West Lancashire.

F . Pritchard - - - . \ W . Taylor - - - - - . t Assist . Dirs . of Ceremonies J . Rigby .... .. j F . Gore Little - - - - ) c , -. > T . Eastham . . . . } Sword Bea ™ s RHWebster - - - v

. . . „ . . . _ R ' . Wardle - - - - ' \ Standard Bearers A . E . Workman .... Organist S . Howard .... . Assistant Secretary H . Peers .... . Pursuivant P . J . Ashton .... Assistant Pursuivant E . Ross - . . . . \

P . Armstrong .... J . Galley S . L . Fraser .... V Rewards W . K . Brewster .... J . F . Willan .... W . H . Bali Tyler .

Chanfcy jewels were presented to fche following : —Bros . B . B . Hartley 2269 , J . M . McLeod 113 , John Brindle 2269 , Captain Garnett 1051 , J . S . Sommer 2457 , J . Cunliffe 2457 , T . Forrester , T . W . Rice 1403 , J . Chadderton , C . Watson Ch . 613 , E . Broadbent 2109 , T . T . Shann 2109 , aud J . H . Wells 2109 .

A collection , amounting to some £ 30 , was then made in aid of the Bootle Borough Hospital ; and thanks having been accorded to the retiring Provincial Grand Treasurer for his year ' s services , and to the Mayor and Corporation of Bootle for the use of the Town Hall , the Lodge was closed . — ' * Liverpool Courier . "

Fresh London Lodges.

FRESH LONDON LODGES .

A NEW Lodge , under the title of the National Artillery Lodge , is to be forthwith constituted , the warrant having been received on Monday , by the Secretary , Lieut . G . P . W . James , 3 rd Kent ( Arsenal ) Artillery Volunteers . The Lodge will be open to Officers of the Royal ' Militia Artillery , the Hon . Artillery Company , the Volunteer Artillery , and the adjutants of

the Royal Artillery serving with those branches of the service , the first W . M . being Colonel Ritchie , R . A ., of the War Office . Captain Weston , 3 rd Kent Artillery Volunteers , is to be the Senior , and Major Vane-Stow , City of London Artillery Volunteers , the Junior Warden , and among the first members

are Colonel the Earl of Sfcradbroke , President of the Council of the National Artillery Association ; Lieut .-Colonel Murley , City of London Artillery Volunteers ; Captain Nicholls , 3 rd Kent Artillery Volunteers ; and Captain Turner , City of London Artillery Volunteers . — " Morning Advertiser . "

The Consecration of the Empress Lodge , No . 2581 , will take place on Monday , 14 th October , in Rhemba Gardens , Empire of India Exhibition , Earls Court , the ceremony being assigned to Bro . E . Letchworth Grand Secretary , who will be assisted by other well known Masons . The inauguration is set down for 5 o ' clock , and will be followed by a banquet at 7 .

Here And There.

HERE AND THERE .

MY firsfc paragraph under this heading referred to the summons of a travelling Mark Lodge , dated 4 th April 1847 , a document very interesting in its way . My query as to whether any of fche members are now in the land of the living has elicited the following reply , addressed in the first instance to Bro . C F . Matier Mark Grand Secretary , and duly forwarded to me :

9 Royal M . B . Institution , Croydon , 14 th August 1895 . SIR , —I s ' e in this week's " Freemason's Chronicle , " an enquiry as to whether any of the Brethren who belonged to the Ashton Travelling Mark Lodge are still living .

The writer was initiated in the travelling Mark at Ashton-u-Lyne , in Lodge Union , and belonged to the Burial Club , iu which it was usual to pay extra contributions when a funeral occurred . I have often been to the Sunday Mark Lodge held at Stalybridge , Ashton , Hyde , Matplc , Denton , Openshaw , Ardwick and other places .

My Lodge and Chapter were the Duke of Athol , Denton , 210 , and Chapter of Faith of the same place . I am a P . M . and P . Z ., and a Past Provincial Officerof East Lancashire . I am pleased to say I am still in the land of the living , am an annuitant of the Masonic Benevolent Institution , and a resident of the Croydon home .

I shall take it as a favour if you will pass this note on to the Brother inquiring in the "Freemason ' s Chronicle . " I am , yours fraternally ,

( Bro . ) ALEXR . MCILQUHAM . P . S . Fidelity was ono of the Lodges connected only , and was held at the " Pitt and Nelson , " Ashton . My best respects to Bro . Ilquham , and I sincerely hope that he may be spared for many years to take , as he seems to do , an interest in matters Masonic . STEBO .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold 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 .

FRIENDSHIP LODGE , No . 44 . To the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —A most extraordinary statement respecting tho above Lodge appeared in your issue of tho 14 th inst . By whom furnished I do not know , but the authenticity of the statement which displays such gross ignorance might have been ascertained by reference to Brother Lane ' s valuable " Masonic Records . "

The date of the Friendship Warrant is 23 rd July 1803 , which can be clearly proved from Grand Lodge records . This Lodgo was one of the Athol or Ancients Grand Lodge and No . 39 . There were several warrants issued with this number attached—one dated 18 th June 1755 which was cancelled June 1793 and not re-issudd . Another was dated 4 th March 1795 , which

lapsed shortly afterwards . Then the present Friendship Lodge warrant was issued 23 rd February 1803 , therefore it cannot be correctly stated as having commenced in June last the 141 st year of its existence . The same statement says " the W . M .-elect is present W . M . of a Lodge in Leeds . " This is an error , Brother Wilkinson being at present W . M . of the Scarborough Lodge , No . 1214 , Batley .

If , as I am afraid , the author of these erroneous statements is a member of the Lodge , how comes it that he breaks his Masonic obligation by revealing the state of the ballot for W . M . thus publicly , which is utterly foreign to the genesis and spirit of Freemasonry ? Yours faithfully and fraternally , JOHN CHADWICK Prov . G . Sec . and P . M . 44 .

[ We refer Bro . Chadwick to the official calendar of Grand Lodge , where the date of origin of No . 44 is set down as 1755 , and have no doubt he will agree with us thafc the statement there should be deemed far more worthy of credence than any made in the compilation of a private writer , no matter what his ability , or

how far Grand Lodge itself has endorsed his labours by superintending the publication of his book . It is no part of our duty to decide on differences which exist between the statements of the Calendar Committee of Grand Lodge and Bro . Lane , but if Bro . Chadwick will take steps to correct the" gross ignorance "

displayed—by the Committee we have referred to , it would seem —we have no doubt we and others will fall in with the decision they arrive at . We very much question if this is the only alteration that will be needed in Grand Lodge Calendar if every statement made in Bro . Lane ' s book is to be considered irrefutable .

In regard to the situation of the W . M .-elect s other Lodge , Batley is so near Leeds as to render the error on that point of little moment . The third item in the letter is purely a matter of

opinion ; we should not have given the figures had we reported the meeting , but being supplied to us we printed them , thinking there might be some special reason for their publication and seeing no actual harm in their appearance . —Ed . F . C ]

The Wicked (?) Designs Of Freemasonry.

THE WICKED (?) DESIGNS OF FREEMASONRY .

rriHE following reply to the letter we reproduced last week is I from Saturday ' s " Weston Mercury " : SIR , —I certainly expected a reply from Mr . Shaw to my letter of the 7 th September , in which 1 challenged him to edify the public with somo of the wicked designs of Freemasons , of which he boasts he knows so much . Persons who attack institutions or individuals with the intention of doing

harm , when called on to substantiate the same , and , from inability , failing to do so , are invariably branded by right-minded men as malicious impostors . Mr . Shaw accuses Freemasons of having Satanic designs against the religion of Christ . 1 deny it , and challenge him to produce prools . He shuffles out of this by tho stupid plea that it would take volumes to do so . I leave your readers to form their own opinion on the calumnies of this champion of Christendom .

The idiotic twaddle of Miss Vaughan ( whoever she may be ) is really too ridiculous to comment on ; but in stating that the Devil is our leader , and that we are the authors of School Boards and strikes , is an exhibition of ignorance and malice for which it would be difficult to find a parallel . She arrives at this charitable conclusion after having read all Anti-Masonic works , & c , & c—doubtless written by those as ignorant of the subject as Miss Vaughan herself .

I am writing in the defence of Freemasonry as practiced in this country and the Colonies . Of the so-called Freemasonry of France I know very little , but I am right in stating that the wrath of the Pope has been hurled at that institution , because its Roman Catholic members , by absence from the Confessional , refuse to be fettered body and soul by the

partiallyrecognised dogma of papal infallibility , or frightened by the pains , penalties , and terrors of excommunication . In continuance of such manly independence they have my hearty good wishes . Unless Mr . Shaw responds to my challenge to expose the Satanic designs of English Freemasons , I shall take no further notice of his ravings , nor the tainted authorities he brings to his

assistance . Yours truly , P . S . S AUNDEBS . Moorland Road , Weston-super-Mare .

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