Quarterly Communication 1961
Extract from the Proceedings of a Quarterly Communication of District Grand Lodge held at Zetland Hall, Kennedy Road, Hong Kong on Thursday, 23rd February, 1961.
(The District was honoured at this Communication by the presence of the M.W. Grand Master Mason, Bro. The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Eglington and Winton, T.D., V.L., B.A., and the R.W. Grand Secretary, Bro. Dr. A. F. Buchan, M.B.E., B.Sc., Ph.D., F.R.S.E.).
Entry of the M.W. Grand Master Mason
The M.W. Grand Master Mason, Bro. The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Eglinton and Winton, T.D., V.L., B.A., accompanied by Bro. Alexander F. Buchan, M.B.E., B.Sc., Ph.D., F.H.S.E., entered the Lodge. They were accompanied by the following Deputation of Officers:—
| Bro. S. M. Perry, Hon. J.G.D. | Acting Senior Grand Warden |
| H. K. H. Long, Hon. J.G.D. | Acting Junior Grand Warden |
| A. Gillard, Hon. G. Marshal | Acting Grand Sword Bearer |
| P. W. Hogg, Hon. G. Marshal | Acting Grand Inner Guard |
| G. Arliss, P.D.G.W. | Acting Grand D. of C. |
| M. Mackenzie, S.D.G.W. | Acting Grand Piper |
The R.W. District Grand Master welcomed the MW. Grand Master Mason and tendered to him the gavel of District Grand Lodge, which the MW. Grand Master Mason returned to the R.W. District Grand Master in order that he might continue the business of District Grand Lodge.
Installation of S.D.G.M.
The R.W. District Grand Master then obligated Bro. John Louis Marden, M.A. as Substitute District Grand Master and afterwards invested him with his collar of office and presented him with his Patent of Office. The W. District Grand Director of Ceremonies then proclaimed Bro. J. L. Marden as Substitute District Grand Master and called upon the brethren to salute him as Master Masons.
Correspondence
The District Grand Secretary rend the following cable which had just been received,
“Please convey to the Most Worshipful Grand Master Mason an expression of our loyal greetings and good wishes on this auspicious occasion.
Lodge Hiogo and Osaka No. 498”
Apologies were also read from the following members of District Grand Lodge regretting their inability to attend the Communication.
| From Japan: | Bros. W. Lackie, Hon.G.B.B., H. H. Kulpe, G. J. Mesnooh, V. L. Gal, M. V. Fachtmann, K. O. Robinson, K. C. Miller, R. A. Robinson, H. E. Bakhash, O. W. Taudien, G. W. Gregory E. V. Bernard, J. C. Calderwood, H. M. Amram, H. Colton, G. H. Fachtmann, H. R. Romane and H. W. N. Child. |
| From Korea: | Bros. P. Brashier, Chung Oo Rhee. |
| From Germany: | Bro. P. H. Dale. |
| From England: | Bro. A. A. Dean. |
| From Hong Kong: | Bros. P. J. Hope and C. E. J. Eather. |
Roll of Lodges
The District Grand Secretary called the Roll of Lodges in the District and greetings were given by all Daughter Lodges in the District to the M.W. Grand Master Mason and the R.W. District Grand Master.
Welcome to the M.W. Grand Master Mason
The R.W. District Grand Master rose and welcomed the M.W. Grand Master Mason. He said that in the fifty-seven years since the formation of the District we had envied those more fortunate Districts who had been able to have personal contact with Officers of Grand Lodge. We had realized that until fairly recent times long seavoyages had precluded visits to the Far East, but now what formerly was a remote District was within measurable distance of Scotland, and thanks to the Great Architect of the Universe we may become better known to each other. In 1955 we had the honour to be visited, in a private capacity, by Bro. The Earl of Balfour, (Grand Master Mason in 1939–1942), but we had been looking forward eagerly for two years to the visit of the M.W. Grand Master Mason, and at last our great desire had been accomplished.
The presence of the M.W. Grand Master Mason did not bring us closer to Grand Lodge, for this was not possible. It did however bring to us the breath of the living presence of our beloved M.W. Grand Master Mason.
It was not possible in words to express the great joy which we all felt; we had talked of nothing else for so long, and now the realization of our wishes was almost too much for us to grasp.
More particularly we knew that the M.W. Grand Master Mason had spent the better part of a whole year seriously ill in hospital, and therefore to undertake such an arduous journey so soon afterwards was indeed something to bring home to each one of us the deep feeling the M.W. Grand Master Mason had for the Craft and for the brethren overseas.
The R.W. District Grand Master then also greeted Bro. A. F. Buchan, R.W. Grand Secretary, Bro. H. Owen Hughes, R.W.D.G.M. (E.C.), Bro. G. F. Rhodes, Grand Inspector for Hongkong, China & Malaya (I.C.) and Bro. W. L. E. Miller, R.W.D.G.M. (Mark).
He then handed the gavel of District Grand Lodge to the M.W. Grand Master Mason.
Address by the M.W. Grand Master Mason
The M.W. Grand Master Mason accepted the gavel and assumed the Throne of District Grand Lodge amidst loud applause.
The M.W. Grand Master Mason thanked the brethren for their very kind welcome and said that unfortunately it was two years too late. He apologised for the delay in his arrival duo to his plane from Bangkok being two hours late.
He said that now he was here at last it was a great joy to him, and that he much appreciated the wonderful personal welcome. He had not been well for two years, but since arriving in the Far East he had felt much better in health than for a very long time. This was his fifth long overseas tour, and on this occasion he had not only to look after the Grand Secretary but also his wife!
It had become customary in recent years, and he thought it was an excellent custom, to mark visits overseas by granting Honorary Grand Rank to distinguished brethren in the District, and on this occasion he wished to confer three new Honorary Grand Ranks upon brethren of the District of the Far East. They were:
| Bro. D. S. Hill, Hon. J.G.W., R.W. District Grand Master | Hon. Senior Grand Warden |
| Bro. J. L. Marden, W. Substitute District Grand Master | Hon. Junior Grand Deacon |
| Bro. T. W. Fripp, W. District Grand Secretary | Hon. Grand Architect |
(These announcements were greeted with long applause).
The M.W. Grand Master said that by the time he returned to Scotland he would have visited at various times 23 out of 24 District Grand Lodges in the World.
Although District Grand Lodges owed allegiance to Grand Lodge the duty of Grand Lodge was to serve, and to see if they could help in any way. The particular purpose of this visit was to tell brethren something about old Scottish Customs, the policies of Grand Lodge and to report to Grand Lodge what had been seen and heard overseas. Reports of great value were always taken hack home, and he had often thought that there were many Lodges in Scotland who would gain much benefit from visiting Lodges overseas.
There were two basic points which should always be kept in the minds of brethren, namely “Masonry Universal” and the “Level”.
“Masonry Universal” implied that masonry, as a brotherhood of man, without the influence of politics, brought races, castes and creeds together. This point had been particularly emphasised during the past three days whilst visiting Karachi, Delhi and Bangkok. The M.W. Grand Master Mason had seen more races, religions and creeds working together in complete harmony than ever before. This was also evident on the present occasion by simply looking around the Temple; together with the fact that on the following evening he would be installing a Chinese brother as Master of a Scottish Lodge.
If the present political troubles of South Africa were to be solved, Masonry would have had much to do with it.
Only the previous evening he had been present in a Scottish Lodge in Bangkok which only numbered two Scots amongst its members, bu had brethren of five different religions and four different races, and he had installed a Dane into the Chair.
It was terribly significant that every man in the Craft believed in God and in living a true moral life.
Some years ago the Scottish Lodges in Israel offered to return their Charters if a Grand Lodge of Israel could be erected. At the time there was in existence an unrecognised Grand Lodge in the Country, whose Daughter Lodges also wished to regularize their position. A Deputation headed by Bro. The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, K.T., Past Grand Master, was sent from the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1953 to consecrate and erect an independent Grand Lodge, and to-day in Israel the Masonic Lodges under the new Grand Lodge were the only places where Arab and Jew could sit together in perfect harmony. Was it not worth being a Mason?
A further example was the celebration of the Bi-centenary of the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands. During the Second World War the Netherlands had been invaded, masonry suppressed and the Grand Master sent to a Concentration Camp. Yet there, at the Reception given by the Queen, he had seen sitting on a settee drinking coffee, the Queen in the centre, with the Grand Master of the Netherlands on her left hand side, and the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of Germany on her right. Only Masonry could have achieved that.
We must never forget that no matter who we were in our private lives, or in the Craft we all belonged in the same place—on the “Level”. It was necessary to have ranks in Masonry for administrative reasons, but in the sight of God no one ranked higher than any other.
As a glorious example the MW. Grand Master Mason quoted the late King George VI, who as H.R.H. The Duke of York affiliated to the Scottish Constitution in 1936 in Lodge Glamis, No. 99, a tiny village Lodge. He was obligated not by the M.W. Grand Master Mason, or by a member of the Royal Household, but by the village postman. It was a wonderful moment to see the Heir to the British Throne kneeling on both knees with his hands on the Book, on the “Level” with all those present. This example should keep everyone humble at all times.
The M.W. Grand Master Mason then handed the gavel of District Grand Lodge back to the R.W. District Grand Master.
Addresses of Welcome
Bro. H. Owen Hughes, R.W.D.G.M. (E.C.), Bro. G. F. Rhodes, Grand Inspector for H.K., China & Malaya (I.C.) and Bro. W. L. E. Miller, R.W.D.G.M. (Mark) then briefly thanked the R.W. District Grand Master for inviting them to be present on this historic occasion and greeted the M.W. Grand Master Mason on behalf of their respective Constitutions.
Grand Lodge Diplomas
At the invitation of the R.W. District Grand Master the M.W. Grand Master Mason presented Grand Lodge Diplomas as Honorary Junior Grand Deacon to Bros. H. K. H. Long and G. W. Colton.
Deputation Retires
The M.W. Grand Master Mason, accompanied by the R.W. Grand Secretary and his Deputation then retired from District Grand Lodge.