The Pope And Freemasonry.

THE POPE AND FREEMASONRY .

The following letter was recently addressed by a much respected brother , a Chaplain in H . M . l \ avy to the editor ofthe Cork Constitution : — Sir , —As I am afraid that I shall not have an opportunity of attending the Grand Masonic

Concert on Thursday evening , I purpose contributing two or three letters on Freemasonry Avith the hope —I trust not an unfounded one—of aiding the object which the ' brethren haA e in vieAv . Your lion-Masonic readers haA e no idea Avhat the society

is , and many of your Masonic friends have little idea as to what it Avas . Perhaps I may be able to enlighten both classes—at least I Avill do my best to do so . But your fair readers must not prick np their ears , and expect that I am going to divulge

any of their husbands secrets , for 1 must begin by telling them that there are no secrets , except the signs and pass-words , AA'hich are absolutely necessary for the protection of the society . The Pope recently condemned Freemasonry , on

the grounds of its being-a secret society calculated to encourage revolutions , and insurrections , and plottings of all sorts against the established governments of nations . But all who know anything of Masonry know also that of all other thing-s in the

world , it cannot be charged AA ith any such nefarious designs ; for it is not a politicalbuta religious society , strange as this assertion may be to many of your readers . It has nothing in common with such societies as the Illuminati and the Carbonari

of the continent . It cannot plot to subvert a government , for no brother is perm ' . ^ edto canvass for members or persuade eA en a friend to join the society . Depend upon it , Mr . Editor , that the ranks of the Fenians are not recruited from the

Freemasons , and that nothing like treason is hatched in any of our harmless lodges . What , then , is Freemasonry ? It is , unquestionably , the oldest society in the world , and I have no doubt that it Avas founded before the death of Adam ;

but if I am asked to prove such an assertion , I hope I shall not be called upon to quote from such early records as those . I must shelter myself behind the excuse that they perished in the great Deluge ! I am serious , however , and not joking .

Before letters were invented , the only means of teaching divine truths and handing down divine traditions was by means of symbols aud signs . In that Avay before the Deluge the people of the old world had the whole history of the creation , the fall of our first parents , & o , handed down by

tradition in the primitive lodges—the serpent being a common symbol employed for the purpose then , as it had been since . After the Deluge the Ark became one of the commonest symbols , and the history of that event was thereby taught to the

initiated . A lodge must have been in full working order on the plains of Shinar during the life time of Noah ; for when the dispersion took place lodges of a similar nature were established in every part of the world , though probably not for many

years after the settlement of the emigrants in their neAV countries . Thus it happened that the old mysteries—spurious Masonic lodges—misinterpreted many of the symbols which had been correctly

explained in the mother lodge . They all , however , used the same symbols , and it has generally been admitted by scholars that they must have one common origin . That common origin was Freemasonry , as any one who has gone through the

ceremony of initiation , and compared his experience with what is knoAVn of the history of initiation into the old mysteries in various countries , would easily and naturally conjecture . According to the traditions of Freemasonry ,

Enoch Avas a very eminent Mason , and preserved the true name of God , which it is said the JBAVS subsequently lost . This name Avas only known to the initiated . The descendants of Abraham wrote

it Jao ; in the mysteries it was Om , but most commonly expressed in a triliteral form Aurn ( "Wilkins' Notes on Bhagvat Veta , " p . 142 ) . They were forbidden to pronounce the name . Both in the genuine and spurious lodges the

doctrine of a Trinity in Unity Avas taught . An equilateral triangle and the mystical symbol Y were used to represent a triune God , the three distinct lines of which the latter is composed forming one , and the one being three . It is not so easy to

explain the Tetractys of Pythagoras and the Tetragrammation of the JBAVS in connection with the ineffable name of God ; at least your readers would not understand me if I were to attempt the

explanation . The mysteries , or spurious Masonic rites , were introduced into India by Brahma , into Egypt by-Thoth , the son of Mizraim , into China' and Japan by Bhuddha , into Persia by Zeradusht ( i . e .,

Zoroaster ) , into Greece by Melampus ( according to "Herodotus , ii . 4 ) , or Cadmus ( according to "Epiphanius , " adv . Hoer . i . ); into Boeotia by Prometheus , into Samothrace , by Dardanus , into Crete by Minos , into Athens by Ere ' ctkeus , into