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To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

Will any brother who has any Masonic volumes to dispose of communicate with K . A . care of the Editor ? G . HAI . L , NO . 1055 . —The subject is one which is better left alone ; moreover , a lodge has a perfect right to accept or reject whom it pleas : s ; nor is it under any obligation to explain generally why this or that candidate was accepted or refected .

Among contributions held over owing to press of matter are : "THE HISTORY OE THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION TOR GIRLS FROM ITS ORIGIN 17 SS TO ITS CENTENARY 18 SS . " 1300 KS , & c , RECEIVED . " Liberal Freemason , " " Masonic World , " " La Chaine D'Union , " " Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine , " " Keystone , " " Boletin Oficial , " and "Freemasons' Journal" ( New York ) .

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§^ fe £ . ^^^ J ^ . AA ^^ i ^^^^ feeiVAAAA £ 55 p | i SATURDAY , DECEMBER IO , 1887 . tt ,

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ We do not hold ourselves responsible for , or even approving of the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish in a spirit of fair play to all to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . ] ENGLISH AUTHORS AND AMERICAN PIRATES . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , In your issue of October iSth appears an article signed by R . F . Gould , under the heading "English Authors and American Pirates . " The undercurrent and animus of the whole article is clearly shown by its tone , and the cleverly selected oortions

of the correspondence that suited Mr . Gould ' s purpose , cannot be disguised ( thanks to his clear legal training ) hence , 1 will , in view of these facts , be as brief as possible and not occupy more of your space than necessary to answer a few points in connection vvith the question at issue , and vvhich Mr . Gould in his partial statement ignores . 1 . The English publisher wrote me November 27 th , 18 S 3 , that he and not Mr . Gould owned the absolute Co * , right of the work , and had that publisher acted on the square vvith me , an amicable and satisfactory arrangement could and would have been effected for the benefit of all concerned .

2 . His own English publisher had such an exalted opinion and great expectations as to the sale of the work in this country , that he actually thought he would put as many as fiur portraits of American Masons in the work out of some 50 or more portraits he promised were to appear in it , prodigious for America , vvas it not ? 3 . His own English publisher arranged for , closed a contract and sold the market of this conntry to a New York house in 1 SS 4 , and they had the work upon the market for upwards of a year before the " American Edition " was ready , hence they had ample opportunity and a clear held to sell the English Edition .

Original Correspondence.

Next , Mr . Gould states he has culled from the correspondence between Mr . Jack and myself " all the material facts , " and that the correspondence during 1 SS 3 calls for no remarks . 1 wrote the following letters to Mr . Jack in 1 SS 3—they speak for themselves .

"Cincinnati ! , O ., Sept . 3 rd , 1 SS 3 . "T . C . Jack , Esq ., Edinburgh , Scotland . " Dear Sir , " At what price per page will you supply us a duplicate set stereo or electrotype plates of the letterpress of your ' History of Freemasonry , ' also the price per portrait for electros of portraits ?

Please entertain this and give the matter your favourable consideration . We have thought over the matter and think 10 make a fair sale , it will be necessary to place it on the market here at a less price than you charge in Great Britain , in view of the fact that similar works already issued and being sold here , are sold bound and complete for as

low as twelve shillings per copy , and if you will accept a fair price for the above , we will entertain it . —Yours truly , "J OHN C . YORSTON & Co . " See enclosed , which is two of the works referred to , and there are 4 or 5 others .

" Cincinnati , O ., Sept . 27 th , 1 SS 3 . "T . C . Jack , Esq ., Edinburgh , Scotland . " Dear Sir , " Since receipt of mine of August 27 th you will have received mine of the 3 rd inst . regarding a set of plates , which , in the event of arranging for , we could make an

equitable arrangement with your author for copyright . However , I will wait your full replies to all , and then can decide as to the best . Who are the four ' Americans ' that you propose to represent and put in the work?—Yours very truly , " J C . YORSTON . "

"Cincinnati , 0 ., Nov . 13 th , 1 SS 3 . " T . C . Jack , Esq ., Edinburgh , Scotland . " Dear Sir , " I have been expecting to hear from you by each mail for some time , in accordance with your promise to

write after seeing Mr . Gould , and also in response to my propositions . The time is rolling along , and I am desirous to close matters for our mutual interest—Mr . Gould included , and I trust that you have already written , as oromised , ere this . —Yours truly , JOHN C . YORSTON . "

It was on receipt of this letter that Mr . Jack wrote me that he , and not Mr . Gould , owned the absolute copyright of the work . The above letters contain material facts that I wanted to treat both author and publisher fairly and on the square . Uf course we might have crouched or appealed in more

cringing language and begged , but that vvould hardly have been business ( it is not American ) vve submitted and asked for a fair business offer and vve vvould have accepted it . I could give you a few more columns from my side of the question , but 1 am afraid I have already encroached too much upon your space and crave your pardon , and have

only to say in conclusion I regret the controversy at issue with Bro . Gould , and had his publisher , Jack , have acted on the square and have permitted me to communicate with Mr . Gould as I proposed , but vvhich Mr . Jack , by his letter of November 29 th , 1 SS 3 , prevented , then all would have been well and satisfactory . —Respectfully and fraternally ,

JOHN C . YORSTON . Cincinnati , 0 ., November ist .

[ VVe have felt obliged to considerably reduce the reply from Bro . Yorston . We cannot undertake to advertise the merits of his reprint of Bro . Gould ' s famous history , save in the ordinary way . The readers of the Freemason have now the facts before them , and we consider , so far as possible , vve have done our duty in the matter ; hence we trust the correspondence will now cease . It will be noted ,

however , that whatever may be the explanations offered by Bro . Yorston , on his own behalf and those of the brethren vvho have assisted him , the fact remains , that he has reprinted the work , written and published by brethren in this country , without in any way obtaining their consent , or contributing aught towards the cost of its original production . —ED . F . M ;\

THE NEW LODGES IN WEST LANCASHIRE . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , In your leading article in the Freemason for last week you state that the list of lodges warranted since the

last quarterly communication embraces three from West Lancashire and one from East Lancashire . Permit me to say that all four are in West Lancashire . No doubt the close proximity to Manchester of two out of the four lodges vvould lead to the belief that they were in East Lancashire . —Yours fraternally , JOHN CHADWICK , P . G . Swd . Br ., December 7 th . Prov . G . Sec .

THE CHARITY COMMITTEE OF EAST LANCASHIRE . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , The /'' reemason reports so very fully and prominently the remarks of Bro . Hine at the meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge of East Lancashire that some little

explanation seems requisite lest your readers should suppose that the Charity Committee—no longer under his guidance—had gone fearfully astray and attempted to commit some heinous offence . The circumstances referred to are as follows : West Yorkshire having a candidate who , before the next regular election of the Boys' Institution , would be over the age for admission , knowing that the

Blair presentation was vacant , proposed that East Lancashire should nominate their boy , and in return West Yorkshire vvould , whenever we had a candidate ( either boy or girl ) , give to our province the requisite number of votes to secure the election of East Lancashire ' s candidate . When the Prov . Grand Secretary communicated the offer to Bro . Brockbank ( Vice-chairman ) and myself , we considered the proper course would be to submit the proposal

Original Correspondence.

to the Charity Committee in whom the power of presentation vvas vested . Accordingly a meeting was summoned , the attendance was very good , the Prov . Grand Master presided , and amongst others present were five Past Prov . Grand Registrars , three lawyers , and two barristers . After much discussion it was almost unanimously resolved , " 1 hat the offer of West Yorkshire should be accepted . "

However , circumstances arose vvhich prevented the carrying out ot the arrangement , and an East Lancashire boy , the son of a good and worthy Mason was , after all , presented . Bro . Hine , when he spoke , knew this , so that his remarks vvere quite supererogatory as he was really finding fault with what had not been done . Bro . Hine , during the last two or three years of his

chairmanship , had allowed this presentation to remain vacant , although he might well have filled it as his successor did by selecting the most eligible boy from amongst those vvho vvere being educated by the East Lancashire Systematic Institution . When first the offer was made Bro . Brockbank , Vice-chairman , and I had an interview with Bro . Hine and explained the matter to him . At

that interview he made no objection ; why did he smother his feelings if they were so strong ? Why did he not attend the meeting and give the Committee the benefit of his great knowledge and long expeiience ? He said in his speech he vvas out of England at the time , I am told he was making his way either to or from the Isle of Man . Even if the contemplated arrangement had been carried

out , it seems difficult to understand how any great outrage would have been committed , because the presenting of the West Yorkshire boy vvould have secured the election of the next candidate ( either boy or girl ) from the province of East Lancashire .

Bro . Hine is justly esteemed most highly for long and most valuable service rendered to the Charities of our Order , but he has no right to assume that he is the only brother on the Charity Committee who is anxious to respect the wishes and reverence the memory of our late Prov . Grand Master , Bro . Blair . —Very truly yours ,

JAMES A . BIRCH , Chairman of Charity Committee East Lancashire . December 6 .

WAS DARWIN A FREEMASON ? To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , In reply to Bro . Sigm . Spitzer ' s letter under the above heading , 1 have made enquiry here of Mr . William Erasmus Darwin , son of the great naturalist , whose reply to me is , " My father was not a Freemason . " —Yours fraternally ,

HENRY LASHMORE , P . M . 304 , P . P . S . G . D . Hampshire and the Isle of Wight . 5 th December .

Reviews.

REVIEWS .

MASONIC FACTS AND FICTIONS . By HENRY SADLER , P . M . and P . Z ., Grand Tyler and Sub-Librarian of the Grand Lodge of England . London : GEORGE KENNING , 16 , Great Queen-street , W . C . It is more than probable that Bro . Sadler ' s conjecture as to "The Origin of the 'Secession' Fiction" is the right one , and that we are indebted for this theory to William

Preston . Bro . Heseltinc , whose letter at the outset of the chapter devoted to a consideration of this question shows he had a strong antipathy to the "Ancients , " and looked upon them and all their belongings as beneath the notice of the "G . L . of real Masons in England , " was Preston's first patron , and it would consist with Preston's interest , if not with his inclinations—vvhich would probably not count for much in the circumstances—to take his cue from Heseltine .

But however low an opinion the latter may have formed of the leaders of the " Ancient " system , and however inferior may have been their social status , there must have been a leaven of genuine Freemasonry in that system or it vvould not have survived the ridicule that was cast upon it , and attained such vast proportions as to be able , as vve have said before , almost to dictate the conditions on vvhich it vvas

prepared to form a Union vvith the " Moderns . " Preston , having been for a brief period himself an "Ancient , " must have found this out vvhen he joined the " Moderns , " and being a man of discernment , he may have thought it more prudent to assign their ori g in to a secession from the 1717 Grand Lodge than to ascribe it to a combination of clandestine , irregular , and make-believe Masons . At all

events , his attempt to disturb the relations existing between the G . Lodge of Scotland and the " Ancient" G . Lodge in London was a signal failure . The minutes of the proceedings of the latter body from ist Nov ., 1775 , to 4 th Dec , 177 ( 3 , include the record of sundry letters written about this time by the G . Secretary of Scotland ( W . Mason ) ,

referring to communications he had received from Preston , to Bro . Dickey , G . Secretary of the "Ancients , " and the replies of the latter , as well as a letter to Mason from Preston himself , in vvliich the secession theory was mentioned incidentally , and regret vyas expressed that the G . Lodgeof Scotland should have allowed itselt to enter into friendly relations with the " Ancients . " These letters were submitted to the

Dukeof Atholl , vvho directed a proper reply to be forwarded , and on receiving this important letter , the G . Lodge of Scotland , having carefully deliberated over its contents , ordered its G . Secretary to write an answer , in vvhich the following passage occurs : " We are by no means competent judges ot the differences subsisting between your Grand Lodge and that held under the patronage ot Lord Petrie . But

since we have had the honour of opening a Correspondence vvith you we have every reason to entertain the most Respectful Opinion of your Grand Lodge . We shall always think ourselves happy in keeping up the strictest communication with you , and uniting our endeavours to yonrs for promoting the Royal Craft and preserving it in

its original purity . This letter is given as signed by David Dalrymple , G . M . j Wm . Barclay , D . G . M . ; James Geddes , S . G . Warden ; and W . Smith , J . G . Warden , as well as by Wm . Mason , G . Sec , and David Bott , G . Clerk . It should be stated that this correspondence originated in a letter from Preston to the G . Secretary in Edinburgh , asking