Freemasonry Considered In Its Relation To Society.

FREEMASONRY CONSIDERED IN ITS RELATION TO SOCIETY .

BY O . A . R . ( Continued from page 301 . ) In a Lenten Pastoral admonishing his flock against Feuianism , a few years ago , Cardinal Cullen says : " As to the leaders

of this secret society , their words of infidelity and blasphemy , like those of the adepts of Freemasonry , are in keeping with their wicked career . " And in another pastoral iu 1870 , the Cardinal describes Freemasonry thus : " The first evil which

I shall mention , is the existence of the Masonic , Fenian , Ribbon , and other secret societies * * * * In regard to Freemasons , we learn from the history of modern times that many of them have been the greatest enemies of religion , and the principal leaders of the revolutions which brought so many evils on society . The

greatest infidel of the last century , Voltaire , who laboured incessantly to destroy Christianity , and who never hesitated to use sarcasms , lies and calumnies for that purpose , was a Freemason , and obtained a sort of apotheosis from his brethren in one of the lodges in Paris a few clays before

his unhappy death ; Marat , Danton , Robespierre , and other similar monsters of iniquity , who were the great actors in the French Revolution ; and in our days , Mazzini aud Garibaldi , the principal authors of all the convulsions of I taly bef

longed to the craft * - '¦> . * From their works will you know them , says the Lord ; and hence though we do not pretend to penetrate the mysteries of Freemasonry , - we may conclude that the plant is bad , radically bad , which producessuch poisonous fruits . "

So far did the Cardinal carry his antipathy , that on the occasion of Prince Arthur ' s visit to this country a few years ago , when a Masonic Ball was given iu his honour , all Roman Catholics were interdicted from taking any part in it . With this visit some peculiar circumstances

were connected , and no doubt the Cardinal thought he had the game in his own hands . However , the same year , the Prince of Wales became a Freemason , and since that event , Prince Arthur , like a worthy son of the Queen of England , became a

Freemason simultaneously with assuming the title of Duke of Connaught . From the short extracts from Papal documents given in the foregoing pages , it will be apparent that there exists a strong feeling among the hierarchy of Rome against

Freemasonry . Their denunciations cannot harm the craft , but they can render uncomfortable many honourable Roman Catholics , who , loving Freemasonry for its intrinsic worth , yet feel as a matter of conscience they arc doing something

forbidden so long as they continue their connection with it . Reasoning men will decide for themselves whether there is anything morally wrong in Freemasonry , and whether any of the charges brought against it be true .

Freemasons are enjoined— " to be good men and true , and strictly to obey the Moral Law , to be peaceful citizens and cheerfully to conform to the laws of the country in which they reside , and not to be concerned in lots and conspiracies against the

governp ment , but patiently to submit to the law and the constituted authorities ; to pay a proper respect to a civil magistrate , to work diligently , live creditably , and act

honourably by all men . " This should be a sufficient refutation of the scandalous and unfounded charges made against the order by designing men . But there is another evil to be apprehended . Since the Vatican Council promulgated that startling dogma of the

infallibility of the Pope , many will be induced to believe implicitly the charges made by different Popes , requiring no other proof but assertion . Suspicion will fall on the order , and many will be deterred from becoming Freemasonsfearing to be

, ranked with those who are described as " enemies of the Church and of God . " In Cardinal Cttllen ' s pastoral of 1870 from which an extract has already been given , he adroitly uses some names of bad repute who were prominent characters in

the atrocities of the French Revolution , — Marat , Danton , Robespierre . These men he asserts were Freemasons , and he affects to discover in Masonic teaching something calculated to develop any latent badness a man may haveand hence he concludes

, that the plant is bad which produces such poisonous fruit . This is judging of the size of Hercules by his foot with a vengeance . If they were Masons they were