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Article OBSCURANTISM AND NIHILISM. Page 1 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obscurantism And Nihilism.
OBSCURANTISM AND NIHILISM .
LONDON , SATURDAY , JUNE 2 , 1866 .
Two classes of foes have of late years Avagecl an incessant strife against Masonry : they are the fanatics of superstition and the fanatics of infidelity . The first-named haA'e openly declared war upon ns , and duly notified us of their intention of struggling- against our Institution , until the very name of the Craft has been exterminated from the
earth . Having been preceded by the lucubrations of scouts like Veuillot , Coqirille , Ketteler , & c , in the Monde , the Civilta Cattolica , Armonia and other more or less obscure ultramontane prints of France , Italy , and Germany , the Pope's bull of
last September was sent forth , AA'ith a A'ieAV to " strike AA'ith a condemnatory sentence , as Avith a sword , that criminal sect . " Actuated by the call of their nominal chieftain , the rank and file , the Avhole host of myrmidons of the pontifical phalanx
have taken up anew those arms that had been alloAved to corrode during an armistice of fifty years . Ever since the issue of the allocution , the Avhole of the acolytes ancl understrappers of the Vatican have evinced a zeal and shown an
emulation worthy of a better cause , in aiming their missiles at our Institution , and endeavouring-, a qui mieux mieux , to outdo their prototype in base abuse and groundless objurgations . We have from time to time laid before our readers
some select specimens of that kind of pontifical literature engendered by Pio Nono ' s manifest , and in another column of our present issue they Avill find an abstract of the Bishop of Autun ' s last pastoral letter , containing directions to the clergy
of his diocese as to the manner of behaving towards Freemasons in life and death . Having dAvelt at length on the charges that had been brought against us by the Pope , the prelate enjoins his coadjutors to refuse avowed Freemasons the benefit
of Sacrament and absolution , and a religious burial . If Ave mistake not , this is the first instance ofthe practical application of the excommunication within the province of Episcopal sway ; and AVO suppose the further stratagems of the ultramontane
clergy will tend to exclude all Freemasons of the Soman Catholic persuasion from the altar , the communion-table , nay , the very precincts of the places of Avorship . The question arises , Avho -will suffer by this kind of ostracism—the Church of Home or the Craft ? The answer is obvious .
Considering that not one Mason of note has as yet repudiated his connection with the Order , in consequence of the clerical doings of the past months , but that , on the contrary , in the very nest and hot-bed of Ultramontanism , Italy , ' as AY ell as in
France and Germany , our ranks have been swelled by the admission , theirs thinned by the defection of many good men and true , we should be very ill-founded in apprehending that the cause of true light might suffer by those puerile attacks of our
enemies from without . As regards , hoAvever , the steps by which the Pope ' s agents in France are endeavouring to enforce his edict , it may not be out of place to make one practical observation on this subject . The French Exchequer , i . e ., the
aggregate of the tax-payers , contribute a sum of about forty million francs per annum towards the support of the Eoman Catholic clergy and the performance of their religious rites . This grant is appropriated upon the understanding that all
members of the Roman Church should be allowed to partake of all the benefits that may accrue from the recognition by the State of a " religion of the majority . " A movement is now on foot , among the salaried ministers of Avorship , to arbitrarily exclude from these benefits a certain number of
the faithful , for entertaining opinions that clash with none of the Canons of the Church ( the Pope ' s opinion to the contrary notwithstanding , for the doctrine of Papal infallibility is at variance with , the decisions of the Councils of Basle and Trent ) .
Why should the general public of France , including Freemasons , be compelled in future to support a legion of functionaries who thus prevaricate against the duties of their office ? Would it not be Avise
to agitate for the repeal of the Ecclesiastical grant , and thus compel the shepherds to fall back upon their flocks for their support ? Were it only as a useful strategical movement , such agitation , insofar as the present state of , public affairs in France permits , is to be recommended to our French brethren .
We havo shewn that our external enemies are utterly poAverless , their efforts and machinations utterly harmless , and consequently the result of the Avar they are openly waging against us cannot be doubted . But besides the fanatics of superstition , Freemasonry has another class of enemies to contend with Avho are far more dansrerous
because they are not , like the former , open and ,declared adversaries , but clandestine foes AA'ho , instead of assaulting our fortress from witliout
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obscurantism And Nihilism.
OBSCURANTISM AND NIHILISM .
LONDON , SATURDAY , JUNE 2 , 1866 .
Two classes of foes have of late years Avagecl an incessant strife against Masonry : they are the fanatics of superstition and the fanatics of infidelity . The first-named haA'e openly declared war upon ns , and duly notified us of their intention of struggling- against our Institution , until the very name of the Craft has been exterminated from the
earth . Having been preceded by the lucubrations of scouts like Veuillot , Coqirille , Ketteler , & c , in the Monde , the Civilta Cattolica , Armonia and other more or less obscure ultramontane prints of France , Italy , and Germany , the Pope's bull of
last September was sent forth , AA'ith a A'ieAV to " strike AA'ith a condemnatory sentence , as Avith a sword , that criminal sect . " Actuated by the call of their nominal chieftain , the rank and file , the Avhole host of myrmidons of the pontifical phalanx
have taken up anew those arms that had been alloAved to corrode during an armistice of fifty years . Ever since the issue of the allocution , the Avhole of the acolytes ancl understrappers of the Vatican have evinced a zeal and shown an
emulation worthy of a better cause , in aiming their missiles at our Institution , and endeavouring-, a qui mieux mieux , to outdo their prototype in base abuse and groundless objurgations . We have from time to time laid before our readers
some select specimens of that kind of pontifical literature engendered by Pio Nono ' s manifest , and in another column of our present issue they Avill find an abstract of the Bishop of Autun ' s last pastoral letter , containing directions to the clergy
of his diocese as to the manner of behaving towards Freemasons in life and death . Having dAvelt at length on the charges that had been brought against us by the Pope , the prelate enjoins his coadjutors to refuse avowed Freemasons the benefit
of Sacrament and absolution , and a religious burial . If Ave mistake not , this is the first instance ofthe practical application of the excommunication within the province of Episcopal sway ; and AVO suppose the further stratagems of the ultramontane
clergy will tend to exclude all Freemasons of the Soman Catholic persuasion from the altar , the communion-table , nay , the very precincts of the places of Avorship . The question arises , Avho -will suffer by this kind of ostracism—the Church of Home or the Craft ? The answer is obvious .
Considering that not one Mason of note has as yet repudiated his connection with the Order , in consequence of the clerical doings of the past months , but that , on the contrary , in the very nest and hot-bed of Ultramontanism , Italy , ' as AY ell as in
France and Germany , our ranks have been swelled by the admission , theirs thinned by the defection of many good men and true , we should be very ill-founded in apprehending that the cause of true light might suffer by those puerile attacks of our
enemies from without . As regards , hoAvever , the steps by which the Pope ' s agents in France are endeavouring to enforce his edict , it may not be out of place to make one practical observation on this subject . The French Exchequer , i . e ., the
aggregate of the tax-payers , contribute a sum of about forty million francs per annum towards the support of the Eoman Catholic clergy and the performance of their religious rites . This grant is appropriated upon the understanding that all
members of the Roman Church should be allowed to partake of all the benefits that may accrue from the recognition by the State of a " religion of the majority . " A movement is now on foot , among the salaried ministers of Avorship , to arbitrarily exclude from these benefits a certain number of
the faithful , for entertaining opinions that clash with none of the Canons of the Church ( the Pope ' s opinion to the contrary notwithstanding , for the doctrine of Papal infallibility is at variance with , the decisions of the Councils of Basle and Trent ) .
Why should the general public of France , including Freemasons , be compelled in future to support a legion of functionaries who thus prevaricate against the duties of their office ? Would it not be Avise
to agitate for the repeal of the Ecclesiastical grant , and thus compel the shepherds to fall back upon their flocks for their support ? Were it only as a useful strategical movement , such agitation , insofar as the present state of , public affairs in France permits , is to be recommended to our French brethren .
We havo shewn that our external enemies are utterly poAverless , their efforts and machinations utterly harmless , and consequently the result of the Avar they are openly waging against us cannot be doubted . But besides the fanatics of superstition , Freemasonry has another class of enemies to contend with Avho are far more dansrerous
because they are not , like the former , open and ,declared adversaries , but clandestine foes AA'ho , instead of assaulting our fortress from witliout