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To ADVERTISERS . THE Circulation of THE FREEMASON being now at the rate of nearly Haifa-million per annum , it offers peculiar facilities to all who advertise . It is well known that the Fraternity of Freemasons is a large and constantly increasing body , mainly composed of the influential and educated classes of society ; and as The Freemason is now the accepted organ ofthe Brotherhood in the United Kingdom , and also enjoys an extensive sale in the colonies and 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 .

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NOTICE , The Subscription to THE FREEMASON is now \ os . per annum , post-free , payable in advance . Vol . I ., bound in cloth 4 s . 6 d . Vol . II ., ditto 7 s . 6 d . Reading Cases to hold 52 numbers ... 2 s . 6 d .

Births, Marrriages And Deaths.

Births , Marrriages and Deaths .

*—¦ DBA TIL PECK . —On the 6 th instant , at 17 , Lord-street , Halifax , aged 23 years , Margaret , the beloved wife of Brother Frederick Arthur Peck , of the St . James ' s Lodge , No . 448 . WESTERN . —On the 13 th inst ., at 12 , Park-square West , Regents Park , Pro . Col . James Roger Western , late Bengal Engineers , aged 59 .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

AH communications for Tnn FREEMASON should be written legibly on one side of the paper only , _ and , if intended for insertion in the ourrent number , must be received not later than 10 o * clock a . ni . on Thursdays , unless in very special cases . Thc name and address of every writer must be sent to us in confidence . P . M . —You will find what you require in the Cosmopolitan Masonic Calendar—sec advertisement . AN ENQUIRER . —The offices of Secretary and Treasurer in an English lodge cannot be held by the same Brother ; they arc entirely distinct . J . M . —White gloves are the appropriate covering for the hands in a Masonic Lodge , and unless the brethren are in Masonic mourning for a deceased brother , it is our opinion that no other colour but white should be worn .

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TheFreemason, SATURDAY , J ANUARY 21 , 1871 .

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THE FREEMASON IS published on Saturday Mornings in time for the early trains . The price of Tim FRKKMASON is Twopence per week ; annual subscription , 10 s . ( payable in advance ) . All communication ? , letters , & C , to be addressed to the EDITOR , 9 , 3 , and 4 , Little Britain , K . C . The Editor will pay careful attention to all MSS . entrusted to himbut cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by po * tag * Btfttttpl .

Masonic Legends.

MASONIC LEGENDS .

THE Masonic system abounds in legendary lore ; it preserves , as in a casket , not only precious truths and sublime philosophical teachings , but with equal care cherishes

and rescues from oblivion many quaint and curious traditions of thc past . ' There is scarcely an order or degree connected with the Craft in which wc do not at once

discern the traces of some mystic tale or ancient allegory . Symbolic Masonry—or the Solomonian degrees—record passages in a life-like drama which will leave their

impress on thc mind of man until the footsteps of time shall be blotted out by the overwhelming waves of eternity . Precepts

practically unfolded sink deeper into the heart , and the recollection of events , when we see them pictorially . represented , is

more easily retained . All the dramatic incidents in the history of the Temple at Jerusalem ; every scene in the tragical fate of its master builder : each successive

development of the solemn story , is engraven more firmly in our memories ; because we have each , so to speak ,

sustained a part in the plot , and have each realised individually the surpassing interest in its progress and final catastrophe .

In like manner the Mark degree presents to our view a well-digested narrative of the rewards which ever await skill and perseverance in the path of duty . The

legend of the degree is in complete harmony with all our acquired ideas of Masonry , and the dramatic unities are carefully acknowledged and preserved . Every

Royal Arch Mason can bear testimony from his own experience of the work that capitular Masonry is realistic in its ceremonies to an extent which recalls to a thoughtful mind

the trials and probations undertaken by the heroic neophytes of old . The Sanhedrim itself is figurative of those

profounder mysteries that appertain to the regions of theurgy and the Kabbala . The sacred arch is an emblem of such infinite

importance that volumes might be written upon the occult significations it will bear ; in fact , the whole ceremonial of Royal Arch Masonry , when directed by

intelligent men , may justly be said to verify the boast of its champions , inasmuch as by unveiling and interpreting the secrets of

the primitive world , it offers us a passport to higher dominions of thought , wherein are revealed the glories of true wisdom which constitute the veritable

climax of Masonic science . When we depart out of the beaten track of Hebrew history , we arc somewhat at a loss how to proceed . So many degrees

have been dovetailed into thc Masonic system , and so manifold and various are the duties and objects which they inculcate , that at first sight we are ready to exclaim ,

" Chaos is come again ! " Yonder we behold a Knight Templar spurring his fiery steed across thc desert plains of Syria ; anon , he is transformed into a Knight Hospitaller

of St . John , and alternates deeds of valour with deeds of mercy and humanity . The scene changes , and we see him at the stake , the victim of kingly avarice and priestly

hate . Looking around , we observe a rival to our Templar friend in a brother very elaborately arrayed , bc-jcwellcd , be-collarcd , be-aproned , bc-sworded . He also hails

from Jerusalem , and maintains that as a Rose Croix Mason he is as far superior to a companion of the Royal Arch as the planet Saturn is to one of his own

satellites . Another ornate individual , however , disputes the palm of victory with him ofthe 18 ° , resting his claims , like Joseph

Smith , of Nauvoo , upon a later revelation . From thetimc ofthe crucifixion—withall its attendant horrors , earthquakes , rending

of veils , and grave-delivered dead—we are wafted into the Constantinian era , when signs and wonders were witnessed on high ,

and the empire of the earth dropped like a ripe plum into the all-attracting hands of the son of St : Helena .

Now , this leads us to the consideration of a Masonic Order which is very little known , although it is one of the most instructive in theory and beautiful in practice of all the

degrees sheltered under the expansive wings of Freemasonry . Let , us therefore , quote the legend : " St . Helena was of British extraction , and by some recorded

as the daughter of Coel , Duke or King of Colchester , of which he was the alleged founder , whence its name , Coel-caester or Colchester . She was married to

Constantius , the Roman General , who had become passionately enamoured of her ; though after having borne him a son—the afterwards illustrious Constantine the

Greatshe was for some time divorced , and sent to Britain . When her son assumed the Imperial dignity , St . Helena was recalled , and by her virtue and piety

prepared the mind of that noble champion of the Christian cause to receive those mystic truths for which lie has been held in veneration . At the advanced age of

eighty she visited the Holy Land , desirous of contemplating the spot which had been sanctified by the death of the Saviour of the world , and by His miraculous

resurrection from the tomb . The chapel that had been built by Adrian , and dedicated to the pagan Venus on purpose to profane that sacred spot , soon was levelled to the

dust , and the eager desire to view the original monuments of the redemption prompted every exertion on the part of the workmen employed . Deep in the ground , at length ,

three crosses were discovered , and thc fervent piety of those who laboured in the holy work instantly recognised them as those on which thc Saviour suffered and on

which the two thieves , at the same time , expiated their guilt . " Thcmanner in which the true cross was selected is thus related " Thc corse of a female some time defunct

was placed alternately upon thc three crosses : the two first that were tried producednotany effect , but the third instantly raised the body in a state of reanimation . "

" Over thc spot where thc Holy Sepulchre had been revealed , the prudent emperor ( Constantine thc Great ) raised a superb edifice , but thc clergy had first taken from

thc hallowed ground thc nails , the lance , the crown of thorns , and the pillars at which our Saviour was scourged . " "

Constantine the Great first displayed thc symbol of thc cross in a shield on the eagles in the imperial arms by a Greek monogram

r P thus a L and subsequently thus > ! < expressive of thc figure of the cross , and exhibiting at the same time thc two first

letters of the word X £ to- / os-, Christ . This device he had impressed on his helmet—in which St . Helena had caused some of thc true nails to be enclosed—and on the shields