Foreign And Colonial Agents.

Foreign and Colonial Agents .

—?—AMERICA : Bro . J . FLETCHER BRENNAN , I 14 , Mainstreet , Cincinnati , Ohio . „ Messrs . WOODRUFF & BLOCKER , Little Rock , Arkansas , U . S .

CANADA : Messrs . DEVRIE & SON , Ottawa . CAPE OF GOOD HOPE : Bro . G EORGE BRITTAIN , Cape Town . CEYLON : Messrs . W . L . SKEENE & Co ., Colombo . CONSTANTINOPLE : Br . J . L . HANLY , Levant Times .

EAST INDIES : Allahabad : Messrs . WYMAN B ROS . Bombay : Bro . M . B . COHEN . Byculla : Bro . GEO . BEASE . Central Provinces : Bro . F . J . J ORDAN . Kurrachee : Bro . G . C . BRAYSON . Madras : Mr . CALEB FOSTER .

Mhow : Bro . COWASJEE NUSSERWANJEE . Poena : Bro . W . WELLIS . GALATA : IPSICK KHAN , Perche-Bajar . LIBERIA : Bro . HENRY D . BROWN , Monrovia . PARIS : M . DECHEVAUX-DUMESNIL , Rue de Harlaydu-Palais , 20 , near the Pont Neuf ; Editor Le Franc-Macon . WEST INDIES :

Jamaica : Bro . J A . D . SOUZA , Falmouth . Trinidad : Bros . S . CARTER and J LEWIS , 3 , Abercrombie-street , Port of Spain ; and Bro . W . A . KERNAHAN , San Fernando . And all Booksellers and Newsagents in England , Ireland , and Scotland .

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

—_*—BIRTHS . ATKINS . — On the 26 th ult ., at Clapton , the wife of Bro . Charles Atkins ( J . D . 27 ) , of a daughter . DODGSON . —On the 23 rd ult ., at Cockermouth , the wife of Bro . IT . Dodgson , M . D ., ( Skiddaw Lodge , No . 1002 , P . M ., and P . P . S . G . D . Cumberland and Westmorland , ) of a daughter .

PUXLEY . —On the iSth ult ., at the Vicarage , Cockermouth , the wife of Brother the Rev . IT . L . Puxley ( Skiddaw Lodge , No . 1002 , P . P . G . C . Cumberland and Westmorland ) , of a daughter . SMITH . —On 21 st ult ., at 23 , Runwcll-street , Liverpool , the wife of Bro . J . Kellett Smith ( P . M . No . 1094 , and M . E . Z . ) , of a son .

DEA TILS . Moss . —On the 13 th May last , lost at sea in the " Matoaka , " on her passage from Port Lyttelton to England , William H . Moss , second son of Mr . J . T . Moss , solicitor , of 3 8 , Gracechurch-street , London . RATTLE . —On the 15 th ultimo , at Pound Collage , East Greenwich , in her 35 th year , Mary Ann Elizabeth , the beloved wife of Bro . Henry G . Rattle , of the Roval Oak Lodge , No . 871 .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , APRIL 2 , 1870 .

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THE FREEMASON is published on Saturday Mornings in time for the early trains . The price of THE FREEMASON is Twopence per week ; quarterly subscription ( including postage ) y > . 3 d . ^ Annual Subscription , 12 s . Subscriptions payable in advance . AU communications , letters , & c , to be addressed to the EDITOR , a , 3 , and 4 , Little Britain , E . C . The Editor will pay careful attention to aU MSS . entrusted to him , bnt cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by postage stamps .

An Olive Branch.

AN OLIVE BRANCH .

WE are much concerned to find that the breach between the Grand Orient of France and the American Grand Lodges widens daily , the cause being the recognition by

the former body of a spurious Grand Council at New Orleans , which in defiance of all Masonic law continues to exercise jurisdiction over the symbolic degrees .

We have before stated , clearly and unmistakably , the opinion of English Masons upon the points in dispute , and are now compelled to add that the action taken by

the Grand Orient , however commendable as an abstract assertion , in reality evades the entire question , which may bc compressed into a nutshell as follows . A Grand

Lodge is established in Louisiana , having its seat at New Orleans ; this supreme body is recognised as a just , perfect , and regular organisation by Freemasons generally

An Olive Branch.

throughout the universe , and consequently they alone have the right to charter lodges , and to govern Craft Masonry within the limits of the State . A certain individual ,

however , Chassaignac by name , forms a Council of the Ancient and Accepted Rite , and coolly creates lodges and chapters for every degree , from the first to the

thirtythird . It is the invasion of her jurisdiction of which Louisiana justly complains , and it is in consequence of the recognition of Chassaignac ' s operations by the Grand Orient , that French Masons are now cut off

from all fellowship with the brethren of the United States . This is a very serious matter , and one which involves very serious consequences .

It further appears , that in the lodges under Chassaignac ' s rule men of colour are freely admitted . This , we regret to say , is not the case in the lodges held

under the regular Grand Lodge , neither are coloured men accepted as Masons in any other part of the United States , unless in lodges organised by themselves under

what is understood to be , at best , somewhat doubtful authority . This , however , is not the issue before us , but it is nevertheless the one to which the Grand Orient of France

persists in directing its exclusive attention . In this respect , the Grand Orient reminds us of the anecdote told of Lord Nelson ,

who , when the signal of recall was hoisted , clapped the glass to his blind eye , and wouldn ' t sec it .

Our French brethren ignore in toto the fact , that the point in dispute is entirely a question of jurisdiction , in which the rights of black or white men , as such , distinctively ,

are by no means at stake . Instead of correcting the error into which they have fallen—instead of withdrawing at once from the false and untenable position they

have assumed in recognising Chassaignac ' s spuriouspretensions—theGrandOrient goes into heroics , and tells us that it is an outrage upon Masonry and humanity when

men are prohibited from becoming Masons on account of their colour , race , or religion . As we have stated , this abstract sentiment is highly praiseworthy , and so far as wc can

judge , it will be echoed by our American brethren as one of the fundamental principles of Freemasonry . We , that is to say , all the members of the Craft in the British

Islands , are prepared to act upon this theory and to open the doors of the temple to every worthy man under heaven , without examining his hue or measuring his height .

But it must not bc forgotten , that slavery itself has only been recently abolished in the United States , and that the

indiscriminate admission of the frecdmen into an Order like Freemasonry might prove a great and permanent injury to the Institution .

Prejudices cannot bc so easily rooted out , and it is scarcely fair to expect that the white brethren of America will at once

allow their lodges to bc swamped by a large infusion of the negro element , strong as may be the claims of the emancipated

An Olive Branch.

slaves to equality and fraternity . We doubt not , however , that these not unnatural prejudices will fade away in time , and that

as the men of colour prove their capacity for citizenship , they will also show that they are calculated to become good Masons and to reflect honour upon the Craft .

We are led to make these observations , more especially because the Monde Maconnique , a very able and luminous exponent of French Masonic ideas , contends that the

point in dispute is one of " colour , " and not "jurisdiction . " This we are unable to concede , and as dispassionate spectators of the strife , we are constrained to say that our

sympathies are entirely with our American brethren in the attitude they have assumed in defence of their national Masonic rights . Possibly to our Parisian contemporary , the

spectacle of two conflicting jurisdictions in one territory may appear edifying and delightful ; at least , everybody is aware that

two Supreme Masonic Bodies now rule concurrently in France , and that two formerly existed in England .

Of the evils which result from such a state of affairs all history bears witness , " a house divided against itself cannot stand ;" and we need only enquire how an attempt

to establish a second Grand Lodge in England would be received by the Craft at the present time to enable our readers to realise the situation in Louisiana . For the

humanitarian views of our French brethren we entertain a high respect , and we willingly accord the utmost praise to their unceasing efforts for the liberation of the world from

the thrall of ignorance and superstition . But in the assertion of great principles , we must not overlook the just rights of any section of our fellow-men ; we are not to

loosen our opinions , like an avalanche from the mountain , to overwhelm and destroy the peace of a community , but rather , like the fertilising Nile , let our ideas of truth

and justice overflow the earth with gentle wave , fructifying , and bearing the fruit of wisdom and harmony in the universal heart of man . Such is the mission of

Freemasonry , and it is one of which all her children may well be proud . Let us therefore work in unity together in the prosecution of those studies which our mystic

science enjoins , and in the performance of those duties to which we are called by our Maker . Liberty to fulfil this mission , and to proclaim that equality before God and

fraternity amongst men are the watchwords of the Masonic Institution , comprise all that can bc desired by the most , enthusiastic Mason , and upon these points the

Craft arc so thoroughly agreed , that minor differences , however disturbing for the time , arc sure to be swept away by the returning tide of brotherly love .

"I WAS suffering greatly a few weeks ago from severe pains about the kidneys , and excessive weakness in the back , accompanied with nauseous sickness , confined to my bed , when a friend , who had experienced great benefit from your Vegetable Pain Killer , brought me a bottle , which I used with the best results . —A SHIRREFFS , Woodside , Aberdeen , Oct . 24 , 1867 . —To P . Davis & Son , London . "