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Article THE MASONIC MIRROR. ← Page 6 of 9 →
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The Masonic Mirror.
( accompanied by resolutions of the Grand Lodge of Ireland ) , was read . Lord Naas , who is the Irish representative at the Grand Lodge of England , was unavoidably absent . His letter was addressed to the Grand Secretary , and was dated November 22 , 1856 . It was , as nearly as we could catch it , in the following terms : — " Dear Sir , —I regret that I was not fortunate enough to find you at the Freemasons' Hall when I called the other day , as I was desirous of consulting you about
the Australian Lodges . I beg you will make the following statement to Grand Lodge on the first occasion which presents itself . Complaints have been preferred against the Prov . Grand Lodge of Sydney , acting under the Grand Lodge of England , by Lodge No . 266 , holding under the Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , for refusing admission into any of the English Lodges of Brethren belonging to the Irish Lodge , and also for refusing to allow members of English Lodges to visit the Irish Lodge . The subject having been brought under the consideration of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , I was requested by that body to place the question
before the Grand Lodge of England . While the subject was under the discussion of the Board of General Purposes , that Board availed itself of the presence of the D . Prov . Grand Master of Australia , Bro . Williams , who happened to be in Dublin on a visit , and from him they understood that he considered the Lodges holding of the Grand Lodges of England , had a right to refuse the admission of a member of the Irish Lodge , —though such Brother might not be under suspension—into any of their Lodges ; and also that the Prov . Grand Lodge had ihe power to forbid their members from visiting the Irish Lodge . You will doubtless
observe , that the principle involved in this opinion—the principle on which the Lodges under the English Constitution in Sydney appear to have acted—is most important , and deserves the consideration of the Grand Lodge of England . At a meeting of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , held in August last , the law of Masonry , as propounded by Bro . Williams , was discussed and dissented from , as being contrary not only to the written rules , but to the spirit of the Order . The principles on which the English Prov . Grand Lodge in Sydney has acted , appeared to the Grand Lodge of Ireland to be untenable , viz ., that , because Lodge No . 266
fraternizes with the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , —which it clearly appears is a regularly constituted Lodge , holding- under the Grand Lodge of Scotland—therefore the members of it ( i . e . the Irish Lodge ) are to be refused admission into the English Lodges , because certain members , who appear not to have been elected in the English Lodge , were ballot ted for and elected in the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , which the Prov . Grand Master for Sydney has not thought proper to recognize . Such a course of conduct , the Grand Lodge of Ireland considers , has a tendency to cast a certain amount of stigma upon the Irish Lodges .
" I have the honour to enclose a copy of a communication forwarded by Bro . McPherson , and an extract from the Minutes of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , at their meeting of August 7 . These documents place the matter in the clearest possible light . " I regret that I was not able to be present at the Quarterly Communication
of the Grand Lodge of England in June . I can assure you that the Grand Lodge of Ireland is most anxious that this subject should be discussed in a Masonic spirit , and that the difficulty should be so adjusted as to restore to the Australian Lodges , whether they are acting under the English , Scotch , or Irish Constitutions , that harmony and mutual goodwill which so happily prevail in the Order in the mother country .
" I remain , with the greatest respect , & c . & c , ( Signed ) ' " Naas , li Irish Representative of the Grand Lodge of England . " " Bro . W . H . White , Grand Secretary . " Enclosures . The first enclosure was a communication dated Sydney , March 1 , 1856 , from the Lodge No . 266 above named . It was as follows :- — " At the formation of the St . Andrew ' s Lodge ( Scotch ) , No . 358 , about four years ago , a compact was entered into between the Lodges under the English Conatb
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Masonic Mirror.
( accompanied by resolutions of the Grand Lodge of Ireland ) , was read . Lord Naas , who is the Irish representative at the Grand Lodge of England , was unavoidably absent . His letter was addressed to the Grand Secretary , and was dated November 22 , 1856 . It was , as nearly as we could catch it , in the following terms : — " Dear Sir , —I regret that I was not fortunate enough to find you at the Freemasons' Hall when I called the other day , as I was desirous of consulting you about
the Australian Lodges . I beg you will make the following statement to Grand Lodge on the first occasion which presents itself . Complaints have been preferred against the Prov . Grand Lodge of Sydney , acting under the Grand Lodge of England , by Lodge No . 266 , holding under the Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , for refusing admission into any of the English Lodges of Brethren belonging to the Irish Lodge , and also for refusing to allow members of English Lodges to visit the Irish Lodge . The subject having been brought under the consideration of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , I was requested by that body to place the question
before the Grand Lodge of England . While the subject was under the discussion of the Board of General Purposes , that Board availed itself of the presence of the D . Prov . Grand Master of Australia , Bro . Williams , who happened to be in Dublin on a visit , and from him they understood that he considered the Lodges holding of the Grand Lodges of England , had a right to refuse the admission of a member of the Irish Lodge , —though such Brother might not be under suspension—into any of their Lodges ; and also that the Prov . Grand Lodge had ihe power to forbid their members from visiting the Irish Lodge . You will doubtless
observe , that the principle involved in this opinion—the principle on which the Lodges under the English Constitution in Sydney appear to have acted—is most important , and deserves the consideration of the Grand Lodge of England . At a meeting of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , held in August last , the law of Masonry , as propounded by Bro . Williams , was discussed and dissented from , as being contrary not only to the written rules , but to the spirit of the Order . The principles on which the English Prov . Grand Lodge in Sydney has acted , appeared to the Grand Lodge of Ireland to be untenable , viz ., that , because Lodge No . 266
fraternizes with the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , —which it clearly appears is a regularly constituted Lodge , holding- under the Grand Lodge of Scotland—therefore the members of it ( i . e . the Irish Lodge ) are to be refused admission into the English Lodges , because certain members , who appear not to have been elected in the English Lodge , were ballot ted for and elected in the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , which the Prov . Grand Master for Sydney has not thought proper to recognize . Such a course of conduct , the Grand Lodge of Ireland considers , has a tendency to cast a certain amount of stigma upon the Irish Lodges .
" I have the honour to enclose a copy of a communication forwarded by Bro . McPherson , and an extract from the Minutes of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , at their meeting of August 7 . These documents place the matter in the clearest possible light . " I regret that I was not able to be present at the Quarterly Communication
of the Grand Lodge of England in June . I can assure you that the Grand Lodge of Ireland is most anxious that this subject should be discussed in a Masonic spirit , and that the difficulty should be so adjusted as to restore to the Australian Lodges , whether they are acting under the English , Scotch , or Irish Constitutions , that harmony and mutual goodwill which so happily prevail in the Order in the mother country .
" I remain , with the greatest respect , & c . & c , ( Signed ) ' " Naas , li Irish Representative of the Grand Lodge of England . " " Bro . W . H . White , Grand Secretary . " Enclosures . The first enclosure was a communication dated Sydney , March 1 , 1856 , from the Lodge No . 266 above named . It was as follows :- — " At the formation of the St . Andrew ' s Lodge ( Scotch ) , No . 358 , about four years ago , a compact was entered into between the Lodges under the English Conatb