Grand Lodge Of New York.

GRAND LODGE OF NEW YORK .

The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Isfew York assembled at Apollo Hall , in annual convention . Nearly all the Grand Officers were present at the first session , and these , in full

regalia , together with the representatives of subordinate lodges in the Slate , to the number of about 2 , 000 , made the assemblage an imposing one . The lodge was opened in due form at 2 p . m ., the respective Grand Officers taking their appropriate stations , and with prayer

offered by R . W . and Rev . Bro . R . L . Schoonmaker , Grand Chaplain . After opening , an ode prepared for the occasion was finely rendered by a choir selected for the purpose , under the direction of W . Bro . W . F . Sherwin of St . Cecile Lodge \ No . * - ; 68 , of New York .

On motion of R . W . Bro . W . T . Woodruff , all Master Masons of subordinate lodges in good and regular standing were permitted to visit the Grand lodge during the sessions . The RW . Bro . Rev . John G . Webster , Grand

Chaplain , delivered the annual Chaplain ' s address—an address containing much of interest to the Craft , and which was listend to throughout with general attention . On motion of W . Bro . Isaac L . Brown , it was ordered that the address be printed in full in the

£ run . s tLC fc 1 o n *? The M . W . Bro . John H . Anthony , Grand Master , next delivered his address , during the reading of which he was frequently interrupted by applause , and particularly at the portion of it relating to French Masonry , and as to the

attitude to be taken by the New York Grand Lodge towards the Grand Lodge of Quebec . The address , although much briefer than usual , is one of peculiar significance and of special importance . On motion , it was ordered that it be referred to a special Committtee for subdivision .

The Deputy Grand Master , Senior and J unior Wardens were appointed as such Committee . R . W . Bro . James M . Austin , Grand Secretary , presented his annual report , which stated that the total amount of money received for the Masonic year ending May 31 , 1871 , was 63 , 854 dollars

The number of lodges making returns during the year has been 6 35 , and in these bodies the following work has been accomplished : Initiations during the year , 6 , 778 ; affiliations , 1081 ; total number of Masons registered , 7 , 859 . Tlie number of Masons admitted during the year has

been 1 , 844 > expelled , 47 ; suspended , 33 stricken from roll , 2 , 037 > restored to membership , 349 ; died , 702 total number of Masons now in State in good standing , 75 , 263 ; total number of warranted lodges on roll , 649 . On Wednesday , R . W . Bro . Breed presented

the report of the Committee on Foreign Correspondence , which , after some discussion , was , on motion , received . The report is a pamphlet of 100 printed pages , in which the status of Masonry throughout the world is given in detail . To the report a resolution was appended in

relation to the Grand Lodge of Quebec , advising that the Grand Lodge of New York extend to the Grand Lodge of Quebec , in the province of Quebec , Canada , full and fraternal recognition as a regular Grand Lodge . Tlie story of the differences existing between the two Grancl

Lodges of Canada extends over too long a period and would occupy too great a space for reproduction at this time . Suffice it to say that the whole question has been thoroughly reviewed by the Committee , and from the investigation made the above conclusion is arrived at . The Quebec Grand Lodge has heretofore been

recognised by Grand Lodges in the United States and by the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia . Of the States bordering on Canada only New York ancl Vermont , as yet , withhold recognition . Before acting in the matter , the main record of the facts bearing on the question was read by direction of the Grand Master .

The resolution appended to the report was subsequently unanimously adopted , ancl the Grand Lodge , rising , received the new Grand Lodge of Quebec with the grand honours . On Thursday , the third day of session , thc Grand Lodge proceeded with the annual election of officers ,

Grand Lodge Of New York.

M . W . Bro . J ohn H . Anthon retiring from the chair , while his place was occupied by M . W . Bro . Isaac Phillips . For the office of Grand Master for the enusing year thc name of thc present incumbent was proposed by M . W . Bro . Stephen H . Johnson . R . W . Bro . William T . Woodruff , on the part of an

opposition , offered as a candidate W . Bro . Gilbert E . Wood , Master of Pilgrim Lodge , No . 204 , of New York city . The Grand Master appointed R . W . Bros . G . Brody and C . B . Wade , and Bro . C . Addoms , W . M ., tellers , and balloting followed . The total number of votes cast was 2 , 272 , of which the present Grand Master received r , g 10 , and Wood ,

356—scattering , 6 . The result , on being declared , was received with great applause , where upon M . W . Bro . John H . Anthoti was presented to the Grand Lodge by a committee consisting of M . W . Bros . Johnson , Evans , and Jenkinson , and accepted the honour conferred in a few brief but appropriate words .

At the request of the Grand Master , M . W . Bro . Stephen H . Johnston took the East , when the following officers were re-elected by acclamation : — R . W . Bros . Christopher G . Fox , Deputy G . Master ; Edmund L . Judson , Senior Grand Warden ; and James W . Husted , Junior Grand Warden . Each

of the officers were in turn notified of their election by committees appointed for the purpose , and , upon being presented to the lodge , accepted the positions . M . W . Bro . John W . Simons , present Grand Treasurer , was re-elected by acclamation . The lodge then proceeded to the election of Grand Secretary ,

upon which something of a contest arose , the names of R . W . Bros . James M . Austin ( now Secretary ) and Frederick W . Herring being both presented . The election resulted as follows : Total number of votes cast , 1 , 740—Austin , 1 , 509 ; Herring , 231 . R . W . Bro . Austin was thereupon declared duly

elected , and , being present , accepted the position in a feeling address . R . W . Bros , the Revds . R . L . Schoonmaker . F . C . Ewhr , and J ohn G . Webster were next re-elected Grand Chaplains by acclamation . Also W . Bro . Johnston Fountain was re-elected Grand Pursuivant ; W . Bro . John Hoole , Grand

Tyler ; and R . W . Bro . George H . Raymond , Grand Lecturer . The remaining Grand Officers holding their respective offices under appointment of the Grand Master , the election was declared closed , and , on motion , the officers elected were all duly installed by M . W . Bro . James Gibson with the

usual ceremonies . The Grand Lodge concluded its annual communication on Friday , thc 9 th . After opening , a letter was read by the M . W . Grand Master Anthon , which had been recently received by M . W . Bro . Jenkinson , Representative of the Grand Lodge of

Ireland , near this juridiction , giving an account of Masonry in that country . Among other matters mentioned , was that a new Masonic hall had recently been erected in Dublin at a cost of 8 o , coo dollars , and also that a new lodge had just been instituted in the University of Dublin , which was

working well , many of the professors and students having already become members thereof . W . Bro . Seaman , from Committee on Constitution and Laws , reported in favour of thc resolution increasing the yearly Grand Lodge dues from fifty cents to seventy-five cents , twenty-five cents of

which sum should be devoted to the Hall and Asylum Fund . Thc report occasioned debate , when Grand Master Anthon , passing thc gavel to M . W . Bro . Stephen H . Johnson , addressed the Grand Lodge , makingastirring and eloquent appeal in aid of thc great charitable enterprise in which

the Fraternity is now engaged . It was the first time , he said , that he had publicly called upon the Craft for aid in the work , and he sincerely trusted it would never again become necessary that he should do so . A scene of much enthusiasm followed , thc resolution was adopted unanimously ,

and voluntary offerings were immediately made to a large amount . Although thc exact sum is not known , it is estimated that nearly 6 , 000 dollars were added to the fund , Nearly all the Grand Officers donated their fees for attendance ancl travelling expenses , about 30 dollars each , and

many of thc representatives followed the example thus set . W . Bro . Robert H . Thomas , of Kane , ancl W . Bro . Henry D . Walker , of Independent Royal Arch , both lodges of this city , on behalf of these bodies , donated 1 , 000 dollars each , and several other Masters of lodges pledged themselves

in sums of 100 dollars ancl upwards . W . Bro . Isaac H . Brown , Master of Puritan Lodge , individually donated 200 dollars . The result of the Grancl Master's appeal was a most gratifying one . When thc enthusiasm had somewhat subsided , thc Grand Master announced that thc list of appointed Grand Officers , ancl that of District

Deputies , for the ensuing year would be made out and announced afterthc Grand Lodgehad ceased its labours . Also the Committee of five , authorised by thc resolution providing for a revision of the Constitution . Prayer was then offered by R . W . Bro . thc Rev . R . L . Schoonmaker , and the Grand Lodge was adjourned sine die .

The Freemasons.

THE FREEMASONS .

[ From the Daily News of July 5 . ] A striking contrast between Freemasonry as it is known in Great Britain and Freemasonry as it is regarded in some Continental countries was furnished by yesterday ' s Court Circular . The installation of the Prince of Wales as Worshipful Master

of the Alpha Lodge of Freemasons was recorded therein , and one more testimony given of the complete harmony which prevails between constitutional government and the tenets of the Craft . It is the boast of Freemasons that their Order stands alone , and nothing offends a zealous brother more

deeply than to . affect to regard the Craft as an organisation of similar character to those recently described in these columns—the Foresters and the Odd Fellows . That which is the boast , and the laudable boast , of the two latter bodies , Freemasons repudiate with disdain . " We are not an

insurance office . We are not self-seeking . Higher motives than mere worldly prudence govern us . No one is admitted into our ranks who does not declare himself uninfluenced by mercenary or other unworthy motives "—such is the outspoken creed of the Brotherhood , of which the Prince of Wales is

a ruler . Those members of the general public who believe Freemasonry to be in any sense a benefit society might listen with advantage to the debates of the Grand Lodge , which is presided over by the Marquis of Ripon , as Grand Master , and attended by the leading members ofthe Craft . Grand Lodge ,

it may be explained , is the parliament of Freemasonry , and holds four regular meetings in each year It is composed of Freemasons who have ] attained , by services rendered and the suffrages of their brethren , a certain defined position in private lodges to which they belong , and who meet and deliberate

as representatives ofthe Order at home and abroad . Grand Lodge is , then , a strictly constitutional body , with a sway which extends over the four quarters of the globe . At Simla and at New Brunswick ; at Shanghae , Barbadoes , the Cape of Good Hope , Tasmania , and Australasia are Freemasons' lodges

which are worked under the Grand Lodge of England , and thc members of which are guided and governed by its decrees . The debates of Grand Lodge are published in the Masonic organs of opinion , and it is certain that the doctrine it lays down has considerable influence for good or evil on

the mind and temper of thc Craft . It occasionally happens that discussion arises concerning the recommendations made by the various boards and sub-committees , and when a proposed grant of money to a distressed brother is the text , no doctrine is laid down more forcibly than that

Masonic work and Masonic honours cannot be held to purchase a right of relief . The brethren are frequently warned against encouraging men to neglect their business for thc acquisition of Masonic rank , and few things would astonish an outsider more than the gravity and importance with which

thc distinctions of Freemasonry are invested by their possessors and their aspirants . What is termed " the purple " of thc Order , in allusion to the hue of thc insignia worn by those who have attained it , represents the Masonic peerage , and its holders arc recognised as leaders wherever

Masons congregate . The Alpha Lodge , of which the Prince of Wales has just been made Master , is composed exclusively of wearers of thc purple—in other words , of a selected number of the Past and Present Grand Officers of the Order , and , unlike every other Masonic lodge , its members are

nominated , not elected . No new blood is brought into the Alpha Lodge save by the special intervention ofthe Grand Master , who nominates the brother he wishes to bring in , such nomination being equivalent to a Royal command . Lodges , it may be explained , are congregations of Freemasons

formed into separate clubs , who make theirjown bylaws , ballot for new members , and elect their own chiefs . Some of these have special privileges , dating from remote periods , or due to thc fact of exalted Freemasons — Royal Grand Masters or what not—having belonged to them . The first

time thc Prince of Wales visited a private lodge in this country was on the occasion of the Centenary Festival of the Jerusalem Lodge , a few months ago , when he won golden opinions from thc Freccmasons present when he formally announced his intention of making himself a

" working " brother , ancl when he was , with the Earl of Carnarvon , made an honorary member of the lodge . Freemasons , it may be remarked , rarely enter into particulars concerning the nature of " the work" to which they devote so much labour and time , but concurrent testimony proves it to be of an

arduous character , and men are found who declare it to exact as much care and attention as the acquisition of several languages . What all the world can understand are the charities of the Order , by means of which a vast number of boys and girls arc educated , fed , ancl clothed , with as close and careful supervision as is attainable by parents in