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Copies of THE MASONIC EXAMINEE cannot be sold to anyone making personal application to purchase them . The paper will be supplied—by post only—according to written order ; accompanied by a remittance of the amount , for the number required , at the rate of THREE HALF-PENCE for each copy . All orders to be addressed to Bro . MATTHEW COOKE , 13 , Harpur Street , Red Lion Square , London , W . C .

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TO ADVERTISERS . All Advertisements in THE MASONIC EXAMINER will be set up in plain type , and no display 01- ornamental letters will be used . ONE UNIFORM CHARGE of Sixpence for every ten ( or fractional portion of ten ) words is adopted , from which there will be no reduction whatever .

Advertisements intended to appear in the ensuing month ' s issue must reach Bro . Matthew Cooke , accompanied by a cash remittance , at the rate stated above , not later than the Zdfh . day of the current month , or insertion cannot be guaranteed .

The Prov. G. Lodge Of Meath.

THE PROV . G . LODGE OF MEATH .

IF ever there was an eligible opening for a brisk business transaction the moment is opportune and the Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath only want canvassing . Those brethren are " eager for the fray , " and if the Manager of "The-Anti-Poking-Your-Nose-Into-Other-People's-Business-Society" will but wait upon them he can insure custom , exceeding his most sanguine expectations , for amongst the Free-Masons of that

highly intelligent masonic province his speciality only wants notoriety . It has been said "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread , " but rushing is a singularly weak expression to convey the faintest outline of the indecent haste which lately seized upon the Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath and checked its impetus with such a recoil as to hurl it , heels over head , backwards ,

floundering in its own provincial mire . As spectators common humanity demands that we should do our best to succour the unfortunate , even if their troubles are brought upon themselves by the process familiarly known as " running their heads against the wall . " So , while we are helping our over-hasty brethren of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath out of the slough , where they have been so ruthlessly

immersed , let us , as good Samaritans , inquire How it came about ? And then , while we are rubbing them down , we mayby setting them right—cleanse their garments and , perhaps , prevent them so besmearing themselves in the future . From questioning the by-standers , who saw the occurrence take place , we learn that the unfortunate Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath was demurely grazing its accustomed thistles

, but , whether it was that visions of the day of American Independence set it raving , or what was the proximate cause no one pretends to say . However , " the fourth of July " came and the Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath made known : — That it had heard with indignation and regret that certain brethren on the Eegistry of Ireland had recently obtained in England , from the hand of an

expelled mason , the higher decrees and that it desired to know what steps Grand Lodge would take in consequence ? Fancy the Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath laying back its long ears and asking such a question ! It got its deserts , however , in a snubbing , telling it to go away and mind its own business . Hence the pitiable mess into which it fell . Poor

little Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath , we hope you were not hurt ? "No : not hurt , thank you , but very much shaken and soiled . " "Well I You must not kick up your heels so high in . future . " No : we'll behave better . " That ' s right , and now let us try to get some of the mud off . A curry-comb would do best but as the skin is tenderer in those who feed on thistles , compared with others who live on corn , we'll wipe you down

gently , and you'll be all the better for it . "Yes ; please wipe us down , we are in such a horrid pickle . " And while we commence the unodorous aid let us examine the gravamen of offence . Had not the Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath been indignant it would not have come to grief because it could not matter to any lodge where a brother got a degree if it was beyond the power of the lodge he belonged to to give or withhold it . Neither

had this Provincial ( ji-aml Lodge a right to express regret when it modestly " desired to know " —rather a peculiar way of putting it—What the Grand Lodge of Ireland intended to do ? It would be a solution of some of those "things not generally known , " and really very advantageous to know if "brethren on the registry of Ireland " are peculiarly sacred ? If they are units of cosmopolitan Free-Masonry or of a brotherhood that onl y

extends to tne sea tliat girts our sister islet" We have some recollection of having heard of Lodges under the Irish Constitution working side by side , with English and Scotch lodges , in the Colonies , and members of the one holding office in one or both of the others , yet , no English or Scotch Free-Mason sets up his registry as prohibitive . Then , How is it that the " brethren on the registry of Ireland " are so sacred ? We are afraid , dirty

little Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath , we can't wipe that stain off . Either you are Free-Masons—members of an order that claims the world as its sphere of operation—or you are a limited liability company confined to that locality where the Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath is suffered to exist . It appears that the Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath has gotten itself into the mess by hear-say . Did it ever occur to

any of its befouled members that they are bound not to give credit to hear-say ? Or , does being " on the registry of Ireland " absolve them from maintaining a brother's honour ; never countenancing his being traduced in his absence ; or , Is the peculiar sanctity of the " registry of Ireland" so great that it sanctions little peddling Provincial Grand Lodges , like that of Meath , to call in question the standing of a brother not under

its own national constitution but a stranger to every brother in that county ? You are very dirty , very nasty indeed , Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath , and it will take a great deal of wiping to wipe this stain out of you . Now listen and attend whilst we wipe you down , and leave off chewing those thistles . If we can we will eradicate the ordure from your clothing and in time the stain may wear out but it will be a long time first , ill savoured Provincial Grand