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/ CRITERION RESTAURANT . EAST ROOM , DINNERS AND SUPPERS A LA CARTE . WEST ROOM , From 12 to 3 . ACADEMY LUNCHEON AT & . Od . PER HEAD . "LE DINER PARISIEN , " 5 s . ; SUPPER , 4 s . INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC . GRAND HALL , THE POPULAR 3 s . 6 d . DINNER Is served at Separate Tables , G to y p . m ., During which the Celebrated "SP 1 ERPON" ORCHESTRA . Will Perform .

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PARTRIDGE & COOPER , "THE" STATIONERS , 191 & 192 , FLEET STREET ,. LONDON , .. Would invite attention to their LARGE AND WELL - SELECTED STOCK OF GENERAL & FANCY STATIONERY , Suitable for presents , such as Inkstands , Stationery , Cabinets , Ladies' and Gentlemen's Dressing Bags , Travelling and Brief Bags , & c , all of which are enumerated in their New Illustrated Catalogue , sent free on application .

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Wrejjmsoiii SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 22 . 18 94 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

An interesting event took place at a meeting of the Palatine Lodge , No . gj , at Sunderland a few days ago , when the Grand Secretary to the Province of Durham ( Bro . Herbert Hudson ) presented to the lod ge an old minute book of the proceedings of the

Palatine Lodge , which had been lost for nearl y 50 years . It was found quite accidentally by a gentleman at Whitb y , and forwarded by him to Bro . Hudson . This fortunate "find" places the lodge in the happy Position of being in possession of an uninterrupted

record from the foundation in 1757 to the present date . Ufl e of the many advantages which will accrue will no doubt be at an early date—the completion of the history of the Palatine Lodge , begun some few years a go b y Bro . William Loganof Langley Parkbut

, , which had to be discontinued owing to the incomplete records of ( he lodge . # * - * he book referred to contains the minutes from 18 35 0 l 8 5 o , and among the minutes is that recording the

Urr ' " ° the P resent baronet , then Mr . Hedworth Williamson on the ioth January , 1847 , so that it is rapidl y approaching 50 years since the present Provincial Grand Master of Durham was initiated into freemasonry .

TK ^ ^ freemason " was much to the front on ursday , when , in the presence of 2000 people , the uchess of Sutherland laid , with Masonic honours , foundation st ° ne of the Embo Pier , near Dornoch .

Masonic Notes.

The Duchess , who drove from Dunrobin , was accompanied by the Duke , Lord Ronald Gower , and the Earl of Rosslyn . At the entrance to the village a procession was formed , and , on the horses being unyoked , the carriage was drawn by a detachment of the local men of the Naval Reserve to the site of the pier , a distance of nearly a mile .

A correspondence has recently been carried on in the Westminster Gazette anent the Roman Church and the British workman , and the Rev . Luke Rivington , a Catholic priest , contributes a letter , reprinted below ,

which , for its utter futility and irrelevancy as far as British Masonry is concerned , is beyond anything we have yet met with . What in the name of common sense is the nature of the influence exercised bv the Masonic Organisation on the British workman : —

" To the Editor of the Westminster Gazette . — Sir , —Your issue of the 13 th ( which , by mistake , only reached me to-day ) contains an account of an utterance of mine concerning the British workman so contrary to what 1 said and believe , that I hope you will allow me to correct it . The inaccuracy

is , I fancy , not your own , but due to one of our own Catholic organs . What I said of the British workman was not that he glorified natural religion , much less that he is in ineradicable antipathy to the Catholic religion , but ( as the Tablet correctly reports my speech ) that he is apt to be a ready prey to ' the

snares of the Masonic sect , with its glorification of natural religion , and its ineradicable antipathy to the Catholic religion . ' No one , I imagine , will deny that the teaching of the Masonic sect is at best that of natural religion ; and that the Catholic religion and that sect are opposed to the death . And it is my firm belief that the happiness of the British workman is

bound up with the question of how far he will become involved in the meshes of Masonic organisation . Trades Unions are one thing ; but Trades Unions under the influence of the Masonic sect are , in the judgment of many , destined to submerge the masses in a worse misery than the neglect of past years . —I am , & c , LUKE RIVINGTON , 52 , Manchester-street , W ., September 17 . " # #

* The Grand Lodge of Quebec , of which Bro . John P . Noyes is the present M . W . Grand Master , and Bro . J . H . Isaacson , the Grand Secretary , though it has made no great progress , numerically , during the last 10 years , is well established , and has on its muster roll 57 lodges with an aggregate membership of 3318 . It is also well

placed , financially , having a general fund of some 4640 dollars , a Benevolent Fund amounting to very little short of 2000 dollars , and a Masonic Home Trust Fund . Thus , though the Grand Lodge of Quebec is not as strong as many other Grand Lodges on the North American continent , it is a compact and well-set body , with ample funds for its maintenance and the satisfaction of its charitable instincts .

* From the reports presented at the annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Indiana , in May , we learn that the number of lodges at present on its roll is 473 , with a total membership of 26 , 897 . The total of the General Fund for the past year amounted to

upwards of 41 , 000 dollars , while the investments are nearly 25 , 500 dollars . With one or two exceptions , the matters dealt with in the Grind Master ' s address were only of local interest . Bro . Frank E . Gavin is the Grand Master for the current year , while Bro . Wm . H . Smythe remains at the post he has so long adorned of Grand Secretary .

We have heard much about Grand Masters being possessed of the prerogative of making Masons at sight , but the cases in which this prerogative is exercised are few and far between . According to the Memphis Commercial of ioth June last , Bro . J . L .

Spinks , M . W . Grand Master of Mississi ppi , visited Ship Island some time previously , and having boarded the British steamship County of York , opened his Grand Lodge on board that vessel , and there and then conferred the Three Degrees upon Captain G . Maddell , its commander .

* It is the custom noiv-a-days to summon Congresses for the celebration of all kinds of events , ; tnd the United States are not behind other countries in the readiness with which they have adopted the fashion . But we confess to a feeling of surprise , not unminglcd with horror , on reading in the Voice of Masonry for

July last that an Illinois Commandery of Knights Templar proposes that . 1 World ' s Grand Conclave of the Order should be held in the city of New York on the closing days of irjoo and the opening day : ; of lyoi , for the purpose of celebrating the birth , death , and resurrection of Christ and the triumphs of Christianity . Wc trust our worthy contemporary has been misinformed .

Correspondence.

Correspondence .

THE SO-CALLED GRAND LODGE OF NEW ZEALAND . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I have- read very carefully the letters which Bro . T . B . Whytehead -and your correspondents of last week have severally addressed you on the subject

of the so-called Grand Lodge of New Zealand and its non-recognition by the United Grand Lodge of England , but I fail to see that anyone of them has adduced a sufficient reason why the latter should abandon the course which in this matter it has deliberately and , in my humble opinion , very properly adopted . Indeed , there are several considerations which Bro . Whytehead

and his brother correspondents have either overlooked or ignored , which both justify its policy towards these very aggressive New Zealand Masons , and , at the same time , impose upon it the unpleasant necessity of maintaining that policy . It must not be forgotten that when the movement was started for establishing an independent Grand

Lodge of New Zealand , Bro . the Earl of Onslow , then Governor of the Colony , and a Past Senior Grand Warden of England , was invited to become its first Grand Master , and his lordship , no doubt with the concurrence of our Grand Lodge authorities , expressed his willingness to accept the office on condition that 120 lodges gave in their adhesion to the proposal . At

the time there were 149 English , Irish , and Scotch lodges in New Zealand , and Lord Onslow ' s condition that fourfifths of the whole body should be found supporting the proposal was not , nor was it considered , unreasonable . It did not exhibit that overwhelming preponderance of opinion in favour of separation from the parent Grand Lodges , which had been exhibited by the Masons in

South Australia , New South Wales , and Victoria , but it represented such an approach to unanimity as would have satisfied firstly Lord Onslow , who would have been installed Grand Master of New Zealand , and secondly , our Grand Lodge , which t doubt not would have recognised , as readily and as gracefully as it had done in the case of the other Australasian Grand Lodges

the new order of things . But when the time came for asc ertaining the extent of public feeling among the lodges in favour of independence , it was found that only about one-fourth of them were prepared to support the movement , and Lord Onslow ' s conditional offer to become Grand Master fell through . But the partisans of independence , taking no heed of the

disorder which were certain to follow if they persisted in their course , and still less of the fair fame of Freemasonry , which as certainly would suffer detriment , were determined , coute que coute , to have their Grand Lodge , even though it was the Grand Lodge of a minority ; and Bro . H . Thompson , Dist . G . Master of Canterbury , under the English Constitution , was

installed Grand Master . But though other lodges of English , Irish , and Scotch creation have since joined the so-called Grand Lodge of New Zealand , and some 20 new lodges have been constituted under its warrants , I submit that ( 1 ) theevents which have followed the

establishment of this so-called Grand Lodge are the reverse of creditable to Freemasonry ; and ( 2 ) that the Grand Lodge of England could not , without loss of dignity , have acted otherwise than it has acted , and is in no wise responsible for the disorders which now exist in the New Zealand Craft .

But if the so-called Grand Lodge of New Zealand has done nothing which entitles it to a more favourable consideration than it is receiving from the Grand Lodge , the English lodges in that Colony which are desirous of remaining true to their old allegiance have assuredl y done nothing to forfeit the rights and privileges they enjoy under its authority , and I fail to see why we , as one

of your correspondents suggests , should urge on them " the advisability of transferring their allegiance to the Colonial Grand Lodge as quickly as possible . " It is easy to talk about our Colonial Board not being in touch with the brethren in New Zealand , but the lodges which remain in their allegiance to England know something of the Masonic feeling which exists in the

Colony , and these earnestly desire no re-union with those which have seceded . They have narrowl y watched the course of events from the very beginning of the movement till now , and I very strongly incline to the belief that it is because they know the Colonial Joseph so well that they prefer having nothing to do with him .

i his much at all events they have almost daily brought under their notice , that whatever differences 111 ly have existed among the three Constitutions before 1889 , they are nothing by comparison with the bitterness of feeling which exists now . But who is responsible for this changer Well , not the supreme authority in England or the still English lodges in New Zealand .

When the late Earl of Carnarvon visited New South Wales he found Alasonry in that Colony in such a deplorable condition that he immediately set about taking the necessary steps to place the Craft on an organised and harmonious footing , and we have the result of his labours in the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales . In 1880 the relations of the several

sections of the Masonic body in New Zealand towards each other were for the must part harmonious ; now there exists in that Colony a statu of things even more deplorable than that which Lord Carnarvon found on his arrival in New Sjuth Wales . Are they censurable who consider the creation of discoid is not the best way to promote harmony ^ - —Fraternally yours , ¦ ' () . "