Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGE Is POPE PIUS IX . A FREEMASON ? 145 P OETRY"So Mote it be" 14 S

O RDERS OF CHIVALRYKnights Templar ... ... " ... ... ... 145 L EAVES FROM MY LIBRARY 146 REVIEWS 14 6 F OREIGN MASONIC INTELLIGENCE—Spain ,

Portugal , Germany , Hungary , Danubian Principalities , Turkey ... ... ... ... ... 146 THE G RAND LODGE OF QUEBEC ... 147 PRESENTATION TO BRO . WITTEY , D . P . G . M . FOR WILTS 147 PRESENTATION TO AN OFFICER OF HINDPOOL

LODGE 147 CONSECRATION OF THE VALE OF BRISLINGTON LODGE , NO . 1296 147 & 148 THE CRAFTMetropolitan 14 S Provincial 149 Scotland 149 ROYAL

ARCHMetropolitan 149 MARK MASONRYMetropolitan ¦ ... 149 BIRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS 15 a ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 15 c THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS ... 150 MULTUM IN PARVO 1 5 1 c "* : 152

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCEThe Masonic Life Boat ... ... ... ... Ij-Datc of Mother Kilwinning Lodge 152 Scotch Masons ... ... ... ... ... 152 An Appeal ... 153 MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK 153 A BEAUTIFUL EXTRACT 153

Is Pope Pius Ix. A Freemason?

IS POPE PIUS IX . A FREEMASON ?

A correspondent in Liverpool writes to know if the Pope is a Freemason . Tlie following from the Philadelphia Keystone will convey all that is known on the subject : — Thc New York World of thc 10 th ofthe present month , contains thc following statement . We have

not seen the Era Faoli Sarpi of Venice , which is given as authority in the World , but wc expect to receive it in a few clays : — " Freemasons will be interested to know that Mastai Ferrctti , bettor known as Pope Pius IX ., once belonged to their Order , having joined it in

P . iiladel plii . i when he was a . Papal Nuncio to this country , and that he continued to be a . Mason two years after he became Pope . These assertions are made on the authority of the Era Faoli Sarpi of Venice , a Catholic journal devoted to ecclesiastical reform , and , if true , they are certainly very peculiar ,

especially when taken in connection with the wellknown devotional character of the Pope in his earlier years . " This is a very interesting question . The late syllabus ofthe Pope , in which tiic Freemasons and ' * Carbonari , " are classed as evil societies , and

against which the terrors ofthe Papal bull arc alike threatened , rather proves , that if the Pope was a Mason , he has backslidden . If he ever was , he has permitted the " light " he then received to become "darkness , " and "great is that darkness . " Were it not so , he never could have committed so great an

error , as to describe the Fraternity of Freemasons with the same pen he drew the character of thc " Carbonari , " or to have united them in one general condemnation . In order to give such information as we could obtain on this subject , we present the following facts : —

In 1353 , the Grand Master of Pennsylvania ( R . W , Richard Vaux \ received from the editor of t . ic Masonic World { Li Monde Macoimiciue ) , published in Paris , the August copy of that periodical . In that number was an article , entitled Initiation d . Fie IX . We translated tile following statem .-nt

which it contains .. The editor of the World ( Paris ) introduces it as follows : —According to the promise we lay before our readers thc first document , whicli wj reprint from the rUm . initaiis , intended lo prove thc initiation of Pope Pitts IX . into thc mysteries of Freemasonry . Tiiis document is a letter that thc Masons of

M . * -jin . i aldrcs-j . 1 in iSSj to the Very Rev . M . Aglotti , capitulary Vicar of that diocese , lt asserts tli it . Mastai Ferrctti , widle Greg iry XVI . was Pope , was sent on a mission to America , North and . loutli . After tiiis mission was finished , M . Ferrctti went to l ' . iiladel p ' iia , and there remained some lime . He was then made a Ma ; on . The letter proceeds to tfive his speeches on Masonic occasions , in which

Is Pope Pius Ix. A Freemason?

he extols Masonry , and thus expresses himself : I am fully convinced that Masonry is one of the best 'plus belles' associations that is known in the world . " Again this letter gives on another occasion the following address spoken by M . Ferretti : " I shall ever be a warm defender of this Sublime

Order , whose mission is to moralize the universe and to relieve and protect suffering ( abandonnee ) humanity . " These extracts will suffice for the present purpose . Accompanying the Masonic World , a letter was also received by the Grand Master from its editor ,

calling his attention to the article , and asking him to forward to thc Worlds , certified copy of the facts and proceedings of the lodge initiating M . Ferretti . To this let ter the Grand Master replied November 23 rd , 1868 . In- the reply it is stated , that ' * ' from time to time

he had heard a report that the Pope was made a Mason in the United States , but that he had always regarded it as an idle story . Since , however , so respectable Masonic authority had published what purported to be the letter of the Freemasons of Messina , ancl vouched to be authentic , in which such

statements were publicly made , an examination would be instituted by the R . W . Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , Bro . John Thomson . " Thc investigation was accordingly made when the records presented these facts : — There was a lodge , L'Temple des Vert us

Thclosralcs , No . 103 , held in the city of Havana , under a warrant from thc Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania , dated the 17 th clay of December , 1804 . By a copy ofthe list of members of that lodge , it appears that January 15 , 1815 , Juan Aug . Ferretti , was made a Mason , and that March 21 , 1817 , he withdrew from said membership .

That there was also a lodge Las Dchcias dc la Havana , No . 157 , " held in Havana under a warrant from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania ; on March 27 , ISI 8 , J . A . Ferretti joined that lodge . That on November 17 , 1819 , Martin Ferrctti , was made a Mason in No . 157 .

The names are copied from the report of the Secretaries of these lodges , into a Register kept for thatptirposeinthe Grand Secretary ' s office , Masonic Hall , in this city . These names arc , therefore , not copies ofthe original signatures , but probably written as pronounced in English . These facts were sent to the Editor ofthe Masonic

World , in Pans . Wc leave the question to be decided by further proof , if Martin Ferretti was thc English version of Mastai Ferretti , which the Messina Masons state was the name of the present Pope , before he was raised to the Pontificate as Pius IX .

We expect yet to hear more of the question . " Is Pope Pius IX . a Freemason ? " His holiness will be astonished when he reads this , so quickly following our former article , " The Pope , the Ecumenical Council and Freemasons , " in the January 22 , number of the Keystone . Is the Pope a Freemason ?

Ill connection with tins we may quote the following from the Echo : — " English Freemasons may well believe that Cardinal Cullen ' s edicts against their society in Ireland are dictated merel y by the caprice of power , and do not point at any real evil in the society itself . It is a little strange

that tlie Pope , who is a Freemason himself , and who , therefore , must know better , should favour the idea that there is anything very terrible in either the beliefs or the practices of tlie brethren of the mystic tie . But those who are astonished to find priests refusing to bury the Prince Henry

of Bourbon , because they spied masonic insignia on his coffin , should remember that Freemasonry on the continent has , before now , been used as an organization for the spread of revolutionary doctrines , and that there may be a tendency

among the male population in Roman Catholic countries to substitute the minimum of reli gious belief which is required for admission to the order , for the elaborate dogmas of the Romish Church .

Wi : have to direct the special attention of our readers to thc advertisement on our front page , respecting tlie Public Night of the Chapter of Prudent Brethren on the 31 st instant . We arc

informed that an oration will be delivered by Comp . Little , after which the ceremonies and lectures will be worked by Comps . Brett , Boyd , West Smith , Gilbart , Sharp , and Green . A strong * muster of Royal Arch Masons is expected .

Poetry.

Poetry .

"SO MOTE IT BE . " A Masonic Song , written and composed by Bro . CHAS . SLOMAN , Author and Composer of the "Maid of Judah , " & c , & c .

Where ' er the sun shines , over ocean or land , No matter the nation , we ever can find

Join d in unity firmly , a brotherly band ; Freemasons in heart ancl in soul arc combined , In the north , in the south , in the east , in the west ,

Its bright institution you re certain to see , To aid charity ' s cause ever doing its best , Wishing well to mankind , and still " So mote it be . "

Cltorus . —Then with heart and with voice let us pour forth the strain , Here ' s the Craft , Heaven guard it , the blcss'd and the free ,

May its efforts to succour be never in vain , While the motto of Masonry is , "Somote it be . "

Its beauty , its wisdom , establish its laws ; Ancl hold up its structure with firmness divine , It needs not the aid of external applause , But from its own brightness alone seeks to shine :

It fashions the Ashlar from quarry that ' s brought Until on its surface perfection wc see : We mean by that symbol it educates thought , And the wish of all Masons is " So mote it be . "

Chorus . This lesson it teaches : we should not forget The cause ofthe poor in our prosperous day , Ancl if the requirement chance to be met May no Mason in apathy turn him away ,

There are haply some men to the Craft a disgrace—Tell me what institution from such e ' er was free , There are spots on the sun , that time cannot efface , But our hope ' s from above , and still " So mote it be . " Chorus . March 8 th , \& io .

Orders Of Chivalry.

ORDERS OF CHIVALRY .

KNIGHTS TEMPLAR . ROCHDALE . The Grand Field Day of lhe Albert Encampment was celebrated on Thursday , the 17 th inst ., in the Masonic Kooms , Ann-street , when Sir Knt . Clement Molincux Royds , LP ., was installed as the E . C . for the ensuing year , bv Sir Knt . Roberts , l' . E . C . and P . E . G . D . C .

Lane , and P . G . C . Yorkshire , assisted by the following Past Eminent Commanders : Sir Kills . Yarker , Past Grand Marshal of England ; Primer , Prov . Grand A . A . D . C ., Lancashire ; Wrigley , Past Prov . G . A . D . C , Lancashire ; Hutchinson , Pro .. Grand Chamberlain ; Knight , Past Prov . ( hand S . li ., and Jones . The Eminent Commander appointed the following as his officers : —

Sir Knight Holroyd ... Prelate . „ Davis ... ... 1 st Caplain . ,, Schofield ... 2 nd Captain . ,, Ash worth ... Expert . ,, Turner Captains of Lines . ,, Roberts ... Registrar . ] oncs Treasurer .

„ Wrigley ... D . C . ,, Woodcock ... Almoner . ,, Briggs Organist . ,, Foihergill ... 1 st Standard-Bearer . Whiiwcirth ... 211 . I Sandard-Bearer .

,, Butter . vorth ... lst Herald . ,, Ashworth , jun . Eviuerry

Tin-: D OMATIC CIIAPTKR OF INSTRUCTION will be re-opened , at Bro . Fisher ' s Restaurant , Victoria Station , on Monday , the 4 th April , when the Ceremony of Consecration and Exaltation will be performed , thc former by Comp . Brett and the latter by Comp . Little . Comp . Cottebrune will be thc

Preceptor . Thc New Vadc ? Mccum ( invented and manufactured by Charles II . Vincent , optician , of 23 , Windsorstreet , Liverpool ) cuii-asls of a telescope well adapted for tourists , & c , to which is added an excellent microscope of

great power and fust-class definition , quite equal to others sold at ten limes lhe price . Wonderful as il may seem , lhe price of ihis ingenious combination is only 3 s . 6 d ., and Mr . Vincent sends il ( carriage free ) anywhere , with printed directions , upon receipt of post-office order or stamps to the amount of 3 s . loci , —[ Advt . l