Report Of The Anti-Masonic Congress.

that the charges preferred against Freemasonry should be well within the mark , and hence they decided that an investigation should be made into the questionable tactics of the publicist who writes under the name of Diana Vaughan . Those tactics have for some time past been roundly denounced by our Catholic

contemporary , the " Kolnische Volkszeitung , " and we have ourselves shown that there was no truth in the sensational accounts of devil-worship afc Charleston , published by this author , Bishop Northop , who has lived there for fifty years , assuring one of our

correspondents that they were pure absurdities . Bufc the determination of the Trent Congress to suppress exaggeration gives all the greater force to the serious accusations laid by it against the Masonic body . — " Catholic Times . "

The present Pope is a very grand old man , but like other grand old men he does not know when to be still . He has just been abolishing the Church of England by an elaborate judgment showing that its orders are invalid , yet nobody seems one penny the worse . Now he has called a Congress to pufc down

Freemasonry , which is likely also to survive the attack . Priests could hardly prove their own uselessness more fully than by a practical admission that they have nothing more urgent on hand than abusing such a harmless , and indeed beneficent , institution as Freemasonry . —" Topical Times . "

Ceremony At Southport.

CEREMONY AT SOUTHPORT .

BY command of the Prov . G . M . the Earl of Lathom Pro G . M . of England , a special meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Lancashire was held on Tuesday , 6 th inst ., in the Vestry Hall of Holy Trinity Church , Southport .

Provincial Grand Lodge having been duly opened and joined by about a hundred Brethren of Lodges in Southport and district ; , fche procession entered , under a partly-covered gangway , as rain was falling heavily , the new hall of Holy Trinity Schools , which are in course of re-erection after almost total destruction by fire some nine months ago .

Bro . the Rev . J . S . Gardner P . P . G . C . presented , in fche name of the Day and Sabbath Schools staffs , a silver trowel to the Prov . G . M ., who laid the memorial stone , with the accustomed Masonic ceremonies , near the north-east corner of the building , and said he gladly consented to perform thafc

ceremony , knowing , as he did , that the Brethren occupied a good position in Southport , and that any work fostered by them was sure to prosper . He expressed thanks for the trowel , and hoped the Schools would be a great success , and that the debt would

soon be removed . In a short statement , as vicar of the parish , Bro . the Rev . C . S . Hope said that within a few weeks of the fire £ 1 , 500 was subscribed , but a debt of £ 1 , 200 would probably remain when the building , in the great improvement of which they all rejoiced , was re-opened .

The service having been concluded , the procession was reformed and Provincial Grand Lodge duly closed . — " Liverpool Mercury . "

Bro . John Charles Carpenter was duly installed as W . M . of the All Saints Lodge , No . 1716 , at Poplar , on Thursday . A report of the proceedings and of the subsequent banquet will appear in our next issue . o o o In consequence of the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury

the meeting of tbe Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Kent , which was to have been held yesterday ( Friday ) , at Canterbury , for the purpose of installing Viscount Dungarvan as Provincial ruler of the Mark Degree , has been postponed until the 2 nd of next month , when , as originally arranged , the Earl of Euston will officiate .

"A Sprig Of Acacia."

"A SPRIG OF ACACIA . "

ON the 6 th inst ., at his residence , in Marlborough Street , Gainsborough , died Bro . John Moxon , in his 74 th year . The deceased was one of fche oldest tradesmen in Gainsborough , says the " Nottingham Guardian , " and had been a member of the Masonic fraternity for nearly fifty years , having held the highest attainable offices in the Province in Craft , Royal Arch ,

and Mark Masonry . He was well known throughout fche county afc Masonic gatherings , and was universally esteemed as a Brother . He had been suffering from ill-health for many years , causing his retirement from business , and he died from an internal complaint .

Freemasonry In Italy.

FREEMASONRY IN ITALY .

Its True Aims and Objects . THE many calamities that have befallen fche Church in Italy , in our days , are to be attributed solely to the influence and domination of the Masonic Sect . Freemasonry is the sole cause of all the heavy sea of trouble and anxiety through which the Barque of Peter has had to plough its way for many , weary years in this once faithful , Catholic country . To all

students of the sad history of the conflict that has been raging with such fierceness between Church and State in Italy for such a length of time , the hand of Freemasonry will be visibly seen as the moving-power and the perpetrator of this regrettable strife . Freemasonry holds high revel in Italy . Ifc permeates all classes of society . In the humble home of the artisan , as

well as in the gilded chambers of the rich , you will find the Masonic diploma decorating the walls . Ifc has taken root a ^ strongly in . the small towns as in the small centres of population . It would seem as if a heat-wave from the mouth of hell has travelled over this land , so richly blessed by an Omnipotent hand in its saints and sanctuaries , and has seared and dried up

in the hearts of its people everything that was verdant , noble , and Catholic . The inasterhand of Leo XIII . grasped the situation when , in his Divinelyinspired Encyclical against the sect , he points to it at the most powerful and most insidious enemy with which the Church has had to do battle during her long existence . It would appear as if it were reserved for our century to

witness the final effort of the powers of darkness to overthrow the indestructible spouse of Christ , the Catholic Church . Here , in Italy , you will plainly see , if you have eyes to see and ears to hear , the extent of the moral wreck wrought by an organisation earnestly intent on the downfall and humiliation of God ' s Church upon earth . It is truly surprising the

rapid strides it has made in adding to its numbers and in gaining for the moment the realisation of its hellish ideals . But when we reflect that the devil and his followers have immense power placed in their hands by the permission of Almighty God , to tempt mankind to evil , we are not alarmed at the havoo Freemasonry has caused , and is still causing , amongst the

people of this Italian Land . Weak-kneed Catholics have gone over fco its standard in large numbers . The utterly depraved have found a refuge in the inner circles of the Craft . Its very secrecy has an attraction for many who love to deal in mysticism . Thanks , however , to the revelations made by Margiotta , Leo Taxil , Miss Diana Vaughan , and others who have

renounced the devil aud all the works and pomps of the Masonic body , we are no longer in fche dark as to its ultimate aims and objects . It has long been looked upon , especially in English-speaking countries , as a sorfc of high class benefit or mutual help society , and forbidden to Catholics solely because of the secrecy in which it hides itself from the eyes of the outside

world . It is far from being a mere harmless organisation , having for its objects the mutual improvement and social advancement of its members , as many Catholics would still fondly believe . Confiding thoroughly in the truth of the revelations and exposures made solemnly by recent converts from the Masonic body , whose testimony no sane man can doubt , I shall

tell my readers in this short paper what is the true aim and objects , the raison d'etre , of Freemasonry , and I shall point out a few of the means adopted to attain their diabolical designs . I shall , also , offer a few facts for consideration to those who still hold that there is not fche slightest link of connnection between English and Continental Freemasonry .

The principal aim of Masonry is to destroy the Kingdom of God upon earth , and to substitute for it the reign of their deity , Lucifer . In the accomplishment of this hellish proposal lies the true and primary scope of the Masonic sect . It is the first commandment of their hell-born decalogue , the foundation stone of the Masonic edifice . All their endeavours are directed

to reach this chief goal of their Satantic ambition . It is not difficult to brmg home to the members of the Craft the truth of this serious indictment I have brought against the followers of the " Grand Orient . " The man who is the high priest , the very mouth-piece of this abominable Sect , ought to know something about the " Articles of Faith " of the body over which he

presides . When he speaks ex-Cathedra his pronouncements must be taken seriously as reflecting the convictions and sentiments of his fellow-Masons . Arrayed in his Pontifical robes , he made this solemn profession of his Masonic faith before the assembled Brethren soon after his election to the highest post of honour in tbe sect , that of the Grand Orient . " I have , " he

says , " two deep hatreds in my heart ; the hatred of God and the hatred of France . " He , a renegade Catholic , who renounced his faith and became a Jew for the sake of his bread and butter , might well say he hated , wifch an infernal hatred , the God he betrayed after the fashion of his prototype , Judas . France he could ill afford to love , for he could not forget the

miserable months that he spent in a French prison , branded as a common thief . In the very house of a friend in Marseilles he stole the purse of his benefactor . It is to the first part of this solemn protestation we must direct our attention . In all his conferences to his Brethren he emphasises the fact that to be a good Mason one must swear eternal enmity to the God

of the Christians , and must adopt every means to destroy His Omnipotent power on earth . In subsequent discourses from his Pontifical throne , he outlines tho programme to be followed to satiate this hatred of Almighty God . Knowing that the Vicar of Christ , His representative on earth , is the

Pope of Rome , he directs his woll-chargod batteries against the walls of the Vatican . " You must , " he says , " sweep the Papacy and clericalism off the face of the earth . " The Papal power must be crushed , and the dominion and rule of the priesthood must be trodden under foot if we are to see