ted a pontiff with his enthusiasm, and it will
be seen that the Catholic Archbishop looks ridiculous in the lustre of
his derived erudition. To insist further on this point is, however,
scarcely to our purpose. The Kabbalah does not possess that integral
connection with Masonry which is argued by Mgr. Meurin, and if it did,
does not bear the interpretation which he assigns it, while his
anti-Semitic thesis is demolished with the other hypothesis. But these
things are largely outside the question which concerns us most directly.
Over and above these points, does the witness whom we are examining
contribute anything to our knowledge on the subject of the New and
Reformed Palladium, otherwise Universal Masonry? The reply is perfectly
clear. His one source of knowledge is Adolphe Ricoux; by some oversight
he has not even the advantage of the rituals published by Leo Taxil. He
may, therefore, be dismissed out of hand. The Satanism which he exhibits
in Masonry is an imputed Satanism, and as to any actual Devil-Worship he
reproduces as true the clever story of _Aut Diabolus aut Nihil_, which
appeared originally in "Blackwood's Magazine," and has since been
reprinted by its author, who states, what most people know already, that
it is entirely fictitious.

In parting with the writer of "Freemasonry, the Synagogue of Satan," as
with a witness whose evidence has broken down, it must be repeated that
he has, by his exalted position, elegance of method, and show of
learning, been a chief pillar of the Satanic hypothesis.

CHAPTER VII

THE DEVIL AND THE DOCTOR

Sec. 1. _Le Diable au XIX^e Siecle_

Although the New and Reformed Palladium is said to have been founded so
far back as the year 1870, it will be seen that at the close of the year
1891 very little had become public concerning it. It is difficult to
conceive that an institution diffused so widely should have remained so
profound a secret, when the many enemies of the Fraternity, who in their
way are sleepless, would have seized eagerly upon the slightest hint of
a directing centre of Masonry. Moreover, an association which initiates
ladies is perhaps the last which one would expect to be unknown, for
while the essential matter of a secret is undeniably safe with women, it
is on condition that they are known to possess it. When the first hint
was provided in 1891, Leo Taxil certainly lost no time, and Mgr. Meurin
must have written his large treatise almost at fev