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 and address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith .

A LITTLE CRITICISM .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I go far beyond "A . T . Z . E . " in his strictures on your Masonio contemporary . I think his " little criticism " far too gentle , and that he would have be ^ n perfectly justified in using his lash unsparingly ; " Spare the rod , spoil the child , " and this particular child to whioh your correspondent refers

requires far more than the average amount of castigation , well and smartly laid on , in order to bring it to a proper sense of decency . Bat possibly " A . T . Z . E . " indulged in mild instead of scathing criticism , because he felt that no amount of lashing would be productive of satisfactory results . I must admit there is some force in this view , in tho supposition , at least , that I am right in my conjecture ; but

for my part I consider it eminently desirable tho Masonic world should be undeceived as to the pretensions which your contemporary advances . I am confirmed in this belief by tho trash I have just road in its issue of Saturday . With the exception of the reports , for whioh your contemporary , I believe , is chiefly indebted to that hard - working , accurate , and unassuming reporter , Bro . H . Massey ,

tho contents of the last number may bo ranged nnder the three heads of twaddle , cant , and impudence . I will first take the article on "Time , " which , as far as I am able to understand slipshod , nngrammatical English , is the acme of maudlin twaddle . "Time is inmeasurable ( sic ) , unexplicable ( sic ) , nnrestrainable , and unknown . It is , and it is not . It passes away

and it lives again . It seems to leave ns , and yet it is never ending . It has no commencement , no close , ' no beginning of years , or length of days , ' " and so on through upwards of a column . I demur entirely to the last proposition . It is Eternity , not Time , which has no commencement or " close " , and Time has both ending and " beginning of years , " as well as " length of days . " The revolutions of ihe Earth ,

Son , and Moon enable us to determine the exact limits of certain portions of " Time . " The Axial revolution of the Earth , the revolution of the Moon round the Earth , and that of the Earth round the Sun constitute tho periods of time known respectively as a day , a month , and a year . To say that time is immeasurable —I beg pardon , " inmeasurable "—is to deny the divine inspiration of the Scriptures ,

and in plain English , to affirm that the Bible is not tho word of God as revealed to man . So much for tho twaddle . I will next pass to tho cant , which I find well represented in the article entitled "A new Year ' s Greeting . " Is there tho slightest sincerity in the following passage—the only one I shall trouble you with " At such a moment of time , the intersection of that narrow lino which

separates 1877 from 1878 , just when wo leave the past , known and familiar , and enter the future , hidden in ignorance and mystery , it is that the mind grows thoughtful , and the heart expands . For after all , say what we may , we are all' members ono of another' here . " Is your contemporary prepared to extend to you in 1878 the recognition it has denied von in 1875 , 1876 , and 1877 , the recognition

which His Eoyal Highness the Grand Master himself has not considered it beneath his dignity to extend you ? If he is so prepared , then shall I be only too happy to re ' vact everything I have said in this letter , and apologise , in open , honest , manly fashion ; but , till he does so , I maintain this affectation of charitable feeling towards others is gross , hypocritical cant , and nothing more . I

judge journals as I do men , —nrt by what they say , but by what they do . Under the third and concluding category of " impudence , " I place the article on itself , the " puffery " of its own wares . Are not the following sentences a disgrace to the pen from which they emanate ? " Started nnd upheld bv one publisher , with no aid and no subscription

list , subsidised by no Committee , the organ of no clique , it has simp ' y appealed to the open Court of Masonic criticism , judgment , and fair play . It has antagonised none , assailed none , envied none , opposed none . It has never condescended to resort to personality or partizanship , it has never bandied words , it has taken notice of no insinuations , and has laughed at all malevolence . " ... " Had it not been for

our publisher , Freemasonry in England would have been for years without a literature at all , and .... he has created a literature which is alike effective" ( Heaven save the mark !) " and expanding . " Is itnotafact that the proprietorand publisher of your contemporary is a Masonic tradesman , who , 'cute man of business that he is , sees clearly , that in these days of keen competition , he is most likely to

succeed who blows his own trumpet tho loudest—in other words , who advertises most freely . I do not condemn him for this ; on the contrary , I applaud him for it ; but , in the name of all that is Masonic , let there be no impudent pretence of promoting Masonic literature under tho cloak of advertising Masonic jewellery and candles . The proprietor of what , —in spite of the annual issue , for a charitable

purpose , of Grand Lodge Calendar , —are insolently declared to be "the four Masonic publications , " finds it answer his purpose to issue them . He may aa well incur the loss of a few hundreds on these publications as spend an equal amount in advertising in what we , Freemasons , are accustomed to call " profane" journals . The outlay thus incurred is

part of his legitimate expenditure , and is no doubt a source of profit in the long run ; but here the matter ends . I fancy , too , there is a gentleman , a Freemason , living in a certain street not a hundred miles from the trand , in which the Freemasons' Magazine and Mirror was wont to be published for many years , who , if he cared about the matter at all , might be able to give another version of the

Correspondence.

reasons why , and tho manner in which , your contemporary was started ; but I havo not spoken with him for months ; perhaps ho would rather think than say what ho knows . I am a plain-spoken man , ono who calls a spado a spado , and

nothing else . I am glad you havo opened your columns to " A . T . Z . E ., " with his clear argument and gentlemanly criticism . I trust you will find space for my simple English , and hope that yon will allow other brethren , if they are so minded , to expose tho ignorance and presnmp . tion of your Masonio contemporary . I remain , fraternally yours , 7 th January 1878 . A PAST MASTER .

The Right To Wear Jewels.

THE RIGHT TO WEAR JEWELS .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —As I am only a tyro in the millinery and jewellery department of Freemasonry , I shall be glad if soma moro experienced brother will inform mo , if it is part of tho unwritten

law of Grand Lodge that no Past Master may wear a P . M . ' s jewel unless it is presented to him by his Lodge and its cost provided out of the funds of the Lodge ; if this is correct , it is of course irregular for a P . M . to wear a jewel he has paid for himself , or had presented to him by a section of his Lodge . Yours fraternally , P . M . 425 .

Grand Orient Of France.

GRAND ORIENT OF FRANCE .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON s CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Yours , of 29 th December , contains a report of the annual meeting of Lodge Mother Kilwinning on 21 st December , at which it was agreed to call tho attention of the Grand Lodge of Scotland to tho " unfortunate step taken by the Grand Orient of Franco , " & c . In order to guard against the impression

that in such an important matter the Grand Lodgo of Scotland requires to be urged to its duty by a Lodge in Ayrshire , acting upon tho suggestion of a Brother living in Banffshire , I beg , through you , to intimate that tho Grand Master Mason of Scotland , Sir Michael E . Shaw-Stowart Bart ., and his committee , sitting at Edinburgh , had taken action in the matter three weeks prior to the date at which the

Kilwinning Lodge resolved to address Grand Lodge on the subject . This will be seen from the following excerpt of minute of tho Grand Committee of the Grand Lodgo of Scotland of 27 th November last , a copy of which is in possession of tho Grand Orient of France . " The Grand Secretary directed tho attention of Grand Committee to the recent change in the Constitution of the Grand Orient of

France , whereby belief in God is not now essential to admission as Freemasons . Bro . Dr . Loth , representative from the Grand Orient , who had been asked to bo present , having satisfied the Committee upon certain points in connection with the subject upon which they desired information , the following resolution was adopted , on tho motion of Bro . Wm . Mann P . M . No . 65 , seconded by Bro . E . S . Brown

P . M . No . 124 : — ' Having had their attention directed by tho Grand Secretary to the recent change in tho Constitution of the Grand Orient of France , whereby a profession of belief in Almighty God , the Great Architect of the Universe , and the immortality of the soul , is not now exacted of candidates for admission as Freemasons , and having maturely considered the same , instruct the Grand Secretary

to intimate to the Grand Orient of France that , should it be the caso that such a radical change in the fundamental principles of ancient Freemasonry has indeed been confirmed by the Grand Orient of Franco , Grand Committee will be under tho necessity of recommending to Grand Lodgo to sever the fraternal relations that have for so long a period subsisted between it and the Grand Orient of France . ' "

As regards the sending a copy of the Kilwinning resolution to the Grand Orient of France , I may state that it was an instruction by Grand Committee at their meeting on tho 24 th December that I should intimate " that it is beyond the province of Mother Kilwin . ning or any other Lodge holding of the Grand Lodgo of Scotland to communicate direct with any foreign Grand Lodge on the subject of Fremasonry . "

Yours fraternally , D . MURRAY LYON , Secretary to the Grand Lodge . Freemasons' Hall , Edinburgh , 2 nd January 1878 .

The Rev. R. J. Simpson And Charity Organization.

THE REV . R . J . SIMPSON AND CHARITY ORGANIZATION .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —At tho recent consecration of the Temple Bar Lodge , I was struck with tho sublime teaching contained in tho oration by onr P . G . Chaplain , tho Eev . E . J . Simpson , and left the Lodge more thoroughly convinced than ever that Freemasonry was an ornament to tho world . Alas ! this was only a fond hallucination , soon to be dispelled by the same reverend personage . When a series of

toasts had been submitted to tho brethren , our Eev . Brother was deputed to propose the toast of the Masonic Charities , and in tho whole course of my experience I never listened to a greater abuse of opportunity than our Eev . Brother exercised . After lauding our Institutions , and holding them up as models of their kind , deserving every support , he descanted on the principle of charity-voting as laid down by the Charities' Organization Society , of which ho is a moving