Correspondence.

Correspondence .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents but we wish , in a spirit of fair play to ail , to permit—within certain necessary limitsfree discussion , "AN EXAMPLE TO THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT

INSTITUTION . " To the Editor ot the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother . The writer of the letter signed " Pity " in your issue of last week mentions that the " British Home for Incurables " admits the Candidate who has been longest on the list at each election . Permit me to add that the National

Benevolent admit two and the Blind Pension three Candidates at each election twice a year , according to seniority of application , in addition to 23 cases elected by votes in the former case and 31 by the latter . Why cannot our Institution do likewise ?—I am , dear Sir and Brother , yours fraternally , JOHN STOCK , P . M . & Sec ., ' L . G . of all the Charities . 170 , Milkwood-road , S . E .

OUR NEGLECTED OLD PEOPLE .

To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , Following the discussion at the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution Election the other day , I have heard the following suggestion made : That the children in the Schools should have less spent upon them , and should be educated as they would have been if their parents had lived . As it is they are

above their brothers and sisters when they return home . Compare the cost of a boy per annum at Wood Green and one at one of the Cann Woodard Schools , and it will be seen that the Masonic Schools are managed in a very extravagant way . The money that could be saved should be used for the increase in the number of pensions to the Old People . Provincial Charities are growing , and many brethren are getting tired of supporting the Central Charities .

The above lines are not my own views , but I should like to hear what others think of them , as in the near future our Charities may not be so well supported as they are at present , and greater economy may be necessary . —Yours fraternally , CHARITY STEWARD .

Reviews.

Reviews .

"EAST LONDON . By Walter Besant , M . A ., F . S . A . " ( London , Chatto and Windus , 1901 ) . —This is a companion volume to " Westminster , " which was reviewed in the Freemason some little time since , and it is likely soon we shall have the pleasure of introducing to our readers thc remaining volumes in completion of the valuable quartette , viz ., " London " and * ' South London , " all by Bro . Sir Walter Besant , P . M ., Treasurer of the " Quatuor Coronati Lodge , " & c . In addition to the most Interesting text , there are over 50 illustrations by Phil May , Joseph Pennell , and L . Raven Hill ,

and a fine etching by Francis S . Walker , R . E ., of the Traitors' Gate , Tower of London . This artistic and readable volume is the latest of the quartette , and in not a few respects the most remarkable of the set . East London , in the hands of Sir Walter Besant , is a great city , not by organisation , but " a collocation of overgrown villages , lying side by side , " which until 1900 had " no center , no heart , no representative body , no mayor , no aldermen , no council , no wards , no public buildings of its own , " and yet

contains some two millions of persons , having many characteristics differing from the inhabitants of all other cities throughout the world . What the city has , as well as what it has not , is so graphically described by the greatest novelist-historian of the day , that , without ever venturing into some of the curious and awe-inspiring or terror-suggesting neighbourhoods visited by the author , the reader can form a fair idea of this vast hive of industry . " People , shops , houses ,

conveyancesall together stamped with the unmistakable seal of the working-class . " Only fancy ! Here is a city of two millions of people , and not a single bookseller ' s shop ! ( lhat is , " nut a single place in which the new books of the day , are displayed and offered for sale . " ) On the affirmative side , as well as the negative , Sir Walter is equally at home , which wholly redeems East London " from the charges of monotony and unloveliness , " and as is truly declared " within easy reach of the City , there are woods and woodlands , villages and rural haunts , lovelier than -any within reach of Western London . " Before one thinks they know this wonderful City , let him read " East London , " published by Messrs . " Chatto and Windus , " and he will not begrudge the iSs . payable for the handsome and entertaining volume .

" BUNTRR ' S CRUISE , " by Charles Gleig , with eight illustrations by T . S . Crowther . Methuen and Co . Price 3 s . Gd . —An amusing story , something on th : lines of " Vice Versa . " A sailor who has outstayed his leave is chased by the water police , and takes refuge in a bathing machine . The police have spotted him , and wait on the beach to capture him . Consequently he enters a contiguous van , and dresses in the clothes left by the gentleman who had engaged it , which results in his escape and the arrest in his stead of his captain , the Hon . Roger Laxdale . Complications natural ' y increase as the

plot thickens ; suffice it to say the A . B . tiavels to Gibraltar as captain of his ship , vihile his captain takes the same cruise as a mutinous and none too skilful A . B . The pseudc-captain , after puzz ' ing the officers and disgusting the Governor of Gibraltar by his coarseness , and incidentally making love to one of his daughter ? , finally re . cues himself and his captain , whose life he had sav ; d on the voyage out , from the absurd predicament in which they find themselves , and his captain pird ming him in consideration for having saved his life , a laughable story is brought to a perfectly correct denouement .

"SCOTTISH CATHEDRALS AND ABIIEYS . "—By the Rev . D . Butler , M . A { London , A . et C . Black ; Edinburgh , R . snd R . Clark , Ltd . )—This sdmirable brochure on a deeply interesting subject is one of the valuable seiiss of " The Guild Library , " published at is . Od . net . If the remainder of the Volumes are the size of this one ( over zco pages ) , they are remaikable for their cheapness as for their worth as respects the text , ar , d cannot fail to enjoy a very large circulation . The present issue has not only a fine illustration of the Glasgow Cathedral as Frontispiece , but there is al ; o an

Introduction by the Vcry Rev . R . Herbert Storr , D . D ., LL . D ., Pnncipil of the University of Gla . 'gow . There are 13 Cathedrals , eight Collegiate C' urch ' .,, tw 1 Sc Htiih Norm in , two Middle Pointed , and five Late Pointed , a numicr of Abbeys , and several Chapters on Scottish Architectucc , Sen-ti in Med ' . c-yal Architecture , & i ., bes'des a D ; finition of Leading Architectural Te ; ms . The work is what it miy well claim to be , as Dr . Storr stales , "An invaluable Guide to all students of our Historic Churches , Cathedrals , Collegiate , and Monastic , " in Scotland .

"ON HUMAN NATURE AS AN EXCUSK t-ox SIN . " —By Bro . Maurice C . Hin < -, LL . D ., P . Sov ., 30 , Vice-Patron of both Orphan Schools , representative of the Grand Lodge of Noiway at the Grand Lodge of Ireland , and local Treasurer for Derry and Donegal . London : Messrs . J . and A . Churchill ; Dublin -. Edward Ponsonby . Price is . — This is in the main an admirable metaphysical and polemical treatise , combating the popular , but dangerous , excuse for sin that it is the nature of man to sin , and that

Reviews.

immorality is natural . The author contends that the propensions are not of themselves evil , but only produce evil results when unregulated by an enlightened conscience . The Archbishop of Armagh , Primate of Ireland , writes concerning this book to ths author : " Your essay is as practically instructive as it is theologically and morally sound . " The same author has also forwarded us a leaflet containing some admirable hints on the selection of candidates for the benefit of Masonic Charities .

"TEIGNMOUTH ; ITS PAST AND PRESENT INTERESTS , " by Miss Beatrix F . Cresswell . The Homeland Association , Ltd ., 24 , Bride-lane , Fleet-street . Price 6 d . ; ' cloth is . 6 d . —This little brochuce treats of a charming Devonshire seaside resort , and its equally charming surroundings and local antiquities . An interesting literary association links Teignmouth with Mackworth Praed and Keats , the latter having issued his " Endymion " while lodging in this town . A chapter on driving and cycling in the neighbouihood , some notes on the natural history ' of Teignmouth , and an ordnance survey map of the town and environs complete a handy little volume .

" BONNIE SCOTLAND ' S RESORTS . " —An ABC introduction to the health , profit and pleasure resorts of Scotland . Messrs . Higgle and Co ., Glasgow and Rothesay Cloth covers , 6 d ., paper covers , 2 d . —This handy little brochure supplies the tourist with all information necessary concerning all Scottish places of interest , and some excellent anecdotes illustrative of Scottish customs and Doric humour . Masons acquainted with the Scotch rite will lind an anecdote to interest them on page 120 .

"GLIMPSES OF THREE NATIONS , " by the late G . W . Steevens . Memorial edition , edited by Vernon Blackburn , with a preface by Christina Steevens . Messrs . Wm . Blackwood and Son . Price 6 s . —This is the second volume of the memorial " edition of the works of the late G . W . Steevens , and deals with the life of the three great cities of London , Paris , and Berlin . The author , had he lived , intended his magnum opus to be an account of London in its various and contradictory aspects , and the chapters dealing with London , which first appeared in the Dail y Mail , are most interesting , while the letters from Paris and Germany rank among the ' finest productsof his versatile oen .

Messrs . Sampson Low and Co . are to be congratulated on their excellent cheap editions of standard works , which are equal in every way to ordinary six shilling editions . These new and revised editions comprise "Stand Fast , Craig Royston ! " "Judith Shakespeare , " "The Penance of John Logan , " and , in the same volume as the latter , " Romeo and Juliet ; a Tale of Two Fools , " and " A Snow Idyll , " all from th ; pen ol William Black . Yet another cheap edition in the department of fiction is

" The Hundredth Man , " by Frank R . Stockton ,- while in that of travel and adventure are a biography of the late Joseph Thomson , African explorer , F . R . G . S ., by his brother , the Rev . J . B . Thomson , of Greenock . The volume , which is beautifully illustrated , contains a number of maps illustrative of the explorer ' s travels , and appreciative notices of this Bavard of African travel , as The Times truly called him , by Sic Archibald

Geikie , Messrs . J . M . Barrie , Ravenstcin , J . Scott Keltie , J . A . Grant , Alexander Anderson , J . F . Scott-Elliot , and Dr . J . W . Gregory . Yet another popular edition issued by the firm is "The Faroe Islands , " by J . Russell-Jeaffreson , F . R . G . S ., an account of a most interesting yet little known part of the Northern Archipelago , and of its peoples and their customs . Maps and artistic illustrations enhance the interest of this volume also . Price of the novels 2 s . each , and of the books of travel 25 . Cd .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Masonic Notes and Queries .

" 35 ] — A W . M . 's RULING . In reply to Bro . " Putney , " I consider that the W . M . was right in requiring notice of the amendment to the resolution respecting the jewel , because , if carried ,

it would require a larger expenditure than that provided for in the original proposition . I see no harm in the ordinary " three questions" being asked at a regular lodge meeting , because there are many matters that could be dealt with , and propositions received , under such an arrangement without infringing either the " Book of Constitutions " or the by-laws . VV . 1 . H .

1136 ] CONSTITUTIONS , 1767 . I am pleased to note Bro . Lamonby ' s communication respecting the " Book of Constitutions , " A . D . 1767 . The valuable work is rendered all the more so if it has the Appendix of 177 6 . Brethren can see a complete set of these rare volumes from 1723 in our Grand Masonic Library , Freemasons' Hall , so well looked after by my esteemed friend , Bro . Henry Sadler . W . J . H .

Congratulatory Dinner To The Grand Treasurer.

CONGRATULATORY DINNER TO THE GRAND TREASURER .

On the 23 rd ultimo , at the Hotel Cecil , a congiatulatory dinner wis given to V . W . Bro . Horace Brooks Marshall on his having been elected as Grand Treasurer of English Freemasons . The arrangements for the gathering , which was conlned , to Masonic personal friends of Bro , Marshall , were most admirably carried out from beginning to end by Bros . Thomas Catling , C . C . Wakefield , and T . H . Roberts .

The chair was taken by Bro . Sir Joseph C . Dimsdale , 31 . P ., P . G . Treasurer , and late in the evening the Lord Mayor attended . The other brethren who werc present were Bros . Under-sheriff Langton , Undcr-Sherilt Gardiner , the Rev . P . Clcmenti-Smitb , Thomas Catling , Major T . C . Walls , W . J . Mason , B . Turner , C . C , Capt . J . Barlow ( Bro . H . B . Marshall ' s opponent at the election of Grand Treasurer ) , H . Massey , T . H . Roberts , R . Ralli-Johnston , W . Stark , J . E . Tavlor , A . Ritchie , C . C , J . P ., John H . Liie , C . C , G . Siggs , C C . Wakefield ( joint

Secretary with Bro . T . Catling ) , A . Johnson , R . O . Hearson , C . C , C . W . War * , A . H . Fraser , J . M . Owen , H . S . Lee , J . H . Cliimpness , A . lilenkarn , J . Northcote , C . J . Drummond , T . G . Vickery , W . Hayes , II . B . Spaul , T . P . Warwick , H . D . Blake , R . Stuart , J . Battey , T . A . Richardson , J . S . Spence , H . B . Sanders , J . B . Webb , F . Pegler , H . Holloway , A . E . Reed , E . G . Harmer , O . G . Holmden , A . P . Hedges , F . Coates , the Rev . A . Sargent , S . D . Coates , C . C , and P . C . Ayres . Bros . James Stephens , P . D . G . D . of C , and F . R . W . Hedges , P . G . S . B ., Sec . R . M . I . G ., who had taken tickets , were unable to attend .

Bro . Sir J . C . DIMSDALE , in giving the first toast , "The King and thc Craft , " said the brethren would fuel that he had not performed his duty that evening if he did not refer to the accident that occurred on Sir Thomas Lipton ' s yacht , Shamrock II ., the day before . The King was on b lard the yacht , and the accident might have proved serious if not fatal , but they all rejoiced that ithad not been so , and they hoped his Majesty would live long to reign over his people . Bro . Sir J OSKHI DIMSDALE , in proposing the toast of " Our Guest , " said this was a family gathering—merely a few pergonal friends sitting arjund the