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Article FATHER FOY ON SECRET SOCIETIES. Page 1 of 8 →
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Father Foy On Secret Societies.
FATHER FOY ON SECRET SOCIETIES .
WE publish this extraordinary harangue of a Roman Catholic Preacher in a church " on the steps of the altar . " Let us note it , because we think that Freemasons should know what it is that our accusers are really not ashamed to say of our inoffensive and beneficent order .
"Secret Societies : their base plots against God aud man , " was the subject of an eloquent and powerful address , delivered in the Church of St . Thomas of Canterbury , Hastings , by the Rev . Father Foy , on Tuesday evening , October 10 th , in the presence of a numerous and interested audience . The
proceedings having been opened with a short service , the Rev . gentleman proceeded to the altar steps , from whence he delivered his address , which was extemporaneous . It was , lie said , a matter of notoriety , not only in this country , but
throughout the world , that a great statesman , whose words must be allowed to have considerable weight in the world , had uttered things about secret societies full of portentous and deep meaning ; and when a man like that spoke on such a subject he was not to be put aside . He was not arguing now in a political sense , as he had not come here to speak politics , nor
about the Turkish atrocities any more than he should about the barbarities the Russians had been enacting for 100 years against the Poles , numbering 16 , 000 , 000 people ; but he was dealing with the question of secret societies . There was another preparatory remark which he also wished
to make . He was aware that in this country there were various estimable , high-minded , noble persons who belonged to societies which were secret , and who belonged to them as they looked on them more as a pastime , and who did not for a
moment suppose that there was in them any of the execrable nature that belonged to various societies found in other parts of the world . If he said anything about such things , it was not in condemnation of certain estimable persons in England , because he knew of such persons that they would sooner have their hands cut off than do anything ignoble . There had been
persons , however , who had made enquiries respecting these secret societies , and amongst others no less a personage than tlie Marquis of Ripon , a Grand Master took the matter in hand . After having prosecuted his enquiry , the noble Marquis wrote a letter to say that he had resi gned
the Grand Mastership of the Society , and had entered the Catholic Church . He could not be a member of a secret society and of the Catholic Church at the same time , but that was not all . At one time he thought the judgment and
condemnation of secret societies by the various Popes as unjust , and he therefore proceeded himself to read up all the authors he could come across to show that this had been unfair and unjust towards these societies . The course of reading , however , brought
him to the opposite conclusion from which he started , and he found the position of secret societies untenable , aud the accusations made against them by the Popes perfectly justifiable . He therefore made up his mind to leave them , and to take a further step , and that was to join the Church in Communion with the Holy See . Now , this evening he should have to
divide his subject into three parts , and speak firstly of these societies from a period of several hundred years back , till the period of starting of Illuminism in 1748 . The second period would be from 1748 until these societies arrived at the climax of their horrors in the French revolution ,
whilst thirdly he should treat of these societies from the period of the French revolution , up till the present time . He would suppose a general proposition for this purpose . No one could deny that there were such things as secret societies .
The words of a distinguished man like the Prime Minister of this country could not be ignored . Lord Beaconsfield had spoken of secret societies which had power through their agents to declare war against any state , and not only to bring about war ,
but assassinations and general massacres . First , then , it was clear to the world that there were secret societies , and secondly ; that these societies aimed completely a ' insulting God , to throw Him down from the throne on which He was adored , aad they also plotted against man and his future welfare . With reference to the first period there was a great uncertainty
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Father Foy On Secret Societies.
FATHER FOY ON SECRET SOCIETIES .
WE publish this extraordinary harangue of a Roman Catholic Preacher in a church " on the steps of the altar . " Let us note it , because we think that Freemasons should know what it is that our accusers are really not ashamed to say of our inoffensive and beneficent order .
"Secret Societies : their base plots against God aud man , " was the subject of an eloquent and powerful address , delivered in the Church of St . Thomas of Canterbury , Hastings , by the Rev . Father Foy , on Tuesday evening , October 10 th , in the presence of a numerous and interested audience . The
proceedings having been opened with a short service , the Rev . gentleman proceeded to the altar steps , from whence he delivered his address , which was extemporaneous . It was , lie said , a matter of notoriety , not only in this country , but
throughout the world , that a great statesman , whose words must be allowed to have considerable weight in the world , had uttered things about secret societies full of portentous and deep meaning ; and when a man like that spoke on such a subject he was not to be put aside . He was not arguing now in a political sense , as he had not come here to speak politics , nor
about the Turkish atrocities any more than he should about the barbarities the Russians had been enacting for 100 years against the Poles , numbering 16 , 000 , 000 people ; but he was dealing with the question of secret societies . There was another preparatory remark which he also wished
to make . He was aware that in this country there were various estimable , high-minded , noble persons who belonged to societies which were secret , and who belonged to them as they looked on them more as a pastime , and who did not for a
moment suppose that there was in them any of the execrable nature that belonged to various societies found in other parts of the world . If he said anything about such things , it was not in condemnation of certain estimable persons in England , because he knew of such persons that they would sooner have their hands cut off than do anything ignoble . There had been
persons , however , who had made enquiries respecting these secret societies , and amongst others no less a personage than tlie Marquis of Ripon , a Grand Master took the matter in hand . After having prosecuted his enquiry , the noble Marquis wrote a letter to say that he had resi gned
the Grand Mastership of the Society , and had entered the Catholic Church . He could not be a member of a secret society and of the Catholic Church at the same time , but that was not all . At one time he thought the judgment and
condemnation of secret societies by the various Popes as unjust , and he therefore proceeded himself to read up all the authors he could come across to show that this had been unfair and unjust towards these societies . The course of reading , however , brought
him to the opposite conclusion from which he started , and he found the position of secret societies untenable , aud the accusations made against them by the Popes perfectly justifiable . He therefore made up his mind to leave them , and to take a further step , and that was to join the Church in Communion with the Holy See . Now , this evening he should have to
divide his subject into three parts , and speak firstly of these societies from a period of several hundred years back , till the period of starting of Illuminism in 1748 . The second period would be from 1748 until these societies arrived at the climax of their horrors in the French revolution ,
whilst thirdly he should treat of these societies from the period of the French revolution , up till the present time . He would suppose a general proposition for this purpose . No one could deny that there were such things as secret societies .
The words of a distinguished man like the Prime Minister of this country could not be ignored . Lord Beaconsfield had spoken of secret societies which had power through their agents to declare war against any state , and not only to bring about war ,
but assassinations and general massacres . First , then , it was clear to the world that there were secret societies , and secondly ; that these societies aimed completely a ' insulting God , to throw Him down from the throne on which He was adored , aad they also plotted against man and his future welfare . With reference to the first period there was a great uncertainty