Rome And Freemasonry.

ROME AND FREEMASONRY .

ALL Catholics know how severely the Holy See has condemned Masonry , the world over . Not once only , but again and again , has Pope after Pope fulminated his excommunications against the sect . If there be at this hour any

Catholics who doubt the wisdom of the Supreme Pontiffs ' policy , we commend to their attention a significant article in the current number of the " Fortnightly Review , " from the pen of Mr . Richard Davey . Under the title " A Few More French Facts " the writer has gathered together a fund of

information of especial importance at the present moment , when Freemasonry is in so many lands carrying on a vigorous crusade against the Church and the religious Orders now expatriated from France . Who has not wondered at the phenomenon of the resistance displayed to the exiled monks

and nuns by populations professedly Catholic ? Let hiim read Mr . Davey ' s article , and his wonder will cease . For he will see there what manner of men these Continental Masons are . We say Continental Masons ; for , though other Masons come under the Papal ban , they are neither as anti-Catholic

nor as God-hating as the members of the Continental Lodges . Indeed , so disgusted have English and American Masons been by the atheistic propaganda of their foreign , Brethren that , according to Mr . Davey , since 1888 no communication has been held between them and Continental , for which may be read all Latin , Lodges .

The propagandism of Masonry does not stop at merely pulling the wires which make the political marionettes dance in time with the Central Council ' s wishes . That it effects a great deal of such harmonious dancing is undeniable , and

Mr . Davey gives numerous instances . But it alsoi invades the privacy of homes and hunts out people g-uilty of religious practices with all the zeal and fanaticism of a sixteenth century pursuivant .

Much that follows in Mr . Davey ' s article is of a character so blasphemous that we do not soil cur pages with it ; intelligent Catholics who wish to understand the foul machinations of Masonry may with advantage peruse it for themselves .

Plow is it that a small band of determined Masons can so domineer over a population of close on forty millions , the vast majority of whom are baptised Catholics ? This is a question which the faithful on our side of the Channel are always asking themselves , but to which no adequate answer is ever forthcoming .

« * * * The Bishops' difficulty is the Masons' opportivnity , and with foes so blasphemously atheistical and anti-Christian as

Mr . Davey shows them to . be , the bishops and priests of France may claim the consideration and the prayerful sympathy and support of their co-religionists in freer if less Catholic lands . — " Catholic Times . "

The Brethren of the Loyal Berkshire Lodge of Hope , Newbury , have elected theiir Senior Warden Bra . Stickland as Worshipful Master for the ensuing year . Bro . Stickland was formerly borough surveyor in the town , and at the present time holds a similar position at Windsor .

********** Bro . Pitt-Lewis , K . C ., who takes considerable interest in the work of Freemasonry , and is the author of many legal

works , including " County Court Practice , " has just attained the fifty-sixth year of his age . He is a well known Devonian , and for seven years represented Barnstaple in Parliament , and made a host of friends in the division .

********** Quite a novel development of Freemasonry , which will no doubt become common in the course of time , has been made by the Commercial Travellers' Lodge , No . 2795 ( Bro . H . O . Budd W . M . ) , whose Officers gave a party to the

children of the Brethren and their friends on Saturday , in the Victoria ITall of the Hotel Cecil . " Ladies' nights " in Masonic circles have come much in vogue of late , but this is probably the first time that children have been permitted

to participate in the lighter side of the great and mystic Order . The room was crowded to its utmost capacity , and the youngsters enjoyed themselves immensely . After tea and other refreshments an entertainment was given , which

Rome And Freemasonry.

included Punch and Judy show , conjuring , living marionettes , ventriloquism , and comical clowns . A successful and enjoyable meeting was concluded at eight o ' clock with the hearty thanks of the audience to the Lodge . — - " Daily Telegraph . " [ Our contemporary may be right in noting this

meeting as a novel development so far as London is concerned , but it hardly deserves such a distinction if we include the Provinces , where many similar gatherings have been held , and greatly appreciated by the rising generation of the

Craft . We should certainly like—as we expect wiill be the case—to see the idea widely extended . As Masons we not only strive to be happy ourselves , but endeavour to communicate happiness to others , and that being so why should we neglect the Juveniles?—Ed . F . C . ]

MMtjt-u ..... ... tr TC * PWT ^^ WT ¥ W ^ TWW I he humblest Mason in the ranks may be truer and more worthy than he who has won the highest honours that the Fraternity can confer . Purity of heart and purpose outweigh the highest rank and most exalted station . — " Keystone . "

********** The church would never complain of the competition of the Lodge room if she were to realise that Christ meant her toi be large enough to have room for the lost , the forsaken , the despairing and the fallen ; for the poor man , for the

man whose battles for the daily bread deprive him of the opportunity of wearing a Sunday suit of clothes ; for the individual who can be good only part of the time ; and for all sorts and conditions of men , with all sorts of opinions and all shades of thought . And , on the other hand , the

Lodge would never complain of the indifference of the church if it really loved the Lord with all its heart , its soul and its strength ; if it appreciated the beauty of holiness ; if it saw in the church , despite its imperfections , the Body of

Him who is the Friend , Companion , and Brother of all . May God help both the church members and the Lodge members to see their duty aright and to live together in Brotherly love , unity , peace , and co-operation . —Rev . F . W . Bope , Zanesville , O .

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