Original Correspondence.

and his evidence is tainted with a most malignant bias against them . He could not say whether he saw one or two cas-s , he could not mention the time , place , or name of the boy affected , or the name of any boy who had seen vermin on any other boy in term time . He only launches this trumped-up lie when before the Inquiry Committee to delude them , and he was entirely uncorroborated except

by the " unreliable" witness . The matron denied that this state of things ever did occur at any time when the officials were responsible . She is corroborated in this denial by the head master , the surgeon , the hair cutter _ ( with 20 years' monthly experience ) , the surgeon - oculist , and everybody who must have known of such a thing had it occurred in term time .

Shortly , then , the Inquiry Committee ( seven in number ) believe the " tainted " witness against all the others . The House Committee ( 12 in number ) believe , and with confidence ask the subscribers to believe , the respectable witnesses who contradict this uncorroborated maligner of our boys and the Institution . 2 . As to the badness of sight , Dr . Hogg ' s evidence is

perfectly consistent in itself . He says : " I did not expect to find so high an average of badness of sight , but finding it , I can only say that it is but the average of similar Institutions . " This allegation that it was double the average did us great harm in the minds of the subscribers , and now that it is shown to be " directly negatived " by evidence , it is

attempted to be explained away by " a verbal correction " that " the average " may be understood to mean " double the average . " In my _ last letter I pointed out what the House Committee did to mitigate this evil ( unfortunately too prevalent everywhere now-a-days ) , and when thev did it ; yet the Chairman says ( paragraph 27 ) that "I preserve silence

on the point . " Certainly in paragraph 30 he contradicts his own assertion , for he says that I " told the Inquiry Committee what was done to alter the lighting , to which this evil is attributed , and when it was effected . " _ 3 . As to the heating apparatus , in my last letter I men' tioned the sums spent by the House Committee in 1884-5-6-7 on this . The Chairman objects that a sum of £ 300 had

nothing to do with this matter . This is not so , but let that pass . The objection to this ^ 306 admits that the other sums had been paid for this purpose . How then were we "doing nothing ?" The Chairman says " The first complaint was November 19 th , 1885 . The first notice on the books of the House Committee is 12 th July , 1 S 87 . " What a pity the Inquiry

Committee did not read the minutes of the House Committeeee for 1885 . In April , 1 S 85 , the House Committee considered the question of heating , and on the 27 th May , 1885 , at a special meeting , the question of new boilers was thoroughly discussed , and contracts for the same were accepted . At a special meeting on nth June , 1885 , this question was

again before them , and on the 19 th June a special meeting was held for the purpose of considering the same question of proposed improvement to boilers , among other things . The Chairman says that new boilers were not put in till 1887 , and yet the accounts show that they were completed on November 21 , 1885 . The resolution of 12 th July , 1887 , which has misled the

grossly careless draftsman ofthe report and the Chairman , refers to some final alterations made to some of the old heating apparatus , which originally we had every reason to believe would do its work properly after the new boilers had been started , but which , unfortunately , had to be altered at the cost mentioned . The heating apparatus has worked well ever since .

" There are 43 recorded complaints , " says the Chairman . The House Committee only met 33 times between Nov ., ' 85 and July , 'S ** , and five of these were special meetings for matters outside this question and one-third of the remaining 28 would be summer meetings , when the heating apparatus would not be at work . This leaves an average of over two for each meeting . The Head Master ' s report

and complaint book is produced at each monthly meeting . I have , in another way , now proved that this Report is founded upon "unreliable" and " struck out" evidence , upon " tainted evidence , " upon a "direct misrepresentation " of the evidence of a scientific witness given on the most important of all the allegations ( having as a lad suffered much myself with my eyesight , I think so ) , and

upon a direct charge of gross negligence . The last is contradicted up to the hilt by a class of evidence to which the Chairman refers , but which , it is clear , the Inquiry Committee never read . So much for this precious Report , which has hounded on the noisiest of the subscriber against the governing bodies of the Institution , which in turn have indeed received " their

support , " as shown at the quiet and truly Masonic meetings of June ist and June 6 th . Is it not a fact that all the personal statements as to condition of the boys , & c , is founded upon a few hours' visit of the Inquiry Committee ( one absent ) on a cold Saturday afternoon in November ?

" Cui bono , to whom has the Report done good ? It has disgusted a large number of brethren by the spirit in which it is penned , it has done more to assist those who wish the local funds to be distributed in each locality than 50 years of propagandism would have done ; and finally , it has affixed a stigma on our boys and the Institution , which , though , foundationless , will never die away . —Yours faithfully and fraternally , A . F . GODSON . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I made it clear in my letter of last week that , on the election of Bro . Binckes as Secretary on the 3 rd June , 1861 , a vast improvement followed in the amount of the Festival Returns , and the opinions I then quoted from

prominent brethren show I am not singular in my belief that most of that improvement is to be attributed to the exertions of the new Secretary . However , a few further facts as to the relations existing previous to his appointment between the Provinces and the Institution will bring this belief of mine more forcibly home to the minds of those of

your readers , who are prepared to observe an unbiassed attitude towards the Secretary at the present crisis . Bro . Binckes , being at the time Master of the Enoch , No . 11 , served as Steward at the Festival of the Boys ' School in 1856 , and , having qualified as a Life Governor , became , " ipso facto , " a member of the General Committee . Later in the same year , Lordship House , with the ten acres

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of ground in which it was situated , was purchased by the Governors for £ 3500 , and Bro . Binckes at once took an active part in the necessary work of arranging for the conversion of the mansion into a boarding school , framing rules and regulations for the government of the Institution under the altered system , defining the duties of the Master and Matron who were to be appointed , & c , & c , while in

1857 , and again in 185 S , he was elected a member of the House Committee . But in the latter year , and especially in view of the contemplated admission of the whole of the boys , or at least of those whose parents or guardians were willing , into the School at Wood Green , the question of funds became a very serious one , and in the Report for 1857 , which was laid before the General Committee on the

6 th February , 1858 , it was pointed out among other things that the Provinces were not as liberal supporters of the Institution as they ought to be , considering the number of country boys assisted by it , and also that many cases were recommended by Prov . G . Officers who did not themselves contribute , neither did their lodges ; while out of 70 boys on the establishment , 36 were country , of whom 15

were in the School at Wood Green , and 21 remained under the old system . A Sub-Committee , consisting of Bros , the Rev . W . H . Lyall , John Symonds , and F . Binckes , was therefore appointed to consider and report as to the best means for obtaining increased support for the School . On 15 th July following they handed in to the General Committee a Report , in which they recommended various

measures , among them being the appointment by each Prov . G . Lodge , subject to the approval of the General Committee , of a Corresponding Secretary , who should attend P . G . Lodge , visit private lodges , invite brethren to act as Festival Stewards , solicit subscriptions , and give information ; and that a London deputation should visit the P . G . Lodges , in order to give an impetus to the movement .

This Report was referred back to the Sub-Committee , with authority to print and circulate it among the Provincial brethren , and then report again . Bro . Binckes resigned before the final Report was sent in , but in the interim a London deputation was appointed in response to an invitation to visit the Prov . G . Lodge of West Yorkshire , and furnish information , with the result that Bros . Shaw and

Bartley acted as Stewards at the Festival of 1 859 , and handed in lists amounting together to £ 306 . However , my point is that up to the date of the appointment of this Sub-Committee , of which Bro . Binckes was , at the outset , a member , the Provinces , though they furnished 3 6 out of the 70 boys on the establishment , gave little or no support—speaking comparatively—to the Institution ;

that on the strength of one of its recommendations made while Bro . Binckes was a member , the Province of West Yorkshire contributed over £ 300 at the 1859 Festival ; and that when he was appointed Secretary in 1861 , he started his " crusade" in the Provinces with such excellent results that out of the £ Sooo , and upwards , which was returned at the Festivals of 1 S 61 and 1862 , over X 4000

can be directly traced as having been subscribed by the Provinces . Let me add that in the Sub-Committee's final Report , when Bro . Binckes had ceased to be one of its members , London is stated to have contributed six times more than all the Provinces combined . I consider this is fairly conclusive evidence that Bro . Binckes's exertions must have had a great deal to do with the increased

support given by the Provinces since his appointment as Secretary . In 1869 , owing to the immense increase of work in the office , a Committee of Inquiry was appointed to ascertain and report upon the changes they might consider necessary . In due course this Committee reported—and I am anxious to lay particular stress upon this , as it seems to have escaped

the notice of the Philbrick Committee—that , though by the strict letter of his engagement at the time of his election Bro . Binckes was not required to attend more than four hours a day for three days in the week , yet that he had " from the date of such election given daily attendance , and , owing to the rapid increase in the business , for nearly the entire day , for the first two or three years , and since

then his regular attendance during the whole of each day , save when visiting the provinces or absent from illness , " and further ihat he had been "compelled to engage assistance during the years 1863-7 " at his own cost . They therefore , recommended that £ 100 should be granted him in re-imbursement of such cost ; that a clerk should be appointed at £ 100 a year to

assist him in the office ; that he should be re-imbursed his travelling expenses when on the business of the Institution ; and that his salary be increased to £ 200 , in addition to the fixed annual gratuity of £ 200 into which his commission on all Festival receipts above £ 2000 had in the meantime been commuted . All these recommendations were adopted , with the exception that the

salary was hxed at £ , 250 a year , to commence from ist January , 1 S 70 , in addition to the £ 200 annual gratuity . Two or three years later , Bro . Binckes's services to the Institution and generally were recognised by the Craft at large , which presented him with a testimonial of £ 1000 , while , in the summer of i 8 S 5 , on the completion of his 25 years' service as Secretary to the Boys' School and

Grand Secretary of the Mark Grand Lodge , an influential Committee was formed , with ihe Earl of Lathom , D . G . M ., and Prov . G . Master of West Lancashire , as President , for the purpose of further recognising his services . The testimonial of 400 guineas and a piece of plate was presented at the Festival held at the Crystal Palace on the 14 th June , 1 SS 7 , by the Chairman , Bro . T . VV . Tew ,

P . G . M . West Yorkshire , the inscription on the plate stating that it and the purse of 400 guineas were presented to Bro . Binckes " in recognition of his services for upwards of twenty-five years as Secretary R . M . I . Boys and as Grand Secretary Grand Lodge M . M . M . " On reference to the minutes of the R . M . I , for Girls it will be found that at a Special House

Committee on the 28 th January , 185 S , Bro . W . F . Beadon being in the chair , and Grand Master the Earl of Zetland among those present , Bros , the Rev . VV . H . Lyall , John Symonds , and F . Binckes were appointed an Educational Committee , with a view to improving the system of education , and that at the Quarterly Court on the Sth July following , this Committee sent in

their report , in which , among other things , it was recommended that French , music , and drawing should be taught in the School . At the same Court , the same three brethren were appointed a Committee to concert arrangements with the Boys' School authorities for making known the claims of the Schools to be supported by the brethren in the provinces . The result of this appointment has already

Original Correspondence.

been stated in connection with the Boys' School , but f-u fact that Bro . Binckes was appointed to serve on thrY two Committees is evidence that he is largely responsibl for the improved system of education and the increase , ? support from the provinces which resulted from the ! recommendations . r

Lastly , let me add that at the meeting of the Peace and Harmony Lodge , No . 60 , of which Bro . Binckes has been Secretary for some years , which was held on the 3 rd Mav 18 SS , for the purpose of celebrating the 150 th anniversary of its constitution , Bro . James Terry , Secretary of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , in responding f 0 ! the toast of " The Masonic Institutions , " is reported in the freemason to hav

e said "that the brother "—I 3 Y A . T . Layton , P . G . Stwd ., S . W . —" who proposed the toast paid a great compliment to Bro . Binckes in saying , he had been the pioneer of the great success which had attended the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . As a colleague of Bro . Binckes , he could tell them that when he vvas appointed Secretary of this Institution , that brother kindly gave him introductions to the provinces , and where .

ever he had the opportunity of saying anything on behalf of the Girls' or Benevolent Institutions he had willingly done so . " This testimony is equally honourable to Bro Terry and Bro . Binckes . ' What further I may have to say in the nature of com . ment on the facts and opinions 1 have thus adduced I will , with your permission , set forth in a third letter ' -, Fraternally and faithfully , 0 '

LIBERAL FREEMASONS . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , A paragraph in the columns of the Daily Telegraph last week , to the effect that "members of the National Liberal Club who are Freemasons are proposing that they should have a lodge of their own , " seems to me

to invite the serious consideration of every Craf sman who treasures the traditions of the Order as hitherto regarded in our own country . The suggestion that a lodge should be instituted for any political section of men who are Masonsis , to my mind , a dangerous innovation , and not in keeping with the spirit of British Freemasonry . —I remain , dear Sir and Brother , yours fraternally , P . A . G . D . C . England . June 25 th .

BRO . R . F . GOULD AND THE "REGIUS" MS . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , If you will permit me , I should like to say a few words upon this subject , and record my surprise and pleasure at the result of Bro . R . F . Gould ' s critical examination of the old Masonic poem of 1350—1400 , for I agree

with this estimate of its age . Style in penmanship is always somewhat deceptive , because of two specimens one may be written by a young roan , and the other by an old one ; the subject matter must be taken into account in estimating such manuscri pts as this Masonic poem . There is an impression amongst old Masons that Bro . R . F . Gould , in his valuable History , has been too ready

to lend an ear to that modern school of Masonic research , whose pleasure it seems to be to decry the antiquity of the Craft , and teach that it has no history , simply because they do not know it ; that , in point of fact , he has spent more time and effort in pulling down than in building up . Whether or not such a charge is just , we can , at least , point to Bro . R . F . Gould ' s Commentary upon the

" Regius MS . in proof that he can exercise a wonderful power in building up also , for the entire view which he elucidates so clearly is not only new , but , as far as I can see , unassailable . Apart from Masonry , the Commentary is a valuable archseological synopsis of the early history of Northumbria from Yorkshire to Edinburgh , and is vastly interesting to all those who , like myself , have drawn

their nurture within that kingdom—a subject further elucidated by Bro . G . W . Speth ' s "Three Maps of the Heptarchy . " But 1 have no intention of taking up your valuable space in minute details of the way in which the wheat has been thrashed out of ancient tomes , and must content myself with simply recording in a few lines the result to which the

Commentary leads us , and the confirmation that it affords to old Masonic tradition . The theory broached that the ancient York Constitution was couched in rhyme is confir med by rhyming charters of King Athelstan preserved at Ripon , Beverley , and probably , at one time , York , and ( though Bro . Gould does not mention it ) by rhyming rituals used in Masonry early last century . For though

this is jumping over a great interval , there is sufficient evidence now before us to show that in essentials the object of Masonry was the same in the 14 th century as the 17 thviv ., a speculative system for the study of geometry , morals , symbols , and to render mutual aid . But , historically more impoitant , we now see , by the light shed by Bro . R . F . Gould , that the old theory of a

Culdic origin is tenable , that to a Culdeo-Benedictine origin ( for we know monks worked as Masons ) and organisation , with Edwin , King of Northumbria , 6 \ 6 , as Patron , V upon it was superadded an Athelstan revision and confirmation of the privilege of assembly , 926 ; it is quite possible that this privilege was confirmed generally to the guilds , and not specifically to the Masonsbut that in its

, effects is of little consequence ; the identical claim of the minstrels in the 16 th century that they had assembled annuall y at Beverley from the time of Athelstan to elect their officers tends _ in this direction , and hence no valid reason can be assigned why the Masons should not , as they claimed , have assembled at York for the same purpose , and even met in the Crypt of the Minster , from

which building they dated the beginning of their privileges . It is with the greatest pleasure that I see that Bro . R > F . Gould has been obliged to admit unhesitatingly that the guild for which this poem was committed to writing was a speculative one . 1 would go farther than this , and maintain that its three sections point as certainly to this—that it was a Guild composed of Masonic operatives , clerics ,

and esquires ; in other words , it resembled in that respectall of the Masonic lodges in England of the 17 th century of which we have knowledge . There is one part of this subject into which . I should have liked to enter , but must leave it for the present . I " one sense , there is much difference between the " Regius poem and the Cooke prose constitution of almost coeval