Correspondence.

Correspondence .

f We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish in a spirit of fair play to all to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion , ]

THE FUTURE OF FREEMASONRY . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I am very pleased to respond to the invitation you g ive me in your leading article on " The Constitution of New Lodges and New Members " of the 7 th inst ., to write you again on the subject of " The Future of

Freemasonry , and should have written you earlier had my professional engagements permitted . And now I write with much diffidence , for I feel that it is somewhat presumptuous for an unknown and undistinguished member of the rank and file of Freemasonry to be discussing matters of such high import to the Craftmatters which should I think have been dealt with from

time to time as occasion required in the past b y the rulers of the Craft , and if this had been done , and done wisely and well , there would be less reason to find fault with the present condition of the Order . It seems to be admitted on all hands that of late years numbers of undesirable men have been accepted as approved

candidates , and have been initiated into Masonry . Thus far then all are agreed , and also as far as I can see there is a concensus of opinion that this evil arises , primarily at least , from the fact that whenever in an existing lodge there be any difference of opinion , any little friction between certain of the members , factions

are formed , one faction leaves the parent lodge and founds a lodge for itself ; then its members have to tout for candidates ( holding out the Charities as a bribe ) in order to exist , and in some cases even then failing to live . In such lodges as this you will find all sorts and conditions of men . Truly , but then the

question comes , why are such lodges allowed to spring into existence ? Why simply because'the Provincial authorities , to say nothing of the officials at headquarters in London , know absolutely nothing of the state of things , the existence of which was the real reason of the formation of the young lodge . So the

application for a warrant is favourably received and forwarded , and in due course the M . W . Grand Master graciously grants the prayer of the petitioners , and the young lodge proceeds on its course increasing the number of English Masons , and making many men members of the Craft who would

be doing very much better for themselves by becoming Oddfellows , Foresters , or Buffaloes , and whom our Order would be better off without . This all , I say , in my humble opinion proceeds from the fact that in the generality of cases the provincial officials are not sufficiently in touch with the various lodges of their

province . So I suggested , and , notwithstanding the objection of " Another P . P . G . Officer , " I see no reason yet for thinking the suggestion either useless or impracticable , that there should be some official but fraternal and friendly oversight exercised by a specially

selected Provincial Grand Officer , and I believe that if such oversight were judiciously carried out by experienced brethren much good must necessarily result . The provincial authorities would then be in possession of reliable information as to the state of the various

private lodges in their province , such as I cannot but think was the case with the Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Sussex recently . But as to " Another P . P . G . Officer ' s" objection , I may say that in large provinces such as he mentions the difficu . ty is easily surmounted . Supposing that , as suggested by another

correspondent , the Provincial Grand Registrar be the officer who shall have the duty of visiting and reporting on the private lodges , he would not find that his duties in such provinces as Herefordshire , Berkshire , or Cambridgeshire were very heavy , that they involved much expenditure of time , or that the amount of

travelling and hotel expenses would be a very costly item per annum ; but in the Provinces of East Lancashire and West Yorkshire I admit the case is widely different . In such provinces as the latter there could be more Registrars , say four , or as nearly as may be one Registrar ( or inspector of lodges as he really would

be ) to every 25 or 26 lodges . Then each Registrar would have the area over which he would be expected to exercise the supervision of lodges properly mapped out , so that neither official would in any way interfere with another . In this way ( just as Archdeacons assume territorial designations ) supposing there were two

Registrars allotted to the Province of Kent , one taking the eastern half of the province as his district could be named the Registrar of Canterbury and Provincial Grand Registrar of Kent , his fellow could , having the western part of the province in his care , be known as the Registrar of Tonbridge and Provincial Grand

Registrar of Kent . I put it in this way to show exactly how my suggestion may be worked out , and I have no doubt but that it could be made very useful for bringing the chiefs of the Craft in the provinces and the private lodges closer together . Then I would make another suggestion , and that is that the Provincial Crand

Master , attended by his Secretary , should hold a deliberative assembly or council composed of one member ( who should of necessity be an Installed Master ) elected annuall y by each lodge in the province , and that such council should be charged with the duty of discussing

all applications for warrants of constitution for new lodges and other matters of purely provincial interest , but such councils should not in any way be so constituted as to interfere with or infringe the Provincial Grand Master ' s prerogative . Such councils would I

Correspondence.

think be of great advantage . You ask if I desire that the Provincial Grand Masters should be drawn from an inferior social class from that to which our Provincial Grand Masters now belong ? Certainly not . I am proud that the Heir to the Throne is at the head of the Society of which I am a member ( albeit an humble

one ) , and in like manner I think it only fitting that the government of the provinces should be in the hands of noblemen . But much of the M . W . Grand Master ' s work is done by the Pro Grand Master . Every Royal Prince , when Worshipful Master of a private Craft lodge , may appoint his Deputy , and in like

manner I think that an officer corresponding to the Pro Grand Master ( shall I say a Pro Provincial Grand Master ) could very well—as well as the Deputy Provincial Grand Master—be established in each province . These and many other little matters may well be considered as they are things which tend , in my

opinion , to the future welfare of Freemasonry , but there are others , such as the splitting up of large provinces into two or more smaller ones according to their size so as to make each province more manageable in size ; the constitution of one or more Provincial Grand Lodges for London so that the Grand Lodge of

England may become a kind of higher chamber in which distinguished brethren ( distinguished in Masonry I mean , not distinguished in social position ) may be appointed to office , and such brethren be drawn from the ranks of provincial brethren of all provinces in the country as well as the more prominent of metropolitan

Masons . As it now exists it has always appeared to me that the Grand Lodge of England is too much like the Provincial Grand Lodge of London , inasmuch as many London and few provincial brethren become Grand Officers so that when a country brother has been appointed to Provincial Grand office he has nothing more to aspire to . All these and many other things

have occurred to me but I trust you will not blame my letter for being too long nor me for being too presumptuous in attempting , however lightly , to touch on them . If you do I must , I suppose , remember what the poet says of a certain class of folk who " rush in where angels fear to tread " and class myself with the aforesaid kind of people accordingly . Meantime I subscribe myself—Yours fraternally , LATOMUS .

November 18 th . ARTICLE 219 . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother ,

In view of the probability that Grand Lodge will before long be asked to formally decide what is the true construction of this law , I trust you will pardon an attempt to again put the matter shortly before your readers , the question being an important

one . Article 219 reads thus : " Should the majority of any lodge determine to retire from it the power of assembling remains with the rest of the members , but should the number of members remaining at any time be less than three the warrant becomes extinct . "

The wording of this law seems clear enough ; but the question has arisen whether it applies to the case of the majority of the members wishing to transfer their allegiance to a newly-formed body and to take the lodge warrant with them , so as to deprive the minority , though consisting of three or more , of the protection of this law .

Till very recently it has , I believe , always been held that the law did apply to this case , as may be seen by reference to Bro . Lamonby ' s letter as to the Combermere Lodge , No . 752 ( Freemason , vol . 26 , p . 231 ) , where the rights of the minority were upheld , and the

charter restored to them by the M . W . G . M . of Victoria . In the recognition of , I believe , every new Grand Lodge of late , the speakers in favour of recognitionhave insisted on the necessity of upholding the rights of the minorities .

Quite lately , however , a new interpretation has been adopted , and it has been " ruled" that the law was not intended to apply to a case where " the majority of the lodge are not retiring from the lodge but are taking it with them . "

I am not aware of any law of the Craft , written or unwritten , which allows a majority of the lodge to renounce the allegiance of the lodge to its mother Grand Lodge . On the contrary , I think that the history , as far as I can trace it , of this Art . 219 , distinctly proves the contrary .

In the Constitutions of 1871— " Of Private Lodges , Law 29 , " 1861 and 18 55 , the law reads as follows : " Should the majority of any lodge determine to retire from it , the power of assembling remains with the rest of the members who adhere to their allegiance , but if all the members of a lodge withdraw , the warrant becomes extinct . "

In Williams' Constitutions of 1 S 15—the first after the Union—Art . 34 , Private Lodges , reads : "As every warranted lodge is a constituent part of the Grand Lodge , in which assembly all the power of the Fraternity resides , it is clear that no other authority can destroy the power granted by a warrant ; if ,

therefore , the majority of the lodge should determine to quit the Society , the constitution , or power of assembling , remains with the rest of the members who adhere to their allegiance . If all the members of a lodge withdraw themselves , their constitution ceases and becomes extinct , and all the authority thereby granted or enjoyed reverts to the Grand Lodge . "

Correspondence.

This is , so far as I am aware , the first appearance of a law on the point , though it is not improbable that Noorthouck's edition of 1786 , the last before the Union , may deal with the question , but I do not possess a copy . Now were those words " who adhere to their allegiance" inserted without meaning ?

Or was this Article inserted in consequence of the dispute between Grand Lodge and the Lodge of Antiquity ? In 1777 the Lodge of Antiquity , for reasons fully set out in Preston ' s Illustrations and quoted in Gould ' s Four Old Lodges came to a rupture with the Grand

Lodge , " discontinued the attendance of its Masters and Wardens at the Committees of Charity and Quarterly Communications as its representatives ; published a manifesto in its vindication ; notified its separation from the Grand Lodge ; and avowed an allianco with the Grand Lodge of All England held in the City

of York The Grand Lodge enforced its edicts , and extended protection to the brethren whose cause it had espoused . Anathemas were issued , several worthy men in their absence expelled from the Society for refusing to surrender the property of the lodge to three persons who had been regularly

expelled from it , " & c . " To justify the proceedings of the Grand Lodge , the following resolution of the Committee of Charity held in February , 1779 , was printed and dispersed among the lodges : Resolved — That every private lodge derives its authority from the Grand Lodge , and that

no authority but the Grand Lodge can withdraw or take away that power . That though the majority of a lodge may determine to quit the Society , the constitution or power of assembling remains with , and is vested in the rest of the members who may be desirous of continuing their allegiance ; and that if all the

members withdraw themselves , the constitution is extinct , and the authority reverts to the Grand Lodge . " Gould ' s " Four Old Lodges , " p . 21 . The schism lasted ten years till 1789 , when Preston and those expelled with him by Grand Lodge from the Society made submission , and were restored to their

privileges . " It has been said that Preston came out of this dispute the victor . Such was far from being the case . The attitude of the Grand Lodge of England was the same from first to last—that is to say with regard to the great question of privilege raised by the senior lodge on its roll . " Gould ' s " History

of Freemasonry , II ., " p . 428 . I say it is not improbable that Noorthouck ' s Constitutions of 1786 contain some provision on the point . Looking at the date , and the fact that Noorthouck was one ol theexpelled minority from the Lodge of Antiquity whose cause the Grand Lodge had espoused , 1 think it

is most probable ; but , as I said , I do not know . Anyhow , comparing the wording of Williams' Constitutions with that ot the resolution of the Committee of Charity above quoted , it does seem to me that the Article was originally inserted to meet the case of the majority of a lodge wishing to transfer its allegiance ,

and " take the warrant with them , " and 1 trust that if the question ever comes before Grand Lodge again we shall find the Grand Lodge of to-day as staunch in supporting minorities who wish to adhere to their allegiance as was the Grand Lodge ot 1779 . —Yours fraternally , LEX SCRIP LA . November 24 th .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Masonic Notes and Queries .

963 ] R . A . REGULATIONS , 1864 . Bro . G . W . Bain , of Sunderland ( who is certainly one of the most successful collectors of Masonic books in England ) , has in his fine library one each of the slightly different issues of the regulations about which 1 enquired for '' India , " and kindly informs me that

they are precisely alike , save the title-page , and then the only difference is in the name of the firm , the one being given as Ford and Tilt , and the other as John Smith and Co . ' 1 he address to each is the same , viz ., " 52 , Long Acre , " so it is reasonable to suppose that the latter succeeded Messrs . Ford and Tilt , who are recorded

as the printers for both the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter during the period named . The new firm apparently preferred a fresh title-page , as 1 find some 500 copies left in sheets of the 1864 were bound some two years later , so that "John Smith and Co . " represents Sfccond lot bound of the same edition ot 1864 . W . J . HUGHAN .

w CONCERT AT THE GIRLS' SCHOOL . There was a small gathering at the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls on Satuiday afternoon , the 14 th inst ., at the invitation of the Chairman , to test the acoustic properties of the new Centenary Hall , when Bro . Frank Pownall , Mrs . Tuer , and Mrs . Godfrey Pearce , the well-known amateurs , favoured the company with several magnificent pieces of music . It was

the universal opinion that the acoustic properties ot the hall were as near pertect as possible , considering also that the hall was nut nearly lull , and that tnere are no hangings or drapery . The hall is 104 teet lung , 40 Ieet wide , and 50 teet high , and has an elliptical ceiling . Atter the concert the children went tnrough their musical drill , to the manifest and frequently expressed delight of the visitors .