The Plans And Designs For Freemasons' Hall.

the lodge rooms were not lighted , as it was supposed they would only be used at night , and gas would be sufficient . " 100 , " sent in eleven drawings . The elevation consisted of a pretentions building in three patches , and the coffee room opened into the street at once . The plans 23 resented nothing remarkable . ied ten

"Concord , " by Mr . "Wyatt Papworfch , occup drawings . His great dining hall was roomy enon 500 to dine , and took in the whole width of the pr The plans were very carefully considered and well suited to the requirements . The front elevation was remarkably neat and looked like a public building . Its only blot was that the door had four windows on one

side of it and three on the other . " Ich dien " sent in ten drawings . His new hall was the same size as the present , so he could not dine the 500 . The front was a pretty dose reproduction of Covent Garden Theatre , and the view of the banquetting hall showed just as many pillars as would be required for the iiave and side aisles of a church , a feature where dining

and speaking were to be carried on not only objectionable but fatal . " Finetn respice " sent in eight drawings . At any rate he could dine the 500 with ease , for his plan of the hall was 132 ft . by 43 fc . The elevation showed three genteel brick mansions , with pediments on the two end houses , and another in the centre . ¦

"Delta" was a gothic plan , well devised , and looking very attractive , but it was out of court by dealing with the whole of the property . " Labor ipse voluptas " sent in ten drawings . This was the best series of plans , giving admirable lights all over the building , and rendering every room easy of access , and well ventilated . There was no other disposition of the property half as good for light , ventilation , ingress , egress , and general compactness . The hall ,

however , could only dine 470 , and the elevation was particularly dumpy and heavy . "Usque ad astra" had seven drawings . He could not find space to dine 500 , and made the new grand hall the same size as the old , but contracted that space even by rounding off the ends , and so low was the roof that it appeared like a long corridor filled with tables ,

which , when the viands were placed upon thom , the steam and odour must , of necessity , be beaten back on the heads of those dining . The elevation was a five-storied fairy scene , resembling one of those marvellous scenic effects which are supposed to represent" Venus rising from the sea , " witb a stately mansion-in the back ground , all crimson lakeshellsand mist .

, , "A circle" was confined to five plans only . These were very careful studies of the ground for disposal , and had some valuable suggestions . There was no elevation . " Eoyal Gloucester " and " Ne cede Malis " were simply absurd . From theforegoing remarks it will bo seen how fewthere wei'e that complied with therequircddining hall

accommofor 500 persons , and if , a selection had to bo made , without regard to the main feature of the specification , general opinion pronounced that " Double Triangle" ought to have been first for his design ; " Labor ipse voluptas " second , for the value of the plans alone , and " L'Uhion fait la force " third , for the gem marked elevation No . 4 . The exhibition , as a whole , could not bo looked upon

as any compliment to Freemasons , who , to some extent , were once regarded as the architects and designers of Europe , but now arc sunk so low in the art that they have been obliged to ask for aid from professional architects , whose treatment of them show that they believe any design good enough to pass muster with the Craft , and viewing the exhibition , not as an architect , but as an interested brother , the writer grieves to say that it was , in his opinion , a failure . COMMON SENSE .

Uniformity Of Working.

UNIFORMITY OF WORKING .

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —As a W . M . anxious to know and to act upon the laws by which the Craft is governed , happening one day to be studying the Booh of Constitutions for my own guidance in the management of the lodge , I read the following : — " All lodges are particularly bound to observe the same usages and customs ;

every departure , therefore , from the established mode of working is highly improper , and cannot be justified or countenanced . " Hence materially spring a question and a duty . The question on the part of all rulers in the Craft , what is "the established mode of working , " and how is a knowledge of it to be obtained ? The duty on . the part of Grand Lodge is to provide means by which

this law may be observed . Of course , generally speaking , there is a uniformity in the landmarks of the Order , not only in all lodges under warrant from the Grand Lodge of England , but in those of other countries under recognised Grand Lodges ; but I presume that the law to which reference has been made bears a more restricted interpretationand that its meaning isthat such

uni-, , formity ought to exist , as that any officer of a lodge may be able to take part in the duties , in any other lodge than his own , without thereby appearing irregular , by departures from the usual mode of conducting the ceremonies . If this be the case , I fear that the law is more honoured in the breach . than in' the observance , and that there are very considerable differences in the

mode of working without any notice being taken of the matter . These arise from two causes ; first from intentional alterations conformable to circumstances , or to peculiar notions , as to what should be the form adopted ; and secondly from ignorance in remote localities , where it is difficult to obtain instruction . On one occasion , two years ago , two Past Masters , with myself , were called upon to install , under the' latter' circumstances , ' in a

district where such laxity had prevailed as would have incurred severe censure , had it been reported at head quarters , since it had long existed , but measures were taken by one or two members , who were not till then aware of their errors , to prevent a recurrence . It is well known that there are two distinct forms of ritual existing in London , the one being that adopted in

the eastern , and the other in the western district , distinguished , the one as that of Peter Thompson , and the other that of Peter Gilkes . Yet no measures are taken by the authorities to assimilate them- * At the time I was initiated , more than fifteen years ago , considerable differences existed in the lodges of the town in which I resided , which wore brought into uniformity , still

maintained , by obtaining' a qualified instructor on the Peter Gilkes' system from the Lodge of Unions , which meets under sanction of the Lodge of Emulation , at Freemasons ' Hall every Friday evening . A year or two after this , on a casual visit to the district in which I have since come to reside , I found one lodge carrying out the same system with great correctnesshavingas I was informedadopted

, , , a similar course some time previously . Now , however , circumstances have altered , for when occasionally visiting the other lodges of the town , I find changes introduced ; some on the plea that more complete details are desirable in giving the ceremonies , which has led to the admission of portions of the Lectures as part of the ritual ; others ou the ground that the form generally adopted is

incorrect on some points , which as is obvious cannot be here particularized . I have reason to believe that departures from the usual method of working are by no means uncommon in England , and thus , as changes are made in occupants of the chair of Master , if each one , or indeed only occasionally a few , vary from the established form , in order to carry out their own ideas , in time it will be hardly possible to recognize any thing beyond the land-