The Same Old Story.

THE SAME OLD STORY .

The letter which His Holiness Pope LEO XIII . recently addressed to the Romish clergy , and a rough translation of which appeared in our columns last week , is sufficient evidence , if evidence were needed , that the Papacy is still actuated , and , for the matter of that , is likely to remain actuated , by the same rancorous spirit as ever towards our Society . It is not our purpose in

our present remarks so much to complain of this attitude of the Head of the Romish Church towards Freemasonry as to express our regret that it should have been adopted , and our belief that , if these denunciations are persisted in , the cause of religion itself will ultimately be the chief sufferer . The world is well enough informed as to the character and antecedents of our

Society . It knows , or , at all events , if it will only take the trouble to inquire , it can very easily be brought to know , that if those who profess to be Freemasons act up to its principles , there is no greater likelihood of danger arising to the cause of morality and religion than there is from Christianity itself . Greater injuries have been inflicted on the latter by the

sins of professing Christians than by the attacks and persecutions of the heathen ; and in like manner Freemasonry has suffered more from the un-Masonic acts of its professed members than from the open or insidious attacks of its enemies . But in saying this we are merely repeating an old story , which is based on the experience of all nations and ages ; nor

do we see an } ' reason why the Poi ' E should persist in issuing periodical denunciations of our Society , because some of its members set at naught its principles . The present occupant of the Papal chair is generally known to be a man of learning and culture . He is surrounded by men who are supposed to be capable of tendering him wise

counsels such as are calculated to promote the interests of Christianity , or at all events of that particular section of it which owes allegiance to the POPE as its spiritual head . Yet there is but slight evidence of wisdom in the man who can issue , or the councillors who can sanction the issue of , so monstrous an encyclical as that which emanated from Pope LrcoXIII . on

the 8 th December , 1 S 92 . It is not necessary to assume that Freemasonry is a perfect institution in order to demonstrate the absurdity of such wholesale charges as are included in this document . We know perfectly well that there is a considerable difference between Freemasonry as it is understood on the continent and Freemasonry as it is understood and practised

111 English-speaking communities . But when we have made every allowance for the divergences of our continental brethren from the true principles of the Craft , we are still a long way from being in a position to be justified in affirming , that in Italy—to which the POPE ' S letter more immediately refers— " war is being waged " by the Masons , " at the same time against the

celestial and terrestrial Fatherland , against the religion of our fathers and civilisation , against the sciences and the arts . " This is sheer nonsense , and though it may have the desired effect of deluding people who are sunk in most cases in ignorance into the belief that Freemasonry is everything that is diabolical , it will not induce people who are

clothed and in their right minds that these terrible charges are in any respect justifiable . Indeed , even the most stupid people , who are at all times prepared to accept as gospel whatever is taught them by their spiritual pastors and masters , have seen enough to know that in making these several allegations , the POPE is saying the thing

that is not . The world generally , and Italians in particular , are not entirely ignorant of the events which have occurred in Italy during the last 30 and odd years . They know that where there is now a united Italy nourishing—and which would flourish still more but for the hard fate which compels it to maintain at terrible cost a huge army and navy—under a

constitutional sovereign , there was formerly an Italy in part divided into a number of petty states , and in part subjected to a hated foreign yoke They are well aware that , though Italian Freemasons may leaven their Freemasonry with plenty of politics in contravention of the true principles of the Craft , it was not Freemasonry and the machinations of its following which

brought about the salutary political change which has been effected in Italy during the period aforesaid , but the wisdom and valour of her soldiers and statesmen , and the patriotismof her people . Our former Grand Master , the predecessor of H . R . H . the Prince of WALES , if he chose to do so , could throw considerable light on the true principles of Freemasonry , and though

"either he nor we can quite absolve the continental brother from the charges brought against him by the Popis . and his clergy of utilising the organisation of the Craft in foreign countries for political purposes , both he and we

should find ourselves in a position to show that in this respect we had done j 10 more than take a leaf out of the book of the Romish ecclesiastic , who ts over and over a £ turned his spiritual position to account in order to promote some special political object of his Church ,

The Same Old Story.

We have said that we cannot entirely absolve our continental brothers from the charge of using or having used their Masonic organisation with a view to promote some special political object . But does it ^ speak well for the common sense of educated people when they condemn a whole society for the faults of one or two of its sections or branches ? We do not need to

be told by the Liverpool Catholic Times what Freemasonry is . If we desire to learn what are the principles of Judaism , Christianity , Mohammedanism , or any other religion , we turn to the book which contains its sacred writings , and in which its principles are defined . Similarly , if we desire to be informed as to the principles of Freemasonry , we turn at once to its Old

Charges and Book of Constitutions , and there we find nothing about " Naturalism , " which our worthy contemporary tells us is " Secularism plus philanthropy . " We do not find that it " believes neither in God nor devil , heaven nor hell ; " that " it laughs at immortality and the judgment to come ; " that " its aim is enjoyment on this side of the grave ; and when it

calls itself humanitarian , the true meaning is that to all intents and purposes it would abolish God and His Revelation . " This may or may not be a true definition of Secularism , but it does not apply to Freemasonry . The first and foremost article of our Masonic faith is belief in the existence of God and the immortality of the soul , and when in 1877—if we remember

rightlythe Grand Orient of France determined on eliminating this article from its Book of Constitutions , our Grand Lodge at once passed a resolution , which was tantamount to a complete severance of those fraternal relations which had previously existed between the two Societies . It is but the other day that the W . M . of one of our lodges refused to proceed with the

ceremony of initiating a candidate who , on his own showing , turned out to be an atheist or an agnostic ; while , if confirmation is needed of the truth of our statements , we need only refer to the respect which is exhibited throughout our ceremonies for the Sacred Writings as being "the unerring standard of truth and justice , " as containing "the Divine precepts" by which our actions

should be regulated , as teaching us " the important duties " we owe to God , our neighbours , and ourselves . But it is not necessary we should carry our remarks further . The United Kingdom is the Motherland of Freemasonry . Whatever it may be now on the Continent of Europe and elsewhere , the branches of Masonry there established derive their existence from us , and

not only their existence , but likewise their laws and constitutions . But we , at all events—and . the same may be said of the other English-speaking Grand Lodges—have not deviated from the original articles of Masonic faith as propounded by the founders of our Modern or Speculative system of Freemasonry . We may be supposed to know what Freemasonry is , and

we have no hesitation in affirming that , though in France and other foreign countries , the original principles of the Craft have been seriously departed from , there is no truth whatever in the allegations of the POPE and our Liverpool contemporary—that Freemasonry is anti-Christian and anti-theistic . We demur entirely to the notion that our Society must be judged not by the

principles on which it is based , but by principles which have been substituted in their stead by apostates from Freemasonry . We repeat there is no doubt a certain amount of truth in the suggestion that our Italian brethren

do occasionally permit themselves to take part , as Masons , in the political struggles of the day , but that does not justify the POPE in his wholesale denunciation of Italian Freemasonry , and still less of the entire body of Masons—to what countries soever they may belong .

Provincial Grand Chapter Of Hants And Isle Of Wight.

PROVINCIAL GRAND CHAPTER OF HANTS AND ISLE OF WIGHT .

The annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight was held on Monday , the 30 th ult ., at the new Masonic Hall , Newport , which was then used for the first time for Masonic business . The Grand Superintendent , Comp .

W . W . B . Beach , M . P . ( 3 rd Grand Principal England ) , presided , supported by Comp . J . E . Le Feuvre , J . P . ( P . G . S . B . Eng . ) , Prov . Grand 2 nd Principal , and by Comp . the Rev . J . N . Palmer ( Past Grand Principal Sojourner Eng . ) , acting as Prov . Grand 3 rd Principal . The attendance also included the following :

Comps . G . F . Lancaster , P . Z . 342 , P . P . 3 rd Grand Principal , acting Prov . Grand S . E . ; G . J . Tilling , P . Z . 1461 , P . G . Treas . ; Rev . E . W . Watts , M . A ., P . Z . 151 , P . G . Reg . ; George Ward , P . Z . 76 ; J . G . Garnham , M . E . Z . ; D . S . Pring , P . Z ., P . P . G . D . C ; Isaac Golden , P . Z . ; J . H . Wavell , I . P . Z . ; C . E . Lock , H . j Horace Groves , J . ; C . E . Pinnock , S . E . ; N . Armstrong , S . N . ; J . G . Jones , P . G . O . ;

H . W . Horan , G . A . Brannon , P . S . ; W . Lock , J . G . Pinnock , F . Pinnock , W . L . George , R . G . Smith , W . T . James , and C . Knell , Janitor 151 ; J . Leftwich , Z . ; J . C . Airs , I . P . Z . ; G . A . Mursell , P . Z . ( and 151 ) , P . P . G . R . ; F . Rutland , P . Z ., P . P . G . O . ; Frank Trueman , H . 175 ; C . W . Bevis , Z . 342 ; L . Steele , J . ; R . Boughton Smith , S . E ., P . P . G . J . 394 ; W . Bates , Z ., and G . Pearman , Org ., P . P . G . O . 487 ; F . V . Paxton , Z . 804 ; M . F . Curtis , Z ., E . T . Wise , H ., and W . J . Miller , J .