Music In The Lodge Room.

is not the necessity for being up to date , that there seems to be in the outer world , and though our language may often he considered as being archaic , and our principles be considered us inculcating a counsel of perfection , precisely the same may be said of the volume of the Sacred Law , and as the one has survived unchanged , the other may well be left in its primitive

state . The wisdom of one age is the foolishness of the next , and we should , if successive interpreters of our ceremonies were allowed an unfettered discretion , very soon require a fresh edition every year . The principles on which the Order is founded have never changed , and we may safely predict they never will , and the modes of illustrating them mav well be left sis they are .

At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar.

At the Sign of the Perfect Ashlar .

The December Communication of Grand Lodge is always largely attended , and the meeting on the 7 th December was no exception to the rule . The Deputy Grand Master occupied the chair , and the Wardens' chairs were filled by Grand Wardens of the year . Preparation had evidently been made for the divisions that were expected to take place on motions

of which notice had been given , hut it proved to be an unnecessary precaution , as on the one occasion on which a division was taken the show of hands proved decisive .

© © © The nomination of a Grand Master for the ensuing year bad been placed in the hands of Bro . Judge Luniley Smith , K . C ., who performed the duty admirably , in what was probably the shortest speech on record on such an occasion . The same , however , could not be said of the speeches that followed in

connection with the nomination of candidates for the office of Grand Treasurer . However admirable and excellent they may have been , brevity was not their distinguishing feature . Bro . Lewis Ferguson , who performed the same duty last year , was the iirst to present to the brethren the claims of Bro . Edwards to be elected to the coveted honour , in a speech that left

nothing to lie desired in point of phrasing and delivery , and which elicited warm approval from the large group of his supporters who had sympathetically gathered themselves together . Some little deviation from relevancy , however , drew from the Acting Grand Master a ruling which had the effect of bringing the speech to a speedv termination .

< S > © © Bro . Edwards' nomination was followed by that of W . Bro . C . B . Mulvey , Past Grand Pursuivant , which was in the hands of Bro .. Smith , who created some amusement at the outset Indescribing bis candidate as the father of Freemasonry . This definition appeared altogether too comprehensive to the majority

of the audience , and the speaker com 2 > roniised the matter by limiting the appellation to the district in which Bro . Mulvey ' s Masonic work had been performed .

© © © Another nomination was still to follow , that of Bro . Stanley Attenborougb , whose merits were stoutly championed by a brother Grand Officer , the Rev . C . E . Roberts , P . G . Chaplain , in an equally able and somewhat more lengthy speech , Bro . Roberts combating the objection that had been

raised against the principle of electing a brother to the office of Grand Treasurer , who bad already been honored by being appointed to office by the Grand Master . The arguments , pro and con , appeared to give much satisfaction to the respective supporters of the two candidates affected , if not altogether convincing to the unbiassed listener . A similar call to order to

that raised in the case of the first speaker only resulted in eliciting from the chair an opinion involving a somewhat subtle distinction between the two cases .

Lnquestionably there was much to lie said in favour of all three candidates ; each in his sphere had done good suit and service to Masonry , and it must be left to the discrimination of the Craft , or rather to those members of it whose circumstances will admit of their putting in an appearance at Freemasons ' Hall o'l polling day , to determine which of this trio of worth y

brethren shall wear the much prized collar of Grand Treasurer of England . © © ©

Two notices of motion having reference , the one to the qualification , and the other to the method of election of Grand Treasurer , also appeared on the business paper . The former was obviously formulated with the view of rendering the election of two of the candidates void , and thus securing the election of the remaining brother , hut a ruling by the Grand

Registrar that such would not be the result of the motion if it were carried , had the effect of withdrawing all interest from the subject , and paved the way for a favourable reception of Bro . Bobbin ' s amendment , referring the whole question to the Hoard of General Purposes to consider and to report to Grand Lodge .

© © © This amendment was carried by a large majority , and as it was understood that Bro . Russell , whose motion for the adoption of proxy voting by lodges , which was also on the business paper , also concurred , the discussion ended as so many controversies do , in what appeared to be a satisfactory compromise .

© < 3 > © We bad hoped that the solution of the question of the election of Grand Treasurer would have been found in the more simple method of including that appointment amongst those conferred on brethren by the M . W . Grand Master . For

our part we have never been able to understand why this particular office should be singled out for popular election . The office is a responsible one only in name , the Grand Treasurer has practically no control over the funds , and bis duties arc limited to the signing of certain cheques for amounts speciall y voted by Grand Lodge , which must be countersigned by the

Grand Secretary . Popular control of the funds is , therefore , not a factor in the argument for retaining the present system , as it perhaps would be if the Grand Treasurer were the banker , and not merelv the nominal custodian of the monies .

© © © Failing this method of appointment , it must be admitted that Bro . Russell ' s proposition is infinitely more equitable and logical , than the present system which either leaves the selection of the Grand Treasurer practically to the London

brethren , or necessitates the journeying to London from all parts of the kingdom of a large number of brethren , should a provincial brother offer himself for election , with the possibilities of a recurrence of the scandal of free railway tickets and free luncheons , which are said to have been distinguishing features of some formal' contests .

4 > ¦« £ » The late Bro . . lames Lewis Thomas , P . A . G . D . C , who died suddenly on the 4 th October , on bis return home from the Savage Club Lodge , of which he was an original member , was born in 1 N 2 / 3 , and held a high appointment in the War

Office , retiring in 1 M 90 after the long service of forty-six years , when a silver bowl and an illuminated address was presented to him by his colleagues at a farewell banquet , presided over by the late General Sir Lothian Nicholson , K . C . B ., Inspector-General of Fortilications .

He was admitted into the Order in the year LS 4 N , in the Albany Lodge , No . 151 , Newport , Isle of Wight , and was raised in the Caledonian Lodge , Grenada , West Indies , in the same year . In 1 K 51-2 he was Worshipful Master of St . . John ' s

Lodge , Antigua , No . 492 . On his return to England he joined the St . Thomas ' s Lodge , No . 142 , and passed the chair in 1871 . He was a founder of the Granite Lodge , No . 132 H , acting as first P . M ., and was Secretary at the time of his death , a , position