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NOTICE .

Many complaints having been received of thc difficulty experienced in procuring the Freemason in the West-end , the publisher begs to append the following list , being a selected few of the appointed agents : — Black , I-I . J ., 47 , Great Queen-street .

J ordan , G . W ., 16 9 , Strand . Kirby and Endean , 190 , Oxford-street . Nash and Teuten , Savile Place , Conduit-street . Phillips , D ., 67 , Great Portland-street . Utting , Wm ., 2 , Palsgrave-place , Strand , And at VV . II . Smith and Son ' s bookstalls .

To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The Freemason is a sixteen page weekly newspaper , price 2 d . It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important and useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Annual subscription in the United Kingdom , Post free , 10 / . Brethren in foreign parts , wishing to have this newspaper sent them regularly from th ; office of publication , should , in sending their

remittances , add ti . the 2 d . per week the postage on 202 . newspapers . The Freemason may be procured through any newsagent in the United Kingdom by giving ( if needed ) the publisher ' s address , 198 , Fleet-st . All communications , correspondence , reports , & c , must be addressed to the Editor .

Advertisements , change in address , complaints of difficulties in procuring Freemason , & c , to the Publisher , 198 , Fleet-st ., London , E . C .

To Advertisers.

TO ADVERTISERS .

The Freemason has a large circulation in all patts of he Globe , its advantages as an advertising medium can lierefore scarcely be overrated . For terms , position , & c , apply to GEORGE KENNING , 198 , Fleet-st .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

'All Communications , Advertisements , & c , intended for insertion in the Number of the following Saturday , must reach tlie Office not later than 12 o ' clock on Wetlnesday morning . Careful attention will be paid to all MSS . entrusted to the Editor , but he cannot undi rtakc to return them unless accompanied by stamped directed covers .

The following stand over : — Report of f . odge Concoul , 757 , Mazagon . Report of the Grand Chapter Rose Croix in Ireland will be given next week . " Minutes and their Confirmation . " " Masonic Medals and Tokens . " "T . Burdett Yeoman , " " Yama . "

Births, Masrriages And Deaths.

Births , Masrriages and Deaths .

DEATH . STRICKLAND . —At Peterborough , on the 10 th inst ., Bro . VV . Strickland , P . M ., P . P . G . S . Norths , and Hunts ., aged 69 .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , AUG . 28 , 1875 .

Our Royal Grand Master At Sheffield.

OUR ROYAL GRAND MASTER AT SHEFFIELD .

We congratulate the Craft on the happy and g lorious reception of our Grand Master in the good town of Sheffield . We have never been among those who doubted the loyalty and trueheartedness of the Hallamshire Boys and the " Sheffield Blades . " We know belter than most

people the real worth and sterling merit of warmhearted Yorkshiremen generally , and even amid the smoke and din of Sheffield there were , we felt sure , as "leal " and as sympathetic hearts as in any other portion of the realm of England . We therefore congratulate alike our Grand

Master and the Sheffield people on this auspicious event , and trust that the marked feelings of admiration and gratification may never be forgotten on either side . Sure are we that old and young will long remember the visit of our

Royal and genial Grand Master , the winning presence of his charming consort , and all those loyal and bettering emotions which such happy nestings' are calculated to produce among all classes of English citizens . Sheffield seems to have done nobly . All the arrangements were fault-

Our Royal Grand Master At Sheffield.

less , and the fact lhat that mi ghty mass of people were so easily controlled and so admirabl y behaved may teach other localities a lesson , and proves , we think , that the " residuum , " as someone has foolishly termed a section of our countrymen , is going ahead , and is moving up .

Ihe Freemasons in Sheffield , always zealous , have presented a most appropriate address to the Grand Master , which expresses the feelings well of all Yorkshire and English Freemasons . The Mayor , who has shown himself to be of first-rate " metal , " has , by his philanthropic gift

to his toiling fellow citizens , and the felicitous manner in which he has offered the civic hospitality to his august visitors , gained for himself the golden opinions of all . We know of no brighter page in our recent annals than the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Sheffield .

Our Quarterly Accounts.

OUR QUARTERLY ACCOUNTS .

The published quarterly balance-sheet is a very prosperous one , and seems unmistakeably to point to great material well doing . Indeed , if the present position of our Order in England can be fairly gauged by the Grand Lodge financial quarterly statements , as must we

apprehend be the case , never at any time in our history had we so many tokens of a flourishing , nay of an increasing , fraternity . The Fund of Benevolence starts with a balance for the quarter of , £ 1124 . It has received on dividends ( representing investments to the amount of , £ 3 Woo )

£ 397 14 s . 1 id . for the half year , £ 12 12 s . for dispensations , contributions of lodges £ 2705 6 s . 1 id .-in all £ 43 6 9 19 s . iod . The quarter closes March . 31 st , commencing January rst , 1875 . 1 'he Fund of Benevolence has paid for the relief of Masonic distress to our brethren and their

widows during that period £ 1378 , to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ^ 200 . It has made an investment of £ 93 1 ^ s ., -leaving a balance to the good of ^" 1860 13 s . iod . A very satisfactory return . We beg , however , to call attention to the fact , that the quarterly amount

of relief reaches to the large sum of £ 1378 , moving onwards rapidly to an expenditure of £ 6000 per annum . The return for the Fund of General Purposes is equally striking and improving . It began the year with a balance of £ ii 9 , us . 7 d . Dm ing the first three months

of 1875 it received froln Mr- Bacon for rents £ 89 5 s . net ; contribution from Grand Chapter , for Salaries ^ .- ; from theTavern Company , Limited , for one quarter ' s rent to Christmas , net , £ 347 is . 8 dj Rent of lodge rooms during the quarter , £ 378 16 s . ; sale of Book of Constitutions ,

less discount , , £ 94 8 s . od . ; Dispensations , £ 21 18 s . 6 d . ; Rent for the three Masonic Institutions , £ 27 ; Insurance for Tavern Company , £ 19 ios ., and Contributions of Lodges , ^ 3 o 14 7 s . 6 d . , in all £ 52 , 1 ios . id . The expenditure has been as follows : —Annuity to Bro . Farnfield ,

£ 62 ios . 3 Salaries , £ 462 8 s . Servants' Wages , £ 9 6 15 s . j Postages , £ 36 ; Coals , £ 26 8 s . Fire Insurances , £ 78 2 s . 6 d . j Government Licenses , £ 1 16 s . ; Parochial Rates , ^" 145 i / S . 3 d . ; Repairs , £ 177 16 s . id . Gas and Coke , £ 32 : s . 3 d . 5 Certificates , £ 9 8 3 s . iod . ¦ Reporting , ^ 4

13 s . ; Small Expenses , £ 31 is . od . ; Water Rate , £ <) 3 s . 6 d . ; Stationery for half-year to December , JS / 4 , £ 10 os . 7 d . Cleaning Windows for the year , £ 31 js . ; Printing , £ 71 IJS . 4 d . ; Petty Disbursements , £ 80 6 s . / d .-, Casual Relief , £ < os . 6 d . 5 Royal Masonic

Institution for Girls , £ 17 ios . 3 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , ^ 37 ios . j Purchase of Consols , £ 1862 ios . 5 Balance , . £ 997 15 s . 6 d . Thus the whole amount received by the two funds conjointly is ^ io , i 4 t 8 s . nd ., while the sum actually expended is , £ 4489 4 s . 7 d .,

conjoint investments amount to £ 2793 15 s ., and conjoint balances to , £ 2858 9 s . 4 a . That this prosperous state of affairs is a continuing one is evident from the further fact , that on the 13 th August the conjoint balances amounted to £ 3842 ios . 7 d ., besides £ 7 $ for petty cash and

s £ () 6 ij for wages in our excellent brother the Grand Secretary ' s hands . Such , as we have said above , are our quarters' accounts ending March 31 st , this year of li ght and grace , and we beg unfeignedly to congratulate our readers on these unmistakeable proofs of the soundness of our financial arrangements ,

Our Quarterly Accounts.

and the great , material prosperity of our good Order . We cannot conclude this short resume without expressing what we know to be the general feeling of the Craft , warm and gratefu l appreciation of the long and most important services of our very worthy and zealous Grand Treasurer .

The Religion Of Freemasonry

THE RELIGION OF FREEMASONRY

Freemasonry has many friends , but , strange to say , it has also many enemies . We have not in the progressive march of religion and civilisation and culture , outlived , alas ! the animosities of mortals , or the love of slander . Hence , despite many distinct evidences of the truly

religious spirit which ever makes our Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry note worthy , and its numerous works of admitted utility and benevolence , it has pleased some envenomed writers to term Freemasons unbelievers , infidels , revolutionists , and to give them many other agreeable names , and even to

describe them as utterly irreli gious , and distinctively atheistical . Such charges are openl y made by professedly God-fearing people , and are eagerly caught at by the credulous , and hastily handed on by the inconsiderate . One great authority terms our Masonic Lodges "

Synagogues of Satan , " and ourselves ' * children of the Evil One , " pleasant appellations for our peaceful and religious Order . It only serves to prove , if , alas ! such a matter required proof , the inveteracy of intolerance , and the violence of the " odium theologicum . " Thatsuchdiatribesshould be issued at all is very distressing , but that they

should be promulgated for the glory of God , and in » he name of Christianity , is alike an awful paradox , and a humiliating verity . And the hard part of the whole affair is , that , so far from our Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry being irreligious or infidel , it is really a reli gious Order , and we believe positively as orthodox as any sucking Ritualist , or as Pio Nono himself . It is true

that Freemasonry does not deal with dogma qua dogma , neither does it lay down articles of agreement , or creeds , or catechisms . Freemasonry is not reli gion—it is not a Church—it is not a dispenser of doctrines or sacraments . It is not an abstract religious organisation , with the

tests and privileges of faith for its own people , but it is still , despite what it is not , a very religious body . All such matters and questions are not of its domain , and it leaves them entirely to the ministers of religion . For Freemasonry , though carped at by some , and misunderstood

by others , and condemned by more , has an individuality of its own . It ignores the contentions of conflicting denominations . It may be wrong in doing so , but it does so , and its teaching may be paraphrastically in this respect put as follows : " Commend me or condemn me , it matters not , here I am , whether you like it or not , and you

cannot root n * e out . I hold out the hand of friendship and fraternity to all who acknowledge the Supreme Creator of all , and accepting the moral law of God , or the moral law of Nature ( as in the case of non-Christian Masons ) , are willing to work together , in labours of humane sympathy , for the honour of God , the good of the brotherhood , and the welfare of mankind . " It

is impossible but that such teaching as this must antagonise many prepossessions , and impinge on many denominational views . The ardent Romanist or Ritualist , the pious Churchman or Nonconformist , may say , " Why , you deny the foundation of Christianity , you do not recognise

the claims of the Church , general or individual , you are really nothing but Deists , or Theists , or Voltairians , or even Pantheists . " This is what now has been actually quite recently said , and by those who ought to know better . And the reply of Freemasonry is very simple . " It is

untrue to say that , because we take so wide a platform , we are , therefore , irrelig ious or anti-Christian . Such is not a logical case of ' sequitur . We do not oppose or deny Christianity or antagonize any body of Christians , and we do not profess to decide your difficulties and disputes ,

we leave all such ' vexatas qurestiones ' to your own divines . We are friendly to all , we quarrel with no man ' s views or opinions , and such ' latitudinarianism ' as you consider it , and so it may appear to some , is , in our opinion , not only needful amid the acknowledged schools ot