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  • June 1, 1861
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, June 1, 1861: Page 12

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    Article SUPREME GRAND LODGE. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Page 12

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Supreme Grand Lodge.

REPORT OE THE C 0 L 02 * IATJ BOABD . To the " United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England . Tne Colonial Board beg to report as follows . — A complaint has been preferred on the part of the St . Lawrence Loclge , at Montreal , Canada East , being No . 923 on the Register of

the Grand Loclge of England , having reference to a resolution passed by the Grand Loclge of Canada at their annual communication in July , 1860 , adopting a report of their Committee on Constitutions and regulations whereby it was declared that the said lodge , No . 923 , was working in an irregular manner , and could not be recognised as a legally conducted Masonic Loclge . The effect of this resolution is stated by the complainants to' be that they have been refused admission to the assemblies of the Canada Lodges , and

they allege other grievances under which they suffer by or from the same resolution . Pending the investigation into the subject matter of the complaint , the Board caused a communication to be made to the M . W . the Grand Master of Canada , Brother T . Douglas Harington , through the representative of the Grand Loclge of England in Canada , urging that the resolution above complained of should be ordered to remain in abeyanceuntil opportunithad been afforded of

as-, y certaining whether it was justified , or had been passed under erroneous information , or from misapprehension of facts . To this the M . W . the Grand Master of Canada , acting , as he states , on his own responsibility , at once assented , ancl has caused it to be notified to bis Deputy District Grand Master for Montreal , and through him to the brethren generally , that so much of the said report ancl resolution of the Grand Lodge of Canada as related to the St . Lawrence Loclge , should be held in abeyance until the annual

communication of the said Grand Loclge to he holden in July next . The specific charges against the St . Lawrence Loclge , as stated by the M . W . the Grand Master of Canada , appear to be , that it is working in an irregular manner , and is de facto not a legal loclge . That it sent accredited representatives to assist at the origination of the Grand Lodge of Canada , and that it surrendered its English Warrant and affiliated with the Grand Loclge of Canada , and accepted , worked under , and elected and installed its officers under authority of a dispensation signed hy the Grand Master of Canada . That a portion only of its members subsequently received back the Enslish warrant from the Provincial Grand Master for Mnntre . il

and William Henry under the English constitution , in violation of an alleged solemn ancl well understood condition , that it was to be returned to England , aud recommenced to work under it . There appears no doubt but that a delegate on the part of the St . Lawrence Lodge was appointed , ancl did attend the meeting above alluded to , ancl which took place at Hamilton , in the month of October , 1855 ; hut the complainants deny that such delegate had authority to bind the lodge to the movement ; and it does not

appear , from the evidence before the Board , that the said lodge ever subsequently ratified the acts of such delegate : on the contrary , the said loclge appears in the month of February , 1856 , to have been working under their English Warrant . The allegation as to the surrender by the St . Lawrence Lodge of their English Warrant appears to be negatived by the very able Report made by the R . W . Bro . William Ba . lgley , Provincial Grand Master for Montrealand William Henry under the English

Con-, stitution , which details the proceedings taken by him in his official capacity in November , 1855 , in reference to the lodges in his district . He states that lie summoned the Masters of the lodges in his district to appear before him with their Warrant and Minute Books for production , and not for tho surrender of the Warrants ; and that , after temporary detention for examination , the Warrant and Minute Books werein strict conformity with Masonic law and

, usage , returned to the continuing members of the lodges respectively , upon their formal application for them as their rightful owners ancl custodiers . Bro . Badgley states that the Warrants were returned to the several lodges in ' jun . uu-y in 1856 . It appears that the only member of the St . Lawrence Loclge ( which it is stated to have consisted iu 1855 of about 40 members ) who actually seceded and joined the Grand Lodge of Canada , was the

then W . Master . It appears to the Board probable , that this brother _ may have delivered the Warrant of the loclge to the Provincial Grand Master , with the intention of committing the loclge to the movement ; but this , if done , would appear to havo been clone purely of his own motion , and not pursuant to any resolution come to by this loclge , and the Book of Constitutions gives the Master no to bind the locl b and in the

power ge y so doing , opinion of the Board the Warrant " remained the property of the lodge , ancl was rightly delivered liy the Provincial Grand Master to the continuing members of the lodge on their application , and the said English Warrant has ever since continued in the possession of the said St . Lawrence Lodge , No . 023 .

It seems that between November , 1855 , and January , 1856 , tbe seceding member of the St . Lawrence Loclge above referred to , being the then W . Master , did obtani a dispensation from the body which was then in formation , ancl which subsequently resulted in the Grand Lodge of Canada , and under such dispensation did bold meetings during the period when the Warrant ancl Minute Books of the lodge were in the possession of the Provincial Grand

Master Badgley , and some of the members of the said loclge are stated to havo attended these meetings . There is no evidence before the Board as to what took place at these meetings , which were not held at the regular place of meeting ofthe St . Lawrence Lodge , No . 923 , nor in pursuance of any resolution passed thereat . In the opinion of the Bourd such meetings -were , so far as regards the said Loclge , No . 923 , wholly irregular and disconnected from the business ancl proceedings thereof .

Tho papers ancl documents connected with this ease are very voluminous , and have had careful perusal and consideration on the part of the Board , and the foregoing is an epitome of what appear the principal points . ¦ In a case so important as that under consideration , which involves a question between two independent Grand Lodges having cordial relations of amity with each other , the Board have considered it their duty to report the result of their labours thus far

for tho information of Grand Lodge , before again communicating witb the authorities of the Grand Lodge of Canada . They propose , if it meets with the sanction of Grand Lodge , to furnish the M . W . the Grand Master of Canada , as he requests , with a copy of Bro . Badgley ' s Report referred to as above , and also with copies of such other documents as may appear to the Board desirable , so that the

M . W . the Grand Master of Canada may be enabled to lay all the facts before his Grand Lodge at their Annual Communication in . July next , in the confident hope and belief that when that Grand . Loclge shall have hacl all the facts of the case before them , they will see the justice of rescinding the obnoxious Resolution , passed in July , 1860 , and again extend the right band of fellowship to the members ofthe St . Lawrence Lodge . The Board cannot conclude . their Report on this case without

respectfully expressing their admiration at the true Masonic spirit evinced by the M . W . the Grand ' Master of Canada , Bro . T . Douglas Harington , in so promptly suspending the operation of the resolution of his Grand Lodge , with which the brethren of the St .. Lawrence Lodge felt aggrieved , until the complaint of those brethren had been investigated by this Board , and this on his own responsibility . The Board feel that such a course of action is . worthy of the high character of Bro . Haringtonancl ofthe exalted

, position which he fills as Grand Master of Canada . A complaint has been received against the Union Lodge , No . 308 ,. Demcrara , for having elected to the oflice of Master a brother who hacl . not previously served the office of Warden in any loclge . The loclge having been communicated with , transmitted , as required , a certified copy of the minutes with reference to the election of officers .. The offence was admitted , but the Master pleaded in extenuation that no Past Master ofthe lodge would take the officethat he had

, already served for two years , ancl that the Wardens were absent .. Tlio Board severely censured the loclge for so serious a breach ofthe law , ancl informed the W . Master that the election as above was null and void , and that he { still continued Master , and as such responsible for airy further irregularities .

( Signed ) J . LLEWELITI * EVANS , President . At the regular Meeting of the Colonial Board held the 7 th instant ,, it was resolved unanimously : " That the warmest thanks of the Board are due to their President , the Worshipful Bro . J . Llewellyn Evans , for the zeal ho has shown in discharging the duties devolving

on him , for his regular attendance at the stated and special meetings of tho Board during the past Masonic year , ancl for the courtesy arid urbanity which helms ever manifested towards every memberof the Board . "

( Signed ) NICHOLAS B RADFORD , Freemasons' Hall , 22 nd May , 1861 . 7 ice-President . The Annual Report of the Royal Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and their Widows will bo laid before the Grand Lodge , in which there are the following proposed alterations of the laws :

1 st . "That Article 4 , page 17 , of the Rules and Regulations for . Widows' Fund , be altered as follows , viz ., to omit the words ' not exceeding the age of 65 years , £ 15 ; ' and 'from 65 to 70 years £ 20 / and insert in place thereof , ' from the age of 55 to 70 years , £ 20 . '" 2 nd . " That Article 4 , page 17 , be suspended , so fur as relates to Female Annuitants . it present receivin ; ' £ 15 , and that for the future their Annuities be increased to £ 20 . "

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1861-06-01, Page 12” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 11 July 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_01061861/page/12/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
FREEMASONRY IN FRANCE. Article 1
MEMOIRS OF THE FREEMASONS OF NAPLES. Article 2
Untitled Article 3
LASWARRIE. Article 3
SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN AND HIS TIMES. Article 5
GENERAL ARCHITECTURAL INTELLIGENCE. Article 7
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 7
NOTES ON LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART. Article 9
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 10
IN MEMORIAM—IN FUTURO. Article 10
MASONIC MEMS. Article 11
SUPREME GRAND LODGE. Article 11
METROPOLITAN. Article 13
PROVINCIAL. Article 15
ROYAL ARCH. Article 18
MARK MASONRY. Article 18
THE WEEK. Article 19
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 20
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Supreme Grand Lodge.

REPORT OE THE C 0 L 02 * IATJ BOABD . To the " United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England . Tne Colonial Board beg to report as follows . — A complaint has been preferred on the part of the St . Lawrence Loclge , at Montreal , Canada East , being No . 923 on the Register of

the Grand Loclge of England , having reference to a resolution passed by the Grand Loclge of Canada at their annual communication in July , 1860 , adopting a report of their Committee on Constitutions and regulations whereby it was declared that the said lodge , No . 923 , was working in an irregular manner , and could not be recognised as a legally conducted Masonic Loclge . The effect of this resolution is stated by the complainants to' be that they have been refused admission to the assemblies of the Canada Lodges , and

they allege other grievances under which they suffer by or from the same resolution . Pending the investigation into the subject matter of the complaint , the Board caused a communication to be made to the M . W . the Grand Master of Canada , Brother T . Douglas Harington , through the representative of the Grand Loclge of England in Canada , urging that the resolution above complained of should be ordered to remain in abeyanceuntil opportunithad been afforded of

as-, y certaining whether it was justified , or had been passed under erroneous information , or from misapprehension of facts . To this the M . W . the Grand Master of Canada , acting , as he states , on his own responsibility , at once assented , ancl has caused it to be notified to bis Deputy District Grand Master for Montreal , and through him to the brethren generally , that so much of the said report ancl resolution of the Grand Lodge of Canada as related to the St . Lawrence Loclge , should be held in abeyance until the annual

communication of the said Grand Loclge to he holden in July next . The specific charges against the St . Lawrence Loclge , as stated by the M . W . the Grand Master of Canada , appear to be , that it is working in an irregular manner , and is de facto not a legal loclge . That it sent accredited representatives to assist at the origination of the Grand Lodge of Canada , and that it surrendered its English Warrant and affiliated with the Grand Loclge of Canada , and accepted , worked under , and elected and installed its officers under authority of a dispensation signed hy the Grand Master of Canada . That a portion only of its members subsequently received back the Enslish warrant from the Provincial Grand Master for Mnntre . il

and William Henry under the English constitution , in violation of an alleged solemn ancl well understood condition , that it was to be returned to England , aud recommenced to work under it . There appears no doubt but that a delegate on the part of the St . Lawrence Lodge was appointed , ancl did attend the meeting above alluded to , ancl which took place at Hamilton , in the month of October , 1855 ; hut the complainants deny that such delegate had authority to bind the lodge to the movement ; and it does not

appear , from the evidence before the Board , that the said lodge ever subsequently ratified the acts of such delegate : on the contrary , the said loclge appears in the month of February , 1856 , to have been working under their English Warrant . The allegation as to the surrender by the St . Lawrence Lodge of their English Warrant appears to be negatived by the very able Report made by the R . W . Bro . William Ba . lgley , Provincial Grand Master for Montrealand William Henry under the English

Con-, stitution , which details the proceedings taken by him in his official capacity in November , 1855 , in reference to the lodges in his district . He states that lie summoned the Masters of the lodges in his district to appear before him with their Warrant and Minute Books for production , and not for tho surrender of the Warrants ; and that , after temporary detention for examination , the Warrant and Minute Books werein strict conformity with Masonic law and

, usage , returned to the continuing members of the lodges respectively , upon their formal application for them as their rightful owners ancl custodiers . Bro . Badgley states that the Warrants were returned to the several lodges in ' jun . uu-y in 1856 . It appears that the only member of the St . Lawrence Loclge ( which it is stated to have consisted iu 1855 of about 40 members ) who actually seceded and joined the Grand Lodge of Canada , was the

then W . Master . It appears to the Board probable , that this brother _ may have delivered the Warrant of the loclge to the Provincial Grand Master , with the intention of committing the loclge to the movement ; but this , if done , would appear to havo been clone purely of his own motion , and not pursuant to any resolution come to by this loclge , and the Book of Constitutions gives the Master no to bind the locl b and in the

power ge y so doing , opinion of the Board the Warrant " remained the property of the lodge , ancl was rightly delivered liy the Provincial Grand Master to the continuing members of the lodge on their application , and the said English Warrant has ever since continued in the possession of the said St . Lawrence Lodge , No . 023 .

It seems that between November , 1855 , and January , 1856 , tbe seceding member of the St . Lawrence Loclge above referred to , being the then W . Master , did obtani a dispensation from the body which was then in formation , ancl which subsequently resulted in the Grand Lodge of Canada , and under such dispensation did bold meetings during the period when the Warrant ancl Minute Books of the lodge were in the possession of the Provincial Grand

Master Badgley , and some of the members of the said loclge are stated to havo attended these meetings . There is no evidence before the Board as to what took place at these meetings , which were not held at the regular place of meeting ofthe St . Lawrence Lodge , No . 923 , nor in pursuance of any resolution passed thereat . In the opinion of the Bourd such meetings -were , so far as regards the said Loclge , No . 923 , wholly irregular and disconnected from the business ancl proceedings thereof .

Tho papers ancl documents connected with this ease are very voluminous , and have had careful perusal and consideration on the part of the Board , and the foregoing is an epitome of what appear the principal points . ¦ In a case so important as that under consideration , which involves a question between two independent Grand Lodges having cordial relations of amity with each other , the Board have considered it their duty to report the result of their labours thus far

for tho information of Grand Lodge , before again communicating witb the authorities of the Grand Lodge of Canada . They propose , if it meets with the sanction of Grand Lodge , to furnish the M . W . the Grand Master of Canada , as he requests , with a copy of Bro . Badgley ' s Report referred to as above , and also with copies of such other documents as may appear to the Board desirable , so that the

M . W . the Grand Master of Canada may be enabled to lay all the facts before his Grand Lodge at their Annual Communication in . July next , in the confident hope and belief that when that Grand . Loclge shall have hacl all the facts of the case before them , they will see the justice of rescinding the obnoxious Resolution , passed in July , 1860 , and again extend the right band of fellowship to the members ofthe St . Lawrence Lodge . The Board cannot conclude . their Report on this case without

respectfully expressing their admiration at the true Masonic spirit evinced by the M . W . the Grand ' Master of Canada , Bro . T . Douglas Harington , in so promptly suspending the operation of the resolution of his Grand Lodge , with which the brethren of the St .. Lawrence Lodge felt aggrieved , until the complaint of those brethren had been investigated by this Board , and this on his own responsibility . The Board feel that such a course of action is . worthy of the high character of Bro . Haringtonancl ofthe exalted

, position which he fills as Grand Master of Canada . A complaint has been received against the Union Lodge , No . 308 ,. Demcrara , for having elected to the oflice of Master a brother who hacl . not previously served the office of Warden in any loclge . The loclge having been communicated with , transmitted , as required , a certified copy of the minutes with reference to the election of officers .. The offence was admitted , but the Master pleaded in extenuation that no Past Master ofthe lodge would take the officethat he had

, already served for two years , ancl that the Wardens were absent .. Tlio Board severely censured the loclge for so serious a breach ofthe law , ancl informed the W . Master that the election as above was null and void , and that he { still continued Master , and as such responsible for airy further irregularities .

( Signed ) J . LLEWELITI * EVANS , President . At the regular Meeting of the Colonial Board held the 7 th instant ,, it was resolved unanimously : " That the warmest thanks of the Board are due to their President , the Worshipful Bro . J . Llewellyn Evans , for the zeal ho has shown in discharging the duties devolving

on him , for his regular attendance at the stated and special meetings of tho Board during the past Masonic year , ancl for the courtesy arid urbanity which helms ever manifested towards every memberof the Board . "

( Signed ) NICHOLAS B RADFORD , Freemasons' Hall , 22 nd May , 1861 . 7 ice-President . The Annual Report of the Royal Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and their Widows will bo laid before the Grand Lodge , in which there are the following proposed alterations of the laws :

1 st . "That Article 4 , page 17 , of the Rules and Regulations for . Widows' Fund , be altered as follows , viz ., to omit the words ' not exceeding the age of 65 years , £ 15 ; ' and 'from 65 to 70 years £ 20 / and insert in place thereof , ' from the age of 55 to 70 years , £ 20 . '" 2 nd . " That Article 4 , page 17 , be suspended , so fur as relates to Female Annuitants . it present receivin ; ' £ 15 , and that for the future their Annuities be increased to £ 20 . "

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