Grand Lodge.

GRAND LODGE .

LONDON , SATURDAY , DECEMBER 5 , 18 G 3 .

The proceedings at Grand Lodge oil "Wednesdaymay be dismissed , at least for the present , in a very few words . On the motion for the confirmation of the minutes being put , Bro . Savage , who becomes more conservative every year—as men do as they advance in life—moved the non-confirmation of that

portion of the minutes which provided for the appointment of a Committee of Inquiry into the working of the Lodge of Benevolence , and , notwithstanding an excellent reply from Bro . Stebbing , Grand Lodge carried the amendment ; so that no inquiry is to take place . "We are sure there is plenty of room for

reform in the management and working of the Lodge of Benevolence , and nothing proves it more than the fact that inquiry is opposed by those members of the lodge who are in the position of almost life governors , and virtually rule the roast—the Masters of the year

looking on in mute astonishment , and , from their inexperience , being almost powerless . Next came the nomination of the Grand Master for the ensuing year ; and though there had been many rumours , during the past month , of opposition

to the noble Earl at present at the head of the Order none showed itself , and the Earl of Zetland is therefore once more the only candidate . This was followed by the appeal of tlie Eev . Bro . Wallace against the decision of the Provincial Grand Master of the Isle of Wight on the non-acceptance , on the ballot , by the Albany Lodge of Newport of

Bro . Wallace as a joining member . The Provincial Grand Master , though declining to compel the lodge to receive Bro . Wallace , acted a most conciliatory part , and used his best exertions to get the brethren opposing Bro . Wallace from exercising their right of veto a second time . Bro .

Wallacehow-, ever , declined again to go to the ballot , ancl hence this appeal . It was a stupid squabble , arising out of past disagreements in the lodge , and ought never to have come before Grand Lodge , As , however , Bro . Wallace refused to allow the matter to

go to arbitration , as was suggested , it was proceeded with , and resulted in the decision of the Prov . Gr . Master being upheld . The reports of the various Boards and Committees were next received and dealt with , the only feature

worthy of notice being the announcement that the contract for the first and second sections of the new buildings in Great Queen Street have been taken for £ 24170 . A Grand Lodge of Emergency will shortly be held to lay the foundation stone . Then came the final business of the evening , the appeals from Jersey , and resulted in the suspension of

Grand Lodge.

three of the appellants from their Masonic privileges as English Masons being confirmed , as we said last week , it must be—the case being too clear to admit of a doubt on the subject . The other appeals were not entered into , owing to the lateness of the hour ; but that is of little consequence , as the same rule which decided the cases which came before Grand Lodge applies to all .

Mother Kilwinning.

MOTHER KILWINNING .

BY BRO . D . MAJUBAT LYCTCT , K . T ., PHOT . J . G . W . OE ATESHIBE . No . VII . We omitted at the proper place to note a second hiatus in the minute-book of the Kilwinning Lodge

¦ —extending from 1696 to 1703 , both inclusive . These breaks in the records of the lodge might naturally enough be accepted as indicative of a suspension of the meetings of the Mason court , did not the preservation of certain minutes in scroll furnish evidence to the contrary . It seems to have been the practice 01

the Kilwinning brethi'en to jot down upon detached sheets of paper the transactions of the " society , " leaving the entry of the same to the convenience or discretion of their clerk : and the extreme carelessness in this respect shown in the management of the lodge will account for the paucity of Masonic

information conveyed through the medium of the mora ancient of their minuted acts , and explain also how so many of the daughters of Mother Kilwinning have been left to prove their paternity by other means than by a reference to the Mother Lodge records . We have before us the scroll minute of the annual meeting of the Lodge of Kilwinning held Dec . 20 ,

1693 : that fragmentary document sets forth that the Dyken and Wardan ( Thos . Caldwell and John Kilpatrick ) , with other seven members were " all present and answered at the present court ; " and that the absentees , fifty in number and hailing from all quarters of Ayrshire , were " decerned to pay what is contained in the statutes and acts of tlie forenamed rules and

acts belonging to the Antient Lodg of Kiilwining , for the transgression in not meeting at the tyme appointed be the bretheren , and so hold them as contemners of the said lodg , —which they are obliged to pay . " Theism is said to be the reliion of Ereemasonry .

g Theoretically this may be so ; but in practice the Kilwinning Eraternity ignore this cosmopolitan characteristic of the Order , and substitute in its stead a feature ( not , however , till after the novitiate has crossed tlie threshold of the lodge ) , which effectually debars Turk or Jew from a full participation in their

work . We are led to this remark from a glance at the grounds upon which the first recorded honorary member of Mother Kilwinning was selected for that Masonic distinction . In recording the minutes of the meeting , December 20 th , 17 GG , the Secretary writes : —

" ... Mr . Alexander Gillies , Preacher of the Gospel , formerly entered in another lodge , having this day preached before the brethren in the Church of Kilwinning , to their great edification , and with