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Article FREEMASONRY IN CHINA.* ← Page 6 of 8 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In China.*
references to the Triad Society ; from which we shall make some extracts , presuming that the Royal Sussex Lodge of Freemasons , No . 735 , under the constitution of England , is in active operation at the present mmnpnt .
" HONGKONG , ANNO OCTAVO VICTORIA ; REGIN ^ E , —No . 1 of 1815 . By his excellency John Francis Davis , Esquire , Governor and Commander in Chief of the Colony of Hongkong and its Dependencies , Her Majesty ' s Plenipotentiary , and Chief Superintendent ofthe Trade of British Subjects in China , with the advice of the Legislative Council of Hongkong . An Ordinance for the suppression of the Triad and other secret
societies within the Island of Hongkong and its Dependencies . Whereas the Triad Society , and other secret societies , prevalent in China , exist among the inhabitants of the Island of Hongkong ; and , whereas these associations have objects in view which arc incompatible with the maintenance of good order and constituted authority , and with the security of life and property , and afford , by means of a secret agency , increased facilities for the commission of crimeand for the
, escape of offenders . Be it therefore enacted and ordained by the Governor of Hongkong , with the advice of the Legislative Council thereof , that from and after the passing of this Ordinance , if any person or persons , being of Chinese origin , in the said Island or its Dependencies , shall be a member or members ofthe Triad Society , or other secret societies , as aforesaid , he she or they shalt in consequence thereof be guilty of felony and being
; duly convicted thereof , shall be liable to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years , with or without hard labour ; and , at the expiration of such term of imprisonment , that such person shall be marked on the right cheek , in the manner usual in the case of Military Deserters , and be expelled from the said Island . Passed the Legislative Council of Hongkong , this 8 ; h day of January , 13-1 ;} .
ADOLPHUS E . SHELLEY , Clerk of Councils . JOHN FRANCIS DAVIS , Governor , & c . & c . " "It is with much regret that we give publicity to Ordinance No . 1 , of 1845—a document which , ive venture to assert , is about the most objectionable that has appeared in the Gazette of any country having the slightest pretensions to treepoliticalor reliious institutionsfor at
, , g , least a century . The mischief which the enforcement of this ordinance would cause in Hongkong is incalculable—it ivould certainly lead to the depopulation of the island ; and the power which it places in tho hands of the local government is arbitrary in the extreme . In China , as in Europe , there are various secret societies or associations , banded together for political or benevolent purposes . The chief of those in China is the Triad Societyone that is particularlobnoxious
, y to the cruel and tyrannical Tartar rulers . The views of government entertained by the members of this society are said to be objectionable in the highest degree . By the Chinese authorities , the members are represented as being little bettor than fiends- , and life is the penalty inflicted upon those who are proved to belong to the society . European writers upon China have not failed lo brand the association , but when
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In China.*
references to the Triad Society ; from which we shall make some extracts , presuming that the Royal Sussex Lodge of Freemasons , No . 735 , under the constitution of England , is in active operation at the present mmnpnt .
" HONGKONG , ANNO OCTAVO VICTORIA ; REGIN ^ E , —No . 1 of 1815 . By his excellency John Francis Davis , Esquire , Governor and Commander in Chief of the Colony of Hongkong and its Dependencies , Her Majesty ' s Plenipotentiary , and Chief Superintendent ofthe Trade of British Subjects in China , with the advice of the Legislative Council of Hongkong . An Ordinance for the suppression of the Triad and other secret
societies within the Island of Hongkong and its Dependencies . Whereas the Triad Society , and other secret societies , prevalent in China , exist among the inhabitants of the Island of Hongkong ; and , whereas these associations have objects in view which arc incompatible with the maintenance of good order and constituted authority , and with the security of life and property , and afford , by means of a secret agency , increased facilities for the commission of crimeand for the
, escape of offenders . Be it therefore enacted and ordained by the Governor of Hongkong , with the advice of the Legislative Council thereof , that from and after the passing of this Ordinance , if any person or persons , being of Chinese origin , in the said Island or its Dependencies , shall be a member or members ofthe Triad Society , or other secret societies , as aforesaid , he she or they shalt in consequence thereof be guilty of felony and being
; duly convicted thereof , shall be liable to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years , with or without hard labour ; and , at the expiration of such term of imprisonment , that such person shall be marked on the right cheek , in the manner usual in the case of Military Deserters , and be expelled from the said Island . Passed the Legislative Council of Hongkong , this 8 ; h day of January , 13-1 ;} .
ADOLPHUS E . SHELLEY , Clerk of Councils . JOHN FRANCIS DAVIS , Governor , & c . & c . " "It is with much regret that we give publicity to Ordinance No . 1 , of 1845—a document which , ive venture to assert , is about the most objectionable that has appeared in the Gazette of any country having the slightest pretensions to treepoliticalor reliious institutionsfor at
, , g , least a century . The mischief which the enforcement of this ordinance would cause in Hongkong is incalculable—it ivould certainly lead to the depopulation of the island ; and the power which it places in tho hands of the local government is arbitrary in the extreme . In China , as in Europe , there are various secret societies or associations , banded together for political or benevolent purposes . The chief of those in China is the Triad Societyone that is particularlobnoxious
, y to the cruel and tyrannical Tartar rulers . The views of government entertained by the members of this society are said to be objectionable in the highest degree . By the Chinese authorities , the members are represented as being little bettor than fiends- , and life is the penalty inflicted upon those who are proved to belong to the society . European writers upon China have not failed lo brand the association , but when