New Zealand Tablet. Fiat Justitia. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1874. BISHOP REDWOOD'S PASTORAL AND SECRET SOCITIES.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 77, 17 October 1874, Page 5

New Zealand Tablet. Fiat Justitia. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1874. BISHOP REDWOOD'S PASTORAL AND SECRET SOCITIES.

A writer in the ' Marlborough Times,' under the name of *' A Protestant," lately attacked certain passages iv. the Bishop of "Wellington's Pastoral. The attack was chiefly directed against his Lordship's teaching in reference to sects and " secret societies." In answer to " A Protestant, ' there appeared a long and able letter signed " Catholicus," in that journal on the 29th of the last month. We fancy ■we recognised in " Catholieus" an old acquaintance, to whom the Catholic cause has been much indebted on many previous occasions. On the subject of secret societies this writer is particularly well informed, and has at hand numerous high authorities in reference to it. We take the liberty of quoting largely to-day from this letter of " Catholicus ;" in fact we shall here publish, without curtailment, all he writes that has reference to secret societies. " Catholicus" says : — "A Protestant" ridicules Dr. Redwood for saying that the enemies of the Catholic Church liaye tried by all means to revolutionise her members, and he adds that if his Lordship did not shut his eyes to the world, ho would never advance stich nonsense. It may appear nonsense to "A Protestant," but I must tell him that if he keeps his eyes open and yet does not see what is done in the face of the world, lie must be completely blind. Was not rebellion against' the Church publicly encouraged in Poland and Germany, and also in Switzerland, where lucrative offices -were offered to priests who would turn against their own Church, whilst the faithful ministers were and are persecuted in every way ? Was not the same thing done in Italy, in Spain, in Brazil, in Venezuela ? Our opponents, I am afraid, have forgotten that denying facts is not destroying them. Now then, to begin with Secret Societies. I have proved several times in extenso with documents and declarations of leading Freemasons — and I must say they have never been refuted — that Secret Societies were one in principle and aim, viz., the downfall of Christianity by the destruction of the Catholic Church. They are the leaders of the camp of her enemies — as they admit, and as they show by their conduct. We read in Article IV. des Statuts Generaux ef JReglements de VOrdre Magoninque de France: — "If the Christian religion -was purged from a brutal priesthood . . . stupid mummeries . . it would not be more true and it would not bind any one rigorously. Freemasonry has no point of analogy with Christianity, but it contradicts and excludes it and all other religions but Freemasonry." Brother Behold, History of the three Great Lodges of Freemasonry, yage 310. '"The Prince, the bigot (here he means religious men of all Trinds), and nobility, are the deadliest enemies of humanity, and therefore they must be destroyed,' says Brother Feichte, a German Mason of high degree." — Beitrage stir BericMigung, page 45. Brother Ragon, in his " Tyler-G-eneral of Freemasonry," expressly says that in the admission to some high degree which he names, the candidate promises to avenge Freemasonry against God himself- The pass-word of entry is "Necam Adonai Necam—(l ■will slay God; I will slay.)" The same thing is repeated in the ritual of the Sovereign G-reat General Inspector. Mazzini, in his Manifesto of 1839, says : " The secret lodge mus

abandon to the simple and candid Masons of inferior lodges, ridiculoub ceremonies, and anything of tho kind." The Supreme Yente, or Head-quarter of Italy, in a secret document about the year 1822, says :— •• Our final end is the same as that or. Voltaire and the French Revolution— the annihilation and destruction ior ever of Catholicism, and even of the idea of Christianity— and the means to obtain such an end is by trying to influence the election ot tho Pope, Cardinals, and Bishops, that we may have men as we want them. — The Church of Home before the Revolution, by Cretineau Joly, Tom, 11., p. 82 to 90. J A Jew of high degree, under tlie assumed name of Piccolo-Tiger, wrote to the superior agents of tho Vente of Piedmont on the 18th of January, 1822:—" Tho essential is to isolate man from Ins family •,:.•„• • • ' and fco instil * n his mind disgust for it and for religion. Garibaldi ancl his son Menotti proclaimed lately, in their public declarations, that there is no ure in disguising longer the real aim of Masonry, which is the overthrow of the Catholic Church and of all Christianity. And their conduct in the different countries where the Catholic Church is persecuted shows they are faithful to their motto. Thus it is that in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Brazil, and Venezuela, where the Masons have the Government in their power, the Catholic Church is persecuted for not complying with their orders. L J ° "To secure more surely tho success of their wishes they have established several associations, like ' Tho League of Instruction.' and ' The Religious Universal Alliance,' for the acknowledged intention of perverting and corrupting the rising generation, and to alienate them from the Church — to induce them not to ask the blessing of religion at tlie birth by baptism, at the settlement in life by the sacrament of marriage, and especially at death by the last sacrament and Christian burial.— ' Opinion National,' 21st December, 1867, and 'Masonic World, July, 1867." These few quotations will be sufficient to prove how active !are the secret societies ; how vast is their field of operations ; how numerous are their associates ; and how ably they are marshalled all over the world. But, as I have myself heard, some will say, "No matter what may have been said or done by the Masons of the Continent, Freemasonry is not so bad in England." Here is my answer to that — "Masonry is of no country in particular. It is neither French nor Scotch nor American ; it is not Swedish at Stockholm, Prussian at Berlin, nor Turkish ab Constantinople ... .It is one and universal Masonry has several centres of action, but one centre of unity."— " Brother Ragon, Philosophical Course of Interpretations of Ancient ancl Modern Institutions." — ' Masonic World,' July, 1867. Catholicus. It may intereat our readers to know that this work of Brother Ka.gojt has been approved by the Grand Orient of Prance, which on the occasion of the Fete of the Order, celebrated by the Grand Orient, 24th June, 1840, declared that " it contains no precept, no maxim, in contradiction to the principles which govern the Society of Freemasons. That it is only after mature and wise deliberation that the. Society recognised that the work of Bro. # * # BiLGOtf was written for a praiseworthy and highly philosophical purpose ; that it was the work of a profoundly learned brother, and in every point deserving of the unanimous support ifc was sure to obtain by the mere fact of your decision." Proces-verbal de la fete d'ordre ce'lebre au grand Orient de France, le 24 Juin, 1840 (ere valgairej. Later, having received the printed book, the Gr % * # DD # * # directed the Secretary to write to Brother Ra.gon" to say that, convinced of the utility and merit of his wwort(k — t( Coicrs inter ■pretatij- 'des Initiations anciennes et inodernes" — the G***. DD # * % . had accepted it and ordered it to be placed in the Library. 'Two years afterwards, on the Ist of August, 1842 (vulgar era), in a Grand Chapter held at Nancy, a new edition, toute tnacon — perfectly Masonic — and called The Sacred Edition, was recommended for the use of the L.L %\ and of the Masons %\ alone. " Catholicus " speaks of a person called Piccoio, — or Little Tiger, — and gives a few words from his recommendations as to recruiting for Freemosonrr. But as these words as quoted give a very faint idea indeed of the fearful teaching of this man, we shall here transcribe the entiro passage. " The essential point is to separate a man from his family, and train him to lose the morality it teaches. The natural bent of his character leads him to eschew all domestic cares, and seek easy and forbidden pleasures. He loves the conversation of tho Club, and the idleness of the Theatre. Lead him on, and make him of some importance in his own eyes ; teach him quietly to grow tired of his daily work, and by these means, after separating him from his wife and children, after showing them how laborious are all his duties, you excite in him a desire for a new existence. Man is born to rebel ; fan this desire of rebellion into a flame, but the fire must not burn out. This is a preparation for the grand work which you have to commence. When you have infused into a few souls a disgust for family relations and religion — for the one nearly always follows the other — casually let fall a few words which may

excite a wish to be affiliated to the nearest lodge. This vanity of city folk and middle class men to join Free-Masonry, •is a thing so common place and universal, that I am always lost in wonder at man's stupidity, and am astonished at not seeing the whole world knocking at the doors of the Venerables, and asking of these gentlemen the honor of being one of the workmen chosen for the reconstruction of the Temple of Solomon. The unknown exercises so powerful an influence over men, that they prepare themselves tremblingly for the phantasmagorial trials of initiation and the fraternal banquet. To find one's self a member of a lodge ; to feel beyond the reach of wife and children ; to be obliged to keep a secret which toill never be confided to them, are, for certain natures, a pleasure 1 and an ambition." Another Mason, Brother # * # Clayal — see Illustrated History of Freemasonry, p.p. I, 2 — teaches " To bring lookers-on to the point, let it be added that the society scrupulously preserves a secret which is not and can never be shared by any but by Freemasons. " To induce men of pleasure, talk of frequent banquets, where good cheer and generous wines aid pleasure, and tighten the bonds of brotherly intimacy. " To artizans aud merchants, say that Freemasonry will be useful to them, by extending the circle of their customers and business. Thus we have an argument for all tastes, for all vocations, for all minds, and for all classes." But there are vast numbers of Freemasons who have not the secret of the society, and who, we should hope, if they did know it, would abandon the brotherhood at once, and reject with horror all participation in its designs. Even the Grand Masters. Aye are assured on the highest Masonic authority, arc themselves in profound ignorance. A circular, drawn up by the Chief Illuminated Masons after the Masonic Congress at Wilhelmsbade, contains these remarkable words : — " They have drawn Princes into the Lodges, and a great multitude has followed these phantoms. Undoubtedly the Princes " — these were Grand Masters — " who convoked the Congress of Wilhelmsbade were animated with the best intentions. But only a small number of Masons were disposed to accept their laws. They were not, indeed, capable of giving a clear and satisfactory explanation of the mysterious Masonic characters of which they were themselves ignorant." The fact is, the great body of Freemasons is, for the most part, made up of the eating, drinking, fooling, paying Masons, who live in expectation of a secret which will never be confided to them, but who, nevertheless, move as one man to carry out political, religious, and educational projects, devised and placed before them by the wily and wicked v Illuminated Masons " who belong to the Inner Lodges.