To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The FREEMASON is a Weekly Newspaper , price ^ Cl « It is publisher ] every Friday morning , and contains the most important , interesting , and useful information , relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Subscription ,

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Important Notice.

IMPORTANT NOTICE .

Tt ts very necessary for our readers to advis us of all money orders thev remit , more especially those from the United States of America and India ; otherwise we cannot tell where to credit them . Several P . O . O . ' s are now in hand , but having received no advice we cannot credit them .

To Advertisers.

TO ADVERTISERS .

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Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

1870 . —The work is announced to appear early in November .

BOOKS , ic , RECEIVED . " Coleman's Masonic Calendar , " ' Alliance News . " "Broad Arrow , " " Ktiyal Cornwall Gazelle , " "De Bauhiittr- '' " Die Ncw Yorker Bundes Prrsse , " " Hull Packet , " " Citizen , " " Cheshiic * County News , " " Chaine d' Union , " " Masonic Newspaper , " " Hebrew Leader , " " Keystone . "

Births ,Marriages And Deaths.

Births , Marriages and Deaths .

[ The charge is 2 s . fid . for announcements not exceeding Four Lines under this heading . ]

BIRTHS . EAST . —On the 17 th inst ., at Woodeotc-grove , Epsom , Surrey , the wife of Bro , W . Q . East , of a daughter . RosF . BF . nv . —On the 18 th inst ., at 107 , Piccadilly , Lady Rosehery , of a daughter . TMACKWELI .. —On the 18 th inst ., at Eastbourne , the wife of Bro . Lieut . E . L . R . ThacInvt-II , prematurely , of a daughter ( stillborn ) .

MARRIAGE . LUCKING—Coi . n . —On the 22 nd inst ., at Holy Trinity Church , Islington , Edward , youngest son of Bro . C , Lucking , Southend , Essex , to Eliza Ann , eldest daughter of R . Cole , of London .

DEATHS . CHAPMAN . —On the 13 th inst ., at 3 8 , Park-villas , Parkholmc-road , Dalstcn , Lily Clayton Chapman , aged 13 years . DUIIKIN . —On the 15 th inst ., at St . Mary's-road , . Peckham , Bro . Thomas Durkin , P . M . 72 .

LARKIN * . —On the 15 th inst ., at 30 , Athelston-rnad , Margate , Gcorgina , second daughter of Bro . J . dm and Georgina Larkin , of 24 , Cliar ' crht ) use-squ ; rre , London , aged 18 . LAWSON . —* .. < n the 20 th inst ., at his residence , 2 , Brookstreet , Hanover-square , after a few hours' illness , Lionel Lawson , aged 5 6 years .

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THE FREEMASON . SATURDAT , SEPTEMBER 27 , 1879 .

Freemasonry In The East.

FREEMASONRY IN THE EAST .

Such is the heading ofa communication in the Times last week , which suggests many curious memories and manv important considerations to the Masonic student . We do not refer to the subject matter of the communication we print elsewhere , for that only refers , in our opinion , to

a somewhat commonplace present , if even it seems to have a bearing on things as they really are in that far and still mysterious clime . But we prefer , as if on a magic and Masonic carpet , to travel far away to that land of startling reminiscences and moving tales , to the past centuries

through which Tennyson ' s poetic " Argosies " have floated on , laden with the spo Is of the old world and the industry of the new , surrounded for the most part with that mist of ignorance and prejudice which has blinded mfn ' s eyes to the historic truth , and landed them in a

picturesque but deceptions realm of shadows , legends , and myths . Freemasonry , as we bslieve , hails from the East , but what have been its conditions of vitality and reality since Christianity sprung marvellously to the fore ? Has it survived troubled and storm ) ' ages amid the conflicting claims of

Christians and Mohammedans the Crusader and the "Srldan , " both the " encroaching hand of time " and the inevitable human process of decay , dissolution , and oblivion ? Was Freemasonry still lingering in the East in mystic and secret sodalities when stately knights did battle for the

Cross and the'r Redeemer , and sought to rescue the dear and Holy City from I ' aynim and Iconoclast ? Does Freemasonry still survive , if > n an altered form , amid the Dervishes of Turkey , thc Santons of Africa , the Dhijals of the Druses the secret confraternities of Sopht colleges ? Ont

"Hi gh Grade tradition declares that the Crusaders brought back from the East certain quasi-Masonic organizations , and some of the proceedings of the Templars are only explainable on the ground of some common ground of intercommunion with their Mohammedan foes ? Many ofthe

peculiar ceremonies attributed to the Templars in their " secreta receptio ' * seem to have come from the East , ancl to have been Oriental both in idea and end . Can we hope to obtain a satisfactory answer to such questions ? a lucid explanation of such suggestions ? We fear not . No ,

tor us the great and wondrous East , the storehouse of all worldly lore and learning , the quondam source of all the wisdom and mysteries , the Hermetic secrets and the inductive science of today , must , still we fear repose for us in its imperishable dimness and stillness , and will still refuse to

unravel the arcana of the past , or give us the golden key to unlock the sealed book of ages . Sufficient for us as Freemasons that with the East are bound up our most ancient associations and our most cherished traditions , and that under

its bright shadow we are still willing also to confront , whether the destructive theories of the present , or to look on in hope and trust to the gradual unveiling of a bri ghter , because less dubious future .

Masonic Holidays.

MASONIC HOLIDAYS .

" All work and no play , " says the old saw , "makes Jack a dull boy , " and though , like a good many aged and affecting " saws " we wot of . it lias its "outcome " of fallacy , yet there is a " substratum " of truth in it , clearly and convincingly . To many workers in this world ' s great beehive , ( not " drones , " observe , kind

readers ) , a holiday is often needed , not only for rest and refreshment of mind and body , but actually for very health ' s sake . The effort of continuous overpowering work , especially brain work , is to produce not onl y lassitude of mind and body , but to expedite the inevitable symptoms of weakness and decay . Indeed , it is sometimes surprising to think how many ol us

Masonic Holidays.

all stand , day by dav , and hour by hour , the wear and tear on our faculties , on onr corporeal strength . With few can such a pressure go on safely for long without indubitable signs of over work , of breaking rlown . And holidays are good for us all , he we who we may . The clergyman

labouring in hi- ; parish , the lawyer toiling in his chambers , the physician intent on his benevolent mission of help and healing-, the actor triumphing over the svmnathies and minds of his auditory , the man of business in his counting house , all have claims for , nay more , have need of , "holidays '

from time to time , lest the turmoil and wei ght of worldly pressure should erase their finer sensibilities , or overpower their truer emotions . And not only this , but as we have before observed , sanitary considerations demand a cessation from time to time of mental and bodil y

labour for us all alike . The Freemason from the first has rejoiced in the Bank Holidays , for example , as tending greatly to the eventful elevation , ( let us trust ) , of vast masses of our labouring acd laborious countrymen in social virtues and aesthetic culture , in their

improvement and benefit in many ways . And feeling all this strongly , we also approve greatly of Masonic holidays , when for a time our busy lodge life ceases and our good brethren , scattered in every direction , in health resorts by the sea side , on mountain and on moor , revive their

strength , recruit their energies , and prepare valourously for the serious emergencies of another ( not Cabul , but Masonic ) campaign . We think that a short visit to one of the sequestered and beautiful spots in our own country will do us all good in most respects . It is impossible ,

we believe , when surrounded by the associations of the country , in all its grace and sweetness , to - be altogether wrapped up in self , or to be insensible to the claims and duties of life . The everlasting hills , the placid lake , the goodly trees , the green meadows , the elements in wrath or in

repose , all alike affect our minds with bettering associations , and serve to stir np in us . all a sense of the truly beautiful and the divine , in the wond : ons handiwork ofthe Most High , and soothe our jaded spirits , or soften our bitter reflections , or lighten up our dim aspirations , or renew our

decaying inner life with those perceptions and memories which the Great Creator seems to have identified in His mercy with all nature ' s sternest and gentlest scenes for the happiness and improvement of man . These words may recall to somo of our readers many a pleasant

outing , many a happy walk—the old country side hostelry , ( now rare ) , the mountain stream , the winding path , the chat with an old mate , and all the humhle but honest emotions of youth , not too grand to be pleased , or cf manhood not too lordly to be satisfied with meagre fare and the traveller ' s life . Pleasant recollections are those

which recall the needful holidays of life , before we were too great , capricious , or prosperous to find happiness in little things , or the quiet companionship of an ancient friend , in that real holiday of the heart and soul , which brings us face to face and mind to mind with congenial spirits and kindly souls .

Cabul.

CABUL .

This land of ill-omened memory to English minds of olden time , lately associated with a most triumphant expedition , is now once again before us in all the lurid li ght of treachery and cruelty . The Freemason does not profess or affect in any manner to touch upon political problems

or deal with " matters of state , " directly or indirectly , but it can , and does , sympathize deeply with those gallant brethren of ours who are to be found in that noble service , ever ready at the call of its Sovereign and its country to "go anvwhere and do anything . " . And , hence , to-day it

is glad in its humble columns , which are read by hill fires and in distant cantonments , to express its warm and anxious interest in those who " have gone to the front , " and who it trusts ere long , in the capital of a treacherous foe , may

inflict a punishment which may serve as an example to all open or secret enemies , to those who declare themselves our antagonists , to those who surreptitiously egg on others to savage warfare , of the mi ght and retribution of England . We say once more to-day , that we have every confi-