The New Grand Treasurer.

THE NEW GRAND TREASURER .

AS will be seen from our report elsewhere of Wednesday ' s meeting , the members of Grand Lodge , in tho

exercise of their undoubted right , elected a new Grand Treasurer in the person of Brother J . Derby Allcroft , and have thus set aside the rule they have hitherto imposed on themselves of annually reelecting a brother who has been once chosen to fill that high office . We trust our readers

will not fall into the error of assuming that Grand Lodge has adopted this change of policy from any lack of respect for Brother Colonel Creaton , or any feeling of dissatisfaction with the very able services he has rendered as Grand Treasurer . Colonel Creaton ' s name is synonymous among

Craftsmen with energy and ability and the strictest sense of duty . During his three years' tenure of the Grand Treasurership he earned for himself the respect of brethren of every rank , and we are convinced that it is only from a feeling of justice to other distinguished Craftsmen that

Colonel Creaton s claims to re-election have in this instance been overlooked , and a new Grand Treasurer chosen in his stead . It must be remembered that , besides that of Grand Master , this is the only office in G . L . in filling which the members of Grand Lodge have any voice . There must

necessarily be many worthy aspirants for so rare a distinction , and the regnlar re-election of the same brother is tantamount to the regular exclusion of all others from the attainment of an office which the Constitutions have p laced within their reach . As for Colonel Creaton ' s

successor , Brother J . Derby Allcroft , whom we heartily congratulate on his election , he is a Mason of long standing , and has passed the chair of twn Lodges . He is well known

for his support of our Institutions , and as an ex-member of Parliament , and the Treasurer of Christ ' s Hospital , is both socially and by experience well qualified for the post . We wish him success in his new duties .

Obituary.

Obituary .

— : o : — BRO . W . G . HARRISON , Q . C , G . SENION DEACON

fTiHE news of the unexpected death of Bro . W- G . ¦ * - Harrison , one of the G . Senior Deacons of England , and a distinguished member of the legal profession , will be received with the most poignant regret , not only among his brethren of the mystic tie , but likewise by his fellow

barristers . Bro . Harrison , who died on Monday , afc the comparatively early age of fifty-six , was initiated in the Middlesex Lodge , No . 143 , in 1865 , and became its W . M . in 1872 . He was also a joining member ancl P . M . of the

Lodge No . 631 , Taplow , Bucks , and one of the founders of the Parthenon Lodge , No . 1826 , Egham , Surrey . He was exalted in the Mount Moriah Chapter , No . 9 , was appointed its Scribe E . in 1873 , and filled the office of M . E . Z . in the

years 1876 , 1877 . He was perfected in St . George ' s Chapter of Rose Croix in 1874 , and was appointed its M . W . S . lasfc year , and in 1877 received the 30 ° in the A . and A . Rite . Last year our M . W . Grand Master appointed him a Grand Senior Deacon , and a few days later be was invested

Grand 1 st Assist . Sojourner in the Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons . Of his standing and reputation as a barrister we may gather some idea from the remarks made by Mr . Justice Stephen in the Court of Queen ' s Bench on Wednesday . " I wish to say a word , " said his lordship ,

upon a subject which has very deeply affected me , ancl , ¦ 1 have no doubt , many other members of tbe profession—I mean the death of Mr . W . G . Harrison . I have known

him personally for probably a longer time than almost any other member , either of the Bench or of the Bar . He was a friend of not much less than forty years' standing . I do not think that a more honourable or a more amiable man

ever practised in these courts . He possessed very apt abilities , and they were set off rather , perhaps , than dimin 'shed b y some harmless eccentricities which endeared hini to those who knew him . The profession has sustained a great loss by his death , wbich was as unexpected as it was sad .

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FTJNEBALS . -Bros . W . K . L . & G . A . HtJTTCOT , Coffin ¦ ra-akers and Undertakers , 17 Newcastle Street , Strand , W . C . ana 30 Forest Hill Boad , Feekham Bye , S . E .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

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

MASONRY AND TEMPERANCE . To tlie Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CauoNictE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Aa yon havo invited opinions on the subject of Temperance in Masonry , I should jnst like to say that the matter has elicited some little comment in my own Lodge , with the result that a majority of the brethren consider tho innovation undesirable . There is as mnch individual liberty now as there ever conld

be in the matter of drinks ; and to introduce fche question of total abstinence at all in our Masonic gatherings is to impute excess , which does not exist in our Lodges . I very much question if there is as much liberty allowed by the "hydropots" to others , as moderate and sensible men are invariably found to extend to them- I am certain that I have . at by men who , because they were teetotallers ,

hold themselves up with a satisfied complacency perfectly despicable , as if , forsooth , there was any credit in being a teetotaller . A man abstains from spirits or malt either because they do not agree with his constitution , or because he wishes to conquer a habit which might have been gaining too firm a hold of him . Snch an individual is to be commended by all right thinking persons ; and no one , I am sure ,

would be found to poke fun at snch a man for his courage and common sense . But in very many cases , when an old toper takes the pledge , and fixes a shred of blue-ribbon in his-bntton hole , he struts about in his new-born sobriety as thongh he were suddenly transfigured—a walking pattern for all others to copy . Not only so , bufc because he has been so " mercifully preserved , " and " brought to

his right mind , " he mnst insist upon others following his example , under the penalty , if they do not , of incurring displeasure , and hia opinion that they are so sunken in iniquity as to be irreclaimable . Out upon such canting humbugs . I am afraid , if this principle is once admitted into our Lodges , there may be a parade of this sort , though I hope nofc of so marked a character as among some other

gatherings . Temperance is already one of onr watchwords , and ia pretty well carried out in practice . To substitute for ifc " teetotalism" would be to bring fche Order down to an undesirable level with a Good Templar platform , on whicb the milksops try and ape some of the forms of Masonry , overdone wifch an excess of regalia and harmless mummeries . Surely , men of thought and sense can be

trusted with the regulation of their own actions * and , much as any of us may abominate a sot , most of us have an equal detestation of a " goody-goody , " who , because his brain is too weak to stand a glass of wine himself , wonld force his " principles " down the throats of everybody else , whether they like it or not . Such an idea is by no means palatable , and will not , I am snre , be favoured much in my own , or any other , Lodge .

I am , Dear Sir and Brother , Yours fraternally , 1 st March 1883 . FREEDOM .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —There may be some brethren who will ridicule the idea of mixing up total abstinence with Freemasonry , although T am not quite snre that there is not " something in it " worth a little quiet thought . I can remember the old time when we used to meet as happily and fraternally as we do now , and enjoy our

" refreshment" after labour with much less of the fuss and show that have of recent years become so common amongst Masons . I am in favonr of the old substantial joints and simple fare , which I consider far preferable to the varied and . intricate courses whioh I am certain a great many brethren never see on their own tables , and which swallow up a great proportion of the Lodge funds . There is

something a little amusing in seeing a tradesman or a clerk flashing his swallowtail coat and white tie once a month , and plodding through what must be to him a gigantic menu , much to his own personal dis . comfort . There is too much of this " stuck-up-ed-ness" amongst Masons now-a-days , which might be modified a good deal . After all , however , as you say , it is all a matter of individual fancy . If my

greengrocer or pork butcher likps to " tog up , " as I have heard him call it , to go in for a recherche banquet , let him ; and I , as a brother , will be glad to see him enjoying himself in his own fashion . But I often smile to see men indulging in sparkling wines who never taste such beverages from Lodgo meeting to Lodge meeting , and who wonld be far moro comfortable and at home with their bitter beer

or rum punch . It is " fashionable " now to attend Lodge in dress suits and to drink champagne . Let those do so who like it ; I do not . I stick to my frock coat , and drink my toasts in tho beverages I always use at home , and I never find my neighbours at the banquet table object , or pass remnrks . There is this to be said about the matter ; if there were considerably less spent in getting np the banquets , far too "xpensivcly varied and profuse for ordinary stomachs , there would be

equal satisfaction given , and the Lodge funds would not so often be impoverished . I know a Lodge where the staple fare after Lodge ia rare-bit and rum punch ; and a jolly Lodge it is , too . There are teetotallers amongst them , who enjoy their long pipes over mugs of ¦ voll-made and fragrant Mocha . Why not P Better that than nine out of ten of our modern banquets , where half the company are like fish out of water in dress clothes which they only wear once a month , drinking wines they are equally unaccustomed to , and going through