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Article JOHN COUSTOS, FOR FREEMASONRY, Page 1 of 4 →
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John Coustos, For Freemasonry,
JOHN COUSTOS , FOR FREEMASONRY ,
CONTINUATION OF THE SUFFERINGS OF
IN THE INQUISITION AT LISBON . .
( Continuedfrom Page ijz . ) DURING my stay in this miserable dungeon I was taken three times before the Inquisitors . The first thing they made me do was , to swear on the Bible that I would not reveal the secrets ' of the Inquisition , but-declare the truth with regard to all such questions as
they should put to me : they added , " That it was their firm opinion " that Masonry could not be founded oh such good princi p les as I , in " my former interrogatories , had affirmed ; and that , if this Society of * ' Freemasons were so virtuous as I pretended , there was no occasion " for their concealing , so very industriously , the-secrets of it . " I told them , " That as secresy naturally excited curiosity , this inenter into the that all
" duced great numbers of persons to Society ; " the money given by members at their admission were reserved for " works -of charity ; that , by tlie secrets which the several members " practised , a true Mason instantly knew whether a stranger , who < c would introduce himself into a Lodge , was really a Freemason ; that , " was it not for such precautionsthis Society would form confused
, " assemblies of all sorts of people , who , as they were not obliged to " pay obedience to the charter of the-Lodge , it , consequently , would " be impossible to keep them within the bounds of that decorum and " good-manners which are exactly observed , upon certain penalties ,
" by all Freemasons . " That the reason why women were excluded this Society was , to " take away all occasion for calumny and reproach , which w
, y , " of their prudence and wisdom . " They then insisted upon my revealing to them the secrets of this art . " The oath , " says I , " taken " by me at my admission , never to divulge them , directly or indi" rectly , will not permit me to do it ; my conscience forbids me , and < c I therefore hope your lordships are too equitable to use compnl" sion" They declared— " That my oath was nothing in their
pre-. ' * sence , and that they would absolve me from it . " " Your lord" ships , " continued I , " are very gracious ; but , as I am firmly " persuaded that it is not in die power of any being upon earth to " free me from my oath , I am-firmly determined never to violate it . " This was more than enough to make them order me back to my dun-- wherea few days -afterI was seized with a violent sickness .
geon , , , A physician was sent to me , who , finding mc « exceedingly ill , made a report thereof to the Inquisitors . These , on being informed of it , gave immediate orders for my being removed from this frightful dungeon . VOL . II . l-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
John Coustos, For Freemasonry,
JOHN COUSTOS , FOR FREEMASONRY ,
CONTINUATION OF THE SUFFERINGS OF
IN THE INQUISITION AT LISBON . .
( Continuedfrom Page ijz . ) DURING my stay in this miserable dungeon I was taken three times before the Inquisitors . The first thing they made me do was , to swear on the Bible that I would not reveal the secrets ' of the Inquisition , but-declare the truth with regard to all such questions as
they should put to me : they added , " That it was their firm opinion " that Masonry could not be founded oh such good princi p les as I , in " my former interrogatories , had affirmed ; and that , if this Society of * ' Freemasons were so virtuous as I pretended , there was no occasion " for their concealing , so very industriously , the-secrets of it . " I told them , " That as secresy naturally excited curiosity , this inenter into the that all
" duced great numbers of persons to Society ; " the money given by members at their admission were reserved for " works -of charity ; that , by tlie secrets which the several members " practised , a true Mason instantly knew whether a stranger , who < c would introduce himself into a Lodge , was really a Freemason ; that , " was it not for such precautionsthis Society would form confused
, " assemblies of all sorts of people , who , as they were not obliged to " pay obedience to the charter of the-Lodge , it , consequently , would " be impossible to keep them within the bounds of that decorum and " good-manners which are exactly observed , upon certain penalties ,
" by all Freemasons . " That the reason why women were excluded this Society was , to " take away all occasion for calumny and reproach , which w
, y , " of their prudence and wisdom . " They then insisted upon my revealing to them the secrets of this art . " The oath , " says I , " taken " by me at my admission , never to divulge them , directly or indi" rectly , will not permit me to do it ; my conscience forbids me , and < c I therefore hope your lordships are too equitable to use compnl" sion" They declared— " That my oath was nothing in their
pre-. ' * sence , and that they would absolve me from it . " " Your lord" ships , " continued I , " are very gracious ; but , as I am firmly " persuaded that it is not in die power of any being upon earth to " free me from my oath , I am-firmly determined never to violate it . " This was more than enough to make them order me back to my dun-- wherea few days -afterI was seized with a violent sickness .
geon , , , A physician was sent to me , who , finding mc « exceedingly ill , made a report thereof to the Inquisitors . These , on being informed of it , gave immediate orders for my being removed from this frightful dungeon . VOL . II . l-