Canada.

communication , is not yet satisfactorily settled . I have received the correspondence relating thereto , which I will submit to Grand Lodge , to take such action thereon , as , in its wisdom , it may deem meet and proper . NEW YORK . The M . W . G . M . of the Grand Lodge of New York , has , with many corteous good wishes notified me of the appointment of R . AA .

Bro . James A . Henderson , as their representative at the Grand Lodge of Canada , and I propose , with your sanction , to nominate R . AV . Bro . Henry W . Turner , of Brooklyn , Representative of the Grand Lodge of Canada at the Grand Lodge of New York . I know that this will be acceptable , and render our intercourse with this important body both pleasant and beneficial .

VEBSIOXT . I have here sorrowful information to communicate ; it is to announce to you the decease of our venerable , esteemed , aud staunch friend , M . AV . Bro . Tucker , for many successive years G . M . of the Grand Lodge of Vermont . His kind face and hearty voice are familiar to all , and I feel sure that none can forget the good old man . He has gone to his restbut our memories will retain him

, with us , and who can say from what trouble his manly and excellent heart is spared , when we contemplate the unhappy dissension which Is now disquieting , and , probably , disjointing his country . He was peculiarly and greatly interested in the welfare of the Grand Lodge of Canada , and held in it the honorary rank of P . G . M . M . AV . Bro . Bernard , the Representative of the Grand Lodge of Vermont , was requested by me to express deep sorrow for the loss sustained by

that body , ourselves , and the Craft generally ; hut unfortunately , he , with the D . D . G . M . of Montreal , was debarred from fulfilling the mournful duty of being present at our brother ' s obsequies , by the disastrous flood at Montreal , to their extreme regret .

VISIT OF H . R . H . THE PRINCE OF AVALES . The particulars relating to the severe disappointment of the Canadian Freemasons , it not being allowed the opportunity of publicly demonstrating their loyalty and affection to their Sovereign , "b y honouring her princely son to the utmost of their power , in their own legitimate way , as they had a just right to expect to do , have been for some time before you , and I only allude as briefly as

possible to the matter , in order that the brethren may know , that no disrespect was intended by the Government of the province , "because the services of the fraternity were not made use of on the occasion of the laying the foundation-stone of the Public Buildings at Ottawa , by H . R . H . the Prince of AVales . I was made the object of an anonymous attack in relation thereto , of an exceedingly scurrilous nature , by a person calling himself a Freemason , and of course claiming tbe right of being styled brother . AAlien I perused

his letters , published at a distance , and the unworthy insinuations they contained , I certainly felt grieved , though I scorned the writer ; but , what was of greater consequence in my eyes , I conceived that the honour of the Grand Lodge and the Craft of Canada , through its representatives , was called in question , and I therefore at once drew the attention to the anonymous letters of those manhers of the Government with whom I had been in more immediate communication on the subject . I was gratified by the receipt of a

prompt reply , from which I extract as follows , as the remainder merely refers in a complimentary manner to my position as a public officer . QUEBEC , Feb . 15 , 1861 .

DEAR BROTHER HARINGTON . —AVe have perused with regret a letter published in the London FREEJIASONS' MAGAZINE of the 1 st December last , signed by an anonymous writer under the initials E . G . C , Although the services of the Masonic body were not made use of on the occasion of laying the corner-stone of the parliament House at Ottawa , no slight to the Order , or its Grand Master , with whom we were in pleasant communication , was intended or imagined ; nor were you in any way " snubbed , " as

E . G . C . expresses it . As members of the Craft , we readily accord to you that respect and consideration which is your due as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada , . . . and as personal friends of old acquaintance , we beg to assure you that we feel pained and aggrieved at the unwarrantable attack made upon you by this anonymous writer . AVe are , dear brother Harington , fraternally yours , ( Signed ) JOHN A . MACDONALD

, JOHN ROSE . T . D . Harington , Esq . I now turn from this to other matters , simply declaring that I hope the anonymous writer , who so far forgot himself , in his heart regrets having done so , and that , harbouring no ill-will , I consign his attack to oblivion . It is to me a gratifying fact that the Past Grand Master , a brother who presided so long and ably over the

Craft , fully approved of the course adopted by me , and was the first among many to tell me so . BENEVOLENCE . The Masonic Asylum Committee will make known what steps they have taken , and propose to recommend for maturing their deeply interesting labours ; but I feel it to be my duty to mention that numerous applications for pecuniary aid have been made to

me , and as the Constitution is silent , the Grand Master has to assume responsibility according to his discretion . To remedy this , I would suggest the formation of a Board or Committee of Benevolence , to whom all applications for relief should be referred .

COJIJIITTEES . And here I think it not inappropriate to invite your attention to the recommendation by my precedessors of a General Committee . The present method of appointing committees is , I think , susceptible of improvement ; the time for examining into and reporting upon the various important matters which accumulate during a long recess is so brief that there must of necessity be hasteor else a

, portion of them is liable to be left in an unsatisfactory condition . It is physically and mentally impossible foi \ the committees , hard worked as they now are , to devote sufficient time for such a careful examination into business as in many instances its serious tendencyrequires . There is a motion of notice on the papers for the appointment of a Board of General Purposes .

MISCELLANEOUS . The District D . G . M . of Quebec , R . W . Bro . Pope , having very properly invited my attention to chapter 10 of the Consolidated Statutes of Lower Canada relating to "Seditious and unlawful Associations and oaths "¦—which exempts from its Lodges of Freemasons , provided they have been constituted by warrants derived from the Grand Lodges of Great Britian and Ireland . I addressed

a letter to Bro . the Hon . John A . Macdonald , Attorney-General for Upper Canada , advising him that the only body in the province now having power to constitute lodges , was the Grand Lodge of Canada , and requested him to have the statute so amended as to meet the altered position of the Craft . He desires to have the matter submitted again to him at the next session of Parliament , the prorogation having been then too near at hand to admit of the necessary measure being at once introduced .

The Canadian Freemason , which was brought to your favourable notice by my predecessor , at Montreal , has been discontinued , hut R . AV . Bro- Pearl , the representative of the Grand Lodge of Maine , is the editor of a Masonic periodical called Crystal and Masonic Journal , which has received very high approval , and which he proposes to publish semi-monthly at Portland ( Maine ) , Montreal , and RichmondC . E . at an exceedingllow subscrition . The

, , y p Crystal is interesting , and contains matters of general as well as Masonic information , and I recommend it to the favourable consideration of the fraternity as being the only publication at all devoted to the Craft , I believe , now existing in this province . I think I have mentioned every subject of particular interest , and feel that my remarks have encroached upon your valuable time ; but should I have made omissions , the Grand Secretary , who , let

me likewise hear record , is . an invaluable officer , will supply the deficiency , and my correspondence is of course at the disposal of Grand Lodge . I will , therefore , conclude by expressing an earnest hope that neither the past elections , generally so dangerous to good-fellowship , nor the approaching anniversary of a wide-spread association , have been or will bo suffered to interfere with those peculiar attributes of Freemasonry in which we all feel a pride—pray remember that

the topmost and chief of the three steps of the Masonic Ladder is " charity , " not the mere giving of money , but charity to one's neighbour . Our fifth point of Fellowship cannot have too prominent a place . Take care that the smallest political wedge is forbidden to find entrance . It is lamentable to look at the late events connected with the Craft in France , where two brethren , moving in the loftiest social scale , have suffered their passions to master reason in respect to the

very highest honour in tho gift of the fraternity—the Grand Mastership . I know not , —I presume not to speculate upon the motives of our imperial brother who rules over that great country , but whatever they may have been , I record my opinion that the gratitude of the Craft is due to the Emperor of the French for preventing an unnatural quarrel proceeding to a murderous extremity between two members of an order , whose first grand principle is brotherllove .

y May the G . A . 0 . T . U . continue his blessings to us , and those belonging to us—may we be assisted and strengthened b y Him in the performance of our duty—may He spare us again to meet together in harmony and peace—and may He preserve our Order by cementing and adorning it with every moral and social virtue . The business of the Grand Lodge of Canada was brought to a