Masonic Persecution.—I.

MASONIC PERSECUTION . — I .

,- ' % / :. LONDON , SATURDAY , JANUARY 2 , ljJ 6 J > r ~ " x /• £ / GR / . A , 'n = z = r ==== __ - _ ----Z = _ // . J / , J ¦\ ' L o n r ,

By HISTORICUS STUDEXS . \^ - ^~ _ -- ^ i " If Freemasonry be a recent invention at' ^ var with religion , dangerous to civil liberty , and got up by artful men for unhallowed purposes , from whence comes the extraordinary fact , that such

vast numbers of virtuous and intelligent persons should not only cherish , but transmit it from age to age ? How does it happen , that so many shining lights in Christianity , aud so many scholars , eminent for literature and talents , should labour

under such credulity ancl blindess in giving support to the Institution ? Have they all been led away by a lie , and conspired to nourish the growth of an imposture ? Have they all followed cunningly devised fables , when they tell you that

Freemasonry is a great central power , which for a longcourse of ages , and beyond any other association , has embraced in its orbit men of different

countries , languages and religion , in the cause of humanity and benevolence ? Is the generation in which we live , wiser than our fathers , aud enlightened by revelations which were hidden from the saints and prophets of all preceding time , that the

disclosures of yesterday , made by a few individuals unworthy of confidence , should stand out in living letters of light against the testimony of a host of just men , who lived and died in the faith and practice of our tenets ? "

Such are some questions with which R . " \ V . Bro . John H . Sheppard , begins an address upon the Festival of St . John the Baptist , June 1850 , to the Washington Lodge , Burlington , Vermont , U . S . The text appears to us worthy of

consideration m the columns of the MAGAZINE , and we purpose devoting some weeks to a resume of the persecutions under which the fraternity of Freemasons has suffered . These we will class under the following heads : I . Persecutions before 1700 , II .

by the Church of Rome , III . by other Churches , IV . in Holland , V . France , VI . Germany , VII . Spain aud Portugal , VIII . Switzerland and Turkey , IX . America . Persecution in the history of the world is of

daily occurrence both in Church and State . The strong domineers over the weak , who hold opposed views to the powerful , and tears away the property of the helpless to add to the estates of the rich . Religionis necessarily the mother of persecution .

From the persecution of the Early Christians by -j > he Romans , down through the Dark Ages , when tMbigenses , Waldenses , Templars , aud Cathari Mike felt the blast , the Church has been filled with a persecuting spirit . Fires have blazed for

Protestant , fires have blazed for Roman Catholic . The Jesuits fell victims to the Japanese ; Protestant Missionaries to the South Sea Heathen . The record of human error folly ancl cruelty , present no pleasing features to the historian , aud

although Truth compels him to undertake the task , odious though it be , it is with loathing and disgust . Masonry , virtuous in its principles , beneficent in its objects , and instructive in its teachings , has nevertheless , been the mark ancl is still the mark of bitter , unrelenting , undying hatred . Political

hostility ancl relig ions fanaticism have gone hand in hand , twin persecutors of our Order . The State has cried out that the Order aims at the destruction of all kingdoms , principalities ancl powers ; the Church that nothing will glut its

maw short of atheism , crime inconceivable , the breaking asunder of all ties human aud divine . Such charges bear upon their faces the proofs of their falsehood . Do Prime Ministers , ancl the Rulers of Kingdoms plot universal anarchy , and

Princes the'overthrow of their states ? Yet King , Prince ancl Premier are ancl have been Masons . Do Archbishops , Bishops , Priests , yes , even Popes , do they plot the overthrow of God , and the ties divine , and human ? Yet Archbishop , Bishop , Priest ancl Pope , have been Masons . What an extraordinary society the Masonic would be , if this

was true . And yet such opinions are held . A person once fell into conversation with an English Mason about Bishop Griswold , " What " said he , " a Bishop a Mason ! " I cannot understand it . I presume , however , that Dr . Griswold was not a man of

mind , nor a scholar , nor a student , nor a man devoted to literary research , " he went on to say . Yes , our brother replied , ho was all these , and only next to Dr . Bowditch in Mathematics , a man of great attainments , and strong natural

endowments , ancl was highly respected by his learned antagonist in theology , the late Dr . Channiug . During the Anti-masonic fever , in America , a wealthy layman called on Bishop Griswold , and poured out a volley of crimintaion against a certain clergyman , to whom he was hostile , and wound up by saying , " He is a Mason ! " " A Mason is