Correspondence.

vorcing science and religion , and wished to establish in this country a morality without religion , he ( the lecturer ) begged to assure him that it had heen done already elsewhere . In China there was a national morality apart from religion . The trial there had not been very successful , and he hoped that John Bull ,

living in this green island of the western sea amid providential provisions and sanctities , would not think of making the experiment . "

MASONIC SNUFF-BOX . TO JHB BDITOB OS IKE EREEHASOXs' MAGAZIKE ASD UASOiTtC StlEEOK . Dear Sir and Brother , —I perceive no one is likely to champion the venerable snuff-box depicted at page 310 . Probably the Masonic virtue , " caution" is

beginning to be more appreciated , or the hump of discrimination is beginning to be more active ; however , as I gave the one side of the box before , I now proceed to give the other side also ; so that when understood , the figures ' 16-69 " are quite right , and speak truly enough to those who understand them . It is an inscription that is engraved on the bottom of the box , and it is as follows : —

Respect me for what I have been , the time was , when'I was a young and hopeful plant of nature ; in the course of years I became tall , and the Birds of the air were happy under my

shadow , and returned their sweetest notes for my protection . By the Hand of man I Was cut down , and stripped of Nature ' s robes , and afterwards became a pillar in the Cathedral of Glasgow , and for upwards of six hundred years H-

ave assisted in supporting it as a refuge to saint and sinner , from the s - tormy troubles of life . But now I am an outcast from the house of God ,

and have become a gazing stock in the Hand of man A - nd part of my remains MADE THIS SNUFF BOX . GLASGOW , JUNE , i 8 G 9 . So we see the date is " June 1869 . "

Turnhow-, , ever , to page 310 , and put a " comma" ( , ) between the 1 and the 6 , aud it will then read the 1 st day of the 6 th month of the year 69 . That agrees , of course , with "June , 1869 . " I know a case of an old Craft box ( Tailor ' s ) which had two dates on it , viz ., on the front " 1658 " and in the interior " 1762 " Nowif

. , either was the date of the box , it could not be both . The solution given , however , was that the old date was that of the institution of the society , and the latter the age of the box . Tours fraternally , F . Q , M .

CARDINAL CULLEN AND FREEMASONS .

10 THE EDITOIt OB THE EIlEESTASOIfS' MAGAZINE AlfD JTASOIflO MIBEOIi . Dear Sir , —The following letter was addressed to the Gloucester Chronicle , and appeared in that journal .

You may deem it advisable to find a space for it in your columns . Tours , & c , | HENET JEITS . "The correspondent of the Timesdating from

, Dublin on the 3 rd of May , says : — 'Cardinal Cullen is as emphatic as ever in his condemnation of secret societies . He puts the Freemasons in tho front rank of these , and strongly censures institutions in which he says that they will obey leaders whom they do not knowand who be very

dan-, may gerous men and command wicked things . . . . He reminds the clergy that the greatest infidel of the last century , Voltaire , was a Freemason , as also were Murat , Danton , Robespierre , and other monsters of iniquity who took part in the French Revolution , and Mazzini and Garibaldi in our own time . ' The

Masonic body can do nothing contrary to the ' Constitutions of the Ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons , ' which I would recommend for perusal to the Catholic Church . It is not a sealed book . Masters of lodges can do nothing contrary to by-laws framed for their government , and which must

be in accordance with the Book of Constitutions . Provincial Grand Masters are amenable to Grand Lodge . Further , 'if the Grand Master should abuse his power and render himself unworthy of the ohedieuca of the lodges , he shall be subjected to some new regulation to be dictated by the occasion . ' if the Freemasons may be said to have leaders , their infallibility

is not recognised , nor can they ' command wicked things . ' Nor can a Freemason be an infidel ; for , as concerning God and religion , he 'is obliged by his tenure to obey the moral law , and if lie rightly understand the art , he will never be a stupid atheist , or an irreligious libertine . He , of all men , should best

understand that God seeth not as man seeth ; for man looketh at the outward appearance , hut God looketh to the heart .. A Mason is , therefore , particularly bound never to act against the dictates of his conscience . Let a man ' s religion or mode of worship bo what it he is not excluded from tho Order , provided he

may , believe in the glorious Architect of heaven and earth , and practise the sacred duties of morality . ' Quoting again— ' A Mason is a peaceable subject to the civil powers , wherever he resides or works , and is never to be concerned in plots and conspiracies against the peace an 1 welfare of the nation . He is cheerfully to

conform to every lawful authority ; to uphold on every occasion the interest of the community , and zealously promote the prosperity of his own country . Masonry lias ever flourished in times of peace , and been always injured by war , bloodshed , and confuuiou ; so that kings and princes in every age have boon much

disposed to encourage craftsmen on account of their peaceableness and loyalty , ' Lastly , the Catholics have no greater friends than Freemasons , because , whoever may wish to frame laws to put them down , craftsmen teach and practise toleration , being bound by peculiar ties to promote peace and to cultivate

harmony . " I am , Sir , yours obediently , " HE 2 U ! . \ - JlOTS , " Gloucester , May 5 , 1 S 70 . "