Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

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

FREEDOM OF DISCUSSION . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I am glad to observo that you did not miss the opportunity of replying to tho remarks of tho Evening News , in which a writer would endeavour to gag the interchange of opinion on matters of Masonic interest . Of what possible value is a Masonic

Press unless it is indeed made and used as tho vehicle for tho free discussion of such snbjects are as inseparably bound up with Freemasonry ? I venture to believo that amongst tho groat body of Masons there are many who are truly indebted to your journal , abovo all others , for information on many points in Masonry of which thoy

would be otherwise ignorant , and for many suggestions and hints also that have proved an invaluable help to them in their Masonic career . I do not often " rush into print , " especially on a trivial subject , but I wish to thank yon and your intelligent correspondents who afford us weekly such valuable menus of instruction and

entertainmont . It may be that occasionally the wieldors of the peu evince a little more of the heroic aud the cantankerous than there is any necessity for ; but of course people who " go in " for literary boxing must be prepared to give and tako . It is almost always the case that the writer who hits hardest in the way of personality is the

first to cry out when he is castigated for his temerity ; but so fai from the general readers being offended by these pen and ink tournaments , I believo they aro rather sources of amusement than otherwise . It is always well that writers—and especially Masonic writers—should remember that forbearance is magnanimous , and

that abuse is not argument . If this were borno steadily in mind , I think there would be much less acerbity in the effusions which have called forth the strictnres of your evening contemporary . As a rulo , I believe correspondents write with the intention of benefitting the Craft in any possible way they can ; and personalities , though they do

occasionally appear " between the lines , aro not ii . tended in any unfriendly spirit . It is with this sentiment that I write to thank you for your expressed determination to continue—in spite of an endeavour to stop it—to afford your renders the best and only means at their disposal of interchanging thoughts aud ideas relative to the cause we have all so much at heart .

I remain , Dear Sir and Brother , Faithfully yours , JUNIOR WARDEN .

Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —By an unfortunate oversight on the part of one of my clerks an item of £ 200 lis , music money , was omitted from the statement of our receipts for 1884 . Below is a corrected statement .

Yours faithfully and fraternally , F . B , W . HEDGES .

Statement of Receipts for 1884 . £ B d Dividends ( 3 quartors ) ... . 915 0 0 ,, Sustentation Fund , six months . - 173 11 11 Donations .... 13 , 051 4 7 Grand Lodgo ...... 150 0 0

Grand Chapter - - . . - 10 10 0 Do . Special ..... 500 0 0 Legacies - - - - - 95 0 0 Music mouey ----.. 200 11 0 Sale of Book of Subscribers - - . . 1 15 0 „ Old Stores - - - - . 1 17 6 15 , 129 10 0

The Boys' School.

THE BOYS' SCHOOL .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Tho idea propounded by Bro . Binckes , of starting an annual subscription in Lodges and Chapters on behalf of the Boys' Preparatory School , is by no means a new one , but has been urged over and over again in many parts of tho country , and

more especially in tho East Biding of Yorkshire , where I resided some years . 1 well remember that this was a favourite theme with that active and excellent Mason Dr . John Pearson Bell , tho Deputy Grand Master of that Province , who never lost an opportunity of reminding the brethren of how much could be done for tho Charities of the

Craft provided each would make up his mind to contribute , if even only a shilling per annum , toward some definite object in connection with Freemasonry . But , somehow or other , the idea does not appear to have taken root in anything like a general sense , as was proved

by the statistics quoted in Bro . Biuckes ' s circular . These figures certaiuly do appear rather bald as to any sveady and constant effort ; but we must not forget that there are many aud continual demands upon the purses of individual members of tho Craft which

The Boys' School.

do not appear upon the surface , and which , in these exceptionally depressed times , we must endeavour not unnecessarily to increase . There can bo no doubt that in every branch of commercial industry there is just now an unusual strain , nor do the appearances of trade at home and abroad afford much hope of immediate improvement .

Still there may bo , and no doubt is , in most Lodges some department in which " retrenchment and reform " could be put to some practical test ; at any rate to the extent of placing at the disposal of the executive of the Boys' School the necessary guinea per annum whioh Bro . Binckes , with more than his accustomed modesty , asks for for

this exceptioual purpose . I see it hinted that a Collector might with advantage be appointed for the Boys' Institution , similar to the course which has been so successfully adopted with regard to the

Benevolent Institution . This seems to me to be a forcible and sensible course to adopt , for none of us would begrudge the comparatively small coin which would be earned by a zealous and industrious brother who could make it his business

to induce others to take an active interest- in any of our Charitable Institutions . It is perhaps loo much to expect that individual brethren should expend more of their time and labour than they do already in advocating the claims of our respective Charities ; if they do so of their own free will and accord some recognition of

their extra and exceptional services should , as you have pointed out , be made . As a rule , however , brethren who undertake such duties do so as a labour of love , and to exemplify their interest and solicitude for the welfare of the Craft to which they belong . I would that no such sentiment should be stultified or even infringed upon by the

appointment of a Collector ; aud , in point of fact , I do not believe such an officer would be regarded in that light . Eather would his efforts supplement the private exertions of brethren who may not be able to devote as much time to the work as they might desire ; and tho attendance of a representative of the Committee at our Lodge

meetings wonld stimulate brethren into increased exertions who could not bo approached by those who voluntarily undertake the task of raising funds for any specific purpose . It is a delicate question perhaps to be dealt with in print , especially in the face of the opinions recently expressed , and which have elicited from yourself

some sound and sensible views on the matter of " freedom of discussion " on Masonic snbjects ; but still I see no more direct manner of impressing it upon the attention of the officers and members of Lodges than through the columns of an organ which is both professedly and in realitv identified with the Craft , and devoted to the

interchange of Masonic views . I shall feel it my duty to bring the snbject of annual subscriptions and the appointment of a Collector on behalf of the Boys' School prominently before the members of my own Lodgo on the first convenient opportunity , and sincerely trust that other rulers of Lodges will accept the very practical hints and

suggestions with which you supplied us in your leading article last week . I write this in the anticipation that your " Word in Season " may bo productive of such practical resnlts that Bro . Binckes and his fellow workers on behalf of tho Boys' Preparatory School may feel that they havo not expended their labour in vain .

I am , Dear Sir and Brother , Fraternally yours , A PROVINCIAL W . M .

Mark Masonry—Instruction—Grand Master's Lodge.

MARK MASONRY—INSTRUCTION—GRAND MASTER'S LODGE .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Under this heading I read in the Freemason this morning a startling account of proceedings , affording another instanco of tho reliability of press communications . I have no wish to claim any prominence for myself , am quite

pre-.. pared to be forgotten in due course , but not to submit to be quietly effaced whilst still in the flesh . Considering that at the meeting of which your contemporary professes to givo a report , I was in my place , in pursuance of my

promise to attend ; that I opened tho Lodge , rehearsed the ceremonies of consecration and installation , and afterwards presided at supper , I am utterly lost in amazement at being completely blotted out . Let me assure you , however , that I am still ,

Yours faithfully and fraternally , FREDERICK BINCKES . London , 9 th January 1885 .

" Stop My Paper !"

" STOP MY PAPER !"

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —This is an awful penalty , inflicted by thin-skinned subscribers to a newspaper upon the journalist who has tho courage of his opinions , and who tolerates in his columns perfect " freedom of discussion . " So long as tho Editor is mealy-mouthed

and handles I 113 subjects in a gingerly and kid-glove manner , he may expect that nobody will find offence with his mild and insipid platitudes . But immediately in the consciousness of hi 3 own intelligcnt strength ho ventures upou views aud opinions with which some fastidions reader may not entirely agree , down comes the

" awful avalanche from some indignant subscriber , winding up with the injunction above quoted . It is no doubt very familiar to you , Sir , as it is to most other journalists , and it goes to show what an abject bck there is of moral courage on the part of certain

individuals who must have it all their own way , and cannot bear to listen to an expression of view which is ever so little in disagreement with their own . Such people ought to have a paper printed and published for their own especial behoof , and better still , they should try the