To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The FREEMASON is a Weekly News paper , price sCCl . It is published every Friday morning , nnd contains the most important , interesting , nnd useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Subscription , including postage : United America , IndiaIndia , China , & c .

, Kingdnm . the Continent , & c . Via Drinilisi . 'Twelve Months ios . 6 d . 12 s . od . 17 s . . id . Six , „ 5 s . 3 d . 6 s . 6 d . 8 s . S « l . Three „ 2 s . 8 d . 3 s . 3 d . 4 * . 6 d . Sj „ scripttons may be paid for in stamps , but Post Office Ortlers or Cheques are preferred , thc former payable to

GEORGE KENNING , CHIEF OFFICE , LONDON , the latter crossed London Joint Stock Bank . Advertisements and other business communications should be addressed to the Publisher . Communications on literary subjects and books for

review are to be forwarded to the Edito * -. Anonymous correspondence will be wholly disregarded , antl the return of rejectetl MSS . cannot be guaranteed . Further intormation will be supplied o" application to the Publisher , 10 S , Fleet-street , London .

Important Notice.

IMPORTANT NOTICE .

COLONI-IL and FOREIGN SUBSCRIBERS are informed that acknowledgments of remittances received are published in the first number of every month . It is verv necessary for our readers to advise

us of all money orders they remit , more especially those from the United States of America and India ; otherwise we cannot tell where to credit them . Seveial P . O . O . ' s are now in hand , but having received no advice we cannot credit them .

To Advertisers.

TO ADVERTISERS .

'Ihc FREEMASON has a large circulation in all parts of the Globe , its advantages as an advertising medium can therefore scarcely be overrated . ADVERTISEMENTS to ensure insertion in current week ' s issue should reach the Office , J 98 , Fleet-street , by 12 o ' clock on ¦ Wednesdays .

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Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

S . JKWEM .. —On the whole declined vvith thanks . If Mrs . General Heartly will rail at , or send to , 198 , Fleet-street , she will hear of the MS . she . wishes to have . The words " Masonic Institutions " in a recent paragraph , relative to Bro . Samuel Tomkins , ought to read " these Masonic bodies to which he was Treasurer . "

BOOKS & c , RECEIVED . " Payne ' s Lagos and West African Almanack and Diary for 1879 , " " The Mawke ' s Bay Herald , " " . Jersey Express , " " Bauhutte , " " Debrctt ' s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench for 1879 . " "The London Express , " " Our Domestic Poisons j or , the poisonous tlfects of certain dyes and colours used in domestic fabrics , " " First Annual

Heport of thc Heme Hospitals' Association ( for paying patients ) , 1877-78 , " "Touchstone , " "Broad Arrow , " " Hull Packet , " " Bundes Presse , " " Der Triangcl , " " The Paper Consumers' Circular , " "The Western Daily Mercury , " " Loomis'Musical and Masonic Journal , " " Proceedings of the Grantl Lodge of Virginia , 1878 , " " Masonic Review , " " Daily Bristol Times and Mirror , " "Corner Stone , " Hebrew Liadtr , " "Keystone . "

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

[ The charge is 2 s . fid . for announcements not exceeding Four Lint s under this heading . ] BIRTHS . CAMI ' IIKI . * .. —On the iSth ult ., at Oporto , the wife of Alajur Lyon Cam- bell , of a daughter . LANOIIOHNI * . —On the 24 th ult ., the wife of the Hev . J . Langhurne , M . A ., Head Master of Rochester Grammar School , of a sen .

DEATHS . FosTi-at . —On lhe 21 st ult ., at 33 , Malftncon-streit , Piccat'illy , Mr . Gtnrgi- Jones Foster , aged 77 . I ' tavin 1 : 11 a—lYUiriry 2 . | . tfi , at 31 , llevis Mail . s , John Pi .-irtrec , P . M . und'I ica-. urc-r , Tiani | uiliily Lotlge , No . ifiz , age I ; II .

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THE FREEMASON . SATURDAY , MARCH 1 , 1879 .

The Next Quarterly Communication.

THE NEXT QUARTERLY COMMUNICATION .

The next Quarterly Communication is one , for several reasons , of some importance , inasmuch as in addition to the vote of condolence to the Queen , which Bro . Clabon will move , the Grand Master will be nominated , and the Grand Treasurer elected . Of course until

the meeting of Grand Lodge it is impossible to know who is the brother who most commends himself to the feelings ofthe brethren to fill that important post . We have heard several names mentioned , such as Bro . Monckton , the President of the Board of General Purposes , Bro . Lieut .-

Col . Creaton , Bro . J . D . Allcroft , M . P ., and others . A very important question comes before us—if Bro . Monckton , for instance , is elected by Grand Lodge Grand Treasurer , who is there to succeed him at the Board of General Purposes ? There

he has g iven great satisfaction , there his high attainments and legal knowledge are invaluable , and we feel we express the feelings of the Craft when we say he is emphatically the " right man in the right place . " Considering the brethren who compose our Grand Officers , it is

alike unwise and impertinent to doubt but that many can be found to fill either post with every advantage to the Order , and no doubt as the coming man " is always coming , " Dame Rumour—not always the " lying jade " she is

sometimes represented to be—seems to intimate that all these offices can be efficiently filled , whether by promotion , or merely by the election of a Grand Treasurer . For our pait we leave the matter in entire confidence in the hands of

Grand Lodge . The days are past when anything like a " job " or " favouritism , " or too hasty elevation would be possible , and in the present advanced Masonic pnblic opinion on the subject , n « such proceeding is possible or practicable . And , to say the truth , we need not discount any

such apprehensions j no such procedure is ever likely under our present wise and considerate rule . Never at any time in our history need Freemasons repose more trustingly and in full confidence on the executive . Well may we all feel proud of the manner in which our general

business is transacted at Freemasons Hall . We must all remember that the work there is very different from what it was say twenty-five years ago . And no one can be insensible to the fact that our claims , our executive duties , our charities , our responsibilities have all gone on " pari

passu with increasing numbers , and an expanding Order . We have no doubt that we shall have a good attendance at the next quarterly meeting , and we feel sure that the result will justify our expectations , and that the result may be safely left both in calm assurance and with

Hearty good wishes , to our Masonic Parliament . We have heard that a brother of hi gh social standing will be proposed as Grand Treasurer ( not so far named ) , if so , there can be no doubt of his entire eligibility . His appointment would , no doubt , also gratify the members of Grand Lodge .

Anti-Masonry.

ANTI-MASONRY .

There always has been a tendency , probably on the theory " omne ignotum pro magnifico , " to doubt and disparage the institution of Freemasonry . It has had to encounter since i / i / the anathemata of Popes and the maledictions of synods , it has had to confront stupidity and

ignorance combined , it has had to bear the sarcasms of the weak and the cavils of the supicious . We do not say that Masons have been always wise , or that all Masonic bodies have kept close to the "good old paths . " Unfortunately ,

and undoubtedly , much may justly be said on the folly of some professors of Masonry , on the unfaithfulness of some jurisdictions . But , on the whole , very little can be alleged at any rate , againstjAnglo-Saxon Masonry , in times past , and

Anti-Masonry.

at this moment , we believe , positively nothing . It is moving on faithful to old landmarks , abiding by ancient tradition ? , a loyal , religious , God-fearing , man-helping Fraternity , and whether we look at its words or its works , its avowed teaching , or its actual results , it may well compare

with any other body of men on the face of the habitable world . That it has its weaknesses , its shortcomings , its deficiencies , and its drawbacks , is both inevitable and admitted , but what earthl y society has not , we should like to know ? and making every allowance for human frailty and

earthly imperfection , we may well all of us be * proud of our kindly , sincere , and beneficent brotherhood . But , alas ! just as human nature is ever weak , wayward , failing , and fallen , so is it still prominently marked by those tendencies which deform , those unworthinesses which disgrace . It

seems to be purely human to persecute and revile , to antagonize and defame . Even reli gion itself is not free from fanaticism and bigotry , from a love of persecution , from a willingness to slander , from an incompetency apparently of realizing that truth may be anything else but what we ourselves

like subjectively to accept , to proclaim , to profess , to maintain . Lately some religious fanatics have " run a muck" at Freemasonry , especiall y in America , but Freemasonry can well leave its defence to its own worth , well dismiss attack and assailant to calm contempt and contemptuous

oblivion . Mawworm and Stiggins have had their day , they can do no harm now to any one . If Freemasonry is doing good it will prosper , if it is a thing ot evil it will come to naught , and so knowing what it is , what it says , and what it does , we may well leave the reply to the world

in which we Jive to-day , assured of this , that neither childish opposition , nor ignorant malediction , nor fanatical " furor , " nor bigoted " condemnation , " will ever weaken the foundation , or cast down one stone of that goodly building , which is built np on reverence to God

and love to men , on the practice of piety and virtue , on a generous and philanthropic eftbtt to aid and comfort all fraternal claimants who rightly appl y to charitable hearts , on a kindly and enlightened sympathy with the common evils and

prevailing woes of our common humanity . We need trouble ourselves with no controversies , nor seek to reply to any antagonists ; let us have confidence in our Order , its mission , its work , its profession , and , above all , its practice .

Masonic Studies.

MASONIC STUDIES .

Time was when few of our brethren knew much more of Masonic literature than was contained in " Prosper the Art , " " Worthy Freemasons All , " "No Mortal can boast a nobler Toast than a Free and Accepted Mason . " If Preston was read , and Oliver skimmed over , that

was all . Anderson and Callcott , Ashe and Hutchinson were in abeyance , and the brother who wanted to know something about Masonry was referred to the list of "Patrons of Masonry" in the Grand Lodge Calendar , to Oliver ' s newest and most sensational work , and to our Masonic serial literature , which was then sometimes extant and

sometimes not , and mostl y , we regret to say it , of the purely uncritical school . We are speaking of 40 years ago , we regret to say it , though we will not add , " Ah roihi prceteritos si referet Jupiter Annos . " To-day what a change appears . We arc now speaking of England alone , because

in Germany , to say the truth , from the end of the last century , a critical school in Germany has gradually been forming and advancing . But in England what a wonderful difference and progress we have seen . Oliver with all his merits and industry , and cleverness and good feelings ,

was too uncritical to please this cavilling age , and those who have trod the pathway pursued amid many hindrances by a little band of true Masonic students have seen how very clearly Masonic studies and criticism have proceeded , so to say , hand in hand . We

remember gratefully to-day the names of W . JHughan , D . Murray Lyon , Matthew Cooke , K . Spencer , Bro . R . F . Gould , Masonic Student , Bro . Ellis , Bro . Whytehead , and many more , who have all sought to advance the goodly cause of Masonic criticism and research . In the United States we can also gratefully mention the