Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 4 * 7 Provincial Gnnd Lodge of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 41 S Provincial Gr . ind Lodge of South Wales ( Western Division ) 41 S Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of ISuckingh mshire 419

Annual Excursion of the John Hervey Lodge , No . HCO 419 South Af . ica 4 = 9 Australia 4 ' 9 Orphans Made Happy 4 9 CORRESPONDENCEThe Returrs of the Govs' School Fes . ti .-al , 1 R 8 3 42 ° Rebuilding thc Temple 421

CoRRF . sroxnKNcE ( Continued)—Stains of Past Masters 421 Latent Powers of Lodges 421 Notes and Queries 421 REPORTS OF ' MASOXIC MEETINOSCraft Masonry 421 Instruction 423 Rural Arch 4 : 3 » . ., . . ¦ . . . . . . . — -,-j

Red Cro-s of Constan'ine 423 Allied Masonic Degrees 434 St . John ' s Day in America 126 Years Ago . 424 The Roval Sea Bath , ng In Urinary at Margate . ' . 425 Obituary 425 The Theatres 425 Masonic and General Tidings 426 Lodge Meetings for Next Week ... Page 3 Cover .

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IF it be true that there is any such thing as "infallibility" in human decisions or Masonic councils , we should feel inclined to apply to the " collective wisdom of Grand Lodge" recently exercised the famous old Roman distich , " Roma locuta est , causa finita est . " But alas ! infallibility is not of earth , and the limitation of our faculties , and the imperfection of our reasoning powers , all shew us convincingly and truly that here at the best , at the very best , we see " but through a glass dark ! )' . " Hence we

think it right to criticize with freedom and friendliness all the recent decisions of Grand Lodge . We find fault with few of them , and we feel sure , that in our Revised Constitutions wc have to our hands a very improved version of a book which is so greatly cherished by English Freemasons , as alike the Charter of the prerogatives and independence of our great Order , which alike protects our liberties , gauges our privileges , and gives us wise , good , and sensible laws of Masonic order , discipline , procedure , and vitality . *

* * WE regret to notice the alteration as regards the " Status of Past Masters . " It is not only a grave innovation on our present custom and law , but it so severely affects the whole of our Masonic lodge life and liberty , as seemingly to interfere with the latter and modify the former . Up to the present time the Past Master of a lodge was a brother who had done good suit and

service to the lodge . He had filled its qualifying offices , and lastly , elected by the free suffrages of his brethren , he had ruled over the lotlge in person for " one year . " He was in every sense Past Master of the lodge . By this " new departure " he need only have paid his joining fee , larger or smaller as the case may be , and though he has never done an hour's work for the lodge , lo and behold ! he is henceforth to rank after the Past Masters

of the lodge , who al ! have in their turn actually presided over their lodge . It seems to us to be both a " paradox" and a " fad " gravely to argue " that once a Past Master always a Past Master , " and that because he is a Past Master and has served one lodge as a Past Master he is to have a right to claim to be a Past Master of another lodge , with which he has nothing whatever to do , and of which his acquaintance may

be very slight , — in fact " only of yesterday . This is such a revolution , as we observed last week , in our normal lodge life , that it may have and probably will have the most serious consequences , —consequences entirely unforeseen by those who have " set the stone a-rolling , " but which are the logical consequences both of hasty induction and hastier legislation . Among those certain consequences , as it

seems to us , are the following : 1 . The change will greatly interfere with that " esprit de corps " which has hitherto had a very good effect on our Iodj . es and the Ciaft . Up to the present the work done has been in the lodge and for the lodge ; henceforth any one who has interest enough to pass the ballot can become Past Master of a lodge for which he has done nothing , claim its name , and the actual position of a Past Master of the lodge ,

though he has never been , and probably never will be , its actual Worship ! ul Master . 2 . This change obliterates the whole constitutional idea of what a Past Master is . Why is his rank conferred with his collar ? Not because he is a Past Master in the Craft , but because he has been actual Past Master of a lodge , that lodge in whose chair he has duly served . But henceforth a brother who has been the Worshipful Master and the Past

Master of the Lodge of Affability , in which he has legally served his time and gained his qualification of a Past Master , thence derived , and thence derived alone , by the mere payment of a sum of money , becomes Past Master of the Lodgeof Philanthropy also sirnply by payment of a joining fee , and for which lodg-e he has never given a day ' s thought or service . 3 . The

change will suit those " well-to-do , " and not the humble members of our Order . By the mere strength of purse , a brother ( if he can influence his brethren sufficiently ) can become member of as many lodges as he likes , and Past Master of all these lodges , in various provinces . 4 . This change of status must lead to blackballing . There are many independent lodges , well-to-do and happy , with a long array of Past Masters , with younger brethren rising rapidly in turn to office , and it is not

likely they will now ever allow a brother with a Past Master ' s status to join their lodges . In the first place , they do not want unnecessarily to increase the number of Past Masters ; and , in the next place , they believe in the good old adage , " Palmam qui meruit ferat , " due honour given for " proper work , " and only " proper work to the lodge performed . " We are rather inclined to think that this peculiar change will hardly pass the ordeal of the r eport or confirmation . In London , as we said before , the change will work admittedl y great incongruity and evil , and in the provinces , —though here and

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there there may be exceptional cases ,- -at lhe outside , the drawbacks of the present system are really very slight indeed , and constitute a " minimum " of private hardship or public inconvenience , [ . el its aroid if we can creatinsr "bogus" Past Musters of lodges . ' *«*

WE always pay attention to P . G . C . BROWNRIGG ' S remarks , but we confess we hardly follow him in his argument last week in Grand Lodge as to the status ol Past Masters . If we understand him ri ghtly , our able brother's position is this , a twofold one . ( 1 . ) The concession to " Past Masters in the Craft " in the revised laws strengthens , he thinks , the claim of Past Masters 111 a lodge , lo become Past Masters of a lodge ; and ( 2 ) that it is a hardshio

that a Past Master of a lodge in one province should not be Past Master of a lodge in another province of which he has become a joining member . But our esteemed Bro . BROWNRIGG will excuse us for saying that the revised arrangement for allowing a Past Master to perform the ceremonial meets the very grievance , such as it is , in greater part , and is really a very strong argument against , not in favour ot any further change . As regards the

change from one province to another , and an equal status for the Past Masters , our worthy brother seems tous . like others , to lose sight of the whole gist of the point in dispute . In the one province the brother is a Past Master of a lodge by virtue of work done for that lodge , and therefore and therefore only is he Past Master of that lodge . In the new province he has done nothing for the new lodge and ' cannot be " virtute officii " a Past Master of the lodge rightly , because he has done nothing to gain

forhimsell that qualification . In onesense the rank of Past Masteris universal , so long , according to our Book of Constitutions , as the brother is a subscribing member of a lodge , and nothing can take from him lhat rank . But it is quite a different thing to give him the fallacious title of " Past Master of a lodge" of which he has never been the VVorshipful Master . We have heard a good deal lately ol " unearned increment ; " does it not fairly apply to this univorkedlot addition to legitimate honours ?

* * WE call attention elsewhere to a speech delivered at a most interesting meeting at the Sea Bathing Infirmary , Margate , where our esteemed Bro . Lieut .-Col . CREATON , Past Grand Treasurer , declared the " New Wing " opened , built by the almost unexampled munificence of Bro . Sir ERASMUS WILSON , Past Grand Deacon . Bro . Lieut .-Col . CREATON very fitly , ii

shortly , thus commemorates the happy outcome of the large-hearted benevo-Ience of our respected and well-known brother . Tins is one of those excellent institutions lor healing and help in our country , which seems to have a special claim on the humane and the sympathetic . Dealing with a most serious and distressing and wide-spread malady , and which can be only treated with a chance of success by the special regimen

and arrangements which this excellent and useful infirmary so liberally adheres to , this Home of shelter and healing has been of untold blessing to ' many , and , thanks to our good Bro . Sir ERASMUS WILSON , will , humanlyspeaking , beproductiveof help and health to many more . 40 , 000 cases have been already treated by it , and to a very great extent most successfully ; and with these new wards a still larger' number of grateful inmates can be conveniently received and sedulously watched over . Bro . Sir

ERASMUS WILSON has most wisely judged , and his example deserves alike commendation and imitation , that to no nobler work can wealth and affluence be directed than to those great and humble , those useful and benevolent institutions alike , which seek to alleviate the burdens and mitigate the maladies of our common and suffering humanity . Many of our readers will have seen with deep regret that their amiable old friend is suffering himself , and thi-y will all we know join sincerel y in the wish and trust that medical skill and science may restore him to all of health and comfort .

* # WE were much startled with the opinions expressed by our most distinguished Bro . J HAVERS , P . G . W ., and Bro . MCINTVRE , G . R ., as to the power of a lodge to conler the Honorary rank of Past Master of a lodge on a Past Master in the lodge , or any honorary rank at all . We certainly never

heard of such a power before , nor even the idea of such a power resting in lodges . It seems to us a most serious question , —one that deserves settling one way or the other . We note that our esteemed Bro . the GRAND REGISTRAR admits that there is no distinct enactment in favour of any such proposition . Whence the power is derived we do not clearly gather , but we presume it exists somewhere , or has been exercised within " legal memory . "

»* # MANY of our readers will lament to notice the account of the premature and sudden death of our old friend "Savaricus , " Bro . J SAFFERV . Hewasa most zealous Freemason and a most kindl y-hearted man , full of zeal for social amelioration , and of plans for social welfare . He was endowed with literary tastes and poetic gilts of a no mean order , and many of our fraternity will deeply lament the loss of a good Freemason , a sincere friend , and an honest lover of his species .

WE have been called over the coals for saying that £ 3 3 s . was the maximum of Provincial Joining Fees . What we meant to say was the highest possible " average " of Provincial joining fees was £ 3 3 s . To the statement we adhere . *

* * WE shall call attention to the Victoria " embroglio " next week . We regret to add that a new illegal Grand Lodge has been started under circumstances which render non-recognition a duty , and ostracism a necessity . * * * WE shall also probably deem it well to allude tothe present Masonic troubles in Canada and Quebec .