Correspondence.

It is said that the " Colonial Board " have upheld this latest ruling of No . 219 . With all due respect I submit that this is not a colonial question , per se . It is one which vitally affects the English Craft in general , though for the moment it is also of great importance out of England .

The desirableness of a reconsideration of the new alleged ruling of the Grand Registrar on Rule 219 with a view to the amendment of the laws to suit cases which it may be confessed were not contemplated when the rule was made is of vital importance . For instance , the minimum mig ht be raised to the working number

of seven instead of three . But to allow this ruling to remain as it is will be disastrous to Freemasonry out of England—it will engender a sense of injustice which will rankle and fester in the hearts of those who , under the ruling , are called theminority , and who will thus be evicted from Masonry . Nor must it be overlooked

that this " minority " which is to be thus punished are those who are true and loyal , not only to the Grand Lodge of England , but to the Throne and Government of Great Britain itself . This alleged ruling , if upheld , will make rebels I Many members of these minorities will not follow the majority of their lodge ; they will

not be thus coerced to join a pseudo—Grand Lodge ; they will leave Freemasonry altogether , and under such a sense of injury as to have only contempt for a body , which , in violation of its principles , could commit such an injustice . Colonial loyalty , warm as it is , will not be snubbed with impunity . —Fraternally yours , '

A PAST MASTER . [ Since the above was in type , Grand Lodge has decided that the minority may retain the warrant and continue working under it , provided , of course , the conditions set forth in Article 219 are satisfied . Our correspondent will no doubt be glad to learn that he need have no fears for the future in respect of the rights of the minority . —ED . P . M . ' ]

CENTENARY WARRANTS AND JEWELS . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , The question of the effect of a sentence of suspension or erasure reversed on appeal , to which " Bro . 33 , " in his note to-day , seems to confine his agreement

with my view is one 1 had considered but did not think worth arguing . On this point I entirely agree with Oliver , that whilst an appeal "is pending , the rights will remain intact , " and with the opinion of Sir Frederick Pollock in the case of Wood , Crucefix and Stevens , which Oliver then goes on to quote ( Masonic

Jurisprudence , Ed . 18 74 , page 232 ) . Sir F . Pollock ' s statement that " it is the essence of an appeal that it should stay execution of the judgment appealed against . This may be supported by analogy from every existing code of laws" seems to me absolutely incontrovertible . I was looking , however , at the effect of a taking off

of the sentence and restoration , after confirmation . Bro . Lane quotes in full the words of Mackey which I had omitted as unnecessary to the argument . I had no intention of garbling Mackey ' s views , and considered the real point to lie in the concluding part of the passage which I quoted . Had 1 put in the whole I

should have italicised abeyance rather than are . In this lies the question between us . Bro . Lane seems to consider " suspension " equivalent to " death . " I regard it as a case of " suspended animation , " which is not incompatible with a continuity of " existence . " The view I took was that the granting permission to

wear these jewels was now a matter of prerogativethough apparently no permission was required in earl y days , but the jewel was assumed as a matter of course , if a lodge thought proper ; that there is not even now any distinct law of the Craft to regulate the grant ; and that if the M . W . G . M . has laid down general rules to

be observed by those lodges who now apply for permission , yet that it can never have been intended that the M . W . G . M . ' s discretion should be fettered by a too rigid interpretation of his own rules . I take it the plain common-sense reading of the

Instructions is that the M . W . G . M . is willing to allow a centenary jewel to be worn when a lodge can satisfy him that it has been in a working existence for a hundred years , and if it be shown that there has been a practical continuity of working that is all that was intended .

I am inclined to think—though it is with great diffidence that I venture to differ from such an authority as Bro . Lane—that the word " uninterrupted " was never meant to bear quite so strict an interpretation as he would put upon it .

Apart from this , I would ask Bro . Lane whether he does not think that the term " erasure " in old days was not in many cases practically equivalent only to the present " suspension ? " In the two cases upon which Bro . Lane challenges my opinion , I really have no means of forming one , beyond the facts stated in his

book . In both cases it certainly looks as if " re-construction " rather than " re-instatement " would be a more correct description . But what does Bro . Lane say to the case of Lod ge No . , which he tells us was erased on 5 th September , 1838 , but re-instated on 5 th December in the same '

year ' i Does he mean that such an erasure as this reall y interrupted the existence of the lodge , so as to debar its right to the jewel '; Again , if Lodge La Ciesaree , on their appeal being dismissed by Grand Lodge , accepted ( as J presume they have done ) the decision , and at once proceeded to ' comply with the requirements of Grand Lodge , and '

Correspondence.

are now at work again , would Bro . Lane consider they have forfeited all right to apply for a centenary warrant till 1991 ? Or again , what date would Bro . Lane say that No . 4 was first entitled to its centenary warrant ? 1 ask in no captious spirit , but because I really think that we should find it a very hard matter to draw the line if we try to do so too strictly . —Yours fraternally ,

LEX SCRIPTA . 21 st November .

Reviews

REVIEWS

THE LEICESTER MASONIC LIBRARY . — " A Catalogue of the Library in Freemasons' Hall , Leicester , & c . Leicester : Printed by Bro . W . H . Lead , P . M ., & c . 1891 . " This catalogue , compiled at the request of the Library Committee , " is to replace the existing manuscript ,

which is both old and incomplete , and has been prepared with a view to stimulate brethren of the local'lodges to investigate and study the history and antiquities of the Craft . " The work has been well done by Bros , the Rev . Henry S . Biggs , B . A ., Chaplain 523 , and John T Thorp , P . M . 523 , P . P . S . G . W ., the chief Librarian ( who

will be glad to receive contributions of books on Freemasonry , & c , which are not in the collection , and may be addressed to Freemasons' Hall , Leicester ) , and they deserve the hearty thanks of the province , and especially the members of the local lodges , for their very efficient services . As a catalogue it is all that can be desired ,

and there are so many cross references that it would seem impossible for any difficulty to be felt in discovering any book in the list . It is thus creditable to the compilers , and says much for the Masonic spirit of the brethren in Leicester to have such an interesting and valuable library . in

the preface mention is made of the handsome donations of books from that good friend of the province , Bro . William Kelly , P . Prov . G . M ., and Bro . the Rev . George Oliver , D . D . It has been increased from time to time by purchases and gifts . " Amongst the other principal donors are Bros . S . S .

Partridge , D . Prov . G . lVL , P . A . G . D . C . Eng . ; G . Toller , P . D . Prov . G . M . ; W . j . Hughan , P . G . D . Ung . ; G . H . Hodges , P . M . ; and C . E . Meyer , Philadelphia , U . S . A . " The compilers also gratefully acknowledge the kind assistance they have received from Bro . H . Sadler , Sub-Librarian of Grand Lodge , and Bro . H . I .

Whymper , CLE ., P . D . Dist G . M . of the Punjab . A capital arrangement is made for brethren to obtain the loan of books on lodge nights , a representative Committee of the several Leicester lodges and Chapter No . 279 , being elected for that purpose , and the zealous Bro . J . T . Thorp , as Chief Librarian , is also ready to

attend , by appointment , on any convenient occasion . The catalogue may be had from the same source for eighteen-pence per copy . In fact , it is a real live library , and doing precisely the work for which it is intended , and the management is of a most satisfactory character . We see there are several editions lacking of

the " Constitutions , " besides those of 1738-46 , 1767-76 , and 1827 , which might be found in the province , and not really wanted in their present locality , such as 18 53 , 18 55 , 1861 , 1865 , 1866 , 1867 , & c . Who will oblige Bro . Thorp V Then to complete set of the Masonic Exhibitions the Plymouth Catalogue is needed . Who will kindly send that ? Royal Arch Regulations are

lacking prior to 18 43 , and Bro . Sadler ' s work on the " Ceremony of Installation " should be obtained , to complete the trio . There are also other sets that should be thus aided and perfected . The paintings , engravings , photographs , and certificates are duly catalogued , and make a fine collection . We must defer a notice of the chief books in the library for another article ere long .

REDSKIN AND PALEFACE . Romance and Adventure of the Plains . By ASCOTT R . HOPE , author of " Romance of the Forests , " & c , with 12 illustrations . PIONEERS OF CIVILISATION . B y J TIL - LOTSON ' , author of " Adventures in the ice . " New and revised edition . With portraits and illustrations .

SMALL BEGINNINGS ; OR , THE WAY TO GET ON . New edition . MEG AND OLIVE . Life at the Grey House . B y M . RICKAKDS , with illustrations by O . L . Thomas . A CANTERBURY TALE . By M . A . HOVER , with illustrations by H . Evans . THE BOYS OF PRIOR'S DEAN . B y PH . KIJE

ALLEN , with illustrations b y H . W . Petherick . FATHER CHRISTMAS'S STORIES . B y LOUISE ALICE RILEY , illustrated b y E . W . de Gucvin . London : John Hogg , 13 , Paternoster Row , E . C . As usual , Bro . John Hogg has published a variety of new books or new editions ot books which have alread y

won popularity , in order to meet the demands for giftbooks which are so largely made by the public at Christmastide . The above are , one and all , excellent of their kind . Some will find favour with people in their " teens , " while others are better suited for children ot tender age , to whom nursery and such like tales afford infinite pleasure ; but in each case , we are able

Reviews

to speak most favourably of the ability shown by the writers , the excellence of the illustrations , and the general appearance—what is commonly known as the " get up" of the book . " Redskin and Paleface , " b y Mr . A . R . Hope , is full of stirring adventure—the scenes lying in the far west of North America and the subjects , the struggles in

which the redskin and the white men have been engaged since the latter first set foot in North America . The events depicted are chiefly of recent occurrence , and from episodes in the frontier wars in which the United States are almost continually engaged , and which will only cease when the red man is about exterminated . Mr . Hope writes well , and his book will no doubt find a host of readers .

" Pioneers of Civilisation , " by John Tillotson , has a well-established fame already , and Bro . Hogg has done well to issue it in a new and revised form with additional matter appende d . The pioneers are classified under the several heads of " The Soldier , " " The Adventurer , " " The Explorer , " the " Man of Peace , " " The Trader , "

' The Settler , " " Recent Pioneers , " etc . They include all or nearly all of those who , in their several ways , have helped to extend the influences of civilisation . The Portuguese navigators , Columbus , Cortes , Pizarro , and Rajah Brooke figure in the chapter on " Pioneers of Enterprise and Daring ; " Drake ,

Ralei gh , Cook , La Perruer , | Flanders , Mungo Park , Livingstone , and others , among Explorers ; the Puritan Fathers among Peaceful Pioneers ; the Hanseatic League , and the East India Company among the " Trading Pioneers ; " and Baker , Grant , Stanley , and Emin Pasha among the more " Recent Pioneers . "

The influences exercised by these and other heroes of pioneering are graphically described by Mr . Tillotson , whose work will , in our opinion , become more popular in its revised form , and retain for many years to come its well-deserved popularity . "Small Beginnings ; or the Way to Get on , " is a

good class of book , not lull of thrilling adventure like Mr . Hope ' s " Redskin and Paleface , " but of accounts of the steady , unpretentious worker , who toils day after day and year after year at some special branch of stud y , some mechanical pursuit , until at length he makes some great discovery or achieves some particular object

which entitles him to the gratitude of his fellow-men and wins for him a niche in the temple of Fame . Among the worthies whose careers are described in these pages are included John Walker of" The , Times , " or as he is appropriately called , " The Sovereign of the ' Fourth Estate '"; Herbert Minton and Josiah Wedgwood ;

Stephen Girard , the Cabin Boy ; Drake , the Sea King ; David Wilkie ; and George Birkbeck . It is a pleasure to study the lives of such men as these and to note how by indomitable perseverance they succeeded invariably in the purposes they marked out for themselves . The work is well written , and we have no doubt it will prove a great favourite with all who admire the good old

English qualities of steady perseverance and untiring energy . " Meg and Olive , " " A Canterbury Tale , " " The Boys of Prior ' s Dean , " and " Father Christmas ' s Stories" are , as their titles indicate , children ' s books , which are nicely written , and cannot fail to interest our little people . They are especially suitable as Christmas ¦ gifts .

MOFFATT'S CIVIL SERVICE EXAMPLES IN ARITHMETIC . With an Appendix . By J . HALL and E . J . HENCHIE , Civil Service Tutors . Third edition , revised . London : Moffatt and Paige , 28 , Warwick-lane , Paternoster-row .

This is just the kind of work which will be found invaluable b y intending candidates for the different branches of the Civil Service . It is , we think , pretty generall y known that arithmetic is one of the constituents of nearly every class of examination imposed by the Civil Service Commissioners . The specimen

papers which are here included are classified ( 1 ) as necessary information which will enable the student to work the papers successfully . It is a well arranged compilation , and the fact of its having reached a third edition is evidence of the appreciation in which it is held by Civil Service Coaches .

HINTS TO TAXPAYERS . How to Appeal gainst Revenue Tax Assessments . B y GEORGE BRADNKV MITCHELL . Wolverhampton : Printed and published by G . B . Mitchell , 15 , Victoria-streeet . Bro . Mitchell has rendered good service to the unfortunate taxpayer by placing within his reach in a clear and concise form the information it will be

necessary for him to obtain if he considers himself unduly assessed and is determined upon appealing against the assessment . In matters of this kind it is half the battle to know what must be done in order to effect your purpose , and for the able manner in which Bro . Mitchell has set forth the necessary particulars he well deserves the thanks of the taxpaying community .

? Tuesday , the 1 st instant , was the 47 th anniversary of the birthday of her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales , and was celebrated with the customary bell-ringing and firing of salutes at Windsor and in London . In ordinary circumstances the Prince and Princess are in residence at

Sandringham , and the auspicious event is celebrated by a dinner party there . But tne illness of their younger son has disturbed the arrangements on this occasion , and the celebration took place under the hospitable roof of the Duke of Cambridge . Among the birthday presents received by the

Princess was a screen containing the photographs of several of the second thousand members of the Royal National Pension Fund , of which her Royal Highness is President . The Prince and Princess were also honoured by a visit from the Queen .