Masonic Sayings And Doings Abroad.

MASONIC SAYINGS AND DOINGS ABROAD .

ZONDOJT , SATURDAY , MARCS 17 , 1 S 66 .

BELGIUM . An imposing obituary ceremonial , in commemoration of Bro . Leopold of Saxe Coburg , late Bang of tlie Belgians . , was celebrated under tlie auspices of tlie Grand Orient of Belgium , on tlie 10 th of

February last . ' From a report published by tlie Monde Maconnifiie ive extract the following particulars : —

The hall of the Union et Progres Lodge , in Avhich the celebration took place , ivas filled ivith about 1 , 500 of the Craft , all Avearing the insignia of mourning . The Grand Master pro tern ., Bro . M . van Schoor , member of the Senate , presided ,

and was supported by the dignitaries of the Grand Orient and the Supreme Council of Belgium , and the W . M . 's of most . national lodges . The Grand Orients of France , Italy , and the Netherlands , the lodges of Paris and Marseilles , and the

Hoffiiung Lodge of Berne ( in ivhich King Leopold had first received the Masonic light ) , as well as several Sicilian and other lodges , were represented on this occasion , and their delegates were received ivith the usual ceremonies . Bro . Defre

( member of the House of Bepresentatives ) delivered the obituary oration . He alluded to the Masonic career of the late king , from his initiation in the Berne Lodge in 1813 . The proceedings Avere concluded by the performance of a cant-ate , composed expressly for this occasion by Bro . Hanssens , the musical director of the Theatre

Eoyal , m ivhich joined the chief male and female performers , as ivell as the choir of the theatre . The Bishop ¦ of Liege has issued a Lenten pastoral letter , in ivhich the compulsory passage on Freemasonry runs thus : —

The impious attacks and blasphemous negation to ¦ whicli the archfiend prompts the " pliilosophists " of our time , havo for their object chiefly the subversion of the divine institution of the Church , every doctrine based on faith , all positive religion , the whole of thc supernatural organisation , and consequentlthe divinity of Jesus Christthey aim at

y ; the morals founded on the eternal reason of . God , and manifested by the lights of conscience and revelation , at Providence , at the power of God on man and society , at the very existence of Divinity , i . e ., of a living and personal God . These aims are sometimes more or less boldly admitted , sometimes more or less cleverly concealedbut they are adhered to bthe various sects

; y of "philosophists" of the present clay , by some inloto , by others in part . Positivism , rationalism , pantheism , atheism , solidarism , free thought , independent morals , liberalism , and Freemasonry are some of the principal

designations by which those sects go nowadays . . „ . » Ample evidence of these objects is furnished by this doctrines laid down in books , by speeches delivered in lodges in this country and abroad , in liberal ancl " solidary" associations , in sacrilegioES ovations to those who died as apostates , the openly irreligious language of some of their journals , and the antiChristian tendencies of others

- , the teachings ia their schools , & c . AVhat more do you want to ct _ a = racterise these sects , and satisfy yourselves of the perversity of their views , and the danger and contamination that must arise to your faith and that of your families from the contact with these doctrines ? Hoivever faulty and insane the Anews of the

pious shepherd may appear , there is decidedly " method in his madness . " Freemasonry , resting upon and being thoroughly pervaded by the

genuine doctrines of the Christian religion , necessarily repudiates all connection with pantheists and atheists on the one hand , and Jesuits and popisfe zealots on the other ; but unfortunately a certain number of our continental and chiefly Francis

brethren , styling themselves positivists , on the principle of lucus a non lucendo , have of late years endeavoured to divest Freemasonry of the ivliole of its religious character , and thus undermine the very foundation stone of our edifice ,

They have not succeeded , and , it is to be Iiope 6 I ivill never succeed in their endeavours in this direction ; but one object they have certainly attained . They have furnished our commoE adversaries , the acolytes of Cardinal AnfconellL ,

with a poAverful handle and Aveapon , of which the latter avail themselves ivith incontestible ability . The French Masonic reformers have endorsed to

a certain extent the " religions" opinions of the Proudhons and Jourdains , and their organ , the Monde Maqonnicftte , has become the faithful auxiliary of the Siecle . They have only them- * selves to blame , if they are held up and pointed

afc as the enemies of Church and State ; and from his point of view , Bro . Favre , in commenting OE the above mandement , is quite right in telling Ms felloiv-positivists that " they need' be neither astonished nor indignant at the theories and accusations set forth in those pastoral letters . "

NETHERLANDS . From the Baulviltte Ave learn that the " Netherlands' General Fund for Widows and Orphans , " has entered the third year of its existence . At the last general meeting , an address was delivered by

the excellent Bro . Dr . L . Mulder . The council oi supervision is headed by Bro . J . van Lennep a Crown Advocate , of Amsterdam ; the Council of Management consists of Bro . Mulder , chairman $