Correspondence.

Freemasons and their families as the warm-hearted and generous donors elect amongst themselves , where is the justice , or the right , to tax the brethren indiscriminately for that in which they can have no voice , and , at the same time , offend and cool the benevolence of those who have the will and the means to carry on the Charities to their honour and credit ?

If Freemasons are to pay a compulsory tax towards the support of these institutions , it will only be fair that those who are taxed should assume the entire management of them through the Grand Lodge , and in that case it will be obvious that the Charities and their government must undergo a radical change . The waste and extravagance consequent on keeping

up three separate establishments in three distant suburbs must , sooner or later , attract attention , lead to the sale of the three properties , and , from the proceeds , one great establishment—which can house the ivoiiien and girls in the one wing , tlie boys and men in the otherand a chapelhalland warden ' s house in

, , , the centre—should be erected in some generally accessible neighbourhood . Then there Avill be no need for any committees . A brother in holy orders , as warden and chaplain , chosen by the Grand Lodge , will suffice as governor for all . One set of tradesmen ' s contracts will be sufficient to

provide for all . One collector will collect for all . The work of the secretaries can be done by the Grand Secretary , and there will be no need of rooms for offices to be set apart in the " New Tavern Buildings . Printing , postage , and stationery accounts will be materially reduced , and special expenses entirely done

away ; and all for the same sum which our Grand Secretary costs us at present , and for Avhich he is not employed more than a tithe of his time . No annual festiA'als will be needed , because the tax will produce all the money the charities will ever get . No Boards of SteAvards , and the charity medals—those

baubles men purchase to blazon their liberality—may rust and the die be broken up . One strong reason for the vast outlay UOAV being incurred in rebuilding the Tavern- —larger space required for the festivalswill be useless , and the trouble , time , and fearful expense of remodelling the Grand Lodge property

entirely thrown aAvay . If such a state of things is thought desirable by the P . M ., and the Charities are to be damaged to this extent , besides loosing all the interest taken in them by so many liberal and energetic brethren , there is no better means to effect it than for the P . M . to agitate ,

and , if possible , carry a law for their support by Masonic taxation . If this is compulsory , instead of an average income * of the four realising some £ 16 , 000 per ' annum , voluntarily offered , the P . M . need never reckon on more than the tax will produce , £ 12 , 500 , collected with difficulty and paid grudgingly , such as would be the mite of Tours fraternally , A W . M .

Bute Lodge, No. 960.

BUTE LODGE , No . 960 .

10 THE EDITOE OP THE UltEEMASOITS MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIEBOE . DEAE SIK AND BEOTHEE , —I must claim a small space for brief and final reply to the W . M . of No . 960 , touching his unfounded and unsubstantiated charges against the FBEEMASONS' MAGAZINE .

Hoping , in our case , difference of opinion may not alter friendship , I may say that my respect for that worthy brother has been almost fully restored by finding he has , albeit in a someAvhat ungracious manner , wholly withdrawn the charge so far as it related to the editorial department—has , indeed , given its existence a total denial ! Unfortunately for the credit

of my friend ' s consistency , the " calumnious" resolution will only precede in our bound editions , by a few pages , the lame apology of its coneoctor . The reckless charge contained in that resolution was , that the-Editor of THE MAGAZINE had published " articles altogether inconsistent Avith facts . " The mover , as

well as author of that resolution having , hoAvever , now beat an inglorious retreat , I will not ungenerously follow him np , further than to impress upon that brother a caution to be more careful for the future in the construction of such bombastic manifestoes , as are not only intended to go the round of

"The Prov . G . M ., theD . Vwv . G . M ., and the W . M . ' s of the various lodges in the province , " but also to appear in the pages of a publication which will form a history of the Craft for future generations of Masons . I much regret , however , that the W . M . of No . 960 has had the temerity " unhesitatingly to repeat " a charge which—equally vpith the one he UOAV

repudiates—has been openly and fearlessly denounced m his lodge , and to his face , Avhilst in the chair , in terms ; too unmeasured to require repetition , particularly as they have already some prominence in the MASONIC MIEBOE . Although tlie double charge Avas the main feature in the resolution , of Avhich I trust Ave have now heard the lastit is attempted to exonerate the

, Editor at the expense of his Correspondents , who are accused of having " misled" him , and " anonymously assailed the character of the Prov . G . M . " A shabby way this of getting out of a difficulty , especially when such an accusation is repeated Avithout the least attempt at proof .

The Avriter does indeed mystif y himself and hisreaders with some most illogical argument regarding the opinions of your correspondents , which , because they not happened ahvays to coincide with his own , have therefore been calculated and intended to mislead!—very conveniently overlooking the

circumstance that those opinions have been only casually introduced in narrations of matters of history and matters of fact , Avhich there has never been the least attempt to deny . These , and not the individual opinions of correspondents , have called forth the articles in your MAGAZINE , which the malicious resolution of the Bute Lodge , dictated by its W . M ., hasdared to designate falsehoods .

One Avord touching the invitation to attend the lodge for any redress of grieA'ances . The W . M . might have embodied his own opinions into a resolution brimful of flattery , without any occasion for any comment in the pages of the FEEEMASONS' MAGAZINE , SO long as such a specimen of

sycophancy was only intended to adorn the minutebook of his lodge , or for presentation to his Prov . G . M . But when , not content with this disingenuous bid for Provincial Grand honours , he goes on recklessly aud ruthlessly to bespatter the character , not only of the correspondents , but of the editor of our truly independent organ , and requests insertion of his calumnies therein , he must expect through the