General Committee Of Grand Lodge And Board Of Benevolence.

Garrod ) possibly being the oldest member who knew him , that was about 45 years they were first acquainted , he thought he should just mention the circumstance of his death that the Board might be fully acquainted with it . He would mention the name of the brother—Bro . James Brett . Bro . J . H . MATTHEWS said he was glad Bro . Garrod mentioned it , because he felt that Bro . Brett , after being so many years Vice-President ( he remembered

him in Bro . Clabon ' s time ) , the subject of his death should be mentioned . Bro . Brett was one of the most useful members they had ; he had a method of crossexamination and bringing out facts that was extremely useful to the Board . He would not ask Bro . Garrod for a motion ; he thought an expression of regret through their President—a regret which , he was sure , they all felt—would be sufficient .

The brethren then proceeded with the list , first confirming recommendations to the Grand Master made at the July meeting to the extent of ^ 280 . On the new list were 17 cases , only one of which was in the London District . The others were from the Grand Lodge of New South Wales , Lymington , Crediton , Leeds , Whitby , Sidmouth , Uxbridge , York Town , Garstang , Saltash , Chipping Sodbury ,

Landport , Montego Bay , Grand Lodge of Canada , Maryport , and Norwich . One petition was withdrawn , one was not accepted , and one was dismissed . The remainder were voted a total of ^ 435 . One petitioner was recommended to the Grand Lodge for £ 75 , and one for £$ o . The Grand Master was requested to approve of a grant of ^ 40 in each of two cases , and ^ 30 in each of five cases . Three grants were made for / 20 each , and two for Xio each .

Craft Masonry.

Craft Masonry .

Kingswood Lodge , No . 2278 . A regular meeting was held at Broxbourne on Saturday , the 13 th inst ., when there were present Bros . A . Ingram , W . M . ; J . Gravatt , I . P . M . ; C . C . Renaud , S . W . ; E . N . Beningfield , J . W . ; J . Petch , P . M ., P . P . G . Std . Br ., Treas . ,- J . F . Bell , P . M ., P . P . G . S . B ., Sec . ; H . Bower , S . D . ; F . Page , P . M ., J . D . ; C . Nicole , I . G . ; D . Taylor and H . Rackham , Stwds . ; L . Williams , Tyler ; R . W . Nicole , P . M ., Prov , A . G . P . j C . M . Coxon , P . M ., P . P . G . D . ; J . G . Cobb , P . M ., P . P . G . Std . Br . ; G , Redding , S . Butter , A . T . D . Palmer-Palmer , A . C . Little , J . Perceval , and H . H . Broughton . Visitors : Bros . H . J . Spurgeon , 1615 ; Sidney Napper , P . M . 1471 ; and C . R . Church , 33 ° , P- Dep . D . G . M . Ottawa .

The first business of the meeting , the minutes having been read and confirmed , was to ballot for Mr . Joseph Perceval , a candidate for initiation , and Bro . Thomas H . Wye , IQIO , as a joining member ; in both cases the vote was unanimous , the first-named being initiated . Bro . Sydney Butler was raised to the Degree of M . M ., and the lodge was closed . After the banquet which followed , the usual toasts were proposed and duly honoured .

In response to that of "The Provincial Grand Officers , " Bro . R . W . Nicole , Prov . A . G . P . —the acting officer for the year—replied for the first time , when he met with a cordial reception . In proposing "The Heallh of The Initiate , " the W . M . said they had already had evidence of his vocal ability , and he had reason to believe that in other respects he would prove an acquisition to the lodge . Bro . Perceval replied in a few well-chosen words .

" The Visitors' Health " was then proposed , and as there were but three present , the W . M . expressed a desire to have a lew words from each of those brethren . The toast having been most cordially received , Bro . C . R . Church , P . Dep . D . G M ., Ottawa , in his reply , said that he was delighted to have had the opportunity of paying his second visit to the Kingswood Lodge after I an interval of five years . On behalf of 17 , 000 Canadian Masons , he tendered a i cordial greeting to the brethren of the lodge and province . They were allied not only by

r the Masonic traditions which they upheld , but also by their mutual love of their Queen and the constitutionsof the great Empire of which their Colony was proud to form a part . Bro . Church ' s eloquent speech met with hearty applause . Bro . S . Napper , P . M . 1471 , referred to a previous meeting which he had attended at Elstree in the early days of the lodge . As a Past Master of the Islington Lodgefrom which the Kingswood Lodge em mated—he had the heartiest good wishes ^ for its welfare . He expressed the pleasure he had experienced in meeting so distinguished a

Colonial Mason as the brother who had just spoken . Bro . H . Sturgeon , 1615 , said he did not feel like a visitor , knowing intimately so many of the brethren of the Iodge . He was there on that occasion for the purpose of witnessing the initiation of his friend , Bro . Perceval ; he was pleased to find that he had been so well received , and that he had made such a favourable impression on the

brethren . Bto . Kelly , the Organist of the lodge , was unfortunately unable to be present , Bro . C . Nicole , however , kin'dly undertook his duties as accompanist , and the brethren present had the pleasure of listening to some excellent songs by Bros . R . W . Nicole , J . Perceval , A . C . Little , H . R . Bjwer , F . H . Johnson , and G . H . Redding , Bro . C . . N'icole contributing the comic element to an excellent programme .

Instruction.

Instruction .

PROSPERITY LODGE , No . Gs . A meeting was held on VVednesday , the 24 th inst ., at the Weaver's Arms , 17 , London Wall , E . C . Present : Bros . John G . Robeson , 192 , W . M . ; William Baker , W . M . 192 , S . VV . ; T . Stokes , 192 , J . W . ; Jam : s Greig , P . M . 65 , Asst . Preceptor ; lames Smith , P . M . 192 , Asst . S ; c ; E Croft Wise , W . M . Gig , S . D . ; Saunion , KM . 1423 , J . D . ; J . Collins , 192 , I . G . ; Read , G 5 ; Palmer , 65 ; Gernon , 2411 ; Farr , l 9- } Roche , 192 ; and Wise , jun ., 610 .

The lodge was op : ned in due form , and the minutes of the last m : eting read and confirmed . The ceremony of initialion was rehearsed , Bro . Gsrnon acting as candidate . The W . M . then opened the lodge in the Second and Third Dagrees , and the brethren went through Masonic Drill . Thelodge was closed down in the three Degrees , when theW . M . rose the usual times , and next Wednesday being Preceptor ' s night , Bro . William Baker , VV . M . 192 , was unanimously elected to occupy the chair on the ' ¦ rst Wednesday in September . The lodge was then closed .

How To Make Lodge Meetings Interesting.

HOW TO MAKE LODGE MEETINGS INTERESTING .

Since 1744 , when Brolher D'Assigny published " A Serious and impartial 'inquiry Into the Cause of the Present Decay of Freemasonry in the Kingdom of Ireland , " more than one faithful Master has inspected the v > , ork , to see if aught could be added for strength or ornament , or has Ir > ade inquiry to ascertain the cause of confusion among the workmen . , To the vigilance of these watchers upon the highest hills , and to their

• 'itntul warnings of approaching danger to the brethren assembled " where a Dog was never heard to bark , nor a Cock to crow , " is largely due the P , ervation of ancient landmarks and the fine conservatism which are notaD 'e characteristics of our Fraternity . M ?' * "ne with precedents established by them is the course of the I j "l ° Chronicle in calling for solutions of the problem— " How to Make ° ge Meetings Interesting" -for if these are not as interesting as they

How To Make Lodge Meetings Interesting.

once were it must be due to some innovation , or to the neglect of something that our forefathers practised . In seeking a remedy for a disease , it is usually a great aid to know the cause of that disease . Let us ask then—Why are Iodge meetings not more interesting ? To answer this , we ask another question—What are , or ought to be , the chief purposes of lodge meetings ? Are not these three in number

—to teach Masonry , to promote the spirit of Brotherhood among trie members , and to perpetuate the Institution by making , passing , and raising new members ? And , assuming that none of these purposes are to be disregarded , should not the three rank , in point of importance , in the order in which I have named them ? And does not the average lodge devote itself

almost wholly to the third purpose—that of conferring Degrees—and neglect the second purpose of its existence greatly , and the first and chief purpose entirely ? So it appears to me , and here , I think , we have the answer to our inquiry—Lodge meetings are rendered uninteresting through ignorance of Masonry and through neglect of its social side .

But , to go back a step farther , what is the cause of these ills ? Is not a sufficient cause found in the fact—if it be a fact—that those who ought to be our leaders and teachers are themselves untaught ? That this is the chief cause—that our Masters and leading spirits are , as a rule , woefully uninformed as to the history , usages , and laws , and more especially as to the symbolism , mission , and real esotery of our Fraternitv—I am fully

convinced . It is not a chief purpose of this paper to demonstrate the correctness of this opinion , and therefore I will not take space to attempt to do so , but will , for the present , at least , assume its correctness , and ask the further question : What is the cause of this i gnorance ? Is it not that Masonry in America during the last 50 or 60 years has received more material than she could assimilate ?

Let us see : Figures that are at least approximately correct indicate that in 1840 , as a result of the Morgan excitement , the number of affiliated Masons in the United States had become reduced to about 32 , 000 . Then came the reaction—so true is it that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church" —andthe 32 , 003 of 1840 had become 8 7 , 000 in 1850 and over 230 , 000 before i 860 . Then came the civil war , and many readers of

this page will remember the wild rush to our preparation rooms of the thousands of young volunteers who desired to be brought—or whose friends desired that they should be brought—within the protecting influence , real or fancied , of our Fraternity before going to the front . Between 1860 and 1870 our membership more than doubled—and this , too , in spite of our frightful losses on the fields of battle . If

all the hosts who received the degrees from 1861 to 1865 were truly first prepared in their hearts , and in seeking admission into our Fraternity were influenced by those motives only which we regard as proper ones , yet how many of them failed to receive that Masonic instruction—I do not refer to the ritual , but to far more important knowledge—which can onl y be given gradually , and which is so essentially necessary to qualify the initiate to become , in his turn , a teacher of Masonry . In innumerable cases they receive

the three Degrees in one or two nights , and rushing from lodge room to battlefield , did not even once hear the instructive tongue again until years had elapsed and the idea that they were but infants in their knowledge of our mysteries had passed away . Now , if you and I and the Master of our lodgelearnedour Masonry from one whose opportunities to acquire a Masonic education were restricted in the way I have described , is it any wonder that our lodge is in the narrow rut of mere ritualism and its meetings uninteresting ?

To sum up : It seems to me that Masonry has suffered greatly from the fact that she has accepted more material than she could absorb and assimilate j that , as a result of this and other causes , it has unavoidably happened at certain periods that our teachers—not only in lodges , but among our Grand Officers and Masonic Authors—have themselves been imperfectly taught , and that under their teachings and example the lodge room has

degenerated into a place for conferring Degrees ; the teaching of Masonry has been abandoned and the social side of Masonry largely neglected . It may be thought that I have devoted an undue proportion of this article to the disease , when the remedy is what was asked for . I do not think so . With men as intelligent as our American Masons , to point out the error suggests the remedy .

What , then , is the remedy ? Evidently , in a nutshell , it is to reverse our present practices . Without in the least neglecting the ritual , let the conferring of Degrees be a mere , incident in the affairs of the lodge—like relieving the distressed or burying the dead . Let brethren go to lodge because they know they are going to learn something about Masonry ; or at least because they know that if no elaborate instruction is prepared for the

evening they are sure ot having a good social time . Space will permit me to go into details in but a very general way—nor is there any reason for fixed rules on the subject . Circumstances , which vary greatly in different lodges , must largely govern . But , for my part , I would never close a lodge , unless the hour be very late or a repast of some kind is to follow , without

" calling off" for a half hour to be spent in informal sociability . I would rarely fail to have a bit of lunch of some kind . This need not be expensive . A cup of coffee or chocolate , a sandwich , and a cigar cost but a trifle ; but will do more towards developing the social ties than a dozen obligations or a score of visits from the Grand Lecturer . " The shortest way to a man ' s heart is down his throat . "

Where the funds justify it , there ought to be more elaborate banquets several times a year , with pre-arranged toasts and a jolly song or two . My judgment would be to have them after an initiation as a general thing , instead of after a raising , as is more common , for the impressions formed on one's first entrance into the Fraternity are liable to be more lasting than any other . At the banquet board the new initiate often realises for the first

time that he is no longer a mere candidate , but has really been taken by the hand as a brother , and that the jollification which he witnesses illustrates the cordiality of Masonic brotherhood and the warmth of his own welcome into the Fraternity . In those jurisdictions where the use of Iodge funds for these expenses is forbidden , they should be borne by voluntary contributions , until the restrictive regulation—which is an innovation on ancient

usage and an unwarranted interference with the rights of lodges , as well as baleful in its effects—can be repealed ; and in many lodges it is found more satisfactory to pay for the light lunches which I have mentioned by passing the hat , without recourse to lodge funds . Along with the feeling of good fellowship which these things will inspire —and the return of old members whom you have not seen at the lod ge for years—will come a willingness and desire to learn more about Masonry . I am a decided believer in Masonic libraries , and think every lodge ought to have at least a small collection of the best Masonic books , But I have been