Important Notice.

IMPORTANT NOTICE .

We have great pleasure in announcing that we have decided to publish T HE FREEMASON —commencing ivith Volume III ., January 1 st ,

1870—on toned paper , and with old-faced type , similar to that used b y the Pall Mall Gazette and other hig h-class publications .

The size will also be permanentl y enlarged to Sixteen Pages , and , with other improvements contemplated , THE FREEMASON will then be the leading weekl y organ o f the Cra ft throughout the globe .

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TO ADVERTISERS . THE Circulation of T HE F REEJIASON being now at the rate of nearly Half-a-Million per annum , it offers peculiar facilities to all who advertise . It is well-known that the Fraternity of Freemasons is a large and constantly increasing body , mainly composed of the influential and educated classes of society ; and as % \ t Jf rccnrasiw is now the accepted organ of the Brotherhood in the United Kingdom , and also enjoys an extensive sale in tho colonies and foreign parts , its advantages as an advertising medium can scarcely be overrated . For terms apply to GEOKQE KENNING , 3 & i , L ITTLE B RITAIN , LONDON , E . C .

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Jjmchjn : ititir Colonial Agents . —?—AMERICA : Bro . J . FLETCHER BRF . NNAN , IU , Mainstreet , Cincinnati , Ohio . „ Messrs . WOODRUFF aud BLOCQEB , Little Rock , Arkansas , U . S . CANADA : Messrs . Di-. vinE & SON , Ottawa . CAPE OF GOOD HOPE : Bro . GEORGE BIUTTAIN , Capo Town . CEYLON : Messrs . W . L . SKEENE & Co ., Columbo . CONSTANTINOPLE : Bro . J . L . HANLT , Levant Times . EAST INDIES : Allahabad : Messrs . WVJIAN Bnos . Byculla : Bro . GEO . BEASE . Central Provinces : Bro . F . •!• JORDAN . Kurrachcc : Bro . G . C . BRA-JSOH . Madras : Mr . CALEB FOSTER . Mhow : Bro . COWASJKE NUSSERWAXJEE . Poona : Bro . W . WELLIS . GALATA : Irsicii KAII . V , Percbcmbe ' -Bajar . LIBERIA : Bro . HENRY D . BROWN , Monrovia . PA 1 US : M . DECIIEVAUX-DU . MES . VII , , Hue de Hnrlay-du-Palais , 2 u , near the Pout Neuf ; Editor Le Franc-Mucon . And all Booksellers and Newsagents in Englaud , Ireland , and Scotland .

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D ' u-tbs , ISf itmiicjcs , anir gwijjs . ?——MA 15 IUAGES . BARKER—BLKSKHORN . —On the 1 st inst ., at the Weslcyan Chapel , Queen-street , lluddcr .-tkld , by the Rev . J . G . Cox , lire . John Darker ( Secretary of the Mirfield Lodge , No . 1102 ) , Architect , of Woodfield House , Mirfield , to Mary Jane Clough , granddaughter of Thomas Blenkhorn , ESQ ., Woodland House , Asplev , Huddcrsfield . DEATHS . An . MSTHo . vo . —On the 1 st inst ., at 21 , 1 lope-place , Liverpool , aged 23 , Anne Maude , second daughter of Bro . Thomas Armstrong , P . M . I odge Ifio . nwl Prov . G . J . D ., W . L . Mclin . i . iviiAV . -On the flth inst ., at Scaton , Devon , Anno , daughter of the late Ilro . Sir . ! . E . isthorpe , Bart ., P . G . W ., and wiJow of Bro . Simon Mc-Uillivray , l' . G . M . for Upper Canada .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

All communications for TilK FREEMASON should lie written Icgibl // , on one side of the paper only , and , if intended for insertion iu the current number must be received nut later than 10 o ' clock a . m . on 'rinir . id .-iys , iiulos in very spjcial cases . The name and address of every writer must be sent to us in confidence II BiiAlTilw . uTi ' . — Officers ur Past Officers of Grand Lodge or Provincial Grand Lodges are entitled to wear their collars as visitors to private lodges , but no other brethren can claim this privilege . Keports of me tings of Lodge Union ( No . 352 ) , St . Helen ' s Lodge ( 531 ) , Skiddaw Lodge ' ( 10 ( ' 2 ) : Scotch Lodges Nos . 102 , 332 , and loll ; also report of Installation of the Prov . G . M . of Hunts and the Isle of Wight , and the continuation of Bro . Hughan ' s article , " Iiniglu Templar Jottings , " will appear in cur next . *

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C | c Jreemmn , SATURDAY , DECEMBER 11 , 1869 .

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Tun FREEMASON is published on Saturday Mornings in time Cor the early trains . The price of THK FREEMASON' is Twopence per week ; quarterly subscription ( including postage ) 3 s . 3 d . Annual Subscription , 12 s . Subscriptions pay able in advance . All communications , letters , Ac , to be addressed to the EDITOR , 3 & -1 , Little Britain , U . C ! . The liditor will paycareful attention to allMSS . entrusted to him , but cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by postage stamps .

The High Degrees.

THE HIGH DEGREES .

MODERN Freemasonry is a complex organization ; and yet the further we proceed , the grander will appear tlie simplicity and sublimity of the first "Three Degrees . " We say this advisededly , having ourselves taken very many Masonic steps in

various directions , and being therefore somewhat entitled , according to the views of certain brethren , to be written down an ass , like Dogberry . Still , on the whole , we don ' t repent having

entered into the different Orders , which like the peacock ' s brilliant caudal appendage form such a beautiful back-ground to the majestic figure of Freemasonry . Iu all these Orders we have found something which identifies them

more or less with the by-gone worthies of the Craft ; in all we have been impressed with a feeling akin to that which makes the heart overflow at the sound of music half-forgotten , but still dear as a memento of the loved and

lost . And with the conviction that the " High Degrees , " so-called , have some fellowship with our Ancient Craft , wo have of late refused to open our columns to contributors who not only condemn , but would fain destroy these degrees .

A moro catholic spirit will rather induce us to examine , with the lig ht we have obtained , the origin and objects of those Chivalric Orders which have undoubtedly existed for many years in England , and which now flourish here and in other

civilised countries . The attacks to which we allude , are levelled especially at the claims of the " Ancient and Accepted Kite , " which are described as " arrogant , " " monstrous , " and

"ivveconcilable with tlie Supreme Rights of our Craft Grand Lodges . " There is just enough basis for these complaints in the peculiar doctrines of tho Rite to warrant suspicions and

animadversions . In some parts of Europe—notably in Francethe " Ancient and Accepted Rite " comprises the first three symbolic degrees , which are conferred in lodges under its jurisdiction .

This assumption of power and supremacy acts , of course , disadvantageously to the interests of the Grand Orient , or Blue Grand Lodge , and jealousies , dissensions , and unmasonic strife have been the natural result . In other territories .

however , where the authorit y of the Symbolic Grand Lodges is firmly established , the pretensions of tho "Ancient and Accepted Rite" are greatly modified , if not actually suppressed . For instance , in the United States , although the

Rite is respectably and nilliientially supported , its chiefs do not dream of claiming jurisdiction over tlie Craft degrees , and if they did , it would provoke such a storm of indignation as would shatter the card-board temples of the " Sovereign

Grand Inspectors General for all time to come . One of our correspondents forcibly alludes to an alleged attempt on the part of some members of the Knglish Supremo Grand Council 33 ° to retard the progress of another Chivalric Order , tho "Red Cross , " which has recently been

The High Degrees.

revived in England under extremel y favorable auspices . If this be the case , we can only say that the effort reminds us of the old tale of the man with the cloak , against whom the wind beat fiercely in the vain endeavour to make him cast

it off , as the Order in question has but prospered the more , and its members have clung move closely to their ideas in consequence of the opposition . It is also asserted that the Council of the 33 ° claim jurisdiction over the said

Order ; if so , they have never fairly stated their claim , and it is again said that they maintain their right to govern the Templars or any other body of Masons , when they are strong enough to insist upon their prerogatives . With respect

to this point we are g lad , however , to state that our correspondent must be in error , and we can prove it by the following sentences from the pen of Bro . Albert Pike , M . P . S . Grand Commander

33 ° , for tho Southern Jurisdiction of the United States ; and this explanation , we are of ojrinion , also efiectualy disposes of the misconception with reference to the lied Cross Order : —

"The Kadosh do not pretend that American Temp lars owe their authorities any allegiance . They simply say their Order was founded by the Templars ; but it is a Masonic degree , called Kadosh , a Knight of the Temple , or of the Holy House of the Temple

of Solomon . Of that Order the Grand Consistories are the Grand Princes , and the Supreme Council has the powers of the Grand Mastership , and the allegiance of Knights Kadosh , as such , is due to it and the Grand Commander . In American Templarism ,

the allegiance of the Templar , as such , is due to the authorities of that Order . If he is both Templar and Kadosh , ho owes allegiance to the authorities of both Orders , as a member of each , aud for the purposes of each ; aud between these allegiances there is no

conflict whatever : nor does the ritual of the Scottish Rite claim that allegiance to the Supreme Council is superior to that due to any other prder by the same person . It only claims that paramount allegiance is due to tlie Supreme Council , in respect to the

degrees of the Order , that is , that no other body can be recognised as having authority or administration in regard to those decrees . AU attempts to show authority to the contrary of this are but fraudulent misrepresentations and pervertions . "

There ought to be no antagonism between Orders which profess to have kincred objects , and which are supposed to bo swayed b y similar

princi p les . We go further , we say tliere must not be—and if the degrees which are at present unrecognised in England cannot speedily arrive at a definite alliance between themselves , it will be

the most remarkable proof of their inanity ever furnished . Since we commenced writing this article a little bird has whispered into our ears that the Supreme Grand Council , 33 ° , have thought fit to recognise the Mark Grand

Lodgea governing body which has hitherto been scouted by every Masonic authority . Mirabile dictu—the "Sovereign Grands" have entered into a bond with a degree which , as at present worked in England , is an anachronism , and

which one of tho leading men of the 33 ° informed us , not so long ago , was an infringement , an encroachment , on the " happy hunting grounds " of the Ancient and Ancient Rite . What next ? JMethicks we sec the lion and the lamb drinking

together out of the same fountain , or the cat and the mice at play on the same hearth-rug . Let our readers ponder the following extract from the laws of the Supremo Grand Council of England , mid they will then perceive that li g ht , yea ,

an exceeding great lig ht , has dawned upon tho opaque understandings of those "bulls of Bashan . " "Thia council does not interfere with or militate against the authority of the Grand Lodge

governing tlio three symbolic degrees , but distinctly recognises such authority , admitting none to the hi g her degrees unless previousl y raised as M . M . in some regularly-constituted lodge . It does