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ALTHOUGH ( mainly owing to the exertions of those more warmhearted and vigorous Masons , who have not inappropriately been called the constitutional party , ) a Colonial Board has been appointed to sound the difficult depths of the Canada question , and although ( until that Board shall have made its report ) it were uncalled for to speculate on the result of its

deliberations , there are some brethren to whom the subject of those far neglected Lodges is pregnant with abiding and sustained interest ; and to such , the following extracts from a letter of the Rev . ARTHUR HILL , whose qualifications to write on the subject are patent from his words , can hardly fail to be acceptable .

. "I was Chaplain , " says he , " of the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , No . 1 Prov . register . This Lodge adhered to the 6 . L . of England . " After describing how he had been pained by the adverse spirit evoked and manifested towards each other by the brethren at the last Prov . G . L . he attended , and which induced him to withdraw from active Masonic life , he proceeds : —

" If I remember rightly , during the sitting of that G . L . it was stated , by the Secretary and others , that commmueatioiss had been treated with the greatest neglect at the G . L . of London ; that sometimes two or three years were allowed to elapse before even an acknowledgment of monies remitted could be obtained ; letters were left

unanswered , and , in fact , the Canadian Lodges were treated as unworthy of notice . The Masons of Canada are becoming a most flourishing body , and they felt that such irregularity in conducting the business of the Craft must impair the prospects of the fraternity . They were not all under the powerful influence which I felt ( having been born into Masonry in London at the Sit . Moriah Lodge ) , and therefore while they smarted under the neglect they had experienced that secession took place , which ( as far as I could judge ) was successful . My Lodge , however , never joined in the proceeding , but

opposed it . \\ ithout matters have changed , since I left Canada in August last , there are two distinct bodies of Masons there , viz ., the one working under the G . L . of England , the other under the newly constituted G . L . of Canada . How is this state of things to bo deplored ! I may here remark , that the now G . L . of Canada has been formally recognised by the various Grand Lodges in the United States of America . My own opinion is , that any effort to bring those Canadian Lodges under allegiance to the English G . L . will he quite futile . If I might suggest itthe plan should be ratherto endeavour in duo course

, , to obtain tiie recognition of the new G . L . of Canada by our English G . L .: thus the sad division in Canada would be filled up , differences would be removed , and all would work harmoniously in the Canadian Masonic world . I can assure you , the Craft in Canada is not in its infancy . I have never seen in England Lodges so efficiently worked , or the principles of Masonry more fully exemplified in the lives and conduct of the Brethren . "

We are indebted to Mr . HILL for setting before us , m its true li ght , the status and character of our trans-Atlantic brothers . The letter from which we have extracted the above passages is , in its tone throughout , most truthful and most temperate , and is conceived in the spirit of true Masonry in its fullest acceptation .

Grand Lodge Of Emergency.

GRAND LODGE OF EMERGENCY .

On Wednesday , the 11 th inst ., a Grand Lodge of Emergency was held for the despatch of business remaining over from the last Q . C . Present—The Eight Hon . the Earl of Zetland , M . W . G . M . on the Throne ; E . W . Sir Lucius Curtis , P . G . M ., Hants , as D . G . M . ; E . W . Viscount Godcrich , M . P ., S . G . W . ; K . W . Thos . Tooke , jun . J . G . W . ; R . W . S . Kawson , V . G . M ., China ; R . W . A . Dobie , P . G . M ., Surrey and G . Eeg . ; B . W . T . H . Hall , P . G . M ,, Cambridgeshire ; It . XV . R . J . Bagshaw , P . G . M ., Essex ; E . W . Hon . J . L . Button , P . G . M ., Gloucestershire ; B . W . B . A . Kent , P . G . M ., South Australia ; E . W . Col . Burlton , P . P . G . M . Bengal ; E . W . Lord Panmure , P . S . G . \ V .:

R . W . E . Pattison , P . J . G . W . ; R . W . W . V . Boadon , P . J . G . W . ; V . W . Eev . J . E . Cox , G . C . ; V . W . Rev . E . Moore G . C . ; V . XV . S . Tomkins , G . Tresis . ; V . W . W . H . White , G . Sec . ; W . T . Jones , S . G . D . ; W . E . Phillips , J . G . D . ; W . "W . Famfield , Assistant G . S . W . Edwin Hansford , G . 0 . ; XV . J . Smith , G . P . & o . ; the Grand Stewards of the year ; the Master , Past Masters , and Wardens , of the Grand Stewards' Lodge ; and the Masters , Past Masters , and Wardens of many other Lodges . There were twenty-two motions on the paper .

After the summons calling the G . L . had been read , Bro . the Rev . G . H . PORTAL presented two petitions relative to Canada , and the circulation of the business paper , with a request for them to be read . The Most Worshipful GISANIJ MASTER refused on the ground that this was not a regular , but a special meeting of G . L . The W . Bro . the Rev . G . R . PORTA L then moved " that a return be forthwith ordered from the Provincial Grand Secretary of Canada West , stating the number of Provincial Grand Lodges held during

the Mastership of the present Prov . G . Master , and specifying those at which he presided in person . " His reason for making this motion was , because complaints had been made that the Provincial Grand Master of Canada West had neglected the business of the province , and it ought , therefore , to be known whether those complaints were well founded , and whether the Grand Master had held a sufficient number of Lodges , and was present at them . Some remarks had been made in Grand Lodge in June last , by the G . M ., which appeared to reflect on the worthy Deputy P . G . M . of Canada

West . Those remarks , he trusted , had been misunderstood , and would be found capable of explanation ; but they rendered this return necessary , in vindication of the course adopted by the D . P . G . M . The motion having been seconded , R . W . Bro . DOBIE disapproved of the wording of the motion , and suggested that the return should be requested through the Grand Master . The W . Bro . the Rev . G . PORTAL in reply said , he should not have resisted Bro . Dobie's amendment on light grounds , he did so because it appeared to him that the power and authority of the Grand Lodge over Provincial Grand Lodges were involved in this proceeding . It was the duty of Provincial Grand Lodges to keep their proceedings registered in a book for the inspection of the

Grand Master or Grand Lodge . It was not possible to forego tne authority that Grand Lodge possessed in this matter , or to attempt to get , by indirect means , that information which they had a right to obtain by their own authority . For this reason he must beg leave to press his motion . G . L . then divided , when the motion was carried by a very large majority . The W . Bro . the Rev . G . R . PORTAL next moved " that the Board of General Purposes be requested to procure a return of the number

of Prov . G . Lodges held in each province during the last ten years , specifying those at which the P . G . M . had presided in person , and to report the same to G . L . " He had no wish to cast the slightest imputation upon those P . G . M . ' s who , being unable from various causes to attend personally to the duties of the province , took care that Masonry suffered no damage by appointing a Deputy who should regularly hold P . G . Lodges ; but there were cases in which no Lodges had been held for very long periods , and he thought it riht that G . L . should know which of the P . G . M . ' s fulfilled the

g trust reposed in them , either personally or by deputy , and which neglected them altogether . W . Bro . SYMONSS seconded the Motion . R . W . Bro . BEADON : —Such motions put the Board of General Purposes in a very awkward position . It was clear to him , from the Book of Constitutions , that the Board had no power to obtain this return . He was not opposed to the return , but to the form of the motion , believing that the Board of General Purposes had no valid power in the matter .

W . Bro . the Rev . G . PORTAL remarked , that the difference between the R . XV . Bro . Beadon and himself was , simply whether the Grand Secretary or the Board of General Purposes should be directed by G . L . to procure the return . With respect to the wording of the motion , he worded it in a courteous manner , inserting the term " requested" instead of "desired , " but implying that the return was ordered by the sole authority of G . L . He thought , however , that R . W . Bro . Beadon was wrong when he said the Book of Constitutions gave no power to the Board in the matterfor he found

, , in the Book of Constitutions , that it was the duty of the Board of General Purposes to correspond with Provincial Lodges , and obtain any information that might be needed . R . XV . Bro . BEADON said it was quite a different thing to correspond with Provincial Lodges and to order a return to be made by them .