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NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS . —«—The 0 fficeof'THE FREEMASON is now transferred to 19 S , FLEET STREET , E . C . All communications for l ! , e Editor or Publisher should therefore be forzuarded lo that address .

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Dittos , UTiUTtngcs , nnb £ ) c ^! js . — — IiJRTIT . AMOS . —On August 22 nd , at Call . 10 , Peru , the wife of Henry C . Amos , Esq ., of a son ( still-burn ) .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

All communications for Tin : FKKKMASON- should he 'vriticn le ^ ihly on one side of the paper only , .-uu ! , if inti-m ! . ;!] tor iiiscili-n in lip ; current nuinhcr , must he received not I . iter tli . m 10 n \ : \<^ !; ; i . m . on Thursdays , unless in very special i ; iso > . The name and address of every writer must he sent to us in cuulidenco . Wc have received a copy of a Lecture bv P . m . the Rev . r . II . Newnham , l'rov . Grand Chaplain , Dorset , and purpose making some extracts therefrom ni .-xt week . THE RITE or MEMPHIS . —We have receiveil a letter from a brother , signing himself " Siiicirritv , " who denies the accuracy of a statement which we inserted la . -t week respec i IJJ the Rile . lie maintains that "Memphis "/' ..-recognised by the Grand Orient of France , alihim : ; h I' . rn . Thevenot , Grand Secretary of that bodv , has tifficiallv denied the recognition . We shall be gla ' l to learn that the characters of liro . Seymour and other heads of the Rite in America arc as unsullied as " Sincerity '' affirms — but this is beside the question asil slands . The point for us , as well as for all loyal KngiMt Magnus , to consider is simply this : that the Kite of . Memphis is the onl y so-e .. l ! ed Masonic Rite which has incurred the denunciation < , ! ' the Grand Lodge of England , and until that cctwiiv and prohibition be removed , we can neither support the Kite nor counsel any English brother , who has a ie > pcct for his obligation , to join or encourage it .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , OCTORER 14 , 1 S 71 . THE FREEMASON is published on Saturday Mornings in time for ihe early trains . The price of Tim FKKKMASO . V is Tn-op < -ncc per « cet :: .-iinm-il subscription , 10 s . ( pnyahle in advance ) . All comniinicitions , letters , tec , to be ruMrewrJ to the Furroit 198 , Fleet-street , K . C . The Editor will pay careful ntlenii ,,,, to all MSS . cuLmtod to him but cannot undertake lo return litem unie-.- , act unu . illicit bv 'Just iut stamps . ' ' *¦

A Contrast.

A CONTRAST .

WE have frequently had occasion to refer to the splendid organisation of American Masonic bodies , and have even incurred the

A Contrast.

wrath of certain quidnuncs at home for the outspoken manner in which we have awarded the palm in this respect to our Transatlantic brethren . Fortunately the

tidings of Lord Ripon ' s Masonic reception at Washington so strongly corroborated the estimate we had formed , that thoughtful English Masons are beginning to inquire

whethcrour English system is all perfection ? whether the want of cohesion—nay , the illdisguised hostility unhappily existingbetween some of the branches of English

Freemasonry , is worthy of our ancient reputation and renown , or consistent with the progressive tendencies of the age ? In no other Grand Lodge in the world , save our

own , would a man of shady antecedentsa man actually under the ban of suspension from two such widely-acknowledged Masonic Orders as the Knights Templar

and the Ancient and Accepted Rite ; in no other Masonic body , wc repeat , would such a man have been allowed to pour forth , as far as the limited extent of his capacity

would admit , a tirade of abuse and vituperation against influential Masonic degrees and respectable brethren . Yet , unhappily ,

it is too true that this disgusting exhibition took place at the last Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge of England .

Let us consider the case . For many years past a fair proportion of the gentlemen who receive the Craft and Royal Arch degrees

in this country have entered what arc here termed the " unrecognised " Orders , which , with the exception of the Mark Degree , are Christian in their traditions and ceremonials .

So far from those unrecognised degrees being antagonistic to the Craft , they absolutely depend upon it for membership , and rise or fall with its fortunes . Nor do wc

find that the authorities of Grand Lodge , in former days , looked with a jealous eye upon the progress of the chivalric degrees . On the contrary , it is well authenticated that

some of these degrees were worked in England over eighty years ago , under charters express !) - granted to the then Grand Treasurer , Bro . James Hcscltinc , the Grand

Secretary , Bro . William White , and a clerk in the nlT \ zc of Grand Lodge , Bro . George William Sweetirnbourg . Nor were the executive officials at that period the only

representatives of the Grand Lodge of England in the " unrecognised" degrees , for even such mighty dignitaries as the Royal Grand Masters patronized the kn ghtly

assemblies , and promulgated Rosicrucian and Templar mysteries . The Duke of Sussex ate the forbidden fruit—his Secretary , William Ifenrv White , son of the

above-mentioned White , nibbled at it under his Royal -ATaster ' s sanction , and even for sometime after the Mason prince had been gathered to his fathers .

Now , these are facts which cannot be gainsayed , denied , glossed over , or erased from the page of our Masonic history ; and ,

being fact ; , they make us blush for the intolerance which some—let us hope an insignificant minority—of the English Craft express towards their brethren of the so-

A Contrast.

termed " higher grades . " Far otherwise is it in the United States of America . There , where Masonry , like the light of Heaven , is found in every village , and spreads its canopy over every State—there , where our

Institution has made unparalleled progress , is to be found , not only the greatest development of Templar Masonry , but the

utmost good feeling and brotherly loye , between all who " profess and call themselves " Masons .

The moment is opportune for comparison , inasmuch as the Knights Templar of the United States have just held their triennial Grand Encampment at Baltimore . How were they greeted by their brother Masons ? Let Grand Master Latrobe ' s words

sufficiently testify : " In the name of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Maryland , I bid you welcome to the State . As Grand Master of the Masons hereI place our Temple at your disposal . Not

, myself a member of your Order , I still know that , tobecome a Templar , one mast first be a Mason ; and in executing the office with which I have now been honoured , I feel that I am greeting Masons not less than Templars with words of kindness

and regard . Is not the feeling which dictated this welcome more in harmony with true Masonic principle than the narrow-mindedness which would have said to the Templars : "Away ,

pollute not our Temple with your presence —we do not acknowlcdgcyou as part of the great Masonic family ; ye arc as lepersunclean and abhorrent to the sight of a true blue Mason ! " Is it not better to evoke

fraternal sentiments like those expressed in response by the Grand Commander , Sir Knight William Gardner Sewall ? " Your warm and fraternal greeting is most gratefully received by the Grand Encampment

of the United States , and by the Knights Templar of the Union assembled in your city . As Templars , we recognise the Institution of Ancient Craft Masons as the foundation-stone upon which we have erected our Christian

Temple . If this foundation is insecure , or uncertain , or if it should be withdrawn from beneath the structure , the Temple of Knighthood , which now safely and securely rests upon it , would topple over , and be buried in a general ruin .

Your words of welcome cheer us . They show he deep sympathy which exists , and which , it is tlaimed . has existed for centuries , between the crcat Fraternity of Freemasonry and the Order which we represent . Wc have come up here

from all the States , from the district and from the territories , not only as knights of our illustrious Order , but as citizens of the Republic , having a common interest in the perpetuity of our institutions of government , and in the preservation of a Union which , we trust , will be perpetual . "

Now , the moral of all this may be gathered in a few sentences . As wc intimated , some wcckssincc , when writing upon the introduction of the Cryptic Rite into England , there is really no specific

recognition of the Royal Arch , the Knights Templar , or any other Masonic organization , by any of the Symbolic Grand Lodges in America . The degrees beyond Master Mason arc known to be part and parcel of

the system , and there the knowledge of the Craft Grand Body ends . But , in consequence of the friendly , the fraternal attitude of the Grand Lodges , all the other bodies support blue or symbolic Masonry with the