Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS— » K Freemasonry and the Catholic Church ... ... ... •¦•. 173 Grand Lodge Decisions ... ... ... ... •••373 Provincial Grand Chapters and the Regulations ... ... ... 374

Provincial Grand Lodge of Essex ... ... ... ... ... 375 Provincial Grand Lodge of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ... ... 37 6 Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex ... ... ... ... 377 Board of Benevolence ... ... ... ... ... ... 377 Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... •¦• 377

MASONIC NOTESProvincial Grand Lodge of Hertfordshire ... ... ... ... 379 Grand Lodge of Manitoba ... ... ... ... ... 379 Consecration of the Hygeia Lodge , No . 2464 ... .,, ... ... 3 S 0 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Berks and Oxon ... ... ... 3 S 0 Masonic Service at Kensington ... ... ... ... ... 3 S 1 Laying the Foundation-stone of the New Victoria Jubilee Schools at

Berkhamstead by the Prov . G . M . of Herts , Bro . Halsey , M . P .... ... 3 S 2 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 S 3 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 384

Freemasonry And The Catholic Church.

FREEMASONRY AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH .

A correspondent has kindly favoured us with a copy of a Dover paper of the loth inst ., containing the first of what is intended to be a series of articles on " Freemasonry and the Catholic Church " by a contributor named HENRY . The writer

of the article in question is offering his reasons to the " Dover young man—not a Catholic—whose mind and will of his own are sane and healthy enough and in whose honesty and sincerity I have faith , " why he is not a Freemason , and the reason may be

summed up conveniently in a single sentence , "because he is a Catholic . " " I am a Catholic " says he : " the Catholic Church condemns Freemasonry , I will not be or do what the Catholic Church prohibits me to do or forbids me to be . " There is no argument

in this . The statement is characterised by extreme simplicity . There is no beating about the bush for an excuse for not being a Freemason , and on the other hand there is no attempt to lay a formidable indictment against the Craft . The writer states that he is not a Freemason because he . is a Catholic and the Catholic

Church has condemned hreemasonry . He does not trouble to inquire whether the condemnation is justified by anything which Freemasonry has done in the past or may be doing in the present . Mis declaration at ( he outset is without qualification of any

kind—he is not a Freemason because he is a Catholic . Subsequently he modifies this declaration considerably , affirming ( hat '' not even the POPE would think of condemning English Freemasons , if they are in their secret deeds all that they are

represented 111 their public performances . " As for himself , he goes on to state that " were all Freemasons men as liberal , beneficent , brotherly as yourself and others , the Good Samaritans and true Christians whom I happen to know in Dover and elsewhere ,

my own altitude would have long ago been the one of a real and undivided adhesion , such as I have assumed towards the Oddfellows' Unity , of which I have had the honour of accepting the membership conferred upon me . " In the paragraph that

follows this , he is even more complimentary still to English Freemasons , telling us that " Catholics do not misunderstand and misinterpret the Freemasonry of England as a malevolent

society . " The reason he assigns for the condemnation of Freemasonry by the Catholic Church is " the bad and malevolent expedients and artifices in matters reli gious and poliiical oi CONTINENTAL Freemasons of the type as represented by

Freemasonry And The Catholic Church.

French , Belgian , Italian , and other unholy Socialistic Agencies of Revolution . " Thus the original unqualified statement of this Mr . HENRY , which is contained in the earlier part of his article , must now , as we have said , be modified by the light of his

explanations in the latter part . Catholics do not " misunderstand and misinterpret" English Freemasonry " as a malevolent society , " but the Catholic Church has condemned " Continental Freemasonry " on the ground of its " bad and malevolent

expedients and artifices in matters reli gious and political , " and hence he , as a Catholic , has no alternative but to condemn English Freemasonry as well , though almost in the same breath he tells us it is not worthy of condemnation " as a

malevolent Society . " We are afraid this Mr . HENRY in his blind obedience to an unjust condemnation of Freemasonry as a whole for the sins of a part does not realise that the same process of reasoning may be applied to the church of which he

proclaims himself a member . Thus if Freemasonry , which originated in this country in its present form in the early years of the 18 th century and is still governed by the same fundamental principles , is to be condemned because certain French ,

Belgian , Italian , and other Freemasons have in the latter hall of the 19 th century violated those fundamental principles , then what this writer calls the Catholic , that is , the Roman Catholic , Church , must be condemned likewise and on precisely similar

grounds , that is to say , because certain sections—to wit , the Anglican , Presbyterian , Lutheran , Calvinistic , and other Churches —have revolted from the Catholic Church . These various sects , according to him , are to be condemned for "the bad and

malevolent expedients and artifices" they have had recourse to , and therefore the original Catholic Church , which once contained them all , must be tarred with the same brush . We admire

the candour and courtesy of this contributor to our Dover contemporary , but we may be forgiven if we do not set a very high value on his arguments .

Grand Lodge Decisions.*

GRAND LODGE DECISIONS . *

It is an excellent idea to which our Rev . Bro . LAWRENCE has given effect in the pages of this pamphlet . As he very justly remarks in his brief preface , it is most desirable that there should exist " some manual suitable for ready reference by the

Masters of lodges and others who have lo interpret the Constitutions , " and this want our brother lias done his best to supplv . Of course , when any doubt exists in the minds of private lodge authorities as to the course they ought to pursue in certain

circumstances , the proper persons to apply to are , in the case of Provincial lodges , the Provincial authorities ; in Districts , the District authorities ; and in all other cases the Grand Secretary , and it is undoubtedly to the great credit of our readers that in

the course of the last 25 years Grand Lodge should not have been called upon to deal with less than 150 appeals . It shows that our Prov . and District G . Masters , their Deputies , Registrars , and Secretaries , are , as a rule , not only conversant

with our laws but at the same time , competent interpreters of the more or less knotty questions which they are from time to time called upon to decide , ft is no doubt true that the justice of the decisions given