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To ADVERTISERS . THE Circulation of THE FREEMASON being now at the rate of nearly Nalf-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 The Freemason is now the accepted organ of the Brotherhood in the United Kingdom , and also enjoys an extensive sale in the colonies and foreign parts , its advantages as an advertising medium can scarcely be overrated . For tenns apply to GEORGE KENNING , 2 , 3 , & 4 , LITTLE BRITAIN , LONDON , E . C .

Foreign And Colonial Agents.

Foreign and Colonial Agents .

e AMERICA : Bro . J . FLETCHER BRENNAN , 11 4 , Mainstreet , Cincinnati , Ohio . „ Messrs . WOODRUFF & BLOCKER , Little Rock , Arkansas , U . S .

CANADA : Messrs . DEVRIE & SON , Ottawa . CAPE OF GOOD HOPE : Bro . GEORGE BRITTAIN , Cape Town . CEYLON : Messrs . AV . L . SKEENE & Co ., Colombo . CONSTANTINOPLE : Br . I . L . HANLY , Levant Times .

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GALATA : IPSICK KHAN , Perche-Bajar . LIBERIA -. Bro , HENRY D . BROWN , Monrovia . PARIS : M . DECHEVAUX-DUMESNIL , Rue de Harlaydu-Palais , 20 , near the Pont Neuf ; Editor Le Franc-Macon . WEST INDIES : Bro . J A . D . SOUZA , Falmouth , Jamaica . And all Booksellers and Newsagents in England , Ireland , and Scotland .

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

—?—MARRIAGE . FORSYTH—CAMPBELL . —On the 27 th ult , at Montreal House , Hamilton , Scotland , hy the Rev . Dr . Keith , Bro . Charles G . Forsyth ( Villiers Loilge , 1194 ) , Isleworth , to Catherine Campbell , daughter of the late Panicl Campbell , of Glasgow .

DEA TIL BARBER . —0 \\ Sunday , 6 th inst ., Captain Havby Barber , AV . M . of the Dalhousie Lodge , No . 1159 , London , & c .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

—?—X . Y . Z . — Write to Bro . J . G . Findel , Leipzig , for information ns to the German Union of Freemasons , or perhaps Bro . Hughan , of Truro , can supply the particulars you require . M . DECHEVAUX-DUMESNIL , Paris . — Thanks for your letter . We will insert a report next week .

Several communications of great interest stand over till next week , in consequence of the length of the Brett Testimonial report .

BRO . ANDERSON ( the Wizard of the North ) , lately at one of his entertainments at Dundee , addressed the Masonic brethren present , under whose patronage the entertainment was given , on the importance of establishing educational Masonic Institutions , like those in England . Upon this subject the Professor spoke as follows : —Before 1

came to Dundee I attended a meeting of Freemasons in Edinburgh , with much pleasure . I never spent a happier evening . I had to deliver a speech , and I need only say that the suminun bonum of it simply was that Masonry in Scotland ought to be represented as it is in England . ( Applause ) . I am a member of the English body ; and neither my

family nor myself ever spent a more glorious day than when I invited the children of the Boys' and Girls' Schools in London to come to St . James ' s Hall to witness my entertainment . And they did come , and they were delighted . Clean and well educated—and who were they ? They were the sons and daughters of decayed Masons , brought up

in one of the most magnificent institutions in the world . ( Loud applause ) . If the Scotch members are worth anything , let them also follow the example of their English brethren , and found a similar institution , whereby their sons and daughters

may be educated and taken care of . When in Edinburgh , 1 put down my name for a subscription with this view , and I have no doubt , if unanimity exists among the members , in a year or two Scotland will also boast of such an institution . ( Applause ) .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 12 , 1870 .

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THE FREEMASON is published on Saturday Mornings in time for the early trains . The price of THE FREEMASON is Twopence per week ; quarterly subscription ( including postage ) 3 s . 3 d . Annual Subscription , ras . Subscriptions payable in advance . AH communications , letters , & c , to be addressed to the EDITOR , 2 , 3 , and _ j , Little Britain , E . C . ' The Editor will pay careful attention to all MSS . entrusted to him , but cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by postage stamps .

A Step In The Right Direction.

A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION .

THE growth of a truly catholic spirit amongst the Freemasons of England is one of the most noteworthy signs of the times . Since the union of the two Grand Lodges

in 1813 , the hostility of some , and the indifference of others in the " body of Masonry" to the Christian developments of the Order , have caused great pain as well

as astonishment to thorough students ofthe Masonic system , and it is therefore not surprising to find that many brethren

considered that an actual antagonism existed between the Grand Lodge of England and the supporters of the Higher Grades .

Wc—although not as old as Methuselahcanoursclf remember the timewhen to avow oneself a " Rose Croix " or a " Templar " in a lodge of English Freemasons was

equivalent to a declaration that one had bowed the knee at the shrine of Moloch , and passed through the fire of some strange idolatry . The ignorance which once prevailed as to

the real origin of the Craft , tlie multiplication of lying legends which beset one ' s path in every direction , the unmeaning cry of sectarianism which resounded whenever

any allusion to the ancient character of Freemasonry was made—all these circumstances tended to circumscribe our real area of usefulness , even at the very moment

when " universality " and " cosmopolitanism " were stereotyped phrases in the Fraternity . Now let it bc perfectly understood that wc arc ready , willing , and

moreover proud , to receive with the hand of fellowship every true Freemason throughout the globe ; we care not for his colour or hisclimc , forhisopinions , religiousorpolitical ,

but wc claim for our own convictions the respect which we arc prepared to extend to those of others . Docs this strike at the root of " Universality ? " Does this shake a

leaf from the noble tree under whose branches we enjoy the truest rights of humanity ? We trow not ; and wc rejoice to sec the day , when our long cherished ideas receive

authoritative expression and sanction from the leaders of Freemasonry in England . No reader of English Masonic history can have failed to notice that every writer , from

Anderson to Oliver , endeavours to connect ' Speculative Freemasonry" with the operative associations of the past , and the few who have fully digested all that is really

valuable in our records , have arrived at the inevitable conclusion , that if modern Freemasons arc the descendants of those mediaeval men of genius—if , like the beacon fires of old , Freemasonry has been handed on ,

A Step In The Right Direction.

from sire to son , an unbroken girdle of light and glory—it follows that we have accepted a Christian inheritance , we have renewed a Christian vow , and unless we

fulfil the mission Avhich they have bequeathed to us , in the spirit of that lex non serif ta , we may be said to have forfeited our rank

in the bright hierarchy of Masonry , and are unworthy of the name , "true and perfect Masons . "

¦ We do not intend to argue in favour of the antiquity of any particular degree , but we can assert without fear of contradictionand in so doing we appeal for corroboration

to Bro . William James Hughan , than whom a more competent Masonic arbiter does not exist in Europe—that Christianity is the pivot upon which ancient Operative Masonry

turns , and this is easily explained by the fact that the greatest patrons of architectural art in the middle ages were priests of the Christian Church .

In those days , as in the present , Freemasons had their secrets , they possessed a peculiar organisation by which they Avere enabled in many different countries to

rearthose magnificent structures which bear the impress of one grand and comprehensive design . Their documents breathe the religious spirit of the times ; hence the

favour of Rome , which saw no danger in a society of men devoted to the Church and the Crown . But with the dawn of more liberal opinions , we find the Freemasons in

the van-guard of liberty , Ave find them discarding the privileges they possessed , and hastening to place the incalculable might of their strongly-knit fraternity in the scale of

the oppressed . Sacerdotalism encountered a power superior to its own , and succumbed ; mankind is the wiser and happier for the change .

The portals of Freemasonry were then flung wide open to all who chose to enter , provided always that they were men who

believed in an over-ruling Providence , and respected the sancity of the obligation which bound them for ever to the Craft .

The initiative in this extended view of the Masonic Institution was taken in England ; thenceforth Jews and Mahommedans , Hindoos and Parsccs , were eligible to the

benefits of Freemasonry , and as a natural result , the Order is now spread over the four quarters of the globe . We rejoice in this—all are welcome , if good men and

true—but wc must not utterly ignore the past ; wc must not cast to the winds those simple formulas , those familiar traditions which our forefathers loved and cherished .

Wc admit a Mahommedan to our mysteries , he is sworn on the Koran ; a Parsce , and lie swears by fire , but strange to say in our admiration of universality the

only creed to which we deny the right to choose the form most binding on its professor ' s conscience is the Christian ! A Jew may claim to be obligated on the Old Testament ,

but a believer in Christianity must bc silent about the New . From this singular darkness of vision we have just emerged , thanks to the unwearied exertions of a well-known