Colonial.

Colonial .

CANADA . The following correspondence haspassed between the Executive in London and Bro . Harington , P . P . G . U . for Queoec , since our last issue . From Bro . HAEIXGTON to the Earl of ZETLAND . ( Extract . ) "Toronto , Canada ; 1 st February , 1858 .

" My Lord and M . W . Brother , "I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication , dated the 9 th ultimo , accepting my resignation of the offices of P . G . M . and P . G . Superintendent of Quebec , & c , and entering largely into the present condition of Canadian Masonry . Before I proceed to reply in detail to the various important passages of your Lordship's letter , allow me to thank you for the personal kindness and courtesy you have extended to me , and to assure you that the perusal of your letter affected me deepland that whatever may be the

y , result of the present antagonism between G . L . and the Craft here , I shall ever feel grateful to your Lordship as well ou my own account , as for the interest manifested and the earnestness evinced by you , in every line of that letter , for the arrangement of the existing Masonic differences . But I am constrained , nevertheless , to repeat that my convictions remain unchanged , as to the necessity for self-government here , and that although there may for a time be stray Lodges in Canada , hailing as heretofore , the majority of the Craft neither can nor will consent again to acknowledge allegiance to the G . L . of

England . Of this I feel assured , and my assertions are endorsed by many excellent and influential Brethren , who , like myself , entertain a warm affectionate regard for the Old Country , but who cannot shut their eyes to the plain fact , that it is only very recently that the Colonies have been looked upon as of so much consquence in the preservation of the "Unity of English Freemasonry . " Your Lordship must acknowledge that for many years past they have only been regarded in a pecuniary liglit—that is—the annual revenue derived from them has kept them from nearly entire oblivion . As for a voice at the fountain head , that has never been thought of ; and " Money " and "obedience" have been the principal results derived from their connection with the G . L . of Great Britain and Ireland . Your Lordship will also , I am sure , acknowledge that thev have been parcelled

out between three sovereign authorities in a way that must , sooner or later , load to confusion , arid a necessity for the establishment of one local Head . 1 know that Canada has called the attention of England to the equal sovereingty of Scotland and Ireland , and that the adoption of some plan has been asked for , by which no separate Lodges should be constituted by one part of the Empire , without the concurrence of the other two ; but the subject has uever yet been deemed of sufficient importance to attract attention , or elicit a reply ; and the result has been , that when individual Brethren have become

dissatisfied , or fancied themselves aggrieved , they have been accustomed to retire from their Lodges , and either become Joining Members of another hailing from a different source , or have applied for Warrants which have never been refused . For instance , —English Masons have procured Charters from the G . L . of Scotland and Ireland , without either of the latter Bodies deeming it at all requisite to appeal to England for proofs of good standing or any other essential , and in this loose maimer a standard of Independence ( for it may surely he classed as such ) has been set up for many years . This irregularity

could only be rectified by a Sovereign G . L . on the spot . Another important particular I wish to draw your Lordship ' s attention to is , that a large proportion of the Brethren here are native Canadians ; who , as such , have none of the old recollections and sympathies to bind them ; but on the contrary , and it is natural , are imbued with a love of their native soil and Institutions , and deem it derogatory to be ruled by extraneous power—from connexion with which they derive no apparent advantage—in whose proceedings they have no real voice —with which it is ten chances to one if they ever have any personal

communication—and for which , us 1 siiall endeavour to show your Lordship before I conclude this letter , they have been gradually compelled to feel less and less respect . There are likewise many Brethren , who are citizens of the U . S . of America , who have settled in Canada for their own private interests , but who have no particular liking for England in any way . I have alluded to the foregoing points , because they are uppermost in my mind , and I think them of paramount importance as a prelude to my replying to your Lordship ' s communication in detail . I have to beg your indulgence for the length of this letter , but I find it impossible to do justice to the subject at issue , unless 1 brimr before your notice every thing ' that bears upon it , and

to compress , would be to mislead your Lordship . I deeply regret that our recognition has not beeu effected by the documents alread y seut home , and the evidence which they afford , that the " Anlient G . L . of Canada" certainly has not been actuated by factious or ambitious motives , ( as has been hinted ) but by a " stem necessity" in adopting the course it has . I hope the G . L . of England will yet see the matter in that light . There is no necessity for mo to trouble your Lordship with a repetition ot the "grievances" under which the entire Canadian Craft has labouredfor they have been fully and formall

, y specified in the Memorial already sent home by the late P . G . L . of Upper Canada ; but to enable you to refer to them , I have appended a copy of that Memorial to this communication . I take it for granted that a copy of your Lordship ' s letter to me is filed in the G . Secretary's Office , for the information of G . Lodge . "With reference therefore to paragraph 2 of that letter , I must again express my conviction , that had the concessions proposed by your Lordship in March last beeu propounded in September , 1856 ( that is ,

six months earlier than they were ) , the present condition of Freemasonry in Canada might have been prevented . If you will be so good as to refer to the Memorial ( page 5 ) , you will find that the half-year , suffered to elapse without notice , was pregnant with events bearing direct and unmistakeable issue upon "Independence . " The Craft here had nothing for its guidance but your Lordship ' s personal communications to G . L ., and they were such ( see 4 th June , 1856 ) as to call forth in the following October resolutions of the very strongest natureand " disapproval of the unjust and uncourteous treatment

ex-, perienced at the hands of the G . M . of England ; " and it was firmly stated , that the time had been allowed to pass when moderate concessions would have more than satisfied the Masons of Canada , and that less than entire , independence would not allay the excitement , & c ., and recognition was asked for on behalf of the P . G . L . as a G . L . This was adopted in January , 1 S 57 , and sent home ; and in March following , your Lordship officially made known your plan for restoring peace in Canada , and the concessions that you considered would

bring about that desirable object . But previous silence and apparent carelessness had done their work by that time ; and ( I write it with all due respect ) your proposal was not then looked upon as a boon , but as having been forced by the pressure of current events . 'J he Brethren knew then that their Memorial had not even been read in G . L ., but had been referred , or handed over , to the new Colonial Board ; and it is certain that no definitive reply has yet been vouchsafed to that respectful document , although the G . Registrar , at the Quarterly Communication of the G . L . of England on the 2 nd September

last , somewhat disingenuously declares that such a statement is inaccurate . Your Lordship's letter ( in triplicate ) is not a reply , for the concluding portion of it only makes mention of th e Memorial having been presented at a fete period of the evening ; that no discussion took place thereon , and it was referred to the Colonial Board , m consequence of the announcement you had been previousl y pleased to make ; and the Colonial Board had no power to send one . Its duty was simply to report to your Lordship and G . L . In the face of all that is reported to have occurredit would puzzle any bodto remove the impression

, y , that the Craft is really governed by the Dais and those upon it , not by the Brethren at large . Your Lordship ' s concessions would perhaps have been deemed " ample , " but for the fatal and unfortunate delay , and before the adoption of the Memorial ; but they were never so acknowledged subsequently ; and whether made before or after , you were ever careful not to embarrass any successor you might have , and the proposed plan , although binding on you , would not be upon himand it might happen therefore that the evil day was

onlre-, y tarded for a season . In this paragraph also , your Lordship has been pleased to state that there must have been " internal dissensions in Canada , which have led to the existing difficulties , and that they do not arise from delay and inconvenience on your side of the water . I hope to prove , that dissatisfaction ( not dissension ) has been occasioned by parties in London , arid who have been , and are , intimately connected with G . L . itself ; and I believe I express the opinion of the two Canadian Independent Bodies .

" I must do your Lordship justice . You did denounce the Independent G . L . as " rebellious , " although G . L . has never yet enunciated a dignified opinion at all . But why did you call that body " rebellious ? " Because it had thrown oil' "its allegiance to the G . L . of England , and that without returning the warrants it held . " Your Lordship tells ms , that you recommended no course of action then , you give no opinion now . May I ask why you did not do so , or cause G . L . to act , instead of placing the Brethren in a false position here , and compelling them to assume the initiative ? More than two years have elapsed since the formation of the Independent G . L : of Canada , and the then loyal Brethren cannot point to one single letter of decided : ulvice or instruction at this moment , as to the course they were to