" The Oxford Party (?)."

burnings and recriminations which have been bandied about from one to another , it will be . well to let bygones be bygones , ancl not to revive a quarrel which seems , I hope , to be now fast expiring , hy such expressions as that which is the cause of this letter , and which I should not have noticed but from a sense of justice , both to an absent Brother ancl to the province of ivhich I am a member .

I am , Sir and Brother , yours fraternally , AN OxFOKDsnrrtE V . M . Rectory , Kent , Qili January , 1859 . P . S . I may add that Bro ., the Earl of Carnarvon , ivas initiated not in Oxford , but in London , though the University of Oxford may well he proud to own him as one of her alumni .

The Provincial Grand Lodge Of Somerset.

THE PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF SOMERSET .

TO THE EDlTOll OF THE EllEEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC JIIIlllOH . DEAR SIR AND BKOTIIEI ; , —I am truly glad to find that a " Past Master " has contradicted the grossly inaccurate report which appeared in your excellent Magazine a short time since , of the late meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge . "The Past Master ' s" statement , both as regards the number of the Brethren present , the Lodges represented , ancl the disapprobation to

which the appointment has given rise , is quite correct . I can quite understand the ignorance of the " Past Master" with respect to Brother C . Babbage ' s Masonic antecedents—he is not the only ignoramus in this respect—this will partly be explained by my informing him that the Provincial Grand Secretary for Somerset was initiated into Freemasonry at the 'Bridgwater Lodge a little more than twelve months ago , and until within a week back the only office he has ever filled is that of I . G . in his

own Lodge . AVe do very strange and incomprehensible things in " Zunniierzet , " especiall y in tbe Masonic way , and it may not be uninteresting to your readers to know a little of our doings , and how peculiarly unfortunate our Provincial Grand Master has been in his selection of Provincial Grand Secretaries for some time past . But I must reserve the details for another letter , and merely confine the present communication to the matter in

question , viz ., the recent appointment of Provincial Grand Secretary . I most seriously ancl emphatically deny that the appointment of Brother Babbage has given even the slightest satisfaction to the Masons of Somerset ; but , on the contrary , a feeling of extreme disapprobation , not to use a stronger expression , has been the result . To sum up in a few words—Brother Christopher Babbage is not the man for Provincial Grand Secretary , far from it ; lie miht perhaps distinguish himself in other walks of lifebut lie has never

g , shone as a " Masonic star , " ancl , if report be true—never will . I am , clear Sir ancl Brother , yours truly and fraternally , Jan . Sth , 1 S 59 . AsfflfflEi . PAST iVJ ASTEI ; . [ The report alluded to was copied from a local journal . —ED . ]