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Article ROMAN CATHOLIC FREEMASONS. Page 1 of 2 →
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Roman Catholic Freemasons.
ROMAN CATHOLIC FREEMASONS .
TO THE EDITOR . London , llth July , 1840 . Dear Sir , —Much gratified that my short letter of first June was deemed worth y of a corner in the Review , I feel also greatly obliged to tlie Editor for affording me the opportunity to call attention to the subject so deeply affecting Roman Catholic Freemasons , —a remonstranceor memorialor petition ( as the forms of etiquette
, , , may demand ) , to the court of Rome , in repudiation of the charges implied by the several Papal edicts , which have been published since 1738 . Subsequent to the date of my letter , news has arrived of the occurrence of an event—the death of the late Pope , Gregory XVI . —which is calculated greatly to enhance my views of the favourable reception of an appeal to the justice of a court , which is acknowledged by millions in every quarter of the globe to be the fountain of truth . It is a singular
fact that the late Pope , in one of his treatises read before the Academy ofthe Catholic Religion in 1801 , enforces the principle " that the errori which have sometimes accompanied the general consent of mankind do not weaken the force ofthegenei-al argument J' from whence I infer , that if British Freemasonry has been unjustly condemned , that can be no reason for continuing an act totally inapplicable to Freemasonry in this country . The accession of a new Pontiff , in the person of Pius IX ., is an
event peculiarly auspicious for the agitation on this question , which I have long considered . Pius IX . is a man in the prime of life ancl intellect , therefore less likely to be wrought upon by those fears and prejudices common in old age , and having published no edict as yet against
Freemasons , as his predecessors have clone , he will not be required to perform the unpleasant office of recalling his own words . I had conceived the most favourable opportunity to be on the occasion of the presence of the Cardinal Capaccini in London , and 1 hacl greatly lamented the circumstance of ill-health , which prevented me from following out my views in an occurrence so rare . However , events seem to favour my project by the creation of an era , which is of all others the most propitiousthe elevation of a new occupant of the papal throne . An
objec-, tion might be raised against my proposition for a memorial to be signed by Freemasons—even indiscriminately by Freemasons of all creedsthat the names of Catholics afterwards might serve to form a list for future proscription , a thing most improbable if not impossible . But such a mode of argument , such a coward cringing to mistaken power , would be unworthy ofthe charity we profess to all mankind—as
miserable as would be the sectarian grounds for refusal by our Protestant brethren to unite their suffrages with those of their Catholic fellowchristians , because , as Protestants , they chose to set the authority of the Pope at nought . Hundreds of Catholics , from conscientious scruples , are deterred from joining the society , and vast numbers among the many thousand Catholics who have or who do belong to , so-called , secret societies , feel greatly annoyed and often disturbed in their peace of mind at the species of uncertainty created bthese sweeping ancl
y cruel condemnations and unjust prohibitions of what we know to be innocent ancl moral—almost coeval with the birth of mankind—second only to Christianity , because Christianity is the revelation by Jesus Christ . Would any man tell me that if his present holiness were besieged by a petition with an hundred thousand signatures , containing a solemn
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Roman Catholic Freemasons.
ROMAN CATHOLIC FREEMASONS .
TO THE EDITOR . London , llth July , 1840 . Dear Sir , —Much gratified that my short letter of first June was deemed worth y of a corner in the Review , I feel also greatly obliged to tlie Editor for affording me the opportunity to call attention to the subject so deeply affecting Roman Catholic Freemasons , —a remonstranceor memorialor petition ( as the forms of etiquette
, , , may demand ) , to the court of Rome , in repudiation of the charges implied by the several Papal edicts , which have been published since 1738 . Subsequent to the date of my letter , news has arrived of the occurrence of an event—the death of the late Pope , Gregory XVI . —which is calculated greatly to enhance my views of the favourable reception of an appeal to the justice of a court , which is acknowledged by millions in every quarter of the globe to be the fountain of truth . It is a singular
fact that the late Pope , in one of his treatises read before the Academy ofthe Catholic Religion in 1801 , enforces the principle " that the errori which have sometimes accompanied the general consent of mankind do not weaken the force ofthegenei-al argument J' from whence I infer , that if British Freemasonry has been unjustly condemned , that can be no reason for continuing an act totally inapplicable to Freemasonry in this country . The accession of a new Pontiff , in the person of Pius IX ., is an
event peculiarly auspicious for the agitation on this question , which I have long considered . Pius IX . is a man in the prime of life ancl intellect , therefore less likely to be wrought upon by those fears and prejudices common in old age , and having published no edict as yet against
Freemasons , as his predecessors have clone , he will not be required to perform the unpleasant office of recalling his own words . I had conceived the most favourable opportunity to be on the occasion of the presence of the Cardinal Capaccini in London , and 1 hacl greatly lamented the circumstance of ill-health , which prevented me from following out my views in an occurrence so rare . However , events seem to favour my project by the creation of an era , which is of all others the most propitiousthe elevation of a new occupant of the papal throne . An
objec-, tion might be raised against my proposition for a memorial to be signed by Freemasons—even indiscriminately by Freemasons of all creedsthat the names of Catholics afterwards might serve to form a list for future proscription , a thing most improbable if not impossible . But such a mode of argument , such a coward cringing to mistaken power , would be unworthy ofthe charity we profess to all mankind—as
miserable as would be the sectarian grounds for refusal by our Protestant brethren to unite their suffrages with those of their Catholic fellowchristians , because , as Protestants , they chose to set the authority of the Pope at nought . Hundreds of Catholics , from conscientious scruples , are deterred from joining the society , and vast numbers among the many thousand Catholics who have or who do belong to , so-called , secret societies , feel greatly annoyed and often disturbed in their peace of mind at the species of uncertainty created bthese sweeping ancl
y cruel condemnations and unjust prohibitions of what we know to be innocent ancl moral—almost coeval with the birth of mankind—second only to Christianity , because Christianity is the revelation by Jesus Christ . Would any man tell me that if his present holiness were besieged by a petition with an hundred thousand signatures , containing a solemn