The Anti-Masonic Congress.

adjourned and resumed in a special evening sitting , but no documentary ; evidence whatever was produced to substantiate the story of Miss Vaughan ' s existence , and there the matter rests for the present . — " Tablet . " o o o The Vienna correspondent of the " Daily News " telegraphed :

At the Anti-Masonic Congress in Trent more than 1 , 200 persons were present oh Monday , 28 th ult . Cardinal Archbishop Haller presided , and the Prince Bishop of Trent read the answer which the Pope sent to the telegram of the Congress , in which he wishes the " Congress a full success , and advises it to continue in the patH pointed out by the Papal Bull against Freemasonry .

The fact that the Anti-Masonic Congress has devoted a considerable portion of . its time to a discussion as to the accuracy of'the > revelations contained in Miss Vaughan ' s publication , and also to the question as to whether that lady really exists or not , sufficiently- characterises its whole proceedings . Among its

members opinion is divided on both subjects . The sceptical portion ¦ has not been convinced , although one of the French members , M . Leo Taxil , declared that he had seen Miss Vaughan and even had her present address in his pocket . The representative of . a ; French monastic order said that Miss Vaughan had

been asked whether she would allow her identity to be made known , and that that mysterious lady had declared that it was unnecessary . The further investigation concerning Miss Vaughan and her pamphlet has been referred to a special ecclesiastical body in Eome . The Anti-Masonic Congress has attracted little

attention irir Austria , even among fervent Catholics . The moment it became known that a certain number of members were prepared to recognise that Freemasonry was an institution promoted by the Spirit of Evil , and in direct communication with him , it was impossible for enlightened Catholics to expect any

practical results from it . In reality it has merely served , to expose the ignorance and bigotry still prevailing among a portion of the Catholic clergy , and to prove that they have still many misguided followers ready to put faith even in the most extravagant stories if invented for the supposed benefit of the Church . — " Times" Own Correspondent .

Among the few practical resolutions passed at the Anti-Masonic Congress may be mentioned that relative to the establishment of a central office in Eome under the superintendence of a council of directors ,- for the purpose of carefully investigating all doubtful matters of any importance to the

Anti-Masonic movement , which at the same time is to supply trustworthy information to the various committees in other countries . It is also intended to found Anti-Masonic organs in different countries , and it appears that the publication of journals of that tendency in Austria and Germany is definitely

arranged . Moreover , in order to keep alive the movement inaugurated by the proceedings of the Congress at Trent , the members present undertook to spare no efforts in furthering the objects in view , and within six months hence to organise Anti-Masonic meetings in their native countries , also to adopt

measures in accordance with the exigencies and requirements of their respective followers . The last speech before the Congress closed was delivered by the notorious Anti-Semitic priest of Vienna , Father Deckert . The speaker sketched the history and development of Freemasonry in Austria . He accentuated the

fact that , although a decree was promulgated in the reign of the Empress Maria Theresa by which Freemasons were liable to six months' imprisonment , the law was never applied . It was true that there were no Lodges in Austria , but in the neighbouring State of Hungary they existed , and Austrian Freemasons readily

obtained admittance . If , however , Freemasons were permitted to meet regularly in private as is at present the case in Vienna and other Austrian towns , the effects were the same as if they were openly allowed to attend their own Lodges . The authorities either could not or would not prevent it . Father Deckert

likewise called attention to the fact that Freemasons were strenuously endeavouring to have the penal clause relative to the Craft withheld from the new code which was now under the consideration of the Austrian legal authorities . He affirmed that the Jewish race in all parts of the world had much in common

with international Freemasonry . He pointed out that , excepting in Germany , the leading spirits of the Craft were Hebrews . In his opinion Freemasonry was entirely in the hands of the Jews , and Anti-Semitism was the most efficacious weapon with which to counteract its pernicious effects . For this reason all true

Catholics should support the Anti-Jewish crusade . General Turr contributes a paper to the current number of the " Eevue d'Orient , " in which he refers to the Congress as a meeting of certain " Messieurs et . Seigneurs" who find it expedient to revive the extinguished hatreds of a former age . He points out that they

The Anti-Masonic Congress.

have chosen the present moment , which bristles with conflicting passions , and when the atmosphere is filled with rival electric currents , for preaching a crusade against the federation that seeks exclusively the propagation of humane doctrines . The General is , however , of opinion that the adherents of true

religion will not " support them , and relates a graceful episode of his early life tending to that conclusion . When after a prolonged absence he returned to Hungary he was visited by his old teacher , a Catholic priest named Father Torma . The General inquired how he was getting on , to which Father Torma replied ,

" I am doing pretty well in the place where I live . Half the population is Protestant . The clergyman has gone away for a holiday and has intrusted his congregation to my care . Every Sunday I preach for them , and when any of the good people die I bury them in the name of the Almighty . " General Turr

continues as follows : — " I recommend this good priest to the attention of the apostles of hatred assembled at Trent . I believe that at the Day of Judgment he will get precedence over those individuals who would like to have another St . Bartholomew and to revive the Holy Inquisition . I deeply deplore what has

just taken place in Turkey , but we should see far more horrible massacres if the world were to listen to the instigations of the Congress of Trent and its associates . Let us beware of fanatics and sycophants , who have been the ruin of Sovereigns , and may be the ruin of nations . They can only produce schism in religion and anarchy in politics . "— " Times " Own Correspondent .

Withington and witchcraft do not seem to be more incongruous than the trio of assemblies represented by the last meeting of the Provincial Lodge of Cheshire Freemasons , the gathering of the Catholic Truth Society at Hanley , and the International Anti-Masonic Congress which has been held this

week at Trent , in Austria . Nevertheless , they are all connected together by a thread of mingled fancy and fact , which may be said to envelope the sweet personality of Miss Diana Vaughan . The alleged revelations of Masonic devil-worship which that young lady has published to the world since her conversion to

Eoman Catholicism have received the imprimitur of several French Bishops ; they have been earnestly debated and applauded by 400 Eoman Catholic clergymen at Trent , and , as Cardinal Vaughan reminded us the other day , the Church of which he is an eminent dignitary is " the same o'er all the

world . It must , however , be rather difficult for English Eoman Catholics to understand the feelings with which Freemasonry is regarded by a large and influential number of their co-religionists on the Continent . Such records of benevolent work as that just published in connection with the

Cheshire Provincial Lodge read strangely beside the announcement that the Spanish Government has < appointed a special commission to inquire whether Freemasonry should not be prohibited in Spain , and all Freemasons in the Government service dismissed from their posts . In France the crusade

against the Brethren of the mystic trowel seems to have already attained the dignity of a cult almost . The credulity with which the stories of some doubtful converts from Atheism have been received , and the encouragement that has been given to their extraordinary publications , resemble nothing so much as the

anti-Semitic propaganda iu Central Europe . At the Trent Congress Miss Diana Vaughan was described as " an English woman of gentle birth , belonging to a family in which the worship of Satan had been heriditary for centuries . " In her published "Memoires" she states that she was initiated at an

early age into Freemasonry , and gradually rose to the thirtythird degree , from which she was promoted to be a member of the mysterious order called the " Palladist , " whose votaries worship Lucifer , in opposition to Adonai , the God of Judaism and Christianity . Miss Vaughan declares that she once had the

privilege of a personal interview with Lucifer at the Palladist " holy of holies , " which is situate , it appears , at Charleston , in the United States . " Lucifer appeared as a most beautiful young man , clad in golden mail , and seated on a throne of diamonds . After a short conversation with him , she was put at

the head of an army of spirits of fire , who , at the command of Lucifer , defeated the angelic guard , and introduced her into the Garden of Eden . There she mounted a white eagle of fabulous size , and visited a distant star where the worship of Adonai is still supreme , returning to Charleston by way of a volcano . "

After this it hardly comes as a surprise to learn that Palladism was invented by the American General Pike , of Mormon proclivities , by whom it was received direct from Korah , Dathan , and Abiram , who made their appearance to him in a Kentucky desert for the special purpose . Miss Vaughan , however , has

been unfortunate in her references . She introduces tbe name of Bear-Admiral Markham as having ventured in his Masonic capacity to doubt the truth of a statement by the lady that at a seance at Malta , " she sat with Beelzebub and Aothanoth on thrones of gold , while an iron arrow wrote of itself in green