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s^^^^^^^a TO TOgWWWWflg^ SATURDAY , 23 RD NOVEMBER 1889 .

What A Californian Thirty-Thirder Said About Papal Assumption.

WHAT A CALIFORNIAN THIRTY-THIRDER SAID ABOUT PAPAL ASSUMPTION .

BY BROTHER JACOB NORTON . WITH all duo respect to tho Pope , it cannot be denied that the Popes have always been moro inveterate

" ancient landmark sticklers , " than tho most orthodox Masonic luminaries were ; and , like our American Christian Masons , tho Popes always had a one-sided golden rule unto

themselves . Tho Pope says , " You must do unto me as you wish that I should do unto you , but I may do unto you what I would not that you should do unto me . You must

not persecute mo or mine for conscience sake , but I may persecute you aud yours for conscience sake . I maj' erect statues in honour of those who died for my opinion , but you must not erect a statue in honour of one who died for your opinion . And theso notions are defended because

thoy havo become ancient landmarks . By hook or crook the Popes onco obtained power to tyrannize over the Romans , and they claim the right to tyrannize over the Romans for ever . In 1738 a Pope condemned Freemasonry as a great sin , and almost every Pope since then has

repeated the same nonsense . This , however , not only did not injure Masonry , but it actually served to swell its ranks , for those Catholics who were initiated into Masonry before tho Popo issued his first anti-Masonic Bull , mnst

have become convinced that the Pope ivas not infallible . Others who were born in the Roman Catholic faith , but for some reason became sceptical , rushed into Masonry to

learn what it was all about ; and Protestants rushed into it because tho Popo condemned ifc . The Pope ' s Bull against Masonry may therefore be put down as a Papal blunder .

Again , tho present generation of Italians have ceased to believe in the Pope ' s one-sided golden rule , and havo therefore erected a statue in honour of Giordano Bruno , who was burned by the Holy Inqtr ' sition in A . D . 1 G 00 . Thereupon His Holiness assumed a ludicrous air of offended

dignity , issued a protest against it , aud ordered the Catholic dignitaries the world over to have ifc read in every Church in Galholicdom , Now , in every organisation , whether it is Masonic , or political , or ecclesiastical , those

who aspire to a high position must ingratiate themselves into tho leader ' s graces by praising up with all their might the leader ' s policy . Yes , right or wrong , they must say it is right . Hence our American Catholic

Churchmen , in their deliverances on the Bruno question , actually outpoped the Popo himself , for besides denouncing the Romans for the gross insult given to the Church in

condemning its actions of byegone days , they added a bitter dose to the Freemasons . Now , if Bruno had been a Mason , there would havo been some reason for mixing up Masonry with Bruno ' s sins . Bnt as Bruno was not a Mason it was

simply absurd to lug Masonry into connection with Bruno ' s sins . Again , a priest attached to the mission of San Jose , in California , has evidently been on the look out for

something that would give him a chance to ingratiate himself into favour with his superior . The authorities of Pleasanton happened to invite a Masonic Lodge to perform a little harmless Masonic flummery in laying the coraor-sf-ono of a

school house . Thereupon onr priest of San Jose went , to work nnrl made a grer . t splurge about it ia UIQ

newspapers ; he considered it a gross insult to his Church for the town p . nthcrities to honour Masons , whom ail the Popes in 17- > 8 hated ancl detested . This , however , provoked the Mosfc Puissant Thrice Illustrious Bro . Edwin

A . Sherman 33 , and at the celebration of St . John the Baptist ' s Day by tho Gothscmane Chapter of Rose Croix , Scotch Rite , our valiant champion armed himself , figura-

What A Californian Thirty-Thirder Said About Papal Assumption.

tively speaking , cap-a-pie , and with a battle nxo in ono hand and a sledge hammer in the other , ho struck away right and left against the Papal assumption and presumption , aud the following paragraph from tho pamphlet wherein tho oration wai printed will show how highly

Bro . Sherman ' s efforts woro appreciated by all the Masonic high luminaries who heard him . It says : — " Although tho address occupied an hour mad a quarter in delivery , yefc ifc was listened to with interest and wrapt attention to its close .

Its telling points aud deductions met with frequent and hearty applause , and on motion of Bro . James B . Merritt 33 ° , it was unanimously ordered to be printed , and a collection was taken up fco aid in tho payment of fcho same . " The orator confined himself chiefly to two subjects ,

namely , the wickedness of the Papacy and the history of Masonry , to which I may add the virtues of Masons and Masonry were not forgotten . Thus , according to the orator ' s notions , there was no such thing as Jesuitism in Masonry—no lying , no deceiving , no breaking of solemn

promises ; in short Masons are models of perfection , , while , on the other hand , Popery is as bad as anything could be ; it seeks to enslave us , it is an enemy to education and enlightenment , it was the assassin of hundreds of thousands when it had fche power to do so with impunity . The assassination of Henrv III . ancl of Henrv IV . of France , of William

of Orange , the repeated efforts made to assassinate Queen Elizabeth , the massacre on St . Bartholomew ' s Day , the attempt made to blow up the Houses of Parliament by Guy Fawkes , the Horrors of the Holy Inquisition , & c , & c ,

aro given . But the most startling charge against the Jesuits I found on page 15 . This is as follows : —

" Foiled afc last in their schemes ia that direction , the hour appointed for his assassination comes , and fche Jesuit conspirators , with their instruments , murder Abraham Lincoln , the martyr President of these United States , whose death by them had beeu decreed nearly ten years before . The Jesuit Archbishop Bonrgefc , of

Montreal , with other Jesuit priests , Seo Pierre and Boucher , are accessories to fcho crime . More cunning and adroit in their next ; acfc of foul assassination in covering their tracks , and James A .

Garfield , our brother and President of the United States , is added fco their bloody trophies of murder and death , because certain appointments would not be made by him to suit them . Will nofc our people open their eyes and see ?"

Now , as we must take it for granted that Masons never invented lying history , but have always been strictly truthful , as Masons we are therefore bound to believe what a Mason says , especially so ono who received the very

highest light iu Masonry—an actual thirty-thirder of the Scotch Rite . But as we have to enlighten Catholics , Bro . Sherman ought ; to havo furnished , in foot notes , or otherwise , the names of tho books , chapter and verse , whero his authorities can be found .

Tho two subjects treated in Bro . Sherman's Oration are , as it wore , sandwiched from beginning to end , that is , a thick slice of the sins of Popery is followed by a thin slice of Masonic history . I shall , however , omit as much

as possible allusions to Popery , and confine myself to specimens of Masouic history . Well , after a few hard blows with tho sledge hammer , comparing the Vatican to " a venomous old rattle snake whose teeth are gone , " he goes on thus : —

" But let us go back to tho beginning of the very fountain head , and briefly trace the history of this antagonism from its commencement . ^ , " While Freemasonry was purely operative ancl confiuod itself to tho erection of Cbnrcb . es , . , ¦ palaces , . . . and fortifications , . . . ifc received fcho encouragement , support , and patronage of

Popes and Emporors , and Kings who acknowledged tho supremacy of fche papal authority ; bufc when scholars and philosophers began thoir investigations ancl researches in tbe realm of science and philosophy , penetrating deeply into the arcana of fcho hidden mysteries of natnro and the universe , and brought forth the grandest discoveries of tbo

age in which thoy lived , thafc thoy too might travel in foreign countries liko fche Wise Mon of old . . . . they , united wifch tho guilds of operative Masonry , were received and accepted as brethren , and the moral and philosophical tenets and principles of onr Order were ensvaffced iu the constitution of the Graft .

All which doubtless charmed Bi'o . Sherman s listeners , who , of course , believed every word , for he went on fco show that the Masons began to claim the right to investigate for themselves about science and . what not , and then goes on to say : —

" Thin by our enoirriA ; irr , and aiway ; - and boon , rorjavded •..-. a rank heresy , and under this pretext of iioi . ' . ay the cnpidliy , avarice , envy And hatred in tha cru ' y part of the llth couUivy lu ' . varcis our ancient ; brethren cf tin ; Knight ;; Templard , v / ho wero deceived , entrapped aud

betrayed , their Grand Ma-3 fc < er Da Molay , with thousands of others , were burned at tho stake , " & c . "Tho Bible , as bee- -, a chained prisoner in all mi , r ! , stories and roiigioiu houses ! in IrJurupe , but low , besides the monks , woro permitted ; o ... , read it . Anions' tho Templars were found a few who