Address To Our Readers.

ADDRESS TO OUR READERS .

THE FREEMASOIS'MAGAZINE

AND MASONIC MIB . EOE .

As in closing our last volume we bid adieu to tlie London brethren for the season—so , in closing this , Ave may congratulate them upon the recommencement of their labours , and the return of that jjeriod upon AA'hich , as a rule , so much depends for the interests of the Craft in the year to come—the election and installation of the Masters of the various lodges . In the country the brethren have had their Provincial Grand Lodges and we hope more firmly cemented those ties which bind lodge to loclge ,

and are , as in London , looking AA'ith hope to the coming year . Having thus introduced ourselves once more to the brethren , AA C will take a peep , though only briefly , of Avhat has been going forward in the outer Avorld . The Queen , Avhose health , it is satisfactory to knoAV , is improving , has been gradually accustoming herself once more to mixing with her people , as she did before the affliction Avhich visited her three years since ; and iu the coming season it is probable

she Avill again take part in those ceremonies of State which , for a time , have been natm-ally distasteful to her . In the mean Avhile , Her Majesty continues to spend her time in the bosom of her family , and set an example , as she has ever done , of those home virtues which are so peculiarly characteristic of

English society . The Prince and Princess of Wales , Avith their infant heir , have been visiting the native land of the Princess , and endeavouring , by their presence , in some measure to cheer the Eoyal Family of that country under the misfortunes Avhich brute force has brought upon Denmark . It is true that peace has been restored to that country , but only at the cost of some of her fairest possessions ruthlessly torn from lier by the military power of Austria ancl Prussia ; but Avho is to become the ultimate possessor of

the territory thus taken from Denmark is yet undecided . Well ! peace reigns in Europe ; but if we look across the Atlantic Ave find the fratricidal war Avhich has been raging amongst our American kinsmen for four years so far from being burned out that it is raging with greater fury , to the destruction of all those feelings which ought to be clear to mankind ; and amidst the storm Ave miss that stream of Masonic information which Ave used so regularly to receive from that quarter . At home we find ,

notwithstanding there Avas for a time something like a mercantile panic , Avhich has happily passed away , that the country continues to increase in material prosperity , and that Lancashire is gradually ,, though slowly , recovering from the sad effects which at first accrued from the breaking out of the American Avar , and the consequent stoppage of the cotton supplies .

Returning to those subjects which more immediately affect the Craft , we are happy in being enabled to congratulate the brethren that in England the prosperity of Freemasonry is unprecedented , and that during the past year more than 6 , 000 recruits have been added to our ranks . In Scotland and Ireland , too , the good cause progresses ; and so , too , may Ave say of our most distant colonies . The last shadow of dispute with the Grand Lodge of Canada has been adjusted , and Ave trust that the harmony Avhich now

prevails Avill never again be disturbed . In the Address to our last volume we had to allude to the fact that the Provincial Grand Master for the Eastern Division of South Wales had forbidden the lodges in his district supplying the MAGAZINE with reports of their proceedings . Since then Ave have pursued our accustomed course ; and now , as we are addressing our readers , we receive a letter from the Deputy Provincial Grand Master announcing that the