United Grand Lodge Of England.

Warden of Susiex . Bro . Hudson is well known as a Mason of over 27 years' standing ; he is a Past Master and the Treasurer of the Koyal York Lodge , No . 315 , a founder and Past Master of the Chaucer Lodge , No . 1540 , a founder and Past Mister of the Earl of Sussex Lodge , No . 2201 , P . Z . and Treasurer of the Royal Pavilion Chapter , No . 315 , a founder and P . Z . of the Chaucer Chapter , No . 1540 , a founder ancl P . Z . of the Metropolitan Chapter , No . 1507 , an ardent supporter of the Masonic Charities

and Instituli . niF , . 1 Vice-1 'resident of the Boys' School , a Vice-President of the Benevolent Institution , a Life Governor of the Girls' School , and has served many Stewardships ; he is well known throughout . London and the provinces Masonically and socidlly , and is in every way qualified and fitted to ( ill the distinguished office which hc seeks to fill . I therefore , Most Worship ful Grand Master in the chair , beg to propose Bro . Charles William Hudson , Past Grand Warden of Sussex , to fill the hig h ollice of Grand Treasurer .

Bro . ROBERT P 1 t 11 . 1 i' Ui'Kix , W . M . 1328 : Most Worshipful Grand "Master in the chair , —lt is with a great deal of p leasure that I rise to second Bro . Hudson ' s nomination for Grand Treasurer , feeling sure that he will be a worthy brother to fill that distinguished ollice . I beg to second the

proposition . Bro . D'ARCY POWER : Most Worship ful Grand Master in the chair and Brethren , —I beg to offer for your suffrages Bro . Walter Vaughan Morgan , a man of the strictest integrity , an Alderman of the City of London , a man of great business capacity , the Treasurer of Christ ' s Hospital ; he has very great financial experience , for he was the Treasurer of many of the most

important Charities in the City of London ; he is a Mason who is a veteran and an enthusiast in Masonry . He is serving now for the third timethe Mastership of the lodge in which he was initiated some 30 years ago . He has held the high office of Treasurer for many years ; he has been for many years a Vice-President of the Masonic Charities , and I cannot think you could have a better Grand Treasurer for the ensuing year than Bro . Walter Vaughan Morgan whom I now propose .

Bro . T . POULTNEY GRIFFIN , W . M . 1 : Most Worshipful Grand Master in the Chair , —I have the very greatest pleasure in seconding the proposition of Bro . Walter Vaughan Morgan for the high office ot Grand Treasurer of England . Bro . H . J . LARDNER : Most Worshipful Grand Master in the Chair , —I have the honour and pleasure of proposing Bro . William Mason Stiles for

the office of Grand Treasurer for the ensuing year . Treating all the other brethren with the greatest respect , I yet desire to say 1 consider Bro . W . M . Stiles is the brother fitted for the office of Grand Treasurer not only for his great services to Masonry in general , but for his great services to the Masonic Charities , and for the large amount of money he has subscribed personally himself . Bro . Stiles is a Mason of many years' standing ; he was initiated

in the Metropolitan Lodge , No . 1507 , in October , 18 74 , and is now a Past Master of that lodge ; he was a founder and the first Senior Warden of the King ' s Cross Lodge , No . 1732 , passed the chair twice , and is now Treasurer ; he was a founder of the Royal Savoy Lodge , No . 1744 , and is now a Past Master and the Treasurer ; he was a founder of the Strand Lodge . No . 1087 , and is now a Past Master of that lodge ; he was a founder

and first Treasurer of the Hendon Lodge , No . 2206 ' , and is still Treasurer ; he is the present W . M . of the Henry Levander Lodge , No . 2048 , in the Province of Middlesex . He was exalted in the Mount Sinai Chapter , No . 19 , in May , 1 S 76 , and is now Past Principal ; he was a founder of the Metropolitan Chapter , No . 1507 , and is now a Past Principal ; he was a founder and the first M . E . Z . of the Henry Levander Chapter , No . 204 S ,

and is now a Past Principal . He is a Past Provincial Grand Principal Sojourner of Middlesex and Grand Treasurer in Grand Chapter . He is Preceptor of the Metropolitan Lodge of Instruction , No . 1507 , and has served in that capacity for 14 years . He has served 14 Stewardships for the Charities , and is a Vice-Patron of the three Institutions . On these grounds you will see that he has done good suit and service to the Order , and more

particularly , I may say , in serving those Stewardships . A year never goes by without his being * a representative at one or more of the Charities . I think that on an occasion like this you cannot better reward a brother who has so distinguished himself than by electing him to the high office of Grand Treasurer ; it will be but a just reward to any brother who has served the Order so well and generally . I beg to propose Brother William Mason Stiles .

Bro . E . M . MONEY . I second the proposition most heartily and with much p leasure . All the time Bro . Stiles has been a Mason he has supported the Charities most liberally ; he has made it the business of his life , and he has shown himself worthy of the Craft .

The ballot for the election of Grand Treasurer was then declared open . It remained open till a quarter-past seven , when the scrutineers who had been obligated to make a true and faithful return by Bro . W . W . B . Beach , acting as Grand Master , retired with the ballot boxes . The other business then commenced .

On the motion of Bro . HENRY GARROD , P . G . P ., seconded by Bro . RICHARD CLOWES , P . G . Sid . Br ., the following recommendations of the Board of Benevolence wern confirmed :

A brother of the St . Alban ' s Lodge , No . 29 , London jlioo o o The w'dow of a brother of the Polish National Lodge , No . 534 , London too o o The widow of a brother of the Harbour of Refuge Lodge , No . 764 , West Hartlepool 50 o o

A brother of the St . Andrew's Lodge , No . 1631 , Gorleston ... ... 50 o o A brother of the Ley Spring Lodge , No . 1598 , London 60 o o On tl e motion of Bro . RICHARD LOVELAND LOVELAND , President , seconded by Bro . Dr . ERNEST POCOCK , Vice President , the report of the B ard of General Purposes , which appeared in our last issue , was taken as read , and was ordered to be received and entered on the minutes .

Bro . LOVELAND LOVELAND , in moving the adoption of the report , said the first paragraph of the report was so plain in its terms that he did not think that he should be doing the brethren justice if he were to detain them by going at any length into the particulars of the recommendations which the Board of General Purposes made . Through the kindness of Bro . Fenn , he had had some information with respect to those Boards which might very likely not be known to the brethren present . At the Union of the Grand Lodge there were four Boards—the Board of

General Purposes , the B _ -ard of Finance , the Board of Works , and the Board of Schools . The latter two ceased to exist before 1819 . The Board of Finance remained as a separate Board until 1823 , when the Board of General Purposes recommended , in much the same terms as were used in the present Report , that there should be but one Board ; they recommended also that four more members should then be added to the Board . The principle lhat there should be btt one Bsard responsible to Grand Lodge was adopted

United Grand Lodge Of England.

then by Grand Lodge , and it remained so until 1856 , when Grand Lodge departed from the principle because there happened at that time to be an unusually htavy amount of correspondence with the brethren in Canada , and at that time a separate Board for the Colonies was constituted . Now it was thought that , for the benefit of the Craft at home , and for the Craft abroad and in the Colonies , it would be b . tter there should b . one Board responsible

to Grand Lodge , and responsible at all events to brethren wherever situated . Therefore it was with ( hat view he now moved that the Board of General Purposes be requested to submit to Grand Lodge proposals for the purpose of bringing the jurisdiction of the Colonial Board under that of the General Board , and unifying the affairs of the general (" raft , as was the case before the year 18 *^ 6 .

Bro . ERNEST Pocock , M . D ., in seonding the motion , said it did seem to him unnecessary that there should be two Boards , one dealing with matters in England , and another dealing with the same matters in thc Colonics , because they were separated by a few hundred miles . The motion was carried .

Bro . J . S . AUCKLAND asked merely for information whether the nominations for the Colonial Board , which had to take place , would take place this year as usual . If so , the arrangement proposed by the Board , which he quite agreed with , would not come into actual operation till 18 months hence . Members elected had to serve for 12 months unless a proviso to the

contrary was put in . Bro . LOVELAND LOVELAND said there would be no change for that time ; they did not wish to do the thing in a hurry . The Auditors' report was adopted . The following Report of a special meeting of the Governors and Subscribers of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and Widows of

Freemasons , dated 13 th February , 1895 , was then laid before Grand Lodge , at which , in lieu of the proposed alteration in the Laws of the Institution submitted to Grand Lodge on the 5 th December last , the following were then agreed to , and were submitted for approval -. Clause 25 , erase the first word " every" and substitute "A . " And in first

line , after the word " President " insert " being an individual d : nor . " In the same Clause , second section , make a similar alteration . After Clause 45 , insert as Clause 45 A -. " Any Vacancy occurring on the "House Committee or the Finance Committee shall be filled up at the " next following meeting of the Committee of Management , notice of '' such vacancy being given in the summons convening the meeting . "

Bro . J . A . FARNFIELD , Treasurer of the Benevolent Institution , moved that the resolution above set out be approved . Bro . W . F . SMITHSON , P . G . D ., seconded . Bro . PHILBRICK , G . Reg ., pointed out that they were at present absolutely inconsistent with the former propositions , and that the motion should rather be not submitted for approval , but submitted in lieu of , or in substitution for ,

the alterations proposed at last Grand Lodge . In the suggested form the motion was carried , moved by Bro . FARNFIELD and seconded by Bro . W . F . SMITHSON . The appeals were , ' then taken . Bro . F . A . PHILBRICK , O . C , G . R ., brought up the appeal by Bro . B . O . Reynolds , of Lodge Pitt Macdonald , No . 1198 ,

Madras—Against the decision nf the Board of General Purposes , in Madras , convicting him of un-Masonic conduct , and against the District Grand Master of Madras for having revoked a provisional warrant for a new lodge in which he was nominated first Worshipful Master .

He said the circumstances were a little peculiar . Bro . Reynolds was , at a meeting of brethren in January , 1894 , selected as the W . M . of a proposed lodge by the founders , and the petition was duly sent in tothe District Grand Master , who , in the exercise of the power vested in him , intimated his intention of complying with the petitioners' request , and then issued a provisional warrant until the Grand Master ' s warrant could be obtained . A date was

fixed for the provisional consecration . At a meeting of the P . H . Macdonald Lodge , in February , Bro . Reynolds , who was I . G ., found himself in collisbn with the W . M ., and he asked to be allowed to resign , and he withdrew from thelodge . It went on the minutes , and came to the knowledge of the authorities , and the District Grand Master postponed the opening of the new lodge . He afterwards intimated his intention of issuing a new provisional

warrant omitting the name of Bro . Reynolds . Bro . Reynolds resigned . The matter went before the District Board of General Purposes in the minutes as a piece of advice . The Board held that his conduct was un-Masonic , and Bro . Reynolds complained that he had been tried and condemned unheard . But the minutes were only given as a piece of advice , there was no comp laint

or charge made . The District Grand Master had acted on the advice of the Bsard , and he acted as he had authority to act in revoking the provisional warrant . He ( Bro . Philbrick ) proposed that the appeal be dismissed . Bro . L . T . WILKINSON , Dep . G . Reg ., seconded , and the appeal was dismissed .

Bro . PHILBRICK next brought forward an appeal by Bro . W . Makepiece , W . M . Zetland in the East Lodge , No . 508 , Singapore—Against the decision of the Deputy District Grand Master and District Board of General Purposes , reversing his decision as W . M . that a brother ' s resignation of membership in a letter to the Secretary was final , notwithstanding it was withdrawn immediately and before communication to the lodge .

He said the appeal involved a point on which there had been some IitiL * misunderstanding which he trusted might now be solved . On March 131 * 11 1 S 94 , Bro . Morris , a member of Lodge Zetland in the East wrote to the Secret try of the lodge res i gning his membership , On March 14 th , he wrote ag ^ ii * - - * " Dear sir and brother , —yesterday , when in a passion , I wrote to tender iiif resignation of Lodge Zetland in the East , but . upon second thoughts , I be _

leave to withdraw that resignation sent to you by me . —Yours fratenally . ' * •* - * lodge did not meet until some days after , and the letter of resignation and it * ' letterof recall were com municatedJo the lodge . The W . M ., Bro . Walter Makepiece ruled that the first letter was final , and that the brother could n t withdraw it , and that he was no longer a member of the lodge . The brother who had written the letter appealed to the District Board of General P" *"'

poses , who allowed his appeal , and now the W . M . appealed to Gram ' Lodge . Now , one thing was quite clear , the membership of a \ oili' - depended upon the will of the member . If a member resigned , it wa time-honoured custom , which , however , expressed no legal obligation , tii move that the resignation be accepted—generally with an expression <*' tn

regret—but whether the resolution was carried or not , in point of Uw , Society being voluntary and Masonry being Free , the resignation stood , and the lodge could not go against the brother ' s will . Now came tn *• question . On the 13 th the brother resigned , on the 14 th he withdrew n * -j resignation . The lodge met some days later . Whom did he resign to Not to the Secretary ; the Secretary was only an individual member of "'