Correspondence.

Again , the Magazine is recommended to ns as " supporting the Grand Master . " What does this mean ? It means supporting all measures which are brought forward by the clique who at present rale the Craft , and from the ranks of whose adherents the " Committee " of the Magazine is exclusively composed . Every true Mason will be ready and anxious to support the Grand Master in the exercise of his just authority , but I , for one , believe that this clique rule ,

upheld as it is by those who have received , and those who hope for the purple , is as unconstitutional as it is exclusive , and that the sycophancy which it involves is as degrading to Masonry , as it is injurious to its best interests . So long then as the Magazine continues to be a party organ , 1 trust that no one who dislikes the principles of that party , will be induced to support it . The moment it ceases to adopt any side at all , and confines itself entirely to the publication of Masonic news , it will , I hope , reckon every lodge among its subscribers .

I am , dear Sir and Brother , Tours fraternally , A PROVINCIAL .

To the Editor . SIR AND BROTHER , —At the last P . G . Lodge of Somerset a notice of motion was given by the P . S . G . W ., Bro . Peach , condemnatory of tho mischievous scheme suggested by the Board of General Purposes relative to the Grand Lodge property . Owing , I believe , to indisposition , Bro . Peach entrusted the resolution to the P . J . G . W ., Bro . Ashley , who , on proceeding to introduce this important question , was " estopped in iimine" by the D . P . G . M ., Bro . Randolph ,

who presided in tho absence of the P . G . M ., Col . C . K . K . Tynte . I shall refrain from using a single word of censure upon the RVW . Brother , who is deservedly respected and beloved in the province for his Masonic and private virtues ; but 1 think I can shew that the reasons which led him to this decision , and which , he stated at some length , were not based on sound argument or justified by logical conclusions . The primary objections urged by the D . P . G . M . were , firstly , that the Board of General Puvposes had not

invited the P . G . Lodge to express an opinion on the scheme . Secondly , that the private lodges of the province having received such invitation , and responded each according to its predilection , the aggregate views and wishes of the brethren in the province had been thus ascertained and expressed , and , therefore , P . G . L ., as such , was necessarily precluded from exercising its judgment on the matter , which , one -way or tho other , might stultify itself , and thus render the deliberations of the private lodges wholly nugatory . Now Sir , I think it needs no profound acquaintance with "SVhateVy OT Mill to

prove the fallacy of these propositions . To deny the right of Pr . G . L . to deliberate , or to express an opinion , upon any question of Masonic policy , or contemplated measure involving a great expenditure of Masonic funds , unless on the invitation of the Board of General Purposes , or any other Board , or even the Executive itself , is at once to strike at the independence of P . G . Lodges , to ignore their functions , and to render them only encumbrances in the economy of the Masonic system . A Pr . G . L . bears analogous relation to the lodges within its jurisdiction , as the Grand Lodge itself bears to Hie body

politic . It is essentially a deliberative body , and all questions of great importance ought to be submitted to it , as the collective wisdom of the province ; and I can imagine no questien that could arise of more importance than that involved in Bro . Peach's motion , or one on which the Masonic public opinion needed to be more emphatically pronounced .

The second reason , plausible as it seems , has really less argument to support it than the first . The private lodges , it is true , may all have expressed their views on the various points submitted to them , and that very fact constitutes the strongest reason why Pr . G . Lodge should have expressed its opinion on the whole scheme too . It is , perhaps , scarcely too much to say that , in Pr . G . L . the subject would have received greater attention , a ftirer treatment—that larger views and more intelligent arguments would have been brought to bear upon it , than could be expected in the limited , discussion of a private lodge .

It is absurd to say that an opinion expressed on any given subject by Pr . G . L . ought necessarily to be in accordance with that of tho majority of private lodges within'its limits . Pr . G . L ., byits constitution , is composed of the most experienced and intelligent members of the Craft , and is , a fortiori , the better qualified to entertain and deal with important questions . It is , moreover , superior to , and perfectly independent of , any other body within its jurisdiction ; and to say , therefore , that it is precluded from deliberating upon any great public Masonic question because such deliberation may lead to a decision contrary to that

arrived at by a majority of the private lodges is to degrade it from its high position into a mere registration court . If Pr . G . L . were composed simply of att the Masons in the province there would be some reason in Bro . Randolph ' s ruling , but it is not so . On the contrary , the deliberations of Pr . G . L ., and the conclusions to which they lead , are totally irrespective of private lodges , and are to be estimated pro tanto only by their results . Pr . G . L . can stultify itself only by acts of gross inconsistency , committed by

itself , and it ought not to shrink from Hie discussion of important questions affecting the general weal of the Craft on such a principle as that laid down by the D . Pr . G . M . of Somerset . Imagine , Sir , for instance , some great question arising in the province , affecting alike the private lodges and the Pr . G . L ., such question would , no doubt , be dealt witli by the private lodges in their own way , but is it to be supposed for an instant that , if aU the lodges adopted identical views in reference to the matter , that Pr . G . L . would feel that such unanimity absolved it from the exercise of its own judgment , and deprived it of

independent action ? No such thing . I fear , Sir , if this province , or any other , abstain from the discussion of Masonic measures until invited by the Board of General Purposes , it will be saved all trouble in that respect during the present regime . Sir Lucius Curtis , Pr . G . M , of Hampshire , than whom a more prudent Mason cannot be found , summoned a Pr . G . L . especially to take into consideration the scheme of the Hoard of Gener . il purposesand , before doing so , he not only

, knew that the lodges under his jurisdiction had discussed the project , bnt be must also have known the result of those discussions , for I believe he was present at more than one lodge when the subject was mooted ; but he still deemed it essentially necessary to call together his Pr . G . L ., in order that the fullest consideration might be given to a subject of such magnitude , fraught , doubtless , with a thousand important consequences to the Craft generally .

I am quite sure Bro . Randolph was actuated by the purest motive-, in the course he adopted , but I think it will be found very prejudicial to the interests of the Craft in this province when the D . Pr . G . M . promulgates the principle that his Grand Lodge is not competent to express an opinion without the gracious permission of the Board of General Purposes . I am , Sir and Brother , Yours fraternally , DELTA .

SECRET SOCIETIES . —On the Sunday week previous to the departure of the Kedemptorist Fathers from Sunderland , Father Conolly warned the congregation against secret societies , showing their pernicious tendency , and said though many had obeyed the voice of their good bishop and clergy , and had abandoned all connexion with such accociations , still there was one person who contumaciously persisted in his allegiance to the obnoxious community ; and the rev .

gentleman announced that if the Church was not listened to he must be expelled , and bear the censures of God's Church on his shameful conduct . In the evening Canon Bamber , when returning thanks to the Missionaries for all their valuable services to the congregation during the mission , took occasion to announce that the person who had been censured in the morning for his adherence to the obnoxious secret society , had come forward and renounced all connexion with , the illegal association . It was calculated that there were oyer 2 , 000 persons present at the termination of the services of the mission . — Tablet .