Memoirs Of The Freemasons Of Naples.

MEMOIRS OF THE FREEMASONS OF NAPLES .

LOMVOSr , SATUHLAT , MAT 25 , 1801 .

( Continued from p . 385 . ) The Calderari now numbered twenty thousand members , and Canosa had the audacity to distribute , unauthorised by the royal authority , fire-arms and accoutrements for the whole number , under the pretence of protecting the kingdom ; andplacing himself at the head of this

, body , he determined to prosecute any Ereemason he could discover , and to imprison all the leading members of the Carbonari ; but when the King became acquainted with these machinations , he degraded Canosa and sent him into exile . The Calderari now changed their opinions , and aspired to the honours of the opposite

society ; and all who had committed crimes and were in fear of the law , or those who were troubled with an evil conscience , joined the Carbonari , and this society vastly increased in number . The contagion extended even to the officers of the army ancl the clergy ; they were even protected by the Pope . Eeliion had declined from the

g hour that philosophy had shaken belief in some of its doctrines , and corrupt morals had banished the rest . "Nothing now remained , " says Colletta , "but the exercise of empty forms , displeasing to G-od and useless to

society ; the habit of repeating prayers a hundred times in the day—a movement of the lips without the heart ; slender charities , and those not from benevolence , but custom or ostentation , and not so as to inconvenience the giver , but bestowed out of his superfluity ; the duty of confession merely fulfilled to appease the conscience ,

and enable the sinner to return to his sin ; and acts of penance performed without the spirit of repentance ; in short , the whole mass of the Neapolitan community seemed to have fallen into superstition , or , what is worse , hypocrisy and fraud . " Eerdinand , feeling daily that his difficulties increased , sent for Luigi de Medici and the

Marquis Tommasi , appointed them the principal ministers of the crown , and reposed every confidence in them . It was now proposed by some old members of the Craft that the Ereemasons should again hold their lodges in Naples , and a meeting was called for that purpose , which De Medici attended . They assembled at the house of

Michele Sciaronne ( whose actions we have previously recorded ) , in the room he hacl set apart , ever since his liberation , not for the purpose of lodge meetings , but for the weekly assembling of friends and brethren for

religious devotions ; their practices bore a striking contrast to the mummeries without . Sciaronne had become very old and infirm , but his intellect was still clear , and his acts of generosity and kindness had endeared him to all who knew him . He was unanimously voted to the chair ; his address was very simple ; he reviewed the

persecutions the brethren had formerly endured , and the difficulties that even now lay in their way , and said they had more to fear in a country like Naples from false Iriends than from enemies without . He then enlarged upon the duties of Masons , which , he said , were to walk uprightly before Heaven and before men , neither

inclining to the right hand or the left , and neither becoming persecutors in religion , nor bending towards innovation or infidelity . In civil government , firm in their loyalty , yet steadfast to their laws , liberties , and constitution . In private life , yielding up every prosperity , inclining neither to avarice nor injustice , to malice or revenge , to envy or contempt of mankind ; endeavouring in their path through life to walk with honour and integrity , that they might be examples to the world of the truth and

faithfulness of Masons . A resolution being proposed that the Ereemasons should again incorporate themselves in Naples , and that a correspondence should be entered into _ with the Grand Lodge of England , Luigi de Medici rose to state his views on the subject . He said , " No one could be more nleased than himself to meet his

old friends and brethren , and that the address he had just heard' from Bro . Sciaronne had given him great pleasure , and had fully explained the principles of a Mason ; but he considered his revered friend had overlooked the difficulties of the day ; that , in his estimation , so long as secret societies were daily conspiring against

the throne , however much their principles might differ from such societies , their meetings would always be looked upon with suspicion , and the world without would attribute a political motive to them . He dwelt upon the troubled state of the kingdom , and upon the fickle-mindedness of the lewho to-day miht

peop , g countenance them , and to-morrow might denounce them as enemies to their country ; that there ivere even at that moment persons calling themselves Ereemasons , who had unaccountably got hold of some of the forms and ceremonies of the Craft , but that their principles differed as widely as liht to darkness . The genuine

g Masons , by again forming themselves into a body , would in a measure be adopting the spurious members , who would no doubt seek admission to their body , and it would everywhere be considered one and the same fraternity . " He should propose , therefore , :: that until the country was more tranquil , and political societies were

less numerous , the Ereemasons should not organise themselves into a body , and no lodges should be held at Naples . " There were two or three dissentient voices to this proposition , but it was eventually carried by a large majority , and the meeting was adjourned sine die . In 1815 , Eerdinand being firmly reinstated , many of the exiles who had formerly supported the King re-, turned to Naples , and had their property restored to

them ; but the treasury reclaimed the gifts of Joseph and Joachim ; this forced restitution caused discontent among many . When Joseph Bonaparte reigned at Naples , in 1806 ancl ISO / , many faithful adherents to Ferdinand continued firmly to advocate his claims , and many of them were persons of high rank and position . Some of these were arrested as conspirators ; among the rest were

the magistrate Vecehioni , Councillor of State ; he was declared guilty and imprisoned in Turin ; Luigi la Georgi , rich and noble , he was cruelly treated , and died in a i dungeon ; the Duke Filomarino ivas beheaded , and the Marquis Palmieri , though a colonel in the army , was hung , and his family deprived of their inheritance ; but

the widow of the unfortunate marquis , when Joachim ascended the throne , threw herself at his feet and besought him to protect the widow and the fatherless ; the king was affected by her prayers and tears , and restored to her the family property . On the restoration of Ferdinand this grant was reclaimed . The Marchioness

, having vainly sued the ministers , presented herself at the palace , congratulating herself that she must be heard , since it was no longer inhabited by an usurping king , but by him for whom her husband had incurred the penalty of treason . But her tears ancl entreaties were all in vain ; Ferdinand would not hear her , and the poor

afflicted family had to quit the abode of their ancestors for ever . It is supposed at this period tbat the King was led more by the Pope and his Cardinal representative than by his own ministers , for Luigi de Medici was often heard to regret the harshness of the Sovereign to the poor Marchioness . Ferdinand in his earlier days has been described as naturally good natured and well disposed , but now he appeared entirely