Correspondence.

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 . ]

THE MARK GRAND TREASURERSH 1 P . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , Permit me , through the columns of your - paper , to thank brethren for proferred services in my

candidature for the office of Grand Treasurer ( Mark Master Masons ) , and to inform them that I have withdrawn from the same . —Yours fraternally and faithfully , GEORGE GARDNER .

January 8 th . THE LANGTON LODGE OF INSTRUCTION

To the Editor of the Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , In the report of the festival of the Langton Lodge of Instruction , in your issue of to-day , Bro . R . C . Sudlow , P . P . S . G . D . Kent , is reported as saying that " Until the present moment that lodge of instruction

( Langton ) occupied quite a unique position , being the only lodge really carrying out the working of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement . " Bro . Sudlow is mistaken . The Wandsworth Lodge of Instruction , No . 1044 , has for years worked strictl y according to the Emulation system , and is very

prosperous . I shall be much obliged for the publication of this letter . —I am , dear Sir and Brother , yours faithfully and fraternally , ALEX . C . A . HIGERTY , P . M ., Sec . 1044 , & c , Preceptor Wandsworth Lodge of Instruction . January 4 th .

SUN , SQUARE , AND COMPASSES LODGE , No . 119 , WHITEHAVEN . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , In reply to Bro . Jno . Lane ' s letter , which appeared in last week ' s Freemason , I venture to say that

the facts relative to the attack which Bro . G . J . McKay , Prov . Grand Secretary of Cumberland and Westmorland , has thought fit to make upon the Grand Lodge of England and the Past Masters of the Sun , Square , and Compasses Lodge , No . 119 , Whitehaven , are not set forth therein as fully and impartially as might have been . The same may also be said of Bro . Lane ' s

remarks about the antiquity of Lodge No . 119 . And here , I may observe that I quite agree with Bro . Lane ' s remark that ' * Bro . G . J . McKay can doubtless take care of himself . " His conduct in the present controversy is a good illustration . The Provincial Grand Secretary has struck a blow at Lodge No . 119 , and has then sheltered himself behind Bro . Lane ' s

reputation . It might naturally be inferred , from Bro . Lane ' s last communication to the Freemason , that Bro . McKay ' s letter in the Cumberland Pacquet ( a non-Masonic paper ) , of the 7 th of November last , was due to an article which appeared in that paper on the Tjst of

October , and that it merely deprecated correspondence on lodge matters in a non-Masonic journal ; in other words , that the said article was the original cause of the present dispute , and that Bro . McKay ' s letter contained nothing of importance beyond what has been stated . This inference would be opposed to the true facts , as I shall at once show .

Bro . McKay is alone primarily responsible for creating all this discussion . He began it at the meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge , held at Keswick , on the 15 th of October last , when , with but scant respect for the centenary warrant granted by Grand Lodge on the 19 th February , 1885 , and without any notice to Lodge No . 119 , he surprised the members of that lodge who

were then present by objecting to their wearing the centenary jewel . This contretemps was duly reported in the account of the provincial gathering , which appeared in the local ( non-Masonic ) press , and which was contributed by a prominent Freemason , a personal friend of Bro . McKay ' s . Hence the subsequent article and letters .

Then , again , Bro . McKay s letter to the Cumberland Pacquet contained something more than the gentle deprecation mentioned by Bro . Lane . It contained statements which constitute grave reflections upon the Past

and Present Officers of the Grand Lodge and upon the Past Masters of Lodge No . 119 . Bro . McKay deliberately stated therein that " the lodge warranted in Whitehaven in 1768 had its charter withdrawn in 1805 , the cause of which is known to all Masonic students . "

This , if true , would mean that the whole Craft has been aware of this circumstance since 1805 . It could be no new discovery , because , if " all Masonic students " are now so well informed , the fact would be fresher in the memories of Masons at times not so remote as the present . None would know better than the Past and

Present Officers of Grand Lodge and the Past Masters of the private lodge affected by the alleged withdrawal or cancellation , yet what did they do ? Bro . Lane , on the authority of his own " Handy Book , " would have us believe that the Grand Lod ge in 1807 ( not in 1805 , as stated by Bro . McKay ) trans-

Correspondence.

ferred to " an entirely new lodge in Whitehaven " the warrant dated 1768 , without any remark upon it to indicate that such a transfer had taken place ; that Grand Lodge established a new lodge in Whitehaven in 1807 , and declared that it was founded in 1768 ; that , in fact , Grand Lodge possessed the power and exercised

it of setting time 39 years back . Bro . McKay would have us believe that Grand Lodge granted in 1885 a centenary warrant to a Whitehaven lodge , knowing full well that it had only been 80 years in existence ! Moreover he indirectly charges the Past Masters of the Whitehaven Lodge , since 1805 , with initiating ,

installing , and receiving fees on the authority of an old warrant , which , according lo Bros . Lane and McKay , belonged to a defunct lodge which had been founded 40 years before the present Sun , Square , and Compasses Lodge , No . 119 , Whitehaven , came into existence ; and , what is worse , Bro . McKay insinuates that these

Past Masters were well aware of the Masonic frauds they were committing . With due respect to the Prov . Grand Secretary of Cumberland and Westmorland , I beg leave to flatly contradict his assertion that the alleged withdrawal of the warrant from the Sun , Square , and Compasses

Lodge , Whitehaven , in 1805 , or the cause thereof was known to all Masonic students . It has not been known , nay , it has never been so much as mentioned by members of Lodge No . 119 , either inside or outside the lodge until this contoversy began . The oldest living Past Masters have never heard anything of the kind ,

so that if the warrant had really been transferred in 1807 all knowledge of the act must have been kept from them , and it might , therefore , be said of them that they were more sinned against than sinning . But I contend that the warrant , dated 1768 , was never transferred to an entirely new lodge . The only

available evidence is contained in the minutes of the Athol Grand Lodge , of the 4 th of February , 1807 , and the minutes of the Sun , Square , and Compasses Lodge , of the 14 th of March , 1807 . All the rest is pure assumption and surmise . Bro . Lane ' s " Handy Book " and Bro . W . F . Lamonby ' s " History of Craft Masonry

in Cumberland and Westmorland" are only secondhand authorities compared with the original minutes . Neither set of minutes , I submit , can be interpreted to mean what Bro . Lane says they do . Take the Athol Grand Lodge minutes first . They state distinctly that although "the Warrant , No . 157 , lately held at Byrnes

at the Gins , a village near Whitehaven , under which also very improper and un-Masonic proceedings had lately taken place , had beenwithdrawu from that place , the same ? oas now held and established at the George Inn ( the Royal Standard of the present day ) , Whitehaven , by many respectable brothers formerly of the

said lodge . " There is no mention of any '' transfer " of the warrant to "an entirely new lodge . " The same warrant was removed from the Duke of Athol Inn to the George Inn , where it was then held and established by many brethren of the said—which is equivalent to the same—lodge that

assembled at the first-named public house . Bro . Lane commends the meaning of the word " formerly " in the Athol Grand Lodge minutes to my attention . I reply that the wording of these minutes must not be treated with too great a nicety , especially by Bro . Lane , who has proved to his own satisfaction in his

Handy Book that the Athol Grand Lodge was exceedingly careless in the transaction of its business during the first decade of the present century . A body that could be guilty of the laxity ( to use the mildest phrase ) attributed to it by Bro . Lane , viz ., the granting of old warrants to new lodges , would not be too

circumspect in the wording of its minutes . In my opinion the word "formerly" is used in a widely different sense to what Bro . Lane says it conveys . Doubtless when Bro . James Byrne resigned his membership of the lodge , a lot of his friends would follow suit without being " cashiered . " They probably thought that Bro . Byrne

had been hardly dealt with . That would probably explain why he and they never sought re-admission to the lodge or " obtained ; my status as members " of the said lodge afterwards . The minutes of the Sun , Square , and Compasses Lodge , signed on the 14 th of March , 1807 , by Bro .

Edward Dalton , Secretary , distinctly affirm that at that date the lodge had been re-established , and the warrant had been restored to the same lodge—No . 157 . Now , the old lodge could not be re-established by granting its warrant to " an entirely new lodge , " and the warrant could not be restored to one

lodge by giving it to another . The lodge that assembled at the George or Royal Standard was composed of members who attended the lodge held at the Duke of Athol in the Ginns . The lodge roll proves this statement to be correct . It is perfectly true that Bro . Byrne and a few others did not continue members of the lodge

after it was withdrawn from his house . But there is no evidence to show they were expelled . If they had been expelled there would undoubtedly have been a minute to that effect . The probability is that Bro . Byrne and his friends resigned , having taken umbrage at the unjust treatment which had been meted out to him . It is also

quite correct that only two of the officers appointed by Bro . Byrne became officers in the re-established lodge . That is quite easy of explanation . When Bro . Byrne ' s election was adjudged null and void , ail the appointments which he had made were jpso facto cancelled .

His successor naturally selected his own ollicers , and only two of the old ones were appointed . The remainder , Bro . Lane omits to say , were old members of the lodge , as the roll proves . Notwithstanding Bro . Lane ' s surprise , I am still of opinion that there was no hiatus in the continuity of ,

Correspondence.

the proceedings of Lodge No . 157 . The last meeting of the lodge at the Duke of Athol , recorded in the lodge minutes , took place in December , 1806 . The next entry in the same book is the account of the meeting at the George Inn , when the same lodge was re-established , but no date is given to show when this

meeting took place . The minutes were signed by Bro . Edward Dalton , Secretary , on the 14 th of March , 1807 , but the minutes which had been written b y some one else , do not say when the meeting occurred . It must have been before the 4 th of February , 1807 , because on that date the Athol Grand Lodge minutes state that the

change had taken place . There is no documentary evidence to prove when the change was actually made . It may have been in either December or January . I have , therefore , as much right as Bro .. Lane has for thinking otherwise , to surmise there has been no break in the lodge proceedings .

Taking a broad view of the whole matter , and disregarding the quibbles which Bros . McKay and Lane have raised over this exceedingly brief and unpleasant period towards the end of the year 1806 , it must be admitted that the Grand Lodge acted within its right and with good judgement in granting the Sun ,

Square , and Compasses Lodge , No . 119 , Whitehaven , the legitimate successor of the old Lodge No . 157 , founded in 176 S , a centenary warrant in 1885 . It is not denied that the lodge assembled regularly from the year 1768 to the end of the year 1806 , and with only the briefest interval , if any , from that date up to the

present time . It is , therefore , surprising that brethren in the positions of Bros . McKay and Lane should argue that the lodge was disbanded in 1805 or 1807 , particularly when in so doing they indirectly cast a slur upon the characters of their fellow Masons and ridicule upon the acts of the Grand Lodge they are supposed to revere . —Yours fraternall y , R . W . MOORE . January 2 nd .

Reports Of Masonic Meetings.

REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS .

Craft fiDasonry .

METROPOLITAN MEETINGS . La Tolerance Lodge ( No . 53 8 ) . —This lodge held its installation meeting on the 2 nd inst ., at Freemasons' Hall , when Bro . W . G . Fenn , W . M ., presided . There were present on the occasion Bros . Thos . VV . Smale , P . M .- L . G . Langdon , P . M . ; T . Bicknell , P . M .,- John Skinner , P . M . ; C . Burt , P . M . ; James KenchP . M .

, , P . G . D ., Treasurer ; J . B . Sly , P . M ., Secretary ; E . Child , P . M ., Stwd . ; J . W . Elvin , P . M ., D . C ; and the following officers : Bros . VV . M . Clear , S . W . and W . M . elect ; W . Webb , G . L . Lyons , W . E . Willby , G . T . Augspurg , S . G . Edridge , W . Hooker , and Theo . Ward . The following were the visitors : Bros . W . Batty , P . M . 902 ; H . Massey , P . M . 619 and 192 S ; L . A . Langmead 1563 ;

, R . P . Stevens , I . P . M . 901 ; F . Blake , 15 S 5 ; A . Buchr , P . M . 15 S 5 ; John Paul , P . M . 1474 ; F . Cambridge , W . M . 2096 , P . P . G . Org . Surrey ; S . Cooper , P . M . 16 37 ; W . 1 . Stahlschmidt , 7 65 ; H . D . Hinton , P . M . 975 ; I . Lonsdale , P . M . 3 S 2 , P . P . A . G . D . C . Middx . ; G . J . Day , 1563 ; H . Yates , 2182 ; G . Reynolds , W . M . 1614 , Sec . 2191 ; Thos . Nicholls , M . D ., 463 , P . G . D . ; and A . Lister , 1965 .

Mr . Thomas Henry Clear was balloted for , and initiated by the W . M ., and Bro . Kench delivered in masterly style the ancient charge . Bro . John Frederick Gooch , of Lodge City of Ottawa , Ontario , was elected a joining member . The W . M . afterwards installed Bro . William May Clear , S . W . and VV . M . elect , in the chair of the lodge , and the following brethren were invested as officers for the vear :

Bros . W . G . tenn , I . P . M . ; W . Webb , S . W .: G . L . Lyons , J . W . ; James Kench , P . M ., P . G . P ., Treas . ; T . B . Sly , P . M ., Hon . Sec ; W . E . Willby , S . D . ; G . T . Augspurg , J . D . ; S . G . Edridge , I . G . ; J . W . Elvin , P . M ., D . C ; E . Child , P . M ., and W . Hooker , Stwds . ; T . Ward , R . A . M ., Org . ; and Walkley , Tyler . These investments over , Bro . Fenn delivered the addressesand

, completed his year ' s work in admirable style . The lodge business being concluded , the hospitality of the brethren was testified by an elegant banquet at Freemasons ' Tavern , where the Crown Room afforded ample accommodation for hosts and guests . Bro . W . M . Clear , W . M ., presided , having his brother , the initiate , on his right , and all the brethren of the lodge striving to make each other

and their visitors happy . The usual toasts followed . The W . M ., in giving the toast of "The Queen and the Craft , " said her Majesty ' s virtues were so weTl known to the brethren that it was quite unnecessary for him to enumerate them . They were known not onl y to Freemasons but throughout the four quarters of the globe and the colonies over which she reigned .

The W . M . next proposed "The M . W . G . M ., " and said that his Royal Highness was a Mason in every sense of the word . Those brethren who had had the honour and pleasure of seeing him do any work , saw well that he knew the Masonic ritual thoroughly ; indeed , whatever work he undertook he did thoroughly and well . The VV . M . proposed "The Pro G . M ., Deputy G . M ., and

the rest of the Grand Officers , Present and Past , " and said no doubt that as regards Grand Office many onerous duties were attached to it , which were carried out with a great deal of skill and zeal . In times past , perhaps , Grand Office had great influence in Masonry , but not more certainly than it had now . Grand Lodge had great influence on all the

doings of lodges generally . He would couple with the toast the name of Bro . Kench , P . M ., P . G . P ., who , like other Grand Officers , had taken great interest in Lodge La Tolerance . He was speaking truthfully when he said Bro . Kench was an initiate of Lodge La Tolerance , and it must be a great pride to him to see the prosperous condition the lodge was in at the present moment .