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^ K^^^^ j SATURDAY , DECEMBER 5 , 18 9 6 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The regular Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge was held on Wednesday , the and inst . when the programme of business , as published in our issue of last week , was considered . It is to be regretted that there should have been two nominations for the office of Grand Treasurer for 1897-8 , more

especially as , with a view to avoiding the excitement of a contested election , Bro . Alderman Vaughan Morgan ¦ efused to allow himself to be put in nomination last year , and when the meeting for election came round in March , Bro . W . H . Bailey was returned as the unanimous choice of Grand Lodge .

* * * In addition , howeier , ti the business as announced , two othtr matters were brougnt to the notice of Grand

Masonic Notes.

Lodge . One of them was based on a message from his Royal Highness the M . W . G . Master , to the effect that in consideration of the services rendered by Bro . Thomas Fenn , Past President of the Board of General Purposes , and Bro . Robert Grey , who has been President of the Board of Benevolence during the last ten years , he ( the M . W . G . Master ) had been pleased to

confer upon those brethren the rank of Past Grand Warden . The announcement was received with the heartiest applause which was renewed when those brethren advanced to the dais and were congratulated by the Acting G . M . We respectfully add our congratulations to those of R . W . Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P . ; never were honours bestowed on worthier brethren .

* * * The other was the announcement from the chair that the M . W . G . M . had been pleased to appoint Bro . J . H . Matthews , Past Dep . G . D . C , to be President of the Board of Benevolence , vice Bro . Robt . Grey , who had expressed a wish not to be re-appointed , and was

no longer , therefore , in office . This was also received with the heartiest applause , which was renewed again and again after the Acting Grand Master ( Bro . Beach ) had invested Bro . Matthews with the insignia of his office . We congratulate Bro . Matthews , and have

every confidence that he will exhibit the same courtesy , tact , and judgment as his predecessor . He will have a hard task to follow in the footsteps of Bro . Grey , but we doubt not he will strive his utmost to emulate him .

* * * The Quarterly Communication of Mark Grand Lodge was held , as announced , on Tuesday , the 1 st instant . The proceedings , as will be seen from our report elsewhere , were not of a character to cause much excitement . H . R . H . the Prince of Wales was

nominated for the 12 th time as M . W . G . Master , while Bros . George H . Parke , Past Prov . G . Warden of Lancashire and West Yorkshire , and Capt . T . C . Walls , were nominated lor the office of Grand Treasurer , this being the third year in succession the

latter has been a candidate for the post . Votes of thanks were passed by acclamation to the donors of sundry gifts , while the Report of the General Board was adopted . * »

The winter half-yearly meeting of Great Priory of the Temple will be held at Mark Masons' Hall , on Friday , the 1 Uh inst ., at 4 . 45 for 5 p . m , for the transaction of business , after which the Grand Master will hold , under the banner of the Holy Sanctuary Preceptory , a Priory of the Order of Malta , to which any Knight Templar who

shall have signified his desire , may be admitted . At 7 p . m . a banquet will be served at Freemasons' Tavern ; application to be made for tickets , price one guinea each , to the Great Vice-Chancellor , Mark Masons ' Hall , Great Queen-street , W . C , not later than Monday , the 7 th inst . * * *

The report of the Council , which will be submitted to Great Priory , contains a resume of the proceedings at the annual conference of the Great Priories of England and Ireland , and the Chapter General of Scotland , which was held in Dublin on the 17 th April last , under the presidency of the V . E . Knight R . W . Shekleton .

G . CT . From the account given of the various subjects discussed at this conference it appears that , as regards the designation of the governing body in each country , the delegates from England and Ireland resolved to recommend that their present designation of

Great Priory shall be retained as well as the present designations of the Great Officers , while the Scottish delegates arrived at a similar determination in respect of their present designations of Chapter General and the Office Bearers .

* » * The other resolutions arrived at were " that it should be recommended that the appointments of Kni ght Commander and Knight Grand Cross should be made , and the patents signed , by the Grand Master in each country , and not by the Sovereign of the United Order j " " that each Governing Body shall be

recommended to retain its present grades and modes of investiture ; " and that , as regards the number of petitior . ers for a Charter for a new Preceptory or Priory , the Scottish delegates should recommend to their Chapter General to adopt the same rule as in England and Ireland , and " to allow a Priory to be opened by seven , or five , if one of them was a member of Grand Council . "

It is to be regretted that last week , in reckoning the Prov . G . Lodges which passed resolutions approving the policy of the Board of Management of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , we should have taken no

Masonic Notes.

account of Cambridgeshire , which met on Monday , the 23 rd ult ., and expressed itself strongly in favour ot the removal . If to this we add Sussex , which passed a similar resolution at its annual meeting , at Hastings , on the 25 th ult ., and the Provincial Grand Chapter of Essex , which so expressed itself at its annual meeting .

we have six Provincial Grand Lodges and one Provincial Grand Chapter which between the 7 th and 28 th of last month declared in favour of the Board of Management . As regards Northumberland and East Lancashire—taking the resolutions passed by their Charities Committees respectively as our guide—we find the former in favour and the latter in opposition .

• • The minutes of the regular Communication of the District Grand Lodge of Northern China , held at the Masonic Hall , Shanghai , on the 22 nd September , contain a full and particular and , at the same time , a highly-interesting , account of the installation by R . W .

Bro . Cornelius Thorne , Past District Grand Master , of Bro . Lewis Moore as District Grand Master , in succession to the late Bro . W . Irwin Miller . There appears to have been a very full attendance not only of the District Grand Lodge Officers and representatives of the lodges on the roll , but also of visitors , prominent

among the latter being the District Deputy Grand Master under the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts , U . S . A ., and the principal officers of the Scotchi American , and German lodges at Shanghai . The ceremony was performed by Bro . C . Thome , Past District Grand Master , and the District Grand Officers ,

whom Bro . Moore , as the Deputy of the late Bro . Miller , had invested previously on the latter's behalf , were re-appointed . The newly-installed District Grand Master then delivered an appropriate address , and after he had received the congratulations of those present on his appointment and investiture , the proceedings were brought to a conclusion . # #

* There were several points on which the new Dist . Grand Master laid very considerable stress . As regards the distinguishing characteristic of Freemasonry—Charity—he urged upon the brethren to practice it to the utmost of their ability . At the same time he took the opportunity of pointing out that

very many of those who applied for help were impostors . He therefore advised them to hand over their donations or subscriptions to the District Masonic Charity Fund , the officers of which would not only thankfully receive them , but at the same time take care that they were applied to the relief of those who were genuinely in distress .

* * * Another point he referred to was the importance of the officers of a lodge attending and fulfilling their duties . He pointed out how deeply an able and energetic W . M . must feel any neglect of this kind , and reminded his hearers that " officers are expected and told when invested that they should be regular and punctual in their attendance . "

» There were two other points to which he drew attention —( 1 ) the very great number of brethren in Shanghai who have ceased to be subscribing members of lodges ; and , ( 2 ) the necessity for observing silence as to the weaknesses and indiscretions of brethren . As regards the non-affiliates , he said it was a

mistake for them to suppose that because they had taken their degrees and subscribed forayear or t vo . they hid done their Masonic duty . They ought , he sail , to remain members as long as their circumstances might fairly warrant , " and he urged upon those who belong to this class to lose no time in rejoining a lodge . * # #

It is clear from these few particulars , that the new Dist . G . Master of Northern China has entered upon his duties in a just spirit and with a desire to do what in him lies to promote the welfare of the lodges under his charge . We trust the brethren will loyally support him in these endeavours , and that no long time

hence we shall find that Freemasonry in Northern China is stronger numerically , and even more prosperous than it has been under his predecessor , Bro . Cornelius Thorne who was in office from 18 77 to 1886 , and was the Installing Master at this meeting , and Bro . W . Irwin . Miller , who succeeded Bro . Thorne and died in the early part of the present year .

At the half-yearly convocation ofithe District Grand Chapter of Bengal , held at Freemasons' Hall , Calcutta , on Friday , the nth September , a letter was read from Comp . Sir H . Thoby Prinsep , announcing that he had resigned the office of Grand Superintendent . A resolution expressing the regret of the Provincial Graiid Chapter at the resignation was carried by acclamation ,