Liberty Versus Licence.

travelled into things utterly unconnected with the charge , wide of the charge ; the main charge of corruption was founded on this : Did . not you , after a festival was over , in the concert room—did not you hear one brother say to another brother this ?—AA hat had happened in

the evening . The person whose name was mentioned , positively , and in the most solemn and clear manner denied the specific question , although they were tested in the strongest possible way . I venture to say , on that board we were unanimous ; there was not the shadow of a difference

of opinion among us . I venture to say that the conclusion we arrived at was the conclusion any one would have arrived at , and which if before any jury of the country would have been endorsed . I apologise for having detained you so long . ( "No , no . " ) I feel it my duty as taking

part m that investigation , to explain " to you honestly and straightforwardly what had happened ; and when I hear matters represented as they have been , I do not think it right to let that pass unchallenged and unquestioned : and although we all understand that in a body of

Masons , each individual brother may claim liberty of speech , still that liberty ought not to be allowed to degenerate into licence . If the things are investigated and they turn out to be without foundation , without basis , the brother charging must bear the blame which attaches to

those who impugn other s conduct lightly ; and I for one do not envy the man who having brought charges he cannot substantiate , would make himself to be a martyr in the cause of liberty , and strive to elicit your sympathy on his behalf . ( Great applause . )

Obituary.

Obituary .

BRO . WILLIAM YOUNG , P . G . S . B .

The grim shade , under the influence of which a whole people has so long been sitting in agonising suspense , relieved or intensified as its gloom became more or less obscure , has extended its withering

effect into private circles none the less than usual , and with accustomed impartiality , while more prominently hovering over the object of national sympathy , has not spared those nearly and dearly regarded in

humbler spheres . In our own limited Body , death has recently been busy , and many have been called away , whose continuance amongst us we had every right—humanly speaking—to calculate upon for a long time

to come . In no instance has the utter fallacy of earthly confidence been more painfully illustrated than in the lamented death of the respected brother whose name heads this notice . Bro . Young attended

the meeting of the Committee of the Boys ' School on Saturday , 2 nd inst , in the full enjoyment of his accustomed health and spirits , and by members of his family it was remarked that he never appeared better ,

in every respect , than on the following day . On Monday , 4 th , towards the afternoon , he felt chilled and depressed , retired to rest at night , and was not seen again in public .

Ague and influenza had attacked him , and while no serious effects were apprehended , erysipelas supervened in the head , and on Thursday his condition was such as to attract serious attention . All that medical

skill could do was ineffectual , and , though aided by fine constitutional power , the patient succumbed at half-past nine on the

morning of Tuesday , the 12 th . The loss sustained will be widely and severely felt by a large circle of friendswithin and without the Order—to whom

Bro . Young had endeared himself by an unostentatious exercise of the best qualities that can adorn humanity . Perfection is not claimed for our deceased brother—as , of course , it could not be for any one ; but if kindness of disposition , a desire to be useful ,

Obituary.

practical generosity—combined with largehearted liberality , zeal , and determination , and an utter lack of selfishness—go any way towards the composition of what would

be esteemed in a man and a friend , these , and many other good qualities , were found in an eminent degree in him whose loss is now mourned , and to Avhom this hasty and imperfect tribute is paid .

Bro . William Young was initiated at the age of 29 , in the Enoch Lodge , No . 11 , on 10 th March , 1847 . Joined the Peace and Harmony Lodge , No . 60 , in 1855 , from which he was nominated as Grand Steward

in 1856-7 , and was appointed Grand Sword-bearer in Grand Lodge in 1864 . He was W . M . of the Enoch Lodge in 1853 , and of the Peace and Harmony Lodge in 1858 . Was exalted in the Old King ' s

Arms R . A . Chapter , No . 30 , in October , 1849 . Was a founder of the Enoch Chapter , No . 11 , May , 1 S 52 , of which he was Z . in 1856 . Was a Vice-President of the Boys ' School , a Life Governor of the Girls '

School , and of both branches of the Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and their Widows . Was an active member of the various committees of all the Institutions , and a punctual attendant at the Finance and other committees of Grand

Lodge , and at the Board of General Purposes . Of him it may be truly said , that his work was before him , and diligently he wrought therein . " Whatsoever his hand found to do , he did it with his might , " but

everything was done unaffectedly , from an honest motive to discharge efficiently every duty he undertook . Few amongst us , in the course of an active career , can be said to have made so few enemies , or to have

formed so many friendships . The former must forgive and forget at once ; those numbered in the latter can never cease to remember . At the age of 54 , Bro . Young has been summoned from his large sphere

of usefulness . His remains will be interred at Highgate Cemetery , on Monday next , at 12 . 30 o ' clock p . m ., and it is expected a

considerable number of his friends will be then and there assembled to pay their last sad tribute of respect to one whom in life thev loved so well .

BRO . JABEZ TEPPER . We regret having to announce the death of this well-known brother , who expired at his residence , 24 , Netting Hill Square , on the 10 th instant , aged 54 years . Bro . Topper was initiated into the Craft in

the Tuscan Lodge , No . 14 , on the 26 th November , 1 S 50 , and in due course passed the chair of that ancient lodge . He also served as a Grand Steward in 1867-8 , and became a member of the Grand Stewards '

Lodge , of which he was the W . M . at the time of his decease . Bro . Topper was likewise a member of the Board of General Purposes for a brief period . In the Order of Knights Templar our deceased brother

held the honourable post of Grand Treasurer , a position which he filled with great credit to himself , and to the entire satisfacof the Order . Bro . Tepper was , we

understand , a nephew of the celebrated artist Turner , and inherited some of that great man ' s magnificent pictures , now destined , beyond doubt , to the hammer , as the deceased has left no near relatives .

BRO . JOHN OSTENS STAMP . This esteemed brother—oneof the earliest members of , and a regular attendant at , Lodge Alnwick , No . n 67—departed this

life on the 9 th inst ., at Alnwick , aged 51 . Although he held no office , the respect in which he was held was shown by the

Obituary.

attendance , without any formal summons , of the principal officers and many of the brethren at the cemetery , where the last offices were paid to a good neighbour and a beloved brother .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents . THE PURPLE IN THE PROVINCES .

( To the Editor of The Freemason . ) DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , — Although you have very properly closed your columns against any further correspondence on the local subject of " the Purple in West

Lancashire , " as writers , on both sides , have unfortunately indulged in gross personalities , entirely subversive of " that love and harmony which should ever characterise

Freemasons , " still a few remarks on the subject of Provincial Grand Lodge appointments generally may , perhaps , not be deemed out of place .

From a somewhat extended experience on the subject , I am led to the conclusion , that whilst , on the one hand , in very small provinces , an annual or very frequent change of officers ( I do not necessarily mean of

offices ) is to be deprecated , as tending to lower the value of the purple , in the eyes of the brethren , by rendering it of too easy attainment ; on the other hand , both in the Provincial Grand Lodges and Grand Lodge

itself , every duly-qualified brother ought to possess in practice , as he does in principle , an equal right to obtain the honours of the

purple , although , as wc well know , selection must necessarily be resorted to , and only a very few of those entitled to office can obtain it . It therefore becomes all the more

necessary that as few duly-qualified brethren should be debarred from the privilege they are entitled to as possible . In a neighbouring province , with which I was formerly well acquainted , it long was

( I know- not if it still is ) the custom to change the Prov . G . Wardens only once in about seven years , and the other Prov . G . officers were also annually re-appointed , some for even longer , and others for the

same or shorter periods , so that it was a rare event for any infusion of fresh blood to take place . The natural consequence was , that instead of the Prov . Grand Lodge being , as it ought constitutionally to be , a

representative body , it became ( at least as far as the officers were concerned ) , as it were , a close corporation , where those who were in , felt that they had vested rights in their offices , and their object became to keep every one

else out—a state of things , if we are to believe some of your correspondents , apparently analagous to that unfortunately existing in West Lancashire at the present time . The province to which I refer had

then five lodges , two of which have since become extinct , is it too much to suppose , in part , owing to the above cause ? Let us see what was the effect of the system on these lodges as regarded the Grand

Wardenships alone , and of course it applies at least equally to the other offices . I am not sure that the Junior Warden did not succeed his colleague in the higher office , but taking it that both Wardenships became vacant at

the end of seven years , during that period there would be , each year , five W . M . ' s of lodges who would become legally , and , it is also to be assumed , by personal merit ,

qualified to be appointed to one of those Wardenships . Under the most favourable circumstances of an annual change of those officers , only two out of the five could possibly attain that rank , but by the system