Memoirs Of The Freemasons Of Naples. No. I.

The bigots , who regarded the Masons as an impious sect , earnestly supplicated heaven to avert this evil from the State . One of them , from bigotted zeal , threw himself at the King ' s feet , and implored him to renounce a project which , in his mind , was so pregnant with evil , and replete with danger . The Freemasons , accustomed to see kings and princes among themdid not SIIOAV any

, excessive joy on this royal conversion , coimneed that , if ever he was admitted among them , it would redound more to Jiis advantage and the benefit of his people than to society at large . But the person on AA-IIOIU these reports made the deepest impression was the Marquis Tenuccithen Chief Secretary of State . King Charles

, had committed to him the education of his son , and the management of tho kingdom . This was a case in dispute between the prince and minister . Ignorant of the true principles of the Order , he dreaded lest his master , seduced and deceived , should

cause the destruction of their religion and state . Tenucci prophesied that , if once the king allied with the Masons , that a minister would then be only au agent , and not a master , as heretofore . This was the real cause of the premier ' s uneasiness . It appeared by his conduct towards the Masons that it- was the only stimulus to his proceedings .

Tenucci employed all his art to convince his master of the justness of his sentiments , and to engage him to extirpate from his states this pernicious plant . He managed AA-ith such success his influence on the tender mind of the prince , whose education he had directed , that there appeared in 1775 an edict of the king

, renewing that of his predecessor , charging the Giunta- di Siato , or Tribunal of State , of all that regarded this affair , and ordered them to proceed ad moditm belli ! towards the punishment of the factious , or according to the ri ght of Avar , with full power and authority to treat them as criminals of the state .

The Freemasons of Naples obeyed and fled ; their worthy Grand Master added his interdict to that of the king . Persuaded of the truthfulness of their cause , the brethren resolved to Avait a time more favourable , Avhen his Majesty would render justice to a society that does honour to human nature . They perceived and bewailed that , however inoffensive their institution might bethe

, legislature could suppress them Avilhout seeming to violate the rights of nations . Those times appeared to be renewed Avhen , according to the expressions of a Avriter of ancient Rome , they treated as guilty of le . ze majestJ those who had no crimes at all . * They blushed to think that the minister should accuse a society whose

principles he did not understand , and afc the same time to charge that society with high treason . Their sentiments on this subject were mixed witli compassion for his error aud ignorance . Others , more animated for the lo \ -e of liberty so congenial to man , dwelt on the terms of the edictad- modum belli —terms which appeared to them

, as announcing the completest despotism . Cautious of giving the least ground for complaint , they bewailed in secret , and submitted to the will of the monarch . The Marquis Tenucci , unremittingly arduous in the extirpation of the society , and knoAving how fretjuently they had survived oppressionresolved to accomplish its

, total abolition . He sought out au agent fit for his design , and met with one whom lie had served .- this man was one of those sycophants whose principal skill lay in the art of palmestiy , and bending his body before a great man , either for good or bad . As this person will act a

princi ple part in this history , we will give a slight sketch of his antecedents . This man , then , was the son of a coal-merchant of Aquila , Capital L'Abruzze . He was then young , and came to seek his fortune in Naples . The connection he formed Avith a chambermaid in an eminent family was the prelude of his subsequent

transactions . He became farmer of the revenue ; Chief , or Capi di Mota—that is to say , one of the four judges of the sacred and royal tribunal of St . Clare , the object of Avhieh was to explain the laws , and determine causes of appeal ; he was afterwards Criminal Judge , and member of the State Council . It is asserted that during the

exercise of these functions he was constantly attended by a 2 > riest and an executioner , destined as the attendants of his unfortunate victims ; and to prevent the delay of their several punishments , it is reported that , beingcharged to announce to some Jesuits their final condemnation , he presented himself in the midst of them

AA-ith a dagger in his hand ; that he ueA-er in these persecutions consulted anything but his OAA-U gain , and forgot iu that the principal aim and intention of his mission . He often caused stolen articles to be secreted in the houses of those- whom he had proscribed , or accused them unjustly of discontent , in order to have a plausible pretence for their punishment , and to have the reputation for a viligant magistrate . At . that time lie

filled the offices of State Councillor and Criminal and Civil Judge ; his name was Don Genaro Palhmte . It was to this man that the Marquis Tenucci revealed those fears which the Order of Freemasons inspired . In proposing him as the instrument of their destruction , it gaA-e him room to hope , as the marquis had arrived at the age of eighty-ninethat he might one day succeed to

, the ministership . This agent did not foresee that an unexpected event would hasten his disgrace . A magistrate named Patricio was then Commissary of the Slate Council—a tribunal charged by the King to issue its process against the Freemasons . The Marquis could not for a time give any other commands to Pallante but

that of secrecy . AVe shall see what use he made of the minister ' s " commission ,-without the tribunal authority . Animated Ai-itb . ' the most flattering prospects which appeared before him , his only aim was to surprise a lodge ; he searched for spies , and became one himself ; he watched night and day those whom he suspected to

be Masons ; he followed them eA-ervAA-here , he assailed their doors , Avatched their transactions ; and though these researches were useless , Pallante had resolved to find them guilty . The eighty-ninth year of the marquis intruded every moment on his memory and ambition ; these flattering images deluded him , and led him into those difficulties in which we shall hereafter see him embarrassed .

A man named Giovanni Rho , a Milanese , page to an eminent- family in Naples , had long been desirous to become a Freemason , but unfortunatel y fell into the hands of one of those false lodges who shamefnU y abused the secrets of the Order , and made it au object of traffic ; or , to make use of a term among the Freemasons of Italy- they fumigatedor led astray , instead of

, , instructing their neAv brethren . These impostors have frequently duped honest men ( particularl y in foreign countries ' ) , who , having got amongst them , belieA e they have discovered the utility of an Order whose secrets they are not acquainted Avith , and by this means have conceived ideas of Masonry very much to its

disadvantage . Rho , after purchasing his initiation , sought to adA ance himself in the society , but found he was not called to any lodge . This disappointment , far from checking