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The G . M . hinted at some future prohibition of the publication of the proceedings in G . L . Now , independently of the impossibility of effectively carrying the resolve into execution—for there are two parties to this as to every other question , those forbidding and those forbidden—we entertain the strongest opinion of the impolicy of such a measure . It could not be successful ;

for there are many members of G . L . who , by the aid of of notes and a good memory , would easily reproduce on the following morning the discussion of the previous night ; and who could hinder the publication of such details ? It would not be wise to remove from the press ( we are arguing against ourselves ) that check upon

license and that guarantee for fairness which now exists in the publication of the proceedings . It would be imprudent to attempt to restrain the country lodges , whose sympathies are warmly enlisted in the constitutional administration of affairs , from a knowledge of the circumstances , which concern them not less than their

brethren in London . There are , indeed , certain members of the Dais to whom we have thought it our duty on former occasions to allude , who have not scrupled to avow ' opinions of more than Neapolitan despotism in constraining the craft to a virtual ignorance of every dutyexcept

sub-, mission and humility . A pocket edition of the Book of Constitutions was thus objected to by one worthy brother on the ground of its tendency to familiarize G . L . with the law by which it is governed ; but we should have thought that recent events might have inculcated

a different lesson . Not to speak of innumerable Masonic journals in Canada and the U . S ., the circulation of which has been found quite consistent with the interests of the Order , the Freemasons' Magazine in England was at one time edited by one of the present Grand Chaplains ; and neither in the pages of that periodical nor in our own columns can be found an expression which

trespasses on that ground which the Order has ever considered as sacred and mysterious . If indeed we cannot trust to the good feeling of all members of the craft , we are sure that an intimation from the M . W ., the G . M ., that it would be expedient to omit from the report any detailsor discussion of a secret nature

, , would meet with a ready compliance ; but to tell us , as we were recently informed by an anonymous " Past Master" of the Dais , that questions directly bearing upon the administration of our interests at home and abroad—questions with which all England might be acquainted without prejudice—are illegitimate topics of

criticism , is a mockery of principle , 0 f reason , and of truth . Take the case of the authorised reports of debates in G . L ., which are forwarded after each Quarterly communication to the Masters of private Lodges . Can anything be more meagremore worthless for general

, information or lor any practical purpose ? No courtierlike oration of Br . Hall could have more shadow and less substance than these wasted skeletons of a debate . Or , can anything be more useless than a report , from which all that gives value to a report is eliminated ,

which contains evidence neither of fact nor of argument , which no man will quote—upon which no man will rely ? That such is the case is evident from the conduct pursued by the Legislature . To this day the reports of the debates in the Houses of the Lords and the Commons are legally forbidden , practically sanctioned . And with good reason : for whilst the advantage of full

publicity is recognised , the right of occasional privacy is maintained as a check upon abuse , and as a privilege , which , however rarely it be exercised , may be necessary for the independence of the legislature , and the general interests of the country . Accompanied by these safeguards the publicity of all administrative details cannot

be too highly prized . By a wise executive it will ever be courted as the mirror of their own conduct , and as the antidote to popular suspicion . Let then our friends on the Dais acquiesce in that which is as much for their interests as it is for those of the Craft , and which can be no more stayed or hindered in its course than the sun can be made to stand still in the heavens .

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OUR Provincial Brethren will see with some indignation that the motion carried by Lord CARNARVON , in November last , for sending the business paper of G . L . into the country—and in favour of which so many petitions have been presented—is virtually shelved for the present . The process by which this was effected is not very creditable to the parties principally concerned ; but , as it is not uninstructive , we will enter at some length into the matter .

It must be premised , that Lord CARNARVON when he first proposed that the country lodges should be informed of what was coming on in G . L . contented himself with the affirmation of the principle , well knowing that the great talent exhibited by so many legal Brethren in that chef-d ' mimre of anatomy , commonly called hair-splitting , would not fail to be brought

into play the moment he attempted to deal with details , and that technical objections , like a plague of locusts , would forthwith overwhelm the scheme—whatever it might be . Accordingly , it was left to the Board of General Purposes to settle the day on which it was necessary that the Board of Masters should in future

meet , to allow of the business paper being submitted to the country lodges in sufficient time for enabling them to take part in the discussion . They recommended that the Board should meet on the same night as the Board of Benevolence , five weeks before G . L ., which would give ample time for the

business paper to be printed and circulated . When this recommendation came to be moved for adoption , the GRAND REGISTRAR , whose duty it was , as Chairman of the Board of General Purposes , to propose the necessary alterations in the Book of Constitutions , declined to do so ; and Br . ROXBURGH having taken his brief

, proceeded to argue against the proposal on the ground that since no recommendation of the Board of Benevolence can come before G . L . until it has been to the Board of Masters , whatever mi ght be recommended by