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To ADVERTISERS . THE Circulation of THE FREEMASON being now at the rate of nearly Half-a-million per annum , it offers peculiar facilities to all who advertise . It is well known that the Fraternity of Freemasons is a large and constantly increasing body , mainly composed of the influential and educated classes of society ; and as The Freemason is now the accepted organ of the Brotherhood in the United Kingdom , and also enjoys an extensive sale in the colonies and foreign parts , its advantages as an advertising medium can scarcely be overrated . For terms apply to -GEORGE KENNING , 2 , 3 , & 4 , LITTLE BRITAIN , LONDON , E . C .

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Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

. o . DEATH . IIUSTWICK . —On the 22 nd instant , at 9 , West Derbystreet , Liverpool , Nigel Percy , infant son of Brother Thos . H . Hustwick , J . W . 292 .

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All communications for THE FREEMASON should be written legibly on one iidc of the paper only , and , if intended lor insertion in the current number , must be received not later than 10 o ' clock a . m . on Thursdays , unless in very special cases , Th « name and address of every writer must be sent to us in confidence .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , APRIL 29 , 1871 . THE FREEMASON IS published on Saturday Mornings in time for the early trains . The price of THE FREEMASON is Twopence per week ; annua * tubscription , ros . ( payable in advance ) . All communications , letters , Sec , to be addressed to the EDITOR 3 , 3 , and 4 , Little Urltain , E . C . The Editor will pay careful attention to all MSS . entrusted to him tut oannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by postage stamps .

Freemasonry In France.

FREEMASONRY IN FRANCE .

WE regret having to chronicle another of those unaccountable acts of folly on the part of the Freemasons of France , or perhaps we should say , of Paris , which have

both astonished and grieved the friends of the Craft in every other land . It is announced that the Parisian brethren have met and determined to offer their services

as mediators between the two contending parties , whose internecine strife seems destined to complete the ruin of France . If this action on the part of the Brotherhood

were all we had to record , it would elicit nothing but praise and a hearty God-speed from every English Mason ; but , unfortunately , our French brethren go

furtherthey parade their political bias , and degrade the Order to which they belong , by adopting the views of the Commune as the Masonic programme of peace . Now

we have nothing whatever to say against brethren in any part of the globe adhering manfully to their political creed , whether it be Ciesarism , royalism . or federalism

Freemasonry In France.

but we must reiterate our protest against the name of Freemasonry being imported into discussions which are entirely foreign to its original scope , as well as to its present objects .

Fancy the Grand Lodge of England , after solemn debate , condemning Mr . Lowe ' s budget , or pronouncing in favour of the ballot ! The very idea sounds

supremely ridiculous , and yet it is with questions like these that the French Grand Orient , or the lodges under its control , are continually meddling . It was only the

other day that an official of this semipolitical body repudiated with emphasis the assumption that the Grand Orient had authorised the establishment of the Rite of

Misraim in England—the effect of which denial was , upon our mind , rather favourable to the promoters of the Rite than otherwise , inasmuch as we should have felt it

our duty to denounce the introduction into this country of any new degrees which derived their origin from so doubtful a source . Naturally one would be led to

imagine from M . Thevenot ' s letter that the Grand Orient never recognised irregular bodies or encroached upon other Masonic jurisdictions . Yet , strange to say , we find

that the spurious Grand Lodge of Philadelpbes , or Reformed Rite of Memphis , now meeting in London , comprises amongst its

list of members the names of a present official and an ex-official of the Grand Orient of France , and we are also in possession of the awkward fact that members

of the spurious lodges here are freely received and welcomed by their brother Socialists of the Masonic lodges in Paris . Our American brethren have sustained

a similar , if not a more grievous , wrong at the hands of M . Thevenot and his colleagues , by whose fostering care a clandestine body of Masons has been established in

the State of Louisiana . For this scandalous breach of Masonic honour the Grand Orient has been very justly placed under the ban of the American Craft , and no Mason

haili n g from the Rue Cadet , or its subordinate ateliers , will now be acknowledged by any Lodge in the United States . We deplore the course of action which the

Grand Orient has of late years thought fit to pursue , and we warn our French brethren that such conduct , if persevered in , will entail very serious consequences . It will

become a question whether the Grand Lodges of Great Britain , Germany , or America can any longer recognise as Masons men who so frequently pervert the influence

of the Fraternity to their own selfish ends . Our English readers do not require to be informed that the Grand Lodge of England has ever steadily declined exchanging

representatives with the Grand Orientmainly , we believe , on the ground that two so-called supreme Masonic bodies exist , and have for many years past existed , in

France . This , however , has not prevented the admission of French Masons to a participation in the labours of our lodges both as visitors and affiliated members . But

Freemasonry In France.

now that the first principles of the Craft are openly spurned—now that we find an assemblage of Parisian Masons accepting the theories of a political faction as

their own , and not only accepting those theories , but preparing to propound them as an ultimatum to their opponents in

arms—surely it is time for all who value true Masonry to disavow such acts and to reject such men as Masons .

Let us amputate an arm , lest the whole bod } ' perish . Let us sever all Masonic intercourse with these fanatics , rather than allow the fair fame of our ancient Order to

be tarnished by their unmasonic deeds . It can scarcely be matter of wonder to the outer world that Freemasonry is denounced as an irreligious and turbulent sect by

priests and rulers when we see such colour given to the accusation by the insensate doings of Parisian Masons . An Order whose watchwords are " Glory to God on

high , on earth peace , goodwill to all mankind , " is made to assume the appearance of a truculent league for the abolition of all government—human and divine . A

Fraternity which should ever be the Palladium of true freedom , is pressed into the service of anarchy and blood ! And are we , who boast ourselves the guardians and

conservators of pure ancient Masonry , to stand by with folded arms and voiceless lips while this most miserable metamorphosis is being effected ? Are we to give the

sanction of our silence to proceedings which strike at the root of all Masonry ? No ! let it go forth to the world that the Freemasons of England disavow most

heartily the manifestoes of those misguided French brethren , and repudiate any connection in their fraternization with the Communists or Red Republicans . It is

nevertheless important to bear in mind that it is with their action as a body we find fault , and not with the opinions which any individual Mason may choose to

enunciate and support . We fear , however , that the evil is almost ineradicable , and that nothing but ostracism for a time from the Masonic Body Universal will cure our

French brethren of the fatal fancy for using their influence as Masons in political matters . They must also be taught the virtue of non-interference as regards other

Masonic jurisdictions—a lesson which American Grand Lodges have already enforced . The quasi-recognition which they have extended to the Grand Lodge

of Philadelphes in London would alone call for severe measures on the part of the Grand Lodge of England , and viewed in connection with their general proceedings ,

it becomes a crime of . no small magnitude . There are , we doubt not , many true and honourable members of the Masonic Order in France , and to them we appeal in order to

avert the ruin which impends over French Freemasonry . To them we appeal to preserve the few remaining links which still unite our erring brethren to the great chain

of the Craft Universal . But if their efforts should fail , Ave must then invoke more powerful aid , and resolutely lop off from the parent tree a branch which bears such strange , unwholesome fruit .