United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

Important business will come before the brethren at the Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge on Wednesday next . In thc first place , they will be called upon to consider a notice of motion from his Royal Highness the GRAND MASTER , to the effect that a sura of ^ 315 be voted from the Fund of General Purposes in aid of the Mansion House Fund

for the relief of the " distress occasioned by the recent disastrous fire at St . John ' s , Newfoundland . " We have no doubt the motion will be carried unanimously j indeed , if his Royal Highness had seen fit to propose a larger sum , so great is the sympathy of the Masonic body with the sufferings caused by this dreadful catastrophe , that we feel well assured it would be voted with the utmost readiness . There will also be submitted to

the brethren for their consideration certain other resolutions in which his Royal Highness recommends , "in the interests of the Craft , " that six additional offices be created in Grand Lodge , and that " on and after the Grand Festival of 1893 " there shall be appointed a Grand Chancellor , whose duties shall be " those at present assigned to the Grand Registrar , as

set forth in Articles 31 and 32 ofthe Book of Constitutions , ' and who shall take rank next aftei the Grand Wardens ; four additional Grand Deacons , and a Deputy Grand Sword Bearer . In Provinces and Districts which muster 100 lodges and upwards , there shall be appointed the same additional Provincial and District Grand Officers as in Grand Lodge ; in those which number 75

but less than 100 lodges , the addition shall be limited to four Provincial or District Grand Deacons ; and in those which have 50 lodges , but less than 75 , there shall be added two Provincial or District Grand Deacons ; such additional Provincial or District Grand Ollieers to be appointed at the first meeting for thc annual appointment of Provincial Grantl

or District Grand Officers after the confirmation of the minutes of Grand Lodge . If we take into account the amazing increase in the number of Masonic lodges which has taken place since the L ? 11 ion in 1813 , but more especially during these latter years , it cannot be said that our Grand Lodge authorities have been lavish in their creation ol offices . After

Ihe Union the Grand Lodge Officers elected or appointed were the Grand Master , with a Pro Grand Master in the event of the Grand Mastcr being a Prince of the Blood Royal , a Deputy Grand Master , thc two Grand Wardens , two Grand Chaplains , the Grand Treasurer , the Grand Registrar , the Grand Secretary , two Grand Deacons , Grand Supt . of Works , Grand

Dir . of Cers ., Grand Sword Bearer , and Grand Organist . In 1810 a Grand Secretary for German Correspondence was appointed . In 1 S 29 the office of Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies was created , in 1840 that of Grand Pursuivant , and in 1859 that of Assistant Grand Pursuivant . In 1862 the President of the Board of General Purposes became ex-officio a Grand

Officer , and the number of Grand Deacons was increased to four . In 18 S 2 lhe list was increased by thc appointment of a Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies and two Grand Standard Bearers , while in 18 S 6 the President of the Board of Benevolence became a Grand Officer . As regards Provinces ¦ ind Districts , thc rule during the last few years has been that in those

numbering 30 lodges and upwards , Provincial and District Grand Masters are empowered to appoint two additional Provincial or District Grand Deacons ¦ ind a Deputy Provincial or District Grand Director of Ceremonies . Thus , excluding such offices as those of Deputy Grand Master , Grand Registrar , 1 ' resident of the Board of Genera ) Purposes , Grand Secretary , Sec , which

arc usuall y held during pleasure , the number of appointments annually at l "e disposal of the Grand Master is about 17 . The same number is at the disposal of Provincial and District Grand Masters where the lodges range •rom 311 upwards , while in Provinces and Districts with less than 30 the "umber is less by three . Hence , even with thc proposed additions , the

honours which can be bestowed by the Grand Master and Provincial or Uistrict Grand Masters will not be excessive in respect of numbers . We ) e S to add that we by no means ignore the valuable services rendered by "rmer and present Assistant Grand Secretaries and Grand Tylers , and r ° vincial and District Assistant Grand Secretaries and Grand Tlers

y , e cause we have omitted them from the foregoing enumeration . Since the last Quarterly Communication his Koyal Highness , the GRAND ' -VSTI ; R , lias been pleased to grant warrants for the constitution of 11 new % es , of which only one is located in Londonwhile the rest are

dis-, ri uted among the following Provinces and Districts abroad , namely : one ckshire , two in Buckinghamshire , one in Cheshire , two in Leicestershire , c "i Northamptonshire , one in Sussex , one in Bengal and one in

The Province Of Cornwall.

THE PROVINCE OF CORNWALL .

The proceedings at the recent annual meeting of thc Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall were more than ordinarily attractive , including , as they did , several matters of personal interest , as well as the Provincial Grand Master ' s address to the brethren , and thc reports and accounts which are submitted , as a matter of course , at all similar gatherings . In his address ,

Bro . the Earl of MOUNT EDGCUMBE made certain remarks as to the wearing of Masonic clothing elsewhere than at our lodge meetings , in which , wc think , his lordship will have the entire sympathy of thc Cralt . Referring to the frequency with which during the past year he had been requested to grant dispensations to appear as Masons at balls and other public meetings .

thc Provincial Grand Master was careful to point out that it was " one of tho oldest and best traditions " of Freemasonry that its members should avoid " making their badges and insignia common by parading- them in public except on special occasions . " In the early days of last century , and many years before the erection of Freemasons' Hall , it was customary , when a new

Grand Master was to be installed in office , for the brethren to march in public procession , carrying with them their paraphernalia , and preceded by one or more bands of music , to the Hall of one of the great City Companies , where it had been arranged the important ceremony should take place . Sober-minded citizens smiled no doubt at these harmless exhibitions

of vanity , though it is more than probable they took their wives and sweethearts , their sisters and daughters , and country cousins , to view the unaccustomed spectacle , just as they turned out annually , and with the same im pediment u , to witness the Lord Mayor ' s show , or a Koyal Progress to Guildhall . But the tuder element in London society must needs caricature

these displays , and hence that " Grand procession of Scald Miserable Masons , " as portrayed by A . BE . VO / ST in his "Geometrical View "of the same , to which our worthy Bro . SI ' ETII referred in his note of last week as a most rare print , of which only a very few copies have been preserved to this day . This open mockerv was too much for the dignity of our Order , and

no long time elapsed ere public processions of Masons were forbidden b y ordinance of Grand Lodge . Later in the century the custom was revived by the " Ancient" Grand Lodge in connection with their celebration of St . John the Baptist ' s Day , but the " Moderns " adhered strictly to their law , and the dissensions which broke out in that body about the year 1779 between

PRESTON and certain members of the Lodgeof Antiquity , and Grand Lodge had their origin in the censure passed by the latter upon the former , because PRESTON and his associates had attended Divine Service in St . Dunstan ' s Church in their Masonic clothing without previously obtaining a dispensation for the purpose . Since the Union , but more especially since thc

accession of the Prince of WALES to the Grand Mastership , the law against processions has been strictly enforced , and it has only been on such important occasions as the laying of the foundation-stones of public buildings , or in provincial towns , when a Provincial Grand Lodge attends Divine service at its annual meeting , that the brethren are seen abroad arrayed

as Masons ; but on everyone of these occasions their appearance in public is sanctioned and approved of by the authorities . So , too , since our Institutions have played so important a part in our routine of work , many of our lodges , singly , or in groups of two or more , have combined pleasure with duty , and have organised

balls or concerts , with a view to benefiting one or other of our Charities , and at these gatherings it has been usual for the brethren to appear in Craft clothing , the necessary dispensation having been first applied for , and without difficult ) - obtained . But as these meetings have of late years become more numerous , and as wc are always confronted with the danger

that a practice which , in itself , is not only harmless , but in the end beneficial , may be abused , it is just as well that Bro . the Earl of MOUNT EDGCUMUE should have drawn attention to the subject , though whether it will be possible to adopt his lordship ' s suggestion—that " lodges applying for dispensations should in future show their belief in the benefit that would

accrue by guaranteeing a certain sum beforehand " -may be reasonably open to question . However , his lordship , who , it must be remembered , is Dep . G . Master of England as well as Prov . G . Master , has rendered an

important service to Freemasonry , if only by making it clear to the breihren that he and the authorities generally are opposed to unnecessary public displays of Masonry , or displays which are proposed to be made for comparatively trivial objects .

Subsequently the Prov . G . Master referred to certain matters of interest to himself and certain members of his family , to wit , the gifts which had been presented to his daughters , the Ladies Albertha and Edith Edgcumbe , on the occasion of their marriage . Each of these gifts bore a suitable in-