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ft" r ¦¦!¦¦¦¦«¦ ¦ !¦— ' " - ' ' ' ¦ ¦ .-i ...... — . 1 — . — ¦¦¦ - — I .. NOTICE . The Subscription to THE FREEMASON is now ios . per annum , post-free , payable in advance . Vol . I ., bound in cloth 4 s . 6 d . Vol . II ., ditto 7 s . 6 d . Vol . III ., ditto 15 s . od . Reading Cases to hold 52 numbers ... 2 s . 6 d . United States of America . THE FREEMASON is delivered free in any part of the United States for 12 s . per annum , payable in advance .

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NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS . The Office of THE FREEMASON is noiv transferred to 19 S , FLEET STREET , E . C . All communications for the Editor or Publisher should therefore be forzvarded to that address .

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HPirtjjs , marriages , anb gea . tj ) S . —«—DEA Til . GREATHEAD . —On the 31 st ult ., at Richmond , Yorkshire , IS 10 Matthew Greatbead , in his 102 nd year .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

All communications for THE FKREMASON sliorrlil lie written lfg ! i > b on one side of the paper only , and , if intended for insertion in llie current number , must be received not later llntn 10 o'clock a . m . on Thursdays , unless in very special cases , 'the name and address ol every writer must be sent to us in confidence .

LANCASHIRE . —Wc do not think that the contingency to which you allude affects the main point . No question should be asl ; ed—consequently , no answer need be expected . [ This reply has been overlooked . ] 940 . —The "Fifteen Sections" have been the growth of time . Before the Union ( here were twelve— sometimes thirteen ( see " " . ' "inch ") , seven in the first , and three each in second and third . The present lectures were arranged by Hro . Williams , Provincial Grand Master for Dersit , and revised by liro . the Kev . S . Hemming , D D ., about 1 S 15 .

493 . Gloucester . —We should say that the subjects selected for the adornment of ihe reiedos wt-re not in accordance with accepted Masonic ideas ; and we say this the more freely , because we believe , as a high-tirade Mason ourselves , that certain Christian degrees operate as a kind of safety-valve to the Craft , without which sectarianism would inevitably he introduced when opportunity served . Groups in conformity with our Solomonic traditions oucht to have been selecieel .

C . J . T . —Although we appreciate the justice of your sentiments , your letter is hardly suitable for publication and we are convinced that you will readily concede this upon malurer reflection . The questionof ritual is a difficult one 10 deal with , and we must keep the elis . euss . iou within due bounels .

Books Received.

BOOKS RECEIVED .

"Hymns of Modem Men" ; by T . Herbert Noyes , jun ., B . A . Oxon . Longmans , Green and Co . "Christmas Carols "; edited by Mrs . Valentine . AVarne and Co .

AVE are requested to announce that the First Commission of Works have received a programme for the erection of a new House of Parliament at Berlin , for which the architects of allnations will he invited by the Imperial

Government to compete . The particulars will be reprinted for the use of architects , and be ready for distribution at the Office of Works on Monday next . The designs will have to be sent in to the Imperial Chancery at Berlin , with the authors '

names , before the 15 th of April next , and a prize ° f ^ 844 will be given for the best design , and a fifth of that amount for each of the four next best designs .

THE BEST FIRST . —Turner ' s Tamarind Cough Emulsion for the Throat and Bronchia , I 3 ^ d . and 2 / 9 per bot—All wholesale houses in London and Liverpool , aa * wy reupKUble Chemist , —[ AdvLl

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TheFreemason, SATURDAY , J ANUARY 6 , 1 S 72 . THE FREEMASON- is published on Saturday Mornings in time for the early trains . The price of Tim FKRRMASON is Twopence per week ; annual subscription , tos . ( uayablc , in advance ) . All communications , letters , & c , to be addressed to the EDITOR 158 , Meet-street , E . C . The Editor will pay careful attention to all MSS . entrusted lo him , out cannot underu , ke to return them unless accompanied by postage stamps .

Masonic Progress In England.

MASONIC PROGRESS IN ENGLAND .

IN accordance with our custom at the commencement of a new year , we shall now proceed to review the present status and recent progress of the several branches of the Masonic family in England .

To the increase of the Craft in general we referred last week , and it only remains to add that , forty-one lodges appear to have been added to the roll of the Grand

Lodge during the past year , making the nominal total 1375 . We say " nominal total" because , as we pointed out in No . 43 of TllK FREEMASON , many lodges have

surrendered their warrants in consequence of the formation of independent Grand Lodges in New Brunswick and Nova

Scotia ; and these " defections , " as some would call them—although the lodges still exist on the muster-roll of the Craft

Universal—reduce the number of lodges under the jurisdiction of England to about twelve hundred and eighty—a sufficiently formidable array , and one which is not approached

by any other Grand Masonic Body in the world . Each of these lodges , if within the London district , pays the sum of four shillings annually to the Fund of Benevolence

for every one of its subscribing members , and the country lodges contribute two shillings , in like manner , to the same Fund . Lodges in the colonies and foreign parts

are not required to subscribe to the Fund , although their members are equally eligible to participate in its benefits . The administration of the vast sums thus collected is

confided to a committee , technically called the " Lodge of Benevolence , " and which consists of a President , who is nominated by the Grand Master , two Vice-Presidents ,

and twelve Past Masters , elected by Grand Lodge—all present and past Grand Officers , and the Masters of lodges during their tenure of office . This Committee meets

every month for the consideration and disposal of the various petitions for relief , which are frequently very numerous Owing , however , to some excellent

alterations in the laws—mainly originated by the worthy President , Bro . CLAIJOX , and one of the Vice-Presidents , Bro . NUNN—the classification of applicants has become

much simplified , and the amount of relief extended by the Lodge is now , in some degree , adequate to the claims and services exhibited on behalf of the majority of cases

placed on record . Temporary relief is thus afforded to many deserving brethren , enabling them to make a fresh start in life ; nor is substantial aid withheld from those

Masonic Progress In England.

whose meritorious labours in Freemasonry demand greater recognition—an instance having occurred recently , when the handsome sum of two hundred and fifty pounds was voted to a poor , but worthy , brother .

In Royal Arch Masonry , there is no annual levy for benevolent purposes , and although we are not prepared to advocate the adoption of the system , it may be

doubted whether a portion of the fifteen shillings paid for each companion ' s registration might not be very properly devoted to the establishment and perpetuation of a

fund for distressed Royal Arch Masons . It is a fact that some men , from fancy or otherwise , take a more active part in promoting the prosperity of Capitular Masonry

than in advancing the interests of the blue degrees . Hence , their claims upon the Fund of Benevolence—measured by thencareer in the Craft—may appear but

insignificant , whereas , if a Grand Chapter Fund existed , they would be enabled to have their additional claims more fully investigated , and , possibly , better appreciated .

We throw out this suggestion in a tentative manner ; but , as English Royal Arch Masonry can now boast some 400 chapters

—twenty of which have been founded during the past year—the time seems to have arrived when the Order should be

more closely identified with the great cause of charity . Let it not be said of Royal Arch Masonry that "here wc have laboured in vain , and wasted our strength for nought . "

Our review of the progress of the Craft and Capitular degrees shows that our illustrious Grand Master and Grand Principal ,

the Marquis of Ripon , presides over nearly seventeen hundred lodges and chapters , the membership of which bodies , combined , is estimated at about one hundred and forty

thousand . It must be remembered , however , that the Royal Arch Masons are included in duplicate , they being , almost to a man , members of lodges as well as of chapters .

The " Mark" degree , although not the oldest of the unrecognised Masonic organisations , in England , is so intimately allied with the Craft , that its rapid increase in

influence and numerical strength is somewhat accounted for . The number of Mark lodges under the Mark Grand Lodge is now 139 , representing an advance within

the year of twenty lodges . The jurisdiction of the Mark governing body in England is now recognised by the Grand Chapters of Ireland and Canada , and by several

American Grand Chapters , and , beyond question , when the present Mark Grand Master , our energetic Bro . Portal , hands over his sceptre of office to his successor , Earl Percy , he may

fairly congratulate himself and the " Mark " Degree upon the very splendid success which has attended his exertions , and those of his officers , during the period of his presidency as Grand Master . We are unable to say much as to the position of the various degrees recently