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To ADVERTISERS . THE Circulation of THE F REEMASON 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 tlie 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 .

Foreign And Colonial Agents.

Foreign and Colonial Agents .

» AMERICA : Bro . J . FLETCHER B RENNAN , I 14 , Mainstreet , Cincinnati , Ohio . „ Messrs . WOODRUFF & B LOCIIER , Little

Rock , Arkansas , U . S . CANADA : Messrs . DEVRIE & S ON , Ottawa . CAPE OF GOOD HOPE ; Bro . GEORGE BRITTAIN , Cape Town . CEYLON : Messrs . W . L . SKEENE & Co ., Colombo . CONSTANTINOPLE : Br . J . L . HANLY , Levant Times .

EAST INDIES : Allahabad : Messrs . WYMAN BROS . Bombay : Bro . M . B . COHEN . Byculla : Bro . GEO . BEASE . Central Provinces : Bro . F . J . JORDAN . Kurrachce : Bro . G . C BRAYSON . Madras : Mr . CALEH FOSTER .

Mhcnv : Bro . COWASJEE NUSSERWANJEE . Pooua : Bro . W . WELLIS . GALATA : Il'siCK KUAN , Perche-Bajar . LIBERIA : Bro . HENRY D . BROWN , Monrovia . PARIS : M . DECHEVAUX-DU . MESNIL , Rue de Harlaydu-Palais , 20 , near the Pont Neuf ; Editor Le Franc-Macon .

WEST INDIES :

Jamaica : Bro . J A . D . SOUZA , Falmouth . Trinidad : Bros . S . CARTER and J LEWIS , 3 , Abercrombie-street , Port of Spain ; and Bro . W . A . KERNAHAN , . San Fernando . And all Booksellers and Newsagents in England , Ireland , and Scotland .

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

BIRTHS . BUCHANAN * . —On the 28 th ult ., at 93 } ., Main-street , Anderston , Glasgow , the wife of Bro . John Buchanan , R . W . M . Lodge Clyde , No . 40 S , of a daughter . PROUT . —On the 2 nd inst ., at 6 , Hope-street , Glasgow , the wife of Bro . R . B . l ' rout , jeweller , and P . G . S . Glasgow Kilwinning Lodge No . 4 , of a daughter .

DEA THS . COWAN . —On the 27 th ult ., at 13 , Paterson-strcet , Glasgow , the wife of Bro . Thomas Cowan , P . M . Lodge Thistle , No . 87 . Friends will please accept this intimation . MAHONKV . —On the 24 th ult ., at Holyhead , very sudden , Bro . Michael Mahoney , 50 years , of the

Hibernian Lodge . He was engineer of the Ulster Mail Packet , Holyhead . WEAVER . —On the 31 st ult ., at 45 . Howland-street , W ., Gertrude Adalbert , daughter , of Bro . James Weaver , W . M . of the Whittington Lodge , No . ' S 62 , who has unfortunately lost two children in live clays .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

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

PHILALETHES . —We must refer you to the opinion expressed upon your Idler by " A Banister , " merely adding that you appear rendy to condemn in another that which you are willing lo perpetrate yourself . LEX . —See " Book of Constitutions , " p . 92 , " Removal of Lodges . " No lodge requires re-consecration ; notice must be given to the Grand Secretary , and a copy of the minutes of such removal must be sent .

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THE GRAND LODGE OF SCOTLAND . —On Monday evening , at a meeting of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , held in Edinburgh , the Earl Dalhousie , Most Worshipful Grand Master , said he had great pleasure in nnnouncin , that his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales had signified to bim his ° intcntion that , on his return from the Highlands , in

October , he would be pleased to visit Edinburgh for the purpose of being installed as I ' atron of the Order in Scotland . At the same meeting the Earl of Zetland was appointed a 1 honorary member of the Grand Lod ge of Scotland , in recognition of his Lordship ' s services to the Craft during the long period of twenty-six years . — Echo .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , AUGUST 6 , 1 S 70 . THE FREEMASON is published on Saturday Mornings in time for the early trains . The price of THE FREEMASON is Twopence per we-sk ; quarterly subscription ( including postage ) 3 s . 3 d . _ Annual Subscription , 12 s . Subscriptions payable in advance . All communications , letters , & c . ( to be addressed to the EDITOR 2 , 3 , and 4 , Little Britain , E . C . The Editor will pay careful attention to all MSS . entrusted to him but cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by postage stamps .

Masonic Reform.

MASONIC REFORM .

THE necessity for reform in every human institution is one which perpetually proclaims itself as the days and years roll round : and the true legislator ' s wisdom is

best shown by his recognition of this inevitable necessity in the enactment of laws which shall accord best with the spirit of his time . Some people , nevertheless , are

for ever reverting to primitive principles , and sighing after ideals of the past , which have long been swallowed up in the advancing waves of the present . These men , like

a certain noble lord , would have us exchange a high state of mental development for the physical advantages of the " noble savage , " and some even would gladly see the world

thrust back into the ignorance and gloom ofthe Middle Ages , rather than see it move in a direction which is opposed to their own peculiar views . The triumph of

constitutional principles in a country like England has not been achieved without a long and dreary probation in the regions of despotism , and neither have the blessings of

peace been won , in many instances , until men had previously passed through the fiery ordeal of war . What was good for our forefathers is not necessarily good for us .

Reform , therefore , when needed , should be the watchword of every admirer of progress who desires to see systems improved but not destroyed .

Now , with respect to the basic principles of Freemasonry—the root and marrow of the whole matter—wc desire to record our deliberate conviction that as they arc

founded upon thc eternal laws of truth , any attempt to change or pervert those principles should be met by thc Craft with the most strenuous opposition . No matter how

specious the pretext , or how plausible the proposal , it should be resolutely spurned . For example , the implied suggestion of one

oi our correspondents that the volume of the Sacred Law should be banished from our lodge pedestals , to be replaced by thc Book of Constitutions !

Here wc have the thin end of that wedge which has been driven home into the hearts of our brethren on the Continent , much to thc regret—we had almost said the

horrorof every true Mason . It is this sad negation of every principle of religion which causes our Order to be regarded with distrust by all who believe in honour and virtue . It is

this pandering to the Rationalists and R 6-nanists which creates for Freemasonry hosts of enemies amongst those who would otherwise be her natural friends and defenders . The remark of our correspondent , that

Masonic Reform.

Masonry is not a religion , we fancy we have heard before ; and moreover it is beside the question , which is simply this : Are we to obligate our candidates upon a volume

which they acknowledge to be sacred , and thereby render the vow binding on their consciences as men of honour ; or are we to use a book which simply contains our

own laws and regulations ? It is needless to add that if we adopt the latter there is no longer any safeguard or barrier against the admission of men who , already defying

all laws human and divine , would not be likely to pay particular reverence to those contained in the Constitutions of Freemasonry . No frothy declamation about

" universality" or the " . rights of man , shall ever induce us to consent to any such violation of our ancient landmarks , and we therefore counsel our correspondent to advocate Masonic reform in another direction .

But although we resent the least indication of an assault upon the fundamental tenets of the Craft , we are by no means blind to the fact , that many improvements might

bemadewithadvantage in the statutes which govern some of the Masonic Jurisdictions ; And we are glad to see that an effort is .

now being made to wipe out a long-standing reproach to the laws of the Grand Lodge of Scotland .

The facility with which Scottish candidates can attain , not merely the Craft degrees , but the grades of the Chapter , the

Priory , and the Ancient and Accepted Rite , would never be tolerated in any country . It is but a few months since that a Greek

resident in Manchester went to Scotland , was entered , passed , and raised in one day ; " arched , " as they call it , the next ; " knighted " the third ; made a Knight

Kadosh ; and , to crown all , this man—who , probably , knows as much of Masonry as a Malay , and who has certainly never prc sided over a lodge—has been chosen a

member of the Supreme Grand Council , 33 , for Scotland ! Now , we contend that all this is simply calculated to bring the Order into contempt . It not only offends

the good and zealous Mason who thus witnesses the promotion , for a pecuniary consideration , of insignificant mediocrities ,

but it disgusts thinking men , whether in or out of the Fraternity , with the legislation that can sanction such a perversion of the original designs of thc Institution .

Some of our Scottish brethren desire to stop these proceedings—at least so far as the Craft degrees are concerned—and we heartily wish them success .

From our own experience wc can safely endorse the statement circulated by Bro . W . J . HAMILTON , of Glasgow . and published in our last issue , that Scottish Masons are

regarded with some suspicion , and not altogether unjustly , in England ; and this unpleasant state of affairs is mainly due to the loose system which prevails in Scotland

of conferring the degrees in one day . An English Entered Apprentice cannot , nnder any circumstances , bc advanced to the second degree at a less interval than four