Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

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

THE GRANT TO THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I have studied with much interest the Tabular Statement , exhibiting the Receipts and Expenditure of the Board of General Purposes for the two years ended 30 th September 1881 , and published in yonr columns last week . Bnt surely you

must labour under some mistake ! Is it psssible that the Board can have spared some thousands of pounds for investment in Government Stocks , to say nothing of the amount it has expended in " Extension of Premises , " out of an income of £ 500 per annum ? The compiler of your Table must have been misinformed , or else he must

have been guilty of an egregious error . Are you—or rather is he—quite certain thafc there has been an acquisition of over £ 6 , 000 additional Stock in the two years recorded ? Is ifc really the case that , with an income of £ 500 per annum , there was a balance to the good of over £ 4 , 000 ? Snrely you must have

been dreaming in stamping with your editorial sanction a statement of figures so simple , and get so complete and apparently so accurate . I am not one of those who pin their faith to figures , yet it is impossible to overlook the amazing discrepancy between Bro . Philbriok ' s notion of the available income of the Board of General Purposes

and its actual income as shown by you , without coming to the con - elusion that one of you must have been guilty of a most tremendous error . If the Board of General Purposes can expend in two years over £ 6 , 000 in fche purchase of stock , and is able to point to a balance in its favour of over £ 4 , 000 , ifc must be well-circumstanced , and possess more than £ 500 per annum .

Fraternally yours , Q-[ Our Table was compiled from the Quarterly Statements of Account . —ED . E . G . ]

WILLIAM PRESTON LODGE OF INSTRUCTION , No . 166 .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —YOU deserve the thanks of the Masonic community for having brought the flagrant conduct of certain members of this Lodge under public notice . I gather from the tenour of your report of the proceedings on the 10 th February ult ., that the members of the Lodge did not work together harmoniously .

It was stated then thafc when the Officers were present , the members were absent ; and vice versa , thafc when the latter were in great force , the former were conspicuous by their absence . But a lack of harmony by no means justifies the adoption of strong and nn-Masonio measures . The brethren who passed the resolution dissolving the Lodge , had no right whatever to do so . It is a remarkable feature about a Lodge of Freemasons that , even if a majority of the members are desirous of severing their connection with ifc , tne

minority retain their power of continuing the Lodge in full working order . The whole body of members must resign if the Lod ge is to cease to exist . As this was , notoriously , not the case with the William Preston Lodge of Instruction , it is clear that it st-H exists , and if all goes forward as ifc has done these last few weeks , ifc will doubtless remain a bright and instructive luminary of the Craft . Fraternally yours , HONORARY MEMBER or SEVERAL LODGES OF INSTRUCTION .

OCCASIONAL PAPERS .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . tW SlR AND BKOMEK . —It was with very great pleasure I noted ""« a paper was read last week in the Royal Union Lodge of In . BMuct ion , Usbvidge , by Bro . W . W . Morgan , iu tho presence of tho £ •**• Bro . Sir Francis Burdett Prov . G . M . Middlesex , and that the

for f Was Plea 30 < J to express tho pleasure ho experienced at tho inmation it contained , especially as he was in a position to cororate that portion of it which related to his relativn . tlm " Rnrnnooa

nrclett-Coutts . I think the efforts of Bro . Morgan deserve at least but l , £ * ' ' He haa not only advocated this system of lectures , lpctnr e 1 , kewise gi ? en effect to his advocacy by delivering shall « i ^ eral interest lo the Craft . I trust , after this , thafc we Rramm « u " 0 ccasional Lectures " a part of the regular proe mme of business in our Lodges of Instruction . We shall get on Uh our work far better if that is the case . I am , yours fraternally , STUDENT .

ol < i ' Wi ' nwtod ma ^* ' YL * Merchant ( Experts and Valuers ) . Well fermented eaann . matured Spirits . 2 Albert Mansions , Victoria-street , London , S . W .

The Burial Place Of Lafayette.

THE BURIAL PLACE OF LAFAYETTE .

FROM THE LIBERAL FREEMASON . DURING his visit to Europe last summer , W . Bro . A . A . Folsom , Past Master of Columbian Lodge , of Boston , visited several places of Masonic interest , some of which deserve more than a mere passing notice . Because of the pleasant relations existing between the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and that of Sweden , the description of his visit to the Masonio Temple in Stockholm , given as a

reminiscence , has proved particularly gratifying , and so has thafc of his Masonic intercourse in Vienna ; but it is doubtful if any one of them excites a more lively interest than that of the grave of Lafayette , whose high Masonic character is deeply respected in the United States . A portrait of Lafayette adorns the walls of Sutton Hall , in the Masonic Temple , in Boston , and fche following account

of his burial place as given by Edward King in the Boston Journal , cannot fail to be interesting to Freemasons . The private cemetery where the remains of Lafayette are deposited is in the Rue de Picpus , No . 15 , afc tho extremity of the Faubourg Saint Antoine , in Paris . The entrance is through a spacious court , the buildings of which are occupied by a religions community , and at

the bottom of which is a modest-looking chapel . A large garden , covered with fruit trees , shrubs and plants , is next crossed , and a long alley of lime trees , bordered with v hedge of yoke-elm trees , then leads to the inclosure reserved for the cemetery . The latter is surrounded with walls , ancl represents an oblong square , into which there are three entrances by as many gates . It contains but two

rows of mausoleums , belonging to distinguished families—those of de Noailles , de Grammont , de Montaign , Destilliere , Freteaux , Guoyd'Arsy , Rosambo , Lamoignon , de Perigord , & c . The two rows of tombs are separated by a gravel path , at the extremity of which is a stone cross . At tho south-east angle of the ground is the place reserved for Lafayette and his family . The tomb of Lafayette , which is surrounded with an iron railing ,

s but little higher than the ground , and is composed of two large black marble tablets , slightly inclined and forming a very oblique angle . Upon this angle is a little cross , the lateral branches of which extend on both sides of the monument that covers the remains of both husband and wife as with a roof . The following is the arrangement of the tablets , with the inscriptions on them , in letters of gold :

M . J . P . R . Y . G . D . ' M . A . F . Lafayette De Noailles Nee a Paris le XI Novembre Lieutenant-general membre MDCCLIX de la Chambre des Deputes Mariee le XI Avril no a Chavaniao Haute-MDCCLXXIY Loire , le VI Septembre

A MDCCLVII , marie le M . J . P . R . Y . G . D . XI Avril MDCCLXXIV Lafayette A M . A . F . Decedee h Paris le XXIV de Noailles Decembre MDCCCVII ^ Decode a Paris le XX Mai Requiescat in pace MDCCCXXXIV

Requiescat in pace The ground reserved for Lafayette's family also contains the tomb of Colonel Lasteyrie , the General ' s son-in-law , and thafc of Mde . Grammont ' s sons . A slab of white marble placed on tho wall at the bottom bears an inscription relative to the death of one of Lafayette's

grandchildren , Madame de Peron , whose maiden name was Maubourg . Behind the wall next to Lafayettj's tomb aro cypresses , and some poplars . One of the latter , the emblem of death , seems to abandon its withered branches to the wind ; tb . ua adding to the melancholy

aspect of this field of rest . The soil on which these trees stand covers the remains of a number of victims of the reign of terror , amongst whom are some of Madame Lafayette ' s nearest relatives . Madame Lafayette having expressed a desire to be buried in this spot , her wishes were respected , and the observance of them ultimately decided the burial place of her husband .

The tomb of Lafayette , unostentatious like those of his friends , Washington and Franklin , is daily visited by many who hononr his memory , by strangers who have known him , and by those who regret that they wore deprived of that happiness . A register , which is deposited with the porter of the cemetery , is filled with the names of the visitors .

It is gratifying to know that our Jewish brethren are exerting themselves manfully to relieve tlie distress of their persecuted co-reli g ionists in Russia . We have pleasure in announcing that Bro . D . Moss has succeeded in procuring the following amounts for the Mansion House Relief

Fund : — £ s d Israel Lodge of Instruction - - - - 3 3 0 Egyptian , No . 27 2 6 0

Prosperity , No . 65 110 Tredegar Lodge of Instruction - - - 1 10 0 Bro . Pearcy 0 15 0 Dnke of Connaught 0 15 0 Bro . Clynes , Upton 0 5 0 £ 10 1 0