Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In Europe During The Past Century.
FREEMASONRY IN EUROPE DURING THE PAST CENTURY .
{ Continualfrom p' . s . 'i' 21 . r FRANCE . THE settlement in France of the abdicated King of England , James II . in the Jesuitical convent of Clermont , seems to hai-e been the introduction of Freemasonry into Paris , and here it ivas ( as far as Ave can trace ) the first Lodge in France was formed , Anno 1725 . In the years 17371744 and 1745 during the reign of Louis XV . several decrees
, , , , against the practice of Freemasonry were published , making it punishable by a fine of 0000 franks or imprisonment ; as , however , neither the one or the other were rigorously enforced , little notice was taken , as the fact of the Prince of Antin having received , in 1738 , the title of Grand Master for life , will prove , Avhich title he accepted in opposition to the Avish of the king , who had previously made knoivn publicly that members of the Order would not be received at court . The death of the
prince , in the year 1743 , compelled the members of tbe Craft to look about for a successor , and in the same year , Dec . 11 , a prince of the blood royal , Louis of Bourbon , Duke of Clermont , was elected . During his Mastership he attended but very little to the duty , which in this , as in all cases where duties are neglected , was productive of great injury to the Order . The officers that he appointed were equally negligent ; his first deputy , a banker of Paris , named Baure , folloiving the example of his superior , alloAved the greatest irregularities ; and in 1761 the duke named Lacorne to his place , this celebrated dancing-master had obtained the ear ofthe duchess , and that ivas thought the means and
reason of his appointment ; tbe Freemasons , hoivever , particularly the Grancl Ofiicers , refused to acknowledge him , or meet in any assembly at which he presided , and in revenge he formed a neiv and independent Grand Lodge , appointing the officers from among his personal friends , and men of his class ; by these means the bitterest enmity ivas caused in the Brotherhood , and it became ridiculous in the eyes of the nation . The Duke of Clermont hereupon , and at the frequent and earnest
solicitations of the members , found it necessary to remove Lacorne , ( after one year ' s mismanagement ) , from the false position into ivhich he hael thrust him , and in 1762 Chaillou de Jonville became Deputy Grand Master , AVIIO exerted himself to reunite the divided parties , in ivhich he ( at least in appearance ) succeeded . The seeds of dissention had been unhappily too far scattered to be thus easily eradicated , and the government was obliged to interfere to quell the animosities , ( the report of
which sounded far over the country ) , strengthened thereto , no doubt , by the bull of Pope Benedict XIV ., issued July 22 , 1751 , and carried into effect by the Bishops of Avignon and Marseilles . To complete the divisions and disorganization , the members of the Order in Lyons , Marseilles , Orleans , Bordeaux , & c . & c . disagreed , forming associations for local or party purposes , thus making " confusion worse confounded . " At so inauspicious a momentthe Duke de Chartresthe subsequentl
, , y well-known " Egalite , " and father of the present King of the French , ( for reasons that it is not my place here to investigate ! , became the head of the body , appointing the Duke of Luxemburg as nis Deputy . Thc Duke of Chartres , afterwards of Orleans , induced the withdrawal , on the part of the state , of the obnoxious laws against the Freemasons ; but
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In Europe During The Past Century.
FREEMASONRY IN EUROPE DURING THE PAST CENTURY .
{ Continualfrom p' . s . 'i' 21 . r FRANCE . THE settlement in France of the abdicated King of England , James II . in the Jesuitical convent of Clermont , seems to hai-e been the introduction of Freemasonry into Paris , and here it ivas ( as far as Ave can trace ) the first Lodge in France was formed , Anno 1725 . In the years 17371744 and 1745 during the reign of Louis XV . several decrees
, , , , against the practice of Freemasonry were published , making it punishable by a fine of 0000 franks or imprisonment ; as , however , neither the one or the other were rigorously enforced , little notice was taken , as the fact of the Prince of Antin having received , in 1738 , the title of Grand Master for life , will prove , Avhich title he accepted in opposition to the Avish of the king , who had previously made knoivn publicly that members of the Order would not be received at court . The death of the
prince , in the year 1743 , compelled the members of tbe Craft to look about for a successor , and in the same year , Dec . 11 , a prince of the blood royal , Louis of Bourbon , Duke of Clermont , was elected . During his Mastership he attended but very little to the duty , which in this , as in all cases where duties are neglected , was productive of great injury to the Order . The officers that he appointed were equally negligent ; his first deputy , a banker of Paris , named Baure , folloiving the example of his superior , alloAved the greatest irregularities ; and in 1761 the duke named Lacorne to his place , this celebrated dancing-master had obtained the ear ofthe duchess , and that ivas thought the means and
reason of his appointment ; tbe Freemasons , hoivever , particularly the Grancl Ofiicers , refused to acknowledge him , or meet in any assembly at which he presided , and in revenge he formed a neiv and independent Grand Lodge , appointing the officers from among his personal friends , and men of his class ; by these means the bitterest enmity ivas caused in the Brotherhood , and it became ridiculous in the eyes of the nation . The Duke of Clermont hereupon , and at the frequent and earnest
solicitations of the members , found it necessary to remove Lacorne , ( after one year ' s mismanagement ) , from the false position into ivhich he hael thrust him , and in 1762 Chaillou de Jonville became Deputy Grand Master , AVIIO exerted himself to reunite the divided parties , in ivhich he ( at least in appearance ) succeeded . The seeds of dissention had been unhappily too far scattered to be thus easily eradicated , and the government was obliged to interfere to quell the animosities , ( the report of
which sounded far over the country ) , strengthened thereto , no doubt , by the bull of Pope Benedict XIV ., issued July 22 , 1751 , and carried into effect by the Bishops of Avignon and Marseilles . To complete the divisions and disorganization , the members of the Order in Lyons , Marseilles , Orleans , Bordeaux , & c . & c . disagreed , forming associations for local or party purposes , thus making " confusion worse confounded . " At so inauspicious a momentthe Duke de Chartresthe subsequentl
, , y well-known " Egalite , " and father of the present King of the French , ( for reasons that it is not my place here to investigate ! , became the head of the body , appointing the Duke of Luxemburg as nis Deputy . Thc Duke of Chartres , afterwards of Orleans , induced the withdrawal , on the part of the state , of the obnoxious laws against the Freemasons ; but