The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-29 00:00:00

FREEMASONRY.

Lord Dalhousie is an enthusiastic lover of Free-
masonry. At a meeting the other day held at
Glasgow he lauded the mystic society of Solomon to
the skies. He then went on to shew the uses of the
organisation. " Believe me, there is nothing by which
our order can be more ex ,lted, nothing, by which its
interests can be more or better advanced, than by
the liberal practice of opening the benevolent hand.
The poor we have always with us ; and we
should be always ready, if possible, to relieve them.
But, brethren, it must be distinctly understood that
while these benevolent societies exist in masonry,
masonic lodges should not be looked upon as benefit
societies: It is true we hold out the hand of
assistance to those brethren among us who may
be overtaken with misfortune; but we invite not
brethren to come among us for the purpose
simply of finding a refuge in • our charity.
There is another thing in masonry which I
would recommend all to cultivate,. and that is obe-
dience to the constitution and laws under which we
live and by which we are governed. There is nobody
in this country so loyal as a good mason. He is loyal
to his sovereign ; he is loyal and obedient to the laws;
and he is loyal to the craft and to the authorities of
the craft to which he belongs. If a man is a good
mason, you may rely upon it that that man is in every
respect also a good citizen."
MR. CARLETON, THE IRISH NOVELIST.

We are glad to notice that our Dublin contempo-
raries contradict a statement which has appeared in
nearly all the public journals, to the effect that the
Irish novelist, Mr. William Carleton, is dead. Mr.
Carleton is " not even hopelessly ill."

THE RITUAL JUDGMENT AND THE LONDON
CHURCHES.
•

Sunday was the last Sunday of the year ; it fell
during the octave of Christmas, and it was a saint's
day. Under these circumstances the ritual at the
"advanced " churches was, if possible, more elaborate
than before. There were processions with banners,
whether • " waved" or not we cannot under-
take to. say ; the altar lights were burnt
for the last time, we understand ; and in
some instances—at St. Mary Magdalene's, Pad-
dington, for instance—the famous hymn, " Now
my tongue the mystery telling," was sung by choir
and clergy as they marched up the body of the church
to the sanctuary. The occurrence of St. John's
Day gave an opportunity for a good deal of ingenious
reference to Christ walking amid the seven golden
candlesticks, and for special application to the altar
lights of which the English Church is about to. be
deprived. We understand that Mr. Skinner, formerly
curate of St. Barnabas, Pimlico, now rector of
Newland, near Malvern, has declared that nothing
shall induce him to comply with the recent judgment
of the Privy Council, so far as this particular is con-
cerned, and that he will continue to use this, as ho
deems, essential symbol, even though the use should
involve his committal to prison. On the other hand,
the Rev. Edward Stuart, of St. Mary Magdalene's,
Munster-square, who was the first to introduce
lights and incense, has determined to discontinue
both, considering, • we presume, that obedience is
better than sacrifice.

The BishOp of Salisbury is somewhat better. The
Bishop of Sodor and Man is officiating for him,
The Bishop of London, who ceases to hold that office
on the 30th, has appointed the select preachers at
St. Paul's special services for the last time. Bishop
Atlay, Canon Miller, and Canon Gregory are the
best known of those who have been chosen.

FOREIGN NOTES.
:PAIN.

The Siècle insists that the result of the municipal elec-
tions in Spain has been a great triumph for the Republi-
cans. They have polled the majority in seventeen capitals
and provinces, including the large towns of Barcelona,
Toledo, Valladolid, Valentia, Saragossa, Malaga,
Seville, and Cordova. They have divided the repre-
sentation at many other important 'places, such as
Burgos, Badajos, Salamanca, Bilbao, and San
Sebastian. The Monarchists have carried only
Madrid, Gerona, and Pampeluna amongst the important
towns. There is something in these estimates ; for though
the Siecle is the French representative of Republicanism,
yet even the Constitutionnel confesses that the issue " has
been more favourable to the Democrats than was at first
thought."
The number of voters enrolled at Madrid is over 70,000.
Hardly 25,000 took part in the election. This disparity is,
however, in great measure to bo accounted for by the
system employed, which was so defective that 30,000
voting papers remained unclaimed.