To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The Freemason is a sixteen-page weekly newspaper , price 2 d . It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important and useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Annual subscription in thc United Kingdom , Post free , io / . Brethren in foreign parts , wishing to have this newspaper sent them regularly

from thc office of publication , should , in sending their remittances , add to the 2 d . per week the postage on 20 Z . newspapers . The Freemason may be procured through any newsagent in-the United Kingdom by giving- ( if needed ) the pub-Usher ' s address ,-198 , _ lcct-st .

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 . for terms , position , & c , apply to GEORGE KENNING , 198 , Fleet-st .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

All Communications , Advertisements , & c , intended for iiis-rtion in the Number of the following Saturday , must reach the Office not later than 12 o ' clock on Wednesday morning . Careful attention will be paid to all MSS . entrusted to the Editor , but he cannot undertake to return them unless

accompanied by stamped directed covers . Bro . W . S . ( Gibraltar ) is thanked for his interest ! ng report . Shall be glad to receive further favours from him . The following communications stand over : — "Joining Members ; " " The Mark Degree . " Reports of Lodges 281 , 1328 , 1309 , 1349 ; Chapters

41 , E . C . ; 137 , S . C ; Mark Lodges 9 , 65 . Prov . Grand Chapter of West Yoikshirc—too late for this week—in our next . k The report of the General Board to thc Grand Mark odge 011 the 30 th ult . will appear in our next impression . Consecration of the Ellington Lodge , No . 155 6 . Several Reports of Scotch Lodges , noticed under that heading , stand over .

BOOK RECEIVED . Bro . C . Van Dalen , Kalendar fur Freimaurer for 1876 , Leipzig , Findel .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , NOV . 20 , 187 . 5 .

Our Royal Grand Master's Visit To India.

OUR ROYAL GRAND MASTER'S VISIT TO INDIA .

Our Royal Grand Master lias been at Bombay and Barelii since our last , and has also visited Poonah , and many other places of interest . We give the " Times " telegrams up to a . 43 a . m . 17 th inst : —The Prince has spent a quiet day . There was a display of presents in the forenoon ,

and later he witnessed the performance of conjurors and snake charmers , and received the Agha Khan , said to be a descendant of the Old Man of the Mountains , who expressed great delight at seeing the descendant of Edward' of England . At 4 . 30 the Prince drove in state to

the Secretariat , and mounted to the Esplanade . There were immense crowds collected to see him , including many native Chiefs and Europeans . He subsequently presented colours tothe 21 st Regiment of Native Infantry or Marine Battalion . There were present on the parade the 3 rd Hussars , 2 nd Queen ' s , isb Bombay Lancers ,

Poonah Horse , troops of Artillery , Garrison Battery , and two Native Regiments . The Prince expressed the pleasure he felt in presenting colours to such a distinguished regiment , and in seeing native troops for the second time . He congratulated them on their soldier-like appearance and steadiness under arms . The Prince then

begged Colonel Carnegie the favour of allowing him to take possession of the old colours of the regiment , which in two years would have completed a century , and said he would give them a p lace in his house . The march past was very good . The crowds evinced great loyalty by

their cheers and behaviour . The Governor , after dinner to the Prince and suite , gave a grand ball , which was very successful and brilliant . The results of the Koyal visit are described on all hands as being most extraordinary . The Native Press i . s exub . rant in its expressions of

gratification . The Poonah reception astonished even old Indians . Tlie " Brahmin hotbed " was as loyal as any town in England . The Prince is in excellent health . Telegrams from Southern India ate anxiously awaited , as the movements depend on them . Bro . Lord Chaiies Beresford i-

Our Royal Grand Master's Visit To India.

perfectly well . The Serapis sails on Monday , and" probably will visit Goa and call at Beypore . She will thence proceed to Colombo . The Prince will visit Ceylon , and go from Tuticorin

to Madras . It is considered necessary to call at Madras . Captain Glyn takes the responsibility . The Prince will go thence to Calcutta . A banquet will bs given on board the Serapis to the Government authorities .

Good News From India

GOOD NEWS FROM INDIA

Very pleasant for all loyal Freemasons and , we may add , for all patriotic Englishmen , is the telegraphic intelligence from India . The progr-ss of our Grand Master seems to be one of uninterrupted success in every respect ; and if his reception at Bombay be an omen

of his subsequent welcome at Calcutta and other portions of our great Indian dependency , we may fairly regard it as one long ovation of loyalty and devotion on the part of a happy , a progressing , and a well governed people . Nothing so much strikes us as this evidence of the

real feelings ofthe Indian population , despite the sometimes vapid and childish jeremiades of journalists and politicians . The great mass of the toiling peoples of Hindostan are thoroughly loyal and perfectly contented . The British Government of India is alike honourable to the

governors and beneficial to the governed . No longer at the mercy of each petty tyrant , no longer ground to the dust by unlicensed exaction and irresponsible authority , the natives are well aware that English laws are administered impartially , and that English justice secures to

all a fair hearing ' , and equitable decisions . Hence the many millions of an industrious population under British rule pursue the " even tenour of their way " in peace snd prosperity , * ' no one making them afraid , " and with an ever present sense alike of the certainty of protection , and the

power of appeal from temporary injustice or wrong . In our opinion , no- greater history in the annals of any nation can be found than that of our Indian administration , no nobler page can be perused in the long chronology of mankind . Despite the hasty opinions of some , and the

party-coloured assertions of more , the English dominion in Hindostan has been of untold blessing to humanity , an inexpressible gain to the weak , the suffering , and the oppressed . We say nothing here of that evidence of Anglo-Saxon courage , endurance , heroism , and loyalty , whether shown

by man or woman , which the presence of the "Feringhee" has educed , and the lives and deaths of our compatriots have manifested . Indeed , when we come seriously to think of it , calmly and peacefully at home , the history of British India , always romantic , borders even upon

the marvellous . h \ that "land of many millions , " so many that their number is almost alarming , there has stood a little band of white men and white women , \ vhoin no dangers could daunt , and no difficulties could turn back . Onwards and forwards that little phalanx has gone ,

it ! loyal courage and unwearied devotion , perilling life , and enduring disease , without a murmur and without a fear . It has stood sometimes , a mete handful of men , acrainst overwhelming masses , and won the victory ; it has advanced on the deadly intrenchnieut and crowded camp , a thin

red line , a thin green line it has beaten back large armies with small detachments , and overpowering hosts with weak battalions . Hardly a town or village , a hill or plain , a jungle or a forest , but has been the scene of English courage and is the locale of a hero ' s grave . Sometimes

almost alone , in- a little station , sometimes far up the country , with no European near , our fellowcountrymen and fellow-countrywomen have maintained their country ' s prestige and attracted the admiration of the native population . And to-day , with the progress of education , with the

improvement ot social conditions , with the administration of just laws for all alike , there seems no limit , except what time itself must bring , to the advance of Hindostan in ci . ilizalion , in order , in improvement , and in loyalty to

the British . Crown . Greatly , then , must we who "live at home at ease" rejoice to hear , through the wondrous instrumentality of fhe electric telegraph , of the journey of our Prince , and of his iccuiit joyous reception in India , b y every class

Good News From India

of the community . May each succeeding report continue to testify alike of his kindness , and geniality , and admirable qualities , and of the gra . tifieation and happiness of an exultant and welldisposed people . May a kind Providence bo

with him in his travels , artd give him health and strength to complete his Royal progress and his historical tour ,, and may he be restored ere long to devoted hearts at home , who count the moments of his absence and long for his hourl y return .

A Plea Ad Miseiucordiam.

A PLEA AD MISEIUCORDIAM .

We do not often appeal to our kind correspondents , but we do so most emphatically today , and we trust that our plea for a little fraternal consideration will not be altogether made in vain . We are just now embarrassed by a great pressure on our columns , and by a

sympathetic plethora of active correspondence , which seems to remind us of the words , " The cry is still they come . " So great for the last few weeks have been the demands on our space , and the favours of ready friends , that we have had the greatest difficulty in finding room , whether

for lucid report or interesting letter . And if our publisher , with his wonted energy , enables us to get over partly the almost insurmountable stumbling block at first of restricted pages and limited matter , oureditorial responsibility is thereby not lessened , but increased . However difficult

and abstruse Darwin s principle of " selection may have been , ours is still more pressing and peculiar . Our main " impedimentum" has been what to leave out and what to insert , what to send up to the printer ^ what to make a " remanet" of . We almost wish at times that , like

the young gentleman recorded in " Vanity Fair . " we could make our decision , and announce outchoice as clearly , as calmly and as decisively as he did . As an amusing illustration , we commend the story ,- very good in its wav , to thc notice and consideration of our many readers * —

" A country gentleman had a small son who , having been early taken about to the stables and and kennels-and initiated into their secrets , had become quite a baby-expert iu all matters pertaining thereto , and quite ready to give his opinion as to a horse or a litter of pups with as

much serious certainty as though , instead of being a child , he were an old and hardened sportsman and fancier . The country gentleman had the good fortune to be presented with twin daughters b y his wife , and the boy after his usual round among the animals , was taken to

see these little creatures as they lay in their cradle . The child looked at them gravely , pulled their legs , pinched their arms , op . ned their eyelid _ , and , after a moment of reflection , pointing to one of tlie two , said , " Keep this one . " Certainly , we greatl y envy the facility of

decision evidenced by , as a good friend of ours says , ( and , we may observe , he isa married' man ) this " discerning little rascal . " We are always saying to ourselves " keep this contribution , and gjet rid of the other . " Yet , alas ! sach is the fallibility of human judgment , that in the opinion of one

correspondent , at any rate , we have kept the wrong one , and rejected the ri ght one . For , curiously enough , everybody thinks his contribution tho contribution for tho " Freemason ¦ " and is apt to consider that it ought to go iu ; that the editor must be a very stupid fellow for

not discerning its special merits , and that room ought to have been found for it , even if something else had been left out . We , then , must ask from all our nrany and kind , but sometimes a little impatient , friends , alike fraternal consideration and good-humoured allowance . Wc

have to select that which appears most likely to instruct , inform , edify , amuse , to do most good to the Order locally and generally , and to advance at the same time both the welfare of Freemasonry and the interests of the " Freemason . " Our task is often difficult , and our decision sometimes apparentl y capricious . But we would , we

repeat , request our correspondents to believe that nothing IMIC the insuperable d : ! li-uhies of space or tj-pe cau make us reject or keep back the oversowing reports and valuable correspondence of our many well-disposed contributors . We thank then one and all for many favouis , we assure them very gratefully received ,