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CONTENTS . PAGE . L EADERSUnited Grand Lodge and the Grand Lodge of New Zealand ... ... 433 Article 219 , Book of Constilu ' . ions ... ... ... ... 434 Supreme Grand Chapter of England ... ... ... ... 434 Provincial Grand Lodge of Devonshire ... ... ... ... 435 Provincial Grard Lodge of Norfolk ... ... ... ... ... 435

Consecralion of the Military Lodge , No . 2621 ... ... ... 435 Presentation of a New Banner to the Rose of Raby Lodge , No . 1650 ... 436 Presentation to Bro . J . D . Langton , D . G . D . C . ... * ... ... 436 Masonic Sermon in Oswaldtwistle Church ... ... ... ... 436 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys .., ... ... ... 437 Knights Templar ... ... ... ... ... ... 437 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 437

M ASONIC NOTESQuarterly Convocation of Grand Chapter ... ... ... 439 Removal of the Boys' School ... ... ... ... ... 439 Miss Davis' Pension ... ... ... ... ... 4 ^ 9 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 440 Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... ... 440 Craft Masonry ... ... ... . ... ... ... 441 Royal Arch Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 441 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 442

United Grand Lodge And The Grand Lodge Of New Zealand.

UNITED GRAND LODGE AND THE GRAND LODGE OF NEW ZEALAND .

It is much to be regretted that any opposition should have been raised to the very reasonable motion which the Pro Grand Master submitted for the acceptance of Grand Lodge at its

Special Communication on the 29 th ult . The gracefulness of the act proposed to be done by such a resolution is considerably lessened when an inappreciable minority—which in this

particular instance must have realised from the very outset that its opinions would not prevail—insists upon pressing to the ordeal of a division a counter-resolution , which , as far as we are able to judge of its tendency , could have no other effect than

that of hampering the Grand Master in the course he proposes to adopt . The great desideratum in New Zealand Freemasonry is the restoration of harmony among the several sections into which the Craft in f , hat Colony is divided . The purpose of the resolution which the Earl of LATHOM brought forward is to restore that harmony in a manner " consistent with the honour "

of United Grand Lodge " and with just consideration for those lod ges which may desire to retain their connection with the Grand Lodge of England . " The circumstances as set forth in the Grand Master ' s message fully justified such a resolution .

Wc were told in the lirst place that his Royal Highness the M -W . G . M . had received and considered " the application for recognition by the Grand Lodge of England of the new bod y called the Grand Lodge of New Zealand as an independent

sovereign Masonic Authority "; and in the second place that he ( the M . W . G . M . ) had " informed himself of the general state of Masonic feeling in the Colony . " He therefore expressed it as 'I opinion that with a view to restoring harmony among the liferent sections nf thp Craft , and milliner an end tn all sniirr-pc

difference , " the time had now arrived when recognition may accorded . " Under these circumstances , and being fully peraded of the justice of his opinion , his Royal Highness requested a the sense of Grand Lodge might be taken on the resolution , Ich was moved on his behalf by the Pro Grand Mas-ter , and u enable him to take those steps which in his judgment

necessary for the recognition of the new body , but only in ! a manner—and it is important to bear in mind that these ations to the powers asked for were fixed by his Royal hr , CSS ^' lmse'f— he may " consider consistent" with the

, Grand Lodge and with just consideration " for En 1 ° S aS may desire t ° remain under the Grand Lodge of llcl - The case stands out clearly enough . " The new

United Grand Lodge And The Grand Lodge Of New Zealand.

body called the Grand Lodge of New Zealand " has applied for recognition to the Grand Lodge of England , and the Grand Master of the latter , " having informed himself of the p-cneral state of Masonic feeling in thc Colony "—not , be it remarked ,

the feeling of this or that particular section of Masonry , but of all the various sections into which it is parcelled out—is of opinion that recognition may be now ' accorded without loss of honour to our Grand Lodge and with a due regard for the

interests of any of our lodges which may desire to remain under its banner . We fail to see what more than this in the way of limitation any reasonable brother can desire . It is no more , but , at the same time , no less , than has been done in previous

cases , nor , as far as our knowledge goes , has our Grand Lodge ever had cause to regret that it has sooner or later accorded recognition to the different Grand Lodges , which , during the last 40 years , have been established in different Colonies of the United

Kingdom , in precisely the same manner and with precisely the same reservations , as it is now proposed to adopt in the case of New Zealand . On the contrary , both in New South Wales , where the late Earl of CARNARVON found Freemasonry in the

condition of a house divided against itself , and in Victoria , where a somewhat similar state of things existed , the moment it was suggested that a union of the various Constitutions working in those Colonies should be effected , and a local Grand Lodge

established and recognised by us as sovereign and independent , that very moment all sense of discord among the several Masonic bodies disappeared , as it were , by magic , and who will say that Freemasonry in these two great Australasian Colonies is

not now all the stronger and more prosperous for the change ? In New Zealand , when the movement for establising a local Grand Lodge was started , the circumstances were less favourable . There were not three or four , as in the other Australasian

Colonies , which are now independent of the Grand Lodges in the United Kingdom , but as many as nine District or Provincial Grand Lodges presiding over the different lodges scattered throughout the Colony . The difficulty—as we well remember

pointing out would be the case at the time when the question was mooted of reconciling all these different local interestsproved for a time insurmountable , and the Earl of ONSLOW—than whom no member of Grand Lodge is better advised as to the nature

and extent of those difficulties—found himself under the necessity of declining to be any party to a scheme which only found favour among a comparatively small proportion of thc lodges then working in the Colony . But " tempora mutantur nos ct

mutamur in Mis . " The 32 lodges that then seceded have swelled by subsequent secessions , & c , to upwards of 100 , while on the other hand , there has been an almost corresponding diminution in the number of those remaining in

obedience to their parent Grand Lodges . The warrants of the seceding lodges , which were improperly taken possession of b y them , have been restored to their rightful custodians , whilst as to the feeling which exists among the English Masons who

desire still to remain under their mother Grand Lodge , we had evidence of this in the speeches of Bros . DARGAV 1 LLE and GREENWOOD , who expressed their earnest wish that recognition should be accorded to the Grand Lodge of New Zealand on the

ground that it was the one thing needed in order to restore peace and harmony to the distracted Masons in that Colony . It is satisfactory to know that Grand Lodge was equal to the occasion , and , thrusting aside almost contemptuously the petty objections that were raised in the debate to the course proposed