Our Great Hospitals.

soundness of their own views , yet they always forget , in their hurry to profit by the so-called « illustration , " that the London hospitals and the American hospitals have been founded under entirely different circumstances , and thesame rule ?

which apply to the latter may not perhaps equally apply t 0 l ^ f ° rmer * We shall , however , bs very o-reatly surprised to hear , that the " American Hlustration" goes very far , if it goes any way at all . as we ^ reat ^ accounts of noble institutions attended to by most skilled members

of the medical profession in the United States , in which the principle of administration is with them , as with us , " gratuitous medical relief . " But even supposing that the special circumstances of the United States might demand a diffrtrent system from ours , is that any reason

why we should change ours in obedience to a technical cry or a hard and fast line of an abstract proposition , which so far as appears are more tentative than practical , more suggestive than real ? That it may be a good thing , and a very proper thing , to establish hospitals for those who can afford to pay for medical treatment there , and

prefer to avail themselves ofthe services of skilled nurses and an able medical staff , is a matter for serious consideration , about which , as in all sublunary questions , much may be said , and will be said , on both sides of the case . But coolly and solemnly to propose . that because of an admitted " abuse , " ( countless are the abuses of

life ) , we are to do away at once with a great and admitted " use " is a very striking commentary on the shallowness and superficiality of the hour . We certainly are living in strange times , and have to witness curious episodes . And most distressing is it to the thoughtful mind , when the

great difficulty of the hour is to steer clear , as between the excess of dogmatism and the excess of doubts—between the untenable claim of authority and the ill-omened assumptions of scepticism —to find that the more unmeaning , illogical , and unsound a proposition is , the more

likely is it to commend itself to the appreciation of the impulsive , and tothe acceptance of the unthinking . Hasty assertion , unfounded induction , and audacious arguments , which would have scared Aldrich , horrified Whateley , and distressed Mansel , " are apparently the order of

the day just now ¦ " and we need only take up the daily papers to find many specimens of " capital crimes " against right reasoning and common sense , which some of the " Parrots " of this , our generation , indulge in habitually for the amusement of their fellow men , and to their own evident self-satisfaction . We therefore protest ,

once for all , to-day against the hasty assevervation that the princip le of' * gratuitous medical relief " is either condemned by the experience of the " Faculty , " or hurtful to true charity , or subversive of the proper and needful administration ofour great and admirable hospitals . We shall recur to this subject in our next .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ We do nst hold ourselves responsible for , or even as approving of ihe opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish , in a spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . —ED . 1

SHAKESPEARE AND FREEMASONRY . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir , — My name having transpired in the course of the interesting correspondence on the above subject , I should like , with your permission , to say a word touching the

= ame . As an outsider I should have thought that had Shakespeare been a Freemason , his name , when he was initiated , would have been entered in the book or books of his lod ge , and that such book or books would have been preserved . Perhaps , however , I am wrong in supposing that any books whatever are kept , in which case , of

cmrse , my suggestion is valueless . Your correspondent , pt-phen C . Heath , Esq ., makes , I think , a great mistake '" > giving scraps of quotations from the great poet to show 1 he was a Freemason . Shakespeare was so voluminous writer , and touched upon almost every conceivable sub ject in his writings , that by thus " chopping" his sayings P > as does Mr . Heath , he could with some plausibility , —_ ... ... I , ,,-, 1111 , ,, c _ u _ l _ WILH s _ t » i- fttiuai—iiiLjr

1 | h- a < le to ^ an V th" * g- Besides , we all have a tendency , think , to dwell unduly upon favourite passages in the end ' iJ ^ ° ^ ^ reat men , and tutor ourselves to believe in the lea 0 Ur P i ' ''' s were shared by them . We should disti " ' - ° re es ecially wh < 'n dealing with dramatists , to thev " ef ' between the sentiments they held and those mou _ . em d fit ' for (! ramat' <* purposes , to put into the violen t - he r charact < : rs . A Roman Catholic does no n « to his conscience when he asserts that Shakespeare

Original Correspondence.

was a member of his faith—he can give many quotations and bits of . quotations to favour his argument ; the same may be said of a Protestant , or even an Atheist . Let me deal with tvva or three of Mr . Heath ' s " hashed up " quotations , given for the purpose of proving Shakespeare was a Freemason .

ist . " Who builds stronger than a mason ?"—Hamlet , A . 5 , S . 2 . To a non-student of Shakespeare this would read , standing alone as Mr . Heath gives it , as though Shakespeare implied by the question thus put , as it were , defiantly , that none could build stronger than a mason , ( by the way , there is no capital M to mason in the

original ) , whereas the question , including others besides masons , is put by one gravedigger to another , and the answer , as we all know , is that thc gravedigger builds stronger than any . 2 nd . " Thc labour wc delight in physics pain . " —Macbeth , A . 2 , S . 2 . This may or may not apply in a particular

sense to Freemasonry , but I am very certain it applies with great force to all civilised men—and to women too , civilised or otherwise . 3 rd . " Friends now fast sworn , whose double bosoms seem to wear one heart . " —Coriolanus , A . 4 , S . 4 . There is only a comma after the word " heart" not a full stop . The quotation runs thus : —

" Friends now fast sworn , Whose double bosoms seem to wear one heart , J Whose house , whose bed , whose meal and exercise , Are still together , who twice as ' twere , in love , Unseparablc , shall within this hour , On a dissention of a doit , break out To bitterest enmity . "

By quoting this passage , for only in its entirety has it any reuse , Mr . Heath would give outsiders to think that Freemasons are much given to "falling out" about nothing . 4 th . " Love , friendship , charity , are subjects all . "—Troilus and Cressida , A . 3 , S . 3 . There is no stop whatever after the word " all . " Here

is the passage : — " Beauty , wir , High birth , vigour of bone , desert in service , Love , friendship , charity , are subjects all To envious and calumniating time . " In conclusion , whether Shakespeare was a Freemason or not , I fail to see what good can arise by straining beautiful

and well beloved passages from their original meaning . Let Shakespeare be found to have been a Freemason by all means—I do not begrudge your Craft the honour , but in the discussion let there , I pray , be no " fantastic tricks " played with the writings of the great poet . I remain , dear Sir , yours faithfully , G . SOMEHS BELLAMY .

ROLL OF LODGES . To the Editor ofthe "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother . — Very singularly about the time that Bro . G . R . Harriott was writing his letter to you of your last issue , 1 was observing that such a work should be issued about every five years by the united action of the various Grand

Lodges . Bro . Leon Hyneman , now of New York , printed such a work in i 860 , entitled the " Worlil's Masonic Register : containing the name , number , location , and time of meeting of every Masonic Lodge in the World , so far as known ; also , of every Chapter , Council , and Commandery in the United States and Canada ; also the date of

organisation , ' time and p lace 01 meeting of every Grand Lodge , Grand Chapter , Grand Council , and Grand Commandery in the United States and Canada , with the Statistics of each Masonic Jurisdiction ; also , the name , business , residence and Masonic affiliations , and titles of each subscriber , besides much useful and valuable Masonic

information . Philadelphia . Printed for the author by J . B . Lippincott and Co . i 8 _ o . " ( 55 G well got-up pages . ) I suppose it could not have paid , or would have been followeel by other editions . Yours fraternally , Jons YARKER .

WEST YORKSHIRE AND THE BOYS' SCHOOL . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brothcr ,-I am sorry I did not , until to day , see my copy of the Freemason of last week , that I might have , at the first opportunity , corrected the error into which your correspondent had fallen . I certainly acted as a Steward at

the last festival , but it was not my good fortune to send in the grand sum your correspondent attributes to me . How the mistake can have arisen I can ' t tell , but I have just referred to your report of June 30 th , and see that the sum of £ 661 ios . od . was placed to my name , instead cl the modest sum of ten guineas . 1 take this opportunity of correcting another mistake in

connection with my name and the Boys' School . On June lOth I was reported as a winner of a life governorship by one of Bro . Constable ' s tickets—No . 9993—such , however , was not the case . Amongst the tickets 1 sold for our good Bio . Constable two drew prizes—No . 9993 was one of ihese , ai'd it was purchased and held by Bro . Joseph Starkey .

I was pleased to hear of West Yorkshire ' s handsome con tribution— £ 766 ios . od . —suggesting , as it does , that" The clouds that lowered upon our house ( at Wood Green ); In the deep bosom of the ocean buried . " I am , Fraternally yours , S . B . ELLIS . July 27 th , 1877 .

Original Correspondence.

THE LION AND LAMB LODGE , No . 192 . The following appeared in the Masonic columns of the iV . Y . Dispatch—Dear Sir and Brother , — I can somewhat corroborate thc position taken by the writer of the Keystone article on " Free and Accepted Masons , " reprinted in the Dispatch of June 2 ^ th . Some

years ago , being anxious to learn the details of my grandfather's record as a member of Lion and Lamb Lodge , London , I wrote to W . Bro . John G . Marsh , the Secretary of that lodge , in respect thereto . In reply I received several courteous letters , and this truly fraternal brother even went so far as to search the list at Freemasons' Hall , London , and the lodge minutes books for me without

charge . My grandfather , R . W . Bro . Thomas Sotheran , P . M ., and in good standing in his mother lodge for over fiftyeight years , was initiated in 1808 , under the so-called " York" Constitutions , but really those of " The Ancients . " The warrant of the Lion and Lamb Lodge , of which my uncle and my father were also members , was granted

December 24 , 1789 , by the Marquis of Antrim . W . Bro . Marsh informed me that this nobleman " was Grand Master of Masons according to the Constitutions granted by H . R . H . Prince Edwin of York , A . D . 926 ; and when the union took place in 1813 , the constitution of the York (?) Grand Lodge became united with the Grand Lidge of England , so that since that date , the warrant having been

confirmed and registered in the books of the Grand Lorl ge of England , we have continued so up to the present time . " The warrant of the lodge commences in a way which cannot be misunderstood so far as the designation " Free and Accepted Masons" is concerned : " We , the Grand Lodge of the most ancient and honourable fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons , according to the old

Constitutions , granteo . by H . R . H . Prince Edwin of York , Anno Domini , 926 , and in the year of Masonry 4926 , in ample form assembled , viz .: The Rt . Worshipful and Puissant Prince Randall William McDonnell , Marquis , Eirl and Baron of Antrim , Lord Viscount Dunlace , Lord Lieut , of the County of Antrim in the Province of Ulster and Kingdom of Ireland , Knight of the Most Honourable Order of

the Bath , one of his Majesty ' s Most Honourable Privy Council , and in that part of Great Britain called England , and Masonical jurisdiction thereunto belonging to , Grand Master of Masons , & c . " The numerical position of Lion and Lamb Lodge , after the union of the Moderns and "Ancients "in 1813 , was No . 325 ; in 1832 it was altered to No . 227 , and in ' i 86 t

to 192 . So much is to be learned on the various issues involved that I would recommend those interested to study what I consider the two best works on the subject , and which cover the whole of the debatable ground from every conceivable standpoint . They are Leon Hyneman ' s " Freemasonry in England from 1567 to 1813 , including an analysis of

Anderson's Constitutions of 1723 and 1738 , authorised by the Grand Lodge of England . " i 2 mo ., pp . 192 . New York : R . Worthington , 1877 ; and William James Hughan's "Memorials of the Masonic Union of A . D . 1813 . " 4 to ., pp . 120 . London : Chatto & Wind us , 1874 , In conclusion , I should say that the list of Grand Masters and Grand Secretaries from 1717 to 1813 ,

according to Hughan , reveals the fact that there were three distinct Grand Lodges of all England in existence during some portions of that period , namely , "The Moderns , " " The York Masons , " and " The Ancients . " The list of " Moderns" begins with Anthony Sayer , elected first speculative Grand Master , 1717 , at the Apple Tree Inn , by four old operative lodges , anel concludes with

H . R . H . the Duke of Sussex , 1813 . Of the "York Masons , " R . W . Bro . Hughan says : "The earliest roll of Masters preserved of the Ancient Lodge , held at York , commences 1705 , when Sir George Tempest was the chief officer , and down to the year 1724 the chairman was either styled Master or President , in which Lord Bingley , Sir William Robinson , Bart ., Sir

Walter Hawkesworth , and others served the lodge , but it was not until 1725 that the members constituted themselces into the Grand Lodge of all England , held at York , at which date the list of their General Masters begins . " In 172- ; Charles Bathurst was elected first Grand Master of the " York Masons , " and there appears , with two breaks ( i 7 . H— 7 01 and ' 782—r ? 9 i ) . a succession of sixteen

Grand Masters , up to Edward Wooley , 1792 , when this Grand Lodge collapsed . The secession of "The Ancients" took place in 1753 , and on December 5 th of that year Robert Turner was elected Grand Master of this schismatical body by some dozen lodges . From 1753 to 1813 , when H . R . H . the Duke of Kent was Grand Master , there were altogether

ten Grand Masters of " Ancients . " The Marquis of Antrim , who granted the warrant of the Lion and Lamb Lod ge referred to , was , from 1782 to 1790 , Grand Master of " The Ancients , " who have been also termed " Atholl Masons , " from the fact of two successive Dukes of Atholl having ruled over the body from 1771 to 1781 , and from 1791 to 1813 . Yours fraternally , CIIAHLES SOTHERAN .

Roan , Gilt Edges , elastic band or tuck , price , post free 23 . id . The Cosmopolitan Masonic Calendar Diary and Pocket Book for 1877 . It contains lists of Lodges , Chapters , Encampments , Conclaves and Grand Councils , with the names of Officers in England , Scotland ,

Ireland , and all parts of the World . Single copies ordered by letter may be paid for by stamps ; orders for more than one to be accompanied by Post Office Order payable at the Chief Office , London . Address Publisher , 198 , Fleet Street , London . ( Advt . )