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Article A MASONIC HEEO: ← Page 4 of 8 →
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A Masonic Heeo:
the diamond entrusted to him . How greatly was each of his friends shocked at this slander . As we all esteemed his probity none would give credence to the base report , and we unanimously agreed , after weighing the matter , to go in a body to the jeweller and reimburse him , fiimljr persuaded that some fatal and unforeseen accident must have led to the disappearance of our friend . He , however , refused our offer , politely assuring us that the owner of the diamond was far too wealthy to be
regardful of its loss . " Truth sometimes penetrates all disguises with which falsehood seeks to cloud her ; so this generosity in persons to whom we Were in a great measure strangers made us suspect some foul play , a conjecture confirmed by a fierce and open persecution which immediately arose against Freemasonry , I myself being seized four days after .
" An acquaintance , hired by the Inquisition , seeing me in a coffee-house on the 5 th March , 1742-3 , between nine and ten of the clock at night , denounced me to nine familiars who lay in wait with a chaise near the spot . I was in the utmost confusion when , on quitting the coffee-liouse with two Mends , they seized me only . ' I had passed riiy word , ' they declared , * for the diamond which Monton was " charged with purloining ; therefore certainly I was his accomplice , arid had engaged my friends to offer payment in the hopeof concealing my crime . ' "To ' no purpose did I attempt a justification , Seizing my sword the wretches handcuffed me , thrust me into a chaise drawn by two mules , arid
thus was I hurried off to share the captivity of my friend . But , undaunted by these severities , and their repeated denunciations of vengeance in case I atteinpted to accost the passers-by , I tore open the wooden shutters of my caleche , and loudly hailed one of my friends , Mr . Richard , my companion in the coffee-house , conjuring him to apprize all our brethren of my iniprisonnient , and warn them that the only means of averting a similar fate was to go voluntarily to the inquisitors and denounce themselves . Deeds of villany are deeds of darkness .
U I would here observe that the Holy Office rarely ventures to seize its prey in broad daylight , as in the case of Monton , unless they judge he will be too much paralyzed by fear and the novelty of his position to make either an outcry or resistance . For myself I reckoned so confidently on the zeal and courage of my friends that my first impulse was to draw and defend myself , calling on my friends to set their backs to the wall and follow my example . No sooner , however , did they see my rapier out than , overwhelmed with terror from being better advised as to the consequences of
resistance , they all forsook me and fled . Left alone with these wretches , the whole nine fell upon and pinioned me , as already described . When a person is arrested all the world abandons him . His relatives go into mourning , and scarcely venture to intercede in his defence ; nay , steps are taken to bribe or intimidate the dearest friends into accusing each other .
" Swiftly the carriage rattled over tho pavement , until we reached the Casa San eta , and swept into a court-yard overshadowed by the dark grey towers of that dreary edifice . I was now ordered to alight , and handed over to an officer until the grand inquisitor had been informed of my being caught in their snare . Thcv took advantage of this interval to make
a rigorous personal search , the rule being to deprive the prisoner of any gold , silver , buckles , knives , & c , which he may have about him . They then motioned me to follow , and led the way to a lone dungeon , expressly forbidding me to speak unless addressed , nor to strike against the walls ; but in case I wanted assistance to knock at the door with a great padlock that hung outside , and which I could roach by thrusting my arm through
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Masonic Heeo:
the diamond entrusted to him . How greatly was each of his friends shocked at this slander . As we all esteemed his probity none would give credence to the base report , and we unanimously agreed , after weighing the matter , to go in a body to the jeweller and reimburse him , fiimljr persuaded that some fatal and unforeseen accident must have led to the disappearance of our friend . He , however , refused our offer , politely assuring us that the owner of the diamond was far too wealthy to be
regardful of its loss . " Truth sometimes penetrates all disguises with which falsehood seeks to cloud her ; so this generosity in persons to whom we Were in a great measure strangers made us suspect some foul play , a conjecture confirmed by a fierce and open persecution which immediately arose against Freemasonry , I myself being seized four days after .
" An acquaintance , hired by the Inquisition , seeing me in a coffee-house on the 5 th March , 1742-3 , between nine and ten of the clock at night , denounced me to nine familiars who lay in wait with a chaise near the spot . I was in the utmost confusion when , on quitting the coffee-liouse with two Mends , they seized me only . ' I had passed riiy word , ' they declared , * for the diamond which Monton was " charged with purloining ; therefore certainly I was his accomplice , arid had engaged my friends to offer payment in the hopeof concealing my crime . ' "To ' no purpose did I attempt a justification , Seizing my sword the wretches handcuffed me , thrust me into a chaise drawn by two mules , arid
thus was I hurried off to share the captivity of my friend . But , undaunted by these severities , and their repeated denunciations of vengeance in case I atteinpted to accost the passers-by , I tore open the wooden shutters of my caleche , and loudly hailed one of my friends , Mr . Richard , my companion in the coffee-house , conjuring him to apprize all our brethren of my iniprisonnient , and warn them that the only means of averting a similar fate was to go voluntarily to the inquisitors and denounce themselves . Deeds of villany are deeds of darkness .
U I would here observe that the Holy Office rarely ventures to seize its prey in broad daylight , as in the case of Monton , unless they judge he will be too much paralyzed by fear and the novelty of his position to make either an outcry or resistance . For myself I reckoned so confidently on the zeal and courage of my friends that my first impulse was to draw and defend myself , calling on my friends to set their backs to the wall and follow my example . No sooner , however , did they see my rapier out than , overwhelmed with terror from being better advised as to the consequences of
resistance , they all forsook me and fled . Left alone with these wretches , the whole nine fell upon and pinioned me , as already described . When a person is arrested all the world abandons him . His relatives go into mourning , and scarcely venture to intercede in his defence ; nay , steps are taken to bribe or intimidate the dearest friends into accusing each other .
" Swiftly the carriage rattled over tho pavement , until we reached the Casa San eta , and swept into a court-yard overshadowed by the dark grey towers of that dreary edifice . I was now ordered to alight , and handed over to an officer until the grand inquisitor had been informed of my being caught in their snare . Thcv took advantage of this interval to make
a rigorous personal search , the rule being to deprive the prisoner of any gold , silver , buckles , knives , & c , which he may have about him . They then motioned me to follow , and led the way to a lone dungeon , expressly forbidding me to speak unless addressed , nor to strike against the walls ; but in case I wanted assistance to knock at the door with a great padlock that hung outside , and which I could roach by thrusting my arm through