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" In your present letter , containing a series of errors and misconceptions which are almost inexplicable , you complain 'that the province of Canada West cannot now command more than a dozen lines . ' " Permit me to point out to you that , since by your own voluntary act you have severed yourself from the province of Canada West , you have no claim or title to represent its interests as a part of the Grand Lodge ; or , in such capacity , to demand even a reply ; that the Lodges and Brethren who now form that Province do command

and do receive every attention and every support from the Grand Master and the Grand Lodge which Brethren under their circumstances so well deserve ; and that frequent and important communications are received from and made to them , the former not unfrequcntly containing grievous complaints of their having been kept in the dark by then-former officials in Canada ; and especially of the communication of the M . W . Grand Master , of March , 1857 , having been suppressed , or withheld from their knowledge , until after they had been induced to surrender their warrants .

"You have made your choice whether you would represent a province held under the Grand Lodge of England , or that of an independent and separate body . You cannot claim to be regarded in both capacities ; and , when you ask how you could legally throiv off your allegiance , you cannot seriously expect that any one could point out to you where in the Book of Constitutions a law is to be found which could justify Brethren in placing themselves above the law . " You appear to be still in error with regard to certain Masonic publications . I have to repeat that the only authority possessed by

them is the permission to publish certain reports of the proceedings of Grand Lodge upon the responsibility of the publishers . As to their accuracy , they are the private speculations of individuals ; they are under no other control ; and it is imagined that a very slight examination of their contents would be sufficient to show that neither the Grand Master nor the Executive are responsible for , or are represented in , any of the articles which they contain . " It was observed with pain , that in your letter of the 1 st February , yon expressed an opinion that the Grand Lodge was guided in its

dealings with the Canadian Brethren by mercenary considerations , and you now refer to that subject again in more particular terms in the following words : ' In the first place , then , we read with satisfaction of successful candidates for Masonic annuities in England , and we are . glad that our unfortunate Brethren are secured from poverty and distress ; we read also of indigent Brethren and widows of Freemasons being safely housed in a Masonic asylum , and again we are rejoiced ; we read also of orphan children of Freemasons being educated and provided for , and once again are our hearts

gladdened . Now it must be borne in mind that the colonies help to swell the funds necessary to secure the above-named blessings , but what chance have they in any way of securing to a candidate , whose claims they might urge , a successful result ? none . It would be absurd to propose a candidate , for our Lodges are not represented in Grand Lodge at all . In the second place , thousands of emigrants land on our shores , and it is no exaggeration to say , that hundreds among them are Freemasons ; many require help and encouragement ; they get both . But there is no denying the fact , that we send no distress back to England , and , consequently , we are taxed twofold . '

"Upon the latter part of this statement I would first remark , that whilst I admit the probability of the assertion , that many hundreds of emigrants apply for relief to Canadian Lodges and are treated there with a kindness and generosity honorable and becoming to our Canadian Brethren—that I have strong grounds to believe that applications from English Masons are exceedingly rave ; and I have further to remark , that you are in serious error when you assert that you are taxed twofold , inasmuch as the Canadian Lodges do not , and are not required to , contribute to the Fund of

Benevolence ; to which Fund every Mason in this country is compelled to subscribe , and from which Masons of all countries are eligible to receive , and do receive , relief in their distress . " As regards the charities of this country , and your assertion that the colonies help to swell the funds by which these blessings are secured , permit me to inform you that , with the exception of an annual sum of £ 150 each , granted by the Grand Lodge to the Boys ' and Girls' Schools , there is no fund to which the colonies contribute bwhich these charities are maintained .

y " Their freeholds , their noble buildings , and their funded property were acquired through the liberality of individual Lodges and Masons : and as they were established , so are they maintained—an honor and a credit to the Order—by the generosity of individuals . As the result of the spontaneous liberality of the Brethren , they are justly under the control , not of Grand Lodge which has no power

to interfere in their management , but of the individual governors and subscribers who have established them , and who receive , as eligible for admittance , all who comply with the regulations laid down for their government ; and I am quite sure that , such regulations complied with , the respective committees would cheerfully welcome to the benefits of their charities any distressed Canadian Mason , his widow , or his child . "The evident error and misconception under which you labor , and the circulation which you have given to such erroneous

statements , by printing and publishing your letters , even before they have reached the Grand Master , compels me , though unwillingly , to draw your attention to these facts ; and in justice to the Brotherhood here , who are held up to reprobation as being actuated by selfish motives , to add , that although some small contributions ( in the whole not amounting to £ 10 ) have been received from other provinces in Canada , that from all the individual Masons , and from all the Lodges in Canada Jf ' est , there has never been received one

farthing in aid of the Masonic charities in this country . "If it were necessary to advance any further refutation of the statement that mercenary motives have guided the Grand Lodge of England , or have weighed with her in endeavoring to remedy past difficulties and still maintain a Masonic union between Canada and the mother country , it would only be necessary to say , that out of 63 Lodges registered on the books of the Grand Lodge of England as existing in Canada West , a majority have never made any returns , or contributions in any way to its fundssince their warrants were

, granted ; and of these , the warrants even of many were granted without the payment of fees ; and-1 may add , that looking to the gross total of all monies received from Canada West by the Grand Lodge of England , the amount is so inconsiderable as not to deserve notice ; and it would not be difficult to name many London Lodges , the contributions of any one of which to the Grand Lodge and its charities , during the last ten years only , would very much exceed the total receipts from all the Lodges in all Canada West , from the period of their formation to the present moment .

" With these facts before you , I think you will feel some regret at having hazarded so rash and so ungenerous an assertion , calculated not alone to mislead your Canadian Brethren , but to wound the feelings and impugn the liberality of the Brethren here . " Lastly , I have only to remark , that had Sir Allan Mac Nab resigned his appointment ( as you did ) on the severance of his allegiance in September last , or had he , during his lengthened stay in London , taken the opportunity of doing so , the M . W . Grand Master would have been spared the disagreeable necessity of superseding him in the February following .

"I have the honor to be , R . W . Sir and Brother , "To T . D . Harington , Esq ., " Yours fraternally , Toronto . " ( Signed ) " WM . GRAY CLARKE , G . S . " Toronto , Canada , 10 th July , 1858 . "V . W . Sir and Brother "I beg to acknowledge your letter of the 10 th ultimo

, written under instructions from the M . W . Grand Master . On the 14 th instant the two Grand Lodges now exorcising separate jurisdiction in this Province , will meet for the purpose of consummating the Union of the Canadian Craft under one supreme authority , and there is happily every prospect that this most desirable event will then take place . As your letter affects the character of the Fraternity throughout this extensive territory very materially , I shall feel it to be my duty to move that it be referred to the Committee on Foreign Correspondence , in order that its various items may receive

due consideration and be reported upon to Grand Lodge . Your assertion startled me , and I think it will astonish others , viz .: 'That out of sixty-three Lodges registered in the Books of the Grand Lodge of England , as existing in Canada West , a majority have never made any return , or contrihited in any way to its Ftintls , since their warrants were granted , and of these the warrants even of many were granted without the payment of fees' —and— 'that from all the individual Masons , and . from all the Lodges in Canada West , there has never been received one farthing in aid of the Masonic

Charities of this Country . ' The passages are underlined by you . "As regards myself , for your letter is very personal , and you will pardon my adding that it bears prima facie evidence of its being intended principally to evoke the sympathy of the English Provincial Lodges , who have for some time passed evinced their dissatisfaction with the management of Masonic affairs at head-quarters , as evidenced by the Periodicals so greatly decried by you , I feel it necessary to state—