Mark Masonry.

ns take our share then in striving to advance ifc , although it may not be given to us , as it was to him , to act a great part iu promoting its interest . We may not , like him , be privileged to witness the frnit of " our labours , but if in following his bright example we strive to

work as faithful Craftsmen we shall not fail , sooner or later , to receive the Great Overseer ' s approving smile and approving mark as fitted for a place in the spiritual structure , even the " House not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . "

On the conclnsion , a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the Very Worshipfnl Brother , also to the Brethren of the Prince Edward , No . 14 , for arranging for the Provincial meeting . Invitations were given from Bradford ,

Sheffield and Halifax for the next meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge . Provincial Grand Lodge was closed , and the brethren afterwards sat down to tea and spent an enjoyable evening .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not bold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Correspondents . 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 communications .

BOYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS . [ Cory ] . "To the W . Brethren F . W . Ramsay , M . D ., Rota Chairman of the House Committee , and Chas . Fred . Hogard , Rota Chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee , Royal Masonio Institution for Boys . " Lamb Buildings , Temple ,

" 13 May 1889 . " Sirs and Brothers , "I have to acknowledge your letter of 9 fch May , received by me after it had appeared in the columns of the Freemason of 11 th inst .

" In that letter it is stated thafc'" Without unrestricted access to those notes ( i . e . the shorthand writer ' s notes of evidence before the Committee of Inquiry ) , it is manifestly impossible to draw up an exhaustive reply' to tho report of that Committee .

"You thus plainly suggest that ' unrestricted' access to these notes , had not been afforded to you . "I now call your attention to the following facts : On 29 fch April , the Secretary ( Bro . Binckes ) by your instructions ' applied ' to me for these notes .

' I replied , full access could always be had here , and , instructions , if more convenient , I offered to lend them yon , to bo returned to me when required . " Accepting tbe offer I thus made , his clerk called and took all 15 vols , of tho notes , ou 3 rd May , aud signed the receipt for them , which I now hold .

" They have since remained in your possession . It is difficult to conceive how you could have allowed yourselves to sign a letter , thus directly suggesting an inference the reverse of the truth , had the Secretary informed you of these facts . " I observe , however , that tho letter of May 9 tb , down to the actual signatures , is entirely in the Secretary ' s handwriting .

" Brother Binckes well knew when he penned that letter that he then held these notes on yonr behalf , and that he had so held thein for six days , at the moment he put that letter before you to affix your signatures thereto . " I forbear comment on that which speaks for itself .

" Nor shall I enter into correspondence on the report which my colleagues and myself have presented to the Quarterly Court . "If that body thinks right to publish these notes , the Committee of Inquiry cannot entertain the slightest objection—at least , so far as I am concerned , or may speak beforehand for the other members .

" Only the evidence mnst , in thafc case , appear in its entirety as given , and no part be suppressed . Ifc will then be seen that it fully justifies every conclusion to which the Committee of Inquiry came .

"As , desiring 'to avoid any want of courtesy' to any member of the Committee or to myself , you sent your letter to the Freemason for publication before I received it , you will not complain thafc I am sending a copy of this letter for insertion in that newspaper .

"Yours faithfully , "FREDERICK . A . PniLBRICK , " Chnirman ofthe Committee of Inquiry . "

[ The above communication appears in the current issue of the Freemason ; it lias not been sent to us for publication , but as it is referred to in ihe communication wbich immediately follows , from Bros . Murray ancl Hogard , we feel justified in reproducing it . —ED . F . C . ]

To the Editor ofthe FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DKAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Kindly give insertion to the accompanying letter . Yours fraternally , JOYCE MURRAY . CHAS . FREDK . HOGARD .

Correspondence.

V . W . Bro . F . A . Philbrick , Q . C , Grand Registrar , Chairman Committee of Inquiry . V . W . SIR AND BROTHER , — Your letter of the 13 th has been con . sidered by a Special Meeting of the Committees of thia Institution , held this day . We regret that our expression " unrestricted access "

to the shorthand writer ' s notes of evidence was misapprehended by you . We—the House aud Audit Committees—were given the fullest access to them for our own information , bub as they were to remain for the present with the papers of the Committee of Inquiry ( see your letter of 30 th April 1889 ) , and as the inquiry was private

and confidential , we felt that we could not , without the sanction of yonr Committee , have " unrestricted access" to them for publication . From your letter of 13 th May 1889 , we gather that we must wait authority from the Special or Quarterly Court before we

can have what we intended to convey by the term " unrestricted access " to the notes . The letter sent to you in the handwriting of tbe Secretary of the Institntion was drafted afc a Special joint meeting of fche Committees by members of those Committees on behalf of the whole .

We are , V . W . Sir and Brother , Yours fraternally , JOYCE MURRAY ,

On behalf of the House Committee . CJTAS . FREDK . HOGARD , On behalf of the Audit Committee . 16 th May 1889 .

DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —In the Report presented by the Committee . of Investigation I regret to observe thafc there are some surprising assertions , which I have no hesitation in saying are unjustifiable and misleading . If the Committee of Investigation had

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE .

been personally cognisant with the working of the Institution , and not dependent upon hearsay evidence , they would not have propounded opinions so fallacious . I am afc a loss to devise upon what basis such resolutions rest , but of this I am certain , that they do not represent a true state of things relating to the Boys' School . It is not ,

however , my present purpose to discuss the general tendency of the Report , bnt I do desire , in the interest ancl welfare of the School , to draw attention to two matters—one being the opinions expressed in the report that the boys are low in physique ; the other , that Mr . Jabez Hogg , tho eminent honorary Snrgeon Oculist to tho Institution , is mado

to say , in his very interesting description of the boys , that double the ordinary per eentage of defective sight occurs amongst the pupils . He did not say this . What he did say was , " That the injury to the sight was not a bigger por centage than we get in such like schools , and in Germany it is double what we get in England . " As applicable

to the physique ofthe boys , Mr . Hogg stated , ' They were quite up to tho average , and very well nourished indeed . " I select these subjects from many more which struck me in reading the Report , because of the vital importance which they bear on the character of the School , aud to prevent a wrong impression being formed if they are left

uncontradicted . It is not for me to dwell upon the stylo whioh characterises the composition of the Report , but having been Treasurer of the Institntion for upwards of sixteen years , and on the House Committee previously , and knowing by experience the

invaluable services of brethren who have given their time on the Committees , with the sole object of making the Institution as perfect as possible , and to correspond with the wishes ancl intentions of the Subscribers , my mind is impressed by the omission of any mention in the Report of the good whioh they have so successfully accomplished . Yours fraternally , GEORGE PLUCKNETT .

DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —The letter of remonstrance addressed to Bro . Philbrick , Chairman of Committee of Inquiry , by Bros . Ramsay and Hogard ou behalf of tho House and Audit Committees of the above Institution , which appears in your columns of to-day , is in

many respects a remarkable document , and it suggests at least the two following points , which seem to me to demand immediate attention and explanation . 1 . Had not Bros . Ramsay and Hogard , wifch each and all the members

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE .

of their respective Committees , ample opportunity and every facility afforded to them of assisting in the recent investigation by the Committee of Inquiry ? And if they had , how is it th ; it they announce RO much ignorance of tho nature of tho evidence then submitted ?

2 . If Bros . Ramsay and Hogard , or any or either of tho members of their respective Committees , heard , or know anything of this evidence ; and if they have not " subordinated their views to any official influence whatever , " nor " failed to maintain the mosfc steady aille < - ; atice to the important interests entrusted to their ere , " how

comes it thafc they so positively aud " unanimously concur in entering a protest against decisions" whioh havo been arrived at by an impartial Committee of Inquiry , selected from different Provinces ? It , appears to mo , th' n , that tho two simple issues whieh present themselves for consideration in regard to this matter are : —

In the first place , that tho members of the House and Audit Committees , individually as well as collectively , havo been guilty of mal-administration and neglect of a very reprehensible character , or they are not » nilty . And in tho next place , that tho " conclusions " of the Report of the Cucimifcteo of Inquiry are either iu accordance with the " weight of evidence , " or contrary to it .

In other words , that the Inquiry Committee have reported on Facts , or they have invented them , as Bros . Ramsay and Hogard would aeem to imply .