tyler is also Sub-Librarian , receiving £ 20 a year for his services in the latter capacity , he shall henceforth be paid for

this portion of his duty at the rate of £ 40 per annum . Under the new scale , however , there will be eight clerks instead of nine—though it is , of course , possible this diminution may be only temporary . But be this as it may , considering the length of service of the several brethren who hold these appointments , and the admirable manner in which , as far as we have had

opportunities of judging , they perform their duties , we arc of opinion that the improved scale of remuneration is both justified and deserved—justified by the greater stress of work imposed upon them , and deserved , as we have already said , by the length of their service , and the manner in which they have severally discharged their duties .

Consecration Of The Chancery Bar Lodge, No. 2456, In The Presence Of The Prince Of Wales.

CONSECRATION OF THE CHANCERY BAR LODGE , No . 2456 , IN THE PRESENCE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES .

The consecration of the Chancery Bar Lodge , No . 2456 ( which was postponed from Midsummer last on account of the engagements of the Prince of Wales precluding his attendance at the ceremony , which he had intimated his intention to give ) , was performed on Tuesday last , in the Library of the Honourable Society of Lincoln ' s-Inn . For some time

past a Committee of the new lodge had been busily engaged in making arrangements for the proceedings of the day in consultation with the Grand Secretary , Bro . E . Letchworth , and the Grand Director of Ceremonies , Bro . Sir Albert Woods- ( Garter ) , and the result of their efforts was a ceremonial which was perfect . Lincoln's-Inn . Library , from its very form , is an inconvenient chamber for a great ceremonial such as that on Tuesday , as the book-cases at right angles with the longitudinal walls , in the spaces between

which many of the brethren had to be placed , interfered with a full view of the assemblage by several of the brethren whose seats were there assigned to them ; still , there was enough to be seen by everyone to elicit an expression of satisfaction with the whole proceedings . The ceremony of consecration was fixed for six in the evening , and the brethren commenced to assemble an hour before that time . Tne Prince of Wales had appointed the Earl of Lathom , M . W . Pro G . M ., to perform the ceremony , and it was an appointment which left nothing to be desired .

The list of brethren who attended at the ceremony comprised the following : H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , K . G ., & c , & c , & c , & c , M . W . Grand Master ; the Earl of Lathom , G . C . B ., Pro G . M . ; the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe , Dep . G . M . ; the Lord Chancellor , G . C . B ., P . G . W . ; the Earl of Jersey , G . C . M . G ., P . G . M . Oxfordshire ; the Earl of Euston , P . G . M . Norths and Hunts ; Lord Suffield , K . C . B ., P . G . M . Norfolk

Lord Brooke , P . G . M . Essex ; Sir Francis Knollys , K . C . M . G ., C . B ., P . G . W . ; W . W . B . Beach , P . G . M . Hants ; Lord George Hamilton , P . G . M . Middx . ; Col . Caldwell , P . G . M . Cambs . ; Col . Le G . N . Starkie , P . G . M . E . Lanes . ; H . D . Sandeman , P . Dist . G . M . Bombay ; Col . Noel Money , C . B ., P . G . M . Surrey ; Lord Halsbury , P . G . W . ; Lord Ashbourne , Rt . Hon . A . Akers Douglas , J . G . W . ; Mr Justice Romer , Mr . Justice Bruce , Mr . Justice Kennedy , Bonamy Dobree , P . G . W . ; Victor W lliamson , C . M . G .,

P . G . W . ; R . Cunliffe , P . G . W . ; Sir John Monckton , P . G . W ; Canon B Hock , G . Chap . ; Alderman and Sheriff Dimsdale , P . G . Stwd . ; Rev . F . A . Macdonald , G . Chap . ; Rev . C . J . Martyn , P . G . Chap . ; Rev . H . R . Cooper Smith , D . D ., P . G . Chap , j S . Cochrane , Grand Treasurer ; F . A . Philbrick , Q . C ., Grand Registrar ; T . Fenn , President Board of General Purposes ; D . R . Littler , Deputy Grand Registrar ; W . B . Coltman . P . G . Stwd ., W . M . ; R . Horton Smith , Q G , P . P . G . R . Cambs . and

Middx ., S . W . ; S . Hall , Q . C ., J . W . ; G . Pemberton Leach , Treas . ; L . G . Gordon Robbins , S . G . D ., Sec . ; W . E . M . Tomlinson , M . P ., P . G . W . W . Lanes ., S . D . ; K . Beaumont , P . G . Stwd ., J . D . ; E . Swinfen Eady , Q . C .. I . G . J . B . Dyne , T . L . Wilkinson , and R . J . Mure , Stewards ; VV . G . Lemon , P . A G . D . C , D . C . ; E . Cutler , Q . C ., P . G . O ., Org . ; Sir Albert W . Wcods , K . C . M . G , C . B . ( Garter ) , P . G . W ., G . D . of C . ; E . Letchworth , G . Sec . ; Robert Grey , Pres . Board of Benevolence ; S . Pope , Q . C ., P . G . D . ; Judge Sir Horatio Lloyd , P . G . D . ; Frank Richardson , P . G . D . ;