Cosmopolitan Masonic Calendar.

COSMOPOLITAN MASONIC CALENDAR .

W . Masters and Secretaries are earnestly requested to forward to the publisher , at the Offices , 198 , Fleet . street , E . G ., jiarticulars of the place , days , and months of meeting of their respective lodges , chapters , and other Masonic bodies , for insertion in the issue of the Calendar for 1877 .

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IMPORTANT NOTICE .

COLONIAL and FOREIGN SUBSCRIBERS are informed that acknowledgments of remittances received are published in the first number of every month .

It is very necessary for our readers to advise os of all monev orders they remit , more especially those from the United States of America and India ; otherwise we cannot tell where to credit them .

To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The Freemason is a sixte : n-page weekly newspaper , price ad . It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important , interesting , and useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Annual subscription in the United Kingdom , Post free , 10 / - P . O . O . ' s tobc made payable at ^ the chief office , London .

New Postal Rates.

NEW POSTAL RATES .

Owing to a reduction in the Postal Rates , the publisher is now enabled to send the " Freemason" to the following parts abroad for One Year for Twelve Shillings ( payable in advance ) : —Africa , Australia , Bombay , Canada , Cape of

Good Hope , Ceylon , China , Constantinople , Demerara , France , Germany , Gibraltar , Jamaica , Malta , Newfoundland , New South Wales , New Zealand , Suez , Trinidad , Lhu ' ted States of America , & -c .

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 . Wc do not undertake to return rejected communications . BOOKS , & C , RECEIVED : — " Hand and Heart ; " "New York Disj-atch ; " "Philadelphia Keystone ; " "North

British L / aily Mail , " uova , " I ' . ' ; " The Biiiish and Foreign Paper Trades' Review ; " " The Craftsman ; " " Masonic I lerald ; " " Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Royal and Select Masteis of the State of Ohio . " The following stand over : — Harmony Lodge , No . 438 ; Hartington , No . 1085 ; Grcymouth , No . 1233 ; Emulation , No . 1 io ; ; Star Lodge

of Instruction , No . 1275 ; Fermor Hesketh , No . 1350 ; Napthali , No . 266 ; Shamrock and Thistle and Cathedral Chapters , Glasgow ; Fortescue Murlc Lodge , No . n ; Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Leicestcishire ; " thc Car . t ol Freemasonry . " ( letti r ) Bro . Burn ' s leller received , and will bc attended to . A letter from Ihe editor of the " Masonic Magazine " relative to "Long Livers" will appear in our next .

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

[ The charge is 2 s . 6 d for announcements , not exceeding four lines , under this heading . ] *

BIRTHS . AHNOTT . —On the 9 th inst ., at Chichester , the wife of II . Arnolt , of a daughter . Bi . isn . —On the tth inst ., at Albert-road , N . W ., the wife

of R . Blind , ESIJ ., of a son . BOYS . —On the 4 th inst ., at Deal , the wife of Commander H . H . Boys , R . N ., of a daughter . BROMI . EV . —On the 10 th inst ., at Bath , the wife of J . M . Bromley , Uso ., M . A ., of a son , stillborn .

MARRIAGES . COATES—So WE BUY . —On the 5 th inst ., at Bcelsby , Lincolnshire , Thomas , son of T . Coates , of Bcelsby , to Mary Elizabeth , daughter of J . Sowerby , jun . M'LF . I . I . AN—TOMKINS . —On the 20 th ul ' ., at Woolville , King ' s County , Nova Scotia , David M'Lellan , Esq ., to Jane Harrison , daughter of F . J . Tomkins , Esq ., ol London .

STUONACII—LYAI . I .. — On the 3 rd inst ., at Peterhead , Aberdeenshire , John Stronach , Esq ., of Dimbula , Ceylon , to E . Grace , daughter of the late J . Lyall , A . M .

DEATHS . AUSTIN . —On the 10 th inst ,, Elizabeth Ann , wife of J . J . Austin , of Great Percy-street , aged 38 . CAPPKII . —On the Sth inst ., at Albion-terrace , Southampton , Mabel , daughter of the late M . Capper , Esq ., aged 17 . CI . AHK . —On the 7 U 1 inst ., at Dundarach . Aberfovle .

Perthshire , Thomas Clark , Esq ., A . R . S . A . CLOSE . —On the Oth inst ., at Springfield , Pembroke , Katherine Richmond , infant daughter of D . R . Close , Esq . TWEI > DA 1 . 1 ; . —On the 10 th inst ., at Yester House , HaddinqtoiiRhire , Bro . the Right Hon . George , Marquis of Tweddale , aged 90 .

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TheFreemason, SATURDAY , OCT . 14 , r 8 / < 5 .

The Difficulties Of The Masonic Press.

THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE MASONIC PRESS .

The position of tha Masonic Press and the rule of a Masonic editor aro not ever a " bed of roses . " There are difficulties attendant on all journalism , on all editorial labours , but the Masonic press is very heavily weighted for the

race . Owing , in the first p lace , to the peculiar teaching and aspects of Freemasonry , tbe normal difficulties of all journalism are increased a hundred fold . For Freemasonry , be it remembered , assumes a position of absolute neutrality in all matters purely political and religious , that is to

say , it passes no opinion on those questions which divide mankind in the two great " zones " which are respectively marked— " religion " and " politics , " and hence the serious difficulty of a Masonic editor . It is a most arduous labour , requiring great care and greater skill to avoid in

treating on the current subjects of the hour , whether entirely or only quasi-Masonic , impinging on one side or the other , and touching , however gently , those neutral sections of thought , teaching , and discussion . We had flattered ourselves that we had done so . We had hoped that

onr abstinence from all political or denominational preferences was as clear as it was avowed by us , was as distinct as we believed it to be consistently Masonic on all occasions . It appears , however , that we have been in error all this time , self-satisfied deceivers . A

correspondent of thirty years' Masonic standing informs us that our remarks upon " Ultramontanisni " have been for some time exceedingly '' offensive"' to him and to others . We are exceedingly sorry for tbe announcement , and regret the use of so hard a word , as we had reason to believe that

our language was not unacceptable to a very large circle of readers . For we have , in our own opinion , been alike most careful , moderate , discreet , and fair . We have not said even half what we might have said , or a third of what we felt on the facts submitted to us . We have ,

from the first , endeavoured to point out to our brethren that the habitual violence and unseemly language ofthe Ultramontane press , and of many high Roman Catholic authorities , were one thing , the rights and feelings of our Roman Catholic brethren , quite another . While we have

endeavoured openly , as we always shall , ( pace our correspondent ) , to maintain intact the undoubted rights of Roman Catholic Fieemasons , we shall always denounce that bigotry which refused the rites ofthe Roman Catholic Church to Bro . Armourer-Serjeant Johnson ; that brutality

which in a distant country disturbed tlie body of a poor departed Freemason , and used the sacred symbol of the Cross as if to hallow a deed of sinful violence and wrong . From time to time we have to read the outrageous language of the Ultramontane advisers of the Pope , of

Cardinals , Archbishops , and Bishops of the Roman Catholic persuasion , of lesser lights and petty imitators 5 and what are we to do ? Are we to leave them all unnoticed " ¦ * Are we to pass by them in silence or in contempt ' Is it not , on the contrary , our bounden duty to enlighten

out readers as to attacks which are dail y and hourly made , and which impose often on the weak-minded and the ignorant , and areyet as mendacious as they are unmerited ? We think so ; and we feel sure that on this point we shall have the warm approval of our much-maligned and

insulted Craft , alike as to the propriety of the course we have pursued and the moderation of the language that we have employed . For , be it remembered always , alike to the praise and credit of the " Freemason , " that it has never condescended to join in ary partizan clap-trap

or intolerant language against Roman Catholics qua Roman Catholics . We have , on the contrary , often been discreetly silent when others have been loquaciously open mouthed ; we have restrained the barbed arrows of invective when others have been loud in heated denunciations of the Church of Rome as a religious institution

The Difficulties Of The Masonic Press.

per se . We have always advocated freedom of conscience , and "liberty of prophesying , " as-well for Roman Catholics as for any one else , and we defy the most captious critic , and the most hasty assailant , to point out a single passage in which we have done despite to the great nrin .

ciple of absolute and Masonic toleration . Certain unwise words and unseemly acts of the Roman Catholic authorities have come before us , and we have dealt with them practically , and treated them conscientiously , and we must beg to tell our worthy correspondent that we shall

continue to do the same , whenever in our humble opinion the paramount interests of Freemasonry require such notice , or demand such ani . madversions in respect of Ultramontane tactics , or ignorant " accusers" of our "bre - thren . " Our correspondent has seized with

great adroitness on a little incident in respect of some humble Protestants at Minorca , which we transferred to our pages , and demands , somewhat excitedly , " what has this to do wilh Freemasonry ?* ' We never said that it had , but we used it as a fair and passing illustration ol

the rabid temper of Ultramontanisni just now , which seem :, to spare neither friend nor foe , and which seeks , by a violence of language and of action , to recall to the thoughtful the worst days and the gravest horrors of an inquisitorial regime . As advocates of the right of unlimited toleration

per se , of the sanctity of the human conscience . of freedom of worship , we are bound , as it appears to us , to protest in our humble pages , from time to time , when as it would seem intolerance runs riot , and bigotry becomes rampant in our very midst . The classing by the Bishop of Minorca

of Freemasons and Protestants together , and declaring that " putrid members must not touch sane members , " is a gross insult not only against all religion and common sense , but to tlie whole of the Masonic fraternity , and deserves to be noticed and branded as such before our entire

Order . If we are wrong in our view of the situation , we are at any rate in very good company . We can remember a speech addressed to Grand Lodge by our most distinguished Pro Grand Master , the Earl of Carnarvon , in which he denounced the intolerance and persecution of

Roman Catholicism as respects Freemasons everywhere , and if his remarks were justified then , ours are a " hundred fold pertinent to the occasion , and befitting now . His eloquentaddress at that period was supported warmly by sever . il brethren , and though the Grand Lodge , probably

most rightly , did not think well to set a precedent of any sort of condemnation of any relig ionbody , yet there was a general concurrence of opinion that such remarks were fully borne out in themselves by the known facts of the east * . But it is one thing to admit a fact , another t "

establish a precedent , especially for our English Grand Lodge , which has always manfully and nobly avowed distinct and absolute toleration . We admit that circumstances change with times , but never in our recollection has tin Ultramontane School betrayed so much childish

fear or so much unreasoning intolerance of Freemasonry as now . And under such circumstance ' we repeat , are we to sit still , " dumb dogs , " under most violent anethemata , public excommunications , and shameful incriminations ? In out opinion , it is neither our duty , nor will it be o »'

resolution , to submit to unparalleled outrages 0 ' so-called religious language , and these direct insults of Ultramontanisni . Why it is not a fe * months ago that one of the Spanish Bishop ' called our G . Master , H . K . H . the Prince of Wai » " the arch heretic" ( herejote ) , simply because h < *

was a Freemason , and are we Freemasons to g' | on " mealy mouthed " and with "bated breath , talk of such things , and simply protest by out moral teaching and action against them , forsw *" a course of action is unworthy of us all ? " *" '

say certainly not ; we have , thank God , hberi ) of speech , and liberty of the press as Eng lishmen and Freemasons , and we shall continue to ° ^ the one and the other , in the future as in "J " past , with moderation and calmness , and abov all with fairness and truth .

A Second Edition ofthe " Freemason " *'¦] , be issued on Saturday morning . Copies may be obtain ^ direct from the office by forwarding to tbe publisher - » in stamps .