Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ad00603
ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS , Si' . J ' S HILL , BATTEKSEA RISK , S . W . PATRON AND P RESIDENT ; — His ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES , K . G ., & c , M . W . G . M . PATRONESS : HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE P RINCESS OE WALES . PRESIDENT OE THE BOARD OF STEWARDS : THE RT . HON . THE LORD LEIGH , Trustee , RAV . Prov . Grand Master for Warwickshire . ACTING PRESIDENT : VAV . BRO . SIR J . 13 . MONCKTON , P . G . D ., Pres . Board of Gen . Purposes , Vice-Patron . TREASURER : W . BRO . J OSHUA NUNX , P . G . S . B ., Vice-President . CHAIRMAN OF THE LADIES' STEWARDS : W . Bro . FRANK R ICHARDSON , P . G . D ., Vice-Patron . THE NINETY-F OURTH A NNIVERSARY FESTIVAL of this Institution will be held A T F K K K M A S O X S ' T A V K R X , Gin-: AT QUEEN ST ., LONDON , W . C ., On WEDNESDAY , MAY 10 th , 1 SS 2 , under the Presidency of H . R . H . THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT , K . G ., & c , P . G . W . Brethren willing to act as Stewards arc urgently needed , and will greatly oblige by forwarding their names as early as possible to the Secretary , who will gladly give any information required . F . R . W . HEDGES , Office , 5 , Freemasons' Hal ! , __ Sec . Great Queen-street , London , W . C .
Ad00607
VOTES FOR GIRLS' AND BOYS ' SCHOOLS ELECTION . A Brother in want of some Votes , both for the Girls' and BOYS' Schools Elections , would be glad to meet or correspond with any brother or brethren having any such votes to lend . Apply P . M . M ., forthwith , Freemason Office , 16 , Great Oueen-street , W . C .
Ad00606
MASONIC GIRLS' SCHOOL ELECTION . Bro . J . While , of 135 , Loughborough-road , will be happy to change 2 S votes for Girls' Election for Boys' proxies .
Ad00605
AN APPEAL to the Benevolent is made on behalf of a BROTHER , aged 72 , of considerable literary attainments , who was run over and disabled in January last ; formerly in a good position , and a liberal supporter of the Charities , is now confined to his bed and quite destitute . He was relieved from the Fund of Bensvolsnce in July last , and cannot apply to that Fund again until next July . Bro . Henry Sadler is personally acquainted with this very distressing case , and will be glad to give information respecting it , or take charge of any contributions sent to him , care ' of W . Lake , 10 , Great Queenstreet , and supervise their disbursement .
Ad00604
ROYAL SEA BATHING INFIRMARY , MARGATE . ESTABLISHED 1791 . THE ONLY ONE EXCLUSIVELY FOR SCROFULOUS POOR . COL . CREATON , TREASURER . JOHN M . CLABON , ESQ ., HON . SECRETARY . This Hospital requires aid . An extra liberal diet table is of necessity required on account of the exhausting nature of this terrible disease . Donors of f . \ o 105 ., Annual Subscribers of £ 1 is ., can recommend patients . 250 beds . Average number of Inpatients per year , 750 , and of applicants over 1000 . Bankers , the Bank of England ; Coutts and Co . ; and Cobb and Co ., Margate . Offices : No . 30 . Charing Cross , W . JOHN THOMAS WALKER , Secretary
Ar00600
© o OToiTesuontients . BOOKS , Sic , RECEIVED . " Die Baiihuttc , " "The Citizen , " "Jewish Chronicle , " " The Broad Arrow , " "The Philadelphia Press , " "The Court Circular , " "The Blue , " "Supplement to the Bullionist , " "The West London Advertiser , " " El Taller , " " Allen ' s Indian Mail , " " Voice of Masonry , " " Leicester Daily Mercury , " "The Mystic Tie , " "the Montreal Herald , " "The Hull Packet , " " New York Dispatch . "
Ar00608
TO OUR READERS . 'I lit I ' ltiir . MAMiN is i > nl ; li ~ li < j < I every I ' ridny morning , price 3 d ., anil contains the fiille-t anil latest information relating to Freemasonry n every degree . Subscriptions , including Postage : — United States , Im ] . Chinn Australia , United Kingdom . Canaua , the Contt- N Z ( . aland & ctient , & x . 13 s . 15 s . 6 d . 17 s . 6 d . Remittances may be made in Stamps , but Post Office Orders or Chc'lucsarc prefered , the former payable to ( oiolUiE KBNXINU , Chief Office , Un Ion . the latter . crossed London Joint Stock Dank
Ar00609
g / gy . ^ asx ^^»^ 4 AAAAMAAj > igl iPllBRSraiJpissriiS ^ P ?§ ifflii §* S SATURDAY , MARCH 25 , 1 SS 2 .
Original Correspondence.
Original Correspondence .
[ We tlo not hold ourselves responsible for , or even approving of , the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish in a spirit of fair play to all to permit—within certain necessary Limits—free discussion . ' !
CALENDRIER MACONNIQUE . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — What has come over our worthy friends in the Rue Cadet , Paris ? A copy of the " Calendrier Maconnique " for 1 SS 2 , the official calendar of the Grand Orient , has just
fallen into my hands , and I find they are all dreadfully behind-hand and " in the basket . " They only know of 1670 English lodges , and still recognize our lamented Bro . John Hervey as Grand Secretary , ignoring the work and name of our present worthy and energetic Grand Secretary ,
Col . Shadwefl H . Clerkc . Now I know incidentally that they still receive our Grand Lodge reports , and no doubt our Annual Calendar . Whence then this retrograde state of affairs ? Arc they all " en sommcil ? " Yours Fraternally , MASKELYNE .
PRECEPT AND PRACTICE . To the Editor of the " Freemason . ''' ' Dear Sir and Brother , — I have had before me a case which gives me grounds for fearing that certain of our brethren , in the
reiteration of Craft precepts , sometimes come to regard those precepts as mere "facon de parler . " This may not be from want of heart , but lack of thought has the like result , and the " plain , ' unvarnished" story I have to relate , while it points a moral , will , I trust , have the effect of enlisting sympathies seldom sought in vain for a good
cause . This story I have to tell relates to the late Bro . Hennah , afterwards the Rev . W . II . Hennah , who , about the year 1 S 74 , being then about twenty-five years of age , and the head of a scholastic establishment in Kent , increased , as he hoped , his means of being more useful to his fellow
creatures , by seeking the light of Masonry , and was initiated in a country lodge . He left the scene of his labours in Kent , and , taking up his abode in London , in the great northern parish of Islington , he discharged public and private duties with energy and assiduity ; adding to his labours as the principal of an educational establishment
the duties of a minister of religion (" sans prebend" ); and was an elected Guardian of the Poor . Though so far away from his mother lodge , he did not forget the ' companions of his Masonic toils , but continued a member of that lodge , and though he could not share in the pleasures , he contributed to the lodge ' s ability to discharge its " work ;"
now and again , too , taking the long journey from London to the country that he might show his active interest in the Craft . In lact , our Bro . Hennah was a " good Mason " in al ! respects and in every , sense . Now I come to the pitiful part of my story . Last autumn , when the summer suddenly gave way to a wintry
wind , our Bro . Hennah , not thirty-two years of age , with a frame shaken by over-work , caught a severe cold . With that illness upon him he travelled in bad weather , in his zeal for his Master ' s work , to . preach a sermon at a far off p lace . He returned home , and his spirit passed hencerheumatic fever completing what the cold and overtaxed
energies had commenced . The prop which had sustained the household was suddenly taken away , and of course , the result of Bro . Hennah's labours and of his capital , in the establishment he had founded , became almost as nothing . Bro . Hennah's widow , with a fortitude and energy perfectly marvellous and most commendable , set
herself heartily to the task of working for her three fatherless boys—the eldest under eight . She sought only that her late husband ' s lodge should aid her in endeavouring to secure the election of one boy— -Frederick Wolfe Hennah —into the Masonic Boys' School , an election which , in such a case , would surely be as proper and as faithful an
application of the Charity as could be made , both in regard to the late father ' s merits as a man , as well as his position as a citizen ; and the fact that the charity , so applied , would be a blessing alike to the boy , the widow , and the two remaining sons of the widow . Bro . Hennah's lodge , unfortunately , had " local " cases
to support ( though 1 should have though the son of poor Bro . Hennah would have been considered a " local case " ) , and I , as a London Mason , was appealed to in aid of this case , the family having been known to me for many years . 1 sought the aid of active members of my own lodge , No . 22 S , in this case , and the answer I had , " If you had not
been absent through illness you would have known that our country Bro . O'Doherty has died , and that Lodge 22 S ( United Strength ) , must give its whole aid for this country brother's son . " Here is the true universal spirit—though the practice of London and country lodges differs . On the merits of this case I appeal . to the wide benevoence of brethren who have votes for No . 56 in the list of
Original Correspondence.
boys who arc candidates . Several influential brethren have kindly given me their aid , but my long illness and my inexperience in the ways of charity voting , will , 1 fear , act detrimentally in the cause of the widow , Mrs . Hennah , and her children , especially I am thus unassisted by any lodge . I appeal with the more confidence because I know that the Craft , in the wide benevolence it ; ever exercises , will gladly
repair the mistakes into which a narrow interpretation of duties has led some of its members , and will especially be glad to do this when it can combine its action with true and wise benevolence . —I am , dear Sir and Brother , yours faithfully and fraternally , JOHN WHILE , P . M . 22 S and M . E . Z . elect 22 S . 135 , Loughborough-road , S . W .
THE GRANDE LOGE SYMBOLIQUE ECOSSAISE . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Referring to " Maskelyne ' s" admirable epistle , and to your own gracious remarks in your last week ' s journal , I would wish to observe that in January , 1 SS 0 , eleven Craft
lodges working under the Ancient and Accepted Rite met , and declared that thenceforth they would nominate one representative each for every fifty members of a lodge , or part of fifty , which representatives would constitute a governing power to be called the Grande Loge Symboliquc Ecossaise , and permission was duly obtained and certified
by the Prefect of Police and by the Minister of the Interior , granting precisely the same prerogatives and rights to the new body as those possessed by the Grand Orient and the Supreme Conseil du Rite Ecossais ; these permits were , I deem , alone sufficient to justify its creation as a Craft Grand Lodge . We did not want to create , as "
Maskelyne suggests , a Grand Conseil administering the higher grades , because we wished to leave the control of the hi gh grades to the Supreme Conseil Ecossais , and simply to form a national Craft Grand Lodge , embodying all Masons in France of the first Three Degrees , which , as I have before stated , is now in a considerable stage of advancement , for
since we left the Supreme Conseil Ecossais the reforms craved for have been carried out , hence the double reason for the so-called " fusion . " Wc wished to be governed by men of our own choice , and not by men [ unknown to us , who took unto themselves all rights and power . Does Bro . " Maskelyne" know that the " mutineers , "
as he calls us , are more numerous under our obedience than are the active members of all the lodges of the Supreme Conseil Ecossais , and that whilst our number constantly augments , theirs as surely decreases . The greatest point in favour of the legality of the Grand Loge Symboliquc is , as you sagaciously
point out , that it is a " fait accompli , " for on comparing this Masonic revolution with any other , I would fain ask you , by what charter did the party under the late M . Thiers proclaim the Republic in France , on the 4 th September , 1 S 70 ? None ; and yet the Republic is recognised everywhere as the legal government of France ,
because it is an accomplished fact ; and if only on the same precedent , I claim recognition and validity on behalf of the Grande Lodge Symboliquc Ecossais . In a country like this , where " vox populi" is "vox Dei , " it strikes one most naturally that the " vox fraternal" should have the right of constituting a self-governing constitutional government . As
to the upholding of the ancient landmarks of our beloved fraternity , —the Grand Orient and the Grand Loge Symboliquc do not impose a belief or an unbelief—they simply uphold the maxim that to enter into , the mysteries of Antient FYeemasonry , the neophyte must be / m . 'and of good report ; and the argument used ( which I do not in
this instance uphold or contradict ) is , that by compelling and enforcing a belief , you Anglo-Saxons do away with one of the essentials , freedom , since you prohibit a freethinker to enter the sacred precincts of our temples . 1 do not make use of a flow of eloquence equal to that
of " Maskelyne , " but I hope I have clearly shown my point without making use of rhetorical flourishes which only tend to enhance the difficulty of grasping at the true meaning of a sentence , without in the least embellishing plain Queen's English . I am , dear sir and brother , yours truly and fraternally , JOSEPH LAMBERT . 7 G , Faubourg Poissoiinierc , Paris .
THE GLOUCESTER PROVINCE " CALENDAR . " To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — "The Freemasons' Calendar and Directory for the Province of Gloucester " has just reached me , . and I being for all practical purposes non-resident in my
province , it brings to me a rich fund of information which no amount of private correspondence could furnish . The amount of work done in compiling this calendar can only be known by such of us as have undertaken the getting up of statistics of any kind . Our Bro . Basevi is rewarded for his work by the fact that it is to him a labour of love , he believing , as do others among us , that the publication has
proved itself useful as well as interesting . I wish the printer ' s reader had noticed the error in index , on page 5 ; but John Bellows is not fond even of small blemishes in his work , and has , doubtless , already noted this oversight with a view to avoid a repetition next year . I imagine this book must be heartily welcomed by most of our brethren . liven those whom proximity and leisure enable most frequently to visit cannot keep in memory the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ad00603
ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS , Si' . J ' S HILL , BATTEKSEA RISK , S . W . PATRON AND P RESIDENT ; — His ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES , K . G ., & c , M . W . G . M . PATRONESS : HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE P RINCESS OE WALES . PRESIDENT OE THE BOARD OF STEWARDS : THE RT . HON . THE LORD LEIGH , Trustee , RAV . Prov . Grand Master for Warwickshire . ACTING PRESIDENT : VAV . BRO . SIR J . 13 . MONCKTON , P . G . D ., Pres . Board of Gen . Purposes , Vice-Patron . TREASURER : W . BRO . J OSHUA NUNX , P . G . S . B ., Vice-President . CHAIRMAN OF THE LADIES' STEWARDS : W . Bro . FRANK R ICHARDSON , P . G . D ., Vice-Patron . THE NINETY-F OURTH A NNIVERSARY FESTIVAL of this Institution will be held A T F K K K M A S O X S ' T A V K R X , Gin-: AT QUEEN ST ., LONDON , W . C ., On WEDNESDAY , MAY 10 th , 1 SS 2 , under the Presidency of H . R . H . THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT , K . G ., & c , P . G . W . Brethren willing to act as Stewards arc urgently needed , and will greatly oblige by forwarding their names as early as possible to the Secretary , who will gladly give any information required . F . R . W . HEDGES , Office , 5 , Freemasons' Hal ! , __ Sec . Great Queen-street , London , W . C .
Ad00607
VOTES FOR GIRLS' AND BOYS ' SCHOOLS ELECTION . A Brother in want of some Votes , both for the Girls' and BOYS' Schools Elections , would be glad to meet or correspond with any brother or brethren having any such votes to lend . Apply P . M . M ., forthwith , Freemason Office , 16 , Great Oueen-street , W . C .
Ad00606
MASONIC GIRLS' SCHOOL ELECTION . Bro . J . While , of 135 , Loughborough-road , will be happy to change 2 S votes for Girls' Election for Boys' proxies .
Ad00605
AN APPEAL to the Benevolent is made on behalf of a BROTHER , aged 72 , of considerable literary attainments , who was run over and disabled in January last ; formerly in a good position , and a liberal supporter of the Charities , is now confined to his bed and quite destitute . He was relieved from the Fund of Bensvolsnce in July last , and cannot apply to that Fund again until next July . Bro . Henry Sadler is personally acquainted with this very distressing case , and will be glad to give information respecting it , or take charge of any contributions sent to him , care ' of W . Lake , 10 , Great Queenstreet , and supervise their disbursement .
Ad00604
ROYAL SEA BATHING INFIRMARY , MARGATE . ESTABLISHED 1791 . THE ONLY ONE EXCLUSIVELY FOR SCROFULOUS POOR . COL . CREATON , TREASURER . JOHN M . CLABON , ESQ ., HON . SECRETARY . This Hospital requires aid . An extra liberal diet table is of necessity required on account of the exhausting nature of this terrible disease . Donors of f . \ o 105 ., Annual Subscribers of £ 1 is ., can recommend patients . 250 beds . Average number of Inpatients per year , 750 , and of applicants over 1000 . Bankers , the Bank of England ; Coutts and Co . ; and Cobb and Co ., Margate . Offices : No . 30 . Charing Cross , W . JOHN THOMAS WALKER , Secretary
Ar00600
© o OToiTesuontients . BOOKS , Sic , RECEIVED . " Die Baiihuttc , " "The Citizen , " "Jewish Chronicle , " " The Broad Arrow , " "The Philadelphia Press , " "The Court Circular , " "The Blue , " "Supplement to the Bullionist , " "The West London Advertiser , " " El Taller , " " Allen ' s Indian Mail , " " Voice of Masonry , " " Leicester Daily Mercury , " "The Mystic Tie , " "the Montreal Herald , " "The Hull Packet , " " New York Dispatch . "
Ar00608
TO OUR READERS . 'I lit I ' ltiir . MAMiN is i > nl ; li ~ li < j < I every I ' ridny morning , price 3 d ., anil contains the fiille-t anil latest information relating to Freemasonry n every degree . Subscriptions , including Postage : — United States , Im ] . Chinn Australia , United Kingdom . Canaua , the Contt- N Z ( . aland & ctient , & x . 13 s . 15 s . 6 d . 17 s . 6 d . Remittances may be made in Stamps , but Post Office Orders or Chc'lucsarc prefered , the former payable to ( oiolUiE KBNXINU , Chief Office , Un Ion . the latter . crossed London Joint Stock Dank
Ar00609
g / gy . ^ asx ^^»^ 4 AAAAMAAj > igl iPllBRSraiJpissriiS ^ P ?§ ifflii §* S SATURDAY , MARCH 25 , 1 SS 2 .
Original Correspondence.
Original Correspondence .
[ We tlo not hold ourselves responsible for , or even approving of , the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish in a spirit of fair play to all to permit—within certain necessary Limits—free discussion . ' !
CALENDRIER MACONNIQUE . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — What has come over our worthy friends in the Rue Cadet , Paris ? A copy of the " Calendrier Maconnique " for 1 SS 2 , the official calendar of the Grand Orient , has just
fallen into my hands , and I find they are all dreadfully behind-hand and " in the basket . " They only know of 1670 English lodges , and still recognize our lamented Bro . John Hervey as Grand Secretary , ignoring the work and name of our present worthy and energetic Grand Secretary ,
Col . Shadwefl H . Clerkc . Now I know incidentally that they still receive our Grand Lodge reports , and no doubt our Annual Calendar . Whence then this retrograde state of affairs ? Arc they all " en sommcil ? " Yours Fraternally , MASKELYNE .
PRECEPT AND PRACTICE . To the Editor of the " Freemason . ''' ' Dear Sir and Brother , — I have had before me a case which gives me grounds for fearing that certain of our brethren , in the
reiteration of Craft precepts , sometimes come to regard those precepts as mere "facon de parler . " This may not be from want of heart , but lack of thought has the like result , and the " plain , ' unvarnished" story I have to relate , while it points a moral , will , I trust , have the effect of enlisting sympathies seldom sought in vain for a good
cause . This story I have to tell relates to the late Bro . Hennah , afterwards the Rev . W . II . Hennah , who , about the year 1 S 74 , being then about twenty-five years of age , and the head of a scholastic establishment in Kent , increased , as he hoped , his means of being more useful to his fellow
creatures , by seeking the light of Masonry , and was initiated in a country lodge . He left the scene of his labours in Kent , and , taking up his abode in London , in the great northern parish of Islington , he discharged public and private duties with energy and assiduity ; adding to his labours as the principal of an educational establishment
the duties of a minister of religion (" sans prebend" ); and was an elected Guardian of the Poor . Though so far away from his mother lodge , he did not forget the ' companions of his Masonic toils , but continued a member of that lodge , and though he could not share in the pleasures , he contributed to the lodge ' s ability to discharge its " work ;"
now and again , too , taking the long journey from London to the country that he might show his active interest in the Craft . In lact , our Bro . Hennah was a " good Mason " in al ! respects and in every , sense . Now I come to the pitiful part of my story . Last autumn , when the summer suddenly gave way to a wintry
wind , our Bro . Hennah , not thirty-two years of age , with a frame shaken by over-work , caught a severe cold . With that illness upon him he travelled in bad weather , in his zeal for his Master ' s work , to . preach a sermon at a far off p lace . He returned home , and his spirit passed hencerheumatic fever completing what the cold and overtaxed
energies had commenced . The prop which had sustained the household was suddenly taken away , and of course , the result of Bro . Hennah's labours and of his capital , in the establishment he had founded , became almost as nothing . Bro . Hennah's widow , with a fortitude and energy perfectly marvellous and most commendable , set
herself heartily to the task of working for her three fatherless boys—the eldest under eight . She sought only that her late husband ' s lodge should aid her in endeavouring to secure the election of one boy— -Frederick Wolfe Hennah —into the Masonic Boys' School , an election which , in such a case , would surely be as proper and as faithful an
application of the Charity as could be made , both in regard to the late father ' s merits as a man , as well as his position as a citizen ; and the fact that the charity , so applied , would be a blessing alike to the boy , the widow , and the two remaining sons of the widow . Bro . Hennah's lodge , unfortunately , had " local " cases
to support ( though 1 should have though the son of poor Bro . Hennah would have been considered a " local case " ) , and I , as a London Mason , was appealed to in aid of this case , the family having been known to me for many years . 1 sought the aid of active members of my own lodge , No . 22 S , in this case , and the answer I had , " If you had not
been absent through illness you would have known that our country Bro . O'Doherty has died , and that Lodge 22 S ( United Strength ) , must give its whole aid for this country brother's son . " Here is the true universal spirit—though the practice of London and country lodges differs . On the merits of this case I appeal . to the wide benevoence of brethren who have votes for No . 56 in the list of
Original Correspondence.
boys who arc candidates . Several influential brethren have kindly given me their aid , but my long illness and my inexperience in the ways of charity voting , will , 1 fear , act detrimentally in the cause of the widow , Mrs . Hennah , and her children , especially I am thus unassisted by any lodge . I appeal with the more confidence because I know that the Craft , in the wide benevolence it ; ever exercises , will gladly
repair the mistakes into which a narrow interpretation of duties has led some of its members , and will especially be glad to do this when it can combine its action with true and wise benevolence . —I am , dear Sir and Brother , yours faithfully and fraternally , JOHN WHILE , P . M . 22 S and M . E . Z . elect 22 S . 135 , Loughborough-road , S . W .
THE GRANDE LOGE SYMBOLIQUE ECOSSAISE . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Referring to " Maskelyne ' s" admirable epistle , and to your own gracious remarks in your last week ' s journal , I would wish to observe that in January , 1 SS 0 , eleven Craft
lodges working under the Ancient and Accepted Rite met , and declared that thenceforth they would nominate one representative each for every fifty members of a lodge , or part of fifty , which representatives would constitute a governing power to be called the Grande Loge Symboliquc Ecossaise , and permission was duly obtained and certified
by the Prefect of Police and by the Minister of the Interior , granting precisely the same prerogatives and rights to the new body as those possessed by the Grand Orient and the Supreme Conseil du Rite Ecossais ; these permits were , I deem , alone sufficient to justify its creation as a Craft Grand Lodge . We did not want to create , as "
Maskelyne suggests , a Grand Conseil administering the higher grades , because we wished to leave the control of the hi gh grades to the Supreme Conseil Ecossais , and simply to form a national Craft Grand Lodge , embodying all Masons in France of the first Three Degrees , which , as I have before stated , is now in a considerable stage of advancement , for
since we left the Supreme Conseil Ecossais the reforms craved for have been carried out , hence the double reason for the so-called " fusion . " Wc wished to be governed by men of our own choice , and not by men [ unknown to us , who took unto themselves all rights and power . Does Bro . " Maskelyne" know that the " mutineers , "
as he calls us , are more numerous under our obedience than are the active members of all the lodges of the Supreme Conseil Ecossais , and that whilst our number constantly augments , theirs as surely decreases . The greatest point in favour of the legality of the Grand Loge Symboliquc is , as you sagaciously
point out , that it is a " fait accompli , " for on comparing this Masonic revolution with any other , I would fain ask you , by what charter did the party under the late M . Thiers proclaim the Republic in France , on the 4 th September , 1 S 70 ? None ; and yet the Republic is recognised everywhere as the legal government of France ,
because it is an accomplished fact ; and if only on the same precedent , I claim recognition and validity on behalf of the Grande Lodge Symboliquc Ecossais . In a country like this , where " vox populi" is "vox Dei , " it strikes one most naturally that the " vox fraternal" should have the right of constituting a self-governing constitutional government . As
to the upholding of the ancient landmarks of our beloved fraternity , —the Grand Orient and the Grand Loge Symboliquc do not impose a belief or an unbelief—they simply uphold the maxim that to enter into , the mysteries of Antient FYeemasonry , the neophyte must be / m . 'and of good report ; and the argument used ( which I do not in
this instance uphold or contradict ) is , that by compelling and enforcing a belief , you Anglo-Saxons do away with one of the essentials , freedom , since you prohibit a freethinker to enter the sacred precincts of our temples . 1 do not make use of a flow of eloquence equal to that
of " Maskelyne , " but I hope I have clearly shown my point without making use of rhetorical flourishes which only tend to enhance the difficulty of grasping at the true meaning of a sentence , without in the least embellishing plain Queen's English . I am , dear sir and brother , yours truly and fraternally , JOSEPH LAMBERT . 7 G , Faubourg Poissoiinierc , Paris .
THE GLOUCESTER PROVINCE " CALENDAR . " To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — "The Freemasons' Calendar and Directory for the Province of Gloucester " has just reached me , . and I being for all practical purposes non-resident in my
province , it brings to me a rich fund of information which no amount of private correspondence could furnish . The amount of work done in compiling this calendar can only be known by such of us as have undertaken the getting up of statistics of any kind . Our Bro . Basevi is rewarded for his work by the fact that it is to him a labour of love , he believing , as do others among us , that the publication has
proved itself useful as well as interesting . I wish the printer ' s reader had noticed the error in index , on page 5 ; but John Bellows is not fond even of small blemishes in his work , and has , doubtless , already noted this oversight with a view to avoid a repetition next year . I imagine this book must be heartily welcomed by most of our brethren . liven those whom proximity and leisure enable most frequently to visit cannot keep in memory the