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Article A CENTURY OF FREEMASONRY. ← Page 5 of 10 →
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A Century Of Freemasonry.
becoming the fashion in this city ; whoever desireth to enter therein must g ive ten Louis d ' ors , and many fair words beside . A small while since , ten new members were admitted into this society , and the ceremony closed with a splendid entertainment , which was supported by persons of the highest rank , and at which , before even sitting down to table , a certain duke won seven hundred Louis d ' ors of an English lord at piquet . On the thirteenth of this month there were six more initiated into the Order
, among whom , it is reported , was one of the noblest gentlemen of our court ; so that this new institution is confirming itself by such high credit more and more . Yet it is a misfortune for it that our court so speedily , and before it could attain perfection , determined upon its suppression . For it was urged in council that ' these far too extensive societies , no matter- how innocent , in consequence of their subsequent results , wero never tolerable , but certainly pernicious to a state , let alone that although
all such fraternities , if they existed without permission of the king , were in themselves forbidden , therefore that here also good order required that the Freemasons should again be suppressed , as it had already happened in Holland ( 30 th November , 1735 ) . " As to the fees in the Lodges , to which an allusion has been made in the above extract , " Der Sich selbst vertheidigende Freimaurer" ( the Self-defending Freemason ) , a Avork compiled
on authentic information , and published in 1744 , says , that "in the English Lodge ten guineas Avas given , and in the others five Louis d'ors . For this money , " continues the writer , " everyone desired to become a Freemason ; a duke and a pedlar , a French peer and a merchant , Avere like brothers , and Avithout any difference . " The same Avork confirms the letter written about the ten
persons initiated at one time , —a proceeding which noAv Avould not be permitted , and Avhich Avas only warrantable then by the press of the times , and the fear and trembling Avith Avhich the meetings Avere carried on ; and of these persons , six Avere knights of the Order of the Holy Ghost . In some points it may be remarked , that the statements of Lalande are modified
and cleared up by this Avork , Avhich Avould therefore deserve much more attention than its rarity has admitted of . The threatened royal persecutions of the Freemasons speedily began ; and among the many reports of questionable authenticity , as to the extent and measure of the persecution , Ave find some actual occurrences which are of sufficient certainty to
merit our notice . After speaking of the many doubtful reports , — " On the 10 th o :. September , 1737 , " says Kloss , * "the police . did , in fact , surprise the society of Freemasons , in the tavern-keeper Chapelot's house , a la Rapee , St . Bennett ' s . He had employed the stratagem of bricking up the door of his public room outside , and breaking through another secretly to the meeting-room . It was reported that , besides
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Century Of Freemasonry.
becoming the fashion in this city ; whoever desireth to enter therein must g ive ten Louis d ' ors , and many fair words beside . A small while since , ten new members were admitted into this society , and the ceremony closed with a splendid entertainment , which was supported by persons of the highest rank , and at which , before even sitting down to table , a certain duke won seven hundred Louis d ' ors of an English lord at piquet . On the thirteenth of this month there were six more initiated into the Order
, among whom , it is reported , was one of the noblest gentlemen of our court ; so that this new institution is confirming itself by such high credit more and more . Yet it is a misfortune for it that our court so speedily , and before it could attain perfection , determined upon its suppression . For it was urged in council that ' these far too extensive societies , no matter- how innocent , in consequence of their subsequent results , wero never tolerable , but certainly pernicious to a state , let alone that although
all such fraternities , if they existed without permission of the king , were in themselves forbidden , therefore that here also good order required that the Freemasons should again be suppressed , as it had already happened in Holland ( 30 th November , 1735 ) . " As to the fees in the Lodges , to which an allusion has been made in the above extract , " Der Sich selbst vertheidigende Freimaurer" ( the Self-defending Freemason ) , a Avork compiled
on authentic information , and published in 1744 , says , that "in the English Lodge ten guineas Avas given , and in the others five Louis d'ors . For this money , " continues the writer , " everyone desired to become a Freemason ; a duke and a pedlar , a French peer and a merchant , Avere like brothers , and Avithout any difference . " The same Avork confirms the letter written about the ten
persons initiated at one time , —a proceeding which noAv Avould not be permitted , and Avhich Avas only warrantable then by the press of the times , and the fear and trembling Avith Avhich the meetings Avere carried on ; and of these persons , six Avere knights of the Order of the Holy Ghost . In some points it may be remarked , that the statements of Lalande are modified
and cleared up by this Avork , Avhich Avould therefore deserve much more attention than its rarity has admitted of . The threatened royal persecutions of the Freemasons speedily began ; and among the many reports of questionable authenticity , as to the extent and measure of the persecution , Ave find some actual occurrences which are of sufficient certainty to
merit our notice . After speaking of the many doubtful reports , — " On the 10 th o :. September , 1737 , " says Kloss , * "the police . did , in fact , surprise the society of Freemasons , in the tavern-keeper Chapelot's house , a la Rapee , St . Bennett ' s . He had employed the stratagem of bricking up the door of his public room outside , and breaking through another secretly to the meeting-room . It was reported that , besides