A SINISTER POWER IN THE WORLD.

THE AMERICAN FREEMASON
JANUARY 1914

The writer of the following is one whose name, if it could be given, would
command the respect and attention of every reader at all familiar with the
great figures among foreign diplomats. The request of the editor for
information was made with diffidence,  and with hardly the hope of reply. 
Anonymous writing in this case is a necessity and for obvious reasons.
Unusual care has been taken that the translation should give the exact
thought of the writer, as befits the importance of his subject.  It can only be
said that but few living men are so well fitted, by experience and intimate
knowledge of international affairs, as this nameless writer to discuss his
subject.-EDITOR FREEMASON.


IF necessity I must speak from behind the mask.  To do otherwise would
be an unpardonable indiscretion.  Nor can I go into details of particular
episodes, or by a process of elimination the identity of the writer might be
guessed.  Yet you will allow me to say, without egotism, that but few men
in Europe have a closer knowledge of some phases of international
relations within the last twenty years than myself.  With this knowledge, and
confining myself to your question as to the part and influence of the papacy
upon world polities, I can say, and with emphasis, that such influence is
constantly exerted, always with sinister purpose and evil effect, and in
almost every question arising between governments and peoples.  The
purposes of the Vatican seem never to run in the direction to be taken, if
the best interests of nations are to be served.

Back of all the moves of Rome for a generation is the ceaseless scheming
for a restoration of the temporal power.  Yet the chanceleelleries are
assured by soft-spoken prelatical diplomats that this is now no more than
a dream; that while the Holy See must preserve its historical rights on all
occasions, and cannot accept its despoilment, yet the claims put forward
are really no more than academic and do not enter into the domain of
practical politics.  But the lie is given to such frequent expressions of virtual
acquiesence in the fait accompli by the ceaseless activities of these same
gentlemen of the robe, who seek to stir the waters of world politics in their
most turbid places.  They hope for restoration to place among the actual
powers, or at least for such gain as will give the pope an acknowledged
position again among temporal princes.  Realizing that no argument of
weight can be presented to the cabinets to bring about such end, they can
only expect advantage from some quarrel or war that might disturb or
destroy the established order.  Statesmen of even the most powerful
nations are more and more fearful of war, no matter what the question
involved.  They seek by every known expedient of diplomacy, by
concession and compromise, to avert the final appeal to arms.  Yet as
everyone knows, the equilibrium of Europe is notably unstable, and at
some perilous juncture even the push of a priest might suffice to disturb the
existing peace.  And the priest is always ready to give the push should the
auspicious moment offer, and seem to promise even a remote benefit to his
cause and caste.  Having nothing to lose and all to gain, these would not
shrink from stirring an embroilment that might involve the whole continent
in a conflagration of war.  This is a terrible indictment, but it is borne out by
facts, and the facts are known to many whose business it is to guard the
interests of the nations.

The present occupant of St. Peter's chair is not a diplomat.  He succeeded
one of the shrewdest men who ever headed the church.  Pope Pius X is a
devotee, and no one will question his earnestness and sincerity, and his
desire to advance the spiritual welfare of the entire Catholic communion. 
But viewed from the purely secular standpoint, he is, because of these very
qualities, the more dangerous.  In dealings with the world he is no more
than a puppet.  He is helpless and ignorant, an unconscious tool in the
hands of men who would be accounted unscrupulous, even when
compared with the most daring and conscienceless of secular diplomatists.

With a world-wide organization, which is a marvel of discipline and
effectiveness, Rome can gather information, and does so gather from every
country, and of such nature and quality as puts to shame the best that can
be gleaned by the secret services and intelligence offices of the great
powers.  These men have the precedents and the experiences of centuries
to guide them.  They have a continuing policy that, though it may seem
opportunist at times to make immediate gain, never varies in direction and
ultimate purpose.  They are willing to sacrifice any pawn to make a master-
move for position on the international chess-board.  The likes and dislikes
of the nations, the passions and prejudices that are the legacies of history
- these are all known and estimated at proper value, and are skilfully played
upon as occasion requires.  They know - all too well - how to stir pride or
resentment, and how best to sow seeds of hatred that may later ripen to a
harvest of strife.

These things are known in the cabinet rooms of all the powers, that at
Washington not excepted.  The sinister and dangerous influence of the
church is admitted, though most frequently referred to in whispers or hinted
at in guarded phrase.  For the enmity of the official church is not to be
lightly incurred, even by those most secure in control of government.  But,
as I say, the full value of this malign influence is known, and is for the most
part wisely discounted.  With capable statesmen - and it is fortunately rare
that incapables are given controlling power - the danger thus present is
minimised.  But the same sinister and continuing influence is exerted upon
the people, and the chief danger is through popular sentiment, which
tremendously affects the action of modern governments.

Take, for instance, the growing tension between France and Italy.  The
questions really in dispute turn upon Mediterranean power, complicated by
results of the Tripolitan and Balkan wars.  There is nothing in the subject
but could reach equitable adjustment, and without wounding the
susceptibilities of either party.  The two nations are natural allies rather than
potential foes. Left to themselves, even with some troublesome economic
questions between them, France and Italy would speedily establish an
enduring friendship.  But it would not serve the purposes of the papal
intriguers that France or Italy should be free from embarrassment.  With
such disengagement the latter nation could more closely watch the policies
of Austria, to whose cause the official church is committed.  With freedom
from foreign embarrassments the statesmen of these two countries could
turn with clear minds to the pressing questions at home, which the new
time is making ever more insistent.  The equalizing of conditions of life, the
bringing of education closer to the needs of men and women-these are of
the largest import in every country, and they involve some matters wherein
the church claims an absolute or a partial control.  Especially in the matter
of education is there perpetual difficulty, because of ecclesiastic
interference with the plans or proposals of governments.  Present imperfect
conditions are preferred to scientific solutions, and disturbances are
welcomed by the churchmen as these may serve to distract the statemen
from such internal tasks.

We have seen that France has, within the last few years, fully recognized
the danger.  By very drastic measures the powers of the political church
were minimized.  But the check was, apparently, no more than temporary. 
The cry of persecution which was at first raised has almost died away, and 
now the lately scotched snake is daring to hiss again openly in the face of
the republic.  France is, if we are to believe these afflicted Christians,
altogether atheistic and godless; its government, under tutelage of the
diabolical Freemasons, is bent on the destruction of all religion.  Yet the
protection of Catholic missions in the nearer and the far east is confided to
these foes of God and His church.  One may better understand this
inconsistency when the protests of Italian congregations are heard, and
when it is known how often the proud Italians are twitted with inability to
protect their fellow-citizens in barbaric or semi-civilized lands, but must rely
upon the might of a rival nation.

Let us next look upon Spain and its foreign relations.  That the country has
been impoverished by hordes of priests is a common assertion.  It is,
however, likely that the Spanish temperament has had more to do with
present backwardness than the presence of an army of religious.  But it
remains true that the dominating church influence has had much to do in
preserving sentiments and habits among the people that are out of place
in these strenuous times.  From the time of the war with the United States
Spain has been awakening; has been stirred by patriotic men of all parties
to take needed steps on the path of progress.  The handicap of prevailing
ignorance is admitted by those who see most clearly the possibilities for
their country, and they are pointing out the necessity for a truly enlightened
policy, Yet every forward move has been forced against the opposition of
the clericals.  Where open hostility has failed of its purpose in preventing
progress, assertions have been made that the new ideas are of French
origin, or rather that they form part of the program of international
Freemasonry.  The Spaniards are told that this accursed sect has in mind
to establish a great republic, without religion, or even belief in God, and
that France is really to rule. This plan is to carry with it the deposition of the
Spanish king.  The turn of affairs in Portugal, when interpreted by the
priests, gave color to such stories.  The difficulties raised over African
questions were also used to effect a breach between the two countries.  It
required very delicate handling and a rare persistence on the part of the
two governments to neutralize the evil effects of such intriguing and to
bring about the present satisfactory entente.

I have mentioned Freemasonry as it has existence in the countries of
Continental Europe.  There is no doubt that the organization is hostile to
the church, and that it has, on more than one occasion, proven its strength
by thwarting the plans of its enemies.  But Freemasonry is enlarged by the
fears of the priests until every check or move in opposition is laid at the
doors of the Lodges.  It is absurd to attribute to the few thousand men who
are Freemasons in the Latin countries the power to do so much.  And one
sees that this bugbear of Masonic hatred is a convenient matter for the
clericals.  The way Masonry is thrust upon ignorant people would be
amusing if there was not, and intentionally, an element of danger in its
exploitation.  Let me explain: Some of the monarchies are in a precarious
condition, notwithstanding the brave front shown to the world and despite
the apparent loyalty of the bulk of subjects.  The trained diplomat will tell
you, however faithfully he may serve his king or emperor or czar, that
monarchism is a decayed institution, and must soon pass.  But in some of
the countries it is still possible to appeal to the inherited loyalty of a
considerable section of the peoples.  These are also, in most cases,
particularly amenable to priestly control.  They could be readily brought to
believe that the machinations of a society, alleged to keep its procedure
and purposes as profound secrets, are altogether evil.  That this veil of
secrecy is pierced by the ever-watchful church is accepted by the faithful
as evidence that Freemasonry has been plotting the downfall of monarchy
and the destruction of religion.  The same slanders have been given
currency for more than a century, and they still prove effective weapons
when judiciously employed.  I could give more than one instance, and of
occurrence in more than one country, in recent years, where the
churchmen have made grins from the political results of their campaign
against Freemasonry.  That they really hate the institution is true, and the
war against it is serious, but the clerical opponents also use the mysterious
organization to frighten their followers, as stories of the dark are sometimes
told to children by foolish parents.  It need hardly be said that in the
informed circles of all governments, and among the educated classes of all
countries, it is known that Freemasonry has none of the wicked designs
attributed to it by these defamers.

Another matter may be worth mentioning: Those behind the scenes know
that Italy could have done no other than veto the proposition that a
representative of the pope should sit in the councils of the nations, when
the first peace congress assembled at The Hague.  The plea that one who
claimed to represent the "Prince of Peace" should not be denied a place
there, of all others, fell on deaf ears of men who knew that the chief
marplots of the world, so far as international relations are concerned,
receive their orders and instructions from the Vatican.  Had this softly put
claim been allowed, a cloud might have been cast upon Italian sovereignty,
and another ugly topic added to those that now disturb the dreams of the
diplomatists of the nations.  Yet this refusal is even now thrust in the faces
of Christian people, including those not of the Roman obedience, as an
evidence of the wickedness of the secular states, with Italy and England
especially singled out for condemnation.

It is not unknown to European diplomacy how sedulously the churchmen
work in the United States to sow seeds of distrust and to keep alive ancient
jealousies between that country and England.  There are those among the
powers, of course, who may find their interests thus served, who have no
part with the church, and yet are willing to profit by any strain of relations
that otherwise would be amicable and unruffled.  It is realized, also, that
Irish affairs are so manipulated by these same meddlers, not that the
acknowledged wrongs of Ireland be righted, but that the near-by island
may remain a source of irritation and even a potential danger to the
Protestant kingdom.  Rome may be forced to long delay a revenge, but an
injury to her ambitions is never forgotten, or forgiven, and there always
remains the hope that in the vicissitudes of time a day of reckoning will
come.

The relations between France and Germany are to be explained, of course,
by the historic enmities, by causes altogether transcending state-craft, with
now and again ignoble ambitions and ill-advised political moves.  But from
before 1870 it can not be denied that the churchmen and their tools have
purposely aggravated the situation whenever it became critical, and have
more than once, since the great war, brought the two countries to the very
verge of renewed conflict.  The open pages of history show what part the
priestly plotters had in precipitating the struggle that has had such fateful
results.  And by the very irony of Fate that war, which the church believed
was to put her most faithful daughter in position as arbiter of European
destinies and to humble Protestant Prussia, had as one of its results the
taking of Rome from the Pope.

It is more than an open question among those best fitted to judge whether
the German monarchy has profited most, or lost, by its bargainings with the
avowed Catholic party.  The present peculiar strife in the Center may give
the nation opportunity to judge the motives and ambitions of the men who
have more than once forced the proudest ruler in Europe to grant
concessions to the church as the price of their doing things that patriotic
representatives of a people would have gladly done as matter of high duty.

The path of churchly ambition, as it shows to those skilled in its following,
concerns itself with all classes of people.  Diplomats accredited by the
Vatican can worm themselves into the confidence of princes, acquaint
themselves with the secrets of the cabinets; while other emissaries, no less
subtle, can appeal with consummate skill to the lowest passions of the
multitude.  The dark and dangerous policies of the political-religious Roman 
machine are being carried out by many agencies, known and unknown,
and the ever-present menace is nowhere more thoroughly appreciated and
guarded against than by the chancelleries of those countries most devoted
to Catholicism.

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