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To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

The following among other communications unavoidably stand over : CRAFT—Clapham Lodge , No . 1 S 1 S . REVIEW— " The Isiac Tablet of Bembo , " by Dr , VVynn Westcott . Masonic Presentation at Newton-le-Willows .

BOOKS . & c , RECEIVED . " Loomis' Musical and Masonic Journal , " " Boletin Oiicial del Srmo . Grande Oriente Nacional de Espana , " " Freemasons' Repository , " " Freimaurer-Zeitung , " "International Masonic Review , " " Keystone , " and " Freemasons' Journal" ( New York ) .

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§ f ^ o % ^ 5 § l ? r ^^^^^" " ^^^ A A 4 * - ^^ £ ft A Ml ] SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 26 , 1887 .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ We do not hold ourselves responsible for , or even approving of the opinions expressed by ourcorrespondents , but we wish in aspirit of fair play to all to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion , ] -

THE GRAND TREASURERSHIP . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I shall be obliged if you will kindly allow me the opportunity of informing the Craft in general , and members of Grand Lodge in particular , through the medium of your widely-circulating journal , that Bro . Asher Barfield will , in December next , be nominated for the office of Grand Treasurer .

Bro . Barfield was initiated in the Medina Lodge , No . 35 , West Cowes , in the Isle of Wight , on the ist June , 1 S 46 , and is a P . M . ot that lod ge . He joined the Zetland Lodge , No . 511 , then held at Kensington , on the 10 th April , 1850 , Was W . M . in 1853 , and was elected Treasurer in 1 S 55 , and still holds that office in the lodge , of which he is now the senior member . Bro . Barfield was a founder of the Londesborough Lodge , No . 16 S 1 ; is a P . M . and the Treasurer . He was also a founder of the Kensington Lodge , No . \* 6 j ,

Original Correspondence.

and for some time held the office of Treasurer after its consecration , and is now an honorary member of the lodge . He is I . P . M . of the Lodge of Emulation , No . iggo , Portsmouth , which is a lodge of Installed Masters only . Bro . Barfield is a P . P . G . D . of Hants and the Lie of Wight , and was elected W . M . of the Medina Mark Lodge , No . 140 , at Cowes ; but the distance from London prevented him

accepting the honour of office this year . He was exalted in the Mount Sinai Chapter , No . 19 , in March , 1 S 53 , was Z . in 185 s , and is now the senior member and Treasurer of the chapter . He is also a P . Z . of the Andrew Chapter , No . 834 , Hammersmith , and a founder and honorary member of the Stuart Chapter , No . 504 , Bedford . In addition to his Masonic services , Bro . Barfield is Patron of all the Institutions , and has served nine Stewardships to the Girls '

School , 10 the Boys' School , and 10 to the Benevolent Institution . I must apologise for taking up so much of your valuable space , but , as Bro . Barfield has received so many promises of support from influential quarters , I am desirous of making his intended nomination known as widely as possible , and look forward to March , i 3 S 8 , with every hope of success . —Yours faithfully and fraternally , GEO . READ , P . M . 511 , 1767 , & c .

MASONIC CHARITIES . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , Under the above heading two letters appear in your last issue—one by " Hergian " and the other by Bro . Vickers , Prov . G . Sec . Lincolnshire—both of which call for some observation . The former asks whether the defaulting

province secured its votes in any other way than by payment ? Its own votes , certainly not ; but the election of its candidates , certainly yes—by borrowing , or having them given—for of its own strength 1 find ( if Lincolnshire is meant ) , and by reference to the subscribers' book of this year , that its total voting power for the Girls '—of whom there are five in the Institution—is 305 , of- which 1 S 2—all

life votes but one—are the property of 3 6 individuals , the Prov . G . Sec . being credited with one , 121 the province's 19 lodges , all life votes but 18 , and two from two chapters , both life votes . As to the Boys '—of whom there are four in the School—the aggregate number of votes is 609 , made up—25 brothers with 67 life votes , 10 ladies with 34 life votes , and two Lewises with 176 ditto , the remainder being

made up—267 life and 24 annual votes from 20 lodges and three chapters . Now , any brother who has had the least experience in elections knows that to secure the success of any candidate a great deal of outside help would be required . The Benevolent subscribers' book , being arranged differently , it would take too much lime to analyse their figures . " Hergian " seems to think that because a province has once done

a good thing , there is no occasion to do any more . Would that worthy brother be satisfied with not having any meals to-morrow , because he has had a good one to-day ? and it is very evident that the falling off of the subscriptions has not been for the want of means , for he tells us that the funds of the local Charities of very recent date are upwards of 3000 guineas . I am delighted to hear it ; but they ought to be able to show a clear certificate , the same as a brother before he is affiliated to a new lodge . Be just before you

are generous . ' •Hergian " says we all desire to see the Central Charities well supported ; that may be so , but the Province of Lincolnshire does not set an example . I think if I had been Bro . Vickers I would not have called attention to " Zeta "' s about having contributed nothing to the Girls '

Institution , for , granting that he has sent £ 42 during the last four years , or an average of £ 10 ios . per year , he should remember that they take out £ 170 annually , and that the Lincolnshire boys cost £ 270 per annum , as against an average of £ 23 os . 5 d . These figures are taken from last year's Festival reports , not having this year ' s by me . —Yours fraternally , ST . AUGUSTINE . November 19 th . ¦—

To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I am sorry I must again decline to gratify Bro . Vickers ' s curiosity . I have given reasons for my silence , which , in my humble judgment are sufficient and proper , and I intend to abide by them . But there can be no harm in my pointing out , in the first place , that my criticism , like

"J . 174 '" s table , was confined to the Festival returns , and in the next , that it was written independently of the same " J . 174 " ' s table about the Girls' School Festivals , which appeared in the Freemason some weeks afterwards , and of which I could know nothing . Permit me in reply to "Hergian ' s" letter of last week to say that I have not constituted myself "the censor of

defaulting provinces , " or of any other bodies or persons . My original letter was written in friendly criticism of somebody else ' s letter ( " Espoir " ' which had reference to somebody else ' s table ( "J . 174 " ' s ) . That table once published , was certain to evoke any amount of discussion . It has done so , and all I have done has been to take part in it , like "Hergian" himself , "Espoir , " and others .

Again when I referred to a nameless province which had contributed little to , but obtained much from , our Central Charities , 1 stated a fact which may or may not admit of explanation , but which involves no reflection on anything or anybody . A province with but few votes may be able to command the support and influence of many friends ; it may exchange votes and lump them together for a

particular election ; or it may borrow this year on the security of the votes it will be entitled to next year or the year after , in short , there are many ways by which a weak province may carry the election of its candidates without committing or involving anybody in any irregularity ; no idea of this kind ever crossed my mind , What I was desirous of pointing out was that a province which received many

benefits from the Central Charities should contribute generously to the extent of its ability towards their support . There was nothing new in this idea , and if Bro . Vickers and " Hergian" will turn to the report of the Boys ' School for 1874 , they will find that the then Grand Master

the Marquis of Ripon , when presiding at the Festival of that Institution , made a similar remark in the course of his appeal for the support of his audience and the Craft generally . When I have more leisure at my disposal , 1 shall be very pleased to go into the figures of earlier years than those I dealt with , which were selected not because they

Original Correspondence.

were " suited to my purpose , " but because they were the last four years , and I thought that was far enough back to carry my inquiries . In one point , however , I can confirm offhand " Hergian '" s statement as regards Lincolnshire , which both he and Bro . Vickers persist in intro

ducing into this discussion . My examination of the subscribers' lists for the two Schools for 1 S 84-7 , discloses the fact that the bulk of its present votes were obtained through contributions made prior to ist January , 1 S 84 . 1 made this clear in my last letter . And now a few words as to the belief which some brethren

appear to hold , that the Festival Returns are not a fair criterion of the sums contributed by the several provinces , because they do not include all the amounts given in the course of the years and Institutions they severally concern . 1 'his must , of course , be true in the case of those provinces which only send up Stewards at rare intervals , and yet contribute regularly . Yet , barring these few exceptional

instances , I venture to think these Returns are a pretty safe guide as to what is done in any given year , by any given body . If my memory serves me , the sum total of donations and subscriptions to each Charity , as set forth in the Freemason at the close of each year does not materially exceed the total announced at each Festival , and occasionally it does not amount to so much . Last year , for instance

—see Freemason for the Sth January , 1 SS 7—the donations and subscriptions to the Benevolent Institution , from Festival and all other sources combined , amounted to £ 14 , 364 , while Bro . Terry announced at the Festival , £ 14 , 864—subsequently increased to £ 15 , 000 . Bro . Hedges at the Girls' School Festival announced returns to the extent ot £ 13 , 029 ; his "Donations and Subscriptions" from all

sources were £ 12 , 096 . Bro . Binckes , at the Boys' School Festival at Brighton , announced a total of £ 12 , 368 , subsequently increased to £ 12 , 689 , but the " Donations and Subscriptions" of all kinds reached only ^ 12 , 164 . Here in every case the " Donations and Subscriptions " actually received are less than those announced at the Festival , and

the difference must be greater still if we bear in mind that the former include sums which were not included in the latter . But though , as I have said , such a criticism as this is necessarily to the disadvantage of a province which does not often send up Stewards , it holds fairly good in the case of those which are frequently or invariaoly represented . —Fraternally yours , ZETA .

Girls' School Centenary Hall.

GIRLS' SCHOOL CENTENARY HALL .

lo the Editor of the "Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , At the first meeting of the Stewards of the coming Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls it was decided to recommend that the proposed new Hall should be called "The Centenary Hall , " but no recommendation

was made as to the pronunciation of the word . I have heard it pronounced in three ways ( i ) centenary with the accent on the first syllable , ( 2 ) with the accent on the second syllable , as if spelled centeenary , and ( 3 ) as if spelled cente 7 znary ; I have taken the trouble to consult Walker , Worcester , Webster , Johnson , and other less known dictionaries , and in every instance , with two

exceptions , pronunciation No . 1 is considered correct , one exception , " Latham ' s Dictionary " is a qualified one , it gives No . 2 , and adds it is "often pronounced , perhaps rightly , with the accent on the first syllable ; " the other exception is " Cassell ' s Encyclopedic Dictionary , " which gives all three , spelling No . 3 "centennary . " ' 1 his is the

only authority 1 can find for this spelling and pronunciation . I hope you will think with me that this is a question of some little importance , and will not think I am intruding on your space in bringing it to your notice . —I am , dear Sir , yours very fraternally , PATRON , R . M . l . G . 22 nd November .

Reviews.

REVIEWS .

MASONIC FACTS AND FICTIONS . By HENRY SADLER , P . M . and P . Z ., Grand Tyler and Sub-Libcaiian of the Grand Lodge ot England . London : GEORGE KENNING , 16 , Great Queen-street , W . C . The main purpose of Bro . Sadler ' s Book is to show that the statement propounded by partisan writers of last century , and accepted without any attempt at verification

by a majority of those who have written since , as to the G . Lodge of the so-called "Ancient" Masons havingbeen established by seceders from the " regular " or " Modern " Grand Lodge is not borne out by the facts so far as they are recorded in the annals of the rival bodies , or as a careful and unbiassed comparison of extra official evidence will demonstrate . In his introductory chapter , after

enumerating the several Grand Lodges which existed in England last century and having given a specimen or two of the more glaring inaccuracies in which some of the foremost of our Masonic authors of past days have indulged , he proceeds to lay down the very reasonable theory that the Four Old Lodges which established the Grand Lodge of England in 1717 by no means represented the whole

ot the Masonic Craft in this country at that epoch . In support of this theory , he adduces both here and in later chapters much evidence of value , the most important being the well-known statement in "Multa Paucis"that there were six lodges in London when the G . Lodge of England was founded ; the occasional references in the Grand Lodge minutes to old brethren who had been made Masons in

London or the country years prior to the foundation of the said G . Lodge ; and the mention of Masons or Masons ' lodges in the works of Dr . Plot , Elias Ashmole , and elsewhere . The second chapter contains a rigid examination of all such minutes of the aforesaid G . Lodge—Irom 1723 , when a Grand Secretary was appointed , and the record of proceedings begins , down to about 1755 , when the "Ancient" G . Lodge was pretty firmlv established—as are

calculated to throw any light on the subject . This examination is very carefully , and what is still more to the point , most impartially conducted , the result being to show that the allegations made by former writers as to a secession having taken place from the 1717 G . Lodge of men who afterwards styled themselves "Ancient" Masons are a mere fable . It is not , of course , denied that individual brethren may have withdrawn themselves from the