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

The Provincial Grand Masters of Victoria under the Irish Constitution were : — John Thomas Smith , M . L . A . ... 18 54 Hon . Sir William John Clarke , Bart .,

M . L . C . ... " 1881 We now arrive at an important period in the history of the Craft in Victoria , namely , the consolidation of the whole of the lodges hailing from the three British Constitutions under one head , a circumstance without parallel . Sir William

Clarke , though an Irish Mason , by the way , initiated in Tasmania , was an Australian born , and descended from an old Somersetshire family , his father having been one of the earliest settlers . We have seen that in 1881 he had been installed head of the small Irish Province , meanwhile the Scottish Craft was without a ruler at that time , and a year

HOX . SIR A . . 1 . PEACOCK , THIRD CillAXI ) MASTER OF VICTORIA . later the far more important English District became vacant . A movement was at once set on foot to secure Sir William

Clarke as District and Provincial Grand Master for the whole of the English , Irish , and Scottish lodges in the colony , provided , of course , that the three Grand Masters at home would consent to such an unusual amalgamation of interests . The replies were happily in the affirmative , and it was altogether

a bright day for Masonry in Victoria , and promising for the future , when the new chief was installed as head of the Scottish and English Craft on March 26 th , 18 S 4 , the latter ceremony in the presence of an assemblage that crowded the largest hall in Melbourne . The next year , too , witnessed

another imposing function in the laying of the cornerstone of the stately Freemasons' Hall in Melbourne , the erection of which was mainly clue to the munificence of Sir William Clarke himself . This event , not to omit I he dual installation of the year before , was commemorated by the striking of a

medal designed by the late Dr . Willmott , P . D . S . G . W . of Victoria , English Constitution , and subsequently-P . G . D . of England . The medal is included in Bro . G . A . Shackle's Medals of Brilish Freemasons ' , and Sir William Clarke gracefully presented each member of the executive committee having charge of the arrangements with a copy , appropriately in pure Victorian gold .

We may now hark back to the formation of the first and irregular Grand Lodge of Victoria , two other attempts , in 186 3 and 1876 , having ended abortively , as already mentioned . The later and successful effort , however , was not matured until after the expenditure of much time and negotiation . First of all , it was thought that Sir William Clarke might not

be unwilling to countenance the movement , and it was hoped that the offer of the position of Grand Master would induce him to throw his influence into the scale , and thus form an independent body out of the whole English , Irish and Scottisu lodges . The chief of the three Brilish Districts , though ,

declined the overtures made to him , indeed , he openly announced his disapproval of " cutting the painter" that bound the Craft to the mother country , more especially that he considered the time had not arrived for so momentous a change . The principal personage in the enterprise , one of

the oldest—perhaps the oldest Mason in Australia—he was initiated in St . John ' s Lodge , No . 34 6 , Irish Constitution , Launceston , Tasmania , in 1844 , and in due time served the

office of Worshipful Master in a Geelong lodge—had many years previously vowed that he would never again enter a lodge until he could do so under a Grand Lodge of Victoria . This brother was the Hon . George Selth Coppin , M . L . C , the leader of the dramatic profession in the early days of the gold discoveries , and a colleague of poor G . V . Brooke , who

was admitted into the Craft in Melbourne , in 1855 . To the unshaken perseverance of Bro . Coppin alone must be attributed the attainment of his highest ambition , as many of those who had half promised their assistance quietly withdrew when they saw how the wind was blowing . To be brief ,

this Grand Loclge of Victoria was opened in 188 3 with its practical founder as the lirst Grand Master , and with only one Scotch and two Irish lodges as the motive power , Mackey ' s dictum thus being carried out to the letter . Although subsequently recognised by nearly forty American

and other Grand Lodges , it is significant that the oldest in the United States , such as New York and Pennsylvania , withheld their countenance ; but Illinois and Massachusetts

DUO . GEORGE BAKEII , P . G . M ., FIRST DEPUTY GRAND MASTER OP VICTORIA . acknowledged the new body . Strange to say , the progress of the unrecognised body—so far as England , Scotland , and Ireland also were concerned—when one compares it with

its irregular sister of New South Wales , was markedly slow , in fact , when the present United Grand Lodge of Victoria was inaugurated , it could muster no more than eighteen lodges after an existence of six years . The following were the Grand Masters : —