The New Zealand Question.

Province of Ontario , it strikes us it would not be very long before the Grand Secretary made it clear that an increase in his emoluments was desirable . Still , if our New Zealand brethren think the experiment worth trying , we daresay our Grand Lodge will not say them nay any more than it said nay to the Grand Lodges of South Australia , New South Wales , and Victoria .

Scottish Freemasonry In India.

SCOTTISH FREEMASONRY IN INDIA .

Our Scottish brethren in India could have adopted no readier way of exhibiting their love for the Craft generally , but more particularly for that portion of it which owes allegiance to the Grand Master of England , than by conferring the honorary rank

of Past Grand Master of all Scottish Freemasonry in India on the District Grand Master of Bombay , who is at the same time brother of his Royal Highness the Prince of WALES . Nor were they content to exhibit their feelings in this respect by merely

conferring this honour . Each successive District Grand Master of Bombay is made honorary Past Grand Master of the Scottish Craft , whose head-quarters are located in the same hall as those of the English District Grand Lodge , and , therefore , the mere

bestowal of the same honorary rank on the Duke of CONNAUGHT would have had no special significance . It was , therefore , wisely determined that the presentation of his Royal Highness ' s patent of appointment should be made in open Grand Lodge with all

possible pomp and circumstance , and at the Annual Communication , on the 2 nd December last , Freemasons' Hall , Bombay , presented a scene of unusual splendour and animation . The approaches to the Hall were tastefully decorated with festoons

and evergreens , there was liberal display of flags and banners in all directions , and the hall in which the ceremony was appointed to take place was brilliant in the extreme , with lodge banners and Masonic emblems and devices of every kind and description .

The brethren , too , were in unusual force , every Scottish lodge in India being represented , while there was , in addition , a large number of the members of the English lodges in Bombay . Grand Master Sir HENRY MORLAND presided , and very gracefully

performed the duties of his office , his speech on making the presentation to the Duke of CONNAUGHT being conceived in the best taste . His Royal Highness ' s acknowledgment of the honour conferred upon him was graceful and very much to the point as

usual , and it is to be hoped that the auspicious event , thus happily celebrated , will inaugurate a period of still more harmonious action and feeling between the members of the two Constitutions in this important dependency of the British Crown . Differences

have necessarily arisen from time to time between the Scotch and English Masons in India , as well as in other portions of our Empire , but there have never been any serious difficulty in

adjusting them satisfactorily . The event of the 2 nd December last , however , will have the effect of cementing together the two sections of the Craft more closel y than ever . We congratulate our Scottish friends in India on having introduced another and perhaps the most brilliant of red-letter days into their already well-filled calendar of events .

New Publications Of Lodge "Quatuor Coronati," London.

NEW PUBLICATIONS OF LODGE "QUATUOR CORONATI , " LONDON .

( Continued from Page 2 . ) There is no sign of the " well " being exhausted , for , practically , the supplies of the " Quatuor Coronati" Lodge are inexhaustible . No effort has yet been made to obtain

contributions , although , so far , there has always been a list of . promises much in advance of immediate requirements . Should the necessity ever arrive for the Secretary to solicit aid ; out of some

boo members of the " C . C ., " interested in Masonic literature and researches , together with the 30 brethren of the lodge proper , there need be no fear of any lack either as respects quantity or quality of contributions .

In evidence of this fact , Part 3 of Volume 2 may be cited , which , in its way , is as good as any of its predecessors , and makes a most interesting portion of an exceedingly valuable volume now

completed . Novelty as well as originality are in it combined , especially the critical paper by Bro . W . H . R ylands on Hogarth ' s picture , " Night , " which , as is well-known , ends the series of

New Publications Of Lodge "Quatuor Coronati," London.

" The Four Times of the Day . " ' The sketch has quite fascinated me , and certainly has induced me to pay much more attention to the subject than heretofore . Nothing would p lease me better just now than to go over the whole paper most carefully , but that

would be unfair to the lodge , the whole volume , grandly illustrated , in three parts , being obtainable for half-a-guinea . There are a few points not quite cleared up , possibly because they cannot be ,

but , on the whole , the particulars offered by Bro . Rylands are far in advance of what I should have anticipated from a cursory knowledge of the subject .

The address by our respected W . M ., after his installation , though brief , is one of the best we have had , and suggests that Colonel Pratt will prove that he is an able successor of the distinguished Masters who have preceded him . As members ,

we are as proud of our ruler as he is of his lodge , which is saying a great deal for both sides of the question , and there being others rapidly qualifying to continue the succession ; No . 2076 must have a prand future before it .

The paper on "Free and Freemason , by Bro . F . F . Schnitger , of Ne \ vcastle-on-Tyne , is a philogical contribution , both thoughtful and suggestive , which challenges those who , like myself , consider Free Mason meant a brother who was "free of his Craft , " to

substantiate their views , or retire from the friendly controversy . I have no intention of doing the latter myself , and hence , as soon as my numerous pressing engagements shall permit , shall examine Bro . Schnitger ' s able paper with all the attention

it deserves . It is quite possible that there is after all no difference between us , but that two different periods are referred to . Bro . Schnitger dealing with the earlier signification of the term , whereas we only refer to the actual use of the prefix during

the past few centuries . As to that , more anon . Meanwhile , let those who are interested in the matter pay strict heed to the article by our brother , who , apparently , has the powerful support of Bro . Speth .

The " summer outing" of the lodge , pleasantly described by the genial Secretary , has already been duly chronicled in the Freemason , and so the ordinary features of the meetings in October and November . The frontispiece , and its description by the editor , I must reserve for another article .

The "Notes and Queries" department in this number is very strongly represented , and of considerable interest and real utility as reliable guides for reading . For Brethren who desire information as to the latest published works on Freemasonry ,

their character , price , & c , Bro . Gould has provided an able sketch of Bain's " Merchant and Craft Guilds of Aberdeen , " which has saved me doing it , as I had intended . Bro . Speth reviews " Scottish Masons' Marks , " by Professor T . Hayter Lewis , J . W .

2076 ; also Dr . Metham ' s "Masonic Orations , " edited by Bro . John Chapman , C . C ., with introduction by myself ; Bro . Newton ' s ( C . C . ) , "History of Lodge Sincerity , No . 174 , London ; " "History of the Harmonic Lodge , No . 216 , Liverpool , " by Bro . J .

Hawkins , C . C . ; Bro . G . Robertson ' s "History of No . 817 , New Zealand ; " and " The History of No . 80 , Sunderland , " by Bro . W . Logan , C . C , all of which are written in a racy easy manner , characteristic of the enthusiastic wearer of the jewel with the " Two Pens in Saltire . "

" Mark Masonry , by Bro . G . F . Travers-Drapes , C . C , Burma , reviewed by Bro . Gould , and especially the appreciative notice of Bro . John Lane ' s " Handy Book to the Study of the Lodge Lists , " by the same brother , deserve especial mention , as

I feel assured if the latter is perused as it should be , Bro . Lane ' s truly grand volume would be all subscribed for immediately . Bro . Simpson contributes several short papers of a very instructive and helpful character ; and I must not forget to thank my

dear friend Whytehead for an excellent review of my last work — " History of the Apollo Lodge , York " —which he has written con a mo re . Bro . Lane sends a few important corrections as to the " Regius MS , " and the usual " Chronicle" ends the 3 rd Part , though 1 have not exhausted the list of contents even then . W . J . H .

GKXKKAI . COMMITTEE . —It being , as Oliver well puts it , essential to the interests of the Craft that all matters of business to be brought under the consideration of the Grand Lodge should be personally known to the Grand Officers and Masters of the lodges , that through them all the lodges should be acquainted with the " agenda , " and not be taken by surprise , a General Committee , composed

of the Present and Past Grand Officers , and the W . M . of any regular lodge , meets on the Wednesday immediately preceding each quarterly communication , at which all motions to be made in Grand Lodge shall be submitted . This is one of the many wise regulations of our English Book of Constitutions . —Kenning ' s Cyclopaedia of Freemasonry .