The Grand Lodge Of New York.

the mot fort / re among the Grand Lodges in thc United States . But latterl y there has been exhibited b y some of them a desire for change . Ilcncc the readiness with which such new-fangled ideas in support of public inslallations , reimbursemcnt of charitable

g ifts , and so forth , arc received m many quarters . rortunatel y for thc Craft , such jurisdictions as those of New York , Massachusetts , Pennsylvania , and others that mi g ht be named , arc as steadfast as ever in adherence to the princip les and practice

of Masonry as they received it during thc . iSth century from this country , and while this is the case , there is , as we have remarked on many previous occasions , no need for anyone to be alarmed about the preservation of the genuine tenets and principles of the Craft .

We gather from the Voice of . Uaso / i / y lor last month that thc 116 th annual communication of this Grand Lodge was held in New York on the ist , 2 nd , and 3 rd June , under the presidency of Bro . J STEWART , M . W . G . Master . Nothing , however ,

appears to have taken place at the meeting itself which deserves to be recorded beyond this , that Bro . JOSEPH J . LITTLE , who represents thc Grand Lodge of England at thc Grand Lodge , was requested to send thc following telegram to the M . W . G .

Master o ( our Grand Lodge : " As your representative near the Grand Lodge of thc State of New York , it being now in annual session , it g ives me great p leasure b y its direction and on its behalf to transmit to you , and through you to your august

mother , its congratulations upon the unparalleled event about to be celebrated in her honour . That the blessings attendant upon the past 60 years of her reign may be but thc prelude to the continuation of many times 60 years of joy and prosperity to

her people is the wish of the great Masonic Fraternity throughout thc State of New York . " Such a message as this cannot fail to have given unbounded p leasure both to his Royal Highness , our ( Jrand Mastcr , and our Gracious Sovereign ,

while the whole body ol English I'recmasons will appreciate thi tribute of respect thus rendered to our QL'EEN b y a body ol men which , though united to us English Masons bythebondsof brother hood and to the whole English people b y ties of kinship , is neverthe

less a constituent part of a foreign State . But if the Grand Lodge proceedings themselves , so far as they arc summarised in the pages of our contemporary , contain nothing else that calls for any comment from us , the report on correspondence , as framed by Bros .

JESSE B . ANTHONY and ERNEST RINGER furnishes ample testimony of the steadfast adherence of New York to thc princi ples of Freemasonry , several cases being cited lo which we think it well to call attention . As regards the first of these cases , in

which Bro . ANTHONY states that he knows of no reason why either of the Wardens , in the absence of the Master , should not confer the Degrees of Freemasonry , we demur to this opinion for the best of all reasons , because our law forbids the practice

—see Article 14 r , Book of Constitutions , in which it is laid down that " when a Warden rules the lodge he shall not occupy the Master ' s chair , nor can initiations take p lace or Degrees be conferred unless thc chair be occupied b y a brother who is a

Master or Past Master in the Craft . But this provision was not inserted in our laws until 18 S 4 , and the late Dr . ( Ji . lYER , writing many years previous to that date , in treating of this very subject of a Warden conferring Degrees , declares in his work

on " Masonic Jurisprudence , " that thc arguments in favour of and against the practice are so evenl y balanced that he does not feel himself competent to express an opinion one way or thc other , considering it the duty of Grand Lodge to make an authoritative

declaration on the subject , and this we know to have been done in thc 1 SS 4 edition of our Constitutions . Moreover , Dr . O / . IVKR quotes the late Bro . W . II . WHITE— "the late Grand Secretary ( no mean authority on questions of Masonic Jurisdency ) "—as

being in favour of Wardens conferring Degrees , and adduces the Ancient Charges and some American authorities in support of the fact "that the Warden in the absence of the Master , is full y competent to perform every magisterial act , because he is

not merel y the representative , but absolutely and bond fife , for the time being , the Master of the lodge . " But if we cannot agree with Bro . ANTHONY as to tlie powers of a Warden , for which , however , there is thc justification set forth in Dr . OLIVER ' S "Masonic Jurisprudence , " we sympathise with him

The Grand Lodge Of New York.

when he lays it clown that " a Grand Lodge should not have supervision over any Masonic Life Assurance Association or give it any endorsement . " So , too , as regards " Masonic Mutual

Benefit Societies , " we full y agree with him that " it is a mistake for a Grand Lodge to have anything to do with a business enterprise ; of th is nature :. " We likewise endorse what he says as to the substitution of a Book of Constitutions for the volume of

thc Sacred Law in Mexican Masonry , but more especiall y are we in accord with him on thc subject of thc absurd proposal of the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin on the subject of Alasonic Relief . " The princi p le of the proposition —reimbursement—we regard as contrary to the spirit which underlies the Charities of the Craft . " But we need not concern

ourselves overmuch about this notion which Wisconsin is desirous of introducing . Pretty well all the American Grand Lodges with whose proceedings and opinions we have any

acquaintance are making a dead set against it , nor will it be long , in our opinion , before the proposal passes out of existence , b y reason of its own inherent absurdity .

It remains for us to add that while , according to the statistics quoted b y the Voice , there are in North America 57 Grand Lodges , with 12 , 045 private lodges , and an aggregate of

subscribing members numbering 799 , 885 , thc Grand Lodge of New York has under its banner as many as 93 , 271 , or rather more than one-ei g hth part of the total number , the number of private lodges being about 800 , more or less .

United Grand Lodge Of England.

UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND .

The Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England was held on Wednesday evening at Freemasons' Hall , Great Oueen-street , W . C . Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., Provincial Grand Master for Hants and the Isle of Wight , presided ;

Chief Justice Way , Grand Mister of South Australia , acted as Deputy G . Master ; and Bro . G . Richards , Dist . G . M . of Transvaal , acted as Past Grand Master . The Ealof Portarlington , S . G . W ., occupied the S . G . W . 's chair ; and Bro . Robert Grey , P . G . W ., acted as J . G . W . ; Bro . Thomas Fenn , P . G . W ., was G . D . C .

Among olher brethren present were—Bros . Philbrick , Q . C , G . Reg . ; R . Loveland LoveUnd , Pres . Bd . Gen . Purps . ; John Strachan , Q . C , P . D . G . Reg . ; E . Letchworth , G . Sac ; W . Lake , A . G . Sec ; A . Kupferschmidt , G . Sec . for Carman Correspondence ; S . Cochrane , P . G . T . ; Richard Kve , P . G . T . ; George Everett , P . G . T . ; Aldermin

Vaughan Morgan , G . T . ; E . St . Clair , Rev . J . S . Brownrigg , Rev . C . J . Martyn , \ V . G . M . Tomlinson , M . P . ; J . E . Le Feuvre , W . A . Scurrah , F , R . W . Hedges , P . G . S . B ., Stc . R . M . I . G . ;; J . Newton , Henry Garrod , D . D . Mercer , J . H . Matthews , J . Lewis Thomas , George Read , W . P . Brown , C . J . R . Tijou , and lames Boulton .

Grand Lodge having been opened in form , Bro . K . LKTCUWOKTH , G . Sec , read the minutes of the Quarterly Communication of June . Bro . Piui . nRicK rose and said , before the minutes were put for confirmition , lhat in the report of the proceedings of the Grand Lodgeof lune 2 nd , that was forwarded to the brethren , there seemed to be a printers' error with regard ( o a portion of one of the resolutions which was carried at last Grand Lodge ; it was that in the case of a lodge which joined the new Grand Lodge the brethren should decide in whom the property and effects of the

lodge should be vested and the warrant should . be forthwith returned to the Grand Secretary to be delivered up to the Grand Master ; that a majority of two-thirds of the members present shjuld be required to carry such " resolution . " It should be " resolutions . " He supposed the " s " was omitted by the malice of that unknown person , " the printers' devil . " " ^ Laughter . ) But subject to that he did not think there was any objection to the minutes . The word should be " resolutions . "

Bro . W . W . B . BEACH : With that slight alteration I put the motion that the minutes be confirmed .

Bro . H . THOMSON LYON , W . M . 2563 , moved the non-confirmation of that portion of the minutes which referred to the alterations in the Book of Constitutions , by inserting Rule 218 \ and 21815 , erasing 211 ) , and inserting a new rule in its place . ( These alterations made it legal under certain conditions for brethren under the English Constitution in Colonies or Districts to determine whether they would form an independent Grand Lodge of their own . )

Bro . H . THOMSON LYON said he rose with a certain amount of hesitation to propose that that portion of the minutes with reference to the alteration of the Constitutions be not confirmed . He did not do it in any idle spirit , but he would tell the brethren that he had returned to England for the purpose of moving this amendment and he hoped the brethren would accord him a patient hearing . The confirmation of the minutes was not a mere

formality , it was one of the most lair safeguards against any undue rashness tf legislation devised by the early rulers of the Craft and the present was an occasion v . hen it should be emphatically exercised . He trusted he might be allowed to recapitulate what had taken place . Last year at the Communication of Grand Loftge a request was made to the Grand Master that

a body styling itself the Grand Lodg .. of New Zealand should be altoraea Masonic recognition , and at the end of the resolution were appended the words " with just consideration for those lodges which may desire to retain their connection with the Grand Lodge of England . " That was felt to be hardly strong enough by certain of the brethren , including himself ( Bro .