Our Grand Master At Home Again.

faction . The last net , the scene of the masked ball , so lively until the unhappy climax , also pass * -: d off quietly and uninterruptedly , excitement having fairly worn itself out . The Prince and Princess remained until the end of the performance , and on leaving the theatre were loudly cheered by the crowd outside as the carriage

drove away . Thus ended a day to be long remembered as an ' •Alba Dies" in the warm hearts of the Engish people , and we earnestly wish for our Royal Grand Master , after his long and eventful travels , all that happiness aud comfort , which his return to his own country , and to his happy and rejoicing family , is calculated to have for him .

Are We Going To Have A Masonic Reception For The Prince Of Wales ?

ARE WE GOING TO HAVE A MASONIC RECEPTION FOR THE PRINCE OF WALES ?

They say sometimes that we Freemasons in England are a little behind the times , but we repel the insinuation with indignation ! We are nothing of the kind . We are certainly very sedate and very cautious in our proceeehngs ; that is all . Perish the thought ! that either we

are in any way retrogressive , or " slow coaches , " or not wide awake . ' We deny tha soft impeachment on each count of the indictment . The reception the Prince of Wales has received from the country seems to call upon our Order for an equally warm manifestation of loyal devotion

towards its orand Master . We do not know what the Executive intend doing , but we cannot help thinking that some notice ought to be taken in the way of a special gala or festival of our Royal Grand Master ' s happy return home to his family and to his country , to his high duties , to

his active rule of our Craft . We again venture to suggest that there should be a grand gathering at the Alexandra Palace , or some similar " locale , " to welcome the Prince and Princess of Wales . Three members of the Royal Family now belong to our Order , and we

cannot conceive a scene more striking , or a gathering more delightful than that which would be presented by an overwhelming number of our ever loyal and intelligent Order , with wives and daughters and sisters , to greet the august ruler of English Freemasonry ! We shall never have

such another opportunity , and it will be a lasting reproach on us not to " profit by the occasion . " What the response of the Craft would be there can be no possible doubt , and we feel sure that we are expressing the sentiments of our entire Fraternity

when we urge upon those in authority , or those out of authority , the propriety of considering at once the feasibility of such a proceeding and taking measures to carry it out , and make it worthy of the cause , the Prince , and the Craft . We would call the attention of our readers ( o the suggestion of our esteemed Bro . the Rev . R . J . Simpson , P . G . C , in another column .

The Girls' School Festival.

THE GIRLS' SCHOOL FESTIVAL .

The second of our great annual charitable gatherings is over , and with remarkable results , compared with that of a few years back , were the annual amount of these recurring festivals . . - £ ' 8114 11 s . with twelve lists to come in , is a vcrv goodly return to announce , and we

congratulate the committee , and Bro . R . VV . Little , the zealous Secretary , whose absence through illness all would equally and sincerel y deplore . The returns of the donations are somewhat interesting . Of the provinces , Middlesex heads the lists with f £ jii 13 s ., West

Yorkshire follows suite with 56 : 707 16 s ., Lincolnshire comes up with s £$ 43 14 s ., Warwickshire with £ 262 ios ., Berks and Bucks with . £ 141 15 s ., Kent with £ 13 , 5 as . 6 d ., Wiltshire with £ xi $ 12 s ., Staffordshire £ 1115 ios ., South Wales £ 115 ics ., the Channel Islands with £ 100 ,

Chester with & G 73 , and Oxfordshire with £ 50 ., the Red Cross Order through Bro . Levander and others , ^ 2 14 3 s ., nnd several other special returns . Tho London lodges return ^ 4532 6 s . 6 d ., making the whole amount , as we said before ,

, £ ' 8214 us ., and which may be yet slightly increased . Onr two great anniversaries have realized close on to £ " 21 , 000 , and what the Boys' School gathering will produce who can tell ? we understand that there are already 240

The Girls' School Festival.

Stewards on the lists , and we have no doubt but that Bro . Binckes will give a g-ood account of everything when the festival comes round . In the meantime we congratulate the Girls' School on its high efficiency and its goodly return .

Has The Church Of Rome A Moral Right To Excommunicate Freemasons ?

HAS THE CHURCH OF ROME A MORAL RIGHT TO EXCOMMUNICATE FREEMASONS ?

Though this question no doubt may be answered by us all on purely sentimental grounds , so to say , aud according to our individual prepossessions , yet there is , as it appears to us , also an answer to be given to it on the principles of right reason and coition sense , not to say mattei

of fact and justice . About a hundred years ago . in 1782 , an anonymous German brother published at Kosmopolis " die Beruhigung einer Katholiken iiber de Papstlichen Bullen wider die Freimaurerey , " the tranquilization of a Roman Catholic in respect

of the Papal Bulls against Freemasonry . And a very interesting little work it is . He points out then that Clement Xlf . condemned the Freemasons on six main grounds—which for the purposes of our argument it may bo well to lay before our readers , rst . The union with other

religionists . 2 nd . The secrecy , which implied something bad . 3 rd . The secret binding of the conscience by a secret oath or obligation . 4 th . The defiance of ecclesiastical and civil laws against secret societies . 5 th . The expulsion of Freemasons by the State in different countries in

consequence . 6 th . And lastly the evil opinion entertained of Freemasons by the faithful of the Roman Catholic Communion . On these six grounds , which as thc writer of the little book above mentioned points out , are put forward in entire ignorance of the real position

of affairs , and historical accuracy , and exact fact , Clement the XII ., on the 4 th May , 1738 , condemned the Freemasons , took from them all religious rights and privileges , forbad nil Christian ministrations to them , and desired the ecclesiastical authorities

nnel Inquisitors , herctic .-r . pravitatis , " everywhere to punish and restrain all such " de hercesi vehementer Suspectos , " and to coerce and punish them , the aid of the secular arm being invoked . This is simply a direct exhortation to inquisitorial persecution , imprisonment ,

torture , and the Auto da fe . Benedict the XIV ., on the ijth April , 17 , 5 1 , issued a confirmatory bull of all that Clement XII . had previousl y uttered , and especially desired those to whom the execution was confided of his Bull not to omit the invocation of the aid of the secular

arm ! Hence we have this wonderful fact before us , in all its " naked simplicity , " that without enquiry , without knowledge , without trial , without any hesitation , the supreme pontiff proclaims all Freemasons , however good or virtuous , useful citizens , true patriots , loyal subjects ,

faithful Roman Catholics , to be heretics , ipso facto , and desires the Inquisitors at once to punish and coerce them as such , calling in the aid of the secular arm ! There never was in the history of the Church or the world , such an illegal , such an immoral , such an unjust , and , we will

add , such a ridiculous Encyclical ! By the provisions of the Roman Catholic Canon Law itself , all complaints arc to be heard before a competent judge , and sentence duly pronounced on evidence , and on the answers of the accused . Even the Inquisition professed to hear evidence

before pronouncing sentence , and the tortures of recalcitrant prisoners were enforced , in order , in the name of relig ion and of Christianity , to compel them to speak the truth ! But here two Popes , having no evidence , without any special knowledge of the facts , pronounce sentence ex

cathedra against all Freemasons , qua Freemasons , simply assume blasphemously the prerogative of Divinity in Judicial Infallibility , and " mero motu and proprio jure" brand all Freemasons as heretics , condemn them to punishment , torture , death , and invoke the supplementary

assistance of the civil power . Surely , then , we have a warrant for saying that on every ground of right , reason , equity , fairness , morality , of justice , as expressed in every code of known legal sanction and solemn enactment in the world , that such an excommunication is alike immoral and

Has The Church Of Rome A Moral Right To Excommunicate Freemasons ?

unchristian . And probably we should be ourselves willing to treat such Bulls as many Romanist canonists have treated similar excommunicatory ebullitions , as obsolete and without any binding

power , did not we note that the Roman Catholic prelates and clergy constantly appeal to these very Bulls ss the justification for their absurd proceedings . We should ourselves g ladly consider them as fossil curiosities did we not

remember that even the present benevolent old Pontiff has formally repeated and commended them ! We should be quite willing to allow such evidences of an unreasoning bigotry , of an ignorant intolerance , to be forgotten in the dust and dirt of the centuries as they pass by us .

with that charitable spirit in which the present often regards the past , did we not alas know too well that the animus of Bigotry survives the fleeting ages of time , and that the love of persecution is still a active and as dominant as ever . We conclude our article to-day on this unsavoury

subject in the full calm strength as we deem it of logical consistency by asserting that all such excommunications of the Church of Rome are immoral and iniquitous , contrary to every known principle of ecclesiastical or secular jurisprudence . .

and in themselves utterly childish and powerless . In our humble opinion the Church of Rome has shown itself little wise in its generation , in the renewal of such barbarous edicts , and in the retention of such ignorant bigotry . That the reproduction of the Bulls of Clement and Benedict

can either intimidate Freemasons or aid the cause of the Roman Catholic Church itself is indeed a chimera of chimeras . And though with thc sad spectacle before our eyes daily of the lengths to which this inculcation of an utterly unsanctified despotism , of unjustifiable .

authority , can lead even the benevolent and the humane , we rejoice to think that despite censure and anathema , our good old Craft is " marching on , " and that under the leadershi p of our own Royal Grand Master calumniated and excommunicated Freemasons are advocating earnestly and

religiously the blessed and peaceful principles of toleration , brotherl y love , goodwill to man . We will make one more remark . Even supposing we allow that every religions body has ex necessitate rei a ri ght to make terms of communion , wider or stricter as the case may be ,

we cannot concede to any denominational organization through its spiritual head , the authority before men , to set at defiance every principle of divine teaching and human law , and to brand with the iniquity and menace with the punishment of heresy by an autocratic

exercise of illegal power , all those everywhere who do not accept implicitly its dogmata or obey its decrees . The Church of Rome may say " the days of temporal punishment are over , I am only invoking spiritual censures which I have a right ^ to inflict . " Granted ! But then as

Roman teachers assert that the Pope is infallible and supreme and God ' s Vicgerenton earth , they still practically condemn all who differ from the Roman Church , inasmuch as he has never abjured his claim of universal sovereignty . If it was only

a matter for the Roman Catholics themselves , much as we should deplore the narrowness of spirit and the prevalence of bigotry displayed in such allocutions , it would yet perhaps be a matter for them to settle for themselves . But

the issues are greater and the contest wider than lie often on the surface of things , and we therefore think it well to point out to-day , for fear of any mistake or misconstruction as far as we are ourselves concerned , the utterly immoral and unjustifiable position as between man and man ,

and even on its own alleged principles of ecclesiastical law which the Church of Rome has assumed , and still assumes , in thus excommunicating ipso facto all Freemasons because they are Freemasons , branding them as heretics , and invoking for them persecution , punishment , torture , death .

Hypercriticism.

HYPERCRITICISM .

Criticism we hold to be a very good thing ifl mundane matters , when conducted and animated with the true spirit of criticism , and the same rule applies , in our opinion , also to matters Masonic . We do not , and never shall object , to all fair and proper criticism . On the contrary ,