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Original Correspondence.
Distasteful as it was to us , we could not shut our eyes to the facts ; and the Craft generally has felt we came to a correct conclusion , as , indeed , must all who have had any knowledge of the management for the past few years . If to have told this truth isa reproach to the Investigation Committee , we fully accept the responsibility . 3 . It is said we believed "rotten and tainted " evidence ,
and came to a wrong conclusion on ths great " vermin " question . Does Brother Godson mean to say all this is fiction ? If so , I fear he is more credulous than he supposes we were in finding the facts he disputes . The Matron , when questioned before the Committee of Inquiry , admitted these complaints were made , and that
boys were infected . She explained the cases were brought back by the boys after the holidays , but we found this explanation did not hold good for them all . She told us how she treated the boys' heads with lard and powder . Now , no vermin case is reported upon against the House Committee . This is surely a mistaken reading of the Report on p . 21 . We call attention to neglect to
inspect the boys on re-entry after holidays , and to take proper means to treat such cases when discovered . This is the business of the Matron and her assistants , and the very next paragraph shows we were speaking of the domestic staff . The House Committee had nothing to do with it , until the need arose to see the staff did its duty in keeping the boys heads clean .
4 . Our Report is fuither impugned for saying that , in spite of upwards of 35 complaints ( there are 43 recorded ) of cold in the schoolrooms , redress was ignored , and nothing actually done till July , 18 S 7 . The first complaint was November 19 th , 18 S 5 . The first notice on the books of the House Committee is 12 th July , 18 S 7— " Resolved that Messrs . Rosser and Russell be
requested to examine the present arrangements for heating and ventilation with a view to improvement . " No other notice appears in the interval . The fact was , the new laundry robbed all the heat from the schoolrooms , and directly the engineers were called in , the evil was set right in a few weeks . It is odd to suppose that to have spent £ 2704 , as Bro . Godson says , on the apparatus down
to end of 1 S 85 is an answer to the neglect to attend to grievances which arose from November , 1885 , to April , 1887 . If meant to remedy these evils , it was a prophetic as well as ineffectual expenditure . The £ 300 spent in 1 SS 6 had nothing to do with this particular matter . The moneys spent in these worn out boilers show that it was not for lack of funds they did nothing .
The complaints were then continued for two long winters —either the House Committee knew of them , in which case why did it not apply itself to their redress , or it ignored them ? Either view is inconsistent with their duty , and when Bro Godson says it was known to every one concerned the boiler power was weak , and till new boilers vvere put in the
system of warming could not be perfected , he says the exact fact . It -was so known—it was not remedied till July , 1 S 87—and this is what our Report calls attention to . 5 . We reported that Bro . Jabez Hogg told us " double the ordinary percentage" of defective sight occurs among the pupils , and reference is made to the shorthand notes to show this was not so .
Bro . Hogg is there reported to say in reply to the question— " There was a larger per centage than you would expect in boys in such a School ? " "Just so ; the shortness of sight was not a bigger per centage than we get in such schools , and in Germany it is double what we get in England . " Here obviously is some error in the transcript . Bro . Hogg is made to say the per centage WAS LARGER than
should be expected in such a school , and then to add it was NOT BIGGER than we get in such schools—statements difficult to reconcile— "larger , " but not "bigger , " if accurately reported . But Bro . Hogg very kindly furnished the Committee with information by letter , accompanied with tables and figures . In a letter of 24 th November , now before me , he says : " I found that the per centage of short sight among the boys was a very high one . "
I certainly understood him to say in the passage quoted " double "—possibly he meant double of ordinary healthy lads ; not double as compared with such schools . But , as Bro . Godson says Dr . Hogg thinks we misunderstood him , I accept his version—it is a very high per centage ( not double ) that he intended us to understand . And this verbal correction being made , let me ask—Is it justifiable to say , as Bro . Godson does , the authority we
quote " directly negatives our conclusion ? The fact remains , unfortunately , there is too much short sight - prevailing among the boys , due , as we believe , in part at least to preventible causes . The point of our remarks was that proper steps were not taken to obviate the evil when it was known to the House Committee—on that Bro . Godson preserves silence . As to Bro . Plucknett ' s quotation of Dr . Hogg ' s evidence
of the boys' appearance , the Committee of Inquiry formed its own opinion as to the physique and vivacity of the boys from personal observation . We are responsible for the accuracy of cur conclusions , and on this matter many brethren who have visited the Institution are able themselves to verify our view . Now I have dealt seriatim with every one of the points raised .
We necessarily confined ourselves to what was given into our charge . Bro . Godson says he was " completely deceived " in supposing that censure would not be attached to the House Committee , and that we "formulated no charges against it . " The charges were made by others in the presence of , or with the knowledge of , Bro . Godson , who attended when he pleased , as did the Secretary .
almost continuously . A more strange complaint than Bro . Godson ' s was never made . How could we , as a Committee , tell who we should censure or the reverse until we had heard the whole case on both sides ? And we carefully kept our minds open till the end . and formed no conclusion till all had been heard . Bro . Godson will permit me to remind him that on the shorthand notes is lo be found his
own version of 1 . The dismissal of the six masters ; 2 . Of the non-action of the House Committee on the complaints of the cold school rooms ; as to the " one-man" Committee . Bro . Godscn himself told us of the three instances already mentioned . On the great " vermin " question the House Committee was not implicated , and lastly , as to the bad sight , he told us what was done to alter the lighting , and when it was effected .
Original Correspondence.
We adjourned from Christmas till February , and met again to receive evidence at the request of the House Committee ( on the vermin question , among others ) , and I wrote to the Secretary we were ready to hear any further evidence on any point desired . The shorthand notes were lent ( more than once , I think , in the course of the Inquiry ) to enable the points spoken on to be answered . How ,
therefore , he was "deceived , " except in wrongly forecasting our final opinion , I cannot conjecture ; or what more evidence could have been given on any one of the points indicated , I fail to perceive . It is surely somewhat unieasonable now to complain . I venture to doubt if the main conclusions of our Report came to Bro . Godson as a surprise .
Details and small facts it is true first came to light in our Report , but the course in whicli the Institution had been drifting was long suspected and openly canvassed . We had to asceitain if there was any foundation of truth in these charges—we undertook a laborious and a thankless office ; it would have been easier and far more agreeable for us to make matters pleasant all round . But we tried to tell the truth to the Court , according to
the best information we could obtain . Very possibly we failed to discover much , but on what we did discover , the Special Court has accepted our conclusions , and I trust the new administration may bring about a change in ihe management which will restore efficiency and bring back the confidence of the friends and supporters of the School and of the Institution . —Yours faithfully and fraternally . June iSth . FREDERICK A . PHILBRICK .
To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I see that Bro . Godson , M . P ., has taken up the cudgels in defence of the House Committee , of which he is a member , from the charges kid against it by the Committee of Inquiry . I do not propose to say anything in this letter in defence of the House Committee , which has
its champion , or of the Secretary of the Boys' School , who is so well able to defend himself . But 1 desire , in the interests of fair play , and as a set off to the calumnies and abuse which are being directed wholesale against the latter , to lay before your readers certain statements of fact , for which I am indebted to the minute books of the Institutions for Girls and Boys , and also certain statements of
opinion , as well as statements of fact , which have been published from time to time in various Masonic periodicals . Thus , what follows , as it is not of my own invention or fiction , but obtained from official records or Masonic newspapers , can be verified by anybody who chooses to refer to the sources of information which 1 have consulted . As regards the matters thus set forth , I offer no opinion here , though ,
with your permission , I may venture to do so hereatter . For the present I leave your readers to do this , and I ask them to place at least as much reliance on facts which can be authenticated , and opinions which can be verified as having been expressed by prominent members of the Craft , as some , I regret to see , arc inclined to place on facts which have not been authenticated , and opinions which
come from no one in particular . As regards the Festivals of the Boys' School , it has been affirmed—and it has also been denied—that Bro . Binckes ' s exertions as Secretary have been largely instrumental in obtaining the increased amounts received at these Anniversary celebrations since hisappointment to otlice . Taking the three Festivals which preceded Bro . Binckes's election as
Secretary , on the 3 rd June , 1 S 61 , and which happen also to have been the most productive ever held previous to that date , I find in the Report published in the " Freemasons' Magazine and Masonic Mirroi " of the 2 nd April , 1 S 59 , that at the Festival held on the preceding 30 th March , at which Lord Panmure , D . G . M ., presided , the total amount was X 1854 , with three lists to come in . lt is also
mentioned that Bros . Shaw and Batley , as Stewards from the Province of West Yorkshire , took up lists together amounting to £ 306 , while the list of Bro . Cousens , Steward for Lodge No . 605 , now No . 417 , Dorchester , amounted to £ 39 15 s . It is further reported that " The R . W . D . G . M ., in announcing the amount of the subscriptions , specially commended the exertions of the brethren of West
Yorkshire , whom he considered entitled to the warmest thanks of the company , and felt that he could only say to the other provinces ' Go ye and do likewise . '" It is a just inference from this pointed allusion of the Chairman to the West Yorkshire contribution , that the Provinces were not in the habit of contributing on these occasions . However , whether the inference is just or unjust , I shall be able to
show , from other and official sources , that the Provinces at this period were not in the habit of so contributing . Bro . Viscount Raynham , M . P . —now Marquis Townshend —presided at the Festival on the 14 th March , 1 S 60 , when the proceeds were announced in the " Freemasons' Magazine , & c , " as £ 1601 us . 6 d ., and are stated in the minutes of the Institution as £ 1650 . At the Festival on
the 13 th March , iSCi , at which Loid Mayor Cubitt occupied the chair , the subscriptions amounted to £ 1564 , of which it is particularly mentioned in the " Freemasons' Magazine , & c , " that " £ 121 came from Brighton . " Among those stated to have been present at the banquet were two Prov . Grand Masters , of whom one—Bro . B . B . Cabbellwas Treasurer of the Institution and also a London Mason ,
and four Prov . or Past Prov . Grand Officers , of whom two lived in London . Contrasting the above particulars with those relating to the Festivals of 1 S 62 , 1 S 63 , and 1 S 64 , which were the first three held alter Bro . Binckes ' s election as Secretary , I find , on referring tothe report in the " Freemasons'Magazine '' of the Festival held on the 12 th March , 1 S 62 , at
which , in consequence of the absence , on account of the death of his youngest child , of Lord Leigh , then , as now , Prov . Grand Master of Warwickshire , Viscount Holmesdale , then , as now , Prov . Grand Master of Kent , occupied the chair , that among the 350 brethren reported to have been present were the D . P . G . M . and upwards of 50 brethren from Warwickshire , the D . P . G . Masters of Su : rey , Wilts , Somersetshire , and Kent , the Prov . G .
Treasurer of Somersetshire , a P . P . S . G . W . of Hants , the Prov . G . D . C . West Lancashire , the Prov . G . Registrar of Herts , two P . P . G . Officers of Essex , and the Prov . G . Secretary of Surrey—some of these being , no doubt , resident in London . i'he sum announced was £ 3520 , with 12 London and seven Provincial lists to come . The following sub-division of the total is appended to the Report , namely—London , £ 1601 15 s , Gd . ; Warwickshire , £ 700 j
Original Correspondence.
Sussex , ^ 12 12 s . ; Somersetshire , £ 12 . 3 Cs . ; Bristol £ 21 ; Kent , £ 260 gs . ; Isle of Wight , £ 42 ; West Lancashire , £ 167 12 s . ; Essex , £ 18 18 s . ; Hants £ u 6 us . ; Oxfordshire , £ 90 6 s . ; Surrey , £ 52 Ss . ' Middlesex , £ 71 8 s . ; Dorsetshire , £ 42 ; Berks and BuckV £ 7 7 s . ; and Herts , £ 14 3 s . 6 d . The number ot Stewards on this occasion was 109—I have seen it elsewhere stated as m—while at the Festival in 1861 it was 36 . At the
Quarterly General Court on the 21 st April , 1 S 62 , on the motion of Bro . John Symonds , a gratuity of £ 52 ios . was unanimously voted to the Secretary for his services on this occasion . The total was increased by subsequent receipts to £ 3082 . Bro . the Earl De Grey and Ripon presided at the Festival on the nth March , 1 S 63 , the M . W . G . M ., the Prov . Grand
Masters of Herts and Surrey , the Deputy Prov . G . Masters of Herefordshire and Somersetshire , and many brethren from W . Yorkshire being among those present . The amount was announced as £ 4500 jand was afterwards reported at £ 4678 . Intheeditorialin the "Freemasons' Magazine , & c , " West Yorkshire is spoken of ashaving subscribed £ 1500 , and it is said of the Secretary— " Bro . Binckes has exerted
himselt incessantly throughout the year to ensure the success of the meeting , and meets with his reward by the largest subscription ever announced for any Masonic Charity . " Bro . J . R . Stebbing , in replying for " The Health of the Stewards , " is reported to have spoken as follows : " He should not be doing justice to the untiring exertions of their Secretary , Bro . Binckes , were he not to
express his conviction that it was mainly owing to those exertions that £ 1000 more had been collected upon that occasion than was received last year , the highest amount ever subscribed for the Charity . ( Cheers . ) " In this instance the Governors and Subscribers were so gratified with a result which vvas then unprecedented that , on the motion of the late Bro . Colonel—then Captain—Creaton
, they unanimously voted Bro . Binckes , as a gratuity , a commission of 5 per cent on all Festival contributions in excess of £ 2000 . The Festival on the 9 th March , 1864 , at which Bro . Augustus Smith , M . P ., P . G . M . Cornwall , presided , in the absence at the very last moment through illness of the late Duke of Newcastle , P . G . M . Nottinghamshire ,
produced £ 4213 , with 20 lists to come in , and Bro . Patten , Past G . S . B ., Secretary to the Girls' School , congratulated Bro . Binckes "on the very flattering response to his exertions that evening . " Thus while the three Festivals preceding Bro . Binckes ' s election as Secretary amounted to between £ 5000 and £ 5100 , of which it is possible to trace about £ 480 , but say
i 5 oo , as coming from the provinces , the first three Festivals after his election produced over £ 12 , 500 , of which it is known that about £ 4000 were contributed by the provinces at the Festivals of 1 S 61 and 1862 ; and if the records are obtainable , 1 dare say it would be possible to show that a further £ 2000 was given by the provinces in 1864 . To the above £ 12 , 500 thus raised must be added a
further sum of £ 1500 contributed at the laying of the foundation-stone of the new school premises by the late Bro . Algernon Perkins , Past G . W ., on the Sth August , 1863 , I might easily multiply the evidence in behalf of Bro . Binckes ' s successful efforts by quoting from the successive reports of the Festivals since held , but I will content myself with giving a few particulars about the four years—1865
, 1 S 69 , 1 S 70 , and 1 S 83 . In the year 1865 there vvere virtually two Festivalsone the regular Festival in March , at which the Duke of Manchester , P . G . M . Norths and Hunts , presided , and the subscriptions amounted to about £ 4500 , and the second on the Sth July , when the Earl de Grey and Ripon opened the new school house at Wood Greenand subscriptions
, amounting to close on £ 5000 were announced . Thus the Festival and the Fete in the fourth year of Bro . Binckes ' Secretaryship together yielded £ 9500 , the highest amount obtained in any one year under his predecessor , Bro . Thiselton , having been less than one-fifth of this sum . In the year 1 S 6 9 , a grand effort was made to clear off the mortgage of £ 10 , 000 on the property at Wood Green .
The Earl de Grey and Ripon , D . G . M . and P . G . M . West Yorkshire , again presided at the Festival which was held on the ioth March , and among those present were Bros . A . Smith , P . G . M . Cornwall ; Stephen Blair , P . G . M . East Lancashire ; and the chief promoter and supporter of the movement , Lord Eliot—afterwards Earl of St . Germans , - D . P . G . M . Cornwall ; Hyde Pullen , D . P . G . M . Isle of
Wight ; W . R . Callendar , D . P . G . M . East Lancashire . Bentley Shaw , D . P . G . M . West Yorkshire ; and among brethren still living Bros . L . Metham , D . P . G . MDevonshire ; the Rev . Dr . Senior , Past G . Chap . ; Jabez Hogg , P . G . D . ; H . Massey , W . M . 619 ; and J . Lancaster Hine , P . P . G . W . East Lancashire . There vvere 304 Slewards , and the total announced vvas upwards of £ 12 , 000 ,
of which London raised £ 2629 , East Lancashire ( 35 Stewards ) , £ 3885—including £ 1050 from Bro . S . Blair—West Yorkshire ( 58 Stewards ) , £ 3015 , other Provinces £ 2409 . Bro . BincKes is reported to have said on this occasion that "he could imperfectly convey his feelings to the brethren for the glorious result he had the p leasure of announcing , and remarked that a few years ago he
said he should never rest satisfied until he had the p leasure of announcing a subscription of £ 10 , 000 , but his expectations had , by the splendid result , been exceeded , for the subscriptions were over £ 12 , 000 . " H . R . H . the Prince of VVales presided at the Festival in 1870 , vvhen the Stewards , with the Earlde Grey and Rip 0 " for their President , numbered 239 , and the sum raised was £ 9841 . When the Prince presided in 1871 for the Girls school , there weie 161 Stewards , and the subscrip tion
amounted to a sum ranging between £ 5200 and £ 5 S \ In 1873 , his Royal Highness presided at the Benevolent Festival , when there were 185 Stewards , and the subscriptions , announced as £ 6807 , afterwards reached nearly £ 7000 . I am sure neither Bro . Hedges , who did not become Secretary of the Girls' School till 1 S 7 S , nor Bro-Terry , who had only been in office as Secretary about tw ° or three months vvhen the Prince took the chair for tne
Old People , will think I intend any disrespect to them W instituting a comparison in respect of these three Festival which is so greatly to the advantage of Bro . Binckes . The Boys' Festival of 1 S 83 , with its Board of over 4 ° ? Stewards , and its total of subscriptions in excess ° , £ 23 , 000 , is still fresh in the memory of your readers ; »"' 1 vvould point out that in the account which appeared in ' Freemason at the time , the Chairman , Viscount Holnje 5 ' dale—now Earl Amherst—P . G . M . for Kent , is reported 1 ° have said in the course of his speech in behalf of the t « '
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Original Correspondence.
Distasteful as it was to us , we could not shut our eyes to the facts ; and the Craft generally has felt we came to a correct conclusion , as , indeed , must all who have had any knowledge of the management for the past few years . If to have told this truth isa reproach to the Investigation Committee , we fully accept the responsibility . 3 . It is said we believed "rotten and tainted " evidence ,
and came to a wrong conclusion on ths great " vermin " question . Does Brother Godson mean to say all this is fiction ? If so , I fear he is more credulous than he supposes we were in finding the facts he disputes . The Matron , when questioned before the Committee of Inquiry , admitted these complaints were made , and that
boys were infected . She explained the cases were brought back by the boys after the holidays , but we found this explanation did not hold good for them all . She told us how she treated the boys' heads with lard and powder . Now , no vermin case is reported upon against the House Committee . This is surely a mistaken reading of the Report on p . 21 . We call attention to neglect to
inspect the boys on re-entry after holidays , and to take proper means to treat such cases when discovered . This is the business of the Matron and her assistants , and the very next paragraph shows we were speaking of the domestic staff . The House Committee had nothing to do with it , until the need arose to see the staff did its duty in keeping the boys heads clean .
4 . Our Report is fuither impugned for saying that , in spite of upwards of 35 complaints ( there are 43 recorded ) of cold in the schoolrooms , redress was ignored , and nothing actually done till July , 18 S 7 . The first complaint was November 19 th , 18 S 5 . The first notice on the books of the House Committee is 12 th July , 18 S 7— " Resolved that Messrs . Rosser and Russell be
requested to examine the present arrangements for heating and ventilation with a view to improvement . " No other notice appears in the interval . The fact was , the new laundry robbed all the heat from the schoolrooms , and directly the engineers were called in , the evil was set right in a few weeks . It is odd to suppose that to have spent £ 2704 , as Bro . Godson says , on the apparatus down
to end of 1 S 85 is an answer to the neglect to attend to grievances which arose from November , 1885 , to April , 1887 . If meant to remedy these evils , it was a prophetic as well as ineffectual expenditure . The £ 300 spent in 1 SS 6 had nothing to do with this particular matter . The moneys spent in these worn out boilers show that it was not for lack of funds they did nothing .
The complaints were then continued for two long winters —either the House Committee knew of them , in which case why did it not apply itself to their redress , or it ignored them ? Either view is inconsistent with their duty , and when Bro Godson says it was known to every one concerned the boiler power was weak , and till new boilers vvere put in the
system of warming could not be perfected , he says the exact fact . It -was so known—it was not remedied till July , 1 S 87—and this is what our Report calls attention to . 5 . We reported that Bro . Jabez Hogg told us " double the ordinary percentage" of defective sight occurs among the pupils , and reference is made to the shorthand notes to show this was not so .
Bro . Hogg is there reported to say in reply to the question— " There was a larger per centage than you would expect in boys in such a School ? " "Just so ; the shortness of sight was not a bigger per centage than we get in such schools , and in Germany it is double what we get in England . " Here obviously is some error in the transcript . Bro . Hogg is made to say the per centage WAS LARGER than
should be expected in such a school , and then to add it was NOT BIGGER than we get in such schools—statements difficult to reconcile— "larger , " but not "bigger , " if accurately reported . But Bro . Hogg very kindly furnished the Committee with information by letter , accompanied with tables and figures . In a letter of 24 th November , now before me , he says : " I found that the per centage of short sight among the boys was a very high one . "
I certainly understood him to say in the passage quoted " double "—possibly he meant double of ordinary healthy lads ; not double as compared with such schools . But , as Bro . Godson says Dr . Hogg thinks we misunderstood him , I accept his version—it is a very high per centage ( not double ) that he intended us to understand . And this verbal correction being made , let me ask—Is it justifiable to say , as Bro . Godson does , the authority we
quote " directly negatives our conclusion ? The fact remains , unfortunately , there is too much short sight - prevailing among the boys , due , as we believe , in part at least to preventible causes . The point of our remarks was that proper steps were not taken to obviate the evil when it was known to the House Committee—on that Bro . Godson preserves silence . As to Bro . Plucknett ' s quotation of Dr . Hogg ' s evidence
of the boys' appearance , the Committee of Inquiry formed its own opinion as to the physique and vivacity of the boys from personal observation . We are responsible for the accuracy of cur conclusions , and on this matter many brethren who have visited the Institution are able themselves to verify our view . Now I have dealt seriatim with every one of the points raised .
We necessarily confined ourselves to what was given into our charge . Bro . Godson says he was " completely deceived " in supposing that censure would not be attached to the House Committee , and that we "formulated no charges against it . " The charges were made by others in the presence of , or with the knowledge of , Bro . Godson , who attended when he pleased , as did the Secretary .
almost continuously . A more strange complaint than Bro . Godson ' s was never made . How could we , as a Committee , tell who we should censure or the reverse until we had heard the whole case on both sides ? And we carefully kept our minds open till the end . and formed no conclusion till all had been heard . Bro . Godson will permit me to remind him that on the shorthand notes is lo be found his
own version of 1 . The dismissal of the six masters ; 2 . Of the non-action of the House Committee on the complaints of the cold school rooms ; as to the " one-man" Committee . Bro . Godscn himself told us of the three instances already mentioned . On the great " vermin " question the House Committee was not implicated , and lastly , as to the bad sight , he told us what was done to alter the lighting , and when it was effected .
Original Correspondence.
We adjourned from Christmas till February , and met again to receive evidence at the request of the House Committee ( on the vermin question , among others ) , and I wrote to the Secretary we were ready to hear any further evidence on any point desired . The shorthand notes were lent ( more than once , I think , in the course of the Inquiry ) to enable the points spoken on to be answered . How ,
therefore , he was "deceived , " except in wrongly forecasting our final opinion , I cannot conjecture ; or what more evidence could have been given on any one of the points indicated , I fail to perceive . It is surely somewhat unieasonable now to complain . I venture to doubt if the main conclusions of our Report came to Bro . Godson as a surprise .
Details and small facts it is true first came to light in our Report , but the course in whicli the Institution had been drifting was long suspected and openly canvassed . We had to asceitain if there was any foundation of truth in these charges—we undertook a laborious and a thankless office ; it would have been easier and far more agreeable for us to make matters pleasant all round . But we tried to tell the truth to the Court , according to
the best information we could obtain . Very possibly we failed to discover much , but on what we did discover , the Special Court has accepted our conclusions , and I trust the new administration may bring about a change in ihe management which will restore efficiency and bring back the confidence of the friends and supporters of the School and of the Institution . —Yours faithfully and fraternally . June iSth . FREDERICK A . PHILBRICK .
To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I see that Bro . Godson , M . P ., has taken up the cudgels in defence of the House Committee , of which he is a member , from the charges kid against it by the Committee of Inquiry . I do not propose to say anything in this letter in defence of the House Committee , which has
its champion , or of the Secretary of the Boys' School , who is so well able to defend himself . But 1 desire , in the interests of fair play , and as a set off to the calumnies and abuse which are being directed wholesale against the latter , to lay before your readers certain statements of fact , for which I am indebted to the minute books of the Institutions for Girls and Boys , and also certain statements of
opinion , as well as statements of fact , which have been published from time to time in various Masonic periodicals . Thus , what follows , as it is not of my own invention or fiction , but obtained from official records or Masonic newspapers , can be verified by anybody who chooses to refer to the sources of information which 1 have consulted . As regards the matters thus set forth , I offer no opinion here , though ,
with your permission , I may venture to do so hereatter . For the present I leave your readers to do this , and I ask them to place at least as much reliance on facts which can be authenticated , and opinions which can be verified as having been expressed by prominent members of the Craft , as some , I regret to see , arc inclined to place on facts which have not been authenticated , and opinions which
come from no one in particular . As regards the Festivals of the Boys' School , it has been affirmed—and it has also been denied—that Bro . Binckes ' s exertions as Secretary have been largely instrumental in obtaining the increased amounts received at these Anniversary celebrations since hisappointment to otlice . Taking the three Festivals which preceded Bro . Binckes's election as
Secretary , on the 3 rd June , 1 S 61 , and which happen also to have been the most productive ever held previous to that date , I find in the Report published in the " Freemasons' Magazine and Masonic Mirroi " of the 2 nd April , 1 S 59 , that at the Festival held on the preceding 30 th March , at which Lord Panmure , D . G . M ., presided , the total amount was X 1854 , with three lists to come in . lt is also
mentioned that Bros . Shaw and Batley , as Stewards from the Province of West Yorkshire , took up lists together amounting to £ 306 , while the list of Bro . Cousens , Steward for Lodge No . 605 , now No . 417 , Dorchester , amounted to £ 39 15 s . It is further reported that " The R . W . D . G . M ., in announcing the amount of the subscriptions , specially commended the exertions of the brethren of West
Yorkshire , whom he considered entitled to the warmest thanks of the company , and felt that he could only say to the other provinces ' Go ye and do likewise . '" It is a just inference from this pointed allusion of the Chairman to the West Yorkshire contribution , that the Provinces were not in the habit of contributing on these occasions . However , whether the inference is just or unjust , I shall be able to
show , from other and official sources , that the Provinces at this period were not in the habit of so contributing . Bro . Viscount Raynham , M . P . —now Marquis Townshend —presided at the Festival on the 14 th March , 1 S 60 , when the proceeds were announced in the " Freemasons' Magazine , & c , " as £ 1601 us . 6 d ., and are stated in the minutes of the Institution as £ 1650 . At the Festival on
the 13 th March , iSCi , at which Loid Mayor Cubitt occupied the chair , the subscriptions amounted to £ 1564 , of which it is particularly mentioned in the " Freemasons' Magazine , & c , " that " £ 121 came from Brighton . " Among those stated to have been present at the banquet were two Prov . Grand Masters , of whom one—Bro . B . B . Cabbellwas Treasurer of the Institution and also a London Mason ,
and four Prov . or Past Prov . Grand Officers , of whom two lived in London . Contrasting the above particulars with those relating to the Festivals of 1 S 62 , 1 S 63 , and 1 S 64 , which were the first three held alter Bro . Binckes ' s election as Secretary , I find , on referring tothe report in the " Freemasons'Magazine '' of the Festival held on the 12 th March , 1 S 62 , at
which , in consequence of the absence , on account of the death of his youngest child , of Lord Leigh , then , as now , Prov . Grand Master of Warwickshire , Viscount Holmesdale , then , as now , Prov . Grand Master of Kent , occupied the chair , that among the 350 brethren reported to have been present were the D . P . G . M . and upwards of 50 brethren from Warwickshire , the D . P . G . Masters of Su : rey , Wilts , Somersetshire , and Kent , the Prov . G .
Treasurer of Somersetshire , a P . P . S . G . W . of Hants , the Prov . G . D . C . West Lancashire , the Prov . G . Registrar of Herts , two P . P . G . Officers of Essex , and the Prov . G . Secretary of Surrey—some of these being , no doubt , resident in London . i'he sum announced was £ 3520 , with 12 London and seven Provincial lists to come . The following sub-division of the total is appended to the Report , namely—London , £ 1601 15 s , Gd . ; Warwickshire , £ 700 j
Original Correspondence.
Sussex , ^ 12 12 s . ; Somersetshire , £ 12 . 3 Cs . ; Bristol £ 21 ; Kent , £ 260 gs . ; Isle of Wight , £ 42 ; West Lancashire , £ 167 12 s . ; Essex , £ 18 18 s . ; Hants £ u 6 us . ; Oxfordshire , £ 90 6 s . ; Surrey , £ 52 Ss . ' Middlesex , £ 71 8 s . ; Dorsetshire , £ 42 ; Berks and BuckV £ 7 7 s . ; and Herts , £ 14 3 s . 6 d . The number ot Stewards on this occasion was 109—I have seen it elsewhere stated as m—while at the Festival in 1861 it was 36 . At the
Quarterly General Court on the 21 st April , 1 S 62 , on the motion of Bro . John Symonds , a gratuity of £ 52 ios . was unanimously voted to the Secretary for his services on this occasion . The total was increased by subsequent receipts to £ 3082 . Bro . the Earl De Grey and Ripon presided at the Festival on the nth March , 1 S 63 , the M . W . G . M ., the Prov . Grand
Masters of Herts and Surrey , the Deputy Prov . G . Masters of Herefordshire and Somersetshire , and many brethren from W . Yorkshire being among those present . The amount was announced as £ 4500 jand was afterwards reported at £ 4678 . Intheeditorialin the "Freemasons' Magazine , & c , " West Yorkshire is spoken of ashaving subscribed £ 1500 , and it is said of the Secretary— " Bro . Binckes has exerted
himselt incessantly throughout the year to ensure the success of the meeting , and meets with his reward by the largest subscription ever announced for any Masonic Charity . " Bro . J . R . Stebbing , in replying for " The Health of the Stewards , " is reported to have spoken as follows : " He should not be doing justice to the untiring exertions of their Secretary , Bro . Binckes , were he not to
express his conviction that it was mainly owing to those exertions that £ 1000 more had been collected upon that occasion than was received last year , the highest amount ever subscribed for the Charity . ( Cheers . ) " In this instance the Governors and Subscribers were so gratified with a result which vvas then unprecedented that , on the motion of the late Bro . Colonel—then Captain—Creaton
, they unanimously voted Bro . Binckes , as a gratuity , a commission of 5 per cent on all Festival contributions in excess of £ 2000 . The Festival on the 9 th March , 1864 , at which Bro . Augustus Smith , M . P ., P . G . M . Cornwall , presided , in the absence at the very last moment through illness of the late Duke of Newcastle , P . G . M . Nottinghamshire ,
produced £ 4213 , with 20 lists to come in , and Bro . Patten , Past G . S . B ., Secretary to the Girls' School , congratulated Bro . Binckes "on the very flattering response to his exertions that evening . " Thus while the three Festivals preceding Bro . Binckes ' s election as Secretary amounted to between £ 5000 and £ 5100 , of which it is possible to trace about £ 480 , but say
i 5 oo , as coming from the provinces , the first three Festivals after his election produced over £ 12 , 500 , of which it is known that about £ 4000 were contributed by the provinces at the Festivals of 1 S 61 and 1862 ; and if the records are obtainable , 1 dare say it would be possible to show that a further £ 2000 was given by the provinces in 1864 . To the above £ 12 , 500 thus raised must be added a
further sum of £ 1500 contributed at the laying of the foundation-stone of the new school premises by the late Bro . Algernon Perkins , Past G . W ., on the Sth August , 1863 , I might easily multiply the evidence in behalf of Bro . Binckes ' s successful efforts by quoting from the successive reports of the Festivals since held , but I will content myself with giving a few particulars about the four years—1865
, 1 S 69 , 1 S 70 , and 1 S 83 . In the year 1865 there vvere virtually two Festivalsone the regular Festival in March , at which the Duke of Manchester , P . G . M . Norths and Hunts , presided , and the subscriptions amounted to about £ 4500 , and the second on the Sth July , when the Earl de Grey and Ripon opened the new school house at Wood Greenand subscriptions
, amounting to close on £ 5000 were announced . Thus the Festival and the Fete in the fourth year of Bro . Binckes ' Secretaryship together yielded £ 9500 , the highest amount obtained in any one year under his predecessor , Bro . Thiselton , having been less than one-fifth of this sum . In the year 1 S 6 9 , a grand effort was made to clear off the mortgage of £ 10 , 000 on the property at Wood Green .
The Earl de Grey and Ripon , D . G . M . and P . G . M . West Yorkshire , again presided at the Festival which was held on the ioth March , and among those present were Bros . A . Smith , P . G . M . Cornwall ; Stephen Blair , P . G . M . East Lancashire ; and the chief promoter and supporter of the movement , Lord Eliot—afterwards Earl of St . Germans , - D . P . G . M . Cornwall ; Hyde Pullen , D . P . G . M . Isle of
Wight ; W . R . Callendar , D . P . G . M . East Lancashire . Bentley Shaw , D . P . G . M . West Yorkshire ; and among brethren still living Bros . L . Metham , D . P . G . MDevonshire ; the Rev . Dr . Senior , Past G . Chap . ; Jabez Hogg , P . G . D . ; H . Massey , W . M . 619 ; and J . Lancaster Hine , P . P . G . W . East Lancashire . There vvere 304 Slewards , and the total announced vvas upwards of £ 12 , 000 ,
of which London raised £ 2629 , East Lancashire ( 35 Stewards ) , £ 3885—including £ 1050 from Bro . S . Blair—West Yorkshire ( 58 Stewards ) , £ 3015 , other Provinces £ 2409 . Bro . BincKes is reported to have said on this occasion that "he could imperfectly convey his feelings to the brethren for the glorious result he had the p leasure of announcing , and remarked that a few years ago he
said he should never rest satisfied until he had the p leasure of announcing a subscription of £ 10 , 000 , but his expectations had , by the splendid result , been exceeded , for the subscriptions were over £ 12 , 000 . " H . R . H . the Prince of VVales presided at the Festival in 1870 , vvhen the Stewards , with the Earlde Grey and Rip 0 " for their President , numbered 239 , and the sum raised was £ 9841 . When the Prince presided in 1871 for the Girls school , there weie 161 Stewards , and the subscrip tion
amounted to a sum ranging between £ 5200 and £ 5 S \ In 1873 , his Royal Highness presided at the Benevolent Festival , when there were 185 Stewards , and the subscriptions , announced as £ 6807 , afterwards reached nearly £ 7000 . I am sure neither Bro . Hedges , who did not become Secretary of the Girls' School till 1 S 7 S , nor Bro-Terry , who had only been in office as Secretary about tw ° or three months vvhen the Prince took the chair for tne
Old People , will think I intend any disrespect to them W instituting a comparison in respect of these three Festival which is so greatly to the advantage of Bro . Binckes . The Boys' Festival of 1 S 83 , with its Board of over 4 ° ? Stewards , and its total of subscriptions in excess ° , £ 23 , 000 , is still fresh in the memory of your readers ; »"' 1 vvould point out that in the account which appeared in ' Freemason at the time , the Chairman , Viscount Holnje 5 ' dale—now Earl Amherst—P . G . M . for Kent , is reported 1 ° have said in the course of his speech in behalf of the t « '