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GRAND LODGE OF MARK MASTER MASONS OF ENGLAND AND WALES AND THE COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES OF THE BRITISH CROWN . THE RIGHT HON . LORD HENNIKER , M . W . GRAND MASTER . THE RIGHT HON . EARL OF KINTORE ,

R . W . DEPUTY GRAND MASTER . INSTALLATION OF H . R . H . THK DUKE OF ALBANY , K . G ., AS M . W . PAST GRAND MASTER . THE WINTER HALF-YEARLY

COMMUNICATION Of this Grand Lodge will be held in the LARGE HALL , FREEMASONS' T AVERN , GREAI QUEEN ST ., LINCOLN ' INN F IELDS , On TUESDAY , the 6 th of DECEMBER , 1 SS 1 ,

When and where all Grand Officers ( Past and Present ) , W . Masters , Past Masters , Wardens , and Overseers of Private Lodges are hereby summoned to attend , and at which , by permission , all regularly registered Mark Master Mason ? may be present . Grand Lodge will be opened at

Five o clock p . m . By command of the M . W . Grand Master , FREDERICK BINCKES , P . G . J . W Grand Secretary . Office , SA , Red Lion-square , Holborn , London , W . C ., 17 th November , 1 SS 1 .

N . B . —A Banquet will be provided at Seven o ' clock . The Tickets will be 1 . 5 s . each , inclusive of Wine , if taken before the day of Meeting , and 17 s . fid . if taken on that day , and it is requested that every Brother intending to dine will forward his name to the Grand Secretary not later than Saturday , 3 rd of December .

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npHE BRIGHTON HEALTH 1 CONGRESS . President—B . W . RICHARDSON , M . D ., LL . D ., F . R . S . Tuesday , December 13 th , 1 SS 1 . OPENING ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT .

Sections A , Wednesday ; B . Thursday ; C , Friday ; Presidents—Edwin Chadwick , C . B . ; J . R . Hollond , M . A ., M . P . ; Alfred Carpenter , M . D .

livening Addresses by R . P . B . Taafe , M . D ., and Brudenel Carter , F . R . C . S ., in the Dome , Royal Pavilion . Wednesday Evening—Soiree by the Mayor and Mayoress . Many places of interest are arranged for to be viewed by Associates on presenting their tickets , as well as

The Domestic and Scientific Exhibition in the Koyal Pavilion and Grounds , with Electric Lighting , to be opened by the President of the Exhibition , ' the EARL OF Clll-CIIESTKR . Associates' Tickets , 10 s . fid ., are being issued by the

Congress Secretary , Brig hton . Seats can be also secured . Chairman of Executive 1 W . II . HALLETT , F . L . S ., Committee , j Mayor . General Hon . Secretary , WM . HAMILTON , Ship Street , Brighton .

THE PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF SUSSEX Will meet under SIR . W . W . BUKRICI . I ., Bart ., M . P ., Prov . G . M ., in the ROYAI . PAVILION , On Monday , December 12 th , at Seven p . m ., to welcome all Brethren ( Master Masons ) attending the Health Congress . Bro . V . P . F RKKMAN , Brighton ( Prov . G . S . ) , will issue tickets , which include Admission to the Opening of the Domestic and Scientific Exhibition .

To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

BOOKS , & c , RECEIVED . " Blackwood ' s Shilling Scribbling Diary for 1 SS 2 , " " Voice of Masonry , " "The Hebrew Leader , " "The Broad Arrow , " "The Walhalla Chronicle , " "The West London Advertiser , " "The Play , " " The Citizen , " "The European Mail , " "The Jewish Chronicle , " " New York-Dispatch , " "Allen's Indian Mail , " "EI Taller , " "The Communicability to Man of Diseases from Animals as Food , " "The Public Ledger , " " The New Zealand Freemason , " La Escuadra Boletin Oficial del Grand Orient de Espana , " " The Freemasons' Monthly , " " Der Long Islaender , " " The Freemason " ( Sydney ) , Report of the Committee of the Free Public Library of Hereford , " "The Hull Packet . "

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TO OUR READERS . THE FREEMASON is published every Friday morning , price 3 d ., and contains the fullest and latest information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Subscriptions , including Postage : — United States , ... ,.. . Australia United Kingdom . Canada , the Conti- '"^ fe ^ ' & . nent , oiC . 13 s . 15 s . 6 d . 17 s . 6 d . emiUances may be made in Stamps , Init I ' oat Otliee Orders or Cheques are preferred , the former payable to ( IKOKUK KENNIXI ; , Chief Ollicc , London , the latter crossed London Joint Stock Bank .

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THEFREEMASON. SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 26 , 1881 .

Original Correspondence.

Original 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 ptay to all to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . ]

THE PROVINCE OF CHESHIRE AND THE CHARITIES . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Your correspondent "Cheshire" passes some strictures in your last issue on the work of the province in

relation to the three great Charities of the Order . His letter bears internal- evidence that he is not so well acquainted with his subject as he might be . That he is not , however , posted up in the details of what the Province of Cheshire has done , and the position it holds in

relation to the central Chanties is , perhaps , no fault . of his , for there is nothing published in the province giving the information , and the only means of ascertaining the facts is by consulting and sifting the annual reports of the Charities themselves , and the process is a tedious and uninviting

one . That we are not so backward , however , as your correspondent imagines , may be gathered from the brief summary of the charitable work of the province given by our R . W . P . G . Master at Knutsford , on the occasion of the presentation of his portrait :

" In 1 SG 5 they had no votes in the Charities ; they had now 940 , and their contributions had been between ^ 2000 and £ 2500 , and all their candidates had been carried . Twenty-one brethren had served as Stewards to at least two of the Charities , and had qualified themselves as Life-Governors , and had also taken subscriptions of upwards of

£ 1500 . The Cheshire Educational Masonic Institution had educated 304 children , and possessed funded property representing £ 4000 . Within the province they numbered eight Vice-Patrons of the threo great Charities , and eleven Vice-President . "—( Extract from Bro . Lord de Tablcy ' s speech . )

And your correspondent ought to know , unless he is a very young Mason , that with reference to the Charity he singles out , viz ., the Boys' School , it is only a few years since the province contributed 1000 guineas lorthe purpose of purchasing a perpetual presentation to this Institution . Still , notwithstanding what has been done for the

Charities in this province during the last sixteen years , I am of the same opinion as your correspondent—that much more might have been , ought to have been , and could in future be done , if the charitable work of the province were placed on a better system than at present obtains . It is a " haphazard " system ; individual lodges being left to do what

they please and how they please , without any sort of guiding or suggestive agency on the part of the province , and what success it has met with already is due rather to the earnest example of our noble P . G . Master than to any merit it possesses as a provincial organisation . I do not think with your correspondent that there is any

want of " go" amongst Cheshire Masons , but I do think that our charity organisation wants placing on a better footing . It is a broader and more popular basis that is wanted ; one that will give individual lodges within the province a greater amount of interest in the work . At present they are too isolated , and the result is that many lodges are

apathetic , and the Charities suffer . It is true we concentrate our votes when the elections come round , but how many lodges are there in the province which have no votes at all for either of the Charities ? The real charitable work of the province is confined to a few lodges where there is some zealous brother or brethren who have made

the subject of the Charities a speciality , and who keep up the interest of their lodge in the cause from year to year ; but these lodges might be counted on one ' s fingers so far as this province is concerned . The great success that has attended the Cheshire Educational Masonic Institution I attribute to the fact that it is

near home , it is better understood , its objects and claims upon the Craft are brought before the brethren more regularly , than those of the London Charities , and it is exceedingly well managed ; but even in regard to this Charity there is too much lithographed-circular business , and too little personal contact between the " authorities " and the

lodges they appeal to for support . What appears to me to be wanted in the province , and what 1 am sure would conduce to the increased prosperity of the Charities—London and local—is a re-arrangement of the Provincial Committee of Benevolence . Instead of consisting , as now , of Present and Past Grand Officers ( who never attend the ' meetings ) , and W . M . ' s of lodges ( who arc

of necessity birds of passage ) , and the real work being left to some half-dozen zealous P . G . Officers , I should like to see the plan adopted in the neighbouring province of West Yorkshire , of giving every lodge in the province a real , instead of a nominal , representation on the Committee , by requiring each lodge to elect annually from amongst its members a zealous and expert brother as " Charity Member . " Thirty-eight duly accredited " Charity Members " from the Cheshire lodges meeting periodically to compare notes ,

Original Correspondence.

gather knowledge , report progress , and carry back to their respective lodges the state of the " cause , " would , I feel , convinced , be . the means of giving a poweful impetus to the charitable work of the province . I need only point to W . York-shire , and the wonderful results achieved by that province , in support of my conviction .

I am sanguine enough to believe that under the scheme I have suggested , coupled with such administrative details as would suggest themselves to the Committee—take for example the excellent idea adopted in W . Yorkshire , of publishing annually a tabulated statement of the work of each lodge in the province in regard to charity , one

copy being- supplied to the Charity Member , " and another to be placed throughout the year on the W . M . ' s pedestal—I believe , I say , that the Cheshire contri . butions to the Charities might be doubled , that the moneys contributed might be laid out to better advantage than at

present , and that they might be distributed more evenl y each year amongst the several Charities of the Order . I have already trespassed too much on your space , but the importance of the subject must be my apology . I am , dear sir and brother , yours truly and fraternally , A CHESHIRE P . M .

To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Your correspondent " Cheshire , " in your issue of the 19 th inst ., page 520 , expresscssurpri . se that the province of Cheshire " does not get anywhere near the front " as respects the Charities , particularly the Boys' School . As he asks for an " explanation of what appears to be a bad

case" I would refer him to the report of the presentation to the R . W . P . G . M ., on the previous page ; he will there find the province is doing good work , and if he examines the last report of the Rojal Masonic Institution for Boys he will find the province has , up to December , 1 SS 0 , contributed £ 2340 , in addition to the 1000 guineas given to purchase a perpetual presentation to that Charity . I am , yours fraternally , ONE WHO KNOWS .

rilE PERFORMANCE OF CEREMONIES BY OTHERS THAN DULY INSTALLED MASTERS IN THE CHAIR . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , —

I am greatly surprised to see in your last number a letter by "Querist" upon the above subject , and your reply giving the ruling of Grand Registrar in Grand Lodge of 7 th March , 1 S 77 , relative to this much discussed question , also a further foot-note from yourself to the effect that " As a matter of course a P . M . occupying the chair in

the absence of the W . M . can exercise the same right . Before referring to your interpretation of the law I will give you a copy of a letter written by the late Grand Secretary , which , if I interpret correctly , is a contradiction of the ruling of the Grand Registrar . It is as follows : — " 4 th April , 1 S 74 . " Dear Sir and Brother , —

" The performance of a ceremony by a Warden is , to say the least of it , most undesirable , although there may be cases in the Colonies where such an irregularity might be condoned . I have not , however , the least hesitation in saying that a Warden ought never to perform a ceremony when a W . M . or P . M . is present . The

Wardens are appointed for the purpose of performing certain specific duties , which are or ought to be explained to them at their investiture , and certainly the performance of ceremonies is not amongst them ; besides , they must neglect their own duties if they undertake those of others . I repeat , therefore , that in the presence of an * Installed Master a Warden should never be called upon to perform

the duties of the chair . " Yours truly and fraternally , "J HERVEY , G . S . " I may perhaps , " en passant , " be permitted to say that the cases mentioned to the Grand Secretary in 1 S 74 , and the one supplied by your correspondent " Querist , " are parallel ones , and , therefore , the ruling in each case should be the same .

Now the Master at his installation solemnly declares that he will execute the duties of the chair faithfully , zealously , impartially , and to the best of his ability ; that he will not permit or suffer any deviation from the established landmarks of the Order . If , however , the W . M . is at liberty to call upon any brother to perform ceremonies which he , the W . M ., has undertaken to do , he is not preserving the established landmarks of the Order . If a Warden is

called upon to stand near the W . M ., or sit in front of the W . M . ' s pedestal , he is certainly not occupying the chair , and 1 contend that no initiations can legally be performed from any other place . The terms " ruling a lodge" certainly do not embrace the privilege of admitting candidates . Granted that it might under certain circumstances

become a matter of expediency , in the two cases quoted , there were P . M . ' s present who were both able and willing to do the work . As a matter of law I believe you are quite incorrect in saying a P . M . can exercise in this respect the same rig ht ; as a W . M . The I . P . M . is the the locum tenem of the

W . M . in his absence ; but it does not follow because ho is so that he has the right to call upon any brother to come forward and perform the ceremonies . In this view I am supported by the opinion of a Past Provincial Grand Master , who has devoted much time and thought to the question . * Or Past Master .