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Liverpool Theatres, &C.

LIVERPOOL THEATRES , & c .

Week ending' September 13 . ROYAI . ALEXANDRA THEATRE , l . ime-slrec ! . —Lessee 13 ro . E . Saker . " ( Jure' an . l * ' L ' io iress . ' '

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ST . ( AMES'S MfNOR 1 IALC—Mii . lame Card and . M . Ahney ' s Entertainment .

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Births , Marriages And Deaths.

Births , Marriages and Deaths .

DliATl I . DIXON . —On tlie 24 th ult ., greatly respected , at Morley , near Leeds , aged 74 . , Bro . William Dixon , ( or fifteen years Treasurer to the Prov . G . Lodire On his ] retirement from that office in 1811411 c was made Prov . S . G . Warden , and liis grateful brethren presented him with a handsome testimonial in tiie form of a p iece of silver plate .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

The following' stand ovcr :--Hcport of Lodge of Mope , Bradford , Xo . 302 , and Premier lied Cross Conclave . Laying the Foundation of tlie Dunoon Town Hall .

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TheFreemason, S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 6 , 187 s .

The Last Roman Catholic Attack On Freemasonry.

THE LAST ROMAN CATHOLIC ATTACK ON FREEMASONRY .

We do not think , that , the last assault on Freemasonry is likely to be more effective than preceding ones . Some before this have been serious enough in

all conscience , thc head of the Romish Catholic Church , speaking " ex Cathedra Petri , " and appealing alike to tlie " Fideles , " and fulminating a Bull or Pastoral , against us wicked

Freemasons . So far hack indeed as the Council of Rotten , in the 12 th century , and at the Council of Avignon in the 14 th century , societies , which elected

annually a " Majorem , " or Master , and were hound together by an inner bond of secret union , seem to have been condemned . Of later years Pope Clement XII ., in his bull ,

or decree bearing date , April 27 , 17 , 38 , beginning "In eminentiapostolatiisspjcula , " and Benedict XIV ., 18 May , 175 1 , in his bull beginning , " Providas Rotnanorum Pontlicum" condemned

altogether the " assemblies and meetings" ofthe said ¦ ' Freemasons , " and " their advisers , and abettors . " Pope Pius VII ., on the 1 ;> 'lh August , 1814 , in

a decree drawn up by Cardinal Consalvi , and countersigned by Cardinal Paced , renewed such condemnation in even stronger terms . We believe , thr . t the present occupant of the

see of Rome , benevolent as he is , has thought well to give forth a ijiutsi utterance of condemnation on an Order , in whicli Dame Rumour lias always stated , whether truly or falsely , that lie

was once himself initialed ! lie this as it may , the Roman Catholic may fairly say that the society is under the censure of his church ; how

far that censure extends is a matter allecting only the con :. ck nces of Roman Catholics themselves , and on which we do not profess to pass any opini . in whatever . But if these serious

condemnations of Freemasonry have not allecte . 1 its onward course , it is not likely , we think , that this last and intended jocose attack will fare any better , or have any more cilect .

Independently of the fact , that such ecclesiastical censure in no way ail ' ects those who are not members of the Church of Rome , we doubt very much , whether Freemasonry is a subject with

The Last Roman Catholic Attack On Freemasonry.

which the Church spiritually has anything to do , and , above all , has any inherent right to condemn or anathematize . We are aware that there have been members

of the Church of England , and other religious bodies , who have equally disapproved of the Masonic Order , but their views have been treated always as individual views , and of no weight or authority in such a " vexata qusestio . "

Well , if all serious objections have failed , based , too , on ecclesiastical authority , is it likely we ask , that attacks , meant to be witty , and intending to be crushing in consequence , arc likely ,

to have even the slightest influence on us as Freemasons ? Despite the attacks aud condemnations of the past , Freemasonry still survives and flourishes ,

and in all probability will continue to do so the more , the longer it is so vehemently arraigned , and so hastil y condemned . Not that in saying this , we at all approve of the

attitude Freemasonry has taken in some countries abroad , where it is in constant antagonism , apparently , alike to Church and State . Probably had those countries , like our own

wise land , permitted Freemasonry to endure , as a recognized Institution , it would have become as peaceful , as orderly , and as loyal , as we are all happily as Freemasons , in England .

None of the true principles of Freemasonry are at all inimical either to civil order or loyal citizenship , and we utterly deny , that any true Freemason need be , according to our well

known teaching , " a Fautor " of sedition or disorder in the slightest degree . We in England are and always have been a preeminently loyal body , and there is no reason why

in all countries , under its peaceful and tolerant banner , Freemasonry might not be , as it is intended to be , both a rallying point of tranquility ,

order , and harmony to the brethren , its members loyal subjects and good citizens , helpful to the communit y ' , and faithful to the State .

In the IPestmiiistcr Caxelte , a Roman Catholic weekly paper and literary journal , of May i ?> 187 , 5 , appears an article entitled : " Tho follies of Freemasonry . "

It is , as we said , intended lo be witty and written to be cutting , but we feel we are not far wrong in stating that it is neither . Indeed we have never perused an article which

convinced us how very little the writer himself knew of the subject 011 which he so verbosely dilates , and of how little weight such an oil-hand and illiberal opinion of our benevolent society

really and truly can be . We might say a good deal about the style of the writer , which is so very peculiar , that , wc think we recognize an old familiar friend , and is

redolent from first to last , of what the writer seem . ' ? to favour a good deal , thc " bar parlour ofthe Pig and Whistle . " Some of us may remember how the

memorable Mr . Pott , of Jvitanswill journalistic fame , was roused to the height of indignation , by Mr-Shirk ' s accusation that he was " an

uugrammatical twaddler , " and therefore we will not bring on our devoted head the "( lira ira" of the It ' eslminsler Gazette writer b y saying so much now . But this we feel bound to assert , that we never