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IMPORTANT NOTICE . COLONIAL and FOREIGN SUBSCRIBERS are informed that acknowledgments of remittances received are published in the first number of every month .

It is very 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 .

Remittances Received.

REMITTANCES RECEIVED .

£ s . d . Anderson , S ., Suez ( P . O . O . ) 440 Albert , F . J ., Trinidad ( P . O . O . ) o 13 o Baiter , G ., Malta ( Stamps ) 0120 Benton , D „ New Zealand ( P . O . O . ) 1 6 o Camp , J ., New South Wales ( P . O . O . ) 1 12 o

Davison , S „ Gibraltar ( P . O . O . ) 013 o Denton , C . L ., ( Note , English value ) 036 Edwards , T ., New York ( P . O . O . ) 1 4 o Freemantle Lodge , W . Australia ( P . O . O . ) o 12 o George , H ., Jamaica ( P . O . O . ) o 15 o Holloway , F ., Spain ( P . O . O . ) o 17 4

Imlath , R . W ., Demerara ( P . O . O . ) 1 4 o Knott , P ., The Cape ( P . O . O . ) 3 12 o Marriott , B ., Ceylon ( P . O . O . ) 5 3 o Odd } -, T . T ., Egypt ( P . O . O . ) 5 7 o Pu nell , J . R ., U . S . A . ( Bills of Ex ., 2 ) in o Scott , J . T ., U . S . A 090

To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The FREEMASON is a sixteen-page weekly newspaper , price id . It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important , interesting , and useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Annual subscription in the United Kingdom , Post free , 10 / 6 . P . O . O . ' s to be made payable at the chief office , London .

NEW POSTAL RATES . Owing to a reduction in the Postal Rates , the publisher is now enabled to send the " Freemason " to the following parts abroad for One Year for Thirteen Shillings ( payable in advance ) : —Africa , Australia , Bombay , Canada , Cape of Good Hope , Ceylon , China , Constantinople , Demerara , France , Germany , Gibraltar , Jamaica , Malta , Newfoundland , New South Wales , New Zealand , Suez , Trinidad , United States of America , & c .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

The following stand over : —Neptune Lodge , 22 j Vic toria Lodge , 1345 , Eccles .

BOOKS , & c , RECEIVED . " Overcrowding of the City of London , " Henry Chevassus ; " The Keystone ; " "The Voice of Masonry ;" " Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts ;" " Masoni ; Herald . "

Birth, Marriages, And Deaths.

Birth , Marriages , and Deaths .

[ The charge is 2 s . 6 d . for announcements , not exceeding four lines , under this heading . ] -i - BIR'I HS . B OND —On the 24 th ult ., the wife of the Rev . J . Bond , Chaplain R . M . A . Woolwich , prematurely , of a daughter . J OHNSON . —On the 25 th ult ., at Brockhurst , Beckenham , the wife of J . Johnson , of a daughter .

MARRIAGES . MAHBIOT—WILKINSON . —On the 21 st ult ., at Howden-le-Wear Parish Church , Harpley , Durham , Charles Henry , eldest sen of Charles Marriot , Tollington Park , London , to Hannah , only ! daughter of Francis Wilkinson , Harpley , Durham .

DEATHS . HUNT . —On the 25 th ult ., at Scarborough , Richard Hunt , Esq ., in his 65 th year . LITTLE . —On the 23 rd ult ., at The Mount , Northallerton , John Herbert , infant son of E . D . Little .

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TheFreemason,SATURDAY , MAR . 3 , 1877 .

The Objection Of Secrecy.

THE OBJECTION OF SECRECY .

Mr . Moody , recently " interviewed , " or " in terrogated , " in America , pronounced against " Secret Societies " on the two following grounds as appears in the Inter Ocean , and as it is set forth in the Voice of Masonry for January , 1 st , he says : " In secret , my Master , taught nothing . "

2 nd , " Be ye not yoked with unbelievers , " says Paul . By the first words Mr . Moody means the Divine Founder of Christianity , and though it is impossible in the Freemason to discuss theological or even biblical questions advantageousl y or properly , yet we may fairly observe , without

any fear , that such a statement is neither historically nor literally correct . Any one must have a very imperfect acquaintance with the New Testament , who does not at once recall to mind more than one remarkable instance where the secret mysterious teaching of the great Didaskatos

of mankind , is distinctly set forth . No doubt Mr . Moody refers to those remarkable words before Pilate , the Roman Governor , " In secret have I said nothing , " but that passage has always been understood to refer to " secret

conspiracies or colloquies '" as against the Roman temporal authority on the one hand , and the Jewish spiritual authority on the other , and not to the general course of didactic exposition or doctrinal declarations . And on the second

ground—as Bro . T . F . Mellish in the Voice of Masonry points out , the real words are , ( 2 Cor . vi . 14 ) , " Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers" and such words are generally understood to refer to heathen marriages —that is the marriage of heathens with

Christians—the words in the Greek are , "me g inesthe eterozugountes apistois , " and no doubt would include all unfitting association and companionship in depravation of or opposition to the truer religion which they professed . But all such words have to be taken with qualification ,

arising out of the time they were spoken , and the state of the world to which they refer . There is in one of the Epistles of the same Apostle a passage which must not be overlooked , that is in the 5 th chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians , where it is said , " Ta

gar krupla gmomena up anion aiskron esli kai legem . " " For it is a shame even to speak of the things which are done of them in secret . " Some have considered that these words refer to the disgraceful proceedings in some of the Bacchic Festivals , and particularly the abomination of the

"Bona Dea , " but not to the mysteries generally . There is no other passage in the Bible relating to Secret Societies that we are aware of , though some have thought erroneously that a passage in " Sirach " relates Jto them . It is an old and trite observation

that extremes meet , and here we have the Roman Catholic Church on the one hand , as a teacher of objective truth , condemning the secrecy of Freemasonry on the authority of an infallible church , just as we have Mr . Moody , on the other hand , by his own "

internal consciousness , " on the authority of his own subjective dogma , the hyper-development of private judgement , passing by implication , not , we admit , directly , a censure on grounds of" spirituality " on " secret societies . " We have often said before that the question of

" secrecy is , we apprehend , not a " spiritual " question at all , but a " temporal " one—one that is for the State . We do not deny the abstract right of a religious body to make non-affiliation to a secret society a basis of communion , though unless such secret society be clearly hurtful in

itself , or illegal by the laws of the State , we think the regulation ( as in Joe Grafton ' s case , recorded in our last ) very harsh , intolerant , and irreligious . For as long as the State permits the existence of secret societies , and legalizes them even , as in the case of Freemasons in this country ,

we have a right to contend that before our secrecy is objected to on religious grounds or Spiritual considerations , it shall be distinctl y shown , incontestably proved , that such secrecy is injurious to the commonwealth , to private morals , or public well being . In the case of our own

The Objection Of Secrecy.

benevolent Order , such is an impossibility , as all our teaching and working , alike secret and public , tend to the honour of God , the welfare of man , the formation of social sympathies , and the " outcome " of benevolence , beneficence , charity , good will , and peace . We have written

on this subject with some diffidence , and no little hesitation ; but as such statements are publicly made , we have thought it but right and manly to notice them , and to offer to our Order in Great Britain and Canada , and the United States , the best and only answer , as we view the

matter , alike to the dicta of an assumed infallible authority on the one hand , or the zealous but mistaken views of fallible private judgment on the other . We confess that we do not believe in "Popes" of any kind , whether Roman Catholic or Protestant , and we greatly and gravely demur to that hyperdogmatism of the hour ,

which has no basis to rest upon , but what is common to us all alike , namely , the use of right reason , religiously and reverently directed and controlled . We greatly deprecate always the mere assumption of individual " deliverances , " which practically have no mission for many minds , for they are meaningless and valueless when contrasted with the " consensus "

of older teachers , and a general concurrence of exposition and sentiment . We have to contend just now with a love of novelty , abrupt assertion , assumed infallibility , dogmatic in tolerance , and many , are the difficulties which even a religious use of " right reason " has to

overcome in the sentimental transcendentalism of the hour , but still we believe in its proper use , and its eventual triumph . The subject is both a difficult and an exceptional one , though we have thought it better not to " shirk it , " but to meet it and deal with it in all of honest plain speaking , good feeling , and becoming seriousness .

The Lodge Of Benevolence.

THE LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE .

Tne last meeting of this important body was very numerously attended , ninety brethren being present , and among them some very distinguished members of our Order . The amount of e £ 27 o

voted at the previous meeting , was confirmed , and the further sum of £ 304 voted , in sums varying from £ 3 as a minimum to sSi ^ o as a maximum . We rejoice much to note and to be able to record this numerous and influential

gathering , as to all properly qualified brethren no more important duty can be attended to , as by them no more interesting hours can be spent than that monthly meeting for the purpose of Masonic beneficence , which reflects equal credit on our excellent Craft , as well as on those who carefully and conscientiously distribute our Funds

of Benevolence . But one or two suggestions appear to us to arise out of the normal proceedings of the Lodge of Benevolence , which deserve in our opinion the careful attention of all who have the interests of the Fraternity , and the reality of our administration , of our charitable funds at heart . Our excellent and admirable

Grand Treasurer , Bro . Tomkins , could tell , we fancy , a striking tale , if he so willed it , how much our monthly distribution of late years has increased and is increasing in amount . Indeed , it is something very striking , and at the same time serious , to " tottle up , " as month follows

month , the expanding figures of our benevolent grants . And some of us may ask , where is this to end ? while others may enquire , Does all this amount of money voted get to the right people ? is it a good thing or an abuse ? We will , then , commence by laying down this premise , that

such a charity is a good thing per se , and is , and is intended to be , alike a needful aid to suffering and destitute brethren , and should be regarded as an example of simple and absolute beneficence , granted on the truest principles of warmhearted Masonic charitable principles . But this further question comes in necessarily here , Do the

proper applicants come for relief ? do the truly suffering and destitute receive it ? On this point no doubt opinions will vary much , and leg itimately , but we confess to a very prevailing sense , 1 st . That a good many claimants apply who ought never to apply at all ; and 2 ndly . That owing to a somewhat excusable laxity amongst us as regards bringing forward the entire facts