Mystics And Mysticism. No. Iii.

Society , are the following . They all maintain , that the dissolution of bodies by fire is the only way by which men arrive at true wisdom , and come to decern the first principle of things . They all acknowledge a certain analogy and

harmony between the powers of nature and the doctrines of religion , and believe that the Deity governs the kingdom of grace by the same laws with which he rules the kingdom of nature ; and lience they use chemical denominations to express

the truths of religion . They all hold , that there is a sort of divine energy or soul diffused through the frame of the universe , which some call the archaus , others the universal spirit & c . They all talk in the most superstitious manner of what they

call the signatures of things , of the power of the stars over all corporeal beings , and their particular influence upon the human race , of the efficacy of magic , aud the various ranks and orders of demons . These demons they divide into two orders , sylphs ,

and gnomes , from which system Pope borrowed Ms beautiful machinery of the Rape of the Lock . In short the Bosicrucians and all their fantastic followers agree in throwing out the most crude aad ineompreheusible notions and ideas , in the most obscure , quaint and unusual expressions .

Masonic Persecution.—V.

MASONIC PERSECUTION . —V .

The Bull of Clement the XII ., when issued in 1738 met with little favour in France , although as we have shewn some attempt was made to destroy . he Order in that country . The French looked upon it as arbitrary and unjust , and the Parisian

Parliament refused unanimously and positively to register it . In the Ecclesiastical and other States of Italy , the torrent of persecution burst across the land ; Clement ' s Bull was followed by au edict , dated 14 January , 1739 , full of the same

malignant bigotry , and denouncing the same terrible punishments as did the first leaden messenger . The servitude of the gallies , the torments of the rack , and a fine of a thousand crowns in gold , were the threatened punishments to persons of

every description , who should dare to presume to at . end a Masonic meetino-. O In Tuscany , the persecution was conducted with frightful vigour and violence . Crudeli , a Mason , was arrested at Florence , and thrown into the

dungeons of the Inquisition . Here he was subjected to all the hellish tortures of the rack , and at Hast , sentence of imprisonment for life was

passed upon him for harbouring Masons . It reflects the highest honour upon the memories of the members of the Grand Lodge of England of that time , that no sooner did they hear of Crudeli ' s sad fate , then they obtained him enlargement , and sent

him a large sum of money to assist him in his necessities . When Francis de Lorraine , who had been initiated at the Hague in 1731 , ascended the Grand Ducal throne , among one of the first acts of his reign was to set at liberty , all those Masons

who had been imprisoned by the Inquisition . Still further to mark the high esteem which he entertained for the Order , he attended , and gave personal assistance at the constitution of several lodges in Florence , and other parts of his

dominions . This enlightened conduct upon the part of Francis was however not followed by other Italian Monarchs , who , blind adherents of the Vatican , like bloodhounds shown the quarry , rushed forth

to destroy the doctrines , and murder the adherents of Freemasonry . This however they failed to do , for Masonry continued to flourish in Italy , despite , torture , fire and imprisonment , and in 1751 , there were working lodges not only in Tuscany , but iu

Naples , and other places , as well as in the Eternal City itself . About a month after the edict following the Bull had been published , a French work appeared , - entitled " An apology for the Society of

Freemasons . " The Pope at once , issued a decree condemning it , and ordered the Ministers of Justice to have it consigned to the flames in one

of the public streets of Borne . The Romish Church has never been able to see beyond the point of its nose . This French work was a very lame thing , ancl the putting of it in the Index Expurgatorius , and burning copies was not likely

to tend to the suppression of its sale , or the destruction of a number by fire , to the annihilation of the doctrines and Order of Freemasons .

The wise men of Gotham , in history most renowned for sapience , were very much troubled by crows , who used to come and pick up the seeds which they sowed . The wise men held a council , where it was resolved that a crow should be caught ,

stripped of his feathers , and then tied to a stake in the fields , as a warning to all his black coated fraternity . A crow was accordingly caught , and in spite of his vehement protestations he was properly plucked , taken out to the fields , and tied to a stake , and left there . The Gothamites went home