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NOTICE , 0 The Subscription to THE FREEMASON is now i or . per annum , post-free , payable tn advance . Vol . I ., bound in cloth ... ... 4 s . 6 d . Vol . II ., ditto 7 s . 6 d . Vol . III ., ditto 15 s . od . Reading Cases to hold 52 numbers ... 2 s . 6 d . United States of America . THE FREEMASON is delivered free in any part of the United States for 12 s . per annum , payable in advance .

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NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS . The Office of THE FREEMASON is now transferred lo 198 , FLEET STREET , E . C . All communications for the Editor or Publi . her should therefore be forzaarded to that address .

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

DEATH . YOUNG . —On the 15 th instant , at his town residence in Buckingham Palace Road , Bro . Richard Younjj , Sheriff of London and Middlesex , Prov . G . W . Cambridgeshire , & c , aged 62 years .

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All communications for Tin ; FREEMASON 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 io o ' clock a . m . on Thursdays , unlets in very special cases . The name and address of every writer must bc sent to us in confidence .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , OCTOHKR 21 , 1871 . THE FREEMASON is published on Saturday Mornings in lime for the early trains . The price of TUK FUI- . KMAKON is Twopence per week ; annual subscription , IOS , ( payable in advance ) . All cninnunic . itinus , letters , & c , to be addressed to the EDITOR 19 S , Hcct-Ktrcct , K . C . The Kilitor will p ; ty careful attention to all MSS . entrusted to him but cannot undertake to re turn them unless accompanied by postage Stamps .

The " Observer" And The Craft.

THE " OBSERVER" AND THE CRAFT .

IT is a great thing to be endowed with a superior mind , and to be enabled to survey from one ' s own peculiar altitude the weaknesses and follies of other less-favored

mortals . . Above all , it is refreshing to pour the vial of one ' s ridicule or wrath upon opinions , or men , or institutions concerning which we have but the slenderest

knowledge , and especially delightful to obtain the character of profound wisdom by contemning what we cannot comprehend . Accepting , as we do most heartily , these

dicta as truisms , we have to congratulate our contemporary , the Observer , upon the elysian felicity in which it has recently revelled—the legitimate and entrancing

result of as blissful a state of ignorance respecting Freemasonry as it is possible for any human being to conceive . Wc quite envy the delicious sensation experienced by

our Sunday friend , when , in addition to TllE FREEMASON ' , Bro . Spencer ' s reprint of the old Masonic Constitutions , first became visible to the editorial eye . How tlie said

eye must have sparkled with incipient joy we leave to abler historians to describe , contenting ourselves with a few cursory remarks upon the learned and impartial conclusions of our contemporary .

The " Observer" And The Craft.

In the first place , the critic himself essays to answer the query with which he commences his article , " Freemasons and

their Literature , " What is it all about ? To his high order of mind , it appears to be supreme idiotcy for " men to don aprons and bedizn themselves with ribbons and

medals " in connection with their membership of the Craft . How far such a denunciation of decorations which are worn chiefly as symbols is justifiable , may be deemed a

matter of opinion ; but few will contest the point , that the argument , if applicable at all , holds equally good against the use of every decoration , device , or peculiar badge by

which rank is denoted or station signified in the community at large . In his zeal against Freemasonry , however , the critic forgets that many other societies , such as

the Oddfellows and United iriends , wear aprons and similar distinctive marks ; and we have yet to learn that the practice is

considered reprehensible by those who have given attention to the rise and progress of those very useful associations .

But the " literature " of Freemasonry is evidently the bete noir of our delectable reviewer . The " startling statements " of the Rev . Dr . Oliver as to the origin of the

Craft arc referred to with manifest gusto , and we are certainly free to confess at tin ' s point that the silly fables propagated about ' Noah's Ark " and Adamite Masonry by

some of the earlier Masonic authors are calculated to lower Masonry in the estimation of thinking men . Dismissing the reverend doctor as an incorrigible mystic ,

whose views arc not universally accepted even by Masons , the Observer turns to THE FREEMASON for light , opining that '' the brethren will not object to bc judged bv tlie

nourishing periodical they support to-day . Now , as a test of the literary qualifications of the Craft , wc consider this judgment

unfair—as , although in many respects a class periodical may reflect tlicvie . vs ofthe class or body which it represents , it does not follow that those views arc at ail times

expressed in the highest style of literary excellence , or with the eloquence which their importance may seem to demand . Nor do we think that the reviewer has

wise !} ' selected our esteemed Bro . Carpenter ' s articles on the " Lost Tribes " theory as samples of Masonic literature . Wellwritten and argumentative as those articles

arc , they in no sense represent Masonic theories on the subject , nor can they bc identified with the ordinary stream of Masonic thought . Nevertheless , to men , like the

h rccmasons , who reverence the Scriptures , and treasure up ancient legends and Israelitish traditions , articles like those of Bro . Carpenter are peculiarly interesting , and ,

with all due deference to the Observer , by no means uninstructive . Passing on to recent discussions in this journal upon the comparative antiquity of Speculative

Freemasonry , the reviewer ' s next "hit" is directed against our " leading columns , " where he finds a description of the Thirtieth Degree of the Ancient and

The " Observer" And The Craft.

Accepted Rite , which evidently appears to be beyond his comprehension . We can assure him , most penitently , that it was not written for his special enlightenment , but

for the edification of certain of our readers —and their numbers are not a few—who desire information respecting every degree or rite purporting to be Masonic . And ,

strange as it may seem to our critic , wc shall consider it our duty to pursue this branch of our vocation as a Masonic journalist , so long as inquirers exist in the land

amongst the Philistines who " dress up to dine together . " We need hardly remind so eminent an authority of the words of the old dramatist , " Homo sum : hitmanum nihil

a me aliennsputo ; " and pause but to assure him that nothing which relates to , or which may tend to illustrate , the various rites of Freemasonry can be considered " foreign " by an earnest Masonic student .

With reference to Bro . Spencer ' s edition of the old Constitutions , the work cannot be expected to possess great interest for non-Masons , and we can quite understand

our reviewer s feelings of disappointment if he had hoped to derive much mystical knowledge from its contents . The developmentof operative Masonry into the symbolic

and speculative science which modern Masons practise , is in itself a subject by no means thoroughly comprehended by the learned , and doubtless it must appear terribly obscure to a superficial Observer .

We must , however , protest against the gratuitous assumption that Masons boast of their charity—the very contrary is the fact . It has been affirmed over and over again

that Freemasonry is not a benefit society , and that no brother is permitted to hold out the faintest inducement of the kind to candidates for admission into the Order

If , however , the critic believes that no good can come out of Nazareth , we feel it would be a hopeless task to attempt his conversion . Fraternity , charity , and all the other

concomitants of true Masonry are ignored by the sweep of his pen , and we are even subjected to the insulting pity of the Observer , whose reflections are saddened by the

thought that "human beings can be found to maunder over and bc interested in such abject nonsense . " Notwithstanding this severe blow , we do not despair ofthe future

of the Craft—convinced , as we are , that foundationswhich arc based upon the holiest emotions of the human heart , can never be shaken or destroyed by the shafts of ridicule .

Ox Wednesday evening Lord Derby distributed the prizes to the members of the 1 st Lancashire Rifle Volunteers at Liverpool . The noble earl , in the course of an address on the subject of our national defences , spoke of the " needless panic of last winter , " and said that perhaps the picsent

danger was on the side of indifference and neglect . Looking abroad , the country was , he believed , at this moment as clear of foreign complications as it ever had been , or as any European State coill be . The autumn campaign was , in his opinion , a wise step , and he hoped it would lie continued yearly .

SMALL-POX , FKVKKS , AND SKIN DISEASES . — The predisposition to is prevented by Lainplough ' s Vyreiic Saline . Vitalising and invigorating , its effects are remarkable in their cure and prevention . Take it as directed . Sold by chemists and the maker , II . Laniplough , Hj « llolborn-hill . — [ Advt . ]