Address To The Officers And Brethren Of The Lodge Of Antiquity, Montreal.

of officers aud mariners of Her Majesty ' s ship the Pglailes , then in port . The Worshipful Masters of other lodges favoured as upon my private invitation . Since my appointment to the Masonic Board of Relief , I have attended every meeting but one , and

gladly bear testimony to the importance ancl great usefulness of tbe Board , which reliei-es both lodges and members from the investigations of numerous cases of distress adjusted by the Board . Thanks to valuable services of Bro . Milton , the President , and

Bro . Stearns , the Treasurer , the Board had in many instances only to admire and approve their action chirms ; recess .

The Grand Lodge met in this city on the second Wednesday of July . Their proceedings are before you . This lodge paid its proportion of expenses for the proper reception of Grand Lodge , and for incidentals incurred by the meeting , but steadily refused to contribute from their funds towards a large and expensive banquet for various reasons—first : that the funds have never been contributed or intended for

the purpose of refreshments ; second—that we must be just before we are generous , and being thus far unable to pay our debts , should not enter into unnecessary expenditure ; and last , because it is a bad precedent , as lodges in smaller places , where Grand Lodge might meet , would wish to follow our example ,

without perhaps , being able to afford it ; and the Lodge of Antiquity together with four other lodges , felt at liberty to take the initiative in saving their funds for the purposes for Avhich they were entrusted to the lodge . NeA'ertheless , an annual reunion of the

representatives of the Craft in Canada , at a social board is both pleasing and desirable , but the expense thereof should fall upon the whole Craft , not upon the one or the few lodges Avhere Grand Lodge happens to meet ; and since it seems inexpedient to take the

funds for an annual banquet from the Grand Lodge funds , I have given notice of motion for the next regular communication of Grand Lodge , that each lodge shall annually contribute the sum of five dollars towards a Masonic banquet to be given during the

session of Graud Lodge , which would produce the amount of nearly one thousand dollars , ancl thus apportion the expenses to all the lodges , partakers at their OAVU pleasure of the benefits thereof .

At this meeting , our distinguished honorary member , S . W . Bro . Bull , was unanimously re-elected D . D . G . M ., and our popular Senior Warden , V . W . Bro . William Dalton , was appointed Assistant Grand Organist . I will here insert a few questions on Masonic law

, which during the year have been offered for my consideration . It is an established fact that the Master is the proper exponent of the laiv to his lodge , although subject to higher authority . The very raps

of the Master ' s gavel bear a symbolical allusion to the indelible words— " Ask , and it shall be given to you seek , and ye shall find ; knock , and it shall be opened unto you . " The Master is , as already remarked , subject to higher authority ; but it is not to be forgotten that the highest officer holding the highest authority ,

whose decisions during his term of office are the law , namely , the Most Worshipful the Grand Master , is chosen from among the Masters and Past Masters of lodges ; thus should it be the pride of ei'ery Master , by diligent study of the Masonic laiv , to fit himself

for the high position Avhich may , by possibility ,, become his proud lot . Without mentioning minor and unimportant questions , I will at once proceed to more difficult ones , questions without direct precedent , Avhich ,

nevertheless , required decision ; ancl first , Can a brother be proposed , seconded , and at the same meeting balloted or voted for . as an honorary member ? I give the following reasons for deciding in the negative . It is unfair to members to introduce among them a

candidate , a joining or a honorary member , whose presence they or either of them do not desire ; hence thewholesome rule , that a proposition must be laid before the lodge at one meeting to be acted upon after certain preliminaries , at the next : the principal one of these preliminaries being , that every member of the lodge must be notified in the summons , for the

last mentioned meeting , of the proposed ballot , in , order that ei'ery member may be at liberty to record ' his vote an the occasion , and thus preserve that peace and harmony wliich could not otherwise reasonably exist . The only possible objection to this ruling may be taken from the Constitution , sect . 1 , of honorary

members , which says : " A brother , Avho may have rendered any service to the Craft in general , or to any particular lodge , may , by a vote of the lodge ,, be elected an honorary member to such lodge ;" but the Constitution fails to say how such vote

is to be taken . If , therefore , Ave construe the law by the Avord , one Avould be compelled to suppose that a majority vote is sufficient to elect an . honorary member , setting at defiance the Avishes of the minority , no matter how large ; that minority

may perchance be au actual majority of all the members of the lodge , the absentees having no knowledge-Avhatever of the intended proposition ; to avoid suchconstruction , we are compelled to look into the spirit of the law , by adding to the foregoing section , one

following shortly after , namely sect . 1 , " Proposing members , " in these words : " No brother shall be admitted a member of a lodge ivithout a propositionin open lodge , at a regular meeting , nor until his name , occupation , and place of abode , as ivell as the name ancl number of the lodge of which he is or was . last a member , or in which he was initiated , shall