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THE MASONIC ILLUSTRATED

The Roman Hierarchy And Masonry From 1814 To The Present Time.

The Roman Hierarchy and Masonry from 1814 to the Present Time .

^ pHE French Revolution and the first Empire are no J ^ doubt responsible for many crimes , yet one great achievement can be justly laid to their credit . They shook the influence of the Pope to such an extent that even after their fall the Papal See never completely recovered its old authority .

In 1813 , French influence on the Continent had reached its highest point . Freemasonry benefited by the spirit of religious tolerance , or indifference , displayed by the authorities of that nation . In Spain , the Freemasons yvere at liberty to hold their lodges . True , the same liberty yvas not granted

in Portugal ; but probably the Portugese Masons brought this restriction on themselves b y introducing political toasts at their banquets . By the end of 1814 , the first Empire had fallen ; and the Papacy roused itself for a reneyved struggle yvith that society

yvhich is and yvas the greatest and strongest advocate of religious toleration and equality the yvorkl has ever knoyvn . In Naples , the existence of the Carbonari yvas seized upon as an excuse to confound the Freemasons yvith them ; the aim of the Carbonari yvas , in their oyvn words , " to clear the forest of the wolves , " or expressed in less symbolical form , " to drive out the foreigners and to create a united

Italy for Italians . " The onl y tie between them and the Freemasons yvas that both societies accorded to their members the right of yvorshipping the Superior Being according to their oyvn convictions and belief . In Spain and Portugal , Masonry yvas suppressed yvith

relentless ferocity , though no definite grounds yvere alleged for the persecution . The period from 1814 to 1819 was a period of reaction . It yvas the necessary ebb before the tide of progress again set in .

Even in Protestant Germany , yve find the Landgrave Carl of Hesse making it a condition in granting a warrant to the lodge in Frankfort that the chairman and orator should be Christians , there being at that time Jeyvish brethren in the lodge . This proceeding forced the Grand Lodge of

England to maintain the true principles of Freemasonry by granting a yvarrant to those Jeyvish Masons yvho yvere desirous of keeping the lodge free from this un-Masonic innovation . But about 1819 , the period of reaction yvas passing . The

Church of Rome , finding that the governments of Europe that shared her creed yvere unable to put doyvn the science , came to their aid yvith a bull in 1819 . That bull denounced the Freemasons and republished the tyvo earlier bulls of 173 8 and 1756 , but the time had gone by for the Pope to succeed where the governments failed .

From 1819 , yvith perhaps an occasional check . Freemasonry has continued to progress till it is now permitted in every European country , except Austria and Russia . The bulls of 18 4 6 and 1865 , the various encyclical letters and allocutions delivered by Popes and Roman Catholic prelates , have been unable to stem the steady progress of

Freemasonry . No doubt indirectly the Roman Catholic authorities are right in assuming that Masons are likely to be opposed to their present doctrines and proceedings . They do not oppose them as Masons ; because Masonry has nothing to do yvith religion . But the Roman Catholic authorities have ground for

supposing that men yvho belong to a society yvhose aim is the establishment of a brotherhood as universal as human infirmity will alloyv , are not likely in their private or public capacity to favour bigotry or intolerance . The fearful spiritual penalties denounced against Freemasons by the Church of Rome , one of them being the

" Greater excommunication , " at first sight yvould lead one to believe that her hostility to the science is insuperable and unsurmountable . The old prejudices , hoyvever , that . Freemasonry yvas a cloak in some cases for immorality- and debauchery have practically disappeared .

The temporal poyver of the Papacy is noyv at an end , and yvith the course of years it is to be hoped that its supporters will give up all expectation of its restoration . When this happens , the Papacy wi 11 have no conceivable political object in suppressing Freemasonry . Many Roman Catholics , of course unjustly , regard Freemasonry as a secret society , yvhose main

object , at any rale on the Continent , is the destruction of the Papal authority in matters spiritual and temporal . When the hope of the restoration to the Papacy of its temporal poyver is gone , Freemasonry will only be opposed on spiritual or religious grounds . Christianity is , hoyvever , a progressive religion .

Undoubtedly during the last century all creeds have come nearer to the realization of the great truth that "God is Love . " There can be no doubt that , ayvful as the denunciations of the Roman Church are against those yvho do not admit her pre-eminence and authority , the spirit of toleration has made distinct advance among her members . It may be that

a time will come yvhen that Church will no longer denounce as irreligious " the union of men of every sect of religion yvorshipping a Supreme Being . " When that time conies the hostility of Rome to Masonry will cease . Perhaps that time is nearer than many of us imagine . When it does come , great progress will have been made toyvards the Masonic ideal .