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NOTICE Many complaints having been received of the difficulty experienced in procuring the Freemason in the City , tbe publisher begs to append " the following list , being a selected few of the appointed agents : — Abbott , Wm ., East-cheap . Bates , Pilgrim-street , Ludgate-hill . Born , H ., 115 , London-wall . Dawson , Wm ., 121 , Cannon-street .

Gilbert , Jas ., 18 , Graccchurcli-strect . Guest , Wm ., 54 , Paternoster-row . Phillpolt Bros ., 65 , King William-street . Pottle , R ., 14 , Royal Exchange . May also be obtained at W . II . Smith & Son ' s Bookstalls at the following City Stations : — Broad-street . I Holborn Viaduct . Cannon-street . I London Bridge . Ludgate Hill .

To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The Freemason is a sixteen page weekly newspaper , price 2 d . It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important and useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Annual subscription in the United Kingdom , Post free , 10 / . Brethren in foreign parts , wishing to have this newspaper sent them regularly from the oflice of publication , should , in sending their remittances , add to the 2 ( 1 . per week the postage on 20 Z .

newspapers . The Freemason may be procured through any newsagent in the United Kingdom by giving ( if needed ) the publisher ' s address , 198 , Fleet-st .

All communications , correspondence , reports , & c , must be addressed to the Editor . Advertisements , change in address , complaints of difficulties in procuring Freemason , etc ., to thc Publisher , 198 , Fleet-st ., London , E . C .

Careful attention will be paid to all MSS . entrusted to the Editor , but he cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by stamp directed covers .

To Advertisers.

TO ADVERTISERS .

The Freemason has a large circulation in all parts of the Globe , its advantages as an advertising medium can therefore scarcely be overrated . For terms , position , Sc ., apply to GEORGE KENNING , 198 , Fleet-st .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

All Communications , Aduitisements , & c , intended for insertion in the Number of the following Saturday , must reach the Oflice not later than 12 o ' clock on Wednesday morning . The following stand over : — Funeral Lodge , Roman Eagle , 160 , Edinburgh ; Prov .

Grand Mark Lodge of Somerset ; " I low Masons are Made j" Concert for the benefit of Bro . Limpus's Family ; Reports of Lodges 148 , 177 , 189 , 241 , 812 , 1229 , 1392 , 1415 . ' 477 . ' 48 1 , i . -, . *! ' - H OPWOOD , J . H . ( Jamaica ) . —The annual subscription to thc Freemason and thc Masonic Magazine , including postage to Jamaica , is respectively 12 s . and ns .

REMITTANCES RECEIVED . C . s . d . Bean , H . D ., United States of America , Bill of Exchange 1 11 6 Borg , R ., Egypt , P . O . O 012 o Devereux , Geo ., Australia , P . O . O 1 10 o

Dorrcll , Wm ., Hasskicn , Stamps o 1 10 Flor and Findel , Florence , Draft 1 3 3 Kennedy , Serjeant Thos . F ., Jamaica , P . O . O .... 1 o o Leworthy , R ., New South Wales , P . O . O 200 Monrr , John , Ottawa , P . O . O 1 17 6 Ohlnius , F ., Ceylon , P . O . O 1 o o

Births, Marriages And Deaths.

Births , Marriages and Deaths .

DEATH . On 23 rd June , at the Mount , near Stourport , Elizabeth Langford , wife of Bro . Enoch Baldwin , P . M . and Treasurer , Vernon Lodge , No . 3 60 .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , J 3 , 187 < .

Bro. Binckes's Letter.

BRO . BINCKES'S LETTER .

We felt it to be our duty to publish Bro . Binckes ' s letter in our last issue , with reference to a pamphlet which has recentl y appeared , for two reasons—first , on account of the interests of the Boys' School , which constitute a paramount consideration with us and secondly , in a spirit of fair play towards Bro . Binckes himself . As a

rule in all Masonic discussions we should seek to hold the scales even we should give to both sides full hearing and friendly toleration , and if we have to sum up we should do so judiciously , honestly , and loyally as before the Craft which constitutes our public opinion Masonically . But in the present case the most absolutely im-

Bro. Binckes's Letter.

partial person , the Lord Chief Justice himself , could not fail to take into his " coup d ' ecil " to use a French expression , the peculiar " surroundings " of the case . Just on tlie eve of the Boys' School Anniversary for 1 S 75 , at the nth hour of long and anxious labours in the

cause ' of charitable sympathy , even when the final efforts are being made to augment and fill up the Stewards' lists for the annual festival , a pamphlet , as it were , drops from the skies in the midst of a startled fraternity , containing grave animadversions on the Boys' School

administration , and vehement incriminations of the Secretary . No course more calculated to shake the confidence of metropolitan and provincial brethren in the Boys' School executive ever was pursued by any brother at any time . No statements more likely to check the flow of Masonic benevolence

towards a great institution ever were put forth by the hottest controversialist . To say nothing of the irregular appearance of a report to Vice-Presidents entirely uncalled for by them , and without any precedent to follow or justify such a proceeding such a

publication seems to us to be a great mistake , and more than a mistake . Has a brother any complaints to make or , opinions to ventilate , or supposed injustice to condemn , the proper authority in the first instance to apply to is clearly the House Committee ,

specially charged to watch over the arrangements of the school , and not the general Masonic public , provincial or metropolitan , which must be necessarily ignorant , to a great extent , of the details and " minuti .-e" of the internal government of the school . In the province ,

itself , where the pamphlet , in our opinion , has unwisely seen thu li ght , there is an active Charity Committee , for the express purpose of attending to the interests of the great charities , which is presided over just now by a very worthy and experienced brother Mason , Bro . T . Hill , P . M . and

had this anomalous report been submitted to that committee in the first instance , we believe that the good sense of West Yorkshiremen would have led to its suppression . In , ' therefore , the truest interests of Freemasonry anil of Masonic benevolence , in the cause of the orphan and the

friendless , and many an anxious applicant , for the welfare of 1 efi of our Masonic orphans , and for the keeping up actually of a great and most valuable institution , we felt as good Masons bound to allow Brother Binckes ' s practical protest to appear against what he states are unfounded

imputations , and what he declares to be ununjustifiable statements . We cannot hel p feeling that if such a system of pamphlet warfare is to be encouraged in our Order we shall soon be inundated like the Bashi Ba / . ooks of controversy , and the great princi ples of Freemasonry

will run a chance of being overlooked and even extinguished altogether in the scuffle . Without saying more at present , we will only add that we think Brother Binckes may fairly complain of " hard lines , " not only in respect of his official position and personal susceptibilities , but

especially in respect of that peculiar time of the year , when this unexpected " little stranger" appears on the scene , namely when after many months of arduous labours the annivei sary of that institution , now close at hand , would seem to promise , under the presidency of our distinguished Pro G . M ., a remunerative result , and a golden harvest for the Boys' School .

Masonic Justice.

MASONIC JUSTICE .

Justice is a great virtue in all that relates to men , and constitutes the basis of all social happiness , and national greatness . To form just laws , to administer them firmly and purely , uncorrupted by interest , and unstained by venal considerations , has been the constant endeavour , whether of the enlightened law-giver or the

patriotic citizen , in consecutive ages of the world . Without just laws , and just administration of them , without the " unsullied sanctity ofthe ermine , " such as we happily arc privileged to boast of in our favoured land , the highest arts of civilization languish and decay , the very material elevation of a people is dwarfed and hindered , national greatness becomes a " mockery , a delu-

Masonic Justice.

sion , and a snare , " and the want of confidence in the " majesty of the law " soon betrays it self in the history of any people , in the tumults of anarchy , and the demoralization of the whole social system . And what is true in the aggregate is true of the individual . Justice

between man and man , pure and perfect justice , we cannot expect here on earth , because man is but after all like a mighty ruin , on which have fallen , in the full li g ht of heaven , evident traces of the effects of age ; " decay ' s effacing fingers " have robbed it alike of its gracefulness ancl its

grandeur , its proportions and its perfections . And though Freemasons , we are still only men and mortal : we are not , and cannot be , exempt fro . Ti the frailty and littleness of humanity . Freemasonry , indeed , does from our first admittance to its light proclaim to us in solemn words the

unfailing duty of justice , its sanctity , its necessity and its blessing . "To be just to all men , and above all to our brethren in Masonry" is as it were a living voice of truth , speaking to us all in our daily walk through life . No mere utterance of antiquated wisdom , no

obsolete exhortation of a vanished epoch , but a deep , an abiding , a solemn message ; ever incumbent upon us as Freemasons , never to be forgotten by us wherever we are , and whatever we do . And yet , must we not admit to-day that such teaching , such axiomatic morality , is received

by us more as a beautiful abstract proposition than as a practical personal duty ? Some one has said , " Men are naturally unjust to one another , " and we fear that Freemasons , in this particular , often demonstrate to the " profane world" how truly ,

Freemasons though they call themselves , they are in no sense exempt from the foibles and perversity of Adam ' s race . For it is curious to note , and painful sometimes to realize , how peculiarly unjust Freemasons often arc to one another . It has been previously remarked by

" outsiders' how unbrotherly and uncharitable , how censorious and how malignant , Masonic controversy is apt to become—faults specially noticeable in a fraternity whose great profession is that of brotherl y love . But what can we say of Masonic justice ? There are many

Freemasons who will believe anything reported to the discredit of a brother ! Without any reflection or consideration , without any reasonable sifting of some ridiculous allegation , they will greedily listen to , and hastily accept , and industriously propagate , the idlest rumours , the

most childish scandal , against a brother or brethren . Where , then , is their justice ? We need hardly ask where is their common sense ? Where is that use ofthe reasoning process which distinguishes them from the " anser" and the " asinus" in the ruck of cackling and

long-eared individuals who browse on the thoroughfares of the world , picking up its garbage and champing its thistles ? It is sad to note how few people will think Otherwise probably we should be spared so many specimens ot earthly folly and Masonic injustice .

We then are wishful to remind our readers , in these little lucubrations of Masonic philosophy and morals , that we as sentient beings can exercise no higher or better duty than that of employing gravely our own thinking faculties , and that we should all seek in our intercourse with mankind ,

and especially with our brethren in Freemasonry , to be guided and governed by the holy and immutable princi ples of justice . Never should we seek to lower or lessen the reputation of a brother , by unguarded assertions or malevolent insinuations . His character should be as dear

to us as our own , and as on we go through the great Vanity Fair of life , not only should p lain dealings and sincerity always distinguish us , but justice and equity should be our inseparable companions . To lift ourselves above the turbid passions of clique and coterie ; to

take a manly , a tolerant , and an expan sive view of things ; to be just to our brethren to be fair to our neighbours , to hold th scales firmly and evenly amid copending inte " ests and conflicting motives , should be the ahi

of every true Freemason . If Freemasonry teacles us nothing better or truer in her venerable l < re , she certainly does teach every dutiful child and every faithful member this ever sacred duty- * Be just .