A Merry Christmas.

A MERRY CHRISTMAS .

AS is onr custom at this festive season—a custom we feel the greatest pleasure in observing—we take tlie opportunity of wishing our readers , one and all , a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Yrar . Indeed , we can hardly picture to ourselves what manner of man he mnst

be who is slow to express these seasonable wishes . If there are times in the year , when it is considered a kind of necesfity for men to differ among themselves more or less warmly , it is certainly desirable there should be also a time when men may sink their differences , and meet each other with the full determination of being as genial and

pleasant as their means and opportunities will permit . The mere knowledge that at Christmas the different members of well nigh every family in England will devote

themselves to pleasure of a rational character ; that they will be gathering round the festive board , enjoying the innocent dance , or giving themselves up to the fun and frolic of Pantomime , or other seasonable entertainment ,

must be gratifying to all who know anythingof the annoyances , the petty jealousies , the miserable spite , and other feelings of even ' a stronger character which influence different people , and even different members ^ of the same family towards one another under ordinary circumstances .

It would , of course , be much better if we could be jovial at all times ; but as that seems difficult , if not—having regard to human failings—entirely out of the question , we

must content ourselves with hop ing and trusting that at Christmas , and during tlie early days of the New Tear , all ill-feeling will be for the moment set aside . If we cannot , amid the cares of life aud in the hurry of business , find a

little leisure for the practice of that greatest of all virtues —Charity—let us obey its teachings now . In the course of the week which ends this day , the sun , the centre of our system , is supposed to have been for a short time stationary . The longest period of darkness has been reached ,

and we are beginning to look forward to a greater proportion of Light . Moreover , at the close of the Old Tear wo may fittingly balance our accounts with those with whom we may have had dealings , quite as well in respect of the feelings we may entertain towards them , as in that of mere

ordinary business transactions , And the balance having been struck , we have it clear before us to enter on the New Tear with lighter hearts aud more kindly-disposed to our neighbours , as well as with new hopes and aspirations , so that if onr course has run prosperously , ifc may

continue to do so , even perhaps in an increasing degree ; or , if it should have been accompanied by disappointments and losses , we may be able to neutralise the former , aud retrieve the latter . Therefore , and quite apart from the ord . na . ry eagerness for enjoyment , there arc many and

substantial reasons why wo shonld miss ro opportunity of meeting all our fellow beings , as we would like to see them meet us , as influenced solely by the dictates of Charity . If we are fortunately possessed of means , we can enable others to forget the sorrows and

deprivations which are their unhappy lot . Inc pleasure we experience in our own particular circle will be proportionately enhanced . If wo are not so situated , there is no reason why we should allow any but

the kindliest feelings to influence us . There may be remedies for a purse with only very moderate content ? , but bitterness of spirit towards our neig hbours is assuredly not one of them . Hence , be we affluent or the reverse , we may

A Merry Christmas.

enjoy ourselves at the present time in sympathy with each other and with the knowledge that , in the eyes of the Supreme Architect , there is no distinction between us . We repeat , therefore , our good wishes and trust that none of our readers will find the realisation of their pleasure fall armr- nf their anticipations . _ . , _ . . .

Having discharged ourselves of this principal duty , Jet us next endeavour to fulfil one which is only a degree less in importance . This is the opening number of onr rp „™„ , »__ » nT VhT . rr-rR . and it devolves upon us , therefore ,

to express to our friends and supporters our heartfelt thanks for their kind encouragement . We have , as we have remarked before on similar occasions , had an uphill task n c rt- ;_ _« nnnxr matter for a new lournai to ¦¦ ¦ <¦> ¦ ¦

oerore LIS . - > - " ~ - ~_ . nut ™» establish itself in public favour , or in the favour of that paiticular class to which it may appeal . Friends are apt to o-row a little lukewarm when the first few months are gone and they find the future is not altogether as bright as it should have been . Others there are who hold aloof at tbe

outset , the while they acknowledge there is room to spare for the new journal . They prefer not to commit themselves too soon , though , of course , their support at so critical a time might happen to make all the difference between success and failure . There is further the direct opposition , which but very few new

ventures escape . We have , however , uuncnlties thus engendered . Our friends have most loyalty backed us up from the beginning . Those who held aloof have gradually extended towards us their sym-¦ nn . tr .-c- while the opposition we may have encountered

in the beginning is no longer of a character to affect our position to any appreciable extent . For ourselves we have striven earnestly to support the interests of the Cratt . We may not , perhaps , on all occasions have adopted the policy which seemed best to our readers , and we are willing to admit thatin some instances , we may have been

mis-, taken in the course we felt it our duty to advocate or uphold Still , whatever may have been our shortcomings , we judge , from the regularly-increasing support we have received , either that those shortcomings have not becnot a verv striking character , or that our friends have graciously overlooked themon the ground that if wo have shown

, ourselves wron-headed in this or that instance , we were not wrong-hearted . Still , whatever explanations there may be to account for the friendly reception we have experienced , ifc is with excusable pride we draw attention to the fact of onr now having completed an existence

extending over six years . We cannot , of course , as regards the future , say whether or not the number of our constituents will go on increasing . All we can promise is-that no effort will be spared to secure such a result We shall continue steadily iu the path wc have pursued hitherto , our one object of ambition being to uphold , as far as we possibly

can , the interests of Freemasonry . We stialluse our n- _ uo _ - endcavours to observe , as heretofore , the strictest impartiality in the treatment of all questions of a controversial nature . We shall never lose sig ht of the important _ tact that a journal which sacrifices its independence of opinion oi

in order to pander to tho whims aud caprices a _ nqu » is worthless . Even those who differ from us most widely will appreciate us the more , the more they find us free from partiality in this or that direction . And with this determination , And a repetition of our hearty good wishes to all our readers , that they may enjoy themselves thoroughly during the period of festivity now begun , wc pass to , tne consideration of other matters .