United Grand Lodge Of England.

UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND .

The Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England was held last Wednesday evening , at Freemasons' Hall , London . The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe , R . W . Deputy Grand Master , presided . - Bro . Col . Marmaduke Ramsey , R . W . District Grand Master of Malta , acted as Deputy Grand Master ; Bro . Col . G . Noel Money , C . B ., J . P ., R . W . Provincial Grand Master of Surrey , as Past Grand Master ; Bro . Sir John B . Monckton , P . G . W ., as S . G . W . ; and Bro . the Rev . R . J . Simpson ' , P . G . C , as J . G . W .

Grand Lodge having been opened in due form , and the minutes of the June Quarterly Communication read and confirmed , The Earl of MOUNT E DGCUMBE said that , before proceeding to the business on the paper , he would like to remind the brethren of a resolution which was passed at the Quarterl y Communication on the 2 nd December last year —moved by Bro . ~ Sir A . Woods , and seconded by Bro . the Rev . R . J .

Simpson—which was to this effect— " That , in recognition of the eminent services rendered to the Grand Lodge of England by Most Worshipful Bro . the Earl of Lathom , Pro Grand Master , forthe 16 years duringwhich he has held the position of the Deputy Grand Master , it is hereby resolved that a full length portrait of his lordship be painted , and placed in the Masonic Temple , Freemasons' Hall , London . " He had great pleasure in directing

the brethren ' s attention to thc finished portrait , which was , he believed , a most pleasing and faithful likeness —( applause)—and which he ' hoped would long continue to adorn the walls of that hall as a lasting testimony of their esteem and regard for the M . W . brother , of their appreciation of the many services which he had rendered—and which he hoped he would continue to render—to Masonry in this country . ( Cheers . ) He thought that those who

had the opportunity of inspecting that picture would also regard it as an admirable example ofthe skill , fidelity , and care of the artist—Bro . Marks . ( Cheers . ) It novv became his duty to move the resolution which stood No . 2 upon the paper in the name of the M . W . the Grand Master : "That this Grand Lodge do vote the sum of 300 guineas from the Fund of General Purposes in alleviation of the distress occasioned by the recent disastrous

fife at St . John ' s , Newfoundland , and that the above sum be paid to the Rig ht Hon . the Lord Mayor to the credit of the Mansion House Fund . " He was sure he need not say a word to the brethren upon the great extent of that disastrous catastrophe , and of the enormous amount of suffering which was brought on our fellow subjects in Newfoundland ; it was too recent in their memory to require any words from him on the subject . He knew ,

however , there mig ht be some difference of opinion as to the application of the moneys they voted . That had been brought to his notice , and he had very carefully considered it , but he still felt that he could conscientiously move the resolution in the form in vvhich it novv stood , not only because he thought it was for the honour of Masonry generally , that in view of such a catastrophe as this they would show they were not bound by narrow limits ,

but that their sympathies were universal also . Besides it vvas in strict accordance vvith precedent . Many precedents had been brought forward , but there wasone vvhich specially applied to this case—the great fire in St . John ' s , New Brunswick , in 1877 , when the sum of 200 guineas was voted from the general fund . The words of the resolution were , " That £ 210 be voted in aid of the fund now in course of formation for the relief of the inhabitants

of St . John ' s , New Brunswick , sufferingfrom the recent disastrous fire . " That was a very close vote to the one before them now , and he scarcely thought , as he had said , it would be for the credit of the great Masonic body if they departed from the precedents they had formed in various cases . At the same time he knew in this particular instance the Masonic Body met with a heavy and serious loss in ihe burning of the Masonic Temple , and he vvas authorised to state that at tbe next Quarterly Communication the M . W . G . M . would

be most willing to bring before Grand Lodge a proposal which would very likely be adopted that an additional sum be given in aid of repairing the special losses incurred by the Freemasons in that respect . ( Hear , hear , and cheers . ) He might add that the Governor of Newfoundland , vvho was also the Deputy District Grand Master , was present that night , and vvas well fitted from his position to see that their brethren had their share in the relief given .

Bro . Col . MARMADUKE RAMSAY said it afforded him great pleasure to second the motion which stood in the name of H . R . H . the M . W . G . M ., and which had been brought before Grand Lodge by the Deputy Grand Master . The latter portion of his lordship ' s address he thought removed any doubt any one would entertain as to the appropriateness of voting the money to the General Fund instead of to the Masonic body in particular .

He thought the Masonic body had always shown itself ready to open its hand to any portion of thc globe if they appealed for assistance ; but in the present instance they admitted that every grant in the first place should be devoted to assisting mankind in general . There was an old saying that " Charitv begins at home ; " but lie thought that as Masons they should go further than that , and not only think of those at home but of those outside the Masonic bodv .

The motion vvas carried unanimously . The Earl of MOUNT EDGCUMBE said : That will go to show that although charity begins at home , the " home" of Masonry is larger . On the motion of Uro . ROBERT GREY , President , seconded by Bro . J AMES BRETT , Senior Vice-President , the report of the Board ol Benevolence , in which were recommendations for the following grants , vvas adopted :

The widow of a brother of the Chiltern Lodge , No . 1470 Dunstable ... ... ... ... ^ 50 o o A brother of the St . Oswald Lodge , No . 1124 , Oswestry ... 50 o o A brother of the Crescent Lodge , No . 7 8 S , Hampton Court 60 o 0 A brother of the Royal Savoy Lodge , No . 1744 , London ... 50 o o The widow of a brother of the Royal Oak Lodge , No . 871 , Deptford ... ... ... ... 100 o 0

Bro . ROBERT GREY said hc might mention that the last £ 100 was given in the case ot . 1 brother vvho had lost his life in doing his duty fearlessly to his Queen and his country . The following report of the Board of General Purposes was taken as read , and ordered to be received and entered on the minutes : To the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ot England . The Grand Superintendent of Works having reported that the drainage ol the

Grand Lodge premises is in a seriously defective condition , the Board directed , vvith the concurrence of the Grand Superintendent of Works , th ; it * . in independent n-port should be obtained from Mr . George Jennings . After thorough examination Mr . Jenninjjs reports the present system of drainage to be in a drngerously insanitary condition , anrl climates the cost of placing the drainage and sanitary arrangements of the entire premises in a permanently efficient condition at £ 5 X 2 ios ., including his guarantee of efficiency for 10 years free of charge . The

United Grand Lodge Of England.

report and estimates having been examined and approved by the Grand Superin . tendent of works , the board recommend Grand Lodge to sanction the expenditure of this sum for the purpose of carrying out this most necessary work without delay . The President has laid before the Board a letter , received by him from the Most Worshipful Pro Grand Master , stating that , in the opinion of his Royal

Highness the Most Worshipful Grand Master , the time has come when , in the interests of the Craft , it is desirable to augment the number of Grand Officers , not only of Grand Lodge , but also of the larger Provincial and District Grand Lodges , and that with this view he had received his Royal Highness ' s command to request the President to lay before the Board of General Purposes the following resolutions vvhich it is the Grand Master ' s desire should , at the earliest moment , be submitted to the Grand Lodge for adoption .

" That an addition be made to the Grand Officers appointed by the Most Worshipful Grand Master , by the appointment of a Grand Chancellor , to rank immediately after the Grand Wardens , and whose duties shall be those at present assigned to the Grand Registrar , as set forth in Articles 31 and 32 of the Book of Constitutions , and of four additional Grand Deacons and a Deputy Grand S-mord Bearer , and that the same take effect on and

after the Grand Festival of 1893 . " " That in provinces and districts numbering 50 lodges and upwards the Provincial and District Grand Masters shall be empowered to appoint annually two additional Provincial or District Grand Deacons . In provinces and districts numbering 75 lodges and upwards the Provincial and District Grand Masters shall be empowered to appoint four

additional Provincial or District Grand Deacons . In provinces and districts numbering 100 lodges and upwards , the Provincial and District Grand Masters shall be empowered to appoint a Provincial or District Grand Chancellor to take rank immediately after the Provincial or District Grand Wardens , four additional Provincial or District Grand Deacons and a Provincial or District Deputy Grand Sword Bearer , and that the

Provincial and District Grand Masters be empowered to appoint such additional Provincial or District Grand Officers at the first meeting for the annual appointment of officers of the several Provincial and District Grand Lodges after the confirmation of the minutes of Grand Lodge . " The Board have great p leasure in recommending Grand Lodge to adopt these resolutions , and to order that the Book of Constitutions be altered accordingly .

( Signed ) THOMAS F ENN , President . Freemasons' Hall , London , W . C , 16 th August , 1892 . To the report is subjoined a statement of the Grand Lodge accounts at the last meeting of the Finance Committee , held on Friday , the 12 th day of August instant , showing a balance in the Bank of England ( Western

Branch ) of £ 5898 13 s ., and in the hands of the Grand Secretary for petty cash ; £ ioo , and for servants' wages ^ 100 , and balance of annual allowance for library £ g 17 s . 6 d . Bro . THOMAS FENN , President of the Board of General Purposes , in moving the adoption of the first recommendation , said it related to expenditure on the necessary drainage of Freemasons' Hall buildings . The drainage of the buildings was now so deficient that it required immediate action . But

before entering on so large an expenditure the Board asked the consent of Grand Lodge for the adoption of measures to prevent any disaster , and if Grand Lodge sanctioned the expenditure the work would be commenced tomorrow . He begged therefore to move that thc expenditure required forthe additional drainage of Grand Lodge be sanctioned . Bro . Dr . POCOCK , Vice-President of the Board , seconded .

Bro . Dr . J ABEZ HOGG , P . G . D ., thought Grand Lodge ought to have a little more information from the President as to why they should incur this large expenditure for drainage . He would remind Grand Lodge that it was only about 20 years ago that a large sum of money was spent on the drainage of the premises of Grand Lodge . He then saw a good deal of the Grand Superintendent of Works ( Bro . Cockerell ) , who assured him that what he

vvas doing with regard to the drainage of the building at that time would last longer than his ( Dr . Hogg ' s ) time , and ought to last 50 years at least . But now the }* were asked to spend this sum of money , and of course it was the duly of thc sanitary engineers to find out the defects . He would be sorry to offer an impediment to the work that was necessary . But he would like to ask the President of the Board whether complaints had reached

him from * the residents in the building , and the officers who vvere in the building day after da )* , and were there all day long , and the Secretaries of the Institutions of any defects in the drainage , whether the smell from the urinals or water closets had very much increased , and if so whether it was not due to a proper supply of water for keeping them sweet having been stopped by the New River Company . He had been there several times ,

and thought that vvith the large expenses they had for water , there should be more water . Before the )* consented to this large expenditure they ouglil to have some information as to how the money was to be laid out . Bro . THOMAS- FENN agreed that it was proper that the questions should be answered by the Grand Superintendent ot Works , who was an expert , but he thought that the report of the Board itself explained how the matter

came under the notice of the Board of General Purposes . It also explained that they had thc report of Mr . Jennings , than whom there was not a more ellicient sanitary authority , as to the smoke test . The smoke was found to come out of various parts of thc building , and that showed that the sewer gas was escaping in many directions . Dr . Hogg had asked whether they had had any complaints of smells ; they had from those who lived in the lower

parts of the building , and vvith respect to the urinals he believed Dr . Hogg was right when he said the New River Company stopped the automatic pressure in the supply . As to the necessity of taking steps to perfect the sanitary condition of thc drains the committee had no doubt the Grand Superintendent of Works would give information , and , if necessary , read the report of himself and Mr . Jennings . ,

Bro . LENNOX BROWNE presumed that if the Grand Superintendent of Works had reported that the drainage of the building was so defective as to require renewals , Grand Lodge had no option but to accept h > opinion , but he felt bound to question the " independent" character of n report made b y any one who vvas interested in carrying out the work . l ' ,, vvas of the utmost importance .

Bro . PHILBRICK said the Board of General Purposes was , for reason * that appeared right to those who founded the constitutions , entrusted vv'itn certain matters tinder control of Grand Lodge . The ordinary officer , entrusted with the char-re of the buildin-r—the Grand Sunerintendent 0

Works , to the astonishment of the Board , made a report that in his opi " ' . after an investigation by himself , the building vvas in a danger 0 " ' ^ insanitary condition , and this was before there was any rumour of c ^ ° f t 0 in the air . The Board of General Purposes thought it their first dut )' obtain independent advice and assistance , and after discussing the m