Grand Lodge.

" The receipt of the above was duly acknowledged on the 16 th of December , with an intimation that the errors pointed out in the pamp hlet referred to would bo brought before the proper authorities . " A communication Was received from the Atlantic Phoenix Lodge , No . 271 , Bermuda , complaining that a packet of Grand Lodge and Royal Arch Certificates had not been received , either by the mail advising their having been forwarded , or the two following ones . On reference , it was found that the Certificates had been duly dispatched on the 5 th November , 1857 . The Grand Secretary was instructed to to address the Postmaster General on the subject , who promises inquiry . " ( Signed ) "JOHN HERVEY , V . P . " Freemasons' Hall , London , 4 th February , 1858 . "

TASMANIA . The Memorial from the Brethren of No . 781 , at Hobart Town , was then read ( for which see our Colonial Intelligence ) . R . W . Bro . Lord PANJIURE then said : We ' have just heard read at length the memorial of Bro . Toby and of several of the Brethren resident in Hobart Town , many of wdiom I understand belong to Lodge No . 781 , but a great part of whom are not , as I am told , members of that Lodge but belong to other bodies of Masons in that town . It appears to me , Brethren , that an appeal of this kind ,

involving , as it does , very serious points of difference between those who have signed the memorial and the Provincial Grand Master , should be disposed of at ouec . You , my lord , have referred this memorial and the voluminous documents which have been received from the P . G . M . and Bro . Toby to myself , as your Deputy Grand Master , to the Grand Registrar , and to ' the Grand Secretary : and I have now to state , that we have gone fully through the whole matter , and read all the correspondence connected with it ; and with the permission of G . Lif you will kindlbear with me for some timeI

, y , shall endeavor to make clear all the circumstances of the case . Before doing so , however , it will be necessary that the attention of the Brethren should be drawn to the present position of the Craft in Tasmania . It consists of four Lodges ; three of these are held at Launceston , and one at Hobart Town . The three held at Launceston ( I do not recollect their number ) are severally the Lodges of Faith , of Hope , and of Charity ; and the Lodge hold at Hobart Town is No . 781 . In 1856 , as the memorial states , Bro . Ewing was , by the prerogative of the G . M . and on the recommendation of three out of the

four Lodges in the Province , named P . G . M . His character stands , as it ought to do , most high in that part of her majesty ' s dominions . Ho is a clergyman ; and as such , he iias the care of a vast number of souls . He is highly respected as a man , we could expect nothing less from his profession ; and for five consecutive years , he has been at the head of his own Lodge : and I would especially wish you to recollect , that he has not in any manner shown himself zealous of

attaining the honor of being P . G . M . Indeed , he recommended another for that office . In that however he was overruled ; and was himself recommended for the appointment . From that appointment , the whole of this affair starts . It appears from the correspondence , that this appointment of Bro . Ewing to be P . G . M . was extremely distasteful to Bro . Toby . In fact , from the papers placed before us , it appears that ho had himself deserved to fill that high station . Be that as it may , he and those who have acted with him have thought proper to address to G . L . the memorial which we have heard read

. First of all they state , that whereas they consider that the M . W . the G . M . has the authority to name whomever he may please as P . G . M ., they yet complain that in this case that authority has not been properly exercised . Now I humbly conceive , that it is not the province of Bro . Toby to question the prerogative of the G . M . At all events , if a Brother presumes to question the G . M . ' s authority , it should be done directly and distinctly to the G . M . himself , and to no other body . In the next place , how , I ask , could Bro . Toby know that the G . M .

had not , before making the appointment , ascertained the fitness of Bro . Ewing for the appointment . ( Hear , hear . ) I simply ask , what better test could the G . M . have of the fitness of a Mason for dignity in the Craft , than the testimony of three out of four of the Lodges in the province ; and the fact that for five years he held the chair in his own Lodge , witli credit to himself and with advantage to the Brethren ? ( Hear , hear . ) That , I think , disposes of the first point . Wo come now to the next and simple point of the memorial . Bro . Toby assertsthat after Bro . Ewing had been named P . G . M . and prior to

, ; his being installed , he exorcised the powers of his office before being authorised to do so . What was the exercise of this power which has been complained of ? Bro . Ewing , on obtaining ; the patent of his office , called for certain returns from No . 781 ; butwhich returns Bro . Toby refused to furnish him . with , and on this ground : lie said—you are not yet installed as P . G . M ., and therefore you have iio right to ealbfor these returns . In . taking this line . of argument , I conceive Bro . Toby made a grave mistake ' . If the Brethren will refer to the

Book of Constitutions , they will find at page 44 the following , with respect to the appointment of P . G . M .: "The appointment of this officer is a prerogative of the G . M ., by whom a patent may be granted during pleasure to any Brother of eminence and ability in the Craft , who may be thought worthy of the appointment . _ By this patent , the Brother is invested with a rank and power in his particular district similar to those possessed by the G . M . He shall be installed at the first P . G . L . ho may hold after his appointment . " From this it is perfectly clear , that the P . G . M . is entitled by his patent to discharge

all the duties of his office before he is installed . The Book of Constitutions goes on to say : "He shall hear and determine all subjects of Masonic complaint or irregularity respecting Lodges or individual Masons within his district ; and may proceed to admonition , fine , or suspension , until the next meeting of the Grand Lodge , according to the general laws of the Craft . " It thus appears , that a Brother is , in the first instance , appointed to the office of P . G . M . by patent ; and it is quite evident that it is the patent which creates the power ; for if it did notit would be in the power of any Brother to make null

, and void the appointments made by the G . M . What does Bro . Ewing do ? To constitute Iris G . L , fie must know who are the members of the Lodges in his Province ; and he cannot { enow that , unless he asks for returns from the several Lodges ; and if they refuse to furnish them when he calls for them , for the mere purpose of doing his best in the election of G . Officers , what is he to do ? If he has not these returns , how is he to constitute his Lodge ? Common sense will point out that his patent gives him that power . That was all Bro . Ewing

did . He called on No . 781 to make certain returns , and that Lodge refused to do so . It is said that the P . G . M . did not give the Brethren of No . 781 sufficient notice of his intention to hold the Grand Lodge of his Province . He gave notice , as this correspondence shows , of his being appointed P . G . M ., and that he had received the patent of his appointment . He next called on them himself ; and then , failing to obtain from them the returns which lie required , he thirdly issued to them his peremptory summons ( I do not say that it was one in wdiat we call peremptory terms ) . Even after that summonsthe Brethren

, of No . 781 persevered in their refusal . It will appear to G . L ., that the Brethren of No . 781 exhibited contumacy in that refusal . Under these circumstances , Bro . Ewing proceeded to his installation . By the refusal of Bro . Toby and the other officers of No . 781 to make the required returns , great injustice was , I think , done to the other members of that Lodge , because , for want of those returns , they were

excluded from Grand office . As I before observed , Bro . Lwing proceeded to his instalment ; and it is now urged by Bro . Toby and the other Brethren who signed the memorial , that because the P . G . M . sent them an invitation to attend that ceremony , he condoned their offence and admitted that there was no contumacy in the resistance offered to his authority prior to his being installed . That was not so . All the P . G . M . did was this : wishing to preserve peace and good feeling between the Brethren , as was his duty both as a clergyman and as a Mason , he held out to them the right hand of fellowship ,

thereby giving them a locus penilenthe , which locus penitential they declined to avail themselves of . Under these circumstances , Bro . Ewing , by the advice of the P . G . L . under whose advice ho had all along acted , proceeded—not hastily but deliberately , for those misunderstandings had continued from March to May—to suspend Lodge 781 from its Masonic functions . But even after that , Bro . Ewing did not stand upon the dignity of his office , but went himself down to Hobart Town , and invited the contumacious Brethren to meet him , not as their G . M . but privatelyand so try to arrange the points at

, issue between them . In consequence of his paying them that visit , Bro . Toby and the other members of No . 781 met him , and for some time , as it appears from the correspondence , very high , very improper , and very unmasonic altercations took place between them . Afterwards , however , they came to see matters in a bettor light . Harmony came over them ; and they agreed that some arrangements should bo made , whereby the suspension should be taken off No . 781 , and the members of it restored to their Masonic functions . They asked Bro . Ewing to suggest some moans by which that might be done . He then

said , he would draw out the form of a petition for them to sign , with the slightest possible recognition of his authority , so as not to hurt their dignity . If they would sign that petition , he would , he said , make a representation of the matter to G . L ., and set things all right . He drew up that petition for them , but after he left Hobart Town , a new spirit seems to have come over them , for out of all the members of the Lodge , only four individuals were found to sign it . Those Brethren who so signed thepptili were restoredto their Masonic

, pn . functions ;! and it : shall be my , duty to propose , to yon a motion to confirm that restoration ., We gather , from all this , that there is a bad spirit . and a , spirit of jealousy . between the two principal towns in Tasmania , Hobart Town and Launceston ; and I am sorry to say that that bad , spirit has extended ; itself from the towns to their ' Masonic Lodges ., , But tliat , ; y ; ou , > viU . a " greo . with me , is , no reason why we