Bazaar At Denton.

inculcate in their minds the principles of true religion , so that when they grew to be men aud women they would have an education which would enable them to grapple with the difficulties of life in the various spheres in which they were placed . The earnest hope of every man and woman , and of every Freemason , was that as they grew up , they might become living examples of piety and virtue . Bro . Meakin then declared the bazaar open .

The Rector ( Rev . R . T . Blackledge ) proposed a vote oi thanks to Alderman Meakin , and also thanked his Rev . friend Bro . Kelty for his services of that day , further adding that he was - grateful for the kind assistance whieh the members of the Masonic Lodges had rendered .

The Rev . C Harpur , in seconding the vote of thanks , said that afternoon ' s work had been unique so far as he was concerned . He had never seen a Masonic procession , witnessed a Masonic service in the church , or seen a Masonic body open a bazaar until that afternoon . The enterprise in which they were engaged was

a great one , and he had much pleasure in saying that the success , so far as they had gone , was greater than any of them expected . The first day ' s result was unprecedented , the second was good , and he hoped that day would be still better . They wanted to build up good schools , and they wanted the Masons to see that the top stones were properly laid .

The Chairman , in responding , said he stood in that position with somewhat mixed feelings . He was one of the Masons who helped to build that room . He had something to do with its planning , and he thought he watched , as carefully as a curate of a parish could watch , the way in which the bricks were put on , and tried to prevent the masons putting the bricks

on wrong side up as far as he could . He therefore felt that he had probably more interest in that bazaar than most of his Brethren standing round him at that moment . He felt , somehow , that he was in a way intertwined in its success or failure . If it was a success , a little of the credit was his ; if it was a failure , a good deal of the blame was his . However , he was told it had been a

great success , aud so he thought he had grown at least two inches since he received the information . When it was first mentioned that they should come there and open that bazaar , every one of the Brethren jumped at it at once ; he thought it was because men were always said to be vain—women never were—and they thought they would have an opportunity of displaying their finery . He thought , after they had seen them in their regalia ,

they would come to the conclusion that they were not at all a bad looking lot . But be that as it may , it had afforded them great pleasure in coming that day and assisting in the opening of the bazaar . He hoped not only the bazaar , but the work of Christ throughout fche parish would go on and prosper , and that those who had assembled there would do all they could to strengthen the hands of those who had the work in hand .

Bro . Alderman Meakin said , in response , that they had in Denton a splendid church , a splendid church organisation , and they also had a splendid Masonic fraternity . The Masonic Order sometimes had to bear the sins it never committed . The Masonic Order , next to the church , was the finest order in the land , and whatever they might say about individual members , let them please have a high and proper regard for the Order

itself . There was no order so high as the church , which must be placed in the van of all societies ; but they had black sheep in the church , and they might have black sheep in any order . Neither the church nor the Masonic Order was responsible for the individual actions of its members , and th > Order itself would bless the neighbourhood in which it was situated , if properly conducted . Upon returning to the Lodge room the Brethren partook of refreshments , which had been kindly provided for their use .

Freemasonry.

FREEMASONRY .

By Archibald T . Dunn , F . R . H . S ., in the " Catholic Times . " 2 . THE FOE OF CHRISTIANITY .

( Continued from p . 244 . ) \ T length , however , Sohrepfer displayed such boundless extravagance in his - £ * - style of living that suspicions were aroused , and an audit of his accounts was ordered . It was found that he had been applying tbe money to his own use , and -the next meeting of the Lodge was a stormy one , but Schrepfer declined to attend it . A vote of censure was sent him . His answer was that

of an injured , but forgiving man ; he invited all the Brothers of the Lodge to a banquet at his house , and a seance , at which he said the spirits would amply justify and explain all he had done . The dinner was sumptuous , and was attended by all the members . After dinner he proposed , in order to

prepare their minds for the coming seance , that they should stroll through the neighbouring wood . They did so , and , after a little space , Schrepfer stepped aside and blew out his brains . All this was very dramatic , but , it might be thought , scarcely convincing or satisfactory . But , strange to sav ,

Freemasonry.

it did not shake the faith of the Brethren in the Order of the Rosy Cross . Indeed , their faith in this impostor had been worthy of a better cause . In order to attract disciples Schrepfer from the first represented that he had been entrusted with a special mission and special powers to re-establish in Germany the ancient Order of the Templars . He represented that upon the

dispersal of the Templars , a certain number took refuge in Aberdeen , in Scotland , with records and books of ritual of the Order , which had been hidden in some secret caves in the neighbourhood of Old Aberdeen , and th » t there had been a succession of Priors and members of the Order ever rince .

When , after tho suicide of Schrepfer , some of the members sent an inquiry to the Rosicrncian Lodge actually established at Aberdeen , the Master said that nobody in that region had ever heard of any Order of Templars , or of documents or caves . Mr . Gould very sensibly remarks :

" We may well pause before giving our consent to the notion , however popular , that one mysterious and deathless body of men worked in silence and darkness for the transmission of ancient fancies to generations yet unborn " ( Hist , of Freemasonry , iii , 71 ) .

Another very remarkable case in connection with the Eosicrucians deserves to be recorded . A certain C . N . von Schroder , who held an exalted position among the Freemasons at St . Petersburg , was sent by the Master of his Lodge to Berlin to obtain from Wollner , a Bosicrucian , a phial of tha Elixir of Life which he professed to have prepared , in order to save the life of one of the Brethren named Schwarz . After considerable delay Schroder

succeeded in obtaining a small phial of the elixir from Wollner , and posted back to St . Petersburg with it , but on his arrival there found that Sohwara was dead . One of the members of the Lodge , however , who was a chemist , thought he would try the effects of the elixir on some animals , and all those to whom it was administered died immediately . On analysis it was found that the smallest dose of the elixir must be fatal to human life .

Freemasonry has been extremely prolific in its development . Thus Mr . Gould mentions as some of the branches : "The Knights of the East , " founded 1756 ; "The Scots Philosophic Bite , " 1766 ; "The Strict Observance , " or " Scots Directories , " 1774 ; " The Bite of Narbonne , " 1780 ; " The Bite of Misraim , " founded by the notorious Cagliostro ; "The Bite of

Memphis , " & c . Mr . John Bobison , an eminent Freemason , writing in 1798 , stated that it was within his own knowledge that the Grand Lodge oi England was in intimate connection with the leaders of the first French Bevolution , and that he had seen letters from London urging the French Lodges to destroy the Catholic religion and to replace it by the worship of Beason . They also advocated secular education in the schools , the

confiscation of the property of the Church , the explusion of the religious Orders etc . This is exactly the programme of the French Government , whioh has had for the past twenty years a majority of Freemasons in the different Cabinets . In Italy the policy of the Craft has been the same as in France , but its effects have been more disastrous to the Church in general , as they have been directed against the venerable Pontiff who holds the chair of St . Peter .

It is now a matter of historic certainty , supported by the most undeniable proofs , that the unification of Italy was effected by the Freemasons , headed by Mazzini , Garibaldi , Crispi , and others . Cavour , who was a Mason—as was also Victor Emmauuel—was simply a tool of Mazzini , and was

" removed " as soon as he had served the ends of the Craft . Mazzini has declared in his letters that he only tolerated the Monarchy in order to prepare Italy for a Bepublic , and he declared to Crispi on one occasion that he was to be " tbe gravedigger of the House of Savoy . "

Enough has been said , however , to prove that Freemasonry imbued with Socinianism has been all through the bitter and implacable foe of Christianity . This has been acknowledged over and over again by the leaders of the Craft in public speeches , and it has been amply proved by their action

wherever it has been in power . The following statement of a recent convert from Masonry amply bears out what has been said : — " Declaration of Salutore Avventore Zola , ex-Grand Master , ex-Grand Hierophant , and ex-Sovereign Grand Commander , founder of the Masonic Order in Egypt and its dependencies . "

" I affirm that everything that Masonry pretends to be , it is not ; in all that is inserted of good in its laws and rituals there is not a single letter true . They are lies and nothing but shameless lies . Justice , humanity , philanthrophy , and charity do not exist , either in the temple of Masonry or

in the hearts of Masons . Truth does not exist in Freemasonry , and they do not know it . In the Masonic Order there reign as sovereigns , deception , fraud , and perfidy , disguised under the cloak of truth , to deceive honest men . "

" I affirm in truth , that Freemasonry is a religious institution , having for its object to destroy all religions , beginning with the Catholic religion , in . order to subsequently take their place , and to cause the human race to return to primitive times , that is to say , to paganism . "

In our next article we will examine the relations which exist between the different Orders of Freemasonry in England with those of the continent of Europe and America . ( To be continued . )

The Brethren of East and West Lancashire Provinces will be pleased to learn that Bro John Walton jun . P . M . Urmston Lodge is now located at the Angel Hotel , which is a prominent hostelry situate in the picturesque holiday town of Knutsford .