Freemasonry And The Pope.

snsoere brothers , who have added lustre to our Masonic escutcheon , and who have been invested ws & ihe highest dignity that Masonry or any eazShly power could confer on roan . Are such ¦ aasa to be persecuted because they are Masons

, ¦ and love and chei'ish those principles which adorn ihe whole life , in their social and religious duties ? Why , they are assisting * the Church , by dissemim & fang a pure morality — Christianising * and

linmanising the whole human family . Thank God ! the bigotries of a by-gone age , -when the lips of men were closed by the terrors of tlie Inquisition , no longer exist . The puny attempts that are made in this enlightened age to

Tgub down the Order , by refusing the sacrament to the dying , denying the benefit of clergy to the dead , and refusing the rites of baptism to the children of Freemasons , tend only to bring those guilty of such acts into contempt ; and induce all

xeasonable men of the Roman Catholic faith to view the noble Order of Freemasonry with greater respect .

Freemasonry And Politics.

FREEMASONRY AND POLITICS .

In the charge printed below , which is written hy Madame Dudevant ( George Sand ) , an imaginary candidate for Freemasonry is taught to "believe that the lessons of the lower grades of the draft refer only to a fictitious liberty , fraternity ,

and equality , and that the real object of the institution is disclosed in the higher grades , which ara as so many " subterranean laboratories " for -tits preparation of " a great revolution , of which Germany or France will be the . theatre . " Madame

Tfcidevant ' s language is rather misty , and it is , therefore , not clear whether the revolution she alludes to is to be of a social or of a political ¦ character . Whatever may be her meaning , she

evidently approves of what she believes to be the mission of Freemasonry ; but in this feeling of approbation we cannot share , unless she means that Freemasonry , like Christianity , is exerting a ¦ passive'and salutary influence in countries where ,

owing * to the system of religion or the system of government , tlie judgment has been comparatively fettered , and all aspirations for political freedom Jiave been checked . If our principles are

favourable to the cause of civilisation and liberty , and opposed to everything like despotism and priestcraft , they must work their way silently , like light , or like the secret operation of Christianity oa such institutions as slavery . " Christianity

never , in so many words , pronounced it criminal for man to hold property in man ; but b y its doctrines of the brotherhood subsisting amongst men , by the large philanthropy which it inculcated , by its positive requirement that we make every

effort at communicating' spiritual blessing ; and , therefore , by indirectly demanding that we remove from society whatever institutions may be found detrimental to the advance , whether of public or private religion—in these and the like modes did

it set itself against the continuance of slavery . And nothing , therefore , we believe , can be needed bat that Christianity be universal , and slavery will be annihilated . "

It is a favourite accusation of the enemies of Freemasonry that our lodges are the hotbeds of sedition , and those whose dearest wish would be gratified if they could throw us back into the condition of society in the middle ages ( witness

the late Encyclical Letter of the head of the Romish Church ) are ever endeavouring to confound us with Orangemen , Ribbonmen , the Illuminati , and other secret societies which are formed for political purposes . We have recently been

under the necessity of personally repelling such a charge . We tell our calumniators , once for all , in the words of the Marquis of Hastings to George III . that "it is written in the institute of our

Order , that we shall not , at our meetings , go into religious or political discussion . " If there are men on the continent of Europe ( and probably there are such ) who assume the badges of our Order for the purposes of political intrigue , we

consider them as rotten branches : they have no part or lot in us . Condemn them , and we will join heartily ia the reprobation of those who are so unfaithful to their obligations . Why make the misconduct of a few a handle for passing a

sweeping sentence on an immense body of men who are spread throughout the globe ? We could give the explanation . Abstractedly , it is not always wrong to meddle in political matters . There are many who consider Garibaldi a true patriot , and who do

not see anything to admire in that loyalty which would submit to the rule of a Caligula , or of tyrants like the Emperor Paul of Russia . It may then be admitted that a man may sigh for political freedom without incurring * the eternal displeasure

of his Maker . But Freemasons have been repeatedly told by the Romish priests that they have incurred " ~ eternal damnation . " Surely , not because they meddle in affairs of State ( granting