Another Pamphlet.

ANOTHER PAMPHLET .

( Communique ) .

"The cry is still they come . —Shakespeare . As another pamphlet is circulating in the good Province of West Yorkshire , and so far , not like its memorable predecessor , "suppressed , " 1 have thought it right to take upon myself the responsibility of treating it as a public , and

certainly a most personal document , and publishing it in the columns ofthe "Freemason"for the information of all whom it may concern . M y first impression was to write a letter to Bro . Kenning on the subject with " extracts , " but had 1 done so , I felt persuaded that I should have at once been

met by the asseveration that 1 had only given " garbled extracts . " I have , therefore , thought it better to publish the pamphlet in " extenso , " so that all may peruse its "ipsissima verba , " harmless as they really are in themselves , recalling the old line at once , " willing to wound , but

yet afraid to strike . " I think , too , lhat those of my brethren who read this " last pamphlet , ' * as well as those who are assailed b y it , \ vill probably laugh at it as heartily as I have done , though , with mysJf , they will feel great pity for the brother Freemason , who could pen , much less print and

circulate , so un-Masonic a pamphlet . How far such a " production " is within or without our own Masonic laws , is a matter for serious consideration , but for obvious reasons , public and personal , I feel sure that it is for the best , that

the entire Craft should have the opportunity of appreciating such a remarkable specimen of classic English and brotherly good taste . When the suppressed pamphlet appeared , ( clearly libellous and actionable ) , it ought also to have been printed for the animadversion and condemnation of '

the entire Craft , but that was not done on purely Masonic grounds , and the higher feelings of Masonic consideration . But the repetition of this odious system of pamphleteering attacks , in my opinion leaves no alternativ 2 to those who like myself , despise libellous and slanderous at

tacks , whether those of the surreptitious or the open defamer . I do not think it well to allude to any of the personal attacks on myself , as they are beneath notice , and I can well afford to leave them to the fraternal consideration of numerous friends and brethren up and down the

country , at home and abroad , who will give me credit , I know for , habitual courtesy and gentlemanly behaviour , and Masonic good feeling on all occasions . Indeed , my motto all through my life generally and Masonicall y has been , " Honour all men . " Neither do I think it befitting in me to allude to the insult offered to the Quar .

terl y Court in calling it a " packed meeting , " or b y implication to our distinguished Bro . J . Clabon , who so well presided over that numerous assembly of brethren from all parts of England . Let it be remembered that only some half-dozen , or thereabout , hands were held up , positively against the overwhelming majority of nearly 200 who voted for the needful motion of confidence

generally in the executive . Neither do I dwell upon the attack on Bro . Col . Ridgway , well able gallantly to defend himself . He was not the only brother who had to complain of unseemly interruption . Neither do I comment on the attack on the House

Committees , both . of the Boys' and the Girls ' School , nor the modest proposal , having just before praised the economical government ° f the Girls' School , to change its House Committee , as well as the Boys ' . In all 'ruth , the best answer to all these foolish

statements and suggestions is to be found , in ths determination of all other provinces in England to support the Executive authorities of the School , and to condemn that hateful personal feellng which has been introduced into this unseemly controversy . But I must ask attention to three

passages in the pamphlet . When Bro . Tew compares the Investigation Committee as he calls "» with the Charity Committee of the Province ° ver which I had the honour to preside in 1869 , ne makes use of an illustration almost too

Puerile to notice . The one was the Constitu"onal Committee of the Province , acting in aid ° F u ^ ° y s' School , under the special approval the P . G . M ., and raising money towards that e " 7 expenditure openly which has now been condemned as extravagant . The other is a

Another Pamphlet.

committee , in my opinion , unconstitutionally appointed originally , and illegal , according to the minutes of the Provincial Grand Lodge itself . But let that pass . Indeed , I for one look upon the Report as nothing but a censure cast upon the Charity Committee , and the

Provincial Grand Lodge in 186 9 , which unanimously voted s £$ oo towards the very building expenses which are now called in question . The statement at page 2 , that Bro . Tew ' s " previous pamphlets" were "replies , " in part , to Bro . Henry Watson ' s lucid and peaceful

pamphlet in 187 . 3 ( the first pamphlet in this trumpery business having been published in 1875 ) , 1 S one of the most astounding that 1 have ever read in my whole life . The naive admission also , at page 2 , that " without the private pamphlets acting as a preliminary to prepare the way , the

Investigation Committee could not have so soon come to their conclusion , " must be felt to be extremely flattering by the " Investigation Committee , ' and I recommend such a passage to the notice especially of Bfo . Gill , who knows as " " well as any one the legal value of

" ex parte' informations . With this h tle preface I leave the " last Pamphlet" to tell its own tale , in its " unadorned eloquence" and literal truthfulness . It is , indeed , a sad commentary alike on Masonic professions and Masonic brotherhood !

July 10 th , 1876 . A . F . A . W . I cannot omit one little amusing instance of the " animus" of the writer . In the fiist issue of the pamphlet , which is the copy here printed from , the D . P . G . M . of West ' Yorkshire , had stated that I was "late of the Fidelity

Lodge . " I never had the honour of belonging to the Fidelity Lodge in my life , being a member the Philanthropic , 304 , a fact which must and ought to have been known to the D . P . G . M . of a province , who has all the lodge returns before

him , and , indeed , was well known to him . In another issue of the pamphlet these words are marked through , with ink , without any acknowledgment of a private letter on the subject , or any expression of regret at so very peculiar a mistake .

, THE CHANGE , CAIII . ETON , PONTBFRACT , 30 th May , 1876 . To the Secretary of the Philanthropic Lodge , N 0 . 30 ' , Leeds . Dear Sir and Brother , I beg you will convey to the W . M . and brethren of your lodge my gratitude for their resolution received

this day , which is the more peculiarly welcome on account of the circumstances attending the Rev . F . A . Woodford's resolution of the 10 th of April before the Quarterly Court , in Freemasons' Hall . 1 rejoice to think the lodges of West Yorkshire are beginning to understand the gravity of that resolution , and

that the reception the representatives of the West Yorkshire Investigation Committee , and the other West Yorkshire brethren , met with at the hands of that reverend gentleman , and the members of the Quarterly Court , was of the rudest and most ungracious description . But it is for the lodges of West Yorkshire to say whether they will quietly

sit down under the stigma cast upon the province by that resolution , or whether , and in what manner , they will stand by the report of their own investigation into the R . M . I , for Buys at Wood Green . I , for my part , have done my duty , without fear or favour , in analysing the official reports for the

information of the Craft ; and feel that I never can again advocate the claims of the Masonic Boys' School upon the brethren of West Yorkshire unless a great reformation is accomplished in the financial , educational , and internal arrangements of that Chaiity . My convictions I shall not abate , but 1 give this

testimony that in all I have written or said , I have been influenced by the most ardent desire to promote the reformations , and the ultimate welfare of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , for which I feel sure that those who know i »« e best will give me credit .

I assure the brethren of your lodge that I have anxiously investigated every statement and account presented in the published authorised official reports of the school for the last six years , and in the pamphlets I have issued thereon . The various statements contained in them have never

yet been disproved , and I am convinced that those brethren who have the leisure and the will to study the past history of the Boys' School , and investigate the accounts set forth in the official reports , will not fail to arrive at the conclusion ot the Investigation Committee , that the management of the Buys' School , on moral , educational , and financial grounds , calls for a thorough remodelling .

I defend the circulation of the pamphlets and Investigation Report for thi reason that it would have been utterly hopeless to appeal to those , who through the indifference of Life Governors and other subscribers , have so long been responsible for the past and present state of affairs at the School . Those pamphlets were replies to those of Bro . Henry Watson , S . W ., No . 1386 , published 1873 ; to the letter of the Boys' School Secretary , 19 th

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June , 1873 , his Festival Circular , 7 th July , 1873 , and to the pamphlet of June , 1875 , already openly characterized as weak , offensive , and evasive . I found out a year ago that had any one ventured to question such venerable senators as the Executive of the House Commiitee on their management , or want of management , of the institution , he would have been

voted out of order and laughed at for his enquiry , for the object of the House Committee seems to be to stifle all legitimate enquiry . The Investigation Report was a report founded on all the statements in the Official Reports , while , without the private pamphlets acting as a preliminary to prepare the way , the Investigation Committee could not have so

soon come to their conclusions ; and although Mr . Woodford ' made a great point of what he professed to consider the unconstitutional and unprecedented appointment of the West Yorkshire Committee , you cannot have failed to notice that almost in the same breath he appealed to the labours of a previous committee of the same province , in which he himself took a prominent part . With the resolutions come

to by that committee I do not in any way quarrel , they may have been perfectly justified ; but our report covers the ground subsequent to that occupied by Mr . Woodford . His investigations terminate with 186 9 , when we take up the examination , with , however , a diametrically opposite result , showing a subsequent . ' extravagance almost unparalleled in the history of such institutions .

A greater insult and slight were never cast upon a generous province than was done by the resolution of the Rev . A . F . Woodford , on the 10 th April . Thirty biethren or more from the most influential lodges in this province hastily went up to London on the invitation of this resolution , a copy of which had been received from Mr . Binckes by the D . P . G . M . of West Yorkshire only four days before

the meeting in Freemasons' Hall , one of those days being a Sunday . Was it not unfair thus to give WestYorkshire no time to organise supporters to face the Quarterly Court , which was on that occasion a packed committee on purpose to out-vote West Yorkshire , and which was determined not to hear one word the representatives of your Investigation Committee had to say?—Bro . Moss , the

clerk of the Sheffield School Board , the member of the Investigation Committee , well qualified to speak on any educational question , being rudely and violently refused a hearing , and West Yorkshire being consequently degraded in the eyes of the Craft . Our province has now £ 10 , 049 'S . invested in these Boys' Schools , and is in the possession of 214 . 5 votes . Nearly

one-seventh of the whole £ 73 , 143 18 s . 3 d . paid by the voluntary subscriptions of the Craft for the schools and the maintenance of boys , as per the Official Reports , has been contributed by West Yorkshire , leaving to all the other provinces ot Grand Lodge six-sevenths divisible amongst them . Was then the conduct of the Quarterly Court to Bro . Moss , candid or just to the representatives of such

a generous province ? Was the Rev . A . F . Woodford , the former chairman of the West Yorkshire Charity Committee , justified in forcing his resolution upon a packed meeting ? From his sacred calling , and being P . Prov . C . of West Yorkshire , he ought' to have been the first to advocate that West Yorkshire brethren should have been listened to with respect ; and had this been the case , the important information in possession of West Yorkshire

would have been brought before the court , and probably the vote upon his resolution suspended . But the London Executive were afraid of truth , and West Yorkshire was treated with the grossest disrespect . The brethren have , however , a great , a noble , and a just cause in hand , the reformation of the management of these schools , and West Yorkshire will , I doubt not , take up the matter and work out the solution in its own earnest and ready manner .

Contrast the reception which the Governors gave to the West Yorkshire brethren with that accorded to Bro . Ridgway , who , when a mild "No" was occasionally interposed in the course cf his oration , as an indication that he was outstepping the bounds of truth , and as a warning that a full contradiction was forthcoming , with a lion-like roar asserted his determination not to be " put down by clamour , "

and then refer to the list of subscriptions and donations to the Boys' School , and ascertain how much he and his province do for the institution in which he professes so loud an interest . Compare for instance the £ 37 16 s . contributed by Devonshire , with its 41 lodges and 14 chapters , in the year 1874 ( the last published account ) , in 15 donations , with the £ 662 us . contributed during the same

time by West Yorkshire , with its £ 9 lodges and 19 chapters , in 68 donations , and then say which province has shown its practical interest . in the institution—which has most stones in the building . Bro . Ridgway was the chairman of the sham Investi gation Committee which sat in Freemasons' Hall last November , and the mention of his name will remind you of

the document to which he then ' put his name , and which was intended to have the effect of endorsing the acts of the Boys' School Committee . Why was not Bro . Winn's sensible suggestion to have a professional accountant adopted ? The antecedent facts were : Under the head of " Gratuities to ( with grants and outfits for ) boys on leaving the is not

institution , " a sum amounting 10 , ^ 124 5 s . accounted for , and cannot be found in any of the authorised published Official Reports of the Boys' School , and no subsequent act of the committee can now place it there , although they may perhaps give some explanation of its absence . The money is not accounted tor in the manner in which it

should have been accounted for ; of that there can be no doubt in the mind of any one who will examine the reports , and the Select Committee must at once have discovered that fact . In this strait what did they do ? They went to some pigeon-hole in the Secretarial Office , and obtain edcertain receipts which they carefully packtted , and