Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Correspondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . All Letters must bear the name an I address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith .

THE POLISH NATIONAL LODGE .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I have seen in a recent numbor of your valued journal a brief account of the last regular meeting of the Polish National Lodge , No . 534 ; but with your kind permission I will supplement the necessarily scanty details it was in your power to give with some particulars of the business that was despatched on

the occasion . I had the good fortune to be present , and consequently heard the very general expressions of regret among the members at the unavoidable absence of your esteemed representative . I beg , therefore , to offer myself up as a victim at the altar of the deity—I do not know his name , but I think it must be Mercury—who watches over the destinies of Reporters . Possibly , my expiatory sacrifice may

succeed in allaying his anger at the meeting of the Polish National having , in this instance , unavoidably received so small a measure of notice in the columns of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . Even Mercury is powerless to distribute a reporter among several Lodges on one and the same evening . But without further preface let me at once enter upon my self-assumed character of your representative ,

in the hope that , albeit I am but a misorable amateur player of the part , my information may prove of interest to your readers . After the usual preliminaries in opening the Lodge and the reading and confirmation of the minutes cf the previous meeting , Dr . Jagielski W . M . set himself to the task of raising Bros . Culverhouse and Ernest A . Riintz to the snblime degree of M . M ., and those brethren

having given the requisite evidence of their proficiency , were entrusted and retired , and the Lodgo was raised . On their re-admission the ceremony was ably and impressively rendered by the W . Master and his Officers—in a manner , indeed , which evoked expressions of delight from all present . In the meantime Bro . A . H . Riintz arrived on the scene , and he too , after having undergone the needful course

of interrogation and preparation , was raised to the same degree , the ceremony being quite as finely and impressively rendered in this as in the previous instances . Certain motions relating to the internal arrangements of the Lodge having been discussed at considerable length , Lodge was closed after a very protracted sitting , from 5 p . m . to 9 p . m . The brethren then sat down to dinner , under the

presidency of their genial chief , and a 3 you have already noted , a most pleasant evening , enlivened by a most commendable programme of music , was spent . I should mention that after the toast of the Visitors had been given and responded to , Dr . Jagielski decorated tho three new Master Masons with the Polish Eagle , which all members of the Lodge of that degree are permitted to wear , and , in pinning the

jewels on tho breasts of the respective M . M . s , the W . Master gavo a full and interesting history of that decoration—similar to the one delivered by him in Lodgo on the evening of his installation in tho chair—as well as an explanation of its significance as an emblem . It may be as well to add that there are now three members of the Lodgo—the Bros . Riintz—who are not only brethren by birth but

brothers in Freemasonry , tho eldest of tho three having already attained to tho post of Senior Deacon . Dr . Jagielski likewise paid a wellmerited tribute of respect to Bro . Saegert , P . M . of tho Wellington Lodge , No . 548 , Deptford , who . was present as a Visitor , and who , in a long course of years has by his able instruction—conveyed in a friendly and fraternal way—succeeded in providing the Polish

National Lodge with a succession of model specimens cf W . Masters and Officers ; and this compliment was not only acknowledged , but reciprocated by Bro . Saegert , who congratulated the Master and his Officers on their highly admirable working that evening . Bro . Jagielski further stated that he had succeeded in obtaining grants of £ 15 and £ 20 respectively from the Lodge of Benevolence , the former

in aid of a brother who was desirous of going to Edinburgh in search of work , and to see after his family . Both he and his colleague in distress had also been assisted out of the funds of the Lodge—one of them for the second time . Amongst the members of the Lodge present were Bros . Paas P . M .,

Nowakowski P . M ., Rath P . M ., Camming P . M ., Ebner P . M ., and Aspinall I . P . M . ; among the Visitors Bros . Saegert P . M . 548 , C . W . Hudson W . M . 1540 , and P . M . 315 , H . W . Alford S . D . 228 , H . Clark 788 , J . W . Baldwin 1692 , W . Kingham P . M . . 1507 , M . H . Baker 1732 . Trusting my ddbut as a reporter may prove satisfactory , I remain fraternally yours , Q . E . D .

[ We beg to thank onr worthy correspondent for his kind communication . To borrow his own expressive phrase " Even Mercury is powerless to distribute a reporter among several Lodges on one and the same evening , " and onr enstomary representatives were , unfortunately , pre-engaged

on the evening in question . It is needless for us to speak of the pleasure , as well as instruction , we derive from visiting the Polish National , or , with the experience of many visits deeply impressed on our mind , ' with what

cordiality we are always welcomed by tho Master , Officers , and Members . It is , therefore , the more gratifying to us to be in a position , thanks to " Q . E . D . ' s " kind report above , to furnish these fuller details of the last meeting of the Lodge . —ED . F . 0 . 1

The Mansion House Banquet.

THE MANSION HOUSE BANQUET .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICIE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I noticed some time since in the Masonio columns of your contemporary the Citixen certain remarks as to the absence from the banquet , given by ex-Lord Mayor Trnscott to His Royal Highness the Grand Master toward the end of last month , of the Worshipful Masters of The Great City and other City Lodges .

These remarks had considerable force in them . Lord Mayor Truscott , in his dual capacity of Worshipful Master of Grand Master ' s Lodge , No . 1 , and Junior Grand Warden of England , entertained the Grand Master , together with a large number of his brother Grand Officers , and other representatives of the Craft . The entertainment was given at his official residence , as tho Chief Magistrate of the City of London ,

and it seems only in tho order of things that complaints should have been made of the smallness of the contingent which represented the City Lodges , as distinguished from the general body of Metropolitan Lodges . It has since been explained , in the case of the Worshipful Master of The Great City Lodge , that no invitation was sent , as no one knew his address ; but what about the numerous Lodges which

meet in Aldersgate-street , Basinghall-street , Fleet-street , & c , the majority of whose members are in some way or other connected with tho City ? Were they as well represented as they should have been ? I have seen it stated that several Common Councilmen , who , in their Masonic capacity , have not been inside a Lodge for some twenty years , were at the gathering . I say nothing against this , but I think

those entrusted with the arrangements should have taken care that the City Lodges were not entirely left out in the cold . It must seem ungracious on the part of any one to criticise the list of the invited at some special feast . In this instance the number of guests was necessarily limited . No one is so foolish as to imagine the Egyptian Hall could have accommodated the hundreds who would

like to have been present . But even at the risk of being considered a rude and unfraternal critic , I must say it has struck me—as I know it must have struck many other brethren—as more than passing strange that the hospitality of the Lord Mayor was not extended towards the executive Officers of those three Charitable Institutions of which all English Masons are so justly proud . By the executive

Officers I mean , of course , that triad of Masonic worthies , Bros . Binckes , Terry , and Hedges , the Secretaries of the Boys ' , Girls ' , and Benevolent Institutions respectively . I am sure Lord Mayor Trnscott would not knowingly have permitted so conspicuous a slight to be placed on these brethren , whose untiring devotion to their arduous duties is universally acknowledged . It was , I repeat , something

more than passing strange that , at a banquet at which it was certain the grand work done by our Institutions would be referred to in terms of justifiable pride , the very brethren to whose energy and ability is principally due the marvellous successes of our Charity Festivals should have been conspicuous by their absence . It may have beenthough I hardly think it likely—that all three were invited , but were

unable to attend . In such case my criticism necessarily falls through , and it would become my duty to apologise , as I should do must fully , " to whom it may concern , " for having charged them with an omission of which they had not been guilty . At present it is on record that at a representative gathering of brethren met together in the

official residence of tho Lord Mayor , and at his invitation , for the purpose of doing honour to the Grand Master of England , the Secretaries of our three Institutions whose benefits were made the theme of approving comment , were not present . I say the slight to the gentlemen in question may have been unintentional , but that does not make it the less conspicuous or the less worthy of remark .

I remain , Dear Sir and Brother , Faithfully and fraternally yours , MASTER MASON .

A Dissertation On Freemasonry.

A DISSERTATION ON FREEMASONRY .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —There is considerable incongruity in the remarks of your correspondent who signs himself" ONE WHO WAS TIIERE . " Our brother begins by deprecating your liberality in according me—or rather the reporter of my dissertation—three-quarters of a column . Does that spring from hi 3 purely Masonic anxiety to

see none of a brother ' s substance—even though that consists only of printing ink—wasted ? If , as our brother asserts , he was present , he must be aware that our esteemed Brother Wendt not only tolerated dissertation , but actually expressed his strong approval of it , fully sympathised with the object I had in view , and seconded ( a very unusual proceeding on the part of a Grand Officer—a Visitor ) the

vote of thanks proposed by the Worshipful Master . He subsequently expressed himself to tho Secretary of the Lodge , Bro . E . P . Albert P . M . P . G . P ., in the following concise manner— "Every word Bro . Sigismund said this evening is Gospel . " And now to the objections of our communicative brother correspondent . If the Judea-phobe business is stale in his estimation , it does not follow that it is in that

of others , more especially—as be himself admits—to a novice in Masonry . Our brother further deprecates , and evidently is in terrore of " certain new and absurd changes . " This is quite comprehensible to me . To judge by his letter , he has strong reasons to put his foot down on all innovations , especially when those innovations point clearly and distinctly in one direction . I will , for his information , give you an epitome of some of my

remarks on the last occasion of my speaking on the subject . ( It is that , dear Brother , which has induced your correspondent to unshcatli his pen . ) On the continent , I informed the brethren , the humble representative in tho chair of King Solomon was chosen , not for tho amount of ritual crammed into him , bnfc for his intellectual awl social position ; and , further , that those who are candidates for admission into our Order undergo a most rigorous scrutiny into their