New Regulations, Grand Chapter.

NEW REGULATIONS , GRAND CHAPTER .

No time has been lost in the preparation and publication of the revised regulations for the "Supreme Grand Chapter of England , " for though they were only finally approved on February 3 rd , 1886 , the Laws are now to be had in Svo . and 32 ino ., and handsome little books they make . The old 32010 . edition was scarcely known beyond the precincts of Freemasons' Hall , but the new issue ( size of the smaller edition of the " Constitutions " ) will be much appreciated , and will become quite popular , because of its handy form , and yet containing as it does , not only all the text , but also all the illustrations to be found in the octavo size .

Bro . E . L . Hawkins directed attention to the new rules , in the Freemason for November 28 th , 1 SS 5 , and ably summarized all the alterations contemplated . The chief of these are as follows . Many are most important , and the revision is a great improvement on the Regulations of 1879 . The 1886 issue is , I believe , the 13 th edition of the Grand Chapter Laws from 1778 .

10 . —All members of Grand Chapter ( Principals and Past First Principals of Chapters : Present and Past Grand Officers , obtain them otherwise ) can have the business papers and reports for half-a-crown annually . 24 . —The Grand Treasurer is now placed before the Grand Registrar , notafter the Grand Sojourners , as first contemplated .

32 . —All Officers of Grand Chapter must j have been installed as First Principals of Chapters . 39 . —Provincial Grand Chapters must be held at least once in every year . 57 . —Unless the By-Laws require otherwise , the officers elected at a Chapter may forthwith be invested and inducted accordingly .

72 . —Propositions for exaltation , & c , must be made at a regular Convocation of the chapter or by notice in writing transmitted by the proposer to the Scribe E ., at least fourteen days before the meeting at which the vote is to be taken .

75 . —The minimum fee has been lowered to Two Guineas , which will prove a decided boon to several chapters . Many Master Masons refrain from taking the Royal Arch , because of the heavy outlay , additional to that , incurred for the "Three Degrees ; " hence the fee being reduced , should meet this objection , and cause many to join who have for long kept aloof from the chapter . Master Masons are incomplete Freemasons , so far as English Masonic customs and ceremonies are concerned . 76 . — Certificates of loininc Members from nther IiirisHirtinns mnct 1- IP

sent to the Grand Scribe E . for inspection . The Rule 97 , which provided for Grand Superintendents wearing their collars as such at Craft Lodges , was wisely objected to by the Committee , and not passed by the Grand Chapter ; so now no Royal Arch Mason , whatever his rank , can wear a Royal Arch official collar in a Craft Lodge , though some erroneously still so do . Other rules deserve careful study . Copies can be had at Comp . George Kenning ' s establishments , London , Liverpool , Manchester , and Glasgow .

Grand Lodge Of Scotland.

GRAND LODGE OF SCOTLAND .

A -Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge of Scotland was held on the 6 th inst ., in the Freemasons' Hall , George-street , Edinburgh . Bro . Sir Archibald C Campbell , of Blythswood , Bart ., M . P ., G . M . M . of Scotland , occupied the chair , and was assisted by Bros , the Hon . F . E . Villiers , of Closeburn , G . S . VV . ; and J . T . S . Elliot , of Wolflee , J . G . W . There were also

present—Bros . Wm . Mann , acting Substitute G . M . ; D . Murray Lyon , Grand Sec ; David Kinnear , Grand Cashier ; the Revs . John Watt and P . M'Adam Muir , Grand Chaps . ; Wm . Maclean , G . S . D . ; J . Dalrymple Duncan , G . J . D . ; J . H . Inches , Grand Jeweller ; Major F . W . Allan , G . Bible Br . ; Dr . James Cranstoun , G . Bard ; Major Wm . Hills , G . Marshal ; George Miller , C . A ., Proxy Prov . G . M . Gibraltar ; George Fisher , Representative of the Grand Lodge of Florida ; Wm . Edwards , President of Grand Stewards ; Ex-Provost George Christie , Deputy Prov . G . M . Stirlingshire ; lames Caldwell , Past G . D . ; Wm . Officer , S . S . C .. Past G . D . ; Alexander Hay , Proxy Prov . G . M . Jamaica : and others .

In accordance with recommendations of Grand Committee , charters were granted to the following lodges : St . Columbia , Govan ; Hartfell , Moffat ; and Maranoa , Roma , Queensland . The minutes of Grand Committee set forth that a letter was read from the District Grand Master of Nicaragua , Bro . Edwin S . Hatch , reporting that he had , for good and sufficient reasons , authorised the Lodge Eureka

, No . 673 , to temporarily work in the town of Blewfields , and strongly recommending that the said lodge be removed from Greytown to Blewfields , in the same province , in respect of the migration from the former town that had taken place during the last two years . It was resolved to recommend to Grand Lodge to give effect to the Provincial Grand Master ' s suggestion . This recommendation was agreed to by Grand Lodge .

The GRAND MASTER read from the chair the report of Grand Committee on Aberdeen circular and pretended ritual case , and concluded by moving— " That Grand Lodge do accede to the recommendation of Grand Committee , so as to remove the suspension from the membership of Grand Lodge , and direct Grand Secretary to at once destroy all the copies of the publication with which he has been entrusted , and report to Grand Committee that he has done so . " After some discussion , this motion was adopted .

Ihe Finance Committee reported—1 . The income for the month ending 24 th April was £ 424 us . 6 d ., and the expenditure £ 224 19 s . 4 d . ; excess of income over expenditure , £ 119 12 s . 2 d . The income for the first five months of this year amounted to £ 2180 12 s . 3 d ., and for the corresponding period last vear , £ 1727 12 s . sd . ; excess of income on first five months of this year , £ 452 gs . iod . 2 . The sum at credit with the bank on account current on the 24 th April amounted to - £ 1927 8 s . iod . 3 . As authorised by Grand Committee

on 25 th ultimo , the bonds for £ 1000 and £ 700 due to Trustees of the fund of Scottish Masonic Benevolence had been paid , and that the discharges had been tabled . 4 . Recommend that the sum of , £ 156-6 us . id . be paid to the Benevolent Fund to account of the floating debt due to it by Grand Lodge . On this being done it will reduce thc debt to £ 2000 , exclusive of £ 150 due to the Dalhousie Fund . The report was approved by Grand Lodge .

GRAND SECRETARY reported several vacancies on the Board of Grand Stewards .

It was also resolved to recommend for appointment Bros . James Muir , Proxy Master 450 ; R . S . Brown , Proxy Master 382 ; Wm , D . Chambers , Master 204 ; and James Thompson , Master 405 .

Grand Lodge Of Scotland.

This recommendation of the Grand Committee was also approved . GRAND SECRETARY called attention to the fact that Grand Lodge would attain its third jubilee in November next , and stated that he was in correspondence with the Grand Master on the subject . Sir Archibald and Lady Campbell had expressed their readiness to aid and promote a formal celebration worthy of the occasion .

The following Special Committee was appointed to co-operate with the Grand Master in making arrangements for the commemoration of the jubilee , and to report to Grand Committee r—Bros . James T . S . Elliot , convener ; William Officer , E . M'Alister , David Hume , George Fisher , J . Crichton , J . Darlymple Duncan , James Middleton , and F . W . Allan . The Committee to have power to add to their number . Grand Lodge unanimously approved of this recommendation .

The vidimus by the Grand Cashier of the income and expenditure for the quarter ending 24 th April , 1 SS 6 , showed that the income had been * £ 6 IS us . 3 d ., and the expenditure £ 727 16 s . 4 d ., showing an excess of income over expenditure of £ 890 14 s . ud . The business of the Grand Lodge having been completed , the proceedings terminated .

Review.

REVIEW .

CONCLUDING NOTICE . THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY . Vol . V . By ROBERT FREKE GOULD , P . G . S . D . London : Thomas C . Jack , 45 , Ludgate-hill , E . C 1886 . We have said that from the date of the Due d'Antin's appointment as Grand Master the progress of Masonry in France is comparatively smooth to this extent , at all events , that we have certain data to go upon , whereas in the antecedent period vve have but little to guide us in formulating our

opinions . But though this is decidedly a change for the better , the condition of Freemasonry here appears to have been one of confusion utterly confounded , and though Bro . Gould deserves almost infinite credit for the pains with which he has pursued his difficult task , and appears to have evolved as clear an account as is possible under the circumstances , we do not think it will be profitable to follow him in his course , especially as his

chart containing a " Synopsis of French Freemasonry " gives the reader an excellent idea of the successive changes , divisions , and combinations which have occurred between 1725 and now . The story of the Craft in this country is by no means an agreeable one . The career of French Freemasonry , with its confusion of rites , to say nothing of its presumed subserviency to political purposes , and the crowning act of its folly by

eliminating a few years since from its code of laws the article requiring from all its members a declaration of their belief in a Supreme Being , is as unlike as possible to anything which our English notions of the Craft are capable of imagining . It is a kind of duty we owe to our Society to study thc vicissitudes of its fortunes in France , but the duty is not one we feel any pleasure in fulfilling .

From France , Bro . Gould transfers us to Northern Europe , and describes in fuller detail than has been given by any previous historian the rise and progress of the Fraternity in Sweden and Norway , Denmark , Holland , Belgium , Luxemburg , Russia , and Poland . As regards the first named of these countries there has been during the best of a century a strong feeling of sympathy between our Grand Lodge and that of Sweden ,

and the feeling has been greatly strengthened of late years by the fact of our Grand Master the Prince of Wales having been initiated into our mysteries by the present King , then Grand Master , in 186 S . What makes the existence of this sympathetic feeling between the two Grand Lodges the more remarkable is that the Swedish and English rites are by no means similar Between the Dutch and English brethren , too , there has been the

same feeling of harmony , though here there is little room for any sense of surprise , as the influence of English Masonic ideas has always been a very appreciable quantity in Holland . Moreover , it was at the famous occasional lodge , held at the Hague by a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of England , that Francis of Lorraine was initiated in 1731 , while several members of the reigning family of Orange-Nassau , whose

sympathies have generally been strongly in favour of England and English institutions , have been members or Grand Masters . In fact , Dutch Freemasonry has two striking characteristics in common with that of England , namely , its stability and its simplicity . As Bro . Gould points out , the few innovations in the shape of the so-called High Degrees which have been

permitted " have never been allowed to assist or exercise any superiority over or in the Craft ; English Masonry has ever been considered the issue of the organisation ; " and he adds , " we find no rival Grand Lodges springing up , ho conflicts of jurisdiction , very few lodges dying out , but a gradual and steady increase of members , and in 130 years only 10 Grand Masters . "

In his opening remarks on Freemasonry in Belgium , Bro . Gould , having first of all taken Bro . Findel seriously to task for the facility with which he has assumed that certain statements are recognised facts , comes down sharply upon our own rulers for their neglect to obtain , as they might easily have done , authentic data in respect of the deputations they granted to foreign countries and their results . "Had our Grand Lodge , " he remarks , ' •paid less absorbing attention to its festivals and processions , and a little more to its records and archives—had it been less lavish

in creating Provincial Grand Masters , and more diligent in insisting upon their responsibility to the home authorities — wc should probably find all the information we require in the official documents at Freemasons' Hall . But , alas ! the archives of the oldest ( and richest ) Grand Lodge in the world , the virtual parent of every Freemason in existence , the most stable Grand Body of the Craft , which has never been disturbed

by internal convulsions , political revolutions , or military invasions , afford us scarcely a scintilla of evidence with regard to the proceedings of its offshoots beyond the seas . " And having delivered himself of this severe but just rebuke of our Grand Lodge authorities of former days , he goes on to narrate- the progress of Masonry in this portion of the Low Countries , so far as the materials available for the purpose will enablehim . The result isso far

satisfactory , that we obtain under his guidance a greater insight into the doings of the Belgian Craft than is vouchsafed us elsewhere . But here again the baneful influence of French Masonic ideas has been at work ; while , to make matters still worse , there has been for many years a state of active warfare between the Masons and the Ultramontane Clergy , the result being , as may easily be imagined , the reverse of satisfactory . As regards Masonry in Russia and Poland , it is probable that Bro . Gould has collated