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NOTICE Many complaints having been received of the difficulty experienced in procuring the Freemason in the City , the publisher begs to append the following list , being a selected few "f the appointed agents : — ibbott , Wm ., East-cheap . Bates , Pilgrim-street , Ludgate-hill . Born , H ., us , London-wall .

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To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The Freemason is a sixteen page weekly newspaper , price 2 d . It is published every Friday morning , and contains thc most important and useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Annual subscription in the United Kingdom , Post free , 10 / . Brethren in foreign parts , wishing to have this newspaper sent them regularly

from the office of publication , should , in sending their remittances , add ti _ the 2 d . per week the postage on 2 oz . newspapers . The Freemason may be procured through any newsagent in the United Kingdom by giving ( if needed ) the

publisher ' s address , 198 , Fleet-st . All communications , correspondence , reports , & c , must be addressed to the Editor . Advertisements , change in address , complaints of difficulties in procuring Freemason , & c , to thc Publisher , 198 , Fleet-st ., London , E . C .

Careful attention will be paid to all MSS . entrusted to the Editor , but he cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by stamp directed covers .

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 . For terms , position , & c , apply to GEOIIGE KENNING , 198 , Fleet-st .

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 . The following stand over : — Funeral Lodge at Glasgow ; Sham Decorations ; The Mercers Letter ; Reports of Lodges 160 , 1012 , 112 5 , 145 S , 1482 , 1494 .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , J 10 , 1871 ; .

The Consecration Of The Chaucer Lodge.

THE CONSECRATION OF THE CHAUCER LODGE .

The consecration of this new lodge took place , according to the report elsewhere , on Friday last , under very favourable auspices . There was a numerous attendance of the brethren , in a very handsome room ; all the ancient ceremonies weie duly performed , under the presidency of

our distinguished Bro . J . Hervey , Grand Secretary , with his two assistant officers , Bros . Little and Woodford , and the proceedings passed over prosperously and satisfactorily . In compliment to the old poet , the new lodge being in Southwark , not far from the site of the original

Tabard Inn , adopted the time-honoured name of Geoffrey Chaucer , and we think very opportunely and wisely . For speculative Freemasonry always does well , in our opinion , when it connects itself , n / ore or less directly , with those elevating acts and civilizing labours , which tend so

greatly to the onward progress and peaceful victories of mankind . Since the days when Chaucer penned his famous lays , at least 400 years ago , what mighty changes have passed over this world of ours , and what struggles , and advances , and ameliorations , have successive generations

witnessed , in all that renders life endurable and comfortable , attractive , and welcome . No longer for the most part spent amid the more degrading aspects of barbarous existence , this earth of ours to-day seems to manifest everywhere the

upward condition of civilization and education There is much no doubt to condemn , and more to deplore , alike in social anomalies and passing habits of life , modes of thought , the turbid passions , the fleeting pageantry of the hour . But yet his must be either a very cynical or morbid

The Consecration Of The Chaucer Lodge.

mind , or he must take a very imperfect view [ of things , who does not and will not admit , that amid much that is sensational and startling , and more that is saddening and sorrowful day by day , there are yet tokens of the gradual improvement , alike of individual tastes and of national

feelings . And it seems to us that amid the rolling cycles of time , which have left us since the hour that Chaucer , for instance , gave us his happy thoughts and quaint expressions in the then Anglo-Saxon vernacular , the voice of the poet especially has ever been distinctly heard

above the din of men , and over the strife of tongues , uttering words of gentleness and fancy , of sympathy and goodness , of purity , honour , truth , and right , for the elevation of our struggling race , and for the spiritual improvement of the world . We commend , then , warmly the idea ,

whose soever it originally was , which induced Bro . Sabine and his officers and brethren to give to the new lodge the name of Chaucer . We are glad to see another vigorous offshoot of our old and grand Masonic tree " taking root downwards , " and , let us hope , " bearing fruit upwards , "

especially in so important a portion of our Metropolis . For we are amongst those infatuated persons , as some would term us , who believe in Freemasonry , both in the propagation of its principles , and the development of its moral and peaceful influences . We do not wish to take

too high a ground , or claim too great a scope for its labours and its lessons ; we equally object to rhapsodical utterances , and untenable assertions ; but we think we are warranted in saying this much , that every lodge , fitly presided over , properlv worked , and composed of congenial

elements , may be an instrument , providentially , of much intellectual , moral , and civilizing good ! It is true that we have nothing very new to announce , and like the famous sufferer of old , ours may fairly be the response to-day , " Story , God bless

you , I ve none to tell you , Sir . For ours are only old-fashioned truths , and antiquated moralities 5 we proclaim reverence to our Maker , and loyalty to our Queen ; we ask for due respect to constituted authority , obedience to our laws , and avoidance alike of seditious aims , orrevolutiouary

tendencies . We want no definition of personal belief , we respect the right of conscience , we uphold liberty of opinion , free discussion , and we denounce persecution , whether sectarian or pseudo-religious , of every kind . We are a religious , a peaceable , a good feeling , a loyal , a

benevolent , a liberal-minded , a tolerant fraternity , and when we have said this we have not much more to say . We welcome all good men and true within our pale , not asking them * ' how do you believe , or what do you believe , " contented so long as agreeing together in humble

acknowledgment of the Great Creator and Father of all , and sympathizing with the brotherhood of our fellow children of the dust , we seek in the works of heartfelt charity and good will , to assuage the contentions , to soften tlie acerbities , to relieve the distresses , and to lessen the calamities of our common earthly inheritance . And here we stop

to-day , congratulating Bro . Sabine and all the members of his lodge on their auspicious start in Masonic life , proposing next week to call attention to the weighty words and sound seasonable advice which fell from the lips of Bro . Hervey , as Consecrating Officer of this , one of the youngest of the many promising numbers of our rapidly increasing Masonic family .

Masonic Sympathy.

MASONIC SYMPATHY .

Old John Wesley made a great use , in his early teaching at any rate , of the duty and importance of sympathy . He worked , so to say , upon a long neglected mine deeply lying in the heart and emotion of his hearers , and we have

always felt that many religious teachers might now-a-days well follow in his steps , and even improve upon his endeavours . For curiously enough , despite our habitual coldness and

inconsideratoness for each other here , our want too often of hearty interest in the welfare and griefs , the trials and joys of our fellow creatures , we all of us often require sympathy ourselves at many times and at many crossings of our journey of life . It has been said , and probably truly , that

Masonic Sympathy.

we all have more sympathy for others than we are aware of , arid that it only requires to be stirred and evoked in order to be manifested more clearly and fully in us all alike . There may be some truth in such a statement as regards us all in our psychological formation , and our

individual temperament , but yet , on the whole , we are inclined to believe that sympathy , like every other grace , if implanted in us by our Divine Creator , has to be educed and expanded , and invigorated , and trained under a higher power , by the needs and claims , the duties and

responsibilities of life . We all of us have experienced times when sympathy is very needful and very refreshing to us . In the first moments of personal bereavement , in the full flowing tide of heavy sorrow , in the pressure of adverse circumstances , in the cruel tortures of calumny , in

morbid moods , and in lonely cares , how pleasant it is to listen to the always tender accents of true and faithful sympathy ? Then it is that we rejoiee to think that God has given us those who cheer our anxieties , who lessen our woes , who repair our misfortunes , who soothe our wounded

or complaining spirit with all that graceful charm which sympathizing friendship can offer to lighten the dark clouds of trouble , or smooth away the rugged corners of the road on which we all are travelling now . And some of us have found in Freemasonry a brotherly good will , affection , and

interest , the truest expression of personal sympathy and kindly concern . It is one of the great charms of Freemasonry , that it conciliates firm friendships amongst men of diverse views and beliefs , and that it serves often to quicken in us all alike , these sympathetic

evidences of friendly concern and friendship , which if they belong to us all more or less alike , we too often allow to " rest , " so to say in '' abeyance , " or to be forgotten in stoic indifference . Yes somehow Freemasonry often aids to kindle

a fire where none has burnt vividly before , and to evoke for us all alike , those living and active exertions of friendship , interest , and good wiH which serve more than anything else to render human life enjoyable , and to work out all the nobler characteristics of the human race . How

many fast friendships has Freemasonry cemented ? How much undying sympathy has it brought to li ght and perfection ? And after all no nobler or better expression of our true individual life , and our purely personal showing can be aimed at , or believed in , or worked out by any of us . To

sympathize with our brother , to believe in his truth and honour , and good repute , to smile on his efforts , to encourage his toils , to uphold his good name , to vindicate his upright character , to rebuke the slanderer , and the maligner , who like gad flies both buz and sting , is indeed the

true work of Masonic sympathy . To feel for each other here , to grieve with the calamities , to rejoice with the successes of humanity , to mourn over grevious wrong , and to uphold manfully the right , in season and out of season , never to desert a good cause , and ever to sympathize with

all that is pure , and peaceable , and righteous , and of good repute , is the duty of every true Freemason . While then weall sympathize warmly with each other , ana learn even to sympathize more and more with each other , let us never be ashamed boldly to discountenance vice and wrong ,

injustice and vilhany , under whatever names they may be cloaked among men , and let us , we repeat , have a fellow feeling from the bottom of our hearts , not only for our friend and our brother , but for everything here that lends dignity to virtue , and gives consistency to truth .

The Anniversary Of The Boys' School For 1875.

THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOYS ' SCHOOL FOR 1875 .

When these lines meet the eyes of our readers the Anniversary for 1875 ° * - ' s most important institution will be a thing of the past , let us hope , " though lost to sight to memory dear . " As we pen these words to-day , the result of the

"coup de Binckes , " to which he himself humorously and vivaciously alluded at the Chaucor Lodge gathering , amid the applause of the brethren , is still enveloped in the haze of uncertainty . Bro . Binckes , in his animated address last Friday , seemed to anticipate a very great success , and we sincerely trust that his legitimate anticipa-