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NOTICE .

The Christmas number of the Freemason will consist of 32 pages , exclusive of wrapper , which will be illustrated in the highest style of the art of wood engraving , and will contain life-like portraits of

H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , M . W . G . M . The Right Hon . Lord Carnarvon , M . W . Pro . G . M The Right Hon . Lord Skelmersdale , R . W Deputy G . M . The Right Hon . Lord Donoughmore , R . W

S . G . W . The Hon . W . Warren Vernon , R . W . J . G . W

Samuel Tomkins , V . W . G . Treas . John Hervey , V . W . G . Sec . The price of this number to non-subscribers will be four pence . To prevent disappointment , it is very necessary that orders should be sent at once to the Office , 19 8 , Fleet-street , or through any newsagent .

To Advertisers.

TO ADVERTISERS .

The Freemason has a large circulation in all parts of the Globe , its advantages as an advertising medium can therefore scarcely be overrated . ADVERTISEMENTS for the CHRISTMAS NUMBER should reach the Office , 19 S Fleet-street , London , by 12 o ' clock on Wednesday .

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NOTICE ,

To prevent delay or miscarriage , it is particularly requested that A __ communications for the " Freemason , " may be addressed to the Office , 198 , Fleet-street , London .

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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 us of all money orders they remit , more especially those from the United States of America snd India ; otherwise we cannot tell where to credit them .

To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The Freemason is a sixteen-page weekly newspaper , price 2 d . It is published every Friday morning , anil contains the most important , interesting , and useful informr . tion relating to Freemasonry in every tlegree . Annual subscription in the United Kingdom , Post free , 10 / 6 . P . O . O . 's to bs made payable at the chief office , London .

NEW POSTAL RATES . Owing to a reduction in the Postal Rates , tile publisher is now enabled to send the "Freemason" to the following parts abroad for One Year for Thirtcen ' . Shillings ( payablein advance ) : —Africa , Australia , Bombay , Canada , Cape of Good Hi' ; ' ; -, Ceylon , China , Constantinople , Demerara , France , Germany , Gibraltar , Jamaica , Malta , Newfoundanil , New South Wales , New Zealand , Suez , Trinidad , United States of America . iV-c .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

Matk Masonry . —1 . No difference . 2 . Yes . . *> . Yes . C L . —Vie cannot vote at all 111 thc lodge in which lie was initinted as a serving brctlur , but can in another lodge , hy |) . T ing Ihe nrjui-itc lodge firs and subscriptions . Report : ; oi Linn nntl bmli Lodge , HJJ ; St . John ' s Lodge , 27 : ) , l . ei ; - « tcr ; nnd Clapu 11 Lotlge of Instruction will nppc ; : r in " :. ' . " * •lex !' .

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

[ ' 11 ' .. * charge h : > . ( id . for announcements , net exceed ing four lines , under this heading . ]

BIR'I IIS . ATKINSON . —On the , 10 th ult ., at Bnwdon , Cheshire , the wife cf F . G . Atkinson , of a daughter . BAU nn . —On the Sth inst ., at Hope Park , Bromley , thc wife rf A . I . Baker , of a son .

M-uiMi . u . i .. —On thc icth mst ., at The Crescent , Clapham Common , thc wife of VV . Marshall , of a daughter . TAYI . OII . — On the gth inst ., the wife of G . C . Taylor , Esq ., ofa daughter . Wi'tm . —On ihe 10 th inst ., at Haywood Mount , Tenby the wife nf Comr . A . II . Webb , R . N ., of a son .

DEATHS . CiiAi'i . ii- ; . —On the nth inst ., in London , Thomas Hanby Chaplain , B . A ., pged 2 % . GKII-TI i : i . —On the " - ' th inst ., ; it Stike , Devonport , Cecilia Zoffany , willow of the late P . Griffith .

MOIK'AN . —On tbe Sth inst ., at Pope ' s-grove , Twickenham , Linm . i , wife < f . \ . . Mo / g . iu . SAVAU / -. — - On the 12 II 1 ult „ at Sault St . Mary , Canada , Mary Anne , wid . w of Col . J . M . Savage , aged 76 . SMITH . —On the 10 th iti « t „ at The Grange , Shephcrd ' sbush , John Smith , aged 71 .

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TheFreemason, SATURDAY , DEC . 16 , il \ " ] 6 .

The Last Quarterly Communication.

THE LAST QUARTERLY COMMUNICATION .

The last meeting of Grand Lodge was neither very long , nor , to say tlie truth , very important , though a good deal of essential business was nevertheless transacted . Onr Royal Grand Master was nominated for re-election , and the hearty applause of the brethren was a good

index to the feelings of our entire Craft . Bro . Clabon was reappointed President of the Lodge of Benevolence , a matter of much gratification to all . Two appeals of some little intricacy , thanks to the lucid exposition of our esteemed Grand Registrar , were adjudicated upon

easily by Grand Lodge . We are to have a special meeting of Grand Lodge to consider the report of the Special Committee . This is , in our opinion , a very wise decision ; and until that report is in our hands , proposals are premature and discus

sion is out of place . We have delegated a special work to a special committee , and until we learn what that committee has to say on the subject , whatever our personal feelings or private notions may be , we must be content to sit still and to hold our tongues .

The Departure Of Our Bro. The Duke Of Abercorn From Ireland.

THE DEPARTURE OF OUR BRO . THE DUKE OF ABERCORN FROM IRELAND .

No one can read the interesting acconnt in the 77 we-. ? of this recent event without being deeply p leased , and not a little moved . There is , and there ought to be , always amongst Englishmen and Freemasons a warm sympathy for Ireland and its warm hearted people . No one can deny

the impulsive nature of the Celt , or that there still lingers amid the population of the " Green Island , " many aspirations and sympathies , which fall on our cold and more phlegmatic Anglo-Saxon temperament somewhat amazedly and coldly , so to say , at times . But his must be a

callous heart , or an ungenerous disposition , who does not feel much of interest in a land which often seems to us to have a very great deal to commend it alike to the caieful consideration of the publicist , the ardent longings of the politician , the dream of the poet , and the rid miration

of the genial hearted . The good government of that important portion of her Majesty ' s Domi nions is indeed a subject of vital importance to us all alike , and every one who has any pretence either to the character of a patriot or a statesman , much less that of a Masonic philosopher ,

will always rejoice to hear of the inward prosperity and onward progress of Ireland . In Bro . the Duke of . Abercorn , Ireland has recently parted with an able ruler and a sagacious administrator . No more popular Lord Lieutenant has ever presided over the graceful hospitality of

Dublin Castle , and the pleasant rule of his kindly administration will long be preserved green nnd fresh in the warm memories of the Irish people . As an Irish landlord , as a prudent and polished , anil fair nnd courteous representative of Her Majesty the Queen , his name will

long be associated , and most favourably too , with those who make up the long list of leading men , who have from time to time , swayed the Viceregal power in Ireland , and the amenities and graces of his family circle will always be remembered with sincere feelings of pride and

admiration . But , as Freemasons , we owe to our brother , the Duke of Abercorn , a warm tribute of grateful acknowledgement , as we / I as a friendly recognition of his many excellencies , social , political , and personal . In an hour of great trial for Freemasonry he was not ashamed to own us as his brethren . When the Craft in

Ireland was mourning their venerable head of many years , the kind and conciliatory " Geraldine , " the Irish Grand Lodge happily offered thc throno of Irish Masonry to Her Majesty ' s representative in that country , their eminent Bro . the Duke

of Abercorn . He at once gallantl y accepted the high honour , even though it exposed him to the virulence * of Ultramontane insult and the turgid utterances of "Cardinal Paul . " Despite the assertions of the ignorant and the

The Departure Of Our Bro. The Duke Of Abercorn From Ireland.

criticisms of the malevolent , he openly declared ' before all men , that he found Freemasonry to be ( as otherwise , he could in his official position have nothing to do with it ) a loyal , peaceable , benevolent order . There is a good deal more in this his act of high courage and straightforward

sincerity , ( in keeping with his entire career ) , than appears at first sight , and as Freemasons , we are bound to remember gratefully that we number him among the rulers of our Craft , and can look on him as a faithful and tried brother of our Order . In common with all classes of the

Irish people , we regret his departure from a country which he has ruled so well , and while his worth and capacity are alike universally acknowledged , and his resignation of his high office truly deplored , may all of good go with him and his family , and in the clime of the sunny

South may he find health and strength , for other duties to his Queen and country . We rejoice to think that his successor , the Duke of Marlborough , is a member of our fraternity , having been originally initiated , we are informed , in the famous Apollo Lodge at Oxford . We doubt

not , that in his hands the prestige of the Lord Lieutenancy will be well maintained , and that under the Regime of his amiable Duchess , the hospitality of Dublin Castle will be dispensed to the cordial satisfaction of all Her Majesty ' s loyal subjects in Ireland .

The Progress Of The Controversy Raised By The French Grand Orient.

THE PROGRESS OF THE CONTROVERSY RAISED BY THE FRENCH GRAND ORIENT .

It is somewhat amusing , though not a little serious , to note how quickly fulfilment has followed prediction , in this " vexata quaestio . " We have already said , that the effect of the

French agitation , and the unwise decision of the Grand Orient would be to produce isolation , and that isolation has already commenced . Indeed , it is not too much to say that the effect of the action of the Grand Orient of France has been

to produce pain and stupefaction 111 other Masonic bodies . Bro . Andre Roussclle seemed to fancy that all such fears were chimerical and groundless , he will we suspect be ready to admit ere very long , that Bro . Behr and others were perfectly right in their

apprehensions and prognostications . Thc Grand Orient of Egypt has already manifested its entire disapproval of the step . By a resolution and decree of Nov . I , unless this motion for removing the belief in God and the Immortality of the Soul be withdrawn , it declines to acknowledge the * Grand Orient of France

as a lawful Masonic power , and withdraws any request for recognition , and refuses any representative on its own behalf , at the Grand Orient of France , or any representative of the Grand Orient of France in tho Grand Orient of Egypt . The aiguments on which the decrees are based seem to bo these : — 1 . That the beli-. f in God is an universal and

unchangeable law of Fieemasons ; and 2 ndly , that the suppression of belief in God , as a necessary condition of admission , must not only lead to other consequences , but must inevitably drive out of Freemasonry all believers in God . To the Grand Oiient of Egypt , 'such a step appears ,

as to us , a R I-VOI . UTION ' . We have never concealed our opinion of tho mistaken and worse than mistaken policy which has resulted in such a dead-lock for the Grand Orient of France , as this resolution will prove to be if carried out . We conceive it to be an act of childish folly , only

equalled by its mischievous perversity . Despite the eloquence and ability by which this measure has been defended , eloquence and ability deserving of a better cause to support , we , from the first , have pointed out in language nearly similar to that of the Grand Orient of Egypt , what thc

effect would be on other bodies . and how seriously the whole Masonic edifice was shaken by such a breach in its constitutional foundation . AVe still trust that there is time for tlie Grand Orient of France to retrace its steps . For of one thing

we feel sure—of course wc speak with no authority beyond our own opinion—that if by any official act , the belief in the existence of God and thc Immortality of the Soul is openly repudiated by French Freemasonry , it will be