Freemasonry Considered In Its Relation To Society.

Widelydiffused , and increasingly popular , Freemasonry , has ncA'ertheless , in all quarters of the globe experienced persecutions ; and judging of the future by the past , will be again persecuted and proscribed should opportunity offer . Fortunately at

present , maledictions can only be hurled at it , and excommunication threatened against the society , and all AVIIO belong to it . Of late years the Church of Rome has been the most strenuous opponent of Freemasonry . Year after year she has hurled

her anathemas against it . It has been pronounced a Avicked soeiet }' , and objects the most truculent have been ascribed to ib . So bad indeed is it represented to be that it is 2 'laced in the same category with associations of a character

avowedlrey volutionary , and of all others it is held to be the Avorst . Its wickedness is considered so heinous , that to be a Freemason is ipso facto to be excommunicated . The folloAving instances will SIIOAV with what pertinacity Freemasonry has been

denounced and belied . In 1758 , Pope Clement XII . fulminated a bull against the order , in Avhich after enumerating all its supposed bad qualities , he commands all

Bishops to inflict on Masons " the penalties which they deserved as people greatly suspected of heresy , having recourse if necessary to the secular power . " Following this , the succeeding year , there Avas an edict issued forbidding Masons to

assemble under pain of death and confiscation of goods . Benedict XIV . renewed this bull in 1751 . But Pope Pius IX . does not , like Clement , simply suspect , he boldly asserts that Freemasonry is heretical . In the year 1865 . in one of his istleshe

ep , describes Freemasonry as " monstrous , impious , and criminal , full of snares and frauds , a dark society , the enemy of the Church and of God , and dangerous to the security of kingdoms , inflamed Avith a burning hatred against reliion and

legitig mate authority , desirous ot overthrowing all ri ghts , human and divine ; " and in the same document the Pope declares all to have incurred the excommunication Latae Sententia reserved to-the Roman Pontiffs "who joined the sect of the Freemasons or

the Carbonari , or other sect of the same kind , which plot openly or secretly against the Church or the laAvful powers , and moreover , those persons who SIIOAV any favour whatsoever to the same sects , or those AVIIO

Freemasonry Considered In Its Relation To Society.

do not denounce the secret ringleaders and chiefs thereof , so long as they shall not have renounced them . " Freemasons are certainly indebted to the benevolent old man for his pious Avishes ! But there is some comfort in the reflection , it takes a

long time for any of these paper-thunderbolts to take effect . In " Olmsted ' s Mechanism of the Heavens , " the following story is told— "In the year 1456 , a comet is stated to have appeared of an unheardof magnitude . It Avas accompanied by a tail of extraordinary length , Avhich extended over 60 ° ( a third part ) of the heavens , and

continued to be seen during the Avhole month of June . It . vas considered as the celestial indication of the rapid success of Mahommed II ., who had taken Constantinople , and struck terror into the Avhole Christian world . Pope Calixtns II . levelled the thunders of the Church against

the enemises of his faith , terrestrial and celestial , and in the same bull excommunicated the Turks ancl the comet ! " As the same comet ( Halley ' s ) has made several appearances since , still bearing its tail , it is to be presumed the excommunication

has not yet taken effect I Freemasons may take comfort and breathe freely again ? ( To be continued . )

A Serious Talk.

A SERIOUS TALK .

A \ M . ROUNSEVILLE . Bro . A . —Good evening , Bro . Leming . Pro . L . —Good evening , Bro . Aikin . A , —I have called to have a serious talk AA'ith you . L . —I am always glad to see you . What

is the particular subject upon Avhich you Avish to have a serious talk ? A , —I hear you have joined the Masons . L . —Yes , I have become a Mason . A . —I Avonder at it . L . —Why so , pray ?

A . —Because there is no Saviour in Masonry . It ignores Jesus . It overlooks the Sa-viour ' s atoning blood . It neglects the cross . L . —By all which you mean that Masonry is irreligiousor at least

anti-, Christian . A . —I mean that it rejects Christ and all the doctrines connected Avith his mission into the Avorld to save sinners .