A General History of Free-Masonry in Europe (1868) PDF

GENERAL HISTORY
JQ PL
Sated
upon
the Atirimt Document*
relating to,
and the
Monument*
erected
by
thi*
fraternity front,
its
finnidatlon
in t/ie
Tear 713 Ji.
C.
to the
present
time.
TRANSLATED AND COMPILED FROM TUB MASONIC HISTORIES o
EMMANUEL
RESOLD,
M.
D.,
Pott
Deputy
af the Grand Orient
of Fratocf.
President of llx
Academy of Tndmtriat
Sciences,
and a Member
of many Philosophic
aiM
Scientific Societiet,
BY J. FLETCHER
BRENNAN,
EDITOR OF THE AMERICAN FREKJIASON'S MAGAZINE.
,
CINCINNATI:
AMERICAN MASONIC PUBLISHING
ASSOCIATION,
114 MAIN
STREET,
18G8.
Entered
according
to Act of
Congress,
in the
year 1866, by
J. F.
BRENNAN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of Ohio.
STEREOTYPED AT TH*
FRANKLIN TYI'K
FOVNDKY, .
CINCINNATI.
MORSE
STEFHENS
GRAND ORIENT OF
FRANCE,
THE SUPREME COUNCIL FOR
FRANCE,
AND THE NATIONAL GRAND LODGE OF
FRANCE,
at the East
of
Pari-s
;
GRAND ORIENT AND SUPREME COUNCIL OF
BELGIUM,
at the East
of
Brussels
;
TO THK
NATIONAL GRAND LODGE OF
HOLLAND^
at the Est
of
the
Hague
;
'
NATIONAL ALPINE GRAND
LODGK.
at the East
of
Zurich ;
ALL THE LODGES OF THEIR
ALLIANCE,
THE
UTHOft.
DEDICATED
TATES OF
THE
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Title,
Author's
Dedication,
Translator's Dedication and
Introduction,
Table of
Contents, Preface,
and
Report
of
Examining
Comiuitteo
pp.
1-26
GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.
Introduction
27
Origin
of all the
worships
28
"
of
Hieroglyphics
and
Symbols
29
"
of
Mysteries, Sybils, Oracles, Magi
30
"
of the Roman
Colleges
of
Builders,
the Cradle of
Freemasonry
34
The
organization
and
privileges
of these
colleges
35
Origin
of the
expression
"
Grand Architect of the Universe
"
35
Introduction and
development
of the
colleges
in Britain 30
Charter of St.
Alban,
A. D. 292 40
Origin
of the
qualification
"Free Mason" 41
"
of the title
"Worshipful
Master" 46
Charter of
York,
A. D. 926 48
Origin
of the dedication of
lodges
to St. John 49
Masonic
corporations
of
Lombardy
50
Monopolies
accorded to the Masonic
corporations by
the
Popes
51
Organization
and
development
of the
Fraternity
in
Germany
52
The stone-cutters of
Strasburg,
A. D. 1459 i 53
Influence of the
"
Reformation
"
upon
the Masonic
corporations
54
Importance
of the
Fraternity
in
England
in the 17th and 18th centuries... 54
Origin
of the
"higher" degrees
54
"
of the title
"
Royal
Art
"
accorded to
Frsemasonry
55
Transformation
of the
Fraternity
to a
philosophic
institution 56
Its new constitution as such
57
Its influence
upon
social
progress
'57
Persecutions
directed
against
it
57
Divers
opinions
as to the
origin
of
Freemasonry
59
Explanation
of the two Forms of its initiations
60
It is an imitation and not a continuation of ancient
mysteries
Cl
Object
of the initiation into the
mysteries
of
antiquity
62
Object
and doctrine of modern
Freemasonry,
62
Approaching
ideal of
Freemasonry
63
(vii)
Vlll
CONTENTS.
HISTORICAL SUMMARY OF THK MOVEMENTS OF THE MASONIC CORPORATIONS IN
GAUL,
PROM THKIR
INTRODUCTION,
IN THK YEAR 60 B.
C.,
TO THEIR
DISSOLUTION,
IN
THK 16TH CENTURY.
Establishment of the Roman
Colleges
of Builders in
Trans-Alpine
Gaul after
its
conquest
* 64
Establishment of the
great military
roads from Home to Gaul 66
Erection of Rome-Gallic cities 67
Re-erection of the
destroyed
cities and towns 68
Vestiges
of ancient Romo Gallic monuments in France 69
Separation
of the
Colleges
of Builders into different bodies 71
Erection of the first Christian churches and monasteries 71
Architectural
knowledge
of monastic
refugees
72
Celebrated architects who
go
out from the Masonic schools 72
Architecture in France under
Charlemagne
72
The Masonic
corporations
directed
by
the
religious
orders . 73
Architecture
paralyzed by
the terrors of the
year
1000 73
General renewal of all the
religious
edifices 73
The Masonic
corporations
of
Lombardy
extend over
Europe
74
Their
monopolies
renewed
by
all the
Popes
74
League
of mutual succor
among
the Masonic brethren 74
The architect
fraternity
of
bridge
and road builders 74
Conception
and erection of the
great
cathedrals of France 75
Unity
of
plans
visible in all
buildings by
Freemasons
76
Effect of the "Reformation"
upon
the Masonic
corporations
77
Disintegration
of the
corporations
the
origin
of trade unions 77
Consequences
of the
disintegration
of the Masonic
corporations
78
Celebrated French architects who succeeded those of the
corporations
78
ABRIDGMENT OP THK HISTORY OP MODERN OR PHILOSOPHIC FREEMASONRY IN
FRANCE,
FROM ITS INTRODUCTION IN 1721 TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OP THK
GRAND ORIENT IN 1772.
First
lodges
founded at Dunkirk and at Paris
80
Lord Derwentwatcr first Provincial Grand Master for France
81
Establishment of a Provincial Grand
Lodge
for France
81
Baron
Ramsay
introduces his Jacobite
Masonry
81
Lord llarnwester the second Provincial Graud Master for
France,
82
He is succeeded
by
the Duke of Autin
83
The P. G. L. of France takes the title of
English
G. L. of France
83
Difficulties
follow and increase
constantly
83
Origin
of the
chapters
of Arras and of Clermont
84
Origin
of the Rite of Perfection 85
Incongruities
in the
accepted
history
of the A. and A. S. Rite 85
Continued
disgust
and
disagreeability among
the
Fraternity
86
English
G. L. of France becomes the National G. L. of France 86
The Grand
Master,
to avoid
d'lty,
selects
deputies
87
Thev misbehave,
and their commissions are revoked 87
Consequent
schism of the
(Deputy)
Laeorne faction 87
Stephen
Morin is
patented
for America 88
CONTENTS.
IX
A reconciliation but
engenders subsequent
dissension
89
The G. L. revokes all ad vitam and other
patents
90
Lacorne's
party
is
expelled
and
proceed
to extremes
90
The
government
interferes and interdicts
Freemasonry
90
Each
party
misbehaves in a
grievous
manner
91
Events
consequent upon
the Grand Master's death
91
Election of the Duke of Chartres to the vacant
position
92
He is induced to
accept
the direction of all the bodies
93
Establishment of the Grand Orient 94
A3RIDGMENT OP THE HISTORY OP MODERN OR PHILOSOPHIC FfiKEMASONRY IN
ENGLAND, DENMARK, SWEDEN, RUSSIA, POLAND, GERMANY, HOLLAND,
BEL-
GIUM, SWITZERLAND,
ITALY AND
PORTUGAL,
FROM ITS INTRODUCTION INTO
THOSE COUNTRIES TO THK PRESENT TIMR.
Circumstances
attending
the establishment of the G. L. of London 95
Compilation
of "Anderson's Constitutions"
96
The G. L. of London assumes the initiate and sole
authority
97
The Freemasons of York and
Edinburgh protest
,
97
The G. L.'s of Ireland and Scotland are established
98
Exceptions
made
by
the
lodge
of
Canongate Kilwinning
99
Origin
of the Rite of Harodim of
Kilwinning
100
Pope
Benedict XIV and others interdict
Freemasonry
101
In London the Grand
Lodge
of Ancient Masons is
organized
102
Origin
of the
Royal
Arch
degree
103
Union of the two Grand
Lodges
in 1813
104
What
English
Freemasons have
accomplished
at home 105
Present
organization
of the G. L. of
England
105
" "
of the G. L. of Scotland
107
" "
of the G. L. of Ireland
107
Present condition of
Freemasonry
in Great Britain 107
Introduction of
Freemasonry
into Denmark 108
" "
into Sweden 110
Jesuitical
interference with
Freemasonry
in Sweden Ill
The
Templar system
introduced
by
Jesuit emissaries 112
Introduction
of
Freemasonry
into Russia
113
Catharine II
protects
and
encourages
it
114
Jesuitical
interference causes it to be abused 115
Interdiction
of Paul I revoked
by
Alexander
I,
and afterward confirmed.... 115
Introduction
of
Freemasonry
into Poland 116
The Jesuit
system
of strict observance is introduced 117
Introduction
of
Freemasonry
into
Belgium
118
Joseph
I, Emperor
of
Austria,
interdicts it 119
When
Belgium
becomes a French
province
it is revived 119
Prince
Frederick,
as Grand
Master,
becomes its
protector
120
King Leopold
unites the
lodges
into a Grand Orient 121
Masonry triumphs
over Jesuitism 121
The new Grand
Master, Verhaegen,
recommends
general
discussions in the
lodges
122
X CONTEXTS.
Introduction of
Freemasonry
into Holland
, 123
The Jesuits
preach against
it and excite the
people
,
124
Establishment of the Grand
Lodge
of Holland
125
"
of the G. L. for the Low Countries 126
The charter of
Cologne
is discovered
127
Introduction of
Freemasonry
into
Germany
128
Freemasonry
in Prussia
129
Initiation of Frederick the Great at Brunswick
130
Present condition of
Freemasonry
in Prussia
131
Freemasonry
in
Saxony
132
"
in Hanover
132
"
in Bavaria 133
"
in the Grand
Duchy
of Baden 134
"
in
Wurtemburg
and Hesse Darmstadt 135
in Hesse-Cassel and Brunswick 136
Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick becomes head of the
Templar system
137
He convokes various Masonic
congresses
138
The Jesuits cause
Freemasonry
to be interdicted in Austria 139
Freemasonry
in Bohemia 140
Recapitulation
of Masonic
lodges
in
Germany
140
Introduction of
Freemasonry
into Switzerland 141
Masonic Directories at Basle and Lausanne 142
Erection of
"
Hope
"
Lodge
at Berne to a Prov. G. L. of
England
143
Establishment of the
Alpine
Grand
Lodge
144
Introduction of
Freemasonry
into
Italy
145
" "
into Sardinia 146
Establishment of the Grand Orient at
Naples
, 147
General Garibaldi is elected chief the
Sup.
Council for
Sicily
148
Introduction of
Freemasonry
into
Portugal
149
Acts of the
Portuguese
"
Holy
Office". 150
Freemasonry
is interdicted
by
John
VI, King
of
Portugal
151
Introduction of
Freemasonry
into
Spain
152
Ferdinand
VI, King
of
Spain,
interdict? its
operations
153
European
countries in which
Freemasonry
is now interdicted 154
HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN OF THE AXCIKXT AXD ACCEPTED SCOTTISH
RITK,
AND
ORGANIZATION OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL FOR FRANCE.
Partisan evidence as to the
origin
of the rite 156
Reflections
upon
this evidence 159
Impartial
evidence as to the
origin
of the rite 160
Pro'f adduced that Frederick II was not its chief 162
Extract from the Book of Gold.. 165
Real
origin
of the rite 166
Its
contemptuous
disownment
by
the G. L. of Scotland 169
Introduction of the rite into France 172
Remarks in connection with the
history
of this rite 174
CONTENTS.
XI
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OK THK
'
EGYPTIAN RITE OK
MISRAIM,"
FROM ITS CBEATIO*
IN 180(5 TO THK 1'REjKNT TIMiJ.
Account of its
origin by
its French
agent,
M. Bedarride
178
Mark and Michael Bedarride its
propagandists
180
Its real author
Lechangeur
of M ilan
181
He denies bis
highest degrees
to the brothers Bedarride 182
Thvy surreptitiously
obtain them and establish a council at Paris 183
Description
of the rite ISA
Difficult t)
organize lodges
France in
mourning (1815)
188
Grave abuses
appear
in the administration of the executive 187
The rite is interdicted
by
the G. 0. of France 188
The brothers Bedarride obtain a new
patent
189
The rite is interdicted
by Frederick,
G. M. of Netherland
lodges
189
The administration and its constituents at war 190
Expulsion
of a whole
lodge
191
Misappropriation
of the funds
by
the executive 192
The Grand Oi lent is exhorted to
suppress
the rite 193
The brothers Bedarride
present
their little bill of
charges
195
It amounts to
only $20,550
195
They arrange
a new
obligation, binding
all to
pay
it 190
Objectors
to this
obligation
are
expelled
197
The death of Mark Bedarride lets
up nobody
197
The rite is ridiculed
by
the
"
MasonicGlobe
"
198
Funds are demanded to
bury
a brother 199
Michael Bedarride
requires
all the funds to
pay
his bill
200
The
applicants protest
and denounce the whole swindle
201
Dying,
M. Bedarride
bequeaths
his bill to his successor 201
The
successor,
an honest
man,
arranges
M. B.'s debts 201
Then
stigmatizing
the little bill a?
"
a debt
accursed,"
he cancels it 202
Reflections
upon
the
history
of this rite
202
CONCISK HISTORY OP THE RITE OF
MKMPHI*,
FROM ITS CREATION IN 1838 UNTIL
ITS FUSION INTO THE GRAND ORIENT OK FRANCE IX 18(52.
The author's account of the rite
203
Strictures
upon
this account , 204
Introduction of the rite into France
205
Its author an
expelled
member of the rite of Misraiui
200
Extracts from the Constitution
. 207
The author
begins
to
operate
with his rite in France 208
Meets with difficulties and
goes
to London
209
In fie latter
city
the rite
explodes
, 210
He then
goes
to America and founds a
lodge
at
Troy,
N. Y 211
Marshal
Miignan's magnanimous
decree covers the rite
211
The Grand Orient
adopts
it,
and M.
Marconis,
its
author,
is
happy
'Jll
A COXCISK HlSTORYOF THK OlUOINOF AM. THE 15lTKS FOR HlCH DKG HERS INTItO-
DCCKD IN rj FKKKMASOXRY FROM 17:5
;
TO THK PRESENT TIMK.
The
only
true traditional
Freemasonry
has but three
degrees
212
Xll CONTENTS.
The Jesuits first break this
arrangement
213
To
support
the
"
Pretender
"
they
create new
degrees.
214
They
extend their nets over
Germany
and France 215
Investigation
elicits some
important
discoveries 216
They
denaturalize the institution in France 217
They
construct the
system
of Strict Observance 218
The
College
of Clermont the nest in which new rites are hatched 219
The Jesuits divide continental
Europe
into
provinces
220
They
erect
"
Unknown
Superiors
"
for their
system
220
Investigation
unmasks the Order of
Loyola
221
"
Modern Freemasons are not the successors of
Knights Templar
"
222
What the
Congress
of Wilhelmsbad
provoked
223
Fruits of the Jesuits' Masonic
systems
224
The Order of Modern
Templars
225
The Kite of
Rigid
Observers 226
Intioduction of
Knight Templarisui
into America 226
The Rite of Unitarian
Masonry
227
Names of Masonic Rites extant 228
Rites extinct or absorbed into
existing
rites 229
DOCUMENTARY
AND HISTORICAL EVIDENCE BKARING DIRECTLY UPON THE ORI-
GIN /NO GKNKKAL HISTORY OF FKEKMASONRY IN EUROPK.
Documentary
Evidence 232
Historical
Evidence, chronologically arranged
234
Indications of the causes for
diversity
of
opinions,
etc 244
HISTORICAL ENUMERATION OF THK PRINCIPAL MASONIC CONGRESSES AND CON-
VKNTIONS WHICH HAVE HAU PLACK IN EUKOPK.
York, Strasburg,
and Ratisbonne 251
Ratisbonne,
Spire, Colonge
and Basle 252
Strasburg,
London and Dublin 253
Edinburgh,
the
Hague,
Jena and
Altenburg
254
Kohlo, Brunswick,
Leipsic
and
Lyons
255
Wolfenbuttel and Wilhelmsbad 256
Paris, Zurich, Berne,
Basle and Locle. 257
Paris in 1848 and in 1856 258
CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT OF THK HISTORY OF
FREEMASONRY,
BASED UPON
THK ANCIENT DOCUMENTS AND THK PRINCIPAL MONUMENTS KKKCTKU BY
THIS
FRATERNITY,
DIVIDED INTO THREK EPOCHS.
First
Ej/och,
from 715 B. C. to A. D.
1000,
comprising
the establishment of
the
Colleges
of Builders at Rome
;
the construction of all the monuments
of Ancient Rome
;
the
founding
of
many
cities
;
the results of the
perse-
cutions of such of the builders as became
Christians, and,
subsequently,
the results of the invasions and international
wars,
and
dispersion
of the
Christian builders into the
East;
the state of architecture in Gaul and
Britain under the
Romans, and,
after their
retreat,
under the free and An-
glo
Saxon
kings ;
the reconstruction of the Masonic
corporations
at the
CONTENTS. Xlii
general
assembly
in York A. D.
926,
and the distress of the Masonic cor-
porations
during
the terrors invoked
by
the
clergy
at the close of the tenth
century
259-295
Second
Epoch,
from A. D. 1000 to A. D.
1717,
comprising
all the most re-
markable facts which
signalized
this
period
as connected with the arts
and
philosophy
;
the
epoch
of the construction of all the
great
cathedrals
and other
religious
monuments in
Europe;
the
organization
of the Ma-
sonic
corporations
in
Germany,
its Grand
Lodges,
its
congress
and results
;
the influence of the Reformation
upon religious
architecture
;
the dissolu-
tion
successively
of all the Masonic
corporations except
those of
England;
and the transformation
there,
in
1717,
of the Masonic
corporations
into a
philosophic
institution 296-311
Third
Epoch,
from A. D. 1717 to A. D.
J850,
comprising
all the most remark-
able occurrences connected with
Philosophical
or Modern
Freemasonry
during
thif
period
;
the causes and results of the schisms
;
the different con-
gresses
and their results
;
the
dates,
the
places,
and the countries where
Freemasonry
was
persecuted
;
and the statistics
indicating
its numbers
wherever its exists 312-339
Text of the Edict of
Pope
Pius VII
against
the Freemasons 340
PRIMITIVE MASONIC LAWS AND CHARTERS.
Observations
concerning
the Charter of York 347
Its
non-recognition
of a Divine
Trinity
348
Its evident
religious
tolerance 348
It became the basis of all modern Masonic constitutions 349
Its
caption
and
opening prayer
350
Note
explanatory
of its text 351
Its
"
Fundamental Laws of the Brother Masons ". 352-355
Summary of
the Ancient Masonic
Charters,
comprising
the Roman
Charter,
Char-
ter of St.
Alban,
Charter of
York,
Charter of Edward
III,
Charter of Scot-
land,
Charters of
Strasburg,
Charter of
Cologne,
Charters of Scotland and
London 355 558
EPITOME OF THE WORSHIP AND THE MYSTERIES OF THK ANCIENT EASTERN WOULD.
Introduction
Origin
of all the
worships
359
6abeisin,or
sun
worship,
and its
legends
363
The
Mysteries
of India 364
Mysteries
of the Persia'ns 367
Mysteries
of Isis and Osiris 370
Mysteries
of the Hebrews 373
Mysteries
of Eleusis , 375
Mjsteries
of Samothracia 37fi
Mysteries
of the
Phrygians
and Phenicians 877
Mysteries
of the Romans 377
Sybils
and Oracles most celebrated 379
LEGISLATORS,
REFORMERS AND FOUNDERS OF WORSHIPS AND
MYSTERIES,
WITH
A SUMMARY OF THEIR DOCTRINES IN
INDIA, CHINA, PKKS1A, ETHIOPIA,
EGYPT, GREECE,
ROME AND JUDEA.
Xv CONTENTS.
NOTES IU.USTRATTVK AND AUTHORITATIVR OK SUNDRY PASSAGES TV THR TEXT
OH THE WORSHIPS AND MYSTKK1KS OF THE A.VC1KXT EASTERN WORLD.
Worships
and
Mysteries 384
Theology
of the Ancients
384
Sacred Books of nil the
peoples
385
Cosmogonies
386
Symbols 389
Hiram of the Freemasons
392
The
Angels
393
Magnificent
monuments of the Hindoos
393
Bhudda
(Bood, Boudd)
393
The
Magi
394
Temple
of
Bel,
or Tower of Babel 394
Ecbatana, Babylonia,
Persepolis
396
Caves or Retreats of Mithra 39T
In the throat of a bull 397
Zoroaster
398
Zenda vesta 399
Temple
of Ammon 399
Ethiopia,
once a
powerful
state 400
Egypt
in civilization 400
Pyramids
of Ghizza 401
Hermes 402
Sybils
402
The avenues of Thebes 403
ubterranean cities 403
Jehovah 403
Tyre
404
The Jews driven from
Egypt
, 404
The Pentateuch
405
The
Prodigies
of Moses 408
Dogma
of an
only
God 408
Worship
of the Stars 413
The Essenians 413
Christianity...
418
Mysteries
of
Christianity
419
Eleusis,
Athens
420
Temple
of Balbek
420
Temple
of Tadmor
(Palmyra)
, 420
Janus
421
APPENDIX.
Recapitulation
422
The Commandments of the Ancient
Sages
423
The
Precepts
of Modern
Freemasonry
426
TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION.
A connection of several
years
with the Masonic
press, during
two
of which he edited and
published
The American Freemason s
Mag-
azine,
afforded the translator of this work
opportunities
for
reading
all that in the
English language
had been
published concerning
tha
origin
and
history
of
Freemasonry,
of
valuing
all that was reason-
able,
and
rejecting
much that was
traditional, apochryphal,
romantic
and false. In
18G1,
and after he
had,
in
consequence
of the then
disturbed condition of the
country, suspended
the
publication
of his
magazine,
he
accidentally
became introduced
by
a brother of rank
and education in the
Fraternity
at New York to the earlier work of
BRO.
RESOLD,
and after a
hasty perusal,
stored it
among
the few
effects of a citizen soldier for future
and,
should
opportunity offer,
more leisure
study.
From that
study,
within the
past year,
the
decision to translate and
publish
had been
evolved,
when he became
possessed
of the later work of BRO.
REBOLD,
and from both he has
compiled
that which he now
presents
and dedicates to the
Fraternity
in America. In
doing
so,
his conviction is fixed that at no
previous
time has he been able to benefit that
Fraternity
to so
great
a
degree
as he now
does, by translating
and
publishing
this work.
PREFACE.
BEFORE I make known to the reader the motives which
inspired
this
history
of
Freemasonry,
I
beg permission
to
give
here a suc-
cinct confession of faith.
Since the moment when the
principles
of
Freemasonry
were
shown
me,
I have made this institution a
particular study,
with
much more fervor than that with which I have studied the
relig-
ion
taught
me in
my youth; because,
by
the
light
of reflection
ind
experience,
I found the latter crowded with contradictions and
puerilities,
while the former offered
logic
and
harmony according
with the idea of a
Divinity
imbued with
wisdom, clemency, power,
and love.
When circumstances occasioned me to take
up my
residence in
this celebrated
city, (Paris),
at a time when its Masonic
temples
were
recovering
from the effects of the
political
tumults of
1847,
my
heart found itself
going
out toward that fraternal
society,
wherein,
of all
others,
I most
expected
to
enjoy
the
pleasures
of
morality
and
brotherly
love. But I am free to
confess,
as then
conducted,
the labors of the
lodges
left much to desire
j
and I
found that the
reproaches
addressed to
Masonry
in Paris
by
the
most serious
authors,
such as
Thory, Bazot, Chemin-Dupontes
Ragon, Clavel,
Des
Etangs, Juge,
and
Moreau,
were
entirely justi
fiable.
And,
notwithstanding
that there are few
places upon
the
globe
where the Masonic
fraternity
has
produced
results more
powerful
and efficacious than at Paris where the concentration of
sixty
-
2 (xvii)
XV111 PREFACE.
one
lodges
in the same
locality permit
the most
complete imiij
in a financial
point,
and
present
moral and intellectual resources
so
powerful
to
accomplish
so
much,
not alone in the connection
of
educating
the
people,
but also of
founding
other humanitarian
institutions
yet
it is
necessary
to state that there is no
place
in
the world where the
dissipation
of moral
strength
is so
manifest,
and where the Masonic
fraternity
has done so little for
suffering
humanity,
as in this same
Paris,
when we consider the
great
number
of Freemasons who here reside.
But that which struck me above
all,
in
assisting
at the work
of the
lodges
of
Paris,
was the total want of
intelligent
Masonic
instruction a
reproach
which the authors named have so often
made the labors of the
lodges being altogether
confined to the
ceremonies of
initiation,
the
regular lectures,
and the administra-
tion of their affairs. And it is to this
circumstance, principally,
that it is
necessary
to attribute the indifference so
generally
mani-
fested for
Freemasonry among
the
wealthy
and intellectual Paris-
ians
;
for the
greater portion
of the intellectual
initiates,
finding
nothing
in the
society,
such as
they expected,
to attract their
attention,
after
attending
a few
meetings,
fall
off,
in the belief
that
Freemasonry
has no moral
signification
to
justify
the consid-
eration
they
had been induced to accord to it.
These observations are
painful
to Freemasons convinced of the
high object
and
deep signification
of
Freemasonry,
and who believe
it destined to become one
day
the
religion
of all nations
;
and these
observations
apply happily
but to
Paris, for,
in all other
portions
of
France, Masonry
is much better
estimated,
and
consequently
its
value is much better
appreciated
than in the
capital.
This lack of instruction of which I
speak
is more
apparent
in
the
superior
initiations called
"high degrees," or,
to
speak
more
correctly,
it is there
entirely
absent.
By all, however,
by
whom
Masonry
is
estimated,
Masonic instruction is looked
upon
as a
sacred
duty
due to those who are received into its
bosom,
and that
PREFACE.
XIX
instruction should be extended not
only
to all that concerns its
history,
its
object,
and the doctrines of the
institution,
but to all
that is
interesting
to the friend of
humanity
and the lover of his
race. And here we can not refrain from
quoting
a
passage
which
we find
proceeding
from the
pen
of brother Cesar
Moreau,
of Mar-
eeilles,
and
published
in his
journal,
The Masonic World:
"
From this state of
things
there resulted an Order
1
which,
while it embraced the
universality
of the
nations,
and drew withia
its bosom
many
of the notabilities of all
races,
is
compelled
to
ignore
its
nature,
its
origin,
its
spirit,
and its
object ;
and to
acknowledge
that its traditions are
forgotten
or
altered;
that we
have substituted some novelties
contrary
to the
genius
of
Masonry ;
that the initiated fail to
perceive any thing
of
mystery beyond
the
ceremonies and the ornaments of the
lodge,
and do not
suspect
that a hidden
meaning
is attached to the
knowledge conveyed by
the
symbols.
Thus
Masonry
i unfaithful to its
high destiny.
This
society, which, according
to the ideas of its
founders,
is
entitled to the first
place
in the
system
of
civilization,
is allowed
co march in the rear of that
system.
While
progress
in
every
other condition is
manifest,
it alone is
stationary,
if not
falling
behind in the march of human
improvements.
The most
powerful
of all human
agencies, by
reason of its immense association and the
facilities afforded
by
its
multiple correspondence, Freemasonry
is
iThe editor of the Masonic World is the
only
French author who has
admitted that material architecture has
probably given
birth to moral archi-
tecture;
and
yet, making
of
Freemasonry
an
Order,
finds himself in accord
with all of his
predecessors.
This
opinion, however,
so
generally
that of
the French
Masons,
is
entirely erroneous;
for
Freemasonry
never was an
Order. Its
origin
was a
fraternity;
and that its
transformation,
from a cor-
poration
of artisans to a
philosophical
institution,
did not
change
its char-
acter,
is
proven
in the most incontestible manner
by
its own
Constitution,
which, adopted
in
1717,
and
published by
the Grand
Lodge
of
England
in
1723,
is entitled "Constitution of the Ancient and
Respectable Fraternity
of
Freemasons."
XX PREFACE.
to-day utterly powerless
to
enlighten
its own
members,
to
say
nothing
of
enlightening
the rest of mankind."
All the French
authors, except Moreau,
have
placed
the
origin
of
Freemasonry
in the
mysteries
of the
East;
and the Masters of
our
lodges,
as well as the
commonly
received lecture of its
history,
tend to
perpetuate
this erroneous idea. The work of Alexander
Thory,
entitled "Acta
Latomorum,"
and that of B.
Clavel,
entitled
u
Histoire
Pittoresque
de la
Franc-magonnerie,"
must be
placed
among
the most remarkable of Masonic
publications;
but
they
are, nevertheless, incomplete
and
fragmentary.
In the
history by
B.
Clavel,
it is true he mentions the
colleges
of Roman
architects;
but, always preoccupied,
in common with his
predecessors,
in
seeking
a remoter
origin
for
Freemasonry
in the
mysteries
of the
East,
he fails to
perceive
that it was
precisely
within these
colleges
that the birth of
Freemasonry
took
place.
The authors who
pretend
and their number is
very great
that
Masonry originated
at the construction of Solomon's
Temple,
are
led into this error
by
the numerous allusions to that construction
which have
place among
the lectures of our
lodges
of
to-day.
Those authors who believe that
Freemasonry proceeded
from the
society
of the
Rose-Cross,
founded in
1616, by
Valentine
Andrea,
a
profound philosopher,
1
who,
in
founding it,
had in view the
beautiful
design
of
reforming
the world a
society
which was
propagated by
Christian
Rose-Croix,
2
renewed afterward
by
the
renowned
philosopher,
Lord
Bacon,
and
put
in
practice by
the
famous
antiquary,
Elias
Ashmole,
in 1646 are led into this error
by
the fact that this
society
was
resuscitated,
under Masonic
forms,
1
See his
work,
"
La
Reformation,"
etc.
2
There
appeared,
in
1616,
a new
work,
entitled
"
La Noce
Chemique
de
Christian Rose-Croix" This name of Rose-Cross is itself
allegorical.
The
cross
represented
the
sanctity
of
union,
and the rose the
image
of
discretion;
these two words united
signifying
a
holy
discretion.
PREFACE.
in
Germany,
in
1767;
and
yet
others,
who attribute its
foundation
to the
partisans
of the
Stuarts,
1
or to
Christopher Wren,
architect,
in
1690,
are led into this error
by
the transformation of Free-
masonry
from an
exclusively operative
to an
exclusively philo-
sophic
institution
having
taken
place
about this time.
Independently
of the serious authors
mentioned,
there
may
be
found a certain number of
pretending historians, who,
concerning
the
origin
of
Freemasonry,
have advanced assertions as absurd as
ridiculous.
Among
them we find those who
represent
God him-
self as the first
Freemason,
2
and Paradise as the first
sanctuary
of the
lodge!
We find another author who
pretends
that the
archangel
Michael was Grand Master of the first
lodge
that the
children of Seth held after the murder of Abel!
3
Others,
who
maintain that Noah was the founder of
Masonry
;
and
yet others,
who as
stoutly
assert that it
originated
at the construction of the
Tower of Babel on the
plains
of Shinar. From this mass of con-
tradictory opinions,
A.
Thory,
in the
preface
to his work
already
named,
deduced an
opinion
which he thus
expresses:
"
The
general opinion among
the most
distinguished
Freemasons
is,
that it is
impossible
to write a
general history
of
Freemasonry
which will bear
any approach
to correctness in dates and authen-
ticated facts. M. De Bonnville has asserted that ten
ages.
of man-
kind would not suffice for such a work. Others have
expressed,
and
yet
others have
repeated
the same
idea,
while
to-day
those of
1
See,
in (he "Acta
LatomorumJ' by
A.
Thory,
the
fragment upon
the
origin
of the
Society
of
Freemasons,
translated from the second volume of the
work
"
Versuch iiber die
Beschuldigungen
wider den
Tempelherrenorden," etc., by
Nicolai. This
fragment
of a German
work,
extracted and admitted
by
Thory, proves
that he himself had no settled
opinion upon
the
origin
of
Freemasonry,
for otherwise we can not
comprehend how,
to
give
a
just
idea
in his work of the
origin
of the institution, he could have chosen to
copy
from a work
which,
in his
opinion,
had no historic value in this connection.
2
See the work of Le
Franc,
entitled
"
Voile leve
pour
les Curieux."
*"Le vrai
Franc-Mapon," by Enoch,
1773.
XX11 PREFACE.
the members of the association
who, by
their talents and then
lights,
could be
expected
to undertake the task with success, have
never
essayed
it, persuaded
that it is
beyond
their
strength.
"
In
seeking
for the true cause of such
discouragement,
we
believe it consists in the extreme
difficulty
of
procuring
the
proper
documents,
the secret
memoirs,
the
polemic
and didactic
writings;
in
fact,
the
necessary manuscript
and
printed
informa-
tion as to the
history
of the institution. This
obstacle,
if not
insurmountable,
is
certainly exceedingly
difficult;
and we are free
to state
that,
were it not that the extensive
library
of the mother
lodge
of the Scotch Rite
had,
with its rare and valuable manu-
scripts,
been
placed
at our
disposal,
we never would have
attempted
the labor of which this our work is the result."
It
is,
in
fact,
to the
insufficiency
of the materials that it is
necessary
to attribute the fact that since the work of Dr. Ander-
son,
first
published
in London in
1723,
and
subsequently
to the
number of five
separate
editions,
no writer has
attempted
to
pro-
duce a
general history
of
Freemasonry, believing
the
problem
of
its
origin insoluble; and, therefore, they
have been forced to treat
it from a
philosophical point
of
view,
and
place
its
origin among
the
mysteries
of
antiquity.
It is these considerations which determined me to extract from
the numerous materials which I have
gathered, during
a number
of
years,
with the intention of one
day filling
a void in Masonic
literature,
and
publish
a
history
of our institution free from the
superstitions
and traditions with which it has been
continually
surrounded; and,
in this
object,
I have resolved to
unite,
in a
synoptic
table,
all that is afforded the most
interesting,
to the end
that the erroneous
opinions upon
its
origin may
be
dissipated,
and
a
just
and instructive idea of the
principles
and
object
of Free-
masonry
be afforded.
In
treating
in a manner indicative of
my
own convictions this
PREFACE.
XXlii
general ii.'siM^
vi*
Freemasonry,
I have endeavored to demon-
strate
1. T1*%N Invli.i u not
only
the cradle of the human
racs,
but the
country
wherein
may
be found the source of all the
religions
of
the worM.
2.
That,
id hoi
antiquities,
India offers us a civilization the
most
advanced,
aa ;s
abundantly proven by
her colossal monu-
ments,
which hsve existed for at least six thousand
years.
3. That from Itulia have
proceeded
science and
philosophy.
4. That we fmi\ in her sacred
books,
the
Vedas,
a sublime
doctrine, practiced by
the Buddhist
Samaneens,
and which
pre-
sents the most
striking
resemblance to the
primitive
Christian
doctrine.
5. That these same Vedas recount the creation of the world in
a manner
corresponding
to the
description
contained in the sacred
books of the Persians and the
Hebrews,
but with the difference
that in the Vedas the
description
has an.
entirely figurative sense,
while the sense
conveyed by
the Hebrew
Scriptures,
as
given
to
us,
is actual.
6. That the
religion
of the Hindoos their science and
philos-
ophy passed
into Persia and
Chaldea,
and
subsequently
to Ethi-
opia,
and from thence to
Egypt. Afterward, returning
invested
with other
forms,
it is found to exist at
present
in the former
countries.
My
readers
may
be assured that intentions the most
pure
have
guided
me in this
work,
and
that,
while I have communicated
the results of the
philosophical
researches of the most
profound
thinkers,
I have to
my
readers awarded the task of
harmonizing
these truths" with their own Masonic and
religious
ideas.
In this work I believe I have omitted
nothing
which would
interest a
young
Mason. Herein he will find the
origin
of the
mysteries
of
antiquity,
as also the
origin
of all
religions,
and the
connections which the ancient
religions
and
mysteries
bear to
XXIV PREFACE.
those of the
present day; also,
the
degrees
of civilization of the
ancient
peoples,
the true
origin
of
Freemasonry,
its
history,
and
in that
history
each historic
fact,
each
important
monument
whether of
antiquity
or of the middle
ages
which
appertain
to
that
history,
each
document,
each
usage,
each
important
name of
which mention should be
made; and, having
done
this,
I leave to
tho reader to
judge
of the actual condition and
importance
of this
institution from the tables of the
lodges existing
on the
globe,
and the countries wherein
Freemasonry
has
spread
and its doc-
trines are
practiced.
EMMANUEL REBOLD.
EAST OF
PARIS, November,
1860.
REPORT
OF THE COMMITTEE INTRUSTED WITH THE EXAMINATION
OF THE WORK OF BRO.
REBOLD,
ENTITLED "GEN-
ERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY."
BRO. REBOLD
having requested
the
undersigned
to examine his
History
of
Freemasonry,
and
report
their
opinion thereof,
it is
with the most
lively
interest that we
comply
with his wishes.
In our
opinion
it is
impossible
to
put together,
in a manner
more instructive and more
concise,
so
many
facts and dates in so
few
pages.
All is
comprised
in the work of Bro. Rebold
facts,
historical and
geographical,
as well as
chronological ;
all is
arranged
by
the hand of a
master;
and we
can,
without
exaggeration, say
that it is the first Masonic
history truly worthy
of this name which
has ever
appeared
in France.
All the works that we
possess speak
of
Masonry
as an institu-
tion of an
illusory
character,
and its
origin merely traditional,
if
not
apocryphal;
but Bro.
Rebold,
on the
contrary, taking
hold
of it at its
birth,
follows its
growth
and extension
through
the
different
phases
of its
career,
from nation to
nation,
and from cen-
tury
to
century,
and
supports
his
every
statement with facts and
dates and
names,
and the edifices and monuments of
antiquity.
Many pages might
be
profitably
filled with even a
cursory
analysis
of the work of our
brother,
but this we will leave to the
reader, being
satisfied with
saying,
for
ourselves,
that
nearly every
line is the substance of a
volume; every
word carries with it a
portion
of instruction. We have read and re-read the
manuscript
with the most intense
interest,
and we can return to it
again
and
again
with
pleasure,
for it
nobly
fills the
deplorable
vacuum that
exists in all of our Masonic libraries.
An immense success is reserved for this book we had almost
(25)
26 GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.
said this
library
in
epitome
a success
enthusiastic, merited,
and
durable. To
every
brother
who,
animated with true
religious
sen-
timents,
seeks instruction at the source of the most solid informa-
tion,
we recommend this
work;
and,
after the most conscientious
examination
a^ter
the most attentive
study,
and with our
hands,
as
Freemasons, upon
our
hearts,
we
express
this our
opinion
of
the work of Bro.
Rebold;
and
regret
our
inability, by
so limited
an
expression
of our
feelings,
to do that
justice
to this
really
merit-
orious
production
that it is so
richly
entitled to.
DTJ
PLANTY,
M.
D.,
Wor. Mas. of
Trinity Lodge.
AUGUSTE
HUMBERTE,
Wor. Mas. Star of Bethlehem
Lodge.
B.
LlMETH,
Wor. Mas. of Commanders of Mt. Lebanon
Lodge.
EAST OP
PAHIS, June,
27 1860.
HISTORY
OF FREEMASONRY.
INTRODUCTION.
man, placed upon
this
earth,
saw himself sur-
rounded with so
many differently
formed
beings,
of which
the
producing
cause and motive for their existence were
to him
unknown,
his
thoughts
were
necessarily
concen-
trated in one sentiment intense admiration. Unable to
comprehend
the
cause,
he attached more
importance
to
the effect. He studied the
physical qualities
of
all,
to the
end that he
might
be enabled to select for his use those
which were
useful,
and
reject
those which were hurtful.
But that which struck him with most
surprise
was the
constant return of
day
and
night, light
and darkness the
brilliance and warmth of
summer,
and the cold and
gloom
of winter to see the earth for a season ornamented with
flowers and
fruits,
whilst
during
a
corresponding period
it
languished
and labored in
sterility.
He
sought
to ascer-
tain the cause of those
phenomena
which
regularly repro-
duced themselves around
him,
and to whose influence he
found his own nature
subjected;
and little
by
little,
in the
laws,
first of
physics,
and next of
astronomy,
he discov-
ered the
explanation.
He saw
that,
regulated by
these
laws,
nature
existed;
that the sun and moon and earth moved in common
accord. In
fact,
whilst all else lived and died around
(27)
him and died forever these alone abated not in the
regularity
of their movements nor
perpetuity
of their
existence: without
beginning,
and,
apparently,
without
end, they
seemed uncreated and immutable. To
feelings,
therefore,
of admiration for
all,
were added
feelings
of
gratitude
and thanks for the beneficence of that star of
lay
whose brilliance and heat
ripened
for his use fruits
and
vegetables;
for that lesser
light
which seemed ar-
ranged,
when the
greater disappeared,
to take its
place;
and for the
earth,
the
great
nurse, always
attentive,
sup-
porting
all
living
creatures,
and
offering
each
year,
for
their
use,
the abundance of her varied and bounteous
products.
Those sentiments of admiration and
gratitude begot yet
another their natural
product worship
;
and from that
time man
began
to reverence
good
and evil. He made
of
light
and darkness
spirits
of
good
and
spirits
of
evil,
regarding
the former as the
good being,
and the latter
as the evil
one;
light
the
benefactor;
darkness the de-
stroyer.
And this
worship
of
light
of
every degree
neces-
sarily
led to sun
worship
or
Sabeism,
which we see diffused
among
all the
primitive peoples
of the earth as well in
Europe
as in
Asia,
in
Africa,
and
among
the Incas of
America.
It is thus that the Hindoos adored in Brahma the sun
of
summer,
the
creator,
the
genius
of
good;
and in Shiva
the sun of
winter,
the
destroyer,
the
genius
of
evil;
that
the Persians
reverenced
the
good principle
in
Oromaze,
and the bad in
Ahrimane;
that the
Egyptians
adored
these same
principles
in Osiris and
Typhon ;
and the
Israelites in Jehovah and the
Serpent,
without
stopping
to consider that this adoration was a
worship
of
stars,
or
a
worship
of the
changes
of nature.
Every-where,
in
fact,
and
among
all
peoples
even
among
the Jews them-
selves \ve
find,
from the earliest
times,
man
prostrated
INTRODUCTION.
29
before
material
nature,
confounding continually,
in one
and the same
worship,
the
being
who suffers the action
and the
principle
that caused it.
This
primitive worship
was not
entirely
abolished,
but
maintained itself
among
the
elect,
and
was,
consequently,
the fundamental
dogma taught
in the
mysteries
of an
tiqnity by
the
gymnosophists
of India and the
hierophant
of
Memphis. And,
as it was the
duty
of those
sages
to
notice and record natural
phenomena,
to the end that the
dates of feasts and the movements of the
planets
should
be
known,
as well as a record
kept
of memorable
events,
and the
knowledge
of their
doctrines, sciences,
and dis-
coveries be communicated
among
themselves,
the
system
of
hieroglyphics
and
symbols
was invented a
system
which has been found to
exist,
as the earliest
style
of
record,
among priests
and
peoples
of the most remote
These
priests
were the intercessors before the
divinities,
the counselors and
guides
of the
people;
and to
perpetu-
ate their
numbers,
men were admitted who
proved
them-
selves
capable
and
worthy
of the
position by submitting,
after a
long
and careful
training,
to the ordeal of a severe
examination. It was in this manner that the
initiations,
so celebrated
among
the
peoples
of
antiquity,
were insti-
tuted.
These civilizers and
early
instructors of the human
race,
believing
that it was
impossible
for the mass of man-
kind the
ignorant
and illiterate to
perceive
the truths
of
science,
religion,
and
philosophy, except
when
repre-"
sented
by
material
symbols,
instituted such
symbols
for
that
purpose, and,
in
consequence,
two forms of
religion
began
to
prevail;
viz.: the one the
religion
of the multi
tude, who,
in
great
numbers,
perceived nothing beyond
the exterior
object
or
symbol;
and the other the
religion
of the
learned,
who
perceived
in the
symbol
but the
emblem of the moral truth or natural
effect,
of which the
symbol
was but the
type.
All these
mysteries
and their
initiations,
having
a common
object,
resembled each other in their rites and
symbols,
and differed but in
degree, according
to the
genius
and
manners of the
particular peoples among
whom
they
were
practiced,
and the
talents,
more or less
brilliant,
of their
priests
and founders. Those
among
the
Chaldeans,
the
Ethiopians,
and the
Egyptians taught
the arts and sci-
ences in
secret,
particularly
architecture.
Among
the
Egyptians
the
priests
formed a distinct
class,
and devoted
themselves to
teaching special
branches of human knowl-
edge.
The
youth
who
by
them were instructed were
initiated into the
mysteries
of
religion,
and
during
their
novitiate formed an outer class or
corporation
of arti-
sans, who,
according
to the
designs
drawn
by
the
priestsr
erected the
temples
and other monuments consecrated to
the
worship
of the
gods.
It was this class that
gave
to the
people kings,
warriors, statesmen,
and useful citi-
zens.
The favor shown to the
priests by
the
people
of
Egypt
was due in
part
to their
wisdom,
in
part
to the elevated
conditions of science and
morality
which
they taught,
but more
particularly
to their
study
and
application
of an
occult science
practiced by
the
magicians
of Persia. In
this
study they
were aided
by
a class of
assistants,
called
sybils
or
oracles,
to whom
they
were indebted for the
knowledge
of a
great
number of
plants
and their thera-
peutic properties
of which the
priests
affixed the names
at the
gates
of their
temples as, also,
for their knowl-
edge
of
chemistry, anatomy,
and
many
of the secrets of
nature.
1
1
This occult
science, designated by
the ancient
priests
under the name
of
regenerating fire,
is that which at the
present day
is known as animal
magnetism
a science that for more than three thousand
years
was the
peculiar possession
of the
priesthood,
into the
knowledge
of which Moses
INTRODUCTION.
51
Thus we see the most illustrious men of Greece
Thales,
Solon,
Pythagoras, Democritus, Orpheus,
Plato,
Theodo-
sius,
Epicurus, Herodotus,
Lycurgus
these
great philos-
ophers
of
antiquity, binding
their stoutest sandals
upon
was initiated at
Heliopolis,
where he was
educated,
and Jesus Christ
among
the Essenian
priests
of Jerusalem.
This
science,
that an illustrious Dominican calls "a
piece
broken from
a
grand palace,
a
ray
from the Adamic
power,
destined to confound
human reason and to humiliate it before
God,
a
phenomenon belonging
to the
prophetic
order" is that same science which lias been resusci-
tated
by
Bro.
Mesmer,
whose
disciples to-day spread every-where, and, by
the
application
of it as a
therapeutic agent,
are
every-where alleviating
the
physical
condition of the sick and the afflicted.
Magnetism,
the vital
principle
of all
organized beings,
soul of all who
respire,
made a
part,
under various
names,
of the secret
teachings
of the
priests.
The titles of
regenerating fire, living fire, magic,
were
given
to
it
by them,
and the initiation into this divine science was
participated
in but
by
a small number of the elect
Believing
it to be our
duty
to
define the
meaning
of this science in as clear and distinct a manner as
possible,
we have chosen for this
purpose
to select a
passage
that we find
in the work of our friend and brother
Henry Delage,
entitled "Perfec-
tion of the Human
Race,"
in which he
expresses
himself
upon
this
subject
as follows:
"The
knowledge
of this
magnetic
fluid is the most
precious gift
of
Divine Providence. It is the
mysterious key
that
opens
to our dazzled
intelligence
the world of truth and of
light,
and
joins
the finite to the
infinite. It is the chain of
gold
so often chanted
by
the
poet,
the basis
of that secret
philosophy
that
Democritus, Plato,
and
Pythagoras
trav-
eled to
Egypt
to demand of the
hierophants
of
Memphis
and of the
gymnosophists
of India. Invisible to the
eyes
of the
senses,
it must be
studied
by
the vision of the soul as seen in the
rapt gaze
of the som-
nambulist In other
days
the truth was heard
proceeding
from the
lips
of the
initiating priest; to-day
we see it in the
eyes
of the
clairvoyant.
A
magnetic fluid, very subtle, placed
in the human race between the soul
and the
body,
it circulates in all the
nerves; and, particularly
abundan
in the
great sympathetic
of the
healthy subject,
it constitutes the
spin
of the
living being.
Its
color,
that of fire or the electric
spark,
induced
the name of
living fire given
to it in the works of the
magicians
of
Persia,
and of intimate star in those of the
alchymists
and
astrologers
of
their
feet,
and
taking
the
pilgrim's
staff within their
hands,
leaving
their
country
and
going
forth to visit the
vast sanctuaries of
Egypt,
there to be initiated into the
mysteries
of Isis and Osiris.
These
mysteries
were
transported
into
Greece,
where
Orpheus
founded those of
Samothracia,
and
Triptoieme
those of Eleusis. The Greeks drew
upon
these
mysteries
and initiations for a
part
of their
mythology.
Homer
drew
upon
them for his
ingenious
fictions,
and clothed his
songs
with their
allegories.
The descent into a
well,
made
by
the
aspirant
for
initiation,
led to the
saying
that truth
was concealed at the bottom of a well. The
judges
of the
dead,
before whom
they
were conducted
by
the
ferryman
Charon across the lake
Acheron,
the urn that contained
the
ballots,
and after an examination of which the
judges
pronounced
sentence and
again
intrusted the initiates to
the care of
Charon,
who alone
appeared
to have the
right
or
ability
of
traversing
the subterranean
obscurity through
which
they passed,
the
barking
of
dogs,
the
monsters,
the
hideous
specters,
the
flitting
shades,
the
furies,
the
dog
Cerberus the
sight
of all those
objects
which the
Egyp-
tians and the Greeks had invented to
try
the nerves of
the initiates made in their
imagination
a real hell. While
the
Elysian
fields,
lighted up by
a mimic
sun,
was evi-
dently
the
place
to which the initiate was conducted after
his
initiation;
and
Tartarus,
where shades
groaned plain-
tively
at their own
feebleness,
the
place
where those who
had succumbed
in terror before these hideous
spectacles
were
congregated.
The braziers and
flames,
between
which the initiate was
compelled
to
pass, evidently gave
the middle
ages.
One of its
principal
virtues is the
generative power;
nence the sacred books
give
it the name of
regenerating fire.
Soul of
the
world,
universal
spirit permeating
all
nature,
it is the essence and
the vital
spark
of all that it
animates,
of all orders of
beings, classes,
and races in which it is
incarnated,
and is
profoundly
modified
by
all
through
which it
passes."
INTRODUCTION.
33
rise to the
saying
that men who would be elevated to
the rank of the
gods
must first
pass through
fire and be
purified
of all of earth that attaches to
humanity.
In
tine,
to descend into
hell,
and to be initiated into the
mys-
teries, were,
among
the
ancients,
one and the same
opera-
tion.
FOUNDATION OF THE COLLEGES OF
BUILDERS,
THE CRADLE OF FREEMASONRY.
THE
mysteries
of the
Egyptians,
passing through
Moses
to the Jewish
people,
afterward disseminated
among
the
Greeks and the
Romans, were,
among
the
latter,
intro-
duced in
part
into the
.Colleges
of
Builders,
instituted
by
]S[uma
Pompilius,
in the
year
715
before our era.
1
These
colleges
were,
at their
organization,
as well
relig-
ious societies as fraternities of
artisans,
and their connec-
tion with the state and the
priesthood
were
by
the laws
determined
with
precision. They
had their own
worship
and their own
organization,
based
upon
that of the
Dyo-
nisian
priests
and
architects,
of whom
many
were fcT be
found anterior to this
period
in
Syria,
in
Egypt,
in
Persia,
and in India
;
and the
degree
of
sublimity
to which
they
had carried their art is revealed to us
by
the ruins which
yet
exist of the monuments which
they
there erected.
'Besides the exclusive
privilege
of
constructing
the
temples
and
public
monuments,
they
had a
judiciary
of their
own,
and were made free of all contributions to the
city
and state.
The members of these
colleges, usually
after the labors
of the
day,
convened in their
respective lodges
wooden
houses,
temporarily
erected near the edifice in course of
construction where
they
determined the distribution and
1
Numa
Pompilius
also instituted
Colleges
of Artisans
(Collegia Artifi-
cum)
to the number of one hundred and
thirty-one;
at the head of which
were the
Colleges
of Architects or
Constructors,
otherwise Builders
(Col-
legia Fabrorum.)
The latter were
designated
under the name of Frater-
nities
(Fraternitates.)
(34)
FOUNDATION OF THE COLLEGES OF BUILDERS.
35
execution of the work
upon
such
edifice,
the
decisions
being
made
by
a
majorityJ>f_votes. Here, also,
were ini-
tiated the new memBers into the
jsecrets
and
particular
mysteries
of their art. These initiates were divided into
three classes :
apprentices, companions
or fellow-
workmen,
and
masters;
and
they engaged
themselves
by
oath to
afford Ijach other succor and assistance. The
presidents
of those
colleges,
elected for five
years,
were named mas-
ters or teachers
(magistri);
their labors in their
lodges
were
always preceded by religious
ceremonies, and,
as the
membership
was
composed
of men of all
countries,
and
consequently
of different
beliefs,
the
Supreme Being
neces-
sarily
had to be
represented
in the
lodges
under a
general
title,
and therefore was
styled
"The Grand Architect of
the Universe" the universe
being
considered the most
perfect
work of a master builder.
In the
beginning
the initiations into these
corporations
appear
to have been confined to but two
degrees,
and the
ritual of these
degrees
limited
to, 1st,
some
religious
cere-
monies
; 2d,
imparting
to the initiate a
knowledge
of the
duties and
obligations imposed upon
him
; 3d,
to
explain-
ing
certain
symbols,
the
signs
of
recognition,
and the
inviolability
of the oath : the workman or fellow-craft
Deing,
in
addition,
carefully
instructed in the use of the
level and the
square,
the mallet and chisel. To become a
master,
the elected had to submit to
proofs
such as were
exacted at the initiation of the
priest
architects of
Egypt,
and in which he underwent a
searching
examination of
his
knowledge
of art and moral
principles.
By
the
protection
that these
colleges
of builders ac-
corded to the institutions and
worships
of other
countries,
there were
developed among
them doctrines and rules of
conduct
very
much in advance of their
age,
and which
they
clothed in
symbols
and
emblems,
which were thus
charged
with a double
signification
; and,
like the
Dyonisian priest
architects,
they
had words and
signs
of
recognition.
These
colleges
of
artisans,
and
principally
those who
professed
excellence in
ability
to execute civil and
relig-
ious,
naval and
hydraulic architecture,
at first extended
from Rome into Venice and
Lombardy,
afterward into
France,
Belgium,
Switzerland, and
Britain;
and more
lately
into
Spain,
Arabia,
and the
East;
and a
great
number of
these
colleges,
which at this time were known
by
the
name of
Fraternities,
followed the Roman
legions.
Their
business was to
trace
the
plans
of all
military
construc-
tions,
such as intrenched
camps, strategic
routes,
bridges,
aqueducts,
arches of
triumph,
etc.
They
also directed the
soldiers and the laborers in the material execution of their
works.
Composed
of artisans, educated and studious
men,
these
corporations
extended the
knowledge
of Roman
manners and a taste for Roman art wherever the
legions
carried victorious the Roman arms. And
as,
in this
way,
they
contributed more
largely
to the victories of
peace
than to those of
war,
they
carried to the
vanquished
and
to the
oppressed
the
pacific
element of the Roman
power
the arts and civil law.
These
colleges
existed,
in all their
vigor,
almost to the
fall of the Roman
empire.
The
irruption
of the
peoples
called barbarians
dispersed
and reduced their
number,
and
they
continued to decline while those
ignorant
and fero-
cious men continued to
worship
their rude
gods;
but when
they
were converted to
Christianity,
the
corporations
flour-
ished anew.
THE MASONIC CORPORATIONS IN BRITAIN.
MANY of the
corporations
of builders who were with the
Roman
legions
in the countries
bordering
on the Rhine
were sent
by
the
Emperor
Claude,
in the
year
43,
into the
British
Isles,
to
protect
the Romans
against
the incursions
of the Scots. Before their arrival in that
country,
there
THE MASONIC CORPORATIONS IN
BRITAIN.
37
were to be found neither towns nor
villages. Here,
as
elsewhere,
the Masonic
corporations
constructed for the
legions camps,
which
they
surrounded with walls and
fortifications; and,
as time
advanced,
the interior of
these
colonies was beautified with
baths,
bridges, temples,
and
palaces, Avhich,
in a
great degree,
rivaled even those of
Rome herself.
Wherever the
legions
established intrenched
camps,
the
Masonic
corporations
erected cities more or less
import-
ant. It is thus that
^Tnrk,
called
by
the Romans Ebora-
cum,
and
subsequently
celebrated in the
history
of Free-
masonry,
became one of the first that
acquired importance
and elevation to the rank of a Roman
city.
The native
population
who aided the Romans in those
different constructions were
incorporated
into the
opera-
tive bodies of
workmen,
and
taught
their
art; and,
in
a short
time,
towns and
villages
were in course of erec-
tion on
every
side. The rich inhabitants of the
country,
imitating
the
Romans,
constructed
equally sumptuous
habitations,
which the architects ornamented with -the
same sentiments of art
they
had exhibited on the
temples
of the most
powerful
Romans.
Daily
in contact with the
most elevated
people
of the civilized
world,
the inhabit-
ants
acquired
a humanitarian tolerance for the manners of
foreigners,
and for
religious
ideas so different from their
own.
And,
in their
turn,
the Romans discovered that
there existed in
every people
a
portion
of true
humanity;
and this
they sought
to increase rather than unveil the
barbaric and
disagreeable
in local manners and national
prejudices.
The
irruptions
of the mountaineers of Scotland
obliged
the Romans to
e_rec_t
on the north of Britain three im-
mense walls, in three different
directions,
1
one of which
traversed the
country
from the east to the west.
l
The first
great
wall was constructed
by
the Masonic
Corporations,
The
corporations being inadequate
for the construction
of such immense
works,
the
Britons,
who were devoted to
their
service,
aided them in their
labors,
and thus became
partakers
of all the
advantages
and
privileges
which were
enjoyed by
the
corporations
themselves. Their constant
intercourse,
during
the execution of the same construc-
tions,
and
particularly
in
foreign
countries,
always
resulted
in individual
advantage,
and the
enjoyment
in common of
the same
privileges
cemented this intercourse. The same
art,
the
unity
in
plans
of
action,
combined to create in
their
intimacy
the
greatest
tolerance for
religious
and
national
peculiarities,
and a
feeling
of common brother-
hood was thus
developed among
them. All the work-
men of
every degree employed upon
a construction called
themselves a
lodge sleeping
and
taking
their meals in
buildings resembling
tents,
which were
temporarily
erected
in the
vicinity
of the work in course of
construction,
and
which served them as
dwellings
until its
completion only.
The erection of these houses and
palaces, bridges
and
aqueducts,
castles and
walls,
contributed to elevate archi-
tecture in Britain to a
degree
of
perfection
it had not
attained in
any
other Roman
province;
so
that,
as
early
as the third
century,
this
country
was celebrated for the
great
number and the
knowledge
of her architects and
of their
workmen;
and their services were called for
wherever, upon
the
continent,
great
constructions were
about to be erected.
Christianity,
too,
from the first hour
of its
introduction, spread
in
Britain,
and
gave
to the
Masonic
lodges
the
peculiar
characteristics which distin-
guished
them at this
period.
These same
military roads,
under the orders of
Agrippa,
the Roman
general
in command of the
legions
in
Britain,
in the
year
90 of our era. The second under the
Emperor Adrian,
A. D. 120. This crossed the
country
from the river
Tyne
to the Gulf of
Solway,
and thus traversed Britain from east to
west And the third was constructed further
north, by
order of
Septi-
mus
Severus,
in the
year
207.
39
so immense in their
extent,
and
upon
which chains and
slavery
had heen carried to
people
as free as
they
were
ignorant,
served now to
carry
to enslaved
humanity,
wea-
ried of
life,
that new and
inspiring liberty preached by
Christ. Men now traveled these roads
who,
filled with
Ke new
faith,
believed it to be their mission to
impart
to
11 whom
they
met or overtook in their
journeyings
a
knowledge
of the true God and the
gospel
of his Son.
And
although,
when,
alone,
these
missionary
converts were
exposed
to
bloody persecutions
in the towns and
villages
through
which
they passed, they
were
invariably per-
mitted to
accompany
unmolested the Masonic
corpora-
tions,
who
now,
sometimes alone and sometimes in the
retinue of the Roman
legions,
were
continually threading
the immense
empire.
Britain, too, by
a favorable
fortune,
had more kind and
humane
governors
at this
period
than
any
other Roman
province.
The
example
of the
nobility,
in
becoming
con-
verts to the new
faith,
was
swiftly
followed
by
the
people.
If,
in
consequence,
in the other
provinces,
the
persecutions
of the Christians
were, by
order of the
emperors,
executed
with
rigor
the most
appalling,
in Britain a certain
refuge
was offered to the
persecuted, by
the connivance of her
governors, among
the
building corporations.
Hence it was
that
many among
those who became advocates and
public
propagandists
of the
gospel,
for the certain
protection
afforded them
by
these
corporations, sought
for and ob-
tained admission
among
those fraternities of
builders;
and
thus,
in the hearts of the
lodges, they
associated with aud-
itors more
freely disposed
to listen to their
doctrines,
at
once so humane and so
pure
;
for that love of the human
race which characterized the
primitive
Christians
entirely
accorded with the
spirit
of those cultivated workmen who
composed
the Masonic
corporations.
When, therefore,
a
humane
governor
shrank from the
disagreeable
function
of
ordering
the execution of Christians under
imperial
decree,
those who were thus menaced
sought refuge among
the
Scots,
or in the
Orkney
Islands; or,
aided
j)yjhe_build-
ers who
accompanied
them,
they
fled to
Ireland,
and there
remained until the death of the
emperor
who had ordered
their execution.
In this manner Scotland became the most accessible
esort of these
refugees,
who,
in return for the
security
awarded
them,
carried into that
country
a
knowledge
of
Roman architecture
;
and from this
period may
be dated
the construction of those
magnificent
castles of the Ro-
manesque
or Etruscan
style
of
architecture,
whose
grand
remains,
braving
even until
to-day
the destructive hand
of
time,
attest the architectural
knowledge
and artistic
genius
of their builders.
When
Carausius,
as commander of the Roman
navy,
found himself
upon
the coast of
Belgium,
he
revolted,
and,
making
sail for
Britain,
landed on that island irfthe
year
287,
when he declared his
independence
of Rome and
took the title of
emperor;
but,
ever fearful of an attack
by
the
Emperor
Maximilian,
whom Diocletian had chosen
for
co-emperor,
and to whom he had awarded the west-
ern
empire,
Carausius
sought,
above
all,
to conciliate that
society
then the most influential and
important
in the
island the Masonic
corporations.
These were then com-
posed
not alone of the descendants of those Greeks and
Romans whom the
Emperor
Claude
had,
in the
year
43,
ordered into the
country,
as
already mentioned, but,
in
major part,
of the natives of Britain.
With this
object
in
view, Carausius,
at the ancient
city
of
Yerulam,
afterward known as St.
Albans,
where he had
taken
up
his abode and established his
court,
conveyed
and confirmed to the Masonic
corporations through
the
instrumentality
of
Albanus,
a Roman
knight,
and
Amphi-
abulus,
a Roman architect all those ancient
privileges
accorded to them
by
Numa
Pompilius,
and the
kings,
his
successors,
more than a thousand
years before,
but which
41
in later
years
had been
greatly
curtailed
by
lli
Roman
emperors.
And it is to tmsTenewal of those
privi-
leges
the
greatest among
which was the
right
of
making
laws for
their..mvji_governnient,
and
thus,
in
establishing
their own
judiciary, becoming independent
of all other
legal
tribunals to which
may
be attributed the title Free-
masoh, which,
since that
time,
has
distinguished
the mem-
bers of these
corporations
in contradistinction to the other
workers in wood and stone who
composed
no
part
of such
bodies.
Not
having
been interfered with
by
the
Emperor
Maxi-
milian,
Carausius
employed
all his wealth to
augment
the
well-being
of the
country.
He
engaged
the Masonic cor-
porations
in the erection of
magnificent public
edifices,
which were rivaled but
by
those of Rome herself. His
death, however,
which occurred
by
assassination,
in the
year
295,
brought
these
plans
to an
abrupt
close.
Immediately
after the death of
Carausius,
Maximilian
appointed
Constance Clorus to the vacant
governorship
of
Gaul and Britain.
He,
selecting
Eboracum,
subsequently
known as the
city
of
York,
for his
residence,
found there
the oldest and most influential
lodges
of the Masonic cor-
porations;
and this
city,
from that
time,
became the center
of all the
lodges
of Freemasons in Britain.
After the death of
Constance,
called the
Great,
an event
that took
place~iirtlie year
306,
his son Constantine suc-
ceeded him. He
stopped
at once the
persecution
of the
Christians,
and declared himself their
protector.
After
his
victory
over his
rival, Licinius,
he
adopted Christianity
himself
more,
it is
believed,
from
political
motives than
from a conviction of its truth and declared it the
religion
of the state.
Among
the earliest Christian communities the true doc-
trines of Christ
were,
from the
first,
exhibited in the lives
of their members the first
apostles having
been
found
in Britain
among
the Masonic
corporations.
These truo
priests
and
propagandists
of the
religion
of Jesus were
entire
strangers
to all
thought
of
temporal power;
and the
unfortunate
disputes
of the four
bishops
who had arro-
gated
to themselves the
government
of all
Christendom
had
not,
as
yet,
affected the
primitive
doctrine
recognized
in that declaration of the Redeemer: "He who
servegjjie
with most devotion
upon
earth shall be
greatest
in the
kingdom
of heaven." The
confiding
and
susceptible spirit
of the artist
easily
became
impressed
with the beauties of
that
morality
which embraced
humanity
as a whole. The
sentiments of art with which his soul was imbued
repulsed
all
sophism,
and the social life of the
lodges
resembled
(the
earliest Christian
associations,
with this
exception,
jthat,
instead of that
contemplative
idleness that saw no
|religious
labor save in
fasting
and
prayer,
was exercised a
robust and
manly energy
that
found,
in the
acquirement
of useful
knowledge
and the
engagement
in actual
labor,
a
fitting
outlet for that love of
beauty
and
perception
of
the sublime which are never better directed than in the
creations of art when
employed
for the
glory
of God.
The
early
Christian
missionaries,
not
being
actuated
by
feelings
of
ambition,
their doctrines were
simple, pure,
and
easily
understood and
appreciated by
those whom
they
addressed.
Hence,
to make themselves
intelligible
and beloved
by
their
companions
in the
lodge, they
had
but to unfold before them the
pure
ordinances of
primi-
tive
Christianity;
and
when,
as was often the
case,
they
were
obliged
to seek
refuge
in
Scotland,
in
Ireland,
or
among
the
Orkney
Islands,
there to live the lives of Coul-
deans,
1
it was
necessary,
when the most
simple interpreta-
*Many
Christians who had
sought refuge
in
Ireland,
in
Gaul,
and the
Orkneys,
habituated to
every privation during
their
apostolical excursions,
lived in solitude in those same caves and
grottoes,
in the sides of rocka
and
mountains,
which had
been,
before their
time,
inhabited
by
the
Druids,
who there assembled to celebrate their
religious
rites;
and from
which those Christians went forth
only
for the
purpose
of
spreading
the
THE MASONIC CORPORATIONS IN BRITAIN. 43
tion of their doctrines was
desired,
to seek for it
among
those northern heroes of the truth.
It^wjis_mJ;lm_man-
ner that
Christianity
in its
greatest
.purity
was hetter
preserved
in Great Britain than in
any
other
country.
As
Christianity,
in its new reTatTons'to the
state,
daily
increased TTf
power,
and demanded for its exercise the
ercction~bf suTEat)le
buildings,
the
Eregmason
corpora-
tions found
ample employment. Every-where
Christian
Churches
sprang up
under the direction and active
opera-
tions of these workmen.
Cpjistantine
himself, who,
imi-
tating
his filth er in
many
of his acts and
determinations,
made York his residence
during
the first
years
of his
reign,
knew
personally
the
principal
members of those
corporationsêxtendêdT
to them
every privilege they
had
ever
possessed
or were at
any
time
deprived of,
and thus
they
became the most effective and influential arm of the
public
service.
The
approaches
of the Germans
upon
the Roman Em-
pire
of the West became from
day
to
day
more
menacing.
They
did not content
themselves,
as was once their cus-
tom,
with
pillaging
arid
retiring
from such
provinces
as
they overran,
but commenced to
definitely
establish them-
selves therein.
Succeeding
hordes
pushed past
those who
had arrived before
them,
and
penetrated
even
beyond
the
country possessed by
the
Romans;
and it was from this
cause that
Britain,
finding
herself more and more isolated
from the
protection
of the continental
empire, began
to
look forward with more of fear than
pleasure upon
a
day
of freedom from the Roman
sway.
From the
beginning
of the third
century
the Romans
had to contend almost
constantly
with the mountaineer
of
Scotland,
a warlike
people,
the
aborigines
of their
Gospel among
the
people.
It was from the name of those
solitary
habitations that the title of Couldeans was
given
to those
preachers
of
Christianity; as,
in the Gaelic
language,
the
w>rd couldean
signifies
"hermit,"
or dweller in
solitude
country,
and
who,
like the Welsh or
Cambrians,
had
never been
conquered;
1
and at
length,
menaced on
every
hand,
and wearied with the continued
strife,
the Western
emperor
considered it
prudent
to remove to the southern
portion
of his
empire
those forces which had hitherto
been reserved for the
protection
of
Britain; and,
by
de-
grees,
as
they
were
required
to
protect
his
empire
from
the inroads of the
Goths,
he withdrew his
legions,
and
with them his
jurisdiction
over the
country
a
jurisdic-
tion which he
finally
abdicated in the
year
406. Thus
deserted
by
the
Romans,
the Britons called to their assist-
ance the
Anglii
and the Saxon
pagans
of the
neighboring
continent,
to
protect
them from the assaults of the Picts
and Scots and the northern
pirates
who infested their
coasts. These
auxiliaries, however,
became as
injurious
in
one sense as
they
were useful in another.
They repulsed
the
Scots,
it is
true,
but
they
also fixed themselves in
the land and founded the seven
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
Their
gross
barbarities made them the enemies of all
civilization. Cities and
villages
were
destroyed,
and the
flourishing prosperity
that Britain
enjoyed
under the
Roman
sway disappeared.
The Christian and civilized
inhabitants fled to the mountains of
Wales,
to
Scotland,
or
to the isles
beyond.
It was
among
these
refugees
that the
ancient
language
of Britain was
preserved,
and with it
primitive Christianity
and the
knowledge
of architecture
as
practiced by
the Masonic
corporations.
After the first barbarous
impetuosity
of the
Anglo-Sax-
ons had been
calmed,
and the more
peaceful pursuits
of
agriculture replaced
the wars of
robbers,
some of these
Christian
refugees
withdrew from their mountain caves and
fortresses, and, returning
to what were once their
homes,
converted
many among
the
pagan
nobles and
people,
'It was not until between the
years
1273 and 1307 that the Welsh
were
finally conquered by
Edward
I,
eon of
Henry III,
and
grandson
of
John,
the Nero of
English kings.
TRANS.
THE MASONIC CORPORATIONS IN BRITAIN. 45
but as
yet
dreaded to
approach
the
kings.
And
thus,
toward the close of
the_sixth
century,
the mild and fruit-
ful
light
of the
primitive
Christian doctrine
began
to
diffuse its
gentle rays
almost to the center of the seven
kingdoms.
It was reserved for the Benedictine
monks,
whom
Pope Gregory
I sent to
England,
to convert th
Anglo-Saxons,
and at whose head
presided Austin,
a cele
brated
priest-architect,
to succeed in
gradually converting
all
theTTnngs.
It is true that these
monks,
prompted by
that
spirit
of
temporal
dominion which even at that
early
age began
to manifest itself in the
Church,
exerted their
best efforts to
strengthen
the
power
of the Pontiff and
enhance the
possessions
of the
Holy
See;
but in these
operations they
were at once met
by
the returned refu-
gees
and their
pupils,
who had
kept
the
early
faith,
doc-
trine,
and
practices
of the
primitive
Church;
and
thus,
to a
great
extent,
were the encroachments on that
early
doctrine
prevented,
and abuses of
power
corrected. And
to this
preservation
of the
primitive teachings
of Chris-
tian
apostles,
in the midst of the Masonic
corporations,
it is
proper
to attribute that better and more liberal
spirit
that rendered the converts of the British Isles more fa-
vorably disposed
toward the arts and sciences of those
days
than were the inhabitants of the
neighboring
conti-
nent.
In accordance with the
teachings
of their
founder,
the
Benedictine monks worked more than
they
fasted or
prayed.
Austin
himself,
the
apostle
of
England
and first
Archbishop
of
Canterbury,
was no less celebrated for his
knowledge
of architecture than for his other
powers
of
mind and varied
acquirements;
and it was he
who,
at
this
time,
began
to rebuild and re-establish the ancient
Masonic
corporations,
now
reduced,
it
may
well oe be-
lieved,
to a
very
small number
indeed, entirely
inade-
quate
for those immense constructions
projected by
the
new
apostles
of
Christianity.
It was in this manner that
46 GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY
at this
time,
in
England
as
upon
the
continent,
the
lodges
became attached to the
convents,
and were more or less
governed by
monks,
according
as the
leading
architects
were monks or
lay
brethren
;
and from this fact arose the
condition that
lodges
held their
meetings
almost exclu-
sively
in the
convents, where,
if an abbot was
proposed
as
Master or Warden of a
lodge, they
addressed him as Wor-
shipful
Brother or
Worshipful
Master,
thus
establishing
a
mode of address which has descended even to our own
day
as the usual one in
speaking
to or of the first officer
within a
lodge.
After the close of the seventh
century,
both
bishops
and
abbots made
frequent journeys
to
Rome,
as well for the
purpose
of
collecting pictures
and relics of saints as to in-
duce
superior
workmen to return with them and settle in
England.
Such as did
so,
and all others who erected for
the nobles their castles and for the
clergy
their convents
and
churches,
were treated with the
greatest
consideration
by
the
principal
men of the
country,
who concerted means
for
establishing
a taste for the arts and sciences. And in
this
undertaking
it was soon discovered that the -senti-
ments of
early
art,
as
'taught by Yitruvius,
in the
reign
of Caesar
Augustus,
had been better
preserved among
the
Masonic
refugees
from
Anglo-Saxon
murder and
robbery
in the mountains of Wales and of
Scotland,
than
among
any
other of the
peoples
of either islands or continent.
In
consequence
of this
discovery,
it became
necessary
to
arrange
anew the British
lodges,
and to
compose
them not
alone of
companion
architects and
masons,
but also of
influential
men;
and men
who,
advanced in
civilization,
protected
and loved the
arts,
began
to take a
position
in
these
lodges
as
accepted
masons. The
lodge
at York was
revived and became the most
important
one in the coun-
try,
and into it none were received
as
companions
but
free,
men thus
establishing
what is
yet
the
principal
charac-
teristic of this
institution,
to the end that no
person,
when
47
once admitted into its
membership
as an
equal,
could in
any
manner be
impeached
in his
possession
of Masonic
privileges.
It was at this
time, also,
that he who desired
elevation to the rank of master or teacher had to make
three
voyages
into
strange
countries,
and
prove
to the
chief
workmen,
when he
returned,
that he had
perfected
himself in a
knowledge
of the architecture
peculiar
to
those countries.
The
superior knowledge
of the workmen who had
prac-
ticed their art
among
the
early refugees
in Scotland
began
to be
generally recognized
at the
beginning
of the
eighth
century,
and to
stamp
its
expression upon
the
buildings
erected in Britain. This fact
produced
a
particular
modi-
fication in the constitution of the
lodges.
While the
gen-
eral assemblies of Masons
occupied
themselves with archi-
tecture of a
general
character, particular
members of the
fraternity
formed
themselves
into a
separate organization,
that aimed to
copy exclusively
after the Scottish
models,
and,
for each
important work,
these admirable models
were most
rigorously
followed. From
York, therefore,
these select
masters,
as
they might properly
be
called,
made
frequent journeys
to
Scotland,
where a rendezvous
was fixed
upon
at which each of them
might
deliberate,
after he had
arrived, upon
the observations made
by
others
during
their travels in the
country,
and record his own.
For this
purpose
was chosen the
valley
of
Glenbeg,
on the
north-east coast of
Scotland,
opposite
the Isle of
Skye.
Here there were two old
castles,
built in a remarkable
mannerôfjitone,
with neither lime nor
mortar,
and which
appeared
to have served as
places
of
refuge
in the wars
of earlier times. It was in these castles that the masters
assembled in
council,
and
consequently they
received the
name of Masters
of
the
Valley,
or Scottish Masters. In
lodge assembled,
when
they
returned,
all deference was
paid them,
as the most learned members of the
fraternity,
and to them were intrusted the most
particular parts
of
each
construction, or,
in other
words,
the conscientious
adaptation
and
rendering
of the Scottish models.
In this
way,
the Masonic
corporations,
in connection
with the convents and
abbeys,
became,
after the fall of
the Roman
empire,
the
great
conservators of science and
art;
and in so
great
esteem were the members of these
/corporations
held, that,
notwithstanding
the
political
in-
feriority
of Britain at this
time,
these
corporations
were
found to
create,
by
their invincible
hardihood,
a circle of
activity
and influence that embraced
nearly
the whole west
of
Europe.
Whenever an
apostle
of the Christian
religion
was sent to a distant
mission,
a
body
of builders
invariably
accompanied
him,
and thus it was that a material edifice
soon bore witness to the advent of the
spirit
of truth.
During
the invasion of the
Danes,
between the
years
835
and
870,
nearly
all the
convents, churches,
and monas-
teries were
destroyed by
fire,
and with them the records
and ancient documents of the
lodges
which had been
preserved
in those convents.
Fifty years afterward,
the
king,
Athelstan,
desirous to rebuild these monuments of
the
religion
of his
heart,
directed his
adopted
son
Edwin,
who had been
taught
the science of
architecture,
to as-
semble,
in the
year
926,
in the
city
of
York,
all the
lodges
of Freemasons scattered
throughout
the
country,
to the
end that
they
would reconstitute themselves
according
to
their ancient laws. This
done,
he confirmed to them all
the
privileges
which were
possessed by
the free Roman
colleges
in the time of the
republic.
The constitution
that was at this time
presented by
the
king
to the assem-
bly
of
Masons,
and which is called the
Uliarter
is imbued with the
spirit
of the first Christian communi-
ties,
and
proves,
in its
introduction,
that the Masonic
corporations
at this time were but little affected
by any
of the
peculiar
doctrines which
subsequently
were
pro-
mulgated by
councils of the Church dominant.
1
'See the text of this Constitution,
unJer the title
"
^-ter of York."
TUB MASONIC CORPORATIONS IN GAUL.
49
In those
days
it was
customary
to dedicate and
conse-
crate to some saint
every
erection intended for the wor-
ship
of
God,
and with the like idea all the
corporations
of
artists, artisans,
and trades chose
patron
saints. The
Freemasons chose St. John the
Baptist
for
theirs,
because
his
Jeast
fell on the 24th of
June,
date of the summer
solstice^
This
day
had
always
been celebrated
by
the
peoples
of
antiquity
and
by
the
Masons,
since the founda-
tion of their
fraternity,
as the
period
of the
year when,
the sun
having
attained its
greatest height,
nature is
clothed and
disports
herself in
.the
greatest
abundance of
her richest
products.
As successors of the ancient col-
leges
of the
Romans,
the Freemasons of
England
con-
served these cherished feasts
; but,
not to come in conflict
with the dominant
clergy, they
were
obliged
to
give
their
celebration a name not calculated to
give
offense. It was
on this account
they
were known not
exclusively by
the
name of
Freemasons,
but often as the
Fraternity
of St.
John, and,
upon
the
continent,
almost
exclusively,.
as
_St.
John
Brothers,
or Brothers of St. John.
THE MASONIC CORPORATIONS IN GAUL.
IN the
transalpine
provinces
of
Gaul,
the Masonic cor-
porations, cotemporaneous
with those of
Britain,
increased
in a no less
extraordinary
manner. After the Roman
provinces
were abandoned in the
year
486,
all the coun-
tries which had been
subject
to the Roman
sway
received
with
delight
the attention of these builders. In those
countries
they
were called Free
Corporations,
their mem-
bership
being composed entirely
of brother Masons.
1
Com-
*See,
for all that relates to the
history
of the
society
in
France,
first
me
Chronological Table,
and then the
Summary
of the
History
of Free-
masonry
in
Gaul.
4
50 GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEM/iSONRY.
posed
of the remains of the ancient
colleges
of
constructors,
they
maintained their
antique organization
in
Lombardy,
where Cosmo had a celebrated
schooLjof _architeeture.
Here
they multiplied
to such an extent that
thejTTafted
to find
occupation
in that
country,
and
consequently
spread
over the continent. After
obtaining
from the
Popes
the renewal of their ancient
privileges,
and the
exclusive
monopoly
of
erecting,
in all
Christendom,
the
monuments dedicated to
religious worship, they spread
into all Christian countries. And
although
the members
of these
corporations
had .but little fear
of,
or
respect for,
either the
temporal
or
spiritual power
of the
Popes
a
fact which
they
took no care to hide so useful were
they
in
enhancing
the
grandeur
and
dignity
of
religion,
this
monopoly
was, nevertheless,
renewed and confirmed
by
Pope
Nicholas
III,
in the
year
1277,
and continued until
the
year
1334,
when
Pope
Benedict XII accorded to them
special diplomas.
These
diplomas
made them free of all
local
laws,
all
royal
edicts,
all
municipal
regulations,
and
every
other
obligation
to which the other inhabitants of
the
country
had to
submit,
thus
rendering
the title
by
which
they
were
known,
of free
corporations, peculiarly
appropriate.
In addition to this
freedom,
these
diplomas
conceded to them the
right
of
communicating directly
with the
Popes,
of
fixing
the amounts of
their
own sal-
aries or
wages,
and of
regulating
in their
general
assem-
blies all
subjects appertaining
to their interior
government.
All artists and artisans who were not members of these
corporations
were interdicted from
every
act which would
(
in
any
wise interfere with the work of the
builders,
and
all
sovereign
rulers were
commanded,
as
they
dreaded the
thunders of the
Church,
to
suppress,
with the
strong
arm
1 of their
power, any
combination of such artists and art-
)isans
as
might
rebel
against
this
provision.
During
the middle
ages,
in all the
kingdoms
and
princi-
palities
of
Europe,
do we find these
corporations
or frater-
51
nities in
Germany,
in
France,
Italy, Spain,
and
Portugal,
where,
under the title of St. John
Brothers,
or Brothers
of St.
John, they
have erected these suhlime
monuments,
which,
for all
time,
seem destined to remain as memen-
toes of their architectural skill and
genius.
Wherever
these
corporations
established__themselves, they
jthere_m-
creased
their
infl.uence_by
a^b|itin^..AS_j)atTons,
the emi-
nent
êjj_oF_jEe
7
Tocality,
and
initiating
them as
accepted
Masons into the bosom of their
society. These,
generally
laying
aside the material
object
of the
institution,
which
for them had no
charms,
attached themselves to its
mys-
tical
sense,
and
founded,
outside of the
lodges
of__w_ouk-
men,
lodges
whose labors were
entirely
moral
and^pMla-
sophic.
But,,
almost
immediately
after
becoming
known
to" the
clergy,
these
lodges
were met
by
that intolerant
spirit
which
superior knowledge,
if unauthorized
by
the
Church, did,
in those
days
of
general ignorance,
receive at
their
hands,
and the members of these
lodges
were ac-
cused of
introducing
schisms
among
the
laity,
and troubles
and sedition into the
temporal sovereignty,
disaffection
toward the Pontiff and all other
sovereigns,
and,
in
fine,
of the wish to re-establish the Order of the
plar, aiicTto^reveuge
the deatTToTthe
and other officers of that Order
upon
the descendants of
the
kings
and
princes
who were
accessory
thereto. In
consequence
of
these~charges,
it is stated
by
a document
the
authenticity
of which has not
yet
been
entirely
estab-
lished,
that the
representatives
of nineteen of those
philo-
sophic lodges,
located in different
portions
of
Europe,
assembled at
Cologne,
in the
year
1535,
under the direc-
tion of Hermann
V","~Bishop
of
Cologne.
1
At this
meeting
there was
prepared
a confession of
faith,
in which were
enunciated the
purposes
and doctrines of the:?e Masonic
societies. This
document,
called the
"
Charter of
Cologne,"
l
For
presiding
at this
assembly,
he
was,
some
years subsequently, put
under the ban of the Church,
is dated 24th of
Jane, 1535,
and thereto are
signed
nine-
teen illustrious
names,
among
which
appear Philip
Me-
lancthon, Bruce,
Coligni,
Falk, Visieux,
Stanhope,
Jacobus
Prepositus,
Van
Noock,
and Noble names of those
pres-
ent at this
assembly,
as
delegates
from the Masonic
lodges
of
London,
Edinburgh,
Amsterdam,
Hamburg,
Paris,
Vi-
enna,
and other
cities,
to assist at this
general assembly
convoked at
Cologne.
This charter is written
upon
a
sheet of
parchment
in Masonic
characters,
which are con-
tracted into the Latin of the middle
ages,
and the writ-
ing
of which is so much defaced as to render some of the
words
unintelligible.
This
charter,
together
with a docu-
ment,
said to be the records of a
lodge
called the
"Lodge
of the
Valley
of
Peace,"
from its
organization
to the
year
1519,
after the death of a member of the
lodge,
named
Boetzlaar,
fell into the hands of Prince
Frederick,
Grand
Master of the
lodges
of
Holland,
who had
copies
of them
prepared
and sent to the
principallooges
of
Europe.
The
persecutions
of the ultramontane
clergy,
however,
event-
ually destroyed
the
philosophic lodges
of Southern and
Western
Europe.
THE MASONIC CORPORATIONS IN GERMANY.
DURING the fifteenth
century
there existed in
Germany
a
great
number of
lodges
of
operative
Masons
which,
following
the
example
of the
English lodges
of the same
period, recognized
a few
principal lodges
of master work-
men and
architects,
to whom
they
accorded the title of
high
or
grand lodges.
These were in number
five,
and
were established at
Cologne, Strasburg,
Vienna, Zurich,
and
Madgeburg.
That at
Cologne
was from at first con-
sidered the most
important,
and the mabter of the work
upon
the cathedral at
Cologne
was
recognized
as the chief
of all the masters and workmen of Lower
Germany,
as was
THE MASONIC CORPORATIONS IN
GERMANY.
58
the master of the work on the cathedral of
Straeburg
1
considered as
occupying
a similar
position
of honor in
Upper Germany. Subsequently
there was established a
central
mastership,
and
Strasburg,
when the work
upon
its
great
cathedral was
continued.
to its
completion,
dis-
puted
the
pre-eminence
with
Cologne,
whose cathedral is
yet
unfinished,
and became the seat of the
grand
master-
ship.
The
grand lodge
of
Strasburg
counted within her
jurisdiction
the
lodges
of
France, Hesse, Swabia,
Thurin-
gia,
Franconia,
and Bavaria
;
while to the
grand lodge
of
Cologne
were subordinate the
lodges
of
Belgium
and
neighboring portions
of France. The
grand lodge
of
Vienna exercised
jurisdiction
over the
lodges
of
Austria,
Hungary,
and
Styria;
while those of Switzerland were
attached to the
grand lodge
of Berne
during
the con-
struction of the cathedral in that
city,
and
subsequently
to that of
Zurich,
where its seat was transferred in 1502.
The
lodges
of
Saxony,
which from at first
recognized
the
supremacy
of the
grand lodge
of
Strasburg,
were subse-
quently placed
under that of
Madgeburg.
These five
grand lodges
had a
sovereign*
and inde-
pendent jurisdiction,
and
adjudged,
without
appeal,
all
causes
brought
before
them,
according
to the statutes of
the
society.
These ancient
laws,
revised
by
the chiefs of
the
lodges,
assembled at Ratisbonne on the 25th of
April,
1459, and,
for the first
time,
printed
in
1464,
2
were en-
titled
"
Statutes and Rules
of
the
Fraternity of
Stone-cutters
of Strasburg"
Sanctioned
by
the
Emperor
Maximilian
in the
year
1498,
the
constitution, composed
of those
statutes and
rules,
was confirmed
by
Charles V in
1520,
by
Ferdinand in
1558,
and their successors.
1
Erwin of Steinbach. He called
together,
at
Strasburg.
the Masonic
Congress
of 1275. His seal is mentioned
by
Brother Clavel as
being
the
oldest
arrangement
of the
compass, square,
and letter G extant. TBANS.
8
This was about
twenty-five years
after the
discovery
of the art of
printing
with moveable
types.
TRANS.
Toward the close of the Jlftejinth.
cauilirv., however,
the
crying
abuses of the
clergy
and the
Popes having
cooled
the
religious
fervor and unsettled the faith of the
people,
the construction of
many
churches was arrested for want
of
necessary
means to erect them. This led to the dis-
persion
of the men
engaged
in
erecting them,
and imme-
diately following
this
change
in
public sentiment,
burst
forth the
reformation,
led
by
Luther,
which rent for the
time,
almost to its
foundation,
the
temporal
and
spiritual
power
of the
Popes,
and,
forever
arresting
the work
upon
the vast monuments of
worship,
g^ve_the_jleath-blow
to
the__Masonic corporations
in
every portio.a_o_fjthe European
continent.
Gradually
thenceforth the GLemian-.
lodêe
dis-
solved those
oi^
Switzerland had been
by
an order of the
Helvetian Diet disbanded in 1522 the
jurisdiction
of the
five
grand lodges
was narrowed to
very
confined
limits,
and with
nothing
to
construct,
and
nothing
to
adjudicate,
the Diet of the
Empire, sitting
at
Rat'isbonne,
Abrogated,
by
a law of the 16th of
March, 1707,
the
authority
of
these
lodges,
and ordamed
thaj^the
differences ^be-feween
the
wm'kmen__builders
wjhi_ch might
be submitted to the civil tribunals.
GENERAL TRANSFORMATION OF FREEMASONRY FROM AN OPERA-
TIVE TO A SPECULATIVE OR PHILOSOPHIC INSTITUTION.
DURING the troubles which desolated
England
about the
middle of the seventeenth
century,
and after the death of
Charles
I,
in
1649,
the Masonic
corporations
of
England,
and more
particularly
those of
Scotland,
labored in secret
for the re- establishment of the throne
destroy'ed-bvjOrom-
well;
and for this
purpose they
instituted
many degrees
hitherto unknown and
totally foreign
to the
spirit
and na-
ture of
Freemasonry,
arid
which,
in
fact,
gave
to this time-
honored institution a character
entirely
political.
The dis-
GENERAL TRANSFORMATION OF
FREEMASONRY. 55
cussions to which this
country
was a
prey
had
alreadyjDrp-
duced a
separation
between the
operative
and
accepted
Ma-
sons. The latter were
honorary
members, who,
according
to
long
established
usage,
had been
accepted
into the
society
for the
advantage
which their
generally
influential
position
in the
country might
effect;
but this
very position
made
them at this time
naturally
the adherents of the throne
and the
strong supporters
of Charles
II,
who
during
his
exile was received as an
accepted
Mason
by
their
election,
and,
in
consequence
of the benefits he derived from the
society, gave
to
Masonry
the title of
Royal
Art;
because
it was
mainly by
its
instrumentality
that he was raised to
the throne and
monarchy
restored to
England.
Notwithstanding,
however,
the favor
with.
which it was
regarded by
the
king, Freemasonry, during
the latter
part
of the seventeenth
century,
decreased to such a
degree
thatjn^
1703
,but^
four
lodges^
existedjin^lb
p-
tyL,of
. Lon
-
don,
while
throughout
Great Britain at that time none
other were known to the
members, who,
reduced to the
smallest
number,
attended the
meetings
of these. In
fact,
with the
completion
of St. Paul's
Cathedral,
the
city
of
London was considered
reBuiIt,
and tlie
occupation
of the
operative
Masons seemed to have been
brought
to a
close;
while the
accepted Masons, having
obtained the
object
of
their desire in the restoration of the
monarchy, neglected
the communion
they
had
previously kept up
with the
operative
members of the institution. Hence we iind that
in the
year
1703 the
lodge
of St. Paul so named because
the
operative
Masons
engaged
in the erection of the cathe-
dral held their
lodge
in a
building
situated in the church-
yard
or
grounds
thereof
passed
an
important
resolution
the
object
of which WSLS to
augment
the numbers of the
fraternity,
and to
give
the Masonic institution some of its
former
importance
in
public
estimation.
Here,
having
agreed
that
they
should continue the existence of so
praiseworthy
an institution to be used as the conservator
of
religion
and
tradition,
and
perpetuate, by
the beautiful
allegories
of its
legends
and
symbols,
its
eminently
hu-
manitarian
doctrines, they
for this
purpose adopted
the
following
memorable resolution:
"
RESOLVED,
That the.
privileges of Masonry
shall no
longer
be
confined
to
operative Masons,
but be
free
to men
of
all
pro-
fessions, provided
that
they
are
regularly approved
and ini-
tiated into the
fraternity"
This
important
decision
changed entirely
the face of the
society,
and transformed it into what we find it
to-day;
but
many
difficulties had to be
removed,
many years
of
probation
had to be
passed
before this form of its work-
ings
could be
successfully adopted.
This was
owing,
first,
to the want of union
among
the four
lodges; second,
to
the
exceedingly disreputable
character
which,
for
many
years,
had attached to the
society
it
having degenerated
from an influential and
privileged
institution to little
better than- a
pot-house companionship,
with here and
there a
proud
few who remembered its
glories
of other
days
but
perhaps,
above
all,
the determined
opposition
of the Grand
Master,
Sir
Christopher AYren^
the archi-
tect of the new
city
of
London,
to the
spirit
of the inno-
vating
resolution. This
opposition
he maintained until
his
death;
so that it was not until after that
event,
which
occurred in
1716,
that the four
lodges
which still
existed,
more in name than in
fact,
felt themselves at
liberty
to
assemble their
membership
with the
primary object
of
electing
a new Grand
Master,
but more
particularly
to
detach themselves from all connection with the
lodge
at
York,
that had for
fifty years enjoyed
but a nominal exist-
ence,
and to
put
into active
operation
the decision involved
in the resolution of 1?03.
In that
assembly,
after
electing
the Master of St. Paul's
Lodge, Anthony Sayre,
to the office of Grand
Master,
there were
gathered up
the "Constitution and
Charges of
a
Freemason"
which, subsequently prefaced by
a
"
History
of
GENERAL TRANSFORMATION OF FREEMASONRY.
57
Freemasonry," prepared by
Dr.
Anderson,
were
accepted,
printed
iiL-1723. under the title of "The
Constitution and
Charges of
the Ancient and
Respectable
Fra-
ternity of
Freemasons" And it is the date of this
publica-
tion that
may
properly
be considered the commencement
of
exclusively speculative
or modern
Freemasonry.
The
principle
of civilization
indwelling
in the doctrines and
pursuits
of
Masonry,
after
having
burst the bonds which
kept
it
grasped
in the stilt* embrace of a mechanical asso-
ciation,
at once
abandoning
itself to all its
powers
of ex-
pansion,
almost
immediately penetrated
the heart of the
social
system,
and animated it with a new life. The new
Freemasonry,
in the
short
apace
of
twenty
-five
years,
spread
itself in a manner but little less than miraculous
into
nearly every portion
of the
ciyjHzd__world.
It
passed
from
England
to France as
early
as
1725,
thence
to
Belgium,
to
Holland,
to
GeiMiiany,~~to~~^LTQ^fica,
subse-
quently
to
Portugal, Spain, Italy,
Switzerland,
to
Sweden,
and to
Poland; and,
as
early
as 1740
r
were to be found
lodges
in
Denmark,
in
Bohemia,
in
Russia,
in.
the
Antilles,
in
Africa,
andTn the British
possessions
in Hindostan.
If
Freemasonry
has ceased to erect
temples
;
if it has
ceased to
engage
in material
architecture;
if it no
longer
exhibits itself in the elevation of
spires
and turrets as
points
from which
eyes may
be directed and
hopes
ascend
toward a better and a
happier
world,
it has not less con-
tinued its work of moral and intellectual
culture;
and its
success in this
respect
has been far more
satisfactory
than
those who
planned
its
design
as a
speculative
institution
ever
hoped
to achieve. In all time it has exercised a
power-
ful and
happy
influence
upon
social
progress;
and if to-
day,
instead of
holding
itself at the head of all secular
societies,
it is known in some countries but to be
rejected
and
despised,
this condition is
owing
to the destruction of
that
uniformity
and oneness of
purpose
which constituted
its fundamental
recommendation;
and this destruction is
due to the innovations introduced
by
ambitious and
design-
ing
men for motives of
personal
influence and advancement,
and in defiance of their solemn asseverations that it was
not within the
power
of its
membership
to introduce inno-
vations into the
body
of
Freemasonry.
But even here it
has shown the
immortality
of its
spirit; for,
notwithstand-
ing
the
multiplicity
of rites which have been forced
upon
it,
and the ceremonial
degrees
which have been added to
it thus
dividing
its
strength, causing grave inconvenience,
choking
the sources of accurate information as to its
origin
and
history,
and
creating
useless and
unsatisfactory
dis-
tinctions
among
its members that excellent
spirit
which
its earliest
teachings engender
and
subsequent
culture
fosters is ever exhibited in a fraternal
regard
for each
other when the brethren meet in their
popular assembly,
and there
lay
aside
"
all distinctions save that noble dis-
tinction,
or rather
emulation,
of who can best work and
best
agree."
DIVERS OPINIONS UPON THE ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY. 59
DIVERS OPINIONS UPON THE ORIGIN OF FREEMA-
SONRYITS
DOCTRINES,
ITS
OBJECT,
AND ITS FUTURE.
THE
origin
of
Freemasonry
has
been,
for a
long
time,
vague
and obscure. And while it is to this
obscurity
in
its
history, augmented by
the
multiplicity
of
systems
which have been
introduced,
that it is
necessary
to attrib-
ute the
contradictory opinions
as to its
origin
held
by
those who have written
upon
that
subject,
it
is, however,
due to the scientific researches of a few Masonic historians
who have entered this field of darkness with the deter-
mination to
lay
aside all the
commonly
received
opinions
and traditions
upon
the
subject,
that at the
present day
this
obscurity
has
disappeared.
By
the connection that its forms of initiation
present
with the
Egyptian Mysteries,
and with
many
societies and
philanthropieal
schools of
antiquit}
r
the
Dyonisian,
the
Therapeutic,
the
Essenian,
the
Pythagorean
some authors
have believed that within one or several of those societies
might
be found the cradle of
Freemasonry;
while
others,
led into error
by
the
symbols
and
passwords
of Hebrew
origin,
have
pretended
that its birth had
place
at the build-
ing
of Solomon's
Temple,
of which the books of
Kings
and of
Chronicles,
as found in the Old Testament, afford
us such
precise
details. This
temple,
erected in the
year
1012,
before the Christian
era, by king
Solomon,
who
was,
no
doubt,
Master of the Hebrew
Mysteries
a
type
of the
Egyptian
and nine
years
afterward dedicated
by
him to
60 GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.'
the
glory
of the one
only
and
ever-living
God,
was the first
national manifestation of an
only
God ever erected. From
the
pointed bearing
of this
fact,
and as a
masterpiece
of
gorgeous
architecture,
representing
in
perfection
the
image
and
harmony
of the
universe,
this
temple
has ever
sym-
bolized in
Freemasonry
the moral excellence to which
very
brother is in
duty
bound to
carry
his
perfected
work.
Losing sight,
however,
of this
aspect
of the mat-
ter,
as well as of the fact that all the
teachings
of an-
tiquity
were
invariably
clothed in
allegories
and illustrated
by symbols, many
authors,
and
following
them the mass
of the
brethren,
have
accepted
the
teachings
of
Masonry
and the
legends
of the
degrees
not as
allegories,
but as
actual
occurrences,
and have
inextricably entangled
them-
selves in their endeavors to
explain
them as such.
Another
peculiarity
which has. above
all,
contributed to
induce error in the researches into the
origin
of the so-
ciety,
is the difference
presented by
the forms of
initiation;
that of the first
degree being evidently
borrowed from the
Egyptian,
while those of the second and third
belong
en-
tirely
to the Hebrew
mysteries.
This
difference, however,
will be
easily
understood,
when it is known that Numa
Pompilius organized
his
colleges
of constructors as a fra-
ternity
of artists and
artisans, and,
at the same
time,
as
a
religious society.
When so
organized,
the
greater
num-
ber of the
colleges, finding
themselves
composed
of Greeks
who had been initiated into the
mysteries
of their
country,
imitated in their
worship
the form of initiation
practiced
in those
mysteries;
but
when,
some seven hundred
years
afterward,
in the time of Julius
Caesar,
the Jews were
pro-
tected at Rome and
granted many
immunities,
among
which were the
privilege
of
setting up
their
synagogues,
a
great many
Hebrew artists and artisans were affiliated
in those
colleges,
and in their turn introduced a
part
of
the Hebrew
mysteries,
and with them their own beautiful
allegories, among
which that of the third
degree
was chief.
DIVERS OPINIONS UPON THE ORIGIN OF
FREEMASONRY. 61
It is true that the forms of initiation
practiced
in our
day probably
bear
very
little resemblance to those which
were in use
among
the Roman
colleges
of
builders,
and
that these forms have often been
changed
or modified to
suit the
country
and the men who found themselves at
the head of the
fraternity
; nevertheless,
it is certain tha
a fixed and
unchanged
foundation has
always religiously
been
preserved.
The rituals which were established at
London in
1650,
as well as those of
1717,
seem to have
been based
upon
the
Anglo-Saxon documents,
arranged
by
the General
Assembly
at York in the
year
926. It
will be remembered that the
fraternity
in
1650,
the
year
after the
bloody
execution of Charles
I,
and when the
accepted
Masons had
acquired
such influence in the insti-
tution, had,
to some considerable
extent, and,
in
1717,
to
a far
greater degree,
abandoned the material
object
of the
association,
and the members thereof
having
submitted,
at
their initiation into the two first
degrees,
to all the
proofs
required
of the
Master,
the
allegory
of Hebrew
origin
and
the summit of Hebrew
mystery
was
always preserved
as
the
proper
illustration for the third
degree, susceptible,
as it
is,
of a local
interpretation
that satisfies men of
every worship.
1
Notwithstanding
the connection that so
evidently
exists
between the ancient
mysteries
and the
Freemasonry
of
our
day,
the latter should be considered an imitation
'Such historians as attribute to the
partisans
of the Stuarts the in-
stitution of
Freemasonry,
and who
constantly
believe that this
allegory
portrays
the violent death of Charles
I,
are in
error;
for it
requires
but
a
very
limited
knowledge
of the ancient
mysteries
to see in
Hiram,
the
master
workman,
the Osiris of the
Egyptians,
the Mithras of the Per
sians,
the Bacchus of the
Greeks,
the
Atys
of the
Phrygians,
or the
Balder of the
Scandinavians,
of whom these
people
celebrated the
pas-
sion,
violent
death,
and resurrection as the Roman
clergy
of
to-day,
in
the sacrifice of the
Mass,
celebrate the
passion,
violent
death,
and resur-
rection of Jesus Christ
Otherwise,
this is the
type
eternal of all the
religions
which have succeeded each other
upon
the earth.
t>2 GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.
rather than a continuation of those ancient
mysteries;
for
initiation into them was the
entering
of a school wherein
were
taught art, science, morals, law,
philosophy, philan-
thropy,
and the wonders and
worship
of
nature;
while
the
mysteries
of
Freemasonry
are but a resume of divine
ind human wisdom and
morality
that is to
say,
of all
hose
perfections
which,
when
practiced,
bring
man nearest
to God.
Freemasonry
of
to-day
is that universal
morality
that attaches itself to the inhabitants of all clirnes to the
men of
every worship.
In this
sense,
the Freemason re-
ceives not the
law,
he
gives
it
;
because the
morality
Free-
masonry
teaches is
unchanging,
more extended and uni-
versal than
any
native or sectarian
religion
can
be;
for
these, always exclusive,
class men who differ from them
as
pagans,
idolaters, schismatics, heretics,
or
infidels;
while
Masonry
sees
nothing
in such
religionists
but
brothers,
to
whom its
temple
is
open,
that
by
the
knowledge
of the
truth therein to be
acquired they may
be made free from
the
prejudices
of their
country
or the errors of their
fathers,
and
taught
to love and succor each other. Free-
masonry
decries error and flies from
it,
yet
neither hates
nor
persecutes.
In
fine,
the real
object
of this association
may
be summed
up
in these words : To efface from
among
men the
prejudices
of
caste,
the conventional distinctions
of
color,
origin, opinion, nationality;
to annihilate fanat-
icism and
superstition
;
extirpate
national
discord,
and
with it
extinguish
the firebrand of
war;
in a
word,
to ar-
rive,
by
free and
pacific progress,
at one formula or model
of eternal and universal
right, according
to which each
individual human
being
shall be free to
develop every
faculty
with which he
may
be
endowed,
and to concur
heartily
and with all the fullness of his
strength
in the
bestowment of
happiness upon all,
and thus to make of
the whole human race one
family
of
brothers,
united
by
affection, wisdom,
and labor.
Slowly
and
painfully
does the
highest
condition of
DIVERS OPINIONS UPON THE ORIGIN OF
FREEMASONRY. 63
human
knowledge accomplish
its
great
revolution
around
the
glittering
axis of truth. The march is
long,
and since
it
began
nations and
peoples
have lived and died
;
but
when that
journey
is
accomplished,
and the incarnation of
truth,
now robed but in its
symbol,
shall
appear
in all
the
splendor
of its brilliant
nudity,
truth's torch itself
shall then
enlighten
the
world,
the doctrine that has
just
been announced shall become the
religion
of all the
peo-
ples
of the
earth,
and
then,
and not till
then,
will be
realized that sublime ideal now
mysteriously
hidden in
the
symbol
of Freemason
ry.
That
day
is,
without
doubt,
yet
far
distant;
but it will
arrive. Its
coming
is marked
by destiny
and in the order
of the centuries.
Already,
in the sacred balance of eter-
nal
justice,
is seen each
day
to diminish a
portion
of the
errors of the
people,
and to increase the
body
of
light,
of
principle,
and those truths which are
preparing
the
way
for its
triumph,
and
which,
one
day,
will
give
assur-
ance of its
reign.
HISTORICAL SUMMARY OF THE MASONIC CORPORA-
TIONS IN
GAUL,
FROM THEIR INTRODUCTION IN
THE YEAR 60 B.
C.,
TO THEIR DISSOLUTION
IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
AFTER ten
years
of
unavailing
war,
the old Gallic na-
tionality perished.
All had to submit to the
great genius
of Julius Caesar the most beautiful devotion as well as
the most indomitable
courage.
It was in vain that the
three hundred and
fifty
tribes of the
Gauls,
the Bellovici
and the
Carnutes,
the Aedui and the
Bituriges,
the Treviri
and the
Arverni,
had
disputed
with
him, step by step,
the
possession
of their
territory.
The Roman
legions,
sur-
mounting every
obstacle,
filling up swamps, breaking
out
roads,
and
traveling securely through
dense
forests,
took
possession
of
nearly every
town and
village
to which
they
laid
siege,
and
gained nearly every
battle which
they
fought.
After
having
exhausted themselves in vain ef-
forts for the defense of Alise and
Uxellodunum,
2
Gaul
1
Shortly
before this
period,
some
brigades
of
Companion Constructors,
with their masters at their
head, accompanied
the Boman
legions
into
the middle of Gaul and into
Spain,
and there had erected some towns:
Cordova,
for
example.
But it was not until Caesar's time that the col-
leges, complete
in all their
appointments,
were called
by
him to recon-
struct the
destroyed
cities.
*
Alise is
supposed by
some to be now called
Iselburg, or, according
to
Junius, Wesel,
in the
duchy
of
Cleves,
but more
probably
Elsen Index
to Ccesars Comments. The situation of Uxellodunum is not now
known,
though,
in the
opinion
of some
geographers,
it was the modern Ussoldun.
Ibid.
(Note by Translator.)
65
forced into her last
intrenchments,
was
obliged
to submit
to the
yoke
of the
conqueror
;
and
thus,
despite
of her-
self,
she became one of the most rich and beautiful
prov-
inces of the vast Roman
Empire.
According-
to
Plutarch, Csesar,
for the
purpose
of
bring-
ing
to a successful conclusion his
long
and
perilous
enter-
prise,
had taken more than
eight
hundred
towns,
con-
quered
more than three millions of men of whom one
rmllion
perished
in
battle,
and another million was re-
djced to
captivity but, finally,
in the
year
60 B.
C.,
the
work of
conquest
was achieved.
Osesar treated the
conquered country
with extreme mod-
eration. He left to Gaul her
territory,
her
habitations,
and ihe essential forms of her
government.
He accorded
to h.or
people
even the title and
rights
of Roman
citizens,
with the sole condition that
they
should
pay
tribute.
Little
by
little the old Gauls abandoned their rude and
savage
manners for those soft and
polished
of their con-
querors. They
forsook their
antique oppida,
difficult of
access,
for cities embellished and adorned with
elegant
constructions,
and
upon
favorable
spots,
desolated
by
war,
arose cities and towns
equaling
those of
Italy. Augusto-
dunum
replaced Bibracte,
and
Augusto-nemetum
was built
near
Gergovia.
The new
cities,
built under the direction
of the
corporations
of
constructors,
who were
partly
at-
tached to the Roman
legions,
took names from the lan-
guage
of their
builders,
and received from Rome
priests
and
magistrates. Immediately sumptuous
edifices arose
upon
the sacred
places;
beautiful
statues,
modeled
by
Graeco-Latin
art,
are substituted for the rude
effigies
of
the Celtic
divinities;
swamps
filled with
reeds,
and lands
covered with
briars,
are converted into beautiful fields and
meadows;
the forests are cleared and the soil cultivated
to rival the most beautiful countries on the thither side
of the
Alps.
Numerous roads
open up
communication
with all
parts;
the rivers are furrowed with
boats,
and
5
the ocean with
richly-laden ships,
like those of the Medi-
terranean;
commerce is
extended,
fabrics of
every
kind
begin
to be
manufactured; and,
in
fine,
the various
prod-
ucts of the
country
are carried into
every province
of
the vast
empire.
Since the time of
Caesar,
Gaul had been furrowed with
oads,
but it remained until the
reign
of
Augustus
to con-
nect them with those which had been constructed in the
neighboring provinces.
That
Emperor,
for the immense
work that the
conquest
reclaimed,
ordered from
beyond
Cisalpine
Gaul,
(Venice
and
Lombardy,)
and even from
Home
itself,
all the builders and
artisans,
members of the
colleges
of
constructors,
which could be
spared.
These
corporations
conserved their
important privileges,
and in
Gaul
considerably augmented
their
organization.
One
portion occupied
themselves with the construction of the
roads,
and directed the Roman soldiers in their labors.
Another was more
particularly charged
with the work on
fortifications and intrenched
camps,
and the latter w
r
ere
generally
attached to the
legions.
Other
colleges,
com-
posed
of artist constructors in
wood,
and
mechanics,
built,
at Massilia
(Marseilles),
and at
Frejus, ships
and
boats for the service of the
state;
while another class of
those
colleges
were
occupied exclusively
in the erection
of
public temples
and
monuments; and, finally, yet
an-
other in
constructing bridges
and
aqueducts.
It was
under the orders of
Agrippa
that the latter class con-
structed the most beautiful
paved
roads which crossed
Gaul in
every
direction.
Among
these
may
be reckoned
the Via
Domitia,
that traversed
Savoy
and Provence
(this
road was
originally
constructed under the directions of
Pompey,
in the
year
45 B.
C.,
and extended from
Italy
almost into
Gaul,
toward the
Alps)
;
the Via
Aurelia,
which
starting
from Civita Vecchia
(Forum Aurelia),
to
Aries;
that of
Emporium,
from near the
Pyrenees
to the
passage
of the
Rhone;
finally
the road
which, ending
at
Lyons,
67
after
having passed through
the
valley
of
Aosta,
contin-
ued, by
order of
Agrippa,
in four different
directions
viz.: the first into
Aquitania (Guienne
and
Gascony), by
the
Auvergne;
the second to the
Rhine,
by
the mouth
of the Meuse
;
the third to
Laon,
by Burgundy
and Pi-
cardy,
and the fourth to
Marseilles,
by
Narbonne. These
were the
principal
roads;
but there were a
great many
others which connected the different towns and
villages.
Lugdunum (Lyons)
was to Gaul what the
City
of Rome
was to the rest of the
universe,
the center wherein termi-
nated all the
principal
roads of the
country.
As at Rome
was there to be seen at
Lyons
the
great
milestone or col-
umn from which all roads were
measured,
and
upon
which
the distance to
every point along
each road was marked.
The
great
Roman roads were marked at
regular
distances,
by
milestones
(milliarii lapides),
of from five to
eight
feet
high, upon
which was indicated the number of the
stone,
and the distances
given
in miles and
leagues.
A means of
pacification employed by
the Roman Em-
peror
was to found a
great
number of
military
colonies.
Entrusted with the task of
keeping quiet
their most tur-
bulent
neighboring
countries,
and with the defense of
their frontier
against
the
aggressions
of the
Germans,
these
colonies,
which have
given
birth in
nearly
all the
provinces
to the cities of the
present day,
were in
daily
communication with the inhabitants of the
neighboring
country, transmitting
to them their ideas of taste and
cultivation.
Composed
of Roman citizens,
they enjoyed
the same
rights
and
privileges
to which
they
were accus-
tomed in
Italy.
The
Emperor Augustus,
after
having regulated,
at Narbo-
Martius
(Narbonne),
in the
year
27
B.
C.,
the assessment
of
imposts
and the administration of the
interior,
after
having
established schools and
adapted
the laws to the
wants of the
people, occupied
himself in
directing
the
construction,
in
many
of the
cities,
in Carbonne and
Lyons,
particularly, by
the
colleges
of
architects, roads, aqueducts,
entrenched
camps,
etc. From that date the
prosperity
of
Lyons may
be said to have
begun.
Under the Roman
rule this
city
became the
capital
of
Gaul,
the seat of
gov-
ernment,
the
imperial
residence
during
the
voyages
of
Augustus,
and those of most the successors to his
reign.
Caesar and
Augustus,
moreover,
accepted
the
patronage
of a number of towns which took their names from the
Julian and
Augustan
families,
and which
enjoyed many
privileges.
The ancient
cities,
such as
Marseilles, Aries, Aix,
ISTar-
bonne, etc.,
were
ornamented,
in a considerable
degree,
by
monuments; while,
by
the
prodigious activity
of the
colleges
of
constructors,
upon
the sites of ancient
towns,
destroyed
in the
wars,
arose new
cities,
in the construction
of which both Roman soldier and native
population
lent
their aid.
-
Among
this crowd of
cities,
the most
important
were
Rheims, Rouen,
Bourges,
Sens, Bourdeaux, Besanon,
Lyons,
Vienne, Toulouse, Paris,
and
Treves,
and the last-
named was chosen
latterly
as the residence of the
gover-
nors of Gaul. Those cities were
organized exactly upon
the
plan
of
Rome,
wherein
reposed
the center of
govern-
ment. Each of them had its
forum,
its
capitol,
its thea-
ters,
its
amphitheater,
its
temples,
its
cathedrals,
its streets
and
aqueducts,
and also its
schools,
wherein were
taught
polite
literature, science,
and art with a success that ri-
valed that of Athens under
Pericles,
and Rome under Au-
gustus
himself.
The
spectacle
that Gaul
presented
under the dominion
of the twelve Caesars is of the
highest
interest. The col-
leges
of
architects, composed generally
of artists and men
versed in all the
sciences,
had contributed to this elevated
degree
as much
by
the
great
number of monuments which
they
had erected in the
principal
Gallic
cities,
under the
reign
of
Augustus,
as
by
their
learning
and their humani-
69
tarian
principles.
In this manner the
fraternity
had at-
tained to a condition of such consideration that men the
most
distinguished regarded
it a
high privilege
to be ac-
cepted among
them as
honorary
members. At this time
many
of the most illustrious
patricians,
prefering
Gaul to
Italy
as a
residence,
Agrippa, Drusus, Tiberias,
and the
richest
among
the citizens of
Rome,
sought governorships
in that
country preferably
to
any
other. In
fine,
the
Roman
institutions, manners, letters,
and arts
transplanted
to this soil attained a
development
as abundant as in the
most
flourishing
of the
years
known to
Italy
herself.
It should be remarked that all of these
productions
of
intelligence
were forwarded or
retarded, however,
by
the
condition of
reigning emperor
the
good
ruler
working
for the
good
of the
provinces
as well as for that condition
of Rome
herself,
while the
evil-disposed
ruler
Jourdened
them with
imposts
and vexatious
grievances.
Almost to the fourth
century
the
arts,
and
particularly
architecture,
were
very flourishing
in the
province
of
Gaul. From the time of
Constantine,
almost to the defeat
of
Syagrius,
the
emperors
continued to visit the
country
to defend it
against
the incessant invasions of the Ger-
mans, Saxons,
Burgundians,
Herulians,
etc. But the
.'franks,
of all its
invaders,
appeared
to be the most re-
doubtable and
persistent.
E"o defeats
damped
their cour-
age
until the
year
355,
of our
era,
when
Julian,
having
overthrown them in the most
signal
manner,
removed his
residence to Lutesia
(Paris),
and caused there to be con-
structed an immense
palace,
the ruins of the baths of
which
may
be
seen,
in the Rue de la
Harpe,
to this
day.
Under the
emperors
who succeeded
him, however,
the
aggressions
became more active and
audacious,
and the
ravages
more terrible. The
imperial power
lost each
year,
each
day,
a
portion
of its
prestige.
Stilicon
yet
sus-
tained the
power
of
Ilonorius,
in Gaul
; but,
after
him,
the
Sclaves,
the
Alans,
and the Huns
pillaged
and devas-
tated the
country
without
pity
and without
mercy.
The
Visigoths
and the
Burgundians
undertook even to estab-
lish themselves in the land.
Adolpli, king
of the
Goths,
fought
the German hordes for some time with variable
success,
but he
was,
in his
turn,
chased from Carbonne
and
finally
driven from the south
by Constance,
a
gen
cral
commanding
the
army
of Honorius. It was in this
war that the
greater portion
of the beautiful monuments
erected
by
the Roman
colleges
were
destroyed
monu-
ments the
beauty
and
symmetry
of which we can
yet
judge by
the
existing
remains of the
amphitheaters
at
Aries,
at
Frejus,
Nemes,
etc.,
the
aqueducts
of the Pont
du
Gard,
at
Lyons,
and those of
neighboring
cities.
Honorius
reorganized
the
Gauls,
and Aries became the
capital.
In a
proclamation,
he invited the
people
to con-
struct
twenty-four
of their
destroyed
cities,
to rebuild
their
bridges,
and re-establish their roads. For this
pur-
pose,
he sent into all
parts
of the
country
which had
been overrun
by
the barbaric hordes artist
constructors,
to
guide
the workmen and direct them in their labors. But
all of these ameliorations endured for but a short
time;
the barbarous nations continued their
invasions,
and the
Franks
finally triumphed.
It was in vain that Actius
fought
the
Visigoths, repulsed
the
Burgundians,
defied
Attila. It was in vain that
Majorien
retook
Lyons
from
Theodoric;
the Franks seized
upon Mayence,
Treves,
and
Cologne, destroyed
their
principal edifices,
and
heaped
ruin
upon
ruin.
They
established themselves at Tour-
nay,
and from thence
advanced,
step by step,
over the
territory
of the
empire.
In
fine,
Clovis
appeared,
and
Gaul was forever withdrawn from Roman domination.
Then it was that a new art erected itself
upon
the old
ruins,
established itself
upon
a new
basis,
and
developed
itself,
marked with some material elements of the
past,
but reinvested with another
symbol.
The Masonic
corporations
which had been formed out-
TUE MASONIC CORPORATIONS IN GAUL.
71
side of the
legions
who settled in Gaul and their
number
was considerable after the retreat of the Romans in the
year
486,
remained in the
country.
For
years they
had
been in the habit of
receiving
into their
membership many
of the Gauls.
Many
members of these
corporations
em-
braced
Christianity,
which,
in
Gaul,
since the
beginning
of the third
century,
had numerous
partisans.
No
longer
exclusively employed by
the
government,
and their
privi-
leges consequently having
decreased,
a
change operated
in
their
organization.
The different arts
aod
trades
which,
almost to that
time,
had been united in one
fraternity,
separated
and formed distinct
corporations
;
and it was
among
these
corporations that,
much
degenerated,
were
found to exist the manners and customs of the Roman
colleges
of
constructors,
and
which,
subsequently,
served
as a basis for the communes of the middle
ages. Among
them the
corporations
of Masons were at all times the
most
important,
because
they
conserved their
primitive
organization
and
privileges,
and continued to devote them-
selves
particularly
to the construction of
religious
edifices.
Intrusted
by
the new
apostles, who,
in the
year
257,
came
from
Rome,
bearing
the title of
bishops,
with the construc-
tion of the
religious
edifices then in course of erection at
Amiens, Beauvais, Soissons, Rheirns,
and
Paris,
these
Christian
Masons,
guided by
those
apostles,
and
inspired
by
them with a horror of
pagan temples, wrought
with
zeal in the destruction of the enormous number of edifices
and works of art that the wars and the invasions had not
yet destroyed,
and of which there existed
many
remains.
In this manner the earth became the
sepulcher
of all the
remains of centuries of
early
art.
Under the
reign
of Childeric
(460-481),
of Clovis
(481-
511),
of Clothaire
(511-561), many
churches were built
upon
the ruins of the
pagan temples, and,
at the close of
the sixth
century,
a
great many
existed.
During
the in-
ternational
wars,
the invasions of barbarians and social
struggles
of the
people,
the
study
of science and the
prac-
tice of the divers branches of the
arts,
found
place
alone
in the
monasteries, wherein,
above
all,
were cultivated
architecture,
sculpture,
and
painting.
So that wherever
the erection of a church was
contemplated,
the
plan
was
furnished
by
an ecclesiastic a member of the Masonic
corporations
and the work was executed under his direc-
tion. St.
Eloi,
Bishop
of
Koyen (659),
St.
Ferol,
of Limo-
ges,
Dalmae, Bishop
of
Rhodes,
and
Agricola, Bishop
of
Chalons
(680-700),
were the celebrated architects. But
the
corporations
had
equally good
from
among
the
laity,
of which the most renowned had
gone
to
England, having
been
engaged by
the
Bishop
of
Weymouth,
who came to
Cjaul
to seek such
; and, later,
Charles
Martel,
who ruled
(740)
in France under the title of
"Major
of the
Palace,"
sent
many
masters and workmen to
England upon
the
demands of the
Anglo-Saxon kings.
The invasion of the Arabs
(718)
arrested the
flight
that
the arts had taken in the seventh
century,
and it was
not until the
reign
of
Charlemagne (768-814)
that stone-
cutters and
sculptors
were ordered from
Lombardy,
and
architecture was
again
cultivated with success. The
quali-
fication of
stone-cutter,
or master of the w
r
ork,
was then
given
to the
greatest
architects of
Europe,
and whoever
wished to become an architect found it
necessary
to be
received into the
corporation
to learn the art of stone-
cutting
that branch of architecture
being
considered the
basis of the art
not, however,
to be considered or re-
ceived as a master until he had
passed through many
de-
grees
of
apprenticeship.
It was in the Latin
style
that
all edifices of the time were erected. The Roman and
Roman-ogee,
or
transition, styles
succeeded it.
1
'All the monuments constructed
by
Masonic
corporations
were erected
after certain forms and rules which are called
style.
The
style
was
adopted by
the architects or
chiefs,
and all the masters had to couforra
73
The
year
1000,
so much
dreaded,
arrived. It
should
have
brought
the
reign
of Anti-Christ and the end of
the world's
existence;
but no inundation had flooded nor
earthquakes
shaken our
globe
from its
axis,
although
the
terror entertained
by
the Christian
world,
that its destruc-
tion was
merely
deferred,
was not
dissipated
for
nearly
three
years
afterward. At the
expiration
of that
time,
however,
the most
skeptical
felt
they
had
nothing
further
to
fear,
and this belief was hailed as the aurora of a new
earth. Art as well as
humanity
arose from its
long
leth-
argy
and
gave
evidence of the
vitality
of its
being.
The
desire to
repair
the disasters of
years
became
general,
and
soon made itself felt in the reconstruction of
nearly
all
the
religious
edifices of the Christian world. "William
the
Conqueror, King
of
England
in
1054,
influenced in
some
degree by
the stream of Norman
priests
and archi-
tects that flowed into
England during
his
reign gradu-
ates all of the school of the Lombards built the finest
and most
stupendous
cathedrals of
England.
A
great
number of Masons
had,
at this
time,
formed an Italian
school in
Lombardy,
which,
in the seventeenth
century,
was an active center of
civilization,
and where some
frag-
ments of the ancient Roman
colleges
of builders had lo-
cated
themselves,
and
enjoyed
their
antique organization
to it. There
may
be enumerated four
periods
in which each
style
is
marked
by
a form or
style
different from the other.
In the first
period,
it was the Latin
style
that
prevailed,
from the fourth
to the eleventh
century; subsequently
the Roman
style, during
the elev-
enth and first half of the twelfth.
In the second
period,
it is the
Roman-ogee,
or transition Roman
style,
that
prevailed,
from 1150 to 1200.
In the third
period,
it was the
primary ogival style
that
prevailed
ii
the thirteenth
century,
the
secondary
in the
fourteenth,
and the
tertiary
in the fifteenth centuries.
In the fourth
period,
it was the
style
called the
Renaissance,
or an-
cient Latin
revived,
that
prevailed
to the close of the sixteenth and dur-
ing
the seventeenth centuries.
and
privileges,
under the name of Free
Corporations.
The
most celebrated were those of
Como,
which had
acquired
so
great
a
degree
of
superiority
that the title of
"Magistri
Comacini" or Masters of
Como,
had become the
generic
name of all the members of the architect
corporations.
They always taught
in
secret,
and had their own
judiciary
and
mysteries.
While
they
had been
laboring
to cover
Lombardy
with
religious
edifices,
their number had so
greatly
increased
that,
this work
accomplished,
the
country
failed to afford
employment
for
all, and,
in
consequence, many
united in
the formation of a
great Fraternity, having
for its
object
to travel into all Christian
countries,
and therein erect
religious
edifices. This
design
was
earnestly
and
ably
sec-
onded
by
the
Popes,
who conferred
upon
the
corporations
and
upon
those
who,
with the same
object,
followed in
their
train,
the exclusive
monopoly
mentioned in an-
other
part
of this work which was
respected
and sanc-
tioned
by
the
kings
of such countries.
In the eleventh
century
we find them
again
in
France,
where
they
are known under the name of Brother Masons
and Brother
Bridgers,
and
sometimes, also,
under that of
Freemasons.
Employed
and directed almost
exclusively
by
the
religious
orders,
the abbots and
prelates
held it an
honor to enter into
membership
with the
Fraternity,
and
to
participate
in their
secrets,
and thus
greatly promoted
the
stability
and consideration accorded to the institution.
The numbers of the Mason
Fraternity
were united
by
mutual
obligations
of
hospitality,
succor,
and
good
offices,
and thus
they
were enabled to
make,
at small
expense,
the most
lengthy journeys
in the
pursuit
of
employ
inent.
The
Bridgers,
or
Bridge-building Fraternity,
who formed
a
community,
civil and
religious, resembling
that of the
ancient Roman
colleges, occupied
themselves more
par-
ticularly
with that which concerned
bridges.
It was them
75
who built the
bridge
at
Avignon (1180),
and
nearly
all the
bridges
of
Provence, Lorraine,
and
Lyons.
The architect-in-chief of the
corporation
of Freemasons
was
generally
a Benedictine
monk,
and
supported by
men
of all the
principal
nationalities
Italy, England,
France,
Holland, Germany,
and Greece
who,
during
the construe
tion of. some more
masterly production
than
usual,
found
it
necessary
to travel much from
country
to
country.
The workmen
dwelt, upon
these
occasions,
in barracks
erected for their
convenience,
near
by
the edifice in course
of
construction,
and
generally upon
a
high
or
rising
ground.
The master directed all. Ten men were
always
under the surveillance of a
chief,
and none but actual
Freemasons
participated
in the
work,
and
who,
when
their task was in that
locality accomplished, sought
their
fortunes elsewhere. In
nearly every
instance
they
were
ably
seconded
by
the
people
of the
neighborhood,
who
freely
carried to the
spot
the
necessary
materials in the
rough
which were used in the construction of the
edifice,
and also
by
the
nobles,
who
gave
them
money
and
pro-
visions
necessary
for their
support.
All of the
principal
cities had their
corporations
of
workmen, who,
in addition
to their
rights
as
citizens,
had their own fundamental and
special laws,
as
corporate
societies.
It was in the
reigns
of
Philip Augustus (1180
to
1223),
and of St. Louis
(1226-1270),
that were conceived the
majority
of these
magnificent
cathedrals that can be called
by
no lesser name than sublime sanctuaries of an
all-pow-
erful God
;
grand conceptions
of Christian
genius
as
poems
written out in the faith and
by
the hand of those Mason
philosophers.
In the
eyes
of the
vulgar,
these monuments
are but masses of stone
regularly heaped together;
their
forms
present
to such
nothing beyond
the
expression
of
an idea
indicating
a
temple,
a
palace,
or other form of
edifice;
but to the
eye
of the
philosopher,
this form had
a mission more noble and elevated that of
transmitting
to future
generations
the
ideas, manners,
and
civilizing
progress
of the
day
and
generation,
and of
faithfully
re-
flecting
the
image
and sentiments indicative of the then
civil and
religious knowledge
of the
peoples.
Thus the
varied
genius
which had conceived and executed the tem-
ples,
as well of
antiquity
as the middle
ages, gave expres-
sion to the
spirit
of the
times,
while each of these monu-
ments seems animated with the soul of its author.
Without
entering
into the details of these
gigantic
con-
ceptions,
such as we find
expressed
in the cathedrals of
Cologne, Strasburg,
Paris,
and
many
others,
let us
pause
a moment to
grasp
their
grandness
as
majestic
edifices,
and we will discover ourselves lost in
surprise
at the
hardihood evinced
by
the builder in his harmonious blend-
ing
of
diametrically opposite
elements.
But,
when we
perceive
that a
principle individual,
original,
and in-
genious, disposing
of even the smallest
parts
and descend-
ing
to the
arrangement
of the most minute details rules
and
imparts
to the whole an unrivaled
strength
and
beauty,
our souls are ravished with unbounded admira-
tion.
The
principle
of
repetition
and
regular
variation from
a fundamental form that is observable in the interior of
these
monuments,
has been
uniformly
followed in the
formation of all
the
other members in the exterior of the
edifice.
By
all the
type
of the whole is
represented
in
the
parts;
and thus we
find,
in the
compositions
of these
architect
philosophers,
a marvelous
principle
of
develop-
ment from a few fundamental
forms,
proceeding
from the
simple
to the
composite,
such as
Haiiy,
in his treatise on
Mineralogy,
demonstrates as the
principle
of
crystalliza-
tion,
and such as
Goethe,
in his "Naturwissenschaft und
Morphologic,"
discovered in
plants,
as the
principle
of
vegetable metamorphosis.
The ties of union which existed
among
the member-
77
ship
of
Freemasons, explains
how and
why
there
appears
such a
striking identity
of
expression among
the various
monuments erected
by
them in the different countries of
Europe,
and above
all,
among
those erected
during
the
thirteenth
century.
The masters of the work
(architects)
of all the
religious
edifices of the Latin Church had ob-
tained their
knowledge
at the same central school
;
they
were obedient to the laws of the same
hierarchy; they
were directed in their constructions
by
the same
prin-
ciples,
and what was known to one
immediately
became
the
property
of the whole
body. They
were
obliged
to
conform to a
general plan adopted
for all
religious
edifices,
and therefore were not
permitted
to follow their individual
ideas of
form,
even if the result of their
inspirations,
as to
details,
would have been more beautiful in effect or har-
monious in ornament. And it is thus that the cotem-
porary
monuments of
Alsatia, Poictiers,
Normandy,
Bur-
gundy,
and the
province
of
Auvergne present,
in
point
of
decoration,
a
particular physiognomy,
which is
generally
attributed to local
circumstances,
and to the nature of the
materials,
rather than to the facts we have indicated.
The enormous sacrifices that the
population
had made
to erect
churches, joined
to the
crying
abuses of the
clergy
and the
popes, had,
in the fifteenth
century,
weakened
the
popular ardor,
and
dispelled
the
popular
faith to so
great
a
degree,
that new church edifices ceased to be
erected,
and the work even on these in course of con-
struction was
stopped.
Then the Reformation
completed
the destruction of
papal power,
and forever arrested the
erection of vast
religious
edifices. IsTo more
enjoying
the
protection
of the
popes,
the
privileges
of the Masonic
corporations
became of little
value, and,
having
no more
religious
edifices to
construct,
the
corporations dispersed;
and,
by
the
beginning
of the sixteenth
century, they
found
occupation
but in the erection of civic edifices.
Finally,
in
1539,
Francis I
suspended
all the
corporations
of work-
men,
and thus
Freemasonry,
in the ancient sense of the
term,
was
extinguished
in France.
Since that
time,
the architects
have,
in their individual
capacity,
undertaken and
finished,
by
the aid of workmen
engaged
in the usual
manner,
such erections as was or-
lered or
required.
The tie of
fraternity
that heretofore
had united
master, workman,
and
apprentice
was
gradu-
ally
dissolved,
and the workmen formed themselves into
separate
societies which were imitated
by
other bodies of
tradesmen. This was the
origin
of the trades-unions
which were so
prevalent
in the seventeenth
century,
and
which at the
present day exists,
in more or less
influence,
in
every city
of
Europe
and America.
The
consequences
of the dissolution of the Masonic so-
cieties were such that in a few
years
the art of
building
the
pointed
arch was
lost,
as also the art of
constructing
those voluted elevations which characterizes the
great
ca-
thedrals of the middle
ages.
The Gothic
style, prevalent
from the thirteenth to the fifteenth
centuries,
gave place
to
the
style
called the
Renaissance,
as that of the sixteenth
and seventeenth
centuries;
and it is to this last school
that
belonged
the celebrated
architects,
Delorme and Bul-
lant,
who
built,
in
1577,
the
Tuilleries;
Lescot and
Goryon,
who
built,
in
1571,
the
Louvre; Lemercier,
who built the
national
palace
of St.
Rock;
Blondel and
Bullet,
who
built,
between the
years
1674 and
1686,
th'e
gates
of St. Denis
and St. Martin
; Mansart,
who built the castles of Versailles
and the
Invalides,
between the
years
1700 and
1725;
and
J.
Soufflot,
who built the Pantheon. These architects were
not members of the Freemason
corporations.
The Masonic
corporations
never
presented
in France
that distinctive character that
they
had in
England,
and
more
particularly
in
Scotland;
and
consequently
their in-
fluence
upon
civilization there has been much less than in
the latter countries. The
practice adopted by
the
corpora-
THE MASONIC CORPORATIONS EN GAUL.
79
tions in those countries of
affiliating,
in the
capacity
of
honorary
members or
patrons,
some eminent
men,
had,
however,
in
France,
the same result
;
that is to
say,
the
formation of
lodges
outside of the
corporations,
whose
object
was the
propagation
of the humanitarian doctrines
of the
institution;
for it is certain
that,
since the Masonic
corporations
were dissolved in
France,
there have existed
lodges
of
this
character at
Marseilles,
Lyons,
and
Paris,
similar to those which existed at
Anvers, Gaud,
Brus-
sels, Amsterdam,
and Florence. All of these
lodges
are
believed to have had entered into relations of
correspond-
ence with each
other; but,
since the middle of the seven-
teenth
century,
no trace of such
relationship
is discover-
able.
The final transformation of this
fraternity
of artists and
artisans to a moral
institution,
such as went into
operation
in London in
1717,
and as it exists in our own
day,
took
place
in Fiance in 1721.
80
ABRIDGMENT OF THE
HISTORY OF MODERN OR
PHILOSOPHIC FREEMASONRY
IN
FRANCE,
SINCE ITS
INTRODUCTION,
IN
1721,
TO THE
ORGANIZATION OF THE GRAND ORIENT
OF
FRANCE,
IN 1772.
IN the
abridgment
of the General
History
of Freema-
sonry previously given,
we have shown how this ancient
fraternity
of arts w
T
as
transformed,
in
1717,
at
London,
from a
corporation
mechanical and
philosophic
to an insti-
tution
purely philosophic, abandoning
forever its material
object
that is to
say,
the construction of
buildings
of
every
kind but otherwise
scrupulously conserving
its
traditional doctrines and
symbols.
The first cities of the
continent of
Europe
to which
Masonry,
thus
regenerated,
was
carried,
were
Dunkirk,
1
in
1721,
and Mons.
2
It was not until 1725 that the first
lodge
was founded
at
Paris, by
Lord Derwentwater and two other
English-
men,
under the title of
"
St.
Thomas,"
and constituted
by
them,
in the name of the Grand
Lodge
of
London,
on the
12th of
June,
1726. Its
members,
to the number of five
or six
hundred,
held their
lodge
at the house of the traitor
Hurre,
in the street of the St. Germain meat-market. A
second
lodge
was
established, by
the same
English gentle-
lr
rhe
lodge
at Dunkirk was named
"Friendship
and
Brotherly Love,"
and was reconstituted
by
the Grand
Lodge
of France in 1756.
2
The
lodge
at Mons was constituted
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
England.
on the 24th of
June,
1721,
under the title of "Perfect Union." Subse-
quently
it was erected into an
English
Grand
Lodge
of the lower
country
of
Austria,
and has constituted or chartered
lodges
since 1730.
FREEMASONRY IN
FRANCE. 81
men,
on the 7th of
May,
1729,
under the name of "Louis
<T
Argent."
Its
meetings
were held at the house of the
traitor
Lebreton,
who
kept
the same as an
inn,
under the
name of Louis d'
Argent. Upon
the llth of December of
the same
year
a third
lodge
was
constituted,
under the
title of "Arts Sainte
Marguerite."
Its
meetings
were held
at the house of an
Englishman
named Gaustand.
Finally,
on the 29th of
November,
1732,
a fourth
lodge
was consti-
tuted,
under the name of
"Buci,"
the same
being
the name
of the hotel wherein its
meetings
were held. This house
was located in the Rue de
Buci,
and
kept by
the traitor
Landelle;
and the
lodge
"Buci,''
after
having
initiated the
Duke of
Aumont,
took the name of
"Lodge
of Aumont."
Lord
Derwentwater,
who
had,
in
1725,
received from
the Grand
Lodge
of London
plenary powers
to constitute
lodges
of Freemasons in
France, was,
in
1735,
invested
by
the same Grand
Lodge
with the functions of Provincial
Grand
Master;
and when he
subsequently quitted
France
to return to
England, (where
he
perished upon
the
scaffold,
a victim to his adherence to the fortunes of the
Stuarts,)
he transferred those
plenary powers
which he
possessed
to
his friend Lord
Harnwester,
whom he authorized to
repre-
sent
him,
during
his
absence,
in the
quality
of Provincial
Grand Master.
The four
lodges
then
existing
at Paris resolved to found
a Provincial Grand
Lodge
of
England,
to which such
lodges
as should be
organized
in the future should address them-
selves
directly,
as the
representative
of the Grand
Lodge
of London. This resolution was
put
into execution after
the death of Lord
Derwentwater,
and this Grand
Lodge
regularly
and
legally
constituted
itself,
in
1736,
under the
presidency
of Lord Harnwester.
Beside the
lodges
constituted
by
Lord
Derwentwater,
under the
powers
and after the forms of the Grand
Lodge
of
London,
there were constituted other
lodges by
a Scotch-
man named
Eamsay,
who
styled
himself Doctor and Baroci
6
of
Ramsay,
also a
partisan
of the Stuarts. This
celebrated
Mason filled for some time the office of Orator to the Pro-
vincial Grand
Lodge
of whose
organization
we have
just
spoken,
and
during
that time he
sought
to introduce and
to establish a
system
of
Masonry
called
Scottish,
and which
he stated had been created at
Edinburgh by
a
chapter
of the
lodge
"
Canongate Kilwinning,"
but which had a
political
object
no less than to make
Masonry
subservient to the Stu-
art
party,
and an aid to the Catholic Church
by
the resto-
ration of the Pretender to the throne of
England.
Not wish-
ing
to avow its true
origin,
the founders of this
system
attributed its creation to
Godfrey
de
Bouillon,
the last
Grand Master of
Knights Templar.
This
rite,
styled
Ma-
sonic,
had
not, however,
at this time been
accepted
either
in Scotland or
England;
but,
introduced
by Ramsay
in
France,
it served as a basis for all the Masonic
systems
invented and
propagated
from that time in
France,
and
exported
into the different countries of the
globe.
In
1737,
Lord .Harn
wester,
the second Provincial Grand
Master of Freemasons in
France,
wishing
to return to
England,
demanded,
before his
departure,
to be
replaced
in his office
by
a
Frenchman,
and the Duke of
Autin,
a
zealous
Mason,
succeeded him in the month of
June,
1738.
L
lr
fhe Duke of Autin was chosen from
among
the lords of the Court
-of Louis
XV,
as that one who had shown the
greatest
zeal for Freema-
sonry.
He
had,
in
fact,
braved the
anger
of the
King,
who had inter-
dicted tlie lords of his court from
attending
the
meetings
of the Freema-
sons.;
and
he,
above
all,
had
shown,
in
accepting
the
position
of Grand
Master,
an unusual
degree
of
courage,
as he knew that the
King
had
threatened him with arrest and condemned him to the Bastile for so
doing.
The
King, however, contrary
to
general expectation,
took no
steps
to
carry
out his
threat;
but the
police
of the court continued the
proscription against
the lords in attendance who would not
oppose
the
weight
of their names and influence
against
the institution. After hav-
ing,
in
1737,
condemned the
inn-keeper Chapelot
to
pay
a fine of one
hundred
francs,
and to close his
tavern,
because he had allowed a meet-
ing
of Freemasons to take
place therein,
the
year following they brutally
dispersed
a
lodge
which had met at the Hotel of Soissons. in the street
FREMASONRY IX FRANCE.
83
After the death of the third Grand
Master,
which took
place
in
1743,
the Masters of the
lodges,
at a
meeting
that
was held on the llth of December of that
year,
named in
his
place
the Duke of
Bourbon,
Count of
Clermont,
and
from this time the
organization
over which he
presided
took the title of the
"English
Grand
Lodge
of
France,"
always recognizing,
as it
did,
the
supremacy
of the Grand
Lodge
of London.
From the
period
of its
organization,
this
English
Grand
Lodge
created difficulties for itself which became the
prin-
cipal
cause,
eventually,
of
spreading
disorder in the Ma-
sonic
ranks,
by giving, according
to the
usage
of the Grand
Lodge
of York at this
time,
and also of
chapters
estab-
lished
by
its
lodges, pow
r
ers to
permanent Masters,
1
of
of the Two
Crowns,
arid
imprisoned many
of its members in the Fort
L'Eveque.
The
nomination,
in
1743,
of the Duke of Bourbon to the
Grand
Mastership
did not even weaken their
pursuit
of the
brethren;
for,
on the 5th of
June, 1744, they
issued an order which
prohibited
the
Freemasons to meet in the
capacity
of a
lodge,
and
by
virtue of this
order
they condemned, shortly afterward,
the
hotel-keeper Leroy
to
pay
a fine of three thousand
francs,
for
having
allowed a
lodge
session to
take
place
at his house.
1
Alexander
Thory,
in his Ada
Latamorum,
affords us a
very
vivid
pic-
ture of these disorders. On
page
70 he
says
:
"
The Grand
Lodge
of
France,
which was established at
Paris,
in
1743,
under the title of the
'English
Grand
Lodge
of
France,'
declared itself the Grand
Lodge
of
the
Kingdom,
and released from the
authority
of the Grand
Lodge
of
London;
but it conserved in the charters which it
gave,
in like manner
with the Grand
Lodge
of
York,
the
authority
to
dispose
of
personal
titles
to brethren under the
style
of
permanent
Masters,
or Masters ad
vitam^
and thus
empowered
such Masters to
govern
their
lodges continually,
and
according
to their individual
caprice.
These Masters were
permitted
to
dispose
of charters to other Masters of
lodges,
at Paris and in the
provinces, who,
in their
turn,
constituted other
bodies,
which
rivaled,
in
the
expression
of their
authority,
the Grand
Lodge;
and which bodies
organized themselves,
under the titles of
chapters, colleges, counsels,
and
tribunals,
at Paris and in
many
of the cities of
France,
wherein
they
established additional
lodges
and
chapters.
From these disorders there
resulted such a
complication
of evil
consequences,
thai it soon became
whom a
great
number had
already
been created
by
the
first
delegates
of the Grand
Lodge
of York. The
Eng-
lish Grand
Lodge
of France also
organized
local and fed-
eral
administrations,
under the name of Provincial Grand
Lodges,
which were
presided
over
by
the Masters of sub-
ordinate or
operative lodges.
These Provincial Grand
Lodges, equally
with the
power
that created
them,
had
the
right
to create
lodges
and
grant
charters. From this
general
distribution of the creative
power,
it resulted that
at this time there existed in Paris more than
sixty lodges,
and over one hundred in the
provinces.
Independently
of these Provincial Grand
Lodges,
there
were also established in France other constituent
bodies,
some
professing
the rite introduced
by Ramsay,
and others
analagous
rites under other names. From
among
these
we will mention the
Chapter
of
Arras,
constituted on the
15th of
April, 1747, by
the Prince
Pretender,
Charles Ed-
ward
Stuart;
and
another,
under the title of the "Mother
Lodge
of St. John of
Scotland,"
organized
at
Marseilles,
in
1751,
by
a Scotchman of the Pretender's suite. Subse-
quently
there was established the
Chapter
of
Clermont,
founded at
Paris,
in
1754,
in the
college
of the Jesuits at
Clermont,
the
refuge
of all the
partisans
of the Stuarts.
For the
purpose
of
hiding
the true
authorship
of the
sys-
tem of the
Templars,
mentioned as
having
been
propa-
gated
at Paris
by Ramsay,
this
system
was at this time
called Strict
Observance,
and the chevalier
Bonnville,
also
a
partisan
of the
Stuarts,
was announced as its
founder,
when he was
nothing
in connection with it but its
propa-
gator. Finally,
in
1758,
the
chapter
called "The Em-
perors
of the East and the
West,"
of which the members
impossible
to ascertain with
any
readiness what
body
was
really
the head
of
Masonry
in the
kingdom.
The
history
of
Masonry
at this
period
is
much more obscure than at
any other,
as none of these Masters of
lodges
and
chapters kept any
minutes of their
proceedings
or
operations
a
formality
that was often
neglected by
the Grand
Lodge
itself.
FREEMASONRY
IN FRANCE.
85
gave
themselves the titles of
Sovereign
Prince
Mzsons,
Sub-
stitutes General
of
the
Royal Art,
and Grand Wardens and
Officers of
the
Sovereign
Grand
Lodge of
St. John
of
Jeru-
salem a
chapter
created
by
the Jesuits of
Lyons.
1
1
According
to the work of Alexander
Thory,
it should be
by
this
chap-
ter that the
Consistory
of Princes of the
Royal
Secret was
founded,
in
1758,
at
Bordeaux,
and
by
the members of which the
thirty-five
articles
comprising
the rules and
regulations
of the
system styled
a
Lodge
of
Per-
fection
were
prepared.
This
system comprised
the
twenty-five degrees
which,
under the direction of its
founders,
had been for some short time
practiced
in France. This assertion of
Thory
is
incorrect;
for no
proof
can be found that a
Consistory
of Princes of the
Royal
Secret existed at
Bordeaux before the
year
1789. No
authority
of this name existed either
in 1758 or in 1761 at
Bordeaux;
and
consequently
its
membership
could
not have aided in the
compilation
of the famous
thirty-five
articles
upon
which the
Supreme
Council of the Scottish Rite for France founded its
origin
and its
rights
to the exclusive administration of this
rite,
and
which it called "The Grand Constitutions."
How, otherwise,
is it reason-
able to admit that the
council,
constituted and
composed
of the "Em-
perors
of the East and
West,"
created in
1758,
at
Paris,
who are said to
have established this
Consistory
of the
Royal
Secret in
1759,
at Bor-
deaux,
had called in the aid of their members to
compile
rules and
regu-
lations which
already
were
compiled,
and under which this
very
Con-
sistory
was
organized?
All that there is of truth in connection with
these "Grand Constitutions"
is,
that
they
had no existence in
any
form
prior
to
1804,
when the
Supreme
Council was
organized by
Grasse de
Tilly;
and
they were,
in all
probability,
fabricated
by
him as
comple-
mentary
to the
history
of the Ancient and
Accepted
Scottish
Rite,
invented
at
Charleston,
South
Carolina,
and carried
by
him to France. Other-
wise the facts which should have been advanced
against
the
authenticity
of these
Regulations,
which we
unworthily dignify by calling
them Con-
stitutions,
would have
completely
crushed them out of existence. Of
these
facts,
one is that there was not a
printed
or
manuscript copy
of
these
regulations prior
to
1804,
and the
manuscript
that
appeared
at that
date rendered it
necessary
for the reader to
suppose
that it had beei
prepared
at Berlin
;
for the name of that
city,
where a name of
produo
tion should have
appeared,
was indicated
by
the letter
B,
followed
by
the
three
points, (.'.).
Now,
as this
manuscript
assured the .eader that the
king,
Frederick of
Prussia,
had ratified it in his
capacity
as
supreme
chief of the rite an assertion
completely
and in
every particular false,
as we shall
prove
in our
history
of the
Supreme
Council this initial
The establishment of all these
independent
bodies created
gradually
such confusion and such disorder that these coun-
cils, consistories, tribunals,
and
chapters
knew not them-
selves which was the true
constituting body
in France.
Constantly disquieted by
these
u
sovereign" chapters
and
tribunals, founded,
as we have
indicated,
for the most
part
by
Scotch
gentlemen, partisans
of the
Stuarts,
the
Eng-
lish Grand
Lodge
of France
resolved,
in
1756,
to detach
itself from all connection with the Grand
Lodge
of Lon-
don,
arid
by
thus
declaring
itself
independent, hoped
to be
able to rule the different isolated bodies. In
pursuance
of this
resolve,
it declared itself
independent
of all
foreign
Masonic
alliances,
and took the title of
"
National Grand
Lodge
of France." Its
hopes, however,
were not realized
r
for it continued to be tormented
by
new creations of Ma-
sonic
authority
it could not
impeach,
and
which,
like all
elder
organizations,
attributed to themselves the
right
of
supremacy
over it. The Grand
Lodge, they
asserted,
in
conformity
with its
character,
delivered to it
by
Lord
Derwentwater and confirmed
by
Lord Harn
wester,
con-
ferred but the three
degrees
of
symbolic Masonry,
while
these
"chapters
and
lodges
of
perfection"
believed them-
selves alone
possessed
of the
right
to confer what
they
styled
the
"higher" degrees. Following
their
lead,
many
councils and
chapters
were constituted
by
masters ad
vitam,
who
obtained,
and
very
often
purchased,
their
privileges
from others of their own
rank;
and these last affected
equally
a
supremacy
toward the Grand
Lodge
of
France,
by
reason of their
pretended knowledge
and their
right
to confer
"high" degrees
a
right
which,
though usurped,
the no less obtained
general recognition. Repeatedly
did
should have indicated
Berlin,
and not Bordeaux. Was it
by design,
or
through
ignorance,
that
subsequently
the word was
completed by writing
it Bordeaux? We are unable to decide. But it is
plain
that
Thory
has
believed and
repeated
the fable invented
by
the creators of the
rite,
to
give
it an
importance
that
age
alone would confer.
FREEMASONRY IN FRANCE.
87
the Grand
Lodge
denounce the administration and the
acts of these
usurpers,
as abusive of the trust
reposed
in
those who enabled them to act in this
manner;
but this de-
nunciation,
as also the efforts
put
forth
by
the Grand
Lodge
from time to
time,
to demonstrate the
inutility
of these
u
higher" degrees,
were all in
vain;
for a
great many
of
the
lodges, recognizing
its
authority
and
jurisdiction,
had
adopted
those
degrees,
and conferred them in
chapters
or-
ganized by
and under the control of those
lodges.
The Grand
Lodge, unhappily,
was
powerless
to enforce
the execution of its edicts
against
these
illegitimate powers.
The
chapters
continued to issue
charters,
and the Grand
Lodge,
in
consequence
of the carelessness of its Grand
Master,
the Count of
Clermont,
fell into
anarchy.
To re-
lieve himself from the administration of its
affairs,
the
Grand Master substituted a
deputy
named
Baure, who,
soon
misbehaving
himself,
was
replaced by
a
person
even
less
worthy
a
dancing-master
named Lacorne.
Impressed
with the belief that the
possession
of all the
degrees
in
vogue
was
necessary
to add to his
dignity,
in the new
position
into which he was
thrust,
Lacorne had himself initiated
into a
lodge
of
perfection.
He then convoked
many
as-
semblies,
from which
every
member of the Grand
Lodge
abstained to attend. Irritated at this
desertion,
he as-
sembled a number of
lodge
masters,
whom he recruited in
the
taverns,
to
organize
a Grand
Lodge,
and of these he
chose his officers in accordance with his
caprice. Finally,
upon
the
representations
which were made to the Count
of Clermont on the
subject,
he revoked the
appointment
of
Lacorne,
and named in his stead the brother Chaillou
de
Joinville,
as his substitute or
Deputy
General. From
this state of
things
there arose a schism in the Grand
Lodge,
and it became divided into two
parties
who occu-
pied
themselves in
tearing
each
other,
each
pretending
to
represent
x
the constituent
body
of French
Masonry
and
perform
its functions. To aid the
disorder,
each
party
published constitutions,
1
and the masters of the
lodges,
composing
a
portion
of the
party
of
Lacorue,
and
equally
desirous of
gain,
sold the
right
of
holding lodges,
and
thus the
mysteries
and the constitutions
becoming
an ob-
ject
of
traffic,
outside of the
lodges Masonry
fell into
contempt,
while inside
anarchy reigned supreme.
J
We believe it
proper
here to
give
in full one of these
constitutions,
which was
delivered,
in
1761,
to
Stephen Morin,
an
Israelite,
both because
that it is at once a document authentic and
curious,
as well as that it
served,
some
forty years afterward,
as the foundation of the ''Ancient and
Accepted
Scottish Rite of
Thirty-three Degrees,"
created at
Charleston,
South
Carolina, by
five other
Jews,
and introduced into
France,
in
1804,
by
the establishment of the
Supreme
Council for
France,
situated at
Paris,
and which is
to-day
the rival
authority
of the Grand Orient of
France. This constitution reads as follows:
"
To the
glory
of the Grand Architect of the
Universe,
etc. Under
the
good pleasure
of his serene
highness,
the
very
illustrious
brother,
Louis of
Bourbon,
Count of
Clermont, prince
of the
blood,
Grand Master
and
protector
of all the
lodges
at the
Orient, etc.,
the 27th of
August,
1761. Lux e
tenebris,
unitas,
concordia
fratrum. We,
the
undersigned,
Substitutes General of the
Royal
Art,
Grand Wardens of the Grand and
Sovereign Lodge,
President of the Grand Council, a
request
to us made
by
the brother
Lacorne,
substitute of the T. M. G.
M.,
read at a meet-
ing:
That our dear brother
Stephen Morin, grand elect, perfect
and
ancient sublime Master of all the orders of the
Masonry
of
Perfection,
member of the
Royal Lodge
of the
Trinity, etc., having, upon
his de-
parture
for
America,
desired the
power
to travel
regularly,
etc.
;
that it
has
pleased
the
Supreme
Grand Council and Grand
Lodge
to accord to
him letters
patent
for
constitutions,
etc. For these
causes, etc.,
are
given
plenary
and entire
powers
to the said brother to form and to establish
a
lodge
for to receive and to
multiply
the
royal
art of the Freemasons
in all the
degrees perfect
and
sublime,
etc.
;
to
regulate
and to
govern
all
the members who
may compose
the said
lodge
which he
may
establish
in the four
quarter parts
of the world whither he shall arrive or he
may
reside,
under the title of
'Lodge
of St.
John,'
and surnamed 'Perfect
Harmony;' giving
him
power
to choose such officers to aid him in the
government
of his
lodge
as he shall
judge suitable; deputing him,
in
the
quality
of our Grand
Inspector
in all
parts
of the new
world,
for to
reform the observance of our laws in
general ;
constituting
him our Grand
Master
Inspector; giving
him full and entire
power
to create
inspectors
in all
places
where the sublime
degrees
shall not be established.
89
After
remaining
in this condition for some
time,
a re-
conciliation took
place
between the two
parties
composing
the Grand
Lodge,
and a union was ratified on the 24th of
June,
1762. But the old
masters,
who made no
portion
of
the Lacorne
faction,
and who were
persons belonging
some
to the
nobility
of the
kingdom,
some to the
bar,
and some
to the most
distinguished
of the
people, seeing
themselve.
confounded with mechanics and men of no
education,
as
also men infamous and
utterly unworthy
of a
place
in the
Grand
Lodge,
took
exceptions constantly
to such men
being
members of that
body;
and hence constant dissensions
arose,
and which were envenomed
by
the
pretensions,
growing
more and more
intolerable,
set
up by
the other
constituent bodies.
Finally,
worn out with the inces-
"
In witness of which we have delivered these
presents, signed by
the
Substitute General of the
Order,
Grand Commander of the Black and
White
Eagle, Sovereign
Sublime Prince of the
Royal Secret,
and Chief of
the eminent
Degree
of the
Royal Art,
and
by
our
grand inspectors,
sublime officers of the Grand Council and of the Grand
Lodge
estab-
lished in this
capital,
and have sealed them with the
great
seal of his
serene
highness,
our illustrious Grand
Master,
and with that of our
Grand
Lodge
and
Sovereign
Grand Council at the Grand East of
Paris,
the
day
and
year,
etc.
[Signed]
"
CHAILLOU DE
JOINVILLE,
'
Substitute General of the
Order, Worshipful
Master of the first
Lodge
in
France,
called
'
St.
Thomas,' Chief of the eminent
Degrees,
Commandant and Sublime Prince of the
Koyal
Secret.
"
PRINCE DE
ROHAN,
"
Member of the Grand
Lodge
'
Intelligence,'
Prince Mason.
"
LACORNE,
"Prince of
Masonry,
Substitute of the Grand Master.
"
SAVALETTE,
DE
BUCKOLY, TAUPIN,
and
"
BREST DE LA
CHAUSSEE,
"Grand
Knights
and Prince
Masons,
"De
CHOISEUL,
"Count,
Grand
Knight,
Prince
Mason,
and Orator.
"BOUCHER DE
LENONCOURT,
"
Grand
Knight
and Prince
Mason, by
Order of the Grand
Lodge ;
and
"
DAUBANTIN,
"Grand
Knight
and Prince
Mason,
Grand Secretary
of the Grand Lodge
and of the Sublime
Cauucil of Perfect Masons in
France,
etc."
sant
complaints
which were addressed to it
by
a
great
number of the
lodges organized by
councils,
colleges,
and
tribunals of the
"
high
"
degrees,
the Grand
Lodge
resolved
to choke all these
pretensions,
and on the 14th of
August,
1766,
decided to
publish
a decree
by
which was revoked
all the
capitulary
constitutions,
and all the
symbolic lodges
prohibited
from
recognizing
the
authority
which was
arrogated
to themselves
by
these councils and
chapters.
1
A certain number of the members of the Grand
Lodge
of
the old Lacorne
party,
infamous
men,
and who
were,
at the
same
time,
members of the
chapters, protested against
this
decree and
compromised
the
authority
of the Grand
Lodge.
Consequently,
in the re-election of the officers of the
lodges
which took
place
in
1766,
in accordance with the
regula-
tions,
those members who
belonged
to the Lacorne faction
were not
renpjniuated.
From that
sprang protestations
on their
part
and
defamatory writings against
the Grand
Lodge
and
against
the acts of its
officers, until, finally,
it
became incumbent
upon
the Grand
Lodge
to
expel
these
factious
members,
and
publish
them as
deprived
of all
their Masonic
rights.
The brethren thus
expelled
from the Grand
Lodge
re-
sponded
to its decision
by
new
libels, personalities,
and
other
injuries,
and even went so
far,
at the feast of St.
John, 1767,
as to make it
necessary
for the
government
to
interfere and
forbid,
after that
day,
the
meetings
of the
Grand
Lodge.
This
rigorous
measure,
which struck as well at the inno-
cent as the
guilty, paralyzed
all the efforts of the Grand
1
Though
the Grand
Lodge
of
France,
in
1756,
declared itself inde-
pendent
of the Grand
Lodge
of
London,
which
had, through
its
agent,
Lord
Derwentwater,
constituted
it,
it nevertheless
subsequently sought
to renew its amicable relations with the
latter,
and in 1767
proposed
and
concluded an
agreement, by
the terms of which each of these constituent
Masonic bodies
agreed
to
respect
the
rights
of the
other,
and
constitute
no Masonic
organization
within each other's
jurisdiction.
91
Lodge
membership.
The
expelled
brethren who had been
the cause of the
interdiction,
and who were
always
under
the direction of
Lacorne,
profiting by
the
dispersion
of a
great many
members of the Grand
Lodge,
held secret
meetings
and constituted
operative lodges,
to which
they
delivered constitutions ante-dated to a time
previous
to the
division in the Grand
Lodge. Upon
the other
hand,
the
legal party
of the Grand
Lodge, represented by
the brother
Chaillou de
Joinville,
Substitute General of the Grand
Master,
the Count of
Olermont,
also delivered constitu-
tions to
organize working lodges
in the
provinces,
which
documents were also
ante-dated,
and of which no less than
thirty-seven
of these
constitutions,
so delivered
by
the lat-
ter
party during
the
period
of the
interdiction,
were sub-
sequently
annulled.
The Lacorne
party eventually
conceived the
plan
of
overthrowing
the Grand
Lodge
and
replacing
it
by
a new
power,
in order to re-establish in their Masonic
rights
all
the honorable members who should once more
compose
such
authority
;
and
they
awaited but a favorable occasion
to
put
this
design
into execution. Some
approaches
made
to the Lieutenant-General of Police were not attended
with success
;
and the state of interdiction was
prolonged
until the death of the Count of
Clermont,
which took
place
in 1771. This event raised the
courage
of the
factions,
who had not ceased to
intrigue;
and,
in the
hope
of reas-
suming power, they
addressed the Duke of
Luxembourg,
falsely announcing
that
they
had formed the nucleus of
the ancient Grand
Lodge
of
France,
interdicted since
1767,
and desired to otter the Grand
Mastership
to the Duke of
Chartres. The
proposition
was
agreed
to,
and the Duke
of
Chartres, nephew
of the Count of
Clermont,
1
designated
the Duke of
Luxembourg
for his substitute. The faction
who had thus obtained so
important
a success convoked
1
Since Duke of
Orleans, Philip Equality.
92 GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASOXRY.
a
general assembly
of the Masters of all the
lodges
of
Paris,
and even invited the members of the Grand
Lodge
who
had
expelled
them. At this
assembly they
submitted the
acceptance
of the Grand
Mastership, signed by
the Duke
of
Chartres,
and offered to
present
this document to the
Grand
Lodge, provided
that it would revoke its decree of
expulsion
made
against
them. The unfavorable circum-
stances in which the Grand
Lodge
found itself at this
time,
joined
to the
advantageous
considerations which
would result to it
by
its
acceptance
of the Duke of Char-
tres as its Grand
Master,
determined the members to
accept
the conditions which were
proposed;
and
they
decided
that a
report
should be submitted to the Grand
Lodge,
upon
the demand for a revocation of the decrees rendered
against
the
expelled brethren,
in order that these decrees
should be revoked in due form. This
being
done,
at the
feast of St.
John,
in the
year 1771,
the Duke of Chartres
was nominated for the Grand
Mastership,
and the Grand
Lodge thereupon proceeded
to annul all the
charters,
or
constitutions,
delivered
during
the
suspension
of its
privi-
leges,
in the name of the Grand
Lodge
of France. A
commission, composed
of
eight
members,
was
thereupon
appointed
to elaborate a
project
of
reorganization
of the
Masonic
fraternity.
There were also named
twenty-two
Provincial Grand
Inspectors,
with the mission to visit all
the
lodges
in the
kingdom
and direct the administration
of the rules and
regulations,
etc.
The
party
who had obtained the revocation of the de-
crees of
expulsion
had,
in the
reorganization
of the Grand
Lodge,
exerted their influence to obtain the admission of
their
partisans;
and the success which had attended their
first
operation
favored the
accomplishment
of the latter
designs.
Therefore,
in the
interval,
this
party,
reinforced
by
all the councils and
chapters
of the Scottish
Rite,
who
had reserved to themselves the
privilege
of
avenging
the
injury they
had sustained from the decrees directed
against
93
them
by
the Grand
Lodge,
resolved to
equally
offer to the
Dnke of Chartres the honorable
position
of Grand Master
of all the
lodges, chapters,
and councils of the Scottish
Kite in France. This honor the Duke
accepted.
1
In
submitting
this
request
to the Duke of
Chartres,
they
made him believe that he had
already
attained the
posi-
tion,
by
his nomination in
1771,
to the Grand
Mastership
of the Grand
Lodge
of France. The Duke knew
nothing
of Masonic
forms,
and never
supposed
that
any
nomina-
tion of this kind should be made in an
assembly
of the
Grand
Lodge,
an
authority
that had
repudiated
and
pro-
scribed the
"high" degrees.
He, therefore,
accepted
the
office which to him was
offered,
and
signed
the article of
acceptance presented
to him
by
the Duke of
Luxembourg,
on the 5th of
April,
1772. The
latter,
as substitute of
the Duke of
Chartres,
wished to concentrate in his own
hands the control of all the Masonic bodies in the
king-
dom, as,
by
the
parties
who had
proposed
the
matter,
he
had been advised
;
but he did not
perceive
that he had made
1
We here
give
the text of this
acceptance,
because this document is
not without historic interest:
''The
year
of the
great Light, 1772,
third
day
of the moon
John,
5th
day
of the 2d month of the Masonic
year 5772,
and from the birth of
the Messiah the 5th
day
of
April, 1772,
in virtue of the
proclamation
made in Grand
Lodge
assembled the 24th
day
of the 4th month of the
Masonic
year 5771,
of the
very high, very powerful,
and
very
excellent
prince,
his most serene
highness
Louis
Phillipe Joseph
d'
Orleans,
Duke
of
Chartres, prince
of the
blood,
for Grand Master of all the
regular
lodges
of
France;
and of that of the
Sovereign
Council of the
Emperors
of the East and
West,
sublime mother
lodge
of the Scottish
(rite),
of the
26th
day
of the moon
Elul, 5771,
for
sovereign
Grand Master of all the
Scottish councils,
chapters,
and
lodges
of the
great globe
of
France,
offices which his said most serene
highness
has been
pleased
to
accept
for the love of the
royal art,
and in order to concentrate
all the Masonic
labors under one
only authority.
"In
guarantee
of
which,
his said most serene
highness
has
eigned
this
minute of the transaction of
acceptance.
[Signed]
"Louis PHILIPPE JOSEPH D'OKLEANS."
9-1 GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.
himself,
in this
respect,
the instrument of but a faction.
Unhappily having
once lent himself to such a
scheme,
all
the remonstrances addressed to him
by
the
enlightened
and
respectable portion
of the Grand
Lodge,
who
pointed
out
to him the awkwardness of his
position,
and his stultifica-
tion of
theirs,
were not sufficient to induce him to
resign
-lie
powers
thus accorded to
him,
and his adhesion to
which
ultimately
caused the extinction of the Grand
Lodge
of
France,
and the
organization
.of the Grand
Orient,
whose
history
we
propose
to
give
an another volume.
FREEMASONRY IN ENGLANDi
95
ABRIDGMENT OF THE
HISTORY OF MODERN OR PHILOSOPHIC FREEMASONRY
IN
ENGLAND, DENMARK, SWEDEN, RUSSIA, POLAND,
GER-
MANY, HOLLAND, BELGIUM, SWITZERLAND, ITALY,
AND
PORTUGAL,
FROM ITS ORGANIZATION IN
THOSE COUNTRIES TO THE PRESENT DAY.
ENGLAND.
have
seen,
at the conclusion of our
summary
of the
urigin
and
general history
of
Freemasonry,
in what man-
lier the transformation of the
corporation
of Freemasons
rrom an
operative
to a
philosophic
institution took
place
in
England,
in the
year
1717,
and under what circum-
stances the Grand
Lodge
of
London,
in
constituting
itself,
put
into execution the decision
made,
in
1703,
by
the
Lodge
of St. Paul.
The new Grand
Lodge
directed
George Payne,
who had
heen elected its Grand
Master,
to collect all the docu-
ments,
manuscripts, charters, rituals, etc.,
relating
to the
ancient
usages
'of the
fraternity,
for the
purpose
of con-
necting
them with the
registers
and
Anglo-Saxon
deeds
written in the Gothic and Latin
languages,
and of the
whole to form a
body
of laws and
doctrines,
and to
pub-
lish so much of the same as
might
be
judged proper
and
necessary.
1
'Some members of the
Lodge
of St.
Paul,
alarmed at the
prospective
publicity
of their
archives,
believed it to be their
duty, imposed upon
them
by
the oath which
they
had
taken,
to
publish nothing
which
par-
yb GENERAL
HISTORY
OF FREEMASONRY.
After the careful examination of all these
deeds,
and a
report
made of their
subjects by
a commission
composed
of fourteen
brethren,
chosen from the most erudite Ma-
sons of
London,
the Grand
Lodge
directed the brother
Anderson,
a doctor of
philosophy
and eminent minister
;>f the
Presbyterian
Church at
London,
to
compile
from
ihese documents a
constitution,
to be
preceded by
a his-
tory
of the
corporation,
which would in the future, serve
as a
guide
to modern
Freemasonry.
Brother
Anderson,
having acquitted
himself of the
task,
in 1722 submitted his work to the
commission,
who
ap-
proved it,
and caused it to be sanctioned
by
the Grand
Lodge
on the 25th
March,
1723.
This constitution is en-
titled,
"The Book of Constitutions for
Freemasons,
con-
taining
the
History, Charges,
and
Regulations,
etc.,
of that
Most Ancient and
Right Worshipful Fraternity,
for the use
of the
Lodges."
This constitution is based
upon
the charter of
York,
which,
of all
others,
has served as a
guide
for all those
which have been established since A. D. 926. Into this
constitution were carried otherwise the
changes
and the
developments
which were rendered
indispensable by
the
new
object
of the
society,
and
properly
above all was
caused to
predominate
the
supremacy
of the Grand
Lodge
of London. This last
tendency,
so much to
be,
in this
our own
day, deprecated,
but
proves
that its authors were
not
penetrated by
the true
spirit
of the Charter of York.
This collection of
laws, published
for the first time in
1723,
1
has been
printed many times,
and for the last time
took of the character of
corporate information,
delivered the
greater part
f the documents in the
possession
of their
lodge
to the
flames,
thus
causing, by
their
exaggerated scruples,
an
irreparable
loss to the Ma-
sonic historian.
translations of this work were made and
published
in
Germany
in
the
years
1741,
'43, '44, '62, '83,
and 1805. In London it was
reprinted
in
1756, '57,
and '75.
FREEMASONRY IN
ENGLAND.
97
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
in 1855.
Beginning
with
the
year
1723,
the
organization
of the new
Masonry
was
seated
upon
a solid
foundation,
and its
prosperity
con-
tinued to increase.
By
virtue of this
constitution,
the
new Grand
Lodge
of
England placed
itself in
legitimate
and sole
authority
over the entire Masonic
fraternity,
and
settled from that time all contradictions on the
part
of
English lodges
constituted
previous
to that date. This
constitution in fact attainted the ancient liberties of Free-
masons,
and in
particular prohibited
the formation of
any
lodges
which should not receive the confirmation .of the
Grand
Lodge
of London. In this manner
protests against
this new
authority
were excited in the Grand
Lodges
of
York and
Edinburgh.
The
activity displayed by
the Grand
Lodge
of
London,
and the
great
number of
operative lodges
that it consti-
tuted,
stimulated the zeal of the Masons of Ireland and
Scotland, who,
up
to this
time,
had not assembled but at
distant and
irregular periods.
Soon Masonic
temples
opened
on all sides in the two
kingdoms,
and the initia-
tions were
multiplied
in
great
number,
which fact resulted
in the convocation of a
general assembly
of the Masons of
Ireland
by
the
lodges
of
Dublin,
with the
object
of
organ-
izing Freemasonry upon
the same basis as sustained the
lodge
of London. A central
power
was constituted at
this
assembly,
which took
place
in
1729,
under the title of
the Grand
Lodge
of
Ireland,
and the Viscount
Kingston
was elected Grand Master.
The Grand
Lodge
of
York, jealous
of the
prosperity
of
the Grand
Lodge
of
London,
and
pretending
that it waa
the most ancient and
legitimate power,
and
solely
endowed
with the
right
to direct
Freemasonry,
contested the su-
premacy
claimed
by
the
latter,
and
thereby
caused for a
time some considerable
embarrassment;
but it could not
arrest the
progress
of that
body,
nor
interrupt
its
success,
and soon found itself under the
necessity
of
revising
its
7
laws and
conforming
its
regulations
to the
object
of the
modern
Freemasonry,
as had
already
been done
by
its suc-
cessful
rival,
the Grand
Lodge
of London.
The ancient Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
at
Edinburgh,
considering
the
prosperity
and
aggrandizement
of the new
English lodges
as the
consequence
of their
adoption
of
lew
regulations
and the election of new Grand
Masters,
desired to introduce these
changes
into its
system
;
but
the
hereditary
trust of
patron,
of which James I had con-
ceded the honor to the
family
of
Roslin,
in
1430,
was an
obstacle to this innovation.
However,
the Baron Sinclair
of
Roslin,
then Grand Master under this
concession,
ac-
ceded to the
general
wish
expressed
for him to renounce
this
authority,
and the four oldest
lodges
of
Edinburgh
convoked,
on the 24th of
November, 1736,
all the other
lodges
and all the Masons of Scotland in a
general
as-
sembly,
with the
object
of
organizing
a new Masonic
power.
After
reading
the act of renunciation of the Baron
Sinclair of Roslin to the
dignity
of
hereditary
Grand
Master,
as also to all the
privileges
thereto
appertaining,
the
assembly, composed
of the
representatives
of
thirty-
two
lodges,
constituted itself the
"
Grand
Lodge
of St.
John of
Scotland,"
and named the Baron Sinclair of lios-
lin its first Grand Master for 1737. Some of the ancient
lodges,
that of
Kilwinning among
others,
had conserved
the two
political degrees Templar
and Scottish Master
and
by
so
doing
introduced troubles which had
agitated
England
from 1655 to
1670,
and which
degrees
were not
conferred at this time but
upon
brethren
adjudged
to be
worthy
of
being
initiated into the
political designs
favor-
able to the
Stuarts,
and
they
had been maintained subse-
quently, by
a decision of
King
Charles
II,
from the time
of the
general assembly
of Masons at
York,
in 1663. It
was the
chapter
named
Canongate
Kil
winning, composed
of
partisans
of the
Stuarts,
who
propagated,
between the
years
1728 and
1740,
these anti-masonic
degrees,
created
FREEMASONRY IN ENGLAND,
99
with
a
political object,
and delivered to their
partisans
among
whom was the Doctor Baron
Ramsay,
and other
emissaries
by diplomas, authorizing
them to confer those
degrees
wherever
they
found suitable
persons
to receive
them.
It is in this manner those
degrees
became to be
known as the Scottish Rite.
Ramsay,
not
finding
the col-
lection extensive
enough,
added to
it,
and others who
succeeded him continued so
profitable
an
occupation,
until the Scottish Rite
comprised
in France
lodges, chap-
ters,
and
councils,
the
membership
of which
being
com-
posed mainly
of
intriguing politicians.
After the
organization
of the Grand
Lodge
of Scot-
land,
the
thirty-two lodges
of which it was constituted
ranked
by
number in the order of their claims to
age,
and
the
lodge
"
Mary's Chapel," exhibiting
an act in due
form,
which carried its
origin
to the
year
1598,
was
placed
at
the head of the list of
operative lodges,
and took the
rank of No. 1. The
lodge
"
Canongate Kilwinning"
had
claimed this first
place, stating
that its
origin
went back as
far as the
year
1128 a circumstance
very generally
ad-
mitted in the
country;
but this
lodge, having
lost its
pa-
pers during
a
sleep
of a
century
and a
half,
could not now
produce
them,
and
consequently
was refused the
prefer-
ence
;
and this refusal caused this
lodge
to desire no con-
nection with the new Grand
Lodge,
but,
on the
contrary,
to set itself
up
as an
independent
constituent
power,
which it
did,
at
Edinburgh,
in
1744,
at first under the
name of the
"
Mother
Lodge
of
Kilwinning,"
and subse-
quently
as the
"
Royal
Grand
Lodge
and
Chapter
of the
Order of Herodim of
Kilwinning," abandoning
the admin-
istration of the three
symbolic degrees
to the Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
and
reserving
to itself the
right
to
confer the two
high degrees (Templar
and Scottish Mas-
ter)
that it
already possessed,
and also those w
r
hich
by
this
time were in
use,
the invention of
Ramsay
and
others,
in
France. Not
meeting
with
any
success at home in its as-
sumption
of the
risrht
to
propagate
its
high degrees,
this
lodge
created,
through
its emissaries
upon
the
continent,
a number of
chapters,
and thus returned to France the
degrees
which it had
imported, by establishing
at
Rouen,
on the 1st
May, 1786,
in the
lodge
of "Ardent
Amitie,"
a
Grand
Chapter
of
Herodirn,
to
propagate,
as a
provincial
grand lodge,
this false
Masonry.
Such is the
origin
of the Rite of Herodim of Kilwin-
ning,
about
which,
as an
important
and valuable
adjunct
to
Freemasonry,
so much noise has been made.
Finally,
after
having, during
half a
century,
been instrumental in
producing
as much disorder as it could in the Masonic
ranks at home and
abroad,
this
lodge
of
"
Canongate
Kil-
winning" quietly proposed
a union with the Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
and in the
year
1807 was
placed
on the list of
the
operative lodges
of
Scotland,
under the
jurisdiction
of
the Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
as
"
Canongate
Kilwin-
ning,
ISTo. 2."
The three Grand
Lodges
of Great
Britain,
thus consti-
tuted,
propagated
the new
Freemasonry upon every por
tion of the
globe,
so
that,
in
1750,
we find it extended into
nearly every
civilized
country
;
but its humanitarian doc-
trines,
like the
dogma
of
''Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,"
which it
exhibited,
frightened
the
kings
and the
clergy,
who
sought
to arrest its
progress by issuing
decrees and
edicts
against
it. In
Russia,
in
1731,
in
Holland,
in
1735,
in
Paris,
in
1737, 1738, 1744,
and
1745,
the
meetings
of
lodges
of Freemasons w
r
ere interdicted
by
the
government;
while at Rome and in Florence its members were ar-
rested and
persecuted,
and in
Sweden,
Hamburg,
and Ge-
neva
they
were
prohibited
from
meeting
or
assembling
themselves in the
capacity
of
lodges.
The
Holy Inquisi-
tion threw Freemasons into
prison, burnt;
by
the hand of
the
public executioner,
all books which contained Masonic
regulations, history,
or doctrines
;
condemned at Malta to
perpetual exile,
in
1740,
a number of
knights
who had or-
FREEMASONRY IN ENGLAND.
101
ganized
a
lodge
on that island
;
in
Portugal
it exercised
against
them cruelties of various
kinds,
and condemned
them to the
galleys
;
while in Vienna and
Marseilles,
as
also
in
Switzerland,
in the canton of
Berne,
the iron hand
of that
"Holy"
institution was felt in 1743. In
1748,
at
Constantinople,
the sultan endeavored to
destroy
the Ma-
sonic
society.
In the states of the
Church,
the
King
of
Naples prohibited Masonry,
and Ferdinand
VII,
King
of
Spain,
issued an edict that
prohibited
the
assembly
of
Freemasons within his
kingdom,
under
penalty
of death.
In
1751,
Pope
Benedict XIV renewed the bull of excom-
munication
promulgated against
the
Fraternity by
Clem-
ent
XII,
while the threat of death menaced all who should
be known to attend Masonic
meetings.
But all these exhibitions of the
rage
of
kings, princes,
and
potentates
were ineffectual to
stop
the onward course
of
Freemasonry,
which continued to be
propagated upon
all the surface of the earth with a
rapidity
that no
power
could arrest.
Braving
the bull of Benedict
XIV,
Free-
masonry
is
openly practiced
in
Tuscany,
at
Naples,
and in
many
other
parts
of the Italian
peninsula.
At Rome
even the
partisans
of the Stuarts founded some
lodges,
which
they
took but feeble
pains
to hide from the au-
thorities.
1
The
activity
of the three Grand
Lodges
of Great Brit-
ain, and,
above
all,
of that of
London,
was not confined
to the establishment of
lodges
in
Europe
between the
years
1727 and 1740
;
they
had
already transplanted
Ma-
sonry
to
Bengal,
to
Bombay,
the
Cape
of Good
Hope,
New South
Wales,
New
Zealand,
and
Java,
and as
early
as
1721,
lodges
of Masons w
r
ere established in Canada.
Before 1740
Masonry
existed in the
principal
colonies of
1
It
may
well be believed that the reason for the blindness which
pressed
upon
the vision of the authorities at
Rome,
in connection with these
lodges, was,
that the
JesuitSj
whose cause those
lodges served,
did not
wish to see,
the now United States of
America,
such as
Massachusetts,
Georgia,
South
Carolina,
and New York. In those colo-
nies the
lodges
had created Grand
Lodges independent
of
the Grand
Lodges
of
England,
of whom
they
had in the
beginning
received their
authority.
Massachusetts had a
Grand
Lodge
in
1777,
Vermont in
1774,
Virginia
and North
Carolina in
1778,
Maryland
in
1783,
Pennsylvania, Georgia,
and New
Jersey
in
1786,
and New York in
1787.
The
Lodge
of
London,
notwithstanding
its
astonishing
prosperity,
was not
permitted
to
enjoy
that
prosperity
without
great
internal
struggles,
caused first
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
York,
and
subsequently by
the schism of a
great many
brethren, who,
adhering
to the claims of the
latter,
went out from the former and took the name of
"Ancient
Masons/
7
in contradistinction to the member-
ship
of the Grand
Lodge
of
London,
who remained true
to their
engagements,
and whom this schismatic
party
styled
"Modern Masons." These schismatic
lodges,
com-
posed
in
great part
of Irish Masons who accused the
Grand
Lodge
of
altering
the rituals and
introducing
in-
novations and of Masons who had been
expelled,
in
1751,
constituted a rival
power
to the Grand
Lodge,
under the
title of "The Grand
Lodge
of Ancient Masons of
Eng-
land."
Notwithstanding
its
inferiority,
and the few
lodges
which it
represented
or was enabled to
establish,
this
schismatic
party,
in
1772, requested
the Duke of
Athol,
who had
already
filled that office in the Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
to become its Grand
Master,
a
request
with
which he
complied.
To
give
itself
importance,
and to influence to its ranks
the
nobility,
this schismatic
party
added to the
degrees
with which it had started some of the
high degrees
cre-
ated in France
by
the
partisans
of the
Stuarts,
and which
they imported
into
England
about the
year
1760,
and com-
bined them with the
symbolic degrees
into a rite of seven
FREEMASONRY IN ENGLAND. 103
degrees,
the
highest
of which
they
called the
Royal
Arch.
1
This Grand
Lodge
of
self-styled
Ancient
Masons
trans-
planted
its rite into the
lodges
which it constituted in
America,
and there
produced
the same disorders and the
same schisms
among
the
Fraternity
that the
"high"
de-
grees
had
already provoked
in ail the states of
Europe.
2
1
This
degree
is founded
entirely upon
the biblical
legend
of the Jew-
ish ark of the
covenant; but,
in
England, they give
it another
significa-
tion,
and call it the
"
Holy
Arch."
2
In this statement I
beg
leave to correct brother Rebold. The
only
dis-
orders or schisms created
by
"Lawrence Dermott's Grand
Lodge'' by
which name the schismatic
organization styled
"Ancient Masons" is
known,
at this
time,
in America were at an
early stage
checked in their
growth by
the
organization
of what is also known as the "American
System
of
Freemasonry," comprising
a rite of twelve
degrees,
in
which,
while the different State Grand
Lodges
have exclusive
jurisdiction
over
the three
degrees
of
symbolic Masonry,
the
operative Royal
Arch
Chap-
ters, Councils,
and
Encampments, (or,
as more
lately styled,
Command-
cries),
have in
charge
the conference of the other
degrees
known as
Capitular, Cryptic,
and Christian
Masonry ;
and
they,
in their
turn,
are
subject
to State
organizations,
and the latter to a
general organization
for
each, styled, respectively,
the "General Grand
Chapter
of
Royal
Arch Masons for the United
States," organized
in
1808,
and the "Gen-
eral Grand
Encampment
of
Knights Templar
for the United
States,"
organized
in 1816. In this manner the different
degrees
are utilized and
kept apart, every
Master Mason
being
allowed to "take" as
many
or aa
few of them as he
may
deem
necessary
for his
enlightenment.
While the
object
of these
higher degrees
in
Europe, according
to our
author,
was
entirely
of a
political character,
in this
country
no such
character,
or even
tendency,
has ever been attributed to them. The
anti-masonic
excitement,
which
prevailed
in this
country
from 1826 to
1836,
or
thereabouts,
had no effective
origin
within a Masonic
body
of
any
rite. William
Morgan,
it is
true,
in the former
year,
took
umbrage
at
being
refused
membership
in a
Royal
Arch
Chapter
about to be or-
ganized
in the town of
Batavia,
his
residence,
in the State of New York
and
thereupon
resurrected an old
copy
of
"
Jachin and
Boaz," published
in London in
1750,
and
republished shortly
afterward in the then
colony
of New York. With this
book,
and what he knew of Masonic
rituals,
he made an
"Exposition
of
Freemasonry
;" and, by
the aid of an evil-
disposed person
named
Miller, published
the same. His
subsequent
This
unhappy
division in the bosom of
English
Ma-
sonry,
commenced in
1736,
was continued for a
long time,
by
the Grand
Lodges
of Ireland and Scotland
recognizing
the schismatic
"
Grand
Lodge
of Ancient
Masons,"
to which
they
in this manner
gave
a character that it did not
merit,
but which continued until the
year
1813,
when at
his time it
ceased,
by
the schismatic Grand
Lodge,
which
then had as its Grand Master the Duke of
Kent,
and
the Grand
Lodge
of
London, styled by
these schismatics
"
Modern
Masons,
7 '
and which had as its Grand Master
his
brother,
the Duke of
Sussex,
uniting
under the title
of the
"
United Grand
Lodges
of
England."
In this
union the ancient
laws,
as well written as
traditional,
were
taken as the
basis,
and the
spirit
that influenced the or-
ganization
of 1717 was
recognized,
and it was then and
there announced and
proclaimed
that the ancient and
true
Freemasonry
was
composed
of but three
degrees,
viz :
Apprentice, Fellow-craft,
and Master Mason.
Unhappily,
however,
the
legitimate
Grand
Lodge
conceded to the
party self-styled
"Ancient
Masons,"
who
necessarily
had
to abandon their rite of seven
degrees,
a division of the
degree
of Master Mason
practiced by
this
party,
and
taught
as a
supplementary portion
of this
degree,
under the name
sudden
disappearance
from the town of his residence was made use of
by
what was then in this
country
a lesser
political party,
for the
pur-
pose
of
increasing
its
strength
and
numbers, by raising
a
cry against
the
Freemasons,
and
branding
them as a secret
society
which
stopped
not even at the sacrifice of human life to
accomplish
its
purposes.
The
cry
was successful
;
the life of
Morgan
was asserted to have been taken
by
the
Freemasons, and,
in the summer of
1828,
the
body
of a drowned
man
having
been found in the
neighborhood
of
Morgan's disappear-
ance,
it
made,
in the
language
of one of the leaders of the anti-masonic
party
'
a
good enough Morgan
until after the
[then pending presiden-
tial]
election." For some
years
after this the
Fraternity
remained in
comparatively
a dormant
condition; but, during
the last
twenty-five
years,
its
progress
has been as
rapid
and its ranks as united as its mosi
ardent admirers could desire. TRANSLATOR
105
of
Eoyal
Arch. This
concession,
which the
schismatic
party
exacted as a sine
qua
non of their union with the
legitimate
Grand
Lodge
and surrender of their
rights
to
that
body,
was an act of
feebleness,
on the
part
of the
Grand
Lodge
of
London,
which has
destroyed,
in a
great
degree;
the
unity
and the basis of true
Masonry,
as it had
been
practiced by
that
body, up
to that
time,
with a laud-
able firmness.
If
English Freemasonry
has
remained,
for a
long time,
in a
consumptive
condition,
and has
not,
as it did for the
first
century
of its
existence,
continued to extend its civ-
ilizing
and
progressive
character,
it has
practiced always
in a
generous
manner one of the essential
dogmas
of the
institution
; viz.,
solidarity. Among
the numerous benef-
icent establishments created
by
it,
we
may particularly
mention three which are due to the efforts of the Grand
Lodge
of London.
1. The
Royal
School of Freemasons for
girls,
of which
the
capital fund,
in
March, 1863,
amounted to about
145,000.
2. The
Royal
Masonic Institute for the sons of
indigent
Freemasons,
which
possessed,
at the same
date,
a
capital
fund of over
100,000.
3. The
Royal Beneficiary
Institution for
aged
Free-
masons and their
widows,
of which the
capital was,
at the
same
date,
about
75,000
for the men's
department,
and
$35,000
for that of the women.
After
having
recorded the most
important
events in the
history
of
English Freemasonry,
we will now
briefly
indi-
cate the
composition
of the three Grand
Lodges
and their
importance
as Masonic
powers.
The Grand
Lodge
of
England
is
composed
of a Grand
Master and his
deputy,
of all the Past Grand Masters and
Provincial Grand
Masters,
of all the officers of the Grand
Lodge,
and of all the Past and
Acting Worshipful
Mas-
ters. In it resides the
legislative
and
judiciary power
for
jurisdiction
of
England
and the British colonies. A
gen-
eral
committee, composed
of
twenty-four
masters of
lodges,
of a first Professor
(Expert),
of the Grand Master and his
representative,
exercise the administrative and executive
power.
The decisions are made
hy
a
majority
of votes.
All the
offices,
even that of Grand
Master,
are submitted
to an annual election. The Grand
Lodge
holds
quarterly
communications
upon
the first
Wednesday
of the months
of
March,
May, September,
and
December;
in the
latter,
the election for Grand Master takes
place. Charles,
Earl
of
Zetland,
who has filled the office of Grand Master since
1850,
has been re-elected for the thirteenth time since his
first nomination. The Earl
Grey
and
Bipon
is the
Deputy
Grand Master.
Under the
jurisdiction
of the Grand
Lodge
of London
there are
sixty-three
Provincial Grand
Lodges,
of which
forty-two
are in the counties of
England,
and
twenty-one
are elsewhere in British
possessions.
Under these there
are nine hundred and
eighty-nine operative lodges,
who
report
themselves in the manner
following
: Four hundred
and
ninety-one
in the
counties,
one hundred and
fifty-four
in
London,
one hundred and
forty-three
in
America,
twenty
in
Africa,
eighty-seven
in
Asia,
eighty-three
in
Oceanica,
and fourteen in other countries. It
possesses
a Grand
Chapter
of
Royal
Arch Masons a
degree
which,
as we
have
stated, comprehends
the second
part
of the
degree
of Master
Mason,
but which forms
really
a fourth
degree,
having
its own officers and its
special meetings.
This
Grand
Chapter
directs two hundred and
eighty-seven
operative chapters
in
England
and
sixty-one
in the British
possessions.
No
advantage
or
privilege
is accorded to its
members in the
ordinary
or
extraordinary meetings
of the
Grand
Lodge.
Independently
of the Grand
Chapter,
there also exists
at
London,
but
having
no connection with the Grand
Lodge,
a Grand Conclave of
"High Knights Templar,"
107
at the head of which
presides
the brother F. "W.
Stuart.
Neither
this
authority
nor
any
other of the kind are
recog-
nized
by
the Grand
Lodge
;
they
are the remains of the
systems
which were
imported
from France to
England by
the
partisans
of the
Stuarts,
and
by
whom these
poisonous
germs
have been introduced into the
body
of
English
Ma-
sonry.
The Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
sitting
at
Edinburgh,
which
has for its Grand Master the Duke of
Athol,
1
counts under
its
jurisdiction thirty-eight
Provincial Grand
Lodges,
and
two hundred and
ninety-seven operative lodges
in Scot-
land and elsewhere in British
possessions.
Like the Grand
Lodge
of
London,
it tolerates the
Royal
Arch
Chapters,
which have been
engrafted upon
a
great
number of its
lodges
from the time that the schismatic Grand
Lodge
at
London
propagated
its rite of the
Royal Arch,
and for
the direction of which there was
established,
in
1817,
a
Supreme
Grand
Chapter; but,
like the Grand
Lodge
of
London,
it does not accord to the members of these
chap-
ters the least
privilege;
for,
like the
lodges
which consti-
tute
it,
the Grand
Lodge
does not
practice, confer,
or
recognize
but the three
symbolic degrees.
The Grand
Lodge
of
Ireland,
held at
Dublin,
of which
the Duke of Leinster is the Grand
Master,
has under its
jurisdiction
ten Provincial Grand
Lodges,
with three hun-
dred and seven
operative lodges
in Ireland and other
countries outside of Great Britain.
Independently
of the
Grand
Lodge
of
Ireland,
which
confers,
in like manner
with the other Grand
Lodges,
none but the
symbolic
de-
grees,
there is
established,
at
Dublin,
a
Supreme
Council
of
Rites,
founded in
1836,
which confers all the
"high"
degrees
of such
rites,
a Grand
Royal
Arch
Chapter,
which
is under the direction of the same Grand
Master,
and
constitutes,
like those of
England
and
Scotland,
operative
George Augustus
Frederick
John,
Duke of
Athol,
died ai, Blair
Castle,
his
residence,
on the 16th of
January,
1864.
chapters
of the
Royal
Arch
degree;
1
also a Grand Con-
clave of
Knights Templar;
but these three authorities
have no connection with the Grand
Lodge
of Ireland.
The three Grand
Lodges
of Great
Britain,
consequently,
control one hundred and nine Provincial Grand
Lodges,
with one thousand five hundred and
ninety-seven operative
lodges
under their
jurisdiction,
which extend their con-
nections to
every part
of the
globe.
In the connection of its moral effects and
-civilizing
in-
fluence,
English Freemasonry
we
say
it with sorrow has
made but
slight
advances in the last half
century
; while,
as we have
seen,
it was once the active
pioneer every-where.
It exercised
by
its introduction into France an immense
influence
upon
the
principles
of
1789,
and started the de-
velopment
of liberal ideas
throughout
the whole of Eu-
rope;
while in
Oceanica, Hindostan,
and China its
prin-
ciples
have modified the
religious
beliefs of the sectaries
of
Brahma,
of the Persians and the
Mussulmans,
of whom
are
composed
the
majority
of the
lodges
founded in those
countries
;
yet to-day
the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
like its
sisters,
those of Scotland and
Ireland,
seems satisfied to re-
pose
under its
glories
of the
past
and rest
upon
its laurels
DENMARK.
FREEMASONRY was introduced into the
capital
of this
kingdom,
in
1783, by
the Baron of
Munich,
Secretary
of
the Ambassador of
Russia,
who
organized
the first
opera-
1
Besides these three
grand colleges,
all
conferring
a
species
of
high
degrees,
there is in
Dublin,
to
complete
the
hierarchy,
a
Supreme
Coun-
cil of the Scotch Rite of
Thirty-three Degrees,
established in
1808,
of
which the Duke of Leinster is also
nominally
the Grand Master. A
similar institution is established at
Edinburgh,
founded in
1846,
while a
'third is situated at London since 1845. At the head of the last are the
brethren H. B.
Leison, Esq.,
and Colonel Vernon
;
but these
authorities,
not
being recognized
as
Masonic,
are of
very
little
importance
and
merely
enjoy
a
vegetating
existence.
FREEMASONRY IN DENMARK.
109
tive
lodge,
under the name of "St. Martins
Lodge."
Shortly
afterward several others were
established, and,
in
1749,
the Grand
Lodge
of London there constituted a Pro-
vincial Grand
Lodge,
of which Count Damekiold
Laurvig
was named Grand
Master,
and
who,
in
1780,
erected the
same
into a Grand
Lodge
of Denmark. The
simplicity
of
English Masonry
had to
give way
here,
as
every-where
else,
to the
sj^stem
of
high degrees,
which had invaded all
Europe
and blinded the
good
sense of the brethren. The
system
of Strict
Observance, invented,
as we have
seen,
by
the Jesuits in
France,
to forward the interests of the Stuart
party,
was introduced
by
the Baron of Bulow at
Copen-
hagen,
who
organized
there a
prefectship,
or
commandery,
having
for Grand Master the Duke Ferdinand of Bruns-
wick. After the
Congress
of
Wilhelmsbad,
in
1782,
the
Grand
Lodge
of Denmark abandoned the rite of
"
Strict
Observance,"
or
Templar system; but,
in
returning
to the
English system,
besides the three
degrees
of
symbolic
Ma-
sonry,
she
preserved
of the abandoned rite two
degrees,
those of Scottish and Past Master.
Immediately
after
this
reformation,
lodges
were established in
all
the cities
of
any importance
in the
kingdom,
and
even,
in
1785,
ex-
tended to the Danish
colonies,
in the
archipelago
of the
Antilles,
the islands of St. Croix and St. Thomas.
King
Christian
VIII,
after
having
named the
landgrave,
Charles of
Hesse,
Grand Master for
life,
solemnly recog-
nized
Freemasonry by
an official
act,
dated 2d of Novem-
ber,
1792.
At the death of the
landgrave
of
Hesse,
in
1836,
the
Prince
Royal,
afterward
King
Christian
VIII,
declared
himself
protector
and Grand Master. In
1848,
the Grand
Mastership passed
to
King
Frederick
VII,
under whom
Danish
Masonry
has attained a
very flourishing
condition.
The intimate connection of this
country
with
Sweden,
where the
Masonry
of
Swedenborg, subsequently
that of
Zinnendorf,
had taken
deep root, and,
at an
early period,
manifested a
religious tendency
that it has held from the
first in a remarkable
manner,
and toward which
evidently
the Masons of
Copenhagen, including
the
king,
have in-
clined,
decided the Grand
Lodge
of Denmark to
adopt
officially,
on the 6th of
January, 1855,
the Swedish
rite,
or that of
Zinnendorf,
of seven
degrees,
and to enforce its
adoption upon
all the
lodges
under its
jurisdiction.
Danish
Masonry enjoys great
consideration in the coun-
try, and,
under the Grand
Mastership
of the
reigning
king, prospers
from
day
to
day.
In
1863,
the Grand
Lodge
of Denmark exercised
juris-
diction over nine
operative lodges,
of which
four
are in
the
capital
and five in the
provinces.
SWEDEN.
MASONRY was introduced at Stockholm in 1736
;
but tha
interdictions
pronounced against
it
by nearly every
Euro-
pean
state affected in a similar manner the Swedish
gov-
ernment
against
it,
and the Masonic
meetings
were
pro-
hibited in 1758.
Nevertheless,
new
operative lodges
were
subsequently
established, and,
in the
year 1764,
a
provin-
cial Grand
Lodge
for Sweden was
organized
at Stock-
holm. One of the first acts of the Freemasons of this
country
was the establishment of an
orphan asylum,
which is
to-day
the
glory
and crown of Swedish
Masonry.
One donation of
30,000,
which was made it
by
Brother
Bohmann,
permitted
it to be
greatly enlarged.
As else-
where,
the true
Freemasonry
did not
long
exist in this
country
before the
importation
from France of the Rite
of Perfection of
twenty-five degrees
;
but the
progress
of
this rite was checked
by
the crusade entered into
against
the
system
of Strict Observance. The chivalrous char-
acter of the
Templars,
from the first
approaches
of that
system,
met none of the favor in Sweden it had
enjoyed
FREEMASONRY IN SWEDEN".
Ill
in France and
Germany.
The
King,
Gustavus
III,
and
his
brother,
the Duke of
Sudermanie,
were initiated in
1770
;
and
believing
the statement made to him
by
the
officials of the
rite,
that Sweden was the first
country
into
which it was
introduced,
the
king
undertook to re-estab-
lish the order of
Knights Templar.
He was named
Grand
Master,
and exercised the functions of that office
until
1780,
when the
provincial
Grand
Lodge, declaring
itself
independent,
took the title of Grand
Lodge
of Swe-
den,
and the
king designated
his
brother,
the Duke of
Sudermanie,
to
replace
him as Grand Master.
The
importers
of the
system
of Strict Observance into
Sweden of whom
history
has not
preserved
the names
deposited
in the archives of the Grand
Chapter
of the
sys-
tem,
at
Stockholm,
many
documents
which,
according
to
them,
were of the
highest importance
to the order of the
Templars,
and
among
which
they
exhibited a
will,
in the
Latin
language,
which
they
said was the last will and tes-
tament of
Jaques
de
Molay,
the last Grand Master
;
as also
an
urn,
said to contain his
ashes, collected,
according
to
the same
authority, by
his
nephew,
the Count of
Beaujeu.
These statements
engaged
the attention of the Duke of
Brunswick,
who had been nominated at this time Grand
Master of the
system,
and he
repaired
to Sweden to exam-
ine the
documents;
but the result
proved satisfactory
in
but a
very trifling degree.
The
King
Gustavus had in the
beginning
favored the
establishment of the
system
of the
Templars,
and in some
degree discouraged
the
lodges practicing
the
English
rite;
but, having immediately
discovered the secret
plans
which
lay
hidden under the
system
of Strict
Observance,
he mis
trusted its
tendency
;
and it is to this fact thanks to the
efforts of the
independent
Masonic
lodges
located in the
country
that he afterward
successfully
confounded the
projects
of the
Jesuits,
and liberated himself from the tu-
telage
under which he was held
by
them. Assassinated
the 27tli
March, 1792,
his son succeeded
him,
under the
title of Gustavus
IV,
and was
initiated, though yet
a mi-
nor,
into
Masonry upon
the 22d March of the
year
follow-
ing,
after he had renounced his
right
to the throne. His
uncle,
the Duke of
Sudermanie,
already
Grand Master of
Swedish
Freemasonry
since
1780,
succeeded
him,
under
the title of Charles
XIII,
and exercised the Grand Master-
ship
until
1811,
when he
delegated
the office to Prince
Charles Jean Bernadotte.
In Sweden the endeavor
was,
as it also was in
Germany,
to discover the truth in relation to the
system
of the Tem-
plars,
of which the chiefs had been
expelled
from the lat-
ter
country.
These researches
wrought
in the
system
some
modifications,
which were
due,
in
great part,
to one
of the most eminent Masons of the time the brother
Swedenborg
intimate councilor of the
king,
who had
introduced
religious principles, impressed
with his own
mystical creed,
and
which,
in
consequence,
has
imprinted
upon
Swedish
Masonry
a
particular character,
which dis-
tinguishes
it to the
present day.
Beside the
Templar system
thus
transformed,
Zinneu-
dorf,
surgeon-iu-chief
of the Swedish
army
at
Berlin,
and
Grand Prior of the
system
of the
Templars, having
aban-
doned the chiefs of the rite after he had
exposed
their
jug-
gleries,
established,
in
Sweden,
a rite of seven
degrees,
which bears his
name, founded,
in
part, upon
the same
religious principles,
but less
mystical
than those of Swe-
denborg.
It is this rite that now is found to
predominate,
and is known in
Europe
as the Swedish
Rite,
or Rite of
Zinnendorf.
The
protection
of the
king,
and the official
recognition
of
Masonry by
the
government,
in
1794,
has
given
to the
institution in Sweden an
importance
which it does not
possess
elsewhere. On the 27th
May,
1811,
King
Charles
XIII founded an order
exclusively
for meritorious Free-
masons,
of which the
insignia
is
publicly worn,
and thus
FREEMASONRY IN SWEDEN.
113
proved
his
respect
for the institution. The foundation
of
this
order,
created from a noble sentiment that
greatly
honored the
king,
is, nevertheless,
in contradiction to the
spirit
of
Freemasonry,
and in
opposition
with its
princi-
ples.
The same
day
this order was
established,
the
king
announced as his successor the brother
Bernadotte,
Prince
of
Ponte-Corvo,
and the announcement was sanctioned
by
the
government,
and he was
proclaimed
at the same time
Grand Master of Swedish
Masonry.
Since
coming
to the
throne,
in
1818,
the new
king delegated
the Grand Mas-
tership
to his son
Oscar,
Duke of
Sudermanie,
subsequently
Charles John
XIV,
who directs in
person,
as the actual
king, (Charles XV,)
the Masonic labors of the Grand
Lodge.
The Grand
Lodge
of Sweden has under its
juris-
diction three
provincial
Grand
Lodges,
with
twenty-four
operative lodges.
The
reigning king
is Grand Master in
his own
right.
RUSSIA.
IT was the Grand
Lodge
of London that established the
first
lodge
at
Moscow,
in
1731,
under the
reign
of the
Empress
Anna
Ivanowa, and,
for the
purpose
of constitut-
ing
others in the
country, patented
John
Phillips,
Provin-
cial Grand Master.
Freemasonry
made but little
progress
in
Russia,
and it was not until the
year
1771 that the
first
lodge
was
organized
at St.
Petersburg.
In
1772,
the
Grand
Lodge
of London delivered to John
Yelaguine,
a
Senator and
Privy
Councilor,
a
patent constituting
him
Provincial Grand Master for Russia
; and,
after his
death,
he was succeeded
by
the Count Roman "Woronsow. At
this time the
lodges
increased to a
greater
extent in St.
Petersburg
than in
any
other
portion
of the
empire,
the
membership belonging
in
great part
to the
nobility.
Un-
der the
reign
of Catherine
II,
it would have been difficult to
find in St.
Petersburg
a noble who was not a Freemason.
8
It is true that the
Empress
often manifested some
chagrin
when,
often
finding
but a
single
chamberlain in attendance
upon
her,
she
inquired
for such and such a one whom she
missed,
and was told that he had
gone
to the
lodge
; but,
nevertheless,
she was well
enough disposed
toward the
fraternity
to have her
son,
Paul
I,
initiated
immediately
upon
his
becoming
of
age.
The
high degrees,
and,
above
all,
those of the
system
Strict
Observance,
had
invaded,
about the
year
1775,
Rus-
sian
Masonry,
and in which it lacked
nothing
of
creating
the same disorders it
every-where
caused
;
for
many
of the
lodges, professing only
the
English
Rite,
had no desire to
accept
this
Templar parody,
which was
principally
the
cause of the interdiction of
Freemasonry
in 1798.
The
system
of Strict
Observance,
under the
patronage
and Grand
Mastership
of* the Duke of
Brunswick,
had
organized
at St.
Petersburg
a
power,
under the title of
Grand
Lodge
of the Order of
Vladimir,
which
pretended
to direct all the
lodges
of
Russia,
and thus came in conflict
with a
great many operative lodges
which
practiced only
the
English
Rite.
In few countries did
Masonry
rise to the
splendor
it at-
tained under Catharine
II,
for the Masonic
temples
at St.
Petersburg
were indeed
palaces. Many
beneficial estab-
lishments were also founded
by
her directions and under
her
patronage.
During
the
sojourn
of the
King
of
Sweden,
Gustavus
III,
at St.
Petersburg,
who,
in his own
country,
was Grand
Master of the
Templar lodges,
or
lodges
of the
system
of
Strict
Observance,
the
lodges
of this
system gave
him the
most
superb
feasts,
at which he assisted with his whole
suite,
composed entirely
of Freemasons.
Notwithstanding
these brilliant
appearances,
the true
Freemasonry,
so far from
making corresponding progress
in
Russia, had,
on the
contrary, degenerated
to such a
point
that the
Empress
Catharine not
only openly
ex-
FREEMASONRY IN RUSSIA.
115
pressed
her discontent thereat to the
gentlemen
of her
court,
in
respect
to the abuses which were
being
intro-
duced,
but
published
a
pamphlet very
severe in its strict-
ures
against
Freemasons. This
pamphlet
has been trans-
lated into French and German.
Such was the situation of
Masonry
in Russia
upon
the
accession of Paul I to the
throne,
in 1796.
Although
he
had been
initiated,
this
prince
had allowed himself to be
prevailed upon by intriguants,
who obtained of him an
interdiction,
under the most severe
penalties,
of Masonic
assemblies,
as well as those of all other secret societies.
Subsequently, regarding
the Order of
Knights
of the Tem-
ple
as the true
possessors
of Masonic
science,
he desired
to re-establish that
Order, and,
in
fact,
in the
object
of
hastening
this
pretended regeneration
of
Masonry,
he
had,
the 16th of
December, 1798,
taken the title of Grand
Master of the Order of
Malta,
as a means of more effect-
ually accomplishing
his
purpose; afterward, however,
he
renounced the
project,
which
was,
in
fact,
otherwise im-
practicable.
To Paul
I,
assassinated the 23d of
March, 1801,
suc-
ceeded Alexander I. At first he confirmed the interdiction
pronounced by
his
predecessor against Freemasonry; but,
in
1803,
consequent upon
a circumstantial
report
which he
ordered to be made
upon
the
object
and
principles
of Free-
masonry,
he revoked it. and was himself initiated. We
have been unable to ascertain the exact date of this cere-
mony,
the
place,
or the
lodge
in which it took
place,
nor
do we know that he ever took
any part
in the labors of
the
Fraternity.
On the
contrary, although
he never re-
stricted in
any way
its
existence,
he
always
exhibited a
certain
degree
of mistrust in the institution.
The Grand
Lodge
of
Vladimir, which,
with the
opera-
tive
lodges
under its
jurisdiction,
were
suspended by
the
interdiction
pronounced by
Paul
I,
after 1803 awoke to
renewed
activity.
From that time the
struggle
recom-
menced. The
lodges
of the
English system
established a
new Masonic code for all the
lodges
of
Russia;
but not
wishing
to
recognize
certain
privileges
that the Grand
Lodge
Vladimir
revindicated,
and to withdraw forevei
from the
systematic
domination of
it,
they founded,
in
1815,
another Grand
Lodge,
under the title of
"Astrca,"
of which the rules and
regulations
were
approved by
the
government,
and which from that time directed all the
lodges
of Russia.
Though Freemasonry
had not
greatly extended,
it
ap-
pears
that it afforded some
unquiet
to the
Emperor
Alex-
ander
; for, by
a
ukase,
dated the 21st of
August,
1821,
he
interdicted anew all Masonic assemblies
; and,
in the auto-
graph rescript
that he addressed to his minister
charged
with the execution of this
ukase,
he based its
promulga-
tion
upon
the assertion that the
lodges occupied
themselves
with the discussion of
political subjects.
None of the successors of
Alexander,
who died in
1825,
having
revoked this
prohibition, Masonry
remains in Rus-
sia under the ban of this interdiction.
POLAND.
IN
consequence
of the
political
troubles which have con-
stantly agitated
it,
Freemasonry
has never attained a
per-
manent
position
in this
country.
In
1839,
some
nobles,
resident at the court of
King
Frederick
I,
established a
lodge
at
Varsovia,
which was
shortly
dissolved
by
the bull of Clement
XII; but,
not-
withstanding
this
prohibition,
the Count Stanislaus Mnis-
zek,
Andrew
Mocranowski,
and Constantine Jablonowski
founded,
at
Viennavitz,
in
Wolhania,
a
lodge,
in which
men the most eminent for their virtue and
patriotism
came from all
parts
of Poland to be initiated. In
1744,
a
French
lodge
was
organized
at
Lemberg, by
a man named
FREEMASONRY IN POLAND.
117
Francis
Longchamps,
the labors of which were
subse-
quently
directed
by
another
Frenchman,
named
Colonel
Jean de Thoux de Salverte. After
many vicissitudes,
there was
organized,
at
Varsovia,
on the 24th
June, 1769,
under the
reign
of Stanislaus
Augustus
who
protected
Masonry
a Grand
Lodge
of
Poland,
of which the Count
Augustus Moszynski
was nominated Grand Master. This
Grand
Lodge organized operative lodges
at
Cracovia,
Wilna,
and
Lemberg;
but,
after the first division of Po-
land,
their labors were
interrupted.
The
system
of Strict Observance
here,
as
elsewhere,
soon
appeared,
and
established,
at
Varsovia,
a
Directory,
under the
authority
of the Duke of Brunswick.
Many
French
lodges
were also established at
Varsovia, and,
among
others
by
the Grand Orient of France the
lodge
"Perfect
Silence," which,
aspiring
to the title of Grand
Lodge, sought
to win to its direction
operative lodges;
afterward,
by
virtue of a
patent
delivered to it
by
the
Grand Orient of
France,
and dated 14th
May,
1781,
it
proclaimed
itself Mother
Lodge,
or Grand
Lodge
of Po-
land. But it failed in its
project,
as did
many others,
which
obtained,
for this
purpose,
from the Grand
Lodges
of
England
and
Germany, patents, constituting
them
legal
powers,
for which the
necessity
was
recognized. Finally,
thirteen
lodges united, and,
on the 26th
February, 1764,
constituted
definitely
a Grand Orient of
Poland, by
vir-
tue of a
patent
delivered to them
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
England.
This
Lodge
was installed on the 4th of the
following March,
and chose for its Grand Master the
Count Felix Potoski. Its existence was of short dura-
tion
; for,
after the second
partition
of Poland which
took
place
in 1784 this Grand
Lodge, together
with all
the
operative lodges
under its
jurisdiction, suspended op-
erations.
The
Lodges
which were
subsequently
established in the
Grand
Duchy
of Poland were then
organized,
under the
Grand
Lodges
located at Berlin.
Finally,
on the 22d
March, 1810,
the Grand Orient of Poland awoke and took
charge
of the
lodges
in the
country.
The
political
events
of 1813 but
slightly
modified their
condition,
and but mo-
mentarily interrupted
their
labors; and,
in
1818,
we find
the Grand Orient of Poland
directing
the labors of
thirty-
four
operative lodges.
The ukase of the
Emperor
Alex-
ander, however,
struck with death the
lodges
of
Poland,
in common with those of
Russia,
and since that time
(12th
August, 1822,)
all Masonic labors have ceased in Poland.
The heroic
courage
with which our Polish brethren
fought
for their
liberty
and their
nationality, against
a
despotism
the most
arbitrary
and
revolting
that
any power
calling
itself Christian ever exercised
against
a civilized
people,
has
acquired
for them the
sympathy
and admira-
tion of the Freemasons of the whole world.
BELGIUM.
THE
history
of
Freemasonry
in
Belgium
is divided into
many periods
: that
during
which
Belgium
was
part
of the
low
country
of
Austria;
that
during
which it was incor-
porated
in the
Empire
of
France;
that of its re-union
with Holland
; and,
finally,
the
period
since the
independ-
ence of
Belgium
was established. This was the first con-
tinental
country
that received the new
Freemasonry
of
England.
The first
lodge
was instituted at
Mons,
the 4th
of
June, 1721,
under the title of "Perfect
Union," by
the
Duke of
Montague,
then Grand Master of the Grand
Lodge
of London. It was this
lodge
that was subse-
quently
erected into an
English
Grand
Lodge
for the low
countries of Austria
; but,
in
1785,
it shared the fortunes
of all other Austrian
lodges by
the edict of the
Emperor
Joseph
I.
Another
lodge
was
established,
in
1730,
at
Gand,
under
FREEMASONRY IN BELGIUM.
119
the Austrian direction. In common with other
lodges
O
organized
about the same
time,
in
consequence
of the
per-
secutions of the Catholic
clergy,
who were armed with
the bulls of excommunication launched at Freemasons
by
the
popes,
it labored in the most
profound secrecy.
The
membership
of these
lodges
were,
in most
part, composed
of the
nobility,
animated,
in a
great degree, by
the demo-
cratic tendencies of that
period,
and
seeking
to extend
the
principles
of
political liberty among
the
people.
The
most zealous
patriots
were to be found at the head of the
lodges many
of the
clergy
themselves,
who then were
liberal,
exhibiting
a
strong partisan
trait for
Masonry.
To such a
degree
was this
feeling expressed,
that even the
Bishop
of
Liege,
and
many
of his
ecclesiastics, were in-
itiated into and directed the labors of the
lodges.
The
Duke of
Aremberg,
the Duke of
Ursel,
the
princes
of
Ligue
and of
Gavre,
all took a
very
active
part
in the labors of
Masonry.
At one time fifteen
lodges
were in
operation
;
but, unhappily,
the
political
manifestations of the
popula-
tion of the low countries of Austria
caused,
in
1785 and
in
1786,
the
Emperor Joseph
I to interdict Masonic assem-
blies,
though
elsewhere in
Brussels,
for instance he
per-
mitted the
lodges
to continue their labors. In
1787,
how-
ever,
he
ordered,
by
a new
edict,
that all the
lodges
in the
empire,
without
exception,
be
closed,
under the most se-
vere
penalties,
When
Belgium
was
incorporated
into the French Em-
pire,
the
Belgian lodges
w^hich at that
time,
in conse-
quence
of the edict of
1787,
were in a state of
suspended
animation were ordered to
place
themselves under the
jurisdiction
of the Grand Orient of France
; and,
from that
time,
Masonry
in
Belgium
became an
integral part
of that
of
France,
which there
organized
some
twenty-two lodges.
In
1814,
there were in
Belgium,
in active
operation,
twenty-seven lodges,
which,
after the re-union of
Belgium
with
Holland,
for three
years vainly
endeavored to erect
a central
authority
at Brussels.
Finally,
Prince Freder-
ick,
of the Low
Countries,
second son of the
king who,
after the enfranchisement of
Holland,
had therein consti-
tuted a new Grand Orient
proposed
to the
Belgian lodges
the creation of two
independent
Grand
Lodges,
which
should direct all the
operative lodges,
each
having
its own
administration and
particular jurisdiction
: the one to be
located at the
Hague,
to exercise
jurisdiction
over all the
northern
lodges
and those of the East Indies
;
the other
having
its seat at
Brussels,
to direct the southern
lodges
and those of the West Indies the Grand Orient of Hol-
land,
thus divided into three
sections,
to form a
Supreme
Council,
whose
object
would be to take
cognizance
of all
the
great principles affecting Freemasonry
in
general,
etc.
This
treaty
of union was concluded in
1817,
and the
installation of the Provincial Grand
Lodge
at Brussels took
place
on the llth
April, 1818,
at which time Prince Fred-
erick was elected Grand Master of the. three
independent
Grand
Lodges,
and
named,
as his
representatives,
Brother
Falk,
Minister of
State,
for the Provincial Grand
Lodge
of
the
Hague,
and the Prince of Gavre for that of Brussels.
From this time the
history
of
Belgian Freemasonry
is
confounded with that of
Freemasonry
in Holland. We
will
only
add that from 1817 to
1832,
s'trenuous
attempts
were made to establish in
Belgium, particularly
at Brus-
sels,
the different
systems
of
high degrees.
The
separation
of
Belgium
from Holland which took
place
in 1831 modified anew the condition of
Masonry
in the former
countiy.
The
provincial
Grand
Lodge
of
Brussels
becoming, by
the
separation,
isolated from the
Grand Orient of
Holland,
invited,
by
a
circular,
dated the
16th of
December, 1832,
all the
lodges
of the new
king-
dom to
recognize
it as an
independent authority,
to unite
under its
recognition,
and to send
up
their
delegates
to a
general assembly
convoked for the 25th of
February,
1833.
Only
four
lodges, however,
were
represented
;
but the dele-
FREEMASONRY IN BELGIUM.
121
gates
present,
nevertheless,
decided to declare the
provin-
cial
Grand
Lodge
of the Low Countries
dissolved,
and to
constitute
in its
place
a Grand Orient of
Belgium.
This
ne\v
authority, placed
under the
protection
of the
king,
Leopold
I himself a Freemason succeeded in
uniting
under its
jurisdiction,
but not without
difficulty,
all the
lodges
of
Belgium except
four,
which were then declared
irregular.
On the 1st
May, 1835,
the Baron of Stassart
was nominated Grand Master.
The
flourishing
condition of
Masonry,
and the influence
that its members were
exercising
over all classes of
society,
provoked
the hate of the Catholic
clergy,
who recom-
menced their
persecutions;
and the
Bishop
of
Malines,
in
1837,
published
a sentence of excommunication a
strange
proceeding
in our
day against
all the
Belgian
Freemasons.
The
struggle
became more and more
lively,
and the Cath-
olic
party,
of whom the "Journal of
Belgium"
is the or-
gan, surpassed
the
part
it took in the revolution of
1830,
in its
pretentious
to rule the
country,
and exhibit the in-
tolerance that elsewhere and
always
is exhibited in seasons
of
triumph by
this
party.
The Masonic
lodges, pursued,
excommunicated,
tor-
mented,
in their material interests and social
position,
al-
most
up
to the
family
hearth-stones,
by
their
implacable
enemies,
who
sought
to drive to destitution the President
of the Senate and the Governor of Brussels
himself,
be-
cause of their adherence to
Freemasonry, though
the
king
himself was known to be a member of the
institution,
were constrained to take an
attitude,
through
their Grand
Orient,
which was no less an exhibition of
dignity
and
moderation than it was of
strength. They opposed
uni
versa!
liberty
to universal
Romanism,
free
publications
and
loyal
to
anathemas,
and the
preaching
of the eternal truth
of their faith to the intolerance of a theocratic ambition.
By
this course the Freemasons
finally
triumphed.
To
brother,
the Baron of
Stassart,
who abdicated in
1841,
succeeded Brother
Defacqz
d'Ath,
Counselor to the Court
of
Appeals,
and to him
succeeded,
in
1854,
the brother
Theo.
Verhregen,
Advocate and President of the Chamber
of
Representatives.
The new Grand
Master,
seeing
the institution over
which he was called to
preside
the constant
object
of the
attacks of obscure
politicians,
backed
by
the
clergy,
in-
sisted,
in a discourse
pronounced upon
St. John's
day,
1854,
and which reflected the
profound
convictions and
eminent talents of the
distinguished speaker,
that there
existed an absolute
necessity
for
Freemasonry
to
oppose
itself more and more
energetically
to the
antagonistic
party,
and discuss within its
lodges
such
religious
and
po-
litical
questions
as affected the condition of the
country;
and,
for this
purpose,
that the
regulations
of the Grand
Orient be so amended as to
repeal
the laws
forbidding
such discussion to take
place
within the
lodges.
His ad-
vice was
approved by
all the brethren who assisted at the
feast,
and
they
decided to
publish
his discourse. This
declaration,
consequently, being printed
and
promulgated,
provoked
the
protest
of a
portion
of the Grand
Lodges
of
Germany,
and also that of
Sweden,
who not
only
ceased,
in
consequence
of this
manifestation,
all connection
with the Grand Orient of
Belgium,
but even
prohibited
their
operative lodges
from
receiving Belgian
Masons.
This movement was attended
by
another
deplorable
consequence.
The chiefs of the
Supreme
Council of the
Scottish
(33d)
Rite,
located at Brussels a rival
authority
of the Grand Orient and some
lodges
under the
jurisdic-
tion of the latter
body, protested against
the new inter-
pretation
of the
principles
and the
rights
of
Freemasons,
as inculcated
by
the Grand Master
Verhsegan,
and made
it the occasion of their
passing
over to the
jurisdiction
of
the
Supreme
Council. This factionist condition has re-
mained
nearly
the same
up
to the
present
time.
The statutes of the Grand
Orient,
promulgated
the 19th
FREEMASONRY IN
HOLLAND. 123
of
January,
1838,
contained but fifteen
articles,
and
made
no mention of
any
other
style
of
Masonry except
that of
the three
symbolic degrees.
Each
lodge
of the union ia
represented by
three
delegates,
who in
general
assemblies
exercise
the
legislative power.
The Grand Orient of Bel-
gium
exercises
jurisdiction
over
sixty operative lodges
while the
Supreme
Council of the Scottish
(33d)
Rite,
which was instituted the 1st of
March, 1817,
and had for
a
long
time a
precarious existence,
now counts thirteen
lodges
within its
jurisdiction.
These two authorities hold
their
meetings
in the same
city,
Brussels.
HOLLAND.
THIS
country
was for a
long
time
preserved
from the in-
novations due to
intriguing politicians
and other
schemers,
who
every-where
have
provoked deplorable
schisms in the
Masonic
ranks;
nevertheless it
finally
had to submit to
the
consequences
of
allowing
the
English
Rite,
which
wag
for
years
the
only
one
known,
to be encroached
upon by
those anti-masonic
productions
which have denaturalized
our beautiful
institution,
and
which,
in
place
of
hastening
us forward to the
goal
of its
ideal,
have but advanced that
goal
farther from us.
A
lodge
was founded at the
Hague,
in
1725, composed
of the elite of Dutch
society;
but the
clergy,
ever hostile
to
Freemasons,
not
having permitted
it to be
openly
con-
stituted,
its labors
during many years
were conducted in
the most
profound secrecy;
and it was not until
1731,
when Lord
Stanhope,
Duke of
Chesterfield,
was
English
embassador at the court of
William,
Prince of
Orange,
that it was
officially
constituted. This
lodge
owed its ex-
istence to Brother Vincent de la
Chappela,
who had been
authorized for the
purpose
of
organizing
it
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
England.
It was
by
it that the
Emperor
Francis
I,
then Duke of
Lorraine,
was initiated.
In
1834,
many lodges
united in a
general assembly
for
the
purpose
of
regularly organizing Freemasonry
in Hol-
land,
by constituting
a
provincial
Grand
Lodge.
This
Grand
Lodge,
of which the Count of
Wagenaer
was
pro-
posed
as
provincial
Grand
Master,
after
having
been
regu-
larly patented by
the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
was inau-
gurated
in
1735,
in an
assembly
held at the hotel of
Niewe-Doelen,
under the
presidency
of the
titulary pro-
vincial Grand
Master,
Brother John Cornelius Radema-
cher. It took the title "Grand Masters'
Lodge
of Gen-
eral
Appeal
for the United Provinces
;" and,
in
1749,
it
took the name of
"
Mother
Lodge
of the
Royal
Union."
Another
lodge,
founded in
1734 at the
Hague,
and com
posed'
of eminent
men, announced,
in the
public newspa-
pers
of the 24th
October, 1735,
a Masonic
assembly
which
would be
presided
over
by
the new
provincial
Grand
Master Rademacher
;
but the
magistracy
of the
Hague,
on the 30th of the
following
November,
issued an ordi-
nance
interdicting
all such assemblies.
Notwithstanding
this
prohibition,
a
lodge
of Amster-
dam,
which numbered
among
its members the most em-
inent men in the
city,
dared to continue its labors. The
Catholic
clergy, by
the aid of calumnious
reports,
suc-
ceeded in
stirring up
the
ignorant
class of the
people
against
it;
and its
place
of
meeting being
invaded
by
a
crowd of those
fanatics, they
burned the
property
of the
lodge
and exhibited otherwise a
disposition, upon any
re-
sistance
being
offered,
to
proceed
to the most violent
measures. The
general government,
with the
object
of
preventing
a recurrence of such
action,
intervened and
prohibited
Masonic assemblies. One
lodge, having,
in de-
fiance of this
prohibition,
continued to
meet,
it was sur-
rounded, by
the order of the
magistrac}
7
,
and its mem-
bers
captured
and
imprisoned.
The master of the
lodge
and his
officers,
when
brought
before the
court, explained
FREEMASONRY IN HOLLAND.
125
so
clearly
the
object
and
principles
of the
institution,
that
they
were
immediately
set at
liberty,
and all the
judges
of the tribunal solicited the honor of
being
initiated.
Since
that
time,
a
great many lodges
have been established
in the
country
; but,
in
1746,
new
persecutions,
on the
part
of the Catholic
clergy,
forced the
lodges
of the
Hague, Nimegue,
and Amsterdam to demand the inter-
vention of the
general government,
which
obliged
the
clergy
to retract their calumnies.
The Holland
lodges
which held their
constitutions,
some from the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
and others from
those of
Germany
and France existed isolated from and
independent
of the
provincial
Grand
Lodge
created in
1735.
With the
object
of a more intimate
union,
the
lodge styled "Royal
Union" convoked a
general
assem-
bly,
which was
attended,
on the 27th
December, 1756,
by
representatives
from thirteen
lodges,
and then and there
organized,
under the
patronage
of the Grand
Lodge
of
London,
a Grand
Lodge
for the United
Provinces,
of
which the Baron Van Aersen
Beyeren
was nominated
provincial
Grand Master.
This Grand
Lodge proclaimed,
the
following year,
its
general
statutes in
forty-one
articles. In 1770 it declared
itself
independent; and, by
virtue of an
agreement
with
the Grand
Lodge
of
London,
it took the title of Grand
Lodge
of
Holland,
and notified all the Grand
Lodges
of
Europe
of the fact. It at once
organized
a
provincial
Grand
Lodge,
at
Brussels,
for the low countries of Aus-
tria,
and nominated the
Marquis
of
Gages provincial
Grand
Master;
but this
lodge
was
obliged,
in
1789,
in
consequence
of the edict of the
Emperor Joseph I,
to
suspend
active
operations.
After the removal of this in-
terdiction,
in
1798,
the Grand
Lodge
of Holland
decreed,
on the 17th
May
of that
year,
a new administrative
code,
according
to which it ruled
only
the three
symbolic
de-
grees,
and intrusted a
special ch.ipter,
directed
by
the
Grand
Master,
Baron Van
Teylingen,
with the conference
of the other
degrees
of its rite.
In
1810, by
the aid of the
subscriptions
made
up by
the
Holland
lodges,
an
asylum
for the blind was instituted at
Amsterdam.
After the union of Holland with the French
Empire,
in
1811,
the existence of the Grand Orient of Holland
was attacked and
compromised, by
the Grand Orient of
France
assuming
to extend its
authority
over all the Ma-
sons and all the Masonic institutions of Holland. To the
decree
published by
it on the 3d
March, 1812,
the Grand
Orient of Holland
responded,
on the 21st of the same
month,
in a manner so
dignified
that the Grand Orient
of France renounced its
project
of
assumption,
and the
Grand Orient of Holland continued its
jursdiction
as be-
fore,
save that the nine
operative lodges,
instituted
by
the
Grand Orient of France at- Amsterdam and the
Hague,
remained,
from 1812 to
1814,
under the
jurisdiction
of
the latter.
At the time of the events of
1814,
which
changed
anew
the
position
of
Freemasonry
in
Holland,
the Grand Orient
had under its
jurisdiction,
in Holland and the two
Indies,
seventy-one operative lodges.
The direction of the
lodges
having
been offered to
it,
the Grand
Orient
proposed,
in
1814,
a
treaty
of union
among
all the
northern and southern
lodges
of the Low
Countries,
for
the
purpose
of
organizing
a Grand
Lodge
for that
king-
dom,
with the Provincial Grand
Lodges,
1
of which the one
should be located at the
Hague,
and
comprising
within its
jurisdiction
all the northern
lodges, together
with those
iu the East
Indies;
and the other should be located at
Brussels,
to take
charge
of all the southern
lodges
of the
kingdom, together
with those of the West Indies. Of the
latter,
Prince Frederick was elected Grand
Master,
and
'See
Masonry
in
Belgium,
ante.
FREEMASONRY IN HOLLAND.
127
the Minister of
State,
Brother
Falk,
Grand Master of the
former.
In
1819,
Prince Frederick sent to all the
lodges
of Eu-
rope copies
of two documents found in the
papers
of the
defunct Grand Master Boetzelaar. The first of these docu-
ments is a
species
of
charter,
1
dated at
Cologne,
the 24th
of
June, 1535,
and
signed by
nineteen
persons, bearing
illustrious
names,
and who therein are
presented
as dele-
gates
from nineteen Masonic
lodges
of different countries
in
Europe.
The second is the record-book of the
meetings
of a
lodge
which,
according
to
it,
should have existed at
the
Hague
in
1637,
and whose date of
organization
is 8th
May,
1519. These
documents,
particularly
the
charter,
have been submitted to the examination of learned Free-
masons,
some of whom have
pronounced
them
authentic,
while others have decided that both documents have been
produced
for some
purpose
best known to the manufactur-
ers. The latter decision seems to be best
supported.
The
lodges
under the
jurisdiction
of the Grand Orient
numbered,
in
1820,
one hundred and
five,
of which
forty-five
in
Holland,
and fourteen in the
East
Indies,
were borne
upon
the
register
of the Grand
Lodge
of the northern
provinces
at the
Hague
;
and
thirty-
two in
Holland,
and fourteen in the West Indian
colonies,
on that of the Grand
Lodge
of the southern
provinces
at Brussels. The number of
operative lodges organized
from that time to 1829
augmented
the
foregoing by thirty-
one
lodges,
thus
making
the total number one hundred
and
thirty-six.
The events of 1830
changed
anew the Masonic
organ-
ization in
Holland,
placing
it as we found it in
1818;
and
the Grand Orient of Holland took under its direction the
lodges
of the new Dutch
territory
and the Dutch colonies
in the two Indies. As in the
past,
it continues to fill with
dignity,
under its noble
chief,
Prince Frederick William
*See General
History
of
Freemasonry, p.
51.
Charles,
the
position
that it
occupies
as one of the most
ancient
departments
of
Freemasonry
in
Europe.
The Grand Orient of Holland at
present
directs,
in
all,
the labors of
sixty-seven operative lodges,
of which about
twenty
are in the East and West Indies.
GERMANY.
must
give
the
history
of
Freemasonry
in this vast
country,
which contains an
empire,
five
kingdoms,
and
twenty-one principalities,
in a manner more succinct than
that of
any
other of the States of
Europe.
We will com-
mence, therefore,
by speaking
of that
city
which,
of all
others in
Germany,
was the first in which
Freemasonry
took root.
Hamburg.
On the 3d of
December, 1737,
the first Ma-
eonic
lodge
in
Germany,
under the
English dispensation,
was established in this
city.
It was named "Absalom
Lodge,"
and was
placed
under the direction of Brother
Charles
Sarey.
On the 30th of
October, 1740,
this
lodge
was
raised,
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
to the rank
of the Provincial Grand
Lodge
of
Hamburg
and Lower
Saxony,
and
having
for its Grand
Master,
Brother Lutt-
man. It was
by
a
deputation
of this
lodge
that the Prince
Frederick of
Prussia,
subsequently
Frederick
II,
was in-
itiated,
in
1738,
at Brunswick a circumstance that has
contributed much to the
propagation
of
Freemasonry
in
Germany.
From
Hamburg, Freemasonry passed,
in
1738,
to
Dresden;
in
1740,
to
Berlin;
in
1741,
to
Leipsic;
in
1744,
to
Brunswick,
and in
1746,
to Hanover. The Pro-
vincial Grand
Lodge
established
up
to 1795 but five
lodges,
and in that
year
these united in
founding
a
hospital
for
house
servants, and,
subsequently,
created a fund for the re-
lief of
foreign
brethren who
might require
it. This Grand
Lodge
had extended its
jurisdiction,
in
1807,
over sixteen
lodges,
all
working
the
English
Kite and
remaining
faith-
FREEMASONRY IN GERMANY.
129
ful to its mother
lodge
of London. In this
respect
it
shone as a
bright example
of
fidelity
in
comparison
to
other Provincial Grand
Lodges,
which,
although
estab-
lished under like circumstances and
by
the same
authority,
generally
took the first favorable
opportunity
to become
independent
of the
authority
that created them. It was
uot until the
year
1811 that the Provincial Grand
Lodge
of
Hamburg
decided to assert its
independence. To-day
it directs a Provincial Grand
Lodge
and
twenty-one oper-
ative
lodges,
all
practicing
the
English
Rite,
together
with
a
chapter,
created
by
Shrceder,
who
was,
during many
years,
its Grand Master.
Prussia. The
"Lodge
at the Three
Globes,"
in
Berlin,
composed
of French
artists,
was constituted on the 23d of
September,
1740. This was the first
lodge
established at
that time. On the 24th of
June, 1744,
Prince Frederick
elevated it to the rank of a Grand
Lodge,
under the title
of
"Royal
Grand Mother
Lodge."
He
was,
as a natural
consequence,
elected Grand
Master,
and filled the office
as such until
1747,
from which date he ceased to take
any
part
in Masonic labors.
This mother
lodge
suffered itself to be from an
early
period
invaded
by
the
high degrees
of the rite of
"
Per-
fection,"
as also
by
those of the rite
"
Strict Observance."
In
1773,
desiring
to
organize
a
lodge
whose
membership
would be
composed entirely
of the
nobility,
it
requested
permission
to do so from the
king,
Frederick
II,
but was
refused. Such an institution could no better
carry
out the
object
of
Masonry
than those which were
charged
with
the
propagation
of its doctrines.
Although,
like
Hamburg,
some
parts
of
Germany
had
received
Masonry
direct from
England,
and the
lodges
thus constituted worked the
English
Rite,
others had re-
ceived it
by
the intermediation of France. The institu-
tion soon extended in a most
extraordinary
manner. The
9
lodges there,
finding
themselves
composed,
in
great part,
of the
nobility
and men devoted to art and the
sciences,
having
a weakness for the French
language, many
of them
conducted their labors in that
language,
and,
for the most
part,
even took French names. This
tendency
favored
the introduction into the German
lodges
of the
high
de-
grees
which the officers of the
army
of
Broglie
had im-
ported
from
France;
and it is from this
period
these innu-
merable follies which culminated in the introduction of the
Templar system may
be dated. It was not until after the
Congress
of Wilhclmsbad that these disorders ceased. The
discussions which took
place
in that
assembly
broke the
chains of the
Templar hierarchy,
believed to be so
firmly
riveted
by
the
Jesuits,
and relieved the
fraternity
in ail
Germany
from their drunken enthusiasm for the
systems
of
high degrees.
In no
country
had the
Templar system
been extended
so
generally
as in
Germany. Nearly
all the
lodges
had
adopted it,
under the belief that its
object
was the re-
establishment of the ancient Order of
Knights Templar.
The most elevated classes of
society
and
people
the most
honorable,
among
whom were the
greater portion
of the
nobility,
became its
partisans, notwithstanding
the doubts
which were thrown out of the
sincerity
of the assertions
of its chief officials.
Twenty-six princes
of
Germany
had
been initiated into those
degrees,
and thus became
pro-
moters more or less zealous
;
while
many
of them took
position
at the head of the
Templar
Order in their
respect-
ive States.
Since Frederick the
Great,
all his successors have been
Freemasons,
or have declared themselves in favor and the
protectors
of
Freemasonry.
Frederick William
III,
who
had been
initiated,
confirmed and
recognized
from the
throne,
in
1798,
the three Grand
Lodges
of Berlin. At
the second
Congress
of
Vienna,
in
1833,
when Austria and
Bavaria
demanded,
in terms not in
any
wise
equivocal,
the
131
extermination
of the
society
of
Freemasons,
this
king
de-
clared
that
they
were and
always
should be in his
king-
dom,
under his
protection; and, by
his warm defense of
the
institution,
he
prevented
the other
powers represented
at this
congress
from
exhibiting any leaning
towards the
project
of extermination advanced
by
the two
powers just
named.
It was
by
his desire and with his consent that the
present king,
William
I, proclaimed
himself,
during
his
life, protector
of
Masonry
in Prussia. The
latter,
without
partaking
of the favorable
opinion
of the institution en-
tertained
by
his
father,
imitated
him,
as well from
politi-
cal motives as to continue the custom consecrated
by
his
predecessors
of the
royal family,
in
consenting
that his
son,
the
prince royal
Frederick
William,
should be ini-
tiated and should
represent
Prussian
Masonry.
This ini-
tiation took
place
on the 5th of
November,
1853. The
principles
of this
prince
are known to be at
variance,
how-
ever,
with those of his father.
The three Prussian Grand
Lodges
located at Berlin
have each founded some humanitarian establishments in
favor of Freemasons and
their
families.
The Grand
Lodge
at the Three Globes has under ito
ju-
risdiction
ninety-nine operative lodges.
The National Grand
Lodge
of
Germany,
founded in
1773,
registers
under its
jurisdiction sixty-seven operative
lodges.
The
Royal
York Grand
Lodge,
founded in
1798,
regis-
ters
twenty-seven operative lodges
under its
jurisdiction.
Each of these three Grand
Ledges
has its Grand Mas-
ter and
Deputy
Grand Master. The Prince William of
Baden has
been,
since
1859,
Grand Master of the
Royal
York Grand
Lodge.
Kingdom of Saxony.
A
lodge
was established at Dres-
den,
in
1738,
by
the Count
Rotowsky,
under whose direc-
tion a Provincial Grand
Lodge
was
organized
in 1741.
This Grand
Lodge,
with the
operative lodges
under its
jurisdiction, experienced
the same
embarrassments,
by
their connection with the
high degrees,
as all the other
legislative
Masonic bodies of
Germany.
We shall
pass
them
by
without further notice.
In
1755,
this
lodge
took the title of Grand
Lodge
of
Saxony;
and,
after
having,
in
1807,
abolished all the de-
grees
above that of Master
Mason,
it
united,
in
1811,
with
the National Grand
Lodge
of
Saxony,
which then had
been established.
Under the
auspices
of the first Grand
Lodge,
there was
founded,
in
1792,
on the 22d of
September,
at Frederick-
stadt,
a
philosophic establishment,
which is directed at
the
present
time
by
the
Lodge
of the Three
Swords,
at
Dresden,
and in which two hundred children are edu-
cated.
The Grand
Lodge
of
Saxony
has at
present
under its
jurisdiction
fifteen
operative lodges.
Kingdom of
Hanover. The
capital
of this
country
ad-
mitted
Freemasonry
in
1746,
and the Grand
Lodge
of
London established
there,
in
1755,
a Provincial Grand
Lodge,
under the Grand
Mastership
of Count Kielman-
segge. Having
detached itself from the Mother Grand
Lodge,
in 1828 it declared its
independence
as a Masonic
authority,
under the Grand
Mastership
of the
reigning
king.
Its
history
is
intimately
connected with that of
German
Masonry
in
general.
The
king, George V,
on
ascending
the throne on the
18th
November, 1851,
declared himself like his
father,
who was a Freemason the
protector
of
Masonry
in Han-
over,
and was
initiated,
on the 14th of
January,
1857,
in
the
"Lodge
at the Black
Bear,"
in Hanover. From that
133
time
he has
directed,
as Grand
Master,
the
Freemasonry
of the
country,
and taken a
very
active
part
in Masonic
labors.
The Grand
Lodge
of Hanover numbers at the
present
time
upon
its
register twenty-one symbolic lodges.
Kingdom of
Bavaria. In no
country
of
Germany
has
Freemasonry
been
subjected
to as
many
restrictions and
vexations as in the
kingdom
of Bavaria. It did not
pene-
trate,
until
very lately,
into
the elder
Bavaria;
and it was
not until 1777 that the
Royal
York Grand
Lodge organ-
ized a
lodge
at Munich. But for a
long
time it has ex-
isted in
operative lodges,
located in countries
which,
in
1810,
were annexed to this
kingdom.
A
lodge
had been
organized by
Prince Frederick of
Brandenburg,
on the
21st
June, 1741,
at
Beyreuth,
the ancient
capital
of Fran-
conia,
where other
lodges
were said to have existed at
this
time,
but
concerning
which we know
nothing.
The
society
of the
Ilhiminati,
founded
by
the
professor
"Weisshaupt,
and to which was intrusted the noble task of
causing
virtue to
triumph
over
folly
and
ignorance,
and
of
carrying
instruction and civilization into all classes of
society,
had found access into some
lodges
located in the
Elder
Bavaria,
and
particularly
those of Munich
;
and
thereupon
Prince Charles
Theodore,
moved
by
the influ-
ence of the
Jesuits,
issued two
decrees,
the one dated 2d
March,
and the other 16th
August,
1785, interdicting
the
assemblies of the
Illuminati,
and also those of the Free-
masons.
Following
these
prohibitions,
which were re-
newed from at first
by
the
king,
Maximilian
Joseph,
on
the 4th
November, 1799,
and
subsequently
on the 5tt
March, 1804,
the
lodges
of Munich and of Manheim
ceased their labors.
"Within the Protestant countries annexed to Bavaria-
at
Beyreuth
and Ratisbonne the
lodges
were allowed to
continue their
labors,
but under most intolerable restric-
tions. No
employe
of the
government,
either civil or
military,
was
permitted
to attend the
meetings
of or be
initiated into them. In a
word,
these
lodges
had to con-
tend with the Jesuitical tendencies of the
government,
and were
consequently paralyzed
in their actions.
Notwithstanding
this
pressure, however,
the
lodge
at
Beyrouth
constituted,
on the 3d of
August,
1800,
as a
Provincial Grand
Lodge,
under the
jurisdiction
of the
Royal
York Grand
Lodge
at Berlin made a
stand,
under
the Grand
Mastership
of Count Giech and Brother Yoel-
dendorf,
prefect
of the
government;
and
finally,
in
1811,
it,
with four other
lodges,
created an
independent power
at
Beyrouth,
under the title of "Grand
Lodge
of the Sun."
This
authority
has at
present
under its
jurisdiction,
in the
northern
portion
of
Bavaria,
eleven
operative lodges,
while in the southern
portion,
which is
entirely
Roman
Catholic,
Freemasonry
is
completely
interdicted.
Grand
Duchy of
Baden. The most ancient
lodge
of
this
country
is the
lodge
"
Charles of
Concord,"
established
on the 24th
November, 1778,
at
Manheim, by
the
Royal
York Grand
Lodge
of Berlin. Its labors were
suspended
in
1785,
in
consequence
of the interdiction of Masonic as-
semblies in the states of the elector of
Bavaria,
in which
Manheim was at that time situate. But when this
city
was,
in
1803, incorporated
in the Grand
Duchy
of
Baden,
Freemasonry
awoke,
under the direction of the
Marquis
of
Dalberg,
and
founded,
in
1806,
a Grand Orient of Ba-
den,
of which Prince Charles of
Ysenberg
was chosen
Grand Master.
Another
power,
under the title of the "National Union
of the
Lodges,"
was, upon
the 23d of
May,
1809,
consti-
tuted at Manheim
by
tie
lodges
of
Carlsriihe,
Friburg,
Heidelberg,
etc.,
of which the
Marquis
Charles Frederick
Schilling,
of
Constadt,
was nominated
presiding
officer.
After the death of the Grand
Duke,
Charles
Frederick,
135
his
successor,
under the
pressure
of
political events,
on
the 16th
February,
1813,
and on the 7th
March,
1814,
promulgated
two
ordinances,
prohibiting
all assemblies of
secret
societies,
among
which,
of
course,
Freemasonry
stood first. After this the
lodges
remained closed for
thirty years;
and it was not until in 1845 that the
reign
ing
Grand Duke authorized anew the
assembling
of Free-
masons. The
greater part
of the old
lodges began
their
labors,
and
to-day they
are at
work,
under the
jurisdiction
of the Grand
Lodge
of
Beyrouth
and the Grand
Lodge
at the Three
Globes,
in
Berlin, respectively.
Kingdom of Wurtemberg.
In 1774 a
lodge
was insti-
tuted at
Stuttgart,
under the title of
"
Charles of the
Three
Cedars,"
which
practiced
the rite of
"
Strict Ob-
servance,"
and
having
at its head Brother
Taiibenheim,
privy
councilor
;
but it failed to sustain
itself, and,
by
a
circular,
dated the 16th
July,
1784,
it was announced that
its labors were
suspended.
It was not until the
year
1835
that we see
Freemasonry reappear
at
Stuttgart.
The late-
ness of this
reappearance
is due to the
unfriendly disposi-
tion for the institution entertained
by
the
sovereigns
who
governed Wurtemberg
since 1784.
To-day
we see
lodges
in active
operation, working
under the direction of va-
rious German Grand
Lodges.
Duchy of
Hesse-Darmstadt. The first traces of Free-
masonry
were exhibited in this
country
in
1764,
when a
lodge,
under the name of the
"
White
Pigeon,"
had been
organized by
the National Grand
Lodge
of
Germany
;
but
this
lodge disappeared immediately,
and left no
sign
of
Masonic life in.
Hesse-Darmstadt, where,
as in
many
other
portions
of
Germany,
the
reigning sovereigns
did not
have much love for the institution. It was not until the
year
1816 that it
awoke,
thanka to the
particular protec-
tion of the
landgrave
Christian of Hesse. A
lodge,
under
the title of
"
St. John the
Evangelist,"
was constituted at
Darmstadt,
on the 5th of
August
of that
year,
and in-
stalled on the 23d of the
following
October,
by
the Grand
Lodge
of the Eclectic Union at Frankfort. This
lodge
established a fund for the relief of the widows and or-
phans
of deceased brethren.
In 1846 was established at
Darmstadt,
under the title
of "The
Union,"
a Grand
Lodge,
which now numbers
upon
its
register
seven
operative lodges,
besides the
lodge
"
St. John the
Evangelist."
Hesse- Cassel.
Notwithstanding
all the members of the
ducal
family
of this
duchy
were
Freemasons,
as were also
the
ruling princes,
in this
country, Freemasonry
has never
made
any progress.
The
lodges
have never
sought
to
form a central
power,
but work in an isolated
manner,
and without
ranking
under
any jurisdiction.
When the
country
was transformed into a
kingdom,
under Jerome
Buonaparte,
in
1808,
the
lodges organized
a
legislative authority
at
Cassel,
"
Grand Orient of
Westphalia
;"
but this
organization
was
dissolved after the events of 1815. Another Masonic au-
thority
was constituted at Cassel in
1817. We have no
documents to inform us as to what occurred since that date.
Duchy of
Brunswick.
Through
the
agency
of the cham-
berlain Do
Kisselben,
who was
by
it named Provincial
Grand Master for
life,
the Provincial Grand
Lodge
of
Hamburg,
on the 12th of
February, 1844,
instituted a
lodge
at Brunswick which was called
"Jonathan,"
and at
the installation of which Prince Albert of Brunswick was
present.
After the introduction of the
Templar system
into the
lodges
of
Germany,
a number of the members of
this
lodge
refused to
recognize
it as
Masonic,
or admit
the
system
into the
lodge.
This
circumstance,
in
1765,
led to a division of the
membership
into two
factions,
FREEMASONRY IX GERMANY.
137
which,
while
they
continued to work each
independent
of the
other,
ceased not to criminate and war
upon
each
other.
A third
lodge,
named "St. Charles of
Concord,"
organized
in 1764
by
some
Frenchmen,
who worked in
the French
language,
and conferred the
high degrees
brought by
them from
France,
having, notwithstanding
the
protection
of the
reigning
duke,
been authorized
b}-
the two
dissenting lodges just
mentioned,
Duke
Charles,
to
put
an end to this strife and
disorder,
closed
up
all the
lodges,
and
subsequently
ordered their
membership
to re-
organize
into two new
lodges,
the one to work in the
French
language,
and the other in the German.
In
1770,
the Duke Ferdinand of
Brunswick,
having
been
nominated,
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
London,
Provin-
cial Grand Master for the
lodges
of the
Duchy
of Bruns-
wick,
installed the officers of these two
lodges
on the 10th
and llth of October of that
year,
in
presence
of the Duke
Charles of
Sudermanie,
brother of Gustavus
III,
King
of
Sweden;
Prince Frederick
Augustus
of Brunswick-Lune-
burg,
and General
Rhetz, Deputy
Grand Master.
As the
Templar system
lacked in
Germany
an influen-
tial
chief,
who could facilitate its
propagation
and
sup-
port
the secret
plans
of its
founders,
the emissaries of the
Jesuits
sought,
not in
vain,
to
gain
the Duke Ferdinand
to such
position.
After
having
consented to their
propo-
sition,
and
being
initiated in the Convent of Kohlo in
1772,
by
the
chapter
there assembled for that
purpose,
he was
nominated Grand Master of all the
lodges
of the
Templar
system
in
Germany.
On the 18th
January,
1773,
he es-
tablished a
Supreme Directory
of Strict Observance at
Brunswick,
and within the
very locality
of those
lodges
which his
predecessor
had closed to
prevent
them from
practicing
the rite of which he now announced himself as
chief.
Deceived, however,
as had been Gustavus III of
Sweden,
and his brother the Duke of
Sudermanie,
as to
the
origin
of the
Templar system, by
the
emissaries,
who
pretended
that the
object
of that
system
was to re-estab-
lish the Order of the
Knights Templar,
and to claim res-
titution of the
property
of that order from the
power
that
had confiscated
i%
Duke Ferdinand assembled in 1775 at
Brunswick,
and in
1778 at
Wolfenbuttel,
conventions of
Freemasons,
to ascertain the facts in this connection.
The
consequences were,
that while
many
of the emissaries
of the
Templar system
were unmasked and
imprisoned,
the
object
of the
inquiry
was no further advanced than
before., Finally,
the Duke Ferdinand
convoked,
in
1782,
a
congress
at
Wilhelmsbad,
to which were invited all the
Masonic authorities of
Europe,
in
order, first,
to ascertain
if the
Templar system
was
really
directed
by
the
Society
of
Loyola
; second,
to discuss the merits of the
system,
as
also its demerits
; and, third,
to reform
it,
to the end that
Freemasonry might
be extricated from the
political
com-
plications
into which this
system
had drawn
it,
not alone
in all
Germany,
but also in
Sweden,
Italy, Poland,
and
Russia. The discussions which took
place during
the
thirty days
this
congress
continued in
session,
while
they
led to no
positive
assurance
beyond
the fact that the Tem-
plar system
was a
totally
anti-masonic
institution,
carried
the conviction to the minds of the
majority present
that
there was no
Freemasonry beyond
that of the
English
Eite,
or the three
symbolic degrees.
The
consequences
were that all the
systems
of
high degrees
were
rejected
and cast aside as
worthless, except
the rite of Strict Ob-
servance,
which was
changed
into the
"
Refined Scottish
Rite."
The
"
Supreme Directory"
at
Brunswick,
after the death
of Duke
Ferdinand,
on the 3d
July,
1792,
returned to the
practice
of the
English
Rite,
and assumed what it claimed
as its
original
name of "St. Charles of
Concord;"
and
thereafter,
for some
time,
continued to exist isolated and
independent.
While
Westphalia
was a
kingdom
this
lodge
was in
139
danger
of
losing
its
independence,
in
consequence
of
the
Grand
Lodge
of
Westphalia,
instituted in 1808 at
Cassel,
attempting
to
register
it under its direction. But the in-
terference of the
king prevented
this
consummation,
and,
for the
purpose
of
having
some
recognized
Masonic au-
thority
to lean
upon,
it returned to its obedience to the an-
cient mother
lodge
of
Hamburg.
The llth and 12th Feb-
ruary, 1844,
were
employed by
this
lodge
"St. Charles
of Concord" in
celebrating
the centennial feast of the
itroductiou of
Freemasonry
into Brunswick.
Empire of
Austria. In all countries w
r
herein the Roman
Catholic and
apostolic clergy predominate, Freemasonry
experiences great difficulty
in
attaining
a
permanent
foot-
hold. Of this fact Austria is a
striking
illustration. All
the
lodges
constituted in the Austrian States have had but
a brief term of
existence,
the
persecutions
on the
part
of
the
clergy
and the
prohibitions
of the
sovereigns having
never
given
them time to take root.
The
Empress
Maria
Theresa,
notwithstanding
her hus-
band,
the
Emperor
Francis
I,
w
r
as a
Freemason,
inter-
dicted
Masonry,
in
1764,
within the Austrian States. It
was not until the
reign
of
Joseph
II that we find the in-
stitution
again existing
in that
country
; but,
as
before,
an
object
of
suspicion,
and under the strict
superintend-
ence of the
police.
The
system
of Strict Observance had been established
in all its
hierarchy
at
Vienna;
but some
very grave
com-
plications
caused
it,
in a short
time,
to abandon its seat.
In
1784, however,
there were established some ten
lodges
in
Vienna,
all
working
under this
system,
and which to
judge
from the
language
of a Masonic
journal
which was
there
secretly published
from 1784
to
1786,
and edited
with marked
ability
were
composed
of
worthy
men,
and
progressive
in their
principles
and
practices.
After the death of
Joseph
II in
1790,
his
successor,
Francis
II, prohibited Masonry
anew,
and used the
great-
est
severity
in
enforcing
this
prohibition,
even to demand
ing
a decision from the German
Diet,
in
1794,
then sit-
ting
at
Ratisbonne,
to interdict the institution
throughout
all
Germany.
But the
representatives
of
Prussia,
Bruns-
wick,
and Hanover
responded
to this demand
by saying,
that as he was
protector
of the
rights
and liberties of his
own
subjects, they
claimed the same
privilege
with re-
gard
to theirs.
Freemasonry penetrated
into Bohemia in
1769,
and in
1770 four
lodges
were
actively engaged
in
Prague. They
were
composed
of the most
prominent
citizens. In
1786,
a Provincial Grand
Lodge
for Bohemia was
organized;
but the interdiction of Francis II caused the total
suspen-
sion of Masonic labor in this
portion
of his
empire
; and,
since
1794,
Austria has been shut out from Masonic
light.
RECAPITULATION OF THE LODGES EXISTING IN THE SEVERAL STATES OF
GEBMANY.
Holstein ,. 1
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
2
Meiningen
1
Anhalt Dessan 2
"
Bernbourg
Reuss
(the elder)
Reuss
(the younger)
Waldeck
Lippe-Detmold
Schwartzbourg-Schwerin
2
Lubeck 2
Bremen 2
Frankfort-on-the-Main and its de-
pendencies,
with 1 G. L 10
Hamburg
and
dependencies,
1 G. L. 21
Prussia,
with 3 G. L 187
Saxony,
"
1
"
16
Hanover,
1 20
Bavaria,
1
"
10
Baden 5
Wurtemberg
6
Hesse-Darmstadt,
1 G. L 7
Hesse-Cassel
2
Luxembourg,
1 G. L 2
Mecklenburg-Schwerin
9
"
Strelitz
2
Saxe-Weimar
2
Oldenbourg
2
Nassau
1
Brunswick
3
Altenburg
1
1
Total 10 G. Ls. and 323 La.
FREEMASONRY IN SWITZERLAND.
141
SWITZERLAND.
FREEMASONRY
penetrated
into Switzerland in
1737,
when
a Provincial Grand Master of
England,
named
George
Hamilton,
founded the first
lodge
at
Geneva,
and
shortly
afterward
the second at Lausanne
;
hut in
consequence
of
its
interdiction,
in
1738,
hy
the
magistracy
of
Berne,
the
latter was dissolved. In 1740 a new
lodge
was
organized
at
Lausanne;
hut a second
prohibition hy
the
govern-
ment of
Berne,
dated the 3d
March, 1745,
closed it. It
was not until about 1764 that
lodges
were
organized
in
Lausanne and in the canton of Vaud
;
but a third
edict,
issued
by
the
government,
in
1770,
against
the
assembling
of
Freemasons, dispersed
these
lodges
also.
The Provincial Grand
Lodge
of Genera maintained it-
self with much
difficulty;
for
nearly
all the
lodges
that
it
constituted,
particularly
those in the canton of
Vaud,
were
dispersed hy
the edicts mentioned.
Having sought,
however,
to establish
lod/y
a
in the cities of German
Switzerland,
and others m
Geneva,
it seemed
necessary
that a Grand Orient of Geneva should be
established;
and,
in
1786,
this
authority
was instituted
;
hut the
French Revolution of 1789 caused it to
suspend opera-
tions. In 1796
it resumed its functions
; hut, hy
the union
of Geneva with th/
Empire
of
France,
its
operations
were
set aside
hy
the C4rand Orient of
France,
which imme-
diately
commerce!
instituting lodges
within its
jurisdic-
tion. In 1765
>
Masonry having
extended into German
Switzerland)
a
lodge
was p?tablished at
Basle,
and another
at Zurich in
1771. Both of these
lodges
were instituted
by
Lodge
of Geneva.
The
system
of Strict Observance soon found its
way
into the
valleys
of
J>,-lvetia;
and its anti-masonic distinc-
tions,
while
producvg
the same disorder there which
they
produced elsewh^v-%
culminated in
dividing
the Masons
of
Switzerland rjto two
camps.
In
1775,
the
system
of
Strict
Observance,
having organized
a Helvetian Scottish
Directory,
divided itself into two factions. The
one,
hav-
ing
its seat at
Basle,
assumed
authority
over German Swit-
zerland;
while the
other,
sitting
at
Lausanne,
and
styling
itself the Scottish
Directory
of Roman
Helvetia,
took
charge
of French Switzerland. But this last had to sub-
nit to a like fortune with all the
lodges
of the canton of
Vaud
;
and in
consequence
of the edict of the Lords of
Berne,
issued in
ISTovember, 1782,
it
suspended
its
opera-
tions. This
edict,
for the fourth
time,
prohibited
Masonic
assemblies in
every portion
of the canton. The
Directory
of Basle was not more
fortunate; for,
in
1785,
under the
stringent requirements
of an edict of the
magistrates
of
Berne,
it also had to
suspend operations. During
the
French Revolution all Masonic labors in Switzerland were
suspended; and,
in
1818,
the seat of the Scottish
Directory
of Basle was
transferred,
after the death of the Grand
Master
Burhardt,
from that
city
to Zurich.
The
Directory
of Roman Helvetia at Lausanne awoke
to renewed
activity
in 1810
;
but the
system
of Strict Ob-
servance
having
been abolished after the
congress
of Wil-
helmsbad,
it took the title of Grand Orient of
Roman
Helvetia,
on the 15th October of that
year,
and from that
v
time
governed
the
lodges
of the canton of
Vaud,
until
its
fusion,
in
1822,
with the Provincial Grand
Lodge
of
Berne,
which then became an
independent,
Grand
Lodge.
At Berne
Masonry
had been
introduced,
about the
year
1740, by
Lodge
of Geneva
; but,
in
consequence
of the interdiction of the
magistrates
of
Berne,
it had
disappeared,
and no traces of it could be
found in the canton until about
1798,
when some Bernese
officers,
in the service of
France,
established three
lodges,
styled, respectively,
"Friends of
Glory," "Foreign
Coun-
try,"
and "Discretion." The first two had but a short
existence,
and from the remains of the last was formed
the
"
Lodge
of
Hope,"
which was constituted
by
the Grand
FREEMASONRY IN SWITZERLAND.
143
Orient
of
France,
on the 14th of
September, 1803,
and
which
was then the
only lodge
in active
operation
in the
whole
Swiss Confederation.
A new era now
appeared
to dawn for
Masonry
in Switz-
erland, which,
no more
persecuted, developed
with won-
derful
rapidity,
and
lodges
were
established,
within a short
time,
in the
principal
towns of the
country;
but the w
r
ars
of the
empire
once more arrested this new
growth.
The
Lodge
of
Hope
was
composed
of eminent men of all
classes
of
society nearly
all
foreign diplomatists,
resident
at Berne as
representatives
of
foreign powers, having
be-
come members of this
lodge.
In 1812 it initiated Prince
Leopold
of
Saxe-Coburg,
since
King
of the
Belgians.
On
the 12th
July,
1818,
this
lodge applied
for a
patent
to the
Grand
Lodge
of
England
;
and on the 24th
June, 1819,
it
was installed as a Provincial Grand
Lodge
of
England, by
the brother Louis de Tavel de
Kruiningen,
who had been
elected to the
position
of Provincial Grand Master. From
that time it abandoned and discredited the
chapters
and
high degrees
of all kinds which it had received from
France,
and thenceforward
recognized nothing
as Ma-
sonic but the three
symbolic degrees.
Thenceforth the eminent brethren who directed this
authority sought
to
unite,
under one
alliance,
all the
lodges
of Switzerland.
Having
announced their desires
upon
this
subject
to the Helvetian Scottish
Directory
at
Zurich,
without
meeting any
favorable
response,
on the
24th
June, 1822,
Lodge
of Berne
concluded a
treaty
of union with the Helvetian Grand
Orient
1
at
Lausanne,
by
virtue of which both of these au-
thorities were
dissolved,
and in their
place
was instituted
a National Grand
Lodge
of
Switzerland,
to
which,
by
vir
tue of the
treaty,
the six
lodges
of the Grand Orient and
1
This Grand Orient
was,
in some
sort,
the successor of the Roman
Helvetian
Directory,
that
suspended operations
in 1782.
the three
lodges
of the Provincial Grand
Lodge yielded
obedience. In this manner but two Masonic
authorities
came to
exist,
viz : the National Grand
Lodge
of Switzer-
land,
and the Helvetian Scottish
Directory
at Zurich.
Such new
lodges
as were
subsequently
instituted
in
Switzerland took rank under the National Grand
Lodge
;
and
notwithstanding
the Zurich
Directory
had at various
times,
and
particularly
in
1830,
after the death of the
Grand Master De
Tavel,
made overtures of union to the
National Grand
Lodge,
in
consequence
of the
pretensions
to the
right
of
conferring high degrees
retained
by
the
former,
the
latter,
having
abolished such
pretension,
would
never consent to such union.
Finally,
the
feelings
which
prompted
a desire for union
were renewed in
1835, and,
at the
twenty-fifth
anniver-
sary
of the
re-opening
of the
lodge "Liberty
with
Mod-
esty,"
in
Zurich,
the Swiss
lodges
were
invited,
and the
feast took
place
on the 20th
August,
1836. It was then
agreed
that the
"Lodge
of
Hope,"
at
Berne,
should con-
voke,
in the
year
1838,
all the
lodges
of Switzerland in a
congress,
in which should be discussed the basis of a
future union. In accordance with this decision the con-
gress
met,
the basis of union was
discussed,
and the decis-
ion arrived at that a third
congress
should assemble at
Basle in
1840,
to
continue the discussion.
Subsequently,
a fourth
congress
assembled at Locle in
1842,
and
finally
a
fifth,
at which
were assembled the
representatives
of four-
teen
lodges,
who ratified the union on the 22d
June, 1844,
and established the new
Alpine
Grand
Lodge,
with the
brother Professor
Hottinger
as Grand Master.
The
place
of
meeting
of this
body
is
changed every
two
years.
Governed
by
a council of
administration,
having
the Grand Master for
president,
and
composed
of the
members united in a
general assembly,
this
authority
ex-
ercises
legislative powers.
Its
jurisdiction
extends over
twenty-seven lodges,
which form the Swiss union.
FREEMASONRY IN ITALY. 145
ITALY.
IN no
country
has
Freemasonry
been
subjected
to such
changes
of fortune as in
Italy.
It is at Florence that we
find the first traces of the institution. Introduced there
in
1729,
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
which estab-
lished
many lodges
in
Tuscany,
in 1731 we find a Pro-
vincial Grand
Lodge
instituted. But
Gaston,
the last
Grand Duke of the
family
of the
Medici,
in
1737 inter-
dicted all Masonic
meetings,
and not until after his death
did Freemasons
again
meet in a
lodge capacity.
Then,
the
clergy having complained
to
Pope
Clement
XII,
he
sent an
inquisitor
to
Florence,
who arrested and
impris-
oned all the Masons he could
discover,
and ceased not in
his
persecutions
until ordered so to do
by
the successor
of
Gaston, Francis,
Duke of
Lorraine,
who was subse-
quently Emperor
of Austria. This
prince,
who had been
made a Mason in
Holland,
protected
the institution. Un-
der his
reign Masonry
extended into all
Italy
to
Milan,
Padua, Venice,
and Yerona. It existed even at
Rome,
where,
unknown to the
Pope,
a
lodge
worked in the
Eng-
lish Rite. The bull of excommunication of the 27th
April,
1738,
published
on the 29th of the
following May,
and
which
prohibited
Masonic
meetings
in all Catholic coun-
tries,
under the most severe
penalties,
closed a
portion
of
the Italian
lodges.
A new edict of the Cardinal
Farras,
dated 14th
January,
1739,
confirmed this
bull,
and ordered
to be
burned, by
the hands of the
public hangman,
a
pam-
phlet
written in favor of Freemasons. These
persecu-
tions, however,
had but little effect in
interrupting
the
spread
of
Masonry
in
Italy, particularly
at
Naples;
and
it was but
by
the
promulgation
of the bull of
Pope
Bene-
dict
XIV,
on the 18th
March, 1751,
that the
lodges
were
obliged
to close their
meetings.
In
1760,
the Grand
Lodge
of Holland instituted a Pro-
vincial Grand
Lodge
at
Naples,
which,
in a short time
10
had
organized eight operative lodges.
Then
detaching
it-
self from the Grand
Lodge
of
Holland,
this
lodge
took
rank as a Provincial Grand
Lodge,
under the Grand
Lodge
of
England.
In 1767 this
body
declared itself in-
dependent,
under the title of the National Grand
Lodge
of
Italy,
with the Duke Demetrio della Kocca in the office
of Grand Master
;
in which condition it existed until
1790,
when it was dissolved
hy
the French Revolution.
Masonry
was
cotemporarily
introduced into the
king-
dom of
Sardinia,
lodges having
been
organized
at Turin
and
Chambery
, while,
in the latter
city,
the Grand
Lodge
of London founded a Provincial Grand
Lodge.
In 1762
Masonry
was
imported
from
England
to
Venice,
where
many lodges
were
established,
under the direction
of the Provincial Grand Master Manuzzi.
The
partisans
of the
Stuarts,
and other
political schemers,
found in
Italy,
as
elsewhere,
means to establish their ille-
gitimate
Masonry.
In
1775
they
had installed at Turin a
commandery
of the
eighth department
of the
system
of
Strict
Observance,
under the direction of the Count of
Bernez,
steward to the
King
of
Sardinia;
and
by
him
were established
priories
of this
system
in all the
principal
towns of that
kingdom,
as well as in
many
cities of
Italy.
At
Chambery English Freemasonry
had soon to
give
way
to the
system
of Strict
Observance,
and the Provin-
cial Grand
Lodge,
instituted in that
city by
the Grand
Lodge,
of
London,
transformed
itself,
in
1775,
into a Di-
rectory
of the Masons of
Lombardy
;
but which was dis-
solved in 1794.
At
Naples
the Prince of Caranianca was
placed
at the head of the
Templar system,
which
there,
as
elsewhere, very
soon
displaced
the
English
Rite.
The interdictions of the
Papal authority,
as also the clan-
destine
persecutions
of the
clergy
and
government,
little
by
little, dispersed
the
majority
of the
lodges,
and those
which survived were closed
during
the French Revolution.
Under the French
government,
however,
a new era
FREEMASONRY IN ITALY.
147
eeemed
to dawn for
Masonry
in
Italy.
A
lodge, organized
at
Milan
in
1801,
was followed
by
the establishment of
another
at
Mantua,
and others in the
principal cities;
when the Scottish
Rite,
introduced at Paris in.
1804,
and
imported
to Milan in
1805, by
virtue of a constitution
dated at
Paris,
and
bearing
the
signatures
of De Grasse-
Tilly, Pyron,
Benier and
Vidal,
organized
a
Supreme
Council for
Italy,
which extended its ramifications to
Sicily.
It was this
Supreme
Council of Milan which
gave
to one of its
members,
named
Lechangeur,
the idea of
creating,
in
1806,
the Rite of
Misraim,
in accordance with
which councils of
high degrees
were instituted at
Naples
and Venice.
1
The Grand
Orient,
created at
Naples
in
1807,
and hav-
ing
the Prince
Eugene
for Grand
Master,
subsequently
united itself to the Grand Orient of
Italy,
which was or-
ganized
on the 24th
June, 1809,
under the
auspices
and
Grand
Mastership
of the
king,
Joachim Murat.
With the fall of
Napoleon I,
this
portion
of the
history
of
Freemasonry
in
Italy
closes. Thereafter all the inter-
dictions, bulls,
and edicts were renewed. The decree of
Pope
Pius
VII,
dated 15th
August,
1814,
carried
infamy
and
bodily
torture as the
penalty
incurred
by
all convicted
of
assembling
as Freemasons.
Immediately following
this,
similar decrees were
promulgated by
all the crowned
heads of Catholic
countries,
all
repeating
the absurd
charges
contained in the decree of the
Pope,
Pius
VII,
and
prohibiting
in their
respective
states all Masonic as-
semblies.
Finally,
on the 8th
August,
the
King
of
Naples
issued his
interdiction, and,
under
penalty
of sentence to
the
galleys, prohibited
all
participation
in the assemblies
of Freemasons.
After that time the
lodges
continued closed in
Italy,
l
This rite was
imported
to Paris in
1814,
where it
yet exists,
and has
given,
in its
turn,
birth in that
city
to the Rite of
Memphis.
and it was not until 1856 an interval of
forty years-^
that the Grand Orient of France instituted
lodges
at
GCnes and at Livorne. Since then the
lodges
have mul-
tiplied
and extended into all the
principal
cities of the
peninsula.
These
lodges
soon decided to institute an in-
dependent
Grand
Lodge;
and,
after the elaboration
by
their
delegates
of a suitable
constitution,
on the 1st Janu-
ary,
1862,
the Grand Orient of
Italy
was
organized,
with
its seat at
Turin,
and the brother
Nigra
nominated Grand
Master. This
brother, however,
having
declined the nomi-
nation,
the brethren Cordova and General Garibaldi were
put
in
nomination,
and the former elected.
In
consequence
of the
severity practiced against
it
by
the new central
power,
the
lodge
"Dante
Alighieri,"
which
professed
the Scottish
(33d)
Rite a
profession
that
was
unhappily
entertained
by
several other
lodges
de-
tached itself from the Grand
Orient,
and declared itself
independent.
Similar tendencies
having
manifested them-
selves in other
parts
of
Italy,
and a
Supreme
Council for
Sicily having
been constituted at
Palermo,
with General
Garibaldi as its
chief,
and some twelve
lodges ranking
themselves under its
banner,
on the 12th
August,
1863,
a
convocation of all the Masonic bodies of
Italy
was
called,
to meet at
Turin,
to take into consideration the
tendency
of these
disorders,
and devise means to check them. Not
being
able to
agree,
the brethren who
represented
the
Grand Orient of Turin withdrew from this
assembly,
and
thus allowed their
places
in the
commission, appointed
to
draft a new
constitution,
to be filled
by
brethren who
were all
partisans
of the Scottish Rite. We know
not,
at the
present time,
(close
of
1863,)
the result of this
labor;
in no
case, however,
can we believe this result will
be favorable to the interests of true
Freemasonry.
The Grand Orient of
Italy, having rejected
the
high
degrees which,
during
the
past century,
had
produced
much
discord
among
the
lodges
of that
country,
and,
FREEMASONRY IN PORTUGAL.
149
under
its
constitution,
recognized nothing
as
Masonry
but
the three
symbolic degrees
of the
English Rite,
many
Masonic authorities hesitated to
recognize
it,
in the belief
that the
political agitation
of the
country might
cause its
early
dissolution. The desire to found a Polish and a Hun-
garian
Grand
Orient,
at the head of
which,
respectively,
should be
placed
a
political
chief of these
countries,
has
not a little contributed to
strengthen
such a belief.
At the close of 1863 the Grand Orient of
Italy
reckoned
under its
jurisdiction sixty-eight operative lodges, among
which are to be found
lodges
in Alexandria and
Cairo,
in
Egypt
;
at
Constantinople,
in
Turkey,
and
Lima,
in South
America.
PORTUGAL.
THERE is one
country
where Masonic
light
has
pene-
trated but with the
greatest difficulty
;
for it is the seat
of
ignorance
and
superstition.
This
country
is the
para-
dise of
monks,
who there cease not to build
convents,
and exercise the exclusive
privilege
of
directing
the minds
of the
people,
the
king,
and his councilors. That coun-
try
is
Portugal.
From the Book of
Constitutions,
first
published by
the
Grand
Lodge
of
London,
in 1723 and
subsequently
at
later
periods,
to the extent of five
separate
editions,
the
last of which was
published by
order of the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
in 1855 we learn that the Grand
Lodge
of
London instituted at
Lisbon,
in
1735,
a Provincial Grand
Lodge, by
the
agency
of Bro.
George
Gordon
;
but th
seeds thus sown fell on barren soil. In the matter of
per
secution,
undergone by
all who
attempted
to disseminate
Freemasonry
in this
country,
it stands without a
rival,
if
we
may except Spain;
but
latterly
this condition is dis-
appearing.
Tlie
Inquisition,
here under the
protection
of the
king,
tracked
every person
from far and near who were sus-
pected
of
being
Freemasons.
Thus,
two
lapidaries
the
one named John
Gustos,
originally
a Protestant from
JBerne in
Switzerland,
and the
other,
named Alexander
James
Monton,
originally
a Catholic from Paris
having
been accused of
having expressed
the desire to see a
lodge
organized
in
Lisbon,
fell into the snares set
by
the
"Holy
Office,"
and were thrown into
prison
in 1743. The accu-
sation
charged
them with
seeking
to introduce Freema-
sonry
into
Portugal,
in violation of the bull of the
Pope,
which condemned this detestable doctrine as a
heresy,
and
all Freemasons as
impious, sodomists,
etc. Under the
order of the Cardinal
Dacunha,
grand inquisitor, they
submitted nine times in three months to the most abomi-
nable torture that it is
possible
to
imagine; subsequently
they
were forced to assist at an
auto-da-fe,
and
finally
condemned to the
galleys
for life. Thanks to the aid of
English
Freemasons, however,
they
were enabled to es-
cape
and seek
refuge
in
England.
Of the
many
other
Masons
who,
like those
unfortunates,
fell into the
traps
of
the
Inquisition,
and
who,
no
doubt,
sunk under the tor-
ture inflicted
by
that detestable
institution,
we have been
unable to discover the least trace.
The
Inquisition
was no less severe with the natives of
the
country;
for,
in
1776,
two
Portuguese nobles, Major
D'AHncourt and Don
Oyres D'Ornelles-Parracao,
were
also
imprisoned
and
tortured,
because
they
were Free-
masons.
Although
all
vestige
of
Masonry
had
disappeared
for
twenty-five years,
in 1802 an
inquest
was ordered
against
Freemasons in
Portugal,
and all who were sus-
pected even, by
this
inquest,
were
charged
with
conspiracy
against
the
king
and the
church,
and sentenced to the
galleys
without trial or form of law.
Notwithstanding
these severe
measures,
we
find,
in
1805,
a Grand Orient at
Lisbon,
with a Grand
Master,
named
, FREEMASONRY IN PORTUGAL.
151
Egaz-Moniz
;
but its ramifications were not
very
extended.
Dissolved
after the events of
1814,
it was formed
again
in
1817,
and
sought
to animate some
lodges;
but Freema-
sonry
continued to
inspire
the monks with
terror, and,
yielding
to their
solicitations,
King
John YI issued a de--
cree,
dated at Rio
Janeiro,
the 30th
March, 1818,
inter
dieting
Freemasons from
assembling together,
under
pain
of death. We know
nothing
of the lives
destroyed
under
this decree
; but,
about five
years
afterward,
it was modi-
fied
by
another, which,
dated
Lisbon,
June
20, 1823,
stated
that it was issued in
consequence
of remonstrances
upon
the
subject having
been,
during
the
interval,
addressed to
the
government by many
of the resident embassadors.
By
the terms of this last
decree,
the
penalty
was
changed
from
capital punishment
to five
years'
labor in the
galleys
in Africa. JSTo
proof beyond
mere
suspicion
was
necessary
to cause the arrest of
persons
who were
punished
under
the
penalties
of those edicts.
Foreigners
as well as na-
tives were
proceeded against
without
any attempt
to dis-
guise
the
act,
or the least attention
being given
to the
many protests
which were made
by
the
agents
of their re-
spective
countries.
Notwithstanding
these
interdictions, however,
as well
as the cruelties which were exercised under their au-
thority,
a Masonic
body
was constituted at
Lisbon,
under
the title of the Grand Orient of
Lusitania,
as also a Su-
preme
(33d)
Rite. The later sov-
ereigns
of
Portugal,
without
having
revoked the
prohibi-
tory
decrees
against
Freemasons, appeared
to tolerate the
Fraternity;
for there has been established another au-
thority
at
Oporto,
under the name of "Pattos-
Manuel;"
and
subsequently
a Provincial Grand
Lodge
of Ireland.
But in a
country
where as in
Spain
and at Rome the
clergy
rule
every thing,
we can entertain but little
hope
for the extension or
well-being
of
Freemasonry.
SPAIN.
IN no
country, Portugal excepted,
has
Freemasonry
been
exposed
to
persecutions
more atrocious than in the
Roman Catholic
kingdom, par excellence,
of
Spain perse-
cutions based
upon
the bulls of Clement
XII,
of the 27th
April,
1738;
of Benedict
XIY,
of the 18th
May, 1751,
and the edict of Cardinal
Consalvi,
of the 13th
August,
1814,
which,
as we have
seen, pronounced
all Freemasons
excommunicated,
and condemned them to the most severe
penalties,
even to death itself.
From the Book of Constitutions we learn that in
1727
and in
1728,
under the Grand
Mastership
of the Count of
Inchquin
and Lord
Coleraine,
the first warrants were de-
livered to" establish
lodges
at Gibraltar and Madrid. In
1739 a number of
lodges
were instituted at these
places,
and the Grand
Lodge
of London
patented Captain
Com-
merford Provincial Grand Master for all Andalusia.
The Catholic
clergy
of
Spain
exhibited
themselves at
a
very early period
here,
as
elsewhere,
the bitter
enemy
of
Freemasonry.
The better to enable them to discover the
members of the
Fraternity,
and the secret
practices
and
doctrines of the
institution,
the monk
Joseph Torrubia,
censor of the
Holy
Office of the
Inquisition
at
Madrid,
was
ordered,
in
1750,
to assume a false
name,
pass
himself as a
layman,
and be initiated into a Masonic
lodge.
For this
purpose
he received from the
Pope's legate
the
dispensa-
tions
necessary
to relieve him from the
obligations
of
the
oaths he should have to take
upon being
made a Freema-
son. After
having
thus been enabled to visit the
lodges
in different
parts
of
Spain,
he
presented
himself before
the
supreme
tribunal of the
Inquisition,
denounced
Freema-
sonry
as the most abominable institution that
existed in
the
world,
accused its members of
every
vice and crime re-
volting
to
religion,
and submitted a list of
ninety-seven
FREEMASONRY IN SPAIN.
153
lodges
established in the
kingdom, against
which he so-
licited the most
rigorous
action of the
Inquisition.
The
importance
of the
great
number of brethren who
were members of these
lodges, belonging,
as
they did,
to
the
nobility
and to the rich and influential
classes,
induced
the
Holy
Office to reflect
upon
the
matter,
and decided i
to
request
the
king
to interdict the institution of Freema
sonry.
In
response
to its
promptings,
Ferdinand VI is-
sued a
decree,
dated the 2d
July,
1751,
prohibiting
the in-
stitution of
Freemasonry throughout
the extent of his
kingdom,
under the
pretext
that it was
dangerous
to the
state and to
religion,
and
pronouncing
the
penalty
of
death
against
all who should
profess
it. Under this de-
cree
many persons
were sacrificed
by
the order of the In-
quisition.
These cruelties were calculated to
suppress
all
idea of
introducing Masonry
within the
country,
and also
of
restraining any
exhibition of life on the
part
of the
lodges already
established
;
so that it was not until after
the French Revolution that
they emerged again
into the
light,
and
began
to
spread
more
rapidly
than before.
After
having
founded at Xeres a Grand
Lodge
for
Spain,
there was
established,
on the 3d
November, 1805,
under
the
government
of
Joseph Napoleon,
a Grand Orient of
Spain, having
its seat at
Madrid,
the
very stronghold
of
the
Inquisition.
The same
year
was constituted a Su-
preme
(33d)
Rite,
and
subsequently
a Grand
Orient,
at
Grenada,
the Athens of
Spain.
In
1814,
Ferdinand VII re-established the
Inquisition,
and,
by
a decree dated 24th
May
of that
year,
ordered all
the
lodges
to be
closed,
and
pronouncing
all
participation
in
Masonry
a crime
against
the state.
Many lodges, par-
ticularly
those of
Grenada,
having
braved this
ordinance,
all their members were arrested and thrown into
prison.
Of their number was the
Marquis
of
Toulouse,
and Gen-
eral
Alvada, Adjutant-General
to the Duke of
Welling-
ton,
together
with
many
Frenchmen, Italians,
and Ger-
mans. The
provisional government
of 1820 released them
all,
and in that
year many lodges
resumed their
labors;
but,
on the 1st
August,
1824,
the
King,
Ferdinand
VII,
renewed his decree of
interdiction,
and
pronounced
the
penalty
of death
against
all
who,
being Freemasons,
should not announce themselves as such within
thirty
days
; while,
after that
time,
those who should be
recog-
nized as
such,
and had not so declared
themselves,
should
be
hung
within
twenty-four
hours without form of law.
So
stringent
a measure as this would have informed
that
government,
which held no
obligations
sacred,
that
eighty
thousand of its
subjects
were banded
together
as
a
brotherhood,
had
any
of those
subjects
been
disloyal
to
his
obligations
to that brotherhood
; but,
strange
to
say,
the
Inquisition
found
very
few victims.
In
1825,
the
clergy
of
Grenada,
under the
authority
of
this
interdiction, distinguished
themselves
by
the
bloody
execution of seven Freemasons
;
and
subsequently,
in
1829,
new traces of
Masonry having
been discovered in Barce-
lona,
the
unhappy
brethren fell into the hands of the In-
quisition,
which ordered the execution of one of
them,
the
brother
Galvez,
a lieutenant-colonel in the
Spanish army,
and sentenced the other two to the
galleys
for life.
Notwithstanding
these
rigorous
measures,
there were
many
Freemasons in
Spain ;
and even a Masonic
authority,
st}'led
the
"
Grand
Directory,"
is known to exist some-
where in the
kingdom,
but
where,
or what
may
be the
plan
of its
labors,
we are unable to
say.
At Cadiz there is a
lodge composed entirely
of
English-
men,
with which the
government
does not
interfere;
and
at Gibraltar there are
four,
like that in
Cadiz,
under the
protection
of the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
at London.
The countries in which
Masonry
is at
present prohib-
ited are:
Spain
and her
colonies,
Catholic
Bavaria,
Austria
and its
dependencies,
and
Russia,
with the countries under
her rule.
HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN
OF THE
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH
RITE,
AND ORGANIZATION OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF
THAT RITE FOR FRANCE.
1
THE Masonic
authority
which directed a fraction of
French
Masonry,
"
Supreme
Council
of
Sovereign
Grand
Inspectors
General of the 33d and
last
degree
of the Ancient and
Accepted
Scottish Rite for
France,"
was
organized
at
Paris,
on the 22d of
Septem-
ber, 1804,
by
the Count Alexander Francis
Augustus
de
Grasse-
Tilly,
son of the admiral of that
name;
and this
organization
was formed under a
warrant,
dated and de-
livered to him at
Charleston,
South
Carolina,
on the 21st
February,
1802,
by
a
body stylirig
itself the
"
Supreme
Council of Grand
Inspectors
General for
America," etc.,
sitting
in that
city.
This warrant conferred
upon
the
brother De Grasse
plenary powers
to initiate Masons
into,
and constitute
lodges, chapters,
and consistories
of,
this rite
in the then
(February, 1802,)
French
colony
of St.
Domingo.
1
Knowing
how much
importance
will attach to this
portion
of th
General
History
of
Freemasonry, assuming,
as it
does,
to
give
the real
origin
of "the Ancient and
Accepted
Scottish Rite" of
thirty-three
de-
grees
how
earnestly
it will be
studied, discussed,
and commented
upon
by some,
and
probably
disbelieved
by
others of the
brethren,
who have
taken the
commonly-received history
of the rite and the
"grand
consti-
tutions" as truth iii
every particular
I have followed the author so
(155)
Without
proceeding,
in this
place,
with the
history
of
the first Masonic
power
created in France under this war-
rant,
and the forms of this rite the title of which we
have
already given
and to chronicle the acts of such
body
from 1804 to the
present
time which we
propose
to
do in another volume we will at this time
give
our atten-
tion to the
origin
of the Masonic
authority by
which it
was instituted.
We will
begin
with
quoting
from the document submit-
ted to the Masonic
Fraternity by
the
partisans
of this
rite,
giving
an account of its
origin
:
"
It
appears,
from authentic
documents,
that the establishment
of the sublime and ineffable
degrees
of
Masonry
took
place
in Scot-
land, France,
and Prussia
immediately
after the first crusade
; but,
in
consequence
of circumstances which to us are
unknown, they
were
neglected
from 1658 to 1744. Then a Scotch
gentleman
vis-
ited
France,
and re-established the
Lodge
of Perfection at Bour-
deaux.
1
... In
1761,
the
lodges
and councils of the
superior
degrees having
extended over the continent of
Europe,
his
majesty
the
King
of
Prussia,
who was Grand Commander of the
degree
of
closely
in this
department
sentence for sentence and word for word that
I
may
be said to have waived the
right
of a
translator,
and rendered the
author's
language
at the
expense
of
my
own. I
trust, however,
the
object
will
justify
the action. TRANSLATOR.
1
According
to this
recital,
it would be
necessary
to admit that the
propa-
gation
of the Scottish Rite of "these sublime and ineffable
degi-ees''
is due
to a "Scotch
gentleman,"
unknown both as to his own name as well as the
lodge
or Masonic
authority
that authorized him to "re-establish" this rite In
France! The fact
is,
that before 1789 there never was a
lodge
of the Scot-
tish
Rite,
neither of
twenty-five
nor
thirty-three degrees,
established at
Bourdeaux;
while that which existed at Arras a Grand
Chapter
was
founded
by
Charles Edward
Stuart,
in 1747.
Subsequently
there
was,
in
1751,
a mother
lodge
of what was then called the Scottish
Rite,
founded at
Marseilles;
and in 1756 the Grand
Chapter
of Clermont was
founded,
in the
convent of
Clermont,
at Paris. In addition to these so-called Masonic
bodies,
the dates of whose institution are well
known,
there were numerous
chap-
ters, tribunals, etc.,
founded
by
Dr.
Ramsay,
between the
years
1736 and
1740,
no details of which are known to us.
THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH BITE.
157
Prince of the
Royal Secret,
1
was
recognized by
all as chief of the
sublime and ineffable
degrees
of
Masonry
in the two
hemispheres.
His
royal highness Charles, hereditary prince
of the
Swedes,
the
Goths,
and the
Vandals,
Duke of
Sudermanie, etc.,
was and
continued to be the Grand Commander and
protector
of sublime
Masonry
in Sweden
;
and hid
royal highness
Louis of
Bourbon,
prince
of the
blood,
the Duke of
Chartres,
and cardinal
prince
of
Rohan, Bishop
of
Strasburg,
were at the head of these
degrees
in
France.
* * *
"
On the 25th of
October, 1762,
the
grand
constitutions were
finally
ratified at
Berlin,
and
proclaimed
for the
government
of
all the
lodges
of sublime and
perfect Masons, chapters, councils,
colleges,
and consistories of the
royal
and
military
art of Free-
masonry upon
the whole surface of the two
hemispheres,
etc.
"
In the same
year
some constitutions were transmitted to our
illustrious brother
Stephen Morin, who,
on the 27th of
August,
1761,
had been
appointed Inspector
General of all the
lodges, etc.,
of the New
World, by
the Grand
Consistory
of Princes of the
Royal
Secret,
convoked at
Paris,
and at which
presided
the
deputy
of the
King
of
Prussia,
Chaillou de
Joinville,
Substitute General
of the
Order, Worshipful
Master of the first
lodge
of
France,
called
St.
Anthony,
Chief of the eminent
degrees,
etc.
Being present
the brethren Prince of
Rohan,
etc.
2
"
By
the constitutions of the
Order,
ratified on the 25th of
October, 1762,
the
King
of Prussia had been
proclaimed
Chief of
the
high degrees,
with the rank of
Sovereign
Grand
Inspector
General and Grand Commander. The
high
councils and
chapters
not
being
able to work but in his
presence,
or in that of the sub-
stitute who he
might designate;
while all the transactions of the
Consistory
of Princes of the
Royal
Secret had to be sanctioned
by
him,
or his
substitute,
for the establishment of their
legality;
and
many
other
prerogatives being
attached to his Masonic rank.
No
disposition
had,
however,
been inserted in the constitution for
the nomination of his successor
; and,
as this was an office of the
highest importance,
the
greatest precautions
were
necessary
to
1
This was the name of the last
degree
of the Rite of
Perfection,
which was
composed
of
twenty-five degrees.
2
See
page
88 for a
transcript
of this
appointment.
protect it,
that none but a
person entirely worthy
should be
ap-
pointed
to it.
Realizing
the
importance
of this
fact,
the
king
es-
tablished the
thirty-third degree.
1
Nine brethren of each nation
formed the
Supreme
Council of Grand
Inspectors General, who,
since his
decease,
have
possessed
all the Masonic
powers
and
pre-
rogatives enjoyed by
him.
They
constitute the exclusive
body
of
the
Society,
and their
approbation
is now
indispensable
to the
acts of the
Consistory,
to which it
gives
the force of law. From
their decisions there is no
appeal.
The sublime
degrees
are at
this moment
(1802)
as
they
were at the time of their first forma-
tion
; they
have not
undergone
the
slightest
alteration the least
addition. The same
principles
and the same ceremonies have
been from all time
observed;
and this we know
by
the documents
of our
archives,
which have existed for
many
centuries of
years
in their
original
condition."
The author of these
passages
has
forgotten,
no
doubt,
to
quote
the documents mentioned in the
introduction,
as
also those extracts from the archives to which he alludes
at the close.
This recital we extract from a
report which, accompa-
nied
by
some historical
notes,
seems to have been sub-
mitted to the
Supreme
Council at
Charleston,
in
1802,
by
one of its
members,
named Frederick
Dalcho,
and which,
in
1808,
were
printed
in Dublin. This curious document
is the first that has
given
the
pretended history
of the
Scottish
Rite,
and all that has been
published
since then
as to the
origin
of the rite has been extracted more or
less
literally
from it. The
object
for which this document
was
produced
is therein
explained
it was to be distributed
and
sent,
in the form of a
circular,
to all the Masonic au-
thorities
upon
the
globe;
and to render it more
worthy
of
belief,
and to
give
it
greater importance,
the
Supreme
Council at Charleston had it
affirmed,
or sworn
to,
by
the
brethren Isaac Auld and Emmanuel de la
Motte, approved
1
It will be remembered that the rite of which it is stated he was chief had
but
THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE.
159
)y
the Grand
Master,
ad
vitam,
Colonel
Mitchell,
and cer-
tified
to,
as in all
particulars
true and
sincere,
by
Abraham
Alexander,
Secretary
of the
Holy Empire.
1
The
preceding
recital
concerning
the Scottish
Rite,
so
far as
quoted,
is well
worthy
of
taking
rank
among
the
products
of that noble
army
of Masonic authors and fab-
-icators of new
rites, who,
to
give
their creations some
importance,
invent with the
greatest facility,
time,
place,
and honorable circumstances
attending
their
origin.
If
the authors of this new Scottish Rite have not considered
it
necessary
to
assign
to it a
greater antiquity
;
if
they
have
not,
as is
customary
with most writers
upon
Ma-
sonry, placed
the birth of their rite in the cradle of the
world,
or
thereabouts,
it is because
they
have reasoned a
little more
logically
than their imitators. The name of Scot-
tish not
being any
better known to
antiquity
than was that
of
Freemason,
it
reasonably
became
necessary
to
place
the
origin
of this rite at an
epoch
which had some connection
with
history.
The
majority
of our
self-styled
Masonic
historians,
in their statements as to the
origin
of our in-
stitution,
trouble themselves to the smallest
possible
ex-
tent as to its connection with written
history
; for,
in
speaking
of its
antiquity, they appear
to think it
entirely
unnecessary
to describe how it was
possible
for it to de-
scend intact to our time
through forty
or
fifty
centuries,
which,
they glibly
inform
us,
have
elapsed
since its birth.
The name of
Freemason,
as
indicating
with decision and
in the most incontestable manner the
origin
of the insti-
tution,
is
not,
to this class of
writers,
of the
slightest
con-
sequence.
If the inventors of the Scottish Rite of
thirty-three
de-
grees
have not been as careless as the
generality
of theii
predecessors, they
have not been much more
happy
in their
'It is
by
this title that the "Ancient and
Accepted
Scottish Rite"
qualifies
the
country
over which it extends its
authority.
exposition
of its
origin.
Not
being
able to found their
creation
upon any
act more or Jess
authentic,
or
upon any
fact of
history,
the
scaffolding
erected
by
them to
support
it
necessarily gives way
at the first
shock,
in the
way
of
an earnest
examination,
to which
they
submitted
it;
and
thus left
unsupported,
it shares the fortune of the creations
of their
predecessors
in the same kind of
speculation.
In
overturning
this
scaffolding,
we need but advance
the facts of
history
and
compare
them with the assertions
contained in the
fragment
of the
report
that we have
quoted.
As to an examination of the
question
of fact
whether or not the
report
which he
produced, signed by
Frederick
Dalcho,
had not been fabricated
by
himself
subsequently
to
1802,
in order to
destroy
the doubts which
attached themselves at a later
period
to the
authenticity
of this
rite,
we leave that to one side.
In the
beginning,
ancient
Freemasonry (from
715 B. 0.
to the
year
400 of our
era),
that of the middle
ages (from
400 to
1500),
and that which was
practiced
after that time
in
England,
had never but three
degrees
of initiation.
From 1640 to 1660 the
partisans
of the
Stuarts,
abusing
the trust
reposed
in them
by
the Masonic
Fraternity,
and
using
their
meetings
as a cloak under cover of which to
elaborate their schemes of monarchical
restoration,
created
two
superior degrees,
viz : that of Scottish Master as the
fourth,
and that of
Templar
Mason as the fifth
degree.
"When the
society
was
transformed,
in
1717,
at
London,
and,
from
being
a
corporation
more or less
mechanical,
became an institution
entirely philosophic,
it
adopted
but
the three
primitive
or
symbolic degrees.
Before the
year
1717 the
lodges
of Freemasons had no affiliations outside
of
England,
and it is
proven incontestably
that the first
lodge
of the modern or
philosophic Freemasonry
estab-
lished outside of Great
Britain,
was established at Dun-
kirk,
in
1721,
with a ritual of three
degrees.
A third
lodge
was established in 1725 at Paris. From that time
THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE. 161
Freemasonry
extended
rapidly
into all the other
countries
of the north of
Europe,
first into
Belgium,
find
subse-
quently
into Holland and
Germany.
The rite called Scottish is a bastard child of Freema-
sonry,
to which the
policy
of the Stuart interest
gave
birth.
It was introduced in
France,
between 1736 and
1738,
by
the Baron
Ramsay,
who w
T
as an instrument of the Jesuits.
1
This
partisan
of the Stuart interest was the first
propa-
gandist
of this rite in
France,
wherein he extended it to
many parts,
in a few
years, by
the aid of his
delegates
and
those of the
Jesuits;
but it was not until after the arrival
in France of the
Pretender,
Charles
Edward,
that the rite
called Scottish assumed
any importance.
The Pretender
created the
Chapter
of
Arras,
and the noblemen of his
suite
immediately besought
of
this^ chapter
warrants with
which to
propagate
the rite. His scale had then
aug-
mented,
and from seven
degrees
it
successively
arose to
twenty-five
;
for we
find,
in
1758,
2
a
chapter
or council of
Emperors
of the East and
West,
furnished with this num-
ber of
degrees,
established at Paris.
From this time all the fabricators of new
rites,
although
they
increased to a,
frightful
extent,
had the
good
sense
not to
augment
the number of the
degrees,
but,
on the
contrary, gradually
reduced them the Scottish Rite alone
containing
the
highest
number,
and
it,
from 1755 to
1802,
being
limited to
twenty-five.
After the
congress
of Wil-
helmsbad the
principal
Masonic rites were
subjected
to
great changes,
and were
every-where
modified and reduced
to
seven,
to
ten,
and to twelve
degrees.
From these facts which are incontestable it followed
that
during
the
space
of time that we have named
(from
1755 to
1802),
there did not exist in
any country
no more
in
England
than in
France,
no more in Prussia than in
Sweden councils of the Scottish Rite of
thirty-three
de-
1
See the
History
of the
origin
ofall the Rites.
2
Ibid.
11
grees.
!N"ow,
the
report
that we have
quoted explicitly
says:
"These sublime
degrees
are at this moment
(1802)
as
they
were at the time of their first formation
;
they
have
not
undergone
the
slightest
alteration the least addition."
This assertion is
doubly
inexact
; because,
in the first
place, previous
to
1801,
no Scottish Rite of
thirty-three
degrees
was known
; and,
in the second
place,
all the rites
and
degrees,
without
regard
to name or
number,
were
created between 1736 and
1800,
and
they
had
nothing
in
common with the
primitive English
Rite.
If, then,
there did not
exist,
before
1802,
neither a Scot-
tish Rite of
thirty-three degrees,
nor councils of Grand
Inspectors
General and
Commanders,
it follows that the
Prince of Sudermanie could not be the Grand Master of
the rite in
Sweden, nor,
for the same
reason,
could Fred-
erick the Great be its chief in Prussia.
As to another
allegation
in the same
report
that the
King
of Prussia had been
recognized
chief of these coun-
cils
upon
the two
hemispheres, conformably
to the
grand
constitutions of this
Order,
which were ratified on the 25th
of
October, 1762,
at Berlin it
is,
like all the
others,
desti-
tute of foundation in fact
;
and this we will
proceed
to
prove.
The
king,
Frederick of
Prussia,
was initiated into Ma-
sonry
on the 15th of
August,
1738,
at
Brunswick,
being
then
prince royal.
1
The
lodge
at the Three
Globes^
in
Berlin,
founded
by
some French artists whom the
king
had invited to
Prussia,
was elevated
by
him to the rank
of a Grand
Lodge
in
1744,
and of which he became there-
upon
Grand Master a
dignity
that he exercised until
1747.
2
After that time he never
occupied
himself
actively
with
Masonry.
In his interviews with the brethren who
directed the Grand
Lodge
at the Three
Globes,
and who
kept
him informed as to what occurred of a Masonic
1
See
Lenning's Encyclopedia
of
Freemasonry,
book
4, page 453,
2d
ed.
*His
name, nevertheless,
was borne
upon
the
register
of the "Grand
Lodge
at the Three
Globes,"
as its Grand
Master,
until 1755.
168
character,
he continued to exhibit his attachment to our
institution
;
but when the different new
systems, brought
into Prussia
by
the
Marquis
of
Berny
and the officers of
the
army
of
Broglie,
disseminated themselves in the Ger-
man
lodges,
he exhibited himself the
enemy
of these in-
novations,
and
expressed
his disdain for these
high degrees,
as was his
manner, freely
and in hard
terms,
prophesying
that
they
would one
day
be a fruitful source of discord
among
the
lodges
and the
systems.
It seemed that his
prediction
was to be verified
;
for these divers
systems
soon
engendered anarchy
within the
lodges,
even in the
lodge
at the Three Globes
itself,
to such an extent that dis-
gusted
him with
Masonry,
without, however,
changing
his
preconceived opinions
of the institution. After this
he authorized the creation of two other Grand
Lodges
at
Berlin
;
but he never had
any
other connection with them
than to
respond
with thanks to their
complimentary
ex-
pressions
on the occurrence of his
birthday.
The last
letter that
King
Frederick
wrote,
under these circum-
stances,
is addressed to the Grand Master of La
Goaneric,
and bears date 7th
February,
1778. As has been well re-
marked,
this letter is written in a
style very
different from
what he had been accustomed to use in
addressing
the
lodges.
1
After this
letter,
he abstained from even thank-
1
We extract from
Lenning's Encyclopedia
a
transcript
of this
letter,
as
it
appears
on
page
455 of that work :
"
The
king
has been sensible of the
homage
that the
Lodge
of Friend-
ship
at Berlin has rendered to His
Majesty
in the discourse
pronounced
by
its orator on the
anniversary
of the
day
of his birth. His
Majesty
bas found such
expressions very
conformable to the sentiments which he
has
always
attributed to that
lodge
as sustained toward his
person;
and
he
readily
assures that
lodge,
in his
turn,
that he will
always
interest
himself with
pleasure
in the
happiness
and
prosperity
of an
assembly
which,
like
it,
places
its first
glory
in the
indefatigable
and uninter-
rupted propagation
of all the virtues of the honest man and the true
patriot
[Signed]
"
FREDERICK.
"
POTSDAM,
7th
February,
1778.
"
To the
Royal
York of
Friendship Lodge
of Freemi
ing
the
lodges,
when
they
felicitated him
upon
the recur-
rence of the occasion we have mentioned.
During
the
last
thirty years
of his
reign, King
Frederick took no
active
part
whatever in
Masonry
;
this is a notorious
fact,
and
proven by
the minutes of the Grand
Lodges
of Ber-
lin.
1
Then it follows that the revision of the
high degrees
and* the Masonic constitutions which
they
attribute to
him,
and which should have taken
place, according
to the re-
port
in
question,
in 1786 the
year
of his death is no
more correct than is his
augmentation
of the
degrees.
As to the rituals which lie should have
prepared
him-
self for these
high degrees
the same
year,
2
they
could not
1
We can
support
these assertions with not
only
the letters which we
have received from the
Secretary
of the Grand
Lodge
at the Three Globes
in
Berlin,
but also with the minutes of this
authority, bearing date,
re-
spectively,
the 17th
August,
1833,
and 19th
December, 1861,
which de-
clare,
in the most formal and
positive
manner,
that the documents sent
to it at different
times,
styled
"Grand Constitutions of the Scottish Rite
of
thirty-third,"
as well those written in Latin and in French as those
written in the
English language,
and attributed to
King
Frederick II
documents of which the
authenticity
is doubtful are all
apocryphal, as,
in
general,
are all the other acts
relating
to this rite which
pretend
to
have emanated from that
prince. (See Lenning's Encyclopedia
of Free-
masonry,
edition of
1862, pages
455 and
456.)
There is other
proof
not less
authentic,
which
puts
to
flight
the fa-
bles invented
by
the
partisans
of the Scottish Rite. It is that it is well
known that the
King
Frederick
II,
on the 9th
September,
1785,
went to
Berlin for the last
time,
to visit his
sister,
the Princess
Amelia,
and the
next
day
he reviewed the
artillery
at
Wedding.
From thence he re-
turned to
Potsdam,
where he
passed
the whole winter in
bodily suffering
from the
malady
that
eventually
caused his death. lie was moved in a
very unquiet state,
on the 17th
April, 1786,
to his retreat of iSans
Sot'd,
and there died four months afterward.
(See
the same
work, page 456.)
We will abstain from
any
other reflections
upon
this
subject,
and
merely add,
as a last fact in
support
of our assertions,
that,
to the knowl-
edge
of
every lodge
in
Berlin,
the
King
Frederick II in no manner occu-
pied
himself with
Masonry during
the last
thirty years
of his life.
2
See the Book
of
Gold of the
Supreme
Council for
France, printed
in
1807, page
7. It is in direct contradiction with the
report
of the brother
Dalcho,
who does not attribute to
King
Frederick but the creation of the
in
any
case have been drawn
up by
bim,
as he was at this
time in a
dying
condition
; and,
long
before his death
winch took
place
on the 17th
August,
1786 he was to-
tally incapable
of
any species
of labor.
"With
regard
to the assertions
relating
to the
grand
con-
stitutions,
or rules and
regulations
of the
rite,
of
1762,
that
King
Frederick II should have himself ratified on
the 1st of
May, 1786,
they
are
equally
destitute of founda-
tion,
since these rituals did not exist at this
time,
but were
evidently
fabricated in 1804. In a
word, every thing
con-
nected with this rite that
pretends
to be historic has been
invented in
part by
its
creators,
and finished
by
its
propa-
gandists.
To all these
simple
facts,
which are
truly
historic,
de-
structive as
they
are of the truth of the
principal
asser-
tions contained in the
report
of Frederick Dalcho
though
that
report
is
affirmed, approved,
and certified as true
by
many high dignitaries
of this rite we could add others
not less
conclusive,
did we not believe such addition su-
perfluous.
We will now enumerate the facts which
preceded
the
establishment of this
authority
in
Paris,
and indicate the
origin
of the Masonic
power
which constituted
it;
but to
do this we must
go
back
nearly
a
century.
thirty-third degree,
and not that of the
eight degrees
from the
twenty-
fifth to the
thirty-third.
This Book
of
Gold
(it
would be better named
the book of
brass}
thus
explains
the creation of these
degrees
:
"
It would
appear
that the institution of the
Supreme
Council of the
thirty-third
and last
degree
is the work of this
prince (Frederick II), who,
upon
his ascent to the
throne,
declared himself the
protector
of the Order
in his
states;
that the
dignity
of
Sovereign
of
Sovereigns,
in the Consis-
tories of Princes of the
Royal
Secret,
resided in his
person
;
that it was
him who
augmented
to
thirty-three
the
twenty-five degrees
of the ancient
and
accepted rite,
as
they
were decreed in 1762:
and, finally,
that he
delegated
his
sovereignty
to the
Supreme Council,
who named it 'of the
thirty-third
and last
degree,'
for the
purpose
of
exercising
it after hia
death."
In
1761,
a brother named
Stephen
Morin,
by
confession an
Israelite,
a member of the then National Grand
Lodge
of
France,
and also of a
chapter
of
high degrees, having
been called to America
by
some
private
interests,
mani-
fested the desire to establish in those countries the
Masonry
of the
higher degrees,
then called
"Masonry
of Perfec-
tion
;" and,
with this
object,
he addressed himself to the
brother
Lacorne,
dancing-master,
and at that time a de-
posed
substitute of the Grand
Master,
the Count of Cler-
mont.
Upon
the
proposition
made
by
the latter for this
purpose
to the
Sovereign
Grand Council of Princes of the
East and
West,
there
was,
on the 27th
August,
1761,
de-
livered to the brother Morin a
patent
or
warrant,
by
which
be was created
Inspector
General of all the
lodges
of the
~New
World,
etc.
l
Arrived at St.
Domingo,
the brother
Stephen
Morin
named,
by
virtue of his
patent,
one of his
co-religionists,
the brother Moses M.
Hayes, Deputy Inspector
for North
America. He afterward conferred the same
dignity upon
a brother Frankin for Jamaica and the
English
windward
islands,
and
upon
the brother Colonel Prevost for the
English
leeward islands and British
army.
Some time af-
terward the brother Frankin transferred his
authority
to
the brother Moses
Hayes,
Grand Master at
Boston,
Mass.
In his
turn,
the brother Moses M.
Hayes
named,
as In-
spector
General for South
Carolina,
another of his co-re-
ligionists,
the brother Isaac Da
Costa,
who
established,
in
1783,
a Sublime Grand
Lodge
of Perfection at Charleston.
To this
brother,
after his
death,
succeeded another Israel-
ite,
named
Joseph Myers.
There were
successively
cre-
ated
by
these
self-styled
Grand
Inspectors
General other
inspectors
for the different States of America.
.The
brother
Bush was
appointed
for
Pennsylvania,
and the brother
Barend
M.
Spitzer
for
Georgia.
1
See the text of this
patent
in the
History
of
Freemasonry
in
France,
page
88.
167
On the 15th
May,
1781,
these brethren assembled in
council,
at
Philadelphia,
the different
inspectors
for those
States. It was
by
this council that the
degree
of
Inspector
General was conferred for Jamaica on the brother Moses
Cohen. It also
appointed
to this
dignity
Isaac
Long
and
the brethren De La
Hogue, Croze-Magnan,
St.
Paul, Petit,
and Marie all residents of Charleston to
propagate
the
rite in the different countries of America.
There
existed,
as we have
already stated,
at
Charleston,
a Grand
Lodge
of
Perfection,
with a Council of Princes
of
Jerusalem,
founded
by
the brother Da Costa in 1783.
To this Grand
Lodge,
on the 27th
February,
1788,
was
united the
Royal
Arch
Chapter,
founded
by authority
of
a
chapter
of this title at Dublin
;
and it was
by
this
body
that the brother Colonel Mitchell was
appointed,
on the
2d of
August,
1795,
a
Deputy Inspector
General for the
State of South
Carolina, who,
in the
plenitude
of his
powers,
in 1797 conferred this title on the Count De
Grasse-Tilly,
a resident of St.
Domingo,
and
assigned
to
him the same
power
for the French colonies of America.
This council of
Inspectors
General
styled
itself the Grand
Council of Princes of
Jerusalem,
and all the constitutions
delivered
by
it to its
inspectors
were
always given
in this
name,
seeing
that the first
patent
delivered to
Stephen
Morin,
in
1761,
emanated from an
authority
which had
given
itself this name.
This council of Princes of
Jerusalem, sitting
at Charles-
ton,
created some
inspectors
of
lodges
and
chapters,
whom
it
liberally
remunerated. In 1801 it was
composed
of the
brethren Colonel
Mitchell,
Frederick
Dalcho,
Abraham
Auld,
Isaac
Auld,
Emmanuel de la
Motte,
and some others
of less
mark,
who all
belonged
to the Jewish
religion.
1
It
may readily
be believed that the constitutions
granted
by
this
council,
composed,
as we have
indicated,
of breth-
*See
Ragon's
Masonic
Orthodoxy, page 181,
which
represents
the mem-
bers of this council as audacious
jugglers.
ren
belonging
to the Jewish
religion,
were not as exten-
sive as
they probably
desired
;
and it was this
feeling
1
,
without
doubt,
that
suggested
the idea of
creating
some-
thing
new
something striking,
and of a nature to
procure
them some
advantage
not offered
by
their
position.
The
abuse that
they
had
already
made of the
powers
conferred
npon
them
although
the
conferring authority
itsolf was
more or less
illegal, emanating,
as it
did,
from a self-
created
body
should have induced all earnest Masons and
honest men to have shunned a similar
work,
and
particu-
larly
one that
they
dared not avow
;
but
personal
ambition
and self-interest
prevailed
over the Masonic
principles
and
common
honesty
which these brethren had sworn to ob-
serve,
the
speculation
was
engaged
in, and,
unhappily
for
the character of
Freemasonry,
it
has,
to some
extent,
proved
a success.
A new Masonic
power
was combined and created under
the title of
"Supreme
Council of the Grand Commanders
Inspectors
General of the
thirty
-third and last
degree
of
the Ancient and
Accepted
Scottish Rite."
This new creation
naturally
bore the same
illegal
char-
acter,
and was
accompanied by
the same
deplorable
cir-
cumstances which had
already signalized
the factious
pe-
riod from 1740 to 1770 a
period
of false
titles,
illegal
constitutions,
antedated
regulations,
etc.
The new
authority
lost no time in
constituting
itself.
It elected its own members to the
highest dignities
of
their new order of
knighthood,
and delivered to them
patents
with which
they
were
empowered
to institute this
new
T
rite wherever their fortunes should
carry
them. The
brother Colonel Mitchell was nominated the first Grand
Commander. He died at
Charleston,
in 1841.
But to facilitate the
progress
of the new
rite,
it was
necessary
to
give
it a
respectable origin,
and
support
it
with some historic names as those of its
originators
and
protectors.
This trust was committed to the brethren
Paleho, Auld,
and La
Motte,
and we have seen
by
the re-
port
from which we have
quoted
how
they discharged
it.
Probably among
the first deliverances of the new
power
was the warrant sent to De
Grasse-Tilly
who had some
time
previously
been
appointed
as
Inspector
General of
the Rite of Perfection for the French colonies in Amer-
ica to enable him to
establish,
in the Island of St. Do-
mingo,
a
Supreme
Council of the new rite. This
patent
conferred
upon
him the title of Lieutenant Commander of
the new
rite,
and is dated the 21st
February,
1802.
Having
little
hope
of
being recognized
as a Masonic
authority
in
America,
this new
power sought
the
recog-
nition of the different Masonic
powers
established in Eu-
rope; and,
with this
object,
it sent to all the Grand
Lodges
of
Europe
a
circular,
dated the llth of
December, 1802,
by
which it informed them of its
installation,
and
gave
them the names of the
degrees
which it conferred
itself,
and authorized its Grand Commander to confer in its
name.
The Grand
Lodge
of St. John of
Scotland,
located in
Edinburgh
which was
generally regarded, though wrong-
full}*,
as the mother
lodge
of all the Scotch
Rites,
and
which,
on this
account,
had the
greatest
interest in
pro-
testing against
this new creation was
indignant upon sight
of this
circular,
and,
in the
response
that it made
thereto,
declared "that such a number of
degrees
could not but
inspire
the most
profound surprise
in those
professing
Scottish
Masonry;
that it could never
recognize
such a
collection,
seeing
that it had
always preserved
the Scot-
tish Rite in the
simplicity
of its
primitive
institution,
and
that it would never
disarrange
its
system
in this
respect."
This Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
sitting
at
Edinburgh
and
directing
all the
lodges
of
Scotland, has,
in
fact,
never
practiced any
other rite but that of the three
symbolic
de-
J
See
History of Freemasonry
r
, by
Alexander Laurie
grees;
1
and,
upon many occasions,
it has
disowned,
in the
most formal
manner,
the charters and
patents
which have
been attributed to
it,
and"
by
which it was accused of hav-
ing
authorized the exercise of the
high degrees
called
Scottish. In view of this
fact,
we believe it to be im-
portant
and
necessary
to the better
understanding
of
Freemasonry every-where,
and to
dissipate
the
opinion
that
prevails upon
this
subject,
to here state that the
Grand
Lodge
of St. John of
Scotland,
sitting
at Edin-
burgh,
is an utter
stranger
to all the
systems
called Scot-
tish
Masonry, practiced
as w
v
ell in France as elsewhere in
Europe
and America.
2
1
The
regulations
that it
published
in 1836 were entitled "The Laws
and Constitutions of the Grand
Lodge
of the Ancient and Honorable
Fraternity
of Free and
Accepted
Masons of
Scotland;"
while article
four contained a
passage
thus
expressed:
"The Grand
Lodge
of Scot-
land
practices
no other
degree
of
Freemasonry
but those of
Apprentice,
Fellow-craft,
and Master Mason."
8
It was
by
a
patent
of this same Charleston Council father of all the
bastard children of
Freemasonry
that the first
Supreme
Council estab-
lished in Great Britain was
organized,
at
Dublin,
in 1808. The latter was
the
only Supreme
Council that existed on
English territory prior
to 1846.
In that
year, however,
there were
organized
one at London and another
at
Edinburgh.
The first was instituted
by
Dr.
Crucifix,
editor of the
Freemason's
Magazine, by authority
of a
patent
obtained
by
him from a
Supreme
Council
sitting
at New
York;
and the last was instituted
b*y
Walter Arnott
d'Arlary,
who fabricated for himself a
constituting power.
The title of this council
being
in
consequence disputed,
it was reconsti-
tuted on the 14th
July,
and installed on the
17th, by
the brother Mor-
rison of
Greenfield,
a member of the
Supreme
Council for
France,
who
was invested with
powers,
called
regular,
for this
purpose.
The most
deplorable
fact in
regard
to all these
creations,
the
regular
as well as the
irregular, is,
that
they
are
constantly fighting, criminating,
recriminating,
and
anathematizing
each other.
Thus,
the
Supreme
Coun-
cil at
Edinburgh (which
must not be confounded with the Grand
Lodge
of
Edinburgh,
the
only regular
Masonic
authority
in
Scotland,
and
which
recognizes
but the three
symbolic degrees,) declared, immediately
after its reconstitution in the manner
indicated,
that it would not
recog-
nize the letters or
diplomas emanating
from the
Supreme
Council at-
tached to the Grand Orient of
France;
and also
interrupted
all commu-
171
These
pretended high degrees,
into which have been in-
troduced the reveries of the
Templars,
the
speculations
of
the
mystics,
the
deceptions
of the
alchemists,
the
magii,
and
many
other idealists more or less
dreamy,
and the
greater
part
of which
repose upon legends
absurd and contra-
dictory
with the truths of
history,
are,
in
fact,
a mass of
informal and
undigested
matters. Those of the Scottish
Kite,
in
particular,
are a monument of
folly,
and which
would have been derided as nonsense
long ago
but for
man's
vanity,
which is
gratified by
the titles and decora-
tions of which this rite is the
parent.
After this
exposition
of the
origin
of the Scottish
(33d)
Kite,
let us cast our
eyes
over the condition of
Masonry
in
Paris, immediately
before this rite was
brought
to that
city by
the Count De
Grasse-Tilly.
The
compromise
which took
place,
in
1799,
between the
Grand
Lodge
and the Grand Orient of France had not
been
joined
in
by
all the
brethren,
and the intolerance ex-
hibited
by
the Grand Orient
gave
occasion to a consider-
nication with the
Supreme
Council of
Dublin,
until the latter had ceased
connection with the
Supreme
Council
established,
since
1815,
within the
Grand Orient of France. We have
already
stated how this
Supreme
Council of
Edinburgh
was healed. Since then it has set itself
up
to be
the most
regular
of all the
Supreme Councils,
and has declared schis-
matic the council in
London, which,
as we have
shown,
was established
by
virtue of a constitution delivered
by
the
Supreme
Council
existing,
in
1813,
at New York.
These
Supreme
Councils established in Great Britain
enjoy
but little
reputation
so
little, indeed,
that some brethren of merit who have been
elected
by
them
honorary members,
have refused to
accept
the distinc-
tion.
Unhappily,
this
mercenary creation,
as unmasonic as it is
illegal, has,
since
1846,
been extended into and has established its
Supreme
Coun.
cils in
many
countries The
Supreme
Council at Charleston was re-
vived in
1845,
after a
sleep
of
nearly forty years.
And
although
in no
case are the bodies
composing
the rite
recognized by
the Grand
Lodges,
they
are
by
the Grand
Orients,
which
confer,
in common with
them,
their
high degrees.
able number of those members of the Grand
Lodge,
who
did not wish to
recognize
the Grand
Orient,
to
reject
the
terms of the
compromise.
It was more
particularly
the
party
called Scottish who exhibited this
disposition
most
bitterly;
and their reason
was,
that as the Grand
Orient,
by
the terms of the
compromise, recognized only
a rite of
nit seven
degrees
the
highest
of which was that of Rose
Cross their
higher degrees,
with their decorations and de-
vices,
could not be worn
by
them or made available in the
assemblies or exhibitions of the
legislative body.
The Grand Orient acted in this
case,
as in
many others,
not as a Masonic
authority,
but as an
oligarchical power,
and excluded the Scottish Rite Masons from the
lodges
of
its
jurisdiction, by
an order dated the 12th
November,
1802. This new act of intolerance served no other
pur-
pose
than to irritate the brethren
excluded,
and was the
principal
reason that induced them to
propose founding
a
new Masonic
power.
Some
preparatory meetings
were
held,
and
many lodges
of
Paris,
and
particularly
the
Lodge
of St. Alexander of
Scotland,
embraced
openly
the cause
of the dissenters.
Following
these
inclinations,
there was at first formed a
new
authority,
established
by
virtue of a
patent
that a
brother named Hackett who had been a
notary
in St.
Domingo
had
brought
from
America,
and which had
been delivered to him
by
a
Supreme
Council
sitting
at NQW
York,
and
professing
the Rite of Perfection of
twenty-five
degrees
that
Stephen
Morin had taken to America in 176L
This
authority
took the title of
"
Supreme
Council of
America."
But some months afterward,
also from St.
Domingo,
the brother Count De
Grasse-Tilly
arrived,
bringing
with
him the
patent
of the
Supreme
Council of
Charleston,
and
the
history
of which we have
already given.
This
patent
conferred
upon
him the
right
to constitute
chapters,
coun-
cils,
and consistories in the leeward and windward
islands,
THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH
RITE, 173
that
is to
say,
in St.
Domingo
and the other French colo-
nies of America
; but,
in
consequence
of the
political
events
which,
occurring
about this
time,
occasioned the loss of
this
island to
France,
he had no
opportunity
of
realizing
his
projects.
He had then returned to
France, where,
re-
gardless
of the conditions of his
patent,
he announced
himself as
supreme
chief of a new
Masonry
of
thirty-three
degrees. Having
been informed of the
large body
of ex-
cluded brethren
who,
since 1802
being prohibited by
the
Grand Orient from
participating
in the
meetings
of the
fraternity
in
consequence
of their
refusal,
for the reasons
already given,
to
sign
the
compromise
of that
year
had
assembled themselves in a cellar of the Fisherman's
Walk,
he
approached
these
brethren,
and
immediately arranged
to
organize,
with these elements
and,
by
virtue of the
pat-
ent delivered to him on the 21st
February,
1802,
at Charles-
ton,
to constitute a Masonic
power,
under the
pompous
title of the
"Supreme
Council for France of
Sovereign
Grand
Inspectors
General of the 33d and last
degree
of
the Ancient and
Accepted
Scottish Rite." This
done,
on
the 22d of
October, 1805,
the new
authority organized
and
installed a Scottish Grand
Lodge,
as we have stated at the
beginning
of this
history.
1
1
We
regret
much to
find,
in a work that we consider as one of the
most
important among
tho?e
composing
the literature of
Freemasonry,
Btyled
"The
Philosophical History of Freemasonry" by
the brethren Kauff-
man and
Cherpin,
the
voluntary
omission these authors have
made,
contrary
to the
duty
of an
historian,
in not
mentioning
at this date
(1805)
the foundation of the Scottish Grand
Lodge,
nor that of the Su-
preme Council,
and in
feigning
to be
completely ignorant
that there ex-
isted at this time
any
Masonic
authority
in France of the name of Su-
preme
Council. If the brethren K. and C. have believed it their
duty
to
respect
the oath that
they
have taken to the Grand Orient to
recognize
it as the sole
legislative authority
of
Freemasonry
in
France,
and to not
admit that there can exist
any
other we shall not follow their
example,
first,
because we have not taken
any
such oath
; and, second,
because that
we believe it ever to be the
duty
of the
historian,
in his relation of
facts,
to flinch
not,
from
any
cause
whatever,
in his
object
of
relating
the truth.
174
As our view of
Masonry
is similar to that of these
brethren,
and as we
find ourself in communion with
them,
in a more or less
degree,
in
ideas,
sentiments,
and iri
nearly every
matter connected with the
institution,
we
are
truly pained
to find in their
book,
eo
praiseworthy
and meritorious
in almost
every respect,
the omission that we have
mentioned;
and,
in addition
thereto,
a
general partiality very significant
in favor of the
Grand Orient a
partiality
of which we
distinctly comprehend
the
good
ntention,
but which our conscience will not
permit
us to imitate. On the
contrary,
to seek the truth and to disseminate it with
courage,
has
always
been our motto. We believe that
Masonry
will be better served
by
speaking
the truth without
reserve, though
that annunciation
may
seem
to its
detriment,
than in
expressing
the
accepted
views of those
who,
like
the brethren K. and
C., may
have some reason or weakness for
failing
to
represent
facts as
they
know them.
REMARKS IN CONNECTION WITH THE FOREGOING HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF
BROTHER
REBOLD,
in his
preceding history
of a rite that
during
the
past
fifteen
years
has
gradually
increased in
importance
in
America,
can
not be said to have
gratified
the brethren who have
given
their
thoughts
and time to its dissemination in the United States or elsewhere. He has
given
us a
plain
narrative of unvarnished statements of
fact;
he has
proved conclusively
that this rite was either created
by parties
named
in
Charleston,
S.
C., or,
from the
twenty
five
degrees
of the Rite of Per-
fection as known in
1761,
and which Brother
Stephen
Morin
brought
to
America,
it
was,
in
1802,
there and
by
those
persons
extended to the
thirty-three degrees
of the
present
Ancient and
Accepted
Scottish
Rite;
and he has furnished most conclusive circumstantial evidence to
support
the belief entertained
by
at least
every
learned German Freemason in
America and
elsewhere,
that Frederick the Great never had
any
knowl-
edge
of the rite in its
present form,
whatever
knowledge
he
might
have
had of it as the Rite of Perfection of
lender these
circumstances,
the friends of the Ancient and
Accepted
Scottish Rite find themselves in the
predicament
Sir William Drummond
describes,
in his
preface
to
Origenes,
when he
says,
"In
questions
un-
connected with sacred and
important interests,
men are
rarely very
anx
ious to discriminate
exactly
between truth and fiction
;
and
few of
us
would, probably,
be much
pleased
with the
result,
could it now be
certainly
proved
that
Troy
never
existed,
and that
Thebes,
with its hundred
gates,
was no more than a
populous village.
It is
perhaps
still with a secret
wish to be convinced
against
our
judgment,
that we
reject
as fables the
175
t
stories
told us of the Grecian
Hercules,
or of the Persian Rustem
;
and
that we
assign
to the heroes and
giants
of
early
times the
strength and
stature
of
ordinary
men." So it is with our Ancient and
Accepted
Scot-
tish
Rite. It is
proven
to be neither an ancient rite nor one
accepted by
or
acceptable
to but a
very
small
portion
of the Masonic
Fraternity,
nor
is it a Scottish otherwise Jacobin
rite;
and
yet
we wish to be con-
vinced,
even
against
our
judgment,
that it comes
up
to the mark set
by
these
conditions,
because our
prejudices
have
long
cherished so
pleasing
an idea.
But, although
shorn of what has been considered its
brightest
attri-
bute, viz.,
its creation
by
Frederick the
Great;
and
although deprived
of
such
regal parentage by being proven, instead,
to be the
progeny
of five
mercenary
Israelites of
Charleston,
S.
C.,
the
rite,
so far as it can subserve
any
useful
purpose
in connection with
Freemasonry,
can not lose
any
of
its excellence. If its claims to
regal parentage
are not well
founded,
its
advocates are
maintaining
a
fallacy
in their advancement of such
claims,
and do
constantly
find themselves in a dilemma when
proofs
are de-
manded which it is
impossible
for them to
produce.
And as the case
has been
candidly
stated
by
Brother
Rebold,
and with the fewest
possible
offensive reflections
upon
the creators of the
rite,
and none at all
upon
those who its
present
friends and
patrons conscientiously
believe that
it i& calculated to confer
dignity upon Freemasonry,
no
exceptions
can be
taken to the
object
I have had in view in the translation and
publication
of this
work,
which was to disseminate the truth
1
with
regard
to
every
portion
of the
history
of
Freemasonry
in
Europe.
I
fear, however,
that the
patrons
as well as the
propagators
of the
rite,
in our own
day,
have
given
too much
significance,
in their
regards
for
it,
to that remark of
Horace,
in his "Ars
Poetica," beginning
with
"
Intererit multum Davusne
loquatur
an heros"
and not
enough
to whatever inherent excellence the rite itself
may pos-
sess. If this should be the
fact,
as a S. P. R.
S.,
I have no better
propo-
sition to
suggest
to the chiefs of the rite than the
following:
1. Remove all
equivocality
as to its
origin by excising
the
present
statements
upon
that
subject
from the
work, lectures,
and
history,
wher-
ever
they
occur
;
and.
2. Then take the
thirty degrees
of the rite
(all
of which are
given
in
America)
and
compress
them into
twenty-one,
which
done,
fit these
Iwenty-one
to the
present
American
system
or rite of twelve
degrees.
1
Brother Rebold has been
officially pronounced by
the
highest
Masonic au-
thority
in
France,
the Grand Orient
through
its
Deputy
Grand
Master,
the
Chevalier Heullant a careful and
impartial
Masonic historian.
By
this
arrangement,
all doubt as to the
origin
of what
might
then
be called the
Reformed
and
Accepted
American Rite
of Thirty-three
De-
grees
will be
removed,
and such rite
will,
in a short
time,
be
gener-
ally
understood and
appreciated
as a work
which, being necessary
for
the satisfaction and
unity
of the
Fraternity
in
America,
was undertaken
by enlightened
American
Freemasons,
and
successfully accomplished.
J. F. B.
A CONCISE HISTORY
OF THE
EGYPTIAN RITE OF
MISRAIM,
1
SINCE ITS
CREATION,
IN
1806,
AT
MILAN,
TO THE
PRESENT TIME.
IN a work
published
in
Paris,
in
1848,
under the title
of
"
The Masonic Order
of
Misraim" the brother Mark Be-
1
REFLECTIONS ON THE RITES OF MISRAIM AND MEMPHIS. The
history
of the Rite of
Misraim,
as also that of the Rite of
Memphis,
which we
are about to
record,
is calculated to
suggest
to
enlightened
Masons re-
flections of sadness in more than one connection. But it would be im-
possible
for us to
pass by
in silence these works of
feebleness,
of
error,
and of
pride,
inasmuch as the
profane
as well as the initiated
ought
to
be informed of the truth.
If the individuals who have created these rites were but
few, unhap-
pily
those who
participated
in the result of such aberrations of the hu-
man mind
may
be called a multitude. It is the
duty, therefore,
of the
historian to notice the side-tracks
upon
which these
jugglers
have at
times drawn our
institution,
in order that their
example may
teach
us,
and
preserve
us from
falling
into new errors.
That the
Jesuits,
that
powerful association,
aided
by
a
legion
of
active
emissaries,
should have been
enabled,
in the last
century,
to form
associations and
knightly
orders
enveloped
in Masonic
forms,
with the
intention of at first
turning
men aside from the
pure Masonry
of
Eng
land,
which extended itself
rapidly upon
the
continent,
and of which th
object
was
contrary
to their desires and
operations,
and
subsequently
to
extend their
dominion,
under cover of
Masonry,
to the re-establishment
of the
Stuarts,
is
nothing astonishing.
That some
impostors,
encour-
aged by
their
success, should,
in their
turn,
and in a
spirit
of
pecuniary
gain,
conclude to create rites and orders of
chivalry,
and,
having
found
12
(177)
darride,
Grand Conservator of this Masonic
heresy,
com-
mences its
history
in the
following
manner :
"Since the first
age
of the
world,
the
period
when our venerable
Order was created
by
the
All-Powerful,
no Grand Conservator has
ever taken the
pencil
to trace and reunite the
perfect plans
of his
scientific
labors,
and thus enrich the human race : some for the
want of the
necessary documents,
l
and others from the fear of
perjuring
themselves or of
impairing
in
any
manner the sublime
heritage
which
they
had been
delegated
to transmit to their dis-
ciples
in all its
purity.
But if these celebrated Grand Conserva-
tors,
[names
not
given,]
our
predecessors,
have not
performed
this
sacred
duty, they
have not failed to leave to their successors the
traditions of our
mysteries,
in
hieroglyphic
characters,
in a man-
lier
intelligible
to none but the
initiated,
and thus these documents
have been
preserved
from all
profane
indiscretions."
1
The reader will
easily comprehend
the cause of this dearth of
documents;
for, according
to the
language
of our
author, Adam,
installed
by
the "All-
Powerful" as the first Grand
Conservator,
could not have
bequeathed
the
manuscript
transactions of his direction of affairs of this
"
venerable Order"
to his
descendants, seeing
that he had not learned the useful
accomplishment
of
writing, hieroglyphically
or
otherwise,
and that he had no one to direct
in such transactions but
Eve,
his
wife,
and
subsequently
their children.
One
thing, however,
the author does not
explain,
and the omission on his
part
leaves us with a
very
feeble
comprehension
of the
matter;
and it is that
Adam,
or the
"All-Powerful," baptized
this order with the name of an
Egyp-
tian
king who,
if we take the
commonly
received Hebraic Genesis for au-
thority,
was born
eight
hundred
years
after Adam
appeared upon
the earth!
in France where a
passion
for the
chivalry
of the middle
ages
favored
their
projects
a
country propitious
to this
species
of
speculation,
did
create such rites and
orders,
is not difficult to
comprehend.
But this
which
appears inexplicable is,
that after
having recognized
the
illegiti-
mate source of all these rites and
high degrees,
of which the fabricators
had been
unmasked, hunted,
and
imprisoned
in
Germany;
after
having
reformed all these
rites, (between
1782 ami
1790,)
and
having
reduced
the numerous scale to
three, seven, ten, and,
at
most,
twelve
degrees,
Freemasons in the
present century
should have been the
dupes
of
jug-
glers
of a like
category,
and
accept
of individuals without
character,
without
legal
or
any
other
recognized public distinction,
new rites of
THE RITE OF MISRAIM.
179
Commencing
in this
manner,
the
author,
M.
Bedarride,
continues
the
history
of his "venerable
Order,"
traversing,
by
forced
marches,
whole series of
centuries,
and
stopping
every
two or three hundred
years
to indicate the existence
of some Grand
Conservators,
without
designating
where,
how,
or
by
what means
they
were initiated. He
pursues
this romance until the
beginning
of the
present century,
when he
begins
to make a little
history
;
but even of this
his recital is so much mutilated that he fails in his search
to discover the
truth,
though
he
attempts
to ascend to the
sources of his facts.
We deem it
impossible
to unite in one book a
greater
similar
va|ue,
but much more
extravagant,
the one
counting ninety
and
the other
ninety-five degrees
this is
utterly beyond
our
comprehension.
What makes the matter more
strange is,
that all
enlightened
Masons
of the
present
time know
very
well that true
Freemasonry
such as is
practiced by every
Grand
Lodge
in Great Britain and
America,
and such
as was
practiced by
the first and last National Grand
Lodges
of
France,
and the
operative lodges
under their
jurisdiction
is
composed
of but
three
degrees.
It is true
they
do not offer to the
initiate,
as do the rites
of the
higher degrees, gilt-lace
cords or brilliant decorations.
[The
au-
thor
very suddenly stops
here in his reflections. That he does so be-
cause he will not
believe, or, believing,
will not
say,
that men
enlight-
ened and
seriously
earnest in the business of
elevating
the condition
of the human race
by
means of
Masonry,
can be affected
by
these
"gilfc-
lace cords or brilliant
decorations,"
or that he
stops
so
suddenly
to al-
low his readers the
privilege
o
f
thus
believing
and of
finishing
his ab-
rupt period
with such a
conclusion,
I can not determine.
My
own
opin-
ion,
as one of his
readers,
is well known
to those for whom I wrote and
published
from 1858 to
1861;
and, though
it
may
be
unacceptable
to
some for whom I write at
present,
I will take the
liberty
of here ex-
pressing
it So
long
as human nature remains constituted as it
is, glitter
will attract and decorations will incite men to desire their
possession;
and it is a
pleasure
taken in the exhibition of the decorations
recognized
by
these rites and
orders,
as indicative of
higher
rank in
confessedly
a
phi-
losophical institution, and, presumably,
a
higher degree of intelligence,
rather than
any
actual
advantage
derived from the
possession
of their
degrees,
that induces wise and serious men to seek for and obtain
them.
TRANSLATOR.]
mass of absurdities than its author has collected and ex-
hibited in his
history
of this rite: and we believe we will
render our readers
good
service
by
not
fatiguing
them
with a refutation of all the inaccuracies with which this
book is filled.
Tt is
generally
believed in the Masonic world that the
brothers Mark and Michael
Bedarride,
who were the chiefs
of this
rite,
also were its inventors
;
but it has been re-
cently
discovered that
they
were but its
propagators.
Commencing by stating
that this rite is
composed
of an
aggregation
of monstrous
legends,
stolen from all the
rites,
including
those taken from the
Scottish, Martinist,
and
Hermitic
Kites,
we will add that after the
sixty-seventh
degree,
it runs but
upon
wheels
supplied by
Bible
subjects;
and that so
purely
is it Israelitish in its
bearings,
that it
would with more correctness be called the "Jewish" than
the
"Egyptian
Rite." "We also find that this collection
of
degrees
is divided into four
series,
in manner similar
with the rite called
Egyptian,
created
by Joseph Balsamo,
surnamed
Cagliostro,
l
which had been
professed by
the
mother
lodge
"
Wisdom
Triumphant,"
founded
by
him at
Lyons,
in
1782. This
Egyptian
Rite
2
had but an
ephem-
eral existence
;
and it is
probable enough
that some of
Cagliostro's
rituals have served to
complete
the
deplorable
work of the Rite of
Misraim,
whose author was the brother
Lechangeur
of
Milan,
as we shall
proceed
to demonstrate.
A Grand Orient of
Italy
had been founded at Milan
1
This
extraordinary man,
born at Palermo in
1743, acquired
a celeb-
rity rarely
attained
by impostors.
Arrested at Rome on the 25th Decem-
ber, 1789,
he was condemned to death
by
the
Holy
Office on the 21st
March,
1791
;
but Pius VI commuted his
punishment
to
perpetual
im-
prisonment
in the castle of St.
Angelo,
where he died.
2
Cagliostro,
in a
voyage
that he made to
London, bought
a manu-
script
which
belonged
to a man named G.
Coston,
in which he found
the
plan
of a
Masonry
founded
upon
a
system
which was
part magical,
part cabalistic,
and
part superstitious.
From this work he
arranged
the
plan
of his
Egyptian
Rita
181
shortly
after the
organization
of that at
Naples,
and the
prince
Eugene
Beauharnais had been invested with the
dignity
of Grand Master. Some
superior officers,
resident
at
Milan,
who had been
initiated,
in
Paris,
into the
high
degrees
of the Scottish
(33d)
Rite,
resolved to establish a
Supreme
Council of that
rite,
at the
suggestion
of breth-
ren,
in Paris. A
person
named
Lechangeur,
an officer or
master of an
operative
lodge
in
Milan,
demanded to be-
come a
party
in this
arrangement,
and his demand was
complied
with.
They
conferred
upon
him certain
degrees;
but
having
some motive for
keeping
him out of the or-
ganization
of their
Supreme
Council,
the^
refused to
give
him the
superior degrees.
Vexed at this
refusal,
Lechan-
geur
informed the members of this
Supreme
Council that
he would
get
the better of
them,
in
creating
a rite of
ninety degrees,
into which he should not admit them.
He
accomplished
his threat in
fact,
and it is to him that
is to be attributed the creation of this
self-styled
oriental
rite.
The first
thing Lechangeur
did,
after
having
elaborated
his
rite,
was to elevate himself to the
highest
office
recog-
nized
by
it in this
respect imitating
all the other fabri-
cators of rites that of
"
Superior
Grand Conservator of
the Order of
Misraim,"
and in this
capacity
to deliver
patents
of
authority
to all who offered to
propagate
this
new rite to his
profit.
These
delegates, being
thus author-
ized,
were confined in their
operations
to the
organization
of
chapters
in the cities of the Italian
peninsula,
more
particularly
to
Naples;
and those
chapters
should,
in their
turn,
create
delegates,
and deliver to them
patents
of au-
thority,
to their
profit.
We will now
explain
how and
by
whom this Rite of
[israim was first introduced into France.
Bro. Michael
Bedarride,
a native of
Cavaillon,
in the de-
irtment of
Vaucluse,
and
belonging
to the Jewish re-
gion,
was initiated into
Freemasonry
on the 5th of
July,
1802. in the
lodge
"Candor,"
at
Cezena,
in
Italy,
and affili-
ated,
in the
year
1805,
with the
lodge
"Mars and
Themis,"
in
Paris,
which conferred
upon
him,
as it did also
upon
his
brother,
Mark
Bedarride,
the
degree
of Master.
Michael
Bedarride,
who was a merchant in
Naples,
obtained the
position
of
commissary
of subsistence in the
service of the Italian
army, upon
the staff of which
army
his brother Mark had a
position. During
their
sojourn
in
Italy,
the two brothers had affiliated with several
lodges
of
that
country.
On the 3d
December, 1810,
through
the in-
tervention of one of the
patentees
of
Lechangeur,
Michael
Bedarride obtained a similar
patent, authorizing
him to
confer the
degrees
of the Misraimites
up
to the 73d
degree.
Subsequently,
at
Milan,
he received of the brother Lechan-
geur
himself an increase of the
degrees,
and a
patent,
dated 25th
June, 1811,
conferring upon
him the
degree
of
"
Grand
Hazsid,"
or 77th
degree,
with the
right
of con-
ferring
all the
degrees
to that
point.
A similar
patent
had
already
been
delivered,
on the 3d of
January,
1810,
by
Lechangeur
to Mark Bedarride.
It seems
that,
for some reason not
known,
the brother
Lechangeur
did not wish the brothers Bedarride to
possess
the
degree
of
"
Grand
Conservator,"
or 90th
degree,
of his
rite; but,
notwithstanding,
the
possession
of this
degree
became
absolutely necessary,
to enable them to succeed in
their
projects.
With this
object,
Michael Bedarride ad-
dressed a
delegate
named
Polack,
an Israelite resident at
Venice
who,
usurping
the
rights
claimed
by Lechangeur,
had
proclaimed
himself
Superior
Grand
Conservator,
or
independent
Grand Master and obtained of this
person,
on the 1st
September,
1812,
a
patent conferring upon
him
the title he so
greatly
desired. This
document, however,
did not
appear
to be
sufficiently
authoritative for his
pur-
pose,
as it bore but one
signature,
and
consequently
lacked
evidences of
authenticity
; for,
immediately
after the death
of
Lechangeur
he
sought
at the hands of the brother
183
Theodore
Gerber,
of Milan to whom
Lechangeur
had be-
queathed
the
powers
he had
given
to himself another
patent.
The
application
was
successful,
and on the 12th
October, 1812,
Michael Bedarride
procured
this new au-
thority, signed by
Theodore
Gerber,
and
conferring upon
Michael Bedarride the title of
Superior
Grand Conservator
of the Order of Misraim in
Italy.
Besides the
signature
of
Gerber,
this document bore also the
signatures
of Mark
Bedarride, who,
as we have
shown,
had not then obtained
but the 77th
degree,
and seven or
eight
other brethren who
were
reputed
to
compose
the
u
Sovereign
Grand Council
of the 90th
degree
of the Grand Masters
absolute;"
and
it is
by
virtue of the
powers
that
they having arrogated
to
themselves,
in concert with the chief of this
rite,
that
they delegated
to Michael Bedarride the same
powers
and
all their
supreme rights
as therein
expressed by
this
pat-
ent,
to
"
create, form, regulate,
dissolve,
whenever
desirable,
lodges, chapters, colleges, directories,
synods, tribunals,
consistories, councils,
and
general
councils of the Oeder of
Misraim" a
prerogative
that this
brother,
as therein ex-
pressed,
has merited
"
by
the most
profound study of
the
sciences,
and the most sublime
practice of every
virtue that is
known to but a
very
small number
of
the elect
inviting
all
brethren,
of
every degree
and
every
rite,
to assist the
puissant
and venerable Grand
Conservator,
Michael Bedar-
ride,
with their
council,
their credit and their
fortune,
him
and the
rejected
of his
race," etc.,
etc.
It is
by
virtue of this curious
document,
which we con-
eider it
unnecessary
further to
explain,
that the brother
Michael
Bedarride,
through
the
organ
of his brother Mark
Bedarride,
announced
himself,
in
Paris,
chief of this self-
rityled
Oriental, Ancient,
and Sublime
Order, which,
he
says,
is the stem of all the Masonic rites in
existence,
al-
though
he must have
suspected by
whom it had been fab-
ricated. The text of this
proclamation
affords some idea
of the
arrogance
of these Jewish
Masons,
and recalls to
our mind the five
Masons,
also
Jews, who,
at
Charleston,
fabricated the Scottish Rite of
thirty-three degrees;
and
had it not been for the success of which the Rite of Mis-
raim never would have seen the
light,
and but for which
the obstacles to the
unity
of
Freemasonry
in
France,
as
well as in other
countries,
would have been
easily
re-
moved.
When the brother Mark
Bedarride,
then a retired officer
of the
army
of
Italy,
arrived in Paris in
1813,
where he
was
joined shortly
afterward
by
his brothers Michael and
Joseph Bedarride,
the latter of whom had
also,
at
Naples,
received some
patents
from a
delegate patented by
Le-
changeur,
these three brothers found four others two of
whom were named
respectively Joly
and Gaborea who
had likewise
procured
in
Italy
some
patents
which con-
ferred
upon
them also the
right
of
creating lodges,
coun-
cils, etc., up
to the ninetieth
degree
;
while the other
two,
named
respectively
Garcia and
Decollet,
bore
patents
giving,
them
authority
to the
seventy-seventh degree.
As
the brothers Bedarride had decided to fix their residence
in Paris for the
purpose
of
working up
this new branch
of
Masonry,
the
competitors
whom we have named incom-
moded them in the execution of their
project. Having
arranged
matters with
them,
they
next
proceeded
to ob-
tain the
protection
of the brother Count Muraire. Suc-
ceeding
in this as in the
other,
Michael Bedarride was
not
long
in
gaining
the consent of several other
brethren,
nearly
all of whom were members of the
Supreme
Coun-
cil of the Scottish
(33d)
Rite,
among
whom we
may
name
Count
Lallemand,
Thory,
Colonel
Martin,
Count
Chabran,
General
Monier,
Barbier de
Finant,
the Chevalier Chalon
de
Collet, Yidal,
Perron,
General
Teste, etc.,
to receive
the
highest degrees
of the
rite,
in order to enable him to
organize
a
Supreme
Council of the ninetieth
degree,
nec-
essary
for the definite establishment of the
Supreme
Power
of the Order for France. On the 9th of
April,
1815,
the
THB RITE OP MISRAIM.
185
brothers
Bedarride,
taking
the title of Grand
Conservators
of the
Order,
issued their
circular,
by
which
they
declared
"the
supreme power
constituted in the
valley
of Paris to
govern
the Masonic Order of Misraim
upon
all the
globe"
and,
the reader will
carefully
observe
"
for France
by
the
Supreme
Council of Most Wise Grand Masters for life of
the 90th and last
degree."
It will be
observed,
in
pass-
ing,
that all the decisions of this council could be revoked
by
the
Superior
Grand Conservator of the
Order,
con-
formably
to the constitution that he had
given,
in his ca-
pacity
of
autocrat,
to the future Misraimite
people.
To make
acceptable
a rite with a scale of
degrees
so
numerous,
and of which the chiefs had
given
themselves
titles so
pompous, certainly
no
city
of the world afforded
better facilities than
Paris,
the center of all
folly
and
extravagance,
as well as of much that was
really great.
We will here observe that the
ninety degrees composing
the Rite of Misraim should have
comprised every
known
science,
divided into four
series,
forming
seventeen classes.
The first series was called
symbolic,
the second
philosophic,
the third
mystic,
and the fourth cabalistic. After this clas-
sification,
the
neophytes, upon
their initiation into the dif-
ferent
degrees,
should have received instruction
embracing
all that was known of the sciences involved in each series.
Such a course of instruction
would,
if
faithfully given,
have been
frightful
to
any
earnest
mind,
so
imposing
a task
being
so much
beyond
the
grasp
of an
ordinary
human life.
But,
in
reality,
the
neophyte
had
nothing
to fear from this vast
vocabulary
;
it was
merely
a recital
of fables more or less
absurd,
and embraced not a word of
science or
philosophy
outside of what truths were
implied
in the first
symbolic degrees.
How could it be otherwise?
The brothers
Bedarride,
no more than the creator of the
rite,
Lechangeur
not
possessing
even the most
elementary
notions of the sciences enumerated in their four series and
seventeen classes of
degrees
could
not,
in
consequence,
teach to others what
they
did not know themselves.
After
taking possession
of this
prospectively
lucrative
field of
labor,
the brothers Bedarride found the
great-
est
difficulty
in
organizing
a
working lodge
;
for France
was then in
mourning. However,
with
great
labor,
they
succeeded in
establishing
a first
lodge,
the
"Rainbow,"
which became the mother
lodge
of the rite
;
but it did not
enter
upon
active
duty
until the month of
June,
1816.
Then the
proselytes quickly augmented.
The brethren
Baucalin de
Laroste,
the chevalier
Larrey,
Auzon, Ragon,
Clavet-Gaubert, Redarets, Chasseriau,
and
Beaurepaire
be-
came
Misraimites,
and
immediately
constituted themselves
into a new
lodge,
of which the
meetings
were most brill-
iant,
under the name of
"Disciples
of Zoroaster." In this
assembly
the brother Dr.
Ganal,
who
presided,
and who
understood,
much better than the brothers
Bedarride,
the
exigencies
of the
rite,
called to his aid
physic
and chem-
istry
to render his initiations
imposing,
and thus succeeded
in
gathering
in
many
new members.
When
they
arrived in
Paris,
the brothers Bedarride had
only
some
incomplete
rituals which
they
had
copied
from
those in the
possession
of the
persons
who
gave
them the
degrees,
and not one of the
ninety
lectures which the rite
required
to
explain
its
degrees
;
for neither
Lechangeur
nor Gerber
possessed
them. To
produce these,
the breth-
ren Mealet and
Joly,
erudite and
capable men,
drew
upon
their
imaginations.
So
slowly, however,
did these lectures
appear,
that in 1816
they
were enabled to exhibit but
ten,
having
borrowed from the
lodge "Hope,"
at
Berne,
the
lectures of the first three
degrees,
and these alone
express-
ing
all of a Masonic
spirit
which the rite exhibited
;
and
thus,
like the Grand Orient and the
Supreme
Council,
they jumped,
in their
initiations,
from the third to the
eighteenth,
and from the
eighteenth
to the
thirtieth,
or
twelve
degrees
at a time. The brothers Bedarride were
THE BITE OF MISRAIM.
187
obliged,
for the reasons that wo have
indicated,
to confer a
series of
degrees
at a
time,
giving
it as their reason that
such a course was most
convenient,
and
explaining
the in-
termediate
degrees
as best
they
could.
From the
beginning, grave
abuses
appeared
in the ad-
ministration as conducted
by
the brothers Bedarride. The
members of the
rite,
tired with
submitting
to the
caprices
of the three Israelitish
chiefs,
demanded a code of laws.
They openly
accused the Grand Conservators of
making
a
scandalous traffic in
communicating
the
degrees,
and,
in
fact,
of
speculating
with the rite as a
manufacturing prop-
erty,
and
seeking
to retire the
principal part
of the
profits
to their own
use,
though they
had shown a laudable desire
to hide such a diversion of the funds. Then a certain
number of brethren resolved to create a new
power,
founded
upon
the
plenary powers
which the brother
Joly
had received at
Milan, and,
with a number of the dissatis-
fied,
they
did form a
Supreme
Council of
ninety degrees,
composed
of the said
Joly,
an
author,
the brethren
Auzon,
private secretary
to His
Majesty King
Charles
IY,
Gabo-
rea,
a clerk in the Bureau of
Finance, Mealet,
Secretary
of the
Academy
of
Sciences,
Eagon,
chief of the Staff Bu-
reau of the National
Guard, Richard,
Lange,
Decollet,
Am
adieu,
Pigniere,
and
Clavet-Gaubert,
colonel of
artillery.
In
September, 1816,
this new
organization requested
permission
to rank under the
jurisdiction
of the Grand
Orient, and,
to allow them to do
so, proposed
to abandon
the administration of the first two series of the
rite,
com-
prising sixty-six degrees,
and reserve to themselves but
the
power
to control those from
sixty-seven
to
ninety.
Some commissioners were named on the
part
of each
body
to
arrange
the
particulars
;
but the Grand
Orient,
though
at first
very
well
disposed
to conclude the
arrangement,
after a more mature examination of
it, rejected
the
propo-
sition on the 14th
January,
1817, and,
on the 27th of the
following
December,
addressed to the
lodges
of its corre-
188 GENERAL HISTORY OP FREEMASONRY.
spondence
a
circular,
by
the terms of which it
prohibited
them from
receiving
the members of the Rite of Misraim
in their assemblies.
Unlike the
generality
of such documents as issued
by
the Grand
Orient,
the motives
expressed
in this edict were
logical.
It stated that "the
patentees
had not furnished
the titles
required
to authenticate the
origin
and the au-
thenticity
of the Rite of
Misraim;
that the assertion of its
introduction into
Italy,
under the
pontificate
of Leo
X,
in
the sixteenth
century, by Jamblicus,
a
platonic philosopher
who lived in the fourth
century,
eleven hundred
years
be-
fore Leo
X,
was destructive in the nature of
dates;
that
this rite was never
practiced
at Alexandria nor at
Cairo,
as
it
pretended
to
be, etc.,
etc.
;
that for these reasons this rite
could not be admitted into the Grand Orient."
l
The Grand
Orient
having
thus
brought
to
public
notice the
irregular-
ity
of the
powers
claimed
by
the brothers
Bedarride,
the
latter
sought,
as much as it was
possible,
to
destroy
the
doubts thus
engendered.
Michael Bedarride
had,
on the
3d
May,
1816,
exhibited a
document,
signed by
seven breth-
ren,
which detailed all the Masonic titles he had
obtained;
that
is,
the dates of his
receipt
of them in
Italy
;
but this
document,
though
in it he was named
"Superior
Grand
Conservator,"
gave
him no
legal power;
and to meet this
contingency
it was
necessary
to
produce
another document.
This latter soon
appeared, signed by
thirteen brethren of
the
rite,
and
among
them the Count De
Grasse-Tilly,
founder of the
Supreme
(33d)
Rite
at
Paris,
the Count
Muraire,
the Count
Lallemand,
the
Duke of St.
Aignan,
the Chevalier
Lacoste,
etc. These
brethren in this
patent styled
themselves
"Sovereign
Grand
Masters absolute of the Rite of
Misraim,"
a title which
had been conferred
by
Michael
Bedarride,
after he had or-
*It is to be
regretted
that similar
cogent
reasons did not
exclude,
in
1862,
the Rite of
Memphis
from admission into that
body.
THE RITE OP MISRAIM.
189
ganized
his Grand Council of
ninety degrees;
and it was
by
virtue of the
powers
which this title
conferred,
and
with which
they
had been invested
by
Michael
Bedarride,
that
they,
in their
turn,
by
means of this
patent,
bestowed
upon
him the title and
powers
of
Supreme
Grand Con-
servator of the Order for France.
The new
patent
which we have
just
mentioned waa
dated the 7th of
September,
1817
; but,
unlike the
other,
it
bore no mark of
having
been
produced
at
Milan,
and this
fact somewhat invalidated its use at
Paris;
nevertheless,
as the brothers Bedarride had the whole world to
operate
in,
this circumstance
merely
induced them to
change
slightly
the field of their
operations.
In
1818,
Joseph
turned
up
at
Brussels,
and Michael in Holland. It would
appear,
however,
that the means which
they employed
were not the most
laudable; for,
upon
the 18th of Novem-
ber, 1818,
the Prince
Frederick,
Grand Master of the
Netherland
lodges,
addressed a circular to all the
lodges
of that
country, pointing
out the brothers
Bedarride,
who
by
that time were
running
about the
kingdom,
as dishon-
orable
men, who,
to attain their
objects,
had recourse to
very reprehensible
tricks and means
unworthy
of true Ma-
sons,
and which had
already brought
them into discredit
at Paris. This circular wound
up
its
charges
with inter-
dicting
the exercise of the Rite of Misraim in all the
lodges
under his
authority,
and
supported
this interdiction
with the reasons advanced
by
the Grand Orient of France
on the 29th
December, 1817,
and which we have men-
tioned.
Notwithstanding
these
prohibitions
;
notwithstanding
all
the difficulties which
opposed
them,
the brothers Bedar-
ride succeeded in
establishing
in
Paris,
besides the
lodges
"
Rainbow" and
"
The
Disciples
of
Zoroaster,"
four other
lodges, namely,
"
The Twelve
Tribes,"
"The
Disciples
of
Misraim,"
"The
Burning
Bush,"
and "The Children of
Apollo,"
all of which were in active
operation
toward the
close of the
year
1818. This increase of
lodges permitted
them to
give,
on the 19th
January,
1819,
a brilliant feast
of
Adoption,
which was
presided
over
by
the Count Mu-
raire and the Countess of Fouchecourt.
Notwithstanding
their
seeming
success,
the brothers Bedarride were con-
stantly
at war with their own
lodges,
which
complained
of
their administration and demanded an account of the
funds. The brothers
responded
to these demands
by
ex-
pelling
the most clamorous of the claimants. It was thus
that,
by
the decision of a
self-styled Council,
which the
brothers Bedarride directed as
they wished,
bearing
date
the 15th
August,
the brethren
Marie, Richard, Chasseriau,
Beaurepaire, Ragon,
Mealet,
and
Joly
were
expelled
from
the rite. But this
despotism
but increased the
indigna-
tion. The
lodge "Disciples
of Zoroaster"
separated
itself
from the Rite of Misraini
by
a unanimous
decision,
dated
the 30th of
April,
1819.
In the minutes of this
occasion,
and which this
lodge
published
at the
time,
the motive for
separation
is thus ex-
pressed
:
1.
They
had
vainly
called for the correction of
many
articles,
contained in the
general regulations,
in conse-
quence
of their
despotic
and
unsatisfactory
character
; and,
2. The
suppression
of the word
"
absolute" in connec-
tion with the title of
"
Sovereign
Grand Master
;" as,
"
in
the
present century,
such a distinction is a
usurpation
and
an offense to free men."
3. In
nearly
all of the
general regulations
the Grand
Conservator has
arrogated
to himself
powers
as obscure as
they
are
arbitrary.
4.
And, finally, according
to a
judgment
of the tribunal
of commerce of the
Seine,
the firm of
Joseph
Bedariide &
Co.,
(the
brothers Mark and Michael were the associates
not
named,) living
in Moon
street,
at No.
37,
was in a con-
dition of
open bankruptcy.
This
proceeding
was
signed by
the
Worshipful
Master
191
and
by
all the officers of the
lodge,
to the
number of
twenty.
The
supreme power
confined itself to
striking
the
AVorshipful Master, and, by
an edict dated llth
June,
1819,
Dr. Ganal was
expelled.
The mother
lodge
"
Rainbow" also revolted
against
the
administration of the Grand
Conservators,
which its mem-
bers
unanimously
declared to be most
deplorable,
and
brought
this declaration before the chiefs of the
Order,
in
the
hope
that
they
would
require
the brothers Bedarride
to render an account of the
receipts
and
expenses.
In the
position
in which
they
found
themselves,
the
brothers Bedarride could not
satisfy
the demands which
were addressed to them in connection with the
finances,
because the revenues of all kinds which
they
received
through
their connection with the rite were
necessary
to
pay
their debts and
support
their
personal expenses.
They,
in
consequence,
made use of their
omnipotence
to
declare all the members of the
lodge
"
Rainbow,"
who had
taken
part
in the revolt
against them,
as disturbers of the
peace
of the Order
;
and this
done,
they
dissolved the
lodge
for the
purpose
of
reconstructing
it with more non-dissent-
ing
materials,
and its
president,
the Count
Lallemand,
sharing
the fortunes of the
opposing members, by
an edict
of the Grand
Council,
of 7th
July, 1810,
was
expelled.
It is
necessary
and
proper
here to state that the brothers
Bedarride based their refusal to render an account of the
revenues of the rite
upon
the statement that
they
had
withdrawn but sufficient to cover the interest of the
capi-
tal which
they pretended
to have
spent
in
organizing
the
rite in
Paris,
l
together
with what
they
were
properly
en-
titled to for
conducting
the affairs of the Order.
1
To
support
this statement the brethren exhibited an
account,
which
was dated the llth
June, 1818,
for the sum of
$550,
incurred
by
them
for
engravings, cyphers, diplomas, etc.,
and indorsed as correct
by
among
other members of the
General^Council
of the ninetieth
degn
the Count Muraire.
The
lodges founded,
in
1818,
in the Low Countries hav-
ing enjoyed
but an
ephemeral
existence,
the brothers
Michael and
Joseph
Bedarride
again
withdrew from
Paris,
in
1820,
to
propagate
their rite.
They
first
appeared
in
England,
from whence Michael went to the Low Countries
and
Joseph
to
Switzerland,
In 1821 and 1822
they
made
other
voyages
into the
departments
of
France,
and about
the close of the latter
year they
had
organized
twelve
lodges,
with several
councils,
all of
which,
like the
former,
lived but a short time.
1
The
progress
made
by
the brothers Bedarride in the
propagation
of their
rite,
although
slow,
nevertheless dis-
quieted
the Grand
Orient,
and that
authority
labored to
interrupt
it. The circular edict
already
mentioned,
with
another,
dated the 21st
December, 1821,
not
having
ar-
rested,
either in Paris or in the
provinces,
the creation of
Misraimite
lodges,
the Grand Orient continued to
pro-
nounce
severely against
the brethren who had embraced
their cause.
Thus,
at the solstitial
feast,
celebrated the
24th
June,
1822,
the brother
Richard,
orator of the Grand
Orient
who,
in
1817,
had been advanced to the
highest
degrees
of the Rite of
Misraim,
and
consequently
had taken
a solemn
oath,
2
written
by
his own
hand,
of the most abso-
lute
fidelity
to that
Order,
but who
subsequently
had been
stricken from the list of members made a
long report
against
the
system
of the brothers
Bedarride,' etc.,
and
concluded
by urging
the Grand Orient to close the meet-
ings
of the
Misraimites,
as
irregular, illicit,
and
dangerous,
and to renew its edict of
interdiction,
enforcing compliance
lr
rhe author here
gives
the names and locations of these
lodges,
etc.;
but as
they
are all
extinct,
we believe our readers will not miss their
omission. TRANSLATOR.
8
The author here
gives
a
transcript
of this oath
;
but as the transla-
tion of this
transcript
would be offensive to members of the rite in
America,
and in nowise beneficial to those who are
not,
I
respectfully
suppress
it. TRANSLATOR.
193
with the
same,
under most severe
penalties.
n this
report
we
find, among
others
equally severe,
the
following pas-
sage
:
it
* * *
But toleration has a
limit,
the Grand Orient has
duties to
perform,
and
longer
silence to the call of such duties
would render this
legislative body
amenable to the
charge
of com-
plicity
in the disorders which have
distinguished
the administra-
tors of the Rite of Misraim. These
men, who,
investing
them-
selves with functions which
they
hold to be the most
important
of an
Order that
they proclaim superior
to all Masonic
rites, forgetful
of
their
dignity,
run over the
departments
of this
kingdom,
armed
with their
ninety degrees,
which
they
offer to all
purchasers
at
any
price
and in the most
public places,
and
thus, by
their
mysteri-
ous
forms, compromise
the
state,
as also the
security, honor,
and
even
peace
of our
citizens,
trouble the
repose
of the
magistrates,
awaken the attention of the authorities intrusted with the secu-
rity
of the
state, and,
above
all, provoke
such
suspicions
of their
designs
as cause
them,
in their travels from
city
to
city,
to be
sometimes
imprisoned
: these are excesses committed
by
men call-
ing
themselves
Masons,
for
which,
it is
true, they
can not be im-
peached,
but for which
they
should be held
up
to the
indignation
of
every worthy brother," etc.,
etc.
We believe that this
report exaggerated
facts in some
of its
particulars.
The
report
of this
feast,
including
the
protest
of Brother
Richard,
was sent to all the
lodges
and even to the
public
authorities. The
latter,
desirous of
assuring
themselves of
the truth or falsehood of these accusations of the Grand
Orient,
ordered the
police
to
investigate
the
subject;
and
the
latter,
for this
purpose,
made a descent
upon
the dwell
ing
of the brother Mark
Bedarride,
on the 7th
September,
1822;
but a minute examination thereof elicited no
charge,
except
a
slight
one underlhe terms of the
penal
code bear-
ing upon persons assembling
themselves
together
for secret
purposes.
For this the brother Bedarride and some others
13
held themselves to answer on the 18th
January,
1823,
and
submitted to some small fine. The
result, however,
of the
general
dissemination
among
the
lodges
of the
report
of
the
feast,
was to induce the authorities to close the
lodges
of the rite in Paris and those in the
provinces,
to the num-
ber,
in
all,
of seventeen
;
and
they
remained in this condi-
tion until 1831.
During
this
long period
the brother Mark Bedarride re-
mained
unemployed.
After the revolution of
1830,
he
sought
for restoration to the
military
rank he had in
1814;
but he failed in this
object.
From the Minister of the
Interior, however,
he obtained
permission
to
reopen
the
lodges
of his rite.
From that
auspicious
moment the two brothers Mark
and Michael Bedarride made strenuous efforts to avail
themselves of the
advantages
of this
permission.
Their
first act was to inform the
partisans
of the rite of the
happy
circumstances which once more allowed the
lodges
to resume their
labors,
and to demand that all the
repre-
sentatives of the rite assemble the divers classes of the
Order,
and forward a list of their
members, accompanied
by
a
gift
of
thirty
cents for each
brother,
as a
voluntary
offering
of dues for the
years
in
arrear,
or those
during
which the
lodges
had been closed.
The
primary meetings
of the old
lodges
took
place
at
No. 41 St.
Mary
street,
and the brothers Bedarride suc-
ceeded in
reconstructing,
under their
original
names,
the
lodges
"
Rainbow,"
"
Pyramids,"
and
"
Burning
Bush."
This reconstruction
accomplished,
the chiefs
judged
it nec-
essary
to
prevent
the attacks to which their administration
had been
subjected, and,
for this
purpose, convoking
the
brethren
composing
the General
Council,
they
directed
195
the
recognition
in their own favor of an account for
services,
etc.,
amounting
to
$20,550.
l
Thus the
account,
which in 1818 was but
$550,
had been
increased
to $20,550,
as well
by
the interest which had ac-
crued
upon
the
original
sum as
by
the additional
grants
claimed,
to the extent of
$12,000,
for administration of the
affairs of an Order while its
lodges
were closed and its busi-
ness
totally suspended.
As a set-off to this
demand,
the
sums received
by
the brothers Bedarride for fees and
diplo-
mas from 1816 to
1822,
while the
lodges
were in
operation,
ought
to have amounted to a
very
handsome
figure,
and
they
did,
as
they appeared
in the cash-book of the
brothers;
but the whole of this amount was
absorbed,
as further
ap-
peared by
the
same,
in
defraying
the rent of
lodge-rooms,
etc.,
and all other
necessary running expenses,
for nineteen
years.
To
put
an end to all further
disputes upon
the sub-
ject,
the chiefs of the rite
prepared
an oath to be admin-
istered,
sine
qua non,
to the
receipt
of the
higher degrees,
by
which
every
member
taking
such
degrees obligated
himself in
language very enigmatical,
but the real mean-
ing
of which was to never
question
in
any manner,
under
penalty
of
being
blotted from the list of honorable menx-
1
This sum of
$20,550
was made
up
in the
following
manner:
1. Amount, of the
obligation
of llth
June,
1818
2,735
fr. 37
17
years'
interest at 5
per
cent,
per
annum
2,324
fr. 93
5,060
fr. 30
2. Claim of
2,500
fr.
per
annum from the 25th
May, 1816,
to 25th
May,
18226
years 15,000
00
6
years'
interest at 5
per
cent,
per
annum
4,600
00
19,500
00
3. Claim of
3,500
fr.
per annum,
from the 27th
May, 1822,
to 27th
May,
18287
years 24,500
00
7
years'
interest at 5
per
cent,
per
annum
6,475
00
30,975
00
4. Claim of
5,000
fr.
per annum,
from the 27th
May, 1828,
to the 27th
May,
18357
years....- 85,000
00
7
years'
interest at 5
per
cent,
per
annum
12,250
00
47,250
00
Total
102,785
fr. 30
bership,
the
accuracy
of this account or the
justness
of its
claims.
1
When this matter was thus
arranged,
the Council made
it conditional that the brothers Bedarride should render
true accounts from that time of all their
receipts
and ex-
penses,
to the end that the excess of the former should be
appropriated
to the reduction of their account
against
the
Order of
Misraim,
and the same be
liquidated
at as
early
a
day
as
possible.
It is a sacred
principle
in
Freemasonry that,
with the
exception
of the office of
Secretary
of a
lodge,
or Grand
Secretary
of a Grand
Lodge,
all other offices are filled
gra-
tuitously
and for the honor
they
confer
upon
the incum-
bent. This
being
a fact well
known,
it is not difficult to
decide,
from what we have
shown,
that the
charges
made
against
the brothers
Bedarride,
of
speculating
w
r
ith their
rite,
were not devoid of foundation.
Notwithstanding
the
activity
of the brothers
Bedarride,
their rite has made but little
progress
since that time. It
has but a sort of
vegetating
existence in
Paris,
and it is
extinct
every-where
else in which
they
succeeded in
plant-
ing
it. A
great many
eminent
men,
whose names
figure
upon
the list of
membership,
have
long
since withdrawn
from
it,
and others have died.
They
never
did,
in
fact,
take
any
active
part
in the labors of the
rite,
and the ma-
jority
of them had not even assisted at a
single meeting
of Misraimites :
they
had
accepted
the
high degrees
offered
them
simply
because their
pompous
titles tickled their
vanity.
The brothers Bedarride had never
expected
to
derive
any advantage
from
conferring
their
degrees upon
such
men, except
that which their names would afford in
the
propagation
of their rite
among strangers.
When we
look over the list of
membership, published
in
1822,
we are
author
gives
the text of this
oath;
but,
for the reason
already
given,
I do not translate it. TRANSLATOR.
197
astonished to find thereon so
great
a number of
distin-
guished persons,
and
occupying
the
highest
social
positions.
Such of these brethren as
belonged
to the
Supreme
Coun-
cil or the Grand Orient of France never allowed them-
selves to be initiated into the fearful
catalogue
of the Rite
of Misraim
;
they
confined themselves
simply
to the ac-
ceptance
of a
diploma conferring upon
them the rank of
the ninetieth
degree.
Many
of these
brethren,
if not
all,
resigned
their
posi-
tion between 1817 and
1822,
when the chiefs of the rite
were attacked on all sides. After the revival of the rite
in 1832 thanks to the
political changes
which the revolu-
tion of 1830 effected in France its chiefs were unable to
enroll the names of
important men,
such as
figured upon
their
register
of 1822
;
even the
meetings
of the latter
pe-
riod were few and
insignificant.
To
remedy
this
failure,
the brothers Bedarride resolved to hold a Grand
Lodge
of
Adoption,
which took
place
on the 25th
August,
1838.
The
following passage
of the
discourse,
addressed to the
sisters and brethren
present,
will
give
our readers some
idea of the
arrogance
of the
language
of their claims:
"The Masonic Order of Misraim has this
advantage
over
all other rites : it furnishes to the initiate scientific com-
pensations
which afford him an abstract
knowledge
of our
Order." So far is this from the
truth, that,
it is
believed,
the
meetings
of the Misraimites are more devoid of
any
thing pertaining
to science or
philosophy
than are those
of
any
other rite.
Notwithstanding
all the
pomp, magnifi-
cence,
and
expense attending
this exhibition of a
"
Grand
Lodge
of
Adoption,"
it had not the least effect in forward-
ing
the fortunes of the Order.
If
any questions
\vere
put
to the brothers Bedarride
upon
the condition of the
funds, they
would
reply
that the
supreme authority
had no accounts to render to
any per-
son. If
changes
were desired in the
general regulations,
they replied
that the
regulations
were
unalterable,
and all
the members had
solemnly
sworn to be
governed by
them.
Should a brother
publicly attempt
to
decipher
the riddle
which veiled their
power,
the chiefs would
cry
out that
their
authority
was
being questioned,
and threaten the of-
fender with arrest and trial. In
1839,
the brother Terne-
sien
Leserne,
advocate at the court of the
king, having
made some remarks in his
lodge
the "Rainbow"
upon
the administration of the chiefs of the
rite,
he
was,
by
order
of the
supreme power
of 3d
January, 1840,
arraigned
for
contumacy.
In his
defense,
he
published
his
accusations,
under the title of "The
Morality
of the General
Regu-
lations and Administration of the Rite of Misrairn."
The brothers Bedarride endeavored to refute the
charges
contained
therein,
but their
response
served rather to con-
firm than to
destroy
the accusations of the brother Tern-
esien.
The adversaries of the Rite of
Misraim, or,
more
prop-
erly,
those of the brothers
Bedarride,
rapidly
increased.
In an article in the
"
Globe,"
entitled "Archives of Ancient
and Modern
Initiations,"
in which the
utility
of Masonic
decorations is
questioned,
Brother
Juge,
the senior
editor,
expresses
himself thus :
"
This
poor
Rite of
Misraim,
which
so
piteously
exhibits its distress in its slender
report
of
lodges
and members, and so
audaciously parades
its wealth
of
degrees
a wealth so excessive that it is not
only
un-
known in all its fullness to the
highest dignitaries,
but
even to its
inventor,
M.
Bedarride,
who has not the
ability,
I do not
say
to communicate all the
degrees
without read-
ing
from his
manuscripts,
but who can not recite without
this
help,
and in the order in which
they
occur,
even the
names of his
frightful vocabulary."
This article
brought
on,
between the brothers Bedarride and the editor of the
"
Globe,"
a war which terminated
very
much to the disad-
vantage
of the former
;
for the latter
applied
himself with
so much
ability
to his
task,
in the last numbers of hia
paper
for
1840,
that he demonstrated to the
intelligence
of
199
all that the Rite of Misraim was but "a miserable
parody
on
Freemasonry,
and the creation of a
juggler."
The chiefs continued to
impose upon
their
lodges
the
burden of an honor of
$1,000
a
year
as the
price
of their
administration
; and,
pretending
that the
receipts
had
gradually
fallen
off,
so that now there were not
enough
to
pay
even the interest
upon
the
obligation
of
1835, they
induced their ever-devoted General Council to make them
a second letter of credit for the sum of
$26,358,
1
dated the
20th of
September,
1840,
and
bearing
interest from that
date.
After that time a treasurer controlled the
receipts
and
the
expenses,
and in this manner the
lodges
were enabled
to ascertain the excess of the former and
apply
it to the
liquidation
of this letter of credit. Thereafter the
lodges
assembled
peaceably,
and submitted to the
despotic gov-
ernment of the
supreme power;
but the members
gradu-
ally
diminished each
year.
In the month of
April,
1856,
the brother Mark Bedar-
ride died. His death effected no
change
in the situation
of the
rite,
which
pursued
its
unsteady course,
affording
nothing
incidental
worthy
of note.
A
reproach
of a
very grave
character had been ad-
dressed to the chiefs of the Rite of
Misraim, viz.,
that no
acts of
charity
had ever been known to be
performed by
them,
and in this
respect they
had failed to
comply
with
the rirst
duty
of Freemasons. In
1851,
a fact of this na-
ture occasioned a new schism. A
brother,
an officer of the
empire, possessed
of all the
high degrees
of the
rite,
died
1
This
obligation
was made
up
as follows :
1. Amount of the claim October
1,
1835
102,785
fr. 30
2. For the direction of the Order for five
years,
at
5,000
fr. a
year,
from 1835 to 1840
25,000
fr.
Five
years
interest at 5
per
cent,
per
annum
1,250 26,250
00
8. Interest on the
principal
of
102,785
fr
2,757
70
131,793
fr. 00
in a
hospital.
Several
brethren,
desirous of
defraying
the
expenses
of his
funeral,
and
aiding
his
widow,
who was in
deep poverty, sought
the
chief,
Michael
Bedarride,
who
responded
to their
request by saying, coldly,
"The Order
has no funds. All the
receipts
are absorbed in
defraying
necessary expenses,
and in
paying
the interest due
upon
a
etter of credit delivered to me
by
order of the General
Council." The
majority
of the
members,
even those who
possessed
the
eighty-
seventh
degree,
had never heard of this
obligation
of the General
Council, although they
had
signed
the oath
by
which it was
recognized. They
were
surprised,
and,
after some conference
among
themselves,
they
dele-
gated
one of their number to wait
upon
the
chief,
and
pro-
pose
to him that if he would renounce his claim under
this letter of
credit,
they
would
pay
him four thousand
francs a
year.
This
proposition,
as
might
be
expected,
was
rejected
with disdain
by
the Grand Conservator.
Then, thirty-three
members,
led
by
the brother
Boubee,
re-
solved to detach themselves from the
Order,
and to found
another Masonic
assembly professing
the same rite. With
this
object they addressed,
on the 22d of
May,
1851,
to the
Minister of the
Interior,
a
petition,
and
supported
the same
with the
following
reasons for
separating
themselves from
what
they styled
"
the
supreme power
of the Order of Mis-
raim :" 1. The facts we have mentioned. 2. That the
chiefs had
prepared
an oath
guaranteeing
the
payment
of
a claim which was unknown to the
petitioners,
although
they, by subscribing
to such
oath,
became
responsible
for
the
payment
of this claim. 3. That
by
virtue of the ab-
solute
power
with which he
pretended
that he was in-
vested,
the brother Michael Bedarride not
only
retained all
the
money
received for initiations and
degrees
; but,
con-
trary
to the
regulations,
conferred at his own residence all
kinds of
degrees upon
whoever would
pay
him the
money
demanded for them. 4. That ashamed to state
they
had
been enslaved so
long, they
had
given
in their
demission,
201
and formed the
design
of
founding
a
lodge
under the title
of
"
Grand Orient of the
Valley
of
Egypt."
The
prayer
of the
petition having
heen
refused,
the
thirty-
three dissenters conferred with the brother
Voury,
an officer
of the Grand Orient of France and
Worshipful
Master of
the
lodge
"Jerusalem of
Constance,"
then
suspended,
and
decided to
reorganize
this
lodge,
under the title of "Jerusa-
lem of the
Valley
of
Egypt."
It was in this manner that
the anti-masonic sentiments which animated the chief of
the Rite of Misraim detached from that rite its valuable
members and diminished the revenues of its
jurisdiction.
The
Lodge
of
Adoption,
created from the foundation of
the
rite,
very rarely gave any sign
of life. It had been
organized,
we
regret
to
say,
with an
entirely speculative
object,
which should have been
repugnant
to the
feelings
of the
worthy
and
respectable
ladies
who,
at the order of
the brother
Bedarride,
filled its offices on certain occasions.
The ladies who
successively
filled the office of Grand Mis-
tress of this
Lodge
of
Adoption
are the
respectable
sisters
Gabrielle
Fernet, Courtois, Breano, Maxime,
of the Theater
Francais,
and Block de Berthier.
The death of the brother Michael
Bedarride,
which took
place
on the 10th
February,
1856, put
an end to the lacera-
tion of
feelings
endured for so
long
a time
by
the mem-
bers who remained faithful to the rite.
Feeling
his end
approaching,
Michael
Bedarride,
by
his
will,
dated the 1st
January,
1856,
created the brother
Hayere
1
Grand Con-
servator of the Order
; but,
on the 24th
January,
he named
him his
representative, legatee,
and
successor, and,
upon
condition that he would
pay
his
debts, placed
in his hands
the letter of credit of which w
r
e have
spoken.
By
a decree of the new
supreme power,
dated 27th
March, 1856,
it was decided that
they
would not
leave,
as
Brother
.Hayere,
a
physician
and
chemist,
was initiated into the Kite
of Hisraim on the 13th
October, 1840,
and created Grand Master of the
ninetieth
degree
on the llth
June,
1855.
a
charge upon
the
lodges
of the Rite of
Misraim,
a
debt,
1
styled by
Brother
Hayere
as
"
accursed,"-
and which had
caused so much
perjury, seeing that,
with the actual reve-
nues of
thirty years,
it had not been
extinguished. By
the General Council this debt was then declared
extinct,
while that
body, nevertheless,
charged
itself with the set-
tlement of the
debts,
amounting
to about
$1,000,
of the
deceased chief. This
decision,
honorable in all its bear-
ings, proves
that true Masonic sentiments animated the
brethren of the Rite of Misraim.
The
lodges
of
Misraim,
thus
discharged
from a debt
amounting
to
$15,589,
and a
yearly
tax of
$1,000,
were
made
easy
in their
finances,
and their
receipts
enabled
them in a few
years
to
pay
the debt of their
chief,
and re-
imburse
gradually
Brother
Hayere
the advances made
by
him,
with a
generous
disinterestedness
upon
this
debt,
to
the most
pressing
creditors.
The new chief
strove,
as much as
possible,
to meet all
the
exigences,
abolish the
abuses,
and introduce reforms.
None of the numerous
complaints
made
against
the ad-
ministration of his
predecessor
were
heard,
and the
loyal
character of Brother
Hayere guarantee
us in
believing
they
will never be renewed so
long
as he controls the ad-
ministration of the rite.
But no effort that can be
put
forth
by
the new chief can
long
arrest the certain dissolution of this Order. The
germs
of its
mortality
are borne within its
bosom;
and
when it shall
descend,
like its brother rite of
Memphis,
to
the
tomb, nothing
but its total
regeneration
can ever rec-
ommend it to the Masonic
Fraternity.
1
The debt as
recognized by
the last letter of
credit, amounting,
in the
month of
September, 1840,
to
$26,358,
was
found,
at the death of Michael
Bedarride, by
the excess of
receipts
which had been
applied by
the
treasurer to its
liquidation,
and credited
by
M.
Bedarride,
to be reduced
to
$15,589.
A CONCISE HISTORY
OF THE
RITE OF
MEMPHIS,
BINGE ITS
CREATION,
IN
1838,
TO ITS FUSION WITH THE GRAND
ORIENT OF
FRANCE,
IN 1862.
THE Rite of
Memphis,
next to that of
Misraim,
is the
most recent creation of
Masonry.
Its author is the brother
Marconis de
Negre,
who has
copied
it from the Rite of
Misraim,
to which it
principally belongs.
In a book entitled "The
Sanctuary
of
Memphis,"
the
brother
Marconis,
who therein discovers himself as the
creator of this
rite, briefly
touches
up
its
history
as fol-
lows:
"
The Kite of
Memphis,
or Oriental
Rite,
was carried to
Europe
by Ormes, seraphic priest
of Alexandria and
Egyptian sage,
who
was converted
by
St.
Mark,
in the
year
46 of Jesus
Christ,
and
who
purified
the doctrine of the
Egyptians according
to the
prin-
ciples
of
Christianity.
"
The
disciples
of Ormes remained until 1118 sole
possessors
of the ancient wisdom of
Egypt, purified by Christianity
and the
science of Solomon. This science
having
been communicated to
the
Templars, they
were then known as
Knights of Palestine,
or
Rose-
Cross Brothers
of
the East. It is the latter who
may
be re-
cognized
as the immediate founders of the Rite of
Memphis."
* *
"
The Masonic Rite of
Memphis
is the continuation of the
mys-
teries of
antiquity.
It
taught
the first men to render
homage
to
(203)
the divine
principle ;
its
dogmas repose upon
the
principles
of the
human race
;
its mission the
study
of
wisdom,
which seeks to dis-
cover the secrets of nature. It is the beatific aurora of the devel-
opment
of reason and
intelligence ;
it is the
worship
of the best
qualities
of the human heart and
suppression
of its vices
;
it
is,
finally,
the echo of
religious tolerance,
the union of all
beliefs,
the
bond that unites
humanity,
the
symbol
of the
happy
illusions of
hope, preaching
faith in
God,
who
preserves,
and
charity,
which
blesses."
As will be
seen,
from what we have
quoted,
this rite has
all the
pretension possible
to be claimed for
it,
in
giving
it
to us as the continuation of the
mysteries
of
antiquity,
and
more than was ever claimed for
any
condition of Freema-
sonry. Nevertheless,
its founder is the first to contradict
his
preachings by
his
practice ;
for one of the
principal
du-
ties of his
adepts
consists in
being always
truthful. His
book which is but a frame-work of absurdities invented
by
himself with the
object
of
deceiving
the credulous
will,
in the
passages quoted
and in the
following, prove
this :
"
The Rite of
Memphis
is the
only depository
of
high Masonry,
the true
primitive rite,
the rite
par
excellence. It has come down
to us without alteration,
and,
consequently,
is the
only
rite
justified
by
its
origin, by
its constant exercise of all its
rights,
and
by
its
constitutions,
which it is
impossible
to revoke or doubt their au-
thenticity.
The Rite of
Memphis,
or Oriental
Rite,
is the true
Masonic
tree,
and all the Masonic
systems,
such as
they
are,
are
nothing
but the branches detached from this
respectable
and
highly antique
institution,
whose birth took
place
in
Egypt
the
real
depot
of the
principles
of
Masonry,
written in
Chaldean,
and
preserved,
in the venerated ark of the Rite of
Memphis,
in the
Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
at
Edinburgh,
and in the convent of the
Maronites,
on Mount Lebanon."
To this extract we
subjoin
the first article of the
organic
statutes,
and
by
which we
may judge
the remainder :
THE RITE OF MEMPHIS.
205
"Brother Marconis de
Ncgre,
the Grand
Hierophant,
is the
only
sacred
depositary of
the traditions
of
this Sublime Order"
After that it would be
superfluous
to ask what are the
constitutions
"which it is
impossible
to
revoke,
or doubt
their
authenticity
;"
or what are these
precious documents,
"written in the Chaldean
language,
and
preserved
in the
venerated ark of the Rite of
Memphis,"
etc. "With those
in the Grand
Lodge
of Scotland and in the convent on
Mount
Lebanon,
it is
simply necessary
to
say that,
like
those
upon
which the
Supreme
Council for France was
founded, they
never existed.
It is ever thus the same
language,
the same tactics are
employed, by
the inventors of
rites, wherewith,
during
the
last
century
and a
half,
to delude their
proselytes.
Concerning
the introduction of this rite into
France,
the
brother Marconis de
Negre,
and,
after
him,
some of his
credulous
adepts,
recounted that the brother
Honis,
a na-
tive of
Cairo,
had
brought
it from
Egypt
in
1814,
(but
without
saying by
whom it had been there communicated
to
him,)
and
had,
with the father of Brother Marconis de
!N"egre, (the
brother Gabriel-Mathew
Marconis,)
Baron
Dumas,
and the
Marquis
de la
Roque,
founded a
lodge
of
this rite at
Montauban,
on the 30th
April,
1815
;
that this
lodge
had been closed on the 7th
March, 1816,
(they
did
not
say why,)
and
that,
in
consequence,
the archives had
been confided to the father of Marconis de
E"egre,
named
(they
did not
say by whom)
Grand
Hierophant
of the
Order, or, otherwise,
Grand Master.
The incorrectness of these assertions is
easily
demon-
strated, Brother James
Stephen
Marconis was initiated
at Paris into the rite of
Memphis
on the 21st of
April,
1833. He was then
twenty-seven years
of
age.
He re-
ceived on that
day
thirteen
degrees;
for the ladder of
Misraim is
quickly
mounted. In
consequence
of the com-
plaints
made
against
him
by
some of his
brethren,
he was
expelled
on the 27th
June,
1833. He
shortly
afterward
quitted
Paris and went to
Lyons,
where,
under the name
of
ITegre.
he founded a
lodge
of the Rite of
Misraim,
under
the
style
of "Good
"Will,"
and of which he was the
presi-
dent. While
occupying
this
position,
he was elevated to
the
sixty-sixth degree by
the brothers
Bedarride,
who were
not aware that Brother
Negre
and Brother J. S. Marconis
were one and the same
person.
In
consequence
of some
new
complaints
addressed to the brothers
Bedarride,
as
chiefs of the
rite, by
the brethren at
Lyons,
Brother Mar-
conis was
again expelled,
under the new name of
Kegre,
on the 27th
May,
1838.
After this latter
expulsion, having
no
hope
of
again
being
able to
play any part
either in the Rite of Misraim
or
any
other rite then
practiced,
and
feeling
conscious that
he
possessed
much more
capacity
to direct a
lodge,
or even
a
rite,
than the brothers
Bedarride,
he did as was done
by
Lechangeur
of
Milan,
and
by
the five Israelites at Charles-
ton he created a Masonic
power.
The ladder of
Misraim,
as fabricated
by Lechangeur,
and
augmented by
the addition of a few more
rounds,
gave
him his Rite of
Memphis
with but little labor. The work
finished,
he constituted himself its chief. To
give
his rite
an
origin
and a
history
was not difficult. In this
depart-
ment he
exhibited, however,
more
respect
for the
opinions
of mankind, and the
good
sense of the
Fraternity,
than did
the brother Michael
Bedarride, who,
in his
history
of the
"
Order of
Misraim,"
was not
content,
as
Lechangeur
had
been,
with
stating
that this Order was the work of a
king
of
Egypt
named
Misraim,
but went much further for its
origin,
even to God himself. Brother Marconis dated his
rite from but the commencement of the Christian era.
By
this exhibition of
modesty
he
probably expected
to disarm
inquiry,
convert the credulous and
religiously disposed,
and
inspire
them with faith in the
"precious
documents
written in the Chaldean
language,"
which he announced
were to be found in the "venerated ark of the Rite of
207
Memphis,"
whenever he would think
proper
to
exhibit
those documents to their
admiring gaze.
As Brother Marconis was much the
superior,
both in
education and
talents,
of the fabricator of the Rite of
Misraim,
he found it
very easy
to
vary
the
degrees
of that
rite,
change
their
names,
and
give
them a
signification
sufficiently
different to
destroy
the
identity
of their
origin.
To
give
the reader an idea of the
extravagance
of this
creation,
we will
present
here an extract from the constitu-
tion of the Rite of
Memphis
:
"
The Rite of
Memphis
is
regulated by
five
Supreme Councils,
viz.: 1. The
Sanctuary
of the
Patriarchs,
Grand Conservators of the
Order. 2. The
Mystic Temple
of
Sovereign
Princes of
Memphis.
3. The
Sovereign
General Grand Council of Grand
Regulating-
Inspectors
of the Order. 4. The Grand
Liturgical College
of
Sublime
Interpreters
of Masonic Sciences and
Hieroglyphics.
5.
The
Supreme
Grand Tribunal of Protectors of the Order.
"
The
Sanctuary
is divided into three
sections,
viz. : 1. The
Mystic Section,
in which
reposes
the venerated ark of the tradi-
tions. 2. The
Emblematic, Scientific,
and
Philosophic
Sections
;
and,
3. The
Governing
Section.
"
The
Mystic
Section,
in which are to be found the
traditions,
rituals, documents, instructions,
and
general archives, etc.,
is com-
posed
of the Grand
Hierophant
and his
organ.
"
The
Emblematic, Scientific,
and
Philosophic
Section is com-
posed
of seven
lights,
viz. : 1. The Grand
Hierophaut,
Sublime
Master of
Light, (Brother Marconis.)
2. The
organ
of the
Grand
Hierophant.
3. The Grand
Master,
President of the
Sanctuary, (particular
executive of the
Order.)
4. The Grand
Master,
President of the
Mystic Temple (general executive.)
5.
The Grand
Master,
President of the
Sovereign
Grand General
Council. 6. The Grand
Master,
President of the Grand
Liturgi-
cal
College.
7. The Grand
Master,
President of the
Supreme
Grand Tribunal.
"
This Section exercises no
authority
in the
government
of the
Order,
its action
being purely
doctrinal and
magisterial."
It
might
be
readily
believed that such an
organization
as the above
might
be sufficient to
regulate
the affairs of
an Asian or African
Empire, comprising
millions of human
beings.
Ridicule
will, therefore,
be
pushed
to its utmost
when it is known that this formidable construction was
organized
to
govern
an association of men who are believed
to be devoted to the
development
of their reason and in-
telligence,
and to the
study
of wisdom.
After
having completed
the rituals of his
rite,
in
1838,
Brother Marconis
presented
himself in
Belgium
as the suc-
cessor of his father in the
high
office of Grand
Hierophant,
and entered into some
negotiations
to establish his rite.
He then returned to
Paris, where,
under the name of Mar-
conis
Letuillart,
he succeeded in
enrolling
some isolated
brethren, and,
with
them,
organizing
a
lodge
which he
named
"
Disciples
of
Memphis
;" and,
on the 2Cd
March,
1838,
he
organized
a Grand
Lodge,
under the title of
"
Osiris,"
to which was intrusted the direction of all the
operative lodges
which he
hoped
he
might
establish. On
the 23d
May,
1839,
he
organized
a
chapter
of "Philadel-
phics,"
and on the 29th
February,
1840,
the
lodge
"
Sages
of
Heliopolis."
On the 7th
April, 1839,
he
published
his
organic
stat-
utes,
and
organized
two
lodges
in Brussels.
Immediately following
the
organization
oi/his
first
lodge
in
Paris,
the brothers Bedarride wrote the
prefect
of
police, informing
that officer that Brother Marconis had
been twice
expelled,
for
malfeasance,
from the Rite of
Misraim,
and
requesting
that he be
prohibited
from en-
gaging
in Masonic labors thereafter in that
city.
The
pre-
fect not
having immediately complied
with their
demand,
on the 2d November
they
issued a
circular,
warning
their
lodges
and councils
against
Brother
Marconis,
and
stating
the reasons of his
duplicate expulsion. Thereupon
the
police
visited the
lodges organized by
Brother Marconis
;
but it was not until the 17th
May,
1840,
that
permission
to
209
assemble their
membership
was refused him
; and,
without
any
reason
being assigned,
those
lodges
had to
suspend
their
meetings.
From that time Brother Marconis devoted his attention
to Masonic literature.
l
Favored
by
the
political
events of
1848,
Brother Marco
nis labored to revive his
lodges
in
Paris,
and succeeded in
reorganizing,
in
1849,
three of
them,
and afterward a coun
cil and
chapter
;
but the
lodges
which he had established
in
Belgium
refused resurrection.
2
During
the short time Brother Marconis de
!^"egre
for
it is under this name he is best known maintained his
lodges
in
activity,
he followed the
example
of the brothers
Bedarride,
and obtained adherents
among
the members of
the Grand Orient and the
Supreme Council, who,
although
remaining
attached to these
bodies,
accepted
of him
diplo-
mas
conferring upon
them the
high degrees
of
Memphis.
Finding
that his rite was not
obtaining any
consistence
at
Paris,
Brother Marconis
repaired,
in
1850,
to
London,
in the
hope
there to find some
person disposed
to
accept
its distinctions
; and,
not without considerable
effort,
he
succeeded in
establishing
a
lodge,
under the title of
"
The
Sectarians of
Menes,"
which was instituted on the 16th
July,
1851,
and which was
charged
with the
responsibili-
ties of a
Supreme
Council for the British isles. Brother
l
The
principal
works
published by
Brother Marconis
(de Negre)
are:
"The
Sanctuary
of
Memphis,"
"The
Hierophant,"
"The
Mystic Sun,"
"The
Mystic Temple,"
and "The Masonic
Pantheon."
As
explanatory
of the
symbols
and
principles
of
Masonry,
these works have
undisputa-
ble
value;
but as
history they
are
worthless,
being principally
drawn
from the
imagination
of their author.
2
In common with ail other fabricators of
rites,
Brother Marconis
sold,
to all who offered to
buy them,
his constitutions
with which to establish
lodges, chapters,
councils, grand lodges,
etc. It was
by
these constitu-
tions,
and in this
manner,
that his rite was made known and established
at a few
points
on the continent of
Europe,
and
in New York.
14
J. P.
Berjean
was nominated Grand Master of
it,
and
rep-
resentative of the Grand
Hierophant.
The accusations
which,
in
1850,
dissolved the new Na-
tional Grand
Lodge
of
France,
equally
affected the
lodges
of the Rite of
Memphis, and,
for a second
time,
caused
their
suspension.
Hence,
Brother
Marconis, finding
his
Masonic
activity completely paralyzed
in
France, was,
in a
manner,
forced to transmit the
government
of his rite to
the
lodge
at
London,
as the
principal authority
extant;
and,
on the 30th
November, 1853,
in accordance with this
arrangement,
Brother J. P.
Berjean
was
solemnly
installed
"Grand Master of
Light"
of the new
mystic temple
and
General Grand
Council, and,
at the same
time,
as
organ
of
the Grand
Hierophant.
Starting
with but
thirty members,
the labors of these
were
sufficiently
arduous,
when devoted to the administra-
tion of so extensive a form of
government
as the rite of
Brother Marconis
required
;
but this Grand
Lodge
soon
found its ranks
freely
recruited from
among
the
political
refugees
who,
about this
time,
sought England
as a
place
of
safety.
Such a
class, however,
possessed
few of the ele-
ments suitable to
harmoniously carry
on the work of the
rite,
and it was soon found
necessary
to dissolve the
lodge
:
Brother Marconis himself
considering
it
prudent
to an-
nounce that he had retired from all
participation
in its la-
bors, and,
consequently,
that he declined all
responsibility
for its actions.
These
circumstances,
so little conducive to the success
of the Rite of
Memphis,
induced Brother
Marconis,
by
the
aid of the author of this
work,
to
propose,
in
1852,
to the
Grand
Orient,
its affiliation of the
lodges
of
Memphis.
This
proposition being
refused,
Brother Marconis there-
upon
ceased all further effort on behalf of the
lodges
of his
rite,
and confined his labors to the
publication
of his
many
Masonic books.
Having
for some time meditated a
voyage
to
America,
THE KITE OF MEMPHIS. 211
Brother Marconis de
Negre,
in
1860,
embarked for that
country,
and,
on the 14th
July
of that
year, organized
at
Troy,
in the State of New
York,
a
lodge,
under the title of
"Disciples
of
Memphis,"
and of which Brother
Durand,
a
professor
of
languages,
was nominated Grand Master.
After the
publication
of the circular of the 30th
April,
1862,
addressed
by
the Grand
Master,
Marshal
Magnan,
to the
dissenting
Masons of
France,
Brother Marconis
solicited,
in the name of one of his
suspended lodges, (the
"Sectarians of
Menes,")
his affiliation with the Grand
Orient of France. This
request
was
complied
with, and,
on the 18th
October,
1862,
this
lodge
was
formally
installed
by
commissioners
appointed
for that
purpose by
the Grand
Orient. On the 30th December
following,
a similar action
took
place
with the
lodge
"
Disciples
of
Memphis."
Thus
despoiled
of its
government,
its
councils,
and of
all its
peculiar attributes,
the Rite of
Memphis
finds itself
transformed
into,
at
best,
the Scottish
Rite,
as
recognized
by
the Grand
Orient;
and
yet, by
a
strange anomaly,
the
lodges
which we have named have been
permitted
to re-
tain the name of
practicing
the Rite of
Memphis.
Other-
wise,
for the honor of
Masonry,
we consider the work of
Brother Marconis extinct in
France,
and we trust that
wherever else it exists it
may shortly
be
consigned
to the
tomb of its race.
A CONCISE HISTORY
OF THE
ORIGIN OF ALL THE RITES FOR HIGH
DEGREES,
INTRODUCED INTO FREEMASONRY FROM
1736.
TO THE
PRESENT TIME.
FKEEMASONKY,
after its transformation at
London,
in
1717,
from a
partly
mechanical and
partly philosophical
institution to one
purely
moral and
philosophic,
retained
the three traditional
degrees
of
Apprentice,
Fellow
Craft,
and
Master Mason
;
and all the
lodges organized
since that
time,
as well
by
the Grand
Lodge
of London as
by
the Grand
Lodges
of Scotland and
Ireland^
have been so
constituted,
and have never conferred
any
other than the three
sym-
bolic
degrees
above
named,
and which constitute the Rite
of the Ancient Free and
Accepted
Masons of
England
the
only
true traditional
Masonry.
It was not until the
partisans
of the Stuarts had come
to
France,
in the suite of the
Pretender,
that
English
Masonry
was denaturalized
by them,
and used as a cloak
to cover their
revolutionary projects.
The desire to restore the
family
of the Stuarts to the
throne of
England,
and thus to favor the interests of
Roman
Catholicism,
suggested
to the
partisans
of that
family
and those interests the idea of
forming
secret asso-
ciations,,
by
which to
carry
out their
plans;
and it was
with this
object
that
they
obtained entrance into the Ma-
sonic
lodges
on the continent.
(212)
ORIGIN OF ALL THE RITES FOR HIGH DEGREES.
213
They
commenced in
France,
through
the
agency
of
one
of their most eminent
emissaries,
the
Doctor,
Baron of
.Ramsay,
1
to
spread
a rite of five
degrees
which
they
had
vainly
endeavored to make
acceptable
in London. This
Doctor or Baron of
Ramsay,
between the
years
1736 and
3738,
augmented
this rite
by
the addition of two
degrees,
and then called it
"Scottish," because,
as he
maintained,
it
proceeded
from a
powerful
Masonic
authority
in Scot-
land. He delivered to the
proselytes,
whom he had
known himself to have made in
France, personal
consti-
tutions or
patents, emanating
from a
self-styled chapter
of
Masons
sitting
at
Edinburgh.
This
chapter
was
composed
of
partisans
of the
Stuarts,
who had constituted them-
selves into a Masonic
authority
before the Grand
Lodge
of Scotland
existed,
with the sole
object
of
forwarding
the
projects
of the uncrowned
princes.
According
to the
Baron of
Ramsay,
and other
emissaries,
this
chapter
alone
possessed
the true science of
Masonry,
which
science,
as
1
Baron
Ramsay
was converted to the Roman Catholic
religion by
Fenelon,
and afterward became
preceptor
at Rome to the son of the
dethroned
king,
James III. He came to France in 1728. After
having
failed in London in his
attempt
to
organize,
in the interests of the
Stuarts,
a new
Masonry
calculated to annihilate the influence of the
Grand
Lodge
of
London,
he addressed himself to a like work in
France,
and
presented
himself in
Paris,
furnished with
powers
from a Masonic
authority represented
to be
sitting
at
Edinburgh.
It was not until about
1736 that he
appears
to have succeeded in
establishing
in some
lodges
his
political system.
It is true that Lord
Derwentwater,
and also Lord Harn
wester,
who
succeeded each other as the first Grand Masters of the Provincial Grand
Lodge
of
France,
were also
partisans
of the
Stuarts;
but
they
do not
appear
to have been initiated into the
revolutionary projects
of the
Jesuits,
as was Doctor
Ramsay;
for it was not until after their
departur
for
England
where both
perished
on the
scaffold,
victims of their at-
tachment to the Pretender that Baron
Ramsay
introduced his
system
among
the
lodges.
While Lord Derwentwater was Grand Master of
Lodge
of
France,
in
1729,
Baron
Ramsay
filled the
office of orator. He died in
1743, aged fifty-seven,
at St. Germain-en-
Laye.
was
apparent
from the
history
of it which
they
had es-
tablished,
had been created
by Godfrey
de Bouillon. We
have no account of
any
of the
chapters
founded
by
Baron
Ramsay,
and
they
do not
appear
to have been of much
importance
; but,
in
1743',
another
partisan
of the Stuarts
founded at Marseilles a
lodge
of "St. John of
Scotland,"
with
eighteen degrees,
which
subsequently
took the title
of Scottish Mother
Lodge of
France,
and constituted
many
lodges
in
Provence,
and even some in the Levant. An-
other
system, probably Ramsay's,
was established at
Lyons
by
a
partisan
of the
Stuarts,
and afterwards worked
b}'
the
Jesuits.
It was
not, however,
until after Charles Edward
Stuart,
born at
Rome,
the son of the
Pretender,
had been ini-
tiated,
and had
founded,
by
a charter
granted by himself,
as
patron,
a
chapter
of
high degrees
at
Arras,
in
1747,
under the title of
"
Scottish Jacobite
Masonry,"
that the
lodges
to which were attached
high degrees
increased in
France. At
Toulouse,
in
1748,
an attache of the Pre-
tender,
named
Lockhart,
organized
a
chapter
which
prac-
ticed a rite of nine
degrees,
under the name of
"
Faithful
Scots." In 1766 another adherent constituted the mother
lodge
of the
county
Yenaissin,
in
Avignon, which,
in its
turn,
in
1776,
organized
the "Grand
Lodge
of the Philo-
sophic
Rite in
Paris,"
and then united itself with that
Grand
Lodge.
*
Another
partisan
of the
Stuarts,
the Chevalier Bonne-
ville,
one of the most zealous emissaries of the Jesuits
under the
patronage
of the
Chapter
of
Clermont,
which
was,
in
1754,
created
by
the Jesuits of the
College (Con-
vent)
of Clermont
1
organized
several
chapters,
and
which,
for the
purpose
of more
fully working
this
system
of Ma-
sonry, they
installed in a
magnificent locality,
outside the
walls of
Paris,
called New France. In
1756,
these
chap-
1
It was in this
college
that the Pretender lived for
many yeara
DEGREES, 215
ters elaborated a new Masonic
system,
which
they styled
"
Strict Observance" an
arrangement
which has been
wrongly
attributed to the Chevalier
Bonneville,
he
being,
with
others,
nothing
more than one of its most zealous
propagators
in
France,
while a
person
named Stark acted
in a like
capacity
in
Germany,
between 1756 and 1758.
An
extravagant
and ambitious man named
Pirlet,
the
presiding
officer of a
lodge
in
Paris,
and who had
recog-
nized the true
authorship
of these new Masonic
systems,
sought
their
injury,
if not
destruction,
by
the creation of
an
opposing system.
For this
purpose,
in
1757,
by
the aid
of some Masons to whom he
imparted
his
knowledge,
he
created a
chapter
of
"Knights
of the East." Not
meeting
with the success he had
expected,
he concluded to
accept
the office of
propagator
of a new rite elaborated
by
the
Jesuits at
Lyons,
with a scale of
twenty-five degrees,
and
to which was
given
the
pompous
title of
"Emperors
of
the East and
West,
Sovereign
Prince Masons." The
propagators
of this rite announced to their
proselytes
that
it was the most elevated of all
Masonry practiced
in the
East,
and from whence it had been
imported
to France.
This was the rite
subsequently
called
"Perfection,
or Har-
odom."
Pirlet,
directed
secretly by
the
Jesuits,
who were
not seen in the
management, gave,
like all the
propaga-
tors, inventors,
and
importers
of
rites,
who make of them
a
species
of
property,
a fabulous
origin
to this new rite
;
and several officers and members of the Grand
Lodge
of
France were
initiated,
though
bound
by
an
oath,
under its
constitution,
not to
recognize any degrees
as Masonic ex-
cept
those of their Grand
Lodge,
which consisted of the
three
symbolic degrees
alone. These initiates became
officers of the "Council of
Emperors
of the East and
West,
Sovereign
Prince
Masons;"
and it was this council
that,
in
1761,
delivered to
Stephen
Morin a
patent
where-
with to enable him to
propagate
the rite in America. This
Rite of
Perfection,
of
twenty
-five
degrees,
was
propagated
in
Germany by
the officers of the
army
of
Broglie.
but
more
particularly by
the
Marquis
of
Berny,
a French
gen-
tleman,
and his
deputy Rosa,
a Lutheran
priest,
who in a
short time
organized
seventeen
lodges
of the rite in the
States-general,
or
parliament
of the
country.
This rite
infiltrated
itself,
in this
manner,
into the Grand
Lodge
at
the Three Globes in
Berlin;
and when the
king,
Freder-
ick the
Great,
who had been Grand Master of this
lodge
from 1744 to
1747,
was advised of this fact
by
one of the
officers of the
lodge,
his minister of
war,
he was so en-
raged
that he manifested his discontent
by
a
great
oath.
Many
of the Grand
Lodges
of
Germany,
and those of
Hamburg
and Switzerland more
particularly,
who for a
long
time resisted the admission of these
innovations,
closed and became dissolved after the
high degrees
had
insinuated themselves
among
and into their constituent
lodges.
But these
degrees
were not
always
so successful
in their
object
to
destroy primitive Masonry;
for as soon
as,
by pushing inquiry,
it was found from whence
they
had
emanated,
and their source discovered to be
impure,
they
fell into
disrepute
and
contempt.
It was thus that this Rite of Perfection became
unpopu-
lar in Paris in
1780,
and unable to sustain
itself,
and its
membership obliged
to unite their scattered
fragments
into a
chapter
of
"
Knights
of the East" the rite created
by
Pirlet.
Notwithstanding
this
union, however,
so low
had the
reputation
of the
possessors
of these
degrees
fallen,
that
they
were forced to recruit their ranks and the mem-
bership
of this
chapter
from
among any persons
who could
pay
them the
price
of their
degrees.
Such
action, per-
sisted
in,
caused the death of this
chapter,
but not with-
out
leaving
some
unhappy
traces of its labors
;
for while
some of its members endeavored to
organize
a General
Grand
Chapter
of the Rite of Perfection for
France,
others
became
discontented, discordant, and,
in this condition of
mind,
became
willing
assistants of De
Grasse-Tilly, who,
DEGREES.
217
in
1804,
arrived in Paris from St.
Domingo,
bearing
a
patent
from a
Supreme
Council
sitting
at
Charleston,
em-
powering
him to
organize
a council of a rite of
thirty-three
degrees, and, by
the aid of such
malcontents,
he did or-
ganize
the
"
Supreme
Council for France of
Sovereign
Grand
Inspectors
General of the 33d and last
degree
of
the Ancient and
Accepted
Scottish Rite,"
It will be
easily perceived
that,
at an
early stage
of its
popularity,
the Jesuits found
Freemasonry
an institution
they
would have to use or
destroy. Finding
it
impossible
to use
it, they
concluded to
destroy
it
;
and to do
so,
they
adopted
the
plan
of
inventing
and
propagating
rites and
high degrees
calculated to confuse a correct
knowledge
of
its
history,
and create discords and dissatisfaction
among
its members. As creators of these rites and
degrees, they
freely, through
their
partisans
and
emissaries,
disposed
of
patents
and constitutions
which
empowered
the holders
not
only
to
organize
bodies of men whom
they might
initiate into these
degrees,
but to sell to
any person
so
initiated other
patents
and constitutions
empowering
them
to do the same. In this manner the
very object
desired
by
these Jesuitical inventors was attained in a
multiplied
result
;
for a
rivalry sprang up
between these
opposite
authorities,
who soon found that the best recommendation
for their wares was an increase in their
variety;
and to
give
such
variety
it was
necessary
to fabricate additional
degrees
and additional
rites,
which
they might
offer,
as
something entirely new,
to
satisfy
the
eager appetite
ex-
hibited,
and which
they appeased
in restaurants and tav-
erns,
and wherever
they
could find a
purchaser. By
ref-
erence to our
history
of
Freemasonry
in France about this
time,
(1736
to
1772,)
the reader will
perceive
how com-
pletely
the
object
desired
by
the Jesuits was effected.
"Confusion worse confounded"
reigned among
the Fra-
ternity
false
titles,
antedated
constitutions,
charges
of
fraud well
sustained,
and even exhibitions of
violence,
characterized the Masonic
institution,
and the civil
gov-
ernment had to interfere to
prevent
worse results. It was
during
this
period
that there
might
he seen
systems
called
Masonic and new
degrees bursting
almost
daily
into the
light systems
incoherent, crude,
and
unfledged, having
nothing
to recommend them save their
very dreamy
or
mystical tendency
the work of
fabricators,
who cared for
no vow or
obligation,
but
sought only
to
dispose
of their
trumpery
and valueless commodities.
These
combinations,
the work of such
impostors
and
political
hucksters, produced,
in about
twenty years,
such
a result of doubt and
uncertainty,
that
scarcely any
one
could determine which of the numerous
pretending
bodies
was the true or
legitimate
Masonic
authority
in France.
Yet,
notwithstanding
the confusion
they
had thus
created,
the Jesuits had
accomplished
but one of their
designs, viz.,
denaturalizing
and
bringing
into
disrepute
the Masonic
institution.
Having
succeeded,
as
they believed,
in de-
stroying
it in one
form, they
were determined to use it
in another.
With this determination
they arranged
the
system styled
"Clerkship
of the
Templars,"
an
amalgamation
of the
different
histories, events,
and characteristics of the cru-
sades,
mixed with the reveries of the alchemists. In this
combination Catholicism
governed
all,
and the whole fab-
rication moved
upon
w
r
heels
representing
the
great object
for which the
"Society
of Jesus" was
organized.
The
emissaries,
De
Bonneville,
in
France,
and Professor
Harck,
in
Germany,
were
immediately engaged
in the dissemina-
tion of this
system;
but,
in
consequence
of the
very
condi-
tion of
disrepute
then
enjoyed by Masonry
in that
country,
the
emissary
for France had little if
any
success.
With their
knowledge
of the human
heart,
the Jesuits
brought
into this
system
a series of inferior
degrees proper
to
engage
the
curiosity
of the
neophyte,
and assure them-
ORIGIN OF ALL THE RITES FOR HIGH DEGREES. 219
selves
of his unlimited obedience.
Beyond
all
else,
this
condition of unlimited obedience was
always
exacted be-
fore the advancement
promised
to the new revelations of
yet higher degrees
was accorded. In this manner were
the brethren
decoyed away
from the
pure
and
simple
doc-
trine of
English Freemasonry,
to throw their aid and in
fluence into the
object
of
enlarging
Jesuitical
influence,
by
the
hope
of
gaining
ten
degrees
of exaltation above their
fellows. In order further to assure themselves of the faith
of their
adepts,
and to strike
deeper
the roots of that
faith into the soil of their
spirits,
the doctrine
of
obedience to
unknown
superiors
was
advanced,
and the chiefs directed to
communicate the real
plans
to none but those whom
they
should initiate into the last and
highest degree
of the
system.
As the monastic institution ami ecclesiastic
tendency
of this false
Masonry
could not
adapt
itself to the
feelings
of all whom
they
desired to
influence,
they
next resolved
to create another
association,
much more
extended,
and
which would be
susceptible
of establishment in Protestant
countries. The
project
succeeded better than
any
or ail
the others. It was this
system styled
"
Strict Observance"
that,
originating,
like all the others created
by
the
Jesuits,
in their
College
of Clermont at
Paris,
was
transported
to
Germany,
and there
propagated by
the Baron of
Ilnnd,
and other
emissaries,
instruments of the
Jesuits,
but
igno-
rant of
being
such. The fundamental belief connected
with this
system,
as entertained
by
those
propagators,
was,
that "the Masonic
fraternity
is
nothing
but a continuation
of the Order of
Knights Templar, propagated by
members
of this Order while sheltered from
persecution
in the fast-
nesses of Scotland." Otherwise the
propagators
of this
system
held forth to and
indulged
their
proselytes
in the
dangerous hope
of
gaining possession
of the riches and
property
oi the Order of
Knights Templar,
confiscated
by
220
^
Philip
the Fair and his
abettors,
after the execution of
Jacques
de
Molay.
To have the
system correspond,
as much as
possible,
with its hierarchical
object,
the
country
over which
they
expected
their Order to
reign
was divided into nine
prov-
inces,
viz. : 1. Lower
Germany, consisting
of Poland and
Prussia;
2.
Auvergne;
3. Western
France;
4.
Italy
and
Greece;
5.
Burgundy
and
Switzerland;
6.
Upper
Ger-
many
;
7. Austria and
Lombardy
;
8. Russia
;
and 9.
Sweden.
The
governing
Grand
Lodge
of the
system
was estab-
lished at
Brunswick,
and was to be
ostensibly
directed
by
the Duke of
Brunswick,
but who
really
was but the
mouth-piece
of the "unknown
superiors."
Each
province
had its
heermeister,
or
general,
a
provincial chapter, many
priories, prefectures, an<J
commanderies names and estab-
lishments
belonging
to the Ancient Order of
Knights
Templar;
while the three
degrees
of St. John
uniformly
comprised
the
Freemasonry, properly
so
called,
of the
lodges governed by
a Meister vom
Stuhl,
or
Worshipful
Master,
and six officers.
The
system
of
"
Strict Observance
"
was so called because
of the severe monastic subordination which it
enjoined,
in
contradistinction with the liberal
S3
T
stem of
English origin,
styled
"Observance at
Large;"
and,
under the notorious
nonsense of
alchemy, mysticism,
and the
mysteries
of the
Hose
Cross,
which were
by
its members
professed,
this
"Strict Observance"
system
for a
long
time hid the secret
intentions and
objects
of
its,
unknown chiefs. In Ger-
many, however,
both clerical and secular
systems
remained
under secret direction until
1772,
when dissatisfaction and
dissensions
having
taken
place,
the
King
of Prussia or-
dered the union of the two
systems,
and,
after
1767,
the
clerical
system
had
place
but in the seventh
province,
viz.,
Austria and
Lombardy.
The excessive
extravagance
of enthusiasm with which
DEGREES.
221
the
Templar system
was
regarded speedily
abated,
as
soon
as the unknown
superiors
were identified.
Suspicion
en-
gendered investigation,
and
investigation
elicited the fact
that these "unknown
superiors"
were no other than lead-
ing
Jesuits and
partisans
of the Stuart interest.
Up
to
this time the Baron of Hund himself seems to have been
a victim of the
general deception.
Thereafter the
Jesuits,
unmasked in the
persons
of their
chiefs,
and deceived in their
hopes, appear
to have retired
'from the
field;
for we hear no more about the "unknown
superiors."
It was then that the
investigation began
to
be
seriously
directed to the consideration of how far this
"
Strict Observance
"
system departed
from the
spirit
and
principles
of the
lodges working
under the
system
of the
Grand
Lodge
of
England,
and which latter had been con-
temptuously represented by
the Jesuits as the bastard
offspring
of the
working corporations
of the middle
ages.
This
investigation
was not confined to
Germany,
but ex-
tended
throughout
the
country occupied by
the
Templar
systems.
The
general inquiry
seemed to be whether these
systems
were
charged
with
any
abstract
science,
or
any
doctrines of a
purely
moral or secret
character,
relating
to
art, history,
or to the sciences
generally.
The French
Templar lodges
met at
Lyons,
in
1778,
in a
convent,
and
undertook the total revision of their
system,
from which
resulted a* new
plan
of constitution. This advance move-
ment
gave
an
impulse
to the German
lodges,
and induced
them,
in their
turn,
to examine the entire
Templar system,
and to manifest a
disposition
to return to the
Masonry
of
England,
in case their
investigation
should
develop
the
improper
tendencies of which this hierarchical
system
had
been accused.
The Duke Ferdinand of
Brunswick, who,
in
1772,
was
chosen General Grand Master of all the
"
Strict Observ-
ance"
lodges, seriously occupied
himself with this investi-
gation
;
and,
for this
purpose, having
called,
in
1772,
the
Congress
of
Kohlo, and,
in
1775,
that at
Brunswick,
with-
out
eliciting any satisfactory
result,
he
yielded
to the
views
expressed by many
German
lodges,
and,
in
1782,
convoked a third
congress
at
Wilhelnisbad,
to which he
invited all the Freemasons of
Europe.
The first
assembly
of this
congress
took
place
on the
16th
July,
1782. All the Grand oflacers of all the
prov-
inces of the
Templar system,
and
delegates
from all their
lodges
were
present,
as also
many delegates
of other rites
then extant in
Germany
and France. After
thirty
sit-*
tings,
none of the
questions upon
the
origin, doctrines,
etc.,
1
had been resolved in a
satisfactory manner; when,
finally, upon
the
proposition
of the French
delegates
of
the
Templar system
from the
province
of
Burgundy,
the
views of the
congress
were thus
expressed:
"Modern Freemasons are not
only
not the true success-
ors of the
Knights Templar, but,
as
worthy recipients
of
the three
symbolic degrees, they
can not be"
Notwithstanding
this
decision, however,
the
assembly
decided that a
lecture,
giving
a
synopsis
of the
history
of
the
Templar Order,
should be added
to,
and
incorporated
with,
the last
degree
of
symbolic Freemasonry.
"We should have remarked that the exterior
organization
of the
Templar system,
which established union and har-
mony among
the
parts
of this
system,
was worked with
care,
and
conformably
to a vast
plan.
The interior
ties,
founded
upon
the
position
of the
employes
and the
pre-
rogatives
of the
chapters, composed
a
powerful
band. The
whole
might
be assimilated to a
system
of nerves extend-
ing
from a central
organ
of life
which,
in this
case,
was
the convent of Clermont to the most distant
periphery
of
the
organism,
to communicate movement to all
parts
of
the
body,
and to
bring up
to a
general
and common con-
science,
as it
were,
the
impressions
received,
and the ob-
1
See these
questions
in the historical notice of Masonic conventions.
serrations
made,
by
each
part,
wherever
situated,
outside
of the
great
center.
After the
congress
of Wilhelmsbad had
changed
the
Templar system, they baptized
their modification of it with
the name of
"
Refined Scottish
Rite,"
a name as
improper,
however,
as that which it
displaced.
At
first,
this new
rite was not
adopted
but
by
the
lodges
of the
province
of
Burgundy,
and it was not until after the
lapse
of some
years
that it extended elsewhere.
Many
of the German
operative lodges,
and even several
grand lodges,
aban-
doned
completely
the
system
of
high degrees,
and
returned,
in
great part,
to the
simple
forms of
English
Masonry.
The
Provincial Grand
Lodges
of Frankfort and of
"Wetzlar,
who created the Eclectic
Rite,
of three
degrees,
were the
only
Grand
Lodges
which
radically adopted
the
reform,
all the other Grand
Lodges having
retained some
frag-
ments of the
high degrees.
In this
manner,
the
system
of
"Strict of Observance" or
"
Templar System,"
transformed
to the "Refined Scottish
Rite,"
existed for a
long
time
in
Germany
and
France,
under the name of Scottish Ma-
sonry,
with a more or less number of
degrees constituting
the
rite,
and there
may
be found at the
present day
some
lodges
in
Belgium
still
practicing
it.
In
France,
neither the National Grand
Lodge
nor the
Grand Orient were successful in
striving
with the
high
degrees,
which
they
had both
anathematized,
seeing
that
neither of these
grand
bodies
practiced
but the three
sym-
bolic
degrees.
The Grand
Lodge always
remained faith-
ful to its
principles;
but the Grand
Orient,
on the con-
trary, sought
connection with the
lodges professing
the
high degrees,
and
finally,
in
1786, arranged
a rite of seven
degrees,
which it called the French
Rite,
and
by
means of
which it
hoped,
but in
vain,
to
suppress
the other
high
degree systems.
Thus,
as we have
shown,
it resulted
that, apart
from
the two
Templar systems
created
by
the Jesuits for their
own
purposes,
an infinite number of rites were
produced,
for
quite
as
unworthy purposes,
the names of
many
of
which will be found at the close of this
chapter.
These
rites,
it is
true,
had but a short existence. Most
of them were
changed
after the
congress
of
Welhelmsbad,
or
disappeared during
the revolution
;
but
they,
neverthe-
ess,
largely
contributed. to the
disrepute
into which Free-
masonry
had fallen in the latter
part
of the
eighteenth
century,
and the results of which condition remain to be
contended with to the
present day.
It
is, however,
but
just
to mention here one
exception
among
the crowd of
extravagant
and anti-masonic
rites,
that of the
Philaletes,"
created in
1773,
in the
lodge
of
"
United
Friends,"
at
Paris,
by
the 'brethren Savalette of
Langes,
Court of
Gibelin,
and the
archeologist
Lenoir, who,
to
approach
nearer to the
English
Rite,
had abolished all
distinctions of
degrees,
1
and
proposed
as their
object
the
perfection
of
man,
and his nearest
approach
to the Great
Being
from whom he emanated. It was
by
these
"
Phila-
letes
"
that there were convoked at Paris the two conven-
tions of 1785 and
1787,
and at which the founders
just
named exhibited so
remarkably
the true
philosophy
of
Masonry.
Wherever
Masonry
was introduced
prior
to
1750,
whether
in
Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Prussia, Poland,
Turkey, Italy,
Switzerland,
Spain, Portugal,
or
America,
there was not
produced
the
slightest
collision,
nor could
there be so
long
as the three
degrees
of the
English
Rite
alone were
practiced,
and a
unity
of
purpose
in the Ma-
sonic
system by
such
practice preserved.
But as soon as
this
unity
was
destroyed
in
France,
in the manner we have
1
In that celebrated
lodge
the Nine
Sisters,
founded in
1776,
and in
which had been initiated
Voltaire, Helvetius, Lalande,
Court of Gibe-
lin, Benjamin Franklin, etc.,
no desire has ever been
expressed
for the
attainment of
any degree
above that of Master Mason.
(See
Masonic
Oxttodoxy, by Ragon, p. 111.)
shown,
by
the introduction of
high degrees,
and
political
objects
as well as
mercenary
tendencies
began
to charac-
terize our beautiful
institution,
the
suspicions
of the
gov-
ernments were
aroused,
and
inquiry provoked prohibitions
the most
severe,
even under
pain
of
death,
against
assem-
blies of Freemasons.
1
Since the
beginning
of the
present century,
the
princi-
pal
rites created have been the Ancient and
Accepted
Scottish
Rite,
the Rite of
Misraim,
and the Rite of Mem-
phis.
The
origin
and
history
of these rites
having
been
given
in
previous chapters
of this work devoted
thereto,
it is
unnecessary
to
say any thing
further about them in
this one.
Regarding
some two or three
others, however,
as
worthy
of
notice,
we will mention them :
1. The Order of Modern
Templars,
constituted the 4th
of
November,
1804, by
virtue of an old constitution
2
found
in the
possession
of a
brother,
and
according
to which the
founders afterward
pretended
to be the
legitimate
succes-
sors of the
Knights
of the
Temple.
This
association at-
*lt is in
great part,
if not
entirely,
to the introduction of the
high
de-
grees,
whose
history
so far we have
just recorded,
that the numerous
literary attacks,
from which
Freemasonry
has so
greatly
suffered
during
the latter half of the last
century,
are due. The works of
Luchet,
of
Robison,
the Abbe
Barruel, Payard,
Cadet-Gassecourt the Abbe
Lefranc,
and
many others,
would
probably
have never seen the
light,
had not
Masonry
become adulterated with
objects
as
improper
as
they
were un-
suited to mix with its
principles,
while
preserved
in the fervor and faith
of their
primitive simplicity.
The writers
named,
not
being
able to dis-
tinguish
the true from the
false,
endeavored to involve all in a common
ruin,
and for a time
they
were successful.
"
Ilesurgam" however,
is
written
upon every page
of truth
immortal;
and no more
fitting
front
for the emblazonment of this
glorious
motto has ever been afforded than
that
presented to-day by English Freemasonry.
8
This constitution was written in
Latin,
and its
object
is thus
expressed:
"To reestablish the Order of the true successors of the
Knights
of the
Temple,
in its
primitive purity,
as it had been instituted
by Hugh
de
Payen,
in
1118,
and in accordance with the laws of
1605,
under the
Grand
Mastership
of
Montmorency,
etc."
15
tained in France some
degree
of
stability.
The brother
Fabre-Palaprat,
a
distinguished physician,
became,
under
the assumed name of
"
Bernard
Raymond,"
the first Grand
Master. After his
death,
which occurred on the 1 8th of
February 1838,
the
"
Order of the
Temple
"
met,
at a con-
vent,
in
general assembly,
and voted itself a new constitu-
tion and
laws; and,
on the 13th of
January,
1841,
the
members united in the election of Sir
Sidney
Smith to
the ofiice of Grand Master. He
subsequently
took the
title of
Regent
of the
Order;
and
this,
so far as we are
aware,
was the last manifestation of this last
parody
on
the Order of
Knights
of the
Temple,
as in 1843 no trace
of it could be found in France.
1
2. The "Rite of
Rigid
Observers,"
created in
1819,
by
seven officers of the Grand Orient of
France,
2
with the ob-
ject
of
bringing Freemasonry
back to its
primitive purity
and
simplicity, by re-establishing
the modern
English
1
It was
by
members of tins "association" that
Knight Templarism,
as known in America
comprising
the three
degrees,
viz:
Knight
of the
Red
Cross, Knight Templar,
and
Knight
of Malta was introduced into
the United States in
1808,
and which
degrees
now
compose
the
highest
grades
of the American Masonic
system. Delegates
from seven
Encamp-
ments of
Knights Templar,
and one Council of Red Cross none of
which were located south or west of New York
organized
in New York
city,
on the 20th of
June, 1816,
a General Grand
Encampment
for the
United States. At this
assembly,
Hon. De Witt
Clinton,
of New
York,
was elected General Grand
Master,
and Thomas Smith
Webb, Esq.,
of
Boston,
his
Deputy.
On account of the conservative stand then takon
by
the few brethren
representing
this Order at that time in
America,
it
has, during
the half a
century
now
drawing
to its
close, kept
suitable
pace
with the other divisions of the American Masonic
system,
and at-
tained to a
degree
of
popularity
it would
not, probably,
if left to stand
alone,
or to stumble
against
those other divisions.
This,
and the addi-
tional reason that the American mind is
notably
Christian and
spiritual
in its tendencies and
aspirations,
will continue to accord to the Order of
Knights Templar,
as a Christian attachment to the Masonic
Institution,
-the full meed of value to which it
may
be entitled. TRANSLATOR.
"Renon, Borie, Caille, Delaroche, Geneux, Pages,
and Vassal
DEGREES.
227
Rite.
[Notwithstanding
their
position
and their
talents,
these brethren failed in their
project,
for no other
reason,
we
believe,
than that
they
had neither decorations nor
pompous
titles to otter to their
adepts.
3. The
"
Rite of Unitarian
Masonry," adopted by
the
National Grand
Lodge
of
France,
after its
organization,
in
1848. This
lodge,
not to wound the
susceptibility
of its
membership, by
this title denominated the
symbolic
rite
of three
degrees. Notwithstanding
its tenderness in
this
respect,
however,
it had no better fortune than the
preced-
ing
rite,
as the National Grand
Lodge
of France
expired
in 1851.
After this succinct
exposition
of the
history
of the
prin-
cipal systems
for
high degrees,
we
hope
that the
good
sense of the
brethren,
who are
-yet partisans
of these
high
degrees,
will induce them to
regard
them as useless and
embarrassing baggage,
borne
along
in
opposition
to the
spirit
of true
Freemasonry,
and
only
calculated to excite
discord and
impede
the march of our humanitarian insti-
tution. We
hope
that
they
will abandon these w
r
orks of
a foolish and ambitious
imagination,
and
degrading
and
mercenary spirit
of
speculation,
and return or confine
themselves to the
practice
of the true Masonic
rite,
that
of three
symbolic degrees,
the
only primitive
rite of the
Ancient Free and
Accepted
Masons of
England.
We shall
add,
in
closing
this
chapter,
that Brother
Ragon
has
published,
in his
"
Manual
of
Initiations" we
presume
to exhibit the
tendency
to aberration of the human
mind the names of
seventy-five
different
styles
of Ma-
sonry, fifty-two
rites and
thirty-four
orders called
Masonic,
twenty-six androgynous
orders,
six Masonic
colleges,
and
more than fourteen hundred
degrees,
while,
in
reality,
there has never existed
any
other rite entitled to the name
of
Freemasonry
than the modern
English
rite of three
symbolic degrees. Upon
this
rite,
as the stock of Free-
masonry,
the Jesuits and
partisans
of the Stuarts
grafted
their clerical and secular orders of
chivalry,
which \ve
Lave
described;
and it is this stock
upon
which has been
grafted every
other
species
of
jugglery assuming
to be
Masonry
which has had
place
within the last
century.
NAMES OP MASONIC RITES
EXTANT,
AND WHERE
PRACTICED.
Rite of Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons, practiced
by
nine-tenths of all the
lodges
of the
globe,
the same
being
the Modern
English
Rite of three
symbolic degrees,
as
arranged by
the Grand
Lodge
of London in
1717
Rite of
Zinendorf, practiced by
the National Grand
Lodge
cf
Germany,
at
Berlin, comprising
seven
degrees, arranged
in
1767
Rite
practiced by
the Grand
Lodge
of
Stockholm,
com-
monly
called the Swedish
Rite,
or
System
of
Swedenborg,
comprising eight degrees,
and
arranged
in
1773
Rite
practiced by
some
lodges
in
Belgium,
called the Scotch
Philosophic
Rite of
eighteen degrees, arranged
in
1776
Rite known as the
Royal
Arch or York Rite of seven de-
grees, practiced
in the United States of
America,
and the
higher degrees
of which are believed to have been
arranged,
by
Lawrence
Dermott,
in
1777
Rite
practiced by
some
lodges
in
Belgium,
known as the
Refined Scottish or Reformed Ancient
Rite,
arranged
as
the successor of the Rite of
Perfection,
after the
Congress
of
Wilhelmsbad,
in
1782
Rite
practiced by
the Grand
Lodge
of Frankfort and Ham-
burg,
known as the Eclectic
Rite, comprising
three
degrees,
arranged,
in
conformity
with the
opinion expressed by
the
Congress
at
Wilhelmsbad,
in
1782, by
Baron
Knigge,
in 1733
Rite
practiced by
the Grand Orient of
France, commonly
called the Modern French
Rite,
comprising
seven
degrees,
and which was
arranged by
a commission of that
body
as
a basis of
compromise
between it and the
"
General Grand
Chapter
of the Rite of
Perfection," organized,
in
1783,
as
the successors' of the
"
Grand Council of
Emperors
of the
East and
West, Sovereign
Prince
Masons,"
and
adopted
in 1786
ORIGIN OP ALL THE RITES FOR HIGH
DEGREES. 229
Rite
practiced by
the Grand
Royal
York
Lodge
of
Berlin,
known as Fessler's
Rite, comprising
three
degrees
and a
chapter, arranged
in 1796
Kite of the Grand
Lodge
at the Three
Globes,
in
Berlin,
comprising twenty-five degrees,
as
arranged
to
admit,
in
1760,
the
high degrees
then
prevalent,
but which was
reduced to ten
degrees
in 1798
Rite known as the Ancient and
Accepted Scottish, practiced
in various countries and
by
all
Supreme Councils,
com-
prising thirty-three degrees.
It is believed to have been
extended from the Rite of Perfection of
twenty-five
de-
grees
to its
present
number,
in
Charleston,
S.
C.,
in
1802,
and
mainly arranged,
as it now exists in France and else-
where,
in 1804
Rite known as the Order of Modern
Templars,
or
Knights
Templar, comprising
three
degrees, practiced
in the United
States of America and Great Britain. As the successor
of the secular
Templars
of the Jesuit
system
of Strict
Observance,
this rite was
arranged
in France in 1804
Rite of
Misraim, practiced
in
Paris, comprising ninety
de-
grees,
invented
by Lechangeur,
of
Milan,
in
1806,
and
introduced into France
by
Mark and Michael Bedar-
ride,
in 1815
Rite of
Memphis,
now
practiced only
in the United States of
America, comprising ninety-five degrees,
the same
being
an extension and
improvement
of the last-named
rite,
made
by
Marconis de
Negre,
in 1838
RITES,
CALLED
MASONIC,
WHICH HAVE BECOME
EXTINCT,
OB
WHICH HAVE BECOME ABSORBED INTO SOME EXISTING RlTE.
Rite of
Noah, arranged
as the Order of the Noahchites in .1735
Scottish or Jacobin Rite of
Ramsay,
first known in 1736
Rite of Herodom of
Kilwinning,
first
practiced
in 1740
Rite or Order of
Fidelity, by
Chambonet 1742
Rite or Order of the Anchor 1744
Rite of the
Areopagists
1746
Scottish Jacobin
Rite,
created
by
the
Pretender,
in 1747
Rite of the Elect of
Truth,
at
Rennes,
in 1748
Rite of the Old
Daughter-in-law, by Lockhart,
an
emissary
of the
Jesuits,
in , 1749 or 1750
Rite of the Illuminati of
Stockholm,
founded in
1621,
and
resuscitated in
France,
under Masonic
forms,
in 1750
Rite or Order of Prussian
Knights
1756
Rite of the Clerks of Strict
Observance,
or clerical
Templar
system,
founded
by
the
Jesuits,
and
united,
in
1776,
with
the Secular
Templars,
also a creation of the Jesuits 1756
Rite of
Knights
of the
East,
by
Pirlet
1757
Rite of the
Emperors
of the East and
West,
Sovereign
Prince
Masons. This was the Rite of Herodom extended to the
Rite of Perfection of
twenty-five degrees, by
the
Jesuits,
and
propagated by
Pirlet about 1758
Rite of Strict
Observance,
or modified
Templar system
of
seven
degrees,
known as the Secular
Templars
1760
Rite of the African Architects 1762
Between 1762 and 1766 there were introduced five
rites,
named
respectively
the
Asiatics,
the
Patients,
the
Seekers,
the Princes of
Death,
and the Reformed of Dresden.
Rite of the
Flaming Star,
founded
by
Baron
Schudy,
an
emissary
of the
Jesuits,
in
1766
Rite of the Rose
Cross,
founded
by
Valentine Andrea in
1616,
and
resuscitated,
under Masonic
forms,
in 1767
Rite of the
Knights
of the
Holy City, by
an
emissary
of the
Jesuits,
in 1768
Rite of the Elected
Cowans, by
Martinez Paschalis 1768
Rite of the Black Brethren 1770
Scandinavian
Rite,
and the Hermitic
Rite,
in 1772
Rite of the
Philalethes,
founded in Paris
by
Lavalette de
Langes,
Court de Gebelin. the Prince of
Hesse,
etc 1773
Bavaria, by
Professor
Weisshaupt.
1776
Rite of the
Independents,
and Rite of the Perfect Initiates
of
Egypt
1776
Avignon, being
the
system
of Swe-
denborg,
in 1779
Rite of the
Philadelphians
of
Narbonne,
a rite of ten
degrees,
founded
by
some
pretended superior officers, major
and
minor,
of
"
the Order of Free and
Accepted
Masons
"
1780
Rite of the
Martiiiists,
founded
by
St. Martin 1780
ORIGIN OF ALL THE RITES FOR HIGH DEGREES, 231
Rite
of the Sublime Masters of the Circle of
Light
.... 1780
Rite of
Knights
and
Nymphs
of the Rose
(one degree)
.... 1781
Rite of the Masons of the Desert 1781
Egyptian Rite, by Cagliostro
* 1781
Rite of Universal
Harmony, by
Dr. Mesmer 1782
Rito of the Illuminati of the Zodiac 1783
Rite of Zoroaster 1783
Rite of
High Egyptian Masonry (adoptive), by Cagliostro..
1784
Rite of Adonhiramite
Masonry
1787
Rite of the
Holy
Order of the
Sophists, by
Cuvelier of
Troves 1801
Rite or Order of Modern
Templars,
founded
by
Drs. Ledru
and
Fabre-Palaprat
1
1804
Rite or Order of
Mercy
1807
Rite or Order of
Knights
of
Christ,
founded
by
E. de Nunez. 1809
Rite or Order of French
Noachides,
or
Napoleonic Masonry.
1816
Rite of
Rigid Observers,
founded
by
some officers of the
Grand Orient in 1819
Persian
Philosophic Rite,
created in Erzrum in
1818,
and
introduced in France in 1819
1
This rite is not extinct in Great Britain and United States of
America,
it
being,
in those
countries,
fitted on to the York
Kite,
as
high degrees.
DOCUMENTARY
AND HISTORICAL EVIDENCE
BEARING DIRECTLY UPON THE
ORIGIN AND GENERAL HISTORY OF
FREEMASONRY,
TOGETHER WITH
INDICATIONS OF THE CAUSES FOR THE DIVERSITY OF OPINIONS
WHICH EXIST AS TO SUCH ORIGIN.
I. DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE.
FOR all which relates to the foundation of the Roman
Colleges
of
Builders,
(collegia fabrorum,)
created
by
Numa
Pompilius,
in the
year
715 B.
C.,
their constitution and
the modifications made in their
privileges
after the fall of
the Roman
Republic particularly
in the second
century
of the Christian
era,
under the
emperors Trajan
and
Adrian consult the
following
works,
viz. :
1. The Laws of the Twelve
Tables,
instituted in the
year
451 B. C. The
eighth
of these tables refers
particu-
larly
to those
colleges.
2. The
Body
of Roman
Rights.
3. First and second
Epistles
of Cicero to his brother
Quintus.
4. Architecture
by
Vitruvius. This work has been
often translated.
1
J
In the edition of Anderson's Constitution for
1725,
Vitruvius is
stated to
be,
in the
year
29 B.
C.,
the
representative
of Cesar
Augustus
in the
corporations
of Builders.
(232)
DOCUMENTARY AND HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 2C3
5.
History
of Architecture.
By
Schoell. Yols. 1 and 2.
6. Follion.
By
De
Bugny.
As
containing
the text of
many
historic
documents,
as
also the
history
and doctrines of the Masonic
institution,
consult the
following
works,
viz. :
7. The Book of Constitutions.
By
Dr. James Ander-
son. First
published
in
1723,
and
subsequently
to the
extent of five
separate
editions.
8. The
History
of
Freemasonry,
Drawn from Authen-
tic Sources of Information.
By
Alexander Laurie. Lon-
don : 1804.
9. Illustrations of
Freemasonry.
By
William Preston.
London : 1772 and 1812.
10. The Three Oldest Documents of the
Fraternity
of
Freemasons.
By
K. C. F. Erause.
11. The Three Oldest Historical Documents of the
Fraternity
of Freemasons of
Germany. By
Professor
Heldmann.
12.
History
of
Freemasonry. By
Professor Bobrick.
Zurich.
13. The Actual Condition of
Freemasonry
Discovered.
By
De Hammer.
14.
Encyclopedia
of
Freemasonry. ByLenning. Leip-
sic.
15. Memoirs of the Architecture of the Middle
Ages.
By
Widdekind.
16. The German Colonies and Division of Lands in the
Western Roman Provinces.
By Gaup.
1844.
17. Handbook of the Different Masonic
Symbols. By
Dr.
Schauberg.
Zurich : 1861.
18.
History
of
Freemasonry. By
Kloss. Frankfort:
1861.
19.
Freemasonry,
its
Origin, Development,
etc.
By
Hanau. 1862.
20.
History
of
Freemasonry,
from its
Origin
to the
Present
Day. Leipsic:
1862.
/
21.
History
of
Freemasonry. By
J. G. Findel.
Leipsic
:
1863.
1
In addition to the works
named,
we find some valuable
teachings
in the
following
books,
the
productions
of au-
thors
who,
as
they
have themselves informed
ns,
are not
Freemasons,
and whose
opinions,
on that
account,
should
bo of more
weight,
as
they
must be disinterested writers
upon
the
subject
of
Freemasonry:
22. The Monumental Art.
By Baptissier.
Paris.
(See
pp.
466,
469.)
23.
History
of the Cathedral of
Cologne. By
J. Bois-
gerre.
Paris.
24. General
History
of Architecture.
By
Daniel Ramee.
Paris : 1843.
(See
vol.
2,
p. 234.)
These three
authors,
who are
architects,
unite in
recog-
nizing
the fact that it is to the Freemasons of the middle
ages
we are indebted for all the monuments erected
during
that
period.
II. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE.
(Chronologically arranged)
A. D. 52. The
corporations
of Constructors are estab-
lished at this time in Great Britain. This fact is
proven
by
the
inscription upon
a tubular stone found at Chichester
in
1725,
and whereon was chronicled the erection at that
place
of a
temple
to
Neptune,
and another to Minerva.
(See
the London Freemason's
Magazine
for
1862.)
A. D. 290. The constitution or ancient
privileges
ac-
corded
by
Tuma
Pompilius
to the
colleges
of
Constructors,
and which were
considerably
restricted and diminished
since their
primitive
concession,
were this
year
renewed,
fully
and without
any
restriction,
by
Carausius,
commander
of the Roman
fleet, who,
after
possessing
himself of Great
1
From No. 10 to No.
21, inclusive,
the worka named are in the Ger-
man
language.
DOCUMENTARY AND HISTORICAL
EVIDENCE.
235
Britain,
and
declaring
his
independence
of
Rome,
in
287,
had taken the title of
emperor. By
this
favor,
accorded
to the
Builders,
he
sought
to assure himself of the assist-
ance of that
association,
then the most
powerful
in the
country.
The architect
Alhanus,
originally
a
pagan,
but converted
to
Christianity,
was named
hy Carausius,
Inspector
of the
Masonic
Corporations
of Great Britain. Two
years
after-
ward he was beheaded
by
his
protector
for
having preached
the doctrine of Christ. He was the first
martyr
in
Britain,
and he
is,
according
to authentic
documents,
ranked first
on the historical list of the
inspectors
of
Freemasonry
in
Britain. It was to these
inspectors
that
subsequently
was
given
the name of Grand Masters.
A. D. 296. After the death of
Carausius,
which took
place
in
295,
Constantius
Chlorus,
who succeeded
him,
chose for the
place
of his residence the
city
of
York,
(Eboracum,)
where he found the most
important lodges
or
colleges
of Builders in Britain.
From A. D. 350 to 430.
During
this
period
the first
corporations
of Artists and
Operatives
were
instituted,
with
particular
rules and
regulations,
out of the remains
of the
general
association,
dissolved after the retreat of
the Romans in 426. These
statutes,
of which
many
libra-
ries in France
possess manuscript copies, evince,
with more
or less
distinctness,
the marks of the old
association,
as
well in the connection of their humanitarian
principles
as
in their secrets of art.
A. D. 557. In this
year
Austin,
an architect and Bene-
dictine
priest,
was nominated to the
dignity
of Grand
Inspector
of the Masonic Fraternities. It was
by
this
priest
that the
Anglo-Saxon kings
were converted to
Christianity.
He died in
610,
and was canonized under
the name of St.
Augustine.
A. D. 614.
Pope
Boniface IY
conferred,
by diploma,
upon
the Masonic
corporations
the exclusive
privilege
of
erecting
all
religious buildings
and
monuments, and,
by
the same
document,
made them free from all
local,
royal,
or
municipal
statutes, taxes,
etc.
A. D. 620.
During
the international and civil
wars,
which had
paralyzed
their
development,
the Masonic cor-
porations sought refuge
in the
monasteries,
which thus
became the schools of
architecture,
and from which sub-
sequently
went out the most celebrated
architects,
among
whom
may
be named St.
Aloysius, bishop
of
Noyen (659),
St.
Ferol,
of
Limoges,
Dalmac, bishop
of
Rhodes,
Agricola
of Chalons
(680
and
700).
A. D. 680. In this
year
the
King
of
Mersey
nominated
Bennet,
Abbot of
Wirral,
to the
dignity
of
Inspector
Gen-
eral and
Superintendent
of
Freemasonry.
From A. D. 700 to 900. The
Anglo-Saxon documents,
emanating directly
from the Masonic
Fraternity, during
this
period, owing
to the continual wars and
pillagings,
in
great part disappeared
or were
destroyed.
A
large
portion
of what were saved
became,
possibly,
the
property
of the
lodges
in
London, and,
in
1720,
were
nearly
all
burned
by
brethren of these
lodges,
in the belief that it was
improper
to have the information
they
contained dissemi-
nated
by publication
in the work of Dr. Anderson. In
some of the
Anglo-Saxon
documents which exist in the
libraries of
England,
the Masonic fraternities are some-
times
designated
as
"
Freemasons."
A. D. 850. The Saxon
king,
Ethelwolf,
promotes
the
priest-architect,
St.
Svvithin,
to the
directorship
of the
Freemasons,
the assemblies of whom were much inter-
rupted during
this
century.
A. D. 900. The successor of Alfred
Edward,
King
of
Mersey,
named,
as
grand inspectors
of the
Fraternity,
his
son Ethelward and his brother-in-law
Ethred,
both
having
become,
through
attendance in the schools of the Free-
masons,
practical
architects.
A. D. 925. All the Masonic
lodges
of Great Britain
DOCUMENTARY AND HISTORICAL EVIDENCE.
237
were this
year
convoked in a
congress by
the
king,
Ath-
elstan,
grandson
qf
Alfred the
Great,
who had
been
prompted
thereto
by
some
priest-architects.
The
object
of this
assembly
was to reconstitute the
Fraternity,
accord-
ing
to the laws and written documents saved in the con-
vents from destruction
during
the
wars,
and afterward
disseminated
through
the
country,
divided,
as it had been
during
five hundred
years,
into seven
kingdoms.
This
assembly
discussed and
accepted
the constitution sub-
mitted to it
by
Edwin,
son of
King
Athelstan,
and the
city
of York was chosen for the future seat of the Grand
Mastership.
A. D. 926. In this
year
the charter of
York,
adopted
at the
assembly
of
925,
was
promulgated,
and this charter
from this time became the basis of all Masonic constitu-
tions. Prince Edwin is nominated to the
dignity
of Grand
Master.
(See
the text of this
charter,
suppeto.)
A. D. 960. The
Archbishop
of
Canterbury,
St. Dun-
stan,
is named Grand Master of the
Fraternity.
A. D. 1040. Edward the
Confessor,
King
of
England,
declares himself the
protector
of
Freemasons,
and names
Leofrick,
Count of
Coventry,
as his
substitute, and,
by
his
intervention,
reestablishes the
Abbey
of Westminster.
A. D. 1066. Nomination of the Count of
Arundel,
Roger
of
Montgomery,
to the Grand
Mastership.
A. D. 1100.
King Henry
IV,
of
England, accepts
the
Grand
Mastership
of the
Fraternity.
A. D. 1145. The
Archbishop
of Rouen
publicly
blesses
the Freemasons assembled at
Rouen,
who came from
upper Normandy
at the call of those who were
engaged
in the construction of the cathedral of
Chartres,
and who
desired their
help
to more
speedily
complete
that work.
These brethren made a
triumphal
entry
into the
city,
accompanied by
the brethren of
neighboring
corporations,
particularly
those of Caen and
Bayeux. (See History
of
France.
By Henry
Martin. Vol.
2.)
A. D. 1155. Richard Coeur de
Leon,
Grand Master of
the
Knights
of the
Temple,
is nominated to the Grand
Mastership
of the Masonic
Fraternity
of Great Britain.
A. D. 1185. Gilbert of
Clare, Marquis
of
Pembroke,
is nominated Grand Master.
A. I). 1199. It was under the Grand
Mastership
and
direction of
Colechurch,
Chaplain
to
King
John,
that the
work on the first London
bridge
was
begun,
and finished
under the direction of his
successor,
William
Allemain,
in 1212.
A. D. 1250. The Grand
Lodge
of
Cologne
is instituted.
The master of this
lodge,
and director of the work on the
cathedral of this
city,
is
regarded
and
obeyed
as the mas-
ter of all the Freemasons of
Germany.
A. D. 1275. A Masonic
congress
is convoked
by
Erwin
of
Steinbach,
with the
object
of
concerting
measures to
continue the
work,
which for a
long
time was
interrupted,
on the cathedral of
Strasburg.
This
assembly organized
itself into a Grand
Lodge, (Ilaupt-hlitte^)
and nominated
Erwin architeet-m-chief of the
work,
and
chair-master,
(Mtister
vom
StuhL)
A. D. 1277.
Pope
Nicholas III
confirms, by diplomas
in favor of the Masonic
corporations,
the
monopoly
ac-
corded to them
by Pope
Boniface
IV,
in the
year
614.
A. D. 1314.
Documents,
the
genuineness
of which has
not been
established,
assert that in this
}'ear
Robert
Brnce,
King
of
Scotland,
founded the Order of Ilarodom of Kil-
winning,
and also elevated to the rank of a Grand
Lodge
of Ilarodom of
Kilwinning
the
lodge
founded in
1150,
at
the time of the erection of the
Abbey
of
Kilwinning.
A. 1). 1334.
Pope
Benedict II
confirms,
by diploma,
to the
corporations
their exclusive
privileges
for the con-
struction of
religious
edifices.
A. D. 1358. Under Edward III the charter of York
of 926 is submitted to revision. In an
appendix
to this
charter,
which contains
only
some new
regulations
re-
EVIDENCE.
239
lating
to the
rights
and emoluments
accruing
to Grand
Masters,
there is
prescribed
that,
in
future,
at the
recep-
tion of a brother, the constitution and old instructions
shall he read to him
by
the master of the
lodge.
A char-
ter in
verse,
written
upon parchment,
and
bearing
the
title,
"Hie
incipient
constit iitiones artis
geometries
secandum
jEuclidem"
(Here begin
the constitutions of the art of
Geometry, according
to
Euclid)
has been found in the
British Museum
by
an
antiquary
named J. 0.
Ilalliwell,
and
published by
him in
1810,
under the title of "The
Early History
of
Freemasonry
in
England,"
and trans-
lated into German
by
Brother
Afher,
of
Hamburg,
in 1842.
This
document,
submitted to the examination of
experts,
has been
recognized,
from its favorable
comparison
with
the statutes of the
parliament
of
1425,
as
having
been
produced
in the latter
part
of the fourteenth
century,
and,
consequently, may
be considered as based
upon
the charter
of Edward III.
A. D. 1360. At this time
Germany
had five
grand
lodges
:
Cologne, Strasburg,
Berne, Vienna,
and
Madge-
burg, upon
which were
dependent
the local
lodges
of
France,
Belgium,
Hesse, Swabia,
Thuringia, Switzerland,
Franconia, Bavaria, Austria,
Hungary,
and
Styria.
A. D. 1425. The
English
Parliament
passed
a bill this
year suppressing
the assemblies of Freemasons. The Gen-
eral
Assembly
which,
notwithstanding,
took
place
at York
in
1427,
protested against
this
bill,
and annulled its effect.
The
manuscript register
in the Latin
language, containing
all the names of the Master Masons who
signed
this
pro-
test,
is to be found in the
library
of
Oxford,
and is dated
with the
year
1429.
A. D. 1438. James
II,
King
of
Scotland,
accords
juris-
diction to the Grand Masters of the
lodges
of his
kingdom,
and authorizes them to establish
special
tribunals in
the
principal
cities,
by
which are to be
recognized
the
privi-
leges
of Freemasons. For this
privilege
the Grand Mas-
ter is
charged
with the
payment
into the state
treasury
of a tax of four
pounds,
to be collected from each Mason
passing
to the
degree
of
Master;
and such Grand Master
is further authorized to
impose upon
each new member a
right
of
reception (fee).
These two documents are to be
found
in the Law
Library
in
Edinburgh.
A. D. 1439. James
II,
King
of
Scotland,
nominated
William Sinclair
(St. Glair)
to the
dignity
of Grand Mas-
ter
adjunct
for the
lodges
of Scotland.
A. D. 1442. Initiation of
Henry
VI,
King
of
England,
into the Masonic
Fraternity
an
example
followed
by
nearly
all the
gentlemen
of his
court,
admitted as "Ac-
cepted
Masons." The number of these latter-named had
already
increased so as to exceed the
"
Freemasons."
A. D. 1459. A Masonic
congress
is held at Ratisbonne
(the
seat of the German
Diet),
devoted
principally
to the
discussion of the new constitution
compiled
at
Strasburg
in
1452,
which was based
upon
the laws of the
English
and Italian
corporations,
and which constitution was
styled
"Statutes and
Regulations
of the
Fraternity
of
Stonecutters of
Strasburg."
The text of this constitution
is to be found in
many
German works.
A. D. 1464. Second
congress
of Freemasons assembles
at Ratisbonne.
A. D. 1469. A
congress
of Freemasons assembles at
Spire. (The object
of this
congress
will be found in our
Historical
Summary
of Masonic
Conventions,
suppeto.)
A. D. 1498. The
Emperor
Maximilian sanctions the
Masonic constitution of
Strasburg,
and renews the ancient
privileges
accorded to the Freemasons.
A. D. 1502. A Grand
Lodge
of Master Masons is held
at London on the 24th June of this
year.
It is
presided
over
by Henry
VII of
England,
who
lays
the corner-stone
of Westminster
Chapel,
or
chapel
of
Henry
VII.
A. D. 1522.
By
a decree of the Helvetian
Diet,
the
Grand
Lodge
of Zurich is dissolved. This Grand
Lodge
EVIDENCE.
241
had been transferred to Zurich from Berne in
1502,
after
the cathedral of the latter
city
was finished.
A. D. 1539.
By
an
edict,
Francis I dissolves the ancient
corporations
of
Freemasons,
because
they
had vindicated
their ancient
rights
and
privileges, and,
by meeting
in
secret,
gave
offense to the
clergy.
A. D. 1540. Thomas
Cromwell,
Count of
Essex,
be-
headed for
political offenses,
is
succeeded,
in the Grand
Mastership
of
Freemasons,
by
Lord
Audley.
A. D. 15'50. The Duke of
Somerset,
who succeeded
Lord
Audley
as Grand
Master,
is
decapitated
a victim of
his attachment to the Stuarts.
A. D. 1561.
Queen
Elizabeth,
indignant
that the Free-
masons had not offered the Grand
Mastership
to her con-
sort
during
his
life,
on the 27th of December of this
year,
ordered the dissolutiou of the Masonic
assembly
which on
that
day
commenced its semi-annual
meeting,
and ordered
the execution of her edict to be enforced
by
a detachment
of armed men
; but, upon
a
report having
been made to
her
by
the
commanding
officer of the detachment
express-
ive of the
politically
harmless character of the
assembly,
the
Queen
revoked her order.
Subsequently
Queen
Eliza-
beth became the
protectress
of the Freemasons of her
kingdom,
and confirmed their choice of Thomas Sackville
for Grand Master.
A. D. 1563.
Congress
of Swiss and German Masons
takes
place
at Basle.
A. D. 1564.
Congress
of Masons at
Strasburg.
A. D. 1590. Charter of James
IV, King
of
Scotland,
granted,
on the 25th November of this
year,
to Patrick
Copland
of
Urdaught,
and which conferred
upon
him the
right
of
filling
the office of senior warden of Freemasons
in the districts of
Aberdeen, Banff,
and Kinkardine.
A. D. 1598.
Acceptance
of the new statutes for all the
lodges
of Scotland in a
general assembly,
which took
place
at
Edinburgh,
on the 29th December.
16
A. D. 1607. James
I,
King
of Great
Britain,
having
proclaimed
himself the
protector
of
Freemasonry
in his
kingdom,
affords much
brilliancy
and
importance
to the
institution
;
and the
high
consideration which it
enjoys
at
this time is
greatly augmented by
the election of the
celebrated architect
Inigo
Jones to the
dignity
of Grand
Master. The new direction that he initiated in the
Eng-
lish
lodges developed
a
spiritual
movement in their Ma-
sonic life that
compared favorably
with that of the art
academies of
Italy.
From this
time, also,
the
Accepted
Masons
greatly preponderated
over the Freemasons.
A. IX 1630. A document is
signed by
ail the
repre-
sentatives of Scottish
lodges, by
which are confirmed to
the successor of William St.
Clair,
Baron of
Roslin,
the
dignity
and
hereditary rights
of Grand Master of the
lodge?
of
Scotland,
and which were conferred
upon
the
head of that
family by
James II of
Scotland,
in 1439.
This document
may
be found in the law
library
of Edin-
burgh.
A. D. 1650. This was the
year
of
mourning
for all
true
Freemasons,
it
being signalized by
the
political
ten-
dencies into which
many
of the
lodges
were
precipitated
by
the
decapitation
of Charles I. The Masons of
Eng-
land,
and
particularly
those of
Scotland, partisans
of the
Stuarts,
labored in secret to reestablish the throne over-
turned
by
Cromwell. Not
being
able to induce all the
Masons to become adherents of their
propositions, they
invented two
superior degrees,
viz.:
Templar
and Scottish
Master,
into the secrets of which
they
initiated those who
were favorable to their secret
plans.
A. D. 1663. A
general assembly
of the Masons of
Eng-
land takes
place
at
York,
and which is
presided
over
by
King
Charles II. At this
assembly
the
king
confirmed
the Grand
Master,
Henry
Germain,
Count of St.
Albans,
in the
dignity
of his
office,
an4
decorated him with the
ribbon of the Order of the Bath. This
assembly passed
a
EVIDENCE.
243
series of
regulations,
conceived
entirely
with reference to
passing
and
past political
events,
and confirmed the con-
tinuance of the two
superior degrees
of Scottish Master
and
Templar.
A. D. 1666. The
great
fire of London
destroys forty
thousand
dwellings
and
eighty-six
churches. As there
did not exist at this time but seven
lodges
in
London,
nine-tenths of the members of which were
"Accepted
Masons,"
it became
necessary
to invite the Freemasons of
Europe generally
to
England
to reconstruct the
city.
All
the
Freemasons,
as also the Masons and architects which
did not
belong
to the Masonic
association,
put
themselves
under the direction of a central
lodge, governed by
Chris-
topher
Wren,
the Grand
Master,
and architect of St. Paul's
Cathedral,
and in
accordance with whose
plans
the
city
was rebuilt.
A.
D.
1685. James III reestablished the Order of
Knights
of St.
Andrew, which,
established
by
Robert
Bruce,
King
of
Scotland,
in
1314,
in favor of the Freema-
sons who
fought
for
him,
had been
suppressed,
and the
property
of the Order
confiscated,
during
the Reformation.
This
order,
according
to the intention of the
king,
should
be conferred as a
sign
of distinction and
recompense
awarded to the Freemasons who had stood
by
his house
;
and it is
probable,
had fortune favored James
III,
lie
would have reinstated this Order in its
possessions.
A. D. 1703. At this time there existed but four
lodges
of Freemasons in London
; and,
notwithstanding
the zeal
exhibited
by
the
aged
Grand
Master, Christopher Wren,
the members of these
lodges gradually
decreased. The
annual feasts were
completely neglected
and the
lodges
deserted. Under these
circumstances,
the
Lodge
of St.
Paul,
(known
at the
present
time as the
Lodge
of An-
tiquity,)
with the
object
of
retarding
the
continually
decreasing
number of -its
membership,
as also to
give
some
importance
to its
existence, passed
a resolution that en-
tirely changed
the face of the
society. (This
resolution
will be found on
page
56,
ante.)
A. D. 1717. This memorable
year,
from which it is
necessary
to date the era of modern
Freemasonry,
was
marked
by
the death of
Christopher
Wren.
(The
Masonic
events of this
year
will be found first
given
at
pages
51
and
57, ante,
and
subsequently
often referred to in this
work.)
III. INDICATIONS OF THE CAUSES FOR THE DIVERSITY OP
OPINIONS WHICH EXIST AS TO THE ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY.
THE
opinion
that has
generally prevailed,
as well in
Europe
as in
America,
that
Freemasonry
is indebted for
its
origin
to the
religious mysteries
of the
Jews,
or to the
initiations of
India, Persia,
or
Egypt,
is
owing,
to a
great
extent,
to the numerous
writings
of an eccentric char
acter which have been
published, principally
in
France,
by designing persons,
for
political purposes, during
the
last
century.
This
opinion,
however,
has never had
supporters
among
such
English
Masonic writers as have
produced
histories
of
Freemasonry,
of whom the
number, however,
has beeu
few. These writers remain faithful to their ancient tra-
ditions and documents in their
possession, and,
according
to
which,* Freemasonry
existed under this name since the
occupation
of Great Britain
by
the Roman
legions; and,
therefore,
they very logically
determine that the institu-
tion was
brought
to that
country by
the Romans.
Within the
present century,
two works
have
appeared
which have
helped
to
strengthen
French Masons in. the
errors into which
they
have fallen
upon
the
subject
of the
origin
of
Freemasonry.
The first is the work of Brother
Lenoir,
a
distinguished antiquary, published
at Paris in
1814,
and
bearing
the
title,
"Freemasonry
Restored to its
True
Origin,
or the
Antiquity
of
Freemasonry proven by
DOCUMENTARY
AND HISTORICAL
EVIDENCE.
245
the
Explanation
of its Ancient and Modern
Mysteries;"
1
and the second is the work of Brother
Reghelini
de
Clîo,
entitled
"Freemasonry
in its Connection with the
Relig-
ions of the
Egyptians."
The first of these works has dis-
played
a rare
quality
of research for
proofs
to
support
the
opinions
of its
author,
while the second exhibits less care
in
establishing, by
the aid of science and
history,
the con-
nections which its author believes he has discovered be-
tween the
religions
of the
Egyptians
and
Freemasonry.
It is but
doing justice
to both
authors, however,
to believe
that
they earnestly
desired to seek the truth. But
while,
in the
forms,
symbols,
doctrines,
and
principles
of Free-
masonry they
have discovered the true secrets of the
philo-
sophic
schools of
Greece,
Egypt,
and
India,
introduced,
during many
centuries which have
preceded
our
era,
into
the Roman
colleges
of
constructors,
and which latter
were,
from their
foundation,
the theater of all
initiations,
and
open
to all
mysterious
doctrines,
it
may
not be concluded
that
Freemasonry sprang by
direct issue from these schools
of
antiquity.
If these doctrines have been
religiously pre-
served
by
the
corporations,
as we have
stated,
and
by
them
as
religiously
transmitted,
with little
alteration,
to those
which succeeded them in Gaul and
Britain,
these
corpora-
tions alone should not
monopolize
the merit of such trans-
mission;
for the Greeks and
Jews,
and
particularly
the
primitive
Christians,
have
equally propagated
these doc-
trines.
JSTow,
notwithstanding
the connection that Free-
masonry presents,
in. its forms of
initiation,
with the
1
In the work of Brother J. G. Findel of
Leipsic,
entitled
"History
of
Fieemasonry
from its
Origin
to the Present
Day"
one of the best Ger-
man works of its kind in
speaking
of the
diversity
of
opinion prevalent^
particularly
in
France, upon
the
origin
of
Freemasonry,
the author re-
marks that all the French Masonic writers have
accepted
and followed
the
opinion
of Alex.
Lenoir,
with the
exception
of Brother Rebold and
Brother Moreau. These
brethren,
he coi
tinues,
coincide in the
opinion
of all our
(German)
earnest and
thorough historians,
such as
Krause,
Boberich, Helduiann,
and others.
ancient
mysteries
a connection that has induced error
among
most writers it can not be considered more than
a feeble
imitation,
instead of a
continuation,
of these
mysteries;
because,
from the
beginning,
initiation into the
mysteries
of the ancient
Egyptians,
Greeks,
and Hindoos
was the
teachings
of the
worship, philosophy, philan-
thropy,
and
morality,
as well as
art, science,
and
legisla-
tion of these
peoples,
while
Freemasonry
should be con-
sidered as a
purely philosophic
school of
perfection, having
for its
leading
object
universal
fraternity.
We will refrain from
quoting
much that has been
pub-
lished
upon
this
subject by
writers more or less
convinced,
and which has contributed
greatly
to mislead the minds
of
brethren,
even the most
enlightened.
l
Can it be wondered that
among
Masons,
such as Brother
Garon,
who would bid historians look into their own
hearts for authentic materials with which to construct a
history
of
any
human
institution,
there will be found to-
day notwithstanding
the
consistent,
straightforward,
and
authentic
productions
on this
subject
which have been
given
to the brethren
during
the
past
ten
years
orators
of
lodges
in
France,
and
probably
elsewhere,
misleading
the minds of
young
Masons and
disgusting
those of the
old with their Masonic romances and absurd
histories,
as
gathered
from their favorite Masonic authors?
To discover the cradle of the
institution,
it should suf-
fice to seek it in the
history
of
England,
and at the time
1
In the
report
that Brother
Garon, president
of the Chamber of Cor-
respondence,
made to the Grand Orient of
France, upon
the General
History
of
Freemasonry
the earlier
production
of the author of the
present
work he
says,
in
closing:
"All Masons who
may
read the
learned work of this historian will find therein much valuable informa-
tion and historical instruction
;
but
they
will also be
convinced,
as I
am,
tnat if Brother Rebold had
sought
the
History
of
Freemasonry
in his
heart,
in
place
of
taking
it from
books,
he would not have landed thia
almost divine institution from
among
an association of workmen con-
structors."
EVIDENCE.
247
when are first mentioned the
corporations
known
by
the
name of Free Masons.
Then,
after
having
consulted all
the documents of this
period, go
back still
further,
by
the
aid of such marks as can be
found,
to the
place
or first
appearance
of the
persons among
whom the
society ap-
pears;
then follow it down
through
the wars and inva-
sions to which that
country
has been
subject. If,
after
this
process
of
investigation,
and
notwithstanding
the
changes
of its
primitive
name,
the
identity
of the affilia-
tion is
established,
or
successively developed,
it is not
necessary
then to have recourse to
hypothesis
to indicate
with
certainty
its
origin.
It is
by proceeding
thus that
we have found that
Freemasonry
is the issue of an ancient
and celebrated
corporation
of artists and
mechanics,
united
for the
prosecution
of
civil,
religious,
naval,
and
military
architecture,
founded at Rome in the
year
715 B.
C.,
by
the celebrated
legislator,
Numa
Pompilius
;
and
which,
during
the eleven hundred
years
which
elapsed subsequent
to its
foundation,
had been
known,
in all the countries
subject
to Roman
rule,
under the
designation
of
Corpora-
tions or Fraternities
of
Roman
Builders; but,
after the re-
treat of the Roman
legions
of the
Gauls,
and
being
no
longer
sustained
by
the Roman
powers,
these associations
were forced to dissolve and divide themselves into
separate
corporations, (between
A. D. 486 and
500,)
from which
sprang
the artists and mechanics of the middle
ages,
as
the new
corporations
of mason
builders,
and
preserving
only
their ancient laws and the artistic and
philosophic
secrets of their art.
The members of these
corporations, remaining
in Brit-
ain after their
transformation,
were called Free
Masons,
to
distinguish
them from the masons and stone-cutters who
were not in the
enjoyment
of the
privileges
extended to
them
by
written constitutions and
diplomas.
These Free-
masons have
had,
since that
time,
an immense
political
and scientific
influence;
they
communicated their secrets
but to those
whom,
according
to traditional
forms,
they
initiated into their
mysteries; they
had a liberal
organi-
zation,
and a
philosophic
code of laws which had
governed
them from ancient times. This
association,
dissolved in
the sixteenth
century
in
consequence
of the
peculiar
cir-
cumstances of the Protestant Reformation in the countries
where it then
principally
subsisted,
is
subsequently
main-
tained without
interruption
in
England,
under its tradi-
tional
forms,
even after
having
abandoned its material
object.
Numerous fractions of
it,
called
lodges,
continue
to exist until the
beginning
of the
eighteenth
century,
disseminated
throughout
the
country,
and
meeting only
once a
year,
at the feast of St.
John,
to distribute aid
among
the
brethren,
and elect their officers
; while,
be-
yond
the control of
any
state
laws,
they
conserved the
privilege
unabated of
uniting
in
public processions
and
laying
the corner-stones of all
public buildings
and monu-
ments. This
corporation
of
Freemasons,
finally
trans-
formed at London in
1717,
declares its wish to continue
and to
propagate
the
philosophical principles
which,
from
all
time,
have been the basis of the
society;
and,
renoun-
cing
forever material
architecture,
to thenceforth
employ
itself
wholly
with moral architecture and
philosophy.
Such
is the
origin
of Modern or
Philosophical Freemasonry.
And
why
should not such an
origin
be
acceptable
to all
Freemasons ?
Because,
simply,
it is
repugnant
to their
self-love to
acknowledge
the descent of their
society
from
an association of
practical
masons, or,
in the
language
of
Brother
Garon,
from
"
an association of workmen-con-
structors;"
and
this, too,
notwithstanding
the
very
name
Freemason indicates no other source or
origin.
Examine more
closely
this association of which
they
are
ashamed.
By
its
antiquity
alone an
antiquity
which
they
at all
times desire most
heartily
to endorse and extend
beyond
all reasonable limit is it not
respectable?
DOCUMENTARY AND HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 249
By
its
having
been based
upon
the laws of the
Diony-
sian
priest-architects,
admitted
by
Solon in his
legislation,
and
subsequently
inscribed
by
him
upon
the Roman ta-
bles is it not
respectable
?
By
its
having
been
composed,
from the
beginning,
of
the most eminent men of the most eminent nations of
Greeks,
of
Egyptians,
of Phenicians initiates into the
mysteries
of their
respective
countries,
and
experts
in all
branches of human
knowledge
is it iiot
respectable
?
Did not these
corporations
collect and
adopt
all the
philosophic
and humanitarian truths
taught
and
implied
in the doctrines of the
greatest
thinkers of
antiquity; and,
by having, long
before the birth of
Christ,
practiced
those
principles pointing
to the
emancipation
and elevation of
woman,
as the fountain of our
existence,
and to the abol-
ishment of human
slavery
are
they
not
respectable?
Can we
point
to
any
other association which for
twenty-
five centuries has
preserved
in their
primitive simplicity
and
purity,
and
written,
as it
were,
with a
pen
of steel in
the rock
forever,
those humanitarian
principles
of love to
God and to our
neighbor?
Was it an association of no
importance
which erected
those thousands of
majestic temples,
those
superb
monu-
ments whose
very
ruins
to-day involuntarily
excite our
admiration ?
Were
they simple
associations of workmen-constructors
who,
possessing
all the
art, science,
and
knowledge
of
any
value
acquired
at that
time,
exercised so
great
an influence
upon
Roman
civilization,
that it
may
be
considered in-
debted to them for all of art and civil law disseminated
wherever the
legions
fixed
themselves,
and who thus be-
came the forerunners of Christian
teaching
and civiliza-
tion ?
Was it a
simple
association of
practical
masons
who,
during
the middle
ages,
constructed those numerous and
sublime
religious edifices,
which shall be forever the ad-
miration of
posterity
those
master-pieces
of Christian
genius,
those
grand, gigantic conceptions
of
religious
faith
and zeal the cathedrals of
Strasburg, Cologne, Rouen,
Paris,
etc. ? Could such monuments be the work of ordi-
nary
masons and stone-cutters ? If
so,
where shall we
find their like
to-day
?
These sanctuaries of the Great Architect of the
Universe,
as
they
are avowed to be
by
the most
distinguished
archi-
tects
strangers
to the Masonic institution are due to the
Freemasonry
of the middle
ages:
to "these
philosophic,
learned, modest,
pious,
and
truly
Christian
Freemasons,"
as
they
are called
by
the author of one of the best and
most recent works
upon
architecture.
l
Was it a
simple
association of workmen-constructors
who
by
their
protest
annulled an act of the Parliament of
England
of 1425 ?
Is that an association of no
importance
which,
since the
sixth
century,
can count as its
presidents,
thirteen
bishops
and
archbishops,
twelve dukes of the
kingdom,
and four-
teen
princes
and
kings
?
And should
we,
as
Freemasons,
blush to descend from
those
corporations
of mason
philosophers,
because
they
wrought,
in their
time,
as workmen-constructors?
No associations of
any period
of the world's
history
have
produced
works so remarkable as those which are
due to these
corporations;
and no
society
that ever had
place
on the world's surface can be
compared
to them
either as to
length
of
years
or value of
principles.
Far from
contemning
so
respectable
an
origin,
we should
seek
glory
in
acknowledging
it,
at all times and in all
places ;
and endeavor to render ourselves
worthy
of it
by
continuing,
in our own
persons,
that sublime work of
which the Roman
constructors,
in the
spiritual
darkness
of
twenty-five
hundred
years ago,
laid the foundation stone.
'See "General
History
of
Architecture," by
Daniel
Rarnee, p.
234.
H1STOEICAL ENUMEEATION
OF THE
PRINCIPAL MASONIC CONGRESSES AND CONVENTIONS
WHICH HAVE HAD PLACE IN EUROPE SINCE THAT OF
YORK,
A. D.
926,
TO THAT OF
PARIS,
A. D. 1856.
YORK,
IN 926.
CONVOKED
by
Edwin,
son of
King Athelstan,
for the
reconstitution of the Masonic
corporations.
A new con-
stitution,
based
upon
the ancient
laws,
is at this time
pro-
mulgated.
STRASBURG,
IN 1275.
4
Convoked
by
Erwin of Steinbach for the continuation
of the work on the cathedral of
Strasburg.
A
great
num-
ber of architects and workmen from
Germany, England,
and
Lombardy
are assembled at this
congress.
At the
instance of the
lodges
of
England, they
constituted them-
selves under the rule of the
Freemasons,
and each took the
oath to
faithfully
observe the ancient laws and
regulations
of the
Fraternity
of Freemasons.
RATISBONNE,
IN 1459.
Convoked
by
Job
Dotzinger, working
master of the
cathedral of
Strasburg,
to discuss the affairs of the Fra-
ternity generally,
and sanction the new laws and
regula-
(251)
252 GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY
tions
prepared
at a
meeting
that took
place
at
Strasburg
in 1452.
*r
RATISBONNE,
IN 1464.
Convoked
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
Strasburg
with
the
following objects
: 1. General
affairs,
and to receive re-
ports concerning
the edifices then in course of construc-
tion,
with the intention of
overcoming
or
removing
the
difficulties which
prevented
their
completion.
2. To de-
fine more
precisely
the
rights
and attributes of the four
Grand
Lodges,
viz.: those of
Cologne, Strasburg, Berne,
and Vienna. 3. The nomination of Conrad
Kuyn,
work-
ing master,
to the Grand
Mastership
of the Grand
Lodge
of
Cologne,
etc.
SPIRE,
IN 1469.
Convoked
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
Strasburg,
with the
following objects,
viz. : 1. To receive and act
upon
com-
munications
concerning
all the
religious
edifices
finished,
as well as in course of
construction,
and also as to those
the work
upon
which has been arrested. 2. To hear re-
ports upon
the situation and condition of the
Fraternity
in
England,
Gaul,
Lombardy,
and
Germany.
COLOGNE,
IN 1535.
Convoked
by
Hermann, bishop
of
Cologne,
to take
measures to meet the accusations and
dangers
which men-
aced the Freemasons. The "charter of
Cologne"
is stated
to be the
offspring
of this
congress;
but the
authenticity
of this statement is not believed
by
those who have criti-
cally
examined that document.
BASLE,
IN 1563.
Convoked
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
Strasburg,
with the
following objects,
viz. : 1. To receive and act
upon
a
general
report
of the condition of architecture and that of
MASONIC CONGRESSES AND
CONVENTIONS. 253
the
Fraternity.
2. To discuss and
amicably
terminate the
differences which had arisen
concerning
the
rights
of
some
of the
twenty-two lodges
subordinate to the Grand
Lodge
of
Strasburg.
3. To sanction the revised statutes
pre-
pared by
a commission of the Grand
Lodge
of
Strasburg,
to date from the feast of St.
Michael,
1563.
STRASBURG,
IN 1564.
Convoked as an
extraordinary
convention
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
Strasburg.
with the
objects,
viz. : 1. To
explain
definitely
all the
subjects
in
dispute among
the
lodges,
and to decide that the difficulties which should hereafter
arise
among
them should be submitted
directly
to the
Grand
Lodge
of
Strasburg,
and
adjudged (decided) by
that
body
without
appeal.
2. To continue the
customary
reports,
etc.
LONDON,
IN 1717.
Convoked
by
the four
lodges
which at this time ex-
isted in
London,
at the head of which was the old
lodge
of St. Paul.
Approving
and
ratifying
a resolution
adopted
by
this
lodge
in
1703,
viz.: "That the
privileges
of Ma-
sonry
shall no
longer
be confined to
operative
Masons,
but
be free to men of all
professions, provided
that
they
are
regularly approved
and initiated into the
Fraternity,"
they
constituted
themselves,
in accordance with this de-
cision,
a Grand
Lodge
of
England
of Free and
Accepted
Masons,
with a rite
consisting
of three
primitive degrees,
called
symbolic.
DUBLIN,
IN 1729.
Convoked
by
the
lodges
of
Dublin,
with the
object
of
organizing Freemasonry upon
the basis
adopted
in
Eng-
land in
1717,
and to institute a Grand
Lodge
for Ireland.
At this convention the viscount Lord
Kingston
was elected
Grand Master.
EDINBURGH,
IN 1736.
Convoked
by
the baron Sinclair of
Roslyn,
Grand Mas-
ter of the Masons of Scotland
by appointment
of
King
James II in
1439,
with the
object
of
abdicating
his
dig-
nity
of
hereditary
Grand
Master,
and
organize Masonry
upon
the new basis
recognized
and sanctioned
by
the
Grand
Lodge
of
England
and Ireland. There were
pres-
ent at this convention the members of
thirty-two lodges,
who instituted the Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
and elected
Baron Sinclair Grand Master for the
year
1737.
THE
HAGUE,
IN 1756.
Convoked
by
the mother
lodge ""Royal
Union,"
of the
Hague,
with the
object
of
instituting
a national Grand
Lodge
for the United
Provinces,
under the
auspices
of the
Grand
Lodge
of
England.
The
object
of this convention
was consummated
by
the thirteen
lodges
assembled,
and
the baron of
Aersen-Beyeren
was elected Grand Master.
JENA AND
ALTENBURG,
IN
1763, 1764,
AND
1765.
In the first of these
conventions, Johnson,
the
self-styled
plenipotentiary
of the "Unknown
Superiors"
resident in
Scotland,
assembled at
Jena,
on the 25th
October,
the
lodges
established under the
system
of Strict
Observance,
for the
purpose
of
recognizing
him in his office of
Supe-
rior. A second convention was convoked
by
him at Jena
to establish his
system.
To this was invited Baron
Hund,
and the
lodges
of the same rite founded
by
him;
but
Hund,
who had at first believed in the mission of John-
son,
discovered and declared him to be an
impostor.
At
the third
convention,
held at
Altenburg,
near
Jena,
the
following year,
Baron Hund was
proclaimed
Grand Mas-
ter of all the
lodges
of this
system.
MASONIC CONGRESSES AND
CONVENTIONS. 255
KOHLO,
IN 1772.
Convoked
by
some
lodges
of the
system
of Strict Observ-
ance,
with the
object
of
opposing
a new rite established
by
Ziniiendorf. At this convention the duke Ferdinand
of Brunswick was elected Grand Master of Strict Observ-
ance
lodges.
BRUNSWICK,
IN 1775.
Convoked
by
Ferdinand,
Duke of Brunswick, with the
object
of
ascertaining
which,
if
any,
of the rites
pretend-
ing
to the
possession
of the true Masonic
science,
really
possessed
it. Baron
Hund,
and
twenty-three lodges
of the
system
he had instituted in the convention of
Altenburg,
assisted at this
convention,
in which the discussions took
place daily,
from the 22d
May
to the 6th
July,
without
any
decision
having
resulted.
LEIPSIC,
IN 1777.
Convoked
by
the
lodges
of the
system
of Strict Observ-
ance located in
Berlin,
with the
object
of
putting
into
operation
the resolutions
passed
at a
meeting,
or succes-
sion of
meetings,
which took
place
at
Hamburg,
from the
4th to the 16th
June,
relative to the establishment of a
compact
of union
among
all the
lodges
of the
system,
both
in Sweden and
Germany,
and to nominate a new Grand
Master,
for which office
they proposed
the Duke of Suder-
manie. This convention lasted from the 16th to the 22d
of
October,
and then dissolved without
having
decided on
any thing.
LYONS,
IN 1778.
Convoked
by
the
lodge
of the "Benevolent
Knights"
at
Lyons,
under the
pretext
of
reforming Freemasonry,
throwing light upon
all
obscurity,
and
correcting
the
rituals;
but the real
object
of which was to establish the
Martinist rite over that of the
-Templars. Only
one of
their
objects
was
accomplished
:
they changed
the rituals.
The convention remained in session from the 23d Novem-
ber to the 27th of December.
WOLFENBUTTEL,
IN 1778.
Convoked
by
Frederick,
Duke of
Brunswick,
with the
like
object
of the convention at Brunswick in 1775. It
lasted from the 15th
July
to the 22d
August;
and the
assembly
not
seeing any
clearer on the last of those
days
than
they
did on the first
through
the chaos into which
the
mystical systems
had
plunged Freemasonry,
decided
that
they
should make a
general appeal
to all the Masonic
bodies,
and convoke at Wilhelmsbad a convention of all
the Masons of
Europe.
WlLHELMSBAD,
IN 1782.
(This
convention was at first fixed for the 15th
October,
1781,
afterward for Easter
week, 1782,
and
finally
for the
16th
-July, 1782.)
Convoked
by
Ferdinand,
Duke of
Brunswick,
agreeably
to the decision of. the convention at
Wolfenbuttel,
in
1778,
with the
following objects,
viz. ; 1. The
general
reforma-
tion of
Freemasonry;
2. To
discuss,
with the
object
of
obtaining light
as to the
origin
of the
different
systems
and
doctrines; and,
above
all,
3. To solve the
following
questions:
Is
Freemasonry
a modern
society?
Is
it,
on
the
contrary,
derived from an ancient
society?
If
so,
from what ancient
society
is it derived? Has Freema-
sonry Superior
Generals? Who are
they?
What are their
attributes ? Do these attributes enable them to
command
or to instruct ?
All these
questions,
submitted to the
assembly during
its
thirty meetings,
were unanswered. The
congress
suc-
ceeded, however,
in
exposing
a number of
mystical sys-
MASONIC CONGRESSES AND CONVENTIONS.
257
terns,
and in
remodeling
the
system
of Strict
Observance.
It also caused the creation of the Eclectic Kite.
PARIS,
IN 1785.
Convoked
by
tho Pliilaletes of the
Lodge
of United
Friends of
Paris,
for the
purpose
of
assembling
all the
learned Masons in France to clear
up
the
fog produced by
the numerous
systems
introduced into
Freemasonry;
to
discuss and
arrange
the essential
points
of Masonic doc-
trine,
origin,
and historical
affiliation,
and determine the
actual condition of Masonic science. This
congress
con-
tinued in session from the 15th
February
to the 26th
May,
without
determining any thing.
PARIS,
IN 1787.
Also convoked
by
the
Pliilaletes,
to continue the discus-
sions
opened
at the
previous congress upon many dogmatic
and historic
points already
settled
by
the
congress
of Wil-
nelmsbad;
but none of the
questions
which induced the
assembly
of this
congress
were at this time
determined,
and the
origin,
nature,
and
object
of
perpetuating Masonry
continued to remain an insoluble
problem
to the
greatest
number of the Masons of the continent.
SWITZERLAND,
IN 1836 TO 1842.
The first of these conventions was held at Zurich in
1836,
the second at Berne in
1838,
the third at Basle in
1840,
and the fourth at Locle in 1842. Their
object
was
the fusion of the Masonic
powers
of
Switzerland,
the
abolishing
of
high degrees,
and the
organization
of one
Masonic
authority,
to be called the
Alpine
Grand
Lodge.
The constitution of union was
signed
at Locle in
1842,
ratified, in
1843,
and
became the law of the
Fraternity
in
1844.
17
PARIS IN 1848.
Convoked,
after the revolution in
February
1848,
by
a
few members of the
"Supreme
Council for France"
calling
all the
lodges
of France to constitute a new
power,
to elab-
orate a constitution based
upon
the broadest democratic
principles,
and to
adopt exclusively
the modern
English
rite. The result of this
congress
was the
organization
of
The National Grand
Lodge
of France.
PARIS,
IN 1855.
Convoked
by
Prince Lucien
Murat,
Grand Master of the
Grand Orient of
France,
who had extended an invitation to
all the Grand Orients and Grand
Lodges
of the world to
unite in a Universal Masonic
Congress,
the
object
of which
would be to cement more
closely
the bonds of union
among
all the Masonic
powers
wherever
dispersed.
A
very
small
number of those
powers responded
to this
call;
and the
propositions
discussed and
adopted
were of so feeble a na-
ture that
they
are not worth
mentioning.
The result oi
this
congress
has been
nothing.
FIRST CHRONOLOGICAL EPOCH.
259
CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT
OF THE
HISTORY OF
FREEMASONRY,
BASED UPON THE ANCIENT
DOCUMENTS,
AND UPON THE PRIN-
CIPAL MONUMENTS ERECTED BY FREEMASONS:
DIVIDED INTO THREE EPOCHS.
From the
year
715 B. C. to the
year
1000 A. D.
715 B. C.
FOUNDATION of the
colleges
of Roman Constructors
(col-
legia fabrorum), composed
of all the arts and trades
necessary
for the execution of
religious
and
civil,
naval and
hydraulic
architecture,
with their own laws and
lawgivers
laws at
this time hased
upon
those of the
priest
architects of
Greece,
whose
mysteries,
under the name of
Dyonisian,
had
spread
among
the
principal peoples
of the Ea^t. Numa
Pompil-
ius,
in
organizing
these
colleges,
constituted them at the
time as a civil and
religious society,
with the exclusive
privilege
of
erecting
the
public temples
and monuments in
Rome. Their connection with the State and the
priesthood
was determined
by
the laws with
precision;
1
they
had
1
Consult on the
subject
of these associations the
Body of
Roman
Rights;
Cicero's Second
Epistle
to his Brother
Quintus ;
The Pollion of De
Bugny ;
Schoell's
History of Architecture,
vol. 1
;
De Hammer's
Discovery of
the Actual State
of
Free-
masonry ; Lenning's Encyclopedia of FreemMonry ;
C. Krauser's Three Oldest
Landmarks
of Freemasonry;
De Widdekiud's Memoir
upon
the State
of
Architecture
in the Middle
Ages:
and Heldmann's
History
of
Freemasonry
their own
jurisdiction,
their own
worship:
at their head
were to be found
presiding
officers called
magi*tri (masters),
wardens, censors, treasurers,
keepers
of the
seals,
archivists
secretaries, etc.;
they
had
special physicians, serving
broth-
ers,
and
they paid
into their
treasury monthly
collections.
The number of members of each
college
was
tixed,
and de-
termined
by
law.
Composed principally
of Greek
artists,
they, surrounding
the secrets of their art and of their doc-
trines with the
mysteries
of the
worship
of their
country,
enveloped
them in the
symbols
borrowed from these same
mysteries,
and of which one of the characteristic traits was
the
employment,
in a
symbolical sense,
of the tools of their
profession.
1
710 B. C.
Numa,
the wise
lawgiver,
who founded the
colleges,
im-
mediately assigned
to them their work : at first the en-
largement
of the
Capitol
;
next the
completion
of the tem-
ples
dedicated to the
Sun,
to the
Moon,
to
Saturn, Rliea,
and
Vesta,
to
Mars,
and the other
pagan
divinities,
which
were
begun
under Romulus and the
king
of the Sabines.
These monuments
finished,
Numa ordered them to erect
temples
to
Faith,
to
Fidelity,
to
Romulus,
and to Janus
the
god
of
Peace,
whom Numa
particularly
adored. He
ordered them to
fortify
the
city
and surround it with
walls;
and this work
accomplished,
he directed them to continue
the construction of that famous
temple
that Romulus erected
to
Jupiter
Stator,
upon
the
spot
where his
army,
when
nearly vanquished,
recovered their
strength
and
courage,
after Romulus had addressed a
prayer
to
Jupiter.
2
1
By
virtue of these
privileges,
all the
public
monuments which were
con.
structed from the
organization
of these
colleges
until the
reign
of Oonstan-
tine the
Great,
(330
years
after
Christ,)
in Rome and the
provinces,
were ex-
clusively
erected
by them,
or under their
direction;
but of which
nothing
exists
to-day
but ruins of more or less
importance.
2
The
great
number of
temples
which were
subsequently
erected in Rome
are due to the
practice
which was thus
originated by
Romulus that the
commander in chief should erect a
temple
to the
god
whom he invoked dur-
261
650 B. 0.
Tlie
population
increases much under Ancus
Martins,
who fortifies the
city
anew and surrounds it with new
walls;
and a considerable
aqueduct,
that takes his
name,
is con-
structed
by
his orders. He orders the
colleges
of con-
structors to erect at Ostia a
port
of
entry,
or
harbor,
to en-
courage
maritime
commerce;
and
they
there constructed
some
ships.
610 B. C.
Under the
reign
of
Tarquin
the
Elder,
some
temples
were
erected;
upon
the
Capitoline
Hill one to
Jupiter,
one to
Juno,
and one to Minerva. He had constructed within the
city
a wall of cut
stone,
a subterranean canal
(the
cloaca
maxima)
for the
drainage
of the
city,
and a
great many
other
public
monuments. Under his orders the iirst circus
was constructed.
580 B. C.
Home is further
aggrandized
under the
reign
of Serviua
Tullius,
and increased in size
'by taking
within its limits
the
Virinal, Quirinal,
and
Esquiline
Hills, which,
by
his or-
ders,
are surrounded with walls. He erected a
temple
to
the idea
Manly
Fortune,
and another to the
goddess
Diana.
530 B. C.
The monuments and
temples begun
under
Tarquin
the
Elder are
completed
under
Tarquin
the
Superb,
who also
continues the famous cloaca
maxima,
in which a
person
might
row a boat. He finishes the
temple
of
Jupiter Cap-
itoline,
and the circus
begun by
his
predecessor;
while an-
other
circus,
dedicated to the
exercises
of the Roman
youth,
is constructed
by
his orders.
ing
the
progress
of a battle won. This custom
explains
the
great
number
*>f monuments erected to the same
divinity.
500 B. C.
The
temples
of Vesta and Hercules are erected
upon
the Aventiue
Hill,
and the
temples
of Pallas and Minerva
Medica are erected under Juuius Drusus.
490 B. C.
The Consuls
Sempronius
and M. Minucins order tho
erection, by
the
colleges
of
constructors,
of two
temples;
the one dedicated to
Saturn,
the other to
Mercury. They
also establish the Saturnalian feasts.
480 B. C.
The
temples
of Castor and Pollux are erected under the
dictator
Posthumius, who,
after his
victory
over the
Latins,
also ordered the erection of two other
temples
the
one in honor of
Ceres,
the other of Bacchus. The most
remarkable of all that he had
erected, however,
was the
temple
to the idea Better Fortune.
451 B. C.
Creation of the laws of the Twelve
Tables,
the
eighth
of which is confined to
provisions concerning
the
colleges
of builders.
396 B. C.
Furius
Camillus,
during
his
consulate,
orders the erec-
tion
of
temples;
one to
Queen
Juno,
after a
victory; also,
one to
Jupiter,
and one tc Concord.
390 B. C.
Destruction of a
part
of the
public
monuments at the
sacking
of Home
by
the Gauls.
385 B. C.
Re-erection of the
destroyed
monuments under Flaviua
Quintus,
who also orders the erection of new
temples,
FIRST CHRONOLOGICAL KPOC1I.
263
which he
dedicates;
one to
Mars,
another to Juno
Moneta;
while two others are consecrated to Salus
(health)
and
Concord.
312 B. C.
The first stone road is constructed
by
the
colleges,
under
the orders of
Appius Claudius,
who directed that it be
continued to
Capua.
The first
great aqueduct
was con-
structed at this time.
290 B. C.
The
temple
of
Romulus,
who
was,
by
order of the Senate
of
Pompilius,
deified,
under the title of
Quirinus,
is
erected,
and in it is
placed
the first solar dial. The
consul, Spur.
Carvilius,
also ordered the erection of a
temple
to Fortis
ForitLna,
to contain the
spoils
taken from the Etruscans.
He also ordered the construction of a
temple
in honor of
^sculapius,
to be situate
upon
the island of the Tiber.
285 B. C.
The Fraternities of
Constructors,
as
they
are called at
this
time,
attached to the Roman
legions,
locate them-
selves in that
portion
of
Cisalpine
Gaul known
to-day
as
Venice and
Lombardy,
whither
they
had followed the
conquest
of the Roman arms. To these fraternities of
whom a
brigade
was attached to each
legion,
and which
they accompanied every-where
was entrusted the
design-
ing'
of the
plans
of all the
military
constructions,
such as
intrenched
camps, strategic
routes,
bridges, aqueducts,
and
dwellings. They
directed the labors of soldiers and the
more
ignorant
workmen in the mechanical execution of
these
works;
and it was them who also manufactured
the
implements
of war.
They
were
submissive to the
gen-
erals or chiefs of the
legions
in such matters as related
directly
to the movements of the
army,
but in all else
they
remained in the
enjoyment
of their
privileges. Composed
of artists and learned
men,
these fraternities
spread
the
ideas of Roman
taste,
and the
knowledge
of Roman man-
ners,
literature and
art,
wherever the Roman nation carried
its victorious
arms; while,
at the same
time,
they
insured
the
vanquished
in the
possession
of the
pacific
element of
Roman
favor,
her arts and civil laws.
280 B. C.
Under the consulate of Caius Duilius new
temples
are
erected,
one of
which,
after
having vanquished
the Cartha-
ginians
at
sea,
he dedicated to Janus. Another
temple,
erected
by
order of
Actilius,
he dedicated to
Hope.
275 B. C.
The
conquest
of
nearly
all of
Cisalpine
Gaul- now
known as the Sardinian States was followed
hy
this
country being
at once taken
possession
of
hy
the frater-
nities of
constructors, who,
never
remaining
inactive,
re-
erected
every-where^
and
always
in better
manner,
those
monuments which the
legions
had
destroyed.
250 B. C.
While
Cisalpine
Gaul was covered over with
military
colonies,
surrounded with fortifications executed
by
the
fraternities of
constructors,
who likewise erected in their
midst habitations and
palaces
for the
principal commanders,
other
legions
carried their
conquering
arms
beyond
the
Alps
into
Transalpine
Gaul and
Spain.
The first
great
highway
is constructed about this time across Gaul, and
leading
from Rome to the
valley
of Gstia.
225 B. C.
The fraternities of
constructors,
who followed the le-
gions
into Gaul and
Spain, completed
their mission. In
Spain they
founded
Cordova;
in
Gaul,
Empodorum.
Those
of Rome there constructed the famous Flaminian
Circus,
to which the
Consul,
C.
Flaminius,
attached his name.
2G5
220 B. 0.
The R
nnans,
attacked
by
Hannibal,
erected after his
retreat,
in commemoration of that
event,
a
temple
to the
god (idea)
Ridicule. Under the direction of the
colleges,
and
by
order of the censor
Flaminius,
the Roman soldiers
construct a
great strategic
route. Flaminius also orders
the erection of a circus in Rome.
210 B. C.
During
the second Punic War the
colleges
had no em-
ployment
at
Rome,
there
being nothing
for them to con-
struct;
they,
therefore,
went into the
conquered provinces.
Subsequently they
returned, and under the orders of Mar-
eellus,
they
constructed two
temples,
bearing
the titles
respectively,
of Virtus aud Juno
200 B. C.
The Roman
people having
decided,
in the
year
202,
to
erect a
temple
to the
god
Mars,
and another to the
founders of
Rome,
Romulus and his brother
Remus,
both
of these
temples
are
completed during
this
year.
148 B. C.
The first
temple
in marble is
ordered
to be erected
by
the
general
Metellus, who,
after his
victory
over the
king
of
Macedonia,
dedicated it to
Jupiter
8tator. Afterward
he ordered the erection of another
temple
at his own ex-
pense,
which lie dedicated to
Juno; also,
a remarkable
sepulcher,
that bears his name.
125 B. C
The
legions,
become masters of
Helvetia,
there fortified
themselves,
and
gradually
enriched the
country
with
camps
and the cities
Augusta
Baxilia and
Acenticum,
the
latter of which became of some
importance.
121 B. C.
A Roman
colony,
commanded
by
Marsius,
founded
Narbo
Marsms,
(Narbonne,)
which became the
principal
head-quarters
of the Roman armies until the time of
Augustus.
The consul
Opinius
ordered the construction
at Rome of the first court of
justice
or
city
hall. He also
ordered the erection of a
temple,
which he dedicated to
Concord.
101 B. C.
After the
victory
over the Cimbrians and the
Teutons,
vanquished by
Marias,
he ordered the erection in
Rome,
under the
special
direction of the architect C.
Musius,
a
temple
in honor of the divinities Honor and Virtue.
1
79 B. C.
The ancient
city
of
Herculaneum,
in which were erected
by
the fraternities of constructors numerous monuments of
art,
is overthrown and buried in the lava of an
eruption
of
Mount
Vesuvius^
The
magnificent
monuments with
which
Pompeii,
no less celebrated than
Herculaneum,
had
been ornamented
by
the Roman
constructors,
crumbled
and
disappeared,
in
great part,
in
consequence
of the earth-
quake
that
accompanied
the
eruption
which
destroyed
the
latter
city,
and all that remains is covered with the ashes
and lava thrown out
by
the
eruption
mentioned.
75 B. C.
A
great
number of towns are erected in Gaul in the dis-
trict of Narbonne.
Military
colonies are
every-where
es-
tablished to maintain the
conquered country against
the
1
Up
to this time architecture
partook
of the Etruscan
style,
arid the at-
tempts
made to embellish the
public temples
and edifices consisted but in
the ornamentation of statues and other
objects
erected in
conquered
coun-
tries, particularly
in
Greece;
but from this time the
predilection
of the
Romans for Greek art and architecture became
dominant,
and the Etruscan
ftyle
of architecture was
abandoned,
as
being
too
severely simple.
267
neighboring peoples,
and
principally
in the
neighborhood
of the ancient Musxilut
(Marseilles)
founded
by
the Pho-
necians in
549,
and of Arelate
(Aries),
of which the
origin
goes
back to 2000
years
before Christ.
Among
those
are
Aqua
Se.xtia
(Aix)
and Nemausus
(Nimes),
which be-
came
important
cities.
Arclate,
before
mentioned,
subse-
quently
became the
capital
of the
kingdom
of
Aries,
and
attained the rank of a
powerful city,
wherein the Masonic
fraternities constructed some
sumptuous
monuments. The
ruins of an
amphitheater,
an
obelisk,
a
temple,
an arch of
triumph,
and an
aqueduct,
reveal to us the ancient
impor-
tance of the residence of Constautine in this
city.
60 B. C.
After ten
years
of almost continual
war,
during which,
according
to
Plutarch,
800
villages
were
devastated,
Juliua
Ciesar made himself master of all
Transalpine
Gaul, lie
at once
put
the numerous fraternities of constructors at-
tached to his
legions
at
work,
and ordered the attendance
of
many
others scattered
throughout
the
provinces,
to re-
erect,
with the aid of his
soldiers,
the towns and cities
destroyed,
and to render more beautiful and ornamental
the monuments of the
people. By
his orders and those of
his
successors,
the
following
named cities became
important,
viz.: Treviri
(Trey.es),
Remi
(Klieinis), Rolliomayas (Kouen),
Cesarodanum
(Tours),
Auaricam
(Bourges),
Seitones
(Sens),
Bardiyala (Bordeaux),
Vesonlio
(Besancon), Luydunum
(Lyons),
Vieouut,
Tolosa
(Toulouse),
and Latetia or Parisie
(Paris).
A
great many
other cities are erected
by
the
colleges,
such as
Geryobia,
Xelodanum, Avaricam, etc.,
but
none of them attained the
importance
of the above.
Treves was
subsequently
chosen as the residence of the
prêct_Qr_govQ\-uor
of the Gauls.
55 B. C.
Britain, conquered
in
part
at this
time,
some reinforce-
ments of constructors were sent there to establish more ex-
tended fortifications. Under the command of
Jjjiius_Cresar,
one of his
legions pushed
further into the
country,
and,
to
hold its
ground,
there constructed an intrenched
camp,
with
walls,
inside of which the constructors
immediately erected,
as
elsewhere,
habitations,
temples, aqueducts,
etc.,
and in
this manner
gave
birth to
JE&o.ractfm^York),
a
cit_cele-
brated in the
history
of
Freemasonry.
50 B. C.
"While Julius Cresar
pushed
his
conquests,
and
destroyed
druid altars and celtic
monuments,
Pompey
erected in
Rome numerous
temples
and the famous
amphitheater,
builtof_white
marble,
capable
of
containing thirty
thou-
sand
persons.
He
also,
under the direction of The ttaterni-
ties of
architects,
constructed the not less famous road which
led from Rome
through Italy
across the
Alps
into Gaul.
Julius
Caesar,
upon
his return to
Rome,
also ordered the
construction of
many temples,
of which he dedicated one
each to
Mars,
Venus
Genitrix,
and
Apollo.
All the col-
leges
located in the cities of
Cisalpine
Gaul
(actual Italy)
are called
together by
him and sent to
Carthage
and Cor-
inth to reerect those ruined cities.
45 B. C.
The Roman
senate,
after the civil
war,
ordered to be
erected,
by
the
colleges
of
constructors,
many
monuments
of different
kinds,
in honor of Julius
Caesar,
among
which
were tour
temples,
dedicated
respectively
to
Liberty,
Con-
cord,
Happiness,
and
Mercy.
In the
year
42 the triumvirs
of Rome erected a
temple
to Isis and another to
Serapis.
41 B. C.
A
military colony
is established on the site of a Gallic
village,
at the confluence of the Rhone and
Saone,
and
there is founded
Jjuydunurn, (Lyons.) [It
was burnt, re-
269
erected
by
ISTero,
and
beautifully
embellished
by Trajan.
Lugdunum
became afterward the
capital
of
Gaul,
the seat
ol
government,
and the
imperial
residence
during
the
voy-
ages
of the
emperor Augustus
and the
majority
of his
successors.]
37 B. C.
The Roman
legions,
stationed
along
tbe "Rhine to
pro-
tect Gaul
against
the continual
aggressions
of the German
peoples,
formed at
many points
intrenched,
camps,
which
became
strong
colonies. Colonia
Agrippina (Cologne)
had
its
origin
in this manner. It was
enlarged
at this
time,
and invested with the
rights
of a Roman
city,
under the
emperor
Claudius.
35 B. C.
The
^firiJJJLfiO"!
at
Rome,
is finished under Marcus
Agrippa,
who also constructed some
superb
hot
baths,
which bore his own name. The
great
road from
Rome,
crossing Cisalpine
Gaul and the
valley
of Ostia to
Lyons,
is continued
by
his
orders,
fraternities of
constructors,
in four main
directions,
viz.:
First'to
Aquitaine, by Auvergne;
second,
to the
Rhine;
third,
to
Laon,
by Burgundy
and
Picardy
; fourth,
to
Marseilles,
by
Narbonne.
32 B. C.
The Roman
legions
who located themselves at
Lutefia,
(Paris,)
under Julius
Caesar, there,
side
by
side with the
Gallic altars erected to Teuton
gods,
erected
temples
to
Isis and Mithra.
30 B. C.
The
reign
of
Augustus
is fruitful in
great
constructions.
The fraternities of architects are
greatly
increased,
and a
certain number form themselves
into
special colleges
for
the branches which
occupy
their attention more
particu-
larly,
viz.: naval and
hydraulic
architecture. The ex-
tensive
knowledge
of these
men,
initiated into
themys-
teries of
every
art,
the humanitarian
principles
which
they
profess,
their tolerance and their
mysterious
organization,
surround them with such
consideration,
that all the dis-
tinguished
men seek admittance into their association.
The most considerable monuments at this time erected
by
them,
at
Rome,
are the
temple
of
JiijnterJTonans,
the
theater commenced under the consulate of
Cjlaudius
Mar-
cellus,
the mausoleum that bore the name of
Augustus,
two arches of
triumph,
also named after
him,
and two
Egyptian
obelisks. In the Roman
provinces
we are un-
able to mention others
among
the monuments erected
by
them at this
time,
beyond
the
temple
of Clitum at Foli-
gui,
that of
Jupiter
at
Pouzzoli,
of
Sibyl
at
Tivoli,
and
the arch of
triumph
at Suza. In Gaul a
great
number of
somewhat less
sumptuous
constructions ornament the cities
erected and foulided
by
the Romans. A
great many
roads,
and
particularly
that of
Emporium,
situate near the
Pyrenees,
to the
crossing
of the
Rhone,
are due to the
orders of
Augustus.
The friends of this
emperor
rivaled
him in the construction of
magnificent
monuments. Sta-
titius Taurus constructed an
amphitheater;
Marcus Pliil-
lippus
a
temple
to Hercules
Musagetes;
Munatius Plancus
one to
Saturn;
Lucius Carnifucius one to
Diana;
and
Lucius Cornelius Balbus finished his
great
theater in
stone.
A. D. 1.
Augustus
erected at
Nimes,
in the first
year
of the
Christian
era,
a
temple
in honor of his friends Caius and
Lucius.
1
1
The remains of this
temple
are now known under the name of the
Square
House.
271
A. D. 5.
The
Jewish
architects are
j^rotected^
at
Rome, where
they
have been
authorized,
under Julius
Cfesar,
to estab-
lish
synagogues.
Admitted into the
colleges
of con-
st
nicto7s7^vlucli7~at
this
time,
were the theater of ITU for-
eign
initiations,
they
instructed them in the
knowledge
of the Hebrew
niysteries^â^t^pe
of
the_Egyptianr~
D. 10.
The celebrated architect VUruvius Pollio establishes in
his
writings upon
architecture works translated into all
languages
the
nourishing
condition in which this art
existed at this time at Koine, lie
depicts
the humanita-
rian doctn n
e,s_vviudbL
gCL-hajjd
mâjj3îth3EenaraterTal
objects
of the
Fraternity,
and
which,
enveloped
in
allego-
ries ancT illustrated
by symbols,
formed the basis of the
teachings
of these
colleges.
A. D. 14.
The
palace
of the Caesars is commenced
during
the
reign
of Tiberius. It was continued under that of Cali-
gula,
and finished under Domitiaru Tiberius erected an
arch of
triumph
in honor oTTnsnbrother Claudius
Drusus,
and another in honor of
Augustus.
That consecrated to
Castor is also due to his orders.
The cities of
Pergarnus,
Nicomedia,
Mylassa,
Cesarea,
Pouzzolea,
and
Pola,
brought
architects and
companions
from Rome to erect in their midst
temples
in honor of
Augustus.
A. D. 25.
The
bridge
of
Rimini,
commenced
by Augustus,
is
finished under
Tiberius,
who also ordered the erection
of
temples
in honor of
Proserpine,
Juno,
and the
goddess
Concord.
A. D. 41.
A
superb aqueduct,
which bears his
name,
is constructed
under the
reign
of Claudius.
A. D. 43.
Some
brigades
of constructors are detached from the
fraternities which are stationed on tbe banks of the
Rhine,
and led
by
the
emperor
Claudius to
Britain,
where
the
legions experience diiJiciilty
in
maintaining
their
ground against
the incursions of the
Scots,
The better to
enable them to hold their
position,
these
brigades
of con-
structors erect a line of fortified
camps
and a, certain
number of
strong
castles.
A. D. 50.
Architecture at .Rome has
attained,
at this
time,
its
culminating point.
The
collogeTof c^sTnicToi^lIprTved
of
encouragement
under the
despotism
of the
Emperors,
who
by
turns
gradually
took from them their
privileges,
seem to have lost their
powers
of architectural
conception.
The monuments of this time are
greatly
inferior in the
elevation of their character to those which
placed
them
at the summit of human
intelligence.
The same deca-
dence is observed in the monuments of
Greece,
of which
the Romans had borrowed their most beautiful models.
"What contributed to
bring
about this fall in the architec-
ture of Rome was the absence from that
city
of all the
principal
men of talent that the
colleges
of constructors
had
produced,
and who had become celebrated in some
branch of the art. Those men had been sent
by
Julius
Cffisar and
Augustus
into the
conquered provinces,
there
to erect
temples; andj_in^fact,
to
give
to those
conquered
peoples
an elevated idea of the science and art of their
conquerors,
and to
inspire
them with admiration for the
latter. The
colleges
of
constructors,
who concentrated
within their
membership
a
great
amount of the knowl-
273
edge acquired
at this
period,
thus
contributed,
by
their
science and the
magnificence
of their
constructions,
as
much as did the arms of Rome to the consolidation and
glory
of the Roman
power.
Among
the architects or
magistri,
as
they
are called
6uch as
Cossutius, Caius,
Marcus
Stallius,
Menallippus,
Cyrus, Clautius, Chrysippus,
Corumbus who
belonged
to
those
times,
there were a certain number who
especially
occupied
themselves with
making
known,
by
their writ-
ings,
the
theory
and rules of their art. In this manner
was the time of Vitruvius
Pollio, Tulfitius, Varron,
Pub-
lius,
and
Septimus occupied;
and
they
were thus enabled
to communicate with the brethren situated at a distance
from the
principal
center of their schools of architecture,
Of these
writings
those of Vitruvius Pollio alone have
come down to us.
A. D. 54.
The
temple
of
Bellona;
that of Roman
Charity; also,
some baths and
aqueducts
are constructed at Rome
by
the
orders of
Nero,
and bear his name. This
emperor,
after
having
set fire to the
capital, by
which the most beautiful
monuments were
destroyed,
ordered the construction of
his famous
palace,
called the
palace
of
gold, upon
which
the two
masters,
Severus and
Celler,
directed the work.
Under the
preceding reign
of the
emperor
Claudius
Rome was
greatly
increased;
an arch of
triumph
was dedi-
cated to the
Tiber,
and a beautiful
aqueduct,
which bore
the name of
Claudius,
was
begun.
A. D. 70.
At this time were
constructed,
under the
reign
of F.
Vespasian,
the famous
temple
of
Peace,
and the Colos-
seum. or Flavian
amphitheater, capable
of
hundred and ten thousand
persons,
and
upon
which were
forced to labor twelve thousand
Jews,
carried
captive
to
Rome after the overthrow of Jerusalem.
18
274
This
amphitheater
was not finished until the
year
80,
when,
under
Titus,
it was
completed.
A. D. 80.
Under the
emperor
Titus
public baths,
which bear his
name,
are
completed;
he also constructed a
palace.
The
Louses and
public
edifices,
destroyed by
fire the
preceding
year,
are not rebuilt until the
reign
of his brother
Domitian.
A. D. 85.
The
emperor
Domitian
greatly enlarged
and embellished
the
palace
of the Csesars
;
a new theater and
many temples
are erected
by
his orders at
Rome,
and a number of tem-
ples
in Gaul. He finished the famous
military
road that
crosses
Savoy
and Provence.
A. D. 90.
The fraternities of constructors in
Britain, by
order of
the
general Agricola,
constructed fortifications which ex-
tended from the Gulf of
Solway
to where he had
pene-
trated in
repulsing
the
Scots,
and
there,
with his
legions,
he fixed his residence to hold the
country.
A. D. 98.
Of numerous celebrated
temples, among
others those of
Faunus and
Diana,
that of
Quirinus,
with its
sixty-six
columns, is,
under the
reign
of
Trajan,
constructed at
Home,
and
many
others in the Roman
provinces.
At
Amonias is erected to his honor an arch of
triumph,
while
he himself orders the erection of one in honor of
Vespa-
sian
Augustus,
and another to Pautanus. He also built
hot
baths,
and the famous
circus,
capable
of
containing
two hundred and
sixty
thousand
persons.
A. D. 120.
New
temples
are erected at
Rome,
under the
reign
of
275
Adrian that of
Venus,
among
others. He orders the
erection of
the_âjan_column
i
in honor of that
emperor,
and also constructs a
mausoleum,
known
to-day
as the
castle of St.
Angelo.
The celebrated architect
Apollo-
dorus,
to whom
were
due the
plans
of that
building,
is
buiislied for
having spoken
the truth. This
emperor,
with
indefatigable ability,
visited the most distant
prov-
inces of his vast
empire.
In Britain he ordered the con-
struction,
by
the fraternities of
architects,
of an immense
wall, which, extending
from the
Tyne
to the Gulf of
Solvvaj
7
,
thus crossed the
country
from east to
west,
to
protect
the
military
colonies from the continual invasion
of the Scots. In
Spain
he finished
temples begun by
Augustus;
and it is to his orders are due several
temples
erected in
Africa,
particularly
those which
to-day
are to
be seen in
Algiers
and Tunis. Asia is
equally
indebted
td him for numerous
public
monuments;
but it was
Greece that was
particularly
favored
by
his constructive
genius,
and/in
which
country
he ordered the erection of
the most celebrated of her
temples,
such as the Pantheon
and the
temples
to
Jupiter
Panhellenes,
and that to
Jupiter Olympus,
with its one hundred and
twenty-two
columns.
A. D. 130.
After the fall of the Roman
Republic,
all the other
corporations
founded at the same time as the
colleges
of
constructors
by
Numa
Pompilius,
have lost their ancient
privileges,
in
consequence
of the distrust entertained for
them
by
the
despotic emperors.
The
colleges
of con-
1
'
structors are also restrained
by Trajan
and
Adrian,
but
their love of
glory
and
luxury
made it
necessary
that these
colleges
should be allowed to retain their
privileges nearly
intact; for,
without the aid of the artist
constructors,
all
hope
of
transmitting
to
posterity
the
grandeur
of their
names and actions would have been vain.
A. D. 140.
Under Antoninus the
temples
of
Mars,
of Faustinus and
Antoninus Pius are erected at
Rome,
besides
many
others
already begun
are finished. He orders the construction of
another wall in
Britain,
where the
legions
are
unceasingly
menaced
by
the Scots. This immense
wall,
which ex-
tended from the Forth to the
Clyde, required
the aid of
the natives for its
completion, ma.ny
of whom
corporated
in the fraternities of the
Romans,
and learned
their art. But that
which,
above
all,
distinguished
the
reign
of Antoninus are the
magnificent
edifices of colossal
dimensions which he constructed at
Balbec,
(Heliopolis,)
of which the two
principal temples,
dedicated to the
sun,
are
inexplicable
marvels of
masonry.
It was
by
the
Masonic
fraternities,
remains of the ancient Roman col-
leges,
who,
in the time of the Christian
persecutions
ordered
by
Nero, Domitian,
and
Trajan, sought refuge
in
those
provinces
the most distant from
Rome,
and which
were
governe^F^nnrTelTltnor^TriTmane
than the
emperors,
that those
masterpieces
of architectural
grandeur
were
erected.
A. D. 166.
The famous road
which,
leading
from Civita
Yecchia,
at the Aurelian Forum to
Aries,
is
commeiicecTGy
"the
colleges
of
constructors,
under the orders of Marcus Au-
relius,
and finished
during
his
reign.
Most of the mem-
bers. of the
colleges
of constructors embrace
Christianity.
At this time their number had
greatly
increased,
asTwell
in Rome as in the
provinces.
The
emperor
Marcus Au-
relius,
greatly
irritated in view of the
astonishing progress
made
by
the new
doctrine,
and
wishing
to
destroy
it
by
force,
followed the
example
of his
predecessors,
and this
year
ordained new
persecutions against
the Christiana.
In
consequence many
took
refuge
in Gaul and Britain
particularly
within the latter
country
where
they
found,
277
among
the Masonic
corporations,
that
protection
they
sought
for in vain elsewhere.
Numbers of Christian
Masons,
finding
themselves unable
to leave
Rome,
sought
in the catacombs a secret
asylum,
in which to sustain themselves
against
the
bloody
edicts
launched at
them,
and to
escape
the
punishment
to which
they
are condemned. It is in the dark bosom of these
bubterranean caverns
that-they
often met in fraternal em-
brace with their fellow
religionists,
with whom
they
found
refuge. During
the ten
years
of continued
persecution
against
the
Christians,
under Marcus
Aurelius,
these cata-
combs are transformed
by
those Christian artists into
churches,
ornamented with
sarcophagi, paintings,
and
encaustic adornment the faith that
inspired
them induc-
ing
them to there erect
chapels
over the
graves
of
martyred
fellow-Christians,
and thus the tombs which covered their
precious
remains became altars fox-sacrifice and
prayer.
The number of the
martyrs augmenting,
these
.chapels
were
subsequently replaced by sarcophagi, which,
in later
times marked the
places
in which their remains
reposed.
A. D. 180.
Some
temples
and hot baths are constructed
by,
order of
the
emperor
Titus. He also ordered the erection of
pillars
in honor of Antonius and Marcus Aurelius. The members
of the
corporations
of constructors are
atrociously perse-
cuted anew for their
doctrine,
and of them those who
escaped
fled to the east. In this manner the constructors
were driven from the
city
of their
birth,
and none re-
mained but the few who had not been converted to
Christianity.
A. D. 193.
i
A
temple
to
Minerva,
an arch of
triumph
to
Rome,
and
another to
Yalabro,
in honor of
Septimus
Severus,
are the
only important
monuments erected at Rome under the
reign
of this
emperor.
In
Britain,
in the
year
207,
he
commenced a third
wall,
further
north,
with the
old
object
of
protecting
the
legions;
hut the
fraternities,
find-
ing
themselves
unequal
in numbers to the task of under-
taking
a work so
gigantic,
accorded to the
Britons,
who
had learned their
art,
to assure themselves of their assist-
ance,
the same
advantages
and the same
privileges
which
they enjoyed
themselves.
1
A. D. 211.
The construction of
many temples, baths,
and a
circus,
marked the
reign
of
Caragalla.
A. D. 222.
Under the
reign
of Alexander
Severus,
who
openly pro-
tected
architecture,
and
secretly Christianity,
some new
monuments are erected at Rome. He ordered the restora-
tion of
many
ancient
edifices,
and the erection of a
city
hall and
magnificent
baths. He desired also to consecrate
a
temple
to
Christ,
but was restrained in so
doing by
the
representations
made to him
that,
were he to do
so,
the
other
temples
would
go
to ruin.
A. D. 235.
Numerous new
temples
are erected at Rome and in the
provinces,
under Maximiu and Gordian.
By
the
former,
amphitheaters
were erected in various cities in
Italy, and,
by
the
latter,
baths at
Rome,
that bore his name.
A. D. 250.
No construction of
any importance signalized
the
reigna
of Decius or
Valerian, except
the baths which were con-
structed
by
order of the former. The new
persecutions
directed
by
them
against
the Christians
greatly
diminished
1
The most
important
of the
military
colonies at this time in Britain was
Eboracum the
city
of York which became celebrated in the
history
of
Freemasonry.
279
the
colleges
of_coastructor8,
and
dispersed
such of their
members a
great
number as had embraced the tenets
of that faith which inculcated the doctrine of
fraternity.
Flying
from
Rome,
they sought refuge
in that
country
wherein
they
would be least
persecuted, viz., Britain,
where the new doctrine had
already
numerous
partisans.
Those who could not leave the
city
took
refuge
in the cata-
combs,
the
asylum
of the Christians.
A. D. 260.
Reformation of the
colleges
or fraternities of constructors
injjraul jtnd^Britain.
The new
doctrine,
notwithstanding
its
affinity
with that
professed by
the
artists,
produced,
however,
some schisms
among
them a
portion
of those
who
belonged
to different
professions separating
themselves
from the
general
association,
as it had existed until that
time,
to form
separate associations, composed
of one art or
one trade.
1
A. D.
270.
The Masonic fraternities in
Gaul,
as in Britain whose
members had
generally adopted
the Christian
doctrine,
devoting
themselves,
particularly
in
Gaul,
to the construc-
tion of
religious
edifices undertook to build the new
churches that the
apostles,
who came from Rome in the
year
257,
desired to erect at
Amiens, Beauvais, Soissons,
Rheims,
and
Paris,
where these
apostles
have established
themselves in the
capacity
of
bishops.
A. D. 275.
This
epoch
is marked in the
history
of architecture
by
1
Ii is these associations that we
subsequently
find
organized
under
the
name of
corporations
of arts and
trades,
the laws of which exhibit more or
less traces of the ancient constitution of the Roman
colleges,
from which
they
have descended. The Masonic
Fraternity preserved only
its
antique organ-
ization,
together
with 'ts humanitarian and artistic
secrets,
and its
privileges,
all of
which, howevei;
were
very
much modified.
one of the most sublime
conceptions
of the artistic
genius
of the
philosopher
constructors,
executed under the
reign
and
by
the orders of the
emperor
Aurelian.
They
are the
two
temples
of the sun at
Palmyra,
which
surpass
in
beauty
and
grandeur
those of
Heliopolis.
The
principal
one of these
temples
has four hundred and
sixty-four
col-
umns, many
of which are
composed
of a
single
block of
marble. The whole number of columns which ornament
the two
temples
and the
galleries
attached to them is four-
teen hundred and
fifty.
Aurelian
employed
the last
.two
years
of his short
reign
to,
among
other
peaceful measures,
the revival of architecture at
Rome,
and in this
project
was
ably
assisted
by
the
Byzantine
architects,
Cleodamus
and Athenacus.
A. D. 280.
Architects who have
acquired great celebrity
in Britain
are called
by
Diocletian to construct the monuments he
has
designed
to erect in Gaul.
A. D. 287-290.
Carausius,
commanding
the Roman
navy,
takes
posses-
sion of Britain and
proclaims
himself
emperor.
To con-
ciliate the Masonic
fraternities,
then
wielding
an immense
influence in the
country,
he confirmed to them at
Yerulam,
(Saint Albans,)
the
place
of his
residence,
in the
year 290,
all their ancient
privileges,
as
they
had been established
by
Numa
Pompilius,
in the
year
715 B.
C.;
and it is from
this time that the Freemasons
began
to be
distinguished
from those who were riot
free,
or
upon
whom these
privl-
eges
had not been bestowed.
A. D. 293.
Albanus,
architect and first
grand inspector
of the Free-
masons in
Briton,
who
represented
the Masonic societies
in their
negotiations
with
Carausius,
originally
a
pagan,
281
is converted to
Christianity;
and,
at the risk of his
life,
he
preaches
the doctrines of the new faith to the
emperor,
and is
consequently
beheaded. In this manner a
grand
master of Freemasons became the first Christian
martyr
in Britain.
A. D. 296.
The
city
of
York,
in which are found the most
impor-
tant
lodges
of .Freemasons in the
country,
is chosen as his
residence
by
the
under-emperor,
Constantius
Chlorus, who,
upon
the death of
Carausius,
came to Britain
by
order of
Maxim
in,
to assume the
government
of that
country.
A. D. 300.
At this
epoch
Rome counted within its walls more than
five hundred
temples, thirty-seven gates
and arches of
triumph,
six
bridges,
seventeen
amphitheaters
and
theaters,
fourteen
aqueducts,
five
obelisks,
and of monumental col-
umns a
great
number,
such as
military,
warlike,
statuary,
honorary, legal, (upon
which were
engraved
the
laws,)
and
lactary, (at
the base of which were laid children found
astray,)
and,
finally, palaces,
mausoleums, baths,
and
eepulchers
in
proportionate
number. All of these monu-
ments,
without
exception,
were erected
by
the fraternities
or
colleges
of architects and builders.
A. D. 303.
The
empejoj
D]p^l^tian
-under whose
reign
were
erected,
in
many
of the Roman
provinces, temples, aqueducts,
and
baths
distinguished
himself
particularly by
the most
atrocious
persecution
of the
Christians,
and whom were
executed with
cruelty
in the more distant
provinces.
Notwithstanding
the
humanity
of the
(at
this
time) gov-
ernor of
Britain,
the
Christians,
of whom a
great
number
were members of the Masonic
fraternities,
found it neces-
sary
to seek
refuge
in Scotland and the
Orkney Islands,
and there
they
carried
Christianity
and architecture. It
was
by
them that those
strong
and
admirably-constructed
castles built in a
style
so
peculiarly appropriate
to the char-
acter of the
country
and the
people
were erected for the
clans of the Scots. The artist constructors attached to the
colleges
established at Rome also fled to the
east,
or buried
themselves within the catacombs their usual
refuse
in
O
times of
religious
and social
persecution
where
many
of
them
perished.
The last monuments of
any importance
which were
erected at Rome were due to Diocletian the baths which
he built
surpassing,
for
grandeur
and
magnificence,
even
those of Alexander
Severus;
but the most remarkable
monument of the times of this
emperor
was the
palace
he
had erected for himself at
Salona,
in
Dalmatia,
and wherein
he
passed
the remainder of his life after he had
resigned
his
government
of the
empire.
A. D. 313.
This
year
closed the
persecutions
of the
Christians,
and
by
the edict of
Milan,
rendered
by
Constantino the
Great,
Christianity
was declared the
religion
of the State. Sub-
sequently, (A.
D.
325,) by
the Council of
Nice,
in
Bythnia,
the forms and doctrines of the Christian
religion
were
arranged,
and
thereupon,
with the advent of
peace,
the
Masonic
corporations
awoke to new life.
A. D. 325.
The
fraternities,
no more
persecuted
in the
persons
of
their
membership, multiplied
in Rome with
extraordinary
activity,
and
displayed great ability
and
alacrity
in the
construction of the Christian churches ordered
by
Con-
etantine. In the
year
323 the first Christian church was
built
upon
the Lateran
Hill,
and thereafter are
erected, upon
the
ground occupied
and in
great part
with the materials
afforded
by
the
pagan temples
and
halls,
the cathedrals of
Saint
Lawrence of
Sessomanca,
of Saint
Marcellus,
of
283
Saint
Agnes,
and of Saint Constance. Constantine ordered
the erection of an obelisk to Saint John of
Lateran,
and
also the
erection, upon
the
Vatican,
of a
church,
which
was
by
him dedicated to Saint Paul. This church was
built in the form of a
cross,
in commemoration of that
cross
1
which had been seen
by
him in the
heavens,
and
to which he attributed his
victory
over Maxentius. The
people subsequently
erected an arch of
triumph,
which
they
dedicated to Constantine the Great.
A. D. 330.
Constantine the Great
changes
the name of
Byzantia
to
Constantinople,
and raises it to the rank of
capital city
of
the Eastern Roman
Empire.
At this
place
the
building
brethren
concentrate,
to
engage
in the immense construc-
tions which he
projects
there. The church of St.
Sophia,
begun
in the
year
326,
was the first Christian churcli
Byzantia
saw erected within her walls. The foundations
of
many
others are laid. A new
style
of architecture is
1
The Greek
cross,
which wns
copied by
Christian architects as the model
upon
which to erect all edifices devoted to Christian
worship,
was chosen
by
them,
not because Constantine had
prescribed
this
form,
but because this
cross
mysteriously
attached itself to the
worship
of
every people,
and made
part
of the
symbolism
of their
art,
and a
knowledge
of which formed a
por-
tion of the secret
teachings
of the
colleges.
This cross
exhibits,
in its
pro-
portions
what are known as the sacred
numbers,
and which numbers are the
basis of
geometry.
It was also the form and base of the
Holy
of
Holies,
in
the
temple
of Solomon
; and,
in a
word,
it
represents
the
unity
and the
trinity.
For the other
dispositions, proportions,
and details of the
religious
edifices,
the
temple
at Jerusalem of which the
holy
books of the Hebrews
contained
precise
details served
always
as a
model;
that
temple being
recognized
as the
great masterpiece
of
architecture,
as it was also the first
temple
erected and consecrated to an
only
God. It is this
temple
which even
yet,
and in our own
day,
is considered the most
significant symbol
of Free-
masonry.
The
plans
of Christian
churches,
from the fourth
century
to the
present time, following
those which have
preceded
them,
are derived from a
mixture of Jewish and
pagan
elements. The form of the cross was subse-
quently adopted
for the foundatiou of
nearly
all the
religious
edifices of the
Christian world.
formed the Latin and Greek
intermixing
with the
Arab,
and
giving
birth to what
was""8ifbseqTfenTTyûowii
athe
^Byzantine,
which was not
distinctly developed
until the
eighth century.
The
emperor Constantine,
who had
proclaimed
that the
sign
of the cross should ornament the
imperial
standard,
continued, nevertheless,
to sacrifice to the
gods
of
pagan-
ism. He
despoiled Rome, Athens, Rhodes, Chios,
Cyprus,
and
Sicily
of their riches and their monuments of
past-time
art;
and thus the cities of
Italy,
Greece,
and Asia Minor
furnished him with works of art wherewith to adorn the
new
capital
of his
empire.
The Masonic
fraternities, who,
during
the
persecutions
of the
Christians,
had taken
refuge
in
Syria
and in Pales-
tine,
are
now,
by
the orders of
Constantine, occupied
in
those
provinces
in the erection of churches.
Heliopolis,
Jerusalem,
and the
village
of
Beth]k&m
are the
places
wherein the first of these churches were
constructed;
and
subsequently
he ordered the erection of the church of the
Holy Sepulcher,
at Jerusalem. In
Syria
and Palestine the
Masonic
corporations greatly
increased,
and extended into
the borders of Arabia and countries
beyond
the Roman
empire.
A. D. 340.
The Masonic fraternities continued to increase in
By-
^zantia. All those who had
acquired celebrity
in
religious
architecture,
such as
constructors,
sculptors,
and
painters,
sought occupation
within this
great city,
and therein
helped
to
complete the_twjnty
:_three
churches
which,
in
ten
years,
were erected inside its walls.
A. D. 355-360.
The
emperor
Julian,
who at this time commanded in
Gaul,
ordered the construction at
Paris,
which had become
the
capital
of the
Parisians,
a
magnificent
temple,
with vast
baths,
the ruins of which
may
be seen in the Rue de la
285
Harpe
at the
present day.
After his
victory
over the
Franks,
he
arranged
to reside at
Paris,
and therein
ordered
the construction of churches unou the ruins of
pagan
temples.
A. D. 380.
During
the incessant invasions of the
Germans, Saxons,
and
Burgundians,
followed
by
the Alans and
Huns,
who
pillaged
and devastated the
country,
the
Masoiiicjfraterni-
ties were
dispersed,
while art of all
kinds,
and more
par-
ticularly
architecture,
took
refuge
within the
monasteries,
where the
ecclesiastics,
who had affiliated with the frater-
nities of
architects,
studied and
preserved
the artistic and
humanitarian doctrines of their art.
A. D. 410.
The Scots and the
Picts,
continuing
to disturb the
peace
of the Romans in
Britain,
and to
destroy
their walls and
fortifications,
the latter are rebuilt
by
the
great
concourse
of
MasoiiaJJcamâJL
parts
of the island of Britain. Even
the new constructions not
proving adequate,
however,
to
defend them from the constant inroads of these barbarous
tribes,
and the Romans
being
attacked
upon
all
sides,
and
their
legions being
enfeebled
by
the withdrawal of num-
bers of their forces from Britain to the
continent,
they
j
udged
Jt
prudent
to abandon the
ialandôf
T^ntaip
entirely,
a
decigipjOLwhich they
carried out,
according
to some au-
thorities,
in the
year
411,
and
according
to others in the
year
426. After their
retreat,
the
fraternities,
who found
themselves
composed
of various elements that of native
Britons not
being
the least took
refuge
where
they might
be
protected by
the
Romans, upon
the
continent,
in
Gaul,
and in
Scotland.
Here,
as in the time of the first Chris-
tian
persecutions, they propagated
Chrstianity
and archi-
tecture, and,
above
all,
religiously preserved
the
antique
organization
of their
lodges.
A. D. 430.
The Masonic
fraternities, dispersed
and dissolved since
the
beginning
of barbarian
invasions,
which devastated
Gaul,
Italy,
and even
Rome,
experience _great_difficulty,
notwithstanding
the
encouragement
offered
theniH5y~tlie
clergy,
led
by
the
Popes,
to reestablish themselves in the
latter
city. They
commenced, however,
to
repair
and re-
construct some
churches,
and for this
purpose freely helped
themselves with the materials
composing pagan temples.
A. D. 455.
Under Genseric new invasions of the barbarians
every-
where
destroyed
the
public monuments,
and for a
long
time
arrested,
in Rome and
Italy,
all new constructions.
A. D. 476.
Rome is invaded for
jhe
sixth time within the fifth cen-
tury. During
these invasions those of Alaric in
410,
of
Genseric in
455, and,
at this
time,
of Odoacre the cities
were sacked
Jind burnt,
and their
temples
and monuments
destroyed,
the
greater
number of them never to be
replaced,
and the
masterpieces
of art buried beneath their ruins.
The fraternities of
builders,
finding
themselves,
in these
times of
war,
without
occupation,
and
unprotected
in the
west
by
the Roman
power, dispersed
into Greece and
Egypt,
and
many
of them took
up
their residence
perma-
nently
in
Syria.
All the
masterpieces
of
art,
w
r
hich were
at this time buried beneath the ruins of
temples
overthrown
or
destroyed, subsequently
served to ornament Christian
churches,
and the
palaces
and museums of the affluent in
various
parts
of the continent.
A. D. 500.
The remains of ancient
fraternities,
who had
sought
refuge
in other
countries, appear
in
Rome,
and endeavor
287
to revive the
colleges
of builders. Architecture
revives,
and some of the churches are
repaired
and
reconstructed.
A. D. 525.
The
example
of Rome is
imitated
in
Gaul;
and
every-
where such beautiful
temples
as were erected to the
gods
of the
Romans,
and which hitherto have
escaped
the de-
structive
tendency
of the international
invasions,
are de-
stroyed
to
give place
to and with the remains of which
churches are built and consecrated to the saints. Under
the
reign
of Childeric
(460-481),
of Clovis
(481-511),
of
Clothaire
(511-561),
who have
protected
the Masonic cor-
porations
and
encouraged
their
labors,
there are erected
\nany
churches. The fraternities of Roman
architects,
as
well as those of
Gaul,
who remained in the
country
after
the retreat of the Romans
(486),
are
recognized
and con-
firmed in their ancient
privileges.
A. D. 530.
Some
fragments
of the Roman
colleges,
which had taken
up
their residence in
Syria,
are
called,
at different
times,
by
the
kings
of Persia to erect monuments of a
public
character,
bearing
the characteristics of the Persian taste.
Latin, Greek,
and
Byzantine styles
here enter into a new
intermarriage,
with the
pomp
and
display
of Persian
magnificence.
A. D. 550.
By
order of Justinian
I,
the
great
church of St.
Sophia,
at
Constantinople,
is constructed
by
a
fraternity
of Greek
architects,
over the remains of that erected
by
Constantine
the
Great,
which had been
destroyed by
fire.
This
monument,
converted
by
the Turks into an
impe-
rial
mosque,
is the most
magnificent
conception
of our
time,
as it was of that most
flourishing period
when art
received its most
powerful impulse.
1
The Masonic frater-
nities of
Byzantia
and other
provinces
of the
empire,
spreading
themselves at this time into
Italy, Sardinia,
Corsica,
and a
part
of
Africa,
submitted once more to be
swayed by
the
scepter
of their ancient masters. These
countries,
relieved of the rule of the Goths and
Vandals,
encouraged
the erection of
religious
monuments,
for which
the
great
church of St.
Sophia
served as the model.
Subsequently (726)
all these monuments were
destroyed
during
the revolutions which
prevailed
under the icono-
clastic
emperors.
A. D. 557.
Austin,
a Benedictine monk and
architect,
arrived in
England
for the
purpose
of
converting
the
Anglo-
Saxons'
to
Christianity.
He
placed
himself at the head of the
Masonic
fraternities,
and lifted them out of the
many
difficulties into which
they
had fallen
during
the last
wars.
A. D. 580.
At this time the Freemasons became
fully recognized
in
Britain,
by
the fact that their numbers were insufficient
to execute the immense constructions
projected by
the
1
Justinian
I,
in
reconstructing
the
great
church of St.
Sophia,
con-
fided the
general
direction to two Greek architects. These were assisted
by
one hundred master
workmen,
who had each one hundred workmen
to execute their
orders,
and each of whom had ten laborers under their
direction. Five thousand men
were,
in this
manner, employed
on each
side of the
building;
and in the sixteenth
year
from the commencement
of its construction it was
finished,
and
inaugurated by
the
slaughter
of
one thousand
oxen,
ten thousand
sheep,
six hundred
stags,
one thousand
hogs,
ten thousand hens and ten thousand
pullets, which,
with
thirty
thousand measures of
grain,
were distributed to the
people. Justinian,
having expended
enormous sums for the erection of this
construction,
was forced to order taxes to be levied for its
completion.
It is said
that before the walls had risen three feet above the
ground,
he had
expended
four hundred and
fifty-two
hundred
weight
of
golden
com
289
new
apostles
of
Christianity.
In their
voyages
to
Rome,
whither
they
went to collect statues and
pictures
where-
with to adorn the churches in
Britain,
these
apostles
always
returned
bringing
with them
workmen,
sculptors,
and
painters;
and the
bishop
of
Weymouth imported
from
Gaul into Britain men of like
professions
in
great
number.
A. D. 600-602.
During
these
years
the cathedrals of
Canterbury
and
Rochester were erected.
A. D. 607.
The cathedral of St.
Paul,
at
London,
begun
in
604,
ia
finished,
and that of St.
John,
at
Winchester,
begun
in
605.
A. D. G10.
Death of
Austin,
grand inspector
of the Freemasons.
He is
subsequently
cancmized under
the^
name
of_J3k
Augustine.
A. D. 620.
The Masonic
corporations
at this
time,
although gov-
erned
by
the same laws and characterized
by
the same
principles, partook
not
every-where
of the same
qualifi-
cations,
or rather
they
were known
by
different names in
different countries. For
instance,
in
Italy they
were
known as the
Colleges
of Architects or
Builders,
and
oftentimes
simply
as the Masonic
Fraternities;
while in
Gaul
they
were called Brother
Masons,
Brother
Bridgers,
(bridge-builders,)
or Free
Corporations;
and in
Britain,
by
reason of their well-known
privileges, they
were called
Freemasons. At this time
they
are all
employed
exclu-
sively by
the
religious orders,
directed
by
them,
and even
quartered
in the monasteries. The
abbot,
or such other
ecclesiastic as
may
be
sufficiently acquainted
with the
rules and
practice
of
architecture, upon
this
account,
pre-
19
eidcs over the
meeting's
of the
lodges general assembly
of all the artists and workmen
and,
consequently,
is ad-
dressed in such
assembly
as
Worshipful
Master.
[To
the
present
time does this title attach to the
presiding
officer
in a
lodge
of
Freemasons.]
A. D. G60.
The arts and architecture take
refuge
within the mon-
asteries,
whenever their
progress
is arrested or
paralyzed
by
international wars. There
they
are cultivated with
success
by
the most
distinguished
ecclesiastics,
who are
admitted as members of the Masonic fraternities. It was
also,
in
great part, according
to the
designs
and
plans
drawn
by
these ecclesiastics that the
corporations
executed
the
religious
monuments of this time. The monastic
schools of architecture not
only produced
some ecclesiastics
celebrated as
architects,
such as St.
Eloi,
bishop
of
Noyon
(659);
St.
Ferol,
bishop
of
Limoges;
Dalrnac,
bishop
of
Rhodes;
Agricola, bishop
of Chalons
(680-700);
but
they
also
gave
to the
profession
of architecture
laymen
not !(?:
distinguished,
and under whose direction numerous
public
monuments were erected in Gaul and Britain.
A. D. 680.
The Freemasons of
Britain,
having
remained without
a chief since the death of
Austin,
the
king
of
Mersey,
grand protector
of the
Fraternity, appointed
Bonnet,
abbot
of
"Wirral,
inspector-general
and
superintendent
of Ma-
sonry.
Nevertheless,
the labors of the
Fraternity
were
conducted with but little
spirit during
a
century.
A. D. 685.
The Masonic fraternities of Roman
origin,
who had
been ordered into the
East,
and
many
of \vhom had re-
mained in
Constantinople, acquired great reputation,
and
were
successively sought
for
by
Persian, Arabian,
and
291
Syrian potentates. Among
others,
the
caliphs
of Damas-
cus and Medina intrusted to them the erection of the
mosques
of those cities.
A. D. 700.
-Architecture has attained at this time a
high degree
.//
perfection
in
England,
1
the
style
and
expression
of the
edifices
presenting exclusively
the characteristics of what
was then known as Scottish
architecture, which,
at this
time,
was considered
among
the
Trafernity
the most
per-
fect in outlines and
details,
and the masters of it the most
learned of
any
of the brethren. On this account
they
were called Scottish Masters.
A. D. 720.
The
progress
that architecture had made in
Gaul,
in tho
course of the last
century
and the
early part
of the
present,
was arrested
by
the incursion of the
Arabs,
in the
year
718,
and remained in a
paralytic
condition for
many
years.
A. D. 740.
Upon
the demand of the
Anglo-Saxon
kings, ^Charles
Martej,
who had at this time
governed
Gaul as
"Mayor
of the
Palace," jent
to Britain
many
architects and
Masons.
A. D. 750.
Under the
reign
of the
caliph
of
Bagdad,
architecture
1
Wlieu Honurius abandoned
Britain,
in
420,
in
consequence
of his
inability
to hold the
country against
the invasions of the I'icts and
Scots,
the Britons
called to their
aid,
for that
purpose,
the
Angles
and the Saxons. After mak-
ing
themselves masters of the
country,
the latter founded within it four
kingdoms,
and the former founded
three,
which in 827 were
united,
under the
general
name of
Angle-land,
with the Saxon
king Egbert
as ruler. In 83-3
the Danes and Normans desolated the
country,
but between 871 and '.KM)
Alfred ihe Great forced them to terms of
peace. Shortly afterward,
howevor
they
invaded the
country anew,
nnd
nearly
all the
public
monuments
churches,
and monasteries became a
prey
to fire and
pillage.
202 GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMAb'^NRY.
and the arts
generally
attained to a
high degree
of
per-
fection.
Arabia,
at this
time,
exhibited
a
degree
of civil-
ization far in advance of that known in Asia or Africa.
The fra tern
ities.jof
architects
who,
after the fall of the
Roman
Empire
of the
West,
remained in
Syria
and
Arabia,
contributed in a
great degree, by
their
knowledge
of
ait,
to the
splendor
and
reputation Bagdad
at this time
enjoyed.
A. D. 775.
Arabian architecture is introduced into
Spain,
under the
rule of the
caliphs
of the
East,
and
directed,
as it was
every-where, by
the Masonic associations. These
corpora-
tions,
called from
Bagdad by
the
viceroys
of the
caliphs
to Cordova a
city
founded
by
the Romans 252
years
before the birth of Christ there
successively
erected a
series of marvelous
monuments,
inspired by Byzantine
art. The
organization
of these
corporations
is
unknown,
and
they
were,
no
doubt, subjected
in contradistinction
to those of the Roman
colleges,
from which
they
de-
scended to modifications
according
with the manners
and character of the
people among
whom these associa-
tions had
place;
but it is not
probable
that there was
any
essential difference. The
Mussulmans^
we
re,
at this
time,
more advanced in the scale of art and civilization than
the
Christians,
and
consequently they
exercised
very
con-
siderable influence in the various
provinces
of the Penin-
sula.
Abderam
I,
viceroy
of Cordova under the
caliph
of
Damascus,
having
declared his
independence
of the Da-
mascene,
enriched his
caliphate,
the
city
of
Cordova,
with
so
great
a
degree
of
splend
>r that the character of the
architecture therein exhibited created a school of archi-
tecture,
whose
reputation
was
only equaled by
the
mag-
nificence of its monuments. From this time that
city
became the center of Moorish art.
293
A. D. 780.
Under the
reigrrof -Ghaxlemagîiejirchitecture
flourished
anew in
France,
that monarch
having
invited from Lom-
bardy
numbers of architects and
workmen,
who were then
generally
called stone-cutters
A. D.
850.
Many religious
edifices,
burnt or
destroyed by
the
Danes,
are reconstructed
by
the
corporations
under the Saxoii
king
Ethel
wolf,
and the immediate direction of the
priest
and architect St. Swithin. At this time were renewed
the
meetings
of the
brethren,
which were much inter-
rupted during
the
previous century.
A. D. 875.
Under the
reign
of that most illustrious of Saxon
kings,
Alfred the
Great,
the
arts,
and
particularly architecture,
flourished. The fraternities rebuilt the
towns,
castles,
monasteries,
and
churches,
which were
destroyed during
the Danish wars.
A. D. 900.
The successor of
Alfred,
Edward
king
of
Mersey, ap-
pointed,
as
grand inspectors
of the
fraternities,
his brother
Ethel
ward,
and his
brother-in-law, Ethred,
who had be-
come
practica^
architects in the school of the Freemasons.
A. D. 925.
At this time all the more
important
towns in
England
had their
lodge
of
Freemasons; but, notwithstanding
the
geneTat~contbrmity
oT their laws and
principles,
but little
connection existed between them. The cause of this is
explained by
the fact
that,
for the five centuries in which
existed the
heptarchy,
or seven
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms,
there was little connection between those brethren scat-
tered
throughout
the
kingdoms;
and,
following
the union
of the
government,
the wars of the Danes
kept
the coun-
try
in a condition into which the arts of
peace
entered
but in the smallest
proportion. During
these wars the
monasteries
Jbein^Jburnt,
the fraternities suffered an irre-
parable
loss in the destruction of all their
documents,
written in various
languages
and at various
times,
brought
into the
country by
the
Romans, Greeks,
Syrians,
Lom-
bards,
and Gauls. Athelstan. the
grandson
of Alfred the
Great,
who at this time
governed England,
with his
palace
at
York,
having
been elected as their chief
by
the
priest
architects himself an architect before he
ascended_
the
throne had also inducted
hisyoungerson (Edwin)
into the
mysteries
of
art,
and
appointed
him chief or
grand
master
of the
Fraternity.
In this
position
the latter convoked
all the
lodges
scattered
throughout
the
country
to a
general
assembly,
to be held at
York,
and there to
present
all the
documents and deeds which
they
had saved from the lire
of the
invaders,
to the end that the
Fraternity
be
regu-
larly
constituted
anew,
according
to the forms of those
written laws. It was at this
assembly
that a
constitution,
prepared
and submitted
by
the
king,
was discussed and
accepted by
the
representatives
of the
lodges,
and thence-
forth
proclaimed
as the law.
Promulgated
the
following
year,
this
constitution,
styled
the Charier
of
York,
formed
the basis of all
subsequent
Masonic constitutions. Thence-
forth York became the seat of the
grand mastership
of
English Masonry.
A. D. 930.
Henry
I
(the Fowler)
invites from
England
to
Germany
the
corporations
of
Freemasons,
for the
purpose
of con-
structing
edifices
projected by
him,
such as the cathedrals
of
Madgeburg,
etc. These edifices were not
erected,
how-
ever,
until the
subsequent reign
that of his
son,
Otho
the Great.
295
A. D. 936.
The Arabian fraternities of Masons and
artists,
of Ro-
man
origin,
commence this
year
the
construction of that
famous
royal
castle
Alcazar,
that was built for the
caliph
Abderam at
Zara,
near
Seville,
and ornamented with four
thousand three hundred columns of
purest
marble. This
prince
invited the most skillful and learned architects of
Bagdad
and
Constantinople
to direct and aid the frater-
nities of the
country
in their labors
upon
this
important
and
magnificent
edifice.
A. D. 940.
The
queen
Bertha of
Burgundy wishing
to renew
the
prosperity
of her
country,
which had been devastated
and demoralized
by
the
wars,
sent to
England
for masters
and
workmen, who,
under the direction of a Scottish
master named
Mackeubrey,
undertook a series of con-
structions to be consecrated as churches and
convents,
which
they
executed with
astonishing rapidity,
and con-
summate skill. The
abbot, Majolus
of
Cluny,
had the
superior
direction of these
great
erections,
which were
commenced in the
year
930. The
grandest
and most
magnificent
of these constructions were the
abbey
and the
church of the Benedictines at
Pay
erne. From this time
the Masonic
corporations
of
England spread
themselves
upon
the
continent,
under the name of St. John
Brothers.
A. D. 960.
The death of
king
Athelstan
again disperses
the Free-
masons of
England.
Some of the most
important
con-
structions
are, however,
undertaken
during
the
reign
of
Edgar,
under the
grand mastership
of
Dunstan,
(St.
Dun-
stan,) archbishop
of
Canterbury. Many
of the brethren
pass
over to
Germany,
and there
permanently
locate
themselves,
under the name of St. John
Brothers,
and
Brothers of St. John.
ISpocf).
From the
year
1001 to the
year
1717.
A. D. 1001.
In the course of the tenth
century
the Christian
popu-
lation of the west found themselves under the influence
of an
unhappy discouragement,
which had seized
upon
their
spirits,
in
consequence
of the
predictions
that the
end of the world
might
he
expected
at this
time,
and the
result of which was their abandonment of all works of
art. The
artists,
and
principal ly
the fraternities of Ma-
sons,
condemned to
inaction,
fall into the miseries and
unhappiness
of the times. The schools of architecture of
Lombardy,
at
Padua,
and at
C.OJIKV
are llo
t> however,
entirely
deserted. The learned architects of these
schools,
initiated as had been those of
Egypt
into the secrets
of nature and the
study
of
astronomy, happily
did not
partake
of this
general terror,
which was invented
by
the
priests,
for selfish
purposes;
and such schools continued
to
teach,
as in times
past.
A. D. 1003.
No unnatural movement
having
thrust our
planet
from
its
course,
the
people
welcomed with
joy
the aurora of a
new
world;
and it is from this
epoch
it is
proper
to date
modern civilization. The terror of the Christian world
had continued to the close of this
year,
as the
reign
of
Antichrist,
it was
believed,
would continue for two
years
and a half
subsequent
to the
year
1000;
and now art and
society
in
general
awoke from their
long
trance,
to re-
newed life and usefulness.
SECOND CHRONOLOGICAL EPOCH.
297
A. D. 1005.
It was
necessary
that
nearly
all the
religious
edifices of
the Christian world should be renewed.
Up
to this
time
such
building!
were
principally composed
of wood and
plaster;
but now these are razed to the
ground,
and re-
built in more
enduring
material.
A. D. 1010.
A
great
number of ecclesiastics
repair
to
Lombardy,
there to
study religious
architecture,
and to form an
Italian school.
Lombardy
is,
at this
time,
an active
center of
civilization,
where the
fragments
of the ancient
colleges
of constructors
reside,
having
lived
through
the
ordeal of international
wars,
and maintained their ancient
organization
and their
privileges,
under the name of Free
Corporations.
The most celebrated of these was that of
Coiuo,
which had
acquired
such
superiority
that the title
of
magistri
comacini
(Masters
of
Como)
had become the
generic
name of all the members of the architect
corpo-
rations.
Always teaching
in
secret,
they
had their
mys-
teries,
their
judiciary
and
jurisdiction.
The architects from
distant
countries,
from
Spain,
Greece,
and
Asia,
at this time
were accustomed to
repair
to their school at Como for in-
struction,
to attain a
knowledge
of the new combinations
of the Latin and Greek
styles
of
architecture,
which had
been modified
by intermixing
with that
style
which was
developed during
the ninth
century
at
Constantinople,
and
which was considered the most suitable for
religious
build-
ings.
It was this combination that
gave
birth to the
style
called
"
Roman."
1
*It was in this
style
that were erected the
religious
edifices of the llth
century
and
part
of those of the
12th,
and
following
which succeeded the
newer
stvle,
called Roman
ogee,
which latter
prevailed
but from the
year
1150 to the
year 1200,
or thereabouts.
A. D. 1040.
The Masonic
corporations
covered
Italy,
am more
par-
ticularly Lombanly,
with
religious
edifices,
and to such an
extent did the
membership
of the
corporations
increase
that the
country
could no
longer
offer
occuprtion
to all.
Then
they
formed
particular corporations,
wlr
r
:h traveled
into
foreign
countries;
and a
large
number of tb.em united
in
forming
a
general
association,
and
constituting
them-
selves into a
great fraternity
that should travel into all
Christian countries wherein the
necessary
churches and
monasteries had not
yet
been
erected,
and
demanding
for
this
object authority
from the
pope,
and the
confirmation
to them
by
him of all the ancient immunities which had at
any
time attached to the
building corporations,
as also the
protection necessary
to so
grand
an
enterprise.
The
pope,
without
delay,
seconded this
design,
and conferred
upon
them the exclusive
monopoly
of
erecting
all
religious
mon-
uments,
as also
making
them free of all local
laws,
all
royal
edicts and
municipal regulations concerning
statute
labor,
together
with
immunity
from
every
other
obligation
imposed upon
the inhabitants of whatever
county-, city,
or town
they might
be
employed
in. These
monopolies
are
respected
and sanctioned
by
all the
kings
and all the
governments.
A. D. 1060.
The Masonic fraternities of
Lombardy
extend themselves
into
Germany,
into
France,
and into
Brittany
and Nor-
mandy.
William the
Conqueror, king
of
England
(1054,)
sent from
Normandy
a crowd of
prelates
and
architects,
grad-
uates of the school of the
Lombards,
such as
Mauserius,
Le
Franc,
Robert of
Blois, Remy
of
Fecamp,
and
many
others,
to
plan
and construct the most
magnificent
cathedrals in
England. Every-where,
in all Christian
countries,
the
same
passion
for
religious
edifices seemed to
prevail
at this
299
time,
and,
in
consequence, religious
architecture made
great
progress.
A. D. 1080.
Some Masonic
corporations
fixed themselves in the Low
Country,
and there erected churches and monasteries.
The
bishop
of
Utrecht,
desirous of
constructing
a
great
cathedral,
sought
the aid of the
leading
architect of that
city,
a man named
Plehel,
and obtained from him the neces-
sary plans
for the
proposed
construction.
Having
obtained
possession
of these
papers,
the
bishop
dismissed
Plebel, and,
desirous of
passing
himself as the author of the
plans,
and en-
gage
in
directing
the labors of the workmen without
having
been initiated into the secrets of the
art,
sought, by
all sorts
of menaces and
promises,
to
wring
from the son of the archi-
tect
Plebel,
a
young
master
mason,
the secrets and manner
(arcanum magisterium)
of
laying
the foundations. These
rules,
applied
to the construction of
religious
edifices,
were
held in the most inviolable
secrecy by
all members of the
association of Freemasons a secret
solemnly imposed upon
them
by
their oath. The
architect,
indignant
at a
pertidy
so base on the
part
of one whom the
people regarded
as
their
supreme spiritual
adviser,
on
learning
of the
perjury
of his
son,
determined to
prevent
the
divulging
the secret
of his
art,
and
thereupon, having
obtained an
opportunity,
killed the
bishop.
A. D. 1100.
During
the
century just
closed,
the Masonic
corporations
completed
the construction of more than one hundred cathe-
drals, churches, monasteries,
abbeys,
and
castles,
scattered
over the five
principal European
countries of that
time,
viz.:
England, France, Germany, Italy,
and Switzerland.
A. D. 1125.
The Masonic
corporations,
under the
style
and name of
Brothers of St.
John,
extend themselves over civilized
Europe anew,
and
give
their assemblies the name of
Lodges
of St. John. This
qualification,
which was first known in
England, goes
back to the sixth
century,
and
originated
as
follows: In those
days
the Freemasons'
feasts,
following
the ancient
usage
of the Roman
colleges,
were held
upon
the return of the
yearly
solstices,
particularly upon
that of
summer.
Christianity having
taken the
place
of
pagan-
ism,
induced them to invest the occasion of their feasts
with another
sign,
more in
keeping
with the wishes of the
clergy. They,
therefore,
chose St. John for their
patron,
because it was the ancient
Janus,
a
god
of the
Romans,
whose feast fell
upon
the 24th of
June,
which was also the
epoch
of the solstice of
summer,
and which
anniversary
they
could thus continue to celebrate under the name of
St. John's
day.
From the
importance they
attached to
these
party
assemblies,
they
came to be called St. John
Brothers a name tinder which
they
were
universally
known
upon
the continent
during
the twelfth
century.
A. D. 1150.
A
fraternity
of
Masons,
called from
Lombardy
direct to
England,
in the
reign
of Alexander
III, erect,
under this
prince
and his
successors,
a
great many
beautiful monu-
ments of their
art,
the
major part
of which are
apparent
but as ruins.
Among
the
others,
the town and
abbey
of
Kil
winning,
where
subsequently
were held the
general
as-
semblies of this
fraternity,
were constructed
by
them.
A. D. 1155.
The
grand
master of the
Templars,
Richard,
king
of
England,
surnamed the Lion
Heart,
is elected
by
the
lodges
of
English
Freemasons to the like
position
over
them
;
and he
governs
the two fraternities until his death.
A Masonic
fraternity,
of
Syrian origin,
detained in
Europe
by
the immense constructions which were then
erected,
in
this
year
construct for the
Templars
their church in Fleet
301
Street,
London. This
fraternity
had
preserved
intact the
ancient initiation
practiced among
the Romans.
A. D. 1175.
A Masonic
fraternity,
to which was
given
the name of
Brother
Bridgers,
and which
occupied
itself
particularly
with the construction of
bridges
and
roads,
located itself
in the midst of
France, where,
at
Avignon,
in
1180,
it con-
structed the
bridge
of that
name,
and,
subsequently,
all the
bridges
of Provence, of
Lorraine,
and of
Lyons.
A. D. 1200.
During
the
century
which this
year closed,
the fraterni-
ties of builders have added to the numerous
magnificent
erections of the
preceding period
some of the finest con-
structions of the middle
ages.
In
England,
France,
Ger-
many, Italy,
and
Spain
such of the oldest ecclesiastic and
monastic erections as have survived the
decaying
touch of
time,
were
completed during
the twelfth
century.
A. D. 1225.
Lombardy
has attained its
preeminence
as the
principal
European
school of architecture.
Thither,
from all coun-
tries,
the master masons
repair
for new ideas and new
knowledge.
The Scottish
artists,
the
Byzantine,
and also
those of
Cordova,
who affected more of
pomp,
and what
was known as the
style Arabesque,
in their details of deco-
ration,
there modified their
art; while,
in their
turn,
the
Lombards,
recognizing
the beauties of these different
forms,
intermix them with the more severe
simplicity
of their
Roman
ogival,
from which intermixture there results a
new
combination,
inappropriately styled
Gothic,
1
which is
1
We find in that most remarkable
work, published
in
1843,
and of which
the architect Daniel Ramee is the
author,
some
passages bearing upon
this
fact,
one of which we will take the
liberty
to
quote.
After
having
enumer-
ated the different
opinions upon
the
origin
of the
ogival style,
the
author,
in
distinguished by
the most harmonious reunion of
opposite
elements,
by
hardihood of
conception
and
solidity
of exe-
cution. This
style
is
immediately adopted
in all Christian
countries,
and
totally changes nearly
all the established
plans
which,
up
to this
period, prevailed
in the construc-
tion of
religious
edifices.
A. D. 1250.
The
changes
which have been introduced within the
past twenty-five years
in the outlines and details of Chris-
tian
architecture,
stamp
this
period
as the most remark-
able of
any preceding
time. The
striking analogy
which
the monuments of this time afford when contrasted with
those of the fifteenth
century,
is
explained by
the tie of
the
Fraternity
which,
uniting
the Masonic brethren of
every
nation,
afforded them
identity
of
progress
and
knowledge
in their art.
Lomlmrdy,
that central school
of
art,
had its
prototype
in the fifteenth
century
at Stras-
burg
and
Cologne;
while,
ever obedient
during
the
past
three hundred
years
to the lessons
taught
in those central
schools of their
art,
the
knowledge
of one became the
property
of the
whole,
and individual
promptings
of
beauty
in ornament or decoration were not
admissible,
as
none were free from that obedience which involved the
use of a similar
style
of ornament. The
symbolic
and
satirical
markings
which
distinguished
the architectural
monuments of the fifteenth from those of the twelfth
century
are indicative of the
gradual change
that had
been
wrought by
the abuses of the
clergy,
and
by
those
attempts
to enslave the
popular
mind in
ignorance
and
his
turn, although very
desirous of
claiming
the credit of the invention for
France,
is
compelled by
his
regard
for truth to
say:
"There is no doubt that
the
employment
of the
ogee,
or
pointed arch,
and the
style
which resulted
there
i'rorn,
was first
practiced among
the
learned, modest, pious,
and
truly
Christi ui Freemasons of
foreign
countries,
and the
knowledge
of which
they
communicated to their brethren iu
Germany, England, France, Spain,
and
Italy.'
303
superstition,
which
subsequently
culminated in
the Prot-
estant Reformation.
A. D. 1251.
Louis
IX,
called St.
Louis,
directs the architect
Elides,
of
Montreuil,
to
fortify
the harbor and town of
Joppa,
and lie is
accompanied
thither
by
a certain number of
Freemasons.
A. D. 1272.
The construction of Westminster
Abbey
is
completed
this
year,
grand
master
Giti'ard,
archbishop
of York.
A. D. 1275.
Erwin of Steinbach
1
evoked at
Strasburg
a Masonic
congress,
for the
purpose
of
adopting
measures to continue
the labors which for a
long
time had been
interrupted,
upon
the cathedral of that
city,
and to
enlarge
the dimen-
sions of that structure to a
plan
m >re extended than that
by
which the foundations had been laid in the
year
1015,
and
upon
which latter
plan
a
part
of the church was
erected. The architects from all countries of
Europe
repaired
to
Strasburg,
and
there,
according
to their
usage,
organized
a
general assembly,
or
grand lodge,
at which
each
representative
renewed the oath to observe the laws
and rules of the
Fraternity.
Near the foundations of the
cathedral is constructed a wooden
building,
wherein are
held the
meetings
of the assembled
brethren,
and the ob-
jects
of that
assembly
discussed and
adopted.
Erwin of
Steinbach is
elected,
by
the architects and directors of the
1
Since the thirteenth
century
the names of some of the most
celebrated
architects who conducted the labors
upon
the most remarkable cathedrals
of the middle
ages
are known to us
; but,
for the chief
part,
their names
remain
unknown,
and this is
easily explained:
these monuments were the
creation of a
general association,
and it was not
necessary
that the
proper
names of
persons comprising
its
membership,
no matter how
important,
should be
publicly
mentioned.
edifice,
president (chair master)
; and,
as a
sign
of the
judicial
character
delegated
to him
by
these
brethren,
he
is seated under a
canopy,
with a sword in his hand.
Signs
and tokens which enable the workmen
upon
the cathedral
to
distinguish
themselves from others not so
engaged
are
adopted,
and made known to all the brethren
assembled,
some of which words and
signs being
those in use
among
the brethren in
England. Apprentices, fellow-crafts,
and
masters are initiated with
particular symbolic ceremonies,
under which are indicated the most
profound
secrets of
architecture.
A. D. 1300.
The number of monuments commenced or finished
within the thirteenth
century, just
closed,
far exceed
any
previous
similar
period. Among
the most remarkable
were,
in
England,
Westminster
Abbey,
at
London,
and
the cathedral of
Litchfield,
at Exeter. In
France,
the
cathedrals of
Paris,
1
of
Rheims,
of
Chartres,
of
Rouen,
of
Amicus,
Bruges,
Beauvais,
and
Strasburg;
the
holy chapel
at
Paris,
and the church and
abbey
of St. Denis. In.
Germany,
the cathedrals of
Cologne, Friburg
and
Breslau;
the domes of
Madgeburg
and
Halberstadt;
the churches
of Xotre Dame of
Cologne
and St.
Elizabeth,
at
Marburg,
and of St.
Catharine,
at
Oppenheim.
In
Belgium,
the
churches
of St. John at
Tournay,
those of the Dominicans
1
This cathedral was
built, according
to
undisputed authority,
with the
money
that
Maurice, bishop
of
Paris,
obtained from the sale of
indulgences,
and of which he had sufficient to also erect four abbies. The French
bishops, following
the
example
set in 1016
by
the
pontifical bishop
of
Aries,
who was the first to
preach
this
matter,
established this
principle,
viz.: that
whoever consecrated a small sum of
money
to the erection or restoration of
a church or a
chapel, received,
in the name of the
Lord,
remission of the
third to the fourth
part
of the
penitential punishment
awarded them in
the confessional. When
Pope
Julian II wished to build St. Peter's church
at
Rome,
he followed the
example
<$et
by
the French
bishops,
and
promul-
gated
his order for the sale of
indulgences.
The Protostaut Reformation
was the result.
305
at Gand and at
Louvaiu;
of St. Paul and of Sante Croix
at
Liege;
of St. Guclule and Our
Lady
of the
chapel,
at
Brussels. In
Italy,
the cathedral of
Venice,
the dome of
Arezzo,
and the churches of St. Francis of
Padua,
and
those of
Campo
Santo and St. Marie della Pina
;
of St.
Margaret
at
Crotona,
of St.
Mary
the
New,
of St.
Croix,
and of St.
Mary
of the
Flowers,
at Florence
;
of St. John
and of St.
Paul,
at
Venice;
of St.
Francis,
at
Bologna;
the
lodge
of the
puhlic palace
at
Padua;
the old
palace
at
Florence;
and the ducal
palace
at Venice. In
Spain,
the cathedrals of
Burgos
and
Toledo;
the
monastery
of
Pobelt,
and the churches of St. Thomas and St. Maria
Blanca,
at Toledo.
A. D. 1310.
The construction of the
magnificent
cathedral of Co-
logne,
commenced in
1248,
elevates the
fraternity engaged
in this work to a
high degree
of
superiority
in
fact,
raises it to the rank of a school to which
repair
brethren
from all countries for the
purpose
of
studying
this master-
piece
of architectural
genius.
The
lodges
of
Germany,
'
recognizing
this
superiority, regard
the master of this
work as the master of all the German
masons,
and the
brethren
engaged upon
it as the Grand
Lodge, (Haupt-
hutte.)
A. D. 1312.
During
the
persecutions
directed
by Philip
the
Fair,
king
of
France,
and
Pope
Clement
V,
against
the
Knights
Templar, many
of the latter
sought refuge
in the fast-
nesses of
Scotland, where,
until after the death of their
grand
master, Jaques
de
Molay, they
found
security
for
their
persons
in the bosom of the Masonic
lodges.
A. D.
At this time
nearly every ^ff
in
Germany
had its
lodges,
for wherever
religious
edifices were
being
con-
20
7^fî
structed,
there the fraternities of builders were
congre-
gated.
These
lodges
had accorded to and
recognized
a
superiority
as
existing among
some of their
numbers, and,
in
consequence,
characterized
them,
as in
England, by
the
title of
grand lodges.
That at
Cologne
was from at first
the most
important
of
all,
and continued to be the central
lodge
for a
long
time after that at
Strasburg
was elevated
to the same
rank;
and the master of the work was
equally
recognized
as chief of the Masons of
upper Germany,
as
him of
Cologne
was of those of the lower
country.
A. D. 1380.
The fortress and
palace
of the Alhambra at
Grenada,
the
capital
of the
kingdom
of this
name,
which was
founded
by
the
Moors,
under Mahomet
I,
creator of the
dynasty
of the
Alhamarides,
in
1235,
and the construction
of which fortress and
palace
was
begun
in
1248,
is finished
during
this
year.
This marvelous monument is the most beautiful that
Moorish architecture has
produced
in
Spain.
If we exam-
ine this edifice in all its
details,
we will find that it is un-
surpassed
in
luxury
and taste
by any
construction of mod-
ern times. The
palace
of the Alhambra is the work of a
happy congregation
of artists of
every
kind,
such as com-
posed
the Roman
colleges
until after the third
century
of
our
era;
and this fact allows us to believe that this mon-
ument of human
genius,
like others in
Grenada,
was
equally
the work of Masonic and artistic
associations,
or-
ganized
and directed in manner similar to those of other
countries at the same
period,
of
whom, however,
history
has failed to furnish us with
any
record.
A. D. 1400.
The monuments the most remarkable which have been
erected,
begun,
or finished
by
the Masonic fraternities
within the
century just closed, are,
in
England,
the cathe-
307
drals of York and
Exeter,
and the
King's College
at Cam-
bridge.
In
France,
the cathedrals of
Perpignan, Meaux,
Auxerre, Toul, Tours,
and
Metz;
the churches of St.
OA'CII at
Rouen,
and of St. James at
Dieppe.
In Bel-
gium,
the
belfry,
the cloth
hall,
the
city
hall,
and acad-
emy
of line arts at
Tournay;
the church of the Domin-
cans,
and the cloth hall at Louvaiu
;
the
city
hall at
Brussels,
and the cathedral of Malines. In
Germany,
the
dome of
Gefurth,
as also those of
Prague
and of
Ulm;
the
church of Notre Dame at
Nuremberg,
and that of St. Nich-
olas at Stralsund. In
Italy,
the cathedrals of Como and
Milan;
the dome of
Orvita;
the churches of Anastasia and
St. Peter at
Verona,
of St.
Mary
at
Rome,
and of St.
Stephen
at
Venice;
the ducal
palace
at Venice, and those of Flor-
ence and of
Bologna.
In
Spain,
the cathedrals of Seville
and Barcelona
;
and the church of St.
Mary
at Toledo. In
Switzerland,
the cathedrals of
Berne,
of
Lausanne,
of Fri-
burg,
and of Zurich.
1
A. D. 1480.
The
astonishing
sacrifices which the
people
had made
to erect so
many magnificent
churches,
joined
to the
cry-
ing
abuses of the
clergy
and of the
popes
at this
time,
have relaxed the
religious
ardor and weakened the
popu-
lar faith to such an extent as not
only
to
preclude
the idea
of
erecting
new church
edifices,
but also to
stop opera-
tions
upon many
of those which were
yet
unfinished for
want of funds. In
consequence
of this
condition,
and
notwithstanding
the
renewal,
in
1459, by
the
emperor
Maximilian,
of their ancient
privileges,
and his sanction to
their
constitution,
the number of the Masonic
corpora-
tions established in
every
continental
country
declined,
and their
privileges
became of little
value;
so
that,
hav-
ing
no more
religious
edifices to
construct, they disperse
1
For the
years 1425,
'37, '42, '59, '64,
and
'69,
see those dates at
pp.
239
and
240,
ante.
and seek
employment
at such
places
and of such, kind aa
hitherto had been
occupied
and executed
by
men not con-
nected with the fraternities of builders. More
particularly
was this the case in France
;
while in
Germany they
still
preserved
some consistence and connection
among
them-
selves the fortune of their French brethren not
having
overtaken them until
later;
and in
England they
con-
tinued to flourish with unabated
prosperity.
1
A. D. 1500.
During
the
century just closed,
the Masonic fraternities
may
be said to have finished their labors in church archi-
tecture,
and
dispersed
to find
occupation
in their individ-
ual
capacities
as constructors of
public buildings
for civic
and
municipal purposes.
A. D. 1575.
Since the
beginning
of this
century,
when the
greater
part
of the fraternities found it
necessary
to dissolve their
associations,
the more
wealthy
architects undertook the
erection of
public buildings,
and
employed
the others to
construct the
same,
in the
capacity
of hired workmen.
The tie of brotherhood
which,
up
to this
time,
had
closely
united master and
workmen,
was
gradually
dis-
solved,
and
they
assumed such
relationship
toward each
other as was habitual with other bodies of tradesmen
since the fourth
century.
In this
manner,
and at this
time,
the trades unions
appear
to have had their
origin.
A. D. 1600.
"With the close of the sixteenth
century,
the Masonic
corporations
had
entirely disappeared
in continental Eu-
1
It was not until the middle of the seventeenth
century
that the Masonic
corporations
in
England abandoned,
to some
extent,
the material
object
of
thyir
organization,
and admitted to
honorary membership many persons
not
artists as
accepted
Masons. It was this element that
subsequently
caused
their entire dissolution as
operative
Masonic bodies.
309
rope,
as
long
before that time all
religious
constructions
had been abandoned. After this date no traces of
any
regular
Masonic
organization
can be found outside of the
kingdom
of
England.
A. D. 1646.
The Masonic
corporations
in
England
are found to be
composed
for some time and in
great part by
learned
per-
sons, artists,
and men eminent for their
knowledge
of sci-
ence and
art,
as well as their influential
positions
in
society,
who had been received into the
corporations
as
honorary
members,
under the
designation
of
Accepted
Masons. It was at this time that the
association,
no more
occupied
with the material
object
of its
organization,
in-
itiated as an
accepted
Mason the celebrated
antiquary
Elias
Ashmolc,
who founded the museum at
Oxford,
and who
re-arranged
and
composed
the forms of the
society
of the
Rose Cross
Brothers,
which had been
organized
in Lon-
don,
after the model of the new Atlantis of Lord
Bacon,
and held its assemblies in the hall which had been hitherto
used
by
the Freemasons. To the rituals of
reception
of
the Rose Cross
Brethren,
which consisted of some cere-
monies
having
a historical
foundation,
and the commu-
nication of the
signs
of
recognition,
and which, to some
extent,
resembled those used
among
the
Freemasons,
Ash-
mole added some others. This labor
inspired
him with
the idea of
arranging
also a new ritual for the
Freemasons,
and he therefore
composed
and substituted for the ritual
then in use another mode of
initiation, copied
in
part
from the ancient
manuscripts
and the
Anglo-Saxon
and
Syrian
rituals,
and in
part
from the
mysteries
of
Egypt,
and
otherwise,
as he
supposed,
most resembled the initia-
tion
ceremony,
as it was conducted
in the
colleges
of Ro-
man architects and builders. These rituals were at once
adopted by
the
lodges
in
London,
and
subsequently by
those
every-where
in
England.
A. D. 1670.
The
progress
of
Masonry having
been
suspended by
the
civil wars which
during
the
previous twenty years
had
been
desolating England,
Charles II
sought
its revival
by assuming
its
protectorship;
and the tire of
London,
which took
place
four
years previous, gives employment
to the
lodges,
of
which,
at
present,
seven exist in the
city
of London.
A. D. 16S5.
When James II ascended the throne in
1683,
his lean-
ing
toward Roman Catholicism
greatly agitated
a num-
ber of his
subjects
;
but in this
year, having
accorded
freedom of conscience in
religious
matters the most com-
plete
to all within the bounds of his
kingdom,
the Free-
masons divided into two
camps, which,
arrayed against
each
other,
threw their whole influence into the
political
rather than the architectural or
philosophical
arena. The
Scottish
Masons,
having
at its head the
knights
of St.
Andrew,
adhered to James
II,
or the Catholic
party,
while the
English
Masons
ranged
themselves
among
the
ranks of that
party
which decided to remove the Catholic
king.
This latter
party succeeding;
James was forced
into
exile, and, accompanied by many
of the nobles of his
court and the
leading
Jesuits,
took
up
his residence in
Paris,
in the convent of Clermont.
[The
revival of the
order of St. Andrew
1
engendered
the
Templar system,
sub-
sequently
called Strict
Observance,
which
gave
birth to
various fashions of exclusive Christian
Freemasonry
dur-
ing
the last
century,
with the hierarchical forms of the
Knights
of the
Temple,
and the ancient titles of
grand
commander,
etc.
2
]
A. D. 1695.
The revolutions in
England
which succeeded the exile
1
See
pages
238 and
213,
(A.
D. 1314 and
1685.)
2
See
History
of all the Rites for
High Degrees, p.
212.
311
of James II
having completely suspended
the labors of
the Masonic
institution,
king
William III afforded it some
protection
and character
by being
himself
initiated,
and
often
presiding
in the
lodge
he assembled at
Hampton
Court.
A. D.
1700.
At this
time, except
in
England,
the Masonic
corpora-
tions were
every-where
dissolved. The close of the sev-
enteenth
century,
in
consequence
of the active
part
taken
by
the
fraternity
in
politics, wars,
and
revolution,
saw
them
scattered,
their
lodges dissolved,
and the
operative
members of the Masonic
lodges exerting
no influence
upon
architecture,
and had no rank or
importance
in the land.
Having
ceased their labors as
operative Masons,
the vasi;
crowd of
operatives,
the
protectors,
the friends of art and
of
humanity, who, during
fourteen
centuries,
had contrib-
uted,
through
the
organization
of the Masonic
fraternity,
so much to the increase of civilization in
Europe,
are to-
day represented by
a few
persons,
who resolve to
perpetu-
ate the name of their ancient
organization by remodeling
it as a
purely philosophic
institution
;
and at a
meeting
of the
lodge
of St.
Paul,
held on St. John's
day,
A. D.
1703,
Resolve,
"
That the
privileges
of
Masonry
shall no
longer
be confined to
operative Masons,
but be free to men of all
professions, provided they
are
regularly approved
and in-
itiated -into the
Fraternity."
At this time
Christopher
Wren, Knt.,
was
grand
master of
Freemasonry, nearly
all
the
operative
Masons in
England being employed
under
him
upon
the construction of St. Paul's cathedral. Ho
opposed
the execution of this famous resolution while he
lived
;
vSO that it was not until after his
death,
which oc-
curred in
1716,
that the brethren were at
liberty
to en-
force their new
regulation.
fc
ISpocft,
From the
year
1717 to the
present
time.
A. D. 1717.
After the death of the
grand
master,
Christopher
Wren,
the four
lodges
of London resolve to elect a new
grand
master,
detach themselves from their connection
with the brethren at
York,
of whom
they
held their con-
stitution,
for the
purpose
of
forming
a new
grand lodge,
and thus be at
liberty
to
put
into execution the resolution
of 1703.
The four
lodges,
with these
objects
in
view,
in-
voked in
general assembly
all the Masons of London and
vicinity,
and constituted a central
authority,
under the
title of the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
and
recognizing
in
the three
symbolic degrees
alone all the
principles
of
Mason
ry.
It is from this time we must date the era of modern
or
philosophic Freemasonry.
A. D. 1720.
The Grand
Lodge
of
England has,
since its
installation,
organized
a certain number of
lodges,
in which
many
persons
of distinction have been initiated. The Grand
Lodge
of
York,
suddenly
excited with sentiments of
jeal-
ousy
at the
growing prosperity
of its
young
rival,
the
Grand
Lodge
of
England,
and in defiance of the
principles
of the
Fraternity, proscribes
those members as
illegitimately
made. An
irreparable
loss has been
perpetrated by
some
too
jealous
brethren of the
lodge
of St.
Paul, who,
fear-
ing
that
improper
use
may
be made of
them,
burn all
THIRD
CHRONOLOGICAL
EPOCH.
313
the ancient
manuscripts, charters, rituals,
and
documents
of all kinds.
A. D. 1721.
Freemasonry begins
to extend
upon
the
continent.
The
grand lodge organize
a
lodge
at
Dunkirk,
and an-
other at
Mons,
and the rules and
regulations
of the Fra-
ternity
are revised.
George Payne, heing
reflected
grand
master,
compiled
from the ancient charter documents a
series of
"charges"
and
"regulations"
more suited to the
present
condition and
objects
of the
Society,
and,
prefaced
by
a
history
of the
Fraternity
as an association of arch-
itects,
he submitted the same to the
grand lodge.
This
work
being
submitted
by
that
body
to the
examination
of a committee
composed
of fourteen of its
members,
was intrusted to the critical revision of Dr. James Ander-
son,
with directions to
prepare
the same for
publication,
as a
body
of law and
doctrine,
for the use of the
lodges
of
England.
A. D. 1722.
The
manuscript,
with the revision of which he was in-
trusted,
is
presented by
Dr. Anderson to the
grand lodge,
and
upon reception
of the
report
of the commission of
fourteen,
it is
adopted
and ordered to be
printed
under
the title of
"
The Constitutions of the
Freemasons,
con-
taining
the
History, Charges, Regulations,
etc.,
of that
Most Ancient and
Right Worshipful Fraternity."
From this time the
organization
of the new Freema-
sonry
was established in
prosperity.
In accordance with
the constitution which
is,
in
fact,
but an
adaptation
of
'
that of York of
926,
more suited to the
people
and
pres-
ent time the new
grand lodge
of
England
took
up
its
position
as the
only legitimate
Masonic
authority
in
Eng-
land,
and thus excited the ill-will of such scattered bodies
as assumed to be invested with inherent
rights,
because
antedating
the
grand lodge
in
authority.
This constitu-
tion,
in
fact,
deprived
Freemasons
in their
lodge capacities
314. GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.
of their ancient
privileges,
in
prohibiting, among
other
restrictions,
the formation of
any lodge
without
being
au-
thorized in such act
by
this
grand lodge.
The conse-
quence
of this
assumption
of
authority
on the
part
of the
grand lodge promptly
occasioned the
protest
and denial
of such
rights by
the
grand lodges
of York and Edin-
burgh.
A. D. 1725.
This
year
the new
Freemasonry
is introduced into
Paris,
where
many lodges
are
organized
within a few
years.
A. D. 1728.
Baron
Eamsay,
a
Scotchman,
and a
partisan
of the
Stuarts,
sought
to introduce in London a new
style
of
Masonry,
created in the interest of
"
the
Pretender,"
and
which he asserted had descended from the
crusades,
as it
was created
by Godfrey
of
Bouillon,
and of which the
lodge
of St.
Andrew,
at
Edinburgh,
was the
principal
modern
authority.
The
political
character of this Ma-
sonry
caused it to be
very promptly rejected,
and he
returned to France without
meeting
with
any
success.
A. D. 1729.
The
activity displayed by
the
lodges holding
under the
Grand
Lodge
of
England,
and the
brilliancy
which attached
to their
labors,
stimulated the zeal of the Masons of Ire-
land and
Scotland,
who
previously
had assembled them-
selves
together,
but at
irregular
and uncertain
periods.
The Masonic
temples
are
opened
in all
parts
of the
king-
dom,
and the initiations
greatly multiplied.
A convoca-
tion of Irish Freemasons resolve to
organize
a
grand
lodge upon
the basis and constitution of that of London
;
and thus a central
power
is constituted under the title of
the Grand
Lodge
of Ireland.
THIRD CHRONOLOGICAL EPOCH.
315
A. D. 1730.
The
lodges greatly
increase as well in
England
as
upon
the continent the latest
being
those at
Hamburg
and
the
Hague.
A
provincial grand master,
named
Pemfrees,
is
employed
to
go
to
India,
and in a short time he
organ-
ized in
Bengal
eleven
lodges.
A central committee of
chanty
is instituted in London to succor brethren in dis-
tress,
and the funds for this institution are raised
by
a
voluntary
annual contribution of four
shillings
from each
member of a
lodge
in
London,
and two
shillings
from
each member of a
lodge
elsewhere in
England.
A. D. 1732.
The Grand
Lodge
of
York,
representing
the ancient
system
of
operative Masonry,
and of which the
regula-
tions conform more
readily
to the free
system
of the an-
cient Masonic
corporations, recognized
the
necessity
of
changing
this
system
to
correspond
in
greater degree
with
the
object
of the new
Freemasonry.
A. D. 1733.
The first
provincial grand lodge
in America is insti-
tuted at Boston.
During
this
year lodges
have been or-
ganized
in
Italy,
at Rome and Florence
;
in
Spain,
at
Gibraltar and
Malta;
in
Russia,
at St.
Petersburg.
The
lodges
in
Bengal
have sent abundant aid to the
charity
fund in London.
A. D. 1734.
A
general assembly
of the Masons of Holland is con-
voked at the
Hague,
for the
purpose
of
organizing
a
pro-
vincial
grand lodge,
which
being
done,
the same is char-
tered
regularly by
the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
in
1735.
A. D. 1735.
The Grand
Lodge
of
England
nominate
provincial grand
masters for South America and Africa.
Lodges
arc or-
ganized
at Madrid and at Lisbon. This
year
is rendered
memorable
by
the commencement of
persecutions
directed
against
the
Fraternity by
the
general government
of Hol-
land,
which interests the Masonic assemblies.
A. D. 1736.
The Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
at
Edinburgh, believing
the
great prosperity
of the new
English lodges
to be con-
sequent upon
the more liberal constitution of the new
grand lodge,
is desirous to introduce similar
changes
into
its own
system;
but the
hereditary charge
of
patron
that
James I
had,
in
1430,
conceded to the
family
of Roslin
prevented.
The baron Sinclair of
Roslin,
the
grand
mas-
ter,
being approached by
the
grand lodge upon
the
subject,
acceded
readily
to the
request; and,
in an
assembly
con-
voked
by
the four oldest
lodges
of
Scotland,
at
Edinburgh,
after
reading
his renunciation to the
rights
and
privileges
of
patron, George
Sinclair,
baron of
Roslin,
was
duly
elected
grand
master of the Grand
Lodge
of Scotland for
1737,
and the same was
properly organized
under a con-
stitution,
charges,
and
regulations
similar to those of the
Grand
Lodge
of
England.
In this
year,
also,
a
of
England
was
organized
as the
governing body
of the
lodges
in
Paris.
The Grand
Lodge
of
England
named the count Scheffer
provincial grand
master for the
lodges
of Sweden.
A. D.
1737.
During
this
year
the
English provincial grand lodges
of Switzerland and
Saxony
are
founded,
respectively
at
Geneva and
Hamburg
;
and the Grand
Lodge
of
England
nominates
William, king
of
Prussia, provincial grand
master for the
lodges
of Lower
Saxony.
317
A. D. 1738.
Pope
Clement XII
promulgates
his bull of
excommuni-
cation
against
the
Freemasons;
and it is followed
by
the
edict of the
emperor
Charles
VI,
who interdicts the
assemblies of Freemasons in the Low
Country.
Prince
Frederick
subsequently,
as Frederick
II,
king
of
Prussia,
is
initiated,
at
Brunswick,
on the
night
of
August
15 of
this
year.
A,
D. 1739.
The Grand
Lodge
of
England
is
accused, by many
of
the
brethren,
with
having suppressed
some of the cere-
monies,
altered the
ritual,
and introduced
innovations;
also of
having appointed provincial grand
masters to or-
ganize lodges
in towns under the
jurisdiction
of the Grand
Lodge
of York a measure that of itself was considered suf-
ficiently
offensive. From these
charges
there resulted some
new divisions
among
the
lodges
of the north and south of
England. Many
of the discontented
separated
themselves
from the
grand lodge
at
London,
and declared themselves
adherents of the
grand lodge
at
York,
and then formed a
new
grand lodge,
neither of
England
nor
York,
which
they
styled
the Grand
Lodge
of "Ancient and
Accepted
Ma-
sons." The
grand lodges
of Ireland and
Scotland,
having
recognized
this
body
as
truly representatives
of the ancient
rite,
refused to
correspond
with the elder
jurisdiction,
con-
temptuously styled by
this new
body
as modern. Never-
theless,
the so-called modern
grand lodge augmented
in
importance
and
consideration,
while the latter
organization,
though styling
itself
ancient,
remained in
obscurity,
and
was but little known outside of London
city.
A. D. 1739.
The cardinal
Ferraro,
in his
edict, published
on the 14th
January, wishing
to remove all doubt and
equivocation
in
the
interpretation
of the bull of excommunication of his
holiness the
pope,
launched
against
the Freemasons on the
27th
of
April
of the
preceding year, explained
that docu-
ment in the
following
manner: "That no
persons
should
assemble or meet in
any place
in the
capacity
of a
society,
nor be found
present
at such
assemblies,
under the
penalty
of
death and confiscation of all their
goods,
and also incur
damnation without
hope of grace" By
the same edict it is
expressly
directed that "all house-holders are
prohibited
from
allowing meetings
of Freemasons to take
place
within
their
houses,
under
penalty
of
having
the same
demolished,
and themselves mulcted in a fine of one thousand crowns of
gold,
and
being
condemned to the
galleys."
A. D. 1740.
The Grand
Lodge
of
England
named a
provincial
mas-
ter for the
lodges
founded in Russia. At this time France
had two hundred
lodges, twenty-two
of which were located
in Paris. The
provincial grand lodges
instituted,
to the
present
time,
in different
countries,
by
the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
in their turn now
began
to
organize
themselves
into
independent grand lodges.
A. D. 1741.
Foundation of the
of
Hanover,
at
Hanover;
and the
of
Saxony,
at
Dresden, by
the Count
Rutowski,
who is elected
grand
master,
and which became an
independent grand lodge
in
1755.
A. D. 1742.
Founding
of the
of the Sun at
Beyrouth,
and a
at
Antigua,
for
the
English
West Indies.
A. D.
1744.
The
grand lodge
at the Three
Globes,
in
Berlin,
which
was
organized
in 1640
by
Baron Bielfeld is this
year
ele-
vated to the rank of a
grand lodge by
Frederick the
Great,
319
king
of
Prussia,
and he is elected its
permanent
grand
master,
a
position
which he filled until 1747.
(In
1849
this
grand lodge
had
organized
fourteen
operative
lodges.)
A. D. 1746.
Lord
Derwentwater,
the first
grand
master of the
prov-
incial
grand
lodge
of
France,
perishes upon
the
scaffold,
a
victim of his attachment to the
Pretender,
Charles Edward
Stuart.
A. D. 1747.
The Grand
Lodge
of Scotland
institutes,
at
Copenhagen,
a
for
Denmark, which,
shortly
after-
ward,
proclaimed
its
independence
of the Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland. In this
year
Charles Edward
Stuart,
known as
"the
Pretender,"
son of James
II,
deposed king
of
Eng-
land,
institutes the
chapter
of
Arras,
and delivers to the
Masons who are attached to his
person
a hull of
institution,
or letters
patent,
for a
governing chapter
of what he named
the Scottish Jacobite Rite.
A. D. 1751.
Freemasonry,
as constituted in London
thirty years ago,
has now extended into
nearly every
civilized
country.
Its
humanitarian doctrines and the
civilizing principles
it
manifested,
together
with its radical
leaning
toward the
dogma
of
"
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,"
had,
by
this
time,
intimidated
kings, popes,
and
princes
to such an ex-
tent that
they
seek to arrest its
progress.
As
early
as 1731
edicts had been
promulgated against
it in
Russia,
while in
1735,
in
Holland,
and in
1737-'38-'44-'45,
at
Paris,
similar
interdictions had been ordered. At Rome and in
Florence,
the
meetings
of Freemasons were
prohibited,
as also in
Sweden,
Hamburg,
and Geneva the bull of
Pope
Clement
was enforced. The
Holy Inquisition,
as the court accusa-
tive in those countries wherein it
existed,
caused the breth-
ren to be
imprisoned,
and their books and
papers
to be
burned
by
the bands of the
public
executioner. But to
crown all these
persecutions, King
diaries of
Naples,
as
also Ferdinand
VII,
king
of
Spain, wishing
to interdict
Masonry
within their
States,
rendered edicts
prohibiting
the
assemblage
of
Freemasons,
under
pain
of death
;
and
the
pope,
Benedict
XIV,
renewed this
year
the bull of
excommunication of Clement
XII,
in
1738,
against
the
Freemasons,
whose assemblies he interdicted under
penalty
of death. Bat all these violent measures had but
slight
effect in
stopping
the
progress
of
Masonry,
which finds it-
self
propagated upon
the civilized
globe
with a
rapidity
that
nothing
can arrest.
Notwithstanding
the bull of
Benedict
XIV, Freemasonry
is
practiced
at this time
openly
in
Tuscany,
at
Naples,
and in
many
other
parts
of the Ital-
ian
peninsula.
At
Rome, even,
there are
lodges
which
adopt
but feeble measures to
keep
themselves hidden.
A. D. 1753.
The Masonic
Orphan Asylum
is established at Stock-
holm. Its fund is the accumulation of
special
collections
taken
up
in the Swedish
lodges. (At
the
present
time this
institution is
very rich.)
A. D. 1754.
Under a
patent
or charter from the Grand
Lodge
of Scot-
land,
the
of Sweden is
organized.
The Grand
Lodge
of
England
transmits charters to
organize
lodges
in South
Carolina,
Guadalonpe,
and
Gibraltar,
and
in this
year many
new
lodges
are instituted in
England.
The
Templar system,
created
by
the
partisans
of the
Stuarts,
is revived at Paris
by
the institution of the
chapter
of Cler-
mont,
in the convent of that
name,
under the direction of
the Chevalier de Bonneville.
A. D. 1753.
The Grand
Lodge
of
England,
in
consequence
of the
THIRD CHRONOLOGICAL EPOCH. 321
schism that has taken
place
in its
ranks,
establishes the cus-
tom of
granting diplomas
to the brethren under its
jurisdic-
tion,
to
distinguish
them from those initiated
by
the seceders.
A. D. 1756.
The
English grand lodge
in
France,
instituted in
1736,
and which took the title in
1743,
detaches itself from the
Grand
Lodge
of
London,
and
proclaims
itself the Grand
Lodge
of France. The confusion manifested under the
grand mastership
of the Duke of
Clerrnont, however,
does
not
abate,
but rather increases.
By
constitutions delivered
to masters of
lodges, securing
them in the
enjoyment
of
such office for
life,
Masonic authorities never
contemplated
are established in France. The
practice, begun
with a
political
motive
by
the
lodge
of St. Andrew of
Scotland,
situate at
Edinburgh,
w
r
as continued
by
the
English pro-
vincial
grand lodge
of
France,
and the confusion thus en-
gendered
the new Masonic
authority,
into which that
body
has resolved
itself,
now finds it
impossible
to correct.
Those masters of
lodges,
for the sake of
gain,
vend the
privileges
accorded to
themselves; and,
to do this the more
easily, they
fabricate false
titles,
and antedate charters and
diplomas.
In
shaking
off the control of the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
and in
proclaiming
itself the
grand lodge
of
the
kingdom
of
France,
that
body
declared in its constitu-
tion to
sacredly
continue the custom of
granting personal
titles to these
lodge
masters ad vitam
and,
by
so
doing,
in-
creased the
existing
confusion
;
for the result was that these
masters
governed
their
lodges
not more
by
the forms laid
down
by
the
grand lodge
than
by
their individual
caprices,
and
this,
taken with the
vending
of authorities to
open
lodges,
which
lodges,
in their
turn,
felt at
liberty
to
organize
grand lodges, (or
bodies in
authority amounting thereto,)
chapters,
councils,
and tribunals
embracing
the
objects
and
practice
of all the
degrees
then
known, created,
at this
time,
so chaotic a condition that it was
apparently impossible
21
to determine the
legal governing
Masonic
authority
in
France.
A. D. 1756.
In this
year
the national
grand lodge
of
Italy
was or-
ganized
at
Naples. (In
1790 this
body
was
dissolved.)
At the
Hague
the
representatives
of
thirty lodges
in the
Netherlands constitute a
grand lodge
of the United Prov-
inces,
and elect the Baron of
Aersen-Beyereii
first
grand
master.
A. D. 1758.
The Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
at
Edinburgh,
in
adopting
and
conferring
the
high degrees,
and
establishing
rituals
for each of these
degrees,
renders herself liable to the same
charges
of unmasonic conduct which she had but a short
time before directed
against
the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
viz.: of
changing
the basis of
Freemasonry
and
altering
the rituals. These
high degrees give
her, however,
an in-
fluence not before
enjoyed,
and creates a
corresponding
energy
in the work of the Scotch
lodges. Perceiving
the
increasing prosperity
of her sister
grand lodge
at
London,
occasioned
mainly by
the
custom,
originated by
the
latter,
of
establishing, every-where, provincial grand lodges,
the
Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
for the
purpose
of
initiating
a like
proceeding,
authorized a Colonel
Young
as
provincial
grand
master of such
lodges
as he
might organize,
as well
as those
already existing
and
holding
their charters from
the Grand
Lodge
of Scotland in North America and the
British West
Indies,
with
plenary powers
to introduce the
high degrees
then known to Scottish
Masonry
into those
countries.
A. D. 17GO.
At
Avignon,
the mother
lodge
of the Rite of
Swedenborg
is instituted
by
the Benedictine monk Dom
Pernctti,
and
a Pole named Grabianca. The
philosopher Swedenborg,
one of the most learned and illustrious Freemasons of his
823
time,
in
instituting
this
rite,
had in view a desire to reform
the Roman Catholic
religion.
The
dogmas
of the reform
of
Swedenborg
are
adopted by
a
good many
influential
persons
in
Sweden,
England,
and
Germany,
where societies
which
practice
his
religious system
have been formed
by
these
persons.
A. D. 1760.
In this
year Freemasonry
in
Germany
was
greatly
con-
fused and
injured by
the introduction of the
high degrees
of
every
kind known to and
having
their
inception
in
France.
Chapters
of
Emperors
of the East and
West,
with
a rite of
twenty
-five
degrees, (subsequently
known as the
Rite of
Perfection,)
founded in Paris in 1758
by
the estab-
lishment of the
Chapter
of
Clermont,
are the children of
this
parent,
and
they
are introduced
by
the
Marquis
of
Berny,
a French
gentleman,
into the
lodge
at the Three
Globes,
in Berlin. This
lodge propagates
this
right by
the
aid of its
deputy
Rosa,
a Lutheran
priest,
who in a short
time has
organized
seventeen
lodges. Subsequently
the
army
of
Broglie
introduced the other
rites,
such as Tem-
plarism,
Rosecrucianism, etc., until,
in a few
years,
the
brethren in
Germany
are in as
great
confusion,
as to what
is and what is not
Freemasonry,
as
they
are in France.
A. D. 1762.
At this time
Freemasonry
had attained
great progress,
the different
grand lodges
of
Europe having
instituted
lodges
in
nearly every part
of the world. The baron of
Hand introduces into
Germany
the
Templar system
known
as "Strict
Observance,"
which he has studied at
Paris,
where he was initiated into the
high degrees
of the
chapter
of Clermont.
A. D. 1763.
The two
parties
into which the Grand
Lodge
of France
had been
divided,
in
consequence
of the maladministration
of the
grand
master,
the duke of
Clermont,
reunited IE
1762,
after
having-, during
their
separation, injured
the
Masonic institution almost
beyond repair, by
their crea-
tions of moveable
lodges
and immoveable matters. Not-
withstanding
the
union, confusion, consequent upon
their
previous
misconduct, continued,
and the effects of the
high
degrees
are as
apparent
for evil as
they
are
lamentable,
not
only
in
France,
but wherever
they
have been introduced.
A. D. 1764.
A man named
Johnson,
a secret
agent
of the
Jesuits,
who
styled
himself
Envoy
and
Plenipotentiary
of the un-
known
superiors
of Strict
Observance,
establishes at Jena
some
chapters
of this
system.
He
announced,
in an assem-
bly
that he convoked at this
place
on the 25th
December,
1763,
that he alone had the
power
of
conferring
the de-
grees
of the
system
and
organizing chapters, by
virtue of
the
documents,
patents,
and briefs
granted
to him
by
the
unknown
superiors
of his
system
in Scotland. At a sec-
ond
convention,
assembled on the 14th of June of this
year
(1764),
he invited the
presence
of Baron
Hund,
who had
been
engaged
in similar
duty
elsewhere in
Germany
since
1762. At this convention the
baron,
who had never heard
of unknown
superiors, requested
the
privilege
of
inspecting
the
documents, patents, etc., possessed by
Johnson,
which
request being
refused,
the baron denounced this
self-styled
plenipotentiary
as an arrant
irnposter.
A. D.
1765.
The baron of Hund is elected at
Jena,
grand
master of
the
Templar System
of
Germany, styled
"
Strict Observ-
ance."
A. D. 1766.
By
an edict of the Grand
Lodge
of
France,
all charters
granted by chapters,
councils,
colleges,
and tribunals of the
high degrees
are declared void and of no effect. The at-
325
tempt
to enforce this decree causes
greater
confusion than
ever
among
the Masons in France. The Grand
Lodge
of
England organizes
a
for the
country
of the Lower Rhine.
A. D. 1770.
At
Avignon
is
organized
the
grand
Scottish
lodge
of the
county
Venaissin,
which
adopts
the Hermetic Rite of Sweden-
borg.
The Grand
Lodge
of the United
Provinces,
sitting
at the
Hague, proclaims
itself the National Grand
Lodge
of
Holland,
iii accordance with an
agreement
entered into
with the Grand
Lodge
of
England,
and notifies all the
grand
lodge^\of Europe
of this fact.
/ A. D. 1772.
Unoet^the
grand mastership
of Louis
Philippe Joseph
D'
Orleans, auke of
Chartres,
the National Grand
Lodge
of
France is
dissolved,
and the Grand Orient of France
organ-
ized.
1
Ferdinand,
duke of
Brunswick,
is elected
grand
master of the
lodges organized
under the
Templar system
of Strict Observance.
A. D. 1773.
Under letters
patent
from the Grand
Lodge
of
England
is
organized
the National Grand
Lodge
of
Germany.
This
grand lodge
had been in course of
organization
since
1770,
aud this
year, representing
twelve
operative lodges,
its tirst
act was to
adopt
the ritual of
Zienneudorf,
its most intelli-
gent
and able friend and chief officer.
A. D. 1775.
A
grand lodge
is
organized
at
Basle,
under the name of
l
The Grand Orient at first
adopted
the modern
English
rite of three
sym-
bolic
degrees,
and called it the French Rite. Five
years afterward,
in its
circular of the 3d of
August, 1777,
it exhibited all that was
dangerous
and
anti-masonic in the rituals of the
high degrees,
and refused to
recognize
them;
and
yet.
ten
years
afterward,
it is
obliged, perhaps unwillingly
to
constitute
chapters
of those
very high degrees!
the Scottish Helvetian
Directory.
The
grand
master,
Ferdi-
nand of
Brunswick,
convoked in that
city
a
congress,
to
consider the idea of
uniting
all the rites. The baron of
Hand,
and the
representatives
of
twenty-two lodges
of tho
system propagated by
him,
were
present
at this
assembly.
The discussions
began
on the 23d of
May,
and closed on
the Gth of
July,
with no result.
A. D. 1775.
A mother
lodge
of the Scotch
Philosophic
Rite,
under
the name of
"
Social
Contract,"
is constituted
by
the
grand
lodge
of the
county
Venaissin.
A. D. 1778.
Under the
pretext
to reform
Masonry,
and throw
light
upon many
obscure
points
in the
rituals,
the
lodge styled
Benevolent
Knights
of the
Templars (Strict Observance)
System,
convoke a
congress
at
Lyons;
but as there was
nothing
discussed but a
proposed change
of
rituals,
it was
evident that the real
object
of the
assembly
was to substi-
tute the Martinist for the
Templar
ritual,
which was so
done.
The
congress
of
Wolfenbuttel,
convoked
by
Ferdinand,
duke of
Brunswick,
grand
master of the
Templar system
in
Germany,
assembled at Brunswick for the same
object
that had been discussed at the
previous meeting,
called
by
him in
1775.
The
congress
remained in session from the
15th
July
to the 27th
August
;
and the
assembly, finding
it
impossible
to work their
way through
the chaos of
mys-
ticism into which the numerous
S3'stems
of
high degrees
had
plunged Freemasonry,
decided that there should
oe
convened,
the
following year,
at
Wiesbaden,
a
gen-
eral
congress
of all the most
intelligent
Masons in Ger-
many.
In this
year
is instituted a
grand lodge
at St.
Petersburg,
Russia.
327
A. D. 1779.
This
year
the Masonic Benevolent School is instituted at
London,
by
some members of the Grand
Lodge
of
England.
The
object
of the
society
is to
help
and
support
the
infirm,
the
aged,
and those in
prison;
also to
protect
the
wives,
children,
or
orphans
of deceased members.
A. D. 1780.
A council of the
high degrees,
called the
Emperors
of
the East and
West,
take the title of Sublime Scottish
MoThei^Lodge
of the
great globe
of
France,
and
Sovereign
Grand
Lodge.
This
authority
sets itself
up
as the rival of
the National Grand
Lodge,
and the Grand Orient
disgraces
itself
by
a^sUaineful
commerce of the Masonic
degrees.
A. D. 1782.
The
congress
of
Wiihelmsbad,
convoked
by Ferdinand,
duke of
Brunswick,
agreeably
with the decision of the con-
gress
of
1778,
invites all the
grand lodges
of
Europe
to
participate. Proposed
to
convene,
at
first,
on the 15th of
October, 1781,
it was
postponed
until Easter
week,
1782,
and
finally
assembled on the 16th
July
of this
year.
In
this
congress,
the
way
for which was
opened by
those of
Wolfenbuttel and
Lyons,
where a
general
reform of Free-
masonry,
as
practiced generally upon
the
continent,
was
urgently
recommended,
a
great many questions
were
pro-
posed
for discussion and
decision,
among
which were the
following
:
Is
Freemasonry
a modern
society
? Is
it,
on the con-
trary,
derived from an ancient
society
? If
so,
what
society
is it the descendant of? Has the
present society
unknown
superiors?
If
so,
what are their
privileges
and attri-
butes ?
These
questions,
and others of minor
importance,
sub-
mitted,
during
a session of
thirty daily meetings, though
freely discussed,
elicited no
satisfactory
solution. The con-
gress,
however,
succeeded in
extinguishing
a number of so-
called Masonic
systems,
and
altering
others.
It was in this
year
that
Joseph
Balsamo,
better known as
Count
Cagliastro,
succeeded in
organizing
at
Lyons
the
mother
lodge
of his
rite,
styled Egyptian,
under the title
of
"
Wisdom
Triumphant."
A. D. 1783.
A
grand lodge
of the Eclectic
Rite, composed
of the
provincial grand lodges
of Frankfort and
Wetzlar,
is or-
ganized
at Frankfort. This rite was the creation of mem-
bers of this
grand lodge,
who,
selecting
from all the rites
and
systems,
as exhibited at the
congress
of
Wilhelmsbad,
such
points
and
parts
as seemed to them most
rational,
styled
their creation the "Eclectic Rite." In the circular
addressed
by
this
grand lodge
to the Masonic authorities
of
Europe, announcing
the reform
they
had
instituted,
it
was
distinctly
declared that all
speculation
in
magic,
cabal-
istics, Ternplarism,
and other follies of the
day,
were
by
this
grand lodge
renounced and forbidden to its
jurisdiction,
and that
Freemasonry,
in the
purity
of its
institution,
ac-
cording
to the
regulations
of the Grand
Lodge
of
England,,
as
promulgated
in
1723,
was the
only style
of
Freemasonry
it would thereafter
recognize.
A. D. 1784.
A new
grand
orient of Poland is
organized
at Yarsovia.
A
grand lodge
of Austria is
organized
at Vienna. A
mother
lodge
of
adoption
of the
Egyptian masonry
of
Count
Cagliastro
is instituted
by him,
of which the
prince
of Montmorenci
Luxembourg accepts
the
grand
master-
ship.
A. D. 1785.
The
congress
of the Philaletes is convoked at Pans to
disentangle Freemasonry
from the mass of
high degrees
329
and
mystic systems
;
but
though
in session from
the 15th
February
to the 26th
May,
it failed in its
object.
A. D. 1786.
A Grand Orient of Geneva is
organized by
the seven
lodges
in that
city. (This grand lodge
was dissolved in
1790
by
the
incorporation
of this
city
into the
territory
of
France.)
A
is instituted at
Rouen,
by
the Grand
Lodge
of St.
John,
at
Edinburgh,
with a
the order of
Harodim,
of
Kilwinniug.
A. D. 1787.
The
secon^Ljspngress
of the Philaletes is convoked at
Paris,
to continue the discussions
begun
at that of
1785,
upon
such
dogmatic
and historical
points
as had been sub-
mitted to the
congress
of Wilhelmsbad. None of the
questions,
however,
were
satisfactorily decided,
and the
origin, nature,
and
object
of
Freemasonry
continued to be
an insoluble
problem
to the
greater
number of the Free-
masons of the continent.
A. D. 1800.
During
the
past century
the modern or
philosophic
Freemasonry,
as instituted
by
the Grand
Lodge
of London
in
1717-'23,
was introduced at the dates
given
in the
various countries and states named below :
England
1717.
Ireland 1720.
Scotland 1721.
France 1721.
Belgium
1721.
Holland 1725.
Gibraltar 1726.
Spain
1728.
Hamburg
1736.
Sweden 1731.
Naples
1732.
EUROPE.
Tuscany,
1732.
Russia 1732.
Florence
1733.
Portugal
1733.
Switzerland 1736.
Sardinia 1737.
Saxony
1738.
Bavaria 1738.
Prussia 1738.
Austria 1738.
Turkey
1738.
Poland 1739.
Malta 1741.
Denmark 1742.
Rome 1742.
Bohemia 1744.
Hungary
1744.
Norway
1744.
Guernsey
1753.
Jersey
1753.
Hanover..., ...1754.
ASIA.
Benga
1727. Surinam 1771.
Bombay
1728.
Ceylon
1771.
Madras 1752.
OCEANICA.
Java 1730. Sumatra....
Prince of Wales
Islands 1780.
Persia..., ...1789.
,1772.
Cape
of Good
Hope,
1733.
Cape
Coast 1736.
Canada 1721.
Massachusetts 1733.
Georgia
1734.
South Carolina 1736.
New York 1737.
St.
Christopher
1738.
Martinique
1738.
Antigua
1742.
AFRICA.
Senegambia
1736.
Mauritius 1744.
AMERICA.
Jamaica 1743.
St. Vincent 1745.
Porto Rico 1746.
St.
Domingo
1746.
Barbadoes 1750.
Guadaloupe
1751.
Pennsylvania
1753.
Trinidad 1760.
North Carolina.. ..1788.
Isle of France 1778.
St. Helena 1798.
Grenada 1764.
Newfoundland 1765.
Dutch Guiana 1770.
Vermont 1770.
Bermuda 1771.
Louisiana 1780.
Maryland
1781.
Nova Scotia .., ...1762.
Freemasonry
was interdicted or
prohibited during
the
past century
in the countries and cities
named,
and at the
different dates
given
below,
viz.:
Russia
1731, '94,
'97. Vienna.
Holland
1735,
'37.
1743.
Canton of Berne
1743, '70,
82.
Paris
1737, '38,
'44. Austrian States
1742,
'64.
Sweden 1738.
Turkey
1748
Hamburg
1738.
Spain
1751.
Geneva 1738.
Naples
t
.
1752,
'75.
Roman States
1739,
'51. Dantzic 1763.
Portugal 1739, '42, '76,
'92.
Aix-la-Chapelle
1779.
Florence 1739. Morocco 1784.
Marseilles 1742. Basle 1785.
A. D. 1804.
The Count De Grasse
Tilly organizes
a central
grand
odge
of
France,
with a
supreme
council,
at Paris.
A. D. 1805.
The Grand Orient of Lusitania is
organized
at Lisbon
;
also the Grand Orient of
Italy
at Milan.
331
A. D. 1806.
The Grand
Lodge
of Scotland
organizes
at Xeres a
grand
lodge
for all
Spain.
The Grand Orient of Baden is
organ-
ized at Alaunheim.
A. D. 1807.
The Grand
Lodge
of Harodim of
Kilwinning,
acknowl-
edged tO~haê
existed as
Canongate Kilwinning lodge
of
Freemasons since the construction of the
abbey
of Kil-
winning,
in
^.150,
surrenders its
independence
as a self-
constituted
grand lodge,
and takes rank with the
lodges
of its
creation,
under the Grand
Lodge
of
Scotland,
as Can-
ongate Kilvvinuing,
No. 2.
A. D. 1809.
A
grand
orient of
Naples
is
organized
under the direc-
tion of Prince
Joachim,
duke of
Berg.
Also a
grand
orient of
Spain
is
organized
at Madrid.
A. D. 1811.
A
grand
orient of
Westphalia
is
organized
at Cassel.
Charles
XIII,
king
of
Sweden,
institutes a civil
order,
which he confers
upon deserving
Freemasons.
A. D. 1813.
\
The two
grand lodges
of
England
that of
York,
the
legitimate
successor of the
organization
of
926,
and which
in 1755
merged
into the schismatic
grand lodge,
under the
title of the
"
Grand
Lodge
of Ancient York
Masons,"
and
that of London, founded in
1717,
"
Grand
Lodge
of Free and
Accepted
Masons
"
are this
year
united.
By
this union are terminated all the differ-
ences which had caused so much hitterness
during
the
past fifty
or
sixty years.
In the act of
union,
dated .De-
cember
1, 1813,
the ancient
laws,
as well written as tra-
ditional,
are
explicitly recognized,
and taken for the basis
of this
act,
and it is drawn
up
in that
spirit
of
fraternity
which dictated the charter of
York,
A. D. 926. It also
recognized
and
proclaimed
that the ancient and true Free-
masonry
is
composed
of but three
degrees,
viz.: those of
apprentice, fellow-craft,
and master mason.
A. D. 1814.
On the 15th of
Aug\ist
of this
year Pope
Pius VII
pub-
lishes his edict
against
the Masonic
society,
in which he
pronounces corporal punishment,
even to
death,
and the
confiscation of all his
property, upon any person
who
should
join
or be known
by
the authorities to
belong
to
this
society.
This edict is
immediately
followed with like
prohibitions by
the
regent
of
Milan,
Henry
IV of
Venice,
Maximien
Joseph, king
of
Bavaria,
the
emperor
of Aus-
tria,
the
king
of
Spain,
the
grand
duke of
Baden,
and
finally by
the duke of Parma. All these edicts
repeat,
in
their
turn,
accusations similar to those contained in the
bull of Pius
VII,
and
interdicted,
in their several
States,
all Masonic
assemblies,
under whatever name
they might
be held. All the
lodges existing
in these countries are
immediately
closed.
The famous edict of Pius VII is a document as curious
as it is
incomprehensible
for the time at which it was
pub-
lished
;
for the accusations it contains
against
the Frater-
nity
are without a shadow of foundation. The
tendency
of the Masonic
society being continually
toward the ame-
lioration of the moral and intellectual condition of the
people,
it is a natural but free
auxiliary
of an
enlightened
government desiring progress,
and
desiring
it
gradually.
This same
pope
reestablished the order of the
Jesuits,
which had been abolished
by
Clement XIV.
A. D. 1816.
Foundation,
in
Paris,
of the mother
lodge
of the Rite of
Misrairn,
"
Rainbow."
333
A. D. 1817.
The
Fraternity
in Holland mark the bounds of
their
grand lodge jurisdiction by
the
organization
of
two
grand
lodges independent
of the
grand
orient situate at the
Hague.
One of these is located at the
Hague;
the other
at
BrusselfJ.
A. D. 1818.
Prince
Frederick,
grand
master of the
lodges
of the Low
Countries,
interdicts the exercise of the Rite of Misraim.
A. D. 1822.
The
emperor
of Russia
publishes
a ukase which, inter-
dicts the
meetings
of Freemasons within the
empire.
A. D. 1824.
The
king
of
Portugal
interdicts
Freemasonry
in his
kingdom.
A. D. 1825.
General
Lafayette
is welcomed to
Boston,
is feasted
by
the brethren and
citizens,
and attends at the
laying
of the
corner-stone of the monument
subsequently
erected near
that
city
to
perpetuate
the remembrance of the defense of
the
rights
and liberties of America.
A. D. 1827.
Renewal
by
the
pope
of the edict of Pius VII
against
the Freemasons.
A. D. 1827.
The Mexican
Congress, provoked by
the calumnies of
the
clergy,
take measures to retain the Freemasons of that
country
from
increasing
their
meetings,
which were be-
lieved to be devoted more to
political
discussions than to
any
other business.
In the United States some circumstances take
place,
in
the State of New York,
calculated to fix the
public
mind
upon
the
Fraternity, and,
for the first
time, public
notice
is taken of the
society
in the
Congress
of that
country.
A. D. 1828.
The
king
of
Spain
renews his edict
against
the Free-
masons.
A. D. 1832.
The Grand Orient of
Belgium
is instituted at
Brussels,
arid a Masonic
authority, styled
the
Supreme
Council for
Belgium,
is also
organized.
At
Frankfort,
a Jewish
lodge,
styled
the "Frankfort
Eagle,"
is
instituted,
under the
authority
of the Grand Orient of France. In
Germany,
obedient to the
injunctions
of the authorities which insti-
tuted
them,
the
operative lodges
refused to
acknowledge
the members of the Jewish
lodge, and,
contrary
to
the
principles
of
Masonry, they
close their doors
against
them.
A. D. 1836.
Some
disputes spring up among
the
lodges
of
Germany,
principally
in
Berlin,
with
regard
to the admission of Is-
raelites into the
lodges.
The refusal of
many
of the
lodges
to
affiliate,
or to admit them to seats in their
assemblies,
notwithstanding they
have been
regularly
initiated,
pro-
duced numerous controversies. In a sort of
congress
of
Jewish
Masons,
held at
Berlin,
they prepare
an address to
the mother
lodges
of
Berlin,
and
adjure
them,
in the name
of Masonic
principles,
in the name of
justice
and
reason,
to withdraw the restrictions
against
them. This
important
question,
introduced and discussed at divers
meetings
of
grand lodges
of
Berlin, Dresden,
and
Frankfort,
can not be
decided
satisfactorily.
To the assertion of those
lodges
which refused to admit the Israelites,
upon
the
principle
that
Masonry
is
essentially
a Christian
institution,
with the
Holy
Bible its
greatest symbol,
and
upon
which no Jew
can be
sworn,
was
opposed by
the counter assertion that
Masonry
is not a Christian but a universal
institution,
hav-
335
ing
for its
jbject
to
rally
under one banner and
unite un-
der one bo-id all
religionists;
that,
following
the
standard
of no
proohet,
neither
Moses, Christ,
nor
Mahomet,
it
adopts
the sublime doctrine of the second of these law-
givers, seeing
that such doctrine embodies more
nearly
than
any
other the universal
spirit
of
charity
and
brotherly
love which
Freemasonry
would
inculcate,
to the end that
b(y
opening
her
temples
to men of
every worship
she
may
tiwrefffTrefeytheni
from the
prejudices
of their
country
and
the errors
oi\
their
religious
education,
and teach them to
regard
each other but as brethren all united in the bonds
of
peace, science,
and labor.
1
A. D. 1841.
The three
grand lodges
of Berlin
adopt
measures to ex-
clude Jews from their
assemblies,
and the benefit and
privileges
of
Freemasonry.
A. D. 1844.
Formation of the
Alpine
Grand
Lodge
at
Zurich,
by
the union of the two Swiss Masonic
authorities,
viz. : the
Scottish Helvetian
Directory,
at
Zurich,
and the National
Grand
Lodge,
at Berne. The new
grand lodge
is consti-
tuted in
conformity
with a charter
signed
and
accepted by
fourteen
lodges
at
Zurich,
on the 22d
June,
1844.
A. D. 1845.
On the 30th of
August,
of this
year, agreeably
to the in-
vitation extended
by
the
lodge
"
United
Brothers,"
of Stras-
burg,
there assembled at
Steinbach,
the
birth-place
of Er-
win,
architect of the cathedral of
Strasburg,
Masons from
many parts,
to
inaugurate
a statue to his
memory,
as the
first
grand
master of the Masons of
Germany
and France.
1
The true
principles
of
Freemasonry,
as herein set
forth,
have
not,
how-
ever,
even to the
present time,
removed those absurd
gothic prejudices;
for
to this hour Jewish Masons are excluded from
many
German
lodges.
Before the dedication of the
statue,
it was
decreed,
at a
general assembly
which had taken
place
in the town
hall,
which was wreathed and adorned for the occasion as a Ma-
sonic
temple,
that a Masonic
congress
should thereafter
take
place,
in
succession,
in the
village,
town,
or
city repre-
sented
by every
brother
assenting
to this
proposition.
A. D. 1847.
The law of exclusion of
1841,
by
which the three
grand
lodges
of Berlin had
prohibited
certain brethren from
par-
ticipation
in the
privileges
of intercommunion with the
lodges
of their
jurisdiction,
is at this time
again brought
up
in those
grand lodges.
The formal declaration of the
Grand
Lodge
of
England
to cease all
correspondence
and
relations with
them,
if the
paragraph relating
to the exclu-
sion of the Israelites was not effaced from their
statutes,
produced
this result.
A. D. 1848.
In
conformity-
with the constitution discussed and
agreed
to iii December of this
year,
in a
congress
to which had
been invited all the
lodges
of
France,
a JSTational Grand
Lodge
for France is
organized.
Based
upon
the demo-
cratic
system
in its
largest conception,
this
grand lodge
adopted
the modern
English
rite,
and
gave
it the name of
Unitary
Rite. It notified all the
lodges
of
Europe
of its
organization
and decision as to a rite.
A. D. 1849.
After the
political
discussions of the
preceding year,
which shook a
great part
of
Europe,
the
necessity
for re-
forms in the Masonic institutions was felt more than ever.
Already
at different
periods,
since 1820 more
particularly,
views had been
expressed by
a
great many lodges
and sub-
mitted to their
grand lodges,
for the
purpose
of
obtaining
changes
in the
laws,
and
particularly
in the
exceedingly
aristocratic
organization
'of the mother
lodges
;
and also
11
337
demanding
to be
represented
near these
governing
bodieo
in a manner more in
harmony
with the ancient Masonic
device of
"
Liberty, Equality,
and
Fraternity."
These
views, however,
were
provocative
of little
response
and
o
resuU
The
political events, joined
to the
symptoms
of discon-
t^Ht-whtch^
generally
became
manifest,
and which
appeared
likely
to
le\ad
to
complete revolution,
determined some
grand lodges
to undertake some
degrees
of reform.
A. D. 1850.
At this time
Freemasonry
has extended into all
parts
of
the civilized world. In EUROPE it is in a most
flourishing
condition,
protected
and
respected. England,
Scotland,
Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Prussia,
Saxony,
and
the German
States, France, Switzerland,
and the Protest-
ant
part
of
Bavaria,
number
nearly
three thousand
lodges,
governed by twenty-one grand lodges.
In
Russia, Austria,
and their
dependent States,
it
is,
on
the
contrary, prohibited ; also,
in the
kingdoms
of
Naples,
Sardinia, Rome,
Tuscany, Spain,
and
Portugal.
In AFRICA we find
lodges
in
Algiers,
at
Alexandria,
Senegal, Senegambia, Guinea,
the
Cape
of Good
Hope,
Mozambique, Canaries,
and St.
Helena, Bourbon,
and
Mauritius;
while there are no
lodges
in
Tunis, Morocco,
or the
Barbary
States.
In AMERICA it is
every-
where
prosperous,
there
being
few,
if
any,
of the States of the American Union which has not
its
grand lodge. Freemasonry
has
penetrated
into
every
portion
of this vast continent. The British
possessions
of
Nova
Scotia,
New
Brunswick, Canada,
and Newfound-
land have each their
provincial grand
or
independent grand
and
operative
Masonic
lodges;
while all the more south-
ern and western States which
latterly
have been received
into the Union have each their
grand
and
operative lodges.
The West India
islands, Cuba,
Porto
Rico,
have their
22
lodges,
and that of
Hayti
its
grand
and
operative
lodges.
In Central America it is to be found in the
French, Dutch,
and British
Guianas,
and also in the
republics
of
Venezuela,
Guatemala, Columbia, Bolivia,
and
Peru,
and the united
provinces
of La
Plata,
Uruguay
and
Paraguay;
while in
Rio
Janiero, capital
of the
empire
of
Brazil,
there is a
grand lodge
with
twenty-five operative lodges
under its
jurisdiction.
In
ASIA, Freemasonry
has existed for more than a
century
in Hindostan.
Lodges
are to be found in
Bombay,
Pondicherry,
Alahabad,
Bejapoor, Chazepoor, Carnute,
Darrely,
Concan,
Futteghur,
etc. At
Agrah
is to be found
the Grand
Lodge
of
Bengal
;
while in
China,
at
Canton,
and
the islands of
Ceylon
and Prince of
Wales,
in Persia and
in
Turkey, lodges
exist. There is no
lodge
in
Japan.
In
OCEANICA,
Freemasonry
was introduced in
1730,
into
the island of Java. At the
present
time, Sumatra,
New
Holland,
New South
Wales,
New
Zealand,
and Van Die-
man's Land have all their Masonic
lodges.
The number of
lodges upon
the
globe,
at
present,
hag
been
variously
estimated as
high
as five
thousand;
of this
number,
three thousand are in
Europe,
fifteen hundred in
America,
and five hundred in
Asia, Africa,
and Oceanica.
Thus,
within a
century
and a
half,
the modern or Phil-
osophic. Freemasonry
has been
propagated
over the whole
surface of the
earth,
and in its
progress always spreading
seeds of civilization and
friendly
intercourse. From habits
practiced
in the
lodges,
have
gone
out
principles
of
peace,
fraternity,
freedom,
and
equality,
which have softened the
asperities
of social
intercourse,
given
birth to a
greater
breadth of
charity
for the
prejudices
of
mankind,
and ex-
panded
the human mind
beyond
the exclusiveness of
caste,
origin,
national
education,
and
religion.
Is
it, then,
aston-
ishing
that the Roman Catholic
clergy,
who are notorious
as
partisans
of the
stationary
order of
things,
and bitter
opponents
of all
progressive
views in human
affairs,
should
339
be
opposed
to an institution that
operates
so
insensibly
in
transforming
and
enlightening
man to a
knowledge
of his
true
manhood;
and that
they
should,
from so
early
a
pe-
riod in its
history,
have
perceived
the true
tendency
of
the Masonic
institution,
and
opposed,
with all their
power,
establishment? On the
contrary,
the wonder is that
the^Jiaê-iipt
carried its
persecution
more
fully
to the
bitter
end,
as it was and has been the
only
institution of
a non-clerical or
lay
character which has stood between
them and unlimited
power;
but,
fortunately
for
it,
and
unfortunately
for
them,
it had assumed
shape
and consist-
ence in a
country
where,
and at a time
when,
their
power
was not in the ascendant.
Upon
the
continent, however,
whither the institution
rapidly
extended,
the
clergy, being
very powerful,
had more
success;
yet
here,
finding
it im-
possible,
from the
peculiar
nature of its
constitution,
to
use
Freemasonry, they
resolved to abuse
it,
ban
it,
and ex-
communicate its adherents from
religious privileges
here
and
hope
of heaven hereafter. This
failing, they finally
resolved to introduce into its
lodges
a number of rites with
their
degrees, appealing
to the weaker
points
in the human
character,
and thus
they
succeeded in
denaturalizing
the
institution to such an extent that its
original
constitution
became,
in a
great
measure,
lost
sight
of. So
intense,
how-
ever,
did Jesuitism labor in this
regard,
that it overdid
itself;
for this
very
denaturalization led to
inquiry
and in-
vestigation
which,
in
evolving
the true
condition,
unmasked
the
perpetrators
of these
wrongs
inflicted on the
institution,
and restored
it,
in a
great degree,
to its
primitive simplicity
and usefulness.
EDICT
or
POPE PIUS VII AGAINST THE
FREEMASONS.
EDICT.
IF the ancient
legislation
of the Roman States has inter-
dicted,
under
penalties
the most
rigorous,
all secret and
hidden
assemblies, by
reason that their
jealous
clandes-
tineship
induced the belief
that,
in such
assemblies,
the
well-being
of the state and
public tranquillity
were en-
dangered,
and that therein were formed schools of de-
pravity,
the
sovereign pontiffs,
in like
manner,
are
equally
bound to entertain a similar
opinion
as to the
object
of
those assemblies of
Freemasons, Illuminati,
Egyptians
and
others, who,
surrounding
their hidden
operations
with
forms, ceremonies,
and oaths to
guard
secrets which
they
must believe
are,
at
least,
liable to be
suspected
;
and as
their assemblies are
particularly composed
of
persons
of
divers nations and
conditions,
worships
and
degrees
of
morality,
admitted without
distinction,
they
can not free
themselves from the
suspicion
that their assemblies are
gotten up
to
arrange
the destruction of not
only
thrones
and
governments,
but even
religion
itself,
and
particularly
the
only
true
religion
of our Lord Jesus
Christ,
of which
the Roman
pontiff
was constituted
chief, master,
and
guardian by
its divine founder and
legislator
himself.
Informed as to these
facts,
and animated
by
their evan-
gelical
zeal
although
then
they
had not
foreseen,
as has
been since
generally
remarked,
the murderous
develop-
ment and hidden
designs
of these secret assemblies and
EDICT OF POPE PIUS VII. 341
infernal conventicles the
pontiffs
Clement XII and Bene-
dict
XIV,
of
glorious memory,
who have since
appeared
at the bar of
God,
opposed
all their force and their
apos-
tolic
ministry
to the
debauchery
which these assemblies
evory-where
threatened. The
first,
by
his
decree, which,
commencing
"
In eminenti
apostolatas specula," published
the 27th
April,
1738,
not
only
forbade,
but condemned in
all their
extent,
the
meetings
or assemblies of these so-
styled
Freemasons,
or other similar
societies,
of whatever
denomination or
by
whatever
designation they might
be
known
; and,
subsequently, by
the thunders
of
excommunica-
tion,
to be incurred
by
the
act,
without
regard
to
any
decla-
ration made
by
the
accused,
and from the effects of which
none other than the Roman
pontiff
could absolve
him,
ex-
cept
at the
point
of
death,
promulgated against
all indi-
viduals
proscribed,
whether such accusation
proceeded
from
their
being
initiated into
any
of the
degrees
of these so-
cieties or from
being accessory
to the initiation of others.
His immediate
successor,
Benedict
XIV,
knowing
the
great
interests involved and the
necessity
for this
dispo-
sition, particularly
as
regarded
the
well-being
of the Cath-
olic
religion
and the
public security,
did,
by
a ne\v
decree,
which,
commencing
in these
words,
"
Providias Roman-
orum
Pontifieum," published
on the 18th of
May, 1751,
confirmed in its fullest extent the decree of his
prede-
cessor,
not
only
in the insertion of
it,
word for
word,
in
his own
decree,
but in
explaining
and
expounding
with
his usual wisdom
(7)
the motives which determined all
the
powers
of the earth to
prohibit Freemasonry,
which
motives it would be here
unnecessary
to
enumerate,
but of
which the
justness
is demonstrated
by experience,
as
they
are well known to most
enlightened people.
The
foresight
of these two
pontiffs
was not confined to
this measure.
They
were not
ignorant
that the horror
of crime and the thunders of the Church were
ordinarily
sufficient to convince and
advantageously
secure the con-
sciences of the
good,
but that these means
must,
when di-
rected toward the
wicked,
be aided
by
afflictive
penalties.
Hence the
pontiff,
Clement
XII,
by
his
edict, published by
the cardinal
Joseph Ferraro,
his
secretary
of
state,
on the
14th
January,
1739,
inflicted the most severe
temporal
punishments against
the
contumacious,
and ordered
even,
among
other
dispositions,
their effective
execution;
and to
which His
Holiness,
Benedict
XIV,
by
his
published
de-
cree,
gave
a new and additional
force,
charging
all
magis-
trates for the
prosecution
under these decrees to
employ
their most active and
energetic
assistants to
fully
execute
the
penalties
therein
prescribed.
However,
in the
general
overthrow of the order of
things
which has been
accomplished during
the
unhappiness
of
the
Holy
See and of the
Church,
these
dispositions
have
been treated with
impunity, notwithstanding
their
justness,
wholesomeness,
and
indispensability
;
and the
meetings
and
assemblies interdicted
by
them have had all sorts of fa-
cilities of
communication,
not
only
at
Rome,
but also in all
parts
of the
pontifical
states.
His
Holiness,
Pope
Pius
VII,
wishing
to administer a
prompt
and efficacious
remedy
to an evil which it is neces-
sary
to
extirpate immediately,
and
opposing
himself to
the
spread
of this
pernicious
cancer ere it takes root
throughout
the
state,
does
enjoin
and
ordain,
and
by
this
present
edict makes
known,
to all his
supreme
wish,
which
should have the force of
law,
and should so serve in the
tribunals of
justice
both civil and
spiritual,
in all coun-
tries, cities, lands,
and
provinces
which
appertain
or n
any
wise
recognize allegiance
to the
temporal
dominion
of the
Holy Apostolic
See.
By
these
dispositions
it is intended to
say
that,
for those
who
regard
the
pains
and
penalties
to be incurred
by
these
unhappy persons who,
during
the
lapse
of time which
they
have had wherein to have allowed their
tendency
to favor
these assemblies to
subside, (Q-od
forbid that this be not a
EDICT OF POPE PIUS VII.
343
question
with our well-beloved
subjects,)
or at tne
present
or in the future shall have the
unhappiness
to
become,
in
any
manner,
a
party
to or connected with the Masonic or
other similar
assemblies,
His Holiness
relinquishes
them
entirely
and without
exception
to the
penalties
and
dispo-
sitions
pronounced by
the aforesaid decrees of his
prede-
cessors of
glorious memory; hereby recalling
and maintain-
ing
the same in their fullest force and
tenor,
as his
special
care.
The
Holy
Father,
moved
by
the
energetic
sentiments of
his
pontifical
zeal,
and
by
the affections of his
paternal
heart,
warns all the faithful who shall fall into this de-
plorable
error to
seriously
consider the state of damnation
into which
they
have
plunged
their
souls,
by incurring
the
penalty
of
major
excommunication with which
they
are
afflicted,
as also of
being deprived
of all the
advantages
of
communion in the
Church,
and to
pass away
in this condi-
tion to that awful tribunal where
nothing
is
hidden,
and
before which vanish the vain
supports
which
they may
Jind to lean
upon
in this world. That
they
humble them-
selves, therefore,
by
a sincere
repentance,
and be taken
once more into the arms of the
holy Church,
that
compas-
*'onate mother who calls
them,
and who would receive
<heni
tenderly,
to the end that she
may
reconcile them
with the Father of all
mercy,
whom
they
have abandoned
with
ingratitude.
With
regard
to the outside world and the
feelings
which,
under these
imperious circumstances,
should animate the
general police
of a w
r
ell-ordered
state,
His Holiness wishes
also to be understood as to the measures of
clemency
which
may
have been
adopted
for those times of disorder and
impiety
which
preceded
his
happy
return to the
holy city,
and the
promulgation
of this edict. Now this detestable
pest
has but to little if
any
extent infected the
territory
and the
subjects
of the
pontifical
state,
but
many
individ-
uals have allowed themselves to be
entrapped by
circum-
344 GENERAL HISTORY OP FREEMASONRY
stances. The
Holy
Father
deplores
their
unhappy
blind-
ness,
and would remove them from its influence
forever;
it
is
for
them, however,
to render themselves
worthy, hy
a return
prompt
and
permanent,
at least so far as concerns
their outward
conduct,
for which
every
citizen is
respon-
sible to
society.
Otherwise,
that
they
hold themselves in
readiness to inform and not seek to hide from the knowl-
edge
of the
government
officers,
the
places
wherein
they
may
be assembled at
any
time,
that the same
may
be
watched;
and
that,
to
prevent
the return of similar
offenses,
the names of the
principal persons among
them should be
communicated to the chiefs of the
tribunals,
in order
that,
in case of
relapse,
the old offenses should be
aggregated
with the new.
Nobody,
then,
at the
present
or
any
future
time,
can
allege,
for a
pretext,
that he has found no evL
in this
following
of
preparatory
scenes,
sometimes indif-
ferent and sometimes
ridiculous,
but
by
which is arti-
ficial^
held in
suspense
the
curiosity
of the
initiate,
the
better to
dispose
and enlist him in
mysteries
of
greater
atrocity.
In
consequence
we
decree,
as
follows,
the meas-
ures which we believe
necessary
and
just
to
prevent
such
offenses in the future :
1. In
conformity
with the
dispositions
of the edict of
the 14th
January,
1739,
it is
forbidden,
in the first
place,
to all
persons,
as well in Rome as in the other
parts
of the
pontifical
domain,
to
continue, extend,
renew or establish
the said assemblies of
Freemasons,
or
any
similar
society,
whether instituted under ancient or modern denomina-
tions,
or under the
newly-imagined
title of
Carbonari,
th*,
latter of which have exhibited a
pretended pontifical
letter
of
approbation
which bears
upon
its face evidence of its
own
falsity.
It is also forbidden to all
persons
to act in
the
capacity
of clerk or scrivener to these
societies,
or to
assist in such
capacity
one
single
time,
from
any
reason or
pretext
whatever;
or to invite or solicit
any body
within
the room wherein such assemblies
may
take
place,
or to
EDICT OF POPE PIUS VJ.
345
receive into his
house,
or
any
other
place, any
member of
such
societies,
or bail or loan
money
to,
or favor such
per-
sons in
any
manner
whatever.
2. The
dispositions
of the
present
edict bear also
upon
those
persons
who
may transgress
its
requirements,
in
entering
into
any
relations direct or
indirect,
immediate
or
remote,
with the aforesaid associations which are now
established,
or which
may
at
any
future time be
established,
outside of the
pontifical
state.
3. It is forbidden to all
persons
to have in
possession
or under their
charge
or
care,
within their
dwelling
or
elsewhere, instruments,
weapons, emblems, law?, records,
patents,
or
any
other
thing
used
by
or in
any
manner
ap-
pertaining
to the societies aforesaid.
4. Whoever shall know of the existence of such secret
and clandestine
meetings,
or shall have been
engaged
therein,
either as assistant or
scrivener,
shall be held as a
witness
against
such
assembly
for that which
concerns
the
capital
to the
governor
of
Rome, and,
for the other
parts
of the
state,
to the commandants of
provinces
or to
the
apostolic delegates.
Those
who,
in view of the
require-
ments of this
article,
shall be
obliged
to inform
against
and denounce such assemblies
may
be certain that
they
shall be held
entirely
blameless and unknown to the ac-
cused;
that
they
shall be free from all
penalty
which
they
would otherwise incur as accessories or
accomplices,
and
that
they
shall
receive,
at the
expense
of the
delinquent,
a
recompense corresponding
to the value of the informa-
tion
conveyed by
them
tending
to convict the accused.
And,
upon
this
subject,
His Holiness desires to be
fully
understood to announce and
decide,
that
nothing improper
or dishonorable can attach to a revelation to the
proper
authorities of that which
may prevent
to the
government
and to the state the
consequences
of a
conspiracy
menac-
ing good
order and
religion
itself;
and that all
oaths,
in
opposition
to this
principle,
become a bond of
iniquity,
in
o46 GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.
no
degree binding,
and
leaving
the
obligated
as free as if
he had never taken such oath or
obligation.
5. The
penalties
to be
undergone by
all who
may
contra-
vene the
dispositions
of the
present
edict shall be
corporeal
and
afflictive,
and even
very serious,
according
to the
impor-
tance or
malignity
of the circumstances
attending
the trans-
gression
; and,
in addition
thereto,
there shall attach
partial
or entire
confiscation of
the
property of
the
condemned,
or
fine,
to be
paid
in
money,
of which the
judges
and
agents
of the
tribunals shall receive a
part,
in
proportion
to the extent
of their labors and exercise of care in
discovering
and
establishing
the
guilt
of the
delinquent,
who shall be con-
victed
according
to law.
6. His Holiness
especially
orders and decrees that all
edifices,
such as
palaces, public
and
private residences,
or
any
other
description
of inclosed
building,
wherein an as-
sembly
of
any
of the societies
aforesaid,
under whatever
name,
may
have taken
place,
shall be
immediately,
and
without
any delay being
incurred to
prove
the
offense,
de-
clared
confiscated,
and
put
in
charge
of the Government
treasurer;
and if the fact of offense can not be
proved
satisfactorily,
then a fine
maybe
levied and collected from
the owner of the
property.
7.
Finally,
it is
enjoined upon
all the chiefs of
tribunals,
as well as all local
judicial authorities,
to use
every
care
in the execution of the
dispositions
of this
edict;
and
should
they, upon any point,
entertain doubt as to the
proper understanding
of such
dispositions, they
shall
address,
without
delay,
the Cardinal
Consalvi,
Secretary
of
State,
who will communicate to them the decision of
the
Sovereign
Pontiff.
Done at the Secretariat of
State,
this 15th
day
of
August,
1814
P. Card.
PACCA,
Chamberlain of the
Holy Church,
and Assistant
Secretary
of State.
MASONIC LAWS AND
CHARTERS.
847
PRIMITIVE
MASONIC LAWS AND CHARTERS.
IN
examining
the basis of the charter of
York,
the text
of which follows these observations and which
charter,
although presented
to the Masonic
lodges
as
emanating
from the
king,
could not be other than the
production
of
the chiefs of the
lodges
we find it imbued with the
spirit
of the first Christian
communities,
whose
members,
having
separated
themselves from those who were animated
by
totally
different
feelings,
had surrendered themselves to
such
apostolic teaching
as
might present
to them the
pure
doctrines of the new faith. The fraternal and
uniformly
equable principles
of the ancient laws of the Roman col-
leges
were
very intimately
known to those who
preached
the
primitive
doctrine of Christ. The
teachings
of the
Hermit
schools,
the most
prominent
instructors at that
time in the doctrines of the new faith in
Britain,
were
found
by
the
assembly
of Freemasons convened at York
so identical with the
principles professed by
them and
their
predecessors,
for
nearly
five hundred
years,
that
they
did not believe it
necessary
to
envelope
such teach-
ings
in new
forms,
and the more so as
already
there ex-
isted
great divergence among
the various creeds of the
new
church,
consequent upon
the
spirit
of
investigation
which even at that
early day
had
place.
The
assembly,
therefore,
adopted,
as the basis of its new
constitution,
its
ancient humanitarian
principles,
which were in entire
harmony
with universal
morality,
and in entire
conformity
with the
early
Christian doctrine.
The freedom from Roman Catholic influence of the
Masonic
lodges
at this time exhibits itself in this charter
in a
very striking
manner,
in the
prayer
or invocation
which
begins
thus: "All
powerful
and eternal
God,
Fa-
ther and Creator of heaven and
earth,"
etc. In this
prayer
we
perceive
no mention made of a
Trinity,
the
Deity
invoked
being
none other than the
great
Arch-
itect of the
Universe,
that
great
first cause
recognized by
the Noachidean
doctrine,
and the belief in the eternal
existence of which can
readily
be concurred in
by
men of
every
confession.
The third and fourth articles of this constitution
sup-
pose,
in
fact,
and with a
degree
of tolerance
very humane,
that the true
religion,
inborn in the hearts and consciences
of all
men,
can not fail to harmonize characters the most
diverse,
seeing
that it is to the conscience of
every man,
and to that
alon,
that the
religion
of
justice strictly ap-
peals.
The other articles of this constitution or charter
are confined to the consideration of the state of
art,
and
to the
simple
and
dignified oversight
and
arrangement
of
Masonic affairs
proper,
but
always
imbued with this same
spirit, embracing humanity
as an entire whole.
The constitution or charter of York is not
only
the
basis of the British Masonic
corporations,
from the time
of its
promulgation
to the
separation
of the
lodges
of
Freemasons from the
companionship
of
ordinary
stone
dressers and
masons, (which virtually
took
place,
as we
have
shown,
in
1717,)
and as the different
ordinances,
published
under the
reigns
of different
kings, relating
to
the affairs of these
corporations, distinctly prove;
but it
became the model of the Masonic
corporations, which,
eubsequent
to its
promulgation,
were
gradually organized
upon
the continent. The ancient
corporations
of Lom-
bardy,
of which the
principal
branches were at Como and
at
Pavia,
and which should have conserved the Ia\vs as
they
were known to the ancient Roman
colleges, adopted
349
this charter
immediately,
as did also those of
Germany
and
France;
for we find it the basis of that
printed
con-
stitution of the Freemasons of
Strasburg
which was
adopted
in
1459,
and into which it is
-copied
in all its ex-
tent,
except
the
opening prayer, which,
in accordance
with the Roman Catholic influence of that
period,
is
changed
to read :
"
In the name of the
Father,
and of
the
Son,
and of the
Holy
Ghost,
and the
Worthy
Mother
Mary,"
etc. This influence was inevitable
;
for the Ger-
man Masons at this time were
organized,
and in
great
measure
controlled,
by
the ecclesiastic architects of the
convents and
monasteries;
and it was not until the latter
part
of the fifteenth
century they
obtained from the
popes
the confirmation of the exclusive
privileges
accorded at
the
beginning
to the
corporations
of
Lombardy.
More
favored than the
latter, however,
they
were in
receipt
of
special diplomas
which made them free of
royal edicts,
and conceded to them the
right
of
communicating directly
Tvith the
popes
in all matters connected with
operations
of
any magnitude.
This clerical
influence, however,
did
not
protect
the
clergy
from
complaint,
rendered in a man-
ner at once
spirited
and
daring, against
their
tendency
to
vice and
immorality;
and this fact has come to us in the
shape
of numerous marks which
figure upon
the
religious
edifices of the
period,
sometimes
symbolic,
sometimes
satiric,
expressive
of their criticism of the abuses of the
clergy,
as contrasted with their own
religious
belief and doctrine.
The charter of York also served as the basis of that
constitution of modern
Freemasonry
which was
adopted
at London in
1717,
and altered but in those
points
neces-
sary
to make that constitution
correspond
with the new
object
of the
society,
and the
changes
and
developments
wrought by
the
lapse
of
eight
centuries
in the condition
of British
law, customs,
and
usages.
This constitution of
the Grand
Lodge
of London
has,
in its
turn,
served as
the model for the constitutions
of all the
grand lodges
which have been formed since 1717
upon
onr
globe;
and
it is
oi\]y
to be
regretted
that,
among
this
great
number
of
lodges,
there should be found so few who have had the
courage
and the Masonic
spirit
to reform that
part
of the
constitution of the Grand
Lodge
of
England
which
pro-
vides for the
predomination
of that
body,
and
replace
it
by
a form in
harmony
with the fundamental
principles
of
the Masonic institution.
The small number of documents which the Masonic
society possess
besides its
charters,
of which the most an-
cient have been
destroyed,
is
easily
accounted for
by
the
fact that absolute silence had been
imposed by
oath
upon
every
member of the
society, solemnly binding
them not
to communicate in
any
manner
except verbally,
and in
that
way only
to each
other,
any
of the secrets confided
to
them; while,
as an
association,
the
society imposed
upon
itself similar restrictions. Its existence is
engraved
upon
the fronts of the monuments of its
art,
in the orna-
ments and
symbols reproduced upon
the stones which
have entered into their construction. True
Freemasonry
has never had
any
secrets other than those which have
been connected with its
art,
its humanitarian
doctrines,
and its
signs
of
recognition.
CHARTER OF YORK.
A. D. 926.
Fundamental laics
of
the
fraternity of
Masons, based
upon
the
ancient
writings concerning
the laws and
privileges of
the ancient
corporations of
Roman
builders,
as
they
were
confirmed
to
Albanus,
in the
year
290, by
the
emperor
Carausius,
at his resi-
dence at Vervlam
(St.
Albans), received, discussed,
and
accepted
by
the
lodges of England,
convoked
for
this
object
in a
general
assembly
at
York,
in the
year
926,
by prince
Edwin,
son
of king
The
omnipotence
of the Eternal
God,
of the Father
and Creator of heaven and
earth,
the wisdom of his Di-
MASONIC LAWS AND CHARTERS. 351
vine
Word,
and the
cooperation
of his
Spirit
sent
among
us,
may be with our
commencement,
and
grant
us
grace
so to
govern
ourselves in this
life,
as to obtain, his
appro-
bation
now, and,
after our
death,
life eternal.
1
# # * * # * *
Finally, peace
is
restored,
and the
bishop
of Rome con-
verts the
Angles
and the Saxons to the Christian
faith,
among
which are found to be
many
native craftsmen in
Britain who had been instructed
by
those
vigilant
old mas-
ters who remained in this
country.
Then
they
erected the
churches of
Canterbury (600)
and of Rochester
(602),
and
they repaired
the ancient houses of God.
Subsequently,
the
king,
Charles
Martel,
sent masons from
beyond
the
sea,
upon
the demand of the Saxon
kings,
and it was then
that architecture flourished
anew,
under the direction
of
the
ancient master masons
of
Britain. It is to be
regretted
that
man\' Roman editices should have been devastated
upon
the occasion of the incursions of the
Danes,
and that
many
documents and records of
lodges,
which in those times were
held and
preserved
in the
convents,
should have been
burnt,
under like circumstances. But the
pious king
Athelstan
(925),
who has much esteem for the
art,
and who has es-
tablished
many superb
editices since the
peace
concluded
with the
Danes,
has desired to make
up
this
deficiency.
He has ordained that the institution founded in the time of
the Romans
by
St. Alban should be reestablished and con-
firmed anew. It is in this intention that he has remitted
1
After this
introduction,
or
prayer,
follows a
long history,
in two
parts,
of architecture in Great Britain and other
countries;
a historic
abridge-
ment of the art of
building
from the most ancient
mythical
times to that
of
Athelstan; and,
after
that,
the
particular
rules which served as funda-
mental laws to the Masonic
corporations.
To
convey
an idea of the man-
ner in which this
history
is
written,
we submit its
closing passages.
Its
similarity
of
style
to that which is
given by
Dr.
Anderson,
in his "Consti-
tutions,"
etc.,
of
1723,
will doubtless be remarked
by
the
reader,
and con-
vince him of the truth of our
statement,
that the charter of York was the
model as it was the basis of these
"
Constitutions,"
etc.
to his son Edwin
(member
of the
association)
an edict
by
which the Masons can have their own
government,
and establish
all
proper
rides to render their art
prosperous.
He has also
invited Masons from Gaul, and
appointed
some chiefs. Fi-
nally,
he has examined the
Greek, Roman,
and Gallic
institutions which these last have
brought
in
writing
with
them,
and
compared
them with those of St.
Alban,
and it
is after such that all the Masonic
corporations ought
to be
organized.
Behold, then,
in the
pious prince Edwin, your protector,
who will execute the orders of the
king,
and who would
encourage
and exhort
you
no more to fall into
past
faults.
Thus,
each
year,
the masters and the chiefs of all the
lodges
shall assemble themselves
together,
and make a re-
port
of all the constructions and ameliorations which
they
have
produced,
and such
assembly
shall be convoked here
at
York,
and the chiefs shall
proclaim
the laws which are
to.be found in the ancient
writings,
and which
they
have
found
good,
and useful to observe. The
following
are the
obligations
which
you
are to
accept,
and
which,
when
you
shall have
accepted, you
must
promise
to observe
by placing
your
hand
upon
-the
holy
book of the
Gospel,
which the
chief shall
present
to
you.
Each
master, also,
must cause
the same to be read in his
lodge,
and he must likewise
cause the same to be read at the
reception
of a new
brother,
as he must
require
him,
upon
the
authority
of the
Gospel,
to observe the same.
FUNDAMENTAL LAWS OF THE BROTHER MASONS.
Article I
Your first
duty
is that
you
reverence God with
sincerity,
and submit to the laws of the
Noachides,
because these
are the divine laws to which all the world should submit.
For this reason
you
should also avoid
following
false doc-
trine and
offending against
God.
353
Article II.
You should be faithful to
your
king,
without
treason,
and obedient to constituted
authority,
without
deception,
wherever
you may
find
yourself,
to the end that
high
trea-
son should be unknown to
you;
but if
you
should be
ap-
prised
of
it, you
must
immediately
inform the
king.
Article III.
You should be serviceable to all
men,
and a faithful
friend, to the extent of
your ability,
without
disquieting
yourself
as to what
religion
or
opinion they
shall hold or
belong
to.
Article IV.
You should
be,
above
all,
faithful
among yourselves,
in-
structing
each other and
aiding
each
other,
not
calumniating
one
another,
but
doing
to each other as
you
would have
done to
yourself;
so
that,
according
as a brother shall
have failed in his
engagement
with his
fellow, you ought
to
help
him to
repair
his
fault,
in order that he
ma.y
reform.
Article V.
You should assist
assiduously
at the discussions and la-
bors of
your
brethren in the
lodge,
and
keep
the secret of
the
signs
from all who are not brethren.
Article VI.
Each should
guard
himself
against infidelity, seeing
that
without
fidelity
and
probity
the
fraternity
can not
exist,
and
a
good reputation
is a valuable
property.
Also
constantly
hold to the interests of the master whom
you may serve,
and
honestly
finish
your
labor.
Article VII.
You should
always pay honorably
that which
you owe,
and,
in
general,
do
nothing
that will
injure
the
good repu-
tation of the
Fraternity.
23
Article VIII.
Furthermore,
no master
ought
to undertake a work which
he
may
be unable to
perform,
for, by doing
so,
he
puts
his
fellows to shame.
Masters, however,
ought
to demand
that a sufficient
salary
be
paid them,
so that
they
can live
and
pay
their fellow-workmen.
Article IX.
Furthermore,
no master
ought
to
supplant another,
but
leave him to finish the work that he has found to do
;
at
least to the extent of his
ability.
Article X.
Furthermore,
no master
ought
to
accept
an
apprentice
for less than seven
years,
and not until after the
expiration
of that time
ought
he to be made a
Mason,
after the advice
and consent of his fellows.
Article XL
Furthermore,
no master or fellow-craftsman should ac
cept indemnity
for
admitting any person
as a Mason if he
be not
free-born,
of
good reputation,
of
good capacity,
and
sound of limbs.
Article XII.
Furthermore,
no fellow-craftsman
ought
to blame another
if he does not know better than him whom he
may repri-
mand.
Article XIII.
Furthermore,
each
master,
when he is
reprimanded
by
the architect
(chief
of the
-lodge),
or each
fellow-craftsman,
when he is
reprimanded by
the
master,
should listen re-
spectfully,
correct his
work,
and conform to instructions.
Article XIV.
Furthermore,
all Masons should be obedient to their
355
chiefs,
and execute with
good
will that which
may
be
ordered.
Article XV.
Furthermore,
all Masons should receive their fellows
coming
from
abroad,
and who will
give
the
signs;
but
they
ought
to be
careful,
and as
they
have been
taught. They
also
o.ight
to come to the relief of brethren who
may
need
assistance,
as soon as
they
shall
learn,
in manner as
they
have been
taught,
that such assistance is
necessary,
and the
distance be within half a
league.
Article XVI.
Furthermore,
no master or fellow-craftsman shall admit
into a
lodge
another who has not been received a
Mason,
to learn the art of
dressing
stones,
or allow him to
dress;
neither shall he show him how to use
square
or
compass.
These are the duties which he well and
truly ought
to
observe. Those which shall
yet
be found
good
and useful
in the future
ought always
to be written and
published by
the chiefs of the
lodges;
for all the brothers to learn the
same,
and to be sworn to their
performance.
SUMMARY
ANCIENT MASONIC CHARTERS.
ROMAN
CHARTER,
715
B. C.
Containing
the laws
relating
to and
governing
the Col-
leges
of
Builders,
founded
by
Numa
Pompilius.
These
laws are to be found on the 8th of the Twelve Tables of
the Roman
Laws,
created in the
year
451 B. C.
CHARTER OF ST.
ALBAN,
A. D. 290.
Based
upon
the ancient laws of the Roman
colleges,
as
collected
by
Albanus,
an
architect,
and sanctioned
by
the
emperor
Carausius.
CHARTER OF
YORK,
A. D. 926.
1
The
original
of this
charter,
preserved during many
centuries in the archives of the
grand lodge
at
York,
was
probably destroyed during
the wars of the
lioses,
of which
York was the theater. Its contents have come to us
through
the constitution of Edward
III,
which is
simply
a
copy
of
it,
with some additional articles
concerning
the
rights
and
privileges
of the
grand
masters,
and their duties
in connection with the
government
of the
country.
Au-
thentic
copies
of this charter were to be found in the
beginning
of the 18th
century,
in the
lodges
of London and
York,
and one of them served the
grand
master,
George
Paine,
as the basis of that collection which he had been
charged
to
present
to the new
grand lodge,
and which
collection,
as
subsequently arranged
and
compiled by
Dr.
Anderson,
was
printed
in 1723. In
1720,
it is
believed,
members of the
lodge
of St.
Paul,
alarmed at the
publicity
that
promised
to be made of
papers
which
they
believed
very private,
burnt
many documents, and,
among
the num-
ber,
such
copies
of the charter of Edward III as
they
could
discover.
CHARTER OF EDWARD
III,
A. JD. 1350.
Fundamental laws of the charter of York
revised,
with
some
slight changes,
and the addition of some articles con-
cerning
the
rights
of
grand
masters,
and the emoluments
appertaining
to their office.
1
See
preceding
article.
357
CHARTER OF
SCOTLAND,
A. D. 1439.
This
document,
which is rather a
diploma
than a charter
proper,
recounts the
privileges
and the duties which attach
to the
position
of
grand
master,
that James II
conceded,
in
1430,
to William
Sinclair,
barou of
Roslin,
and to his
heirs a
position
that the
lodges
of
Scotland,
through
the
representatives
whose
signatures
it
bears,
recognize,
under
the terms of this
instrument,
to attach to the said Sinclair
and his descendants. This
document,
as contained in a
manuscript
of the
year
1700, may
be seen in the Advocates'
Library
at
Edinburgh.
THE CHARTERS OF
STRASBURG,
OF 1459 AND 1563.
These are entitled
"
Statutes and Rules of the
Fraternity
of Stone
Cutters,
founded
upon
those of the
year 1275,
revised,
and their
publication
ordered
by
the Masonic
Congress
of Ratisbonne in
1464,
and
by
that of Basle in
1563." The charter of York formed the basis of these
charters.
Many lodges
in
Germany
are in
possession
of
copies
of the 1464 edition.
CHARTER OF
COLOGNE,
A. D. 1535.
Laws and Doctrines of
Philosophic Freemasonry,
or a
profession
of their
principles,
rendered
by
a number of Ma-
sons assembled at
Cologne
in the
year
1535. The Grand
Lodge
of
Holland,
at the
Hague,
is in
possession
of the
original
of this charter. It is
upon parchment,
written in
Masonic characters rendered into the Latin of the middle
ages.
The
authenticity
of this document is
disputed.
Ex
perts
in the examination of ancient documents are
divided,
some
believing
it an
original,
and others a
spurious pro-
duction,
written at a much later date than that which it
bears.
[See pp.
51 and 127 for further details as to this
charter.]
CHARTER OF
SCOTLAND,
A. D. 1630.
This charter contains
nothing beyond
the confirmation
of the
privileges,
etc.,
enumerated in that of
1439,
granted
to William
Sinclair,
baron of
Roslin,
by
the
lodges
of Boot-
land. This confirmation was rendered
necessary
in conse-
quence
of the document of 1439
having
been
destroyed by
fire in the
conflagration
of Roslin
Castle,
and the
privileges
acceded
thereby having
been
subsequently
denied to the
heirs of
"
St. Clair of Roslin." The
original
of this charter
or
diploma
is to be found. in the Law
Library
at
Edinburgh,
with the
copy
of that which was burned.
CHARTER OF
LONDON,
A. D. 1717.
This
charter,
the basis of modern
Freemasonry,
is con-
tained,
as revised
by George
Paine,
in
1717,
from the charter
of Edward
III,
in the work first
published by
order of the
Grand
Lodge
of
England
in
1723,
and which is
generally
known as Anderson's
"
Constitutions,"
etc.
ANCIENT WORSHIPS AND MYSTERIES.
359
EPITOME
OF THE
WORSHIPS AND THE MYSTERIES
1
OF THE ANCIENT
EASTERN WORLD.
"The wise man
brings
all to the tribunal of reason even reason
itself." Kant.
INTEODUCTION.
FROM amidst the thick darkness which covers their
nature,
we
propose
to deduce the
origin
and the
history
of the
opinions
which have been
taught
us
by
the instruct-
ors of the
peoples,
and
which,
imposed by
the force of
authority-inculcated by
education and
example-have
been
perpetuated
from
age
to
age,
and their
empire
established
by
habit and inattention. But when
man, enlightened by
reflection and
experience,
turns to a close examination of
these
prejudices
of his
infancy,
he
immediately
finds,
a
crowd of
disparities
and contradictions which
challenge
his
sagacity
and
provoke
his reason.
Remarking
the
diversity
and
opposition
of the beliefs
which
distinguish
different
peoples,
he
naturally
doubts
that
infallibility
each of them
arrogate
to
themselves;
and,
falling
back
upon
his own sense and
reason,
which
must have emanated
immediately
from
God,
he conceives
that the result of such a
combination,
when
brought
to
bear
upon this,
as
upon
all other
subjects,
can not be a
law less
holy
or a
guide
less certain than" the mediatorial
codes and contradictions of
priests
and
prophets.
For,
1
See
Notes,
I to
38,
illustrative of this
text, eommenciug
at
page
384.
3GO GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.
when he examines the fabric of these
codes,
he
perceives
that these
laws,
pretended
to be divine that is to
say,
im-
mutable and eternal are but
begotten by
circumstances
of
time,
of
place,
and of
person
;
and that
they
are de-
rived from each other in a
special
order of
genealogy,
since that there is
imprinted upon
their derivation a re-
Bemblance of ideas modified
by
the taste of each
people
to more
fully satisfy
its own
intelligence.
If we mount to the source of these
ideas,
we find
they
are lost in the
night
of
time,
in the
very infancy
of the
human
race,
and that to reach them we must
approach
almost the
origin
of the world
itself;
and
there,
in the
obscurity
of chaos and the fabulous
empire
of
tradition,
they
are
presented
to
us,
accompanied by
a condition of
things
so
superhuman
that
they
interdict all
approach
to
judgment
or reason. But even this
very superhuman
condition resuscitates a train of
reasoning
which resolves
the
difficulty
; for,
if the
prodigious
existences which are
presented
to us in the
theological systems
of the world
have
really
existed
-if,
for
example,
the
metamorphoses,
the
apparitions,
the conversations held
by
one or
by
sev-
eral
gods
with
man,
traced in the sacred books of the
Hindoos,
the
Persians,
and the
Hebrews,
are historical
events it
necessarily
follows that the nature of these
gods
of the two
former,
or the one
god
of the
latter,
at that
time differed
entirely
from that which now
exists;
that
the men of our
day
have
nothing
in common with those
of that
period
;
and that such men as then existed exist
no
longer,
nor have
they
existed for
ages
of time.
If,
on
the
contrary,
these
prodigious
occurrences and existences
have not
really
had
place
in
physical order,
we will nat-
urally
believe that
they
existed
only
in and were the crea-
tions of the
imagination
of those who
penned
them
;
and
our own
natures,
capable
as
they
are
to-day
of
executing
fantastic
compositions, immediately recognize
a reason for
such monstrosities to
appear
in a
history
of the world.
ANCIENT WORSHIPS AND
MYSTERIES.
361
No
longer,
then,
does the student
agitate
himself with
efforts to
explain
the
why
and the wherefore of the sub-
jects
of these
pictures,
or in
analyzing
the ideas
they
combine and
associate; but,
putting together
all the cir-
cumstances that
they allege,
he thinks he
ought
to dis-
cover a solution conformable to the laws of nature. Yet
he does not arrive at such a solution. He
perceives
that
these recitals of a fabulous character have a
figurative
sense other than the sense
apparent;
that these
pretended
marvels are
physical
facts,
simple
as the elements of na-
ture,
but
which,
ill conceived and
badly painted,
have
been denaturalized
by
accidental causes
independent
of
the human
spirit: by
the confusion of the
signs
which
were
employed
to
represent
the
objects, by
the
equivo-
cality
of the words which described
them,
the
degeneracy
of
language,
and the
imperfection
of
writing.
lie finds
that these
gods,
for
example,
who
play
such
singular
parts
in all the
theological systems
of the eastern
world,
are no other than the
physical powers
and
play
of the
elements of
nature, which,
by
the
necessary
mechanism
of
language,
have been
personified;
that their
lives,
their
manners,
and their actions are
nothing
but the
play
of
their
operations,
and that all their
pretended history
is
nothing
but the
description
of their
phenomena,
traced
by
such of their first observers as were
competent
to do
so,
and these
descriptions
taken in a literal sense
by
the
ignorant
and
vulgar
who understood not the
spiritual
or
real
sense,
and which
sense,
in
consequence,
was
by
sub-
sequent generations forgotten
and
lost;
in
fine,
he will
observe that all the
theological dogmas
about the
origin
of the
world,
the nature of
God,
the revelation of his
laws,
the
apparition
of his
person,
are
nothing
but the
recitals of astronomical facts
nothing
but
figurative
nar-
ratives of the movements of the solar
system.
It is
by
such a course of
reasoning
that one becomes convinced
that the idea of the
Divinity,
which even at
present
is
with us so
obscure,
was
not,
in its
primitive state,
but
that of the
physical powers
of the
universe,
considered
sometimes as
multiples, by
reason of their
agents
and
their
phenomena,
and sometimes as a
single being, by
the
complete
connection of all their
parts;
in
short,
that the
being
called God has been sometimes the
sun,
sometimes
the
stars,
the
planets
and their influences
;
sometimes the
matter
*
of the visible world the universe as a whole
;
sometimes the abstract and
metaphysical qualities
of the
universe,
such as
time,
space,
movement,
and
intelligence;
and
always
with this
result,
that the idea of the
Divinity
has not been a miraculous revelation of invisible
beings,
but a natural
production
of the
reasoning faculty,
an
operation
of the human
spirit,
in which it has followed
the
progress
and been influenced
by
the revolutions which
have taken
place
in our
knowledge
of the
physical
world
and of its
agents.
Thus, then,
the ideas of God and
religion
ideas which
absorb all others have their
origin
in
physical objects,
and have
been,
in the mind of
man,
the
product
of his
sensations,
his
cares,
the circumstances of his
life,
and the
progressive
state of his
knowledge.
Now,
as the ideas of a
Divinity
had for their earliest
models
physical beings,
it resulted that the
Divinity
was
at first varied and
multiplinary,
as were the forms under
which he
appeared
to act. Each
being
was a
power,
a
genius;
and in the
eyes
of the first men the universe was
filled with innumerable
gods.
Then,
as the affections of
the human heart and its
passions
became enlisted, there
was
superinduced
an order of division of these
gods,
based
upon pleasure
and
pain,
love and hate : the natural
pow-
ers,
the
gods,
or
geni,
were
separated
into benefactors and
malefactors workers of
good
and workers of evil
;
and
hence the
uniformity
with which these
opposite
charac-
ters
appear
in all
systems
of
religion.
ANCIENT WORSHIPS ANP MYSTERIES. 363
SABEISM,
OE SUN
WOKSHIP,
AKD ITS LEGENDS.
And
first, among
these
systems may
be found
Sabcism,
or the
worship
of the Sun.
From what has been
already
stated,
it
necessarily
re-
sulted that the
theologies
2
of all the
peoples,
after those
of
the Hindoos and the
Persians,
down to those of the
Egyptians
and the
Greeks,
as we find them in their sacred
books
3
their
cosmogonies
4
were
nothing
but a
system
of
physics
a tabular
arrangement
of the
operations
of
nature,
enveloped
in
mysterious allegories
and
enigmatic
symbols.
5
Thus we find the
worship
of the Sun to be
the
primordial
basis of all the
worships
and
mysteries
of
antiquity.
The Sun
is,
in
fact,
to
every living thing upon
the
earth,
the most attractive and
interesting
of all the
heavenly
bodies. He
constantly
directs our attention and
attracts our admiration to the
magnificence
of the solar
system.
As the innate fire of the
body,
the fire of
nature,
author of
light,
heat,
and
ignition,
he is the efficient
cause of all
generation
;
for without him there can be no
movement,
no
existence,
no formation. He is
immense,
indivisible,
imperishable,
and
ever-existing.
It is this
want of
light
it is his creative
energy
which has been
felt
by
all
mankind,
who see
nothing
more
frightful
than
his continued absence. Thus he becomes their
divinity.
His
presence
is the
happy
influence that revives
every
thing,
and thus has he become the basis of all
worship,
whether ancient or modern then
directly,
now indi-
rectly
under
symbolic
forms
;
and the Brahma of the
Hindoos,
the Mithra of the
Persians,
the Osiris of the
Egyptians,
the Adonai of the
Phenicians,
the Adonis and
Apollo
of the Greeks are but
representatives
of the
Sun,
the
principles
of
beauty, generation,
and
perfection
the
images
of that
principle
of
reproduction
which
perpetu-
ates and
rejuvenates
the world. The Sun is likewise the
physical representative
of that
Supreme Being
that the
364 GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRi'.
Hindoos named
Baghaven,
the Persians
Zerouam-Akercfie,
the Hebrews
Jehovah,
the
Egyptians
Ammon and
Youpiter,
the Greeks
Zeus,
the Mohammedans
Allah,
and the Chris-
tians Lord and God.
The
legends upon
which
repose
the
worships
of the
ancients,
like that of Hiram
among
the
Freemasons,
6
are
founded
upon
the
apparent progress
of the
Sun, which,
to
speak figuratively, having
ceased to ascend when he
attains his
highest point
in the southern
horizon,
begins
to
descend,
and
finally
is
vanquished
and
put
to death
by
darkness,
which is
represented
in the same
language
as
the
spirit
of
evil; but,
returning
toward our
hemisphere,
he
appears
as the revived
conqueror.
This death and thia
resurrection thus
prefigure
the succession of
day
and
night
of that death which is a
necessity
of life of that
life which is the child of death in
fact,
of the combat of
those two
principles, directly
the
antagonists
of each
other,
and which
may
7
be discovered
every-where
in
Ty-
phon,
in
opposition
to
Osiris,
of the
Egyptians;
in'
Juno,
in
opposition
to
Hercules,
among
the
Greeks;
in the
Titans
against Jupiter,
in Ohromaze
against
Ahrimane,
among
the
Persians;
and in
Satan,
among
the Chris-
tians,
against
God
7
do we
perceive
the
types
of evil as
opposed
to
good
exhibited
among
the
peoples
of
every
clime and
worship,
whether
they
be more or less advanced
in the scale of civilization..
THE MYSTERIES OF INDIA.
Bhuddist
Priests, Brahmins,
or
Gymnosophists.
It is in
India,
the cradle of the human
race,
that the
historj'
of the world
began
;
to that vast and fruitful
country
are we indebted for the first families of man
;
for
no other
portion
of the world offered to him a
dwelling-
365
place
so rich and so delicious. In these
regions,
the most
elevated of the
globe, may
be found
vegetation
the most
luxuriant,
and the
products
of the soil the most useful
and varied. All
science, then,
as well as all
history,
indi-
cate the fact that it was in the
highest
lands of India man
first
appeared upon
our earth.
The Hindoos adored in
Bhagavan,
the eternal
being
who,
in his own
person,
fills all
worlds,
comprises
all the
forms and all the
principles
of
living creatures,
and who
acted
through
Brahma, Vishnu,
and Shiva the
triple
man-
ifestation of himself.
Menou,
a Hindoo
legislator,
is the
founder of the doctrine of the three
principles
or
gods;
the first of
whom,
named
Brahma,
being
the creator
(the
sun of
spring-time);
the
second,
named
Shiva,
being
the
destroyer (sun
of
winter);
and the
third,
named
Vishnu,
being
the
preserver (the
sun of
autumn, middle,
or
ripen-
ing sun)
;
all three
powers being
distinct,
but
forming
the
representatives
of an
only god
or
power.
The doctrines of the
immortality
of the
soul,
of future
rewards and
punishments,
and
transmigration
of souls
after
death, composed
the secret
teachings
of the
priests ;
and it was from them that the
neighboring peoples
bor-
rowed these doctrines and the idea of an
only all-powerful
and eternal God. After
Menou,
the most anicent re-
former of the
religion
of the Hindoos
(sun worship)
whose
name has been transmitted to
us,
came Bhudda-Shauca-
sam,
who announced himself as the mediator and
expiator
of the crimes of man
(3600
B.
C.),
to whom
succeeded,
about 1000
years apart,
three others of the like
name,
and of whom Bhudda-Guatama was the most celebrated
(557
B.
C.)
These four moral reformers
differently
modi-
fied the
principles
of
Menou,
and deduced therefrom
some
mystic
doctrines. Men of rare
genius,
without
doubt,
these four reformers were
regarded by
the Hindoos
as incarnations cf the
Supreme intelligence,
and,
in this
quality,
divine.
Following
this
example,
the other nations
elevated their
great
citizens and reformers to the rank
of
gods.
In
India,
as
subsequently
in
Persia,
Ethiopia,
and
Egypt,
the
priests
were the sole
depositaries
of
scripture
knowl-
edge,
and exercised
power
without bounds
;
for
every
thing
was founded
upon religion.
The
great
monuments
of India
8
are
immeasurably
ancient. The immense
grot-
toes,
believed to be the most ancient Hindoo
temples,
the
caverns of
Elephanta,
of
Elora,
of Salcette and of
Carli,
the
temple
of Kailaca a most
prodigious
monument,
cut
in the bosom of a rock
mountain,
an
open
and roofless
pantheon
of Indian divinities
presuppose
in the
people
who have
produced
them a
knowledge
of art and a
degree
of civilization far in advance of that of the
Egyptians,
as
evinced in their
works,
and exhibit the
magnificence
of a
highly enlightened people.
All that mind could invent
and heart
appreciate
of the
grand
and -the
beautiful,
the
noble and the elevated in
conception,
the
elegant
in
design,
and the
perfect
in
execution,
are found united in these
groups
of sanctuaries. These works recall far distant
periods, going
back to the
night
of
time,
and since which
immense intellectual
development
has
wrought
a
gradual
change
in the
history
of the Hindoo
people.
The
bas-reliefs
the
figures,
and the thousands of columns which ornament
those Hindoo
temples, scooped
out and
graven
in the solid
rock,
indicate at least three thousand
years
of consecutive
labor,
and their
present appearance
indicates the
lapse
of
a like number of
years
since
they
were finished.
.
The doctrine of
Bhudda,
9
or
Brahma, passed
into Asia
Minor and became the basis of the Persian
worship,
and
subsequently
that of the
Ethiopian.
Bhuddism
penetrated
into
China;
in that
country
Bhudda was called Fot
(Boodj,
and his
priests
bonzes. His
worship spread
over all
Thibet,
where it was known as
Lamaism,
from the title of Dalai-
Lama
given
to the
supreme pontiff
of the
worship,
who
resided at Lahsa. The
higher
classes of the Chinese have
MYSTERIES.
387
generally adopted
the doctrine of Confucius
(Kong-Tseu),
the reformer of the
degenerate
Bhuddisrn,
or
Lamaism,
which,
in our
day,
fills a
part
of China and
Japan
with
the most ridiculous and
revolting superstitions.
MYSTERIES OF THE PERSIANS.
Worship of
Fire;
worship of
the
Magi; worship of
Mitkra;
worship of
Zoroaster.
(Assyria,
Babylon,
and
Chaldea.)
The ancient Persians adored a
being
unrevealed,
and
who,
self-consuming, self-absorbing,
lost his
individuality
under the name of Zerouane-akerene. The
worship
of
fire,
among
the
Persians,
preceded
the
worship
of the
sun.
Horn,
their first
prophet,
was its founder. After
him came
Djemschid,
who
brought
them the
Worship
of the
Hindoos,
founded
upon
the three
principles
or
gods personified by
Brahma, Vishnu,
and
Shiva,
mani-
fested
by
the
principles
of
generation, preservation,
and
destruction. But the
astrological
doctrine of the
magi
was
developed by time,
and after
they
had
acquired
a
gen-
eral
knowledge
of the use of the
globes, they
observed
vegetable
and animal nature from a
single point
of view.
Afterward,
perceiving
that this nature was
susceptible
of
division,
composed,
as it
was,
of a
principle
of life which
was the
presence
of the
sun,
causing
heat and
light,
and a
principle
of
death,
caused
by
his
absence,
and
consequent
cold and
darkness, they
divided it. Then the
priests,
aban-
doning
the
system
of the
Hindoos,
and
admiring nothing
but the
principles
of
good
and
bad,
or the
struggle
between
light
and
darkness,
life and
death, supplied
with their im-
agination
a
personification
of each of these
principles.
The
good principle
received the name of Ohromaze and
the bad that of Ahrimane. The
priests
of this
worship,
called
jnayi
\vere celebrated for their mathematical and
astrological knowledge,
which
they
had imbibed from their
neighbors
the
Hindoos;
all the occult sciences were
prac-
ticed
by
them,
and
by
the exercise of which
they
attained
the name of
being possessed
of
supernatural power, and,
indeed,
among
the
people
and their
kings, they
were all-
powerful.
The most ancient and the most celebrated of
their
temples
was that consecrated to
Belus,
god
of
light,
at
Babylon.-
This
temple,
called the Tower of Babel.
11
was
erected
by
them,
with a
great
number of other
monuments,
at
Persepolis,
at
Ecbatane,
and at
Babylon,
12
and
to-day
is
buried under a
vigorous vegetation
;
but their
mausoleums,
cut into the
everlasting
rock,
yet
exist,
to remind
present
generations
of their
science,
their
morals,
and
respect
for
their dead.
A
reformer,
named Mithra
(2250
B.
C.),
born in
Midia,
overthrew
among
the Medes the
system
of the
magi,
and
founded a
worship
more austere.
Deified,
Mithra was re-
garded by
the Medes as the
personification
of Ohromaze
and
Ahrimane,
the divine
duality
of the
Persians,
and
consequently
became himself the
object
of a
special
wor-
ship.
The
mysteries
of this
worship
were celebrated in
subterranean
temples,
as
among
the ancient
Hindoos,
and
were called "Retreats of Mithra."
13
The
aspirants
for the
privileges
of these
mysteries
submitted to
proofs
so terrible
that
many
became insensible. In the initiation there were
seven d
:
stinct
degrees.
Mithra,
regarded
as the
sun-god,
is
represented
in Persian art under the form of a
young
man with a
Phrygian
bonnet, armed with a
sword,
which
he is in the act of
plunging
into the throat of a bull.
14
Another
religious legislator,
named
Zoroaster,
(1220
to
1200 B.
C.)
who came after
Mithra,
renewed his
worship.
Zoroaster
15
having
found it
necessary
to
quit
his
country,
then
subjugated,
retired with some
disciples
into a cavern
of the
neighboring
mountains in
Persia,
which he there-
upon
consecrated to Mithra
(the sun),
creator of all
tilings.
Tliis retreat he
partitioned
into
geometrical divisions,
which
represented
the
climates,
the
elements,
the
plants, and,
in
fact,
imitated the universe. There he
studied,
with his
disciples,
the movements of the
heavenly
hodies and the
mechanism of the world. His
theology
was that of the
Hindoos the
study
of nature and its
original
contriver
in the movements of the celestial and terrostrial bodies.
Zoroaster,
after
having passed twenty years
in this re-
treat,
returned to his
country,
and
began
to
promulgate
his
doctrine at
Bactria,
the
capital
of the
kingdom
of the Bac-
trians. There he became their
prophet,
and the
grand
master of the
priest magicians,
who were then more
power-
ful than ever. He reassembled the remains of the ancient
laws of the
magi,
which dated back to the
highest
anti-
quity,
and formed with his own
theology
a new
body
of
doctrines, contained in the
Zendavesta,
16
of which he is the
author,
and which became the
religious
code of the Medes
and the
Bactrians, and,
subsequently,
that of the
Persians,
Chaldeans,
and Parthians.
The
great
institutions of the
primitive
races those
learned
corporations
in which
they
took so much
pride
have
disappeared
;
and we are
pained
to
recognize,
in the
unhappy
Parsees of
to-day, disgraced
and
persecuted,
the
scattered remains of an ancient
enlightened people,
and
the last inheritors of much that was
glorious.
Neverthe-
less,
by
the
practice
of some
simple symbolic
ceremonies,
to which the Parsees themselves are no less attached than
their
opponents
are zealous to
proscribe,
we are assured
that
they
are the successors of the ancient
Mithraiques.
Their
meetings
imitations of those of the retreat of
O
Mithra have caused them to be
accused,
according
to
modern
custom,
of the most atrocious
crimes,
and to re-
ceive the
epithet
of Guebers a term
that,
from all
time,
designates
that moral
turpitude
attributed
by
the
igno-
rant to the members of all secret societies.
24
370 GENERAL HISTORY OP
fREEMASONRY.
MYSTERIES OF ISIS AND OSIRIS.
Ethicpia
and
Egypt.
The
worship
of the ancient
Ethiopians
and
Egyptians
,s a sort of
pantheism,
in which all the forces of nature are
personified
and deified.
Superior
to all the
gods,
however,
is
placed
a God eternal and
infinite,
who is the source of
all
things.
The most ancient
trinity
of the
Ethiopians
and the
people
of that
part
of
Abyssinia adjoining
Arabia,
the
blest,
and
of
Chaldea,
was
Cneph-Ammon (Youpiter), god creator,
of
which the emblem was a
ram;
Ptha
(Brama-Theos), god
of
matter,
primitive
earth,
the emblem of which was an
egg
or
sphere
; Ncith,
god
of
thought,
the emblem of
which was
light,
which
germinates
all
things.
Thus was
comprised
a
triple
manifestation of an
only
God
(lehov),
considered under three
connections,
the creative
power,
goodness,
and wisdom
merely
the Hindoo
trinity,
with
other names.
The number of
super-celestial gods augment by
follow-
ing
those of
Fta,
the
god
of lire and of
life,
representing
the
generative principle
;
of
Pan-Mendes,
the male
prin-
ciple,
and
Athor,
the female
principle,
which are the aux-
iliaries of
Fta,
generator;
of Frea or
Osiris,
the
sun;
of
Pijoh
or
Isis,
the moon.
But,
besides these which we
have
mentioned, they
had twelve other celestial and three
terrestrial
gods.
Of these the celestial
gods
were called
respectively
Zeous, Eempha,
Artes,
Surot.
Pi-IIcrmcs,
Imuthes,
corresponding
to the
mythological Jupiter,
Sat-
urn, Mars, Venus,
Mercury,
and one other known but to
the
Ethiopians,
viz. :
Starry
Heavens. These were all male
gods;
and after them came six
females,
viz. :
Rhea,
or the
Earth,
the
Moon, Ether, Fire, Air,
and Water. Then, in
the third
rank,
were
placed
the terrestrial
gods,
viz. :
Osiris,
MYSTERIES.
S71
genius
of
good,
whose
brother,
Typhon,
was
genius
of evil
;
Isis,
the wife of
Osiris,
and
Horns,
their
son,
and
genius
of labor. This
trinity subsequently
became the
principal
object
of the
Egyptian worship. Isis,
as the
generative
divinity,
was sister and wife of
Osiris,
the
sun-god,
and
fig'jivd
as the
earth,
which
latter,
in
fact,
is
simîy
lendered
productive by
the action of the
former;
and
hence that
worship
which,
at a later
day, merged,
in the
eyes
of other
nations,
into
bestiality, though
held
very
sacred
among
the
Egyptians.
The
gymnosophist priests
who came from the banks of
the
Euphrates
in
Ethiopia brought
with them their science
and
doctrines,
and cultivated the
knowledge
of them
among
this
people. They
formed
colleges
known as the
colleges
of the
priests,
the
principal
one of which was at
Meroe,
the
capital
of
Ethiopia,
and the
mysteries
of their
worship
were
celebrated in the
temple
of Amnion
17
(You-piter),
renowned
for its oracle.
Ethiopia,
then a
powerful State,
18
and which
had
preceded Egypt
in
civilization,
19
had a theocratic
gov-
ernment. The
priest
was more
powerful
than the
king,
and could
put
him to death in the name of the
divinity.
The
magnificence
of the ruins of
Axom,
with its
obelisks,
hieroglyphics, temples,
tombs,
and
pyramids
which sur-
round ancient
Meroe,
with a hundred other
pyramids
in
Ethiopia,
are
evidently
of a
period prior
to that of the
eight pyramids
of
Ghizze,
20
near ancient
Memphis,
and
which date from the sixth to the twelfth centuries before
Christ. It then becomes certain that the Theban
priests
went forth from the
colleges
of
Ethiopia.
Hermes,
21
priest
king,
the deified author of the
castes,
and
who,
bound
by
the
legends
of Isis and
Osiris,
taught
to the
Egyptian priests
the occult sciences. The
priests
committed to the
only
books which at this
early
time were to be found
among
them the sciences called
to-day
hermetic,
and to them
added their own discoveries and the relations which were
made to them
by
their
sybils.
22
They occupied
themselves
372 GENERAL HISTORY OP FREEMASONRY
particularly
with the more abstract
sciences,
by
which
they
discovered those famous
geometric
theorems which
Pytha-
goras subsequently
obtained a
knowledge
of from
them,
and
by
which
they
calculated the
eclipses
three hun-
dred
years
before
Caesar,
and
regulated
the
year
that we
call Julian. Sometimes
they
would descend to
engage
in
some
practical
researches
upon
the cares of
life,
and read
to their associates the fruits of their
investigations;
and
sometimes
they
would,
in the cultivation of the tine
arts,
inspire
the enthusiasm of the
people
who constructed the
avenues of
Thebes,
2"
and the
Labyrinth,
the admirable
temples
of
Karnak,
of
Dendorah,
of
Edfou,
and of
Philae;
those
people
who sat
up
so
many monolythic
obelisks,
who
hollowed,
under the name of lake
Moeris,
an
ocean,
to
guarantee fertility
to the
country;
who constructed subter-
ranean
cities,
24
the wonders of which
equaled
those of
any
sunlit
city; who, prodigal
of their
labor,
and
caring
for
the residence of the dead as much as for that of the
living,
hid under
ground
the colors of the most beautiful
paintings
in the tombs of their
ancestors;
to this
people, finally,
whose monuments
delight
in collossal
proportions only
be-
cause the ideas which
inspired
them were
grand.
The wisdom of the
initiates,
the
high degree
of
morality
and science which
they taught
excited the emulation of
the most eminent
men,
irrespective
of rank or
fortune,
and
induced
them,
notwithstanding
the terrible
proofs
to which
they
had to
submit,
to seek admission into the
mysteries
of
Isis and Osiris.
The
worship
and the
mysteries
of the
Egyptians
at first
passing through
Moses
among
the
Ilebrexvs,
where the
primitive god
of the
Ethiopians, Youpiter
or
Jupiter,
re-
ceived the name of You
ovjehova^
and
Typhon,
the
genius
of
evil,
was called
Satan,
and
represented
under the form
of a
serpent, passed subsequently
into
Phenicia,
where
they
were celebrated at
Tyre.
2"
There the name of Osiris was
changed
to Adonai or
Dyonisius,
which also meant the sun
AXCIENT WORSHIPS AND
MYSTERIES.
373
Then these
mysteries
were
successively
introduced
into
Assyria, Babylonia,
Persia,
Greece,
Sicily,
and
Italy.
In
Greece and in
Sicily
Osirus took the name of
Bacchus,
and
Isis that of
Ceres,
of
Cybele,
of
Khea,
and of
Venus;
while
at Home she was called the
good goddess.
MYSTERIES OF THE HEBREWS.
This
worship
was founded
by
Moses,
a son of the tribe
of
Levi,
educated in
Egypt
and initiated at
Ileliopolis
into
the
mysteries
of Isis and
Osiris,
of which he became a
priest.
Informed of his
origin,
he forsook the court of
Pharaoh at the
age
of
forty years,
and,
it is
said,
passed
the
subsequent forty }'ears
of his life in
exile,
after which
he abode with the Hebrews. Driven from
Egypt,
27
under
the
reign
of
Amonophis,
because
they
were infected with
the
leprosy,
this
people
elected Moses as their chief. He
became their
legislator
and
adapted
to the ideas of his
peo-
ple
the science and
philosophy
which he had obtained in
the
Egyptian mysteries; proofs
of this are to be found in
the
symbols,
in the
initiation,
and in his
precepts
and com-
mandments. Moses
passes
for the author of the first five
books of the Old Testament of our
Bible,
or the Penta-
teuch.
28
The wonders which Moses narrates as
having
taken
place upon
the mountain of
Sinai,
upon
the occasion
of his
reception
of the tables of the
law, are,
in
part,
a dis-
guised
account of the initiation of the Hebrews. Moses
formed with his
priests
a
separate
caste or
class,
who were
alone
possessed
of scientitic
knowledge,
and \vho stole
the
knowledge
of their sacred books from the
"gentiles:"
who forbade their own
people
to enter their
dwellings,
and
punished
with death the Levites
who,
being placed
in
charge
of the
sanctuary, neglected
that
charge night
or
day,
as also the timorous
person,
unknown
to their
order,
who
should dare to
approach
the entrance to the tabernacle.
Moses wished to
separate
the Hebrew nation from
every
other,
and to form of it an
empire
isolated and
distinct;
and,
for this
purpose,
he conceived the
design
of
fixing
its
foundation
upon
the
religious prejudices
of his
people,
and
erecting
around them a sacred
rampart
of
opinions
and
rites. But in vain did he
prescribe
the
worship
of
symbols
;
the
dogma
of an
only
God,
30
which he
taught,
was
equally
the
Egyptian god,
the invention of the
priests
of whom he
had been a
disciple.
In the construction of the
tabernacle,
likewise,
Moses observed the manner of the
Egyptian
priests,
and its
proportions
and measurements were an imi-
tation of their
system
of the world. This tabernacle was
divided into three
parts
: the
holy
of
holies,
the
sanctuary,
or court of the
priests,
arid the court of the
people.
Within
the
holy
of holies none but the
high priest
was
admitted,
and he but once a
year;
within the
sanctuary,
or court of
the
priests,
none but the Levites and the
priests
;
and the
people
were confined to the outer court of the
people.
Moses,
who
had,
not
only
in the construction of the taber-
nacle,
but in
many
other
matters,
imitated the
symbolism
of the
Egyptian priests, sought,
however,
to efface from
his
religion
all that recalled the
worship
of the
stars,
31
but
in
vain;
for a crowd of its characteristics remained. Tho
twelve
signs
of the zodiac were but
repeated
on the ban-
ners of the twelve
tribes,
and on the twelve
jewels
in the
urim of the
high priest;
the
Pleiades,
or seven
stars,
in the
seven
lights
of the sacred
candlesticks;
the feast of the
two
equinoxes, openings
and
closings
of the two hemi-
spheres,
the
ceremony
of the lamb or celestial
ram;
finally,
the name of
Osiris,
preserved
in his
canticles,
and the ark
or
coffer,
imitated from the tomb within which this
god
was
inclosed,
all served as witnesses of the
birth-place
of
these ideas and to their extraction from an
Egyptian
source.
Subsequently
we find in the construction of the
temple
at
Jerusalem but a
repetition,
on a
grander
scale,
of the same
MYSTERIES.
375
proportions
and measurements which
characterize the tab-
ernacle of the
fugitive
Israelites in the wilderness.
All the doctrines of the Hebrews were not written
;
they
had oral traditions which were known to but a few
among
them. These traditions were
preserved
in the arcance of
divers secret Hebrew associations
among
the
Kasedeens,
the
Thempeutes,
and the Essenians.*
2
It was in this latter
sect that Jesus
Christ,
the founder of
Christianity,
33
was
educated,
and wherein he imbibed the sublime doctrine
which he revealed to the world. In the
beginning,
the
initiation into the
mysteries
of
Christianity,
34
which was
composed
of three
degrees,
was similar to that of the
pa-
gans,
and the connection between the Christian
legend
and
all those
by
which the
priests allegorical ly represented
the
annual revolution of the sun are
very striking,
as
they
can
not fail to excite the
thought
that the
disciples
of Christ
had
prefigured
his
birth,
his
life,
and his death under solar
appearances.
Among
ths secret societies who best resisted the uni-
versal
tendency,
and transmitted an
uninterrupted
succes-
sion of the
mysteries,
after the fall of
Jerusalem,
should be
placed,
after the
Essenians,
those called the
Cabbalists,
who
have never ceased to
exist,
and of whom there are
to-day
numerous branches
among
the Jews of the eastern
world,
in
Germany
and Poland.
MYSTERIES OF ELEITSIS.
The
worship
of
Ceres,
the
goddess
of
agriculture, (the
Isis of the
Egyptians,)
was established at
Eleusis,
after its
initiation in
Egypt,
toward the fifteenth
century
before
Christ. This
worship
was founded
upon
that of Isis aiuJ
Osiris and the
Egyptian gods,
and
subsequently
became,
among
the
Greeks,
so fertile in
imagination,
the
beginning
of the errors of
Polytheism. By
the abuse of the
figura-
tive
language,
the
phenomena
of the heavens and the earth
became,
in this
system,
a record of human
events, births,
marriages,
adulteries, combats,
flights,
and murders in a
word,
fables and
myths,
in the
representation
of which
their
original meaning
was lost.
The initiation into the
mysteries
of Ceres was divided
into
greater
arid lesser
mysteries;
the latter were celebrated
at the time of the vernal
equinox,
and the former at that
of autumn. The lesser
mysteries
were a
preparation
for
the
greater mysteries by
the
young,
of
purifications
and
expiations,
to be followed
by
a historic
interpretation
of the
fables. In
submitting
to
them,
the
youths
were
purged
of
the
polytheism
of their
principal
fancies and immoralities.
In the
greater mysteries
was
begun
the
allegorical explana-
tions of the most abstruse
mysteries. By
the initiation
into these
greater mysteries, polytheism
was
destroyed
at
its
root,
and the doctrine of the
unity
of God and the im-
mortality
of the soul was
taught, together
with a revelation
of
philosophical
truths more
extended,
more
profound,
and
more
mysterious
than those of
any
other known
worship.
In
lapse
of time these
mysteries
were altered and
corrupted,
like all the others.
MYSTEKIES OF SAMOTHEACIA.
The
worship
and the
mysteries
of the Cabires
(Egyptian
gods),
established in the
island,
of
Samothracia,
by
Or-
pheus (1330
B.
C.),
were
originally
from
Egypt, having
passed through
Phenicia and there taken other names.
The four
principal gods
of this
worship
were
called,
in
Samothracia, Axieros, Axiokersa, Axiokersos,
and Cad-
millus. The initiation was based
upon
a solar
legend,
like
that of Osiris and
Typhon,
Adonis and Venus. Subse-
MYSTERIES.
377
i
qucntly
the names of the Cabires was
again crianged
to
that of
Ceres, Proserpine, Pluto,
and
Mercury (Ilcrmcs).
MYSTERIES OF THE PHRYGIANS AND PHENICIANS
The
mysterious worship
of the
Phrygians
in honor of
Cybele (the goddess
of nature or
reproduction),
and of
her son
Atys,
had two
temples,
the one
upon
Mount
Ida,
and the other in the
city
of Pessinuntus.
Atys
was a
deified
priest,
who
taught
the
Phrygians
the
mysteries
of nature. lie
represents
the
sun,
and in the
legend
which forms the basis of the
initiation,
he is
subjected
to
the same fortune as Osiris and Adonis
always
the fictitious
death of the sun and his resurrection.
The
worship
and the
mysteries
of
Adonai, among
the
Phenicians and the
Syrians,
is
identically
the same.
Cybele
there takes the name of
Adonai,
(of
which the
Greek was
Adonis,) always
indicative of the
goddess
Nature, who,
as widow of him in whom she had her
joy
and her fruit
fulness,
renews with haste her vows at that
moment
when,
conqueror
of
darkness,
he has
again
as-
sumed the heat and
brilliancy
which he had lost.
The feasts which were celebrated
among
the
Phrygians
and Phenicians took
place
at the time of the
equinoxes.
Their most celebrated
temples
are to be found at Balbek
38
and at
Tadmor,
known
to-day
as
Palmyra.
37
MYSTERIES OF THE ROMANS.
The most ancient
god
of Latium
brought
from the
East, however,
and not
aboriginal
with the Latins was
Janus
38
or
Saturn,
who took
many
names and
many
attri-
378
butes,
without
ceasing
to be
recognizable.
He
presided
over revolutions in
nature,
and
particularly
that
principal
and most remarkable of all
revolutions,
the
year
or circle of
the months. He is sometimes
regarded
as
time,
sometimes
as
astronomy,
and often the sun
himself,
the
great regu-
lator of the seasons and the
cycles. Janus,
with his
double
face,
with the
keys
which also served him as a
more distinctive
mark, represented
the end and the
begin-
ning
of a
period
: he
opened
and closed the
year,
which
commenced with the
equinox
of
spring-time
and ended
with the shortest
day
in December. The
eagle, given
as
a
companion
to Janus
(the
St. John of the
Freemasons),
is the famous cock of the Guebers.
The
myth upon
which
reposed
the
worship
of Janus or
Saturn was
very mysterious,
and was
explained
but to the
highest
initiates. The saturnalian feasts were the cele-
bration of the winter solstice.
The
worship
of the
good goddess,
which followed that
of
Janus,
was
brought
to
Italy by
a
colony
of
Phrygians.
The
mysteries
of Eleusis were
imported by
Roman in-
itiates from Greece. This
worship, adopted
and
propa-
gated by
the
great legislator
Numa
Pompilius,
became
the basis of the
religious
ceremonies and the initiation of
the
colleges
of builders founded
by
him.
The
mysteries
of Mithra and of
Isis, which,
under the
reign
of the
emperors,
were established at
Home,
were
polluted
with
corruption
from the
beginning,
and at
many
times their abuse caused them to be
proscribed. They
were a bad resemblance of the old
Egyptian
or Persian
ceremonies from which
they
were
borrowed,
and like
them
only
in name.
Rome,
which had received from the East
gods, legends,
and
religious
customs, having
become the
conqueror
of
that vast
country,
returned to it more than one new
divinity
and new forms of
worship.
379
SYBILS AND OJ&CLES
The
Clairvoyants
and Ecstatic Somnambulists
of
Our
Day.
The name of
sj'bils
was
given by
the
Egyptians
to
those
priestesses
who were endowed with the
gift
of clair-
voyance,
whether
acquired naturally
or
by
means of
mag-
netism,
and who revealed to the
priests
a
portion
of the
secrets of
nature;
while the name of oracles was
given
to
those
\yho, plunged
into an ecstatic
state, predicted
future
events. There were
generally
reckoned ten of the
first,
viz.: the
Cumean,
the
Lybian,
the
Chaldean,
the
Delphic,
the
Erythrean,
the
Samnian,
the
Lucauian,
the
Phrygian,
the
Hellespontine,
and the Tiburtine. The most famous
oracles were those of Fta at
Memphis,
of Frea at
Ileliop-
olis,
of Isis at
Bubaste,
of
Trephonius
at
Boetia,
of Am-
phiarus
at
Oropus,
of Fortune at
Atium,
of
Serapis
at
Alexandria,
of Hercules at
Athens,
of
Êsculapius
at
Epidorus
and
Rome,
of Pan at
Arcadia,
of Diana at
Ephesus,
of Minerva at
Mycenus,
of Venus at
Paphos,
of
Mercury
at
Patras,
of Mars in
Thrace,
of
Apollo
at Del-
phos,
at
Claros,
and at
Miletus,
and of Minerva at Saos.
The Jews also had their
sybils,
of whom
Huldah,
in the
time of the
king
Jesias,
was the most celebrated.
380 GENERAL. HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.
THE
LEGISLATORS,
REFORMERS AKD FOUNDERS
OF
WORSHIPS AND MYSTERIES
INDIA.
Bhudda
(celestial man),
the 'three most ancient reform-
ers to whom this name is
given by
the
Hindoos,
and whose
memory they
venerate,
belong
to that
period
when,
ac-
cording
to the
hieroglyphic
accounts,
the stars were
per-
sonitied. The Hindoos had arrived at a
high degree
of
civilization a
long
time before the advent of
Menou,
as is
proven by
their monuments
;
and centuries before his
coming they
communicated their science and their astro-
nomical
knowledge
to the Persians and the
Egyptians,
see-
ing
that the establishment of the Hindoo zodiac
belongs
to the
century
that
elapsed
between 4700 and 4600 B. C.
The three first Bhuddas should then be classed at from
5500 to 5000 B. C.
Menou,
Hindoo
legislator,
founder of the doctrine of the
three
principles
or
God,
(the
sun of
spring-time,
the sun
of
summer,
and the sun of
winter,)
all three distinct and
yet forming
an
only god,
which were
subsequently personi-
fied
by
Brahma, Vishnu,
and Shiva
(the
sun in its three
forms of action as the source of all triune
systems).
The
doctrine of Menou is contained in the
book,
the Manava-
Dharma-Shastra,
of which a second Menou was the author.
He
disappeared
between 4000 and 3800 B. C.
Bhudda-
Shaucasam,
reformer and founder of the doctrine
contained in the
Bhagavat-Ghita,
the most ancient, book
ANCIENT WORSHIPS AXD
MYSTERIES.
381
of the
Hindoos,
which
goes
back to from 3400 to
3100
B. C. This reformer is considered as the first
incarnation
of the
Supreme Being,
and at the same time the mediator
and
expiator
of the crimes of men. He
disappeared
be-
tween 3600 and 3500 B. C.
Blnulda-Gonagom.
a
reformer,
who was also deified as the
second incarnation of the
Supreme Being.
lie
disappeared
about the
year
2368 B. C.
Bhudda-Gaspa,
a
reformer,
who was also deified as the
third incarnation of the
Supreme Being,
and who
disap-
peared
about the
year
1027 B. C.
Bluulda- Somalia
-Guatama,
a
profound philosopher,
author
of the Guadsour
(Khghiour),
which contained his doctrines
and
precepts,
lie was deified as the fourth incarnation
of the
Supreme Being.
Born in the
year 607,
he died in
the
year
557 B. C.
PERSIA.
Horn,
founder of the
worship
of
fire,
between 3800 and
4000 B. C.
JDjemschid,
founder of the
worship
of the
sun,
between
3700
and 3600 B. C.
The
Magi
Priests,
reformers of the
worship
of the
sun,
about 3600 B. C.
Milhra,
reformer of the
degenerate worship
of
Media,
deified as the
representative
of the
sun,
about the
year
2550 B. C.
Zoroaster,
prophet
of the
Persians,
grand
master of the
Magi priests,
and founder of an austere
worship,
between
1400 and 1300 B. C.
ETHIOPIA.
Osiris,
warrior and
civilizer,
reformer of (lie
worship
of
Cneph-Ammon,
of Fta and
ISTeith,
the most ancient
trinity
of the
Abyssinians,
above which was
placed
an eternal
and infinite
god (lehov),
who is the source of all
things.
Osiris
appeared
about 5000 B. C.
Priests
of Meroe,
founders of the
worship
of the twelve
celestial
gods,
the same
being
the
powers
of
nature,
the
planets,
and the elements
personified.
The celestial
bull,
which
opened
the
equinox
of
spring-time (from
between the
years
4580 and
2428),
was the
object
of a
special worship.
The
temple
of Meroe was erected between the
years
4700
and 4600 B.
0.,
and the zodiac of the
temple
of Esneh
was erected between 4600 and 4500 B. C.
EGYPT.
Priests
of Egypt,
reformers of the
worship
of the twelve ce-
lestial
gods
of the subordinates
You-piter, supreme god
to the
trinity
of Osiris
(god
of the
sun),
of Isis
(the moon),
and Horns their son
(the earth),
which became the
prin-
cipal worship
of the
Egyptians.
Besides the
worship
of
the bull
(Aphis), they
also celebrated that of the celestial
ram, which,
in its
turn,
and
by
the
precession
of the
equi-
noxes,
opened
the
equinox
of
spring-time,
from the
years
2540 to 323 B. C. These
priests
ruled in
Egypt
between
the
years
4200 and 4000 B. C.
Hermes,
priest-king,
reformer,
author of charts and oc-
cult
sciences,
who
taught
and introduced them into the
mysteries.
His doctrine and science are contained in the
books which bear his name. He
disappeared
in the
year
3370 B. C.
Moses,
a
priest
of
Heliopolis,
chief and
legislator
of the
Hebrews,
founder of their
worship,
and the doctrines of
which are contained in the first five books of the Old Tes-
tament;
born in 1725 B. C.
GREECE.
Orpheus, philosopher
and
legislator,
initiated in
Egypt,
founded the
mysteries
in the island of Samothracia in the
year
1530 B. C.
Triptoleme,
son of the
king Eleusis,
initiated in
Egypt,
founded the
mysteries
of Eleusis in the
year
1500 B. C.
ANCIENT
WORSHIPS AND MYSTERIES.
Pythagoras,
a celebrated
philosopher,
initiated into the
mysteries
of
Egypt
and
Persia,
founded at Crotona his
mysterious
school in which were united the characteristics
of
worship
and initiation. His doctrine embraced all the
sciences known in his time.
ROME.
Numa
Pompilius,
the
great legislator
and civil
izer,
in-
troduced into Rome the
mysteries
of Greece. lie founded
the
colleges
of architects and builders
(the
cradle of Free-
masonry)
in the
year
715 B. C.
CHINA.
Confucius (Kong-Tseu),
a celebrated
philosopher
and re-
former of the ancient
degenerated worship.
His
philo-
sophical religious
doctrine is contained in the
Chon-Kiug,
the morals of which are
among
the most beautiful. Born
in
600,
he died in the
year
550 B. C.
Lao-Tseu,
a
reformer,
who
preached
a
mystical
doctrine
which is to be found in the
Tao-te-King (primitive reason),
was considered
by
the Chinese as an incarnation of the
Supreme Being.
He lived in the sixth
century
B. C.
JUDEA.
Jesus
Christ,
founder of
Christianity,
and author of
evangelical morality, breathing peace
and
charity,
the
most
simple
and the most sublime which has ever been
taught
to man. It is to be found contained in the books
of the New Testament. His birth
gives
us a new
era,
and
his death took
place
A. D. 33.
384 GENERAL HISTOKY OF FREEMASONRY.
NOTES.'
1.
Worships
and
Mysteries.
Mystery properly signifies
that
portion
of the doctrines of
any
form of
religion
for which reason is unable to
account,
and
which,
consequently,
is
dependent upon
faith. Thus the life of Christ
presents,
as we find it in the
Evangelists, many mysteries,
as the
incarnation,
the
nativity,
his
passion,
his resurrection
; and,
in the
earlier
days
of
Christianity, baptism,
the
eucharist,
and the other
sacraments,
were all called
holy mysteries.
In the
mysteries
of
Egypt
and that of some other
nations,
the exterior
worship,
the
processions, etc.,
all that took
place
outside of the
temples,
and
in the courts of the
temples,
constituted the feasts. In these
every body,
even the
slaves,
could
participate
and assist
;
but the
initiated alone were admitted to the
mysteries.
2.
Theology of
the Ancients.
All the ancient
peoples having
their
colleges
of
priests
and
astronomical and
astrological
books
cotemponmeously,
were alike
affected
by
the
discoveries,
disputes,
errors, or
perfections
that in
all times have
agitated
the students of nature and
philosophy.
The more we have
penetrated, during
the
past thirty
or
forty
years,
into the secret
sciences,
and
especially
into the
astronomy
and
cosmogony
of the modern
Asiatics,
the Chinese and
Burmese,
the more we are convinced of the
affinity
of their doctrine with
those of the ancient
peoples
from whom
they
have descended.
Indeed,
in certain
particulars
it has been transmitted more
pure
than with
us,
because it has not been altered
by
those anthro-
pomorphical
innovations which has denaturalized
every thing
else.
This
comparison
of ancient and modern
theology
is a fruitful
mine, which,
if entered in the
right spirit
and with the mind
divested of
prejudice,
will afford a crowd of ideas
equally
new
and
historically correct;
but to
appreciate
and welcome
them,
it is
necessary
that the reader should also be free from
prejudice.
When the Chaldean
priests
were
seeking
a
general knowledge
of the earth's
phenomena,
as
appears by
researches in the books
of the
Hindoos,
they
studied from a
single point
of view the
Serving
to illustrate and authorize
sundry passages
of the text of tlie
Worship
and the
Mysteries of
the Ancient Eastern World.
NOTES.
885
operations
of
vegetable
and animal
nature, and,
concluding upon
the
hypothesis
that the sun
represented
the
principles
of heat
and life, and darkness those of cold and
death,
from this
basis,
true as it most
assuredly
is,
have been built
up
the
innumerable
fictions which
disfigure
all ancient
theology.
3. Sacred Books
of
all the
Peoples.
The Yedas or Vedams are the sacred books of the
Hindoos,
as
the Bible is ours.
They
are three in
number,
the
llig-Veda,
the
Yadjour-Veda,
and the Sama-Veda. These books are
very rare,
being
written in the most ancient known
language
of the Brah
mins. Those who count four Vedas have added the Attar-Veda,
which treats of the ceremonies. In addition to these books there
are a collection of commentaries
upon
them which is called the
Oupanashada,
of which a French translation has been
published
by Anquetil Duperron,
under the title of
Oupen
akhat a curious
book in
this,
that it
gives
an idea of all the others. The date
r
)f the
Vedas,
twenty-five
to
thirty
centuries before our
era,
and
'heir
contents,
show that all the reveries of the Greek
metaphy-
sicians came from India. After the Vedas come the
Shasters,
to
the.
number of six.
They
treat of
theology
and science.
Then,
A
o the number of
eight,
come the
Pouranas,
which treat of
mythol-
ogy
and
history.
The book entitled Manava-Dharma-Shastra con-
tains the laws of the first reformer Menou.
After the sacred books of the Hindoos coir^ those of the Per-
5ans,
the Sadder and the
Zend-Avesta,
the
religious
code of the
Bactrians,
Assyrians, Chaldeans,
and Medes.
They
contain the
doctrine of Zoroaster. The
Boun-Dehesch,
the book of Genesis
of the
Parsees,
successors of the ancient
Persians,
is a
compila-
tion of the ancient laws of the
Magi.
After these come the five
books of
Hermes,
the
priest-king
of
Egypt,
founder of the
castes,
who lived about 3370 B. C. Then the
Taote-King
and
Chou-King
of the
Chinese,
the first of which contains the
metaphysical
doc-
trines of
Lao-Tseu,
and the second the
sublimely
moral doctrines
of
Kong-Tseu (Confucius.)
Then,
in
point
of
time,
may
be
ranked our
Bible,
the Old Testament of which contains the cos-
mogony
of the Jews and
Christians,
and the laws of
Moses,
with
a
history
of the Hebrew
people,
and the New Testament of which
contains the
Gospels
of
evangelical morality, peace,
and
charity
of Jesus
Christ,
the founder of
Christianity.
The Koran of Ma-
homet,
containing
the
precepts
and doctrine transmitted
by
him
to his
followers,
would
necessarily
follow,
to make the list com-
plete.
Egypt
is the
only country
which
possessed
a
complete
code of
doctrines of
great antiquity.
Clement
of Alexandria has trans-
mitted to us a curious detail of
forty-two
volumes which were
25
carried in the
processions
of Isis.
"
The
chief,
or
singer," says
he,
"
carries an instrument
symbolical
of
music,
and. two books
of
Mercury (Hermes),
one of them
containing
the
hymns
of the
gods,
and the other the list of the
kings.
After him comes the
horoseopist,
observer of the
seasons, carrying
a
palm-branch
and
a
time-piece symbolic
of
jistrology.
He has to know
by
heart the
four books of
Mercury (Hermes),
which treat of
astrology
: the
first of which treats of the order of the
planets,
the second of the
ising
and
setting
of the sun and
moon,
and the third and fourth
of their movements in their
orbits,
and the
aspects
of the stars.
Then comes the sacred
writer,
having
some feathers stuck into
his
hair,
and in his handa
book,
an
ink-bottle,
and a reed for
writing, according
to the manners of the Arabs. This officer has
to understand the
language
of the
hieroglyphics,
the
description
of the
universe,
the courses of the
sun, moon,
and
planets,
the
division of
Egypt
into
thirty-six districts,
the course of the
Nik,
the sacred
ornaments,
the
holy places,
etc. Then comes the stole
bearer,
who carries the
gauge
of
justice,
or measure of the
Nile,
and a chalice for
libations,
together
with ten volumes
containing
the
sacrifices,
the
hymns,
the
prayers,
the
offerings,
and ceremo-
nies of the feasts.
Finally appears
the
prophet, carrying
in his
bosom,
but
exposed,
a
pitcher.
He is followed
by
those who
carry
the
bread,
as at the
marriage
feast of Cana. This
prophet.
in his
position
as
keeper
of the
mysteries,
must know
by
heart
the ten volumes which treat of the
laws,
of the
gods,
and of all
the
discipline
of the
priests, etc.,
which are outside of the
forty-
two volumes.
Thirty-six
are known
by
these
persons,
and the
other
six,
treating
of
medicine,
of the construction of the human
frame,
of
sickness,
of
medicaments,
and of
surgical
instruments,
belong
to the
pastophores.
4.
Cosmogonies.
The recital of the creation of the
world,
as it is
expressed
in
Genesis,
is to be found almost
literally
in the ancient
cosmogonies,
and more
particularly
in those of the Chaldeans and
Persians,
proving
that the Jews but borrowed it from these
people.
That
our readers
may judge
for
themselves,
we here
give
a faithful
translation much more faithful than that which we have from
the Greek and Latin :
"
In the
beginning,
the
gods (Elohim)
created
(lara)
the heav-
ens and the
earth.
And the earth was confused and
desert,
and
darkness was
upon
its face. And the wind
(or
the
spirit)
of the
gods
acted
upon
the face of the waters. And the
gods
said : Let
the
light
be ! and the
light
was
;
and he saw that the
light
was
good,
and he
separated
it from the darkness And he called the
NOTES.
387
light day
and the darkness
night
;
and the
night
and the
morning
were a first
day.
"And the
gods
said: Let the void
(ragia)
be
(made)
in the
middle of the
waters,
and let it
separate
the waters from the
waters;
and the
gods
nia-ue the
void,
separating
the waters which
arc under the
void,
and he
gave
to (he void the name of heavens*
and the
night
and the
morning
were a second
day.
*
And the
go
h said : Let the waters under the heavens collect
lliomselves in if one
place,
and let the
dry
earth
appear.
That
was
so,
and he
gave
the name of earth to the shallows and the
narae of sea to the
body
of
waters;
and he said: Let the earth
produce vegetables
with their
seeds;
and the
night
and the morn-
ing
were a third
day,
etc.
''And the fourth
day
he made the bodies of
light (the
sun and
the
moon)
for to
separate
the
day from
the
night,
and to serve as
signs
to the
times,
to the
days
and to the
years.
At the fifth
day
he made the
reptiles
of the
water,
the birds and the fishes. At the
sixth
day
the
gods
made the
reptiles
of the earth, the four-footed
and wild
animals,
and he said: make man to our
image
and to o&r
likeness
;
and he created
(bard)
man to his
image,
and he it created
to his
image,
and he them created
(bara)
male and
female;
and he
rested himself at the seventh
day.
u
Now,
it rained not
upon
the
earth,
but an abundant moisture
arose from the
earth,
and
sprinkled
all its surface.
"And he had
planted
the
garden
of Eden
(anteriorly
or to the
East) ;
he there
placed
man. At the middle of the
garden
was the
tree
of life
and the tree of the science
of good
and evil. And from
the
garden
of Eden went forth a river which divided into four
streams,
called
Phtson, Gihon, Tigris,
and
Euphrates.
"And Jehouh the
gods
said: It is not
good
that man should be
alone,
and he sent him a
sleep, during
which he withdrew from him
a
rib,
of which he built the
woman,"
etc.
If such a recital as this was
presented
to us
by
the Brahmins or
the
Lamas,
it would be curious to hear our doctors censure these
anomalies. What a
strange
condition of
physics, they
would
say.
to
suppose
that
light
existed before the sun was
created,
before the
stars,
arid
independently
of
them, and,
what is more offensive to
reason,
to
say
that there was a
night
and a
morning,
when the
night
and
the
morning
were
nothing
but the
appearance
or
disappearance
of
that
body
of
light
which makes the
day.
We
quite agree
with our doctors on this
subject,
and can no
more than
they
control these
anomalies;
but because the account
resists the laws of sober
reason,
we must turn to the consideration of
the
allegorical explanation
of it. The reader
is,
no
doubt,
surprised
with this translation or' the creative
gods;
nevertheless,
such is the
value of the
text,
in the view of all
grammarians.
But
why
this
plural
governing
the
singular?
Because the Jew
translator, pressed by
two
contradictory
authorities,
had no other
way
of
relieving
his embar-
rassment. The law of Moses
prescribed
but an
only
God, while the
cosmogonies,
not alone of the
Chaldeans,
but of
nearly
all known na-
tions, attributed to the
secondary gods,
and not to the one
great God,
the creation of the world. The Jewish translator had not
courage
enough
to
reject
a word sacred to law and
usage.- Among
the
Egyptians
these Elohim were the
deacons, and,
among
the Persians
and
Chaldeans,
the
geni
of the months and the
planets,
as we are
informed
by
the Phenecian author Sanchoniathon.
Now observe how the
Vedas,
the sacred books of the
Hindoos,
account for the creation of the world.
''
In the
beginning
there was an
only
God,
self-created and self-
sustaining.
After
having passed
an
eternity
in the
contemplation
of his own
being,
he desired to exhibit his
perfections beyond
himself, and created the matter of the world. The four elements
having
been
produced,
but,
as
yet,
in a confused
condition,
he
blew
upon
the waters and
they
became inflated like an immense
bubble in the form of an
egg,
and
which,
developing,
became the
vault and orb of heaven which surround the world. Then,
having
made the earth and the bodies of
living beings,
this
God,
essence
of movement, to animate these
bodies,
distributed
among
them a
portion
of his own
being,
and this
portion,
as the soul of all that
respire, being
a fraction of the universal
soul,
can not
perish,
but
must
pass successively
into divers bodies. Of all the forms of
living beings,
that which
pleased
the Divine
Being
most was the
form of
man,
as
approaching
the nearest to his own
perfections;
so
that when a
man,
by
an absolute
abnegation
of sense
(reason)
becomes
absorbed in the
contemplation
of
himself,
he attains to the dis-
covery
of the
deity,
and
actually
becomes divine.
Among
the
incarnation of this
species
which God has
already
clothed,
the
most solemn and
holy
was him who
appeared
in the
twenty-eighth
century
in
Kachemire,
under the name of
Bhudd.i,
to teach the
doctrine of the new birth and the
renunciation
of self." And *he
book,
retracing
the
subsequent history
of
Bhudda,
continues to
say
:
"
That he was born from the
right
side of a
virgin
of the blood
royal,
who,
in
becoming
a
mother,
did not cease to be a
virgin.
That the
king
of the
country, disquieted by
his
birth,
wished to
destroy
him,
and therefore massacred all the male children born
at that time
;
but that
he,
saved
by shepherds,
took
refuge
in
the
desert,
where he remained until he had attained his thirtieth
year,
when he commenced his career of
enlightening
man and
casting
out devils. That he
performed
a number of the most
astonishing miracles;
spent
himself
by fisting
and self-denial the
most severe
;
and
that,
in
dying,
he left to his
disciples
a book
which contained his doetrine
"
a doctrine which is summed
up
in
the
following passages
:
NOTES.
389
"
He who abandons his father and mother to follow
ine,
says
Blmd'la,
becomes a
perfect
Samaoeeo
(celestial man).
"
He who
practices my precepts
to the fourth
degree
of
perfec-
tion
acquires
the
faculty
of
flying through
the
air,
of
moving
heaven
and
earth,
and of
prolonging
or
shortening
his life.
'"
The S.un mcen
despises
riches
;
he uses but the most
simple
necessaries
;
he mortifies the
body
;
his
passions
are mute
;
he de
sires
nothing,
is attached to
nothing
;
he meditates
my
doctrine;
lie
patiently
suffers
injuries;
he bears no hate toward his
neighbor.
"
Hoaven and earth shall
perish, says
Bhudd.t
;
despising,
then,
your body, composed
as it is of four
perishable elements,
think of
nothing
but
your
immortal soul.
l
Hearken not to the
promptings
of the flesh
;
the
passions pro-
duce fear and vexation. Subdue the
passions,
and
you
will anni-
hilate fear and vexation.
''
He who dies without
embracing my religion, says
Bhudda,
returns
among
men until he does
practice
it."
The Vedas of the Hindoos which contain these accounts of the
creation,
and the incarnation and doctrine of a deified
man,
are
believed to have existed at least three thousand
years
before the
Christian
era;
and this
doctrine,
presenting,
as it
does,
the most
striking analogy
to that of
Christ,
as we find tke latter in
the
gospels,
was
spread throughout
the eastern world more than a
thousand
years
before Jesus Christ
appeared upon
the earth. In
reading
these
passages
does it not seem more
probable
that the
teachings
of Christ have come to us rather
through
Hindoo than
Hebrew
writings?
5.
Symbols.
From that moment when the
eyes
of the
people
who cultivated
the earth were directed toward the
heavens,
the
necessity
of ob-
serving
the
stars,
of
distinguishing
them
singly
or in
groups,
and
of
naming
them
properly,
in order to
designate
them
clearly,
be-
came
apparent.
Now this
object, seemingly
so
simple,
was
really
very
difficult
;
for the celestial
bodies,
being nearly
identical iu
form,
offered no
special
characteristic
whereby
to
distinguish
them
by
name
;
this on the one
hand, while,
on the
other,
the
language
of these
people,
from its
very poverty
of
words,
had no
expressions
for new and
metaphysical
ideas. But the
ordinary spring
to
genius, necessity,
surmounted these difficulties.
Having
remarked
that,
in the annual revolution of the
earth,
the
periodical appear-
ance and renewal of terrestri.il
products
became
constantly
asso-
ciated with the
rising
and
setting
of certain
stars,
and their
position
relatively
with the
sun,
a fundamental form of
comparison
was
established, which,
by
a
purely
natural
mechanism,
connected in
thought
those terrestrial and celestial
objects
which were connected
in fact
; and, applying
to
represent
them the like
signs, they gave
to the stars
singly,
and to the
groups
which
they
formed,
the names
of the terrestrial
objects
to which
they responded.
Thus,
the
Ethiopian
of
Thebes,
called the constellation of inun-
dation,
or
water-flow,
that under which the Nile
began
to rise
;
the
constellation of the ox or
bull,
that under which he
beg^n
to till
the earth
;
the constellation of the
lion,
that under which that
animal,
driven from the desert
by
thirst, showed himself
upon
the
banks of the
river;
the constellation of
ripe
corn,
the
virgin
har-
vester,
which
brought
the return of the
harvest;
the constellalion
of flocks and
herds,
or the
ram,
that under which these
precious
animals
gave
birth to their
young ; and,
in this manner, the first
part
of the
difficulty
was removed.
As to the other
part,
man had remarked in the
beings
around
him
qualities
distinct and
peculiar
to each
species. By
a
primary
operation
he selected the name of this
quality
to
designate
the
being
it
distinguished;
and,
by
a
secondary operation,
he found an
ingenious
means of
generalizing
these
characteristics,
in
applying
the name thus invented to all
things
which
presented
simihir traits'
or
actions,
and thus he enriched his
language
with an
enduring
metaphor.
Thus the same
Ethiopian, having
observed that the return of
the inundation, or overflow of the Nile
constantly corresponded
with the
appearance
of a
very
beautiful
star,
which at this time
was
always
to be seen in the direction of the head-waters of that
river,
and which seemed to warn the laborer to
prepare
for its
overflow,
he likened this action to that animal
which,
by
its
timely
barking,
warns of
approaching danger,
and he called this con-
stellation the
dog,
the barker
(Sirius).
In like manner he
named,
from the movement of the
crab,
the constellation
cancer,
which
marks that
point
in the heavens when the
sun, having
attained
the
tropical
limit of his
course,
returns
by
a backward and side-
ward movement similar to the motion of that animal.
By
the title
of wild
goat
he
distinguished
the constellation
capricornus,
which
marks the
point
at which the
sun, having
attained the
greatest
altitude in his
course,
pauses,
and,
as it
were,
grips
the
height,
as
the wild
goat grips
the surface of the
giddy height
to
prevent
his
fall.
By
the title of the
balance,
he
distinguished
the constella-
tion
Ubra,
which marks the
period
when,
as to
time,
day
and
night
are
equally
divided or balanced
;
aud
by
the name of the
scorpion,
he
distinguished
that constellation which marks the
period
when
certain winds
carry
the
burning
sand across the
plain,
and cause
it to strike with a
stinging pain, resembling
the stroke of a scor-
pion.
And in this
manner,
also,
was
applied
the name of
rings,
rounds,
or
serpents
to that form
by
which was
expressed
an
orbit,
circle,
or
complete
revolution of the
planets,
whether taken
singly
or in
groups, according
to their connection with the
operations
of
the field and cultivation of the
earth,
and the
analogies
that each
NOTES. 891
nation found
presented by
their
agricultural labors,
and the
pecu-
liarities of their soil and climate.
From this
process,
it resulted that the inferior and terrestrial
beings
became
intimately
associated with the
superior
and
celestial;
and this association each
day gained strength
from similar consti-
tuti.m of
language
and mechanism of mind.
Using
this natural
metaphor, they
said : The lull scatters
upon
the earth at his
coining (spring-time)
the seeds of
fertility;
he returns with abun-
dance and the creation of
plants.
The ram delivers the heavens
from the evils of winter
;
he saves the world from the
serpent
(emblem
of the
rainy season),
and he
brings
back the
reign
of
good (the joyful summer-time).
The
scorpion
cast his venom
upon
the earth, and scattered sickness and
death, etc.,
and thus of
all similar
appearances.
This
language,
then understood
by
all the
world, presented
nothing
inconvenient
; but,
by
the
lapse
of
time,
when the calendar
had been
regulated,
and it became no
longer necessary
for the
people
to observe the
heavens,
the motive that
prompted
these
expressions
was
lost,
and their
allegorical
sense
being suppressed,
their use became a
stumbling-block
to the
understanding
of the
people.
Habituated to
join symbols
to their
models,
this misun-
derstanding
caused them to confound them. Then these same
animals,
which in
thought
had been
placed
in the
heavens,
in fact
returned to
earth,
but clothed in the
livery
of the
stars,
and im-
posed
themselves
upon
the
people,
as
possessing
the influences
attributed to them
by
their
sponsors;
and the
people, believing
themselves within
sight
and
hearing
now of their
gods, readily
addressed to them their
prayers. They
demanded of the animal
ram an abundance of the influences which attended the
appearance
of the x-elestial ram
;
they prayed
the
scorpion
no more to scatter
his
venom,
entailing
sickness and
death,
upon
the
earth; they
rev-
erenced the crab of the
sea,
the scarabaeus of the
mud,
the fishes
of the
river; and,
by
a series of
enchanting
but vicious
analogies,
they
lost themselves in a
labyrinth
of
consequent
absurdities.
Here we behold the
origin
of that
antique
and fancu'ul
worship
of
animals,
and
how,
by
the
progress
of
ideas,
the characteristics
of
divinity passing
to the most vile
brutes,
was fashioned that
vast, complicated,
and learned
theological system
which,
beginning
on the banks of the
Nile,
was carried from
country
to
country by
commerce, war,
and
conquest,
and invaded all the ancient world
and
which,
modified
by
time,
circumstances and
prejudices, yet
exhibits itself
among
hundreds of
peoples,
and exists as the in-
timate and secret basis of the
theology
of even those who scorn-
fully reject
it.
In the
projection
of 'he celestial
sphere,
as traced
by
the as-
L*onomer
priests
of that
time,
the zodiac and the
constellations,
disposed circularly, presented
their halves in diametrical
opposition.
392 GENERAL HISTOft/ OF FREEMASONRY.
The
hemisphere
of winter is the
antipodes
of that of summer
adverse,
opposed, contrary they
stood toward each other. From
a
metaphorical
and
necessary,
this
position passed
into a moral
sense;
and to
angels
were
opposed
adverse
angels, who,
having
revolted,
were cast
out,
and became their enemies. In this
manner,
from
being simply
an astronomical
history,
the account and
repre-
sentation of the constellations came to be a
political history.
Heaven was a
country subject
to and wherein events
transpired
s
upon
the earth. And as at that
period monarchy
was the
pre-
vailing style
of
government upon
the
earth,
a similar
style
must
obtain in the
heavens;
and of the
hemisphere
of
summer, empire
of
light,
and
heat,
and
joy,
and
peopled
with white
angels,
it was
apparent
the sun was
king
a
brilliant, intelligent,
and
good
crea-
tor
;
so,
opposed
to summer was the
hemisphere
of
winter,
that
underground empire
of
darkness, cold,
and
sadness,
peopled
with
black
angels, giants,
and
demons,
and
having
for ruler the
prince
of
darkness,
who was
recognized by
the different
peoples by
the
name of that
sign
whose
appearance
was attended with most of evil
among
them. In
Egypt
this was from at first the
scorpion, being
the first
sign
of the zodiac after the
balance, and,
for a
long
time,
chief of the
signs
of winter. Afterward it was the
bear,
or the
polar
ass,
called
Typhon,
otherwise
Deluge, by
reason of the cold
rains which inundated the earth
during
the rule of this constella-
tion. In
Persia,
at a later
time,
it was the
serpent,
who,
under the
name of
Ahrimane,
formed the basis of the
system
of
Zoroaster;
and it is this same
serpent
who, among
the Jews and the Chris-
tians, tempted
Eve,
the celestial
virgin,
and
brought
sin into the
world,
as also the
serpent
of the
cross,
and
which,
in both
cases,
is the emblem of Satan.
6. Hiram
of
the Freemasons.
The
long history
of
Hiram,
the architect of Solomon's
temple,
which forms the basis of the
degree
of master
mason,
is
repre-
sented
by
most
authors,
and in all the lectures which
prevail
in
the
lodges
in France and
elsewhere,
as a
fact,
and not as an alle-
gorical
fiction,
while in all the
higher degrees
it is
positively
re-
cognized
as the former. A
very
limited
knowledge
of the
history
of
primitive worships
and
mysteries
is
necessary
to enable
any
person
to
recognize
in the master mason
Hiram,
the Osiris of the
Egyptians,
the Mithras of the
Persians,
the Bacchus of the
Greeks,
the
Atys
of the
Phrygians,
of which these
people
celebrated the
passion,
death and
resurrection,
as Christians celebrate
to-day
that
of Jesus Christ. Otherwise this is the eternal and
unvarying type
of all the
religions
which have succeeded each other
upon
the
earth. In an astronomical
connection,'
Hiram is the
representative
of the
sun,
the
symbol
of his
apparent progress,
which,
appearing
at the south
gate,
so to
speak,
is smote downward and more down.
NOTES,
393
ward as he advances toward the
west,
which
passing,
he is imme-
diately vanquished
and
put
to death
by
darkness,
represented,
in
following
the same
allegory, by
the
spirits
of
evil; but,
returning,
he rises
again, conqueror
and resurrected.
7. The
Angds.
The names of the
angels
and of the
months,
such as Gabriel
and
Michael,
Yar and Nisan
(March
and
April), etc.,
as we are
informed
by
the
Talmud,
were
brought
from
Ribylon by
the Jews.
Beausobre. in his
History of
the
Manicheans, (vol. 2,
p. 624,)
proves
that the saints of the calendar are imitations of the three
hundred and
sixty-five angels
of the
Persians;
and
Jambiicus,
in
his
Ejyptian Mysteries, (sec.
2,
chap. 3,) speaks
of the
angels,
arch-
angels,
and
seraphims,
etc.,
like a true Christian Catholic.
8. The
majestic
Monuments
of
the Hindoos.
The most celebrated Hindoo
temples,
cut in the bosom of the
solid
rocks,
are to be seen in the
vicinity
of
Bombay
and in the
island of
Ceylon.
That of Elora is considered the most curious.
No one can
regard
without astonishment a whole mountain of
por-
phyry, covering
nearly
six miles of
superficial
measurement,
con-
verted into a
mysterious
succession of
halls, chambers,
anticham-
bers, vestibules, courts, saloons,
etc. In the midst of these
apart-
ments is the
great temple
of
Elora,
a
single apartment
of five
hundred feet in
circumference,
hollowed out of the solid
granite.
Its side
galleries
are
supported by sculptured pillars ;
its walls are
polished,
and cut into which are
forty-four
niches
extending
from
floor to
dome,
and in which stand
forty-four gigantic
statues of
Hindoo divinities. But the monument of all others the most
pro-
digious
in Hindostan is the
temple
of
Kailaca,
cut in the solid
rock,
and without roof or dome, cut
open
to the heavens. In the
vicinity
of this
temple
there are ten or a dozen similar but much
smaller sanctuaries. At
Dhoumar,
in the
province
of
Malva,
may
be counted
seventy
of these
temples,
the circuit of which
compose
what
may
be called a
troglodyte city. Upon
the coast of Coro-
mandel,
not far from
Madras,
there are a series of labors of the
same kind not less remarkable.
9.
Blmdda, (Bood, Boudd)
This is the name that the Hindoos have
given
to the seven re-
ligious legislators
who have
successively
revived and reformed the
laws and doctrines of their first civilizer of this
name,
and of whose
existence there remains no
account, except
in the traditions of fab-
ulous time. Of these seven reformers the four last alone are known
by
tlieir
doctrines,
which are contained in the sacred books of the
Brahmins,
called
Vedas,
or Vedam. These are Bhudda-Shauca-
sam,
whose doctrine is found in the
Bhagavat-Ghita,
and who lived
between the
years
3200 and 3100 B. C. Bhudda
Gouagoui,
who
appeared
1366
years
B. C.
Bhudda-Gaspa,
who
appeared
1027
years
B. C.
;
and
Bhudda-Somana-Gautama,
who lived 557
years
B. C. A final Bhudda is to
appear
five thousand
years
after
the death of the last named.
All these reformers are considered
by
the Brahmins to have
been incarnations of the
Supreme Being,
and as such
they
are
adored
by
eastern
people
under different names.
Among
the
Chinese,
for
example,
Bhudda becomes Fot and Fota. that
people
having
neither b nor d in their
language.
10. The
Magi.
The Asiatic
rendering
of this word
signifies
consecrated
man,
a
man devoted to the
worship
of
God,
exactly
as the Hebrew Naza-
rene or Hindoo Samaneen
;
consequently
the word
magic originally
signified
the
practice
of
worship,
and
magi
those who devoted
themselves to science and
worship.
11.
Temple of Bel,
or Tower
of
Balel.
By
consent of the best authors and the
geography
of Strabo
and
Berose,
there existed a Babel or
Babylon
that is to
say,
a
palace
or
temple
consecrated to
(the sun)
Bel,
titulary god
of this
country,
from whom it received its name of
Babylonia,
and whose
temple, according
to ancient Asiatic
usage,
was the
rallying point,
the
goal
of
pilgrimage,
the
metropolis
of all the
people
who sub-
mitted to his
laws; and,
at the same
time,
this
temple
was the
asylum,
the fortress of the
priests,
the astronomical studio of this
astrological judiciary,
who were celebrated and who rendered famous
the name of Chaldean in far-distant
ages
of the
past.
According
to
Philo,
the
Phcnician,
as cited
by Josophus,
the
foundation of this
temple,
or tower of Babel
(Belus),
was laid
between the
years
3195 and 3190 B. C. The oriental name of
Babel for
Babylonia signifies
a
court;
and there existed from that
time a
primitive
court or
palace,
which that wonderful
woman,
Semiramis,
surrounded with her vast constructions when she con-
ceived the
project
of
building
a
great
commercial and
military
city,
even that
Babylon
which she surrounded with immense walls
and
fortifications,
and which she ornamented with
castles, palaces,
temples,
and
bridges,
and in the midst of which caused to be
erected for the
priests
that famous tower or
pyramid
called the
Tower of Babel.
This
opinion
is
supported by Ktesias, who,
in
speaking
on this
NOTES
395
subject, says:
"When Ninus attacked
Babylonia,
the
city
of Bab-
ylon,
which at
present
exists,
was not then built." The same his-
torian states
"
that
Seniiramis, inspired by
her love of
grandeur,
and desirous of
surpassing
the
glory
of the
kings
who
preceded
her, conceived,
between the
years
1195 and 1180 B.
C.,
the
project
of
building
in
Babylonia
an
extraordinary city.
For this
purpose
she
gathered
from all
parts
a multitude of architects and
artists of all
kinds,
and she
provided great
sums of
money
and all
the
necessary
materials; then,
having
made in the extent of her
empire
a
levy
of two millions of
men,
she
employed
them to form
the
surroundings
of the
city by constructing
a wall of three
hundred and
sixty
stadia
(about twenty miles)
in
length,
flanked
with
many
towers, and
leaving
the river
Euphrates
to flow
through
the midst of the inclosure.
This
assemblage
of
men,
levied under the laws of statute
labor,
of divers
colors, clothing, habits,
worships,
and
language, presented
a
strange spectacle.
More than
eighty
dialects were
spoken
in the
vast
empire
of Seniiramis
;
and the
assembling
of bodies of
men,
each of whom
spoke
one of these
dialects,
naturally engendered
that confusion
which,
when these men came to close
quarters
in
the
building
of the
tower,
naturally might
and
probably
did in-
crease to a
degree
most
inconvenient,
and hence the real source
of the vicious
origin
the Jews have
given
to the word
Babel,
or
Babylon.
In the account which Herodotus
gives
of the war of
Kyrus
against Babylon,
he
says:
"But after the subversion of Nineveh
shie became the
capital
of
Assyria."
And
then,
from ocular evi-
dence,
he describes this immense
city,
the extent and dimensions
of its walls and
fortifications,
the direction of its
streets,
the
palace
of the
king,
and the
great temple
of
Bel;
and,
in
describing
the
latter,
he
says:
"The center of the
city
is remarkable for the
temple
of
Jupiter
Belus,
which
actually yet
exists.
(Herodotus
wrote 480
years
B.
C.)
It is
square, regularly
built,
and its court
is fastened
by gates
of brass. Each
square
of the inclosure is two
stadia in
length (about
two hundred
yards).
In the middle of
this inclosure is to be seen a massive
tower,
one stadium on each
square
of its
base,
and one stadium in
height."
Thus,
then,
the
temple
of Belus in
Babylon
was a
strong place,
a sort of
citadel,
resembling
the
temple
of the sun at
Balbek,
and most of the other
temples
of the
ancients, who,
for the better
security
of the
priests
and the sacred treasures which had been
gathered
within their
temples, protected
them
by high
and
strong
outer walls.
"
Upon
this
tower,''
continues
Herodotus,
"there is erected a
second, upon
the second a
third,
and others above that to the number in all
of
eight,
each
being proportionately
smaller in its dimensions than
the
other,
and
giving
to all the
appearance,
when viewed from a
distance,
of a
pyramid.
In the
highest
of these towers is a
chapel j
in this
chapel
a
great
bed,
well
furnished;
and near this bed a
table,
the surface of which is
gold."
What was the
object
of this
singu-
lar edifice? What could it be but an astronomical
observatory?
This
chapel,
in the
highest tower,
elevated to a
height
of
nearly
fif-
teen hundred feet above the surface of the
earth,
served the astron-
omer
priests
as a look-out from which to observe the solar
system,
and to learn
exactly
the movements of the
heavenly
bodies. The
golden
table,
upon
which was no doubt traced a
map
of the solar
system,
enabled them to direct their
studies,
and the well-furnished
bed served for
repose
when wearied
by
observation and close
appli-
cation of mind. No other furniture was
necessary,
and no other
was there.
Astronomy
was the
important mystery
which
they
guarded
with
jealous
care, since it was the basis of that
theocratic,
religious,
and
political power
which enabled the
priests, by predic-
tions of
eclipses
and other solar
actions,
to astonish both
kings
and
people,
and lead them to believe that
they
held immediate com-
munication with the
gods.
Behold,
then,
what was the
object
of that famous tower of
Babel,
the hearthstone of that Chaldean science vaunted
by
the
most ancient Greeks as
being,
even in their
time, very
ancient.
And
yet
this
grand
and
simple
monument,
as described
by
the
perverted
historians of the
Jews,
has
given
birth in modern
times,
as well as in what we call
ancient,
to the most
singular,
extra-
ordinary,
and
grossly-stupid
accounts of its
origin
and of its
object.
12.
Ecbatana, Babylon, Persepolis.
Of the immense citadel of the
palace
of the
king
of the Modes,
Ecbatana,
which was seven hundred
yards
in outer
extent,
noth-
ing
remains but
rubbish,
in vast
quantities,
to indicate
palace,
cit-
adel,
or
capital
of the Median
people;
while an enormous
quantity
of ruins,
heaped
about in the most
frightful
confusion,
mark to-
day
the
spot
where
Babylon,
the
city
of
palaces,
once stood.
Ranks of
columns,
separated by
ravines,
mark the
streets;
while
masses of rubbish show where once stood the
grandest
edifices.
In the
plain
where once stood the
city
of
Persepolis,
and which
extended behind
Tschil-Minar,
nothing
remain to mark the
great-
est architectural
conceptions
of
any age,
but ruins of column and
wall,
pillar
and
porch, heaped
in
undistinguishable
confusion. The
most
important
ruins are
upon
the terraces of the mountain of
Kachmed,
upon
the
locality
where stood the
palace
of the
kings
of
Persia, and
upon
the flank of that mountain there
appear many
funereal monuments of the Persian
kings,
such as that of
Darius,
son of
Hystaspe,
and of Xerxes. Under the terraces which
sup-
port
the
palace
of
Persepolis,
there extend vast subterranean
pas-
sages,
of which it is
impossible
to
verify
the
destination,
purpose,
or
extent,
but
which,
in the
opinion
of the
Arabs,
conducted to
NOTES.
397
the mountain of
sepulture, nearly
six
leagues
distant, and in
which
may
be found the four
royal tombs,
cut in the rock to the
height
of one hundred
feet,
and which are believed to be those
of Darius
Nothus,
Artaxerxes I.
Ochus,
and Artaxerxes
II,
or
Meninou.
13. The Caves or Retreats
of
Mithra.
Zoroaster, according
to
Justinius,
composed
in the cave or
grotto
of
Mithra,
which he inhabited for
twenty years,
a
great armillary
sphere
to aid him in the
study
of the
heavenly
bodies. Accord-
ing
to
Celsus,
it was after this model that the
Persians,
in the
ceremonies of Mithra,
represented
the double movement of the
fixed stars and the
planets,
with the
passage
of the soul in the
celestial circles or
spheres.
To describe the
properties
or attri-
butes of the
planets, they
exhibited a scale or ladder
composed
of seven
steps,
or
stages,
with an
eighth
at the
upper extremity.
The first
step
was
composed
of
lead,
and indicated Saturn
;
the
second, of
tin,
denoted Venus
;
the
third,
of
copper,
denoted Ju-
piter;
the
fourth,
of
iron,
denoted
Mars;
the
fifth,
of divers
metals,
denoted
Mercury ;
the
sixth,
of
silver,
denoted the moon
;
the
seventh,
of
gold,
denoted the
sun,
then the
highest
heaven.
Without doubt this was the ladder of Jacob's
dream,
and
upon
which he saw
angels ascending
and
descending
;
and
yet
all these
Egyptian
and Chaldean ideas and
allegories
existed centuries be-
fore
Abraham,
Isaac,
or Jacob. From thence comes the custom
of
consecrating
caves to the celebration of the
mysteries,
a custom
that we find
among
the Christians of the first centuries
;'
and from
thence have Plato and
Pythagoras designated
the world as a cave
or cavern.
In the
mysteries
of the ceremonies of
Mithra,
as
they
subse-
quently
became
developed,
we find all the
principal
ceremonies
observed in
administering
the rites and sacraments of the Chris-
tian
church,
even to the
slap
on the ear
given by
the
bishop
in
"confirmation." The
priests
of Mithra
promised
their
initiates,
through
confession and
baptism,
remission of their
sins,
and a
life of
happiness
and
delight
instead of
pain
and torment.
They
also celebrated the oblation of
bread,
the
image
of the resurrec-
tion
; and,
finally,
their
baptism
of
infants,
application
of extreme
unction,
confession of
sins,
celebration of the mass
(the mysteries),
and
many
other
practices analogous
to those of the Christian re
ligion,
all
proving
that what we have
to-day
as
religious
ceremo-
nies are but the modified
prolongation
of
religious opinions
and
practices
which
prevailed
centuries before our era.
14. In the throat
of
a Bull.
This is the bull of the
zodiac,
which
sometimes,
by
the
preces-
sion of the
equinoxes,
has
occupied
the
place
of the ram. This
is the bull that we find
represented
in India as
opening
an
egg
with his
horn,
and who
already
had
opened
the
age
of
creation,
that
is,
the vernal
equinox.
This is the bull
Apis,
adored
by
the
Egyptians,
as
subsequently
the Israelites adored the
golden
calf.
The bull or ox of the
Apocalypse,
with his
wings, symbolic
of his
celestial
nature,
has a similar
origin;
while the lamb of
God,
im-
molated as the bull of
Mithra,
for the salvation of the
world,
is
nothing
more than an emblem of the sun in the
sign
of the celes-
tial
ram,
which in an after
age opened,
in his
turn,
the vernal
equinox,
and was moved to deliver the world from the
reign
of
evil
enjoyed by
the
serpent
or
great
adder,
mother of winter and
emblem of
Ahrimane,
the evil
spirit
or Satan of the Persians. It
will be observed that the
contemporaneous worship
of the
sign
Taurus
by
the
Egyptians,
Persians and
Japanese,
indicates a com-
munion of ideas
among
these
peoples
at this time
;
and of this
worship
there has descended to us
nothing
but the
May
festival
of the fat
ox,
crowned with flowers.
15. Zoroaster.
The
religious legislator
called Zoroaster
by
the
Greeks,
and
Zerdast or Zerdust
by
the
Orientals,
was
born,
according
to He-
rodotus,
about
1250,
and
according
to other authors between 1400
and 1300 B.
C.,
in
Aderbijan (ancient Media).
He commenced
to
promulgate
his doctrine at
Bactria,
the
capital
of the
kingdom
of the
Bactrians,
about the
year
1220 B.
C.,
after a
"retreat,"
according
to
Pliny,
of
twenty years'
duration. He
propagated
a
new
system
of
theology,
which he
pretended, according
to the
custom of the time
among
men of his
profession,
to be the
only
true
theology,
and revealed of God.
Zoroaster,
according
to the
recital of the
Parsees,
perished
with
many
of the
magi,
in the
last battle
fought
at Ninus
by
the
king Keshtasy,
one of his
numerous
disciples,
who wished to convert his
subjects
and the
neighboring kings.
According
to
Anquetil Duperron,
the
principal
collection of the
traditions of the Parsees
concerning
Zoroaster is the book entitled
Zerdust-Narnah,
which, they say,
was translated from the ancient
Pehlevic idiom into the modern Persian
by Zerdust-Behram,
scribe
and Persian
priest,
about the
year
1176 of our era.
Theodore of
Mopsuestus,
in his work
concerning
the
magi
of
Persia,
explains
the doctrine of Zoroaster in the
following
remark-
able
passage
:
"
He is one of those who believes in the existence
of two
gods
one
good,
the other evil. He names them Orom ize
and
Ahrimane,
and has said that one is best
represented by light,
and the other
by
darkness. The Persians maintained that Oro-
maze was formed from
light
the most
pure,
and Ahrimane from
darkness the most obscure Oroinaze made six other
good gods
NOTES.
399
like
himself,
and Ahrimane six wicked ones like himself.
Oro-
maze then made
twenty-four gods,
which he
placed
in an
egg
;
but
Ahrimane,
after
making twenty-four
evil
gods,
broke the
egg,
and thus caused that
blending
of
good
and evil which exists in
the world.
Thenpompus
believes,
in accordance with the
magii
books,
that
one of these
gods
ruled three thousand
years, during
which the
other is
deposed
;
the
succeeding
three thousand
years they fight
and
reign equally
;
but
finally
the evil one has to
succumb,
and
is forever
destroyed.
In
reducing
these
allegories
to their natural and
simple
sense,
it is
apparent
that
Zoroaster,
after his
physico-astronomical
med-
itations,
considered the
world,
or the
universe,
governed by
two
principles
or
powers
the one of
production,
the other of destruc-
tion
;
that the first
governed during
the six thousand
parts,
or six
months of
summer,
or from the vernal
equinox
to that of
Libra,
and the second
during
the six thousand
parts
or six months of
winter,
or from Libra to Aries. This division of each
sign
of the
zodiac into a thousand
parts
is found
among
the
Chaldeans;
and
Anquetil,
who has
happily explained
the
allegory, speaks,
in more
than one
place,
of the twelve thousand of Zoroaster as of the
twelve months of the
year.
The
egg is,
as is well
known,
the emblem of the world
among
the
Egyptians;
the
twenty-four gods
are the twelve months divided
into
qitinzaineS)
or
fortnights
the one of
increase,
the other of
decrease a
usage
that is found
among
the Hindoos as also
among
the
Romms,
and the result is that the whole
system
of Zoroaster
was
nothing
but a
system
of
astronomy
and
astrology,
like all
other ancient
systems
;
and that its
disciples, notwithstanding
this
fact,
received and
applied
this
system, especially among
the
Jews,
for moral and
political purposes,
and this
application
led to the most
singular consequences,
and resulted in a.
system entirely
new.
16. Zend-Avesta.
This sacred book of the Persians was
mostly
written in immense
and
v.ery complicated
characters,
and covered twelve thousand
skins of
parchment,
manufactured from the hides of oxen.
17. The
Temple of
Amman.
The construction of this celebrated
temple, according
to Herod-
otus,
took
place
between the
years
240U and 2300 B.
C.,
and its
ruins
may
be found in the oasis of the
Lybian
desert. Alexander
the Great visited this
templf
,
and caused himself to be
proclaimed,
by
its
oracle,
son of
Jupiter
Meiuuou.
18.
Ethiopia,
then a
powerful
State.
Daring many
centuries
Egypt
was
governed by
the
Ethiopian
sacerdotal
caste,
of Arab
origin,
which was
replaced by
the caste
of warriors. This revolution was
brought
about
by
Menes
I,
king
of the first Pharaonic
dynasty,
and took
place, according
to
some
authors, nearly
6000
years
B. C. Menes is said to have
built ancient
Thebes,
then the
capital
of the
country.
In the earliest known times
Egypt
consisted but of the Theban
country.
At that time Middle
Egypt
and the Delta
composed
a
V-trt
of the Mediterranean
gulf.
The
Nile,
carrying
in its over-
Hows an enormous
quantity
of
mud,
in time filled
up
that
portion
of the
gulf
into which it
emptied,
and
eventually
created an im-
mense tract of
swampy land, which,
by
the aid of
man,
seconded
by
nature,
was
drained,
and formed what then became known as
Middle
Egypt,
or
Heptanomis,
and Lower
Egypt
or the Delta.
19.
Egypt
in Civilization.
The
chronology
of
Egyptian history, according
to
Diodorus,
Manethon,
and
Herodotus,
the last of whom visited
Egypt
460
years
B.
C.,
is as follows :
B. C. 13300. From this date until the
year
4600 B.
C.,
when
the zodiac was constructed and set
up
in the
temple
of
Esueh,
there occurred four
periods,
to the first of which is ascribed the
reign
of the
gods,
to the second the first historic
period, during
which
Egypt
was inhabited
by
a barbarous
people,
and was con-
fined to the Theban
country,
or
Upper Egypt
;
to the
third,
the
second historic
period, during
which
began
to be formed the states
and
kingdoms,
of which there were
thirty, forty,
or
more,
and the
colleges
of the
priests
were established
;
and to the
fourth,
the
third historic
period,
when the different states were consolidated
into three
large kingdoms, comprising Upper Egypt,
or the Theban
country,
Middle
Egypt,
or
Heptanomis,
and Lower
Egypt,
or the
Delta. To this latter
period belongs
the construction of the
temple
of
E.sneh,
arid the establishment of the
worship
of the bull
Aphis, symbolical
of Taurus or the
sun,
which at this time
began
to mark the vernal
equinox. Subsequent
to this
period
there
reigned
a series of unknown
kings, eighteen
of them
being Egyp-
tians.
B. C. 3360.
Hermes, priest
king,
observes the star Aldebnran.
B. C. 2454. The sun enters the
ram,
1
and from this date Aries
1
By
the
precession
of the
equinoxes, allowing
71
years
for each
degree
and 53 seconds for each
year,
it is estimated that 2130
years
are
required
for the sun to
pass through
a zoliacal
sign. Thus,
in the
year
4">86 13.
C.,
that
body having
entered
Taurus,
it was not until the
year
24f>5 that he
p.tsssd
through
that
sign,
and entered Aries in 24-34. From that time until
the
year
o23 13.
C.,
the latter
sign
marked the vernal
equinox.
NOTES.
401
becomes the constellation of the vernal
equinox,
and the
worship
of the ram
begins.
B. C. 2400. Foundation of the
temple
of Ammon in the desert
of
Lybia.
B. C. 2400 to 2300. Construction of the monuments of Karnak
and the avenue of the Rams.
B. C. 2056. Construction of the zodiac of Denderah.
B. C. 1810. Invasion of the
kingdom
of
Memphis (Middle
Egypt) by
the
pastoral Arabs, presumed
to be the tribes of
Tainoud,
Mutlun, Aumlek,
etc.
B. C. 1800. The
pastoral
Arabs found
Heliopolis.
B. C. 1556. Tethmos
expels
the Arabs.
B. C. 1500. Foundation of the new
Memphis.
B. C. 1450. Re-union of all
Egypt
under one
monarchy.
B. C. 1430. Construction of Lake Moeris.
B. C. 1420. Construction of the cities of Ramasses and He-
roopolis, by
the Hebrews.
B. C. 1410. Under the
king Amenophis
the Hebrews are driven
out of
Egypt,
and,
under the direction of
Moses,
whom
they
elect
as their
chief,
they
are
organized
into a cation.
B. C. 1390 to 1350.
Reign
and
conquests
of Sesostris.
B. C. 1080. Ramsinite orders the construction of the
great
obelisk at
Heliopoiis.
B. C. 974.
Ses:ich,
king
of
Egypt,
ransoms Jerusalem.
B. C. 790.
During
the
past
two hundred
years
a succession of
obscure
kings governed Egypt,
and their
reign
ends with the
capture
of Thebes
by
the
Carthaginian's.
B. C. 750.
Seva,
the
Kushite,
or
Ethiopian,
invaded
Egypt,
and
reigned
with
justice
and wisdom for
nearly twenty-five years.
B. C. 722.
Sethon, priest
of the
temple
of
Vulcan, governs
Egypt,
now fallen into
anarchy.
.Between Meues and Sethon three hundred and
forty-one kings
in succession
governed Egypt.
After him a series of
kings
ruled
whose names are all known.
20.
Pyramids of
Ghizza.
"
During
twenty years," says
Herodotus,
"
one hundred thousand
men worked
daily
to build the
great pyramid
or tomb of the
king
Cheops,
who,
like all
Egyptians,
attached much
importance
to the
construction of his eternal home." The
eight pyramids
which
surround
ancient
Memphis,
the
principal
seat of the
mysteries
of
Isis and
Osiris,
communicated with the twelve
temples
which are
found in this vast
city.
Of this
group
of
pyramids,
three are
particularly
distinguished,
which arc the
largest
in
Egypt
as
they
were the last which were constructed. At
Meroe,
the ancient
seat of the
priests
of
Egypt,
are to be seen a
group
of
twenty-
four
pyramids,
the
magnificence
and
imposing simplicity
of which
26
exhibit a
degree
of
elegance very superior
to the
pyramids
of
Ghizza. In
Ethiopia,
at
Nouri,
may
be seen a
group
of
thirty-five
pyramids;
at
Dhibbel-el-Barkal, capital
of
Ethiopia,
another
group
of seventeen and at
Dhel-Bellal,
the remains of a
group
of
forty
pyramids.
21. Hermes.
The
Egyptian priests
inform us that
Hermes,
in
dying,
said :
4
Until now I have been exiled from
my
true
country,
to which I
am about to return. Shed no tears for me. I return to that
celestial
country
whither all must
repair
in their turn. There is
God. This life is but a death."
(See
Chalcidius in
Tiuiaeum.)
Now this doctrine is
precisely
that of the ancient Bhuddists or
Samaneens,
who balieved that at certain
periods impersonations
of
deity
would be sent to earth to reform
man,
withdraw
him
from
vice,
and teach him the
way
of salvation. With such a
dogma spread
over
India, Egypt,
Persia,
and
Judea,
we can
easily
perceive
how
readily
its believers could accredit the
appearance
of such an
impersonation
did he
appear
at the
proper
time.
.22.
Sylils.
This was the ancient name
signifying prophetess, given by
the
Greeks and Romans to those women to whom were attributed
knowledge
of the future and divine
inspiration. Many temples
had their
sybil
or oracle
; for,
wherever the
priests
had established
their
colleges, they
found it
necessary
to
engage
these
persons,
to
strengthen
their
power
and
augment
their influence
among
the
people.
The vital or
physical
force to which we
give
the name
of animal
magnetism
was better known to the
magi priests
of
Chaldea and
Egypt
than it is at
present among
us. It was to the
study
and
application
of this occult science to which the
priests
owed much of their
great reputation
;
for
they
enriched their
astronomical
knowledge
with the addition of
botanical, medical,
chemical,
and anatomical
knowledge,
from the revelations made to
them
by
their
sybils.
The Essenian
priests,
who were
intimately
connected with an-
other
sect,
called
Therapeutes,
resident in
Egypt,
and who formed
the
connecting
link between the
Egyptians
and the
Hebrews,
as
the Essenians continued the affiliation between the Jews and the
Christians,
without doubt initiated Jesus
Christ,
who was educated
by
them,
into this sublime
science,
and thus can we
explain
how
he
wrought many
of the miracles attributed to him in the
Scrip-
tures.
The
sybils
of
antiquity
who were most celebrated were those of
Ionia and
Italy.
It is said that this last, to whom are
given
different
names,
came to Rome in the
reign
of
Tarquin
the
elder,
and sold him the books
(Sybilline
leaves),
in which were written
NOTES.
403
(he future of Rome and that he
deposited
them in the
capitol,
confiding
their care to two
priests
named
Duumvirs,
whose number
was
subsequently
increased to fifteen. Therein were
found,
it is
said, some
very
useful revelations. The
Sybilline
leaves were
destroyed
at the
burning
of the
capitol,
which took
place
in the
time of
Scylla.
The
senate,
immediately upon
the loss
becoming
known, sent into the cities of
Italy
and Greece to
gather up
such
of the
predictions
of the
Sybils
as could be
found,
for the
purpose
o-f
making
a new collection
;
but this afforded an
opportunity
to
fabricate
many,
and from that cause the
Sybilline
books fell into
disrepute.
The last collection was burnt in the
year 399,
by
Btilicon. eneral of the Arcadians.
23. The Avenues
of
Tlube*.
At
Karnak,
a
village
that is built
upon
the west bank of the
Nile,
may
be seen the most
imposing
monuments at
present extant,
where once stood ancient Thebes. The
approach
to these monu-
ments,
in
coming
from
Luxor,
is announced
by
the remains of a
flagstone pavement
which unite the edifices of Karnak with those
of Luxor. This
avenue,
more than a mile
long,
was once deco-
rated,
on the
right
hand and on the
left,
with one thousand two
hundred
sphinxes
and six hundred
rams, cut in
granite,
and con-
ducted to a
magnificent temple,
from which two other ranks of
sphinxes
reached to the
greater
and lesser
temples
at the
south,
the
ceilings
of which were
supported by
some hundreds of
columns,
seventy
feet in
height.
24. Subterranean Cities.
In ancient
Egypt
there were entire cities under
ground
which
have been discovered
during
the
past
centuries,
und accounts of
them
imparted
to us. A chain of limestone which borders the
Nile,
protected
the works of these subterranean
cities,
and the
tumulary
marvels hidden in the
necropoli
of Thebes and
Memphis
equal
the sunlit
masterpieces
of
Egyptian
art which rest
upon
the
banks of that river.
The
underground passage
of the
great pyramid,
not far from
Memphis,
communicates with immense
inclosures,
wherein
may
be
found delicious
gardens,
where
priests
and
priestesses
reside with
their
families,
including
all the
population necessary
for the service
of the
mysteries.
These subterranean residences and their sur-
roundings,
which are
nearly
six miles in
circumference,
communicate
with the seven other
pyramids
and the twelve
temples
which cu-
viron the
city.
25. Jehovah.
This
word,
as here
spelled,
is unknown to
any
Asiatic Jew or
aboriginal
Arab. Its
origin
even amc
ig Europeans,
who have
sanctified
it,
is neither clfiar nor authentic. When transcribed
into the letters of the Arab
alphabet,
the sound of the four letters
which
express
the name is
ialiouah,
or
ya-ho-wa-hoh.
Doctor
Robert
Walton,
one of the most learned and rational biblists who
has written
upon
this
mutter,
expressly objects
to the
pronunciation
Jehovah,
as unknown to the ancients. He states that
' :
the editors
of the Bible have had the
audacity
to
falsify
even the
manuscripts
in this
particular;
as,
for
instance,
in the
eighth Psalm,
when
Jeremiah
says
that he will read the name of the Lord in a certain
manner,
the editors have
put
the word
Jehovah,
when the manu-
script obliges
Frobenius to
give
the word Jao"
It
appears
that it was the German
theologians,
the first
disciples
of the
Rabbins,
who
gave involuntary place
to this
reading, by
their
j
and u.
The
Greek, Philo,
translator of the
Phenician, Sanchoniathon,
concurs with Diodorus of
Sicily,
Strabo,
and other
authorities,
when he
says
that the
god
of the Hebrews was called
Jeuo,
as we
learn from
Eusebius,
in his
"Evangelical Preparation."
It is
evident, then,
that the Hebrews never knew this
pretended
name,
so
emphatically styled
Jehovah
by
our
poets
and
theologians
;
and
they
have to
pronounce
it as the Arabs of to
day,
iehouh,
signifying
to
be,
the
essence, existence,
the
principle
of lite. Their word
jehouh,
therefore,
is
equivalent
to our
paraphrase
Him who is
himself,
the
Existing Being.
If the word
jehouh
had been
deprived, according
to the
genius
of
the Greek
language,
of the two h
letters,
it would have remained
jou,
base of
you-piter,
or
jou-pater (jou, generator,
essence of
life).
You-piter
(Jupiter}
was
regarded by
the
Egyptians, according
to
Manethon,
a
priest
of
Memphis,
as the
father,
the
generator
of
living beings.
The
god
of
Moses,
Jehouh or
Jehovah,
and whom
he called the soul
of
the
world,
is no other than the
You-piter
of
the
Egyptians.
26.
Tyre.
According
to the
chronology
of
Herodotus,
there was a
temple
founded to the Phenician Hercules
(the sun)
in the
year
2760
B.
C.,
at ancient
Tyre, upon
the rock
facing
the island
upon
which
the
city
stood some thirteen hundred
years
afterward. The ancient
city destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar in the
year
572 B.
(J.,
was re-
built a few
years
after
by
the remnant of the
Tyrian people.
27. TJie Jews Driven
from Egypt.
According
to
Manethon,
the
Egyptian priest prievously quoted,
"the ancestors of the Jewish
people
were a mixture of divers classes
of
men,
among
which were even
Egyptian priests,
who. from causes
of
impurity,
canonical
defilement,
and
especially
for
leprosy,
were
NOTES. 405
by
command of an
oracle, expelled
from
Egypt by
a
king
named
Amenuphis."
In Exodus it is stated that
many strangers
followed Israel out
of
Egypt.
28. TJie Pentateuch.
A crowd of circumstances tend to
prove
that Moses was not the
author of the
Pentateuch,
as these books have come to us. Hel-
kiah,
the
high priest,
who,
under the
reign
of the
young king
Jo-
siah,
made this
king
of
eight years
old,
and also the Jewish
people,
believe that he had found the book of the law in the
temple
of the
Lord, is,
in the sense that he collected and
arranged
these books
and
prefaced
them with a
cosmogony,
the real author of them as
they
were
presented
to the Jewish
king, priests,
and
people.
About
this
time,
it will be
noticed,
the Jews had
generally
abandoned the
worship
of the true God for the
worship
of Baal
(the
Belus or sun
of the
Chaldeans),
and the
high priest
conceived the
project
of re-
animating
the national
spirit by resuscitating
the laws of
Moses,
comprised
in the four books
containing
the
precepts,
command-
ments, prohibitions, rites,
and ordinances which constitute that
law. It was the mode then to have
cosmogonies explanatory
of the
orig'n
of all
things,
as well of nations as of the world
itself,
and
eacii
people
had their sacred
books,
commencing
with a
cosmogony.
The Greeks had that of
Hesiod,
the Persians that of
Zoroaster,
the
Pheniciaus that of
Sanchoniathou,
the Hindoos had their Vedas
and
Pouranas,
and the
Egyptians
had the five books of Hermes.
Helkiah desired to
give
to the Jewish
people
a book that would
serve as their
standard, and,
so to
speak,
to
promote
national con-
cord,
he believed it
necessary
to
arrange
a
cosmogony.
Both
by
nature and education Helkiah 'was
peculiarly
fitted for this
work;
his
people, originally
Chaldean,
had
preserved many
traditions, and,
like his
agent, Jeremiah,
he had a
political preference
for Chaldean
tradition. He therefore
adopted,
with
modifications,
the
Babylon-
ish
cosmogony.
Here we observe the true source of the remarkable
resemblance which the historian
Josephus,
as also all the ancient
Christian
fathers,
have noticed between the first twelve
chapters
of
Genesis and the Chaldean
antiquities
of Berose.
Theie is another
portion
of the Jewish
history
no more
worthy
of
credence,
as it is
given
in
subsequent
books
;
this is what is called
the Book of
Judges, covering
from 1551 to 1080 B.
C.,
and the
Book of
Joshua,
which afford us so
vague
a record of the
history
of
this
time,
when contrasted with the exact details of the Books ot
Kings,
that we can not determine but
that, previous
to the
appear-
ance of the
high priest,
or
prophet,
Elias,
the
history
of the Jews
is
broken, dissolved;
that all is uncertain and
confused,
and that
their annals
really
o back no further than 1131 B. C. So much
is this the case that it is
impossible
to determine within
twenty
or
thirty years
when Moses
died,
and that it is
only permitted by
a
reasonable calculation of
probabilities
to fix the date of that event
at from 1450 to 1420 B. 0.
From this condition of their
history,
it
naturally
results that if
the Jews had no exact notions of the time which
elapsed
between
Moses and
Elias,
nor of the time of the
sojourn
in
Egypt
lor
nothing
is clear in this
regard
how could
they pretend
to have
better
knowledge
of the time
previous
to their existence as a
people
in
Egypt,
or,
more anterior far. the time when no nation
existed,
or
about the time man was
created,
of which no
testimony
existed,
but
of which their Genesis
give
us the recital of events as if the writer
had the
process passing
before him? The Jews
say
that this was a
revelation
made
by
God direct to their
prophet
Moses. We
reply
that
many
nations have held to like
language
the
Egyptian,
the
Phenician,
the
Chaldean,
and the Persian
peoples
all have
equally
had the
history
of the creation revealed to their
prophets.
In
our
day
the Hindoos have
presented
to our missionaries their Vedas
and
Pouranas,
with some
pretensions
to an
antiquity
more remote
than Genesis or
any
other of the books attributed to Moses. It
is true that our learned biblists
reject,
or at least contest the
authenticity
of these
books;
but the
Brahmins, retorting,
use our
own
arguments,
and contest the
authenticity
of our Bible.
The most
convincing proof
that the author of the Hebrew
Genesis drew his
cosmogony
from that of the Chaldeans is afforded
us
by
the recital of the details that we therein find of the
deluge,
in
comparing
it with the text of two
fragments,
the one of Alex-
ander
Polyhistor,
a learned
compiler
of the time of
Scylla,
and the
other that of
Abydene.
another
compiler,
who,
Eusebius lias in-
formed
us,
consulted the
monuments of the Medes and the As-
syrians.
That which the Hebrew Genesis recounts of
Noah,
or
Noe,
these authors recount of Zisuthrus
;
and it is
plain
that the
history,
from the
beginning
of the
deluge
to the account of the
rainbow,
is
purely
Chaldean
;
that is to
say,
that
chapters
6 to
11,
inclusive,
are taken from the
legends
of the
priests
of that
nation,
of an
infinitely
remote
period
of time.
These texts
upon
the
deluge
would afford matter for a volume
of
commentaries,
but we will confine our remarks to what will be
necessary
for sensible men. The three recitals mentioned are a
tissue of moral and
physical impossibilities;
but here
simple good
sense does not
suffice;
it is
necessary
to be initiated into the
astrological
doctrine of the ancients to
interpret
the
language
employed,
and to know that the
deluges
of the
Hebrews,
Chal-
deans, Greeks,
Persians and
Hindoos,
as
having destroyed
the
world under
Noah,
Ogyzes,
luachus, Zisuthrus,
or
Satyavrata,
are one and the same
physico-astronomical
event which is
repeated
every year,
and
concerning
which the
principal
wonder is the me-
taphorical language
in which it is
expressed.
NOTES.
407
In that
language
the
great
circle of the heavens is called mun~
C?MS,
of which the
analogue
mondola also
signifies,
in the
Sanscrit,
a
circle,
and of which the orbis of the Latins is the
synonym.
The revolution
by
the sun of this circle
composed
the
year
of
twelve
months,
and was called
orbis,
the
world,
the celestial circle.
Consequently, every
twelve months the world was finished and the
world was
begun,
the world was
destroyed
and the world was re-
newed. The time of this remarkable event
varied,
according
to the
usage
of the
peoples
in
commencing
their
year
with the solstices
or the
equinoxes.
In
Egypt
the
year began
with the solstice of
summer. At this time the Nile exhibited the first
symptoms
of its
annual
overflow,
and in
forty days
thereafter the water covers all
the land of
Egypt
to the
depth
of fiVe cubits. This was
then,
as
it is
now,
for that
low-lying country,
an
ocean,
a
deluge
most de-
structive in the
early
times,
and before the
people, becoming
nu-
merous and more
intelligent,
had drained the
swamps,
and with
dykes
defended themselves from the effects of this overflow. Ex-
perience proved
to them that a
group
of stars
occupied
the heavens
coincident with the first
symptoms
of the
rise,
and this
group they
called the
ship
or
bark,
as it indicated that now
they
must be
ready
to
embark;
another
group
was called the
dog,
and the
appearance
of which indicated that the flow had attained its
greatest height;
a third was called the
crow,
a fourth the
dove,
a fifth the
laborer,
and,
not far from him. was the
virgin
harvester. All these
persons
A^ho
figured
in the
deluge
of Noah and Zisuthrus are also in the
celestial
sphere,
which was a true table or
calendar,
of which the
two texts from which we have
quoted
furnish a
description
more
or less faithful.
The most remarkable difference between the Chaldean and tho
Hebrew recital
is,
that the one
preserves
the
astrologico- mytho-
logical
character, while the other is turned into a sense and toward
an
object exclusively
moral. In
fact, according
to the Hebrew
version of which there are in the text more than a hundred
verses,
and so well known that it is not
necessary
here to
quote
them
the human
race,
having
become
perverted, "giants,"
the
progeny
of the "sons of God" and
"
daughters
of
men,"
exercised all sorts
of violence. Then God
repents having
made man. He
speaks;
he deliberates
upon
this
subject,
and
finally
he concludes to ex-
terminate the whole
race,
not
only
of
man, but,
by
the manner of
their
destruction,
necessarily
of
every living thing upon
the earth.
One
man, however,
he is content to
save,
because he is a
just
man
and
worthy
of
preservation.
To this man God makes known his
design;
he announces the
coming deluge;
he directs him how to
build a
ship,
etc. When the
deluge
has
destroyed
all
else,
this
man,
being saved,
offers
up
a sacrifice of clean
animals,
according
to ihr.
law
of
Moses,
as announced
by
him to the Hebrews in the wilder-
ness God is so
greatly propitiated by
this that he
promises
to
make no more
deluges;
he
imparts
to Noah his
blessing,
some
pre-
cepts,
and an
abridgment
of the law
of Motes;
he enters into an
alliance with all
living beings,
and,
as a
sign
of this
alliance,
he
invents the
rainbow,
etc. All this is
represented
in other
parts
of
the text with some
contradictions,
viz. : it rained
forty days
the
waters remained one hundred and
fifty days,
when the winds blew
and the rain ceased. On the first
day
of the tenth month the
tops
of the mountains are
visible, and, forty days
afterward,
a dove was
ent
forth,
but
returns, having
found no
place
whereon to rest her
foot,
etc.
What is this recital but a moral drama
;
such a lesson in conduct
as
might
be
given
to the
people by
a
religious legislator
a
priest?
29. The
Prodigies of
Moses.
Moses,
or rather
Moushah, according
to the true
pronunciation,
conceived the
project
of
becoming
ruler of and
legislator
for the
Hebrew
people,
and this
design
he executed with means
appro-
priate
to the circumstances and a force of character
very
remark-
able. His
people, ignorant
and
superstitious
as
they
have
always
been,
and as were the
wandering
tribes of the
Arabs,
believed iu
magic
a belief that even
yet
obtains in the
Easl^.
Moses is said
to have executed miracles and
prodigies
;
that
is,
he
produced
natural
phenomena
which the
priests
of
Egypt, by long study
and
happy chance,
discovered the means of
executing.
It is
impos-
sible to account
by
natural means for the miracles which Moses is
said to have
performed;
but it is
plain
that the writers who
described them
exaggerated
and
corrupted
the
facts,
with the de-
sign
of
magnifying
the acts of their
prophet, priest,
and
king.
30.
Dogma of
an
Only
God.
The
Jews,
the
Christians,
and the
Mussulmans,
founding
their
belief
upon
the same
books,
all admit the existence of a first
man,
who ruined the whole human race
by eating
an
apple.
The
prin-
cipal
difference between them consists in
this,
that after
having
admitted one indivisible
Grod,
the Christians divided the same into
three
persons,
each of whom
they
maintained was a God entire
and
complete,
without
ceasing
to
form,
with the
others,
an iden-
tical whole. And
they
maintained, further,
that this
being
who
filled the
universe,
assumed the form of an individual
man,
with
a
body composed
of like
perishable materials,
without
ceasing
to
be
immortal, eternal,
and infinite. The
Mussulmans,
who can not
comprehend
these
mysteries, notwithstanding they
believe in the
mission of their
prophet, rjject
the Christian doctrine as the fruit
of an unsound mind
;
and
among
the Christians themselves the
disagreement
widens
by
as much as the
problems upon
which
they
NOTES.
409
differ is
impossible
of
demonstration,
and inaccessible to the
ap-
pro
ich of common sense and human reason.
Thus, while
they
admit that God is an
incomprehensible
and
unknown
being, they
nevertheless
dispute
as to his
essence,
the
causes of his actions, and his attributes
;
admitting
his transform-
ation into a human
body
to be an
enigma beyond
their
compre-
hension,
they dispute
about the confusion or the distinction of the
two natures,
upon
the
change
of
substance,
or-
transubstantiation,
the real or fancied
presence,
and
upon
the manner of the incarna-
tion,
etc.;
and from these differences innumerable sects have
spuing up,
and,
to the extent of two or three
hundred,
have
become
extinct,
while two or three hundred others
yet
exist.
The
Bible,
which is the common
authority
of all these
sects,
in
substance,
says
that God
(after having passed
an
eternity doing
nothing)
conceived the
design
of
producing
the world out of
nothing;
and,
having accomplished
this labor and
completed
his
creation in six
days,
he rested
upon
the
seventh;
that
having,
as
the
crowning part
of his
creation,
made a
pair
of human
beings,
the first of their
kind,
he
placed
them in a
garden very delicious,
to the end that
they might
be
perfectly happy,
but
prohibiting
them, however,
from
eating
a certain fruit which he
placed
within
easy
reach of their hands
;
that this first
pair having disobeyed
this
prohibition,
all their
kind,
none of which were
yet
born, were
condemned to
.expiate
a fault
which,
as
they
had no
existence,
they
could not
commit;
that after
having
allowed the human race
to be thus condemned
during
four or five thousand
years,
this
God of
mercy, goodness,
and
justice proposed
to his
only begot-
ten
yet
co-existent and well-beloved son to assume the form of a
man,
by being
born of a woman
upon
the
earth,
to the end that
he should suffer death to save man from eternal death
;
that hav-
ing accomplished
these
things,
and thus saved all men who had
existed
upon
the
earth,
from the fall of the first
pair
until his
death,
this
only-begotten
sou,
co-existent with the
Father,
or-
dained,
at his last
supper upon
earth,
a
plan by
which those who
should be born after his death
might
be
saved,
and for this
pur-
pose
he instituted a
sacrament,
named after that
event,
and
by
which a little bread is said to
compose
the
body
of this sacrificed
God,
and be
endowed,
for the benefit of its
consumer,
with all
the
effisacy
of the real
body,
and become the oblation or atone-
ment for the sins of future men.
Now,
is it not
enough
to
upset
all ideas of
justice
or reason to
admit that a
God, just
and
holy,
should have condemned the
whole human race because a man and a
woman,
four or five thou-
sand
years
before,
ate an
apple?
Was there ever a
tyrant
who
made the children suffer for their
parents'
crimes? What inau
can atone for the crimes of another man ?
The
following picture,
extracted from their sacred
books, proves,
in
fact,
that it is not God who has made man to his
image, but,
upon
the
contrary,
it is man who has made God to that
image
and in that likeness which most satisfies himself and suits his
purposes.
The God of the
Israelites,
their
Jehouh,
or
Jehovah,
as Moses
distinguished
the
You-piter
of the
Egyptians,
is,
if we
judge
from
the manner in which he is
represented
in the
Bible,
a
despot,
a
revengeful God,
and exterminator of the
peoples.
The human
race w;.s
perverted,
and he
repents
of
having
created the
species,
he
speaks,
he
deliberates,
he decides
upon
a violent means of de-
stroying
all that has
life,
thus
involving
not
only
the
offending
race,
but all others in a common death
;
he has
pity upon
but a
single
family
of
man,
which he saves. After the execution of this
decision,
this same God, who then had entered into an alliance
with all the
living,
is stated to have said to the Hebrew
people
(See Exodus, chap, xxvi):
"
I will not exterminate the Canaanites
before
your
face in one
single year,
for fear that the
country
should be reduced to a desert." It will be observed that his
reason for
exterminating
the Canaanites at all
was,
that he is said
to have
promised
their land to the Hebrews.
Subsequently
this
same
God,
through
the mouth of their
prophet Samuel,
ordered
the Jews to exterminate all the
people
of
Amalek,
sparing
neither
man, woman, child,
or beast for food or
burden;
and
why?
Be-
cause,
four hundred
years previously,
the Amalekites
opposed
the
passage
of the Hebrews
through
their
country.
Then the same
God,
furious at the
temerity
of five thousand
persons
who look
upon
the ark of the
covenant,
strikes them all dead. Elsewhere
this same
God,
among
many
other
trifling acts,
dictates to Moses
the wood with which he shall make the ark
;
he has interviews
with the
prophets, speaking
to them in their
chambers,
and re-
penting
one
day
of what he ordered done the
day previous.
This
is the God of the Jews. But where are the witnesses and
proofs
of these
things
which are
alleged
and reasserted in the Old Tes-
tament? There are none.
Now,
observe what are the
qualities
of the God of the Chris-
tians. This God was at first a God of
peace, goodness,
and char-
ity.
Christ exhibits him to us as a
being
the most
holy
and
perfect,
and,
at the same
time,
.as
the most affectionate father of
all mankind
;
but Christ
dies,
and
immediately
the
priests,
who
preach
what
they
call Christ's
doctrine,
change
God into a
despot,
burning
with
revenge
for man's
incorrigible
wickedness. While
assuming
to be the successors of
Christ,
unlike him
they preach
neither
liberty, toleration,
nor
peace;
but,
in his
name,
and with
the
emblem of his death
upraised
in their
hands,
they
have led
crusades
against Arianism, Manicheanism,
and Protestantism, under
the
assertion that the
peoples
who defended and
indulged
these
doctrines were
heretics, and, consequently,
accursed of God. It is
NOTES.
411
in the name of their God that the
aboriginal people
of
America
have been
exterminated,
Mexico and Peru have been
conquered,
and their inhabitants
destroyed;
that Africa has been
devastated,
and its inhabitants sold like
beasts;
and,
in the same
name,
that
the
priests
of the
"
Holy Inquisition" persecuted
the sects of the
Christian church in
Europe
until
nearly
a million of
persons
were
destroyed,
over
thirty
thousand of whom were roasted to death.
Now take the
Koran,
and see what is the
god
of the Mussul-
mans. Their
god,
as created
by
Mahomet,
his
prophet,
and called
Allah,
is.
according
to the
holy
books of
Islamism,
a
god opposed
in
many things
to the
god
of the Jews and the Christians. This
god, they say,
after
having
sent
twenty-four
thousand
propheta
to the nations which had become
idolatrous,
finally
sent a last
prophet,
the most
perfect
of
all, Mahomet,
upon
whom should be
impressed
the salutation
of peace.
Then,
in order that the infidel
should not
change
the divine
word,
supreme clemency itself
traced
the leaves of the
Koran,
and thus it became
immortal, uncreated,
eternal as the source from which it emanated
;
page by page
and
leaf
by
leaf, as it was
composed,
was it sent
by
the
angel
Gabriel
to the
prophet,
and was
entirely
delivered to him in
twenty-four
thousand nocturnal visits. These visits were announced
by
a cold
sweat
seizing upon
the
prophet.
That in the vision of a
night
he
reached the nineteenth
heaven,
seated
upon
the back of the animal
Barak,
half horse and half woman
; that,
owing
to the
gift
of
miracles,
he reached the sun without
protection
from the
intensity
of his
light,
made trees
grow
with a
single
word,
filled cisterna
with
water,
split
the disk of the moon in two
;
and,
charged
with
the commission
of
God. sword in
hand,
Mahomet
propagated
a re-
ligion
the most
worthy
of God
by
reason of its
sublimity,
and
the most suitable for man
by
reason of its
simplicity,
since it con-
sists of but nine
points,
viz.: 1. To
profess
the oneness of God.
2. To
recognize
Mahomet for his
only prophet.
3. To
pray
five
times a
day.
4. To fast one month in the
year.
5. To
go
to
Mecca once in a lifetime. 6. To
give
the tenth of
your property
to the faithful. 7. To drink no wine.. 8. To eat no
pork.
1). To
make continual war
upon
the infidels.
By practicing
these
pre-
cepts during
life,
all Mussulmans
would,
like
himself,
enjoy
thia
world with
great satisfaction,
and at their
death, also,
like
him,
become
apostles
and
martyrs,
whose
souls,
borne in the balance of
their
works,
and absolved
by
the two black
angels,
after
having
traversed
hell,
by crossing
that
bridge
which is
straight
as a hair
and
sharp
as a
saber,
would be received into a
place
the most de-
licious a land
flowing
with milk and
honey
where,
embalmed
with all the
perfumes
of India and
Araby,
chaste
virgins,
celestial
houris. would minister
constantly
to their
pleasure, and,
with
them,
continue forever
young.
Here we behold the
god
Allah of the
Ishmaelites,
and the
para-
dise
promised
to the believers of his
prophet
and those who
obey
his
laws,
the first
precept
of which is murder and war. It is uuder
the banner of this doctrine
that,
during
twelve
centuries,
its
fanatical
partisans
have
spread
the horrors of war and
carnage
among
the
neighboring
nations. It is Islamism that has
plunged
the
people
of
Asia,
once
flourishing
and
intelligent,
into the realm
of barbarism and
ignorance.
It is thus that these
self-styled prophets
and
priests
of God
have elevated themselves into doctors of the
peoples,
and
opened
the
ways
of wickedness and
iniquity. Attaching
merit to
prac-
tices
inconsequent
and,
in
fact, ridiculous,
their virtue consists in
gesticulating
in certain
postures,
in the
expression
of certain
words,
in
articulating
certain
names,
in
eating
and
drinking
certain kinds
of food and
drink,
and
refraining
from others. How low are
man's ideas of the most elevated of
beings!
It would
seem,
in
hearkening
to the
priests
of these different
religions,
that their
god,
whimsical and
capricious,
eats and drinks like a man
; that,
in
turn,
he loves and
hates,
casts down and
uplifts ; that,
weak as
wicked,
he nurses his hate
; that,
contradictory
as
perfidious,
he
sets snares for the
unwary
; that,
after
permitting
evil,
he
punishes
it; that, foreseeing
crime,
he
permits
it;
that,
a venal
judge,
he is
propitiated by
bribes
; that,
an
imprudent despot,
he makes laws
which he
immediately
revokes; that,
ferocious
tyrant,
he holds or
confers his favors without a cause, and bends but to the
strength
of meanness !
Now that we have
seen,
as exhibited
by
their
priests
and
prophets,
the God of the
Jews,
of the
Christians,
and the Mussul-
mans,
let us examine him who is revered
by
Freemasons. Here
is their idea of a
Supreme Being.
From at first
they
have called
him the Grand Architect of the
Universe,
regarding
the universe
as that house not made with
hands,
eternal in the
heavens,
and,
conformably
to this
idea,
they comprehend
under this denomination
a universal arid eternal
intelligence, gifted
with all
power,
all
science,
all
love; ruling
the worlds and the
beings
which
compose
the universe
by regular
and uniform laws to the close of their
existence. It is this
God,
that
they
reverence as the
Only
Master,
who is seen and made manifest in all the wonders of his
works,
which
they
behold
amazed; and,
as the author and father of all
men,
he
gives
to all
intelligence
and life. Thus
regarding
the
Supreme Being,
the
religion
of
Masonry
can be but a
summary
of
human wisdom of all those
perfections
the
practice
of which
render man
nearly divine;
and it
is,
in a
word,
that universal
morality
which attaches to the inhabitants of
"every
country
to
the man of
every worship.
This
morality
is more extended and
more universal than that of
any
national
religion,
for
these,
always
exclusive,
class those who do not believe nor
worship
at thoir
shrines as
unbelievers,
as
idolaters, schismatics, sectarians,
and
NOTES.
413
infidels,
while
Masonry
sees
nothing
in
religionists
of
every
kind
but
brethren,
to whom she
opens
her
temple
and admits
them,
to be therein freed from the
prejudices
of their
country
or the
errors of the
religion
of their
fathers,
by learning
to love one
another,
and to sustain each other.
Bearing
on
high
her
torch,
she would have it shed its
pure
beams to
enlighten
and not to
destroy ;
but while she flies from error she neither hates nor
persecutes:
her
object being,
in
fine,
to blend the whole
family
of
man into one band of
brothers,
united
by
love, science,
and labor.
This
being
the true Masonic
doctrine,
it becomes
necessary
that
masonry
should
open
its
temples
to all men to the Jew as to
the
Mohammedan,
to the adorer of Bhuida or Fot as to the
adorer of God in Christ
;
and this without
seeking
to
identify
itself with the rites of
any
of the.se
religionists,
or to follow the
standard of
any prophet.
Without
permitting
herself to descend
to such an
adoption, Freemasonry
can select from their best doc-
trines,
and cull from their commandments all that conforms to
the rule of her
existence;
that
is,
the
practice
of universal
morality.
31. The
Worship of
the Stars.
The
worship
of the sun has
given
to the Jewish and Roman
Catholic
priests
the
tonsure,
which
represents
the disk of the
sun,
of which the stole is the
zodiac,
and the
chaplets
are the emblems
of the stars and
planets
;
the miter of the
pontiff, together
with
the crozier and
mantle,
are those of Osiris
;
and the
cross,
the
mysteries
of which are extolled without
being
understood
by
the
priests,
is the cross of
Serapis,
traced
by
the hand of the
Egyptian
priests upon
their
symbolic plan
of the
world, which,
passing by
the
equinoxes
and the
tropics
becomes the emblem of the resur-
rection and a future life.
32. The Essenians.
This
religious
and
philosophic
sect,
of which Christ had been a
member,
was
composed
of learned Jews who lived in the form of
a
society
similar to that of
Pythagoras.
Love of labor,
sobriety,
love of
truth,
the absence of all oaths,
fidelity,
love of
peace,
hor-
ror of
violence, complete equality
in all social
relations,
property
in
common,
(of
which the first Christian
community
of Jerusalem
affords an
example,)
or,
at the
least,
disinterested aid afforded to those
members who were in need
;
in
general,
love to God and
man,
made manifest
by
iatense
honesty
these were the
principles
which
distinguished
the Essenians. It was in this celebrated
philosophical
sect
that,
among
numbers of ancient
traditions,
that
of a future savior a
great
mediator who would reestablish the
nation in all its ancient
glory
was conserved and
principally
propagated.
This
prediction
was founded
as follows :
After the
Assyrians
had
destroyed
the
kingdom
of
Samaria,
some
prudent persons, foreseeing
the same
destiny
for
Jerusalem,
predicted
and announced
it,
and their
predictions
had all the
ap-
pearance
of
prophecies.
The
hierophants,
in their
enthusiasm,
had conceived a
kingly
liberator,
who would reestablish the nation
in its ancient
glory,
and the Hebrew
people again
become a
powerful people, conquering
and to
conquer,
with Jerusalem the
capital
of an
empire,
coextensive with the whole earth.
Events
having
realized the first of these
predictions, viz.,
the
ruin of
Jerusalem,
the
people
attached to the second much more
implicit
belief than accorded with the
event;
and the afflicted
Jews looked with an
impatience corresponding
with their need for
the
coming
of that victorious
king
and liberator who should re-
build the nation fashioned
by
Moses and reestablish the
empire
of David.
Otherwise,
the sacred
mythological
traditions of the
previous
time had
spread
over all Asia an
entirely analogous dogma.
They
had
spoken
of a Great
Mediator,
a final
Judge,
a future
Savior, who,
as
Grod,
king,
and
legislator,
should
bring
the
golden
age
to
earth,
deliver his
empire
from
evil,
and render to man the
reign
of
blessing, peace,
and
happiness.
These ideas found
place
in the hearts of the
people
the more as
they
became
oppressed
by
successive devastation and saddened
by
the barbarism of their
despotic governments;
and this
conformity
between the oracles of
other nations and the
prophets
of their own excited the attention
of the Jews. There is little doubt that those
prophets
had been
artful
enough
to calculate their events after the manner
employed
in the
pagan mysteries;
for in Judea
general
attention had been
attracted to the
coming
of a final
savior,
when a
singular
circum-
stance determined the
period
of his advent.
It was written in the sacred books of the Chaldeans and
Persians that the
world,
composed
of a total revolution of twelve
thousand,
1
was divided into two
partial revolutions,
one of
which,
the
<ige
and
reign of good,
terminated at the close of the first
six
thousand,
and the
other,
the
age
and
reign of
evil,
terminated
at the close of the second six thousand.
By
these
recitals,
the
first authors had extended the annual revolution of i.lie celestial
orbit called the
world,
and the two
systematic periods
of each
year,
viz.,
winter and
summer,
each divided into six thousand
parts.
These
expressions,
in which the thousands were taken in
the sense of
years,
instead of
parts,
and the whole taken in a
literal rather than in an
astrological
sense, together
with the fact
that in these latter
days
the Jews were
unhappily
situated,
suh-
1
This, it will be remembered
by
the
reader,
was the division of the zodiac
of Zoroaster iiito twelve
ihousauds,
or t~veNe
mouths,
of a thousand
parts
each.
NOTES.
415
ject
to and
severely
taxed
by
the Roman
power,
induced them to
believe that the
age
of evil was about to
close,
and be succeeded
by
the
age
of
good.
Now,
in the calculations of the
Jews,
they
commenced to count
their first six thousand
years
from their
(fictitious)
creation of
the world. This time was
certainly
about to
close,
and this co-
incidence
produced
an
agitation
in the minds of
leading
men
among
them.
They
talked of
nothing
but the
approaching time;
they interrogated
the
hierophants
and their
mystic books;
they
expected
the advent
daily
of that restorer of their ancient
great-
ness. Jesus Christ, educated
among
the
Essenians,
appears
and
preaches
his doctrine. It is not
satisfactory
to those in
power ;
he is arrested,
tried, condemned,
executed. After his
death,
his
disciples
and
partisans, deprived
of their chief
by
an
incident,
true,
without
doubt, gave place by
their recitals to a rumor which
gradually grew
into a
history,
and
immediately
all the circumstances
of the
mythological
traditions have
place,
and afford us a
system
authentic and
complete,
and which we can not doubt.
These
mythological
traditions set forth
that,
"
In the
beginning
a woman and a man
having, by
their disobedience and
consequent
fall,
introduced sin into the world."
(Take
an ancient celestial
globe,
and follow the
explanation.)
Here we
perceive
the astro-
nomical fact that the
virgin
harvester and the cowherd
(Bootes),
occupying positions obliquely
to the
equinox
of autumn, seem to
deliver the heavens to the constellation of
winter, and,
falling
under the
horizon,
introduces into the world the
genius
of
evil,
Ahrimune,
symbolized by
the constellation of the
serpent.
The traditions continue :
il
That the
woman, having fallen,
se-
duced the man
;"
and,
in
fact,
the
virgin,
descending first,
seems
to
diMjr
Bootes toward her.
"
That the
woman,
holding
him,
pre-
sents In. n with
fruits beautiful
to look
upon
and
good
to
cat,
and
which
impart
the
knowledge
of
good
and evil
;"
and,
in
fact,
the
virgin
holds in her hand a branch of
fruit,
which she seems to
be
extending
toward
Bootes,
while the
bough
or
branch,
emblem
of
autumn,
placed
in the zodiac of Mithra
upon
the frontier of
winter and of
summer,
seems to
open
the door and bestow
science,
which is the
key
of
good
and evil.
The traditions continue :
"
That this
couple
had been chased
from
the celes'ial
garden,
and that a
cherubim,
with a
flaming
sword,
had
been
placed
at the
gate
to
keep
them from
returning;"
and,
in
fact,
vshen the
virgin
and Bootes fall under the
horizon,
Perseus
rises
upon
the other
side,
with a sword in his
hand,
and
seemingly
chases them from the heaven of
summer,
the
garden
and
reign
of
fruits nod flowers.
The traditions continue: "That of this
virgin
would be bora
put
ibuh a shoot an infant who would crush the head of the
unU who would deliver the world from
sin;"
and
by
416 GENERAL HISTOilY OF FREEMASONRY.
this
figure they designated
the movement of the
sun,
which,
in
fact,
at the time of the summer solstice at the
precise
moment
when the
magi
of the Persians cast the
horoscope
of the new
year
is found
resting
in the bosom of the
virgin
and
obliquely
with the eastern
horizon,
and
which,
on this
account,
was
symbol-
ized in their
astrological pictures
under the form of a
suckling
infant
resting
in the bosom of a
virgin,
and became
afterward,
at
the
equinox
of
spring-time,
the rum or
lamb, conqueror
of the
constellation of the
serpent,
which at this time
disappears
from the
heavens.
1
These
mythological
traditions further state :
"
That in his in-
fancy,
this
restorer,
of divine or celestial
nature,
lived
humble,
ob-
scure,
cast
down,
and
indigent
;"
and thus
may
be seen the sun of
winter low in the
horizon,
and the first of these four
ages
or
seasons, winter,
a time of
consequent obscurity,
want,
fasting,
and
privations.
Further :
u
That,
put
to death
by
wicked
ones,
he
was
gloriously
resurrected;
that he went
up
from hell to
heaven,
where he
reigns eternally;"
and thus
they
retraced the
way
of the
sun, who,
closing
his career at the solstice of
winter,
while
Typhon
ruled and the
angels
rebelled,
he seems to be
put
to death
by
them,
but
immediately
after
reappearing,
he mounts toward the
vault of
heaven,
where he remains.
Finally,
these
traditions,
in
citing
the
astrological
and
myste-
rious names of this
infant,
say
that he was sometimes called Ct'is
that is to
say,
the
preserver
and sometimes Issus. Can a closer
analogy
be traced batweeu the
leading
features of two accounts of
any
event which has ever had
place
than this which we have
just
recounted,
when
compared
with the
Scriptures detailing
the
birth,
life,
and death of Christ?
Like
Osiris, Adonis,
or
Mithra,
Christ came
upon
the earth to
destroy
death and
darkness, arid,
like
them,
he was born on the
25th of December. This is the solstice of
winter,
the moment
whon the sun
passes
from the inferior to the
superior signs
; and,
in the
cosmogony
of the
ancients,
he enters Taurus
; but,
by
reason
of the
precession
of the
equinoxes,
he
began,
about the
year
330
before the birth of
Christ,
to enter
by
the
sign
of the ram or
lamb,
and
through
which he
opened
the
year effectually
at the
time when Christ
appeared preaching
his doctrine in Judea. Thus
Christ calls himself the lamb who removeth the sins of the world.
With the
sphere
of Coronelli in his
hand,
let the reader now
observe what takes
place
at the time of the birth of Christ.
On the 25th
December,
to a
minute,
the sun is at
Capricorn,
in
1
In the
explanation
of the Persian
sphere spoken
of
by Ben-Ezra,
in the
Poetical Heaven of Blaen.
p. 71,
occurs this sentence: "The first
square rep-
resents this beautiful
virgin
with
long hair,
seated on a
lounge,
with two
swonls in one
hand, suckling
an
infant,
called Jesus
by
some nations and
Christ in Greek."
NOTES.
417
the stable of
JEgeus,
son of the
sun;
at the
highest
meridianal
point
is the ass of Bacchus and the crib or
manger;
behind him
is the water bearer or cherubim
;
before him is the
eagle of
St.
John. In the
superior hemisphere
is the Lull and the celestial
lion;
in the east the
virgin reposes, holding
an infant in her arms, and
under her feet is the
dragon.
Near her is
Bootes,
the foster-
father of
Horus,
and near him
Janus,
with his
key
in his hand
and mounted
upon
his
ship
chief of the twelve months Janus
ajr-piars;
and
upon
the same
line,
toward the
horizon,
is the star
tlt'2>h'n.
The lamb is
couching,
and in front of him is that con-
stellation
composed
of three beautiful stars which Christian astron-
omers call the
Magi.
This is the condition on the 25th December in the astronomical
cosmogony.
In the Christian
cosmogony, upon
the 25th Decem-
ber,
at the same
moment,
Christ is born of a
virgin,
in a
stable,
between an ox and an
ass;
he is laid in a
manger,
and is called
Jesus,
because he is to deliver his
people ;
then an
angel appears,
who announces the birth of
Christ,
whom he
styles Lord;
on the
eighth d;y
he is called Savior
;
near Jesus and his mother is the
foster-father
Joseph,
the
carpenter. Upon
the next
day
is cele-
brated the feast of St.
Stephen by
the Catholic
church,
and
upon
the
day following
that of St. John the
Evangelist,
whom the
sacred books
represented accompanied by
an
eagle. Peter,
chief
of the twelve
apostles (months),
is
represented carrying
the
keys
of
heaven, and,
afterward Jesus is known as the Lamb of God
who redeems the world. The
analogy,
it will be
observed,
is
striking.
Let us
complete
it.
No sooner is Christ born than three
kings,
or
magi, guided by
the star in the
East,
come to salute and
bring
him
presents,
which, according
to immemorial
usage
were consecrated to the
sun. Three months after the solstice of winter occurs the solstice
of
summer,
viz.: on the 25th of March. At this instant the sun
triumphs,
and
day
and
night
becomes of
equal length.
At the
moment when
Gabriel, upon
this
day,
salutes
Mary,
in the Chris-
tian
cosmogony,
Osiris,
in the
Egyptian,
was
reputed
to salute the
moon,
to the end that she
might fructify
the earth. On the 24th
of.
June, feast of St.
John,
and
precise period
of the solstice of
summer,
St. John the
Baptist
should have
baptized
Christ to fit
him for his work. This St. John the Latin Janua means
gate
or
door has his
peer
in the St. John of the 27th of
December,
whose feast
opens
the solstice of winter. Here it is
plain
that the
St. Johns are no other than the Janua
inferi
and Janua cozli of
the
llomans,
the doors to the inferior and
superior places.
These
are,
in
fact,
the two
precise points
when the
sun,
having
arrived
at the culminations of his
ascending
and
descending
courses,
pass
from the
superior signs
into the
inferior,
and from the latter return
into the former.
27
We come to the death of Christ.
Following
the
Evangelists,
it
took
place
on Good or
Holy Friday
;
and he arose three
days
after-
ward. From the 25th
December,
the sun
having
entered the su-
perior signs,
remains insensible to our horizon until the 21st March.
Well,
at that
instant,
upon
the 25th
March,
when he crossed the
line,
was celebrated
by
the Jews the feast of the Passover
;
for then
this feast was not as it is
to-day,
a moveable
one;
on the
contrary,
it occurred
invariably
at the instant of the vernal
equinox.
Now
equinox signifies equal days
as
nights;
for
during
the three
days
which
elapse
from the 21st to the 25th
March,
the
nights
over all
the earth are of
equal length
with the
days
before the 21st the
nights
are
longer ;
afterward
they
are shorter. The same
phenom-
enon occurs at the autumnal
equinox.
At these two
periods
of the
year
the
equator
is found
perpendicularly
under the sun.
Now what is the result of this examination? That the
disciples
of Christ have surrounded his
birth, life,
and death with miracles
which never took
place,
but which
are, rather, symbolized
under
solar
appearances.
That the doctrine of
Christ,
which is a sum-
mary
and code of all the truths which were known at this
period,
is similar to that of the Esscnian school from which he
graduated,
as it is similar to that of the
hierophants
of
Egypt
and the
gym-
nosophists
of India. In a
word, that the Christian
religion
came
out from the
mysteries
of initiation
;
and that the
creation,
the
gods,
the
angels,
the
occurrences,
dogmas,
and
ceremonies,
such as we
find them in the sacred
books,
are
nothing
but
resemblances,
more
or less
faithful,
of the ancient
gods, angels, dogmas,
and ceremonies
of the
Brahmins,
the
magi,
and the
Egyptian priests.
During
the first three centuries of our era the Christian
religion
existed but in
anarchy
and chaos.
Opinions
as fanciful as ridi-
culous divided those who assumed the direction of
it,
and their
opin-
ions were sustained
by
their
supporters
with
fervor,
and an abid-
ing
faith that caused the destruction of
myriads,
because
they
were based
upon
traditions
equally
as ancient and
equally
as sacred
as those which were offered to
replace
them. After three hundred
years
the
government
became associated with one of these
sects,
and made its doctrines the
religion
of the
State,
to the exclusion
of all the
others;
and
these,
consequently,
became heresies and their
holders
heretics,
to be cursed and
destroyed by
the dominant
party.
33.
Christianity..
This
religion, having gone
forth out of
Judea, spread rapidly
upon
the earth. At first
propagated by
men whose
only object
was to reform and
simplify
the
worship
of
nature,
and to make
universal
morality
the basis of that
worship, by blotting
out for-
ever the numerous and horrible sacrifices which
every-where
in-
NOTES.
412
undated the altars with
blood,
under a solar
allegory they
exhibited
a
single
victim, worthy
of
divinity,
immolated each
year
for the
preservation
and
regeneration
of nature. This
religion
was sub-
sequently perpetuated by priests,
who altered its
simple
and natural
forms,
and substituted therefor certain
mysteries, ceremonies,
and
above
all,
assumed a sacerdotal
power totally
unknown to its first
ministers,
the
disciples
of
Clirist,
whose
only power
consisted in
appeals
to the consciences of men. In its
primitive condition,
this
religion
formed the
allegorical complement
to the
worship
of
nature a
worship
which of itself was at first
nothing
more than
a
grand
and beautiful
allegory.
In the earlier
times,
and after the death of
Christ,
the
priests
of
his
religion
were
strangers
to all
thought
of human dominion.
Entirely
animated
by
that idea to which he
gave expression
in
the
words,
"He who devotes himself most
diligently
to
my
service
here shall be
greatest
in
my kingdom
hereafter,''
they
were
humble,
modest, charitable;
and constant in their endeavors to imbue those
to whom
they preached
with a similar
spirit.
Their
early meetings
were devoid of either
parade
or
show,
being nothing
but
sponta-
neous reunions of all the Christ! ins resident in
any
certain
locality.
A
pure
arid
simple morality
marked their
religious
enthusiasm, and
excited even the admiration of their
porseautors. They
shared
every thing
in common
property, joys,
and sorrows. In the silence
of
night
they
met in secret to te.ich and
pray.
The
ayapes,
or fra-
ternal
repasts,
terminated these
meetings,
in which differences of
social rank and
position
were effaced
by
the belief of a
paternal
divinity being present.
It was thus that
Christianity prepared
two
changes
which
gradually
found
place
in the manners and
customs of all those countries into which this
religion
extended.
Women obtained the rank and
importance
to
which,
as the mothers
of
families,
they
are
justly
entitled;
and the
slaves,
as
participants
at the
aj'tpes,
were
gradually
elevated above that
oppression
under
which one half of the whole humau
race,
anterior to the adveut of
Christianity,
had bowed itself.
34. The
Mysteries of Christianity.
At the
beginning Christianity
was an initiation similar to that
of
thcpigan?.
None ,vere admitted but
upon
certain determined
conditions, and,
these conditions
complied
with,
they
were reeeiveii
and a
complete knowledge
of the doctrine and
mysteries conveyed
to them in three
degrees
of instruction. The initiates
were,
con-
sequently,
divided into three classes: The fir^t class was
composed
of the
h-'arc.rs,
the second of the catechumens,
or those
who,
having
taken the first
degree,
were in
possession
of the rudiments of the
Christian doctrine,
and the third class was
composed
of the
faithful.
The hearers constituted the novices
who, prepared by
certain
prac-
tices,
and after
having
listened and assented to certain
instructions,
were initiated into the
rudimentary degree,
and
brought
to a knowl-
edge
of a
part
of the
degrees
of
Christianity. Having attained,
in this
manner,
to the condition of a
catechumen,
the
initiate,
having
purified
himself
by
the
practice
of certain
ordinances,
was
baptized,
or initiated into the
degree
of divine
generation;
and
subsequently
a
knowledge
of the
mysteries
of
Christianity,
viz.,
the
incarnation,
nativity, passion,
death,
and
resurrection,
were
conveyed
to
him,
and this instruction
composed
his initiation into the class of the
faithful.
The
mysteries
were divided into two
parts;
the first
part
was called the mass of the
catechumens,
and
corresponded
to the
low mass of the Catholic Church of the
present day,
and the second
part
was called the mass of the
faithful,
corresponding
to the
high
mass of the same church. Of these
mysteries
the celebration of
the
holy
sacrament of the
Eucharist,
beyond
all
others,
was held
as the most inviolable
secret,
and known
only
to the faithful. All
the
mysteries
and ceremonies which constituted the
early
Christian
worship
are to be found in the
worship
of
Mithra,
or solar
worship,
and the celebration of these
mysteries
was likewise called the mas.
35.Eleusis,
Athens.
Of all the
magnificent
monuments which ornamented
"
beautifuj
Athens,"
among
those
possessing any
merit there now remains but
the ruins of the
Pantheon,
the
temples
of
Jupiter, Olympus,
The-
seus,
the
Winds,
and
Victory ;
the theaters of Bacchus and Herodus
Atticus
;
the
gate
of
Adrian,
and the Erechtheum.
36. The
Temple of
Balbek.
Balbek
signifies
city
of
Baal,
or
city
of the
sun,
and
corresponds
with the Greek term
Hdiopolis.
Of this ancient
city
time has
spared
but the ruins of a few
temples,
which
may
be seen at some
distance from anti-Libanus. Of these two are
very
remarkable,
being,
in their
dimensions, colossal,
and erected with
huge
stones
which
surpass
in the extent of their
superficial
measurement
any
thing
to be found
among
the monolithic works of
Egypt; while,
scattered about
may
be found the remains of
masterpieces
of ma-
sonic art.
37 The
Temple of
Tadmor
(Palmyra}.
The edifices of
Palmyra surpass
in
beauty
and
grandeur
even
those of
Heliopolis. According
to the
historian, Josephus,
this
city
was founded
by
Solomon,
who
gave
it the name of Tadmor. or
city
of Palms. It is situated in the desert of Arabia, between
Syria
and the
Euphrates. Having
fallen into the
possession
of tho
Romans,
it was
considerably aggrandized by
them,
under the
roign
of
the
Emperor
Aurelian
(275
A.
D.),
who ordered the
colleges
NOTES.
421
of Roman architects to construct
therein,
among
other
monuments,
many temples
of such
surpassing
beauty
and colossal
dimensions,
that
they
exceeded all of that character which had ever been
erected in
previous
time.
From the remains of the
temple
of Helios it is
apparent
that
it vvns
supported by
four hundred and
sixty
-four
columns,
of
fifty
leer
high,
which sustained the
long galleries
and
porches
on either
side to the extent of seven hundred feet. Other columns, each
composed
of a
single
block of
marble,
were
arranged
in four ranks
and formed
superb
avenues.
Westwardly
is found another
temple,
which is connected with that which has been described
by
a
long
street of
columns,
making,
as it
were, a continuous
temple,
or two
temples
connected
by
a
colonnade,
which it is
evident,
contained
in all one thousand four hundred and
fifty
columns of from
forty
to
fifty
feet
high
each,
something
over a hundred of which
yet
exist in more or less
perfection,
and
brokenly
mark the outlines
of this
magnificent
work of art. These ruins have been known
to
European
travelers since 1691.
38. Janus.
When the
worship
of idols was abandoned and that of Christ
erected
upon
its
ruins, many
of the
pagan
divinities were
appro-
priated by
the
priests
of
Christianity,
and became
saints,
more or
less
distinguished,
in the Christian calendar. For
instance,
Diu-
t;ysius merged
into St.
Denis,
and Bacchus into St.
Demetrius.
(>f
Perpetua
and Felicitas were made St.
Perpetua
and St. Feli-
city.
Saints
Rogation, Donatian,
Floris and
Lucius,
also St.
Apollonarius,
were all of
pagan origin.
Of Janus, with his double
face and
bearing
the
keys, significant
of the
duty assigned
him
by
the Romans that of
opening
the inferior and
superior places,
otherwise
opening
and
closing
the
year
the Christians made that
St. John who
represents
the summer solsticial
feast,
which the
pagans
celebrated on the 24th of
June,
and that other St.
John,
who
represents
the winter solsticial
feast,
which the
pagans
cele-
brated on the 25th of December. To favor the mechanism of the
new
dispensation,
two Saints
John,
instead of one
Janus,
became
necessary
;
and thus was a saint
provided
for the members of the
corporations
of Roman
builders, when,
forsaking paganism, they
attached themselves to and became members of the Christian re
ligion. Hitherto,
and as
pagans,
those
colleges
had
invariably
celebrated those
feasts,
in common with all ancient
peoples ;
and
the transition from a
pagan
to a Christian festival
was,
as we have
shown,
made
remarkably easy.
It was this motive that induced
the
Fraternity
to
adopt
the Saints John as
patron
saints,
and
not,
as is
generally supposed
and
declared,
because
they
were the fore-
runner and best beloved of Christ.
APPENDIX.
RECAPITULATION
IN the introduction to
this,
our
work,
we went back to the first
ages
of the human
race,
to the soui'ce of all
religions,
to tho
origin
of
hieroglyphics
and
symbols,
and to the
mysteries
of an-
tiquity,
because not
only
were
many
of the truths of the sciences
which were cultivated in those
mysteries
transmitted to the
colleges
of Roman
builders,
but because
they
were
intimately
connected
with
architecture, and,
in that
manner,
allied to the
history
of the
human race.
Subsequently,
in
unfolding
before the reader the
history
of the Masonic institution in so succinct a manner as we
have
done,
we
paused,
in the
recital,
but at that
period
of its de-
velopment
in
England
when the
colleges
of architects and builders
were established and consolidated with a
particular character, and,
pure
and
intact,
their
original privileges
and freedom were
guar-
anteed to them. In our statements
concerning
the foundation
of this
institution,
and in those
concerning
its
organization,
its
object,
its
labors,
its
vicissitudes,
and its
days
of
glory,
we were
forced to
pass by
all that does not
really belong
to its
history ;
for this condition we
religiously engaged
to
comply
with when
we
began
this our task.
Adhering
to this condition has
been,
we
believe,
as well our merit as our salvation
; for,
unlike most
authors who have entered this field of
investigation,
we have not
been
befogged by
the
obscurity
that must ever attend a search
for the
origin
of
Freemasonry among
the
Hindoos, Persians,
or
Egyptians ,
nor have we rendered our
history
ridiculous
by
orna-
mentation borrowed from the
history, manners,
or customs of these
peoples or,
instead of a
history,
transformed it into a
romance,
as
is
commonly
done
by
those who have heretofore
produced
what
they
are
pleased
to offer us as the veritable
history
of ancient Free
APPENDIX. 423
masonry.
The road that we have followed was in
part already
opened by many
historians,
and in
pursuing
it,
as we have indi-
cated,
it led us to the cradle of this institution
;
but until
now,
and it is with some
degree
of
pride
we make the
assertion,
no
author before us has ever had the
courage
to
approach
this vast
subject,
and in
treating
it
historically,
deliver it from the
body
of that enchantment with which
they have,
on the
contrary, sought
to
envelope
it.
In
presenting,
for the first time in a
history
of
Freemasonry,
the works of this
singular association,
and in
enumerating
the
most remarkable monuments erected
by
them,
from their founda-
tion to the sixteenth
century,
we have
constantly
followed the
course of time and events.
-
We have
accompanied
the
colleges
of
constructors,
the free
corporations,
and the
Freemasons,
into which
the former
successively merged, through
and across
centuries,
revolutions, invasions,
and international wars
;
we have traversed
the ashes of ancient cities and
nations,
the remains of thrones and
of
empires,
to the more calm era of the middle
ages,
when
art,
and
that creative
spirit
of the human mind elevated towards tlio
heaven of its
hopes
and desires those sublime edifices consecrated
and forever the admiration of
posterity.
We have evoked from
their tombs not
only
the
philosophers
and civilizers of the ancient
peoples
which have
passed
from
earth,
and the
sages
who have
enlightened them,
but also the
statesmen,
the
warriors,
the
philos-
ophers
who have made
Freemasonry
their boast and their
pride,
and
whom,
in its
turn, Freemasonry
has rendered illustrious.
The
epitome
of the
worships
and
mysteries
with which we have
closed our
history, accompanied by
the list of the
philosophers,
reformers,
and founders of this
worship
and those
mysteries,
from the
highest antiquity, proves conclusively
that India is the
cradle of the human
race,
and source of all the
religions
of the
world
; while,
at the same
time,
these
worships
and
mysteries
present
us with a curious museum where are found
arranged,
so
to
say,
in
chronological
and exact
order,
the
doctrines, ideas,
and
institutions of
centuries,
and
among
which we discern the
origin
of what we now estimate as our most useful
teachings.
In the
notes which serve to
explain
and illustrate these
mysteries
we
have extended our
quotations
and
reflections,
to the end that
Freemasons would have an
opportunity
of
comparing
the
religioua
ideas which
they may possess
with those which were held
by
the
men who for thousands of
years
have
preceded
them
;
and also
for the
purpose
of
accounting
to them for the
very
evident connec-
tion which
they
must see exists between
Freemasonry
and these
ancient
religious
beliefs and
mysteries.
This examination will demonstrate to them
that,
because the
members
composing
the
colleges
of builders were initiated into
the
mysteries
of Greece or of
Egypt,
and introduced into the new
institution certain forms and doctrines borrowed from these
mys-
teries,
it is not therefore
necessary
to conclude that these
colleges
of builders became the successors of the
hierophants
of
Egypt
or
the
gymnosophists
of India. If certain truths have been con-
served and transmitted to us
by
these
colleges, they
otherwise
have no
peculiar merit,
for the Greek and Hebrew
philosophers,
as also the
primitive Christians,
have likewise
propagated
and
transmitted such truths and
many
ceremonies. We
repeat,
there-
fore,
that which we have more than once
already
asserted, that
the ancient initiation was instruction in all the then known sci-
ence and
philosophy,
while that which was
practiced
in the
colleges
was confined
mainly,
if not
entirely,
to the
study
and the secrets
of all the branches of architecture.
Moral
architecture,
or Modern
Freemasonry,
the issue of the
Masonic
corporations
of
Britain, is,
without
doubt,
more
closely
allied
by
its
object
to the ancient initiations than was that
prac-
ticed
among
the
colleges
of
builders;
but it can never become a
school of science and
philosophy, seeing
that science and
philosophy
have become the common attainment of all who are now situated
and
disposed
to their
study.
While, however,
this
position
is
happily
denied
it,
Freemasonry
should be
grander,
mor*:
sublime,
than
any
form of ancient
mysteries,
inasmuch as while
they
were
exclusive and confined to classes and
peoples,
it
may
embrace the
whole race of
man,
and transform that race into a
society
of
brothers,
united
by love, science,
and labor. It is to such an
object every
phase
of the
Freemasonry
of
to-day
should
tend,
and for the ac-
complishment
of which each of its initiates should
solemnly
engage
his efforts and influence.
APPENDIX.
425
The Commandments
of
the Ancient
Sages,
as contrasled with
the
Precepts of
Modern
Freemasonry.
Having
thus retraced the
general history
of
Freemasonry
we
do not consider our task
completed
unless we
furnish,
for the
benefit of our
younger, and,
mayhap,
some of our older
brethren,
a list of the commandments of the wise men of the
past ages,
and
contrast the same with what is known to us as the
precepts
of Mod-
ern
Freemasonry.
These
precepts, being
based
upon morality
and
virtue,
it is the
study
of the one and the
practice
of the other
that will render a Mason's life
irreproachable.
The
good
of hu-
manity being
the
principal object
of
Masonry,
disinterestedness is
one of the first virtues
imposed upon
its members
;
for this is the
source of
justice
and benevolence.
To contribute to the
happiness
of others
;
to be humble without
degradation;
to
abjure
all sentiments of hate and
vengeance;
to
exhibit
magnanimity
and
liberality
without ostentation or dissi-
pation
;
to be the
enemy
of
vice;
to render
homage
to wisdom
and
virtue;
to
respect innocence;
to be constant and
patient
in
adversity
and modest in
prosperity,
to avoid all
irregularity
which
may
stain the soul or dishonor the
body
: such are the
precepts
which,
when
followed,
will make of
every
Freemason a
good citizen,
a faithful
husband,
a tender
father,
submissive
son,
and true
brother.
COMMANDMENTS OP THE ANCIENT SAGES.
1. God is eternal
wisdom, omnipotence,
immutable and
supreme
intelligence.
2.
By
the
practice
of
virtue,
honor
thyself. Thy religion
should
be to do
good
as a
pleasure,
and not as a
duty.
In
observing
their
precepts,
become the friend of the wise.
Thy
soul
being
immortal,
do
nothing
to dishonor it. Cease not to make war
upon
vice.
3. Do to others that which thou wouldst desire them to do to
thyself.
In
submitting
to
fortune,
thou but followest the
light
of
the wise.
4. Thou shouldst honor
thy parents
and
aged persons.
Thou
shouldst
enlighten
the
young
and
protect
children.
5. Thou shouldst cherish
thy
wife and little ones. Thou
ehouldst love
thy country
and
obey
her laws.
6.
Thy
friend
being
to thee as a second self see that
thou
bringest
no misfortune
upon
him. Thou shouldst
regard
his
memory
as thou wouldst his life.
7.' Thou shouldst shun false
friendships,
avoid all
excesses,
and
fear to stain
thy good
name.
8. Thou shouldst subdue thine own
passions
and utilize the
passions
of others. Be
indulgent
to error.
9. Hear
much, speak little,
and
weigh
well that which thou
speakest.
10.
Forget injuries ;
render
good
for
evil,
and abuse not
power
or
authority
intrusted to thee.
11. Thou shouldst learn the nature of
man,
to the end that
thou learnest thine own nature.
12. Seek the truth. Be
just.
Avoid idleness.
PRECEPTS OF MODERN FREEMASONRY.
1. Be
just ;
because
equity
sustains the human race.
2. Be
good
;
because
goodness
enchains all hearts.
3. Be
indulgent; because,
feeble
thyself,
thou shouldst bear
with the feebleness of others.
4. Be
kind;
because kindness secures affection.
5. Be
grateful ;
because
gratitude
is the food that nourishes
liberality.
6. Be
modest;
because
pride
is offensive to
your fellow-beings.
7. Pardon
injuries;
because
vengeance perpetuates
hate.
8. Render
good
for evil
;
because in this
way you
will rise su-
perior
to the evil-doer and make him
your
friend.
9. Be
forbearing, temperate,
chaste
;
because
voluptuousness,
intemperance,
and
sensuality
are destructive of
thy
existence,
and
will render it miserable.
10. Be a
citizen;
because
thy country
is
necessary
for
thy
security, thy happiness,
and
thy well-being.
11. Defend
thy country
with
thy life;
because it' is her who
secures thee in
thy property,
and in the
possession
of all those
beings
dear to
thy heart;
but never
forget
that
humanity
has
rights.
12. If
thy country wrong
thee if she refuse thee
happiness,
and suffer thee to be
oppressed
leave her in silence
;
but never
trouble her.
Support adversity
with
resignation.
428
REMARKS on the Views maintained
by
Bro. Rebold
f
as exhibited in his Notes to his
Epitome of
the Wor-
ships
and
Mysteries of
the Ancient Eastern World.
IN his
explanation
of the
origin
of
Christianity,
in Note
32,
Bro. Rebold
has
adopted
views not in accordance with the belief of
Christians,
as
comprised
in the Nicene Creed. He would lead us to believe that the
accepted legends concerning
the birth and death of Jesus can be ex-
plained by
astronomical
data,
and that no miraculous intervention need
attach to those occurrences that his birth was but the birth of
any
man;
his death that of one who had offended the laws of his
country,
and his
life,
at least
during
the term of his itinerant
pastorship,
alone
worthy
of our
admiration,
as fruitful with
preaching
the most
acceptable
to
mankind,
because
expressive
of all that can ennoble the human race.
In this
regard,
the translation and
publication
of some of Bro. Rebold' s
"Notes" have
given offense,
and a few of those who have felt themselves
offended
by
Bro. Rebold' s views
being
introduced into a
history
of Free-
masonry,
have
expressed
their dissatisfaction in some of the Masonic
newspapers
of the
country,
as also their desire that the circulation and
sale of the "General
History of Freemasonry
in
Europe"
should be
sup-
pressed by
all who think with
them,
as a book
dangerous
to the Church
and subversive of the
teachings
of the
Holy Scriptures.
To all such
brethren,
and we believe few but Freemasons
purchase
this
book,
we would
respectfully
recommend the fact that the incidental
allusions in
it, expressive
of its author's
religious belief,
can do no harm
to those who do not believe as he
does,
and
certainly they
can not be
regarded
as hurtful to
any
other
person.
If Bro. Rebold has discovered
what he conceives to be the true
meaning
of certain
legends, express-
ions,
and assertions contained in the
Scriptures,
and denies the existence
of
miracles,
he but asserts his own
individuality
without
depriving any
other brother of that
condition,
and at the same
time,
as a
historian,
he
takes his
position among
the members of that advanced school
who,
as
to
miracles,
argue
as follows:
"It is an absolute rule of criticism to
deny
a
place
in
history
to nar-
ratives of miraculous circumstances
;
nor is this
owing
to a
metaphys-
IN NOTES TO WORSHIPS AND MYSTERIES. 429
ical
system,
but is
simply
the dictation of observation No miracle has
ever been
really proved.
All the
pretended
miracles near
enough
to
be examined are referable to illusion or
imposture.
If a
single
miracle
had ever been
proved,
we could not
reject
those of ancient
history; for,
admitting
that
very many
of the last were
false,
we
might
still
believe
that some of them were true. But it is not so. Discussion and exam-
ination are fatal to miracles at the
present day,
and therefore we are
authorized to believe that those miracles which date
many
centuries
back,
and
regarding
which there are no means of
framing
a
contradictory
debate,
are also without
reality.
In other
words,
miracles
only
exist
when
people
believe in them. The
supernatural
is but another term for
faitk
Catholicism,
in
yet maintaining
that it
possesses
miraculous
pow-
ers,
subjects
itself to the influence of this law. The miracles of which
it boasts never occur where
they
would be most effective.
Why
should
not this fact be
brought
more
prominently
forward? A miracle at
Paris,
London,
or New
York,
for instance,
performed
to the satisfaction of
learned
men,
would
put
an end to all doubt
But,
alas for miracles! such
a
thing
never
happens.
A miracle never takes
place
before
skeptical
or
incredulous
people,
who are the most in need of such a
convincing proof
of the
supernatural. Credulity
on the
part
of the witnesses is the essen-
tial condition of a miracle."
There is not a
solitary exception
to the rule that miracles are never
produced
before those who are able or
permitted
to discuss and criticise
them.
Cicero,
with his usual
good
sense and
penetration,
asks,
in his
De
Divinatione,
"Since when has this secret force
disappeared?
Has it
not been since men have become less credulous?"
In
support
of the
reality
of miraculous
agency, appeal
is made to
phe-
nomena outside of natural
laws,
such,
for
instance,
as the creation of
man. This
creation,
it has been
said,
could
only
have been
compassed
by
the direct intervention of
God;
and
why
could not this intervention
be manifested at other decisive
crises,
and after the
development
of the
universe? Without at all
entering upon
the domain of
theology,
it is
easy
to show how defective is this
argument.
It is
equivalent
to main-
taining
that
every thing
which does not
happen
in the
ordinary
condi-
tions of
nature, every thing
that can not be
explained by science,
or
per-
formed
by
man
upon
scientific or
philosophic principles,
is a
miracle, or,
in other
words,
a direct intervention of
Deity.
While we
heartily
ac-
knowledge
that God
may
be
permanently
in
every thing, particularly
in
every thing
that
lives,
we
deny
the
reality
of the
supernatural
until we
are
cognizant
of a demonstrated fact of this nature. In far distant
epochs
there occurred without doubt
phenomena
which,
on the same
scale at
least,
are not
repeated
in the world of
to-day.
But there was at
the time
they happened
a cause for those
phenomena.
In
geological
forma-
430
tion
may
be met a
great
number of minerals and
precious
stones which
nature seems no
longer
to
produce.
Yet
they
have all been
artificially
produced by
manufacturers of minerals and
precious
stones. If life can
not be
artificially produced,
it is because the
reproductions
of the condi-
tions in which life commenced
(if
it
may
be said ever to have
commenced)
are
beyond
human
knowledge
to attain. The formation of
humanity,
if
we think of it as a
sudden,
instantaneous
thing,
is of all
things
in the
world the most
shocking
and
absurd;
but if it is viewed as the result of
a
long
continued
progress, lasting through
incalculable
ages,
it maintains
its
place
in
general analogies
without
losing
its
mystery.
The laws of
natural liib are not
applicable
to
einbryotic
life. The
embryo develops
all its
organs
one after another. It creates no
more,
because it is no
longer
at the creative
age
;
just
as
language
is no
longer invented,
be-
cause there is no more to invent.
But
why
continue an
argument
wherein the
adversary
but
begs
the
question?
We ask for a
proven miracle,
and are told that such took
place
anterior to
history. Certainly
if
any proof
were
wanting
of the
necessity
of belief in the
supernatural
to certain conditions of the
soul,
it would be found in the fact that
many
minds
gifted
in all other
points
with due
penetration
have
reposed
their entire faith in an
argument
as
desperate
as this.
The
objectors
to Bro. Rebold's views are further content to
reject
what
nearly
all of its readers have
acknowledged.
to be the most reasonable and
apparently
correct
history
of the
origin
of
Freemasonry
that has ever been
published, because,
in those
"Notes,"
he evinces a disbelief in the
accepted
legends
of the
origin
of
Christianity.
In view of this
condition,
Bro. It.
may
exclaim as did John Huss on
sight
of an old woman whom he observed
perspiring
under the
Aveight
of a
faggot
she was
dragging
to his
stake,
U
O
sancta
simplicitas
!" Let these
good
brothers
repress
their breath and their
heat, however, for, according
to a beautiful
expression
of
Scripture,
God
is not in the
wind,
nor in the
fire.
If the
annoyance
which
they
have ex-
perienced,
in
reading
what
they object to, proved
instrumental in
aiding
the cause of
truth,
there would be
something
of consolation in it. But
Truth is not for the
angry
or
passionate
man. She reserves herself for
those
who,
free from
partisan feeling,
from
persistent affections,
and
enduring hates,
seek her with entire
liberty,
and with no mental reser-
vation
referring
to human affairs. These
problems
form
only
one of the
innumerable
questions
with which the world is crowded and which the
curious are fond of
studying;
and their introduction into Notes
explana-
tory
of the
Mysteries
and
Worships
of
Antiquity
is
certainly
not im-
proper.
No one should be offended
by
the announcement of a mere
theoretical
opinion.
Those who would
guard
their faith as a treasure
can defend it
very easily by ignoring
all works written in an
opposing
IX NOTES TO WCESHIPS AND
MYSTERIES. 431
spirit
The timid would do better
by dispensing
with
reading
alto-
gether.
In
writing
the works which he has
produced,
Bro.
Rcbold,
it must be
acknowledged,
has been influenced
by
a desire to find the
truth,
and to
make the events of the
past
of
Freemasonry
knoAvn with the
greatest
possible
exactness. In
doing
so we do him but
justice
to believe he had
no
thought
of
shocking
the
religious preferences
of
any
one. He has
written with no desire to
proselytize, except
for
truth,
and
evidently
in
the conviction that
every
concession made to the
scruples
of those who
had written on this
subject
before him was a
derogation
from the
dig-
nity
and culture of truth. It can at once be seen
that,
when conducted
in such a
spirit, any
writer must sink his
individuality
in his
composi-
tions.
The first
.principle
of the critical school is the
allowance,
in
matters
of
faith,
of all that is
needed,
and the
adaptation
of beliefs to individual
wants.
Why
should we concern ourselves about
things
over which no
one has
any
control? If
any person
should
adopt
the
principles
of Bro.
Rebold,
as evinced in his
"Notes,"
it is because that
person
has the mental
tendency
and the culture
adapted
to those
principles
;
and all that Bro.
R. or
any
brother
might
write
during
the term of their natural lives
could not
impart
this
tendency
and this culture to those who do not nat-
urally possess
them.
Philosophy
differs from faith in this: that faith
is believed to
operate by
itself,
independently
of the
intelligence
ac-
quired
from
dogmas.
Bro.
Kebold,
on the
contrary,
holds that truth
only possesses
value when the order of its ideas is
comprehended.
He
does not consider himself
obliged
to maintain silence in
regard
to those
opinions
which
may
not be in accord with the belief of some of his
readers. He makes no sacrifices to the
exigencies
of
differing
orthodox-
ies, but,
instead of
attacking them,
he
evidently
does not allow them to
influence him in
any
manner. To use his own
language (at pp. 423-4),
he has "extended his
quotations
and reflections to the end that Free-
masons would have an
opportunity
of
comparing
the
religions
ideas
which
they may possess
with those which were held
by
the men
who,
for
thousands of
years,
have
preceded
them;
and also for the
purpose
of
accounting
to them for the
very
evident connection which
they
must
see exists between
Freemasonry
and these ancient
religious
beliefs and
mysteries"
which those
quotations
and reflections
merely
serve to il-
lustrate.
The men who believe Bro. Rebold has offended in the first
instance,
and his American translator in the
second,
evidently
are unfamiliar
with the
speculative
tendencies of
Freemasonry,
and do not
comprehend
that such tendencies lead to the
study
of that which those men believe
should not be
questioned. They
would
repel, yea,
excommunicate those
432 REMARKS ON THE VIEWS OF
x
BRO. REBOLD.
who dare to think outside of the
accepted groove
of their own
thoughts.
The
Heavenly Father, upon
the
contrary, only
excommunicates the self-
ish and narrow-minded. The
spirit
of
liberty
in the realm of
thought,
like the
wind,
bloweth where it listeth.
Theory
is not
practice.
Do
those who
freely speak
when
they
believe
duty
dictates
equal,
after
all,
in
merit,
those who in secret cherish and restrain the doubts known
only
to God?
In the
language
of an
eloquent
modern
writer,*
we
say
"
Peace, then,
in th'e name of God ! Let the different orders of men live and
pass
their
days,
not in
doing. injustice
to their own
proper spirits by making
con-
cessions,
but in
mutually supporting
each other. It is well known what
follows when
orthodoxy
succeeds in
overpowering
free
thought
and sci-
ence.
Stupidity
and
mediocrity
are the bane of certain Protestant
countries
where,
under the
pretense
of
maintaining
the
spirit
of Chris-
tianity, art, science,
and freedom of
opinion
are
degraded.
Lucretia of
Rome and Saint
Theresa, Aristophanes
and
Socrates,
Voltaire and Fran-
cis of
Assissi, Raphael
and Saint Vincent de
Paul,
all
enjoyed
to an
equal degree
the
right
of existence in the
world,
and
humanity
would
have been lessened had a
single
one of their individual elements been
wanting."
J. F. B.
*
Ernest Renan author of the
"
Origins
of
Christianity,"
etc.
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A General History of Free-Masonry in Europe (1868) PDF

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A General History of Free-Masonry in Europe (1868) PDF

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GENERAL HISTORY

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