Report Of Grand Lodge.

mand of the Grand Master ? I contend that no Grand Lodge is lawfully called except it be called by the Grand Master , the Deputy Grand Master , or by some one by them duly appointed ; and that , therefore , we cannot now lawfully proceed to business . I therefore call upon the presiding Grand Master to say whether anything which takes place in this Grand Lodge to-night can be held good ? No doubt the questions you have met to discuss , whatever they are , are questions right and proper to be discussed ; but they should either be put down -for discussion at the next Quarterly Communicationor

, the M . W . the Grand Master should be asked to convene a special Grand Lodge for the purpose of considering them . If any notes or minutes of these proceedings bo made to-night , for the purpose of being road at the next regular Grand Lodge , I shall attend there for the purpose of opposing their being read " ( Hear , and a laugh . ) Bro . H . G . Warren , P . M ., No . 202 : "M . W . Grand Master , as it was I who moved the adjournment , perhaps you will allow me a word of explanation . ( Hear . ) In the first place , then , there is no new

business to be brought forward this evening ; we shall simply take up the business of the last Grand Lodge at the point at which we adjourned . ( Hear , hear . ) If any of the Brethren have not had sufficient notice it is their own fault , in not being here on the last occasion . If there are only to be four Quarterly Communications , some of the Brethren will come here to speak against time , and others throw over all measures which arc objectionable to them . I have no hesitation in saying that some of us feel that we are thus thrown over by long speeches and letters which are read . ( Hearhear . ) There

, are some of us who have had motions on the paper three , six , nine , and even twelve months , dropping from time to time , and never coming on for discussion . I hold M . W . Sir that wherever there is a power of discussion , there is a power of adjournment ( Hear , hear . ) We have not presumed to think of bringing forward new business . We are only meeting to do the business left undone at the last Grand Lodge . As for the argument of going on till twelve or one o'clock , it is not likely that we will consent to sit to that hour , and then be told that all business distasteful to the Grand Officers must be thrown

over . It was because no new business could come on after eleven o'clock , that we adjourned Grand Lodge at half-past ten —( hear hear ) —so that the motions of the independent Brethren should not be entirely shelved . ( Hear , hear . ) We adjourned in order to go regularly through the business on the programme . I think it would be a stultification of our own acts not to go on with the business with such a full Grand Lodge as we see now before us . " ( Hear hear . ) The Rev . Bro . Portal : "This question is a matter of order . It is not advisable to enter into the merits of the case as the Brother who

has just sat down has done , there is no mention of an adjournment in the Book of Constitutions . We admit that . The Grand Master has the power to call a special Grand Lodge for a special reason , to be stated in the summons . We admit that . But all this has nothing to do with the question of adjournment . The Book of Constitutions being silent , I take it the Grand Lodge , like , any other meeting , has an inherent power to regulate its own meetings and to adjourn ii necessary . ( Hear , hear . ) There is a rule to take no fresh business after eleven o ' clock , and the R . W . Brother on your left held that

itwas impossible for us to adjourn for the purpose of taking that business on some future occasion . That is a conclusion which I deny . I hold that Grand Lodge has the power to adjourn , and that power ¦ will not be abused , because unless great interest is felt in a question you will not get Grand Lodge to agree to an adjournment , but the business will be allowed to stand over to i he next regular Grand Lodge . The M . W . Grand Master , on the last occasion , declared Grand Lodge adjourned ; the M . W . Grand Master , on the present occasion , declared the Grand Lodge to be opened in due form ; I therefore now move

that the business be proceeded with . " ( Hear , hear . ) Bro . Havers said , he had taken a deep interest in the proceedings of Grand Lodge , and he claimed to have as deep an interest in putting these little shortcomings to rights as anybody . He knew that Grand Lodge would give him credit for being perfectly independent . He was eager to set those matters right , but he would not do a greater wrong (»' . e . by adjourning GramfLodge ) , in order to accomplish that object . ( Oh !) He would assure the Brethren that whatever fell from any of them he would listen to with the greatest care ; and it

would not be right to stop him by cries of " Oh , oh ! " He had known Grand Lodge from the period of the union up to that moment ; but he had never known an adjourned Grand Lodge . He would refer them to the Book of Constitutions , page 21 , section x ., which was as follows : — "The Grand Master , in his absence the pro . Grand Master , or in his absence the Grand Wardens , may summon and hold Grand Lodges of Emergency whenever the good of the Craft shall , in their opinion , require it ; the particular reason for convening such Lodge of Emergency shall be expressed in the summons , and no other business shall be entered upon at that meeting " He was as anxious as any of them could be to go into those matters , and it was important professional business in Germany which prevented his being present upon the previous occasion , and he could

only regret that some one of the numerous Brethren who were present on that previous occasion , and who mast have known the law , did not rise to inform the Brethren that they could not adjourn . ( Hear , hear , and cries of "They could adjourn—that ' s the question . " ) They mig ht have presented a memorial to the M . W . the Grand Master , and he would take upon himself to say that the prayer of that memorial , if it had been for a Grand Lodge of Emergency , would have been granted . ( " Oh ! oh ! " cries of " Query ! " and laughter . ) He would not wish Grand Lod to stultifitselfalthough he could tell of

ge y , resolutions which had been three years upon the paper . ( Hear , and loud cries of " Shame ! shame ! " ) It was a shame , and it was because he was anxious to put away that shame that he asked and entreated them not to do a wrong because they conld not attain legitimate ends by illegitimate means . Whatever they did that evening would be unquestionably illegal . ( Oh ! oh ! and cries of " It is questioned . '' ) They would be null and void , and was it therefore worth their while to take their time in going into a fruitless discussion ? They could

up not without the consent of the Grand Master hold any meeting , and lot him ask them , had they the consent of the Grand Master for that they were then holding ? ( A voice : "Wo had the consent of the acting Grand Master , who represented the M . W . the Grand . Master at our last meeting ; " hear , hear . ) They had not the consent of the M . W . the Grand Master himself , for he was informed that it had not even been asked . ( Hear , hear . ) He did entreat them to bear in mind what he saidand also the factthat he had no object in view

, , but to do his duty . ( Cheers . ) And he could assure those who were unaware of the facts of the case , that he must have been keenly sensible of what was his duty , to have attended that evening in spite of the severe domestic calamities under which he was at that moment suffering . ( Hear , hear , and applause . ) A Brother , whose name we did not learn , admitted the difficulty of the position in which Grand Lodge found itself ; but he thought the Brethren would fall into the greater evil of the two , if they rejected

Bro . Beadon ' s advice , and pledged themselves to an unprecedented course , of procedure , instead of asking the Grand Master to call a special Lodge . He attempted to shew that if there were tin ' s power of adjournment , it would throw the power of Grand Lodge into the hands of the London members . But this idea was very generally repudiated by the Brethren . Bro . Percy Wells , of Bath : " I consider it a perfectly constitutional act , our meeting here to-night . ( Hear . ) The Grand Lodge was adjourned by the then presiding Grand Master , and if that act had

been illegal he had no right to have done so . He sanctioned the illegal act , if it was illegal . It has been objected that the Brethren in the provinces could not have sufficient notice of this adjourned Grand Lodge . They migM have had notice ; and , if they had not , they ought to have had it . ( Hear , hear . ) Something must be done with respect to this Canada question . ( Hear , hear , and loud cheers . ) We are determined ( hear , hear , and renewed cheering ) we will leave no stone unturned . ( Cheers . ) Most of the Brethren on my left have come from considerable distances to-day ; we have come here because

the last Grand Lodge was adjourned till to-day by the then presiding Grand Master . ( Hear , hear . ) We have come ' in the faith of that adjournment , and then to tell us that we are not to proceed to business , I maintain , with all respect to the Brethren who have spoken before me , and with all respect to you , R . W . Sir , that it is making fools of us . ( Hear , hear . ) If the Brethren in the provinces have not had notice , it is because the Grand Secretary has not done his duty . ( Hear , hear . ) I venerate his age , Sir , but . nothing more . ( Hearhear . ) If Bro . White did his duty like the Secretary of any

, other public body , every Brother in the provinces would have had notice of what had taken place at Grand Lodge within a fortnight , instead of never getting it for more than three months . ( Hear , hear . ) This is not a mere general charge , for I can give you dates . ( Hear , hear . ) I respect his age , and wish he would do his duty , —nothingmore . The Grand Master , on the lust occasion , had no right to adjourn Grand Lodge , if he had no power to do so ( hear ); but I contend , Right Worshipful Sir , it is in Grand Lodge itself that rests the

inherent power of making its own laws and regulating its own conduct . ( Hear , hear . ) It is said that no adjourned Grand Lodge has taken place since the union ; but there is no reason anything should not take place simply on the ground that it is without a precedent . I am a Past Master , Right Worshipful Sir , and I maintain that justice has not been done to the fraternity ( loud cheering ); I therefore demand of yon , Right Worshipful Sir , in the name of a number of Brethren , who have attended here at great expense and inconvenienceand in the name of the whole Grand Lodge—in the name of

, , that justice which ought to be a leading characteristic of Freemasons , that the business of the evening be proceeded with forthwith without any further interruption . " ( near , hear . ) The motion of Bro . Portal was then seconded by some Brother whoso name we did not catch . Bro . Benson , said , both mover and seconder were out of order . The question ought to be settled by the Chair . The acting G . M . had