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Correspondence.
similar . I shall not enter into the question of efficiency . I have no reason to believe that Bro . Hedges ia not equal to hia post . He evidently has the fullest confidence of the General Committee , and it is a significant fact that not only did Bro . Col . Creaton put himself to some inconvenience in order to vote for the increase of salary , but the proposition waa carried unanimously , and amid expressions of
warm congratulations . There is another view of the matter which has been lost sight of . It is true our Charities are flourishing , but it cannot be aaid that tho general prosperity of the country is at all what it ought to be , and the fear is that Charities will suffer as well as trade . It is not leas
true thafc the competition for situations is exceedingly keen at tho present time , that wages and salaries show a downward tendency , and that good men , fully able to fill almost any position , are nnable to find employment . With these facta ever present , it does seem to me that the General Committee of the Girls' School have been rather too eager to spend money , and to be needlessly generous . Yours fraternally , I . P . M .
GRAND MASTER SAYER . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I am obliged to Bro . H . Sadler P . M . for hia letter in your impression of the 29 th instant , but I certainly read the minute to signify that Sayer was reprimanded for attending what Grand Lodge would call a " clandestine or
irregular " Lodge ; and if Bro . Sadler would produce a copy of the paper signed by the therein-mentioned Master and Wardens , it would settle the question whether thafc or some other reason was the cause of the minute . My statement was mado from memory , and if that serves me rightly , my authority would be
Dr . Oliver , but I do not see what other interpretation Bro . Sadler can put npon the minute than that whioh I have given . I might have strengthened my last letter by referring ; to the 1765 list ; of Lodges of the "Ancient" Masons . These maybe found printed in the " Freemasons' Magazine and Masonio Mirror , " 19 th of June 18 . 69 . In it there are two Lodges dating prior to 1721 , as follows : —
' 1 . Queens Arms , St . Pauls Churchyard , Second Wednesday . Constituted Time Immemorial . Every fourth Wednesday there is a Masters' Lodge . It is also the West India and American Lodge . " " 2 . Horn , Westminster , second Thursday . " Yours truly and fraternally ,
JOHN YARKER P . M . & o . P . S . In my Lecture I only aaid— " Even their Grand Master was prohibited from visiting these Lodges , " as I conaidered the matter to be of very small importance at the timo ; now , however , it ia as well to ascertain all the facts if we can get afc them . J . Y .
THE GREAT HALL . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Ifc is , perhaps , idle to discuss the practicability or otherwise of an enlarged Temple in the face of the decision of Graud Lodge , and yet the time ia comparatively shorta little over five years—when this and other matters connected with Freemasons' Hall will come up for consideration again ; thafc is , if it
is to be taken for granted fchafc those brethren who resist any change remain of the same mind as at present . I have great respect for the opinion of Bro . Havers ; hia experience and his practical knowledge entitle him to speak with authority , bnt I confess I cannot altogether follow him with regard to this subject of a great Hall . No doubt it would be difficult to construct a building capable of seating 1500
persons in which all could hear and be heard , but wonlcl not the same difficulty arise in the Albert Hall , which he recommends should be hired on special occasions ? It is better to hear aa well aa to see , but there is an advantage in seeing without hearing even . Few go to Grand Lodge to speak , and surely those who do might be placed in a favourable position , and the acoustic properties of the building so
ordered aa to enable them to be heard . I do not expect to often see such an assemblage of the brethren as met on tbe occasion of the last Quarterly Communication , but I do anticipate that the Craft will meet in sufficient numbers as to demonstrate the face that the Temple is not large enough to carry on the business of Grand Lodge with the comfort and dignity which are demanded . It should bo remembered
that tho Craft is growing ; ifc ia also important to bear in mind that building operations are always more expensive when carrier ! out piecemeal than as a whole . I know there ia the difficulty with regard to the cost in connection with the leaseholders , and so far as they are concerned , I am glad thafc Grand Lodge refused tlie terms that were laid before them . Bro . Havera killed that project ontrisjht ,
in an nble and vi gorous speech . Bnt what doe .-i he mean when ho Says : "There is time to consider , before the leases expire , what further extension or alteration may be desirable , and when that is to be determined on I would hope that the first consideration will be how ¦ we can so add to onr building as to promote the greater convenience ana corafort of the Craft ? " Ho speaks of " leases . " There are only
. . Jat or mother . Bacon , now nearly within five years of its termination , and that of Messrs . Spiers and Pond , which has something like twonty-eight years to run . Are we , then , to wait for nearly a quarter of a century after the expiration of Bro . Bacon ' s lease before providing for the enlargement of the Temple ? If not , how is the monetary and other difficulties to be overcome with Messrs . Spiers and Pond ? I fear G . Ledge aro shelving a difficult matter . They do not
Correspondence.
seem to recognise the possibilities of the near future , and I doubt very much whether they altogether realise the position . Grand Lodgo having determined to rebuild tho old Temple , there is nothing now to bo done but to submit . As , however , the future has been referred to , and as there ia evidently a feeling that something will have to be done at somo time or other , it is just as well to know what is meant . I should
liko Bro . Havers , or some other brother , who can speak with authority , to formulate their views . For example . Ia anything to be done ? —if so , what ?—when Bro . Bacon ' s lease falls in ? A ro tho premises in hia occupation to bore-leased for similar purposes for a timo coordinate with the lease of Messrs . Spiers and Pond ? If tho latter course ia to bo followed , then there ia an end to the matter , for a
quarter of a century ia too far to look ahead . If something ia to be done five or six years hence , then it is desirable that some inkling shonld be given of what that something is to be , and not , Micawborlike , wait for something to turn up . I am not anxious to thrust American institutions before English Freemasons , but sometimes a lesson can be learned from our brethren on the other side of the Atlantic . Bro . Elliott , No . 188 , a few
months ago , wrote to your contemporary , and in his letter waa the following paragraph : — "In New York there is a Masonio Temple , spacious and symbolical , comfortably seating in the Grand Lodge room over 1000 persons . " Ho doea not say whether the brethren there can hear and be heard , but as he wrote in favour of an enlarged Temple for ourselves , he clonbtleas was of opinion that tho accommodation was complete in that respect . Iu conclusion , I may say that we have not yet reached finality with regard to the science of sound . Yours fraternally , WATCHMAN .
GETTING MIXED . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —That was a happy hit on the part of Bro . Binckes when he secured the Marquis of Londonderry to preside at the Boys' Festival in 1882 , and the trip to Brighton , where the gathering took place , is still fresh in the memory of many who were present . Your contemporary must be among this number , or he
never would have confounded the noble Marquis of Londonderry with the Right Hon . Viscount Holmesdale , Right Worshipful Prov . Grand Master of Kent , who really did preside afc the Boya' Featival , held at the Crystal Palace on the 20 th June last . This confusion of names and dates would be almost unpardonable at any other time * as it is we musfc attribute the blunder to Old Father Christmas , who
if he does help to make people a little "fou , has to bear the sins , faults , and failings that follow . No doubt the writer had the Brighton gathering before his mind , •perhaps he was indulging in a day dream j or , more likely still , his digestion was out of order , and with it his memory for the time being , so he wrote down
Londonderry for Holmesdale . Having accounted for the writer , may I ask , how came the reader and the rest of the staff of the Freemason to pass so absurd a blunder ? I must answer for them , as for the writer—all were a little "fou , " and all the fault of that hoary old sinner Father Christmas . Yours , & o . FACTS ,
MUNICIPAL LONDON . To the Editor of the FREEJIASON ' S CHRONICLE . SIR , —Nothing ia more marvellous in these times than the rapidity with which great pnblic questions become ripe for legislation . When a year ago the City waa startled by some portentous announcement of the probable elements of the coming measure for a London municipality , our fears were quieted by the assurance that ifc was nothing
but a weak invention of the enemy . The City always had been a match for any attempts to give London the power of self-government . Since thou a year has passed . The snbject has been thoroughly discussed , till resolutions have been carried everywhere , showing that the nation has made up its mind upon the matter . The public demand that a complete measure shall next session be put ou the
statute book . To be or not to be ia no longer the question . Our bnainess ia now to determine the form ifc shall take . In all the recent wardmotes the City Fathers have objected to the magnitude of one great solid Corporation . They declare that no men could work it successfully . Now we have an alternative in the Municipality of Paris . Instead of going from the centre of our four millions of
people throngh Committees to the circumference , Pans begins from the circumference founded upon universal suffrage under the ballot , and cuts the city into twenty arrondissements of about one hundred thousand each . For these divisions separate bodies control all the local pnblic interests of its own section , and send up a grand council to the centre , who discharge the higher functions of
regulating ancl carrying out all measures common to the whole of the metropolis . They control , for instance , the supply of water , the lighting , the markets , and even the fetes ancl festivals . And well they do their noble work . They take iu baud all we do and a great deal more . For they regulate and manage all the parks and gardens , and every year or two they invite the world to
somo great international exhibition conducted m a masterly style , concluded with eclat , and usually crowned with a handsome surplus . To thia the Paris artizans have free access without charge , at convenient times of an evening , or on the Sunday afternoons . Last year the municipality voted nineteen millions and
a half of francs for tho elementary education of Paris , which is by law universal , compulsory , and gratuitous . In addition bo which for higher educational purposes they voted about ten millions of francs for tho encouragement of a diffusion of knowledge in the natural sciences , the fine arts , and technical instruction for every branch of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence.
similar . I shall not enter into the question of efficiency . I have no reason to believe that Bro . Hedges ia not equal to hia post . He evidently has the fullest confidence of the General Committee , and it is a significant fact that not only did Bro . Col . Creaton put himself to some inconvenience in order to vote for the increase of salary , but the proposition waa carried unanimously , and amid expressions of
warm congratulations . There is another view of the matter which has been lost sight of . It is true our Charities are flourishing , but it cannot be aaid that tho general prosperity of the country is at all what it ought to be , and the fear is that Charities will suffer as well as trade . It is not leas
true thafc the competition for situations is exceedingly keen at tho present time , that wages and salaries show a downward tendency , and that good men , fully able to fill almost any position , are nnable to find employment . With these facta ever present , it does seem to me that the General Committee of the Girls' School have been rather too eager to spend money , and to be needlessly generous . Yours fraternally , I . P . M .
GRAND MASTER SAYER . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I am obliged to Bro . H . Sadler P . M . for hia letter in your impression of the 29 th instant , but I certainly read the minute to signify that Sayer was reprimanded for attending what Grand Lodge would call a " clandestine or
irregular " Lodge ; and if Bro . Sadler would produce a copy of the paper signed by the therein-mentioned Master and Wardens , it would settle the question whether thafc or some other reason was the cause of the minute . My statement was mado from memory , and if that serves me rightly , my authority would be
Dr . Oliver , but I do not see what other interpretation Bro . Sadler can put npon the minute than that whioh I have given . I might have strengthened my last letter by referring ; to the 1765 list ; of Lodges of the "Ancient" Masons . These maybe found printed in the " Freemasons' Magazine and Masonio Mirror , " 19 th of June 18 . 69 . In it there are two Lodges dating prior to 1721 , as follows : —
' 1 . Queens Arms , St . Pauls Churchyard , Second Wednesday . Constituted Time Immemorial . Every fourth Wednesday there is a Masters' Lodge . It is also the West India and American Lodge . " " 2 . Horn , Westminster , second Thursday . " Yours truly and fraternally ,
JOHN YARKER P . M . & o . P . S . In my Lecture I only aaid— " Even their Grand Master was prohibited from visiting these Lodges , " as I conaidered the matter to be of very small importance at the timo ; now , however , it ia as well to ascertain all the facts if we can get afc them . J . Y .
THE GREAT HALL . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Ifc is , perhaps , idle to discuss the practicability or otherwise of an enlarged Temple in the face of the decision of Graud Lodge , and yet the time ia comparatively shorta little over five years—when this and other matters connected with Freemasons' Hall will come up for consideration again ; thafc is , if it
is to be taken for granted fchafc those brethren who resist any change remain of the same mind as at present . I have great respect for the opinion of Bro . Havers ; hia experience and his practical knowledge entitle him to speak with authority , bnt I confess I cannot altogether follow him with regard to this subject of a great Hall . No doubt it would be difficult to construct a building capable of seating 1500
persons in which all could hear and be heard , but wonlcl not the same difficulty arise in the Albert Hall , which he recommends should be hired on special occasions ? It is better to hear aa well aa to see , but there is an advantage in seeing without hearing even . Few go to Grand Lodge to speak , and surely those who do might be placed in a favourable position , and the acoustic properties of the building so
ordered aa to enable them to be heard . I do not expect to often see such an assemblage of the brethren as met on tbe occasion of the last Quarterly Communication , but I do anticipate that the Craft will meet in sufficient numbers as to demonstrate the face that the Temple is not large enough to carry on the business of Grand Lodge with the comfort and dignity which are demanded . It should bo remembered
that tho Craft is growing ; ifc ia also important to bear in mind that building operations are always more expensive when carrier ! out piecemeal than as a whole . I know there ia the difficulty with regard to the cost in connection with the leaseholders , and so far as they are concerned , I am glad thafc Grand Lodge refused tlie terms that were laid before them . Bro . Havera killed that project ontrisjht ,
in an nble and vi gorous speech . Bnt what doe .-i he mean when ho Says : "There is time to consider , before the leases expire , what further extension or alteration may be desirable , and when that is to be determined on I would hope that the first consideration will be how ¦ we can so add to onr building as to promote the greater convenience ana corafort of the Craft ? " Ho speaks of " leases . " There are only
. . Jat or mother . Bacon , now nearly within five years of its termination , and that of Messrs . Spiers and Pond , which has something like twonty-eight years to run . Are we , then , to wait for nearly a quarter of a century after the expiration of Bro . Bacon ' s lease before providing for the enlargement of the Temple ? If not , how is the monetary and other difficulties to be overcome with Messrs . Spiers and Pond ? I fear G . Ledge aro shelving a difficult matter . They do not
Correspondence.
seem to recognise the possibilities of the near future , and I doubt very much whether they altogether realise the position . Grand Lodgo having determined to rebuild tho old Temple , there is nothing now to bo done but to submit . As , however , the future has been referred to , and as there ia evidently a feeling that something will have to be done at somo time or other , it is just as well to know what is meant . I should
liko Bro . Havers , or some other brother , who can speak with authority , to formulate their views . For example . Ia anything to be done ? —if so , what ?—when Bro . Bacon ' s lease falls in ? A ro tho premises in hia occupation to bore-leased for similar purposes for a timo coordinate with the lease of Messrs . Spiers and Pond ? If tho latter course ia to bo followed , then there ia an end to the matter , for a
quarter of a century ia too far to look ahead . If something ia to be done five or six years hence , then it is desirable that some inkling shonld be given of what that something is to be , and not , Micawborlike , wait for something to turn up . I am not anxious to thrust American institutions before English Freemasons , but sometimes a lesson can be learned from our brethren on the other side of the Atlantic . Bro . Elliott , No . 188 , a few
months ago , wrote to your contemporary , and in his letter waa the following paragraph : — "In New York there is a Masonio Temple , spacious and symbolical , comfortably seating in the Grand Lodge room over 1000 persons . " Ho doea not say whether the brethren there can hear and be heard , but as he wrote in favour of an enlarged Temple for ourselves , he clonbtleas was of opinion that tho accommodation was complete in that respect . Iu conclusion , I may say that we have not yet reached finality with regard to the science of sound . Yours fraternally , WATCHMAN .
GETTING MIXED . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —That was a happy hit on the part of Bro . Binckes when he secured the Marquis of Londonderry to preside at the Boys' Festival in 1882 , and the trip to Brighton , where the gathering took place , is still fresh in the memory of many who were present . Your contemporary must be among this number , or he
never would have confounded the noble Marquis of Londonderry with the Right Hon . Viscount Holmesdale , Right Worshipful Prov . Grand Master of Kent , who really did preside afc the Boya' Featival , held at the Crystal Palace on the 20 th June last . This confusion of names and dates would be almost unpardonable at any other time * as it is we musfc attribute the blunder to Old Father Christmas , who
if he does help to make people a little "fou , has to bear the sins , faults , and failings that follow . No doubt the writer had the Brighton gathering before his mind , •perhaps he was indulging in a day dream j or , more likely still , his digestion was out of order , and with it his memory for the time being , so he wrote down
Londonderry for Holmesdale . Having accounted for the writer , may I ask , how came the reader and the rest of the staff of the Freemason to pass so absurd a blunder ? I must answer for them , as for the writer—all were a little "fou , " and all the fault of that hoary old sinner Father Christmas . Yours , & o . FACTS ,
MUNICIPAL LONDON . To the Editor of the FREEJIASON ' S CHRONICLE . SIR , —Nothing ia more marvellous in these times than the rapidity with which great pnblic questions become ripe for legislation . When a year ago the City waa startled by some portentous announcement of the probable elements of the coming measure for a London municipality , our fears were quieted by the assurance that ifc was nothing
but a weak invention of the enemy . The City always had been a match for any attempts to give London the power of self-government . Since thou a year has passed . The snbject has been thoroughly discussed , till resolutions have been carried everywhere , showing that the nation has made up its mind upon the matter . The public demand that a complete measure shall next session be put ou the
statute book . To be or not to be ia no longer the question . Our bnainess ia now to determine the form ifc shall take . In all the recent wardmotes the City Fathers have objected to the magnitude of one great solid Corporation . They declare that no men could work it successfully . Now we have an alternative in the Municipality of Paris . Instead of going from the centre of our four millions of
people throngh Committees to the circumference , Pans begins from the circumference founded upon universal suffrage under the ballot , and cuts the city into twenty arrondissements of about one hundred thousand each . For these divisions separate bodies control all the local pnblic interests of its own section , and send up a grand council to the centre , who discharge the higher functions of
regulating ancl carrying out all measures common to the whole of the metropolis . They control , for instance , the supply of water , the lighting , the markets , and even the fetes ancl festivals . And well they do their noble work . They take iu baud all we do and a great deal more . For they regulate and manage all the parks and gardens , and every year or two they invite the world to
somo great international exhibition conducted m a masterly style , concluded with eclat , and usually crowned with a handsome surplus . To thia the Paris artizans have free access without charge , at convenient times of an evening , or on the Sunday afternoons . Last year the municipality voted nineteen millions and
a half of francs for tho elementary education of Paris , which is by law universal , compulsory , and gratuitous . In addition bo which for higher educational purposes they voted about ten millions of francs for tho encouragement of a diffusion of knowledge in the natural sciences , the fine arts , and technical instruction for every branch of