Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

All Communications , Advertisements , & c , intended for insertion in the Number of the following Saturday , must reach the Office not later than 12 o ' clock on Wednesday morning . We are requested to state , that by a rcgrettab ' e error , H . R . H . Prince . Lcopold is described in the " Alasonic Alagazine for February , Provincial Grand Warden instead of P . G . AI of Oxfordshire

Bno . BURDETT YEOMAN . —We have decided upon to print no more poetry in the " Freemason , " owing to press of matter , but will send it to the " Alasonic Magazine " for Alarch . SUBSCRIBER . —Can a Past Alaster legitimately and

correctly wear his Past Alaster ' s jewel presented to him by his lodge , suspended by a purp ' . e ribbon , instead of a light blue ribbon , he being a Provincial Grand Officer entitled to wear the purple clothing ?—[ tn our opinion , no . ] The following stand over : —

Reports of Kennington Lodge , No . 1381 ; Imperial George Lodge , No . 78 ; Abbey Lodge , No . 624 ; United Pilgrims Lodge of Instruction , No . 507 ; Faith Lodge , No . 141 ; Hemming Lodge , No . 1512 ; New Cross Lodge , 1559 ; Burdett Chapter . Letter from J . E . Iliff . Reviews of Books recently received will appear next week .

A letter by " Fair Play . "—Is the so-called Investigation Committee of West Yorkshire legally appointed ?—will appear in our next . BOOKS RECEIVED . —Whittaker ' s Journal'for February ; Masonic Alusic by F . C . Atkinson , P . P . G . O . W . Yorks ; Keystone Centennial Alasonic Almanac ; Proceedings of G . L . of Ohio ; Cassell ' s Child ' s Bible ; Hand and Heart .

Remittances Received.

REMITTANCES RECEIVED .

£ s . d . Addison , T . IL , Africa ( P . O . O . ) o 12 c Anthony , J . B ., Troy ( B . of E . ) 1 6 2 Bailey , F ., Perth , ( P . O . O . ) o 8 C Dorrell , Wm ., Hasskien ( P . O . O . ) 1 16 6

Hill , W ., New Zealand ( P . O . O . ) 060 Hill , T . J ., Pert Natal , ( P . O . O . ) o 10 o J . F ., St . Thomas , W . L ( Stamps ) o 13 o Smith , R . 3 ., Illinois ( P . O . O . ) 213 o W . AI ., Lodge St . George ' s in the East 1 z o

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

BIRTH . OHREN . —On Saturday , 22 nd ult ., the wife of Brother Charles AI . Ohren , of Lower Sydenham , of a triplet—two boys ( Lewises ) and one girl .

DEATHS . WASHINGTON . —On the 30 th January , at her residence , 3 , Ashfield Terrace , Wavertree , Liverpool , aged 47 , Ann , the beloved wife of Bro . Richard Washington , I . P . AI ., Temple Lodge , 1094 , deeply regretted and universally

respected . THOMPSON . —At Worthing , on the 2 nd inst ., Bro . the Rev . Edwin Thompson , D . D ., of St . John ' s , Wandsworth , Chaplain to the Grand Alaster ' s Lodge and the Royal Alasonic Institution for Girls .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , FEB . 5 , 1876 .

Our Royal Grand Master's Visit To India.

OUR ROYAL GRAND MASTER'S VISIT TO INDIA .

Before we pass on and forget the striking incidents and geographical course ofthe Royal progress of the Prince of Wales , it is well , we think , to note that he paid a flying but successful visit to Chandernagon , a small French colony , not very far from Calcutta . " Vive le Prince des

Galles' seems to have been as popular a cry amongst our Gallic friends as " God save the Prince of Wales" amid the European , Eurasian , and native population of Hindostan . The Prince has been , as we said before , to Lahore , and has also paid a visit to the Rajah of Cashmere , at

Jummoo , by whom he was both hospitably and royally entertained . He passed through Sealkote and Wirgarabad . He visited the Rajah of Puttiala , and halted at Umritsuv , where he witnessed the illumination of the Golden Temple . He reached Agra on the 25 th , and , after much of State ceremony and a genial reception , went on

the a 8 th for a day ' s shooting to Burhtpore—a very successful expedition . He subsequently attended a great ball in the " Hall Achbar . " His visit has greatl y pleased the Chiefs of Rajpootana . Our W . G . Master has been to Guaiior , and passed in review Scindiah's army , 8000 strong .

Province Of Oxfordshire.

PROVINCE OF OXFORDSHIRE .

"We understand that H . R . H . Prince Leopold will be installed Provincial Grand Master of this important province on Wednesday , the 23 rd inst . The Curators of the Sheldonun Theatre , where the Commemoration of Founders and Benefactois is usually held , have allowed the

brethren to use this building , which is as admirably adapted for the purpose as the Albert Hal ! was for the installation of the Grand Master . The Vice-Chancellor , who was Grand Warden ofthe Province in 1837 , has allowed the adjacent buildings to bs used as Robing Rooms .

It is expected that she Pro Grand Master will be present if his ministerial duties permit , and the Deputy Grand Master and several officers of Grand Lodge have already signified their wish to attend . The doors will be opened at 12 o ' clock , and closed at 1 . 30 , and the ceremony will

commence at 2 o clock . The W . M . ofthe Apollo University Lodge has been requested to act the part which Sir Albert Woods took on the occasion of the Installation of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales . The dinner will be held in the City Buildings , at

5 o ' clock , in order to enable London brethren who must return the same evening to go back by the 9 o ' clock train . All applications for tickets of admission to the ceremony should be addressed to the Secretary , Committee of Management , Masonic Hall , Alfred-street , Oxford .

The Boys' School And The West Yorkshire Committee.

THE BOYS' SCHOOL AND THE WEST YORKSHIRE COMMITTEE .

We have perused , with an astonishment and pain we can hardly describe , the published report of the . West Yorkshire Committee of Enquiry , presented to the l' . G . Lodge , and adopted by the same on the a 6 th , at Leeds . We feel bound to say at once what we believe will be also

the opinion of all intelligent and impartial Freemasons , that a greater burlesque on every principle of Masonic fair play , equity , common sense , and justice , never was before exhibited in our good old Order . The Committee was practicall y nominated by the D . P . G M ., the vehement

accuser of the School , the personal assailant of Bro . Binckes , he himself actually being a member of the Committee , and acting as censor , witness , and judge , all at the same time . We also deeply regret to have to add that this brother , who seems very fond of paper warfare , had , under

the circumstances , the singular bad taste , to say nothing more , to print a private pamphlet , and term it The Repoitof the Committee , which contains some of the most astounding statements , incriminations , insinuations , and personal charges it has ever been our painful lot to

peruse . We understand that this pamphlet has been withdrawn , but the mischief had been done , and the damning fact remains . In the report of the " Leeds Mercury " ofthe 17 th , of the proceedings ofthe P . G . Lodge , and which we print in another column , the official report is based

mainly on the evidence which Bro . Tew had previously presented , and which , under the circumstances , ought to havo been received by the Committee with the greatest hesitation , as it is marked by a most personal and bitter feeling from first to last , and is full , as we , even in our

cursory g lance , can say , of childish and perverse misstatements , unfounded inferences , and un-Masonic allegations . But the Committee has gravely accepted the evidence of one of their own body , without examining any brother who really could point out to them the gross fallacies

involved in the arguments and assumptions of the D . P . G . M . for W . Yorkshire , especially as regards the statistics of other schools , which , originally furnished by Bro . C . Pegler , of Leeds , are , as have been already shown in the " Freemason , " utterly deceptive as illustrations , and

actually beside the question . We deeply deplore the fact that so distinguished a province as West Yorkshire has embarked in so mistaken a course . The Report of the Committee only shows how " facilis " still is the " descensus Averni , " and we

hardly yet understand how the Committee can have made such a report on such prima facie unsatisfactory and untrustworthy evidence , coloured as it is by a " monomania" on the subject , and put together in utter forgetfulnessof every attribute of fair play to others , whose good

The Boys' School And The West Yorkshire Committee.

name and honourable dealings , whose actual prospects in life , are jeopardized by the evil impressions thus pertinaciously circulated . Indeed , legally speaking , as there can be no confidence in the question , and there is

certainly , as has been held , no privilege under any circumstances in slander , it may be a grave question whether some of the statements publicly printed are not libellous and actionable . If the West Yorkshire Committee

can for one moment suppose that a report based mainly on the personal feelings and theories of its D . P . G . M . can have any practical effect , it must be composed of a very sanguine body of men . For when it is known to the Craft at

large that the report is mainly based on the D . P . G . M . ' s evidence , which hehad previously printed in a private pamphlet and termed it "The Report , " many of the passages in the " Leeds Mercury " being verbatim identical with the pamphlet , which is said to be withdrawn , the D . P . G . M .

assisting to draw up the report on his own evidence , it will appear to all almost too shocking to believe , and almost too ridiculous to narrate . Here we stop to-day , but it is quite clear that after the extraordinary report of the West Yorkshire Committee the matter cannot rest where it

is , though , as we have before said , the report is in itself a nullity , and the action of the Province of West Yorkshire in the matter is in our humble opinion , utterly unconstitutional , unsound , and unmasonic from beginning to end . When we wrote these words we had not seen

the official report . Now we have seen it , we beg to express our hope that the Committee will also publish the evidence on which they found their questionable statements , and exparte views , views based apparently on no practical knowledge of the subject .

The Manifesto Of The Masonic Congress At Lausanne.

THE MANIFESTO OF THE MASONIC CONGRESS AT LAUSANNE .

Bro . Strauss , of Bradford , has called our attention to a translation which he has kindl y made for us of the Manifesto of the Congress at Lausanne , and which appeared recently in the " Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung , " a well known paper in Germany . We thank him for it ,

and willingly reproduced it in our pages last week . We had seen it previously in French , but as there was nothing very novel in its statements , or special in its deliverance , being much pressed just now , we had put off" its appearance to a more convenient season . At the time we expressed

our general sympathy with the Congress on every principle of fraternal good feeling , though it was not a Masonic Congress proper , as we understand it , but a meeting of the Rite Ecossais , the A . and A . Rite practically . Both in its general propositions and formal utterances we heartily

concur , though we confess that we do not quite understand how such cosmopolitan principles can be officially proclaimed by the High Grades which are limited in their symbolical teaching , just as Craft Masonry is universal . We could perfectly realize such a manifesto coming from

a Grand Orient , or Grand Lodge , or Congress of Craft Masons , but we do not profess to be able to explain how it can truly represent the teaching of the " Rose Croix , " for instance , or of the High Grades generally . We doubt very much whether it would be endorsed in this

country , or the United States , or Canada—we mean by the A . and A . Rite . We quite enter into the true statement of what Freemasonry is , but we do not comprehend the proclamation of such principles by the " Rite Ecossais , " as we just observed . And the truth is , there is no use

shutting our eyes to the fact , such sentences , and such a manifesto , have a distinct meaning for us as Craft Masons , and all Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry , which requires a little guarding and limitation . We accept , ex uns cordi , all those leading princi ples , but we subjoin certain concurrent axioms , which aro unknown or

suppressed in much of foreign Freemasonry . We hold and proclaim a universal brotherhood ( with two notable exceptions ) , inviolate liberty of conscience and worship , and free thought , and the avoidance of all religious and political discussions ; but we base all our work and teaching on religion , and " notamment " on the authority of the Bible . It is this peculiar characteristic