Ad00606

To ADVERTISERS . THE Circulation of THE F REEMASON being now at the rate of nearly IlalJ-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 oonstantly increasing body , mainly composed of the influential and educated classes of society ; and as T-h e Freemason is now the accepted organ of the Brotherhood in the United Kingdom , and also enjoys an extensive sale in the colonies ind foreign parts , its advantages as an advertising medium can scarcely be overrated . For terms apply to GEORGE KENNING , 2 , 3 , & 4 , LITTLE BRITAIN , LONDON , E . C .

Foreign And Colonial Agents.

Foreign and Colonial Agents .

—*—AMERICA : Bro . J . FLETCHER BRENNAN , I 14 , Mainstreet , Cincinnati , Ohio . „ Messrs . WOODKUFF & BLOCHER , Little

Rock , Arkansas , U . S . CANADA : Messrs . D EVRIE & SON , Ottawa . CAPE OF GOOD HOPE : Bro . GEORGE BRITTAIN , * Cape Town . CEYLON : Messrs . W . L . SKEENE & Co ., Colombo . CONSTANTINOPLE : Br . J . L . HANLV , Levant Times .

EAST INDIES : Allahabad : Messrs . WYMAN BROS . Bombay : Bro . M . B . C 01 IEN . Bycnlla : Bro . GEO . BEASE . Central Provinces : Bro . F . J . JORDAN . Kurrachee : Bro . G . C . BRAVSON . Madras : Mr . CALEB FOSTER . Mho-. o : Bro . COWASJEE NUSSERWANJEE . Poona : Bro . W . WELLIS .

GALATA : II-SICK KHAN , Pevche-Bajar . LIBERIA : Bro . HENRY D . BROW . *" , Monrovia . PARIS : M . DECIIEVAUX-DUMESNIL , Rue de Harlaydu-Palais , 20 , near the Pont Neuf ; Editor Le Franc-Macon .

WEST INDIES : Jamaica : Bro . J A . D . SOUZA , Falmouth . Trinidad : Bros . S . CARTER and J LEWIS , 3 , Abercrombie-street , Port of Spain ; and Bro . W . A . KERNAIIAN , San Fernando . And til Booksellers and Newsagents in England , Ireland , aud Scotland .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

All communications for THE F REEMASON should be written legibly , on one side of the paper only , and , if intended for insertion in the current number must be received not later than 10 o ' clock a . in . on Thursdays , unless in very special cases . The name and address of every writer must be sent to us in confidence .

COSMOPOLITAN MASONIC CALENDAR . —Our thanks are due to Bros . Porler , of Preston , and Flynu , of Dublin , for their courteous communications . "SOMETHING WRONG . "—WC regret that pressure on our space precludes us from inserting the letters of Bros . John Taylor and Duncan Wilkie upon this subject . BRO . BURGESS . —We shall have great pleasure in

complying wilh your request . BRO . LOZACK . —Write a plain statement of the facts to Bro . W . A . Laurie , Grand Secretary , Freemasons' Hall , Edinburgh , and we have no doubt that he will make enquiries into the case , and send you the desired document . You can state that you have applied to us for advice .

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

MARRIAGE . DAVIS—FARNFIELD . —On the nth inst ., at St . Mark ' s , Kennington , by the Rev . E . M . Walker , B . A ., Vicar of Emanuel , Lambeth , assisted by the Rev . C . A . Berry , brother-in-law of thc bridegroom , Keuben Robert Davis , of Carey-street , Lincolu ' s-imi . and Clapham-road ,

to Millicent Ealey , eldest daughter of Bro . Wm . Farnfield , P . Asst . G . Sec . STOCKDALE — PATERSON . — On the 15 th inst ., at 57 , Anderton Quay , Brother Nathaniel Stockdale , M . M . Lodge Clyde , 408 , chief steward s . s . Anglia , Anchor Line , to Janet , eldest daughter of Mr . Wm . Paterson , of Milagavic .

DEATH . MCFARLANE . —Drowned , on the 4 th ult ., at Bombay , Bro . Andrew McFarlane , M . M . Lodge Clyde , No . 408 , ' chief officer ship Ciiy of Tanjore . Friends will please accept this intimation .

THE Andrew Chapter , No . 834 , will be consecrated at thc Koyal Sussex Hotel . Hammersmith , on the 37 lh inst ., hy Comp . K . Wentwurth Little . P . Z . 177 aid 97 S- The Principals will be installed b y Comp . Andrew , Y . L . 10 , the respected godfather of the new chapter .

Ar00603

The Freemason , SATURDAY , AUGUST 20 , 1870 .

Ar00607

THE FREEMASON is published on Saturday Morning ! in time for the early trains . The price of THE FREEMASON is Twopence per week ; quarter ]' subscription ( including postage ) 35 . 3 d . Annual Subscription , 12 s . Subscriptions payable in advance . All communications , letters , Kc , to be addressed to the EDITOR , a , 3 , and 4 , Little liritain , E . C . The Editor will pay careful attention to all MSS . entrusted to . himbut cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by postage stamps .

The Canadian Difficulty

The CANADIAN DIFFICULTY

FROM the Craftsman we learn that the Annual Communication of tlv : Grand Lodge of Canada was held at Toronto on the 13 th ultimo , and that the meeting was

attended by over six hundred brethrenbeing the largest representation of the Craft that has ever been gathered together in the Dominion . And , truly , the issue to

be decided was one of that grave and solemn nature as might well account for so large a muster of Masons . It is well known that the secession of the Quebec brethren

from the Grand Lodge of Canada , and the consequent establishment of a separate Grand Lodge for that province , have given great offence to the Canadian Masonic

authorities , who deny the right of the Quebec brethren to autonomy in Masonic affairs , notwithstanding the fact that every other province in the Dominion has a Grand

Lodge of its own . Opinions differ greatly as to the legality of the proceedings by which the Grand Lodge of Quebec was inaugurated , and our readers may

remember that we at first expressed an opinion that the action of the secessionists in precipitating matters to a conclusion was neither wise nor judicious ; but , at that

period , we confess that our knowledge of the accompanying circumstances was somewhat incomplete . We blamed thc promoters of the movement for faults of omission

from which subsequent information proved them to have been entirely free . We found that the present Grand Master of Canada , Bro . Stevenson , was originally one of the

warmest supporters of Quebec ' s claims to independence , and we found that similar views were entertained by some of the best and most experienced Masons in the

Dominion . And as to the mode of procedure adopted by tlie brethren in the formation of the new Grand Lodge , a superficial glance at the history of Freemasonry in

every country or state was sufficient to prove , to any unprejudiced observer , that the course pursued was precisely in accordance with precedents which every

brother is bound to recognise . One of the strongest points alleged in opposition to the separation is . that the division of Canada into distinct provinces is simply a political

measure , and that Masonic Grand Lodges are not to be dislocated or rent asunder as a result of political changes . Another argument is cited to the effect that thc

Supreme Legislature in Canada enacts laws as before for both provinces . This we readily acknowledge ; and it may be remarked that Scotland and Ireland , although

The Canadian Difficulty

governed by the same Imperial Parliament as England , have yet separate organisations or ruling bodies in the Craft , and the Masonic orders in general . But our

Canadian brethren need scarcely look across the Atlantic for an illustration of the doctrine that political boundaries are somewhat recognised in the Masonic system . The

newly-created province of ManitoVjah is a case in point , and who will contend that the Grand Lodge of Canada , so-called , has exclusive jurisdiction in this latest addition

to the Dominion ; more especially , when it is remembered that New Brunswick and Nova Scotia—which are also integral portions of Canada—have separate Grand

Lodges of their own , and equal right to occupy , in a Masonic sense , the Manitobah district ? Moreover , in the United States every State or territory establishes an

independent Masonic jurisdiction within its political limits , provided the required number of lodges acquiesce , as soon as the

Federal Government invests it with certain defined political powers . For instance , the Grand Lodge of Maine formerly embraced within its Masonic fold several territories

which are now the seats of flourishing independent Grand Lodges ; and so well is the justice of Quebec ' s case understood by the enlightened jurists of Maine , that we find

they were almost the first to acknowledge and recognise the new Grand Lodge of Quebec , an example which has since been copied by several other Grand Lodges on

the American Continent , and which would have been almost universally followed were it not that some of the Masonic powers deemed

it expedient to defer recognition until they had first heard the result of calm reasoning onthesubject in the Grand Lodge of Canada itself .

Well , the Grand Lodge of Canada has met , and the brethren who were asked to suspend their decision—on the plea that the Quebec brethren would have an

opportunity therein of calmly stating the reasons which induced them to secede—must now feel that the Canadian " powers that be " have been simply playing upon their

credulity . From first to last it appears to have been a foregone conclusion that the existence of the Grand Lodge of Quebec should be ignored , and a very temperate

amendment , offering recognition to the sister Grand Lodge , was , it is needless to add , rejected by a large majority . And yet this amendment was proposed by no

less a person than Bro . Colonel W . M . WILSON , the First Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada . It was seconded by the distinguished Bro . DOUGLAS

HARINGTON , also a Past Grand Master , who supported it with all the weight of an experience which , in any other assembly than the Grand Lodge of Canada , would have

commanded the utmost respect and veneration . No ! the olive branch tendered by these illustrious brethren was

contumeliously spurned by thc hot-headed and hasty members of a Grand Lodge which owes its own existence—under almost identical circumstances to those now condemned