The Powers Of A Grand Master.

is one of liberty , although it is one of order also , and in no community have order and liberty ever been more perfectly reconciled . Their officebearers , particularly Masters and Wardens , Grand Masters , and Grand Wardens , are appointed for

the maintenance of order , and to secure to every member of the Craft the full enjoyment of his ri g hts and privileges . The Freemason is under no monkish vow of absolute obedience , he is not like a Jesuit bound to obey the commands of a

superior , in whose hands he is taught to regard it as his hig hest merit to serve as a mere toolas a stick in a man ' s hand . The Grand Master of Masons does not occupy a position in the least degree resembling that of the General Order of

the Jesuits . The views which we have stated as to the office , powers , and responsibilities of the Grand Master , are founded on the essential princi p les of Freemasonry and on its ancient landmarks . The

regulation of 1721 , just quoted , affords the strongest possible confirmation of them . It might not have been necessary to state them at all , if notions very opposite to them were net prevalent , notions the prevalence of which is extremely to be

regretted , because they are inconsistent with that sense of liberty and dignity which every Freemason ought to possess ; and because , if the Grand Master himself in any measure adopt them , they necessarily lead him to an extreme

and arbitrary exercise of authority , on occasions such as must sometimes arise in every lodge or Grand Lodge , the very occasions on which a full recognition of tho rights of every individual member is most important . CIPES .

Neglect Of Grand Visitations.

NEGLECT OF GRAND VISITATIONS .

BY BRO . J . B . TAYLOR . Among the many causes which have operated to reduce , as it were , tho standard of Masonic principles among the Craft , there is , perhaps , no single cause which has exerted a greater influence than the neglect of the Gr . Officers to visit and instruct the Lodges , thereby encouraging them to raise their

standard of work high , and lead them to seek for and practise the moral principles of our institution . Is it reasonable to expect from a lodge that lias not been visited for years , perfect work—in some lodges which have been in operation two or three years and have not received an ollicial visit from a Grand Ollicer since the installation of their first W .

Master , and he was , perhaps , a novice , having tlie responsible duties of his office to learn , and that without a competent instructor or one duly authorised ? To such au extent has this prevailed in some sections of our country , that some Masters aro so imperfectly qualified in the lectures and charges that

they are driven U > the expediency of postponing thorn to a future occasion , and so , gradually falling into a disuse of them . The result is , the work of such a Lodge becomes gradually imperfect , and its members are not able to work their way into strange Lodges , from defective instruction , when there is no voucher al hand .

Ts this as it should be ? Certainly it is not , and the remedy at once suggests itself—let it be applied where needed and the result will be welcomed by all . Let the Lodges look to the proficiency of the applicant for the second or third degrees iu the preceding one , and we shall soon see a marked difference in work wherever this is attended to .

Information Wanted.

INFORMATION WANTED .

In July , 18 G 8 , Joseph Palmer , who was made a Mason jn Gibraltar , and subsequently affiliated with the Downshire Lodge , No . ! iSH , in Liverpool , ICngland , left the latter port for the United States , in company with a servant woman . His wife was left without mean ? , and has not heard of or from him since his

desertion . As it is possible he may visit some Lodge in this country , any brother who can give information of his whereabouts lo Mrs . Palmer , euro of Mr . Scott ( Past Muster of Downshire Lodge ) , No . 1 ) 2 , Pitt , street , Liverpool , England , will confer a great favor and forward tlie ends of justice . — I ' omeroifs Democrat , New Yoik .

[ We believe the above-named individual was relieved at the October meeting of the Lodge of Benevolence wilh XiO . l— En . F .

The International Masonic Fete At Liege.

THE INTERNATIONAL MASONIC FETE AT LIEGE .

We have great pleasure in p lacing before our readers a translation of the Minutes of the Lodge la Parfaite Intelligence et de 1 ' Etoile Reunies at Liege , under whose auspices the brilliant fete to the foreign brethren was held during the late Tir

International . The friendship which exists between the British and Belgian nations is clearly exemplified by the reception accorded to King Leopold IL , who is now in this country , and we trust that such feelings of amity and mutual

respect may ever prevail amongst the two peoples . For the original minutes we are indebted to our accomplished Bro . Captain Francis George Irwin , Provincial Junior Grand Warden , Somersetshire , and P . D . G . Warden , Andalusia .

In tha name and under tlie auspices of the Grand Orient of Belgium . To all Masons spread over the surface of the earth—Unity , Fraternity , aud Health . The 19 th day of the ninth month in the year

of the True Lig ht 58 C 9 , the respectable Lodge of St . John , regularly constituted at the Orient of Liege under the distinctive title of the " Parfaite Intelligence et de l'Etoile Reunies , " held a special assembly , duly convoked and fraternally

gathered together , in a very secure and enlightened p lace where silence , peace , and charity reign , at the hour of mid-day . The lodge was opened in the usual manner in the first degree by Bro . Lafontaine , W . Master ,

illumining the East ; by Bro . Marquct , S . Warden , and Bro . Bonniver , J . Warden , illumining the West ; by Bro . F . Griin , Orator , Bro . Doctcur , Secretary , and all the other officers and members of the . lodge , duly clothed and occupying their

respective p laces . * * * * Tho fetes at Liege have not passed over without Freemasonry deriving some advantages therefrom . The Lodge La Parfaite Intelligence et I ' eloile reunies of this Orient having resolved to

hold a solemn and especial meeting in honour of the foreign masonic volunteers and riflemen present at Liege , and this fc' . e having been announced in the pi incipal journals of Europe , the brethren assembled in great , numbers at the

p lace of meeting ot the Lodge , on Sunday , the 19 th of September last , about six o ' clock p in . At seven o ' clock the W . M ., Bro . Lafontaine , opened the lodge in the presence of a large number of Belgian brethren assembled from all

the Orients of tins country . Tho foreign brethren were then introduced in the customary manner under the arch of steel , preceded by the Master of the Ceremonies , the gavels sounding the usual Masonic battery . The W . MASTER bade them welcome in the

name of the lodge of Liege in particular and of Bel g ian Masonry in general , with affectionate sentiments impressed with a frank cordiality and

tlie purest Masonic spirit , lie said it was the province of Freemasonry to unite , without cessation , nations the most widely separated , in order to make them understand that all mon aro

brothers . In this , the lodge of Liege only followed the example formerly giwn by the Lodgo of Berne at the Congre .-s for tlie Promotion of Social Science , b y tho lodges of Paris during the Exhibition of 1 SG 7 , and finally by the Lodge

of Brussels at the last international rifle meeting . In spite of tbe obstacles wliicli politics and even nature raised between nations , sooner or latct they remembered that thoy are sisters , and it is the mission of Masonry to prove that such is the

case . Ho therefore invited tbe brethren to consider themselves at home , and thanked them for having responded with so much promptness to the summons of the Lodge of Liege . The foreign brethren replied with a Masonic fire .

I ho visitors who wero Past Masters took thenplaces in the East , and all the brethren then seated themselves . Tlie room presented a fairy aspect—the French national guard , tlie Belgian

civic guard , the chasseur eclaireur , officers of the volunteers of Brussels , Ghent , & c , were mingled with Engli .-h and Scotch volunteers iu their brilliant aud varied uniforms . Upwards of GOO

The International Masonic Fete At Liege.

brethren of various nations were present , tho English , French and Bel g ians predominating in numbers . The W . M . then called upon Bro . KARL GRUH , jun ., the Orator of the Lodge of Liege , who expressed himself as follows : —

Very dear and very illustrious Brethren , —Those who have the gratification of being present at a meeting like this , where the Masonic deputies of several great European nations are assembled , can return in spirit to the profane world with a legitimate sentiment of pride . They will be able to contemplate

with unmiugled satisfaction this great Masonic Association which covers like a vast network the whole of the globe . Wherever civilization has planted its standard , wherever the human race has pushed its conquests , Masonry has cast its mighty anchors . France reckons at the present time 220

lodges , Germany 287 , England 1200 , Belgium and the Netherlands 80 , Switzerland 27 , Sweden , Norway , and Denmark 12 ; the United States shine in the first rank by the number of their temples , they have 4000 , Brazil has 65 , Italy 45 , Egypt and Tunis 7 , Persia , Turkey , China , and the Indies have also

their lodges : besides which a multitude of islands and sea-ports have erected columns in order to build the Temple . The entire globe actually contains nearly 9000 lodges , and several millions of brethren . The vivifying institutions of Masonry extend from pole to pole . The gavels of the W .

Master , the joyous " battery " of the two columns , the words of peace and concord of the brethren , everywhere resound . Masonry girdles the earth with a fraternal chain . If after having yielded to this sentiment of pleasure , based ou the knowledge of our strength , we ask ourselves what can be the

reason of this cosmopolitan nature of Freemasonry ? Oh ! then a subject of satisfaction much greater still is reserved for us . It is , that Masonry by its own essential merits elevates itself above all barriers , and overleaps the narrow limits which separate nationalities , in order to proclaim this axiom—that

human nature is one ; that all men are equal , and respect themselves from the moment that they have felt vibrate within their hearts that principle ot human dignity which constitutes man , in the fullness of his development , the crown and summit of the creation . And this unity of human nature is shown externally iu the normal man by that

instinctive cry which the great poet Goethe uttered when dying , "Light , more light ! " Light should take the place of darkness ; thus do we see the sun of truth illuminating with its thousand rays human existence iu general , aud individual life iu particular . It penetrates the most secret recesses of the heart , as well as the cabinets of statesmen and the

laburatories of art and science . Frequently tne light shines suddenly like a flash of lightning , and burns to the very rooltheruinsof thepast . Butitoften proceeds , with a quiet and sure progression , to blazeeventually in power and to scatter far and wide its marvellous lustre . Sometimes error disappears in a night , aud when

we awake we ask ourselves with astonishment how we have been able to tolerate it so long , sometimes it gives way but slowly , withakind of obstinate rage , but it is finally obliged to succumb . Wherever this truth shines , light progressively increases , and liberty is the spontaneous cry of those who at one

time groaned in the bonds of error , falsehood , prejudice , aud superstition . It is this tendency to liberty which constitutes the progress of humanity ; and who dare deny this progress ? Do we not see incessantly new ideas more nearly allied to truth overthrowing former ideas ? And if we look back

to tlio right or the left , one step behind , do we not find the new shoot of the human tree producing branches still more verdant ? Thus it is that reform has not only abolished a part of the errors which with many men were sacred dogmas , but it has again revived religious spirit , and produced liberty

of conscience . This is what even the enemies of reform cannot deny . Onward , onward ! Such is the thought of the lodges , and under this powerful impulse all the brethren set to work ; each one brings his stone to the edifice , which is ever rising without ever being finished . It is progress which

we elaborate in our lodges ; always iu advance of the profane world by several stages , we prepare the realities of to-morrow by our theories of to-day . It is the fever of work , tbe incessant march towards the promised land , so beautifully described by the great Victor Hugo ,

thus—O ' er the vast earth , through barren wastes of sand , Or charmed with odours from tho meadow'd land , Linked iu procession under heaven ' s blue arch , Behold the race of man in endless inarch ; Eternal travelling spirits bound to roam , And yet on earth they never find a home .

One lifts tbe banner , others rear on high The holy ark of godlike liberty ; Thought answers thought , iu voices like the roar Of giant waves upon a rock-ribbed shore : But still in their career they bear along Laws , manners , customs , science , art , and song . What means this sacred journey % It is known \