Some Notes On Freemasonry In Australasia.– –(Continued).

This report and complaint to the Grand Lodge of England , it will at once be seen , is tantamount to recognising the offending lodge as a constituent unit of the Grand Lodge of England . The Cambrian trouble , during the long seventeen years ,

has truly been a sorry business , and the situation is aptly summed up by Bro . Higstrim in his before-quoted history of Scottish Masonry in New * South Wales . He is a Past Grand Warden of New South Wales , was on the spot the whole time , and consequently is entitled to speak with authority and impartiality . He says : —

THE LATE 111 ) 0 . HICHAM ) KVB , PAST GIIAXD TIIEA SURE !) OF KXGJAND . " This large expenditure ( it cost New South Wales close upon . £ 2 , 000 ) , with defeat attached , could have been avoided , had common sense been exercisedin lieu of a process at

law-, Confirmatory experience , dearly bought , has assuredly been gained as to whose opinion was correct—the professional ( legal ) or the Masonic jurisprtidist—the former experience , with lamentable results ; the latter inexperience , and not in any way raising the ire of English adherents . By defeat the

aspect is altered ; having might and right on their side as an English lodge , any inducement to get the lodge into the New * South Wales fold , which might have been practicable , is , apparently , like the money , now lost . "

The wonder is that Bro . George Robinson and his little band—sadly depleted in numbers as the years wore onheld out so long against the heavy odds , and harassed and provoked as they were at every turn ; denied too , any reply to the ungenerous and uncalled-for statements of the local

Grand Lodge's official organ , and of its adherents . Nothing but indomitable perseverance and dogged courage could have preserved the rights of the lodge , apart from the large expenditure of money involved , and it cannot be denied that the constitutional minority displayed a tenacity of purpose

from first to last that gained them and their lodge the good wishes and sympathy of many old and influential Masons , not only in Australia , but in every section of the Masonic world where the English language is spoken . There is little else to be said on the never-to-be-forgotten

Cambrian case , and , with the bitter experience gained , outauthorities have revised the laws so as to render a like occurrence impossible . The much-debated article 219 is now widely altered , one of the provisions being that the minimum number of members to lapse a warrant is five in place of three as formerly . But , belter than all , there is an entirely new procedure in the case of new Grand Lodges being

started in British dependencies . Lodges can now , by dispensation , meet and discuss and resolve on the question of the formation of a Sovereign Grand Lodge , whilst , in case of a dispensation being refused by a District Grand Master , an appeal may be made to the Grand Master . Next , within six months after recognitionspecial meetings of every private

, lodge—twenty-one days ' notice being given to each memberare to be held , at which only those appearing on the last Grand Lodge returns , are entitled to say whether or no they desire the lodge to continue on the English register . A two-thirds majority is requiredand if the decision is in the affirmative ,

, the warrant has to be returned to the Grand Master , and the property and effects vested , as shall be decided , by vote . Minutes of the proceedings are then to be forwarded to the Grand Secretary . Finally , no second meeting can be held , without the special leave of the Grand Master . After these

alterations and additions were made law , however , the inconsistency of recognising a new Grand Lodge , and there and then assuming temporary control over the lodges holding under the new bod }* , was freely questioned . Anyhow , it reads very like an anachronism . By-the-byein the case of the Grand Lodge of Western

, Australia , which was founded under the new laws , an announcement was subsequently made in Grand Lodge that henceforth all warrants must be returned to England for cancelling . This is another instance of the experience to be gained under adversity , and had this part of the Constitutions

been observed in the Xew South Wales recognition , the Cambrian embroglio would never have been heard of . Better still , though , a humble suggestion of my own was accepted on the occasion mentioned , namely , that no warrant shall be cancelled until it has been three months in the hands

of the Grand Secretary . The rights of minorities are now fully conserved , late in the day though it be , it must be admitted . In concluding these notes on the seventeen years ' troubles of the Cambrian Lodge of Australia , it will be of some interest to introduce the lirst minutes of its foundation

} Ysrrint ^ tarj 4 HltO . UEOHGK R 011 IXS 0 N , P . M . , V SKl'ltKTAliY CAM 11111 AN LODliB 01 ' AL' . S'J'ltAIJA , Xo .

under his provisional warrant as Provincial Grand Master of New South Wales . The minutes read as follow : — "A Provincial Grand Lodge having been duly opened , the W . M ., Bro . James Murphy , was duly and solemnly installed the first Master under dispensation from the Provincial Grand Lodge , dated this day .