Masonry In Australia.

sham , and that tho Craft would prosper quite as well Avithout the Lodge as it does with it . Every attempt to make .-my necessary improvement is met with the Avefc blanket of the Provincial Grand Master ' s prerogative . The Lodge cannot do this , and ifc must not do that ; the sole power rests with the Provincial

Grand Master ; aud , for the sake , , of his successor in office , he cannot allow his prerogative to be invaded . Let me say at once that I do not blame the Provincial Grand Master for this exercise of authority . It is probable that the " ' Book of Constitutions " ' justifies him therein . The results to the Crafthoweverare

, , not the less disastrous . I contend that the power claimed and exercised by the Provincial Grand Master is greater than can with safet y be entrusted to any brother , however skilled or eminent , who is 14 , 000 miles away from the only authority that can control him . A Provincial Grand Master in England is

under the immediate control of Grand Lodge . The Provincial Grand Lodge does not need to exercise legislative or administrative functions , for if anything go wrong , the Quarterly Communication can be appealed to without delay . But ifc is very different in Australia . An appeal to Grand Lodge is a

troublesome and tedious method of settling a point in dispute . Before it is settled , irreparable mischief may have resulted ; and , after all , there is great risk that the decision will not be so satisfactory or just as if it had been arrived at by brethren on the spot well acquainted with all the circumstances .

One or two points of detail may help the brethren in England to understand my position . A great evil iu South Australia is the want of uniformity iu working . Almost every lodge has its peculiarities , aud tho differences between some of the lodges is so great as to cause astonishment to the newly admitted members .

Of course , each lodge believes its own method to be correct , while some believe that it would not be of so much imporiauce which plan be followed so long as uniformity be secured . A zealous brother brought the subject before the Provincial Grand Lodge , aud wished to obtain a committee to report on aud to

secure uniform working throughout the province . He was silenced by tho Provincial Grand Master , who said that such a committee would be useless , as the Provincial Grancl Lodge could not enforce its decisions . If any lodge was working irregularly , let the fact be reported to the Provincial Grand Master , and he Avould inquire into it . The value of such au inquiry would be best estimated by those who are best acquainted with the ability of the Provincial Grand

Master , ihe effect of the declaration was that the lodges arc still working as before , and I fear no brother has troubled himself to report to the Provincial Grand Master . Another illustration shall suffice . A committee submitted to the Provincial Grand Lodge a code of by-laws , the first of which was that the Provincial Grand Lodge meet quarterly . When

this Avas proposed tlie Provincial Grand Master said this was an interference with his prerogative , and quoted the " Constitutions" to show that he alone had the authority to fix the time for holding meetings . He , therefore , ordered the law to be struck out . ' I do not care to find fault with the Provincial Grand

Master ' s law . What I contend for is , that since grave questions may have to be decided by the Provincial Grand Lodge , such as the expulsion of bre-

Masonry In Australia.

thren from the Craft and the management of the . Benevolent- Pund , thc sooner tho law is altered the better will ifc be for our interests . If the Provincial Grand Master is right in his assumptions , the practical result is that a Provincial Grand Master in Australia has far greater power than the Grand Master has in England . He is the Alpha and Omega

of Masonry in the province , and the Provincial Grand Lodge is a valueless appendage to the Craft . I know that it may be said that if thc Provincial Grand Master gives a wrong decision there is the appeal to Grand Lodge . It is enough to reply that the distance and necessary delay are such as to take away all the

advantages of appeal . A striking instance of this is afforded by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Victoria , where , as I am informed , thc Provincial Grand Master has appointed a brother to the office of Prov . S . G . W . who has not the necessary qualifications . An appeal is sent home , and by the time it is decided the brother

will have served his time of office , and will have enjoyed all the advantages of his appointment , ever * though the decision be against the Provincial Grand Master . I ask , then , for a constitution for Australia—a power of self-governmentsubject to such control as the

, Grand Lodge may wish to exercise . I suggest that the District Grand Lodges be assimilated in their functions to the Grand Lodge ; that these lodges shall not cease to exist on the death or resin-nation

of the Provincial Grancl Master ; that their meetings shall not be dependent on the Avill of the Provincial Grand Master ; that they shall have the power of investigating , regulating , aud deciding all matters relative to the Craft or the particular lodges , or to individual brothers , within their respective districtswhich they may exercise either of

, themselves or hy such delegated authority as in their wisdom or discretion they may appoint , their decisions in all cases being open to appeal to Grand Lodge on the part of any brother who may be aggrieved . I . am , yours fraternally , PM

The Abbey Of Kilwinning.

THE ABBEY OF KILWINNING .

TO THE EDITOH OF THE rKEEMASONs' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIEJIOE . "DEAE SIB AND BEOTHEE , —In replying to the queryput by "Au Irish . Brother , " " Is there any picture of the Abbey of . Kilwinning r" you have inadvertently fallen into error when you say that the ruins of tho abbey sketched for Grosse ' s Antiquities have " now

entirely disappeared . " Bro . Albert Mackey , in the " first ( revised ) English edition" of his Lexicon- of Freemasonry , is made to propagate the same error . Iu pointing out this mistake—in one of my papers on Mother Kilwinning now appearing ia these pages —I showed that the south gable of the transeptand

, a portion also of the Gothic arch forming the western entrance to the abbey , still exist . The gable , about 00 ft . iu height , is pierced with four lancelated and one circular window . Yesterday morning I saw and passed these ruins , aud the \ r have every appearance of possessing strength enough to withstand the action

ofthe elements for centuries to come . Yours fraternally , D . MURRAY LYON , P . J . W . of Mother Kilwinning . Ayr , Dec . 21 , 1 S 64 .