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NOTICE TO THE TRADE .

THE CHRISTMAS NUMBER THE " FREEMASON "

onsists of 32 PAGES , EXCLUSIVE of WRAPPER , and contains a PORTRAIT of His ROYAL HIGHNESS the PRINCE of WALES . The CHARGE for this number is FOUR I-ENCE .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

AU 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 . Careful attention will be pai d to all MSS . entrusted to

the Editor , but he cannot undertake to return them unless accompani ' ed by stamped directed covers . SENIOR DEACON . —We should say , Slowly and quietly . S . B . O . —Received . Many thanks , but it has already appeared . " Carnival of Chaos " declined with thanks .

The following stand over : —Metropolitan Lodge , 1507 j Adams Lodge , 158 , Sheemess ; Prince Edwin Lodge , 128 , Bury ; Brownrigg Lodge , 1414 , Chatham ; Rock Lodge , 1289 , Rock Ferry ; Albert Victor MarkLodge , 70 , Ipswich ; Lodge of Honour , 379 , Bath ; One and All Lodge , 330 , Bodmin ; Glasgow , 27 , 103 , 219 , 253 , 360 , 413 , 441 , 465 ; Helensturg , 503 ; Maryhill , 510 ; Partick , 117 ; Royal Cumberland Chapter , 41 ; Provincial Grand Lodge of Argyll and the Isles .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , DEC . 25 , 1875 .

Christmas.

CHRISTMAS .

If Christmas comes , as it is said , but once a year , yet it draws near ever a welcome guest , whether in the palace or in the cottage . Indeed , it is a very large class of mortal beings for whom Christmas is an anniversary of pleasantness and good will . The schoolboy poring over a stiff

passage in Thucydtdes , the school girl weary with her French exercise , that huge crowd of rosy cheeks and merry voices and smiling faces , which still fills Dr . Birch ' s Academy , or Miss Brown ' s , Laurel Grove , to say nothing of a variegated collection of home blossoms , —all are eagerly

anticipating the Christmas tree , the Christmas present , and the Christmas gathering . But there are bigger children for whom , also , Christmas has an ever-abiding and pleasant summons . Many of us toil from year ' s end to year ' send at the desk , in the counting-house , in the office , in the

chambers * and our holidays are short , and sometimes far between . Some are seeking by an honest business to be the breadwinners for a large family , others are laboriously toiling for literary reputation ; tho banker , the merchant , the lawyer , the medical man , the author , the

soldier , the sailor , the skilled mechanic , and the industrious artizan , all are filling their various parts in life , and all work hard with their hands and with their brains to advance their individual interests , and to increase the national prosperity . From how many families up and down our good

land have gone forth those " stems" and " ortshoo's" who , in many situations , and in various ways , make up the staple of the great laborious classes ; and how many are the severances and intervening distances which divide loving hearts from one another , nearly

all through the year , and diminish that once joyous famil y circle by those missing links which are united all so closely together , and which , though absent , are not forgotten . For all these divisions of society and of industrial occupation Christmas is a very engaging season

of re-union and in-gathering . No doubt the recurrence of Christmas year by year cannot be for any of us of unmixed joy and undimmed happiness . Amid the shouts of the young and the staid congratulations of the old there will float overourmemoriesa strain of other days , a carol of

" auld lang syne , " which we shall never hear sung again here , at any rate , not by the same pleasant voices . Each Christmas , as it meets us on our onward pilgrimage , with ail its gracious associations , reminds us inevitably of gaps in our family circles , of honest hearts , and dear eyes , and

Christmas.

sunny faces , and warm hands , no longer to the fore , of some whom are missing , of many who are wanting , when we keep our Christmas holiday . It seems but yesterday that we were all together , young frank , loving , sincere ! Alas ! where are we all now ? How few of that goodly band are still

lingering on earth ? and how impossible it is to collect those "disjecta membra" once again here ? No , the friends—the tender , the open-handed , the genial , the trusting , all are gone ; their place on earth knows them no more ; they have left us in youth , or in prime , in ripened powers , or in

fading old age , in fell disease , or amid the shouts of victory ; and for us never again , all together , can the yule log be lighted , or the mistletoe hung up , or the Lord of Misrule issue his decrees of ancient wisdom , and of modern fun Christmas , therefore , has a deep and solemn

interest for us all alike . It summons the young from their studies , and mature life from its burdens , and dull old age from its griefs and weakness , to join once again in festive array . The family once more assembles in that well-known room . The

kind master and the smiling mistress are there , as genial and as hospitable as ever ; tall men and comely women reassemble , like as of yore , around the family dinner table ; the bright muster of pleasant maidens and tho bold fervour of ardent youth are all there , to add lightness and brilliancy

to the scene ; while above all is heard Master Bobby ' s shout , and Miss Edith ' s exclamations ! Pleasant scenes for thesageandthesympathising . Happy holiday for the learned and laborious , the careworn and the complaining , the troubled and the tried , the man of letters and the man of

money , for rich and poor , for high and low , for learned and unlearned . Some writers have complained that the world has too much appropriated Christmas to itself , and has thrown its colouring over the scene , and has mingled its tares with the fairer wheat . Now we do not hold with such

" pessimists . " We cannot see why you are to take such a morbid view of life and man , and things and facts . Let us rather , as it seems to us , accustom ourselves to accept things as they really are , to rate them at their proper worth , to estimate them at their true intent , and then we

shall not fall either into the folly of undervaluing , or into the extravagance of over estimating , into the lugubriousness of the "Slough of Despond , " or into the frivolity and evil of a merely sensual commemoration ! Christmastide , depend upon it , is a great and a good institution for us all , and

one which the world , ever wise in its generation , has eagerly appropriated no doubt , and cheerfull y observes , simply on those humanitarian grounds , which appeal so profoundl y to the hearts and memories , and thoughts and affections , of us all . There is , as we all well know , a very religious side to Christmas , but it is one which

for obvious reasons we cannot dilate upon in the "Freemason . " All that we can fairly do is to greet it as it meets us with a dying year , as it invites us to present happiness around " our own firesides , " as it reminds us of a buried past still very dear to our recollection , as it suggests kindly consideration for the wants and woes of others

When , then , Christmas-day once again assembles under many a "roof tree " the long scattered members of a confiding family circle , when itgives lustre to the eye , and tinges with roseate animation the cheeks of the young , the fair , the graceful , when it even bows down stalwart manhood

beneath the tender sway of silvery voices and " wreathed smiles , " when it reanimates old age with some bright memories and faded dreams , let us all bear in mind that Christmas time , and Christmas gatherings , all warn us that some are not so blessed as we are . Let not our Christmas

leave us without some few kind thoughts and gentle deeds for the poor , the friendless , the fallen , the outcast ; and then our sweets will prove sweeter , and our own enjoyment will be augmented by the pleasant consciousness that we have not been selfish in our own happiness , but , full of good things and glad hours

ourselves , have sought to make others happy too , have lightened , if onl y for a few passing moments , the burdens of affliction , and sought to wipe away the tear-drops of humanity ! To all the readers of the " Freemason , " to all our brethren , their wives , sisters , and sweethearts , to the little world of Lewises and laughing fairies , and countless Masonic blossoms , whom Christmas

Christmas.

fills with glad and innocent gaiety , we wish most sincerely from the very bottom of our heart a very merry and happy Christmas , indeed !

Summary Of Masonic Events For 1875.

SUMMARY OF MASONIC EVENTS FOR 1875 .

The New Year of 187 , 5 oega . n well for Freemasonry , and especiall y for our good brethren in Ireland , for it witnessed the installation of our most distinguished Brother the Lord Lieutenant , His Grace the Duke of Abereorn , as Grand

Master of our genial Order , in the " Green Island . " As Paddy would say , "Good luck attind the Freemasons , notwithstanding Cardinal Paul , " and "here ' s to the Hilth of the Lard Liftenant , and more power to his arm . " The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution held its

anniversary in J anuary , when the large sum of £ 6630 was collected , and the labours of its energetic Secretary , Bro . James Terry , were fully rewarded . During this month the Craft had to deplore the untimely death of the Countess of Carnarvon , the gentle and amiable wife of our

Deputy G . Master . In April , our Royal Grand Master laid the foundation of the New Merchant Taylor ' s School , amid a large assemblage , and with great applause . May witnessed a never-tobe-forgotten scene by this generation of English Masons , the installation of the Prince of Wales

as Grand Master of the English brotherhood , at the Albert Hall . Those of us who were present on that " alba dies" will never lose the vivid reality of the gathering or the scene , and we shall rejoice to think amid the onward march of years ,

that we were permitted to behold so great a high day of Freemasonry , to rally round our Royal Grand Master , and to hail the unparalleled demonstration of our English Order . The arrangements were perfect , and reflect the greatest credit on Bros . Sir A . Woods and Thomas Fenn .

The Swedish deputation which had been sent to congratulate our Grand Master , who was , be it remembered , initiated into the Order in Sweden , visited the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , and expressed warmly the great pleasure the visit had caused them . Our Royal Grand Master

was also in May installed as First Principal of the Grand Chapter . During this " merry month " the anniversary of the Girls' School took place , when £ 7000 were collected . June witnessed , across the dividing waters ofthe Atlantic , a great Masonic ceremony in New York , namely the

Masonic dedication of the new hall . It was a most imposing demonstration , telling well for those who arranged the proceedings , and we in England have the deepest interest in and sympathy for our American brethren of the " mystic tie . " July brought the Boys '

School anniversary , when the unprecedentedly large amount of £ 12 , 700 was announced at the Alexandra Palace by Bro . Binckes . Bro . Binckes may fairly claim great credit for his " coup , " and we trust that after some little clouds over the internal regime of the

school have completely passed away , all will go on well with that great institution . Some perverse and personal attacks have been made on Bro . Binckes and the House Committee , but like all similar manifestations , in Masonry or out of Masonry , they generally both fail in their

purpose , and react on those who initiate them . During this month the Surrey Masonic Hall was dedicated with much eclat , under the presidency of our distinguished and amiable Bro . Lord Skelmersdale , the D . G . Master . In August we have to note the presentation by that kindly

Lady Baroness Burdett Coutts of a most beautiful Bible to the Burdett Coutts Lodge . The proceedings , under the direction of Bro . J . Terry , were most animated and interesting . The foundation stone of a Masonic Hall at Grimsby also was laid in this month . In the month of

Septemher a presentation was made to our wellknown and worthy Bro . J . C . Parkinson , which afforded great pleasure to his many friends . Bro . Lord Mayo ' s statue was unveiled at Cockermouth , and then across the Atlantic we heard of the foundation stone of a new Masonic Hall

at Halifax , Nova Scotia , having been laid . We may note here that during the last year the Lord Mayor of London , eur worthy Bro . D . Stone , has been made J unior Grand Warden . In October the presentation of an address to our Grand Master , the Prince of Wales , before-jbis