Freemasonry And The Pope.

will prevail with the Pope to i-ecall tins hast y reproach on the Craft , or he will drive many good men to the alternative of disobedience to his will , or a withdrawal from his pastoral superintendence . The following is the letter referred to b y our

contemporary : — ( To the Editor of the Weekly Register . ) Sir , —It is well that the article on Freemasonry in the last number of tlie Weeld-y Register has the prefix " communicated , " as , to a certain extent , it absolves the editorial staff from a reasonable charge of ignorance .

As a Freemason , I regret most deeply tho issue of the allocution . As a Catholic I of course refrain from criticising that document , nor do I consider it necessary for my present purpose to enter upon a discussion as to the propriety of the speech of the Bev . Dr . Bowles , upon which you hare commented , especially as that speech

was not delivered in open lodge , but at a convivial banquet . But as a reader of the Weekly Register , I ask for fair play only in combating some of the erroneous notions of the writer of the " communicated article . " 1 . —English . Ereeinasonry is not a direct alliance with the Craft in every part of the globe . If I vaay use such

an expression ( not a Masonic one ) it is " in communion " with " the Grand Lodges of Ireland , Scotland , Prussia , Hanover , Hamburg , Switzerland , United States , Canada , Holland , and Hayti , which countries alone have representatives at the Grand Lodgo of England . The words "Solidarity" and "One and Indivisible , " quoted by the writer of the articleand familiar enough iu tho

, mouths of revolutionists , are unknown in English . Masonic language . 2 . —English Freemasonry has no machinery at hand for aiding revolution abroad . The funds of English

Freemasonry are strictly devoted to charity , and balancesheets , properly audited , are periodically issued , but no money can be secretly granted , Masonic or otherwise , except , in very limited amounts , to distressed brethren , by the Board of Benevolence in special cases . One of the instances adduced by the writer of the communicated article was the welcome of Garibaldi by dukes ,

Protestant bishops , and cabinet ministers , none of whom , with one exception only , as I happen to know , are members of the Order . The other instance is the alleged neutralisation of English sympathy for Poland , the fact being that the Russian " Government is strongly anti-Masonic ; and if political sympathy could in any case have been exhibited by Freemasons aa a body , it must

of necessity havo been , in favour of Catholic Poland , most of the exiled Poles ( including some clerical ones ) being members of the Craft . ' , i . —Fi'cevftasonry in . England is ranged strictly upon the side of loyalty and order . The Master elect of every lodge previous to bis installation is obliged to promise to be a peaceable subjectand cheerfully to conform to

, tbo laws of his country—not to bo concerned in plots or conspiracies against Government , but patiently to submit to the decisions of the " supreme legislature . " The ' ¦ ' ancient charges" declare that " a man is particularly I mind never to act against the dictates of his conscience , " and that " no discussion about religion , or nations , or Elate policy , can be permitted within the lodge . "Being

of all nations , tongues , kindreds , and languages , we are resolved against all politics as what never yet conduced to the welfare of any lodgo , nor ! over will . " At the initiation of a candidate he is enjoined to bo " a quiet and peaceable subject , true to his sovereign and just to his country—not to countenance disloyalty or rebellion , but patiently submit to legal authority , and to conform with cheerfulness to tho government under which he livesyielding obedience to tho laws which afford him pro-

Freemasonry And The Pope.

tection , and never forgetting the attachment he owes to the place of his nativity , nor the allegiance due to the sovereign or protectors of that spot . " 4 . —The connection of Lord Palmerston with the Order of Freemasonry exists only in the imagination of the writer , founded upon an erroneous statement in the Times , which also led one of our lodges , and even a

Masonic publication , to assume its truth . The fact is , however , that Lord Palmerston not only never possessed the slightest influence in the Craft , or held any office in it , or ever entered a lodge or subscribed to its funds , but was never even initiated into its mysteries . As a Catholic I cannot but express my indignation at the impious profanity of the writer in the Weekly Reg i ster , in ascribing

the death of that aged statesman , even by implication , as the result of the publication of this allocution . As he was not a Freemason the " coincidence" falls to the ground . Such arguments effect up good . It would be just as reasonable as for the death of the Pope at a ripe old age at some future period to be connected with the unceasing prayers of some fanatical Calvinist for the

" downfall of Popery . " I do nob ask you to insert a defence of Freemasonry . It may be that in some parts of the Continent , owing to the denial of that free speech which is our boast in

England , the practice of Freemasonry has been abused by the introduction of illegal topics . Iu England , however , this could not be ; and even in Italy , two at least of modern Popes have patronised the Order . Leo X . specially protected the Masonic lodges , even in Rome itself . Somo English bishops have thought fit to denounce the Order , but it is certain that their opinions on

Freemasonry have been derived entirely from continental sources . Cardinal Wiseman , with his natural greatness of heart , never spoke unkindly of English Freemasonry , and two of his predecessors ( then Vicars Apostolic ) were active members of London lodges . Two members of the present English hierarchy are understood to have been initiated iu their earldaysand I can vouch for two

y , influential members of English chapters being also Free- ' masons , following in this respect the example of . the long line of illustrious ecclesiastics who , down to the time of Bishop Poynet , of Winchester ( who was Grand Master of the Order in England in 1552 ) , presided over the Craft , including amongst them the Archbishop Giffard ( Grand Master 1272 ) , Bishop Stapleton , Exeter ( G . M . 1307 ) ,

Wm . of Wykeham ( 1357 ) , Bishop Beauchamp ( 1471 ) , Cardinal Wolsey ( 1515 ) , & c . ' [ am , sir , yours obediently , A CATHOLIC AXD A FUEEMASON .

The Intellectual And Moral Culture Of Mankind.

THE INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CULTURE OF MANKIND .

( Continued from page 390 . ) Astronomy and astrology first appear to have fixed the attention of philosophers , and although a very long period elapsed , before a true theory of the motions of the heavenly bodies was arrived at , yet the knowledge of _ their apparent movements

sufficed for navigatioii ih its then limited scope . To the Chaldeans is du ' e- 'the credit of Having practicall y developed astronomical science rin its earliest form . Not merely ; as monuments were the jjyramids of Egypt erected , not merely for receptacles of the dead were tliey designed , from them

undoubtedl y through the clear atmosphere of Chaldsea were read the . movements of the planets and the relative positions of the fixed stars , and ere long it will in all probability be shown that they have served another purpose iu indicating