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 the United Kingdom , Post free , 10 / . Brethren in foreign parts , wishing to have this newspaper sent them regularly from the 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 g iving ( if needed ) the publisher ' s address , 198 , Fleet-st . All communications , correspondence , reports , cSrc , must be addressed to the Editor .

Advertisements , change in address , complaints of difficulties in procuring Freemason , & c , to the Publisher , 198 , Fleet-st ., London , E . C . Careful attention will be paid to all MSS . entrusted to the Editor , but he cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by stamp directed covers .

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 K ENNING , 198 , Fleet-st .

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NOTICE .

Many complaints having been received of the difficulty experienced in procuring the Freemason in the City , the publisher begs to append the following list , being a selected few of the appointed agents : — Abbott , Wm ., East Cheap . Bates , Pilgrim-street , Ludgatc-hill . Born , H ., 115 , London-wall . Dawson , Win ., 121 , Cannon-street .

Gilbert , Jas ., 18 , Gracechurch-street . Guest , Wm ., 54 , Paternoster-row . Phillpott Bros ., O 5 , King William-street . Pottle , R ., 14 , Royal Exchange . May also be oblained at W . H . Smith & Son ' s Bookstalls at the following City Stations : — Broad-street . I Holborn Viaduct . Cannon-street . | London Bridge . Ludgate Hill .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

All Communications , Advertisements , & c , intended for insertion in the Number of the following Saturday , must reach the Office not later than 12 o ' clock on Wednesday morning . The following stand over ;—Reports of the Installation of Bro . Sir Henry Edwards , Bart ., as Prov . G . M . for West Yorkshire ; Masonic Female Orphan School , Dublin ; Presentation to Bro .

John Laurie , G . Sec , Scotland . Lodges 813 , 201 , 523 , 1391 , 810 , 54 / 114 , 209 . 300 , 333 , S . C . Royal Cumberland Mark Lodge , Bath . Victoria Rose Croix Chapter , Ipswich . ERRATUM . —In correction of an error which inadvertently occuircd in a report in our last issue , wc are requested to state that M . W . Bro . Graham , Past Grand Master of the Grand _ Lodge of thc Province of Quebec , & c , and who is at present in London , is not a member of the Canadian Parliament . —[ ED . F . ]

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TheFreemason, SATURDAY , APRIL 24 , 1875 .

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NOTICE .

The Freemason of May 1 st , containing ' a full report of the Installation , will be considerably enlarged . Orders should be given at once , to any news-agent .

The Installation Of The Grand Master.

THE INSTALLATION OF THE GRAND MASTER .

' Before we meet our readers again this great event in our Masonic history will be past and gone , and we , therefore , think it well to recur to the subject generally for the last time . All the tickets are now out , and though many will be disappointed , those who have had the

arrangements have laboured to do their duty to the Craft , without " partiality , favour , or affection . " It is a most awkward position for them , and not a pleasant duty by any means to refuse admission to so many worthy applicants , but " sunt certi denique fines , " and no goodwill in the world , or wish to please the brethren , could overpass

them . From what we know of our excellent Bro . Sir Albert W . Woods , ^ and Bros . Thomas Fenn , and the Grand Secretary , we are well aware , with the Craft at large , that | none feel more the disappointment of so many good men and Masons more ^ keenly than they do . All the arrangements thus far have been

The Installation Of The Grand Master.

characterized by consummate tact and remarkable consideration for the Cinft at large , " and we feel sure that the Grand Stewards , with Bro . Erasmus Wilson at their head , are equal to every emergency , and that the Special Stewards will be very useful in the separate duties allotted to them . We are asked , even so late as this week , how the Provincial officers are to be clothed ? It has

been already pointed out by us , as well as laid down in the regulations , which we hope all our brethren will carefully read , that the Provincial officers are to wear their qualifying collar of W . M ., P . M ., Senior or Junior Warden , over their Provincial Clothing . If all Provinces ad

here to one rule , of appointing only W . M ' s ., P . M ' s ., and acting Wardens to the Annual Offices , something might be said about the relaxation of the rule , as all Provincial Officers could then only be ipso facto members of Grand Lodge , but by the Book of Constitutions , as is well known , the only

Provincial Officers who must be members of Grand Lodge are the Provincial Grand Wardens and the Provincial Grand Deacons , and if these are Past Wardens , they are not members of Grand Lodge , but though the rule must be adhered to , we feel bound to say that the authorities are all animated by a desire to

eschew anything like the difficulties of the Circumlocution Office , and to suggest regulations and arrangements as helpful and as simple as may be , for the good of the Craft at large . We beg to call attention to Bro . Erasmus Wilson ' s seasonable letter , and to the interesting report of the meeting of the Stewards , which we specially commend to our readers' most careful

consideration . We are requested to call attention to the fact , that many brethren are still writing to the office , whose applications cannot be granted , and whose letters cannot even be answered , owing to the pressure of correspondence . Many brethren have

not even taken tbe trouble to read the regulations , and have written about points which are already clearly laid down . It is impossible to answer them . Many of the lodges have made inaccurate returns , placing qualified brethren on the unquali fied list . so that if any are excluded , it is alone the

fault of the- lodge officers . The rule about Clothing is distinct and precise in the Book of Constitutions , and all Provincial Officers , Past and Present , must wear their qualifying collar and jewel for Grand Lodge . The agenda paper was not issued when we went to press .

The Province Of West Yorkshire.

THE PROVINCE OF WEST YORKSHIRE .

Since the resignation of Lord Ripon , this distinguished province has been without a Chief . Those who know West Yorkshire , and are acquainted with its work , are well aware , that for many years it has most faithfully striven to perform all its Masonic duties , most truly and

fully , with " fredom and fervency and zeal . " It gave that happy impetus to the provincial movement in favour of the metropolitan charities which has reached such gratifying proportions , and its own contributions to our great central Institutions have been worthy of itself and the

sacred cause it had so much at heait . Some of us may recall the genial rule of Lord Mexborough and of his kindl y deputies Charles Lee and Dr . Fearnley j but most of us will best remember Lord Ripon ' s active and pleasant regime , and the warm heart and considerate counsels of his

zealousjand respected deputy , Bro . Bentley Shaw . Until the lamentable hour of Lord Ripon ' s separation from the province , nothing could be more harmonious or happy , and no Provincial Grand Mastership ever more tended to exalt the " prestige " of the Order in the eyes of non-Masons , amongst our shrewd fellow-countrymen in West Yorkshire .

Under Lord Ripon and Bro . Bentley Shaw , the great charitable movement progressed and expanded , while at the same time the building of Masonic Halls assumed a remarkable and unmistakeable character . Indeed , we venture to add , from intimate acquaintance with the district ,

and without wishing , as they say in Yorkshire , to " crack over much , " that there is no province in England where the principles of Freemasonry are more valued or better displayed A great deal of this is owing to the happy influence of the provincial authorities , for it is a well known

The Province Of West Yorkshire.

truism in the history of nations and comnuinities and societies that the principles and character ofthe ruled always bear a wonderful likeness to those of the ruler . We are not saying too much when we add that no province could be better administered , and no province was more trul y sensible of the privileges and advantages it enjoyed . Bro . Sir H . Edwards , Bait ., well known to Yorkshiremen , succeeds as P . G . M . in the room

of Lord Ripon , and as Bro . Bentley Shaw wishes to retire , Bro . J . W . Tew , of Pontefract , a zealous Yorkshire Mason , is to be appointed D . P . G . M . And while we wish all prosperity to the new administration , while we feel sure that under their

auspices Freemasonry in West Yorkshire will neither retrogiade nor decay , we yet feerl bound to remember those who have so far borne the burden and heat of the day . Neither should we forget the zealous efforts of Bro . R . M . Nelson , formerly P . G . S .. nor the continued zeal of Bro . H . Smith .

Bro . Bentley Shaw will carry with him , on his retirement from active business , the goodwill and regard of all his brethren . They will remember his geniality , his earnestness , his forbearance ,

his kindly consideration for all of whatever rank or degree j and we trust that he may be longspared to enjoy the attachment of his friends and his family circle , and the affectionate goodwill and regard of his brother Freemasons .

A Portrait Of Our Royal Grand Master.

A PORTRAIT OF OUR ROYAL GRAND MASTER .

We have been greatly pleased with an engraving of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , which Bro . Harty has submitted to our notice . As a work of art it is highly effective , and gives us a striking representation of our Grand Master in his full Masonic clothing as Grand Master . We beg to commend it to the notice of all our

readers . W e are of opinion that it does great credit to our good brother Harty , while it gives us a very striking portrait of our ¦ august Grand Master . The engraving would form a most appropriate ornament for every lodge room , under the English constitution , and we may add that as a specimen of lithography it is one of the finest and most highly finished of any we have ever seen .

Mr. Charles Bradlaugh.

MR . CHARLES BRADLAUGH .

We think it but fair to our readers to publish the following article on this subject , which appeared in our contemporary , The Birmingham Morning News , of April 1 . 3 th , with some needful comments of our own at the conclusion : —

" A paragraph , which we copied yesterday from a Liverpool contemporary , calls attention to a question of considerable interest both to those who are , and those who may desire to become , Freemasons . That question is—Can a man join the Masonic body who refuses to express his

belief in a God ' Lately , in America , Mr . Bradlaugh was present as a Mason at some lodges , and the Freemason thereupon declared that he " was not a regularly made Freemason under the English constitution at all , nor , indeed , under any regular constitution at all ; " adding that the Loge des

Philadelphes , in which he was " made , " is " a spurious political and unrecognised order . " Mr . Bradlaugh having stated that he was received in the Loge de la Perseverante Amitie , Grand Orient of France , the Fretmason says , " We can

find no such lodge under the Grand Orient . " To this Mr . Bradlaugh replies , "Your inability to find the Loge de la Perseverante Amitie of Paris is a matter on which I cannot help you . If you had applied at the proper source , you could not have avoided finding it ; and if you do

not know where to look , it will only be because your acquaintance with Freemasonry is of a very limited nature . " After stating that his dip loma , signed " Le Marechal de France , Grand Maitre de l'Ordre Maconnique , Magnan , " and duly countersigned , numbered , and sealed , is dated May 15 , 1862 , and was the certificate under

which he visited the Adelphi and Columbian Lodges of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts , Mr . Bradlaugh says , in reply to the Freemason , " I say nothing of the good taste and Masonic feeling which permits you to suggest , throug h a correspondent , that these respectable and influential American lodges are also spurious assemblies ; that is a matter for yourself ; but if you had