Father Foy On Secret Societies.

the general account he had endeavoured to irive about secret societies . He then divided them into three periods—the first up to the time of Weisbaulpt ; the second from 1776 till the French Revolution ; and the third period Avas from the French

Revolution doAvn to the present time . These societies assert that they have come CIOAVU fron the time of Solomon , Avhen he was building his Temple . Hiram Avas sending wood there , and the father of Hiram Avas the one AVIIO Avas superintending

the Avork of the Temple . It was because the latter would not reveal the secrets of the Mason ' s craft , that three miscreants put him to death , and it Avas contended by these societies that ever since that time these secrets had been kept up . Then there was

a claim that secret societies might be traced doAvn through Manicha ^ ism , and eventually through the Knights Templars , or that part of them that Avas condemned by the Pope and General Council , and Avhich the Pope and the Avorld at large put doAvn as evil .

These Knights Templars had hid themselves , it Avas contended , in a part of Scotland , and nurtured their doctrine until the time Avhen the Stuarts left England .

They accompanied them to France , and in a short time scattered their system all over Europe . That account appertained to the first set of secret societies existing up to 1776 . NOAV one of the greatest authors who had written about these secret societies , the Abb ( 5 Barruel , AVIIO had made such an

extensive examination of these matters , told them that there was not the slightest foundation Avhatever for alleging that these secret societies had anything to do Avith the Temple of Solomon . The same Avriter also denied the pretence made by

these societies of a certain craft of jjMasons having been kept up ever since that period , though he told them that in the middle ages there were persons who banded themselves into guilds to keep up their trades . So far hoAvever , from these persons performing the

impious and horrible deeds attributed to secret societies , it was necessary for them to make a public profession of faith , and every month to approach the Sacraments ° f the Christian Church . Further than that , Barruel quoted the fact of there being at that time in France a Avell knoAvn craft , called the Fendeurs , or cutters of ffood . This particular society Avas not

a political or a religious one , and so it was Avith the other crafts AVIIO Avent about . They might have Avords that wore known to themselves , but they were only meant Avhen they Avere travelling that they might be recognized by their OAVU actual craft , and have help and assistance Avhenever they needed it . As an illustration of this he ( the lecturer ) might mention that he once had a servant Avho had been in the

navy , and when mendicants sometimes asserted that they had been in the same service , by the use of nautical terms he Avas very soon able to decide Avhether they had been or not . Barruel Avent on to tell them that if there Avas any descent from ancient times on the part of secret societies , the only body that they could claim to be discarded from Avas that

of the Manicheeans , and he showed the connection between the Manicheeans and many of the modern secret societies . Having quoted at length from Barruel , the rev . gentleman went on to say that , as he pointed out before , the characteristic of the Manichreans was thisthat they

repre-, sented two gods , one evil and one good one , and he Avas not surprised to find that in the hig her grades of the Scotch branches this was especially a point that was put before them . He must , hoAvever , proceed to speak of the second part of his lecturethe

, true secrets of Freemasonry . Now , as he had said before , this Avas a very important point , as there were those fearful oaths Avhereby the person was bound doAVn to keep what was supposed to be placed in

his confidence , and not only these oaths but also the accompanying ceremonies , which were simply terrific , which Avere performed in order to impress all those who became members with the fact of how terrible a thing it Avould be for them to reveal the principles of these societies under

which they enrolled themselves , He Avould notice one or two things said to persons who took such oaths aud who undenveni such initiations . Before doing so , however , there was one matter to which he should like to allude . It was said that

there vras a great deal of benevolence about such societies , and a great deal of good was done for widows and orphans and those in misfortune . God forbid that he should say one Avord against those who did one good thing and any act of kindness and benevo *