Spiritualism.

world unseen . To believe that such a ridiculous , and we will add , contemptible , act per se , as writing on a slate—the hand on or under tableis an act of a disembodied spirit , or manifestation of the great spirit world , is not only an outrage on the common sense of humanity , but is , we

believe , a great dishonour to religion , It is , in fact , nothing more or less than a revival in this our age of that theory of the " fraus pia , " ofthe " ly ing miracle , " of the " unveracious legend , " which has done in the pasl , and still is doing at this very hour , so much harm in this world of

ours , sapping the faith of thousands and making all religion to many a " mockery , a delusion , and a snare . " It is a grave reflection on scientific study amongst us , when at any rate we are supposed to have mastered both the reality and the laws of " cause and effect , " to be gravely told that

such " conjuring tricks " are manifestations and emanations from the " spirit world . " The subject is a very serious one , aud we will add , 3 very sad one , in these its most recent ebullitions and exhibitions . That educated men can write as they do wiite , aud seriously propound the

theory , that because they do not understand how Mr . Slade has certain words scratched by a slate pencil on a slate , therefore they are to assume that they are supernaturally written , is to us , we confess , one of the most alarming amid the many chapters in the grave history of human delusions .

On the arguments of some of these hasty mdnctiouists , events which they cinnot understand or explain , and which are marvellous , per se , become " spiritual , " or " supernatural , and we can at once see , to what lengths such a " petitio principii " may lead some

of us , and what a hopeless fallacy is involved in such false grounded premises ! All that can bs said b y those who dissent from Dr . Lankester and Mr . Donkin ' s rsasonable explanation of the whole matter is , that they do not understand what they see , and cannot explain

it ! Admitted ! But they can go no further . Such is a state of mind not unnatural and not uncommon after some many of the clever " coups" of the professors of the " necromantic art , " or " digitation , " or whatever you like to term it . At times such clever illusions baffle

ihe closest scrutiny of the most observant , and de ( y the explanation of the most understanding . But were we to attribute them to " spiritualism , " or " supernaturalism , " or the like , we should be properly laughed at for our pains , and uot unreasonably classed cither among the most

credulous or the most gullible of mortals . And why should we treat a falsely called " spiritualism" in any other way , or consider the acts and movements ar . d manifestations of alleged spiritualists ( we object to the term altogether ) , on any other principle , either of induction or deduction ,

of observation or explanation ? That these tricks may be skilfully performed we do not dispute , and difficult to explain we do not doubt , but that they have a right to be called " spiritual , " or " supernatural , " in any sense whatever , we do utterl y deny ! We consider such an allegation

as a perverse misuse of words , a distinct violation of the great canon of " cause and effect , " a simple defiance alike of all the la _* s of evidence as we previously pointed out , and a distinct rejection of the first princi p les of scientific study amongst us . As an illustration of

what we have said , the following letter appears m the " Times" of Thursday last , an amusing commentary on the value and reality of these mountebank tricks , aping ths name of spiritualism . "A friend of mine who has just returned from America tells tne that he a short

time since attended a seance , at which the medium obtained messages from several celebrities of both ancient and modern times , and , among others , one ( at the request of my friend ) , 'roin Bucephalus , who condescended to inform me company that he ' still took great interest

m . J'terary pursuits , particularly in connection tn education . ' "

Ultramontane Violence.

ULTRAMONTANE VIOLENCE .

We should not recur to this subject , ( for it is th . _ ! . risomeand P ainfuI one )> were > l not J" hardl y a day passes without some fresh ° « trage , as Moliere so well says , on "tout ce qu '

Ultramontane Violence.

on revere . " Indeed / the violence of the Ultramoutanes just now is quite unaccountable , just as this unscrupulousness of word and action on their part is both alarming and saddening in the highest degree . Let us try and realize the following in the "Times" of Saturday : — "Manuel ,

Bishop of Minorca , " issued instantly two tremendous " Pastorals , " from which , as they lie before me on the table , I extract the " following to show their tone , tenour , and animus . Pastoral I . : — " Putrid members must not touch sane members , neither must Protestants

approach Catholics . . . . We will excommunicate , to the third generation , all Protestants and Freemasons ! " Then , another " Pastoral" said " Lord Ripon , chief of the Freemasons , and a son of Gladstone ( un hijo de Gladstone ) have embraced Catholicism ; and we shall soon chant

a joyous Te Deum for the disappearance of all this leprosy of heresy ( lepra de heresia ) . ' The Bishop gave a practical turn to the theories and ideas hinted at in his " Pastoral , " for , in his capacity of " visitor " of the Roman Catholic Public Schools of Mahon , he openly turned out

of tils' school , and forbade instruction to the son , aged 12 years , of Mr . Robinson , a gentleman of high respectability , ex-American Consul . Later on in August the following little incident occurred : —A few Custom-house employes , and quay and dock labourers , and loiterers attended

Mr . Binion s school , and dared to offer up a prayer to God , in his newly purchased church . Down went the Sub-Governor , D . Antonio Castaneira , the Jefe , or Chief of the Customhouse , and said , " Give your employes to understand that they run a chance of losing their place

if they attend such school and place of worship . " The Spanish Protestants in the whole Island of Minorca only number about three hundred professed and enrolled members . What can any Freemason or lover of toleration think of the following : — "The culminating act

of intolerance on ths part of the Sub-Governor of Mahon was committed on ths night of the , 30 th of August , an act which every paper , or nearly every paper , whether iii Madrid or the provincial towns , has stigmatized as ' illegal and wicked . ' It was this , —I will state it as briefly as possible .

On the 30 th of August the Methodists ( Spaniard •>) had their usual 8 p . m . meeting for prayer and song . At 9 p . m . they commenced their usual sonorous hymn •suddenly , the Sub-Governor entered the chapel , and , advancing to the platform , denounced the ' singing' as an act of

' public manifestation , ' and , therefore , contrary to the wording of Article XL , and said , that ' this was the last time he should speak ; henceforth , he must act . ' The hymn was stopped ; the rough voices died away j one short prayer was offered up , and the congregation of' Spanish

Protestants ' dispersed to their humble homes and cottages . The above narrative is strictly true in every particular . I have summarized it from authentic MS . copies and printed letters and pastorals . Most of the Spaniards of Mahon are free-thinkers- what a pity it seems that the

few who would meet together / or prayer should be thus interrupted , and their worshi p denied them or curtailed . " Now what the Roman Catholics hope to gain , as we point out in another leader to-day , by this cruel and violent utterance we cannot conceive . In our humble opinion it

can only lead to a wide reaction , and such a reaction will , we also believe , aid to extend happily the more tolerant princi ples and teachings of Freemasonry . And if the intolerance of the Ultramontanes is simply awful to every thoughtful and

well-regulated mind , be the religion ofthe individual what it may , what can we say of their unscrupulousness ? It is in our opinion equally fearful , for acts are done in the name of reli gion which are purely immoral perse , and then defended with a virulence of denominational eloquence , an unconscionable

impudence , and a rowdy vulgarity , of which we know no parallel , even in the darker ages of the world's history . Civilization and progress , culture and refinement , seem only to have increased the ardour of the intolerant , and the defiance of

the unscrupulous . Let us also ponder over the last public effusion of a R . C . bishop , and his manly and straightforward manner of dealing with a complaint of a poor mother , that her boy , not yet arrived at " years of discretion , " had

Ultramontane Violence.

been perverted to the Roman Catholic persuaf sion , "auspice , " the Bishop himself . Let all those who affect to doubt that Rome is " semper eadem , " bring home to themselves what this meek " Bishop and Pastor of the Flock" so humanely and so modestly declares : — " The

Roman Catholic Bishop of Nottingham , Dr . Bagshawe , a fortnight ago baptized a gentleman of 15 , named Drake , without the consent or knowledge of his mother , and notwithstanding the boy has no father . On being remonstrated with by Mrs . Drake the Bishop sent the

following letter : — 'The Cathedral , Nottingham , September 10 , 1876 . —My dear Madam , —Your son is of age and intelligence quite sufficient to make him fully responsible to God for that which is a man ' s most solemn duty—the choice of his religion . In this one must obey God rather than

man . When , therefore , your son applied-to me for religious instruction and aid it was not lawful for me to deny his request , or to refuse him any ministrations ; neither could I refer him to any other authority- than his own conscience for the choice which he had to make . Allow me

to say that I did not re-baptize your son . I performed a ceremony conditional only , as there is reason to fear that in the Church of England the Sacrament of Baptism is sometimes administered incorrectly and invalidly . Regretting the pain which your son ' s reception may have

caused you , I remain , my dear Madam , yours truly , EDWARD , Bishop of Nottingham . ' " Here is Ultramontanismsetting at nought parental authority , mocking the religious scruples ofthe poor widow with unholy sneers , just as it denies the

liberty of conscience , advocates the persecution of all non-Roman Catholic , and is even not averse to outrage the graves of the departed , to punish th » living , and to insult the dead . We confess that we deeply mourn over this mockery of , and parody on , all true religion .

The Girls' School Election In October.

THE GIRLS' SCHOOL ELECTION IN OCTOBER .

Thirty-six candidates are on the voting papers for the next election of the Girls' School ; of these fifteen are from London , and twenty-one from the provinces . It may be interesting to note now from what classes our orphans come , as it demonstrates in a remarkable manner ths

contrasted claims on our great charities . Officers , 2 j scholars , 2 ; surgeons , r ; merchants and manufacturers , jj ; officials , 1 ; traders , 12 ; clerks and agents , 4 ; non-commissioned officers , i ; licensed victuallers , j •miscellaneous , 3 ; total 3 6 . Surel y in this case , as in many more , comment is needless . " Verbum sat sapienti . "

The Concordia Institute.

THE CONCORDIA INSTITUTE .

By some unaccountable blunder of the printer , theCommunique with reference to this institution did not appear last week , as it ought to have done . We print it this week immediately after the leaders .

The "Philadelphia Keystone."

THE "PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONE . "

In our impression of August 19 th we were glad to say some friendly words with reference to this very useful and valuable Masonic journal . In the impression of the "Keystone" of September 9 th we find the following words as regards ourselves , which we reproduce here , even at the risk of beiner char _ ed . amone-other

high crimes and misdemeanors , with being egotistical : — " The handsome tribute jnst received from the London " Freemason " ( which stands at the head of the Masonic press of Great Britain and Ireland , and indeed of the Englishspeaking world ) we value higher than any that has ever been awarded us , and it shall stimulate

us to increased efforts to produce a Masonic newspaper that shall contain the news of the world in a readable shape , together with original articles upon leading topics of interest to the Anglo-Saxon Craft . "