Freemasonry And The Pope.

a universal language , which is used as a test of brotherhood . This universal language ( universal to Masons ) is , under no circumstances , communicated to the world at large . The words and signs of it are secret ; for to communicate them would at once destroy their utility . And strange as it

may seem to tlie uninitiated , our society pz-ofesses to have no secrets beyond this . There is little , very little , in the lodge to gratify the eye of the inquisitive . We do not tempt them with offers to unfold some mighty mystery ; we can impart to them no superhuman wisdom- we possess not

, the elixir of life , iior the philosopher's stone , nor the spells of the Tarshun ; we cannot and clo not profess to be bound by any ties but such as are consistent with our duty towards ourselves and families , our nei ghbors , our country , and our God .

About the general nature of lodge transactions , every one here can know as much as any of its members ; but fear of any apprehension on this subject , we would briefly state that nowhere are order and decorum more strictly enforced than in our lodges : our business there is charity and brotherly communion , the admission of candidates , and the transaction of such other matters as

necessarily pertaizz to every association . ' Now , all this is of such a character , that it may with great propriety be kept to ourselves . We are brothers—members of a large family—met for the purpose of transacting our own business , with which the world has no concern ; and why should

the world be permitted to witness its disposition ? Does a needy brother receive assistance it is not for us to vaunt it ; and it might not be agreeable to him to proclaim his wants before strangers , or to have the fact of his being relieved published ; and it would certainl y be impolitic and

uncharitable , by publicity , to trammel the discussion of character ; and how could the announcement of the rejection of candidates for our confidence be otherwise than prejudicial to us , by exciting enmity and disaffection in the world . We seek not collision with the world , made up of a thousand creeds ; our objects are few , and their pursuit is quiet and secret ; and we have , as Masons , zzaught in common with the mass of mankind . We do

not meddle with politics , nor the extension of a creed by proselytism ; we seek only to cultivate the social virtues among ourselves , to benefit each other by deeds of love , and indirectly to benefit the ivm-ld hy our own improvement . The Dcbdts , after analysing this document ,

says : — " We ask ourselves , indeed , what can be the meaning of this phantasmagoria ; and whether this thunder peal launched into empty space will not , like the encyclical , havo for its only result greatly to sadden the sincerest friends of the papacy . "

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_ HAPPINESS grows at our own firesides , and is not to he ieked in strangers' gardens .

The German Masons And The Pope's Allocution.

THE GERMAN MASONS AND THE POPE'S ALLOCUTION .

In our last number we reproduced the opinion of French and Italian Lodges with z-eference to the egregrious blunder committed- by his Holiness in his attack upon the Craft . We have now before us some documents published by the

Leipzig Freimaurer Zeitung , relative to this puerile effusion . The circular addressed by the Heidelberg Lodge , Bupprccht au den fiinf Boson to her sister lodges is so much to the point , and wzitten in such forcible language that we make no apology for hez-e reproducing it in its entirety . The document runs thus : —

"Venerable and beloved brethren , —Doubtless you have all taken cognizance of the allocution addressed , on the 25 th September , by liis Holiness Pope Pius IX ., to the cardinals assembled in Rome . You know that in this address our institution is condemned , and our Catholic brethren threatened with the excommunication of the

Church . This is not the first time , that a Roman Catholic pontiff has launched his thunderbolts against our ancient Order . Clement XII . did so on the 28 th April 1738 , and Benedict XIV , confirmed and amplified the fiat of his predecessors

in his bull of the 18 th March , 1517 . Pius VII . and Leo XII . have done likewise , and with the same want of success as deplored by the present Pope . " These decrees of the see of Rome have no similarity with the findings of our courts of law .

They originate in secret denigrations ( anschwcermn-gen ) of which no notice is given to the accused . There is no public prosecution , and no opportunity afforded for defence , either public or private . All guarantees for impartial jurisdiction and an

unbiassed judgment az * e wanting . Suspicion stands for evidence , the guilt of the accused z'ests on conjecture , he is convicted without a hearing . Is it a matter of wonder , then , if public opinion has no confidence in such decrees , and utterly depreciates them ?

The Masonic bi'otherhood is an association of freemen , subject to the laws of the state in which they are located , but not to any clerical authority , it being no clerical institution , and adhering to no church as such . For our confederation the Papal

excommunication is therefore devoid of all binding power ; but since the head of the Catholic Church cozzdemns us uzzheard , we mil , in our turn , hear and examine the motives on which he grounds his opinion .