To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The FREEMASON is a Weekly News paper , price A Ct . It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important , interesting , and useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Subscription , including postage :

United America , India , Inelia , China , & c . Kingdom , the Continent , & c . Via Brindisi . Twelve Months ios . 6 d . 12 s . od . 17 s . 4 d . Six „ 5 s . 3 d . 6 s . 6 d . 8 s . 8 d . Three ' „ 2 s . 8 d . 3 s . 3 d . 4 s . 6 d . Subscriptions may be paid for in stamps , but Post

Office Orders 01 Cheques are preferred , the former payable to GEORGE PUNNING , 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 f'T review are to be forwarded to the Editor . Anonymous rorre-spnnelence will be wholly elisregarded , anil the return of re-jeclrd MSS . cannot be guaranteed . Further information will be supplied o" application to the Publisher , 1118 , Hetr-street , London .

Important Notice.

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 Ui 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 . Several P . O . O . ' s are now in hand , but having received no advice we cannot credit them .

To Advertisers.

TO ADVERTISERS .

'Ihe FUEEMASON has a large circulation in all parts e . f 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 , 198 , Fleet-street , by 12 o ' clock on Wednesdays . SCALE OF CHARGES FOR

ADVERTISEMENTS . Whole of backpage ... ... ... £ 12 \ i 0 Half ,. „ ... ... 6 10 o Inside pages ... ... ... ... 7 7 ° Half of ditto ... ... ... 400 Quarter « 'itto ... ... ... ... 2 10 o Whole column ... .,. ... ... ... 2100 Half „ ... ... 1 10 o Q uarter 100

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Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

Can any brother give us the name or send us a spcci men of an Ami-Masonic paper published a Chicago .

BOOKS , eve , RECEIVED . "Hull Packet , " " Le Monde Masoniquc , " "Bread Arrow , " "Scottish Freemason , " " Modern Thought , " " Western Morning News , " "Brief , " "Condition of Malta , " " Prize Paper , " " Masonic News ( aper , " " Voice of

Masonry , " "Bulletin de Crand Orient de France , " "Our Home , " "West Central News , " "The Advocate '" "Temperance Journal , " " New Yoik Dispatch . " " Keystone , " ' Stokc ' s Rapid Drawing , " " Htbrew Leader , " "The Liberal Freemason , " "Die New Yorker Bundes Prcssr . "

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

[ The charge is 2 S . 6 d . for announcements not exceeding Four Lines under this heading . ]

BIRTHS . DALRYMPI . F .. —On Ihe 29 th ult ., at 39 E , Onslow-square , the wife of Mr . Charles Dairymple , M . P ., of a son . MACLACHI - . —On the 30 th ult ., at 29 , Mailoes-read . Kensington , the wife of Cajtain D . MacLachlan , of a daughter .

MARRIAGE . COLLET—HARK is . —At the Parish Church , Broadwater , Golding Biid , son of the late Dr . Ci-llet , of Worthing , to Minnie , daughter of Mr . William Harris , of Allir House , Worthing .

DFATHS . Bni'NTON . —On the 28 th ult ., at Paik-terrace , Darlington , Bro . Thomas Brunton , P . M . Lodge No . 111 , aged 43 . ROHINSHN . —On the 29 th ult ., at Niithgate , Darlington , Bro . A . G . Robinson , P . M . 1 ^ 79 , aged 41 .

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THEFREEMASON. SATURDAY , ATRIL 5 , 1879 .

What Freemasonry Does Do.

WHAT FREEMASONRY DOES DO .

We are often asked by the curious and the impertinent , what does Freemasonry do ? We are often taunted by the credulous or the sceptical that it is practically " much ado about nothing . " We have ihought it well , then , to throw our thoughts together , so to say , and to

answer these doubting or deprtcatoiy queries , by pointing out to-day what Freemasonry does do , and we hope next wetk equally clearly to demonstrate what Freemasonry does not do . And in order to clear the way from the " debris " of all that dreadful rubbish which fciolist Freemasons themselves , alas ! a goodly number , or

Ultramontane opponents , have placed in our waj r , misleading the gullible , and also deceiving the confiding , we wish , in the first place , to state what we mean by Freemasonry . In using that word we do not include in its use fictitious systems , or perverted jurisdictions . We do not claim as our brethren those who denounce or

deny the fundamental tenets of our universal Order . We openly repudiate any teaching or any body which throws over Freemasonry and Masonic teachings , aims , or practice , the hurtful colouring of polit cal reveries , or the debasing , the grovelling animus of si damn violence . The

Freemasonry we mefn is ihat which is now openly professed before the world by above a million of Freemasons , banded together in brothetly love , peace , and goodwill , intent and never ashamed in its lodges to " own " T . G . A . O . T . U . under all circumstances , and , at all times , anxious

ever to promote the welfare of humanity , to advance the brotherhood of Freemasonry , and to sympathize with any fallen , struggling , weak , erring , and dying brother and sister of the dust . And thus it is that Freemasonry seeks ever b y its unselfish efforts , and its generous devotion to

benevolence and timely aid , to make clear to all men that it is not merely a goodly profession , that it does not begin and end in fine woids alone , but that it is a reality , practical and active , God fearing and philanthropies ! , set king to render all its meetings and organizations , its brilliant

assemblies , and its social pleasures all alike minister , and minister truly , to the help of truthful indigence , the raising up the fallen , the friendless , and the destitute . And therefore , at this very moment , while it proclaims and promulgates with unfaltering voice ,

whenever and wherever " Freemasons most do congregate , " the goodly and ever needful axioms of toleration , justice , sympathy , kindness , liberty of conscience , goodwill for all men , and , above all , the " household" of Freemasonry proper ; it also tries to evince that its practice

and its profession go hand in hand . It does not content itself with goodly dogmata or didactic morality j it despises and discountenances the baneful sophistries of "Pecksniff , " and the vulgar hypocrisy of " Sti ggins ; " it knows nothing of "bunkum " or ' * high falutin , " the brainless

outpourings of the fanatic , and the childish moonshine oi the self-constituted censor , but it works manfully to make its words good , its aims evident , and its use admitted in the great thoroughfares of life , as will as in the more secluded recesses of the lodge-room . Hence , to-day " charity , "

tiue charity , in its widest meaning and fullest sense , is the keynote which nominates all true Masonic harmonies . It begins in the lodge , it goes on in the Prov . Grand Lodge in our provinces , it continues in the Grand Lodge . it culminates in our great Metropolitan Charities , and is also to

be clearly traced in those local efforts for education and the like , which are such a credit to those warm-hearted brethren who have constituted them , and kept them afloat in many of cur Masonic provinces . All honour to them .

There is no earthly society that we know of which does more , year by year , to prove that it " says what it means , and means what it says , " than does our own good old Craft . And long may it so continue . Warned by the follies and the falls of foreign bodies , by the pitfalls and the

What Freemasonry Does Do.

stumbling blocks they place in the way of weaker minds , the discredit they bring on the Order , the injury they do to Masonry proper , let us all hope and strive that Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry may long pursue the " even tenour of its way , " without deviating to the right or the left , advocating and practising that gi eat virtue of charity , which

ennobles all its efforts , sanctifies all its aims , and elevates all its struggles , as it marches on today , leaving stragglers and "malingerers " behind , under that emblazoned banner high over head , on which we still read the good , old , and sacred motto , " Glory to God on High , on earth peace , goodwill , and kindliness to men . "

A Pleasant Presentation.

A PLEASANT PRESENTATION .

On Wednesday week , as by a report elsewhere , it will be seen that the brethren of the Lodge of Antiquity presented to their Treasurer and esteemed Bro . Col . Creaton , now Grand Treasurer , a very admirable portrait of himself , painted expressly for this presentation by that

distinguished artist , Bro . Stephen Pearce . It is not too much , we think , to say that in this little fraternal episode the greatest credit is reflected en all concerned , and the genuine princi ples of Freemasonry , alike in their theoretical aspect and practical effect , are remarkably exemplified

in the generous 3 nd unselfish exertions of the Craftsman artist , on the one hand , as well as by the fraternal regard and friendly sympathy of the brethren on the other . Our Grand Treasurer is too well known and too widely appreciated to need any encomiums from us in our unassuming

pages . His services to the Lodge of Antiquity , as to the Ciaft at large , have been many , and great , and untiring , and the brethren of that most ancient and distinguished lodge have testified to their appreciation of his Masonic career , as well

as of his private worth and personal amiability , by a presentation both pleasant and praisewortiiy to all , and a lasting memorial of the skill of the artist , and the worth and eminence of Bro . Lieut .-Col . Creaton .

The London Masonic Charity Association.

THE LONDON MASONIC CHARITY ASSOCIATION .

At the approaching elections for the Girls' and Boys' Schools this , in our humble opinion , valuable and useful Association will endeavour to secure the election of several London candidates , who , for want of effective support , might probably otherwise " be left out in the cold . " On

their behalf we think it is advisable that all brethren unpledged should send in their votes at once to the Secretary , Bro . C . TisJey , 1 , Clifford ' s Inn , Fleet-street , E . C ., as they may feel confident that all votes , so generously given , will be both grattfully received and faithfully appropriated to their much needed purpose .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ Wc do not hole ! ourselves responsible for , or even approving of , the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish in a spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain necessary lim its—free discussion . ]

THE ELECTIONS IN APRIL . Dear Bro . Kenning , — May I be permitted in your pages to ask any of my brethren who have votes to spare for the Boys' and Girls' School , to kindly give them to me ? I shall be truly

grateful for any little help . Yours fraternally , A . F . A . WOODFORD . 10 , Upper Porchester-street , Hyde Park-square , April 2 .

IGNORANCE AND INTOLERANCE . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Under the above heading you have lately pubj lished some remarkable intelligence of great interest to your readers , and the Craft in general . I venture to think that the case I am about to state will , if you deem it worthy of insertion in your columns , prove both

interesting and suiprising , if not even startling , to your readers in all parts of the world . The week before last I received a visit from a Norwegian clergyman , Pastor J . H . Simonsen , a priest of that branch of the Lutheran Church which is established in Norway . He brought me a letter of introduction frcm my friend , Bro . Oscar Dickson , of Gothenburg , whom many will remember as one of the Swedish deputation at the Piince of Wales' installation , in the Albert Hall , in