An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry: Volume One - Albert Mackey 2015
PREFACE
I once delivered an address before a Lodge on the subject of the externa! changes which Freemasonry had undergone since the period of its revival in the commencement of the eighteenth century. The proper treatment of the topic required a reference to German, to French, and to English authorities, with some of which I am afraid that many of my auditors were not familiar. At the close of the address, a young and intelligent brother inquired of me how he could obtain access to the works which I had cited, and of many of which he confessed, as well as of the facts that they detailed, he now heard for the first time. It is probable that my reply was not altogether satisfactory; for I told him that I knew of no course that he could adopt to attain that knowledge except the one that had been pursued by myself, namely, to spend his means in the purchase of Masonic books and his time in reading them.
But there are few men who have the means, the time, and the inclination for the purchase of numerous books, some of them costly and difficult to be obtained, and for the close and attentive reading of them which is necessary to master any given subject.
It was this thought that, years ago, suggested to me the task of collecting materials for a work which would furnish every Freemason who might consult its pages the means of acquiring a knowledge of all matters connected with the science, the philosophy, and the history of his Order.
But I was also led to the prosecution of this work by a higher consideration. I had myself learned, from the experience of my early Masonic life, that the character of the Institution was elevated in every one’s opinion just in proportion to the amount of knowledge that he had acquired of its symbolism, philosophy, and history.
If Freemasonry was not at one time patronized by the learned, it was because the depths of its symbolic science and philosophy had not been sounded. If it is now becoming elevated and popular in the estimation of scholars, it owes that elevation and that popularity to the labors of those who have studied its intellectual system and given the result of their studies to the world. The scholar will rise from the perusal of Webb’s Monitor, or the Hieroglyphic Chart of Cross, with no very exalted appreciation of the literary character of al
the Institution of which such works profess to be an exponent. But should he have met with even Hutchinson’s Spirit of Masonry, or Town’s Speculative Masonry, which are among the earlier products of Masonic literature, he will be conscious that the system which could afford material for such works must be worthy of investigation.
Oliver is not alone in the belief that the higher elevation of the Order is to be attributed “ almost solely to the judicious publications on the subject of Freemasonry which have appeared during the present and the end of the last century.” It is the press that is elevating the Order; it is the labor of its scholars that is placing it in the rank of sciences. The more that is published by scholarly pens on its principles, the more will other scholars be attracted to its investigation.
At no time, indeed, has its intellectual character been more justly appreciated than at the present day. At no time have its members generally cultivated its science with more assiduity. At no time have they been more zealous in the endeavor to obtain a due enlightenment on all the topics which its system comprehends.
It was the desire to give my contribution toward the elevation of the Order, by aiding in the dissemination of some of that light and knowledge which are not so easy of access, that impelled me years ago to commence the preparation of this work—a task which I have steadily toiled to accomplish, and at which, for several years, I have wrought with unintermitted labor that has permitted but little time for other occupation, and none for recreation.
And now I present to my brethren the result not only of those years of toil, but of more than thirty years of study and research—a work' which will, I trust, or at least I hope, supply them with the materials for acquiring a knowledge of much that is required to make a Masonic scholar. Encyclopedic learning is not usually considered as more than elementary. But knowing that but few Freemasons can afford time to become learned scholars in our art by an entire devotion to its study, I have in important articles endeavored to treat the subject exhaustively, and in all to give that amount of information that must make future ignorance altogether the result of disinclination to learn.
I do not present this work as perfect, for I well know that the culminating point of perfection can never be attained by human effort. But, under many adverse circumstances, I have sought to make it as perfect as I could. Encyclopedias are, for the most part, the result of the conjoined labor of many writers. In this work I have had no help. Every article was written by myself. I say this not to excuse my errors—for I hold that no author should wilfully permit an error to pollute his pages—but rather to account for those
that may exist. I have endeavored to commit none. Doubtless there are some. If I knew them, I would correct them; but let him who discovers them remember that they have been unwittingly committed in the course of an exhaustive and unaided task.
For twelve months, too, of the time in which I have been occupied upon this work, I suffered from an affection of the sight, which forbade all use of the eyes for purposes of study. During that period, now happily passed, all authorities were consulted under my direction by the willing eyes of my daugh- ters-r-all writing was done under my dictation by their hands. I realized for a time the picture so often painted of the blind bard dictating his sublime verses to his daughters. It was a time of sorrow for the student who could not labor with his own organs in his vocation; but it was a time of gladness to the father who felt that he had those who, with willing hearts, could come to his assistance. To the world this is of no import; but I could not conscientiously close this prefatory address without referring to this circumstance so gratifying to a parent’s heart. Were I to dedicate this work at all, my dedication should be—To Filial Affection.
Albebt G. Maokey, M. D.
REVISER’S PREFACE
The revision of this most comprehensive Encyclopedia has been a most anxious and laborious task. I have endeavored to preserve as much as possible of Dr. Mackey’s work untouched, but at the same time to correct statements which later investigations have shown to be unfounded; thus I have left all of Dr. Mackey’s opinions and theories unaltered.
All completely new articles, or old ones with many alterations, I, have marked with my initials and I must take all responsibility for them, though as far as possible they were submitted to Bro. Hughan for his approval.
I have to return hearty thanks for kind aid to the late Bro. Henry Sadler, Librarian of the Grand Lodge of England; to Bro. W. J. Songhurst, Secretary of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076, London, England, for valuable advice and assistance on many points; to Bro. the Rev. M. Rosenbaum, P. Prov. G. Chaplain of Northumberland, for help with Hebrew words; to Bro. John Yarker, P. G. Warden of Greece, for information about the Antient and Primitive Rite; and to Bro. A. C. Powell, P. Prov. G. Sup. of Works of Bristol, for the article on the Baldwyn Encampment.
Edwabd L. Hawkins, M. A.
St. Leonards-onrSea, England, 1912.
PUBLISHERS’ NOTE
In presenting to the Fraternity this new and revised edition of The Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, we, also, wish to return hearty thanks to Bro. Edward E. Cauthorne, A. B., A. M., Brooklyn, N. Y., for his articles on Aitchi- son’s-Haven Lodge, Catacombs, Comacine Masters, Como, etc., and to Bro. A. G. Pitts, P. M. Detroit, Michigan; Bro. Robert A. Shirrifs, 33°, of Elizabeth, N. J.; Bro. Wm. J. Allen, G. H. G. L. of New York; Bro. Charles A. Brocka- way, P. M. New York City, for their articles on Freemasonry in the United States and Mexico; and to Bro. Will H. Whyte, 33°, P. G. M. of Canada, for his articles on Freemasonry in Canada.
T. M. H. Co.
A. (X, Aleph.) In the Accadian, Greek, Etruscan, Pelasgian, Gallic, Samaritan, ana Egyptian or Coptic, of nearly the same formation as the English letter. It originally meant with or together, but at present signifies one. In most languages it is the initial letter of the alphabet; not so, however, in the Ethiopian, where it is the thirteenth. The sacred Aleph has the numerical value of one, and is composed of two Yods, one on either side of an inclined Vau. It is said to typify the Trinity in Unity. The word Aleph signifies “ ox,” from the resemblance to the head and horns of that animal. The Divine name in Hebrew connected with this letter is fl'flX, AHIH.
Aaron. Hebrew Aharon, a word of doubtful etymology, but generally supposed to signify a mountaineer. He was the brother of Moses, and the first high priest under the Mosaic dispensation, whence the priesthood established by that lawgiver is known as the “ Aaronic.” He is alluded to in the English ' lectures of the second degree, in reference to a certain sign which is said to have taken its origin from the fact that Aaron and Hur were present on the hill from which Moses surveyed the battle which Joshua was waging with the Amalekites, when these two supported the weary arms of Moses in an upright posture, because upon his uplifted hands the fate of the battle depended. See Exodus xvii. 10-12. Aaron is also referred to in the latter section of the Royal Arch degree in connection with the memorials that were deposited in the ark of the covenant. In the degree of “ Chief of the Tabernacle,” which is the 23d of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, the presiding officer represents Aaron, and is styled “ Most Excellent High Priest.” In the 24th degree of the
same Rite, or “ Prince of the Tabernacle,” the second officer or Senior Warden also personates Aaron.
Aaron’s Band. A degree instituted in 1824, in New York City, mainly for social purposes, and conferred in an independent body. Its ceremonies were not dissimilar to those of High Priesthood, which caused the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the State to take umbrage, and the small gathering dispersed.
Aaron’s Bod. The method by which Moses caused a miraculous judgment as to which tribe should be invested with the priesthood, is detailed in the Book of Numbers (ch. xvii.). He directed that twelve rods should be laid up in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle, one for each tribe; that of Aaron, of course, represented the tribe of Levi. On the next day these rods were brought out and exhibited to the people, and while all the rest remained dry and withered, that of Aaron alone budded and blossomed and yielded fruit. There is no mention in the Pentateuch of this rod having been placed in the ark, but only that it was put before it. But ad St. Paul, or the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews ix. 4), asserts that the rod and the pot of manna were both within the ark, Royal Arch Masons have followed this later authority. Hence the rod of Aaron is found in the ark; but its import is only historical, as if to identify the substitute ark as a true copy of the original, which had been lost. No symbolical instruction accompanies its discovery.
Ab. 2K. 1. The 11th month of the Hebrew civil year and corresponding to the months July and August, beginning with the new moon of the former. 2. It is also a Hebrew word, signifying father, and will be readily recognized by every Mason as a compo-
1
nent part of the name Hiram Abif, which literally means Hiram his father. (See Abif.)
Abaciscus. The diminutive of Abacus, and, in architecture, refers to the squares of the tessellated pavement or checkered flooring of the ground floor of the Solomonian Temple.
Abacus. A term which has been erroneously used to designate the official staff of the Grand Master of the Templars. The word has no such meaning; for an abacus is either a table used for facilitating arithmetical calculations, or is in architecture the crowning plate of a column and its capital. The Grand Master’s staff was a baculus, which see.
Abaddon. A Hebrew word signifying destruction. By the Rabbis it is interpreted as the place of destruction, and is the second of the seven names given by them to the region of the dead. In the Apocalypse (ix. 11) it is rendered by the Greek word ’AiroXAta*, ApoU- yon, and means the destroyer. In this sense it is used as a significant word in the high degrees.
Abazar. The title given to the Master of Ceremonies in the Sixth Degree of the Modern French Rite.
Abbreviations. Abbreviations of technical terms or of official titles are of very extensive use in Masonry. They were, however, but rarely employed in the earlier Masonic publications. For instance, not one is to be found in the first edition of Anderson’s Constitutions. Within a comparatively recent period they have greatly increased, especially among French writers, and a familiarity with them is therefore essentially necessary to the Masonic student. Frequently, among English and always among French authors, a Masonic abbreviation is distinguished by three points,, in a triangular form following the letter, which peculiar mark was first used, according to Ragon, on the 12th of August, 1774, by the Grand Orient of France, in an address to its subordinates. No authoritative explanation of the meaning of these points has been given, but they may be supposed to refer to the three lights around the altar, or perhaps more generally to the number three, and to the triangle, both important symbols in the Masonic system.
Before proceeding to give a list of the principal abbreviations, it may be observed that the doubling of a letter is intended to express the plural of that word of which the single letter is the abbreviation. Thus, in French, F.-. signifies “ Frdre,” or “ Brother,” and FF.-. “Freres,” or “Brothers.” And in English. Li.-, is sometimes used to denote “ Lodge,” and LL.-. to denote “ Lodges.” This remark is made once for all, because I have not deemed it necessary to augment the size of the list of abbreviations by inserting these plurals. If the reader finds S.-. G.-. I/, to signify “ Sovereign Grand Inspector,” he will be at no loss to know that SS.-. GG.-. II.-. must denote “ Sovereign Grand Inspectors.”
A.-. Dep.-. Anno Depositionis. In the Year of the Deposit. The date used by Royal and Select Masters.
A.-, and A.-. Ancient and Accepted.
A.-, and A.-. S.-. R.-. Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
A.-, and A.-. R.-. Ancient and Accepted Rite as used in England.
A.-. F.-. M.-. Ancient Freemasons.
A.-. F.-. and A.-. M.-. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
A.-. Inv.-. Anno Inventionis. In the Year of the Discovery. The date used by Royal Arch Masons.
A.-. L.-. Anno Lucis. In the Year of Light. The date used by Ancient Craft Masons.
A.-. L.-. G.-. D.-. G.-. A.-. D.-. L’U.-. A la Gloire du Grand Architects de I’ Univers. To the Glory of the Grand Architect of the Universe. (French.) The usual caption of French Masonic documents.
A.-. L’O.-. A I’Orient. At the East. (French.) The seat of the Lodge.
A.-. M.-. Anno Mundi. In the Year of the World. The date used in the Ancient and Accepted Rite.
A.-. O.-. Anno Ordinis. In the Year of the Order. The date used by Knights Templars.
A.-. Y.-. M.-. Ancient York Mason.
B.-. A.-. Buisson Ardente. Burning Bush.
B.-. Bruder. (German for Brother.)
B.-. B.-. Burning Bush.
B’n.-. Brudem. (German for Brethren.)
C.-. C.-. Celestial Canopy.
C.-. H.-. Captain of the Host.
D.-. Deputy.
D.-. G.-. G.-. H.-. P.-. Deputy General Grand High Priest.
D.-. G.-. H.-. P.-. Deputy Grand High Priest.
D.-. G.-. M.-. Deputy Grand Master.
D.-. Prov.-. G.-. M.-. Deputy Prov. Grand Master.
Dis.-. D.-. G.-. M.-. District Deputy Grand Master. (England.)
D. D. G. M. (America.)
E.-. Eminent; Excellent.
E.-. A.-. Entered Apprentice or E.-. A.-. P.*.
E.-. C.-. Excellent Companion.
Ec.-. Ecossaise. (French.) Scottish; belonging to the Scottish Rite.
E.-. G.-. C.-. Eminent Grand Commander.
E.-. V.-. Ere Vulgaire. (French.) Vulgar Era; Year of the Lord.
F.-. Frere. Brother. (French.)
F.-. C.-. Fellow-Craft.
F.-. M.-. Freemason. Old Style.
G.-. Grand.
G.-. A.-. S.-. Grand Annual Sojourner.
G.-. A.-. O.-. T.-. U.-. Great Architect of the Universe.
G.-. C.-. Grand Chapter; Grand Council.
G.-. Com.-. Grand Commandery; Grand Commander.
G.-. D.-. Grand Deacon.
G.-. D.-. C.-. Grand Director of Ceremonies.
G.-. E.-. Grand Encampment: Grand East.
G.-. G.-. C.-. General Grand Chapter.
G.-. G.-. H.-. P.-. General Grand High Priest.
Gz. Hz. Pz. Grand High Priest.
Gz. Lz. Grand Lodge.
Gz. Mz. Grand Master.
Gz. Nz. Grand Nehemiah.
Gz. Oz. Grand Orient; Grand Organist.
Gz. Pz. Grand Pursuivant.
Gz. Pz. Sz. Grand Past Sojourner.
Gz. Rz. Grand Registrar.
Gz. Rz. Az. Gz. Grand Royal Arch Chapter.
Gz. Sz. Grand Scribe; Grand Secretary.
Gz. Sz. Bz. Grand Sword Bearer; Grand Standard Bearer.
Gz. Tz. Grand Treasurer.
Hz. Az. Bz. Hiram Abif.
Hz. Ez. Holy Empire.
Hz. Kz. Tz. Hiram, King of Tyre.
Hz. Rz. Dz. Mz. Heredom.
Illz. Illustrious.
Iz. Nz. Rz. Iz. lesus Nazarenus, Rex ludoeorum. (Latin.) Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.
Iz. Pz. Mz. Immediate Past Master. (English.)
Iz. Tz. Nz. Oz. Tz. Gz. Az. Oz. Tz. Uz. In the Name of the Great Architect of the Universe. Often forming the caption of Masonic documents.
Jz. Wz. Junior Warden.
Kz. King.
K—Hz. Kadosh, Knight of Kadosh.
Kz. Hz. Sz. Knight of the Holy Sepulcher.
Kz. Mz. Knight of Malta.
Kz. Sz. King Solomon.
Kz. Tz. Knights Templar.
Lz. Lodge.
LLz. Lodges.
Lz. Rz. London Rank. A distinction introduced in England in 1908.
Mz. Mason.
Mz. Cz. Middle Chamber.
Mz. Ez. Most Eminent; Most Excellent.
Mz. Ez. Gz. Hz. Pz. Most Excellent Grand High Priest.
Mz. Ez. Gz. Mz. Most Eminent Grand Master (of Knights Templar).
Mz. Lz. Mbre Loge. (French.) Mother Lodge.
Mz. Mz. Master Mason.
Mz. Mz. Mois Magonnique. (French.) Masonic Month. March is the first Masonic month among French Masons.
Mz. W.'. Most Worshipful.
Mz. Wz. Sz. Most Wise Sovereign.
Oz. Orient.
OBz. Obligation.
Pz. Past.
Pz. Gz. Mz. Past Grand Master.
Pz. Mz. Past Master.
Prov.'. Provincial.
Proz. Gz. Mz. Pro-Grand Master.
Prov.'. Gz. Mz. Provincial Grand Master.
Pz. Sz. Principal Sojourner.
Rz. Az. Royal Arch.
Rz. Cz. or Rz. t-’. Rose Croix. Appended to the signature of one having that degree.
Rz. Ez. Right Eminent.
Rz. Fz. Respectable Frkre. (French.) Worshipful Brother.
Rz. Lz. or Rz. O z. Respectable Loge. (French.) Worshipful Lodge.
Rz. Sz. Yz. Cz. Sz. Rosy Cross (in the Royal Order of Scotland).
Rz. Wz. Right Worshipful.
Sz. Scribe.
Sz. Cz. Supreme Council.
S.'. Gz. Iz. Gz. Sovereign Grand Inspector General.
Sz. Pz. Rz. Sz. Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.
Sz. Sz. Sanctum Sanctorum or Holy of Holies.
Sz. Sz. Sz. Trots fats Salut. (French.) Thrice greeting. A common caption to French Masonic circulars or letters.
Sz. Wz. Senior Warden.
Tz. Cz. Fz. Trbs Chere Frkre. (French.) Very Dear Brother.
Tz. Gz. Az. Oz. Tz. Uz. The Great Architect of the Universe.
Vz. or Venz. Venerable. (French.) Worshipful.
Vz. Dz. Bz. Very Dear Brother.
Vz. Dz. Sz. Az. Veut Dieu Saint Amour, or Vult Dei Sanctus Animus. A formula used by Knights Templar.
Vz. Lz. Vraie lumibre. (French.) True light.
Vz. Wz. Very Worshipful.
Wz. Worshipful.
Wz. Mz. Worshipful Master.
□ z. Lodge.
rEp z. Lodges.
Prefixed to the signature of a Knights ± Templar or a member of the A. and A. Scottish Rite below the Thirty-third Degree.
,rY Prefixed to the signature of a Grand 77 or Past Grana Commander of T Knights Templar or a Mason of the Thirty-third Degree in the Scottish Rite.
✵ Prefixed to the signature of a Grand i 7* or Past Grand Master of Knights Templar and the Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
Abda. A word used in some of the high degrees. He was the father of Adoniram. (See 1 Kings iv. 6.) Lenning is wrong in saying that he is represented by one of the officers in the degree of Master in Israel. He has confounded Abda with his son. (Encyc. der Freimaur.')
Abdamon. The name of the orator in the Fourteenth Degree of the Rite of Perfection, or the Sacred Vault of James VI. It means a servant, from abad, “ to serve,” although somewhat corrupted in its transmission into the rituals. Lenning says it is the Hebrew Hab- damon, “ a servant”; but there is no such word in Hebrew.
Abdiel. (Heb., Servant of God.) The name of an angel mentioned by the Jewish Kabbalists. He is represented in Milton’s Paradise Lost, Book V., as one of the seraphim, who, when Satan tried to stir up a revolt among the angels subordinate to his authority, alone and boldly withstood his traitorous designs:
Among the faithless, faithful only he;
Among innumerable false, unmoved, Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified, His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal. (894-7.)
The name Abdiel became the synonym of honor and faithfulness.
Abditorium. A secret place for the deposit of records—a Tabularium.
Abelites. A secret Order which existed about the middle of the 18th century in Germany, called also “ the Order of Abel.” The organization was in possession of peculiar signs, words, and ceremonies of initiation, but, according to Gadicke (Freimaurer Lexicon), it had no connection with Freemasonry. According to Clavel the order was founded at Griefswald in 1745.
Abercorn, Earl of. James Hamilton, Lord Paisley, was named Grand Master of England by the retiring G. Master, the Duke of Richmond, in 1725. He was at that time the Master of a Lodge, and had served on the Committee of Charity during that year. He succeeded his father as Earl of Abercorn in 1734.
Abercorn, Duke of. Grand Master of Ireland 1874-85.
Aberdour, Lord. Grand Master of Scotland, 1755-6. Also of England 1757-61.
Ablb. The original name of the Hebrew month Nisan, nearly corresponding to the month of March, the first of the ecclesiastical year. Abib is frequently mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, and signifies green ears of com or fresh fruits.
Abibaie. The name of the first Assassin in the Elu of the Modem French Rite.
Derived most probably from the Hebrew abi and balah, '2X and 1^2, which mean father of destruction, though it is said to mean “ le meurtrier du P'ere.”
Abide by. See Stand to and abide by.
Abif (or Abiff, or perhaps more correctly An epithet which has been applied in Scripture to that celebrated builder who was sent to Jerusalem by King Hiram, of Tyre, to superintend the construction of the Temple. The word, which in the original Hebrew is 'l'2X, and which may be pronounced Abiv or Abif, is compounded of the noun in the construct-state "'2X, Abi, meaning “ father,” and the pronominal suffix 1, which, with the preceding vowel sound, is to be sounded as iv or if, and which means ’ his”; so that the word thus compounded Abif literally and grammatically signifies “ his father.” The word is found in 2 Chronicles iv. 16, in the following sentence: “The pots also, and the shovels, and the flesh hooks, and all their instruments, did Huram his father make to King Solomon.” The latter part of this verse is in the original as follows:
T*2X min r®
Shelomoh lamelech Abif Huram gnasah
Luther has been more literal in his version of this passage than the English translators, and appearing to suppose that the word Abif
is to be considered simply as an appellative or surname, he preserves the Hebrew form, his translation being as follows: “ Machte Huram Abif dem Konige Salomo.” The Swedish version is equally exact, and, instead of “ Hiram his father,” gives us “ Hyram Abiv.” In the Latin Vulgate, as in the English version, the words are rendered “ Hiram pater ejus.” I have little doubt that Luther and the Swedish translator were correct in treating the word Abif as an appellative. In Hebrew, the word ab, or “ father,” is often used, honoris causa, as a title of respect, and may then signify friend, counselor, wise man, or something else of equivalent character. Thus, Dr. Clarke, commenting on the word abrech, in Genesis xli. 43, says: “ Father seems to have been a name of office, and probably father of the king or father of Pharaoh might signify the same as the king’s minister among us.” And on the very passage in which this word Abif is used, he says: “ 2X, father, is often used in Hebrew to signify master, inventor, chief operator." Gesenius, the distinguished Hebrew lexicographer, gives to this word similar significations, such as benefactor, master, teacher, and says that in the Arabic and the Ethiopic it is spoken of one who excels in anything. This idiomatic custom was pursued by the later Hebrews, for Buxtorf tells us, in his “ Talmudic Lexicon,” that “ among the Talmudists abba, father, was always a title of honor,” and he quotes the following remarks from a treatise of the celebrated Maimonides, who, when speaking of the grades or ranks into which the Rabbinical doctors were divided, says: “ The first class consists of those each of .whom bears his own name, without any title of honor; the second, of those who are called Rabbanim; and the third, of those who are called Rabbi, and the men of this class also receive the cognomen of Abba, Father.”
Again, in 2 Chronicles ii. 13, Hiram, the King of Tyre, referring to the same Hiram, the widow’s son, who is spoken of subsequently in reference to King Solomon as “ his father,” or Abif in the passage already cited, writes to Solomon: “ And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father’s.” The only difficulty in this sentence is to be found in the prefixing of the letter lamed b, before Huram, which has caused our translators, by a strange blunder, to render the words I’Huram abi, as meaning “ of Huram my father’s,” * instead of “ Huram my father.” Luther has again taken the correct view of this subject, and translates the word as an appellative: “ So sende ich nun einen weisen Mann, der Berstand hat, Huram Abif”; that is, “ So now I send you a wise man who has understanding, Huram Abif.” The truth, I suspect, is, although it has escaped all the commentators, that the lamed in this passage is a Chaldaism which is sometimes used by the later Hebrew writers, who
* It may be remarked that this could not be the true meaning, for the father of King Hiram was not another Hiram, but Abibal.
incorrectly employ \ the sign of the dative for the accusative after transitive verbs. Thus, in Jeremiah (xl. 2), we have such a construction: vayikach rab tabachiml’Yremyahu; that is, literally, “ and the captain of the guards took for Jeremiah,” where the b, I, or for, is a Chaldaism and redundant, the true rendering being, “ and the captain of the guards took Jeremiah.” Other similar passages are to be found in Lamentations iv. 5, Job v. 2, etc. In like manner I suppose the ? before Huram, which the English translators have rendered by the preposition “of,” to be redundant and a Chalaaic form, the sentence should be read thus: “ I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, Huram my father”; or, if considered as an appellative, as it should be, “ Huram Abi.”
From all this I conclude that the word Ab, with its different suffixes, is always used in the Books of Kings and Chronicles, in reference to Hiram the Builder, as a title of respect. When King Hiram speaks of him he calls him “ my father Hiram,” Hiram Abi; and when the writer of the Book of Chronicles is speaking of him and King Solomon in the same passage, he calls him “ Solomon’s father ”— “ nis father,” Hiram Abif. The only difference ia made by the different appellation of the pronouns my and his in Hebrew. To both the kings of Tyre and of Judah he bore the honorable relation of Ab, or “ father,” equivalent to friend, counselor, or minister. He was “Father Hiram.” The Masons are therefore perfectly correct in refusing to adopt the translation of the English version, and in preserving, after the example of Luther, the word Abif as an appellative, surname, or title of honor and distinction bestowed upon the chief builder of the Temple, as Dr. James Anderson suggests in his note on the subject in the first edition (1723) of the Constitutions of the Freemasons. [E. L. H. ]
Abiram. One of the traitorous craftsmen, whose act of perfidy forms so important a part of the Third Degree, receives in some of the high degrees the name of Abiram Akirop. These words certainly have a Hebrew look; but the significant words of Masonry have, in the lapse of time and in their transmission through ignorant teachers, become so corrupted in form that it is almost impossible to trace them to any intelligent root. They may be Hebrew or they may be anagrammatized (see Anagram); but it is only chance that can give us the true meaning which they undoubtedly have. The word “Abiram” means “ father of loftiness,” and may have been chosen as the name of the traitorous craftsman with allusion to the Biblical story of Korah, Dathan and Abiram who conspired against Moses and Aaron. (Numbersxvi.) In the French ritual of the Second Elu it is said to mean murderer or assassin, but this would not seem to be correct etymologically.
Able* There is an archaic use of the word able to signify suitable. Thus, Chaucer says of a monk that “ he was able to ben an abbot,”
that is, suitable to be an abbot. In this sense the old manuscript Constitutions constantly employ the word, as when they say that the apprentice should be “ able of Birth that is ffree borne.” (Lansdowne MS.)
Ablution. A ceremonial purification by washing, much used in the Ancient Mysteries and under the Mosaic dispensation. It is also employed in some of the high degrees of Masonry. The better technical term for this ceremony is lustration, which see.
Abnet. The band or apron, made of fine linen, variously wrought, and worn by the Jewish priesthood. It seems to have been borrowed directly from the Egyptians, upon the representations of all of whose gods is to be found a similar girdle. Like the zennaar, or sacred cord of the Brahmans, and the white shield of the Scandinavians, it is the analogue of the Masonic apron.
Aborigines. A secret society which existed in England about the year 1783, and of whose ceremony of initiation the following account is contained in the British Magazine of that date. The presiding officer, who was styled the Original, thus addressed the candidate:
Original. Have you faith enough to be made an Original?
Candidate. I have.
Original. Will you be conformable to all honest rules which may support steadily the honor, reputation, welfare, find dignity of our ancient undertaking?
Candidate. I will.
Original. Then, friend, promise me that you will never stray from the paths of Honor, Freedom, Honesty, Sincerity, Prudence, Modesty, Reputation, Sobriety, and True Friendship.
Candidate. I do.
Which done, the crier of the court commanded silence, and the new member, being uncovered, and dropping on his right knee, had the following oath administered to him by the servant, the new member laying his right hand on the Cap of Honor, and Nimrod holding a staff over his head:
“ You swear by the Cap of Honor, by the Collar of Freedom, by the Coat of Honesty, by the Jacket of Sincerity, by the Shirt of Prudence, by the Breeches of Modesty, by the Garters of Reputation, by the Stockings of Sobriety, and by the Steps of True Friendship, never to depart from these laws.”
Then rising, with the staff resting on his head, he received a copy of the laws from the hands of the Grand Original, with these words, “ Enjoy the benefits hereof.”
He then delivered the copy of the laws to the care of the servant, after which the word was given by the secretary to the new member, viz.: Eden, signifying the garden where Adam, the great aboriginal, was formed.
Then the secretary invested him with the sign, viz.: resting his right hand on his left side, signifying the first conjunction of harmony.
It had no connection with Freemasomy, but was simply one of those numerous imita
tive societies to which that Institution has given rise.
Abrac. In the Leland MS. it is said that the Masons conceal “ the wey of wynninge the facultye of Abrac.” Mr. Locke (if it was he who wrote a commentary on the manuscript) says, “ Here I am utterly in the dark.” It means simply “ the way of acquiring the science of Abrac.” The science of Abrac is the knowledge of the power and use of the mystical abraxas, which see; or very likely “ Abrac ” is merely an abbreviation of Abracadabra.
Abracadabra. A term of incantation which was formerly worn about the neck as an amulet against several diseases, especially the tertian ague. It was to be written on a triangular piece of parchment in the following form:
ABRACADABRA ABRACADABR ABRACADAB ABRACADA ABRACAD ABRACA ABRAC ABRA ABR AB
It is said that it first occurs in the Carmen de Morbis et Remediis of Q. Serenus Sammon- icus, a favorite of the Emperor Severus in the 2d and 3d centuries, and is generally supposed to be derived from the word abraxas.
Abraham. The founder of the Hebrew nation. The patriarch Abraham is personated in the degree or Order of High Priesthood, which refers in some of its ceremonies to an interesting incident in his life. After the amicable separation of Lot and Abraham, when the former was dwelling in the plain in which Sodom and its neighboring towns were situated, and the latter in the valley of Mamre near Hebron, a king from beyond the Euphrates, whose name was Cheaorlaomer, invaded lower Palestine, and brought several of the smaller states into a tributary condition. Among these were the five cities of the plain, to winch Lot had retired. As the yoke was borne with impatience by these cities, Ched- orlaomer, accompanied by four other kings, who were probably his tributaries, attacked and defeated the kings of the plain, plundered their towns, and carried their people away as slaves. Among those who suffered on this occasion was Lot. As soon as Abraham heard of these events, he armed three hundred and eighteen of his slaves, and, with the assistance of Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, three Amoritish chiefs, he pursued the retiring invaders, and having attacked them near the Jordan, put them to flight, and then returned with all the men and goods that had been recovered from the enemy. On his way back he was met by the King of Sodom, and also by Melchizedek, King of Salem, who was, like Abraham, a worshiper of the true God. Melchizedek refreshed Abraham and his peo-
pie with bread and wine, and blessed him. The King of Sodom wished Abraham to give up the persons, but retain the goods that he had recovered; however, Abraham positively refused to retain any of the spoils, although, by the customs of the age, he was entitled to them, and declared that he had sworn that he would not take “ from a. thread even to a shoe- latchet.” (Genesisxiv.) Although the conduct of Abraham in this whole transaction was of the most honorable and conscientious character, the incidents do not appear to have been introduced into the ritual of the High Priesthood for any other reason except that of their connection with Melchizedek, who was the founder of an Order of Priesthood.
Abraham, Antoine Firmin. A Mason who made himself notorious at Paris, in the beginning of the present century, by the manufacture and sale of false Masomc diplomas and by trading in the higher degrees, from which traffic he reaped for some time a plentiful harvest. The Supreme Council of France declared, in 1811, all his diplomas and charters void and deceptive. He is the author of L’Art du Tuileur, dedie d tous les Magons des deux hemispheres, a small volume of 20 pages, 8vo, printed at Paris in 1803, and he published from 1800 to 1808 a periodical work entitled Le Miroir de la virile, dedii d tous les Masons, 3 vols., 8vo. This contains many interesting details concerning the history of Masonry in France. In 1811 there was published at Paris a Circulaire du Supreme Conceit du SSe degrd, etc., relative d, la vente, par le Sieur Abraham de grades et cahiers Magon- niques (8vo, 15 pp.), from which it is evident that Abraham was nothing else but a Masonic charlatan.
Abraxas. Basilides, the head of the Egyptian sect of Gnostics, taught that there were seven emanations, or seons, from the Supreme God; that these emanations engendered the angels of the highest order; that these angels formed a heaven for their habitation, and brought forth other angels of a nature inferior to their own; that in time other heavens were formed and other angels created, until the whole number of angels and their respective heavens amounted to 365, which were thus equal to the number of days in a year; and, finally,that over all these an omnipotent Lord— inferior, however, to the Supreme God—presided, whose name was Abraxas. Now this word Abraxas, in the numerical force of its letters when written in Greek, ABPABA2, amounts to 365, the number of worlds in the Basilidean system, as well as the number of days in the year, thus: A, 1.., B, 2.., P, 100... A, 1.., B, 60.., A, 1.., 5 200 = 365. The god Abraxas was therefore a type or symbol of the year, or of the revolution of the earth around the sun. This mystical reference of the name of a god to the annual period was familiar to the ancients, and is to be found in at least two other instances. Thus, among the Persians the letters of the name of the god Mithras, and of Belenus among the Gauls, amounted each to 365.
M |
= 40 |
B = |
2 |
E |
=■ 5 |
H = |
8 |
I |
= 10 |
A = |
30 |
0 |
= 9 |
E = |
5 |
P |
= 100 |
N = |
50 |
A |
= 1 |
O = |
70 |
s |
= 200 = 365 |
2 = |
200 = 365 |
The word Abraxas, therefore, from this mystical value of the letters of which it was composed, became talismanic, and was frequently inscribed, sometimes with and sometimes without other superstitious inscriptions, on stones or gems as amulets, many of which have been preserved or are continually being discovered, and are to be found in the cabinets of the curious.
There have been many conjectures among the learned as to the derivation of the word Abraxas. Beausobre (Histoire du Maniche- isme, vol. ii.) derives it from the Greek, 'A Apos Saw, signifying “the magnificent Saviour, he who heals and preserves.” Bellermann {Essay on the Gems of the Ancients) supposed it to be compounded of three Coptic words signifying “ the holy word of bliss.” Pignorius and Vandelin think: it is composed of four Hebrew and three Greek letters, whose numerical value is 365, and which are the initials of the sentence: “ saving men by wood, i. e. the cross.”
Abraxas Stones. Stones on which the word Abraxas and other devices are engraved, and which were used by the Egyptian Gnostics as amulets.
Absence. Attendance on the communications of his Lodge, on all convenient occasions, is considered as one of the duties of every Mason, and hence the old charges of 1722 (ch. iii.) say that “ in ancient Times no Master or Fellow could be absent from it [the Lodge] especially when warn’d to appear at it, without incurring a severe censure, until it appear’d to the Master and Wardens that pure Necessity hinder’d him.” At one time it was usual to enforce attendance by fines, and the By-Laws of the early Lodges contain lists of fines to be imposed for absence, swearing and drunkenness, but that usage is now discontinued, so that attendance on ordinary communications is no longer enforced by any sanction of law. It is a duty the discharge of which must be left to the conscientious convictions of each Mason. In the case, however, of a positive summons for any express purpose, such as to stand trial, to show cause, etc., the neglect or refusal to attend might be construed into a contempt, to be dealt with according to its magnitude or character in each particular case.
Acacia. An interesting and important symbol in Freemasonry. Botanically, it is the acacia vera of Tournefort, and the mimosa nilotica of Linnaeus, called babul tree in India. It grew abundantly in the vicinity of Jerusalem, where it is still to be found, and is familiar m its modem use as the tree.from which the gum arabic of commerce is derived.
Oliver, it is true, says that “ there is not the
smallest trace of any tree of the kind growing so far north as Jerusalem ” (Landm.,h., 149); but this statement is refuted by the authority of Lieutenant Lynch, who saw it growing in great abundance in Jericho, and still farther north. (Exped. to. Dead Sea,p. 262.) The Rabbi Joseph Schwarz, who is excellent authority, says: “ The Acacia (Shittim) tree, Al Sunt, is found in Palestine of different varieties; it looks like the Mulberry tree, attains a great height, and has a hard wood. The gum which is obtained from it is the gum
arabic.” (Descriptive Geography and Historical Sketch of Palestine, p. 308, Leeser’s translation. Phila., 1850.) Schwarz was for sixteen years a resident of Palestine, and wrote from personal observation. The testimony of Lynch and Schwarz should, therefore, forever settle the question of the existence of the acacia in Palestine.
The acacia is called in the Bible Shittim, which is really the plural of Shittah, which last form occurs once only in Isaiah xli. 19. It was esteemed a sacred wood among the Hebrews, and of it Moses was ordered to make the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, the table for the shewbread, and the rest of the sacred furniture. (Exodus xxv.- xxvii.) Isaiah (I. c.) in recounting the promises of God’s mercy to the Israelites on their return from the captivity, tells them that, among other things, he will plant in the wilderness, for their relief and refreshment, the cedar, the acacia (or, as it is rendered in our common version, the shittah), the fir, and other trees.
The first thing, then, that we notice in this symbol of the acacia, is that it had heen always consecrated from among the other trees of the forest by the sacred purposes to which it was devoted. By the Jew, the tree from whose wood the sanctuary of the tabernacle and the holy ark had been constructed would ever be viewed as more sacred than ordinary trees. The early Masons, therefore, very naturally appropriated this hallowed plant to the equally sacred purpose of a symbol, which was to teach an important divine truth in all ages to come.
. Having thus briefly disposed of the natural history of this plant, we may now proceed to examine it in its symbolic relations.
First. The acacia, in the mythic system of Freemasonry, is preeminently the symbol of the immortality of the soul—that important doctrine which it is the great design of the Institution to teach. As the evanescent nature of the flower, which “ cometh forth and is cut down,” reminds us of the transitory nature of human life, so the perpetual renovation of the evergreen plant, which uninterruptedly presents the appearance of youth and vigor, is aptly compared to that spiritual life in which the soul, freed from the corruptible companionship of the body, shall enjoy an eternal spring and an immortal you.th, Hence, in
the impressive funeral service of our Order, it is said that “ this evergreen is an emblem of our faith in the immortality of the soul. By this we are reminded that we have an immortal part within us, which shall survive the grave, and which shall never, never, never die.” And again, in the closing sentences of the monitorial lecture of the Third Degree, the same sentiment is repeated, and we are told that by “ the ever-green and ever-living sprig ” the Mason is strengthened “ with confidence and composure to look forward to a blessed immortality.” Such an interpretation of the symbol is an easy and a natural one; it suggests itself at once to the least reflective mind; and consequently, in some one form or another, is to be found existing in all ages and nations. It was an ancient custom—which is not, even now, altogether disused—for mourners to carry in their hands at funerals a sprig of some evergreen, generally the cedar or the cypress, and to deposit it in the grave of the deceased. According to Dalcho,* the Hebrews always planted a sprig of the acacia at the head of the grave of a departed friend. Potter tells us that the ancient Greeks “ had a custom of bedecking tombs with herbs and flowers.” f All sorts of purple and white flowers were acceptable to the dead, but principally the amaranth and the myrtle. The very name of the former of these plants, which signifies “ never fading,” would seem to indicate the true symbolic meaning of the usage, although archeologists have generally supposed it to be simply an exhibition of love on the part of the survivors. Ragon says that the ancients substituted the acacia for all other plants because they believed it to be incorruptible, and not liable to injury from the attacks of any kind of insect or other animal—thus symbolizing the incorruptible nature of the soul.
Hence we see the propriety of placing the sprig of acacia, as an emblem of immortality, among the symbols of that degree, all of whose ceremonies are intended to teach us the great truth that “ the life of man, regulated by morality, faith, and justice, will be rewarded at its
*“This custom among the Hebrews arose from this circumstance. Agreeably to their laws, no dead bodies Were allowed to be interred within the walls of the City; and as the Cohens, or Priests, were prohibited from crossing a grave, it was necessary to place marks thereon, that they might avoid them. For this purpose the Acasia was used.” (Dalcho, 2nd Oration, p. 23, note.) I object to the reason assigned by Dalcho, but of the existence of the custom there can be no question, notwithstanding the denial or doubt of Dr. Oliver. Blount (.Travels in the Levant, p. 197) says, speaking of the Jewish burial customs, “those who bestow a marble stone over any [grave} have a hole a yard long and a foot broad, in which they plant an evergreen, which seems to grow from the body and is carefully watched.” Hasselquist (Travels, p. 28) confirms his testimony. I borrow the citations from Brown (Antiquities of the Jews, vol. ii., p. 356), but have verified the reference to Hasselquist. The work of Blount I have not been enabled to consult.
t Antiquities o/ Greece, p. 569.
closing hour by the prospect of Eternal Bliss.” * So, therefore, says Dr. Oliver, when the Master Mason exclaims “ my name is Acacia,” it is equivalent to saying, “ I have been in the grave—I have triumphed over it by rising from the dead—and being regenerated in the process, I have a claim to life everlasting.” (See Landmarks, ii.,151, note 27.)
The sprig of acacia, then, in its most ordinary signification, presents itself to the Master Mason as a symbol of the immortality of the soul, being intended to remind him, by its ever-green and unchanging nature, of that better and spiritual part within us, which, as an emanation from the Great Architect of the Universe, can never die. And as this is the most ordinary, the most generally accepted signification, so also is it the most important; for thus, as the peculiar symbol of immortality, it becomes the most appropriate to an Order all of whose teachings are intended to inculcate the great lesson that “ life rises out of the grave.” But incidental to this the acacia has two other interpretations which are well worthy of investigation.
Secondly, then, the acacia is a symbol of innocence. The symbolism here is of a peculiar and unusual character, depending not on any real analogy in the form or use of the symbol to the idea symbolized, but simply on a double or compound meaning of the word. For iucaida, in the Greek language, signifies both the plant in question and the moral quality of innocence or purity of life. In this sense the symbol refers, primarily; to him over whose solitary grave the acacia was planted, and whose virtuous conduct, whose integrity of life and fidelity to his trusts have ever been presented as patterns to the craft, and consequently to aU Master Masons, who, by this interpretation of the symbol, are invited to emulate his example.
Hutchinson, indulging in his favorite theory of Christianizing Masonry, when he comes to this signification of the symbol, thus enlarges on the interpretation: “ We Masons, describing the deplorable estate of religion under the Jewish law, speak in figures:—’Her tomb was in the rubbish and filth cast forth of the temple, and acacia wove its branches over her monument; ’ axaitla being the Greek- word for innocence, or being free from sin; implying that the sins and corruptions of the old law, and devotees of the Jewish altar, had hid religion from those who sought her, and she was only to be found where innocence survived, and. under the banner of the divine Lamb; and as to ourselves professing that we were to be distinguished by our acacy, .or as true acacians in our religious faith and tenets.” f
But, lastly, the acacia is to be considered as the symbol of initiation. This is by far the most interesting of its interpretations, and was, we have every reason to believe, the primary and original; the others being but incidental.
* Dr. Cnicefix, MS. quoted by Oliver. Land- marks, ii., 2.
t Hutchinson’s Spirit of Masonry, Leet. IX., p. 160, ed. 1775.
It leads us at once to the investigation of the significant fact that in all the ancient initiations and religious mysteries there was some plant peculiar to each, which was consecrated by its own esoteric meaning; and which occupied an important position in the celebration of the rites, so that the plant, whatever it might be, from its constant and prominent use in the ceremonies of initiation, came at length to be adopted as the symbol of that initiation.
Thus, the lettuce was the sacred plant which assumed the place of the acacia in the mysteries of Adorns. (See Lettuce.) The lotus was that of the Brahmanical rites of India, and from them adopted by the Egyptians. (See Lotus.) The Egyptians also revered the erica or heath; and the mistletoe was a mystical plant among the Druids. (See Erica ana Mistletoe.) And, lastly, the myrtle performed the same office of symbolism in the mysteries of Greece that the lotus did in Egypt or the mistletoe among the Druids. (See Myrtle.)
In all of these ancient mysteries, while the sacred plant was a symbol of initiation, the initiation itself was symbolic of the resurrection to a future life, and of the immortality of the soul. In this view, Freemasonry is to us now in the place of the ancient initiations, and the acacia is substituted for the lotus, the erica, the ivy, the mistletoe, and the myrtle. The lesson of wisdom is the same—the medium of imparting it is all that has been changed.
Returning, then, to the acacia, we find that it is capable of three explanations. It is a symbol of immortality, of innocence, and of initiation. But these three significations are closely connected, and that connection must be observed, if we desire to obtain a just interpretation of the symbol. Thus, in this.one symbol, we are taught that in the initiation of life, of which the initiation in the Third Degree is simply emblematic, innocence must for a time lie in the grave, at length, however, to be called, by the word of the Great Master of the Universe, to a blissful immortality. Combine with this the recollection of the place where the sprig of acacia was planted—Mount Calvary—the place of sepulture of him who “ brought life and immortality to light,” and who, in Christian Masonry, is designated, as he is in Scripture, as “ the non of the tribe of Judah ”; and remember, too, that in the mystery of his death, the wood of the. cross takes the place of the acacia, and in this little and apparently insignificant symbol, but which is really and truly the most important and significant one in Masonic science, we have a beautiful suggestion of all the mysteries of life and death, of time and eternity, of the present and of tile future.
Acaclan. A word introduced by Hutchinson, in his Spirit of Masonry, to designate a Freemason in reference to the akahia, or innocence with which he was to be distinguished, from the Greek word amuda. (See the preceding article.) The Acacians constituted an heretical sect in the primitive Christian Church, who derived their name from Aca- dus, Bishop of Cwsarea; and there was sub
sequently another sect of the same name Acacius, Patriarch of Constantinople. But it is needless to say that the Hutchinsonian application of the word Acacian to signify a Freemason has nothing to do with the theological reference of the term.
Academic des Illumines d’Avignon. A Hermetic system of philosophy, created in 1785.
Academy. The Fourth Degree of the Rectified Rose Croix of Schroeder.
Academy of Ancients or of Secrets. (Academie des Secrets.) A society instituted at Warsaw, in 1767, by M. Thoux de Salverte, and founded on the principles of another which bore the same name, and which had been established at Rome, about the end of the 16th century; by John Baptiste Porta. The object of the institution was the advancement of the natural sciences and their application to the occult philosophy.
Academy of Sages. An order which existed in Sweden in 1770, deriving its origin from that founded in London by Elias Ashmole, on the doctrines of the New Atlantis of Bacon. A few similar societies were subsequently founded in Russia and France, one especially noted by Thory (Act. Led.) as having been established in 1776 by the mother Lodge of Avignon.
Academy of Secrets. See Academy of Ancients.
Academy of Sublime Masters of the Luminous Ring. Founded in France, in 1780, by Baron Blaerfindy, one of the Grand Officers of the Philosophic Scotch Rite. The Academy of the Luminous Ring was dedicated to. the philosophy of Pythagoras, and was divided into three degrees. The first and second were principally occupied with the history of Freemasonry, and the last with the dogmas of the Pythagorean school, and their application to the highest grades of science. The historical hypothesis which was sought to be developed in this Academy was that Pythagoras was the founder of Freemasonry.
Academy of True Masons. Founded at Montpelier, in France, by Dom Pemetty in 1778, and occupied with instructions in hermetic science, which were developed in six degrees, vis.: 1. The True Mason: 2. The True Mason in the Right Way; 3. Knight of the. Golden Key; 4. Knight of Iris; 5. Knight of the Argonauts; 6. Knight of the Golden Fleece. The degrees thus conferred constituted the Philosophic Scotch Rite, which was the system adopted by the Academy. It afterward changed its name to that of Russo- Swedish Academy, which circumstance leads Thory to believe that it was connected with the Alchemical Chapters which at that time existed in Russia and Sweden. The entirely hermetic character of the Academy of True Masons may readily be perceived in a few paragraphs cited by Clavel (p. 172, 3d ed., 1844) from a discourse by Goyer de Jumilly at the installation of an Academy in Martinique. “ To seise,” says the orator, ” the graver of Hermes to engrave the doctrines of natural philosophy on your columns; to call Flamel, the Philalete, the Cosmopolite, and our other
masters to my aid for the propose of unveiling the mysterious principles of the occult sciences,—these, illustrious knights, appear to be the duties imposed on me by the ceremony of your installation. The fountain of Count Trevisan, the pontifical water, the peacock’s tail, are phenomena with which you are familiar.”
Academy, Platonic. Founded in 1480 by Marsilius Ficinus, at Florence, under the patronage of Lorenzo de Medicis. It is said by the Masons of Tuscany to have been a secret society, and is supposed to have had a Masonic character, because in the hall where its members held their meetings, and which still remains, many Masonic symbols are to be found. Clavel (p. 85,3d ed., 1844) supposes it to have been a society founded by some of the honorary members and patrons of the fraternity of Freemasons who existed in the Middle Ages, and who, having abandoned the material design of the institution, confined themselves to its mystic character. If his suggestion be correct, this is one of the earliest instances of the separation of Speculative from Operative Masonry.
Acanthus. A plant, described by Dios- corides, with broad, flexible, prickly leaves, which perish in the winter and sprout again at the return of spring. It is found in the Grecian islands on the borders of cultivated fields or gardens, and is common in moist, rocky situations. It is memorable for the tradition which assigns to it the origin of the foliage carved on the capitals of Corinthian and Composite columns. Hence, in architecture, that part of the Corinthian capital is called the Acanthus which is situated below the abacus, and which, having the form of a vase or bell, is surrounded by two rows of leaves of the acanthus plant. Callimachus, who invented this ornament, is said to have had the idea suggested to him by the following incident. A Corinthian maiden who was betrothed, fell ill, and died just before the appointed time of her marriage. Her faithful and grieving nurse placed on her tomb a basket containing many of her toys and jewels, and covered it with a flat tile. It so happened that the basket was placed immediately over an acanthus root, which afterward grew up around the basket and curled over under the superincumbent resistance of the tile, thus exhibiting a form of foliage which was, on its being seen by the architect, adopted as a model for the capital of a new order; so that the story of affection was perpetuated in marble. Dudley (Noology, p. 164) thinks the tale puerile, ana supposes that the acanthus is really the lotus of the Indians and Egyptians, and is symbolic of laborious but effectual effort applied to the support of the world. With him, the symbolism of the acanthus and the lotus are identical. See Lotus.
Accepted. The Worshipful Company of Masons of the City of London—a flourishing Guild at the present day—possesses as its earliest document now existing an account book headed
“ 1620.
The Accompte of James Gilder Mr (Master) William Ward <ft John Abraham wardens of the Company of ffremasons wthin the Citie of London beginninge the first day of Julie 1619 And endinge the day of Julie JL620 of all receite & payment for & to the use the same company as ffolloweth, viz.”
From the entries in this book it appears that besides the ordinary Freemen and Liverymen of this Company there were other members who are termed in the books the “ Accepted Masons,” and that they belonged to a body known as the “ Accepcon,” or Accep- tion, which was an Inner Fraternity of Speculative Masons.
Thus in the year 1620 the following entry is found:
“ They charge themselves also w** Money Receyued of the Psons hereafter named for theyr gratuitie at theyr acceptance into the Lyvery viz” (here follow six names); and among the accounts for the next year (1621) there is an entry showing sums received from several persons, of whom two are mentioned in the entry of 1620, “ Att the making masons,” and as all these mentioned were already members of the Company something further must be meant by this.
In 1631 the following entry of the Clerk’s expenses occurs: “ Pd in goeing abroad & att a meeteing att the hall about ye Masons yt were to bee accepted VIs VId.”
Now the Company never accepted its members; they were always admitted to the freedom either by apprenticeship, patrimony, or redemption. Thus the above entries suggest that persons who were neither connected with the trade nor otherwise qualified were required, before being eligible for election on the livery of the Company, to become “ Accepted Masons,” that is, to join the Lodge of Speculative Masonry that was held for that purpose in the Company’s Hall. '
Thus in the accounts for 1650, payments are entered as made by several persons “ for coming on the Liuerie & admission uppon Acceptance of Masonry,” and it is entered that Mr. Andrew Marvin, the present warden, and another paid 20 shillings each “ for coming on the Accepcon”; while two others are entered as paying 40 shillings each “ for the like,” and as the names of the last two cannot be found among the members of the Masons Company it would seem as if it was possible for strangers to join “ the Accepcon ” on paying double fees.
Unfortunately no books connected with this Acception, or Lodge, as it may be called, have been preserved: but there are references to it in several places in the account books which show that the payments made by newly accepted Masons were paid into the funds of the Company, that some or all of this amount was spent on a banquet and the attendant expenses, and that any further sum required was paid out cf the ordinary funds of the Company, proving that the Company had entire control of the Lodge and its tunas.
Further evidence of the existence of thia
Symbolical Lodge within the Masons Company is given by the following entry in an inventory of the Company’s property made in 1665:
“Item. The names of the Accepted Masons in a faire inclosed frame with lock and key”; and in an inventory of 1676 is found:
“Item. One book of the Constitutions of the Accepted Masons.*
“A faire large table of the Accepted Masons.” And proof positive of its existence is derived from an entry in the diary of Elias Ashmole—the famous antiquary—who writes:
“March 10th. 1682. About 5 p.m. I received a summons to appear at a Lodge to be held next day at Masons Hall London.
March 11th. Accordingly I went and about noon were admitted into the Fellowship of Free Masons: Sir William Wilson Knight, Capt. Rich Borthwick, Mr Will Woodman, Mr Wm Grey, Mr Samuell Taylour, and Mr William Wise.f
I was the Senior Fellow among them (it being 35 years since I was admitted).”
He then mentions the names of nine others who were present and concludes: “We all dyned at the halfe Moone Taverne in Cheape- side, at a noble dinner prepaired at the charge of the New-Accepted Masons.”
All present were members of the Masons Company except Ashmole himself, Sir W. Wilson and Capt. Borthwick, and this entry proves conclusively that side by side with the Masons Company there existed another organization to which non-members of the Company were admitted and the members of which were known as “Accepted Masons.”
It may here be mentioned that Ashmole has recorded in his diary that he was made a Freemason at Warrington in Lancashire on October 16, 1646. In that entry the word “Accepted” does not occur.
No mention is made of the Accepted Masons in the accounts of the Masons Company after 1677, when £6—the balance remaining of the last Accepted Masons’ money—was ordered to be laid out for a new banner; and it would seem that from that time onward the Lodge kept separate accounts, for from the evidence of Ashmole’s diary we know it was at work in 1682; but when and why it finally ceased no evidence is forthcoming to show. However, it may fairly be assumed that this Masons Hall Lodge had ceased to exist before the Revival of Freemasonry in 1717, or else Anderson would not have said in the Constitutions of 1723 (p. 82): “It is generally believ’d that the said Company (i.e. the London Company of Freemen Masons) is descended of the an
* No doubt this was a copy of one of the Old Charges.
t In the edition of Ashmole’s diary published in 1774 this was changed into “I went, and about noon was admitted . . . by Sir William Wilson Ac.” an error which has misled many Masonic historians. See Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, vol. xi., p. 6, for a facsimile of the entry as in the original diary.
cient Fraternity; and that in former Times no Man was made Free of that Company until he was install’d in some Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, as a necessary Qualification. But that laudable Practice seems to have been long in Desuetude,” which passage would indicate that he was aware of some tradition of such a Lodge as has been described attached to the Masons Company admitting persons in no way operatively connected with the craft, who were called “Accepted Masons” to distinguish them from the Operative or Free Masons. (Conder’s Hole Craft and Fellowship of Masonry and Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, vol. ix.)
Anderson in the 1738 Constitutions quotes from a copy of the old Constitutions some regulations which he says were made in 1663, and in which the phrases accepted a Free Mason and Acceptation occur several times. These regulations are found in what its known as the Grand Lodge MS. No. 2, which is supposed to have been written about the middle of the 17th century, so that Anderson’s date in which he follows the Roberts Old Constitutions printed in 1722 as to the year, though he changes the day from December 8th to December 27th, may quite possibly be correct. And Bro. Conder (Hole Crafty p. 11) calls special attention to these regulations on account of the singular resemblance that one of them bears to the rules that govern the Masons Company.
The extracts given above from the books of the Masons Company, the 1663 Regulations (if that date be accepted), and the quotation from Ashmole’s diary, are the earliest known instances of the term “Accepted” Masons, for although the Inigo Jones MS. is headed “The Antient Constitutions of the Free and Accepted Masons 1607,” yet there is a consensus of opinion among experts that such date is impossible and that the MS. is really to be referred to the end of the 17th century or even the beginning of the 18th; and the next instance of the use of the term is in 1686 when Dr. Plot in The Natural History of Staffordshire wrote with reference to the secret signs used by the Freemasons of his time “if any man appear, though altogether unknown, that can shew any of these signes to a Fellow of the Society, whom they otherwise call an Accepted Mason, he is obliged presently to come to him from what company or place soever he be in, nay, though from the top of steeple.”
Further, in 1691, John Aubrey, author of The Natural History of Wiltshire, made a note in his MS. “This day (May 18,1691) is a great convention at St. Pauls Church of the fraternity of the free Masons,” in which he has erased the word free and substituted accepted, which, however, he changed into adopted in his fair copy.
In the “Orders to be observed by the Company and Fellowship of Freemasons att a Lodge held at Alnwicx, Septr. 29, 1701. being the Genu Head Meeting Day,”we find.There shall noe apprentice after he have served seaven years be admitted or accepted but upon the Feast of St. Michael the Archangell.”
And from that time onward the term Accepted Masons becomes common, usually in connection with Free: the term Free and Accepted Masons thus signifying both the Operative members who were free of their guild and the Speculative members who had been accepted as outsiders. Thus the Roberts Print of 1722 is headed, “ The Old Constitutions belonging to the Ancient and Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons,” and in the Constitutions of 1723 Anderson speaks of wearing “ the Badges of a Free and Accepted Mason ” (p. 48) and uses the phrase in Rule 27, though he does not use the phrase so frequently as in the 1738 edition in which “ the Charges of a Free-Mason ” become “ the old Charges of the Free and Accepted Masons,” the “ General Regulations ” become “ The General Regulations of the Free and Accepted Masons, and regulation No. 5.” “ No man can be made or admitted a Member ” becomes “ No man can be accepted a Member,” while the title of the book is “ The new book of Constitutions of the Antient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons ” instead of “ The Constitutions of the Free-Masons,” as in the earlier edition.
[E. L. HJ -
Acclamation. A certain form of words used in connection with the battery. In the Scottish rite it is hoshea; in the French vivat; in Adoptive Masonry it was Eva; and in the rite of Misraim, hallelujah. (See Battery.)
Accolade. From the Latin ad and collum, around the neck. It is generally but incorrectly supposed that the accolade means the blow given on the neck of a newly created knight with the flat of the sword. The best authorities define it to be the embrace, accompanied with the kiss of peace, by which the new knight was at his creation welcomed into the Order of Knighthood by the sovereign or lord who created nim. (See Knighthood.)
Accord. We get this word from the two Latin ones ad cor, to the heart, and hence it means hearty consent. Thus in Wiclif’s translation we find the phrase in Philippians, which in the Authorized Version is “ with one accord,” rendered “ with one will, with one heart.” Such is its signification in the Masonic formula, “ free will and accord,” that is, “ free will and hearty consent.” (See Free Will and Accord.)
Accuser. In every trial in a Lodge for an offense against the laws and regulations or the principles of Masonry any Master Mason may be the accuser of another, but a profane cannot be permitted to prefer charges against a Mason. Yet, if circumstances are known to a profane upon which charges ought to be predicated, a Master Mason may avail himself of that information, and out of it frame an accusation to be presented to the Lodge. And such accusation will be received ana investigated, although remotely derived from one who is not a member of the Order.
It is not necessary that the accuser should be a member of the same Lodge. It is sufficient if he is an affiliated Mason; but it is gen
erally held that an unaffiliated Mason is no more competent to prefer charges than a profane.
In consequence of the Junior Warden being placed over the Craft during the hours of refreshment, and of his being charged at the time of his installation to see “ that none of the-Craft be suffered to convert the purposes of refreshment into those of intemperance and excess,” it has been very generally supposed that it is his duty, as the prosecuting officer of the Lodge, to prefer charges against any member who, by his conduct, has made himself amenable to the penal jurisdiction of the Lodge. We know of no ancient regulation which imposes this unpleasant duty upon the Junior Warden} but it does seem to be a very natural deduction, from his peculiar prerogative as the custos morum or guardian of the conduct of the Craft, that in all cases of violation of the law he should, after due efforts toward producing a reform, be the proper officer to bring the conduct of the offending brother to the notice of the Lodge.
Aceldama, from the Syro-Chaldaic, meaning field of blood, so called because it was purchased with the blood-money which was paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying his Lord. It is situated on the slope of the hills beyond the valley of Hinnom and to the south of Mount Zion. The earth there was believed, by early writers, to have possessed a corrosive quality, by means of which bodies deposited in it were quickly consumed; and hence it was used by the Crusaders, then by the Knights Hospitalers, and afterward by the Armenians, as a place of sepulture, and the Empress Helena is said to have built a charnel-house in its midst. Dr. Robinson (Biblical Researches, i., p. 524) says that the field is not now marked by any boundary to distinguish it from the rest of the field, ana the former charnel-house is now a ruin. The field of Aceldama is referred to in the ritual of the Knights Templars.
Acerrellos, B. S. A nom de plume assumed by Carl ROssler, a German Masonic writer. (See Rossler.)
Achad. One of the names of God. The word nnX, Achad, in Hebrew signifies one or unity. It has been adopted by the Masons as one of the appellations of the Deity from the passage in Deuteronomy (vi. 4): “ Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is (Achad) one Lord”; which the Jews wear on their phylacteries, and pronounce with great fervor as a confession of their faith in the unity of God. Speaking of God as Achad, the Rabbis say, “ God is one ( Achad) and man is one (Achad) . Man, however, is not purely one, because he is made up of elements and has another like himself; but the oneness of God is a oneness that has no boundary.” ,
Acharon Schilton. InHebrew pinx, signifying the new kingdom. Significant words in some of the high degrees.
Achlas. A corruption of the Hebrew Achi- jah, the brother of Jah; a significant word in some of the high degrees.
Achlshar. Mentioned in 1 Kings (iv. 6)
under the name of Ahishar, and there described as being “over the household” of King Solomon. This was a situation of great importance in the East, and equivalent to the modem office of Chamberlain. The Steward in a Council of Select Masters is said to represent Achishar.
Achtariel. A Kabbalistic name of God belonging to the Crown or first of the ten sephi- roth; and hence signifying the Crown or God.
Acknowledged. When one is initiated into the degree of Most Excellent Ma ter, he is technically said to be “ received and acknowledged ” as a Most Excellent Master. This expression refers to the tradition of the degree which states that when the Temple had been completed and dedicated, King Solomon received and acknowledged the most expert of the craftsmen as Most Excellent Masters. That is, he received them into the exalted rank of perfect and acknowledged workmen, and acknowledged their right to that title. The verb to acknowledge here means to own or admit, to belong to, as, to acknowledge a son.
Acousmaticl. The primary class of the disciples of Pythagoras, who served a five years’ probation of silence, and were hence called acousmatici or hearers. According to ' Porphyry, they received only the elements of intellectual and moral instruction, and, after the expiration of their term of probation, they were advanced to the rank of Mathematici. (See Pythagoras.')
Acquittal. Under this head it may be proper to discuss two questions of Masonic law. 1. Can a Mason, having been acquitted by the courts of the country of an offense with which he has been charged, be tried by his Lodge for the same offense? And, 2. Can a Mason, having been acquitted by his Lodge on insufficient evidence, be subjected, on the discovery and production of new and more complete evidence, to a second trial for the same offense? To both of these questions the correct answer would seem to be in the affirmative.
1. An acquittal of a crime by a temporal court does not relieve a Mason from an inquisition into the same offense by his Lodge; for acquittals may be the result of some technicality of law, or other cause, where, although the party is relieved from legal punishment, his guilt is still manifest in the eyes of the community; and if the Order were to be controlled by the action of the courts, the character of the Institution might be injuriously affected by its permitting a man, who had escaped without honor from the punishment of the law, to remain a member of the Fraternity. In the language of the Grand Lodge of Texas, “ an acquittal by a jury, while it may, and should, in some circumstances, have its influence in deciding on the course to be pursued, yet has no binding force in Masonry. We decide on our own rules, and our own view of the facts.” (Proc. G. L. Tex., vol. ii., p. 273.)
2. To come to a correct apprehension of the second question, we must remember that it is a long-settled principle of Masonic law, that every offense which a Mason, commits is an
injury to the whole Fraternity, inasmuch as the bad conduct of a single member reflects discredit on the whole Institution. This is a very old and well-established principle of the Institution; and hence we find the Old Constitutions declaring that Masons “ should never be thieves nor thieves’ maintainers.” (Cooke MS., 1. 916.) The safety of the Institution requires that no evil-disposed member should be tolerated with impunity in bringing disgrace on the Craft. And, therefore, although it is a well-known maxim of the common law— nemo debet bis puniri pro uno delicto-^—that is, “ that no one should be twice placed in peril of punishment for the same crime,” yet we must also remember that other and fundamental maxim—salus populi suprema lex—which may, in its application to Masonry, be well translated, “ the well-being of the Order is the first great law.” To this everything else must yield; and, therefore, if a member, having been accused of a heinous offense and tried, shall, on his trial, for want of sufficient evidence, be acquitted, or, being convicted, shall, for the same reason, be punished by an inadequate penalty—and if he shall thus be permitted to remain in the Institution with the stigma of the crime upon him., “ whereby the Graft comes to shame, then, if new and more sufficient evidence shall be subsequently discovered, it is just and right that a new trial shall be had, so that he may , on this newer evidence, receive that punishment which will vindicate the reputation of the Order. No technicalities of law, no plea of autrefois acquit, nor mere verbal exception, should be allowed for the escape of a guilty member; for so long as he lives in the Order, every man is subject to its discipline. A hundred wrongful acquittals of a bad member, who still bears with him the reproach of his evil life, can never discharge the Order from its paramount duty of protecting its own good fame and removing the delinquent member from its fold. To this great duty all private and individual rights and privileges must succumb, for the well- being of the Order is the first great law in Masonry.
Acta Latomorum, ou Chronologic de 1’His- toire de la Franche-MaQonnerie frangaise et 6trangere, etc. That is: “The Acts of the Freemasons, or a chronological history of French and Foreign Freemasonry, etc.” This work, written or compiled by Claude Antoine Thory, was published at Paris, in 2 vols., 8vo, in 1815. It contains the most remarkable facts in the history of the Institution from obscure times to the year 1814; the succession of Grand Masters; a nomenclature of rites, degrees, and secret associations in all the countries of the world: a bibliography of the principal works on Freemasonry published since 1723; and a supplement in which the author has collected a variety of rare and important Masonic documents. Of this work, which has never been translated into English, Lenning says (Encycl. der Freimaurerei) that it is, without dispute, the most scientific work on Freemasonry that French literature has ever
produced. It must, however, be confessed that in the historical portion Thory has committed many errors in respect to English and American Freemasonry, and therefore, if ever translated, the work will require much emendation. (See Thory.)
Acting Grand Master. The Duke of Cumberland (grandson of George II., brother of George III.) having in April, 1782, been elected Grand Master of England, it was resolved by the Grand Lodge “ that whenever a prince of the blood did the society the honour to accept the office of Grand Master, he should be at liberty to nominate any peer of the realm to be the acting Grand Master.” (Constitutions of G. L. of England, ed. 1784, p. 341.) The officer thus provided to be appointed was subsequently called in the Constitutions of the G. Lodge of England, ed. 1841, and is now called the Pro Grand Master.
In the American system, the officer who performs the duties of Grand Master in case of the removal, death, or inability of that officer, is known as the Acting Grana Master. For the regulations which prescribe the proper person to perform these duties see Grand Master.
Active Lodge. A Lodge is said to be active when it is neither dormant nor suspended, but regularly meets and is occupied in the labors of Masonry.
Active Member. An active member of a Lodge is one who, in contradistinction to an honorary member, assumes all the burdens of membership, such as contributions, arrears, and participation in its labors, and is invested with all the rights of membership, such as speaking, voting, and holding office.
Actual Past Masters. This term is sometimes applied to those who have actually served as Master of a Craft Lodge in order to distinguish them from those who have been made “Virtual Past Masters,” in Chapters of the United States, or “Past Masters of Arts and Sciences,” in English Chapters, as a preliminary to receiving the Royal Arch degree. (See Past Master.)
Adad. The name of the principal god among the Syrians, and who, as representing the sun, had, according to Macrobius (Sa- tumal, i., 23), an image surrounded by rays. Macrobius, however, is wrong, as Selden has shown (De Diis Syris, i., 6), in confounding Adad with the Hebrew A chad, or one—a name, from its signification of unity, applied to the Great Architect of the Universe. The error of Macrobius, however, has been perpetuated by the inventors of the high degrees of Masonw, who have incorporated Adad, as a name of God, among their significant words.
Adam. The name of the first man. The Hebrew word C1K, ADaM, signifies man in a generic sense, the human species collectively, and is said to be derived from naiit, ADaMaH, the ground, because the first man was made out of the dust of the earth, or from ADaM, to be red, in reference to his ruddy complexion. It is most probably in this collective sense, as the representative of the whole
human race, and, therefore, the type of humanity, that the presiding officer in a Council of Knights of the 8un, the Twenty-eighth Degree of the Ancient ana Accepted Scottish Rite, is called Father Adam, and is occupied in the investigation of the great truths which so much concern the interests of the race. Adam, in that degree, is man seeking after divine truth. The Kabbalists and Talmudists have invented many things concerning the first Adam, none of which are, however, worthy of preservation. (See Knight of the Sun.)
Adam. * The Entered Apprentice degree symbolizes the creation of man and his first perception of light. In the Elohist form of the Creation we read, “ Elohim said, ' Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, over the fowls of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every reptile that creeps upon the earth! ’ And Elohim created man in his image; in the image of Elohim he created him; male and female he createdthem. . . . AndYahvehElohimformed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed in his nostrils the breath of life, and man was made a living being.” Without giving more than a passing reference to the speculative origin and production of man and to his spontaneous generation (Principe Generateur) as set forth by the Egyptians, when we are told that “ the fertilizing mud left by the Nile, and exposed to the vivifying action of heat induced by the sun’s rays, brought forth germs which spring up as the bodies of men,” accepted cosmogonies only will be hereinafter mentioned; thus in that of Peru, the first man, created by the Divine Omnipotence, is called Alpa Cam- asca, “ Animated earth.” The Mandans, one of the North American tribes, relate that the Great Spirit molded two figures of clay, which he dried and animated with the breath of his mouth, one receiving the name of First Man, and the other that of Companion. Taeroa, the god of Tahiti, formed man of the red earth, say the inhabitants; and so we might continue. But as Francois Lenormant remarks in the Beginnings of History, let us confine ourselves to the cosmogony offered by the sacred traditions of the great civilized nations of antiquity. “ The Chaldeans call Adam the man whom the earth produced. And he lay without movement, without life, and without breath, just like an image of the heavenly Adam, until his soul had been given him by the latter.” The cosmogonic account peculiar to Babylon, as given by Berossus, says: “ Belos, seeing that the earth was uninhabited, though fertile, cut off his own head, and the other gods, after kneading with eartn the blood that flowed from it, formed men, who therefore are endowed with intelligence, and share in the divine thought,” etc. The term employed to designate " man,” in his connection with his Creator, is admu, the Assyrian counterpart of the Hebrew Adam. (G. Smith, Chaldean Account of Genesis.)
* This article is by C. T. McClenachan.
Lenormant further says, that the fragments of Berossus give Adoros as the name of the first patriarch, and Adiuru has been discovered on the cuneiform inscriptions.
Zoroaster makes the creation of man the voluntary act of a personal god, distinct from primordial matter, and his theory stands alone among the learned religions of the ancient world.
According to Jewish tradition in the Targu- mim and the Talmud, as also to Moses Mai- monides, Adam was created man and womtm at the same time, having two faces, turned in two opposite directions, and that during a stupor the Creator separated Hawah, his feminine half, from him, in order to make of her a distinct person. Thus were separated the primordial androgyn.
With Shemites and Mohammedans Adam was symbolized in the Lingam, whilst with the Jews Seth was their Adam or Lingam, and successively Noah took the place of Seth, and so followed Abraham and Moses. The worship of Adam as the God-like idea, succeeded by Seth, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, through the symbolism of pillars, monoliths, obelisks, or Matsebas (images), gave rise to other symbolic images, as where Noah was adored under the emblems of a man, ark, and serpent, signifying heat, fire, or passion.
Upon the death of Adam, says traditional history, the pious Gregory declared that the “ dead body should be kept above ground, till a fulness of time should come to commit it to the middle of the earth by a priest of the most high God.” This traditional prophecy was fulfilled, it is said, by the body of Adam having been preserved in a chest until about 1800 B.c., when “ Melchizedek buried the body in Salem (formerly the name of Jerusalem), which might very well be the middle of the habitable world.”
The Sethites used to say their prayers daily in the Ark before the body of Adam. J. G. R. Forlong, in his Rivers of Life, tells us that “ It appears from both the Sabid Aben Batric and the Arabic Catena, that there existed the following ’ short litany, said to have been conceived by Noah.’ Then follows the prayer of Noah, which was used for so long a period by the Jewish Freemasons at the opening of the Lodge:
“ “O Lord, excellent art thou in thy truth, and there is nothing great in comparison of thee. Look upon us with the eye of mercy and compassion. Deliver us from this deluge of waters, and set our feet in a large room. By the sorrows of Adam, the first made man; by the blood of Abel, thy holy one; by the righteousness of Seth, in whom thou art well pleased; number us not amongst those who have transgressed thy statutes, but take us into thy merciful care, for thou art our Deliverer, and thine is the praise for all the works of thy hand for evermore. And the sons of Noah said, Amen, Lord.’ ”
The Master of the Lodge would omit the reference to the deluge and add the following to the prayer: “ But grant, we beseech thee,
that the ruler of this lodge may be endued with knowledge and wisdom to instruct us and explain his secret mysteries, as our holy brother Moses did (in his lodge) to Aaron, to Eleazar, and to Ithamar (the sons of Aaron), and the several elders of Israel.”
Adam Kadmon. In the Kabbalistic doctrine, the name given to the first emanation from the Eternal Fountain. It signifies the first man, or the first production of divine energy, or the son of God, and to it the other and inferior emanations are subordinate.
Adams, John Quincy, the sixth President of the United States, who served from 1825 to 1829. Mr. Adams, who has been very properly described as “ a man of strong points and weak ones, of vast reading ana wonderful memory, of great credulity and strong prejudices,” became notorious in the latter years of his hfe for his virulent opposition to Freemasonry. The writer already quoted, who had an excellent opportunity of seeing intimately the workings of the spirit of anti-MasOnry, Bays of Mr. Adams: “ He hated Freemasonry, as he did many other things, not from any harm that he had received from it or personally knew respecting it, but because his credulity had been wrought upon and his prejudices excited against it by dishonest and selfish politicians, who were anxious, at any sacrifice to him, to avail themselves of the influence of his . commanding talents and position in public life to sustain them in the disreputable work in which they were enlisted. In his weakness, he lent himself to them. He united his energies to theirs in an impracticable and unworthy cause.” (C. W. Moore, Freemasons’ Mag.,vol. vii.,p.314.) Theresult was a series of letters abusive of Freemasonry, directed to leading politicians, and published in the public journals from 1831 to 1833. A year before his death they were collected and Subliehed under the title of Letters on the lasonic Institution, by John Quincy Adams. (Boston, 1847, 8vo, pp. 284.) Some explanation of the cause of the virulence with which Mr. Adams attacked the Masonic Institution in these letters may be found in the following paragraph contained in an anti-Masonic work written oy one Hemy Gassett, and affixed to his Catalogue of Books on the Masonic Institution. (Boston, 1852.) “It had been asserted in a newspaper in Boston, edited by a Masonic dignitary, that John Q. Adams was a Mason. In answer to an inquiry from a person in New York State, whether he was so, Mr. Adams replied that ’ he was not, and never should be.’ These few wards, undoubtedly, prevented his election a second time as President of the United States. His competitor, Andrew Jackson, a Freemason, was elected. Whether the statement contained in the italicized words be true or not, is not the question. It is sufficient that Mr. Adams was led to believe it, and hence his ill-will to an association which had, as he supposed, inflicted this political evil on him, and baffled his ambitious views.
Adar* Hebrew, "W; the sixth month of
the civil and the twelfth of the ecclesiastical year of the Jews. It corresponds to a part of February and of March.
Adarel. Angel of Fire. Referred to in the Hermetic degree of Knight of the Sun., Probably from *nX, Adr, splendor, and El, God, i. e., the splendor of God or Divine splendor.
Addresses, Masonic. Dr. Oliver, speaking of the Masonic discourses which began to be Sublished soon after the reorganization of lasonry, in the commencement of the eighteenth century, and which he thinks were instigated by the attacks made on the Order, to which they were intended to be replies, says: “ Charges and addresses were therefore delivered by brethren in authority on the fundamental principles of the Order, and they were printed to show that its morality was sound, and not in the slightest degree repugnant to the precepts of our most holy religion. These were of sufficient merit to insure a wide circulation among the Fraternity, from whence they spread into the world at large, and proved decisive in fixing the credit of the Institution for solemnities of character and a taste for serious and profitable investigations.”
There can be no doubt that these addresses, periodically delivered and widely published, have continued to exert an excellent effect in behalf of the Institution, by explaining and defending the principles on which it is founded.
The first Masonic address of which we have any notice was delivered on the 24th of June, 1721, before the Grand Lodge of England, by the celebrated John Theophilus Desaguliers, LL.D, and F.R.S. The Book of Constitutions (ed. 1738, p. 113), under that date, says “ Bro. Desaguliers made an eloquent oration about Masons and Masonry.” Dr. Oliver (Revelations of a Square, p. 22) states that this address was issued in a printed form, but no copy of it now remains—at least it has escaped the researches of the most diligent Masonic bibliographers.
On the 20th of May, 1725, Martin Folkes, then Deputy Grand Master, delivered an address before the Grand Lodge of England, which is cited in the Freemason’s Pocket Companion for 1759, but no entire copy of the address is now extant.
The third Masonic address of which we have any knowledge is one entitled “A Speech delivered to the Worshipful and Ancient Society of Free and Accepted Masons, at a Grand Lodge held at Merchants’ Hall, in the city of York, on St. John’s Day, Dec. 27, 1726, the Right Worshipful Charles Bathurst, Esq., Grand Master. By the Junior Grand Warden. Glim meminisse juvabit. York: Printed by Thomas Gent, for the benefit of the Lodge.” The author was Francis Drake, M.D., F.R.S., who was appointed Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of All England at York on December 27,1725. (See Drake, Francis.) The first edition of the speech bears no date, but was probably issued in 1727, and it was again published at London in 1729, and a second
London edition was published in 1734, which has been reprinted in Hughan’s Masonic Sketches and Reprints (American edition, p. 106). This is, therefore, the earliest Masonic address to which we have access. It contains a brief sketch of the history of Masonry, written as Masonic history was then written. It is, however, remarkable for advancing the claim of the Grand Lodge of York to a superiority over that of London, and for containing a very early reference to the three degrees of Craft Masonry.
The fourth Masonic address of whose existence we have any knowledge is “ a Speech Deliver’d to the Worshipful Society of Free and Accepted Masons, at a Lodge, held at the Carpenters Arms in Silver-Street, Golden Square, the 31st of December, 1728. By the Right Worshipful Edw. Oakley, Architect, M.M., late Provincial Senior Grand Warden in Carmarthen, South Wales.” This speech was reprinted by Cole in his Ancient Constitutions at London in 1731.
America has the honor of presenting the next attempt at Masonic oratory. The. fifth address, and the first American, which is extant, is one delivered in Boston, Mass., on June 24, 1734. It is entitled “A Dissertation upon Masonry, delivered to a Lodge in America, June 24th, 1734. Christ’s Begm.” It was discovered by Bro. C. W. Moore in the archives of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, and published by him in his magazine in 1849. This address is well written, and of a symbolic character, as the author allegorizes the Lodge as a type of heaven.
Ana, sixthly, we have “ An Address made to the body of Free and Accepted Masons assembled at a Quarterly Communication, held near Temple Bar, December 11,1735, by Martin Clare, Junior Grand Warden.’’ Martin Clare was distinguished in his times as a Mason, and his address, which Dr. Oliver has inserted in his Golden Remains, has been considered of value enough to be translated into the French and German languages.
Next, on March 21, 1737, the Chevalier Ramsay delivered an oration before the Grand Lodge of France, in which he attributed the origin of Freemasonry to the Crusaders and traced an imaginary history of its course through Scotland and England into France, which was to become the center of the re formed Order. The best report of this speed is to be found in the Histoire &c. de la tr. ven. Confraternity des F. M. &c. Traduit pai le Fr. de la Tierce.. Francfort, 17 4S; and an English version of it is given in Gould’s History of Freemasonry (iii., 84-9). (See Ram- say.)
After this period, Masonic addresses rapidly multiplied, so that it would be impossible to record their titles or even the names of their authors.
What Martial (i., 17) says of his own epigrams, that some were good, some bad, and s great many middling, may. with equal propriety and justice, be said of Masonic addresses. Of the thousands that have been de
livered, many have been worth neither printing nor preservation.
One thing, however, is to be remarked: that within a few years the literary character of these productions has greatly improved. Formerly, a Masonic address on some festal occasion of the Order was little more than a homily on brotherly love or some other Masonic virtue. Often the orator was a clergyman, selected by the Lodge on account of his moral character or his professional ability. These clergymen were frequently among the youngest members of the Lodge, and men who had no opportunity to study the esoteric construction of Masonry. In such cases we will find that the addresses were generally neither more nor less than sermons under another name. They contain excellent general axioms of conduct, and sometimes encomiums on the laudable design of our Institution. But we look in vain in them for any ideas which refer to the history or to the occult philosophy of Masonry. They accept the definition that “ Freemasonry is a science of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols, only in part. They expatiate on the science of morality, but they say nothing of the symbols or the allegories. But, as nas been already said, there has been an evident improvement within a few years, in America especially, for the reform nas not equally extended to England. Many of the addresses now delivered are of a higher order of Masonic literature. The subjects of Masonic history, of the origin of the Institution, of its gradual development from an operative art to a speculative science, of its symbols, and of its peculiar features which distinguish it from all other associations, have been ably discussed in many recent Masonic addresses, and thus have the efforts to entertain an audience for an hour become not only the means of interesting instruction to the hearers, but also valuable contributions to the literature of Freemasonry.
It is in this way that Masonic addresses should be written. All platitudes and old truisms should be avoided; sermonizing, which is good in its place, is out of place here. No one should undertake to deliver a Masonic address unless he knows something of the subject on which he is about to speak, and unless he is capable of saying what will make every Mason who hears him a wiser as well as a better man, or at least what will afford him the opportunity of becoming so.
Adelph. From the Greek (a
brother). The first degree of the order of the Palladium (o. t>.). Reghellini says that there exists in the Masonic archives of Douai the ritual of a Masonic Society, called Adelphs, which has been communicated to the Grand Orient, but which he thinks is the same as the Primitive Rite of Narbonne.
Adept. One fully skilled or well versed in any art; from the Latin word “Adeptus,” having obtained, because the Adept claimed to be in the possession of all the secrets of his peculiar mystery. The Alchemists or Hermetic philosophers assumed the title of Adepts.
(See Alchemy.) Of the Hermetic Adepts, who were also sometimes called Rosicrucians, Spence thus writes, in 1740, to his mother: “ Have you ever heard of the people called Adepts? They are a set of philosophers superior to whatever appeared among the Greeks and Romans. The three great points they drive at, are, to be free from poverty, distempers, and death; and, if you believe them, they nave found out one secret that is capable of freeing them from all three. There are never more than twelve of these men in the whole world at a time; and we have the happiness of having one of the twelve at this time in Turin. I am very well acquainted with him, and have often talked with him of their secrets, as far as he is allowed to talk to a common mortal of them.” (Spence’s Letter to his Mother, in Singer’s Anecdotes, p. 403.) In a similar allusion to the possession of abstruse knowledge, the word is applied to some of the high degrees of Masonry.
Adept, Prince. One of the names of the 28th degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. (See Knight of the Sun.) It was the 23d degree of the System of the Chapter of Emperors of the East and West of Clermont.
Adept, the. A Hermetic degree of the collection of A. Viany (a. v.). It is also the 4th degree of the Rite of Relaxed Observance, and the 1st of the high degrees of the Rite of Elects of Truth. “ It has much analogy,” says Thory, “ with the degree of Knight of the Sun.” it is also called “ Chaos disentangled.”
Adeptus Adoptatus. The 7th degree of the Rite of Zinnendorf, consisting of a kind of chemical and pharmaceutical instruction.
Adeptus Coronatus. Called also Templar Master of the Key. The 7th degree of the Swedish Rite (g. v.).
Adeptus Exemptus. The 7th degree of the system adopted by those German Rosicrucians who were known as the “ Gold und Ros- enkreutzer,” or the Gold and Rosy Cross, and whom Leaning supposes to have been the first who engrafted Rosicrucianism on Masonry.
Adhering Mason. Those Masons who, during the anti-Masonic excitement in America, on account of the supposed abduction of Morgan, refused to leave their Lodges and renounce Masonry, were so called. They embraced among their number some of the wisest, best, and most influential men of the country.
Adjournment. C. W. Moore (Freemason^ Mag., xii., p. 290) says: “We suppose it to be generally conceded that Lodges cannot.properly be adjourned. It has been so decided by a large proportion of the Grand Lodges in America, and tacitly, at least, concurred in by all. We are not aware that there is a dissenting voice among them. It is, therefore, safe to assume that the settled policy is against adjournment.” The reason which he assigns for this rule, is that adjournment is a method used only in deliberative bodies, such as legislatures and courts, and as Lodges do not par
take of the character of either of these, adjournments are not applicable to them. The rule which Bro. Moore lays down is undoubtedly correct, but the reason which he assigns for it is not sufficient. If a Lodge were permitted to adjourn by the vote of a majority of its members, the control of the labor would be placed in their hands. But according to the whole spirit of the Masonic system, the Master alone controls and directs the hours of labor. In the 5th of the Old Charges, approved in 1722, it is declared that “ All Masons shall meekly receive their Wages without murmuring or mutiny, and not desert the Master till the Lord’s work is finish’d.” Now as the Master alone can know when “ the work is finished,” the selection of the time of ’closing must be vested in him. He is the sole judge of the proper period at which the labors of the Lodge should be terminated, and he may suspend business even in the middle of a debate, if he supposes that it is expedient to close the Lodge. Hence no motion for adjournment can ever be admitted in a Masonic Lodge. Such a motion would be an interference with the prerogative of the Master, and could not therefore be entertained.
The Earl of Zetland, when Grand Master of England, ruled on November 19,1856, that a Lodge has no power to adjourn except to the next regular day of meeting. He said: “I may . . . say that Private Lodges are governed by much the same laws as Grand Lodges, and that no meeting of a Private Lodge can be adjourned; but the Master of a Private Lodge may, and does, convene Lodges of Emergency.” (freemasons’ Magazine, 1856, p. 848.)
This prerogative of opening and closing his Lodge is necessarily vested in the Master, because, by the nature of our Institution, fie is responsible to the Grand Lodge for the good conduct of the body over which he presides. He is cfiarged, in those questions to which he is required to give his assent at his installation, to hold the Landmarks in veneration, and to conform to every edict of the Grand Lodge; and for any violation of the one or disobedience of the other by the Lodge, in his presence, he would be answerable to the supreme Masonic authority. Hence the necessity that an arbitrary power should be conferred upon him, fiy the exercise of which he may at any time fie enabled to prevent the adoption of resolutions, or the commission of any act which would be subversive of, or contrary to, those ancient laws and usages which he has sworn to maintain and preserve.
Admiration, Sign or. A mode of recognition alluded to in the Most Excellent Master’s Degree, or the Sixth of the American Rite. Its introduction in that place is referred to a Masonic legend in connection with the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon, which states that, moved by the wide-spread reputation of the laraelitish monarch, she had repaired to Jerusalem to inspect the magnificent works of which she had heard so many encomiums. Upon arriving there, and beholding for the
first time the Temple, which glittered with gold, and which was so accurately adjusted in all its parts as to seem to be composed of but a single piece of marble, she raised her hands and eyes to heaven in an attitude of admiration, and at the same time exclaimed, “ Rabboni! ” equivalent to saying, “ A most excellent master hath done this! ” This action has since been perpetuated in the ceremonies of the degree of Most Excellent Master. The legend is, however, no doubt apocryphal, and is really to be considered only as allegorical, like so many other of the legends of Masonry. (See Sheba, Queen of.)
Admission, Although the Old Charges, approved in 1722, use the word admitted as applicable to those who are initialed into the mysteries of Freemasonry, yet the General Regulations of 1721 employ the term admission in a sense different from that of initiation. By the word making they imply the reception of a profane into the Order, but by admission they designate the election of a Mason into a Lodge. Thus we find such expressions as these clearly indicating a difference in the meaning of the two words. In Reg. v.—“ No man can be made or admitted a member of a particular Lodge.” In Reg. vi.—“ But no man can be entered a brother in any particular Lodge, or admitted to be a member thereof.” And more distinctly in Reg. viii.—“ No set or number of brethren shall withdraw or separate them, selves from the Lodge in which thejr were made brethren or were afterwards admitted members.” This distinction has not always been rigidly preserved by recent writers; but it is evident that, correctly speaking, we should always say of a profane who has been initiated that he has been made a Mason, and of a Mason who has been affiliated with a Lodge, that he has been admitted a member. The true definition of admission is, then, the reception of an unaffiliated brother into membership. (See Affiliated Mason.)
Admonition. According to the ethics of Freemasonry, it is made a duty obligatory upon every member of the Order to conceal the faults of a brother, that is, not to blazon forth his errors and infirmities, to let them be learned by the world from some other tongue than his, and to admonish him of them in private. So there is another but a like duty or obligation, which instructs him to whisper good counsel in his brother’s ear and to warn him of approaching danger. And this refers not more to the danger that is without and around him than to that which is within him; not more to the peril that springs from the concealed foe who would waylay him and covertly injure him, than to that deeper peril of those faults and infirmities which he within his own heart, and which, if not timely crushed by good and earnest resolution of amendment, will, like the ungrateful serpent in the fable, become warm with life only to sting the bosom that has nourished them.
Admonition of a brother’s fault is, then, the duty of every Mason, and no true one will, for either fem: or favor, neglect its performance,
But as the duty is Masonic, so is there a Masonic way in which that duty should be discharged. We must admonish not with self- sufficient pride in our own reputed goodness— not in imperious tones, as though we looked down in scorn upon the degraded offender— not in language that, by its harshness, will wound rather than win, will irritate more than it will reform; but with that persuasive gentleness that gains the heart—with the allsubduing influences of “ mercy unrestrained ” —with the magic might of love—with the language and the accents of affection, which mingle grave displeasure for the offense with grief and pity for the offender.
This, and this alone, is Masonic admonition. I am not to rebuke my brother in anger, for I, too, have my faults, and I dare not draw around me the folds of my garment lest they should be polluted by my neighbor’s touch; but I am to admonish in private, not before the world, for that would degrade him; and I am to warn him, perhaps from my own example, how vice ever should be followed by sorrow, for that goodly sorrow leads to repentance, and repentance to amendment, and amendment to joy.
Adonai. In Hebrew, being the plural of excellence for Adon, and. signifying the Lord. The Jews, who reverently avoided the pronunciation of the sacred name Jehovah, were accustomed, whenever that name occurred, to substitute for it the word Adonai in reading. As to the use of the plural form instead of the singular, the Rabbis say, “ Every word indicative of dominion, though singular in meaning, is made plural in form.” This is called the " pluralis excellentise.” The Talmudists also say (Buxtroff, Lex. Talm.) that the tetragrammaton is called Shorn, hamphorash, the name that is explained, because it is explained, uttered, and set forth by the word Adonai. (See Jehovah and Shorn Hamp- horasch.) Adonai is used as a significant word in several of the high degrees of Masonry, and may almost always be considered as allusive to or symbolic of the True Word.
Adonhiram. This has been adopted by the disciples of Adonhiramite Masonry as the Spelling of the name of the person known in Scripture and in other Masonic systems as Adoniram (which see). They correctly derive the word from the Hebrew Adon and hiram, signifying the master who is exalted, which is the true meaning of Adoniram, the n or h being omitted in the Hebrew by the coalescence of the two words. Hiram Abif has also sometimes been called Adonhiram, the Adon having been bestowed on him by Solomon, it is said, as a title of honor.
Adonhiramite Masonry. Of the numerous controversies which arose from the middle to near the end of the eighteenth century on the Continent of Europe, and especially in France, among the students of Masonic philosophy, and which so frequently resulted in the invention of new degrees and the establishment of new rites, not the least prominent was that which related to the person and character of
the Temple Builder. The question, Who was the architect of King Solomon’s Temple? was answered differently by different theorists, and each answer gave rise to a new system, a fact by no means surprising in those times, so fertile in the production of new Masonic systems. The general theory was then, as it is now, that this architect was Hiram Abif, the widow’s son, who had been sent to King Solomon by Hiram, King of Tyre, as a precious gift, and “ a curious and cunning workman. This theory was sustained by the statements of the Jewish Scriptures, so far as they threw any light on the Masonic legend. It was the theory of the English Masons from the earliest times; was enunciated as historically correct in the first edition of the Book of Constitutions, published in 1723 (p. 11); has continued ever since to be the opinion of all English and American Masons; and is, at this day, the only theory entertained by any Masbn in the two countries who has a theory at all on the subject. This, therefore, is the orthodox faith of Masonry.
But such was not the case in the last century on the Continent of Europe. At first the controversy arose not as to the man himself, but as to ms proper appellation. All parties agreed that the architect of the Temple was that Hiram, the widow’s son, who is described in the 1st Book of Kings, chapter vii.. verses 13 and 14, and in the 2d Book of Chronicles, chapter ii., verses 13 and 14, as having come out of Tyre irith the other workmen of the Temple who had been sent by King Hiram to Solomon. But one party called him Hiram Abif, and the other, admitting that his original name was Hiram, supposed that, in consequence of the skill he had displayed in the construction of the Temple, he had received the honorable affix: of Adon, signifying Lord or Master, whence -his name became Adonhiram.
There was, however, at the Temple another Adoniram, of whom it will be necessary in passing to say a few words, for the better understanding of the present subject.
The first notice that we have of this Adoniram in Scripture is in the 2d Book of Samuel, chapter xx., verse 24, where, in the abbreviated form of his name. Adorarn, he is said to have been “over the tribute ” in the house of David; or, as Gesenius translates it, “ prefect over the tribute service,” or, as we might say in modem phrase, principal collector of the taxes. _ Seven years afterward, we fihd him exercising the same office in the household of Solomon; for it is said in 1 Kings iv. 6 that Adoniram, “ the son of Abda, was over the tribute.” And lastly, we hear of him still occupying the same star tion in the household of King Rehoboam, the successor of Solomon. Forty-seven years after he is first mentioned in the Book of Samuel, be is stated under the name of Adorarn (1 Kings xii. 18), or Hadoram (2 Chron. x. 18), to have been stoned to death, while in the discharge of his duty, by the people, who were justly indignant at the oppressions of his master.
The legends and traditions of Masonry
which connect this Adoniram with the Temple at Jerusalem derive their support from a single passage in the 1st Book of Kings (v. 14). where it is said that Solomon made a levy of thirty thousand workmen from among the Israelites; that he sent these in courses of ten thousand a month to labor on Mount Lebanon, and that he placed Adoniram over these as their superintendent.
The ritual-makers of France, who were not all Hebrew scholars, nor well versed in Biblical history, seem, at times, to have confounded two important personages, and to have lost all distinction between Hiram the Builder, who had been sent from the court of the King of Tyre, and Adoniram, who had always been an officer in the court of King Solomon. And this error was extended and facilitated when they had prefixed the title Adon, that is to say, lord or master, to the name of the fonner, making him Adon Hiram, or the Lord Hiram.
Thus, in the year 1744, one Louis Travenol published at Paris, under the pseudonym of Leonard Gabanon, a work entitled Catechisms des Francs Magons, ou Le Secret des Magons, in which he says: “ Besides the cedars of Lebanon, Hiram made a much more valuable gif t to Solomon, in the person of Adonhiram, of his own race, the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali. His father, who was named Hur, was an excellent architect and worker in metals. Solomon, knowing his virtues, his merit, and his talents, distinguished him by the most eminent position, intrusting to him the construction of the Temple and the superintendence of all the workmen.” (Recueil Pre- cieux, p. 76.)
From the language of this extract, and from the reference in the title of the bookto Adorarn, which we know was one of the names of Solomon’s tax-collector, it is evident that the author of the catechism has confounded Hiram Abif, who came out of Tyre, with Adoniram, the son of Abda, who had always lived at Jerusalem; that is to say, with unpardonable ignorance of Scripture history and Masonic tradition, he has supposed the two to be one and the same person. Notwithstanding this liter- aiy blunder, the catechism became popular with many Masons of that day, and thus arose the first schism or error in relation to the legend of the Third Degree. In Solomon in au His Glory, an English exposure published in 1766, Adoniram takes the place of Hiram, but this work is a translation from a similar French one, and so it must not be argued that English Masons ever held this view.
At length, other ritualists, seeing the inconsistency of referring the character of Hiram, the widow’s son, to Adoniram, the receiver of taxes, and the impossibility of reconciling the discordant facts in the life of both, resolved to cut the Gordian knot by refusing any Masonic position to the former, and making the latter, alone, the architect of the Temple. It cannot be denied that Josephus (viii. 2) states that Adoniram, or, as he calls him, Adorarn, was, at the very beginning of the labor, placed over the workmen who prepared the materials on
Mount Lebanon, and that he speaks of Hiram, the widow’s son, simply as a skilful artisan, especially in metals, who had only made all the mechanical works about the Temple according to the will of Solomon, (viii. 3.) This apparent color of authority for their opinions was readily claimed by the Adoniramites, and hence one of their most prominent ritualists, Guillemain de St. Victor (Recueil Precieux de la Magonnerie Adonhiramite, pp. 77, 78), propounds their theory thus: “ We all agree that the Master’s degree is founded on the architect of the Temple. Now, Scripture says very positively, in the 14th verse of the 5th chapter of the 3d Book of Kings,* that the person was Adonhiram. Josephus and all the sacred writers say the same thing and undoubtedly distinguish him from Hiram the Tyrian, the worker in metals. So that it is Adonhiram, then, whom we are bound to honor.”
There were, therefore, in the eighteenth century, from about the middle to near the end of it, three schools among the Masonic ritualists, the members of which were divided in opinion as to the proper identity of this Temple Builder:
1. Those who supposed him to be Hiram, the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, whom the King of Tyre had sent to King Solomon, and whom they designated as Hiram Abif. This was the original and most popular school, and which we now suppose to have been the orthodox one.
2. Thosewho believed this Hiram that came out of Tyre to have been the architect, but who supposed that, in consequence of his excellence of character, Solomon had bestowed upon him the appellation of Adon, “ Lord ” or “ Master,” calling him Adonhiram. As this theory was wholly unsustained by Scripture history or previous Masonic tradition, the school which supported it never became prominent or popular, and soon ceased to| exist, although the error on which it is based is repeated at intervals in the blunder of some modem French ritualists.
3. Those who, treating this Hiram, the widow’s son, as a subordinate and unimportant character, entirely ignored him in their ritual, and asserted that Adorarn, or Adoniram, or Adonhiram, as the name was spelled by these ritualists, the son of Abda, the collector of tribute and the superintendent of the levy on Mount Lebanon, was the true architect of the Temple, and the one to whom all the legendary incidents of the Third Degree of Masonry were to be referred. This school, in consequence of the boldness with which, unlike the second school, it refused all compromise with the orthodox party and assumed a wholly independent theory, became, for a time, a prominent schism in Masonry. Its disciples bestowed upon the believers in Hiram Abif the name of Hiramite Masons, adopted as their own distinctive appellation that of
* In the LXX the two books of Samuel are called the 1st and 2d of Kings.
Adonhiramites, and, having developed the system which they practised into a peculiar rite, called it Adonhiramite Masonry.
Who was the original founder of the rite of Adonhiramite Masonry, and at what precise time it was first established, are questions that cannot now be answered with any certainty. Thory does not attempt to reply to either in his Nomenclature of Rites, where, if anything was known on the subject, we would be most likely to find it. Ragon, it is true, in his Orthodoxie Magonnique, attributes the rite to the Baron de Tschoudy. But as he also assigns the authorship of the Recueil Predeux (a work of which we shall directly speak more fully) to the same person, in which statement he is known to be mistaken, there can be but little doubt that he is wrong in the former as well as in the latter opinion. The Chevalier de Lussy, better known as the Baron de Tschoudy, was, it is true, a distinguished ritualist. He founded the Order of the Blazing Star, and took an active part in the operations of the Council of Emperors of the East and West; but we have met with no evidence, outside of Ragon’s assertion, that he established or had anything to do with the Adonhiramite Rite.
We are disposed to attribute the development into a settled system, if not the actual creation, of the rite of Adonhiramite Masonry to Louis Guillemain de St. Victor, who published at Paris, in the year 1781, a work entitled Recueil Predeux de la Magonnerie Adonhiramite, etc.
As this volume contained only the ritual of the first four degrees, it was followed, in 1785, by another, which embraced the higher degrees of the rite. No one who peruses these volumes can fail to perceive that the author writes like one who has invented, or, at least, materially modified the rite which is the subject of his labors. At all events, this work furnishes the only authentic account that we possess of the organization of the Adonhiramite system of Masonry.
The rite of Adonhiramite Masonry consisted of twelve degrees, which were as follows, the names being given in French as well as in English:
1. Apprentice—Apprentif.
2. Fellow-Craft—Compagnon.
3. Master Mason—Maltre.
4. Perfect Master—Mattre Parfait.
5. Elect of Nine—Premier Elu, ou L’Elu des Neuf.
6. Elect of Perignan—Second Elu nomm£ Elu de Pirignan.
7. Elect of Fifteen—Traisieme Elu nomm6 Elu des Quinze.
8. Minor Architect—Petit Architecte.
9. Grand Architect, or Scottish Fellow- Craft—Grand Architecte, ou Compagnon Ecos- sois.
10. Scottish Master—Maitre Ecossois.
11. Knight of the Sword, Knight of ,the East, or of the Eagle—Chevalier de VEpie surnommt Chevalier de I’Orient ou de I’Aigle.
12. Knight of Rose Croix—Chevalier Rose Croix.
This is the entire list of Adonhiramite degrees. Thory and Ragon have both erred in giving a thirteenth degree, namely, the Noach- ite, or Prussian Knight. They have fallen into this mistake because Guillemain has inserted this degree at the end of his second volume, but simply as a Masonic curiosity, having been translated, as he says, from the German by M. de Borage. It has no connection with the preceding series of degrees, and Guillemain positively declares that the Rose Croix is the ne plus ultra (2nde Ptie, p. 118), the summit and termination, of his nte.
Of these twelve degrees, the first ten are occupied with the transactions of the first Temple; the eleventh with matters relating to the construction of the second Temple; and the twelfth with that Christian symbolism of Freemasonry which is peculiar to the Rose Croix of every rite. All of the degrees have been borrowed from the Ancient ana Accepted Rite, with slight modifications, which have seldom improved their character. On the whole, the extinction of the Adonhiramite Rite can scarcely be considered as a loss to Mar sonry.
Before concluding, a few words may be said on the orthography of the title. As the rite derives its peculiar characteristic from the fact that it founds theThirdDegree on the assumed legend that Adoniram, the son of Abda and the receiver of tribute, was the true architect of the Temple, and not Hiram, the widow’s son, it should properly have been styled the Adoniramite Rite, and not the Adonhiramite; and so it would probably have been called if Guillemain, who gave it form, had been acquainted with the Hebrew language, for he would then have known that the name of his hero was Adoniram and not Adonhiram. The term Adonhiramite Masons should really have been applied to the second school described in this article, whose disciples admitted that Hiram Abif was the architect of the Temple, but who supposed that Solomon had bestowed the prefix Adon upon him as a mark of honor, calling him Adonhiram. But Guillemain having committed the blunder in the name of his Rite, it continued to be repeated by his successors, and it would perhaps now be inconvenient to correct the error. Ragon, however, and a few other recent writers, have ventured to take this step, and in their works the system is called Adoniramite Masonry.
Adoniram. The first notice that we have of Adoniram in Scripture is in the 2d Book of Samuel (xx. 24), where, in the abbreviated form of His name Adoram, he is said to have been “ over the tribute” in the house of David, or, as Gesenius translates it, “ prefect over the tribute service, tribute master,” that is to say, in modem phrase, he was the chief receiver of the taxes. Clarke calls him “Chancellor of the Exchequer.” Seven years afterward we find him exercising the same office in the household of Solomon, for it is said (1 Kings iv. 6) that “Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute.” And lastly, we hear of him still occupying the same station in the
household of Bung Rehoboam, the successor of Solomon. Forty-seven years after he is first mentioned in the Book of Samuel, he is stated under the name of Adoram (1 Kings xii. 18), or Hadoram (2 Chron. x. 18), to have been stoned to death, while in the discharge of his duty, by the people, who were justly indignant at the oppressions of his master. Although commentators have been at a loss to determine whether the tax-receiver under David, under Solomon, and under Rehoboam was the same person, there seems to be no reason to doubt it; for, as Kitto says, “ It appears very unlikely that even two persons of the same name should successively bear the same office, in an age when no example occurs of the father’s pame being given to his son. We find, also, that not more than forty-seven years elapse between the first and last mention of the Adoniram who was ’ over the tribute’; and as this, although a long term of service, is not too long for one life, and as the gerson who held the office in the beginning of iehoboam’s reign had served in it long enough to make himself odious to the people, it appears, on the whole, most probable that one and the same person is intended throughout.” (Encyc. Bib. Lit.)
Adoniram plays an important rble in the Masonic system, especially in the high degrees, but the time of action in which he appears is confined to theperiod occupied in the construction of the Temple. The legends and traditions which connect him with that edifice derive their support from a single passage in the 1st Book of Kings (v. 14), where it is said that Solomon made a levy of thirty thousand workmen from among the Israelites; that he sent these in courses of ten thousand a month to labor on Mount Lebanon, and that he placed Adoniram over these as their superintendent. From this brief statement the Adoniramite Masons have deduced the theory, as may be seen in the preceding article, that Adoniram was the architect of the Temple; while the Hiramites, assigning this important office to Hiram Abif, still believe that Adoniram occupied an important part in the construction of that edifice. He has been called “ the first of the Fellow Crafts”; is said in one tradition to have been the brother-in-law of Hiram Abif, the latter having demanded of Solomon the hand of Adoniram’s sister in marriage; and that the nuptials were honored by the Kings of Israel and Tyre with a public celebration; and another tradition, preserved in the Royal Master’s degree, informs us that he was the one to whom the three Grand Masters had intended first to communicate that knowledge which they had reserved as a fitting reward to be bestowed upon all meritorious craftsmen at the completion of the Temple. It is scarcely necessary to say that these and many other Adoniramic legends, often fanciful, and without any historical authority, are but the outward clothing of abstruse symbols, some of which have been preserved, and others lost in the lapse of time and the ignorance and corruptions of modern ritualists.
Adoniram, in Hebrew, □T'J'IK, compounded of pK, ADON,Lord, and EID, HiRaM, altitude, signifies the Lord of altitude. It is a word of great importance, and frequently used among the sacred words of the high degrees in all the Rites.
Adoniramite Masonry. See Adonhiram- ite Masonry.
Adonis, Mysteries of. An investigation of the mysteries of Adonis peculiarly claims the attention of the Masonic student: first, because, in their symbolism and in their esoteric doctrine, the religious object for which they were instituted, and the mode in which that object is attained, they bear a nearer analogical resemblance to the Institution of Freemasonry than do any of the other mysteries or systems of initiation of the ancient world; and, secondly, because their chief locality brings them into a very close connection with the early history and reputed origin of Freemasonry. For they were principally celebrated at Byblos, a city of Phoenicia, whose Scriptural name was Gebal, and whose inhabitants were the Giblites or Gebalites, who are referred to in the 1st Book of Kings (chap. v. 18) as being the “ stone-squarers ” employed by King Solomon in building the Temple. See Gebal and Giblim. Hence there must nave evidently been a very intimate connection, or at least certainly a very frequent intercommunication, between the workmen of the first Temple and the inhabitants of Byblos, the seat of the Adonisian mysteries, and the place whence the worshipers of that rite were disseminated over other regions of country.
These historical circumstances invite us to an examination of the system of initiation which was practised at Byblos, because we may find in it something that was probably suggestive of the symbolic system of instruction which was subsequently so prominent a feature in the system of Freemasonry.
Let us first examine the myth on which the Adonisiac initiation was founded. The mythological legend of Adonis is, that he was the son of Myrrha and Cinyras, King of Cyprus. Adonis was possessed of such surpassing beauty, that Venus became enamored of him, and adopted him as her favorite. Subsequently Adonis, who was a great hunter, died from a wound inflicted by a wild boar on Mount Lebanon. Venus new to the succor of her favorite, but she came too late. Adonis was dead. On his descent to the infernal regions, Proserpine became, like Venus, so attracted by his beauty, that, notwithstanding the entreaties of the goddess of love, she refused to restore him to earth. At length the prayers of the desponding Venus were listened to with favor by Jupiter, who reconciled the dispute between the two goddesses, and by whose decree Proserpine was compelled to consent that Adonis should spend six months of each year alternately with herself and Venus.
I This is the story on which the Greek poet ; Bion founded his exquisite idyll entitled the I Epitaph of Adonis, the beginning of which has
been thus rather inefficiently “ aone into English”:
’’I and the Loves Adonis dead deplore: The beautiful Adonis is indeed
Departed, parted from us. Sleep no more In purple, Cyprig! but in watchet weed, All wretched! beat thy breast and all aread— ’Adonis is no more.' The Loves and I Lament him. ’Oh! her grief to see him bleed, Smitten by white tooth on whiter thigh, ' Out-breathing life’s faint sigh upon the mountain high.’”
It is evident that Bion referred the contest of Venus and Proserpine for Adonis to a period subsequent to his death, from the concluding lines, m which he says: “ The Muses, too, lament the son of Cinyras, and invoke him in their song; but he does not heed them, not because he does not wish, but because Proserpine will not release him.” This was, indeed, the favorite form of the myth, and on it was framed the symbolism of the ancient mystery.
But there are other Grecian mythologues that relate the tale of Adonis differently. According to these, he was the. product of the incestuous connection of Cinyras and his daughter Myrrha. Cinyras subsequently, on discovering the crime of his daughter, pursued her with a drawn sword, intending to kill her. Myrrha entreated the gods to make her invisible, and they changed her into a myrrh tree. Ten months after the myrrh tree opened, and the young Adonis was bom. This is the form of the myth that has been adopted by Ovid, who gives it with all its moral horrors in the tenth book (298-559) of his Metamorphoses.
Venus, who’was delighted with the extraordinary beauty of the boy, put him in a coffer, unknown to all the gods, and gave him to Proserpine to keep and to nurture in the under world. But Proserpine had no sooner beheld him than she became enamored of him and refused, when Venus applied for him, to surrender him to her rival. The subject was then referred to Jupiter, who decreed that Adonis should have one-third of the year to himself, should be another third with Venus, and the remainder of the time with Proserpine. Adonis gave his own portion to Venus, and lived happily with her till; having offended Diana, he was killed by a wild boar.
The mythographer Phamutus gives a still different story; and says that Adonis was the grandson of Cinyras, and fled with his father, Ammon, into Egypt, whose people he civilized, taught them agriculture, and enacted many wise laws for their government. He subse- quenthr passed over into Syria, and was wounded in the thigh by a wild boar while hunting on Mount Lebanon. His wife, Isis, or Astarte, and the people of Phoenicia and Egypt, supposing that the wound was mortal, profoundly deplored his death. But he afterward recovered, and their grief was replaced by transports of joy. All the myths, it will be seen, agree in his actual or supposed death by violence, in the grief for his loss, in his recovery or restoration to life, and in the conse
quent joy thereon. And on these facts are founded the Adonisian mysteries which were established in his honor.
While, therefore, we may grant the possibility that there was originally some connection between the Sabean worship of the sun and the celebration of the Adonisian festival, we cannot forget that these mysteries, in common with all the other sacred initiations of the ancient world, had been originally established to promulgate among the initiates the once hidden doctrine of a future life. The myth of Adonis in Syria, like that of Osiris in Egypt, of Atys in Samothrace, or of Dionysus in Greece, presented, symbolically, the two great ideas of decay and restoration: sometimes figured as darkness and light, sometimes as winter and summer, sometimes as death and life, but always maintaining, no matter what was the framework of the allegory, the inseparable ideas of something that was lost ana afterward recovered, as its interpretation, and so teaching, as does Freemasonry at this day, by a similar system of allegorizing, that after the death of the body comes the eternal life of the soul. The inquiring Freemason will thus readily see the analogy in the symbolism that exists between Adonis in the mysteries of the Gebalites at Byblos and Hiram the Builder in his own institution.
Adoption, Masonic. The adoption by the Lodge of the child of a Mason is practised, with peculiar ceremonies, in some of the French and German Lodges, and has been recently introduced, but not with the general approbation of the Craft, into one or two Lodges of this country. Clavel, in his His- toire Pittoresque de la Franc-Mafonnerie (p. 40, 3d ed.), gives the following account of the ceremonies of adoption.
“ It is a custom, in many lodges, when the wife of a Mason is near the period of her confinement, for the Hospitaller, if he is a physician, and if not, for some other brother who is, to visit her, inquire after her health, in the name of the Lodge, and to offer her his professional services, and even pecuniary aid if he thinks she needs it. Nine days alter the birth of her child, the Master and Wardens call upon her to congratulate her on the happy event. If the infant is a boy, a special communication of the Lodge is convened for the purpose of proceeding to its adoption. The hall is decorated with flowers and foliage, and censers are prepared for burning incense. Before the commencement of labor, the child and its nurse are introduced into an anteroom. The Lodge is then opened, and the Wardens, who are to act as godfathers, repair to the infant at the head of a deputation of five brethren. The chief of the deputation, then addressing the nurse, exhorts her not only to watch over the health of the child that has been intrusted to her care, but also to cultivate his youthful intellect, and to instruct him with truthful and sensible conversation. The child is then taken from the nurse, placed by its father upon a cushion, and carried by the deputation into the Lodge room. The pro-
cession advances beneath an arch of foliage to the pedestal of the east, where it stops.
“ ’ Whom bring you here, my brethren? ’ says the Master to the godfathers.
“ ’ The son of one of our brethren whom the Lodge is desirous of adopting,’ is the reply of the Senior Warden.
“ ’ What are his names, and what Masonic name will you give him? ’
“ The Warden replies, adding to the baptismal and surname of the cmld a characteristic name, such as Truth, Devotion, Benevolence, or some other of a similar nature.
“ The Master then descends from his seat, approaches the louveteau or lewis (for such is the appellation given to the son of a Mason), and extending his hands over its head, offers up a prayer that the child may render itself worthy of the love and care which the Lodge intends to bestow upon it. He then casts incense into the censers, and pronounces the Apprentice’s obligation, which the godfathers repeat after him in the name of the louveteau. Afterwards he puts a white apron on the infant, proclaiming it to be the adopted child of the Lodge, ana causes this proclamation to be received with the honors.
“As soon as this ceremony has been performed, the Master returns to his seat, and having caused the Wardens with the child to be placed in front of the north column, he recounts to the former the duties which they have assumed as godfathers. After the Wardens have made a suitable response, the deputation which had brought the child into the Lodge room is again formed, carries it out, and restores it to its nurse in the anteroom.
“ The adoption of a louveteau binds all the members of the Lodge to watch over his education, and subsequently to aid him, if it be necessary, in establishing himself in life. A circumstantial account of the ceremony is drawn up, which having been signed by all the members is delivered to the father of the child. This document serves as a dispensation, which relieves him from the necessity of passing through the ordinary preliminary examinations when, at the proper age, he is desirous of participating in the labors of Masonry. . He is then only required to renew his obligations.”
In the United States, the ceremony has been recently practised by a few Lodges, the earliest instance being that of Foyer Ma?on- nique Lodge of New Orleans, in 1859. The Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, has published the ritual of Masonic Adoption for the use of the members of that rite. This ritual under the title of “ Offices of Masonic Baptism, Reception of a Louveteau and Adoption,” is. a very beautiful one, and is the composition of Brother Albert Pike. It is scarcely necessary to say that the word Bap- dem there used has not the slightest reference to the Christian sacrament of the same name. (See Lewis.)
Adoptive Masonry. An organization which bears a very imperfect resemblance to Freemasonry in its forms and ceremonies, and
which was established in France for the initiation of females, has been called by the French “ MaQonnerie d’Adoption, ” or Adoptive Masonry, and the societies in which the initiations take place have received the name of “Loges d’Adoption,” or Adoptive Lodges. This appellation is derived from the fact that every female or Adoptive Lodge is obliged, by the regulations of the association, to be, as it were, adopted by, and thus placed under the guardianship of, some regular Lodge of Freemasons.
As to the exact date which we are to assign for the first introduction of this system of female Masonry, there have been several theories, some of which, undoubtedly, are wholly untenable, since they have been founded, as Masonic historical theories too often are, on an unwarrantable mixture of facts and fictions—1 of positive statements and problematic conjectures. Mons. J. S. Boubee, a distinguished French Mason, in his Etudes Mafonniques, places the origin of Adoptive Masonry in the 17th century, and ascribes its authorship to Queen Henrietta Maria, the widow of Charles I. of England; and he states that on her return to France, after the execution of her husband, she took pleasure in recounting the secret efforts made by the Freemasons of England to restore her family to their position and to establish her son on the throne of his ancestors. This, it will be recollected, was once a prevalent theory, now exploded, of the origin of Freemasonry—that it was established by the Cavaliers, as a secret political organization, in the times of the English civil war between the king and the Parliament, and as an engine for the support of the former. M. Boubee. adds, that the queen made known to the ladies of net court, in her exile, the words and signs employed by her Masonic friends in England as their modes of recognition, and by this means instructed them in some of the mysteries of the Institution, of which, he says, she had been made the protectress after the death of the king. This theory is so full of absurdity, and its statements so flatly contradicted by well-known historical facts, that we may at once reject it as wholly apocryphal.
Others have claimed Russia as the birthplace of Adoptive Masonry; but in assigning that country and the year 1712 as the place and time of its origin, they have undoubtedly confounded it with the chivalric Order of Saint Catharine, which was instituted by the Czar, Peter the Great, in honor of the Czarina Catharine, and which, although at first it consisted of persons of both sexes, was subsequently confined exclusively to females. But the Order of Saint Catharine was in no manner connected with that of Freemasonry. It was simply a Russian order of female knighthood.
The truth seems to be that the regular Lodges of Adoption owed their existence to those secret associations of men and women which sprang up in France before the middle of the 18th century, and which attempted in all of their organization, except the
admission of female members, to imitate the Institution of Freemasonry. Clavel, who, in his Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Magon- nerie, an interesting but not always a trustworthy work, adopts this theory, says that female Masonry was instituted about the year 1730) p. iii., 3d ed.); that it made its first appearance in France, and that it was evidently a product of the French mind. No one will be disposed to doubt the truth of this last sentiment. The proverbial gallantry of the French Masons was most ready and willing to extend to women some of the blessings of that. Institution, from which the churlishness, as they would call it, of their Anglo-Saxon brethren had excluded them.
But the Masonry of Adoption did not at once and in its very beginning assume that peculiarly imitative form of Freemasonry which it subsequently presented, nor was it recognized as having any connection with our own Order until more than thirty years after its first establishment. Its progress was slow and gradual. In the course of this progress it affected various names and rituals, many of which have not been handed down to us. It was evidently convivial and gallant in its nature, and at first seems to have been only an imitation of Freemasonry, inasmuch as that it was a secret society, having a form of initiation and modes of recognition. A specimen of one or two of these secret female associations may not be uninteresting.
One of the earliest of these societies was that which was established in the year 1743, at Paris, under the name of the ’’Ordre des Felicitaires,” which we might very appropriately translate as the “Order of Happy Folks.” The vocabulary and all the emblems of the order were nautical. The sisters made symbolically a voyage from the island of Felicity, in ships navigated by the brethren. There were four degrees, namely, those of Cabin-boy, Captain, Commodore, and Vice- Admiral, and the Grand Master, or presiding officer, was called the Admiral. Out of this society there sprang in 1745 another, which was called the “ Knights and Ladies of the Anchor,” which is said to have been somewhat more refined in its character, although for the most part it preserved the same formulary of reception.
Two years afterward, in 1747, the Chevalier Beauchaine, a very zealous Masonic ad- venturerj and the Master for life of a Parisian Lodge, instituted an androgynous system under the name of the “ Ordre des Fendeurs,” or the “ Order of Wood-Cutters,” whose ceremonies were borrowed from those of the well- known political society of the Carbonari. All parts of the ritual had a reference to the sylvan vocation of wood-cutting, just as that of the Carbonari referred to coal-burning. The place of meeting was called a wood-yard, and was supposed to be situated in a forest; the presiding officer was styled Pbre Mattre, which might be idiomatically interpreted as Goodman Master; and the members were designated as cousins, a practise evidently bor
rowed from the Carbonari. The reunions of the “ Wood-Cutters ” enjoyed the prestige of the highest fashion in Paris; and the society became so popular that ladies and gentlemen of the highest distinction in France united with it, and membership was considered an honor which no rank, however exalted, need disdain.. It was consequently succeeded by the institution of many other and similar androgynous societies, the very names of which it would be tedious to enumerate. (Clavel, pp. Ill, 112.)
Out of all these societies—which resembled Freemasonry only in their secrecy, their benevolence, and a sort of rude imitation of a symbolic ceremonial—at last arose the true Lodges of Adoption, which so far claimed a connection with and a dependence on Masonry as that Freemasons alone were admitted among their male members—a regulation which did not prevail in the earlier organizations.
It was about the middle of the 18th century that the Lodges of Adoption began to attract attention in France, whence they speedily spread into other countries of Europe —into Germany, Poland, and even Russia; England alone, always conservative to a fault, steadily refusing to take any cognizance of them. The Masons, says Clavel (p. 112), embraced them with, enthusiasm as a practicable means of giving to their wives and daughters some share of the pleasures which they themselves enjoyed in their mystical assemblies. And this, at least, may be said of them, that they practised with commendable fidelity and diligence the greatest of the Masonic virtues, and that the banquets and balls which always formed an important part of their ceremonial were distinguished by numerous acts of charity.
The first of these Lodges of which we have any notice was that established in Paris, in the year 1760, by the Count de Bemouville. Another was instituted at Nimeguen, in Holland, in 1774, over which the Prince of Waldeck and the Princess of Orange presided. In 1775, the Lodge of Saint Antoine, at Paris, organized a dependent Lodge of Adoption, of which the Duchess of Bourbon was installed as Grand Mistress and the Duke of Chartres, then Grand Master of French Masonry, conducted the business. In 1777, there was an Adoptive Lodge of La Candeur, over which the Duchess of Bourbon presided, assisted by such noble ladies as the Duchess of Chartres, the Princess Lamballe, and the Marchioness de Genlis; and we-hear of another governed by Madame Helvetius, the wife of the illustrious philosopher; so that it will be perceived that fashion, wealth, and literature combined to give splendor and influence to this new order of female Masonry.
At first the Grand Orient of France appears to have been unfavorably disposed to these pseudo-Masonic and androgynous associations, but at length they became so numerous and so popular that a persistence in opposition would have evidently been impolitic, if it
did not actually threaten to be fatal to the interests and permanence of the Masonic Institution. The Grand Orient, therefore, yielded its objections, and resolved to avail itself of that which it could not suppress. Accordingly, on the 10th of June, 1774, it issued an edict by which it assumed the protection and control of the Lodges of Adoption. _ Rules and regulations were provided for their government, among which were two: first, that no males except regular Freemasons should be permitted to attend them; and, secondly, that each Lodge should be placed under the charge and held under the sanction of some regularly constituted Lodge of Masons, whose Master, or, in his absence, his deputy, should be the presiding officer, assisted by a female President or Mistress: and such has since been the organization of all Lodges of Adoption.
A Lodge of Adoption, under the regulations established in 1774, consists of the following officers: a Grand Master, a Grand Mistress, an Orator (dressed as a Capuchin), an Inspector, an Inspectress, a Male and Female Guardian, a Mistress of Ceremonies. All of these officers wear a blue watered ribbon over the shoulder, to which is suspended a golden trowel, and all the brothers and sisters have aprons and white gloves.
The Rite of Adoption consists of four degrees, whose names m French and English are as follows:
1. Apprentice, or Female Apprentice.
2. Compagnone, or Craftswoman.
3. Mattresse, or Mistress.
4. Parfaile Magonne, or Perfect Mason.
It will be seen that the degrees of Adoption, in their names and their apparent reference to the gradations of employment in an operative art, are assimilated to those of legitimate Freemasonry; but it is in those respects only that the resemblance holds good. In the details of the ritual there is a vast difference between the two Institutions.
There was a fifth degree added in 1817—by some modem writers called “ Female elect ” —Sublime Dame Ecossaise, or Sovereign Illustrious Dame Ecossaise; but it seems to be a recent and not generally adopted innovation. At all events, it constituted no part of the original Rite of Adoption.
The first, or Female Apprentice’s degree, is simply preliminary in its character, and is intended to prepare the candidate for the more important lessons which she is to receive in the succeeding degrees. She is presented with an apron and a pair of white kid gloves. The apron is given with the following charge, in which, as in all the other ceremonies of the Order, the .Masonic system of teaching by symbolism is followed:
“ Permit me to decorate you with this apron;, kings, princes, and the most illustrious princesses have esteemed, and will ever esteem it an honor to wear it, as being the symbol of virtue.”
On receiving the gloves, the candidate is thus addressed:
“ The color of these gloves will admonish
you that candor and truth are virtues inseparable from the character of a true Mason. Take your place among us, and be pleased to listen to the instructions which we are about to communicate to you.”
The following charge is then addressed to the members by the Orator:
“ Mr dbab Sisters:—Nothing is better calculated to assure you of the high esteem our society entertains for you, than your admission as a member. The common herd, always unmannerly, full of the most ridiculous prejudices, has dared to spripkle on us the black poison of calumny: but what judgment could it form when deprived of the light of truth, and unable to feel all the blessings which result from its perfect knowledge?
“ You alone, my dear sisters, having been repulsed from our meetings, would have the right to think us unjust; but with what satisfaction do you learn to-day that Masonry is the school of propriety and of virtue, and that by its laws we restrain the weaknesses that degrade an honourable man, in order to return to your side more worthy of your confidence and of your sincerity. However whatever pleasure these sentiments have enabled us to taste, we have not been able to fill the void that your absence left in our midst; and I confess, to your glory, that it was time to invite into our societies some sisters who, while rendering them more respectable will ever make of them pleasures and delights. We call our Lodges Temples of Virtue, because we endeavor to practise it. The mysteries which we celebrate therein are the grand art of conquering the passions and the oath that we take to reveal nothing is to prevent self-love and pride from entering at all into the good which we ought to do.
“ The beloved name of Adoption tells you sufficiently that we choose you to share the happiness that we enjoy, in cultivating honour and charity; it is only after a careful examination that we have wished to share it with you, now that you know it we are convinced that the light of wisdom will illumine all the actions of your life, and that you will never forget that the more valuable things are the greater is the need to preserve them; it is the principle of silence that we observe, it should be inviolable. May the God of the Universe who hears us vouchsafe to give us strength to render it so.”
It will be seen that throughout this charge there runs a vein of gallantry, which gives the true secret of the motives which led to the organization of the society, and which, however appropriate to a Lodge of Adoption, would scarcely be in place in a Lodge of the legitimate Order.
In the second degree, or that of Compagnone, or “ Craftswoman,” corresponding to our Fellow-Craft, the Lodge is made the symbol of the Garden of Eden, and the candidate passes through a mimic representation of the temptation of Eve, the fatal effects of which, culminating in the deluge and the destruction of the human race, are impressed upon her in the lecture or catechism.
Here we have a scenic representation of the circumstances connected with that event, as recorded in Genesis. The candidate plays the r6le of our common mother. In the center of the Lodge, which represents the garden, is placed the tree of life, from which ruddy apples are suspended. The serpent, made with the
atrical skill to represent a living reptile, embraces in its coils the trunk. An apple plucked from the tree is presented to the recipient, who is persuaded to eat it by the promise that thus alone can she prepare herself for receiving a knowledge of the sublime mysteries of Freemasonry. She receives the fruit from the tempter, but no sooner has she attempted to bite it, than she is startled by the sound of thunder; a curtain which has separated her from the members of the Lodge is suddenly withdrawn, and she is detected in the commission of the act of disobedience. She is sharply reprimanded by the Orator, who conducts her before the Grand Master. This dignitary reproaches her with her fault, but finally, with the consent of the brethren and sisters present, he pardons her in the merciful spirit of the Institution, on the condition that she will take a vow to extend hereafter the same clemency to the faults of others.
All of this is allegorical and very pretty, and it cannot be denied that on the sensitive imaginations of females such ceremonies must produce a manifest impression. But it is needless to say that it is nothing like Masonry.
There is less ceremony, but more symbolism, in the third degree, or that of “ Mistress.” Here are introduced, as parts of the ceremony, the tower of Babel and the theological ladder of Jacob. Its rounds, however, differ from those peculiar to true Masonry, and are said to equal the virtues in number. The lecture or catechism is very long, and contains some very good points in its explanations of the symbols of the degree. Thus, the tower of Babel is said to signify the pride of man—its base, his folly—the stones of which it was composed, his passions—the cement which united them, the poison of discord—and its spiral form, the devious and crooked ways of the human heart. In this manner there is an imitation, not of the letter and substance of legitimate Freemasonry, for nothing can in these respects be more dissimilar, but of that mode of teaching by symbols and allegories which is its peculiar characteristic.
The fourth degree, or that of “ Perfect Mistress,” corresponds to no degree in legitimate Masonry. It is simply the summit of the Rite of Adoption, and hence is also called the “ Degree of Perfection.” Although the Lodge, in this degree, is supposed to represent the Mosaic tabernacle in the wilderness, yet the ceremonies do not have the same reference. In one of them, however, the liberation, by the candidate, of a bird from the vase in which it had been confined is said to symbolize the liberation of man from the dominion of his passions; and thus a far-fetched reference is made to the liberation of the Jews from Egyptian bondage. On the whole, the ceremonies are very disconnected, but the lecture or catechism contains some excellent lessons. Especially does it furnish us with the official definition of Adoptive Masonry, which is in these words:
“ It is a virtuous amusement by which we recall a part of the mysteries of our religion;
and the better to reconcile humanity with the knowledge of its Creator, after we have inculcated the duties of virtue, we deliver ourselves up to the sentiments of a pure and delightful friendship by enjoying in our Lodges the pleasures of society—pleasures which among us are always founded on reason, honor, ana innocence.”
Apt and appropriate description of an association, secret or otherwise, of agreeable and virtuous well-bred men and women, but having not the slightest application to the design or form of true Freemasonry.
Guillemain de St. Victor, the author of Manuel des Franches-Ma<;onnes, ou La Vraie Mafonnerie d’Adoption (which forms the 3d part of the Recueil Precieux), who has given the best ritual of the Rite ana from whom the preceding account has been taken, thus briefly sums up the objects of the Institution:
“ The first degree contains only, as it ought, moral ideas of Masonry; the second is the initiation into the first mysteries, commencing with the sin of Adam, and concluding with the Ark of Noah as the first favor which God granted to men; the third and fourth are merely a series of types and figures drawn from the Holy Scriptures, by which we explain to the candidate the virtues which she ought to practise.” (P. 13, ed. 1785.)
The fourth degree, being the summit of the Rite of Adoption, is furnished with a “ tablelodge,” or the ceremony of a banquet, which immediately succeeds the closing of the Lodge, and 'which, of course, adds much to the social pleasure and nothing to the instructive character of the Rite. Here, also, there is a continued imitation of the ceremonies of the Masonic Institution as they are practised in France, where the ceremoniously conducted banquet, at which Masons only are present, is always an accompaniment of the Master’s Lodge. Thus, as in the banquets of the regular Lodges of the French Rite, the members always use a symbolical language by which they designate the various implements of the table and the different articles of food and drink, calling, for instance, the knives “ swords,” the forks “pickaxes,” the dishes “materials,” and bread a “rough ashlar”;* so, in imitation of this custom, the Rite of Adoption has established in its banquets a technical vocabulary, to be used only at the table. Thus the Lodge room is called “ Eden,” the doors “ barriers, the minutes a “ ladder,” a wineglass is styled a “ lamp,” and its contents “ oil”—water being “ white oil ” and wine “ red oil.” To fill your glass is “ to trim your lamp,” to drink is “ to extinguish your lamp,” with many other eccentric expressions. f
Much taste, and in some instances, magnificence, are displayed in the decorations of the Lodge rooms of the Adoptive Rite. The apartment is separated by curtains into different divisions, and contains ornaments and decorations which of course vary in the differ
* Clavel, Hist, Pitt., p. 30. t Clavel, p. 34.
ent degrees. The orthodox Masonic idea that the Lodge is a symbol of the world is here retained, and the four sides of the hall are said to represent the four continents—the entrance being called “ Europe,” the right side “ Africa, the left “ America,” and the extremity, in which the Grand Master and Grand Mistress are seated, “Asia.” There are statues representing Wisdom, Prudence, Strength, Temperance, Honor, Charity, Justice, and Truth. The members are seated along the sides in two rows, the ladies occupying the front one, and the whole is rendered as beautiful and attractive as the taste can make it.*
The Lodges of Adoption flourished greatly in France after their recognition by the Grand Orient. The Duchess of Bourbon, who was the first that received the title of Grand Mistress, was installed with great pomp and splendor, in May, 1775, in the Lodge of St. Antoine, in Paris. She presided over the Adoptive Lodge Le Candour until 1780, when it was dissolved. Attached to the celebrated Lodge of the Nine Sisters, which had so many distinguished men of letters among its members, was a Lodge of Adoption bearing the same name, which in 1778 held a meeting at the residence of Madame Helvetius in honor of Benjamin Franklin, then our ambassador at the.French court. During the reign of terror of the French Revolution, Lodges of Adoption, like everything that was gentle or humane, almost entirely disappeared. But with the accession of a regular government they were resuscitated, and the Empress Josephine presided at the meeting of one at Strasburg in the year 1805. They continued to flourish under the imperial dynasty, and although less popular, or less fashionable, under the Restoration, they subsequently recovered their popularity, and are still in existence in France.
As interesting appendages to this article, it may not be improper to insert two accounts, one, of the installation of Madame Cesar Moreau, as Grand Mistress of Adoptive Masonry, in the Lodge connected with the regular Lodge La Jerusalem des Vallies Egyp- tiennes, on the 8th of July, 1854, and the other, of the reception of the celebrated Lady Morgan, in 1819, in the Lodge La Belle et Bonne, as described by her in her Diary.
The account of the installation of Madame Moreau, which is abridged from the Franc- Magon, a Parisian periodical, is as follows:
The fete was most interesting and admirably arranged. After the introduction in due form of a number of brethren and sisters, the Grand Mistress elect was announced, and she entered, preceded by the five lights of the Lodge and escorted by the Inspectress, De- positress, Oratrix, and Mistress of Ceremonies. Mons. J. S. Boubee, the Master of the Lodge La Jerusalem des Vallies Egyptiennes, conducted her to the altar, where, having installed her into office and handed her a mallet as the symbol of authority, he addressed her in a copy of verses, whose merit will hardly
claim for them a repetition. To this she made a suitable reply, and the Lodge then proceeded to the reception of a young lady, a part of the ceremony of which is thus described:
“ Of the various trials of virtue and fortitude to which she was subjected, there was one which made a deep impression, not only on the fair recipient, but on the whole assembled company. Four boxes were placed, one before each of the male officers; the candidate was told to open them, which she did, and from the first and second drew faded flowers, and soiled ribbons and laces, which being placed in an open vessel were instantly consumed by fire, as an emblem of the brief duration of such objects; from the third she drew an apron, a blue silk scarf, and a pair of gloves; and from the fourth a basket containing the working tools in silver gilt. She was then conducted to the altar, where, on opening a fifth box, several birds which had been confined in it escaped, which was intended to teach her that liberty is a condition to which all men are entitled, and of which no one can be deprived without injustice. After having taken the vow, she was instructed in the modes of recognition, and having been clothed with the apron, scarf, and gloves, and presented with the implements of the Order, she received from the Grand Mistress an esoteric explanation of all these emblems and ceremonies. Addresses were subsequently delivered by the Orator and Oratrix, an ode was sung, the poor or alms box was handed round, and the labors of the Lodge were then closed.”
Madame Moreau lived only six months to enjoy the honors of presiding officer of the Adoptive Rite, for she died of a pulmonary affection at an early age, on the 11th of the succeeding January.
The Lodge of Adoption in which Lady Morgan received the degrees at Paris, in the year 1819, was called La Bede et Bonne. This was the pet name which long before had been bestowed by Voltaire on his favorite, the Marchioness de Villette,t under whose presidency and at whose residence in the Faubourg St. Germaine the Lodge was held, and hence the name with which all France, or at least all Paris, was familiarly acquainted as the popular designation of Madame de Villette.
Lady Morgan, in her description of the Masonic fete, says that when she arrived at the Hotel la Villette, where the Lodge was held, she found a large concourse of distinguished persons ready to take part in the ceremonies. Among these were Prince Paul of Wurtemberg, the Count de Gazes, elsewhere distinguished in Masonry, the celebrated Denon, the Bishop of Jerusalem, and the illustrious actor Talma. The business of the evening commenced with an installation of the officers of a sister Lodge, after which the candidates were admitted. Lady Morgan describes the arrangements as presenting, when the doors were opened, a spectacle of great magnificence. A profusion of crimson and
* Recited Precieux, p. 24.
t Clavel, p. 114.
gold, marble busts, a decorated throne and altar, an abundance of flowers, and incense of the finest odor which filled the air, gave to the whole a most dramatic and scenic effect. Music of the grandest character mingled its harmony with the mysteries of initiation, which lasted for two hours, and when the Lodge was closed there was an adjournment to the hall of refreshment, where the ball was opened by the Grand Mistress with Prince Paul of Wurtemberg. Lady Morgan, upon whose mind the ceremony appears to have made an impression, makes one remark worthy of consideration: “ That so many women,” she says, “ young and beautiful and worldly, should never have revealed the secret, is among the miracles which the much distrusted sex are capable of working.” In fidelity to the vow of secrecy, the female Masons of the Adoptive Rite have proved themselves fully equal to their brethren of the legitimate Order.
Notwithstanding that Adoptive Masonry has found an advocate in no less distinguished a writer than Chemin Dupontcs, who, in the Encyclopedic Magonnique,* calls it “ a luxury in Masonry, and a pleasant relaxation which cannot do any harm to the true mysteries which are practised by men alone,” it has been very generally condemned by the most celebrated French, German, English, and American Masons.
Gaedicke, in the Freimaurer Lexicon, speaks slightingly of it as established on insufficient grounds, and expresses his gratification that the system no longer exists in Germany.
Thory, in his History of the Foundation of the Grand Orient (p. 361), says that the introduction of Adoptive Lodges was a consequence of the relaxation of Masonic discipline; and he asserts that the permitting of women to share in mysteries which should exclusively belong to men is not in accordance with the essential principles of the Masonic Order. The Abb6 Robin, the author of an able work entitled Recherches sur les Initiations An- ciennes et Modernes, maintains (p. 15) that the custom of admitting women into Masonic assemblies will perhaps be, at some future period, the cause of the decline of Masonry in France. The prediction is not, however, likely to come to pass; for while legitimate Masonry has never been more popular or prosperous in France than it is at this day, it is the Lodges of Adoption that appear to have declined.
Other writers in other countries have spoken in similar terms, so that it is beyond a doubt that the general sentiment of the Fraternity is against this system of female Masonry.
Lenning is, however, more qualified in his condemnation, and says, in his Encyclopadie der Freimaurerei, that while leaving it undecided whether it is prudent to hold assemblies of women with ceremonies which are called Masonic, yet it is not to be denied that in these female Lodges a large amount of charity has been done.
* Published in Paris in 4 vols., 1819-25.
Adoptive Masonry has its literature, although neither Extensive nor important, as it comprises only books of songs, addresses, and rituals. Of the latter the most valuable are: 1. La Magonnerie des Femmes, published in 1775, and containing only the first three degrees, for such was the system when recognized by the Grand Orient of France in that year. 2. La Vraie Magonnerie d’Adoption, printed in 1787. This work, which is by Guille- main de St. Victor, is perhaps the best that has been published on the subject of the Adoptive Rite, and is the first that introduces the Fourth Degree, of which Guillemain is supposed to have been the inventor, since all previous rituals include only the three degrees. 3. Magonnerie d’Adoption pour les Femmes, contained in the second part of E. J. Chappron’s Necessaire Magonnique, and printed at Paris in 1817. This is valuable because it is the first ritual that contains the Fifth Degree. 4. La Franc-Magonnerie des Femmes. This work, which is by Charles Monselet, is of no value as a ritual, being simply a tale founded on circumstances connected with Adoptive Masonry.
In Italy, the Carbonari, or “ Wood- Burners,” a secret political society, imitated the Freemasons of France in instituting an Adoptive Rite, attached to their own associar tion. Hence, an Adoptive Lodge was founded at Naples in the beginning of this century, over which presided that friend of Masonry, Queen Caroline, the wife of Ferdinand II. The members were styled Giardiniere, or Female Gardeners; and they called each other Cugine, or Female Cousins, in imitation of the Carbonari, who were recognized as Buoni Cugini, or Good Cousins. The Lodges of Giardiniere flourished as long as the Grand Lodge of Carbonari existed at Naples.
Adoptive Masonry, American. The Rite of Adoption as practised on the continent of Europe, and especially in France, has never been introduced into America. The system does not accord with the manners or habits of the people, and undoubtedly never would become popular. But Rob. Morris attempted, in 1855; to introduce an imitation of it, which he had mvented, under the name of the “ American Adoptive Rite.” It consisted of a ceremony of initiation, which was intended as a preliminary trial ot the candidate, and of five degrees, named as follows: 1. Jephthah’s Daughter, or the daughter’s degree. 2. Ruth, or the widow’s degree. 3. Esther, or the wife’s degree. 4. Martha, or the sister’s degree. 5. Electa, or the Christian Martyr’s degree. The whole assemblage of the five degrees was called the Eastern Star.
The objects of this Rite, as expressed by the framer, were “ to associate in one common bond the worthy wives, widows, daughters, and sisters of Freemasons, so as to make their adoptive privileges available for all the purposes contemplated in Masonry; to secure to them the advantages of their claim in a moral, social, and charitable point of view, ana from them the performance of corresponding
duties.” Hence, no females but those holding the above recited relations to Freemasons were eligible for admission. The male members were called “ Protectors ”; the female, “ Stella”; the reunions of these members were styled “Constellations”; and the Rite was presided over and governed by a “ Supreme Constellation.” There is some ingenuity and even beauty in many of the ceremonies, although it is by no means equal in this respect to the French Adoptive system. Much dissatisfaction was, however, expressed by the leading Masons of the country at the time of its attempted organization; and therefore, notwithstanding very strenuous efforts were made by its founder and his friends to establish it in some of the Western States, it was slow in winning popularity. It has, however, within a few years past, gained much growth under the name of “ The Eastern Star.” Bro. Albert Pike has also recently printed, for the use of Scottish Rite Masons, The Masonry of Adoption. It is in seven degrees, and is a translation from the French system, but greatly enlarged, and is far superior to the original.
The last phase of this female Masonry to which our attention is directed is the system of androgynous degrees which are practised to some extent in the United States. This term “ androgynous ” is derived from two Greek words, Mif> (tbSpos), a man, and ywfi, a woman, and it is equivalent to the English compound, masculo-feminine. It is applied to those “ side degrees ” which are conferred on both males and females. The essential regulation prevailing in these degrees, is that they can be conferred only On Master Masons (and in some instances only on Royal Arch Masons) and on their female relatives, the peculiar relationship differing in the different degrees.
Thus there is a degree generally called the “ Mason’s Wife,” which can be conferred only on Master Masons, their wives, unmarried daughters and sisters, and their widowed mothers. Another degree, called the “Heroine of Jericho,” is conferred only on the wives and daughters of Royal Arch Masons; and the third, the only one that has much pretension of ceremony or ritual, is the “ Good Samaritan,” whose privileges are confined to Royal Arch Masons and their wives.
In some parts of the United States these degrees are very popular, while in other places they are never practised, and are strongly condemned as modern innovations. The fact is, that by their friends as well as their enemies these so-called degrees have been greatly misrepresented. When females are told that in receiving these degrees they are admitted into the Masonic Order, and are obtaining Masonic information, under the name of “ Ladies’ Masonry,” they are simply deceived. When a woman is informed that, by passing through the brief and unimpressive ceremony of any one of these degrees, she has become a Mason, the deception is still more gross and inexcusable. But it is true that every woman
who is related by ties of consanguinity to a Master Mason is at all times and under all circumstances peculiarly entitled to Masonic protection and assistance. Now, if the recipient of an androgynous degree is candidly instructed that, by the use of these degrees, the female relatives of Masons are put in possession of the means of making their claims known by what may be called a sort of oral testimony, which, unlike a written certificate, can be neither lost nor destroyed; but that, by her initiation as a “ Mason’s Wife ’’ or as a “ Heroine of Jericho,” she is brought no nearer to the inner portal of Masonry than she was before—if she is honestly told all this, then there can hardly be any harm, and there may be some good in these forms if prudently bestowed. But all attempts to make Masonry of them, and especially that anomalous thing called “ Female Masonry,” are reprehensible, and are well calculated to produce opposition among the well-informed and cautious members of the Fraternity.
Adoptive Masonry, Egyptian. A system invented by Cagliostro. (See Cagliostro.)
Adoration. The act of paying divine worship. The Latin word adorare is derived from ad, “ to,” and os, oris, “ the mouth,” and we thus etymologically learn that the primitive and most general method of adoration was by the application of the fingers to the mouth. Hence we read in Job (xxxi. 26): “ If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand, this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the Goa that is above.” Here the mouth kissing the hand is an equipollent expression to adoration, as if he had said, “ If I have adored the sun or the moon.” This mode of adoration is said to have originated among the Persians, who, as worshipers of the sun, always turned their faces to the east and kissed their hands to that luminary. The gesture was first used as a token of respect to their monarchs, and was easily transferred to objects of worship. Other additional forms of adoration were used in various countries, but in almost all of them this reference to kissing was in some degree preserved. It is yet a practice of quite common usage for Orientals to kiss what they deem sacred or that which they wish to adore—example, Wailing Place of the Jews at Jerusalem. The marble toes of the statue of St. Peter in the Cathedral of St. Peter’s at Rome have been worn away by the kissings of Catholics and have been replaced by bronze. Among the ancient Romans the act of adoration was thus performed: The worshiper, having his head covered, applied his right hand to his lips, thumb erect, and the forefinger resting on at, and then, bowing his head, he turned round from right to left. And hence Apuleius (Apolog.) uses the expression “ to apply the hand to the lips,” manum labris admovere, to express the act of adoration. The Grecian mode of adoration differed from the Roman in having the head uncovered, which practise
was adopted by the Christians. The Oriental nations cover the head, but uncover the feet. They also express the act of adoration by prostrating themselves on their faces and applying their foreheads to the ground. The ancient Jews adored by kneeling, sometimes by prostration of the whole body, and by kissing the hand. This act, therefore, of kissing the hand was an early and a very general symbol of adoration. But we must not be led into the error of supposing that a somewhat similar gesture used in some of the high degrees of Freemasonry has any allusion to an act of worship. It refers to that symbol of silence and secrecy which is figured in the statues of Harpocrates, the god of silence. The Masonic idea of adoration has been well depicted by the medieval Christian painters, who represented the act by angels prostrated before a luminous triangle.
Advanced. This word has two technical meanings in Masonry.
1. We speak of a candidate as being advanced when he has passed from a lower to a higher degree; as we say that a candidate is qualified for advancement from the Entered Apprentice’s degree to that of a Fellow-Craft when he has made that “ suitable proficiency in the former which, by the regulations of the Order, entitle him to receive the initiation into and the instructions of the latter.” And when the Apprentice has thus been promoted to the Second Degree he is said to have advanced in Masonry.
2. However, this use of the term is by no means universal, and the word is peculiarly applied to the initiation of a candidate into the Mark Degree, which is the fourth in the modification of the American Rite. The Master Mason is thus said to be “ advanced to the honorary degree of a Mark Master,” to indicate either that he has now been promoted one step beyond the degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry on his way to the Royal Arch, or to express the fact that he has been elevated from the common class of Fellow-Crafts to that higher and more select one which, according to the traditions of Masonry, constituted, at the first Temple, the class of Mark Masters. (See Mark Master.)
Advancement Hurried. Nothing can be more certain than that the proper qualifications of a candidate for admission into the mysteries of Freemasonry, and the necessary proficiency of a Mason who seeks advancement to a higher degree, are the two great bulwarks which are to protect the purity and integrity of our Institution. Indeed, we know not which is the mor§ hurtful—to admit an applicant who is unworthy, or to promote a candidate who is ignorant of his first lessons. The one affects the external, the other the internal character of the Institution. The one brings discredit upon the Order among the profane, who already regard us, too often, with suspicion and dislike; the other introduces ignorance and incapacity into our ranks, and dishonors the science of Masonry in our own eyes. The one covers our walls with im
perfect and worthless stones, which mar the outward beauty and impair the strength of our temple; the other fills our interior apartments with confusion and disorder, and leaves the edifice, though externally strong, both inefficient and inappropriate for its destined uses.
But, to the candidate himself, a too hurried advancement is often attended with the most disastrous effects. As in geometry, so in Masonry, there is no “ royal road ” to perfection. A knowledge of its principles and its science, and consequently an acquaintance with its beauties, can only be acquired by long and diligent study. To the careless observer it seldom offers, at a hasty glance, much to attract his attention or secure his interest. The gold must be deprived, by careful manipulation, of the dark and worthless ore which surrounds and envelops it, before its metallic luster and value can be seen and appreciated. ■
Hence, the candidate who hurriedly passes through his degrees without a due examination of the moral and intellectual purposes of each, arrives at the summit of our edifice without a due and necessary appreciation of the general symmetry and connection that pervade the whole system. The candidate, thus hurried through the elements of our science, and unprepared, by a knowledge of its fundamental principles, for the reception and comprehension of the corollaries which are to be deduced from them, is apt to view the whole system as “ a rude and indigested mass ” of frivolous ceremonies and puerile conceits, whose intrinsic value will not adequately pay him for the time, the trouble, and expense that he has incurred in his forced initiation. To him, Masonry is as incomprehensible as was the veiled statue of Isis to its blind worshipers, and he becomes, in consequence, either a useless drone in our hive, or speedily retires in disgust from all participation in our labors.
But the candidate who by slow and painful steps has proceeded through each apartment of our mystic Temple, from its porch to its sanctuary, pausing in his progress to admire the beauties and to study the uses of each, learning, as he advances, “ fine upon line, and precept upon precept,” is gradually and almost imperceptibly imbued with so much admiration of the Institution, so much love for its principles, so much just appreciation of its design as a conservator of divine truth, and an agent of human civilization, that he is inclined, on beholding, at last, the whole beauty of the finished building, to exclaim, as did the wondering Queen of Sheba: “ A Most Excellent Master must have done all this! ”
The usage in many jurisdictions of the ' United States, when the question is asked in the ritual whether the candidate has made suitable proficiency in his preceding degree, is to reply, “ Such as time and circumstances would permit.” We have no doubt that this was an innovation originally invented to evade the law, which has always required a due proficiency. To such a question no other answer ought to be given than the positive and unequivocal one that “he has.” Neither “time
nor circumstances ” should be permitted to interfere with his attainment of the necessary knowledge, nor excuse its absence. This, with the wholesome rule, very generally existing, which requires an interval between the conferring of the degrees, would go far to remedy the evil of too hurried and unqualified advancement, of which all intelligent Masons are now complaining.
After these views of the necessity of a careful examination of the claims of a candidate for advancement in Masonry, and the necessity, for his own good as well as that of the Order, that each one should fully prepare himself for this promotion, it is proper that we should next inquire into the laws of Masonry, by which the wisdom and experience of our predecessors have thought proper to guard as well the rights of those who claim advancement as the interests of the Lodge which is called upon to grant it. This subject has been so fully treated in Mackey’s Text Book of Masonic Jurisprudence (b. iii., ch. i., p. 165 el seq.) that we shall not hesitate to incorporate the views in that work into the present article.
The subject of the petition of a candidate for advancement involves three questions of great importance: First, how soon, after receiving the hirst Degree, can he apply for the Second? Secondly, what number of black balls is necessary to constitute a rejection? And thirdly, what time must elapse, after a first rejection, before the Apprentice can renew his application for advancement?
1. How soon, after receiving a former degree, can a candidate apply for advancement to the next? The necessity of a full comprehension of the mysteries of one degree, before any attempt is made to acquire those of a second, seems to have been thoroughly appreciated from the earliest times; thus the 13th Article in the Regius MS., which is the oldest Masonic document now extant, provides that “ if the master a prentice have, he shall teach him thoroughly and tell him measurable points, that he may know the craft ably, wherever he goes under the sun.” Similar direction is found in most all the MS. But if there be an obligation on the part of the Master to instruct his Apprentice, there must be, of course, a correlative obligation on the part of the latter to receive and profit by those instructions. Accordingly, rmless this obligation is discharged, and the Apprentice makes himself acquainted with the mysteries of the degree that he has already received, it is, by general consent, admitted that he has no right to be entrusted with further and more important information. The modern ritual sustains this doctrine, by requiring that the candidate, as a qualification in passing onward, shall have made “suitable proficiency in the preceding degree.” This is all that the general law prescribes. Suitable proficiency must have been attained, and the period in which that condition will be acquired must necessarily depend on the mental capacity of the candidate. Some men will become proficient in a shorter time than others, and of this fact the
Master and the Lodge are to be the judges. An examination should therefore take place in open Lodge, and a ballot immediately following will express the opinion of the Lodge on the result of that examination, and the qualification of the candidate. [Such ballot, however, is not usual in Lodges under the English Constitution.]
Several modem Grand Lodges, looking with disapprobation on the rapidity with which the degrees are sometimes conferred upon candidates wholly incompetent, have adopted special regulations, prescribing a determinate period of probation for each degree. [Thus the Grand Lodge of England requires an interval of not less than four weeks before a higher degree can be conferred.] This, however, is a local law, to be obeyed only in those jurisdictions in which it is in force. The general law of Masonry makes no such determinate provision of time, and demands only that the candidate shall give evidence of “ suitable proficiency.”
2. What number of black balls is necessary to constitute a rejection? Here we are entirely without the guidance of any express law, as all the Ancient Constitutions are completely silent upon the subject. It would seem, however, that in the advancement of an Apprentice or Fellow-Craft, as well as in the election of a profane, the ballot should be unanimous. This is strictly in accordance with the principles of Masonry, which require unanimity in admission, lest improper persons be intruded, and harmony impaired. Greater qualifications are certainly not required of a profane applying for initiation than of an initiate seeking advancement; nor can there be any reason why the test of those qualifications should not be as rigid in the one case as in the other. It may be laid down as a rule, therefore, that in afi cases of balloting for advancement in any of the degrees of Masonry, a single black ball will reject.
3. What time must elapse, after a first rejection, before the Apprentice or Fellow-Craft can renew his application for advancement to a higher degree? Here, too, the Ancient Constitutions are silent, and we are left to deduce our opinions from the general principles and analogies of Masonic law. As the application for advancement to a higher degree is founded on a right enuring to the Apprentice or Fellow- Craft by virtue of his reception into the previous degree—that is to say, as the Apprentice, so soon as he has been initiated, becomes invested with the right of applying for advancement to the Second—it seems evident that, as long as he remains an Apprentice “ in good standing,” he continues to be invested with that right. Now, the rejection of his petition for advancement by the Lodge does not impair his right to apply again, because it does not affect his rights and standing as an Apprentice; it is simply the expression of the opinion that the Lodge does not at present deem him qualified for further progress in Masonry. We must never forget the difference between the right of applying for advance
ment and the right of advancement. Every Apprentice possesses the former, but no one can claim the latter until it is given to him by the unanimous vote of the Lodge. And as, therefore, this right of application or petition is not impaired by its rejection at a particular time, and as the Apprentice remains precisely in the same position in his own degree, after the rejection, as he did before, it seems to follow, as an irresistible deduction, that he may again apply at the next regular communication, and, n a second time rejected, repeat his applications at all future meetings. The Entered Apprentices of a Lodge are competent, at all regular communications of their Lodge, to petition for advancement. Whether that petition shall be granted or rejected is quite another thing, ana depends altogether on the favor of the Lodge. And what is here said of an Apprentice, in relation to advancement to the Second Degree, may be equally said of a Fellow-Craft in reference to advancement to the Third..
This opinion has not, it is true, been universally adopted, though no force of authority, short of an opposing landmark, could make one doubt its correctness. For instance, the Grand Lodge of California decided, in 1857, that “ the application of Apprentices or Fellow Crafts for advancement should, after they have been once rejected by ballot, be governed by the same principles which regulate the ballot on petitions for initiation, and which require a probation of one year.”
This appears to be a singular decision of Masonic law. If the reasons which prevent the advancement of an Apprentice or Fellow- Craft to a higher degree are of such a nature as to warrant the delay of one year, it is far better to prefer charges against the petitioner, and to give him the opportunity of a fair and impartial trial. In many cases, a candidate for advancement is retarded in his progress from an opinion, on the part of the Lodge, that he is not yet sufficiently prepared for promotion by a knowledge of the preceding degree—an objection which may sometimes be removed before the recurrence of the next monthly meeting. In such a case, a decision like that of the Grand Lodge of California would be productive of manifest injustice. It is, therefore, a more consistent rule, that the candidate for advancement has a right to apply at every regular meeting, and that whenever any moral objections exist to his taking a higher degree, these objections should be made in the form of charges, and their truth tested by an impartial trial. To this, too, the candidate is undoubtedly entitled, on all the principles of justice and equity.
Adytum. The most retired and secret part of the ancient temples, into which the people were not permitted to enter, but which was accessible to the priests only, was called the adytum. And hence the derivation of the word from the Greek privative prefix a, and Sieiv, to enter = that which, is not to be entered. In the adytum was generally to be found a Tctyos, or tomb, or some relics or sa
cred images of the god to whom the temple was consecrated. It being supposed that temples owed their origin to the, superstitious reverence paid by the ancients to their deceased friends, and as most of the gods were men who had been deified on account of their virtues, temples were, perhaps, at first only stately monuments erected in honor of the dead. Hence the interior of the temple was originally nothing more than a cavity regarded as a place for the reception of a person interred, and in it was to be found the <rop6s, or coffin, the Tdtpos, or tomb, or, among the Scandinavians, the barrow or mound grave. In time, the statue or image of a god took the place of the coffin; but the reverence for the spot as one of peculiar sanctity remained, and this interior part of the temple became, among the Greeks, the mj/cks, or chapel, among the Romans the adytum, or forbidden place, and among the Jews the kodesh hakodashim, the Holy of Holies. (See Holy of Holies.) “The sanctity thus acquired,” savs Dudley (Noology, p. 393), “ by the cell of interment might readily and with propriety be assigned to any fabric capable of-containing the body of the departed friend, or the relic, or even the symbol, of the presence or existence of a divine personage.” And thus it has happened that there was in every ancient temple an adytum or most holy place. The adytum of the small temple of Pompeii is still in excellent preservation. It is carried some steps above the level of the main building, and, like the Jewish sanctuary, is without light.
ASneid. Bishop Warburton (Div. Leg.) has contended, and nis opinion has been sustained by the great majority of subsequent commentators, that Virgil, in the sixth book of his immortal Epic, has, under the figure of the descent of ALneas into the infernal regions, described the ceremony of initiation into the Ancient Mysteries.
Alton. This word, in its original Greek, alar, signifies the age or duration of anything. The Gnostics, however, used it in a peculiar mode to designate the intelligent, intellectual, and material powers or natures which flowed as emanations from the or Infinite Abyss of Deity, and which were connected with their divine fountain as rays of light are with the sun. (See Gnostics.)
Ailra Architectonics. This is used in some modem Masonic lapidary inscriptions to designate the date more commonly known as annus lucis, the year of light.
Affiliate, Free. The French gave the name of “ free affiliates ” to those members of a Lodge who are exempted from the payment of dues, and neither hold office nor vote. Known among English-speaking Masons as “ honorary members.”
There is a quite common use of affiliate in “ Lodges of the United States to designate one who has joined a Lodge by demit.
Affiliated Mason. A Mason who holds membership in some Lodge. The word affiliation is derived from the French affilier, which Richelet (Diet, de la langue Frangaise) defines,
“ to communicate to any one a participation in the spiritual benefits of a religious order,” and he says that such a communication is called an “ affiliation.” - The word, as a technical term, is not found in any of the old Masonic writers, who always use admission instead of affiliation. There is no precept more explicitly expressed in the Ancient Constitutions than that every Mason should belong to a Lodge. The foundation of the law which imposes this duty is to be traced as far back as the Regius MS., which is the oldest Masonic document now extant, and of which the “ Se- cunde poynt ” requires that the Mason work upon the workday as truly as he can in order to deserve his hire for the holiday, and that he shall “ truly labour on his deed that he may well deserve to have his meed.” (Lines 269- 274.) The obligation that every Mason should thus labor is implied in all the subsequent Constitutions, which always speak of Masons as working members of the Fraternity, until we come to the Charges approved in 1722, which explicitly state that “every Brother ought to belong to a Lodge, and to be subject to its By-Laws and the General Regulations.”
Affirmation. The question has been mooted whether a Quaker, or other person having peculiar religious scruples in reference to taking oaths, can receive the degrees of Masonry by taking an affirmation. Now, as the obhgations of Masonry are symbolic in their character, and the forms in which they are administered constitute the essence of the symbolism, there cannot be a doubt that the prescribed mode is the only one that ought to be used, and that affirmations are entirely inadmissible. The London Freemason’s Quarterly (1828, p. 286) says that “ a Quaker’s affirmation is binding.” This is not denied: the only question is whether it is admissible. Can the obligations be assumed in any but one way, unless the ritual be entirely changed? And can any “ man or body of men ” at this time make such a change without affecting the universality of Masonry? Bro. Chase (Masonic Digest, p. 448) says that “ conferring the degrees on affirmation is no violation of the spirit of Freemasonry, and neither overthrows nor affects a landmark.” And in this he is sustained by the Grand Lodge of Maine (1823); but the only other Grand Lodges which have expressed an opinion on this subject—namely, those of Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Delaware, Virginia, and Pennsylvania—have made an opposite decision. The entire practise of Lodges in America is also against the use of an affirmation. But in England Quakers have been initiated after affirmation, the principle being that a form of O B.’. which the candidate accepts as binding will suffice.
Africa. Anderson (Constitutions, 1738, p. 195) has recorded that in 1735 Richard Hull, Esq., was appointed “ Provincial Grand Master at Gambay in West Africa,” that in 1736 David Creighton, M.D., was appointed “ Provincial Grand Master at Cape Coast Castle in Africa,” and that in 1737 Capt. William Douglas was appointed “ Provincial
Grand Master on the Coast of Africa and in the Islands of America, excepting such places where a Provincial Grand Master is already deputed.” However, in spite of these appointments having been made by the Grand Lodge of England, there is no trace of the establishment of any Lodges in West Africa until 1792, in which year a Lodge numbered 586 was constituted at Bulam, followed in 1810 by the Torridzonian Lodge at Cape Coast Castle. There are now on the West Coast of Africa fourteen Lodges warranted by the Grand Lodge of England, one holding an Irish warrant, one under the Grand Lodge of Scotland and two German Lodges; and in the Negro Republic of Liberia a Grand Lodge was constituted in 1867, with nine daughter Lodges subordinate to it.
In the North of Africa there is the Grand Lodge of Egypt at Cairo with 47 subordinate Lodges; both England and Scotland have established District Grand Lodges in Egypt by consent of the former, while Italy, France and Germany have Lodges at Alexandria and Cairo. In Algeria and Morocco French influence is predominant, but in Tunis there is an independent Grand Lodge, established in 1881.
Masonry was introduced into South Africa by the erection of a Dutch Lodge (“ De Goede Hoop ”) at Cape Town in 1772, followed by another under the same jurisdiction in 1802, and it was not until nine years later that the first English Lodge was established there, which was gradually followed by others, the Dutch and English Masons working side by side with such harmony that the English Provincial Grand Master for the District who was appointed in 1829 was also Deputy Grand Master for the Netherlands. In 1860 a Scotch Lodge was set up at Cape Town, and 35 years later one was erected at Johannesburg under the Grand Lodge of Ireland, so that there are four different Masonic bodies exercising jurisdiction and working amicably together in South Africa, viz., the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland and Scotland, and the Grand Orient of the Netherlands. Under the Grand Lodge of England there were at the last issue of the Masonic Year- Book, 155 subordinate Lodges arranged in 5 Districts, viz., Central, Eastern and Western South Africa, Natal and the Transvaal. At the same time there were 16 Lodges owing allegiance to the Grand Lodge of Ireland, 76 under the Scotch Constitution, divided among the Districts of Cape Colony, Cape Colony Western Province, Natal, Orange River Colony, Rhodesia and the Transvaal, and 28 under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of the Netherlands, besides two German Lodges at Johannesburg.
On the East Coast of the Dark Continent there are two Lodges at Nairobi, one of them being English and the other Scotch, and there is also an English Lodge at Zanzibar.
[E. L. H ]
Africa. In the French Rite of Adoption, the south of the Lodge is called Africa.
African Architects, Order of. Sometimes called African Builders; French, Archi- tectes de I’Afrigue; German, Africanische Bau- herren.
Of all the new sects and modern degrees of Freemasonry which sprang up on the continent of Europe during the eighteenth century, there was none which, for the time, maintained so high an intellectual position as the Order of African Architects, called by the French Architectes de I’Afrigue, and by the Germans Africanische Bauherren. A Masonic sect of this name had originally been established in Germany in the year 1756, but it does not appear to have attracted much attention, or indeed to have deserved it; and hence, amid the multitude of Masonic innovations to which almost every day was giving birth and ephemeral existence, it soon disappeared. But the society which is the subject of the present article, although it assumed the name of the original African Architects, was of a very different character. It may, however, be considered, as it was established only eleven years afterward, as a remodification of it.
They admitted to membership those possessing high intellectual attainments rather than those possessing wealth or preferment.
There was probably no real connection between this order and Freemasonry of Germany, even if they did profess kindly feelings for it. They based their order on the degrees of Masonry, as the list of degrees shows, but their work began in the Second Temple. While they had a quasi-connection with Freemasonry, we cannot call them a Masonic body according to the present day standards.
The degrees were named and classified as follows:
FIB8T TEMPLE
1. Apprentice.
2. Fellow-Craft.
3. Master Mason.
SECOND TEMPLE
4. Architect, or Apprentice of Egyptian secrets [or Bosonien (Acta Latomorum, i., 297)].
5. Initiate into Egyptian secrets [or Alethophilote (Acta Latomorum, i., 292)].
6. Cosmopolitan Brother.
7. Christian Philosopher [Thory calls this the Fourth Degree (A. L., i., 332)].
8. Master of Egyptian secrets.
9. Squire of the Order.
10. Soldier of the Order.
11. Knight of the Order.
The last three were called superior degrees, and were conferred only as a second or higher class, with great discrimination, upon those who'had proved their worthiness of promotion.
The assemblies of the brethren were called Chapters. The central or superintending power was styled a Grand Chapter, and it was governed by the following twelve officers:
1. Grand Master.
2. Deputy Grand Master.
3. Senior Grand Warden.
4. Junior Grand Warden.
5. Drapier.
6. Almoner.
7. Tricoplerius, or Treasurer.
8. Graphiarius, or Secretary.
9. Seneschal.
10. Standard-Bearer.
11. Marshal.
12. Conductor.
The African Architects was not the only society which in the eighteenth century sought to rescue Masonry from the impure hands of the charlatans into which it had well-nigh fallen.
African Brother. One of the degrees of the Rite of the Clerks of Strict Observance, according to Thory (Acta Latomorum, i., 291); but it is not mentioned in other lists of the degrees of that Rite.
African Brothers. One of the titles given to the African Architects, which see.
African Builders. (See African Architects.)
African Lodge. (See Negro Lodges.)
Agapse. The agap®, or love-feasts, were banquets held during the first three centuries in the Christian Church. They were called “ love-feasts,” because, after partaking of the Sacrament, they met, both rich and poor, at a common feast—the former furnishing the provisions, and the latter, who had nothing, being relieved and refreshed by their more opulent brethren. Tertullian (Apologia, cap. xxxix.) thus describes these banquets: “We do not sit down before we have first offered up prayers to God; we eat and drink only to satisfy hunger and thirst, remembering still that we are to worship God by night: we discourse as in the presence of God, knowing that He hears us: then, after water to wash our hands, and lights brought in, every one is moved to sing some hymn to God, either out of the Scripture, or, as he is able, of his own composing. Prayer again concludes our feast, and we depart, not to fight and quarrel, or to abuse those we meet, but to pursue the same care of modesty and chastity, as men that have fed at a supper of philosophy and discipline, rather than a corporeal feast.”
Dr. August Kestner, Professor of Theology, published in Jena, in 1819, a work in which he maintains that the agap®, established at Rome by Clemens, in the reign of Domitian, were mysteries which partook of a Masonic, symbolic, and religious character.
In the Rosicrucian degrees of Masonry we find an imitation of these love-feasts of the primitive Christians; and the ceremonies of the banquet in the degree of Rose Croix of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, especially as practised by French Chapters, are arranged with reference to the ancient agap®. Reghellini, indeed, finds an analogy between the tablelodges of modern Masonry and these lovefeasts of the primitive Christians.
Agate. A stone varying in color, but of great hardness, being a variety of the flint. The agate, in Hebrew 12®, SHeBO, was the center stone of the third row in the breastplate
of the high priest. Agates often contain representations of leaves, mosses, etc., depicted by the hand of nature. Some of the representations on these are exceedingly singular. Thus, on one side of one in the possession of Velschius was a half moon, and on the other a star. Kircher mentions one which had a representation of an armed heroine; another, in the church of St. Mark in Venice, which had a representation of a king’s head, adorned with a diadem; and a third which contained the letters I. N. R. I. (Oliver’s Historical Landmarks, ii., 522.) In the collections of antiquaries are also to be found many gems of agate on which mystical inscriptions have been engraved, the significations of which are, for the most part, no longer understood.
Agate, Stone of. Among the Masonic traditions is one which asserts that the stone of foundation was formed of agate. This, like everything connected with the legend of the stone, is to be mystically interpreted. In this view, agate is a symbol of strength and beauty, a symbolism derived from the peculiar character of the agate, which is distinguished for its compact formation and the ornamental character of its surface. (See Stone of Foundation.)
Agathopades. A liberal ecclesiastical order founded in Brussels in the sixteenth century. Revived and revised by Schayes in 1846. It had for its sacred sign the pentastigma • • •
Age, Lawful. One of the qualifications for candidates is that they shall be of “ lawful age.” What that age must be is not settled by any universal law or landmark of the Order. The Ancient Regulations do not express any determinate number of years at the expiration of which a candidate becomes legally entitled to apply for admission. The language used is, that he must be of “ mature and discreet age.” But the usage of the Craft has differed in various countries as to the construction of the time when this period of maturity and discretion is supposed to have arrived. The sixth of the Regulations, which are said to have been made in 1663, prescribes that “ no person shall be accepted a Freemason unless he be one and twenty years old or more ”; but the subsequent Regulations are less explicit. At Frankfort-on-the-Main, the age required is twenty; in the Lodges of Switzerland, it has been fixed at twenty-one. The Grand Lodge of Hanover prescribes the age of twenty-five, but permits the son of a Mason to be admitted at eighteen. (See Lewis.) The Grand Lodge of Hamburg decrees that the lawful age for initiation shall be that which in any country has been determined by the laws of the land to be the age of majority. The Grand Orient of France requires the candidate to be twenty- one, unless he be the son of a Mason who has performed some important service to the Order, or unless he be a young man who has served six months in the army, when the initiation may take place at the age of eighteen. In Prussia the required age is twenty-five.
Under the Grand Lodge of England the Constitutions of 1723 provided that no man should be made a Mason under the age of twenty-five unless by dispensation from the Grand Master, and this remained the necessary age until it was lowered in the Constitutions of 1784 to twenty-one years, as at present, though the “ Ancient ” Masons still retained the requirement of twenty-five until the Union of 1813. Under the Scotch Constitution the age was eighteen until 1891, when it was raised to twenty-one. Under the Irish Constitution the age was twenty-one until 1741, when it was raised to twenty-five and so remained until 1817, when it was lowered again to twenty-one. In the United States, the usage is general that the candidate shall not be less than twenty-one years of age at the time of his initiation, and no dispensation can issue for conferring the degrees at an earlier period.
Age, Masonic. In some Masonic Rites a mystical age is appropriated to each degree, and the initiate who has received the degree is said to be of such an age. Thus, the age of an Entered Apprentice is said to be three years; that of a Fellow-Craft, five; and that of a Master Mason, seven. These ages are not arbitrarily selected, but have a reference to the mystical value of numbers and their relation to the different degrees. Thus, three is the symbol of peace and concord, and has been called in the Pythagorean system the number of perfect harmony, and is appropriated to that degree, which is the initiation into an Order whose fundamental principles are harmony and brotherly love. Five is the symbol of active life, the union of the female principle two and the male principle three, and refers in this way to the active duties of man as a denizen of the world, which constitutes the symbolism of the Fellow-Craft’s degree; and seven, as a venerable and perfect number, is symbolic of that perfection which is supposed to be attained in the Master’s degree. In a way similar to this, all the ages of the other degrees are symbolically and mystically explained.
The Masonic ages are—and it will thus be seen that they are all mystic numbers—3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 27, 63, 81.
Agenda. A Latin word meaning “ things to be done.” Thus an “ Agenda Paper ” is a list of the matters to be brought before a meeting.
Agla. One of the Kabbalistic names of God, which is composed of the initials of the words of the following sentence: 'JIK nbl'b "QU HDX, Atah Gibor Lolam Adonai, “ thou art mighty forever, O Lord.” This name the Kabbalists arranged seven times in the center and at the intersecting points of two interlacing triangles, which figure they called the Shield of Damd, and used as a talisman, believing that it would cure wounds, extinguish fires, and perform other wonders. (See Shield of David.)
Agnostus, Irenaeus. This is supposed by Kloss (Bibliog., Nos. 2442, 2497, etc.) to have been a nom de plume of Gotthardus Arthusius, a co-rector in the Gymnasium of Frankfort-
on-the-Main, and a writer of some local celebrity in the beginning of the seventeenth century. (See Arthusius.) Under this assumed name of Irenaeus Agnostus, he published, between the years 1617 and 1620, many works on the subject of the Rosicrucian Fraternity, which John Valentine Andrea had about that time established in Germany. Among those works were the Fortalicium Scientice, 1617; Clypeum Veritatis, 1618; Speculum Constantia, 1618; Fons Gratia, 1619; Frater non Frater, 1619; Thesaurus Fidei, 1619; Partus Tranquillitatis, 1620, and several others of a similar character and equally quaint title.
Agnus Dei. The Agnus Dei, Lamb of God, also called the Paschal Lamb, or the Lamb offered in the paschal sacrifice, is one of the jewels of a Commandery of Knights Templar in America, and is worn by the Generalissimo.
The lamb is one of the earliest symbols of Christ in the iconography of the Church, and as such was a representation of the Savior, derived from that expression of St. John the Baptist (John i. 29), who, on beholding Christ, exclaimed, “ Behold the Lamb of God.’ “ Christ,” says Didron (Christ. I conog., i., 318), “shedding his blood for our redemption, is the Lamb slain by the children of Israel, and with the blood of which the houses to be preserved from the wrath of God were marked with the celestial tau. The Paschal Lamb eaten by the Israelites on the night preceding their departure from Egypt is the type of that other divine Lamb of whom Christians are to partake at Easter, in order thereby to free themselves from the bondage in which they are held by vice.”
The earliest representation that is found in Didron of the Agnus Dei is of the sixth century, and consists of a lamb supporting in his right foot a cross. In the eleventh century we find a banneret attached to this cross, and the lamb is then said to support “ the banner of the resurrection.” This is the modem form in which the Agnus Dei is represented.
> Ahabath Olam. Two Hebrew words signifying eternal love. The name of a prayer which was used by the Jews dispersed over the whole Roman Empire during the times of Christ. It was inserted by Dermott in his Ahiman Rezon (p. 45, ed. 1764) and copied into several others, with the title of “A Prayer repeated in the Royal Arch Lodge at Jerusalem.” The prayer was most probably adopted by Dermott and attributed to a Royal Arch Lodge in consequence of the allusion in it to the “ holy, great, mighty, and terrible name of God.”
Ahlah. So spelled in the common version of the Bible (1 Kings iv. 3), but according to the Hebrew orthography the word should be spelled and pronounced Achiah. ■ He and Eli- horeph (or Elichoreph) were the sopherim, scribes or secretaries of King Solomon. In the ritual of the Seventh Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, according to the modern American ritual, these personages are represented by the two Wardens.
Ahiman Rezon. The title given by Dermott to the Book of Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of “ Ancient ” Masons in England, which was established about the middle of the eighteenth century in opposition to the legitimate Grand Lodge and its adherents, who were called the “ Moderns,” and whose code of laws was contained in Anderson’s work known as the Book of Constitutions. Many attempts have been made to explain the significance of this title; thus, according to Dr. Mackey,it isderived from three Hebrew words, O'nX, ahim, “ brothers”; fW, manah, “ to appoint,” or “ to select ” (in the sense of being placed in a peculiar class, see Isaiah liii. 12); and )3">, ratzon, “ the will, pleasure, or meaning”; and hence the combination of the three words in the title, Ahiman Rezon, signifies “ the will of selected brethren ”—the law of a class or society of men who are chosen or selected from the rest of the world as brethren. Dr. Dalcho (Ahim. Rez. of South Carolina, p. 159, 2d ed.) derives it from ahi, “ a brother,” manah, “ to prepare.” and rezon, “ secret ”; so that, as he says, “ Ahiman Rezon literally means the secrets of a prepared brother.” But the best meaning of manah is that which conveys the idea of being placeci in or appointed to a certain, exclusive class, as we find in Isaiah (liii. 12) “ he was numbered (nimenah) with the transgressors,” placed in that class, being taken out of every other order of men. And although rezon may come from ratzon, “ a will or law, it can hardly be elicited by any rules of etymology out of the Chaldee word raz, “ a secret,” the termination in on being wanting; and besides the book called the Ahiman Rezon does not contain the secrets, but only the public laws of Masonry. The derivation of Dalcho seems therefore inadmissible. Not less so is that of Bro. W. S. Rockwell, who (Ahim. Rez. of Georgia, 1859, p. 3) thinks the derivation may be found in the Hebrew, j'^X, amun, “ a builder ” or “ architect,” and jT*!, rezon, as a noun, “ prince,” and as an adjective, “ royal,” ana hence, Ahiman Rezon, according to this etymology, will signify the “royal builder,” or, symbolically, the “ Freemason.” But to derive ahiman from amun, or rather amon, which is the masoretic pronunciation, is to place all known laws of etymology at defiance. Rockwell himself, however, furnishes the best argument against his strained derivation, when he admits that its correctness will depend on the antiquity of the phrase, which he acknowledges that he doubts. In this, he is right. The phrase is altogether a modern one, and has Dermott, the author of the first work bearing the title, for its inventor. Rockwell’s conjectural derivation is, therefore, for this reason still more inadmissible than Dalcho’s.
But the most satisfactory explanation is as follows: In his prefatory address to the reader, Dermott narrates a dream of his in which the four men appointed by Solomon to be porters at the Temple (1 Chron. ix. 17) appear to him as sojourners from Jerusalem, and he tells them that he is writing a history of Masonry;
upon which, one of the four, named Ahiman, says that no such history has ever yet been composed and suggests that it never can be. It is clear, therefore, that the first word of the title is the name of this personage. What then does “ Rezon ” signify? Now the Geneva or “Breeches” Bible, published in 1560, contains a table giving the meanings of the Bible names and explains Ahiman as “ a prepared brother ” or “ brother of the right hand ” and Rezon as “ a secretary,” so that the title of the book would mean “ Brother Secretary.” That Dermott used the Geneva Bible is plain from the fact that he quotes from it in his Address to the reader, and therefore it may fairly be assumed that he selected these names to suit his purpose from the list given in it, especially as he styles himself on his title-page merely “ Secretary.”
But the history of the origin of the book is more important and more interesting than the history of the derivation of its title.
The premier Grand Lodge of England was established in 1717 and ruled the Masons of London and the South of England without opposition until in 1751 when some Irish Masons established another body in London, who professed to work “ according to the old institutions,” and called themselves “Antient ” Masons and the members of the older Grand Lodge “ Moderns.” maintaining that they alone preserved the ancient usages of Masonry.
The former of these contending bodies, the Grand Lodge of England, had, in the year 1722, caused Dr. James Anderson to collect and compile all the statutes and regulations by which the Fraternity had in former times been governed; and these, after having! been submitted to due revision, were published in 1723, by Anderson, with the title of The Constitutions of the Freemasons. This work, of which several other editions subsequently appeared, has always been called the Book of Constitutions, and contains the foundations of the written law by which the Grand Lodge of England and the Lodges deriving from it, both in that country and in America, are governed. But when the Irish Masons established their rival Grand Lodge, they found it necessary, also, to have a. Book of Constitutions; and accordingly, Laurence Dermott, who was at one time their Grand Secretary, and afterward their Deputy Grand Master, compiled such a work, the first edition of which was published by James Bedford, at London, in 1756, with the following title: Ahiman Rezon: ar a Help to a Brother; showing the Excellency of Secrecy, and the first cause or motive of the Institution of Masonry; the Principles of the Craft; and the Benefits from a strict Observance thereof, etc., etc.; also the Old and New Regulations, etc. To which is added the greatest collection of Masons’ Songs, etc. By Bro. Laurence Dermott, Secretary, 8vo, 209 pp.
A second edition was published in 1764 with this title: Ahiman Rezon: ar a help to
all that are or would be Free and Accepted Masons; containing the Quintessence of all that has been published on the Subject of Freemasonry, with many Additions, which renders this Work more useful than any other Book of Constitution now extant. By Lau. Dermott, Secretary. London, 1764. 8vo. 224 pp.
A third edition was published in 1778, with the following title: Ahiman Rezon: or a Help to all that are or would be Free and Accepted Masons, (with many Additions.) By Lau. Dermott, D.G.M. Printed for James Jones, Grand Secretary; and Sold by Peter Shatwell, in the Strand. London, 1778. 8vo, 232 pp.
Five other editions were published: the 4th, in 1778; the 5th in 1787; the 6th in 1800; the 7th in 1801; the Sth in 1807, and the 9th in 1813. In this year, the Ancient Grand Lodge was dissolved by the union of the two- Grand Lodges of England, and a new Book of Constitutions having been adopted for the united body, the Ahiman Rezon became useless, and no subsequent edition was ever published.
The earlier editions of this work are .among the rarest of Masonic publications, and are highly prized by collectors.
In the year 1855, Mr. Leon Hyneman, of Philadelphia, who was engaged in a reprint of old standard Masonic works (an enterprise which should have received better patronage than it did), republished the second edition, with a few explanatory notes.
As this book contains those principles of Masonic law by which, for three-fourths of a century, a large and intelligent portion of the Craft was governed; and as it is now becoming rare and, to the generality of readers, inaccessible, some brief review of its contents may not be uninteresting.
In the Preface or Address to the reader, Dermott pokes fun at the History of Freemasonry as written by Dr. Anderson and others, and wittily explains the reason why he has not published a history of Freemasonry.
There is next a “ Philacteria for such Gentlemen as may be inclined to become Freemasons.” This article, which was not in the first edition, but appeared for the first time in the second, consists of directions as to the method to be pursued by one who desires to be made a Freemason. This is followed by an account of what Dermott calls “ Modern Masonry,” that is, the system pursued by the original Grand Lodge of England, and of the differences existing between it and “ Ancient Masonry,” or the system of his own Grand Lodge. He contends that there are material differences between the two systems; that of the Ancients being universal, and that of the Moderns not; a Modern being able with safety to communicate all his secrets to an Ancient, while an Ancient cannot communicate his to a Modern; a Modern having no right to be called free and accepted; all of which, in his opinion, show that the Ancients have secrets which are not in the possession of the Moderns. This, he considers, a convinc
ing proof that the Modern Masons were innovators upon the established system, and had instituted their Lodges and framed their ritual without a sufficient knowledge of the arcana of the Craft. But the Modern Masons with more semblance of truth, thought that the additional secrets of the Ancients were only innovations that they had made upon the true body of Masonry; and hence, they considered their ignorance of these newly invented secrets was the best evidence of their own superior antiquity.
In the later editions'Dermott has published the famous Leland MS., together with the commentaries of Locke; also the resolutions adopted in 1772, by which the Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland agreed to maintain a “ Brotherly Connexion and Correspondence ” with the Grand Lodge of England (Ancients).
The Ahiman Rezon proper, then, begins with twenty-three pages of an encomium on Masonry, and an explanation of its principles. Many a modern Masonic address is better written, and contains more important and instructive matter than this prefatory discourse.
Then follow “ The Old Charges of the Free and Accepted Masons,” taken from the 1738 Edition of Anderson’s Constitutions. Next come “ A short charge to a new admitted Mason,” “ The Ancient manner of constituting a Lodge,” a few prayers, and then the “General Regulations of the Free and Accepted Masons.” These are borrowed mainly from the second edition of Anderson with a few alterations and additions. After a comparison of the Dublin and London “ Regulations for Charity,” the rest of the book, comprising more than a hundred pages, consists of “A Collection of Masons’ Songs,” of the poetical merits of which the less said the better for the literary reputation of the writers.
Imperfect, however, as was this work, it for a long time constituted the statute book of the “ Ancient Masons”; and hence those Lodges in America which derived their authority from the Dermott or Ancient Grand Lodge of England, accepted its contents as a true exposition of Masonic law; and several of their Grand Lodges caused similar works to be compiled for their own government, adopting the title of Ahiman Rezon, which thus became the peculiar designation of the volume which contained the fundamental law of the “Ancients, ” while the original title of Book of Constitutions continued to be retained by the “Moderns,” to designate the volume used by them for the same purpose.
Of the Ahiman Rezons compiled and published in America, the following are the principal:
1. Ahiman Rezon abridged and digested; as a help to all that are or would be Free and Accepted Masons, etc. Published by order of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania; by William Smith, D.D. Philadelphia, 1783. A new Ahiman Rezon was published by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1825.
2. Charges and Regulations of the Ancient
and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons, extracted from the Ahiman Rezon, etc. Published by the consent and direction of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia. Halifax, 1786.
3. The New Ahiman Rezon, containing the Laws and Constitution of Virginia, etc. By John K. Reade, present Deputy Grand Master of Virginia, etc. Richmond, 1791, Another edition was published in 1818, by James Henderson.
4. The Maryland Ahiman Rezon of Free and Accepted Masons, containing the History of Masonry from the establishment of the Grand Lodge to the present time; with their Ancient Charges, Addresses, Prayers, Lectures, Prologues, Epilogues, Songs, etc., collected from the Old Records, Faithful Traditions and Lodge Books; by G. Keating. Compiled by order of the Grand, Lodge of Maryland. Baltimore, 1797.
5. The Ahiman Rezon and Masonic Ritual, published by the order of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina and Tennessee. Newbern, N. C., 1805.
6. An Ahiman Rezon, for the use of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina, Ancient York Masons, and the Lodges under the Register and Masonic Jurisdiction thereof. Compiled and arranged with considerable additions, at the request of the Grand Lodge, and published by their authority. By Brother Frederick Dalcho, M.D., etc. Charleston, S. C., 1807. A second edition was published by the same author, in 1822, and a third, in 1852, by Dr. Albert G. Mackey. In this third edition, the title was changed to that of The Ahiman Rezon, or Book of Constitutions, etc. And the work was in a great measure expurgated of the peculiarities of Dermott, and made to conform more closely to the Andersonian Constitutions. A fourth edition was published by the same editor, in 1871, in which everything antagonistic to the original Book of Constitutions has been omitted.
7. The Freemason’s Library and General Ahiman Rezon; containing a delineation of the true principles of Freemasonry, etc.; by Samuel Cole. Baltimore, 1817. 8vo, 332 + 92 pp. There was a second edition in 1826.
8. Ahiman Rezon; prepared under the direction of the Grand Lodge of Georgia; by Wm. S. Rockwell, Grand Master of Masons of Georgia. Savannah, 1859. 4to and 8vo, 404 pp. But neither this work nor the third and fourth editions of the Ahiman Rezon of South Carolina have any connection in principle or theory with the Ahiman Rezon of Dermott. They have borrowed the name from the “ Ancient Masons," but they derive all their law and their authorities from the “ Modems,” or the legal Masons of the last century.
9. The General Ahiman Rezon and Freemason’s Guide, by Daniel Sickles. New York, 1866. 8vo, pp. 408. This book, like Rockwell’s, has no other connection with the archetypal work of Dermott but the name.
Many of the Grand Lodges of the United States having derived their existence and
authority from the Dermott Grand Lodge, the influence of his Ahiman Rezon was for a long time exercised over the Lodges of this country; and, indeed, it is only within a comparatively recent period that the true principles of Masonic law, as expounded in the first editions of Anderson’s Constitutions, have been universally adopted among American Masons.
It must, however, be observed, in justice to Dermott, who has been rather too grossly abused by Mitchell and a few other writers, that the innovations upon the old laws of Masonry, which are to be found in the Ahiman Rezon, are for the most part not to be charged upon him, but upon Dr. Anderson himself, who, for the first time, introduced them into the second edition of the Book of Constitutions, published in 1738. It is surprising, and accountable only on the ground of sheer carelessness on the part of the supervising committee, that the Grand Lodge should, in 1738, have approved of these alterations made by Anderson, and still more surprising that it was not until 1756 that a new or third edition of the Constitutions should have been published, in which these alterations of 1738 were expunged, and the old regulations and the old language restored. But whatever may have been the causes of this oversight, it is not to be doubted that, at the time of the formation of the Grand Lodge of the Ancients, the edition of the Book of Constitutions of 1738 was considered as the authorized exponent of Masonic law by the original or regular Grand Lodge of England, and was adopted, with but little change, by Dermott as the basis of his Ahiman Rezon. How much this edition of 1738 differed from that of 1723, which is now considered the only true authority for ancient law, and how much it agreed with Dermott’s Ahiman Rezon, will be evident from the following specimens of the first of the Old Charges, correctly taken from each of the three works:
First of the Old Charges in the Book of Constitutions, edit., 1723.
“ A Mason is obliged by his tenure to obey the moral law; and if he rightly understands the Art, he will never be a stupid Atheist, nor an irreligious libertine. But though in ancient times Masons were charged, in every country, to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it was, yet it is now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves; that is to be good men and true, or men of honour and honesty, by whatever denominations or persuasions they may be distinguished; whereby Masonry becomes the centre of union, and the means of conciliating true friendship among persons that must have remained at a perpetual distance.”
First of the Old Charges in the Book of Constitutions, edit., 1738.
“ A Mason is obliged by his tenure to observe the moral law, as a true Noachida; and if he rightly understands the Craft, he will
never be a stupid Atheist, nor an irreligious libertine, nor act against conscience.
“ In antient times, the Christian Masons were charged to comply with the Christian usages of each country whore they travelled or worked. Bui Masonry being found in all nations, even of divers religions, they are now only charged to adhere to that religion in which all men agree, (leaving each brother to his own particular opinions;) that is, to be good men and true, men of honour and honesty, by whatever names, religions, or persuasions they may be distinguished; for they all agree in the three great articles of Noah enough to preserve the cement of the Lodge. Thus, Masonry is the center of their union, and the happy means of conciliating persons that otherwise must have remained at a perpetual distance.”
First of the Old Charges in Dermott’s Ahiman Rezon.
“ A Mason is obliged by his tenure to observe the moral law, as a true Noachida; and if he rightly understands the Craft, he will never be a stupid Atheist, nor an irreligious libertine, nor act against conscience.
“ In ancient times, the Christian Masons were charged to comply with the Christian usages of each country where they travelled or worked; being found in all nations, even of divers religions.
“ They are generally charged to adhere to that religion in which all men agree, (leaving each brother to his own particular opinions;) that is, to be good men and true, men of honour and honesty, by whatever names, religions, or persuasions they may be distinguished; for they all agree in the three great articles of Noah enough to preserve the cement of the Lodge.
“ Thus, Masonry is the center of their union, and the happy means of conciliating persons that otherwise must have remained at a perpetual distance.”
The italics in the second and third extracts will show what innovations Anderson made, in 1738, on the Charges as originally published in 1723, and how closely Dermott followed him in adopting these innovations. There is, in fact, much less difference between the Ahiman Rezon of Dermott and Anderson’s edition of the Book of Constitutions, printed in 1738, than there is between the latter and the first edition of the Constitutions, printed in 1723. But the great points of difference between the “ Ancients ” and the “ Moderns,” points which kept them apart for so many years, are to be found in their work and ritual, for an account of which the reader is referred to the article Ancient Masons. [E. L. H.]
Ahisar. See Achishar.
Aholiab. A skilful artificer of the tribe of Dan, who was appointed, together with Bezaleel, to construct the tabernacle in the wilderness and the ark of the covenant. (Exodus xxxi. 6.) He is referred to in the Royal Arch degree of the English and American systems.
Aid and Assistance. The duty of aiding and assisting, not only all worthy distressed
Master Masons, but their widows and orphans also, “ wheresoever dispersed over the face of the globe,” is one of the most important obligations that is imposed upon every brother of the “ mystic tie ” by the whole scope and tenor of the Masonic Institution. The regulations for the exercise of this duty are few, but rational. In the first place, a Master Mason who is in distress has a greater claim, under equal circumstances, to the aid and assistance of his brother, than one who, being in the Order, has not attained that degree, or who is altogether a profane. This is strictly in accordance with the natural instincts of the human heart, which will always prefer a friend to a stranger, or, as it is rather energetically expressed in the language of Long Tom Coffin, “ a messmate before a shipmate, a shipmate before a stranger, and a stranger before a dog ”; and it is also strictly in accordance with the teaching of the Apostle of the Gentiles, who has said: “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians vi. 10.)
But this exclusiveness is only to be practised under circumstances which make a selection imperatively necessary. Where the granting of relief to the profane would incapacitate us from granting similar relief to our brother, then must the preference be given to him who is “ of the household.” But the earliest symbolic lessons of the ritual teach the Mason not to restrict his benevolence within the narrow limits of the Fraternity, but to acknowledge the claims of all men who need it, to assistance. Inwood has beautifully said: “ The humble condition both of property and dress; of penury and want, in which you were received into the Lodge, should make you at all times sensible of the distresses of poverty, and all you can spare from the call of nature and the due care of your families, should only remain in your possessions as a ready sacrifice to the necessities of an unfortunate, distressed brother. Let the distressed cottage feel the warmth of your Masonic zeal, and, if possible, exceed even the unabating ardour of Christian charity. At your approach let the orphan cease to weep, and in the sound of your voice let the widow forget her sorrow.” (Sermons, p. 18.)
Another restriction laid upon this duty of aid and assistance by the obligations of Masonry is, that the giver shall not be lavish beyond his means in the disposition of his benevolence. What he bestows must be such as he can give “ without material injury to himself or family.” No man should wrong his wife or children that he may do a benefit to a stranger, or even to a brother. The obligations laid on a Mason to grant aid and assistance to the needy and distressed seem to be in the following gradations: first, to his family; next, to his brethren; and, lastly, to the world at large._
So far this subject has been viewed in a general reference to that spirit of kindness which should actuate all men, and which it
is the object of Masonic teaching to impress on the mind of every Mason as a common duty of humanity, and whose disposition Masonry only seeks to direct and guide. But there is another aspect in which this subject may be considered, namely, in that peculiar and technical one of Masonic aid and assistance due from one Mason to another. Here there is a duty declared, and a correlative right inferred; for if it is the duty of one Mason to assist another, it follows that every Mason has the right to claim that assistance from his brother. It is this duty that the obligations of Masonry are especially intended to enforce; it is this right that they are intended to sustain. The symbolic ritual of Masonry which refers, as, for instance, in the First Degree, to the virtue of benevolence, refers to it in the general sense of a virtue which all men should practise. But when the Mason reaches the Third Degree, he discovers new obligations which restrict and define the exercise of this duty of aid and assistance. So far as his obligations control him, the Mason, as a Mason, is not legally bound to extend his aid beyond the just claimants in his own Fraternity. To do good to all men is, of course, inculcated and recommended; to do good to the household is enforced and made compulsory by legal enactment and sanction.
Now, as there is here, on one side, a duty, and on the other side a right, it is proper to inquire what are the regulations or laws by which this duty is controlled and this right maintained.
The duty to grant and the right to claim relief Masonically is recognized in the following passage of the Old Charges of 1722:
“ But if you discover him to be a true and genuine Brother, you are to respect him accordingly; and if he is in want, you must relieve hiim if you can, or else direct him how he may be relieved. You must employ him some days, or else recommend him to be employed. But you are not charged to do beyond your ability; only to prefer a poor brother, that is a good man and true, before any other poor people in the same circumstances.”
This written law agrees in its conditions and directions, so far as it goes, with the unwritten law of the Order, and from the two we may deduce the following principles:
1. The applicant must be a Master Mason. In 1722, the charitable benefits of Masonry were extended, it is true, to Entered Apprentices, and an Apprentice was recognized, in the language of the law, as “ a true and genuine brother.” But this was because at that time only the First Degree was conferred in subordinate Lodges, Fellow-Crafts and Master Masons being made in the Grand Lodge. Hence the great mass of the Fraternity consisted of Apprentices, and many Masons never proceeded any further. But the Second and Third Degrees are now always conferred in subordinate Lodges, and very few initiates voluntarily stop short of the Master’s Degree. Hence the mass of the Fraternity now consists of Master Masons, and the law which
formerly applied to Apprentices is, under our present organization, made applicable only to those who have become Master Masons.
2. The applicant must be worthy. We are to presume that every Mason is “ a good man and true ” until a Lodge has pronounced to the contrary. Every Mason who is “ in good standing,” that is, who is a regularly contributing member of a Lodge, is to be considered as “ worthy,” in the technical sense of the term. An expelled, a suspended, or a nonaffiliated Mason does not meet the required condition of “ a regularly contributing member.” Such a Mason is therefore not “ worthy,” and is not entitled to Masonic assistance.
3. The giver is not expected to exceed his ability in the amount of relief. The written law says, “ you are not charged to do beyond your ability”; the ritual says, that your relief must be “ without material injury to yourself or family.” The principle is the same in both.
4. The widow and orphans of a Master Mason have the claim of the husband and father extended to them. The written law says nothing explicitly on this point, but the unwritten or ritualistic law expressly declares that it is our duty “ to contribute to the relief of a worthy, distressed brother, his widow and orphans.”
5. And lastly, in granting relief or assistance, the Mason is to be preferred to the profane. He must be placed “ before any other poor people in the same circumstances.”
These are the laws which regulate the doctrine of Masonic aid and assistance. They are often charged by the enemies of Masonry with a spirit of exclusiveness. But it has been shown that they are in accordance with the exhortation of tiie Apostle, who would do good “ especially to those who are of the household,” and they have the warrant of the law of nature; for everyone will be ready to say, with that kindest-hearted of men, Charles Lamb, “ I can feel for all indifferently, but I cannot feel for all alike. I can be a friend to a worthy man, who, upon another account, cannot be my mate or fellow. I cannot like all people alike.” And so as Masons, while we should be charitable to all persons in need or in distress, there are only certain ones who can claim the aid and assistance of the Order, or of its disciples, under the positive sanction of Masonic law.
Aitchison’s - Haven Lodge (also spelled Atcheson, Aehlson). This was one of the oldest Operative Lodges consenting to the formation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1736. The age of this Lodge, like many or most of the oldest Lodges of Scotland, is not known. Some of its members signed the St. Clair Charters in 1600-1601. The place of its meeting (Aitchison-Haven) is no longer on the map, but was in the county of Midlothian. The origin of the town was from a charter of James V., dated 1526, and probably the Lodge dated near that period. Aitchison’s-Haven was probably the first meeting-place, but they
seem to have met at Musselburgh at a late; period.
Lyon, in his History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, speaks of trouble in the Grand Quarterly communication respecting representatives from this Lodge when (May, 1737) it was “ agreed that Atcheson’s Haven be deleted out of the books of the Grand Lodge, and no more called on the rolls of the Clerk’s highest peril.” It was restored to the roll in 1814, but becoming dormant, it was finally cut off in 1866. The Lodge of Edinburgh has long enjoyed the distinction of having the oldest preserved Lodge minute, which dated July, 1599.
Just recently Bro. R. E. Wallace-James has brought to light a minute-book bearing this title: The Bulk of the Actis and Ordinans of the Nobile Maisteris and fellows of Craft of the Ludg of Aitchison’s heavine, and contains a catalogue of the names of the fellows of Craft that are presently in the Zeir of God 1598.
The first page of this rare book bears in a bold hand the date, “ 1598.”
The minute is as follows:
The IX day of Januerie the Zeir of God upon ye quhilk day Robert Widderspone was maid fellow of Craft in ye presens of Wijzam Aytone Elder, Johne Fender being Warden, Johne Pedden Thomas Pettencrief John Cra- furd George Aytone Wilzame Aytone younger Hendrie Petticrief all fellowis of Craft upon ye quhilk day he chois George Aytone Johne Pedden to be his intenders and instructouris and also ye said Robert hes payit his xx sh. and his gluffis to everie Maister as efferis. See vol. xxiv., Trans. Quat. Cor. Lodge.
[E.E.C.]
Aitchison’s-Haven Manuscript. One of the “ Old Charges,” or records of Masonry now in the custody of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, formerly preserved in the archives of the Aitchison-Haven Lodge, which met at Musselburgh in Scotland. The MS. is On- grossed in the minute-book of Aitchison- Haven Lodge. The writer attests to his transcription in the following manner: “ Insert by me undersub and the 19“ of May, 1666, Jo. Auchinleck, clerk to the Masones of Achi- sones Lodge.”
It has been reproduced (with 24 lines in facsimile) by D. Murray Lyon in his History of the Lodge of Edinburgh.
Aix-la-Chapelle. (In German, Aachen.) A city of Germany, remarkable in Masonic history for a persecution which took place in the eighteenth century, and of which Gadicke (Freimaur. Lex.) gives the following account: In the year 1779, Ludwig Grienemann, a Dominican monk, delivered a course of Lenten sermons, in which he attempted to prove that the Jews who crucified Christ were Freemasons, that Pilate and Herod were Wardens in a Mason’s Lodge, that Judas, previous to his betrayal of his Master, was initiated into the Order, and that the thirty pieces of silver, which he is said to have returned, was only the fee which he paid for his initiation. Aix-la- Chapelle being a Roman Catholic city, the magistrates were induced, by the influence of
Grienemann, to issue a decree, in which they declared that anyone who should permit a meeting of the Freemasons in his house should, for the first offense, be fined 100 florins, for the second 200, and for the third, be banished from the city. The mob became highly incensed against the Masons, and insulted all whom they suspected to be members of the Order. At length Peter Schuff, a Capuchin, jealous of the influence which the Dominican Grienemann was exerting, began also, with augmented fervor, to preach against Freemasonry, and still more to excite the popular commotion. In this state of affairs, the Lodge at Aix-la-Chapelle applied to the princes and Masonic Lodges in the neighboring territories for assistance and protection, which were immediately rendered. A letter in French was received by both priests, in which the writer, who stated that he was one of the former dignitaries of the Order, strongly reminded them of their duties, and, among other things, said that “ many priests, a pope, several cardinals, bishops, and even Dominican and Capuchin monks, had been, and still were, members of the Order.” Although this remonstrance had some effect, peace was not altogether restored until the neighboring free imperial states threatened that they would prohibit the monks from collecting alms in their territories unless they ceased to excite the popular commotion against the Freemasons.
Akirop. The name given, in the ritual of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, to one of the ruffians celebrated in the legend of the Third Degree. The word is said in the ritual to signify an assassin. It might probably be derived from 2"lp, KaRaB, to assault or join battle; but is just as probably a word so corrupted by long oral transmission that its etymology can no longer be traced. (See Abiram.)
Alabama. On August 29, 1811, while Alabama was yet a part of Mississippi Territory, the Grand Lodge of Kentucky granted a dispensation for Madison Lodge, No. 21, in Madison County. On August 28, 1812, a Charter was granted to this Lodge, locating it at Huntsville, and was issued the same day, and the Master was installed in Grand Lodge. When the Territory was divided and Mississippi admitted into the Union in 1817, the Grand Lodge of Mississippi had not been organized, so that it never claimed jurisdiction outside of that State, and this Lodge remained under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky until the Grand Lodge of Alabama was formed.
The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee granted dispensations for Lodges in Alabama, as follows: Alabama Lodge, No. 21, at Huntsville, April 6, 1818; Washington Lodge at Hazel Green; in 1818; Rising Virtue Lodge at Tuscaloosa, m 1819; Halo Lodge at Cahawba, April 4, 1820; Moulton Lodge at Moulton, May 4, 1820; Franklin Lodge at Russellville, October 3, 1820; Tuscumbia Lodge at Courtland, March 3, 1821; and Farrar Lodge at Elyton, March 5,1821. Charters were granted to Alabama and Washington
Lodges, October 6, 1818; to Rising Virtue Lodge, October 5, 1819; and to Moulton, October 3,1820.
A convention to organize a Grand Lodge was held at Cahawba, June 1, 1821, and was in session five days.
The constitution, dated June 14, 1821, was published by itself: it was signed by the Grand Officers, ana the Representatives of nine Lodges, viz.: Madison Lodge, Alabama Lodge at Huntsville, Alabama Lodge at Claiborne, Rising Virtue Lodge, Halo Lodge, Moulton Lodge, Russellville Lodge, U. D., Farrar Lodge, U. D., and St. Stephen’s Lodge.
Thomas W. Farrar was elected Grand Master and Thomas A. Rogers Grand Secretary.
The Grand Chapter of Alabama was organized on the 2d of June, 1827, at the town of Tuscaloosa, and at the same time and place a Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters was established.
On the 27th of October, 1860, Sir Knt. B. B. French, Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of the United States, issued his mandate for the formation of a Grand Com- mandery of Alabama.
Alapa. A Latin word signifying “ a blow on the cheek with the open hand. Such a blow was given by the master to his manumitted slave as a symbol of manumission, and as a reminder that it was the last unrequited indignity which he was to receive. Hence, in medieval times, the same word was applied to the blow inflicted on the cheek of the newly created knight by the sovereign who created him, with the same symbolic signification. This was sometimes represented by the blow on the shoulder with the flat of a sword, which has erroneously been called the accolade. (See Knighthood.)
Alarm. The verb “to alarm” signifies, in Freemasonry, “ to give notice of the approach of some one desiring admission.” Thus, “ to alarm the Lodge” is to inform the Lodge that there is some one without who is seeking entrance. As a noun, the word “ alarm ” has two significations. 1. An alarm is a warning given by the Tiler, or other appropriate officer, y which he seeks to communicate with the interior of the Lodge or Chapter. In this sense the expression so often used, “ an alarm at the door,” simply signifies that the officer outside has given notice of his desire to communicate with the Lodge. 2. An alarm is also the peculiar mode in which this notice is to be given. In modern Masonic works, the number of knocks given in an alarm is generally expressed by musical notes. Thus, three dis- tinct knocks would be designated thus.^TH; two rapid and two slow ones thus, and three knocks three times repeated thus, m ^72 e^c’ Th6 word comes from the French “ alarme,” which in turn comes from the Italian “ all’arme,” literally a cry “ to arms,” uttered by sentinels surprised by the enemy. The legal meaning of to alarm is not to frighten, but to make one aware of the
necessity of defense or protection. _ And this is precisely the Masonic signification of the word.
Alaska. Masonry in regular form was introduced into Alaska by the establishment of Gastineaux Lodge, No. 124, at Douglass, late in 1904, under a warrant from the Grand Lodge of Washington. This was followed by Anvil Lodge, No. 140, at Nome; Mount Tu- neau, No. 147, at Tuneau; Tanan, No. 162, at Fairbanks: Valdez, No. 168, at Valdez; and Mount McKinley, No. 183, at Cordova; all under warrants from the same Grand Lodge.
[W. J. A.]
Alban, St. (See Saint Alban.)
Alberta (Canada). This Grand Lodge was established in 1905, and in 1910 had 34 Lodges and 2,380 brethren under its jurisdiction.
Albertus Magnus. A scholastic philosopher of the Middle Ages, of great erudition, but who had among the vulgar the reputation of being a magician. He was born at Lauingen, in Swabia, in 1205, of an illustrious family, his subtitle being that of Count of Bollstadt. He studied at Padua, and in 1223 entered the Order of the Dominicans. In 1249, he became head-master of the school at Cologne. In 1260, Pope Alexander VI. conferred upon him the bishopric of Ratisbon. In 1262, he resigned the episcopate and returned to Cologne, and, devoting himself to Ehilosophic pursuits for the remainder of his fe, died there in 1280. His writings were very voluminous, the edition published at Lyons, in 1651, amounting to twenty-one large folio volumes. Albertus has been connected with the Operative Masonry of the Middle Ages because he has been supposed by many to have been the real inventor of the German Gothic style of architecture. Heideloff, in his Bau- hiitte des Mittelalters, says that “ he recalled into life the symbolic language of the ancients, which had so long lain dormant, and adapted it to suit architectural forms.” The Masons accepted his instructions, and adopted in consequence that system of symbols which was secretly communicated only to the members of their own body, and served even as a medium of intercommunication. He is asserted to have designed the plan for the construction of the Cathedral of Cologne, and to have altered the Constitution of the Masons, and to have given to them a new set of laws.
Albrecht, Heinrich Christoph. A German author, who published at Hamburg, in 1792, the first and only part of a work entitled Materialen zu einer critischen Geschichte der Freimaurerei, i. e., Collections towards a Critical History of Freemasonry. Kloss says that this was one of the first attempts at a clear and rational history of the Order. Unfortunately, the author never completed his task, and only the first part of the work ever appeared. Albrecht was the author also of another work entitled GeheimeGeschichte eines Rosenkreuzers, or Secret History of a Rosicrucian, and of a series of papers which appeared in the Berlin Archiv. der Zeit, containing “ Notices of Free
masonry in the first half of the Sixteenth Century.” Albrecht adopted the theory first advanced by the Abb6 Grandidier, that Freemasonry owes its origin to the Steinmetzen of Germany.
Alchemy. The Neo-Platonicians introduced at an early period of the Christian era an apparently new science, which they called Arfa-nj/w; ieprf,. or the Sacred Science, which materially influenced the subsequent condition of the arte and sciences. In the fifth century arose, as the name of the science, alchemia, derived from the Arabic definite article al being added to chemia, a Greek word used in Diocletian’s decree against Egyptian works treating of the xn/da or transmutation of metals; the word seems simply to mean “ the Egyptian Art,” xw*f“,t>r the land of black earth, being the Egyptian name for Egypt, ana Julius Firmicius, in a work On the Influence of the Stars upon the Fate of Man, uses the phrase “ scientia alchemiae.” From this time the study of alchemy was openly followed. In the Middle Ages, and up to the end of the seventeenth century, it was an important science, studied by some of the most distinguished philosophers, such as Avicenna, Albertus Magnus, Raymond Lulli, Roger Bacon, Elias Ashmole, ana many others.
Alchemy—called also the Hermetic Philosophy, because it is said to have been first taught in Egypt by Hermes Trismegistus.
Freemasonry and alchemy have sought the same results (the lesson of Divine Truth and the doctrine of immortal life), and they have both sought it by the same method of symbolism. It is not, therefore, strange that in the eighteenth century, and perhaps before, we find an incorporation of much of the science of alchemy into that of Freemasonry. Hermetic rites and Hermetic degrees were common, and their relics are still to be found existing in degrees which do not absolutely trace their origin to alchemy, but which show some of its traces in their rituals. The Twenty-eighth Degree of the Scottish Rite, or the Knight of the Sun, is entirely a Hermetic degree, and claims its parentage in the title of “ Adept of Masonry,” by which it is sometimes known.
Aidworth, the Hon. Mrs. This lady, who is well known as “ the Lady Freemason,” was the Hon. Elizabeth St. Leger, daughter of Lord Doneraile of Doneraile Court, Co. Cork, Ireland. She was born in 1693, and married in 1713 to Richard Aidworth, Esq., of Newmarket Court, Co. Cork. There appears to be no doubt that while a girl she received the First and Second degrees of Freemasonry in Ireland, but of the actual circumstances of her initiation several different accounts have been given.
Of these the most authentic appears to be one issued at Cork, with the authority of the family, in 1811, and afterward republished in London.
From this it appears that her father, Viscount Doneraile, together with his sons and a few friends, was accustomed to open a Lodge and carry on the ordinary ceremonies at Don-
eraile Court, and it was during one of these meetings that the occurrence took place which is thus related:
“ It happened on this particular occasion that the Lodge was held in a room separated from another, as is often the case, by stud and brickwork. The young lady, being giddy and thoughtless, and determined to gratify her curiosity, made her arrangements accordingly, and, with a pair of scissors, (as she herself related to the mother of our informant,) removed a portion of a brick from the wall, and placed herself so as to command a full view of everything which occurred in the next room; so placed, she witnessed the two first degrees in Masonry, which was the extent of the proceedings of the Lodge on that night. Becoming aware, from what she heard, that the brethren were about to separate, for the first time she felt tremblingly alive to the awkwardness and danger of her situation, and began to consider how she could retire without observation. She became nervous and agitated, and nearly fainted, but so far recovered herself as to be fully aware of the necessity of withdrawing as quickly as possible; in the act of doing so, being in the dark, she stumbled against and overthrew something, said to be a chair or some ornamental piece of furniture. The crash was loud; and the Tiler, who was on the lobby or landing on which the doors both of the Lodge room and that where the Honorable Miss St. Leger was, opened, gave the alarm, burst open the door and, with a light in one hand and a drawn sword in the other, appeared to the now terrified and fainting lady. He was soon joined by the members of the Lodge present, and luckily; for it is asserted that but for the prompt appearance of her brother, * Lord Doneraile, and other steady members, her life would have fallen a sacrifice to what was then esteemed her crime. The first care of his Lordship was to resuscitate the unfortunate lady without alarming the house, and endeavor to learn from her an explanation of what had occurred; having done so, many of the members being furious at the transaction, she was placed under guard of the Tiler and a member, in the room where she was found. The members reassembled and deliberated as to what, under the circumstances, was to be done, and over two long hours she could hear the angry discussion ana her death deliberately proposed and seconded. At length the good sense of the majority succeeded in calming, in some measure, the angry and irritated feelings of the rest of the members, when, af ter much had been said and many things proposed, it was resolved to give her the option of submitting to the Masonic ordeal to the extent she had witnessed, (Fellow Craft,) and if die refused, the brethren were again to consult. Being waited on to decide, Miss St. Leger, exhausted and terrified by the storminess of the debate, which she could not avoid
♦ This is a mistake; her father, the first Lord Doneraile, did not die until 1727, when his daughter had been married for fourteen years.
partially hearing, and yet, notwithstanding all, with a secret pleasure, gladly and unhesitatingly accepted the offer. She was accordingly initiated.”
A very different account is given in the Freemason's Quarterly Review for 1839 (p. 322). being reprinted from the Cork Standard of May 29, 1839.
According to this story Mrs. Aidworth was seized with curiosity about the mysteries of Freemasonry and set herself to discover them; so she made friends with the landlady of an inn in Cork in which a Lodge used to meet, and with her connivance was concealed in a clockcase which was placed in the Lodge room; however, she was unable to endure the discomfort of her confinement in such narrow quarters and betrayed herself by a scream, on which she was discovered by the members of the Lodge and then and there initiated.
. It will be observed that according to this version the lady was already married before she was initiated. The story is said to be supported by the testimony of two members of Lodge 71, at Cork, in which Lodge the initiation is said to have taken place; this, however, can hardly be correct, for that Lodge did not meet at Cork until 1777, whereas, Mrs. Aidworth died in 1773.
If, however, the commoner version of the story is preferred, according to which Miss St. Leger was initiated as a young girl, then the occurrence must have taken place before her marriage in 1713, and therefore before the establishment of Grand Lodges and the introduction of warranted and numbered Lodges, and it is therefore a proof of the existence of at least one Lodge of Speculative Masons in Ireland at an early period.
After her marriage Mrs. Aidworth seems to have kept up her connection with the Craft, for her portrait in Masonic clothing, her apron and jewels, are still in existence, ana her name occurs among the subscribers to Dassigny’s Enquiry of 1744; and it has even been stated that she presided as Master of her Lodge.
The story has been fully discussed by Bros. Conder, Crawley, and others in the eighth volume (1895) of the Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge of London, to which the curious are referred for further information.
[E. L. H.}
Alethophilote, Lover of Truth. Given by Thory as the Fifth Degree of the Order of African Architects. (Acta Latomorum,!., 292.)
Alexander I., Emperor of Russia. Alexander I. succeeded Paul I. in the year 1801, and immediately after his accession renewed the_ severe prohibitions of 'his predecessor against all secret societies, and especially Freemasonry. In 1803, M. Boeber, counselor of state and director of the military school at St. Petersburg, resolved to remove, if possible, from the mind of the Emperor the prejudices which he had conceived against the Order. Accordingly, in an audience which he had solicited and obtained, he described the object of the Institution and the doctrine of its mysteries in such a way as to lead the Emperor to
rescind the obnoxious decrees, and to add these words: “What you have told me of the Institution not only induces me to grant it my protection and patronage, but even to ask for initiation into its mysteries. Is this possible to be obtained? ” M. Boeber replied: “Sire, I cannot myself reply to the question. But I will call together the Masons of your capital, and make your Majesty’s desire known; and I have no doubt that they will be eager to comply with your wishes.” Accordingly Alexander was soon after initiated, and the Grand Orient of all the Russias was in consequence established, of which M. Boeber was elected Grand Master. (Acta Latomorum, i., 218.)
Alexandria, School of. When Alexander built the city of Alexandria in Egypt, with the intention of making it the seat of his empire, he invited thither learned men from all nations, who brought with them their peculiar notions. The Alexandria School of Philosophy which was thus established, by the commingling of Orientalists, Jews, Egyptians, and Greeks, became eclectic in character, and exhibited a heterogeneous mixture of the opinions of the Egyptian priests, of the Jewish Rabbis, of Arabic teachers, and of the disciples of Plato and Pythagoras. From this school we derive Gnosticism and the Kabbala, and, above all, the system of symbolism ana allegory which lay at the foundation of the Masonic philosophy. To no ancient sect, indeed, except perhaps the Pythagoreans, have the Masonic teachers been so much indebted for the substance of their doctrines, as well as the esoteric method of communicating them, as to that of the School of Alexandria. Both Aristobulus and Philo, the two most celebrated chiefs of this school, taught, although a century intervened between their births, the same theory, that the sacred writings of the Hebrews were, by their system of allegories, the true source of all religious and philosophic doctrine, the literal meaning of which alone was for the common people, the esoteric or hidden meaning being kept for the initiated. Freemasonry still carries into practise the same theory.
Allncourt, Francois d’. A French gentleman, who, in the year 1776, was sent with Don Oyres de Ornellas Pragao, a Portuguese nobleman, to prison, by the governor of the island of Madeira, for being Freemasons. They were afterward sent to Lisbon, and confined in a common jail for fourteen months, where they would have perished had not the Masons of Lisbon supported them, through whose intercession with Don Martinio de Mello they were at last released. (Smith, Use and Abuse of Freemasonry , p. 206.)
Allah. (Assyrian (Fig. 1), Hu; Aramaic, ?I7X, elah; Hebrew, 1WX, Ubah.') The Arabic name of God, derived from (Fig. 2) Hah, god, and the article (Fig. 3) al, expressing the God by way of eminence. In the great profession of the Unity, on which is founded the religion of Islam, both terms are used, as, pronounced “ LA il£na ill’ AlUh,” there is no god but God, the real meaning of the expression being, “ There is only one God.” Mohammed relates
that in his night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, on ascending through the seven heavens, he beheld above the throne of God this formula; and the green standard of the
(Fig. 1.) (Fig. 2.) (Fig. 3.)
JJ,
Prophet was adorned with the mystic sentence. It is the first phrase lisped by the infant, and the devout Moslem utters the profession of the faith at all times, in joy, in sorrow, in praise, in prayer, in battle, and with his departing breath the words are wafted to heaven; for among the peculiar virtues of these words is that they may be spoken without any motion of the lips. The mourners on their way to the grave continue the strain in melancholy tones. Around the supreme name is clustered the masbaha, or rosary, of the ninety-nine beautiful names of God, which are often repeated by the Mohammedan in his devotions.
[W. S. Paterson.]
Allegiance. Every Mason owes allegiance to'the Lodge, Chapter, or other body of which he is a member, and also to the Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter or other supreme authority from which that body has received its charter. But this is not a divided allegiance. If, for instance, the edicts of a Grand and a Subordinate Lodge conflict, there is no question which is to be obeyed. . Supreme or governing bodies in Masonry claim and must receive a paramount allegiance.
Allegory. A discourse or narrative in which there is a literal and a figurative sense, a patent and a concealed meaning; the literal or patent sense being intended, t>y analogy or comparison, to indicate the figurative or concealed one. Its derivation from the Greek, SAXor and iyepetew, to say something different, that is, to day something where the language is one thing and the true meaning another, exactly expresses the character of an allegory. It has been said that there is no essential difference between an allegory and a symbol. There is not in design, but there is in their character. An allegory may be interpreted without any previous conventional agreement, but a symbol cannot. Thus, the legend of the Third Degree is an allegory, evidently to be interpreted as teaching a restoration to life: and this we learn from the legend itself, without any previous understanding. The sprig of acacia is a symbol of the immortality of the soul. But this we know only because such meaning had been conventionally determined when the symbol was first established. It is evident, then, that an allegory whose meaning is obscure is imperfect. The enigmatical meaning should be easy of interpretation; and hence
Lemidre, a French poet, has said: " L’alle- gorie habite un palais diaphane”—Allegory lives in a transparent palace. All the legends of Freemasonry are more or less allegorical, and whatever truth there may be in some of them in an historical point of view, it is only as allegories or legendary symbols that they are of importance. The English lectures have therefore very properly defined Freemasonry to be “ a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.”
The allegory was a favorite figure among the ancients, and to the allegorizing spirit are we to trace the construction of the entire Greek and Roman mythology. Not less did it prevail among the older Aryan nations, and its abundant use is exhibited in the religions of Brahma and Zoroaster. The Jewish Rabbis were greatly addicted to it, and carried its employment, as Maimonides intimates (More Nevochim, III., xliii.), sometimes to an excess. Their Midrash, or system of commentaries on the sacred book, is almost altogether allegorical. Aben Ezra, a learned Rabbi of the twelfth century, says, “ The Scriptures are like bodies, and allegories are like the garments with which they are clothed. Some are thin like fine silk, ana others are coarse and thick like sackcloth.” Our Lord, to whom this spirit of the Jewish teachers in his day was familiar, inculcated many truths in parables, all of which were allegories. The primitive Fathers of the Christian Church were thus infected; and Origen (Epist. ad Darn.), who was especially addicted to the habit, tells us that all the Pagan philosophers should be read in this spirit: “ hoc facere solemus quando philoso- phos legimus.” Of modern allegorizing writers, the most interesting to Masons are Lee, the author of The Temple of Solomon portrayed by Scripture Light, and John Bunyan, who wrote Solomon’s Temple Spiritualized.
Alliance, Sacred. An organization of twenty-one brethren possessing the ultimate degree of the Scottish Rite formed in New York, September 19, 1872, who assemble annually on that day. One by one, in the due course of time, this Assembly is to decrease until the sad duty will devolve on some one to banquet alone with twenty draped chairs and covers occupied by the imaginary presence of his fellows. It was instituted to commemorate the breaking of a dead-lock in the close corporation of the Supreme Council by the admission of four very prominent members of the Fraternity.
Allied Masonic Degrees. A body has been formed in England called the Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees, in order to govern various Degrees or Orders having no central authority of their own. The principal degrees controlled by it are those of St. Lawrence the Martyr, Knight of Constantinople, Grand Tiler of King Solomon, Secret Monitor, Red Cross of Babylon, and Grand High Priest, besides a large number, perhaps about fifty, of “ side degrees,” of which some are actively worked and some are not.
Allocution* The address of the presiding
officer of a Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is sometimes so called. It was first used by the Council for the Southern Jurisdiction of the IJnited States, and is derived from the usage of the Roman Church, where certain addresses of the Pope to the Cardinals are called allocutions, ana this is to be traced to the customs of Pagan Rome, where the harangues of the Generals to their soldiers were called allocutions.
Allowed. In the old manuscript Constitutions, this word is found in the now unusual sense of “ accepted.” Thus, “ Every Mason of the Craft that is Mason allowed, ye shall do to him as ye would be done unto yourself.” (Lansdowne MS., circa 1600.) Mason allowed means Mason accepted, that is, approved. Phillips, in his New World of Words (1690), defines the verb allow, “ to give or grant; to approve of; to permit or suffer.” Latimer, in one of his sermons, uses it in this sense of approving or accepting, thus: “ St. Peter, in forsaking his old boat and nets, was allowed as much before God as if he had forsaken all the riches in the world.” In a similar sense is the word used in the Office of Public Baptism of Infants, in the Common Prayer-Book of the Church of England.
All-Seeing Eye. An important symbol of the Supreme Being, borrowed by the Freemasons from the nations of antiquity. Both the Hebrews and the Egyptians appear to have derived its use from that natural inclination of figurative minds to select an organ as the symbol of the function which it is intended peculiarly to discharge. Thus, the foot was often adopted as the symbol of swiftness, the arm of strength, and the hand of fidelity. On the same principle, the open eye was selected as the symbol of watchfulness, and the eye of God as the symbol of Divine watchfulness and care of the universe. The use of the symbol in this sense is repeatedly to be found in the Hebrew writers. Thus, the Psalmist says (Ps. xxxiv. 15): “ The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry,” which explains a subsequent passage (Ps. cxxi. 4), in which it is said: “ Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
In the Apocryphal Book of the Conversation of God with Moses on Mount Sinai, translated by the Rev. W. Cureton from an Arabic MS. of the fifteenth century, and published by the Philobiblon Society of London, the idea of the eternal watchfulness of God is thus beautifully allegorized:
“ Then Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, dost thou sleep or not? The Lord said unto Moses, I never deep: but take a cup and fill it with water. Then Moses took a cup and filled it with water, as the Lord commanded him. Then the Lord cast into the heart of Moses the breath of slumber; so he slept, and the cup fell from his hand, and the water which was therein was spilled. Then Moses awoke from his sleep. Then said God to Moses, I declare by my power, and by my glory, that if I were to withdraw my providence from the heavens
and the earth, for no longer a space of time than thou hast slept, they would at once fall to ruin and confusion, like as the cup fell from thy hand.”
On the same principle, the Egyptians represented Osiris, their chief deity, by the symbol of an open eye, and placed this hieroglyphic of him in all their temples. His symbolic name, on the monuments, was represented by the eye accompanying a throne, to which was sometimes added an abbreviated figure of the god, and sometimes what has been called a hatchet, but which may as correctly be supposed to be a representation of a square.
The All-Seeing Eye may then be considered as a symbol of God manifested in his omnipresence—his guardian and preserving character—to which Solomon alludes in the Book of Proverbs (xv. 3) when he says: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding (or, as in the Revised Version, keeping watch upon) the evil and the good.” It is a symbol of the Omnipresent Deity.
All-Souls’ Day. The 2d of November. A festival in the Romish Church for prayers in behalf of all the faithful dead. It is kept as a feast day by Chapters of Rose Croix.
Almanac, Masonic. Almanacs for the special use of the Fraternity are annually published in many countries of Europe, but the custom has not extended to America. As early as 1752, we find an Almanach desFrancs- Magons en Ecosse published at The Hague. This, or a similar work, was continued to be published annually at the same place until the year 1778. (Kloss, Bibliographic, Nos. 107-9.) The first English work of the kind appeared in 1775, under the title of The Freemason’s Calendar, or an Almanac for the year 1775, containing, besides an accurate and useful Calendar of all remarkable occurrences for the year, many useful and curious particulars relating to Masonry. Inscribed to Lord Petre, G. M., by a Society of Brethren. London, printed for the Society of Stationers. This Work was without any official authority, but two years after the Freemason’s Calendar for 1777 was published “ under the sanction of the Grand Lodge of England.” A Masonic Year Book is now issued annually by the Grand Lodge of England, and most of the English Provinces publish Masonic Almanacs. ,
Almighty. In Hebrew 11!? 7K, El Shaddai. The name by which God was known to the patriarchs before he announced himself to Moses by his tetragrammatonic name of Jehovah. (See Exodus vi. 3.) It refers to his power and might as the Creator and Ruler of the universe, and hence is translated in the Septuagint by varroKpdrwp, and in the Vulgate by omnipotens.
Almond-Tree. When it is said in the passage of Scripture from the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes, sometimes read during the ceremonies of the Third Degree, “ the almond-tree shall flourish,” reference is made to the white flowers of that tree, and the allegoric signification is to old age, when the hairs of the head shall become gray.
Almoner. An officer elected or appointed in the continental Lodges of Europe to take charge of the contents of the alms-box, to carry into effect the charitable resolutions of the Lodge, and to visit sick and needy brethren. A physician is usually selected in preference to any other member for this office. An almoner may also be appointed among the officers of an English Lodge. In the United States the officer does not exist, his duties being performed by a committee of charity. It is an important office in all bodies of the Scottish Rite.
Alms-Box. A box which, toward the close of the Lodge, is handed around by an appropriate officer for the reception of such donations for general objects of charity as the brethren may feel disposed to bestow. This laudable custom is very generally practised in the Lodges of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and universally in those of the Continent. The newly initiated candidate is expected to contribute more liberally than the other members. Bro. Hyde Clarke says (Lon.Freem. Mag., 1859, p. 1166) that “ some brethren are in the habit, on an occasion of thanksgiving with them, to contribute to the box of the Lodge more than on other occasions.” This custom has not been adopted in the Lodges of America, except in those of French origin and in those of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
Almsgiving. Although almsgiving, or the pecuniary relief of the destitute, was not one of the original objects for which the Institution of Freemasonry was established, yet, as in every society of men bound together by a common tie, it becomes incidentally, yet necessarily, a duty to be practised by all its members in their individual as well as in their corporate capacity. In fact, this virtue is intimately interwoven with the whole superstructure of the Institution, and its practise is a necessary corollary from all its principles. At an early period in his initiation the candidate is instructed in the beauty of charity by the most impressive ceremonies, which are not easily to be forgotten, and which, with the same benevolent design, are repeated from time to time during his advancement to higher degrees, in various forms and under different circumstances. “ The true Mason,” says Bro. Pike, “ must be, and must have a right to be, content with himself; and he can be so only when he lives not for himself alone, but for others who need his assistance and have a claim upon his sympathy.” And the same eloquent writer lays down this rule for a Mason’s almsgiving: “ Give, looking for nothing again, without consideration of future advantages; give to children, to old men, to the unthankful, and the dying, and to those you shall never see again; for else your alms or courtesy is not charity, but traffic and merchandise. And omit not to relieve the needs of your enemy and him who does you injury.” (See Exclusiveness of Masonry.)
Alnwick Manuscript. This manuscript, which is now in the possession of the New
castle College of the “Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia,” is written on twelve quarto pages as a preface to the minute-book of the “ Company and Fellowship of Freemasons of a Lodge held at Alnwick,” where it appears under the heading of “ The Masons’ Constitutions.” The date of the document is September 29, 1701, “ being the general head meeting day.” It was first published in 1871 inHughan’s Masonic Sketches and Reprints (Amer, ed.), and again in 1872 by the same author in his Old Charges of the British Freemasons. In this latter work, Bro. Hughan says of the records of this old Lodge that, “ ranging from 1703 to 1757 they mostly refer to indentures, fines, and initiations, the Lodge from first to last remaining true to its operative origin. The members were required annually to ’ appear at the Parish Church of Alnwicke with their approns on and common squares as aforesaid on St. John’s Day in Christmas, when a sermon was provided and preached by some clergyman at their appointment.’ A. D. 1708.” The MS. has since been reproduced in facsimile by the Newcastle College of Rosicrucians in 1895.
Al-oni-Jah. In the Egyptian mysteries, this is said to have been the name given to the aspirant in the highest degree as the secret name of the Supreme Being. , In its component parts we may recognize the Al or El of the Hebrews, the Aum or triliteral name of the Indian mysteries, and the D'' Jah of the Syrians.
Aloyau, Societe de 1’. The word Aloyau is the French name for a sirloin of beef and hence the title of this society in English would be The Society of the Sirloin. 11 was a Masonic association, which existed in France before the revolution of 1789, until its members were dispersed at that time. They professed to be the possessors of many valuable documents relating to the Knights Templar and, besides, to be (ActaLatomorum, i., 292) their successors. (See Temple, Order of the.)
Alpha and Omega. The first and last letters of the Greek language, referred to in the Royal Master and some of the higher degrees. They are explained by this passage in Revelations, ch. xxii., v. 13.: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Alpha and Omega is, therefore, one of the appellations of God, equivalent to the beginning and end of all things, and so referred to in Isaiah xliv. 6, “ I am the first and I am the last.”
Alphabet, Angels’. In the old rituals of the Fourth or Secret Master’s Degree of the Scottish and some other Rites, we find this passage: “The seventy-two names, like the name of the Divinity, are to be taken to the Kabbalistic Tree ana the Angels’ Alphabet.” The Kabbalistic Tree is a name given by the Kabbalists to the arrangement of the ten Seph- iroth (which see). The Angels’ Alphabet is called by the Hebrews 2122, chetdb
hamnlachim, or the writing of the angels. Gaf- farel says (Curios. Inouis., ch. xiii., 2) that the stars, according to the opinion of the Hebrew
writers, are ranged in the heavens in the form of letters, and that it is possible to read there whatsoever of importance is to happen throughout the universe. And the great English Hermetic philosopher, Robert Fludd, says, in his Apology for theBrethren of the Rosy Cross, that there are characters in the heavens formed from the disposition of the stars, just as geometric lines and ordinary letters are formed from points; and he adds, that those to whom Goa has granted the hidden knowledge of reading these characters will also know not only whatever is to happen, but all the secrets of philosophy. The letters thus arranged in the form of stars are called the Angels’ Alphabet. They have the power and articulation but not the form of the Hebrew letters, and the Kabbalists say that in them Moses wrote the tables of the law. The astrologers, and after them the alchemists, made much use of this alphabet; and its introduction into any of the high degree rituals is an evidence of the influence exerted on these degrees by the Hermetic philosophy. Agrippa in his Ocadt Philosophy, and Kircher in his (Edi- pus Egyptiacus, and some other writers, have given copies qf this alphabet. It may also be found in Johnson’s Typographia. But it is in the mystical books of the Kabbalists that we must look for full instructions on this subject.
Alphabet, Hebrew. Nearly all of the significant words in the Masonic rituals are of Hebrew origin, and in writing them in the rituals the Hebrew letters are frequently used. For convenience of reference, that alphabet is here given. The Hebrews, like other ancient nations, had no figures, and therefore made use of the letters of their alphabet instead of numbers, each letter having a particular numerical value. They are, therefore, affixed in the following table:
Aleph |
X |
A |
1 |
Beth |
2 |
B |
2 |
Gimel |
2 |
G |
3 |
Daleth |
D |
4 |
|
He |
n |
H |
5 |
Vau |
i |
VorO |
6 |
Zain |
I |
Z |
7 |
Cheth |
n |
CH |
8 |
Teth |
is |
T |
9 |
Yod |
“> |
I or Y |
10 |
Caph |
CorK |
20 |
|
Lamed |
L |
30 |
|
Mem |
M |
40 |
|
Nun |
N |
50 |
|
Samech |
0 |
S |
60 |
Ain |
r |
Guttural 70 |
|
Be |
D |
P |
80 |
Tsaddi |
Tz |
90 |
|
Koph |
P |
QorK |
100 |
Resh |
2 |
R |
200 |
Shin |
V |
SH |
300 |
Tau |
n |
T |
400 |
Final Caph |
CorK |
500 |
|
Final Mem |
□ |
M |
600 |
Final Nun |
N |
700 |
|
Final Pe |
n |
P |
800 |
Final Tsaddi |
Y |
TZ |
900 |
Alphabet, Masonic. See Cipher Writing.
Alphabet, Number of Letters in. In the Sandwich Island alphabet there are 12 letters; the Burmese, 19; Italian, 20; Bengalese, 21; Hebrew, Syrian, Chaldee, Phoenician, and Samaritan, 22 each; Latin, 23: Greek, 24; French, 25; German, Dutch, ana English, 26 each; Spanish and Sclavonic, 27 each; Persian ana Coptic, 32 each; Georgian, 35; Armenian, 38; Russian, 41; Muscovite, 43; Sanskrit and Japanese, 50 each; Ethiopia ana Tartarian, 202 each.
Alphabet, Samaritan. It is believed by scholars that, previous to the captivity, the alphabet now called the Samaritan was employed by the Jews in transcribing the copies of the law, and that it was not. until their return from Babylon that they adopted, instead of their ancient characters, the Chaldee or square letters, now called the Hebrew, in which the sacred text, as restored by Ezra, was written. Hence, in the more recent rituals of the Scottish Rite, especially those used in the United States, the Samaritan character is beginning to be partially used. For convenience of reference, it is therefore here inserted. The letters are the same in number as the Hebrew, with the same power and the same names; the only difference is in form.
Aleph |
✵ft |
Lamed |
2 |
Beth |
9 |
Mem |
|
Gimel |
Nun |
J |
|
Daleth |
Samech |
||
He |
X |
Ayin |
£ |
Vau |
X |
Pe |
|
Zain |
A |
Tsade |
|
Cheth |
Koph |
V |
|
Teth |
Resch |
A |
|
Yod |
Shin |
||
Kaph |
Tau |
A |
Alpina. In 1836, and some years afterward, General Assemblies of the Masons of Switzerland were convened at Zurich, Berne, and Basle, which resulted in the union of the two Masonic authorities of that confederation, under the name of the Grand Lodge Alpina. The new Grand Lodge was organized at Zurich, by fourteen Lodges, on the 24th of July, 1844.
In 1910 it had 34 Lodges under its jurisdiction with a membership of 3,842.
Altar. The most important article of furniture in a Lodge room is undoubtedly the altar. It is worth while, then, to investigate its character and its relation to the altars of other religious institutions. The definition of an altar is very simple. It is a structure elevated above the ground, and appropriated to some service connected with worship, such as the offering of oblations, sacrifices, or prayers.
Altars, among the ancients, were generally made of turf or stone. When permanently erected and not on any sudden emergency, they were generally built in regular courses of
Masonry, and usually in a cubical form. Altars were erected long before temples. Thus, Noah is said to have erected one as soon as he came forth from the ark. Herodotus gives the Egyptians the credit of being the first among the heathen nations who invented altars.
Among the ancients, both Jews and Gentiles, altars were of two kinds—for incense and for sacrifice. The latter were always erected in the open air, outside and in front of the Temple. Altars of incense only were permitted within the Temple walls. Animals were slain, and offered on the altars of burnt-offerings. On the altars of incense, bloodless sacrifices were presented and incense was burnt to the Deity.
The Masonic altar, which, like everything else in Masonry, is symbolic, appears to combine the character and uses of both of these altars. It is an altar of sacrifice, for on it the candidate is directed to lay his passions and vices as an oblation to the Deity, while he offers up the thoughts of a pure heart as a fitting incense to the Grand Architect of the Universe. The altar is, therefore, the most holy place in a Lodge.
Among the ancients, the altar was always invested with peculiar sanctity. Altars were places of refuge, and the supplicants who fled to them were considered as having placed themselves under the protection of the Deity to whom the altar was consecrated, and to do violence even to slaves and criminals at the altar, or to drag them from it, was regarded as an act of violence to the Deity himself, and was hence a sacrilegious crime.
The marriage covenant among the ancients was always solemnized at the altar, and men were accustomed to make all their solemn contracts and treaties by taking oaths at altars. An oath taken or a vow made at the altar was considered as more solemn and binding than one assumed under other circumstances. Hence, Hannibal’s father brought him to the Carthaginian altar when he was about to make him swear eternal enmity to the Roman power.
In all the religions of antiquity, it was the usage of the priests and the people to pass around the altar in the course of the sun, that is to say, from the east, by the way of the south, to the west, singing paeans or hymns of praise as a part of their worship.
From all this we see that the altar in Masonry is not merely a convenient article of furniture, intended, like a table, to hold a Bible. It is a sacred utensil of religion, in- tended? like the altars of the ancient temples, for religious uses, and thus identifying Masonry, by its necessary existence in our Lodges, as a religious institution. Its presence should also lead the contemplative Mason to view the ceremonies in which it is employed with solemn reverence, as being part of a really religious worship.
The situation of the altar in the French and Scottish Rites is in front of the Worshipful Master, and, therefore, in the East. In the York Rite, the altar is placed in the center of
the room, or more properly a little to the East of the center.
The form of a Masonic altar should be a cube, about three feet high, and of corresponding proportions as to length and width, having, in imitation of the Jewish altar, four horns, one at each comer. The Holy Bible with the Square and Compass should be spread open
WEST.
upon it, while around it are to be placed three lights. These lights are to be in the East, West, and South, and should be arranged as in the annexed diagram. The stars show the position of the light in the East, West, and South. The black dot represents the position North of the altar where there is no hght, because in Masonry the North is the place or darkness.
Altenburg, Congress of. Altenberg is a small place in the Grand Dukedom of Weimar, about two miles from the city of Jena. Here in the month of June, 1764, the notorious Johnson, or Leucht, who called himself the Grand Master of the Knights Templar and the head of the Rite of Strict Observance, assembled a Masonic congress for the purpose of establishing this Rite and its system of Templar Masonry. But he was denounced and expelled by the Baron de Hund, who, having proved Johnson to be an impostor and charlatan, was himself proclaimed Grand Master of the German Masons by the congress. (See Johnson and Hund; also Strict Observance, Rite of.)
Altenburg, Lodge at. One of the oldest Lodges in Germany is the Lodge of “ Archimedes of the Three Tracing Boards ” {Archimedes zu den drei Reissbreutem) in Altenburg. It was instituted January 31,1742, by a deputation from Leipsic. In 1775 it joined the Grand Lodge of Berlin, but in 1788 attached itself to the Eclectic Union at Frankfort-on- the-Main, which body it left in 1801, and established a directory of its own, and installed a Lodge at Gera and another at Schneeberg. In the year 1803 the Lodge published a Book of Constitutions in a folio of 244 pages, a work which is now rare, and which Lenning says is one of the most valuable contributions to Masonic literature. Three Masonic journals were also produced by the Altenburg school of historians and students, one of which —the Bruder blatter—continued to appear until 1854. In 1804 the Lodge struck a medal upon the occasion of erecting a new hall. In 1842 it celebrated its centennial anniversary.
Amal-sagghi. (Great labor.) The name of the 5th step of the mystic ladder of Kadosh, A. A. Scottish Rite.
Amaranth. A plant well known to the ancients, the Greek name of which signifies “ never withering.” It is the Celosia cristata of the botanists. The dry nature of the flowers causes them to retain their freshness for a very long time, and Pliny says, although incorrectly, that if thrown into water they will bloom anew. Hence it is a symbol of immortality, and was used by the ancients in their funeral rites. It is often placed on coffins at the present day with a like symbolic meaning, and is hence one of the decorations of a Sorrow Lodge.
Amaranth, Order of the. Instituted by Queen Christina of Sweden in 1653, and numbering 31, composed of 15 knights, 15 ladies, and the Queen as the Grandmistress. The insignia consisted of two letters A interlaced, one being inverted, within a laurel crown, and bearing the motto, Dolce nella memoria. The annual festival of this equestrian Order was held at the Epiphany . _A society of a similar name, androgynous in its nature, was instituted in 1883, under the supervision of Robert Macoy, of New York, to supplement the Order of the Eastern Star, having a social and charitable purpose, the ritual of which, as well as its constitutional government, has met with much commendation.
Amar-Jah. Hebrew God spake;
a significant word in the high degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
Amen. Sometimes used as a response to a Masonic prayer, though in England the formula is “ so mote it be.” The word Amen signifies in Hebrew verily, truly, certainly. “ Its proper place,” says Gesenius, “ is where one person confirms the words of another, and adds his wish for success to the other’s vows.” It is evident, then, that it is the brethren of the Lodge, and not the Master or Chaplain, who should, pronounce the word. Yet the custom in the United States is for the Master or Chaplain to say “Amen ’’and the brethren respond, “ So mote it be.” It is a response to the prayer. The Talmudists have many superstitious notions in respect to this word. Thus, in one treatise (Uber Musar), it is said that whosoever pronounces it with fixed attention and devotion, to him the gates of Paradise will be opened; and, again, whosoever enunciates the word rapidly, his days shall pass rapidly away, and whosoever dwells upon it, pronouncing it distinctly and slowly, his life shall be prolonged.
Amendment. All amendments to the bylaws of a Lodge must be submitted to the Grand or Provincial or District Lodge for its approval.
An amendment to a motion pending before a Lodge takes precedence of the original motion, and the question must be put upon the amendment first. If the amendment be lost, then the question will be on the motion; if the amendment be adopted, then the question will be on the original motion as so amended;
and if then this question be lost, the whole motion falls to the ground.
The principal Parliamentary rules in rela- tion to amendments which are applicable to the business of a Masonic Lodge are the following:
1. An amendment must be made in one of three ways: by adding or inserting certain words, by striking out certain words, or by striking out certain words and inserting others.
2. Every amendment is susceptible of an amendment of itself, but there can be no amendment of the amendment of an amendment; such a piling of questions one upon another would tend to embarrass rather than to facilitate business. “ The object which is proposed to be effected by such a proceeding must be sought by rejecting the amendment to the amendment, and then submitting the proposition in the form of an amendment of the first amendment in the form desired.” Cushing (Elem. Law and Pract. Leg. Ass., § 1306) illustrates this as follows: “ If a proposition consists of AB, and it is proposed to amend by inserting CD, it may be moved to amend the amendment by inserting EF; but it cannot be moved to amend this amendment, as, for example, by inserting G. The only mode by which this can be reached is to reject the amendment in the form in which it is presented, namely, to insert EF, and to move it in the form in which it is desired to be amended, namely, to insert EFG.”
3. An amendment once rejected cannot be again proposed.
4. An amendment to strike out certain words having prevailed, a subsequent motion to restore them is out of order.
5. An amendment may be proposed which will entirely change the character and substance of the original motion. The inconsistency or incompatibility of a proposed amendment with the proposition to be amended, though an argument, perhaps, from its rejection by the Lodge, is no reason for its suppression by the presiding officer.
6. An amendment, before it has been proposed to the body for discussion, may be withdrawn by the mover; but after it has once been in possession of the Lodge, it can only be withdrawn by leave of the Lodge. In the Congress of the United States, leave must be obtained by unanimous consent; but the usage in Masonic bodies is to require only a majority vote.
7. An amendment having been withdrawn by the mover, may be again proposed by another member. /
8. Several amendments may be proposed to a motion or several amendments to an amendment, and the question will be put on them in the order of their presentation. But as an amendment takes precedence of a motion, so an amendment to an amendment takes precedence of the original amendment.
9. An amendment does not require a seconder, although an original motion always does.
There are many other rules relative to amendments which prevail in Parliamentary
bodies, but these appear to be the only ones which regulate this subject in Masonic assemblies.
Amentl. See Book of the Dead.
American Mysteries. Among the many evidences of a former state of civilization among the Aborigines of America which seem to prove their origin from the races that inhabit the Eastern hemisphere, not the least remarkable is the existence of Fraternities bound by mystic ties, and claiming, like the Freemasons, to possess an esoteric knowledge, which they carefully conceal from all but the initiated. De Witt Clinton relates, on the authority of a respectable native minister, who had received the signs, the existence of such a society among the Iroquois. The number of the members was limited to fifteen, of whom six were to be of the Seneca tribe, five of the Oneidas, two of the Cayugas, and two of the St. Regis. They claim that their institution has existed from the era of the creation. The times of their meeting they keep secret, and throw much mystery over all their proceedings.
Brinton tells us in his interesting and instructive work on The Myths of the New World (p. 285), that among the red race of America “ the priests formed societies of different grades of illumination, only to be entered by those willing to undergo trying ordeals, whose secrets were not to be revealed under the severest penalties. The Algonkins had three such grades—the waubeno, the meda, and the jossakeed, the last being the highest. To this no white man was ever admitted. All tribes appear to have been controlled by these secret societies. Alexander von Humboldt mentions one, called that of the Botuto, or Holy Trumpet, among the Indians of the Orinoco, whose members must vow celibacy, and submit to severe scourgings and fasts. The Collahuayas of Peru were a guild of itinerant quacks and magicians, who never remained permanently in one spot.”
American Rite. It has been proposed, and I think with propriety, to give this name to the series of degrees conferred in the United States. The York Rite, which is the name by which they are usually designated, is certainly a misnomer, for the York Rite properly consists of only the degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason, including in the last degree the Holy Royal Arch. This was the Masonry that existed in England at the time of the revival of the Grand Lodge in 1717. The abstraction of the Royal Arch from the Master’s Degree, and its location as a separate degree, produced that modification of the York Rite which now exists in England, and which should properly be called the Modern York Rite, to distinguish it from the Ancient York Rite, which consisted of only three degrees. But in the United States still greater additions have been made to the Rite, through the labors of Webb and other lecturers, and the influence insensibly exerted on the Order by the introduction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
into this country. The American modificar tion of the York Rite, or the American Rite, consists of nine degrees, viz.:
1. Entered Apprentice.
2. Fellow-Craft.
3. Master Mason.
Given in Symbolic Lodges, and ’under the control of Grand Lodges.
4. Mark Master.
5. Past Master.
6. Most Excellent Master.
Given in Chapters, and under the ’control of Grand
7. Holy Royal Arch. Chapters.
8. Royal Master.
Q. Select Master.
Given in Councils, and under the control of Grand Councils.
A tenth degree, called Super-Excellent Master, is conferred in some Councils as an honorary rather than as a regular degree; but even as such it is repudiated by many Grand Councils. To these, perhaps, should be added three more degrees, namely, Knight of the Red Cross, Knight Templar, and Knight of Malta, which are given in Commanderies, and are under the control of Grand Commanderies, or, as they are sometimes called, Grand Encampments. . But the degrees of the Com- mandery, which are also known as the degrees of Chivalry, can hardly be called a part of the American Rite. The possession of the Eighth and Ninth D egrees is not considered a necessary qualification for receiving them. The true American Rite consists only of the nine degrees above enumerated.
, There is, or may be, a Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter, Grand Council, and Grand Com- mandery in each State, whose jurisdiction is distinct and sovereign within its own territory. There is no General Grand Lodge, or Grand Lodge of the United States, though several efforts have been made to form one (see General Grand Lodge); there is a General Grand Chapter, but all Grand Chapters are not subject to it, and a Grand Encampment to which all Grand Commanderies of the States are subject.
American (Military) Union Lodge. In 1776 six Master Masons, four Fellow-Crafts, and oneEntered Apprentice, all butone, officers in the Connecticut Line of the Continental army in camp at Roxbury, Mass., petitioned Richard Gridley, Deputy Grand Master of St. John’s Grand Lodge, for a warrant forming them into a regular Lodge. On the 15th of Februaiy, a warrant was issued to Joel Clark, appointing and constituting him First Master of American Union Lodge, “ erected at Roxbury, or wherever your body shall remove on the Continent of America, provided it is where no Grand Master is appointed.” The Lodge was duly constituted and almost immediately moved to New York, and met on April 23, 1776, by permission of Dr. Peter Middleton, Grand Master of Masons in the Province of New York. It was agreed at this meeting to petition him to confirm the Massachusetts warrant as, under its terms, they were without authority to meet in New York. Dr. Middle- ton would not confirm the warrant of Ameri
can Union Lodge, but in April, 1776, caused a new warrant to be issued to the same brethren, under thename of Military Union Lodge, No. 1, without recalling the former warrant. They thus presented an anomaly of a Lodge holding warrants from and yielding obedience to two Grand Bodies in different jurisdictions. The spirit of the brethren, though, is shown in their adherence to the name American Union in their minutes, and the only direct acknowledgment of the new name is in a minute providing that the Lodge furniture purchased by American Union “ be considered only as lent to the Military Union Lodge.”
This Lodge followed the Connecticut Line of the Contmental army throughout the War of Independence. It was Gen. Samuel Holden Parsons of American Union who returned to the British army Lodge Unity, No. 18, their warrant, which had come into possession of the American army at the taking of Stony Point in 1779. American Union participated in a convention at Morristown, N. J., January 31, 1780, when it was proposed to nominate Gen. Washington as “Grand Master over the thirteen United States of America,” and it was on the suggestion of Rev. Israel Evans, of American Union that the “ Temple of Virtue,” for the use of the army and the army Lodges, was erected at New Windsor (Newburgh), N. Y.. during the winter of 1782-83. The Lodge followed the army to the Northwest Territory after the War of Independence, and participated in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Ohio. Shortly afterward the Lodge withdrew from the Grand Lodge of Ohio and did not appear on the roll thereafter, but pursued an mdependent existence for some years. The present American Union Lodge at Marietta, Ohio, No. 1 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, was organized by members of the old Lodge. The first minute- book, from the original constitution to April 23, 1783, is in the library of the Grand Lodge of New York. During the war many prominent patriots were members, and several times Washington was recorded as a visitor.
[C. A. B.]
Ameth. Properly, Emeth, which see.
Amethyst. Hebrew achlemah.
The ninth stone in the breastplate of the high priest. The amethyst is a stone in hardness next to the diamond, and of a deep red and blue color resembling the breast of a dove.
Amlcists, Order of. A secret association of students, once very extensively existing among the universities of Northern Germany. Thory (Acta Latomorum, i., 292) says that tms association was first established in the College of Clermont, at Paris. An account of it was published at Halle, in 1799, by F. C. Laukhard, under the title of Der MoseUaner—oder Ami-1 cisten—Orden nach seiner Entstehung, innem Verfassung und Verbreitung auf den aeutschen Universitaten, &c. The Order was finally suppressed ,by the imperial government.
Amis Reunis, Loge des. The Lodge of United Friends, founded at Paris in 1771, was distinguished for the talents of many of its
members, among whom was Savalette de Langes, and played for many years an important part in the affairs of French Masonry. In its bosom was originated, in 1775, the Rite of Philalethes. In 1784 it convoked the first Congress of Paris, which was held in 1785, for the laudable purpose of endeavoring to disentangle Freemasonry from the almost inextricable confusion into which it had fallen by the invention of so many rites and new degrees. The Lodge was in possession of a valuable library for the use of its members, and had an excellent cabinet of the physical and natural sciences. Upon the death of Savalette, who was the soul of the Lodge, it fell into decay, and its books, manuscripts, and cabinet were scattered. (Clavel, p. 171.) All of its library that was valuable was transferred to the archives of the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Scottish Rite. Barruel gives a brilliant picture of the concerts, balls, and suppers given by this Lodge in its halcyon days, to which “ les Crdsus de la Maqonnerie ” congregated, while a few superior members were engaged, as he says, in hatching political and revolutionary schemes, but really in plans for the elevation of Masonry as a philosophic institution. (Barruel, Memoires pour servir & I’Histoire du Jacobinisms, iv., 343.)
Ammon. See Amun.
Ammonltlsh War. A war to which allusion is made in the Fellow-Craft’s Degree. The Ammonites were the descendants of the younger son of Lot, and dwelt east of the river Jordan, but originally formed no part of the land of Canaan, tile Israelites having been directed not to molest them for the sake of their great progenitor, the nephew of Abraham. But in the time of Jephthah, their king having charged the Israelites with taking away a part of his territory, the Ammonites crossed the river Jordan ana made war upon the Israelites. Jephthah defeated them with great slaughter, and took an immense amount of spoil. It was on account of this spoil—in which they had no share—that the Ephraimites rebelled against Jephthah, and gave him battle. (SeeEphraim- ites.)
Amor Honor et Justltia. A motto of the Grand Lodge of England used prior to the union of 1813, which is to be found graven on the “ Masonic Token ” of 1794, commemora^ tive of the election of the Prince of Wales as M. W. Grand Master, November 24, 1790.
AmpMbalus. See Saint Amphibalus.
Ample Form. When the Grand Master is present at the opening or closing of the Grand Lodge, it is said to oe opened or closed “ in ample form.” Any ceremony performed by the Grand Master is said to be done “ in ample form ”: when performed by the Deputy, it is said to be “in due form”; and by any other temporarily presiding officer, it is “in form.” (See Form.)
AmrU. The name given to the Phoenician carpenter, who is represented in some legends as one of the Assassins, Fanor and Metusael being the other two.
Amshaspands. The name given in the Per
sian Avesta to the six good genii or powerful angels who continuously wait round the throne of Ormudz, or Ormazd. Also the name of the six summer months and the six productive working properties of nature.
Amulet. See Talisman.
Amun. The Supreme God among the Egyptians. He was a concealed god, and is styled “ the Celestial Lord who sheds light on hidden things.” From him all things emanated, though he created nothing. He corresponded with the Jove of the Greeks, and, consequently, with the Jehovah of the Jews. His symbol was a ram, which animal was sacred to him. On the monuments he is represented with a human face and limbs free, having two tall straight feathers on his head, issuing from a red cap; in front of the plumes a disk is sometimes seen. His body is colored a deep blue. He is sometimes, however, represented with the head of a ram, and the Greek and Roman writers in general agree in describing him as being ram-headed. There is some confusion on this point. Kenrick says that Nouf was, in the majority of instances, the ram-headed god of the Egyptians; but he admits that Amun may have been sometimes so represented.
Anachronism. Ritual makers, especially when they have been ignorant and uneducated, have often committed anachronisms by the introduction into Masonic ceremonies of matters entirely out of time. Thus, the use of a bell to indicate the hour of the night, practised in the Third Degree; the placing of a celestial and a terrestrial globe on the summit of the pillars of the porch, in the Second Degree; and quotations from the New Testament and references to the teachings of Christ, in the Mark Degree, are all anachronisms. But, although it were to be wished that these disturbances of the order of time had been avoided, the fault is not really of much importance. The object of the ritualist was simply to convey an idea, and this he has done in the way which he supposed would be most readily comprehended bjr those for whom the ritual was made. The idea itself is old, although the mode of conveying it may be new. Thus, the bell is used to indicate a specific point of time, the globes to symbolize the universality of Masonry, and passages from the New Testament to inculcate the practise of duties whose obligations are older than Christianity.
Anagram. The manufacture of anagrams out of proper names or other words has always been a favorite exercise, sometimes to pay a compliment—as when Dr. Burney made Honor est a Nilo out of Horatio Nelson—and sometimes for purposes of secrecy, as when Roger Bacon concealed under an anagram one of the ingredients in his recipe for gunpowder, that the world might not too easily become acquainted with the composition of so dangerous a material. The same method was adopted by the adherents of the house of Stuart when they manufactured their system of high degrees as a political engine, and thus,
under an anagrammatic form, they made many words to designate then: friends or, principally, their enemiesof the opposite party. Most of these words it has now become impossible to restore to their original form, but several are readily decipherable. Thus, among the Assassins of the Third Degree, who symbolized, with them, the foes of the monarchy, we recognize Romeel as Cromwell, and Hoben as Bohun, Earl of Essex. It is only thus that we can ever hope to trace the origin of such words in the high degrees as Tercy, Stolkin, Morphey, etc. To look for them m any Hebrew root would be a fruitless task. The derivation of many of them, on account of the obscurity of the persons to whom they refer, is, perhaps, forever lost; but of others the research for their meaning may be more successful.
Ananiah. The name of a learned Egyptian, who is said to have introduced the Order of Mizraim from Egypt into Italy. Dr. Oliver (Landm., ii., 75) states the tradition, but doubts its authenticity. It is in all probability apocryphal. (See Mizraim, Rite of.)
Anchor and Ark. The anchor, as a symbol of hope, does not appear to have belonged to the ancient and classic system of symbolism. The Goddess Spes, or Hope, was among the ancients represented in the form of an erect woman, holding the skirts of her garments in her left hand, and in her right a flower-shaped cup. As an emblem of hope, the anchor is peculiarly a Christian, and thence a Masonic, symbol. It is first found inscribed on the tombs in the catacombs of Rome, and the idea of using it is probably derived from the language of St. Paul (Heb. vi. 19), “ which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast.” The primitive Christians “ looked upon life as a stormy voyage, and glad were the voyagers when it was done, ana they had arrived safe in port. Of this the anchor was a
symbol, and when their brethren carved it over the tomb, it was to them an expression of confidence that he who slept beneath had reached the haven of eternal rest.” (Kip, Catacombs of Rome, p. 112.) The strict identity between this and the Masonic idea of the symbol will be at once observed.
“ The anchor,” says Mrs. Jameson (Sac. andLegend, Art. I., 34), “ is the Christian symbol of immovable firmness, hope, and patience; and we find it very frequently in the catacombs, and on the ancient Christian gems.” It is the peculiar attribute of St. Clement, and is often inscribed on churches dedicated to him.
But there is a necessary connection between an anchor and a ship, and hence, the latter image has also been adopted as a symbol of the voyage of life; but, unlike the anchor, it was not confined to Christians, but was with the heathens also a favorite emblem of the close of life. Kip thinks the idea may have
been derived from them by the Christian Fathers, who gave it a more elevated meaning. The ship is in Masonry substituted by the ark. Mrs. Jameson says (irf supra) that “ the Ark of Noah floating safe amid the deluge, in which all things else were overwhelmed, was an obvious symbol of the Church of Christ. . . . The bark of St. Peter tossed in the storm, and by the Redeemer guided safe to land, was also considered as symbolical.”
These symbolical views have been introduced into Masonry, with, however, the more extended application which the universal character of the Masonic religious faith required. Hence, in the Third Degree, whose teachings all relate to life and death, “ the ark and anchor are emblems of a well-grounded hope and a well-spent life. They are emblematical of that Divine ark which safely wafts us over this tempestuous sea of troubles, and that anchor which shall safely moor us in a peaceful harbor where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary shall find rest.” Such is the language of the lecture of the Third Degree, and it gives all the information that is required on the esoteric meaning of these symbols. The history I have added of their probable origin will no doubt be interesting to the Masonic student.
Anchor, Knight of the. See Knight of the Anchor.
Anchor, Order of Knights and Ladles of the. A system of androgynous Masomy which arose in France in the year 1745. It was a schism which sprang out of the Order of Felicity, from which it differed only in being somewhat more refined. Its _ existence was not more durable than that of its predecessor. (Clavel, Hist. pitt. delaF. M., p. 111.) (See Felicity, Order of.)
Ancient and Accepted Rite. See Scottish Rite.
Ancient Craft Masonry. This is the name given to the three symbolic degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason. The degree of Royal Arch is not generally included under this appellation; although, when considered (as it redly is) a complement of the Third Degree, it must of course constitute a part of Ancient Craft Masonry. In the articles of union between the two Grand Lodges of England, adopted in 1813, it is declared that “ pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees and no more, viz.: those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft, and the Master Mason, including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch?’
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. The title most generally assumed by the English and American Grand Lodges. (See Titles of Grand Lodges.)
Ancient or Antient or Atholl Masons. In 1751 some Irish Masons in London established a body which they called the “ Grand Lodge of England according to the Old Institutions,” and they styled themselves “ Ancients ’ and the members of the regular Grand Lodge, established in 1717, “ Moderns.” Thus Dermott, in his Ahiman aeton, divides
the Masons of England into two classes, , as follows:
“ The Ancients, under the name of Free and Accepted Masons, according to the old Institutions; the Moderns, under the name of Freemasons of England. And though a similarity of names, yet they differ exceedingly in makings, ceremonies, knowledge, Masonic language, and installations; so much, that they always have been, and still continue to be, two distinct societies, totally independent of each other.” (7th ed., p. xxx.)
The “ Ancients ” maintained that they alone preserved the ancient tenets and practises of Masonry, and that the regular Lodges had altered the Landmarks and made innovations, as they undoubtedly had done about the year 1730, when Prichard’s Masonry Dissected appeared.
For a long time it was supposed that the “ Ancients ” were a schismatic body of seceders from the Premier Grand Lodge of England, but Bro. Henry Sadler, in his Masonic Facts and Fictions, has proved that this view is erroneous, and that they were really Irish Masons who settled in London.
In the year 1756, Laurence Dermott, then Grand Secretary, and subsequently the Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Ancients, published a Book of Constitutions for the use of the Ancient Masons, under the title of Ahiman Rezon, which work went through several editions, and became the code of Masonic law for all who adhered, either in England or America, to the Grana Lodge of the Ancients, while the Grand Lodge of the Modems, or the regular Grand Lodge of England, and its adherents, were governed by the regulations contained in Anderson’s Constitutions, the first edition of which had been published in 1723.
The dissensions between the two Grand Lodges of England lasted until the year 1813, when, as will be hereafter seen, the two bodies became consolidated under the name and title of the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England. Four years afterward a similar and final reconciliation took place in America; by the union of the two Grand Lodges in South Carolina. At this .day all distinction between the Ancients and Modems has ceased, and it lives only in the memory of the Masonic student.
What were the precise differences in the rituals of the Ancients and the Modems, it is now perhaps impossible to discover, as from their esoteric nature they were only orally communicated; but some shrewd and near approximations to their real nature may be drawn by inference from the casual expressions which have fallen from the advocates of each in the course of their long and generally bitter controversies.
It has already been said that the regular Grand Lodge is stated to have made certain changes in the modes of recognition, in consequence of the publication of Samuel Prichard’s spurious revelation. These changes were, as we traditionally learn, a simple transposition
of certain words, by which that which had originally been the first became the second, and that which had been the second became the first. Hence Dr. Dalcho, the compiler of the original Ahiman Rezon of South Carolina, who was himself made in an Ancient Lodge, but was acquainted with both systems, says (Edit. 1822, p. 193), “ The real difference in point of importance was no greater than it would be to dispute whether the glove should be placed first upon the right or on the left.” A similar testimony as to the character of these changes is furnished by an address to the Duke of Atholl, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ancients, in which it is said: “ I would beg leave to ask, whether two persons standing in the Guildhall of London, the one facing the statues of Gog and Magog, and the other with his back turned on them, could, with any degree of propriety, quarrel about their stations; as Gog must be on the right of one, and Magog on the right of the other. Such then, and far more insignificant, is the disputatious temper of the seceding brethren, that on no better grounds than the above they choose to usurp a power and to aid in open and direct violation of the regulations they had solemnly engaged to maintain, and by every artifice possible to be devised endeavored to increase their numbers.” It was undoubtedly to the relative situation of the pillars of the porch, and the appropriation of their names m the ritual, that these innuendoes referred. As we have them now, they were made by the change effected by the Grand Lodge of Moderns, which transposed the original order in which they existed before the change, and in which order they are still preserved by the continental Lodges of Europe.
It is then admitted that the Moderns did make innovations in the ritual; and although Preston asserts that the changes were made by the regular Grand Lodge to distinguish its members from those made by the Ancient Lodges, it is evident, from the language of the address just quoted, that the innovations were the cause ana not the effect of the schism, and the inferential evidence is that the changes were made in consequence of, and as a safeguard against, spurious publications, and were intended, as has already been stated, to distinguish impostors from true Masons, and not schismatic or irregular brethren from those who were orthodox and regular.
But outside of and beyond this transposition of words, there was another difference existing between the Ancients and the Moderns. Dalcho, who was acquainted with both systems, says that the Ancient Masons were in possession of marks of recognition known only to themselves. His language on this subject is positive. “ The Ancient York Masons,” he says, “ were certainly in possession of the original, universal marks, as they were known and given in the Lodges they had left, and which had descended through the Lodge of York, and that of England, down to their day. Besides these, we find they had peculiar marks of their own, which were unknown
to the body from which they had separated, and were unknown to the rest of the Masonic world. We haVe, then, the evidence that they had two sets of marks; viz.: those which they had brought with them from the original body, and those which they had, we must suppose, themselves devised.” (P. 192.)
Dermott, in his Ahiman Rezon, confirms this statement of Dalcho, if, indeed, it needs confirmation. He says that “ a Modern Mason may with safety communicate all his secrets to an Ancient Mason, but that an Ancient Mason cannot, with like safety, communicate all his secrets to a Modern Mason without further ceremony.” And he assigns as a reason for this, that “as a science comprehends an art (though an art cannot comprehend a science), even so Ancient Masonry contains everything valuable among the Moderns, as well as many other things that cannot be revealed without additional ceremonies.”
Now, what were these “ other things ” known by the Ancients, and not known by the Moderns? What were these distinctive marks, which precluded the latter from visiting the Lodges of the former? Written history is of course silent as to these esoteric matters. But tradition, confirmed by, and at the same time explaining, the hints and casual intimations of contemporary writers, leads us to the almost irresistible inference that they were to be found in the different constructions of the Third, or Master’s Degree, and the introduction into it of the Royal Arch element; for, as Dr. Oliver (Hist. Eng. R. A., p. 21) says, “ the division of the third degree and the fabrication of the English Royal Arch appear, on their own showing, to have been the work of the Ancients.” And hence the Grand Secretary of the regular Grand Lodge, or that of the Moderns, replying to the application of an Ancient Mason from Ireland for relief, says: “ Our society (i. e., the Moderns) is neither Arch, Royal Arch, nor Ancient, so that you have no right to partake of our charity.”
This, then, is the solution of the difficulty. The Ancients, besides preserving the regular order of the words in the First and Second Degrees, which the Moderns had transposed (a transposition which has been retained in the Lodges of Britain and America, but which has never been observed by the continental Lodges of Europe, who continue the usage of the Ancients), also finished the otherwise imperfect Third Degree with its natural complement, the Royal Arch, a complement with which the Moderns were unacquainted, or which they, if they knew it once, had lost.
The following is a list of t e Grand Masters of the Grand Lodge of Ancients from its organization to its dissolution: 1753, Robert Turner; 1754-55, Edward Vaughan; 1756-59, Earl of Blessington; 1760-65, Earl of Kelly; 1766-70, The Hon. Thomas Matthew; 1771- 74, third Duke of Atholl; 1775-81, fourth Duke of Atholl; 1782-90, Earl of Antrim; 1791-1813, fourth Duke of Atholl; 1813, Duke of Kent, under whom the reconciliation of the two Grand Lodges was accomplished.
The Grand Lodge of Ancient Masons was, shortly after its organization, recognized by the Grand Lodges of Scotland ana Ireland, and, through the ability and energy of its officers, but especially Laurence Dermott, at one time its Grand Secretary, and afterward its Deputy Grand Master, and the author of its Ahiman Rezon, or Book of Constitutions, it extended its influence and authority into foreign countries and into the British Colonies of America, where it became exceedingly popular, and where it organized several Provincial Grand Lodges, as, for instance, in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina, where the Lodges working under this authority were generally known as “ Ancient York Lodges.”
In consequence of this, dissensions existed, not only in the mother country, but also in America, for many years, between the Lodges which derived their warrants from the Grand Lodge of Ancients and those-which derived theirs from the regular or so-called Grand Lodge of Moderns. But the Duke of Kent having been elected, in 1813, the Grand Master of the Ancients, while his brother, the Duke of Sussex, was Grand Master or the Modems, a permanent reconciliation was effected between the rival bodies, and by mutual compromises the present “UnitedGrand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England ” was established.
Similar unions were consummated in America, the last being that of the two Grand Lodges of South Carolina, in 1817, and the distinction between the Ancients and the Moderns was forever abolished, or remains only as a melancholy page in the history of Masonic controversies. From their connection with the Dukes of Atholl, the “Ancient ” Masons are sometimes known as “Atholl” Masons. [E. L. H.]
Ancient Reformed Rite. A Rite differing very slightly from the French Rite, or Rite Modems, of which, indeed, it is said to be only a modification. It is practised by the Grand Lodge of Holland and the Grand Orient of Belgium. It was established in 1783 as one of the results of the Congress of Wilhelmsbad.
Ancient of Days. A title applied, in the visions of Daniel, to Jehovah, to signify that his days are beyond reckoning. Used by Webb in the Most Excellent Master’s song.
“ Fulfilled is the promise
By the Ancibnt of Days, To bring forth the cape-stone
With shouting and praise.”
Ancients. See Ancient Masons.
Ancient, The. The Third Degree of the German Union of Twenty-two.
Ancient York Masons. One of the names assumed by the Lodges of Ancient Masons, which see.
Anderson, James. The Rev. James Anderson, D.D., is well known to all Masons as the compiler of the celebrated Book of Constitutions. The date and place of hie birth have not yet been discovered with certainty,
but the date was probably 1680, and the place, Aberdeen in Scotland, where he was educated and where he probably took the degrees of M.A. and D.D. At some unascertained
period he migrated to London, and our first precise knowledge of him, derived from a document in the State Records, is that on February 15, 1709-10, he, as a Presbyterian minister, took over the lease of a chapel in Swallow Street, Piccadilly, from a congregation of French Protestants which desired to dispose of it because of their decreasing prosperity. During the following decade he published several sermons, and is said to have lost a considerable sum of money dabbling in the South Sea scheme.
Where and when his connection with Free
masonry commenced has not yet been discovered, but he must have been a fairly prominent member of the Craft, because on September 29,1721, he was ordered by the Grand Lodge, which had been established in London in 1717, to “ digest the old Gothic Constitutions in a new and better method.” On the 27th of December following, his work was finished, and the Grand Lodge appointed a committee of fourteen learned brethren to examine and report upon it. Their report was made on the 25th of March, 1722; and, after a few amendments, Anderson’s work was formally ap- groved, and ordered to be printed for the enefit of the Lodges, which was done in 1723. This is now the well-known Book of Constitutions, which contains the history of Masonry (or, more correctly, architecture), the Ancient Charges, and the General Regulations, as the same were in use in many old Lodges. In 1738 a second edition was published. Both editions have become exceedingly rare, and copies of them bring fancy prices among the coUectors of old Masonic books. Its intrinsic value is derived only from the fact that it contains the first printed copy of the Old Charges and also the General Regulations. The history of Masonry which precedes these, and constitutes the body of the work, is fanciful, unreliable, and pretentious to a degree that often leads to absurdity. The Craft is greatly indebted to Anderson for his labors in reorganizing the Institution, but doubtless it would have been better n he had contented himself with giving the records of the Grand Lodge from 1717 to 1738, which are contained in his second edition, and with preserving for us the Charges and Regulations, which, without his industry, might have been lost. No Masonic writer would now venture to quote Anderson as authority for the history of the Order anterior to the eighteenth century. It must also be added that in the republication of the Old Charges in the edition of 1738, he made several important alterations and interpolations, which justly gave some offense to the Grand Lodge, and which render the second edition of no authority in this respect.
In the year 1723, when his first edition of the Constitutions appeared, he was Master of Lodge 17, and he was appointed Grand Warden, and also became Chaplain to the
Earl of Buchan; in 1732 he published a voluminous work entitled Royal Genealogies, or the Genealogical Tables of Emperors, Kings and Princes, from Adam to these times; in 1733 he issued a theological pamphlet on Unity in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; in 1734 he removed with a part of his congregation from his chapel in Swallow Street to one in Lisle Street, Leicester Fields, in consequence of some difference with his people, the nature of which is unknown; in 1735 he represented to Grand Lodge that a new edition of the Book of Constitutions was become necessary, and he was ordered to lay his materials before the present and former Grand Officers; in 1738 the new Book of Constitutions was approved of by Grand Lodge and ordered to be printed.
Anderson died on May 28, 1739, and was buried in Bunhill Fields with a Masonic funeral, which is thus reported in The Daily Post of June 2d: “Last night was interr d the corpse of Dr. Anderson, a Dissenting Teacher, in a very remarkable deep Grave. His Pall was supported by five Dissenting Teachers, and the Rev. Dr. Desaguliers: It was followed by about a Dozen of Free-Masons, who encircled the Grave; and after Dr. Earle had harangued on the Uncertainty of Life, &c., without one word of the Deceased, the Brethren; in a most solemn dismal Posture, lifted up their Hands, sigh’d, and struck their aprons three times in Honour to the Deceased.’’
Soon after his death another of his works, entitled News from Elysium or Dialogues of the Dead, was issued, and in 1742 there appeared the first volume of a Genealogical History of the House of Yvery, also from his pen.
[E. L. H.]
Anderson Manuscript. In the first edition of the Constitutions of the Freemasons, published by Dr. Anderson in 1723, the author quotes on pp. 32,33 from “ a certain record of Freemasons, written in the reign of King Edward IV.” Preston also cites it in his Illustrations, (p. 182, ed. 1788), but states that it is said to havebeen in the possession of Elias Ashmole, but was unfortunately destroyed, with other papers on the subject of Masonry, at the Revolution. Anderson makes no reference to Ashmole as the owner of the MS., nor to the fact of its destruction. If the statement of Preston was confirmed by other evidence, its title would properly be the “ Ashmole MS.”; but as it was first mentioned by Anderson, Bro. Hughan has very properly called it the “ Anderson Manuscript.” It contains the Prince Edwin legend.
Andre, Christopher Karl. An active Mason, who resided at Brunn, in Moravia, where, in 1798, he was the Director of the Evangelical Academy. He was very zealously employed, about the end of the last century, in connection with other distinguished Masons, in the propagation of the Order in Germany. He was the editor and author of a valuable periodical work, which was published in 5 numbers, 8vo, from 1793 to 1796, at Gotha and Halle under the title of Der Freimaurer Oder compendidse Bibliothek
alles Wissenswurdigen -Uber geheime Gesell- schaften (“ The Freemason, or a Compendious Library of everything worthy of notice in relation to Secret Societies”). Besides valuable extracts from contemporary Masonic writers, it contains several essays and treatises by the editor.
Andrea, John Valentine. This distinguished philosopher and amiable moralist, who has been claimed by many writers as the founder of the Rosicrucian Order, was born on the 17th of August, 1586, at the small town of Herrenberg, in Wurttemberg, where his father exercised clerical functions of a respectable rank. After receiving an excellent education in his native province, he traveled extensively through the principal countries of Europe, and on his return home received the appointment, in 1614, of deacon in the town of Vaihingen. Four years after he was promoted to the office of superintendent at Kalw. In 1639 he was appointed court chaplain and a spiritual privy councilor, and subsequently Protestant prelate of Adelberg, and almoner of the Duke of Wurttemberg. He died on the 27 th of June, 1654, at the age of sixty-eight years.
Andrea was a man of extensive acquirements and of a most feeling heart. By his great abilities he was enabled to elevate himself beyond the narrow limits of the prejudiced age in which he lived, and his literary labors were exerted for the reformation of manners, and for the supply of the moral wants of the times. His writings, although numerous, were not voluminous, but rather brief essays full of feeling, judgment, and chaste imagination, in which great moral, political, and religious sentiments were clothed in such a language of sweetness, and yet told with such boldness of spirit, that, as Herder says, he appears, in his contentious and anathematizing century, like a rose springing up among thorns. Thus, in his Menip pus, one of the earliest of his works, he has, with great skill and freedom, attacked the errors of the Church and of his contemporaries. His Herculis Christiani Lucius, xxiv., is supposed by some persons to have given indirectly, if hot immediately, hints to John Bunyan for his Pilgrim’s Progress.
One of the most important of his works, however, or at least one that has attracted most attention, is his Fama Fraternitatis, published in 1615. This and the Chemische Hoch- zeit Christiani Rosencreuz, or “ Chemical Nuptials, by Christian Rosencreuz,” which is also attributed to him, are the first works in which the Order of the Rosicrucians is mentioned. Arnold, in his Ketzergeschichte or “ History of Heresy, ” contends, from these works, that Andrea was the founder of the Rosicrucian Order; others claim a previous existence for it, and suppose that he was simply an annalist of the Order; while a third party deny that any such Order was existing at the time, or afterward, but that the whole was a mere mythical rhapsody, invented by Andrea as a convenient vehicle in which to convey his ideas of reform.
But the whole of this subject is more fully discussed under the head of Rosicrucianism, which see.
Andrew, Apprentice and Fellow-Craft of St. (Fr., Apprenti et Compagnon de St. Andri; Ger., Andreas lehrling und Geselle.) The Fourth Degree of the Swedish Rite, which is almost precisely the same as the Elu Secret of the French Rite.
Andrew, Cross of St. See Cross, St. Andrew’s.
Andrew, Favorite of St. (Fr., Favori de St. Andre.) Usually called “ Knight of the Purple Collar.” The Ninth Degree of the Swedish Rite.
Andrew, Grand Scottish Knight of St. See Knight of St. Andrew.
Androgynous Degrees. (From Mt a man, and yvrii, a woman.) Those degrees of Masonry which are conferred on both men and women. Besides the degrees of the Adoptive Rite, which are practised in France, there are several of these degrees which are, as “ side degrees,” conferred in America. Such are the “ Mason’s Wife,” conferred on the wives, daughters, sisters, and mothers of Master Masons, and the “ Knight and Heroine of Jericho,” conferred on the wives and daughters of Royal Arch Masons. A few years ago, Rob. Morris invented, and very generally promulgated through the Western States of this country, a series of androgynous degrees, which he called “ The Star of the East.” There is another androgynous degree, sometimes conferred on the wives of Royal Arch Masons, known as the “ Good Samaritan.”
In some parts of the United States these degrees are very popular, while in other places they are never practised, and are strongly condemned as improper innovations. The fact is, that by their friends as well as by their enemies, these so-called degrees have been greatly misrepresented. When females are told that in receiving these degrees they are admitted into the Masonic Order, and are obtaining Masonic information under the name of “ Ladies’ Masonry,” they are simply deceived. Every woman connected by ties of consanguinity to a Master Mason is peculiarly entitled to Masonic assistance and protection. If she is told this, and also told that by these androgynous degrees she is to be put in possession of the means of making her claims known by a sort of what may be called oral testimony, but that she is by their possession no nearer to the portals of Masonry than she was before, if she is honestly told this, then there is no harm, but the possibility of some good, in these forms if carefully bestowed and prudently preserved. But all attempts to make Masonry of them, and especially that anomalous thing called Co-Masonry, are wrong, imprudent, and calculated to produce opposition among the well-informed and cautious members of the Fraternity.
Androgynous Masonry. That so-called Masonry which is dedicated to the cultivation of the androgynous degrees. The Adoptive Rite of France is Androgynous Masonry.
Angel. Angels were originally in the Jewish theogony considered simply as messengers of God, as the name Malachim imports, and the word is thus continually used in the early Scriptures of the Old Testament. It was only after the captivity that the Jews brought from Babylon their mystical ideas of angels as instruments of creative ministration, such as the angel of fire, of water, of earth, or of air. These doctrines they learned from the Chaldean sages, who had probably derived them from Zoroaster and the Zendavesta. In time these doctrines were borrowed by the Gnostics, and through them they have been introduced into some of the high degrees; such, for instance, as the Knight of the Sun, in whose ritual the angels of the four elements play an important part.
Angelic Brothers. (Ger., Engelsbrilder.) Sometimes called, after their founder, Gich- telites or Gichtelianer. A mystical sect of religious fanatics founded by one Gichtel, about the close of the seventeenth century, in the United Netherlands. After the death of their founder in 1710, they gradually became extinct, or were continued only in secret union with the Rosicrucians.
Angels’ Alphabet. See Alphabet, Angels’.
Angerona. The name of a pagan deity worshiped among the Romans. Pliny calls her the goddess of silence, and calmness of mind. Hence her statue has sometimes been introduced among the ornaments of Masonic edifices. She is represented with her finger pressed upon her lips. See Harpocrates, for what is further to be said upon this symbol.
Angle. The inclination of two lines meeting in a point. Angles are of three kinds—• acute, obtuse, and right angles. The right angle, or the angle of 90 degrees, is the only one recognized in Masonry, because it is the form of the trying square, one of the most important working tools of the profession, and the symbol of morality.
Angular Triad. A name given by Oliver to the three presiding officers of a Royal Arch Chapter.
Animal Worship. The worship of animals is a species of idolatry that was especially practised by the ancient Egyptians. Temples were erected by this people in their honor, in which they were fed and cared for during life; to kill one of them was a crime punishable with death; and after death, they were embalmed, and interred in the catacombs. This worship was derived first from the earlier adoration of the stars, to certain constellations of which the names of animals had been given; next, from an Egyptian tradition that the gods being pursued by Typhon, had concealed themselves under the forms of animals; and lastly, from the doctrine of the metempsychosis, according to which there was a continual circulation of the souls of men and animals. But behind the open and popular exercise of this degrading worship the priests concealed a symbolism full of philosophical conceptions.
Mr. Gliddon says in his Otia Egyptiaca (p. 94) that “ animal worship among the Egyp
tians was the natural and unavoidable consequence of the misconception, by the vulgar, of those emblematical figures invented by the priests to record their own philosophical conception of absurd ideas. As the pictures and effigies suspended in early Christian churches, to commemorate a person or an event, became in time objects of worship to the vulgar, so, in Egypt, the esoteric or spiritual meaning of the emblems was lost in the gross materialism of the beholder. This esoteric and allegorical meaning was, however, preserved by the priests, and communicated in the mysteries alone to the initiated, while the uninstructed retained only the grosser conception.”
Anima Mundi. (Soul of the World.) A doctrine of the early philosophers, who conceived that an immaterial force resided in nature and was the source of all physical and sentient life, yet not intelligential.
“Annales Chronologiques (Literaires et Historiques de la MaQonnerie de la Pays-Bas, & dater de 1 Janvier, 1814,” i. e., Chronological, Literary, and Historical Annals of the Masonry of the Netherlands from the year 1814). This work, edited by Bros. Melton and De Margny, was published at Brussels, in five volumes, during the years 1823-26. It consists of an immense collection of French, Dutch, Italian, and English Masonic documents translated into French. Kloss extols it highly as a work which no Masonic library should be without. Its publication was unfortunately discontinued in 1826 by the Belgian revolution.
Annales Originis Magni Galliarum Orient Is, etc. This history of the Grand Orient of France is, in regard to its subject, the most valuable of the works of C. A. Thory. It comprises a full account of the rise, progress, changes, and revolutions of French Freemasonry, with numerous curious and inedited documents, notices of a great number of rites, a fragment on Adoptive Masonry, and other articles of an interesting nature. It was published at Paris, in 1812, in one vol. of 471 pp., 8vo. (See Kloss, No. 4,088.)
Anniversary. See Festivals.
Anno Depositionis. In the Year of the Deposit; abbreviated A.'. Dep.'. The date used by Royal and Select Masters, which is found by adding 1000 to the Vulgar Era; thus, 1911 + 1000 = 2911.
Anno Egyptiaco. In the Egyptian year. The date used by the Hermetic Fraternity, and found by adding 5044 to the Vulgar Era prior to each July 20th, being the number of years since the consolidation of the Egyptian monarchy under Menes.
Anno Hebraico. In the Hebrew Year; abbreviated A.'. H.'. The same as Anno Mundi; which see.
Anno Inventionis. In the Year of the Discovery; abbreviated A.'. I.’, or A.'. Inv.'. The date used by Royal Arch Masons. Found by adding 530 to the Vulgar Era; thus, 1911 + 530 = 2441.
Anno Lucis. In the Year of Light; abbreviated A.'. L.'. The date usedin ancient Craft
Masonry; found by adding 4000 to the Vulgar Era; thus, 1911 + 4000 = 5911.
Anno Mundi. In the Year of the World. The date used in the Ancient and Accepted Rite; found by adding 3760 to the Vulgar Era until September. After September, add one year more; this is because the year used is the Hebrew one, which begins in September. Thus, July, 1911 + 3760 = 5671, and October, 1911 + 3760 + 1 = 5672.
Anno Ordlnis. In the Year of the Order; abbreviated A.’ .O.’. The date used by Knights Templars; found by subtracting 1118 from the Vulgar Era; thus, 1911 — 1118 = 793.
Annuaire. Some French Lodges publish annually a record of their most important proceedings for the past year, and a list of their members. This publication is called an Annuaire, or Annual.
Annual Communication. All the Grand Lodges of the United States, except those of Massachusetts, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania, hold only one annual meeting; thus reviving the ancient custom of a yearly Grand Assembly. The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, like that of England, holds Quarterly Communications. At these annual communications it is usual to pay the representatives of the subordinate Lodges a per diem allowance, which varies in different Grand Lodges from one to three dollars, and also their mileage or traveling expenses.
Annual Proceedings. Every Grand Lodge in the United States publishes a full account of its proceedings at its Annual Communication, to which is also almost always added a list of the subordinate Lodges and their members. Some of these Annual Proceedings extend to a considerable size, and they are all valuable as giving an accurate and official account of the condition of Masonry in each State for the past year. They also frequently contain valuable reports of committees on questions of Masonic law. The reports of the Committees of Foreign Correspondence are especially valuable in these pamphlets. (See Committee on Foreign Correspondence.)
Annuities. In England, one of the modes of distributing the charities of a Lodge is to grant annuities to aged members or to the widows and orphans of those who are deceased. In 1842 the “RoyalMasonic Annuity for Males ” was established, which has since become the “ Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and Their Widows,” and grants annuities to both males and females, having also an asylum at Croydon in Surrey, England, into which the annuitants are received in the order of their seniority on the list. (See Asylum for Aged Freemasons.)
[E. L. H.J
Anointing. The act of consecrating any person or thing by the pouring on of oil. The ceremony of anointing was emblematical of a particular sanctification to a holy and sacred use. As such it was practised by both the Egyptians and the Jews, and many represen
tations are to be seen among the former of the performance of this holy Rite. Wilkinson informs us (Arae. Egypt., iv., 280) that with the Egyptians the investiture to any sacred office was confirmed by this external sign; and that priests and kings at the time of their consecration were, after they had been attired in their full robes, anointed by the pouring of oil upon the head. The Jewish Scriptures mention several instances in which unction was administered, as in the consecration of Aaron as high priest, and of Saul and David, of Solomon and Joash, as kings. The process of anointing Aaron is fully described in Exodus (xxix. 7). After he had been clothed in all his robes, with the miter and crown upon his head, it is said, “ then shalt thou take the anointing oil and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.”
The ceremony is still used in some of the high degrees of Masonry, and is always recognized as a symbol of sanctification, or the designation of the person so anointed to a sacred use, or to the performance of a particular function. Hence, it forms an important part of the ceremony of installation of a high priest in the order of High Priesthood as practised in America.
As to the form in which the anointing oil was poured, Buxtorf {Lex. Talm., p. 267) quotes the Rabbinical tradition that in the anointment of kings the oil was poured on the head in the form of a crown, that is, in a circle around the head; while in the anointment of the priests it was poured in the form of the Greek letter X, that is, on the top of the head, in the shape of a St. Andrew’s cross.
Anonymous Society. A society formerly existing in Germany, which consisted of 72 members, namely, 24 Apprentices, 24 Fellow- Crafts, and 24 Masters. It distributed much charity, but its real object was the cultivation of the occult sciences. Its members pretended that its Grand Master was one Tajo, and that he resided in Spain. (ActaLatomorum, i., 294.)
Ansyreeh. A sect found in the mountains of Lebanon, of Northern Syria. Like the Druses, toward whom, however, they entertain a violent hostility, and the Assassins, they have a secret mode of recognition and a secret religion, which does not appear to be well understood by them. “ However,” says Rev. Mr. Lyde, who visited them in 1852, “ there is one in which they all seem agreed, and which acts as a kind of Freemasonry in binding together the scattered members of their body, namely, secret prayers which are taught to every male child of a certain age, and are repeated at stated times, in stated places, and accompanied with religious rites.” The Ansyreeh arose about the same time with the Assassins, and, like them, their religion appears to be an ill-digested mixture of Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism. To the Masonic scholars these secret sects of Syria present an interesting study, because of their supposed connection with the Templars during the Crusades, the entire results of which are yet to be investigated.
Antediluvian Masonry. Among the traditions of Masonry, which, taken literally, become incredible, but which, considered allegorically, may con tain a profound meaning, not the least remarkable are those which relate to the existence of a Masonic system before the Flood. Thus, Anderson {Const., 1st ed., p. 3) says: “Without regarding uncertain accounts, we may safely conclude the Old World, that lasted 1656 years, could not be ignorant of Masonry.” Dr. Oliver has devoted the twenty-eighth lecture in his Historical Landmarks to an inquiry into “ the nature and design of Freemasonry before the Flood”; but he admits that any evidence of the existence at that time of such an Institution must be based on the identity of Freemasonry and morality. “ We may safely assume,” he says, “ that whatever had for its object and end an inducement to the practice of that morality which is founded on the love of God, may be identified with primitive Freemasonry.”
The truth is, that antediluvian Masonry is alluded to only in what is called the “ ineffable degrees”; and that its only important tradition is that of Enoch, who is traditionally supposed to be its founder, or, at least, its great heirophant. (See Enoch.)
Anthem. The anthem was originally a piece of church music sung by alternate voices. The word afterward, however, came to be used as a designation of that kind of sacred music which consisted of certain passages taken out of the Scriptures, and adapted to particular solemnities. In the permanent poetry and music of Masonry the anthem is very rarely used. The spirit of Masonic poetry is lyrical, and therefore the ode is almost altogether used (except on some special occasions) in the solemnities and ceremonials of the Order. There are really no Masonic anthems.
Antient and Primitive Rite of Masonry, otherwise of Memphis. This rite claims a derivation from Egypt, and an organization from the High Grades which had entered Egypt before the arrival of the French Army, ana it has been asserted that Napoleon and Kleber were invested with a ring at the hands of an Egyptian sage at the Pyramid of Cheops. However that may be, in 1814 the Disciples of Memphis were constituted as a Grand Lodge at Montauban in France by G. M. Marconis and others, being an incorporation of the various rites worked in the previous century and especially of the Primitive Rite of Philadelphes of Narbonne (q. v.'). In the political troubles that followed in France the Lodge of the Disciples of Memphis was put to sleep on March 7, 1816, and remained somnolent until July 7, 1838, when J. E. Marconis was elected Grand Hierophant and arranged the documents, which the Rite then possessed, into 90 degrees. The first Assembly of the Supreme Power was held on September 25, 1838, and proclaimed on October 5th following. The father of the new Grand Hierophant seems to have been living and to have
sanctioned the proceedings. Lodges were established in Paris and Brussels until the government of France forbade the meetings in 1841; however, in 1848 work was resumed and the Rite spread to Roumania, Egypt, America, and elsewhere.
In 1862 J. E. Marconis united the Rite with the Grand Orient of France, retaining apparently the rank of Grand Hierophant; and in 1865 a Concordat was executed between the two bodies by which the relative value of their different degrees was settled.
In 1872 a Sovereign Sanctuary of the Rite was established in England by some American members with Bro. John Yarker as Grand Master General, and has since continued at work.
An official journal entitled The Kneph was at one time issued by the authority of the Sovereign Sanctuary, from which we learn that the Antient and Primitive Rite of Masonry is “ universal and open to every Master Mason who is in good standing under some constitutional Grand Lodge, and teaches the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man.” The degrees of the Rite are 95 in number, starting with the three Craft degrees, and divided into three series, and appear to have been rearranged and renamed at various times. [E. L. H.]
Anti-Masonic Books. There is no country of the civilized world where Freemasonry has existed, in which opposition to it has not, from time to time, exhibited itself; although it has always been overcome by the purity and innocence of the Institution. The Roman Catholic religion has always been anti-Masonic, and hence edicts have constantly been promulgated by popes and sovereigns in Roman Catholic countries against the Order. The most important of these edicts is the bull of Pope Clement XII., which was issued on the 24th of April, 1738, the authority of which bull is still in existence, and forbids any pious Catholic from uniting with a Masonic Lodge, under the severest penalties of ecclesiastical excommunication.
In the United States, where there are neither popes to issue bulls nor kings to promulgate edicts, the opposition to Freemasonry had to take the form of a political party. Such a party was organized in this country in the year 1826, soon after the disappearance of one William Morgan. The object of this party was professedly to put down the Masonic Institution as subversive of good government, but really for the political aggrandizement of its leaders, who used the opposition to Freemasonry merely as a stepping-stone to their own advancement to office. But the public virtue of the masses of the American people repudiated a party which was based on such corrupt and mercenary views, and its ephemeral existence was followed by a total annihilation.
A society which has been deemed of so much importance as to be the victim of so
many persecutions, must needs have had its enemies in the press. It was too good an Institution not to be abused. Accordingly, Freemasonry had no sooner taken its commanding position as one of the teachers of the worid;. than a host of adversaries sprang up to malign its character and to misrepresent its objects. Hence, in the catalogue of a Masonic library, the anti-Masonic books will form no small part of the collection.
Anti-Masonic works may very properly be divided into two classes. 1. Those written simply for the purposes of abuse, in which the character and objects of the Institution are misrepresented. 2. Those written for the avowed purpose of revealing its ritual and esoteric doctrines. The former of these classes is always instigated by malignity, the latter by mean cupidity. The former class alone comes strictly within the category of “ anti-Masonic books,” although the two classes are often confounded; the attack on the principles of Masonry being sometimes accompanied with a pretended revelation of its mysteries, and, on the other hand, the psetzdo-revelations are not unfrequently enriched by the most liberal abuse of the Institution.
The earliest authentic work which contains anything in opposition to Freemasonry is The Natural History of Staffordshire, by Robert Plot, which was printed at Oxford in the year 1686. It is only in one particular part of the work that Dr. Plot makes any invidious remarks against the Institution; and we should freely forgive him for what he has said against it, when we know that his recognition of the existence, in the seventeenth century, of a society which was already of so much importance that he was compelled to acknowledge that he had “ found persons of the most eminent quality that did not disdain to be of this fellowship,” gives the most ample refutation of those writers who assert that no traces of the Masonic Institution are to be found before the beginning of the eighteenth century. A triumphant reply to the attack of Dr. Plot is to be found in the third volume of Oliver’s Golden Remains of the Early Masonic Writers.
A. still more virulent attack on the Order was made in 1730, by Samuel Prichard, which he entitled Masonry dissected, being an universal and genuine description of all its branches from the original to the present time. Toward the end of the year a reply was issued entitled A Defence of Masonry, occasioned by a pamphlet called Masonry Dissected. It was published anonymously, but it has recently been established that its author was Martin Clare A.M., F.R.S., a schoolmaster of London, who was aprominent Freemasonfrom 1734 to 1749. (Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, iv., 33-41.) No copy of this Defence is known to exist, but it was reproduced in the Free Masons’ Pocket Companion for 1738, and in the second edition of the Book of Constitutions, which was published in the same year. [E. L. IL]
It is a learned production, well worth peru-1
sal for the information that it gives in reference to the sacred rites of the ancients, independent of its polemic character. About this time the English press was inundated by pretended revelations of the Masonic mysteries, published under the queerest titles, such as Jachin and Boaz', or, An authentic key to the door of Freemasonry, both Ancient and Modern, published in 1762; Hiram, or the Grand Master Key to both Ancient and Modern Freemasonry, which appeared in 1764; The Three Distinct Knocks, published in 1760, and a host of others of a similar character, which were, however, rather intended, by ministering to a morbid and unlawful curiosity, to put money into the purses of their compilers, than to gratify any vindictive feelings against the Institution.
Some, however, of these works were amiable neither in their inception nor in their execution, and appear to have been dictated by a spirit that may be characterized as being anything else except Christian. Thus, in the year 1768, a sermon was preached, we may suppose, but certainly published, at London, with the following ominous title: Masonry the Way to Hell', a Sermon wherein is clearly proved, both from Reason and Scripture, that all who profess the Mysteries are in a State of Damnation. This sermon appears to have been a favorite with the ascetics, for in less than two years it was translated into French and German. But, on the other hand, it gave offense to the liberal-minded, and many replies to it were written and published, among which was one entitled Masonry the Turnpike- Road to Happiness in this Life, and Eternal Happiness Hereafter, which also found its translation into German.
In 1797 appeared the notorious work of John Robison, entitled Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, carried on in the secret meetings of Freemasons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies. Robison was a gentleman and a scholar of some repute, a professor of natural philosophy, and Secretary of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Hence, although his theory is based on false premises and his reasoning fallacious and illogical, his language is more decorous and his sentiments less malignant than generally characterize the writers of anti-Masonic books. A contemporary critic in the Monthly Review (vol. xxv., p. 315) thus correctly estimates the value of his work: “ On the present occasion,” says the reviewer, “ we acknowledge that we have felt something like regret that a lecturer in natural philosophy, of whom his country is so justly proud, should produce any work of literature by which his high character for knowledge and for judgment is liable to be at all depreciated.” Robison’s book owes its preservation at this day from the destruction of time only to the permanency and importance of the Institution which it sought to destroy, Masonry, which it vilified, has alone saved it from the tomb of the Capulets.
This work closed the labors of the anti-
Masonic press in England. No work abusive of the Institution of any importance has appeared in that country since the attack of Robison. The Manuals of Richard Carlile and the Theologico-astronomical sermons of the Rev. Robert Taylor are the productions of men who do not profess to be the enemies of the Order, but who have sought, by their peculiar views, to give to Freemasonry an origin, a design, and an interpretation different from that which is received as the general sense of the Fraternity. The works of these writers, although erroneous, are not inimical.
The French press was prolific in the production of anti-Masonic publications. Commencing with La Grande Lumilre, which was published at Paris, in 1734, soon after the modern introduction of Masonry into France, but brief intervals elapsed without the appearance of some work adverse to the Masonic Institution. But the most important of these was certainly the ponderous effort of the Abbd Barruel, published in four volumes, in 1797, under the title of M emoires pour servir a I’his- toire du Jacobinisme. The French Revolution was at the time an accomplished fact. The Bourbons had passed away, and Barruel, as a priest and a royalist, was indignant at the change, and, in the bitterness of his rage, he charged the whole inception and success of the political movement to the machinations of the Freemasons, whose Lodges, he asserted, were only Jacobinical clubs. The general scope of his argument was the same as that which was pursued by Professor Robison; but while both were false in their facts and fallacious in their reasoning, the Scotchman was calm and dispassionate, while the Frenchman was vehement and abusive. No work, perhaps, was ever printed which contains so many deliberate misstatements as disgrace the pages of Barruel. Unfortunately, the work was, soon after its appearance, translated into English. It is still to be found on the shelves of Masonic students and curious work collectors, as a singular specimen of the extent of folly and falsehood to which one may be led by the influences of bitter party prejudices.
The anti-Masonic writings of Italy and Spain have, with the exception of a few translations from French and English authors, con - sisted only of bulls issued by popes and edicts pronounced by the Inquisition. The antiMasons of those countries had it all their own way, and, scarcely descending to argument or even to abuse, contented themselves with practical persecution."
In Germany, the attacks on Freemasonry were less frequent than in England or France. Still there were some, and among them may be mentioned one whose very title would leave no room to doubt of its anti-Masonic character. It is entitled Beweiss dass die Frei- maurer-Gesellschaft in alien Staaten, u. s. w., that is, “ Proofs that the Society of Freemasons is in every country not only useless, but. if not restricted, dangerous, and ought to be
interdicted.” This work was published at Dantzic, in 1764, and was intended as a defense of the decree of the Council of Dantzic against the Order. The Germans, however, have given no such ponderous works in behalf of anti-Masonry as the capacious volumes of Barruel and Robison. The attacks on the Order in that country have principally been by pamphleteers.
In the United States anti-Masonic writings were scarcely known until they sprung out of the Morgan excitement in 1826. The disappearance and alleged abduction of this individual gave birth to a rancorous opposition to Masonry, and the country was soon flooded withanti-Masonic works. Most of these were, however, merely pamphlets, which had only an ephemeral existence and have long since been consigned to the service of the trunkmakers or suffered a literary metempsychosis in the paper-mill. Two only are worthy, from their size (their only qualification), for a place in a Masonic catalogue. The first of these is entitled Leders on Masonry and Anti-Masonry, addressed to the Hon. John Quincy Adams. By William L. Slone. This work, which was published at New York in 1832, is a large octavo of 556 pages.
The work of Mr. Stone, it must be acknowledged, is not abusive. If his arguments are illogical, they are at least conducted without malignity. If his statements are false, his language is decorous. He was himself a Mason, and he has been compelled, by the force of truth, to make many admissions which are favorable to the Order. The book was evidently written for a political purpose, and to advance the interests of the anti-Masonic party. It presents, therefore, nothing but partisan views, and those, too, almost entirely of a local character, having reference only to the conduct of the Institution as exhibited in what is called “ the Morgan affair.” Masonry, according to Mr. Stone, should be suppressed because a few of its members are supposed to have violated the laws in a village of the State of New York. As well might the vices of the Christians of Corinth have suggested to a contemporary of St. Paul the propriety of suppressing Christianity.
The next anti-Masonic work of any prominence published in this country is also in the epistolary style, and is entitled Letters on the Masonic Institution. By JohnQuincy Adams. It is an octavo of 284 pages, and was published at Boston in 1847. Mr. Adams, whose eminent public services have made his life a part of the history of his country, has very properly been described as “a man of strong points and weak ones, of vast reading and wonderful memory, of great credulity and strong prejudice.” In the latter years of his life, he became notorious for his virulent opposition to Freemasonry. Deceived and excited by the misrepresentations of the anti-Masons, he united himself with that party, and threw all his vast energies and abilities into the political contests then waging. The result was this
series of letters, abusive of the Masonic Institution, which he directed to leading politicians of the country, and which were published in the public journals from 1831 to 1833. These letters, which are utterly unworthy of the genius, learning, and eloquence of the author, display a most egregious ignorance of the whole design and character of the Masonic Institution. The “ oath ” and “ the murder of Morgan ” are the two bugbears which seem continually to float before the excited vision of the writer, and on these alone he dwells from the first to the last page.
Except the letters of Stone and Adams, there is hardly another anti-Masonic book Eublished in America that can go beyond the terary dignity of a respectably sized pamphlet. A compilation of anti-Masonic documents was published at Boston, in 1830, by James C. Odiorne, who has thus in part preserved for future reference the best of a bad class of writings. In 1831, Henry Gassett, of Boston, a most virulent anti-Mason, distributed, at his own expense, a great number of anti-Masonic books, which had been published during the Morgan excitement, to the principal libraries of the United States, on whose shelves they are probably now lying covered with dust; and, that the memory of his good deed might not altogether be lost, he published a catalogue of these donations in 1852, to which he has prefixed an attack on Masonry.
Anti-Masonic Party. A party organized in the United States of America soon after the commencement of the Morgan excitement, professedly, to put down the Masonic Institution as subversive of good government, but really for the political aggrandizement of its leaders, who used the opposition to Freemasonry merely as a stepping-stone to their own advancement to office. The party held several conventions; endeavored, sometimes successfully, but oftener unsuccessfully, to enlist prominent statesmen in its ranks, and finally, in 1831, nominated William Wirt and Amos Ellmaker as its candidates for the Presidency and the Vice-Presidency of the United States. Each of these gentlemen received but seven votes, being the whole electoral vote of Vermont, which was the only State that voted for them. So signal a defeat was the deathblow of the party, that in the year 1833 it quietly withdrew from public notice, and now is happily no longer in existence. William L. Stone, the historian of anti-Masonry, has with commendable impartiality expressed his opinion of the character of this party, when he says that “ the fact is not to be disguised—contradicted it cannot be—that anti-Masonry had become thoroughly political, and its spirit was vindictive towards the Freemasons without distinction as to guilt or innocence.” (Letters, xxxviii., p. 418.) Notwithstanding the opposition that from time to time has been exhibited to Freemasonry in every country, America is the only one where it assumed the form of a political party. This, however, may very justly be attributed to the peculiar nature of
its popular institutions. There, the ballot- box is considered the most potent engine for the government of rulers as well as people, and is, therefore, resorted to in cases in which, in more despotic governments, the powers of the Church and State would be exercised. Hence, the anti-Masonic convention held at Philadelphia, in 1830, did not hesitate to make the following declaration as the cardinal principle of the party. “ The object of anti-Masonry, in nominating and electing candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency, is to deprive Masonry of the support which it derives from the power and patronage of the executive branch of the United States Government. To effect this object, will require that candidates besides possessing the talents and virtues requisite for such exalted stations, be known as men decidedly opposed to secret societies.” This issue having been thus boldly made was accepted by the people; and as principles like these were fundamentally opposed to all the ideas of liberty, personal and political, into which the citizens of the country had been indoctrinated, the battle was made, and the anti-Masonic party was not only defeated for the time, but forever annihilated.
Anti-Masonry. Opposition to Freemasonry. There is no country in which Masonry has ever existed in which this opposition has not from time to time exhibited itself; although, in general, it has been overcome by the purity and innocence of the Institution. The earliest opposition by a government, of which we have any record, is that of 1425, in the third year of the reign of Henry VI., of England, when the Masons were forbidden to confederate in Chapters and Congregations. This law was, however, never executed. Since that period, Freemasonry has met with no permanent opposition in England. The Roman Catholic religion has always been anti- Masonic, and hence edicts have always existed in the Roman Catholic countries against the Order. But the anti-Masonry which has had a practical effect in inducing the Church or the State to interfere with the Institution, and endeavor to suppress it, will come more properly under the head of Persecutions, to which the reader is referred.
Antin, Duke d’. Elected perpetual Grand Master of the Masons of France, on the 24th of June, 1738. He held the office until 1743, when he died, and was succeeded by the Count of Clermont. Clavel (Hist. Pittoresq., p. 141) 'relates an instance of the fidelity and intrepidity with which, on one occasion, he guarded the avenues of the Lodge from the official intrusion of a commissary of police accompanied by a band of soldiers.
Antipodeans. (Les Antipodiens.) The name of the Sixtieth Degree of the seventh series of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France. (Acta Latomorum, i., 294.)
Antiquity, Lodge off. The oldest Lodge in England, and one of the four which concurred in February, 1717, in the meeting at the Apple-Tree Tavern, London, in the forma
tion of the Grand Lodge of England. At that time, the Lodge of Antiquity met at the Goose and Gridiron, in St. Paul’s Church-yard. This Lodge and three others met on St. John Baptist’s Day (June 24), 1717, at the Goose and Gridiron Tavern, and by a majority of hands elected Mr. Anthony Sayer Grand Master, he being the oldest Master present. Capt. Joseph Elliot, and Mr. Jacob Lamball, carpenter, he elected Grand Wardens. This and the other three Lodges did not derive their warrants from the Grand Lodge, but “ acted by immemorable Constitution.”
Antiquity Manuscript. This celebrated MS. is now, and has long been, in the possession of the Lodge of Antiquity, at London. It is stated in the subscription to have been written, in 1686, by “ Robert Padgett, Clearke to the Worshipful Society of the Freemasons of the city of London.” The whole manuscript was first published by W. J. Hughan in his Old Charges of British Freemasons (p. 64), but a part had been previously inserted by Preston in his Illustrations (b. ii., sect. vi.). And here we have evidence of a criminal inaccuracy of the Masonic writers of the last century, who never hesitated to alter or interpolate passages in old documents whenever it was required to confirm a preconceived theory. Thus, Preston had intimated that there was before 1717 an Installation ceremony for newly elected Masters of Lodges (which is not true), and inserts what he calls “ the ancient Charges that were used on this occasion,” taken from the MS. of the Lodge of Antiquity. To confirm the statement, that they were used for this purpose, he cites the conclusion of the MS. in the following words: “ These be all the charges and covenants that ought to be read at the installment of Master, or making of a Freemason or Freemasons.” The words in italics are not to be found in the original MS., but were inserted by Preston. Bro. E. Jackson Barron had an exact transcript made of this MS., which he carefully collated, and which was published by Bro. Hughan. Bro. Barron gives the following description of the document:
“ The MS. copy of the Charges of Freemasons is on a roll of parchment nine feet long by eleven inches wide, the roll being formed of four pieces of parchment glued together; and some few years ago it was partially mounted (but not very skilfully) on a backing of parchment for its better preservation.
“ The Rolls are headed by an engraving of the Royal Arms, after the fashion usual in deeds of the period; the date of the engraving in this case being fixed by the initials at the top. I. 2. R.
“Under this engraving are emblazoned in separate shields the Arms of the city of London, which are two well known to require description, and the Arms of the Masons Company of London, Sable on a chevron between three castles argent, a pair of compasses of the first surrounded by appropriate mantling.
“ The writing is a good specimen of the
ordinary law writing of the times, interspersed with words in text. There is a margin of about an inch on the left side, which is marked by a continuous double red ink line throughout, and there are similar double lines down both edges of the parchment. The letter U is used throughout the MS. for V, with but two or three exceptions.” (Hughan’s Old Charges, 1872, p. 14.)
Antiquity of Freemasonry. Years ago in writing an article on this subject under the impressions made upon me by the fascinating theories of Dr. Oliver, though I never completely accepted his views, I was led to place the organization of Freemasonry, as it now exists, at the building of Solomon’s Temple. Many years of subsequent research have led me greatly to modify the views I had previously held. Although I do not rank myself among those modern iconoclasts who refuse credence to every document whose authenticity, if admitted, would give to the Order a birth anterior to the beginning of the last century, I confess that I cannot find any incontrovertible evidence that would trace Masonry, as now organized, beyond the Building Corporations of the Middle Ages. In this point of view I speak of it only as an architectural brotherhood, distinguished by signs, by words, and by brotherly ties which have not been essentially changed, and by symbols and legends which have only been developed and extended, while the association has undergone a transformation from an operative art to a speculative science.
But then these Building Corporations did not spring up in all their peculiar organization —different, as it was, from that of other guilds—like Autochthones, from the soil. They, too, must have had an origin and an archetype, from which they derived their peculiar character. And I am induced, for that purpose, to look to the Roman Colleges of Artificers, which were spread over Europe by the invading forces of the empire. But these have been traced to Numa, who gave to them that mixed practical and religious character which they are known to have possessed, and in which they were imitated by the medieval architects.
We must, therefore, look at Freemasonry in two distinct points of view: First, as it is—a society of Speculative Architects engaged in the construction of spiritual temples, and in this respect a development from the Operative Architects of the tenth and succeeding centuries, who were themselves offshoots from the Traveling Freemasons of Como, who traced their origin to the Roman Colleges of Builders. In this direction, I think, the line of descent is plain, without any demand upon our credulity for assent to its credibility.
But Freemasonry must be looked at also from another standpoint. Not only does it present the appearance of a speculative science, based on an operative art, but it also very significantly exhibits itself as the symbolic expression of a religious idea. In other and plainer words, we see in it the important
lesson of eternal life, taught by a legend which, whether true or false, is used in Masonry as a symbol and an allegory.
But whence came this legend? Was it invented in 1717 at the revival of Freemasonry in England? We have evidence of the strongest circumstantial character, derived from the Sloane Manuscript No. 3,329, recently exhumed from the shelves of the British Museum, that this very legend was known to the Masons of the seventeenth century at least.
Then, did the Operative Masons of the Middle Ages have a legend also? The evidence is that they did. The Compagnons de la Tour, who were the offshoots of the old Masters’ Guilds, had a legend. We know what the legend was, and we know that its character was similar to, although not in all the details precisely the same as, the Masonic legend. It was, however, connected with the Temple of Solomon.
Again: Did the builders of the Middle Ages invent their legend, or did they obtain it from some old tradition? The question is interesting, but its solution either way would scarcely affect the Antiquity of Freemasonry. It is not the form of the legend, but its spirit and symbolic design, with which we have to do.
• This legend of the Third Degree as we now have it, and as we have had it for a certain period of two hundred and fifty years, is intended, by a symbolic representation, to teach the resurrection from death, and the Divine dogma of eternal life. All Masons know its character, and it is neither expedient nor necessary to dilate upon it.
But can we find such a legend elsewhere? Certainly we can. Not indeed the same legend; not the same personage as its hero; not the same details; but a legend with the same spirit and design; a legend funereal in character, celebrating death and resurrection, solemnized in lamentation and terminating in joy. Thus, in the Egyptian Mysteries of Osiris, the image of a dead man was borne in an argha, ark or coffin, by a procession of initiates; and this enclosure in the coffin or interment of the body was called the aphan- ism, or disappearance, and the lamentation for him formed the first part of the Mysteries. On the third day after the interment, the priests and initiates carried the coffin, in which was also a golden vessel, down to the river Nile. Into the vessel they poured water from the river; and then with a cry of leyaKKd>p.eSa, “ We have found him, let us rejoice,” they declared that the dead Osiris, who had descended into Hades, had returned from thence, and was restored again to life; and the rejoicings which ensued constituted the second part of the Mysteries. The analogy between this and the legend of Freemasonry must be at once apparent. Now, just such a legend, everywhere differing in particulars, but everywhere coinciding in general character, is to be found in all the old religions— in sun worship, in tree worship, in animal worship. It was often perverted., it is true,
from the original design. Sometimes it was applied to the death of winter and the birth of spring, sometimes to the setting and the subsequent rising of the sun, but always indicating a loss and a recovery.
Especially do we find this legend, and in a purer form, in the Ancient Mysteries. At Samothrace, at Eleusis, at Byblos—in all places where these ancient religions and mystical rites were celebrated—we find the same teachings of eternal life inculcated by the representation of an imaginary death and apotheosis. And it is this legend, and this legend alone, that connects Speculative Freemasonry with the Ancient Mysteries of Greece, of Syria, and of Egypt.
The theory, then, that I advance on the subject of the Antiquity of Freemasonry is this: I maintain that, in its present peculiar organization, it is the successor, with certainty, of the Building Corporations of the Middle Ages, and through them, with less certainty but with great probability, of the Roman Colleges of Artificers. Its connection with the Temple of Solomon, as its birthplace, may have been accidental—a mere arbitrary selection by its inventors—and bears, therefore, only an allegorical meaning; or it may be historical, and to be explained by the frequent communications that at one time took place between the Jews and the Greeks and the Romans. This is a point still open for discussion. On it I express no fixed opinion. The historical materials upon which to base an opinion are as yet too scanty. But I am inclined, I confess, to view the Temple of Jerusalem and the Masonic traditions connected with it as a part of the great allegory of Masonry.
But in the other aspect in which Freemasonry presents itself to our view, and to which I have already adverted, the question of its antiquity is more easily settled. As a brotherhood, composed of symbolic Masters and Fellows and Apprentices, derived from an association of Operative Masters, Fellows, and Apprentices—those building spiritual temples as these built material ones—its age may not exceed five or six hundred years; but as a secret association, containing within itself the symbolic expression of a religious idea, it connects itself with all the Ancient Mysteries, which, with similar secrecy, gave the same symbolic expression to the same religious idea. These Mysteries were not the cradles of Freemasonry: they were only its analogues. But I have no doubt that all the Mysteries had one common source, perhaps, as it has been suggested, some ancient body of priests; and I have no more doubt that Freemasonry has derived its legend, its symbolic mode of in- , struction, and the lesson for which that instruction was intended, either directly or indirectly from the same source. In this view the Mysteries become interesting to the Mason as a study, and m this view only. And so, when I speak of the Antiquity of Masonry, I must say, if I would respect the axioms of historical science, that its body came out of
the Middle Ages, but that its spirit is to be traced to a far remoter period.
Anton, Dr. Carl Gottlob von. A German Masonic writer of considerable reputation, who died at Gorlitz on the 17th of November, 1818. He is the author of two historical works on Templarism, both of which are much esteemed. 1. Versuch einer Ges- chichte des Tempelherren ordens (i. e., An Essay on the Order of Knights Templars), Leipzig, 1779. 2. Untersuchung uber das Geheim- niss und die Gebrduche der Tempelherren (i. e., An Inquiry into the Mystery and Usages of the Knights Templars), Dessau, 1782. He also published at Gorlitz, in 1805, and again in 1819, A brief essay on the Culdees ( Ueber die Culdeer).
Anton Hieronymus. In the examination of a German “ Steinmetz,” or stonemason, this is said to have been the name of the first Mason. It is unquestionably a corruption of Adon Hiram.
Anubis or Anepu. Egyptian deity, son of Osiris and Nephthys. The Greek Hermes. Having the head of a iackal, with pointed ears and snout, which the Greeks frequently changed to those of a dog. At times represented as wearing a double crown. His duty was to accompany the souls of the deceased to Hades (Amenthes), and assist Horus in weighing their actions under the inspection of Osiris.
Ape and Lion, Knight of the. See Knight of the Ape and Lion.
Apex, Rite of. See Sat B’hai, Order of.
Aphanism. In the Ancient Mysteries, there was always a legend of the death or disappearance of some hero god, and the subsequent discovery of the body and its resurrection. The concealment of this body by those who had slain it was called the aphanism, from the Greek, to conceal. As
these Mysteries may be considered as a type of Masonry, as some suppose, and as, according to others, both the Mysteries and Masonry are derived from one common and ancient type, the aphanism, or concealing of the body, is of course to be found in the Third Degree. Indeed, the purest kind of Masonic aphanism is the loss or concealment of the wobd. (See Mysteries, and Euresis.)
Apis. The sacred bull, held in high reverence by the Egyptians as possessing Divine powers, especially the gift of prophecy. As it was deemed essential the animal should be peculiarly marked by nature, much difficulty was experienced in procuring it. The bull was required to be black, with a white triangle on its forehead, a white crescent on its side, and a knotted growth, like a scarabaeus, under the tongue. Such an animal being found, it was fed for four months in a building facing the East. At new moon it was embarked on a special vessel, prepared with exquisite care, and with solemn ceremony conveyed to Heliopolis, where for forty days it was fed by priests and women. In its sanctified condition it was taken to Memphis and housed in a temple with two chapels and a court wherein to exercise. The omen was good or evil in
accordance with which chapel it entered from the court. At the age of 25 years it was led to its death, amid great mourning and lamentations. The bull or apis was an important religious factor in the Isian worship, and waa continued as a creature of reverence during the Roman domination of Egypt.
Apocalypse, Masonry of the. The adoption of St. John the Evangelist as one of the patrons of our Lodges, has given rise, among the writers on Freemasonry, to a variety of theories as to the original cause of his being thus connected with the Institution. Several traditions have been handed down from remote periods, which claim him as a brother, among which the Masonic student will be familiar with that which represents him as having assumed the government of the Craft, as Grand Master, after the demise of John the Baptist. I confess that I am not willing to place implicit confidence in the correctness of this legend, and I candidly subscribe to the prudence of Dalcho’s remark, that “ it is unwise to assert more than we can prove, and to argue against probability.” There must have been, however, in some way, a connection more or less direct between the Evangelist and the institution of Freemasonry, or he would not from the earliest times have been so universally claimed as one of its patrons. If it was simply a Christian feeling—a religious veneration—which gave rise to this general homage, I see no reason why St. Matthew, St. Mark, or St. Luke might not as readily and appropriately have been selected as one of the “ lines parallel.” But the fact is that there is something, both in the life and in the writings of St. John the Evangelist; which closely connects him with our mystic Institution. He may not have been a Freemason in the sense in which we now use the term; but it will be sufficient, if it can be shown that he was familiar with other mystical institutions, which are themselves generally admitted to have been more or less intimately connected with Freemasonry by deriving their existence from a common origin.
Such a society was the Essenian Fraternity —a mystical association of speculative philosophers among the Jews, whose organization very closely resembled that of the Freemasons, and who are even supposed by some to have derived their tenets and their discipline from the builders of the Temple. As Oliver observes, their institution “ may be termed Freemasonry, retaining the same form but practised under another name.” Now there is little doubt that St. John was an Essene. Calmet positively asserts it; and the writings and life of St. John seem to furnish sufficient internal evidence that he was originally of that brotherhood.
But it seems to me that St. John was more particularly selected as a patron of Freemasonry in consequence of the mysterious and emblematic nature of the Apocalypse, which evidently assimilated the mode of teaching adopted by the Evangelist to that practised by the Fraternity. If anyone who has in
vestigated the ceremonies performed in the Ancient Mysteries, the Spurious Freemasonry, as it has been called, of the Pagans, will compare them with the mystical machinery used in the Book of Revelations, he will find himself irresistibly led to the conclusion that St. John the Evangelist was intimately acquainted with the whole process of initiation into these mystic associations, and that he has selected its imagery for the ground-work of his prophetic book. Mr. Faber, in his Origin of Pagan Idolatry (vol. ii., b. vi., ch. 6), has, with great ability and clearness, shown that St. John in the Apocalypse applies the ritual of the ancient initiations to a spiritual and prophetic purpose.
“ The whole machinery of the Apocalypse,” says Mr. Faber, “ from beginning to end, seems to me very plainly to have been borrowed from the machinery of the Ancient Mysteries; and this, if we consider the nature of the subject, was done with the very strictest attention to poetical decorum.
“ St. John himself is made to personate an aspirant about to be initiated; and, accordingly, the images presented to his mind’s eye closely resemble the pageants of the Mysteries both in nature and in order of succession.
“ The prophet first beholds a door opened in the magnificent temple of heaven; and into this he is invited to enter by the voice of one who plays the hierophant. Here he witnesses the unsealing of a sacred book, and forthwith he is appalled by a troop of ghastly apparitions, which flit in horrid succession before his eyes. Among these are preeminently conspicuous a vast serpent, the well-known symbol of the great father; and two portentous wild beasts, which severally come up out of the sea and out of the earth. Such hideous figures correspond with the canine phantoms of the Orgies, which seem to rise out of the ground, and with the polymorphic images of the hero god who was universally deemed the offspring of the sea.
“ Passing these terrific monsters in safety, the prophet, constantly attended by his angel hierophant, who acts the part of an interpreter, is conducted into the presence of a female, who is described as closely resembling the great mother of pagan theology. Like Isis emerging from the sea and exhibiting herself to the aspirant Apuleius, this female divinity, up- borne upon the marine wild beast, appears to float upon the surface of many waters. She is said to be an open and systematical harlot, just as the great mother was the declared female principle of fecundity; and as she was always propitiated by literal fornication reduced to a religious system, and as the initiated were made to drink a prepared liquor out of a sacred goblet, so this harlot is represented as intoxicating the kings of the earth with the golden cup of her prostitution. On her forehead the very name of Mystery is inscribed; and the label teaches us that, in point of character, she is the great universal mother of idolatry.
“ The nature of this mystery the officiating hierophant undertakes to explain; and an im
portant prophecy is most curiously and artfully veiled under the very language and imagery of the Orgies. To the sea-born great father was ascribed a threefold state—he lived, he died, and he revived; and these changes of condition were duly exhibited in the Mysteries. To the sea-born wild beast is similarly ascribed a threefold state—he lives, he dies, he revives. While dead, he lies floating on the mighty ocean, just like Horus or Osiris, or Siva or Vishnu. When he revives again, like those kindred deities, he emerges from the waves; and, whether dead or alive, he bears seven heads and ten horns, corresponding in number with the seven ark-preserved Rishis and the ten aboriginal patriarchs. Nor is this all: as the worshipers of the great father bore his special mark or stigma, and were distinguished by his name, so the worshipers of the maritime beast equally bear his mark and are equally decorated by his appellation.
“ At length, however, the first or doleful part of these sacred Mysteries draws to a close, and the last or joyful part is rapidly approaching. After the prophet has beheld the enemies of God plunged into a dreadful lake or inundation of liquid fire, which corresponds with the infernal lake or deluge of the Orgies, he is introduced into a splendidly^illuminated region, expressly adorned with the characteristics of that Paradise which was the ultimate scope of the ancient aspirants; while without the holy gate of admission are the whole multitude of the profane, dogs, and sorcerors, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolators, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
Such was the imagery of the Apocalypse. The close resemblance to the machinery of the Mysteries, and the intimate connection between their system and that of Freemasonry, very naturally induced our ancient brethren to claim the patronage of an apostle so preeminently mystical in his writings, and whose last and crowning work bore so much of the appearance, in an outward form, of a ritual of initiation.
Apocalypse, Order of the. An Order instituted about the end of the seventeenth century, by one Gabrino, who called himself the Prince of the Septenary Number or Monarch of the Holy Trinity. He enrolled a great number of artisans in his ranks who went about their ordinary occupations with swords at their sides. According to Thory, some of the provincial Lodges of France made a degree out of Gabrino’s system. The arms of the Order were a naked sword and a blazing star. (ActaLatomorum, i., 294.) Reghellini (iii., 72) thinks that this Order was the precursor of the degrees afterward introduced by the Masons who practised the Templar system.
Apocalyptic Degrees. Those degrees which are founded on the Revelation of St. John, or whose symbols and machinery of initiation are derived from that work, are called Apocalyptic degrees. Of this nature are several of the high degrees: such, for instance, as the Seventeenth, or Knight of the East and West of the Scottish Rite.
Aporrheta. Greek, Mppyra. The holy things in the Ancient Mysteries which were known only to the initiates, and were not to be disclosed to the profane, were called the aporrheta. What are the aporrheta of Freemasonry? what are the arcana of which there can be no disclosure? is a question that for some years past has given rise to much discussion among the disciples of the Institution. If the sphere and number of these aporrheta be very considerably extended, it is evident that much valuable investigation by public discussion of the science of Masonry will be prohibited. On the other hand, if the aporrheta are restricted to only a few points, much of the beauty, the permanency, and the efficacy of Freemasonry which are dependent on its organization as a secret and mystical association will be lost. We move between Scylla and Charybdis, and it is difficult for a Masonic writer to know how to steer so as, in avoiding too frank an exposition of the principles of the Order, not to fall by too much reticence, into obscurity. The European Masons are far more liberal in their views of the obligation of secrecy than the English or the American. There are few things, indeed, which a French or German Masonic writer will refuse to discuss with the utmost frankness. It is now beginning to be very generally admitted, and English and American writers are acting on the admission, that the only real aporrheta of Freemasonry are the modes of recognition, and the peculiar and distinctive ceremonies of the Order; and to these last it is claimed that reference may be publicly made for the purpose of scientific investigation, provided that the reference be so made as to be obscure to the profane, and L-intelligible only to the initiated.
Appeal, Right of. The right of appeal is an inherent right belonging to every Mason, and the Grand Lodge is the appellate body to whom the appeal is to be made.
Appeals are of two kinds: 1st, from the decision of the Master; 2d, from the decision of the Lodge. Each of these will require a distinct consideration.
1. Appeals from the Decision of the Master. It is now a settled doctrine in Masonic law that there can be no appeal from the decision of a Master of a Lodge to the Lodge itself. But an appeal always lies from such decision to the Grand Lodge, which is bound to entertain the appeal and to inquire into the correctness of the decision. Some writers have endeavored to restrain the despotic authority of the Master to decisions in matters strictly relating to the work of the Lodge, while they contend that on all questions of business an appeal may be taken from his decision to the Lodge. But it would be unsafe, and often impracticable, to draw this distinction, and accordingly the highest Masonic authorities have rejected the theory, and denied the power in a Lodge to entertain an appeal from any decision of the presiding officer.
The wisdom of this law must be apparent to anyone who examines the nature of the or
ganization of the Masonic Institution. The Master is responsible to the Grand Lodge for the good conduct of his Lodge. To him and to him alone the supreme Masonic authority looks for the preservation of order, and the observance of the Constitutions and the Landmarks of the Order in the body over which he presides. It is manifest, then, that it would be highly unjust to throw around a presiding officer so heavy a responsibility, if it were in the power of the Lodge to overrule his decisions or to control his authority.
2. Appeals from the Decisions of the Lodge. Appeals may be made to the Grand Lodge from the decisions of a Lodge, on any subject except the admission of members, or the election of candidates; but these appeals are more frequently made in reference to conviction and punishment after trial.
When a Mason, in consequence of charges preferred against him, has been tried, convicted, and sentenced by his Lodge, he has an inalienable right to appeal to the Grand Lodge from such conviction and sentence.
His appeal may be either general or specific. That is, he may appeal on the ground, generally, that the whole of the proceedings have been irregular or illegal, or he may appeal specifically against some particular portion of the trial; or lastly, admitting the correctness of the verdict, and acknowledging the truth of the charges, he may appeal from the sentence, as being too severe or disproportionate to the offense.
Appendant Orders. In the Templar system of the United States, the degrees of Knight of the Red Cross and Knight of Malta are called Appendant Orders because they are conferred as appendages to that of Knight Templar, which is the principal degree of the Commandery.
Apple-Tree Tavern. The place where the four Lodges of London met in 1717, and organized the Grand Lodge of England. It was situated in Charles Street, Covent Garden.
Apprenti. French for Apprentice.
Apprentice. See Apprentice, Entered.
Apprentice Architect. {Apprenti Architects.) A degree in the collection of Fustier.
Apprentice Architect, Perfect. {Apprenti Architects, Parfait.) A degree in the collection of Le Page.
Apprentice Architect, Prussian. {Apprenti Architects, Prussien.) A degree in the collection of Le Page.
Apprentice Cohen. {Apprenti Coen.) A degree in the collection of the Archives of the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Rite.
Apprentice, Egyptian. {Apprenti, Egyptian.) The First Degree of the Egyptian Rite of Cagliostro.
Apprentice, Entered. The First Degree of Freemasonry, in all the rites, is that of Entered Apprentice. In French, it is called apprenti; in Spanish, aprendiz; in Italian, apprendente; and in German, lehrling: in all of which the radical meaning of the word is a learner. Like the lesser Mysteries of the ancient initiations, it is in Masonry a pre
liminary degree, intended to prepare the candidate for the higher and fuller instructions of the succeeding degrees. It is, therefore, although supplying no valuable historical information, replete, in its lecture, with instructions on the internal structure of the Order. Until late in the seventeenth century, Apprentices do not seem to have been considered as forming any part of the confraternity of Free and Accepted Masons; for although they are incidentally mentioned in the Old Constitutions of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, these records refer only to Masters and Fellows as constituting the Craft, and this distinction seems to have been one rather of position than of degree. The Sloane Manuscript, No. 3,329, which Findel supposes to have been written at the end of the seventeenth century, describes a just and perfect Lodge as consisting of “two Interprintices, two Fellow Craftes, and two Masters,” which shows that by that time the Apprentices had been elevated to a recognized rank in the Fraternity. In the Manuscript signedj“ Mark Kipling,” which Hughan entitles “ The York MS., No. 4,” the date of which is 1693, there is a still further recognition in what is there called “ the Apprentice Charge,” one item of which is, that “ he shall keepe councell in all things spoken in Lodge or .chamber by any Masons, Fellows, or Freemasons.” This indicates that they were admitted to a closer communion with the members of the Craft. But notwithstanding these recognitions, all the manuscripts up to 1704 show that only “ Masters and Fellows ” were summoned to the assembly. During all this time, when Masonry was in fact an operative art, there was but one degree in the modern sense of the word. Early in the eighteenth century, if not earlier, Apprentices must have been admitted to the possession of this degree; for after what is called the revival of 1717, Entered Apprentices constituted the bulk of the Craft, and they only were initiated in the Lodges, the degrees of Fellow-Craft and Master Mason being conferred by the Grand Lodge. This is not left to conjecture. The thirteenth of the General Regulations, approved in 1721, says that “ Apprentices must be admitted Masters and Fellow Crafts only in the Grand Lodge, unless by a dispensation.” But this having been found very inconvenient, on the 22d of November, 1725, the Grand Lodge repealed the article, and decreed that the Master of a Lodge, with his Wardens and a competent number of the Lodge assembled in due form, can make Masters and Fellows at discretion.
The mass of the Fraternity being at that time composed of Apprentices, they exercised a great deal of influence in the legislation of the Order; for although they could not represent their Lodge in the Quarterly Communications of the Grand Lodge—a duty which could only be discharged by a Master or Fellow—yet they were always permitted to be present at the grand feast, and no General Regulation could be altered or repealed without their
consent; and, of course, in all the business of their particular Lodges, they took the most prominent part, for there were but few Masters or Fellows in a Lodge, in consequence of the difficulty and inconvenience of obtaining the degree, which could only be done at a Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge.
But as soon as the subordinate Lodges were invested with the power of conferring all the degrees, the Masters began rapidly to increase in numbers and in corresponding influence. And now, the bulk of the Fraternity consisting of Master Masons, the legislation of the Order is done exclusively by them, and the Entered Apprentices and Fellow-Crafts have sunk into comparative obscurity, their degrees being considered only as preparatory to the greater initiation of the Master’s Degree.
Apprentice, Hermetic. (Apprenti Her- metique.) The Thirteenth Degree, ninth series, of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
Apprentice, Kabbalistic. (Apprenti Ca- balistique.) A degree in the collection of the Archives of the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Rite.
Apprentice Mason. (Apprenti Magon.) The Entered Apprentice of French Masonry.
Apprentice Masoness. (Apprentie Ma- gonne.) The First Degree of the French Rite of Adoption. The word Masoness is a neologism, but it is in accordance with the genius of our language, and it is difficult to know how else to translate into English the French word MaQonne, which means a woman who has received the degrees of the Rite of Adoption, unless by the use of the awkward phrase, Female Mason. To express this idea, we might introduce as a technicality the word Masoness.
Apprentice Masoness, Egyptian. (Apprentie Maqonne Egyptienne.) The First Degree of Cagliostro’s Egyptian Rite of Adoption.
Apprentice, Mystic. (Apprenti Mystique.) A degree in the collection of M. Pyron.
Apprentice of Paracelsus. (Apprenti de Paracelse.) A degree in the collection of M. Peuvret. There existed a series of these Paracelsian degrees—Apprentice, Fellow- Craft, and Master. They were all most probably forms of Hermetic Masonry.
Apprentice of the Egyptian Secrets. (Apprenti des secrets Egyptiens.) The First Degree of the Order of African Architects.
Apprentice Philosopher, by the Number 3. (Apprenti Philosophe par le Nombre 3.) A degree in the collection of M. Peuvret.
Apprentice Philosopher, Hermetic. (Apprenti Philosophe Hermetique.) A degree in the collection of M. Peuvret.
Apprentice Philosopher to the Number 9. (Apprenti Philosophe au Nombre 9.) A degree in the collection of M. Peuvret.
Apprentice Pillar. See Prentice Pillar.
Apprentice, Scottish. (Apprenti Ecos- sais.) This degree and that of Trinitarian Scottish Apprentice (Apprenti ficossais Trini- taire) are contained in the collection of Pyron.
Apprentice Theosophist. (Apprenti Theosophe.) The First Degree of the Rite of Swedenborg.
Apron. There is no one of the symbols of Speculative Masonry more important in its teachings, or more interesting in its history, than the lambskin, or white leather apron. Commencing its lessons at an early period in the Mason’s progress, it is impressed upon his memory as the first gift which he receives, the first symbol which is explained to him, and the first tangible evidence which he possesses of his admission into the Fraternity. Whatever may be his future advancement in the_“ royal art,” into whatsoever deeper arcana his devotion to the mystic Institution or his thirst for knowledge may subsequently lead him, with the lambskin apron—his first investiture—-he never parts. Changing, perhaps, its form and its decorations, and conveying, at each step, some new but still beautiful allusion, its substance is still there, and it continues to claim the honored title by which it was first, made known to him, on the night of his initiation, as “ the badge of a Mason.”
If in less important portions of our ritual there are abundant allusions to the manners and customs of the ancient world, it is not to be supposed that the Masonic Rite of investiture —the ceremony of clothing the newly initiated candidate with this distinctive badge of his profession—is without its archetype in the times and practises long passed away. It would, indeed, be strange, while all else in Masonry is covered with the veil of antiquity, that the apron alone, its most significant symbol, should be indebted for its existence to the invention of a modern mind.
On the contrary, we shall find the most satisfactory evidence that the use of the apron, or some equivalent mode of investiture, as a mystic symbol, was common, to all the nations of the earth from the earliest periods.
Among the Israelites the girdle formed a part of the investiture of the priesthood. In the mysteries of Mithras, in Persia, the candidate was invested with a white apron. In the initiations practised in Hindostan, the ceremony of investiture was preserved, but a sash, called the sacred zennar, was substituted for the apron. The Jewish sect of the Essenes clothed their novices with a white robe. The celebrated traveler Kaempfer informs us that the Japanese, who practise certain rites of initiation, invest their candidates with a white apron, bound round the loins with a zone or girdle. In the Scandinavian Rites, the military genius of the people caused them to substitute a white shield, but its presentation was accompanied by an emblematic instruction not unlike that which is connected with the Mason’s apron.
“ The apron,” says Dr. Oliver (S. and $., Leet. X., p. 196), “ appears to have been, in ancient times, an honorary badge of distinction. In the Jewish economy, none but the superior orders of the priesthood were permitted to adorn themselves with ornamented
Girdles, which were made of blue, purple, and crimson, decorated with gold, upon a ground of fine white linen; while the inferior priests wore only plain white. The Indian, the Persian, the Jewish, the Ethiopian, and the Egyptian aprons, though equally superb, all bore a character distinct from each other. Some were plain white, others striped with blue, purple, and crimson; some were of wrought gold, others adorned and decorated with superb tassels and fringes. In a word, though the principal honour of the Apron may consist in its reference to innocence of conduct and purity of heart, yet it certainly appears, through all ages, to have been a most exalted badge of distinction. In primitive times it was rather an ecclesiastical than a civil decoration, although in some cases the Apron was elevated to great superiority as a national trophy. The Royal Standard of Persia was originally an apron in form and dimensions. At this day it is connected with ecclesiastical honours; for the chief dignitaries of the Christian church, wherever a legitimate establishment, with the necessary degrees of rank and subordination is formed, are invested with Aprons as a peculiar badge of distinction; which is a collateral proof of the fact that Masonry was originally incorporated with the various systems of divine worship used by every people in the ancient world. Masonry retains the symbol or shadow; it cannot have renounced the reality or substance.”
In the Masonic apron two things are essential to the due preservation of its symbolic character—its color and its material.
1. As to its color. The color of a Mason’s apron should be pure unspotted white. This color has, in all ages and countries, been esteemed an emblem of innocence and purity. It was with this reference that a portion of the vestments of the Jewish priesthood was directed to be white. In the Ancient Mysteries the candidate was always clothed in white. “ The priests of the Romans,” says Festus, “ were accustomed to wear white garments when they sacrificed.” In the Scandinavian Rites it has been seen that the shield presented to the candidate was white. The Druids changed the color of the garment presented to their initiates with each degree; white, however, was the color appropriated to the last, or degree of perfection. And it was, according to their ritual, intended to teach the aspirant that none were admitted to that honor but such as were cleansed from all impurities both of body and mind. In the early ages of the Christian church a white garment was always placed upon the catechumen who had been newly baptized, to denote that he had been cleansed from his former sins, and was thenceforth to lead a life of purity. Hence it was presented to him with this solemn charge: “ Receive the white and undefiled garment, and produce it unspotted before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you may obtain eternal life.” From all these instances we learn that white apparel was anciently used as an emblem of purity,
and for this reason the color has been preserved in the apron of the Freemason.
2. As to its material. A Mason’s apron must be made of lambskin. No other substance, such as linen, silk, or satin, could be substituted without entirely destroying the emblematic character of the apron, for the material of the Mason’s apron constitutes one of the most important symbols of his profession. The lamb has always been considered as an appropriate emblem of innocence. And hence we are taught, in the ritual of the First Degree, that, “ by the lambskin, the Mason is reminded of that purity of life and rectitude of conduct which is so essentially necessary to his gaining admission into the Celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe forever presides.”
The true apron of a Mason must, then, be of unspotted lambskin, from 14 to 16 inches wide, from 12 to 14 deep, with a fall about 3 or 4 inches deep, square at the bottom, and without device or ornament of any kind. The usage of the Craft in the United States of America has, for a few years past, allowed a narrow edging of blue ribbon in the symbolic degrees, to denote the universal friendship which constitutes the bond of the society, and of which virtue blue is the Masonic emblem. But this undoubtedly is an innovation, for the ancient apron was without any edging or ornament. In the Royal Arch Degree the lambskin is, of course, continued to be used, but, according to the same modern custom, there is an edging of red, to denote the zeal and fervency which should distinguish the possessors of that degree. All extraneous ornaments and devices are in bad taste, and detract from the symbolic character of the investiture. But the silk or satin aprons, bespangled and painted and embroidered, which have been gradually creeping into our Lodges, have no sort of connection with Ancient Craft Masonry. They are an innovation of our French brethren, who are never pleased with simplicity, and have, by their love of tinsel in their various newly invented ceremonies, effaced many of the most beautiful and impressive symbols of our Institution. A Mason who understands and appreciates the true symbolic meaning of his apron, would no more tolerate a painted or embroidered satin one than an artist would a gilded statue. By him, the lambskin, and the lambskin alone, would be considered as the badge “ more ancient than the Golden Fleece, or Roman Eagle, and more honorable than the Star and Garter.”
The Grand Lodge of England is precise in its regulations for the decorations of the apron which are thus laid down in its Constitution:
“ Entered Apprentices.-—-A plain white lambskin, from fourteen to sixteen inches wide, twelve to fourteen inches deep, square at bottom, and without ornament; white strings.
“Fellow Craft.—A plain white lambskin, similar to that of the Entered Apprentices, with the addition only of two sky-blue rosettes at the bottom.
“ Master Masons.—The same, with sky
blue lining and edging, not more than two inches deep, and an additional rosette on the fall or flap, and silver tassels. No other colour or ornament shall be allowed except to officers and past officers of Lodges who may have the emblems of their offices in silver or white in the centre of the apron; and except as to the members of the Prince of Wales’ Lodge, No. 259, who are allowed to wear the internal half of the edging of garter-blue three-fourths of an inch wide.
“ Grand Stewards, present and past.—Aprons of the same dimensions lined with crimson, edging of the same colour three and a half inches, and silver tassels. Provincial and District Grand Stewards, present and past, the same, except that the edging is only two inches wide. The collars of the Grand Steward’s Lodge to be crimson ribbon, four inches broad.
“ Grand Officers of the United Grand Lodge, present and past.-—Aprons of the same dimensions, lined with garter-blue, edging three and a half inches, ornamented with gold, and blue strings; and they may have the emblems of their offices, in gold or blue, in the centre.
“ Provincial Grand Officers, present and past. —Aprons of the same dimensions, lined with garter-blue, and ornamented with gold and with blue strings: they must have the emblems of their offices in gold or blue in the centre within a double circle, in the margin of which must be inserted the name of the Province. The garter-blue edging to the aprons must not exceed two inches in width.
“ The apron of the Deputy Grand Master to have the emblem of his office in gold embroidery in the centre, and the pomegranate and lotus alternately embroidered in gold on the edging.
“The apron of the Grand Master is ornamented with the blazing sun embroidered in gold in the cfentre; on the edging the pomegranate and lotus with the seven-eared wheat at each corner, and also on the fall; all in gold embroidery; the fringe of gold bullion.
“ The apron of the pro Grand Master the same. •
“ The Masters and Past Masters of Lodges to wear, in the place of the three rosettes on the Master Mason’s apron, perpendicular lines upon horizontal lines, thereby forming three several sets of two right angles; the length of the horizontal lines to be two inches and a half each, and of the perpendicular lines one inch; these emblems to be of silver or of ribbon, half an inch broad, and of the same colour as the lining and edging of the apron. If Grand Officers, similar emblems of garter-blue or gold.”
In the United States, although there is evidence in some old aprons, still existing, that rosettes were formerly worn, there are now no distinctive decorations for the aprons of the different symbolic degrees. The only mark of distinction is in the mode of wearing; and this differs in the different jurisdictions, some wearing the Master’s apron turned up at the corner, and others the Fellow-Craft’s. The
authority of Cross, in his plate of the Royal Master’s Degree in the older editions of his Hieroglyphic Chart, conclusively shows that he taught the former method, although the latter is now the more common usage.
As we advance to the higher degrees, we find the apron varying in its decorations and in the color of its border, which are, however, always symbolical of some idea taught in the degree.
Apron, Washington's. We here introduce a faithful representation of the emblems, wrought in needlework upon white satin by Madame Lafayette, for a Masonic apron, which the Marquis conveyed from Paris to
General Washington at Mount Vernon. It was a cherished memorial, which after Washington’s death was formally presented to the “ Washington Benevolent Society,” at Philadelphia.
Arabic!. An Arabian sect of the second century, who believed that the soul died with the body, to be again revived with it at the general resurrection.
Aranyaka. An appendage to the Veda of the Indians supplementary to the Brah- manas, but giving more prominence to the mystical sense of the rites of worship.
Araunah. See Oman.
Arbitration. In the Old Charges, Masons are advised, in all cases of dispute or controversy, to submit to the arbitration of the Masters and Fellows, rather than to go to law.
Arbroath, Abbey of (England1). Erected during the twelfth century. Rev. Charles Cor- dinet, in his description of the ruins of North Britain, has given an account of a seal of the Abbey Arbroath marked “ Initiation.” The seal was ancient before the abbey had an existence, and contains a perfectly distinct characteristic of the Scottish Rite.
Arcade de la Pelleterie. The name of derision given to the Orient of Clermont in France, that is to say, to the Old Grand Lodge, before the union in 1799.
Ar can! Disciplina. The mode of initia
tion into the primitive Christian church. (See Discipline of the Secret.)
Arch, Antiquity of the. Writers on architecture have, until within a few years, been accustomed to suppose that the invention of the arch and keystone was not anterior to the era of Augustus. But the researches of modern antiquaries have traced the existence of the arch as far back as 460 years before the building of King Solomon’s Temple, and thus rescued Masonic traditions from the charge of anachronism. (See Keystone.)
Arch, Catenarian. See Catenarian Arch.
Arch of Enoch. The Thirteenth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is sometimes so called. (See Knight of the Ninth Arch.)
Arch of Heaven. Job (xxvi. 11) compares heaven to an arch supported by pillars. “ The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.” Dr. Cutbush, on this passage, remarks, “ The arch in this instance is allegorical, not only of the arch of heaven, but of the higher degree of Masonry, commonly called the Holy Royal Arch. The pillars which support the arch are emblematical of Wisdom and Strength; the former denoting the wisdom of the Supreme Architect, and the latter the stability of the Universe.”—Am. Ed. Brewster’s Encyc.
Arch of Solomon, Royal. The Thirteenth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Rite is sometimes so called, by which it is distinguished from the Royal Arch Degree of the English and American systems.
Arch of Steel. The grand honors are conferred, in the French Rite, by two ranks of brethren elevating and crossing their drawn swords. They call it route d’acier.
Arch of Zerubbabel, Royal. The Seventh Degree of the American Rite is sometimes so called to distinguish it from the Royal Arch of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, which is called the Royal Arch of Solomon.
Arch, Royal. See Royal Arch Degree.
Archeology. The science which is engaged in the study of those minor branches of antiquities which do not enter into the course of general history, such as national architecture, genealogies, manners, customs, heraldic subjects, and others of a similar nature. The archeology of Freemasonry has been made, within a recent period, a very interesting study, and is much indebted for its successful pursuit to the labors of Kloss and Findel in Germany, and to Thory and Ragon in France, and to Oliver, Lyon, Hughan, Gould, Sadler, Dr. Chetwode Crawley and others, in England. The scholars of this science have especially directed their attention to the collection of old records, and the inquiry into the condition and organization of Masonic and other secret associations during the Middle Ages. In America, the late William S. Rockwell was a diligent student of Masonic archeology, and several others in this country have labored assiduously in the same inviting field.
Archetype. The principal type, figure, pattern, or example whereby ana whereon
a thing is formed. In the science of symbolism, the archetype is the thing adopted as a symbol, whence the symbolic idea is derived. Thus, we say the Temple is the archetype of the Lodge, because the former is the symbol whence all the Temple symbolism of the latter is derived.
Archimagus. The chief officer of the Mithraic Mysteries in Persia. He was the representative of Ormudz, or Ormazd, the type of the good, the true, and the beautiful, who overcame Ahriman, the spirit of evil, of the base, and of darkness.
Architect. In laying the corner-stones of Masonic edifices, and in dedicating them after they are finished, the architect of the building, although he may be a profane, is required to take a part in the ceremonies. In the former case, the square, level, and plumb are delivered to him with a charge by the Grand Master; and in the latter case they are returned by him to that officer.
Architect, African. See African Architects.
Architect, Engineer and. An officer in the French Rite, whose duty it is to take charge of the furniture of the Lodge. In the Scottish Rite such officer in the Consistory has charge of the general arrangement of all preparatory matters for the working or ceremonial of the degrees.
Architect by 3,5, and 7, Grand. (Grande Architects par 3, 5, et 7.) A degree in the manuscript of Peuvret’s collection.
Architect, Grand. (Architecte, Grande.) 1. The Sixth Degree of the Rite of Martinism. 2. The Fourth Degree of the Rite of Elect Cohens. 3. The Twenty-third Degree of the Rite of Mizraim. 4. The Twenty-fourth Degree of the third series in the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
Architect, Grand Master. See Grand Master Architect.
Architect, Little. (Architecte, Petit.) 1. The Twenty-third Degree of the third series of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France. 2. The Twenty-second Degree of the Rite of Mizraim.
Architect of Solomon. (Architecte de Salomon.) A degree in the manuscript collection of M. Peuvret.
Architect, Perfect. (Architecte, Parfait.) The Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth, and Twentyseventh Degrees of the Rite of Mizraim are Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Perfect Architect.
Architect, Perfect and Sublime Grand. (Architecte, Parfait et Sublime Grande.) A de- Eee in the collection of the Loge de Saint- mis des Amis Rdunis at Calais.
Archltectonlcus. A Greek word, adopted in Latin, signifying “ belonging to architecture.” Thus, Vitruvius writes, “ rationes architectonics,” the rules' of architecture. But as Architecton signifies a Master Builder, the Grand Lodge of Scotland, in some Latin inscriptions, has used the word architecton- icus, to denote Masonic or relating to Freemasonry. In the inscription on the corner
stone of the Royal Exchange of Edinburgh, we find “fratres architectonic! ” used for Freemasons; and in the Grand Lodge diploma, a Lodge is called “societas architectonics ”; but the usage of the word in this sense has not been generally adopted.
Architecture. The art of constructing dwellings, as a shelter from the heat of summer ana the cold of winter, must have been resorted to from the very first moment in which man became subjected to the power of the elements. Architecture is, therefore, not only one of the most important, but one of the most ancient of sciences. Rude and imperfect must, however, have been the first efforts of the human race, resulting in the erection of huts clumsy in their appearance, and ages must have elapsed ere wisdom of design combined strength of material with beauty of execution.
As Geometry is the science on which Masonry is founded, Architecture is the art from which it borrows the language of its symbolic instruction. In the earher ages of the Order every Mason was either an operative mechanic or a superintending architect. And something more than a superficial knowledge of the principles of architecture is absolutely essential to the Mason who would either understand the former history of the Institution or appreciate its present objects.
There are five orders of architecture: the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, the Tuscan, and the Composite. The first three are the original orders, and were invented in Greece; the last two are of later formation, and owe their existence to Italy. Each of these orders, as well as the other terms of architecture, so far as they are connected with Freemasonry, will be found under its appropriate head throughout this work.
The Books of Constitutions, commenced by Anderson and continued by Entiek and Noorthouck, contain, under the title of a History of Freemasonry, in reality a history of the progress of architecture from the earliest ages. In the older manuscript Constitutions the science of geometry, as well as architecture, is made identical with Masonry; so that he who would rightly understand the true history of Freemasonry must ever bear in mind the distinction between Geometry, Architecture, and Masonry, which is constantly lost sight of in these old records.
Architecture, Piece of. (Morgeau d’architecture.) The name given in French Lodges to the minutes.
Archives. This word means, properly, a place of deposit for records; but it means also the records themselves. Hence the archives of a Lodge are its records and other documents. The legend in the Second Degree, that the pillars of the Temple were made hollow to contain the archives of Masonry, is simply a myth, and a very modern one.
Archives, Grand Guardian of the. An officer in the Grand Council of Rites of Ireland who performs the duties of Secretary General.
Archives, Grand Keeper of the. An officer in some of the bodies of the high degrees whose duties are indicated by the name. In the Grand Orient of France he is called Grand, Garde des timbres et Sceaux, as he combines the duties of a keeper of the archives and a keeper of the seals.
Archivlste. An officer in French Lodges who has charge of the archives. The Germans call him Archivar.
Ardarel. A word in the high degrees, used as the name of the angel of fire. It is a distorted form of Adariel, the splendor of God.
Arelim. A word used in some of the rituals of the high degrees. It is found in Isaiah (xxxiii. 7), where it is translated, in the A. V., “ valiant ones,” and by Lowth, “ mighty men.” It is a doubtful word, and is probably formed from ariel, the lion of God. D’Herbe- lot says that Mohammed called his uncle Hamseh, on account of his valor, the lion of God. In the Kabbala, Arelim is the angelic name of the third sephirah.
Areopagus. The third apartment in a Council of Kadosh is so called. It represents a tribunal, and the name is derived from the celebrated court of Athens.
Argonauts, Order of. A German androgynous Masonic society founded in 1775, by brethren of the Rite of Strict Observance. Much of the myth of the Argonauts was introduced into the forms and ceremonies, and many of the symbols taken from this source, such as meeting upon the deck of a vessel, the chief officer being called Grand Admiral, and the nomenclature of parts of the vessel being used. The motto was Es Lebe die Freude, or Joy forever.
Ariel. In the demonology of the Kabbala, the spirit of air; the guardian angel of innocence and purity: hence the Masonic synonym. A name applied to Jerusalem; a water spirit.
Arithmetic. That science which is engaged in considering the properties and powers of numbers, and which, from its manifest necessity in all the operations of weighing, numbering, and measuring, must have had its origin in the remotest ages of the world.
In the lecture of the degree of Grand Master Architect, the application of this science to Freemasonry is made to consist in its reminding the Mason that he is continually to add to his knowledge, never to subtract anything from the character of his neighbor, to multiply his benevolence to his fellow-creatures, and to divide his means with a suffering brother.
Arizona, Grand Lodge of, was established in 1882, and in 1910 had 19 Lodges and 1,410 brethren under its jurisdiction.
Ark. In the ritual of the American Royal Arch Degree three arks are referred to: 1. The Ark of Safety, or of Noah; 2. The Ark of the Covenant, or of Moses; 3. The Substitute Ark, or the Ark of Zerubbabel. In what is technically called “ the passing of the veils,” each of these arks has its commemorative illustration, and in the order in which they have been named. The first was constructed by
Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; the second by Moses, Aholiab, and Bezaleel; and the third was discovered by Joshua, Hag- gai, and Zerubbabel.
Ark and Anchor. See Anchor and Ark.
Ark and Dove. An illustrative degree, preparatory to the Royal Arch, and usually conferred, when conferred at all, immediately before the solemn ceremony of exaltation. The name of Noachite, sometimes given to it, is incorrect, as this belongs to a degree in the Ancient Scottish Rite. It is very probable that the degree, which now, however, has lost much of its significance, was derived from a much older one called the Royal Ark Mariners, to which the reader is referred. The legend and symbolism of the ark and dove formed an important part of the spurious Freemasonry of the ancients.
Ark Mariners. See Royal Ark Mariners.
Ark, Noah’s, or the Ark of Safety, constructed by Shem, Ham, and Japheth, under the superintendence of Noah, and in it, as a chosen tabernacle of refuge, the patriarch’s family took refuge. It has been called by many commentators a tabernacle of Jehovah; and Dr. Jarvis, speaking of the word IHU, ZoHaR, which has been translated window, says that, in all other passages of Scripture where this word occurs, it signifies the meridian light, the brightest effulgence of day, and therefore it could not have been an aperture, but a source of light itself. He supposes it therefore to have been the Divine Shekinah, or Glory of Jehovah, which afterward dwelt between the cherubim over the Ark of the Covenant in the tabernacle and the Temple. (Church of the Redeemed, i., 20.)
Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant or of the Testimony was a chest originally constructed by Moses at God’s command (Exod. xxv. 10), in which were kept the two tables of stone, on which were engraved the Ten Commandments. It contained, likewise, a golden pot filled with manna, Aaron’s rod, and the tables of the covenant. It was at first deposited in the most sacred place of the tabernacle and afterward placed by Solomon in the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Temple, and was lost upon the destruction of that building by the Chaldeans. The later history of this ark is buried in obscurity. It is supposed that, upon the destruction of the first Temple by the Chaldeans, it was carried to Babylon among the other sacred utensils which became the spoil of the conquerors. But of its subsequent fate all traces have been lost. It is, however, certain that it was not brought back to Jerusalem by Zerubbabel. The Talmudists say that there were five things which were the glory of the first Temple that were wanting in the second; namely, the Ark of the Covenant, the Shekinah or Divine Presence, the Urim and Thummim, the holy fire upon the altar, and the spirit of prophecy. The Rev. Salem Towne, it is true, has endeavored to prove, by a very ingenious argument, that the original Ark of the Covenant was concealed by
Josiah, or by others, at some time previous to the destruction of Jerusalem, and that it was afterward, at the building of the second Temple, discovered and brought to light. But such a theory is entirely at variance with all the legends of the degree of Select Master and of Royal Arch Masonry. To admit it would lead to endless confusion and contradictions in the traditions of the Order. It is, besides, in conflict with the opinions of the Rabbinical writers and every Hebrew scholar. Josephus and the Rabbis allege that in the second Temple the Holy of Holies was empty, or contained only the Stone of Foundation which marked the place which the ark should have occupied.
The ark was made of shittim wood, overlaid, within and without, with pure gold. It was about three feet nine inches long, two feet three inches wide, and of the same extent in depth. It had on the side two rings of gold, through which were placed staves of shittim Wood, by which, when necessary, it was borne by the Levites. Its covering was of pure gold, over which was placed two figures called cherubim, with expanded wings. The covering of the ark was called kaphiret, from kaphar, “ to forgive sin,” and hence its English name of “ mercy-seat,” as being the place where the intercession for sin was made.
The researches of archeologists in the last few years have thrown much light on the Egyptian mysteries. Among the ceremonies of that ancient people was one called the Procession of Shrines, which is mentioned in the Rosetta stone, and depicted on the Temple walls. One of these shrines was an ark, which was carried in procession by the priests, who supported it on their shoulders by staves passing through metal rings. It was thus brought into the Temple and deposited on a stand or altar, that the ceremonies prescribed in the ritual might be performed before it. The contents of these arks were various, but always of a mystical character. Sometimes the ark would contain symbols of Life and Stability; sometimes the sacred beetle, the symbol of the Sun; and there was always a representation of two figures of the goddess Theme or Truth and Justice, which overshadowed the ark with their wings. These coincidences of the Egyptian and Hebrew arks must have been more than accidental.
Ark, Substitute. The chest or coffer which constitutes a part of the furniture, and is used in the ceremonies of a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, and in a Council of Select Masters according to the American system, is called by Masons the Substitute Ark, to distinguish it from the other ark, that which was constructed in the wilderness under the direction of Moses, and which is known as the Ark of the Covenant. This the Substitute Ark was made to represent under circumstances that are recorded in the Masonic traditions, and especially in those of the Select Degree.
The ark used in Royal Arch and Cryptic Masonry in this country is generally of this form:
Prideaux, on the authority of Lightfoot, contends that, as an ark was indispensable to the Israeli tish worship, there was in the second Temple an ark which had been expressly made for tne purpose of supplying the place of the first or original ark, and which, without possessing any of its prerogatives or honors, was of precisely the same shape and dimensions, ana was deposited in the same place. The Masonic legend, whether authentic or not, is simple and connected. It teaches that there was an ark in the second Temple, but that it was neither the Ark of the Covenant, which had been in the Holy of Holies of the first Temple, nor one that had been constructed as a substitute for it after the building of the second Temple. It was that ark which was presented to us in the Select Master’s Degree, and which being an exact copy of the Mosaical ark, and intended to replace it in case of its loss, which is best known to Freemasons as the Substitute Ark.
. Lightfoot gives these Talmudic legends, in his Prospect of the Temple, in the following language: “ It is fancied by the Jews, that Solomon, when he built the Temple, foreseeing that the Temple should be destroyed, caused very obscure and intricate vaults under ground to be made, wherein to hide the ark when any such danger came; that howsoever it went with the Temple, yet the ark, which was the very life of the Temple, might be saved. And they understand that passage in 2 Chron. xxxv. 3, ’Josiah said unto the Levites, Put the holy ark into the house which Solomon, the son of David, did build,’ etc., as if Josiah, having heard by the reading of Moses’ manuscript, and by Huldah’s prophecy of the danger that hung over Jerusalem, commanded to convey the ark into this vault, that it might be secured; and with it, say they, they laid up Aaron’s rod, the pot of manna, and the anointing oil. For while the ark stood in its place upon the stone mentioned—they hold that Aaron’s rod and the pot of manna stood before it; but, now, were all conveyed into obscurity—and the stone upon which the ark stood lay over the mouth of the vault. But Rabbi Solomon, which useth not, ordinarily, to forsake such traditions, hath given a more serious gloss upon the place; namely, that whereas Manasseh and Amon had removed the ark out of its habitation, and set up images and abominations there of their own— Joshua speaketh to the priests to restore it to its place again. What became of the ark, at the burning of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar, we read not; it is most likely it went to the fire also. However it sped, it was not in the second Temple; and is one of the five choice
things that the Jews reckon wanting there. Yet they had an ark there also of their own making, as they had a breastplate of judgment; which, though they both wanted the glory of the former, which was giving of oracles, yet did they stand current as to the other matters of their worship, as the former breastplate and ark had done.”
The idea of the concealment of an ark and its accompanying treasures always prevailed in the Jewish church. The account given by the Talmudists is undoubtedly mythical; but there must, as certainly, have been some foundation for the myth, for every myth has a substratum of truth. The Masonic tradition differs from the Rabbinical, but is in every way more reconcilable with truth, or at least with probability. The ark constructed by Moses, Aholiab, and Bezaleel was burned at the destruction of the first Temple; but there was an exact representation of it in the second.
Arkansas. The modern school of historians, Masonic and profane, write history from original sources when possible, but in this case that method is no longer possible, as all the records of the Grand Lodge of this State were burned in 1864 and again in 1876 when all records gathered since 1864 were destroyed —depriving us of all early records.
From what had been previously written several accounts have appeared, and from these this article is compiled.
Passing over the tradition that the Spaniards had introduced Freemasonry into Arkansas about the time of the Revolution, we find the first Lodge was established at Post Arkansas, under authority of a dispensation granted by the Grand Master of Kentucky, November 29,1819, and a charter was granted August 29, 1820, but was surrendered August 28,1822. For several years Masonic matters were dormant.
The Grand Master of Tennessee granted a dispensation for Washington Lodge in Fayetteville, December 24, 1835, and for some reason it was renewed November 12,1836, and received a charter October 3, 1837. The Grand Lodge of Tennessee granted a dispensation to Clarksville Lodge at Clarksville, October 5,1838, and a charter October 12,1839. These dates are taken from Drummond and you will observe he says the Grand Master issued the dispensation to Washington Lodge, but that the Grand Lodge issued the dispensation to Clarksville Lodge. As we have noticed a similar statement from a Past Grand Secretary of Arkansas, they do not conform to the usual plan of the Grand Master issuing the dispensation and the Grand Lodge issuing the charter. However, this custom was quite general.
The next attempt to form a Lodge at Post Arkansas was under the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, which granted a charter January 6, 1837, and a charter seems to have been granted to a Lodge at Little Rock on the same date, and when the capital was moved to Little Rock, Morning Star Lodge at Post Arkansas surrendered its charter.
The Grand Master of Alabama granted a dispensation to Mt. Horeb Lodge at Washington in 1838.
Washington Lodge, No. 82, under a charter from the Grand Lodge of Tennessee; Western Star Lodge, No. 43, at Little Rock, under a charter of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana; Morning Star Lodge, No. 42, at Post Arkansas, under a charter from the Grand Lodge of Louisiana; Mt. Horeb Lodge, U. D., under dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Alabama, met at Little Rock, November 21,1838, and formed the Grand,Lodge of Arkansas. The combined membership is put at 100. These Lodges took new charters and Washington Lodge became No. 1, Western Star No. 2, Morning Star No. 3, and Mt. Horeb No. 4. The first two are in existence, but the last two are defunct.
The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons Was organized April 28, 1851, by three Chap- ters, located at Fayetteville, Little Rock, and El Dorado, which had previously received charters from the General Grand Chapter of the United States.
The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters was established in the year 1860.
The Grand Commandery of the Order of the Temple was organized on March 23,1872.
A Lodge, Council, Chapter, Council of Kadosh. and Consistory of the Scottish Rite are established at Little Rock.
Arkite Worship. The almost universal prevalence among the nations of antiquity of some tradition of a long past deluge, gave rise to certain mythological doctrines ana religious ceremonies, to which has been given the name of arkite worship, which was very extensively diffused. The evidence of this is to be found in the sacred feeling which was entertained for the sacredness of high mountains, derived, it is supposed, from recollections of an Ararat, and from the presence in all the Mysteries of a basket, chest, or coffer, whose mystical character bore apparently a reference to the ark of Noah. On the subject of this arkite worship, Bryant, Faber, Higgins, Banier, and many other writers, have made learned investigations, which may be consulted with advantage by the Masonic archeologist.
Ark Mariner, Royal, Jewel of. The jewel of this degree prefigures the teachings, which are unique, and draws their symbols from the sea, rain, ark, dove, olive-branch, and Rainbow. This last symbol, as El’s sign, “ overshadows ” the ark, which really is the sign of Ishtar. The ark is said to have contained all the elements of Elohim’s creative power, and in " about nine months and three days there came forth the pent-up energies of Maiya”; her symbol is the dove with the mystic olive, which are sacred to her. The whole underlying thought is that of creation. See illustration on opposite page.
Armenbiichse. The poor-box; the name given by German Masons to the box in which collections of money are made at a Table- Lodge for the relief of poor brethren and their families.
Armes. A corrupted form of Hermes, found in the Lansdowne and some other ola manuscripts.
Armlger. 1. A bearer of arms. The title given by heralds to the esquire who waited on a knight. 2. The Sixth Degree of the Order of African Architects.
Armory. An apartment attached to the asylum of a oommandery of Knights Templars, in which the swords and other parts of the costume of the knights are deposited for safe-keeping.
Armor. In English statutes, armor is used for the whole apparatus of war; offensive and defensive arms. In the Order of the Temple pieces of armor are used to a limited extent. In the chivalric degrees of the Scottish Rite, in order to carry out the symbolism as well as to render effect to its dramas, armor pieces and articles for use of knights become necessary, with mantling, crest, mottoes, etc. Some are herein enumerated:
Aillettes—Square shields for the shoulders.
Anlace—Short dagger worn at the girdle.
Baldbic—Belt diagonally crossing the body.
Battle-ax—Weapon with ax-blade and spear-head.
Beaver—Front of helmet, which1 is raised to admit food and drink.
Beaker—The drinking-cup with mouthlip.
Belt—For body. Badge of knightly rank.
Brassart—Armor to protect the arm from elbow to shoulder.
Buckler—A long shield for protecting the body.
Corselet—Breastplate.
Crest—Ornament on helmet designating rank.
Cuirass—Backplate.
Fasces—Armor for the thighs, hung from the corselet.
Gaoling—Sharp metallic knuckles on gauntlet.
Gauntlet—Mailed gloves,
Gorget—Armor for the neck.
Halberd—Long-pole ax.
Hauberk—Shirt of mail, of rings or scales. Helmet or Casque—Armor for the head. Jambeux—Armor for the legs.
Jupon—Sleeveless jacket, to the hips.
Lance—Long spear with metallic head and pennon.
Mace—Heavy, short staff of metal, ending with spiked ball.
Mantle—Outer cloak.
Morion—Head armor without vizor.
Pennon—A pennant, or short streamer, bifurcated.
Plume—The designation of knighthood. Sallet—Light helmet for foot-soldiers. Spear—Sword, spur, shield.
Vizor—Front of helmet (slashed), moving on pivots.
Arms of Masonry. Stow says that the Masons were incorporated as a company in the twelfth year of Henry IV., 1412. Their arms were granted to them, in 1472, by William Hawkesloe, Clarenceux King-at-Arms, and are azure on a chevron between three castles argent; a pair of compasses somewhat extended, of the first. Crest, a castle of the second. They were adopted, subsequently, by the Grand Lodge of England. The Atholl Grand Lodge objected to this as an unlawful assumption by the Modem Grand Lodge of Speculative Freemasons of the arms of the Operative Masons. They accordingly adopted another coat, which Dermott blazons as follows: Quarterly per squares, counterchanged vert. In the first quarter, azure, a lion rampant, or. In the second quarter, or, an ox passant sable. In the third quarter, or, a man with ' hands erect proper, robed crimson and ermine. In the fourth quarter, azure, an eagle displayed or. Crest, the holy ark of the covenant proper, supported by cherubim. Motto, Kodes la Adonai, that is, Holiness to the Lora.
These arms are derived from the “tefr- rarchical ” (as Sir Thos. Browne calls them), or general banners of the four principal tribes; for it is said that the twelve tribes, during their passage through the wilderness, were encamped in a hollow square, three on each side, as follows: Judah, Zebulun, and Issachar, in the East, under the general banner of Judah; Dan, Asher, and Naphtali, in the North, trader the banner of Dan; Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin, in the West, under the banner of Ephraim; and Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, in the South, under Reuben. See Banners.
Aroba. Pledge, covenant, agreement. (Latin, Arrhabo, a token or pledge. Hebrew, Arab, which is the root of Arubbah, surety, hostage.) This important word, in the Fourteenth Degree of the Scottish Rite, is used when the initiate partakes of the “Ancient Aroba,” the pledge or covenant of friendship, by eating and drinking with his new companions. The word is of greater import than that implied in mere hospitality. The word “aroba’’ appears nowhere in English works, and seems to have been omitted by Masonic writers. The root “ arab ” is one of the oldest
in the Hebrew language, and means to interweave or to mingle, to exchange, to become surety for anyone, and to pledge even the life of one person for another, or the strongest pledge that can be given. Judah pleads with Israel to let Benjamin go with him to be presented in Egypt to Joseph, as the latter had requested. He says: “Send the lad with me: I will be surety for him ” (Gen. xliii. 9); ana before Joseph he makes the same remark in Gen. xliv. 32. Job, in chap. xvii. 3, appealing to God, says: “Put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me? ” (See also 1 Sam. xvii. 18.) In its pure form, the word “ arubbah ” occurs only once in the Old Testament (Prov. xvii. 18): “A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.” In Latin, Plautus makes use of the following phrase: “Hunc arrhabonem amoris ame acdpe.”
Arras, Primordial Chapter of. Arras is a town in France in the department of Pas de Calais, where, in the year 1747, Charles Edward Stuart, the Pretender, is said to have established a Sovereign Primordial and Metropolitan Chapter of Rosicrucian Freemasons. A portion of the charter of this body is given by Ragon in his Orthodoxie Ma&onigue. In 1853, the Count de Hamel, prefect of the department, discovered an authentic copy, in parchment, of this document bearing the date of April 15, 1747, which he deposited in the departmental archives. This document is as follows:
“We, Charles Edward, king of England, France, Scotland, and Ireland, and as such Substitute Grand Master of the Chapter of H., known by the title of Knight of the Eagle and Pelican, and since our sorrows and misfortunes by that of Rose Croix, wishing to testify our gratitude to the Masons of Artois, and the officers of the city of Arras, for the numerous marks of kindness which they in conjunction with the officers of the garrison of Arras have lavished upon us, and their attachment to our person, shown during a residence of six months in that city,
“We have in favor of them created and erected, and do create and erect by the present bull, in the aforesaid city of Arras, a Sovereign Primordial Chapter of Rose Croix, under the distinctive title of Scottish Jacobite, (tfcosse Jacobite,) to be ruled and governed by the Knights Lagneau and Robespierre; Avocats Hazard, and his two sons, physicians; J. B. Lucet, our upholsterer, and Jerome Cellier, our clock-maker, giving to them and to their successors the power not only to make knights, but even to create a Chapter in whatever town they may think fit, provided that two Chapters shall not be created in the same town however populous it may be.
“And that credit may be given to our present bull, we have signed it with our hand and caused to be affixed thereunto the secret seal, and countersigned by the secretary of our cabinet, Thursday, 15th of the second month of the year of the incarnation, 1747.
“Charles Edward Stuart.
“Countersigned, Berkley.”
This Chapter created a few others, and in 1780 established one in Paris, under the distinctive title of Chapter of Arras, in the valley of Paris. It united itself to the Grand Orient of France on the 27th of December, 1801. It was declared First Suffragan of the Scottish Jacobite Chapter, with the right to constitute others. The Chapter established at Arras, by the Pretender, was named the “Eagle and Pelican,” and Oliver (Grip. of R. A., p. 22) from this seeks to find, perhaps justifiably, a connection between it and the R. S. Y. C. S. of the Royal Order of Scotland. [The story of the establishment of this Chapter by the Pretender is doubted by some writers and it certainly lacks confirmation; even his joining the Craft at all is disputed by several who have carefully studied the subject.—E. L. H.]
Arrest of Charter. To arrest the charter of a Lodge is a technical phrase by which is meant to suspend the work of a Lodge, to prevent it from holding its usual communications, and to forbid it to transact any business or to do any work. A Grand Master cannot revoke the warrant of a Lodge; but if, in his opinion, the good of Masonry or any other sufficient cause requires it, he may suspend the operation of the warrant until the next communication of the Grand Lodge, which body is alone competent to revise or approve of his action.
Ars Quatuor Coronatorum is the name under which the Transactions of the Lodge Quatuor Coronati, No. 2076, London, the premier literary Lodge of the world, are published in annual volumes, commencing with 1888.
Arthusius, Gotthardus. A learned native of Dantzic, Rector of the Gymnasium at Frankfort-on-the-Main, who wrote many works on Rosicrucianism, under the assumed name of Irenaeus Agnostus. (See Agnostus.)
Artisan, Chief. An officer in the Council of Knights of Constantinople.
Art, Royal. See Royal Art.
Arts. In the Masonic phrase, "arts, parts, and points of the Mysteries of Masonry”; arts means the knowledge, or things made known, parts the degrees into which Masonry is divided, and points the rules and usages. (See Parts, and also Points.)
Arts, Liberal. See Liberal Arts and Sci&uccs
Arundel, Thomas Howard, Earl of. Tradition places Arundel as the Grand Master of English Freemasons from 1633 to 1635. This is in accordance with Anderson and Preston.-,
Aryan. One of the three historical di-> visions of religion—the other two being the I Turanian and the Shemitic. It produced - Brahmanism, Buddhism, and the Code or, Zoroaster. —
Asarota. A variegated pavement used for flooring in temples and ancient edifices.
Ascension Day. Also called Holy Thursday. A festival of the Christian church held in commemoration of the ascension of our Lord forty days after Easter. It is celebrated as a feast day by Chapters of Rose Croix.
Ases. The twelve gods and as many goddesses in the Scandinavian mythology.
Ashe, D.D., Rev. Jonathan. A literary plagiarist who resided in Bristol, England. In 1814 he published The Masonic Manual; or, Lectures on Freemasonry. Ashe does not, it is true, pretend to originality, but abstains from giving credit to Hutchinson, from whom he has taken at least two-thirds of his book. A second edition appeared in 1825, and in 1843 an edition was published by Spencer, with valuable notes by Dr. Oliver.
Asher, Dr. Cart Wilhelm. The first translator into German of the Halliwell or “ Regius ” MS., which he published at Hamburg, in 1842, under the title of Aelteste Ur- kunde der Freimaurerei in England. This work contains both the original English document and the German translation.
Ashlar. “Freestone as it comes out of the quarry.”—Bailey. In Speculative Masonry we adopt the ashlar in two different states, as symbols in the Apprentice’s Degree. The Rough Ashlar, or stone in its rude and unpolished condition, is emblematic of man in his natural state—ignorant, uncultivated, and vicious. But when education has exerted its wholesome influence in expanding his intellect, restraining his passions, and purifying his life, he then is represented by the Perfect Ashlar, which, under the skilful hands of the workmen, has been smoothed, and squared, and fitted for its place in the building. In the older lectures of the eighteenth century the Perfect Ashlar is not mentioned, but its place was supplied by the Broached Thumel.
Ashmole, Ellas. A celebrated antiquary, and the author of, among other works, the well-known History of the Order of the Garter, and founder of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. He was bom at Litchfield, in England, on the 23d of May, 1617, and died at London on the 18th of May, 1692. Hewasmadea Freemason on the 16th of October, 1646, and gives the following account of his reception in his Diary, p. 303.
“1646. Oct: 16. 4? 30' p. m., I was made a Freemason at Warrington, in Lancashire, with Colonel Henry Mainwaring, of Karincham, in Cheshire. The names of those that were then of the Lodge, Mr. Richard Penket Warden, Mr. James Collier, Mr. Rich: Sankey, Henry Littler, John Ellam, Rich: Ellam and Hugh Brewer.”
In another place he speaks of his attendance at a meeting (Diary, p. 362), and thirty-six years afterward makes the following entry:
“1682. March 10. About 5 ? p. m., I received a summons to appear at a Lodge to be held the next day at Masons’ Hall, London.
“11. Accordingly, I went, and about Noone were admitted into the Fellowship of Freemasons, Sir William Wilson, knight, Capt. Richard Borthwick, Mr. William Woodman, Mr. William Wise.
“I was the senior fellow among them, (it being thirty-five years since I was admitted;) there was present besides myself the Fellowes aftemamed: Mr. Thomas Wise, Master of the
Masons’ company this present year; Mr. Thomas Shorthofe, Mr. Thomas Shadbolt, Waindsford, Esq., Mr. Nicholas Young, Mr. John Shorthofe, Mr. William Hamon, Mr. John Thompson, and Mr. William Stanton. We all dyned at the halfe Moone Taverne in Cheapeside, at a noble dinner prepared at the charge of the new Accepted Masons.”*
It is to be regretted that the intention expressed by Ashmole to write a history of Freemasonry was never carried into effect. His laborious research as evinced in his exhaustive work on the Order of the Garter, would lead us to have expected from his antiquarian pen a record of the origin and early progress of our Institution more valuable than any that we now possess. The following remarks on this subject, contained in a letter from Dr. Knipe, of Christ Church, Oxford, to the publisher of Ashmole’s Life, while it enables us to form some estimate of the loss that Masonic literature has suffered, supplies interesting particulars which are worthy, of preservation.
“As to the ancient society of Freemasons, concerning whom you are desirous of knowing what may be known with certainty, I shall only tell you, that if our worthy Brother, E. Ashmole, Esq., had executed his intended design, our Fraternity had been as much obliged to him as the Brethren of the most noble Order of the Garter. I would not have you surprised at this expression, or think it all too assuming. The sovereigns of that Order have not disdained our fellowship, and there have been times when emperors were also Freemasons. What from Mr. E. Ashmole’s collection I could gather was, that the report of our society’s taking rise from a bull granted by the Pope, in the reign of Henry III., to some Italian architects to travel over all Europe, to erect chapels, was ill-founded. Such a bull there was, and those architects were Masons; but this bull, in the opinion of the learned Mr. Ashmole, was confirmative only, and did not by any means create our Fraternity, or even establish them in this kingdom. But as to the time and manner of that establishment, something I shall relate from the same collections. St. Alban the Proto-Martyr of England, established Masonry here; and from his time it flourished more or less, according as the world went, down to the days of King Athelstan, who, for the sake of his brother Edwin, granted the Masons a charter under our Norman princes. They frequently received extraordinary marks of royal favor. There is no doubt to be made, that the skill of Masons, which was always transcendent, even in the most barbarous times,—their wonderful kindness and attachment to each other; how different soever in condition, and their inviolable fidelity in keeping religiously their secret,—must expose them in ignorant, troublesome, and suspicious times
♦These entries have been reproduced in facsimile in Vol. XI of Ars Quatuor Coronatorum (1898).
to a vast variety of adventures, according to the different fate of parties and other alterations in government. By the way, I shall note that the Masons were always loyal, which exposed them to great severities when power wore the trappings of justice, and those who committed treason punished true men as traitors. Thus, in the third year of the reign of Henry VI., an act of Parliament was passed to abolish the society of Masons, and to hinder, under grievous penalties, the holding Chapters, Lodges, or other regular assemblies. Yet this act was afterwards repealed, and even before that, King Henry VI., and several of the principal lords of his court, became fellows of the Craft.”
Asia. In the French Rite of Adoption, the East end of the Lodge is called Asia.
Asia, Initiated Knights and Brothers of. This Order was introduced in Berlin, or, as some say, in Vienna, in the year 1780, by a schism of several members of the German Rose Croix. They adopted a mixture of Christian, Jewish, and Mohammedan ceremonies, to indicate, as Ragon supposes, their entire religious tolerance. Their object was the study of the natural sciences and the search for the universal panacea to prolong life. Thory charges them with this; but may it not have been, as with the Alchemists, merely a symbol of immortality? They forbade all inquiries into the art of transmutation of metals. The Grand Synddrion, properly the Grand Sanhedrim, which consisted of seventy-two members and was the head of the Order, had its seat at Vienna. The Order was founded on the three symbolic degrees, and attached to them nine others, as follows: 4. Seekers; 5. Sufferers; 6. Initiated Knights and Brothers of Asia in Europe; 7. Masters and Sages; 8. Royal Priests, or True Brothers of Rose Croix; 9. Melchizedek. The Order no longer exists. Many details of it will be found in Luchet’s Essai sur les Illumines.
Asia, Perfect Initiates of. A rite of very little importance, consisting of seven degrees, and said to have been invented at Lyons. A very voluminous manuscript, translated from the German, was sold at Paris, in 1821, to M. Bailleul, and came into the possession of Ragon, who reduced its size, and, with the assistance of Des Etangs, modified it. I have no knowledge that it was ever worked.
Ask, Seek, Knock. In referring to the passage of Matthew vii. 7, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you,” Dr. Clarke says: “These three words—-ask, seek, knock— include the ideas of want, loss,and earnestness.” The application made to the passage theologically is equally appropriate to it in a Masonic Lodge. You ask for acceptance, you seek for light, you knock for initiation, which includes the other two.
Aspirant. One who eagerly seeks to know or to attain something. Thus, Warburton speaks of “the aspirant to the Mysteries.” It is applied also to one about to be initiated into Masonry. There seems, however, to be
a shade of difference in meaning between the words candidate and aspirant. The candidate is one who asks for admission; so called from the Lat. candidatus “clothed in white,” because candidates for office at Rome wore a white dress. The aspirant is one already elected and in process of initiation, and coming from aspiro, to seek eagerly, refers to the earnestness with which he prosecutes his search for light and truth.
Assassins. The Ishmaelites, or Assassins, constituted a sect or confraternity, which was founded by Hassan Sabah, about the year 1090, in Persia. The name is derived, it is supposed, from their immoderate use of the plant haschish, or henbane, which produced a delirious frenzy. The title given to the chief of the Order was Sheikh-el-Jebel, which has been translated the “Old Man of the Mountain,” but which Higgins has shown (Anacal., i., 700) to mean literally “The Sage of the Kabbala or Traditions.” Von Hammer has written a History of the Assassins, but his opposition to secret societies has lea him to speak with so much prejudice that, although his historical statements are interesting, his philosophical deductions have to be taken with many grains of allowance. Godfrey Higgins has probably erred on the other side, and by a too ready adherence to a preconceived theory has, in his Anacalypsis, confounded them with the Templars, whom he considers as the precursors of the Freemasons. In this, as in most things, the middle course appears to be the most truthful.
The Assassins were a secret society, that is to say, they had a secret esoteric doctrine, which was imparted only to the initiated. Hammer says that they had a graduated series of initiations, the names of which he gives as Apprentices, Fellows, and Masters; they had, too, an oath of passive obedience, and resembled, he asserts, in many respects, the secret societies that subsequently existed in Europe. They were governed by a Grand Master and Priors, and had regulations and a special religious code, in all of which Von Hammer finds a close resemblance to the Templars, the Hospitalers, and the Teutonic Knights. Between the Assassins and the Templars history records that there were several amicable transactions not at all consistent with the religious vows of the latter and the supposed religious faith of the former, and striking coincidences of feeling, of which Higgins has not been slow to avail himself in his attempt to prove the close connection, if not absolute identity, of the two Orders. It is most probable, as Sir John Malcolm contends, that they were a race of Solis, the teachers of the secret doctrine of Mohammed. Von Hammer admits that they produced a great number of treatises on mathematics and jurisprudence; and, forgetting for a time his bigotry and his prejudice, he attributes to Hassan, their founder, a profound knowledge of philosophy and mathematical and metaphysical sciences, and an enlightened spirit, under whose influence the civilization or
Persia attained a high degree; so that during his reignof forty-six years the Persian literature attained a point of excellence beyond that of Alexandria under the Ptolemies, and of France under Francis I. The old belief that they were a confederacy of murderers—whence we have taken our English word assassins— must now be abandoned as a figment of the credulity of past centuries, and we must be content to look upon them as a secret society of philosophers, whose political relations, however, merged them into a dynasty. If we interpret Freemasonry as a generic term, signifying a philosophic sect which teaches truth by a mystical initiation and secret symbols, then Higgins was not very far in error in calling them the Freemasons of the East.
Assassins of the Third Degree. There is in Freemasonry a legend of certain unworthy Craftsmen who entered into a conspiracy to extort from a distinguished brother a secret of which he was the possessor. The legend is altogether symbolic, and when its symbolism is truly comprehended, becomes surpassingly beautiful. By those who look at it as having the pretension of an historical fact, it is sometimes treated with indifference, and sometimes considered an absurdity. But it is not thus that the legends and symbols of Masonry must be read, if we would learn their true spirit. To behold the goddess in all her glorious beauty, the veil that conceals her statue must be withdrawn. Masonic writers who have sought to interpret the symbolism of the legend of the conspiracy of the three assassins, have not agreed always in the interpretation, although they have finally arrived at the same result, namely, that it has a spiritual signification. Those who trace Speculative Masonry to the ancient solar worship, of whom Ragon may be considered as the exponent, find in this legend a symbol of the conspiracy of the three winter months to destroy the life-giving heat of the sun. Those who, like the disciples of the Rite of Strict Observance, trace Masonry to a Templar origin, explain the legend as referring to the conspiracy of the three renegade knights who falsely accused the Order, and thus aided King Philip and Pope Clement to abolish Templar- ism, and to slay its Grand Master. Hutchinson and Oliver, who labored to give a Christian interpretation to all the symbols of Masonry, referred the legend to the crucifixion of the Messiah, the type of which is, of course, the slaying of Abel by his brother Cain. Others, of whom the Chevalier Ramsay was the leader, sought to give it a political significance; and, making Charles I. the type of the Builder, symbolized Cromwell and his adherents as the conspirators. The Masonic scholars whose aim has been to identify the modern system of Freemasonry with the Ancient Mysteries, and especially with the Egyptian, which they supposed to be the germ of all the others, interpret the conspirators as the symbol of the Evil Principle, or Typhon, slaying the Good Principle, or Osiris; or, when they refer to the Zoroastio Mysteries of Persia,
as Ahriman contending against Ormuzd. And lastly, in the Philosophic degrees, the myth is interpreted as signifying the war of Falsehood, Ignorance, and Superstition against Truth. Of the supposed names of the three Assassins, there is hardly any end of variations, for they materially differ in all the principal rites. Thus, we have Jubela, Jubelo, and Jubelum in the York and American Rites. In the Adonhiramite system we have Romvel, Gravelot, and Abiram. In the Scottish Rite we find the names given in the old rituals as Jubelum Akirop, sometimes Abiram, Jubelo Romvel, and Jubela Gravelot. Schterke and Oterfut are in some of the German rituals, while other Scottish rituals have Abiram, Romvel, and Hobhen. In all these names there is manifest corruption, and the patience of many Masonic scholars has been well-nigh exhausted in seeking for some plausible and satisfactory derivation.
Assembly. The meetings of the Craft during the operative period in the Middle Ages, were called “assemblies,” which appear to have been tantamount to the modem Lodges, and they are constantly spoken of in the Old Constitutions. The word assembly was also often used in these documents to indicate a larger meeting of the whole Craft, which was equivalent to the modem Grand Lodge, and which was held annually. The York MS., No. 1, about the year 1600, says “ that Edwin procured of ye King his father a charter and commission to hold every yeare an assembly wheresoever they would within ye realm of England,” and this statement, whether true or false, is repeated in all the old records. Preston says, speaking of that medieval period, that “a sufficient number of Masons met together within a certain district, with the consent of the sheriff or chief magistrate of the place, were empowered at this time to make Masons,” etc. To this assembly, every Mason was bound, when summoned, to appear. Thus, in the Harleian MS., circa 1660, it is ordained that “every Master and Fellow come to the Assembly, n it be within five miles about him, if he have any warning.” The term “General Assembly,” to indicate the annual meeting, is said to have been first used at the meeting, held on December 27, 1663, as quoted by Preston. In the Old Constitutions printed in 1722 by Roberts, and which claims to be taken from a MS. ot the eighteenth century, the term used is “Yearly Assembly.” Anderson speaks of an Old Constitution which used the word “ General; ” but his quotations are not always verbally accurate.
Assistance. See Aid and Assistance.
Associates of the Temple. During the Middle Ages, many persons of rank, who were desirous of participating in the spiritual advantages supposed to be enjoyed by the Templars in consequence of the good works done by the Fraternity, but who were unwilling to submit to the discipline of the brethren, made valuable donations to the Order, ana were, in consequence, admitted into a sort of
spiritual connection with it. These persons were termed “Associates of the Temple.” The custom was most probably confined to aland, and many “ of these Associates ”
monuments and effigies erected to them in the Temple Church at London.
Association. Although an association is properly the union of men into a society for a common purpose, the word is scarcely ever applied to the Order of Freemasonry. Yet its employment, although unusual, would not be incorrect, for Freemasonry is an association of men for a common purpose. Washington uses the term when he calls Freemasonry “an association whose principles lead to purity of morals, and are beneficial of action.” (Letter to G. L. of So. Ca.)
Assyrian Architecture. The discovery in 1882 of the remains of a town, close to, and north of, Nineveh, built by Sargon, about 721 b.c., in size about a mile square, with its angles facing the cardinal points, and the enclosure containing the finest specimens of their architecture, revived much interest in archeologists. The chief place of regard is the royal palace, which was like unto a city of itself, everything being on a colossal scale. The walls of the town were 45 feet thick. The inclined approach to the palace was flanked by strangely formed bulls from 15 to 19 feet high. There were terraces, courts, and passage-ways to an innermost square of 150 feet, surrounded by state apartments and temples. The Hall of Judgment was prominent, as also the astronomical observatory. All entrances to great buildings were ornamented by colossal animals and porcelain decorations and inscriptions.
Astraea. The Grand Lodge established in Russia, on the 30th of August, 1815, assumed the title of the Grand Lodge of Astraea. It held its Grand East at St. Petersburg, and continued in existence until 1822, when the Czar issued a Ukase, dated August 1, 1822, closing all Lodges in Russia and forbidding them to reopen at any future time.
Astrology. A science demanding the respect of the scholar, notwithstanding its designation as a “black art,” and, in a reflective sense, an occult science; a system of divination foretelling results by the relative positions of the planets and other heavenly bodies toward the earth. Men of eminence have adhered to the doctrines of astrology as a science. It is a study well considered in, and forming an important part of, the ceremonies of the “Philosophus,” or fourth grade of the First Order of the Society of Rosicrucians. Astrology has been deemed the twin science of astronomy, grasping knowledge from the heavenly bodies, ana granting a proper understanding of many of the startling forces in nature. It is claimed that the constellations of the zodiac govern the earthly animals, and that every star has its peculiar nature, property, and function, the seal and character of which it impresses through its rays upon plants, minerals, and animal life. This science was known to the ancients as the “divine art.” (See Magic.)
Astronomy. The science which instructs us in the laws that govern the heavenly bodies. Its origin is lost in the mists of antiquity; for the earliest inhabitants of the earth must have been attracted by the splendor of the glorious firmament above them; and would have sought in the motions of its luminaries for the readiest and most certain method of measuring time. With astronomy the system of Freemasonry is intimately connected. From that science many of our most significant emblems are borrowed. The Lodge itself is a representation of the world; it is adorned with the images of the sun and moon, whose regularity and precision furnish a lesson of wisdom and prudence; its pillars of strength and establishment have been compared to the two columns which the ancients placed at the equinoctial points as supporters of the arch of heaven; the blazing star, which was among the Egyptians a symbol of Anubis, or the dogstar, whose rising foretold the overflowing of the Nile, shines in the East; while the clouded canopy is decorated with the beautiful Pleiades. The connection between our Order and astronomy is still more manifest in the spurious Freemasonry of antiquity, where, the pure principles of our system being lost, the symbolic instruction of the heavenly bodies gave place to the corrupt Sabean worship of the sun, and moon, and stars—a worship whose influences are seen in all the mysteries of Paganism.
Asylum. During the session of a Com- mandery of Knights Templars, a part of the room is called the asylum; the word has hence been adopted, by the figure synecdoche, to signify the place of meeting of a Command- ery.
Asylum for Aged Freemasons. The Asylum for Aged and Decayed Freemasons is a magnificent edifice at Croydon in Surrey, England. The charity was established by Dr. Crucefix, after sixteen years of herculean toil, such as few men but himself could have sustained. He did not live to see it in full operation, but breathed his last at the very tune when the cope-stone was placed on the building. (See Annuities.)
Atelier. The French thus call the place where the Lodge meets, or the Lodge room. The word signifies a workshop or place where several workmen are assembled under the same master. The word is applied in French Masonry not only to the place of meeting of a Lodge, but also to that of a Chapter, Council, or any other Masonic body. Bazot says (Man. Macon, 65) that atelier is more particularly applied to the Table-Lodge, or Lodge when at banquet, but that the word is also used to designate any reunion of the Lodge.
Atheist. One who does not believe in the existence of God. Such a state of mind can only arise from the ignorance of stupidity or a corruption of principle, since the whole universe is filled with the moral and physical proofs of a Creator. He who does not look to a superior and superintending power as his maker and his judge, is without that coercive
principle of salutary fear which should prompt him to do good and to eschew evil, and his oath can, of necessity, be no stronger than his word. Masons, looking to the dangerous tendency of such a tenet, have wisely discouraged it, by declaring that no atheist can be admitted to participate in their Fraternity; and the better to carry this law into effect, every candidate, before passing through any of the ceremonies of initiation, is required, publicly and solemnly, to declare his trust in God.
Athelstan. The grandson of the great Alfred ascended the throne of England in 924, and died in 940. The Old Constitutions describe him as a great patron of Masonry. Thus, one of them, the Roberts MS., printed in 1722, and claiming to be five hundred years old, says: “He began to build many-Abbeys, Monasteries, and other religious houses, as also castles and divers Fortresses for defence of his realm. He loved Masons more than his father; he greatly study’d Geometry, and sent into many lands for men expert in the science. He gave them a very large charter to hold a yearly assembly, and power to correct offenders in the said science; and the king himself caused a General Assembly of all Masons in his realm, at York, and there made many Masons, and gave them a deep charge for observation of all such articles as belonged unto Masonry, and delivered them the said Charter to keep.”
Atholl Masons. The “Ancient ” Masons are sometimes called “Atholl” Masons, because they were presided over by the Third Duke of Atholl as their Grand Master from 1771 to 1774, and by the Fourth Duke from 1775 to 1781, and also from 1791 to 1813. (See Ancient Masons.)
Atossa. The daughter of King Cyrus of Persia, Queen of Cambyses, and afterward of Darius Hystaspes, to whom she bore Xerxes. Referred to in the degree of Prince of Jerusalem, the Sixteenth of the Scottish Rite.
Attendance. See Absence.
Attouchement. The name given by the French Masons to what the English call the grip.
Attributes. The collar and jewel appropriate to an officer are called his attributes. The working tools and implements of Masonry are also called its attributes. The word in these senses is much more used by French than by English Masons.
Atwood, Henry C. At one time of considerable notoriety in the Masonic history of NewYork. He was born in Connecticut about the beginning of the present century, and removed to the city of New York about 1825, in which year he organized a Lodge for the purpose of introducing the system taught by Jeremy L. Cross, of whom Atwood was a pupil. This system met with great opposi- tjpn from some of the most distinguished Masons of the State, who favored the ancient ritual, which had existed before the system of Webb had been invented, from whom Cross received his lectures. Atwood, by great smart
ness and untiring energy, succeeded in making the system which he taught eventually popular. He took great interest in Masonry, and being intellectually clever, although not learned, he collected a great number of admirers, while the tenacity with which he maintained his opinions, however unpopular they might be, secured for him as many enemies. He was greatly instrumental in establishing, in 1837, the schismatic body known as the St. John’s Grand Lodge, and was its Grand Master at the time of its union, in 1850, with the legitimate Grand Lodge of New York. Atwood edited a small Masonic periodical called The Sentinel, which was remarkable for the virulent and unmasonic tone of its articles. He was also the author of a Masonic Monitor of some pretensions. He died in 1860.
Atys. The Mysteries of Atys in Phrygia, and those of Cybele his mistress, like their worship, much resembled those of Adorns and Bacchus, Osiris and Isis. Their Asiatic origin is universally admitted, and was with great plausibility claimed by Phrygia, which contested the palm of antiquity with Egypt. They, more than any other people, mingled allegory with their religious worship, and were great inventors of fables; and their sacred traditions as to Cybele and Atys, whom all admit to be Phrygian gods, were very various. In all, as we learn from Julius Firmicus, they represented by allegory the phenomena of nature, and the succession of physical facts under the veil of a marvelous history.
Their feasts occurred at the equinoxes, commencing with lamentation, mourning, groans, and pitiful cries for the death of Atys, and ending with rejoicings at his restoration to life.
“ Audi, Vide, Tace.” {Hear, see, and be silent.) A motto frequently found on Masonic medals, and often appropriately used in Masonic documents. It was adopted as its motto by the United Grand Lodge of England at the union between the “Ancients ” and the “Moderns ” in 1813.
Auditor:. An officer in the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. His duty is, with the Committee on Finance, to examine and report on the accounts of the Inspector and other officers. This duty of auditing the accounts of the Secretary and Treasurer is generally entrusted, in Masonic bodies, to a special committee appointed for the purpose. In the Grand Lodge of England, the accounts are audited annually by a professional auditor, who must be a Master Mason.
Auditors. The first class of the secret system adopted by the Christians in their early days. The second class were Catechumens, and the third were The Faithful.
Aufseher. The German name for the Warden of a Lodge. The Senior Warden is called Erste Aufseher, and the Junior Warden, Zweite Aufseher. The word literally means an overseer. Its Masonic application is technical.
Auger. An implement used as a symbol in the Ark Mariners Degree.
Augustine, St. See Saint Augustine.
Augustus William, Prince of Prussia. Born in 1722, died in 1758. Brother of Frederick the Great, and father of King Frederick William II. A member of Lodge “Drei Weltkugeln ” Berlin.
Aum. A mystic syllable among the Hindus, signifying the Supreme God of Gods, which the Brahmans, from its awful and sacred meaning, hesitate to pronounce aloud, and in doing so place one of their hands before the mouth so as to deaden the sound. This triliteral name of God, which is as sacred among the Hindus as the Tetragrammatam is among the Jews, is composed of three Sanskrit letters, sounding AUM. The first letter, A, stands for the Creator; the second, U, for the Preserver; and the third, M, for the Destroyer, or Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. Benfey, in his Sanskrit-English Dictionary, defines the word as “a particle of reminiscence”; and this may explain the Brahmanical saying, that a Brahman beginning or ending the reading of a part of the Veda or Sacred Books, must always pronounce, to himself, the syllable AUM; for unless that syllable precede, his learning will slip away from him, and unless it follow, nothing will be long retained. An old passage in the Parana says, “All the rites ordained in the Vedas, the sacrifices to fire, and all sacred purifications, shall pass away, but the word AUM shall never pass away, for it is the symbol of the Lord of all things.” The word has been indifferently spelled, O’M, AOM, and AUM; but the last is evidently the most proper, as the second letter is GO = U in the Sanskrit alphabet.
Aumont. Said to have been the successor of Molay as Grand Master, and hence called the Restorer of the Order of the Templars. There is a tradition, altogether fabulous, however, which states that he, with seven other Templars, fled, after the dissolution of the Order, into Scotland, disguised as Operative Masons, and there secretly and under another name founded a new Order; and to preserve as much as possible the ancient name of Templars, as well as to retain the remembrance of the clothing of Masons, in which disguise they had fled, they chose the name of Freemasons, and thus founded Freemasonry. The society thus formed, instead of conquering or rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem, was to erect symbolical temples. This is one of the forms of the Templar theory of the origin of Freemasonry.
Aurora. In Hebrew the light is called Aur, and in its dual capacity A urim. Hence Urim, lights—as, Thme, Thummim, perfections. Ra is the sun, the symbolic god of the Egyptians, and Ouro, royalty. Hence we have Aur, Ouro, Ra, which is the double symbolic capacity of “Light.” Referring to the Urim and Thummim, Re is physical and intellectual light, while Thme is the divinity of truth and justice.
Aurora is the color of the baldrio worn by
the brethren in the Sixteenth Degree of the Scottish Rite, which in the legend is said to have been presented by King Darius to the captive Zerubbabel on presentation of his liberty, and that of all his people, who had been slaves in Babylon for seventy years.
Auserwahlten. German for Elu or Elect.
Austin. See Saint Augustine.
Australasia. The first Masonic Lodge in this region was held in 1803 at Sydney, but was suppressed by the Governor, and it was not until the year 1820 that the parent Lodge of Australasia was warranted to meet at Sydney by the Grand Lodge of Ireland; it is now No. 1 on the New South Wales register and named the “Australian Social Mother Lodge.” After that many Lodges were warranted under the three Constitutions of England, Scotland and Ireland, out of which in course of time no less than six independent Grand Lodges have been formed, viz., South Australia (founded in 1884), New South Wales (1888), Victoria (1889), Tasmania (1890), New Zealand (1890), and Western Australia (1900). [E. L. H.]
Austria. Freemasonry was introduced into Austria in 1742, by the establishment at Vienna of the Lodge of the Three Cannons. But it was broken up by the government in the following year, and thirty of its members were imprisoned for having met in contempt of the authorities. Maria Theresa was an enemy of the Institution, and prohibited it in 1764. Lodges, however, continued to meet secretly in Vienna and Prague. In 1780, Joseph II. ascended the throne, and under his liberal administration Freemasonry, if not actually encouraged, was at least tolerated, and many new Lodges were established in Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, and Transylvania, under the authority of the Grand Lodge of Germany, in Berlin. Delegates from these Lodges met at Vienna in 1784, and organized the Grand Lodge of Austria, electing the Count of Dietrichstein, Grand Master. The attempt of the Grand Lodge at Berlin to make this a Provincial Grand Lodge was successful for only a short time, and in 1785 the Grand Lodge of Austria again proclaimed its independence.
During the reign of Joseph II., Austrian Masonry was prosperous. Notwithstanding the efforts of its enemies, the monarch could never be persuaded to prohibit it. But in 1785 he was induced to issue instructions by which the number of the Lodges was reduced, so that not more than three were permitted to exist in each city; and he ordered that a list of the members and a note of the times of meeting of each Lodge should be annually delivered to the magistrates.
Joseph died in 1790, and Leopold II. expressed himself as not unfriendly to the Fraternity, but his successor in 1792, Francis II., yielded to the machinations of the anti-Ma- sons, and dissolved the Lodges. In 1801, he issued a decree which forbade the employment of anyone in the public service who was attached to any secret society. Masonry is
but more generally in the higher ones, on certain occasions of paying honors to superior officers. The brethren form in two ranks facing each other. If the degree is one in which swords are used, these are drawn and elevated, being crossed each with the opposite sword. The swords thus crossed constitute what is called “the arch of steel.” The person to whom honor is to be paid passes between the opposite ranks and under the arch of steel.
Avignon, Illuminati of. (Illumines <F Avignon.) A rite instituted by Pernetti at Avignon, in France, in 1770, and transferred in the year 1778 to Montpellier, under the name of the Academy of True Masons. The Academy of Avignon consisted of only four degrees, the three of symbolic or St. John’s Masonry, and a fourth called the True Mason, which was made up of instructions, Hermetical and Swedenborgian. (See Pernetti.)
Avouchment. See Vouching.
Award. In law, the judgment pronounced by one or more arbitrators, at the request of two parties who are at variance. “If any complaint be brought,” say the Charges published by Anderson, “the brother found guilty shall stand to the award and determination of the Lodge.” (Constitutions, ed. 1723, p. 54.)
Ayes and Noes. It is not according to Masonic usage to call for the ayes and noes on any question pending before a Lodge. By a show of hands is the old and usual custom.
Aynon. Aynon, Agnon, Ajuon, and Dyon are all used in the old manuscript Constitutions for one whom_ they call the son of the King of Tyre, but it is evidently meant for Hiram Abif. Each of these words is most probably a corruption of the Hebrew Adon or Lord, so that the reference would clearly be to Adon Hiram or Adoniram, with whom Hiram was often confounded; a confusion to be found in later times in the Adonhiramite Rite.
Azariah. The old French rituals have Azarias. A name in the high degrees signifying Helped of God.
Azazel. “Scapegoat,” the “demon of dry places.” Translated by others to be the fallen angel mentioned in the Book of Enoch, and identical with Sammael, the Angel of Death. Symmaehus says, “the goat that departs"; Josephus, “the averterof ills," “ caper emissaries.”
Two he-goats, in all respects alike and equal, were brought forward for the day of atonement. The urn was shaken and two lots cast; one was “ For the Name,” and die other “For Azazel.” A scarlet tongue-shaped piece of wood was twisted on the head of the goat to be sent away, and he was placed before the gate and delivered to his conductor. The high priest, placing his two hands on the goat, made confession for the people, and pronounced The Name clearly, which the people hearing, they knelt and worshiped, and fell on their faces and said, “Blessed be the Name. The Honor of His kingdom forever and ever.”
in operation in Austria, as it is in most non- Masonic countries, but not in any public form as in other countries. The Catholics do not so persistently persecute it as they once did through royal sanction.
Authentic. Formerly, in the science of Diplomatics, ancient manuscripts were termed authentic when they were originals, and in opposition to copies. But in modem times the acceptation of the word has been enlarged, and it is now applied to instruments which, although they may be copies, bear the evidence of having been executed by proper authority. So of the old records of Masonry, the originals of many have been lost, or at least have not yet been found. Yet the copies, if they can be traced to unsuspected sources within the body of the Craft and show the internal marks of historical accuracy, are to be reckoned as authentic. But if their origin is altogether unknown, and their statements or style conflict with the known character of the Order at their assumed date, their authenticity is to be doubted or denied.
Authenticity of the Scriptures. A belief in the authenticity of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as a religious qualification of initiation does not constitute one of the laws of Masonry, for such a regulation would destroy the universality of the Institution, and under its action none but Christians could become eligible for admission. But in 1856 the Grand Lodge of Ohio declared “that a distinct avowal of a belief in the Divine authority of the Holy Scriptures should be re- quirea of every one who is admitted to the privileges of Masonry, and that a denial of the same is an offence against the Institution, calling for exemplary discipline.” It is hardly necessary to say that the enunciation of this principle met with the almost universal condemnation of the Grand Lodges and Masonic jurists of this country. The Grand Lodge of Ohio subsequently repealed the regulation. In 1857, the Grand Lodge of Texas adopted a similar resolution; but the general sense of the Fraternity has rejected all religious tests except a belief in God.
Autopsy. (Greek, airrof (a, a seeing with one’s own eyes.) The complete communication of the secrets in the Ancient Mysteries, when the aspirant was admitted into the sa- cellum, or most sacred place, and was invested by the hierophant witn all the aporrheta, or sacred thingy which constituted the perfect knowledge of the initiate. A similar ceremony in Freemasonry is called the Rite of Intrusting. (See Mysteries.)
Auxiliary Degrees. According to Oliver (Londm.j ii., 345), the Supreme Council of France, m addition to the thirty-three regular degrees of the Rite, confers six others, which he calls “Auxiliary Degrees.” They are, 1. Elu de Perignan. 2. Petit Architects. 3. Grand Architect^ or Compagnon Ecossais. 4. Maftre Ecossais. 5. Knight of the East. 6. Knight Rose Croix.
Avenue. Forming avenue is a ceremony sometimes practised in the lower degrees,
The goat was then led forth to the mountainside and rolled down to death.
Azrael. (Heb., help of God.) In the Jewish and the Mohammedan mythology, the name of the angel who watches over the dying and separates the soul from the body. Prior to the intercession of Mohammed, Azrael inflicted the death-penalty visibly, by striking down before the eyes of the living those whose
time for death was come. (See Henry W. Longfellow’s exquisite poem Azrael.)
Aztec Writings. The key to the Azteo writings, it is alleged, has been discovered by Rev. Father Damago Soto, of Concordia,Vera Cruz.
Azure. The clear, blue color of the sky. Cerulean. The appropriate color of the symbolic degrees sometimes termed Blue Degrees.
B
B. (2, Beth.) A labial consonant standing second in most alphabets, and in the Hebrew or Phoenician signifies house, probably from its form of a tent or house, thus:
and finally the Hebrew 2, having the numerical value two. When united with the leading letter of the alphabet, 2X, it signifies Ab, Father, Master, or the one in authority, as applied to Hiram the Architect. This is the root of Baal. The Hebrew name of the Deity connected with this letter is “)in2, Bak- hur. ,
Baal. Hebrew, ?J>2. He was the chief divinity among the Phoenicians, the Canaanites, and the Babylonians. The word signifies in Hebrew lord or master. It was among the Orientalists a comprehensive term, denoting divinity of any kina without reference to class or to sex. The Sabaists understood Baal as the sun, and Baalim, in the plural, were the sun, moon, and stars, “the host of heaven.” Whenever the Israelites made one of their almost periodical deflections to idolatry, Baal seems to have been the favorite idol to whose worship they addicted themselves. Hence he became the especial object of denunciation with the prophets. Thus, in 1 Kings (xviii.), we see Elijah showing, by practical demonstration, the difference between Baal and Jehovah. The idolaters, at his instigation, called on Baal, as their sun-god, to light the sacrificial fire, from morning until noon, because at noon he had acquired his greatest intensity. And after noon, no fire having been kindled on the altar, they began to cry aloud, and to cut themselves in token of mortification, because as the sun descended there was no hope of his help. But Elijah, depending on Jehovah, made his sacrifice toward sunset, to show the greatest contrast between Baal and the true God. And when the people
saw the fire come down and consume the offering, they acknowledged the weakness of their idol, and falling on their faces cried out, Jehovah hu hahelohim—“Jehovah, he is the God.” And Hosea afterward promises the people that they shall abandon their idolatry, and that he would take away from them the She- moth hahbaalim, the names of the Baalim, so that they should be no more remembered by their names,' and the people should in that day “know Jehovah.”
Hence we see that there was an evident antagonism in the orthodox Hebrew mind between Jehovah and Baal. The latter was, however, worshiped by the Jews, whenever they became heterodox, and by all the Oriental or Shemitic nations as a supreme divinity, representing the sun in some of his modifications as the ruler of the day. In Tyre, Baal was the sun, and Ashtaroth, the moon. Baal- peor, the lord of priapism, was the sun represented as the generative principle of nature, and identical with the phallus of other religions. Baal-gad was the lord of the multitude (of stars), that is, the sun as the chief of the heavenly host. In brief, Baal seems to have been wherever his cultus was established, a development or form of the old sun worship.
Babel. In Hebrew, ^22: which the writer of Genesis connects with b?2, balal, “to confound,” in reference to the confusion of tongues; but the true derivation is probably from BAB-EL, the “gate of El” or the “gate of God,” because perhaps a temple was the first building raised by the primitive nomads. It is the name of that celebrated tower attempted to be built on the plains of Shinar, a.m. 1775, about one hundred and forty years after the deluge, which tower, Scripture informs us, was destroyed by a special interposition of the Almighty. The Noa- chite Masons date the commencement of their Order from this destruction, and much traditionary information on this subject is preserved in the degree of “Patriarch Noachite.” At Babel, Oliver says that what has been called Spurious Freemasonry took its origin. That is to say, the people there abandoned the worship of the true God, and by their dispersion lost all knowledge of his existence, and of
the principles of truth upon which Masonry is founded. Hence it is that the rituals speak of the lofty tower of Babel as the place where language was confounded and Masonry lost.
This is the theory first advanced by Anderson in his Constitutions, and subsequently developed more extensively by Dr. Oliver in all his works, but especially in his Landmarks. As history, the doctrine is of no value, for it wants the element of authenticity. But in a symbolic point of view it is highly suggestive. If the tower of Babel represents the profane world of ignorance and darkness, and the threshing-floor of Oman the Jebusite is the symbol of Freemasonry^ because the Solomonic Temple, of which it was the site, is the prototype of the spiritual temple which Masons are erecting, then we can readily understand how Masonry and the true use of language is lost in one and recovered in the other, and how the progress of the candidate in his initiation may properly be compared to the progress of truth from the confusion and ignorance of the Babel builders to the perfection and illumination of the temple builders, which temple builders all Freemasons are. And so, when in the ritual the neophyte, being asked “whence he comes and whither is he travelling,” replies, “from the lofty tower of Babel, where language was confounded and Masonry lost, to the threshing-floor of Oman the Jebusite, where language was restored and Masonry found,” the questions and answers become intelligible from this symbolic point of view. (See Oman.)
Babylon. The ancient capital of Chaldea, situated on both sides of the Euphrates, and once the most magnificent city of the ancient world. It was here that, upon the destruction of Solomon’s Temple by Nebuchadnezzar in the year of the world 3394, the Jews of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were the inhabitants of Jerusalem, were conveyed and detained in captivity for seventy-two years, until Cyrus, King of Persia, issued a decree for restoring them, and permitting them to rebuild their temple, under the superintendence of Zerubbabel, the Prince of the Captivity, and with the assistance of Joshua the High Priest and Haggai the Scribe.
Babylon the Great, as the prophet Daniel calls it, was situated four hundred and seventy- five miles in a nearly due east direction from Jerusalem. It stood in the midst of a large and fertile plain on each side of the river Euphrates, which ran through it from north to south. It was surrounded with walls which were eighty-seven feet thick, three hundred and fifty in height, and sixty miles in compass. These were all built of large bricks cemented together with bitumen. Exterior to the walls was a wide and deep trench lined with the same material. Twenty-five gates on each side, made of solid brass, gave admission to the city. From each of these gates proceeded a wide street fifteen miles in length, and the whole was separated by means of other smaller divisions, and contained six hundred and seventy-six squares, each of which was two miles
and a quarter in circumference. Two hundred and fifty towers placed upon the walls afforded the means of additional strength and protection. Within this immense circuit were to be found palaces and temples and other edifices of the utmost magnificence, which have caused the wealth, the luxury, ana splendor of Babylon to become the favorite theme of the historians of antiquity, and which compelled the prophet Isaiah, even while denouncing its downfall, to speak of it as “the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency.”
Babylon, which, at the time of the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, constituted a part of the Chaldean empire, was subsequently taken, b.c. 538, after a siege of two years, by Cyrus, King of Persia.
Babylon, Bed Cross of. Another name for the degree of Babylonish Pass, which see.
Babylonish Captivity. See Captivity.
Babylonish Pass. A degree given in Scotland by the authority of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter. It is also called the Red Cross of Babylon, and is almost identical with the Companion of the Red Cross conferred in Commanderies of Knights Templar in America as a preparatory degree.
Back. Freemasonry, borrowing its symbols from every source, has not neglected to make a selection of certain parts of the human body. From the back an important lesson is derived, which is fittingly developed in the Third Degree. Hence, m reference to this symbolism, Oliver says: “It is a duty incumbent on every Mason to support a brother’s character in his absence equally as though he were present; not to revile him behind his back, nor suffer it to be done by others, without using every necessary attempt to prevent it.” And Hutchinson, referring to the same symbolic ceremony, says: “The most material part of that brotherly love which should subsist among us Masons is that of speaking well of each other to the world; more especially it is expected of every member of this Fraternity that he should not traduce his brother. Calumny and slander are detestable crimes against society. Nothing can be viler than to traduce a man behind his back; it is like the villainy of an assassin who has not virtue enough to give his adversary the means of self-defence, but, lurking in darkness, stabs him whilst he is unarmed and unsuspicious of an enemy.” (Spirit of Masonry, p. 205.) (See Points of Fellowship.)
Bacon, Francis. Baron of Verulam, commonly called Lord Bacon. Nicolai thinks that a great impulse was exercised upon the early history of Freemasonry by the New Atlantis of Lord Bacon. In this learned romance Bacon supposes that a vessel lands on an unknown island, called Bensalem, over which a certain King Solomon reigned in days of yore. This king had a large establishment, which was called the House of Solomon, or the college of the workmen of six days, namely, the days of the creation. He afterward describes the immense apparatus which was
there employed in physical researches. There were, says he, deep grottoes and towers for the successful observation of certain phenomena of nature; artificial mineral waters; large buildings, in which meteors, the wind, thunder, and rain were imitated; extensive botanic gardens; entire fields, in which all kinds of animals were collected, for the study of their instincts and habits; houses filled with all the wonders of nature and art; a great number of learned men, each of whom, in his own country, had the direction of these things; they made journeys and observations; they wrote, they collected, they determined results, and deliberated together as to what was proper to be published and what concealed.
Inis romance became at once very popular, and everybody’s attention was attracted by the allegory of the House of Solomon. But it also contributed to spread Bacon’s views on experimental knowledge, and led afterward to the institution of the Royal Society, to which Nicolai attributes a common object with that of the Society of Freemasons, established, he says, about the same time, the difference being only that one was esoteric and the other exoteric in its instructions. But the more immediate effect of the romance of Bacon was the institution of the Society of Astrologers, of which Elias Ashmole was a leading member. Of this society Nicolai, in his work on the Origin and History of Rosi- crueianism and Freemasonry, says:
“Its object was to build the House of Solomon, of the New Atlantis, in the literal sense, but the establishment was to remain as secret as the island of Bensalem—that is to say, they were to be engaged in the study of nature—but the instruction of its principles was to remain in the society in an esoteric form. These philosophers presented their idea in a strictly allegorical method. First, there were the ancient columns of Hermes, by which lamblichus pretended that he had enlightened all the doubts of Porphyry. You then mounted, by several steps, to a chequered floor, divided into four regions, to denote the four superior sciences; after which came the types ot the six days’ work, which expressed tne object of the society, and which were the same as those found on an engraved stone in my possession. The sense of all which was this: God created the world, and preserves it by fixed principles, full of wisdom; he who seeks to Know these principles—that is to say, the interior of nature—approximates to Goa, and he who thus approximates to God obtains from his grace the power of command- ingnature.”
This society, he adds, met at Masons’ Hall in Basinghall Street, because many of its members were also members of the Masons’ Company, into which they all afterward entered and assumed the name of Free and Accepted Masons, and thus he traces the origin of the Order to the New Atlantis and the House of Solomon of Lord Bacon. It is only a theory, but it seems to throw some light on that long process of incubation which
terminated at last, in 1717, in the production of the Grand Lodge of England. The connection of Ashmole with the Masons is a singular one, and has led to some controversy. The views of Nicolai, if not altogether correct, may suggest the possibility of an explanation. Certain it is that the eminent astrologers of England, as we learn from Ashmole’s Diary, were on terms of intimacy with the Masons in the seventeenth century, and that many Fellows of the Royal Society were also prominent members of the early Grand Lodge of England which was established in 1717.
Bacon, Roger. An English monk who made wonderful discoveries in many sciences. He was born in Ilchester in 1214, educated at Oxford and Paris, and entered the Franciscan Order in his twenty-fifth year. He explored the secrets of nature, and made many discoveries, the application of which was looked upon as magic. He denounced the ignorance and immorality of the clergy, resulting in accusations, through revenge, and final imprisonment. He was noted as a Rosicrucian. Died in 1292.
Bacillus. The staff of office borne by the Grand Master of the Templars. In ecclesi- ology, baculus is the name given to the pastoral staff carried by a bishop or an abbot as the ensign of his dignity and authority. In pure Latinity, baculus means a long stick or staff, which was commonly carried by travelers, by shepherds, or by infirm and aged persons, and afterward, from affectation, by the Greek philosophers. In early times, this staff, made a little longer, was carried by kings and persons in authority, as a mark of distinction, and was thus the origin of the royal scepter. The Christian church, borrowing many of its usages from antiquity, and alluding also, it is said, to the sacerdotal power which Christ conferred when he sent the apostles to preach, commanding them to take with them staves, adopted the pastoral staff, to be borne by a bishop, as symbolical of his power to inflict pastoral correction; and Durandus says, “By the pastoral staff is likewise understood the authority of doctrine. For by it the infirm are supported, the wavering are confirmed, those going astray are drawn to repentance.” Catalm also says that “the baculus, or episcopal staff, is an ensign not only of honor, but also of dignity, power, and pastoral jurisdiction.”
Honorius, a writer of the twelfth century, in his treatise De Gemma Anima, gives to this pastoral staff the names both of baculus and virga. Thus he says, “Bishops bear the staff (baculum), that by their teaching they may strengthen the weak in their faith; and they carry the rod (virgam), that by their power they may correct the unruly.” And this is strikingly similar to the language used by St. Bernard in the Rule which he drew up for the government of the Templars. In Art. Lxviii^ he says, “The Master ought to hold the staff and the rod (baculum et virgam) in his hand, that is to say, the staff (baculum), that he may support the infirmities of the weak, and the
rod (virgam), that he may with the real of re®, titude strike down the vices of delinquents.”
The transmission of episcopal ensigns from bishops to the heads of ecclesiastical associations was not difficult in the Middle Ages; and hence it afterward became one of the insignia of abbots, and the heads of confraternities connected with the Church, as a token of the possession of powers of ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Now, as the Papal bull, Omne datum 0p~ timum, invested the Grand Master of the Templars with almost episcopal jurisdiction over the priests of his Order, he bore the baculus, or pastoral staff, as a mark of that jurisdiction, and thus it became a part of the Grand Master’s insignia of office.
The baculus of the bishop, the abbot, and the confraternities was not precisely the same in form. The earliest episcopal staff terminated in a globular knob, or a tau cross. This was, however, soon replaced by the simple- curved termination, which resembles ana is called a crook, in allusion to that used by shepherds to draw back and recall the sheep of their flock which have gone astray, thus symbolizing the expression of Christ, “I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.”
The baculus of the abbot does not differ in form from that of a bishop, but as the bishop carries the curved part of his staff pointing forward, to show the extent of his episcopal jurisdiction, so the abbot carries his pointing backward, to signify that his authority is limited to his monastery.
The baculi, or staves of the confraternities, were surmounted by small tabernacles, with images or emblems, on a sortof carved cap, having reference to the particular guild or confraternity by whom they were borne.
The baculus of the Knights Templars, which was borne by the Grand Master as the ensign of his office, in allusion to his yuasi-episcopal jurisdiction, is described and delineated in Mtlnter, Burnes, Addison, and all the other authorities, as a staff, on the top of which is an octagonal figure, surmounted with a cross patee. The cross, of course, refers to the Christian character of the Order, and the octagon alludes, it is said, to the eight beatitudes of our Savior in his Sermon on the Mount.
The pastoral staff is variously designated, by ecclesiastical writers, as virga, jerula, cambutta, erocia, and pedum. From erocia, whose root is the Latin crux, and the Italian croce, a cross, we get the English crorier.
Pedum, another name of the baculus, signifies, in pure Latinity, a shepherd's crook, and thus strictly carries out the symbolic idea of a pastoral charge. Hence, looking to the pastoral jurisdiction of the Grand Master of the Templars, his staff of office is described under the title of ’’pedum magistrals seu patriarchale,’’ that is, a “magisterial or patriarchal staff,” in the Statuta Commilitonum Ordinis Tempi!; or the “Statutes of the Fellow-soldiers of the Order of the Temple,” as a part of the investiture of the Grand Master, in the following words;
“Pedum magistrate seu patriarchale, au- rewn, in cacumine cuius crux Ordinis super orbem exaltatur that is, “A magisterial or patriarchal staff of gold, on the top of which is a cross of the Order, surmounting an orb or globe.” (Stat,, xxviii., art. 358.) But of all these names, baculus is the one more commonly used by writers to designate the Templar pastoral staff.
In the year 1859 this staff of office was first adopted at Chicago by the Templars of the United States, during the Grand Mastership of Sir William B. Hubbard. But, unfortunately, at that time it received the name of abacus, a misnomer, which has continued to the present day, on the authority of a literary blunder of Sir Walter Scott, so that it has fallen to the lot of American Masons to perpetuate, in the use of this word, an error of the great novelist, resulting from his too careless writing, at which he would himself have been the first to smile, had his attention been called to it.
Abacus, in mathematics, denotes an instrument or table used for calculation, and in architecture an ornamental part of a column; but it nowhere, in English or Latin, or any known language, signifies any kind of a staff.
Sir Walter Scott, who undoubtedly was thinking of baculus, in the hurry of the moment and a not improbable confusion of words and thoughts, wrote abacus, when, in his novel of Ivanhoe, he describes the Grand Master, Lucas Beaumanoir, as bearing in his hand “ that singular abacus, or staff of office,” committed a very gross, but not very uncommon, literary blunder, of a kind that is quite familiar to those who are conversant with the results of rapid composition, where the writer often thinks of one word ana writes another.
Baden. In 1778 the Lodge “Karl of Unity ” was established in Mannheim, which at that time belonged to Bavaria. In 1785 an electoral decree was issued prohibiting all secret meetings in the Bavarian Palatinate and the Lodge was closed. In 1803 Mannheim was transferred to the Grand Duchy of Baden, and in 1805 the Lodge was reopened, and in the following year accepted a warrant from the Grand Orient of France and took the name of “Karl of Concord.’’ Then it converted itself into the Grand Orient of Baden and was acknowledged as such by the Grand Orient of France in 1807.
Lodges were established at Bruchsal, Heidelberg, and Mannheim, and the Grand Orient of Baden ruled over them until 1813, when all secret societies were again prohibited, and it was not until 1846 that Masonic activity recommenced in Baden, when the Lodge “Karl of Concord ” was awakened.
There is no longer a Grand Orient of Baden, but the Lodges in the Duchy, of which several have been established, are under the Grand National Mother-Lodge “Zu den drei Welt- kugeln ” (Of the three Globes) in Berlin.
[E. L. H.]
Badge. A mark, sign, token, or thing, says Webster, by which a person is dietin-
guished in a particular place or employment, and designating his relation to a person or to a particular occupation. It is in heraldry the same thing as a cognizance: thus, the followers and retainers of the house of Percy wore a silver crescent as a badge of their connection with that family; the white lion borne on the left arm was the badge of the house of Howard, Earl of Surrey; the red rose that of the house of Lancaster; and the white rose, of York. So the apron, formed of white lambskin, is worn by the Freemason as a badge of his profession and a token of his connection with the Fraternity. (See Apron.)
Badge of a Mason. The lambskin apron is so called. (See Apron.)
Badge, Royal Arch. The Royal Arch badge is the triple tau, which see.
Bafomet. See Baphomet.
Bag. In the early days of the Grand Lodge of England the Secretary used to carry a Bag in processions ; thus in the procession round the tables at the Grand Feast of 1724 we find “ Secretary Cowper with the Bag ” (Constitutions, ed. 1738, p. 117); and in 1729 Lord Kingston, the Grand Master, provided at his own cost “a fine Velvet Bag for the Secretary,” besides his badge of “Two golden Pens a-cross on his Breast” (ibid., p. 124); and in the Procession of March from St. James’ Square to Merchant Taylor’s Hall on January 29, 1730, there came “The Secretary alone with his Badge and Bag, clothed, in a Chariot.” (Ibid., p. 125.)
This practise continued throughout the Eighteenth century, for at the dedication of Freemasons’ Hall in London in 1776 we find in the procession “ Grand Secretary with the bag.” (Constitutions, 1784, p. 318.) But at the union of the two rival Grand Lodges in 1813 the custom was changed, for in the order of procession at public ceremonies laid down in the Constitutions of 1815, we find “Grand Secretary with book of constitutions on a cushion” and “Grand Registrar with his bag”; and the Grand Registrar of England still carries on ceremonial occasions a bag with the arms of the Grand Lodge embroidered on it. |E. L. H.]
Bagulkal. A significant word in the high degrees. Lenning says it is a corruption of the HebrewBegoal-kol, “allis revealed.” Pike says, Bagulkol, with a similar reference to a revelation. Rockwell gives in his MS., Bekal- kel, without any meaning. The old rituals interpret it as signifying “the faithful guardian of the sacred ark,” a derivation clearly fanciful.
Bahrdt, Karl Friederich. A German Doctor of Theology, who was born, in 1741, at Bischofswerda, and died in 1792. He is described by one of his biographers as being “notorious alike for his bold infidelity and for his evil life.” We know not why Thory and Lenning have given his name a place in their vocabularies, as his literary labors bore no relation to Freemasonry, except inasmuch as that he was a Mason, and that in 1787, with several other Masons, he founded at Halle a secret society called the “German Union,”
or the “Two and Twenty,” in reference to the original number of its members. The object of this society was said to be the enlightenment of mankind. It was dissolved in 1790, by the imprisonment of its founder for having -written a libel against the Prussian Minister Woeliner. It is incorrect to call this system of degree a Masonic Rite. (See German Union.)
Baldachin. In architecture, a canopy supported by pillars over an insulated altar. In Masomy, it has been applied by some writers to the canopy over the Master’s chair. The German Masons give this name to the covering of the Lodge, and reckon it therefore among the symbols.
Balder or Baldur. The ancient Scandinavian or older German divinity. The hero of one of the most beautiful and interesting of the myths of the Edda; the second son of Odin and Frigga, and the husband of the maiden Nanna. In brief, the myth recites that Balder dreamed that his life was threatened, which being told to the gods, a council was held by them to secure his safety. The mother proceeded to demand and receive from every inanimate thing, iron and all metals, fire and water, stones, earth, plants, beasts, birds, reptiles, poisons, and diseases, that they would not injure Balder. Balder then became the subject of sport with the gods, who wrestled, cast darts, and in innumerable ways playfully tested his invulnerability. This finally displeased the mischievous, cunning Loki, the Spirit of Evil, who, in the form of an old woman, sought out the mother, Frigga, and ascertained from her that there haabeen excepted or omitted from the oath the little shrub Mistletoe. In haste Loki carried some of this shrub to the assembly of the gods, and gave to the blind Hoder, the god of war, selected slips, and directing his aim, Balder fell pierced to the heart.
Sorrow among the gods was unutterable, and Frigga inquired who, to win her favor, would journey to Hades and obtain from the goddess Hel the release of Balder. The heroic Helmod or Hermoder, son of Odin, offered to undertake the journey. Hel consented to permit the return if all things animate and inanimate should weep for Balder.
All living beings and all things wept, save the witch or giantess Thock (the stepdaughter of Loki), who refused to sympathize in the general mourning. Balder was therefore obliged to linger in the kingdom of Hel until the end of the world.
Baldrick. A portion of military dress, being a scarf passing from the shoulder over the breast to the hip. In the dress regulations of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States, adopted in 1862, it is called a “scarf,” and is thus described: “Five inches wide in the whole, of white bordered with black, one inch on either side, a strip of navy lace one-fourth of an inch wide at the inner edge of the black. On the front centre of the scarf, a metal star of ninepoints, in allusion to the nine founders of the Temple Order, inclosing the Passion Cross,
surrounded by the Latin motto, In hoc signo vinces; the star to be three and three-quarter inches in diameter. The scarf to be worn from the right shoulder to the left hip, with the ends extending six inches below the point of intersection.”
Baldwyn II. The successor of Godfrey of Bouillon as King of Jerusalem. In his reign the Order of Knights Templar was instituted, to whom he granted a place of habitation within the sacred enclosure of the Temple on Mount Moriah. He bestowed on the Order other marks of favor, and, as its patron; his name has been retained in grateful remembrance, and often adopted as a name of Com- manderies of Masonic Templars.
Baldwyn Encampment. There is at Bristol in England a famous Preceptory of Knights Templar, called the “Baldwyn,” which claims to have existed from time immemorial, and of which no one has yet been able to discover the origin. This, together with the Chapter of Knights Ros® Crucis, is the continuation of the old Baldwyn Encampment, the name being derived from the Crusader, King of Jerusalem.
The earliest record preserved by this Preceptory is an authentic and important document dated December 20, 1780, and headed:
“In the name of the Grand Architect of the Universe.
“The Supreme Grand and Royal Encampment of the Order of Knights Templars of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitallers and Knights of Malta, &c., &c.,” and commencing “Whereas by Charter of Compact our Encampment is constituted the Supreme Grand and Royal Encampment of this Noble Order with full Power when Assembled to issue, publish and make known to all our loving Knights Companions whatever may contribute to their knowledge not inconsistent with its general Laws. Also to constitute and appoint any Officer or Officers to make and ordain such laws as from time to time may appear necessary to promote the Honor of our Noble Order in general and the more perfect government of our Supreme degree in particular. We therefore the MOST EMINENT GRAND MASTER The Grand Master of the Order, the Grand Master Assistant General, and two Grand Standard Bearers and Knights Companions for that purpose in full Encampment Assembled do make known.”
Then follow twenty Statutes or Regulations for the government of the Order, and the document ends with “Done at our Castle in Bristol 20th day of December 1780.”
It is not clear who were the parties to this “Compact,” but it is thought probable that it was the result of an agreement between the Bristol Encampment and another ancient body at Bath (the Camp of Antiquity) to establish a supreme direction of the Order. However that may be, it is clear that the Bristol Encampment was erected into a Supreme Grand Encampment in 1780.
The earliest reference to the Knights Templar as yet discovered occurs in a Bristol
newspaper of January 25, 1772, so it may fairly be assumed that the Baldwyn Preceptory had been in existence before the date of the Charter of Compact.
In 1791 the well-known Brother Thomas Dunckerley, who was Provincial Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of the Royal Arch Masons at Bristol, was requested by the Knights Templar of that city to be their Grand Master. He at once introduced great activity into the Order throughout England, and established the Grand Conclave in London —the forerunner of the Great Priory.
The “seven degrees ” of the Camp of Baldwyn at that time probably consisted of the three of the Craft and that of the Royal Arch (which were necessary qualifications of all candidates as set forth in the Charter of Compact), (5) Knights Templar of St. John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, (6) Knights Rose Croix of Heredom, (7) Grand Elected Knights Kadosh.
About the year 1813 the three degrees of “Nine Elect,” “Kilwinning,” and “East, Sword and Eagle ” were adopted by the Encampment. The “Kadosh” having afterward discontinued, the five “Royal Orders of Masonic Knighthood,” of which the Encampment consisted, were: (1) Nine Elect, (2) Kilwinning, (3) East, Sword and Eagle, (4) Knight Templar, (5) Rose Croix.
For many years the Grand Conclave in London was in abeyance, but when H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex, who had been Grand Master since 1813, died in 1843, it was revived, and attempts were made to induce the Camp of Baldwyn to submit to its authority, but without avail, and in 1857 Baldwyn reasserted its position as a Supreme Grand and Royal Encampment, and shortly afterward issued charters to six subordinate Encampments. The chief cause of difference with the London Grand Conclave was the question of giving up the old custom of working the Rose Croix Degree within the Camp. At last, in 1862, the Baldwyn was enrolled by virtue of a Charter of Compact “under the Banner of the Grand Conclave of Masonic Knights Templar of England and Wales.” It was arranged that the Baldwyn Preceptory (as it was then called) .should take precedence (with five others " of time immemorial ”) of the other Preceptories; that it should be constituted a Provincial Grand Commandery or Priory of itself; and should be entitled to confer the degree of Knights of Malta.
In 1881 a “Treaty of Union” was made with the Supreme Council of the 33°, whereby the Baldwyn Rose Croix Chapter retained its “time immemorial" position and was placed at the head of the list of Chapters. It also became a “District” under the Supreme Council of the 33° and is therefore placed under an “ Inspector General ” of its own.
(The preceding article is contributed by Bro. Cecil Powell, joint-author of “Freemasonry in Bristol," published in 1910.)
Balkls. The name given by the Orientalists to the Queen of Sheba, who visited King
Solomon, and of whom they relate a number of fables. (See Sheba, Queen of.)
Ballot. In the election of candidates, Lodges have recourse to a ballot of white and black balls. Unanimity of choice, in this case, was originally required; one black ball only being enough to reject a candidate, because as the Old Regulations say, “ The members of a particular Lodge are the best judges of it; and because, if a turbulent member should be imposed on them, it might spoil their harmony or hinder the freedom of their communication, or even break up and disperse the Lodge, which ought to be avoided by all true and faithful.” (Constitutions, 1738, p. 155.)
“But it was found inconvenient to insist upon unanimity in several cases: and therefore the Grand Masters have allowed the Lodges to admit a member, if not above three Ballots are against him; though some Lodges desire no such allowance.” (Ibid.)
And this is still the rule under the English Constitution. (Rule 190.)
In balloting for a candidate for initiation, every member is expected to vote. No one can be excused from sharing the responsibility of admission or rejection, except by the unanimous consent of the Lodge. Where a member has himself no personal or acquired knowledge of the qualifications of the candidate, he is bound to give faith to the recommendation of his brethren of the reporting committee, who, he is to presume, would not make a favorable report on the petition of an unworthy applicant.
The most correct usage in balloting for candidates is as follows:
The committee of investigation having reported favorably, the Master of the Lodge directs the Senior Deacon to prepare the ballot-box. The mode in which this is accomplished is as follows: The Senior Deacon takes the ballot-box, and, opening it, places all the white and black balls indiscriminately in one compartment, leaving the other entirely empty. He then proceeds with the box to the Junior and Senior Wardens, who satisfy themselves by an inspection that no ball has been left in the compartment in which the votes are to be deposited. The box in this and the other instance to be referred to hereafter, is presented to the inferior officer first, and then to his superior, that the examination and decision of the former may be substantiated and confirmed by the higher authority of the latter. Let it, indeed, be remembered, that in all such cases the usage of Masonic circummnbulation is to be observed, and that, therefore, we must first pass the Junior’s station before we can get to that of the Senior Warden.
These officers having thus satisfied themselves that the box is in a proper condition for the reception of the ballots, it is then placed upon the altar by the Senior Deacon, who retires to his seat. The Master then directs the Secretary to call the roll, which is done by commencing with the Worshipful Master, and proceeding through all the officers down to the youngest member. As a matter of con
venience, the Secretary generally votes the last of those in the room, and then, if the Tiler is a member of the Lodge, he is called in, while the Junior Deacon tiles for him, and the name of the applicant having been told him, he is directed to deposit his ballot, which he does and then retires.
As the name of each officer and member is called, he approaches the altar, and having made the proper Masonic salutation to the Chair, he deposits his ballot and retires to his seat. The roll should be called slowly, so that at no time should there be more than one person present at the box, for the great object of the ballot being secrecy, no brother should be permitted so near the member voting as to distinguish the color of the ball he deposits.
The box is placed on the altar, and the ballot is deposited with the solemnity of a Masonic salutation, that the voters may be duly impressed with the sacred and responsible nature of the duty they are called on to discharge. The system of voting thus described, is, therefore, far better on this account than that sometimes adopted in Lodges, of handing round the box for the members to deposit their ballots from their seats.
The Master having inquired of the Wardens if all have voted, then orders the Senior Deacon to “take charge of the ballot-box.” That officer accordingly repairs to the altar, and taking possession of the box, carries it, as before, to the Junior Warden, who examines the ballot, and reports, if all the balls are white, that “the box is clear in the South,” or, if there is one or more black balls, that “the box is foul in the South.” The Deacon then carries it to the Senior Warden, and afterward to the Master, who, of course, make the same report, according to the circumstance, with the necessary verbal variations of “West ” and “East.”
If the box is clear—that is, if all the ballots are white—the Master then announces that the applicant has been duly elected, and the Secretary makes a record of the fact. But if the box is foul, the Master inspects the number of black balls; if he finds only one, he so states the fact to the Lodge, ana orders the Senior Deacon again to prepare the ballot-box. Here the same ceremonies are passed through that have already been described. The balls are removed into one compartment, the box is submitted to the inspection of the Wardens, it is placed upon the altar, the roll is called, the members advance and deposit their votes, the box is scrutinized, and the result declared by the Wardens and Master. If again one black ball be found, or if two or more appeared on the first ballot, the Master announces that the petition of the applicant has been rejected, and directs the usual record to be made by the Secretary and the notification to be given to the Grand Lodge.
Balloting for membership or affiliation is subject to the same rules. In both cases “previous notice, one month before,” must be given to the Lodge, “due inquiry into the reputation and capacity of the candidate ” must
be made, and “the unanimous consent of all the members then present ” must be obtained. Nor can this unanimity be dispensed with in one case any more than it can in the other. It is the inherent privilege of every Lodge to judge of the qualifications of its own members, “nor is this inherent privilege subject to a dispensation.”
Ballot-Box. The box in which the ballots or little balls used in voting for a candidate are deposited. It should be divided into two compartments, one of which is to contain both black and white balls, from which each member selects one, and the other, which is closed with an aperture, to receive the ball that is to be deposited. Various methods have been devised by which secrecy may be secured, so that a voter may select and deposit the ball he desires without the possibility of its being seen whether it is black or white. That now most in use in this country is to have the aperture so covered by a part of the box as to prevent the hand from being seen when the ball is deposited.
Ballot, Reconsideration of the. See Reconsideration of the Ballot.
Ballot, Secrecy of the. The secrecy of the ballot is as essential to its perfection as its unanimity or its independence. If the vote were to be given viva voce, it is impossible that the improper influences of fear or interest should not sometimes be exerted, and timid members be thus induced to vote contrary to the dictates of their reason and conscience. Hence, to secure this secrecy and protect the purity of choice, it has been wisely'established as a usage, not only that the vote shall in these cases be taken by a ballot, but that there shall be no subsequent discussion of the subject. Not only has no member a right to inquire how his fellows have voted, but it is wholly out of order for him to explain his own vote. And the reason of this is evident. If one member has a right to rise in his place and announce that he deposited a white ball, then every other member has the same right; and in a Lodge of twenty members, where an application has been rejected by one black ball, if nineteen members state that they did not deposit it, the inference is clear that the twentieth Brother has done so, and thus the secrecy of the ballot is at once destroyed. The rejection having been announced from the Chair, the Lodge should at once proceed to other business, and it is the sacred duty of the presiding officer peremptorily and at once to check any rising discussion on the subject. Nothing must be done to impair the inviolable secrecy of the ballot.
Ballot, Unanimity of the. Unanimity in the choice of candidates is considered so essential to the welfare of the Fraternity, that the Old Regulations have expressly provided for its preservation in the following words:
“But no man can be entered a Brother in any particular Lodge, or admitted to be a member thereof, without the unanimous consent of all the members of that Lodge then present when the candidate is proposed, and
their consent is formally asked by the Master; and they are to signify their consent or dissent in their own prudent way, either virtually or in form, but with unanimity; nor is this inherent privilege subject to a dispensation; because the members of a particular Lodge are the best judges of it; and if a fractious member should be imposed on them, it might spoil their harmony, or hinder their freedom; or even break and disperse the Lodge, which ought to be avoided by all good and true brethren.” (Constitutions, 1723, p. 59.)
The rule of unanimity here referred to is, however, applicable only to the United States of America, m all of whose Grand Lodges it is strictly enforced. Anderson tells us, in the second edition of the Constitutions, under the head of New Regulations (p. 155), that “ it was found inconvenient to insist upon unanimity in several cases; and, therefore, the Grand Masters have allowed the Lodges to admit a member if not above three ballots are against him; though some Lodges desire no such allowance.” And accordingly, the present Constitution of the Grand Lodge of England, says: “No person can be made a Mason in or admitted a member of a Lodge, if, on the ballot, three black balls appear against him; but the by-laws of a Lodge may enact that one or two black balls shall exclude a candidate; and by-laws may also enact that a prescribed period shall elapse before any rejected candidate can be again proposed in that Lodge.” (Rule 190.) The Grand Lodge of Ireland prescribes unanimity, unless there is a by-law of the subordinate Lodge to the contrary. (Law 127.) The Constitution of Scotland provides that “ Three black balls shall exclude a candidate. Lodges in the Colonies and in Foreign parts may enact that two black balls shall exclude.” (Rule 181.) In the continental Lodges, the modern English regulation prevails. It is only in the Lodges of the United States that the ancient rule of unanimity is strictly enforced.
Unanimity in the ballot is necessary to secure the harmony of the Lodge, which may be as seriously impaired by the admission of a candidate contrary to the wishes of one member as of three or more; for every man has his friends and his influence. Besides, it is unjust to any member, however humble he may be, to introduce among his associates one whose presence might be unpleasant to him, and whose admission would probably compel him to withdraw from the meetings, or even altogether from the Lodge. Neither would any advantage really accrue to a Lodge by such a forced admission; for while receiving a new and untried member into its fold, it would be losing an old one. For these reasons, in this country, in every one of its jurisdictions, the unanimity of the ballot is expressly insisted on; and it is evident, from what has been here said, that any less stringent regulation is a violation of the ancient law and usage.
Balsamo, Joseph. See Cagliostro.
Baltimore Convention. A Masonic Congress which met in the city of Baltimore on
the 8th of May, 1843, in consequence of a recommendation made by a preceding convention which had met in Washington, D. C., in March, 1842. It consisted of delegates from the States of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, Maryland, District of Columbia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia; Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Ohio, Missouri, and Louisiana. Its professed objects were to produce uniformity of Masonic work and to recommend such measures as should tend to the elevation of the Order. It continued in session for nine days; during which time it was principally occupied in an attempt to perfect the ritual, and in drawing up articles for the permanent organization of a Triennial Masonic Convention of the United States, to consist of delegates from all the Grand Lodges. In both of these efforts it failed, although several distinguished Masons took part in its proceedings; the body was too small (consisting, as it did, of only twenty-three members) to exercise any decided popular influence on the Fraternity. Its plan of a Triennial Convention met with very general opposition, and its proposed ritual, familiarly known as the “Baltimore work,” has almost become a myth. Its only practical result was the preparation and publication of Moore’s Trestle Board, a Monitor which has, however, been adopted only by a limited number of American Lodges. The “Baltimore work ” did not materially differ from that originally established by Webb. Moore’s Trestle Board professes to be an exposition of its monitorial part; a statement which, however, is denied by Dr. Dove, who was the President of the Convention, and the controversy on this point at the time between these two eminent Masons was conducted with too much bitterness.
Baluster. A small column or pilaster, corruptly called a bannister; in French, balus- tre. Borrowing the architectural idea, the Scottish Rite Masons apply the word baluster to any official circular or other document issuing from a Supreme Council.
Balzac, Louis Charles. A French architect of some celebrity, and member of the Institute of Egypt. He founded the Lodge of the Great Sphinx at Paris. He was also a poet of no inconsiderable merit, and was the author of many Masonic canticles in the French language, among them the well-known hymn entitled Taisons nous, plus de bruit, the music of which was composed by M. Rig- uel. He died March 31, 1820, at which time he was inspector of the public works in the prefecture of the Seine.
Band. The neck ribbon bearing the jewel of the office in Lodge, Chapter, or Grand Lodge of various countries, and of the symbolic color pertaining to the body in which it is worn.
Banner-Bearer. The name of an officer known in the higher degrees in the French Rite. One who has in trust the banner; similar in station to the Standard-Bearer of a Grand Lodge, or . of a Supreme Body of the Scottish Rite.
Banneret. A small banner. An officer known in the Order of the Knights Templar, who, with the Marshal, had charge of warlike undertakings. A title of an order known as Knight Banneret, instituted by Edward I. The banneret of the most ancient order of knighthood called Knight Bachelor was
shaped like Fig. 1. The Knights Banneret, next in age, had a pennon like Fig. 2. That of the Barons like Fig. 3.
Banners, Royal Arch. Much difficulty has been experienced by ritualists in reference to the true colors and proper arrangements of the banners used in an American Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. It is admitted that they are four in number, and that their colors are blue, purple, scarlet, and white; and it is known too, that the devices on these banners are a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle; but the doubt is constantly arising as to the relation between these devices and these colors, and as to which of the former is to be appropriated to each of the latter. The question, it is true, is one of mere ritualism, but it is important that the ritual should be always uniform, and hence the object of the present article is to attempt the solution of this question.
The banners used in a Royal Arch Chapter are derived from those which are supposed to have been borne by the twelve tribes of Israel during their encampment in the wilderness, to which reference is made in the second chapter of the Book of Numbers, and the second verse: “Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard.” But as to what were the devices on the banners, or what were their various colors, the Bible is absolutely silent. To the inventive genius of the Talmudists are we indebted for all that we know or profess to know on this subject. These mystical philosophers have given to us with wonderful precision the various devices which they have borrowed from the death-bed prophecy of Jacob, and have sought, probably m their own fertile imaginations, for the appropriate colors.
The English Royal Arch Masons, whose system differs very much from that of their American Companions, display in their Chapters the twelve Banners of the tribes in accordance with the Talmudic devices and colors. These have been very elaborately described by Dr. Oliver in his Historical Landmarks (ii., 583-97), and beautifully exemplified by Companion Harris in his Royal Arch Tracing Boards.
But our American Royal Arch Masons, as we have seen, use only four banners, being those attributed by the Talmudists to the four principal tribes—Judah, Ephraim, Reuben, and Dan. The devices on these banners are respectively a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle. As to this there is no question, all authorities,
such as they are, agreeing on this point. But, as has been before said, there is some diversity of opinion as to the colors of each, and necessarily as to the officers by whom they should be borne.
Some of the Targumists, or Jewish biblical commentators, say that the color of the banner of each tribe was analogous to that of the stone which represented that tribe in the breastplate of the High Priest. If this were correct, then the colors of the banners of the four leading tribes would be red and green, namely, red for Judah, Ephraim, and Reuben, and green for Dan; these being the colors of the precious stones sardonyx, ligure, carbuncle, and chrysolite, by which these tribes were represented in the High Priest’s breastplate. Such an arrangement would not, of course, at all suit the symbolism of the American Royal Arch banners.
Equally unsatisfactory is the disposition of the colors derived from the arms of Speculative Masonry, as first displayed by Dermott in his Ahiman Rezon, which is familiar to all American Masons, from the copy published by Cross, in his Hieroglyphic Chart. In this piece of blazonry, the two fields occupied by Judah and Dan are azure, or blue, and those of Ephraim and Reuben are or, or golden yellow; an appropriation of colors altogether uncongenial with Royal Arch symbolism.
We must, then, depend on the Talmudic writers solely for the disposition and arrangement of the colors and devices of these banners. From their works we learn that the color of the banner of Judah was white; that of Ephraim, scarlet; that of Reuben, purple; and that of Dan, blue; and that the devices of the same tribes were respectively the lion, the oxjthe man, and the eagle.
Hence, under this arrangement—and it is the only one upon which we can depend—the four banners m a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, working in the American Rite, must be distributed as follows among the bannerbearing officers:
1st. An eagle, on a blue banner. This represents the tribe of Dan, and is borne by the Grand Master of the first veil.
2d. A man, on a purple banner. This represents the tribe of Reuben, and is borne by the Grand Master of the second veil.
3d. An ox, on a scarlet banner.. This represents the tribe of Ephraim, and is borne by the Grand Master of the third veil.
4th. A lion, on a white banner. This represents the tribe of Judah, and is borne by the Royal Arch Captain.
Banquet. See Table-Lodge.
Baphomet. The imaginary idol, or, rather, symbol, which the Knights Templars were accused of employing in their mystic rights. The forty-second of the charges preferred against them by Pope Clement is in these words: Item quod ipsi per singulas provin- das habeant idola: videlicet capita quorum aliqua habebant tree facies, et alia unum: et aliqua cranium humanum habebant. Also, that in all of the provinces they have idols,
namely, heads, of which some had three faces, some one, and some had a human skull. Von Hammer, a bitter enemy of the Templars, in his book entitled The Mystery of Baphomet Revealed, revived this old accusation, and attached to the Baphomet an impious signification. He derived the name from the Greek words, ffap-fi, baptism, and pfins, wisdom, and thence supposed that it represented the admission of the initiated into the secret mysteries of the Order. From this gratuitous assumption he deduces his theory, set forth even in the very title of his work, that the Templars were convicted, by their own monuments, of being guilty as Gnostics and Ophites, of apostasy, idolatry, and impurity. Of this statement he offers no other historical testimony than the Articles of Accusation, themselves devoid of proof, but through which the Templars were made the victims of the jealousy of the Pope and the avarice of the King of France.
Others again have thought that they could find in Baphomet a corruption of Mahomet, and hence they have asserted that the Templars had been perverted from their religious faith by the Saracens, with whom they had so much intercourse, sometimes as foes and sometimes as friends. Nicolai, who wrote an Essay on the Accusations brought against the Templars, published at Berlin, in 1782, supposes, but doubtingly, that the figure of the Baphomet, figura Baffometi, which was depicted on a bust representing the Creator, was nothing else but the Pythagorean pentagon, the symbol of health and prosperity, borrowed by the Templars from the Gnostics, who in turn had obtained it from the School of Pythagoras.
King, in his learned work on the Gnostics, thinks that the Baphomet may have been a symbol of the Manicheans, with whose wide- spreading heresy in the Middle Ages he does not doubt that a large portion of the inquiring spirits of the Temple had been intoxicated.
Amid these conflicting views, all merely speculative, it will not be uncharitable or unreasonable to suggest that the Baphomet, or skull of the ancient Templars, was, like the relic of their modern Masonic representatives, simply an impressive symbol teaching the lesson of mortality, and that the latter has really been derived from the former.
Baptism, Masonic. The term “Masonic Baptism ” Las been recently applied in this country by some authorities to that ceremony which is used in certain of the high degrees, and which, more properly, should be called “Lustration.” It has been objected that the use of the term is calculated to give needless offense to scrupulous persons who might suppose it to be an imitation of a Christian sacrament. But, in fact, the Masonic baptism has no allusion whatsoever, either in form or design, to the sacrament of the Church. It is simply a lustration or purification by water, a ceremony which was common to all the ancient initiations. (See Lustration.')
Bard. A title of great dignity and importance among the ancient Britons, which was
conferred only upon men of distinguished rank in society, and who filled a sacred office. It was the third or lowest of the three degrees into which Druidism was divided. (See Druid- ical Mysteries.)
There is an officer of the Grand Lodge of Scotland called the “Grand Bard.”
Bastard. The question of the ineligibility of bastards to be made Freemasons was first brought to the attention of the Craft by Brother Chalmers I. Paton, who, in several articles in The London Freemason, in 1869, contended that they were excluded from initiation by the Ancient Regulations. Subsequently, in his compilation entitled Freemasonry and its Jurisprudence, published in 1872, he cites several of the Old Constitutions as explicitly declaring that the men made Masons shall be “ no bastards.” This is a most unwarrantable interpolation not to be justified in any writer on jurisprudence; for on a careful examination of all the old manuscript copies which have been published, no such words are to be found in any one of them. As an instance of this literary disingenuousness (to use no harsher term). I quote the following from his work (p. 60): “The charge in this second edition [of Anderson’s Constitutions} is in the following unmistakable words: ’The men made Masons must be freeborn, no bastard, (or no bondmen,) of mature age and of good report, hale and sound, not deformed or dismembered at the time of their making.’ ”
Now, with a copy of this second edition lying open before me, I find the passage thus printed: “The men made Masons must be freeborn, (or no bondmen,) of mature age and of good report, hale and sound, not deformed or dismembered at the time of their making.” The words “no bastard ” are Paton’s interpolation.
Again, Paton quotes from Preston the Ancient Charges at makings, in these words: “That he that be made be able in all degrees: that is, freeborn, of a good kindred, true, and no bondsman or bastard, and that he have his right limbs as a man ought to have.”
But on referring to Preston (edition of 1775, and all subsequent editions) we find the passage to be correctly thus: “That he that be made be able in all degrees; that is, freeborn, of a good kindred, true, and no bondsman, and that he have his limbs as a man ought to have.”
Positive law authorities should not be thus cited, not merely carelessly, but with designed inaccuracy to support a theory.
But although there is no regulation in the Old Constitutions which explicitly prohibits the initiation of bastards, it may be implied from their language that such prohibition did exist. Thus, m all the old manuscripts, we find such expressions as these: he that shall be made a Mason “must be freeborn and of good kindred ” (Sloane MS., No. 3323), or “come of good kindred ” (Edinburgh Kilwinning MS.), or, as the Roberts Print more definitely has it, “of honest parentage.”
It is not, I therefore think, to be doubted
that formerly bastards were considered as -ineligible for initiation, on the same principle that they were, as a degraded class, excluded from the priesthood in the Jewish and the primitive Christian church. But the more liberal spirit of modern times has long since made the law obsolete, because it is contrary to the principles of justice to punish a misfortune as if it was a crime.
Barbati Fratres. Bearded Brothers—at an earlier date known as the Conversi—craftsmen known among the Conventual Builders, admitted to the Abbey Corbey in the year 851, whose social grade was more elevated than the ordinary workmen, and were freeborn. The Conversi were filiates in the Abbeys, used a Qwasi-monastic dress, could leave their profession whenever they chose and could return to civil life. Converts who abstained from secular pursuits as sinful and professed conversion to the higher life of the Abbe, without becoming monks. Scholae or guilds of such Operatives lodged within the convents. We are told by Bro. Geo. F. Fort (in his Critical Inquiry Concerning the Mediaeval Conventual Builders, 1884) that the scholae of dextrous Barbati Fratres incurred the anger of their coreligionists, by their haughty deportment, sumptuous garb, liberty of movement, and refusal to have their long, flowing beards shaven—hence their name—thus tending to the more fascinating attractions of civil life as time carried them forward through the centuries to the middle of the thirteenth, when William Abbott, of Premontrd, attempted to enforce the rule of shaving the beard. “These worthy ancestors of our modem craft deliberately refused,” and said, “if the execution of this order were pressed against them, ’they would fire every cloister and cathedral in the country.’ ” The decretal was withdrawn.
Barefeet. See Discalceation.
Barruel, Abbe. Augustin Barruel, generally known as the Abb£ Barruel, who was born, October 2, 1741, at Villeneuve de Berg, in France, and who died October 5, 1820, was an implacable enemy of Freemasonry. He was a prolific writer, but owes his reputation principally to the work entitled Memoires pour servir a I’Histoire du Jacobinisme, 4 vols., 8vo, published in London in 1797. In this work he charges the Freemasons with revolutionary principles in politics and with infidelity in religion. He seeks to trace the origin of the Institution first to those ancient heretics, the Manicheans, and through them to the Templars, against whom he revives the old accusations of Philip the Fair and Clement V. His theory of the Templar origin of Masonry is thus expressed (ii., 382): “ Your whole school and all your Lodges are derived from the Templars. After the extinction of their Order, a certain number of guilty knights, having escaped the proscription, united for the preservation of their horrid mysteries. To their impious code they added the vow of vengeance against the kings and priests who destroyed their Order, and against all religion which anathematized their dogmas. They
made adepts, who should transmit from generation to generation the same mysteries of iniquity, the same oaths, and the same hatred of the God of the Christians, and of kings, and of priests. These mysteries have descended to you, and you continue to perpetuate their impiety, their vows, and their oaths. Such is your origin. The lapse of time and the change of manners have varied a part of your symbols and your frightful systems; but the essence of them remains, the vows, the oaths, the hatred, and the conspiracies are the same.” It is not astonishing that Lawrie (History of Freemasonry, p. 50) should have said of the writer of such statements, that “that charity and forbearance which distinguish the Christian character are never exemplified in the work of Barruel; and the hypocrisy of his pretensions is often betrayed by the fury of his zeal. The tattered veil behind which he attempts to cloak his inclinations often discloses to the reader the motives of the man and the wishes of his party.” Although the attractions of his style and the boldness of his declamation gave Barruel at one time a prominent place among anti-Masonic writers, his work is now seldom read and never cited in Masonic controversies, for the progress of truth has assigned their just value to its extravagant assertions.
Bartolozzi, Francesco (1728-1813). A famous engraver who lived for some time in London and engraved the frontispiece of the 1784 edition of the Book of Constitutions. He was initiated in the Lodge of the Nine Muses in London on February 13, 1777. [E. L. H.J
Basilica. Literally ana originally a royal palace. A Roman Pagan basilica was a rectangular hall whose length was two or three times its breadth, divided by two or more lines of columns, bearing entablatures, into a broad central nave and side aisles. It was generally roofed with wood, sometimes vaulted. At one end was the entrance. From the center of the opposite end opened a semicircular recess as broad as the nave, called in Latin the “Tribuna” and in Greek the “Apsis.” The uses of the basilica were various and of a public character, courts of justice being held in them. Only a few ruins remain, but sufficient to establish the form and general arrangement.
The significance of the basilica to Freemasons is that it was the form adopted for early Christian churches, and for its influence on the building guilds.
For the beginning of Christian architecture, which is practically the beginning of Operative Masonry, we must seek very near the beginning of the Christian religion. For three centuries the only places in Pagan Rome where Christians could meet with safety were in the catacombs. When Constantine adopted Christianity in 324, the Christians were no longer forced to worship in the catacombs. They were permitted to worship in the basilica and chose days for special worship of the Saints on or near days of Pagan celebrations or feast days, so as not to attract the attention or draw the contempt of the Romans not
Christians. Examples of this have come down to us, as, Christmas, St. John the Baptist Day, St. John the Evangelist Day, etc.
The Christian basilicas spread over the Roman Empire, but in Rome applied specially to the seven principal churches founded by Constantine, and it was their plan that gave Christian churches this name. The first builders were the Roman Artificers, and after the fall of the Western Empire, we find a decadent branch at Como (see Como) that developed into the Comacine Masters, who evolved, aided by Byzantine workmen and influence, Lombard architecture.
Basket. The basket or fan was among the Egyptians a symbol of the purification of souls. The idea seems to have been adopted by other nationsj and hence, “initiations in the Ancient Mysteries,” says Mr. Rolle (Culte de Bacch., i., 30), “being the commencement of a better life and the perfection of it, could not take place till the soul was purified. The fan had been accepted as the symbol of that purification because the mysteries purged the soul of sin, as the fan cleanses the grain.” John the Baptist conveys the same idea of purification when he says of the Messiah, “His fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor.” The sacred basket in the Ancient Mysteries was called the Aikvov, and the one who carried it was termed the kucvi^opos, or basket-bearer. Indeed, the sacred basket, containing the first fruits and offerings, was as essential in all solemn processions of the mysteries of Bacchus and other divinities as the Bible is in the Masonic procession. As lustration was the symbol of purification by water, so the mystical fan or winnowing-basket was, according to Sainte Croix (Myst. du Pag., t. ii., p. 81), the symbol in the Bacchic rites of a purification by air.
Basle, Congress of. A Masonic Congress was held September 24,1848, at Basle, in Switzerland, consisting of one hundred and six members, representing eleven Lodges under the patronage of the Swiss Grand Lodge Alpina. The Congress was principally engaged upon the discussion of the question, “What can and what ought Freemasonry to contribute towards the welfare of mankind locally, nationally, and internationally? ” The conclusion to which the Congress appeared to arrive upon this question was briefly this: “Locally, Freemasonry ought to strive to make every brother a good citizen, a good father, and a good neighbor; whilst it ought to teach him to perform every duty of life faithfully. Nationally, a Freemason ought to strive to promote and to maintain the welfare and the honor of his native land, to love and to honor it himself, and, if necessary, to place his life and fortune at its disposal; Internationally, a Freemason is bound to go still further: he must consider himself as a member of that one great family, —-the whole human race,—who are all children of one and the same Father, and that it is in this sense, and with this spirit, that the Freemason ought to work if he would appear worthily before the throne of Eternal Truth
and Justice.” The Congress appears to have accomplished no practical result.
Baton. The truncheon or staff of a Grand Marshal, and always carried by him in processions as the ensign of his office. It is a wooden rod about eighteen inches long. • In the military usage of England, the baton of the Earl Marshal was originally of wood, but in the reign of Richard II. it was made of gold, and delivered to him at his creation, a custom which is still continued. In the patent or commission granted by that monarch to the Duke of Surrey the baton is minutely described as “baculum aureum circa utramque finem de nigro annulatum,” a golden wand, having black rings around each end—a description that will very well suit for a Masonic baton.
Bats, Parliament of. The Parliament which assembled in England in the year 1426, during the minority of Henry VI., to settle the disputes between the Duke of Gloucester, the Regent, and the Bishop of Winchester, the guardian of the young king’s person, and which was so called because the members, being forbidden by the Duke of Gloucester to wear swords, armed themselves with clubs or bats. It has been stated by Preston (Illustrations) that it was in this Parliament that the Act forbidding Masons to meet in Chapters or Congregations was passed; but this is erroneous, for that act was passed in 1425 by the Parliament at Westminster, while the Parliament of Bats met at Leicester in 1426. [E. L. H.]
(See Laborers, Statutes of.)
Battery. A given number of blows by the gavels of the officers, or by the hands of the Brethren, as a mark of approbation, admiration, or reverence, and at times accompanied by the acclamation.
Bavaria. Freemasonry was introduced into Bavaria, from France, in 1737. The meetings of the Lodges were suspended in 1784 by the reigning duke, Charles Theodore, and the Act of suspension was renewed in 1799 and 1804 by Maximilian Joseph, the King of Bavaria. The Order was subsequently revived in 1812 and in 1817. The Grand Lodge of Bayreuth was constituted in 1811 under the appellation of the “Grand Lodge zur Sonne.” In 1868 a Masonic conference took place of the Lodges under its jurisdiction, and a constitution was adopted, which guarantees to every confederated Lodge perfect freedom of ritual and government, provided the Grand Lodge finds these to be Masonic.
Bay-Tree. An evergreen plant, and a symbol in Freemasonry of the immortal nature of Truth. By the bay-tree thus referred to in the ritual of the Companion of the Red Cross, is meant the laurel, which, as an evergreen, was among the ancients a symbol of immortality. It is, therefore, properly compared with truth, which Josephus makes Zer- ubbabel say is “immortal and eternal.”
Bazot, Etienne Francois. A French Masonic writer, bom at Nievre, March 31, 1782. He published at Paris, in 1810, a Vocabulaire des Francs-Magons, which was translated into
Italian, and in 1811 a Manuel duFranc-Magon, which is one of the most judicious works of the kind published in France. He was also the author of Morale de la Franc-Magonnerie, and the Tuileur Expert des 33 degris, which is a complement to his Manuel. Bazot was distinguished for other literary writings on subjects of general literature, such as two volumes of Tales and Poems, A Eulogy on the Abb£ de I’Epie, and as the editor of the Biographic Now- velle des Contemporaires, in 20 volumes.
B. D. S. P. H. G. F. In the French rituals of the Knights of the East and West, these letters are the initials of Beauts, Divinity, Sagesse, Puissance, Honneur, Gloire, Force, which correspond to the letters of the English rituals, B. D. W. P. H. G. S., which are the initials of equivalent words.
Beadle. An officer in a Council of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, corresponding to the Junior Deacon of a symbolic Lodge. The beadle, bedellus (DuCange), is one, says Junius, who proclaims and executes the will of superior powers.
Beaton, Mrs. One of those fortunate females who are said to have obtained possession of the Masons’ secrets. The following account of her is given in A General History of the County of Norfolk, published in 1829 (vol. 2, p. 1304). Mrs. Beaton, who was a resident of Norfolk, England, was commonly called the Freemason, from the circumstance of her having contrived to conceal herself, one evening, in the wainscoting of a Lodge-room, where she learned the secret—at the knowledge of which thousands of her sex have in vain attempted to arrive. She was, in many respects, a very singular character, of which one proof adduced is that the secret of the Freemasons died with her. She died at St. John Maddermarket, Norwich, July, 1802, aged eighty-five.
Beaucenifer. From Beauseant, and fero, to carry. The officer among the old Knights Templar whose duty it was to carry the Beauseant in battle. The office is still retained in some of the high degrees which are founded on Templarism.
Beauchalne. The Chevalier Beauchaine was one of the most fanatical of the irremovable Masters of the Ancient Grand Lodge of France. lie had established his Lodge at the “Golden Sim,” an inn in the Rue St. Victor, Paris, where he slept, and for six francs conferred all the degrees of Freemasonry. On August 17, 1747, he organized the Order of Fendeurs, or Woodcutters, at Paris.
Beauseant. The vexillum belli, or warbanner of the ancient Templars, which is also used by the modern Masonic Order. The upper half of the banner was black, and the lower half
white: black, to typify terror to foes, and white, fairness to friends. It bore the pious inscription, Non nobis, Domine non nobis, sed nomini
tuo da gloriam. It is frequently, says Barrington (Intro, to Her., p. 121), introduced among the decorations in the Temple Church, and on one of the paintings on the wall, Henry I. is represented with this banner in his hand. As to the derivation of the word, there is some doubt among writers. Bauseant or Bausant was, in old French, a piebald or party-colored horse] and the word Bawseant is used in the Scottish dialect with a similar reference to two colors. Thus, Burns says:
“His honest, sonsie, baws’nt face,” where Dr. Currie, in his Glossary of Bums, explains bawsent as meaning “ having a white stripe down the face.” It is also supposed by some that the word bauseant may tie only a form, in the older language, of the modern French word biensiant, which signifies something decorous or handsome; but the former derivation is preferable, in which beauseant would signify simply a party-colored banner. With regard to the double signification of the white and black banner, the Orientalists have a legend of Alexander the Great, which may be appropriately quoted on the present occasion, as given by Weil in his Biblical Legends (p. 70).
Alexander was the lord of light and darkness: when he went out with his army the light was before him, and behind him was the darkness, so that he was secure against all ambuscades: and by means of a miraculous white and black standard he had also the power to transform the clearest day into midnight and darkness, or black night into noonday, just as he unfurled the one or the other. Thus he was unconquerable, since he rendered his troops invisible at his pleasure, and came down suddenly upon his foes. Might there not have been some connection between the mythical white and black standard of Alexander and the Beauseant of the Templars? We know that the latter were familiar with Oriental symbolism.
Beauseant was also the war-cry of the Ancient Templars.
Beauty. Said to be symbolically one of the three supports of a Lodge. It is represented by the Corinthian column, because the Corinthian is the most beautiful of the ancient orders of Architecture; and by the Junior Warden, because he symbolizes the meridian sun—the most beautiful object in the heavens. Hiram Abif is also said to be represented by the Column of Beauty, because the Temple was indebted to his skill for its splendid decorations. The idea of Beauty as one of the supports of the Lodge is found in the earliest rituals of the eighteenth century, as well as the symbolism which refers it to the Corinthian column and the Junior Warden. Preston first introduced the reference to the Corinthian column and to Hiram Abif. Beauty, fCKBP, tiphiret, was the sixth of the Kabbalistic Seph- iroth, and, with Justice and Mercy, formed the second Sephirotic triad; and from the Kabbal- ists the Masons most probably derived the symbol. (See Supports of the Lodge.)
Beauty and Bands. The names of the two rods spoken of by the prophet Zechariah as symbolic of his pastoral office. This expression was in use in portions of the old Masonic ritual in England; but in the system of Dr. Hemming, which was adopted at the union of the two Grand Lodges in 1813, this symbol, with all reference to it, was expunged, and, as Dr. Oliver says (Sym. Die.), “it is nearly forgotten, except by a few old Masons, who may perhaps recollect the illustration as an incidental subject of remark among the Fraternity of that period.”
Becker. See Johnson.
Becker, Rudolph Zacharias. A very zealous Mason of Gotha, who published, in 1786, an historical essay on the Bavarian Illuminati, under the title of Grundsatze Verfas- sung und Schicksale des Illuminatens Order in Baiem. He was a very popular writer on educational subjects; his Instructive Tales of Joy and Sorrow was so highly esteemed, that a half million copies were printed in German and other languages. He died in 1802.
B&larride, The Brothers. The Brothers Marc, Michel, and Joseph BMarride were Masonic charlatans, notorious for their propagation of the Rite of Mizraim, having established in 1813, at Paris, under the partly real and partly pretended authority of Lechan- geur, the inventor of the Rite, a Supreme Puissance for France, and organized a large number of Lodges. Of these three brothers, who were Israelites, Michel, who assumed the most prominent position in the numerous controversies which arose in French Masonry on account of their Rite, died February 16, 1856. Marc died ten years before, in April, 1846. Of Joseph, who was never very prominent, we have no record as to the time of his death. (See Mizraim, Rite of.)
Beehive. The bee was among the Egyptians the symbol of an obedient people, because, says Horapollo, of all insects, the bee alone had a king. Hence, looking at the regulated labor of these insects when congregated in their hive, it is not surprising that a beehive should have been deemed an appropriate emblem of systematized industry. Freemasonry has therefore adopted the beehive as a symbol of industry, a virtue taught in the ritual, which says that a Master Mason “works that he may receive wages, the better to support himself and family, and contribute to the relief of a worthy, distressed brother, his widow and orphans”; and in the Ola Charges, which tell us that “all Masons shall work honestly on working days, that they may live creditably on holidays.” There seems, however, to be a more recondite meaning connected with this symbol. The ark has already been shown to have been an emblem common to Freemasonry and the Ancient Mysteries, as a symbol of regeneration—of the second birth from death to life. Now, in the Mysteries, a hive was the type of the ark. “Hence,” says Faber (Orig. of Pag. Idol., vol. ii., 133), “both the diluvian priestesses and the regenerated souls were called bees; hence,
bees were feigned to be produced from the carcass of a cow, which also symbolized the ark; and hence, as the great father was esteemed an infernal god, honey was much used both in funeral rites and in the Mysteries.”*
Behavior. The subject of a Mason’s behavior is one that occupies much attention in both the ritualistic and the monitorial instructions of the Order. In “the Charges of a Freemason,” extracted from the ancient records, and first published in the Constitutions ot 1723, the sixth article is exclusively appropriated to the subject of “Behavior.” It is divided into six sections, as follows: 1. Behavior in the Lodge while constituted. 2. Be havior after the Lodge is over and the Brethren not gone. 3. Behavior when Brethren meet without strangers, but not in a Lodge formed. 4. Behavior in presence of strangers not Masons. 5. Behavior at home and m your neighborhood. 6. Behavior toward a strange brother. The whole article constitutes a code of moral ethics remarkable for the purity of the principles it inculcates, and is well worthy of the close attention of every Mason. It is a complete refutation of the slanders of anti-Masonic revilers. As these charges are to be found in all the editions of the Book of Constitutions, and in many recent Masonic works, they are readily accessible to everyone who desires to read them.
Behold Your Master. When, in the installation services, the formula is used, “Brethren, behold your master,” the expression is not simply exclamatory, but is intended, as the original use of the word behold implies, to invite the members of the Lodge to fix their attention upon the new relations which have sprung up between them and him who has just been elevated to the Oriental Chair, and to impress upon their minds the duties which they owe to him and which he owes to them. In like manner, when the formula is continued, “Master, behold your brethren,” the Master’s attention is impressively directed to the same change of relations and duties. These are not mere idle words, but convey an important lesson, and should never be omitted in the ceremony of installation.
Bel. bl, Bel, is the contracted form of Baal, and was worshiped by the Babylonians as their chief deity. The Greeks and Romans so considered and translated the word by Zeus and Jupiter. It has, with J ah and On, been introduced into the Royal Arch system as a representative of the Tetragrammaton, which it and the accompanying words have sometimes ignorantly been made to displace. At the session of the General Grand Chapter of the United States, in 1871, this error was corrected; and while the Tetragrammaton was declared to be the true omnific word, the other three were permitted to be retained as merely explanatory.
Belenus. Belenus, the Baal of the Scripture, was identified with Mithras and with
* Bee, Evans, Animal Symbolism in Ecclesiastic cal Architecture.
Apollo, the god of the sun. A forest in the neighborhood of Lausanne is still known as Sauvebelin, or the forest of Belenus, and traces of this name are to be found in many parts of England. The custom of kindling fires about midnight on the eve of the festival of St. John the Baptist, at the moment of the summer solstice, which was considered by the ancients a season of rejoicing and of divination, is a vestige of Druidism in honor of this deity. It is a significant coincidence that the numerical value of the letters of the word Belenus, like those of Abraxas and Mithras, all representatives of the sun, amounts to 365, the exact number of the days in a solar year. (See Abraxas.)
Belgium. Soon after the separation of Belgium from the Netherlands, an independent Masonic jurisdiction was demanded by the former. Accordingly, in May, 1833, the Grand Orient of Belgium was established, which has under it^ jurisdiction twenty-one Lodges. There is also a Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, which was constituted in the year 1817.
Belief, Religious. The fundamental law of Masonry contained in the first of the Old Charges collected in 1723, and inserted in the Book of Constitutions published in that year, sets forth the true doctrine as to what the Institution demands of a Mason in reference to his religious belief in the following words: “A Mason is obliged, by his tenure, to obey the moral law; and if he rightly understands the art, he will never be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious libertine. But though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it was, yet it is now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves.” Anderson, in his second edition, altered this article, calling a Mason a true Noachida, and saying that Masons “all agree in the three great articles of Noah,” which is incorrect, since the Precepts of Noah were seven. (See Religion of Masonry.)
Bells. The use of a bell in the ceremonies of the Third Degree, to denote the hour, is, manifestly, an anachronism, for bells were not invented until the fifth century. But Freemasons are not the only people who have imagined the existence of bells at the building of the Temple. Henry Stephen tells us (Apologia pour Herodote, ch. 39) of a monk who boasted that when he was at Jerusalem he obtained a vial which contained some of the sounds of King Solomon’s bells. The blunders of a ritualist and the pious fraud of a relic-monger have equal claims to authenticity. The Masonic anachronism is( however, not worth consideration, because it is simply intended for a notation of time—a method of expressing intelligibly the hour at which a supposed event occurred.
Benac. A significant word in Symbolic Masonry, obsolete in many of the modern systems, whose derivation is uncertain. (See Macbenac.)
Benai. See Bonaim.
Benakar. The name of a cavern to which certain assassins fled for concealment.
Bendekar. A significant word in the high degrees. One of the Princes or Intendants of Solomon, in whose quarry some of the traitors spoken of in the Third Degree were found. He is mentioned in the catalogue of Solomon’s princes, given in 1 Kings iv. 9. The Hebrew word is "TOVp, the son of him who divides or pierces. In some old rituals we find a corrupt form, Bendaca.
Benedict XIV. A Roman pontiff whose family name was Prosper Lambertini. He was bom at Bologna in 1675, succeeded Clement XII. as Pope in 1740, and died in 1758. He was distinguished for his learning and was a great encourager of the Arts and Sciences. He was, however, an implacable enemy of secret societies, and issued on the 18th of May, 1751, his celebrated bull, renewing and perpetuating that of his predecessor which excommunicated the Freemasons. (See Bull.)
Benediction. The solemn invocation of a blessing in the ceremony of closing a Lodge is called the benediction. The usual formula is as follows:
“May the blessing of Heaven rest upon us, and all regular Masons; may brotherly love prevail, and every moral and social virtue cement us.” The response is, “So mote it be. Amen ”: which should always be audibly pronounced by all the Brethren.
Beneficiary. One who receives the support or charitable donations of a Lodge. Those who are entitled to these benefits are affiliated Masons, their wives or widows, their widowed mothers, and their minor sons and unmarried daughters. Unaffiliated Masons cannot become the beneficiaries of a Lodge, but affiliated Masons cannot be deprived of its benefits on account of non-payment of dues. Indeed, as this non-payment often arises from poverty, it thus furnishes a stronger claim for fraternal charity.
Benefit Society, Masonic. In 1798, a society was established in London, under the patronage of the Prince of Wales, the Earl of Moira, and all the other acting officers of the Grand Lodge, whose object was “the relief of sick, aged, and imprisoned brethren, and for the protection of their widows, children, and orphans.” The payment of one guinea per annum entitled every member, when sick or destitute, or his widow and orphans in case of his death, to a fixed contribution. After a few years, however, the Society came to an end, as it was considered improper to turn Freemasonry into a Benefit Club.
Benefit funds of this kind have been generally unknown to the Masons of America, although some Lodges have established a fund for the purpose. The Lodge of Strict Observance in the City of New York, and others in Troy, Ballston, Schenectady, etc., some years ago, adopted benefit funds. In 1844, several members of the Lodges in Louisville, Kentucky, organized a society under the
title of the “Friendly Sons of St. John.” It was constructed after the model of the English society already mentioned. No member was received after forty-five years of age, or who was not a contributing member of a Lodge; the per diem allowance to sick members was seventy-five cents; fifty dollars were appropriated to pay the funeral expenses of a deceased member, and twenty-five for those of a member’s wife; on the death of a member a gratuity was given to his family; ten per cent of all fees and dues was appropriated to an orphan fund; and it was contemplated, if the funds would justify, to pension the widows of deceased members, if their circumstances required it.
But the establishment in Lodges of such • benefit funds is in opposition to the pure system of Masonic charity, and they have, therefore, been very properly discouraged by several Grand Lodges, though several still exist in Scotland.
Benevolence. Cogan, in his work On the Passions, thus defines Benevolence: “When our love or desire of good goes forth to others, it is termed good-will or benevolence. Benevolence embraces all beings capable of enjoying any portion of good; and thus it becomes universal benevolence, which manifests itself by being pleased with the share of good every creature enjoys, in a disposition to increase it. in feeling an uneasiness at their sufferings, ana in the abhorrence of cruelty under every disguise or pretext.” This spirit should pervade the hearts of all Masons, who are taught to look upon mankind as formed by the Great Architect of the Universe for the mutual assistance, instruction, and support of each other.
Benevolence, Fund of. This Fund was established in 1727 by the Grand Lodge of England under the management of a Committee of seven members, to whom twelve more were added in 1730. It was originally supported by voluntary contributions from the various Lodges, and intended for the relief of distressed Brethren recommended by the contributing Lodges. The Committee was called the Committee of Charity.
The Fund is now derived partly from the fees of honor payable by Grand Officers, and the fees for dispensations, and partly from an annual payment of four shillings from each London Mason and of two shillings from each country Mason; it is administered by the Board of Benevolence, which consists of all the present and past Grand Officers, all actual Masters of Lodges and twelve Past Masters. The Fund is solely devoted to charity, and during the year 1909 a sum of £15,275 was voted and paid to petitioners.
In the United States of America there are several similar organizations known as ’ ’Boards of Relief.” (See Relief, Board of.) [E. L. H.]
Benevolent Institutions, U. S. There are five institutions in the United States of an educational and benevolent character, deriving their existence in whole or in part from Masonic beneficence: 1. Girard College,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 2. Masonic Widows’ and Orphans’ Home, Louisville, Kentucky; 3. Oxford Orphan Asylum, Oxford, North Carolina; 4. St. John’s Masonic College, Little Rock, Arkansas; 5. Masonic Female College, Covington, Georgia.
Besides the Stephen Girard Charity Fund, founded over a half century ago in Philadelphia, the capital investment of which is $62,000, the annual interest being devoted “to relieve all Master Masons in good standing,” there is a Charity Fund of $60,000 for the relief of the widows and orphans of deceased Master Masons, and an incorporated Masonic Home. The District of Columbia has an organized Masonic charity, entitled St. John’s Mite Association. Idaho has an Orphan Fund, to which every Master Mason pays annually one dollar. Indiana has organized the Masonic Widows’ and Orphans’ Home Society. Maine has done likewise; and Nebraska has an Orphans’ School Fund, although no building has been proposed.
Bengabee. Found in some old rituals of the high degrees for Bendekar, as the name of an Intendant of Solomon. It is Bengeber in the catalogue of Solomon’s officers, 1 Kings iv. 13, the son of Geber, or the son of the strong man.
Bengal. In 1728 a “Deputation” was granted by Lord Kingston, Grand Master of England, to Brother George Pomfret to constitute a Lodge at Bengal m East India, that had been requested by some Brethren residing there; and in the following year a Deputation was granted to Captain Ralph Far Winter, to be Provincial Grand Master of East India at Bengal (Constitutions, 1738, p. 194); and in 1730 a Lodge was established at the “East India Arms, Fort William, Calcutta, Bengal,” and numbered 72. There is a District Grand Lodge of Bengal with 74 subordinate Lodges, and also a District Grand Chapter with 21 subordinate Chapters. [E. L. H.]
Benjamin. A significant word in several of the degrees which refer to the second Temple, because it was only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin that returned from the captivity to rebuild it. Hence, in the Ma- sonry of the second Temple, Judah and Benjamin have superseded the columns of Jachin and Boaz; a change the more easily made because of the identity of the initials.
Benkburim. Corruptly spelled bencharim in most of the old rituals. A significant word in the high degrees, probably signifying one that is freeborn, from D'mrrp, son of the freeborn.
Benyab, or Beniah. Lenning gives this form, Benayah. The son of Jah, a significant word in the high degrees.
Beritb. Heb., mD, a covenant. A significant word in several of the high degrees.
Berlin. The capital of the kingdom of Prussia, and the seat of three Grand Lodges, namely: the Grand National Mother Lodge, founded in 1744; the Grand Lodge of Germany, founded in 1770; and the Grand Lodge of Royal York of Friendship, founded in 1798. (See Germany.)
Bernard, David. An expelled Mason, under whose name was published, in the year 1829, a pretended exposition entitled Light on Masonry. It was one of the fruits of the anti- M asonic excitement of the day. It is a worthless production, intended as a libel on the Institution.
Bernard, Saint. St. Bernard, bom in France, in 1091, was the founder of the Order of Cistercian Monks. He took great interest in the success of the Knights Templar, whose Order he cherished throughout his whole life. His works contain numerous letters recommending them to the favor and protection of the great. In 1128, he himself drew up the Rule of the Order, and among his writings is to be found a Sermo exhortatorius ad Milites Templi, or an “Exhortation to the Soldiers of the Temple;” a production full of sound advice. To the influence of Bernard and his untiring offices of kindness, the Templars were greatly indebted for their rapid increase in wealth ana consequence. He died in the year 1153.
Beryl. Heb., ©'©in. A precious stone, the first in the fourth row of the high priest’s breastplate. Its color is bluish-green. It was ascribed to the tribe of Benjamin.
Beyerle, Francois Louis de. A French Masonic writer of some prominence toward the close of the eighteenth century. He was a leading member of the Rite of Strict Observance, in which his adopted name was Eques & Flore. He wrote a criticism on the Masonic Congress of Wilhelmsbad, which was published under the title of Oratio de Conventu generali Latomorum apud aquas Wilhelminas, prope Hanauviam. He also wrote an Essai sur la Franc-Magonnerie, ou du but essentiel et fundamental de la Franc-Magonnerie; translated the second volume of Frederic Nicolai’s essay on the crimes imputed to the Templars, and Was the author of several other Masonic works of less importance. He was a member of the French Constitutional Convention of 1792. He wrote also some political essays on finances, and was a contributor on the same subject to the Encyclopedic Mithodique.
BezaleeL One of the builders of the Ark of the Covenant. (See Aholiab.)
Bible. The Bible is properly called a greater light of Masonry, for from the center of the Lodge it pours forth upon the East, the West, and the South its refulgent rays of Divine truth. The Bible is used among Masons as a symbol of the will of God, however it may be expressed. And, therefore, whatever to any people expresses that will may be used as a substitute for the Bible in a Masonic Lodge. Thus, in a Lodge consisting entirely of Jews, the Old Testament alone may be placed upon the altar, and Turkish Masons make use of the Koran. Whether it be the Gospels to the Christian, the Pentateuch to the Israelite, the Koran to the Mussulman, or the Vedas to the Brahman, it everywhere Masonically conveys the same idea—that of the symbolism of the Divine Will revealed to man.
The history of the Masonic symbolism of the Bible is interesting. It is referred to in
Marshall, overran Germany with a sect of new Templars, not to be confounded with the Templars that afterwards joined the masonic fraternity. But Hund seems after all to have rendered no real services to the Stuarts; though when Charles Edward visited Germany, the sectaries received him in the most gallant manner, promising him the most extensive support, and asking of him titles and estates in a kingdom which he had yet to conquer. Thus he was brought to that state of mental intoxication which afterwards led him to make an absurd entry into Rome, preceded by heralds, who proclaimed him king. Hund seems, in the sad story of the Stuarts, to have acted the part of a speculator; and the rite of the Strict Observance, permeated by the Jesuitical leaven, had probably an aim very different from the re-establishment of the proscribed dynasty. It is certain that at one time the power of the New Templars was very great, and prepared the way for the Illuminati.
THE CHAPTER OF CLERMONT AND THE STRICT OBSERVANCE
434. Jesuitical Influence.—Catholic ceremonies, unknown in ancient Freemasonry, were introduced from 1735 to 1740; in the Chapter of Clermont, Bo called in honour of Louis of Bourbon, Prince of Clermont, at the time grand master of the Order in France. From that time, the influence of the Jesuits on the fraternity made itself more and more felt. The candidate was no longer received in a lodge, but in the city of Jerusalem; not the ideal Jerusalem, but a clerical Jerusalem, typifying Rome. The meetings were called Capitula Canonicorum, and a monkish language and asce- ) ticism prevailed therein. In the statutes is seen the hand of James Lainez, the second general of the Jesuits, and the aim at universal empire betrays itself, for at the reception of the sublime knights the last two chapters of the Apocalypse are read to the candidate—a glowing picture of that universal monarchy which the Jesuits hoped to establish. The sect spread very rapidly, for when Baron Hund came to Paris in 1742, and was received into the highest Jesuit degrees he found on his return to Germany that those degrees were already established in Saxony and Thuringia, under the government of Marshall, whose labours he undertook to promote.
435. The Strict Observance.—From the exertions of these two men arose the “Rite of Strict Observance,” so called, because Baron Hund introduced into it a perfectly monkish subordination, and which seemed also for a time intended to favour the tragic hopes of the house of Stuart; for Marshall, having visited Paris in 1741, there entered into close connection with Ramsay and the other adherents of the exiled family. To further this object, Hund mixed up with the rites of Clermont what was known or supposed to be known of the statutes of the Templars, and acting in concert with
——- 37
1 I
THE RELAXED OBSERVANCE
436. Organisation of Relaxed Observance.—In 1767, there arose at Vienna a schism of the Strict Observance ; the dissentients, who called themselves “ Clerks of the Relaxed Observance ”—the nickname of Relaxed Observance had originally been applied by the members of the Strict Observance, as a term of contempt to all other rites—declaring that they alone possessed the secrets of the association, and knew the place where were deposited the splendid treasures of the Templars. They also claimed precedence, not only over the rite of Strict Observance, but also over all Masonry. Their promises and instructions revolved around the philosopher’s stone, the government of spirits, and the millennium. To be initiated it was necessary to be a Roman Catholic, and to have passed through all the degrees of the Strict Observance. The members knew only their immediate heads; but Doctor Stark, of Kbnigsberg, a famous preacher, and Baron Raven, of Mecklenburg, were well-known chiefs of the association.
437. Disputes in German Lodges.-(-Before the establishment of the Strict Observance, various German lodges had already introduced the Templar system} hence disputes of all kinds arose, and a convention was held at Brunswick on 22nd M$y I2Z5A2 arrange ^e differences. Dr. Stark presented him', self; he was a disciple of Schrbpfer ancfof Gugumos, who called himself high-priest, knight, prince, possessor of the philosopher’s stone, of the secret to evoke the spirits of the dead, &c. Stark declared to the members of the convention that he was called Archimedes ab aquila fulva, that he was chancellor of the Grand Chapter of Scotland, and had been invited by the brethren of that supreme body to instruct them in the true principles of the Order. But when he was asked to produce his credentials, he refused. The Brunswickers, however, thinking that the brethren of Aberdeen might possess some secrets, sent a deputation thither; but the good folks of
Aberdeen knew even less than their German friends, for they knew only the first three degrees. Stark, though found out, was not to be put down, but wrote a book entitled “The Coping Stone,” in which he represented the Strict Observance as hostile to religion, society, and the state.
438. Rite of Zinzendorf.—This was not the first attack made on the system of Hund. . In 1766, Count Zinzendorf, chief physician in the Prussian army, who had been received into the Strict Observance, was struck from the list of members of the lodge of the Three Globes. In revenge, he founded at Berlin and Potsdam lodges on the Templar system, which, however, he soon abandoned, and composed a new rite, invented by himself, and consisting of seven degrees, which was protected by Frederick the Great. The new Order made fierce and successful war both on the Strict and the Relaxed Observance.
439. African Architects.—About 1765,Brother Von Kopper instituted in Prussia, under the auspices of Frederick II., the Order of “ African Architects,” who occupied themselves , with historical researches, mixing up therewith masonry and chivalry. The order was divided into eleven degrees. They erected a vast building, which contained a large library, a museum of natural history, and a chemical laboratory. Until 1786, when it was dissolved, the society awarded every year a gold medal with fifty ducats to the author of the best memoir on the history of Masonry. This was one of the few rational masonic societies. The African Architects did not esteem decorations, aprons, collars, jewels, &c. In their assemblies they read essays, and communicated the results of their researches. At their simple and decorous banquets, instructive and scientific discourses were delivered. While their initiations were gratuitous, they gave liberal assistance to zealous but needy brethren. They published many important works on Freemasonry.
THE CONGRESS OF WILHELMSBAD
440. Various Congresses.—To put an end to the numerous disputes raging among masonic bodies, various congresses were held. In 1778, a congress was convened at Lyons ; it lasted a month, but was without result. In 1785, another was held at Paris, but the time was wasted in idle disputes with Cagliostro. The most important was that which assembled at Wilhelmsbad in 1782, -under the presidency of the Duke of Brunswick, who was anxious to end the discord reigning among German Freemasons. It was attended by Masons from Europe, America, and Asia. From an approximative estimate, it appears that there were then upwards of three millions of Masons in the different parts of the globe.
441. Discussions at Wilhelmsbad.—The statements contained in Dr. Stark’s book, “ The Coping Stone ” (437), concerning the influence of the Jesuits in the masonic body, formed one of the chief topics discussed. Some of the chiefs of the Strict Observance produced considerable confusion by being unable to give information concerning the secrets of the high degrees, which they had professed to know; or to render an account of large sums they had received on behalf of the Order. The main point waa_to-aettle whether Masonry was to. be.,co,n§idereaas a continuation of the Order of the Templars, and whether the secrets of the sect were to be sought for in the modern Templar degrees. After thirty sittings, the answer was in the negative; the chiefs of the Strict Observance were defeated, and the Duke of Brunswick suspended the Order for three years, from which blow it never recovered. The Swedes professed to possess all the secrets ; the Duke of Brunswick hastened to -Upsala to learn .them, but found that the Swedes knew no more than the Germans; whence new dissensions arose between the Masons of the two nations. .
442. Result of Convention.—The result of the convention
I . 62 SECRET SOCIETIES
| of Wilhelmsbad was the retention of the three symbolical
1 degrees, with the addition of a new degree, that of the
r, “ Knights of Beneficence,” which was based on the principles
I enunciated in St. Martin’s book, Des Erreurs et de la V&ritt,
i- and the Tableau Nature! The foundation of the new Order
I was attributed to the influence of the Jesuits, because the
J three initial letters of Chevaliers Bienfaisants, C.H.B., are
j equal to 3, 8, 2 = 13, signifying the letter N, meaning Nostri.
> ' Another result was a league between Masonry and the
| Illuminati—and it is still a matter of speculation whether
; these latter were not behind the Jesuits—brought about by
; the exertions of Spartacus or Weishaupt, who had long ago
! discerned the influence he could obtain by the co-operation
of the Masons, whom he, of course, employed as his unconscious tools. But Jesuitical influence, at that time, was too • powerful to be overcome; they sided with, and thus strengthened the influence of, the duke; hence the opposition of Germany to the principles of the French Revolution, which broke out soon after—an opposition which was like discharging a rocket against a thunderbolt, but which was carried to its height by the manifesto of the Duke of Bruns. wick, so loudly praised by courtly historians, and of which the German princes made such good use as to induce the German confederacy to surround France with a. fiery line of deluded patriotism. Freemasonry had been made the tool of prince- and priest-craft, though occasionally it turned the tables on the prince, an instance of which is recorded in the next paragraph.
443. Frederick William III. and the Masons.—The sudden retreat of the King of Prussia of this name, after having invaded France in 1792, has never been satisfactorily explained. Dr. E. E. Eckert, in his “ Magazine of Evidence for the Condemnation of the Masonic Order,” writes as follows, quoting from a private letter from M. V z, of
Paris, to Baron von S----z, at Vienna, which he qualifies as
"thoroughly reliable”:—“The King of Prussia had crossed our frontiers; he was, I believe, at Verdun or Thionville. One evening a confidential attendant gave him the masonic sign, and took him into a subterranean vault, where he left him alone. By the light of the lamps illuminating the room, the king saw his ancestor, Frederick the Great, approaching him. There could be no mistake as to his voice, dress, gait, features. The spirit reproached the king with his alliance with Austria against France, and commanded him immediately to withdraw therefrom. You
THE CONGRESS OF WILHELMSBAD 63 know that the king acted accordingly, to the great disgust of his allies, to whom he did not communicate the reasons of his withdrawal. Some years afterwards our celebrated actor Fleury, who acquired such reputation by his performance at the Theatre Frangais in “The Two Pages,” in which piece he represented Frederick the Great to perfection, confessed that he acted the ghost when Frederick William III. was mystified by an appearance, which had been planned by General. Dumouriez.” Dumouriez was a Freemason.
XVIII
MASONRY AND NAPOLEONISM
444. Masonry protected by Napoleon.—With renewed court frivolities and military pomp, the theatrical spirit of Masonry revived. The institution, so active before and during the Revolution, because it was governed by men who rightly understood and worthily represented its principles, during the Empire fell into academic puerilities, servile compliance, and endless squabbles. That period, which masonic writers, attached to the latter and pleased with its apparent splendour, call the most flourishing of French Masonry, in the eyes of independent judges appears as the least important and the least honourable for the masonic order. Napoleon at first intended to suppress Freemasonry, in which the dreaded ideologists might easily find a refuge. The- representative system of the Grand Orient clashed with his monarchical principles, and the oligarchy of the Scotch rite aroused his suspicions. The Parisian lodges, however, practised in the art of flattery, prostrated themselves before the First Consul, prostrated themselves before the Emperor, and sued for grace. The suspicions of Napoleon were not dissipated; but he perceived the policy of avoiding violent measures, and of disciplining a body that might turn against him. The lodges were inundated with the lowest police agents, who rapidly attained the highest degrees, and seized at the very outset the clue of any political intrigue which might be concocted there. Napoleon, after considerable hesitation, declared in favour of the Grand Orient, and the Scotch rite had to assume the second place. A single word of Napoleon had done more to establish peace between them than all former machinations. The Grand Orient became a court office, and Masonry an army of employes. ’ The Grand Mastership was offered to Joseph Napoleon, who accepted it, though never initiated into Freemasonry, with the consent of his brother, who, however, for greater security, insisted on having his trusty arch-chancellor Cambacdrds appointed
Grand Master Adjunct, to be in reality the onlft head of the Order. Gradually all the rites existing in Fmnce gave in their adhesion to the imperial policy, electing (ftmbac^res as their chief dignitary, so that he eventually pcjsessed more masonic titles than any other man before or after him. In 1805 he was made Grand Master Adjunct ct the Grand Orient; in 1806, Sovereign Grand Master of lhe Supreme Grand Council; in the same year, Grand Mastjr of the rite of Heroden of Kilwinning; in 1807, Supreme tHead of the French rite; in the same year, Grand Master If the Philosophic Scotch rite; in 1808, Grand Master of lhe Order of Christ; in 1809, National Grand Master of lhe Knights of the Holy City; in the same year, Protector |>f the High Philosophic Degrees. As every new lodge eftablished in France had to pay the grand master a heavy lee, Masonry yielded to him an annual revenue of two millioift of francs.
445. Spread of Freemasonry.—But masonic disputes soon again ran high. The arch-chancellor, accustomed and attached to the usages and pomps of courts, secrftly gave the preference to the Scotch rite, with its high-somiding titles and gorgeous ceremonies. The Grand Orienll carried its complaints even to Napoleon, who grew weary of these paltry farces—he who planned grand dramas;land at one time he had determined on abolishing the Ordel altogether, but Cambac^rfes succeeded in arresting his purpfee, showing . him the dangers that might ensue from its stftpression— dangers which must have appeared great, sincl Napoleon, who never hesitated, hesitated then, and allowed another to alter his views. Perhaps he recognised the necessity in French society of a body of men who were freaat least in appearance, of a kind of political safety-valve, the French had taken a liking to their lodges, where thly found a phantom of independence, and might consider (themselves on neutral ground, so that a masonic writer coult. say: “ In the bosom of Masonry there circulates a little <ft that vital air so necessary to generous minds.” The Scotch rite, secretly protected, spread throughout the French departments and foreign countries, and whilst the G”nd Orient tried to suppress it, and to prevent innovation! elected a “Director of Rites,” the Supreme Grand Council established itself at Milan, and elected Prince Eugene Grant Master of the Grand Orient of Italy. The two highest ma”nic authorities, which yet had the same master in Camblc^r&s, and the same patron in Napoleon, continued to cftnbat each other with as much fury as was shown in the struggle be-
VOL. II. I E
tween France and England. But having no public life, no parliamentary debates, no opposition journals, the greater part of the population took refuge in the lodges, and every small town had its own. In 1812, there existed one thousand and eighty-nine lodges, all depending on the Grand Orient; the army had sixty-nine, and the lodge was opened and closed with the cry, Vive V Empereur 1
446. The Glover Leaves.—This was an Order founded in Germany about 1808 by John de Witt, called Von Dbrring (555), a member of almost every secret society then existing, embracing some of the greatest German statesmen, to further the plans of Napoleon, in the hope that his successes might lead to the mediatisation of all German states, which, with France, were to form but one empire. The name was derived from the fact that three members only were known to one another.
447. Obsequiousness of Freemasonry.—Napoleon, unable and unwilling to suppress Freemasonry, employed it in the army, in the newly-occupied territories, and in such as he intended to occupy. Imperial proselytism turned the lodges into schools of Napoleonism. But one section of Masonry, under the shadow of that protection, became the very contrary, anti-Napoleonic; and not all the lodges closed their accustomed labours with the cry of Vive VEmpereur! It is, however, quite certain that Napoleon by means of the masonic society facilitated or secured his conquests. Spain, Germany, and Italy were covered with lodges—antechambers, more than any others, of prefectures and military command—presided over and governed by soldiers. The highest dignitaries of Masonry at that period were marshals, knights of the Legion of Honour, nobles of ancient descent, senators, councillors, all safe and trusty persons; a state that obeyed the orders of Cambacer&s, as he obeyed the orders of Napoleon. Obsequiousness came near to the ridiculous. The half-yearly words of command of the Grand Orient retrace the history of Napoleonic progress. In 1800, “ Science and Peace ”; in 1802, after Marengo, “Unity and Success”; in 1804, after the coronation, “ Contentment and Greatness ”; after the battle of Friedland, “Emperor and Confidence”; after the suppression of the tribune, “ Fidelity ”; at the birth of the King of Rome, “Posterity and Joy”; at the departure of the army for Russia, “Victory and Return”—terrible victory, and unfortunate return! .
448. Anti-Napoleonic Freemasonry.—Napoleon, we have seen, made a league with Freemasonry to obtain its support.
He is also said to have made certain promises to it; but as he failed to keep them, the Masons turned against him, and had a large share in his fall. This, however, is not very- probable, and is attributing too much influence to an Order which had only recently recovered itself. Still, the anti-Napoleonic leaven fermented in the Masonic society. Savary, the minister of police, was aware of it in 1810, and wanted to apply to the secret meetings of Freemasons the article of the penal code, forbidding them; but Cambac^res once more saved the institution, which saved neither him nor his patron. Freemasonry, if not by overt acts, at least by its indifference, helped on the downfall of Napoleon. But it was not altogether inactive, for even whilst the Napoleonic star illumined almost alone the political heavens of Europe, a Masonic lodge was formed whose object was the restoration of the Bourbons, whose action may be proved by official documents to have extended through the French army, and led to the seditious movements of 1813.
FREEMASONRY, THE RESTORATION AND THE SECOND EMPIRE
449. The Society of “ France Regenerated.”—The Restoration, whose blindness was only equalled by its mediocrity— which, unable to create, proposed to itself to destroy what even time respects, the memories and glories of a people— could not please Freemasonry much. Hostile to Napoleon in his last years, it could not approve of the conduct of the new government. At all events, the Freemasons held aloof, though cynics might suggest that this was done with a view of exacting better terms. In the meanwhile, a society was formed in Paris, which, assuming masonic forms and the title of “France Regenerated,” became an instrument of espionage and revenge in the hands of the new despot. But the very government in whose favour it acted, found it necessary within a year from its foundation silently to suppress it; for it found the rabid zeal of these adherents to be more injurious to its interests than the open opposition of its avowed enemies.
450. Priestly Opposition to Masonry.—The Masonic propaganda, however, was actively carried on. The priests, on their part, considered the moment come for inaugurating an anti-masonic crusade. Under Napoleon the priesthood could not breathe; the court was closed against it, except on grand occasions, when its presence was needed to add outward pomp to imperial successes. As the masters of ceremonies, the priests had ceased in France to be the councillors and confessors of its rulers; but now they reassumed those functions, and the Masons were at once recommended to the hatred of the king and the mistrust of the public. They were represented as abettors of rationalism and regicide; the consequence was, that a great many lodges were closed, though, on the other hand, the rite of Misraim was established in Paris in 1816, whose mother lodge was called the “ Rainbow,” a presage of serenity and calm, which, however, 63
THE RESTORATION AND SECOND EMPIRE 69 did not save the society from police persecution. In 1821, this lodge was closed, and not reopened till 1830. Towards the same time was founded the lodge of “ Trinosophists.” In 1821, the Supreme Grand Council rose to the surface again, and with it the disputes between it and the Grand Orient. To enter into their squabbles would be a sad waste of time, and I therefore pass them over.
451. Political Insignificance of Masonry.—The Freemasons are said to have brought about the July revolution of 1830, but proofs are wanting, and I think they may be absolved from that charge. Louis-Philippe, who was placed on the throne by that revolution, took the Order under his protection, and appointed his son, the Duke of Orleans, Grand Master. On the Duke’s death, in 1842, his brother, the Duke de Nemours, succeeded him in the dignity. In this latter year, the disputes between the Grand Orient and the Supreme Grand Council were amicably settled. Again we are told that at a masonic congress held at Strasburg the foundations of the revolution of 1848 were laid. It is certain that Cavaignac, Lamartine, Ledru-Rollin, Prudhon, Louis Blanc, Marrast, Vilain, Pyat, and a great number of German republicans, attended that congress, but for this reason it cannot strictly be called a masonic, it was rather a republican, meeting. On the establishment of the Provisional Government after the revolution of 1848, the Freemasons gave in their adhesion to that government; on which occasion some high-flown speeches about liberty, equality, and fraternity were made, and everybody congratulated his neighbour that now the reign of universal brotherhood had begun. But the restoration of the.Empire, which followed soon after, showed how idle all this oratory had been, and how the influence of Masonry in the great affairs of the world really is nil.
452. Freemasonry and Napoleon III.—Again the Napoleonic air waves around the Grand Orient. The nephew showed himself from the first as hostile to Freemasonry as his uncle had been; but the decree prohibiting the French lodges from occupying themselves with political questions, under pain of the dissolution of the Order, did not appear until the 7th September 1850. In January 1852, some superior members of the Order proposed to offer the dignity of Grand Master to Lucien Murat, the President’s cousin. The proposal was unanimously agreed to; and on the 19th of the same month the new Grand Master was acknowledged by all the lodges. He held the office till 1861, when he was
70 SECRET SOCIETIES
obliged to resign in consequence of the masonic body having passed a vote of censure upon him for his expressions in favour of the temporal power of the Pope, uttered in the stormy discussion of the French Senate in the month of June of that year. The Grand Orient was again all in confusion. Napoleon III. now interfered, especially as Prince Napoleon was proposed for the office of Grand Master ; which excited the jealousy of the Muratists, who published pamphlets of the most vituperative character against their adversaries, who on their side replied with corresponding bitterness. Napoleon imposed silence on the litigants, prohibited attendance at lodges, promised that he himself would appoint a Grand Master, and advised his cousin to undertake a long voyage to the United States. Deprived of the right of electing its own chief, the autonomy of Freemasonry became an illusion, its programme useless, and its mystery a farce. In the meanwhile, the quarrels of the partisans of the different candidates calmed down; Prince Napoleon returned from America; Murat resigned himself to this defeat, as to others, and the Emperor forgot all about Freemasonry. At last, in January 1862, there appeared a decree appointing Marshal Magnan to be Grand Master. A Marshal! The nephew, in this instance, as in many others, had taken a leaf out of his uncle’s book.
453. Jesuitical Manoeuvres.—Napoleonic Freemasonry, not entirely to lose its peculiar physiognomy, ventured to change its institutions. Jesuitism cast loving eyes on it, and drew it towards itself, as in the days of the Strict Observance. Murat threw out his net, but was removed just when it was most important for the interests of the Jesuits that he should have remained. He proposed to transform the French lodges—of which, in 1852, there were 325, whilst in 1861 only 269 could be found—into societies of mutual succour, and to abandon or submit the higher masonic sphere of morality and humanity to the society, which in these last sixty years has already overcome and incorporated the whole Roman clergy, once its rivals, and by oblique paths also many of the conservative sects of other creeds. Murat did not succeed, but others may; and though the Masons say that Jesuitism shall not succeed, yet, how is Freemasonry, that professes to meddle neither with politics ' nor religion, to counteract the political and religious machinations of the Jesuits ? And even if Freemasonry had the same weapons, are there men among the Order able to wield
THE RESTORATION AND SECOND EMPIRE 71
them with the ability and fearlessness that distinguish the followers of Loyola ? I fear not.
' Besides, the Masons, though they talk loudly of fraternisation and equality, when driven at bay become the stanchest conservatives, wherefore the International at Lyons, in the year 1870, solemnly excommunicated Freemasonry, and in 1880 exacted from every candidate for admission to the society a declaration that he was not a Mason.
FREEMASONRY IN ITALY
454. Whimsical Masonic Societies.—We have but few notices of the early state of Freemasonry in Italy. We are told that in 1512 there was founded at Florence a society under the name of “The Trowel,” composed of learned and literary men, who indulged in all kinds of whimsical freaks, and who may have served as prototypes to the Order of “ The Monks of the Screw,” established towards the end of the last century in Ireland. Thus at one time they would meet in the lodge, dressed as masons and labourers, and begin to erect an edifice with trays full of macaroni and cheese, using spices and bonbons for mortar, and rolls and cakes for stones, and building up the whole with all kinds of comestibles. And thus they went on until a pretended rain put an end to their labours. At another time it was Ceres, who, in search of Proserpine, invited the Brethren of the Trowel to accompany her to the infernal regions. They followed her through the mouth of a serpent into a dark room, and on Pluto inviting them to the feast, lights appeared, and the table was seen to be covered with black, whilst the dishes on it were foul and obscene animals, and bones of dead men, served by devils carrying shovels. Finally all this vanished, and a choice banquet followed. This Society of the Trowel was in existence in 1737. The clergy endeavoured to suppress it, and would no doubt have succeeded, but for the accession of Francis, Duke of Tuscany, who had been initiated in Holland, and who set free all the Freemasons that had been incarcerated, and protected the Order. But the remembrance of that persecution is preserved in the rituals, and in the degree of “Magus,” the costume is that of the Holy Office, as other degrees commemorate the inquisitors of Portugal and Spain.
455. Illuminati in Italy.—The sect of the Illuminati, of whom Count Filippo Strozzi was a warm partisan, soon after spread through Italy, as well as another Order, affiliated with 72
the Illuminati, mystical and alchymistical, and in opposition
to the Rosicrucians, called the “ Initiated Brethren of Asia,” j
which had been founded at Vienna. It only accepted can- ;
didates who had passed through the first three degrees of j
the York rite. Like Egyptian Masonry, it worshipped the "
Tetragrammaton, and combined the deepest and most philosophical ideas with the most curious superstitions.
456.Freemasonry at Naples.—In the kingdom of Naples the Masons amounted to many thousands. An edict of Charles III. (1751), and another of Ferdinand IV. (1759), closed the lodges, but in a short time the edicts became a dead letter, and in vain did the minister, Tanucci, hostile to the institution, seek to revive them. The incident of a neophyte dying a few days after his initiation gave a pretext '5
for fresh persecution. The Masons, assembled at a banquet, ?
were arrested; and in vain did L^vy, a lawyer, undertake their '
defence. He was expelled the kingdom ; his book in favour *
of the Order was publicly burnt by the executioner. But .
Queen Caroline, having dismissed Tanucci, again sanctioned ,
masonic meetings, for which she received the thanks of the Grand Orient of France. It would seem, however, that in a very few years Freemasonry again had to hide its head, for in 1767 we hear of it as a “secret” society, whose existence
has just been discovered. The document which records this ■
discovery puts the number of Freemasons at 64,000, which probably is an exaggeration; still, among so excitable a population as that of Southern Italy, secret societies at all times found plenty of proselytes.
457. Details of Document.—The document referred to says : ,
At last the great mine of the Freemasons of Naples is dis- ’
covered, of whom the name, but not the secret, was known. '
Two circumstances are alleged by which the discovery was brought about: a dying man revealed all to his confessor, that he should inform the king thereof; a knight, who had been kept in great state by the society, having had his pension withheld, betrayed the Grand Master of the Order to the king. This Grand Master was the Duke of San Severo.
The king secretly sent a confidential officer with three dragoons to the duke’s mansion, with orders to seize him before he had time to speak to any one, and bring him to the palace. The order was carried out; but a few minutes after a fire broke out in the duke’s mansion, destroying his library, the ,
real object being, as is supposed, to burn all writings having reference to Freemasonry. The fire was extinguished, and the house guarded by troops. The duke having been brought
before the king, openly declared the objects, systems, seals, government, and possessions of the Order. He was sent back to his palace, and there guarded by troops, lest he should be killed by his former colleagues. Freemasons have also been discovered at Florence, and the Pope and the Emperor have sent thither twenty-four theologians to put a stop to the disorder. The king acts with the greatest mercy towards all implicated, to avoid the great dangers that might ensue from a contrary course. He has also appointed four persons of great standing to use the best means to destroy so abominable a sect; and has given notice to all the other sovereigns of Europe of his discovery, and the abominable maxims of the, sect, calling upon them to assist in its suppression, which it will be folly in them to refuse to do. For the Order does not count its members by thousands, but by millions, especially among Jews and Protestants. Their frightful maxims are only known to the members of the fifth, sixth, and seventh lodges, while those of the first three know nothing, and those of the fourth act without knowing, what they do. They derive their origin from England, and the founder of the sect was that infamous Cromwell, first bishop, and then lover of Anne Boleyn, and then beheaded for his crimes, called in his day “the scourge of rulers.” He left the Order an annual income of £i 0,000 sterling. It is divided into seven lodges: the members of the seventh are called Assessors; of the sixth, Grand Masters; of the fifth, Architects; of the fourth, Executors (here the secret ends); of the third, Ruricori (!); of the second and first, Novices and Proselytes. Their infamous idea is based on the allegory of the temple of Solomon, considered in its first splendour, and then overthrown by the tyranny of the Assyrians, and finally restored—thereby to signify the liberty of man after the creation of the world, the tyranny of the priesthood, kings, and laws, and the reestablishment of that liberty. Then follow twelve maxims in which these opinions and aims are more fully expounded, from which it appears that they were not very different from those of all other republican and advanced politicians.
458. Freemasonry at Venice.—The Freemasons were at first tolerated at Venice, but in 1686 the government suddenly took the alarm, and ordered the closing of all lodges, and banished the members; but the decree was very leniently executed, and a lodge of nobles having refused to obey, the magistrates entered it at a time when they knew no one to be there. The furniture, ornaments, and jewels were carried out and publicly burnt or dispersed, but none of the
brethren were in any way molested. A lodge was re-established afterwards, which was discovered in 1785, when all its contents were again burnt or otherwise destroyed. From the ritual, which was found among the other effects, it appears that the candidate for initiation was led, his eyes being bandaged, from street to street, or canal to canal, so as to prevent his tracing the locality, to the Rio Marino, where he was first conducted into a room hung with black, and illumined by a single light; there he was clothed in a long garment like a winding sheet, but black; he put on a cap something like a turban, and his hair was drawn over his face, and in this elegant figure he was placed before a looking-glass, covered with a black curtain, under which were written the words, “ If thou hast true courage, and an honest desire to enter into the Order, draw aside the curtain, and learn to know thyself.” He might then remove the bandage and look at himself. He was then again blindfolded, and placed in the middle of the room, while thirty or forty members entered and began to fight with swords. This was to try the candidate’s courage, who was himself slightly wounded. The bandage was once more removed, and the wound dressed. Then it was replaced, and the candidate taken to a second apartment, hung with black and white, and having in the middle a bed covered with a black cloth, on the centre of which was a white cross, whilst on either side was represented a white skeleton. The candidate was laid on the bed, the bandage being removed, and he was there left with two tapers, the orie white, the other yellow. After having been left there for some time, the brethren entered in a boisterous manner, beating discordant drums. The candidate was to show no sign of trepidation amidst all these elaborate ceremonies; and then the members embraced him as a brother, and gave him the name by which he was henceforth to be known in the society.
459. Abatement under Napoleon.—During the reign of Napoleon I., numerous lodges were founded throughout Italy; and it cannot be denied by the greatest friends of the Order, that during that period Freemasonry cut a most pitiful figure. For a society that always boasted of its independence of, and superiority to, all other earthly governments,to forward addresses such as the following to Napoleon, seems something like self-abasement and self-stultification :—“ 0 Napoleon 1 thy philosophy guarantees the toleration of our natural and divine religion. We render thee honour worthy of thee for it,
and thou shaft find in us nothing but faithful subjects, ever devoted to thy august person! ”
460. The Freemasonry of the Present in Italy.—Very little need, or can, be said as regards the active proceedings of Italian masonic lodges of the present day, though they have been reconstituted and united under one or two heads. But their programme deserves attention, as pointing out those reforms, needed not only in Italy, but everywhere where Freemasonry exists. The declared object, then, of Italian Freemasonry is, the highest development of universal philan- ' thropy; the independence and unity of single nations, and fraternity among each other; the toleration of every religion, and absolute equality of worship; the moral and material progress of the masses. It moreover declares itself independent of every government, affirming that Italian Freemasonry will not recognise any other sovereign power on earth but right reason and universal conscience. It further declares —and this deserves particular attention—that Freemasonry is not to consist in a mysterious symbolism, vain ceremonies, or indefinite aspirations, which cover the Order with ridicule. Again, Masonry being universal, essentially human, it does not occupy itself with forms of government, nor with transitory questions, but with such as are permanent and general. In social reforms abstract theories, founded on mystical aspirations, are to be avoided. The duty of labour being the most essential in civil society, Freemasonry is opposed to idleness. Religious questions are beyond the pale of Freemasonry. Human conscience is in itself inviolable ; it has no concern with any positive religion, but represents religion itself in its essence. Devoted to the principle of fraternity, it preaches universal toleration; comprehends in its ritual many of the symbols of various religions, as in its syncretism it chooses the purest truths. Its creed consists in the worship of the Divine, whose highest conception, withdrawn from every priestly speculation, is that of the Great Architect of the Universe; and in faith in humanity, the sole interpreter of the Divine in the world. As to extrinsic modes of worship, Freemasonry neither imposes nor recommends any, leaving to every one his free choice, until the day, perhaps not far distant, when all men will be capable of worshipping the Infinite in spirit and in truth, without intermediaries and outward forms. And whilst man in his secret relations to the Infinite fecundates the religious thought, he in his relations to the Universe fecundates the scientific thought. Science is truth, and the most ancient cultus of Freemasonry.
In determining the relations of the individual to his equals, Freemasonry does not restrict itself to recommending to do unto others what we wish others would do unto us; but inculcates to do good, oppose evil, and not to submit to injustice in whatsoever form it presents itself. Freemasonry i
looks forward to the day when the iron plates of the Monitor and the Merrimac will be beaten into steam-ploughs; when man, redeemed by liberty and science, shall enjoy the pure pleasures of intelligence; when peace, fertilised by the wealth and strength now devoted to war, shall bring forth
the most beautiful fruit of the tree of life. 1
461.Reform needed.—Greatly, therefore, is the academic puerility of rites to be regretted, which drags back into the past an institution that ought to launch forward into |
the future. It is self-evident that Freemasonry in this state <
cannot last, that a reform is necessary; and as De Castro, <
from whom the above is taken, thinks that it would be an <
honour to Italy to be the leader in such a reform, it would
be an honour to any country that initiated it. Masonry *
ought not to be an ambulance, but a vanguard. It is em- j
barrassed by its excessive baggage, its superfluous symbols. s
Guarding secrets universally known, it cannot entertain 1
secrets of greater account. Believing itself to be the sole . |
depositary of widely-spread truths, it deprives itself and the |
world of other truths. In this perplexity and alternative of committing suicide or being born anew, what will Masonry decide on ? 5
462. Life, of ' Cagliostro.—Joseph Balsamo, the disciple and successor of St. Germain, who pretended at the Court of Louis XV. to have been the contemporary of Charles V., Francis I., and Christ,*and to possess the elixir of life and many other secrets, had vaster designs and a loftier ambition than his teacher, and was one of the most active agents of Freemasonry in France and the rest of Europe. He was born at Palermo in 1743, and educated at two convents in that city, where he acquired some chemical knowledge. As a young man, he fell in with an Armenian, or Greek, or Spaniard, called Althotas, a kind of adventurer, who professed to possess the philosopher’s stone, with whom he led a roving life for a number of years. What became of Althotas at last is not positively known. Balsamo at last found his way to Rome, where he married the beautiful Lorenza Feliciani, whom he treated so badly, that she escaped from him; but he recovered her, and acquired great influence over her by magnetically operating upon her. There is no doubt that he was a powerful magnetiser. Visiting Germany, he was initiated into Freemasonry, in which he soon began to take a prominent part. He also assumed different titles, such as that of Marquis of Pellegrini, but the one he is best known by is that of Count Cagliostro ; and by his astuteness, impudence, and some lucky hits at prophesying, he acquired a European notoriety and imade many dupes, including persons of the highest rank, especially in France, where he founded many new masonic lodges. He was the author of a book called “The Rite of Egyptian Masonry,” which rite he established first in Courland, and afterwards in Germany, France, and England. After having been banished from France, in consequence of his implication in the affair of the queen’s necklace, and driven from England by his creditors, he was induced by his wife, who was weary of her wandering life, and anxious once more to see her relations, to visit
Rome, where he was arrested on the charge of attempting to found a masonic lodge, against which a papal bull had recently been promulgated, and thrown into the Castle of St. Angelo, in 1789. He was condemned to death, but the punishment was commuted to perpetual imprisonment. His wife was shut up in a convent, and died soon after. Having been transferred to the Castle of San Leo, he attempted to strangle the monk sent to confess him, in the hope of escaping in his gown; but the attempt failed, and it is supposed that he died, a prisoner, in 1795.
463. The, Egyptian Rite.—The Egyptian rite invented by Cagliostro is a mixture of the sacred and profane, of the serious and laughable. Having discovered a MS. of George Cofton, in which was propounded a singular scheme for the reform of Freemasonry in an alchymistic and fantastic sense, Cagliostro founded thereon the bases of hi's masonic system, taking advantage of human credulity, enriching himself, and at the same time seconding the action of other secret societies. He gave his dupes to understand that the scope of Egyptian Masonry was to conduct men to perfection by means of physical and moral regeneration; asserting that the former was infallible through the prima materia and the philosopher’s stone, which assured to man the strength of youth and immortality, and that the second was to be achieved by the discovery of a pentagon that would restore man to his primitive innocence. This rite indeed is a tissue of fatuities it would not be worth while to allude to, did it not offer matter for study to the philosopher and moralist. Cagliostro pretended that the rite had been first founded by Enoch, remodelled by Elias, and finally restored by the Grand Copt. Both men and women were admitted into the lodges, though the ceremonies for each were slightly different, and the lodges for their reception entirely distinct. In the reception of women, among other formalities there was that of breathing into the face of the neophyte, saying, “ I breathe upon you this breath to cause to germinate in you and grow in your heart the truth we possess; I breathe it into you to strengthen in you good intentions, and to confirm you in the faith of your brothers and sisters. We constitute you a legitimate daughter of true Egyptian adoption and of this worshipful lodge.” One of the lodges was called “ Sinai,” where the most secret rites were performed; another “Ararat,” to symbolise the rest reserved for Masons only. Concerning the pentagon, Cagliostro taught that it would be given to the masters after forty days of inter-
i
course with the seven primitive angels, and that its possessors would enjoy a physical regeneration for 5557 years, after which they would through gentle sleep pass into heaven. The pentagon had as much success with the upper ten thousand of London, Paris, and St. Petersburg, as the philosopher’s stone ever enjoyed; and large sums were given for a few grains of the rejuvenating prirna materia.
464. Gagliostro’s Hydromancy.—But beside masonic delusions, Cagliostro made use of the then little understood wonders of magnetism to attract adherents; and as many persons are seduced by the wine-cup, so he made dupes of many by means of the water-bottle, which device, as might be shown, was very ancient, and consisted in divination by hydromancy. A. child, generally a little girl, and called the Dove, was made to look into a bottle of water, and see therein events, past, present, and to come ; and as Cagliostro was really a man of observation, he made many shrewd guesses as to the future, and sometimes fortune favoured him—as in the case of Schrbpfer (280,437), one of the leaders of the Illuminati, who refused to join the Egyptian rite; the little girl declared that in less than a month Schrbpfer would be punished. Now it so happened that within that period Schrbpfer committed suicide, which of course gave an immense lift to Cagliostro and his bottle. In this respect indeed Cagliostro was a forerunner of our modern spiritualists ; and as he did not keep his occult power a secret from all, but freely communicated it, magical practices were thus introduced into the lodges, which brought discredit on the institution. And all this occurred at the period of the Encyclopedists, and on the eve of mighty events !
465. Lodges founded by Cagliostro.—He founded the first lodge, gorgeously fitted up, at Paris in a private house, and another one in his own house. A third was founded at Lyons, for which a special grand building was erected. It was declared the Mother Lodge, and called “Triumphant Wisdom.” Its patent ran thus:
“ Honour, Wisdom, Union, Beneficence, Comfort.
“We Grand Copt, in all eastern and western parts of Europe, Founder and Grand Master of Egyptian Masonry, make known to All, who may read this, that during our stay at Lyons many members of the Lodge of the Orient and Ordinary Rite, which has adopted the distinguishing title of
IJPWWHWM" “!<
CAGLIOSTRO AND EGYPTIAN MASONRY 81
’ Wisdom,’ have expressed their ardent wish to place them
selves under our rule, to be enlightened in true Masonry. We are pleased to accede to their wish,” &c.
Lodges also were founded at Strasburg, a ladies’ lodge at The Hague, another at Roveredo, another at Mitau, and a very grand one near Basle, in a sumptuous temple, erected for the purpose. The good citizens of Basle always approached it with feelings of awe, because they imagined Cagliostro destined it to be his tomb.
VOL. IT.
ADOPTIVE MASONRY
466. Historical Notice.—According to one of the fundamental laws of Masonry—and a rule prevailing in the greater mysteries of antiquity—women cannot be received into the Order. Women cannot keep secrets, at least so Mil ton says, through the mouth of Dalila—
“ Granting, as I do, it was a weakness In me, but incident to all our sex, Curiosity, inquisitive, importune Of secrets ; then with like infirmity To publish them ; both common female faults.”
But we have already seen that Cagliostro admitted women to the Egyptian rite; and when at the beginning of the eighteenth century several associations sprang up in Erance, which in their external aspect resembled Freemasonry, but did not exclude women, the ladies naturally were loud in their praise of such institutions, so that the masonic brotherhood, seeing it was becoming unpopular, had recourse to the stratagem of establishing “adoptive” lodges of women, so called because every such lodge had finally to be adopted by some regular masonic lodge. The Grand Orient of France framed laws for their government, and the first lodge of adoption was opened in Paris in 1775, in which the Duchess of Bourbon presided, and was initiated as Grand Mistress of the rite. The Revolution checked the progress of this rite, but it was revived in 1805, when the Empress Josephine presided over the “ Loge Imp4riale d’Adoption des Francs- Chevaliers ” at Strasburg. Similar lodges spread over Europe, Great Britain excepted; but they soon declined, and are at present confined to the place of their origin.
467. Organisation.—The rite consists of the same degrees as those of genuine Masonry. Every sister, being a dignitary, has beside her a masonic brother holding the corresponding rank. Hence the officers are a Grand Master and 82
a Grand Mistress, an Inspector and an Inspectress, a Depositor and a Depositrix, a Conductor and a Conductress. The business of the lodge is conducted by the sisterhood, the brethren only acting as their assistants; but the Grand Mistress has very little to say or to do, she being only an honorary companion to the Grand Master. The first, or apprentice’s, degree is only introductory; in the second, or companion, the scene of the temptation in Eden is emblematically represented ; the building of the tower of Babel is the subject of the mistress’s degree; and in the fourth, or that of perfect mistress, the officers represent Moses, Aaron, and their wives, and the ceremonies refer to the passage of the Israelites through the wilderness, as a symbol of the passage of men and women through this to another and better life. The lodge-room is tastefully decorated, and divided by curtains into four compartments, each representing one of the four quarters of the globe, the eastern, or farthermost, representing Asia, where there are two splendid thrones, decorated with gold fringe, for the Grand Master and the Grand Mistress. The members sit on each side in straight lines, the sisters in front and the brothers behind them, the latter having swords in their hands. All this pretty playing at Masonry is naturally followed by a banquet, and on many occasions by a ball. At the banquets the members use a symbolical language; thus the lodge-room is called “Eden,” the doors “barriers,” a glass is called a “lamp,” water “white oil,” wine “red oil”; to fill your glass is “to trim your lamp,” &c.
468. Jesuit Degrees.—The Jesuits, qui vont fourrer leur nez partout, soon poked it into Adoptive Masonry—for to get hold of the women is to get hold of the better half of mankind—and founded new lodges, or modified existing ones of that rite to further their own purposes. Thus it is that a truly monkish asceticism was introduced into some of them, by the Jesuits divided into ten degrees; and we find such passages in the catechism as these : “Are you prepared, sister, to sacrifice life for the good of the catholic, apostolic Roman Church ? ” The tenth or last degree was called the “ Princess of the Crown,” and a great portion of the ritual treats of the Queen of Sheba. This rite was established in Saxony in 1779.1
1 For another adoptive order, the “ Heroine of Jericho,” see Miscellaneous Societies, Book XIV., § 701.
k'
ANDROGYNOUS MASONRY
469. Origin and Tendency.—Gallantry already makes its appearance in Adoptive Masonry; and this gallantry, which for so many ages was the study of France, and was there reduced to an ingenious art, manufactured on its own account rites and degrees that were masonic in name only. Politics were dethroned by amorous intrigues; and the enumerators of great effects sprung from trifling causes might in this chapter of history find proofs of what a superficial and accidental thing politics are, when not governed by motives of high morality, nor watched by the incorruptible national conscience. And Androgynous Masonry did not always confine itself to an interchange of compliments and the pursuit of pleasure ; still, as a rule, its lodges for the initiation of males and females—defended by some of their advocates as founded on Exod. xxxviii. 8—are a whimsical form of that court life which in France and Italy had its poets and romancers; and which rose to such a degree of impudence and scandal as to outrage the modesty of citizens and popular virtue. It is a page of that history of princely corruption, which the French people at first read of with laughter, then with astonishment, finally with indignation ; and which inspired it with those feelings which at last found their vent in the excesses of the great Revolution. Every Revolution is a puritanical movement, and the simple and neglected virtue of the lowly-born avenges itself upon the pompous vices of their superiors.
470. Earliest Androgynous Societies.—Some of these were founded in France and elsewhere by an idle, daring, and conquering soldiery. As their type we may take the Order of the “ Knights and Ladies of Joy,” founded with extraordinary success at Paris in 1696, under the protection of Bacchus and Venus, and whose printed statutes are still in existence; and that of the “ Ladies of St. John of Jerusalem,” and the “ Ladies of St. James of the Sword and
Calatrava.” They, as it were, served as models to the canonesses, who, till the end of the last century, brought courtly pomp and mundane pleasures into the very cloisters of France, and compelled austere moralists to excuse it by saying that it was dans le goilt de la nation.
471. Other Androgynous Societies.—In the Order of the “ Companions of Penelope, or the Palladium of Ladies,” whose statutes are said to have been drawn up by Fdndlon (with how much truth is easily imagined), the trials consist in showing the candidate that work is the palladium of women; whence we may assume the pursuits of this society to have been very different from the equivocal occupations of other Orders. The Order of the “ Mopses ” owed its origin to a religious scruple. Pope Clement XII. having issued, in 1738, a Bull condemning Freemasonry, Clement Augustus, Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Cologne, instituted, under the above name (derived from the German word Mops, a young mastiff, the symbol of fidelity), what was pretended to be a new society, but what was, in fact, only Freemasonry under another name. Immediately after their establishment the Mopses became an androgynous order, admitting females to all the offices except that of Grand Master, which was for life ; but there was a Grand Mistress, elected every six months. Their ceremonies were grotesque. The candidate for admission did not knock, but scratch at the door, and, being purposely kept waiting, barked like a dog. On being admitted into the lodge he had a collar round his neck, to which a chain was attached. He was blindfolded, and led nine times round the room, while the Mopses present made as great a din as possible with sticks, swords, chains, shovels, and dismal howlings. He was then questioned as to his intentions, and having replied that he desired to become a Mops, was asked by the master whether he was prepared to kiss the most ignoble part of that animal. Of course this raised the candidate’s anger; but in spite of his resistance, the model of a dog, made of wax, wood, or some other material, was pushed against his face. Having taken the oath, he had his eyes unbandaged, and was taught the signs, which were all of a ludicrous description. In 1777 there was established in Denmark the androgynous order of the “ Society of the Chain,” to which belongs the honour of having founded, and of maintaining at its own expense, the Asylum for the Blind at Copenhagen, the largest and best managed of similar institutions in Europe. The Order of “ Perseverance,” the date of whose foundation is un-
known, but which existed in Paris in 1777, and was supported by the most distinguished persons, had a laudable custom, which might be imitated by other societies, viz., to inscribe in a book, one of which is still extant, the praiseworthy actions of the male and female members of the association. But one of the most deserving masonic androgynous institutions was that of the “ Sovereign Chapter of the Scotch Ladies of Erance,” founded in 1810, and divided into lesser and greater mysteries, and whose instructions aimed chiefly at leading the neophyte back to the occupations to which the state of society called him or her. To provide food and work for those wanting either, to afford them advice and help, and save them from the cruel alternative of crime— such was the scope of this society, which lasted till the year 1828. The fashion of androgynous lodges was revived in Spain in 1877. From the Chaine d’ Union, a masonic publication, we learn that several such lodges were formed about that date, receiving ladies of the highest rank. Thus the Countess Julia A , belonging by birth to the Austrian-
Hungarian nobility, and by her connections to Spain, was initiated into the lodge Fraternitad Iberica on the 14th June 1880; and the Grand Orient of Spain initiated ladies into all the mysteries of masonry, just as if they were men.
472. Various other Androgynous Societies.—The Society of the “Wood-store of the Globe and Glory” was founded in 1747 by the Chevalier de Beauchene, a lively boon companion, who was generally to be found at an inn, where for very little money he conferred all the masonic degrees of that time ; a man whose worship would have shone by the great tun of Heidelberg, or at the drinking bouts of German students. The Wood-store was supposed to be in a forest, and the meetings, which were much in vogue, took place in a garden outside Paris, called “ New France,” where assembled lords and clowns, ladies and grisettes, indulging in the easy costumes and manners of the country. Towards the middle of the eighteenth century, there was established in Brittany the Order of the “ Defoliators.”
In the Order of “Felicity,” instituted in Paris in 1742, and divided into the four degrees of midshipman, captain, chief of a squadron, and vice-admiral, the emblems and terms were nautical: sailors were its founders, and it excited so much attention, that in 1746 a satire, entitled, “The Means of reaching the highest Rank in the Navy without getting Wet,” was published against it. Its field of action was the field of love. A Grand Orient was called the offing, the
lodge the squadron, and the sisters performed the fictitious voyage to the island of Felicity sows la voile des freres et pilotdes par ev.x; and the candidate promised “ never to receive a foreign ship into her port as long as a ship of the Order was anchored there.”
The Order of the “ Lovers of Pleasure ” was a military institution, a pale revival of the ceremonies of chivalry and the courts of love, improvised in the French camp in Galicia. From the discourse of one of the orators we select the following passage: “ Our scope is to embellish our existence, always taking for our guide the words, ’Honour, Joy, and Delicacy.’ Our scope, moreover, is to be faithful to our country and the august sovereign who fills the universe with his glorious name, to serve a cause which ought to be grateful to every gentle soul, that of protecting youth and innocence, and of establishing between the ladies and ourselves an eternal alliance, cemented by the purest friendship.” This society, it is said, was much favoured by Napoleon I., and hence we may infer that its aim was not purely pleasure; at all events, it is remarkable that a society, having masonic rites, should have given its services to the “august sovereign” who had just withdrawn his support from genuine Freemasonry.
473. Knights and Nymphs of the Rose.—This Order was founded in Paris in 1778 by Chaumont, private secretary to Louis-Philippe d’Orldans, to please that prince. The chief lodge was held in one of the famous petites maisons of that epoch. The great lords had lodges in their own houses. The Hierophant, assisted by a deacon called “ Sentiment,” initiated the men, and the Grand Priestess, assisted by the deaconess called “Discretion,” initiated the women. The age of admission for knights was “the age to love,” that of ladies “the age to please and to be loved.” Love and mystery were the programme of the Order; the lodge was called the Temple of Love, which was beautifully adorned with garlands of flowers and amorous emblems and devices. The knights wore a crown of myrtle, the nymphs a crown of roses. During the time of initiation a dark lantern, held by the nymph of Discretion, shed a dim light, but afterwards the lodge was illuminated with numerous wax candles. The aspirants, laden with chains, to symbolise the prejudices that kept them prisoners, were asked, “ What seek you here ? ” to which they replied, “ Happiness.” They were then questioned as to their private opinion and conduct in matters of gallantry, and made twice to traverse the lodge over a path
covered with love-knots, whereupon the iron chains were taken off, and garlands of flowers, called “chains of love,” substituted. The candidates' were then conducted to the altar, where they took the oath of secrecy; and thence to the mysterious groves in the neighbourhood of the Temple of Love, where incense was offered up to Venus and her son. If it was a knight who had been initiated, he exchanged his crown of myrtle for the rose of the last initiated nymph; and if a nymph, she, exchanged her rose for the myrtle crown of Brother Sentiment. The horrors of the Revolution scattered these knights and nymphs, who, like thoughtless children, were playing on a volcano.
474. German Order of the Rose.—Another order of the Rose was founded in Germany in 1784 by one Francis Matthaus Grossinger, who ennobled himself by assuming the title of Francis Rudolph von Grossing. He was born in 1752 at Komorn, in Hungary; his father was a butcher, his mother the daughter of a tanner. Grossing was a Jesuit, but on the suppression of the Order he led a wandering life, and eventually reached Vienna, where he obtained the protection of the father confessor of the empress, who in 1777 granted him a pension of six hundred florins, which, however, he lost by her death. He then lived by all kinds of swindling, and finally founded a philanthropic order, which, after the name of the supposititious grand mistress, the Lady of Rosen- wald, he called the “ Order of the Rose.” He was very successful at Halle, where he lived, in initiating dupes, on whose contributions he lived in great style. When he became too notorious at Halle he transmigrated to Berlin, where he continued his expensive style of living, got into debt, was arrested, but made his escape, after having swindled the Berliners out of twenty thousand dollars.
475- Pretended Objects of the Order.—The Order professed to pursue the loftiest philosophic and educational objects. None but men and women endowed with noble souls were to be admitted, and no member was to reveal the name of any other member, nor what was discussed in the lodges, to outsiders. Masonry was the model for the Order of the Rose, the latter adopting all the good, and rejecting all the bad of the former. The ribbon of the Order consisted of pink silk, both ends terminating in three points ; it was marked with a rose, and the name of the member, with the date of his or her reception. Under this was a large seal, displaying a rose, surrounded by a wreath of the same flowers; the ribbon was further adorned with a kind of
silhouette, supposed to represent the Lady of Rosenwald, so indistinct and blurred, as to look more like a blot than a portrait. Members also were furnished with a small ticket, giving the explanation of certain terms used by Grossing in his “Rules and Regulations ” ; thus Freemasons were called “ Gamblers ” ; Jesuits, “ Foxes ” ; Illuminati, “ Wasps ” ; Ghost-seers, “ Gnats,” &c. The “ Rules ” were called “ A Shell or Case for Thorns ” ; members, to recognise each other, would say, “ Thorns,” to which the other would reply, “ Forest,” after which each would produce his ribbon and ticket. In 1786 the Order counted about one hundred and twenty, members, but having no innate vitality, being, in fact, but a company of triflers, many of them withdrew on finding the whole Order but a scheme of Grossing to put money into his pocket, and so it was swept away into the limbus of fashionable follies.
476. Order of Harmony.—The Order of the Rose having collapsed, Grossing in 1788 founded, under a fictitious name, the “ Order of Harmony.” He published a book alleged to be translated from the English, and entitled, “ Harmony, or a Scheme for the Better Education of the Female Sex,” and wrote in the Preface, “ This ’ Harmony ’ is not to be confounded with that Chdteau en Espagne, with which the founder of the Order of the Rose for some years deluded the ladies of Germany.” The Order of Harmony was said to have been founded by Seth, the third son of Adam, to have reckoned among its members Moses and Christ, and to be the refuge of persecuted humanity and innocence. The founder abused princes and priests, proposed the establishment of convents, in which ladies were to take the vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty, but only for a year at a time; a bank was also to be founded in connection with them. And the writer finally proposed that a monument should be erected to the promoter of the Order as a benefactor of mankind! When Grossing was arrested in 1788 at Rotenburg (Prussia), for all kinds of swindling transactions, a number of diplomas were found among his papers, with the names of ladies who were to be admitted to the Order filled in. But the interference of the vulgar police brushed the bloom of romance off the scheme, and the Order of Harmony perished, a still-born babe! Grossing, however, managed to effect his escape, by making his guards drunk; what became of him afterwards is not. on record.
477. Mason’s Daughter.—This is an androgynous. degree invented in the Western States of America, and given to
master masons, their wives, and unmarried sisters and daughters. It refers to circumstances recorded in chapters xi. and xii. of St. John’s Gospel. In these women’s lodges the banqueting hall is divided into East, West, South, and North sides (the four walls); the grand mistress sits in the East; the temple or lodge is called Eden; the doors are called barriers, the glasses, lamps, the wine is called red oil; to put oil in the lamps is to fill the glasses, to extinguish the lamp is to drink the wine, to “ fire! ” is to drink. The sign is to place the hands on the breast, so that the right lies on the left, and the two thumbs joining form a triangle. The word is “ Eve,” repeated five times. Gentlemen are allowed to be present. As the reader will have observed, the degree is an imitation of the Loge Imperiale d’Adoption des Francs- Chevaliers, described in § 466.
XXIV
SCHISMATIC RITES AND SECTS
478. Schismatic Rites and Sects.—The pretended derivation •'
of Freemasonry from the Knights Templars has already been
referred to ; but Masonry, the system, not the name, existed
before the Order of the Temple, and the Templars them- '
selves had masonic rites and degrees three hundred years
before their downfall. Those who, however, maintain the
above view say that the three assassins symbolise the three j
betrayers of the Order, and Hiram the Grand Master Molay; I
and according to the ritual of the Grand Lodge of the Three
Globes, a German degree, the lights around the coffin signify
the flames of the pile on which Molay was burnt. To the i
Rosicrucians and to certain German lodges Hiram is Christ, J
and the three assassins, Judas that betrays, Peter that denies ’
Him, and Thomas that disbelieves His resurrection. The ancient Scotch rite had its origin in other false accounts of
the rise of the Order. In the last century schisms without j
number arose in the masonic body. It would be impossible I
in a work like this to give particulars of all; we have already j
done so of several; a few more may be briefly referred to.
The Moravian Brothers of the Order of Religious Free
masons, or Order of the “ Mustard Seed,” was a German ;
rite founded, circa 1712, by Count Zinzendorf, the same who $
afterwards invented the rite already described in § 438. ’
Some authorities assert this Order of the “Mustard-Seed”
to have originated in England in 1708, and thence to
have spread to Holland and Germany, and to have been
adopted by Zinzendorf, circa 1712-14, when he was a student j1
at Halle. The mysteries were founded on the passage in
St. Mark iv. 30-32, in which Christ compares the king
dom of heaven to a grain of mustard-seed. The brethren
recognised each other by a ring inscribed with the words : j*
“No one of us lives for himself.” The jewel was a cross of gold, surmounted by a mustard-plant with the words:
91
92 SECRET SOCIETIES
“ What was it before ? Nothing.” The members met every year in the chapel of the Castle of Gnadenstadt, and also kept the 15th March and 16th April as holy days. Nearly all the degrees of the Scotch rite are schismatic. In like manner, all the English and American orders of chivalry, and their conclaves and encampments, are parodies of ancient chivalry.
In 1758, Lacorne, a dancing-master, and Pirlet, a tailor, invented the degree of the “ Council of the Emperors of the East and West,” whose members assumed the titles of “ Sovereign Prince Masons, Substitutes General of the Royal Art, Grand Superintendents and Officers of the Grand and Sovereign Lodge of St. John of Jerusalem.” The ritual consisted of twenty-five degrees, and as it was calculated by its sounding titles and splendour of ritual to flatter the vanity of the frivolous, it was at first very successful; and Lacorne conferred on one of his creatures, a Hebrew, the degree of Inspector, and sent him to America to spread the Order there. In 1797, other Jews added eight new degrees, giving to this agglomeration of thirty-three pompous degrees the title of “Ancient and Accepted Scotch Rite.” The Grand Orient of France, seeing its own influence declining, proposed advantageous and honourable terms to the Supreme Grand Council which was at the head of the Scotch rite, and an agreement was come to in 1804. The Grand Orient retaining the first name, received into its bosom the Supreme Grand Council and the rich American symbolism. But the connection did not prosper, and was dissolved in 1805. Again, what is called Mark-Masonry in England is, by some masonic authorities, considered spurious; whilst in Scotland and Ireland it is held to be an essential portion of Freemasonry. These are curious anomalies. About 1869 His Imperial Highness the Prince Rhodocanakis introduced into England the “ Order of the Red Cross of Constantine and Rome,” which, however, being violently opposed by the Supreme Grand Council of the 33rd, came to an untimely end soon after. The S.G.C. threatened any member of the “ Ancient and Accepted ” who should dare even to merely visit this new Order with expulsion from the fraternity. And the S.G.C. actually sent a “ Sovereign Tribunal ” to Manchester to try a brother, who had snapped his fingers at the Council and said he did not care for the “ Sovereign.” How it all ended is pleasantly related in the pages of The Rectangular, January and April 1871.
479. Farmassoni.—There is a Gnostic sect in Russia whom
the. Russians identify with the Freemasons, and therefore call “ Farmassoni,” a corruption of franc-magons. The Far- massoni regard priesthood and ritual as a pagan depravation of the faith and of the true doctrine; they seek, as much as possible, to spiritualise Christianity, and to ground it solely on the Bible and the inward illumination of believers. The earliest traces of them are to be found at the end of the seventeenth century, and their appearance coincides with that of certain German mystics and theosophists in Moscow. The most important of these was a Prussian sub-officer, who was carried to Moscow, having been taken prisoner by the Russians during the Seven Years’ War.
480. The Gormogones.—This Order was founded in England in 1724. The names and birthplaces of the members were written in cipher, and the Order was said to have been brought by a Chinese mandarin (a Jesuit missionary?) to England, it being in great repute in China (Rome), and to possess extraordinary secrets. It held a chapter at the Castle Tavern, London, but was dissolved in 1738. It is supposed to have been an attempt of the Jesuits, by the help of masonic ceremonies, to gain converts to Catholicism, and that Ramsay, the inventor of the so-called higher degrees, had something to do with it. I have vainly endeavoured to trace the origin and meaning of the term Gormogones. According to one account I have seen it was also called the Order of the Gormones, and was said to have been instituted for the reception of individuals not considered sufficiently advanced for admission to the lodges.
481. The Noachites, or Noachidoe.—This Order, founded in the last quarter of the last century, assumed the high-sounding title of “The Fraternity of the Royal Ark Mariners, Mark, Mark Master, Elected of Nine, Unknown, Fifteen, Architect, Excellent and Superexcellent Masons.” They professed to be the followers of Noah—which no doubt they were in one respect—and therefore also called themselves Noachites or Noachidse. Their president, Thomas-Boothby Parkyns, Lord Rancliffe, bore the title of Grand Noah, and the lodge was called the Royal Ark Vessel. The brother mariners in the lodge wore a broad sash, representing a rainbow, with an apron fancifully decorated with an ark. dove, &c. Their principal place of meeting was at the Surrey Tavern, Surrey Street, Strand. They had a poet, Brother Ebenezer Sibley, who was a doctor of medicine and an astrologer to boot, who, like too many masonic poets, wrote indifferent couplet^. This Order must not be confounded
with the “Noachite or Russian Knight,” which is the 21st degree of the Ancient Scotch rite.
482. Argonauts.—This Order was founded, for his amusement, by a Freemason, Konrad von Rhetz, residing at Riddagshausen, near Brunswick. He had been the master of a lodge of the Relaxed Observance, but fell out with his brethren, and ceased from visiting any lodge. Near his residence there is a large lake with an island in the centre. On this he built a temple and provided boats to carry visitors to it, where, if they desired it, they were initiated into the new Order. Persons of position and of either sex might claim reception as a matter of right, and many Brunswick Freemasons belonged to it. The Grand Master, or Grand Admiral as he was called, entertained all visitors free of expense, nor was there any charge for initiation. The greeting was “ Long live pleasure! ” The temple was built in the antique style, though with quaint decorations and a few paintings and engravings. There were also cupboards containing the insignia of the Order. The officers were styled Steersman, Chaplain, and so on; the others were simple Argonauts. The jewel was a silver anchor with green enamel. On the founder’s death in 1787 the Order was dissolved; no trace remains of the temple.
t 483. The Grand Orient and Atheism.—In 1877 the Grand ■ Orient abolished in the lodges the acknowledgment of a / belief in God, introduced into the ritual in 1854, which has y led to a rupture between it and the Grand Lodge of England. I The influence of Masonry, both social and political, in France * being universal, it is the foundation and support of the war made on the priesthood with a view chiefly to deprive them of the education of youth. The Spanish and Dutch Grand Lodges approved of the action of the Grand Orient in suppressing the name of God in the ritual of admission. There is no doubt that Continental Masonry aims at the abolition not only of the Roman Catholic Church, but of the human mind’s blind surrender to any creed whatever.
484. Ludicrous Degree.—The following lodge was actually established about 1717* Some joyous companions, having passed the degree of craft, resolved to form a lodge for themselves. As none of them knew the master’s part, they at once invented and adopted a ritual which suited every man’s humour. Hence it was ordered that every person during initiation should wear boots, spurs, a sword, and spectacles. The apron was turned upside down. To simplify
the work of the lodge, they abolished the practice of study- |
ing geometry, excepting that form mentioned by Hudibras— |
“ For he, by geometric scale, ■ 1
Could take the size of pots of ale ; ;
Resolve by sines and tangents straight, J
If bread or butter wanted weight.” J
Some of the members proved that a good knife and fork in ’
the hands of a dexterous brother, over proper materials, s
would give greater satisfaction and add more to the rotun- |
dity of the lodge than the best scale and compass in Europe ;
adding that a line, a square, a parallelogram, a rhombus, a i
rhomboid, a triangle, a trapezium, a circle, a semi-circle, a !
quadrant, a parabola, a hyperbola, a cube, a parallelepipedon, ”
a prism, a prismoid, a pyramid, a cylinder, a curve, a cylin- J
droid, a sphere, a spheroid, a paraboloid, a cycloid, a para- J
centric, frustums, segments, sectors, gnomons, pentagons, j
hexagons, polygons, ellipses, and irregular figures of all sorts, ' ■
might be drawn and represented upon bread, beef, mutton, ham, fowls, pies, &c., as demonstratively as upon sheets of ?
paper or the tracing-board, and that the use of the globes 1
might be taught and explained as clearly and briefly upon f
two bottles as upon any twenty-eight inch spheres.
XXV
DIFFUSION OF THE ORDER
485. Freemasonry in Spain and Portugal.—In 1726, the Grand Lodge of England granted a patent for the establishment of a lodge at Gibraltar; another was founded in the following year at Madrid, which, declaring itself independent of foreign supervision, established-lodges at Cadiz, Barcelona, Valladolid, and other places. The Inquisition, seeing the danger that threatened the Church, persecuted the Order; hence some mystery surrounds the labours of the brotherhood in the Iberian peninsula. But in the troubles which distressed Spain during the Napoleonic wars, the masonic lodges were politically very active. They were suppressed again by Ferdinand VII., and up to the year 1868 were but few in number, and disguised under various names. Since that year they have rapidly increased, and there are now more than 360 lodges in Spain. The Spanish Grand Lodge has 154 lodges under its jurisdiction; the Grand Orient of Spain about 162; the Lusitanian Grand Orient about 40 lodges. There are, moreover, about 40 lodges subject to foreign Grand Lodges. The number of Spanish Masons may amount to 30,000.
In Portugal, the first lodges were founded, not under English, but under French auspices; but English influence soon made itself felt in the establishment of additional lodges, though in great secrecy; which, however, did not save many Freemasons from becoming the victims of the Inquisition.
486. Freemasonry in Russia.—In 1731, Freemasonry dared to oppose itself to Russian despotism, which not fearing, and probably despising it, did not molest it. The times were unpropitious. The sanguinary Biren ruled the Empress Anne, whom by means of the amorous fascination he exercised upon her, he easily persuaded to commit all kinds of folly and cruelty; and Masonry, though it knew itself to be tolerated, yet did not feel secure, and cautiously kept itself in the background. In 1740, England founded a lodge at St.
96
DIFFUSION OF THE ORDER
97
Petersburg, and sent thither a Grand Master. The Order spread in the provinces, and in 1763 the lodge “Clio” was opened at Moscow. Catherine II. wished to know its statutes, perceiving the advantage or injury they might bring to her government as she either promoted or persecuted the association. In the end she determined to protect the Order; and in a country where the court leads opinion, lodges soon became the fashion. But Masonry thus becoming the amusement of a wealthy nobility, it soon lost sight of its primitive objects. In no other country probably did the brotherhood possess such gorgeous temples; but, deprived of the vivifying and invigorating air of liberty, its splendour could not save it from a death of inanition.
487. Freemasonry in Switzerland. — English proselytism, always the most active, established a lodge at Geneva in 1737, whose first Grand Master was George Hamilton. Two years afterwards, the foreigners dwelling at Lausanne united and founded the lodge called the “ Perfect Union of Foreigners.” Lodges were also opened at Berne; but the manoeuvres of the Grand Lodges of the States surrounding Switzerland introduced long and fierce dissensions. In 1765, the Strict Observance founded at Basle the lodge “Liberty,” which became the mother-lodge of many others, and, calling itself the “ German Helvetic Directory,” chose for its chief the celebrated Lavater. Then followed suppressions; but the Order revived, and in 1844 the different territorial Grand Lodges united into one federal Grand Lodge, called “ Alpina,” which revised the ancient statutes. The Swiss Freemasons intend to erect a grand temple, which perhaps could nowhere find a more fitting site than in a country where four nations of diverse languages and races dwell in perfect liberty.
488. Freemasonry in Sweden and Poland.— In 1748, Sweden already had many and flourishing lodges. In 1754 was instituted the Grand Lodge of Sweden, under a patent from the Grand Lodge of Scotland; it afterwards declared its autonomy, which has been recognised by all the masonic bodies of Europe. In the most ancient Swedish ritual we meet for the first time in Europe with the cry and sign of distress of the sons of Adoniram (383): “ To me, the sons of the widow! ”
Freemasonry, at first suppressed in Poland, was revived under Stanislaus Augustus, and the auspices of the Grand Orient of France, who established lodges in various towns of that country. These united in 1784 to form a Grand Orient, having its seat at Warsaw.
VOL. ir.
G
489. Freemasonry in Holland and Germany.—In Holland the Freemasons opened a lodge in 1731, under the warrant of the Grand Lodge of England; it was, however, only what is called a lodge of emergency, having been called to initiate the Duke of Tuscany, afterwards Francis I., Emperor of Germany (454). The first regular lodge was established at The Hague in 1734, which, five years after, took the name of “ Mother-lodge.” Numerous lodges were opened throughout the country, and also in the Dutch colonies; and the Freemasons founded many schools, with the avowed object of withdrawing instruction from clerical influence.
In Germany lodges were numerous as early as the middle of last century, so that in the present one we have witnessed the centenaries of many of them—as, for instance, in 1837, of that of Hamburg; in 1840, of that of Berlin; in 1841, of those of Breslau, Baireuth, Leipzig, and many more.
490. Freemasonry in Turkey, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.— The Order also spread into Turkey, where, however, as may be supposed, for a long time it led but a harassed existence. Lodges were established at Constantinople, Smyrna, and Aleppo; and it may be mentioned, as a fact in favour of Freemasonry, that the Turkish Freemasons are in a more advanced state of civilisation than is usual among Orientals generally. They reject polygamy, and at the masonic banquets the women appear unveiled; so that whatever their western sisters may have to say against Masonry, the women of the East certainly are gainers by the introduction of the Order.
The most important masonic lodges of Asia are in India ; they are under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodges of England and Scotland.
Freemasonry was introduced into Africa by the establishment of a lodge at Cape Coast Castle in 1735. There are now lodges at the Cape of Good Hope; in the islands of Mauritius, Madagascar, and St. Helena; and at Algiers, Tunis, Morocco, Cairo, and Alexandria.
Lodges have existed since 1828 at Sydney, Melbourne, Parramatta, and other places ; in all, about two hundred. ,
491. Freemasonry in America.—The first lodge established in Canada was at Cape Breton, in the year 1745. Lodges existed from as early a period in the West Indian Islands. On the establishment of the Brazilian empire, a Grand Lodge was initiated; and in 1825, Don Pedro I. was elected its Grand Master. In 1825, the Grand Lodge of Mexico was instituted, where the Liberals and Federalists joined the
York rite, whilst the Clerics, Monarchists, and Centralizers adopted the Scotch rite, the two parties carrying on a relentless war. Texas, Venezuela, and the turbulent republics of South America, all had their masonic lodges, which were in many cases political clubs in disguise. Thus the assassination of Garcia Moreno, the President of the Republic of Ecuador, in 1875, was the work of the masonic clubs. The murderer, one Rajo, on being promised his life if he would denounce his accomplices, coolly replied: “It would be useless to save my life; if you spared it, my companions would soon take it; I would rather be shot than stabbed.”
The lodges in the territory now forming the United States date as far back as 1729. Until the close of the revolutionary war these were under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of England ; but almost every State of the Union now has its own Grand Lodge, independent of all foreign power.
In different parts of the globe there are about 90 Grand Lodges, nearly 12,000 lodges, numbering altogether about 12,500,000 members ; of the active members, or such as regularly attend lodges and pay annual subscriptions, there may be half that number.
XXVI
I PERSECUTIONS OF FREEMASONRY
492. Causes of Persecution.—The secrecy with which the , masonic brotherhood has always surrounded its proceedings
is. no doubt highly grateful to the members, but it has its drawbacks. The outside world, who cannot believe that . masonic meetings, which are so jealously guarded against the intrusion of non-Masons, have no other purpose than the rehearsal of a now totally useless and pointless ritual, followed by conviviality, naturally assume that there must be something more behind; and what seems to fear the light is I usually supposed to be evil. Hence all governments, as long
as they did not know what modern Freemasonry really is, persecuted and endeavoured to suppress it. But as soon as they discovered its real scope and character, they gave it their support, feeling quite convinced that men who could find entertainment in the doings of the lodges, would never, as it is popularly called, set the Thames on fire. One of the first persecutions against Freemasonry arose in Holland in 1734. A crowd of ignorant fanatics, incited thereto by the clergy, broke into a lodge at Amsterdam, and destroyed all its furniture and ornaments; but the town clerk having, at the suggestion of the Order, been initiated, the States-General, upon his report, sanctioned the society, many of the chief persons becoming members. Of course, when lodges were turned into political clubs, and the real business of Masonry ' was cast aside for something more serious, the matter assumed a very different aspect. The persecutions here to be mentioned will therefore be such only as took place against Freemasonry, legitimately so called.
493. Instances of Persecution.—Pope Clement XII., in 1738, issued a decree against the Order, which was followed by a more severe edict next year, the punishment therein awarded for being found guilty of practising Freemasonry being confiscation and death, without hope of mercy. This was a signal of persecution in the countries connected with Rome.
5 . 100
J
The parliament of Paris, however, refused to register the
papal bull; and an apology for the Order was published at ;
Dublin. But Philip V. of Spain declared the galleys for life,
or punishment of death with torture to be the doom of Free- ■;
masons ; a very large number of whom he caused to be j
arrested and sentenced. Peter Torrubia, Grand Inquisitor of Spain, having first made confession and received absolution, entered the Order for the express purpose of betraying it.
He joined in 1751, and made himself acquainted with the entire ramifications of the craft; and in consequence members i
of ninety-seven lodges were seized and tortured on the rack. :
Ferdinand VI. declared Freemasonry to be high-treason, and punishable with death. When the French became masters of Spain, Freemasonry was revived and openly practised, the 1
members of the Grand Lodge of Madrid meeting in the hall previously occupied by their arch-enemy the Inquisition. }
With the return of Ferdinand VII., who re-established the {
Inquisition, the exterminating process recommenced. In . i
1814, twenty-five persons suspected of Freemasonry were 4
dragged in chains to confinement; but the subsequent arrests I
were so numerous, that no correct account is obtainable, nor i
can the ultimate fate of the accused be recorded. One of jI
the noblest victims of the Spanish Inquisition and the Holy j
Alliance was Riego, the “ Hampden of Spain,” who was '
atrociously murdered by hanging at Madrid in 1823. “Have ;
I got you, you Freemason, you son of the devil! you shall 1
pay for all you have done! ” howled the hangman, before strangling him. In 1824, a law was promulgated, commanding all Masons to declare themselves, and deliver up all their papers and documents, under the penalty of being declared - traitors. The Minister of War, in the same year, issued a proclamation, outlawing every member of the craft; and in i
1827, seven members of a lodge in Granada were executed ; j
while in 1828, the tribunals of the same city condemned the !
Marquis of Lavrillana and Captain Alvarez to be beheaded
for having founded a lodge. In 1848, Masons were no longer j
executed, but sent to the galleys ; as late as the year 1854, • ’
members of masonic lodges were seized and imprisoned. 1
In 1735, several noble Portuguese instituted a lodge at 1
Lisbon, under the Grand Lodge of England, of which George
Gordon was Master ; but the priests immediately determined on putting it down. One of the best-known victims of the Inquisition was John Coustos, a native of Switzerland, who •
was arrested in 1743, and thrown into a subterranean ;
dungeon, where he was racked nine times in three months
for not revealing the secrets of Masonry. He had, however, to appear in an auto-da-fd, and was sentenced to five years’ work as a galley slave ; but the British Government claiming him as a subject, he was released before the term of his punishment expired. Thirty-three years passed without anything more being heard of Freemasonry in Portugal; but in 1776, two members of the craft were arrested, and remained upwards of fourteen months in prison. In 1792, Queen Maria I. ordered all Freemasons to be delivered over to the Inquisition ; a very few families escaped to New York, where they landed with the words, Asylum qv.cerimus. Among their American brethren they found not only an asylum, but a new home. The French Empire ushered in better days; but with the restoration of the old regime came the former prejudices and persecutions. In 1818, John VI. promulgated from the Brazils an edict against all secret societies, including Freemasonry; and, again in 1823, a similar though more stringent proclamation appeared in Lisbon. The punishment of death therein awarded was afterwards reduced to fine and transportation to Africa.
In Austria, the papal bulls provoked persecutions and seizures; hence arose the Order of the Mopses (471), which spread through Holland, Belgium, and France. In 1747, thirty Masons were arrested and imprisoned at Vienna. Maria Theresa, having been unable to discover the secrets of the Order, issued a decree to arrest all Masons, but the measure was frustrated by the good sense of the Emperor Joseph II., who was himself a Mason, and therefore knew that the pursuits of the Order were innocent enough. Francis I., at the Diet of Ratisbon in 1794, demanded the suppression of all masonic societies throughout Germany, but Hanover, Brunswick, and Prussia united with the smaller States in refusing their assent.
The history of Freemasonry in Central Italy during the last century and this, as may be supposed, is a mere repetition of sufferings, persecutions, and misfortunes; the members of the craft being continually under punishment, through the intolerance of the priesthood and the interference of the civil power. .
But persecution was not confined to Catholic countries. Even in Switzerland, the Masons at one time were persecuted. The Council of Berne, in 1745, passed a law with certain degrees of punishment for members of lodges; which law was renewed in 1782. It is now abrogated. Frederick I., King of Sweden, a very few years after the
introduction (1736) of Freemasonry, forbade it under penalty of death. At present the king is at the head of the Swedish craft. The King Frederick Augustus III. of Poland caused, in 1730, enactments to be published, forbidding, under pain of severe punishment, the practice of Freemasonry in his kingdom. In 1757, the Synod of Stirling adopted a resolution debarring all Freemasons from the ordinances of religion. In 1799, Lord Radnor proposed in the English Parliament a bill against secret societies, and especially against Freemasonry; and a similar but equally fruitless attempt against the Order was made in 1814 by Lord Liverpool. The Society is now acknowledged by law; the Prince of Wales is at the head of the craft.
494. Anti - Masonic Publications.—One of the earliest English publications against Freemasonry is “The Freemasons; an Hudibrastic Poem” (London, 1723). It is written in the coarsest style of invective, describing the Masons as a drunken set of revellers, practising all kinds of filthy rites. Several works of no literary merit appeared at various intervals between 1726 and 1760, professing to reveal the masonic secrets, but their authors evidently knew nothing of the craft. In 1768, a rabid parson published a sermon, entitled “Masonry, the Way to Hell.” It is beneath criticism. Numerous works of a similar tendency, or professing to reveal what Masonry was, thenceforth appeared at short intervals in England, France, Germany, and Italy, such as “ Les Plus Secrets Myst&res de la Maqonnerie ”; “ Le Maschere Strappate ” (The Masks torn off); “ The Veil Removed, or the Secret of the Revolutions fostered by Freemasonry ”; Robison’s “ Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe carried on in the Secret Meetings of Freemasons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies,” a work which must have astonished the Masons not a little, and for which they were no doubt in their hearts very grateful to the author, for he makes the Masons out to be very terrible fellows indeed. The work of the Abb4 Barruel is of the same stamp; it is entitled, “M^moires pour servir h 1’Histoire du Jacobinisms,” and is noteworthy for nothing but absence of critical power and honesty of statement. The Jesuits, though imitating the ritual of the Masons, have naturally always been their enemies, generally secretly, but sometimes openly, as, for instance, through the Italian zappatori (labourers), whose avowed object was the destruction of the Masonic Order. Protestants also have written fiercely against the Order,
Lindner’s “Mac-Benach” (1818), and Hengstenberg’s and Moller’s in quite recent years, are samples of such writings.
One of the most voluminous works against Freemasonry is that of Dr. E. E. Eckert, of Dresden. It is in three thick volumes, printed at various places (185.2-80). The title is, “ Proofs for the Condemnation of Freemasonry as the Starting Point of all Destructive Activity.” He sees Masonry everywhere, even in Chinese secret societies I According to Eckert, Freemasons were the originators of the Illuminati and Burschenschaft in Germany, of the Jacobins and Juste Milieu in France, of the Carbonari in Italy, of the Liberals in Spain, and the Giovine Italia I He was expelled from Berlin in consequence of his attacks on highly-placed Masons. The latest work of importance hostile to Masonry is by the late Pere Deschamps, in three large volumes, entitled, “ Les Societes Secretes et la Socidte ” (Paris and Avignon, 1882-83). The writer, a priest, sees only evil in the fraternity, and, in fact, all evil in the world— political, social, moral—is due to the occult action of the Masons, whose object is the overthrow of all religion, morality, and justice. In 1873, a German work, entitled, “The Secret Warfare of Freemasonry against Church and State” (an English translation was published in 1875), had brought the same charges against the Society’s action on the Continent. And Masonry continues to be the bugbear of the Church. In 1875, Pope Pius IX. fulminated a bull against the Order; in 1884, shortly after the installation of the Prince of Wales as Grand Master Mark-Mason, the Pope issued an encyclical, Humanum genus, in which he denounced the Order as criminal, impious, revolutionary, and everything bad; towards the end of September of this present year (1896) an anti-masonic congress, convoked by the Church, was held at Trent, and attended by about six hundred priests, presided over by Cardinal Agliardi, armed with the Pope’s brief condemning Freemasonry. The whole proceeding was an exact counterpart of the meeting held on the ist February 1762, when “ many gentlemen, eminent for their rank and character,” including “Pomposo” Johnson, “were, by the invitation of the Rev. Mr. Aldrich, assembled ” to inquire into the noises made by the Cock-lane ghost. Sitting with closed doors, the Congress discussed Miss Diana Vaughan, who, in a book published by, or attributed to her, described how at an early age she was initiated into Freemasonry, and that in American lodges she had frequent interviews with Lucifer, and some of his imps. The truth or
PERSECUTION'S OF FREEMASONRY 105
untruth of this statement was seriously debated by the “learned divines” assembled at Trent! And they left the matter in doubt. The reverend fathers seem to have been particularly shocked at the liberties taken with the devil’s j
personality; yet they must know that the devil has for ages I
been an object of ridicule, the theme of ribald songs and j
jokes even in the mystery plays. 1
Dr. Bataille wrote a book entitled, “ The Devil in the Nineteenth Century,” which is a specimen of the grossest superstition, which was ridiculed in a reply afterwards published by a Count H. C., and wherein he regrets that a large number of high personages, particularly among the clergy, should have been thus imposed upon. Dr. Bataille in his book referred largely to devil-worship in the East; Count H. C. contradicts most of the doctor’s statements.
FUTILITY OF MODERN FREEMASONRY
495. Vain Pretensions of Modern Freemasonry.—After this necessarily compressed account of Freemasonry, past and present, the question naturally suggestsitself—What is its present use ? Are its pretensions not groundless ? Is it not an institution which has outlived the object of its foundation ? Is not its present existence a delusion and an anachronism ? Since all that is said and done in the lodges has for many years been in print, is the holding out of the communication of secrets not a delusion, and the imposition of childish oaths not a farce ? The answers to all these questions must be unfavourable to Freemasonry. When Masonry was purely operative, it had its uses; when it became speculative, it was more useful still in its earlier stages, at least on the Continent, and indirectly in this country also; for either by itself, or in conjunction vyith other societies, such as the Illuminati, it opposed the political despotism, then prevalent all over Europe, and formed an anti-inquisition to clerical obscurantism and oppression, wherefore it was persecuted by Protestant and Roman Catholic rulers alike. The rapid progress achieved in modern times by humanity and toleration, is undoubtedly due to the tendency which speculative Masonry took in the last, and to its political activity in all countries, except England, in this century. Founded in ages when the possession of religious and scientific knowledge was the privilege of the few, it preserved that knowledge—then indeed a small rivulet only—from being choked up by the weeds of indifference and superstition ; but now that that small rivulet has been overtaken by, and swallowed up in, the boundless, ever-advancing ocean of modern science! which may boldly proclaim its discoveries to the world, a society that professes to keep knowledge for the few is but a retrograde institution. Philo, about 1780, properly defined English Masonry, as it then was, and is to-day : “ The lodges indiscriminately receive members, go through ceremonies, play at mysteries without understanding them, eat, drink, and digest well, and now and then bestow alms— such are the formal English lodges.”
496. Vanity of Masonic Ceremonial.—There are thousands of excellent men who have never seen the inside of a lodge, and yet are genuine Freemasons, i.e. liberal-minded and enlightened men, devoted to the study of Nature and the progress of mankind, moral and intellectual; men devoid of all political and religious prejudices, true cosmopolitans. And there are thousands who have passed through every masonic degree, and yet are not Masons; men who take appearances for realities, the means for the end, the ceremonies of the lodge for Freemasonry. But the lodge, with all its symbols, is only the form of the masonic thought. In the present age, however, this form, which was very suitable, nay, necessary, for the time when it was instituted, becomes ah anachronism. The affectation of possessing a secret_is a childish and mischievous weakness5 The objects modern Slasbns profess to pursue are brotherly love, relief, and truth; surely the pursuit of these objects cannot need any secret rites, traditions, and ceremonies. In spite of the great parade made in masonic publications about the science and learning peculiar to the craft, what discovery of new scientific facts or principles can Masons Claim for the Order? Nay, are well-known and long-established truths familiar to them, and made the objects of study in,the lodges? Nothing of the kind. That noble character, the Emperor-King Frederick III., who had early in life been initiated, resigned the GrandMastership when, after patient and diligent inquiry, for which his exalted position gave him exceptional facilities, he, in spite of a secret inclination to the contrary, became satisfied of the unsoundness and vanity of masonic pretensions.
497. Masonry diffuses no Knowledge.— We get neither science nor learning from a Mason, as a Mason. The Order, in fact, abjures religious and political discussion in this country, and yet it pretends that to it mankind is indebted for its progress, and that, were it abolished, mental darkness would again overshadow the world. But how is this progress to be effected, if the chronic diseases in the existing religious and political systems of the world are not to be meddled with ? As well might an association for the advancement of learning abjure inquiry into chemical and mechanical problems, and then boast of the benefits it conferred on science! It is Hamlet with the part of Hamlet omitted. If then Masonry wishes to live on, and be something more than a society of Odd Fellows or Druids, more lodges must be formed by educated men—and fewer by the mere publicans and other tradesmen that now found lodges to
create a market for their goods—who might do some good by teaching moral and natural philosophy from a deeper ground than the scholastic and grossly material basis on which all teaching at present is founded, and by rescuing science from the degraded position of handmaiden to mere physical comfort, into which modern materialism has forced it.
498. Decay of Freemasonry.—The more I study Freemasonry, the more I am repelled by its pretences. The facility and frequency with which worthless characters are received into the Order; the manner in which all its statutes are disregarded; the dislike with which every brother who insists on reform is looked upon by the rest; the difficulty of expelling obnoxious members; the introduction of many spurious rites, and the deceptiveness of the rites themselves, designed to excite curiosity without ever satisfying it; the puerility of the symbolism; the paltriness of the secret when revealed to the candidate, and his ill-concealed disgust when at last he gets behind the scenes and sees through the rotten canvas that forms so beautiful a landscape in front—all these too plainly show that the lodge has banished Freemasonry. And like monasticism or chivalry, it is no longer wanted. Having no political influence, and no political aspirations, or, when it has such aspirations revealing them by insane excesses, such as the citation before masonic tribunals of Napoleon III., the Emperor of Germany, the Crown Prince, the Pope, and Marshal Prim, by French, Italian, and Spanish Masons respectively, and after a farcical sham trial, condemning the accused so cited—to which summons of course they paid no attention—to death, or in plain English, to assassination, a crime really perpetrated on the person of Marshal Prim; being no longer even a secret society—for a society sanctioned by the State, as Freemasonry is, cannot be called a secret society; having no industrial or intellectual rallying- point—it must eventually die from sheer inanition. It may prolong its existence by getting rid of all the rites and ceremonies which are neither simple nor grand, nor founded on any authority or symbolic meaning, and by renouncing the silly pretence of secrets,1 and undertaking to teach what I have sketched in various portions of this work, concerning the origin and meaning of Masonry and its symbols, illustrating its teaching by the ornaments and practice of the lodges. This seems to be the only ground on which Freemasonry could claim to have its lease of existence, as Freemasonry,
1 “ Un secreto, che sanno tre,
Un secreto mai non e.”—Italian Proverb.
FUTILITY OF MODERN FREEMASONRY 109 renewed, for not even the Masonic marriages, introduced by French lodges, will perpetuate its existence. I have before me accounts of two such marriages, performed without the usual ecclesiastic or civil ceremonies, the one in the lodge La France Magonnique in Paris in 1887, and the other in a lodge at Toulouse, in the same year, as also of two others, celebrated in Paris, in 1882, when M. Elysde Reclus, a Freemason, and one of the five well-known Anarchist brothers, gave away two of his daughters to two brothers, at a dinner held in a private house, simply declaring the two couples by that mere declaration to be married. But the ladies do not approve of these hole-and-corner espousals.
499. Masonic Opinions of Masonry.—Masons have been very indignant with me for making these statements; but honest members of the craft know, and occasionally admit, that I am right. In 1798 a Mason wrote in the Monthly Magazine, “The landlord (who is always a brother) promotes harmony, as it is called, by providing choice suppers and good liquors, the effects of which are late hours and inebriety ; and thus are made up two-thirds of modern lodges.” And again: “ Hogarth was a member of the fraternity, and actually served the office of Grand Steward in 1735, . . - yet in his picture of ’ Night,’ one of the most conspicuous figures is that of a master of a lodge led home drunk by the tyler.” The too facile admission of worthless members is regretted by the same writer, as it is by modern Masons (e.g. Freemason, 26th June 1875).
Brother John Yarker in his “Notes on the Scientific and Religious Mysteries of Antiquity ” (Hogg, 1872), a zealous Mason, says: “As the masonic fraternity is now governed, the craft is fast becoming the paradise of the bon vivant, of the ’charitable’ hypocrite, who . . . decorates his breast with the ’charity jewel’; . . . the manufacturer of paltry masonic tinsel; the rascally merchant who swindles in hundreds and even thousands, by appealing to the tender consciences of those few who do regard their 0. B.’s, and the Masonic ’ Emperors ’ and other charlatans, who make power or money out of the aristocratic pretensions which they have tacked on to our institution, ad captandum vulgus.” This I think is enough to show that my censures are well founded.
500. Masonic Literature.—It is almost absurd to talk of masonic literature; it scarcely exists. Except the works written by Oliver, Mackey, Findel, and Ragon, there is scarcely anything worth reading about Freemasonry, of which a Freemason is the author. The countless lectures by brethren, with a few exceptions, consist of mere truisms
and platitudes. Its periodical literature—in this country at all events—is essentially of the Grub Street kind, consisting of mere trade-circulars, supported by puffing masonic tradesmen and vain officials, who like to have their working in the lodge trumpeted forth in a fashion which occasionally trenches on imbecility, as could readily be shown by extracts from newspaper reports. All attempts permanently to establish masonic periodicals of a higher order have hitherto failed from want of encouragement. The fact is, men of education take very little interest in Masonry, for it has nothing to offer them in an intellectual point of view; because even Masons who have attained to every ne plus ultra of the institution, know little of its origin and meaning.
500a. The Quatuor Coronati Lodge.—The literary shortcomings of Masonry I have, in the interests of truth, and as an impartial historian been compelled to point out in the previous section, have been recognised by intelligent Masons, and such recognition has, in 1884, led to the foundation of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge. Members must be possessed of literary or artistic qualifications; to belong to it, therefore, is in itself a distinction, and, as may be supposed, the lodge is composed chiefly of well-known masonic historians and antiquaries, and thus occupies a position totally different from all other masonic lodges. Its objects are the promotion of masonic knowledge, by papers read and discussions 'thereon in the lodge; by the publication of its transactions, and the reprinting of scarce and valuable works on Freemasonry, such as MSS., e.g. “The Masonic Poem” (circa 1390), the earliest MS. relating to Freemasonry ; Matthew Cooke’s Harleian and Lansdowne MSS.; or printed works, as e.g., “Anderson’s Constitutions” of 1738, or Reproductions of Masonic Certificates. All these have been issued by this lodge in volumes, entitled “ Ars Quatuor Coronatorum,” well printed, and expensively illustrated. Connected with the lodge is a “ Correspondence Circle,” whose members reside in all parts of the globe, and form a literary society of Masons, aiming at the progress of the craft. But by progress can only be meant extension of Masonry, the “Transactions” and “Reprints” can add nothing to the knowledge the best-informed members already possess; but the “ Reprints,” by their aesthetic sumptuousness and the learned comments accompanying them, invest Masonry with a dignity which may attract to it more of the intelligence of mankind than it has hitherto done, and the labours of Quatuor Coronatorum therefore deserve the hearty support of the craft.
s,”a ;
BOOK XII r
INTERNATIONAL, COMMUNE, AND ' ANARCHISTS
i ' 1
. 4
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INTERNATIONAL, COMMUNE, AND ANARCHISTS
501. Introductory Remarks.—There exists at present in a state of suspended animation an association of working—or rather, talking—men, pretending to have for its object the uniting in one fraternal bond the workers of all countries, and the advocating of the interests of labour, and those only. Though it protests against being a secret society, it yet indulges in such underhand dealings, insidiously endeavouring to work mischief between employers and employed, and aiming at the subversion of the existing order of things, that it deserves to be denounced with all the societies professedly secret. In this country its influence is scarcely felt, because the English workmen that join it are numerically few: according to the statement of the secretary of the International himself, the society in its most palmy days counted only about 8000 English members—and these, with here and there an exception, belonged to the most worthless portion of the working classes. It ever is chiefly the idle and dissipated or unskilled artizan who thinks his position is to be improved by others and not by himself. To hear the interested demagogues and paid agitators of the “International,” or of “ Unions,” the working classes would seem to be exceptionally oppressed, and to labour under disadvantages greater than any that weigh upon other sections of the community. Yet no other class is so much protected by the legislature, and none’, except the paupers, pay less towards the general expenses of the country in direct or indirect taxation. The wages a skilled artizan can earn are higher than the remuneration obtainable by thousands of men, who have enjoyed a university education, or sunk money in some professional apprenticeship; whilst he is free from the burden incident to maintaining a certain social status. His hours of labour are such as to leave him plenty of leisure for enjoyment, especially in this country ; and as regards extra holidays, he is on the whole pretty liberally dealt with, especially by the large employers of labour, the capitalists, against whom the street-spouters, who for their
VOL. n. . 1,3 H
own advantage get up public demonstrations, are always inveighing in a manner which would be simply ridiculous, were it not mischievous. But then if they did not constantly attempt to render the workman dissatisfied with his lot, their occupation would be gone. And so, as the doctors who, for want of patients, get up hospitals for the cure of particular diseases, try to persuade every man they come in contact with, that he is suffering from some such disease; so these agitators endeavour to talk the workman into the delusion that he is the most unfortunate and most oppressed individual under the sun. To wish to act for one’s self and work out one’s own salvation is no doubt very praiseworthy; but workmen ought to bear in mind that they may be the tools of ambitious men in their own class, who look upon and use them as such for their own purposes, men who want to be generals commanding soldiers. But the soldiers of the Unions are not worth much. Those workmen who are not satisfied with adhering to the statutes of the society in order to get rid of troublesome appeals, and to avoid being molested by their comrades, but who fervently embrace its principles and count upon their success, usually are the most idle, the least saving, the least sober. The fanatics of the Unions, those who ought to form their principal strength, are formed, not by the tlitc, but by the scum of the working classes. The chiefs are not much better. The more intelligent and honest founders of such societies have gradually withdrawn from them in disgust.
502. Socialistic Schemes.—Schemes for the regeneration of mankind have been hatched in every age, from Plato and his Republic down to Louis Blanc’s Organisation du Travail, and the International. Many communistic movements took place in the sixteenth century, and the brief history of the Anabaptist kingdom of Munster presents striking resemblances with thatof" th6*Ubmmune of Paris. Babeuf and the Conspiracy of the Equals remind us of the demagogues who filled Paris with blood and fire. The collegia opificum of Rome, the guilds of France and Germany, the trades- corporations, the compagnonnage—all these were the forerunners of modern trade-unions and the International. The systems of Saint-Simon, Fourier, Cabet, Louis Blanc, and Owen also had their day. In this country no law has been passed against trade-unions, and therefore they flourish here, and have led to deplorable events, such as the Sheffield outrages, which, for diabolical fury, deserve to be placed side by side with the doings of the Commune. The
reader will probably remember the fact that men who had belonged to the Sheffield trade-unions, but withdrew from them, were assassinated, their houses blown up, and every imaginable kind of tyranny and persecution practised upon them for the space of some fifteen years. Still, as the majority of the Parisian workmen were innocent of the crimes of the Commune, so the trade-unions were not answerable for the doings of a restricted number of their members. But these trade-unions, dating from about the year 1833, are still to be condemned, because they are the instigators and upholders of strikes, the greatest curse, not on the hated capitalist, but on the poor workman. Now the International was a combination of trade-unions, with the additional poison of Communism diffused throughout its system.
503. History of the International.—The first attempt at an international society was made by a small number of German workmen in London, who had been expelled from France in 1839 for taking part in the Ineute in Paris. Its members consisted of Germans, Hungarians, Poles, Danes, and Swedes. Of the few English members, Ernest Jones was one. The society was on friendly terms with the English Socialists, the Chartists, and the London French Democratic Society. Out of that friendship sprang the Society of the Fraternal Democrats, who were in correspondence with a number of democratic sbcieties in Belgium. In November 1847 a German Communist Conference was held in London, at which Dr. Karl Marx was present. In the manifesto then put forth, it was declared that the aim of the Communists was the overthrow of the rule of the capitalists by the acquisition of political power. The practical measures by which this was to be effected were the abolition of private property in land; the centralisation of credit in the hands of the State—the leading agitators of course to be the chiefs of the State—by means of a national bank; the centralisation of the means of transport in the hands of the State; national workshops; the reclamation and improvement of land; and the gratuitous education of all the children. But all these fine schemes of amelioration, or rather spoliation, in consequence of the Revolution of February 1848, ended in smoke; and it was not till the year 1859, when the. London builders’ dispute arose, that new alliances among the working-men were formed. In i860 a Trade Unionist, Manhood Suffrage, and Vote by Ballot Association was established. As if it had not enough of what might be called legitimate work to do, the association
also undertook to agitate in favour of Poland, for which purpose it co-operated with the National League for the Independence of Poland. The London International Exhibition of 1862 induced the French Government to assist many French workmen with means to visit that exhibition; “a visit,” said the French press, “which will enable our workmen to study the great works of art and industry, remove the leaven of international discord, and replace national jealousies by fraternal emulation.” It is impossible to say how far these French workmen studied the works of art and industry exhibited in 1862, but it is quite certain that the old leaven of international discord, which up to that time had not been very formidable, was speedily replaced by a new leaven of social discord, not so virulent at first, it is true, as it subsequently became in the after-days of the International. Many of the original members of this association, in fact, eventually withdrew from it, as they refused to be identified with its excesses, which had not been planned or foreseen by its founders. On the 5th of August, all the delegates met at a dinner given to them by their English colleagues at Freemasons’ Hall, when an address was read which formed, as it were, the foundation-stone of 'the International. The Imperial Commission that had enabled the French workmen to visit the London Exhibition had no doubt furnished them with return tickets; but several of the artizans made no use of their second halves, since profitable employment in London was found for them by their English brethren, so that they might form connecting links between the workmen of the two countries. The next year a new meeting was found necessary. There was no longer an Exhibition, nor subsidies from the Imperial Government to pay travelling expenses. The pretext, however, was found in a demonstration just then made in favour of Poland. Six French delegates having mulcted their mates in contributions towards the pleasant trip, came over, and the democrats of London and Paris were invited to co-operate in the liberation of Poland, and to form an international working-men’s alliance. Various meetings were held, and all the stale twaddle concerning Poland and the emancipation of the working classes talked over again. A central committee of working-men of different countries, to have its seat in London—truly England is the political and social dunghill of Europe!—was appointed, and a collection of course followed, which at the most important meeting realised three' guineas. A paltry sum after so much talk! The members of the
committee, holding its powers by the resolution of the public meeting held on September 28, 1864, at St. Martin’s Hall, then declared the International Working-Men’s Association to be established; and congresses were appointed to be held at different times and places, to decide on the measures to be taken to found the working-men’s Eldorado. Many societies at first were affiliated, but dissensions soon broke out among them, and many, such as the Italian Working- Men’s Society, withdrew again. In 1866, a meeting or congress was held at Geneva, where it was decided that an inquiry into the condition of the working classes of all countries should be made respecting rate of wages, hours of labour, &c. And this inquiry, which never was made on the part of the International, was to be a preliminary to practical measures—no wonder that the association produced nothing practical. At this Geneva _ Congress resolutions were passed in favour of transferring railways and other means of locomotion to the people, and of destroying the monopoly of the great companies “ that subject the working classes to arbitrary laws, assailing both the dignity of man and individual liberty.” Resolutions were also passed in favour of direct taxation. How this suggestion would be received by the working-man has very pleasantly been pointed out by Punch or some other comic paper: “Mrs. Brown (loq.)—’Well, Mrs. Jones, my husband says that if they tax him, he will take it out in parish relief.’” The abolition of standing armies and the independence of Poland —Poland again—were also decided on. Both these points are still decided on, and will probably remain at the same interesting stage of progress a little longer.
504. Objects and Aims of International.—To sum up what' was proposed at the latter congresses: Quarries, coal and other mines, as well as railways, shall belong to the social collectivity, represented by the State; but by the State regenerated, that will concede them, not, as now, to capitalists, but to associations of workmen. The soil shall be granted to agricultural associations; canals, roads, telegraphs, and forests shall belong collectively to society. Contracts of lease, or letting, shall be converted into contracts of sale; that is to say, capital shall no longer be entitled to claim interest. If I borrow AiOOO, I shall have paid off the debt in twenty years by an annual payment of £ 50. Such were the doctrines of this society, whose motto vr&s.La propxi^l^dest le vol. All these, however, were clothed in very fine words— “economic evolution,” “social collec-
tivity,” “ scientific and rational exploitation,” “ social liquidation,” &c. No congress met in 1870, in consequence of the war; but the programme that was to have formed the subject of discussion has been published. . The first question was: On the necessity of abolishing the public debt. The third: Concerning practical means for converting landed and funded property into social property. The fifth: Condi- ! tions of co-operative production on a national scale. The
f Belgian Committee proposed as an additional question:
| Concerning the practical means for constituting agricultural
sections in the International. Thus private property was to be abolished, private enterprise destroyed, and the poison of Communism, with which large towns are now infected, to be diffused throughout the country. ’ What would these men have done could they, according to their intention, have met in Paris in 1870? The pertinacity with which the cause of Poland is sought to be identified with the objects of the International has already been alluded to. Poland seems a mine that can never be exhausted. Thousands of rogues and vagabonds of all countries have fattened, are fattening, and will yet fatten on this carcass, as burnt-out tradesmen have been known to flourish on the fire by which they lost everything!
505. The International in England.—In this country, as we have seen, the International had only a limited success. It indeed held public meetings and demonstrations, and led to some insignificant riots, for the occurrence of which our Government of course was very much to blame. There were, indeed, alarmists who were led astray by the “bounce” of the International, and who thus invested. it with greater * importance than intrinsically attached to it. Thus a Paris
paper contained a letter from a London correspondent, which gave an awful picture of the danger threatening this country from the spread of socialistic doctrines. The writer said: “The whole of this vast empire is permeated by secret societies. The International here holds its meetings almost I publicly. It is said that the greater number of the dis-
I possessed princes of India, a good number of officers belong-
j ing to the army and navy, as well as members of Parliament,
I and even ministers, are affiliated to it (!). The Government
I is aware of the infernal plan by which, at a given moment,
| the public buildings of London are to be exposed to the fate
I which befell so many in Paris. Boats are already waiting on
i. the Thames to receive the treasures of the Bank of England
f —an easy prey, say the conspirators—as soon as the main
artery of the Strand shall have been burnt, and the public buildings, the barracks especially, shall have been blown up, as was three years ago the Olerkenwell prison.” Perhaps the writer was only joking; and if I thought the leaders of the International possessed any Machiavellian talent, I should say they themselves caused the letter to be written to give the world an exaggerated idea of their power—therein imitating the President of the London Republican Club, who boasted of his power of pulling down the monarchy, as that would be the readiest means of attracting fresh members ; for the idea of belonging to a powerful and universally diffused brotherhood exercises a great fascination over the minds of only partially educated men, such as form the bulk of the working classes.
506. The International Abroad. — Abroad, however, its action was much more marked. It fomented serious riots in Holland, Belgium, and France; and in the last-named country it especially stimulated Communism, and supported the Paris Commune in all its atrocities, which were spoken of in the most laudatory terms in the then recently published pamphlet, “The Civil War in France” (Truelove, 1871). But even continental workmen have ere this discovered the hollowness of the International. The working engineers of Brussels, instead of receiving during a recent strike fifteen francs weekly, as promised, were paid only six francs; and having imposed upon the masters an augmentation of fifty per cent, on overtime, the masters, in order to avoid this ruinous tariff, had nd work performed after the regular hours. The men, finding themselves losers by this rule, enforced on them by the International, sent in their resignations as members of the society, which they described as the “ Leprosy of Europe,” and the “ Company of Millionaires ... on paper.” At a conference held in London, the Russian delegate urged that his country especially offered an excellent field for the spread of socialist doctrines, and that the students were quite ripe for revolution. Wherefore it was decided that a special appeal should be addressed to the Russian students and workmen.
507. The International and the Empire.—At the time when, the International was founded, the French Empire was as yet in all its strength. None of the parties that secretly strove against it seemed to have any chance of success; nor from their political and social characteristics could these parties, though all bent on the overthrow of the empire, coalesce and act as one combined force. The International
refused to ally itself to any of them or to meddle with politics, but declared social questions paramount to all political considerations; and to the position thus assumed by the association it was due that the Imperial Government did not molest it, but that the ministers allowed it to develop itself, hoping at the convenient moment to win it over to their interest. These ministers considered themselves very profound politicians, when they had fomented a quarrel between Prussia and Austria; trusting, when these two powers should mutually have exhausted each other, to seize the Rhenish provinces. They looked upon themselves as small Machiavellis when they permitted the International to grow in order some day to use it against a mutinous bourgeoisie. The Emperor had an opportunity on September 2, at Sedan, and the Empress on September 4, at Paris, to judge of the value of such policy. However, the scheme of the association having been settled in London in 1864, the organisers opened at Paris a bureau de correspondance, which was neither formally interdicted nor regularly authorised by the Prefect and the Minister. But the constantly-growing power of the International, shown by the strikes of Roubaix, Amiens, Paris, Geneva, &c., after a time compelled the Government either to direct or to destroy it. The Parisian manifesto read at Geneva was stopped at the French frontier; but M. Rouher agreed to admit it into France, if the association would insert some passages thanking the Emperor for what he had done for the working classes—a suggestion which was received with derision by the members. In the meantime the old revolutionary party looked with suspicion on the foundation of the International; for, as this last declared that it would not meddle with politics, the others called out, Treason! and thus the two parties were soon in a condition of violent opposition. In 1867, the Congress of Lausanne voted against war, but at the same moment the other fraction of the demagogues, assembled at Geneva, under pretence of forming a congress of peace, declared war to all tyrants and oppressors of the people. However, the two parties, the bourgeois demagogues and the workmen demagogues, eventually united; and thus it came to pass that by virtue of this pact the International took part in two revolutionary manifestations which occurred about six weeks after—the one at the tomb of Manin in the cemetery of Montmartre, and the other on the following day on the Boulevard Montmartre, to protest against the French occupation of Rome. The International having thus been carried
away to declare war against the Government, the latter determined to prosecute it. The association was declared to be dissolved, and fifteen of the leaders were each fined one hundred francs. The International taking no notice of the decree of dissolution, a second prosecution was instituted, and nine of the accused were condemned to imprisonment for three months. The International now hid itself amidst the multitude of working-men’s societies of all descriptions that were either authorised or at least tolerated, and made enormous progress, so that its chiefs at last declared themselves able to do without any extraneous support. The International, said one of the speakers at the Basle Congress (1869), is and must be a state within states; let these go on as suits them, until our state is the strongest. Then, on the ruins of these, we shall erect our own fully prepared, such as it exists in every section. The Volksstimme, the Austrian organ of the society, said: “ To us the red flag is the symbol of universal love of mankind. Let our enemies beware lest they transform it against themselves into a flag of terror.” To have an organ of its own the International founded the Marseillaise, with Rochefort for its chief, his association therewith having induced certain capitalists to find the necessary funds. Another personage with whom it became connected was General Cluseret (669). Cluseret, as an adventurer, always on the look-out for what might turn up, saw the power such an association as the International might command, and the latter found in him a willing tool. From a letter he addressed from New York to Varlin, on February 17, 1870, it also appears that all the crimes of which he has since then been guilty, were premeditated, and that he had from the first resolved not to perish without involving Paris in his fall. “ On that day ” (of the downfall of Louis .Napoleon), he says, “on that day, we or nothing. On that day Paris must be ours, or Paris must cease to exist.” That this feeling was shared by other members of the association may be inferred from the fact that, at the house of one of the affiliated was found a dictionary which formed the key of their secret correspondence. Now, besides the usual words, we find such as nitro-glycerine and picrate of potash; at the house of another, recipes were discovered for the manufacture of nitro-glycerine, and of various other explosive compounds. Some of the recipes were followed by such directions as these “To be thrown in at windows,” “To be thrown into gutters,” &c. The attempted plebiscite in support of the
reforms voted by the Senate, in January 1870, was violently opposed by the International, who declared in favour of a republic. On the occasion of the plot of the Orsini shells, the society, in defending itself against the charge of having had any share in it, declared that it did not war against individual perpetrators of coups d’itat, but that it was a permanent conspiracy of all the oppressed, which shall exist until all capitalists, priests, and political adventurers shall have disappeared. Such a declaration of war against all men that had any interest in the maintenance of public order, and especially against many men forming the then Imperial Government, naturally induced a third prosecution.
Thirty-eight members were indicted, many of whom we meet again as active members of the Commune. Some were acquitted, others condemned to one year’s imprisonment. No one suspected that the names of these obscure workmen, condemned as members of a secret society, would soon be connected with the most horrible disasters of Paris, and that these men, sentenced to such slight punishments, would at the end of a year reappear before a military tribunal, after having for two months and a half filled terrified Paris with pillage, murder, and incendiary fires.
508. Ths International and the War.—The International condemned all war except war against bourgeois, capitalists, monopolists, parasites — that is to say, the classes that live not by manual labour, but by intellectual work, or the savings of any kind of labour. It abolished national wars, to replace them by social war. For this reason it so pertinaciously insisted on the abolition of all standing armies, which are of course great obstacles to its own plans. It therefore protested against the Franco-Prussian war, but as this opposition ended in mere talk, it need not further be dilated on. Its only results were to consign some of the most violent opponents to prison ; and there is no proof that one single soldier of the regular Prussian army, or even of the Landwehr, deserted or refused to fight, in order to remain faithful to the theories of the society. In France the affiliated of the International were only brave in civil war.
On September 3, 1870, the disaster of Sedan became known at Paris. On the next day, Lyons, Marseilles, Toulouse, and Paris proclaimed the Republic. This simultaneous movement was the result of an understanding existing between the leading members of the International iri the various parts of France ; but that the “ Jules Favres and Gambettas,” that vermins lourgeoise, as the International
called them, should obtain any share of power, was very galling to the demagogues. At Lyons and Marseilles, however, the supreme power fell into the hands of the lowest wretches. The Commune installed at Lyons began its work by raising the red flag—that of the International. At Paris the association pretended at first to be most anxious to fight the Prussians. When the battalions were sent to the front, however, it was found that those comprising most Internationals were the most ready “ to fall back in good order,” or even to flee in great disorder at the first alarm; and General Clement Thomas pointed out this instructive fact to the readers of the Journal Official. But when a few Prussian regiments entered Paris, the International, through its central committee, announced that the moment for action was come; and so the members seized the cannons scattered in various parts of the city, and then began that series of excesses, for which the Commune will always enjoy an infamous notoriety.
509. The International and the Commune.—One would have supposed that the International would disavow the Communists; but, on the contrary, it approved of their proceedings. Flames were still ascending from the Hotel de Ville, when already numerous sections of the International throughout Europe expressed their admiration of the conduct of the Parisian outcasts.
At Zurich, at a meeting of the members of the International, it was declared that “ the struggle maintained by the Commune of Paris was just and worthy, and that all thinking men ought to join in the contest.”
At Brussels the Belgian section of the International protested against the prosecution of the malefactors of Paris. At Geneva, two days before the entrance of the Versaillais into Paris, an address to the Commune was voted, declaring that it (the Commune) represented “the economic aspirations of the working classes.” The German Internationalists were no less positive in their praise of the Communists: “We are ready to defend the acts of the Commune at all times, and against all comers,” said a socialistic paper published at Leipzig. The Italians sent an address to the Commune, ending thus: “To capital which said, Ye shall starve, they replied: We will live by our labour. To despotism they replied: We are free! To the cannons and chassepots of the r^actionnaires they opposed their naked breasts. They fell, but fell as heroes! Now the reaction calls them bandits. Shall we permit it ? No!
Let us invite our brethren to our homes, and protect them. The principles of the Commune are ours; we accept the responsibility of their acts.” The English Internationalists were too few to prove their approbation of the Commune by any public demonstration; but in private they did so very energetically. One of the members even declared that the good time “was really coming.” “Soon,” said he, “we shall be able to dethrone the Queen of England, turn Buckingham Palace into a workshop, and pull down the York column, as the noble French people has pulled down the Vendome column.” (Be it observed here, that as this column chiefly commemorated French victories over the Germans, this act of vandalism has by some authorities been attributed to the influence of Prussian gold liberally distributed to certain patriotic members of the Commune.) But the London section of the International clearly put forth its views on the conduct of the Commune. The pamphlet, “The Civil War in France,” published for the council by Truelove, 256 High Holborn, the office of the International, is a continuous panegyric on the Commune, and was at first signed by all the members of the council; but two of them, Lucraft and Odger, afterwards withdrew their names, stating that they had, in the first instance, been appended without their knowledge—which appeared to be the fact.
510. Budget of the International.—One portion of the organisation of the International, and that the most important—for the chiefs, of course!—its budget, remains to be noticed. It is scarcely necessary to say that there was a total absence of official accounts; but the following details, referring to France and Belgium, will give some idea as to the way in which funds were raised and applied. Every member on his admission paid a fee of fifty centimes, for which he received his admission card, which was renewed annually and gratuitously. He had also to pay a minimum annual tax of ten centimes, to go towards the general expenses of the association. Then each federation imposed a special tax for its own expenses. At Lyons and Paris this amounted to ten centimes per month. Thus it appears that the annual tax was very light, amounting only to one franc thirty cents, which was not paying too dear for the honour of belonging to a society that aspired to the government of the world, and commenced by burning it. But this honour could be had at a still cheaper rate; for the Swiss branch charged its members only ten centimes a year. Yet even
INTERNATIONAL, COMMUNE, &c. 125
these small sums seemed difficult to be got in, and the ” •
statutes were very severe upon defaulters. But there were i
taxes to pay to the sections, which raised the yearly con- ■ tributions to seven or eight francs. Nor was this all. In ' j
the various legal prosecutions the society had to undergo
there was frequent reference to the caisse federative du sou, |
though the expression was nowhere exactly defined. So far i
as has been ascertained it alluded to a voluntary weekly ;
subscription of five centimes, collected in workshops and factories, from workmen who did not belong to the associa- ■
tion, but intended to join it, or to support it without joining j
it. In the statutes of the Parisian branch, Article 9 further ;
said that the council may, if necessary, vote larger sums than the general budget would justify, and proportionately increase ;
the amount of contributions payable by the members. But |
the most powerful arm of the association, when any particular
object was to be attained, such, for instance, as the success ,
of a strike, was subscription. Thus the successful termina
tion of the strike in the building trade of Geneva in 1868, was thought of such importance as to call forth unusual exertions. But the delegate who was sent to London to collect subscriptions from the English workmen met with but slight success; not because these were niggardly, but because, in spite of their avowed hatred of state forms and aristocratic deliberation, they yet so closely imitated both, J
that the Genevese workmen might have been starved into -
submission before the English workmen had resolved to 5
succour them, had not the Parisian workmen at once sub- |
scribed ten thousand francs. What these annual subscriptions
may have amounted to, it is impossible to tell. No doubt *
the total was very great, considering the large number of ’
members; and yet it was insufficient, in consequence of the , j
strikes that were constantly taking place at all places and |
times. The journals were full of the fine phrases used by the *
chiefs of the International concerning the sufferings of the ;
workmen reduced by infamous capitalists to the point of
forsaking their work and of leaving the workshops where ’
their misery was turned to account. A confidential letter of ,
Varlin, one of the chiefs of the Paris federation, which was brought into court at the trial of the International on June
22, 1870, at Paris, however, showed that the chiefs did not . ■
speak quite so feelingly of these sufferings, when they are
not expected to be heard by their dupes: “ This strike which we declared closed ten days ago, leaves four hundred workmen on our hands. The day before yesterday they
jniin.
! .. wanted to destroy their former workshops and drive away
'. the mogs that had taken their places. Fortunately we ref strained them, but we are greatly bothered by this affair
' (nous sommes bien emMtis par cette affaire).”
i 511. Attempt to Revive the International.—Ajo. International
f Trades Union Congress was held in London in 1888 for the
| avowed purpose of reviving the International, which collapsed
in 1871, though branches of it, such as the Jurassic Federa- i tion of Workmen, the International Brethren, the Council of
| Dynamite, at whose meetings in Chicago the editor of Freiheit
£ presided, continue to vegetate. But the discussions as to the
\ means of physically and morally raising the working classes
, as yet remain mere talk. As one of the speakers at the
* London Congress remarked, “The chief difficulty in the way
✵ of the reconstruction of the International lies in the apathy
✵: and indifference of the workmen themselves,” which shows
✵ that the workmen are after all not such fools as agitators
j think or wish them to be.
' 512. Anarchists.—The fear of hell, the only means known
। to the churches of all denominations, to keep men from
t vice, has never been an efficient one for that purpose. In
1 the Middle Ages, which, we are told, were permeated by
j deep religious feeling, club-law, persecution of the Jews,
I and inhuman cruelties indulged in by Church and State
7 were the rule. The latter two have in our days become
; , more civilised, but the masses retain their sting, and men
| are driven by wretchedness to attempt its removal by the
f destruction of all existing order. Karl Marx in 1864 first
I thought of consolidating this principle by a secret society,
' the International Union of Working-Men. In 1868 the
j Russian, Michael Bakunin, and the Belgian, Victor Dave,
5 infused into the association the poison of Anarchism, which
1 in 1871 produced the Paris Commune. But disputes arose
1 between the more moderate members, the Social Democrats,
; and the Anarchists in 1872, who thenceforth formed two
I distinct camps. The social democrat and bookbinder, John
, Most (born 1846), joined the Anarchists, and in 1879
1 founded in London the Freiheit, an Anarchist paper of the
( most violent character. In 1883 the Anarchists attempted
! to blow up the German Emperor and those around him at
• the unveiling of the monument in the Niederwald; the two
✵; ringleaders were caught and beheaded, but in 1885 Dr.
Rumpf, a high police official, who had been instrumental j in securing the conviction of the criminals, was assassinated
. ’ at Frankfort-on-the-Main; only the least important of the
assassins, Julius Lieske, twenty-two years of age, was discovered and beheaded. Most then founded another more secret society of propagandists, to which only the leading members of the association were admitted. When the Freiheit applauded the Phoenix Park murders it was suppressed, but reappeared in Switzerland, and lastly in the United States, to which Most in 1882 emigrated, and the propaganda of Anarchism, whose secret chief seat was at Chicago, made rapid progress in the States, as well as in Europe, and culminated in the dynamite outrages at Chicago, assassinations at Strasburg, Stuttgart, Vienna, and Prague.
In the latter city, early in 1883, a secret council of Anarchists condemned the prefect of the police, who had had some of the assassins arrested, to death; lots were drawn as to who was to do the deed, and it fell on a journeyman glove-maker, named Dressier, who, however, committed suicide to escape becoming a murderer. But before his death he had written a letter to his parents, revealing the existence of the society; the information it gave enabled the police to arrest the most important members. On the 4th July 1883, a shoe manufacturer in one of the most frequented suburban streets of Vienna was set upon in his house by two individuals, who held a sponge saturated with chloroform to his face until he became unconscious, when he was robbed of 782 florins. Some weeks after the crime was traced to an Anarchist association, and seventeen men and two women were arrested, who, after investigation, were found to be members of a secret association, whose aim, according to pamphlets found on them, was to do away with the throne, altar, and moneybags, and to establish a Red Republic. Small associations, it appeared, consisting of from five to nine members each, had been formed among the Radical workmen, each member being bound to establish another such small circle. The trial appears to have broken up the society, though Anarchists in most countries of Europe and other parts of the world remain very active, openly avowing the results they aim at, results in themselves impracticable, and which, if they could be attained, would render the existence of society and of civilisation impossible. The Anarchists, who wish to reform the world, should begin by reforming themselves.
BOOK XIII
POLITICAL SECRET SOCIETIES
“ These were days, when my heart was volcanic, As the scoriae rivers that roll, As the lavas, that restlessly roll
Their sulphurous currents down Yanik, In the clime of the boreal pole ;
That groan as they roll down Mount Yanik, In the clime of the ultimate pole.”
E. A. Poe.
VOL. II.
139
I
I
CHINESE SOCIETIES
513. Earliest Secret Chinese Societies.—The earliest notice we have of a secret Chinese league is towards the close of the Han dynasty (a.d. 185). Three patriots, having then associated themselves, defended the throne against the “ Yellow Cap” rebels, a society numbering among its members the flower of Chinese litterateurs. From that time until the establishment of the present Tartar dynasty (twelfth century), the League showed few signs of vitality. But at the beginning of the eighteenth century five monks and seven other persons bound themselves by an oath, which they ratified by mixing blood from the arm of each, and drinking it in common, to overthrow the Tsings, the present Tartar dynasty, and restore the Mings, the dispossessed Chinese dynasty. The name of the society they founded was Pe- lin-kiao, or the White Lily. The members relied on a prophecy that one of them should be emperor of China. The leaders were Wang-lung and a bonze named Fan-ui. The former made himself master of the town of Shoo-chang- hien, but was soon driven thence, and eventually captured, and executed with many of his followers. In 1777 the Pe-lin-kiao again appeared, only to be defeated again; the heads of the leaders, including those of two women, were cut off and placed in cages for public inspection. In 1800 a sect called the Wonderful Association, and another, called the Tsing-lien-kiao, supposed to be the Pe-lin-kiao under a new name, conspired against the ruling dynasty, but unsuccessfully. Under the reign of the Emperor Kia-King (1799-1820) arose the Th’ien-Hauw-Hoi’h, that is, the family of the Queen of Heaven, spread through Cochin-China, Siam, and Corea, with its headquarters in the southern provinces of the empire. The society on being discovered and, as it was thought, exterminated, arose again under the name of the Great Hung League ; Hung literally means flood, and the leaders adopted the name to intimate that
p 132 SECRET SOCIETIES
their society was to flood the earth. To avoid the appear! ance of all belonging to one society, they gave different
names—some borrowed from previously existing sects—to the branches they established. Thus they were known as the Triad Society, the Blue Lotus Hall, the Golden Orchid District, and others. These soon attracted the attention of Government, and for some time they were kept in check. About 1826 the chief leader of the League was one Kwang San. It was reported that, to make himself ferocious he ■ once drank gall, taken out of a murdered man’s body, mixed
j with wine. He resided chiefly at the tin-mines of Loocoot,
where the brethren then swarmed. The directing power was vested in three persons; the chief, with the title of Koh, i.e. the Elder; the two others took that of Hiong ■ Thi, i.e. Younger Brothers. In the Malacca branches the
three chiefs were called Tai-Koh, eldest brother, Ji-Koh, second brother, and San-Koh, third brother. The oath of j secrecy was taken by the aspirant kneeling before an image,
I under two sharp swords. Whilst the oath was being ad-
| ministered the Hiong Thi had also to kneel, the one on the
j right, the other on the left of the aspirant, and hold over
j his head the swords in such a fashion as to form a triangle.
! The oath contained thirty-six articles, of which the following
' was the most important:—“I swear that I shall know
1 neitherfather nor mother, nor brother nor sister, nor wife
j nor child, but the brotherhood alone; where the brother-
i hood leads or pursues, there I shall follow or pursue; its foe
[ shall bemy foe.” The aspirant, with a knife, then made an
j incisioninto his finger, and allowed three drops of blood to
fall into a cup of arrack; the three officials did the same thing, and then drank the liquor. In order further to ratify the oath, the newly-sworn member cut off the head of a ! white cock, which was to intimate that if he proved untrue,
his head should be cut off.
514. More recent Societies.—In 1850 Tae-ping-wang, the noted revolutionary leader, made a fresh attempt to restore the Ming dynasty, from whom he pretended to be descended. With his defeat and death the League again subsided into obscurity. In the spring of 1863 a quantity of books were accidentally found by the police in the house of a Chinaman, suspected of theft, at Padang (Sumatra), containing the i laws, statutes, oaths, mysteries of initiation, catechism, de; scription of flags, symbols, and secret signs of the League,
j all of which were published in English in a 4to volume at
Batavia in 1866. But this discovery showed the League to
r
CHINESE SOCIETIES 133
be still in existence, and about the year 1870 it started into activity again; in Sarawak it assumed such a threatening aspect that the Government made a law decreeing death to every member ipso facto. The disturbances at Singapore in 1872 also were due to the secret societies of the Chinese in the Straits Settlements. On that occasion the Sam-Sings, or “fighting men,” were the chief rioters, taking the part of the street hawkers, against whom some severe regulations had been issued. Murder and incendiarism, torturing and maiming, are the usual practices of the League, which again made itself very obnoxious in 1883 and 1885. The section of the “ Black Flag,” the remnant of the Taepings, as also the “White Lily,” were the most active in their demonstrations against the Tsing dynasty. The last police reports from the protected state of Perak, in the Malay Peninsula, say that in 1888 secret societies “caused endless trouble and anxiety,” although in 1887 four members of the Ghee Hin Association were sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment for conducting an agency for their society. Half the Chinese in Perak are members of secret societies, tickets being found upon them whenever the police have occasion to search them.
The Straits Times of the 17th September 1889 contained full particulars of the trial of a number of prisoners who were proved to be members of the Ghee Hin or Sam Tian secret society at Sarawak. The six leaders were shot; eleven, being active members, carrying out orders of the leaders, beating, frightening, or murdering non-members, were sentenced to receive six dozen strokes with a rattan, to have their heads shaved, to be imprisoned during the Rajah’s pleasure ; seven others, against whom no specific charges were made out, were dismissed on swearing to have no further dealings with the society.
Towards the end of the year 1895 a number of Mohammedans rose against the Chinese Government and captured the capital of the province of Kansu; the secret societies in Central China joined the Mohammedan insurgents. Their success, however, was of short duration; in the month of December of the same year the insurrection was crushed, and some fifteen of the leaders were captured and beheaded. Others made their escape. Among these was Sun Yet Sun, or, as he is also called, Sun Wen, a medical man, well known in Hong-Kong. His being made a prisoner in the house of the Chinese Ambassador in London in the month of October 1896, until, at the instance of Lord Salisbury, he was re-
leased, is no doubt fresh in the memory of the reader. He asserted that he was kidnapped by the Chinese Ambassador’s people, by being induced to walk into the Ambassador’s house; but it is a curious circumstance that San Wen, who evidently knew something of London, should not have known where the Chinese Embassy was located, especially after all the excitement caused by Li Hung Chang’s visit to the Continent and to England.
In justice to the Taepings and other secret associations in China, it must be stated that the insurrection was and is the war of an oppressed nationality against foreign invaders. The Mantchoos or Tsing dynasty are an alien tribe, ruling over the vast Chinese empire; their government is one of the most despotic the world has ever seen; their laws are so ruthless and unjust, that it would seem they could never be carried out, did not the blood of millions, perishing by every kind of frightful death that the most diabolical cruelty could invent, attest the fact of their being obeyed. Yet British ministers did sanction the enlistment of British officers—Bible Gordon being their leader, what a satire!— and men in the service of the Mantchoos, whom they further supplied with arms and artillery.
515. Lodges.—From the book published at Batavia, and mentioned above, we extract the following information :—
The lodge is built in a square, surrounded by walls, which are pierced at the four cardinal points by as many gates; the faces are adorned by triangles, the mystic .symbol of union. Within the enclosure is the hall of fidelity and loyalty, where the oaths of membership are taken. Here also stand the altar, and the precious nine-storied pagoda, in which the images of the five monkish founders are enshrined. The lodges, of course, only appear in out-of-the- way places, where they are safe from the observation of the Mandarins; in towns and populous neighbourhoods the lodge is dispensed with; the meetings are held at the house of the president. The instruments of the lodge are numerous. First in importance is the diploma; then there are numerous flags; there is the “bushel,” which contains among other articles the “red staff,” with which justice is done to offenders against the laws of the society; the scissors, with which the hair of the neophytes is cut off; a jade foot measure, a balance, an abacus, &c.
516. Government.—The supreme government is vested in the grand masters of the five principal lodges, and the affairs of each lodge are administered by a president, a vice-president,
one master, two introducers, one fiscal, thirteen councillors, several agents, who are otherwise known as “ grass 1 shoes,” “ iron planks,” or “ night brethren,” and some minor officials, who, as indicative of their rank, wear flowers in their hair.
In times of peace the ranks of the society are filled up by volunteers, but when the League is preparing to take the field, threats and violence are used to secure members. The neophyte, as in Royal Arch Masonry, is introduced to the Hall of Fidelity under the “ bridge of swords,” formed by the brethren holding up their swords in the form of an arch; he then takes the oath, and has his queue cut off, though this ceremony is dispensed with if he lives amongst Chinese who are faithful to the Tartar rule ; his face is washed, and he exchanges his clothes for a long white dress, as a token of purity, and the commencement of a new life. Straw shoes, signs of mourning, are put on his feet. He is then led up to the altar, and offers up nine blades of grass and an incense stick, while an appropriate stanza is repeated between each offering. A red candle is then lighted, and the brethren worship heaven and earth by pledging three cups of wine. This done, the seven-starred lamp, the precious imperial lamp, and the Hung lamp are lighted, and prayer is made to the gods, beseeching them to protect the members. The oath is then read, and each member draws some blood from the middle finger, and drops it into a cup partly filled with wine. Each neophyte having drunk of the mixture, strikes off the head of a white cock, as a sign that so all unfaithful brothers shall perish. Then each new brother receives his diploma, a book containing the oath, law, and secret signs, a pair of daggers, and three Hung medals. The secret signs are numerous, and by means of them a brother can make himself known by the way in which he enters a house, puts down his umbrella, arranges his shoes, holds his hat, takes a cup of tea, and performs a number of other actions.
Henry Pottinger, in a despatch to Lord Aberdeen (1843), perhaps alludes to a secret society, saying: “ The song being finished, Ke-Ying, the Chinese commissioner, having taken from his arm a gold bracelet, gave it to me, informing me, at the same time, that he had received it in his tender youth from his father, and that it contained a mysterious legend, and that, by merely showing it, it would in all parts of China assure me a fraternal reception.”
517. Seal of the Hung League.—Every member of the Hung League is provided with a copy of its seal, which is
printed in coloured characters on silk or calico. The original is kept in the custody of the Tai-Koh. Various descriptions of it have been given, and as they differ, it may be presumed that there are more seals than one. But all of them are pentagonal, and inscribed with a multitude of Chinese characters, the translations given showing no real meaning ; the whole is a riddle, which it is scarcely worth while attempting to solve. To give but one sample. In an octagonal space enclosed within the pentagon there are sixteen characters, which, according to the interpreters, signify: “The eldest brother unites to battle-order; every one prepares himself (at the) signal (of the) chief. (The) swollen mountain stream spreads itself (into) canals; ten thousand of years is (he) this day.” By many members it is worn as a charm, and great care is-taken to conceal its meaning from the uninitiated. As a charm, the seal may be as effective against wounds or death in battle as were the amulets furnished in the fifteenth century by the hangman of Passau, until a soldier had the curiosity to open one, and read, “ Coward, defend thyself! ”
518. The. Ko lao secret society which at the
present day seems most powerful in China, is that known by the above name. It was at first a purely military association, whose object was mutual protection against the plunder and extortion practised by the civil officials in dealing with the pay and maintenance of the troops. It is believed that the initiation consists in killing a cock and drinking the blood, either by itself, or mixed with wine. It is also believed to use a planchette, whose movements are attributed to occult influence; gradually persons not connected with the army were admitted ; the ticket of membership is a small oblong piece of linen or calico, stamped with a few Chinese characters. The possession of one of these, if discovered, entails immediate execution by the authorities.
The society is anti-foreign and anti-missionary, and is believed to be at the bottom of all the riots against foreigners, and especially against foreign missionaries, which have lately occurred in China. Of course, as long as missionaries, instead of making it their business to convert the heathens at home, will go among people who don’t want them, and in China will establish themselves outside Treaty limits, they ought to be prepared to take the risks they voluntarily incur, but whenever attacked, they make the Chinese Government pay them liberally for any inconvenience or loss they may have suffered ■—of course, with the assistance of English gun-boats. In 1891
the Ko lao Hui, which is also anti-dynastic, caused inflammatory placards to be posted up in various parts of the empire, which the authorities immediately tore down, only to be posted up afresh ; the society also distributed antimissionary pamphlets, with titles such as this : “ The Devil Doctriners ought to be killed,” wherein the missionaries are charged with every kind of crime against morals and life; the Roman Catholics are more severely handled than the Protestants. •
In September 1891 it would appear that the society was organising a rising against the Government, and a Mr. C. W. Mason, a British subject, and a fourth-class assistant in the Customs at Shanghai, was implicated in the project, he having been instrumental in introducing arms and dynamite into the country for the use of the conspirators. He was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment with hard labour, and he was further, at the expiration of that period,' to find two sureties of $2500 to be of good behaviour, and failing in this he was to be deported from China. This latter happening on his release, he was sent out of the country in September 1892.
In November 1891 a famous Ko lao Hui leader named Chen-kin-Lung fell into the hands of the Chinese Government. He had been staying at an inn with about thirty of his followers. Gagged and bound, he was taken on board a steam-launch kept ready to start, and carried to Shanghai. His examination was conducted with the greatest secrecy by the magistrate and deputies of the Viceroy and the Governor. On his person were found several official documents issued by the Ko lao Hui, and a short dagger with a poisoned blade. He was addressed in the despatches as the “ Eighth Great Prince,” and was evidently the commander of a strong force. Three examinations were held, but Chen preserved the strictest silence. Torture was employed, but in vain; the only words that could be extracted from him were, “ Spare yourselves the trouble and me the pain ; be convinced that there are men ready to sacrifice their lives for the good of a cause which will bring happiness to this country for thousands of generations to come.” Then more gentle means were employed, but with what result is not known. The Hui League has various offshoots, which being known to be in reality mutual aid societies, are secret societies in name only, and therefore attract but little attention from the Government. One of the largest of these offshoots is the “ Golden Lily Hui,” which flourishes
in the western provinces of China. Its members are divided into four sections, respectively marshalled under the white, the black, the red, and the yellow flag.
That the popular feeling against Christian missionaries in China is very strong cannot be denied, and for the last two or three years has displayed itself in frequent attacks on their persons and property. Even at the present time such outbreaks are almost regularly reported in the European press. A pretty plain intimation was given to Sir Rutherford Alcock on his bidding adieu to a high Chinese official. “ I wish,” said that functionary, “ now you are going home, you would take away with you your opium, and your Christian missionaries.”
A law passed in 1889 in the Straits Settlements for the suppression of Chinese secret societies, according to a report issued in 1892 by the Protector of Chinese in those settlements, has led to the disappearance of those dangerous organisations. But it is admitted that it will take many years for the Triad element to become extinct; the action of the Hung League is merely suspended, and out of it have sprung many minor societies, as offshoots from the parent society, who send gangs of roughs to brothels, coolie-depots, music halls and shops, demanding monthly contributions, under threat of coming in force and interrupting the business of the establishment. The fighting men of these societies are kept in the lodges by the head men on the proceeds of the exactions thus levied. The expulsion of the head men, as the speediest remedy of these evils, has been tried, with as yet only partial success.
II
THE COMUNEROS
519. Introductory Remarks.—The downfall of Napoleon, by a pleasant fiction, invented by historians who write history philosophically, that is, chisel and mould history to fit systems drawn from their inner consciousness, is said to have made Europe free. True, the battle of Waterloo and the Congress of Vienna restored the kings to their thrones, but to say that Europe was thereby made free is false. Instead of one mighty eagle hovering over Europe, the limbs of that ancient Virgin were now torn to pieces by a flock of harpies; instead of one mighty ruler, a host of petty tyrants returned to revel in the delights of a terreur blanche. Religious despotism, by the restoration of the pope, was to be the fit prelude to the political tyranny which followed the “Restoration.” But the Napoleonic meteor, in its flight across Europe, had shed some of its light into the dense brains even of the most slavishly loyal German peasant, accustomed to look up to the kingly, princely, or grand-ducal drill-sergeant as his heaven-appointed Landesvater, so that he began to doubt the ruler’s divine mission.- Hence secret societies in every country whose king had been restored by the Congress of Vienna—in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Austria. Some of those secret societies had been fostered by the princes themselves, as long as their own restoration was the object aimed at; but when the societies and the nations they represented demanded that this restoration should involve constitutional privileges and the rights of free citizens, the “ restored ” kings turned against their benefactors, and conspired to suppress them. But such is the gratitude of kings. However, turn we to the secret societies formed to undo the evils wrought by Waterloo. I begin with Spain.
520. Earliest Secret Societies in Spain.—Even before the French Revolution there existed in Spain secret societies, some averse to monarchical government, others in favour 139
aask. —
I
>
f
of clerocracy. Among the latter may be mentioned the “Concepcionistas,” or “Defenders of the Immaculate Conception” (523), who carried their zeal for Ferdinand VII. and their tenderness for the Church to such a degree as to desire the return of the blessed times of the Holy Inquisition. They also sought to get hold of the management of public affairs, to turn them to their own profit; and the dismal administration of the Bourbons shows that they partly succeeded. Probably from this association arose that of the “Defenders of the Faith,” Jesuits in disguise, who in 1820 spread themselves over Spain, taking care of the throne and altar, and still more of themselves. During the reign of Ferdinand VII. also arose the “ Realists,” who, to benefit themselves, encouraged the king in his reactionary policy.
521. Freemasonry in Spain, the Forerunner of the Comuneros.—After the French invasion of 1809, Freemasonry was openly restored in the Peninsula, and a Grand Orient established at Madrid; but it confined itself to works of popular education and charity, entirely eschewing politics. The fall of Joseph and the Restoration again put an end to these well-meant efforts. In 1816, some of the officers and soldiers, returned from French prisons, joined and formed independent lodges, establishing a Grand Orient at Madrid, very secret, and in correspondence with the few French lodges that meddled with politics. Among the latter is remembered the lodge of the “Sectaries of Zoroaster,” which initiated several Spanish officers residing in Paris, among others Captain Quezada, who afterwards favoured the escape of the patriot Mina. The revolution of the island of Leon was the work of restored Spanish Masonry, which had long prepared for it under the direction of Quiroga, Riego, and five members of the Cortes.
522. The Comuneros.—After the brief victory, badly-concealed jealousies broke forth ; many of the brethren seceded and formed in 1821 a new society, the “Confederation of the Communists” (Comuneros'), which name was derived from that memorable epochof Spanish history when Charles V. attempted to destroy the ancient liberties, and thus provoked the revolution of the Commons in 1520, which was headed by John Padilla, and afterwards by his heroic wife, Maria Pacheco. In the battle of Villalar the Comuneros were defeated and scattered, and the revolution was doomed. The new Comuneros, reviving these memories, declared their intentions, which could not but be agreeable to Young Spain; nearly
• ' j sixty thousand members joined the society: women could be • 1
initiated, who had their own lodges or toms, or towers, as '
their meetings were called, and which were presided over by a
“ Grand Castellan.” The scope of the society was to promote
by all means in its power the freedom of mankind; to defend \
in every way the rights of the Spanish people against’ the abuses and encroachments of royal and priestly power; and
to succour the needy, especially those belonging to the 1
society. Some of the more advanced of the Comuneros were |
for beheading the king, or exiling him to the Havannah, ■
on the principle that to put a house, whether domestic or -
national, in order, it was first necessary to get rid of all !
greedy hangers-on and parasites, and the Spanish throne
and the royal family of Spain with them came under the j
above designations. But the nation thought otherwise. j
On being' initiated the candidate was first led into the
“hall of arms,” where he was told of the obligations '
and duties he was about to undertake. His eyes having ',
been bandaged he was conducted to another room, where, after he had declared that he wished to be admitted into the confederation, a member acting as sentinel exclaimed:
“Let him advance, I will escort him to the guard-house j
of the castle.” Then there was imitated with great noise the lowering of a drawbridge, and the raising of a portcullis ; the candidate was then led into the guard-room, un
bandaged, and left alone. The walls were covered with arms s
and trophies, and with patriotic and martial inscriptions. ?
Being at last admitted into the presence of the governor, the
candidate was thus addressed: “ You stand now under the ,
shield of our chief Padilla; repeat with all the fervour you are capable of the oath I am about to dictate to you.”
By this oath, the candidate bound himself to fight for con- ' stitutional liberty, and to avenge every wrong done to his country. The new knight then covered himself with the shield of Padilla, the knights present pointed their swords at •’
it, and the governor continued: “ The shield of our chief
Padilla will cover you from every danger, will save your life ■
and honour; but if you violate your oath this shield shall ’
be removed, and these swords buried in your breast.” Both 1
the Masons and Comuneros sought to gain possession of
superior political influence. The former, having more ex- •
perience, prevailed in the elections and formed the ministry. j
Hence a contest that agitated the country and injured the
cause of liberty. In 1832, the Comuneros endeavoured to ।
overthrow the Freemasons, but unsuccessfully. Still Masons.
' 142 SECRET SOCIETIES
| and Comuneros combined to oppose the reactionary party.
| They also succeeded in suppressing Carbonarism, which had
! been introduced into Spain by some refugee Italians. These
I societies, in fact, though professing patriotic views, were
I nothing but egotistical cliques, bent on their Own aggrandise-
{ ment. How little they were guided by fixed principles is
I shown by their conduct in Spanish America. In Brazil they
| placed on the throne Don Pedro, and in Mexico they estab-
t lished a republican form of government, just as it best suited
I their own private interests. But such is the practice of most
patriots.
- 523. Clerical Societies.—But the royal party also formed
I secret societies. Among these we have mentioned the “Con-
cepcionistas,” or “Defenders of the Immaculate Conception,” founded in 1823 (see 520 ante), with the sanction, if not at the instigation, of Ferdinand VII. This was followed in ) 1825 by the “Defenders of the Faith,” also previously ref ferred to, and in 1827 by a third, known as the “ Destroying
1 Angels.” The existence of the last is denied by clerical
I writers, but that it did exist, and that the Minister Calomarde
I was its chief, are facts proved beyond dispute. The doings
I of these clerical secret societies covered the king, a. des-
i picable character in every way, with disgrace, and involved
j the country in constant internecine war and ruin, which are
(matters belonging to history. But as specially concerning the secret societies of Spain, it should be mentioned that at that period they were split up into four distinct parties:
1 (l) the Aristocratic, who received great support from Eng-
| . land; its objects were the restoration of the constitution,
| and a change of dynasty. (2) The Mineros, whose head
j was General Mina. They were chiefly military men, closely
✵ allied with the Aristocrats, and largely subsidised by Eng-
I land. The American Government, with a view to the con-
r quest of Mexico, also favoured them. Opposed to them
> were (3) the Republicans, whose designation indicates their
t object. (4) The Comuneros, who, though also desiring a
republican form of government in Spain, opposed the plans of the third party.
111 ’
THE HETAIRIA
524. Origin.—The secret society which bore the above
Greek name, signifying the “Union of Friends,” is, like ;
Carbonarism, one of the few secret associations which •
attained its objects, because it had a whole people to back
it up; a support which the Nihilists, for instance, lack as ’
yet, and hence the present non-success of the latter. The ;
origin of the Hetairia may be traced back to the Greek poet ' i
Constantinos Rhigas, who lived in the later half of the last i
century, and who plotted a Greek insurrection against ’
Turkey, but was by the Austrian Government, in whose territory he was then travelling, basely delivered up to the
Porte, and executed at Belgrade in 1798. But the Hetairia j
he had founded was not destroyed by his death; its prin- J
ciples survived, and a new Hetairia was founded in 1812, on J
lines somewhat different, however, from those of the old •
society.
525. The Hetairia of 1812.—In 1812 a society was formed
at Athens, which called itself the “ Hetairia Philomuse.” I
Since Lord Elgin had carried off whole cargoes of antiques, •
the need was felt of protecting the Greek treasures of J
antiquity. The object of the Philomuse, therefore, was to >
preserve relics of ancient art, to found museums, libraries, I
and schools. At the same time the members hoped by i
peaceful means to improve the social and political condition ’
of Greece. They were conservative enough to place their
hopes on princes and the Congress of Vienna. Count Capo J
d’Istria, the private secretary of the Czar, who possessed ;;
in the highest degree the confidence of his master, did his
best to gain the goodwill of the Congress. The princes and •
diplomatists, composing it, had then drained the cup of :
pleasure to the dregs, and it seemed to them a pleasing ■
variation to surround themselves, amidst fetes, balls, and ,
amateur theatricals, with the halo of ancient Hellenistic
interests. Ministers, princes, kings, were ready to wear the *
T43 •
golden or iron ring, on which the ancient Attic obolus was engraved, the countersign of the Philomuse. The Emperor Alexander, the Crown Princes of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg, joined the society and subscribed to its funds. But these were not the men or the means to deliver Greece from the Turkish yoke, which had been the object of Rhigas, and of those who thought like him.
526. The Hetairia of 1814.—Hence in 1814 a new Hetairia was founded with purely political objects. It was called the “ Hetairia ” or “ Society of Friends ” only, and stood to the Philomuse in the same relation the sword stands to the pen. It was founded at Odessa, where Greek and Russian interests always met, by a little-known merchant, Ikufas, of Arta, and two other obscure men of honour, Athanasius Tsakaloff and the Freemason, E. Xanthos, of Patmos. These men determined to achieve what Europe refused to do—to raise the Cross above the Crescent; and in the course of years they succeeded. The fate of Rhigas taught them secrecy. Tsakaloff, who had years before formed a secret league of Greek youths settled in Paris, had some experience as to external forms, and so had Xanthos as a Freemason. The number of grades of their Hetairia was seven—Brethren, Apprentices, Priests of Eleusis, Shepherds, Prelates, Initiated, and Supreme Initiated. The latter two grades were invested with a military character, and directly intended for war. The candidates for initiation had to kneel down, at night, in an oratory, and to swear before a painting of the Resurrection, fidelity, constancy, secrecy, and absolute obedience. Little, however, was imparted on admission to a higher degree, the object being mainly to render the initiation more impressive. The brother was told to have his arms ready, and fifty cartridges in his cartridge-box; the Priest, that the object of the Hetairia was the deliverance of Greece: but like all secret societies, this one did not remain untainted from egotism, falsehood, and humbug in general. As the priests were allowed to introduce neophytes, who had to pay them certain amounts of money, the office of priest was much sought after; but it must have appeared strange to many of the candidates, that whilst the priest bade them swear on the Gospel, he at the same time informed them that he initiated them on the strength of the power conferred on him by the High-Priest of Eleusis. The leaders, further, did not hesitate to boast of a secret understanding with the Court of St. Petersburg, yea, it was intimated that Alexander was the Grand Arch. The Hetairists have been blamed for all this; but it cannot
be expected that a revolutionary military league should in all points be faultless, and keep within the rules of civic honesty. Legal means were of no avail; cunning and deceit are the weapons of the oppressed. Politicians have to accommodate themselves to the fancies and prejudices of men.
527. Signs and Passwords.—Some of the signs and passwords were common to all the degrees, but others were known to the higher grades only, each of which had its peculiar mysteries. The Brethren saluted by placing the right hand on their friend’s breast, and uttering the Albanian word sipsi (pipe), to which the other, if initiated, responded with sarroukia (sandals). The Apprentices pronounced the syllable Lon, and the person addressed, if in the secret, completed the word by uttering the syllable don. ■ In the higher grades the formulas were more complex. The mystical words of the Priests were, “How are you?” and “As well as you are ; ” and again, “ How many have you ? ” and “ As many as you have.” If the person accosted had reached the third degree, he understood the mystical sense of the question, and replied, “ Sixteen.” To be sure of his man the questioner then asked, “ Have you no more ? ” to which his equally cautious friend replied, “ Tell me the first, and I will tell you the second.” The first then pronounced the first syllable of a Turkish word meaning justice, and the other completed it by uttering the second syllable. The sign of recognition was given by a particular touch of the right hand, and making the joints of the fingers crack, afterwards folding the arms and wiping the eyes. The Prelates pressed the wrist, in shaking hands, with the index finger, reclined the head on the left hand, and pressed the right on the region of the heart. The Prelate addressed responded by rubbing the forehead. If in doubt, the mystical phrases of the Priests of Eleusis were repeated, and if the answers were correctly given, the two repeated alternately the syllables of the mysterious word va-an-va-da.
528. Short Career of Galatis.—The sect consisted at first of but few members. In 1819 the Directory or Grand Arch was composed of the three founders only and four other persons: Galatis, Komizopulos, A. Sekeris, and A. Gazis, with whom afterwards were joined Leventis, Dikaos, Ignatios, and Mavrocordato, and finally, Patsimadis and Alexander Ipsilanti. Galatis early betrayed, and almost ruined, the cause of the Hetairia. Exceedingly vain of his admission to the Grand Arch, he went to St. Petersburg, where he
VOL. II. K
✵3' . y
proclaimed himself as the ambassador of the Hellenes, in consequence of which the police arrested him, and an examination of his papers revealed the whole secret of the Hetairia. The Czar, vacillating between his philo-Hellenism and the fear of revolution, was persuaded by Capo d’lstria to set Galatis free, and even to award him compensation in money for his imprisonment. Later on, when Skufas conceived the bold idea of attacking the enemy in his very capital, and had therefore settled at Constantinople, Galatis excited the suspicion of thinking more of his own advantage than of that of his country; he was always asking for money, and when this was refused him, he uttered threats, whilst alluding to his intimacy with Halet Effendi, the Minister and favourite of Mahmoud. Thereupon the Hetairia decided that he must be removed. Towards the end of 1818 he was ordered on a journey; a few trusted Hetairists were his companions. One. day, while he was resting near Hermione, under a tree, a Hetairist suddenly discharged his pistol at him. With the cry, “What have I done to you? ” he expired. The murderers, with a strange mingling of ferocity and sentimentality, cut these last words of his into the bark of the tree. '
529. Proceedings of the Grand Arch.—Skufas had died some months before, but thanks to the stupidity of the Turkish Government, Constantinople remained the seat of the league. The Grand Arch met at Xantho’s house and instituted a systematic propaganda. In all the provinces of Turkey and adjoining states “ Ephori ” superintendents were appointed, who each had his own treasury, and authority to act in his district for the best of the common cause; only in very important cases he was to refer to the Grand Arch. Gazis undertook preparing the mainland ; Greek soldiers, who had just then returned from Russia, were sent to the Morea and the island of Hydra. But it was essential to gain possession of the most important military point in the Morea, of Mani, usually called Maina, and by means of the patriarch Gregor, who was initiated into the secret of the Hetairia, Petros Mavromichalis, the powerful governor of Maina, was seduced from his allegiance. The emissaries of the Hetairia knew how to reconcile tribes who had for centuries been at feud, and to gain them for their cause, so that in 1820 the Hetairia had secret adherents all over the Peloponnesus, on the Cyclades, Sporades, on the coasts of Asia Minor, the Ionian Islands, and even in Jerusalem. It was now felt to be necessary to appoint a supreme head; the choice lay
between Capo d’lstria and Alexander Ipsilanti. The former wag a diplomatist, the latter a soldier. Capo d’lstria declined to mix himself up in the matter, at least openly, because his master, the Emperor Alexander, was unwilling to appear as the protector of the Hetairia. Ipsilanti undertook its direction ; and as soon as it was known that he had done so, the hopes of the conspirators of the eventual support of Russia rose to fever-heat, and Ipsilanti in 1820 found it advisable to leave St. Petersburg and go to Odessa, to be more in the centre of the movement. But though a soldier, he was no general, and allowed himself to be carried away by the enthusiasm he saw around him. Though contributions in cash came in so slowly that he had to make private loans, he lost none of his confidence. In July he appointed Georgakis commander of the “army of the Danube,” and Perrhavos chief of the “army of Epirotes.” He himself intended to enter the Peloponnesus, and to set up at Maina the standard of independence, fancying that the Peloponnesus was a fortified camp, outnumbering in soldiers the Turkish contingents. But he was soon convinced of this error, and he was advised to make his first attempt against the Turkish power in the Danubian principalities ; and though other counsellors rejected this proposal, ipsilanti decided to adopt it, guided by the fact that the treaties between Russia and the Porte forbade the entry of an army into the Principalities, unless with the consent of both parties. Should the Porte, in consequence of the Hetairist rising, send.troops, to Bucharest, Russia would be bound to support the Greeks.
530. Ipsilanti’s Proceedings.—Further hesitation became impossible. A certain Asimakis, a member of the Hetairia, in conjunction with the brother of the murdered Galatis, betrayed to the Turkish police allthe details of the conspiracy. Kamarinos, who had been to St. Petersburg, on his return publicly revealed the futility of Russian promises; to silence him the Hetairists had him assassinated. They also endeavoured to take advantage of the quarrel which had broken out between Ali Pasha and the Sultan, whose best troops were then occupied in besieging Janina, Ali Pasha’s capital. Ali, being sorely pressed by the Turks, promised the Hetairia his help, their cause being his—the overthrow of the Sultan. The Suliotes, also, his ancient enemies, were won over by him, partly in consequence of the bad treatment they received from the Turks, whose side they had at first adopted, and partly because their leaders were initiated
L 148 SECRET SOCIETIES
j into the secret of the Hetairia, in whose success they saw
! the recovery of their ancient territory, from which Ali had
! expelled them. In March 1821, Ipsilanti took up his resi-
1 dence at Jassy, whence he issued pompous proclamations
J to the Greeks, Moldavians, and Wallachians, and also sent
; a manifesto to the princes and diplomatists, who were then
✵' assembled for the settlement of the Neapolitan revolution,
inviting Europe, but especially Russia, to favour the cause of Greek independence. But the result of the latter step was
; fatal to it. Metternich’s policy was totally opposed to it; and
the Emperor Alexander, who had .just proclaimed his anti-
j revolutionary views, as applied to the Italian rising, could
} not repudiate them when dealing with the Greek question;
| Knowing nothing of the share his favourite, Capo d’lstria
I had in it, and of the underhand promises of Russian help the
j latter had made to the Hetairia, he assured the Emperor
j Francis, Metternich, and Bernstorff, of his adherence to
the Holy Alliance, and his opposition to any revolution, with such zeal and mystical unction, that his listeners were “deeply moved.” Ipsilanti’s action was utterly reproved; his name was removed from the Russian Army List; the Russian troops on the Pruth were instructed under no pretence to take any part in the disturbances in the Principalities; and the Porte was informed that the Russian Government was a total stranger to them. Capo d’lstria was compelled to write to his friend, whom he • had secretely encouraged, that “he must expect no support,
either moral or material, from Russia, which could be no party to the secret undermining of the Turkish Empire by means of secret societies.”
531. Ipsilanti’s Blunders.—Ipsilanti, since his arrival at \ Jassy, had taken none of the steps which might have in
sured the success of his enterprise. He did nothing towards centralising the Government, or concentrating his troops. He seemed satisfied with looking upon the Principalities as a Russian depot, and to be waiting for the hand of the Czar to raise him on the Greek throne. As if the victory were . already won, he bestowed civil and military appointments
on the swarms of relations and flatterers who surrounded him. Chiefs of a few hundred adventurers were grandly called generals; he placed his brothers on the staffs of his j imaginary army corps, whilst he neglected and snubbed men
] who might have greatly advanced the revolution; he favoured
I worthless creatures, such as Karavias, who, with a band of
1 Arnaut mercenaries, had surprised and cut down the Turkish
j
garrison of Galatz, plundered the town, desecrated the churches, and committed every kind of outrage. Ipsilanti shut his eyes when the rabble of Jassy, on hearing of the horrors committed at Galatz, suddenly attacked the Turks peacefully residing in the former town, and murdered them in cold blood. He further committed a great mistake in imprisoning a rich banker on some frivolous pretence, and only releasing him on his paying a ransom of sixty thousand ducats. This act drove a great many wealthy people to take refuge on Russian or Austrian territory, and many others to wish for the restoration of Turkish authority, whose oppression was not quite so ominous as that of the newly-arrived “liberators.”
532. Progress of the Insurrection.—At last Ipsilanti, with an army of two thousand men, whose numbers were everywhere proclaimed to be ten thousand, left Jassy for Bucharest. At Fokshany, on the borders of the two Principalities, he issued another proclamation to the “ Dacians,” which was as unsuccessful as the former. On the other hand, his army was here reinforced by the Arnauts of Karavias, and later on by two hundred Greek horsemen, led by Georgakis, one of the most heroic of the Greek patriots. About this time, also, according to the pattern of the Thebans, five hundred youths, belonging to the noblest and richest families, formed themselves into a Sacred Battalion. They were clothed in black, and displayed on their breasts a cross with the words, “ In this sign you shall conquer.” Their hats were decorated with a skull and crossbones ! Still, this battalion henceforth distinguished itself above all the other troops of Ipsilanti by discipline and valour. But the chief, instead of affording those youths an opportunity of displaying their zeal, damped it by his delays and slow advance. He did not reach Bucharest before the 9th April. Here the higher clergy and the remaining Boyars declared their adhesion to the cause, in the hope that the leaders of irregular troops who had joined Ipsilanti would do the same, and thus subordinate the anarchical elements of the revolution to the general object. But this hope was only partially fulfilled. Georgakis, indeed, placed himself under Ipsilanti’s orders, but other leaders, like Savas and Vladimiresko, were far from following this example. It was even said that the former was secretly working towards the restoration of Turkish supremacy.
533. Ipsilanti’s Approaching Fall.—In this crisis, Ipsilanti’s chief occupation was the erection of a theatre and
engaging comedians, whilst he himself was more of a
comedian than a general. He daily showed himself in the gorgeous uniform of a Russian general. A numerous staff of officers rushed from morning till night, with aimless activity, through the streets of Bucharest. Wealthy people were visited with arbitrary requisitions; the soldiers of the Hetairia lived, without discipline, at the expense of citizens
and peasants; the Sacred Battalion only refrained from
these excesses. Under these circumstances arrived the decision from Laybach, and with it the curse of the Church. The Patriarch laid Ipsilanti and the Hetairia under the ban; Sovas and Vladimiresko now openly joined the Rumelian opposition to the Greek cause; the Boyars and the clergy withdrew from it, and from the other classes of the people there had never been any real prospect of support. Ipsilanti endeavoured to weaken the force of the double blow which had befallen him by asserting that the ban of diplomacy and the Church was a mere form behind which the Czar and the Patriarch wished to conceal their secret sympathy with the Hetairia. He asserted that Capo d’lstria had secretly informed him that the Hetairists were not to lay down their arms before having learnt the issue of the proposals made by Russia to the Turks in favour of the Greeks. In the name of the Greek nation he addressed a number of demands to the Czar and his Ambassador at Constantinople, declaring that he would not relinquish the position he had assumed until these demands were complied with. Minds bolder than his advised him to make his way through Bulgaria to Epirus, to relieve Ali Pasha, closely besieged in Janina, and with the latter’s help to set Greece free. But Ipsilanti was not made of the stuff to execute so daring a coup-de- main ; and when Vladimiresko strongly supported the plan, Ipsilanti felt convinced that he and others intended to lead him into a trap by luring him out of the Principalities. He therefore, instead of moving towards the Danube, on the 13th April, with his small army, and scarcely any artillery, turned northwards to the Carpathians, distributing his soldiers in so wide a belt that if the Turks had had any forces ready they might easily have exterminated Ipsilanti’s army piecemeal. The revolutionary chief intended, should the Turks seriously threaten him, to take refuge on Austrian territory, hoping, through the intercession of the Russian Ambassador at Constantinople, to secure a free passage for himself and his followers. The Russian Government having permitted the advance of Turkish troops into the Princi-
polities to quell the insurrection, Ipsilanti had to be prepared for a speedy encounter. In fact, under the pretence of intending resistance, he ordered intrenchments to be thrown up, and his troops to be exercised in the use of the bayonet, whilst he amused them again with the fable of Russian assistance.
534. Advance, of the Turks.—In the second week of May the Turks crossed the Danube. The Pasha of Brail a undertook the recovery of Galatz, which had been taken by Kara- vias. The first encounter took place before that town on the 13th May, on which occasion the Hetairists, by their bravery, redeemed many of the mistakes committed by their leaders. About seven hundred of the insurgents held three redoubts on the road to Braila; they had two guns. Their position had been so skilfully chosen by their chief, Athanasius of Karpenisi, that it seemed possible to, defend it for a long time against a fivefold number of Turks. But the majority of the defenders consisted of rabble sailors taken from the ships in the harbour, and of the robbers and murderers who, under the leadership of Karavias, had rendered themselves infamous, and now felt little inclination to sacrifice themselves for a foreign cause. As soon as the Turks prepared for the attack, the bulk of them fled, leaving it to Athanasius and the few Greeks to engage in the fight. The unequal conflict lasted till night; the redoubts were bravely held by the small number of Greeks; and when darkness came, and the fighting was suspended, the Greeks practised a trick to make their escape. They hung their cloaks outside the redoubts, and the Turks, taking the cloaks for men, fired at them ; at the same time the Greeks had loaded their guns in such a way, as to go off one after another as soon as the garrison should have left the redoubts, by which means the attention of the Turks would be diverged from the fugitives. The ruse succeeded; the Greeks escaped, first to a small peninsula at the mouth of the Pruth, and thence to Jassy. The greatest disorder prevailed in that town. Prince Kantakuzeno, to whom Ipsilanti had entrusted its defence, could maintain himself but a few days. In the middle of June, when tho Turkish troops advanced against him, he retreated to Bessarabia, advising Athanasius and the other Greeks to do the same. But these pronounced him a despicable coward; they, they said, were determined to defend the Greek cause to the last, and to die honourably or to conquer. With four hundred men and eight guns they resisted, behind a weak barricade of trees, near Skuleni,
for eight days a vastly superior enemy, and by their heroic conduct threw a final halo round the Moldavian insurrection. Athanasius met with the death of a patriot. Nearly a thousand Turks had fallen; three hundred Greeks perished in the fight or in the waters of the Pruth, the remnant took refuge on the opposite bank.
535. Ipsilanti’s Difficulties.—Moldavia was lost; in the meantime the Pasha of Silistria had entered Bucharest on the 29th May; Ipsilanti, perfectly helpless, was encamped at Tergovist. His troops, even the Sacred Battalion, were thoroughly demoralised; his dissensions with Savas and Vladimiresko continued. The former had readily surrendered Bucharest to the Turks, and had followed Ipsilanti, whom on the first favourable opportunity he intended to take prisoner to give him up to the Turks. Vladimiresko prepared to withdraw to Little Wallachia, there to await the result of his negotiations with the Turks; he had proposed to the Pasha of Silistria to have Ipsilanti and Georgakis assassinated. But his treachery became known to his intended victims; Georgakis suddenly appeared in his camp, took him prisoner in the midst of his officers, and carried him to Tergovist. On being taken before Ipsilanti he protested his innocence, declaring that he had only been trying to draw the Turks into a snare; but Ipsilanti ordered him at once to be shot.
536. Ipsilanti’s Fall.—Ipsilanti intended to occupy the strategically important village of Dragatschau, but the rapid advance from Bucharest of the Turkish vanguard left him no time to do so. On the 8th June it encountered a Greek division under Anastasius of Argyrokastro; another division, sent for the support of the Greeks from Tergovist, under the command of Dukas, betook themselves to their heels, with their leader at their head, and spread such consternation in the camp at Tergovist, that Ipsilanti’s troops, leaving their baggage behind, took to flight. Ipsilanti thereupon with great difficulty made his way to Ribnik, with a view of being near the Austrian frontier, which he intended to cross, if necessary. In spite of the losses he had sustained, he still commanded 7500 men, with four guns. Georgakis considered the opportunity favourable by an attack on Dragatschau, which the Turks had occupied with two thousand men, to raise the sinking courage of his troops. His dispositions were skilfully arranged to surround the enemy, inferior in numbers, and on the 19th June 1821, five thousand insurgents were concentred on the heights surrounding
; - fvWVF— .- ,-JU' ■ ■■ T" ><
the village, entirely cutting off the retreat of the Turks. :
Ipsilanti’s corps had not yet arrived. Georgakis sent messenger after messenger to hasten the advance of Ipsilanti, that he might share in the honours of the day. The Turks were aware of their dangerous position. Towards mid-day they attempted a debouch from the village to occupy a height in front of it; but the attempt miscarried, the Greeks would not give way. Thereupon the Turks set fire to the village, in order to effect their retreat under the shelter of the
flames. Karavias, whom Ipsilanti had appointed colonel "
of the cavalry, considered it a favourable moment to gather cheap laurels; he took the burning of the village as a sign of the flight and defeat of the Turks; envious of Georgakis, he designed to rob him of the honour of this easy victory, and in spite of orders to the contrary, to adventure with his five hundred horsemen on storming the village. He persuaded Nicholas Ipsilanti to support the mad attempt with the Sacred Battalion and his artillery, and, heated with wine, without even communicating with his chief, he led his men across the bridge leading to the village. The Turks at first retreated,as,in fact, they had already commenced a retrograde
movement, apprehending a general attack. But when they ;
discovered that Karavias and the Sacred Battalion only were i
coming against them, they wheeled round and first threw the
cavalry into disorder; the Sacred Battalion, tender youths i
having but lately assumed arms, could not resist the hardy ?
veteran Spahis. They fell, “ like blooming boughs ” under the woodcutter’s hatchet. Georgakis arrived in time to recover the standard and two guns and rescue the remainder, about one hundred men, of the Sacred Battalion. About thirty of the Arnauts, and twenty of Georgakis’ devoted band, were also slain. By this defeat Ipsilanti’s last hope was destroyed. Having taken refuge at Kosia, he nego
tiated with the Austrian Government for permission to cross ;
the frontier. His safety was in danger from his own people.
They talked of handing him over to the Turks and earning the price set on his head. AH discipline disappeared. The Hetairists robbed and murdered one another. Among the few men of faith and honour, Georgakis was one of the most prominent. Though he would have preferred Ipsilanti remaining, he assisted his flight. Then he joined his friend Farmakis at Adjile, to continue, faithful to his oath, the struggle for Greece.
537. Ipsilanti’s Manifesto.—Ipsilanti, true to his system of deceit, continued to spread false reports and letters, stating
I
Run to the Turks ; purchase your slavery
i
t
i
f
that the Emperor Francis had declared war against the Porte, that Austrian troops would occupy the Principalities, and that he was going to have an interview with the Imperial governor. But once on Austrian territory, Ipsilanti, who there called himself Alexander Komorenos, was seized and imprisoned in Fort Arad. There he attempted to justify his forsaking his companions in arms by shifting the want of success off his shoulders on those of others. In a boastful manifesto he said: “ Soldiers! But no, I will not disgrace this honourable name by applying it to you. Cowardly hordes of slaves! your treachery, and the plots you have hatched, compel me to leave you. From this moment every bond between you and me is severed; to me remains the disgrace of having commanded you. You have even robbed me of the glory of dying in battle. ~ -
with your lives, with the honour of your wives and children.”
538. Ipsilanti’sImpr isonment and Death.—Treaties between Austria and Turkey stipulated that fugitives from either side were only to be received on condition of their being rendered harmless. Consequently, Ipsilanti was compelled to declare in writing, and on his honour, that he would make no attempt at flight. He then was, like a common criminal, taken to the fortress of Munkacs, surrounded by marshes, and obliged to take up his residence in a miserable garret. For years he remained in close confinement, and only when his health began to give way was he permitted to take up his residence in a less unhealthy prison at Theresienstadt, a fortified place of Bohemia. In 1827, at the intercession of the Emperor of Russia, he was set free, but died next year, as it was said, of a broken heart. He had lived to see his followers persecuted and slain, his family ruined, and himself unable to assist, when the people of Greece, more successful than the Hetairists of the Principalities, fought for liberty and their fatherland. Romance has thrown its halo around the prisoner of Munkacs, and the Greeks ended in beholding in him the martyr of Greek freedom. '
539. Fate of the Hetairists.—The insurrection may be considered to have ended with Ipsilanti’s flight; the remnant of his followers now fought for honour only. Readily supported by the people—as foolishly as ever supporting their oppressors—the Turks made rapid progress in annihilating the remains of Ipsilanti’s army. Such Hetairist leaders as surrendered on good faith were mercilessly executed. The traitor Savas, in spite of the zeal he had shown in the Turkish cause, shared the same fate; he was shot at
Bucharest, together with his officers and soldiers, and their heads were sent to Constantinople.
540. Georgakis’ Death.—Georgakis and Farmakis, the bravest and truest leaders of the insurgents, remained. They were determined not to entrust their lives either to Austrian protection or Turkish pity, and therefore again made their way into Moldavia. Georgakis, who was ill, had to be carried on a litter. During the long and painful march the number of his followers was reduced to three hundred and fifty. The peasants everywhere betrayed to the Turks in pursuit every one of his movements, and even before reaching the Moldavian frontier he was surrounded on all sides. Moreover, he was imprudent enough to take refuge in a cul-de-sac, by fortifying the monastery of Sekko, which, with but one outlet, is situate in a deep gorge. However, on the 17th September, he successfully drove back ,the first attack of the Turkish vanguard, and his confidence increased. He was, moreover, induced by a treacherous letter of the Greek bishop, Romanos, not to allow the treasures of the monastery to fall into Turkish hands, to prolong his stay. This decision proved fatal to the remnant of the Hetairia. On the 20th September, four thousand Turks, led by Roumanian peasants on hitherto unknown paths, made their appearance in the rear of the monastery, traversing the Greek lines of defence, and cutting off the defenders of the monastery, placed at the entrance of the gorge, from their comrades. Farmakis threw himself into the main building of the monastery, while Georgakis, with eleven companions, took refuge in the bell-tower. The Turks set fire to piles of wood close to it. “I shall die in the flames ; fly, if you choose, I open you the door! ” the intrepid chief exclaimed; at the same time he threw down the door, flung a firebrand into the powder-stores, and in this way buried the Turks who had forced their way in, and ten of his companions, in the ruins. Only one of the Greeks escaped, as if by a miracle.
541. Farmakis’ Death.—Farmakis held the monastery for eleven days longer, after which time his ammunition and stores of food were exhausted. On the 4th October he agreed to a favourable capitulation, which the Pasha of Braila and the Austrian Consul (!) guaranteed. The besieged were promised an honourable free marching off with their arms. But in the night, before the conclusion of the treaty, thirty-three of Farmakis’ soldiers—two hundred altogether—made their escape, because they did not trust the %
r ■ * ■ ■
t
5 156 SECRET SOCIETIES
; Turkish promises. Those who remained had to regret their
i confidence. On the following day the Turks slaughtered
| the soldiers ; the officers were carried to Silistria, and there
executed ; Farmakis was sent to Constantinople, where, after having been cruelly racked, he was beheaded.
! 542. Final Success of the Hetairia.—Thus the real Hetairia
perished, but its overthrow was not without benefit to the
9 cause; for by the brutalities committed by the Turks who
t occupied the Principalities, there arose a series of compli
cations between the Cabinets of St. Petersburg and Con- \ stantinople, which at last led to an open quarrel. Ipsilanti
! lived to see the issue of the diplomatic fencing in the
i beginning of the Russo-Turkish war of 1828 and 1829,
i when the real Greek people, with genuine means, accom-
, plished to the south of the Balkans what he had vainly
: attempted with artificial ones in the north. But in this
i; the action of the Hetairia, still existing as a remnant,
played only a secondary part, and hence we may here fitly conclude the history of this secret society.
THE CARBONARI '
543. History of the Association.—Like all other associations, the Carbonari, or charcoal-burners, lay claim to a very high antiquity. Some of the less instructed have even professed a descent from Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, and have attempted to form a high degree, the Knight of Thebes, founded on this imaginary origin. Others go back only so far as the pontificate of Alexander III., when Germany, to secure herself against rapacious barons, founded guilds and societies for mutual protection, and the charcoal-burners in the vast forests of that country united themselves against robbers and enemies. By words and signs only known to themselves, they afforded each other assistance. The criminal enterprise of Kunz de Kauffungen to carry off the Saxon princes, 8th July 1455, failed through the intervention of a charcoal-burner, though his intervention was more accidental than prearranged. And in 1514 the Duke Ulrich of Wiirtemberg was compelled by them, under threat of death, to abolish certain forest laws, considered as oppressive. Similar societies arose in many mountainous countries, and they surrounded themselves with that mysticism of which we have seen so many examples. Their fidelity to each other and to the society was so great, that it became in Italy a proverbial expression to say, “ On the faith of a Carbonaro.” At the feasts of the Carbonari, the •Grand Master drinks to the health of Francis I., King of France, the pretended founder of the Order, according to the following tradition:—During the troubles in Scotland in Queen Isabella’s time—this Isabella is purely mythical— many illustrious persons, having escaped from the yoke of tyranny, took refuge in the woods. In order to avoid all suspicion of criminal association, they employed themselves in cutting wood and making charcoal. Under pretence of carrying it for sale, they introduced themselves into the villages, and bearing the name of real Carbonari, they easily
1 ■
[ 158 SECRET SOCIETIES
met their partisans, and mutually communicated their different plans. They recognised each other by signs, by touch, and by words, and as there were no habitations in the forest, they constructed huts of an oblong form, with branches of trees. Their lodges (vendite) were subdivided into a number of baracche, each erected by a Good Cousin of some distinction. There dwelt in the forest a hermit of the name of Theobald; he joined them, and favoured their enterprise. He was proclaimed protector of the Carbonari. Now it happened that Francis I., King of France, hunting on the frontiers of his kingdom next to Scotland (sic), or following a wild beast, was parted from his courtiers. He lost himself in the forest, but stumbling on one of the baracche, he was hospitably entertained, and eventually made acquainted with their secret and initiated into the Order. On his return to France he declared himself its protector. The origin of this story is probably to be found in the protection granted by Louis XII. and continued by Francis I. to the Waldenses, who had taken refuge in Dauphind. But neither the Hewers nor the Carbonari ever rose to any importance, or acted any conspicuous part among the secret societies of Europe till the period of the Revolution. As to their influence in and after that event, we shall return to it anon.
The Theobald alluded to in the foregoing tradition, is said to have been descended from the first Counts of Brie and Champagne. Possessed of rank and wealth; his fondness for solitude led him to leave his father’s house, and retire with his friend Gautier to a forest in Suabia, where they lived as hermits, working at any chance occupation by which they could maintain themselves, but chiefly by preparing charcoal for the forges. They afterwards made several pilgrimages to holy shrines, and finally settled near Vicenza, where Gautier died. Theobald died in 1066, and was canonised by Pope Alexander III. From his occupation, St. Theobald was adopted as the patron saint of the Carbonari, and is invoked by the Good Cousins in their hymns; and ,a picture, representing him seated in front of his hut, is usually hung up in the lodge.
544. Real Origin of the Carboneria.—The first traces of a league of charcoal-burners with political objects appear in the twelfth century, probably caused by the severe forest laws then in existence. About that period also the Fendeurs (hewers), large corporations with rites similar to those of the Carbonari, existed in the French department of the Jura; where the association was called le bon cousinage (the good
' ?""r /Me ' 7 "1'”• ' ’X-1
THE CARBONARI; -159
Cousinship), which title was also assumed by the Carbonari. ■Powerful lords, members of the persecuted Order of the Temple, seeing the important services men scattered over so large an extent of country could render, entered into secret treaties with them. It further appears that the Fendeurs formed the first and the Carbonari the second, or higher, degree of the society collectively called the Carboneria. It is also probable that before the French Revolution the then French Government attempted by means of the society, which then existed at Genoa under the name of the Royal Carboneria,■ to overthrow the ancient oligarchical government, and annex Genoa to France. It is certain that from 1770 to 1790 most of the members of the French chambers belonged to the Order of the Fendeurs, which continued to •exist even under Napoleon I. The Carboneria was introduced into Southern Italy by returning Neapolitan exiles, who had been initiated in Germany and Switzerland, and as early as 1807 Salicetti, the Neapolitan minister of police, spoke of a conspiracy instigated by the Carbonari against the French army in the Neapolitan states. But the society was as yet powerless; when, however, the Austrian war broke out in 1809, and French troops had largely to be withdrawn from Italy, the first and head Vendita was formed at Capua, its rules and ordinances being written in English, because the English Government desired to employ the society as a lever for the overthrow of Napoleon. Before', however, proceeding with the history of the Order, we will give particulars of their ritual and ceremonies.
545. The Vendita or Lodge.—From the “ Code of Carbon- arism” we derive the following particulars respecting the lodge:—It is a room of wood in the shape of a barn. The pavement must be of brick, in imitation of the mosaic floor of the Masons’ lodge, the interior furnished with seats without backs. At the end there must be a block supported by three legs, at which sits the Grand Master; at the two sides there must be two other blocks of the same size, at which sit the orator and secretary respectively. On the block of the Grand Master there must be the following symbols:—a linen cloth, water, salt, a cross, leaves, sticks, fire, earth, a crown of white thorns, a ladder, a ball of thread, and three ribbons, one blue, one red, and one black. There must be an illuminated triangle, with the initial letters of the password of the second rank in the middle. On the left hand there must be a triangle, with the arms of the Vendita painted. On the right three transparent triangles, each with the initial letters
f 160 SECRET SOCIETIES •
| of the sacredwords of the first rank. The Grand Master,
i ’ and first andsecond assistants, who also sit each before a
1 large woodenblock, hold hatchets in their hands. The
: masters sit along the wall of one side of the lodge, the
apprentices opposite.
I 546. Ritual of Initiation.—The ritual of Carbonarism, as
; it was reconstituted at the beginning of the present century,
i was as follows. In the initiation:—
? “ The Grand Master having opened the lodge, says, First
' Assistant, where is the first degree conferred ?
i , A. In the hut of a Good Cousin, in the lodge of the
f Carbonari.
p . G. M. How is the first degree conferred ?
j A. A cloth is stretched over a block of wood, on which
> are arranged the bases, firstly, the cloth itself, water, fire,
’ salt, the crucifix, a dry sprig, a green sprig. At least three
• Good Cousins must be present for an initiation; the intro, ducer, always accompanied by a master, remains outside
t .the place where are the bases and the Good Cousins. The
\ master who accompanies the introducer strikes three times
with his foot and cries: ’ Masters, Good Cousins, I need
• succour.’ The Good Cousins stand around the block of wood,
against which they strike the cords they wear round the : .waist and make the sign, carrying the right hand from the
left shoulder to the right side, and one of them exclaims,
i ’ I have heard the voice of a Good Cousin who needs help,
' perhaps he brings wood to feed the furnaces.’ The introducer
is then brought in. Here the Assistant is silent, and the
’ Grand Master begins again, addressing the new-comer:—
f ’ My Good Cousin, whence come you?
1 I. From the wood.
G. M. Whither go you ?
✵ I. Into the Chamber of Honour, to conquer my passions,
i submit my will, and be instructed in Carbonarism. •
G. M. What have you brought from the wood ?
I. Wood, leaves, earth.
; G. M. Do you bring anything else ?
i , I. Yes ; faith, hope, and charity.
’ G. M. Who is he whom you bring hither ?
I. A man lost in the wood.
✵ G. M. What does he seek ?
I. To enter our order.
G. M. Introduce him.’
! The neophyte is then brought in. The Grand Master
puts several questions to him regarding his morals and
t
THE CARBONARI 161
religion, and then bids him kneel, holding the crucifix, and pronounce the oath: ’ I promise and bind myself on my honour not to reveal the secrets of the Good Cousins; not to attack the virtue of their wives or daughters, and to afford all the help in my power to every Good Cousin needing it. So help me God! ”
547. First Degree.—After some preliminary questioning, the Grand Master addresses the novice thus: “ What means the block of wood ?
N. Heaven and the roundness of the earth.
G. M. What means the cloth ?
N. That which hides itself on being born.
G. M. The water? .
N. That which serves to wash and purify from original sin.
G. M. The fire ?
N. To show us our highest duties.
G. FI. The salt?
N. That we are Christians.
G. M. The crucifix?
N. It reminds us of our redemption.
G. HI. What does the thread commemorate ?
A7”. The Mother of God that spun it..
G. M. What means the crown of white thorns ?
N. The troubles and struggles of Good Cousins.
G. FI. What is the furnace ?
N. The school of Good Cousins.
G. M. What means the tree with its roots up in the air ?
N. If all the trees were like that, the work of the Good Cousins would not be needed.”
The catechism is much longer, but I have given only so much as will suffice to show the kind of instruction imparted in the first degree. Without any explanations following, one would think one was reading the catechism of one of those religions improvised on American soil, which seek by the singularity of form to stir up the imagination. But as in other societies, as that of the Illuminati, the object was not at the first onset to alarm the affiliated; his disposition had first to be tested before the real meaning of the ritual was revealed to him. Still, some of the figures betray themselves, though studiously concealed. The furnace is the collective work at which the Carbonari labour; the sacred fire they keep alive, is the flame of liberty, with which they desire to illumine the world. They did not without design choose coal for their symbol; for coal is the fountain of
VOL. 11. L
light and warmth, that purifies the air. The forest represents Italy, the wild wood of Dante, infested with wild beasts—that is, foreign oppressors. The tree with the roots in the air is a figure of kingdoms destroyed and thrones overthrown. Catholic mysticism constantly reappears ; the highest honours are given to Christ, who was indeed the Good Cousin of all men. Carbonarism did not openly assail religious belief, but made use of it, endeavouring to simplify and reduce it to first principles, as Freemasonry does. The candidate, as in the last-named Order, was supposed to perform journeys through the forest and through fire, to each of which a symbolical meaning was attached; though the true meaning was not told in this degree. In fact, to all who wished to gain an insight into the real objects of Carbonarism, this degree could not suffice. It was necessary to procfced.
548.' The, Second Degree.—The martyrdom of Christ occupies nearly the whole of the second degree, imparting to the ' catechism a sad character, calculated to surprise and terrify the candidate. The preceding figures were here invested with new and unexpected meanings, relating to the minutest particulars of the crucifixion of the Good Cousin Jesus; which more and more led the initiated to believe that the unusual and whimsical forms with stupendous artifice served to confound the ideas and suspicions of their enemies, and cause them to lose the traces of the fundamental idea. In the constant recurrence to the martyrdom of Christ we may discern two aims—the one essentially educational, to familiarise the Cousin with the idea of sacrifice, even, if . necessary, of that of life ; the other, chiefly political, intended ' to gain proselytes among the superstitious, the mystics, the , souls loving Christianity, fundamentally good, however, pre- I judiced, because loving, and who constituted the greater I number in a Roman Catholic country like Italy—then even more than now. The catechism, as already observed, has i reference to the Crucifixion, and the symbols are all explained i as representing something pertaining thereto. Thus the furnace signifies the Holy Sepulchre; the rustling of the leaves symbolises the flagellation of the Good Cousin the ! Grand Master of the Universe; and so on. The candidate \ for initiation into this degree has to undergo further trials. 1 He represents Christ, whilst the Grand Master takes the name of Pilate, the first councillor that of Caiaphas, the second that of Herod; the Good Cousins generally are called the people. The candidate is led bound from one officer to
the other, and finally condemned to be crucified; but he is pardoned on taking a second oath, more binding than the first, consenting to have his body cut in pieces and burnt, I as in the former degree. But still the true secret of the f Order is not revealed. ~
• 549. The Degree of Grand Elect.—This degree is only to be conferred with the greatest precautions, secretly, and to Carbonari known for their prudence, zeal, courage, and devotion to the Order. Besides, the candidates, who shall be introduced into a grotto of reception, must be true friends of the liberty of the people, and ready to fight against tyrannical governments, who are the abhorred rulers of ancient and beautiful Ansonia. The admission of the candidate takes
place by voting, and three black balls are sufficient for his rejection. He must be thirty-three years and three months old, the age of Christ on the day of His death. But the religious drama is now followed by one political. The lodge is held in a remote and secret place, only known to the Grand Masters already received into the degree of Grand Elect. The lodge is triangular, truncated at the eastern end. The Grand Master Grand Elect is seated upon a throne. Two guards, from the shape of their swords called flames, are placed at the entrance. The assistants take the name of Sun
and Moon respectively. Three lamps, in the shape of sun, moon, and stars, are suspended at the three angles of the grotto or lodge. The catechism here reveals to the candidate that the object of the association is political, and aims at the
overthrow of all tyrants, and the establishment of universal
liberty, the time for which has arrived. To each prominent member his station and duties in the coming conflict are assigned, and the ceremony is concluded by all present kneeling down, and pointing their swords to their breasts,
whilst the Grand Elect pronounces the following formula :— । “I, a free citizen of Ansonia, swear before the Grand Master ( of the Universe, and the Grand Elect Good Cousin, to de- j vote my whole life to the triumph of the principles of liberty, ' equality, and progress, which are the soul of all the secret i and public acts of Carbonarism. I promise that, if it be j impossible to restore the reign of liberty without a struggle,
I will fight to the death. I consent, should I prove false to ! my oath, to be slain by my Good Cousins Grand Elects ; to ’ be fastened to the cross in a lodge, naked, crowned with \ thorns; to have my belly torn open, the entrails and heart
taken out and scattered to the winds. Such are our con
ditions; swear!” The Good Cousins reply: “We swear.” I
F"-- 11 J J ....... ....-■J . ■W'l.-. .. . ... J-HIMUl
i 164 SECRET SOCIETIES
✵ There was something theatrical in all this; but the organisers
; no doubt looked to the effect it had on the minds of the
। initiated. If on this ground it could not be defended, then
i there is little excuse for judicial wigs and clerical gowns,
’ episcopal gaiters, aprons, and shovel-hats, lord mayors’ shows,
i parliamentary procedure, and royal pageants.
✵ 550. Degree of Grand Master Grand Elect.—This, the
i highest degree of Carbonarism, is only accessible to those
। who have given proofs of great intelligence and resolution,
j The Good Cousins being assembled in the lodge, the candi-
✵ date is introduced blindfolded; two members, representing
j the two thieves, carry a cross, which is firmly planted in the
j ground. One of the two pretended thieves is then addressed
: as a traitor to the cause, and condemned to die on the cross.
| He resigns himself to his fate, as fully deserved, and is tied
i to the cross with silken cords ; and, to delude the candidate,
i whose eyes are still bandaged, he utters loud groans. The
✵ Grand Master pronounces the same doom on the other robber,
j • but he, representing the non-repentant one, exclaims : “ I
. shall undergo my fate, cursing you, and consoling myself
! with the thought that I shall be avenged, and that strangers
! shall exterminate you to the last Carbonaro. Know that I
; have pointed out your retreat to the chiefs of the hostile
1 army, and that within a short time you shall fall into their
j hands. Do your worst.” The Grand Elect then turns to
j the candidate, and, alluding to the punishment awarded to
I traitors as done on the present occasion, informs him that he
t also must be fastened to the cross if he persists in his inten-
s tion to proceed, and there receive on his body the sacred
! marks, whereby the Grand Masters Grand Elects of all the
; lodges are known to each other, and must also pronounce
i the oath, whereupon the bandage will be removed, he will
i descend from the cross, and be clothed with the insignia of
I the Grand Master Grand Elect. He is then firmly tied to
j the cross, and pricked three times on the right arm, seven
-j times on the left, and three times under the left breast,
i The cross being erected in the middle of the cave, that
i , the members may see the marks on the body, on a given sign,
! . the bandage being removed, the Cousins stand around the
j candidate, pointing their swords and daggers at his breast,
\ : and threatening him with even a worse death should he turn
j traitor. They also watch his demeanour, and whether he
! betrays any fear. Seven toasts in his honour are then
i drunk, and the Grand Elect explains the real meaning of the
I symbols, which may not be printed, but is only to be written
THE CARBONARI 165
down, and zealously guarded,- the owner promising to burn or swallow it, rather then let it fall into other hands. The Grand Master concludes by speaking in praise of the revolution already initiated, announcing its triumph not only in the peninsula, but everywhere where Italian is spoken, and exclaims : “ Very soon the nations weary of tyranny shall celebrate their victory over the tyrants; very soon ”... Here the wicked thief exclaims : “Very soon all ye shall perish ! ” Immediately there is heard outside the grotto the noise of weapons and fighting. One of the doorkeepers announces that the door is on the point of being broken open, and an assault on it is heard directly after. The Good Cousins rush to the door placed behind the crosses, and therefore unseen by the candidate; the noise becomes louder, and there are heard the cries of Austrian soldiers; the Cousins return in great disorder as if overpowered by superior numbers, say a few words of encouragement to the candidate fastened to the cross, and disappear through the floor, which opens beneath them. Cousins, dressed in the hated uniform of the foreigner, enter and marvel at the disappearance of the Carbonari. Perceiving the persons on the crosses, they, on finding them still alive, propose to kill them at once; they charge and prepare to shoot them, when suddenly a number of balls fly into the cave, the soldiers fall down as if struck, and the Cousins re-enter through many openings, which at once close behind them, and shout: “ Victory ! Death to tyranny! Long live the republic of Ausonia ! Long live liberty ! Long live the government established by the brave Carbonari! ” In an instant the apparently dead, soldiers and the two thieves are carried out of the cave; and the candidate having been helped down from the cross, is proclaimed by the Grand Master, who strikes seven blows with his axe, a Grand Master Grand Elect.
551. Signification of the Symbols.—Not to interrupt the narrative, the explanation of the meaning of the symbols, given in this last degree, was omitted in the former paragraph, but follows here. It will be seen that it was not without reason that it was prohibited to print it. The cross serves to crucify the tyrant that persecutes us. The crown of thorns is to pierce his head. The thread denotes the cord to lead him to the gibbet; the ladder will aid him to mount. The leaves are nails to pierce his hands and feet. The pickaxe will penetrate his breast, and shed his impure blood. The axe will separate his head from his body. The salt will prevent the corruption of his head, that it may last as a monument of the eternal infamy of despots. The pole will serve to put
i his head upon. The furnace will burn his body. The shovel
' will scatter his ashes to the wind. The baracca will serve to
: prepare new tortures for the tyrant before he is slain. The
s water will purify us from the vile blood we shall have shed.
, The linen will wipe away our stains. The forest is the place
i where the Good Cousins labour to attain so important a
\ result. These details are extracted from the minutes of the
i . legal proceedings against the conspiracy of the Carbonari.
* 552. Other Ceremonies and Regulations.—The candidate
[ having been received into the highest degree, other Good
; Cousins entered the cave, proclaiming the victory of the
f Carbonari and the establishment of the Ausonian republic,
; whereupon the lodge was closed. The members all bore
• pseudonyms, by which they were known in the Order. These
' pseudonyms were entered in one book, whilst another con-
> tained their real names; and the two books were always kept
concealed in separate places, so that the police, should they find ’ one, should not be able to identify the conspirator. Officers
j of great importance were the Insinuators, Censors, Scrutators,
and Coverers, whose appellations designate their duties. The higher officers were called Great Lights. Some of the affi- ; liated, reserved for the most dangerous enterprises, were
i styled the Forlorn Hope; others Stdbene, or the “ Sedentary,”
1 who were not advanced beyond the first degree, on account
; of want of intelligence or courage. Like the Freemasons,
: the Carbonari had their own almanacs, dating their era from
} Francis I. They also had their passwords and signs. The
j ’ decorations in the Apprentice degree were three ribbons—
black, blue, and red; and in the Master’s degree they wore a ! scarf of the same three colours. The ritual and the ceremonies,
J as partly detailed above, were probably strictly followed on
I particularly important occasions only; as to their origin, little
j is known concerning it—most likely they were invented
among the Neapolitans. Nor were they always and at all places alike, but the spirit that breathed in them was permanent = and universal; and that it was the spirit of liberty and
justice can scarcely be denied, especially after the events of ■ the last decades. The following summary of a manifesto
’ proceeding from the Society of the Carbonari will show this
!■ very clearly.
j 553. The Ausonian Republic.—The epoch of the following
j document, of which, however, an abstract only is here given,
j is unknown. The open proceedings of Carbonarism give us
no clue, because in many respects they deviate from the ’ programme of this sectarian charter; sectarian, inasmuch as
f j
the document has all the fulness of a social pact. But to whatever time these statutes belong, they cannot be read without the liveliest interest.
Italy, to which new times shall give a new name, sonorous and pure, Ausonia (the ancient Latin name), must be free from its threefold sea to the highest summit of the Alps. The territory of the republic shall be divided into twenty- one provinces, each of which shall send a representative to the National Assembly. Every province shall have its local assembly; all citizens, rich or poor, may aspire to all public charges; the mode of electing judges is strictly laid down; two kings, severally elected for twenty-one years, one of whom is to be called the king of the land, the other of the sea, shall be chosen by the sovereign assembly; all Ausonian citizens are soldiers; all fortresses not required to protect the country against foreigners shall be razed to the ground; new ports are to be constructed along the coasts, and the navy enlarged; Christianity shall be the State religion, but every other creed shall be tolerated; the college of cardinals may reside in the republic during the life of the pope reigning at the time of the promulgation of this charter—after his death, the college of cardinals will be abolished; hereditary titles and feudal rights are abolished ;■ hospitals, charitable institutions, colleges, lyceums, primary and secondary schools, shall be largely increased, and properly allocated; punishment of death is inflicted on murderers only, transportation to one of the islands of the republic being substituted for all other punishments; monastic institutions are preserved, but no man can become a monk before the age of forty-five, and no woman a nun before that of forty, and even after having pronounced their vows, they may re-enter their own families. Mendicity is not allowed; the country finds work for able paupers, and succour for invalids. The tombs of great men are placed along the highways ; the honour of a statue is awarded by the sovereign assembly. The constitutional pact may be revised every twenty-one years.
554. Most Secret Carbonaro Degree.—It was stated in sect. 550 that the Grand Master Grand Elect was the highest Carbonaro degree. But this requires qualification; there was one still higher, called the Seventh, to which few members were admitted. To the Principi Summo Patriarcho alone the real object of Carbonarism was revealed, and that its aims were identical with those of the Illuminati (356). Witt von Dbrring (b. 1800), an initiate, tells us in his
Autobiography, that the candidate swore destruction to every government, whether despotic or democratic. “ The Summo Maestro,” he says, “laughs at the zeal of the common Carbonari, who sacrifice themselves for Italian liberty and independence; to him this is not the object, but a means. I received this degree under the name of Giulio Alessandro Jerimundo Werther Domingone.” As there were two modes of initiation, one in open lodge and another by “ communication,” the supreme chief notifying by a document to the new member his election, which was done in De Witt’s case, he never took the oath of secrecy, and thus considered himself at libertv to divulge what had been communicated to him.
555- De Witt, Biographical Notice of.—As Jean de Witt was a prominent character in the secret associations of this century, we give a few biographical notes concerning him. Born in 1800 at Altona, he was early placed under the tuition of Pastor Meier of Alsen, who had been a member of the Jacobin club. At the age of seventeen he went to the University of Kiel, and afterwards to that of Jena; in 1818 he joined the Burschenschaft, and was soon after initiated into the sect of the Black Knights, in consequence of which he had to flee to England, where he contributed many articles on German politics and princes full of scandalous details to the Morning Chronicle. Invited by his maternal uncle, the Baron Eckstein, Inspector-General of the Ministry of Police, to come to Paris, he there became acquainted with Count Serre, Minister of Justice, who protected him, whilst De Witt was in close communication with French and Italian conspirators. In 1821 he was at Geneva as Inspector-General of Swiss and German Carbonari. He was soon after seized in Savoy, and thence taken to Turin, where, however, the Austrian Field-Marshal Bubna, who then commanded all the troops in Upper Italy, and who was a Freemason, treated him with the greatest respect, for as a Freemason De Witt occupied a much higher rank than Bubna; and when the ambassadors of all the Courts at Turin, that of England excepted, insisted on De Witt’s extradition to their respective states, he allowed him, on his giving his word of honour to make no attempt at escape, to go to Milan, where he was received with great honour in the house of the Chief of Police, Baron von Gohausen. Bubna had made himself personally answerable to his government for the safe custody of De Witt, and this latter had promised not to escape, though he was allowed to go about almost like a freeman. But when he found that the Austrian
authorities intended to begin his trial, he wrote to Bubna that he was determined to make his escape. Orders were sent to watch him closely; but within a week he was in possession of false keys, which fitted all the doors of his prison, and the head gaoler, who had shown himself too zealous in watching him, was transferred to Mantua, and 1200 lire were provided for his journey. He escaped to Genoa, intending thence to sail for Spain, where he was sure of meeting with friends, but finding all vessels bound for that country under close police surveillance, he made his way into Switzerland. Under different names and various disguises he stayed there and in Germany for about a year. All the German Governments offered a large reward for his apprehension, and at last he was seized at Bayreuth, though he had previously been warned that the police were on his traces, a warning which could only have come from highly- placed officials. And as soon as he was taken some of them waited on him with offers of friendship and protection. But Berlin was then the seat of the Prussian masonic chiefs, and through them De Witt was secretly informed of all the charges which would be brought against him, and the result was that he was acquitted of them all, and restored to liberty, as also was Cousin, a fellow-conspirator and fellowprisoner. Cesare Cantu, the Italian historian, accuses De Witt of having, by his own admission, been thoroughly initiated into all the revolutionary plots in Europe but in order to betray them, and stir up discord among them (see Il Conciliators e i Carbonari, Milano, 1878, p. 164). De Witt’s subsequent career seems to lend some support to this charge. In 1828 he married a wealthy lady, and purchased an estate in Upper Silesia, where he was living in 1855, professing highly conservative principles, in fact, to such a degree as to be charged with belonging to the Ultra- montanes, in consequence of which he was detested, and frequently attacked, by the democratic party.
556. Carbonaro Charter proposed to England.—A charter or project, said to have been proposed by the Carbonari to the English Government in 1813, when the star of Napoleon was fast declining, is to the following effect:—Italy shall be free and independent. Its boundaries shall be the three seas and the Alps. Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, the seven islands, and the islands along the coasts of the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Ionian Seas shall form an integral portion of the Roman Empire. Rome shall be the capital of the empire. ... As soon as the French shall have evacuated
the peninsula, the new emperor shall be elected from among the reigning families of N aples, Piedmont, or England. Illyria shall form a kingdom of itself, and be given to the King of Naples as an indemnity for Sicily. This project in some respects widely differs from the one preceding it, and there is great doubt whether it ever emanated from the Carbonari.
557. Carbonarism and Murat.—The excessive number of the affiliated soon disquieted rulers, and especially Murat, King of Naples, whose fears were increased by a letter from Dandolo, Councillor of State, saying: “ Sire, Carbonarism is spreading in Italy; free your kingdom from it, if possible, because the sect is opposed to thrones.” Maghella, a native of Genoa, who became Minister of Police under Murat, advised that king, on the other hand, to declare openly against Napoleon, and to proclaim the independence of Italy, and for that purpose to favour the Carbonari; but Murat was too irresolute to follow the course thus pointed out, and declared against the Carbonari. The measures taken by him, however, only increased the activity of the sect and the hopes of the banished Bourbons, who in the neighbouring Sicily watched every turn of affairs that might promise their restoration. Murat proscribed the sect, which induced it to seek the assistance of England, as we have already seen. It also grew into favour with the Bourbons and Lord William Bentinck. The emissaries sent to Palermo, to come to terms with the exiled royal family, returned to Naples with a plan fully arranged, the results of which were soon seen in Calabria and the Abruzzi. The promise of a constitution was the lure with which England—whose chief object, however, was the overthrow of Napoleon—attracted the sectaries; the Bourbons, constrained by England, promised the Neapolitans a liberal constitution on their being restored to the throne. The Prince of Moliterno suggested to England that the only means of defeating France was to favour Italian unity; and the idea was soon widely promulgated and advocated throughout the country. Murat sent General Manhes against the Carbonari, with orders to exterminate them. Many of the leaders were captured and executed, but the sect, nevertheless, succeeded in effecting a partial and temporary revolution in favour of the Bourbons ; which, however, was soon quelled by the energetic measures of Queen Caroline Murat, who was regent during her husband’s then absence. About this time, also, dissensions arose among the members of the sect; its leaders, seeing the difficulty of directing the movements of so great a confederacy, conceived the plan of a”reform,
and executed it with secrecy and promptitude. The members who were retained continued to bear the name of Carbonari, while those who were expelled, according to some accounts, took that of Calderari (Braziers), and an implacable hatred arose between the rival sects. Murat wavered for some time between the two parties, and at last determined on supporting the Carbonari, who were most numerous. But it was too late. They had no confidence in him; and they also knew his desperate circumstances. Murat fell.
558. Trial of Carbonari.—An extensive organisation for the union of all secret Carbonaro societies was discovered in 1817 by an attempt, which was to have been made at Macerata, on the 24th June in that year, to raise the standard of revolt, but which failed through a mere accident—the premature firing of two muskets. A great many of the leading Carbonari were apprehended, and conveyed to the Castle of St. Angelo and other prisons in Rome, where they were tried in October 1818 by order of the pope; five of them were sentenced to death, but the pope mitigated their punishment to perpetual confinement in a fortress; three were sentenced to the galleys for life, which punishment was reduced by the pope to ten years. We learn from this Roman trial that the Republican Brother Protectors—one of the branches of Carbonarism—swore over a phial of poison and a red-hot iron, “never to divulge the secrets of the society, and to submit in case of perjury to the punishment of dying by poison, and having their flesh burnt by the red-hot iron.”
559. Carbonarism and the Bourbons.—King Ferdinand, having, to recover his crown, favoured the Carbonari, when he thought himself again firmly seated on the throne, and secretly disliking the society, endeavoured to kick down the ladder by which he had mounted. The Carbonari, who had restored not only the king, but order in Calabria and the Abruzzi, and rendered roads and property secure—the Carbonari, so highly extolled at one time, that the pope had ordered priests and monks to preach, that making the signs of the Carbonaro would suffice to justify Saint Peter to open the gate of Paradise—these same Carbonari were now declared the enemies of God and man. The king refused to keep the promises he had mafle, and forbade the holding of Carbonari meetings. The Prince of Canosa, who became Minister of Police in 1819, determined to exterminate them. For this purpose he formed the Brigands, who had played a part in the sanguinary scenes of 1799, into a new society, of which he himself became the head, inviting all the old Calderari to join
him, on account of their enmity to the Carbonari. He required them to take the following oath :—“ I, A. B., promise and swear upon the Trinity, upon this cross and upon this steel, the avenging instrument of the perjured, to live and die in the Roman Catholic and Apostolic faith, and to defend with my blood this religion and the society of True Friendship, the Calderari. I swear never to offend, in honour, life, or property, the children of True Friendship, &c. I swear eternal hatred to all Masonry, and its atrocious protectors, as well as to all Jansenists, Materialists (Molinists ?), Economists, and Illuminati. I swear, that if through wickedness or levity I suffer myself to be perjured, I submit to the loss of life, and then to be burnt, &c.” But the king having learnt what his Minister had been attempting without his knowledge, deprived him of his office and banished him; and thus his efforts came to nothing. In 1819 took place the rising at Cadiz, by which the King of Spain, Ferdinand VII., was compelled to give Spain constitutional privileges. This again stirred up the Carbonari; but there was no unanimity in their counsels, and their intrigues only led to many being imprisoned and others banished. An attempt made in 1820 extorted a constitution; the leader was the Abbe Menichini. The influence of the Carbonari increased; lodges were established everywhere. Between 1815 and 1820, in the Neapolitan states alone, more than two hundred thousand members were affiliated, comprising all classes, from the palace to the cottage; it included priests, monks, politicians, soldiers. Giampietro was then chief of the Neapolitan police, who used the most cruel means to suppress the sect; but public discontent was brought to a climax in July 1820, when two officers, Morelli and Silvati, with one hundred and twenty non-commissioned officers and privates, deserted from their regiment at Nola, and, accompanied by the priest Menichini and some leading Carbonari, took the road to Avellino. Lieutenant-Colonel De Concili, also a Carbonaro, who was in command of the troops at Avellino, joined the insurgents. When the news of these events reached Naples, the students of the University, as well as many of the soldiers forming the garrison of the capital, hastened to De Concili/s camp. * The house of the advocate Colletta became the centre of action at Naples ; all the Carbonari prepared to second the action of their brethren. The king, advised to send General Pepe against the insurgents, declined the proposal, because Pepe was suspected of being a Liberal. In his stead he sent General Carrascosa,
Who left Naples on the 4th July; on the 5th he despatched General Nunziante from Nocera, and General Campana from Salerno, against the insurgents. Carrascosa, unwilling to shed the blood of his countrymen, wished to negotiate. But before he could do so, General Campana had suffered a defeat, and the soldiers of Nunziante raised the standard of the Carbonari, and, joining the troops of De Concili, placed themselves under his command. Carrascosa, with the king’s connivance, proposed to bribe the leaders of the insurrection with large sums of money to give up the enterprise and leave the country, but before he had an opportunity of making the attempt, the soldiers remaining in Naples, as well as the population, rose against the king, who found himself entirely forsaken. He was compelled to yield. The Duke of Picco- tellis and five other Carbonari presented themselves in the palace and compelled the king to grant them a personal interview, at which they demanded the immediate publication of a Constitution. The king promised one in “ perhaps two hours.” Piccotellis drawing out his watch held it up to the king’s face and said, “It is now one o’clock in the morning; at three o’clock the Constitution must be proclaimed.” And he turned his back on the king, and with his attendants left the room. The king granted the Constitution, though with the mental reserve of overthrowing it on the first favourable opportunity. He swore, nevertheless, in the most solemn manner to keep it; the Carbonari leaders were invited to Naples; the king’s son, the Duke of Calabria, became a member of the sect, a fatal concession on its part, for now all its secrets, signs, words, and symbols were openly proclaimed ; Carbonarism, in fact, was cunningly betrayed by the king and his satellites. Russia, Austria; and Prussia threatened to interfere in Neapolitan affairs in favour of Ferdinand; at a secret meeting of some of the oldest Carbonari it was proposed to shut up the king in the Castle of St. Eleno. Unfortunately this advice was not immediately acted on. The Holy Alliance, to save the king’s life, which they knew to be in danger, invited him to join the congress at Laybach, that, in common with the European potentates, he might assist in the settlement of the affairs of his own kingdom. Unwisely the Neapolitan parliament allowed him to depart; yet even on board ship the treacherous despot repeated his assurances of maintaining the Constitution he had granted his subjects. But on his arrival at Laybach he declared that, in granting the Constitution, he had only yielded to superior force, and that he was determined to
174 SECRET SOCIETIES
return to Naples as an absolute monarch. The pope absolved him from the oath he had taken, and even in a solemn encyclical commanded priests to violate the secret of the confessional whenever wives, mothers, sisters, or daughters had declared relations to belong to the sect of the Carbonari. At the request of Ferdinand himself an Austrian army of 50,000 men, with a Russian army in reserve, marched upon Naples. The king on his way south stopped at Florence, where he decorated the Chapel of the Annunciation with gorgeous gold and silver lamps, and the inscription: “ Maria: genitriei Dei Ferd. I. Utr. Sic. rex Don. d.d. anno 1821 ob pristinum imperii decus, ope eius prestantissima recuperatum. (To Mary, the Mother of God, Ferdinand I., King of the Two Sicilies, for the restored splendour of the kingdom, by means of her most valiant help, dedicated these in the year 1821.) Proving once more, if proof were necessary, that “bloodthirsty tyrants are most zealous saints.” Every one of the king’s immediate attendants had upon him a new cockade bearing the inscription: “ Viva I’assoluto potere di Ferdi- nando I.!”
560. The King's Revenge.—General Pepe, who in his youth had for three years been a prisoner in the horrible prison of Marettimo—a rock-hewn cistern turned into a dungeon— endeavoured to arrest the advance of the foreigner, but his raw militia were ill prepared to meet the disciplined forces of Austria, who defeated Pdpd at Rieti, and followed up this victory by marching on the 23rd March into Naples. Then the king glutted his desire for vengeance. All the past, treaties with his subjects were considered as void, and all previous acts of pardon annulled. Not a day passed without the sound of the bell tolling for an execution; thousands of the most respected citizens of Naples were condemned to horrible dungeons in the penal islands off Sicily and Naples or the rock-dungeons of San Stefano and Pantelleria, while numbers fled the country as exiles. Morelli and Silvati were hanged for having deserted their standard, and been the prime movers of the revolution. But the king had entered into a treaty with his people, and sworn to uphold the Constitution he had granted in consequence of the revolution, hence their execution is condemned by logic and justice.
561. Revival of Carbonarism.'-—Carbonarism marks a transition period in the history of secret societies. From secret societies occupied with religion, philosophy, and politics in the abstract, it leads us to the secret societies whose objects are more immediately and practically political. And thus in
THE CARBONARI 175
France, Italy, and other States, it gave rise to numerous and various sects, wherein we find the men o£ thought and those of action combining for one common object—the progress, as they understood it, of human society. Carbonarism, in fact, was revived about the year 1825, and some ten years after combined, or rather coalesced, with the society known as Young Italy, whose aims were identical with those of the Carbonari—the expulsion of the foreigner from Italian soil, and the unification of Italy.
The Duke of Modena had for some time coquetted with the Carbonari, in the hope of obtaining through them the sovereignty of the minor duchies, the kingdom of Sardinia and the Lombardo-Venetian states, and had thus encouraged Menotti, the foremost patriot of Central Italy, in counting on his help in driving out the foreigner. When, however, he found that France, on whose co-operation he had relied, would disappoint him, he abandoned the Carbonari and denounced them, but they compelled the Duke to fly to Mantua. They also drove Maria Louisa, the Duchess of Parma, and widow of Napoleon I., into exile. But their triumph lasted only twenty-eight days. At the end of that period the Duke of Modena and the Duchess of Parma were restored by the assistance of Austrian troops, and the Duke caused Menotti to be hanged. From that day the prisons of Modena were filled with Italian patriots. Count Charles Arrivabene said of them, “No words can give an idea of the horrors of the prisons of Modena when I saw them. . . . Excepting the infamous dens of the Papal and Neapolitan states, there is nothing that can be compared with them.”
But Carbonarism continued to be at work under the name of Unita Italiana, whose signs and passwords were made public by the prosecution it underwent at Naples in 1850.
562. Carbonarism and the Church.—The Carbonari in the Roman States aimed at the overthrow of the papal power, and chose the moment when the pope was expected to die to carry out their scheme. They had collected large forces and provisions at Macerata; but the sudden recovery of the pope put a' stop to the enterprise. The leaders were betrayed into the hands of the government, and some of them condemned to death and others to perpetual imprisonment, though the pope afterwards commuted the sentences (558).
563. Carbonarism in Northern Italy.—In Lombardy and Venetia also the Carbonari had their lodges, and their object was the expulsion of the foreigner, the Austrian. The most important and influential was the Italian Federation. ,But
H11 Hi .1 "I I Hi.IJJIIJ Jil^^
here also they failed; and among the victims of the failure were Silvio Pellico, Confalonieri, Castiglia, Torelli, Maroncelli, and many others, who, after having been exposed on the pillory at Milan and other places, were sent to Spielberg and other German fortresses.
564. Carbonarism in France.—Carbonarism was introduced into France under the names of Adelphes or Philadelphians, by Joubert and Dugied, who had taken part in revolutionary movements in their own country in 1820, and after having for some time taken refuge in Italy, where they had joined the Carbonari, brought their principles to France on their return from their expatriation. The sect made rapid progress among the French; all the students at the different universities became members, and ventas were established in the army. Lafayette was chosen their chief. Lodges existed at La Rochelle, Poitiers, Niort, Bordeaux, Colmar, Neuf-Brisach, and Belfort, where, in 1821, an unsuccessful attempt was made against the government— unsuccessful, because in this, as in other attempts, the government knew beforehand the plans of the conspirators, betrayed to them by false Carbonari. Risings in other places equally failed; and though the society continued to exist, and had a share in the events of the revolution of 1830, still, considering the number of its members, and the great resources and influence it consequently possessed, it cannot be said to have produced any adequate results.
565. Carbonarism in Germany.—Carbonari lodges existed in all parts of Germany, but I will mention one only, because of the excitement its discovery caused at the time. In 1849 the police of Bremen arrested one Hobelmann, who was tutor in the family of a Thuringian nobleman, and who proved to be the chief of a Carbonaro sect calling itself the Todtenbund, or “ Society of Death,” since its aim was to kill all who should oppose its objects. Its statutes, and a long list of persons condemned to death, were found by the police.
566. Carbonarism in Spain.—The sect was introduced into Spain by refugee Italians about 1820, spreading chiefly in Catalonia, without, however, acquiring much influence at first. Their importance dates from the time of the quarrel between the Spanish Freemasons and the Comuneros (1822), when they sided with the former; but when the Freemasons and the Comuneros were reconciled (1823), the' Carbonari were opposed by both parties, and lost all influence (522).
567. Giardiniere.—As the Freemasons had their Adoptive Lodges, so the Carbonari admitted women, who were collec-
tively called giardiniere, garden-women, each sister taking the name of a flower. Their mission, of course, was to act as lures or spies. But they also fulfilled higher functions ; they alleviated the condition of the prisoners of despotism, especially in Italy, where many lady members of the Society della Misericordia were Giardiniere, and, having free access to the Austrian prisons in Piedmont, supplemented the scanty food allowed to the imprisoned Carbonari by the authorities with liberal additions.
VOL. ir.
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j MISCELLANEOUS ITALIAN SOCIETIES i
j 568. Guelphic Knights.— One of the most important socie- . 1
j ties that issued, about the year 1816, from the midst of the <
!( Carbonari was that of the Guelphic Knights, who were very j
i powerful in all parts of Italy. A report of the Austrian
; police says : “ This society is the most dangerous, on account
i of its origin and diffusion, and the profound mystery which •
’ surrounds it. It is said that this society derives its origin
j from England or Germany.” Its origin, nevertheless, was j
I purely Italian. The councils consisted of six members, who, j
j however, did not know each other, but intercommunicated •
\ by means of one person, called the “ Visible,” because he (
j alone was visible. Every council also had one youth of !
< undoubted faith, called the “ Clerk,” to communicate with i
j students of universities, and a youth called a “ Friend,” to !
j influence the people; but neither the Clerk nor the Friend \
were initiated into the mysteries of the Order. Every council i
, assumed a particular name, such as “ Virtue,” “ Honour,” j
“ Loyalty,” and met, as if for amusement only, without i
j apparatus or writing of any kind. A supreme council sat |
! at Bologna; there were councils at Florence, Venice, Milan,
Naples, &c. They endeavoured to gain adherents, who should be ignorant of the existence of the society, and should yet further its ends. Lucien Bonaparte is said to have been
: a “ great light ” among them. Their object was the inde-
j pendence of Italy, to be effected by means of all the secret ;
! societies of the country united under the leadership of the i
. Guelphs. j
J 569. Guelphs and Carbonari.—The Guelphs in reality j
! formed a high vendita or lodge of the Carbonari, and the
i chiefs of the Carbonari were also chiefs among the Guelphs;
j but only those that had distinct offices among the Carbonari
j could be admitted among the Guelphs. There can be no !
doubt that the Carbonari, when the sect had become very j
numerous, partly sheltered themselves under the designation j
ITALIAN SOCIETIES 179
of Guelphs and Adelphi or Independents, by affiliating them* selves to these societies.
570. The Latini.—This sect existed about 1817. Only those initiated into the higher degrees of Carbonarism could become members. In their oath they declared: “ I swear to employ every means in my power to further the happi* ness of Italy. I swear religiously to keep the secret and fulfil the duties of this society, and never to do aught that could compromise its safety; and that I will only act in obedience to its decisions. If ever I violate this oath, I will submit to whatever punishment the society may inflict, even to death.” The most influential vendite were gradually merged in this degree.
571. The Centres.—An offshoot of Carbonarism was the society formed in Lombardy, under the designation of the “ Centres.” Nothing was to be written; and conversation on the affairs of the Order was only to take place between two members at a time, who recognised each other by the words, “ Succour to the unfortunate,” and by raising the hand three times to the forehead, in sign of grief. The Centres once more revived the hopes of Murat. A rising was to take place under his auspices against the detested Austrians; the ringing of the bells of Milan was to be the signal for the outbreak; and it is said that “Vespers” had been arranged, from which no Austrian was to escape alive. But on the appointed day fear or horror held the hand that was to have given the signal, that of General Fontanelli. Hence, fatal delay and the discovery of the secret. For Bellegarde or Talleyrand sent a certain Viscount Saint- Aignan among the conspirators, who after having discovered all their plans, betrayed them to Austria, and was never heard of again. Austria seized the ringleaders and instituted proceedings against them, which lasted about three years, and were finally closed by delivering—it is not known why, but probably through Carbonaro influence—very mild sentences against the conspirators.
572. Italian Litterateurs. — This sect, introduced into Palermo in 1823, had neither signs nor distinctive marks. In every town there was a delegate, called the “ Radical,” who could affiliate unto himself ten others or more, acquiring the name of “decurion,” or “centurion.” The initiated were called “ sons,” who in their turn could affiliate unto themselves ten others, and these could do the same in their turn; so that thus a mighty association was formed. The initiated were called “Brethren Barabbas,” Christ repre-
180 SECRET SOCIETIES
renting the tyrant, and Barabbas the people—a singular confusion of ideas, by which the victim slain on the cross for the redemption of human conscience and thought was considered as an example and upholder of tyranny. But it was a symbolism which concealed juster ideas, and more conformable with truth. They recognised each other by means of a ring, and attested their letters by the well- known initials I. N. R. I. The society was much feared and jealously watched, and helped to fill the prisons. It only ceased when other circumstances called forth other societies.
573. Societies in Calabria and the Abruzzi.—These districts, by their natural features and the disposition of their inhabitants, were at all times the favourite resorts of conspirators. We there find the sects of the “European Patriots or White Pilgrims,” the “Philadelphians,” and the “Decisi,” who thence spread into other Italian provinces, with military organisation, arms, and commanders. The first two partly came from France; nor were their operations, as the names intimate, confined to the peninsula. The lodges of the “Decisi” (Decided) were called “Decisions,” as the assemblies of the Patriots were called “ Squadrons,” each from forty to sixty strong, and those of the Philadelphians, “ Camps.” The Decisi, whose numbers amounted perhaps to forty thousand, held their meetings at night, carefully guarded by sentinels; and their military exercises took place in solitary houses, or suppressed convents. Their object was to fall upon Naples and proclaim a republic; but circumstances were not propitious. Their leader, Giro Anni- chiarico, a priest, was a man of great resources and vast influence, so that it was necessary to despatch against him General Church, who captured him and had him shot. As Giro was rather a remarkable personage, a brief account of him may not be uninteresting.
574. Giro Annichiarico.—This priest was driven from society by his crimes. He was accused of murder, committed in a fit of jealousy, and sentenced to fifteen years of exile, although there is strong reason to believe that he was innocent. But instead of being permitted to leave the country, according to the sentence, he was for four years kept in prison, whence at last he made his escape, took refuge in the forests, and placed himself at the head of a band of outlaws, and, as his enemies declare, committed all kinds of enormities. At Martano, they say, he penetrated into one of the first houses of the place, and, after having
offered violence to its mistress, massacred her with all her people, and carried off 96,000 ducats. He was in correspondence with all the brigands; and whoever wished to get rid of an enemy, had only to address himself to Giro. On being asked, after his capture, how many persons he had killed with his own hand, he carelessly answered, “ Who can remember ? Perhaps sixty or seventy.” His activity, artifice, and intrepidity were astonishing. He was a first-rate shot and rider; his singular good fortune in extricating himself from the most imminent dangers acquired for him the reputation of a necromancer, upon whom ordinary means of attack had no power. Though a priest himself, and exercising the functions of one when he thought it expedient, he was rather a libertine, and declared his clerical colleagues to be impostors without any faith. He published a paper against the missionaries, who, according to him, disseminated illiberal opinions among the people, and forbade them on pain of death to preach in the villages, “because, instead of the true principles of the Gospel, they taught nothing but fables and impostures.” Probably Giro was pretty correct in his estimate of their performances. He could be generous on occasions. One day he surprised General D’Octavio, a Corsican, in the service of Murat—who pursued him for a long time with a thousand men—walking alone in a garden. Giro discovered himself, remarking, that the life of the general, who was unarmed, was in his hands; “but,” said he, “ I will pardon you this time, although I shall no longer be so ipdulgent if you continue to hunt me about.” So saying, he leaped over the wall and disappeared. His physiognomy was rather agreeable; he was of middle stature, well made, and very strong. He had a verbose eloquence. Extremely addicted to pleasure, he had mistresses, at the period of his power, in all the towns of the province over which he was continually ranging. When King Ferdinand returned to his states on this side the Taro, he recalled such as had been exiled for political opinions. Giro attempted to pass for one of these, but a new order of arrest was issued against him. It was then that he placed himself at the head of the Decisi. Many excesses are laid to their charge. A horde of twenty or thirty of them overran the country in disguise, masked as punchinellos. In places where open force could not be employed, the most daring were sent to watch for the moment to execute the sentences of secret death pronounced by the society. It was thus that the justice of the peace of Luogo Rotondo and his wife were killed
in their own garden ; and that the sectary, Perone, plunged his knife into the bowels of an old man of seventy, and afterwards massacred his wife and servant, having introdticed himself into their house under pretence of delivering a letter. As has already been intimated, it was finally found necessary to send an armed force, under the command of General Church, against this band of ruffians. Many of them having been taken, and the rest, dispersed, Giro, with only three companions, took refuge in one of the fortified farm-houses near Francavilla, but after a vigorous defence was obliged to surrender. The Council of War, by which he was tried, condemned him to be shot. A missionary offered him the consolations of religion. Ciro answered him with a smile, “Let us leave alone this prating; we ate of the same profession ; don’t let us laugh at one another.” On his arrival at the place of execution, Ciro wished to remain standing; he was told to kneel, and did so, presenting his breast. He was then informed that malefactors like himself were shot with their backs to the soldiers; he submitted, at the same time advising a priest, who persisted in remaining near him, to withdraw, so as not to expose himself. Twenty-one balls took effect, four in the head, yet he still breathed and muttered in his throat; the twenty-second put an end to him. This fact was confirmed by all the officers and soldiers present at his death. “ As soon as we perceived,” said a soldier very gravely, “ that he was enchanted, we loaded his own musket with a silver ball, and this destroyed the spell.” After the death of the leader, some two hundred and thirty persons were brought to trial; nearly half of them, having been guilty of murder and robbery with violence, were condemned to capital punishment, and their heads exposed near the places of their residence, or in the scene of their crimes.
575. Certificates of the Decisi.—To render the account of the Decisi as complete as it need be, I subjoin a copy of one of their patents or certificates :—
ITALIAN SOCIETIES 183
Tristezza.
Jforte.
Death’s Head.
S(alentina). D(ecisione). (Salute).
Death’s Head.
N° V. Grandi Muratori.
L. D. D. G. T.—E. D. T. D. U>
Il Mortale Gaetano Caffleri e un F. I). A’umero Quinto, appartenente alia B6 del Tonante G'iove, sparsa sulla superficie della Terra, per la sua B6 avuto il piacere di far parte in questa R. S. B. Noi dunque invitiamo tutte le Society Jilantropiclie a prestar il loro braecio forte al medesimo ed a soccorerlo ne’ suoi bisogni, essendo egli giunto alia B“- di acquistare la Ziberta o Morte. Oggi li 29 Ottobre 1817. -
Pietro Gargaro. Il G. M. D. N°. 1.
V°. de Serio 2° Deciso
Cross hones. Terror.
Gaetano Caffleri Registratore de’ Morti.
Cross bones. Struggle.
Translation.
The Salentine Decision. ,
Health 1
No.- 5, Grand Masons.
The Decision of Jupiter- Tonans (the name of the lodge) hopes to make war against the tyrants of the universe, &c.
The mortal Gaetano Caffieri is a Brother Decided, No. 5, belonging to the Decision of Jupiter the Thunderer, spread over the face of the earth, has had the pleasure to belong to this Salentine Republican Decision. We invite, therefore, all Philanthropic Societies to lend their strong arm to the same, and to assist him in his wants, he having come to the decision to obtain liberty or death. Dated this day, the 29th October 1817.
Pietro Gargaro, the Decided Grand Master, No. 1.
Vito de Serio, Second Decided.
Gaetano Caffieri, Registrar of the Dead.
1 That is: La Decisione di Giove Tonante—Esterminatore dei Tiranni dell’ Universo.
The letters in italics in the original were written in blood. ThS upper seal represents fasces planted upon a death’s head, surmounted by the Phrygian cap, and flanked by hatchets ; the lower, thunderbolts casting down royal and imperial crowns and the tiara. The person in whose favour the certificate is issued, figures himself among the signatures with the title of Registrar of the Dead, that is, of those they immolated to their vengeance, of whom they kept a register apart. The four points observable after the signature of Pietro Gargaro indicate his power of passing sentence of death. When the Decisi wrote to any one to extort contributions, if they added these four points, it was known that the person they addressed was condemned to death in case of disobedience. If the points were not added he was threatened with milder punishment. Their colours, yellow, red, and blue, surrounded the patent.
576. The Calderari.—This society, alluded to before, is of uncertain origin. Count Orloff, in his work, “Memoirs on the Kingdom of Naples,” says they arose in 1813, when the reform of Carbonarism took place. Canosa, on the other hand, in a pamphlet published at Dublin, and entitled, “ The Mountain Pipes,” says they arose at Palermo, and not at Naples. In the former of these towns there existed different trade companies, which had enjoyed great privileges, until they lost them by the constitution of Lord William Bentinck. The numerous company of braziers (calderari) felt the loss most keenly, and they sent a deputation to the Queen of Naples, assuring her that they were ready to rise in her defence. The flames of the insurrection were communicated to the tanners and other companies, and all the Neapolitan emigrants in Sicily. Lord William Bentinck put the emigrants on board ship and sent them under a neutral flag to Naples, where Murat received them very kindly. But they were not grateful. Immediately on their arrival they entered into the secret societies then conspiring against the French Government, and their original name of Calderari was communicated by them to the conspirators, before then called “ Trinitarii.” We have seen that on the return of Ferdinand, Prince Canosa favoured the Calderari. He styled them the Calderari of the Counterpoise, because they were to serve as such to Carbonarism. The fate of Canosa and that of the Calderari has already been mentioned (557, 559).
577. The Independents.—Though these also aimed at the independence of Italy, yet it appears that they were not disinclined to effect it by means of foreign assistance. The
report at that time was that they actually once intended to offer the crown of Italy to the Duke of Wellington ; but this is highly improbable, since our Iron Duke was not at all popular in Italy. But it is highly probable that they sought the co-operation of Russia, which, since 1815, maintained many agents in Italy—with what purpose is not exactly known; the collection of statistical and economical information was the ostensible object, but Austria looked on them with a very suspicious eye, and watched them narrowly. The Independents had close relations with these Russian agents, probably, as it is surmised, with a view of turning Russian influence to account in any outbreak against Austria.
578. The, Delphic Priesthood.—This was another secret society, having the same political object as the foregoing. The Delphic priest, the patriotic priest, the priest militant, spoke thus: “My mother has the sea for her mantle, high mountains for her sceptre; ” and when asked who his mother was, replied: “ The lady with the dark tresses, whose gifts are beauty, wisdom, and formerly strength: whose dowry is a flourishing garden, full of flagrant flowers, where bloom the olive and the vine; and who now groans, stabbed to the heart.” The Delphics entertained singular hopes, and would invoke the “ remedy of the ocean ” (American auxiliaries) and the epoch of “ cure ” (a general European war). They called the partisans of France “ pagans,” and those of Austria, “monsters”; the Germans they styled “savages.” Their place of meeting they designated as the “ship,” to foreshadow the future maritime greatness of Italy, and the help they expected from over the sea; their chief was the “ pilot.”
579. Egyptian Lodges.—Immediately after the downfall of Napoleon, societies were formed also in foreign countries to promote Italian independence. The promoters of these were chiefly exiles. Distant Egypt even became the centre of such a propaganda; and under, the auspices of Mehemet Ali, who aspired to render himself independent of the Sublime Porte, there was established the Egyptian rite of Cagliostro with many variations, and under the title of the “ Secret Egyptian Society.” Under masonic forms, the Pacha hoped to further his own views; and especially, to produce political changes in the Ionian Islands and in Italy, he scattered his agents all over the Mediterranean coasts. Being masonic, the society excluded no religion; it retained the two annual festivals, and added a third in memory of
Napoleon, whose portrait was honoured in the lodge. The rites were chiefly those of the ancient and accepted Scotch. Women were admitted, Turks excluded ; and in the lodges of Alexandria and Cairo, the Greek and Arab women amounted to more than three hundred. The emissaries, spread over many parts of Europe, corresponded in cipher; but of the operations of the society nothing was ever positively known.
580. American Hunters.—The Society of the “American Hunters” was founded at Ravenna, shortly after the prosecutions of Macerata, and the measures taken by the Austrian Government, in 1818, against the Carbonari. Lord Byron is said to have been at its head, having imbibed his love for Italy through the influence of an Italian beauty, the Countess Guiccioli, whose brother had been exiled a few years before. Its ceremonies assimilated it to the “ Comuneros ” of Spain, arid it seems to have had the same aims as the Delphic Priesthood. The saviour was to come from America, and it is asserted that Joseph Bonaparte, the ex-King of Spain, was a member of the society. It is not improbable that the partisans of Napoleon gathered ne*w hopes after the events of 1815. A sonnet, of which the first quatrain is here given, was at that time very popular in Central Italy, and shows the direction of the political wind— '
“ Scandalised by groaning under kings so fell, Filling Europe with dismay in ev’ry part, We are driven to solicit Bonaparte
To return from Saint Helena or from hell.”
.The restored sect made itself the centre of many minor sects, among which were the “ Sons of Mars,” so called because composed chiefly of military men; of the “ Artist Brethren ” ; “ the Defenders of the Country ” ; the “ Friends of Duty; ” and others, having the simpler and less compromising forms of Carbonarism. In the sect of the “ Sons of Mars,” the old Carbonari vendita was called “bivouac”; the apprentice, “volunteer”; the good cousin, “corporal”; the master, “ sergeant ” ; the grand master, “ commander ” ; and the chief dignitaries of Carbonarism still governed, from above and unseen, the thoughts of the sect. Many other sects existed, of which scarcely more than the names are known, the recapitulation of which would only weary the reader.
581. Secret Italian Society in London.—London was a great centre of the sectaries. In 1822, a society for liberating
Italy from the Austrian yoke was formed in that city, counting among its members many distinguished Italian patriots. Austria took the alarm, and sent spies to discover their plans. These spies represented the operations of the society as very extensive and imminent. An expedition was to sail from the English coasts for Spain, to take on board a large number of adherents, land them on the Italian shores, and spread insurrection everywhere. The English general, Robert Wilson, was said to be at the head of the expedition; of which, however, nothing was ever heard, and the Austrian Government escaped with the mere fright.
, 582. Secret Italian Societies in Paris.—A society of Italians was formed in Paris, in 1829; and in 1830, French Liberals formed a society under the title of “ Cosmopolitans,” whose object was to revolutionise all the peoples of the Latin race, and form them into one grand confederacy. La Fayette was at its head, but the man who was the real leader of the movement was totally unknown to the public. Henry Misley seemed occupied only in the sale of the nitre and wheat of his native country, Modena, and afterwards was engaged in the construction of railways in Italy and Spain. But he was the intimate friend of Menotti, and the connecting link between the Italian Carbonari and the revolutionary movement in France. He was also active, from 1850 to 1852, in placing Louis Napoleon at the head of the French nation, co-operating with Lord Palmerston, who, as a Mason, was the great friend and protector of the European revolution, and was the first to recognise Louis Napoleon as Emperor of the French, not hesitating, to further his objects, to falsify despatches which had already received the royal signature. But when Garibaldi, in 1864, visited England, Lord Palmerston co-operated with Victor Emmanuel and Louis Napoleon in restraining the Italian patriot from coming in contact with the revolutionary leaders then in this country, lest he, in conjunction with them, should plan expeditions, which might have interfered with his (Lord Palmerston’s) or the King of Italy’s plans. Garibaldi was surrounded with a brilliant suite, and overwhelmed with official fetes. Then Dr. Fergusson declared that Garibaldi’s health demanded his immediate return to Italy. His intended visit to Paris was stopped by the Duke of Sutherland taking him in his yacht to the Mediterranean; but Mazzini informed Garibaldi of the scheme to keep him an honoured prisoner, and Garibaldi insisted at Malta on returning at once to Caprera.
583. Mazzini and Young Italy.—Joseph Mazzini, who sixty years ago was a prisoner in Fort Savona for revolutionary speeches and writings, may be looked upon as the chief instigator of modern secret societies in Italy having revolutionary tendencies. The independence and unity of their country, with Rome for its capital, of course were the objects of Young Italy. One of the earliest of these societies was that of the Apophasimenes, many of whom Mazzini drew over to his “ Young Italy” association.
Here are some of the articles of the “ Organisation of Young Italy ” :—1. The society is founded for the indispensable destruction of all the governments of the Peninsula, in order to form one single State with the republican government. 2. Fully aware of the horrible evils of absolute power, and the even worse results of constitutional monarchies, we must aim at establishing a republic, one and indivisible. 30. Those who refuse obedience to the orders of this secret society, or reveal its mysteries, die by the dagger without mercy. 31. The secret tribunal pronounces sentence, and appoints one or two affiliated members for its execution. 32. Who so refuses to perform such duty assigned to him, dies on the spot. 33. If the victim escapes, he shall be pursued, until struck by the avenging hand, were he on the bosom of his mother or in the temple of Christ. 34. Every secret tribunal is competent not only to judge guilty adepts, but to put to death any one it finds it necessary to condemn.— (Sig.) Mazzini.
We have seen, in the account of the Mafia (329), that Mazzini constantly recommended the use of the dagger— though he took good care to avoid personal danger; and, to give but one instance, that he did not hesitate to employ it, by proxy, was proved in the case of Signor Emiliani, who was assassinated, by Mazzini’s order, which is still existing, signed by Mazzini, and countersigned by the secretary La Cecilia, in the streets of Rhodez, a town in the department of the Aveyron, seventy miles from Toulouse. Mazzini had come from Geneva on purpose to sit in judgment on Signor Emiliani, who was accused of having opposed the plans of the Mazzinists.
Committees were established in all parts of the Peninsula ; the presses, not only of Italy, but also of Marseilles, London, and Switzerland, were largely employed to disseminate the views of the conspirators; and the police, though they considered themselves well informed, were always at fault. Thus Livio Zambeccari, a leading member, went from
Bologna to Naples, thence into Sicily, held interviews with the conspirators, called meetings, and returned to Bologna, whilst the police of Naples and Sicily knew nothing at all about it. General Antonini, under a feigned name, went to Sicily, passed himself off for a daguerreotypist, and lived in great intimacy with many of the officials without being suspected. A Piedmontese officer, who had fought in the Spanish and Portuguese revolutionary wars, arrived at Messina under a Spanish name, with letters of introduction from a Neapolitan general, which enabled him to visit and closely inspect the citadels, this being the object of his journey. Letters from Malta, addressed to the conspirators, were intercepted by the police, but recovered from them before they had read them, by the address and daring of the members of Young Italy. A thousand copies of a revolutionary programme, printed at Marseilles, were smuggled into Italy in a despatch addressed to the Minister Delcaretto. Though occasionally the correspondence fell into the hands of the authorities—as, for instance, on the 4th June 1832, the Custom-house officers of Genoa seized on board the steamer Sully, coming from Marseilles, a trunk full of old clothes, addressed to Mazzini’s mother, in the false bottom of which were concealed a large number of letters addressed to members of Young Italy, revolutionary proclamations, lists of lodges, and instructions as to the proposed rising. Then the revolutionary correspondence was carried on by means of the official letters addressed to the Minister Santangelo,1 at Palermo. A well- known Spanish general, who was one of the conspirators, whose departure and object had been publicly announced in the French papers, went from Marseilles to Naples, and the police were unable to catch him. Italian and other Continental revolutionists in those days, and later on, received much moral support from Lord Palmerston, wherefore it was a saying of Austrian Conservatives—
“ If the devil has a son, Surely it’s Lord Palmerston.”
Panizzi also, a Carbonaro, exiled from Italy, and for many years Chief Librarian of the British Museum, was an ardent supporter of Italian unification.
584. Mazzini, the Hvil Genius of Italy.—Gregory XVI. died in 1846. The Italians thought this the favourable moment for general action, and the revolutions of Rome, Naples, Palermo, Florence, Milan, Parma, Modena, and Venice followed in quick succession. But they failed, and their failure—
notably that of the operations of Charles Albert—was due ! to the political intrigues carried on by the Mazzinists, who i tampered with the fidelity and discipline of the Sardinian <
army. Mazzini, in those days, ruined the national cause, j
and rejoiced in that ruin, because he was not the leader of the enterprise. Later on, his Roman triumvirate led to the French occupation of Rome, and to the return to that city of Italy’s greatest curse, the pope. Many of Garibaldi’s noble efforts were thwarted or frustrated by Mazzini’s revolutionary fanaticism ; and yet—such is the mockery of -
Fate 1—that selfish demagogue who, to gratify his political crotchets, sent hundreds of misguided youths to a violent death, has a statue in the Palazzo del Municipio at Genoa, an honour which posterity will certainly rescind. j
Like O’Donovan Rossa, he planned his murderous schemes j
at a safe distance, taking care never to imperil himself |
personally, and if danger came near, to run away. In the I
expedition to Savoy in January 1834, Mazzini at Carra brandished his rifle to rush to the combat, but was con- । veniently seized by a fit and carried across the border in 1 ' safety. In 1833 Louis Mariotti (a pseudo-name), provided \ with a passport and money by Mazzini, attempted Charles i
Albert’s life; shortly after another man made the same [
attempt—he had a dagger which was proved to have be- j longed to'Mazzini: this hero was one of the first to take flight when Radetzky entered Milan. When in that city he thwarted the endeavours of the royal commissioners to procure men and money, and fed the republican animosities towards the Piedmontese in every part of Italy. The king knew of the Mazzinian manoeuvres, and therefore did not make peace after his defeat, for the republicans would have j said he had thrown up the cause of Italy. i
585. Assassination of Rossi.—This adventurer was born I at Carrara, and began his public career as a member of the i provisional government of Bologna, when Murat attempted 1 the conquest of Italy. At his master’s defeat, he fled into 1 Switzerland, where the Diet entrusted him with the revision \
of the pact of 1815 ; in the changes he proposed, radicalism !
was carried to its utmost limits, and aimed at the overthrow I
of the Federal Government. With such antecedents, it was ■ I but natural that Rossi became a member of Young Italy ; j
though Mazzini placed no faith in him, for he knew that the i
ci-devant Carbonaro had no fixed political convictions. For i
this once violent demagogue, having, in the July revolution >
of 1830, assisted Louis Philippe to ascend the French throne, j
ITALIAN SOCIETIES 191
accepted from him the title of count and peer of France, and was sent as ambassador to Rome. Though he had once belonged to the secret societies of Italy, and by Gregory XVI. been designated as the political renegade, he eventually accepted office under Pius IX., who in 1848, a short time before his flight from Rome, had no one to appeal to, to form a new ministry, but this very adventurer, who did so by keeping three of the portfolios in his own hands, viz., those of Finances, Interior, and Police, whilst the other ministers mutually detested each other; a fact from which Rossi expected to derive additional advantages. His political programme, which excluded all national participation or popular influence, filled Young Italy with rage. At a meeting of Young Italy, held at the Hotel Feder at Turin, the verdict went forth : Death to the false Carbonaro 1 By a prearranged scheme the lot to kill Rossi fell on Canino, a leading man of the association, not that it was expected that he would do the deed himself, but his position and wealth were assumed to give him the most ready means of commanding daggers. A Mazzinian society assembled twice a week at the Roman theatre, Capranica. At a meeting of one hundred and sixteen members, it was decided, at the suggestion of Mazzini, that forty should be chosen by lot to protect the assassin. Three others were elected by the same process—they were called feratori; one of them was to slay the minister.
The 15th of November 1848, the day fixed upon for the opening of the Roman Chambers, was also that of Rossi’s death. He received several warnings, but ridiculed them. Even in going to the Chancellerie, he was addressed by a priest, who whispered to him, “ Do not go out; you will be assassinated.” “They cannot terrify me,” he replied; “the cause of the Pope is the cause of God,” which is thought by some to have been a very noble answer, but which was' simply ridiculous, because not true, and was, moreover, vile hypocrisy on the part of a man with his antecedents. When Rossi arrived at the Chancellerie, the conspirators were already awaiting him there. One of them, as the minister ascended the staircase, struck him on the side with the hilt of a dagger, and as Rossi turned round to look at his assailant, another assassin plunged his dagger into Rossi’s throat. The minister soon after expired in the apartments of Cardinal Gozzoli, to which he had been carried. At that very instant one of the chiefs of Young Italy at Bologna, looking at his watch, said, “A great deed has just been
i
f
accomplished; we no longer need fear Rossi.” The estimation in which Rossi was held by the Chamber cannot have been great, for the deputies received the news of his death with considerable sang-froid; and at night a torchlight procession paraded the streets of Rome, carrying aloft the dagger which had done the deed, whilst thousands of voices exclaimed, “ Blessed be the hand that struck Rossi! Blessed be the dagger that struck him 1 ” A pamphlet, published at Rome in 1850, contains a letter from Mazzini, in which occur the words: “The assassination of Rossi was necessary and just.”
In the first edition I added to the foregoing account the following note:—
“ P.S.—Since writing the above I have met with documents which induce me to suspend my judgment as to who were the real authors of Rossi’s assassination. From what I have since learnt it would seem that the clerical party, and not the Carbonari, planned and executed the deed. Persons accused of being implicated in the murder were kept in prison for more than two years without being brought to trial, and then quietly got away. Rossi, shortly before his death, had levied contributions to the extent of four million scudi on clerical property, and was known to plan further schemes to reduce the influence of the Church. But the materials for writing the history of those times are not yet accessible.”
More than twenty years after the above was written, now in 1896, the question is as much involved in doubt as ever. True, one Santa Constantini, a radical fanatic, as he was called on his conviction, has been proved to have struck the fatal blow, but as to who instigated him to do the deed, opinions are still divided; the secret has not oozed out. The reasons for attributing the death of Rossi to the Carbonari or the Jesuits are of equal weight on both sides.
The assassination of Rossi and the commotions following it, led, as is well known, to the pope’s flight to Gaeta. During his absence from Rome, Mazzini was the virtual ruler of that city, which was during his short reign the scene of the greatest disorders, of robberies, and assassinations. But Rome gained nothing by the restoration of the pope through French arms; the papalians, when once more in power, raged as wildly against the peaceful inhabitants as the Mazzinists had done. The Holy Father personally, and the cardinals and other dignitaries of the Church, caused thousands of the inhabitants of Rome to be cast into noisome
dungeons, many of them underground, where they were starved or killed by bad treatment, or after long-delayed trials condemned to the most unjust punishments. I could give numerous instances, did they enter into the scope of this work. The subsequent action of Carbonarism, its renewal of the war against the pope, the collapse of the latter’s army, largely composed of Irish loafers, who entered Rome in potato sacks, with a hole for the head and two for the arms, and his final overthrow, are matters of public history.
586. Sicilian Societies.—Sicily did not escape the general influence. In 1827 there was formed a secret society in favour of the Greek revolution, the “Friends of Greece,” who, however, also occupied themselves with the affairs of Italy. There was also the “Secret Society of the Five,” founded ten years before the above, which prepared the insurrection of the Greeks. In Messina was formed the lodge of the “ Patriotic Reformers,” founded on Carbonarism, which corresponded with lodges at Florence, Milan, and Turin, by means of musical notes. But the Sicilian Carbonari did not confine themselves to political aims: to them was due in a great measure the security of the roads throughout the island, which before their advent had been terribly infested by malefactors of every kind, who almost daily committed outrages against peaceful travellers.
587. The Consistorials.— But the conspirators against thrones and the Church were not to have it'all their own way; clerical associations were formed to counteract their efforts. The sect of the “ Consistorials ” aimed at the preservation of feudal and theocratic dominion. The rich and ambitious patricians of Rome and other Italian states belonged to it; Tabot, an ex-Jesuit and Confessor to the Holy Father, was the ruling spirit. It is said that this society proposed to give to the Pope, Tuscany; the island of Elba and the Marches, to the King of Naples; Parma, Piacenza, and a portion of Lombardy, with the title of King, to the Duke of Modena; the rest of Lombardy, Massa Carrara, and Lucca, to the King of Sardinia; and to Russia, which, from jealousy of Austria, favoured these secret designs, either Ancona, or Genoa, or Civita Vecchia, to turn it into their Gibraltar. From documents found in the office of the Austrian governor at Milan, it appears that the Duke of Modena, in 1818, presided at a general meeting of the Consistorials, and that Austria was aware of the existence and intentions of the society.
VOL. II. N
588. The Roman Catholic Apostolic Congregation.—It was formed at the period of the imprisonment of Pius VII. The members recognised each other by a yellow silk ribbon with five knots; the initiated into the lower degrees heard of nothing but acts of piety and charity; the secrets of the society, known to the higher ranks, could only be discussed between two; the lodges were composed of five members; the password was “ Eleutheria,” i.e. Liberty; and the secret word “Ode,” i.e. Independence. This sect arose in France, among the Neo-catholics, led by Lammenais, who already, in the treatise on “ Religious Indifference,” had shown that fervour which afterwards was to carry him so far. Thence it passed into Lombardy, but met with but little success, and the Austrians succeeded in obtaining the patents which were given to the initiated, two Latin texts divided by this
. C c
81Sn — TT’
meaning Congregazione Catholica Apostolica
Romana, and their statutes and signs of recognition. Though devoted to the independence of Italy, the Congregation was not factious; for it bound the destinies of ■ nations to the full triumph of the Roman Catholic religion. Narrow in scope, and restricted in numbers, it neither possessed nor, perhaps, claimed powers to subvert the political system.
589. Sanfedisti.—This society was founded at the epoch of the suppression of the Jesuits. There existed long before then in the Papal States a society called the “Pacific” or “Holy Union,” which was established to defend religion, the privileges and jurisdiction of Rome, and the temporal power of the popes. Now from this society they derived the appellation of the Society of the Holy Faith, or Sanfedisti. The way in which the existence of the society was discovered, was curious. A friend of De Witt (555) during carnival time in 1821, entered a shop in the Contrada di Po at Turin to purchase a costume. He was examining a cassock, when he noticed a pocket in it, containing some papers. He bought it and took it home. The papers gave the statutes, signs, passwords, &c., of the Sanfedisti The owner of the cassock, one of the highest initiates, had been struck by apoplexy, and his belongings had been sold. Finding themselves discovered, the Sanfedisti changed the password and sign, making, instead of the former one, an imperceptible cross with the left hand on the left breast. They had been in existence long before 1821 ; in France they conspired against Napoleon, who sent about twenty of them to prison at Modena, whence they were released by
Francis IV. The supposed chiefs, after 1815, were the Duke of Modena and Cardinal Consalvi. The first had frequent secret interviews with the cardinals, and even the King of Sardinia was said to be in the plot. Large sums also are said to have been contributed by the chiefs to carry on the war against Austria, which, however, is doubtful. Some attribute to this society the project of dividing Italy into three kingdoms, expelling the Austrians and the King of Naples; others, the intention of dividing it into five, viz., Sardinia, Modena, Lucca, Rome, and Naples; and yet others—and these latter probably are most in the right—the determination to perpetuate the status quo, or to re-establish servitude in its most odious forms. They also intrigued with Russia, though at certain times they would not have objected to subject all Italy politically to the Austrian eagle, and clerically to the keys of St. Peter. Their machinations at home led to much internal dissension and bloodshed; their chief opponents were the Carbonari. At Faenza the two parties fought against one another under the names of “Cats” and “Dogs.” They caused quite as much mischief and bloodshed as any of the bands of brigands that infested the country, and their code was quite as sanguinary as that of any more secular society. They swore with terrible oaths to pursue and slay the impious liberals, even to their children, without showing pity for age or sex. Under the pretence of defending the faith, they indulged in the grossest licentiousness and most revolting atrocity. In the Papal States they were under the direction of the inquisitors and bishops, who, especially under Leo XII., gave them the greatest encouragement; in the kingdom of Naples, under the immediate orders of the police. They spread all over Germany, where Prince Hohenloh- Schillingsfurst, Bishop of Sardica, protected them. Prince Julius de Polignac was head of the society in France.
NAPOLEONIC AND ANTI-NAPOLEONIC
SOCIETIES
590. The Philadelphians.—As early as the year 1780 a society of about sixty young men had formed at Besanqon a masonic lodge under the above name. Colonel James Joseph Oudet, who, though he served under Napoleon, hated him, and had for some time been looking out for dupes to assist him in bringing back to France the detested Bourbon race, whose secret agent he was, pitched on the members of that lodge, still composed of enthusiastic, but inexperienced, youths, as suitable for his purpose. Having been initiated into nearly every secret society in Europe, Oudet soon invested the Philadelphians with all the machinery of one on a more elaborate scale than they had hitherto thought necessary. According to the approved pattern, every member assumed a pseudonym; Oudet called himself Philopcemen; General Moreau, who, as we shall see, succeeded him as chief of the Order, took the name of Fabius, and so on. Oudet further created a dignity, sovereign, monarchical and absolute, with which, of course, he invested himself, and under which were two degrees: the first, that of Frank Federate, and the second, that of Frank Judge; this second degree comprehended the complement of all the secrets, up to the secret belonging, and known to the supreme chief alone. But to give his adepts something to think and talk about, he told them the establishment of a Sequanese (from Sequana, Seine) republic was his object, whilst he really intended the total overthrow of Napoleon. He introduced the Philadelphian rites into the army, simultaneously into the 9th, 68th, and 69th regiments of the line, into the 20th of dragoons, the 15 th of light infantry, and from thence into all the army. Bonaparte heard of the society, and suspected Oudet, who was sent back to his corps, which then occupied the garrison of St. Martin, in the Isle of RhA General Moreau took his 196
place, but shortly after had to resign it again to Oudet, he, Moreau, having been implicated in the conspiracy of Piche- gru. Before then the conspiracy of Arena to assassinate Bonaparte had been discovered, and a book, seized among the papers of Arena, and entitled “ The Turk and the French Soldier,” certainly was written by Oudet. The Philadelphians next attempted to seize Bonaparte while traversing the forests and mountains of the Jura attended by a very small retinue; but the attempt failed, one of the Order having betrayed the plot. Oudet was killed at the battle of Wagram (1809), and with his death the society collapsed.
591. The Rays.—During the power of Napoleon, he was opposed by secret societies in Italy, as well as in France. But his fall, which to many seemed a revival of liberty, to others appeared as the ruin of Italy; hence they sought to re-establish his rule, or at least to save Italian nationality from the wreck. The “Rays” were an Anti-Napoleonic society, composed of officials from all parts, brought together by common dangers and the adventures of the field. They had lodges at Milan and Bologna. The Sanfedisti also were an Anti-Napoleonic society (589).
592. Secret League in Tirol.—A very powerful association against Napoleon was in the year 1809 formed in Tirol. This country had by the treaty of Presburg (1805) been ceded by Austria to Bavaria. But the Tirolese, strongly attached to their former master, resented the transfer, and when in 1808 a renewal of the war between France and Austria was imminent, secret envoys, among whom was the already famous Andreas Hofer, were sent to Vienna to concert measures for reuniting the Tirol with Austria. But in consequence of the battle of Wagram, and the truce of Znaim, which followed it, Tirol was again surrendered to French troops. Then the Tirolese, betrayed by Austria, formed a number of secret societies among themselves, to drive out the French. The results of these associations are matters of history; but to show how the secret societies worked, and tested the character and loyalty of some of the leading members, the following incident, communicated by the hero of the adventure, may be mentioned. He had once enjoyed Napoleon’s confidence, but having unjustly become suspected by him, he was obliged to take refuge in the most alpine part of the Austrian provinces, in Tirol. There he formed connections with one of the societies for the overthrow of Napoleon, and went through a simple ceremony of initiation. Two months
' I
: 198 SECRET SOCIETIES )
elapsed after this without his hearing any more of the society-, [
when at last he received a letter asking him to repair to a j
remote place, where he was to meet a number of brothers j
assembled. He went, but found no one. He received three f
more similar summonses, but always with the same result.
He received a fifth, and went, but saw no one. He was just I
retiring, disgusted with the often-repeated deception, when !
he heard frightful cries, as from a person in distress. He \
hastened towards the spot whence they proceeded, and found i
a bleeding body lying on the ground, whilst he saw three !
horsemen making their escape in the opposite direction, who, !
however, fired three shots at him, but missing him. He was “
about to examine the body lying at his feet when a detach- ■
ment of armed force, attracted by the same cries, darted j
, from the forest; the victim on the ground indicated our <
hero as his assailant. He was seized, imprisoned, accused 1
✵ by witnesses who declared they had seen him commit the !
murder—for the body of the person attacked had been re- |
moved as dead—and he was sentenced to be executedthe >
same night, by torchlight. He was led into a courtyard, surrounded by ruinous buildings, full of spectators. He had already ascended the scaffold, when an officer on horseback, and wearing the insignia of the magistracy, appeared, announcing that an edict had gone forth granting a pardon to any man condemned to death for any crime whatever, who could give to justice the words of initiation and signs of recognition of a secret society, which the officer named; it was the one into which the ci-devant officer of Napoleon had recently been received. He was questioned if he knew 1
anything about it; he denied all knowledge of the society, j
✵ and being pressed, became angry and demanded death. i
Immediately he was greeted as a brave and faithful brother, for all those present were members of the secret society, and : had knowingly co-operated in this rather severe test.
! ’ 593- Societies in Favour of Napoleon.—Many societies in
favour of the restoration of Napoleon were formed, such as the “Black Needle,” the “Knights of the Sun,” “Universal Regeneration,” &c. They were generally composed of the soldiers of the great captain, who were condemned to inactivity, and looked upon the glory of their chief as something in which they had a personal interest. Their aim was to place Napoleon, at the head of confederated Italy, under the title of “ Emperor of Rome, by the will of the people j
and the grace of God.” The proposal reached him early in ,
the year 1815. Napoleon accepted it like a man who on i
being shipwrecked perceives a piece of wood that may save him, and which he will cast into the fire when he has reached the land. The effects of these plots are known—Napoleon’s escape from Elba, and the reign of a hundred days.
According to secret documents, the machinations of the Bonapartists continued even in 1842, the leaders being Peter Bonaparte, Lady Christina Stuart, the daughter of Lucien Bonaparte, the Marchioness Pepoli, the daughter of the Countess Lipona (Caroline Murat), and Count Rasponi. Then appeared the sect of the “Italian Confederates,” first called “Platonica,” which in 1842 extended into Spain. Another sect, the “ Illuminati, Vindicators or Avengers of the People,” arose in the Papal States; also those of “Regeneration,” of “Italian Independence,” of the “Communists,” the “Exterminators,” &c. Tuscany also had its secret societies—that of the “Thirty-one,” the “National Knights,” the “ Revolutionary Club,” &c. A “ Communistic Society ” was formed at Milan; but none of these sects did more than excite a little curiosity for a time. Scarcely anything of their ritual is known.
594. The. Illuminati.—This society, not to be confounded with an earlier one of the same name (351 et seq.'), was founded in France, but meeting with too many obstacles in that country, it spread all over Italy. Its object was to restore the Napoleon family to the French throne, by making Marie- Louise regent, until the King of Rome could be set on the throne, and by bringing Napoleon himself from St. Helena, to command the army. The society entered into correspondence with Las Casas, who was to come to Bologna, the chief lodge, and arrange plans; but the scheme, as need scarcely be mentioned, never came to anything.
595. Various other Societies.—At Padua a society existed whose members called themselves Selvaggi, “ Savages,” because the German democrat, Marr, had said, that man must return to the savage state to accomplish something great. They cut neither their nails nor their hair, cleaned neither their clothes nor boots; the medical students who were members of the sect surreptitiously brought portions of human bodies from the dissecting-rooms of the hospitals to their meetings, over which the initiated performed wild and hideous ceremonies. Not being able to obtain human blood for the purpose, they purchased bullocks’ blood in which to drink death to tyrants. One of the members having overgorged himself was found dead in the street. The medical examination of his body led to the discovery of the cause,
and by the police inquiry resulting therefrom, to the exposure of the society, their statutes, oaths, and ceremonies.
The members of the Uwitin, Italiana, discovered at Naples in 1850, recognised each other by a gentle rubbing of noses. They swore on a dagger with a triangular blade, with the inscription, “ Fraternity—Death to Traitors—Death to Tyrants,” faithfully to observe all the laws of the society, on pain, in case of-want of faith, to have their hearts pierced with the dagger. Those who executed the vengeance of the society called themselves the Committee of Execution. In 1849 the grand council of the sect established a “ Committee of Stabbers,” comitato de’ pugnalatori. The heads of the society were particular as to whom they admitted into it; the statutes say, “ no ex-Jesuits, thieves, coiners, and other infamous persons are to be initiated.” The ex-Jesuits are placed in good company truly !
In 1849 a society was discovered at Ancona calling itself the “ Company of Death,” and many assassinations, many of them committed in broad daylight in the streets of the town, were traced to its members. The “ Society of Slayers,” Ammazzatori, at Leghorn; the “ Infernal Society,” at Sini- gaglia; the “Company of Assassins,” Sicarii, at Faenza; the “Terrorists” of Bologna, were associations of the same stamp. The “ Barbers of Mazzini,” at Rome, made it their business to “ remove ” priests who had rendered themselves particularly obnoxious. Another Bolognese society was that of the “Italian Conspiracy of the Sons of Death,” whose object was the liberation of Italy from foreign sway.
596. The Aecoltellatol'i.—A secret society, non-political, was discovered, and many of its members brought to trial, at Ravenna, in 1874. Its existence had long been surmised, but the executive did not dare to interfere; some private persons, indeed, tried to bring the assassins to justice, but wherever they succeeded a speedy vengeance was sure to follow. To one shopkeeper who had been particularly active a notice was sent that his life was forfeited, and the same night a placard was posted up upon the shutters of his shop announcing that the establishment was to be sold, as the proprietor was going away. In many cases there were witnesses to the crimes, and yet they dared not interfere nor give evidence. One of the gang at last turned traitor; he gave the explanation of several “ mysterious disappearances,” and the names of the murderers. The gang had become too numerous, and amongst the number there were
members whose fidelity was suspected. It was resolved to sacrifice them. They were watched, set upon and murdered by their fellow-accomplices. This society was known as the Accoltellatori, literally “ knifers ”—cut-throats. It originally consisted of twelve members only, who used to meet in the Cafe Mazzavillani—a very appropriate name; mazza means a club or bludgeon, and villano, villainous—at Ravenna, where the fate of their victims was decided. The trial ended in most of the members being condemned to penal servitude.
VII
FRENCH SOCIETIES
597. Various Societies after the Restoration.—One would think that, according to the “ philosophical ” historians, no nation ought to have been more content and happy, after being delivered from their tyrant Napoleon, than the French. But, in accordance with what I said in sect. 519, no nation had more reason to be dissatisfied and unhappy through the restoration of a king “ by grace of God ” and “ right divine.” Draconian statutes were promulgated by the Chambers, the mere tools of Louis XVIII., which led to the formation of a secret society called the “Associated Patriots,” whose chief scenes of operation were in the south of France. But Government had its spies everywhere; many members of the society were arrested and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. Three leaders, Pleignier, a writing-master, Carbonneau, a leather-cutter, and Tolleron, an engraver, were sentenced to death, led to the place of execution with their faces concealed by black veils, as parricides were formerly executed, and before their heads were cut off, their right hands were severed from their arms—for had they not raised them against their father, the king ? The conspiracy of the Associated Patriots collapsed. But other societies arose. In 1820 the society of the “ Friends of Truth,” consisting of medical students and shopmen, was established in Paris, but was soon suppressed by the Government. The leading members made their escape to Italy, and on their return to France founded a Carbonaro society, the leadership of which was given to General Lafayette. It made two attempts to overthrow the Government, one at Belfort, and another at La Rochelle, but both were unsuccessful, and the Carbonaro society was dissolved. The society of the “ Shirtless,” founded by a Frenchman of the name of Manuel, who invoked Sampson, as the symbol of strength, had but a very short existence. That of the “ Spectres meeting in a Tomb,” which existed in 1822, and whose object was the overthrow of
202
FRENCH SOCIETIES 203
the Bourbons, also came to a speedy end. The “ New Reform of France,” and the “ Provinces,” which were probably founded in 1820, only admitted members already initiated into Carbonarism, Freemasonry, the European Patriots, or the Greeks in Solitude. A mixture of many sects, they condensed the hatred of many ages and many orders against tyranny, and prescribed the following oath: “ I, M. N., promise and swear to be the eternal enemy of tyrants, to entertain undying hatred against them, and, when opportunity offers, to slay them.” . In their succinct catechism were the following passages : “ Who art thou ? ” “ Thy friend.”—“ How knowest thou me?” “By the weight pressing on thy brow, on which I read written in letters of blood, To conquer or die.”—“What wilt thou?” “Destroy the thrones and raise up gibbets.”—“ By what right ? ” “ By that of nature.”—“For what purpose?” “To acquire the glorious name of citizen.”—“ And wilt thou risk thy life ? ” “ I value life* less than liberty.”
Another sect was that of the “ New French Liberals,” which existed but a short time. It was composed of but few members; they, however, were men of some standing, chiefly such as had occupied high positions under Napoleon. They looked to America for assistance. They wore a small.black ribbon attached to their watches, with a gold seal, a piece of coral, and an iron or steel ring. The ribbon symbolised the eternal hatred of the free for oppressors; the coral, their American hopes; the ring, the weapon to destroy their enemies; and the gold seal, abundance of money as a means of success.
After the July revolution in 1830, the students of the Quartier Latin formed the society of “ Order and Progress,” each student being, in furtherance of these objects, provided with a rifle and fifty cartridges. And if they nevertheless did not distinguish themselves, they afforded the Parisians a new sensation. About three o’clock on the afternoon of the 4th January 1831, the booming of the great bell of Notre Dame was beard, and one of the towers of the cathedral was seen to be on fire. The police, who, though forewarned of the intended attempt, had taken no precautionary measures, speedily made their way into the building, put out the fire, and arrested six individuals, young men, nineteen or twenty years old, and their leader, a M. Consid&re. The young men were acquitted, Considere was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. And thus ended this farcical insurrection.
Another association, called the “ Society of Schools,” ad-
4
3
[
t
vocated the abolition of the universities and the throwing open of all instruction to the public gratuitously. The “ Constitutional Society,” directed by a man who had powerfully supported the candidature of the Duke of Orleans, Cauchois-Lemaire, insisted on the suppression of monopolies, the more equal levy of taxes, electoral reform, and the abolition of the dignity of the peerage. The “Friends of the People ” was another political society, one section of which, called the “Rights of Man,” adopted for its text-book the “Declaration of the Rights of Man” by Robespierre, and drew to itself many minor societies, too numerous, and in mosigcases too unimportant, to be mentioned. Their efforts ended in the useless insurrection of Lyons on the 13th and 14th April 1834.
598. The. Acting Company.—But a separate corps of the Rights of Man, selected from among all the members, was formed and called the Acting Company, under the command of Captain Kersausie, a rich nobleman with democratic predilections. On certain days the loungers on the boulevards would notice a crowd of silent promenaders whom an unknown object seemed to draw together. No one understood the matter except the police; the chief of the Acting Company was reviewing his forces. Accompanied by one or two adjutants he would accost the chief of a group, whom he recognised by a sign, hold a short conversation with him, and pass on to another; the police agents would follow, see him enter a carriage, which was kept in waiting, drive up to a house which had a back way out, whence he would gain one of his own—for he had several—residences, and keep indoors for three or four days.
The Rights of Man society arranged the plot, proposed by Fieschi, to assassinate the king, Louis Philippe, on the 28th July 1835. Delahodde, the police spy, in his Memoirs, says that by the imprudence of one of the conspirators, Boireau, the police obtained a hint of what was intended, but that it was so vague, that it could not be acted on. This is evidently said to screen the police, for on the trial of Fieschi and the other conspirators, it was proved that on the morning of the attempt Boireau had sent a letter— doing which was not-a mere imprudence—to the Prefect of Police, giving full information as to the means to be employed, the individuals engaged in the plot, and the very house in which the infernal machine was placed—all which was more than a mere hint—but the letter was thrown aside by the Prefect as not worth reading! The failure of the
attempt broke up the society of the Rights of Man, but the
remnants thereof formed themselves in the same year into j
a new society, called the “Families,” under the leadership . ’
of Blanqui and Barbas. Admission to this new society was . ■
attended with all the mummery and mystification considered J
necessary to form an orthodox initiation. Its object, of j
course, was the overthrow of the monarchical government
and the establishment of a republic; but the society having , |
in 1836 been discovered and suppressed, many of its leaders !
being sent to prisons, the members who remained at liberty .
reconstituted themselves into a new society, called the ’
“ Seasons,” into the meeting-place of which the candidate j
was led blindfolded, and swore death to all kings, aristo- \
crats, and other oppressors of mankind, and to sacrifice his *
own life, if needful, in the cause. On the 12th May the
“ Seasons,” led by Blanqui and Barbes, rose in insurrection, 4
but were defeated by the Government. Blanqui was sen- ■
fenced to be transported, and Barbes condemned to death; j
the king, however, commuted the sentence of the latter to ,
imprisonment. After a time the “Seasons” were reorganised, J
and about 1840, Communism first began to be active in ■.
Paris, and various attempts were made against the king’s
life. Considering the number of police spies in the pay *
of Government, it is surprising that secret societies should ■
have continued to flourish, and should at last have succeeded J
in overthrowing the throne of Louis Philippe. The spies .
would get themselves introduced into the secret societies, ;
and then betray them. One of the most notorious of these '
spies was Lucien Delahodde, who sent his reports to Govern- •
ment under the pseudonym of “ Pierre.” When, in con- > ’
sequence of the revolution of 1848, “Citizen” Caussidi&re |
became Prefect of Police, and overhauled the secret archives
of that department, he found voluminous papers, containing \
more than a thousand informations, signed “ Pierre,” proving ♦
that the writer had got hold of all the secrets of the “ Rights 3
of Man,” the “ Families ” (though strong suspicion rests <
on Blanqui of having supplied the Minister of the Interior ”
with a secret report on the latter, when under sentence of >
death), the “Seasons,” and sold them to the Government.
But who was this Pierre ? Unluckily for himself Lucien '
Delahodde, or Pierre himself, wrote a letter to Caussidifere, asking to be employed in the police. Caussidi&re was struck by the writing, compared it with that of the secret reports, and found it to be identical. Delahodde was invited to meet Caussidi&re at the Luxembourg, where he was made
to confess, and declare in writing, that he was the author of all the reports signed “ Pierre.” Some members of the provisional government were for shooting him, but he got off with a few months’ imprisonment in the Conciergerie. On recovering his liberty Delahodde went to London, where he published a small journal, attacking the Republic and the Republicans.
599. The Communistic societies of the Travailleurs Ibjali- taires and Communist es Rivolutionnaires introduced some of their members into the provisional government that preceded the accession of Louis Napoleon; and their influence even to the present day is too notorious to need specification here. The “Mountaineers,” or “Reds of the Mountain,” a revival of the name given during the French Revolution to the leaders of the Jacobins, was one of the societies that brought about the events of 1848. According to the Chivers of the 2nd February 1852, they swore on a dagger, “I swear by this steel, the symbol of honour, to combat and destroy all political, religious, and social tyrannies.” Secret societies continued to play at hide-and-seek after the accession of Louis Napoleon, but were not immediately put down, though he issued the most severe prohibitions against them, and the members who could be apprehended were condemned to transportation to Cayenne or Algiers; they continued to exist for some years after the coup d'itat.
600. Causes of Secret Societies in France.—The succession of secret associations against the government of Louis Philippe is not to be wondered at. The king himself was solely bent on the aggrandisement of his own dynasty, either by foreign marriages, or conferring on the members of his own family every office in the state which could secure the paramount power in directing the destinies of France. The princes had re-established the orgies of the Regency; the court, the ministers, the aristocrats, the inferior functionaries made the public offices and national institutions the objects of shameful corruption; the deputies speculated with their political functions; peers of France patronised gambling in the funds and railway scrip ; princes, ministers, ambassadors, and other personages in high positions were constantly making their appearance in the assize courts and found guilty of .swindling, forgery, rape, and murder; commercial and manufacturing interests were fearfully depressed, hence the frequent risings of the working classes; hence secret associations to put an end to this rotten condition of society.
I
VIII
POLISH SOCIETIES
601. Polish Patriotism.—It is the fashion to express great sympathy with the Poles and a corresponding degree of indignation against Russia, Austria, and Prussia; the Poles' are looked upon as a patriotic race, oppressed by their more powerful neighbours. But all this rests on mere misapprehension and ignorance of facts. The Polish people under their native rulers were abject serfs. The aristocracy were everything, and possessed everything; the people possessed nothing, not even political or civil rights, when these clashed with the whims or interests of the nobles. It is these last whose power has been overthrown—it is they who make war on and conspire against Russia, to recover (as is admitted by some of their own writers) their ancient privileges over their own countrymen, who blindly, like most nations, allow themselves to be slaughtered for the benefit of those who only seek again to rivet on the limbs of their dupes the chains which have been broken. It is like the French and Spaniards and Neapolitans fighting against their deliverer Napoleon, to bring back the Bourbon tyrants, and with them the people’s political nullity, clerical intolerance, lettres de cachet, and the Inquisition. How John Bull has been gulled by these Polish patriots! Many of them were criminals of all kinds, who succeeded in breaking out of prison, or escaping before they could be captured; and, managing to come over to this country, have here called themselves political fugitives, victims of Russian persecution, and have lived luxuriously on the credulity of Englishmen! Moreover, the documents published by Adolf Beer from the Vienna, and by Max Duncker from the Berlin archives (1874), show that the statement of Frederick the Great, that the partition of Poland was the only way of avoiding a great European war, was perfectly true.
602. Various Revolutionary Sects.—One of the first societies formed in Poland to organise the revolutionary forces of the country was that of the “ True Poles ”; but, consisting of 207
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t
j
' ?
' r
!
few persons only, it did not last long. In 1818 another sect arose, that of “ National Freemasonry,” which borrowed • j the rites, degrees, and language of Freemasonry, but aimed !
at national independence. The society was open to persons !
of all classes, but sought chiefly to enlist soldiers and officials, |
so as to turn their technical knowledge to account in the day j
of the struggle. But though numerous, the society lasted only a few years; for disunion arose among the members, and it escaped total dissolution only by transformation. It altered its rites and ceremonies, and henceforth called itself \ the “ Scythers,” in remembrance of the revolution of 1794, in which whole regiments, armed with scythes, had gone j
into battle. They met in 1821 at Warsaw, and drew up } a new revolutionary scheme, adopting at the same time the i
new denomination of “ Patriotic Society.” In the meanwhile the students of the University of Wilna had formed themselves into a secret society; which, however, was discovered by the Russian Government and dissolved. In 1822 the Patriotic Society combined with the masonic rite of “Modern Templars,” founded in Poland by Captain Maiewski; to the three rites of symbolical masonry was [
added a fourth, in which the initiated swore to do all in his [
power towards the liberation of his country. These com- j
bined societies brought about the insurrection of 1830. In j
1834 was established the society of “Young Poland”; one f
of its most distinguished members and chiefs being Simon j
Konarski, who had already distinguished himself in the insurrection of 1830. He then made his escape, and in order better to conceal himself learned the art of watchmaking.
Having returned to Poland and joined “ Young Poland,” he was discovered in 1838, and subjected to the torture to extort from him the names of his accomplices. But no revelations could be obtained from him, and he bore his sufferings with such courage that the military governor of Wilna exclaimed, “ This is a man of iron! ” A Russian officer offered to assist him in escaping, and being detected, was sent to the Caucasian army for life. Konarski was executed in 1839, the people tearing his clothes to pieces to possess a relic of him. The chains he had been loaded with were formed into rings and worn by his admirers. Men like these redeem the sins of many so-called “Polish patriots.”
603. Secret National Government.—Some time before the outbreak of the Crimean war a secret national government was formed in Poland, of course with the object of organising
an insurrection against Russia. Little was known for a long time about their proceedings. Strange stories were circulated of midnight meetings in subterranean passages; of traitors condemned by courts composed of masked and hooded judges, from whose sentence there was no appeal and no escape; of domiciliary visits from which neither the palace nor the hovel was exempt; and of corpses found nightly in the most crowded streets of the city, or on the loneliest wastes of the open country, the dagger which had killed the victim bearing a label stamped with the well-known device of the insurrectionary committee. So perfectly was the secret of the modern Vehmgericht kept that the Russian police were completely baffled in their attempts to discover its members. At that period the Poles were divided into two parties, the “ whites ” and the “ reds” ; the former representing the aristocratic, the latter the democratic element of the nation. Each had its own organisation. The whites were mostly in favour of strictly constitutional resistance; the reds were for open rebellion and an immediate appeal to arms. But a union was brought about between the two parties in consequence of the conscription introduced by Russia into Poland in 1863, which set fire to the train of rebellion that had so long been preparing. But Langiewicz, the Polish leader, having been defeated, the movements of the insurgents in the open field were arrested; though the rebellion was prolonged in other ways, chiefly with a view of inducing the Western Powers to interfere in behalf of Poland. But these naturally thought that as the Polish people, the peasantry, had taken very little share in the insurrection, and as Alexander II. had really introduced a series of reforms which materially improved the position of his Polish subjects, there was no justification for the outbreak; and therefore justice was allowed to take its course. Subsequent attempts at insurrection, with a view to re-establish the independence of Poland, were defeated by the action of Italian and other revolutionary sects, because, as Petrucelli della Gatina declared in the Chamber of Deputies at Turin in 1864, the Poles, being Roman Catholics, would, immediately on their emancipation, throw themselves at the.feet of the pope and offer him their swords, blood, and fortunes. These revolutionists are far more astute than our beloved diplomatists.
vol. n.
o
THE OMLADINA
604. The Panslavists.—The desire of the Sclavonic races, comprising Bohemians, Moravians, Silesians, Poles, Croats, Servians, and Dalmatians, to be united into one grand confederation, is of ancient date. It was encouraged by Russia as early as the days of Catherine II. and of Alexander I., who, as well as their successors, hoped to secure for themselves the hegemony in this confederation. But the Sclavonians dreaded the supremacy of Russia, and in the earlier days the Sclavonian writers subject to Austria wished to give the proposed Panslavist movement the appearance more of an intellectual and literary, than of a political ana social league. But the European revolution of 1848 infused a purely political tendency into Panslavist ideas, which already in June of the above year led to a Sclavonic-democratic insurrection at Prague, which, however, was speedily put down, Prince Windischgratz bombarding the town during two days. The further progress of the Panslavistic movement is matter of public history; but a society arose out of the Sclavonic races, whose doings have of late been brought into prominence; this society is the Omladina. The exact date of the origin of this society is not at present known ; probably it arose at the time when the Italian party of action, led by Mazzini, about 1863, attempted, by assisting the so-called national party of Servia, Montenegro, and Roumania, to cripple Austria in Italy, and so render the recovery of the Venetian territory more easy. Simon Deutsch, a Jew, who had been expelled from Austria for his revolutionary ideas, ’ and afterwards, on the same grounds, from Constantinople, who was the friend of Gambetta, an agent of the International, and of “ Young Turkey,” was one of the most active members of the society, whose inner organisation was known as the Society Slovanska Liga, the Slav Limetree. This latter, however, did not attract the attention of the authorities till 1876, when its chief, Miletich, a member of the Hungarian
Diet, was arrested at Neusalz. But the society continued to exist, and occasionally gave signs of life, as, for instance, in 1882, when it seriously talked of deposing the Prince of Montenegro, and electing Menotti Garibaldi perpetual president of the federation of the Western Balkans. At last, in January 1894, seventy-seven members of the Omladina, including journalists, printers, clerks, and artisans, mostly very young men, were put on their trial at Prague for being members of a secret society, and guilty of high treason. When the arrests began, one Mrva, better known as Rigoletto di Toscana, was assassinated by Dolezal, who afterwards was seized, and was one of the accused included in the prosecution. This Mrva had been a member of the Omladina, and was said to be a police spy. He made careful notes of all the proceedings of the society, as also of another with which he was connected, and which was called “Subterranean Prague,” the object of which was to undermine the houses of rich men, with a view to robbing them. His papers and pocket-books, which after his death fell into the hands of the police, served largely in drawing up the indictment against the Omladina. The result of the trial, ended on the 21 st February 1894, was that all the prisoners but two were convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from seven months to eight years. Whether the Omladina is killed or only scotched, remains to be seen; probably it is the latter, for the Panslavic movement it represents is alive, and will some day lead to the solution of the Eastern question. For Panslavism—of which the Omladina was the outcome—means Muscovite patriotism, and its war-cry, “Up against the unbelieving Turkish dogs! ” finds an echo in all Russia; and though the Berlin Congress has for a time checked the progress of Panslavism, yet, as we said above, it is alive.
TURKISH SOCIETIES
605. Young Turkey.—The vivifying wave of revolutionary |
ideas which swept over Europe in the first half of this cen- f
tury extended even to Turkey, and, in imitation of its effects in other countries, produced a Young Turkey, as it had pro- J
duced a Young Germany, a Young Poland, a Young Italy, |
and so on. Mr. David Urquhart, as violent a Turcophile as he was a Russophobe, attributed to Moustapha Fazyl-Pacha, |
whom-he calls a Turkish “Catiline,” the doubtful honour |
of having been the founder of Young Turkey, whose aims [
were the abolition of the Koran and of the Sultan’s authority, [
the emancipation, in fact, of Turkey from religious and civil despotism. The society did not make much progress in the earlier half of the century, hence, in 1867, a new association with the same title, and under the same chief, was formed
' at Constantinople, Paris, and London. Its objects were the same as those of the first society, with the additional aim of destroying Russian influence in the East by the emancipation of the Christian subjects of the Porte. The members of the directing committee in Paris and London were Zia Bey, Aghia-Effendi, Count Plater, a Pole, living at Zurich, Kemal Bey, and Simon Deutsch. The chief agent of the committee at Constantinople was M. Bonnal, a French banker at Pera. Moustapha Pacha agreed to contribute annually three hundred thousand francs to the funds of the association. Murad Bey, the brother of the present Sultan, is now the leader of the Young Turkey party, of which Midhat Pacha was a prominent member. Murad Bey attributes to the Sultan himself and the palace camarilla all the evils from which the country is now suffering.
606. Armenian Society.—We shall see further on (637) that the Armenians of Russia formed a secret society against that country in 1888 ; recent events (1896) have prominently brought before Europe the existence in Turkey of Armenian societies. They are organised in the same way as the old venditas of the Carbonari; that is to say, the committees do not know one another, nor even the central committee from which they receive orders. They number five, and comprise altogether about two hundred members. Each committee
TURKISH SOCIETIES 213
has a significant name. They are called Huntchak (Alarm), |
Frochak (Flag), Abdag (Bellows), Gaizag (Thunderbolt), and j
Votchintchak (Destruction). The last two are the most re- 1
cently created. The committees act according to a plan fixed a
by the occult central committee. Thus the Huntchak orga- ;
nised the demonstration in 1895 at the Porte, while the _ '!
attack on the Ottoman Bank (1896) devolved on the Frochak ?
committee. There remain three, who will have to act sue- •
cessively. In the following month of October the Armenian “
revolutionary leaders sent a letter to the French Embassy at I
Constantinople, threatening further outrages. The latest i
detailed account of the society, published in December 1896, ■
says : The discovery of seditious papers found in the posses
sion of Armenian conspirators, when arrested in December j
1896 at Kara Hissar Charki, reveals all the details of the i
revolutionary programme, circulated by the leaders of the in- ;
surrection, and imposed on their adherents. The programme includes thirty-one draconic rules, to which the members of
the numerous Armenian bands have to submit. For instance, ’
each band must be composed of at least seven members, who j
take an oath that they will submit to torture, and even to ■ . j
death, rather than betray the secrets of the society. By Rule
14 the band is ordered to carry off into the mountains any ;
unjust or cruel Ottoman official, to compel him to reveal any 1
State secret which he may possess, and even to put him to '
death. Rule 15 authorises the band to attack and plunder
the mails and couriers, but it must not assail any person ’
found travelling alone on the roads, unless it is absolutely ’
necessary in the interest of the band to do so. Any member , .
showing cowardice, when fighting, is to be shot at once. The 5
chief is the absolute master of the band, and may punish '
as he chooses any member with whom he is dissatisfied. j
Amongst some of the most stringent clauses is one which \
orders the members to act as spies upon each other, and to '
report to the chief all the doings and movements of one •
another. One of the characteristic features of the Armenian revolution is the use of numerous disguises, which enable
them to go secretly through towns and circulate arms and ;
seditious literature, pamphlets, and even pictures, with the 1
view of inciting the Armenian population against the Imperial Government. The English agitation of the present
day in favour of the Armenians shows the crass ignorance
existing in this country as to the true character of that people. ;
If the Armenians were worthy of, or fit for, the liberty they •
claim, they would do as the Swiss—a poor nation, whilst the Armenians are rich—did five hundred years ago in fighting
Austria—they would fight Turkey.
THE UNION OF SAFETY
607. Historical Sketch of Society.—Russia has ever been a hotbed of secret societies, but. to within very recent times such societies were purely local; the Russian people might revolt against some local oppression, or some subaltern tyrant, but they never rose against the emperor, they never took up arms for a political question. Whatever secret associations were formed in that country, moreover, were formed by the aristocracy, and many of them were of the most innocent nature ; it was at one time almost fashionable to belong to such a society, as there are people now who fancy it an honour to be a Freemason. But after the wars of Napoleon, the sectarian spirit spread into Russia. Some of the officers of the Russian army, after their campaigns in Central Europe, on their return to their native country felt their own degradation and the oppression under which they existed, and conceived the desire to free themselves from the same. In 1822 the then government of Russia issued a decree, prohibiting the formation of a new, or the continuance of old, secret societies. The decree embraced the masonic lodges. Every employe of the State was obliged to declare on oath that he belonged to no secret society within or without the empire ; or, if he did, had immediately to break off all connection with them, on pain of dismissal. The decree was executed with great rigour; the furniture of the masonic lodges was sold in the open streets, so as to expose the mysteries of masonry to ridicule. When the State began to prohibit secret societies, it was time to form some in right earnest. Alexander Mouravief founded the Union of Safety, whose rites and ceremonies were chiefly masonic—frightful oaths,daggers, and poison figuring largely therein. It was composed of three classes—Brethren, Men, and Boyards. The chiefs were taken from the last class. The denomination of the last degree shows how much the aristocratic element predominated in the association, which led, in fact, to the formation of a
society still more aristocratic, that of the “ Russian Knights,” which aimed at obtaining for the Russian people a constitutional charter, and counteracting the secret societies of Poland, whose object was to restore Poland to its ancient state, that is to say, absolutism on the part of the nobles, and abject slavery on the part of the people. The two societies eventually coalesced into one, under the denomination of the “ Union for the Public Weal ”; but, divided in its counsels, it was dissolved in 1821, and a new society formed under the title of the “ Union of the Boyards.” The programme of this union at first was to reduce the imperial power to a level with that of the President of the United States, and to form the empire into a federation of provinces. But gradually their views became more advanced; a republic was proposed, and the emperor, Alexander I., was to be put to death. The more moderate and respectable members withdrew from the society, and after a short time it was dissolved, and its papers and documents carefully burnt. The revolutions of Spain, Naples, and Upper Italy led Pestel, a man who had been a member of all the former secret societies, to form a new one, with the view of turning Russia into a republic; the death of Alexander again formed part of the scheme. But circumstances were not favourable to the conspirators, and the project fell to the ground. Another society, called the North, sprang into existence, of which Pestel again was the leading spirit. In 1824, the “ Union of the Boyards ” heard of the existence of the Polish Patriotic Society. It was determined to invite their cooperation. The terms were speedily arranged. The Boyards bound themselves to acknowledge the independence of Poland; and the Poles promised to entertain or amuse the Archduke Constantine at Warsaw whilst the ^revolution was being accomplished in Russia. Both countries were to adopt the republican form of government. This latter condition, however, made by the Poles, displeased the Boyards, who, themselves lusting after power, did not see in a republic the opportunity of obtaining it. The Boyards therefore united themselves with another society, that of the “ United Slavonians,” founded in 1823 by a lieutenant of artillery, named Borissoff, small in numbers, but daring. As the name implied, it proposed a Slavonian confederation under the names of Russia, Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Dalmatia, and Transylvania. The insurrection was on the point of breaking out; but the Emperor Alexander had already (in June 1823), by the revelations of Sherwood, an Englishman in Russian
216 SECRET SOCIETIES
service, who was ennobled, received some intimation of the plot, but seems to have neglected taking precautions; whilst he was lying ill at Taganrog, Count De Witt brought him further news of the progress of the conspiracy, but the emperor was too near his death for active measures. He died, in fact, a few days after of typhoid fever he had caught in the Crimea. It was rumoured that he died of poison, but such was not the case: the report of Sir James Wylie, who was with him to the last, disproves the rumour. Besides, it is certain that the conspirators were guiltless of the emperor’s death, since it took them unprepared and scattered at inconvenient distances over the empire. Immediately on Alexander’s death General Diebitsch, commanding at Kieff, ordered Colonel Pestel and about a dozen officers to be arrested. But the conspirators did not therefore give up their plan. They declared Nicholas, who succeeded Alexander, to be a usurper, his elder brother Constantine being the rightful heir to the throne. But Constantine had some years before signed a deed of abdication in favour of his brother, which however was not publicly known; and Alexander I. having died without naming his successor, the conspirators took advantage of this neglect to further their own purposes. But they were not supported by the bulk of the army or the people; still, when it came to taking the oath of fidelity to the new emperor, an insurrection broke out at St. Petersburg, which was only quelled by a cruel and merciless massacre of the rebellious soldiers. Pestel, with many others, was executed, but his equanimity never deserted him, and he died with sealed lips, though torture is said to have been employed to wring confessions from him. Prince Troubetskoi, who had been appointed Dictator by the conspirators, but who at the last moment pusillanimously betrayed them, was nevertheless by the merciless Nicholas I. exiled to Siberia for life, and condemned for fourteen years to work in the mines, and he belonged to a family which had, with the Romanoffs, competed for the throne!
These secret societies, with another discovered at Moscow in 1838, whose members were some of the highest nobles of the empire, and who were punished by being scattered in the army as private soldiers—these secret societies were the precursors of the Nihilists, whose history we have now to tell.
THE NIHILISTS
“There are alarmists who confer upon the issuers of these revolutionary [Nihilistic] tracts the dignified title of a secret society, . . . but the political atmosphere of the country [Russia] ... is no longer so favourable as it used to be to their development.”
—Athenaeum, 29th January 1870.
“A political movement that is perhaps the most mysterious and romantic the world has ever known.”—Athenaeum, 23rd September 1882.
“Nihilism is the righteous arid honourable resistance of a people crushed under an iron foe ; Nihilism is evidence of life. . . . Nihilism is crushed humanity’s only means of making the oppressor tremble.”
—Wendell Phillips (in speech at Harvard University).
608. Meaning of the term Nihilist.—When the first edition of this work was published, but scanty information concerning this society had as yet reached Western Europe. As will be seen by the first quotation above, its scope and importance were at that date not understood; twelve years after, the same publication in eloquent and—coming from such an authority—significant language paid due honour to it. And indeed since 1870 the Nihilists have made their existence known to the world both by burning words and astounding deeds, which we will record as concisely as possible.
The term “Nihilist” was first used by Turgheneff, the novelist, in his “ Fathers and Sons,” where one of the characters, Arkadi, describes his friend Bazaroff as a “Nihilist.” “ A Nihilist ? ” says his interlocutor. “ As far as I understand the term, a Nihilist is a man who admits nothing.”—“Or rather, who respects nothing,” is the reply. “A man who bows to no authority, who accepts no principle without examination, however high this principle may stand in the opinions of men.” This was Turgheneff’s original definition of a Nihilist; at present he means something very different. The term was at first used in a contemptuous sense, but afterwards was accepted from party pride by those against whom it was employed, just as the term of Gueux had in a 2I7 .
! 218 secret societies
: ■ former age been adopted by the nobility of the Netherlands. - '
609. Founders of Nihilism.—The original Nihilists were not conspirators at all, but formed a literary and philosophical society, which, however, now is quite extinct. It
: flourished between i860 and 1870. Its transformation to
✵ the actual Nihilism is due, in a great measure, to the Paris
Communists and the International, whose proceedings led the youth of Russia to form secret societies, having for their object the propagation of the Liberal ideas which had long : before then been preached by Bakunin and Herzen, who
✵ may indeed be looked upon as the real fathers of Nihilism,
with whom may be joined Cernisceffski, who, in 1863, published his novel, “What is to be Done?” for which he was sentenced to exile in Siberia, but which mightily stirred up the revolutionary spirit of Russia. Herzen, who died in : ' 1869, aimed only at a peaceful transformation of the Russian
empire; but Bakunin, who died in 1878, dreamt of its violent overthrow by means of a revolution and fraternisa- - tion with other European States equally revolutionised.
Even during his lifetime an ultra-Radical party was formed, ■ ■ having for its organ the Onward, founded in 1874 by Lavroff,
’ whose programme was, “The party of action is not to waste
’ its energies on future organisation, but to proceed at once
to the work of destruction.”
610. Sergei Nechayeff.—Another important and influential personage in the early days of Nihilism was Sergei Nechayeff, a self-educated man, and at the time when he first became active as a conspirator, in 1869, a teacher at a school in St. Petersburg. He advocated the overthrow, though not the ; death, of the Tsar. But the conspiracy was prematurely
discovered; Nechayeff had an intimate friend, the student ; '' Ivanoff, but ultimately they disagreed in political matters,
• and Ivanoff, declaring that his friend was going too far,
* threatened to leave the secret association. This was looked
upon as an act of treason, and on the 21st November 1869 Nechayeff slew Ivanoff in a grotto near the Academy of ; . Agriculture at Moscow. This murder led to the discovery
of the society, and eighty-seven members thereof were tried. in 1871. Prince Cherkesoff was implicated in this attempt; he had on several occasions supplied the required funds. He was deprived of his rights and privileges, and banished ' to Siberia for five years. Nechayeff himself escaped to
Switzerland, but so great were his powers of organisation , and persuasion that the Russian Government set a high
price on his head, and finally succeeded in obtaining his extradition from Switzerland, no less than 20,000 francs being paid to the Zurich Prefect of Police, Pfenniger, who facilitated the extradition, which, according to all accounts, was more like an act of kidnapping. The Municipal Council strongly protested, and passed a resolution that even common criminals should not be given up to such Governments as those of Russia and Turkey. Nechayeff was sentenced to twenty years’ penal servitude in Siberia, but he was too important a person to be trusted out of sight, and so he was confined in the most secure portion of the fortress Peter and Paul. For a time he was kept in chains fastened to a metal rod, so that he could neither lie down, stand up, nor sit with any approach to ease. But even in prison he never lost an opportunity of making converts; he received visits from high officials, nay, the emperor himself “interviewed ” him. Of course all these visits were paid with a view of sounding him about the forces and prospects of the revolutionary party, but he remained true to them; and with wonderful self-abnegation preferred remaining in prison to delaying the killing of the Tsar, which delay would have been necessary had his friends undertaken his deliverance. In 1882 the friendly guards around him were arrested, and nothing more was ever heard of Nechayeff beyond the fact that he was cruelly beaten with rods in consequence of a dispute with the inspector of the prison, and died shortly after. Some suppose that he committed suicide, others that he was killed by the effects of the blows. He was keenly lamented by all the Nihilists, for all recognised his ability, his courage, and utter disregard of self.
611. Going among the People.—One of the earliest effects of the newly-awakened enthusiasm for social and political freedom was the eagerness with which young men, and .women too, went “among the people.” The sons and daughters, not only of respectable, but of wealthy and aristocratic, families renounced the comforts and security of home, the love and esteem of their relatives, the advantages of rank and position, to associate with the working classes and the peasantry, dressing, faring, and working like and with them, with the object of instilling into them ideas as to the rights of humanity and citizenship; of expounding to them the principles of Socialism and of the revolution. Thus in the winter of 1872, in a hovel near St. Petersburg, Prince Krapotkine gathered round him a number of working-men; Obuchoff, a rich Cossack, did the same on the banks of the
’ 220 SECRET SOCIETIES
river Don; Leonidas Sciseko, an officer, became a handweaver in one of the St. Petersburg manufactories to carry on the propaganda there; Demetrius Rogaceff, another officer, and a friend of his, went into the province of Tver, , as sawyers, to spread their doctrines among the peasants;
Sophia Perovskaia, who, like Krapotkine, belonged to the highest aristocracy—her father was Governor-General of St. Petersburg—took to vaccinating village children; in the
. secret memoir drawn up in 1875 by order of Count Pahlen,
the then Russian Minister of Justice, we also find the names of the daughters of three actual Councillors of State, the daughter of a general, Loschem von Herzfeld, as engaged
' in this propaganda; and from the same document it appears
that as early as the years 1870 and 1871 as many as thirty
; seven revolutionary “ circles ” were in existence in as many .
provinces, most of which had established schools, factories, workshops, depots of forbidden books, and “flying sheets,” for
s the propagation of revolutionary ideas. But though the pro: pagandists met with some successes among the more educated
classes, and received great pecuniary assistance from them
j —thus Germoloff, a student, sacrificed his whole fortune,
; maintaining several friends at the Agricultural Academy of
’ Moscow; Voinaralski, an ex-Justice of the Peace, gave forty
thousand roubles to the propaganda — yet among the peasantry their successes were not equal to their energy and zeal. The Russian peasants, too ignorant to understand their teachers, or too timid to follow their advice, were not to be stirred up to assert the rights belonging to the citizens
i of any State. Moreover, the young men and women, who
went forth as the apostles of revolution, were lacking in experience and caution; hence they attracted the attention of Government, and many were arrested. How many was
' never known. The propaganda was stamped out with every
r circumstance of cruelty, the gaols were filled with prisoners,
; the penal settlements with convicts; half the students at the
universities were in durance, and the other half under the : ban of the law.
612. Nihilism becomes Aggressive.— Nihilism doctrinaire i having thus proved a failure, it became Nihilism militant.
The Nihilists who had escaped the gallows, imprisonment,
• or exile, determined that revolutionary agitation was to
take the place of a peaceful propaganda. They began by forming themselves into groups in different districts, whose object it was to carry on their agitation among those
. . peasants only whom they knew as cautious and prudent
THE NIHILISTS' 221
people. The St. Petersburg group was at first, 1876-78, contemptuously called “ The Troglodytes,” but afterwards, after the paper published by them, “Land and Liberty.” There was also a large “group ” at Moscow. Most of its members had been students at the Zurich University; it included several girls, one of whom was Bardina, of whom more in the next section. Some of them had entered into sham marriages, which they themselves, in their letters, called farces, and which were performed without any religious ceremony, and were, in most cases, never consummated, their object being simply to render the women independent, and to enable them to obtain passports, and at many a trial it was proved that these women had, in spite of their adventurous lives and intimate association with men, preserved their virtue unimpaired. But the groups, though they held their ground with varying fortunes for several years, remained without results; the immensity of Russia, the vis inertia of the peasantry, and the necessity of acting with the utmost circumspection, rendered these local efforts futile. The leaders at Moscow wrote despairingly. Thus in a letter from Sdanowitch to the members at Ivanovo, a village of cotton-spinners, we read: “The news from the south are unsatisfactory. . . . We send you books and revolvers. . . . Kill, shoot, work, create riots! ” There seems to have been no scarcity of books or money: one member of the association was found in possession of 8545 roubles in cash, a note for 1100 roubles, and 300 prohibited books, and with another 2450 prohibited books were discovered. The central administration at Moscow, which became necessary when, after the arrests in March 1875, the members went to the provinces, provided books, money, addresses, and false passports; carried on correspondence (in cipher), gave warning of approaching danger and notice of the arrest of brethren, and kept up communication with prisoners. But this Moscow society was discovered in August 1875, and totally extinguished.
613. Sophia Bardina's and other Trials.—But Nihilism was not to be suppressed. It continued to gather strength, even among the peasantry, as was shown by the trial of Alexis Ossipoff, who in 1876 was condemned to nine years’ penal servitude for having distributed prohibited books. For the same offence Alexandra Boutovskaia, a young girl, was sentenced in the same year to four years’ penal servitude.
In March 1877 a new revolutionary society was dis-
F
222
SECBET SOCIETIES
I I
covered at Moscow; of fifty prisoners, whose ages ranged from fifteen to twenty-five years, three were condemned to ten years’ penal servitude, six to nine years (two of them were young girls), one to five years; the rest were shut up in prisons, or exiled to distant provinces. Sophia Bardina, then aged twenty-three, was one of the prisoners, the daughter of a gentleman; she had on leaving college received a diploma and a gold medal; but to further the Socialistic propaganda, she took a situation as an ordinary work-woman in a factory. Accused of having distributed Liberal pamphlets among the factory hands, she was imprisoned, and kept in close confinement for two years, without being brought to trial; she was included in the trial of the fifty, and sentenced to nine years’ penal servitude in Siberia. On being asked what she had to say why sentence should not be passed, she made one of the most splendid speeches ever heard in a court of law. In her peroration, she said, “I am convinced that our country, now asleep, will awake, and its awakening will be terrible. . . . It will no longer allow its rights to be trampled under foot, and its children to be buried alive in the mines of Siberia. . . . Society will shake off its infamous yoke, and avenge us. And this revenge will be terrible. . . . Persecute, assassinate us, judges and executioners, as long as you command material force, we shall resist you with moral force; . . . for we have with us the ideas of liberty and equality, and your bayonets cannot pierce them! ”
Then came the monster trial of the one hundred and ninety-three. The whole number of persons implicated in this prosecution originally amounted to seven hundred and seventy. Of the one hundred and ninety-three who were tried, ninety-four were acquitted; thirty-six were exiled to Siberia, and Myschkin, one of the leaders, sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude. Seventy prisoners are said to have died before they were brought. to trial; the investigations in the trial lasted four years.
At these and other trials which took place in various provinces of Russia, the prisoners conducted themselves with the utmost courage and resolution. The Russian people appreciated their self-sacrificing patriotism. “ They are saints!” was the exclamation frequently heard from the lips of even such person's as did not approve of the objects of the accused.
614. The Party of Terror.—The Nihilists continued to put forth manifestoes, in which they distinctly stated their
THE NIHILISTS 223 j
. . ■ J
demands. Whilst (justly) accusing the highest officials and “r
dignitaries of dishonourable conduct, avarice, and barbarous 1
brutality, they demanded their removal from the entourage ?
of the emperor, to whom they then intended no harm. It was the court camarilla they were aiming at, and the sup- .
pression of the emperor’s private chancellery, commonly 'i
called “ the Third Division.” ■ But the more ardent Nihilists :
were for more drastic measures, and a portion of the party, ;
represented by their organ, Land and Liberty, seceded, and I
took the name of the “ Party of the People,” which section , i
was in 1878 divided again, and the seceders called themselves >'
the “ Party of Terror,” and were represented by the Will i
of the People. The party had no definite plans at first; its ?
first overt act was Solovieff’s attempt on the life of the j
emperor (617). And the Government seemed to play into •
the hands of the Terrorists. It did everything it could to goad the people to desperation: the merest suspicion led to .
arrest; ten, twelve, fifteen years of hard labour were in- j
,flicted for two or three speeches made in private to a few j
working-men; spies were employed by Government to obtain, . jl
by false pretences, admittance to Nihilistic meetings, in •
order to betray the members. Naturally the Nihilists reta- ;
liated by planting their daggers into such traitors as they discovered and could reach. Thus Gorenovitch, originally a member of the propaganda, who had betrayed his companions, was, in September 1876, dangerously wounded, •
and his face disfigured for life by sulphuric acid; in the ?
same month and year, Tawlejeff was assassinated at Odessa ; ,
and in July 1877, Fisogenoff at St. Petersburg. i
615. Vera Zassidie.—But the signal for the outbreak of ’
the terrorism, which distinguished the latter phases of
Nihilism, was given, unintentionally, by the shot fired by ' ]
the revolver of Vera Zassulic on 24th January 1878. General '
Trepoff, the chief of the St. Petersburg police, had ordered • )
a political prisoner, Bogolinboff, to be flogged for a slight i
breach of prison discipline. Vera Zassulic made herself the instrument to punish this offence. Her life had been j
an apprenticeship for it. She was then twenty-six, and at ?
the age of seventeen she had been arrested and kept in con- ’
finement two years, because she had received letters for a :
revolutionist. She had then passed her first examination as ,
a teacher, and was working at bookbinding. At the end of i
two years she was released, but in a very few days was seized .
again, and sent from place to place, and finally placed at Kharkoff, nearly two years under police supervision. At the
224 SECRET SOCIETIES
end of 1875 she returned to St. Petersburg. Her experiences had prepared her for her deed: she knew what solitary confinement was, and the resentment of Russian society against Trepoff— for even persons without revolutionary tendencies called him the Bashi-bazouk of St. Petersburg— became in her mind a conviction that he must be punished, though she had no personal acquaintance either with Bogo- linboff or Trepoff. She waited on the latter, presented a paper to him, and while he was reading it, fired her revolver at him, inflicting a dangerous wound, and then allowed herself to be seized, without offering any resistance. Though the attempt was rfot denied at her trial, the jury pronounced her “ Not guilty,” and the verdict was unanimously approved as the expression of public opinion in Russia. Men saw in the acquittal a condemnation of the whole system of police, and especially of its chief, General Trepoff. Vera Zassulic was declared to be free; but in the adjoining street her carriage was stopped by the police; a riot ensued, for the people would not allow her to be seized again, and in the commotion Zassulic made her escape, and after a while found refuge in Switzerland. The emperor was furious at her acquittal, went in person to pay a visit of condolence to his vile tool Trepoff—whom he made a Councillor of State—and then ransacked the whole city in search of Zassulic, to put her in prison again.
616. Officials Killed or Threatened by the Nihilists.—The attempt of Zassulic was followed on the 16th August by the more successful one on General Mesentsoff, chief of the third section of police, who had become notorious by being implicated in a trial about a forged will and false bills of exchange. Taking advantage of his irresponsible position, he caused all the witnesses who might have appeared against him to be assassinated. It was known that he starved the prisoners under his charge, subjected them to all kinds of cruelty, loaded the sick with chains, “ all by express orders of the emperor.” The Nihilists resolved he must die. On 16th August 1878, just as he was leaving a confectioner’s shop in St. Michael’s Square, two persons fired several shots at him with revolvers. He fell, and his assailants,1 leaping into a droschky which was waiting for them, made good their escape, and fled in the direction of the Newski Prospect. One of them was a literary man, who in 1883 lived in Germany. His name was frequently mentioned in
1 Stepniak, after his death in 1895, was accused by the Russian press . of having been one of them. See section 645.
connection with German literature. General Mesentsoff died the same day at five in the afternoon. In a pamphlet entitled Death for Death, which appeared directly after, the writer declared political assassination to be both a just and efficacious means of fighting the Government, which the writer’s party would continue to use, unless police persecutions ceased, political accusations were tried before juries, and a full amnesty granted for all previous political offences. But the Government showed no intention of granting any such reforms. Its severity was increased, and trial by jury, in cases of political offences, entirely suspended. Special courts were instituted, guaranteed to pass sentences in accordance with the Tsar’s wishes. In September 1878, the St. Petersburg organisation called “ Land and Liberty,” and consisting of about sixty members, was broken up. A great many were imprisoned, others made their escape, but by the energy of four or five members the society was not only re-established, but was enabled to erect a printing-press, on which their paper, called after the. society, was regularly printed. The Tsar having appealed to “ Society ” to assist him in putting down the revolutionary agitators, the attempts of “ Society ” to do so led to numerous riots, and in St. Petersburg and Kieff, meetings of students were dispersed by policemen and Cossacks, many of the students being wounded, and some killed. An association of working-men, comprising about two hundred members, whose objects in reality were only Socialistic, was betrayed by the Jewish spy Reinstein, and about fifty of the working-men were imprisoned. Rein stein, however, met his reward by being killed soon after by the Nihilists.
On the 9th February 1879, Prince Alexis Krapotkine, a cousin of the famous agitator, Peter Krapotkine, and Governor of Kharkoff, was shot on returning home from a ball, as a punishment of his inhuman treatment of the prisoners under his charge, which had led the latter to organise “ hunger-mutinies ” (638), many of them preferring starving themselves to death rather than any longer undergoing the cruelties the governor practised upon them. Goldenberg, their avenger, made good his escape.
On March 12, General Drenteln, the Chief of the Secret Police, was fired at by a Nihilist called Mirski, who managed to escape. The causes of the attempt were: firstly, that Drenteln had caused a prisoner to be hanged for trying to escape; secondly, his general cruelty, which had provoked
VOL. IL P
another “ hunger-mutiny and lastly, his having sent many Nihilists to prison.
617. first Attempts against the Emperor's Life.—Thus we see that the persons aimed at by the Nihilists gradually rose in rank, and the logical conclusion of aiming at the highest, at the Tsar himself, could not be evaded. The idea came to several persons simultaneously. As early as the autumn of 1878 a mine was laid at Nikolaieff, on the Black Sea, to blow up the emperor; but it was discovered by the police, the only one they did discover. About the same time A. Solovieff, who had been a teacher, but who on becoming a Socialist learned the trade of a blacksmith that he might thus place himself into closer connection with the labouring classes, came to St. Petersburg with the intention of killing the emperor. At the same period Goldenberg, still elated with his successful attempt on Prince Krapotkine, also reached the Russian capital with the same object in view— the death of the Tsar. Solovieff and Goldenberg entered into communication with some of the chiefs of “ Land and Liberty,” and eventually Solovieff undertook the task. On the 2nd April 1879, he fired four shots at the emperor as the latter was walking up and down in front of the palace. Solovieff was seized, tried on the 6th June following, of course found guilty, and hanged on the 9th of the same month. At the trial he declared himself a foe of the Government and a foe of the emperor, and at his execution he preserved his composure to the last.
618. Numerous Executions.—After Solovieff’s attempt a virtual state of siege was established throughout the whole Russian empire, and a police order was issued at St. Petersburg requiring each householder to keep a dvornik, or watchman, day and night at the door of the house to see who went in and out, and that no placards were affixed. In the month of May there were 4700 political prisoners in the Fort Petropowlovski, who were removed in one night to eastern prisons, to make room for those newly arrested. Eight hundred prisoners, under strong escort, were drafted off from Odessa to Siberia. In the same month the trial took place at Kieff of the persons who, about a year before, had resisted the police sent to arrest them for being in possession of a secret printing-press. Four of the accused were cited as unknown persons, because they refused to give their names and were unknown to the police, but during the trial the names of two of them oozed out. Ludwig Brandtner and one of the unknown, but calling himself
THE NIHILISTS
227
Antonoff, were sentenced to be shot. The Governor-General of Kieff, however, ordered them to be hanged. Three others, and Nathalie Armfeldt, daughter of a State Councillor, Mary Kovalevski, ranked as a noble, and Ekaterine Sarandovitch, daughter of a civil servant, were condemned to hard labour for fourteen years and ten months. Ekaterine Politzinoy, the daughter of a retired staff-captain, for not informing the police of what she knew of the doings of the other prisoners, was sentenced to four years’ hard labour. At another trial, held a day after, two other Nihilists, Osinsky and Sophia von Herzfeldt, were condemned to be shot.
619. The Moscow Attempt against the Emperor.—On the 17th to the 21 st June the Nihilists held a congress at Lipezk (province of Tomboff), at which Scheljaboff, a prominent leader, maintained, as we learn from his “Life,” written by Tichomiroff, that since the Government officials, such as Todleben at Odessa, and Tschertkov at Kieff, were simply the tools of the Tsar, this latter must be personally punished, which was agreed to by his colleagues. It was decided to blow up the imperial train during the journey of the emperor from the Crimea to St. Petersburg. The mines under the railway line were laid at three different points—near Odessa, near Alexandrovsk, and near Moscow. But owing to a change in the emperor’s itinerary, the Odessa mine had to be abandoned; in that at, Alexandrovsk, the capsule, owing to some defect, did not explode, though the battery was closed at the right moment, and the imperial train passed uninjured over a precipice, to the bottom of which it would have been hurled by the slightest shock; near Moscow alone the terrorists made at least an attempt. They had purchased a small house close to the railway, and Leo Hartmann, an electrician, Sophia Perovskaia, and others, excavated a passage, commencing in the house and ending under the rails. The work was nearly all done by hand, and owing to the wet weather the passage was always full of water, so that the miners had to work drenched in freezing water, standing in it up to their knees. The attempt to blow . up the emperor’s carriage was made on the 1st December 1879, but his train, fortunately for him, preceding instead of following the baggage-train, the latter only suffered. When, after the explosion, the cottage was searched some of the apparatus, and even an untouched meal, were found; but the inmates had all disappeared, and were not afterwards apprehended, though many hundreds were sent to prison on the denunciation of Goldenberg (616), who a few days
✵’
i
1
1"
1 . ' ' '
p'■ 228 SECRET SOCIETIES
; ' before the Moscow attempt had been seized by the police
with a quantity of dynamite in his possession, and who, to benefit himself, as he hoped, betrayed a great number of his r fellow-Nihilists. Finding that he did not thereby obtain
✵ any alleviation of his own fate, he committed suicide.
• 620. Various Nihilist Trials. — Another great trial of
Nihilists took place at Odessa in August. Twenty-eight prisoners were tried, of whom three were sentenced to be hanged. They were Joseph Davidenko, son of a private ' soldier, and Sergay Tchoobaroff and Dmitri Lizogoob, gentle; men. The latter, who had sacrificed nearly his whole for-
। tune, a large one, to the “ cause,” and of whom Stepniak
✵ gives so moving an account in his “Underground Russia,”
justly styling him “The Saint of Nihilism,” was betrayed by his steward, Drigo, the Government having promised to give him what still remained of Lizogoob’s patrimony, about Z4000. The other prisoners were sentenced to various terms of hard labour in the mines, ranging from fifteen to : ’ twenty years.
In December another important trial of Nihilists was heard before the Odessa military tribunal. The most prominent prisoner was Victor Maleenka, a gentleman, who was tried for the attempt made three years before to murder ; Nicholas Gorenovitch, for having betrayed some of his
? fellow-Nihilists (614). It appeared that Gorenovitch had
been enticed to a lonely place in Odessa, where Maleenka . felled him with blows on the head, while a companion threw
sulphuric acid over what was supposed to be the corpse of ' Gorenovitch, in order to destroy all traces. But the victim
survived, and appeared as a witness at the trial. He presented a horrible appearance: the acid had destroyed his sight and all his features, and even his ears; consequently r his head was enveloped in a white cloth, leaving nothing
’ but his chin visible. It may, by the way, be mentioned,
: that he was then inflicting his awful presence on poor people
as a scripture reader, being led about by a devoted sister. Maleenka and two of his fellow-prisoners were sentenced to be hanged. >
621. Explosion in the Winter Palace.—The failure of the Moscow attempt did not discourage the Nihilists. They now adopted the title of “The Will of the People,” and though in January 1880 two of their secret printing-presses , were discovered and seized by the police, and numerous arrests
were made, they managed to issue on the 26th January a ? programme, in which they declared that unless the Govern-
ment granted constitutional rights, the emperor must die. The emperor replied by ordering greater severity and more arrests. Then the Nihilists planned a fresh attempt, more daring than any previous one, to blow up the emperor in his own palace. Its execution was undertaken by Chalturin, the son of a peasant, a very energetic agitator and experienced organiser of workmen’s unions. Being also a clever cabinetmaker he easily, under the assumed name of Batyschkoff, obtained a situation in the imperial palace; he ascertained that the emperor’s dining-hall was above the cellar in which the carpenters were at work, though between it and the latter there was the guardroom, used by the sentinels of the palace, and his plans were made accordingly. So blind and stupid were the Russian police that—though towards the end of the year 1879 (Chalturin found employment in the palace in the month of October) a plan of the Winter Palace, in which the dining-hall was marked with a cross, was found on a member of the Executive Committee who had been apprehended, in consequence of which the police made a sudden irruption into the carpenters’ quarters—nothing was discovered, yet Chalturin used a packet of dynamite every night for his pillow ! A gendarme, however, was installed in the carpenters’ cellars, and a stricter surveillance exercised over all persons entering or leaving the palace. This rendered the introduction of dynamite exceedingly difficult, and greatly delayed the execution of the project.
It may here incidentally be mentioned that what may appear to the reader to have been an exceptionally difficult undertaking, viz., to introduce dynamite into the imperial palace itself, was, after all, very easy. The Winter Palace, till then always—a change was made after the attempt—had been a refuge for numberless vagabonds, workmen, friends of servants, and others, many without passports, who could not have lived anywhere else in the capital with impunity. It appears there is an old law which gives right of sanctuary, as far as regards the ordinary police, to criminals taking refuge in an imperial palace. When General Gourko searched the Winter Palace, it was found that no fewer than five thousand persons had been living in it, and no one knew the precise duties of half of them. Chalturin gave startling accounts of the disorder pervading the palace, and of the robberies committed by servants. They gave parties of their own, invited scores of friends, who freely went in and out, yea, stayed overnight, whilst the grand staircase remained inaccessible to even highly-placed officials. The servants were such thieves that
Chalturin, not to excite their suspicions, was compelled occasionally to take food and other trifles as “ perquisites.” True, the wages of the upper domestic servants were only fifteen roubles a month.
To resume our narrative. Chalturin suffered terribly from headaches, caused by the poisonous exhalation of the nitroglycerine on which his head rested at night. However, he continued to work on without exciting any suspicion, yea, the gendarme on guard tried to secure the clever workman, who at Christmas had received a gratuity of a hundred roubles, for his son-in-law. At last fifty kilogrammes of dynamite had been introduced; the Executive Committee urged Chalturin to action ; and on the 5th February 1880 the explosion took place, Chalturin having had time to leave the palace before it occurred. It pierced the two stone floors, and made a gap ten feet long and six feet wide in the dininghall, in which a grand dinner in honour of the Prince of Bulgaria was laid. Through an accidental delay the imperial family had not yet assembled, and thus escaped total destruction. The explosion killed five men of the palace guard, and injured thirty-five—some accounts say fifty-three. Some of the parties implicated in the plot were brought to trial in November 1880, but Chalturin was not captured till early in 1882 ; he was hanged on the 22nd March of that year, and only then recognised as the cabinetmaker of the Winter Palace. The Executive Committee, in a proclamation, regretted the soldiers who had perished, but expressed its determination to kill the emperor, unless he granted the constitutional reforms asked for. The Tsar, in reply, invested Count Loris-Melikoff with unlimited authority as Dictator. The attempt on the latter’s life, made on- 3rd March by Hipo- lyte Joseph Kaladetski, for which he suffered death on the 5th, was not prompted by the Executive Committee, who, on the contrary, expressed their disapproval of it, because Count Melikoff had shown some tendency towards Liberal ideas.
622. Assassination of the Emperor.—During the remainder of the year 1880, large numbers of suspected persons were arrested, tried by a secret tribunal, and many of the prisoners condemned to death or transportation to Siberia. In the previous year, 11,448 convicts were despatched eastward, and in the spring of 1880 there were in the prisons at Moscow 2973 prisoners awaiting transportation to Siberia and hard labour in the mines or government factories. But the Nihilistic movement, instead of being killed, acquired fresh strength by these wholesale persecutions; the
►
♦
Tsar, in his blind fury, seemed bent on his destruction—and it was nearer than he anticipated. The Executive Committee determined that now the emperor must die. Fortyseven volunteers presented themselves to make the attempt on his life. On the 13th March 1881, the Tsar was assassinated. Returning from a military review near St. Petersburg, a bomb was thrown by Ryssakoff, which exploded in the rear of the carriage, injuring several soldiers. The emperor alighted, and a second bomb, thrown with greater precision, by Ignatius Grinevizki, exploded and shattered both the legs of the emperor below the knees, tore open the lower part of his body, and drove one of his eyes out of its socket. Within one hour and a half the Tsar was dead. Grinevizki was seized, but he was himself so injured that he died shortly after his arrest. He was the son of a small farmer, who with great difficulty for some time managed to keep his family, consisting of eleven persons, but eventually fell into difficulties; his farm was sold, and he became insane. Ignatius, in the greatest poverty, attended several schools. In 1875 he was sent, as the best scholar of his class, to the Technological Institution at St. Petersburg; there he joined the students’ unions for Radical purposes, in which, by his activity and address, he soori acquired great influence. In 1879 he would have been satisfied with a moderate constitution, but seeing that there was no prospect of even that small boon, he joined the Terrorists, working with and for them till the great work of his life was assigned to him. The Nihilists ascribe to him the fame of a Brutus, of Harmodius, and Aristogeiton! Return we to the other actors in this historic tragedy.
The signal for throwing the bombs had been given by Jessy Helfmann and Sophia Perovskaia, who were on the watch, waving their handkerchiefs. She and Helfmann were arrested, as also some of the other conspirators, Kibalcie, Micailoff, and Ryssakoff, and, with the exception of Helfmann, who, being four months pregnant, was reprieved, were hanged on the 15th April following. All the prisoners died like heroes; Perovskaia even retained the colour in her cheeks to the last. But the execution was a “ butchery.” (See Kolnische Zeitung and London Times of 16th April 1881.)
623. The Mine in Garden Street.—On the 25th March the’ revolutionary correspondence found on the prisoners led to the discovery of the conspirators’ quarters in Telejewskaia Street, where Timothy Michailoff was arrested. A copy of
the proclamation of the new Tsar’s ascent to the throne was found on him, on the back of which were marked in pencil three places of the city, with certain hours and days against each. One place thus indicated was a confectioner’s shop at the corner of Garden Street. Just round the corner from this confectioner’s in Garden Street was a cheesemonger’s shop, kept by one Kobizoff and his wife, whose mysterious disappearance on the day of the assassination led to the discovery of a mine under the street. From subsequent discoveries it became evident that this mine was not intended to blow up the emperor, but to stop his carriage, and afford others time to assassinate him, after the fashion of the haycart, which stopped General Prim’s carriage at Madrid.
624. Constitution said to have been Granted by late Emperor. —It was said that the day before his death the emperor had signed a Constitution, and that by their action the Nihilists had deprived their country of the benefits it would have conferred. But what he had signed was merely the appointment of a representative commission to consider whether provincial institutions might not be widened, and the calling together of the zemskij sobor, or communal council, a measure Loris-Melikoff had strongly advised him to adopt, as a means of enlisting the people’s co-operation in putting down Nihilism, the minister taking care to remind the emperor that such an assembly would, after all, be only deliberative, and that the final decision would always remain with the crown. The whole scheme was a mere blind to allay public discontent, with no intention on the Tsar’s part of relinquishing any portion of his absolute prerogatives. The emperor’s death thus did not deprive the Russian of any substantial benefit, but saved them a delusion.
625. The Nihilist Proclamation.—Ten days after the Tsar Alexander II. had been put to death, the Executive Committee issued their nobly-conceived and expressed proclamation to his successor, Alexander III., in which, on condition of the emperor granting (1) complete freedom of speech, (2) complete freedom of the press, (3) complete freedom of public meeting, (4) complete freedom of election, and (5) a general amnesty for all political offenders, they declare their party will submit unconditionally to the National Assembly which meets upon the basis of the above conditions. Hundreds of Easter eggs containing this proclamation were scattered about the streets of Moscow at Easter time. Nay, a rumour was then universally current in St. Petersburg, that the Nihilists had deputed one of their number to wait on
the Emperor Alexander and explain to him in unambiguous words what they really wanted. The emperor received him, and after having heard what he had to say, ordered him to be placed in durance in the Fortress Petropowlovski; the police, however, failed to find any clue to his identity. So runs the story, and there is nothing improbable in it, considering the daring-self-sacrifice which characterises all the acts of the Nihilists.
626. The Emperor’s Reply thereto.—The emperor’s reply to the Nihilistic proclamation, asking for such constitutional rights as are possessed by every civilised nation, was given in a manifesto, issued on the nth May, in which the emperor expressed his determination fully to retain and maintain his autocratic privileges. Furthermore, fresh executions were ordered, thousands of his subjects were exiled to Siberia, greater rigour was exercised against the press and every Liberal tendency. Not only did the emperor not grant any reforms, but he even retracted concessions already made, as, for instance, the reduction of the redemption money, whereby nearly four millions of his subjects continued to be kept in virtual serfdom. Ignatieff, the newly-appointed Minister of the Interior, whilst bravely seconding his master in his oppressive measures, tried to open a safety-valve to public dissatisfaction and indignation by fomenting anti- Jewish riots, the blame of which was laid to the charge of the Nihilists, who, however, published a very spirited reply, showing that it was not their policy to incite the people against the Jews, they being, as was proved at many a trial, and especially those of Southern Russia, great supporters of the Nihilistic movement. But irrespective of this, it was no part of Nihilistic tactics to set one race or religion against another in the empire. Nor did the despoiling of private individuals, such as distinguished the violence against the Jews, enter into their plans. They robbed, they admitted, but only in the interest of the “ cause ” and of the people. They warned the emperor against listening to pernicious counsel. But the emperor closed his ears to this advice. Trembling for his life, he shut himself up at Gatshina, to which place he had fled. The day when he was to start, four imperial trains were ostentatiously ready at four different stations in St. Petersburg, with all the official and military attendants, while the emperor fled in a train without attendance, which had been waiting at a siding.
When in June 1881 the Court removed to Peterhoff, the railway between the two places was strictly guarded by
troops; for every half verst—about one-third of a mile English—there was a sentinel with a tent. Besides this, the photographs of all the railway officials were lodged in the Ministry of Ways and Communications, so that any Nihilist, disguised in railway costume, might the more easily be detected.
627. Attempt against General Tcherevin.—On November 25, a young man presented himself, at the Department of State Police, which was the old third section or secret police under a new name, and asked to see General Tcherevin, the chief director of measures for assuring the safety of the emperor, stating that he had to disclose some business gravely affecting the State. On being ushered into the presence of General Tcherevin, he immediately drew a revolver and fired at the general, but missed him, and was secured. He declared that he was acting as the instrument of others, and for the good of Russia, but named no accomplices. His own name was Sankofsky. As the Russian Government suppressed as far as possible all allusions to the event—and we have no account as to what became of Sankofsky—he was probably tried with closed doors, and what was his punishment remains unknown.
628. Trials and other Events in 1882.—Numerous arrests, and trials of persons who had long been in prison, took place in 1882. Of twenty prisoners tried in February, ten, including one woman, were sentenced to be hanged. On 12th June Count Ignatieff, having rendered himself unpopular to the public by his anti-Jewish schemes, and incurred the disfavour of his imperial master by intimating to him that, without the introduction of the ancient States-General of the Tsars, the government of the country could not be satisfactorily carried on, under the time-honoured fiction of ill- health sent in his resignation. Count Tolstoi, who was known to disapprove of the anti-Semitic policy of Count Ignatieff, was appointed his successor.
Five days after, the Nihilists received a terrible blow. In a house occupied by them on an island in the Neva, there was discovered a great number of bombs and a large quantity of dynamite; but of more importance were the papers found on the Nihilists apprehended at the same time, from which it appeared that they were kept au courant of the Government correspondence in cipher with foreign countries, as far as it referred to themselves, which information they had received from Volkoff, one of the higher officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In July a secret printing-press
of the Nihilists was discovered in the Ministry of Marine; its director committed suicide. Encouraged by the disasters which had befallen the Nihilists, the emperor ventured to ;
return to St. Petersburg, and on the 11 th of September t
attended the fete of Alexander Nevsky, the patron-saint of the emperor, but slightly guarded, without evil results; and in the exuberance of his feelings he went so far as to extend his clemency even to the Nihilists, for on October 4 he
graciously commuted the sentence of death, passed by a ♦
secret tribunal, on two Nihilists for having murdered a police spy, to perpetual labour in the mines—and yet the
Nihilists were not conciliated! For when, on the 21 st J
November, the emperor and .empress paid a visit to St.
Petersburg extra precautions were taken on the part of the police and military authorities; all along the route, from the railway-station to the palace, police-officers in sledges and on foot were met with at every half-dozen yards ; policemen !
were posted at regular intervals in the centre of the street, ’
and the bridges over the canals were closely guarded by the marine police. But the emperor maintained his serenity.
As the Official Gazette informed its readers: “ Towards the end of December the new chief of police, General Grossler, had the honour of exhibiting before his Imperial Majesty several policemen attired in the latest new and last old uniforms of the force. His Majesty carefully examined the difference, consisting mainly in alterations of colours and buttons.” He also began to think of his coronation, which was announced to take place at various dates during the current year ; but the ceremony was postponed from time to time, and did not finally take place until 27th May 1883.
629. Coronation, and Causes of Nihilistic Inactivity.—Great surprise was excited by the peaceful nature of the coronation ; but it appeared by the trial (in April 1883) of seventeen Nihilists at Odessa, five of whom were sentenced to •
death, that the conspirators had made the most extensive preparations for killing the emperor at his coronation, as ,
proposed in 1881 and 1882 ; but by the vigilance of the /
police, and the denunciation of spies, their schemes were >
frustrated, and the terrorists found it impracticable to make the attempt in 1883. As they themselves declared afterwards, they came to the conclusion that such an attempt would damage their interests. They argued that the revolutionary movement in Russia embraces many persons of moderate views, whose opinions must be taken into consideration ;
that the people, who came to the coronation would not 1
r
belong to a class likely to approve of a revolutionary plot. But the Nihilists profited in another way by the coronation. The whole force of the Government, and its most intelligent spies, being concentrated at Moscow, the Nihilists seized this occasion to spread their doctrines and to enrol supporters at St. Petersburg and other large centres, to which may be attributed the great riots which, after the coronation, occurred at St. Petersburg, which were intensified by the fact that none of the expected constitutional reforms were granted. The manifesto issued by the emperor on the coronation day consisted simply of a remission of arrears of taxes; criminals condemned without privation of civil rights had one-third of their terms remitted; exiles to Siberia for -life had their sentences commuted to twenty years’ penal servitude; those still lying under sentence for the Polish troubles in 1863 were to be set free; but confiscated property was not to be restored. Much more had been expected, and the Burgo- ■ master of Moscow had been bold enough, in his congratulatory address to the emperor, to express those hopes, for which “presumption” he was visited with the emperor’s displeasure. But the disappointment of the people’s expectation of an amnesty and a constitution greatly favoured the spread of Nihilistic doctrines. The Nihilists continued to hold secret meetings, issue their papers, flying sheets, and manifestoes. In September 1883 a number of officers were arrested, and a large depot discovered at Charkoff, containing arms of every kind, large quantities of gunpowder, dynamite bombs, and new printing apparatus. It was found that dynamite was being manufactured in Kolpino, close by St. Petersburg. Here 138 naval and 17 artillery officers were arrested and conveyed to the St. Peter and Paul fortress. In Simbirsk an artillery colonel was arrested, who had gained an enormous influence with the peasants, and incited them to revolutionary deeds.
630. Colonel Sudeikin shot by Nihilists.—On the 28th December the Nihilists took their revenge by shooting Colonel Sudeikin, the Chief of the Secret Police, in a house to which he had been enticed by the false information of an intended Socialist meeting. They also left a letter stating that the next victims would be Count Tolstoi, Minister of the Interior, and General Grbssler, the Chief of the St. Petersburg police. “ If ever assassination could be palliated,” says the Evening Standard of the 31st December 1883, “ it is in such a case as the present. When men know that sons, or brothers, or wives are being driven to madness
or death by prolonged and deliberate cruelty, no Englishman can blame them very greatly if they take vengeance on their tyrants. In a free country, under just laws, assassination of officers for a fancied wrong is altogether unjustifiable and wicked; but under si/ch a regime as exists in Russia, it can hardly be judged in the same way. Men ffiay shudder, but they cannot unreservedly condemn.”
631. Attempt against the Emperor at Gatshina.—The Nihilists continued to issue journals and proclamations, and to extend their influence among the working classes. Of course they also continued to meet with checks. Early in January 1884 numerous arrests were made among the factory hands at Perm, on the Kama, and, many revolutionary documents were found in their possession. Towards the end of the month of December of the preceding year the emperor had met with what was thought, or at least officially represented, to be an accident; while out hunting, his horses took fright, upset the sledge, and the emperor sustained a severe injury to his right shoulder. But in the following January it was rumoured that the accident was really a Nihilist attempt at assassination. It was said that about a fortnight before the murder of Colonel Sudeikin, Jablonski, alias Degaieff, who had sent Sudeikin the letter which led to his death, accompanied by a woman, arrived at the house of the imperial gamekeeper at Gatshina, and producing a letter from Colonel Sudeikin, informed him that the woman was to be received into his house in order to assist the detectives already at Gatshina. The woman remained, and whenever the Tsar went shooting, she attended, disguised as a peasant boy. On the day of the “ accident ” the woman was not there, but made her appearance next day and reported that the Tsar had met with an accident, one of the gamekeepers having carelessly discharged his gun close to the imperial sledge and frightened the horses. On the day after the assassination of Sudeikin, and when it was known that Jablonski had played the chief part in the tragedy, three detectives arrived at Gatshina and arrested the woman. She was said to be a sister of Streiakoff, who was hanged for complicity in the murder of Alexander II., and there were rumours current afterwards that she had secretly been hanged in one of the casemates of the Petro- powlovski Fortress for the attempted murder at Gatshina.
Odessa then became notorious for the frequent murders and attempted assassinations of officers of the gendarmerie by Nihilists. During the summer, Colonel Strielnikoff and
Captain Gezhdi were killed; on the 19th August a determined attempt to kill Captain Katansky, the successor of Strielnikoff, was made by a second Vera Zassulic. The girl, Mary Kaljushnia, who made the attempt, was a merchant’s daughter, barely nineteen, and her object, to avenge her brother, who had been sentenced to penal servitude for life in Siberia. She had for some time been under police supervision ; she earned a miserable subsistence by giving lessons, maintaining herself on about fourpence a day. Her requests to be allowed to go abroad were persistently refused. On the date above named, she called on Captain Katansky, avowedly with the object of renewing her request, but in the course of conversation she suddenly drew a revolver and fired straight into the officer’s face. But the ball only grazed his ear; she was seized before she could fire again, and on the 10th September following sentenced to twenty years’ hard labour. She was tried by the Odessa Military Tribunal with closed doors. Several political arrests were made about the same time, especially of students and young ladies, one of the latter a doctor of medicine.
632. Trial of the Fourteen.—In the month of October a trial took place in St. Petersburg of fourteen Nihilists, including six officers and the celebrated female revolutionist Figner, alias Vera Filipava, who had offered shelter to the regicide Sophia Perovsky, and of another woman, named Volkenstein, who had been implicated in the murder of Prince Krapotkine at Kharkoff in 1879 (616). The tribunal was virtually a court-martial with closed doors, and the greatest secrecy was observed throughout the week for which the trial lasted. The six officers and the two women, Figner and Volkenstein, were condemned to death, and the others sentenced to hard labour in the mines.
633. Reconstruction of the Nihilist Party.—After'a years’ silence, the organ published clandestinely in Russia by the Nihilists, the Narodnaia Folia (The Will of the People), reappeared, dated 12th October 1884, in large 4to. The losses suffered by the party were admitted; their type and printingmachines had fallen into the hands of the police, and some of their chief men were in prison. These losses they attributed to the denunciations of Degaieff, the assassin of Colonel Sudeikin, who had been a leading Nihilist, had turned traitor, but finding the Government not grateful enough, and fearing the vengeance of the Nihilists, had purchased his safety by acting again for the latter and killing Sudeikin. This latter being killed, and Degaieff rendered
harmless, the Committee was able to reconstitute the party. .
The Will of the People also gave a summary o£ the principal ;
Nihilistic events during the year, comprising some interesting ,
details concerning the great development of agrarian Socialism in the south of Russia, ■ facts till then studiously concealed by the Government. The paper further stated that the '
revolutionary group, which had at one time separated itself from the party of the Will of the People, “ The Party of the People” (614) and the revolutionary party of Poland, had coalesced with the Russian Nihilists. Among the other subjects
treated, there was an obituary notice of Professor Neous- ;
traieff, who was shot at Irkutsk for striking the governorgeneral of the province. The last pages of the paper were filled with a long list of arrests made, and a paragraph ' -
incidentally mentions that M. Larroff never belonged to the ’
Executive Committee, though he is recognised as one of the editors of the review Onwards, published by the Nihilists at Geneva, and as a warm friend of the party.
634. Extension of Nihilism.—With such a constant hidden ■
enemy in their very midst, the Government and people of
Russia were in a state of chronic alarm. Count Tolstoi, the ’
Minister of the Interior, whilst diligently searching for
Nihilists, was also their especial victim. He daily received J
threatening letters; he scarcely dared stir out of doors, and whenever he did so, the extra precautions that had to be taken involved an outlay of five hundred roubles. And whilst despotism was more violent and resolute than ever, the trials constantly going on showed that Nihilism had extended its ?
influence to the army, and that the military Nihilists did not belong to the lower ranks. Whilst the emperor shut up •
Nihilists in one fortress, he was a prisoner in another. The official press of Russia about this time (end of 1884) was very sore on the subject of the comments of the English ,
press on Russian affairs, accusing it of basing its opinions :■
about Russia upon the prejudiced writings of expatriated Nihilists, and further charging the English Government with allowing Nihilists to use the very City of London as a place -
whence to send not only criminal proclamations, but explosive substances, such as dynamite, to Russia. "A family,” it was said, “ making inquiries about their son, accidentally came across an entire office of Russian Nihilists within the boundaries of the City proper.” Of course had the English Government been cognisant of these proceedings, it would readily have put an end to them.
635. Eecline of Nihilism.—But Nihilism apparently began
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240 SECRET SOCIETIES
to decline. A Nihilist manifesto, published in August 1885, lamented : “ Truth compels us to own that the fierce struggle with the Russian Government, and the spirit of national discontent, which gave strength to our party, which was, in fact, its raison d’etre, has ended in the triumph of absolutism.” In the following December a trial took place at Warsaw, at which six persons belonging to the revolutionary association called the Proletariate, including a justice of the police and a captain of Engineers, were sentenced to be hanged; eighteen were condemned to sixteen years’ hard labour in the mines, two to ten years and eight months’ penal servitude, and two others to transportation to Siberia for life. Early in January 1886 the police discovered a Nihilist rendezvous opposite the Annitchkine Palace, at St. Petersburg. A number of explosive bombs and a printing-press were seized, and several arrests were made. In April it was reported that a Nihilist conspiracy, directed against the life of the emperor, had been discovered at a place near Novo Tcherkask, the capital of the Don Cossacks, to which the emperor was expected to make a visit. Early in December some five hundred students attempted to celebrate the anniversary of a certain Bogolin- boff, a once popular poet; but the police interfered, and a number of arrests were made, including many lady students, eighteen of whom were sent off from St. Petersburg by an administrative' order, without the least notion whither they were to be taken, or what was to become of them.
Such are the scanty notices we have of Nihilism in 1886.
636. Nihilistic Proceedings in 1887.—In 1887 the Nihilists displayed greater activity. In February another conspiracy was discovered, but the details were not allowed to transpire. All that became known was that a young prince, a cadet in one of the military schools, attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself, the reason alleged being his complicity in some plot which he thought had been discovered. An inquiry into the matter in one or two of the military and naval schools resulted in the arrest of a large number of young men, as well as of two or three naval officers.
On Sunday, the 13th March, the anniversary of the assassination of Alexander II., a determined attempt to kill his successor was m ade. The Russian police had previous information that such an attempt would be made, from Berlin, London, and Bucharest. On Saturday night a couple of men in a restaurant on the Nevsky attracted the attention of the detectives, who followed and watched them all night. Next day the police were able to watch the posting of six individuals, including
THE NIHILISTS 241
three students, at three different parts of the route to be followed by the Tsar. They carried bombs in the shape of books, of a bag, an opera-glass, and a roll of music. As soon as they had apparently taken their portions they were pounced upon by the police and secured. Altogether fifteen persons were arrested, twelve men and three women, one of the latter being the landlady of the house at Paulovna, on the Finnish railway, where the bomb manufactory was discovered a day or two after the attempt of the 13th. Nine of the twelve men were students, and the other three were two Polish nobles from Wilna and an apothecary’s assistant. Seven of the accused were condemned to be hanged, and the other eight to various terms of imprisonment with hard labour, from twenty years downwards. It was reported at the time that each prisoner was found to have a small bottle containing a most active poison suspended round the neck, next to the bare skin. In case of failure, or refusal at the last moment to accomplish the task, secret agents of the party, who were on the watch all the time, were to strike the chest of the faint-hearted or unsuccessful conspirator, thus smashing the bottle and causing the poison to enter the wound made by the broken glass. The Nihilists seem not to have been discouraged by the last failure, for on the 6th April next a fresh attempt on the emperor’s life appears to have been made, though particulars, beyond those of the seizure of several suspected persons, were not allowed to transpire. But it was reported from Odessa that in the month of the same year (1887) 482 officers of the army arrived in that town under a strong military escort. They were accused of participation in the last attempt on the Tsar’s life, and were to be transported to Eastern Asia.
In June the trial of twenty-one Nihilists, accused of various revolutionary acts in the years 1883 and 1884, took place at St. Petersburg. The prisoners included the sons of college councillors, priests, superior officers, a Don Cossack, tradesmen, peasants, and two women, one of them a staff-captain’s daughter. Fifteen were condemned to death, but on the Court’s recommendation, eight death sentences were mitigated to from four to fifteen years’ hard labour, and subsequently the emperor for once reprieved the remaining seven, five of whom were to undergo hard labour in Siberia for life, and the others from eighteen to twenty years each.
Another blow was sustained by the Nihilists at the end of November, when the police discovered laboratories for
VOL. II. Q
242 SECRET SOCIETIES
the manufacture of dynamite in the Vassili, Ostrou, and Peski quarters of St. Petersburg. No wonder that they began to utter cries of despair towards the end of the year 1887. “ Liberalism,” they said, in one of their publications, “has not eradicated the feeling of loyalty in society. . . . Even the ’intelligent Liberals’ have rejected the invitation to establish free printing offices, ... or even to serve the revolutionary press abroad by sending it articles for publication.” The Messenger of the Will of the People, which was the official exponent of the party during the year, ceased to appear “for want of intellectual and material aid from Russia.” “ Little is to be expected,” the Nihilists said elsewhere, “from the present generation of Russians. . . . Russian society, with its dulness, emptiness, and ignorance, is to blame. . . . Most of the so-called cultured classes belong to that category of passengers who are made to travel in cattle-trucks. . . . Russian society has become a flock of sheep, driven by the whip and the shepherds’ dogs.”
637. Nihilism in 1888.—Little or nothing was heard of Nihilism in that year. There was indeed a rumour in January that a new Nihilist conspiracy against the life of the Tsar had been discovered at St. Petersburg, and that many officers and others had been arrested; but it went no further than a rumour. Extensive police precautions were adopted at St. Petersburg early in March, in anticipation of Nihilist manifestations on March 13, the anniversary of the death of the late Tsar; but the day went by without disturbances of any kind. The accident which occurred to the Tsar’s train in November 1888 is very generally supposed to have been the result of a Nihilist plot. But the unchangeable despotic character of the Russian Government was again exemplified during the year by its anti-Semitic policy at two extremities of European Russia. Some two thousand Jews received notice to quit Odessa, and the expulsion laws against the persecuted Hebrews were also enforced in Finland. The Finnish Diet having refused to adopt the Russian view of the case, the Government determined upon enforcing the law as it exists in Russia; all the Jews to leave within a year, with the exception of those who had served in the army. According to the emperor’s own statement, this wholesale expulsion of the Jews was due to the fact that Jews have been mixed up with all Nihilistic plots.
In December 1888 the papers reported the discovery by the Russian Government of a ramification of secret societies . among the young and educated Armenians, upon the model
of the “ Young Italy ” societies, as they were constituted in 1848. The object of the Armenian societies is revolution against Russian rule, and the establishment of Armenian union and independence.
638. Slaughter of Siberian Exiles, and Hunger-Strikes.— Towards the end of the year 1889, the civilised world was horrified by the account of the slaughter of a number of exiles at Yakutsk, on their way to the extreme east of Siberia, near the shore of the Polar Sea. These exiles were not criminals, but exiled by “ administrative order,” that is to say, they had not been tried and convicted by any tribunal: Government, hot the Law, arbitrarily had ordered them to Siberia as suspects. Simply for asking to take with them sufficient food and clothing' for the terrible journey still before them, they were declared to have resisted the authorities, and a number of them shot down; a woman, Sophie Gourewitch, was ripped open by bayonets; the vice-governor himself twice fired at the exiles. Not satisfied with this butchery, the surviving exiles were tried by court-martial; three were sentenced to death, and many others to long terms of penal servitude in the mines. Early in 1890, still more horrifying details of hunger-strikes among the exiles reached Europe, and of the means adopted by the Russian Government to repress them. One lady, Madame Sihida, was dragged out of bed, where she lay ill, and received one hundred blows. She died in two days from the effects. Many of her companions in misery took poison; so did many of the male prisoners. This occurred at Kara, in Eastern Siberia. In fact, the condition of Russian prisons, especially of those where political prisoners are confined, is too horrible to be described in these pages; the moral and physical suffering wantonly inflicted on the victims of a Tsarish cruelty is without a parallel in the history of absolutism. The Tsar cannot be absolved from personal responsibility in the matter: to say that he was not aware of the cruelties practised in his name, is saying in as many words that his neglect of inquiring into them encouraged them; but he must know them; they had been frequently communicated to Alexander ill., notably in a long letter written in March 1890 by Madame Tshebrikova, a lady of position, and not in any way connected with the Nihilists; but for writing it she was arrested, and sent to Penza, in the Caucasus, and placed under strict police surveillance.
639. Occurrences in 1890.—The Russian students having in recent times shown decidedly Liberal tendencies, Govern-
. "niiiOiT
ment endeavoured to repress them, which led to repeated riots and endless arrests, as many as five hundred and fifty students, who had protested against the new and oppressive statutes promulgated by the authorities, being arrested at Moscow in March 1890. In April all the police stations and prisons of St. Petersburg were full of arrested students; the ringleaders, mostly young men belonging to good families, were eventually sent as private soldiers into the disciplinary battalions near Orenburg.
In May, fourteen Russians were arrested in Paris, which has always been a favourite place of residence with Nihilists, Colonel Sokoloff, who was expelled from France, Krukoff, a printer, and Prince Krapotkine being among their chiefs. The prisoners above mentioned were proved to have been in possession of bombs, many of which had been manufactured in Switzerland. There were two women among the accused; they were acquitted, the men were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
In November in the same year the Russian General Seli- verskoff was found in his room in a Paris hotel, shot in the head; he died on the following day without having recovered consciousness. He had been a Russian spy on the Nihilists.
In the same month five Nihilists were tried at St. Petersburg, one of them being a woman, Sophie Gunzburg, who was arrested in Russia, in possession of bombs and revolutionary proclamations. Four of the prisoners were condemned to death. Another trial took place about the same time, and as in the first-mentioned trial the principal figure was a woman, so in this second trial the chief personage was a young girl, Olga Ivanovsky, niece of Privy Councillor Idinsky, director of a department of the Holy Synod. As the names of high ecclesiastical functionaries were concerned in the affair, the authorities shrouded it in more than the usual secrecy, so that no details have reached the outer world.
640. Occurrences from 1891 to Present Date.—The Nihilists appear to have been rather, but not quite, inactive during these later years. In May 1891 a secret printingpress was discovered and seized at St. Petersburg. In November of the same year a far-reaching political conspiracy was discovered at Moscow, and some sixty persons, belonging to the nobility, the literary profession, and the upper middle class, were arrested. In December a great number of arrests were made, some of the accused being found to be in possession of plans and details of the imperial
THE NIHILISTS 245
palaces. In 1892 a number of Nihilists were arrested at Moscow, for an alleged conspiracy to kill the Tsar on his return journey from the Crimea. An anonymous letter had warned the authorities that the attempt was to be made at a small railway station. The line was examined, and a bomb discovered under each line of rails. In spite of these failures, the Nihilistic agitation was actively carried on. The revolutionists endeavoured to stir up the lower classes against the Tsar by telling them that, though he pretended to supply the masses with food during the famine, he allowed his subordinates to rob the people. The insinuation, however, had but little success with the Russian people of the lower class, brought up in slavish adoration of the emperor, who can do no wrong. In the month of December, Major-General Droszgovski was assassinated at Tashkend, in Russian Turkestan. He had been acting as president of a court-martial for the trial of a number of Nihilists, most of whom were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. To avenge them their friends killed the president.
In May 1893 the decapitated body of a Russian student was discovered in a forest, near Plussa Station, on the Warsaw railway. The deceased was supposed to have been a member of a secret society, and to have been killed to prevent his revealing its secrets. Two young men were arrested for the crime, and immediately hanged. A widespread Nihilistic conspiracy against the life of the Tsar was discovered (in September 1893) at Moscow, in consequence of which eighty-five university students, eight professors, and five ladies belonging to the, aristocracy, were arrested.
Early in 1894 the Government Commission appointed to inquire into the condition of Siberian prisons issued its report, in which instances without number were recorded of merciless floggings, lopping off of arms and fingers by sabre cuts, of cannibalism under stress of famine. During the whole of 1892 there was an almost continuous string of convoys of corpses from Onor, the prison on the island of Saghalien, to Rykovskaya, the residence of the authorities, and most of the bodies were terribly mutilated. In 1893, if any one of a band of convicts failed in his work, he was at once put on half rations, then on third rations; and when he could work no more, the inspector finished him with a revolver bullet. What wonder, then, that in November 1894 three secret printing-presses, in full working order, with a great quantity of Nihilistic literature, were discovered at Kieff, at Kharkoff, and at Nicolaieff respectively? The
press at Kharkoff was being worked by the students of the university in that city. Upwards of eighty persons were arrested. In September 1895, it was reported that a widespread Nihilistic plot against the life of the Tsar and the imperial family had been discovered by the Russian police. Some of the leaders were quietly arrested, while dynamite bombs, arms, and piles of revolutionary pamphlets were seized daring a number of domiciliary visits at Moscow. In March of the year 1896 six officers of the garrison of Kieff, including a, colonel, were arrested for participating in a Nihilist conspiracy. According to the Central News, in October 1896 the Russian Custom-house officers confiscated on the Silesian frontier a quantity of light canes destined for sale to the upper classes, and containing in their hollow interior thousands of Nihilist proclamations, printed on tissue paper. The Nihilists, evidently, are still at work. There is a Nihilist club, composed chiefly of Jews, in London, who publish a paper, similar in character to Most’s Freiheit (512) in Yiddish, and printed with Hebrew type. . . _
641. Nihilistic Finances.—The number of active Nihilists never amounted to more than a few dozen men and women; they may have had twelve or thirteen hundred supporters, who assisted the leaders by distributing their books, pamphlets, &c., concealing them when pursued by the police or otherwise in danger, assisting them to escape from prison, assisting them with money, &c.; though those who sympathised with the Nihilists, without, however, taking any active part in the propaganda, may be assumed to have been perhaps one hundred thousand. Whence did the Nihilists obtain the means for executing their schemes ? for creating a literature, purchasing materials, travelling, carrying out terroristic measures, supporting and delivering prisoners ?
In 1869 Nechayeff had obtained from Herzen the revolutionary fund collected in Switzerland, and amounting to more than Aiooo; the members of the society, of course, gave their contributions; Lizogoob sacrificed his fortune of about 200,000 roubles to the “ cause ” ; the Justice of the Peace Voinaralski gave 40,000 roubles; a Dr. Weimar, a' very active Nihilist, supplied large sums; rich people, who sympathised with Nihilism, but would not compromise themselves, contributed money either anonymously, or ostensibly for charitable purposes. Besides these voluntary contributions, the Nihilists obtained compulsory ones by threatening timorous rich men, or such as were known to have enriched
themselves at the expense of the State, that unless they assisted the Nihilistic cause, they would be condemned to death by the Executive Committee. The Nihilists also occasionally helped themselves to the Government cash; in 1879 they robbed the State bank of Kharkoff by means of a subterranean passage, and carried off one million and a half of roubles. But their outgoings were considerable; the Moscow mine and the other two attempts made at the same time, for ipstance, cost nearly Z4000, and consequently the Nihilists were often hard pressed for money. The most extravagant reports were circulated at times as to their financial resources; thus the Cologne Gazette in April 1879 declared the Nihilistic propaganda to count as many as 19,000 members, and to be possessed of a fund amounting to two millions of roubles. The Nihilists accomplished their objects with a tenth of that amount. In fact, in 1881 they were driven to imitate the device of Peter’s Pence and the Red Cross. In January 1882 they founded the association of the Red Cross, and made appeals in the Will of the People for contributions. This appeal was published by Lavroff in the Paris paper L’ Intransigeant, which led to his expulsion from France. However, according to the Will of the People and other Nihilistic publications, 53,000 roubles were receivedin 1881. But the figures dealing with Nihilistic finances can never be anything but approximate. They received contributions from French, Swiss, German, English, Italian, and Austrian sympathisers, a fact showing the international unity of the Revolutionists, and the extensive foreign connections of the Russian Nihilists.
642. The Secret Press.—The revolutionary party early felt the necessity of propagating their opinions by 'the press, hence in the earliest stages of the movement, as far back as the year i860, secret printing-presses were set up; and all the various organisations established afterwards, attempted to have their own presses; but the difficulty of maintaining secrecy was too great; one after the other they were discovered and seized. At last, in 1876, Stephanovitch, a leading spirit among the Nihilists, succeeded in establishing a secret printing-press at Kieff. He lived in one house, and had the press at another. A friend of his who lodged with him was arrested; he sent a note to Stephanovitch to warn him; but the messenger handed the note to the police, which led to the arrest of Stephanovitch. His sole object now was to save the printing apparatus. A woman and her husband presented themselves before the landlord of the
house where the printing office was, and producing the key of the rooms, the woman told the landlord that she was Stephano- vitch’s sister, who had given it her, and given her and her husband permission to occupy the rooms till his return. The landlord had no suspicion, and made no objection. The pair secretly removed all the printing apparatus and left the house. Soon after the police made their appearance; they had made a house to house visitation at Kieff in search of the printing office, and the few types and proofs they found , here and there left in corners, satisfied them that they had come too late. The printing apparatus was carried to Odessa, but what became of it there, is not known.
A clever and enterprising Jew, Aaron Zundelevic, a native of Wilna, in 1877 managed to smuggle into St. Petersburg all the necessary apparatus for a printing office, which could print works of some size. He learned the compositor’s art, and taught it to four other persons. For four years the police discovered nothing, until treachery and an accident came to their aid. Not only the members of the organisation “ Land and Liberty,” which maintained the office, but even the editors and contributors of the journal printed there, did not know where it was. It was occupied by four persons. Mary Kriloff, who acted as mistress of the house, was a woman of about forty-five. She had been implicated in various conspiracies. A pretty, fair girl passed as the servant of Madame Kriloff. Intercourse with the outer world was maintained by a young man of aristocratic, but silent, manners. He was the son of a general, and nephew of a senator, and was supposed to hold a ministerial appointment, but his portfolio contained only MSS. and proofs of the prohibited paper. The other compositor, Lubkin, was only known by the nickname of the “bird,” given to him on account of his voice. He was only twenty-three years of age ; consumption was written on his face; having no passport, he was compelled always to remain indoors. When after four hours’ desperate resistance the printing office of “ Land and Liberty” fell into the hands of the military, he shot himself.
The apparatus, as a rule, was extremely simple; a few cases of various kinds of type, a small cylinder of a kind of gelatinous substance, a large cylinder covered with cloth, which served as the press, a few jars of printing ink, a few brushes and sponges. Everything was so arranged that in a quarter of an hour it could be concealed in a large cupboard. To allay any suspicion the dvornik could conceive, they made him enter the rooms under various pre-
tences, having first removed every vestige of the printing operation.
We have seen in preceding paragraphs how the capture by the police of one printing-press speedily led to the setting up of another; and that the number scattered all over Russia must have been great is evident from the number which were discovered, and from which the multitude of those undiscovered may be inferred. And their publications were scattered all over the country. Handbills and placards seemed to grow out of the earth.. The army was deluged with them, the labourer found them in his pocket, the emperor on his writing-table. Nihilists wandered all over Russia, leaving them in thousands at every halting-place. Jessy Helfmann was a travelling postoffice ; her pockets were always full of proclamations, newspapers, handbills, and tickets for concerts and balls for the benefit of prisoners, or of the secret press.
643. Nihilistic Measures of Safety.—When Nihilism began to assume terroristic features, and the vigilance of the police consequently became more strict, and arrests were of daily occurrence, the Nihilists had to adopt various means for their self-protection. A primary condition was the possession of a passport, for in Russia every one above the peasantry must be registered, and have a passport. Many young men matriculated as students, not with a view of attending university lectures, but to obtain the card of legitimation. Non-students at first paid high prices for passports, but eventually took to manufacturing them. Every society established its own passport office, forging seals and signatures. One of these offices, furnished with every necessary appliance, was discovered by the police at Moscow in 1882. “Illegal” men, that is to say, those who lived with a false passport, or one lent by a friend, of course did not go by their true names, and their correspondence was taken care of by friends. The Nihilist had to lead a very regular life, not to excite the suspicions of the dvornik. Their larger meetings took place in “conspiracy-quarters,” which were carefully selected. The windows must be so placed that signals can easily be displayed or changed. The walls of the room must not be too thin, and the doors close accurately, so that sounds may not reach the outside. There must be a landing outside, to command the staircase, so that in case of a surprise a few resolute men can resist a troop of gendarmes, until all compromising papers and other objects are removed.
The conspiracy-quarters generally were regular arsenals; at the storming of the office of the Will of the People, every one of the five Nihilists was armed with two revolvers; the dozen gendarmes were afraid to advance, and soldiers had to be sent for; from eighty to a hundred shots were fired on that occasion. When to some of the Nihilists all these precautions became irksome, and they consequently neglected them, Alexander Michailoff, to whom they therefore gave the nickname of dvornik, severely censured them; he would follow his associates in the street, to see if they behaved with caution, or he would suddenly stop one, and ask him to read a signboard, and if he found him shortsighted, insist on his wearing glasses. He insisted on their dressing respectably, and would often himself find the means for their doing so. He himself lived like the Red Indian on the war-path. He endeavoured to know all the spies, to beware of them; he had a list of about three hundred passages through houses and courtyards, and by his intimate knowledge of places of concealment, saved many a companion from arrest. The Nihilists frequently change their lodgings, and keep them secret. Then they rely also fortheir safety on the Ukrivaheli, or Concealers, who forma large class in every position, beginning with the aristocracy and the upper middle class, and reaching even down to the police, who, sharing the revolutionary ideas, make use of their social or official position to shelter the combatants by concealing, whenever necessary, both objects and men. Strange causes sometimes led to the most unlikely people becoming “Concealers.” Thus a Madame Horn, a Danish ' lady, seventy years of age, became one. She had married a Russian, who held some small appointment in the police. When the Princess Dagmar became the wife of the hereditary Prince of Russia, Madame Horn wished the Danish ambassador to obtain for her husband some appointment in the establishment of the new archduchess. The ambassador was rude enough to laugh at her. This turned her in favour of the Nihilists, who she hoped would punish the ambassador. She began by taking care of the Nihilists’ forbidden books, attended to their correspondence, and eventually concealing the conspirators themselves. Thanks to her age, her prudence, presence of mind, she escaped all suspicion. Her husband, whom she ruled absolutely, had to furnish her with all the police intelligence he could gather.
644. The Nihilists in Prison.—In spite of all their precautionary measures, many of the Nihilists, as we have seen, fell
into the hands of the police. The historian, unfortunately, has no impartial reports to rely on as to their treatment in prison; only once, during the ministry of Count Loris-Meli- koff, Russian papers were allowed to partly reveal the secrets of Russian imprisonment and Siberian exile, which virtually confirmed all the “underground” literature had asserted, and these revelations are horrifying. They show up the imperfection and cruelty of Russian state institutions, the brutality and irresponsible arbitrariness of Russian officials. We find that the accused are kept in prison—and what prisons! —for two or three years before being brought to trial, and for what crime ? simply for having given away a Socialistic pamphlet. We find women in large numbers undressed in the presence of, or even by, the gendarmes themselves, and searched by them, to the accompaniment of coarse jokes. We are told how prisoners were tortured, how nervous prisoners were disturbed in their sleep, to entice them in their state of excitement to make confessions. Condemned prisoners were treated with the same refined cruelty. There is a large prison at Novobfelgorod, near Kharkoff, whence the prisoners addressed in 1878—that is, before the attempts on the emperor’s life—an appeal to Russian society, from which we will quote a few facts. In a dark cell, whose window is partly smeared over with dark paint, lay Plotnikoff, on boards only thinly covered with felt, without covering or pillow, terribly weakened by years of solitary confinement. One day he rose from his boards and began reciting the words of a favourite poet. Suddenly his gaoler rushed in. “How dare you speak loud here!” he cried; “perfect silence must reign here. I shall have you put in irons.” The prisoner vainly pleaded that his legal term for being in irons had expired, and that he was ill. The irons were again fastened on him.
Alexandroff, another prisoner, heard some peasants singing in the distance; their song found an echo in his heart, and he sang the melody. He had ceased for some time when the guard entered his cell. “ Who has allowed you to sing ? ” he said; “ I will give you a reminder,” and with his fist struck him in the face. Even common criminals are better treated. They are allowed to sit together, two or three in one cell. Serakoff was put into the career for not saluting a gaoler standing a little way off. The career is a cage totally dark, and so small, that a prisoner has to remain in it in a stooping position. It is behind the privy, whence the soil is but seldom removed.
i ■1 I
The prisoners in the fortress Petropanlovski are no better off. Their cells are dark, cold, and damp; the windows being darkened with paint, lights have to be burnt nearly all day. Their food consists of watery soup and porridge for dinner, and a piece of bread morning and evening. The stoves are heated only once every three days, hence the walls are wet, and the floors literally full of puddles. The prisoners are allowed to take exercise every other day, but for a quarter of an hour only. They have no other distraction. When Subkoffski once made cubes of bread to study stereometry, they were taken away from him. “ Prisoners are not allowed amusements,” he was told. No wonder that disease,insanity, attempts at suicide, and deaths are of daily occurrence. Hunger-mutinies were another consequence of this treatment. A very serious one occurred at Odessa in December 1882. It arose in this way. A prisoner asked for invalid’s food, but the prison doctor replied, “ You are a workman; invalid’s food costs seventy kopecks; you will do without it.” Another prisoner, a student, asked for some medicine for a diseased bone in his hand. The same doctor replied, “ Suck your hand, you have plenty of time.” When this prisoner shortly after wanted to consult another surgeon, the prison doctor replied, “ You want no doctor, but a hangman.” The final circumstance which brought about the mutiny was the order of the gaoler to confine a prisoner who was consumptive, and had asked for a hammock, in the career. Then the prisoners sent for the head of the police, but he only abused them. Then the hunger-mutiny broke out. The prisoners refused to take their food, but the governor of the prison ordered those who could not be persuaded to eat to be kept alive by means of injections.
The horrors of transportation to Siberia have often been described. We need not repeat the fearful tale. But we may state that these horrors are intensified for political prisoners, whilst common criminals are allowed to soften them if they have means. Thus Yokhankeff, the well- known forger, who was tried at St. Petersburg in 1879 for embezzling thousands, instead of having to make his way partly on foot and partly by rail, was allowed to travel with every comfort, accompanied by a female, and to put up at the best hotels en route.
The Russian Government, even under Alexander II., became ashamed, it seems, of the many trials, and resorted, to avoid this public scandal, to removing suspected persons by what is called the administrative process, an extra-
judicial procedure under which hundreds of persons were dragged away from their homes and families without trial j
of any kind, no one knowing what became of them. We '
may, however, surmise that many were sent to Siberia, since j
in 1880 further prison accommodation had to be constructed j
in Eastern Siberia in consequence of the great influx of ”
political prisoners. 1 !
What I have stated as to the treatment of prisoners is but .
what is based on authentic documents. Had I quoted from i
the “ underground ” press, I should be accused of exaggera- ’?
tion; but taking the above statements only, does such J
conduct become a civilised government ? •
645. Nihilist Emigrants.—It is difficult to estimate their f
number. Many of them conceal themselves to escape the i
Russian spies scattered all over the Continent, and not to 1
involve the countries affording them an asylum in diplomatic “
difficulties. There may be about one hundred exiles in ;
Switzerland; there are said to be about seventy in Paris, '
and perhaps fifty in London; but these numbers can only be :
approximate, and from the nature of circumstances, must i
always be changing. Some of these fugitives date from the ?
earliest stages of the revolutionary movement before 1863, ;
as, for instance, M. Elpidin, the bookseller, at Geneva. Others, j
like Lavroff, were involved in the conspiracies of 1866 and ]
1869. Others belong to the Socialistic propaganda, like 1
Prince Krapotkine. Others, again, were members of the
“ Land and Liberty ” or “ Black Division ” parties. After ;
1878 there was a large addition to the emigration. '
But few of these exiles have been able to save any portion
of their property. Before engaging in the movement some i
sold their estates, others leased them to their relations, and ;
allowed them to be burdened with debts, so that in the ’
end but little remains to be confiscated by the Government. ■
Most, even those who receive assistance from home, are compelled to rely on their own exertions. Some give lessons in music, in Russian, in science; others write for Russian and foreign newspapers. Others, again (about twenty), are employed in the three Russian printing-offices at Geneva; and perhaps the same number practise the trades of locksmiths, carpenters, and shoemakers, which they once learned .
for the purposes of the propaganda. Many, unable to work, their mental and physical powers having been broken by long .
incarceration, are supported by the contributions of the party.
To suppose, as it often has been supposed, that the . <
Nihilistic movement in Russia is directed by these emigrants,
is a mistake. The telegraph cannot be employed by them, and correspondence is too slow and unsafe. Whatever has to be done in Russia, must be decided on and carried out by the members residing there. The exile ceases to take any active part in the revolution at home, though he may indirectly influence it by his literary efforts, as, for instance, Krapotkine and Stepniak have done to a large extent. The death of this latter, so well known by his brilliant and authoritative work, La, Russia Sotterranea, caused great sorrow to all true lovers of Russia. He was accidentally killed on the 23 rd December 1895, when crossing the railway near Chiswick, by being caught by the engine of a train, knocked down, and fearfully mutilated.
Stepniak’s real name was Serge Michaelovitch Krav- chinsky. After his death the St. Petersburg press asserted that it was he who assassinated Adjutant-General Mesent- soff (616), the chief of the political police, by stabbing him with a dagger. But this was never proved.
According to Dalziel, six officers of the garrison of Kieff, including a colonel, were arrested in March 1896 for participation in a Nihilist plot; whence it would appear that Nihilism is not dead yet, nor is it likely to die until it has attained its aim; and the present emperor does not seem likely to voluntarily satisfy it.
646. Nihilistic Literature.—The bibliography of Nihilism is already an extensive one. Among the most important • newspapers and periodicals we have:—
1. The Bell (Kolokol), edited by Herzen and Bakunin, from 1st July 1857 to 1869. London and Geneva. After Herzen’s death it was revived for a short time in 1870; six numbers in 4to appeared.
2. Flying Sheets. Heidelberg, 1862. 78 pp. 8vo.
3. Free Word. Berlin, 1862. 590 pp. 8vo.
4. Liberty. 1863. Two numbers, the organ of the party “ Land and Liberty.”
5. The Underground Word, by M. Elpidin. Geneva, 1866. Two pamphlets.
6. Gause of the People, by Bakunin and Elpidin. 1868 and 1869. Nine pamphlets.
7. Onwards, a review in nine volumes. 1873-77. Two thousand copies.
8. Onwards, a fortnightly publication of three thousand copies in large 4to. 1875 and 1876. Published in London.
9. The Tocsin. Monthly. 1875 to 1881.
10. General Cause. Monthly. Geneva.
11. The Commune, nine numbers of which appeared at Geneva in 1878.
12. Land and Liberty. 1878 and 1879.
13. Will of the People, the organ of the Terroristic Executive Committee. 1879.
14. Black Division. 1880-81.
15. Free Word.
Of books we have :—
1. The Filled and the Hungry, published by the Anarchists at Geneva.
2. The Terroristic Struggle, N. Morosoff. London, 1880.
3. Terrorism and Routine, W. Tarnoffski. London, 1880.
4. Biographies of Perofskaia, Scheljabow, and others. Geneva, 1882.
5. Le Nihilisme en Russie, S. Podolinski. Paris, 1879.
6. La Russia Sotterranea, by Stepniak. Milan, 1882. An English translation appeared in London, 1883.
7. Buried Alive; Report concerning the Prisoners in the Peter and Paul Citadel at St. Petersburg. 1878.
8. Almanack of the Will of the People. Geneva, 1883.
I have given the more important periodical publications and books only; besides these, there are published by Nihilists numerous flying sheets, proclamations, addresses, reports of trials, &c.
647. Trials of Nihilists.—The following list is taken from the “ Almanack of the Will of the People ”:—
|
Date. |
Number of Trials. |
Number of Accused. |
Sentences. |
||||||
Executions. |
Penal Servitude. |
1 Exile. |
Imprisonment. |
Interned. |
Other Punishments. |
Acquitted. |
|||
1871 |
2 |
88 |
4 |
3 |
27 |
54 |
|||
1872 |
I |
I |
I |
||||||
1874 |
I |
13 |
5 |
3 |
_ |
5 |
|||
1875 |
2 |
7 |
5 |
2 |
|||||
1876 |
5 |
12 |
6 |
I |
2 |
3 |
|||
1877 |
II |
3°3 |
29 |
67 |
20 |
7i |
12 |
104 |
|
1878 |
8 |
3° |
I |
5 |
7 |
2 |
' 4 |
I |
10 |
1879 |
22 |
166 |
16 |
66 |
19 |
6 |
4 |
28 |
27 |
1880 |
21 |
130 |
5 |
48 |
20 |
11 |
4 |
29 |
13 |
1881 |
11 |
34 |
6 |
IO |
IO |
6 |
I |
I |
|
1882 |
IO |
37 |
3 |
30 |
I |
2 |
I |
||
Subsequent Trials Collected from other Sources.
The above sentences are those pronounced by the tribunals; but many of the accused were, in reality, punished more severely than is apparent. Those who were acquitted were, as a rule, placed under police supervision, imprisoned, or banished to no one could tell where. The table, moreover, does not show those who were never tried, but dealt with administratively, as it is mildly termed: they died in prison, or were hanged without trial. This has frequently been the case since 1883, whence it is impossible to give the numbers with the same fulness as before that date. How many victims were so quickly “ removed,” it will probably be impossible ever to ascertain.
GERMAN SOCIETIES ,
*
648.The. Mosd Club.—In 1737 there was a carpenter 1
named Vogt, living at Weimar, who, being a native of Tran- *i
bach, on the Mosel, was, according to the custom of crafts- j
men, called “the Moseler.” He established a tavern, which •
was largely patronised by students, who, in time, formed a club, which called itself the Mosel Club, and in 1762 became a
secret political club, whose object was to raise Prussia to the i
ruling power of Germany, to effect which the members even pledged themselves to send Frederick II., who was a Free
mason, armed assistance. In 1771 a more secret league was J
formed within the Mosel Club, consisting chiefly of Alsatians ■
and Badois, and calling itself the “Order of Friendship.” j
None was received into it who was not a member of the . ;
Mosel Club. The sign was a peculiar pressure of the hand, \
and touching the face. The members wore a cross attached '
to a yellow ribbon. After the year 1783 the candidate had
to swear fidelity to the Order over four swords, laid cross- •
wise on a table, on which four candles were burning. The words were: “ If I become unfaithful to my oath, my brethren shall be justified to use these swords against me.” Lodges were established at Jena, Giessen, Erfurt, Gottingen, Marburg, and Erlangen. The students defied the statutes of the universities, which in 1779 led to a judicial inquiry and the abolition of the Order, which, however, was quickly
re-formed under the new name of the “Black Order”; at ;
Halle it assumed that of the “Unionists.” But in the course of a few years the Order became extinct. Still Germany continued till the middle of this century to be a hotbed of secret societies, in which the students of its many universities were the chief actors. Between the years 1819 and 1842 such associations were especially numerous; legal investigations on the part of the different governments proved in the latter year the existence of thirty-two of them. How much the members of such societies loved
vol. 11. 257 K
the rulers “ restored ” to them, appears from the fact that “Young Germany” amused itself on the king’s (of Prussia) birthday with shooting at his portrait. Their statutes were very severe against treason, or even mere indiscretion. A Dr. Breidenstein wrote to Mazzini in June 1834 that one Strohmayer, a member of the society, had been sentenced to death, not that he was a traitor, but his indiscretion was to be feared. Sixteen months after, on the morning of 4th November 1835, a milkman found the body of the student Louis Lessing, pierced with forty-nine dagger wounds, in the lonely Sihl valley, near Zurich. Though the legal investigation did not positively prove it, yet it was the general opinion that Lessing had acted as spy on the “ German Youth” society, and been sentenced to death by them.
Still, what those obscure students aimed at is now an accomplished fact; and the prediction of Carl Julius Weber in his “ Democritos ” (published in 1832), that Prussia, united with the smaller German states, would be the dictator of Europe, a reality. But a sad reality for Europe, since it has
“ Thrust back this age of sound industriousness To that of military savageness ! ”
Yes, Germany seems to be retrograding to the days of Hildebrand ; for has not Bismarck gone to Canossa, in spite of his assertion he would not do so? and has not the mighty emperor-king knelt to the Pope ?
649. German Feeling against Napoleon.—Napoleon, whilst he could in Germany form a court composed of kings and princes obedient to his slightest nod, also found implacable and incorruptible individualities, who swore undying hatred to him who ruled half the world. Still, those who opposed the French emperor had no determined plan, and were misled by fallacious hopes; and the leaders, always clever in taking advantage of the popular forces, threw the more daring ones in front like a vanguard, whose destruction is predetermined, in order to fill up the chasm that separates the main body from victory.
650. Formation and Scope of Tugendbund.—Two of the men who were the first, or amongst the first, to meditate the downfall of the conqueror before whom all German governments had fallen prostrate, were Count Stadion, the soul of Austrian politics, and Baron Stein,1 a native of Nassau, who
1 The original MS. of the great reorganisation projects for the Prussian State, 1807, was found in 1881, in the gartenkaus of the Stein family, at Gross- Kochberg, Saalfeld, in Thuringia.
possessed great influence at the Prussian Court. The latter, devoted to monarchical institutions, but also to the independence of his country, groaned when he saw the Prussian Government degraded in the eyes of Europe, and undertook to avenge its humiliation by founding in 1812 the secret society of the “Union of Virtue” {Tugendbund), whose first domiciles were at Konigsberg and Breslau. Napoleon’s police discovered the plot; and Prussia, to satisfy Prance, had to banish Stein and two other noblemen, the Prince de Wittgenstein and Count Hardenberg, who had joined him in it. But the Union was not dissolved; it only concealed itself more strictly than before in the masonic brotherhood. During Stein’s banishment, also, the cause was taken up by Jahn, Professor at the Berlin College, who, knowing the beneficial influence of bodily exercise, in 1811 founded a gymnasium, the first of the kind in Germany, which was frequented by the flower of the youth of Berlin, and the members of which were known as Turner, an appellation which is now familiar even to Englishmen. These Turner seemed naturally called upon to enter into the Union of Virtue; and Jahn thought the moment fast approaching when the rising against the oppressor was to take place. Among his coadjutors were the poet Arndt; the enthusiastic Schill, who with 400 hussars expected in 1809 to rouse Westphalia and overthrow Jerome Bonaparte; Doremberg, the La Rochejaquelein of Germany, and several others. Stein, in the meanwhile, continued at the court of St. Petersburg the work on account of which he had been exiled. The Russian Court made much of Stein, as. a man who might be useful on certain occasions. He was , especially protected by the mother of the emperor, in whom he had enkindled the same hatred he himself entertained against France. He kept up his friendship with the Berlin patricians, and had his agents in the court of Prussia, who procured him and Jahn adherents of note, such as General Blucher. Still there was at the Prussian Court a party opposed to the Tugendbund, whose chiefs were General Bulow and Schuckmann, who preferred peace to the dignity of their ■ country, and possibly to royal and serene drill-sergeants—
. who, though no friends to Napoleon, were indifferent to the public welfare. A party quite favourable to the Union of Virtue was that headed by Baron Nostitz, who formed the society of the “Knights of the Queen of Prussia,” to defend and avenge that princess, who considered herself to have been calumniated by Napoleon. This party was anxious to wipe away the disgrace of the battle of Jena, so injurious to
K^ ’ . ' ■ _
I '
!;;,■• ■
260 SECRET SOCIETIES
1 . the fate, and still more to the honour, of Prussia; andthere-
= fore it naturally made common cause with the Tugendbund,
which aimed at the same object, the expulsion of the French.
✵ 651. Divisions among Members of Tugendbund.—The bases
; of the organisation of the Tugendbund had been laid in 1807
! at the assembly at Konigsberg, where some of the most noted
; patriots were present—Stein, Stadion, Blucher, Jahn. The
✵ association deliberated on the means of reviving the energy
; and courage of the people, arranging the insurrectionary
: scheme, and succouring the citizens injured by foreign occu-
i pation. Still there was not sufficient unanimity in the
1 counsels of the association, and an Austrian party began
j to be formed, which proposed the re-establishment of the
j German Empire, with the Archduke Charles at its head;
i but the opposition to this scheme came from the side from
j which it was least to beexpected, from the Archduke him-
\ self. Some proposed a northern and a southern state ; but
’ the many small courtsand provincial interests strongly
:■ opposed this proposal.Others wanted a republic, which,
however, met with very little favour.
i 652. Activity of the Tugendbund.—One of the first acts of
' the Union of Virtue was to send auxiliary corps to assist the
i Russians in the campaign of 1813. Prussia having, by the
course of events, been compelled to abandon its temporising policy, Greisenau, Scharnhorst, and Grollmann embraced ! the military plan of the Tugendbund. A levy en masse was
j ordered. The conduct of these patriots is matter of history.
But, like other nations, they fought against Napoleon to impose on their country a more tyrannical government than j that of the foreigner had ever been. They fought as men
' only fight for a great cause, and those who died fancied they
1 saw the dawn of German freedom. But those who survived
saw how much they were deceived. The Tugendbund, betrayed in its expectations, was dissolved; but its members increased the ranks of other societies already existing, or about to be formed. The “ Black Knights,” founded in 1815, and so called because they wore black clothes, said to be the : old German costume, headed by Jahn, continued to exist
after the war, as did “ The Knights of the Queen of Prussia.” Dr. Lang placed himself at the head of the “ Concordists,” a sect founded in imitation of similar societies already existing in the German universities. A more important association was that of the “ German Union ” (DeutscherBund), founded in 1810, whose object was the promotion of representative institutions in the various German states, which Union comprised
within itself the more secret one of the “ Unconditionals ” {Die Unbedingteri), whose object was the promotion of Liberal ideas, even without the concurrence of the nation. The Westphalian Government was the first to discover the existence of this society. Its seal was a lion reposing beside the tree of liberty, surmounted by the Phrygian cap. All these societies were in correspondence with each other, and peacefully divided the territory among themselves; whilst the German Union, true to its name, knew no other limits than those of the German confederation. Dr. Jahn was active in Prussia, Dr. Lang in the north, and Baron Nostitz in the south. This latter, by means of a famous actress of Prague, Madame Erode, won over a Hessian prince, who did not disdain the office of grand master.
653. Hostility of Governments against Tugendbund.—After the downfall of Napoleon the German Government, though not venturing openly to attack the Tugendbund, yet sought to suppress it. They assailed it in pamphlets written by men secretly in the pay of Prussia. One of these, Councillor Schmalz, so libelled it as to draw forth indignant replies from Niebuhr and Schleiermacher. What the Germans could least forgive was the scurrilous manner in which Schmalz had calumniated Arndt, the “ holy.” Schmalz had to fight several duels, and even the favour of the Court of Prussia could not protect him from personal outrages. The king then thought it fit to interfere. He published an ordinance, in which he commanded the dispute to cease; admitted that he had favoured the “ literary ” society known as the Tugendbund during the days when the country had need of its assistance, but declared that in times of peace secret societies could not be beneficial, but might do a great deal of harm, and therefore forbade their continuance. The action of the Government, however, did not suppress the secret societies, though it compelled them to change their names. The Tugendbund was revived, in 1818, in the Burschenscbaft, or associations of students of the universities, where they introduced gymnastics and martial exercises. These associations had been projected as early as the year 18IO, as appears from Jahn’s papers. Their central committee was in Prussia; and sub-committees existed at Halle, Leipzig, Jena, Gottingen, Erlangen, Wurzburg, Heidelberg, Tubingen, and Freiburg. Germany was divided into ten circles, and there were two kinds of assemblies, preparatory and secret. This secret section was that of the Black Knights, mentioned in the preceding paragraph. The liberation and independence
of Germany—so, Waterloo had not effected these objects ?— was the subject discussed in the latter; and Russia being considered as the greatest opponent of their patriotic aspirations, the members directed their operations especially against Russian influences. It was the hatred against Russia that put the dagger into the hand of Charles Louis Sand, the student of Jena, who stabbed Kotzebue (9th March 1819), who had written against the German societies, of which there was a considerable number. This murder led to a stricter surveillance of the universities on the part of governments, and secret societies were rigorously prohibited under stem penalties; the Prussian Government, especially, being most severe, and prosecuting some of the most distinguished professors for their political opinions. The Burschenschaft was broken up, and its objects frustrated, to be revived in 1830; the insurrectionary attempt made by some of the students at Frankfort on the 3rd April 1833, the object of which was the overthrow of the despotic, in order to establish a constitutional, government, led to the prosecution of many members of the Burschenschaft, and to the suppression—at least nominally and apparently—of all their secret societies.
THE BABIS
654. Bab, the Founder.—His name—for Bab is a title—was Ali Mohammed, and he is said to have been a Seyyid, or descendant of the family of the Prophet. He was born in 1819 at Shiraz, where his father was a merchant. Ali at first engaged in trade himself, but in 1840 he began to preach his new doctrine, declaring himself to be the Bab,1 i.e. Door of Truth, the Mahdi. In 1843 he made the pilgrimage to Mecca, but on his return was arrested by order of the Shah, and from 1844 to 1849 kept in semicaptivity at Ispahan and Tauris, at which latter place he was sentenced to be shot. He was suspended by cords from the walls of the citadel, and a dozen soldiers were ordered to fire at him. When the smoke from their discharges was dispelled the Bab had disappeared—a cleverly-managed manoeuvre to establish a miracle. But he was soon after reapprehended, and again condemned to death. The details of his execution are not known; it is reported that he was shot. His long captivity and mysterious death were favourable to the spreading of his doctrine, as also the fact that during his life he was subject to occasional fits of frenzy, and in the East—and sometimes in the West—a madman is |
considered to be inspired. And the Bab, like all prophets, I,
did not disdain availing himself of mundane means to pro- J
pagate his new doctrines; he was greatly assisted therein by I
the eloquence, combined with marvellous personal beauty, of j
Kurratu’l ’Ayn, a young lady of good family, who early embraced Babism, and suffered martyrdom for it (65 5). The
Bab was examined as to his teaching in 1848 by Nasreddin, then Crown Prince of Persia, afterwards Shah, and a number |
of Mullahs, the result of which inquiry was that he was sentenced to the bastinado, in consequence of which it is
1 Bab in Arabic and Chaldean means door, gate, or court; hence we have Babylon, the court of Bel; Babel-Mandeb, the gate of sorrow, probably so i
called on account of its dangerous navigation and rocky environs.
263
said he recanted and revoked all his claims; but as we have none but Mussulman historians—his enemies—to rely on, as the examination was held with closed doors, we may doubt this statement.
65 5. Progress of Babism.—The Bab’s teaching had not only theological, but also political aims. Persian rulers have always been conservative, but Babism was reformatory, and the common people readily embraced it, as it seemed favourable to the breaking down of the despotic powers exercised by provincial governors, by whom the country was fearfully oppressed. When, therefore, the Babis considered themselves strong enough they seized Mazanderan, about fourteen miles south-east of Barfurush ; but the Shah’s troops having cut off all supplies, they had to surrender, and were all slain. This was in 1847. In 1848, on the accession of the late Shah a thousand Babis rose against him ; they, however, were defeated by Mehdi Kouli Mirza, uncle of the new Shah, and the three hundred survivors who surrendered cruelly slaughtered, though they had been promised their lives. Moulla Mol^immed Ali, a Bab leader, in 1849 converted seven thousand of the twelve thousand inhabitants of Zanjan, seized the town, and drove the governor from the citadel; eighteen thousand royal soldiers were sent against him, and more than eight thousand of the combatants killed, and the surviving Babis had to surrender, and were put to death with horrible tortures. In 1850 a follower of Bab, ambitious rather than fanatical, Sayid Yahya Darabi, preached Babism at Niriz, and gathered round him two thousand followers, with whose help he hoped to hold the town. But the Shah’s troops attacked him ; he was assassinated by being strangled with his own girdle; the starved-out Babis had to yield, and were all cruelly butchered. In 1852 some Babis attempted to murder the Shah; the inquiry following thereon proved that at Ispahan and in all the great towns of Persia there was a vast association of Babis and Loutis, whose object was the overthrow of the reigning dynasty. All convicted of Babism were seized, and executed openly or in secret; terrible scenes were enacted by the Shah’s orders in many towns of Persia during a reign of terror, which lasted nearly two years. The Shah’s anger at the attempt, but especially his alarm, was so great, that to test the loyalty of his subjects he devised the “ devilish scheme,” as one writer calls it, of making all classes of society share in the revenge he took on the Babis. Thus the man who had fired the shot which wounded the king was killed by the farrashes—literally, the
r
THE BABIS 265 '
carpet-spreaders, but officially, the lictors of Eastern rulers. i
They first tortured him by the insertion of lighted candles in incisions made in his body. When the candles were '
burnt down to the flesh, the fire was for some time fed by ;
that. In the end he was sawn in two. The Master of the
Horse and the attendants of the royal stables showed their ’
loyalty by nailing red-hot horse-shoes to the feet of the ;
victim handed over to them, and finally “ broke up his head ■
and body with clubs and nails.” Another Babi had his eyes j
plucked out by the artillerymen, and was then blown from a gun. Another Babi was killed by the merchants and shop- .
keepers of Teheran, every one of whom inflicted a wound ;
on him until he died. Vambery, in his “Wanderings and ■
Experiences in Persia,” mentions one Kasim of Niriz, who was shod with red-hot horse-shoes, had burning candles •
inserted in his body, all his teeth torn out, and was eventually killed by having his skull smashed in with a club. These 1
are but a few specimens of the cruelties inflicted by order of ;
the amiable gentleman who, on his visits to this country, was ■
so loudly cheered by the assembled crowds. Among the .
victims of that persecution was Kurratu’l’Ayn (the Consola- ' 1
tion of Eyes), a beautiful and accomplished woman, who pro- '
fessed and preached Babism. The manner of her death is ,
uncertain; some say she was burnt, others that she was j
strangled. Dr. Polak, who actually witnessed her execution, .
in his “Persia, the Land and Its Inhabitants,” simply says, j
“ I was a witness to the execution of Kurratu’l ’Ayn, which was performed by the Minister of War and his adjutants;
the beautiful woman underwent her slow death with super- .
human fortitude.” - He gives no details as to the manner of it. In spite of this persecution, or rather, in consequence . ’
of it, Babism spread with astonishing rapidity throughout Persia, even penetrating into India. Not only the lower classes, but persons of education and wealth have joined the sect. The only portion of the Persian population not affected by its doctrines appear to be the Nuseiriyeh and ,
the Christians. }
656.Babi Doctrine.—It is contained in the Biyyan, the >
“ Expositor,” attributed to the Bab himself, and consisting '
of three parts written at different periods. It is to a great i
extent rhapsodical, frequently unintelligible. It abounds ’
with mysticism, degenerate Platonism, beliefs borrowed •
from the Guebres, vestiges of Magism, and in many places ,
displays the influence of a transformed Christianity and ;
French philosophy of the last century, propagated as far i
as Persia through masonic lodges, though they were never tolerated in Persia. We shall see further on how one recently established came to grief. The Babi Koran inculcates, among other superstitions, the wearing of amulets, men in the form of a star, women in that of a circle; the cornelian is particularly recommended to be put on the fingers of the dead, all which implies a return to Aramean Paganism. The book maintains the divinity of the Bab; he and bis disciples are incarnations of superior powers; forty days after death they reappear in other forms. “ God,” says the Biyyan, “created the world by His Will; the Will was expressed in words, but words are composed of letters; letters, therefore, possess divine properties.” In giving their numerical value to the letters forming the words expressing God, they always produce the same total, viz. 19. Hence the ecclesiastical system of the Babis; their colleges are always composed of 19 priests; the year is divided into 19 months, of 19 days each; the fast of the Ramadan lasts 19 instead of 30 days. During his life Ali Mohammed chose eighteen disciples, called “ Letters of the Living,” who, together with himself, the “ Point ” (the Point of Revelation, or “First Point,” from which all are created, and unto which all return), constituted the sacred hierarchy of nineteen, called the “ First Unity.” Now, Mirza Yahya held the fourth place in this hierarchy, and on the death of the “Point,” which occurred, as already stated, in 1849, and the first two “Letters,” rose to be chief of the sect; but Beha, whose proper name is Mirza Huseyn Ali of Nur, was also included in this unity, and he asserted that he was the one by whom God shall, as Bab had prophesied, make His final revelation; for, be it observed, the Babi Koran, which at present consists of eleven parts only, shall, when complete, contain nineteen, and when that revelation is made, Babism will be finished, and with it will come the end of this present world; for, according to the belief of his followers, the Bab was the forerunner of Saheb-ez-Zeman, the Lord of Ages, who resides in the air, and will not be seen till the day of resurrection.1 In consequence of the claim of Beha the sect was split up into two divisions, the Behais and the followers of Mirza Yahya Subh-i-Ezel (the Morning of Eternity), and after him called Ezelis. The majority of the sect are Behais, and the exiled chief Yahya lives at Famagusta,
1 I find this mentioned by one writer only, Professor de Filippi, in his “ Viaggio in Persia nel 1862,” published in the Italian periodical Politecnico, vol. xxii. p. 252, where there is a lengthy account of the Babis.
in Cyprus, where Mr. Browne, the translator of the work “A Traveller’s Narrative,” visited him in 1890, as he also visited Beha, at Acre, shortly after. The Babis are so far in advance of their Eastern brethren that they wish to raise the status of woman, maintaining that she is entitled to:the same civil rights as man; and one of their first endeavours to attain that end is that of abolishing the veil. Various charges, as against all new sects, are made against them; they are accused of being communists, of allowing nine husbands to a woman, of drinking wine, and of other unlawful practices; but proofs are wanting. It is said that they have special modes of salutation, and wear a ring of peculiar form, by which they recognise one another. They arrange their hair in a characteristic manner, and, as a rule, are clothed in white, all which practices, on the part of people who have to conceal their opinions, appears very strange to outsiders. The Bab forbade the use of tobacco, but the prohibition was withdrawn by Beha. Though only half a century old, the sect already possesses a mass of controversial writings on points of faith—for in all ages men have disputed most on what they understood least. The Babis may yet become a great power in the East; in the meantime they afford us an excellent opportunity of watching within our own day the genesis and development of a new religious creed, in which vast power and authority is conferred on the priests, greatly overshadowing that of the king himself, unless he is a member of the sect, which, in fact, if the creed becomes paramount, he must be to preserve his dignity; for, according to the teaching of the founder, he who is not a Babi has no right to any possession, has no civil status. To enhance the influence of the priests, divine service is to be performed with the utmost pomp; the temples are to be adorned with the costliest productions of nature and art.
But it is certain the doctrines of the Babis suit neither the Sunnites nor the Shiites,1 the latter of whom are the dominant religious party in Persia, and who particularly objected to the Bab’s claim of being the promised Mahdi, whose advent was to be ushered in by prodigious signs, which, however, were not witnessed in the Bab’s case. The latter also was opposed by the new Sheykhi school. Early •
’ According to the doctrine of the Sunnites, the Imamate, or vice- regency of the prophet, is a matter to be determined by the choice and election of his followers ; according to the Shiites, it is a matter altogether spiritual, having nothing to do with popular choice or approval.
in this century Sheykh Ahmad of Ahsa preached a new doctrine, considered heterodox by true believers; still he found many adherents, and on his death, about the year 1827, was succeeded by his disciple Haji Seyyid Kazim of Resht. He died in 1844, prophesying the coming of one greater than himself. Then Mirza Ali Mahammad, who came in contact with some disciples of the deceased Seyyid Kazim, saw his opportunity, and proclaimed himself the Bab ; the old Sheykhi party strongly supported him. But some of the followers of Seyyid Kazim did not accept the new prophet, and became, as the new Sheykhi party, his most violent persecutors. The Bab consequently called the leader of the latter party the “ Quintessence of Hell-fire,” whilst he, in his turn, wrote a treatise against the Bab, entitled, “The Crushing of Falsehood.” From such mutual courtesies the transition to mutual recrimination and accusation of objectionable teaching and practice is easy, and consequently quite usual, and therefore not to be too readily believed.
657. Recent History of Babism.—The fearful reprisals the late Shah in 1852 took on the sect of the Babis, whatever may be thought of their moral aspect, appear to have had the desired political effect. From that day till the recent assassination of the Shah, the outcome of old grievances, and of an uncalled-for renewal of a fierce persecution, they have committed no overt act of hostility against the Persian Government or people, though their number and strength are now double what they were in 1852. But this has not softened the feeling of the Shah or of the Mullahs against them. This was clearly shown in 1863. In that year a Persian who had travelled in Europe suggested to the Shah the establishment of a masonic lodge, with himself as the grand master, whereby he would have a moral guarantee of the fidelity of his subjects, since all persons of importance and influence would no doubt become members, and masonic oaths cannot be broken. The Shah granted permission, without, however, being initiated himself; a lodge, called the Feramoush-Khan^k, the “ House of Oblivion ”—since on leaving the lodge the member was supposed to forget all he had seen in it—was speedily opened, and the Shah urged all his courtiers to join it. He then questioned them as to what they had seen in it, but their answers were unsatisfactory ; they had listened to some moral discourse, drunk tea, and smoked. The Shah could not understand that the terrible mysteries of Freemasonry, of which he had heard so much, could amount to no more than this; he therefore surmised
that a great deal was withheld from him, and became dissatisfied. This dissatisfaction was taken advantage of by some of his friends who disliked the innovation, and they suggested to him that the lodge was probably the home of the grossest debauchery, and, finally, that it was a meetingplace of Babis. Debauchery the Shah might have winked at, but Babism could not be tolerated. The lodge was immediately ordered to be closed, and the author of its establishment banished from Persia. In quite recent times the Babis have undergone grievous persecutions. In 1888 Seyyid Hasan and Seyyid Huseyn were put to death by order of the then Shah’s eldest son, Prince Zillu’s Sultan, for refusing to abjure Babism. When dead their bodies were dragged by the feet through the street and bazaars of Ispahan, and cast out of the gate beyond the city walls. In the month of October of the same year Aga Mirza Ashraf of Abade was murdered for his religion, and the Mullas mutilated the poor body in the most savage manner. In 1890 the Babi inhabitants of a district called Seh-deh were attacked by a mob, and seven or eight of them killed, and their bodies burnt with oil. But it appears that on various occasions the Shah restrained the fanaticism of would-be persecutors of the Babis; it did not, however, save him from the vengeance sworn against him by the sect for former persecutions. On the 1st May 1896 Nasreddin Shah, the Defender of the Faith, was shot in the mosque of Shah Abdul Azim, near Teheran, and died immediately after he was brought back to the city. The assassin, who was at once arrested, was Mirza Mahomed Reza of Kirman, a follower of Jemal-ed-din, who was exiled for an attempt at dethroning the Shah in 1891. After Jemal’s departure Mahomed Reza was imprisoned; after some time he was set free, but continuing to speak against the Persian Government, he was again imprisoned, but some time after obtained his release, and even a pension from the Shah. He confessed that he was chosen to kill the Shah, and that he bought a revolver for the purpose, but had to wait two months for a favourable opportunity. His execution, some months after the deed—has it inspired the Babis with sufficient dread to deter them from similar attempts in the future?
f'-yl
XV
IRISH SOCIETIES
658. The White-Boys.—Ireland, helpless against misery and superstition, misled by hatred against her conquerors, the rulers of England, formed sects to fight not so much the evil, as the supposed authors of the evil. The first secret • society of Ireland, recorded in public documents, dates from 1761, in which year the situation of the peasants, always bad, had become unbearable. They were deprived of the right of free pasture, and the proprietors, in seven cases out of nine not Irish landlords, but Englishmen by blood and sympathy, began to enclose the commons. Fiscal oppression also became very great. Reduced to despair, the conspirators had recourse to reprisals, and to make these with more security, formed the secret society of the “ White-Boys,” so called, because in the hope of disguising themselves, they wore over their clothes a white shirt, like the Camisards of the Cevennes. They also called themselves “Levellers,” because their object was to level to the ground the fences of the detested enclosures. In November 1761 they spread through Munster, committing all kinds of excesses during the next four-and-twenty years.
659. Bight-Boys and Oak-Boys.—In 1787 the above society disappeared to make room for the “Right-Boys,” who by legal means aimed at obtaining the reduction of imposts, higher wages, the abolition of degrading personal services, and the erection of a Roman Catholic church for every Protestant church in the island. Though the society w^s guilty of some reprehensible acts against Protestant pastors, it yet, as a rule, remained within the limits of legal opposition. The vicious administration introduced into Ireland after the rising of 1788, the burden of which was chiefly felt by the Roman Catholics, could not but prove injurious to the Protestants also. The inhabitants, whether Catholic or Protestant, were subject to objectionable personal service—hence petitions rejected by the haughty rulers, tumults quenched 270
IRISH SOCIETIES 271
in blood, whole populations conquered by fear, but not subdued, and ready to break forth into insurrection when it was least expected. Therefore the Protestants also formed societies for their security, taking for their emblem the oakleaf, whence they were known as the “Oak-Boys.” Their chief object was to lessen the power and imposts of the clergy. Established in 1764, the society made rapid progress, especially in the province of Ulster, where it had been founded. Unable to obtain legally what it aimed at, it had recourse to arms, but was defeated by the royal troops of England, and dissolved.
660. Hearts-of-Steel, Threshers, Break-of-Day-Boys, Defenders, United Irishmen, Bibbonmen.—Many tenants of the Marquis of Donegal having about eight years after been ejected from their farms, because the marquis, wanting to raise .£100,000, let their holdings to Belfast merchants, they, the tenants, formed themselves into a society called “Hearts-of- Steel,” thereby to indicate the perseverance with which they intended to pursue their revenge against those who had succeeded them on the land, by murdering them, burning their farms, and destroying their harvests. They were not suppressed till 1773, when thousands of the affiliated fled to America, where they entered the ranks of the revolted colonists. The legislative union of Ireland with England in 1800 did not at first benefit the former country much. New secret societies were formed, the most important of which was that of the “Threshers,” whose primary object was the reduction of the exorbitant dues claimed by the clergy of both persuasions, and sometimes their conduct showed both generous impulses and grim humour. Thus a priest in the county of Longford had charged a poor woman double fees for a christening, on account of there being twins. The Threshers soon paid him a visit, and compelled him to pay a sum of money, with which a cow was purchased, and sent home to the cabin of the poor woman. This was in 1807.
Government called out the whole yeomanry force to oppose these societies, but without much success. Political and religious animosities were further sources of conspiracy. Two societies of almost the same nature were formed about 1785. The first was composed of Protestants, the “ Break- of-Day-Boys,” who at dawn committed all sorts of excesses against the wretched Roman Catholics, burning their huts, and destroying their agricultural implements and produce. The Roman Catholics in return formed themselves into a society of “Defenders,” and from defence, as was natural,
.272
SECRET SOCIETIES
j
proceeded to aggression. During the revolt of 1798 the Defenders combined with the “ United Irishmen,” who had initiated the movement. The United Irish were defeated, and their leader, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, having been betrayed by Francis Higgins, originally a pot-boy, and afterwards proprietor of the Freeman’s Journal, was taken and condemned to death; but he died of his wounds before the time fixed for his execution. The society of the United Irish, however, was not dispersed. Its members still continued to hold secret meetings, and to reappear in the political arena under the denomination of “ Ribbonmen,” so named because they recognised each other by certain ribbons. The Ribbonman’s oath, which only became known in 1895, was as follows:—“In the presence of Almighty God and this my brother, I do swear that I will suffer my right hand to be cut off my body and laid at the gaol door before I will waylay or betray a brother. That I will persevere, and will not spare from the cradle to the crutch or the crutch to the cradle, that I will not pity the groans or moans of infancy or old age, but that I will wade knee-deep in Orangemen’s blood, and do as King James did.”
661. St. Patrick Boys.—These seem to have issued from the ranks of the Ribbonmen. Their statutes were discovered and published in 1833. Their oath was: “I swear to have my right hand cut off, or to be nailed to th*e door of the prison at Armagh, rather than deceive or betray a brother; to persevere in the cause to which I deliberately devote myself; to pardon neither sex nor age, should it be in the way of my vengeance against the Orangemen.” The brethren recognised each other by dialogues. “Here is a fine day!” “A finer one is to come.”—“The road is very bad.” “ It shall be repaired.”—“ What with ? ” “ With the bones of Protestants.”—“ What is your profession of faith?” “The discomfiture of the Philistines.”—“How long is your stick? ” “Long enough to reach my enemies.” —“ To what trunk does the wood belong ? ” “ To a French trunk that blooms in America, and whose leaves shall shelter the sons of Erin.” Their aim was chiefly the redress of agrarian and social grievances.
662. The Orangemen.—This society, against which the St. Patrick Boys swrore such terrible vengeance, was a Protestant society. Many farms, taken from Roman Catholics, having fallen into the hands of Protestants, these latter were, as we have seen (660), exposed to the attacks of the former. The Protestants in self-defence formed themselves into a society,
taking the name of “ Orangemen,” to indicate their Protestant character and principles. Their first regular meeting was held on the 21st September 1795, at the obscure village of Loughgall, which was attended by deputies of'the Break- of-Day-Boys (660), and constituted into a grand lodge, authorised to found minor lodges. At first the society had only one degree: Orangeman. Afterwards, in 1796, the Purple degree was added; after that, the Mark Man’s degree and the Heroine of Jericho (see 701) were added, but eventually discarded. The oath varied but little from that of the entered Apprentice Mason, for Thomas Wilson, the founder of the Order, was a Freemason. The password was Migdol (the name, of the place where the Israelites encamped before they passed through the Red Sea—Exod. xiv. 2); the main password was Shibboleth. The pass sign was made by lifting the hat with the right hand, three fingers on the brim, then putting the three fingers on the crown, and pressing the hat down; then darting off the hand to the front, with the thumb and little finger together. This sign having been discovered, it was changed to exhibiting the right hand with three fingers on the thigh or knee, or marking the figure three with the finger on the knee. This was the half sign; the full sign was by placing the first three fingers of each hand upon the crown of the hat, raising the elbows as high as possible, and then dropping the hand perpendicularly by the side. This sign was said to be emblematical of the lintels and side-posts of the doors, on which the blood of the passover lamb was sprinkled. The distress word of a brother Orangeman was, “Who is on my side? who? ” (2 Kings ix. 32). The grand hailing sign was made by standing with both hands resting on the hips. In the Purple degree the member was asked, “ What is your number ? ”—“ Two and a half.” The grand main word was, “ Red Walls ” (the Red Sea). The password was Gideon, given in syllables. The society spread over the whole island, and also into England, and especially into the manufacturing districts. A grand lodge was established at Manchester, which was afterwards transferred to London, and its grand master was no less a person than the Duke of York. At the death of that prince, which occurred in 1821, the Duke of Cumberland, afterwards King of Hanover, succeeded him— both of them men to have the interests of religion confided to them! In 1835 the Irish statutes, having been revised, were made public. The society bound its members over to defend the royal family, so long as it remained faithful to
VOL. 11. s
Protestant principles. In the former statutes there were obligations also to abjure the supremacy of the Court of Rome and the dogma of transubstantiation; and although in the modern statutes these were omitted, others of the same tendency were substituted, the society declaring that its object was the preservation of the religion established by law, the Protestant succession of the crown, and the protection of the lives and property of the affiliated. To concede something to the spirit of the age, it proclaimed itself theoretically the friend of religious toleration; but facts have shown this, as in most similar cases, to be a mere illusion. From England the sect spread into Scotland, the Colonies, Upper and Lower Canada, where it reckoned 12,000 members; and into the army, with some fifty lodges. In the United States the society has latterly been showing its toleration 1 Its political action is well known; it endeavours to influence parliamentary elections, supporting the Whigs. The efforts of the British House of Commons to suppress it have hitherto been ineffectual.
That the custom of indulging in disgraceful mummeries at the ceremony of initiation into this Order has not gone out of fashion, is proved by an action brought in January 1897, in the Middlesex (Massachusetts) Superior Court by one Frank Preble against the officers of a lodge, he having at his initiation been repeatedly struck, when blindfolded, with a rattan, hoisted on a step-ladder, and thrown into a sheet, from which he was several times tossed into the air. Afterwards a red-hot iron was brought to his breast, and he was severely burnt. The jury disagreed, but the outside world will not disagree as to the character of such proceedings.
Other Irish societies, having for their chief object the redress of agrarian and religious grievances, were the “Corders,” in East and West Meath; the “Shanavests” and “ Caravats ” in Tipperary, Kilkenny, Cork, and Limerick; the Whitefeet and Blackfeet, and others, which need not be ’ more fully particularised.
663. Molly Maguires.—This Irish sect was the successor of the White-Boys, the Hearts of Oak, and other societies, and carried on its operations chiefly in the West of Ireland. It afterwards spread to America, where it committed great outrages, especially in the Far West. Thus in 1870 the Molly Maguires became very formidable in Utah, where no Englishman was safe from their murderous attacks, and the officers of the law were unable, or unwilling, to bring the criminals to justice. This led to the formation of a counter
society, consisting of Englishmen, who united themselves into the Order of the Sons of St. George, who were so successful as to cause many of the murderers to be apprehended and executed, and ultimately the Molly Maguires were totally suppressed. The Order of St. George, however, , continued to exist, and still exists, as a flourishing benefit society; it has lodges in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and other towns in Utah. The name of Molly Maguires was afterwards adopted by a secret society of miners in the Pennsylvanian anthracite districts; with the name of their Irish prototypes they assumed their habits, the consequence of which was that in 1890 ten or twelve members of the society were hanged, and the society was entirely broken up.
664. Ancient Order of Hibernians.—This Order is widely diffused throughout the United States, where it numbers about 6000 lodges. It is divided into two degrees, in the first of which, counting most members, no oath is exacted, and no secrets are communicated. But the second consists of the initiated, bound together by terrible oaths, and who receive their passwords from a central committee, called the Board of Erin, who meet either in England, Scotland, or Ireland, and every three months send emissaries to New York with a new password. Their avowed object is the protection of Irishmen in America—they receive only Roman Catholics into the society—but they are accused of having given great encouragement and assistance to the Molly Maguires, above spoken of, and also of having greatly swelled the ranks of the Fenians. The bulk, however, of the Hibernians ignore the criminal objects of their chiefs; hence the toleration they enjoy in the States, a toleration they undoubtedly deserve, for they have recently (November 1896) nobly distinguished themselves by providing ;£ 10,000 for the endowment of a chair of Celtic in the Roman Catholic University of New York.
665. Origin and Organisation of Fenianism.—The founders of Fenianism were two of the Irish exiles of 1848, Colonel John OMahoney and Michael Doheny, the latter one of the most talented and dangerous members of the Young Ireland party, and a fervent admirer of John Mitchel. O’Mahoney belonged to one of the oldest families in Munster, but becoming implicated in Smith O’Brien’s machinations and failure, he made his escape to France, and thence to America, where, in conjunction with Doheny and General Corcoran, he set the Fenian Brotherhood afloat. It was at first a semi-_ secret association; its meetings were secret, and though its
chief officers were publicly known as such, the operations of the Brotherhood were hidden from the public view. It rapidly increased in numbers, spreading through every State of the American Union, through Canada, and the British provinces. But in November 1863 the Fenian organisation assumed a new character. A grand national convention of delegates met at Chicago, and avowed the object of the Brotherhood, namely, the separation of Ireland from England, and the establishment of an Irish republic, the same changes being first to be effected in Canada. Another grand convention was held in 1864 at Cincinnati, the delegates at which represented some 250,000 members, each of which members was called upon for a contribution of five dollars, and this call, it is said, was promptly responded to. Indeed, the reader will presently see that the leaders of the movement were never short of money, whatever the dupes were. One of the resolutions passed at Cincinnati was that “the next convention should be held on Irish soil.” About the same time a Fenian Sisterhood was established, and the ladies were not inactive; for in two months from their associating they returned upwards of £200,000 sterling to the Fenian exchequer for the purpose of purchasing arms and other war material. At that period the Fenians confidently relied on the assistance of the American Government. The New York press rather favoured this notion. In Ireland the Brotherhood never attained to the dimensions it reached in the United States, and without the assistance of the latter could do nothing. Still the Irish, as well as the American Fenian, association had its chiefs, officers, both civil and military, its common fund and financial agencies, its secret oaths, passwords, and emblems, its laws and penalties, its concealed stores of arms, its nightly drills, its correspondents and agents, its journals, and even its popular songs and ballads. But traitors soon set to work to destroy the organisation from within. Thus the Head Centre O’Mahoney, who was in’receipt of an official salary of 2000 dollars, is thus spoken of in the Official Report of the Investigating Committee of the Fenian Brotherhood of America (1866):—
“ After a careful examination of the affairs of the Brotherhood, your Committee finds in almost every instance the cause of Ireland made subservient to individual gain; men who were lauded as patriots sought every opportunity to plunder the treasury of the Brotherhood, but legalised their attacks by securing the endorsement of John O’Mahoney. ... In John O’Mahoney’s integrity the confidence of the
Brotherhood was boundless, and the betrayal of that confidence, whether through incapacity or premeditation, is not a question for us to determine. . . . Sufficient that he has proved recreant to the trust. . . . Never in the history of the Irish people did they repose so much confidence in their leaders; never before were they so basely deceived and treacherously dealt with. In fact, the Moffat mansion (the headquarters of the American Fenians) was not only an almshouse for pauper officials and hungry adventurers, but a general telegraph office for the Canadian authorities and Sir Frederick Bruce, the British Minister at Washington. These paid patriots and professional martyrs, not satisfied with emptying our treasury, connived at posting the English authorities in advance of our movements.”
From this report it further appears that in 1866 there was in the Fenian treasury in the States a sum of 185,000 dollars; that the expenses of the Moffat mansion and the parasites who flocked thither in three months amounted to 104,000 dollars; and that Stephens, the Irish Head Centre, in the same space of time received from America, in money sent to Paris, the sum of upwards of 106,000 dollars, though John O’Mahoney in many of his letters expressed the greatest mistrust of Stephens. He no doubt looked upon the latter as the more clever and daring rogue, who materially diminished his own share of the spoil. Stephens’s career in Ireland is sufficiently well known, and there is scarcely any doubt that whilst he was leading his miserable associates to their ruin, he acted as spy upon them, and that there existed some understanding between him and the English authorities. How else can we explain his living for nearly two months in the neighbourhood of Dublin, in a house magnificently furnished, whilst he took no precautions to conceal himself, and yet escaped the vigilance of the police for so long a time ? His conduct when at last apprehended, his bravado in the police court and final escape from prison, his traversing the streets of Dublin, sailing for Scotland, travelling through London to France without once being molested—all point to the same conclusion. The only other person of note among the Fenians was John Mitchel, who had been implicated in the troubles of 1848, was transported, escaped, and made his way to the United States. During the civil war which raged in that country he was a supporter of the Southern cause, was taken prisoner by the North, but liberated by the President at the request of the Fenians in America.
The Fenian agitation also spread into England. Meetings
were held in various towns, especially at Liverpool, where men of considerable means were found to support the Fenian objects and organisations; and on one occasion as much as ^200 was collected in a few minutes in the room where a meeting was held. But disputes about the money thus collected were ever arising. The man who acted as treasurer to the Liverpool Centre, when accused of plundering his brethren, snapped his fingers at them, and declared that if they bothered him about the money he would give evidence against them and have the whole lot hanged. The Fenians, to raise money, issued bonds to be redeemed by the future Irish Republic, of one of which the following is a facsimile:—
666. Origin of Name.—Irish tradition says that the Fenians were an ancient militia employed on home service for protecting the coasts from invasion. Each of the four provinces had its band, that of Leinster, to which Fionn and his family , belonged, being at the head of the others. This Fionn is the Fingal of MacPherson, and the leaders of the movement no doubt saw an advantage in connecting their party with the historical and traditionary glories of Ireland. But the Fenians were not confined to Erin. The name was invented for the society by O’Mahoney, but the Irish never adopted it; they called their association the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or briefly, the I. R. B. Fenianism was officially restricted to the American branch of the movement.
667. Fenian Litany.—From the Patriotic Litany of Saint Lawrence O’Toole, published for the use of the Fenian Brotherhood, the following extract may suffice :—
“ Call to thine aid, 0 most liberty-loving O’Toole, those Christian auxiliaries of power and glory—the soul-inspiring cannon, the meek and faithful musket, the pious rifle, and the conscience-examining pike, which, tempered by a martyr’s faith, a Fenian’s hope, and a rebel’s charity, will triumph
over the devil, and restore to us our own in our own land for ever, Amen.
O’Toole, hear us.
From English civilisation, From British law and order, From Anglo-Saxon cant and freedom, From the best of the English Queen, From Rule Britannia, From the cloven hoof, From the necessity of annual rebellion, From billeted soldiery, From a pious church establishment,
>■ O’Toole, deliver us!
Fenianism to be stamped out like the cattle plague!
We will prove them false prophets, O'Toole.
Ireland reduced to obedience,
Ireland loyal to the crown, It is a
Ireland pacified with concessions, falsehood,
Ireland to recruit the British army, O’Toole.
Ireland not united in effort,
Ireland never again to be dragged at the tail of any other nation!
Proclaim it on high, O’Toole.
668. Events from 1865 to 1871.—In speaking of Stephens, it was mentioned that he was a spy on the Fenians, but he was not the only informer that betrayed his confederates to the English Government; which latter, in consequence of “information thus received,” made its first descent on the Brotherhood in 1865, at the office of the Irish People, and captured some of the leading Fenians. Shortly after, it seized Stephens, who, however, was allowed to make his escape from Richmond Prison, where he had been confined, in'the night of November 24 of the above year. Further arrests took place in other parts of Ireland, and also at Liverpool, Manchester, and other English towns. The prisoners were indicted for treason-felony, and sentenced to various degrees of punishment. Various raids into Canada, and the attempt on Chester Castle, all ending in failure, next showed that Fenianism was still alive. But it was more prominently again brought before the public by the attack at Manchester, in September 1867, on the police van conveying two leaders of the Fenian conspiracy, Kelly and Deasey, to the city prison, who were enabled to make their
escape, whilst Sergeant Brett was shot dead by William O’Meara Allen, who was hanged for the deed. A still more atrocious and fatal Fenian attempt was that made on the Clerkenwell House of Detention, with a view of liberating two Fenian prisoners, Burke and Casey, when a great length of the outer wall of the prison was blown up by gunpowder, which also destroyed a whole row of houses opposite, killed several persons, and wounded and maimed a great number. On that occasion again Government had received information of the intended attempt by traitors in the camp, but strangely enough failed to take proper precautionary measures. On December 24, 1867, the Fenians made an attack on the Martello Tower at Fota, near Queenstown, Co. Cork, and carried off a quantity of arms and ammunition; and their latest exploit, in 1871, was another Canadian raid, when they crossed the border at Pembina, and seized the Canadian Custom-House and Hudson’s Bay post. They were, however, attacked and dispersed by American troops, and General O’Neil was made prisoner. This raid, the object of which was to secure a base of action, and also to receive from the American Government a recognition of belligerency, was carried out totally independently of the new Irish Fenian confederation, of which O’Donovan Rossa was the moving spirit; and the Irish papers therefore pooh-poohed the account of this fiasco altogether, or merely gave the telegrams, denying that the enterprise had any connection with Fenianism. About this time it seemed as if the Fenian Brotherhood was breaking up; O’Donovan Rossa retired from the “Directory” of the confederation, and went into the wine trade. The Fenians themselves denounced the notorious Stephens, who reappeared in America, as a “traitor” and government informer; and though the acquittal of Kelly for the murder of head-constable Talbot seemed to point to a strong sympathy surviving amongst the Irish people with Fenianism, the jury perhaps could give no other verdict than the one they arrived at, the prosecution having been altogether mismanaged by the Government.
669. The Soi-disant General Cluseret.—Another personage had in the meantime become connected with the Fenians, a soi-disant General Cluseret, who had been a captain in the French army, but had been compelled to quit it in consequence of some irregularity in the regimental funds, of which Cluseret had kept the books and the cash. He afterwards served with Garibaldi in Sicily, and Fremont in the
United States, after which he bestowed on himself the rank of General. He came to Europe with the mission of reporting to the Fenians of New York on English arsenals, magazines, and ports of entry. In an article published by him in Fraser in 1872, entitled, “ My Connection with Fenianism,” he tells the world that he offered to command the Fenians if 10,000 men could be raised, but the money to do so was not forthcoming. He asserted that he had communications with the Reform League, whose members favoured his designs; but he failed, as he says, because he had a knot of self-seekers and ignorant intriguers to deal with; “and traitors,” he might have added, for it is certain that the intended attack on Chester Castle failed because the English Government had had early notice of the plot. A rising Cluseret attempted to head in Ireland came to grief, and the general speedily made his escape to France, where he became mixed up with the Commune (507).
670. Plmnix, Park Murders, and Consequences.—Fenianism for a time was quiescent, but about 1880 the Land League was established, and byits agents, the “ Moonlighters,” entered on a course of outrages, chiefly against farmers for paying rent, which has not yet ceased, though their leader, D. Connell, and a number of his followers were apprehended early in 1882. This year was farther distinguished in the annals of crime by the murder of Lord F. Cavendish, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Mr. Thomas Burke, the Under-Secretary, in Phoenix Park, Dublin; but the assassins were not apprehended until January 1883, one of the guilty parties, James Carey, having turned informer. He received a pardon, and was sent out of the country, but shortly after shot by O’Donnell, who was executed for this murder. The law, of course, cannot sanction the slaying of an informer, but public sentiment says, “ Served him right,” especially in this case, as Carey was as deeply implicated in the Phoenix Park murders as any of the other criminals. The trial of these led to the disclosure of an organisation known as the “Irish Invincibles,” whose chief was P. J. Tynan, who passed under the sobriquet of Number One, and which organisation was the instigator and executor of the Phoenix Park and of many other murders, including, for instance, the massacre of the Maamtrasna family.
671. Dynamite Outrages.—In this year (1882) the Fenians began the use of dynamite; a large quantity of this material was discovered, together with a quantity of arms, concealed in a vault in the town of Cork; later on the Fenians
attempted the storing up of dynamite and arms in London and other English towns; a considerable number of rifles and large quantities of ammunition were seized in a house at Islington in July 1882; dynamite was sent to this country from America, but its introduction being difficult, the Fenians attempted to manufacture it here; a laboratory, stocked with large quantities of the raw and finished material, was discovered at Ladywood, near Birmingham, in April 1883. Still, the explosive and infernal machines continued to be smuggled into this country, and attempts were made to blow up public buildings in London and elsewhere, the attempts, however, doing, fortunately in most cases, but little harm. One of the most serious was the one made at Glasgow early in 1883. In a manifesto issued in April 1884 by the Fenian brotherhood, signed by Patrick Joyce, secretary, the Fenians call this “inaugurating scientific warfare,” and declare their intention to persevere until they have attained their object, the freedom of Ireland. In December 1884 an attempt to blow up London Bridge with dynamite had no other result but to blow up the two men who made the attempt; the chief instigators of all these attempts were two American organisations; the first was that of O’Donovan Rossa, the second that of the association called the Clan-na-Gael. Rossa had agents in Cork, London, and Glasgow; but two of the most important, Fetherstone (whose real name is Kennedy) and Dalton, were apprehended, and sentenced to penal servitude for life. Since then the party of Rossa has been powerless. An unsuccessful attempt on O’Donovan Rossa’s life was made early in 1885 by an English lady, a Mrs. Dudley. Within a fortnight after an advertisement appeared in O’Donovan’s paper, offering a reward of ten thousand dollars for the body of the Prince of Wales, dead or alive. And yet, but a few months ago (1896), this would-be assassin, or instigator of assassination, was permitted to walk about in England, in perfect freedom, and even to enter the Houses of Parliament! The Clan-na-Gael is a more serious affair; originally it was a purely patriotic scheme for the removal of British power over Ireland; it did not advocate the slaughter of innocent people by the indiscriminate use of dynamite. But eventually a certain violent faction obtained control, and gained possession of the large funds of the Clan, the bulk of which they absorbed for their own enrichment. Dr. Cronin, who could have proved this, was murdered. The branches of the Clan-na-Gael extend over the whole
of the United States. Its heads are three in number: Alexander Sullivan, of Chicago; General Michael Kerwin, of New York; and Colonel Michael Boland, of the same city. Sullivan was a great friend of Patrick Egan, the treasurer of the Land League. One of the agents of the Clan-na-Gael was John Daly, who intended to blow up the House of Commons by throwing a dynamite bomb on the table of the House from the Strangers’ Gallery. He was arrested at Chester in April 1884, and sentenced to penal servitude for life. The attempts on the House of Commons, and the explosions at the Tower and Victoria Railway Station, were also the work of the Clan-na-Gael, twenty-five members of which have been condemned to penal servitude, two-thirds of them for life. John S. Walsh, residing in Paris, and the Ford family in America, are also known as dangerous agents of the association. The dynamiters were not quite so active after the capture and conviction of so many of their party, but confined themselves to occasional and comparatively insignificant attempts, but murder was rife in Ireland. These events, however, are now, thanks to the Report of the Judges of the Parnell Commission, so easily accessible to every reader, that they need not be specified here.
672. The National League.—This is scarcely an association, though generally considered such. It is not an Irish production, but created in a foreign land, and directed by foreign agents, whose designs are unknown. The people have given their allegiance to it because of the large bribes it offered to their cupidity, and the fear it inspired. The secret societies give the League their assistance, without which it would be powerless. But the real heads who direct the operations of the rank and file keep carefully out of the way; but whilst the rank and file know they have nothing to fear from the people, who will not give them up, they know that any one of their own body may at any time betray them by turning informer. The Invin- .cibles held their own for a long time, but once the police got hold of them, informers appeared in every direction. This shows, according to Ross — of — Bladensburg, in Murray's Magazine, December 1887, from which I quote, that the Irish have no real faith in their own cause; that •they are not, like the Nihilists, honest patriots, prepared to suffer in a cause they consider just, but , a people led astray by a band of selfish agitators, whose machinations .are pleasantly exposed in the following passages, with which
s
I will endeavour to give an enlivening finish to this necessarily dry account of the Fenian movement up to 1888.
673. Comic Aspects of Fenianism.—In “The New Gospel of Peace according to St. Benjamin,” an American publication of the year 1867, the author says: “About those days there arose certain men, Padhees, calling themselves Phainyans, who conspired together to wrest the isle of Ouldairin from the queen of the land of Jonbool. Now it was from the isle of Ouldairin that the Padhees came into the land of Unculpsalm. . . . Although the Padhees never had established government or administered laws in Ouldairin, they diligently sought instead thereof to have shyndees therein, first with the men who sought to establish a government for them; but if not with them, then with each other. . . . Now the Padhees in the land of Unculpsalm said one to another, Are we not in the land of Unculpsalm, where the power of Jonbool cannot touch us, and we are many and receive money ; let us therefore conspire to make a great shyndee in the isle of Ouldairin. . . . And they took a large upper room and they placed men at the outside of the outer door, clad in raiment of green and gold, and having drawn swords in their hands. For they said, How shall men know that we are conspiring secretly, unless we set a guard over ourselves? And they chose a chief man to rule them, and they called him the Hid-Sinter, which, being interpreted, is the top-middle; for, in the tongue of the Padhees, hid is top, and sinter is middle. . . . And it came to pass that after many days the Hid-Sinter sent out tax-gatherers, and they went among the Padhees, and chiefly among the Bidhees throughout the city of Gotham, and the other cities in the land of Unculpsalm, and they gathered tribute, . . . and the sum thereof was great, even hundreds of thousands of pieces of silver. Then the Hid-Sinter and his chief officers took unto themselves a great house and spacious in the city of Gotham, . . . and fared sumptuously therein, and poured out drink-offerings night and day unto the isle of Ouldairin. And they set up a government therein, which they called the government of Ouldairin, and chose unto themselves certain lawgivers, which they called the Sinnit. . . . Now it came to pass when certain of the Padhees, Phainyans, saw that the Hid-Sinter and his chief officers . . . fared sumptuously every day, . . . and lived as if all their kinsfolk were dying day by day, and there was a ouaic without end, that their souls were moved with envy, and they said each within his own heart, Why should
I not live in a great house and fare sumptuously ? But unto each other and unto the world they said: Behold, the Hid- Sinter and his officers do not govern Ouldairn righteously, and they waste the substance of the people. Let us therefore declare their government to be at an end, and let us set up a new government, with a new Hid-Sinter, and a new Sinnit, even ourselves. And they did so. And they declared that the first Hid-Sinter was no longer Hid-Sinter, but that their Hid-Sinter was the real Hid-Sinter, . . . and moreover they especially declared that tribute-money should no more be paid to the first Hid-Sinter, but unto theirs. But the first Hid-Sinter and his officers would not be set at nought, . . . and so it came to pass that there were three governments for the isle of Ouldairn; one in the land of Jonbool, and two in the city of Gotham in the land of Un- culpsalm. But when the) Phanyans gathered unto themselves men, Padhees, in the island of Ouldairin, who went about there in the night-time, with swords and with spears and with staves, the governors sent there by the queen of Jonbool took those men and cast some of them into prison, and banished others into a far country,” &c.
674. Events from, 1888 to 1896.—The revelations made in 1888 and 1890 before the “Special Commission,” have rendered the history of the Eenian conspiracy quite familiar up to that date. Of subsequent events the following are noteworthy. On the 22d October 1890 the Convention of the Fenian brotherhood in America was held at New Jersey, when it was resolved to make it an open association—de facto, it was already so after the disclosures before the Commission—the council only being bound by oath, and that the object should be to form naval and military volunteer forces to aid the United States in the event of war with any foreign State. At a convention held at New York in July 1891, it was again argued that the only organisation now advisable was one with a military basis. The Clan-na-Gael continued to hold abortive meetings; outrages of every kind, including murder, were rife in Ireland up to 1892, since which time Ireland is supposed to be pacified, though the frequently repeated dynamite outrages in England, and the revival of Fenianism in America, would lead to a very different conclusion. As to this revival, the Irish Convention, commonly called “the physical force convention,” met in September 1895 at Chicago, and resolved on the formation of a permanent organisation for the recovery, by arms, of Irish independence. Among the delegates—there were more than one thousand
present—were O’Donovan Rossa and Tynan (No. i), and the chairman, Mr. John Finerty, ex-member of Congress.
In August 1896 a Belfast paper stated that, owing to the discovery of a secret society of Ribbonmen in Armagh, special detective duty had been ordered by the constabulary authorities at Dublin Castle. z
And yet, in spite of all this, Government has recently released some of the most atrocious dynamiters, originally and justly sentenced to lifelong penal servitude!
In September 1896, the notorious Patrick Tynan, known under the name of No. 1, and who was implicated in the Phoenix Park murders, was arrested at Boulogne; but the demand of the British Government for his extradition was refused by that of France, on the grounds that sufficient evidence identifying him with No. 1 had not been produced ; that even if such identification were established, there was not sufficient proof to identify Tynan as one of the men who participated in the murder of Mr. Burke; and, lastly, that his case was covered by “ prescription,” which in France is acquired after ten years, an extension to twenty years being allowed only after a trial at which the accused had been present. But Tynan had effected his escape after the murders. And so he was set at liberty by the French Government, though it was shown that he had been in frequent communication whilst at Boulogne with English dynamiters, plotting against England at that very time. Of course the French acted on the strict letter of the Code Napoleon and of the Extradition Treaty between the two countries; but when the law and the treaty afford such loopholes to the vilest of criminals, it is high time both were revised. On his release from the French prison, Tynan wrote a long letter to his wife—why should it be published ?—in which he expresses his admiration of Russian civilisation (!), and thanks God for tempering the wind to the shorn lamb (!). Beware of a murderer who gives vent to such language; he is more dangerous than the one who is violent and brutal in his speech.
675. Most Recent Revelations.—One of the dynamiters whom Tynan had been in close and recent communication with was Edward J. Ivory, alias Bell, an American, who had been apprehended on British territory, and was charged at the Bow Street Police Court, on the 13th November 1896, 'with conspiring with others to cause dynamite explosions within the United Kingdom. He was committed for trial, but when that took place at the Old Bailey, in January 1897,
the prosecution, in spite of the fact that the prisoner’s movements gave room for very grave suspicions, suddenly collapsed on a purely technical point, and Ivory was, by the judge’s direction, pronounced “Not guilty” by the jury, and of course immediately discharged.' Were it necessary to vindicate the impartiality of English justice, and its tender regard for the interests and claims of a person accused, the issue of this trial would afford a very striking and honourable instance of both. How far the interests of justice, the maintenance of law, and the dignity of the country are served by such verdicts, is altogether a different question, the answer to which cannot be satisfactory.
BOOK XIV
MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES
VOL. II.
676. ABC Friends, The.—A society whose avowed scope was the education of children, its real object the liberty of man. They called themselves members of the ABC, letters which in French are pronounced dbaissd; but the abased that were to be raised were the people. The members were few, but select. They had two lodges in Paris during the Restoration. Victor Hugo has introduced the society in Les Misdrables, part iii. book iv.
677. Abelites.—A Christian sect, existing in the neighbourhood of Hippo, in North Africa, in the fourth century. The members married, but abstained from conjugal intercourse, because, as they maintained, Abel had lived thus, since no children of his are mentioned. To maintain the sect, they adopted children, male and female.
A sect having the same name existed in the middle of the last century, who professed to imitate Abel in all his virtues. They had secret signs, symbols, passwords, and rites of initiation. Their principal meetings were held at Greifswald, near Stralsund, at which they amused themselves with moral and literary debating.
678. Academy of the Ancients.—It was founded at Warsaw by Colonel Toux de Salverte, in imitation of a similar society, and with the same name, founded in Rome towards the beginning of the sixteenth century. The object of its secret meetings was the cultivation of the occult sciences. •
679. Almusseri.—This is an association similar to that of “ Belly Paaro,” found among the negroes of Senegambia and •other parts of the African continent. The rites of initiation bear some resemblance to the Orphic and Cabiric rituals. In the heart of an extensive forest there rises a temple, access to which is forbidden to the profane. The receptions take place once a year. The candidate feigns to die. At the appointed hour the initiated surround the aspirant and chant funereal songs; whereupon he is carried to the temple, placed on a moderately hot plate of copper, and anointed with the oil of the palm—a tree which the Egyptians dedicated to the sun, as they ascribed to it three hundred and
sixty-five properties. In this position he remains forty days —this number, too, constantly recurs in antiquity—his relations visiting him to renew the anointing, after which period he is greeted with joyful songs and conducted home; He is supposed to have received a new soul, and enjoys great consideration and authority among his tribe.
680. Anonymous Society.—This society, which existed for some time in Germany, with a grand master resident in Spain, occupied itself with alchymy.
681. Anti-Masonic Party.—In 1826 a journalist, William Morgan, who had been admitted to the highest masonic degrees, published at New York a book revealing all their secrets. The Freemasons carried him off in a boat, and he was never afterwards seen again. His friends accused the Masons of having assassinated him. The latter asserted that he had drowned himself in Lake Ontario, and produced a corpse, which, however, was proved to be that of one Monroe. Judiciary inquiries led to no result. Most of the officers, it is said, were themselves Masons. The indignation caused by the crime and its non-punishment led to the formation, in the State of New York, of an Anti-Masonic party, whose object was to exclude from the public service all members of the masonic fraternity. But the society soon degenerated into an electioneering engine. About fifty years after the occurrence, Thurlow Weed published, from personal knowledge, precise information as to Morgan’s assassination by the Freemasons. His grave was discovered in 1881 at Pembroke, in the county of Batavia, State of New York, and in the grave also was found a paper, bearing on it the name of a Freemason called John Brown, whom, at the time, public rumour made one of the assassins of Morgan. To this latter a statue was erected at Batavia in 1882. Certain American travellers, indeed, asserted having, years after, met Morgan at Smyrna, where he taught English; but their assertions were supported by no proofs.
682. Anti-Masons.—This was a society founded in Ireland, in County Down, in 1811, and composed of Roman Catholics, whose object was the expulsion of all Freemasons, of whatever creed they might be.
683. Apocalypse, Knights of the.—This secret society was formedin Italy In 1693, to defend the Church against the expected Antichrist. Augustine Gabrino, the son of a merchant of Brescia, was its founder. On Palm-Sunday, when the choir in St. Peter’s was intoning the words, Quis est iste Rex Gloria! ? Gabrino, carrying a sword in his
hand, rushed among the choristers, exclaiming, Ego sum Rex Gloria. He did the same in the church of San Salvatore, whereupon he was shut up in a madhouse. The society, however, continued to flourish until a wood-carver, who had been initiated, denounced it to the Inquisition, which imprisoned the knights. Most of them, though only traders and operatives, always carried a sword, even when at work, and wore on the breast a star with seven rays and an appendage, symbolising the sword seen by St. John in the Apocalypse. The society was accused of having political aims. It is a fact that the founder called himself Monarch of the Holy Trinity, which is not extraordinary in a madman, and wanted to introduce polygamy, for which he ought to be a favourite with the Mormons.
684. Areoiti.—This is a society of Tahitian origin, and has members throughout that archipelago. They have their own genealogy, hierarchy, and traditions. They call themselves the descendants of the god Oro-Tetifa, and are divided into seven (some say into twelve) degrees, distinguished by the modes of tattooing allowed to them. The society forms an institution similar to that of the Egyptian priests; but laymen also may be admitted. The chiefs at once attain to the highest degrees, but the common people must obtain their initiation through many trials. Members enjoy great consideration and many privileges. They are considered as the depositaries of knowledge, and as mediators between God and man, and are feared as the ministers of the taboo, a kind of excommunication they can pronounce, like the ancient hierophants of Greece or the court of Rome. Though the ceremonies are disgusting and immoral, there is a foundation of noble ideas concealed under them; so that we may assume the present rites to be corruptions of a formerly purer ceremonial. The meaning that underlies the dogmas of the initiation is the generative power of nature. The legend of the solar god also here plays an important part, and regulates the festivals; and a funereal ceremony, reminding us of that of the mysteries of antiquity, is performed at the winter solstice. Throughout Polynesia, moreover, there exists a belief in a supreme deity, Taaroa, Tongola, or Tangaroa, of whom a cosmogonic hymn, known to the initiated, says: “He was; he was called Taaroa; he called, but no one answered ; he, the only ens, transformed himself into the universe; he is the light, the germ, the foundation; he, the incorruptible; he is great, who created the universe, the great universe.”
685. Avengers, or Vendicatori.—A secret society formed about 1186 in Sicily, to avenge public wrongs, on the principles of the Vehm and Beati Paoli. At length Adiorolphus of Ponte Corvo, grand master of the sect, was hanged by order of King William II. the Norman, and many of the sectaries were branded with a hot iron.
686. Belly Paaro.—Among the negroes of Guinea there are mysteries called “Belly Paaro,” which are celebrated several times in the course of a century. The aspirant, having laid aside all clothing, and every precious metal, is led into a large wood, where the old men that preside at the initiation give him a new name, whilst he recites verses in honour of the god Belly, joins in lively dances, and receives much theological and mystical instruction. The neophyte passes five years in absolute isolation, and woe to any woman that dares to approach the sacred wood! After this novitiate the aspirant has a cabin assigned to him, and is initiated into the most secret doctrines of the sect. Issuing thence, he dresses differently from the others, his body being adorned with feathers, and his neck showing the scars of the initiatory incisions.
687. Californian Society. — Several Northern Californian tribes have secret societies, which meet in a lodge set apart, or in a sweat-house, and engage in mummeries of various kinds, all to frighten their women. The men pretend to converse with the devil, and make their meeting-place shake and ring again with yells and whoops. In some instances one of their number, disguised as the master-fiend himself, issues from the lodge, and rushes like a madman through the village, doing his best to frighten contumacious women and children out of their senses. This has been the custom from time immemorial, and the women are still gulled by it.
688. Cambridge Secret Society.—In 1886 a number of young men formed the “ Companions of St. John ” secret society, under the leadership of the Rev. Ernest John Heriz- Smith, M.A., Fellow of Pembroke College. In 1896 it was supposed to number upwards of one thousand members. The primary and avowed object was to inculcate High Church principles and confession; its real object to be a member of a secret society. They took an oath; the candidate had his hands tied, knelt at a table, had his eyes bandaged, and took a vow to obey the head of the society in all things, and never to mention anything relating to the society except to a member. If he disobeyed he was sent to his room, and tied to a table leg. They wore for some time a badge with
the letters L and D (Love and Duty); afterwards they wore it concealed under their clothes, whence the members were named “Belly-banders.” Whether this society still exists, or whether ridicule has killed it, we cannot say.
689. Charlottenburg, Order of. — This was one of the numerous branches grafted on the trunk of the Union of Virtue.
690. Church Masons.—This is a masonic rite, founded in this country during this century, with the scarcely credible object of re-establishing the ancient masonic trade-unions.
691. Cougourde, The.—An association of Liberals at the time of the restoration of the Bourbons in France. It arose at Aix, in Provence, and thence spread to various parts of France. Its existence was ephemeral. Cougourde is French for the calabash gourd.
692. Druids, Modern.—This society, the members of which pretend to be the successors of the ancient Druids, was founded in London in 1781. They adopted masonic rites, and spread to America and Australia. Their lodges are called groves; in the United States they have thirteen grand groves, and ninety-two groves, twenty-four of which are English, and the remainder German. The number of degrees are three, but there are also grand arch chapters. The transactions of the German groves are printed, but those of the English kept strictly secret. In 1872 the Order was introduced from America into Germany. The Order is simply a benefit society.
693. Duk-Duk.—A secret association on the islands of New Pomerania, originally New Britain, whose hideously masked or chalk-painted members execute justice, and collect fines. In carrying out punishment they are allowed to set houses on fire or kill people. They recognise one another by secret signs, and at their festivals the presence of an uninitiated person entails his death. Similar societies exist in Western Africa (see 723).
694. Egbo Society.—An association said to exist among some of the tribes inhabiting the regions of the Congo. Egbo, or Ekpd, is supposed to be a mysterious person, who lives in the jungle, from which he has to be brought, and whither he must be taken back by the initiates alone after any great state ceremonial. Egbo is the evil genius, or Satan. His worship is termed Obeeyahism, the worship of Obi, or the Devil. Ob, or Obi, is the old Egyptian name for the spirit of evil, and devil-worship is practised by many barbarous tribes, as, for instance, by the Coroados and the
f -
j Tupayas, in the impenetrable forests between the rivers
j Prado and Doce in Brazil, the Abipones of Paraguay, the
I Bachapins, a Caffre tribe, the negroes on the Gold Coast, and
|, firmly believed in by the negroes of the West Indies, they
I being descended from the slaves formerly imported from
Africa.
In the ju-ju houses of the Egbo society are wooden statues, ; to which great veneration is paid, since by their means the
society practise divination. Certain festivals are held during ’ . the year, when the members wear black wooden masks with
horns, which it is death for any woman to see. There are three degrees in the Egbo society; the highest is said to confer such influence that from AiOOO to £ 1500 are paid for attaining it.
695. Fratudli.—A sect who were said to. have practised the custom of self-restraint under the most trying circumstances of disciplinary carnal temptation. They were found chiefly in Lombardy; and Pope Clement V. preached a crusade against them, and had them extirpated by fire and sword, hunger and cold. But they were guilty of a much higher crime than the one for which they were ostensibly persecuted; they had denounced the tyranny of the popes, and the abuses of priestly power and wealth, which of course deserved nothing less than extermination by fire and sword!
696. Goats, The.—About the year 1770 the territory of Limburg was the theatre of strange proceedings. Churches , were sacked, castles burnt down, and robberies were com
mitted everywhere. The country people were trying to shake off the yoke feudalism had imposed on them. During the night, and in the solitude of the landes, the most daring assembled and marched forth to perpetrate these devastations. Then terror spread everywhere, and the cry was heard, “ The Goats are coming! ” They were thus called, because they wore masks in imitation of goats’ faces over their own. On such nights the slave became the master, and abandoned himself with fierce delight to avenging the wrongs he had suffered during the day. In the morning all disappeared, returning to their daily labour, whilst the castles and mansions set on fire in the night were sending their lurid flames up to the sky. The greater the number of malcontents, the greater the number of Goats, who at last became so numerous that they would undertake simul- , . taneous expeditions in different directions in one night.
They were said to be in league with the devil, who, in the
MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 297 form of a goat, was believed to transport them from one place to another. The initiation into this sect was performed in the following manner:—In a small chapel situate in a dense wood, a lamp was lighted during a dark and stormy night. The candidate was introduced into the chapel by two godfathers, and had to run round the interior of the building three times on all-fours. After having plentifully drunk of a strong fermented liquor, he was put astride on a wooden goat hung on pivots. The goat was then swung round, faster and faster, so that the man, by the strong drink and the motion, soon became giddy, and sometimes almost raving mad; when at last he was taken down, he was easily induced to believe that he had been riding through space on the devil’s crupper. From that moment he was sold, body and soul, to the society of Goats, which, for nearly twenty years, filled Limburg with terror. In vain the authorities arrested a number of suspected persons; in vain, in all the communes, in all the villages, gibbet and cord were in constant request. From 1772 to 1774 alone the tribunal of Foquemont had condemned four hundred Goats to be hanged or quartered. The society was not exterminated till about the year 1780.
697. Grand Army of the Republic.—A secret society founded after the Civil War in the Northern States of America, to afford assistance to indigent veterans and their families. The Order is a purely military one; its chief is called the Commandant-General, the central authority the National Camp, and subordinate sections are styled Posts. In 1887 the society counted 370,000 members. •
698. Green Island.—A society formed at Vienna in 1855. The language used at their meetings was a parody on the knightly style as it was supposed to have been; its object was merely amusement. The society reckoned many literary men of note among its members. Whence it took its name is not clear, but it appears to have been a revival of the Order of Knights founded in 1771. See infra, under “ Knights, Order of.”
699. Harngari.—A secret society, dating from 1848, among Germans in North America. They pretended to be descended from an ancient German order of knighthood, and possess about two hundred lodges, with 16,000 members. The diffusion of the German language is one of their chief objects. But why surround themselves with the mist of secrecy but from a childish love for mysterymongering ?
700. Hemp-smokers, African.—At Kashia-Calemba, the capital of the natives of Bashilangc-Baluba, in Africa (lat. 3° 6', long. 210 24'), a sacred fire is always kept up in the central square by old people, appointed for the purpose, who also have to cultivate and prepare for smoking the chiamba (Cannabis indicci); it is known in Zanzibar as Changi or Chang. It is smoked privately, and also ceremonially as a token of friendship, and is also administered to accused persons as a species of ordeal. As the symbol of friendship, it is considered as a religious rite, known as “Lubuku,” practised by an"organisation, of which the king is ex officio the head; a social organisation only indirectly of political importance. Its rules, signs, and working are secret; its aims and objects unknown to outsiders; its initiatory rites have never been witnessed by an uninitiated person, much less by any European. Certain external evidences of its inward nature are however sufficiently obvious to all who care to investigate the subject. Chiamba-smoking has a most disastrous effect on both the health and wealth of its devotees. A dark inference of its true nature may be drawn from the lax, and indeed promiscuous, intercourse between the sexes. Another indication of its licentiousness is afforded by the customs observed at the marriages of its male members, and repeated for three successive nights, in which all decency is outraged in the most revolting and most public way imaginable. The initiatory rites are performed generally by the king, or by Meta Sankolla, the present king’s sister, on an islet in the Lulua, an affluent of the Sankoro River, a short distance above Luluaburg, a European station on the top of a hill 400 feet above the river. The public smoking is begun by the chief or senior man present placing the prepared weed in the “ Kinsu dhiamba,” or pipe, and after smoking a little himself, passing it on to the man next to him. The pipe consists of a small clay bowl, inserted in the larger end of a hollow gourd, the smaller end of which has a large aperture, against which the smoker places his mouth and inhales the smoke in great gulps, till his brain is affected, and he becomes for a time a raving madman.
701. Heroine of Jericho.—This degree is conferred, in America, exclusively on Royal Arch Masons, their wives and widows. Its ritual is founded on the story of Rahab, in the second chapter of the Book of Joshua. The first sign is in imitation of the scarlet line which Rahab let down from the window to assist the spies to make their
escape. It is made by holding a handkerchief between the lips and allowing it to hang down. The grand hailing sign of distress is given by raising the right hand and arm, holding the handkerchief between the thumb and forefinger, so that it falls perpendicularly. The word is given by the male heroine (not the candidate’s husband) placing his hand on her shoulder and saying, “My Life,” to which the candidate replies, “For yours.” The male then says, “If ye utter not,” to which the candidate answers, “This our business.” The word Rahab is then whispered in the lady’s ear. The latter swears never to reveal this grand secret. She is told that Rahab was the founder of the Order, but it was most probably invented by those who were concerned in the murder of William Morgan (681), who, by swearing their female relatives to conceal whatever criminal act perpetrated by Masons might come to their knowledge, hoped to protect themselves.
702. Human Leopards.—A black secret society in the country near Sierra Leone, who indulge in cannibalism, buying young boys, feeding them up, and then killing, baking, and eating them. They also attack travellers, and, if possible, kill them for the same purpose. Three members of the society were hanged in the Imperi country, a British colony, on the 5th August 1895, for this crime. Dressed in leopard skins, they used to secrete themselves in the bush near a village and kill a passer-by, to be eaten at a cannibal feast. One of those three men had been a Sunday-school teacher at Sierra Leone. His conversion to Christianity had evidently not been very profound. Cannibalism is as prevalent on the east coast of Africa as on the west, but in the former, where the natives eat father and mother and any other relations as soon as they grow old, it has a sort of sacramental meaning, the fundamental idea being that the eater imbibes the properties of the person eaten. At the meeting of the British Association in September 1896, Mr. Scott Elliott read a paper on the Human Leopards.
703. Hunters, The.—In 1837, after the first Canadian insurrection, a society under the above title was formed, whose object was to bring about a second insurrection. The United States supported them. MacLeod, one of the insurgents of Upper Canada, came to St. Albans, the centre of the society’s operations, and was initiated into all the degrees, which he afterwards promulgated through Upper Canada. There were four degrees—the Hunter,
the Racket, the Beaver, and the Eagle. This last was the title of the chief, corresponding with our rank of colonel; the Beaver was a captain, commanding six Rackets, ' every Racket consisting of nine men; the company of the Beaver consisted of seventy affiliates or Hunters. Every aspirant had to be introduced by three Hunters to a Beaver, and his admission was preceded by fear-inspiring trials and terrible oaths. Though the society lasted two years only, it distinguished itself by brave actions in the field; many of its members died on the scaffold.
704. Husianawer. — The natives of Virginia gave this name to the initiation they conferred on their own priests, and to the novitiate those not belonging to the priesthood had to pass through. The candidate’s body was anointed with fat, and he was led before the assembly of priests, who held in their hands green twigs. Sacred dances and funereal shouts alternated. Eive youths led the aspirant through a ■ double file of men armed with canes to the foot of a certain tree, covering his person with their bodies, and receiving in his stead the blows aimed at him. In the meantime the mother prepared a funeral pyre for the simulated sacrifice, and wept her son as dead. Then the tree was cut down, and its boughs lopped off and formed into a crown for the brows of the candidate, who during a protracted retirement, and by means' of a powerful narcotic called visocean, was thrown into a state of somnambulism. Thence he issued among his tribe again and was looked upon as a new man, . possessing higher powers and higher knowledge than the non-initiated.
705. Indian (North American) Societies.—Nearly all the Indian tribes who once roamed over the vast plains of North America had their secret societies and sacred mysteries, but as the different tribes borrowed from one another religious ceremonies and symbols, there was great similarity between them all, though here and there characteristic signs or tokens distinguished the separate tribes. Dancing with all of them was a form of worship from the aborigines of Hispaniola to those of Alaska, as, in fact, it was with all savage nations, whether African, American, or Polynesian. The Red Indian tribes all had their medicine-huts and men, their kivas, council-rooms, or whatever name they gave to what were really their religious houses. Most tribes kept up a sacred fire, which was extinguished once a year, and then relighted. The sacred dogmas and rites of the Indians of the Gulf States bore so close a resemblance to those of the
ancient Jews, that it was long seriously contended by ethno- 1
logists and historians that they were the Lost Tribes ! The ;
Cherokees, Delawares, and Chippewas kept records on sticks, ■
six inches in length, and tied up in bundles, which were ’
covered with devices and symbols, which were called Kep- \
newin when in common use, and Keknowin when connected •
with the mysteries o£ worship. The most remarkable record 7
was that contained in the Walum-Olum, or red score; it *
contains the creation myth and the story of the migrations ;
of the tribes, represented in pictorial language. Such picto- '
graphs are owned by every tribe. The Ojibwas have produced some very elaborate ones, showing the inside of the medicine-lodge filled with the presence of the Great Spirit, a candidate for admission standing therein, crowned with feathers, and holding in his hand an otter-skin pouch; the
tree with the root that supplies the medicine; the goods ;
offered as a fee for admission; an Indian walking in the sky, a drum, raven, crow, and so on. The Iroquois mysteries were elaborate, but are not well known; but it appears they were instituted to console Manabozko for the disappearance of Chibiabos, who afterwards was made ruler of the
dead—the parallel in this case to Persephone is as curious as •
is the similarity of the instrument used in the Kurnai initia- s
tionto the Greek pofi^o<; (72). The Iroquois were originally
made up of five different tribes, which afterwards were in- ;
creased to seven, and their national organisation was based, i
not on affinity, but on an artificial and arbitrary brotherhood, having signs and countersigns resembling those of modern !
secret societies. The secret associations of the Dakotas • '■
were more numerous and more marked than those of the ■
Iroquois, but some of them were mere social societies, while ’
others were simply religious. Miss Alice Fletcher, who has .
lived among them, and the Rev. J. 0. Dorsey, testify to the number of societies among them, but to their secrets they
were not admitted. Mr. Frank Cushing was, in 1883, ’
initiated into the secret societies of the Zunis; Dr. Wash
ington Matthews has given us descriptions of the sacred .
ceremonies of the Navajos, and Captain R. G. Rourke of the J
snake-dance of the Moquis. Dr. Franz Boos has described
the customs of the Alaskans, and shown that there are •
many societies among them, some of which require that a
person should be born into them to be a member. In 1890
the Sioux ghost-dance attracted much attention. But what ' .
of all these Indian mysteries which in recent years have been ' ,
endowed with a factitious interest and importance? They ,
may have a special attraction for the comparative ethnologist ; to the general reader they merely convey the conviction that from China to Peru, and from the Arctic to the Antarctic Pole, man is everywhere ruled by the same instincts, fears, and aspirations, which reveal themselves in the same customs, beliefs, and religious rites.
706. Invisibles, The.—We know not how much or how little of truth there is in the accounts, very meagre indeed, of this society, supposed to have existed in Italy in the last century, and to have advocated, in nocturnal assemblies, atheism and suicide.
707. Jehu, Society of.—This society was formed in France during the Revolution, to avenge its excesses by still greater violence. It was first established at Lyons. It took its name from that king who was consecrated by Elisha to punish the sins of the house of Ahab, and to slay all the priests of Baal; that is to say, the relations, friends, and agents of the Terrorists. . Ignorant people called them the Society of Jesus, though this name scarcely suited them, since they spread terror and bloodshed throughout France. The society disappeared under the Consulate and the Empire, but reappeared in 1814-15 under the new name of “ Knights of Maria Theresa,” or “ of the Sun,” and by them Bordeaux was betrayed into the hands of the English, and the assassins of the Mayor of Toulouse at Bordeaux, of General Ramel at Toulouse, and of Marshal Brune at Avignon, were members of this society.
708. Karpokratians.—A religious society founded by Kar- pokrates, who lived in the time of the Emperor Adrian at Alexandria. He taught that the soul must rise above the superstition of popular creeds and the laws of society, by which inferior spirits enchain man, and by contemplation unite with the Monas or highest deity. To his son Epi- phanes a temple was erected after his death on the island of Cephalonia. The sect, in spite of its moral worthlessness, continued to exist to the sixth century; the members recognised each other by gently tickling the palm of the hand they shook with the points of their fingers.
709. Klobbergoll.—Associations on the Micronesian Islands, living together in houses apart, and bound to accompany their chiefs on their war expeditions, and perform certain services for them. There are on these islands also female clubs, the members of which attend at festivities given to foreign guests, and render them various services.
710. Knights, the Order of.—A satirical order to ridicule'
, MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 303 mediaeval knighthood, founded curiously enough by Frederick von Gonb, a Knight of the Strict Observance, who himself believed in the descent of the Freemasons from the Knights Templars. It was instituted at Wetzlar in 1771. The members assumed knightly names; thus Gbthe, who belonged to it, was Gbtz von Berlichingen. They held the “Four Children of Haimon” to be symbolical, and Gbthe wrote a commentary thereon. The Order was divided into four degrees in sarcastic derision of the higher degrees of spurious masonry, called, (1) Transition, (2) Transition’s Transition, (3) Transition’s Transition to Transition, (4) Transition’s Transition to Transition of Transition. The initiated only could fathom the deep meaning of these designations!
711. Know-Nothings.—This was an anti-foreign and nopopery party, formed in 1852 in the United States of America, and acting chiefly through secret societies, in order to decide the Presidential election. In 1856 it had almost become extinct, but came to life again in 1888, having reestablished secret lodges throughout the country, but being especially strong in New York and California. It then held large meetings for the purpose of renominating for the presidential post Major Hewitt, who maintained that all immigrants ought to live in the States twenty-one years before they could vote. They were, however, defeated, General Harrison being elected.
712. Ku-Klux-Klan.—A secret organisation under this name spread with amazing rapidity over the Southern States of the American Union soon after the close of the war. The white people of the South were alarmed, not so much by the threatened confiscation of their property by the Federal Government, as by the nearer and more present dangers to life and property, virtue and honour, arising from the social anarchy around them. The negroes, after the Confederate surrender, were disorderly. Many of them would not settle down to labour on any terms, but roamed about with arms in their hands and hunger in their bellies, whilst the governing power was only thinking of every device of suffrage and reconstruction by which the freedmen might be strengthened, and made, under Northern dictation, the ruling power in the country. Agitators came down among the towns and plantations; and organising a Union league, held midnight meetings with the negroes in the woods, and went about uttering sentiments which were anti-social and destructive. Crimes and outrages increased;
the law was all but powerless, and the new governments in the South, supposing them to have been most willing, were certainly unable to repress disorder. A real terror reigned for a time among the white people; and under these circumstances the Ku-Klux started into existence, and executed the Lynch-law, which alone seems effective in disordered states of society. The members wore a dress made of black calico, and called a “ shroud.” The stuff was sent round to private houses, with a request that it should be made into a garment; and fair fingers sewed it up, and had it ready for the secret messenger when he returned and gave his preconcerted tap at the door. The women and young girls had faith in the honour of the “ Klan,” and on its will and. ability to protect them. The Ku-Klux, when out on their missions, also wore a high tapering hat, with a black veil over the face. The secret of the membership was kept with remarkable fidelity; and in no instance, it is said,’ has a member of the Ku-Klux been successfully arraigned and punished, though the Federal Government passed a special Act against the society, and two proclamations were issued under this Act by President Grant as late as October 1871, and the habeas corpus Act suspended in nine counties of South Carolina. When the members had a long ride at night, they made requisitions at farmhouses for horses, which were generally returned on a night following without injury. If a company of Federal soldiers, stationed in a small town, talked loudly as to what they would do with the Ku-Klux, the men in shrouds paraded in the evening before the guard-house in numbers so overwhelming as at once reduced the little garrison to silence. The overt acts of the Ku-Klux consisted for the most part in disarming dangerous negroes, inflicting Lynch-law on notorious offenders, and above all, in creating one feeling of terror as a counterpoise to another. The thefts by the negroes were a subject of prevailing complaint in many parts of the South. A band of men in the Ku-Klux costume one night came to the door of Allan Creich, a grocer of Williamson’s Creek, seized and dragged him some distance, when they despatched and threw him into the Creek, where his body was found. The assassins then proceeded to the house of Allan’s brother, but not finding him at home, they elicited from his little child where he was staying. Hereupon they immediately proceeded to the house named ; and having encountered the man they sought, they dealt with him as they had dealt with his brother Allan. It appears that Allan had long beej
blamed for buying goods and produce stolen by the negroes, and had often been warned to desist, but without avail. The institution, like all of a similar nature, though the necessity for its existence has ceased to a great extent, yet survives in a more degenerate form, having passed into the hands of utter scoundrels, with no good motive, and with foul passions of revenge or plunder, or lust of dread and mysterious power alone in their hearts. Thus in November 1883 seven members of the society, the ringleaders being men of considerable property, were found guilty at the United States Court, Atalanta, Georgia, of having cruelly beaten and fired on some negroes for having voted in favour of an opposition candidate of the Yarborough party in the Congressional election. They were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
713. Kurnai Initiation.—The Kurnai, an Australian tribe, performed rites of initiation into manhood, somewhat similar to those of the O-Kee-Pa (725), as did also all the Tasmanian tribes. But details are not known; the nature of the rites is only inferred from the fact that all young men examined by Europeans were found to be deeply scarified on the shoulders, thighs, and muscles of the breast. The Kurnai mysteries are chiefly referred to here because of the curious parallel they offer in the use of an instrument resembling the pop.flo’i, which was one of the sacred objects in the Eleusinian mysteries (72). The Kurnai call the instrument the turndun; it is a flat piece of wood, fastened by one end to a thong, for whirling it round, and producing a roaring noise, to warn off the women. For a woman to see it, or a man to show it her, was, by native law, death to both. It is not unknown in England; we call it a whizzer or bullroarer. A similar instrument is used by the Kafirs of South Africa, where it is used for just its two principal Australian purposes, namely, for rain-making, and in connection with the rites of initiation to warn the women off. The bullroarer was also in use in New Zealand. In Australia it is known by the names of wftarna and muyumkar.
714. Liberty, Knights of.—A sect formed in 1820 in France against the government of the Bourbons. Its independent existence was brief, as it was soon merged in that of the Carbonari.
715. Lion, Knights of the.—-This was one of the transformations assumed in Germany in the last century by Masonic Templars.
,716. Lion, The Sleeping.—This was a society formed in
VOL. 11. u
Paris in 1816, with the object of restoring Napoleon to the throne of France. The existing government suppressed it.
717. Ludlam’s Cave.—A comic society, formed at Vienna in 1818, and so named after a somewhat unsuccessful play- of Oehlenschlager. The members were called bodies ; candidates, shadows. The latter underwent a farcical examination, and if found very ignorant, were accepted. Many literary men belonged to it; but though their professed object was only amusement, the society was in 1826 suppressed by the police of Vienna. .
718. Mad Councillors.—This comical order was founded in 1809 by a Doctor Ehrmann of Frankfort-on-the-Main. Diplomas, conceived in a ludicrous style, written in Latin, and bearing a large seal; were granted to the members. Jean Paul, Arndt, Goethe, Iffland, had such diplomas; ladies also received them. On the granting of the hundredth, in 1820, the joke was dropped. •
719. Magi, Order of the.—Is supposed to have existed in Italy in the last century, as a modification of the Rosicrucians. Its members are said to have worn the costume of Inquisitors.
720. Mah6.rd.jas.—This is an Indian sect of priests. It appears abundantly from the works of recognised authority written by Maharajas, and from existing popular belief in the Vallabhacharya sect, that Vallabhacharya is believed to have been an incarnation of the god Krishna, and that the Maharajas, as descendants of Vallabhacharya, have claimed and received from their followers the like character of incarnations of that god by hereditary succession. The ceremonies of the worship paid to Krishna through these priests are all of the most licentious character. The love and subserviency due to a Supreme Being are here materialised and transferred to those who claim to be the living incarnations of the god. Hence the priests exercise an unlimited influence over their female votaries, who consider it a great honour to acquire the temporary regard of the voluptuous Maharajas, the belief in whose pretensions is allowed to interfere, almost vitally, with the domestic relations of husband and wife. The Maharaja libel case, tried in 1862 in the Supreme Court of Bombay, proved that the wealthiest and largest of the Hindoo mercantile communities of Central and Western India worshipped as a god a depraved priest, compared with whom an ancient satyr was an angel. Indeed, on becoming followers of that god, they make to his priest the offering of tan, man, and dhan, or body, mind, and property; and so far
MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 307.
does their folly extend, that they will greedily drink the water in which he has bathed. There are about seventy or eighty of the Maharajas in different parts of India. They have a mark on the forehead, consisting of two red perpendicular lines, meeting in a semicircle at the root of the nose, and having a round spot of red between them. Though not a secret society, strictly speaking, still, as their doings were to some extent kept secret, and their worst features, though proved by legal evidence, denied by the persons implicated, I have thought it right to give it. a place here.
721. Mano Negra.—This association, the Black Hand, in the south of Spain, is agrarian and Socialistic, and its origin dates back to the year 1835. It was formed in consequence of the agricultural labourers having been deprived of their communal rights, the lands on which they had formerly had the privilege to cut timber and pasture their cattle having been sold, in most instances, far below their value, to the sharp village lawyers, nicknamed caciques, who resemble in their practices the gombeen men of Cork, though these latter do not possess the political influence of the former. The caciques, though they bought the land, in many instances had not capital enough to cultivate it, hence the agricultural labourer was left to starve, a. condition which led to many agrarian disturbances. The members of the society were bound by oath to punish their oppressors by steel, fire, or poison; incendiarism was rife. The association was strictly secret; to reveal its doings by treachery or imprudence meant death to the offender. The society had a complete organisation, with its chiefs, its centres, its funds, its secret tribunals, inflicting death and other penalties on their own members, and on landlords and usurers, such as the caciques. The members, to escape detection, often changed their names; they corresponded by cipher, and had a code of precautions, in which every contingency was provided against. From 1880 to 1883 the society was particularly active, especially in Andalusia, which induced the Spanish Government to take the most severe repressive measures against it. Many trials of members took place in 1883. The rising was a purely Spanish one; it was absolute •hunger which drove the Spanish peasant into the hands of native agitators. Foreign anarchists endeavoured to utilise the movement, but had little influence on it.
722. Melanesian Societies.—The groups of islands stretching in a semicircle from off the eastern coast of Australia to New Caledonia, including New Guinea, the Solomon
i
L '
j 308 SECRET SOCIETIES
\ Islands, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and also the
r Fiji Islands, all abound with secret societies, which, however,
j have nothing formidable in them, since all their secrets are
: known; the people join, but laugh at them; their lodges
j are their clubs, chiefly devoted to feasting; strangers are
i admitted to them as to inns; they exclude women, though
on the Fiji Islands there are societies which admit them. Young men are expected to be initiated; those who are not, do not take a position of full social equality with those who
✵ are members. When the ceremonies and doctrines were as
i yet mysteries, outsiders thought that the initiated entered
j into association with the ghosts of the dead, a delusion
✵ strengthened by the strange and unearthly noises heard at
i times in and around the lodges, and the hideously-disguised
; figures, supposed to be ghosts, which appeared to the “ dogs
j outside.” Now it is known that the ghosts are merely
! members, wearing strangely-decorated hats made of bark
and painted, which hats cover the whole head and rest on the shoulders, while the mummers are dressed in long cloaks, made of leaves, and shaped in fantastic designs. It is also : known that the noises which used to frighten the natives
t are produced by a flat smooth stone, on which the butt-end
I - of a fan of palm is rubbed, the vibration of which produces
J the extraordinary sound. At the ceremony of initiation the
I usual pretence of imparting secret knowledge is gone through
! on a par with that imparted in some societies nearer home,
’ and, as with the latter, it is all a question of fees, though in
I some societies there is also some rougher ceremony to be
; submitted to ; thus in that called welu, the neophyte has to
i lie down on his face in a hole in the ground, cut exactly to
! • his shape, and lighted cocoanut fronds are cast upon his back.
! He cannot move, and dare not cry; the scars remain on his
! back as marks of membership. The neophyte, when initiated,
I remains goto, that is, secluded for a number of days—in some
; societies for one hundred days—during which time he has
! to attend to the oven and do the dirty work of the lodge.
J Learning the dances, which the initiated on certain festi-
i vals perform in public, as particularly pleasing to their
gods, seems to be the principal item of the instruction received in the sanctuary. The number of societies, as already stated, is very large, and they are known by various names.
✵ The New Britain Society is called Duk-Duk (693); that of
Florida, Matambala; that of the Banks Islands, Tamate; that of the Northern New Hebrides, Qatu; that of Fiji, Nanga. The ghosts supposed to be present are called duka;
in Florida the consultation of the ghosts is known as palu- duka. The lodge is called Salagoro; it is usually situate in some retreat near the village, in the midst of lofty trees, and must not be approached by women; masked figures guard the path to it, which is marked by bright orange-coloured fruits stuck on reeds, and the customary soloi taboo marks, forbidding entrance. The members of different societies are distinguished by particular badges, consisting of leaves or flowers, and to wear such a badge without membership is a punishable offence.
723. Mumbo-Jumbo.—We have seen (687) that there is a Californian society, whose object it is to keep their women in due subjection. Among the Mundingoes, a tribe above the sources of the river Gambia, a somewhat similar association exists. Whenever the men have any dispute with the women, an image, eight or nine feet high, made of the bark of trees, dressed in a long coat, crowned with a wisp of straw, and called a Mumbo-Jumbo, or Mamma Jambah, is sent for. A member of the society conceals himself under the coat and acts as judge. Of course his decisions are almost always in favour of the men. When the women hear him coming they run away and hide themselves, but he sends for them, makes them sit down, and afterwards either sing or dance, as he pleases. Those who refuse to come are brought by force, and he whips them. Whoso is admitted into the society has to swear in the most solemn manner never to divulge the secret to any woman, nor to any one not initiated. To preserve the secret inviolable, no boys under sixteen years of age are admitted. About 1727 the King of Jagra, having a very inquisitive wife, disclosed to her the secret of his membership, and the secrets connected therewith. She, being a gossip, talked about it; the result was, that she and the king were killed by the members of the association.
Obeah, see Egbo Society.
724. Odd Fellows.—This Order was founded in England about the middle of the last century. The initiatory rites then were of the usual terrifying character we have seen practised in the ancient mysteries, accompanied by all the theatrical display intended to overawe the candidate, who had to take the oath of secrecy. The Order has its signs, grips, words, and passwords ; one word was Eides, which was uttered letter by letter; one sign was made by placing the right hand on the left breast, and at the same time pronouncing the words, “ Upon my honour.” Another sign was made by taking hold of the lower part of the left ear
i
} 310 SECRET SOCIETIES
! with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. What the
j signs, grips, and passwords now are, it is impossible to tell,
j , since these, as the only secrets of the Order, are kept strictly
j secret. Every half-year a new password is communicated
j to the lodges. In 1819 the Order was introduced into the
' United States. Therejare three degrees: the White, Blue,
J and Scarlet; there is also a female degree, called Rebecca,
• and High Degrees are conferred in “ Camps.” The Odd
j Fellows in the lodges wear white aprons, edged with the
| ■ colours of their degree; in the camps they wear black aprons
j similarly trimmed. Since the American prosecutions of the
j Freemasons, which also affected the Odd Fellows, the oath
i of secrecy is no longer demanded (see 741).
725. O-Kee-Pa.—A religious rite, commemorative of the Flood, which was practised by the Mandans, a now extinct ■ tribe of Red Indians. The celebration was annual, and its
object threefold, viz.: (1) to keep in remembrance the sub- | siding of the waters; (2) to dance the bull-dance, to insure
j a plentiful supply of buffaloes (though the reader will see in
! it an allusion to the bull of the zodiac, the vernal equinox)';
I and (3) to test the courage and power of endurance of the
! young men who, during the past year, had arrived at the age
! of manhood, by great bodily privations and tortures. Part
j of the latter were inflicted in the secrecy of the “ Medicine! hut,” outside of which stood the Big Canoe, or Mandan Ark,
| which only the “Mystery-Men” were allowed to touch or
I look into. The tortures, as witnessed by Catlin, consisted in
forcing sticks of wood under the dorsal or pectoral muscles I of the -victim, and then suspending him by these sticks from
! the top of the hut, and turning him round until he fainted,
J when he was taken down and allowed to recover conscious-
| ness; whereupon he was driven forth among the multitude
| assembled without, who chased him round the village, tread; ing on the cords attached to the bits of wood sticking in his
' flesh, until these latter fell out by tearing the flesh to pieces.
\ Like the ancient mysteries, the O-Kee-Pa ended with drunken
j and vicious orgies. The Sioux at Rosebud Agency, in Dakota,
✵ still practise the same barbarous rites, but in a milder form.
< 726. Pantheists.—Ajcl association, existing in the last cen-
! tury in this country and in Germany; Bolingbroke, Hume,
i and other celebrities belonged to it. Its object was the dis! cussion of the maxims contained in Toland’s “ Pantheisticon.”
! John Toland was born in Ireland about 1670, and was a
j Deistical writer, who anticipated, two centuries ago, the
< “higher criticism” of the present day in his “Christianity
not Mysterious.” His writings attracted much attention here and in Germany, which country he repeatedly visited. As his teaching was considered atheistical, its followers had to study it secretly. The members of the association met at the periods of the solstices and of the equinoxes, and the profane, and even the servants, were rigorously excluded from' the meetings.
727. Patriotic Order Sons of America.—This Order was organised in Philadelphia in 1847. It suspended operations during the Civil War, but at*its conclusion it was reorganised, and now counts over 200,000 members. The aims and . objects of the Order are the teaching of American principles ; born Americans only are admitted. Its lodges are called camps. It is a benefit society, and, like all similar associations, has no secrets, but simply endeavours, by certain symbols and signs of recognition, to impress on their members their principles and brotherhood.
Pednosophers, see Tobaccological Society.
728. Phi-Beta-Kappa.—The Bavarian Illuminati, according to some accounts, spread to America. Students of universifies only are admitted to the Order. The password is <&i\o<To<j>ui Biov Kv/SepyriTr^, philosophy is the guide or rule of life. The three letters forming the initials of the Greek sentence were chosen as the name of the society, whose object is to make philosophy, and not religion, the guiding principle of man’s actions. The Order was introduced into the United States about the year 1776. It had its secret signs and grips, which, however, were all made public, when about the year 1830 the society ceased from being a secret one: the sign was given by placing the two forefingers of the right hand so as to cover the left corner of the mouth, and then drawing it across the chin. The grip was like the common shaking of hands, only not interlocking the thumbs, and at the same time gently pressing the wrists. The jewel or medal, always of silver or gold, and provided at the candidate’s expense, is suspended by a pink or blue ribbon. On it are the letters Ph, B, and K, six stars, and a hand. The stars denote the number of colleges where the institution exists. On the reverse is S. P. for Societas Philosophise, and the date December 5, 1776, which indicates the time of the introduction of the Order into the States.
729. Pilgrims.—A society whose existence was discovered at Lyons in 1825, through the arrest of one of the brethren, a Prussian shoemaker, on whom was found the printed catechism of the society. Though the Pilgrims aimed above all
at religious reform, yet their catechism was modelled on that of the Freemasons.
730. Police, Secret.—Whilst revolutionaries and disaffected subjects formed secret associations for the overthrow of their rulers, the latter had recourse to counter-associations, or the Secret Police. In France it was very active in the early part • of the last century, but chiefly as the pander to the debaucheries of the Court. For political purposes women of loose morals were employed by preference. Thus a famous procuress, whose boudoirs were haunted by diplomatists, a Madam Fillon, discovered and frustrated the conspiracy of Cellamare, the Spanish ambassador in 1718 at the court of the Regent (Philippe d’Orldans, who governed France during the minority of Louis XV.), which was directed against the reigning family, in favour of the Duke of Maine. The ambassador was obliged to leave France. From the clironique scandaleuse of those times it is evident that the police were always closely connected with the ladies of easy virtue, whom they employed as their agents. Towards the end of the eighteenth century the police were secretly employed in preventing the propagation of philosophical works, called bad books. The Revolution abolished this secret police as immoral and illegal; but it was, as a political engine, re-established under the Directory, to which the expelled royal family opposed a counter-police, which, however, was discovered in the month of May 1800. Napoleon, to protect \ himself against the various conspiracies hatched against him, relied greatly on the secret police he had established; but there is no doubt that the mad proceedings of Savary, Duke of Rovigo, Napoleon’s last chief of police, hastened the downfall of the Empire. Under Louis Philippe again the secret police had plenty of work to do, in consequence of the many secret societies, whose machinations we have already described (597).
In Prussia also the secret police was very active from 1848 to the Franco-Prussian war, during which its chief duty was to protect the King of Prussia, his allied princes, and Bismarck against the attempts at assassination which were then so rife. How the secret police had plenty of occupation in Russia, where it was known as the “Third Division,” we have seen in the account of the Nihilists. In this country a secret police has never been tolerated; it is opposed to the sentiment of the people, who always connect it with agents provocateurs.
We have seen (693) that a kind of secret police exists in New Pomerania and Western Africa.
MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 313
731. Portuguese Societies.—During the early part of this century various secret societies with political objects were formed in Portugal, but as they never attained to any importance or permanence, it will be sufficient to mention the names of three of theih: the Septembrists, Chartists, and Miguellists, the latter founded in favour of Don Miguel, who for a time occupied the throne of Portugal.
732. Purrah, The.—Between the river of Sierra Leone and Cape Monte, there exist five nations of Foulahs-Sousous, who form among themselves a kind of federative republic. Each colony has its particular magistrates and local government ; but they are subject to an institution which they call Purrah. It is an association of warriors, which from its effects is very similar to the secret tribunal formerly existing in Germany, and known by the name of the Holy Vehm (206); and on account of its rites and mysteries closely resembles the ancient initiations. Each of the five colonies has its own peculiar Purrah, consisting . of twenty-five members; and from each of these particular tribunals are taken five persons, who form the Grand Purrah or supreme tribunal.
To be admitted to a district Purrah the candidate must be at least thirty years of age; to be a member of the Grand Purrah, he must be fifty years old. All his relations belonging to the Purrah become security for the candidate’s conduct, and bind themselves by oath to sacrifice him, if he flinch during the ceremony, or if, after having been admitted, he betray the mysteries and tenets of the association.
In each district comprised in the institution of the Purrah there is a sacred wood whither the candidate is conducted, and where he is confined for several months in a solitary and contracted habitation, and neither speaks nor quits the dwelling assigned to him. If he attempt to penetrate into the forest which surrounds him, he is instantly slain. After several months’ preparation the candidate is admitted to the trial, the last proofs of which are said to be terrible. All the elements are employed to ascertain his resolution and courage; lions and leopards, in some degree chained, are made use of; during the time of the proof the sacred woods resound with dreadful howlings; conflagrations appear in the night, seeming to indicate general destruction; while at other times fire is seen to pervade these mysterious woods in all directions. Every one whose curiosity excites him to profane these sacred parts is sacrificed without mercy.
When the candidate has undergone all the degrees o£ probation, he is permitted to be initiated, an oath being previously exacted from him that he will keep all the secrets, and execute without demur all the decrees of the Purrah of his tribe, or of the Grand and Sovereign Purrah.
Any member turning traitor or rebel is devoted to death, and sometimes assassinated in the midst of his family. At a moment when a guilty person least expects it, a warrior appears before him, masked and armed, who says: “ The Sovereign Purrah decrees thy death.” On these words every person present shrinks back, no one makes the least resistance, and the victim is killed. The common Purrah of a tribe takes cognisance of the crimes committed within its jurisdiction, tries the criminals, and executes their sentences ; and also appeases the quarrels that arise among powerful families.
It is only on extraordinary occasions that the Grand Purrah assembles for the trial of those who betray the mysteries and secrets of the Order, or rebel against its dictates; and it is this assembly which generally puts an end to the wars that sometimes break out between two or more tribes. From the moment when the Grand Purrah has assembled for the purpose of terminating a war, till it has decided on the subject, every warrior of the belligerent parties is forbidden to shed a drop of blood under pain of death. The deliberations of the Purrah generally last a month, after which the guilty tribe is condemned to be pillaged during four days. The warriors who execute the sentence are taken from the neutral cantons; and they disguise themselves with frightful masks, are armed with poniards, and carry lighted torches. They arrive at the doomed villages before break of day, kill all the inhabitants that cannot make their escape, and carry off whatever property of value they can find. The plunder is divided into two parts; one part being allotted to the tribe against which the aggression has been committed, whilst the other part goes to the Grand Purrah, which distributes it among the warriors who executed the sentence.
When the family of the tribes under the command of the Purrah becomes too powerful and excites alarm, the Grand Purrah assembles to deliberate on the subject, and almost always condemns it to sudden and unexpected pillage; which is executed by night, and always by warriors masked and .disguised.
. The terror and alarm which this confederation excites
amongst the inhabitants- of the countries where it is established, and even in the neighbouring territories, are very- great. The negroes of the bay of Sierra Leone never speak of it without reserve and apprehension; for they believe that all the members of the confederation are sorcerers, and that they have communication with the devil. The Purrah has an interest in propagating these prejudices, by means of which it exercises an authority that no person dares to dispute. The number of members is supposed to be about 6000, and they recognise each other by certain words and signs.
733. Pythias, Knights of.—This Order was instituted shortly after the American Civil War in 1864 at Washington, whence it soon spread through the United States. Its professed object was the inculcation of lessons of friendship, based on the ancient story of Damon and Pythias. It calls itself a secret organisation, but in reality is only an ordinary benefit society, though it may have a secret object, since it has within itself a “uniform rank,” which in its character is essentially military. The drill has been so revised as to bring it into perfect harmony with the tactics of the United States army; the judges at the competitive drills of the order are officers of the United States army. This “ uniform rank ” counts upwards of 30,000 members.
734. Rebeccaites.—A society formed in Wales about 1843, for the abolition of toll-bars. Like the Irish White-Boys the members dressed in white, and went about at night pulling down the toll-gates. Government suppressed them. The supposed chief of the society was called Rebecca, a name derived from the rather clever application of the passage in Genesis xxiv. 60, “And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her . . . Let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate thee.” .
735. Redemption, Order of.—A secret and chivalrous society, which in its organisation copied the order of the Knights of Malta. Its scope is scarcely known, and it never went beyond the walls of Marseilles, where it was founded by a Sicilian exile.
736. Red Men.-—In 1812, during the war between England and the United States, some patriotic Americans founded a society with the above title. They took its symbolism from Indian life: the lodges were called tribes; the meeting-places, wigwams ; the meetings, council fires, and so on. On festive occasions the members appeared in Indian costume. A great many Germans, settled in America, joined
3i6 secret societies
the society, but being looked down upon by the thoroughbred Yankees, the Germans seceded and founded an order of their own; and called it the “ Independent Order of Red Men.” In both societies there are three degrees—the English has its Hunters, Soldiers, and Captains; the German is divided into the Blacks, Blues, and Greens. There are higher degrees conferred in “ camps.” The two societies count about forty thousand members. After the cessation of the war with England (1814) the societies lost their political character, and became mere benefit societies, which they now are.
737. Regeneration, Society of Universal.—It was composed of the patriots of various countries who had taken refuge in Switzerland between 1815 and'1820. But though their aims were very comprehensive, they ended in talk, of which professed patriots always have a liberal supply on hand.
738. Saltpetrers.—The county of Hauenstein.in the Duchy of Baden, forms a triangle, the base of which is the Rhine from Sackingen to Waldshut. In the last century the abbot of the rich monastery of St. Blasius, which may be said to form the apex of the triangle, exacted bond-service against the Hauensteiners. This they resented; a secret league was the result. From its leader, Fridolin Albiez, a dealer in saltpetre, it took the name of Saltpetrers. The abbot, supported By Austria in 1755, finally compelled them to submit, though the sect was revived at the beginning of this century to oppose reformatory tendencies in church and school. Mutual concessions in 1840 put an end to the. strife and to the society. In Tirol the Manharters, so called after their leader, Manhart, had the same object in view—resistance to Reformation principles—and were successful in attaining them, they being warmly supported by the Pope.
739. Sikh Fanatics.—The Sikhs—Sikh means a disciple, or devoted follower—first came into notice in 1510 as a religious sect. Their prophet was Nanuk. Two centuries afterwards Guru Govindu developed a more military spirit; he added the sword to their holy book, the “ Granth.” From 1798 to 1839 the Sikhs were at the zenith of their power. Their distinguishing marks were a blue dress, because Bala Ram, the brother of Krishna, is always represented as wearing a blue dress, with long hair and beard ; every man had to carry steel on his person in some form. The ordinary Sikh now dresses in pure white. All the sect were bound in a holy brotherhood called the Khalsa (meaning the saved or liberated), wherein all social distinctions were abolished.
The fierce fanatical Akalis were soldier-priests, a sombre brotherhood of military devotees, chiefly employed abont their great temple at Amritsar (meaning the fountain of immortality). They initiate converts, which is done by ordering the neophyte to wear blue clothes, by being presented with five weapons—a sword, a firelock, a bow and arrow, and a pike. He is further enjoined to abstain from intercourse with certain schismatic sects, and to practise certain virtues. As, according to tradition, Govindu, when at the point of death, exclaimed, “ Wherever five Sikhs are assembled, there I- shall be present,” five Sikhs are necessary to perform the rite of initiation. The Sikhs may eat flesh, except that of the cow, which is a sacred animal to them as well as to the Hindus.
The phase of Sikh fanaticism which revealed its existence in 1872 by the Kooka murders may be traced to the following sources:—The movement was started a good many years since by one Ram Singh, a Sikh, whose headquarters were fixed at the village of Bainee, in the Loodhiana district. His teaching is said to have aimed at reforming the ritual rather than the creed of his countrymen. His followers, moreover, seem to have borrowed a hint or two from the dancing dervishes of Islam. At their meetings they worked themselves into a sort of religious frenzy, which relieved itself by unearthly howlings; and hence they were generally known as the “ Shouters.” Men and women of the new sect joined together in a sort of wild war-dance, yelling out certain forms of words, and stripping off all their clothing, as they whirled more and more rapidly round. Ram Singh himself had served in the old Sikh army, and one of his first moves was to get a number of his emissaries enlisted into the army of the Maharajah of Cashmere. That ruler, it is said, would have taken a whole regiment of Kookas into his pay; but for some reason or another this scheme fell to the ground. Possibly he took fright at the political influence which his new recruits might come in time to wield against him or his English allies. Ram Singh’s followers, however, multiplied apace; and out of their number he chose his lieutenants, whose preaching in time swelled the total of converts to something like 100,000. Of these soubahs, or lieutenants, some twenty were distributed about the Punjab. The great bulk of their converts consisted of artisans and people of yet lower caste, who, having nothing to lose, indulged in wild dreams of future gain. Their leader’s power over them appears to have been very great. They obeyed his orders as
cheerfully as the Assassins of yore obeyed the Old Man of the Mountain. If he had a message to send to one of his lieutenants, however far away, a letter was entrusted to one of his disciples, who ran full speed to the next station, and handed it to another, who forthwith left his own work, and hastened in like manner to deliver the letter to a third. In order to clinch his power over his followers, Ram Singh contrived to interpolate his own name in a passage of the “Granth”—the Sikh Bible—which foretells the advent of another Guru, prophet or teacher. But, whatever the teachings of this new religious leader, there is reason to think that his ultimate aim was to restore the Sikhs to their old supremacy in the Punjab by means of a religious revival; and he stirred up the religious fervour of his followers by impressing on them that their war was a war against the slayer of the sacred cow, which to their European conquerors of course is not sacred, and has ceased to be so to many natives of India. But the insurrection was quickly suppressed. The whole band, which never numbered three hundred, was literally hunted down, and the ringleaders blown from guns. This may appear severe punishment ; but it is to be borne in mind that though the number of insurgents who were taken with arms in their hands was only small, they had behind them a body of nearly 100,000 followers, bound together by one common fanaticism, who had to be taught by very prompt and severe action that our power in India is not to be assailed with impunity.
The Sikhs are divided into numerous sects, the most important being the Govind Sinhi community, comprehending the political association of the Sikh nation generally. The Sikh sect, as a religious and secret one, is rapidly diminishing.
740. Silver Circle, Knights of the.—A secret organisation formed in the Rocky Mountains in 1893 against the suspension of silver coinage. The Knights threatened, in case the Sherman Law should be repealed, to compel Colorado to leave the American Union and unite with the republic of Mexico, which is a silver coinage country. The western states were at that time honeycombed with secret societies deliberating the question of secession. Many of these societies were armed organisations, and were, it is said, in the habit of holding moonlight meetings for purposes of drill. The members had secret signs and passwords to recognise one another in public. But the repeal of the Sherman Act in August 1893 crushed their hopes, and caused the collapse of the society.
741. Sonderbare Gesellen.—German societies, formed on the model of the English Odd Fellows, whose name they took, and of which the above is a literal translation. They now call themselves Freie Gesellen (Free Brethren), or Helfende Bruder (Helping Brethren). But, unlike their English prototypes, who have no other secrets than their signs, grips, and passwords, the German Gesellen are closely connected with Freemasonry, which, as we have seen, is not so colourless abroad as it is here, and they proclaim themselves an institution for the deliverance of nations from priests, superstition, and fanaticism. The Order was introduced into Germany in 1870, and gradually into Switzerland, France, Holland, Mexico, Peru, Chili, Sweden, Spain, and even some Polynesian islands, so that now it counts upwards of fifty grand lodges and nearly eight thousand lodges, exclusive of English ones (724).
742. Sophisiens.—“The Sacred Order of the Sophisiens,” or Followers of Wisdom, was founded by some French generals engaged in the expedition to Egypt (1798-99), and was to a certain extent secret. But some of its pursuits oozed out, and were to be found in a book, partly in MS. and partly printed, the title of which is “ Melanges relatifs h 1’ordre sacre des Sophisiens, 4tabli dans les Pyramides de la Republique franqaise,” in 4to. (See No. 494 in the catalogue of Lerouge.) Where is the book now ?
743. Star of Bethlehem.—This Order claims a very ancient origin, having, it is alleged, been founded during the first century of the Christian era. In the thirteenth century it was an order of monks called Bethlehemites, closely identified with the Church of the Nativity built by the Empress Helena in the year 330, in the centre of which is the grotto of the Nativity, where a star is inlaid in the marble floor in commemoration of the star which shone over Bethlehem. The Order was introduced into England in 1257, and soon became a benevolent order, and members were called Knights of the Star of Bethlehem. Women were admitted to membership in 1408. In 1681 it was introduced into America by Giles Cory, of ye City of London, but fanaticism soon drove it out of that continent, for in September 1694 the grand commander was cruelly put to death “for holding meetings in ye dead hours of ye night.” It was reintroduced into New York in 1869 by A. Gross of Newcastle-on-Tyne. In 1884 the members dropped the title of Knights, and the original name of Order of the Star of Bethlehem was reassumed.
320 SECRET SOCIETIES
744. Thirteen, The.—To Balzac’s fertile imagination we are indebted for the book entitled Les Treize, the fictitious story of a society of thirteen persons who during .the First Empire bound themselves by fearful oaths, and for objects the author dare no more reveal than the names of the members, mutually to support one another. The work consists of three tales, the first being the most interesting for us, since it pretends to record the stormy career of Ferragus, one of the associates, and chief of the Devorants spoken of in the French Workmen’s Unions (369). A society of thirteen (not secret) has recently been founded in London, in imitation, I assume, of a society formed in 1857 at Bordeaux for the same purpose as the London one, namely, by force of example to extirpate the superstition regarding the number thirteen, of which very few persons know the origin. In the ancient Indian pack of cards, consisting of seventy-eight cards, of which the first twenty-two have special names, the designation of card xiii. is “ Death,” and hence all the evil influences ascribed to that number 1
745. Tobaccological Society.—When in 531 Theodora from a ballet girl had become the wife of the Emperor Justinian I., she wished to be surrounded by philosophers, especially the expounders of Pythagoras. But for once the philosophers stood on their dignity, and declined imperial patronage. This led to their persecution, and the closing of their schools and academies; they were not allowed to hold meetings. But Pythagoreans must meet, hence they met in secret, first in a ruined temple of Ceres on the banks of the Ilissus, and afterwards in an octagonal temple, built by one of them, at the foot of Mount Hymettus. They called themselves Ped- nosophers, which in a philologically incorrect manner they interpreted as meaning “ Children of Wisdom.” For their symbol they adopted the anemone, which flower was said to have sprung from the blood of Adonis, wounded by a wild boar—so philosophy arose afresh from philosophy persecuted by superstition. At first women and children were admitted, but they were told part only of the secret, whatever • it was. The sign was crossing the arms on the breasj;, so that the index finger touched the lips. The sacred word was theus-theos, “ Hope in God.” The chief of the Order was known to but a few members by his real name; to the rest he passed under a pseudonym. There were different degrees in the Order, which perpetuated itself until 1672 in various countries, England included. In this year Charles II. prohibited all secret societies, and the Pednosophers
V
changed. their name to Tobaccologers, and adopted the tobacco plant as their emblem, its red flower suggesting to them philosophy persecuted by Justinian and others. At their meetings they discussed chiefly academical subjects; in fact, modern academies owe to them, their origin. Many men of note belonged to the Order, which was divided into four degrees—the glamour of secrecy must be kept up to the last! The members in the lodge wore a triangular apron. Towards the end of the last century the Order declined in this country, and its papers, its records, and mysteries eventually fell into the hands of the French Marquis d’Etanduere, who left them to his son, at whose death they were examined by a M. Doussin, to whom he had left them; and this M. Doussin thereupon reconstituted the society at Poitiers in 1806, where it continued till about the year '1848. The tobacco plant, its culture and manufacture, were the subjects of symbolical instructions, and for the real names of the towns where lodges existed, the names of localities famous for fine sorts of tobacco were substituted. Persons known to belong to the society popularly went by the designation of snufftakers. .
746. Turf, Society of the.—When the failure of the Carbonaro conspiracy, and especially its non-success in its attempt on Macerata (562), led to the temporary suppression of the Carbanaro society, the youths of Italy, who had hoped to distinguish themselves by fighting and driving the Austrian out of Italy, felt sorely disappointed. The more rational ones submitted to the inevitable, and returned to peaceful occupations. But the more hot-headed and restless members of the society sought outlets for their exuberant spirits in forming associations of various kinds, and sometimes of the most objectionable character. Such a one was the Compagnia della Teppa, or Turf Society, which arose at Milan in 1818.1
Two derivations of the name of the society are given.
The members of the spciety wore plush hats, and it was a regulation that this plush was to be cut as short and as
1 The account which follows is taken chiefly from the Cento Anni of Rovani, who relied, in his turn, on the statement of one Milesi, a member of the Turf Society. There is also a report of the police, which finally suppressed the society, but this report is inaccessible to the public. In the Ambrosinian Library at Milan there is a MS. in several volumes, written by Prebendary Mantovani, giving the history of the Teppa, but this information reached the author top late to be utilised here. As, however, Milesi refers to that MS., he probably incorporated in his own account its most important details, so that we may safely conclude that in Rovani’s ■work we have all that is known about the Teppa.
VOL. II.
X
smooth, as turf. The other, and more probable, origin of the name is the fact that the members held their meetings at first on the lawns of beautiful turf in the Piazza Castello at Milan. Their pursuits may be described as a revival of Mohocking; they bound themselves to beat every man they met in the streets after dark, which practice, however, was chiefly resorted to against men having handsome wives, whom members of the society wished forcibly, or with consent, to disgust with their husbands or abduct from their homes •, and a certain ’ amount of ridicule attaching to the infliction of such a beating, the victims in most cases made no public complaint. Of course, in many cases it was the Turfists who got the worst of the encounter. The Austrian police shut its eyes to all these proceedings, of which, through its spies, it was fully cognisant, on the principle that it was better these young men should vent their overflow of spirits, their physical and mental energies, on such follies, and even on criminal exploits, than employ them in political schemes and pursuits, which would be certain to be directed against Austrian rule and rulers. The society might have subsisted longer than it did had it not grown foolhardy by long impunity. What at last compelled the police to interfere was as follows:—
There lived in the Via Pennacchiari a dwarf known by the nickname of Gasgiott, who earned his living by artificialflower making. He was of a violent and quarrelsome temper, but thought himself a great favourite with the women; none of them, he fancied, could withstand him. One night, as some members of the Teppa happened to be in the Via Pennacchiari, a girl complained to one of them, Milesi (the author of the MS. consulted by Rovani?), a man of athletic proportions,, that Gasgiott had grossly insulted her. Milesi bestowed on the dwarf a sound thrashing, and carrying him to an inn, where Baron Bontempo, the chief of the Teppa, was waiting for him, suggested shutting up the dwarf, with scanty food, for some time in the country to “ cool his blood,” which was done. But one idea suggests another: the capture of one dwarf led to a regular hunt after the species, and in a short time about a dozen of them were • shut up in a mansion belonging to Baron Bontempo, called Simonetta, and situate outside the walls of Milan. Then another thought suggested itself to the members of the Teppa. .
Among the fine pretences with which they sought to justify their questionable proceedings was the allegation
MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 323 that it was their duty to redress wrongs of which the law took no cognisance. Now, they argued, there are every year hundreds of men, young men, just entering life, and married men with families, ruined through the wiles and the extravagance of designing women, whom the law cannot touch for the injuries they have inflicted on their victims. Many women, notorious for such conduct, some of them ladies of position, and connected with aristocratic families, were then living at Milan. It struck the Turfists they would be suitable companions for the imprisoned dwarfs. The idea was carried out. About ten ladies were by treachery or force brought to Simonetta, and there shut up with the dwarfs. The orgy that ensued, says Rovani, could only be described by the pen of an Aretino. But it is easy to understand that a number of ladies, so entrapped, would not quietly submit to such abduction or the advances of the dwarfs. The authors of the mischief were only too glad to release them on the very next day, and the dwarfs also. As all the prisoners had been brought to the mansion by roundabout ways, and in close carriages, and were taken away in the same manner, they had no clue to the position of their prison; but a scheme like this could not be carried out without a good many persons being let into the secret; the ladies who had been carried off cried aloud for vengeance, and many young men, belonging to respectable families, who had joined the society from curiosity, or, as they fancied, to increase their own importance, seeing the dangerous practices in which they had involved themselves, were ready to give information. The police could no longer shut its eyes and pretend ignorance, and so one morning, in the year 1821, more than sixty members of the society were arrested, and, for want of more suitable accommodation, at first imprisoned in the convent of St. Mark, whence some were sent to Szegedin and Komorn, or drafted into the army. Many others were arrested afterwards; some of the members made their escape, having been warned beforehand. Thus the society collapsed, between three and four years after its foundation. .
The members recognised one another by the one saluting the other with both hands joined, whereupon the other put his right hand to his side, as if going to place it on the hilt of his sword. There were only two degrees, that of captain and that of simple brother; the former was bound to initiate four new members. General meetings were always held in the same place, special ones in different localities,
f 4’ J ' ' ' • ' ’ ' . -> ' [
324 SECRET SOCIETIES
which were constantly changed. The society was, moreover, divided into two grand centres, the centre of Nobles and that of Commoners.
747. Utopia.—A society founded at Prague in the fifties, and which had such success that in 1885 it reckoned eighty- five lodges in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, and other countries. A council of the league was held at Leipzig in 1876, and another at Prague in 1883. The president of every lodge is called Uhu (screech-owl); at manifestations of joy they cry “ Aha I ” and at transgressions against the laws of Utopia, “ Oho! ” The members are divided into three degrees: Squires, Younkers, and Knights ; guests are called Pilgrims. The German name of the society is Allschlaraffia,; Schlaraf- fenland in German means the “land of milk and honey,” the land of Cocagne, where roast-pigeons fly into your mouth when you open it, and roasted pigs run about the streets with knife and fork in their backs. From the name, the character of the society may be inferred.
748. Wahabees.—This sect, the members of which attracted considerable attention in 1871, on account of their suspected connection with the murders of Chief-Justice Norman at Calcutta, and of Lord Mayo in 1872, has the following origin: About 1740 a Mohammedan reformer appeared at Nejd, named Abdu’l Wahab, and conquered great part of Arabia from the Turks. He died in 1787, having founded a sect known as the Wahabees. The word Wahab signifies a Bestower of Blessings, and is one of the epithets of God, and Abdul Wahab means the servant of the All Bountiful. The Wahabees took Mecca and Medina, and almost expelled the Turk from the land of the Prophet. But in 1818 the power of these fierce reformers—their doctrine being a kind of Islam Socinianism, allowing no title to adoration to Mohammed—waned in Arabia, to reappear in India under a new leader, one Saiyid Ahmad, who had been a godless trooper in the plundering bands of Amir Khan, the first Nawab of Tonk. But in 1816 he went to Delhi to study law, and his fervid imagination drank in greedily the new subject. He became absorbed in meditation, which degenerated into epileptic trances, in which he saw visions. In three years he left Delhi as a new prophet, and journeying to Patna and Calcutta, was surrounded by admiring crowds, who hung upon his accents, and received with ecstasy the divine lesson to slay the infidel, and drive the armies of the foreigner from India. In 1823 he passed through Bombay to Rohilkhand, and having there raised an army
of the faithful, he crossed the land of the Five Rivers, and settled like a thundercloud on the mountains to the northeast of Peshawur. • Since then the rebel camp thus founded has been fed from the head centre at Patna with bands of fanatics, and money raised by taxing the faithful. To account for such success, the reader will have to bear in mind that in Mohammedan countries a doctor of civil law, such as Saiyid Ahmad was, may hold the issues of peace or war in his hands, for with Mohammedans the law and the gospel go together, and the Koran represents both. Akbar, the greatest Mohammedan monarch, was nearly hurled from the height of his power by a decision of the Jaunpur lawyers, declaring that rebellion against him was lawful. And the Wahabee doctrine is, that war must be made on all who are not of their faith, and especially against the British Government, as the great oppressor of the Mohammedan world. Twenty sanguinary campaigns against this rebel host, aided by the surrounding Afghan tribes, have failed to dislodge them; and they remain to encourage any invader of India, any enemy of the English, to whom they would undoubtedly afford immense assistance. Though the general impression in England and India seems to be that the murder of Mr. Norman is not to be attributed to a Wahabee plot, yet so little is known of the constitution, numerical strength, and aims of the secret societies of India, that an overweening confidence in the loyalty of the alien masses—as the Times curiously enough terms them—on the part of the English residents in India, is greatly to be condemned, for there still exists an active propaganda of fanatic Wahabees at great Mussulman centres ; and though the vast Mussulman community throughout India look on the fanatics with dislike or indifference, yet they need careful looking- after by Government (“ Cyclopaedia of India,” by Surgeon- General Edward Balfour. Three vols. London, 1885).
A few lines higher up we referred to secret societies of India; from among these we may specially mention the Mina robber settlement at Shahjahanpur, which town formed part of the possessions of the Rohilla Patans, whose dominion was overthrown by the British in 1774. The Minas are the descendants of Rohilla chiefs, and the district they occupy being the centre of a small tract of land, entirely surrounded by independent native states, affords them refuge and ready means of escape when pressed by the British police. And they are doubtless fostered and protected by the minor chiefs and head-men of native states, who share
326 SECRET SOCIETIES
the spoil. They are supposed to form a corporation somewhat similar to the Garduna (306-311). It has been suggested that the Minas, possessing a splendid physique and animal courage, the very qualities needed for such a purpose, should be utilised in frontier and border forces, as the Mazbis, a similar marauding tribe, were utilised and reclaimed.
VOL. I.
Page 35, line 12 from top, delete ’may.’
Page 36, line 5.—To ’ the religion of Buddha still survives,’ add ’ in its integrity.’ It may be remembered that in February 1895 an ancient and highly-artistic image of Buddha was brought from Ceylon to be set up in the temple of Budh-Gaya, in Bengal, which the Buddhists regard as the most sacred spot on earth. The ceremony of setting up the image led to serious riots between the Buddhists and a crowd of Hindoo devotees who objected to it. The legal proceedings which ensued proved abortive, in consequence of the complicated questions of law involved therein.
A w’ork published at the beginning, of this year (1897) by the Clarendon Press, and entitled ’A Record of the Buddhist Religion as practised in India and the Malay Archipelago (a.d. 671-695). By I-tsing. Translated by J. Takakusu, B.A., M.D. With a letter from Professor F. Max Muller,’ is of great value for the history of Buddhism, on the rise, growth, and development of which this work gives ample and reliable information.
Page 36.—In § 38 it is stated that there is no proof of the real existence of Buddha. The recent discovery by Dr. Fuhrer of the spot where Buddha is reputed to have been born, the Lumbini garden, as also of the stone pillar therein, with the inscription, ’ Here the worshipful was born,’ is no evidence, as at first sight it might appear, of the actual existence'in the flesh of Buddha. Tradition says that he was born in the locality named, and that centuries after his supposed birth a certain king caused a stone pillar to be set up to record the fact. The discovery amounts to an identification of the spot pointed out in the tradition. But this qualification is not intended to detract from the merit of Dr. Fuhrer’s discovery, the effect of deep research and ingenious reasoning, the results of which he has given to the world in a very lucid demonstration. The discovery is a very pregnant one.
Page 45. Addendum to § 51.—’The temple of Hathor, at Dendera, inferior in size to the temples at Karnak only, surpasses them in beauty. It was in this temple that the zodiac, famous in the annals of Egyptology, was discovered. It is engraved in Denon’s “Egypt.” From the more modern researches instituted, it would appear that the temple was erected, not, as has been asserted, in the time of the Ptolemies, but rather in the most ancient dynasties. The goddess Hathor cosmically represents the darkness, out of which is born the light, hence the sun daily springs from her. She was the prototype of the Black Virgins of Roman Catholicism.’
Page 53, line 13 from bottom, delete ’a’ before ’ hierogrammatical.’
Page 64, line 15 from bottom, for ’ offered ’ read ’ offer.’
Page 99, line 12 from top, delete ’) ’ after ’ it.’
Page 113, line 14 from top, for ’said’ read ’affirmed.’
Page 142, § 178. Waldo.—According to a genealogy compiled by Morris Charles Jones (publication undated), the Waldo family is descended from ’ Thomas Waldo of Lions,’ one of the first who publicly renounced the doctrines of the Church of Home. The representative of the English branch of the family came to this country in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
Page 152, line 3 from top,/or ’Hostes’ read ’Nostes.’
Page 168, § 213. Vehm.—Add: ’The last-named work on the Vehm in our list of authorities under the heading of “Free Judges” is that of Theodor Lindner. It treats the subject fully, one may say exhaustively, comprising more than 670 large, closely-printed pages. His summing up on the character and working of the institution, which we may accept as final, is that the Vehm, though to some extent a palliative of the lawlessness of the times, was yet liable to great abuses, since great and powerful persons always could have sentences passed on them by one Court annulled by another. Besides, what was the good of passing sentences which could not be executed? From the accounts given by Lindner—accounts based on official documents— it is clear that public order and security were never in a worse plight than during the most flourishing days of the Vehm. Nay, the tribunal offered many a villain the opportunity of plunging honest people into trouble and expense. The Vehm neither purified nor improved legal procedure, but threw it into greater confusion.’
Page 169, § 215. Beati Paoli.—Add: ’Gioachimo, or Giovacchino, as his name is sometimes written, was a Calabresian Cistercian monk, and abbot of Curacio, whose fame as a prophet was so great that King Richard I. when passing through Southern Italy wished to converse with him, but came to the conclusion that the prophet was an “ idle babbler” ; moreover, all the predictions he uttered anent what was to happen in the Holy Land proved wrong. Still, he appears to have been a man of parts ; he was deeply versed in theology, and the author of many works. Dante speaks of his prophetic powers in the Paradiso, c. xii.
’John of Parma lived in the twelfth century, and his book Bvangelium AEternum was publicly burnt by order of Pope Alexander IV. in 1258.’
Page 173, line 11 from bottom,/or ’Toulouse’ read ’Tours.’
Page 175, line 21 from top,/or ’amd’ read ’and.’
Page 198, § 239. Add: ’From the Humanitarian for March 1897 I learn that there is actually at the present day an Astrological Society in London, at the annual meeting of which Mr. Alan Leo gave “a very interesting address,” in which he said that astrology “ was built upon a beautiful symbology, the symbols of which were the same to-day as at the beginning; the circle, which represents the sun; the halfcircle, which means the moon; and the cross, representing the earth. A cross over the circle is Mars or War, a cross under the circle, Venus or Love. The Sun, Mars, and Venus represent the Spirit. In the half-circle are all the planets relating to the mind. A cross over the half-circle is Saturn or the Devil; the half-circle over the cross is Jupiter or Jehovah, the Higher Mind. Every person is born under
some influence, and the study of astrology enables people correctly to see the qualities they have in them. The speaker challenged any man to show that astrology is not true ; sooner or later it will become the religion of the world.” Surely after this dogmatic and lucid exposition, our public schools and universities will at once add the study of astrology to their curriculum ! Sir Richard Phillips called astrology the mother of the sciences, though herself the daughter of superstition.’
Page 224, line 17 from bottom, for ’ Epologue ’ read ’ Apologue,’ and, for ’ Apilogue ’ read, ’ Epilogue.’
Page 230, § 280. The Rosicrucians.—At the end of § 280 add: ’ In the anonymous publication “Pas Game alter geheimen Ordensverbin- dungen” (Full Account of all Secret Orders), Leipzig, 1805, evidently written by one fully initiated, I find the following note on this Master Pianco : “ He had long been a Mason, before he became a Rosicrucian. His chief was a nybrid between man and beast. No honest Christian could cope with him without fear of being flayed alive. If doubts were suggested to him, he uttered blasphemies, of which the most violent miscreant would have been ashamed. Pianco shook off the dust of his chamber, and fled the companionship of such heathens.” This sheds a rather curious light on the composition and character of the Rosicrucian fraternity, “ whose bear was supposed to dance to none but the most genteelest of tunes.” ’
Page 231, § 281. Asiatic Brethren.—Add: 1 As soon as we are indiscreet enough to pry behind the scenes of secret societies the illusion their outward seeming grandeur produces vanishes, and the hollowness of their pretences and shallowness of their charlatanism become apparent. The Order of the “ Asiatic Brethren,” who, as our text states, took so high-sounding a title, in their private transactions proved but a poor and pitiful lot. Marcus Ben Bind—we have seen that they affected Jewish names—was a member who was most active in developing the Order. He introduced the “cabalistic nonsense” and fanciful inventions which formed its basis, and most of its papers were his property. These the chiefs cajoled out of him, giving him no other compensation than making him Ocker-Harim, or Chief Custodian of the Archives. When he complained, he suffered for it (probably he was imprisoned). But the chiefs, nevertheless, admitted and admired his merits and profound wisdom, as he kept adding cabalistic and Hebrew terms to their ritual. They made use of him, promising him great things ; but when he asked for money, the wire-pullers behind the curtain refused it; they needed a great deal for themselves ; he was to be satisfied with the crumbs which fell from the rich men’s tables. Then he rebelled, and finally resigned, and his revelations were a treat for the outside “ cowans.” ’
Page 258, § 306. The Garduna.—Add: ’The Spanish wordgarduna means a marten, and it is with regard to the well-known qualities of that animal that in Spain a clever and expert thief is familiarly known as a garduno.’
Page 270, § 321. The Camorra.—Add : ’ According to the law of the 28th September 182'2 of the Bourbon police, “secret or quasi-secret associations are condemned to the third degree in chains ; the chiefs to the gallows, and a fine of from one thousand to four thousand ducats.” And again, according to the law of the 24th June 1828, “the meeting of two persons is sufficient to constitute a secret society.” And yet the Camorra was not touched.’
Page 274, § 325. The Camorra.—Add: ’The recently-published “ Stories of Naples and the Camorra,” by the late Charles Grant, afford but a faint reflex of the terrible character of the Camorra. Whoso wishes to thoroughly study the subject should read “ I Vermi : Studi Storici su le Classe Pericolose in Napoli di Francesco Mastriani ” (Napoli, 1877. 5 vols.). And the present writer has been among the Camorristi at Naples, and found in them none of the redeeming features Mr. Grant allows them : they are all unmitigated scoundrels.’
Page 299, line 14 from bottom, for ’ dates’ read ’date.’
Page 316, § 364. The German Union.—Add: ’The inner history of the German Union presents some curious features. Bahrdt, its reputed founder, was in 1777 in London, and there initiated into Freemasonry. ' He had but a poor opinion of German Freemasonry, and, therefore, on his return to Germany visited none of the lodges. But a high official of the Imperial Chamber at Wetzlar, Von Ditfurth, suggested to him the formation of a society which should carry out the true objects of Freemasonry, viz., the restoration of human rights, and the free use of reason. In 1785, Bahrdt received an anonymous letter, containing the plan of the German Union. The letter was signed, “ From some Masons, your great admirers.” In the same year he was visited by an Englishman, who urged him to establish a lodge, promising to connect ' it with English Masonry. Bahrdt showed him the scheme of the Union, which the Englishman highly approved of. Bahrdt founded a lodge, consisting of five or six of his friends and sixteen young men. But the lodge was denounced as a financial speculation. Bahrdt grew uneasy, especially when, in 1787, he received another anonymous communication from the same source as the first, announcing the formation of a German Union, which he was invited to join. The letter contained printed details and forms of oaths, which were afterwards published in the book “More Notes than Text.” Bahrdt eagerly embraced the offer, and exerted himself to extend the German Union. He became acquainted with a Dr. Pott, who had the reputation of being a wag, making a fool of everybody, and perhaps in consequence of this new acquaintance he, in 1788, lost a thousand dollars through the Union to which he devoted all his time. In the summer of the same year he received from Berlin—as Bahrdt alleges—the MS. of the satire on the “ Edict of Religion,” which he got printed at Vienna. This, as well as the publication of “More Notes than Text,” and the treachery of Roper, led, as mentioned in the account of the German Union, to his final ruin.’
VOL. II.
Page 60, § 439. African Architects.—Add: ’ A few additional details on the “ African Architects ” may not prove uninteresting. The Order was divided into two sections, the first of which comprised five degrees : (1) The Apprentice of Egyptian secrets, called Menes Musts (2) the Initiate into Aegean secrets ; (3) the Cosmopolitan ; (4) the Christian Philosopher ; (5) the Aletophile, or Lover of Truth. The second or inner section of the Order comprised : (1) Armiger, who was told what Fos Braeder Law and the word Galde signified ; (2) Miles, who was informed that the letters G and L did not mean geometry and logic, but were the initials of the founder of the Order ; (3) Eques, or knights, who
were invested with a ring they wore on the finger of the right hand, or on the watch. The ring was formed of gold love-knots, and the letters R.S. Usually the members called themselves jEdiles or Architects, because architecture was the science they most pursued. Their mathematics consisted in producing clever variations of the triangle, square, and number X. At their meetings they spoke Latin ; all their books were bound in red morocco, with gilt edges. Their chief archives were at a place in Switzerland, which was never to be revealed, and which, among its treasures, comprised the papers of the Grand Master, George Evelyn of Wotton, in Surrey, the seat of which John Evelyn has left us an account. The hall of initiation was either occupied by a choice library, or its walls beautifully painted. “ I found,” wrote one of the members, “ such a hall at N., built over a barn, and which you would never have taken for a lodge. The hall had many windows, and was adorned with statues. There was a dark chamber, a banquet- ing-hall, a bedroom for travellers, and a well-appointed kitchen. Over the door of the hall stood a horse, which, when you pressed a spring, with a kick of its foot caused a fountain in the adjoining garden to play.” I was told that this lodge was built by order of Frederick II. The introducer of candidates wore a dress of blue satin ; the Master sat at a table, on which were placed globes and mathematical instruments. Candidates were to be men of science or artists, who had to submit proofs of their skill. Their rules of procedure in general were formulated on those of the Academie Franjaise.’
Page 134, § 514.—Tae-ping-wang. Add; ’ Tae-ping-wang called himself the King of Peace, and proclaimed himself the younger brother ■of Jesus Christ, appointed to establish a universal kingdom and communion of the faithfuls We cannot assume this Chinese leader to have had any knowledge of the dreams of European Rosicrucians, and yet these latter in the Thesaurinella Chymica-aurea (244) predicted the advent ■of a mysterious personage they called Elias Artista, who was to establish the rule of Christ in a new world. Tae-ping-wang thus appears, ■curiously enough, as a Chinese Artista.’
Page 139, § 519. Europe after the Congress of Vienna.—Add: ’ The •opinions as to the consequences of the downfall of Napoleon, expressed in this paragraph, will probably excite hostile criticism, as they did when on a former occasion I expressed myself to the same effect. This is not the place to discuss the question ; but if the record, in these pages, of the secret societies which arose 'after the Congress of Vienna be not sufficient to satisfy the critic and the reader of the correctness ■of my views, and I be challenged to the discussion, I will not decline it.’
Page 160, § 545. The Carbonari.—Add: ’The Code of Carbonarism is found most fully in “ The Memoirs of the Secret Societies of the South of Italy, particularly the Carbonari” (London, 1821). This work, translated from the original French MS., was the production of Baron Bertholdy, a converted Jew, who, however, retained the habits and manners of his race. He was about the above date, and probably till about 1825, the Russian Ambassador to the Papal Court. Of a restless and inquisitive disposition, he delighted in political intrigue, and was mixed up with all tumults and popular agitations. He was said to know everything, and be ubiquitous ; his sinister physiognomy and inquisitorial prying gained him etmong the Neapolitans the sobriquet of the “Wandering Jew.”’
Page 207, § 601. Polish Patriotism.—Add: ’The opinions here expressed may, like those of § 519 (see note thereon), challenge contradiction, but as they are based on facts, they can be substantiated. Here I content myself with referring to M. C. Courriere, an admirer of the Poles, who in his “ History of Contemporaneous Literature among the Sclavonians” (Paris, 1879), confesses that in the wars which led to the dismemberment of the kingdom, the Poles were more often fighting for the preservation of their aristocratic privileges than for national liberty. The Polish poet Julius Slowacki (b. 1809, d. 1851), styled by Niekiewicz the “ Satan of Poetry,” speaking in the name of the people, thus addressed the poet Sigismund Krasinski :
“ To believe thee, son of the nobleman, It were virtue in us to endure slavery.”
And Slowacki himself was of gentle birth. Certes, sounder notions as to Polish patriotism prevail in this generation than were current in former times, but we still hear too much about the “crime” of the partition of Poland. The same reasons which led to that partition are the only justification for our present interference in Turkey.’
Page 259, § 650. Baron Stein.—Add: ’ The generally-accepted statement is that Stein founded, or was one of the founders of, the Tugend- bund; but the first idea of it was suggested by Henry Bardeleben, whom Stein declared to be patriotic, but short-sighted. Historians say that Stein was a friend and protector of the Union, but in his correspondence we find passages like the following :—“ If there are well-meaning persons who are pleased to belong to secret societies, why should we quarrel with such weakness ? . . . The Union of Virtue, founded in 1812, is respectable because of its good intentions, but hitherto it has done no work ; it is very angry with the French, but its anger appears to me like the anger of dreaming sheep.” And of Jahn, whom it was proposed to introduce to him, he said : “ Don’t let the grotesque (fratr.en- haften) fellow come near me.” And yet Jahn, as is well known, and as our text partially shows, rendered great service to the German people.
Curiously enough another Baron Stein, who cannot be identified, though he is described in the journals of the day (1781 to 1788) as Privy Councillor to the Count Palatine of Cologne, travelled about Suabia and the Lower Rhine, inviting people of rank to join a secret society, presenting them with leaden medals of Pope Pius VI., and promising to get them installed Knights of the Papal Order of the Golden Spur. Stein called his Order that of Jesus Christ. Under the pretence of writing a topographical work on Suabia, he endeavoured to make useful acquaintances and obtain influence, but failed ; the journals of the day pronounced his Ordet to be somewhat of a swindle, and it collapsed in consequence.’
Page 260, § 651. Tugendbund.—’It was partly owing to these dissensions that what is called the rising of Germany to expel the French resulted in the end merely in the formation of a Free Corps, which with all his efforts Liitzow could only bring up to a strength of three thousand combatants. There was really no spontaneous rising, though there were isolated instances of national enthusiasm and individual bravery. The King of Prussia, to whom Scharnhorst had proposed the appeal to the loyalty and patriotism of his people, had so little faith in either, that for a long time he refused the appeal to be made, but
when, during his stay at Breslau, eighty waggons full of volunteers made their appearance, his faith in his subjects was restored, and he wept tears of joy ! The king was grateful for small mercies.’
Page 278, § 666. Fenians: Origin of Name.—Add: ’ It is a curious coincidence—if mere coincidence it be, and not the result of a connection etymologically traceable with the tribe of Benjamin (19)—that hi French Romane the word Fenian should mean “idle,” “lazy,” an epithet which is justly applicable to the bulk of the members of that Irish association. I here merely throw out a hint; the question deserves following up.’
Since writing my summary of Fenianism, I have perused Mr. John O’Leary’s recently-published ’ Recollections of Fenians and Fenianism.’ The work is disappointing. It contains no revelations such as one might expect from a man deeply initiated into all the secrets of Fenianism. All we gather from it is that the association, at least the English branch of it, was always in want of funds, and that it never had any great chance of wresting Ireland from the grasp of England. Yet the author ends with these words, published only a few months ago, and 'which therefore deserve attention : ’ But that spirit [longing for freedom] is not dead . . . but merely sleepeth ; and if there be men still in Ireland, and, still more, boys growing into men, willing to strive and struggle and sacrifice, if needs be, liberty or life for Ireland, to Fenianism more than to aught else is that spirit and feeling due.’
In my list of ’ Authorities Consulted,’ John Rutherford’s ’ Secret History of the Fenian Conspiracy ’ is included. Mr. O’Leary’s opinion of this book is as follows : ’ This is one horrible libel from beginning to end, and seems to be compiled altogether out of the reports of the various State trials, of the American Conventions, and a narrative of John O’Mahony’s. All these were easily accessible sources, and there ■was nothing in the least “ secret ” about them. This “ History ” is . . . as vile a book as I have ever read. John Rutherford is, of course, a false name, and I cannot make out that any one can give even a probable guess at the ruffian who used it.’ And of course, also, Mr. O’Leary writes as a partisan—of the other side.
Page 299, § 702. Human Leopards.—Add: ’The leopards are said to worship an idol called Boofima, which is occasionally lent to friendly tribes for divination or incantation, and the members of the society derive their name from their custom of plunging three-pronged forks, or sharp-pointed cutting-knives, shaped like claws, and fixed in thick gloves they wear, into the bodies of the persons they attack. How curiously Boofima reminds one of Baphomet'! ’ (204)
’ We may add that the West coast of Africa abounds with so-called secret societies, into which boys and girls are initiated when ten or twelve years of age ; but as their aims are trivial, their rites absurd or hideous, they intrinsically possess but little interest, though relatively they deserve attention, as showing the universally-diffused longing of man after mystery, and the readiness of medicine-men, shamans, bonzes, marabouts, priests, and mystery-mongers of all sorts, to minister to that longing.’
Page 301, 8 705. Indian {North American) Societies.—Add: ’Mana- bozko, according to the Indian legend, was a person of miraculous birth, who came to teach the Red men how to clear the forest, to sow their fields with grain, to read and write. He was known among the different
tribes by the several names of Michabou, Chiabo, Tarenyawagon, and among the Ojibways on the southern shore of Lake Superior as Hiawatha, under which name he is familiar to Europeans through Longfellow’s “ Indian Edda ” bearing that title. The Iroquois worshipped him under his original name of Manabozko. Chibiabos, his friend, was a musician, the ruler of the Land of Spirits, or of Light, the Indian Apollo. In Indian folk-lore Hiawatha is a very different person from the hero of the poem. In the prose tales of the Red men he is a notorious liar, a cruel and treacherous destroyer of all he can get into his power?
Page 105. P.S.—French and English journals of the 20th and 21st April 1897 have published to the world the fact that the tale of Diana Vaughan and her diabolic marriage, and the book of the mythical Dr. Bataille, were pure mystification by M. L60 I’axil, the reported convert to Roman Catholic orthodoxy, having no foundation whatever in reality. The public, the priests, the cardinals, yea, the pope himself, were taken in by them—and they got no more than they deserved. It was, no doubt, one of the finest and grandest hoaxes of this century, and says but little in favour of our intellectual progress that it should be possible in our day. If its revelation will teach superstitious people a lesson, they may in future be saved from the charge of rendering themselves supremely ridiculous.
INDEX TO VOL. II
[The figures refer to pages]
A '
ABC Friends, 291
Abbreviations, Masonic, 15
Abel, family of, 3
Abelites, 291
Aberdeen, Masonic deputation
sent to, 59
Abiff, Hiram, 3, 4, 5, 6
Abruzzi, societies in, 180
Acacia in Masonry, 24, 25, 27
Accepted Masons, 10
Accoltellatori, 200
Acting Company, French, 204
Adam, 3, 6
--the first Mason, 8
Administrative process against
Nihilists, 252, 256
Adonai, 3, 6
Adoniram, 97
Adoptive Masonic Lodges, 82
JEneis quoted, 25
Africa, Masonry in, 98
African Architects, 60, 330
--Hemp-smokers, 298
Agliardi, Cardinal, 104
Ahmad of Ahsa, 268
Akbar, 325
Alcock, Sir Rutherford, 138
Alexander I. of Russia, 144, 146,
147, 154, 215, 216
--II. of Russia, 209
Ali, Mehemet, 185
Ali Pasha, 147
Almusseri, African society, 291
Alphabet, Masonic, 15
“ Alpina,” Swiss Grand Lodge, 97
Alvarez, Captain, 101
America, Freemasonry in, 98
American societies, 297, 298, 299,
3ii, 315
Amru, a carpenter, 5
. 335
Anarchists at Prague, 127 Ancient and Accepted Scotch rite, 13. 55, 92
Ancient Reformed Rite of Masonry, 13
Ancients, Academy of the, 291 Anderson, James, 11, no Androgynous Masonry, 84-90 Anne, Empress of Russia, 96 Annichiarico. Giro, 180 Anonymous society, 292 Anti-Masonic party, 292 Publications, 103, 104 Anti-Masons, 292
Anti-Napoleonic Masonry, 66, 67 Anti-Semitic policy of Russia, 242 Antiquity of Masonry, fabulous, 8 Antonini, General, 189
Anubis, 28, 29
Apocalypse, Knights of the, 292
Apophasimenes society, 188 Apprentice, Masonic initiation, 21 Arabic figures, origin of, 15 Architect, Grand Master, 34-36 Architects, African, 60
Arena, conspiracy of, 197
Areoiti, 293
Argonauts, 94
Armenian demonstrations in 1895 and 1896, 213
-- society, Anti-Russian, 212, 213, 242
Arndt, the poet, 259
Artista, Elias, 331
Ashmole, antiquary, 9
Asia, Initiated Brethren of, 73 Masonry in, 98
Asiatic Brethren, 329
Asimakis, a Hetairist traitor, 147 Assassins of Christ in Masonry, 91 Associated Patriots, 202
Astrological society in London, 328
Athelstan and Masonry inEngland, 5i ,
“ Athenaeum ” quoted, 217
Augustus, Stanislaus, 97
Ausonia, ancient name of Italy, 165, 167
Avengers, 294
B
Babeuf, 113
Babi Koran, 266
Babis, 263-269
--attribute special qualities to number 19, 266
Babism, doctrines of, 265
--progress of, 264
Bakunin, 218
Balkis, Queen of Sheba, 4, 7
Barabas Brethren, 179
Bardina Sophia, a Nihilist, 221
Basilidean system of agriculture, 33
Basle, International Congress at, 121
Bataille, Dr., his book on Devilworship, 105, 334
Behais, a Babi sect, 266
Bel, component part of Jabulon, 31
Belfort, revolutionary attempt at, 202
Bell. See Ivory
“ Belly Banders,” 295
--Paaro, 294
Benjamin, tribe of, 333
Benoni, friend of Hiram, 5
Bentinck, Lord, William, 170, 184 ’
Berlin Congress, 211
Berne, Council of, persecutes Masons, 102
Bertholdy, Baron, 331
Beyan, or Bab “ Expositor,” 265
Biran, Marquis of, 47
Biren, favourite of Empress Anne of Russia, 96
Bismarck and Canossa, 258
Biyyan. See Beyan
Black Flag, Chinese society, 133
--Knights, 260, 261
--Needle society, 198
--Order, 257
--Virgins, 327
Blanc, Louis, 113
Blanqui, chief of the “ Seasons ” society, 205
—,— accused of having betrayed the society, 205
Blazing Star of Masonry, 17, 28
--Star, Order of the, 55
Bliicher, General, 259
Blue Lotus Hall, 132
--Masonry, 18
Blunders of Ipsilanti, 148, 149
Boaz, 17
Bonaparte, Joseph, 186
--Lucien, 178
Bonanni forges list of Grand
Masters, 47
Bonneville, Chevalier de, 5 5
“ Book of Constitutions [Masonic]
for Ireland,” 8 •
Bourbons and Carbonari, 171
Brazen Sea of Solomon’s temple, 5
Break-of-Day Boys, 271
Bridge of Swords, Chinese, 134
Brigands formed into secret so
ciety, 171
Brode, Madam, 261
Bruce, Robert, 51, 52
Brunswick Convention, 59
--Duke of, 61, 62
Buddha, birthplace, life, and image of, 327
Builders’ dispute in London, 114
Bull-roarer, 305
Bull’s Head, society of the, 47
Burke, Thomas, 281
Burschenschaft, 261, 262
Byron, Lord, 186
C
Cagliostro, 44, 61, 78, 79, 80
Cain, 3, 6
Cairo, lodge of, 48 .
Calabria, Duke of, 173
--societies in, 180
Calderari, 171, 172, 184
Californian society, 294
Calvary, Mount, 40, 42
Cambaceres, 64, 65, 67
Cambridge secret society, 294
Camorra, character of the, 329, 330
Canada, Fenian raids into, 279, 280
Cannibalism in Africa, 299
Canosa, Prince of, 171, 184
Cantu, Cesare, 169
Cape Coast Castle, Masonic lodge at, 98
Capitula Canonicorum, 57
Capo d’Istrias, Count, 143,146,147
Caravats, Irish society, 274
Carbonari, 157-177, 331
--and Guelphs, 178
-- demand constitution from
King of Naples, 173
--in Lombardy and Venetia, 175
Carboriarism in Spain, 142
-- marks transition period in history of secret societies, 174
Carbonaro charter proposed to
England, 169
--degree, most secret, 167
--manifesto, 166
--symbols, signification of, 165
Carey, James, shot by O’Donnell, 281 ,
Caroline, Queen, 73
Carrascosa, General, 172
Castle Tavern, London, 93
Catherine II., 97
Cats and Dogs, 195
Cavendish, Lord F., 281
Cellamare, conspiracy of, 312
Centenaries of Masonic lodges, 98
Cento Anni by Rovani, 321
Centres, Italian, 179
Ceremonies, ridiculous, at initiations still practised, 274
Certificates of the Decisi, 182, 183
Chain, society of the, 85
Chalturin, 229, 230
Charcoal-burners, 157, 158
Charles I. initiated into Masonry, 9
--II. initiated into Masonry, 9
--III. of Naples, 73
Charles Albert, 190
Charles, Archduke, 260
Charlottenburg, Order of, 295
Charter of Cologne, 9
Chartres, Duke of, 12, 5 5
Chartists, Portuguese, 313
Chen-kin-Lung, 137
Cherkesoff, Prince, 218
Chester Castle attacked by Fenians, 279, 281 -
Chevaliers Bienfaisants, 62
Chibiabos, 301, 334
Chicago, chief seat of Anarchism, 127
VOL. II.
Chicago, Fenian Convention at, 276, 285
Children of the Widow, 27
--of Wisdom, 320
Chinese lodges, 134
Church, the, and Carbonari, 175
--General, 180
--Masons, 295
Christ’s martyrdom represented in
Carbonarism, 162
Cincinnati, Fenian Convention at, 276
Citations before Masonic tribunals, 92, 108
Civil war in France, 119
Clan-na-Gael, 282, 283, 285
Clement V., Pope, 296
--XII., 11, 100
Clerkenwell House of Detention,
Fenian attack on, 280
Clermont, Chapter of, 55, 57
“ Clio,” lodge at Moscow, 97
Clover leaves, 66
Cluseret, General, 121, 280
Cock-lane ghost, 104
Collegium Muriorum, 10
Colletta, advocate, 172
Cologne, 10
Commune, 113
Communistic societies, 206
Communists defended by International, 123
Companions of Penelope, 85
Company of Death, 200
Comuneros, 139-142, 176
Conceptionistas, 140
Conciliatore e i Carbonari quoted, 169
Concluding ceremony of Knights
Templars’ initiation, 50
Concordists, 260
Congo secret societies, 295
Congregazione Catholica Apos-
tolica Romana, 194
Congress of Wilhelmsbad, 11, 61
Consalvi, Cardinal, 195
Consistorials, 193
Constantini, Santa, 192
Constitution alleged to have been
granted by Tsar, 232
Contributions levied by International, 124
Convention at Brunswick, 59
Coping Stone, the, 60, 61
Corcoran, General, 275
Corders, Irish society, 274
Y
Correspondence, revolutionary, how carried on, 189
Cory,.Giles, 319
Cosmopolitans, 187
Cosse-Brissac, Duke of, 47
Costume of Masons in lodge, 16
—■—• of Princes Rose-Croix, 41
Cougourde, the, 295
Council of the Emperors of the
East and West, 92
--of the Knights of the East, 5 5
Cousinage, bon, 158
Coustos, John, 101
Cromwell, Thomas, leaves the
Masons /r0,000 per annum, 74
Cross, the, 33
Cruelties practised on Babis, 264, 269
-- practised on Nihilist prisoners, 251
--practised on Siberian exiles,
243, 245, 252
Crusaders, Masons alleged to be descended from, 11
Customs, Masonic, 14
D
Dangers threatening London, 118
Death, society of, 176
Decisi, 180, 181, 182-184
Defenders, Irish society, 271
--of the Faith, 140, 142
Defoliators, Androgynous society,
86 ’
Degaieff, Nihilist, 238
Delahodde, a French spy, 204, 205
Delphic priesthood, 184
“ Democritos” by Weber, 258
Derwentwater, Lord, 54
Desagttliers, Dr., 11
Deschamps’ “Socittes Secretes,” 104
Deutsch, Simon, member of
“Young Turkey’’party, 210, 212
“ Devil in the Nineteenth Century, the,” 105
Devil-worship, 105, 295
D6vorants, 320
DeWitt, Dorring, 66, 167,168,194
Diffusion of Freemasonry, 96
Dionysiacs, 9, 10
Discovery of statutes of Triad
society, 132
Dog-Star, 28
Doheny, Michael, Fenian, 275
Donegal, Marquis of, 271
Dorring. See De Witt
Doussin, M., 321
Dramatic portion of mysteries, 27
Drenteln, General, 225
Dressier, Anarchist, 127
Druids, modern, 295
Dudley, Mrs., attempts Rossa’s life, 282
Duk-Duk, 295
Dumouriez, General, 63
Dunkirk Masonic lodge, 54
Dvornik, 226, 249, 250
’ Dynamite outrages, 281
E
Eagle and Pelican, Knights of the, 40
Eckert, Dr. E. E., quoted, 62, 104
Eclectic rite, 14
Egbo society, 295
Egyptian Masonry, 78, 79 '
--society, secret, 185
Eleutheria, password,. 194
Elohim, 3
Elpidin, Russian bookseller at
Geneva, 253
Emigrants, Nihilist, 253
Emiliani, Signor, 188
Emmanuel, Victor, 187
Empire, French, and International, 119
Encampments, 49
England, International in, 118
English opposition to Masonry, 103
Enoch, 3
Epirotes, 147
Eugene, Prince, 65
European Patriots, or White Pil
grims, Calabrian society, 180
Eve, 3
Evelyn, George, of Wotton, 331
Exhibition of 1862, 116
Ezelis, Babi sect, 266
F
FabrAPalaprat, 48
Families, the, French society, 205
Fanor, a Mason, 5
Farmakis, a Hetairist, 153, 155
Farmassoni, a Russian sect, 92, 93
Felicity, Order of, 86
Fellow-craft degree, 23, 24
Female Nihilists, 223, 227,238,244
Fendeurs, 158, 159
Fenian attacks, various, 280, 282, 283
--bonds, 278
—— dynamite outrages, 281
--Investigating Committee, 276
--Litany, 278, 279 '
--- raids into Canada, 279
--sisterhood, 276
Fenianism, comic aspects of, 284
--special Commission on, 285
--spreads into England, 277 Fenians, 275-287, 333
’ Ferdinand IV., King of Naples, 73 VIL, King of Spain, 96, 140, 172
--I., King of the Two Sicilies, 171, 174, 181
’ Fessler’s rite, 13
Fides, password of Odd Fellows, 309
Fieschi attempts life of Louis Philippe, 204
Finances, Nihilistic, 246
Findel, Masonic writer, 109
Fire, sanctuary of, 6
—— Sons of, 4
Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, 272
Fleury, the actor, 63
Fontanelli, General, 179
Fourier, Socialist, 114
France, Carbonarism in, 176
--Masonry in, 54
--regenerated, 68
Francis, Duke of Tuscany, afterwards Emperor of Germany, 72, 98, 102
Francis L, King of France, 157,166 Franco-Prussian war and International, 122
Fraternal Democrats, 114
Fraternitad Iberica, 86
Fraternity of Royal Ark Mariners, 93
Fraticelli, an ascetic sect, 296
Frederick the Great, 207
Frederick II., King of Prussia, 60
--I., King of Sweden, 102
-- Augustus III., King of Poland, 103
--William III., 62
✵“Freiheit,” 126, 127
French rite of Masonry, 13
--secret societies, causes of, 206
French secret societies, v 202-206'
“ Freemason ” quoted, 109 ’
Freemasonry, alleged early origin of, 8
--decay of, 108
--division of its history, 9
--in Spain, 140
--- Masonic opinions of, 109
--of present, in Italy, 76
--possesses no exclusive knowledge, 107 .
--summoning sovereigns, 108
--vain pretences of, 106
--vanity of its ritual, 107
Freemason^discoveredat N aples,73
--marriages of, 109
--operative and speculative, 9
--persecuted, 100-105. $ee also Masons and Masonry
French workmen visting London, 116
Friends of Greece, 193
--of Truth, 202
Friendship, Order of, 257
Fuhrer, Dr., his discovery of
Buddha’s birthplace, 237
G
Gabrino, Augustino, 292
Galatis, a Hetairist, 145, 146
Galatz, 149, 151 ,
Garden Street mine, 231
Garduna, meaning of word, 329
Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 187, 190 ,
--Menotti, 211
Gasgiott, a dwarf, 322
Gatshina, attempt on Tsar’s life at, 237
Genesis and development of a new creed, 267
Geneva, workmen’s congress at, 117
Georgakis, Hetairist chief, 147,149, 152, 153, 155
German Empire, proposed reestablishment of, 260
“ German Helvetic Directory,” 97
--Union, 260, 330
--workmen in London, 114
Germany and Carbonarism, 176
--Freemasonry in, 11, 98 full of secret societies, 257 retrogression of, 258
r
340 INDEX
Ghee Hin association, 133
Giardiniere, 177
Gibraltar, Masonic lodge at, 96
Gideon, password of Orangemen, 273
G in Blazing Star, 35
Gioachimo, Cistercian monk, 328
Gnosis of Grand Master Architect, 35
Gnostic sect in Russia, 92
Goats, 296
Goldenberg, a Nihilist, 225, 226
Golden Lily Hui, 137
--Orchid District, 132
Gone, Frederick von, 303
Good Cousins. See Carbonari
Gordon, General, 134
-- George, Master of Grand
Lodge, 101
Gorenovitch, Nicholas, Nihilist, 223, 228
Gormogones, 93
Gormones, 93
Gramont, Duke of, 47
Grand Arch of the Hetairia, 145, 146
--Army of Republic (American), 297
--Copt, 79, 80
--Elect of Carbonari, 163
--Lodge of England first meets at York, 51
-- Lodge of Three Globes at
Berlin, 13
--Master Architect, 35
--Master Grand Elect of Carbonari, 164
--Master of Orangemen, 273
--Orient, 12, 56, 64, 65, 66, 69, 73, 82, 92, 94, 140
“ Granth,” the Sikh Bible, 318
Greece, liberation of, 144
Green Island, 297
Gregory XVI., Pope, 189, 191
Grinevizki, Ignatius, throws bomb which kills the Tsar, 231
Grips in Freemasonry, 23, 26, 45
--Hetairia, 145
Gross, A., re-introduces Star of
Bethlehem into New York, 319
Grossing, F. R. von, adventurer, 88, 89
Gugumos, an adventurer, 59
Guinea, secret society in, 294
Gunzburg, Sophia, Nihilist, 244
H
Had-Had, bird messenger of the genii of fire, 6
Haji Seyyid Kazim, 268
Half-yearly word of command of
Grand Orient, 66
Hamilton, George, 97
“ Hamlet ” quoted, 28
Hardenberg, Count, 259
Harmony, Order of, 89
Harugari, 297
Hathor, temple of, at Dendera,, 327
Hawk, symbol of Etesian wind, 28.
Hearts of Steel, 271
Helena, Empress, 319
Helfmann, Jessy, 231
Hemp-smokers, African, 298
Hereaom, a corruption of Latin harediwm, 52
Heriz-Smith, Rev. E. J., 294
Heroden, 51,52
Heroine of Jericho, 273, 298
Heron, symbol of south wind, 28-
Herzen, Socialist, 218
Hetairia, 143-156 '
--fate of the, 154
--final success of the, 156
--first members of, 145
--laid under the ban, 150
--Philomuse, 143
Hiawatha, 334
Hibernians, Ancient Order of, 275.
Higgins, Francis, 272
High degrees in Masonry, 11, 14
Hiram Abiff, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 25, 30
------legend of, explained, 26 slain at west door, 6, 27
Hiram, King of Tyre, 3, 30
Hofer, Andreas, 197
Hogarth ridicules Masons, 109
Hohenloh-Schillingfiirst, Prince, 195
Holland, Masonry in, 98
--persecutes Masons, 100
Holy of Holies in Grand Master
Architect Lodge, 34
Holy Union, 194
House of Oblivion, 268
“Hudibras” quoted, 95
Hund, Baron, 11, 57
Hung, meaning of term, 131
Hung League, 131
------seal of, 135
Hunger-strikes among Nihilists, 243
Hunters, American, at Ravenna, 186
--a Canadian society, 299
Huseanawer, Virginian society, 300
Hydromancy of Cagliostro, 80
I
Ignatieff, Russian Minister of the Interior, 233
“ Illegal ” men in Russia, 249
Illuminati, league between Masons and German, 62
-- Italian society to restore
Napoleon, 199
--Masonic, in Italy, 72, 73
Independents aim at independence of Italy, 184
India, Masonic lodges in, 98
Indian (North American) societies, 300, 301, 302, 334
Initiated Brethren of Asia, 73
Initiation, Apprentice, 21
--Carbonarism, 160
--Chinese societies, 132, 135
--Comuneros, 141
--Fellow-craft, 23
--Grand Architect, 35
--Irish societies, 270-275
--Kafir, 305
--Knight of Kadosh, 37
--Masonry, at Venice, 75
--- Master, 24
--Misraim, 45
--Modern Knights Templars, 49
--Mopses, 85
--- Purrah, 313
-- I \oval Arch, 30
--Rose-Croix, 41, 42, 43
I. N. R. I., attestation of signature of Italian litterateurs, 180
--its meaning in Rose-Croix, 43
International, 113-126
--doctrines of, 117
--excommunicates Masons, 71
Invisibles, obscure Italian society, 302
Ipsilanti, 145, 147-449, 152, 153, 155
Irad, son of Enoch, 3
Irish Master, 54
--people, 279
Irish societies, 270-287
Iroquois mysteries, 301
Italian confederates, 199
--lodges under Napoleon I., 75
--societies, various, 199
Italy, proposed partition of, 193,
T 195
Ivory, E. J., tried for conspiracy, 286
J
Jabal, son of Lamech, 4
Jabulon, Master Mason’s word, 31
Jachin, column of porch of
Temple, 17
Jah, one of the components of Jabulon, 31
Jahn, founder of the Turner, 259
James II. initiated into Masonry, 9
Jehovah creates Adam, 3
Jehu, French society of, 302
Jemal-ed-din attempts dethronement of Shah, 269
Jericho, Heroine of, 298
Jerusalem, clerical, typifying Rome, 57
Jesuitical influences in Masonry, 57, 62, 70, 83
Ji-Koh, officer in Chinese society, 132
John, St., Brethren of, 10
John VI., Emperor of Brazil, issues edict against all secret societies, 102
Jubal, inventor of the harp, 4
Ju-ju houses, 296
K
Kadosh, a term of honour, 37
Kafir initiation, 305
Kaljushnia, Mary, a second Zas- sulic, 238
Karairas, Hetairist, 151
Karpokratians, sect of, 302
Katansky, Russian official, 238
Kelly, Fenian, 279, 280
Kharkhoff, residence assigned to
Zassulic, 223
Kilwinning, chief seat of Masonic Order, 51
Klobergdll, Micronesian society, 302
Knigge, Baron de, 14
Knight of Kadosh, 55
Knights and Ladies of Joy, 84
--Guelphic, 178
--of Apocalypse, 292
—:— of Beneficence, 62
--of Christ, 47
✵—— of Eagle and Pelican, 40
--of Liberty, 305
--of Lion, 305
--of Maria Theresa, 302
✵-• of Pythias, 315
--of Queen of Prussia, 259
--of Silver Circle, 318
--of Sun, 28th degree of Scotch rite, 14
----French degree, 5 5
in favour of Napoleon, 198
--Templars, Masons pretend to be descended from, 9, 11, 51
------modern, 47-50, 208
--the Order of, 302, 303
Knowledge not diffused by
Masonry, '107
Know-Nothings, American, 303
Koh, Chinese term for elder, 132
Ko-lao-Hui society, 136, 137
Konarski, Simon, a chief of Young
Poland, 208 '
Kopper, von, founds Order of
African Architects, 60
Kotzebue stabbed by the student Sand, 262
Krapotkine, Prince Alexis, 225
--Prince Peter, 219
Ku-Klux Klan, Southern States society, 303-305
Kunz de Kauffungen, 157
Kurnai, Australian society, 305
Kurratu’l ’Ayn, a Bab martyr, 263, 265
L
Lacorne, dancing-master, and Pirlet, a tailor, invent degree of “ Council of the Emperors of the East and West,” 92
Ladder, mysterious, in Masonry, 37
Ladies kidnapped by Turf society, 323
Ladies of St. James of the Sword of Calatrava, 84, 85
--of St. John of Jerusalem, 84
La Fayette, General, 176, 187, 202
Lainez, James, General of Jesuits, 57
Lantech, 3, 6
Land and Liberty, Russian society, 221, 223, 225
Larmenius, successor of Molay, 47 Latini, a Carbonaro society, 179 .
Lausanne, workmen’s congress at, 120
Lavater, Master of “ German Helvetic Directory ” lodge, 97
Lavillana, Marquis of, 101
Lavroff, Nihilist, 218, 239, 253
Lay bach, Congress at, 173 .
Led.ru, a physician, obtains possession of the charter of Larmenius, 47
Leopards, Human, 299, 333 -
Lessing’s (G. E.) opinion of Masonry, 36
Lessing, Louis, a student, assassinated, 258
Letters of Young Italy intercepted by, and recovered from, Austrian police, 189'
Leviticon society, 48
--work by a Greek monk, 48
Lewis, English Masonic term, answering to French Louveteau, 14
Liberty, Knights of, 305
Li Hung Chang, 133
Limburg, Goats at, 296, 297
Lion, Knights of the, 305
Lion’s grip in Masonry, 26, 27
List of Grand Masters of Temple, fictitious, 47 .
Litany, Fenian, 278, 279
Literature, Masonic, 109, no Nihilistic, 254
Litterateurs, Italian, 179
Liverpool, Lord, opposes Masonry, 103
• Lizogoob, Dmitri, Nihilist martyr, 228
Lodge, arrangement of Masonic, 16, 17
--in Adoptive Masonry, 83
--in rite of Misraim, 45
--of Rose-Croix, 40, 41
--opening of, 18
Lodges founded by Cagliostro, 80
--number of, 99
--of Carbonari, 158, 15
Logos, the, 31
London, dangers threatening, 118
✵-Nihilist club in, 246
--secret Italian society in, 186
--Trades’ Union Congress in, 126
Loris-Melikoff, Count, 230
Louis XII. protects Waldenses, 158
-- XIV. suppresses Modern Knights Templars, 47
-- of Bourbon, Prince of Clermont, gives name to Chapter of Clermont, 57
--Philippe, 69, 204, 205
Louveteau, French Masonic term answering to English Lewis, 14, 15
Lovers of Pleasure, 87
Ludicrous Masonic degree, 94, 95
Ludlam’s Cave, satirical society, 306 .
Lumbini garden, Buddha’s birthplace, 327
Lux ex tenebris, password in Mis- raim degree, 45
Lyons, Communistic riots at, 123
M
Macbenach, 7, 25
Macerata, Carbonaro attempt at, 171
Mackey, Masonic writer, 109
Macrobius quoted, 14
Mad Councillors, comic society, 306
Magi, Order of the, 306
Magnan, Marshal, 70
Magus, the, of Trowel society, 72
Mahabone, Masonic word, 26
Maharajas, Indian sect, 306
Mahdi, the, 263
Mahomedans rise against Chinese
Government, 133
Mahomed Reza assassinates Shah of Persia, 269 ’ .
Mainwaring, Colonel, 9
Maison, probable etymon of
Masonry, 10
Manabozko, Indian deity, 301, 334
Manchester, Fenian attack on police van in, 279
Mandan Ark, 310
Manhes, General, 170
Manicheean sect, 27
Mano Negra, 307
Mantchoos, present rulers of China’ 134
Maria Louisa, 175
Maria Theresa, 102
Mark Masonry, 92
Marriages, Masonic. 109
Marshall and Ramsay, 57
Martin, St., French writer and mystic, 62
Marx, Dr. Karl, 1'4, 126
Mason, C. W., assists Chinese insurgents, 137
Masonic alphabet, 15
--charities, 52
—— dating, 14
—■— grips, 23, 26, 45
-- lodge established in Persia, 268 ,
--- lodges in various countries, 96
--societies, whimsical, 72
--word, lost and found, 19
Masonry, adoptive, 82
--aim of continental, 94
--androgynous, 84
-- condemned by Congress of
Trent in 1896, 104
—— derivation of name, 10
--genuine, 19
--modern, is ineffective, 52
—— opposed by priests, 68
--■ origin of, 10
--politically insignificant, 69
--spurious, 19
“ Masonry, the Way to Hell,” 103
Masons. See Freemasons
Mason’s Daughter, 89
Massa,possible etymon of Masonry 10 '
Master’s word in Masonry, 2 5
Mavromichalis, Petros, 146
Mayo, Lord, assassinated, 324
Mazzini, 188, 189
Mediterranean password, 50
Mehujael, grandson of Enoch, 3 Melanesian societies, 307-309 “ Memoires pour servir a 1’Histoire
du Jacobinisme,” 103
Memphis, rite of, 44, 46
Menichini, Abbe, 172
Menotti, Carbonari leader, 187
Mesentsoff, General, 224, 225, 254
Methusael invents sacred char
acters, 3
--a Hebrew miner, 5
Mexico, Grand Lodge of, 98
Michailoff, Alexander, 250
Miguellists in Portugal, 313
Milesi, member of Turf society, 321, 322
Mina robbers in India, 325
--Spanish patriot, 140
Ming dynasty, 132
Mirski’s attempt on life of Drenteln, 225
Mirza Yahya, 266
Misericordia, Society della, 177
Misley, Henry, 187
Misraim, rite of, 14, 44, 68
Mitchel, John, Fenian, 275, 277
Modena, Duke of, 175, 195
--prisons of, 175
Modern Knights Templars, 47-50
Moffat mansion, headquarters of American Fenians, 277
Mohammed Ali, the Bab, 263
Molay, James, 56, 91
Molly Maguires, 274, 275
Monks of the Screw, 72
“Monthly Magazine” quoted, 109
Mopses, 85, 102
Moreau, General, 196
Morelli, Italian officer, 172, 174
Moreno, Garcia, 99
Morgan, William, 292, 299
Mosaic floor in Masons’ lodge, 16
Mosel Club, 257 '
Motto of Modern Knights Templars, 50
Mumbo Jumbo, 309
Murat, King, and Carbonari, 170
--Lucien, 69
--Queen Caroline, 170
“Murray’s Magazine” quoted, 283
Mustard-Seed, Order of the, 91 “Mysteres les plus Secrets de la Magonnerie,” 103
N
Naamah, sister of Tubal-Cain, 6
Names of Armenian committees, 212, 213
--of Carbonaro officers, 162
Naples, Freemasonry in, 73
Napoleon I., attempt to seize him while travelling, 197
--favours Masonry, 64, 65
--favours Modern Knights
Templars, 48 '
- Napoleon I., German feeling against, 258
--his secret police, 312 • societies against, 196-198 societies in favour of, 198
Napoleon, Joseph, 12, 64
Napoleon III., 69, 70, 187
Nasreddin, Crown Prince of Persia, 263
National Freemasonry, 208
--Knights, Italian, 199
--League, Irish, 283
Nechayeff, Sergei, a pioneer of
Nihilism, 218
New Pomeranian society, 295
New York, Fenian convention at, 285
Nicholas I. becomes emperor, 216
Nihilism, founders of, 218
Nihilist club in London, 246
--emigrants, 253
--finances, 246
--literature, 254
--manifesto of 1885, 240
--meaning of term, 217
--measures of safety, 249
--preparations for assassinating
Tsar, 241
--printing press, secret, 247
--prisoners, 250
--proclamation of 1881, 232
-- proclamations in walkingsticks, 246
-- stores discovered, 234, 236, 240, 241, 242, 245, 246
--trials, 220, 221, 222, 225, 226, 228, 234, 235, 236, 240, 241, 244, 255, 256
Nihilists, 217-256
--in England, 239
Nile, inundation of, 29
Nilometer, 32
Nimrod, first hunter, 4
N, letter standing for nostri with Jesuits, 62
Noachites, or Royal Ark Mariners, 93 >
--or Russian Knights, 94
Noah, his descendants, 4
—— Grand, title of president of Noachites, 93 '
Nola, defection of royal soldiers at, 172 _
Norman, murder of Chief-Justice, 324
North, The, Russian society, 215
Nostiz, Baron, founds society of
•“ Knights of the Queen of
Prussia,” 259
Notre-Dame of Paris set on fire by students, 203
Number 19 venerated by Babis, 266
0
'Oak-Boys, 270
Oath of Apprentice in Masonry, 22
--of Calderari, 172
--of Carbonaro, 161, 163
--of Fellow-craft in Masonry, 24
—— of Master in Masonry, 26
--of Mosel Club, 257
--of Reds of the Mountain, 206
--of Republican Brother Protector, 171
--of Ribbonman, 272
--of St. Patrick Boys, 272
--of Unit a Italiana, 200
Ob or Obi, 295
Obeah. See Egbo
Obeeyahism. See Egbo
“ Obelisk and Freemasonry,” by
Dr. Weisse, 8
Observance, Relaxed, 59
--Strict, 57
Obuchoff, a Cossack, 219
Oceania, Freemasonry in, 98
Odd Fellows, 309 -
Ode, password, 194
Odessa, Nihilist assassinations at, 237
O’Donnell shoots James Carey, 281
Officers of Argonauts, 94
--of Masonic lodge, 16, 17
--of Rose-Croix degree, 40
--of Royal Arch degree, 30
O-Kee-Pa, Red Indian society, 310
O’Leary, John, his “Recollections of Fenians and Fenianism,” 333
Oliver, Masonic writer, 109
O’Mahoney, Colonel John, 275, 276, 277
Omladina, 210, 211
On, component part of word Jabu- lon, 31
Operative masonry ceases, 52
Operative masons, 9, 51
Orangemen, 272
Order and Progress, student’s association in France, 203
Order of Friendship, 257
of the Temple, 14
Origin of the alphabet, 15
of term Fenian, 278, 333
Orleans, Duke of, 69
Oro-Tetifa, a Tahitian god, 293
Osiris, 27, 28 ,
Oudet, Colonel James Joseph, 196, 197
P
Pacific Union, 194
Padillo, John, 140
Palmerston, Lord, 187, 189
Panizzi, 189
Panslavism, 210, 211
Pantheists, 310
Papal Bulls against Masonry, 100, 104
Paris, arrest of Nihilists in, 244 its destruction planned, 121
Parma, Duchess of, 175
। -John of, 328
Partition of Poland, 207 •
“ Party of the People ” in Russia, 239 . .
Passports, how obtained by Nihilists, 249
Passwords in Masonry, 23, 26, 31, 32, 45, So
in Hetairia, 145
in Roman Catholic Apostolic congregation, 194
of Odd Fellows, 300
Patriotic Order Sons of America, 3ii reformers, 193 society, 208
Payne, George, 11
Pednosophers. See Tobaccological society
Pedro, Don, 142
Pe-lin-Kiao, Chinese society, 131
Pellico, Silvio, 176
Pentagon, Cagliostro’s, 79, 80
“ People, going • among the,” in Russia, 219
Pepe, General, 172, 174
Perak, Chinese secret societies in, 133
Perfection, Masonic rite of, 14
Perovskaia, Sophia, 227, 231, 238
Persecution of Freemasonry, 11, 100-103
Persigny, M. de, 53
Pestel, Colonel, 216
Pfenniger, Prefect of Zurich, 219
Phi-Beta-Kappa society, 311
Philadelphia lodge at Verviers, 53
Philadelphian rites introduced into French army, 196
Philadelphians in Calabria, 180
--of Besangon, 196
Philip the Fair, 56
Philip V. of Spain, 101
Philo, writer on Masonry, 106 Philosophic Scotchriteof Masonry,
13 ;
Phoenix Park murders, 127, 281 i
Pianco, Master, 329 !
Pichegru conspires against Napoleon, 197 '
Pierre, Delahodde’s alias, 205 Pilgrims, a French society, 311 Pirlet. See Lacorne
Pius IX., Pope, 191
Platonica, afterwards Italian Confederates, 199 :
Poe, E. A., quoted, 129
Poland, Masonry in, 97 independence of, 115 partition of, 207 revolutionary party of, and
Nihilists, 239
Police, secret, 312 •
Polignac, Prince Julius de, 195
Polish patriots, 207, 331
-- secret national government, 208, 209
Pope’s flight from Rome, 192
Portugal, Masonry in, 96
Portuguese societies, 313
Prim, Marshal, 108
Primitive Scotch rite, 13
Principi Summo Patriarcho, 167
Printing press, secret Nihilistic, 247, 249
Prison, Nihilists in, 250
“ Proofs of a Conspiracy,” by Robison, 103
Protestant Irish societies, 271, 272
Proverb, Italian, 108
Prussian secret police, 312
Publications of Quatuor Coronati lodge, 110
“Punch,” quoted, 117
Purrah, The, African society, 313315
Pythias, Knights of, 315
Q
Quatuor Coronati lodge, 110
Queen of England threatened by
Anarchists, 124
Questions asked of Masonic Apprentice, 23
Quezeda, Captain, 140
R [
Radetzky enters Milan, 190 {
Radnor, Lord, denounces ’ Free- i
masons, 103 [
Ragon, Masonic writer, 109 [
Raising of aspirant in Masonry, 26 j
--Osiris, painting of, 28 [
Ramsay, Chevalier Andreas, 11, i
54, 55-93 [
Ram Singh, a Sikh, 317 i
Rancliffe, Lord, president of Noa- i
chites, 93 I
Raven, Baron, chief of Relaxed I
Observance, 59 |
Ravenna, Accoltellatori at, 200 . !
Rays, The, Anti-Napoleonic so- I
ciety, 197 ;
Rebeccaites, 315 f
Reclus, Elys6e, Anarchist, 109 I
“ Rectangular ” referred to, 92 s
Red Cross of Constantine and i
Rome, Order of, 92
Red Men society, 315
Redemption, Order of the, 315
Reform needed in Masonry, 77
Reformed Masonic rite, 14
Regeneration, Society of Universal, 316 ;
Registrar of the Dead, 184 j
Relaxed Observance, 59, 94 i
Report on FenianBrotherhood, 276 ।
Republic proclaimed in France, - j
122 5
; Republican Brother Protector’s }
oath, 171 i
Results of downfall of Napoleon, i
1 ’39. . -
I Reviving the International, attempt at, 126 . .
Revolutionary Club, 109
Revolutions attempted in Italy, . I j 189 i
। Rhetz, Conrad von, founder of ;
! Argonauts, 94 . :
Rhigas, Constantinos, Greek poet, M3
Rhodocanakis, Prince, 92
Rhombos, 301, 305
Ribbonmen, 271, 272
Riego, the Hampden of Spain, 101
Right-Boys, 270
Rights of Man society, 204
“ Rite of Egyptian Masonry,” 78
Rites of Adoptive lodges, 82, 83
Rochelle, revolutionary attempt at, 202
Rohilla Patans, 325
Rose-Croix lodge, 40
—'■— Prince of, 40
Rose, German Order of the, 88, 89
--Knights and Nymphs of the, 87
Rosenwald, Lady of, 88
Rosicrucianism, 11, 329
Rosicrucians not Rose-Croix, 40
Rossa, O’Donovan, 280, 282, 286
Rossi, life and death of, 190-192
Royal Ark Mariners, 93
--Carboneria, 159
Russia, Freemasonry in, 96
Russian Union of Safety, 214
Russians of rank going among the people, 219, 220
Rutherford, John, his “Secret History of the Fenian Conspiracy,” 333
S
Sacred Battalion of Hetairia, 149,
>5°, M3
Safety, measures of, adopted by Nihilists, 249
Saheb-ez-Zeman, the Lord of Ages, 266
Saint-Agnan, Viscount, 179
Saint-Simon, 113
Saint John, Brethren of, 10
-- Martin’s Hall, workmen’s meeting at, 117
--Patrick Boys, 272
Saiyid Ahmad, Wahab leader, 324
Saltpetrers, 316 '
Sam-Sings, 133
Sam Tian society, 133
“ Sanctuary, The,” explains rite of
. Memphis, 46
Sand, Louis, 262
Sanfedisti, 194
Sankofsky’s attempt on Tchere- vin’s life, 234
Sarawak, secret society in, 133
Satirical society, 302, 303
Savary, Minister of Police, 67
Sayid Yahya Darabi, 264
Schismatic rites, 91, 92
Schlaraffenland, 324
Schmalz, Councillor, 261
Schools, Society of, 203
Schroder’s rite, 14
Schropfer, 59, 80
Scotch degrees, 11
--Ladies of France, 86
--rite, 65
--rites of Masonry, 13
--sign, grand, 35
Scotland, Masonry in, 51
Scythers, 208
Seasons, the, a French secret society, 205
Secretprinting presses of Nihilists, 228
--societies, aims of, 9
Sekko, monastery of, 155
Seliverskoff, General, 244
Selvaggi, secret society, 199 '
Senegambia, secret society in, 291
Septembrists in Portugal, 313 Seth, alleged founder of Order of
Harmony, 89
--family, 8
Seven steps of mysterious ladder in Masonry, 37-39
Severo, Duke of San, 73
Shah, late, opposed by Babis, 264
Shanavests, Irish society, 274
Sheba, Queen of, 4, 5
Sherwood reveals plot to dethrone
Alexander I. of Russia, 215
Shiites, 267
Shirtless, the, French society, 202
Siberian exiles, 243
Sibley, Ebenezer, 93
Sicilian societies, 193
Sign of Orangemen, 273
Signs in Masonry, 23
--in rite of Misraim, 45
--of Hetairia, 145
--of Modern Knights Templars, 49
Sikh Fanatics, 316-318
Silvati, 172, 174
Silver Circle, Knights of the, 318
Simonetta, country house belonging to Turf society, 323
Sioux rites, 310
Sirius, 28, 29
Slavonian Confederation,proposed,
215
Sleeping Lion, French society to restore Napoleon, 305
Socialistic systems, 114
Society of the Chain, 85
--of Schools, 203
Solomon 3-5, 7, 30
Solovieff, 223, 226
Sonderbare Gesellen, 319
Sonnet quoted, 186
Sons of Fire, 4
--of Mars, 186
--of St. George, 275
--of Thought, 4
Sophisiens, 319
Sovereign Chapter of the Scotch
Ladies of France, 86
--Prince Masons of St. John of
Jerusalem, 92
Sovereigns summoned before
Masonic tribunals, 108
Spain, Carbonarism in, 176
--Freemasonry in, 96
--secret societies in, 139
Spanish secret societies divided
into four parties, 142
Special Commission on Fenianism, 285
Spectres meeting in a tomb, 202
Speculative Masons, 9
Spratt, Edward, 8
Spurious Masonic degrees, 19
Slabbers, Committee of, 200
Star of Bethlehem, 319
Stark, Dr., 59, 61
Stein, Baron, 258, 332
------Privy Councillor, 332
Stephanovitch establishes secret
printing press at Kieff, 247
Stephens, the Fenian, 277, 279
Stepniak, 214, 228, 254
Straits Settlements, Chinese
societies in, 133
Strasbourg, Masonic Grand Lodge at, 10
Strict Observance, 11, 57, 61, 97
Strozzio, Count Filippo, 72
Stuart, Charles, 52, 54, 57, 58
Student riots in Russia, 243, 244
--Russian, found dead, 245
Sublime Knight elected, 55
Subterranean Prague, 211
Sudeikin, Colonel, 237, 238
Sufites, 48
Suliotes, 148
Sun Wen, 133
--Yet Sun, 133
--and zodiac symbolised, 45
Sunnites, 267
Supreme Grand Council, 65, 69, 92
Surrey tavern, Surrey Street, Strand, 93
Sweden, Freemasonry in, 97
Swedenborg, rite of, 14
Swedish Masonic rite, 14
--ritual, ancient, 97
Switzerland, Freemasonry in, 97
T
Taaroa, a Polynesian deity, 293
Tae-ping-wang, Chinese leader, 132, 331
Tahitian society, 293
Tai-Koh, chief of Chinese secret society, 132
Tallard, Count, helps to found secret society in court of Louis XIV., 47
Tangaroa. See Taaroa
Tartar dynasty in China, 131
Tau, books of, 3
--triple, 32
Tcherevin’s (General) life attempted, 234
Temple, the, Johannite church in Paris, 49
Teppa, Compagnia della, 321
Terror, Russian party of, 222
Terrorists in France, 302
Test, severe, of a member’s fidelity, 198
Theobald, patron saint of Carbonari, 158
Theodora, wife of Emperor Justinian L, 320
Th’ien - Hauw - Hoi’h, Chinese society, 131
Third Division of Russian police, 223
Thirteen, number, why considered ominous, 320
—-—• the, societies, 320
INDEX
349
Thirty-one, Tuscan society, 199
Thot, Egyptian deity, 29
Three Globes, Masonic lodge, 60
Threshers, Irish society, 271
Tirol, secret league against France in, 197
Titles, extraordinary, introduced into Masonry, 45
Tobaccological society, 320, 321
Todtenbund, 176
Toland, John, 310
Tolstoi, Count, 234, 239
Tongola. See Taaroa
Torres, lodges of Comuneros, 141
Torrubia, Peter, betrays Masons,
101
“Traveller’s Narrative, A,” quoted, 267 .
Treachery of Fenian leaders, 277
Trent, Anti-Masonic Congress at,
104
Trepoff, General, fired at by Zassulic, 224
Triad society, 132
Triangle, double, 31
--golden, 7
--mystic, 7
Triangles in Royal Arch, 31
Triangular altar, 7
Trinitarii, 184
Trinosophists, 69
Troubelskoi, Prince, 26
Trowel, the, whimsical Masonic society, 72
True Poles, 207
Tsakaloff, Athanasius, Hetairist,
144 n
Tsar Alexander II., assassinated, 230
Tsar, precaution taken on travelling of, 233
Tsar’s appeal to Russian society, 225 '
--coronation, 235
--life attempted, 226-228, 230,
240, 245, 246
--reply to Nihilist proclamation, 233
--responsibility, 243
Tschudy, Baron, 55
Tsing-lien-Kiao, 131
Tsings, the, 131, 134
T, symbolic, 3, 5, 7
Tubal-Cain, 4, 6
Tugendbund, 258-262, 332
Turf, Society of the, 321-324
“ Turk, the, and the French Soldier,” book written by Oudet, 197 ■
Turkey, Freemasonry in, 98
Turks and Hetairia, 144-156
Turner, or gymnasts in Germany, 259
Tuscany, Duke of, 98
Tynan, P. J., Fenian, 281, 286
U
Ukbivaheli, or Concealers of Nihilists, 250
Ulrich, Duke of Wurtemberg, 157
Unconditionals, inner section of
German Union, 261
Union for the Public Weal, Russian, 215
--of Boyards, 215
--of Safety, Russian, 214
--of Virtue. See Tugendbund
Unionists, German, 257
Unions, Workmen’s, 114
Uniti, Italiana, 200
United Irishmen, 271, 272
--Slavonians, 215
Utah, secret societies in, 275
Utopia, a comic society, 324
V
Vaughan, Miss Diana, 104
Vault under Solomon’s Temple, Master’s word hidden therein, 7 under Solomon’s Temple,
Master’s word discovered, 31
Vehm, the, Lindner’s work on, 328
Veils, passing the, Masonic ceremony, 32
Vendicatori, Sicilian society, 294
Vendite of Carbonari, 158, 159
Venice, Masonry in, 74
Vienna, Anarchists at, 127
--Congress of, its results, 331
--early Masonic lodge at, 10
Visible, the, among Guelphic Knights, 178
Vogt, founder of Mosel Club, 257
W
' Wahab, meaning of term, 324 Wahabees, Indian sect, 324-326 Waldo, family of, 328
Wales, Prince of, Grand Master of English Freemasons, 103
Wang-lung, leader of Chinese society, 131
Warrington, Masonic lodge of, 9
Weber, C. J., German author, quoted, 258
Weisse, Dr. J. A., author of “ Obelisk and Freemasonry,” quoted, 8
Wellington, Duke of, reported offer of crown of Italy to, 185
White-Boys, Irish society, 270
-- Lily, Chinese society, 131, 133
-- Pilgrims, Calabrian society, 180
Whites and Reds in Poland, 209
Whizzer, 301, 305
Wilhelmsbad, Congress of, 11, 59, 61
Wilson, General Robert, 187
--Thomas, founder of Order of Orangemen, 273
Will of the People, Russian society, 223, 228, 238, 250
William II., Norman king, 294
Winter Palace, explosion in, 228 Witt. See De Witt
Wittgenstein, Prince, member of Tungendbund, 259
Wolf in Masonry, 14
Women, Greek and Arab, in Masonic lodges, 186
-- not admitted to European Freemasonry, 82
Wonderful Association, Chinese society, 131
Wood store of the Globe and Glory, Masonic society, 86
Word, the Lost, 31, 42
X
Xanthos, E., of Patmos, a Freemason and Hetairist, 144
Y
Yarker, John, Masonic writer quoted, 109
Yellow Cap, Chinese society, 131
York Masons, antiquity of, 51
--rite of Masonry, 13
Young Germany, 258
--Italy, 175, 188, 191
--Poland, 208.
--Turkey, 210, 212
Z
Zambeccari, Livio, a Mazzinist, 188
Zappatori, Italian labourers, 103
Zassulic, Vera, 223
Zerubbabel, Royal Arch officer, 30
Zinzendorf, Count, 60, 91
------rite of, 14
Zundelevic, Aaron, establishes secret Nihilist press at St. Petersburg, 248
Zurich, Masonic Grand Lodge at,
10
-- International Congress at, 123
THE END
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Jtytes on
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Published by
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OCCULT LITERATURE
Stytes on Standard and C^ecent Works published by Cj-eorge cR>ed'way
DURING the past ten or twelve years the literature of the Occult Sciences and Philosophy has assumed a fresh importance, and, as a consequence, has remarkably increased in the chief countries of the world. '
This literature has always existed in England, and it is here that its new developments have, for the most part, originated. But, previously to the year 1886, the publication of works on this subject was in the hands of amateurs, and their circulation was limited to the resources of book-depots belonging to one or two private societies. At that period, however, Mr. George Redway began to undertake the production of books by eminent occultists, both living and dead, and, with the interruption of the few years following the sale of his original business, he has continued to issue in a popular form, and at a moderate price, most of the best works that have, appeared of their kind in the language. The following succinct account of the entire series, which has been published from time to time under his auspices, including recent additions, will be useful to students of the subject as a guide in the choice of books, and will give at the same time a comprehensive idea of the extent and importance of Mr. Redway’s enterprise in this department of literature.j *■■ ■
is-
( * )
The plan followed is one of merely informal enumeration, so that the various works must not be regarded as classified in the order of their importance, which would be difficult or impossible; while a grouping under subject-headings, having regard to the scope of the bibliography, has been deemed unnecessary. For convenience in reference only, the works of Mr. A. E. Waite have been placed in a separate section under the name of the author.
ANNA KINGSFORD. Her Life, Letters, Diary, and Work. By her Collaborator, Edward Maitland. Illustrated with Portraits, Views, Facsimiles, &c. Two vols. Demy 8vo, 31s. 6d. net.
The genesis of the New Gospel of Interpretation, which found its first expression in “The Perfect Way," is here fully set forth by the “surviving recipient ” of the gospel, and these two volumes are of great and even imperishable interest. By its profound mystical importance, to set aside the beauty of its literary form, “The Perfect Way” marked a new period in the religious thought of the age, finding its appropriate complement in “Clothed with the Sun," the book of Mrs. Kingsford's illuminations. Now this life of the seeress explains and completes both, and it is not surprising that it has been the most successful work of its kind published during the past twelve months.
PSYCHIC PHILOSOPHY AS THE FOUNDATION OF A RELIGION OF NATURAL LAW. By V. C. Dbsertis. With Introduction by Alfred Russel Wallace, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S. Crown 8vo, Js. net.
Though appearing under a name previously unknown in psychological literature, this work has been welcomed as perhaps the best existing exposition of the philosophy of Spiritualism. As Dr. Wallace explains in his preface, it founds a philosophy of the universe and of human nature on the facts of psychical research, the basis of which philosophy is necessarily the familiar proposition that faith must be justified by knowledge. The consideration is divided into two parts, the first dealing with the experimental facts, and the second with “theory and inferences,” set forth in a manner which has been rightly characterised as really powerful and original ; some of the author’s most important material is derived from modern scientific conceptions as to the constitution of matter and .ether.
( 3 )
THE IMITATION OF S’AN KARA. Being a Collection of several Texts bearing on the Advaita. By Manilal N. Dvividi. Crown 8vo, 5s. net.
This is a production of the Bombay Press. The Oriental texts in question number 658, and have been derived from the Upanishads, the Institutes of Manu, the Mah&bhUrata, and other sacred writings, the Sanskrit originals being also given. Seeing that for the most part they were in existence before the birth of S’ankara, they must be regarded as th? spirit which guided that teacher, and are thus not his imitation, but that which he himself followed.
THE GREAT SECRET, AND ITS UNFOLDMENT IN
OCCULTISM. , A Record of Forty Years’ Experience in the Modem Mystery. By a Church of England Clergyman. Crown 8vo, 5s. net.
The “modern mystery" is, of course, Spiritualism, and perhaps this ■crisp and eminently readable narrative has a little suffered by some inexactitude in its title. The author is well known not only in the sphere of liberal theology, but in that of letters, and as his identity is in no way concealed by the narrative for those who have any acquaintance with the, movement, it is to be regretted that his name has been suppressed.
NEO-PLATONISM. Porphyry, the Philosopher, to his Wife, Marcella. Now first translated into English by Alice Zimmern. With Preface by Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Crown 8vo,, 3s. 6d. net
Marcella was a widow whom the philosopher espoused late in his life from an intellectual interest in the welfare and education of the children whom she had borne to her first husband. Porphyry was the pupil of Plotinus as Plotinus was of Ammonius Saccas. The letter, preserved in the Ambrosian Library of Milan, is, unfortunately, imperfect at the end. With the preface of Dr. Garnett and Miss Zimmern’s admirable introduction on Neo-Platonism, it is presented under the best auspices to English readers,
MIRACLES AND MODERN SPIRITUALISM. Three
Essays by Alfred Russel Wallace, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S. New and Revised Edition, with Chapters on Phantasms and Apparitions. Crown 8voj 5s. net.
The work of Dr. Wallace and the ’’Researches" of Professor Crookes have been always, from the evidential standpoint, the Jakin and Bohaz of the edifice of modern Spiritualism in England. Both are much too well known to require description or advertisement. The extensions of the present edition deal with objective apparitions and the raison cCltre of phantasms, each having special reference to the theories of Psychical Research.
ANIMAL MAGNETISM; or, Mesmerism and its Phenomena. By the late William Gregory, M.D., F.R.S.E. Fourth Edition. With Introduction by the late “M.A, (Oxon).” Demy 8vo, 6s. net.
Since the days of Dr. Gregory and the classic mesmerists whom we connect broadly with his period, animal magnetism has assumed a new ’ and possibly more scientific terminology; but it is a matter of surprise, on re-reading this standard treatise, to note how trivial have been the advances made since the subject has been taken into account by the professional “modern scientist.” The experiments of this careful observer have lost none of their importance, and the introduction of Mr. Stainton Moses, written for a previous edition, now very rare, will enhance the value of the work in the eyes of all English Spiritualists.
THE TAROT OF THE BOHEMIANS. The most ancient book in the world. For the exclusive use of Initiates. By Papus. Translated by A. P. Morton. With numerous Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 5s. net.
Ostensibly, the “Tarot" is a method of divination comprised in seventyeight symbols, from which our modem cards have descended. The fact of its existence seems to have been first discovered by a French archaeologist at the close of the eighteenth century, and he connected its figures with primitive Egyptian symbolism. The subject was further developed by Eliphas Ldvi, who regarded it as the first book of humanity, and thought that all problems of science, philosophy, and religion could be solved by means of its combinations. The work of Papus, who has attained similar conclusions, is the first formal and elaborate treatise upon the whole of this, interesting question, and he claims to give, also for the first time, the Key to the construction and application of the “ Tarot.”
THE MAGICAL RITUAL OF THE SANCTUM REGNUM.
Interpreted by the Tarot Trumps. Translated from a MS. of Eliphas Levi, and Edited by Dr. Wynn Westcott. With Eight Coloured Plates. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. net.
A special interest attaches to this publication, which has not been printed in the language of the original. The MS., with its carefully drawn figures, was written in an interleaved copy of a small Latin treatise by Trithemius, and sent to Baron Spedalieri, circa 1861; it is the subject of reference in one of Ldvi’s letters to that disciple, by whom it was ultimately presented to Mr. Edward Maitland. Mr. Maitland seems to have regarded it as a commentary on the work of Trithemius, which goes to show that he did not read it: it was not until it passed into the possession of Dr. Westcott that it was discovered to be an original and highly interesting ritual of magic.
THE RATIONALE OF MESMERISM. A Treatise on the Occult Laws of Nature governing Mesmeric Phenomena. By A. P. Sinnett. Second Edition. 2s. 6d. net.
In addition to the sources of occult knowledge with which Mr. Sinnett claims to be connected, he has had considerable experience as a practical mesmerist, and is therefore entitled to speak upon his subject with personal as well as derived authority.
LIGHT ON THE PATH: KARMA: GREEN LEAVES.
A Treatise written for the personal use of those who are ignorant of the Eastern Wisdom. By Mabel Collins. Imperial 32010, is. 6d. net.
A series of aphorisms or maxims partly referable to Oriental Scriptures, this little work has been a Golden Rule among Theosophists, and not the less popular because of the unhappy controversy of which it subsequently became the centre.
THE STORY OF THE YEAR. A Record of Feasts and Cere* monies. By Mabel Collins. Imperial 32100, is. 6d. net.
A sequel to ’ ’ Light on the Path” and a kind of Theosophical companion to the Calendar; suggestive, and with an interior meaning.
A HANDBOOK OF PALMISTRY AFTER THE ANCIENT
METHODS. Sixth and Revised Edition. By Rosa Baughan. With Five Plates. Demy 8vo, is. net.
The most popular introduction to the study of the Hand ever published in England. It has been in circulation for ten years, and is still always in demand. The present revised edition supersedes all others, and those who have earlier impressions will do well to consult this.
THE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS: Ancient and
Mediaeval. By C. W. King. Second Edition. With Woodcuts and Plates. Royal 8vo, 10s. 6d. net.
Mr. King is our only authority on the attractive but perplexing subject of the Gnostic sects, and this second edition of his standard work is so much an enlargement upon the first that it is almost entitled to rank as an independent treatise. It is here offered to the public at half its original cost, and, when the present remainder is exhausted, the copies now available at a small price will become much enhanced in value. Without being ' apparently a mystic, and writing rather from the standpoint of history and numismatics, the author approaches his subject sympathetically, and is in most respects an authoritative guide.
THE VIRGIN OF THE WORLD OF HERMES MER- CURIUS TRISMEGISTUS. Rendered into English by Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland, Authors of “The Perfect Way.” With Illustrations. 4to. Imitation Parchment. 10s. 6d. net.
Despite its attribution, “ The Virgin of the World " represents a school of initiation which is usually regarded as distinct from that which produced the other writings referred to Hermes Trismegistus. It differs, on the one hand, from the “Divine Pymander," which, perhaps, connects more closely with Neo-Platonism of the Christian era; and, on the other, from the “Golden Treatise,” which cannot be dated much earlier than the fifteenth century. “Asclepios on Initiation,” the “Definitions of Ascle- pios," and some “Fragments of Hermes," are included in the volume, which is an indispensable companion to Chambers' valuable edition of the other works ascribed to Hermes.
THE KABBALAH UNVEILED. Containing Three Books of the Zohar. Translated from the Chaldee and Hebrew text by S. L. Macgregor Mathers. Post 8vo. With Diagrams.
[Out of print.
No attempt has as yet been made in English to furnish a complete and catholic account of the developments of Kabbalistic literature, though the keys of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures are both said to be contained therein. The literature is indeed so large, and presents so many difficulties of interpretation, that the few scholars competent for the task have evidently shrunk from undertaking it. In the absence of any other source of information, the work of Mr. Mathers has been in considerable demand. It translates in extenso certain important books of the Zohar, giving an interlinear commentary on the first, and copious notes to the others. There is also a long introduction, which is informing and valuable.
MAGIC, WHITE AND BLACK; or, The Science of Finite and Infinite Life. By Franz Hartmann, M.D.
Third Edition, revised and enlarged. Crown 8vo. Frontispiece and Woodcuts. 6s. net.
A presentation of magical doctrine from a Theosophical standpoint. The ethical value has been regarded as high by authorities in the same line of thought, and Dr. Hartmann's treatise, enlarged and revised for each successive edition, has been singularly successful.
THE KEY OF SOLOMON THE KING. Now first translated from Ancient MSS. in the British Museum, by S. L. MacgregoR Mathers. With numerous Plates. Crown 4to, 25s. net. '
A scholarly edition of what is regarded as “the original work on practical magic," based upon the best texts, and crowded with talismanic and other figures. It gives the actual mode of operation, which should enable any person so disposed to call up and discharge spirits, as well as full instructions for other departments of ceremonial magic. It must, however, be observed that the ’1 Keys of Solomon ” are referred to the domain of White Magic, and do not, therefore, deal with evil spirits evoked for evil purposes. The “Keys of Solomon the King” are, further, to be distinguished from those of Solomon the Rabbi, which have hot yet been edited.
ASTROLOGY THEOLOGIZED: The Spiritual Hermeneutics of Astrology and Holy Writ. Edited by Anna Bonus Kingsford. With numerous Symbolical Illustrations. 4to. Parchment, ios. 6d. net.
An old astrological maxim tells us that Sapiens dominaiitur astris, and this work is actually a formal treatise upon the method of ruling the planets by the law of grace. In other words, our destinies are written in the stars, but it is possible to erase or rectify the record. This very curious book, practically the sole treatise upon the spiritual side of astrology, was first published in 1649, and its authorship remains unknown. It connects on the one side with the Paracelsian doctrine of interior stars and external signatures, and on the other with the modern interpretations of Eliphas Ldvi; indeed, the maxim of the French Magus, 11 When we think that we are reading in the stars, it is in ourselves we read,” would be an admirable motto for the title-page. The late Dr. Kingsford’s preface to the reprint (teals with the “true method of interpreting Holy Scripture," and attracted considerable attention at the time of its first appearance.
THE ASTROLOGER’S GUIDE. Being the One Hundred and Forty-six Considerations of Guido Bonatus, and the Choicest Aphorisms of the Seven Segments of Cardan. Edited by W. EldoN Serjeant. Demy 8vo, ys. 6d. net.
Bonatus was a Florentine astrologer of the thirteenth century, who was famous for, his successful predictions, but he ultimately became a Franciscan- Jerome Cardan, who is a greater name in the starry science, was a skilful physician, and to him mathematics are indebted for developments of importance. The present reprint is the translation Of Henry Coley as regards Bonatus, and that of William Lilly as regards Cardan, who flourished in the sixteenth century. Mr. Serjeant's edition places two rare works within the reach of all who are interested.
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY: A Study of Phantoms.
By Adolphe D’Assier. Translated and Annotated by Henry S. Olcott, President of the Theosophical Society. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. net.
A presentation of facts establishing the existence of a posthumous personality, not only as regards man, but other animals, and even vegetables. Shortly put, it is an attempt to demonstrate the occult doctrine of the fluidic form. From one point of view, this study of psychic phenomena offers an unattractive contrast to the mystic doctrine of union with the Divine, but this is because it deals only with the elementary spheres of transcendental experience, and it must not be regarded as less remarkable or less suggestive because its inferences are somewhat dismal.
THEOSOPHY, RELIGION, AND OCCULT SCIENCE.
By Henry S. Olcott. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. net.
A series of lectures presenting the alternative between Theosophy and Materialism, and dealing comprehensively with old Western Magic, modern Spiritualism, Eastern Sociology and Eastern, especially Indian, Religions. It is perhaps the most successful work ever published by Col. Olcott— scholarly, well expressed, at once popular and attractive in form. It has had a wide sale, and deserved it.
INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF MADAME BLAVATSKY.
Compiled from information supplied by her Relatives and Friends, and Edited by A. P. Sinnett. With Portrait. Demy 8vo, ios. 6d. net.
Madame Blavatsky was herself a mirror or epitome of the occult sciences. She personified all their wisdom, all their extravagance, while she also incorporated into her history most of the accusations which have been made against them. Her story is here told with Mr. Sinnett’s well-known ease of style and considerable literary skill. It is not now a complete life, for not only has the subject passed away since it was written, but much additional knowledge has been made public concerning her. It deserves and would repay rewriting, and yet, as it stands, it is always fresh and interesting. There is not, however, the same living and moving portraiture of Madame Blavatsky which is to be found in the brilliant, though unhappily hostile, biography of M. Solovyoff.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF MYSTICISM. By Carl du Prel.
Translated from the German by C. C. Massey. 8vo. Two vols. ios. 6d. net.
These noble volumes are the outcome of a happy combination—on the one hand, an author who is among the first of living German Mystics; on the other, a translator who is himself a Mystic, and of established repute among many like-thinking in England. It is impossible in a brief space to present a satisfactory analysis of a work which is so important and at the same time so voluminous. The author explains that he has attempted “to erect a philosophical fabric of doctrine on the empirical basis of the sleep-life," and to disprove the “false presumption” that “our Ego is wholly embraced in self-consciousness." It is maintained that an analysis of the dream-life exhibits the Ego as exceeding that limit. A very similar doctrine was propounded in Fichte's “ Way to the Blessed Life," namely, that only a small portion of our being is illuminated by the sun of consciousness.
THE INDIAN RELIGIONS; or, Results of the Myste
rious Buddhism. By Hargravb Jennings. 8vo, 6s. net.
Sufficient attention has not been given to the very curious speculations in this volume, some of which are highly suggestive, though marred by inaccuracies, extravagances, and a determined effort to write in a bizarre fashion. By the way, at the time of its publication it was accepted as a new work, but it was, really edited for the publishers from materials in earlier volumes by Mr. Jennings, now long since out of print and exceedingly rare, as, for example, “ Curious Things of the Outside World." The work thus possesses a certain bibliographical value apart from the occult lucubrations, which have always attracted a certain class of minds to the author of the “ Rosicrucians.”
THE INFLUENCE OF THE STARS. By Rosa Baughan.
8vo, 5s. net. .
Miss Baughan has for many years possessed an almost unrivalled reputation as a professional palmist, and would seem to be ho less skilled in discerning the future by means of the lines on the hand than was Mdlle. Lenormand by the help of the combinations of cartomancy. At the same time, Miss Baughan, in her published works, is prudently disinclined to check the old doctrine of chiromancy by the result of her personal observation. The three occult sciences dealt with in this book are elucidated in a practical manner, and their connection very clearly exhibited.
PALMISTRY AND ITS PRACTICAL USES. By Louise
Cotton. With Twelve Plates. Crown 8vo, as. 6d. net.
A less elaborate treatise than , that noticed above, the late Mrs. Cotton’s book is elementary only, and the clear text, which is assisted by excellent illustrations, has proved useful to many beginners.
THE TAROT: Its Occult Signification, Use in Fortune* Telling, and Method of Play. By S. L. Macgregor Mathers. With Pack of 78 Tarot Cards, 5s. net.
This little work, as will be seen, is designed to accompany a set of Tarot cards, and it makes no pretension to deal in an elaborate manner with the complex symbolism of the “book of antique initiation-," but it may serve as a syllabus or introduction to the more ambitious exposition by Papus, and has been found useful in cartomancy by those disinclined towards the study of a larger and more technical work.
THE LIFE OF PARACELSUS AND THE SUBSTANCE
OF HIS TEACHINGS. By Franz Hartmann, M.D. Post 8vo, 10s. 6d. net.
The occult philosophy of Paracelsus concerning Magic, Pneumatology, Sorcery, Alchemy, Astrology, and Medicine, is here set forth and explained according to the tenets of Theosophy. It has, therefore, considerable interest for the followers of this school, while the attempt to interpret an old teacher of occult philosophy from the standpoint of later views is not without importance for the more general student of the subject. Dr. Hartmann's concise digest has thus been always in requisition.
THE HIDDEN WAY ACROSS THE THRESHOLD; or, The Mystery which hath been Hidden for Ages and from Generations. With Plates. Large 8vo, 15s. net. ,
This voluminous treatise, thus suggestively entitled, is scarcely capable pf~brief description, so large is the field of occult interest which it covers. Perhaps the best which can be said of it in this place is that the author claims to have been initiated by several secret societies possessing an occult tradition, and that his work has been regarded by capable judges as indicating an access to sources of information which could not well be attained by the ordinary methods of study.
THE LIFE OF JACOB BOEHME, THE GOD-TAUGHT PHILOSOPHER. An Introduction to the Study of his Works. By Franz Hartmann, M.D. Demy 8vo, 10s. 6d. net.
Here Dr. Hartmann has followed the same plan as in the case of the '/'Life and Writings of Paracelsus.” We have first an account of the mystic, and then a compendious digest of his doctrine arranged in sections, with a Theosophical commentary. The reader who is not a Theosophist can dispense with the commentary, and will still have a handbook to the writings of Boehme which will be more valuable, because more sympathetic, than that of Bishop Martensen.
THE CLOUD ON THE SANCTUARY. Translated by
Madame Isabel de Steiger. With a Preface by J. W. Brodie-Innes. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. net.
The work of the great German Mystic, Eckartshausen, embodying perhaps the most profound instruction ever offered concerning the esoteric mysteries of Christianity, this treatise, prized by a select few in its original tongue, and familiar also to others in its French translation, is here given for the first time in an English version, with some annotations by the translates', a lady well known in occult circles, and a transcendentalist as well as an artist. Mr. Brodie-Innes contributes a short preface which will be of value to those who are acquainted with his remarkable work on the "True Church of Christ”—a work, it may be added, which, in a more recent aspect, represents much of the mystic teaching to be found in “ The Cloud on the Sanctuary."
THE TRANSCENDENTAL UNIVERSE. Six Lectures on
Occult Science, Theosophy, and the Catholic Faith. Second Edition. By C. G. Harrison. Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. net.
Mr. Harrison regards Transcendentalism, and especially its Theosophic development, from the standpoint of esoteric Christianity, and in a slight degree he connects with the school of Eckartshausen. His impeachment of Madame Blavatsky, if not entirely new, embodies many original elements, and has attracted some attention. The little work is exceedingly clear and readable.
A PROFESSOR OF ALCHEMY. By Percy Ross. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. net.
Presented wider the guise of a novel, and possessing an artistic excellence which is rare in works of fiction. ’’A Professor of Alchemy " is really the life of the celebrated French adept, Denys Zachaire, very slightly coloured by romance. The alchemist has himself written the history of his quest after the Magnum Opus, and the story by “Percy Ross” is a kind of. idealised supplement thereto, .which heightens the interest surrounding one of the most remarkable personages in the whole range of Hermetic biography.
DEMON-POSSESSION AND ALLIED THEMES. By the
Rev. John Nevius, D.D. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. net.
The work of an American who spent forty years of his life as a missionary in China, and there had the subject of Diabolical Possession forced upon him. Contains the result of his experiences and researches, and valuable bibliographical additions. Interesting from any point of view, but especially from that of the Christian occultist.
A BLANK PAGE. A Story for the Bereaved. By Pilgrim. Crown 8vo, 5s. net.
A graceful and touching story dealing suggestively with the experiences of Modem Spiritualism. It is certainly the best, perhaps the one spiritualistic novel which has appeared in England.
THE SECRET SOCIETIES OF ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES. By C. W. Heckethorn. New Edition, thoroughly revised and greatly enlarged. Two vols. Demy 8vo, £l, ns. 6d. net.
A new work rather than a new edition, the result of twenty-five years’ study and research, and truly encyclopaedic in its range, extending from Egyptian Mysteries to the latest doings of the Nihilists, and including 160 Secret Organisations in all. It is the only book of its kind, and is not likely to be superseded.
HUMAN MAGNETISM; or, How to Hypnotise. By James Coates. Crown 8vo, 5s. net.
A practical work by a writer whose long experience qualifies him to speak with authority. The instructions are full, explicit, and illustrated with admirable photographs; but it is more than a book of instruction, it is also a critical account of the subject up to date, from the standpoint of Animal Magnetism, enriched and qualified by a full acquaintance with all Continental theories.
ZENIA THE VESTAL; or, The Problem of Vibrations.
By Margaret B. Peeke. Second Edition. Small 4to, 5s. net.
An occult novel, which claims, however, to be inspired by direct occul teaching, derived from existing centres of initiation. It is in any case a fascinating story, having a genuine romantic motive, some admirable pictures of European travel, and some living characters.
For any of the Books in this List apply to the Publisher
GEORGE REDWAY, 9 Hart Street, Bloomsbury LONDON
Works by £Mr. ^Arthur Sd'wa.rd Waite
DEVIL-WORSHIP IN FRANCE ; or, The Question of Lucifer. A Record of Things Seen and Heard in the Secret Societies, according to the Evidence of Initiates. By A. E. Waits. Crown 8vo, Js. net.
An exhaustive examination of all the evidence fabricated in France concerning the actual existence of a religion of Lucifer. In addition to its occult interest, it constitutes a most remarkable contribution to the literature of Freemasonry, as that fraternity is the subject of special accusation in connection with devil-worship by a host of French writers, some of whom are high-grade Masons. This, Mr. Waite’s latest work, has received marked recognition from the general press.
TRANSCENDENTAL MAGIC; Its Doctrine and Ritual.
By Iiliphas Levi. Now for the first time translated into English by A. E. Waite. With all the Original Illustrations, a Biographical Preface, copious Index, and Portrait of the French Magus. Demy 8vo, 15s. net.
An unabridged and faithful rendering of ftliphas Ldvi’s most important ' work, which in the original is so well known by students as scarcely to need description. ,The present translation will, no doubt, become a textbook for English readers, ifliphas L6vi may be, to some extent, regarded as the founder of modern occultism, and he is certainly the most brilliant and accomplished of all the expositors of transcendental science and philosophy. The “Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie” marks an epoch in esoteric literature, and it is here made accessible to all.
THE TURBA PHILOSOPHORUM. Translated into English, with the variations of the Shorter Recension, explanations of obscure terms, and parallels from the Byzantine Alchemists. By A. E. Waite. Crown 8vo, 6s. net.
The "Turba Philosophorum ” is the most ancient Latin treatise on Alchemy and the Great Work; it is the subject of continual reference by all later adepts, ranking second only to the writings of Hermes Trisme- gistus, and recognised as a final authority in the “practice of the philosophers.” While it has been the subject of innumerable commentaries, and of the most pious veneration on the part of Hermetic students, this purious fountain-head of alchemical literature in the West has never been previously translated.
THE MYSTERIES OF MAGIC: A Digest of the Writings of Eliphas Ldvi. With Biographical and Critical Essay by A. E. Waite. Revised Edition. Crown 8vo, ios. 6d. net.
This work fulfils a purpose quite distinct from that of " Transcendental Magic," inasmuch as it is not simply translation, but presents in an abridged and digested form the entire writings of Eliphas Ldvi which had appeared up to the time of its publication. Mr. Waite’s extended summary has been generally appreciated, and the large impression issued in 1886 being exhausted, this revised and enlarged edition, following a new and improved plan, has been recently issued.
THE REAL HISTORY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS^
Founded on their own Manifestoes, and on Facts and Documents collected from the Writings of Initiated Brethren. By A. E. Waite. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. net.
Written from the historical standpoint, giving the chief documents in extenso, together with an elaborate summary and analysis of the various views which have prevailed from time to time about “The Virgin Fraternity of the Rose.” Mr. Waite’s account has been accepted as the standard, as it is indeed the only serious source of information, upon the subject in England.
THE OCCULT SCIENCES: A Compendium of.Transcendental Doctrine and Practice. By A. E. Waite. Crown 8vo, 6s. net.
To furnish a preliminary and elementary account of the various divisions of the transcendental sciences has been attempted by more than one writer, but not usually from a sympathetic standpoint, and not certainly as the result of any considerable knowledge or research. The present work deals with almost all the occult sciences, from Alchemy to the minor methods of Divination; it has also an historical section, giving some account of Mystics, Rosicrucians, and the esoteric side of Freemasonry. Lastly, the modem phenomena connected with Mesmerism and Spiritism, together with the claims of Theosophy, are dealt with in a comprehensive survey. This work of Mr. Waite has been particularly successful, and is always in demand.
LIVES OF ALCHEMYSTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. Based on materials collected in 1815 and supplemented by Recent Researches. By A. E. Waite. Demy 8vo, 10s. 6d. net.
Alchemical, like Kabbalistic, literature is far too technical and too established in exegetical difficulties for ordinary readers to find much satis- faction.in its perusal. But the lives of the seekers after the Magnum Opus, the Quintessence, and the Universal Medicine are in many cases romantic records which will interest those who care little comparatively for the pursuit which engrossed them. The biography of Cagliostro related in this volume has much the same adventurous element as Gil Blas or Guzman d’Alfarache. There is also a large bibliography, and an introduction dealing with the modern interpretations of alchemical symbolism. Persons who wish to know the evidence for transmutation in the past as a fact of physical science will be astonished at its extent and convincing character.
THE MAGICAL WRITINGS OF THOMAS VAUGHAN.
Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by A. E. Waite. 4to, ios. 6d. net.
The first four treatises published by the renowned Eugenius Philalethes, in the order of their publication, with the Latin passages translated into English, an introduction .and notes. The edition, in itself unpretending, has, at the same time, proved of considerable interest to lovers of the Royalist Mystic on account of the unique biographical materials contained in the preface. The works here reprinted are, moreover, rare in their original editions, and command high prices, so that this edition, in the old orthography, offers a cheap substitute to students.