Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold oiirseh'es reiyr . itible for the opinions of our Correspondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected coisimv . nii'ations . All Letters must leir the name and address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith .

THE PRESTONIAN LECTURE . To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —In the Official Calendar , issued under the authority of tho Grand Lodge , under tho heading of " Remarkable Occurrences in Masonry , " I find , amongst other items , the following : — " Bro . William Preston , of tho Lodge of Antiquity , author of tho

' Illustrations of Masonry , ' bequeathed , amongst other Masonic gifts , £ 500 Consols to the Fund of Benevolence , and £ 300 Consols for the Prestonian Lecture . " Now I have been a Mason for some years , but it is very long since I ever heard of any Prestonian Lecture being

delivered . Will you , Dear Sir and Brother , tell mo when and where this lecture is delivered , if at all , but if the matter has fallen into abeyance perhaps some brother will kindly inform me to what purpose the interest of Bro . Preston ' s £ 300 Consols is applied . I am , Dear Sir and Brother , Yours fraternally , P . M .

The Qualification For The Chair Of M.M.M.'S Lodges.

THE QUALIFICATION FOR THE CHAIR OF M . M . M . 's LODGES .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Your correspondent , "A P . M . IN CKACT : AND MARK , " evidently appears to think , nay , even says , that the restriction of the principal chair in the Mark degreo to those brethren who have filled tho chair of W . M . in a Craft Lodge is a crying evil , and instances hia own Lodge , where Officers , who

have not passed the Craft chair , but who work well , can never rise higher than Warden . From my own experience as a Deputy P . G . M . in a large province , I have found this rule most salatary and desirable , not only aa adding dignity to the chair , but also aa promoting a laudable zeal and ambition among those very members whom , your correspondent considers , it shuts out . A P . M . either forgets or

else wilfully ignores the fact that any brother who has served the office of Warden can bo elected W . M ., and on receiving the dispensation of the Grand Master , can be formally and regularly installed . This dispensation only costs 10 s 6 d , and I do not know any case of ita having been refused when properly applied for . In ono Mark Lodgo of which I am a member , we had for four years in succession

a dispensation applied for and duly granted , the W . M . 's elect not being P . M . ' s in tho Craft . We then had three P . M . ' s elected , and this year the S . W ., who has not held oflico in the Craft , is regularly elected , although tho J . W . is a P . M . of long standing . Wo find from experience if any position of honour is made too easy of attainment , it loses value accordingly , and wero tho office of W . M . of a Mark

Lodgo to be thrown open de jure to every member of the Lodge , few would take the trouble of going through tho necessary steps . By tho present law , tho saving clause of the Grand Master ' s dispensation practically opens a road to those otherwise unqualified brethren who have worked well , and who deserve tho distinction from their Lodge . I therefore trust that in two years' time tho old P . M . ' s in your correspondent ' s Lodge will not again commence the round , bnt

that tho necessary dispensation will be applied for to enable tho S . W . to occupy the chair , and I for one will wish him a happy and prosperous year of office . Your correspondent must recollect tho General Board place no difficulty iu tho way of the application for dispensation , aud there is no necessity for any alteration in tho laws to bring about tho Mark Millennium of which he speaks , when " the hearts of young Mark Masters shall leap for joy . " Yonra fraternally , PAST GRAND WARDEN .

A Constitutional Question.

A CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTION .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —For the more precise guidance of "Q , " the Lodge was opened in the first , second and third degrees ; " resumed " to the second degree for business iu that special degree , and then " resumed " to the third degreo for business in that degree . Tho ceremony did not appear to bo quite constitutional , and thus my reason for enquiry . If Oliver had touched tho question , your pages would not have been troubled by , Yours fraternally , J . W .

Charity; Is It Giving?

CHARITY ; IS IT GIVING ?

To the Editor of tho FKEEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER— I beg tbo courtesy of a little space in which to support my views set forth under this heading , in which I urged that " mere giving " was not charity—that the extravaganco of assertion on the part of sincere though thoughtless brethren would

Charity; Is It Giving?

bo harmful to the cause of true charity—and that " giving " was not the only object of Masonic existence . I have been startled by tho tone nf ihr- icitcrsHrneil " D \ : ; IFS . ACK , D . D . " Somo twenty years ago there was in n curacy < f Cierkenw .-ll a Rev . Daniel Aco , whose learning , p i ¦ .- !; . - , cluiritablen ¦ .- ¦ > ¦ , ( in n'l iN senses bevoiul that of mere civine ' i endeared lam to nil who k-iow

him . He passed nway from the murky p-irish of haniworkerH , hi . fc his memory is cherished in many hear !! ' , and his reputation 1 IT > spread far beyond tho narrow circle then ) whii ; h knew hi * work . ! was in hopes , when I saw " DANIEL Act- ' ,, D . D . " in your culumna thsit I should find that the loved teacher of the poor , whoso charity was shown , not in the disposal indiscriminately of silver nnd gold , but in

wise and charitable teachings , had , in tlio natural outcome or things , become a "brother . " But , alas , I fear this cannot bo , for tho Rev . Daniel Ace of about twenty years ago in Clerkenwell would havo pointed out that the Master whom he served , acted in the highest degree , on tho principle I so warmly advocate , that of "discriminalion in giving . " tie gave according to tho necessities of each case . His

charity did not consist in merely giving a penny to a beggar and passing on , or in sending a sum to a so-called " charity " for others to distribute for him . " DANIEL ACE , D . D . " too , will remember that certain people of the class one may readily believe , who are always " carping " about what others may do for the poor , suggested that to do an act was waste , because that which was used " might havo been

sold for three hundred pence . " Ho who carried the bag " suggested it . I am sorry I cannot bo more explicit , and I cannot , because I feel that in a Masonicorgan it would not be right to enter upon a discussion of Christian ethics . But the incident of the charity of him who " carried the bag" has a logical moral which Dr . Daniel Ace may study with advantage . If he will then read my letter which

commenced the controversy under this heading , ho would seo that ho is not charitable in denominating my demand that wo should be discriminating and careful as "Parsimony . " Nor would he then say , be . cause I decline to have my charity limited to Masonic objects , as Brother Binckes " logically " desires , that I am so lacking as to merit " many a curse . "

Now a few words regarding the letters of our Brother Binckes . I am not going to attack " Hercules " in detail . He answers himself , but I must challenge him in the first place to show that there is any duty resting upon me , in consequence of my position as a Mason , to disregard all other outside direct charity in favour of distinctly Masonic charity institutions , I say that the only grounds of claim to

my chanty aro tho worthiness of the objects , and my power to help them adequately . In the caso of a charitable institution I have a right to see if proper use is made of the funds , and to use my own ; judgment on this point . If I find that a charity school has a cost per i head for its scholars of more than they could be boarded and educated , at gentlemen ' s colleges , I have a right to say that in such a caso

twenty shillings are made to go as far as ten only , aud that I shall give only where my money is made the best use of . I myself havo heard Brother Binckes declare ( in an after dinner speech , certaitdy ) that the Masonic institutions aro to have our first thoughts , and first care . That is to say , I am not to give to tho perishing widow and children at my own door , whoso necessities I know ; but I am to give

to a Masonic charity school where an immense sum is annually spent upon the keep and education of 200 children . When I give , too , I hold that I have a right to expect that my giving shall raise tho relieved , not degrade him or her . Does it do so in regard to the Masonic Boys' School ? By appearances I should say the " giving" there does not , for nob long since an appeal was

made for ono who had been educated there , that money should be subscribed to further educate him for Holy Orders ! Here ia the commencement of a bogging career . If tho education given in the Boys' School is worth anything , it shonld teach the necessity of ; independence ; but it would seem that tho lad , adopting Brother i Binckes' and Brother Radclvffo ' s " logic , " that those who give have more

to give , follows the plan which gave him , when he was helpless , homo and education , and now that he is of self-holplul years and spiritually minded , ho appeals for help to mako him a parson . We shall next havo somo appeals to find tho mercantile youths the capital to set up at once aa merchants to save them the necessity of working their way up . While I seo such fruits of Masonic " charity " given , 1 shall

practically demur to Brother Binckes's dictum ( and his alone , so far as I can find ) that all other " charitable claims are subservient to those of Masonry . " Whatever Bro . Daniel Aco may say about tho "logic" of this assertion , I declare it to bo in the highest degree uncharitable , unchristian , irreligious and unmasonic . If I had the time and you the space , and were this the place , I would enter upon these points

" logically , " but as wc have only to deal with the last , I have but to remind yon that our Masonic teaching tells us that our regard is to be paid to thoso who are " worthy , " and that " prudence " w to bo i tho guide of our charity . Wo havo no authorised Binckes ' s ritual that I know of stating otherwise . Bro . Binckes ' s letter of tho 30 th ult . roads like tlio report of one of

his after dinner speeches . I will now appeal to the W ' . rds of our Phillip given in a more sober strain , in the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE last Saturday . I point out a remarkable statement which he there gives . He states that in the year 1838 " the number of boys educated and clothed by the Eoyal Masonic Institution for Boys was 65 | the income from all sources being £ 88-1 6 s . " ,

Bro . Binckes may havo a good answer to tho obvious contrast which arises—that less than £ 1 , 000 educated and clothed G 5 boys , while now , roughly speaking , about £ 10 , 000 in a year is regarded as j a " disappointing total" for the maintenance of 200 ! There is the old story of the Spanish beggar on horseback begging of the pedes , trian . The latter said , " Why , yon have a horse . " " Well , replied

the beggar , " There aro two of us to keep . I dare say Bro . Binckes will " logically" answer , " If we cost so much , so much tho more need you to give . " There are , however , many of us active Winona , J too , who judge of the tree by its fruit , and who feel constrai n ed , in > the interests of the deserving poor , iu the interest ;* of , true Masoury , in the interests of the good name of our