Contents.

CONTENTS .

United Grand Lodge ' . 39 " Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Cumberland and Westmorland 39 J Masonic Relief in West Lancashire 39 * Excursion of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Arclueological Society 39 J Funeral of Bro . Robert Carey , Royal Cumberland Lodge , No . 41 393 The Royal Order of Scotland 393

Scotland 394 REPORTS OF MASONIC M EETINGSCraft Masonry 39 S Roval Arch 39 S Ancient and Accepted Rite 395 LEADERS , 39 ' CORRESPONDENCEThe un-Masonic Trial 39 ?

Royal Arch Sashes and Past Masters' Collars 397 Freemasonry in Cambridgeshire 397 Admission of Visitors 397 An Anti-Mason 397 A Quotation 397 Review 397 Masonic Notes and Queries 397

Obituary 39 » Ancient and Primitive Rite 398 Amusements 398 Literary , Art , and Antiquarian Notes 398 Masonic and General Tidings 398 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 399 Advertisements L , II . » 400

United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

The September Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England was held on Wednesday evening at Freemasons ' Hall . Bro . Sir Francis Burdett , Bart ., Prov . G . M . for Middlesex , presided as M . W . Grand Master . The other Grand and Past Grand Officers present were

Bros . Gen . J . Studholme Brownrigg , P . G . M . for Surrey , as Deputy G . M . j Montague Guest , P . G . M . for Dorset , as Past G . M . ; the Earl of Onslow , S . G . W . ; Major General Somerset J . G . Calthorpe , P . G . W ., as G . J . W . ; Rev . C . W . Spencer Stanhope , M . A ., G . C . ; Rev . Sir J . Warren Hayes , P . G . C . as G . C ; Col . J . Creaton , G . Treas . ; AS . J . McIntyre , O . C ., M . P .. G . Reir . ; Col . Shadwell

H . Clerke , G . Sec ; R . F . Gould , S . G . D . ; Col . H . S . Somerville Burney , J . G . D . ; J ohn H . Scott , J . G . D . ; Sir Albert W . Woods ( Garter ) , G . D . C . ; Magnus Ohren , Asst . G . D . C ; Charles Greenwood , G . S . B . ; H . G . Buss , Asst . G . Sec ; C . S . Jekyli , G . Org . ; James Kench , G . P . ; William Clarke , Asst . G . P . ; James Mason , P . G . S . B . ; I . M . Case , P . G . D . ; VV . H . F .

Powell , P . G . D . ; Charles W . C Hutton , P . G . D . ; Charles A . Murton , P . G . D . ; Fredk . P . Morrell , P . G . D . ; James Lewis Thomas , P . A . G . D . C ; Rev . Charles J . Martyn , P . G . C ; Thomas Fenn , P . G . D . ; C . A . Cottebrune , P . G . P . ; R . Warner Wheeler , P . G . D . ; Hyde Pullen , P . G . S . B . ; Dr . Jabez Hogg , P . G . D . ; S . Rawson , D . P . G . M . China ; Raphael Costa , P . G . D . ; William F .

Nettlcship , P . G . D . ; Capt . William Piatt , P . G . D . ; A . J . Duff Filer , P . G . S , B . ; Francis Robinson , P . G . S . B . ; S . Mullens , P . G . S . B . ; Raynham W . Stewart , P . G . D . ; Rev . C VV . Arnold , P . G . C . ; Rev . H . Adair PicUard , P . G . C . ; Robert Grey , P . G . D . ; E . P . Albert , P . G . P . ; Rev . R . P . Bent , P . G . C . ; Capt . Nathaniel George Philips , P . G . D . ; Hugh D . Sandeman , P . D . G . M . Bengal ; Rev . W . K . K .

Bedford , P . G . C . ; Peter de Lande Long , P . G . D . : H . Sadler , G . Tyler ; and H . Massey ( Freemason ) . GRAND SECRETARY having read the minutes sf the Quarterly Communication of the 2 nd June , the same were put to Grand Lodge and unanimously confirmed . The report of the Lodge of Benevolence for the last quarter was also read , and the brethren confirmed the following recommendations of grants :

The widow of a brother of the Gosport Lodge , £ s . d . No . 903 , Gosport 50 o o A brother of the Mariners' Lodge , No . 249 , Liverpool 100 o o The widow of a brother of the Royal Sussex Lodge , No . 53 , Bath . ... 50 o -o A brother of the Lodge of Good Fellowship ,

No . 27 G , Chelmsford 150 o o A brother of the Westminster and Keystone Lodge , No . 10 , London 50 o o A brother of the Royal York Lodge of Perseverance , No . 7 , London ... 100 o o The widow of a brother of the Lodge of

Harmony , No . 2 SS , Todmorden 50 o 0 The widow of a brother of the Beaureper Lodge , No . 7 S 7 , Belper 50 o 0 A brother of the Lodge of Peace , No . 322 , Stockport 50 o o

The following report of the Board of General Purposes was taken as read , aid ordered to be entered on the minutes : To the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England .

The Board of General Purposes beg to report : — 1 . Lodge No . 51 , Colchester , having passed a brothe after an insufficient interval from his initiation ( viz ., twenty seven days ) the Board have ordered that the brother be re obli gated in the Second Degree , and have inflicted a finco , two guineas on the lodge . ' ~ . Lodge No . 113 , Preston , having initiated a brother in the year 1 S 75 for less than the regulated fee , and having

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omitted to return his name for registration , the Board have admonished the lodge , and inflicted a fine of two guineas thereon . ( Signed ) FRANK GREEN . Vice-President . Freemasons' Hall , London , W . C , 17 th August , sSSo . To the report is subjoined a statement of the Grand

Lodge accounts , at the last meeting of the Finance Committee , h » Id on Friday , the 13 th August , showing a balance in the Bank of England of £ 5649 os . , 5 d . ; and in the hands of Grand Secretary for petty cash £ 75 , and for servants' wages £ 9 6 15 s . The annual report of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and Widows of Freemasons , dated the 21 st of May , 1 SS 0 , was laid before Grand

Lodge , and ordered to be accepted . The next business was the consideration of an appeal of Bro . Alexander Dimant , of the New Zealand Pacific Lodge , No . 517 , Wellington , New Zealand , P . M ., late or the Ballarat Lodge , then No . 1019 , afterwards No . 717 , Ballarat , Victoria , against a sentence of suspension passed on him by the District Grand Master of Wellington , North Island , New Zealand , for breach

of the Constitutions in publishing the proceedings of the District Grand Lodge without authority . Bro . / E . J . MCINTYRE , Q . C ., Grand Registrar , in bringing the appeal before Grand Lodge , said the appellant , who was a P . M . of several lodges in New Zealand , and a joining member of the Pacific Lodge , No . 517 , appealed against a sentence of suspension by the District G . M . of New Zealand , the sentence having been pronounced on

the 25 th March of this year . Bro . Dimant gave a history of his initiation into Freemasonry , mentioned the number of lodges he had joined and resuscitated , his services in Masonry , which , according to his own account , he seemed to have found in a Yery bad state in New Zealand , the funds of the lodges being squandered in refreshment , which should have gone for the relief of distress . Bro . Dimant stated all this by way of introduction to his appeal , but it

had really nothing to do with the case under consideration . He joined the Pacific Lodge in 1 S 75 , but he did not appear to have passed the chair of that lodge , and was only a P . M . in it . He was appointed District Grand Director of Ceremonies , and he held this office for some time . In iS 7 g a dispute arose between some brethren of the lodge , and steps were taken which appeared to have been too strong , but which incited the anger of Bro . Dimant . The steps

were for the exclusion of a brother for un-Masonic conduct , and a request to the District Grand Master to expel him from the Craft . Bro . Dimant did not think it was right to have this notice of motion printed on the agenda paper , and he saw the Master , and got from him a pledge that it should not be printed . Ultimately , however , it was printed , and the case of the brother came on ; then Bro . Dimant seemed to have taken a

curious view of the bye-laws of the lodge . One of these bye-laws provided that when a complaint was made against a brother two brethren should be assigned to help him in his defence , and the complaint was to be referred to a permanent Committee , and the two brethren assigned to help the brother might attend the Committee but not vote . This was in the month of March . The matter went on , and it slumbered for some time . In the month of

November , last it came on to be heard before this Committee . Bro . Dimant seemed to have taken very great interest in the brother complained against , though the brother himself did not appear to have complained at all against what was done . Bro . Dimant raised the objection that the lodge had not sanctioned the appointment of two Master Masons to assist the brother complained of . He was then referred to a letter written by Bro . Dimant to that brother in

October that if he wished to appoint two Master Masons he should do so , and it did not appear that he did . The matter was discussed on the 14 th of November , but , this objection being taken , the meeting was adjourned till the iSth . On that day Bro . Dimant appeared in defence of the brother , and two brethren took a strong view against the defendant , and in spite of the remonstrances and objections of Bro . Dimant , the Committee agreed upon a

report to the lodge that this brother should be excluded . This report came on for consideration in the lodge , and the objection was again taken by Bro . Dimant that two Master Masons had not been appointed . The lodge overruled him , and held against him by a majority of one in a lodge of nine that the recommendation of the Committee should be sustained , and the brother excluded from the lodge . Upon that Bro . Dimant seemed to have had a

notion that everything was irregular , and that all he had to do was to appeal for the purpose of putting himself right . He then wrote a letter to the Master of the lodge , announcing that he would at the next meeting of the District Grand Lodge make a complaint against the lodge for their irregularity in not adhering to tlie bye-laws of the lodge . He also wrote to the District Grand Secretary , telling him that it was his intention to appeal at the

next meeting of the District Grand Lodge against the W . M . of the lodge for these irregularities . To this an answer was returned ; and on the 12 th of March liro . Dimant sent out a circular to the members of the lodge . By these letters it appeared that the dispute with respect to the brother complained of was a money complaint , and here he

( Bro . McIntyre ) would repeat what he said before on such matters—with the approval of Grand Lodge—that lodges in the Colonies , or in the provinces , or in London were not to be made offices for the collection of debts . The tribunals of the country were open to the brethren for this purpose , and if a brother thought he had a claim against another

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brother which required adjustment he must appeal to those tribunals . The original complaint was made in the month of August ; it was not adjudicated upon till the month of March , so that one would think the brother against whom the complaint was made had had time to prepare his defence . The meaning of Bro . Dimant in appealing to the District Grand Lodge was to appeal to the District Grand Master , but his notion was that the District Grand Master

could only hear an appeal in the District Grand Lodge . In his letter , Bro . Dimant cited the Book of Constitutions , which really did not bear him out , because that book said that the District Grand Master shall hear and determine all subjects of Masonic complaint or irregularity respecting lodges or individual Masons within his district , and that an apecal in all cases lies from the District Grand Master to the Grand Lodge or Grand Master . However , Bro .

Dimant went on to say that as the Board of General Purposes was constituted he should not appeal to them . On the 18 th March , 1 SS 0 , District Grand Lodge met , various business was done , and in process of time Bro . Dimant rose to bring forward his complaint . The D . G . M . was not able to be there , and he ( Bro . McIntyre ) was sorry he was not able to be in Grand Lodge that night , for although he was in this country , he was confined to his bed by a severe

accident . The Deputy District Grand Master was also unable to be in the District Grand Lodge , but he wrote a letter appointing the District Grand Registrar to take the chair . The District Grand Registrar was really one of the parties in the money transaction , about which the whole dispute arose , and Bro . Dimant was very much enraged , and he objected to the District G . Registrar being there to hear his appeal , because , he said this brother is not a Master or

a Past Master of an English lodge at all ; he is a Warden of an English lodge , but a Past Master only under the Irish Constitution . However , the brother did take the chair , and he ruled that the lettersof the 12 th March and the iSth March , particularly the latter , in which Bro . Dimant said he should have brought the matter before the Board of General Purposes , but on examining the list of the members of the Board he found that a very lanre majority of

them were brethren who were adversely interested in his complaint against the VV . M . of the Pacific Lodge , could not be read . Bro . Dimant complained that when the case of the brotheT defendant was before the Pacific Lodge upon the report of the Committee , the majority of the lodge allowed the evidence against the brother to be read , but declined to hear thelettcr in his defence , on the ground that it was couched in disrespectful language . The brother who

was in the chair of the District Grand Lodge ruled that those letters could not be read , and Bro . Dimant was accordingl y put down very peremptorily , and there the matter ended . Immediatel y the District Grand Lodge was over Bro . Dimant received a summons to appear liefore the Board of General Purposes , the matter for consideration being , according to his own account , the letters of the 12 th and 18 th March , that had been addressed by him to the

District Grand Secretary , and which were said to reflect upon the character of the members of the District Grand Lodge . He considered that this was out of order , and he paid no attention to the summons . It was quite clear that he ought to _ have appeared and answered any complaint , but he did not do so . Fhe Board met on the 25 th of March , and there was a document read , the postmark of which was the 24 th March ,

requesting that Bro . Dimant might he suspended . This was signed by the District Grand Secretary and nine brethren . There was a printed circular purporting to be the minutes of what passed in District Grand Lodge , which was evidently sent out by Bro . Dimant on the 24 th March , and he admitted it . In his appeal he admitted that , smarting under the bad treatment he considered he had received at the District Grand Lodge , he drew uo and circulated the

lithographed report , which not onl y did not quite agree , but , in some respects , disagreed , with the official minutes . At the end of the circular it was stated that the District Grand Lodge came to a close , and then in inverted commas " in peace , love , and unity , and so ended one of the most ridiculous farces and disgraceful scenes ever enacted within a District Grand Lodge . " It was quite clear that that was an offence against the law—p . 80 , Clause 3 that

, " No brother shall presume to print or publish , or cause to be printed or published , the proceedings of any lodge , or any part thereof , or the names of the persons present at such lodge , without the consent of the Grand Master or Provincial Grand Master , under pain of being suspended or expelled from the Order . " This subject had formed the subject of a summons , and Bro . Dimant had the opportunity of making his explanation , such as it was , or his

submission , as he should have done , and expressed his extreme regret for having printed the proceedings of the District Grand Lodge . It was quite clear there were ample grounds for his suspension . It was on this circular that the nine Past Masters wrote the recommendation that he should be expelled . The District Grand Master acted on the recommendation , and suspended him . Upon this Bro . Dimant wrote to the District Grand Master

for the names of the brethren who had recommended his suspension and a full copy of the minutes . He ( Bro . McIntyre ) thought that if the brethren had acted alone upon the two letters he had read they would not have afforded sufficient ground for suspension . Bro . Dimant in one of those letters stated that he intended to bring the

matter he mentioned before the DistrictGrand Lodge ; then the District Grand Secretary told him he must go to the Board of General Purposes ; and Bro . Dimant said he did not appeal to the District Grand Lodge or to the Board of General Purposes , but to the District Grand Master , who : was bound to hear and determine his appeal . On this