The Craft In Canada {Province Of Ontario).

THE CRAFT IN CANADA { PROVINCE OF ONTARIO ) .

The annual meeting of the Grand Lodge of Canada for the Province of Ontario was held in London on the 20 th and 21 st July . There was , as usual , a very full attendance of Present and Past Grand Officers , and there were only a small number of lodges on the roll which were not represented either directly or by proxy . Bro . J . Ross ROBERTSON , M . W . G . M ., presided , and

the proceedings on both days were of more than usual interest . On the first day , Bro . ROBERTSON delivered the customary address , in which he reviewed at length the events of the past year . A vote , too , was taken on the question whetherthe Grand Lodgeshouldorshould not contribute towards thecentenary celebration of the constitution of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Canada in

1792 , the result being that the resolution to make a grant was carried in the negative . On the second day , Bro . GIBSON , Deputy Grand Master , proposed that a sum of $ 500 be granted towards the relief of the brethren in St . John ' s , Newfoundland , who have suffered by the recent conflagration , which practically destroyed that unfortunate city , and , though an

amendment was submitted to contribute $ 500 to the general relief fund in addition to the grant proposed to be made to the Masonic relief fund , the original motion was carried , Bro . GIBSON contending that , as the brethren in their capacity of citizens , were already contributing to the former , it was the duty of Grand Lodge to confine its sympathies to the latter . Grand Lodge then gave

its attention to the business of electing the principal Grand Officers for the ensuing year , with the result as regards the Grand Mastership , that Bro . J . M . GIBSON , who has served as Deputy Grand Master during the two years Bro . ROBERTSON has held that office , was elected . Bros . WHITE and Dr . CHURCH were candidates for the post of Deputy , and the ballot resulted in

favour of the former , while Bros . BAKER and GEO . C . INGLIS were elected to the Warden ' s chairs . For the office of Grand Chaplain there were four competitors , of whom Bro . the Rev . J . H . FAIRLY secured the highest number of votes ; Bro . MUCH MURRAY was unanimously confirmed in the office of Grand Treasurer , to which he had been appointed pro tent , on the

death of Bro . EDWARD MITCHELL ; Bro . F . F . MANLEY was preferred to Bro . COOKE for the post of Grand Registrar ; and Bro . J . J . MASON retains the office of Grand Secretary . The elections and appointments having been completed and the new Grand Officers installed in their several posts , a resolution was unanimously carried for the appoinlment of a Committee

to procure and present to the retiring Grand Master a suitable testimonial in recognition of the very great services he had rendered during his two years' tenure of ofiice , and Bro . Ross ROBERTSON , in acknowledging and consenting to accept the honour thus proposed to be conferred upon him , expressed a hope that any money that might be raised for the purpose might

no devoted to the furnishing of cots for the sick children of worthy Masons in the Lakeside Home for I . ittlcSick Children , on Toronto Island—an institution which he had built and endowed and presented to the country at ' argc , his idea being that money so spent would be " productive of more tfood than if spent in any other way . "

About a month previous to this annual meeting Bro . ROBERTSON had l » e opportunity of performing an important public Masonic act , which in lne years to come will always be associated with his presidency over the Craft in Canada . On the 17 th June he attended at Owen Sound with several of his Grand Officers for the purpose of laying the foundation-stone

o [ a new hospital , which is about to be erected in that locality at a cost of a » out 89000 . This institution , which when completed will be known as the Marine and General Hospital of Owen Sound , had its origin in a bequest ° ' * iooo made by a worthy citizen of the name of George Williams towards 'ne first charitable institution that should be established in the locality .

I ' urther sums were raised by public subscription , the ladies of the neighboured taking a prominent part in canvassing for the necessary funds , and a sufficient amount having been obtained , the aid of the Grand Master of anada was enlisted in launching the proposed hospital on its career . Hcn ce his presence on the day mentionedwhichthanks to the attendance

, , 0 'he members of the local lodges and other Masons to the number of about 3 ° " , as well as of the townsfolk , who were deeply interested in the prayings , proved quite a gala day in the annals of Owen Sound . The " [ ernony was of the usual character , and calls for no special remark , but the

' ess which Bro . ROBERTSON delivered was replete with details which , , ! n * ve made those brethren who heard it very proud indeed of the J } ernil y of which they are members . With many of these details , such ' he Work done in England and Ireland in aid of their Masonic Instituns - and in Scotland in establishing their Fund of Benevolence , our readers

The Craft In Canada {Province Of Ontario).

are already familiar , nor need we trouble them with those particulars which he gave of the origin of our modern system of Freemasonry . But what had reference to the progress of hospital work in the Province of Ontario is not so generally known , and it cannot be otherwise than gratifying to them to learn that while in 1884 there were only 14 hospitals under Government

inspection , there are now 27 ; that there is now provision for relieving 10 , 000 patients annually as against 6000 eight years ago ; and that while the amount contributed by Government and raised by public contribution has

considerably more than doubled within the period stated , the smallness of the average cost per patient is a sure and certain indication that the funds are administered with the utmost economy consistent with efficiency and good management .

The ceremony at Owen Sound was in all probability the last public Masonic act of a brother who presided over the Grand Lodge of Canada for two years and whose labours during that period have been almost tinprecedented in the annals of Canadian Masonry . Bro . ROBERTSON was indeed no faineant ruler ; what he expected of others , that did he himself

most thoroughly and conscientiously . No man appears to have had so lofty a sense of what he conceived to be the duties of a Grand Master . During his term of office—brief though it appears to us who are accustomed to seeing our rulers when once elected remain in office , if not for the term of their natural lives , at all events for as long a

period as it may please them to accept re-election or retain their appointments—it is tolerably certain—we believe , indeed he has placed the fact on record—that he must have officially visited all or nearly all the lodges on the roll of Canada . He appears likewise to have enjoyed to the utmost the confidence of the brethren , who , whenever he visited this or that township ,

always attended in great force and accorded to him the heartiest of welcomes . Moreover , he seems to have studied pretty closely the history of our Society , and whenever a favourable opportunity presented , was as ready to deliver a lecture on the origin and progress of Freemasonry as he was earnest in his endeavours to promote the well-being of the lodges under his charge . Thus

on the occasion of his visit to Owen Sound for the purpose of laying the first stone of its new hospital , the ceremony was hardly concluded before we read of his attending at the local Masonic Hall , where , in the course of an able exposition of "Historic Freemasonry , " we are told "he held the lodge" for two hours , "discoursing on the origin of the ancient

mysteries of Egypt , the Cabiric , Dionysian , and Eleusinian mysteries and worship ; Scandinavian rites ; the Steinmetzen of Germany ; Craft guilds ; the history of the early operative guilds of England ; and of the Grand Lodges of England and Canada . " Those who had the privilege of meeting Bro . ROBERTSON , when he paid this country a visit some

two years ago , when his experience as Grand Master was of the briefest , will have no difficulty in picturing to themselves that the lecture at Owen Sound must have been as instructive as no doubt it was interesting . If we add to the ubiquity he displayed in visiting his lodges , and the knowledge and ability he exhibited in his numerous lectures , that Bro . ROBERTSON , by

his conduct both within and outside Masonry , set an example of benevolence —more especially in his gift of the Lakeside Home for little children on Toronto Island—to his brother Masons and brother citizens , which it will be an honour to them to follow , we shall have completed the portrait of one of the ablest and most popular of the Canadian Grand Masters , the memory

of whose services will be cherished long after he has passed from this earthl y scene . Fortunately , as far as age goes , there is every reason for hoping that he will be long spared to be an ornament to the Grand Lodge over which he but so recently presided , and that for many years his successors on the

Masonic throne of Canada will be inspired to fulfil their duties by the influence of his great example , and the wise counsel he will at all times be ready and willing to offer . May the time be far distant when it will be no longer possible for him in his own person to exercise this influence and tender such counsel !

Masonic Libraries.

MASONIC LIBRARIES .

BY BRO . R . F . GOULD . In the Freemason of July 23 rd , some valuable additions to the library of Grand Lodge were announced by Bro . Sadler , who has since reminded me that it was at my instance , when a member of the Board of General Purposes in 1880 , that the present annual grant of ^ 25 was recommended by

that body to Grand Lodge . I am induced , therefore , to offer a few remarks , in the first place , to supply what the modesty of the Sub-Librarian has prevented him from revealing , and secondly , to throw out the strongest hint I am capable of expressing , that the time has arrived when the purse strings