Our Detective Police.

than association of any kind , or understanding of any kind with such persons , and who , because they have once been police officers have no more rights or privileges than any other English citizens ; and as ] the special agent often commits necessarily most illegal acts , and strains the

wise and constitutional provisions of our good English laws , the police , a constitutional body , ought in no way to be assenting even by implication to proceedings which are of most doubtful legality , or to arrangements dangerous to the liberty of the

subject . We quite agree with the Graphic in regretting the tone of Lord Truro ' s complaint , though we believe that he means well . That there are black sheep in so large a force is no doubt true , just as there are in all bodies of men , but remembering all that the police go through

daiIy , hourly—their discipline , their courage , their tact , and their good behaviour are highly to be commended , and we much doubt if they are equalled by any other force in the world . When complaints are made of the slowness of detection , or the insufficiency of surveillance , we must

always remember , what too many forget , that the English police is under constitutional checks , which are unknown in other lands , and what appears to be tardiness , what assumes the appearance of vacillation , what is termed indecision , are only after all the natural

consequences of a respect for and abiding by Law . It is difficult , if not impossible , often in England for the police to interfere when it is perfectly possible and easy for them to do so on the continent , because we only use the police in England to repress and detect crime , and give it no

power , ( except by speciallegislation ) , to interfere with the ordinary life of English citizens . Every allowance ought , therefore , in our opinion to be made for the police , and certainly . the way to improve them , to ameliorate their condition , and

to advance their efficiency , is not to put forward idle complaints , or repeat childish clamours , too often emanations from that undercurrent of thought and feeling , which on good grounds has often a well-merited dislike for , and apprehension of , the P olice .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ We do nst hold ourselves responsible Tor , or even as approving of , the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish , in a spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . —ED . I

LONDON VOTES FOR THE CHARITIES . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — I think that there now appears to be some prospect of the London brethren waking up to the fact that the provinces by combining together in the shape of Charity Committees to support the candidates for their respective provinces are gaining such power , that in a few

years time ( unless the London brethren do likewise ) it will be n matter of almost utter impossibility to get a London case in j the study for a few minutes of the following figures for the last year will throw some considerable light on this matter . Proportionate number according Amount Pensioners . to the amount Subscribed . Subscribed .

. r London £ 6062 6 9 138 § ( . Provinces £ 5028 16 9 100 In School . & r London £ 4787 49 IS ea [ . Provinces jCs 3 ' 3 I 0 9 S S

% f London £ 5577 72 ' ° 2 3 ( . Provinces £ 4891 116 86 By these figures we see , that although London subscribed over £ 1000 more than all the provinces put together to the Benevolent Institution , we have only got sixty-nine instead of 138 pensioners , or just one half of the number that we ought to have j as regards the Boys' School , the

provinces head us by about £ 500 , and we have only got forty-nine instead of seventy-five boys in the school , being twenty-six , or one third of our proper number , to the bad j again , thc Girls' School , we head the provinces with nearly £ 700 , and have only seventy-two instead of 102 girls in the school , being thirty , or nearly one third of our proper number , to the bad . It is , therefore , proposed to

form a London Chanty Union to protect the interests of the London candidates , the rules fcr which will be something as follows : —The membership will be open to all who vote in thc London district , whether Masons or not j the annual subscription 5 s . ; the association will be managed by a Chairman , two Vice-chairmen , a Treasurer , two Auditors , and two Secretaries ( who will be elected at 'he annual meeting of the members ) , and a Committee of

Original Correspondence.

forty-five , one third of whom retire annually . The qualification for an officer or Committeeman is , that he should be a Life Governor of one of the three Masonic Charities ; a member of a London lodge , and only one member of a London lodge will be on the Committee at the same time ; they are to go through the claims of the various London

cases , appoint sub-Committees , to make special - enquiries where they think it necessary , and then determine which they consider the most deserving and urgent of the London cases j power is also given to them to exchange votes with provinces" or individuals .

Many brethren have sent me their names as willing to found such an association , and a meeting for that purpose will be held as soon as convenient , and any brother wishing to attend , who will send me his name and address , I shall be only too pleased to let him know the place , time , and

hour . Yours truly and fraternally , ALFRED TISLEY , St . Dunstan ' s Vestry , Fleet-street , London .

BRO . KENNING'S BANQUET TO THE AMERICAN BRETHREN . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " ¦ Dear Sjr and Brother , — Reluctant to trespass on your space , I yet must ask permission to correct the report of the concluding

observations addressed by me in response to the toast with which my name , was associated . The words I used were " that whether the waters of the Atlantic presented the surface of ' a clear lake glassing softest skies , ' or whether they were lashed into fury by storm and tempest , they may be regarded , not as an obstacle to separate , but as a link to unite ,

the two great English-speaking peoples of the world , whose energies , I hope , may be exercised in illustrating , expounding , and inculcating the principle of ' loyalty' to their respective legitimately constituted governments in practising universal ' charity' and in maintaining and preserving that freedom of thought , speech , and action which

is alike the birthright and the distinguishing characteristic of both . " In the words I have italicised your report reads " unity , " which in association with the sentence of which it is marie to form a part is perfectly meaningless . I am , dear Sir and Brother , yours faithfully and fraternally , FREDERICK BINCKES .

BOARD OF GENERAL PURPOSES . 71 B the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — . Can you give me any information as to who the two brethren are who have so far misconducted themselves as to have caused the Board of General Purposes to

suspend one from all Masonic functions for two years , and the other a severe admonishment ? I read in your contemporary , the Sunday Times , that one is a P . G . Officer , and the other one of the Secretaries . This latter appears to me very unfair to the Secretaries

of the Charitable Institutions . I presume it really means a Secretary of one of the London lodges . Can you set all doubts at rest ? Yours fraternally , A . P . M .

[ Wc understand that a distinguished Past Grand Officer has been suspended for two years , and that a Secretary of a London lodge has been severely reprimaneled . ]

Provincial Grand Lodge Of West Yorkshire.

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF WEST YORKSHIRE .

On Wednesday , thc 24 th ult ., the regular quarterly gathering of the above Provincial Grand Lodge was held in the Masonic Hall , Surrey-street , Sheffield . The preliminary lodge was opened up by Bro . Dr . Thomas , W . M ., and the officers of the Wentworth Lodge , 1239 . When

Provincial Grand Lodge entered , the R . W . P . G . M . ( Lieut . Col . Sir Henry Edwards , Bart . ) presiding , assisted by the W . Deputy Prov . G . M . ( Bro . T . W . Tew ) , and a large staff of Provincial Grand Officers . Provincial Grand Lodge having been opened in due form , the brethren were calledupon to salute the R . W . P . G . M ., and afterwards the Deputy Prov . G . M ., in ancient form ,

which call was heartily responded to . The R . W . Prov . G . M ., Bro . Sir Henry Edwards , then delivered the following address : — Brethren , you may well imagine I find it far from easy , in any corresponding language , to express my deep anel gratelul sense of the kind and hearty salutation with which , for the third time , you have greeted me in Sheffield

I thank you , officers and brethren of the province of West Yorkshire , for this cordial welcome to Provincial Grand Lodge . It affords me the liveliest satisfaction , personally , to be again invited to preside at these quarterly gatherings . Provincial Grand Lodge has always been received with open arms by the Sheffield and Rotherham Lodges j and our obligations are due to the W . M ., officers , and brethren

of the Wentworth Lodge , under whose banner we are now marshalled , for the excellence of their arrangements for the summer meeting of the Craft . The Wentworth Lodge is , I believe , an offspring of the Britannia , and was consecrated on the 7 th of December , 1868 , by our lamented Past Deputy Provincial Grand Master , Bro . Bentley Shaw . It has year by year gone on steadily increasing its numbers ,

until it has now seventy-six members on its roll , The brethren of this lodge have most creditably exerted themselves . During the past three years they have secured a Life Governorship in each of the Masonic Charities . So much interest has been taken in the Sheffield Masonic Hall , that all the present available capital of the Wentworth Lodge has been apprpriated towards the cost of

Provincial Grand Lodge Of West Yorkshire.

this handsome edifice ; moreover , many of its members have become Royal Arch Masons . Brethren , I have accepted what I consider virtually a command from his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , the office of Provincial Grand Superintendent of Royal Arch Masons for West Yorkshire , rendered vacant by the death of Comp . Bentley Shaw , and I hope to have the honour of meeting the

companions of this province in Royal Arch Chapter assembled , in this Hall , some time during the month of October or November . I am glad to be informed , that despite the general depression of trade , on looking over our charity contributions , this lassitude in commercial matters has not had a corresponding depression in your voluntary contributions to the Masonic Institutions . Thisprovince , through

the energy of its Charity Committee , has still been able to maintain , at the April election of candidates , its old successful prestige . I commend to the consideration of the lodges the circular of the Charity Committee , to raise the sum of £ iot , o for a presentation in perpetuity to the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ; and to be called tbc " Bentley Shaw Presentation . " I have beaded this

subscription with a donation of £ 50 . You are aware this committee has carried out the munificent project of my Deputy , Bro . Tew , and that the W . Yorkshire chair is endowed for the Annuitants' Fund with forty votes , and for the Girls' School with twenty-five votes , in lieu of the votes lost by the death of Bro . Shaw . My Deputy informs me he will be shortly called upon to establish another lodge

in Sheffield , which is to be presided over by that veteran Past Master , Bro . Hay ; and that two other Past Masters from each of the other two lodges have been invited to become honorary PastMasters ot this fourth lodgein Sheffield . This is presumptive evidence that perfect harmony prevails between the several lodges here , and which is further consolidated by the frequent interchanges of visits paid by

the respective lodges to one another . May the four lodges maintain this old and beautiful spirit of the Craft by perpetuating this identical concord , the very bond of peace and brotherly love , in having identical bye-laws , identical fees , and identical fellowship . I cannot pass on to another topic without alluding to the death of that lady , whose hospitality , in Stanton-in-Peak , the brethren in Sheffield

have frequently enjoyed . I am glad this Provincial Grand Lodge is not deprived of the presence of the Senior Grand Warden to day . There is just another allusion I wish to make , which must , I think , be gratifying to the Freemasons of West Yorkshire ; it is the creditable display which this Province makes in the Universal Exposition of thc French at Paris ; and that the British exhibitors were the

first in readiness to display tht-ir contributions on the day of opening , the 1 st of May . This circumstance must have been gratifying to our Royal Grand Master , the President of the English Section . Perhaps that which most touched the hearts of the French people was to see , at their third Exhibition , not only the representatives of all that was eminent in art , science , industry , commerce , banking ,

diplomacy , and politics present at its inauguration , and of all that the human mind had produced that was best and illustrious , but also the scions of the great Royal races of the world . Of these illustrious personages none worked with greater zeal , none made himself a more universal favourite , than our Royal Grand Master , the Prince of Wales . Within the last few years an intellectual

intercourse has grown up between France and England . 1 he two countries have the same commercial aspirations . We represent the same humanitarian principles which are our joint patrimony , and this Exhibition , in which England displays to great advantage , must be productive of much good to both countries , and lead to the consolidation of a union of interest's . This Exhibition , which the French

describe as the " Feast of Concord , " may it , I say , brethren , be the feast of labour and of peace , and pave thc way for the " Kiss of Peace " between the nations of the earth . I hope the era of ameliorations by warfare has closed with the conclusion of the labours of the Congress in Berlin . 1 hope the world , in our time at least , will see no more ol those dreadful crusades which blaspheme the symbols of

Freemasonry they have employed , and which work more evil in a year than statesmen can remedy in a generation . Brethren , peace has been restored to the South-East of Europe . This event will be joyfully greeted as the starting point of a new era of development and revival of friendly relations and of trade . A new period of economical and intellectual resurrection will be inaugurated in

the East , suppoited by all the mental and material resources of our time , so full of energetic enterprises . I trust we shall have no further need of Congresses save those like this Universal Exposition of the Arts and Sciences , extending commerce and universal Masonic concord . From my heart I wish that the West Riding , and this Sheffield portion of it , may very largely share in all the glory and

in all the blessedness on which our Masonic edifice is built , of brotherly love and harmony , and of a peaceful and improving era . It only remains for me to repeat , brethren , that you have again in Sheffield given your Provincial Grand Master and Provincial Grand Lodge a reception for which I am extremely grateful . The Deputy Prov . G . Master , in returning thanks for the salutation to

himself , took occasion to mention that he had received petitions in favour of the establishment of new lodges in Sheffield and Huddersfield , and he hoped the promoters would do the Registrar for the time being the kindness and the favour of submitting a copy of their proposed byelaws . This he asked in accordance with a custom which had been carefully observed prior to his own appointment

to the office he had now the honour of holding , and he should not feel at liberty to depart from the custom , as the rule was a very wholesome one , and any neglect might tend to seriously hamper his successors in office . If this usual custom were followed and the promoters would be good enough to let the Prov . G . Secretary have the papers in due form , he would take care that the petitions were put forward at once with his cordial recommendation , and