Caution And Charity.

he can offer without detriment to himself or connections to prevent a repetition of these unkind remarks . In conclusion , we may mention that we are personally anxious to see Bro . Ace released from his present unfortunate condition , and we , therefore , refer our readers to the

letter of Bro . Saunders , which appears in another column , with a request that they will assist in the object Bro . Saunders has in view , —the restoring to Dr . Ace the furniture and other effects of which he has been—we hope but temporarily—deprived .

Uniformity Of Masonic Ritual And Observance.

UNIFORMITY OF MASONIC RITUAL AND OBSERVANCE .

THE publication of a work bearing the above title , by our esteemed correspondent , Bro . James Stevens , appears to have greatly exercised the minds of some members of the Craft , as well as those who were favourable to the movement commenced some years ago , and those who now object to any sort of interference with the present working

of Freemasonry . Doubtless there is much to be said on behalf of each of these parties . It is , nevertheless , none the less necessary , nay , probably , on that very account all essential , that some decision should be arrived at as to what really is meant by the desired " Uniformity . " On the one

hand we have Craftsmen who declare that the " pure and unsullied system , " so forcibly expressed in the Articles of Union of 1813 , has been flagrantly violated , not only as regards mere verbiage , but also by the practice of that which is inconsistent with our system of morality . On the other , there are those who insist that there has been

neither diversity nor innovation beyond what is pardonable and innocuous , and has been permitted by recognised authority . It is our province , as journalists , to hold our " scale of justice with equal poise , " and whether we please or offend we shall bring to the consideration of this

question a mind perfectly unbiassed by friend or foe , and even " Our Own Correspondent" must not take amiss whatever , in the course of our argument , may not be in accordance with his way of thinking . Nor , on the other hand , should those who cannot agree with our reasonings take

umbrage thereat . As far as we can gather , from a diligent perusal of the book lately published , whilst Ave admit the value and importance of correct ritual , Ave do not find , taking that alone , a sufficient argument for tho , as it were , revolutionizing of the

present arrangements , and if the appeal for the interference of Grand Lodge rests only on the substitution of one method of communicating our traditions for others , which in some particular instances vary only in respect of verbiage , we hardly think that interference will

be accorded . But there may be , and probably there are , other matters connected Avith Lodge working which compel attention and alteration to prevent the groAvth and continuation of much that is , if not improper , still very inconsistent with the "pure and unsullied " system

and the remarks contained in a letter Avhich Ave publish in another column seems to assure us that these do really exist . If so , let them be fairly stated in the proper place for such statements , and we can have no doubt that if shown to be of the importance suggested , they Avill have

their weight in Grand Lodge . They should be , however , of no doubtful nature , and we think it only proper to advise the originator of this movement for " Uniformity " that he will be expected to produce sufficient cause for the inquiry he suggests before he can expect the appointment

of the Committee he asks for . Should he , however , bo enabled to "prove a case , " Ave think that the Craft generally should support his endeavours , and assist in that

work of purification which so many think necessary . To that end , Ave can see no objection to the ultimate formation of the Lodge of Preceptors in the manner proposed , ancl for the purposes stated .

HOUOWA- s OnmrnifT AND PIUS . —For the cure of burns , scalds , wounds and ulcers , this justly celebrated Ointment stands unrivalled . Its balsamic virtues immediately on application , lull the pain and smarting , protect the exposed nerves from the air , give to the vessels the vigour necessary to heal the sore and confer on the blnod a purity which permits it only to lay down healthy flesh in place of that destroyed . Holioway ' s Pills , simultaneously taken , must assist the Ointment ' s purifying and soothing power . Together these medicines act like a charm ; no invalid , after a fair trial , has found them fail to relieve his pain , or completely cure his disease . The combined action of the Ointment and Pills , in all disorders , is too irresistible to bo withstood ,

Correspondence

CORRESPONDENCE

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Cor . respondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . All Letters must bear the name awl address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith .

THE OLD CONCORD LODGE , No . 172 .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAK SIR AND BROTHER , —The W . M . of thia Lodge , Bro . Ganberfc has kindly notified to me that the date of their original warrant ia 14 th April 1768 ; but not having been sufficiently explicit in my inquiries , I have not yet learned at what tavern the Lodge met in the above year . Subject , however , to the further light which an

actual inspection of the warrant may shed npon the transaction , I think the case of this Lodge may be thus summed up : —The original constitution in 1764 must have been a dispensation from the Deputy Grand Master , as was the custom in those days [ and which I propose shortly to illustrate by some excerpts from old Lodge minutes ] . The actual warrant could not have been issued in the usual course , and

being applied for in 1768 , daring the Grand Secretaryship of Bro . French , who only held the office for a single year , it was probably , through the newly-appointed Grand Secretary ' s inexperience , or imperfect knowledge of what had transpired during the tenure of office of his predecessor , Bro . Samuel Spencer , dated at the period of actual signature and issue ? Colour is lent to this supposition from the

fact of the year 1768 being assigned to the Lodge in tho engraved list for 1769 only . It may be added that the description of No . 321 ( 1765-69 ) , viz . : — Pen ' s Coffee House , Castle-street , Leicester . fields , second and fourth Monday , is not only continuous from 1765 to 1769 , but is also identical ( tavern , locality , and day of meeting included ) with that of

No . 349 on the 1770 list . If indeed No . 324 ( 1769 ) is not No . 349 ( 1770 ) then , in racing language—a "double event" has to be explained , viz ., the introduction of a Lodge dated at 1768 , from a numeration ( 1756-69 ) in which it never appeared—and the lapse of another Lodge ( 324 ) in

the same numeration , which not only appeared on all lists from 1765 to 1769 , and was represented in Grand Lodge on 30 th Oct . 1767 , and if erased prior to the change of numbers , such fact would have ^ been recorded in the minutes of Grand Lodge . Yours fraternally ,

23 rd Oct . 1879 . E . F . GOULD

P . S . —Since writing the above , the W . M . of the "OLD CONCORD " has kindly obliged me with the following . — " The No . is 228 , and opened at Pon ' s Coffee TLoaso , Leicester Fields . " The specification of the place of meeting supplies the last link which wns wanting in the chain of connection between the No . 324 of 1769 and the No . 349 of 1770 . The number however [ 228 ] given by Bro . Gaubert is slightly

confusing , as the present OLD CONCOKD Lodgo [ No . 324 , 1769 ; No 349 , 1770 ; and No . 271 , 1781 ] was only placed at 228 at the change of numbers in . 1792 , and save for the assurance of Bros . Gaubert and Gladwell , that the warrant was an original I should havo thought it to have been either a " renewed warrant" or " a warrant of confirmation . "

" UNIFORMITY OIT MASONIC RITUAL AND OBSERVANCE . "

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —In a second notice by the Freemason of the above work , and which appeared in last Saturday ' s impression , the writer , after recapitulating facts in connection with ritual , from 1717 to 1813 , with which there are many more than himself thoroughly conversant , makes the following remarks : — " Thus any idea

that before tho Union there was any uniformity of working is alike a chimera and a myth , and subsequently to tho Union the Grand Lodge , by a wise toleration , has allowed—subject to uniformity of landmarks and aporretta—some pardonable and innocuous variations . Any attempt , therefore , to introduce an iron , or rather a leaden , uniformity , can only be productive of grave mischief , as it must inevitably lead to a reign of ' cribs' and ' crams , ' and that greatest of

all curses to Masonry—a printed ritual . As Freemasons , proud of our oral traditions , happy to meet in Lodges of Instruction , under skilful Preceptors , when any one is so rash as to endeavour to raise this needless and inopportune question , we fancy that an overwhelming majority of 'bright' Masons will prove that , uninfluenced by nonsensical bombast , or childish ignorance of the subject , they are determined to ' leave well alone . '"

I wish to answer these remarks , and must ask for space in your columns for that purpose . The main purport of my endeavours is either ignorautly or wilfully misunderstood . I maintain that the solemn Article of Union of 1813 ought to have been religiously preserved and carried out without such toleration of variations , whether " pardonable and innocuous , " as some may consider them , or the

contrary , as many others believe them to be . Theso latter , with myself , are as proud of our oral traditions as any member of our Order can be , and believe them to be fully comprised in the simple and beautiful working of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement , and , further , have no desire to vary the formula of 1813 , whatever that might

have been . Tbe same objection is entertained by them to printed rituals as that so forcibly expressed , although not , perhaps , in the most elegant terms , by lhe writer of the remarks I , in my turn , . criticise . The Grand Lodge has declared " there shall be the most perfect unity of working , " and I will prove , at the proper season , that that declaration is not observed . In the columns of a public journal I