The Pope's Allocution And The Principles Of Freemasonry.

See haA'e not had the success expected . The Masonic sect of AA'hich Ave speak has nofc been vanquished nor overthrown—on the contrary , it has so developed itself that in these troublous clays it exists everyAA'here Avith inqmnity , and carries an

audacious front . " And will " exist with impunity ' ' to the end of time . We will not return railing for railing , but point out a few of the beauties of the Order , by which alone will Freemasonry find an everlasting

status in the world ' s history . Many objections have been urged against Freemasonry , because it is a secret organisation , and these secrets have been so magnified by the marvellously disposed , that the superficial observer

has too readily entered judgment against us . The most exciting stories have gained publicity . Old women have denounced our Order as the very personification and embodiment of all that is horrible and grotesque ! The most fertile

imaginations have exhausted their resources in an effort to canvass the probable appearance of a Masonic lodge , especially during * the solemn scenes of an initiation , and heaven only knows the amount of sympathy the " poor deluded candidates" have

elicited for a happy deliverance from the hot poker ! If it were possible to collect together all the awfully sublime demonstrations of the phenomena of Nature , and present them suddenly to the view of the timid and the Aveak-minded , they

Avould come infinitely short , in point of magnitude , to the horrors of Masonic secrets ! Raise from the dead all the necromancers , soothsayers , wizards , witches , astrologers , and magicians of

old , and confine them in a single apartment , and the atmosphere of that place would not equal in terror the confines of a tyled lodge-room ! Secrecy in ail things , Avhere secrecy is maintained , is not only consistent with innocence , but

is imperatively enforced by necessity , as Avell as demanded by every consideration of policy . Masonry is universal in its character , and Masons are the true cosmopolites of the Avorld . Our Order is open to all AA'ho are " men upright ancl

true" Avith a "tongue of good report . " Wifch such , and such only , Ave desire an association . In all ages the just and the Avicked have- formed tAvo great antagonistic classes , and , unfortunately for the good of society , the latter have alAA'ays

predominated . The former have felt the necessity of union in order to preserve themselves , aud to perfect their lowly and beneficent ends . The history

of truth is a history of persecution . The avowal and practice of true religion have invariably been the signals for violence and abuse . Hence , Ave are not astonished at the many ancl protean objections against Masonry by the ignorant and the

bigoted . They reckon , however , Avithout their host , when they presume to sit in judgment ancl condemn a time-honoured institution , the principles of Avhich they neither understand nor practise . It is suspected that Ave are not a religious

society . In some senses of the phrase Ave are not . We certainly cannot be an offset or adjunct of any Christian sect ; nevertheless reli gion is recognised and revered by Masons . We see our

brothers at the communion table of every denomination of God ' s Avorshippers . The lessons provided in the lodge , for our edification and instruction , are chiefly drawn from the sacred volume . No man can be a deserving Mason who has not a

confirmed belief in God , and an abiding sense of his ominipresence and perfections . His hol y name is never mentioned by us but with the reverential awe which is due from the creature to the Creator . We are taught that He is the

proper Object of our enjoyment , and that to receive His favour Ave must obey His commands , and live in brotherly love with all mankind . If this be religion , then religion is the light of the lodge .

Says a distinguished writer on Masonry"There is not a holy tradition—there is not a sublime aphorism or moral precept—there is not a sacred character of which the poets have sung , or philosophers written , that does not breathe the

spirit of Masonry , and associate its principles with the worship of God and the glory which surrounds His everlasting throne . " But we seek not collision with the world made up of a thousand creeds . Our objects are feAV ,

ancl then * pursuit is quiet ancl secret . We meddle neither Avith 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 AA'orld by our improvement . Freemasonry is not merely a local institutionifc unites good men , of every nation and clime , by a bond of fellowship never to be broken . We recognise , and are recognised , by Masons

throughout the habitable globe , as friends and brothers ; and are bound to extend to each other a helping hand . Hence the necessity for the guards which are throAvn around admission into the lodge .