Some Notes On Freemasonry In Australia.

nature of a coup d ' etat . For some time the lodge in question had declined to pay its Provincial Grand Lodge dues , and the climax arrived at the Provincial meeting , when the Master , a Brother James Blair , on his lodge being suspended , called upon the members who were backing him to retire . Very shortly afterwards , the malcontents formed themselves into an independent Grand Lodge of New South Wales , and thus , when we call to mind the secession of the Lodge of

C'AH ' . UX AHTHUH I'll ] J , UI > , U . S ., I'lIfST UOVKIIXOH OK XKW SOKTII W . M . tvS . Antiquity in Loudon , and the formation of the subsequent Grand Lodge of England , South of the Trent , in the latter

part of the eighteenth century , % ve have history repeating itself . It will , at this stage , suffice to say that the Grand Lodge of Scotland in due course confirmed the suspension , and " Blair ' s Grand Lodge , " as it was locally known , never became a power in the World of Masonry , indeed , it was speedily forgotten .

THK FIRST G ( l \ 'KI ! . V . \ fKXT HOUSK AT SYDXKY . Iii the year 1876 , a second attempt failed in Victoria , whilst , the contagion having reached New Zealand , the promoters were no more fortunate in that very same year .

In the following year , however , the Sydney project at last assumed deiinite shape , and a Grand Lodge of New South Wales was opened with thirteen lodges ( nearly or actually the whole of them belonging to the Irish Constitution ) . This body was never recognised by England , Scotland ,

Ireland , or the principal Grand Loclges in the United States , and , in fact , remained out of the pale , so far as the sovereign bodies mentioned are concerned , until the union was happily consummated in 1888 . In like manner Victoria at last secured a quasi independence in 1883 , with a very few Scotch and Irish lodges . Unlike New South Wales , though ,

the accession of strength to the unrecognised Victorian body was almost stationary until the fusion of the four Constitutions into a United Grand Lodge in 1889 . The first Grand Lodge in the Australian Colonics to be founded with entire unanimity , which at once gained it its recognition as a paramount institution all over the world ,

was South Australia . The preliminary stage : ; were characterised by a singleness of purpose on the part of the lodges holding under the three British Constitutions that insured a gratifying success from the day of the inauguration ; indeed , one solitary lodge only elected to remain under its old banner

Wirrinjllirri G 0 VKKX 0 R KING . of Ireland , this step being for reasons that could not be

overcome , and were cordially acquiesced in by the signatories to the Articles of Union . This will hereafter be defined . Tasmania followed the example of South Australia with like satisfactory and pleasant results in 1890 ; but in New Zealand , the same year , there was a throwing over of the yoke by that

Colony , under decidedly regrettable surroundings , which will be traversed presently in their proper place . During seven years , in point of fact , ill-feeling reigned supreme amongst the various contending British and New Zealand elements until 18 97 when the Grand Lodge of England , after twice

, refusing recognition to the New Zealand Grand Lodge arrived at the conclusion to depart from the precedent created in the case of the other Grand Lodges , and to acknowledge the New Zealand Grand Lodge as a sovereign body , the abstaining English , Irish , and Scottish

lodges , of course , continuing under their old allegiance . ( To be Continued ) .

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