Agents.

% , Q I Vi t 8

AMERICA : Bro . J . FLSTCUKII BRENNAN , 114 , Mainstreet , Cincinnati , Ohio . Messrs . WOODRUFF and BLOCHEB , Little Kock , Arkansas , U . S . CANADA : Messrs . DEVUIE & SON , Ottawa . CAPK OF GOOD HOPE : Bro . GEORGE BRITTAIN , Cape Town .

CEYLON : Messrs . AV . L . SKEENE & Co ., Columbo . CONSTANTINOPLE : Bro . J . L . HANLT , Levant Times ' EAST INDIES : Allahabad : Messrs . WYMAN BROS . Byculla : Bro . GEO . BEASE . Central Provinces : 15 ro . F . J . JORDAN . Kurraehce : Bro . G . C . BRATSON .

Madras : Mr . CALICB I < OSTISR . Mhow : Bro . COWASJKE NUSSERWANJEE . Poona : Bro . AV . AVistiLis . GALATA : IPSIOK KAHN , Perohembe Bajar . LIBERIA : BJO . HENHT D . BROWN . Monrovia .

PARIS : M . DECHEVAUX-DUMKSNIL , Rue de Harlay-du-Palais , 2 U , near the Pont Neuf ; Editor Lt Franc-Macon . And all Booksellers and Newsagents in England , Ireland , aud Scotland .

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

§ irfljs , lITirraages , mrtr gim %

BIRTHS . DODSO . V . —On the 22 nd inst ., at Convborough , Lewes , the wife of V . W . Bro . J . G . Dodson , M . P ., J . G . AVarden of England , of a son . SAWYEII—On the tCthinst ., at Oakley-road , Islington , the wife of William Sawyer , Esq ., of a son . DEVONSHIRE . —On the 20 th inst , at Eastbourne , the wife of Bro , T . II . Devonshire , P . G . Steward , of a son .

Books Received.

BOOKS RECEIVED .

1 . " General History , " & c . 2 . " The Book of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry , " by Bro . Charles T . McClenachan , 33 ° . New York Masonic Publishing Company , 432 ,

Broomestreet , 18 G 8 . 3 . " Manual of the Eastern Star , " by Bro . Robert Macoy . New York Masonic Publishing Company , 432 , Broomestreet , 1808 . AVe will review the "Mason's Home Book , " and several other works , in our next .

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CljcJreewn^it, S ATURDAY , O CTOBER 2 , 1869 .

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THE FuitKu-tsox is published on Saturday Mornings in timo for the early train K . Tho prico of THK FitKimisox is Twopence per week ; quarterly subscription ( inclmlimr postage ) 3 H . 3 ( 1 . AnnualSubseription , 12 s , Subscriptions payable in advance . All communications , letters , ic , to bo addressed to tho EDITOR , : * & 1 , Little liritain , K . C . The Kditor will pay careful attention to all MSS . entrusted to him , but cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by postage -stamps .

The Œcumenical Council And Freemasonry.

THE ? CUMENICAL COUNCIL AND FREEMASONRY .

ON tin ; eighth day of December , 1 SG 9 , a remarkable meeting will be held in Rome . Remarkable iu many respects , though not so important as the ultramontane adherents of the Romish faith would fain have us believe . It is .

we opine , tolerabl y well known that a Genera ! Council of •' The Church " has not been convened since 1515 , when the Council of Trent was called together to combat the wide-spreading doctrines of Luther and his fellow-heresiarchs .

"Warned by the inutility of that supreme effort , and conscious of the inherent weakness of the Papacy , over three hundred years have

passod away without any attempt on the part of successive Pontiffs lo clothe with factitious flesh aud bones the naked skeleton of Papal supremacy .

Europe—uny , the world at large—has witnessed since that period great and might y convulsions . Society has been shaken to its base b y warfare and revolution , but the seed of the religious reform first scattered by Luther , Melancthon

and Calvin , has never ceased to fructif y , and to bless mankind . In thus expressing ourselves we have no desire to touch the theological bearings of thc question ; we view the result purely in its civilising and humanising aspects , and from

The Œcumenical Council And Freemasonry.

this standpoint we are free to confess our conviction that the advent of the Reformers "was the dawn of civil and relig ious libert y throughout the world . "Without doubt , the invention of printing and the various advances in science , contributed

to the spread of liberal and trul y Christian opinions , but the impulse came from those men who were read y to dare opprobrium , torture , and even death itself , in the desire to free men ' s souls from the chains of superstition and mental

slavery . "What sublimer spectacle can be presented to our minds than that of the " solitary monk , who shook a world , " when we see him presenting

himself boldly before emperorand priest with the bold but suggestive words , " God help me , here I stand alone !" Thus it has ever been with the p ioneers of every movement which recognises the rights of

man . Calumny , hatred , and oppression are the dower of the heralds of liberty , and if no other proof of the immortality of tbe soul were forthcoming , the splendid self-abnegation of Freedom ' s

fallen martyrs would demonstrate that man must be endued with an und y ing princip le—a deathless consciousness of Right—which enables him to triumph over the transitory fear of pain and death , and to breathe with his last sigh a

prayer , which is a prophecy , for the cause in which he suffers . It is precisely with this eternal idea that Rome lias to contend , and it is for this reason that we contemplate the assembly

of an ( Ecumenical Council at * * * St . Peter ' s , " without the sli g htest perturbation . Nor , indeed j should we have noticed the circumstance , were it not for the fact that some of our continental

brethren seem to attach greater importance to the forthcoming Council than wo are willing to concede . We do not endeavour to disguise our conviction that Freemasonry has nothing to fear from the deliberations of the conclave of priests

about to be assembled at Rome , and we are firmly assured that the stability of the Craft is not to be affected by any manifesto which may

proceed from such a body . Our glorious Order owes nothing to tho Church of Rome , and we can anticipate its verdict with tlie greatest equanimity . The convention of a Council from which

onehalf of thc Christian world—the Greeks and the professors of the Reformed faith—will studiousl y hold aloof , is certain to prove a more palpable sign of weakness than of strength to the Romish Church •and if it be true that such preposterous

doctrines as the personal infallibility of tlie Pope are to be aflirmed as articles of faith , we can only say that the pyre of Romanism will be lighted b y its own hand . There is a spirit now abroad which is not to be overcome by

sophistry and Jesuitism ; men arc no longer a nose-led race who are willing to follow where priestcraft leads , and the dogmatism of Rome is but a poor substitute for free thought and rational belief . Thc mitred old gentlemen who

are called upon to meet under the dome of St . Peter , may flatter themselves that they are about to rule the world , but they are more likely to lose it , if thc utterances of a surpassing l y eloquent preacher like Father Ilyacinthe , or the

more subdued remonstrances of other French priests , are to be taken into account . Far from feeling disturbed at the supposed results of the ( Ecumenical Council we arc satisfied that it will

prove only a means to an end , and that end , tho downfall of an illogical , oppressive , and souldestroying . superstition . AVe believe that tlie world in general , and

The Œcumenical Council And Freemasonry.

Freemasonry in particular , will have cause to rejoice at the inane and unaccountable folly of the septuagenarian priest who now wears the tri p le crown , in directing such a Council to assemble . The last link which binds the

antiquated traditions of the Church to modern civilization will thus be snapped ; men will awaken as from a hideous dream , and shudder at the abyss of slavery from whence they have escaped . True Christianity—the doctrines of One whose

teachings , if followed , would render earth a paradise—will then have a fair field , freed from the bigotry , the casuistry , aud the inhumanity of those contending creeds , which have so long obscured its grand and God-like simplicity .

Religion , no longer a cloak for enormous vices , will then be based upon non-political and unsectarian foundations , and it is this object which Freemasonry keeps in view ; it is this principle which renders her obnoxious to the

powers of darkness ; it is the avowal of this brotherhood of man which causes her to be dreaded b y tyrants in every land . We have no fear of the future ; humanit y is not to be driven back : the souls of men cannot

again be compressed within the cages formed by priests ; our conceptions of truth and of the Author of all truth are not to be defined by the will of unreasoning dotards . Light is unconfined , it forces its luminous way into the peasant ' s cottage

as into the prince ' s palace , and relying upon this everlasting truth , we may rest assured that all the efforts of the reverend senilities of the approaching ( Ecumenical Council will prove unavailing to restrain the progress of Enli ghtenment , Freedom , and True Religion .

Obituary.

( 8 ) h i t u it r .

BRO . DAVID BINGHAM DALY Last week it was our painful duty to record the death of Br . David Bingham Daly , of the Temple , Barrister-at-Law , who departed this life on the 29 th ult ., at the early age of 44 years . Brother Daly was a member of " Dalhousie Lodge , " No .

805 , and was much respected by all who knew him , he was also eminent both in his profession and private life as a painstaking and

conscientious adviser . We regret to hear that b y his premature death he leaves an afflicted widow and a numerous young family to mourn their irreparable loss .

BHO . WILLIAM SPONG . WE have this week to record the death of Bro . AVm Spong , of the Talbot Hotel , Scarborough , for many years a member of the Old Globe Lodge , Xo . 200 . Scarborough , and Royal Arch Chapter ;

he was also a member of the Mark Lodge , No , 95 , E . C . Although Bro . Spong took no active part in the working of the lodges or chapter , lie was very highly esteemed by all the brethren . He was a member of the Council of that ancient

borough , and for some years a Guardian of the Poor , in whose welfare he always took a deep interest , and frequently relieved the deserving from his own purse . As a proof of the high esteem in which he was held , we may state ,

his funeral was attended b y the AA . M ., officers and members of his late lodge ; thc Worshi p ful the Mayor ( Bro . J . W . Woodall , P . M ., P . P . G . S . AV ., and G . M . O . ) , the Aldermen and Councillors of tlie borough , and abont 200 of the

leading tradesmen of the town ; and as a further proof of his worth and respect , wo may state , that all the shops in his late neig hbourhood ( Queenstreet ) , were closed for some hours on the day of hit- interment , 27 th Sept .