Correspondence.

Correspondence .

To the Editor . Sir and Brother , —I perceive in the Magazine for September 1 st an article written in solemn tones of warning and advice to the Masonic Observer . With Bottom , the Editor may say . " I grant you , my friends , if that you should fright the Dais out of their wits , they would have no more discretion but to hang us ; but I will aggravate my voice so , that I will roar you as gently as any

sucking dove ; I will roar you an 'twere any nightingale . " Midsummer Night ' s Dream . I am sure you must receive the ohidings of your contemporary with all due respect and humility . The writer of the article can point with an air of unctuous satisfaction to the columns of the Magazine for its uniform consistency , its gentle , courteous tones , its inflexible adherence to refinement of language and absence of

personality ; and if practical proof of this were necessary , -1 would quote the following felicitous paragraph from the number published in December , 1855 : — " Not get an answer from the G . Secretary ' s Office , quotha 1 Bah ! as well get the G . M . to attend upon any public Masonic occasion , except indeed , the nomination to office of some Whig protege is mooted , then indeed , he is punctual . The presence of our excellent Brother DoMe , with Ms sound practical

head , and talents for business , has been the shield of Ajax over and over again , behind which the incapalles , Lord Zetland , Brother White , and Co ., have been glad to cower . Their dulness it is which lias lost ns Canada , and for wliich the West Indies is already threatening severance—let the system go on , and the development of llasonry will shortly be reduced to Wo individuals , the placeman and the toady ; whilst the G . L . will , in all probability , be removed to Newmarket , the only place whence no plea operates to withhold our G . M . '' —Magazine , Dec , 1855 ,

Here is choice phraseology!—so elegant indeed , that I search in vain the columns of your journal for a parallel passage . I turn to the opening article in the Magazine , of the date first mentioned , and there I find the writer , whilst bewailing the faults and warning the Masonic Observer , betrays " an umble , " Heep-like penitential tone , quite edifying to minds independent . I admire consistency and I cannot tolerate expediency and miserable compromises ;

a bold and truthful policy will ever command the sympathy of the honest and fearless . The Magazine has achieved a great , a sublime consistency—vindicated a great principle—it has , to use a not very elegant expression of Lord Castlereagh ' s , "turned its back upon itself , " and should henceforth inscribe on its title-page , as its legitimate motto , its own epithet , "The Placeman and The Toady . "—I am , Sir and Brother , yours truly , PLUM .

To tfte Editor . Sir and Brother , —The M . W . G . M ., in open G . L ., made an attack on the Masonic Observer at the last Quarterly Communication . His lordship says that political feeling has , in no respect , guided him in his choice of G . Officers , and appeals to his appointments in confirmation of the fact . This was unfortunate , because the enquiry has

very often been enforced upon one , why certain noblemen , and others , were appointed to high positions , notoriously unfitted by their habits and knowledge of the Craft , to fill them . As an illustration of what I mean , take the appointment of Bro . the Earl of Durham to the G . S . W . ' s chair . His lordship at the time he was so promoted was not only unfitted by reason of his inexperience and the slender services he had rendered to the Craft , but he was not legally qualified , according to the Book of Constitutions , to fill the post ; and yet

the G . M . selected and placed him over the heads of men distinguished by their ability , zeal , unwearied application , and signal services to the Craft . And wherefore ? By what principle is the G . M . guided in his appointments ? If the exalted position of a G . O . of England be a reward for distinguished services to the Order , as in theory it is , where , when , and how , had the noble Bro . performed these services ? This is by no means a solitary instance of the nepotism and striking

unfairness which prevails in the bestowal of the honours of G . L I am not prepared to say that the M . W . G . M . is biassed by political feeling , but I should be better satisfied that such is not the case , by a more practical manifestation of his impartiality than his lordship ' s "indignant denial . " Sir , the feeling in the country ( and it is not confined to the country ) by no means acquits Lord Zetland of the charge alleged against him , nor will the Brethren generally

acquiesce in the policy of his lordship and the Dais , until fresh vigour , energy , and disinterestedness be more conspicuous in its development . It occurred to me and many others , that this speech of the G . M . was a clap-trap , a mere vapouring in order to divert the minds of Brethren from those important subjects which many Brethren bring forward and urge with so much ability , and such inconvenient pertinacity . —I am , Sir and Brother , Yours fraternally , ' BLUE APRON .

To the Editor . Dear Sir and Brother , —What are our friend Warren and the Magazine about ? Have they jumped JIM CROW ? Bath ; September , 1858 .

To the Editor .

Sir and Brother , —I was irresistibly reminded in G . L . of the wellknown instruction whispered into the ear of a counsel whose canse was breaking down , — "Abuse the plaintiff ' s attorney . " You certainly received enough of that article : but still facts are facts ; and the fact remains , which since the G . M ' s . denial of political motives , is perfectly inexplicable , that the last and present D , G . M .,

the last and present G . Wardens , are all Whigs . Since it is the case that noble Brethren are not excluded on account of their politics the only alternative is this , that they are excluded because of the independence of their course in G . L ., which is as bad a reason as the other , and entitles the excluded to the sympathy and support of every independent Mason . It has been alleged by the . clique , that there is in G . L . a faction

determined on opposition to the Executive for opposition ' s sake ; and the following funny reason is given for the statement : that the late Executive only , ie . poor old White , were responsible for Canadian mismanagement , and that things are now so well conducted by the gallant Clarke and his shadow , that there is no room for anything to he desired . But unfortunately the G . M . was proved by the investigations of the Board of General Purposes , to have had the Canadian

memorial in his own possession for months , which indeed his lordshi p avowed and justified : and next , the last act of our pattern Executive , has been to write two letters to Bro . Harington , so vulgar in their tone , and slang in their expression ( to say nothing of their wretched grammar ) , as to he taken by him as a personal insult , and involve our whole relations with Canada to a worse extent than ever , which was probably their object . Doubtless our worthies think to escape in the dust and confusion of the scrimmage that is likely to ensue ; but the English Craft will be strangely forgetful of their responsibility in the