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TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESSES ( Inland ) . For the Freemason Printing Works—FREEMASON , LONDON . For Jewels , Clothing , Banners , and Furniture—KENNING , LONDON .

Notice.

NOTICE .

The Freemason will be published on the morning of Thursday , the 23 rd inst ., instead of Friday , as visual . This wUl enable tVie trade to deliver it previous to the Christmas holidays .

To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

THE FOLLOWING UNAVOIDABLY STAND OVERCRAFT LODGES : —St . John's , No , 80 ; Percy , No . 198 ; St . Luke ' s , 225 ; Good Fellowship , No . 276 ; Aire and Calder , No . 45 S j De Grey and Ripon , 837 ; Atholl , No . 1004 ; Dukeof Edinburgh , No . 1250 J St . Margarets , 1452 ;

Clausentum , No . 1461 ; New Cross , No . 1559 Zion , No 1798 ; Richmond , No . 2032 ; and Prudence , No . 2069 . LODGE OF INSTRUCTION : —Kensington , No . 1767 . MARK LODGE : —St . John ' s ( T . l . ) CORRESPONDENCE : —The Battle of the Collars—E . T Budden ; Begging Masons—W . H . Wingfield .

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SATURDAY , DECEMBER 18 , 1886 .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ We do not hold ourselves responsible for , or even approving of theopinionsexpressedby ourcorrespondents , but we wish in a spirit of fair play to ail to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . ]

ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION . To the Editor of thc " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brolher , Will you kindly afford space to enable rae to announce that vV . Wither B . Beach , Esq ., M . P ., R . W . Provincial Grand Master for Hants and Isle of Wight , has consented to preside at the Anniversary Festival of this

Institution , and that the same will be held on Tuesday , the 22 nd February , 1887 . I trust that the brethren who may have hesitated as to accepting the office of Steward , through the day not being fixed , and the Chairman being unknown , will forward their names and rank at once , in order that their appeals maybe made to their different lodges , and thus justify the Committee in its desire to place an additional number upon the

list of annuitants from the 130 candidates seeking election , with at present two vacancies only , the more especially as being the J ubilee year it affords the opportunity of doing so , and of paying a compliment to her Majesty the Queen , the Vice-Patron of the Institution . —Yours fraternally , JAMES TERRY , Secretary . 4 , Freemasons' Hall , London , W . C , December 16 th .

PAST MASTERS' AND OFFICERS' COLLARS , & c . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , The subject hardly appears worth the discussion it has provoked , and I should hope the time of Grand Lodge need not be further occupied on a matter so essentially unimportant : but as you allude to the observations I ventured

to make at the last Quarterly Communication , 1 ask leave to add a final word . In a question upon which so considerable a number of brethren feel strongly enough to attend Grand Lodge in numbers , and upon which the division was so narrow , some compromise is surely possible without occupying valuable time . All Past Masters wear on their aprons the badge of

their rank as Installed Masters . Most also wear a Past Master ' s jewel , with its proper insignia of rank . If Grand Lodge choses to allow them also to wear a collar of rank there can be no objection . This is what I understand Grand Lodge to have done . But the collar of office with which thc Master and Wardens are invested when they take office , and which

Original Correspondence.

they relinquish on quitting office , cannot be worn except officially . H our Bro . Portal ' s proposition were amended so as to allow Past Masters to wear a collar on all Masonic occasions , not as officers , but , as they wear their jewels , as a mark of rank , while Masters and Wardens are allowed to

wear their collars on all Masonic occasions when they attend officially—this important question might be suffered to drop . Permit me , however , as having been officially compelled to assist in the division at Grand Lodge , to express my admiration of the perfect good humour by which it was characterized . —Fraternally yours ,

SAMUEL POPE , P . M ., S . G . D ., P . P . S . G . W . North Wales , & c . 20 , Holland Park , Notting Hill , December 12 th .

To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , Had 1 for one moment imagined that the majority in Grand Lodge against Past Masters wearing their collars on all Masonic occasions would only have been one , I should have left the duty in which I was engaged on the 1 st instant , viz ., affording " assistance and instruction to the brethren in the inferior Degrees , " and by my presence

at Freemasons' HaU increased the majority to ttsso . _ In common with several Past Masters to whom I have since spoken on this matter , who all regret _ that they did not attend and still further increase that majority , I was not aware that so many Past Masters felt inclined to pine when " out of collar ; " but as it is evident that this is the case , it may be expected that this matter will soon crop up again .

I , therefore , venture to suggest that the Grand Lodge of England should be moved to institute a special and distinctive Past Master's collar , to be worn on every possible occasion by those brethren who may consider this a desideratum , and as purple , crimson , and blue are already in use amongst English Masons , I feel inclined to propose green as a very suitable colour . As , however , green is not

easily distinguishable from blue by gas light , and the collar would be unappreciated if not conspicuous , possibly the words used by a "Provincial Man" ( I do not say " brother , " as I am not aware that he was a Mason , and I like to be particular ) when selecting his wedding waistcoat , may suggest an equally suitable colour . He said" I doan't want none of yer glaring white , let I 'ave a neat scarlet or a bit of quiet yaller . "—Yours fraternally , P . M .

To the Editor ofthe " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I notice your leader on above in your last weeks issue with much satisfaction . Paragraph 30 S ofthe present Book of Constitutions seems to me to be very clear on the subject , and lays down when collars are to be worn and when not . On the opening of a lodge the officers of that

Iodge take their proper places as a matter of course , and no one , unless he is very rusty , can possibly make a mistake in the matter . Again , paragraph 310 ( page 129 ) informs us that officers and past officers of lodges may wear the emblems of their offices in the centre of their aprons . Surely that is sufficient , and anything more appears to me to be an unnecessary display of millinery ; but the

question of what is to be ¦ worn by brethren when visiting lodges is , to my mind , only a secondary question as compared with the more important one whether brethren have a right to visit at all . The recital of the following will of itself explain what I mean : — The Master and Wardens of a lodge are enjoined ( by paragraph 140 ) to visit lodges as often as they conveniently

can , and in accordance therewith I and my Junior Warden recently visited a sister lodge in our neighbourhood ( having first received the usual invitation to do so ) . On entering the premises I exchanged salutations wilh the W . M ., who accompanied me upstairs into his lodge room and then told me that his lodge had passed a resolution that visitors should not be admitted until after the minutes

had been confirmed . I , of course , immediately retired , wondering in my mind why I should be invited to attend if I was not to be admitted . I do not complain of not being allowed to be present during all the work so much as I do of the manner in which it was intimated to me . If the W . M ., on my entrance to the ante-room , had quietly told me that he expected something uncomfortable being brought forward , and expressed a desire that visitors would remain

outside until after it was settled , I , as a Master Mason of nearly a quarter of a century , would have readily understood it , and should have thanked him for the friendly hint ; but to be escorted into the lodge and then to be told—there's the rub . If a lodge has the power to pass such a resolution excluding visitors ( which I very much doubt ) , what , then , becomes of paragraph 149 , which requires Masters and Wardens of lodges to visit?—Yours faithfully and fraternally ,

W . M . P . S . —Did the Iodge in question wish to bring my lodge under paragraph 151 ? if so , why were I and my Wardens invited to attend ?

18 C 5 EDITION OF THE BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , As several of my friends have kindly undertaken

to look out for a copy of the 1865 edition of the Book of Constitutions , I shall feel obliged by your allowing me to state that , thanks to the great kindness of Bro . W . Mortimer Heath , Grand Chaplain , who has given me his copy , my collection is now complete . —Yours fraternally , J . E . LE FEUVRE . Southampton , December ioth .

WAS THE ETTRICK SHEPHERD A FREEMASON ? To thc Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , It is to be regretted for his own sake that Bro . " VV . O ., P . M . 1 ( S . C . ) , " has not followed to a greater

extent the advice he so kindly tendered to Bro . Gould , in his letter of last week , to refer to the " Quarterly Masonic Review " of fifty years since on the ground of its containing " much interesting and instructive information . " Had he done so in this instance he would have found at page 220 of the volume from which the letter he has quoted was

Original Correspondence.

transcribed , a full account of the initiation of Bro . James Hogg , the said Ettrick Shepherd , a few months after he had written the letter declining the honour of being made a Mason . I give in full so much of the account as is necessary to prove that James Hogg was a brother and member of the Canongate Kilwinning , the Poet Laureateship of which he

had accepted previous to his reception into the Order . Thc account is remarkable , as showing that Canongate Kilwinning brethren of that day fully appreciated the reasonableness of Mahomet's conduct when he found the mountain would not come to him at his bidding . As James Hogg could not go to the lodge , the lodge being considerate , went to James Hogg and made him a man and a brother straight

away . —Faithfully and fraternally , December 19 th . G . A . ABBOTT . " Lodge Canongate , Kilwinning . " INITIATION OF MR . HOGG , THE POET , May jlh , 1 S 35 . —The refusal of Mr . Hogg , some time ago , even to enter within the pale of our Mystic Institution , having arisen , it appeared , chiefly from a resolution to withdraw

himself from public society , a Masonic excursion was determined on to go to Peebleshire , on purpose to initiate him into the Order . Accordingly , a party of Brethren of thc Lodge Canongate Kilwining started from Edinburgh for thc village of Inverleithen , distant about ten miles from the SHEPHERD ' S residence , being furnished with a warrant , or dispensation , to constitute a Lodge there . Two of the

Brethren , Messrs . Adam Wilson and Pringle , drove to Mr . Hogg ' s that morning , whom they found at his house at Altrive Lake , prepared to mount his steed for thc occasion . Arrived at the Cleikum Inn , St . Ronan's , the expectant brethren were all introduced to him , and the proper paraphernalia having been brought from the City , the Lodge was duly constituted in an apartment of

the inn by Brother James Deans ( Past Grand Sword Bearer of the Grand Lodge of England , and member of the Lodges Emulation ( London ) , and Canongate Kilwinning , Edinburgh ) acting as Master , and Brothers Anthony Trail and Alexander Mackie acting as Wardens . Mr . Hogg was originally recommended by Brothers John Forbes and Adam Wilson . Brother Deans conducted the ceremonial with

great solemnity and correctness , and the candidate was finally declared to be , and hailed as , a Master Mason of the Crait . After the initiation , the Brethren sat down to a plentiful repast in the CWikum Inn , St . Ronan's , kept by Meg Dods . Alter the usual Masonic toasts , the W . M . proposed ' the Health of thc Newly - installed Brother J AMES HOGG , ' " & c .

To the Editor ofthe "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , It does seem extraordinary that a brother should take the trouble to write to you and quote the page of the " Quarterly Review " to prove that Bro . James Hogg , the Ettrick Shepherd , was not a Freemason , when at page 220 of the same volume , 1 S 35 , there is a detailed account

of his initiation on the 7 th May of that year . The quotation from page 66 was perfectly correct . On the 25 th January , 1835 , Mr . Jas . Hogg writes : " I am not a Mason and never have been . " On the 7 th May , 1835 , Bro . Jas . Hogg says : " He could not but rejoice—the ordeal pastthat he had at length yielded to the solicitations of his

friend . " It might be interesting if you reprinted pages 220 and 221 of the " Review " containing the account of the fishing excursion and the initiation in Lodge Canongate , Kilwinning . —Yours fraternally , P . L . E . J . December 12 th .

ADMISSION INTO LODGES OF INSTRUCTION . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother . Art . 152 may work hardship in some few caseswhere is the law that does not ?—but " Master Mason " will note that the restriction is only upon visiting ' * any one lodge" more than once ; and he will I think agree with

Dr . Oliver that the soundness of the law is self evident . I should hardly advise " Master Mason " to act upon the principle which Bro . Vint seems to lay down in your previous issue , that lodges of instruction are not governed by the Constitutions ; as I Ceac he would find another view taken if the matter came before the authorities . See Arts . 158 and 160 . —Yours fraternally , LEX SCRIPTA .

LORD RAMSAY , AFTERWARDS MARQUIS OF DALHOUSIE . To tlie Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , At a private festive meeting of thc Canongate , Kilwinning Lodge , No . 2 ( S . C ) , of which Lord Ramsay , afterwards Marquis of Dalhousie , and Governor General of

India , was a member , his lordship stated the following anecdote as his reason for determining him to become a Freemason ; and considering the eminent position whicii Lord Ramsay attained as Grand Master Mason of Scotland , asadistignuishedmemberof Sir Robt . Peel's Cabinet in 1841 , and ultimately as Governor General of India . I hope you will consider his lordship ' s statement worth recording . It

was as follows : " I was walking with a clergyman some years ago , under whose tutelage 1 then was , and a wretched beggar , apparently a foreigner , entreated his Charity . The clergyman turned round to question the supplicant , and in a moment grasped his hand with the most cordial kindness . I was surprised . The stranger was a Freemason . He was

fed , clothed , and supplied by the generous Englishman with means of transport to the coast of Syria , where hc stated he originally came from . The circumstance made such an impression upon me that I determined as soon as 1 could to join an association so pregnant with good works . "—Yours fraternally , W . O ., P . M . 1 ( S . C . )

GRAND LODGE AND PROVINCIAL HONOURS . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , When I wrote on the above matter , I had not tho slightest idea that the subject had before been mooted or

discussed . I was not a member of Grand Lodge in 1882 , therefore the arguments pro and con are unknown to me ; but 1 agree vvith Bro . Stevens that they are not of such a nature as not to be easily overcome . I suppose the alteraion of the regulation defining the limits of provincial