To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The FREEMASON is a Weekly Newspaper , price A Q 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 , India , China , & c .

Kingdom , tile Continent , & c . Via Brindisi . Twelve months ios . 6 d . 12 s . 6 d . 17 s . 4 d . Six „ 5 s . 3 d . 6 s . 6 d . 8 s . 8 d . Three „ 2 s . Sd . 3 s . 3 d . 4 s . 6 d . Subscriptions may be paid for in stamps , but Post Office Orders or Cheques are preferred , the former payable to

GEORGE KSNNING , 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 for review are to be forwarded to the Editor . Anonymous correspondence will be wholly disregarded , and the return of rejected MSS . cannot be guaranteed . Further information will be supplied on application to hi Publisher , IQ 8 . Fleet-street , London .

Important Notice.

IMPORTANT NOTICE .

It is very necessary for our readers to advis us of all money orders they remit , more especiall y 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 .

The FREEMASON has a large circulation in all parts of 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 back page ... ... ... £ 12 \ z o Half ,, „ 6 10 o Inside pages 7 7 ° Half of ditto 400 Quarter ditto ... ... ... .. 2100 Whole column ... ... ... 2 10 o

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Answers To Correspondents.

Sfasfocrs to Corrcspontinrts

HARROW . —We possiblv may during the winter mor . ths . J . W . —Yes . W . Air-unit . —Considerably too long for our columns . W . M . —The question is not sufficiently clear for us to answer .

BOOKS , Src , RECEIVED . " The Freemason " ( Sydney ) , " Masonic Token , '' "The Freemason ' s Repository , '' " Der Tiiangel , " " Public Ledger , " " Kelet Orient , " " Keystone , " <¦ Hull Packet , " "The Citizen , " "Broad Arrow , " "The Royal Cornwall Gazette , " " Alliance News , " " Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of duebec , " "Masonic Newspaper , " " The Hebrew Leader . "

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

l _ The charge is 2 s . 6 d . for announcements not exceeding Four Lines under this heading . ]

BIRTHS . PENDI . EBUIIY . —On the 4 th inst ., the wife of Bro . Alfred A . Pendlebury , of a daughter . RAr . MBR . —On the 31 st . ult ., at Compton Lodge , East Sheen , S . W ., the wife of Mr . Frederick S . Palmer , of a daughter .

MARRIAGE . ADAMS—JENNINGS . —On the 2 nd inst ., at Offord-road Congregational Chapel , by the Rev . J . M . Hannay , Valentine Francis , son of the late Mr . John Henry Adams , C . E ., to Ursula , daughter of the late Mr . George Jennings .

DEATHS . HART . —On the ist inst ., at Cedar Villa , Walters-road , Swansea , Mrs . Rebecca Hart , widow of the Rev . E . S . Hart . / ' » '' •• —On the 2 nd inst ., at 6 , Hatherley-grove , Mary Egerton , the wife of Major Keith A . Jopp , Royal Engineers .

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THE FREEMASON . SATURDAY , AUGUST 9 , 1879 .

Our American Brethren.

OUR AMERICAN BRETHREN .

One of the greatest privileges and pleasures of Freemasonry consists in the firm friendships it often happily knits between brethren living in distant lands and opposite hemispheres . There seems to be something in the genial fellowship of Freemasonry , denounced by the bigoted , and

decried by the ignorant , which overleaps the dividing boundaries of nations and of seas , and cements between the most severed and distant of our race kindly sentiments and sympathetic interests . It often happens in this world of ours that , as we all know too little of each other , even

that very little is marred and disfigured by angry traditions or ancient animosities . We . grow up often in antagonistic views and calm unconcern for others until something happens to thaw our coldness , or rerrove our misapprehensions , and then we find not only how well we agree , but

how much after all we really like each other , how much and how deep an interest we have in fact in that abiding "cosmopolitanism" of humanity which , say what we will , has a real and lasting charm at all times , and under all circumstances , for the kindly , the cultured , and the

elevated . It is , no doubt , this idea of " brotherhood " which for 180 c years at any rate has dominated mankind , in which is to be found the best hopes alike for the future union of the widely dispersed children of the dust . Freemasonry mav not be perfect in all its

conceptions , or all its aims , its professions or its practice , but at any rate it does this , like the Good Samaritan , while Priest and Levite are " looking on , " . or "passing by , " it does seek to pour in the " balm of oil and wine " into the " open wounds " of suffering human nature . We know nothing

more striking in the history of the world or of man , than that a brotherhood like the English brotherhood , be the method sound or unsound , perfect or imperfect , ( wecare not a jot ) , is raising annually something like £ 40 , 000 in the noble and goodly work of charity , and is advocating

with unfailing voice , amid noisy factions and braying shibboleths , the sacred teaching of toleration , goodwill , and compassion for all men . And we do not say this in praise of Knglish Freemasonry alone , but wherever true Freemasonry abounds , holding to the same truths ,

enforcing the same system , and practising the same virtues , there we do know also as a matter of fact that mercy and charity hold their righteous sway over the feelings and acts of men j there peace and civilization , mutual goodwill , and mutual forbear nee are to the fore , there the voice

of toleration is heard , there the work of religion is active , there consideration for others is prevalent , there liberty of conscience unfurls hev goodly oriflamme . In the United States of America Freemasonry has found , for instance , a coraeenial home and an

important sphere of utility and benevolence . Jts 600 , 000 Masons , dispersed throughout its sovereign States , amid a growing and a mighty Republic , have grasped firmly and serenely the ennobling message of its peace , morality and its time-honoured lore . That there are some in .

congruities in American Freemasonry we do not deny ; that there are some weaknesses in the joints of its armour , its truest friends do not attempt to conceal j but of that noble array of "Freemasons ; " we , who live in Eng ' . and , have every reason to be proud , for we can rejoicingly recall the fact that the American State Grand

Lodges come from us , and belong to us , the only regular bodies of Craft Masons in that remarkable country—that they are our own kith and kin , "bone of our bone , " and " flesh of our flesh . " Tt was the high privilege of the

publisher of this paper , about a year ago , to evince his sympathy for American Masons and Masonry , and to make the intimate acquaintance of a distinguished body of American brethren , visitors and travellers in England , in a most pleasant and enjoyable gathering at Freemasons' Hall . Wc

Our American Brethren.

venture to believe that the memories of that genial and kindly evening have not faded from the minds of any who were present , and that the friendships we then formed , and the links we then intertwined , in heartfelt goodwill and interest for each other , will last for us our own

little time here . And , theretore , it is we hail rejoicingly the telegram from our esteemed and admired friend and brother , Charles E . Meyer , which appeared in last week ' s Freemason , as an evidence that- all our warm feelings are reciprocated on the other side of Ihe Atlantic

Ocean , and that the true hearts , and kind friends , the zealous Masons whom we were privileged to receive and know twelve short months ago , still retain for us those fraternal feelings , and that living interest , which , overpassing " dividing waters , " are still lingering as it were with their

pleasant host , still sojourning for a little season amid our good and warm-hearted English brethren . Long may this union between American and English Masons endure , and may it be a happy omen of the lasting friendship , peace , and concord between two great nations ,

upholding alike with firm and straightforward hand legality and order , right and justice , and advancing against all opposing and conflicting interests the true welfare of the community , the liberty and happiness of the individual , and the lasting peace , progress , and prosperity of all mankind .

Charity Reform.

CHARITY REFORM .

Bro . Simpson has given us his little plan for reforming our excellent Charities , ( which we did not know wanted reforming ) , and we will now consider it . We are little afraid that some of our readers mav be reminded of Mr . Weller and

" adwice gratis , but still , as Bro . Simpson is in earnest , we feel it right to call attention to his proposals . His complaints of grievances are . just what we said they would be , and though our statements have been questioned , they are now " vouched for" by our Past Grand Chaplain

himself . They are : 1 . Entire absepce of proper investigation of election claims . 2 . Exchange of votes . 3 . - Sale of votes . 4 .- Canvassing by cards and circulars , jj . Polling days and scenes . What this latter remarkable passage means we can positively not , even conceive . We have read

it over more than once , thinking that it was , perhaps , a printer ' s error , as printers' errors will creep even into the Freemason . But no . Such seems to be the " ipsissima verba " of Bro . Simpson , and we can only leave them , in our startled anil happy ignorance , to his own eloquent words cf

explanation and description . We are a little amused , we must confess , to find Bro . Simpson , " J upiter Tonans " though he be , borrowing , ( that is the polite word ) , a little of our own harmless " thunder , " and falling back magnificently , for the first time , on the " original selection of

candidates , our own little suggested pet reform , as a leading point in his own enlarged programme . When we said that this reform , which we advocated , was a " slight reform , " we did not mean , as the " context" would show , that we considered the matter a " slight matter" at all , but

only that the change from the present system , to a closer scrutiny was a very easy matter in itself as a matter of detail . Curiously enough , with that tendency to " exaggeration " in which speakers and writers like so sensationally to indulge to-day , Bro . Simpson skilfully converts our honest admission of a " weakness of detail " into

the entire " absence of all enquiry . " We never said that there was no enquiry , for there is , according to our rules ; but what we did venture to suggest , knowing from old experience the " red tape '' of all committee work , was , that there should be a closer enquiry than is now

practicable , into the " position of the candidates " and the " means of their friends . " We wonder that Bro . Simpson did not discover the fallacy of his own position and the palpable exaggeration into which he was falling , but we can only

suppose that , like other " great reformers , " intent on one " point , " he is " indifferent to the minutiae of time , place , and fact . " And advisable , in our opinion , as this more close scrutiny of claun s would be , we doubt very much if the Lite Governors will ever consent to turn the " ° P court" for claims of the "General Committee