Foreign And Colonial Agents.

Foreign and Colonial Agents .

AMERICA : Bro . J . FLETCHER B RENNAN , 114 , Mainstreet , Cincinnati , Ohio . „ Messrs . WOODRUFF & BLOCKER , Little Rock , Arkansas , U . S . CANADA : Messrs . DEVRIE & SON , Ottawa . CAPE OF GOOD HOPE : Bro . G EORGE BRITTAIN , Cape Town . CEYLON : Messrs . W , L . SKEENE & Co ., Colombo . CONSTANTINOPLE : Br . J . L . HANLY , Levant Times . EAST INDIES :

Allahabad : Messrs . WYMAN BROS . Bombay : Bro . M . B . COHEN . Byculla : Bro . GEO . BEASE . Central Provinces : Bro . F . J . JORDAN . Kurrachee : Bro . G . C BRAYSON . ¦ Madras : Mr . CALEB FOSTER .

Mhcnv : Bro . COWASJEE NUSSERVJANJEE . Poena : Bro . W . WELLIS . GALATA : IPSICK KHAN , Perche-Bajar . LIBERIA : Bro . HENRY D . BROWN , Monrovia . PARIS : M . DECHEVAUX-DUMESNIL , Rue de Harlaydu-Palais , 20 , near thc Pont Neuf ; Editor Le Franc-Macon . WEST INDIES : Jamaica : Bro . J A . D . SOUZA , Falmouth . Trinidad : Bros . S . CARTER and J . LEWIS , 3 , Abercrombic-street , Port of Spain ; and Bro . W . A . KERNAIIAN , San Fernando . And all Booksellers and Newsagents in England , Ireland , aud Scotland .

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

9 DEA TIIS . WALKER . —On the 12 th inst ., at 2 , Catherine-lane , Anderston , Glasgow , aged 74 years , Jean Walker , wife of Robert Walker ; also , on the 16 th inst ., at the same place , aged 74 , Robert Walker , P . M . 51 , 117 , and 40 S , late Janitor St . Andrew's R . A . Chapter No . 69 , K . T . Glasgow Priory No . 3 , one of thc oldest and most enthusiastic Freemasons in the West of Scotland , much respected and deeply regretted .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

? All communications for THE 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 10 o ' clock a . m . on Thursdays , unless in very special cases . The name and address of every writer must be sent to us in confidence . BRO . J . WEAVER . —Your letter shall appear next week .

Ar00603

ROOKS RECEIVED POR REVIEW . " Liturgy of the Ancient and Accepted Rite ; " by Bro . Albert Pike , 33 ° , Part II . " The History and Development of Gilds ; " by Lujo Brcntano . Triibner and Co ., 60 , Paternoster-row .

Ar00604

TheFreemason, SATURDAY , APRIL 23 , 1870 .

Ar00608

THE FREEMASON it published on Saturday Mornings in time for the early trains . The price of THE FREEMASON is Twopence per week ; quarterly •ubscription ( including postage ) 3 s . 3 d . Annual Subscription , 1 as . Subscriptions payable in advance . All communications , letters , & c , to be addressed to the EDITOR , _ , 3 , and 4 , Little Britain , E . C . The Editor will pay careful attention to alt MSS . entrusted to him bnt cannot undertake 10 return them unless accompanied by postage stamps .

The Grand Lodge Of Quebec.

THE GRAND LODGE OF QUEBEC .

IN NO . 48 we placed before our readers a statement of the unhappy differences prevailing amongst the Craft in Canada , and recorded our deliberate opinion that there

must be a separation between the two provinces of Ontario and Quebec . Since then we have carefully noted the arguments advanced by the contending parties , as well

as the views propounded by our brethren of the American Masonic Press , and we are bound , after impartial investigation , to repeat our conviction that the Freemasons of

Quebec have a perfect right to Masonic autonomy . Our readers will remember that we strenuously supported similar claims on behalf of the Grand Lodges of

New Brunswick and Nova Scotia , and in a measure anticipated the noble resolve of the Grand Lodge of England in favour of those claims—because we felt that in adopt-

The Grand Lodge Of Quebec.

ing such a course we carried with us the generous sympathies of the entire English Craft . At the risk of being tedious , we are

constrained to repeat that the Dominion of Canada is now subdivided into four provinces , each having its separate legislature and state officers . Of these the districts of

Ontario and Quebec were alone formerly known as Canada , a title which now applies to the whole Dominion , the other two provinces being Nova Scotia and New

Brunswick . District Grand Lodges under England or Scotland were , prior to 1858 , held in each province , and since that period

in the two last-named , a Grand Lodge for Canada having been organized in the year mentioned . When the Dominion of Canada

was constituted by the British Government , the brethren of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia at once set about the formation of independent Grand Lodges for their

respective provinces , and their right to do so has been acknowledged and sustained by their parent Grand Lodges and by all Masonic Powers throughout the globe . The brethren of Ouebec likewise conceived that the time

had arrived to assert a similar claim , and thc subject came under the consideration of a committee of the Grand Lodge of Canada , consisting of four Ontario brethren

and three from Quebec . By a majority of one the question was shelved for the time , but the Quebec brethren persevered , and after an interview upon the matter with

Bro . Stevenson , the Grand Master of Canada , they requested him to call the Grand Lodge together , which he , as we cannot help thinking , not only arbitrarily refused

to do , but suspended the lodges to which the principal brethren belonged . A convention of Masons belonging to the Province of Ouebec was accordingly

called , and met at Montreal , when twentyone out of thirty-seven lodges in thc province were represented , and by their united action the " Grand Lodge of Quebec " was

organized , a body which we are now pleased to welcome into the family of Grand Lodges , and to wish it most heartily a successful Masonic career . The two suspended lodges

were represented at this convention , and of this fact great capital is made by thc partisans of the Grand Lodge of Toronto

as if a grossly illegal and despotic act could deprive its members of their privileges as free-men and Masons .

To argue after this fashion is mere child ' s play , and wc rejoice to find that all the truly liberal minds , and all the sound jurists ofthe American Masonic Press are ofthe same

opinion . The late Bro . Holmes , P . G . Master of New York , a State numbering 70 , 000 Masons , while deprecating , as we did ourself , certain errors of judgment on the part of the

Quebec brethren , espoused their cause with vigour and determination . His views are shared by the Illustrious Bro . Harman G .

Reynolds , Grand Master of thc Grand Lodge of Illinois , the next largest jurisdiction in the United States , who as we find in thc March number of his journal The

The Grand Lodge Of Quebec.

Masonic Trowel , records his opinion with similar reservations in favour of separation . Pomeroy ' s Democrat of New York , edited by a very able Mason , Bro . F . G . Tisdall

at once recognises the claims ofthe Quebec brethren , and the editor of the Evergreen , Iowa , Bro . Guilbert , lays bare the root of

the matter when he says " given , a separate commonwealth—a separate Grand Lodge must be conceded . "

The " province" of Quebec is in every respect a district analogous to a " state " in the American Union , and every state has its Grand Lodge—indeed Virginia has

twoand yet some logical American writers cannot see the force of the argument . We have a sincere desire to see the Craft flourish

in the New Dominion , and the prompt recognition of the Grand Lodge of Quebec by its sister of Toronto will greatly tend to so desirable a result . It is absurd to think

that Ontario with its 121 , 260 square miles of territory , and its 1 , 396 , 091 inhabitants , can dictate in a matter of this kind to Quebec

which has an area of 210 , 020 square miles , and a population of 1 , r 11 , 566 souls . And to show the disparity more clearly , let us state the statistics of New Brunswick and Nova

Scotia . The former numbers 27 , 105 square miles , and 252 , 047 inhabitants ; the latter 18 , 660 , and 330 , 857 respectively , the united area being less than one-fourth that of

Quebec , and the population not one-half . The immense country known as Ouebec has a great future before it , and the

civilising influence of Freemasonry may be of immense value in its prospective career . Let not that influence be lessened or its

effect marred by unseemly disputes between the brethren . Let not the enemies of the Craft—and Quebec swarms with Romish moucfiards—perceive that the ties of Masonry

arc loose indeed * let them not be able to exult over thc downfall of truth , and the destruction of those kindly bonds which bind our chosen ones together in the delightful chain of harmony and love .

Forbearance is the principle we inculcate , and by the exercise of this virtue our disunited brethren in the provinces of Ontario and Ouebec will we trust soon be

enabled to discuss their differences calmly , to adjust them fairly , and to return to the work of the Craft with that increased zest which the consciousness of having fulfilled

a duty ever imparts to conscientious minds . In this spirit we tender our advice , and again we may speak on behalf of the body of English Freemasons , in assuring

the Canadian Craft that their progress is viewed with feelings of pride and interest in old England , that their

tribulation awakens echoes in our own breasts , and that in their triumphs we would ever fain participate , and most sincerely rejoice .

ERRATUM . —By a semicolon being misplaced after " Palestine" instead of Freemasonry , " the following sentence in our article was somewhat unintelligible last week : — " The vaults ofthe dead past brighten and glow with life in the presence of

the enchanter , Freemasonry ; from their cavcrned tombs , rock-hewn in the holy mounts of Palestine , the stately procession of Judah ' s princes seems to pass before our eyes like the figures in a vision which is not all a dream . "