Australia.

Australia .

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF VICTORIA ( l . C ) . The Quarterly Communication of this Provincial Grand Lodge was held in the Masonic Hall , Melbourne , on Thursday evenin . tr , June 29 th . Bro . George Baker , Deputy Provincial Grand Master , presided in tlie absence of Bro . the Hon . VV . J . Clarke , R . W . Provincial Grand Master , who is at present in England . There was a capital

attendance of Provincial Officers and representatives of lodges in the neighbourhood of the metropolis , those up country , of course , being excused . The Provincial Grand Lodge Choir was also in attendance , and at intervals contributed some first-class vocal selections , under the direction of Bro . A . H . Padlcy , P . G . Org . The minutes of the last communication , held at Ballarat , were read and confirmed , after which the P . G . Secretary , Bro . A . Ellis ,

produced his correspondence during the three months . The report of the Board of Benevolence was read and adopted , and it was pleasing to notice amongst the items sundry grants to cases from the sister Constitutions . The " entente cordiale " amongst the three British Constitutions was especially exemplified in a vote of £ 5 from the Provincial Grand Lodge to the widow of an Irish brother , to enable her to bring her daughter from Ireland , to which

object the English and Scotch District Grand Lodges had contributed £ 10 and £ 5 respectively . Bro . S . Franklin , P . G . Treasurer , produced his financial statement for the three months , showing a balance of £ 127 is . 3 d . in hand . The P . G . Secretary detailed dispensations granted to lodges for Masonic balls and funerals occurring in the jurisdiction ; and , after an ode had been sung by the choir , the Provincial Grand Lodge was solemnly closed .

CRAFT . SANDRIDGE . —Marine Lodge ( No . 768 ) . — The installation festival of this Melbourne lodge , under the English Constitution , was held in their well-appointed little hall , on Wednesday evening , June , 2 Sth . Bro . A . Beckett , VV . M ., presided , supported by his officers and a large muster of members and visitors from sister lodges . The minutes being confirmed , the gavel was taken by

Bro . M . Goldstein , P . M ., P . D . G . S . W ., who , on Bro . A . Levy , W . M . elect , being presented to him , installed that brother into the chair of K . S . The following officers were invested : Bros . A . Dowsett , S . W . ; H . N . Edwards , J . VV . ; Rev . W . A . Brooke , D . G . Chap ., Chap . ; Captain Vine , Treas . ; Philip Leigh , P . M ., Sec . ; F . Withers , S . D . ; R . Eldis , J . D . ; J . Rendell , Org . ; F . Robins , I . G . ; and 1 . Devine . Tvler .

The lodge having been closed , the brethren , to the number of nearly fifty , adjourned to the banqueting-room , the Installing Master occuping the chair , in consequence of the W . M . ' s recent family bereavement , and he retired after his health had been drunk . A very enjoyable evening was spent in toast and song , and the brethren separated in time for the last train back to the city .

ROYAL ARCH . MELBOURNE . —Washington Chapter ( No . 368 ) . — The installation convocation of this flourishing chapter ( the only one working under the Irish Constitution in the colony or Victoria ) was held on Tuesday evening , June 27 th , in the Masonic Hall . The members mustered in force , and there were also strong deputations from the various English chapters in Melbourne and elsewhere , including Comp . W . F . Lamondby , P . Z . 119 . The Three

Principal ' s chairs were occupied by M . E . Comps . A . Ellis , P . G . Recorder ; S . Franklin , and W . Small , P . K . The other Past Kings present were Comps . G . Baker , VV . Pye . and A . Hart , 1 reas . The ordinary business formalities having been disposed of , the installation of Principals was performed in the most complete and perfect manner by M . E . Comp . Ellis , the retiring First Principal , who , by the way , is a P . K . of

the chapter , and generally acknowledged to be one ot the leading ritualists in the colony . The installation of the second Principal was postponed till the next consecration , in consequence of the companions absence in the United States . The following is a list of the new officers : Comps . S . Franklin , King ; P . S . Malcolm , High Priest ; E . H . Mack , Chief Scribe ; R . L . Malcolm , Capt . of the Host ; V . F . Russell , Supt . of the Tabernacle ; J . Barnard , Chief of the Royal Arch ; A . Hart , P . K ., Treas . ; J . Paul ,

Recorder ; and A . Clark , janitor . The Masters of the purple , scarlet , and white veils were unavoidably absent . The Installing Principal having delivered the usual addresses , the proclamations were put , when M . E . Comp . Baker , on behalf of the members of the chapter , presented a massive PastjKing's jewel to M . E . Comp . Ellis , as a mark of their esteem , which , being acknowledged in a modest speech the chapter was solemnly closed . The annual banquet was subsequently held .

THE SITUATION IN AUSTRALIA . The Melbourne Evening World , of July ist , has the following : " A highly-deserving charity which specially appeals to a special body , is also in want of funds . The Masonic body in Victoria obtained a grant of land , and erected cottages thereon as homes for aged brethren who would also be supplied with an annuity . The cottages are there , but the allowance is in danger of being stopped ,

owing to the want of funds . In Victoria , as in the other colonies , Masonry might occupy a higher position , but for the unfortunate rivalry between the three Constitutions . It is a most absurd anomaly that three separate Masonic jurisdictions should exercise authority in the same district . A competition for numerical power follows ; the consequence , that one meets men in lodges who would certainly never be admitted to the privileges of Masonry in any

other part of the globe . This prevents a great many brethren from ' affiliating , ' as it is their duty to do . They do not meet like men ' on the square' whom they cannot recognise or approve of out of doors . But , in the matter of charity , the Masons here are , as all over the world , united . That is , they are united in feeling , but it doesn't

appear to have reached the pockets of all of them . Ihe most honoured Mason in this colony , Bro . H . W . Lowry , District Grand Secretary , Scotch Constitution , is making a ¦ special appeal for the Masonic Charities , which it is to be hoped will be responded to as it should be . Masonic brethren in this and the neighbouring colonies may send their cheques to him . "

American Items.

American Items .

Putnam Lodge , No . 33 S , of New York , held ; i summer night's festival at Elm Park , on the 21 st ult . A monument , to cost 2000 dollars , has been contracted for by the Masonic Fraternity of Waterbury , Conn ., to be placed on their lot in the Riverside Cemetery . The Masonic Hall of Cicero Lodge , No . 199 , at Cicero , Indiana , was recently destroyed by fire . The lodge

lost its charter and all other property . The corner-stone of the new Masonic Hall at Platteville , Wisconsin , for the brethren of Melody Lodge , was laid on the 4 th ult ., R . W . Bro . R . D . Pulford officiating as Grand Master . The lot upon which the hall is to be erected cost 2500 dollars . Freemasons will be interested in the

announcement of a work by Professor Sbigoli , of Milan , on " Tommaso Crudeli , ed i Primi Frammassoni in Firenze . " Bro . Crudeli was a fantastic poet , who was instrumental in founding the first lodge of the Craft in the Tuscan capital . Bro . ' Col . M . Richards Muckle , of the Public Ledger , Chairman of the Ceremonies of October 26 th , of the Bi-centennial Association of Pennsylvania , and

President of the Hay Fever Association , will leave Philadelphia on the 9 th inst ., for his usual six weeks' annual sojourn among the White Mountains . The hay fever is undoubtedly an annoying disease , but the tourist ' s medicine for it is delightful to take . Bro . Lloyd Hoppin , of Philadelphia , has just received an autograph letter from the Archbishop of

Canterbury , thanking him for a very interesting portfolio of photographs of our brother ' s artistic models of celebrated English edifices . The Archbishop adds : " The models from which they are taken must be wonderfully exact copies of some of our most remarkable buildings , which seem to be a source of pride and satisfaction to Americans no less than to Englishmen . "

Ihe Liberal Freemason insinuates that Bro . John W . Simons was joking when he claimed to have introduced the ( to our view ) ill-advised plan , fortunately only very partially adopted , of public installation of officers of Masonic lodges , and asserts that this was a Boston notion as farbackas 1 S 17 . If so , so much the worse for Boston , and the better for New York . It was never a Philadel phia notion . The city of Brotherly Love both knows better and does better .

At the removal of thc remains of Bro . Stephen Girard , on September 30 , 1851 , from the vault of the Hol y Trinity Church , Philadelphia , to the marble sarcophagus in the vestibule of Girard College , where they now rest , thirty lodges , including nearly two thousand Freemasons ,

participated in the funeral procession of the Craft . At the College a funeral dirge was performed by a band , and an oration was delivered by P . G . M . Bro . the Hon . Joseph R . Chandler , which was followed by an address by G . M . Bro . William Whitney .

the Masonic Advocate says that the Voice of Masonry advocates " inconsistent unity , " when it insists that no Grand Lodge shall be organised without the consent of all of the subordinate lodges within its territorial limits ; and it charges that " the idea is an absurd one . " We cannot see why unanimity should be denounced by a Freemason as absurd . To be of one mind in a jurisdiction

seems to us an excellent idea , and if it were always practiced , the unseemly contests for recognition b y fractional , so called Grand Lodges , would be unknown . The Southern Tier Masonic Relief Association , of Elmira , N . Y ., during its fourteen years of existence has paid out to widows and orphans over one million dollars . Bro . C . N . Shipman is President , and Bro . Chas . H .

Smith , General Agent at Montrose , Pa . The fourteenth annual report is before us . It shows seventy-three death claims , amounting to 146 , 000 dollars , paid during the past year . The membership is now 3979 , scattered through thirty-seven States of the Union , the majority being in New York and Pennsylvania . It has paid 544 claims , and not one has ever been contested .

Bro . Louis M . Simpson , of Athelstan Lodge No . 482 , of Philadelphia , visited Chihuahua Lodge , of the Republic of Mexico , on Friday evening , June 23 rd , during a brief sojourn in that province of our sister republic on profession business . In the lodge Bro . Simpson met some of the most prominent and influential citizens of the city and state of Chihuahua , who , like all " true and faithful members

of the mystic tie , " are largely aiding in the development of of the rich resources of that wonderful country , to the profit of the entire community . Thus it is ever— " good men and true" lead in all laudable enterprises , while the general public reap the fruits of their labours . All praise to such noble men . Bro . Simpson speaks in warmest praise of the fraternal greetings he received . Any of our brethren

visiting that locality should not fail to cultivate the acquaintance of those who are bearing our name under less favourable circumstances than we enjoy . Solomon ' s Lodge , No . 1 , was constituted at Poughkeepsie , N . Y ., on May 22 nd , 1771 , and the first article of the bye-laws adopted at that time , contains the following provisions , which will strike the reader now

as odd as they are unnecessary : " In open lodge without order or decency a dissolution must be the consequence . Therefore , at the third stoke of the Master's hammer , a profound silence shall be observed , and if any brother curses , swears , or says anything irreligious , obscene , or ludicrous , holds private committees , disputes about religion or politics , offers to lay any

wagers , interrupts another brother who is speaking to the Master , or hisses at what he is or has been speaking , is not on his legs when he has anything to say to the Master , sits down unclothed or with his hat on , or smokes tobacco in the open lodges , or is disguised in liquor during lodge hours , such offending brother shall for the first offence be gently reproved ( ' . ) and admonished by the Master , for the second offence shall be fined one shilling , for the third offence be

fined two shillings , and for the fourth offence to be immediately expelled from the lodge , and never be admitted again as a member or visitor , unless he be balloted for and received in like manner with a strange brother , paying all lines due as per these bye-laws , and eight shillings as a new admission fee , if he chooses to be reinstated as a member . " Bro . Judge Wm . Donaldson , of Pottsville , the senior P . M . of Danville Lodge , No . 224 , and the oldest member of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , celebrated his eighty-third birthday on July sSth . We are glad to

American Items.

learn that our highly esteemed friend and brother continues to enjoy his accustomed excellent health , and that his numerous friends in Pottsville tendered him their hearty congratulations on his recent anniversary . The hero of many conflicts with anti-Masonry during the time that tried Freemasons' souls happily survives , and we beg to add our fraternal congratulations to those of the home Craft , and to wish our brother many more pleasant returns of the

anniversary of his natal day . The unwise advocates of the public installation of lodge officers attempt to justify their proceedings by saying ( as P . G . M . Bro . T . S . Parvin . of Iowa ) has : "The whole proceedings having from time immemorial been published in manuals and other books relating to the Institution , it is too late now to claim any secrecy for what any and everybody might know who would take the trouble to

read , tor one , we insist that the charges given the different officers at installation are not in any sense a part of the secret arcana , and that if they can be read in a book by the first comer , they may with equal propriety be pronounced in the presence of those who mi ght read them if they chose . To condemn the speaking in public , is to condemn the reading in private , and at the same time the

whole series of publications . " With as much force might ) t be urged , that the initiation of candidates might be proceeded with in public , because the same manuals as are referred to above contain partial forms for initiation . If the installation ceremonies proper may be emasculated for public observation , so may initiation ceremonies , for both have appeared partially in print in the manuals .

THE TWO BEST-GOVERNED GRAND LODGES . The following deserved tribute to the Grand Lodges of England and Pennsylvania is from the pen of Bro . Cornelius Moore , in an article in the Voice of Masonry for August . / 'The two best-governed Grand Lodges in the world , with whose proceedings I am familiar , are the Grand Lodge of England and that of Pennsylvania . The former is the mother Grand Lodge of the world , and bv manv vears the

oldest , and now the largest ; yet that body , with twice as many lodges on its list as any other , rarely requires more than a day to dispose of the business needing attention at its annual session . Very rarely is a new law enacted , and very few changes in old ones are attempted , though thc body , directly and indirectl y , controls vast and important interests . Between two and three hundred thousand dollars are collected and expended eveiy year in the support of its three

principal Charities , and as much more , perahps , on the lesser ones ; yet the entire business of the annual session is disposed of in a few hours , including the election of officers . The Grand Lodge of Michigan , with only about one-eighth the number of lodges , requires two days to dispose of its annual business ; the Grand Lodge of Ohio , three ; and the Grand Lodge of Illinois—I don ' t know how many , for 1 have not the printed proceedings at hand . And

the same needless waste of time and money is found in nearly all the Grand Lod ges of the United States—with one notable exception . "The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania is the oldest , wealthiest , and most conservative in the United States ; yet on one occasion when I visited that body it transacted all its annual business in a single evening , and ' closed in harmony' before what was formerl y known as ' late bed time ! ' It is true that matters of finance and grievances ( if there are any of the latter ) are usually placed in the

hands ot able and judicious committees in advance of the annual meeting , who carefully consider them , and are rirepared to present satisfactory reports at the opening of thc Grand Lodge , and such reports are usuall y approved without debate or discussion . There are no long-winded speeches , rarely a new law is proposed , and the entire Craft in the State are content to be governed by their constitution and laws found in their 'Ahiman Rezon , ' as the Grand Lodge and Craft in England are bv the 'Ancient Regulations . ' "

THE ENGLISH LODGES AT MONTREAL . »" e have written so much upon the subject of "thc English lodges " at Montreal , denouncing the anomalous position , and insisting that the time was fast approachingwhen the Most Worshipful the Grand Master of Quebec would be forced to move in the matter and issue his edict , that we feel almost ashamed to say much more regarding them . This time , however , we think the Ontario brethren

should have their feelings aroused , and it is high time that the Grand Lodge of Canada ( Ontario ) should strengthen the hands of her sister Grand Lodge of Ouebec ; she let her fight with Scotland alone , never once entering her protest when she saw the Grand Lodge of Scotland invading the territory of the Grand Lod ge of Ouebec ; she quietly sat through it all and never gave her a helping hand ; she has been doing the same with regard to the English lod

ges and now she is about to reap her reward . We have again and again protested against this cold lukewarmness on the part of the Grand Lodge of Canada regarding these "foreign" lodges in a neighbouring colonial jurisdiction . We all know how troublesome they were when they existed in Ontario , and surely we might have had alittlesympath y with our Ouebec brethren . But no we sat with our hands foldedand never even urged

, upon the Grand Lodge of England the advisability of withdrawing the warrants of St . Paul , St . George , and St . Lawrence , and now we are reaping the reward of our cold and callous behaviour to our daughter of Ouebec . Months and years ago we pointed out that these lod ges not regarding any territorial jurisdictional rights , would accept material , rejected or otherwise from any jurisdiction . Our words have apparently come true , as we learn from a

contemporary that a candidate recently rejected at Toronto went down to Montreal and took his Degrees in the St George ' s Lodge , English Register . A pretty state of affairs , and one which should not be tolerated for a single moment . The question now arises if united action should not be taken on the part of all the Grand Lodges in the Domin' ° ° protest against such outrages and to request thc Grand Lodge of England to withdraw her warrants from these lodges that thus disturb the neace and krmnn « „ P

I'reemasonry in Canada . If the Grand Lod ge of Canada ( Ontario ) is willing to permit these forei gn Masonic bodies working under sufferance in Montreal to accept the rejected material of her lodges , she must indeed have lost all spirit , pride , and honour , The time has now arrived when the Grand Lodge of Canada must move in this matter . It can be no longer postponed , and the matter at this moment concerns , as we always said it did , the Grand Lodges ot Canada , New Brunswick , Nova Scotia , & c , fully as much as it does that of Quebec—Canadian Craftsman ,