Odd Fellowship.

pipe of peace in the great wigwam of t .. e world . " Lad our worthy brother qualified his sweeping censures on former occasions , by bearing " his generous testimony to the great good done by Odd Fellows , Foresters , Druids , & c , as benefit societies , I for one mi ght have allowed him to tilt as he thought proper at whatever he mi ght conceive to bear the slightest appearance of mock Masonry ; though I confess that I cannot sec why I should be

considered to approve of every society that may take part in a public procession in which I may form a unit . I believe that it would be bad in princip le and bad in policy to refuse , as Freemasons , to form part of a public procession at laying the foundation stone of an infirmary , or of a town hall , simply because the Odd Fellows , the Foresters , and other well organized benevolent benefit societies are to form part of the company . These various

Orders always allow the Freemasons the undisputed privilege of laying the stone , as well as the most honourable place in the procession , and if we , as Freemasons , arc not content with this pre-eminence , we shall richly deserve the fate that will await us , —that of not being allowed the honour of laying the foundation stone with Masonic ceremonies . In fact , my own opinion is , Sir , that if we really wish to retain this honourable officeour Lodges

, must be made , as they evidently were of old , schools for the cultivation not only of brotherly love , but also of the liberal arts and sciences , and especially that of architecture . The generous tribute of esteem for the Manchester Unity of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows as a well conducted benefit society , given in your last issue , has very materially narrowed the grounds of difference between us . But if our worthy brother thinks that

" it is not our business to inform Bro . Tweddell of the reason why Odd Fellowship is enrolled among tbe mock Masonic societies , nor is he obliged to know ; " I think every intelligent reader of the Magazine , whether he belongs to the Craft or not , will at once acquit me of blame if I throw up my brief ; as it is impossible for me properly to answer assertions which arc made without proof . Before I enter on the defence , I must hear the evidence for the prosecution .

At some future time , if the G . A . O . T . U . spares me , I may accept the invitation given me , I believe in the true fraternal spirit , to " study the liistory" of the various societies mentioned at page 1153 , and to give to tbe pages ofthe Freemasons' Magazine the result of my labours . " It is a subject in ivhich I have from boyhood taken an interest ; but I am sorry to say that before I trouble you with formal essays thereon I must have access to

better materials than I have hitherto been able to meet with . Perhaps I shall be better able to furnish you with short historical notices of such Lodges of the Craft in the northern counties as will allow me to search their records , or supply me ivith any information for the purpose . The information thus collected and preserved in your pages would be of immense value hereafter to the historian of the Order .

hi reply to the remark that I have put myself "in the attitude of a champion of Odd Fellowship rather than of Masonry , " I will only say , that I shall ever hold myself ready , on all fitting occasions , to use those " literary attainments , " for which you have been kind enough to give me credit , for the defence of Freemasonry wherever , whenever , or by whomsoever it may be attacked , and I will do it " with all my heart , with all my mind ,

with all my soul , and with all my strength . " I am happy to say , that though I have conversed with thousands of Odd Fellows and Foresters in the counties of Northumberland , Durham , Yorkshire , and Lancashire , I never heard one of them speak disparagingly of our beloved Craft . They have unfortunately too often imitated the Freemasons in the truly unmasonic practice of holding their meetings at public houses ; a practice ivhich they have many of

them got rid of by meeting in schoolrooms—a practice which we , I trust , will get rid of by having , in every town in England , our own Masonic Hall . I know not what is meant , sir , by the remark applied to me by our worthy brother— " nor will be do himself any good by his attack on our Architectural Chapter . " In furthering what I regard to be the legitimate object of the Magazine , that of giving faithful reports of what our powerful brotherhood

is _ now doing , and in showing them how trilling it is compared with the immense good wc might accomplish—humble though I am—yea , one of the poorest u brethren of the mystic tye "—you have no more devoted a fellow labourer than myself . But , when I think of the immense amount of human suffering in the world , I am unwilling for different men labouring for one common end— - the happiness of their race—to waste their time in marring each others efforts , instead of each doing his allotted task . Believe me , sir , there is work enough for us all , and it will be much better for us to prove the superiority of Freemasonry over all

Odd Fellowship.

other organizations Iry doing it faithfully , than by calling the " outer world" profane , and sneering at other orders whose good deeds are indisputable . Had my friendly challenge been accepted , I think that 1 could have satisfactorily proved , that the Order of Odd Fellows who so courteously invited the Freemasons of Leicester to their banquet , have no more connection with the convivial societies of " mock

Masons" of the last century , than our beloved Craft lias with the Vchin or the llluminati . In conclusion allow me to observe , that though 1 would not for a moment compare Odd Fellowship , and Freemasonry , there is one thing in which my brother Oddfellows put my brother Freemasons to shame ; it is the manner in ivhich they spend their Lodge funds , seven eig hths of which are kept sacred for the sick

and funeral gifts , and the other eig hth for rent of Lodge-rooms , secretaries' salaries , and all the incidental expenses of the Order . Not one penny is spent in refreshment of any sort . 1 hope the day will come when our Craft will apply its funds , not as a benefit club , but one half to the charities , and the other for building Masonic Halls , forming libraries , and in various ways instructing the brotherhood , not only in our beautiful system of morality ,

but also in the hidden mysteries of nature ancl science . Trusting that there is nothing in this epistle to cause unnecessary annoyance to any one , and freely giving credit to the writer of "Our Architectural Chapter" for those good motives which he is charitable enough to grant to mc , I remain , Dear Sir and Brother , yours fraternally , GEORGE MAIMCHAM TWEDDELL . Industrial School , Bury , Validly of Si . John lite Baptist , 185 !) , '

"Masonic Missions."

"MASONIC MISSIONS . "

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC ! MIRROR . DEAR . SIR AND BnOTin- 'ii , —I cannot allow some observations contained in your article , on "Masonic Missions , " in the Magazine of the 1 st of June instant , ancl referring to the Howard Lodge , No . 0-1 , at Arundel , in Sussex , to pass entirely without observation ; and I will therefore shortly state the efforts which have been made by tbe brethren of the province to effect its resuscitation .

In the year 1857 , assisted by other members of my Lodge , I made close inquiries amongst the old remaining members of the Howard Lodge , to ascertain the precise position in which that Lodge was placed with regard to Grand Lodge ; and I found that although no return of the members bad been made to Grand Lodge since March , 183 G , the number still remained in the Calendar ; and the existence of the Loclge was recognized by the

quarterly communication of Grand Lodge being regularly transmitted to it . This gave mc hope , and I wrote in consecjucnce to the present Grand Secretary on the subject , and received a reply from him , dated the 28 th of November , 1857 , in which he says , " Should there be any of the original members still alive , who have possession of the warrant , they might possibty be permitted to revive the Lodge , by paying their quarterage to benevolence

from the time of the last payment , in 183 b ' , to the present time ; but in case none of the original members arc to be found , the warrant cannot be made over to any fresh body of Masons . " This again gave me encouragement ; and I easily made arrangements that the arrears due to the fund of benevolence should be paid . I again communicated with the Grancl Secretary ; and in a letter

received from him , dated the 22 nd of December , 1857 , he says , " Should the brethren who still consider themselves members of the Lod jje , and in whose hands , I presume , the warrant remains , think fit to draw up a memorial to tbe M . W . Grancl Master , . giving their reasons for having during twenty-one years disregarded the laws of Grand Lodge , and further , stating fully their motive for now , at an advanced age of life , seeking to revive the Loclge , I shall of course submit the same to the consideration of the Grand Master . "

Ihere probably would have been no difficulty m assigning cause satisfactory to the M . W . Grand Master for the want of energy which hael been shown for so many years in keeping alive the light of Masonry in tbe Howard Loclge ; inasmuch as the whole Masonic structure of the province had for very many years been allowed to fall to decay , in consequence of the cessation of the holding- a Provincial Grand Loclge for twenty-seven years , and other obvious consequences * and Masonry ' had fallen to the lowest ebb .