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TWTASONIC HALL , CROYDON . . HAREWOOD HOUSE , 105 , HIGH STREET . This . HaU has every requirement for Masonic purposes . It contains a large Organ , blown by hydraulic power , and has an excellent cellar for Lodges to keep their own wines . The following Lodges are held there , viz . —Frederick , 452 ; Addiscombe , 155 G ; Mozart , 1929 ; Croydon Mark , 19 S ; Ficderick Chapter . For terms , & c , address—JOHN RHODES , P . M .. P . P . G . O . Surrey ; P . P . G . M . O . Middx . and Surrey .

To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

The following stand over : Merchant Navy Lodge , N 0 .. 7 S 1 . St . Leonard Lodge , No . 17 GG . Continuation of Bro . Graham ' s Address to the Grand Lodge of Quebec .

BOOKS , & c ., ' RECEIVED . "The-Montreal Herald , " "Thc Broad Arrow . " "The VVest London Advertiser , " " Brighton Gazette , " " The Citizen , " "Thc Jews In Europe , " "Jewish Chronicle , " "Le Monde Maconnique , " "The Hull Packet , " "The

New York Dispatch , " "Keystone , " "Der Long Islaender , " "Die Bauhiitte , " "The Mystic Tic , " "The Masonic " Chronicle , " " Thc Blue , " " Allen ' s Indian Mail , " " The Australian Freemason , " "Cox's Monthly Legal Circulars , " " Hebrew Leader , " " Masonic Advocate . "

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THE FREEMASON . SATURDAY , Di-xgMBUK 17 / tSSi .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ We do not hold ourselves responsible for , or even 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 eUscussiourj

THE RITUAL QUESTION . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — With all due respect to Bro . Chadwick , the able P . G . Secretary-of East Lancashire , I think the theory he contends for , viz ., that the ceremonies in Masonry can only

be given from thc chair , and by an Installed Master , is wrong . The Grand Registrar ' s exposition oi the law on this subject , which is , that thc W . M . may call upon any brother being a member of the lodge ( one of the Wardens , for instance ) to perform any part of the lodge ceremonies , I

hold to be both good law and a common-sense view of the question . 1 hailed this deliverance of tlie Grand Registrar at the time it was given with much satisfaction , as it settled a <_ ucstion concerning which there has , to my knowledge , been much elifference of opinion amongst " rulers of the

Craft . " It is unfortunate that there should havc been such a diametrically opposite opinion expressed by thc late Grand Secretary , but that does not lessen the force of the Grand Registrar ' s dictum . It shows thc importance , however , of referring kne > tty points . of Masonic law and procedure ,

especially when Grand Lodge has made no deliverance on the subject , to thc proper quarter for decision . The whole question turns upon the interpretation of the phrase " ruling the lodge , which duty in certain eventualities may devolve , according to the Book of Constitutions , on one or other of the Wardens . Bro . Chadwick ( and many others have taken the same view ) would have it that

" ruling the lodge" does not include the performing of ceremonies . A Warden , says Bro . Chadwick , may " rule the lodge , " but lie must not discharge the duties of the VV . Master ' s chair in initiating , passing , or raising candidates , and therefore if he cannot perform ceremonies , supposing he is called upon to take the headship of the lodge prior to installation , he cannot do them under ordinary

circumstances . Now if this were the law , it would be a narrowing down of the W . M . ' s perogative that is quite out of keeping with the position he holds as head of thc lodge . The Grand Registrar says , in effect , " ruling the lodge" consists in the Presiding Officer for thc time being—and the

Board of Constitutions regulates who is to be the Presiding Officer—being , and fulfilling the responsibilities of Master , regulating the entire procedure whilst the lodge is under his direction , and the ceremonies of the Order , whether done by himself , or by deputy , whether in whole or in part , being entirely under his control .

Does Bro . Chadwick seriously contend for a moment that it is an " innovation " for a Warden to be called upon by thc Presiding Officer to deliver the working tools in any ceremony , or to rehearse the charge after initiation , or explain thc tracings boards in any ^ degrcc ? If Bro . Chadwick does so contend , then 1 am afraid ninety-nine lodges

out of every hundred are guilty of " innovations , " And if Bro . Chadwick conceded that such and such portions of the ceremonies may be done by Wardens or other subordinate officers , 1 cannot see on what principle they are ineligible for performing any other portion of the ritual . For the list twenty years il has been the custom in the lodge to which 1 belong for the Senior Warden to deliver ( when he

Original Correspondence.

is able to do it ) the charge to tlie initiate when he is placed in the N . E ., and I fail to see that any portion of the initiation ceremony is of greater importance than this charge . One passage may be referred to in support of the eligibility of Wardens ( at any rate ) to perform ceremonies . In the ceremony of installation they are charged that in

the absence of the W . M . they may succeed to higher duties , and tbat their attainments should be of such a nature that the brethren may not suffer from siant of proper instruction . If this does not point to the . performance of ceremonies , what does it mean ? I have always understood it to mean that the Wardens might possibly

be called upon fa woik ceremonies , and that it was thenduty to be prepared fo such a contingency . In no part however of our written or unwritten law is it laid down that a VV . M . must be able to perform ceremonies , and that failing to do so he is bound to call upon an Installed Master . Of course we all know how desirable it

is for a W . M . to be able to do his own ceremonies , but there is no legal obligation on him to do so . He may do them himself or he may do them by proxy , and in the selection of his proxy he is bound by no . other rule than that of prudence and courtesy . Of course , if the W . M . ignores his Past Masters entirely , it would be an abuse of

his prerogative , but nOj W . M . . in his senses would go to such a length . Bro . Chadwick has noLstated the ' precise circumstances under which the Warden performed the ceremony in question , but if it was a case similar to what I have seen , where ,

on election night , a Warden has by the courtesy of the VV . Master given the brethren whose suffrages he seeks a sample ofhis capabilities in conducting a ceremony , then , I say , the proceeding instead of being reprehensible , was most laudable . 1 am dear Sir and brother , yours truly and fraternally ,

CESIR 1 AN . [ Our esteemcil correspondent very ably puts our previous argument in his own clear words . —ED . F . M . ]

TIIE LAST QUARTERLY COMMUNICATION . To thc Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — 1 am writing on a very delicate subject , but I think it one which will find a fitting place in your free , fair , and liberal columns .

1 regret that at our last nieeting ' neitlier the Pro G . M . nor the D . G . M . were present ; ' the more so as the vote for the widow of our late Bro . General Garfield was on the agenda paper . Wc all admire the genial temper and kindly tact of our excellent friend , thc Prov . G . M . for Middlesex , whom it is

a pleasure always to greet amongst us , and whom we all regard , both as a man and a ruler , a soldier and a Freemason . But I think it hard to place our esteemed and worthy brethren , the Provincial and District G . M . S ., in the often difficult position of ruling Grand Lodge when important questions arc before it , and often constitutional

points of thc greatest nicety demand adjudication and settlement . I am quite aware that both those distinguished noblemen , who , as Pro G . M . and D . G . M ., arc so valued and loved in their own provinces , and by the Craft at large , have many calls on their time , many engagements , the unavoidable claims of social position and public life ,

nay even of health . But I yet venture respectfully to think that on such an occasion as last Wednesday week , it would have added to the gratification of 700 brethren assembled , and especially would have been taken as flattering to our brethren in the United States , had one of our official rulers been present on the occasion I have adverted to .

Nothing could indeed be in better taste , or more forcibly and yet more kindly expressed , than what was said , so clearly and so truly , by an old friend of many , the worthy and gallant presiding officer ; but it does seem somewhat of an anomaly , to my mind , perhaps unnecessarily so , that with a Pro and D . G . M . we should have to ask our excellent Provincial and District Grand Masters to preside at a most

important meeting of Grand Lodge , or ex cathedrii , it may be , decide off-hand very serious points of Masonic constitional law . It has been sometimes proposed to appoint a permanent " chairman " in the absence of such high officials , but there are great difficulties in the way . Perhaps some abler head will take up the matter . Yours fraternally , C . G . V .

NO PROV . GRAND CHAPLAIN . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — I note that in thc report of the Prov . Grand Lodge for Derbyshire , in your last issue , that there is no

appointment of a Prov . Grand Chaplain . How is this ? In a province which boasts of Bro . Bagshawe , and other " good men and true , " I think that there must be some mistakc . on this head , and so I write , hoping for an explanation and correction , and am , yours fraternally , AN OLD PROVINCIAL CHAPLAIN .

THE RITUAL QUESTION . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Though it may be a question whether such discussions do much good , yet , as one such is here before us ; I v enturc to take a part in it . I cannot quite understand what is Bro , Chadwick ' s omplaint .

Original Correspondence.

1 observe that he says , "the LP . M . and a P . M .-were present . " If the I . P . M . were really present the Wardens would be at once heavily censured by the Board oi General Purposes for setting at naught the distinct provisions of the Book of Constitutions ; equally so if the P . M , was a P . M . of the lodge .

But this is not the point which Bro . Chadwick ori ginally raised . As I understand , he objects to the ruling of the Grand Registrar , that in the absence of the W . M . , the I . P . M ., and every P . M . of the lodge , one of the Wardens can rnlcf / ie lodge , and , as ruling the lodge , can perform the needful ceremonial , though not in the Master ' s chair .

. I understood , and still understand , Bro . Chadwick to deny that any one but an Installed Master can perform any portion of the usual ritual , even though he should be reduced to this absurdity , to take , of course , an extreme case , that in the absence ot the W . M ., I . P . M ., 01 any P . M . of the lodge , no

ceremonial can be done unless the Prov . G . M . or D . Prov . G . M . take mercy on the brethren , until a new VV . M . be appointed To that extent-he must push bis argument , if it be good , on anything . - But yet Bro . Chadwick must be consistent , for either he tak ' es-the P . M . 's status as absululely needful

for ceremonial , or else he is inconsistent in allowing for any exceptions . But I understand him to take his stanel on the Book of Constitutions , and Charges , and ' to say , that "rule " does not mean " ceremonial work , " and that none but a P . M . can take the W . M . ' s proper work , and that a Warden

cannot . Me , therefore , includes a P . M . in the lodge , as he is clearly not contemplated in thc Book of Constitutions . The Grand Registrar's ruling lets in , however , " a P . M . in the lodge , " inasmuch as the ruling Warden calling on a P . M . to take thc chair and perform ( the ceremonial ,

concedes , practically , thc point for which Bro . Chadwick is contending . But then that such was thc " gloss " of thc Editor of the Freemason , not the Grand Registrar's original "dictum , " as the Editor took up what he considered to thc normal right and custom of every presiding , officer ? Whether a Warden , in a case of necessity , no P . M . at all

being present , can perform the ceremony , ' has already been decided by Grand Lodge in the affirmative . But I do not understand how this questton could arise , as I said before , if the I . P . M . and a P . M . of the lodge were present . It then appears to mc to be a ' . 'logomachy , "—a " much ado about nothing . " «• ' I am , yours fraternally , . MASONIC CUSTOM .

MASONIC EMBLEMS . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Kindly permit me through your columns lo ask if any brother can inform me whether , as a clergyman and Masonic Chaplain , there would beany objection ,

ecclesiastical or Masonic , and , if so , what , against my wearing at Divine service some emblem to identify myself with the Order ? But , if not , what might be the most appropriate and judicious ? Yours fraternally , WHY' ASHAMED ? P . S . —I have oflen thought it _ a pity that wc should so furl our colours .

Reviews.

Reviews .

MASONIC BOOK CATALOGUES ; George Nauck , of 17 , Taubenstrasse , Berlin , in his catalogue , No . 9 , sends us a list of seventy Masonic . and Rosicrucian books , through Messrs . Williams ; arid Norgate , 14 , Henrietta-street , Covent Garden , W . C . . The books are nearl y all German , and deal with " points" and "side questions , " which , as a rule , have little interest in the more

purely practical English mind , which prefers facts 10 myths , and the reality of a "living Masonry" to abstruser considerations and obsolete discussions . Still , by the Masonic book collector and student the Catalogue deserves persual , inasmuch as many of the books are somewhat rare , and touch upon more than one curious " phase " in Germany of Masonic life and struggles . Mr . Nauck has also in the

same Catalogue ^ GG works on " philosophy , " many of which are both interesting and valuable , and for those who lean to such " studies" possess both significance and importance . Oscar Richter , an antiquarian bookseller in Leipsic , 2 S , Querstrasse , sends us his sixty-seventh catalogue , which contains thirty-two books 011 Freemasonry . Among them we note Borchardt's " Studium" and Findel ' s "History ;" a

copy of the " Allgemeines Handbuch , " three volumes , which wc commend to the notice of all German students ; Heldman ' s " Dcnkmafc " and Kloss ' s " Bibliographic , " his hjstory of Freemasonry in England , and Freemasonry in its true meaning ; Krause ' s " Kunster Kunden , " Dresden , second edition ; and Schauberg ' s " Vergleichendes

Handbuch , " as well as several other useful and valuable works . The prices are now in " Marks " ( is . ) and are not ' dear " when we compare them with the prices in England . Masonic book collectors had better write to Richter direct , or to Williams and Norgate , as such books are becoming dearer and scarcer year by year .

CHRIS I MAS CARDS . We have for two or three years past noticed favourably the productions of Messrs . Eyre and Spottiswoode , and each successive year seems to increase the diflfk ulty o £ doing justice to their merits , both by reason of the increased number of designs and their excellence as works of art . The

selection now before us far surpasses anything wc have before seen , even from the Queen ' s Printers , and it would be impossible in the space at our disposal to note specially a tithe of those deserving it , but one cannot refrain from calling special attention to those by Messrs . Eyre and Spottiswoode ' s special artists , Mr . E . Maurice , Mr . Harry Arnold , and Miss Steel , comprising exquisite flower studies ,