Bishop Crane And Freemasonry.

BISHOP CRANE AND FREEMASONRY .

A MANIFESTO haa been issued by the Past Masters and Officers of the Golden and Corinthian and Zenith Lodges of Freemasonry , Sandhurst , replying to the condemnatory references made to Freemasonry in Bishop Crane ' s Lenten pastoral read at St . Kilian ' a pro-Cathedral , Sandhurst , on tho Sth February . The Masonio Orders were characterised in the pastoral as being possessed by the spirit of Satan whose instrumenta they were , aud burning like him witb

deadly aud implacable hatred of Jesua Christ and His work , which they endeavoured by every means to overthrow and fetter . The Bishop further on quoted from the Pope's Encyclical letter , which stated that writers of the highest authority did not hesitate to declare that the end of Masonry is to lay clericalism waste at its very sources of life namely , in tbe school and in tbe family . The manifesto of the

Lodgea emphatically denies knowledge of suoh writers , and asserts that , on the contrary , their system teaohea the most reverent and simple godliness , strict morality , justice tempered with mercy and a wide embracing charity ; and , moreover , that it includes degrees of a specific Christian character , the members of whioh bind themselves most solemnly to defend Christ and His teaching . If Bishop Crane

were cognisant of the fact that the monarch of our own proud aud mighty empire is the " Defender of tho Faith , " and that the heir apparent ia the elected head of the Masonio body iu England , he wonld not as a loyal subject snppose his prospective sovereign to be one who would play the two-faced part of " Defender of the Faith " and" Destroyer of it . " These facts , however , were persistently

ignored by tho aggressive church , and had been so for ages for the purpoaea of wilfully maligning aud misrepresenting tbe Order . When Frederick the Great heard of the fanatical preaching of this type in 1788 , he wrote to the Rev . Fathers of the Dominican Monastery at Aix-la-Chapelle , vigorously repudiating tho calumnies with which they bad aspersed the Order . He asked them would they bring back

the timea of fanaticism , with ita centuries of iguorauoe aud cruelty . He said thafc a Freemason who returned from his Lodge , where ho received nothing but precepts calculated to benefit his fellows , should be a better husband and father . How then could these people be a damned race , who were never tired of disseminating all virtues which make and mould a true [ citizen ? The words ( of Pope Pius IX . had

been replied to by the Earl of Carnarvon , in the Grand Lodge of England , in 18 G 4 , when ho said that the encyclical letter fell into two great errors , viz ., thoso of confounding all Masonio bodies in common condemnation , and of confounding all thoso bodies with infidels or " naturalists in religion" and the revolutionists in politics . It imputed all those monstrous charges which are included under the

titles of sedition , revolution , socialism , communism and atheism . Ho held it to be the duty of the Grand Lodgo fco affirm with all the force and solemnity ifc conld that these charges were founded on a total misapprehension of Freemasonry . Was it conceivable that an Order founded on such linos , governed by such traditions , and ruled by such rulers , could ever be open to tho monstrous charges he had

just road ? If ho wished to appoal to evidence ho could point to the largo number of French Lodges whioh had been aoveivd from tho Grand Lodge , becansa thoso Lodges had erased from their title deeds and charters tho affirmation of tho immortality of ilia soul and tho belief iu a supremo God . Ho then submitted two resolutions to tho Grand Lodge , expressing regret and astonishment at tho

misapprehension which tho encyclical letter contained in making tho sweeping charge whioh tho law , practices and traditions of the Order , as woll as the position of its rulers , prove to bo utterly without foundation . Thoso resolutions were carried unanimously . The manifesto goes on to state tbat notwithstanding many such ablo defences , the principles of Freemasonry continued to bo a cursed thing in tho eyes

of the rnlera of the Roman Catholio Church , the rahon d ' etre being found tersely expressed in the bull issued by Pope Piua IX . in 1864 , in those words : —Damnantur clandestine soeietates . Theso worda were , of course , meant to refer only fco secret ( moieties outside the pale of Roman Catholicism . The Lodgea thought it deplorable tbat iu a small community lika Sandhurst thiuga should be said by those

iu authority which had a tendency to engender feelings of animosity in one class towards another . In concluding , tho manifesto states that , seeing Freemasonry is not a proselytising body , might nofc the authorities of St . Kilian ' a do well to leave them alone aud cease hurling their annual anathemas , which can neither raise their cause nor iullicfc injury upou the Order . —Melbourne Age .

The monthly meeting of the Board of Benevolence waa held on Wednesday , in fche Board Room , Freemasons' Hall , Bro . Robert Grey presided , und there was a large attendance of brethren . Before commencing bnsiness , Bro . Jas , Brett , Senior Vice-President , said he was sure the brethren

"wonld concur wifch him that they shonld pass a hearty vote of welcome to the President on his return from abroad . They were all very glad to see him again among them , and hoped that his sojourn in a foreign country had resulted in great benefit to him . They would agree wifch him in

conveying fco their President their sincere pleasure at seeing him back again . Bro . Robert Grey sincerely thanked the brethren for their mark of kindly feeling towards him . Whilst be had been away fchey had been ia hia thoughts very often . It had been a pleasure to him to

remember what good , aided by them , he had been able to do to those who wanted their help , and the discretion with ¦ which thafc hel p had been distributed by those who hacl attended the Board . He thanked them once again . The brethren thou confirmed recommendations to tho Grand

Bishop Crane And Freemasonry.

Master for grants at the March meeting , to the extent of •6310 . There were 39 new cases on the list . Five of these cases wero dismissed , and three were deferred . The remainder were relieved , with a total of £ 765 . This was

composed as follows : Two recommendations to Grand Lodge of £ 50 each , six to the Graud Master of £ i 0 eaoh , five of £ 30 each , and one of £ 25 . There were nine grants of £ 20 , one of £ 15 , four of £ 10 , and three of £ 5 each . The Board sat four hours .

DOES MASONRY FOLLOW THE FLAG ? —Bro . Walter Hill , of the Lodge L'Amour de la Verite , Orient of Wellington , New Zealand , has written to tbe organ of the Freemasons in this conntry , taking exception to a statement made by it , in reference to the establishment in New Zealand of a French Lodge , tbat " Masonry follows the flag . " Brother Hill holds that this statement is contrary to one of

tho fundamental principles of Freemasonry , viz ., that it is essentially non-politioal . The editor holds that nnder any reasonable interpretation his remarks would nofc be considered political , for he meant no more than that the Graud Lodges of the United Kingdom had supreme authority throughout tho British dominions , except in Canada and some of the Australasian Colonies , to whom Masouic , ns well as

political , autonomy had been conceded . The editor argues that tbe Grand Orient of France ia supreme in France and its colonies und posaessions , and that it is a violation of the unwritten law of Masonry and of Masonio comity , for the Maaonio authority which ia supreme in some foreign State to charter a Lodge iu British territory . It is not denied that there are English Lodgea in Tnrkey , Egypt , China ,

and Japan , but it is contended that in all theso States thero aro British and other communities possessing in many respects an isolated position , politically , judicially , and socially , and the parent Lodgea do not claim to exercise anything like supreme authority over them ; but New Zealand being a British colony , where the Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland had hitherto exercised supreme , though conjoint authority , the editor of the

Freemason explains that tho reason why he advocated the expnlsion from English Masonry of any English Masons belonging to the French Lodge in Wellington waa that the Grand Lodge of England had resolved to admit no French Mason into its Lodges unless he declared hia belief in a Supremo Being , whereas the Grand Orient of Franoa had struck out of its Book of Constitntions fche law requiring all Masons of its obedience to have somo religions faith . —New Zealand Herald .

Afc the late election of the Royal Masonio Institution for Girls , some singular vagaries were found when tho state of the poll waa declared , much to tho advantage of one of the . Devonshire oandi . dates . In April last tho 17 th candidate on the poll failed to got elected though 3 , 406 votes were given on hor bohalf , ji'id even the 18 th had over 3 , 000 vote *? . On tho 9 th inst ., nineteen wor ** elected ,

the 10 th polling 3 , 008 vote •, the 17 th only 1 , 852 , and tha 19 th , tvUn successful , actually getting elected with only < J 35 voto . *)! AM tlio first ou tho list polled 5 , 133 votes , it will be noted what a l . rgo difference there waa—wholly unparalleled—between the highest and lowest successful , of tho 19 elected out of the 25 candidates . The

candidate from the Lodge at llayle was elected with 3 , 003 votes , and the two for Devon ( from Seaton aud Dartmouth ) secured their places with 435 and 1 , 719 reapsctivoly , so that Devon has returned both girls for much leas voting power than one would tuke savo but for this moat aiuglar "fluke . "—Western Morning News .

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DANCING . —To Those Who Havo Never Learnt to Dance . —Bro * and Mrs . JACQUES WYNMAN receive daily , and undertake to teach adics and gentlemen , who have never had the slightest previous knowledge of nstruction , to go through every fashionable ball-dance in a few easy lessons . ACADEMY—74 NEWMAN STEEET , OXFORD STREET . BBO . JiCQUliS WrHMAJf WILL BE HAPPY TO TAKE THE JrArfAGiMBNT OJ MASOKIC BALLS . FIBST-CLASS BANDS VaoviDhD , PBOSPECIUS ON APPLICATION .