THE REPRESENTATION DIFFICULTY.
AN ATTEMPT AT ITS SOLUTION.
FOR some time we have been much exercised in mind over the remarks made by a critic respecting the
system in use for the nomination and election of the Grand Officers. This critic said :—
That Grand Lodge had no system.
That its so-called ballot was virtually nomineeism.
That were nominations made in excess of the offices to be filled, a deadlock would result if a ballot
were demanded.
That it was an absurdity to cast the whole Masonic vote in the election of a Grand Steward, say for
Otago, possibly for a Brother not known outside his own Province, and whose qualifications for a
Stewardship were purely local.
That the granting of the same number of Grand Officers to all the Provinces, irrespective of size, was
an injustice, and based upon no theory of representation whatever.
We have turned these criticisms over and over again; and the result of this mental process has been that we
have arrived at the same conclusion as did our critic—that the present system, or, as he put it, the want of
system, is a reproach to us, and will lead to trouble in the near future. To remedy this we have made an
attempt at solving this bugbear of representation, and our scheme, though not claiming to be perfect, has the
following advantages to recommend it :—
SIMPLICITY,
SECRECY,
PRACTICABILITY.
The ballot box brought to the door of the voter.
No extra or complicated machinery required for its working, for the machinery is already provided.
Canvassing for office practically swept away.
The quota of Grand Officers is apportioned to the number of Lodges in each Masonic division of the
colony.
Each division votes for its own quota, the result necessarily being a true reflex of the opinions of the
voters.
Each Province knows one, two, three, or more years in advance its quota of Grand Officers and their
rank, and can nominate accordingly.
The result of the voting is not known until the afternoon of the day appointed for holding the Annual
Communication, and is not made public until after the opening of Grand Lodge.
The system is as applicable to the contested election of a Grand Master as it is to the election of a
Grand Steward or a member of the Boards of General Purposes and Benevolence.
A healthy spirit of emulation will result from the adoption of this scheme, for election to Grand
Office will entirely depend upon the esteem in which the nominated Brethren are held in their own
Provinces.
In a contested election the Grand Master is elected by ballot. Hei has certain prerogatives, one of these being
the appointment of his
Deputy Grand Master,
Superintendents, requiring confirmation,
Senior Grand Warden, and
Junior Grand Warden.
This prerogative we do not intend to curtail if anything our proposal extends it, for we allow not only for the
four Superintendents, as at present appointed, but for the appointment of two more. In the two maps which
precede this article the Masonic divisions of the colony are clearly defined. They are, enumerated in the
order of their Lodge strength — Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury being considered equal :—
1. Auckland
2. Wellington
3. Canterbury
4. Otago
5. Taranaki and Wanganui
6. Hawkes Bay and Gisborne
7. Nelson, Marlborough, and Westland
8. Southland.
Here are eight divisions, but only six Superintendents are necessary, for one division will always be under
the direct supervision of the Grand Master, and another will always be in charge of the Deputy Grand
Master.
But though the scheme does not touch the Grand Master's prerogative of appointing the principal Grand
Officers, it does make considerable alterations in the number of the elective Grand Officers as at present
provided for in the Constitution.*
We would wipe out the Assistant Grand Registrar, Assistant Grand Secretary, and the Superintendent of
Works. These officers are, in our opinion, purely ornamental, whereas our proposal only provides for Grand
Officers who have work to do, and whose presence in Grand Lodge is necessary for the complete and
dignified working of the proceedings of a Communication. The present and past holders of these positions
can be compensated for the loss of their offices by equivalent rank of a like grade in the new scheme.
Grand Lodge would be complete under our proposal by the following :—
Grand Master,
Deputy Grand Master,
Six Superintendents,
Senior Grand Warden,
Junior Grand Warden,
Grand Treasurer,
Grand Registrar,
Grand Secretary,
President of the Board of General Purposes,
President of the Board of Benevolence,
Four Grand Chaplains,
Four Senior Grand Deacons,
Four Junior Grand Deacons,
Grand Director of Ceremonies,
Three Assistant Grand Directors of Ceremonies,
Grand Bible Bearer,
Three Assistant Grand Bible Bearers,
Grand Standard Bearer,
Three Assistant Grand Standard Bearers,
Grand Sword Bearer,
Three Assistant Grand Sword Bearers,
Grand Organist,
Three Assistant Grand Organists,
Grand Pursuivant,
Three Assistant Grand Pursuivants,
Grand Tyler,
Three Assistant Grand Tylers,
Twenty-five Grand Stewards of the year,
Fifteen members of the Board of General Purposes,
Fifteen members of the Board of Benevolence.
* Since the above was written a copy of the Constitution has been sent to us, but from it we cannot tell the number
of elective Grand Officers, so the paragraph may be taken to mean that our proposal will make an alteration in the
number of elective Grand Officers, as set forth, officially, on page--of this Journal,
Now we will assume for the purpose of elucidation, that the limit of two years for any one Brother holding
the position of Grand Master is admitted to be the rule that the home of Grand Lodge will be in Auckland in
1893-94, and that the two following years, 1894-95 and 1895-96, it will be in Wellington. In accordance with
this idea, the following three years' distribution of the elective Grand Officers, Stewards, and members of the
two Boards is drawn up :—
PROPOSED DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELECTIVE GRAND OFFICERS FOR THREE YEARS
Auckland Wellington Wellington
Elected Grand Lodge Officers 1893 - 94 1894 - 95 1895 - 96
A
u
ck
la
n
d
W
el
li
n
g
to
n
C
an
te
rb
u
ry
O
ta
go
T
ar
an
ak
i
H
aw
ke
s
B
ay
N
el
so
n
S
o
ut
h
la
nd
A
u
ck
la
n
d
W
el
li
n
g
to
n
C
an
te
rb
u
ry
O
ta
go
T
ar
an
ak
i
H
aw
ke
s
B
ay
N
el
so
n
S
o
ut
h
la
nd
A
u
ck
la
n
d
W
el
li
n
g
to
n
C
an
te
rb
u
ry
O
ta
go
T
ar
an
ak
i
H
aw
ke
s
B
ay
N
el
so
n
S
o
ut
h
la
nd
Grand Chaplains 4 1 1 1 .. .. .. 1 .. 1 1 1 .. .. 1 .. .. 1 1 1 .. 1 .. .. ..
Senior Grand Deacons 4 .. 1 1 1 .. 1 .. .. 1 .. 1 .. 1 .. .. 1 1 .. 1 1 .. 1 ..
Junior Grand Deacons 4 .. 1 1 .. 1 .. .. 1 1 .. 1 1 .. .. 1 .. 1 .. 1 .. .. 1 .. 1
Grand Director of Ceremonies 1 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. ..
Assist. Gr. Directors of Ceremonies 3 .. 1 1 1 .. .. .. .. 1 .. 1 .. .. .. .. 1 1 .. .. .. 1 1 .. ..
Grand Bible Bearer 1 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. ..
Assistant Grand Bible Bearers 3 .. .. .. .. 1 1 1 .. .. .. .. 1 1 1 .. .. .. 1 1 1 .. .. ..
Grand Standard Bearer 1 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. ..
Assistant Grand Standard Bearers 3 .. .. .. .. 1 1 1 .. .. .. .. 1 1 1 .. .. 1 .. 1 .. .. .. 1 ..
Grand Sword Bearer 1 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. ..
Assistant Grand Sword Bearers 3 .. 1 1 1 .. .. .. .. 1 .. 1 .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. 1 1
Grand Organist 1 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. ..
Assistant Grand Organists 3 .. 1 1 .. 1 .. .. .. 1 1 .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. 1 .. 1 .. .. ..
Grand Pursuivant 1 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. ..
Assistant Grand Pursuivants 3 .. 1 1 1 .. .. .. .. 1 .. 1 .. 1 .. .. .. 1 .. 1 .. 1 .. ..
Grand Tyler 1 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. .. .. .. ..
Assistant Grand Tylers 3 .. 1 1 .. .. .. .. 1 1 .. 1 1 .. .. .. .. 1 .. 1 1 .. .. .. ..
40 8 8 8 4 4 3 3 2 8 8 8 4 4 3 2 2 8 8 8 4 4 3 3 2
Grand Stewards 25 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2
Members of the Board of General
Purposes 15 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1
Members of the Board of Benevolence 15 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1
Totals 95 18 18 18 11 9 8 7 6 18 18 18 11 9 8 6 6 18 18 18 11 9 8 7 6
N
u
m
b
er
of
O
ff
ic
er
s
R
eq
ui
re
d
It will be at once noticed that the
Grand Treasurer,
Grand Registrar,
Grand Secretary,
President of the Board of General Purposes, and
President of the Board of Benevolence,
though elective officers, are not taken into account in the above arrangement. The reason for the omission is
that where the Grand Master resides there also must the five Executive Officers be apportioned, but, the
Grand Lodge being a peripatetic body, each Province will, in its turn, have the Executive Officers
apportioned to it in addition to its ordinary share of the quota.
It will also be noted in the above arrangement that Auckland will have in 1893-94 the following officers in
addition to the Grand Master and the five Executive Officers :—
Grand Chaplain,
Grand Director of Ceremonies,
Grand Bible Bearer,
Grand Standard Bearer,
Grand Sword Bearer,
Grand Organist,
Grand Pursuivant,
Grand Tyler, and
Four Grand Stewards,
in fact, a complete Grand Lodge in miniature, if the Senior Grand Deacon, in Hawkes Bay, and the Junior
Grand Deacon, in Taranaki, are considered and large enough to conduct the business, hold Communications,
and make official visits to the Lodges in the Province with ease and dignity. The remainder of the Grand
Officers —the three Chaplains, the three Senior Deacons, and the three Junior Deacons, with all the Assistant
Grand Officers—are so distributed that, upon the arrival of the Grand Master and the Grand Secretary a
complete Grand Lodge can be held in any one of the other three large Masonic Provinces—Wellington,
Canterbury, and Otago and Southland. When the Grand Lodge is removed to Wellington, that Province will
have a similar staff of Grand Officers apportioned to it as were located in Auckland, and the Assistant Grand
Officers will be distributed as before, save that Auckland takes the place of Wellington and so on, until the
four large Masonic Provinces have had the Grand Lodge located within each for the space of two years,
when the distribution could recommence with Canterbury, or a modification could be made in the scheme so
as to include the smaller divisions. This apportioning of the principal Grand Officers (with the exception of
Senior and Junior Deacons) to the Province in which the Grand Master resides is to add dignity to the
position of the Chief Ruler of the Craft, and, as the like dignity will be conferred on each Province in
succession, no one can cavil at it.
The advantages of fixing the rotation of the officers of Grand Lodge for a period of years—this does not
necessarily fix the location of the Grand Master—are many. We will enumerate a few :—It will ensure a
much larger attendance of high officials at the stated Communications ; acting Grand Officers would cease to
be the rule ; thus adding more dignity to the deliberations of the supreme body. It will relieve the Board of
General Purposes and the Superintendents from that unpleasant task of recommending and apportioning to
the several Provinces the elective Grand Officers of the year. It will throw upon the members of Grand
Lodge in each Province the responsibility of nominating and electing fit and proper Brethren to represent
them in the wearing of the purple, thus again relieving the Board of General Purposes of another unpleasant
and thankless task. And finally, it will be an immense relief to the Grand Master and Grand Secretary, for it
is on their shoulders that the worry and anxiety of the annual election has hitherto fallen.
______________
AND now, having given as much space as we can spare to the explanation of our arrangement of the quota,
let us proceed to introduce the system of voting which is necessary to complete the whole plan. We have
already mentioned in the preceding article some of its many advantages, the principal being—
SIMPLICITY,
SECRECY, and
PRACTICABILITY.
The plan, as will be seen from what follows, provides for every member of Grand Lodge in good standing,
whether he be a Junior Warden, a Senior Warden, a Master, or a Past Master, being able to record his vote in
the election of the Grand Master (should the rare event of a contest at any time take place), the elective
Grand Officers, the Grand Stewards, and the members of the two Boards. No elective ballot will ever be cast
in Grand Lodge, for the ballot-box will be brought by the post to the door of each financial member of Grand
Lodge, and through the post will he return it to the Superintendent or other Grand Officer in charge of his
Province, and such officer in charge will forward it, unopened, to the Grand Secretary. On the day of the
Annual Communication the Board of General Purposes will break the seals of the eight bundles of voting
papers, and the President will hand to the Grand Master, in open Grand Lodge, a list signed by the members
of the Board present, giving the result of the voting.
A member of Grand Lodge, resident, say, in the Province of Otago, will only vote for Brethren to fill the
positions in Grand Lodge that have been apportioned to his Province. He will not be required to express his
opinion on the qualifications of the nominated Brethren in the other Provinces—that will be the duty of the
members of Grand Lodge resident in those Provinces ; and necessarily so, for, in the majority of cases, the
voter in Otago will know nothing of the nominated Brethren from the other Masonic districts, save that they
are Masons. It would be absurd to ask a voter at the Bluff to vote for an unknown candidate, residing at the
Thames, nominated, say, for the high position of Senior Grand Deacon, and vice versa.
The only occasion that the voter would be required to cast his ballot for a Brother outside his own division
would be in the event of a contested election for the Grand Mastership ; but, even in that case, his vote would
be taken for the Grand Master in the same manner as the other elected officers, and would go through the
head of his division—the declaration of the result resting with the Board of General Purposes.
The accompanying documents will show the steps which the head of each Province would take, after he had
received the official list from the Grand Secretary of the nominations made from his Province at the last
Communication. He would post a copy of the following letter, ballot-paper, and addressed envelope to each
financial member of Grand Lodge resident in his Province, and when those who chose to vote had returned
the ballot-papers, he would forward them unopened to the Grand Secretary. He would have nothing more to
do.
Our calculations estimate the members of Grand Lodge at seven per Lodge. The Superintendent of Southland
would have to address 28 envelopes, and the Superintendent of one of the largest Provinces, say, Wellington,
would have about 100 addresses to write. Now, this amount of extra labour cannot be considered excessive,
and, in fact, is hardly worth considering as a factor in the question.
_______________________
GRAND LODGE OF A. F. AND A. MASONS OF NEW ZEALAND.
From the Office of the Superintendent of Otago,
Dunedin, February let, 1893.
JOHN WILSON, ESQ., S.W. of Lodge No. 11, Oamaru.
Dear Sir and Brother,
At the Quarterly Communication, held in the city of Wellington on the 16th January last, Brethren from this
Province were nominated for Grand Office and membership of the two Boards, as per enclosed ballot-paper.
Article 49 of the Book of Constitutions states that the method of recording your vote is to strike out, with
ink, the names of those Brethren you do not wish to vote for. When you have done this, please place the
ballot-paper in the enclosed addressed envelope, and post in sufficient time, that it may reach me not later
than the 20th March next.
In order that the voting may be secret, you are requested to fasten the flap of the envelope before posting,
and on no account to add anything in the nature of a signature or make any remarks upon the ballot-paper.---
Fraternally,
ALFRED H. BURTON,
Superintendent of Otago.
The above letter would be accompanied by this ballot-paper :--
BALLOT PAPER
PROVINCE OF OTAGO.
No. 24. 1893-4.
NAME. RANK LODGE. NOMINATED FOR.
NUMBER
REQUIRED
John Foster P.M. Otago Senior Grand Deacon
James Tennant W.M. Hiram do. One
Charles Little P.M. Hercules .. do.
David Butts P.M. Waikouaiti Assist. Gr. Dir. of Ceremonies One
Walter Bird P.M. Palmerston do. do.
Alfred Lorie P.M. Waitaki .. Assist. Grand Sword Bearer .. One
Donald Brown P.M. Otago do. do.
Alfred Pine P.M. Clutha Assist. Grand Pursuivant. One
Oswald Vince P.M. do. do. do.
Henry Lamer W.M. Ngapara .. Grand Steward
Thomas Carter P.M. Waikouaiti do.
Robert Campbell P.M. Clutha .. do. Three
Robert Fisher P.M. Hiram do.
Gilbert Watson P.M. Waitaki do.
Henry Jenkins P.M. Otago Memb. Board of Gen. Purposes
Peter Hickson P.M. Hiram do. do. Two
Arthur Downes P.M. Waitaki do. do.
John Eves P.M. Otago Memb. of Board of Benevolence
Edward Jury P.M. Hiram do. do. Two
William Smith P.M. Waitaki do. do.
N.B.—Strike out those you do not wish to vote for by drawing your pen through the names.
IMPORTANT NOTICE.-This ballot-paper must be returned in the enclosed addressed envelope, and must reach
the Superintendent (or other Grand Officer in charge of the Province) on or before the 20th March next,
otherwise it will arrive too late to be recorded.
The members of Grand Lodge to whom the Superintendent forwarded the ballot-papers will return them
through the post, addressed as below, for which purpose the Superintendent enclosed an addressed envelope
with each paper :--
After allowing two days grace the Superintendent will check the number of the replies with his list, which
list he will keep as a record; he will then tie up, seal, and post the ballot-papers unopened to the Grand
Secretary, addressed as below :—
The Grand Secretary will, upon the receipt of each bundle of ballot-papers, at once acknowledge its safe
arrival to the Superintendent, and place it under lock and key until the day of the Annual Communication,
when he will hand all the bundles to the President of the Board of General Purposes in the same condition
(unopened) as he received them.
The Board of General Purposes will meet in the afternoon of the day of the Annual Communication, and
proceed to count the votes from each Province. Immediately after the minutes of the previous Com-
munication are confirmed, the President will hand to the Grand Master a signed list, showing the result of the
voting, which list, if there be no opposition, shall be taken as correct, and the voting papers destroyed.
Should, however, any member of Grand Lodge demand another scrutiny, the Grand Master shall proceed to
put it to the vote, and, if the motion is carried, 16 scrutineers shall be appointed--two for each bundle of
ballot-papers—whose report shall be accepted as final, and the investiture of the Grand Officers proceeded
with.
________________________________________________________
THE BUSINESS OF THE LAST COMMUNICATION.
Two proposals— one from the Board of General Purposes, and one from the Superintendent of Wellington—
were brought before the Oamaru Communication. The Board asked Grand Lodge to sanction an application
to be made to every member on the roll for a donation towards procuring suitable clothing for the Grand
Officers. With the merits, or otherwise, of this proposal we have nothing to do, for the answer to it lies in a
nut-shell. If the Craft have a strong desire to clothe the Grand Officers, they can do it by subscribing the
£400 to £500 required ; if, on the other hand, they think the project can wait awhile, they will not subscribe,
and thus the proposal will come to naught. It is from another point of view that we desire to say a few words
: It is to express regret at the Board, asking the members of Grand Lodge, present at Oamaru, to consider
such an important and far-reaching proposal, without even the required notice of motion having been placed
on the agenda. The geographical position of the colony is such, that the Quarterly Communications can only
be attended by the members of Grand Lodge from the immediate vicinity in which the Communications are
held—all the more reason, therefore, that Rule 31, of the Constitution, should be carried out in its entirety,
and that the agenda of each Communication should contain a synopsis of the Board's proposals.
THE other proposal was from the Superintendent of Wellington, urging the appointment of a committee to
prepare a Ritual for the use of the New Zealand Lodges. This recommendation, be it noted, was also placed
before Grand Lodge, for its immediate consideration, but the good sense of tho majority saw the absurdity of
asking that purely local gathering to express its views. The motion was therefore postponed till the annual
meeting in April, not from any antagonistic feeling to the proposal itself, but, as P.M. Bro. Robert Hamilton
very pertinently put it, they (the Oamaruvians), were not prepared to express any opinion on such an
important proposal without having had more time given them for consideration. We have very mixed
feelings with regard to this question, but have no objection to a committee being appointed to draft a Ritual,
provided that no steps are taken to print the result of the labours of such Committee. To print and distribute
copies of the draft Constitutions was right and proper, but no one would, we imagine, advocate a similar
distribution of the Ritual. The proper place, nay, the only place, where the labours of the committee
appointed to prepare the esoteric work can be exemplified is in Grand Lodge. We shall return to this subject
next month ; it is a very important one, and requires more time and more space than we can at present spare
to a proper setting forth of our views.
_________________________________________
BRO. LORD ONSLOW'S FAREWELL.
It is not unlikely that there may be an impression in some minds, on reading the correspondence between the
Governor and Bro. Malcolm Niccol, Grand Master-designate of New Zealand (which appears on another
page), that the wording of His Excellency's letter is over formal and diplomatic ; that he might have penned,
with less ambiguity, what are manifestly his real opinions. But, as we have before pointed out, every
consideration must be had for the exceptional delicacy of our noble Brother's position. It has been keenly—
ay, painfully—felt by Masons holding under the Grand Lodge of New Zealand, that their acts, their aims,
and especially their numbers and relative importance, have been hitherto systematically misrepresented to
the governing Bodies in the Mother Country. So it is encouraging to find that Lord Onslow evidently
recognises that the opposition to our movement in the Home Grand Lodges has not been spontaneous, but
has emanated from the colony itself ; and when His Excellency lays before the Grand Lodge of England—as
he promises to do—" with accuracy the state of Masonic affairs in this colony," we think we may await with
calmness and confidence the action that will assuredly be taken—in exemplification of true Freemasonry—
by the leading Grand Lodge of the world.
______________________________________
A GRAND CHAPTER.
IT is well understood that occasion will be taken of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand's Annual Meeting in
Auckland, at the end of April, to set up a Grand Chapter. Such a step naturally and necessarily follows the
establishment of a Grand Lodge. The subject has been pretty thoroughly ventilated, a " basis of union "
agreed upon, and the course is now clear for the election of Grand Principals and other Chapter officers.
Now, while it may be well to look forward to the time when the Grand Master should be also First Grand
Principal—following Home precedent—we think it will be agreed that we have not reached that stage as yet.
Properly to fill the role of Grand Master necessitates a considerable expenditure of time, to say nothing of
other sacrifices, and it would be palpably unreasonable, as yet, so to ‘. work the willing horse," as to saddle
the holder of this office with another onerous, if highly dignified, one. Such being the case, then, we venture
to suggest a name that would, doubtless, meet with universal approval—it is that of Ex. Comp. E. T. Gillon.
In common with the Craft at large, we have greatly admired that Brother's self-abnegation in the past ; but
such virtue may be pushed too far, and we hope that he will respond to what we believe will be a general
call, and assume the chair of First Grand Principal of the Supreme Grand Chapter of New Zealand.
___________________________________________
THE BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS.
"EVERYTHING," says an old proverb, " comes to those who wait," and, through the courtesy of the Grand
Secretary, we are in possession of a copy of the long-promised Constitution. The general get-up of the little
book is every thing that could be desired in a work that is sold at 2s. It is tastefully and well bound (it need
be to stand the use it will be put to), and the letterpress is clean and easy to read ; but having said this much
for it, our feelings of satisfaction come to a dead stop. Those of our readers who want to know the reason can
refer to our article of October 16th last on " The Constitution and Laws," afterwards setting themselves the
task of finding in the new Book of Constitution the alterations made in the draft proposals, which we
mentioned in that article as having had the sanction of Grand Lodge. We must not be too critical over a first
production—it is not expected to be perfection ; if it were, we should feel inclined " to go for " the compiler
of the index, but there are two very serious errors in Rules 9 and 16, which will need to be at once rectified.
We await, with a good deal of interest the election of the Grand Officers, which will, for the first time, be
held under the new laws on April 27th. In the meantime our fraternal sympathy is given to the Board of
General Purposes. They will have no easy task to reconcile the ipsissima verba of the Constitution with what
Grand Lodge sanctioned in October last.
V...W... BRO. GEORGE GORDON,
PAST GRAND REGISTRAR OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
V.W. BRO. GEORGE GORDON
MASONICALLY dates from 1879, for on September 29th in that year he was made a Mason by his uncle, Bro.
William De Renzy, Master of Lodge Winchester, 1737, E.C. In June, 1880, he was invested Junior Warden,
shortly afterwards taking the Senior Deaconship of St. John's, 1137, E.C., Timaru. On December 29th, 1880,
he became Senior Warden in St. John's, and on June 24th, 1881, he was installed Master of his mother
Lodge. Since then he has gained a wide experience of things Masonic. Shortly after his installation he was
sent to the North Island, and, while there, acting as Right Worshipful Master of the Hawera Lodge, 652,
S.C., he laid the foundation stone of the Wesleyan 'Church, on May 24th, 1883, and on November 27th, of
the same year, acting, under dispensation, as Deputy District Grand Master (pro tem), he consecrated and
dedicated Ngamotu Lodge, 2053, E.C., New Plymouth. His next change was to Christchurch, where he
became a member of the Board of Benevolence of the District Grand Lodge of Canterbury, and in 1886 was
appointed District Grand Standard Bearer. Dunedin was his next abode, and on becoming a member of the
Lodge of Otago, 844, .E.C., on February 2nd, 1887, he was immediately given office as. Director of
Ceremonies, which office he relinquished in October to take the Secretaryship, and he held this position until
his departure for South Australia in 1888.
As Secretary of Otago, he set himself the task of pulling the Lodge out of its financial and other troubles, and
happily succeeded ; but those who know anything of the process necessary to do this, are aware that more
kicks than halfpence generally fall to the lot of the would-be reformer. Without doubt Bro. Gordon got many
kicks from those whose interest it was to be let alone, but when he bade the Lodge good-bye he was
presented with an address, a more substantial mark of the members' appreciation of his labours, in the shape
of a Past Master's jewel, was pinned on his breast, and he was made an honorary member of the Lodge for
life. Were we to mention all the good work he did during the time he was a member of Otago, we could fill
several pages ; this space we cannot spare, so only refer to the more important. He classified, compiled, and
wrote up the old records of the Lodge, which date from 1859, and left the work in such a state that it only
requires editing to become a complete history of the beginning of Masonry in this part of New Zealand. We
hope to see this valuable and interesting work in print some day. He was a member on the staff of, and leader
writer for, that now defunct Masonic Journal, and many of his articles in that paper attained world-wide
approval. Of his services in this connection let the Editor of that journal speak for himself—" Since the
foundation of the N. Z. Masonic Journal Bro. Gordon has helped us in no mean degree. On behalf of the
Craft in Otago, and we can also say of our subscribers, we tender Bro. Gordon cordial thanks for services
rendered, and feel sure that in whatever part of the world he settles the Craft there will benefit by his
presence. In and out of the Lodges he has ever proved himself an enthusiastic worker in the cause of
humanity."
That the Craft in South Australia, did benefit by his settling there, will be at once recognised from his record,
while in that colony. On his arrival in Adelaide, he joined the Lodge of Harmony, No. 3 ; was again
appointed local secretary of that far-famed literary Lodge Quatuor Coronati (London) ; became secretary of
the Masters and Wardens' Association of South , Australia ; was elected a director and appointed joint editor
of the South. Australian Freemason; was auditor for Grand Lodge in 1890, and at the same time he became a
member, and shortly afterwards secretary of the Grand Committee, appointed for establishing a uniformity of
ceremonial ; and on his departure for Western Australia Grand Lodge passed him a vote of thanks, and
bestowed the Past Rank honoris causa of Grand Registrar.
Though absent from New Zealand, he did not forget her, for early in 1891 he moved in the Grand Lodge of
South Australia the recognition of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand, and on his motion such recognition was
unanimously granted'. On the news becoming known in this colony, his appointment as Grand
Representative was immediately urged, and in due course that honourable distinction was given him. His
removal to Western Australia necessitated his resigning the position on March 31st, 1891.
From Adelaide he went to Geraldton,:but is now stationed at Albany, at which place he is manager of the
Union Bank of Australia. His influence on Masonry in Western Australia is beginning to be felt, but the
record of it is for the future.
Of his literary labours on behalf of his beloved institution we can only glance at. Many original papers has he
read in New Zealand and South Australia ; and has been a constant contributor to most of the Masonic
journals in England and the Colonies. His favourite objects in Masonic literary and Lodge work, are :
Benevolence ; establishment of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand ; study of Masonic ceremonial, history,
and law ; comparative system of Grand Lodges of English speaking countries (particularly American) ;
abolition of Lodge entrance fees ; establishment of Masonic libraries.
____________________________________________________________________________________
R ... W... Bro. Vincent Pyke
PAST PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER, S.C.
(Grand Representative of Tasmania.)
R.W. BRO. VINCENT PYKE.
Vincent Pyke was initiated into the mysteries of Freemasonry in 1850 by the Brethren of the Royal Clarence
Lodge, No. 81, E.C., at Bristol. Leaving England for Australia in 1851, there was little opportunity for
Masonic work in the unsettled state of that colony ; but he assisted in promoting the foundation of a " Blue "
Lodge at Forest Creek. In February, 1859, he was exalted to the Royal Arch Degree, at Sandhurst, in the
Royal Golden Chapter of Bendigo. Coming over to New Zealand in 1862 he visited the Lodges, and finding
the working of the Scottish Lodge to be virtually the same of that of his mother Lodge, which practised the
old York Rite, he joined the Kilwinning, of which the late Bro. Mills was then R.W.M. Next year he was
unanimously chosen as Master, a function which he fulfilled with considerable credit to himself and benefit
to the Masonic community, revising the ceremonies and manual, and drilling his officers in their respective
duties, so that before the end of his term of office the Otago Kilwinning became one of the best worked
Lodges in New Zealand. Bro. Pyke joined the Kilwinning Royal Arch Chapter, at Dunedin, in September,
1866. On August 1st, 1864, he was appointed by the Grand Lodge of Scotland to the exalted position of first
Provincial Grand Master of New Zealand. There were at that time only three Lodges in the colony holding
under the Scottish Constitution—Otago Kilwinning, Dunedin, No. 417, St. Andrew, Auckland, No. 418, and
St. Andrew, Dunedin, No. 432. Brother Pyke held the office of P.G.M. for ten years, and when he resigned
the G.M.'s chair there were 16 Lodges, many of which he had opened, and some of which he worked
himself.
Always a strong advocate for the foundation of an independent Grand Lodge in New Zealand, Bro. Pyke was
one of the first to join the movement. He now holds the position of Representative of the Grand Lodge of
Tasmania in the Grand Lodge of New Zealand.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
GRAND LODGES
NEW ZEALAND.
BRO. LORD ONSLOW'S FAREWELL.
The following correspondence has taken place between His Excellency the Governor, Lord Onslow, who is
Past Grand Warden of England, and Bro. Malcolm Niccol, Grand Master-designate of New Zealand :—
Auckland, February 19th, 1892.
HIS EXCELLENCY, THE EARL OF ONSLOW,
Past Grand Warden of England.
Right Worshipful Sir and Brother,—
The Brethren of the New Zealand Constitution desire me on their behalf to bid you and Lady Onslow
farewell, and wish you God speed on your voyage to England. We gratefully recognise the efforts you have
made to restore unity among all sections of the Craft in this colony, and express the hope that you will
continue to exercise your influence in this direction upon your resuming your place in the Grand Lodge of
England. If you will kindly appoint a time and place, I shall do myself the honour of waiting on your
Excellency to say good-bye.
I am,
Right Worshipful Sir and Brother,
Yours fraternally,
M. NICCOL.
Government House,
Auckland, New Zealand,
February 22nd.
MALCOLM NICCOL, ESQ.
Dear Sir and Brother,—
I have to thank you for the kind expressions contained in your letter of the 19th inst., respecting the
approaching departure of Lady Onslow and myself from New Zealand, written on behalf of those Brethren
who have established themselves under a Constitution other than that of the Grand Lodges of the United
Kingdom. You are doubtless aware that that secession, and the consequent ill-feeling which has been
engendered by it have been matters which have caused me, as an officer of the Grand Lodge, no little pain. I
trust that on my return to England, when I again take my place in Grand Lodge, I shall have an opportunity
of representing with accuracy the state of Masonic affairs in this colony. My efforts will be directed to urge
upon the Grand Lodge of England to take such steps as may be most conducive to restoring among the
equally divided parties in New Zealand that amity which should characterise Masons all over the world. If at
any time you should be able to agree on any course which is acceptable to all parties, and they should solicit
my assistance, you may count on me to place my services at the disposal of the Masons of the colony as a
whole, in any way that may restore those communications which have been so unfortunately interrupted
during the time of my sojourn here.
I am, yours fraternally,
ONSLOW.
His Excellency having made an appointment, Bro. Niccol waited upon him, and had a very cordial interview,
in the course of which Lord Onslow strongly commended and approved the manner in which the affairs of
the Grand Lodge of New Zealand were being conducted, and the temperate and Masonic tone which had
recently characterised the utterances of the leaders of the movement, as giving the best proof of their being
worthy of the privilege of local self-government. Lord Onslow further assured Mr. Niccol of his sincere
desire to furthur the restoration -of fraternal relations between all parties, and that no effort on his part would
be wanting to produce so desirable a result.
___________________________________________
RULINGS OF GRAND MASTERS.
PENNSYLVANIA.-A Lodge cannot restore an expelled member.Under the regulations every member of a
Lodge is entitled to know who seeks membership in his Lodge. If a Secretary neglects to give the required
notice, and a ballot should be taken on an a application, it would be irregular and unlawful. The Worshipful
Master of a Lodge can call upon any competent Brother to confer any of the Degrees,—he being present in
the Lodge. What the Worshipful Master does by another he does by himself, and he is responible to the
Grand Lodge for the proper exercise of the privilege.--The Ahiman Rezon (Constitution) requires an
applicant for initiation and membership to state his " age, occupation, and residence," &c., in his petition.
Giving his business address in lieu of his residence is not a compliance with this requirement.--An installed
officer of a Lodge -cannot resign his office.--If a Worshipful Master removes from the jurisdiction, the office
thereby becomes vacant. His duties then devolve on the Senior Warden. ----The authority to open and hold a
Lodge is contained in its warrant. If the warrant is not openly displayed from the pedestal of the Worshipful
Master, it is the right and duty of any member present to object to the transaction of any business.
________________________________
AT the last Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of California, recognition was given to the new
Grand Lodges of Wyoming, North Dakota, and New South Wales. Action was deferred upon those of
Tasmania and New Zealand until next year.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
ARCH CHAPTERS
A CHAPTER (Scotch we believe) is to be opened shortly in Blenheim.
THE Supreme Grand Chapter of New Zealand will be constituted on April 26th or 27th.
THE new Chapter at Oamaru is to be called the " North Otago," and the warrant was granted by the Supreme
Chapter of Scotland on December 12th last.
WATERLOO ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER, Wellington, at its Quarterly Convocation held on the 2nd inst.,
appointed the First Principal, Ex. Comp. Herbert J. Williams, and gave him special powers as a delegate to
the Auckland Convention, called for the purpose of constituting the Supreme Grand Chapter of New
Zealand. At the same Convocation Bro. John Young, New Zealand Pacific, No. 2, was advanced to the Mark
; Bros. Freeman, Fletcher, and Powley further advanced to the Excellent ; Bro. the Rev. Thomas Porritt,
Grand Chaplain of the G.L. of N.Z., was elected a member ; and Past Principal Ex. Comp. L. G. Boor, of
Nelson, was elected a joining Companion.
TRAFALGAR, NO. 157, S.C., NELSON.-This Chapter held a special Convocation on February 3rd (Tuesday) to
advance and exalt two Brethren M.M.'s from Collingwood—an outlying part of the Nelson District, some 60
or 70 miles distant. The opportunity was taken of advancing a third Brother belonging to the Southern Star,
735, E.C. The others belonged one to the Lodge of Light, No. 454, I.C., Thames, and the other to Star of the
West, No. 564, S.C., of N. S. Wales. These two had all three of the Degrees—Mark, Excellent, and H.R.
Arch—conferred on them the same evening, while the third mentioned above was only advanced to the Mark
and Excellent, seeing he could wait till the next Chapter, which took place on Tuesday 1st of the present
month. At the former meeting a notice of motion was handed in by Comp. Kirkpatrick, P.Z.—" That due
enquiries be made as to the establishment of 'Ark Mariners,' Red Cross,' or other Chapters (Degrees) in
Nelson."
_______________________________________________________________________________________
LODGE REPORTS.
PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND
ARA, No. 1.—On the 17th February Bro. Oscar Schultz, of Ara, No. 348, I.C.,. was affiliated ; Bro. S. C.
Schofield, of Sir Walter Scott, No. 15, N.Z., was also affiliated. Mr. Neil McLean was initiated, and Bro.
Chas. Ansell was passed to the Second Degree.
ST. ANDREW, No. 8.—The 16th February was the regular monthly night of meeting. Bros. Clist, Roach, and
Ross were made Fellow Craftsmen, and Mr. Nairn was accepted as a member and initiated.
UNITED SERVICE, No. 10, had only general business on the 24th February.
BETA-WAIKATO, NO. 12, HAMILTON.-On the 11th February this Lodge considered the application of Messrs.
Kallender and McCullagh for membership, and Bros, Mears, Richdale, and Marsden were to be raised to the
Third Degree.
COROMANDEL, NO. 17, COROMANDEL.-The election of officers took place at the February meeting, so says
the Lodge circular, but the installation, according to the Lodge advertisement, is not due till the 24th June.
SIR WALTER SCOTT, No. 15, THAMES, seldom sends us a report, and has not yet favoured us with a copy of
its monthly circular. Why ?
EDEN No. 20.—A representative and brilliant assemblage of Masons mustered at Lodge Eden on February
9th, to do honour to P.M. Bro. T. W. Kitt, who is severing his connection with the Lodge, owing to his
departure for England, where he intends residing for some considerable period. The Grand Superintendent,.
Bro. Nicoll, P.S.G. Warden Cooper, Senior Grand Warden Powley, Assistant Grand Organist Dr. Walker,
and P.M. Symon represented the Grand Lodge of New Zealand. The following Lodges :—St. Andrews, No.
8 ; United Service, No. 10 ; and Ponsonby, No. 54, were officially present, accompanied also by a number of
their Brethren. Ara, No. 1, was represented by J.P.M. S. D. Hanna, G. W. Basley, P.M., and Bro. Richard
Porter. After the initiation of two candidates the Grand Superintendent made a most touching reference to the
great loss that P.M. Bro. T. W. Allen, the esteemed Secretary of United Service, had sustained in the loss of
his wife, and suggested that a letter of condolence should be sent to Bro. Allen, expressing the deepest regret
of not only Lodge Eden but the Masons generally under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand
in Auckland. The W.M., Bro. Robinson, then referred to the departure of Bro. Kitt, and said it gave him the
greatest pleasure to present a very handsome shield, containing the portraits of the W.M., officers, and
Brethren of Lodge Eden, as an evidence of gratitude for Bro. Kitt's past services, and also as a reminder that
though absent in body they were one in Masonic spirit and good feeling. The Grand Superintendent said that
the majority of those present were there to do honour to Bro. Kitt for his zeal in Freemasonry and more
particularly for the cause of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand, as that Brother had acted as Secretary to the
Masonic Union, and in that capacity had done an immense amount of work in connection with that
movement. He also said that although Bro. Kitt was leaving Eden he would soon be back again, and
expressed a hope that it would not be long before that consummation was realised. Bro. P.M. Kitt said that he
felt unable to express his feelings, as two years ago the members of Lodge Eden had presented him with an
illuminated address, on the occasion of a visit to England, but the present occasion he felt more deeply, as he
was severing his connection with his mother Lodge. Sonic of the Brethren might think that his views had
changed regarding the Grand Lodge movement ; it was not so, but, owing to the action of the Grand Lodge
of England in the matter, he felt incumbent to join an English Lodge in order to conserve his past rank. His
views were the same as ever, and he trusted that ere long the whole of the Lodges in New Zealand would be
under one banner. After the proceedings had concluded, the Brethren adjourned to the refectory, where Bro.
Kitt's health was drunk with musical honours. The shield, which is handsomely framed, is the work of Mr. J.
C. Morton, photographer, Newton.
MANUKAU, No. 24, Onehunga, never sends us a report or a circular. Why ?
ALBION, NO. 45, DEVONPORT.-We have had nothing whatever from this Lodge, for what reason we know
not.
PONSONBY, No. 54.—The business of this Lodge on the 1st inst. was to raise Bro. Edwards.
HOKIANGA, NO. 69, KOHU KONU.—This Lodge held its usual monthly meeting in the Lodge Room, Kohu
Kohu, on Friday, the 12th February, when a goodly number of Brethren were present, including several
visitors. The W.M., Bro. D. B. Wallace, assisted by the J.P.M., Bro. A. Anderson, initiated one candidate and
passed two to the Second Degree. The J.W. presented the Working Tools, the S.W. gave the charge, and the
J.P.M. explained the Tracing Board in the First Degree. The S.W. presented the Working Tools in the
Second Degree, the W.M. gave the charge, and the J.P.M. explained the Tracing Board. Hearty good wishes
having been given, the visitors expressed their pleasure at the excellent working of so young a Lodge, and
one of their number was proposed as an affiliating member. On the 11th inst. this Lodge was to pass Bro. J.
Ogle, raise Bros. Joughin and Millar, and to ballot for, as a joining member, Bro. Williams, of Lodge
Northern Light, 1878, E.C., Kawakawa. Evidently, though young, the Lodge is going ahead.
LODGES Te Aroha, No. 52 ; Wairoa, No. 55 ; Papakura, No. 56 ; and Franklin, No. 58, might favour us
occasionally with a report and their monthly circulars.
____________________________________
PROVINCE OF WELLINGTON.
NEW ZEALAND PACIFIC, No. 2.—On the 22nd February the initiation of Mr. F. T. Bacon took place, and the
Lodge received the report and balance-sheet for 1891. There were thirteen Past Masters present at this
meeting, and the R.W. Bro. E. T. Gillon, Past Deputy Grand Master, presented the R.W. Bro. Herbert J.
Williams with his patent of office as Grand Superintendent.
WATERLOO, No. 13.—The Secretary, our friend Bro. David Greig, P.M., has kindly forwarded two circulars,
and he courteously apologises for his laxity last month. We forgive him. On the 8th February they accepted
Mr. Robert Thomson as a member, and raised Bro. G. B. Clark ; and on the 14th inst., Mr. Thomson was
initiated.
VICTORIA, NO. 21, NAPIER.-On the 8th inst., Bro G. E. Eliott was raised to the High and Sublime Degree of a
Master Mason. This Lodge evidently follows that wise plan of holding a Lodge of Instruction before
proceeding to give a Degree.
BEDFORD, NO. 25, WAIPUKURAU, HAWKES BAY.--On the 1st inst., Messrs. McLean and Lunbrick were
elected and initiated.
ABERCORN, NO. 30, WAIPAWA, HAWKES BAY –VOTE OF THANKS TO BRO. HOWARD AND PRESENTATION OF
PAST MASTER’S JEWEL TO BRO. JOHN PICKETT, J.P.M.—The following is a short resumé of proceedings of
Abercorn at the installation meeting in December, at which visitors from Waipukurau and Gisborne were
present. The officers installed were : W.M., Bro. A. Rood ; S.W., S. Johnson ; J.W., G. L. Abrahams ; S.D.,
R. D. Price ; J.D., E. McFarlane ; Treasurer, A. Todd (re-elected) ; Secretary and J.P.M., J. Pickett ; I.G., W.
Simmons ; Tyler, A. Brener. P.M. Bro. G. Clark acted as Installing Master. Much regret was expressed at the
retirement of Bro. T. Howard from active service—he has been en years in office. A hearty vote of thanks
was accorded him. A P.M.'s jewel in gold was presented to Bro. Pickett. At the January meeting the Bye-
Law Committee brought up the result of their labours. The most important alteration reads as follows : " Any
Brother belonging to more than one Lodge shall pay full subscription to that Lodge within whose jurisdiction
he resides (and of which he is a member), and half fees to each other Lodge to which he belongs, provided
these other Lodges have a reciprocal rule." This law has been framed to induce active members who may
leave the district and join another Lodge, to keep up a close connection with their mother Lodge.--At the
February meeting nothing of importance cropped up, with the exception of the circular from the Wellington
Grand Lodge Officers, re presentation to Bro. Thomson, G.M., on his vacating the throne. Owing, however,
to the sparse attendance, the matter was held over for the next meeting. We were favoured by a visit from
Bro. Ralph Levoi, of Lodge Dunedin, No. 931, E.C.— [When in Christchurch last month we had an
opportunity of looking over the new Bye-Laws of this Lodge. Clauses 5, 8, 9, 11, 17, and 18, struck us as
being—we were going to write unconstitutional, but that hardly applies to the whole. We take the following
from our notes made at the time :-5.—The first part of this clause is unconstitutional, except in America,
where Lodges transact all business in the Third Degree. Entered Apprentices are considered to be capable of
voting on the advisability or otherwise of admitting members to the fraternity. We have a fancy for the
American sytem ; but you are somewhat in advance of the time in placing this in your Bye-Laws. 8.—Not
having a copy of the new Constitution, we cannot say if this is according to the regulations, but we think that
more than one ' black ball " ought to be required to exclude an affiliate. 9.—Having balloted for and accepted
a joining member, you can only refuse him admittance after having laid charges and proved him guilty of a
Masonic offence. Always remember that it is very easy to accept a candidate or a joining Brother, but to
exclude him from his rights and privileges, without trial, is a wrong thing. On appeal to Grand Lodge, Clause
9 would not stand, and you would have to reinstate the excluded Brother. Non-payment of dues is a Masonic
offence. 11.—A Brother who applies to your Lodge for membership, and is rejected, can apply again, as
often as he can find a proposer and seconder. This is one of his privileges which you cannot limit. With a
candidate for initiation it is different ; he has no such rights. 17.— The last paragraph of this Clause will put
the Lodge out of pocket. If you return a member to Grand Lodge, you pay for him, and consequently he is a
member ; you can drop him from the Grand Lodge return by proving him guilty of a Masonic offence, but
until you do that, he must be returned and paid for ; when that is done, and he wishes to return, he goes to the
ballot, and Grand Lodge will charge the joining fee. 18.—You cannot deprive a member of the Lodge—and
he continues a member until proceeded against, and declared guilty—of the right of speaking and voting.—
ED C..
ST. ANDREW, No. 32, considered the balance-sheet, and raised Bros. Hill and Lubnoski at its meeting on the
25th nit.
LEINSTER, No. 44, did not pass Bro. Richardson on the 1st February, but they intended doing so on the 7th
inst. Eleven Past Masters were present at the February meeting of this Lodge.
MANAWATU KILWINNING, NO. 47, PALMERSTON NORTH.-The usual monthly meeting was held on February
10th. The Lodge was opened in due form by P.M. Bro. W. H. Smith, in the unavoidable absence of the
W.M., Bro. W. Rutherford, he being in Wellington on urgent business. The business of the evening consisted
in balloting for Mr. Frederick William Dunderdale, age 27, manager of the Palmerston North Gas Works.
Our J.P.M., Bro. J. Walkley, of the Commercial Hotel, has sold out his interest. Host and Bro. J. Walkley
will, no doubt, be greatly missed, after being amongst us for over ten years, particularly as he took a great
interest in the Craft.---- [From the circular enclosed by Bro. White we notice that the Master elect is the
present Senior Warden, Bro. W. Dawick. His installation will take place on the 13th April.--ED. C.]
ST. MARK, NO. 53. CARTERTON.-On the 8th inst. the election of Master took place. The installation date,
according to the Lodge advertisement, is May 10th. Two candidates were proposed for ballot at the February
meeting, and were doubtless elected on the 8th inst.
TARARUA, NO. 67, PAHIATUA.--On the day we publish—the 16th inst.—this Lodge will hold its regular
meeting, and will ballot for Mr. Win. Farrell.
OTAKI, NO. 72, OTAKI.-The first regular meeting after the consecration, on November 13th, 1891, was held
on December 18th. There was a good attendance of Brethren. A successful ballot took place for two
candidates, the ballot for three other candidates being postponed until the next meeting. Messrs. B. Ling and
C. Slight—the successful candidates—were then initiated into the E.A. Degree, the ceremony being
conducted ably by Bro. Wm. Franklin, assisted by his officers ; the charge after initiation being given by
Bro. McCullough, P.M. Prior to closing, hearty good wishes were tendered by Bro. P.M. Jas. Paterson,
Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies, whom we were glad to welcome as a visitor. Lodge was then closed
according to antient custom in peace, love, and harmony, at 10 p.m. January 15th, 1892.—The regular
meeting was held on this date, with good attendance. A ballot was taken for one of the candidates held over
from preceding meeting, which was not successful. The remaining two candidates were withdrawn. Lodge
was then opened in the Second Degree, and Bros. B. Ling and C. Slight were passed to Degree of F.C., P.M.
Bro. J. McCullough officiating ; the Working Tools being presented by J.W. Bro. C. Tilley. Lodge was
closed in the First Degree, and Mr. John Davies, of Wirokino, was duly initiated as an E.A., W.M. Bro. W.
R. Franklin officiating. Lodge was then duly closed according to antient custom in peace, love, and harmony,
at 10 p.m. February 12th, 1892.— The regular meeting was held on this date ; full attendance of Brethren,
and Bro. B. Ling was duly raised to the Sublime Degree of M.M., W.M. Bro. W. R. Franklin officiating
throughout the impressive ceremony, ably assisted by his officers. The Lodge was then closed in the Third
Degree by the power of the gavel, and Bros. Davies and Slight were passed to the F.C. Degree, P.M. Bro.
McCulloch conducting the ceremony, the Working Tools of the Degree being presented by Bro. J.W. The
Lodge being then closed in the Second Degree, Mr. J. Wilson, of Otaki, builder, was proposed as a
candidate. The Brethren unanimously agreed that the Secretary should convey to Bro. F. Bailey, at present in
the hospital, their sympathy with him, and heartiest wishes for his speedy restoration to health. After passing
a few accounts the Lodge was closed in antient custom at 11 p.m., in peace, love, and harmony.
HERETAUNGA, NO. 73, HASTINGS, HAWKES BAY.-The finances of this late addition to the Grand Lodge of
New Zealand are highly satisfactory, as will be seen from the following :—Freehold section, building, and
furniture is placed at the very low estimate of £400. There is a fixed deposit in the Bank of New Zealand, at
Hastings, of £160. There are dues outstanding (good) to the value of £57 ; and there is a credit balance in the
bank, on current account, of £18. Total, £635 ; and there are no debts. 'The warrant of this Lodge is dated the
24th February, 1879. This warrant is now in the hands of the authorities of Grand. Lodge.
WELLINGTON, No. 1521, E.C.—There was a moderate attendance at the meeting held on the 19th February,
the W.M., Bro. Larchin in the chair. Bro. Owen was passed to the Second Degree. The chief feature of the
work was the admirable delivery of the lecture on the Tracing Board by the Senior Deacon (his name,
unfortunately, we do not know). Five Brethren being heavily in arrears, were excluded, under Rule 210 of
the Constitution. Bro. Brooke takes the place of Bro. Young (resigned) as Junior Warden.
ST. ANDREW KILWINNING, NO. 481, S.C., WANGANUI.-The business On the 10th inst. was passing, and to
make a presentation to Bro. Couchrn an. We fear the particulars of this well-deserved presentation will not
arrive in time to be published in this number ; if it does not, the April number will record it.
ST. JOHN, NO. —, S.C., ELTHAM, TARANAKI -On Tuesday evening, 11th February, an emergency meeting of
Lodge St. John, Eltham, Taranaki, S.C., was beld in the Lodge-room, for the purpose of passing Bro. J.
Searle and H. Pote. All the members of the Lodge were in attendance except one. The usual questions were
asked, and answered satisfactorily, after which the ceremony of passing was performed in an impressive and
perfect manner by the R.W.M., Bro. J. H. Morgan. The charge was delivered by Bro. S. Jackson Binning.
Mr. J. H. Jilkes, painter, of Hawera, was then balloted for, and declared unanimously elected, as a fit and
proper person to become a Mason. The next business was a petition for a Lodge under the S.C. at Midhurst.
After considerable discussion, it was resolved to afford the Brethren at Midhurst every possible assistance,
and recommend the Prov. G.M. Depute, Auckland, to institute a Lodge there.— [Since constituted, we
believe.— ED. C.] . On the following evening (Friday) the regular monthly meeting was held. All the
Brethren rolled up except the Treasurer and S.W., who were unavoidably absent ; the former through
sickness, and the latter through having to attend a business meeting. Bro. Jelly, 1233, E.C., Greymouth, was
also present. A large mass of correspondence, and accounts amounting to £17, were put through. Bro. R. A.
Adams was then passed to the Degree of a F.C. ; the ceremony being even more impressively performed than
on the previous evening. The following candidates were then proposed as fit and proper persons to become
Masons—Mr. F. A. Cramer, baker, Stratford ; Mr. James Riley, tobacconist and stationer, Eltham ; and Mr.
Parker, settler, Ngaere. The officers and members of the Lodge are working with an enthusiasm that
guarantees a large and successful brotherhood. It is quite refreshing to have five-sixths of the members
attending weekly Lodges of Instruction.
THE only Lodges out of the 28 now working in this Province that do not care, seemingly, to be reported in
these pages are—Scinde, No. 5, Napier ; Masterton, No. 19 ; Rangitikei, No. 38, Bulls ; Feilding, No. 41 ;
Foxton Kilwinning, No. 59 ; and Rawkiti, No. 66, Danevirke. There are others whose reports and circulars
reach us occasionally, though not with any degree of regularity, but we have no doubt a gentle hint of this
kind will bring about an improvement. The bulk of the Lodges, however, do correspond with us regularly,
and they have our best thanks for this attention.
_______________________________________
PROVINCE OF CANTERBURY.
LODGE UNANIMITY, NO. 3, LYTTELTON.-The above Lodge held its regular monthly meeting on Thursday,
25th February, at which there was a fairly good attendance of members and visitors. The matter of a souvenir
to our M.W.G.M., Bro. H. Thomson, first Grand Master of New Zealand, was taken up very heartily, and
bids fair to be a success as regards this Lodge. Three Brothers applied for clearance, owing to their removal
from Port, which was granted. Credit balance declared by the Treasurer to be £29, and contributions coming
in freely. Accounts amounting to £15 10s were passed for payment. Bro. Taylor received his F.C. Degree.
Mr. Edward Alfred Stenbeck was proposed as a fit and proper person to become a Mason. It was decided to
obtain the photos of the seven Charter members of the Lodge, under the N.Z. Constitution, and have these
suitably framed and hung in the Lodge-room (the photos., not the members). Grand Lodge dues were also
passed for payment. Hearty good wishes were expressed by the visitors. Nothing further offering, the Lodge
was closed in due form with solemn prayer, at 10 p.m. The Brethren then indulged in a little harmony and
light refreshments, and retired with hopes of all meeting again at our next regular meeting, which takes place
on the fourth Thursday of the ensuing month.—[The above is the first report of the new Secretary, Bro. J. T.
Gifford, and pleases us greatly. We supplement his information with a little of our own.] In presenting Bro.
Colin Cook, J.P.M., with a jewel, the W.M. stated that the satisfactory condition of the Lodge was in a
manner due to the zeal of Bro. Cook. They would see, in addition to paying nearly £70 for improvements to
the hall, and assisting several cases of distress, they had a credit balance of £10 Os 2d, and assets amounting
to nearly £900.
ST. AUGUSTINE, NO. 4, CHRISTCHURCH.--The Secretary, Bro. A. Gunderson, writing to us under date of the
11th February, and which had to be held over, compliments us on the sending a dozen addressed envelopes
to each Lodge, but he hints that halfpenny stamps on each would not be a bad idea. Well, we pass that
suggestion as being devoid of value. Bro. Gunderson tells us that the last meeting, February 2nd, was a very
successful one. Bro. R. Malcolm got his Second Degree, and the W.M. did his duty well ; P.M. Bro. Fenerty
giving the charge in the First Degree. The attraction of the evening was P.M. Bro. Hull's promised lecture on
" Antient Drawings." The Secretary regrets his inability—not being a shorthand writer—to convey to us "and
forward this cleverly worked out and splendidly delivered lecture ; but what with his eloquence and
numerous illustrations on the blackboard, he managed to convey a very fair idea of the ability in drawing of
the Egyptians, as applied to ornaments and architecture." Bro. Hull announced that lectures are in preparation
by various Brethren, and they will be delivered when there is no particular work to do. The income of this
Lodge for 1891 was £257 6s 3d, and the assets are valued at £1727 18s 4d.
SOUTHERN CROSS, NO. 6, KAIAPOI, passed Bro. Barden, raised Bro. Hunt, and transacted general business
on the 3rd inst.
CALEDONIAN, No. 16, Timaru, had simply routine business on the 10th inst. Hitherto they have had plenty of
work, so a little breathing time won't hurt them.
PROGRESS, No. 22, Southbridge, held a Lodge of Instruction on the 4th inst. The regular meeting took place
on the 8th.
GERALDINE, NO. 27, GERALDINE.-On February 17th they had a fair attendance of members and several
visitors. P.M. Bro. William De Renzy, Lodge Winchester, E.C., gave the lecture on the First Tracing Board,
and it was much appreciated.
ASHLEY, NO. 28, RANGIORA.-On the 10th inst. Bro. Templer was given his Second Degree, and Bros.
Atkinson and Cathro were raised to the Third Degree. Bro. Bale proposed—" That a Masonic library be
formed in connection with the Lodge."
CONCORD, NO. 39, PAPANUI.-On the 15th inst., two candidates were balloted for—Messrs. Gilmour and
Dougan. The installation of the Master-elect—Bro. Walter James Jackson, the present J.W.—was conducted
by the M.W. the Grand Master, a social afterwards taking place in the Town Hall. From the balance-sheet we
learn that the Lodge is in a healthy financial condition. It has paid £50 off the mortgage, which now stands at
£350, and it has £180 over its liabilities, taking the land and building at the low estimate of £400. The
Finance Committee urge the prompt and regular discharge of the members' dues. This is right—prompt
payment oils the machinery in a wonderful way.
METHVEN, NO. 51, METHVEN.-On the 10th inst. the nomination of officers for the year 1892-93 took place.
The election will take place in April, and the installation in May.
ROBERT BURNS, No. 604, S.C.—On the 15th inst. this Lodge balloted for, as a joining member, Bro. A. W.
Purvis, of Lodges Bonnie Doon, 611, S.C., Colombo, and Leinster, 469, I.C. (now 44, N.Z.), Wellington.
Bro. H. A. Bruce, D.M., conferred the Mark Degree on all Master Masons attending holding of the Grand
Lodge of Scotland.
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PROVINCES OF OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND.
SOUTHERN CROSS, NO. 9, INVERCARGILL.-On February 5th the chair was taken at 8 p.m. by P.M. Bro.
Sawyer, J.G.D., and he at once raised the Lodge to the Third Degree. P.M. Bro. Gilbertson then took the
chair, and raised Bro. K. Gerstenkorn to the High and Sublime Degree of M.M., in his usual thoroughly
efficient manner. The Lodge was then closed in the Third Degree, P.M. Bro. Cross taking the chair, and
passing Bro. Ryan to the Degree of a Fellow Craft. In both Degrees the P.M.'s officiating were ably assisted
by Bro. Duplock, W.M., Lodge Victoria, 471, I.C. After the Lodge had been closed in the Second Degree,
Bro. P.M. Feldwick, P.S.G.W., proposed Bro. John Blackmore, drill instructor, for affiliation ; seconded by
Bro. Secretary. After a great deal of routine business had been gone through, the Lodge closed in peace and
harmony at 11 p.m. A very successful and pleasant meeting was held in the Masonic Hall, Forth street, on
the 4th inst., Bro. Smith, J.P.M., being in the chair, in the absence of the S.W., Bro. Charles Sawyers, P,M.,
J.G.D. Mr. William Baird, contractor, was initiated in the First Degree, the charity lecture being ably
delivered by Bro. E. Duplock, W.M., Lodge Victoria, 471, I.C. The Lodge was subsequently passed to the
Second Degree, and Bro. E. H. Wood was admitted to the Fellow Craft Degree, by P.M. Bro. Cross, assisted
by Bros. Duplock and P.M. Hall. A ballot was taken for the affiliation of Bro. John Blackmore, 471, I.C., and
resulted in his favour. P.M. Bro. Hall proposed, Bro. S.W, seconded, Bro. Newman, Lodge Grosvenor,
Birmingham, England, for affiliation. Bro. Secretary proposed, seconded by Bro. Organist, Mr. Donald
McLeod, aged 36, ironmonger, as a candidate for initiation. The funds of the above Lodge are really in a
first-class condition, and the state of the Lodge reflects great credit on the late Secretary (Bro. A. Walker)
and his co-workers. " We are in a happy and prosperous position, and our being banished (as it were) has
made us know the worth of true Masonic feeling and charity."
WAITAKI, NO. 11, OAMARU.-The regular monthly meeting was held in the Masonic Hall, Oamaru, on
Wednesday, February 10th. Two Brethren were raised to the Third Degree ; P.M. Bro. Wm. Field Crawford
was nominated for the office of Grand Steward. A letter was read from Bro. Rev. Wm. Ronaldson, Grand
Secretary, thanking the W.M. and his officers for the liberal manner in which the Oamaru Brethren
entertained the G.L. officers at the Communication held on January 15th. The W.M. announced that the
whole of the liabilities on the Lodge were paid off, which was a great relief to all the members. A Brother
was proposed for affiliation. On the 28th (Sunday) the Brethren of Lodges Waitaki, No. 11, N.Z., and
Oamaru Kilwinning, No. 537, S.C., gave the late Bro. Thomas Cunningham a Masonic funeral. The late
Brother was Tyler for a long time to Waitaki. Two years ago he expressed his desire to be buried
Masonically, and when he died the necessary steps were taken to that end. We are pleased to record that the
difference of Constitution did not extend to the edge of the grave.
MOKORETA, NO. 63, WYNDHAM.—On Thursday, February 18th, the Treasurer reported having placed the
sum of £25 on fixed deposit for twelve months in Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Donald Stalker was duly
initiated into our mysteries by the W.M., Bro. Monteath, assisted by J.P.M. Bro. Crosbie, who gave the
Charity Charge ; J.D. Bro. NV: J. Currie delivering the Working Tools, and S.W. Bro. Raymond the Antient
Charge. By a unanimous vote it was resolved to present J.P.M. Bro. Crosbie with a P.M. jewel, in
recognition of his services as W. M.
NGAPARA, NO. 68, NGAPARA.-On the 14th inst. Mr. T. S. Johnston, Windsor, was initiated, and Bros. Park
and Wilson were raised to the Third Degree. The W.M, Bro. Thomas McWhirter, gave a notice of motion at
the January meeting. February the Lodge did not meet, owing to the floods, so the motion was considered at
this meeting. [Bro. Peat, the Secretary, forgot to tell us what the motion was. —ED. C.]
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NELSON, MARLBOROUGH, AND WESTLAND.
VICTORY LODGE, NO. 40, NELSON – VISIT OF THE GRAND MASTER.-The regular monthly meeting was held
on February 4th, when a large number of Brethren and visitors were present ; unusual interest being
awakened on account of a visit from the M.W.G.M., Bro. H. Thomson. The Lodge was opened by the W.M.,
Bro. A. W. Bain, at 6 p.m., immediately after which the M.W.G.M. and his G.L. officers were announced
and received with the honours due to their exalted rank. The G.M. was accompanied by R. W.Bro. C. P.
Hulbert, P. D.S.G.W., Representative of the Grand Lodge, South Australia ; Bro. L. G. Boor, M.D.,
P.S.G.D., Representative of the Grand Lodge, Nebraska ; V.W. Bro. W. E. Paige, M.A., P.G. Chaplain ;
P.M. Bro. Cresswell, Grand Standard Bearer ; P.M. Bro. Salek as Grand Warden ; P.M. Bro. R. Allan as
Grand Sword Bearer. The following P.M.'s were also present, and took their seats on the dais : Bros. H.
Mercer, T. Scott, W. Cochrane, W. Skeet, and J. M. Warren. The M.W.G.M. took the chair, and having
opened the Lodge in the Second Degree, in an impressive and instructive manner, passed Bro. R. Young to
the Degree of a F.C. On the Lodge being closed in the Second Degree, he vacated the chair, when the W.M.
welcomed the M.W.G.M. to Nelson, and trusted that much good would result from his visit. The M.W.G.M.
then addressed the Brethren, thanking them for the cordial reception given to him and his officers, and
expressing his pleasure at being present, especially as his visit was made more interesting on account of the
celebrations then taking place in connection with the Jubilee of the Province. On the G.M. retiring, the usual
calls were given, and H.G.W. were tendered by tire visiting Brethren. The Lodge closed at 8 p.m.
UNITED MEETING OF LODGES VICTORY, NO. 40, N.Z., AND SOUTHERN STAR, No. 735, E.C., DURING THE
NELSON JUBILEE.-Almost immediately after the closing of Victory, No. 40, at 8 o'clock on February 4th, the
above two Lodges held a combined meeting to welcome all Masonic visitors to Nelson during the Jubilee,
some 65 Brethren—members of both Lodges, and visitors from all parts of New Zealand—being present.
Bro. L. G. Boor, M.D., P.M. of Lodge Victory, occupied the chair, and opened the Lodge. The Worshipful
Master of Southern Star occupied the chair of Senior Warden, and the Worshipful Master of Victory
occupied the J.W.'s chair. P.M. Bro. Boor, in a few well-chosen words, explained the object of the meeting,
and, on behalf of the Southern Star and Victory Lodges, welcomed the visitors, and announced that the
Nelson Brethren would take the opportunity afforded them, by the presence of so many Masons in Nelson, of
entertaining them at a banquet at the close of the meeting. Several visiting Brethren addressed the Lodge,
expressing their pleasure and their many hearty good wishes to both the Lodges, and congratulated the
Brethren on the brotherly feeling existing among them, anticipating that a large amount of good would result
when it became known that the members of the Craft in Nelson could combine and meet together
irrespective of any difference in Constitution. The following were among the Lodges represented :—Pacific
of Reefton, Greymouth, Waitohi, Grey-town, Golden Bay, Unanimity, St. Andrew Kilwinning, Killarney,
Lodge of Light, Ngamotu, Wairau, and Masterton. Supper was laid for sixty, and exactly that number sat
down. The usual Masonic toasts were given and replied to, while a number of songs and readings were also
given, and altogether a most pleasant evening was spent. Bro. Morrish, organist of the Nelson Cathedral,
added much to the pleasure of the evening by his able accompanying of the various items on the piano.
ADVANCE, NO. 61, BRUNNERTON, held its ordinary meeting on February 11th. The business consisted of the
initiation of Messrs. Jonas Masters and John Dent, and the affiliation of Bro. Rev. A. Thomson, late of Royal
Masonic Lodge, Scotland. P.M. Hannay, D.G. Pursuivant, assisted by P.M.'s Bros. Bish, Buford, and Bland,
very ably conducted the initiation ceremony ; many of the elder Brethren stating that never before had they
heard it so impressively and accurately rendered. The Working Tools were presented by P.M. Hannay. P.M.
Bish gave the lecture on the First Tracing Board, and the Antient Charge was very effectively and solemnly
given by the W.M., Bro. Bland, P.G.S. The ballot was circulated, and proved favourable for the initiation of
Mr. Esau Whittle, miner, Brunnerton, and he will be initiated therefore at our next meeting.
PACIFIC OF REEFTON, 1453, E.C., REEFTON.-On the 15th inst: the business was raising a Brother to the Third
Degree, to ballot for membership of Mr. Glasson, of Black's Point, to affiliate Bro. John Oats with clearance
from Mount Ida, No. 1262, E.C. Naseby.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
BRIEF MENTION
THE Grand Master contemplates a trip to Australia after the installation of his successor.
THE Supreme Grand Chapter will be re-established on either the 26th or 27th of April.
WE don't think it will be very long before our ex-Governor is representing the Grand Lodge of New Zealand
in the Grand Lodge of England.
SOME important remarks will be found appended to the report of Lodge Abercorn, No. 30, in our Lodge
reports of the Province of Wellington.
P.M. BRO. T. W. ALLEN, Grand Steward, and Secretary of United Service, No. 10, Auckland, has suffered a
great loss in the death of his wife. He has our deep sympathy.
BRO. GEORGE HART, of Christchurch, has written a history of the Grand Lodge movement, and the Board of
General Purposes have accepted the responsibility of its publication.
BEFORE leaving Auckland, Lord Onslow had his photo. taken in his clothing as Senior Grand Warden of
England, and he gave his consent to its reproduction in our April number.
WE are indebted to Bro. Patchett, Secretary of Lodge Southern Cross, Invercargill, for the names of two new
subscribers. Thanks, Brother ; this practical kind of help we appreciate.
ADVICE has just been received (says the Evening Post) that Sir Robert Stout, K.C.M.G., has been appointed
an honorary officer of the Grand Orient of France. We predicted this some months ago.
THE Grand Lodge of New Zealand now governs 73 Lodges, having a membership of 3102. The London
Freemason courteously calls this a " mushroom body." Tom Pepper still lives.—Freemason, Sydney.
BRO. A. BLACKE, P.M., and Secretary of Lodge Victoria, No. 471, I.C., Invercargill, has been appointed
Provincial Junior Grand Warden. Bro. A. Barratt (gone to Tasmania) is the Provincial Junior Grand Deacon.
THE London Freemason is becoming hysterical in its abusive advocacy of Masonic disunion in New
Zealand. Curious to say, the vilely denounced Grand Lodge of N. Z. is going ahead prosperously.—
Freemason, Sydney.
WE understand that active steps are being taken to present the Grand Master with a testimonial on his
retirement from office. Bro. Thomson deserves well of the Craft, but as no one has had the courtesy to send
us any particulars of the movement, we can of course say nothing whatever about it.
OUR readers will notice that we have taken a new departure by beginning the illustration of the Lodge
advertisements. These illustrations will, at the end of the year, find a place in the issue of " The Masonic
Guide for 1893." Lodges who desire the like service for their Worshipful Master will please communicate
with US.
WE are greatly indebted to Bro. Gerstenkorn of Lodge Southern Cross, Invercargill, for three photographs,
showing the interior of the fine Masonic Hall in that city. We intend to reproduce in April or May, and will
follow the following month by the St. Augustine Hall, in Christchurch. Bro. Manning, photographer of that
city, is doing the work for us free of charge. The halls in Wellington and Auckland will follow.
THE Superintendent of Wellington convened a meeting in February to consider the question of establishing a
Masonic Institute and a local Benevolent Fund. The meeting was splendidly attended, the matters were fully
discussed, and a provisional Committee was appointed re the Institute. Undoubtedly, this is a step in the right
direction. The Auckland Institute, we are told, is doing very well.
THERE was a Masonic funeral at Invercargill on February 29th—a member belonging to the Irish Lodge—
P.M. Bro. Blacke, P.J.G.W., acting W.M. ; W.M. Bro. Hewlett, of the Scotch Lodge St. John, acting S.W. ;
Bro. P.M. Sawyer, J.G. Deacon of the New Zealand Grand Lodge, acting J.W. Now this is as it should be,
and we compliment the Invercargill Brethren upon their efforts to sink the differences of Constitution.
A NEW ZEALAND Lodge was opened at Stratford, Taranaki, on the 15th inst.
THE average Lodge membership in Pennyslvania is 105 Freemasons to a Lodge.
A SCOTCH Lodge was opened at Midhurst, Taranaki, on the 1st inst. ; its name is Hinemoa.
OUR thanks are due to the Grand Secretary of Alabama for a copy of the 1891 Proceedings.
THE Grand Chapter of Scotland has increased the dues exigible as a test of membership.
THE Rev. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was initiated in No. 369, Downpatrick, Ireland, on
October 30, 1738.
THE Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland on December 16th, granted a warrant to open a Chapter at Oamaru,
to be called the " North Otago."
THE Canadian Craftsman takes over our synopsis of the sermon, " We be brethren," preached by Bro. the
Rev. J. A. Luxford at Ashburton.
THE Oddfellows of Chicago propose to build a temple of thirty-four stories of 556 feet in height ; thirteen
stories higher than the Masonic Temple.
No less than nine Grand jurisdictions in America are now engaged in erecting Masonic homes for the care of
aged and infirm members of the fraternity.
BRO. BEN FRANKLIN’S A.D. 1734 Edition of " Anderson's Constitutions," sold (one copy) at Birch's auction
rooms, Philadelphia, on December 16th, for 320 dollars.
THE idea that Masonic Halls should never be used for other than Masonic uses is only about thirty years old.
It is said to find no support in ancient usage. —Trowel.
THIRTY-ONE American Grand Lodges pay neither per diem or mileage to delegates ; twenty-four pay one
representative, and one (Montana) pays four representatives.
THERE is a great deal of courage needed sometimes in the discharge of duty. The good of the Lodge may
require a black ball, but our personal interest demands a white. It takes courage to cast the black ball.
Bro. Charles W. Dunstan, editor of the Rough Ashler, Richmond, Va., has favoured us with two fine photo-
lithographic engravings of the new Masonic Temple at Richmond, for which we tender our fraternal thanks.
THE Brooklyn Times gives the following recipe for largely attended meetings :— " Send out notice that an
amendment to the by-laws is coming up for adoption to increase quarterly dues. How the habitual absentees
will come out to vote it down."
THE work of Freemasonry should be performed with dignity of manner, clear, crisp, and distinct in speech,
so that the candidate and those who are present may apprehend, comprehend, and become imbued with the
principles of Freemasonry. —Keystone.
IT is being agitated among the Masonic Lodges in Toronto that permanent secretaries should be elected, and
allowed a small remuneration for their services, instead of the system now in vogue of electing them
annually, and allowing them only their dues.
RECOGNITION OF THE LADIES OF THE EASTERN STAR DEGREE.-The Grand Lodge of F. & A. M. of Mexico,
have, by a Decree, recognised the Order of Eastern Star of that country, and allowed them a representative in
the said G and Lodge.— Chronicle, New York.
IT is the mission of Freemasonry to bridge over and heal the differences existing between the various creeds,
in order to unite those in a bond of common brotherhood who otherwise would have remained at perpetual
distance from one another.—Hebrew Standard.
AT the Annual Meeting of " Mother Kilwinning," No. 0, held on December 21st, it was unanimously
agreed—" That in future, the members be required to pay an annual test fee of two shillings, or they may
become life members by the payment of one pound."
THE Boston Globe says a ship loaded with 60,000 dollars' worth of New England rum left Boston for Africa
last week. Why should New England lag behind the Mother Country in the great work of civilising the
heathen ? Opium and rum are great levellers and civilisers.
"THERE are tricks in all trades but ours." We have heard of a Brother who Was suspected of having some
opposition to the admission or advancement of a candidate being sent out to " examine a Brother," or on a
special errand, and while he was out, the balloting was done. He ought to " kick " at once against such a
"trick."
"WE have during the year costumed the Mark Master and Most Excellent Master Degrees, and have
conferred these Degrees with historical accessories and settings never before introduced or used. We can
justly claim to having placed these two Degrees in a historical and chronological exactness, both in costumes
and settings, for the first time in the West."
FROM the balance-sheet of the Provincial Grand Lodge, North Island, S.C., we find they remitted to
Scotland, during 1891, the sum of £28 13s. Od. The general expenses came to £53 2s. 10d. and Bro. W.
McCullough's expenses in visiting Lodges St. Andrew Kilwinning, Wanganui, and Montrose, Gisborne,
came to £25 14s. 6d.—making a total of £78 17s. 4d. The revenue of the General Fund being only £48 6s.
7d., there was a loss of £30 10s. 9d. on the year's transactions.
EX-CONSUL GENERAL WALLER, says :—" England has a population of about 35,000,000, and a Masonic
population of some 80,000. The United States has a population of 64,000,000, including some 600,000
Masons. As I used to say, and I think with pardonable pride, at Masonic gatherings in London, Masonry is
strong in my country because the policy of the civilisation as it wended its way westward, was to plant first
the Church, then the School-house, then the Lodge,—Faith, Hope, and Charity. English Masons believe that
a Lodge of 40 or 50, is as large as comfort, sociability, and Masonic intercourse justifies, and I think they are
right. I sympathise with the English notion that ‘A little farm well tilled, and a little Lodge well filled,' are
the true signs of pastoral contentment and Masonic happiness."
WRITING to us under date of January 24th, 1892, the Secretary-General (Bro. F. Webber) of the Supreme
Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, says know of one body (American), that bought a
church for £12,000 as a home (temple), spent about £3,000 in getting it fit for work, and the paraphernalia
are finer than were ever put on the stage of any theatre I ever was in. Robes costing hundreds of dollars, but
of course, work can be done more modestly, and here we spread ourselves regardless of the expense. I have
seen 100 candidates on the floor at one time receiving the 32' in Cincinnati. They have over 1000 members
in that body, and at that meeting there were perhaps 300 visitors, some of them who came 2000 miles to visit
and witness the conference of the Degrees from 4° to 32°.
THE answer of a certain Grand Master to a question often asked is so pertinent and good that we give it
entire, as well as the question : Question.—We have an Entered Apprentice of about three years' standing,
whom a number of us have lectured very often, but to no effect. He cannot commit any of it. In every other
respect he is well worthy to be made a Mason. Will you grant us a dispensation to confer the other Degrees
upon him ? " Answer.—" No ; in this case I must refuse. I do not think the Grand Master should be called
upon to dispense with any of the required mental calibre for advancement. His dispensing powers are large,
but not large enough to do away with brains. If he can't or won't learn, let him stay on the threshing floor. It
would be a dangerous experiment to elevate him higher "—Illinois Freemason.
THE RIGHT TO VOTE.- The following case was recently decided by the Grand Lodge of Florida : A
committee of the Lodge was in the ante-room, by direction of the Lodge, examining a visitor. During their
absence, a ballot was taken, without notice to them, and the result declared ; upon their return, and learning
what had been done, they requested that the ballot be re-opened, and they allowed to vote, on the ground that
all members present were required to vote, and that they were present as much as the Tyler, who had been
called in and had voted. The Master decided adversely, but on appeal, the Grand Master decided that the
Master's ruling was erroneous and the ballot void, and this decision was sustained by the Grand Lodge. The
doctrine that a member of a Lodge sent from the Lodge into the inner ante-room, on Lodge business, is, for
all practical purposes, present in the Lodge-room, seems to be fully in accord with sound Masonic sense.—
Keystone.
THE irregular Grand Lodge of Ontario has now existed for sixteen years, and the Grand Master, at its late
annual meeting, July 5th, suggested the possibility of a future union with the regular Grand Lodge by
referring to the union of the two Grand Lodges of England.—Token.
IF you will watch your Lodge and see the men who remain until the meeting is closed, you will know the
men who are the bone and sinew of the body. Those members who leave early, as a general thing, care very
little for the Lodge, and are present only as lookers on, and haven't their heart in the Fraternity.
OUT of the 718 Lodges in the State of New York there are on an average from two to five clergymen in each
Lodge, representing all denominations. Two thousand or more clergymen is quite a respectable army, in one
jurisdiction, upholding the banner of the Grand Lodge of New York : " Holiness to the Lord !"
You strike the nail squarely on the head when you state that " Lodges are responsible for much of the non-
affiliation and suspension for non-payment of dues. They only give the dry husks of Masonry, and leave the
candidate chiefly impressed with the idea that his money rather than himself was most needed."
THE Grand Lodge of England holds, and has ever held, that a belief in God is the first great landmark of all
true and genuine Masonry, without professing which, as the cardinal principle of its existence, no body can
rightfully claim to inherit the traditions and practices of pure and ancient Masonry.—The late Bro. Shadewell
Clerke.
"AFTER the Installation ceremonies about 30 or 40 Brethren, together with their wives, mothers, sisters, &c.,
sat down to an elegant supper prepared by a committee for the occasion. A social and pleasant meeting was
held, and everybody went away pleased, and saying how good and how pleasant it is for Brethren to meet
together in this way, and have a pleasant time generally."
GRAND SECRETARY PARVIN, Iowa, would exclude all non-affiliated Masons from visiting Lodges. The
Lodges, he says, are supported wholly by the annual dues of its members. What right, then, has a Mason to
dimit from his Lodge, carry that dimit for a number of years, and thereby escape all tax for the support of
Masonry, and yet enjoy all its privileges save that one of voting in the Lodge ?
THE Egyptians had a very remarkable ordinance to prevent persons from borrowing imprudently. An
Egyptian was not permitted to borrow without giving to his creditors in pledge the mummy of his father. It
was deemed both an impiety and an infamy not to redeem so sacred a pledge. A person who died without
discharging that duty was deprived of the customary honours paid to the dead.
STRANGE as it may appear, it is a fact that the Ancient or Athol Masons warranted a Lodge in 1754 to meet
in the King's Bench Prison, and nowhere else. The Lodge was No. 35, its warrant was dated 19th April,
1754, and it collapsed in 1755. Another instance of an irregular Lodge being held in the same prison is
recorded, where Bro. White, the first G.S. of the U.G.L. of England, investigated the matter and found that a
doubt having arisen as to the propriety of their conduct, the Royal Military Lodge at Woolwich adjourned
with their Constitutions to their Master in the prison, and this being one of those itinerant Lodges that move
with the regiment, the Master judged that wherever he might be, he had a right to hold Lodges and make
Masons. This Lodge was eventually erased.—Whymper.
TELEGRAMS of sympathy and condolence have been received from the colonies and abroad, through the
Grand Secretary, with H.R.H. the M.W. Grand Master, on the sad and melancholy event of the death of
H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence and Avondale, from :—The District of Natal ; Combermere Lodge, No. 752,
Melbourne; The District Grand Master, Punjab ; Victoria, per Bro. George Baker, Acting Grand Master The
District of Jamaica, per District G.M., BrojiVlajor Macglashan ; Cairo, per Bro. Raphael Borg,
Representative of Grand Lodge of England; District Grand Master of Madras ; Charles Warren Lodge, No,
1832, Kimberley ; Freemasons of Kimberley ; Freemasons of Capetown ; Acacia Lodge, No. 876,
Montevideo ; District Grand Master of Gibraltar ; Bro. H. Thomson, Grand Master New Zealand ;
Johannesburg Lodge, No. 2313, Johannesburg ; Egyptian Grand Lodge, per Bro. Idris Ragib Bey ; District
Grand Lodge, South Africa (E.D.), Bro. James Egan ; District Grand Master, Burma, Bro. Rev. J. Fairclough,
from Masons in Burma.— London Freemason, January 23rd.
THE Trestle Board advocates a change in the present manner of representation at Grand Lodge, and suggests
that one representative for each Lodge and one additional representative for each hundred members or
fraction of a hundred over the number of fifty members, would be equitable, and that such representatives
should be elected by ballot only. So far so good, says the American Tyler. It is time there was a change made
in our present methods. We have never been able to reason out the spirit Masonic in our present system.
Detroit has about one-tenth of the entire strength of the Masonic fraternity in the State, comprised under the
charters of eight Lodges. In other words, the representatives from a Lodge of 40 members in the State has the
same voice and power in Grand Lodge as has a city Lodge with a membership of 700. The present system is
unjust, and not in keeping with the spirit of republican institutions. " Representation by population " is an
unknown quantity in Masonic government. While it is so, progress is an impossibility.
THE late Grand Secretary of England died on Christmas Day. He was a son of the late General St. John
Clerke, and was born in the year 1836. He received his first commission at an early age, and served with
distinction in the Crimea, the Mediterranean, and the West Indies. As lieutenant, he carried the regimental
colours of his regiment up the heights of Alma, and subsequently at the storming of the Redan was given the
command of a scaling party, in which he acquitted himself with so much gallantry, that his name was
mentioned in the despatches by the General Commanding-in-Chief. On the conclusion of peace with Russia
the 21st Fusiliers were quartered at Malta ; and it was here he was initiated, in 1857. Towards the close of the
year 1860, he was first appointed A.D.C., and afterwards Military Secretary to the Commander of the Forces
in the West Indies. After holding his staff appointment for seven years, he rejoined his regiment in Ireland. In
1870, we find him in garrison at Plymouth, and two years later he retired on half-pay, and became a resident
in London. In 1875 he was appointed one of the Honourable Corps of Gentleman-at-Arms or Royal Body
Guard of Her Majesty, and was a member of that distinguished body up to the time of his death.
"IN a Lodge I often visit, they observe a beautiful custom, which, if more generally adopted, would, I think,
add much to the interests of Masonry. The 27th of June, St. John's Day,' they observe as a memorial
occasion. Invitations are sent to all members and their families, to all the widows as well as children of the
deceased members, and while the occasion is not for the general public, yet any one feeling any interest is
welcome to attend. Some one is selected to deliver a memorial address, after which the Secretary reads a list
or calls the roll of those who have been translated from this imperfect to that all-perfect celestial Lodge
above.' Certain members are selected from those who are the best talkers to make short speeches, and anyone
present, desiring to do so, can call up remembrance or pay a tribute to the memory of the departed. The
programme is so arranged that kind words or a touching tribute is paid to all who can no longer respond to
the roll call. Sacred music, both vocal and instrumental, is interspersed throughout the programme, and the
manner of observing the occasion does much to create a love for Masonry and to show the widows and
orphans that although dead, yet the Lodge remembers their loved ones."
BEFORE being received in affiliation with any Lodge, the proposed affiliate should be required to prove his
connection with the Craft, and produce a clearance from the Lodge with which he was last connected. This is
a recognised rule the world over, and, if not followed in every case, should be. From a case that has cropped
up recently, the Grand Lodge of Scotland is likely to be asked to give some ruling on the subject. The case
referred to is that of a clergyman who received the three degrees, and forthwith ceased his connection. In the
course of 18 or more years a Lodge was started in the district in which he was ministering, and into this "
new " Lodge he was affiliated for the purpose of becoming the Lodge Chaplain. In a year or two later the
clergyman's mother Lodge roll was being subjected to its annual revision, and the officer discovered that the
Lodge had a member located in a neighbouring province. Application was made for his arrears of dues. The
reply was short, and as Bailie Jarvie would have said " On the north side o' frien'ly." In substance it conveyed
the information given regarding his affiliation, and the question now arises, What knowledge had the Lodge
affiliating of the applicant ever having been admitted a member of the Craft ? His mother Lodge has still got
his diploma, which had never been applied for.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
CORRESPONDENCE
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
All communications should be addressed to the Editor, CRAFTSMAN, Box 322, P.O., Dunedin, and should be written
on one side of the paper only.
Correspondents and contributors are requested to be as brief as possible, as the space at our command is limited.
[Letters intended for insertion must be accompanied, in all cases, by the real name and address of the writer, as well as
by the name and number of the Lodge to which he belongs, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good
faith. We do not hold ourselves responsible for opinions expressed by our correspondents.]
__________________________________
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
EMIL PETERS, DILLMANSTOWN.-Sorry we cannot oblige you ; but to publish an account of an installation
ceremony held in December last would not please our readers.
DR. WALKER, AUCKLAND.-Thanks. It will appear in due course.
_____________________________________
THE OFFICIAL UTTERANCE OF ENGLAND AND THE CRAFTSMAN'S
" IPSE DIXIT."
TO THE EDITOR.
DEAR SIR AND BROTHER,-In a sub-leader in the February number, at page 1087, it is written, " England has
now officially stated that the minorities of the two Lodges whose majorities transferred their allegiance to
New Zealand, can, for the present, continue to exercise their functions, but they will have to work under
entirely new charters and take new names, before the Grand Lodge of New Zealand can acknowledge their
legal existence."
I think you will see that this sentence is somewhat badly constructed, and leads the reader to infer that the
ipse dixit of the writer as to the necessity for new charters and new names was an official utterance of the
Grand Lodge of England, whereas, the only official utterance of the Grand Lodge is that contained in the
resolution passed at the last Quarterly Communication, namely, " That Grand Lodge is of opinion that any
Lodge under the English Constitution in New Zealand is entitled to retain its warrant and exercise its lawful
Masonic privileges, notwithstanding the fact that a majority of its members may have seceded."
I feel sure that you will readily admit this correction at once, as
Faith, fanatic faith, once wedded fast
To some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last.
I am, &c.,
E.C.
Wellington, March 1st, 1892.
[We readily publish the letter of " E.C.," but do not admit his inference. Our article was not put forth as the
official utterance of England—that we gave on page 1092. The London Freemason's comment (see page
1109), " Our New Zealand Brethren, for the present, at all events, retain the privilege of acting in accordance
with the laws of the Grand Lodge to which they owe allegiance," and the Grand Registrar's remarks (on page
1092) can only have one meaning, which is, again quoting from the London Freemason, if " the movement is
so successful that our Grand Lodge determines on according it recognition, then Article 219 is inoperative."
If this inference is wrong, "E.C." has the privilege of putting us right, and the pages of this Journal are
thrown open to him for that purpose.—ED. C.]
______________________________________
THE Grand Lodge of Tennessee provides that no Lodge created under its jurisdiction, either by dispensation
or charter, shall bear the name of any living person.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
OBITUARY
BRO. JAMES G. MORTON.
Our deceased Tyler, Bro. James G. Morton, was a native of Mass., U.S.A., and came to the Colonies at a
very youthful age. He was present at the Ballarat riots, inside the stockade. He first saw the light in the
Greymouth Lodge, No. 1233, E.C., taking the Third Degree on April 13th, 1869. He was subsequently
admitted a Companion of the Westland Pacific Chapter, in June, 1871. In the following year he 1ivas
advanced to the Degree of Mark Master in the Lewis Lodge, No. 49, Greymouth, and to the Degree of Royal
Ark Mariner in the Lebanon Lodge of Royal Ark Mariners attached to the Mark Lodge, No. 49, on the 27th
June, 1874. Bro. Morton also became an Excellent and Perfect Prince Rose Croix of H.R.D.M., his
certificate bearing date June 21st, 1877, in the Star of the South Chapter Rose Croix, held at Greymouth.
Bro. Morton was unfortunate in mining business, and subsequently came to the Malvern district, and acted as
Tyler of the Malvern Lodge for some years. Age and infirmity had been telling on him for the last twelve
months, and he passed away at the Christchurch Hospital, on February 23rd last, at the age of 63 years,
cheered by the knowledge that the Craft he had served would attend him to the last. P. M. Lindop went to
Christchurch and brought the mortal remains of our late Brother to Springfield, and they were carried to St.
Peter's Church by Craftsmen on the one side and residents on the other, and from thence to the grave by the
Officers of the Lodge. Bro. Morton, having no kith or kin, lies buried in the plot of ground in the Springfield
cemetery secured by the Lodge with a view of holding the same for the last resting place of any Brother who,
while away from home or friends, may be called to his rest in the locality. It is the intention of the Lodge to
have the grave suitably fenced and a stone erected, and should any Brother or Lodge feel inclined to assist in
the work of making a suitable place of rest for departed worth, the Secretary will be glad to hear from them,
as the more assistance received, the more the memorial will be in accordance with our principles.
W. H. HADDRELL, P.M., Secretary,
_______________________________________________________________________________________
TO SUBSCRIBERS AND OTHERS.
Subscriptions should be forwarded to Bro. T. G. DE RENZY, Box 322, Posot., Office, Dunedin.
Communications for the Editorial Department should be addressed to the Editor, Box 322, Post Office, Dunedin.
Subscribers are respectfully notified that the correct filling of orders is sufficient evidence of their receipt.
PAYMENTS OF 7S 6D MADE SINCE FEBRUARY 16TH, 1892:—
Alberti, Allison, Rob. Allan, Ansell, Barlow, Baillie, Jas. Brown, Burrows, Bush, Blackwell, Bourke, Bullen,
Chubbin, Cox, Crystal, Cole, Carman, Chillman, Dr. Dawson, Erskine, Finn, Gerstenkorn, E. George, C. E.
George, T. D. Halstead, E. D. Halstead, Haultain, Hansard, Johnston & Co., Gisborne, Kirby, McBride,
Maude, McPhail, Captain North, A. H Phillips, Adam Porter, H. M. Porter, Ed. Parnell, Colonel Porter,
Rohr, Sare, W. 0. Skeet, A. Thomas, Elijah Titchener, Williams, Westport, Westpfahl, Winter, Wallace,
Whinray, Wade, G. W. Williams, Jas. Walker, sen.
PAYMENTS OF 10S (AND OVER) MADE SINCE FEBRUARY 16TH, 1892:—
Arch Chapter Trafalgar (20s), Anderson (20s), Arbuckle (20s) W. F. Brown (10s), Chalmers (17s 6d), Craig
(20s), Knight, Ballarat, Victoria (10s), Lodge Hiram (205), Lodge Oamaru Kilwinning (20s), Lodge St.
Augustine (20s), Lodge Beta.' Waikato (20s), Lodge Advance (20s), Lodge Coromandel (20s), Rev. Rabbi
Lichen-stein (15s), Lodge Victoria, I.C. (20s), Lodge of Otago (20s), Leach (20s), Mackay (10s), Malcolm
(20s), Rolfe (20s), Rattray (10s), Stonebridge (22s 6d), W. H. Young (10s).
_______________________________________________________________________________________
MISCELLANEOUS.
MASONIC CELEBRITIES.
_____
ALBERT PIKE,
Sovereign Grand Commander ad vitam of the Supreme Council,
33rd Degree, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A.
CONTINUED.
We now approach the point where the work performed by him as a Freemason has to be related—but for this
I must first pave the way, by giving, in the fewest words possible, a short summary of the conditions under
which Masonry is practised in the United States of America.
To begin with, there is the American Rite, a name which has been bestowed on the series of Degrees,
primarily or ordinarily, conferred in the United States. 'This, according to the late Dr. Mackey, whose words
I reproduce, " consists of nine Degrees, viz. :—
1. Entered Apprentice }Given in Symbolical Lodges,
2. Fellow Craft }and under the control of Grand
3. Master Mason }Lodges.
4. Mark Master
5. Past Master }Given in Chapters, and
6. Most Excellent Master }under the control of Grand
7. Holy Royal Arch }Chapters.
8. Royal Master }Given in Councils, and under
9. Select Master }the control of Grand Councils.
"A Tenth Degree, called Super-Excellent Master, is conferred in some Councils as an honorary rather than as
a regular Degree ; lint even as such it is repudiated by many Grand Councils. To these, perhaps, should be
added three more Degrees, namely, Knight of the Red Cross, Knight Templar, and Knight of Malta, which
are given in Commanderies, and are under the control of Grand Commanderies, or, as they are sometimes
called, Grand Encampments. But the Degrees of the Commandery, which are also known as the Degrees of
Chivalry, can hardly be called a part of the American Rite. The possession of the Eighth and Ninth Degrees
is not considered a necessary qnalification for receiving them. The true American 'Rite consists only of the
nine Degrees above enumerated. There is, or may be, a Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter, Grand Council, and
Grand Commandery in each State, whose jurisdiction is distinct and sovereign within its own tecritory. There
is no General Grand Lodge, or Grand Lodge of the United States ; but there is a General Grand Chapter and
a Grand Encampment, to which the Grand Chapters and Grand Commanderies of some, but not all, of the
States are subject."
The Degrees—Nos. 4—9 above—conferred in the Chapters and Councils, do not excite the same ardour as
certain others, and for this reason I shall leave them out of sight, while describing the Masonry of the United
States, or the leading divisions in which. Freemasons are grouped, as being made up, after a rough fashion,
of three concentric circles, such as will be found delineated in the accompanying plan or sketch, kindly
drawn by our ever-ready Secretary, Bro. Speth, by way of affording a better grasp of the meaning which it is
my desire should be conveyed to the reader.
The first or outermost circle represents Pure and Ancient Masonry, that is to say the Degrees wrought in
what are often called " Craft " Lodges in this country, and " Symbolic " or " Blue " Lodges in America ; the
second or intermediate circle, the Knights Templars ; and the third or innermost circle; the Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite, with its two Supreme Councils, 33rd Degree, for the Northern and Southern
Jurisdiction, respectively.
Of the first circle, or Craft Masonry as it is practised in the United States, where it has acquired the
misleading title of the " York Rite," space forbids more than a passing mention, but without it my sketch
would be incomplete. With the great majority of American Freemasons, the position of Grand Master is the
goal of their ambition. But having served the office, those of Grand Secretary and Chairman of Foreign
Correspondence are the only avenues open to Brethren who are desirous of attaining still further Masonic
distinction as active members of the Fraternity. Masonic periodicals abound, but they are generally short-
lived, and not one of them has yet succeeded in " focussing," as it were, the Masonic intelligence of the
entire continent. The corps of reporters on foreign correspondence find their ardour for Masonic criticism
sufficiently appeased by the pressure of their official duties, and when any journal of the Craft is extensively
read beyond the limits of the jurisdiction in which it is printed, it will be safe to affirm, as in the typical case
of the Keystone of Philadelphia, that the success is closely bound up with the continuous services of an
exceptionally gifted editor.
For a variety of reasons, therefore, and I have only touched the fringe of a vast subject, something more than
they meet with in the York Rite—the rite of the multitude—is anxiously looked for by a great proportion of
the Masons in America. For this a very large number of Brethren find a solace in Templarism—the second or
intermediate circle of the three which together represent the comparison I have made use of. The Templar
Order, in the United States, has reached a pitch of development which is quite phenomenal in its character.
Every third year there is a meeting of the Grand Encampment of the United States, and the twenty-fourth
Triennial Conclave of this body was held at Washington, D.C., in 1889.
The Degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite attract the most influential section of the Masonic
body. For the lower Degrees of the Rite I believe that all Master Masons in good standing are eligible, but
with regard to the highest one, the principle of selection has long been a cardinal feature of its economy. The
aspirant can pass freely from the Lodge of perfection to the Council of Kadosh, and the Consistory of the
Royal Secret —4° to 32°—but for the 33rd and last degree he must wait until he has been elected to it by the
Supreme Council. These degrees, then, are comprised within the third or innermost of the circles or zones to
which I have previously referred.
ALBERT PIKE A FREEMASON.
Albert Pike was made a Mason in Western Star Lodge, No. 1, Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1850, served as
Master of Magnolia Lodge, No. 60, in the same place, and also as Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter, in
1853. " At this time," he tells us, " little was known anywhere in the Southern States about any Masonry
except that of the Blue Lodges. I never heard of the Scottish Rite until 1853. In my boyhood and youth Royal
Arch Masons were as rare as white crows, and Knights Templars rarer still. All that had changed before
1857." In the year last named—April 25th—he received the 33rd Degree, and on January 2nd, 1859, was
elected Grand Commander (for life) of the Rite (Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A.).
MASONRY AN ENIGMA.
" After I had collected and read a hundred rare volumes upon religious antiquities, symbolism, the mysteries,
the doctrines of the Gnostics, and the Hebrew and Alexandrian philosophy, the Blue Degrees and many
others of our Rite still remained as impenetrable enigmas to me as at first. The monuments of Egypt with
their hieroglyphics gave me no assistance."
DEGREES NO APPARENT MEANING.
" Resorting to another method, I satisfied myself that many of the Degrees were purposely constructed to
conceal their meaning, and the objects of those who used them, as a means of union and organisation. Such, I
believed, were the 15th and 16th, of the Knights of the East and Princes of Jerusalem ; but I could not fathom
their meaning or detect the concealed allegory. They seemed to teach nothing, and almost to be nothing. The
rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem against constant opposition, by a portion of the scattered children of
Israel, under the direction of that Trinity of authority—the Viceroy, the Chief Priest, and the Prophet ; the
eagle, issuing, in the dream of Cyrus, from the glory and the luminous clouds around it ; the letters on the
bridge ; the sword united with the trowel ; the loss of the insignia of Persian nobility ; the mutilated limbs,
heads, crowns, and whole and broken swords, did not suggest to me their true interpretation ;"
BUT THEY HAD A MEANING.
" I was dissatisfied, therefore, with these Degrees, as one must always be with that which has for him no
meaning, and in which there is nothing impressive. Now, I think that there is a meaning, and that they had,
and were used for, a purpose. Even the words, like the letters on the bridge, are symbolic."
DEGREES, HOW CONFERRED IN THE SOUTHERN JURISDICTION.
" In the revision of the work, it was assumed as a principle, that a Degree not worth conferring was not worth
retaining in the scale, and that any rite, nine-tenths of whose Degrees were never conferred could differ from
the Rite of Memphis or Misraim, only in the number of Degrees composing the scale. Hence every Degree of
the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, as expanded and developed in our Rituals, is arranged to be
conferred in ample form. The fruits of the study and reflection of twelve years are embodied in our Degrees.
Hundreds of volumes have been explored for the purpose of developing and illustrating them ; and the mere
labour bestowed on them has been more than many a professional man expends in attaining eminence and
amassing a fortune."
On September 15th, 1887, the following was placed on record by the Grand Commander :—
" By the efforts and labours of our Supreme Council, begun in 1857 and never since intermitted, the Ancient
and Accepted Scottish Rite, which then consisted, for the most part, of an incoherent and disconnected
aggregate of rudimentary, crude, uninstructive, really embryonic Degrees, some six or seven of which
consisted of the words and signs alone, has been made complete in ceremonial and instruction, and is
respected wherever our Rituals are known (as in Belgium, where they have been translated into French and
adopted by the Supreme Council) by men of intellect and scholars."
Addison tells us, in one of his papers in the Spectator, of an author who spent some pages to prove that
generals could not perform the great enterprises which have made them so illustrious, if they had not had
men. But if the argument had run in quite a:contrary direction, it would have involved a conclusion not one
whit more remarkable than that to which we are led by the modest statement of Albert Pike, wherein he
ascribes to the labours of the Supreme Council a series of results, wholly due to the zeal and untiring energy
of its Grand Commander.
ALBERT PIKE AND HIS RITE.
His settled purpose was to make the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite an impressive and efficient preacher
of moral, political, philosophical, and religious truths, by making each of its Degrees a working Degree,
elaborating all, clothing the dry bones of many with flesh and colour, infusing into them life, intellect, spirit,
developing the leading idea and intended lesson of each, appealing by them to the intellect and moral sense
alone, and making the rite the development of the intellectuality of Freemasonry, specially entitled to style
itself " speculative."
It was an opinion upon which he laid great stress, that the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite occupies a
wider field than Craft Masonry or all the other organisations of Masonry together. To quote his own words, "
the four so-called cardinal virtues have not been for it the chief or principal excellencies of humanity. It
teaches a higher and more excellent morality, demands the performance of nobler duties, and requires a
closer and more perfect Brotherhood."
"Disquisitions upon the five orders of architecture and the four cardinal virtues (the latter borrowed from
Philo Judieus, and Plato), no longer instruct or edify Masons ; for neither are symbolic, and not one of the
former was known in Palestine in the time of Solomon, and prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice (of
which only the two last deserve to be called cardinal ') may all be possessed by a man, unaccompanied by
one touch of the spirit of Brotherhood."
Of his own Rite, however, he used the following language :—
" We have endeavoured to make our Degrees worth something, and many who have received them
think that we have done so. I found but very little intrinsic value in any of the Degrees--little indeed,
that could exert an influence upon men to make them better and wiser : and I have tried to develop a
system of which a man of intellect and a scholar need not be ashamed. If it were not appreciated as it
is, it would be matter of indifference to me. If men do not care to have the good one offers them,
why should it vex or mortify him who would be, if they would let him, their benefactor And if I
believed, as you do, that the rite would languish and droop into a fatal decay ' when I die, neither
would this disturb my equanimity. I have done the best I could for Masonry, to intellectualise and
elevate it, and if the work is to come to nought, and even if all Masonry is to continue on its
downward course until it becomes a mere social and faintly beneficent collection of clubs, with loss
of all its old prestige, I shall, nevertheless, have done the work, and some of it will live in one shape
or another."
THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE.
It is already on record that the " Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree, for the United States of
America," was opened in 1801, also that it notified its existence to the world in 1802. The circular in which
this announcement was contained has the following allusion to
THE GRAND CONSTITUTIONS
of 1786 :—" On the 1st May, 5786, the Grand Constitution of the Thirty-Third Degree, called the Supreme
Council of Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, was fin ally ratified by His Majesty King of Prussia, who as
Grand Commander of the Order of Princes of the Royal Secret, possessed the Sovereign Masonic power over
all the Craft. In this new Constitution this high power was conferred on a Supreme Council of nine Brethren
in each nation, who possess all the Masonic prerogatives in their own district that His Majesty individually
possessed, and are Sovereigns of Masonry."
THIRTY-THIRD DEGREE.
From the point of view of an outsider, it would seem to matter very little whether Frederick the Great ratified
these so-called " Constitutions," or whether he did not. But leaving the point an open one, as we are fain to
do, it is at least certain that the authority and power claimed and exercised in respect of them, by every
Sovereign Grand Inspector General, or member of the Thirty-third Degree, for a number of years, led to the
general diffusion and triumphant success of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
It is quite true that the pretensions of Supreme Councils and Inspectors General are in a great part abated ;
but, in searching for an explanation of the rapidity with which the Rite sprung into favour, we must go back
farther than even the matured opinion of Albert Pike himself with regard to the limit of its prerogatives.
Writing in 1853, he observes—" The Scotch Rite, numbering the Degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow
Craft, and Master Mason as the three first of its Thirty-third Degree, and undoubtedly entitled to confer
them, has, for the sake of harmony, relinquished them altogether to the York Rite."*
*Report of Albert Pike, Chairman of the Committee on Masonic Law and Usage, presented to the Grand
Chapter of Arkansas, in 1853.—Cited in Robertson's Cryptic Rite, 42.
POWERS OF SUPREME COUNCILS AND SOVEREIGN GRAND INSPECTORS GENERAL.
To put the case mildly, Supreme Councils and Inspectors General Thirty-third Degree, or, to give the latter
their full title, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General—S.G.I.G.—were each believed by members of the Rite
to possess, on the whole, powers greatly in excess of those appertaining to Grand Lodges and Grand Masters.
Supreme Councils could, of course, make 33rds, and each of the latter could create Supreme Councils where
none existed,* besides having the power to add to the number of his own Degree (S.G.I.G.).
* Albert Pike, in a letter to the Freemason, July 6th, 1878, after stating that Dr. Morrison, who created the
Supreme Council of Scotland in 1846, was a lawful S.G.I.G., adds, " Dr. Crucefix. getting his Thirty-third
Degree (by having the ritual sent to him, and taking the obligations from the Supreme Council at Boston), was
precisely what Dr. Morrison was, and made the Supreme Council of England and Wales in the same manner.
The supreme Council for Ireland was made in the same manner."
Returning to the powers of which a S.G.I.G. was supposed to be possessed, a later example of their exercise
will bring to a close the evidence to be presented under this head.
In November, 1881, Dr. Josiah Williams left England as medical officer in charge of an expedition to Egypt
and the Soudan, the object of which was sport and exploration. Arriving at Kassala, he met there one
Demetrius Mosconas, a Greek, who, in return for medical attendance rendered to his son, and being " a
Master Mason in the Thirty-third Degree," forthwith initiated (without assistance of any kind) the doctor into
Masonry.
I have elsewhere narrated the early history of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and its introduction
into France—when its success was instantaneous and phenomenal. This prosperity, however, was absent
from the Rite, for some time, in the land of its birth (U.S.A.), where it may be said to have vegetated for
many long years in obscurity, but it speedily became a favourite with the Latin races.
(To be Continued.)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
MASONRY ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE.
TRANSLATED FROM THE " BULLETIN MASONIQUE."
GERMANY.
THE Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Germany, in taking possession of his office, has taken the
customary oath, in which the following passage occurs :—" I promise to remember and make it be
remembered that the holy doctrines of Christ and His apostles are, and continue, the fundamental basis of all
our works, and of all the teachings in the Symbolic Lodges." This formula inspires, in the Italian Masonic
Review, the following reflections :—" It appears that since the time when the poor Frederick William, Crown
Prince, ceased to be the head of the Grand Lodge of Germany, they have made little or no progress in this
Grand Lodge in point of doctrines and certain traditions. It would seem thus that Christians alone could be
admitted there, and in that case what becomes of the Masonic theory of toleration in religious matters ? We
believe that our Lodges in removing questions of confession are in a better way."
The idea of the creation in Germany of a Masonic parliament is much discussed in the Lodges and in the
German press. It will, in any case, be a means of reconciling the Lodges of the different jurisdictions, of
effacing, little by little, the differences of rites (ceremonies), and of assisting the study of questions of
general interest.
BELGIUM.
A Brussels Lodge has decided that in future it should adopt children brought up without any religion, and
should only receive the profane who promise in case of marriage not to have any religious ceremony. It has
decided, besides, that funeral honours should only be rendered to those Brethren buried civilly (with civil
rites).
It would seem appropriate to introduce the following extract from a letter written by the Pro. Grand Master
of the Grand Orient of Belgium—Bro. Ernest Reisse—to the South Australian Freemason:—
" We have been grieved by the criticisms relating to the rule which allows us to take up (occupy ourselves
with) social, political, or religious works, and which, according to your paper, tends to transform Lodges into
political or other clubs. How could we remain indifferent to religious questions when we find ourselves
every day faced with calumnies and insults methodically propagated in all classes of society by the Roman
clergy, from the highest to the lowest rank ? Could we be indifferent when in all churches of the country they
proclaim that the infideles' —those who do not practise Roman Catholicism—tend to demoralise the masses,
and must be avoided as if they were infected with the plague ? The Grand Orient of Belgium has proclaimed
the right its members have to philosophic ideas, they conscientiously believe, in conformity with truth and
justice. This theory, which after all is only that of the Grand Lodge of England, which admits Christians,
Moslems, and Brahmins, has placed the Belgian Masonry in the first rank of the enemies of the Roman
Catholic Church in Belgium, and the Grand Orient esteems it a duty to universal Masonry to fight, step by
step, the calumnies propagated against our venerable Order—an Order which has endured for centuries. It
would be in any case a great error to believe that Belgian Lodges occupy themselves with individual politics.
Such questions, which could not but degenerate into intestine struggles and discord, are carefully tabooed
from the working. Only the gland social principles which can exercise an influence upon humanity are
considered by Belgian Masons, and on that platform the Belgian Grand Orient is in complete harmony with
most European Grand Lodges, more particularly that of Switzerland."
GRENADA.
Under the title, " The Influence of Freemasonry upon Woman," Bro. German Gonzales Romero gave, at an
extraordinary meeting of Lodge Reformia, a very interesting lecture to demonstrate, that as a moral and
social concern, Freemasonry should make it its business to protect (screen) women from the pernicious
influences of superstition, by initiating them in the rich (fruitful) principles of scientific truth of the human
Brotherhood, and in giving them a much larger place in social life.
HUNGARY.
Lodge Les Trois Colomnes, of the Orient of Kronstadt, has proposed the creation of a body of travelling
lecturers, of missionaries to speak a good word in the Lodges, and stimulate their activity. This proposal
having been very favourably received everywhere, the G.O. Lodge, Symbolical, of Hungary, has addressed a
call to all the Lodges, inviting them to make known the Brethren who would be ready to accept this mission,
and the subjects which they would be disposed to discourse on.
ITALY.
We take the following article from the Rivista della Massoneria Italiana :-
" What is Masonry ? "—For some time past we assist at a joyful spectacle The maledictions of the Vatican
are all directed against Masonry. In the churches, not a sermon where it does not find a place. One finds it,
say the preachers, in the Government, in the public administrations, in the schools, in the family, in the town,
in the country—everywhere. One does not accomplish, so to speak, an act of one's life, without its consent.
Not a work is started with the object of freeing the people from the brutishness in which superstition hugs
them, not a liberal law reform is passed, no progress made in the direction of the new civilisation of liberty
against reaction, but these clerical preachers attribute it to Freemasonry.
"These repeated proofs have led us to recognise, not without astonishment, that no one has understood better
than our enemies what Freemasonry is, and no one has given a more just definition of it. To the priests, the
most sacreligious work is directing nations in the path of progress, combatting darkness and servitude
('obscurantisme '). If this work of emancipation and salvation is only accomplished by the influence and
power of Masonry, what is the conclusion that is forced upon one ? It is, that Freemasonry is the spirit of
modern times,"
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SUSPENSION FOR NON-PAYMENT OF DUES.
WE quote the following from the decisions of the Grand Lodge of California :—
No Lodge should suffer any one of its members to be suspended without knowing that he has been wilfully,
or at least culpably, negligent in the matter of paying his dues, for it is a grievous wrong to declare and
publish a Mason as suspended when there is no just cause for suspension. Theoretically the Master and
Wardens are supposed to know the condition and circumstances of every member of their Lodge, and it is
only just that they should cause proper inquiry to be made before anyone is suspended for any cause. It is
true the law declares that he shall be suspended if no cause shown why he should not be, after he has been
notified ; but it isso declared on the presumption that some member of the Lodge will know the
circumstances of the delinquent, and will show cause for him if he cannot do so for himself. The Lodge
before allowing anyone of its members to be declared suspended for non-payment of dues, should be certain
of three things :—
1st. That he has been in fact notified ; otherwise he cannot, or should not, be so declared.
2nd. That if notified otherwise than by service of notice by the Tyler or other person properly deputed
for that duty, he has had a reasonable time within which to show cause why he should not be
suspended. And,
3rd. That he has the ability to pay, and that his neglect is wilful, or at least culpable ; for otherwise he
ought not to be suspended.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
OUR EXCHANGES
CONDENSED EDITORIALS.
Freemasonry as a Benefit Society A WRITER in a contemporary hazards the opinion that many Freemasons
are beginning to think that the Craft should be worked more after the system of the Oddfellows, helping each
other out of the Lodge funds when necessity compelled, and giving fixed benefits under certain conditions.
This question has been discussed on many occasions, but so far no good case has been made out by those
who would like to see a departure from the system of the past. It may be true there are many Freemasons
among us who would support any proposal for the change, but large as may be their number, they would find
themselves opposed by an overwhelming majority in favour of a continuance of existing arrangements.
Without doubt there is a general feeling among members of the Order that Freemasonry should be kept
wholly distinct from benefit society principles pure and simple, and left to work its way for the good of its
members, and mankind in general, on loftier lines than those of mere monetary considerations. Like every
topic of this character there is much to be said on both sides, and at first blush, when one takes into
consideration the amount of misery and distress to be found among Freemasons and their families, it is
impossible to think otherwise than that some efficient method of rendering financial aid as a matter of right
would prove beneficial, and would gladden many homes which are now sorely in need of assistance, but the
claims of which cannot be brought under notice, or if they are, it is only to be answered in the negative,
because there is no fund available from which to draw relief. In considering this subject due credit must be
given for the help already accorded by the Order to those associated with it who find themselves in distressed
circumstances. Last week we gave a summary of the amounts received during the past year by the three
central charities of the Craft, as well as a record of the amounts voted by the Board of Benevolence at its
monthly meetings. In addition to these sums must be considered the grants made by Provincial and private
Lodges, and the amounts annually disbursed by Provincial charity funds, so that it is safe to say that at least
£100,000 a year is contributed by the English Brotherhood for the relief of distressed members of their
Order, their widows and their orphans, the whole of this large sum being subscribed freely and voluntarily by
the members of the Order, who, actuated by the finest principles of brotherhood, give what they are able in
order to help their fellows who are in straitened circumstances. We say the whole of this large amount is
given freely and voluntarily, because we do not regard the small contribution made by each member towards
the Fund of Benevolence as being sufficient to stamp the system as one of compulsion, but even if we omit
consideration of that item we shall have almost as good a case for consideration, and probably the purely
voluntary disbursements of the Craft for a twelvemonth would actually reach the sum we have mentioned.
Now, let us suppose that a system similar to that of the Oddfellows was adopted in connection with
Freemasonry. Would it then be possible to even solicit a continuance of these voluntary gifts, much less
expect to receive them ? Certainly not, and such being the case, we ask the advocates of the fixed benefits
principle what tax they would propose to impose, in order to do only as much as the Craft is now doing,
without making any provision for rendering other assistance, or meeting the benefit claims they propose to
legalise ? On this basis alone we consider the project of placing Freemasonry on a benefit society footing
must fail, even if the proposition to alter its character was ever seriously brought before the Craft, which is
very unlikely to happen. Turning to the other side of the picture, we may ask what amount of benefit could
be conferred on necessitous members of the Order if a " Benefit Fund " was in existence ? We must first
recognise that the three great Institutions of the Craft would have no possibility of continuing their work, and
accordingly we should have to stop the benefits now conferred by those Charities on a large number of old
people, girls, and boys, and provide for them in some other way. We should take away their comfort and
happiness, and what could we give them in return ? Will anyone suggest that a benefit society principle
would allow of such annuities or such education and maintenance as is now afforded to the large number
who have been elected to the several institutions. No general tax would be tolerated that would produce an
amount sufficient for the purpose, and as we have already said the assistance at present rendered would fail,
without any possibility of other benefits being created to take their place. Besides all this, the majority of the
present members of English Freemasonry do not belong to the class which need benefit payments in the
general acceptation of the term, and it would be absurd to create a system of benefits merely for the purpose
of attracting the class who do, especially as it would be necessary to enforce payments from all alike, in
order to secure the funds necessary to pay the claims that would arise. On the whole, it is best to recognise
that Freemasonry does more at the present time, in a voluntary manner, than would be possible under any
system of compulsion, and beyond this the converting of Freemasonry into a benefit society—taking such
title in connection with a system of fixed monetary payments under certain eventualities--is so opposed to
the general ideas of its members as to be beyond the range of what may be regarded as future possibilities.—
Freemason's Chronicle, London.
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A Nuisance SOME wise philosopher has said that the trifles of life are more serious than the important
matters, and that the small annoyances we encounter are more disturbing than the real and engrossing affairs
of our life. We refer to a small and unimportant nuisance one meets with every time he visits a Lodge ; it is
the nuisance of the alarm at the outer door ; the knocking and banging of the Tyler disturbs the entire Lodge,
and very often a speaker loses the thread of his discourse by the clanging and banging of the Tyler. There is
no need for the Master and the entire membership to be disturbed by the " alarm at the outer door," it is for
the Junior Deacon's ear only, and that officer conveys the intelligence to the Master, who orders him to
attend to the alarm or the cause thereof. The Tyler stationed without the Lodge-room, does not, and, of
course, cannot know what is going on within, or what serious or important discussion is then being held ; he
simply announces an alarm as loud as he can, and if the Junior Deacon is not discreet, or hard of hearing, it is
a vexation all around, which could easily be avoided by the Junior Deacon being attentive to his duty.
watching the outer door, and remaining near to his place of duty, thereby avoiding much unpleasant
annoyance to the entire body of Brethren assembled.—The Hebrew Standard.
_______________
Presentation of Certificates. WITHIN the last few weeks we have twice had brought before us questions
with reference to the proper mode of presenting certificates, or, as the Scotch and Dutch call them, diplomas.
We are not aware that in any of the Books of Constitutions of the Grand Bodies having jurisdiction in South
Africa a distinct rule is formulated, but it is a commonly accepted Masonic practice that has acquired the
force of law, that all certificates should in the first place be sent to the Lodge initiating the candidate, and by
the Master or presiding officer presented to the newly-made Mason in open Lodge, and that, at the time of
the presentation, he should sign his name in the margin in the presence of the Brethren. Should the newly-
made Mason have, in the interval, removed to some place at a distance from his mother Lodge, that Lodge
should send the document, in every case under postal register, to the Lodge nearest his place of residence, at
the same time advising the Brother of the fact of its having so done. In the extreme case of a Brother residing
at so great a distance from a Lodge that there is no prospect of his being able to present himself at Lodge
within any reasonable time, it should be, with like precautions, sent to the nearest Installed Master to the
intended recipient, and if no Installed Master is within anything like hail of him, to some well-known Master
Mason in the vicinity, the person to whom it is sent being responsible for the recipient signing his name in
his presence. Further, the W.M. of the Lodge presenting, or the Installed Master, or the Master Mason acting
in similar capacity, should, with as little delay as possible, advise the mother Lodge of having made the
presentation, such communication being kept on file by the said mother Lodge. And we may here mention
that even though the nearest Lodge to the recipient be one of a different Constitution, the certificate should
be sent to it in preference to an individual Installed Master or Master Mason. In no case whatever should the
certificate be sent to the recipient direct. We must remember that certificates may, and not infrequently do,
fall into improper hands, and instances are on record of their having been made use of for mercenary
purposes. If a Lodge so far forgets Masonic propriety as to send the document direct to a recipient who then
presents himself in another Lodge, requesting to be allowed to sign it there, the latter Lodge is perfectly
justified in reminding the former of its duty, by requesting the Brother to return the certificate to the mother
Lodge, in order that it may be re-forwarded in the proper way. Now with reference to the certificates of
deceased Masons. It is the bounden duty of every W.M. to see that the certificates of all Brethren dying in his
neighbourhood, whether members of his own Constitution or not, are properly guarded against falling into
wrong hands. He should obtain the certificate from the relatives, and then carefully obliterate the dead
Brother's signature by writing across it a record of the fact of the death having taken place, with date and his
own signature. If the relatives wish to keep the certificate he may then return it to them ; if they do not, he
should return it to the deceased's mother Lodge. The practice of burying the certificate with the owner is
objectionable, as its loss may cause future trouble to the widow or children, if at any time they should be
under the necessity of seeking assistance from the Order. If there is no Lodge in the place when the death
takes place, the senior Mason conversant with the circumstances should take the same steps as just detailed,
and in any case it is courteous to acquaint the mother Lodge with the fact of the Brother's death and the mode
in which the certificate has been disposed of.—South African Freemason.
_______________________________________________________________________________________,
A MAN is surprised when he reaches thirty to realise the little sense he had when he was eighteen ; he will be
still more surprised when he is fifty to realise the little sense he had when he was thirty.
WE notice from the Masonic Record's report, that the D.G.M. of Bengal dismissed D.G. Lodge with the
beautiful words of St. Paul in 2nd Corinthians, xiii, 11. This, in an assembly composed doubtless of
Christians, Jews, Brahmins, Parsees, and Mahommedans, shows how beautifully Masonry triumphs over
religious animosities.
THERE is a society in England bearing the significant name of " Grand Independent Order of Loyal
Caledonian Corks !" Lodges of this Order meet at hotels, and are officered by a Captain, Lieutenant, Master
of Ceremonies, Constable, Tyler, and Secretary. What the aims and objects of this society may be we know
not, but if the name is any guide, it may be taken to be a society for extracting the cork out of a whisky
bottle.
MISS MINNIE BROOKS, adopted daughter of the Masonic fraternity of Arkansas, was conducted before the
Grand Lodge during its last session by her foster father, Col. J. H. Van Hoose. She bore herself with great
dignity, and was given a cordial reception by the hundreds of delegates—many of them old members—who
were proud of the beautiful and cultured young lady, toward whose education they had contributed. It was
truly a verification of the saying that " deeds of kindness return to bless us."
In reply to numerous inquiries with reference to the emoluments attached to the office of Grand Secretary,
we beg to state that at the Quarterly Communication on the 3rd June, 1874, Grand Lodge unanimously
resolved, on the recommendation of the Board of General Purposes, that the salary of the Grand Secretary
should commence at £500, and rise by annual increments of £50 to a maximum of £800 a year. This
maximum, however, had been increased in the case of our late Grand Secretary by further resolution of
Grand Lodge to £1000, in consequence of the great increase which had taken place in the duties of the office
in connection with the Royal Arch.—London Freemason.
BRO. J. ROSS ROBERTSON, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada, on September 5, formally presented
to the trustees of the Lakeside Home for Little Children, the new and elegant hospital building, which he had
had erected, at an expense of 25,000 dols. This is a munificient gift from a munificent citizen and
Freemason. Bro. Robertson is the publisher and proprietor of the Toronto Evening Telegraph, and by his
ability and well-directed labours has acquired a handsome competence. Recognising his reponsibility to the
Grand Architect for his success, he now shares his means with suffering humanity, and with that portion of
humanity that is most helpless—little children.
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