Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 731 Official Bulletin S . C . 33 * " * , U . S . A . ( S . j . ) ... 732 Notes on the Ceremony of Installation ... 732 Provincial Grand Lodge of the Isle of Man 534 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Gloucestershire and Here ' ordshire 734 New Masonic Temple at Kimberley , S . A . 734

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution 73 $ The Poet Burns 733 The Late Bro . Simeon Mosely 73 $ Obituary 735 * CoRRE . SPON HENCE" Bro . Woodward ' s Motions" 737 The " Antients" and the Knight Templars 737

Contents.

CORRESPONDENCE ( Continued)—The United Grand Lodge of New South Wales 73 S Reviews 73 S Notes and Queries 738 REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 538

Instruction 741 Royal Arch 741 Knights Templar 742 Australia 742 Christmas Railway Arrangements 743 South Africa 743 Masonic and General Tidings 744 Lodge Meetings for Next Week iv .

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TheP v G nd ^ annua * meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Wilt-L ^ dge of shire , which took place at Swindon on the 22 nd ult ., and vvas fully reported in our last week ' s issue , passed off most satisfactorily , the only drawback to the pleasure which was experienced by all present at the gathering being the absence of Bro . Lord METHUEN , Prov .

G . Master , which , however , was unavoidable , and the illness of Bro . NOTT , who has worked so hard and so successfully for his Province , and who was thus unable to render an account of his doings during the past year as Provincial Charity Steward . But with these exceptions there was everything to gratify the members , who had assembled in considerable numbers , and who would

have been quite contented had the reports been even less favourable than they were . The PROV . GRAND TREASURER was enabled to give a very excellent account of the funds of the Province , the balance on the General

Account being small because the Province had voted a contribution of 50 guineas to the Imperial Institute of the United Kingdom , the Colonies , and India ; but the balance on the Charity Account amounted to very nearly £ 76 , out of vvhich it was recommended—and the recommendation was

unanimously adopted—that the sum of 25 guineas should be placed on the list of Bro . W H . BURT , as Steward for the Province at the approaching Festival of the Benevolent Institution . The PROV . G . REGISTRAR reported that the number of subscribing members in the Province had increased , while Bro . NOTT ' report , which was read in his absence , showed lhat the Benevolent

Fund , which had been established eight years , had a considerable amount in Consols and over £ 78 in cash to its credit . Bro . NOTT , however , expressed the hope that those lodges in the Province which had done nothing as yet to help this Fund would take its circumstances into consideration and contribute towards its effective maintenance , on the reasonable ground that , as

all were entitled to participate in its benefits , so all should help to sustain it to the extent of their ability . The voting power of the Province was also explained satisfactorily , and Provincial Grand Lodge in accepting Bro . NOTT ' account of his proceedings during the past year and the position of the Fund , was pleased to express its sympathy with him in the illness which

had compelled him to be absent . The proceedings concluded with a brief address from Bro . Sir GABRIEL GOLDNEY , Bart ., who had presided in the absence of his chief , and the brethren afterwards gathered round the festive board , and cultivated that good fellowship which is so material an element in our Masonic system .

Bro WE consider that Grand Lodge was well advised when it re-Woodward ' s jected Bro . WOODWARD ' proposed amendments of Rule 210 0 ions . Q c ^ e Book of Constitutions ; nor , indeed , after the . lucid explanations of the GRAND REGISTRAR , do we see how it could well have

adopted any other course . As regards the first of Bro . WOODWARD ' amendments , namely , that the "due notice" required by Rule 210 to be given to any member against whom a complaint is made shall be sent to him " in writing by the Secretary of his lodge in a registered letter to his last known address , " the Rule , as it stands , appears to us to contain all

reasonable precautions against the hasty and unjust exclusion of a member ; nor do we see that the dispatch of the requisite notice "in a registered letter " would add to the value of those precautions , either in favour of the lodge or in favour of the member . As Bro . SAMUEL POPE , P . G . D ., explained in the letter of his we published last week—if the obnoxious member appears in

lod ge , he can be served with personal notice of the intended proceedings against him ; and if he never appears , then he virtually excludes himself . Then , as to Bro . WOODWARD ' second amendment , that the words " who vote" should be inserted after the word " present , " so that the sentence should read— " This power of exclusion can onl y be exercised by a majority

—not less than two-thirds of the members present who vote "—the words Proposed to be added being in italics , if we remember rightly , the late Bro . " ¦* •OLIVER , in his "Masonic Jurisprudence , " expresses it as his opinion tl * iat a brother who is present in lodge is under an obligation to give his vote

one way or the other , and states that under the Scottish Constitutions he is Squired to do so . It is evident , however , that our Constitutions contem-P'ate the possibility that a brother may be present and yet may not feel competent or justified in voting either way . He may be absolutel y indifferent <* to the decision at which the lodge may arrive , or , in the case of a motion

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for the exclusion of a member , "it is conceivable , " as Bro . POPE puts it , " that brethren present may not be able to make up their minds to exclude , but still hesitate to vote so as to express any toleration of the conduct objected to . " In other words , he may recognise that such conduct is objectionable , and yet not be willing to inflict the penalty of exclusion . But the

opinion of these silent members is worth taking into account , and the law has , therefore , wisely provided that a sentence of exclusion shall be valid only in the event of its having been agreed to by a two-thirds majority of the brethren present in the lodge at the time . Thus in a case where 12 brethren are present in lodge , the law requires that a sentence of exclusion ,

in order to be valid , must be agreed to by 8 out of the 12 ; but Bro . WOODWARD thinks it should be enough , in the event of three members not voting at all , that the motion should secure the support of six out of the nine who vote . He appears , however , to have lost sight of the not improbable contingency that , if the law were altered as he proposes it should be , the three

—or one of the three—brethren who had sat as silent spectators of the voting , with the full knowledge that their presence vvould prevent the motion for the exclusion of a particular member being carried , might change from passive into active opponents of the resolution—in other words ,

while admitting the brother complained of had done wrong , they would vote against his being visited with the penalty of exclusion . For ourselves we think the law is better as , it stands , as it certainly is more considerate towards the offending brother .

* * , „ , IN an article entitled " Freemasonry in Victoria , " which we A United Grand ,,.,,. . r , , , c , ., Lodgeof published in our issue of the 24 th ult ., we very confidently V . ctona . predicted that it would not be long ere a United Grand Lodge

of Victoria was constituted on a basis substantially the same as that of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales ; and from information which appears elsewhere , and for vvhich we are indebted to our worthy Bro . W . F . LAMONBY , it is evident that our prediction is in a fair way of being , if indeed it has not already been , fulfilled . The position at the date

referred to in our aforesaid article—which was derived from particulars contained in the October number of the Australasian Keystone- ^ v / as as follows : The General Committee of the English , Irish , and Scotch Constitutions for the establishment of a United Grand Lodge of Victoria had reported that as regards the replies received from 94 out of the 119 lodges

applied to on the subject , two-thirds of the subscribing members had expressed themselves in favour of the proposal , less than 2 per cent , as opposed to it , while the remaining 32 per cent , had expressed no opinion whatever , either favourable or unfavourable . Under these circumstances , it had been resolved to invite the co-operation of the Victorian Constitution

in carrying out the scheme which had thus far progressed so satisfactorily . It now appears from the particulars which are printed elsewhere that a special meeting of Masters and Past Masters under the English , Irish , and Scotch Constitutions was held on the 31 st October , for the purpose of receiving the report of the Executive Committee appointed some

time previously lo prepare the basis of union ; and that the Chairman , Bro . J J AMES , P . D . S . G . W . ( E . C . ) , announced that 101 out of the 120 lodges had signified their intention of joining the new Grand Lodge , 3306 of the members having voted in favour of , and only 79 against , the scheme , the rest being neutral . The Articles of Union , as agreed upon between the

Executive Committee of the several British Constitutions and that of the Victorian Constitution , were then submitted , and almost unanimously adopted . A meeting of the United Executive Committee was held the following evening—that of the 1 st November—when the Articles of Union were adopted , and it was agreed that steps should be taken to inaugurate

the United Grand Lodge and instal the Grand Master , Bro . Sir W . J . CLARKE , Bart . —Dist . or Prov . G . Master under the three British Constitutions—having been invited to accept that office . It was anticipated that this solemn event would take place on the second Tuesday in the current month —the nth instant—and therefore , in the event of no unforeseen obstacle to

the proposed Union having presented itself in the interim , we may reasonably assume that the Union of the lodges under the four Constitutions in Victoria is an accomplished fact . If this is the case , then we may also anticipate that the United Grand Lodge of Victoria will meet with the same kindly and fraternal greeting from the United Grand Lodge of England asits sister United Grand Lodge of New South Wales .

* * > - i IT must be acknowledged that a brother who is called upon to A " J ! ¦ 1 II , ¦ r Effective deliver the customary address at the consecration of a new Oration

. [ oc j ge j ^ g ] jy n 0 raeans an eas y task to fulfil . Under the most favourable circumstances there is not much scop ** : for the introduction of any new or commanding ideas . The subject of his address has been worn pretty well threadbare , and consequently , if he is content with saying what