Lodge Histories.

liis ablo and zealous services , was voted unanimously . This year th ' Lodge treated it--elf to a s"t of new pedestals , at a cost of CI . " ? . A ' tho meeting io November it is recorded that a letter had hoc : received from the Secretary of the Royal Masonic Institution fo : Boys , t'iino-. iiu'isi ' . ; th-it thorsxt Festival would bo held on tho 11 th March foihnvmg . ni . il svoii ' Stin" to be furnished with the name <¦!

some bvoiher as Stoyard . and Bro . . ) . . 1 . Illake P . M . very kinilly under , lo ' c {¦< r .-prcsaii th ¦•Lodgo on ihe occasion . liro . Capper presided over ihe ! nd' . - c as Master in 1 N 57 , the usual P . M . ' s jewel boing voted to liro . F . (' . Jon , s his predecessor in tho ollico . lit April of t . his veri- tic Treasurer reported the state of tho Lodge

finances , wi'h a view t . o having all claims on them stitisRod by the close of the etirr .-nr , season , and he suggested that every member iu arrear witii ids subscription should bo requested to transmit the amount forthwith . These propositions were agreed to , and iu gor . time , for afc tlio date the last liuauco report was made tho outstanding subscriptions wero stated at £ 50 Ss . Bro . Play ford was

W . M . iu 1 S 5 S , a P . M . ' s jewel being voted to Bro . Capper ou retiring from the chair , while tho muster , including Visitors , on tho occasion of Bro . I'layford's installation was little short of thirty . The accounts for tho past year showed a balance in hand of over £ 10 . Bros . Mnnley and Gower volunteered to servo as Stewards , the former at fcho approaching Festival of tho Girls' School , and the

latter nt that of the Boys ' , and then follows notice of a resolution , to be moved by Bro . Past Master Jones afc the meeting in March , to the effect thafc the Lodge " subscribe to each of the Charities . " The motion , however , was referred to a Committee to report and recommend such measures as might , consistently with the Lodgo funds , bo calculated to meet tho case . This Committee in thoir report said

that the Lodgo funds wero just sufficient to meet the expenditure , bufc they recommended thafc tho December banquet be discontinued , and thoy reckoned thafc by other means tho Lodge might make a saving of £ 25 annually , which would cnablo ifc to subscribe to all the Charities . The report , was received , and it was agreed , on the motion of Brother Blake , seconded by the Worshipful Master ,

that a sum of Ten Guineas be subscribed to tho Girls' School , and that " the further consideration of the question as to the other Charities bo postponed for the present . " In October it was proposed that all members whose subscription were in arrear for more than twelve months should bo written to and " informed of tho amount due , and to be further informed that if not paid afc tho

next Lodge the 2 nd Bye-Law would bo enforced . " Bro . W . L . Manloy entered on his Mastership in February 1859 , with a balance in the Treasurer ' s hands , and his predecessor , Bro . Playfbrd , received the usual recognition on his retirement from tho chair in tho shape of a Past Master ' s jewel . Subsequently in tho course of the same meetin : ? Bro . Gower undertook to serve tho office of Steward at the

ensuing Festival of the Girls' School . In March Bro . Crawford , a former P . M . of the Lodge , was unanimously elected arc-joining member . In October of this year a letter from tho Grand Secretary to the W . Master was read , in accordance with instructions , in open Lodge , the object of the communication boing to caution the Lodge against receiving certain clandestine Masons who were s . id to have been

initiated iuto Freemasonry at Smyrna , during tho Russian War , by an officer in one of Her Majesty ' s regiments who had in his possession a Warrant formerly belonging to an Irish Lodge . As soon as he had initiated a certain number he formed them into three Lodges , and these constituted themselves into the Grand Lodge of Turkey . " Several of theso persons , it seems , from

Grand Secretary Clarke ' s letter , had applied to be admitted into Lodges holding under the Grand Lodge of England , as joining members , and in somo cases the applications had been successful owing to the Lodges that affiliated them not having been cognisant of tho irregular formation of the Smyrna Lodges . In order to prevent tho occurrence of further mistakes of the same kind Grand

Lodgo , at a Special Meeting on the 23 rd June 1859 , resolved on issuing a caution to the above effect to the W . Masters of all regular Lodges against admitting as Visitors or joining members any of these irregularly made Blasons . In November a second circular , of a somewhat similar kind , was read from Grand Secretary Clarke , bufc the tone was severer in its character . In this Bro . G . Secretary Clarke

cautions the Lodge against allowing access to ifc by members of a Lodge calling itself " The Reformed Masonic Order of Memphis or Rite of the Grand Lodgo of Philadelphis ( sic ) and holding its meetings afc Stratford in Essex . The W . Master is further enjoined that he must caution the members of his Lodge " that they can hold no communication with irregular Lodges without

incurring the penalty of expulsion from the Order , and —as if that were not sufficient punishment— " the liability to be proceeded against under the Act 39 George III . for taking part in the meetings of illegal Societies . " In order to enable tho W . Master to judge better of the irregular character of these members of " The Reformed Lodge of the Order of Memphis , " a copy of a certificate issued by it was

enclosed . Wo are not surprised afc the severity with which Grand Lodge condemned the conduct of these irregular Masons . If Masonry is to flourish , its rulers cannot be too strict in a matter of this kind , for it is theso people who havo dono so much towards bringing ridicule on the Society . In December 1859 , Bro . Manlov W . M ., in response to an invitation

from tho Secretary of the Boys School for a member of the Lodge to act as Steward at the next annual Festival , placed his services , in that capacity , at the disposal of the Lodge . Mention is also made of the " lamented Death of the Treasurer "—Bro . Past Master Sheard , who had held the office uninterruptedly from 18-1-S , and been W . M . in 1814—and in consequence of the sad event " it was ordered that

the Committee . shonld be summoned tit •>o clock on tho clay of the next Lodge meeting to audit his accounts and report thereon to the Lodge immediately afterwards . " This report showed a balance of £ 5 14 s 3 d duo to the Lodge , and in the course of tho evening that sunn was paid over to the Worshipful Master out of the deceased Treasurer ' s ( .-state . As this happened to bo tho election meeting Bro . Laver was chosen W . M ., Bro . Greenwood P . M . Treasurer—a

Lodge Histories.

position ho has hold ever since—and Bro . Speight ( re-elected ) Tyler . The usual Past Master ' s jewel was likewise voted to Bro . W . L . Manloy for his services dnring the preceding year in tho chair . It should bo mentioned that in December 1859 a resolution was unani . mously adopted that tho Lodgo should be moved from tho George and Blue Boar , High Holborn , where ifc had heen located since 1834

and a Committee had been appointed to inquire into and report upon a fitting place of accommodation for tho future meetings of tho Lodge . . Prom the report they furnished ifc seems that tho cost por head for dinners and extras amounted to nine shillings , port and sherry being charged for afc fcho rate of fivo shillings and six shillings per bottle respectively . Indeed , taking fcho average attendance on

banquet nights at sixteen , the cost for fche four meetings appears to have been £ 48 , and to meet this and the other expenses tho subscriptions were only sufficient to keep the Lodge out of debt . Hav . ing considered the question in all its bearings , the Committee resolved unanimously that tho subscription should be increased from three to four guineas per annum , the Visitor ' s fee being likewise increased from

12 s to 15 s , the Lodge to remove to Radley ' s Hotel , Now Bridgestreet , Blackfriars , and the increase to date from October , when the Lodge would havo taken up its new quarters . Resolutions in accord , anco with this report were in due course submitted and adopted in March 1860 , but on visiting Radley's Hotel , tho Committee found tho accommodation offered was unsatisfactory , nnd two

emergency meetings were called . Ultimately it was arranged that the Lodge should move to the Albion , Aldersgate-street , and hero accordingly we find it located in October 1860 , and here they have remained ever since , doubtless well satisfied with the accommodation afforded them by the proprietors of that well-known hostelry . ( To be continued . )

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Cor . respondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . All Letters must bear the name ani address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , bnt as a guarantee of good faith . THE SACREDNESS OF THE BALLOT . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . Mountain Villa , Hornsea , 25 th August 1880 . DEAR SIB AND BROTHER , —Under the above heading a leader

appeared in your issue of Saturday last , reflecting upon me as the W . M . of tho Alexandra Lodge , No . 1511 , Hornsea , in tho management of the Emergency Lodge held on the 10 th January 1877 . I must ask you to allow me to correct some of the statements made therein .

In the first place , you say , "Bro . H . E . Voigt and other brethren of Hull were the founders of the Lodge . " This is not the case . Bro . Voigfc was not a founder of the Lodge , bufc was one of the firsfc members to join it , together with other brethren residing in Hornsea and Hull . It is a fact that the Rev . E . L . H . Tew , the vicar of Hornsea , was

proposed , balloted for , and elected at the regular meeting of the Lodge , on the 20 th January 1875 , but he never took up his membership , and the proposition fee was not paid at the time , although it was paid afterwards ; but to state thafc this omission was a cause of offence to Bro . Voigt is certainly incorrect . It had never been the custom in the Lodge to collect the fee at the time a new member

was proposed , Bro . Voigfc was present , and acting as D . C . afc the meeting held on the 20 fch January 1875 , when the first ballot for Mr . Tew took place , and no objection was raised by him or any other brother to the non-payment of the proposition fee until after his second ballot , on the 10 th January 1877 , when the blackballing took place . As to the alleged slight to the Lodge in Mr . Tew not

having taken up his membership , such a thing was never heard of until after the 10 th January 1877 . Not being a lawyer I cannot explain why all the facta of the caso were nofc gone into afc the late trial , but I am informed that counsel relied upon the plea of privileged communication , hence it was not necessary to go into the merits . This being so , only a partial

statement of tho real facts was made , and I ask you , in justice to myself and the Alexandra Lodge , to hear the other side . Before stating what I think has been omitted or misrepresented , I would premise that the defendant ' s pleadings in the action distinctly raised the obligation the plaintiff was under before going to law to apply to Grand Lodge . This he demurred to , and Mr .

Justice Field ( himself a Mason ) felfc the contention so strong that ho adjourned fcho hearing of fche demurrer to the next Term to enable a settlement to be como to . This , however , was rejected by the plaintiff Voigfc , ho pressed on the demurrer in the next Term , and was successful . He alone , therefore , is responsible for the matter having como before a court of law .

In the firsfc year of the Lodge ' s existence ( when a Hall Member was W . M . ) , ifc was customary to delay opening the Lodge until the arrival of the 6 ' 30 train at Hornsea , but dnring my year of office as fche W . M ., this was nofc carried out , but tho Lodgo was opened at 6 30 precisely , according to summons .

Your statement that fche brethren of fche Alexandra Lodge are lax as to their ideas of the ballot is altogether untrue , and founded ou a misconception of what took place . No statement of how the brethren voted was made in the Lodge . After the Rev . W . Casson had been blackballed , ifc was suggested that