Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for tlie opinions 0 / 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 . We cannot undertake to return rejected commxmications .

UNFAIR CLAIMS ON THE CHARITIES . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I qaite endorse the opinions expressed by yonr correspondent , " A SUPPORT .. -- or THE SCHOOLS , " with respect to the plurality of benefits sought for and obtained at the hands of our Institutions j and it is a question which shonld be anxiously taken into

consideration by the rulers of the Craffc . Like yourself , I had always understood tbat when the laws were altered in 1879 , it was fully intended that only ono member of a family should be eligible for the Institutions , " unless tho number of vacancies is in excess of the number of candidate ? . " This , it appears to me , is nothing more than

is fair and reasonable , for , as every brother must havo observed who has watched elections in the past , many children whose claims to the bounty of tho Craft were admitted to bo more deserving have had to stand aside for somo time , and probably altogether , because of the interest taken by a section of tho brethren in tho case of a child

whoso brother or sister was already in receipt of the benefits of the Schools . I am sceptical enough to think that it is not always the most deserving or necessitous who find their ways upon the lists of successful candidates at Masonic elections . Is not the position lately occupied by the deceased brother—the amount of his

subscriptions to the funds of his Lodge and tho Charities—and such like often made a primary consideration , before tbe real necessities of the widow and the fatherless ? A man might havo been a good and useful member of the Craft , and on his death might leave his family well , if not amply , provided for . Such a case , in my opinion , does not

compare with that of the less opulent brother who from " circumstances of unforeseen calamity and misfortune " is unable to leave anything whatever to his unfortunate widow and little ones . In the latter case the hardship is far greater , and should be the first to enlist the sympathies and help of the brethren . That one of these little ones

should be elbowed aside for the sake of securing the benefits of education and maintenance for two children of a comparatively independent widow is scarcely fair and reasonable , nor is it , I should say , within the meaning and intentions of those by whom the laws of our Masonic Charities were framed .

I remain , Dear Sir and Brother , Fraternally yours , A STEWARD .

Lodges Of Instruction.

LODGES OF INSTRUCTION .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I have read with peculiar interest the correspondence that has recently passed in tho columns of the FREE - MASON ' CHRONICLE on various matters of detail in connection with Lodges of Instruction , and if the varions opinions expressed and

suggestions thrown out by tbe several writers are taken to heart by those who are the leaders in this useful branch of tbe Order , no doubt the effect will be most salutary and tend to greatly improved results . I am cordially in favour of " WATCHMAN ' S " view with respect to the blending of refreshment with Masonic labour , which has always

appeared to me " incongruous , though of course the old saying comes in— " Many men , many minds . " The duty , also , of Masters ancl Officers of Lodges attending as often as they conveniently can the Lodges of Instruction formed under their respective banners , and which has likewise been alluded to by several of your

correspondents , seems to me to be an essential point , as tending to stimulate the coming generation in their laudable endeavours to roaster tbe ritual and qualify themselves for office , to which it should be the ambition of old and young Masons to attain . But there is yet another matter to which probably the attention of Preceptors may

be called with some advantage , and that is tbe too prevailing custom of " ringing the changes , " so to speak , in the selection of Officers at the weekly meetings of Lodges of Instruction . For instance , we see brethren who are enthusiastic in their desire to work up , repeating the round of the chairs , and in many of your reports of these

meetings lately I have seen the same names appearing week after week as filling the various offices . I am aware it is the invariable custom to appoint Officers by rotation , but it is frequently found that a brother who has worked up to the chair re-appears on the following week , " after his term of office has expired , " contrives to

secure a minor position , and in a short time he is again in the chair . Thus the younger or more retiring brethren are shut out from many of tbe advantages they hoped to gain by attending Lodges of Instruction . It may be said that the old verdict , " serve 'em right " applies to this case , that they shonld press their suit , and secure for

themselves the privileges they covet . But m most instances they are too shy , or too modest , to push themselves forward , and thus they are nowhere in tbe race . What I wish to suggest is , tbat there should be no such race—that Preceptors should cast about them for men who have not before taken office , and endeavour to induce them to

begin at the lowest rung of the ladder with a view to ascending by degrees to the chair . In many cases , as at present arranged , Lodges of Instruction resolve themselves into a select coterie , the same Officers appearing in kaleidoscopic fashion all the year round , and the natural consequence is that the meetings become somewhat monotonous , and fall short of the object intended , viz ., of giving an

Lodges Of Instruction.

opportunity of practice , aa well as of instruction , to all the members * I trust there will be a continuance of that interchange of thought and opinion you have evoked upon this important subject , and

remain , DearjSir and Brother , Yours fraternally , A YOUNG MASON .

James Anderson.

JAMES ANDERSON .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —In the first volume of a new Euglish Biographical Dictionary , recently printed in London , I find a biographical sketch of James Anderson , which contains some matter

that never appeared in a Masonic publication , and also references to works that may lead to a further extension of the life of Anderson The writer of the said sketch made some mistakes , which I endeavour to correct .

Fraternally yours , JACOB NORTON . " James Anderson , preacher and miscellaneous writer , brother of Adam Anderson , was born about 1680 , at Aberdeen , where he was educated , and probably took the degree of M . A . ancl D . D . In 1710

he was appointed minister of the Presbyterian Church in Swallowstreet , London , whence he was transferred , in 173-1 , to a similar charge in Leslie-street , Leicester Fields . According to the , f Gentleman ' s Magazine , " ho is said to have been well known among the people of that persuasion resident in London as Bishop Anderson , and he is

described as a learned but imprudent man , who lost considerable part of his property in the fatal year 1720 . Several of his sermons were printed . One of them ' No King Killers , ' preached in 1715 , on tbe anniversary of tho execution of Charles I ., was a zealous defence of the conduct of the Presbyterians during the civil wars ,

and reached a second edition . Anderson was a Freemason , and when in 1721 , [ soon after ] the revival of Freemasonry in England , the Grand Lodge determined to produce an authoritative digest of the Constitutions of tbo Fraternity , the task was assigned to him . — ( Entick's edition of tho Constitutions , p 19-1 * , 1747 ) [ probably 1754

or 1767 ] . It was as Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge that he presented it on completing his task— ' The Constitutions of the Free Masons , containing the History , Charges , Kegulations , & c . of the Most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity , for the use of the Lodges , London , in the year of Masonry 5723 , Anno Domini 1723 . '

This work , which passed through several editions , was long recognised by English Freemasons to be the standard code on the subject , and was translated into German . An American facsimile of the first edition of 1723 was issued in New York in 1855 , and there are reprints of the same edition in Coxe's ' Old Constitutions' belonging

to the Freemasons of England and Ireland ( 1871 ) , and in the first volume of 'Kenning ' s Masonio Archaeological Library , 1871 . ' Anderson also contributed to Masonic literature a defence of Masonry , occasioned by a pamphlet , ' Masonry Dissected , 1735 / which was translated into German , and is reprinted in Oliver ' s ' Golden

Remains of the Early Masonic Writers ( 1817 ) . In 1732 appeared the work by which Anderson is chiefly remembered , viz ., Royal Genealogies of Emperors , Kings , and Princes , from Adam to these times . Professedly based on " Genealogisoh Tablen , " by Johann Hiibner , it waa largely . supplemented by

Anderson's industry . While the earlier sections of the work are of little historical value , the latter are often of use in relation to genealogies of continental dynasties and houses . The volume closes with a synopsis of the English Peerage , and in the preface the author intimated his readiness , if adequately encouraged , to delineate and

dispose at full length the genealogies of all the peers and great gentry of the Britannic Isles . Anderson ' s last work , which he was commissioned to undertake by the first Earl of Egmont and his son , from materials furnished by them , bore the title , " A Genealogical History of the House of Yvery , in its different branches of Yvery , Lovel ,

Perceval , and Gonrnay ; " but the first volume alone was completed when he died , on 25 th May 1739 , and a second volume , subsequently published , was due to another pen ( see vol . 2 ) . The work was soon withdrawn from circulation , on account of disparaging remarks iu it on the condition of the English Peerege , and on the character of the

Irish people . It was re-issued , however , without tho offensive passages , in 1742 . ( See Notes and Queries , First Series , iv . 158 , and Letters of Horace Walpole ( 1857 ) I . vi . and II . 145 ) . Much of the genealogical matter in the book has been pronounced to be mythical

( Drummond ' s " History of Noble British Families" ( 1846 ) , Art . Perceval . Another work of Anderson ' s , viz . " News from the Elysium ; or , Dialogues of the Dead , between Leopold , Roman Emperor , and Louis XIV ., King of France , " was published directly after hia death In 1739 .

[ Anderson's Works . Brief Notices , published in Catalogue or the Edinburgh Advocate ' s Library . " Gentleman ' s Magazine , " LIIL , 41 , 42 . Gowan ' s Catalogue of Books on Freemasonry ( New York , 1856 ) . Kloss Bibliographia der Freimaurerie , 1844 ] . —F . E .

Inequalities Of Charity.

INEQUALITIES OF CHARITY .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON s CHRONICLE . DEA __ SIR AND BROTHER , —To expect perfection in the administration of Charity is about as reasonable as to fix the date of the millennium . All mundane matters are liable to human error . If the

affairs of life could be regulated with the same absolute precision as a mathematical problem , there would be no difficulty in securing perfect justice . But conditions vary in almost every case , and all that can be done is to approximate as nearly as possible to that happy condition of doing to others aa we would that they should do unto