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Article EPISODES IN THE LIFE OF A FREEMASON. ← Page 7 of 9 →
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Episodes In The Life Of A Freemason.
" M . L inxited me to his house , where I experienced the most coxu'teous hospitality ; and I had every reason to congratulate myself on having formed so agreeable an acquaintance . Amongst other kind offices , he introduced me to his Lodge , Avhere I had an opportunity of seeing the working of French Masonry .
" I Avas to have accompanied him to the Grand Orient , but there Avas no meeting helcl during my stay in Paris . " My friend was a very ardent Brother , and Avas full of anecdotes connected with the Craft . One occurs to me at
this moment , which is but little known , and is rather interesting . " Masonic Lodges have , as you know , been often tamed to political ptirposes in France , and about the year 1807 they attracted some attention in tliis respect ; one in particular , which Avas chiefly composed of ouvriers , Avas supposed to harbour
designs against the emperor . Napoleon xvas himself a Mason , haA'ing been initiated at Malta , AA'hen he was on his Egyptian expedition ; accordingly he determined to attend the suspected Lodge incog , to see if he could detect any treasonable proceedings . He went , accompanied only by two military Brethren , gained admittance , ancl remained nearly an hour Avithout being
recognised ; but so convinced xvas he of the falsehood of the practices attributed to this Loclge , that he ever afterwards looked upon Masons as among the most faithful of his subjects . " I was UOAV anxious to quit Paris , ancl proceed as quickly as possible to A'ienna . I parted from my friend M . L Avith great regret , ancl soon found myself alone again on the xvide xvorld of adventure .
I took the route by Munich , where I remained a day or two for the sake of the pictures , xvhich I enjoyed exceedingly ; and thence I journeyed direct to the Austrian capital . My first object on arriving xvas to make inquiries as to the necessary steps to be taken in order to enter into the military serxice of the emperor ; ancl I soon found that it xvas no such easy
matter as I had anticipated . It appears , that although every officer is obliged to serx'e in the ranks for a certain time , he is nevertheless appointed as a * cadet ; ' and while doing duty as a private soilder , he is admitted to the society of the officers , ancl is in no Avay considered in the same light as the ordinary privates of the regiment .
"My dreams of ambition Avere someAvhat damped on learning this . I might certainly , by extraordinary good fortune ancl almost super-human merit , rise from the ranks to become a general , but I had no Avish to risk my chance of being an officer
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Episodes In The Life Of A Freemason.
" M . L inxited me to his house , where I experienced the most coxu'teous hospitality ; and I had every reason to congratulate myself on having formed so agreeable an acquaintance . Amongst other kind offices , he introduced me to his Lodge , Avhere I had an opportunity of seeing the working of French Masonry .
" I Avas to have accompanied him to the Grand Orient , but there Avas no meeting helcl during my stay in Paris . " My friend was a very ardent Brother , and Avas full of anecdotes connected with the Craft . One occurs to me at
this moment , which is but little known , and is rather interesting . " Masonic Lodges have , as you know , been often tamed to political ptirposes in France , and about the year 1807 they attracted some attention in tliis respect ; one in particular , which Avas chiefly composed of ouvriers , Avas supposed to harbour
designs against the emperor . Napoleon xvas himself a Mason , haA'ing been initiated at Malta , AA'hen he was on his Egyptian expedition ; accordingly he determined to attend the suspected Lodge incog , to see if he could detect any treasonable proceedings . He went , accompanied only by two military Brethren , gained admittance , ancl remained nearly an hour Avithout being
recognised ; but so convinced xvas he of the falsehood of the practices attributed to this Loclge , that he ever afterwards looked upon Masons as among the most faithful of his subjects . " I was UOAV anxious to quit Paris , ancl proceed as quickly as possible to A'ienna . I parted from my friend M . L Avith great regret , ancl soon found myself alone again on the xvide xvorld of adventure .
I took the route by Munich , where I remained a day or two for the sake of the pictures , xvhich I enjoyed exceedingly ; and thence I journeyed direct to the Austrian capital . My first object on arriving xvas to make inquiries as to the necessary steps to be taken in order to enter into the military serxice of the emperor ; ancl I soon found that it xvas no such easy
matter as I had anticipated . It appears , that although every officer is obliged to serx'e in the ranks for a certain time , he is nevertheless appointed as a * cadet ; ' and while doing duty as a private soilder , he is admitted to the society of the officers , ancl is in no Avay considered in the same light as the ordinary privates of the regiment .
"My dreams of ambition Avere someAvhat damped on learning this . I might certainly , by extraordinary good fortune ancl almost super-human merit , rise from the ranks to become a general , but I had no Avish to risk my chance of being an officer