Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

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

OUR SCHOOLS AND GRAND LODGE

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DKAR SIR AND B ROTHER , —I have on several occasions written and spoken on tho very important question to which , iu yonr valuable article in a recent number of yonr paper , yon have gireu justifiable prominence , and I do not consider it necessary to add much to what has alreadbeen advanced . I refer to the annual allowance by

y Grand Lodge to the Masonic Educational Institutions . The equity of tho claim for a revision of tho commutation effected in 1839 is to my mind so apparent that I fail to recognise the need of argument in its support . The principle of the bounden duty of Grand Lodge to give au annual subsidy to the Schools was conceded'by the enactment that a

fee of half-a-crown on every certificate issued from the Grand Secretary ' s office should be paid to each . When the amount represented by such payment fluctuated between £ 130 and £ 140 , a substituted sum of £ 150 , payable annually , was a very fair commutation . There is nothing in the resolution of G . L . indicating an idea of fixity or finality in such commutation , and as it mat naci tne

goes without saying that it can bo readily snown nan crown feo been continued the payment to each School would now be upwards of £ 1200 , what reasonable objection can be possibly urged against a reconsideration of the arrangement made in 1839 ? Why should not Institutions which have so enormously increased the relief afforded to the distress incidental to Freemasonry , as to all

other organisations , share in the more enormously increased prosperity enjoyed by our Order for so many years past ? I would much prefer seeing the subject treated in a generous spirit , by voluntary action on the part of the Board of General Purposes , to having it brought before Grand Lodge , by notice of motion , from either an interested or independent member ; and I sincerely trust that this

very important question will be so treated , and that without delay . As I am writing , permit me to add a line or two on another subject . There appears to me to be a large exercise of ingenuity in finding grounds of complaint against " Our Boys '" School . Fair , free criti . cism no one can object to ; but when it is seriously (?) put forward that that Institution fails in its object because it does not

produce " refined , lady-like boys , " I think we have reached the lowest depth of bathos . The battle of Waterloo was said to havo been won on the playing fields of Eton ; but had the views enunciated by "P . W . M . " in the columns of your contemporary , then obtained , the result might have been different . Because Dick and Harry are not quite so well fitted for the parlour—I beg pardon , perhaps I onght to say the drawing .

room—are they to be described as coarse and vulgar ? I admit , with pride , the robustness and vigour of " Our Boys , " but I demur to the description of coarseness and vulgarity , and I appeal to the bun . dreds of onr friends in support of my demurrer . My experience of every walk in life is , that the boys of a family , of fourteen or fifteen years of age , are rarely quite so gentle or " refined " as girls of the same ages , and for the sake of future humanity , Heaven forefend that they should be so !

I am , Dear Sir and Brother , Yours faithfully and fraternally , FREDERICK BINCKES , London , 17 th Jan . 1881 .

An Opportune Suggestion.

AN OPPORTUNE SUGGESTION .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . Beading , 20 th January 1881 . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I had , as you know , the honour of being installed W . M . of ths Union Lodge , No . 414 , on Tuesday , the 18 th inst ., a day ever to be remembered on account of the fearful

storm of wind and snow which raged throughout the day and night . After the ceremony was ended , our worthy Bro . Moxhay . ¦ who has acted as Installing Master to both our Beading Lodges for many years , proposed , in the most happy terms , that the contents of the broken colamn shonld be on that occasion devoted

to the Eoyal National Lifeboat Institution , to a branch of which I have acted as Hon . Sec . for the last fifteen years . Bro . Moxhay ' s kind proposal was no doubt prompted partly by his thought of the woather outside , and the recent reports of gallant deeds by onr Lifeboat men , and partly , perhaps , by a wish to pay a compliment to

mi self . The proposal was at once heartily taken up by the brethren , and the result was that £ 6 7 s 6 d was collected for tbo above purpose . I may add that the proposal met with the warmest approbation from Bros . Binckes and Terry , who both did us the honour of coming 1 through the storm to be present . I venture to

ask yon to make this known through your columns , m hopes that some other Lodges may be induced to follow our example , and , while not forgetting for one moment their obligations to support < mr own Charities , try to spare something for the support of an institution which jnst now has very heavy demands upon its funds .

I am , yours truly and fraternally , CHAS . STEPHENS , W . M . 414 ,

P . W . Treas . . berks ana ± Sucks . [ Wo consider the suggestion of our worthy and Wor-

An Opportune Suggestion.

shipful Brother Charles Stephens is a most excellent one , and we commend it , accordingly , to the notice of oar different Lodges . Every Mason must take a special interest in the welfare of the National Lifeboat Institution , quite apart from the ordinary impulses of humanity . There

is no doubt about it being a magnificent institution , no doubt about the invaluable service it renders , and , unfortunately , no doubt about it being at all times , but more especially in such tempestuous weather aa is now prevailing , in need of every scrap of pecuniary assistance that can

possibly be rendered . So far we Masons and the public generally are of one accord , as we are upon the same level in respect to the Society's claims upon the support of the whole community . But we must not lose sight of the fact that when Grand Lodge determined on voting a sort of

thank-offering , in order to commemorate the safe return from India of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , M . W . Grand Master , several schemes were proposed , but that which , after due consideration , found favour ultimately was the presentation to the Lifeboat Institution of

£ 4000 , for the purpose of building and endowing two lifeboats . These lifeboats have already done signal service , the latest evidence of which reaches us in the shape of a telegram from Clacton-on-Sea , where one of the twothe Albert Edward—is stationed : —

The brigantine Hasselo , of Haguesund , bound from Eiga to London , with a cargo of oats , has been wrecked on the Maplin Sands . In reply to the signals of distress sent up from the Sands , the Albert

Edward lifeboat , which belongs to the National Lifeboat Institution , proceeded out , and after an absence of twenty-four hours , she returned this morning , all safe , with the shipwrecked crew of eight men . The men were , however , all but dead from the cold .

This , of course , is only one out of many examples of the gallant services rendered by our Lifeboat crews . Yet it cannot fail to have a special interest with the Freemasons of England , who must rejoice that their humble contribution to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution has been of

such service to the poor fellows whose duty it is to go down into the sea in ships at the imminent peril of their lives . Other reasons—notably that a third lifeboat , stationed , we believe , at Berwick-on-Tweed , owes its

existence to the contributions of our Warwickshire brethrenmight be urged in favour of Bro . Stephen ' s suggestion ; but we "need not enumerate them . Distress of every kind prevails just now , but among the most terrible to be endured is that connected with , or caused by , the perils of the sea . —Ed . F . C ]

Withdrawal Of Visitors.

WITHDRAWAL OF VISITORS .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON s CHRONICLE . DEAR . SIR AND BROTHER , —I have no intention of prolonging what Bro . Gottheil very rightly describes as—in the character it has now assumed—a " useless and purposeless controversy , " nor , if I was so disposed , is it likely that you , Sir , would care to have your pages encumbered with snch purposeless matter . I must , however , ask yon

to accord me a little space in order that I may notice the singular idea which Bro . Gottheil appears to have formed of what I suppose I mast oall the duties of a private correspondent . I said in my last letter that I passed over one paragraph of Bro . Gottheil ' s letter because the matter it dealt with concerned the editor of the FREE - MASON ' CHRONICLE , not me . Ifc was in that paragraph that he sought

to inquire how apparently different statements of view made by the Editor on one and the same subject at different times were re . concilable , and how Oliver could be quoted in favour of one view in 1878 , and in that of the opposite view in J 880 . Now , I need hardly tell yon , Sir , that I had not in 1878 , and havo not now , anything whatever to do with the editorial conduct of your Journal . I may ,

perhaps , have read your leading article respecting this " incident" in Bro . Constable's South African adventures ; but I certainly had forgotten all about it when I saw your reporter ' s footnote to the Tranquillity notice . I criticised that note , or rather , the conduct it described , and quoted Oliver from memory as saying something to the effect that when business of a private character was being considered , a Visitor

who possessed any delicacy of feeling wonld retire without being asked , or as soon as he was asked . For so much , or rather for all that I said in my letter , I am wholly and solely responsible ; but how I can be held responsible for what was said by the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE in 1878 and 1880 is a mystery which I shall uot even attempt to unravel . If Bro . Gottheil is anxious , from a very

" natural curiosity , " respecting certain apparent or alleged differences of opinion as expressed by you in 1878 and 1880 , it seems to me that you are the proper person he should appeal to . I have said twice , and I repeat for the third time , that Bro . Constable ' s indignation struck mo as being not unlike an exhibition of spleen . I have said twice

and repeat for the third time , that , were I Bro . Constable , I should havo wished your reporter at Jericho rather than that he should have gone out of his way to refer to what Bro . Gottheil has himself described since as a " half-forgotten incident of no great importance to the high interests of the Craft . " I still regard Oliver as an authority as to the propriety of Visitors retiring from a Lodge daring the