To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The FREEMASON is a 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 . Subscription , including postage : United America , India , India , China , & c .

Kingdom , the Continent , & c . Via Brindisi . Twelvemonths ios . 6 d . 12 s . 6 d . 17 s . 4 d . Six , / 5 s . 3 d . 6 s . 6 d . 8 s . 8 d . Three „ 2 s . Sd . 3 s . 3 d . 4 s . 6 d . Subscriptions may be paid for in stamps , but Post Office Orders or Cheques are preferred , the former payable to ¦ . . ¦ ¦

GEOHGE KENNING , CHIEF OFFICE , LONDON , the latter crossed London Joint Stock Bank . Advertisements and other business communications should be addressed to the Publisher . Communications on literary subjects and books for

review are to be forwarded to the Editor . Anonymous correspondence will be wholly disregarded , and the return of rejected MSS . cannot be guaranteed . Further information will be supplied on application tc the Publisher , 108 , Fleet-street , London .

Important Notice.

IMPORTANT NOTICE .

It is very necessary for our readers to advis us of all money orders they 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 .

The FREEMASON has a large circulation in all parts of the Globe , its advantages as an advertising medium can therefore scarcely be overrated . ADVERTISEMENTS to ensure insertion in current week ' s issue should reach the Office , 198 , Fleet-street , by 12 o ' clock on "Wednesdays . SCALE OF CHARGES FOR

ADVERTISEMENTS . Whole of back page £ 12 12 o Half „ „ 6 10 o Inside pages 7 7 ° Half of ditto ... .,. ... ... .,, 400 Quarter dtto ... ... ... ,. 2 10 o Whole column ... ... ... ... ... 2 10 o

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Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

B . HUNTER , Indiana . —We fear there is little chance of obtainin-j the information required , but vvill do our best and write if successful .

BOOKS , & c , RECEIVED . " Brief , " " Hull Packet , " " Alliance News , " " Royal Cornwall Gazette , " "Broad Arrow , " "Dick Radclyffe's Bulb Catalogue , " " History of Polperro , " " History of Craft Masonry in Cumberland and Westmorland , "

" Night and Day , " "Citizen , " " The Galloway Gazette , " " More Food at Less Cost , " " Masonic Advocate , " " Voice of Masonry , " " Der Triangel , " " Hebrew Leader , " " Proceedings of the New York Council of Deliberation , " " Keystone , " " Masonic Newspaper , " " The Liberal Freemason . "

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

[ The charge is 2 S . 6 d . for announcements not exceeding Four Lines under this heading . ]

BIRTHS . BAIITON . —On the 13 th inst ., at Northernhay , Werterroad , Putney , the wife of R . M . Barton , of a son . BEAVEN . —On the 12 th inst ., at Avenham House , Preston , the wife of Bio . the Rev . Alfred B . Beaven

M . A ., Head Master of Preston Grammar School . KEI'I'EL . —On the 14 th inst ., at Gressenhall , Norfolk , the wife of Captain Keppel , 74 th Highlanders , of a son , TEMPLE . —On the 12 th List ., at Shefford , Beds , the wife of T . C . Temple , of a daughter .

MARRIAGE . HIHST—CROFT . —On the 13 th inst ., at St . Ann ' s , Tottenham , A . W . Hirst , of Stoke Newington , formerly of Leeds , to Mary Jane ( Tcttie ) , daughter of Mr . W . B . Croft , of Mildmay Chambers , Union-court , Old Broad-street , and Noel House , Wood-grten .

DEATHS . BARING . —On the 14 th inst ., at Cecil House , Wimbledon , C . Baring , D . D ., lately Lord Bishop of Durham , aged 72 years . DOVE . —On the nth inst ., at Cowbitt Vicarage , Lincoln .

shire , Gcorgina , daughter of the Rev . J . T . Dove , aged 23 years . STUVENS . —On the nth inst ., at Poplar Walk-road , Brixton , Ellen , wife of J . W . Stevens , and daughter of thc late J . W . Rawlins , of Guildford , Suirey , aged 25 .

Notice.

NOTICE .

The Cosmopolitan Masonic Diary and Pocket Book for 1880 is preparing for publication early in November . To ensure accuracy a form for filling up has been sent to every lodge , and those Secretaries who have not yet made their returns will greatly oblige the Publisher by doing so at their earliest possible convenience . The Freemason Office , 198 , Fleet-street .

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THE FREEMASON . SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 20 , 1879 .

Numbers And Strength.

NUMBERS AND STRENGTH .

Bro . Hughan ' s warning last week in Cornwall , that " numbers are not always strength , " requires grave consideration from the Craft . Just now there is a tendency , in our opinion , unduly to expand and develope our lodge system . Quantity ,

not quality , is apparently the order of the day , and many are introduced into Masonry who , entering into our Order as into a benefit society , have neither tastes , nor inclinations , nor capacities to become either " bright Masons" or sincere believers in Freemasonry . The consequence is

that we see on many sides of us signs , indubitable signs , of laxity , and lukewarmness , and halfheartedness , and want of interest . Masonry is to too many but a passport , so to say , to social amenities and a pleasant and respectable Fraternity . We fancy that if the lists of lodges , both

in the Metropolis and in the provinces , could be published , it would be seen at a glance how incompetent and careless " Masters " have sacrificed the prestige , and even popularity , of their lodges , not only to cliques and coteries , but to the solicitations of the unfit and the importunities

of the undesirable . With some lodges it seems to be an axiom , ( most mistaken both in theory and practice ) , that the more numerous the lodge is the better it is for all concerned . And thus , as we know , lodges become unwieldly and unmanageable , a prey to agitators and impostors ,

governed by cliques and camarillas , and liable at any movement to be divested of all likeness to a fraternity of one mind , and to be cast into a seething caldron of bitterest personality and strife . Mere numbers is never any criterion of the good , or use , or value , or safety of anything .

Mere numbers are often a source of great weakness , are often the causa of deplorable discord , the forerunner of inevitable decay and disruption . Hence we think Bro . Hughan ' s advice is good and seasonable , and deserves to be carefully noted and thought over . We have often ourselves

issued a note of warning on the subject , and from all we hear and see such a state of things as now exists is alike discreditable and dangerous to the Fraternity . We are admitting numbers whose only claim for admission is that they can pay the fees , and some modern specimens of Masonry are suggestive of anything but credit

and comfort to our Order . To them Masonry seems rather a name or an idea than anything else , and its history and its character are alike by them unheeded and to them indifferent . But it has rank and decorations , tinsel and tawdry in abundance , the outward pomp and the garish show , and for their little minds such is sufficient . We

deprecate greatly the tendency , too prevalent just now , to lower the status of our candidates on the one hand , or to encourage initiations on the other , and we trust that Bro . Hughan ' s warning ,

like our own , may serve to convince some that in any relaxation of the sage rules and reticence of our Masonic forefathers , we shall probably inflict on our Order damage which is irreparableand evils which no one can repair .

Masonic Honours.

MASONIC HONOURS .

There seems to be just now a somewhat unhealthy anxiety to obtain provincial honours , and much more Grand Lodge rank . A good deal is said and done by some , not for Masonry , not for the sake of its principles and its practice , but to advance self to gain much coveted rank , A cor-

Masonic Honours.

respondence from Hampshire displays a very rritable and dissatisfied state of feeling amonosome of the brethren of that distinguished province . The honours annually bestowed are , as we all know , few in number—the candidates are many and eager . The most judicious distributor

of Masonic honours cannot please every one . The most impartial of provincial magnates cannot satisfy all claimants . We regret to note this craving and excitability ; we deplore this animus of complaint and fault finding . Supposing that one or two worthy brethren are passed over , how

is Masonry damnified , provincial !/ or generally > Would it in fact much matter if such honours were not given at all ? Would the unchanging principles of justice and equity be affected } We venture to think not . In our humble opinion the question is one hardly worth discussing , and we are sorry to read such long letters upon the

subject . The " subject is not worth the candle , " to adapt a French proverbial expression , and we trust we have heard the last of it . It is all " much ado about nothing , " and for the most part the complaints proceed from those who have no real ground of complaint to make , who have no ser vices to allege , and no right to expect promotion . Occasional anomalies occur in this as in all other

human arrangements , but our Provincial Rulers generally make excellent appointments , and full y recognize true Masonic service and truer Masonic merit .

Profession And Practice.

PROFESSION AND PRACTICE .

Humanity abounds in weaknesses and shortcomings , nay distinct and disgraceful corruptions , which constitute a striking warning to all who love to dream of the perfectibility of mortal men , in themselves and by themselves , and offer a startling commentary on the paradoxes and

perversities of a so-called Positivism . Glorified humanity , indeed ! perfected humanity , truly ! where can such be found on this groaning and travailing earth of ours ? The Irish echo answers — " nowhere ! " and in nothing is the abiding weakness and unsatisfactoriness of the "

outcome " of humanity shown forth as in the difference between words and deeds , between profession and practice . Go where we will , listen to what we may , live in solitude or loiter amid the most crowded thoroughfares , we are confronted at every turn we take , we are companied

every mile we march forward , with the enduring chara"teristic of all mortal striving , of all human responsibility . We say , and we act not , we preach and we perform not ; our professions are one thing , ( very fine , per se ) , but our practice , alas , belies our vehement utterances , and

continues an abject parody on every truth , and declaration , and profession , and theory of humanity , Nothing is more humiliating to the philosopher contemplating humanity , as a life-long study , a field of great deeds , heroic words , noble professions , goodly enterprizc , but , alas that we

should say it , at the same time of acts which run counter to all our words , of practice which is a stigma on noisy professions . Such , the great and widening weakness of all mortality , has seemed to some to betoken the fact that all of life , man , earth , time , was a sham and

a he , a " mockery , a delusion , and a snare . ' Freemasonry is ever human , most human in all things , and , therefore , shares in all the weaknesses and errors of its own special development . In Freemasonry to-day we are , and must be , struck by the fact that the professions in lodge

are widely different from the practice out of lodge , and that if we were to judge of Freemasonry by what we hear brethren say , and what we see them do , our opinion of the worth and value , the utility and need of Masonry in the world would be very low and slight indeed . The brother ,

for instance , who dilates unremittingly and magnificently about Masonic charity and brotherly love in lodge , to the intense admiration of a most select circle , is out of lodge , or in print sometimes , the most illnatured , tale-bearing , and slanderous of mortals . He does a frightful amount

of mischief , and not only does reveal " secrets , but he very often " separates chief friends . " Y ° and I , kiud readers , have often heard Bro . Mugginbotham , who is quite " touching" if- a " he says about " charity , " & c , in _ oat lodge gatherings } he affects the " visiting