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Article TO THE EDITOR. Page 1 of 2 →
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To The Editor.
TO THE EDITOR .
DEAR Sin A . VD BROTHER , —I laid hold of an old book the other day , of which I copy the title— " L ' ordre des Francs Macons truhi , et le . secret des Mopses revele ; " its imprint is " Amsterdam , MDOCXLV . " Let me set out by stating that tbe writer is an ass ; and when I tell you that the " Mopses" were a stupid congregation of men and women , whose ceremonies of initiation consisted in kissing certain parts of a stuffed pug-dogand that he seems to hold them and the Freemasons as
, akin , need I tell you what an impostor the fellow must be ? He affects to deal in cyphers , and gives his name under that disguise " L'Abbe Perau . " A modern poet ( Moore ) , who I hope is a Freemason , for if not he ought to be , alludes in his Lulla Rookh to those bees of Trebisond which from the sunniest flowers draw poison forth that makes men mad . Reversing this- mode of production , from the nonsense of the " traitor , " or fool—for either he must be , on bis own showing , if indeed
the name of impostor be not more appropriate , —I have culled from his pages the following anecdotes , showing the advantages of our system . They are the more valuable , because evidently in men ' s mouths near the time when the occurrences actually took place ; and besides , Old Bailey practitioners well know there is no testimony so valuable as that extorted from a reluctant witness . 1 therefore give you his evidence which must be accredited , coming , as it does , from an opponent . " We have , " he says at page 19 , " three recent examples , which give evident proof of the efficacy of the signs of Freemasonry , and of that intimate union which exists among these respectable Brethren .
ANECDOTE No . 1 . — "About three years since the captain of a French ship , a Freemason , was wrecked off an island , the Viceroy of which was a Member of the same Order . The Frenchman considered himself only too happy in escaping with life , but he had lost all his property witli his ship . He got himself presented to tbe Viceroy— -felt some difficulty in explaining to him his misfortune , so as to be admitted on his own representation merely . Great , however , were his
astonishment and delight when he saw tbe Governor give him the signs of Masonry . He of course answered promptly . They shook hands as Brethren , and at once entered into conversation with all the candour that long friendshiji alone can communicate . The Viceroy kept the Frenchman on the island , and during his stay endeavoured to procure him all the comfort and amusement in his power . When the Frenchman took his departure he loaded him with presentsand gave him
, sufficient money to enable him to reach bis own country . The latter , filled with gratitude , thanked his benefactor , and availed himself of a vessel returning for France , to set sail for home . From the Frenchman himself we have the recital of this adventure ; his name is Preverot , brother of M . Preverot , Doctor of Medicine of the Faculty of Paris , and he died , I think , only within the last year or so . " ANECDOTE , NO . 2 . — " Some months since an English gentleman , on his
way to Paris , was stopped by thieves , who robbed him of sixty louis . This Englishman was a Freemason , and no sooner did he arrive in Paris , than he communicated with the Brethren , and was immediately received by them ; a collection was made for him in an Assembly
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
TO THE EDITOR .
DEAR Sin A . VD BROTHER , —I laid hold of an old book the other day , of which I copy the title— " L ' ordre des Francs Macons truhi , et le . secret des Mopses revele ; " its imprint is " Amsterdam , MDOCXLV . " Let me set out by stating that tbe writer is an ass ; and when I tell you that the " Mopses" were a stupid congregation of men and women , whose ceremonies of initiation consisted in kissing certain parts of a stuffed pug-dogand that he seems to hold them and the Freemasons as
, akin , need I tell you what an impostor the fellow must be ? He affects to deal in cyphers , and gives his name under that disguise " L'Abbe Perau . " A modern poet ( Moore ) , who I hope is a Freemason , for if not he ought to be , alludes in his Lulla Rookh to those bees of Trebisond which from the sunniest flowers draw poison forth that makes men mad . Reversing this- mode of production , from the nonsense of the " traitor , " or fool—for either he must be , on bis own showing , if indeed
the name of impostor be not more appropriate , —I have culled from his pages the following anecdotes , showing the advantages of our system . They are the more valuable , because evidently in men ' s mouths near the time when the occurrences actually took place ; and besides , Old Bailey practitioners well know there is no testimony so valuable as that extorted from a reluctant witness . 1 therefore give you his evidence which must be accredited , coming , as it does , from an opponent . " We have , " he says at page 19 , " three recent examples , which give evident proof of the efficacy of the signs of Freemasonry , and of that intimate union which exists among these respectable Brethren .
ANECDOTE No . 1 . — "About three years since the captain of a French ship , a Freemason , was wrecked off an island , the Viceroy of which was a Member of the same Order . The Frenchman considered himself only too happy in escaping with life , but he had lost all his property witli his ship . He got himself presented to tbe Viceroy— -felt some difficulty in explaining to him his misfortune , so as to be admitted on his own representation merely . Great , however , were his
astonishment and delight when he saw tbe Governor give him the signs of Masonry . He of course answered promptly . They shook hands as Brethren , and at once entered into conversation with all the candour that long friendshiji alone can communicate . The Viceroy kept the Frenchman on the island , and during his stay endeavoured to procure him all the comfort and amusement in his power . When the Frenchman took his departure he loaded him with presentsand gave him
, sufficient money to enable him to reach bis own country . The latter , filled with gratitude , thanked his benefactor , and availed himself of a vessel returning for France , to set sail for home . From the Frenchman himself we have the recital of this adventure ; his name is Preverot , brother of M . Preverot , Doctor of Medicine of the Faculty of Paris , and he died , I think , only within the last year or so . " ANECDOTE , NO . 2 . — " Some months since an English gentleman , on his
way to Paris , was stopped by thieves , who robbed him of sixty louis . This Englishman was a Freemason , and no sooner did he arrive in Paris , than he communicated with the Brethren , and was immediately received by them ; a collection was made for him in an Assembly