FREE-MASONRY AND THE LATE EMPEROR NAPOLEON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 57, 30 May 1874, Page 10

FREE-MASONRY AND THE LATE EMPEROR NAPOLEON.

The following strange and startling revelations have been taken from the • Journal de Florence,' an able, fearless, and accurate Catholic journal. The article from which they are taken in one of a series written by the editor of that paper on tho anti- Christian sects of Europe, and on the influences of Free-Masonry on the policy of the late Emperor of the French. It may also serve as a key to the cause of the present German persecutions, and the trials to which the Holy Father has been subjected.

The Journal prefaces its extracts from the memoirs by stating that all the world was well aware that Napoleon the Third was carried to his height of power by tke agency and the energy of the secret societies. All the world, too, was aware that seated on his throne of Empire, having himself graduated in the worst of secret associations, and forecasting for the future, he felt that religion was the surest pillar of his power, and that the Church alone could avail to consecrate his dynasty into a lasting and a mighty influence ; that, in the midst of his good resolutions for the encouragement of religious observances, and for the protection of the Church, he was diverted from his pur' pose by the Orsini conspiracy, and the bursting of the shell that nearly cost him his life. The Orsini explosion was the beginning of the " Italia Unita" 1 and this fact is thus traced in the moraoirs already mentioned :— " On the evening of tbe Orsini attempt upon his life (Jan. 14, 1858,) the Emperor showed, in presence of the danger a wonderful coolness. Subsequently to the plots for his assassination at. the Hippodrome and at the Opera Comique iv 1553, and the attempt of Pianori in 1855, he conceived a great horror of the sects, and had resolved to devote himself to the prosperity of France, and to the secure establishment of his dynasty. But other reflections soon came to his uiiiad, and with them came that terror from the past which gets hold of souls, even the best disposed, and constitutes their severest chastisement What would become of the Empire and the Prince Imperial if the sect, which had sworn death to Napoleon, were to realise its execrable purpose ? The Emperor, a prey to the most terrible perplexities, remembered an advice which had been given him by his mother, the Queen Hortense : ' If you should ever find yourself in great danger, and want counsel, consult the Advocate X. He will be a safe guide for you.' This advocate was a Roman exile, whom Napoleon had formerly known in the Romagna, at the tiaie of the Italian revolt against the Holy See. He was living near Paris, in middling circumstances — (hat state of comparative comfort in which Freemasonry in some way or other contrives to secure to its leaders. Napoleon sent in quest of him, and desired him to be invited to the Tuileries. He was found and promised to be at tho pala< c next day. When he entered the Imperial apartment, Napoleon took his hand and said : ' They want to kill me. What have I done ?' « You have forgotten,' he answered, ' that you are an Italian, and that your oath binds you to the cause of Italian glory and independence.' Napoleon maintained that las love for Italy was unaltered, but that, as Emperor of the French, ho should think also, and primarily of the glory of France. The advocate rejoined that no one wanted to prevent the Emperor from devoting himself to the affairs of France, but that it was his duty as well to think of Italy, and to unite tho cause of both, by giving them equal freedom and the same future. If he failed in this it was decided to leave no stone unturned to free the Peninsula from Austrian rule, and

to found Italian Unity. < What, then,' asked Napoleon, « is it lam wanted to do? 1 The advocate promised to consult with hh friends and to bring him the result in a couple of days. lit a day or two the answer came that the scot demanded three things— firstly thparden of Orsini 5 secondly, the proclamation of Italian independence; 1 *Zc *' J unction of France in a war with Austria. An interval of fifteen months was allowed him for the carrying out of this programme, and for that length of time he was guaranteed an immnnity from violence. " Here," says the • Journal de Florence,' " the memoir introduces a number of documents, which showed how much about that period, the Emperor veered and wavered in his policy. The Emperor worked hard to secure the pardon of Orsini. He itiducel the Empress to intercede for him. The Ministry and the Corps de Diplomatique were anxious for the pardon. One man, however, hold out against it, and this was his Eminence Cardinal Marlot, the Archbishop of Paris. The Cardinal said to the Emperor : — " Sire, you can do much in France, but you can not arrest the arm of justice. By a wonderful mercy ot God your life has bean spared in this diabolical attempt ; but French blood has been spilled close by you, and this blood demands an atonement j otherwise every idea of justice would seem to have been lost." Napoleon understood his position, and sawthere was but one thing he could do. He went to visit Orsini. We shall never know what passed at that interview ; but it is certain that Napoleon affirmed the oaths and promises he had registered years ago in Italy, and that he swore to him, when he could not save him, that he would act as his testamentary executor. The phrase is correct, and Napoleon has been the testamentary executor to the will of Oi-sini. It was agreed that the latter should write a letter to the Emperor, which the Emperor was to make public, and in which the programme of the Italian " idea" should be set forth. Then was witnessed one of the grossest scandals of modern times — the reading of that letter in the open court, and its publication in the ' Monifceur.' The letter is printed in the memoir, but not its passage having reference to the Pope. " Martyr" (as they profanely called him) to the Italian idea, Orsini mounted the scaffold, convinced that Italy would soon be one, and that the Pope would be dethroned. As he was about to die, he cried aloud—" Yive 1' Italia, Vive la' France !" The memoir traces the events that bo speedily followed. Anxious to quarrel with Austria, and finding no pretext, the Emperor uttered the well-known words of January 1, 1859, to M. Hubnerj the ambassador of Francis Joseph, words which fell like a thunder-clap on the world, and prepared the war of 1859. Prussia, which was not then in the game of the Italian revolution, suddenly stepped forward to check the Drogress of the " idea." It became necessary to make the peace of Villafranca (July 14, 1859), and to sign the treaty of Zurich in the year following. It was necessary t 0 quiet French susceptibilities by the annexation of Nice and Savoy — to conceal from Europe the real designs of the sect, and to put che ks to the execution of the Italian plans. Dissimulation and delay s 6uited the character of Napoleon ; they were the cause of his final overthrow. The sect cast him over, and took Bismarck in his place. When the war of '70 shall have como to be better understood, it wil —be made manifest that the sect, rather than the armies of Germany, defeated France, and bore away those victories which have accomplished the unity of Italy. Of all the skilful devices of the sect, the most dangerous one is tint of making the people believe that everything which happens is the result of the play of diplomacy or of war. Diplomacy and war are of themselves powerless today for the foundation of empires and liinzdomo. It is the sect which establishes them, and what we seen above is a clear proof of it. But there comes ever a moment when God determines to draw from out the evil which He has permitted, the gootl which He designs for His Church. He breathes upcri the handiwork of the sect, and it vanishes. It belongs to the Christian people to hasten the coming of that moment by severing themselves from all fellowship with those secret societies and by holding themselves fast to the towellings of the Church."