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[ The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents . ] THB LITERARY FUND .

( To the Editor of the Freemason . ) SIR AND BROTHER , —I believe your journal is the recognised organ of the Alasonic body in the United Kingdom , and I therefore desire to makeyou acquainted with the fact that a gross insult has lately been levelled at the Craft at large . A Professor Robertson , of the Romish University here , has been granted a literary

pension of ± 100 per annum . Now this man s only literary production of note is mendacious attack on Freemasonry , written to order , and yet he gets a pension from a Liberal (?) Government , of which Lords de Grey and Hartington are members . ' Where is their zeal for the Craft in this case ? 0 tempora , 0 mores ! Yours ,

AN INDIGNANT IRISH MASON Dublin , August 3 , 1869 . WHY DO THE HEATHEN RAGE ?

( To the Editor of lhe Freemason . ) DEAR Sin AND BROTHER , —You have no doubt observed that in the papers I have contributed to your excellent periodical , I have always abstained from commingling the remarks made upon any of those papers with the papers themselves . This week—in

addition to much personal affliction of a very different kind—I have to descend into the arena at the call of my esteemed friend " Viator . " and also to respond to a Transatlantic brother , "S . Evans , " hailing from the " solid " town of Boston , Alass .

The Pope and the Slave , to my thinking , are very much like Cassar and Pompey—so beautifully indistinguishable that you cannot tell them apart . The one , perhaps , has power to do that good which the other would fain effect . But I really must emphatically comment upon some remarks in both of these able letters .

I have looked at my article on Alasonry in Italy , but I do not see what " opprobrious epithets" I have bestowed on Afastai Ferretti . I think he has simply failed in his duty , under the absolute rule of the gentleman whose chief recommendation to the Under

\\ orld and r utiinty is summed np in the word " Perugia . ' To this Ferretti is decidedly an accessory . My esteemed friend " Viator " errs in some of his conclusions . He says , " Freemasonry on the Continent can accomplish more by a change of tactics than by identifying her mission with the cause of

misguided , though well-meaning , enthusiasts . " Does " Viator' mean to say that the landmarks of the Fraternity are to bc used like chessmen on a board ? How ca » Alasons change their tactics ? To criticise the latter portion of the sentence would be beneath my dignity . [ must , however , appeal lo the « ood sense of

Bro . " Viator " to withdraw the expression of " the glorious spirit of liberty . " Liberty is licence , not freedom . Freedom is a sacred thing , known only to the educated . You know you are free ; you believe you have liberty . We have all heard of the " glorious privilege of being independent , " but how few among

the myriads of " Plato ' s men , " as Diogenes termed the race , have any knowledge of the privilege Equality is only possible by education , and Heaven help the unfortunate catechumen who receives it at the hands of Rome—as I have before said , the Rome of Antonclli .

"Bro . "Viator'' talks of not being prepared to brand the Roman pontiff with the designation " miserable . " Did he read my paper with care ? Surely " miserable" is quite susceptible of a far other interpretation than '' despicable "! A man may bc miserable from the consciousness of havhiir committed

a great wrong , or connived at a great fraud . Alastat Ferretti has done both ; but he is a man , and the exquisite , remark of Chremes in the comedy of ferentius Af ' ur , applies to him : — "Homo sum , lmmani nihil a me aheiiem Puto . " lie , by a fraud , claims infallibility , but he is unable to divest himself of

humanity . 1 do not think , in the supremacy of his misery , that 1 could have used any other term . "Viator" will kindly r . ot assume that it is a matter of course that 1 meant , by " miserable , " '' despicable . " * ' Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown , '' and none know that better than those to whom crowns have become tanuliar .

Without desiring to offend my critic and friend , may I suggest that there are higher authorities than the Morning Advertiser awl Reynolds' Mis . ellany for anecdotes connected with the Papal Court . 1 have heard of Roseoe , and there is even tho paid dornale di Roma .

I am , in fine , " not abusing plaintiff ' s attorney "; I am denouncing a system on definite grounds , for definite reasons , with the utmost deliberation . 1 stated before that 1 had a wry vehement personality—I repeat the phrase . If I had it not , I should not bc able to strike ( lashes out of friend " Viator . " At the commencement of thin letter I said the Pope

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and the Slave were much in the same position . In real truth , they might be bracketed together . They are both public nuisances , caused by Roman Catholicism—for let me just say that Las Casus made slavery in the States .

Brother Samuel Evans I salute cordially . He is known to me , although 1 am not known to him . When I wrote my paper on Alasonry and the Slave , I attempted to comment upon Lowell ' s remark in the Biglow Papers , that ' •Slavery ain ' t of nairy colour . " We have no more right to enslave black men than we

have white , or any other tinge of the integument . But if , unfortunately , we find a less advanced race in a state of trouble , surely it is better to lead than to drive . There is such a thing as natural subordination , because human life is too short , and exposed to too many infirmities , to admit of perfectibility . I

remember the echoes of an anecdote which ended— "Brother , brother , we are all in the wrong ! " But to my task . I have no theory on the origin of Freemasonry ; I have never proclaimed one . I am ultra vires in the matter . Therefore , as there is no " speculation in mine eye , " there is no necessity for using coloured

mediums . I really don ' t believe that the estimable worthies known as Noah , Paul , Canaan , or Philemon were Alasons . What little real truth these legends contain , I leave to other folks to settle at their " own sweet will . " Quantum sufficit ego habet . " Davits sum , non CEdipus . "

" Slavery , " Brother Evans properly says , " was altogether human , and never divine . " Why ! the very recent origin of Freemasonry accounts for the centuries of slavery ' s existence . It was a great wrong , created by the monstrous union of an English Protestant Queen and a meddling pseudo-philanthropic

Spanish priest . Elizabeth and Las Casas have to answer this . She traded in " niggers , " and he traded in " benevolence , " as protector of the Indians . Bro . Evans , as an experienced man , will assess the value of the " noble savage . " Somebody called him the " meanest cuss out !"

I will draw the attention of Bro . Evans to the fact that my object was rather to attempt some definite statement of the case , than to try and assume an ex cathedra position . 1 say a slave , born in slavery—if the landmarks of Alasonry are to be respected—can not legitimately become a Alason . Should he attain

his freedom—as , by proclamation in the States , has occurred—being bom a slave , his issue would be eligible ; and so , in a generation , Africans and coloured persons would be admissible . But this is a purely legal argument . With every respect I submit that the feeling is not really adverse to the slave , but is inherent in the principles laid down . I am sure that neither Alasonry nor other Orders

arc anxious or willing to tread upon the persecuted and the wretched ; but their statutes , upon the due preservation of which their stability rests , must be regarded with reverence and cherished . The great battles of Freedom can only be fought by Education , and by an extermination of the causes which repress this . With a kind farewell , again 1 say , Roma o Alorte ! CRYI'TONYAIUS .

P . S . —I have , as Bro . Evans wishes , carefull y reviewed , not only this letter , but . my own articles ; may I suggest for the consideration of my good friend , the perusal of Bro . Oliver ' s last and greatest

book"lhe symbol of Glory t bhoull liro . Evans think any of my "Papers" worthy of reproduction in the States , he has my perfect consent to do with them as he may think lit . I shall also write to him by mail . C .

FREEMASONRY OFF THE PLUAIB AI GLASGOW .

( Iu the Editor of The Ircemason . ) Sin AND BKOTHKU , —Your contemporary has blown the trumpet and opened the seal of a new mystic revelation in thego-a-head City of St . Alungo . There is a song that runs something like : — " I . oc ; io i Uuchaii , and Logie tho Laird ,

They line ta ' eu awa Jeiuie wha delved in the yaird . " Now that was a well-conditioned case of kidnapping , but our Buchan , you see , is soft a little , and is content not with a good stalwart delver who can handle the spade , but is quite delighted with stumps , cork legs , artificial arms , anil g lass eyes , judging from his own

grand flourish , and is not so tremendously jiei junk as bluff Sir John Kalstaff , who exclaimed on reviewing his army . ' •Xo eyes hath seen such scarecrows ! I'll not march through Coventry with them , that ' s flat . " No certainly not , for his cry is : Come unto mo all ye cripp les , if ye can , but hobble up to mv altar and

I will make ye my brethren in the yoke and bondage of my Craft , and ye shall bc anointed and for ever accepted amongst the chosen '; for 1 , Buchan , have said it . All old things now have passed away , and a new form began . Long has the face of fair woman been absent from our Temple ,

"And tho wisest man the world o ' er saw , lie dearly lo ' edthe las ies 0 . " Yea , her tongue has not wagged in our halls , she is fair to look upon , and symmetry ani proportion are

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the beauty and strength of our Order . Gather ye gather ye , why keep ye out ? Enter my Lazaretto , all ye hermaphrodites , and I will receive ye , for lo ' . the people who sat in darkness have , through my instrumentality , seen a glorious light ! Hear then , ye long

proscribed , and come forth from your hiding-places amongst men , for behold a link to compromise the sexual prohibition has been found in thee , and I , even 1 , have found it . Aluch hath been written on the antiquity of my lodge , and proud am I of it ; but the ancient ordinances must dissolve " like the baseless

fabric of a vision , ' before the li ght of my new revelation . There is no royal road to Freemasonry , saith the slave of conscience , but free as the eagle that soars above all earthly things—even kings , principalities , idealities , and powers , 1 ' rovincial and Grand-- ! , even 1 , could have done the trick had his lloyal Hi ghness but condescended to belevel himself when asked .

" The wish may rise where waters flow , '' and Thistle Lodges may do the same by qualms of conscience , but as for me 1 ha . ve lived in the era of gutta percha and vulcanised india rubber ; most invaluable substances for the requirements of man , on account of their great adaptability , flexibility , impressionability , and powers of stretching , and in general being rather soft a little . I am , yours fraternally , AAIBIDEXTER .

FREEAIASONRY VERSUS AIASONRY . ( To the Editor of the Freemason . ) DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —The question proposed by Bro . "Leo" ( Vol 2 , No . 21 , p . 56 ) as to the reason of the absence of the " Company of Jfasons No . 30 , " from the Great Livery Companies of London ,

as apropos of landed possessions in Derry , does in fact answer itself : — " Because it was No . SO . " The Guilds , or Corporations , or Companies who advanced the money , were the first or foremost on the list , the most wealthy in fact , and though our present

Speculative Fraternity docs in all instances claim , and in some actually take " the number one " in true charitable matters , I fear the Operative Fraternity No . 30 could not hold its own with " the twelve " as a mere matter of money . Yours faithfully and fraternally ,

P . AI . ANTIQUITY , And a Brother Liveryman of the Drapers ' " one of the twelve . " London , Sth Aug ., 1869 .

IND 1 SCRIAIINATE ALMSGIVING , AND AIASON 1 C IMPOSTORS .

{ To the Editor of The Freemason . ) DEAII SIR AND BROTHER , —Would you kindly allow nic to call the attention of the Jlasonic public , to the habit of giving relief to unknown and unworth y Alasons , and to ask if any of your readers can make known a way in which these impostors could be made

public . Ihe desirability of establishing a good system of relief having been long felt by the brethren of Liverpool , Manchester , and Birmingham , they have organized in these towns , for thu purpose of carrying out this object , certain committees . These Committees have been successful in their operations , and by a weekly

interchange of Reports , find that ihey mutuall y protect each other from imposition , whilst opportunity is frequentlyaffordedof givingniore substantial relief than may be at the disposal of a single Committee . My object in addressing you on this subject , is to ask the large towns where no Committees are

established to join in this good work , and to adopt a similar system , and I shall be glad to lay our plans before your readers . Our Committees have no desire to monopolize the relief of all , still less to cheek the ( low of private

benevolence ; on the contrary , they wisli to sec charity widely exercised , but on deserving objects onl y , and not on impostors and vagabonds , i will now give you two cases of the many that tome before our Committees , and will need no comnunts of mine . Relief Committee , Liverpool . August Gth , extract from Report : — II G n , 17 New York , relieved b y the

Liverpool Committee with 20 s . to jo to London to meet his mother , instead of going to London he went to Manchester , where he stated he lad come direct from Glasgow by rail , had never \ ecn relieved in England . He was furnished with the Liverpool Report of ills ., he then admitted having heel relieved by us

in Liverpool , of course the Mitnclester Committee gave him nothing and sent him awa ; empty . JACQUES L s , of Paris . 'J lis wis a Frenchman ; hecamebefore the Liverpool Ccmnittce for means to go home ; we sent him to the Digressed Foreigners ' Society , they granted him a passive home , and we granted him 20 s . also . Instead of ; oing home he went

to Alanchestcr , and when a .-ked if ic had not had his passage paid he said he had not ; he denied having been in Liverpool ; this case is it j tlie hands of the Distressed Foreigners' Society to iCal with . He must be a great impostor . Hoping yu will find room in your next . I am , dear Sir & Brother , yours ^ uly and fraternally , THOALS MARSH , Hon . Secy ., Livcrpof Kelief Committee . Committee Rooms , lIope-8 t ., l > iverpool , Aug . 9 th .