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 , interesting , and useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Annual subscription in the United Kingdom , Post free , 10 / -

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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 KENNING , 198 , Fleet-st .

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Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

All Communications , Advertisements , & c , intended for insertion in the Number of the following Saturday , must reach rhe Office not later than 12 o ' clock on Wednesday morning .

The following stand over : — Mount Lebanon Lodge of Instruction ; Consecration of a new lodge at Swansea ; installation meeting of Victoria Lodge , 1345 ; Red Cross of Constantine , Naval and Military- Conclave , 35 ; Mary's Chapel , 1 , New York .

BOOKS RECEIVED . " Debrett ' s Peerage and Baronetage for 1876 ; " " Debrett ' s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench for 1876 ; " "The Craftsman . "

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

[ The charge is 2 S . 6 d . for announcements , not exceed ing four lines , under this heading . ]

MARRIAGE . Ci . * uGiiTOK-Mii . 0 M , \ Y . —At Chelmsford , the Rev . T . L . Claghton , Curate of Ashbourne , to Henrietta , daughter of Mr . Edmund St . J . Mildmay , Equerry to H . R . H . the Duke ot Cambridge , Feb . 15 .

DEATI IS . Bnr . TTi-. —19 th , at Christ's Hospital , the beloved wife of the Rev . P . H . Ernest Brette . Friends please accept this intimation .

WiTHAi . i .. — 19 th , at his residence , Bell Cottage , Dulwicb , Bro . Wm . Withal ] , S . W . Panmure Lodge , 720 , much regretted by all who knew him . Aged 45 . FOUBF . S . —12 th , at Portsea , Bro . S . D . Forbes .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , FEB . 26 , 1876 .

Our Royal Grand Master In India.

OUR ROYAL GRAND MASTER IN INDIA .

H . R . H . the Prince of Wales has paid a most successful visit to Nepaul , where he was most warmly received by Sir Jung Babadoor on the part of the young Maharajah . The R . G . Master was to take part in some time tiger hunting .

Our Royal Grand Master In India.

The Serapis has arrived at Bombay . The depatches from India Thursday morning state that there was splendid sport on Monday . Seven tigers were shot , six falling to the Prince ' s rifle . His Royal Highness was accompanied by Sir Jung Bahadoor . Upwards of 600 elephants were employed in beating the jungle , and the sight was of an imposing character .

The Installation Of H.R.H. Prince Leopold As P.G.M. For Oxfordshire.

THE INSTALLATION OF H . R . H . PRINCE LEOPOLD AS P . G . M . FOR OXFORDSHIRE .

For some time the thoughts of English Masons have been turned to that distinguished province , over which so fitly and so seasonabl y the exalted brother of our Royal Grand Master has been called to rule . Like many of his Royal Family , Prince Leopold seems to have

sincerely attached himself to our Order . And as Freemasons , we rejoice to know and to think that our principles and practice so commend themselves in successive generations to various members of the House of Brunswick , that while we have received from them all of kindly sym

pathy , approval , and adhesion , we on' the other hand have been able to offer to them alike our loyal homage and our fraternal attachment . So mote it be . jin the future as in the past and present , and long may this happy union continue between the august 3 nd genial sons of our gracious

Sovereign , the daughter of an old Grand Master , and our peaceful , intelligent , law-abiding , educated Craft . "When some years hence another pen records in the still flourishing columns of the " Freemason " the passing events and notable " sayings and doings " of Freemasonry , may he

have to tell , as we do gratefully and gladly today , that close and affectionate union which ever has existed , and we feel sure ever will exist , between English Freemasons and our Royal Family . Prince Leopold has already gained golden opinions at Oxford , and on every ground ,

personal and Masonic , we feel sure that no happier choice of a ruler for the province could be made than that which has been so wisel y made by our absent but mindful Grand Master . A letter from India in our last impression tells us well what his zeal and sympathy for Freemasons

and Freemasonry really are ! The tastes and temperament , the studies and the sentiments of His Royal Highness Prince Leopold , all seem to augur a prosperous regime , and to point to a grateful and contented brotherhood . Owing to the distinguished character of its lodges

generally , and the noble and cultured brethren who swell the long roll of the Apollo Lodge in particular , the Province of Oxfordshire is always a very important one in the Masonic aggregation . We therefore congratulate it to-day on its gathering , and the interesting

ceremony of the 23 rd , its new ruler , and the spirit and enthusiasm of its members . Time does not permit us to go into the account of the installation in detail now ; we shall recur to it in our next , offering as we do to our good brethren in the Province of Oxfordshire our sincere felicitations and our hearty good wishes .

The Onward Movement Of Freemasonry.

THE ONWARD MOVEMENT OF FREEMASONRY .

Those who are conversant with the real facts of the case as regards the present proceedings and prospects of Freemasonry , especially under the Anglo-Saxon system , and we believe the same state of things is to be found more or less in other jurisdictions , must be struck with its

tendency to increase and to expand . On every side of us in Great Britain , the New Dominion , and the United States , we see young lodges springing up , we hear of fresh lodges being formed . Here , there , and everywhere , the brethren of the mystic tie , like the armed but silent host in the "Lady of

the Lake , seem to "crop up" before our wondering gaze to attract our attention , and to claim our notice . Indeed , we think it cannot be denied by any , that at no epoch of our existence since the Revival of 1717 , has the spirit of Masonic propagandism been so active or so success-

The Onward Movement Of Freemasonry.

ful as now . Indeed , it is impossible to read the hebdomadal columns of the " Freemason ¦" . without noting how many proofs are therein to be found of the advance and augmentation of our ancient Cralt . And we are among those who , believing in Freemasonry , always gladly welcome

those numerous interesting "little strangers " who , in the guise of new lodges , challenge our kinship and demand our sympathy . We do not believe in a stationary Freemasonry , * we do not think even that that lodge or district is very much permeated either with Masonic , zeal or with a

desire for Masonic light in which , following the humdrum course of years , one lodge supplies either the wants of a populous town , or is the only Masonic centre in an influential and increasing district . There are sleepy Masons and sleepy lodges up and down our good land , and

whenever you come across them you know at once that it means the minimum of work , and the maximum of refreshment , an indolent , halfhearted , indifferent profession of Freemasonry . We , on the contrary , desiderate Masonic energy and life , activity and service , zeal and labour ,

and we therefore always welcome the planting of new lodges , and the " swarming" from old ones . For it is in this way that Freemasonry still , poetically at any rate , spreads " from pole to pole . ' ' It is in this way , we repeat , that its principles are diffused , and its benefits are proclaimed . We

are inclined to think sometimes , that one of the reasons of this advance and increase of Freemasonry is to be found in the fact , that wherever its true teaching is best understood it is apparently most appreciated / Many of us have become very weary of the worn out

cries of sectarian bitterness , of unreasoning intolerance . The dogmatism and the defiances , the anathemas and the antagonisms , the uncharitableness and the unsavoury violence of many pseudo-hierophants , have aroused as a counter action , and even counter irritant , the "free lances "

of thought , of enquiry , and of criticism . In . such a contest the pendulum is apt to swing a little over first on one side , then on the other , and we have always to regret , being human and fallible , mournful mistakes and puerile theories . But the " residuum " of all this often angry and

perhaps not unsterile controversy seems to be the assertion of liberty of conscience , ot freedom of opinion , of the inviolable and sacred right of the human intellect , the absolute liberty of the individual , within certain safe and recognised limits of religious teaching , and of religious

conviction . The principle of toleration in its truest and widest sense is the keynote to all the mystic harmonies of Freemasonry , and it is just because Freemasonry is so wide-embracing and so unsectarian that it retains its peaceful and gentle character . But when we say this we do

not mean that Freemasonry in any way encourages the sceptical reveries , or the hurtful unbelief of the day . We can be tolerant without being infidels . We can be charitable without becoming latitudinarian . It is thus that Freemasonry in its present position becomes a

neutral ground for contending parties and even differing creeds . Once within its portals we do not enquire what our brother ' s politics and religion are . We assume , as we presume , that he is a believer in God , a loyal subject of his queen , but we do not trouble ourselves whether his

doxy is our doxy , or anybody else ' s doxy . Hence Freemasonry has many charms for the kindly and sympathetic , the courteous and the cultivated . To know that amid the din of war and the shouts of contendingfactions , the disputes of the so-called religious world and the

internecine strife of conflicting schools , in this great battle-field of earthly life , there is one sheltered ' * oasis " in the dreary desert , one " Adytum Sanctum " into which the profane shouts of outside combatants cannot penetrate , where rancour is unknown , and " airesis" is not , this is

both a pleasant "look out" and a gracious memory for us all . Good for us if , amidst increasing numbers to-day , we never forget the universal character of our Order ; happy will it be to us if , adhering to our ancient landmarks :

we allow neither love of novelty or change , the caprice or ignorance of the hour , to loosen those moorings which have so long held in a safe anchorage the good ship Freemasonry . Amid its onward progress and its material prosperity ,