Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Late King Leopold And The Grand Orient Of Belgium.
THE LATE KING LEOPOLD AND THE GRAND ORIENT OF BELGIUM .
" Brussels , 17 th . February , 1866 . " Here one hears nothing spoken of but the carnival , its masks , proces" sions , and balls , and—really this Freemasonry is irrepressible—the great " funeral fete given by the Grand Orient of Belgium last Saturday night " in their magnificent temple of Masonry . I am but a weak manand
, ' " I feel myself much bound to bow to authority , and the authority of ' the Church has recently told us that this famous society is dangerous " to States and subversive of civil and political order . At the same _ time " I knew the late King Leopold very well , and , with a wise submission " to constitutional liberty , there was not in this world a man with more " firm and decided views as to the necessity of checking revolution and
" disorder , and , though himself a Protestant , he was the stoutest " upholder of the Catholic Church in Belgium , because he believed it was " best for man ' s happiness to submit reverently to the precepts of the " relig ion in which bo was born . How , then , was it possible that " this sage Leopold , if the assertions of the late Allocution be correct , " should have been a brother of this order— ' Brother Leopold' as I " hear he is fondly called in the lodges—and not merely one nominally
" of the craft , but one understanding and practising its tenets and defending " it in his kingdom and elsewhere with his power , his purse , and his pen ? " The whole thing appeared so contradictory to me that I began to think " Leopold when a youth merely gratified a boyish curiosity , and having " seen the secrets of the prison-house forgot and abandoned without , of " course , betraying them . But careful inquiry , so far as one kept outside " the mystic portals bfear of a dread ceremonial could make itconvinces
y , " me of this , which I have from undoubted and altogether other than " Masonic authority—that the late King Leopold , at his own request and " after previous general inquiry , was initiated in the Lodge of Esperance " at Berne , in Switzerland , in 1813 , when in the 23 rd . year of his age . " After that period he always attended Masonic lodges abroad whenever " he had an opportunity until his settlement and marriage in England .
" About the time of his marriage , in 1816 , or immediately after , he "joined an English lodge of Freemasonry , and took an active participation " in its proceedings . When a widower , on all his visits to Germany , as " opportunity offered , he also took part in Masonry , and when in 1832 " he mounted the Belgian Throne , without a moment ' s hesitation , in reply " to an address sent to him , his Majesty agreed to take the order in " his new kingdom under his august protection . He did notfrom his
, " position , of course , attend the lodges , but he frequently inquired into " their working , and always expressed his pleasure at their prosperity ; and " on his death the collars and jewels of his Majesty ' s Masonic degree " were found mingled with the badges of the most illustrious of European " orders of chivalry , with those of the Garter , the Golden Fleece , and " the Legion of Honour . It was no wonderthereforethat the
cere-, , " niony at the Hall of the Grand Orient in honour of this king should " have been a most brilliant success . Everything that taste could suggest " in draperies and adornment was displayed in the gorgeous apartment , and " the first painters and sculptors of Belgium lent their aid and their taste " to render the ceremonial worthy of the kingly brother . I understand M
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Late King Leopold And The Grand Orient Of Belgium.
THE LATE KING LEOPOLD AND THE GRAND ORIENT OF BELGIUM .
" Brussels , 17 th . February , 1866 . " Here one hears nothing spoken of but the carnival , its masks , proces" sions , and balls , and—really this Freemasonry is irrepressible—the great " funeral fete given by the Grand Orient of Belgium last Saturday night " in their magnificent temple of Masonry . I am but a weak manand
, ' " I feel myself much bound to bow to authority , and the authority of ' the Church has recently told us that this famous society is dangerous " to States and subversive of civil and political order . At the same _ time " I knew the late King Leopold very well , and , with a wise submission " to constitutional liberty , there was not in this world a man with more " firm and decided views as to the necessity of checking revolution and
" disorder , and , though himself a Protestant , he was the stoutest " upholder of the Catholic Church in Belgium , because he believed it was " best for man ' s happiness to submit reverently to the precepts of the " relig ion in which bo was born . How , then , was it possible that " this sage Leopold , if the assertions of the late Allocution be correct , " should have been a brother of this order— ' Brother Leopold' as I " hear he is fondly called in the lodges—and not merely one nominally
" of the craft , but one understanding and practising its tenets and defending " it in his kingdom and elsewhere with his power , his purse , and his pen ? " The whole thing appeared so contradictory to me that I began to think " Leopold when a youth merely gratified a boyish curiosity , and having " seen the secrets of the prison-house forgot and abandoned without , of " course , betraying them . But careful inquiry , so far as one kept outside " the mystic portals bfear of a dread ceremonial could make itconvinces
y , " me of this , which I have from undoubted and altogether other than " Masonic authority—that the late King Leopold , at his own request and " after previous general inquiry , was initiated in the Lodge of Esperance " at Berne , in Switzerland , in 1813 , when in the 23 rd . year of his age . " After that period he always attended Masonic lodges abroad whenever " he had an opportunity until his settlement and marriage in England .
" About the time of his marriage , in 1816 , or immediately after , he "joined an English lodge of Freemasonry , and took an active participation " in its proceedings . When a widower , on all his visits to Germany , as " opportunity offered , he also took part in Masonry , and when in 1832 " he mounted the Belgian Throne , without a moment ' s hesitation , in reply " to an address sent to him , his Majesty agreed to take the order in " his new kingdom under his august protection . He did notfrom his
, " position , of course , attend the lodges , but he frequently inquired into " their working , and always expressed his pleasure at their prosperity ; and " on his death the collars and jewels of his Majesty ' s Masonic degree " were found mingled with the badges of the most illustrious of European " orders of chivalry , with those of the Garter , the Golden Fleece , and " the Legion of Honour . It was no wonderthereforethat the
cere-, , " niony at the Hall of the Grand Orient in honour of this king should " have been a most brilliant success . Everything that taste could suggest " in draperies and adornment was displayed in the gorgeous apartment , and " the first painters and sculptors of Belgium lent their aid and their taste " to render the ceremonial worthy of the kingly brother . I understand M