WE to-day present to our readers the first number of the FIFTH VOLUME of this Magazine. Five is a Masonic number. If we be spared to complete it, when finished the volume will be a Masonic volume. How long the series may be continued, is a matter, under Divine Providence, in the hands of the Fraternity. It was established in a well grounded FAITH in the intelligence and liberality of the Brotherhood to sustain it. It has been continued in the HOPE that we were not "wasting our labor in vain," nor "spending our strength for nought." And we enter upon a new year, with a confiding reliance on that CHARITY which "suffereth long and is kind," for an apology for the errors of the past, and for a continuance of the kind indulgence and support of the Brethren for the future.

The work has established for itself a reputation in this country and throughout Europe, which its editor will be ambitious to sustain. It has received the general approbation of the Fraternity. To merit a continuance of this approbation, will be the endeavor of our future labors. Of the degree of patronage received, we do not complain, since it is sufficient to secure the continuance of the work. It is not, however, sufficient to justify either the devotion of time or the expenditure which is required to render it in all respects equal to our wishes. It ought to be enlarged by an additional number of pages. We should be happy also to furnish occasional embellishments and illustrations. This can only be done by a considerable increase of its subscription list. The matter is in the hands of the Brethren. If they desire it, they can accomplish it. Our wishes are subordinate to theirs.

The past year has been propitious to the interests of the Fraternity. The prospects before us are bright and encouraging. For this, as a great moral Brotherhood, "holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience," it becomes us to be thankful to Him, who "maketh the storm a calm."

FREEMASONRY ON THE CONTINENT OF EU. ROPE DURING THE PAST CENTURY.

PORTUGAL.

PORTUGAL has not been the refuge of the Mason; on the contrary, Masons were known there but for a few years. As in Spain, its religious intolerance raised that scourge, the Inquisition, with its mummeries and horrors, seeking to coerce the mind of man within the narrowest and vilest trammels; proving the state of bigotry into which they had sunk, and from thence the unhappy Freemason, or other liberal-minded person, had not much consideration to expect; nevertheless, efforts were made to establish Lodges at various times and places, but the fears and jealousies of the bedarkened priests always interfered to prevent the spread of enlightenment or benefit to mankind, unless they were the greatest gainers. In 1735, several noble Portuguese, with more foreigners, instituted a Lodge in Lisbon, under the Grand Lodge of England, of which George Gordon was Master: but no sooner was the slightest suspicion entertained of its existence, than the clergy determined to give the clearest evidence of their hatred to the Order by practical illustration. The Inquisition caused John Coustos, of Berne, and Alexander Jacob Mouton, of Paris (two diamond cutters and polishers,) then in Portugal, to be arrested in 1743, and thrown into subterranean dungeons, where they remained several weeks, enduring the most severe punishments and anxiety, until the heads of the HOLY Inquisition could invent some pretext, or tax them with a crime, to give a semblance of justice to their proceedings. They were accused of not obeying the Pope's Bull, which declared Freemasonry heresy, and therefore sinned; moreover, that the exclusion of women from their meetings gave reason to suppose them guilty of unnatural crimes; an insinuation that might have been, with much more appearance of reason, retorted upon their accusers, and that they had sought to subvert all order in the Papal territories, by their determination to practice Freemasonry; upon these charges their judges deemed it expedient to place them on the rack. Mouton then embraced the Catholic religion, and was pardoned; but Coustos, remaining true to his Protestantism, was, after suffering the most excruciating tortures, and racked nine times in three months,* sentenced to four years work as a galley-slave; but the British Government claiming him as a subject, he was released before his term of punishment expired. Three-and-thirty years passed without any thing more being heard of Freemasonry in Portugal; but in the year 1776, two members of the Craft, Major Dalincourt and Don Oyres de Ornelles Paracao, a Portuguese nobleman, were incarcerated, and remained upwards of fourteen months in durance. Many searching inquiries were from time to time instituted, to ascertain if any and what Freemasonry was going forward, under the plea of discovering a conspiracy against the existing Government; many arrests of distinguished and respected noblemen and gentlemen took place in consequence in 1802; among the rest was Da Costa, the naturalist. But the severity of former times was not practised, we may presume (from the improvements of the age, and not love of the Craft,) partially owing to the dispersements of the Jesuits, who were at all times the bitter and uncompromising enemies of the Order. They were in very bad repute in Portugal, where that society likewise suffered much, and after many hardships and imprisonment they were banished, anno 1759, to Italy. It appears scarcely possible that so short a time as subsequently elapsed, could have produced the extraordinary change we now have to record, for we find in 1805, a Grand Lodge established, under the guidance of Egaz Moniz, M. W. Grand Master; but this was only the commencement of the enlightenment the French revolution tended to disseminate; Portugal, finding itself threatened by France, turned its attention to its treaties with England, and was compelled to adopt a more liberal policy, and regard with more attention the dicta from thence. The following year, war had shown itself at its frontiers, and

*See Coustos Sufferings, &c.

Junot marched victoriously into the kingdom; the Regent escaped to the Brazils, and Freemasonry received a powerful auxiliary in the French for a time; but, as it may be supposed, with the downfal of the French, and the restitution of the "old Regime," came the former prejudices, doubts and jealousies, and the days of the Craft were numbered. On the 30th March, 1818, King John the Sixth promulgated, from the Brazils, an edict against all secret societies, including Freemasonry; and again on the 20th June, 1823, a similar, though more stringent proclamation, appeared in Lisbon. The punishment of death therein awarded has been recently reduced to fine and transportation to Africa.

SPAIN

Gives no better or brighter prospect than Portugal, although Freemasonry was known there earlier; for we find in the year 1727, the M. W. Grand Master, the Duke of Inchiquin, and Lord Coleraine, arranging the meetings of deputations to found Lodges in Gibraltar and Madrid; the year 1739 saw Lord Lovell appoint Captain Jacob Commerford as P. G. M. for Andalusia. The Pope, Clement the Twelfth, at this time governed the Papal States, and in accordance with his system issued a decree, in 1737, against the Order, which was further strengthened by the edict of the following year, namely, 1738, of Cardinal Firrao, and the punishment therein awarded for being found guilty of practising Freemasonry, was confiscation and death. Not to be out Heroded by former edicts, Philip the Fifth, in 1740, declared the galleys for life, or punishment of death with torture, the award for Freemasons, a very large number of whom he had arrested and sentenced, as he had previously determined, after undergoing a lengthened confinement in the prisons of the Inquisition. In spite of these tyrannical murders and inhuman proceedings, Freemasonry spread its branches far and wide, and numerous Lodges were in existence: scarcely a town was to be found without some acknowledged Brethren being therein. At this period, one of the greatest misfortunes that could befall the Craft through treachery (and scarcely equalled for villany and disregard of all honorable feeling or sanctity of an oath, is to be met with,) occurred; thousands had cause to curse the name of Peter Torrubia. This individual (the Inquisitor of Spain,) having first made confession and received absolution, entered the Order for the express purpose of betraying it, and of handing to the executioner the members, before he knew its merits or crimes. He joined in 1751, and immediately made himself acquainted with the entire ramifications of the Craft, and names of subscribers; being unable to accuse them, he contented himself by naming for punishment members of ninetyseven Lodges, without any pretext whatever: it will at once be seen he was accuser, witness, and judge. The entire number was tortured on the rack. In 1751 Benedict the Fourteenth, who is supposed to have been a Freemason, received the Bull of Clement, without putting it in force: but Ferdinand the Sixth followed it (2nd July 1751,) by declaring Freemasonry to be high treason, and punishable with death, instigated thereto by Torrubia. However much the Spaniard might have been desirous of following the dictates of charity, religion and brotherly love, it is not to be supposed he could brave the certain malediction of the Inquisitor, whose secret spies and public hatred were known to be urging the destruction of every Member of the Craft; and the examples (if not public) were too frequent to allow any one with impunity to dare their power. Thus until the troops of France, by order of Napoleon in 1807, took possession of Spain, we have no means of tracing our Order; but Joseph Bonaparte had been Grand Master of French Freemasons, and it is not at all surprising that under his sway many new Lodges should have been formed, and the Grand Lodge of Madrid met in the Hall previously occupied by their enemies of the Inquisition. In 1811, Joseph Bonaparte ordained a superior Chapter for the higher degrees, which appear to be indispensable in French Freemasonry. Until the fall of Napoleon, and the restoration of Ferdinand the Seventh, all went well; but with the return of that monarch came the restitution of the Jesuits, the reorganization of the holy Inquisition, and the exterminating process against Freemasons. Pope Pious the Seventh

showed himself as willing as his predecessors to extinguish all liberty of thought, and 7th August, 1814, served to promulgate his doctrines. Immediately after issuing his orders, twentyfive persons, of whom suspicions were entertained as being Freemasons, were dragged in chains to confinement; but the subsequent arrests were so numerous that no correct account is obtainable, nor can their ultimate fate be recorded. On the 30th March, 1818, Ferdinand again vented his spleen against the Order, by dictating the punishment of Freemasonry to be death, transportation to India, confiscation of estates, &c. &c.; but in March, 1820, General Ballasteros, by order of the Cortes and Provisional Government, ordered the release of all persons confined for Freemasonry; fresh Lodges were warranted, and the previous reinstated. If we were to judge of the future by the past, we should say Freemasonry could not have a long or lasting footing in Spain; in proof of which we find a law of August, 1824, commanding all Masons to declare themselves, and deliver up all their papers and documents, or be decreed traitors. His minister of war, Aymerich, on the following 16th October, by proclamation, outlawed every Member of the Craft; and in 1827, seven Members of a Lodge in Grenada were executed. The civil war ensued after the death of Ferdinand, and the abandonment of the kingdom by Don Carlos enabled Mendizabel, himself a Freemason, and others, to act with toleration, and at present it is pursuing its objects without molestation.

ITALY

So naturally presents itself after Spain and Portugal; the religion, manners, and habits of the people so much assimilate, and the Papal sway is regarded as so absolute, that it might be said the history of Freemasonry in the one would suffice for all; but we will give the best account in our power in each locality. The Duke of Dorset's son, Lord Charles Sackville, established the first Lodge of Freemasons in Florence, anno 1733; but John Gaston, the last of the Medician Dukes of Tuscany, as early as 1737, evinced his feelings to the Order by the publication of stringent laws against them; in the following year, however, we find them protected against the injustice of France, where persecution was then the order of the day. This clemency was not to effect the spread of Masonic knowledge; for it was restricted and encompassed by every danger, but still the extirpation of Masons was not sought. About the middle sf the 18th century, Naples became the scene of action. A Greek resident founded a Lodge, which in a comparatively short period was joined by the most celebrated statesmen and citizens, Naples was then under the dominion of Charles the Third, of Spain, and was not likely to remain undisturbed. He declared himself on the 10th July, 1751, unfavorable, and that he considered all Freemasons dangerous and turbulent subjects. The punishment for those who continued to oppose his wishes, in this respect, was to be the same as acknowledged revolutionists. Rumors, however, of subsequent conversion to better feelings were rife. He certainly appointed out of the Craft one of the tutors to his son and successor (afterwards Ferdinand the Fourth,) and this man ultimately became his confessor. Upon this, courage took possession of the disorganized Masonic body, and they became one of the provinces of the Grand Lodge of England, on which foundation a Grand Lodge of their own was formed, intimately connected with the German Lodges. On the 27th February, 1764, this Grand Lodge was duly installed by Dieque Naselli, consisting of thirty one members. Bernardo Tanucci, Secretary of State, had sufficient influence to induce the same Ferdinand the Fourth (who had been educated by a Mason) to republish the laws of his father, and declared Freemasons guilty of treason, although they had conformed to previous orders, and delivered all their papers, &c. to the authorities. The Queen of Ferdinand, "Caroline," daughter of Francis the First of Germany, appears as the guardianangel of the Craft, and highly should her name be prized and her memory rever-. ed; to her then was Freemasonry indebted for protection, and ultimately for support. Success attended her kind and generous consideration, and all the previously arranged and prejudiced enactments were by her influence withdrawn.

On the 28th January, 1783, Tanuci by command, publicly at the meeting of the Junta, notified the same, although he concluded his remarks by exhorting them to watch narrowly into their actions, &c., as the Freemasons might become dangerous to the State and to religion. In a minute-book of the Grand Lodge of the Two Sicilies, which called itself" Del Zello," we find, on the 7th December, 1775, four constituted and three irregular Lodges; one of the latter afterwards received a warrant. The other parts of Italy are a mere repetition of sufferings, persecutions and misfortunes, the Members of the Craft being continually under punishment, through the intolerance of the priests and interference of the civil power. The neighborhood of the Pope is not congenial to the development of the higher attributes of man, and therefore it is not to be supposed that Freemasonry could flourish. Venice, in November, 1772, had a Lodge, and Verona boasted of one; but a very short career is assigned to them. The year 1785 produced a decree of the Senate against Freemasonry, and many families were transported; (this, however, Professor Siebenkees denies.) France again introduced enlightened views and liberal acts, and justice, not execution, followed her; at least such was in most cases the result of her wild and ungovernable career, compelling us to be pleased rather than grieved at her power. Under Joseph Bonaparte and Murat the Lodges grew to strength and honor: Murat conducted the arrangements for a Grand Lodge, in which he was duly installed 24th June, 1809; but in August, 1816, March, 1821, and May, same year, galley slavery was awarded to those who so shortly before Napoleon's abdication, were thus highly esteemed. What shall we say of men who knew, and those who did not know the workings of the Order. It is said that in 1820 a Lodge existed in Messina, but we are disposed to doubt it. Of later years nothing has been heard of Lodges in Italy.

SWITZERLAND

Is inhabited and divided by two widely different sects, the Catholic and Protestant. This division will at once lead us into two distinct Masonic histories of the same country; the one friendly and the other inimical; the one for the extirpation, the other for the progress of Freemasonry. Thus even Christianity is made to take extreme opinions, opposing itself and attempting to carry out its views by very different systems. The first Lodge was founded in Geneva by Provincial G. M. George Hamilton, in 1737; the second in Lausanne, by warrant of the Duke of Montague, in 1739, in which place likewise a Grand Lodge was immediately formed. Accession to Freemasonry was forbidden, but no particular regard was paid to this decree. The Council of Berne, in 1745, passed a law with certain degrees of punishment for Members of Lodges, but it was not enforced, neither was the law very nicely observed; it was, however, renewed in 1782. The pure working became subjected to adulteration; for Basle in 1766, and Zurich in 1772, adopted a different ritual, and declared themselves independent. Lodges were formed in Neufchatel in 1780. The edict of 1745, was however a clog upon all the acts of the Craft, and tended to prevent its extension. Geneva made a bold effort, and formed a Grand Lodge in 1786; seven years later the same had ceased to exist, or had become a branch of the Grand French Orient. The changes of the French revolution can be traced in the varying fortunes of Lodges there, and in its neighborhood; Switzerland naturally partook of it, and we see that an indefinite period passed without a Lodge being held. Berne again took the lead by opening the "Lodge of Hope," on the 14th September, 1803, under French authority: this Lodge was subsequently deputed to consecrate a Lodge at Lausanne, Basle, Soluthun, and other places, and commenced operations, which induced the formation of the "Grand Orient of the National Roman Helvetique," under Grand Master Br. Glayre, (this Brother was the restorer of Freemasonry in Poland, anno 1764.) In 1811 the previously mentioned Orient of Zurich made its appearance in Basle, but returned to its original position on the death of Br. Burckhardt. Br. Pet. Louis von Tavel, was appointed by the Duke of Sussex, in 1818, P. G. M., but as these various Heads