Masonic Persecution.

MASONIC PERSECUTION .

Compiled from various Authors , by W . H . Kingsbury .

IN Spain , the Pope , so early as 1737 , fulminated a furious decree against the Order ; in which confiscation and death were denounced against all Freemasons . A few years later King Phillip V . sentenced several Masons to the galleys for life , and some he punished with tortures in the prisons of the Inquisition , and

death by burning . In Portugal Freemasonry has also been scourged by religious intolerance , and the prisons of the Inquisition re-echoed with the groans of those worthy men who were guilty of no crime but the practice of brotherly love . Italy was unfavourable to the spread of the liberal arts practised in connection with Freemasonry . In 1751 it was prohibited at

Naples by Charles III . of Spain ; and members of the Craft were subjected to every kind of persecution through the intolerance of a pontifical church . The civil power was always at hand , ready to give effect to the fulminations of the priests , which was an unfortunate coalition for the unhappy Mason who was subjected to their authority . Venice had a Lodge of Masons , but it was

abolished by the transportation of its members . The Pope , as the head of the Universal Church , imagines himself possessed of the power of Jesus Christ to open and shut the gates of Heaven . He is the person who forgives sins , and , by his dispensations , makes that lawful which the Scriptures pronounce unlawful . He draws out of his Treasury indulgences to pardon , and enliven

those who are dead in trespasses and sins . On the payment of certain sums of money he restores those who have been degraded ; and pronounces excommunication against heretics , rebels , and transgressors . Pope Pius IX . was initiated into the mysteries of the Masonic fraternity when young , but when Pope he was advised to promulgate an Allocution ex-cathedra from the " Secret

Consistory" of Rome ( 25 th September 1865 ) , in which he pronounces " Freemasonry as monstrous , impious , and criminal —full of snares and frauds , a dark Society ; the enemy of the Church and God , and dangerous to the security of kingdoms , & c . " He might easily have imitated his illustrious predecessor , Boniface IV ., who issued that liberal diploma to the operative

Masons a thousand years before , but when Pius IX . grew old his courage failed him , and he tried to scold the companions of his youth . If the cowans of those days had possessed the advantage of hearing Masonic addresses , from the highest quarter of honour and intelligence , which happily distinguish our own times , they would surely have displayed less hostility to the Institution , ana entertained a higher opinion of its virtues .

H . R . H . the Duke of Sussex , the late Grand Master , on the occasion of presenting a Masonic jewel to the Earl of Moira , thus describes ic : —

Masonry is one of the most sublime institutions that ever was formed for the advancement of happiness and general good to mankind , creating in all its varieties universal benevolence and brotherly love . It holds out allurements so captivating as to inspire the fraternity with emulation to deeds of glory , such as must command throughout the world veneration and applause , and such as must entitle those who perform them to dignity and respect . It teaches us those useful , wise , and instructive doctrines upon

which alone true happiness is founded , and at the same time affords those easy paths by which we attain the rewards of virtue ; it teaches us the duties which we owe to our neighbour , never to injure him in any one situation , but to conduct ourselves with justice and impartiality ; it bids us not to divulge the mysteries to the public , and it orders us to be true to our trust , to be above ail meanness and dissimulation , and in all our avocations to perform religiously that which we ought to do .

In France , Masonry flourished abundantly in 1743 , and we find an exalted Mason of that country speaking thus at the initiation of his son : — I congratulate you on your admission into the most antient , and perhaps the most respectable , society in the universe . To you the mysteries of Masonry are about to be revealed , and so bright a sun never shed its lustre on your eyes . Pictures will be opened to your viewwherein true patriotism

, is exemplified in glowing colour and a series of transactions recorded , which the rude hand of time can never erase . Should your conduct in life correspond with the principles of Masonry , my remaining years will pass away with pleasure and satisfaction . For this purpose recall to memory the ceremony of your initiation ; learn to bridle your tongue , and to govern your passions , and ere long you will have occasion to say , " In becoming a Mason I truly became a man , and while I breathe I will never disgrace a jewel that kings might prize . "

Intolerance is confined to no country or climate . An instance of gross inhumanity occurred in Gibraltar in 1840 , and the honourable manner in which it was met by the Rev . Dr . Barrow the Past Grand Master is related in an address to him at the presentation of a Masonic offering by the Fraternity . A poor but respectable Roman Catholic was refused christian burial , because he was a Freemason , and his corpse was expelled from

the Roman Catholic Church as a contamination . The Past Grand Master hearing of this , offered to perform for him those sacred offices which had been refused by the clergy of his own Communion , which were of course accepted , and raised equally in the opinion of all impartial persons the character of Masonry as an institution of brotherly love , and of the Protestant Church as an example of toleration and humanity .

Masonic Persecution.

H . R . H . the late Duke of Sussex says : — By toleration is meant conformity , safety , and protection granted by the State to every sect that does not maintain doctrines inconsistent with the public peace , the rights of the Sovereign , and the safety of our neighbours . What right have out opponents to expect au honest man to break his word ? Every person ' s secrets are a sacred deposit—they rest between him and his God ,

and no one , but least of all a professor of religion , has authority to demand a revelation of those secrets , because it would involve a breach of faith , a renunciation of principle , and a stain on the veracity and honour of a man . That there are bad as well as good men who belong to our institution has never been denied . But this assertion may be made with equal truth of every association of men that ever existed . When it can be said of all who

profess to be disciples of religion that they are pious , honest , and benevolent , it will then be time to accuse Masonry of the delinquencies of Masons . But when our institution is attacked as being in its design hostile to the peace and order of society , it is but reasonable that we should be heard in our defence against so unjust a reproach . Look upon those men who have patronised Masonry , and say whether they have been inimical to the public

happiness . We are all equal by our creation , but much more so by the strength of our obligation . We meet on the level , and part on the square . I conceive no valid reason why Masonry should be fettered by any sectarian or local feeling whatever . Begard it as you will , it is , under any aspect , a most benignant and elevated conception ; everywhere busy erecting schools , infirmaries , and asylums for the destitute , the unfortunate , and the

oppressed , hushing the sob of the . fatherless little one , and causing the widow ' s heart to sing for joy . It is abroad upon its errand of benevolence in every country , climate , and kingdom under heaven , wherever charity can he exercised—wherever suffering can he alleviatedwherever good can be done . It is around us and about us in every whisper of mercy , in every monument of love . The Freemason desires

to make but one great family of the whole human race under the Great Architect of the Universe , the Almighty Creator , and to induce mankind , on moral consideration , to regard and trust each other as Brothers . In the moral sense of the term must be understood this equality , that among Masons there are no strangers , and a Mason is everywhere at home , whatever may be the race to which he belongs , or the land in which he is born . Men of

sense and discrimination usually endeavour to induce others to embrace their opinions by persuasion—bigots by persecution . Christ established his gospel by mildness—Mahomet by the sword . The persecutions of the early Popes were carried on by the agency of ignorant zealots . Pope Innocent III perceived in the Dominican and Franciscan Friars all the qualities necessary for carrying on his persecution schemes . They appear to have been descended from the

dregs of the people ; they were severe and inflexible , and entirely devoted to the interests of the court of Borne . The Pope having secured their services , sought for every opportunity to increase their authority , and at length the Inquisition was established , where they were to sit and hear and pronounce sentence against reputed heretics , as judges delegated by him , and representing his person . It appears that , except in danger of death , a confessor has

not the power to absolve a penitent who is a Freemason , without special permission from the Pope . A . confessor can absolve a penitent guilty of usury , adultery , murder , or any other crime , however heinous , provide he be contrite ; but , if guilty of a breach of discipline by becoming a Freemason , from Borne only can absolution come . The inference deducable therefore being that a breach of human discipline is an offence more aggravating than

an actual violation of the commands of the Decalogue , and to disobey your fellow man is more criminal than to trample on the laws of the Deity . In the present day we are looked upon with a considerable degree of shyness by the Bomish Church , and , indeed , are openly denounced by its clergy as an unchristian body ; while in olden times the fraternity was chiefly composed of Boman Catholics , and it is to them we are indebted for those specimens of

antient architecture now remaining , the principle of which style of building was confined to themselves , and formed one of the great secrets preserved among Masons , the knowledge of which Sir Christopher Wren acknowledged to have been lost even in his day . That peculiar style of ecclesiastical architecture , the knowledge of which was formerly confined to our antient

Brethren , contained a secret reference to the doctrine of the Cross , and the mystery of the Trinity ; and yet , strange to say , we , who , as an Order , are descended from those antient Brethren , are now denounced as anti-Christian , and our system as unholy , though we contend that it is founded on the purest principles of piety and virtue .

Nothing can show the absurd pretences which were resorted to for persecution more than the following anecdote , taken from the Freemason ' s Lexicon : —

Aix la Chapelle is remarkable for a persecution of the Freemasons in 1779 . A Dominican Monk named Ludwing Greinemann , a lecturer of theology , endeavoured to prove , by a course of sermons preached during Lent , that the Jews who crucified our Saviour were Freemasons ; that Pilate and Herod were the Wardens of a Mason's Lodge ; that Judas , before he betrayed his Master , was initiated in the synagogue , and that when he returned the thirty pieces of silver he did no more than pay the fees for initiation into the

Order . The magistrates , to quiet the commotion raised among the people by these discourses , published a decree which provided that " if anyone shall offer a refuge in his house to the Freemasons , or allow them to assemble there , he shall be punished for the first offence with a fine of 100 florins ( equal to £ 8 4 s 7 d of our English money ) ; for the second offence , 200 florins ( £ 16 9 s 2 d ) ; and for the third offence with perpetual banishment from the city and its territories .

The very foundation principle of Masonry is the exclusion of religion and politics ; because the Lodges ought to admit men of all religious and political opinions . To exclude them would be a species of intolerance as bad as that which prompted the Papal persecutions of the Order . It is equally inconsistent with the tenets of our profession , and at variance with the Antient

Landmarks of the Order , which all unite to conciliate true friendship amongst the members of the Masonic family , and to embrace men of every country , sect , and opinion , who have been initiated into the mysteries . The innocent cause of all the persecution and reproaches Masons have suffered by , is secrecy , . and that is one of its noblest qualifications .

It is recorded in the " Freemason ' s Quarterly Review , " 1839 , that during the rebellion in Ireland , it will be recollected the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended , and many scenes of violence occurred . One of the means employed to extract information from their prisoners , was by flogging . A Freemason of good