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ANCIENT AND HONOURABLE FRATERNITY OF FREE AND ACCEPTED A 1 ASONS . PROVINCE OF NORTHS . AND HUNTS . His GRACE THE DUKE OF MANCHESTER , Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Alaster . BRO . BUTLER WILKINS , Esq ., Worshipful Deputy Provincial Grand Master . The PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE will be held under thc Banner of the POMFRET LODGE , 3 60 ( Bro . Thomas Roe VVood , W . AL ) , at the Alasonic Hall , Abington-street , Northampton , punctually at Two o ' clock p . m ., on Thursday , June 10 th , 1 SS 0 . The Banquet will take place at the Peacock Hotel at 3 . 30 . Tickets ( including Dessert ) 6 s . 6 d . each .

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ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION . — Bro . GEORGE ELLIOTT , pi , Kent-street , Grimsby ; begs to return his sincere thanks to the friends and subscribers for their kindness in electing him an Annuitant on the funds of thc Institution .

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TO ADVERTISERS . THE FREEMASON has a large circulation in all parts of the Globe . In it thc official Reports of thc Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland are published with the special sanction of thc respec tivc Grand Masters , and it contains a complete record of Masonic work in this country , our Indian Empire , and the Colonics . Thc vast accession to thc ranks of the Order during thc past few years , and thc increasing interest manifested in its doings , has given the Freemason a position and influence which few journals can lay claim to , and the proprietor can assert with confidence that announcements appearing in its columns challenge thc attention of a very large and influential body of rcaelers . Advertisements for thc current week's issue are received up to six o ' clock on Wednesday evening . PUBLISHING OFFICE : 198 , FLEET STREET , LONDON , H . C .

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£ 0 Corrcsuonticnts . P . M . —Thanks . The following communications stand over for want of space : Reports of Lodge Meetings : —No . 1 G 3 ; No . 350 ; No . 590 ; No . 1073 ; No . 1130 ; and Mark Lodge , No . 5 . ) . Provincial Grand Lodge of Cambridgeshire . Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Leicestershire , Northampton and Derbyshire . English Masonry in Tunis ; Freemasonry in Spain . Bro . POYNTER in our next . CORRESPONDENCE : — Bro . Stephen Barton Wilson's complaint . BOOKS , & c , RECEIVED . "Young England , " "Broad Arrow , " "The Alasonic Review , " "Thc Hull Packet , " "Sunday Times , " "The Union Jack , " "Time . " "The Aliel-Weekl y Hampshire Independent , " "The Egyptian Gazette , " " The Masonic Age , "The Liberal Freemason , " "The Canadian Craftsman , " "Annual Report of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture and the State Horticultural Society , " "The Australian Freemason , " "The Empire , " "Croydon Guardian , " "Thc Jewish Chronicle , " "Alasonic Token , " "Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Liberia , " "Der Long Islaendcr ; " "Die Bauhutte , " "The Twelve Tribes Identified , " Thc Hebrew Leader . "

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THEFREEMASON. SATURDAY , JUNE 5 , 1880 .

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THE [ jrocecdings of tlic last Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge were very interesting , thougli a portion of tliem was greatl y to be deplored , as a waste of time , as disrespectful to Grand Lodge , and as most unprecedented defiance

of the Grand Master in the Chair . We are not at all surprised at the exhibition wliich has been made , which is perfectly in keeping with all the previous proceedings of this most ridiculous and puerile agitation .

* * * WE beg to call the special attention of our readers to the report of thc proceedings of the last Quarterl y Communication , respecting tlic Ritual question .

* * * AMONGST iliose present at United Grand Lodge last Wednesday was a distinguished American visitor , in the person of Bro . G . W . LININGER , P . G . M . of the State of Nebraska . Bro . LININGER is

away from home on a twelvemonth ' s trip , which he is devoting to a study of European and Eastern Masonry . He has already visited Ireland , and after a further stay of a month or so in England , leaves for the Continent , ancl hopes to reach Egypt

at the end of autumn . Joppa is Uro . LI . MNGEK ' ultimate goal , and he is taking copious notes of all he witnesses in Masonry for thc information and instruction of his Masonic friends in the State of Which he is Past Grand Master .

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"THE ceremony of laying the foundation stones " of Truro Cathedral was at once impressive and " complicated . It would seem that on this import" ant occasion the young city of Truro was , in " virtue of the Masonic element of the celebration

" indulged with a spectacle almost as glowing and " g littering as the Imperial assemblage held at " Delhi , and now , thanks to Mr . P RINCEP , acces" sible in gorgeous colour to the world of London . " Churchmen who are strangers to the mysteries of

" the Craft , and whom even the presence of the " Prince of WALES would not reconcile to the pro" minence of a secret society in connection with an " ecclesiastical work , must derive what comfort " they can from the assurance of the Prince

" that the secrets of Masons , though concealed "from the world at large , are honourable , and " not opposed to the laws either of God or man . " TIius speaks our respected contemporary the Guardian in its issue of May 26 th , and such

words , with their apparently supposed sarcasm , furnish an amusing illustration of the fears , the ignorance , and , must we not add , thc unreasonableness of some portion of the purely clerical community ? To suppose for one moment that

any possible harm could accrue to religion in this land from a peaceful and loyal Fraternity like that of Freemasonry is , to our mind , a sad parody on the intelligence and toleration of the age in which we live . As regards the merely Church view of

tlie question wliicli seems to have cropped up , we admit , as all must do , that something may be said . But tlien tlic Grand Lodge of Freemasons was deliberately invited , and its Royal Grand Master

at its head , lo lay tlic foundation stones , and as thc princip les of thc Order arc well known , we do not understand wliy any doubt , or fear , or liesitalion need to have occurred .

* * THE following short article , which appeared in the Observer of May 23 rd , is based evidently on entire ignorance and want of appreciation of the history and true status of our really great and

useful Order . We entirely repudiate the " view of thc Fraternity the writer seeks to bring forward , and must decline , once for all , to be placed on thc category of any "benefit orders , " however respectable or useful . But where "ignorance

" is bliss ' twere folly to be wise ; — " Thc spectacle of the laying of the foundation " stone of thc new cathedral at Truro must havc " been a very pretty sight . Freemasons are always " pleasant company , and their regalia , especiall y

" when the ofiicers of Grand Lodge are present , " are of a very gorgeous character . At thc same " time , it may be questioned whether , if due re" gard be had to the solemnity of the occasion , " Freemasons , as such , ought to take public part

" in such a ceremony . Theoretically the Grand " Master of England is thc representative of MI RAM " Abiff , who was the architect of Solomon ' s temple , " and it was in this character that the Prince of " WALES tried the stone which he thc other day

" laid with plumb , and level , and square , and " smote it three times with a maul , and went " through other mystic ceremonies . As a matter " of fact , however , thc Freemasons arc a secret " society , the purposes of which are entirely

phi"lanlhropic and convivial . The Craft is , at thc " outside , 200 years old . No traditions connected " with Masonry , as such , are any part of its cult , " and were it not for the wealth of the Craft and " thc social position of its members , there would

"be no more ground for allowing hrecmasons , " as such , to take part in the building of a cathc" dral than to accord a privilege to Odd Fellows , " or Foresters , or Ancient Druids , or Antediluvian " Buffaloes . "

* * * THE Gnai-t / ian in its account of the proceedings nlludes to the ceremony in these words : " Leaving " it to others to describe thc entrance of their " Royal Hig hnesses the Duke and Duchess of

" CORNWALL and their sons , the inevitable prcscn" tation of addresses , and the reading of replies , " and all the necessary but somewhat wearisome " formalities of a Royal visit , wc proceed at once " to thc actual ceremony of the day . This was ,

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" as it should be , of a thoroughly reli gious cha" racter , without a single jarring chord . A fear " had been felt in some quarters lest the ' Masonic " honours ' with which the stone was to be laid b y " the Prince , as ' Grand Master of the Ancient

" Free and Accepted Masons of England , ' might " introduce an inharmonious and unchristian ele" ment . This apprehension proved entirely " groundless . Without feeling bound to approve " of every word of the Masonic formularies ,

espe" cially of the rather too frequent recurrence of " thc phrase , ' the Great Architect of the Universe , ' " or the good taste of some of the dresses and de" corations of the Masons themselves , there was " much in the ceremonial which was beautifull y

" symbolical , while the successive rites were ac" companied with prayers and aspirations which " found an echo in every Christian heart . When " we say that the newly-appointed Dean of York " acted as Grand Chaplain , it will be seen that

" there was the fullest security as to the perfectl y " religious character of the ceremonial adopted . " And here wc leave the matter . It ma }' , however , be a question whether with such recurring evidences of difficulty in such matters it may not

be more prudent in the future lo discourage similar proposals . The entire Craft in one bod y rallies round its Grand Master , and unites in

thanking him for the devoted and dignified manner in which he has so kindly upheld the prestige of his own high rank and the prestige and position of the Grand Lodge of England .

* * * As wc perceive that thc circular of thc Boys ' School Office is still being assiduousl y forwarded to metropolitan and provincial brethren of all ranks , we think it right to repeat to-day , in justice to the

Freemason , that if "the portion of the Masonic press , etc ., " alluded to in lhat peculiar production really refers to the Freemason , as seems to be generally understood and openly given out , any such statement is alike un-Masonic , unjust , and untrue ,

in every sense and particular . From the Freemason thc Boys' School , and its Executive , and its Secretary , especially personally , havc received unwavering courtesy and generous support . There is , therefore , not thc slightest ground for any such

announcement , and it could onl y havc proceeded from some motive alike mysterious , if not perfectl y puerile . It is , moreover , greatl y to be feared that such assertions , boldly hazarded among the Craft , and under the colour and protection of a

quasiofficial circular , to which on many other grounds just exception might be taken , constitute proof of a deliberate attempt by a few individuals , in fact a " clique , " to interfere with the current of independent criticism , lo injure a legitimate literary

position acquired by honesty and industry , to subserve other petty interests , by a surreptitious and unprecedented attack on those who by word and act havc , nevertheless , evinced the greatest concern in , and friendship to , 'the approaching

Festival of the Boys School . Indeed , such very singular proceedings are calculated gravely to deteriorate the whole tone of contemporary Masonic journalism , and to subserve the bitter animus of an unreasoningpcrsonality . The Freemason can afford ,

as wc havc often before taken upon us to observe , to laugh at all such ebullitions and such illmannered antagonism , and intends to pursue its own independent course , regardless of praise or

blame , open attack or covert insinuation ; but it thinks it right to say this much in its own defence , and in its own behalf , for fear ils silence mi ght by any who do not know the true facts of the case be "discounted" to its disadvantage .

* * THE recent triumph of thc House Committee is alike emphatic and well deserved . There never was , in our humble opinion , a more senseless or unjustifiable proposal than , for any reason or no

reason , to propose twelve names in opposition to thc House Committee . Of course , now that this great moral victory has been won , and this

crushing defeat encountered , it is easy enough to say " wc did not oppose the House Committee . " Such a statement is unworthy of a Mason to make , because it is untrue , and because the reverse has