Ad00804

GRAND LODGE OF MARK MASTER MASONS OF ENGLAND AND WALES AND THE COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES OE THE BRITISH CROWN . The Rt . Hon . the EARL OF LATHOM , M . W . G . M . The Rt . Hon . LORD HENNIKER , R . W . D . G . M The Winter Half-Yearly Communication of this Grand Lodge will be held at Freemasons' Tavern , Great Queenstreet , Lincoln ' s Inn Fields , on Tuesday , the Thirtieth of November , 1 SS 0 , when and where all Grand Officers ( Past and Present ) , VV . Masters , Past Masters , Wardens and Overseers of Private Lodges are hereby summoned to attend , , and at which , by permission , all regularly registered Mark Master Masons may be present . Grand Lodge will be opened at Five o ' clock p . m . By command , FREDERICK BINCKES , Grand Secretary Office , 2 , Red Lion-square , Holborn , London , W . C .

Ad00805

TO ADVERTISERS . THE FREEMASON has a large circulation in all parts of the Globe . In it the official Reports ot the Grand Lodges ot England , Ireland , and Scotland arc published with the special sanction of thc respective Grand Masters , and it contains a complete record of Masonic work in this country , our Indian Empire , and the Colonics . The vast accession to the ranks of the Order during thc past few years , and thc increasing interest manifested in its doings , has given the Freemason a position and influence which few journals can lay claim to , and the proprietor can assert with confidence that announcements appearing in its columns challenge the attention of a very large and influential body of readers . Advertisements for the current week's issue arc received up to fiiv o'clock on Wednesday evening .

Ad00806

TO OUR READERS . THE FREEMASON is published every Friday morning , price 3 d ., and contains thc fullest and latest information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Subscriptions , including Postage : — United States , . ,. , * . ¦ . . ,. United Kingdom . Canada , the Conti- Iml ' ?> C 5 ' *?* Australia ntiit , & c . New Z ^ nd , & c . 13 s . 15 s . 6 d . 17 s . 6 d . Remittances may be made in Stamps , but Post Office Orders or Cheques are preferred , the former payable to GEORGE KENNING , Chief Oflice , London , the latter crossecl London Joint Stock Bank .

To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

The " paragraph " alluded to last week in this column our correspondent will see , on " second thoughts , " has been noticed . VV . P . ROBINSON in our next Owing to pressure on our columns the following reports , & c , stand over : — "Union Waterloo Lodge , No . 13 , Woolwich ; Madoc Lodge , No . 150 Q , Portmadoc ; United Military Lodge , No . 1536 , Plumstead ; Dramatic Lodge , No . 1609 , Liverpool . Wellington Lodge of Instruction , No . 54 S , Deptford . ROYAL ARCH . —Rowley Chapter , No . 1051 , Lancaster ; Kennington Chapter , No . 13 S 1 , Kennington Oval . MARK . —York Lodge , T . I ., York ; Brixton Lodge , No . 234 , Anderton's Hotel , Fleet-street .

BOOKS , & c , RECEIVED . "Sunday Times , " "Hull Packet , " ' - 'The Croydon Guardian , " "The Folkestone Chronicle , " "Egyptian Gazette , " "La Acacia , " "Wallington and Carshalton Herald , " "Allen ' s Indian Mail , " "Die Bauhutte , " " Masonic Advocate , " " La Chaine d' Union , " " The Masonic Record of Western India , " " Der Long Islaender , " "Daily Gleaner" ( Kingston ) , "The Budget " ( Kingston ) , "Jewish Chronicle , " "Freemason's Monthly , " "Under Slieve Ban , " "Keystone . "

Ar00807

THE FREEMASON . SATURDAY , Nov . 20 , 1880 .

Ar00801

WE print the following paragraph from a paper termed , we understand , the Christian Age . It has been submitted to us by a kind correspondent , and , at first sight , we deemed it unworthy of notice , on second thoughts it seemed to us better

that our readers should know what was said against Freemasonry as well as what was said for it . They will smile , we venture to think , at this effusion ofa so called " religious paper , " as marked by great bad taste and an absence of any true

spirit of religion . Under the head of "The Glorification of Freemasonry " this well informed " Didaskalos " thus holds forth : " Is not this " thing being carried a trifle too far ? Lord " Mayor TRUSCOTT is a Mason : so is the PRINCE

" WALES . What so natural as that they should " meet , give the Mason ' s grip , dine and drink " together ? But is it necessary to talk after the " fashion Lord Mayor TRUSCOTT has adopted ?

* ' Why , the great ecclesiastical alliance of the " future already exists in Masonry ! ' Let a man ' s " ' religion or mode of worship be what it may , he " ' is not excluded from the Order , provided he "' believe ! in the Glorious Architect of Heaven

Ar00802

" ' and Earth , and practise the sacred duties of " ' morality . " We are afraid the Order has not " always been a promoter of good morals , and are " not fully persuaded that it is so now ; as to reli" gion , the less said about it the better . But the " PRINCE , as Mason-in-Chief , has laid the

foun" dation stone of Truro Cathedral with Masonic " ceremonies ; and this must cover a multitude of " sins . The Masonic Creed at the consecration of " the first stone will hardly harmonise with the " Athanasian Creed at the opening of the building " itself by the Archbishops and Bishops , and the

" consigning of some brother Masons , who believe " the former but not the latter , to endless torments . " The system of the Masons is unique , but it is " not necessarily pious ; it is charitable , but it is " not therefore Christian . Let there be a clear " distinction drawn between things that differ . " Surely tnis is not too much to ask in the interest

" both of clear thought and Christianity . Have " our readers ever seen Professor FINNEY ' S book " on Masonry ? Its study would clear the atmos" phere which is breathed at Mansion House " banquets . " Though we may seem very ignorant and behindhand in Masonic literature , we confess that we have never even heard of

Professor FINNEY s " Book on Freemasonry . Who is , may we venture to ask , Professor FINNEY ? Can any of our readers send us or lend us the work ? We promise whatever the punishment to us may be to read it . Is this Masonic Iconoclast any relation by chance to FINNEY the " Revivalist ? "

* * WE rejoice to note , from Bro . TUDOR TREVOR ' letter , that the Provincial authorities did not approve of Bro . VOIGT going to law . How the latter can get out of his printed and direct assertions to the

contrary we know not . We ourselves had so high opinion of the authorities of N . and E . Yorkshire , that we felt quite sure there was , and must be , some very great mistake somewhere . We shall await Bro . VOIGT ' explanation with much curiosity and interest .

* * IT seems , from a communication from our esteemed Bro . J . H . NEILSON , that the " concordat " as between the Grand Lodge of Scotland and that of Quebec has not yet been formally approved of by the former . We shall be glad to hear when all is amicably settled .

* * SINCE we wrote the above we have seen the following paragraph from the New York Dispatch , which we reproduce : " THE SCOTTISH-QUEBEC DIFFICULTV SETTLED . " Bro . Robert Ramsay , of Orillia , Ont ., forwards us the

following gratifying intelligence , that a meeting of the joint Committees named on behalf of the Grand Lodge of Quebec and District Grand Lodgeof Montreal , S . R ., held for the purpose of devising means to settle and adjust the existing difficulties between the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Quebec , was held on the evening of the 29 th ult ., at

the rooms of Royal Albert Lodge , Phillips' -square , Montreal . Present thereat , on behalf of the G . L . of Quebec , Bros . M . M . Tait , Thomas White , T . P . Butler , and T . H . Isaacson , and on behalf of the District G . L . of Montreal , S . R ., Bros . George A . Baynes , VV . T . Walker , Alex . Moffatt , Henry Stewart , and Charles D . Hanson .

"By request , M . W . Bro . M . M . Tait took the chair , and K . Wor . Bro . Isaacson acted as Secretary . " After some discussion , the following basis of settlement was unanimously arrived at , viz .: "The three lodges now working in the Province of Quebec , under warrants from the Grand Lodire of

Scotland , to resign allegiance to that Grand Body , and to come under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Quebec under the following conditions : " The said lodges to retain their present warrants , which shall be endorsed by the present Grand Master for the Grand Lodge of Quebec , their mode of work , the rank of

their officers—who will bear the same titles as officers holding similar rank in the Grand Lodge of Quebec—their clothing and lodge property , and said lodges to be put to no expense in joining said Grand Lodge of Quebec . ( Signed ) Geo . A . Baynes , M . M . Tait , Chairman , W . T . Walker , J . H . Isaacson , Secretary . Chas . D . Hanson , Thomas White ,

Henry Stewart , T . P . Butler Alex . Moffatt . "

* * WILL any American brother kindly send us the number or numbers of the New York Dispatch containing the Masonic Colleges in Britain , b y J . B . GRANT . We have onl y seen the portion contained in the New York Dispatch of October 24 th . Our contemporary has come to us lately very irregularly .

Ar00803

WE have much gratification in being able to announce that our esteemed brother the GRAND SECRETARY was , in the London Gazette of the 9 th inst ., specially promoted to the rank of " Colonel , " on his retirement from active

service , as a mark of approval and distinction , b y the authorities at the Horse Guards . He is , we believe , only the fifth Lieutenant-Colonel who has

ever been so promoted , such a step being most rare and special . We congratulate him and the Craft on the fact , so honourable to him , and so p leasing to them .

WE insert elsewhere a query relative to the power of a W . M . to remove a lodge on his sole authori ty and without notice to the lodge . We can hardl y

understand how any W . M . can venture to conduct himself so improperly ; but we apprehend that if the matter comes before the authorities that W . M ., be he who he may , will find himself in a very pretty little scrape indeed .

# # WE see that Bro . RAYNHAM W . STEWART has g iven notice of a motion for the next General Committee Meeting of the Boys' School to compass the addition of a junior or preparatory school .

His proposal is to build on our own ground , ( as we understand it , ) a School eventually to hold 150 , but now only 50 . Whether this be the most read y and practical mode of meeting the present emergency we are not , off-hand , prepared to say , but

we fully go with him in the absolute need of some increase to the School . A balance of sixty unsuccessful candidates carried on to April , with , let us say , twenty to be elected then , will leave in April probably still about seventy unsuccessful

applicants , if not more , and , therefore , in the lifeinterest and life-welfare of many poor friendless boys , we would urge upon the Executive the necessity of making some increase of the pupils in some way . We are aware that many will say

" we are doing too much , or " we are going on too fast , " or " the more we do the more we have to do . " But the stern fact remains that the needs of the Craft are very great , greater than at any previous period , owing to the rapid delevopement of the

Order in late years , and it seems to us both useless and idle to shut our eyes to what is the inevitable necessity of the hour . We , on the other hand , are not insensible of the possible abuse of great privileges and signal benefits , and to

which we allude later ; but before us now is this distressing certainty , that unless we rise ourselves to the imperative claims of the orphans of our brethren on us , many of them must lose their very position in society , and drift away

into that great crowd of struggling units , of whom this great noisy world , going on its hurried way , neither heeds , nor cares , nor knows . It was certain to be the fact , sooner or later , that the many educational advantages we offer and give would be

eagerly sought after , and there is nothing really astounding or unnatural in the reality now before us , that a constantly increasing Order is putting forth fresh , imperious , overwhelming claims year by year on that charity which never tires , on that

beneficence which is the lasting characteristic of true Freemasonry . We hope , then , most sincerely that Bro . RAYNHAM STEWART ' S motion will , in due course , be carefully and calmly considered , in order , either by its means or through some

adaptation or modification of it , to bring about an extension of the Boys' School , which is both urgently called for and absolutely required . If , however , we decide to build a new preparatory school for 150 , and have the main building at 200 , we had better , il

seems to us , at once take a house for a preparatory school , and put in fifty boys . Otherwise the new house will not be read y for * * them until late in 1881 . We are very anxious to have an increase , but it wi "

be quite clear equall y to many that it is the wisest and the best policy always to " look on ahead , and to make such buildings as we raise perfect and complete .

* * *

ONE or two questions arise out of Bro . R AYNHAM W . STEWART ' motion which strike us as deserving , our calm consideration . How will our great School be affected by a supplementary school '