Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

from its present absurdities and J ohnsoman verbosities , and to bring it into accordance with the spirit of the nineteenth century ? Has not the time arrived for stopping the

publication of the unauthorized , and too comp lete Rituals with which this country and the United States are so abundantly supplied ?

Can this be done in any other way than by Grand Lodge following the example of Scandinavia and Germany , and sanctioning the printing of a Ritual ( omitting the secrets ) :

Is there any other way of securing "uniformity of working " ? Could not the time now spent in orally acquiring the Ritual be devoted to better purposes ?

Does not the having to do so prevent many able men from filling our chairs ? Is it not more impressive to hear the Ritual decently read , than hesitatingly and

badly delivered , as is so otten the case t LL . W . LONGSTAFF , I 8 ° , P . M . 1010 , P . G . W . N & E . Yorks .

MASONIC PUNISHMENT . Obedience to constituted authority is one of the first duties which is impressed upon the mind of the candidate , and hence he

who transgresses the laws of the land under which he lives , violates the teachings of the Order , and is for this cause justly liable to Masonic punishment . CHALMERS I . PATON .

FREEMASONRY IN CUMBERLAND 70 AND

SO YEARS AGO . The following is from the Cumberland Pacquet of January I , 17 SS : — "We hear from Kendal , that on Thursday last ( being St . John ' s Day ) Sir Michael le Fleming ,

Bart , and a number of other gentlemen , members of the most ancient and honoured society of Free Masons , dined at the White

Lion , in that town ; when several constitutional and other toasts were drunk , and the day spent in the most convivial and harmonious manner . "

The following is from the Carlisle journal of January 11 , 1800 : — "On St . John ' s Day , the Union Lodge of Freemasons in Kendal walked in procession to St . George ' s

Chapel , where a sermon was preached by the Rev . Thomas Airey , Curate of Selside , from 1 st Peter , 2 nd ch ., 17 th verse , 'Honour all men . love the brotherhood . ' The

erenticmen afterwards dined at the Coffee-house . " [ We believe the Rev . Thomas Airey was grandfather to the present estimable and

energetic Prov . G . Sec . for Cumberland and Westmorland , Bro . Edward Busher , P . M ., P . Z ., P . P . S . G . W ., and P . G . S . B . of England . —ED . F . ]

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents . ( To the Editor of The Freemason . ) DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Will you kindly oblige by answering in your next issue the following question : —

A and ]) are initiated in the same lodge—A in 1850 , U in 1 S 51 . A and B are appointed officers . B succeeds in becoming W . M . a year before A , and A is his successor , and both are

now the senior P . M . ' s of the lodge . Question : " Which takes precedence as Installing Master , if the W . M . is incapable of performing that duty ?" Yours fraternally , A & B . November Sth , 1 S 71 .

The Purple In West Lancashire-

THE PURPLE IN WEST LANCASHIRE-

( To the Editor of The Freemason . ) SIR AND BROTHER , —Your report of the last Provincial meeting omits the fact that ( as stated in the local papers ) the Prov . Grand Secretary " gave notice that at the next meeting he should bring up the Resolutions of the Prov . G . Lodge

during the last twenty years , with a view to their being passed as By-Laws for the government of the province ; " and that ( evidently acting upon this announced intention ) a brother gave notice of motion somewhat as follows : —That a Return of all Provincial GrandLodge appointments made

in this province during the last twenty years , showing the names and descriptions of the brethren appointed , with their rank and the numbers of the lodges to which they respectively belonged , be also laid before this Provincial

Grand Lodge , together with a return of all lodges now in the province and the number of subscribing brethren in each . This notice the Provincial Grand Secretary declared he would not receive or enter on the

minutes , although the information asked for can be extracted from the minute-book at the same time as the resolutions referred to in his own notice . The Prov . G . Secretary also reported " a letter from Bro . Mclntyre , Grand Registrar , requesting

that the propriety of altering the boundaries of this and the neighbouring provinces should be taken into consideration , and expressed his ( the Prov . G . See ' s ) opinion , that those attempts should be resisted , and that he had accordingly replied to Bro . Mclntyre ' s letter , stating that the boundary

was already defined , and that HE could not see that any better boundary could be suggested , and would not , therefore , make any proposal as to its alteration . " Certain brethren deeming this a a matter rather for the consideration of the Prov . Grand Lodge than for the absolute decision of

the Prov . G . Sec , one of them gave notice of motion to the following effect : " That this Prov . G . Lodge is of opinion , that the time has arrived for this province to be divided into two provinces , to be called ' North Lancashire' and

' West Lancashire , ' and that the boundaries between this and adjoining provinces be taken into consideration and mutually adjusted . " This notice the Prov . G . Sec . also refused to receive or to enter on the minutes , declaring both notices illegal .

These notices of motion , and the manner in which they were treated by the Prov . G . Sec , convey , without further remark ( for the present , at all events ) , a fair guide to the general opinion entertained of the present advisers of the Prov . Grand Master . Yours fraternally , Southport , 2 nd Nov ., 1871 . ARGUS .

( To the Editor of The Freemason . ) DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —The letters in your last issue , from "Another P . M . " and " Di . Cran . Kin . " ( the latter , I presume , one of the recentlyinitiated Japanese brethren ) need some reply . As to the former , it would have been well had

he thought a little ere he attempted to influence seven votes in favour of the successful candidate for the office of Prov . Grand Treasurer . The reasons for Brother Turner ' s nomination were thoroughly explained and debated by a large number of the members of Prov . Grand Lodge ,

and it was most earnestly asserted that , although no man could be more highly esteemed or held in greater respect by Bro . Turner ' s friends than Bro . Armstrong , it was intended by this movement—the only means in our power—to express our disapprobation with the appointments made

in Prov . Grand Lodge of brethren who , year " after year , receive rank , to the exclusion of many of whom it has been openly stated by some of " the party , " "We care not what work l / uy do , so long as we are here they shan ' t enter . " On these grounds , and these alone , the opposition

to Bro . Armstrong—already a Past Prov . G . L . officer of some years' standing—was carried out . So long as brethren find that years of service and good work fail to entitle them to the just and proper reward of their labours , so long will this protest—only just made , in an open and formal manner—against a system that is fast carrying

The Purple In West Lancashire-

the Prov . Grand Lodge of West Lancashire into disrepute , be repeated . A large majority of the brethren in Liverpool have expressed their determination to support a petition to the Grand Lodge of England for authority to form a new province , to . be called

"South Lancashire , " and it has been decided to carry this out , as it is generally believed , if the power be continued in the hands of the present purple-holding obstructives to advancement , the direst results must follow .

Let the purple brethren weigh this matter in their minds , and recommend those "Wily" ones who have the ear of the ornamental Masons of the Provincial Grand Lodge lo advise a speedy change , lest they be "Allpassed" into another

province . The writer of the second letter is easily disposed of . Take heed , good Di Crankin ; attend your club less frequently , or we may yet have to inscribe upon a tablet to your memory : —

Whist , O Brother ! Kind fortune frown'd upon the ponderous Lanky ; In an evil hour He trumped his partner ' s trick , And died Cranky . Fraternally yours , ONE OF THE " MARK'D . "

Masonic Literature.

MASONIC LITERATURE .

There are among our readers , we believe , a goodly number of Free and Accepted Masons , to whom some information about the current literature of the Craft will prove interesting . Cromwell has its " Kilwinning Lodge of Freemasons , " Bro . J . A . Preshaw being the W . M .

It is matter for regret that we have not also a Masonic Hall in the town ; but perhaps the proposed new Athena _ um may be so constructed as to serve the purpose of a Masonic Lodge-room better than the present arrangement . We have before us a couple of copies of a

weekly journal published in London , styled THE FREEMASON , which is devoted to the publication of all matters connected with the Craft , and is duly recognised and authorised by the Right Hons . the Earl de Grey and Ripon , K . G ., the M . W . Grand Master of England ; the Earl of

Zetland , K . T ., M . W . Past Grand Master ; the Earl of Rosslyn , the M . W . Grand Master Mason of Scotland ; and the Grand Masters of many Foreign Grand Lodges . This weekly journal is exceedingly well got up , and is full of matter of the deepest interest to every member of the

Brotherhood . It boasts a circulation of nearly half-a-million per annum . The subscription is 12 s . a year ( post free ) , payable in advance . In America , too , Masonic journalism appears to flourish . At Springfield , Illinois , a monthly

journal is published , styled The Masonic Trowel , which has a circulation of 20 , 000 monthly . The largest Masonic monthly in the world is published at St . Louis , Missouri , the editor being Bro . G . F . Gourley , Grand Secretary and Recorder of the four Grand Bodies of that State .

For many years Masonry has found a modest place in periodical literature ; but it is only recently that the brethren have taken up the pen wilh a vigour almost equal to that with which they have for ages handled the mystic trowel . Of course the published literature of the Craft is not

allowed to go beyond certain well-defined limits ; the secrets of Masonry must not be divulged in any printed form . Judging from the samples we have before us , the conductors of THE FREEMASON are fully alive to their duty ; and the interests of the Craft will be considerably

advanced by their labours . We have not space for any lengthy extracts ; but the articles are conceived in excellent spirit , and rendered with discriminating taste . The great hope and endeavour of the true Mason is to make the world a temple fit for the dwelling-place of the

G . A . O . T . U . Masonic mysteries and lore we may not here enter upon ; but we feel justified in commending THE FREEMASON to the attention of members of the Craft in New Zealand and the adjacent Colonies . —The Cromwell Argus , Cromwell , Otago , N . Z .

BOOTS of the Period at BLAKEY ' , Lime-street , Liverpool ( under the Alexandra Theatre ) . —[ Advt . j