Memoirs Of The Freemasons Of Naples.

the condition in which they were compelled to leave their parents , brothers , and distressed children . They were even deprived of the mournful consolation of discoursing with compassionate witnesses on the nature of their misfortunes . Equally concealed from the sig ht of the all-enlivening sun and the commerce of mankind , cruel uncertainty added to the load of their

sorrows . Two days after their imprisonment , a certain merchant of Naples , of the name of Ponsard , discovered the Polander walking very slowly through the street , not seemino- in the least sensible of the treachery he had been

guilty of . This merchant had been invited to the meeting , but unexpected business had prevented him from going . At sight of the traitor be was seized with such indignation , that he rushed into the street , and loaded him publicly with all the epithets his crime deserved ; for he bad been strictly informed of the whole transaction . The Polander endeavoured at first to

soothe Ins rage , denied the fact , and accused him of slander . Encouraged by the power of bis protector , he threatened Ponsard with the galleys , and immediately went to Pallante to inform him of the danger they were in of having their plot discovered . Thus , in an instant was an honest man snatched from the bosom of peace

and security , and forced to change the agreeable sight of a beloved wife and children for the horrid looks of an implacable jailor . Thus did these unfortunate prisoners for some time exist in all the horrors of an uncertain fate : each day , each momentbrought them nearer and neareras thej

-, , thought , to their last fatal doom , when , behold , on the fifth day of their imprisonment , their cars were invaded with the horrid noise of bolts and bars ; their different cells were open , in turn , and the traitor Pallante presented himself to them alternately . He went from one to the otherspoke to tliem with mildnessand

endea-, , voured to inspire them with , courage and fortitude ; he assured them that all that had been done was for their own safety , and that they had nothing more to do than to sign a declaration , intimating that the meeting was

intended merely for the sake of having some diversion with a stranger . He farther exhorted them to place entire confidence in him , and that ho could assure them that the affair would end well . That the King was very young , and easy to be prevailed upon ; that all the prisoners separately had taken bis advice ; that it was the only means of safety to themselves ; andto conclude

, , lie gave them bis word of honour that they should be all set at liberty the next dny . Such were the artful resolutions of Pallante . He took advantage of the terror they were in , and inspired them with a ray of hope , endeavouring by these means to deprive them of arms to defend their own cause . His

conduct iu regard to the youth Giambarba was quite different , as appeared iu the sequel by bis depositions in a court of justice . Pallante began at first with mildness to reproach him for so easily suffering himself to be seduced by the Freemasons . He was thoroughly convinced , he said , that that society was addicted ' to all

manner of vice , especially one in particular , that lie , Giambarba , was by that time too well acquainted with : "How was it possible , " added he , "that you should suffer yourself to he corrupted in that manner ? " Giambarba protested , in the strongest -manner , never to have had tho least connection with the Freemasonsand that

, he was entirely ignorant of the crime laid to his charge . Pallante doubted the truth of what he said , and threatened to stri p him if lie did not confess . The youth , recollecting the insinuating behaviour of this man " a few days before , when he took him . into his coach , a deadly

paleness overspread bis countenance , and he felt as if Ins blood were frozen in bis veins ; he no longer beheld Pallante in the light of a respectable magistrate , and by the resistance be made against bis endeavours to stri p him , be obliged the villain at length to honour his innocence and virtue . Giambarba was certainly much to be pitied ; so far from being a Freemasonlie bad not the least

, knowledge of the secrets or regulations of the society , and was even ignorant of the anecdote relating to the wooden ham before mentioned . After Pallante bad obtained the signature of the prisoner , ? , he denounced them to the Council , or the Chamber of Justice ; they obliged them to confirm their

declaration by oath . As they had named the Polander in their depositions , as one about to be admitted into the society , Criscouio , the fiscal judge , an upright and attentive magistrate , asked where he was . Pallante , who did not expect such a question , answered , that the Kingknew it . Criscouio ( who began to suspect some

treachery , especially as Pallante bad not mentioned the informer against the lodge ) added , that was not sufficient , and that it was absolutely necessary the tribunal should be informed of it , and afterwards to make their report to his Majesty : — "The judges , " continued be , " cannot possibly dispense with the appearance of bis man , who is

certainly a very material evidence . We . are told of a baptism , —we ought at least to know the person baptized , and the one who performed that ceremony ; but here we see neither the one nor the other . " Pallante again repeated that be had given an account of the whole transaction to bis Majesty . "Very well" replied

Cris-, couio , " in that ease the King is sole judge ; we have nothing further to do in the affair . " He then asked Bafli , the Greek professor , the name of a Freemason in that language , and was answered , Philanthropist , or a friend of mankind .

hue unexpected questions of Criseonio had sufficiently alarmed Pallante , who was then , though too late , sensible of the faults be bad . committed . In order in some measure to in'epare them , he sent privately to Ponsard , the Frenchman be had caused so unjustly to be imprisoned , and who bad by this time been detained a- month ; he offered to give him proofs of his favoureither b

, y money or interest , on condition of bis declaring himself to he the person who was to have been made a Freemason on the 2 nd of March . Ponsard rejected these proposals with horror , aud flatly refused to render himself an accomplice in such abominable treachery . Pallante did not desistbut made use of flatterypromises

, , , threats—but all in vain—even torments were made use of . Ponsard , having courageously resisted all they could do to him , was at last set at liberty , with strict orders to quit the country immediately . Furious at such unjust treatment , be left Naples , but re-entered the city on the opposite side , and without loss of time went to

the Marquis de Clermont , Ambassador from the French Court , to whom he made a faithful recital of all that had happened to him . The Ambassador immediatel y ordered bis coach , and made bis complaints to the King , and in the sequel supported the cause of Ponsard and the _ Freemasons in general , with so much force , that the societ

y will never forget the obligations they owe to him , and will always remember him with , gratitude and respect . ( To be continued . )

lhe Daily Review is the title of a newspaper about to be commenced at Edinburgh . It is to be of liberal politics , "with no exclusive adherence to any political party . " Mr . Guthrie , of the North . British Agriculturist , is to take- the general superintendence of its columns .