Freemasonry In Spain.

FREEMASONRY IN SPAIN .

THE news from Spain is not reassuring . The progress of the young King has , indeed , been marked by spontaneous or manufactured enthusiasm , but the advisers who surround him have already blundered and played into the hands of those Ultramontanes who are anxious to hand that distracted country over to the tender rule of an

irresponsible priesthood . We , in England , heard of the accession of this young prince "with feelings of unmixed satisfaction . We were of opinion that his presence , in the midst of contending Carlists and Republicans , might have the effect of restoring peace to his country , and , perhaps ,

of healing the wounds which have been caused by one of the most cruel and bloody of civil wars . We did not forget that the Crown was offered by a clique of statesmen , and . not by the people through their representatives ; but we all held that the clique or party in favour of monarchy

acted as though they had the good of the nation at heart . We learn , with unmixed astonishment , that the generosity which credited the party of the King with the best of intentions has been too hasty , and too ignorant of the utterly rotten condition of Spanish politics . The press has been

attacked ; the Protestant church in Spain is threatened , and now we hear that an attempt is to be made to suppress Spanish Freemasonry . We hinted , a week or two ago , that the Craft was iu some danger , and in our first number we called attention to the fact that Freemasonry in Spain has

generally been under the ban of the State . But wo did not suppose that a Monarch , invited to rule on so-called constitutional principles , could so soon set those principles at defiance . It was known that in Senor Canovas del Castillo he had an adviser who was

thoroughly versed in the science of government , and admirably fitted to play the part of Premier in a free State . Our hope , indeed , that Spain under Alfonso would find peace and freedom was based upon our faith in the genius of the man who was to be his adviser . The threat

which now appears to hang over the heads of our brethren in Spain does not , indeed , come from this accomplished politician ; but if he is powerless to prevent a step which will emperil his master ' s crown , we can only fear the worst . It is evident that priestly influence is again doin

flits fell work , and this threat of persecution would seem to be but the prelude of an unholy alliance between the new government and Rome . The aged Pontiff , who now pines a voluntary prisoner at the Vatican , has always regarded the Freemasons with suspicion and hatred . He has

fulminated his edicts against them repeatedly during his long Pontificate , and the great influence of the Church has been used again and again to crush the Order in Catholic countries . A tie which binds men together in mystic brotherhood—a secret which defies the prying eyes of the

priesthood—naturally excites the anger of a great hierarch y who seek to make mankind the slaves of a system of mental bondage , which has no parallel in the whole history of despotic rule . But in attacking Masonry the Church has been too wily to state its real reasons for its

uncompromising hostility . To assert that the Mason keeps one corner of his mind or heart sacred from the insolent intrusion of priestly eyes , and to make this the sole ground of accusation against him , would manifestly defeat its object . The Church

is too wise for this , and , accordingly , we are told that Romish hostility to the Craft arises from the assumed fact that the Order on the Continent invariably becomes a political weapon in the hands of traitors . It has been asserted that the machinery of the organisation readily lends itself to

Freemasonry In Spain.

the spread of opinions fatal to the Church , to order , and good government . If such a charge as this were made against English Masons , every one conversant with tho facts would laugh it to scorn . The loyalty of the Fraternity has been too often tried and proved , and the Princes

of our Royal House have not disdained to hold the gavel of the Grand Master . The libeller who ventures to say that Continental Masonry is not equally loyal to the ruling

powers , invariably presses his charges without bringing one particle of evidence to support them . He points merely to the disturbed condition of France and . Spain , and argues that secret societies in those countries have been the f omen .

ters of sedition . But he always fails to show that these political brotherhoods have any kinship with the Craft . Even if it were possible to prove beyond all question that Masonry had allied itself with disloyalty , it would still be necessary to prove that the principles of the

Order are favourable to rebellion and anarchy . The fact is , that if any isolated cases can be cited in proof of the sweeping and general charges which Rome has thought proper to bring against the brotherhood , that will only go to show that the deep seated discontent of the people

of Southern and Western Europe had forced its way into every state and condition of society . When Masons conspire , if they ever conspire , the cause must be sought , not in the Lodge or the Order , but in those high in authority in the State , who care not what crimes they

commit against the people , provided a dynasty be upheld , or a rotten church , tottering to its fall , bo propped and supported . Although Spanish Masonry has always been under suspicion , yet we have never heard of one authentic case

of disloyalty on the part of the collective brotherhood . Individual Masons may doubtless have been found in the ranks of the plotters against the State . It would bo strange indeed if they were not . If we were to assert that under no circumstances had a Mason been found willing to take

arms against a bad Government , Ave should only be declaring that , in hying moments , when duty to the State means antagonism to the Government , they had failed in the hi ghest and most sacred deity of a citizen . Rebellion , in some cases , is asacied duty , and none but a bigot or a fool will say

that our countrymen were in the wrong when they took arms against King James II . Loyalty to freedom in a case of this kind overrides all other considerations , and when to rebel or be silent means to be free or to perish , it would be idle to urge that a man must remember

obligations which were never intended to rob him of his status as a human being and a citizen . We , however , deny emphatically that the Order in Spain , as an Order , has ever encouraged sedition . Tho brotherhood have struggled in that unhappy country to spread the benign

principles of the Craft , and amid much discouragement they have succeeded in building up the Masonic edifice to respectable proportions . This threat of persecution ,

coming from the man who has been regarded as the only hope of the Nation , is a cruel blow to the anticipations of all liberal minded Spanish politicians . It is an augury of ill in store for other interests than those which cluster

around the Craft . The crown indeed as yet sits so li ghtly on the head of Alfonso that the mere breath of popular indignation may bring the bauble to the ground . If he would rule his countrymen he must show that he is

independent of the intrigues of priests , but this attack on Masonry can come from no other quarter than Rome , and if Rome is to guide the counsels of the Cabinet at Madrid , Alfonso will soon again he an exile from the land in which the Bourbon has never yet been naturalised ,