
Note: This material was scanned into text files for the sole purpose of
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HISTORY
OF THE
ANCIENT AND HONORABLE FRATERNITY OF
FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS,
AND CONCORDANT ORDERS.
Volume 1
Illustrated.
WRITTEN BY A BOARD OF EDITORS:
HENRY LEONARD STILLSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.
WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN, EUROPEAN EDITOR.
BOSTON AND NEW YORK, U.S.A.:
THE FRATERNITY PUBLISHING COMPANY.
LONDON, ENGLAND:
GEORGE KENNING, 16 GREAT QUEEN STREET, EUROPEAN
PUBLISHER,
1906
COPYRIGHT, 1890,
BY LEE C. HASCALL.
COPYRIGHT, REVISED EDITION, 1898,
BY LEE C. HASCALL.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION.
Northwood Press
J.S.Cushing
& Co. - Berwick & Smith
Norwood Mass. U.S.A.
BOARD
OF EDITORS.
HENRY
LEONARD STILL.SON, P.M., EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.
WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN, P.S.G.D., EUROPEAN
WILLIAM R. SINGLETON, 33rd Degree, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of the
District of Columbia.
WILLIAM STEVENS PERRY, 32nd Degree, D.D., Oxon., LL.D., D.C.L., Bishop of
Iowa.
CHARLES E. MEYER, P.M., Melita Lodge, No. 295, of Pennsylvania.
SERENo
D. NICKERSON, 33rd Degree, P.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of
Massachusetts.
FREDERIC SPEED, 33rd Degree, P.G.M., Past Grand Commander, K.T., of
Mississippi.
WILLIAM JAMES B. MACLEOD MOORE (Lieut.Col.), Supreme Grand Master ("Ad Vitam
Sovereign Great Priory of Canada, etc.)
JOSIAH
H. DRUMMOND, 33rd Degree, P.G.M., Maine.
ALFRED
F. CHAPMAN, P.G.G.H.P. of G.G.C. of R.A. Masons, U.S.A 2
EUGENE
GRISSOM, M.D.,LL.D., 33rd Degree, P.D.G.M., P.G.H.P., P.G.C., of North
Carolina.
J.
Ross ROBERTSON, Grand Master, Grand Lodge of Canada.
ADDITIONAL
MYLES
JEFFERSON GREENE, M.D., P.G.M., P.G.H.P., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of
Alabama.$
GEORGE
JAMES ROSKRUGE, 33rd Degree, Grand Master, Grand Lodge of Arizona
FAY
HEMPSTEAD, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Arkansas.
HY.
BROWN, P.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of British Columbia.
ALEXANDER GURDON ABELL, 33rd Degree, Grand Secretary; Grand Lodge of
California
JOHN
JAMES MASON, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Canada, Member-elect Supreme
Council, 33rd Degree.
ED. C.
PARMELEE, Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder, Masonic Grand Bodies in
Colorado.
JOSEPH
KELLOGG WHEELER, 33rd Degree, Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder, Masonic
Grand Bodies in Connecticut
CHARLES T. MCCLENACHAN, 33rd Degree, Historian, Grand Lodge, State of New York
JOHN
LANE, P.M., P.Z., Masonic Statistician, etc.
JOHN
H. GRAHAM, LL.D., P.G.M., Granc Lodge of Quebec.
JESSE
B. ANTHONY, 33rd Degree, P.G.M., of New York.
ALFRED
A. HALL, P.G.M., etc., of Vermont.
CHARLES E. GILLETT, 33rd Degree, P.E.C., Commandery, No. r r, K.T., of
California.
EDWIN
A. $HERMAN, 33rd Degree, Hon. Ins. General of the Supreme Council, S.J.,
U.S.A., and Secretary of the Masonic Veteran Assoc., Pacific Coast, etc., etc.
EDWARD
T. SCHULTZ, 32nd Degree, P.G.C.G., G.E., U.S.A., Historian, Grand Lodge of
Mary land.
REV.
WILLIS D. ENGLE, P.G.P., Past Gen. Grand Secretary, General Grand Chapter,
Order Eastern Star.
CONTRIBUTORS.
W. H.
HOLT, Secretary of Masonic Bodies in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
WILLIAM BLATT, 33rd Degree, P.G.M., of Dakota.
WILLIAM S. HAYES, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Delaware
GEORGE
W. MARSHALL, Delaware. M.D., P.G.M., of
DEWITT
C. DAWKINS, K.T., 33rd Degree, Grand Secretary and P.G.M., Grand Lodge of
Florida.
ANDREW
MARTEN WOLIHIN, 33rd Degree, Secretary, Grand Lodge of Georgia.
J. H.
WICKERSHAM, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Idaho.
LOYAL
L. MUNN, 33rd Degree, P.G. Com., P.G.H.P., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of
Illinois.
WILLIAM H. SMYTHE, 33rd Degree, Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder, Masonic
Qrand Bodies in Indiana.
EDITOR.
Grand
t
Deceased. Vide " Introduction," and " Publishers' Note," introductory to
Division XVII.
2
Deceased since this volume went to press. Died March 2o, x891, IEt. 62.
$ Deceased since this work was completed.
iv
.4DDITION4L CONTRIBUTORS.
WILLIAM HACKER, 33rd, P.G.M., of Indiana
T. S.
MURROW, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory.
T. S.
PARVIN, P.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Iowa.
JOHN
H. BROWN, 33rd, P.G.M., Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder, Masonic Grand
Bodies in Kansas?
HENRY
BANNISTER GRANT, 32nd, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Kentucky; Author
K.T.'I'actics, U.S.A.
JAMES
CUNNINGHAM BATCHELOR, M.D., 330. Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Louisiana.2
WILLIAM GEORGE SCOTT, P,D.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Manitoba.
J. H.
MEDAIRY, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Maryland.
SERENO
D. NICKERSON, 33rd, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, etc.
WILLIAM POWER INNES, 33rd, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Michigan.
THOMAS
MONTGOMERY, P.G. Com., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Minnesota, Deputy
Inspector-General, A.*. A.-. S.*. R.
A. T.
C. PIERSON, 33rd, Masonic Author and Historian?
J. L.
POWER, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Mississippi.
CORNELIUS HEDGES, P.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Montana.
ARTHUR
HENRY BRAY, Grand Secretary, United Grand Lodge of New South Wales.
WILLIAM R. BRWEN, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Nebraska.
CHAUNCEY N. NOTEWARE, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Nevada.
EDWIN
J. WETMORE, P.D.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of New Brunswick.
JOSEPH
H. HOUGH, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of New Jersey.2
HENRY
R. CANNON, P.G.M., of New Jersey. ALPHEUS A. KEEN, Grand Secretary, Grand
Lodge of New Mexico.
EDWARD
M. L. EHLERS, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of New York.
D. W.
BAIN, 32nd, P.G. Com., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of North Carolina, etc.2
WILLIAM Ross, P.D.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia.
Rev.
DAVID C. MOORE, P.G.M., of Nova Scotia.
J. H.
BROMWELL, 32nd, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Ohio.
F. J.
BABCOCK, Past Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Oregon.
MICHAEL NISBET, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
B.
WILSON HIGGS, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Prince Edward Island.
JOHN
HELDER ISAACSON, 32nd, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Quebec.
EDWIN
BAKER, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Rhode Island.
CHARLES INGLESBY, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of South Carolina.
JOHN
FRIZZELL, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Tennessee.
W. F.
SWAIN, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Texas.
CHRISTOPHER DIEHL, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Utah.
WARREN
G. REYNOLDS, 33rd, Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder, Masonic Grand Bodies in
Vermont.
Rev.
S. F. CALHOUN, D.D., 32nd, Past Grand Chaplain ; Member Correspondence Circle,
Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076, England.
WILLIAM BRYAN ISAACS, P.G. Cam., Grand Recorder, Grand Encampment, K.T.,
U.S.A.
THOMAS
MILBURNE REED, 33rd, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Washington.
JOHN
W. LAFLIN, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Wisconsin
W. L.
KUYKENDALL, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Wyoming.
HENRY
W. MORDHURST, 32nd, General Grand Recorder, General Grand Council, R. and S.M.,
U_S:A.
GEORGE
P. CLEAVES, 33rd, Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder, Masonic Grand Bodies in
New Hampshire.
t
Deceased since this work was begun. Brother Pierson had consented to
become the author of an important Division of this volume.
2
Deceased since this work was completed.
Dedication.
To the
memory-of the long line of noble Brethren in the Grand Lodge
above, who
handed down unimpaired the tenets of the Fraternity
of Ancient,
Free, and Accepted Masons, and to the living
Craftsmen who
are emulating their illustrious example
- all of whom
posterity will rise up and call
blessed - this
volume is Fraternally and
sincerely
dedicated by the Board
of Editors and
Publishers.
PREFACE.
THE
purpose of this work is to furnish an outline History of Freemasonry,
including many facts not before published. Our effort has been to make an
attractive and comprehensive volume, presenting many practical matters not
generally known to the Fraternity. While we have no desire to underestimate
other historic works on Freemasonry, we still claim that there was need for an
entirely new and popular work, which should strictly adhere to the well-known
axiom: "In things essential, unity; in things doubtful, liberty; in all
things, charity." The first step was to secure the services of well-known and
acknowledged specialists, each of whom should give to his work the greatest
care. This has been successfully accomplished, and the facsimile signatures of
the leading writers bear testimony to their willingness to stand sponsors for
the work which they have done.
We
feel that the book merits the commendation received from a prominent American,
who is himself a Masonic historian of eminence, and whose words we here quote;
111 am glad that you are about to furnish the Fraternity with a History of
Freemasonry in one volume, the cost of which will enable a large number of the
Craft to possess themselves of it. The old Histories, of any and everything
save Masonry, = of the days of Anderson and Oliver, - have led the Brethren
astray for, lo, these many years, and worked an infinite amount of harm." He
then refers to a work in four volumes, and adds "This work is so high in price
as to preclude the larger number of our Brethren from getting it. With the
data now accessible and at hand, you may furnish, in a single octavo 'volume,
the cream of history,-all that is needed by the majority." Brother William
James Hughan, the eminent Masonic Historian of England, says that this book is
°1 the American Masonic work of the nineteenth century." These quotations are
simply types of many commendations which might be given.
It is
not necessary to give any analysis accompanying Table of Contents will show
how many and varied are the of the subjects treated, as the
Vlll
PREFACE.
topics
discussed, and how thorough has been the work expended upon them Myth here
gives up its underlying truth. Research clears away the rubbish, and discloses
the sure foundations and majestic arches of a noble structure. In this work
some idols are destroyed, but, in their destruction, nothing is lost but the
fables with which degenerate men have sought to embellish a truth, the beauty
of whose simplicity they could not discern. Under the leadership of these
writers we ascend the rugged steeps, until we stand above all clouds and look
forth upon a majestic landscape of history, whose varied lights and shades
blend to make one grand picture of God-loving, man-serving fraternity.
The
several writers have endeavored to make this book absolutely accurate in its
statements. One of them, speaking of the " Capitular Rite," says: " 1 hold
this, the second half of Division XIII., to be the foundation for an enlarged
history of every Grand Chapter in the United States."' Another, writing of the
Grand Lodge Divisions, remarks, "I have herein given you the best work of my
life."
These
words give expression to the motive actuating each one of the entire Board of
Editors.
The
numerous and beautiful engravings which adorn this work, and its mechanical
excellence, bear testimony to the earnest desire of the Publishers to spare no
effort or expense necessary to the production of a book which should prove in
every way satisfactory to those interested in the subject treated.
It
would be absurd to claim that the work is without faults; yet we believe that
with this volume in hand, the Masonic student has at his command the best
thoughts of the largest corps of contributors ever engaged upon such a work.
He certainly has full Statistical Tables never before compiled. The book as a
whole is a vast mine of information, indispensable to every Mason who desires
to be well informed upon the history of this the oldest and most honorable of
all secret fraternities, and the basis of all that have follgwed it.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION. SUPPLEMENTAL OF THE DIVISIONS IN THIS
WORK................................... 15
PART
I.
ANCIENT MASONRY.-THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES, COGNATE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY, AND THE
"OLD CHARGES" OF FREEMASONS. (Introductory to the Perfected Organi zation of
Modern Times.) Complete in three Divisions.
INTRODUCTION.
THE
SIX THEORIES OF THE MYSTERIES
............................................... 37
DIVISION I.
THE
ANCIENT MYSTERIES.
A
Treatise on the Eastern European, African, and Asiatic Mysteries; the
Occultism of the Orient; the Western European Architects and Operative Masons
in Britain, commonly called the Antiquities and Legendary Traditions of the
Craft to the close of the Operative Period in 1717.Complete in four
chapters........................................... 41
DIVISION II.
THE
COGNATE ORDERS.
A
comprehensive History of the Knights Templars and the Crusades; their
patronage by the,See of Rome and subsequent anathema; the connection of these,
if any, with the present Degrees of Knights Templar in the United States and
Great Britain; the Execution of Jacques de Molai, Grand Master, and
Supplemental Historic Notes. Complete in two
chapters.....................................................................
11g
DIVISION III.
THE
DOCUMENTARY EARLY HISTORY OF THE FRATERNITY.
The
Ancient British MSS,; Kalendar of " Old Charges," and comments thereon; the
Regius MS., or Halliwell Poem; Legend of "The Four Crowned Martyrs"; the Cooke
MS., as annotated by G. W. Speth ; the Grand Lodge MS. Of 1583, with various
readings of "Old Charges"; the"Additional Articles,' etc. Complete in three
chapters........... 157
PART
II.
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.-CRAFT, CAPITULAR, CRYPTIC. ("Masonry without Respect
to Creed, Clime, or Color.") Complete in twelve Divisions.
INTRODUCTION.
THE
AMERICAN RITE OF FREEMASONRY........ .................................. 197 ix
CONTENTS.
PAGE
DIVISION IV. NORTH, CENTRAL, AND SOUTH AMERICA. Lodges in America under the
English Constitution, x733-1889. Complete in three chapters, 199
DIVISION V.
FIRST
MERIDIAN.
History of the Colonial and Revolutionary Period and Atlantic Slope: The Grand
Lodges of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, District
of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Souih Carolina, Georgia,
and Florida. Complete in two chapters
...........................................................................
217
DIVISION VI.
SECOND
MERIDIAN.
I.
History of the Eastern Mississippi Valley and the Lakes: The Grand Lodges of
Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama,
Mississippi, and
Louisiana...................................................................
307
II.
History of the Western Mississippi Valley: The Grand Lodges of Texas,
Arkansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas,
and the Indian Territory ... , ..... ..
............................................. 341
Each
part complete in one chapter.
DIVISION VII.
THIRD
MERIDIAN.
History of the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountains to Mexico: The Grand Lodges
of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming,
Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico; Freemasonry in the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska,
Mexico, and Central America. Complete in one chapter
........................................... 385
DIVISION VIII.
EARLY
AMERICAN MASONIC HISTORY.
The
First Glimpses of Freemasonry in North America. Complete in one chapter
.......... 439
DIVISION IX. BRITISH AMERICA.
Outline history of the Grand Lodge of Canada, in the Province of
Ontario. Freemasonry in the North,-the Grand Lodges of Quebec, Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward
Island, Manitoba, and British Columbia. Complete in two
chapters.................... 457
DIVISION X.
OTHER
COUNTRIES.
Outline History of Freemasonry in Continental Europe. Freemasonry in
Australasia and New Zealand,-Grand Lodges of the Southern Sun.
Complete in two chapters.. ...... 489
DIVISION XI.
THE
MORGAN EXCITEMENT.
An
exhaustive Account of that Historic Affair in the United States, treating of
its Civil, Social, Political, and Masonic Aspects, as well as of the
Deportation of William Morgan ; written from a Masonic stand-point.
Complete in two chapters ............................... 507
CONTENTS.
DIVISION XII.
MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE.
- A
comprehensive History of the Origin and Development of Masonic Law: The
relation of Governing Bodies to one another; the relation of Grand Lodges to
their Constituent Lodges, and to individual members of the Craft; the relation
of Lodges to one another, to their members, and of Masons to one another; the
Origin and Use of public Masonic Forms and Ceremonies; and the customs and
peculiarities of the Craft in general. Complete in one
chapter............................................. . ................ 537
DIVISION XIII.
THE
CAPITULAR DEGREES.
The
Royal Arch as a Separate Degree in England and other parts of the British
Empire. The Mark Master Mason's Degree as evolved in the United Kingdom. The
several Grand Chapters, and the Royal Arch systems of England, Ireland, and
Scotland, including Mark Masonry, Mason's Marks, and Past Master's Degree. The
Grand Chapters of Canada, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and New Brunswick. The
General Grand Royal Arch Chapter, its
origin, powers, and jurisdiction. State Grand Chapters, including the
Independent Grand Chapters of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia;
separately considered, and in alphabetical order, together with all Chapters
holding charters from the General Grand Chapter. The Order of High
Priesthood. Complete to three chapters................. 553
DIVISION XIV.
THE
CRYPTIC DEGREES.
The
Council of Royal, and Select, and Super-Excellent Masters; together with a
comprehensive sketch of its rise and organization; Government by a General
Grand Council, Grand Councils, and Councils; including the Independent Grand
Councils, and those of Canada and England. Complete in two
chapters..................................... 643
DIVISION XV.
EULOGIUM OF THE ANCIENT CRAFT.
The
relation of the Symbolic, Capitular, and Cryptic Degrees to one another and to
Ancient Craft Masonry; comprising the Foundation, the Superstructure, and
Ornaments of the Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons.
L The
Physical, the Spiritual, the Celestial, these three intertwining,
ever-blending in per
kct
harmony....................................................................
673 I3. Freemasonry, the Conservator o. Liberty and of the Universal
Brotherhood of Man.. 692 Each part complete in one chapter.
PART
III.
CONCORDANT ORDERS.-THE CHIVALRIC DEGREES.
Complete in two Divisions.
DIVISION XVI.
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR AND ALLIED ORDERS.
The
Knights Templar of the United States of America, and Government by a Grand
Encampment, Grand Commanderies, and Commanderies. The Ethics and Ritual of
American Templary. Complete in three chapters; to which is added "In
Memoriam," MacLeod
Moore................................................................... 699
DIVISION XVII.
BRITISH TEMPLARY.
A
history of the Modern or Masonic Templar Systems, with a Concise Account of
the Origin of Speculative Freemasonry, and its Evolution since the Revival,
A.D. 1717. Complete in seven
chapters......................................................................
741
PAGE,
CONTLN=
PART IV.
PAGE
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE OF FREEMASONRY, AND THE ROYAL ORDER OF
SCOTLAND. Complete in two Divisions.
DIVISION XVIII.
SCOTTISH DEGREES, 4° TO 330, INCLUSIVE.
History of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry; its
Government by Supreme Councils, Consistories, Chapters of Rose Croix, Councils
of Princes of Jerusalem, and Lodges of Perfection. Complete in one
chapter................................... 795
DIVISION XIX.
THE
ROYAL ORDER OF SCOTLAND,
I. The
History and Government of the Society in Europe and America; copies of
Patents, and other particulars.. ... .....
................................................. 829 II. The Royal Order of
Heredom of Kilwinning ........................................ 85r Each part
complete in one chapter.,
PART
V.
MISCELLANEOUS RITES AND ORDERS, AND STATISTICAL DIVISION.
Complete in two Divisions.
DIVISION XX.
OTHER
RITES AND ORDERS.
I. The
Order of the Eastern Star, comprising a sketch of its origin, rise, teachings,
and present condition...................................................
............. 8857
II.
The Rosicrucian
Society.......................................................... 9 Each
part complete in one chapter.
III.
Masonic Dates, and Abbreviations, used in this
work................................ 874
DIVISION XXI.
STATISTICS OF FREEMASONRY.
These
are shown in the Craft Department by tables, as full as it has been possible
to compile them. In some cases the Gfand Lodge records have been
lost by fire and war, and in
others
the books were not kept with tables like these in view. The'Capitular
Statistics are
all of
late date, the records prior to r86o having been destroyed..... ;
................... 875
MASONIC RECORD
.................................................................... 897
INDEX.................................. ..
.......................................... 899
LIST
OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
•
PHIL& ISLANDS, EGYPT
TEMPLE
OF KARNAK, THEBES, EGYPT
ILi.USTRATIONS OF THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES, PLATES I. AND II.
WINS
OF THE TEMPLE OF ISIS AND OSIRIS
ORIGINAL SITE OF CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE, EGYPT (Central Park, New York City,
Obelisk)
ARMS
OF NCIENTS," AND "MODERNS," GRAND-LODGE OF ENGLAND CIIRONOLOG L
TABLE
MAP OF
THE ANCIENT WORLD, FOLLOWING THE NOACHIAN PERIOD MONTAGUE CHARTER, A.D. 1732
.
RRGIUS
MS., OR HALLIWELL POEM
HUGHAN'S ENGRAVED LIST OF LODGES, A.D. 1734
DERMOTT'S ROYAL ARCH . . 6LLECTION OF MASONS' MARKS
,C+RAND
LODGE AND GRAND CHAPTER SEALS
,SCOTTISH RITE PATENT, A.D. 1789 (reduced fac-simile)
PATENT
OF PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER, ROYAL ORDER OF SCOTLAND
61URCH
OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE . CRUSADE TOWER, RAMLEH .
SAINT
JEAN D'ACRE, LAST STRONGHOLD, KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN AND KNIGHTS TEMPLARS IN HOLY
LAND .
SAINT
LOUIS AT JERUSALEM
- CITY
WALLS AND TOWERS, RHODES (erected by Knights of St. ,john, A.D. r3rorS23)
ENTRANCE TO "THE MURISTAN," A.D. 1892
T 4~IE
MURISTAN : HOSPICE, KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN, RHODES, AND MALTA
THE
CHANCEL, MELROSE ABBEY, SCOTLAND SAINT PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, LONDON, ENGLAND,
ARCHITECT
AND
SIR
CHRISTOPHER WREN,
PAGE
Frontispiece
36 61
59-6o
118 167-173 211 • 557
569
672 719 847
51
519
125
129
137
355
777 856
141
153
Xiv
LIST
OR ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
YORK MINSTER, YORK, ENGLAND 191
THE 'PRENTICE PILLAR, ROSLIN CHAPEL, SCOTLAND, A.D. 1895
. 321
ROSLIN CHAPEL, SCOTLAND 351
ROSLIN CHAPEL (Chancel View), EDINBURGH,
SCOTLAND 797
MELROSE ABBEY (Exterior, showing, Chancel Window), MELROSE,
SCOTLAND . 831
OLD "GREEN DRAGON" TAVERN, BOSTON, MASS. 245
MASONIC TEMPLE, NEW YORK, N.Y. . 263
MASONIC TEMPLE, PHILADELPHIA, PENN. . 279
MASONIC TEMPLE, DETROIT, MICH. . . 317
MASONIC TEMPLE, CHICAGO, ILL. 325
MASONIC TEMPLE, DENVER, COLO. 427
NEW MASONIC TEMPLE, BOSTON, MASS. 438
EGYPTIAN ROOM, MASONIC TEMPLE, PHILADELPHIA, PENN.
• 287
FREEMASON' HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND . • 456
"GENIUS OF SNQUET ONRY" (by Bartolozzi), A.D.
1784-86 687
INTERIOR OF TEMPLE CHURCH, LONDON, ENGLAND . • 787
MASONIC HOME, UTICA, N.Y. 267
MASONIC HOME, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO . • 309
PIONEER MASONIC HOME, LOUISVILLE, KY. • 329
MASONIC LIBRARY, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . • 367
UNITED STATES CAPITOL 198
MOUNT VERNON: HOME OF PAST MASTER GEORGE WASHINGTON
• 299
FORT MARION, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. . • 304
"THE HERMITAGE," NEAR NASHVILLE, TENN. • 333
INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA, PENN. . 340
MOUNT DAVIDSON,,VIRGINIA CITY, NEY. 411
RICHARD I. (CMUR DE LION) AND GODFREY (DE BOUILLON)
. 133
ANTONY SAYRE, GRAND MASTER, A.D. 1717 156
DANIEL COXE, PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER, A.D. 1730 219
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (" POOR RICHARD") 283
MARQUIS DE LAFAYET7TE (MAJOR-GENERAL) 361
HENRY PRICE, PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER, A.D. 1733 451
COLONEL W. J. B. MACLEOD MOORE, G. C. T. 740
GENERAL ALBERT PIKE . . e 794
xv
INTRODUCTION.
THERE is no Society so widely
known, and yet really so little known, as that of the Free and Accepted
Masons. Even many of the members of that Ancient and Honorable Fraternity are
strangely uninformed respecting its eventful past, and although proficiency is
attained in regard to what may be termed the ritualistic portion of its deeply
interesting ceremonies,‑nowhere more so than in the United States, ‑ yet,
somehow or other, the actual history of the Craft, extending over a period of
some six centuries, and that of its grand structures, which eloquently speak
of its greatness during ages now fittingly described by the term 1| time
immemorial," appears to have been relegated to a back seat, and frequently
entirely overlooked.
Now this unfortunate result
has been due as much to the lack of suitable material for study as to the
absence of interest in the matter; for I am fully persuaded that a work
brought down to the present time, dealing critically and impartially with the
traditions, records, and degrees,‑not too bulky, and yet sufficiently large to
treat of all subjects which would naturally be looked for in such a volume,
‑could not fail to be extensively read and become most useful to the
Brotherhood.
Such a book is herewith
available, through the spirited action of " The Fraternity Publishing
Company"; for, in the following pages, our ideal of a handy, condensed history
of the Society is fully realized, and all that any wishful Masonic student
could reasonably desire in one volume, ‑ covering the whole period of Masonic
activity,‑is amply, clearly, and accurately set forth, by eminent, zealous,
and competent Craftsmen, who have signed the chapters for which they are alone
responsible.
It has been their constant
aim, as with the painstaking and indefatigable Editor‑in‑Chief, Brother H. L.
Stillson, to secure accuracy, variety, and brevity, without sacrificing aught
of general importance to the Fraternity, for whom they have all so ardently
and so conscientiously labored. No work was so popular, 1772‑1846, as William
Preston's "Illustrations of Masonry," because rigidly condensed and published
in a handy form.
It is the confident
anticipation of the Editors and Publishers of this, "The History of
Freemasonry and Concordant Orders," that its reception by the Craft will be
equally hearty, sustained, and still more wide‑spread; and its conspicuous
merits, as they become known and appreciated, should make it the most popular
book relating to the Craft throughout the continent.
Xvi
INTRODUCTION.
Neither is the work
necessarily for Freemasons alone; for not a few of the chapters furnish
excellent and suggestive reading for those who would like to know somewhat of
the Brotherhood, either prior to seeking to join its ranks, or because of this
eligible opportunity to peruse a reliable account of so venerable and
preeminently respectable an Organization, whose name and fame have been the
common property of all enlightened communities for so many generations.
It seems to me impossible for
any one, free from prejudice, and possessing the necessary intelligence, to
rise from the study of this volume without becoming desirous to still farther
investigate the history of this wonderful Society, which has been so loved and
cherished by millions of the human race, and which increases in vitality and
usefulness, as the years come and go, throughout the civilized world.
Some, however, object to
secret societies, and maintain that if they are what they claim to be, they
should not thus be restricted as to membership and thus narrow their
influence. At the outset, therefore, it is well to point out that the Masonic
Fraternity is not, strictly speaking, a secret society, for it has neither
secret aims nor constitutions. Everywhere its laws may be perused by " friend
and foe " alike, and its objects are exclusively those which are, and always
have been, published to. the world.
It is private rather than
secret;*for, unless it be our esoteric customs, which relate, directly or
indirectly, to our universal and special modes of recognition, we have no
secrets, and even as to these needful ceremonies, all “good men and true" are
welcome to participate in them, on petitioning for initiation, followed by an
approved ballot.
But while a few object to the
Fraternity wholly (and unreasonably), because of its secrecy, others deny its
claim to antiquity, and assert that the Freemasons of to‑day date from the
second decade of the last century, thus having no connection whatever with the
old Society which was entirely Operative. This second objection, urged against
the continuity of the Organization, particularly from the sixteenth,
throughout, to early in the eighteenth century, is one that must be met by the
production of facts which can be authenticated by competent critics, whether
members of the "Mystic‑tie," or otherwise.
During the last twenty or
thirty years, special attention has been directed to this point by a few of
us, in Great Britain and Germany, particularly, the result being that we have
accumulated an immense mass of evidence, which had hitherto either eluded
detection or had not been investigated ; enabling us to demonstrate the
continuity of the Fraternity, Speculative as well as Operative, throughout the
period in question, and entirely overlapping what is known as the "Revival,"
or reconstruction period of A.D. 1717.
We can now take our stand on
actual minutes of lodges, beginning as early as the year 1599, and presenting
an unbroken series of records to the present year of Grace; supported on the
one hand by copies of the 11 Old Charges,"
INTRODUCTION.
Xvii
and laws, dating from the
fourteenth century, and on the other, by special regulations of the Craft of
some two centuries later. Reproductions and fac‑similes of many of these
invaluable and venerable documents will be found herewith, or in certain works
specified in this volume, and which can be examined and tested by those
interested in tracing the intimate connection existing between Operative and
Speculative Freemasonry, especially during the seventeenth century, which has
been the real crux to elucidate. Practically, therefore, our readers are
placed in the same position, and share the advantages, of those of us who have
seen and copied the precious originals, about which a few brief words will now
be said, so far as the limited space will permit.
It will be no part of my duty
to exhaustively treat of the "Ancient Mysteries," though Freemasonry,
undoubtedly, has adopted and absorbed not a few of the usages and customs of
antiquity. For this reason many have looked upon the two as continuous
developments of one and the same society, but erroneously so.
Unless we are prepared to
admit that imitation and adaptation necessarily involve continuity, it must be
conceded that the ancient mysteries are so far removed in point of time from
all that is known of Freemasonry, that it is simply impossible to construct or
discover a bridge of history or theory that can unite the two.
Still, so much have they in
common that Brother W. R. Singleton's ably condensed and, withal, exhaustive
summary will be welcomed by all Masonic students, because containing all that
is essential to the subject, culled from reliable sources and originally and
carefully treated. His views as to degrees, however, may require some slight
modification in view of recent pronouncements by some of the prominent
Craftsmen alluded to, but substantially we are in full agreement with him as
to their modern character, comparatively speaking.
As respects age and value, the
most important documents relating to our Society are what are known by the
title of the "Old Charges," ranging, as regards date, over some five
centuries; and are peculiar to the Fraternity. For years they lay neglected in
Masonic chests and muniment rooms, and it was only on the advent of the
realistic school of Masonic investigators that they were brought out from
their hiding‑places and their contents made public.
Thirty years ago not a dozen
of these invaluable scrolls had been traced, so little had their evidence been
esteemed; whereas now, over fifty are known, through the well‑directed efforts
of diligent Craftsmen, and many of these have been published by myself and
others.
Their testimony varies in
regard to trivial matters, but the oldest version, of the fourteenth century,
placed side by side with a roll used by a Lodge one hundred and fifty years
ago, exhibit together so many points of resemblance as to demonstrate their
common origin and purpose, and prove that they are practically one and the
same.
INTRODUCTION.
I have fully explained my
position in relation to these extraordinary MSS. in my '| Old Charges of the
British Freemasons" (1872); and Brother H. L. Stillson has devoted so much
time and attention to their careful study and description in Part I. (Division
III.), that a very brief reference to them now is all that can be permitted.
Brother Stillson's most interesting and accurate observations and particulars,
so usefully abridged and epitomized from the latest works on the subject,
cannot fail to prove exceedingly helpful to our readers, especially when it is
noted that nothing of vital consequence to a right and comprehensive glance at
the subject has been omitted by the indefatigable Editor‑in‑Chief; and the
particulars given are down to date of publication.
Now, the precise value of
these Rolls lies in the fact that they were employed, generally, by our
Masonic ancestors of some two to five and more centuries ago, during the
Ceremony of Initiation. In fact, their being read to the apprentices, together
with what esoteric information may have been afforded, constituted then the
whole ceremony of reception, which was simple though, withal, impressive in
character. All known copies are directly or indirectly of English origin, even
those used in Scotland apparently being derived from that source.
They are likewise of a
markedly Christian type, and of themselves are powerful witnesses in favor of
the earliest versions being derived from a prototype, arranged and promulgated
under ecclesiastical supervision and composition.
As time went on, it will be
seen that while the legendary portion was virtually fossilized, the part which
recited the Rules for the government of the Fraternity was gradually added to,
until, in like manner, the Regulations became fixed and practically
traditional also. Then they were simply read as according to ancient usage,
but not for present‑day practice; as, for example, in the lodges of early last
century, whose members, while unable to accept these " Old Charges " as their
every‑day guides, nevertheless, sought to understand their significance as
moral standards, and " time immemorial " indications of the spirit which
should animate them in all their transactions, as trade and fraternal
organizations.
Their influence thus remained,
even long after they ceased to provide the current laws and regulations of the
Brotherhood.
They do not throw much light
on the inner workings of the old lodges, but without their evidence, all would
be veritable darkness down to the sixteenth century; and hence Brother
Stillson has acted wisely in devoting so much space to their examination, and
discreetly in choosing as aids such trusty authorities as Brothers Robert
Freke Gould, George William Speth, and others.
It does not appear to me that
the text of the oldest of these MSS. warrants the belief that, at the period
of its usage, the Fraternity was in the habit of employing certain " signs,
tokens, and words," such as was the custom later on, to secure due recognition
as a body wherever its members might travel. It
INTRODUCTION.
XiX ,,
may have been so, but
apprentices in any trade were just as much obligated o keep its mysteries, or
privitfes, within their own circle, as was the Masonic ization. It is only as
we come down to more modern times that we can itively affirm that esoteric
privileges and customs were connected with Masonic initiation, wholly distinct
and different from that of all other trades. The "Melrose MSS.," however, of
A.D. 1581, or earlier (known to us in the transcript of 1674), contains clear
intimation of secrets confined to the Free masons, such
as
"Ve privilegee
of
ye
compass, square, level', and
ye plum‑rule."
( Vide Kalendar of MSS., No.
17.) That the Lodge from the first was exclusively used by the brethren seems
equally clear, and undoubtedly was kept sacred to the Fraternity, because all
the members were bound to preserve the art of building as a monopoly among
themselves. The secret then mainly, if not exclusively, was the way io build;'
and the tyled lodges contributed to the preservation of such trade mysteries,
while and wherever the monopolizing tendencies of the " Old Charges" were
respected and followed. So long as their injunctions were obeyed, cowans were
unknown; but, as the regulations became relaxed and less stringent laws were
permitted, there gradually grew up, side by side with the regularly obligated
Brotherhood, another body of operatives, who, in spite of bitter opposition
and lack of prestige, without " Old Charges " or || Mason's Word," contrived
to hold their own, and eventually broke down the monopoly, thus paving the way
for the purely Speculative Society of modern days.
That Speculative Freemasonry
existed as far back as the oldest "Charges" preserved, is abundantly confirmed
by reference to their text, especially that of the second oldest MS. ; but it
is not likely that the gentlemen and tradesmen who were initiated then, and
subsequently, contributed to the overthrow of the Masonic monopoly. To my
mind, they were among its strongest supporters, and became the means of
providing funds for the promotion of strictly lodge work and customs, by
payment of increased initiation fees.
Had it not been for the
introduction of `| Speculative " membership, that is, the initiation of
gentlemen and others who were not Freemasons, or those who had no intention of
becoming such, as a means of livelihood, ‑during the seventeenth century,
especially, ‑ it looks as if the Ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted
Masons would have ceased to exist long ere this, and its tory, generally,
would well‑nigh have been forgotten.
The preservation, therefore,
of our time‑honored Institution, at a period r,‑when the " Old Charges "
almost wholly ceased to be influential as trade rules and authoritative
guides, is due more to the Speculative than to the Operative portion of the
Fraternity, and proves the wisdom of our Masonic forefathers, in providing for
the introduction of other elements than those 1 "We may conclude that the
Craft or mystery of architects and Operative Masons was involved ht secrecy,
by which a knowledge of their practice was carefully excluded from the
acquirement of all whotvere not enrolled in their Fraternity,"‑Rev. Yames
Dallaway, 1833.
XX INTROD UCTION.
originally contemplated, by
which the permanency and continuity of the Fraternity have been secured to
this day.
Unfortunately there are extant
no records of actual lodge meetings prior to the year 1599, so that the exact
proportion that the Speculative bore to the Operative element, in such
assemblies, before that period, is more or less a matter of conjecture, though
of its Speculative character, in part, there is no doubt.
It has long been the fashion
the honor of designing works erected in England during the period under
consideration, but that opinion has received its quietus from the hands of Mr.
Wyatt Papworth, who, in his 1| Notes on the Superintendents of English
Buildings in the Middle Ages" (1887), has demonstrated that "The Master Masons
were, generally, the architects during the mediaeval period in England," and
that it is to them we owe those noble structures which are the admiration of
the world.
The Reverend James Dallaway
enforced a similar view in 1833, in his remarkable "Historical Account of
Master and Free Masons," wherein he notes that " The honor, due to the
original founders of these edifices, is almost invariably transferred to the
ecclesiastics, under whose patronage they rose, rather than to the skill and
design of the Master Mason, or professional architect, because the only
historians were monks." Any remarks of mine, about the importance and spread
of Speculative Freemasonry, are not intended to detract in the slightest
degree from the high estimation in which we should hold the original patrons
and preservers of the art, while it was, to all intents and purposes, an
exclusively operative combination of builders, composed of apprentices,
journeymen (or Fellow Crafts), and Master Masons.
The name or title "FREE‑MASON"
is met with so far back as the fourteenth century, its precise import at that
period being a matter of discussion even at the present time. The original
statute, of A.D. 135o, reads "Mestre de franche teer," and thus points to the
conclusion that a Freemason then was one who worked in free‑stone, and
assuredly a superior artisan to another class, who, as less skilled masons,
were employed on rough work only.
It may fairly be assumed that
such interpretation applied to the name at that period, whenever used, and
soon became the favored term, in lieu of the older designations "cementarius,"
or "lathomus," etc.
During the following century
the Freemasons are frequently referred to in contracts, statutes, *etc. ; and
indeed, as Mr. Papworth states (who cites numerous instances), " No later
examples need be given, for thereafter Mason and Freemason are terms in
constant use down to the present time." The purely fanciful, though ingenious
suggestion, that Free‑mason is derived from frere mason (i.e., Brother Mason),
does not commend itself to my judgment, for there is not an old record or
minute of any lodge which supports to credit certain Church dignitaries with
INTRODUCTION.
XXi such a derivation or
illustrates such a usage, and so it is wholly destitute of confirmation.
It will be manifest, as the
evidence of the lodge‑records is unfolded, that though Freemason originally
signified a worker on free‑stone, it became the custom, farther on, to apply
the term to all Craftsmen who had obtained their freedom as Masons to work in
lodges with the Fraternity, after due apprenticeship and passing as Fellow
Crafts. "Cowans," no matter how skilful they may have become, were not
Free‑masons, and the Scottish Crafts, especially, were most particular in
defining the differences that existed between "freemen " and '| un‑freemen,"
in regard to all the trades then under stringent regulations.
The "Schaw Statutes,"
Scotland, of A.D. 1599, provided that "Na Cowains" work with the Masons; the
Masters and Fellows being sworn, annually, to respect that exclusive rule.
Many of the meetings of the old lodges, in the seventeenth century, were
mostly taken up with resisting the gradual but persistent encroachments of
these cowans, who, though the civil guilds and Masonic authorities were all in
league against them, managed to live amid their foes, and, though not
free‑Masons were still Masons.
The earliest known minute of
the Lodge of Edinburgh notes an apology for employing a cowan (July 31, 1599)
The merchant tailors of Exeter, A.D. 1466, had a regulation in force, that no
one was to have a " board," or shop, unless free of the city, and in the
ordinances they are called "Free Saweres," and, likewise, "free Brotherys."
There were three classes, viz. : master tailors, free sewers (or journeymen),
and apprentices.
The "Freemen of the Mystery of
Carpenters," in the city of London obliged all non‑Freemen of their Craft to
take up their freedom, or fines were imposed. On November 5, 1666, we meet
with the suggestive term "Free Carpenters," and in 1651 "Free Sawiers," and,
on June 24, 1668, a female was "made free" of the guild or mystery. On
September 5, 1442, the " Unfree as ffreemen " were called upon to defend the
|| town of Aberdeen." The '| Seal of Cause " of the |` Hammermen " of the same
city, April 12, 1496, recited that no one should "sett up Buth.to wyrk within
the said Burgh quhill he be maid an Freeman thairof," and the " Chirurgeons "
and other professions and trades "received frie‑men" as approved candidates,
who were thus "Frie‑Burgesses " accordingly.
The venerable Melrose Lodge,
in its first preserved minute, of December 28, 16 74, enacted: "yt wn ever a
prentice is mad frie Mason he must pay four pund Scotts"; hence we
subsequently frequently read in the records that various men were |` entered
and received fr[free] to ye trade," and "past frie to ye trade," and similar
entries.
No matter what the trade,
provision was made in olden time " That every man that is to be made frie‑man
be eitamined and provet on their Points," etc., as illustrated in the 11
Regius MS.," and other 11 Old Charges " re Masons.
Xxll
INTRODUCTION.
So that, whether they were the
11 Masownys of the luge " (as noted on June z 7, 1483, at Aberdeen), or
members of other guilds, "the great aithe sworne" in those days induced them
alike most carefully to provide that their Crafts be exclusively confined to
free‑men and brothers, and "to be leile trew on all pontis" (Aberdeen,
November
, 1498).
It would be tedious to detail
at more length the available evidence respecting the application of the prefix
free to the purposes aforesaid, but certainly the explanation offered as to
free Mason' free Carpenter, free Sewer, etc., has the merit of being an easy
and rational solution confirmed by ancient records. Suffice it to state that
even down so late as the year 1763, the "Rules and Orders of the Lodge of
Free‑Masons in the Town of Alnwick," provide that " if any Fellows of the
Lodge shall, without the cognizance and approbation of the Master and Wardens,
presume to hold private Lodges or Assemblies with an Intent to make any Person
free of this honourable Lodge, they shall each forfets to the Box the sum of
3Z 6s. 8a:" This lodge, long extinct, has records preserved from the year
1701, and never joined the Grand Lodge of England. (Kalendar of MSS., No. a7.)
From the year i6oo (June 8), when a non‑operative) or Speculative Freemason
was present as a member, and attested the minutes of the meeting by his mark
(as the operatives), the records are so voluminous and important of the "
Lodge of Edinburgh " (Mary's Chapel), and of other old Ateliers in Scotland,
that it is with extreme difficulty a brief selection can be made with any
satisfaction, the wealth of minutes being quite embarrassing. Brother D.
Murray Lyon's great work, and numerous volumes besides by other
brethren,‑especially the Transactions of the "Quatuor Coronati" Lodge, London,
‑are brimful of invaluable and trustworthy accounts of the Fraternity,
extending back nearly three centuries.
The Lodge of Edinburgh, No. 1,
was regulated in part by the statutes of 1598, promulgated by William Schaw, "
Principal Warden and Chief Master of Masons" to King James VI. of Scotland,
who succeeded Sir Robert Drummond as Master of Works, in 1583, and died in
16oa. There are twenty‑two "Items" or clauses, and, being given in full by
Brother Lyon, 187r, and |` Constitutions" Grand Lodge of 1848, mention now
need only be made of one or two of the more remarkable.
The rules are based on the
"Old Charges," but altered to suit that period. They were for all Scotland,
and received the consent of the " Maisteris efter specifeit." Apprentices were
to serve seven years at the least, and their being || maid fallows in Craft "
was dependent on passing an examination as to their operative skill, and
Masters were created in like manner, save as to honorary members. It was
enacted: " That na maister or fallow of craft be ressauit nor admittit wtout
the names of sex maisteris and twa enterit prenteissis, the wardene of that
ludge being ane of the said sex, and that the day of 1 John Boswell, Esq., of
Auchinleck.
% INTRODUCTION.
xxiii the ressavyng of the
said fallow of craft or maister be orderlie buikit and his name and mark
insert in the said buik wt the names of his sex admitteris and enterit
prenteissis, and the names of the intendaris that salbe chosin." An " assay
and sufficient tryall of skill " was a sine qua non of promotion; just as in
modern days, the examinations in open lodge, preparatory to a higher degree
being conferred, are obligatory, and are the counterparts of the operative
essays of by‑gone days. The Masters were " sworne be thair grit aith " [great
oath] to truly respect the statutes which were officially issued.
From 16oo to 1634, the records
of No. i are silent as to the admission of speculatives, but contain entries
of apprentices, and admissions of Fellow Crafts by the 11 friemen and
burgesses " of the lodge.
Apprentices were members, and
exercised their privileges as such, just as the Craftsmen and Masters; and
even attested the elections of members, being present in lodge, and thus
consenting to and acknowledging the receptions of Craftsmen and Masters. This
proves that the passing to superior grades could not have required any
esoteric ceremonies that apprentices were ineligible to witness.
Special care was exercised in
registering the names of the proposers or "admitters," and of the "intendaris"
or instructors.
An officer called "Eldest
Entered Prentice," even officiated at the passing of Fellow Crafts.
The Deacon of the lodge was
President (called "Preses," in 1710), and the Warden was Treasurer; but the
officers were not uniform in lodges, as in some the Master is mentioned from
1670.
On July 3, 1634, the Right
Honorable Lord Alexander was " admitit folowe off the Craft," and also Sir
Alexander Strachan. On December 27, 1636, an apprentice was duly made, `| with
the heall consent of the heall masters, frie mesones of Ednr"; there being but
this one lodge in the city at that time.
Lord Alexander, Viscount
Canada, so Brother Lyon tells us, "was a young man of great expectations; but
he dissipated a fortune, and endured great personal hardships, in establishing
a colony on the River St. Lawrence." He and his brother, admitted on the same
day (July 3, 1634), were sons of the first Earl of Stirling; Sir Anthony
Alexander being Master of Work to King Charles I., and so noted in the
minutes.
Another brother, Henrie
Alexander, was "admittet ane falowe" on February 16, 1638, and succeeded to
the office of General Warden and Master of Work.
He became third Earl of
Stirling in 1640, and died ten years later.
General Hamilton was initiated
on May 20, 1640, as 1| fellow and Mr‑ off the forsed Craft," and Dr. William
Maxwell was received July 27, 1647. A remarkable entry of March z, 1653, calls
for mention, as it concerns the election of a '| Joining member." " The qlk
day, in presence of Johne Milln deacon, Quentein Thomsone, wardeine, and
remnant brethrene of maisones of the Lodge of Ednr., compeired James Neilsone,
maister Sklaitter to his majestie, being entered and past in the Lodge of
Linlithgow, the said James Neilsone humblie
xxiv INTRODUCTION.
desyring to be receiued in to
be a member of our Lodg off Edn., which desire the wholl companie did grant
and received him as brother and fellow of our companie ; in witness qrof we
the wholl freemen have set our hands or marks." Doubtless this application was
to enable Brother Neilsone to work for his living in the city, fortified with
the good will and fellowship of the lodge.
Sir Patrick Hume, Bart., |`
was admited in as fellow of craft (and Master) of this lodg," on December 27,
1667; and, three years later, the Right Honorable William Morray [Murray],
Justice Depute of Scotland, Walter Pringle, Advocate, and Sir John Harper were
admitted " Brothers and fellow crafts." The Scottish army, having defeated the
Royalists at Newburn, in 1640, advanced and took possession of Newcastle
(England), where it remained for some months, during the deliberations of the
Commissioners. In the army were several members of this Lodge of Edinburgh,
who, on May 20, 1641, convened an emergency meeting and admitted or initiated
General Quartermaster Robert Moray [Murray]. On returning to the city some
time afterward, the extraordinary circumstance was duly reported, and as duly
entered on the records, being attested by General Hamilton aforesaid, James
Hamilton, and "Johne Mylnn." The John Mylne thus noted represented a family of
Craftsmen whose connection with this lodge extended over two hundred years.
The third John Mylne (of Masonic fame), came to Edinburgh in 1616, and
belonged to the lodge.
He was Master Mason to Charles
I., and resigned that office in favor of his eldest son, John, who was || made
a Fellow craft" in the lodge in October, r633, and was with the Scottish army
1640‑1641.
He was Deacon of the lodge,
and Warden in 1636, and frequently reelected to the former office. His brother
Alexander was "passed fellow craft " in 1635, and his nephew, Robert, was ||
entered prentice " to him December 27, 1653, and passed as a Fellow Craft on
September 23, 166o.
Robert's eldest son, William,
was a member from December 27, 1681, "passed" in 1685, and died in 1728. His
eldest son, Thomas, was admitted an apprentice December 27, 1721, and
was""crafted" in 1729, being the Master of No. i, on the formation of the
Grand Lodge of Scotland, in 1736. William Mylne, second son of this brother,
was "receaved and entred apprentice in the ordinary forme " on December 27,
175o, and was "passed and raised operative master," after exhibiting his due
qualifications, on December 20, 1758.
He died in 1790.
Thomas, his brother and eldest
son to the Thomas Mylne before noted, became an "apprentice as honorary
member," on January 14, 1754. He died in 181 r, and was buried in St. Paul's
Cathedral, having been its surveyor for some fifty years.
Thus terminated that family's
connection with this venerable lodge, which had extended through five
generations, beginning early in the seventeenth century through the
representative of the third generation of that famous family, whose
distinguished Masonic career is recited in the Perth charter of A.D. 1658.
INTRODUCTION.
XXv
In1688 a schism occurred in
No. 1, by a number of members starting a separate lodge for themselves in the
ôCanongate and Leith," by which name since been known, and is now No. 5 on the
Scottish Roll. The ôMother" was most indignant at such conduct, and tried
every means in her power to thwart the movement, but in vain.
Another swarm, but involving
much more serious consequences, occurred in .1709, and was still more
objectionable to No. 1, because the seceders, generally, were not Masters, but
"journeymen." This peculiarity led to the second offshoot being so named, now
well known by that title, as No. 8 on the Register.
Two of its members were
imprisoned (who had been admitted as apprentices in 1694), and all that
officialism could do to crush the recalcitrants was cruelly employed, but
utterly failed.
Arbitration eventually led to
a 'suspension of hostilities, and on January 8, 1715, the " Decreet Arbitral "
was made known and certified.
By this award the journeymen
were empow.ered "to meet together by themselves as a society for giving the
Mason's word"; and thus was forever broken down the monoply of the |1
Incorporation of Wrights and Masons " of Edinburgh, of A.D. 1475, origin,
whose Master Masons had so long claimed the exclusive right to thus admit
Apprentices, pass Fellow Crafts, and elect Masters in the ancient Lodge of
that city.
"Mother Lodge Kilwinning, No.
0," is universally known and respected .throughout the Masonic world.
Unfortunately its earliest records are lost, stud have been so for many years,
the oldest preserved ranging from Decem ber 20, 1642, to December 5, 1758‑
Its meetings were held in
Kilwinning, Scotland, the jurisdiction of the lodge extending even so far as
Glasgow, in the year 1599.
(Kalendar of MSS., No. 14 .)
Schaw's Supplementary Code of 1599 (only discovered in quite recent times),
refers to three " heid Ludges " in Scotland, '| the first and principal "
being that of Edinburgh, the second Kilwinning, and the third Stirling; so
that notwithstanding the present position of 1| Mother Lodge Kilwinning " as
head of the Scottish Roll as No. o, some three hundred years ago, it was the
second as respects seniority, according to the decision of Schaw. Moreover,
his official award is declared to have been based on evidence '| notourlie
xanifest in our awld ancient writers." The Earl of Cassilis was Master of the
Lodge of Kilwinning in 1670, though only an apprentice, and was succeeded by
Sir Alexander Cunninghame. After him, the Earl of Eglintoune occupied the
Chair, but was simply an apprenice, and, in 1678, Lord William Cochrane (son
of the Earl of Dundonald), was a Warden.
No surprise need be felt at
apprentices being thus raised to, the highest position in the lodge, seeing
that members of the first grade had to be present at the passing or making of
Craftsmen and Masters, a rule also enforced and minuted in this lodge December
20, 1643, when the brethren assembled "in the upper chamber of the dwelling
house of Hugh Smithe." This most significant fact appears to me to be a
permanent barrier against the
7CXV1 INTRODUCTION.
notion that there were
separate and independent Masonic degrees in the seventeenth century, as there
were, say, from A.D. 1717. Three grades or classes are clearly exhibited, just
as with other trades, then and now, but not esoteric degrees at the reception
of Craftsmen (or journeymen), and Masters, as some excellent authorities
confidently claim.
The phraseology of the records
of each lodge is peculiar to itself, though having much in common. Lodge No.
o, for example, December ig, 1646, minute, states that certain Masons were
accepted as 1| fellow‑brethren to ye said tred quha bes sworne to ye standart
of the said ludge ad vitam."
The Warden is mentioned first
on the list of officers present, and the Deacon next, whereas the reverse is
the case in the records of No. 1.
Great care was exercised in
the appointment of officers, and even the Clerk, in 1643, took his " oath of
office," and others were obligated in like manner.
The popularity of this
organization, designated "The Ancient Lodge of Scotland," in 1643, has been
wide‑spread and continuous, consequent mainly upon its granting so many
charters for subordinates. Its earliest child, still vigorous and healthy, is
the |` Canongate Kilwinning," No. z, which originated from the permission
given by the venerable parent, December zo, 1677, for certain of its members,
resident in Edinburgh, "To enter recevve and pase any qualified persons that
they think fitt in name and behalf of the Ludge of Kilwinning." According to
custom, the pendicles of this old lodge in Ayrshire, generally added the name
" Kilwinning " to their designations or titles, and hence the description "
St. John's Kilwinning," which lodge was started by the same authority in 1678,
and is now No. 6, " Old Kilwinning St. John," Inverness. The Hon. William
McIntosh was the first Master, and the lodge, on December az, 1737, received a
warrant of confirmation from the Grand Lodge of Scotland, in which it is
asserted (respecting Master Masons), without any evidence whatever, that the
members from 1678 "received and entered apprentices, past Fellow Crafts, and
raised Master Masons." The petition of 1737 is extant, as agreed to by the
lodge, and, I need scarcely state, no such preposterous claim was made by the
brethren at that time, or since, for there was in 1678, no Third degree.
In 1737 there were some fifty
members, mostly Speculative, so we are informed by Brother Alexander Ross, in
1877.
Brother Robert Wylie gives a
list of the charters he has been able to trace (and copies thereof as far as
possible), in his " History of Mother Kilwinning Lodge," some thirty‑five in
number, ‑ without exhausting the roll, ‑ down to 1807 (for during a portion of
its career my esteemed Scottish "Mother" acted as a Grand Lodge, and rival to
that at Edinburgh), including Tap pahannock Kilwinning Lodge, Virginia (A.D.
1758), and Falmouth Kilwinning Lodge (A.D. 1775), Virginia, America; as also,
the "High Knights Templars" Lodge, Dublin, A.D. 1779.1 1 Colonel Moore's
remarks as to this Irish lodge (Division XVII.), should be carefully noted.
INTRODUCTION.
XXV11
Other Old Lodges in Scotland,
all of pre‑Grand Lodge origin, that ought `to be noted are : ‑ (a) No‑ 3, "
Scone and Perth " (its oldest preserved document being of date December 24,
1658, subscribed to by the |` Maisters, Friemen and Fellow Crafts off Perth, "
the lodge being the " prin'e [principal] within the Shyre ") . (b) No‑ 3 bis,
St. John's, Glasgow (which is noted in the Incorporation ‑ Records so early as
1613, but did not join the Grand Lodge until 1849‑1850), the lodge possibly
being active in 1551 when no Craftsman was allowed to work in that city unless
entered as a Burgess and Freeman, and membership of the lodge was conditional
on entering the Incorporation, its exclusively Operative character remaining
intact until some fifty years ago.
(c) No. 9, Dunblane, is
credited with having originated in 1696, according to the Scottish Register,
but it certainly existed prior to that year, though that is the date of its
oldest minute preserved.. It was chiefly Speculative from the first. Viscount
Strathalane was the Master in 1696, Alexander Drummond, Esq., was Warden; an
|' Eldest Fellow Craft;" Clerk, Treasurer, and an " Officer ", were also
elected.
(d) Some lodges lower down on
the Scottish Roll go much farther back than No. 9 ; e.g., Haddington ("St.
John's Kilwinning "), No. 5 7, dating from 1599, but the evidence for that
claim is not apparent, the oldest MS. extant being of the year 1682, and
another is of 1697, both referring to the lodge of that town.
(e) One of the most noteworthy
and most ancient, with no lack of documentary testimony in its favor, is the
old lodge at Aberdeen, No. 34, with its "Mark Book" of A.D. 167o, and a
profusion of actual minutes and records from that year. Its comparatively low
position on the register says more for the unselfish spirit of its members,
last century, than for the justice of the authorities in settling the
numeration.
Out of forty‑nine members,
whose names are enrolled in the "Mark Book," only eight are known to have been
Operative Masons, and for certain, the great majority were Speculative
Freemasons.
Four noblemen and several
clergymen and other gentlemen were members.
Harrie Elphingston, "Tutor,"
and a '| Collector of the King's Customs," was the Master when these
extraordinary records were begun, and, save as to two, all have their marks
regularly registered.'
The " names of the successors
" are also duly noted, and a list of the "Entered Prenteises," with their
marks, is also inserted, dating from 167o. The Earl of Errol, one of the
members, died at an advanced age, in 1674.
The three classes of
Apprentices, Fellow Crafts and Master Masons were recognized, the statutes of
December 27, 167o, being compiled on the customary lines, only that the Code
is more than usually comprehensive and interesting.
Provision was made for ||
Gentlemen 1Yleasions," as well as "Handie Craftes prenteises" being initiated,
in these old 1 Vide plates of Marks from old lodge registers, etc.
XXV111 INTRODUCTION.
rules, and special care for
the ,due communication of the "Mason‑word." "Fees of Honour," on the
assumption of office, were also payable in some of the old lodges.
(f) "Peebles Kilwinning," No.
24, seems to have started on October 18, 1716, by its own act and deed, for,
who was to say nay 7 The minute of the event begins with the declaration that,
in consequence of the great loss `| the honorable company of Masons ... have
hitherto sustained by the want of a lodge, and finding a sufficient number of
brethren in this burgh, did this day erect a lodge among themselves." A
Deacon, Warden, and other officers were then elected, and, on December 27, "afterprayer,"
the several members present were duly examined.
It was Speculative as well as
Operative in its constitution.
(g) "Dumfries Kilwinning," No.
53, though only dated 1750, in the Official Register, possesses records back
to 1687, and was not, even then, wholly Operative. Different fees were payable
by mechanics, and by "no mechanicks," on initiation, in the seventeenth
century.
A noteworthy title occurs in
an "Indenture betwix Dunde and its 1Ylasoun," of the year 1536, which is the
earliest known instance of a Scottish lodge being named after a Saint, viz. :
|| Our Lady [i.e., St. Mary's] Loge of Dunde." The document is exceedingly
curious and valuable, as illustrating the "ald vss of our luge," and another
of March i 1, 1659, is of still more interest, as it contains the rules then
agreed to by the "Frie‑Masters" (with the concurrence of the town
authorities), which are mostly in accordance with the older laws of the Craft,
and framed with due regard to the privileges of the sons of Freemen.
(h) Other old lodges might be
enumerated of the seventeenth century, such as Atcheson‑Haven, with its
valuable MS. Of A.D. 1666. (Kalendar of MSS, No. 15 .) (i) Banf, with many
important minutes of early last century.
(j) Brechin, with rules and
records from 1714.
(No. 6 enacts that men not
freemen, who desire to work in the lodge, shall pay a fee; No. 8 arranges for
"joining members " ; No. 9, Marks to be registered; and " Frie‑Masters " are
noted as well as free apprentices.)
These all (though of a most
interesting character), must be passed over, but the following should be
briefly described, because of their relevancy to the subject under
consideration : (k) The Lodge of Kelso, No. 58, was resuscitated in 1878,
after many years of dormancy. When it was originally formed cannot now be
decided, but the earliest preserved minutes begin December 27, 17or, when "the
Honorable Lodge assembled under the protection of Saint John."
The Master, in 1702, was
George Faa, his death as such being then noted, who was succeeded by " Sir
John Pringall," an ancestor of the present Sir Norman Pringle, Bart., who is a
Past Master of No. 92, London.
Brother Vernon's History
contains many gems well worth reproduction herein, if feasible, but not being
practicable, I can only hope they will be care‑ INTRODUCTION.
Xxlx fully studied when
opportunities arise. This lodge, Speculative as well as Operative from the
year 1701, continued its eventful career down to some fifty years since, when
it fell through for some time. The members obtained a charter from the Grand
Lodge of Scotland in 1754, in which year (June 18), it was discovered "That
this lodge had attained only to the two degrees of Apprentice and Fellow
Craft, and know nothing of the Master's part."
This defect was there and then
remedied by the formation of a Master's lodge, but it is curious to note the
fact.
(Z) The ancient lodges at
Metrose and Haughfoot are the last of the Scottish series to be referred to
now, the preserved records of the former dating from January j3, 167o ! The
members have remained independent of the Grand Lodge of Scotland down to this
year, but arrangements are in progress for its union with that body as No. 1
bis, being the third in reality, as it will be preceded by No. o, and No. 1,
already described. This happy event was consummated February 225th, of this
year (r8gr), the Grand Lodge ind the lodge being agreed.
In none of the records are
there to be found any references to three ,degrees, until very recent times,
the only secret ceremony being at the initiation. The lodge was chiefly, if
not exclusively, Operative, and its records are mainly taken up with the
entering of Apprentices, and "Receiving Free to the Tread" all eligible
members accepted by the brethren.
(m) The lodge at Haughfoot
described by the Provincial Grand Secretary (Brother R. Sanderson); though not
of the age bf some of the previous lodges, possesses records
from
1'702, the first of which,
at page
r 1
of December 22, 1702, has
given rise to much discussion.
It reads exactly as follows,
so Brother Sanderson certifies to me : ‑ Of entrie as the apprentice did
leaving out (the Common Judge).
Then they whisper the word as
before, and the Master Mason grips his hand after the.ordinary way." I fail to
find in this excerpt any proof that two or more degrees were worked at that
time; and if the minute refers to the reception or "passing' of a Fellow
Craft, or Master (then simply official or complimentary positions), assuredly
Apprentices might have been and possibly were present, for the "entrie" was
not ‑different to what theirs had been, the word being |` as before," and the
grap was in the " ordinary way." On the same day Sir James Scott and five
others were |' orderly admitted Apprentices and Fellow Craft," in what was
termed " the said Society of Masons and Fellow Craft." No references occur to
two or more degrees in any of the old records.
ENGLAND is far behind SCOTLAND
as respects minutes of old lodges, and IRELAND possesses none before the last
century, but the former country is very rich in its collection of the "Old
Charges." Of actual lodges in South Britain, we have to come down to 1701
(save the one already noted at Newcastle of the former century), before we
meet with XXX INTROD UCTION.
any minute‑books. We are not,
however, without information concerning English lodge meetings so far back as
1646. Elias Ashmole "was made a Freemason at Warrington, in Lancashire, with
Coll Henry Mainwaring, of Karnicham, in Cheshire," as he states in his Diary
(on October 16, 1646), which was printed and published in 1717, and again in
1774.
Brother W. H. Rylands declares
that, so far as he is able to judge, "there is not a scrap of evidence that
there was a single Operative Mason present," and, after a thorough examination
of the entry, that able writer considers " the whole of the evidence seems to
point quite in the opposite direction." It is remarkable that the " Sloane MS.
No. 3848 " (which is a copy of the || Old Charges "), bears the same date as
this meeting, and it is just possible was used on that occasion. (Kalendar of
MSS., No. lo.) On March io, 1682, Ashmole received '| a Sumons to app| at a
Lodge to be held the next day, at Masons' Hall, London." This noted antiquary
duly attended and witnessed the admission " into the Fellowship of Free Masons
" of Sir William Wilson, Knt., and five other gentlemen.
He was the |` Senior Fellow
among them," and they all |` dyned at the charge of the new‑accepted Masons."
These are the only entries relating to the Craft in this gossipy journal, but
they are of great value and interest, as will be seen.
In the " Harleian MS., No.
2054," which contains another copy of the "Old Charges" (at pp. 33‑34), is an
extraordinary lodge entry (apparently) of 050 circa, beginning with "William
Wade w` give for to be a free mason," and likewise, what is evidently a
reproduction of the oath used at that period, to keep secret "the words and
signes of a free mason." (No. q, in Kalendar.) Over a score of names are noted
on one of these folios, and according to Brother Ryland's researches
(confirmed by my own), it seems certain that very few of them were connected
with the Craft as operatives, if any.
The papers on this subject
(A.D. 1882), by the brother just mentioned, are of his best work in behalf of
historical Freemasonry, and cannot be surpassed. Randle Holme (the third), was
the author of the "Academie of Armory," 1688, and as a Herald, Deputy to
Garter King of Arms for Chester, etc. His name is one of the twenty‑six noted
in this unique MS.; and he (Brother Rylands points out for the first time), in
the work aforesaid, speaks of the antiquity of " the Fellowship of the
Masons," and acknowledged his member ship of the Society so late as 1688.
The references are too
numerous to be mentioned now, but they are all of a.most important character.
Although Bacon (Lord Verulam),
died in 1626, and Ashmole was not initiated until twenty years later, it has
long been a favorite notion with many that to the "Rosicrucians" of 16r4,
etc., and Bacon's "New Atlantis," the Freemasons are mainly indebted for many
portions of their modern rituals. There is certainly much more to be said in
support of this view than in regard to any connection with the Knights
Templars down to the early part of last century.
The latter fancy is really not
worth consideration; but two works by INTRODUCTION.
p:W. F. C. Wigston, published
recently, on '1 Bacon, Shakespeare, and the tians," etc., and " Francis Bacon,
Poet, Prophet, and Philosopher," a mass of facts and arguments, all tending in
the direction of Rosi and Baconian ideas influencing the Masonic Revivalists
of 1717.
The is not one that can be
settled off‑hand, or in the limits of a few pages; it strikes me that there is
still light to be thrown on the origin Of modern nic degrees, by a careful
study of the evidence accumulated by such gent investigators as Mr. Wigston
and others, whose labors surely need not discredited simply because of the
Shakespearian controversy in relation to cis Bacon, about which there is,
naturally, a difference of opinion.
An this point I have ventured
so far as to declare that the || New 14tlantis Seems to be, and probably is,
the key to the modern rituals of Freemasonry." ',:There for the present the
question must be left, so far as the writer is concerned.
It opens up a very suggestive
field of inquiry.
To whom we owe modern
Freemasonry of |' three degrees " and their additlons, such as the Royal Arch,
we know not. I am inclined to credit Drs. liers and Anderson with the honor of
the first trio, but Brother Gould is not, and certainly evidence is lacking as
to the point.
The transactions at the
inauguration of the premier Grand Lodge of the rld, at London, in 1717, were
not, unfortunately, duly recorded at the time, hence the "Book of
Constitutions," A,D. 1723, and the earliest minutes the Grand Lodge of that
year, with Anderson's account of the meeting in second edition of 1738, are
practically all we have to guide us.
Your Old Lodges" for certain,
and probably more, took part in the prods of that eventful gathering, and from
that body, so formed, has ig, directly or indirectly, every Grand Lodge of
Free and Accepted , working three degrees, in the universe.
When these lodges originated
Aot known, but some of them, possibly, during the seventeenth century. were
several other old lodges working, in their own prescriptive right, 'land
during the second decade of last century, though they took no in the new
organization at first.
Of these; one in particular
may be noted, which assembled at Alnwick .an early date, and whose preserved
rules and records begin 1701I gave a sketch of this ancient lodge in the
Freemason (London), 21, 1871, as its regulations of 1701 are of considerable
value, its copy "Old Charges" is still treasured, and its minutes were kept
down to enth decade of last century, as already noted. (N0. 2 7, in Kalendar.)
e Grand Lodge was also petitioned to constitute or regularize many in London
and in the country, but as these all took date from their ition, we know
lamentably little of their previous career.
The one at like its fellow at
Alnwick, never joined the new body, but preferred ndence, even if it involved
isolation.
The records of this old lodge
m the year 1712, but a roll from 1705 was noted in the inventory of
INTRODUCTION.
11779. When it was inaugurated
it is impossible to say, but it maybe a descendant of the lodge which we know
was active at York Minster in the fourteenth century.
The York brethren started a
"Grand Lodge of all England," in 11725, and kept it alive for some twenty
years.
After a short interval it was
revived, in 117611, and continued to work until 11792, when it collapsed.
Prior to this date, several
subordinates were chartered.
One, possibly, at Scarborough,
of 11705, was held under its auspices, and much work was done, but all
confined to England.
The serious error of calling
the "Atholl" brethren of America " York Masons," has, it is to be hoped, long
ceased to be used or tolerated in the United States.
‑ The Grand Lodge of Ireland,
at Dublin, was formed 11728‑11729 ; but there was one held previously at Cork,
as the " Grand Lodge for Munster," certainly as early as 11725. The Scottish
brethren did not follow the example set by England until 11736, and then
managed. to secure Brother William St. Clair, of Roslin, as their Grand
Master, whose ancestors by deeds of A.D. 116oo‑11628 circa, had been patrons
of the Craft but never Grand Masters, though that distinction has been long
claimed as hereditary in that Masonic family. Brother E. Macbean is now
writing as to these points.
From this Trio of Grand
Lodges, situated in Great Britain, and Ireland, have sprung all the thousands
of lodges, wherever distributed, throughout the "wide, wide world." Through
their agency, and particularly that of the " Military lodges " of last
century, the Craft has been planted far and wide. Though there is. evidence to
prove that brethren assembled in America, and probably elsewhere, in lodges,
prior to the formation of either of these Grand Lodges, or quite apart from
such influence, as in Philadelphia in 117311, or earlier, and in New
Hampshire, soon afterward (the latter apparently having their manuscript copy
of the " Old Charges "), nothing has ever been discovered, to my knowledge,
which connects such meetings with the working of the historic " three degrees"
of last century origin, and post‑Grand Lodge era. There were, however, some
connecting links between the old regime and the new, to enable visitations and
reciprocal changes of membership to be indulged in.
Some seven years after the
premier Grand Lodge was launched, authorities to constitute Lodges were issued
for Bath and other cities and towns, and a few, later, for abroad ; especially
through the medium of Provincial Grand Masters, first appointed in 11725
circa, as at Boston, Massachusetts, in the year 11733ò On this most
interesting topic, as respects America, I dare not dwell, and am unable to
offer any opinion on the manner in which it is treated (owing to the
exigencies of printing), by doubtless most competent Craftsmen, in Divisions
V. to X.
My able coadjutor, Brother
John Lane, the authority on all such matters, has, in Division IV., presented
an excellent summary and table of all the INTRODUCTION.
XXX111 ges constituted in
America, by either the regular Grand Lodge of England sometimes known as the "
Moderns "), or the rival Grand Lodge, also held in London (of 1751 origin, and
frequently but absurdly styled " Ancients "), From 1733 to the formation of
the United Grand Lodge, in December, 1813, from that period down to the year
1889. The Grand Lodges of Ireland d Scotland likewise participated in the
honor of making Freemasonry known bn the great continent of America, but only
slightly so compared with either of the two rival Grand Lodges in England.
The cosmopolitan basis of the
Society thus inaugurated in 1717 does not appear to have wholly satisfied the
Brotherhood. Initiation and membership, without regard to creed, color, or
clime, was an extraordinary departure from the previous Christian foundation
of the Society.
Even at the present time some
Grand Lodges select all their members from professing Christians only (though
no such condition was laid down on their origin), and many are the differences
between the several governing bodies, while they have sufficient in common to
permit of reciprocal visitation.
I am very much oú the opinion
of Brother E. T. Carson (of Cincinnati), that to the dislike of the
unsectarian character of the Fraternity from 1717, is due the origination and
spread of Masonic degrees for professing Christians pnly, from about 1735, or
before. The Knights Templars, the "Royal Order of Scotland," and some of the
degrees of the " Ancient and Accepted Rite," owe much of their vitality to
their rituals being wholly based on the New Testament, and thus exclusively
Christian.
I regret my inability, from
the cause previously mentioned, to offer at this time any opinion on Divisions
XII. to XV., but the names of the writers are a complete guarantee of their
excellence, value, and reliability.
The comprehensive " History of
the Knights Templars and the Crusades," by Bishop Perry, will be eagerly
welcomed by the many thousands of brethren who patronize the "additional
degrees," and forms a most attractive feature of Division II. His deliverance
respecting the connection existing between the modern and ancient Knights
Templars should be carefully studied by those who, like myself, believe it is
impossible to bridge over the `| Interregnum " referred to.
Division XVIL, by my lamented
friend, Colonel McLeod Moore (his last essay and his best), is an able
treatise on |1 British Templary," by a brother whose knowledge of Chivalric
Masonry was unsurpassed; and, with the preceding division by Brother Frederic
Speed, is of absorbing interest to the tens of thousands of Masonic Knights
Templars in the United States and Canada, where that degree is so extremely
popular.
So far as my experience has
gone, I have not found that the attention paid to these extra degrees has, in
any way, diminished the interest taken in the foundation‑ceremonies of the
Craft ; but, on the contrary, the most zealous in the one class is generally
seen to be the most devoted in the other; though xxxiv
INTRODUCTION.
I much wish the number of
degrees was lessened, and the cost of the special regalia and jewels
considerably reduced in price. How far it has been desirable to add to the
number of Masonic degrees (so‑called) of late years, opens up a most important
question, and one about which some of us hold very strong opinions.
The Editor‑in‑Chief has
thought it necessary to admit a chapter on "The Eastern Star."
Assuredly if this Order is
admitted it is in safe hands when entrusted to Brother Willis D. Engle ; and
so also as to the article on "The Rosicrucian Society," by the gifted writer,
Brother McClenachan, which is found in rather strange company (Division XX.).
The " Cryptic Degrees "
(Division XIV.), by Dr. E. Grissom, has been perused by me with considerable
pleasure, and of that treatise, as with the others, generally, I can affirm
without hesitation that the most reliable authorities have been consulted, the
result being the presentation of able digests, written with great pains and
scrupulous fidelity, relating to the Fraternity in one form or other, ‑
legendary, ritualistic, historic, ‑ which cannot fail to be invaluable to the
American Brotherhood in particular, and wherever the Society is rightly
appreciated and duly valued.
Not the least important
contributions to the tout ensemble, are Brother Stillson's preliminary
observations to many of the Divisions, which should be diligently perused, as
effective introductions and aids to their critical study.
Three questions naturally fall
to be answered by inquirers anxious to know somewhat of our great beneficent
Society.
r. Whence came Freemasonry? z.
What is it?
3. What is it doing?
This splendid volume furnishes
replies to the first and second of these queries, but the third must be laved
to be effective.
Theories prevail, more or
less, as to the first two, but in relation to the last of the trio, right or
wrong conduct is involved; and according to the one or the other, the world
will judge as to what Freemasonry is, and care much or little as to its
origin.
If the votaries of the Craft
seek to become living, loving, and loyal embodiments of the humanly perfect
Ideal set before them, and each individual member acts as if the honor of the
Fraternity was specially entrusted to his keeping, the continued prosperity of
our Brotherhood is assured, and wide‑spread and popular as are its influence
and philanthropic work of to‑day, we are as yet far from reaching the limits
of this organization, either as respects numbers or usefulness.


PART I.
ANCIENT MASONRY. ‑THE ANCIENT
MYSTERIES, COGNATE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY, AND THE "OLD CHARGES" OF FREEMASONS.
(Introductory to the Perfected
Organization of Modern Times.) INTRODUCTION.
THE SIX THEORIES OF 11 THE
MYSTERIES." PROFESSOR FISHER, of Yale University, says : '1 The subject of
history is man. History has for its object to record his doings and
experiences. It ‑may then be concisely defined as a narrative of past events
in which men have been concerned. . . .
History has been called ` the
biography of a society.'
Biography has to do with the
career of an individual.
History is concerned with the
successive actions and fortunes of a community; in its broadest extent, with
the experiences of the human family.
It is only when men are
connected by the social bond, and remain so united for a greater or less
period, that there is room for history." This is emphatically true of
Freemasonry, defined by Brother Rudolph Seydel (quoted by Findel), as a union
of all unions, an association of men, bound together in their struggles to
attain all that is noble, who desire only what is true and beautiful, who love
and practise virtue for its own sake, this is Freemasonry, the most
comprehensive of all human confederacies. From whence came this unique
society? It is one of the purposes of this work to give an intelligent reply
to the question ; and yet the way is beset with difficulty, because the truth
of its history, the story of its growth to the present acknowledged grand
proportions, is so mixed with legend, with dubious and contradictory
statements, that even Chevalier de Bonneville contended that the lives of ten
men were none too long a period in which to accomplish the undertaking.
The labors of many talented
authors, to which reference is made in the body of this book, have now paved
the way so that in this evening of the nineteenth century it is possible to
give a reasonable assurance of the truth of the facts quoted; in other words,
the rich materials 37 38 ANCIENT MASONRY.
accumulated by the earlier
historians of Freemasonry have been so reduced to order as to bear the test of
sound and sober criticism.
The relation which the
Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons bears to the Ancient Mysteries has been
classified by Dr: Mackey, in his Encyclopaedia, into five principal theories,
viz. : ‑ " The
first
[to quote his words] is that
embraced and taught by Dr. Oliver, that they are but derivations from that
common source, both of them and of Freemasonry, the Patriarchal mode of
worship established by God himself.
With this pure system of
truth, he supposes the science of Freemasonry to have been coeval and
identified.
But the truths thus revealed
by divinity came at length to be doubted or rejected through the imperfection
of human reason ; and, though the visible symbols were retained in the
mysteries of the Pagan world, their true interpretation was lost.
"There is a second theory,
which, leaving the origin of the mysteries to be sought in the patriarchal
doctrines, where Oliver has placed it, finds the connection between them and
Freemasonry commencing at the building of King Solomon's Temple.
Over the construction of this
building, Hiram, the architect of Tyre, presided.
At Tyre the mysteries of
Bacchus had been introduced by the Dionysian Artificers, and into their
fraternity, Hiram, in all probability, had, it is necessarily suggested, been
admitted.
Freemasonry, whose tenets had
always existed in purity among the immediate descendants of the Patriarchs,
added now to its doctrines the guard of secrecy, which, as Dr. Oliver remarks,
was necessary to preserve them from perversion or pollution.
"A third theory has been
advanced by the Abb6 Robin, in which he connects Freemasonry indirectly with
the mysteries, through the intervention of the Crusaders. In the work already
cited, he attempts to deduce, from the ancient initiations, the orders of
chivalry, whose branches, he says, produced the institution of Freemasonry.
"A fourth theory, and this has
been recently [1873] advanced by the Rev. Mr. King in his treatise ` On the
Agnostics,' is that as some of them, especially those of Mythras, were
extended beyond the advent of Christianity, and even to the commencement of
the Middle Ages, they were seized upon by the secret societies of that period
as a model for their organization, and that through these latter they are to
be traced to Freemasonry.
"But perhaps," continues Dr.
Mackey, " after all, the truest theory is that which would discard all
successive links in a supposed chain of descent from the mysteries to
Freemasonry, and would attribute their close resemblance to a natural
coincidence of human thought. The legend of the Third degree, and the legends
of the Eleusinian, the Cabiric, the Dionysian, the Adonic, and all the other
mysteries, are identical in their object to teach the reality of a future life
; and this lesson is taught in all by the use of the same symbolism, and
substantially the same scenic representation. And this, not because
INTRODUCTION.
39 Masonic Rites are a lineal
succession from the Ancient Mysteries, but se there has been at all times a
proneness of the human heart to nourish belief in a future life, and the
proneness of the human mind is to clothe this ief in a symbolic dress.
And if there is any other more
direct connection between them, it must be sought for in the Roman Colleges of
Artificers, who did, most probably, exercise some influence over the rising
Freemasons of the early ages, and who, as the contemporaries of the mysteries,
were, we may well suppose,_imbued with something of their organization." To
these five theories we would add a sixth, unless, indeed, it may be said that
ours is but an enlargement of Dr. Mackey's.
Concisely stated it is this
The fundamental principle of Freemasonry is a belief in God.
Those who believe in the
Supreme Architect of heaven and earth, the Dispenser of all good gifts, and
the judge of the quick and the dead (as denominated in Masonic Monitors),
trace, from the creation, a Divine Providence directing the destiny of man,
both in the spiritual and secular domain.
From a study of history,
written as well as legendary, we are led to believe that in the latter, taking
on the form of fraternity, this agency has exercised a most potent
influence‑following in temporal matters the guidance of the divine government
in the spiritual affairs of the universe.
The changes that have taken
;place since the creation of the world, whether we reckon time by the eras
iarchal, the Jewish and the Christian, or by periods Prehistoric, Ancient, e
Medimval and Modern, have all been under the direction of a Divine ispensation
working out for humanity its noblest attainments, as well for "the life that
now is, as for that which is to come."
This great conservational
force is well expressed as a recognition of the Fatherhood of God and the
Brotherhood of Man.
It was not the sole motive of
mail, in ages past, to seek the future life ; there was brotherhood here,
whether it existed as mysteries," "societies," or, as later, fraternal
organizations among men.
In support of this theory, the
late Dean Stanley said : " Whatever tended to break down the barriers of
national and race antipathy, and to produce unity, snd a sense of unity among
men, paved the way for a just appreciation of ightened civilization, and a
highly cultured state of society, when they uld appear, and would serve to
help on their progress." It is evident, erefore, that in some form the
fundamentals which we call fraternity have ‑ays existed in a more or less
imperative organism.
If this is true, we account
for or explain the theories of Anderson, Oliver, other early historians, who
claim Freemasonry to have been coeval with lion, and afford at the same time a
reconciliatory foundation upon which plant the Fraternity of modern times ;
for, this principle once admitted, evolution of degrees in the English,
American, Scottish, and other rites, es that the mind of the Craft was in a
transitionary stage until a very late tie. Transitional, indeed, but natural
and following the Divine impulse; to repeat, the Ancient Mysteries were aids
to progress and civilization, 40 ANCIENT MASONRY.
and sources of moral life.'
The ideal became actual, and,
in process of time, the inception of the equality of man, his dignity and
destiny, became incarnate and fixed and permanent institutions. The social
idea, connected with religious ideas, became embodied in organisms,
established for human instruction, for growth and development.
The governments of nations
have passed through all these phases until we now possess the English
Constitutional Monarchy (placed first, because the oldest), and the American
Republic, as examples of the most advanced and beneficent systems.
An ethnological point of view
will divide this subject into " Eastern " and '| Western," ‑ the Orient and
the Occident, ‑ and the chronological arrangement will coincide with the
epochs when extraordinary changes took place, by turning‑points in the course
of events, rather than to any definite quantities of time, to determine the
dividing lines.
THE EDTTOR‑IN‑CHIEF.
1 It will be seen that many of
their customs are ours to‑day in Church, State, and society.
DIVISION L THE ANCIENT
MYSTERIES A Treatise on the Eastern European, African, and Asiatic Mysteries;
the Occultism of the Orient; the Western European Architects and Operative
Masons in Britain, commonly called the Antiquities, and Legendary Tradiions of
the Craft to the Close of the Operative Period in z7z7.
BY WM. R. SINGLETON, 330,
Grand Secretary, M.‑. W.‑. Grand Lodge, District of Columbia.
CHAPTER I.
THE DIvm PLAN. ‑ MYTHOLOGY.
Preface. ‑ The compiler of the
following pages on the 11 Mysteries " has made free use of notes accumulated
by him in the past twenty‑five years, in connection with extracts from such
authors as were within his reach for the last four months. Many extracts from
his notes are not credited to their proper authors, because the writers
consulted had neglected to mention the original authors, and, in many
instances, their information had been derived from very ancient sources.
There is, therefore, no claim
made for originality in these chapters ; for, as has been well said by
another, in archaeology, `| what is new is not true, and what is true is not
new." The compiler has endeavored to condense as much as possible all that is
essential in the treatment of this subject, and yet he has far exceeded the
limit assigned to him, and much valuable matter had to be omitted.
Our main purpose in complying
with the invitation to write on the subject of the Ancient Mysteries has been
to communicate such information as the writer had accumulated for himself, in
the many years which he had devoted to this study; and to collate, as it were,
the thoughts and conclusions of those who were best qualified to write upon
the subject, and who had published many volumes, which are to be found in all
of our public libraries.
41 42 The Divine Plan. ‑
ANCIENT MASONRY.
"A survey of Nature, and the
observation of her beautiful proportions, first determined man to imitate the
Divine plan and study symmetry and order. This gave rise to societies, and
birth to every useful art."‑Masonic Monitor.
The survey or observation of
Nature shows us that all objocts within our immediate knowledge belong to one
or other of the three natural hingdoms, ‑ mineral, vegetable, and animal.
When, in the beginning, by the
fiat of the great Creator, matter was called into existence, the elements of
these three kingdoms were then created, or they had existed from all eternity.
To us it is evident that they
do exist now.
The student "may curiously
trace Nature through her various windings to her most concealed recesses, and
may discover the power, the wisdom, and the beneficence (wisdom, power, and
harmony), of the Grand Artificer of the Universe, and view with delight the
proportions which connect this vast machine ; he may demonstrate how the
planets move in their different orbits and perform their various revolutions."
All those worlds around us
which can be seen by the naked eye, as also the myriads of others only to be
discovered by the most powerful telescopes, " were framed by the same Divine
Artist, which roll through the vast expanse, and are all conducted by the same
unerring law of Nature." By the revelations of science, the student has
learned that the bodies which give us their light are composed of the same
primitive elements as the one on which we dwell, the component parts of which
can be subjected to analysis, and by which we have been enabled to reduce all
known matter to about sixty‑four elementary substances.
These, when thus reduced,
belong to the mineral kingdom, and are inert of themselves. From them are
derived all the varieties of the vegetable kingdom by the forces of natural
laws operating upon them.
From the substances thus
produced in the vegetable kingdom are derived all those elements that enter
into the matter which constitutes the animal kingdom.
These substances,‑viz.: the
mineral, vegetable, and animal,‑when in a primary condition, are all inert
matter, and can be acted upon integrally by forces differing from themselves
in very essential particulars.
To certain, if not all,
mineral substances the laws of affinity and repulsion can be applied, whereby
the very nature of each can be diametrically altered. An acid substance and an
alkali, when combined, at cnce change their conditions and form a third
substance differing from either; and so on in all chemical analyses and
syntheses.
In the vegetable world there
is a force of Nature by vyhich the mineral substances are converted into
vegetable fibre.
The substances which
constitute animal tissues would never be thus converted without the force of
vitality.
THE DIVINE PLAN.
43 The vegetable product,
after living and growing, ceases to grow and to live when the vital force
decays and leaves it, and it becomes resolved into its original mineral
element.
The body of an animal when
deprived of its vitality soon dissolves, becomes disintegrated, and these
particles pass into the air or earth, and as minerals enter into new
combinations.
Has any scientist ever
discovered the uliima ratio of the chemical law of affinity in the mineral, or
of the law of vitality in the vegetable and animal worlds? Yet they are there,
acting, and have been ever since these several substances were created or
existed.
Man belongs to the animal
kingdom; is said to be at the summit of that kingdom, and the most perfect in
his structure of all created or existing things.
A. He is composed of a series
of dualisms:a. He is an organized being.
b. He has vitaliti, whereby
his organisms may perform their proper functions, and without which they could
not.
B.
a. He is a being having vital
organs in full operation. b. He has a spiritual nature.
C. His spiritual nature is
divided into:a. Reason.
b. Sentiment.
a. He has reasoning faculties
whereby he is able to judge as to facts, and draw legitimate conclusions
therefrom for his guidance in all matters of moment to his e::istence. b. He
has an instinctive sense of social relations, whereby he manifests certain
qualities distinct from his reason, which govern him in his conduct toward his
fellows, and also in regard to himself, which all writers on ethics divide
into 1 r'r. To his Creator. Duties:‑{ 2. To his neighbor. 11ll 3. To himself.
It is a self‑evident
proposition, that within man there are two positive forces stimulating him to
action, viz.: the physical and the spiritual. The spiritual is manifestly
separable into intellectual or reasoning faculties, and the moral or
sentimental faculties.
If we admit, as we most
certainly must, that there was a Creator of all things, that Creator must be
the governor of all, and consequently infinite in all the attributes necessary
for the administration of his government. This implies his spirituality, and
with it the supervision of both branches of the spirituality of man, ‑ his
reason and his sentiment.
Consequently, we have no right
to atrophy either one of these.
In the exercise of our
faculties we are naturally obligated to conserve the one as well as the other.
When we consider the laws by
which each set of these is governed, we discover them to be opposite to each
other, or antinomian in character, yet not necessarily antagonistic. They
appertain to the same axis, but are at opposite poles; so that when any one
shall attempt to occupy his mind upon 44 spiritual matters, and confine
himself to the purely argumentative questions, and deny every proposition,
unless logically proven, he atrophies all the sentimental or moral phases,
which necessarily must enter into every spiritual question. On the other hand,
this is also true of those who confine their examination entirely to the
sentimental or moral end of such investigation.
The following arrangement will
demonstrate more clearly what has just been stated as a proposition: ‑

MAN To Acknowledge GOD an Act
of WILL
I
To Love GOD an Act of
SENTIMENT All of these ANTINOMIES are Conciliated The different positions of
Points of Compasses give LIGHT, MORE LIGHT, PERFECT LIGHT. UNION of the
Compasses of FAITH, above the Square of REASON, on the HOLY BIBLE, GENERATES
ANCIENT MASONRY.
ANTINOMIES OF THE SPIRITUALITY
OF MAN.
IN IN Square of REASON and
Virtue LIBERTY GOD ABSOLUTE Immutable, Immultipliable UNITY Invariable, not
Engendered JUSTICE REASON MONAD Integrity The Compasses of Mercy above SQUARE
of JUSTICE FAITH Controlled by AUTHORITY MAN CONTINGENT DIVERSITY VARIABILITY
Expansion Engendered Compasses of MERCY and FAITH GOOD, BEAUTIFUL, TRUE,
represent GOD Who is the FOCUS of ALL PERFECTIONS.
DEDUCTIVE The junction of the
MONAD with the DUAD
constitutes UNION, and
GENERATION results.
INDUCTIVE Demonstrate The
Promises of GOD to all who TRUST in HIM.
REASON
SENTIMENT
WISDOM
SUPERSTITION
PHILOSOPHY
RELIGION
POWER
SERVITUDE DEMONSTRATION
SUPERNATURAL
HARMONY
DIVERSITY
FINITE
INDEFINITE
INFINITE THE DIVINE PLAN.
be not Codrdinated AGNOSTICISM
or { Superstition 45 The Square, Compasses, and the Holy Bible may be said to
represent the Three Revelacions, viz.: of Nature, of the Old Dispensation, and
of the New. The Square indicates the religion of Nature, wherein the justice
of the Almighty Creator, without respect of persons, required the fulfilment
of every duty, and is represented by the Square covering the Compasses, and
indicates the natural law. The Square covering only one point shows the Mosaic
dispensation, wherein the law given at Sinai provided for a partial atonement;
whereas, the two points being above the Square, indicates that the Compasses
of Mercy have been extended to the perfect angle; and by the revelation in
full, contained in the Bible, we discover perfect light, in the great
ATONEMENT made for all MANKIND, and the MERCY of GOD prevailing over and
satisfying his JUSTICE, indicates the full accomplishment of his promises to
ADAM.
The following sentiments from
J. B. Gould have been arranged in a tabular form for convenience: ‑

RELIGION, SYNTHESIS OF THOUGHT
AND SENTIMENT.
Representation of a
Philosophic Idea; Reposes on some Hypothesis First, full of vigor, and is on
the alert to win converts.
The Hypothesis is acquiesced
in, and received as final. The signification evaporates. Priests were
anciently Philosophers; Philosophy alone is not Religion; Sentiment alone is
not Religion. Religion is based on intelligible principle. It teaches that
principle as Dogma, and exhibits it in Worship, applies it in Discipline: MIND
SPIRIT BODY OF RELIGION.
The Philosophers were not
always capable of preserving their intellectual superiority; their doctrine
became meaningless and a pure speculation, which gradually cut its way out of
religion and left it an empty shell of ritual observances, void of vital
principles.
RELIGION.
"Expression of an idea";
"Notion of a great cause." Man conceives an IDEAL, which becomes an object of
devotion; hence, Originally El‑Elohim, GOD, Javeh or Jehovah.
If REASON (Thought) and
AFFECTION (Sentiment) RELIGION becomes PHILOSOPHY or MYSTICISM (Speculation)
or Emotionalism Sentimentalism sometimes Extravagant Mysticism or Abject
Terrorism when all reason is atrophied Idealism Positivism Any other Ism to
atrophy personal responsibility The Aspirations of the HEART must be
controlled by Reason and Intelligence HUMANIZED by the Affections.
ANCIENT MASONRY.
From the known history of
mankind, extending back into the earliest ages, when man was yet in a
semi‑barbarous state, there are evidences that he was constantly reaching out
of himself, if happily he could find a SOMEWHAT upon which he could rely, to
relieve him of the oppressive load he was constantly bearing in this life,
however happily situated he might be in his worldly and social relations. From
the daily observation of himself and his fellow‑man he was confident that
there must be somewhere some one, or a something, vastly superior in all
particulars to himself or his race.
Primal man formed an idolon,
predicated upon the best qualities of mankind as demonstrated to him, and
magnified those qualities to the pith power, and then he made a god and bowed
down to him or to it This was fetishism‑a very natural religion. It prevails
extensively at the present day throughout the world ; and, in the Christian
church now, in the nineteenth century, Christians are constantly engaged in
fetish worship, unwittingly indeed, but nevertheless too true. It is not
confined to any one church, as it was at one time, but its influence has so
spread abroad that every church is more or less tinctured with it.
Accepting the " Great Light,"
which all Masons do, as the revealed will of God to man, and his INESTIMABLE
gift, it i,, a legitimate reference, in any history which may be written, to
trace the connection of the Masonic Association of the modern era with those
institutions from the earliest ages, which were of a secret character, and
which were designed, as modern Masonry is, not only for the benefit of the
immediate members thereof, but mediately for all mankind.
Therefore, considering the
first five books of the Old Testament as having been written by the authority
of the G.‑.A.‑.0.‑.T.‑.U.‑., the account therein given of the disobedience of
the first pair, commonly known as the parents of the human race, must be
received as correct. This disobedience was brought about at the solicitation
of the serpent, as it is translated in all the versions of the Bible.
The curse, so‑called, against
all parties was then pronounced, as found in Genesis, chapter iii., verses 14
to rq, inclusive.
In the fifteenth verse God
said: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed
and her seed; IT shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." From
the incidents thus graphically, though briefly, stated in chapter iii. of
Genesis have sprung all the religions and mysteries of the world; and the Tree
of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and also the Tree of Life, with the Serpent,
have been the foundation of the Tree and Serpent worship which have prevailed
more extensively over every part of the world than any other form of false
worship.
The fall of man and his
reinstatement are the germs of all the religious THE DIVINE PLAN.
47 superstitions in every part
of the earth, and the object of this treatise is to demonstrate the following
propositions: ‑ FIRST. " Man lost his first estate, and it was necessary that
a Divine Mediator and Saviour should come on earth, and, by his death, restore
man to his pristine condition, and reconcile him to his Creator." SECOND. No
other possible plan could reconcile man to God than by a Mediator of DIVINE
AND HUMAN NATURE COMBINED, who is represented in all the ancient religious
rites, as well as in Christianity, by the name of Christos, the Anointed One,
in some form or other.
From the genealogy of the
fifth chapter of Genesis we learn the following emphatic statement in the
Hebrew names of the first ten patriarchs, whose names we translate into
English.
Adam
............................. Man Seth ............................... Placed
Enos................ (in a)......... Wretched Cainan
............................. Condition Ma‑ha‑la‑le‑el......... (the).........
Blessed God Jared ............ (descending or).... Fhall descend
Enoch............................. Teaching Methuselah ..........
(that)......... His death produces Lamech............. (to the)........ Poor,
debased or stricken Noah ............................. Rest and c...solation.
It will be our effort to
demonstrate the above two propositions from the history of initiation of all
the ancient nations in every part of the world, and that Christianity,
established by the coming of Christ, his death, and his resurrection, were the
perfection of the Divine Plan, an!. culmination of all the mysteries which had
preceded the ADVENT, DEATH, and RESTORATION of the PERFECT CHRISTOS, promised
in the Garden of Eden, and which had been attempted to be represented in all
of those preceding mysteries; and which, in the case of the true CHRISTOS, was
a fulfilment of the promise, and a verification of the successive names of the
Patriarchs from Adam to Noah.
The arrange ment of these
names we dare not consider as being fortuitous. Max Muffler in his '| Chips"
says (VOL II. PP. 4, 5) : ‑ " What then gives life to the study of antiquity?
What compels men, in the midst
of these busy times, to sacrifice their leisure to studies apparently so
unattractive and useless, if not the conviction that in order to obey t'3e
Delphic commandment (know thyself), in order to know what man is, we ought to
know what man has been? "This is a view as foreign to the mind of Socrates as
any of the principles of inductive philosophy by which men like Columbus,
Leonardo da Vinci, Copernicus, Kepler, Bacon, and Gallileo regenerated and
invigorated the intellectual life of modern Europe. If we grant to Socrates,
that the chizf object of philosophy is, that man should know himself, we
should hardly consider his means of arriving at this knowledge adequate to so
high an aim.
To his mind, man was
preeminently the individual, without any reference to its being but one
manifestation of a power, or as he might have s. "d, of an idea, realized in,
and through, an endless variety of human souls.
"He is ever seeking to solve
the history of human nature by brooding over his own mind, by watching the
secret.workings of the soul, by analyzing the organs of knowledge, and by
trying to determine their proper li‑nits; and, thus the last result of his
philosophy was, that he knew but one thing, and this was, that he knew
nothing. To us man is no longer this solitary being, complete in itself and
self‑sufficient; man, to us, is a brother among brothers, a member of a class,
of a genus, or a kind, and therefore intelligible only with reference to his
equals.
"Where the Greek saw
barbarians, we see brethren; where the Greek saw heroes and demigods, we see
our parents and ancestors; where the Greek saw nations (Ov l), we see mankind,
48 ANCIENT MASONRY.
toiling and suffering,
separated by oceans, divided by language, and severed by natural enmity,‑yet
evermore tending, under a divine control, towards the fulfilment of that
inscrutable purpose for which the world was created, and man placed in it,
bearing the image of GOD. History, therefore, with its dusty and moldering
pages, is to us as sacred a volume as the book of nature. In both we read, or
we try to read, the reflex of the laws and thoughts of a Divine Wisdom:'
According to Wilkinson, th Monad or Single Deity was placed above and apart
from the Triads, and the great gods of the Egyptian Pantheon were the deified
attributes of the " ONE." The same idea of a Monad, even of a triple Deity,
was admitted by some of the Greeks into their system of philosophy; and
Amelius says: The Demiurge (or Creator), is triple, and the three ||
Intellects " are the three kings ; he who exists, he who possesses, and he who
beholds. These three Intellects, therefore, he supposes to be the Demiurge,
the same with the three kings of Plato, and with the three whom Orpheus
celebrates under the names of Phanes, Ouranus, and Cronus, though according to
him the Demiurge is more particularly Phanes.
The Orphic trinity consisted
of Metis, Phanes or Eros, Ericapwus. Life
Will or
Light or Life Giving
Counsel
Love From Acusilaus, Metis
Eros
Ether From Hesiod, Earth
Eros
Tartarus From Pherecydes of
Lyros, Fire
Water
Spirit or air From Sidonians,
Cronus
Love
Cloudy‑darkness From
Phoenicians, Ulomus
Chusorus
The Egg From Chaldean and
Persian,‑Oracles of Zoroaster, Fire
Sun
Ether Fire
Light
Ether From Later Platonists,
Power
Intellect
Father, Soul, or Spirit By
ancient theologists, according to Macrobius, the sun was invoked in the
mysteries as Power of
Light of
Spirit of the World
the World
the World And to this may be
added, from Sanconiatho, the three sons of
Fire Light
Flame Plutarch gives
Kosmos, Beauty, Order, or
World
Intelligence Matter
The FIRST being the same as
Plato's
SECOND THIRD
IDEA
Mother
Exemplar
Nurse Offspring
or
Receptacle of Production
Father
Generation THE DIVINE PLAN.
49 Of these three,
Intelligence, Matter, and Kosmos, he says: Universal nature may be considered
to be made up, and there is reason to conclude that the Egyptians were wont to
liken this nature to what they called the most beautiful and perfect triangle,
the same as Plato himself does
in the nuptial diagram he has intro‑
duced into his `1
Commonwealth." Now in this triangle, which is
s
rectangular, the perpendicular
is imagined equal to 4, the base to
s
be 3, and hypothenuse to be 5.
In which scheme the perpendicular represents the masculine nature, the base
the feminine, and the hypothenuse the offspring of both.
Accordingly the first will
apply to OSIRIS, or prime cause; the second to Isis, the receptive power; and
the last to ORUS, or effect
f the other two.
For three is the base number
composed of even and odd; four is a square, whose side is equal to the even
number two; but five, being generated as it were out of both the preceding
numbers, two and three, may be said to bear an equal relation to both, as to
its common parents.
So again, the mere word which
signifies the "Universe of Being" is f a similar sound with this number,
7rav7a, 7rEvTE, as to count five is made use of for counting in general.
Hence the square of the
hypothenuse is equal to the squares of the others added together.
The word " ae,uaaa‑aQ9at " is
taken for counting by the five fingers.
The Egyptians sometimes
represented the number five by a star having five rays, because Horopollo
pretends that it is the number of the planets.
This star represents GOD, all
that is pure, virtuous, and good, when represented with one point upward: but
when turned with one point down it represents EviL, all that is opposed to the
good, pure, and virtuous; in fine, it represents the GOAT of MENDFS.
Philosophy and Religion.‑The
belief in a Supreme Power is inherent in every human being; and, so thoroughly
interwoven with our nature is this sentiment, that it is impossible for any
one, at any period of life, wholly to divest himself of it.
When the reflecting man looks
around upon all the objects about him, the question naturally arises: "What
has called this world into existence? Why does it exist, and what is its
ultimate destiny? Nay, why do I exist, and what will become of me after
death?" The answers to these questions, if possible, can only be given by, and
through, a long course of philosophical investigation. These questions have
been the study of the ablest men from the earliest ages, and have given rise
to all the various systems of philosophy and religion, which have prevailed in
all time, beginning with the first man, and coming down to our own day and
generation.
As soon as mankind recognized
the relations between themselves and a Systems of 50 ANCIENT MASONRY.
Creator, and acknowledged
moral responsibility to a Supreme Moral Governor, then Religion became a
pertinent fact, and systems of religion were introduced, whereby, in an
objective form, their subjectivity could be outwardly made manifest.
These systems are divided into
Monotheism and Polytheism: the latter includes Dualism and Tritheism.
The.lowest grade of Polytheism is Fetichism, or idolatry, which teaches the
worship of inanimate nature, stocks and stones, and the work of the hands of
men.
Next is Pyrolatry, or worship
of fire; and Sabxism, or worship of the stars and other heavenly bodies.
The first step of the
legislator would be to pretend a mission and revelation from some God: thus ‑Amasis
and Mneves, lawgivers of the Egyptians, pretended to receive their laws from
Mercury (Thoth) ; Zoroaster of the Bactrians, and Zamolxis, lawgiver of the
Getes, from Vesta ; Zathraustes of the Aramaspi, from a good Spirit or Genius
: and all propagated the doctrine of future rewards and punishments.
Rhadamanthus and Minos,
Lawgivers of Crete, and Lycaoa of Arcadia, pretended to an intercourse with
Jupiter ; Triptolemus of Athens affected to be inspired by Ceres ; Pythagoras
and Zaleucus, for the Crotonians and Locrians, ascribed their institutions to
Minerva; Lycurgus of Sparta acted by direction of Apollo; and Romulus and Numa
of Rome put themselves under the guidance of Consus and the goddess Egeria.
The same method was followed in' the great outlying empires.
The first of the Chinese
monarchs was called " Fag‑Four " ‑" The Son of Heaven." The Royal Commentaries
of Peru inform us that the founders of that empire were Manco Copac and his
wife and sister, " Coya Mama," who proclaimed themselves to be the son and
daughter of the Sun, sent to, reduce mankind from their savage and bestial
life to one of order and society.
(How like the myths of Osiris
and Isis‑Sun and Moon.)
Tuesco, the founder of the
German nations, pretended to be sent upon the same message, as appears from
his name, which signifies the "interpreter of the gods."
Thor and Odin, the lawgivers'
of the Western Goths, laid claim to inspiration and even to divinity, and they
have given the names to two of the days of the week.
The revelations of Mahomet are
well known.
The race of inspired lawgivers
seems to have ended with Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mogul Empire, until,
in our day, the Nauvoo prophet, Joseph Smith, found his plates and started the
Latter Day Saints.' Such was the universal custom of the ancient world, ‑ to
make prophets, arid then gods, of their first leaders.
Plato makes legislation to
have been derived from God; and the constant epithets to kings in Homer are
Diogeneis, "born of the gods," and Diotrepheis, " bred or tutored by the
gods." 1 It may be of interest in a work on the history of Masonry to state
that he became a Mason, and with others obtained a charter from the Grand
Lodge of Illinois, and at Nauvoo initiated nearly all of the Mormons;‑ and it
became necessary for the Grand Lodge to arrest the charter in consequence of
the great irregularities in that lodge.
THE DIVINE PLAN.
SI Plutarch, in '| Isis and
Osiris," says: || It was a most ancient opinion, derived as well by lawgivers
as divines, that the world was not made by chance, neither did one cause
govern all things without opposition." This was the doctrine of Zoroaster, in
which were taught the two opposite principles by which the world was governed.
In the " Oriental Religions," by Samuel Johnson, volume devoted to Persia, the
author gives a thorough examination of this particular subject.
Zeleucus of Locria says, in
the preface to his laws, that " Every one should be firmly persuaded of the
being and existence of the gods, which he will be readily induced to entertain
when he contemplates the heavens, regards the world, and observes the
disposition, order, and harmony of the universe, which can neither be the work
of blind chance or man; and these gods are to be worshipped as the cause of
all the real good we enjoy." Charondas, Plato, and Cicero introduced their
laws with the sanction of religion.
The Ancient Sages, as well as
lawgivers, were unanimous that the doctrine of rewards and punishments was
necessary to the well‑being of society.
The Atheists, from the
vastness of the social use of religion, concluded it to be an invention of
State ; and the Theist, from that confessed utility, labored to prove it of
divine origin.
"To give a detail of the
discourses would be to transcribe antiquity; for with this begins and ends
everything they teach and explain, of morals, government, human nature, and
civil policy." It is supposed by most authors that the First and Original
Mysteries were those of Isis and Osiris in Egypt. Zoroaster brought them into
Persia; Cadmus and Inachus, into Greece at large; Orpheus, into Thrace ;
Melampsus, into Athens.
As these Mysteries were to
Isis and Osiris in Egypt, so they were to Mythras in Asia ; in Samothrace, to
the Mother of the Gods ; in Beeotia to Bacchus ; in Cyprus to Venus ; in Crete
to Jupiter; in Athens to Ceres and Proserpine ; in Amphura to Castor and
Pollux ; in Lemnos to Vulcan, etc.
The most noted were the
Orphic, Bacchic, Eleusinian, Samothracian, Cabiric, and Mithriac.
It was agreed by Origen and
Celsus that the Mysteries taught the future life, as also the Christian
doctrine of the eternal punishment of the wicked.
It was taught that the
initiated would be happier than other mortals.
Their souls winged their
flight directly to the happy islands and the habitations of the gods.
This doctrine was necessary
for the support of the Mysteries, as they were for the doctrine.
Plato says it was the design
of initiation to restore the soul to that state from whence all fell, as from
its native seat of perfection.
Epictetus said: "Thus the
Mysteries become useful; thus we seize the true spirit of them, when we begin
to apprehend that everything therein was instituted by the ancients for
instruction and amendment of life." 52 ANCIENT MASONRY.
All persons who were
candidates for initiation into any of these Mysteries were required to produce
evidence of their fitness by due inquiry into their previous life and
character, the same as the Roman Catholic Confessional, which was derived from
it.
The Eleusinian stood open to
none who did not approach the gods with a pure and holy worship, which was
originally an indispensable condition observed in common by all the Mysteries,
and instituted by Bacchus or Osiris, himself the inventor of them, who
initiated none but virtuous and pious men; and it was required to have a
prepared purity of mind and disposition, as previously ordered in the
sacrifices, or in prayers, in approaching the Mysteries.
Proclus says that " The
Mysteries drew the souls from a sensual life, and joined thetas in communion
with the gods." Pythagoras had been initiated into the Cretan Mysteries ued in
the "Idean cave three times nine days." material and and had contin " The
wisest and best of the Pagan world invariably held that the Mysteries were
instituted pure, and proposed the noblest end by the worthiest means." We now
refer to Isaiah xlv. 15 : "Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of
Israel, the Saviour." This was said with great propriety of the Creator of the
Universe, the subject of the Aporrheta or " Secret " in all the Mysteries
throughout the Gentile world, and particularly of those of Mythras in that
country which was the scene of the prophecy.
God addresses himself to the
Jewish people: "I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I
said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain." He was taught among them
in a different manner from participation of his nature to a few select
Gentiles, in the Mysteries celebrated in secret and dark subterranean places.
Eusebius says that for the
Hebrew people alone was reserved the honor of being initiated into the
knowledge of God, the Creator of all things, and of being instructed in the
practice of true piety towards him.
This leads to the explanation
of those oracles of Apollo, quoted by Eusebius from Porphyry: "The way to the
knowledge of the Divine Nature is extremely rugged, and of difficult ascent;
the entrance is secured by brazen gates, opening to the adventurer, and the
winding roads to be passed through, impossible to be described.
These to the vast benefit of
mankind were first marked out by the Egyptians."
(We here discover the rough
and rugged road of the R. A.) The Second: True Wisdom was the lot of the
Chaldeans and Hebrews, who worshipped the Governor of the World, the
self‑existent Deity, with pure and holy rites. He who proclaims himself to be
" Existence Absolute," which is the Infinite itself, is incomprehensible to
the finite mind.
THE TxtrrH : 11 Truth and
general Utility coincide; i.e., Truth is productive MYTHOLOGY.
53 of Utility, and Utility is
indicative of Truth, and this from the nature of the case. The observing of
Truth is acting as things are; disappointments proceed from acting as things
are not. Whenever we find general Utility, we may know it for the product of
Truth, which it indicates.
The consequence is that
Religion, or the idea of relation between the Creature and the Creator, is
true." "There is in heaven a light Whose goodly shine makes the Creator
visible to all created, That in seeing him alone Have peace; and in a circle
Spread so far that the Circumference were too loose A zone to girdle in the
Sun." ‑DANTE.
Advent of Mythology.‑In the
earliest ages, men were accustomed to speak of the phenomena of nature as they
appeared to them; and, as their language in common conversation was almost
invariably tropical,' the figures used by them, having a well‑known allusion
to common events, in process of time became the myths and fables which
prevailed among all the peoples who derived their descent from the original
stock, and finally spread over the whole race of man.
We are indebted to the
students of philology and ethnology for present knowledge of the philosophy in
the mythologies of all the Eastern nations of antiquity; and, from the great
originals in the countries which were occupied by the descendants of the three
sons of Noah, we have been enabled to explain most of the myths which 'gave
rise to the names so well known and recognized in classic Greece and Rome.
Nearly all. of the principal names can be traced back, philologically, to the
first inhabitants of that country, now designated as Arya Varta, and which has
given rise to the term Aryan as applied to one of the three principal races
into which ethnologists now divide all the descendants of Noah.
At the present day we say the
sun rises and the sun sets, although we well know that these are terms only
and not true. Those ancient men said, " Our friend the sun is dead ; will he
come back again? " and when the next day they saw him, "they rejoiced because
he brought back their light and their life with him."
Knowing very little about
themselves, and nothing at all of the things which they saw in the world
around, them, they fancied that everything had the same kind of life which
they had themselves.
In this way they came to think
that the sun and stars, the rivers and streams, could see and feel and think,
and that they shone and moved of their own accord.
Hence, everything around them
was alive, and instead of saying, "The morning comes before the rising of the
sun ; and evening twilight follows sunset ; " they said, "The sun is the lover
of the dawn, and was longing to overtake her; and is killing her with his
bright rays, which shone like spears." Tropos, a figure.
our 54 ANCIENT MASONRY.
Of the clouds, which move
along the sky, they said "they were the cows of the sun, which were driven by
the children every morning to their pastures in the blue fields of heaven." At
sunset they said " the dawn, with its soft and tender light, had come to
soothe her son, or her husband, in his dying hour."
The sun to them " was the
child of darkness, and in the morning he wove for his bride in the heavens a
fairy net‑work of clouds, which reappeared when she came back to him in the
evening."
They spoke of him as a "
friend of man," when he shone with a pleasant warmth ; when, by his great
heat, he brought a drought, " the sun was slaying his children," or that some
one else "was driving his chariot."
When dark clouds rested over
the earth without giving rain, the terrible being called " the serpent or
dragon was confining the waters in a prison house."
When they heard the thunder
roll, this "hateful monster was uttering his hard riddles" ; and when the rain
came, the bright sun had slain his enemy, and brought a stream of life for the
thirsty earth. For the purpose of illustrating what we have above written, a
few examples will be produced.
.
Mythology. ‑ A collection of
the various tales, referred to gods, heroes, demons, and other beings down
from generation to generation, and passed called mythology.
Every nation has had its myths
and legends, even down to the present day in various parts of the earth, and a
very close resemblance is found among them in their principal gods and heroes.
As.stated above, our best scholars have traced out by philology the principal
names in all of these myths, and have located their origin in the land where
the various nations of Europe, the North of Africa, and Western, Middle, and
Southern Asia, were once congregated under the roof‑trees in Arya Varta, and
from which centre the various waves of emigration started to people all those
countries.
It is not surprising,
therefore, that even in the nineteenth century and in America we find in our
English and other modern languages the identical household words which were
used in that distant land thousands of years ago. Max Muller tells us in his
Preface to the Lectures on the Vedas: ‑ or properly legends, which whose names
were handed from tribes to nations, is " In the language of mankind, in which
everything new is old, and everything old is new, an inexhaustible mine has
been discovered for researches of this kind. Language still bears the impress
of the earliest thoughts of man; obliterated, it may be, buried under new
thoughts, yet here and there still recoverable in their sharp original
outline.
The growth of language is
continuous, and by continuing our researches backward from the most modern to
the most ancient strata, the very elements and roots of human speech have been
reached, and with them the elements and roots of human thought. What lies
beyond the beginnings of language, however interesting it may be to the
physiologist, does not yet belong to the history of man, in the true and
original sense of that word.
MAN means the thinker, and the
first manifestation of thought is speech.
"But more surprising than the
continuity of the growth of language is the continuity in the growth of
religion. Of religion, too, as of language, it may be said that in it
everything new is old, and everything old is new, and that there has been no
entirely new religion since the beginning of the world.
The elements and roots of
religion were there as far back as we can trace the history MYTHOLOGY.
55 of man; and the history of
religion, like the history of language, shows us throughout a succession of
new combinations of the same radical elements. An intuition of God, a sense of
human weakness and dependence, a belief in the divine government of the world,
a distinction between good and evil, and a hope of a better life,‑these are
some of the radical elements of all religions. Though sometimes hidden, they
rise again and again to the surface.
Though frequently distorted,
they tend again and again to their perfect form." St. Augustine himself, in
accordance with this idea, said: '.'What is now called the Christian religion
has existed among the ancients, and was not absent from the beginning of the
human race, until Christ came in the flesh ; from which time the true
religion, which existed already, began to be called Christian."
[August. Retr. r. r3.] Christ
himself said to the Centurion of Capernaum : "Many shall come from the east
and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the
kingdom of heaven." By the recovery of the canonical books of three of the
principal religions of the ancient world‑vii. : the Veda, the Zend‑Avesta, and
Tripitika‑access has been gained to the most authentic documents, whereby to
study the religions of the Brahmans, Zoroastrians, and Buddhists, and a
discovery made of the real origin of the Greek, Roman, Teutonic, Slavonic, and
Celtic mythology ; and, as Muller says, " It has become possible to separate
the truly religious elements in the sacred traditions of these nations from
the mythological crust by which they are surrounded, and thus to gain a
clearer insight into the real faith of the Aryan world." In the proper study
of comparative mythology we are forcibly impressed with the close resemblance,
in all the most important features, in the various nations of Greece, Rome,
India, Persia, Scandinavia, Germany, etc., and we must conclude that they were
derived from one common, original source, and that it was their habit of
speaking of all the natural phenomena in the words and phrases used by these
ancient tribes ; and, in course of time, from generation' to generation, the
meanings of these words and phrases which were common nouns being entirely
lost, they came to represent persons supposed to have existed and acted as
described, and this has been proved by the fact that many names in Greek and
Latin have no meaning, but are perfectly intelligible in the languages
originally used. Such names as Argynnis, Phoroneus, Erinys, have no meaning in
Greek. In India they are explained: Erinys means the dawn as it creeps along
the sky; Argynnis, the morning brilliance; and Phoroneus, the god of fire,
Bhuranyu.
In the myth where Selene
visits Endymion, Selene is the moon, which appears in the west just at sunset,
Endymion being the name of the sun as he plunges into the sea. It was said
Endymion was a young man on whom the moon looked down lovingly.
Phcebus is lord of h,‑ht or of
life; Delos, where he is said to have been born, means the brzghtland. He is
called Lykegenes, sprungfrom light. His mother was Leto, which means the
night, from which the sun appears to come as it rises.
Endymion, setting sun, sleeps
in Latmos, the land of forgetfulness. Telephassa, mother of Cadmus and Europa,
means she who shines from far. Telephus is a child of Auge, the light.
Europa, Eurytus, Eurymedon,
Euryanassa, Euryphassa, with many others, all denote a broad, spreading light,
like the dawn as it spreads across the morning sky.
In a large number of legends
the incidents resemble each other as closely as the names, as in the cases of
Perseus, (Edipus, Cyrus, Romulus, Paris. The parents of these having been
warned that they will be destroyed by their sons, expose them, and they are
saved by wild beasts, and are discovered by the dignity of their bearing and
splendor of their countenances.
"Perseus kills Acrisius, (Edipus
kills Laios, Cyrus slays Astyages, Romulus kills Amulius and Paris brings
about the ruin of Priam and the city of Troy." These heroes have a short but
brilliant life, and have to labor for others, not for themselves. Hercules is
a slave to F.urystheus ; Achilles goes to Troy for no quarrel of his own ; and
Perseus has to toil at the bidding of Polydectes.
They are all of them slayers
of monsters, and in other ways help men. Bellerophon kills Belleros and
Chimxra; Perseus destroys the Gorgon Medusa; Theseus kills the Minotaur;
tEdipus slays the Sphinx; and Phoebus Apollo, the serpent Python. "In other
countries these stories are repeated.
In the Indian tales, Indra
kills the dragon Vritra; and in the Old Norse legend, Sigurd kills the great
snake Fafnir.
In the Persian story, Rustem
is as brave and mighty as Hercules, and his exploits are of the same kind. All
of them have invisible spears or swords, and can be wounded only in one spot,
or by one kind of weapon. They all have fair faces, and golden locks flowing
over their shoulders; they all sacrifice their own ease for the good of
others, and, yet are all tempted to forsake or leave the brides of their
youth.
Hercules goes away from Iol8;
Paris forsakes tEnone; Theseus leaves Ariadne; and Sigurd deserts Brynhild."
The Ancient Mysteries. ‑ It is to be presumed that, when the minds of men were
directed to the subject of the mysterious things of nature which they could
not apprehend, they were forced to conceal their ignorance of the ultimate
causes for all the phenomena by which they were constantly surrounded, and as
constantly called upon to explain, that then, as well as at present, their
inventive talents were exercised to conceal their ignorance by systems of
terminology : all the writers upon this subject concur in the opinion that
wherever and whenever the first ceremonies were introduced, they were very few
and unostentatious.
It has been conceded that the
rites and ceremonies were originally of a pure character and had a tendency to
impress the minds of the initiates with a suitable feeling of awe and
reverence for the society, and to benefit their lives in all particulars.
It is impossible to definitely
assert in what country the Mysteries were first introduced. Authors differ
very materially upon that question. It is, however, very certain that while
there are various changes to be found in the Mysteries of the different
nations of the Orient, it is also as certain that there was a great similarity
in them all; so much so that we may conclude that either they were all
independent copies from a great original system, or that ANCIENT MYSTERIES.
57 they were propagated one
from another, until they were spread over the whole of Asia, Europe, and that
part of Africa peopled from Asia and in constant intercourse therewith.
For a proper review of this
important subject we must refer to the spread of that branch of the human race
descended from Japheth, from the great centre, after the Noachian flood, when
it became necessary for the numerous population to find subsistence for
themselves, owing to the fact that they were increasing so rapidly that they
could not find the necessary food for so great a multitude.
The first wave from that
region, now known as Arya Varta, was to the south‑east, and across the great
rivers, and into that part of India where they found a people descended from
the Turanian families, who had come from the north and north‑east. We are
informed that, where the Aryans entered the country of India, they carried
with them their traditions, manners, and customs, and religious ideas, which
differed very materially from those possessed by the first inhabitants, who
were, no doubt, of Turanian descent.
We are not to suppose that
mankind at that remote period of time was by any means in a savage or a
barbarous stage. While there are no positive remains of an advanced state of
civilization, yet we are confidently advised, by our best and most impartial
investigators, that the works which are extant, and which can be traced back
to a very remote period prior to the commencement of the Christian era, give
evidence of a perfect language, older than the Sanskrit, in which those works
were written; which original language is the mother of nearly all that we
should call. grammatical languages, and which have been known to scholars
familiar with the science of phirology, by which the important science of
ethnology has been so improved that, with almost certainty, the various
nationalities and their intimate relationships have been traced out, and their
emigrations from certain countries, and immigrations into others, have been
clearly defined.
From the various authors, who
have pursued these subjects in a scientific manner, we are enabled to give a
map showing the movements of the various emigrations, and also a chronological
table to indicate approximately the synchronism of all the principal nations
of antiquity, and trace them down to the present century.
Those writers who very
recently have undertaken to prove the development of the human race from the
ape, and claim that when the ape became man the man was a savage, and has
gradually developed into a high state of civilization, have been completely
answered by reference to the intellectual development of mankind in the very
remotest period prior to written history, as shown in the remains of those
ancient days, which our limits do not permit us to specify. "The Origin of
Nations," a recent work by George Rawlinson, M.A., will answer all arguments,
or assertions rather, as to the original savagery of prehistoric man.
By reference, first, to the
map of the ancient world from the 78th meridian 58 ANCIENT MASONRY.
east of London to the Atlantic
io| west, and from the 25th parallel to the 58th north, we have the ancient
world, which was supposed to be all there was of it, and was calculated to
have been east and west, just double the distance north and south, and in
accordance with the Ptolemaic system.
The great diversity of
authorities in chronology is such that the student of history finds himself in
doubt, in the centuries beyond 1500 B.C., and when he endeavors to trace the
history of any nation prior to 2000 B.C., he is entirely lost in the mists of
legends and myths. Hence, in the accompanying chronological table, we have not
gone beyond 2300 B.C.

EXPLANATION OF THE MAP.
The map shows the distribution
of the descendants of Noah as they have been located by recent authors, and as
being in strict accord with the various passages of Scripture in which
reference is made to them, and which will demonstrate the ethnic affinities of
the human races. The genealogies of Scripture are not only of "great
importance historically, as marking strongly the vital truth that the entire
framework and narrative of Scripture is in every case real, not ideal; plain
and simple matter of fact, not fanciful allegory evolved out of the author's
consciousness"; but, in the tenth chapter of Genesis, we find the object of
the author was to give, "not a personal genealogy, but a sketch of the
interconnection of races.
Shem, Ham, Japheth, are no
doubt persons, the actual sons of the patriarch Noah; but it may be doubted
whether there is another name in the series which is other than ethnic.
The document is in fact the
earliest ethnographical essay that has come down to our time." The marks
beneath the names in the map denote the family to which the same belong: ‑
SHEM‑‑‑‑‑ JAPHETH Lud ..................... Mesopotamia. Asshur..................
Assyria. Elam ...................Persia. Eber.................... Amalekites
(Egypt). Huz.................... Arabia (Deserta). Jerah...................
South‑cast Arabia. Hazarmaveth............ S. Arabia Felix. Sheleph.................
South‑West Arabia. Uzal.................... South‑west Arabia. Ophir...................
South‑west Arabia.
HAM ‑‑‑‑ Hamath
................ Ccelesyria. Sidon................... Sidon, N. Canaan
................. Palestina. Philistim................ Palestina, S.W.
Nimrod................. Chaldea. Lehabim ................ Libya, N. Africa.
Naphtuhim ............. Mareotic Nome. Mizraim ................Goshen.
Caphtorim .............. Middle Egypt. Pathrusim............... Memphis. Ludim
Phut Seba ............. ~ Upper Egypt.
t Meroe Ethiopia.
Sabtah.................. S.
Arabia Sea‑coast. Sabtechah ..............S.E.
Dedan ..................
Havilah on Per. Gulf.
Gomer ....... Western Scythia,
spread
over Northern Europe and Isles
of Britain.
Magog....... Eastern Scythia,
Georgia, and Circassia.
Tiras ........Thracia,
Bithynia. Iavan........ Macedonia, Asia Minor. Elishah ...... Greece and
Isles. Rodanim .....Isles of Greece. Tarshish ..... Cilicia.
Kittim ....... Cypress. Tubal
....... Pontus.
P shkenaz .... Cappadocia.
Togarmah ... Armenia. Madai ....... Media.
MIXED‑ JAPHETH AND SHEM.
Meshech..... Bithynia,
Paplagonia, Galatia MIXED ‑SHEM AND HAM.
Havilah ...... N.W. part of
Yemen, Arab. Felix. Sheba .......
,S.E. Arabia, on the coast.
62 ANCIENT MASONRY.
From all that we can gather,
the " Iranic civilization, or that of the Medes, the Persians (perhaps we
should add the Bactrians), is supposed by some moderns to have originated as
early as B.C. 3784. Others assign it to the comparatively modern date of B.C.
z6oo‑2500. . . . Dr. Martin Haug does not think it necessary to postulate for
the Iranians nearly so great an antiquity.
Haug suggests the fifteenth
century B.C. as that of the most primitive Iranic compositions, which form the
chief, if not the sole, evidence of Iranic cultivation prior to B.C. 700 " The
question is one rather of linguistic criticism than of historic testimony.
The historic statements that
have come down to us on the subject of the age of Zoroaster, with whose name
the origin of Iranic cultivation is by general consent regarded as intimately
connected, are so absolutely conflicting that they must be pronounced
valueless.
I:udoxns and Aristotle said
that Zoroaster lived six thousand years before the death of Plato, or B.C.
6348.
Hermippus placed him five
thousand years before the Trojan war, or B.C. 6184.
Berosus declared of him that
he reigned at Babylon towards the beginning of the twenty‑third century B.C.,
having ascended the throne, according to his chronological views, about B.C.
2286.
Xanthus Lydus, contemporary of
Herodotus, and the first Greek writer who treats of the subject, made him live
six hundred years only before the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, B.C. 1o8o.
The later Greeks and Romans
declared that he was contemporary with Darius Hystaspis, B.C. 520‑485. Between
the earliest and the latest dates assigned by these authorities the difference
is nearly six thousand years." Modern criticism doubts whether Zoroaster ever
lived at all, and regards his name as designating a period rather than a
person. We have been thus particular in copying the above statements from
Rawlinson's " Origin of Nations," because we wish to trace " Zoroastrianism "
from the great centre was in our opinion the starting‑point and period of the
of civilization, as it Ancient Mysteries.
When we refer to the mysteries
of India, we find that after the initiate had passed through all the trials,
dangers, lustrations by fire, water, air, and earth, he was accepted as being
worthy of the completion of these ceremonies, which was accomplished by the
Hierophant himself communicating to him, in a mysterious manner, the letters
A. U. M., which, we are informed by the best scholars, was pronounced otn.
Several explanations have bean advanced to give an idea of the meaning of this
which is not a word, but more than a word.
Whatever meaning may be now
given to it, we must conclude that it was a very important secret, and not to
be communicated to every one of those initiated, but was a subject of deep
contemplation to all those who were entitled to be put in possession thereof.
In the mysteries of Egypt, the
word otn held the same relation thereto, and was as sacred to the Egyptian
priests. Passage after passage of the Jewish Scriptures indicate that a " name
" of God, very peculiar in itself, was placed first in the "Tabernacle of
Congregating," and afterward in the Temple at Jerusalem. God said in various
passages that he would "place his name there." To Moses he communicated his
"name " at the Burning Bush, as he who had sent him to the children of Israel
as I AM; and again when Moses told him that Pharaoh would not let the children
of Israel go, he declares that by his "name"
JEId0VAH he was not known, but
by his name "God Almighty" [El‑shadai] was he known.
PRIMITIVE RITES.
63 We, of course, have no
certain data whereby we may be guided as to these peculiar "names," which were
held so sacred. We must only conjecture that, as in all these Sacred
Mysteries, the final rite was to communicate a particular word, and as that
word in Hebrew was the "name" given by the Lord Almighty to Moses, the word
must have been, in all cases, such a sacred word as to command the reverence
and respect of all; and we have always interpreted the third commandment,
"Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain," to refer to the "Tetragrammaton,"
because the Jews became so much afraid of violating that commandment that none
but the high priest ever dared to use it, until at last the very pronunciation
became unknown to all except the high priest, and he only used it once in each
year, when, on the day of expiation, he entered the Sanctum Sanctorum, and
there . pronounced it aloud, to keep it in his memory.
We think, therefore, that all
the Mysteries led up to, and were completed in learning the "name," which
became to each postulant a "sacred treasure." We shall next enter into a
history of each of the prominent characters who formed the bases of all the
primitive rites.
CHAPTER II.
PERSONAL AND NATIONAL.
Ormuzd (Ahura‑Mazda).‑The
supreme deity of the ancient Persians. He is the god of the firmament; the
representative of goodness and truth, and the creator of the universe and of
the beneficent spirits who have charge of the well‑being of man and all
created things. According to Zoroaster an incomprehensible being called
Zeruane Akerene (or Zrvan Akarana), existed from all eternity.
From him emanated primal
light, and from the latter sprung Ordauzd and Ahriman.
Ahriman became jealous of his
elder brother, and was condemned by the eternal one to pass three thousand
years in a region of utter darkness.
On his release, he created a
number of evil spirits to oppose the spirits created by Ormuzd ; and when the
latter made an egg containing good genii, Ahriman produced another, full of
evil demons, and broke the two together; so that good and evil'became mixed in
the new creation.
The two great opposing
principles are called the " King of Light " and the " Prince of Darkness."
Ormuzd is described as "
sitting on the throne of the good and the perfect, in the regions of pure
light," or as a venerable man seated on a bull, the emblem of creation.
A later doctrine, still
professed by the Guebres and Parsees, reduces Ormuzd from a great creator to a
mere demiurge, or organizer of a universe previously created.
ANCIENT MASONRY.
Syrian Ashtaroth. ‑ No. 6
shows this goddess with the long cross in her hand, and the sacred calathus,
or bushel, on her head.
Astarte was the same as Venus.
This is a medal of Sidon, the
antiquity of which city is well known, and it agrees well with the antiquity
and history attributed to Askelon it agrees also with the opinion of St.
Ambrose, who said that Venus is the Mitram of Persia.
Although worshipped under
different names, she is constantly the same power.
Venus and her dove have been
referred to Askelon, and yet in No. 5 we have a proof that Egypt had her Venus
and dove. This medal was from Tentyra in Egypt. Strabo mentions a temple of
Venus at Tentyra. This is a reverse of a medal of Adrian; it represents Venus
holding the dove in one hand and a staff in the other.
Venus is represented, on
various medals, in a car or chariot, drawn by tritons, one male, the other
female : the male holds a branch of palm, perhaps, in one hand; with the other
he embraces his consort, who returns the embrace with one arm: in the other
she holds a pipe, which she sounds in honor of the goddess. The goddess
herself is in the attitude of triumph, and holds in her hand the famous apple
which she won from her rivals on Mount Ida,‑a story which has not been
interpreted according to what perhaps is its true signification. All these
instances strongly connect the goddess with maritime affairs:
These are Corinthian medals,
and show that the idea of Derketos was not abandoned when her worship was
transferred from Syria into Greece.
Astarte or Ashtaroth
(Aural).‑In Scripture this word is often plural, which signifies flocks of
sheep or goats (Deut. xii. 13) ; sometimes Asera, the grove, Aseroth or Aserim,
woods, because she was goddess of woods and groves ; where, in her temples in
groves, consecrated to her, such lasciviousness was committed as rendered her
worship infamous. She was also called " queen of heaven," and sometimes her
worship is described by that of the " host of heaven."
She is almost always joined
with Baal, and is called "gods " ; Scripture having no particular word for
expressing "goddess."
It is believed that the moon
was thus adored.
Her temples generally
accompanied those of the sun; and while bloody sacrifices and human victims
were offered to Baal, bread, liquors, and perfumes were presented to Astarte.
Tables were prepared for her
on the flat terrace roofs of houses, near gates, in porches, and at
cross‑ways, on the first day of every month, which the Greeks called "
Hecate's supper." St. Jerome translates the name Astarte by Priapus, as if to
denote the licentiousness committed in her groves. The Eastern people, in many
places, worshipped the moon as a god, representing its figure with a beard and
in armor.
The statue in the temple at
Heliopolis, in Syria, was that of a woman clothed like a man (Plin. lib. v.
cap. z3).
Solomon introduced her worship
in Israel; but Jezebel, daughter of the king of Tyre, wife to Ahab,
principally established her worship.
PRIMITIVE RITES.
65 St. Austin assures us that
the Africans (descendants from the Phoenicians), maintained Astarte to be Juno
; but Herodian says the Carthaginians call the heavenly goddess, the moon,
Astroarche (Chief Star).
The Phoenicians asserted
confidently, says Cicero, that their Astarte was the Syrian Venus, born at
Tyre, and wife to Adonis; very different from the Venus of Cyprus. Lucian, who
wrote particularly concerning the goddess of Syria (Astarte), says expressly
that she is the moon, and no other ; and it is indubitable that this luminary
was worshipped under different names in the East.
On the medals she is sometimes
represented in a long habit; at other times in a short habit; sometimes
holding a long staff with a cross on its top (No. 6) ; sometimes she has a
crown of rays; sometimes she is crowned with battlements, or by a Victory. In
a medal of Cxsarea Palestinae she is in a short dress, crowned with
battlements, with a man's head in her right hand, and a staff in her left.
This is believed to be the
man's head mentioned by Lucian, which was every year brought from Egypt to
Byblus, a city of Phoenicia. [We refer to our comments on Adonis in connection
with this.] Sanconiathon says she was represented with a cow's head, the horns
describing royalty, and the lunar rays.
Maerobius says the moon was
both male and female; and adds one particular from Philocurus, that the male
sex sacrificed to him in the female habit, and the female sex in the male
habit. Though Spartian speaks of Carhm as a place famous for the worship of
Lunus, the worship was not confined to that place and to Mesopotamia, for it
was spread over all the East. The god Malach‑belus is represented on a marble,
with all the marks of the god Lunus, so as to make it appear unquestionable
that it is Lunus (No. 3).
Baal. ‑ As this personage is
so often mentioned in Scripture, and the name, as a part of compound names, is
so repeatedly used, we must give some account of him as one of the principal
gods in the western part of Asia, accompanied by representations of him copied
from ancient medals.
The word Baal or Bel, in
Hebrew, means he that rules and subdues; master, lord, or husband (governor,
ruler).
As before stated, Baal and
Ashtaroth being commonly mentioned together, and as it is believed Ashtaroth
denotes the moon, it is concluded that Baal represents the sun (see Nos. r and
z). The name Baal is generically used for the superior god of the Phoenicians,
Chaldeans, Moabites, and other parts of Western Asia.
No doubt, under the different
names peculiar to their different languages, as for instance, Chamosh or
Shemesh (Heb.), for the sun in the immediate neighborhood of Jerusalem and
elsewhere in Palestine, Baal is certainly the most ancient god of ‑the
Canaanites, and perhaps of the East.
It has been asserted by some
learned men that Baal was the Saturn of Greece and Rome; and there was a great
conformity between the rites and sacrifices offered to Saturn and what the
Scriptures relate of the sacrifices offered to Baal.
66 ANCIENT MASONRY.
Others are of the opinion that
he corresponded with Hercules, who was an original god of Phoenicia. Now, when
at this day we fully comprehend why certain names were given to certain gods,
‑ and in changing the countries where they were worshipped they were
considered different individualities,‑just so many more gods were added as so
many countries adopted the worship.
Also the name was compounded
with other names and constituted thereby other gods, but evidently the one
only, in fact: as Baal‑Peor, Baal‑Zebub, Baal‑Gad, Baal‑Zephon, Baal‑Berith ;
and the Hebrews called the sun Baal‑Shemesh (Baal the Sun).
The Persian Mithra was the
same as Baal.
The Scriptures call the
temples of the sun Chamanim.
They were places enclosed with
walls, wherein a perpetual fire was maintained.
They were frequent all over
the East, particularly in that region afterwards called Persia :
the Greeks called them pyreia,
or pyralheia, from pyr, fire, or pyra, a funeral pile. Strabo mentions them as
having in them an altar, abundance of ashes, and a perpetual fire.
From this, no doubt, arises
the fire‑worship of the Parsecs, which continues to the present day.
Adonis.‑In connection with the
worship and mysteries of Venus we must refer to those of Adonis. From Ezekiel
viii. 14 we learn that that prophet saw women sitting in the temple weeping
for Adonis; but the Hebrew reads for Tammuz, or the hidden one.
In Egypt, Adonis was called
Osiris.
The Greeks worshipped Isis and
Osiris under other names, viz. : under that of Bacchus : the Arabians called
him Adonis.
Ogygia me Bacchum canit ;
Osyrin EEgyptus vocat; Arabicus gens, Adoneum.
He was called Ammuz, or
Tammuz, the concealed, to denote the manner of his death or place of burial.
The Hebrews sometimes, in derision, called him the dead, because they wept for
him and represented him as dead in his coffin; sometimes they call him the
image of ftalousy, because he was the object of the jealousy of the god Mars.
The Syrians, Phoenicians, and Cyprians called him Adonis.
In Ammon and Moab he was np
doubt called Baal‑Peor.
The Mysteries of Adonis were
no doubt derived from the East. The Rabbins say that Tammuz was an idolatrous
prophet.
He having been put to death by
the king of Babylon, all the idols of the country flocked together about a
statue of the sun, which this prophet, who was a magician, had suspended
between heaven and earth; there they deplored his death; for which reason a
festival was instituted every year to renew the memory of this ceremony, at
the beginning of the month Tammuz.
In this temple a statue was
erected to Tammuz.
The statue was hollow, the
eyes were of lead.
Below, a gentle fire was
kindled, which insensibly heated the statue, melted the lead, and caused the
people to believe that the idol wept. During all this time the Babylonish
women who were in the temple fell shrieking, and made strange lamentations.
PRIMITIVE RITES.
67 Adonis is said to have been
born at Byblus in Phoenicia, and is supposed to have been killed by a wild
boar in the mountains of Libanus, from which the river Adonis descends.
This river once a year changes
the color of its waters, and appears as red as blood.
At this signal the feasts of
Adonia commenced, and imitated all the ceremonies of a most serious mourning
for a dead person.
The next day it was reported
that Adonis was alive and had ascended into the air.
To show the connection of
Adonis with Osiris we have this account: ‑ The common people were persuaded to
believe that the Egyptians at the feast of Adonis sent by sea a box made of
rushes and fashioned in the form of a figure, in which a letter was inclosed,
informing the inhabitants of Byblus that their god Adonis, whom they
apprehended to be lost, had been discovered. The vessel always arrived safe at
Byblus at the end of seven days.
Lucian says he was a witness
of this event.
It is thought by some of the
Ancient Fathers that this is referred to by Isaiah xviii. r : "Woe to the land
shadowing with wings, which is beyond the river of Ethiopia, that sendeth
ambassadors by the sea, even vessels of bulrushes upon the waters."
Some, as Bochart, translate `|
that sendeth images or idols by sea," but the Hebrew signifies properly
ambassadors.
The question has been asked,
To what did this worship of Adonis refer? Various opinions have been given.
Many have supposed that the death of Adonis referred to the diminution of the
solar influence during the winter months ; but as the time of the year, viz. :
August and September, i.e., fifth day of the sixth month, is not remarkable
for any lessening of the solar light and warmth, this cannot be the reason.
Second, the worship of the sun
was accidental and not primary.
Third, other ceremonies may
give light on this subject, and lead to a different opinion.
Julius Firmicus tells us that
on a certain night, while the solemnity in honor of Adonis lasted, an image
was laid in a bed or on a bier, as if it were a dead body, and great
lamentation was made over it; but after a time a light was brought in, and the
priests anointed the mouths of the assistants, whispered to them in a soft
voice, 1| Trust ye in God ; for out of pain [distress] we have received
salvation [deliverance]." These rites appear to be the same as those described
in the Orphic Argonautica, where it is said that these awful meetings began
first of all by an oath of secrecy, administered to all who were to be
initiated. Then the ceremonies commenced by a description of the Chaos, or
Abyss, and the attending confusion. The poet describes a person as a man of
justice, and mentions the orgies, or funeral lamentations on account of this
just person, and those of Arkite Athene, i.e., Divine Providence. These were
celebrated by night. After the attendants had for a long while bewailed the
'death of this just person, he was at length understood to be restored to
life, to have experi enced a resurrection, signified by a readmission of
light.
On this, the priest 68 ANCIENT
MASONRY.
addressed the company, saying,
`| Comfort yourselves, all ye who have been partakers of the Mysteries of the
Deity thus preserved, for we shall now enjoy some respite from our labors."
To which were added these
words, " I have escaped a sad calamity, and my lot is greatly mended."
The people answered, " Hail to
the Dove ! Restorer of light ! " Let us now consider what character of ancient
times would answer to the "just and upright person" (Gen. vi. q), and "who
shall comfort us concerning our work, and the toil of our hands " (Gen. v.
2q), and "who was entombed for a time." We shall find Noah to have been that
person, who was restored from a bad to a better condition; to life and light,
from his floating grave; and a " dove " appears in his history as a restorer
of hope and expectation of returning prosperity.
Noah, therefore, must have
been the original of all these ceremonials, in which the person dies; mourning
and lamentations for his death follow, and upon his restoration follow their
rejoicings.
IVdithras. ‑The highest of the
twenty‑eight second‑class divinities of the Ancient Persian Pantheon, the Izea
(Zend. Yazata), or genius of the sun and ruler of the universe. Protector and
supporter of this life, he watches over his soul in the next, defending it
against the impure spirits, and transferring it into the realms of eternal
bliss.
He is all‑seeing and
all‑hearing, and, armed with a club, his weapon against Ahriman and the evil
Devs, he unceasingly "runs his course " between heaven and earth. The ancient
monuments represent him as a be
youth dressed in Phrygian
garb, kneeling upon an ox, into whose neck he plunges a knife; several varying
minor allegorical emblems of the sun and his course surrounding the group.
At times, he is also
represented as a lion or the head of a lion.
The most important of his many
festivals was his birthday, celebrated on the 25th of December, the day
subsequently fixed ‑ against all evidence ‑ as the birthday of Christ.
The worship of Mithras (Hierocoracica,
Coracica, Sacra), which fell in the spring equinox, was famous even among the
many Roman festivals.
The ceremonies observed in the
initiation to these 'mysteries ‑ symbolical of the struggle between Ahriman
and Ormuzd (the Good and the Evil) ‑ were of the most extraordinary, and to a
certain degree, even dangerous character.
Baptism and the partaking of a
mystical liquid, consisting of flour and water, to be drank with the utterance
of sacred formulas, were among the inaugurative acts. The seven degrees
‑according to the number of the planets‑were: r. Soldiers; 2. Lions (in the
case of men), or Hyenas (in that of women) ; 3. Ravens; 4. Degree of Perses;
5. of Oromios; 6. of Helios; q. of Fathers,‑the highest,‑who were also called
Eagles and Hawks. At first, of a merry character, ‑ thus the king of Persia
was allowed to get drunk only on the Feast of the Mysteries, ‑the solemnities
gradually assumed a severe and rigorous aspect.
From Persia, the cultus of
Mithras and the Mysteries were imported into Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine,
etc., and it is not unlikely that in some parts human sacrifices were
connected with this worship.
PRIMITIVE RITES.
69 Through Rome, where this
worship was finally suppressed, A.D. 3 78, it may be presumed it found its way
into the West and North of Europe; and many tokens of its former existence in
Germany, for instance, are still to be found, such as the monuments at
Hedernheim, near Frankfort‑on‑the‑Main, and at other places. Among the chief
authorities on this subject are Anquetil du Perron, Creuzer, Silvestre de Sacy,
Lajard, O. Miiller.
Osiris, Asiris, or Hysiris
(Many‑eyed).‑The worship of Osiris was universal throughout Egypt. This name
appears as early as the fourth dynasty, in the hieroglyphic texts, and is
expressed by a throne and an eye. At a later period (nineteenth), a palanquin
is substituted for the throne; and under the Romans the pupil of the eye, for
the eye itself. In the ritual and other inscriptions he is said to be the son
of Seb, or Saturn, and Nu, or Rhea ; to be the father of Horns by Isis, who is
also called sister of Osiris. The mystic notions connected with Osiris seem to
connect him with Bacchus, or they both were derived from some original god,
who benefited mankind by travelling over the various countries and teaching
them the arts of life.
Osiris was said to be the son
of Ra (the sun), or of Atum (the setting sun), and the Bennu or Phcenix; also
to be uncreated or self‑engendered, and is sometimes identified with the sun,
or the creator, and Pluto, or judge of hades. When born, Chronos (Saturn) gave
him in charge to Pamyles. When he became king of Egypt, he is said to have
civilized the Egyptians, and to have taught them agriculture, the cultivation
of the vine, and the art of making beer. He afterwards travelled over the
earth, and, by his persuasion, overcame the people everywhere and induced them
to practise agriculture. Compare this with the sketch of Bacchus.
The myth of his destruction by
his brother, Typhon, ii so well known that we will not repeat it here. Typhon
and Osiris represent the evil and good principles by which mankind are
governed, and correspond with Ahriman and Ormuzd of the Persian system,‑with
the two principles in India.
The pentalpha, or five‑pointed
star, with the one point upward, and in its middle the face of the sun or an
eye, represents Osiris.
There existed amongst the
ancients great diversity of opinion as to the real intention or meaning of the
myth of Osiris. Plutarch says he represented the inundation of the Nile ;
Isis, the irrigated land ; Horus, the vapors ; Buto, the marshes; Nephthys,
the edge of the desert; Anubis, the barren soil; Typhon was the sea; the
conspirators, the drought; the chest, the bank of the river. The Tanaitic
branch of the river was the one, which overflowed unprofitably; the
twenty‑eight years, the number of cubits which the Nile rose at Elephantine ;
Harpocrates, the first shootings of the corn.
Such were the interpretations
of Plutarch.
There appear, however, to be
in it the dualistic principles of good and evil, represented by the benefits
derived from the influence of the daily sun, and the opposition, by night,
which hides the sun.
This, as it is said by some,
no doubt was the original significance of the myth; but time 70
ANCIENT MASONRY.
caused additions to the first
elements, and hence the blending of Osiris with other deities, especially Ptah‑Socharis,
the pigmy of Memphis, and the bull Hapis, or Apis, the Aratar of Plato. Osiris
was the head of a tetrad of deities, whose local worship was at Abydos, where
his coffin floated and was recovered.
In form, Osiris is represented
swathed, in allusion to his embalmment ; a net‑work, suggestive of the net by
which his remains were fished out of the Nile, covers this dress ; on his head
he wears the cap, Alf, having at each side the feathers of truth, of which he
was the lord.
This is placed on the horns of
a goat.
His hands hold the crook and
whip, to indicate his governing power; and his feet are based on the cubit of
truth.
A panther's skin on a pole is
often placed before him, and festoons of grapes hang over his shrine,
connecting him with Dionysos.
He wears the white or upper
crown as the `| good being," or Ounophris, the meek‑hearted, the celestial
king.
His worship extended over Asia
Minor, Greece, and Rome, and at an early day had penetrated into Phoenicia,
traces of it being found on coins of Malta and other places.
Orpheus. ‑ Supposed to be the
Vedic Ribhu, or Arbhu, an epithet both of Indra and the Sun. This is a
semi‑mythic name, of frequent occurrence in ancient Greek lore.
The early legends call him a
Oleagrus and Clio or Polymnia. different localities were pointed of Olympus
and Pangracus, the river Erupeus, the promontory of Serrhium, and several
cities. Apollo bestows upon him the lyre which Hermes invented, and by its aid
Orpheus moves men and beasts, the birds in the air, the fishes in the deep,
the trees and the rocks.
He accompanies the Argonauts
in their expedition, and the power of his music wards off all mishaps and
disasters, rocking monsters to sleep, and stopping cliffs in their downward
rush.
His wife, Eurydice (? =
Sanskrit Uru, Dawn), is bitten by a serpent ( ? = night) and dies.
Orpheus follows her into the
infernal regions, and so powerful are his "golden tones " that even stern
Pluto and Proserpina are moved to pity, while Tantalus forgets his thirst,
Ixion's wheel ceases to revolve, and the Danaides stop in their wearisome
task.
He is allowed to take her back
into the " light of heaven," but he must not look around while they ascend.
Love, or doubt, however, draw
his eyes towards her, and she is lost to him forever (? = first rays of the
sun gleaming at the dawn makes it disappear or melt into day). His death is
sudden and violent. According to some accounts, it is the thunderbolt of Zeus
that cuts him off, because he reveals the Divine Mysteries; according to
others, it is Dionysus, who, angry at his refusing to worship him, causes the
Menades to tear him to pieces, which pieces are collected and buried by the
Muses in tearful piety at Leibethra, at the foot of Mount Olympus, where a
nightingale sings over his grave.
Others, again, make the son of
Apollo and the muse Calliope, or of His native country is Thracia, where many
out as his birthplace, ‑such as the mounts PRIMITIVE RITES.
71 Thracian women divide his
limbs between them, either from excessive madness of unrequited love, or from
anger at his drawing their husbands away from them.
The faint glimmer of historic
truth hidden beneath these myths becomes clearer in those records which speak
of Orpheus as a divine bard or priest in the service of Zagreus, the Thracian
Dionysus, and founder of the Mysteries. As the first musician, he was the
inaugurator of the rites of expiation and of the mantic art, the inventor of
letters and the heroic metre, of everything, in fact, that was supposed to
have contributed to the civilization and initiation into a more humane worship
of the deity among the primitive inhabitants of Thracia and all Greece,‑ a
task to which he was supposed to have devoted his life after his return with
the Argonauts. A kind of monastic order sprang up in later times, calling
itself after him, which combined a sort of enthusiastic creed about the
migration of souls and other mystic doctrines with a semi‑ascetic life.
Abstinence from meat (not from wine), frequent purifications, the wearing of
white garments and similar things,‑not unlike some of the Essenic manners and
customs, ‑ were among their fundamental rules and ceremonies.
But after a brief duration,
the brotherhood having first, during the last days of the Roman Empire, passed
through the stage of conscious and very profitable jugglery, sank into
oblivion, together with their Orpheotelistic formulas and sacrifices, and
together with the joys of the upper, and the never‑ending punishments of the
infernal regions, which they held out to their rich dupes, according to the
sums they grudged or bestowed upon them.
The Orphic literature and
mysteries are derived from Orpheus, the real origin of which, however,
according to O. Muller, is like his own history, " unquestionably the darkest
point in the entire history of early Greek poetry." Orpheus is supposed to
have been the pupil of Apollo, as was Olen, Linus, Philammon, Eumolpus,
Musaeus, and other legendary singers of prehistoric Greece, and to have
composed certain hymns and songs used in the worship of a Dionysus, dwelling
in the infernal regions, and in the initiations into the Eleusinian Mysteries.
He was placed anterior to
Homer and Hesiod.
Herodotus and Aristotle
combated the supposed antiquity of the so‑called Orphic myths and songs of
their day, yet the entire, enormous Orphic literature, which had resulted from
them, retained its ancient authority, not only with both the Hellenists and
the Church Fathers of the third and fourth centuries A.D. (who for their
individual, albeit opposite purposes, referred to it as the most authentic
primitive source of Greek religion, from which Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Plato,
had drawn their theological philosophy), but down almost to'the last
generation, when it is irrefutably proved to be in its main bulk, as far as it
has survived the production of those very centuries, raised upon a few scanty
primitive snatches. The theogony is mainly based upon that of Hesiod, with
allegorizing and symbolizing tendencies, and to simplify the Olympic
population by compressing several deities into a single one.
72 ANCIENT MASONR Y.
Bacchus. ‑The God of wine; ‑in
Greek Bakchos, Dionysos; and in the Mysteries, Iakchos, the son of Zeus and
Semele.
When young he was carried to
Nysa in Thrace, and given in charge to the Nymphs.
Here he taught the cultivation
of the vine and other products of horticulture.
Intoxicating drinks are
attributed to his invention.
In consequence of being
smitten with madness by Here, he wandered through many countries attended by
the Nymphs, who were crowned with ivy and vine leaves and bore in their hands
the thyrsus, a pole bound round with leaves and fruit.
Wherever he came, in his wide
progress, there is a Nysa.
His worship, coming originally
from the East, was introduced into Greece by Malampus, and spread over the
whole known earth, and was modified by each people, among whom it was
practised, to suit, perhaps, their own former ideas of religious rites and
mysteries ; consequently he received a great many surnames.
He was called Lenxos, from the
wine‑vat, lenos; Bromius, from the shouting in his worship, bromos; Euios
(Latin Eviais), from the exclamation Euoi, etc.
The worship of Bacchus was
accompanied with noisy rites, games, and dramatic entertainments, wherein
there were excessive, joyful manifestations and merriment; in fact, they
degenerated in time into noisy, drunken orgies of the most extravagant
character. The festivals deserving notice were : i. The Attic Dionysia ; the
Minor or Country Dionysia were celebrated in the coun try, in the month
Poseideon, at the time of the grape‑gathering.
This was followed, in the
month Gametion, by the Lenaea, which was peculiar to Athens. After the Lenwa
came the Anthesterion, when the new wine was first drunk. Last came the Great
Dionysia, which were celebrated in the month Elaphebolion. 2. The Triateric
Dionysia‑celebrated every third year in midwinter. These were celebrated by
women and girls, and the orgies were held at night on the mountains, with
torches and wildest enthusiasm.
This mystic solem nity came
from Thrace, and its institution is referred to Orpheus.
It cannot be determined when
it was adopted in Greece.
3. The Bacchanalia, whose
foundation was laid in Athens, during the Peloponnesian War, by the
introduction of foreign rites.
From Greece they went to
Italy.
As early as 496 B.C. the Greek
worship of Bacchus was carried to Rome with that of Ceres ; Ceres, Liber, and
Libera were worshipped in the same temple. The Liberalia were celebrated on
the 1 7th of March, and were of a simpler and ruder kind than the Dionysia of
Athens.
These rites finally were
accompanied with such licentiousness as to threaten the destruction of
morality, and even of society itself. Celebrated at firstly women only, men
were afterward admitted, and were made the occasion of most unnatural
excesses.
About B.C. 186, the government
instituted an inquiry into these rites, and finally suppressed the
Bacchanalia.
After the vintage a poem was
acted at the festival of Bacchus, to whom a goat was then sacrificed as being
the destroyer of the vines, and therefore it was called tragodia, the goat's
song (Serv. ad Verg. G. II. 381). Hence the derivation of "tragedy" : tragos,
a goat; and oda, song.
HISTORY OF INITIATION.
CHAPTER III.
HISTORY OF INITIATION BY
COUNTRIES AND SYSTEMS.
Origin of Initiation. ‑Dr.
Oliver, in his history of initiation, says: ‑ "The universal deluge would
produce a tremendous effect on the minds of the survivors, and, as a knowledge
of this terrible event was propagated amongst their posterity, it would
naturally be accompanied by a veneration for the piety, and afterward for the
persons of the favored few who were preserved from destruction by the visible
interference of the Divinity. This veneration increasing with the march of
time, and with the increasing oblivion of the peculiar manner in which their
salvation was accomplished, at length assumed the form of an idolatrous
worship, and Nimrod, the first open apostate, instituted a service of divine
honors to Noah and his triple offspring, who were identified with the Sabian
worship and gave the original impulse to the helioarkite superstition.
"Hence the sun and Noah were
worshipped in conjunction with the moon and the ark, which latter subsequently
represented the female principle, and was acknowledged in different nations,
under the various appellations of Isis, Venus, Astarte, Ceres, Proserpine,
Rhea, Sita, Ceridwen, Frea, etc.; while the former, or male principle, assumed
the name of Osiris, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Bacchus, Adonis, Hu, Brahma,
Odin, etc., which by degrees introduced the abominations of the phallic
worship. When Venus represented the ark itself, Minerva the divine Wisdom and
justice, which produced the deluge and preserved the ark upon its waters, Iris
was the rainbow, and Juno the arkite dove.
"On these rude beginnings the
whole complicated machinery of the Mysteries was formed, which completely
banished, from the political horizon of idolatry, the true knowledge of God
and of a superintending providence. Each of these deities had legitimate and
appropriate symbols which ultimately became substituted for the antitype, and
introduced among mankind the worship of animals and the inanimate objects of
creation." Faber said: "The ancient mythologists considered the whole frame of
the heavens in the light of an enormous shi~. In it they placed the sun, as
the fountain of light and heat, and assigned to him, as the acknowledged
representative of the Great Father, the office of pilot" (Pag. Idol., Vol. I.
36).
In the several systems of
initiation there were involved all the confused and complicated mechanism of
their mythologies. After the candidate had passed through all preliminary
rites and ceremonies, he was subjected to a representation of a mystical death
; thereby signifying an oblivion of all the stains and imperfections of a
corrupted and an evil life ; as also a descent into hades, where every
pollution was to be purged by the lustrations, by purifications of fire,
water, and air, after which the Epopt, considered to have been regenerated, or
new born, was restored to a renovated existence of life, light, and purity,
and placed under divine protection.
The intelligent Mason will,
from this, discover the origin of the rites in the 3d degree of Symbolic
Masonry, and the 5th and 3rst degrees, A.‑.A.‑.S.‑.R.‑. The ceremony of the
Taurobolium and Criobolium, or the bloody baptism of the Bull and Ram, are
said to have originated from this regeneration.
The Mysteries, in all their
forms, were funereal.
They celebrated the 73 74
ANCIENT MASONRY.
mystical death and
revivification of some individual, by the use of emblems, symbols, and
allegorical representations.
It is said by some that the
original legend of initiation was as follows Osiris, who was the king of
Egypt, left the government of his kingdom to his wife Isis, while he travelled
among the nations around him, to confer benefits upon then by instructing them
in the arts and agriculture. Upon his return he was invited to a grand
entertainment given by his brother Typhon, in November, when the sun appears
in Scorpio.
Typhon produced a valuable
chest inlaid with gold, and promised it to any one present whose body it would
most conveniently contain. Osiris was induced to get into it, and immediately
the cover was closed, and he was fastened in it, and it was thrown into the
river.
This represented the Aphanisna
of the Mysteries.
The chest containing the body
of Osiris floated into the sea and was carried to Byblus, in Phoenicia, and
was cast up at the foot of a tamarind tree.
[The tamarind tree is a
species of acacia, and hence the use of the acacia in the burial of a Mason.]
Isis, going in search of Osiris, passed through many adventures, which are
very much varied by different authors, succeeded in obtaining the body of
Osiris, and returned to Egypt, designing to give it a splendid interment.
Typhon, however, again got possession of it, and severed it into fourteen
parts and secreted them in as many different parts of the country. Isis again
set out in search of these several parts, and succeeded in finding the
scattered fragments, and buried them in the places where they were found,
except one part.
It was then, proclaimed that
Osiris was risen from the dead;
this was the Eui esis.
These rites were celebrated in
Greece, in honor of Bacchus and Rhea; at Byblus, of Adonis and Venus; in
India, of Mahadeva and Sita; in Britain, of Hu and Ceridwen ; in Scandinavia,
of Woden and Frea ; etc.
In every moon, the sources of
light instance, these and heat.
Bryant describes the emblems
by which Rhea was designated as follows: ‑ divinities represented the sun and
" She is figured as a beautiful female personage, and has a chaplet, in which
are seen ears of corn, like rays.
Her right hand reclines on a
pillar of stone, in her left are spikes of corn, and on each side a
pomegranate.
Close by her side stands the
beehive, out of the top of which there arise corn and flowers, to denote the
renewal of seasons and promise of plenty.
In the centre of these fruits
the favorite emblem, the pomegranate, appears again, and crowns the whole."
COUNTRIES.
Hindoostan. ‑It is perhaps
possible that in this very ancient country may be found the origin of these
religious rites which spread far and wide among all the nations of the Orient.
From the annals of India we
learn that it was derived from the seven Rishis, or "penitents," whose virtues
raised them to the heavens and placed them where they have ever since
represented the constellation of the Great Bear, two of which seven stars
constantly point to the North Star.
HINDOOSTAN.
75 The word " Rishis " means
the "Shiners," and it also means a Bear, because his coat of hair shines.
These seven are supposed to
represent the seven sons of Japheth.
From Maurice, Hist. Hind.
(Vol. II. P. 45), we learn " It is related in Padmapooraun that Satyavrata,
whose miraculous preservation from a general deluge is told at large in the
Matsya, had three sons, the eldest of whom was named Jyapeti, or Lord of the
Earth; the others were Charma and Sharma, which last words are in the vulgar
dialects usually pronounced Cham and Sham, as we frequently hear Kishn for
Chrisna. The royal patriarch‑for such is his character in the Pooraun‑was
particularly fond of Jyapeti, to whom he gave all the regions to the north of
Himalaya, or the snowy mountains, which extend from sea to sea, and of which
Caucasus is a part; to Sharma he allotted the countries to the south of these
mountains; but he cursed Charma, because when the old monarch was accidentally
inebriated with strong liquor made of fermented rice, Charma laughed; and it
was in consequence of his father's execration that he became a slave to the
slaves of his brothers." It is supposed that originally the primitive
inhabitants practised a patriarchal religion; i.e., the patriarch or chief of
a family or tribe was king, priest, and prophet.
He ruled the commune, offered
all the sacriXces, and instructed his people in all religious matters.
Subsequently, when conquered
by the Cuthites under Rama, the son of Cush, referred to in Genesis x. z, q,1
the Mysteries of the deluge were introduced. The worship soon became divided
into two sects. We are not fully apprised when was first introduced the
Bramanic system, ‑composed of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, constituting the
Trimurti, ‑nor do our limits permit us to elaborate on this point; hence we
simply introduce this feature to show that, in the division referred to above,
one branch was mild and benevolent, and addressed to Vishnu, the second person
of the "Trinity," who was represented in the system as the " Preserver," and
who appeared on earth in the flesh‑and is supposed to have, in the nine
successive "Avatars," represented that number of animal forms, and
accomplished as many miraculous events for the benefit of mankind.
Compare this feature with the
subsequent acts of all the heroes, represented in all the myths as the sun.
The other system proclaimed
the superiority of Siva, whe was called the " Destroyer," and the
representative of terror and penance: barbarity and blood; in Egypt,
represented by Typhon.
These Mysteries, whatever may
have been their origin, or for what purposes they were then instituted, were
certainly a corruption of the original worship of the one Deity. They bore a
direct reference to the happiness of Man in Paradise, where he was first
placed; his subsequent deviations and transgressions, and the destruction of
the race by the general deluge. They used subterranean caverns and grottos,
formed in the solid rocks or in secret 1 "And the sons of Cush, Seba, and
Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha; and the sons of Raamah, Theba,
and Dedan."
(See Explanation of Map.) 76
' ANCIENT MASONRY.
recesses of their structures,
erected for the purpose.
The most of these Mysteries
are unknown to us.
Bryant says that the earliest
religious dance was a wild and frantic movement, accompanied with the clashing
of swords and shields, and called Bertarmus, symbolic of the confusion which
occurred when the Noachian family left the ark. The great cavern of Elephanta,
perhaps the most ancient temple in the world made by man, in which these rites
were performed, and remaining to the present day, is an evidence of the
magnitude of that system. This cavern, cut out of the solid rock, is one
hundred and thirty‑five feet square and eighteen feet high, and is supported
by four massive columns. The walls are covered with statues and emblems.
Maurice (Ind. Ant.), says: ‑ "Some of the figures have on their heads a kind
of helmet of a pyramidal form; others wear crowns, rich with devices, and
splendidly decorated with jewels; while others display only large bushy
ringlets of curled or flowing hair. Many of them have four hands, many have
six, and in these hands they grasp sceptres and shields, the symbols of
justice and ensigns of religion, the weapons of war and trophies of peace."
The caverns of Salsette, of which there are three hundred, all have within
them carved and emblematic characters. The different ranges of apartments are
connected by open galleries, and only by private entrances could the most
secret caverns, which contained the ineffable symbols, be approached, and so
curiously contrived as to give the highest effect upon the neophytes when in
the ceremonial of initiation.
A cubical cista, used for the
periodical sepulture of the aspirant, was located in the most secret recesses
of the cavern.
The consecrated water of
absolution was held in a carved basin in every cavern, and on the surface
floated the flowers of the lotus.
The Linga or Phallus appeared
everywhere most conspicuous, and oftentimes in situations too disgusting to be
mentioned.
Dr. Buchanan (Res. in Asia),
says, "The tower of juggernaut is covered with indecent emblems, which are
newly painted when it is exhibited in public, and are objects of sensual gaze
by both sexes." The increase and decrease of the moon were the periods by
which initiations were governed. The Mysteries were divided into four degrees.
The Hitopadesa says, " Let even the wretched man practise virtue whenever he
enjoys one of the three or four religious degrees: let him be even‑minded with
all created things, and that disposition will be the source of virtue."
Candidates were admitted to the lesser Mysteries at the early age of eight
years. This consisted in the investiture of the Zennar, a sacred cord of three
threads, supposed to'refer to the three modes of purification; viz. : earth,
fire, and air: water with them was air in a condensed form.
Sacrifices to the sun, to the
planets, and to household gods, were made, accompanied with ablutions of
water, purifications with dung and urine of the cow. This last was because the
dung was the medium by which the soil was made fertile, and reminded them of
the doctrine of " corruption and reproduction" taught in the worship of Siva,
that it was necessary for man to die, HINDOOST.4N.
77 his body to suffer
corruption before it could be clothed with immortality by a resurrection. It
is possible that their observation of nature taught them that the seed must
die or suffer fermentation in the ground before the plant could be produced.
Christ said the same to his
disciples : " Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth much
fruit." After the completion of the ceremonies, a lecture was given‑much too
difficult for the juvenile comprehension‑which principally related to the
Unity and Trinity of the Godhead, the manner of using the consecrated fire,
and the rites of morning, noon, and evening. A linen garment without seam was
put on him, a cord put over the right ear as a means of purification, and he
was then placed in charge of a Brahmin to be instructed for advancement. After
enduring many hardships, trials, and rigid penances, restricted from all
indulgences, he passed his time mostly in prayer and ablutions until the age
of twenty.
He was to preserve the purity
of his body, which was termed the city with nine gates, in which his soul was
a prisoner; he must eat properly; was instructed in all the minute ceremonies
which were adapted to every act of his future life, and by which he was to be
distinguished from the uninitiated. He was to study the sacred books, that he
might have a competent knowledge of the institution, ceremonies, and
traditions of religion, which would qualify him for the next degree.
Having attained the suitable
age, if, upon due examination, he was found to be qualified by proper progress
in all the essentials of the first degree, he was permitted to enter upon the
probationary ceremonies of the second.
His austerities were
increased.
He supported himself by
begging charity.
Prayer, ablutions, and
sacrifices occupied his days, and the study of the heavens his nights; and,
for the necessary rest and repose from his arduous and almost exhausting
duties, the first tree afforded him shelter; and, after a short sleep, he
arose to contemplate the constellations in the skies, which were thought to
resemble various monsters.
Sir William Jones in his works
tells us " In the hot season he sat exposed to five fires, four blazing around
him, with the sun above ; in the rain he stood uncovered, without even a
mantle, when the clouds poured the heaviest showers ; in the cold season he
wore wet clothing, and went on increasing by degrees the austerity of his
devotion." Having finished this probation, he was initiated into the
privileges of the Mysteries.
The cross was marked on every
part of his body, and he passed the probation of the Pastos or Coffin, ‑ which
was called the door of Patala or hell, ‑the Tartarus of the Grecian Mysteries.
Having finished all his
purifications, at the dead hour of night he was conducted to the mysterious
cavern of gloom, duly prepared for his reception, which shone with. light
almost equal to that of the sun, proceeding from an immense number of lamps.
In rich and costly robes, the three hierophants occupied the east, west, and
south, representing Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva.
78 ANCIENT MASONRY.
When the sun rises in the
east, he is called Brahma; when in the meridian, he is Vishnu; and at his
setting, he is Siva. The Mystagogues were seated around. The aspirant was
conducted to the centre of this august assembly. An anthem was sung to the God
of Nature, as the Creator, Preserver, or Destroyer, and an apostrophe was
addressed to the sun, viz. : ‑ " O mighty being, greater than Brahma, we bow
down before thee as the prime Creator! Eternal God of gods!
The world's mansion!
Thou art the uncorruptible
Being, distinct from all things transient!
Thou art before all gods, the
ancient Pooroosh, and the supreme supporter of the universe!
Thou art the supreme mansion 1
And by thee, O infinite form,
the universe was spread abroad!" The aspirant is then called upon to declare
that he will be obedient to his superiors, that he will keep his body pure,
keep a tongue of good report, passively obey and receive the doctrines and
traditions, and maintain the strictest secrecy as to the abstruse Mysteries.
Having assented to this declaration, he was sprinkled with water, an
incantation was pronounced over him or whispered in his right ear, he was then
divested of his shoes and was made to circumambulate the cavern three times,
and was made to exclaim, || I copy the example of the sun, and follow his
benevolent course." He was again placed in the centre, and enjoined to
practise the religious austerities, to prepare his soul for ultimate
absorption.
He was informed that the merit
of such works deserved a splendor which makes man superior to the gods, and
renders them subservient to his wishes.
He was then given in charge to
a spiritual guide, and required to maintain a profound silence during the
succeeding ceremonies, and should he violate this injunction the presiding
Brahmin could instantly strike him dead.
The bewailings for the loss of
Sita then began.
The aspirant was conducted
through seven rafiges of gloomy caverns, amidst the dismal lamentations,
cries, and shrieks, to represent the bewailings of Mahadeva, who, it is said,
circumambulated the world seven times, carrying the remains of his murdered
consort upon his shoulders.
To show the coincidences
between this rite of India and Egypt, we give another account, which states
that when Mahadeva received the curse of some devotees, whom he had disturbed
at their devotions, he was deprived of his lingam, which in the end proved
fatal to his life.
His consort wandered over the
earth and filled the world with her bewailings.
Mahadeva was at length
restored under the form of Iswara, and united once more to his beloved Sita.
Amidst all the confusion a
sudden explosion was heard, which was followed by a dead silence. Flashes of
brilliant light were succeeded by darkness. Phantoms and shadows of various
forms, surrounded by rays of light, flitted across the gloom.
Some with many hands, arms,
and legs ; others without them; sometimes a shapeless trunk, then a human body
with the head of a bird, or beast, or a fish; all manner of incongruous forms
and bodies were seen, and all calculated to excite terror in the mind of the
postulant.
HIA'DOOSTAN.
Among these he saw a terrible
figure who had "A gorgeous appearance, with unnumbered heads, each having a
crown set with resplendent jewels, one of which excelled the others; his eyes
gleamed like flaming torches, but his neck, his tongues, and his body were
black; the skirts of his garments were yellow, and sparkling jewels hung in
all of his cars; his arms were extended, and adorned with bracelets, and his
hands bore the holy shell, the radiated weapon, the war mace, and the sacred
lotus. This image represented Mahadeva himself, in his character of the
Destroyer.
"It is said in explanation,
that these appearances were designed as a type of the original generation of
the gods; for it was figured, that as Sita was carried by Mahadeva, her body
burst open, and the gods contained in her womb were scattered over the whole
earth, and the places where they fell were called sacred.
"In the legend of Osiris, when
his body had been cut in pieces, and afterward each part buried where found by
Isis, that particular locality was deemed sacred. The introduction of the
lingam, in each of these legends, no doubt refers to the same original myth.
"Succeeding to this, the
candidate was made to represent the god Vishnu, and imitate his several
Avatars; and, following Dr. Oliver's conjecture, he was first plunged into the
waters to represent the fish‑god, who descended to the bottom of the ocean to
recover the stolen Vedas. This was called the Matse Avatar, and gives an
account of the general deluge. The Vedas were stolen by the demon Hayagriva,
who swallowed them, and retired to a secret place at the bottom of the sea;
these books being lost, mankind fell into vice and wickedness, the world was
destroyed by a flood of waters, except a pious monarch with his family of
seven persons, who were preserved in a vessel built under the direction of
Vishnu.
"When the waters had attained
their greatest elevation this god plunged into the ocean, attacked and slew
the giant, who was the cause of this great calamity, and recovered three of
the books from the monster's abdomen, the fourth having been digested. Then
emerging from the waves, half man, half fish, he presented the Vedas to
Brahma; and the earth, resuming its former state, was repeopled by the eight
persons who had been miraculously preserved."
(Maur., Ind. Ant., Vol. II.,
p. 353.)
(Fig 7.) "Another Avatar was
also a figurative account of the deluge.
Satyavrata, a king of India,
was instructed by a fish, that in seven days the world would be inundated; but
that a ship would be sent in which himself and seven holy companions would be
preserved.
These persons entered the
vessel, and the waters prevailed so extensively as to destroy all created
matter.
The Soors then held a
consultation on the summit of Mount Mera to discover the Amreeta, or water of
immortality, allusive to the reanimation of nature; and learned that it could
be produced only by the violent revolution of the Mountain Mandar, which the
Dewtahs found themselves unable to move.
In despair, they solicited the
aid of Brahma and Vishnu, who instructed them how to proceed; the Serpent
Vasooke wound the folds of his enormous body round the mountain like a cable,
and Vishnu becoming incarnate in the form of a tortoise, took the mountain on
his back. Thus loosened from its foundation, Indra began to whirl the mountain
about with incessant motion with the assistance of the Assoors, who were
employed at the serpent's head, and the Soors who were at the tail (see Fig.
r7).
Soon the violence of the
motion produced a stream of smoke, fire, and wind, which ascending in thick
clouds, replete with lightning, it began to rain furiously, while the roaring
of the Ocean was tremendous.
The various productions of the
waters were torn to pieces; the fi uits of the earth were annihilated, and a
raging fire spread destruction all around. At length a stream of the concocted
juice of the dissolved matter ran down the mountain mixed with molten gold,
from whence the Soors obtained the water of immortality, or, in other words,
the restoration of nature from the power of the triumphant waters."
(Maur., Ind. Ant., Vol. II.,
P. 343.) "Then the Soors and Assoors commenced a dreadful battle for the
possession of this glorious water, which at length was decided in favor of the
Seers, and their opponents fled; some rushing headlong into the ocean, and
others hiding themselves in the bowels of the earth. The Mountain Mander was
then carefully replaced in its former station and the waters restored to their
primitive caverns and recesses.
"The candidate was directed to
descend into a lower cavern on hands and feet, through a passage barely large
enough to admit him.
Here he met an antagonist, and
a mimic battle 79 80 ANCIENT MASONRY.
followed, and the aspirant was
victorious.
Elated with his conquest, the
gigantic monster attacked him and he was again the conqueror.
He was then taught to take
three steps at right angles, which referred to the fifth manifestation [which
are now used in 3d degree, French rite].
As a diminutive Brahmin,
Vishnu demanded of the impious tyrant Bali as much ground for sacrifice as
would suffice to place three feet upon.
The tyrant granted this.
Vishnu, resuming his own form,
with one foot covered the earth, with the other he filled all space between
earth and heaven, and with a third, which sprang from his belly, he crushed
the monsters head, and hurled him down to the infernal regions.
"In the remaining Avatars he
passed through a series of furious conflicts, not without wounds and bruises.
In the sixth Avatar, in the
human form, Vishnu encountered and overcame hosts of giants and tyrants.
The seventh Avatar is a
complete and voluminous romance; under the name of Rama, he is represented as
a valiant and successful warrior.
With a vast army of monkeys
and satyrs, in battle array, he accomplished many wonderful adventures.
In the eighth Avatar he slew a
host of giants, armed only with an enormous serpent, and in the ninth he
transformed himself into a tree to gratify a criminal passion for a king's
daughter.
The Hindoos still expect the
tenth Avatar with the same impatience which the Jews manifest for their
Messiah. Sir William Jones says, that in this Avatar 'lie is expected to
appear mounted (like the crowned conquerors in the Apocalypse), on a white
horse, with a cimeter, blazing like a comet, to cut down all incorrigible and
impenitent offenders who shall then be on the earth."'
(Asiatic Rev., Vol. I., p.
236.) It was necessary that the candidate should undergo all these dangers and
trials to make him equal to the gods.
Having passed through the
seven mystic caverns, a cheerful sound of bells was heard, which he was told
would expel the evil demons who might be inclined to disturb the sacred
ceremonies in which they were engaged.
Prior to his introduction into
the presence of the holy altar, he was informed that " whatever is performed
without faith, whatever it might be, is not for this world, or that which is
above." IIe was admonished not to commit five crimes, under heavy penalties in
this life, and to be punished with eternal vengeance in the next. These
particulars formed a part of the oath under which he was now solemnly bound,
and he sealed it by a ablution.
The seven caverns bore seven
places of reward and into their creeds.
The crisis of the ceremony of
initiation summit of interest; the Mystical conch was sounded, the folding
doors were thrown open, and the candidate was ushered into Callasa or Paradise
(this was the actual name of one of the grottos in the subterranean temple of
Elora, and Faber supposed it to have been the illuminated sacellum into which
the aspirants were introduced).
This spacious apartment was
lighted by a thousand brilliant lamps.
It was ornamented with statues
and emblems, scented with the rich fragrance of odorous flowers, aromatics,
and drugs, decorated profusely with valuable gems and jewels. The figures of
the inhabitants of unknown worlds were carved in the ceiling; and the splendid
sacellum thronged with priests, arrayed in gorgeous vestments and crowned with
mitres and tiaras of burnished gold. He was taught to expect the sacred an
allusion to the metempsychosis as well as to the punishment which different
nations have admitted had now arrived,‑and reached the HINDOOSTAN.
gI descent of the deity in the
bright pyramids of fire that blazed upon the altar, to which he was to direct
his eyes.
, " The sudden sound` of the
shell or trumpet, the expansion of the folding doors, the brilliant display,
the instantaneous prostration of the priests, and the profound silence which
ensued, were designed to fill the mind of the aspirant with admiration, and
inspire him with the holy fervor of adoration; and, in the enthusiasm which
followed, he could almost persuade himself that he saw the great Brahma seated
on the lotus, with his four heads, and having in his hands the emblems of
eternity and omnipotence, the circle and fire." The circle or ring is the
symbol of the Ark; and as the great Father was hidden within its enclosure
during the flood of waters, many fables sprang out of this connection; one of
which was the " Ring of Gyges," which was reputed to render the wearer
invisible.
"Gyges," Said Plato, " found a
brazen horse in a cavern.
Within the horse was hid the
body of a man of gigantic stature, having a brazen ring on his finger.
This ring Gyges took, and
found that it rendered him invisible."
The cavern, the ring, and the
giant show pretty evidently whence this fable originated. The mare was a form
of Ceres or Hippa, the Mystic nurse of the ark‑exposed Bacchus or Noah. The
man, therefore, was the ark; the dead giant was the gigantic Buddha, or the
great Father, during the period of his death‑like slumber while enclosed
witYiin the ark; and the cavern was one of those sacred grottos, within which
the Mysteries were perpetually celebrated; and from which both he and his
initiated votaries were feigned to be born again.
(Fab., Pag. Idol.).
We cannot see clearly the
above explanation, but give it as we find it in Faber's " Pagan Idolatry." No
explanation is given of the ring. The mystery connected with its power of
concealment is not explained; yet the ring appears in the legends and myths of
various countries, and is constantly used in the A.‑. A.‑. S.‑. R.‑., and no
doubt was derived from the " Ring of Gyges," when first adopted in the rite.
In reference to the fire, we
find in "Asia. Res." Vol. II, 355, that '| Suddenly a golden temple appeared,
containing a chain of wrought gold.
On the summit of the temple
Brahma alighted, and held a canopy over the head of Sacya; while Indra, with a
fan in his hand, Naga, prince of serpents, and the four tutelary deities of
the four corners of the universe, attended to do him reverence and service."
The aspirant, who had become fatigued by all of these tedious ceremonies, was
then given a potation of fermented liquor, from a human skull.' Being a
regenerated being, a new name was bestowed upon him, which indicated his then
purity, and was presented to the Chief Brahmin, and was received by him as a
brother and companion.
He was then invested with a
white robe and tiara, placed in an elevated seat, and instructed in the
various tokens and signs, and also in the explanations of the Mysteries.
A cross, the sectarial mark
called Tiluka, was placed on his forehead, and explained to be the symbol of
the four cardinal points of the world.
The tau cross or inverted
level was inscribed on his breast, the badge of innocence and the symbol of
eternal life, to indicate his newly acquired dignity, which advanced him to
the superior order of priesthood.
The sacred sash or belt was
presented and placed upon him.
This cord could be woven only
by a Brahmin, and by him with the utmost solemnity and by many mystic rites.
Three threads, each measuring
ninety‑sir, hands, are first twisted together, then they are folded into three
and 1 Old Simon.
twisted again, making nine, or
three times three threads; this is folded again into three, but not twisted,
and each end is secured by a knot. This is the Zennar, which is placed on the
left shoulder, passes to the right side, and hangs down as low as the fingers
can reach (Ind. Ant., Vol. IV. p. 740).
In addition, he has the
consecrated chaplet, the Kowsteke‑Men or Kowstooble, and the talismanic tablet
for the left arm. An amulet was given to him, which was the '| Salagram " or
magical black‑stone, which insured the protection of Vishnu, whose various
forms he had represented emblematically. The serpent‑stone, as an antidote
against the bite of serpents, which is an amulet similar to the anguinum of
the Druids, was also given to him.
He was instructed in the art
of composing amulets for his own safety, and incantations to injure, torture,
or destroy his enemies, and finally, when all other things had been completed,
he was solemnly and in a mysterious manner intrusted with the sublime NAME,
known only to those initiated into the higher Mysteries. The NAME was
pronounced OM, and was expressed by the letters A. U. M. Niebuhr, cited by
Southey, Thalaba, says: "The Mahommedans, in common with the Jews and
idolaters, attach to the knowledge of this Sacred Name the most wonderful
powers.
They pretend that God is the
Lock of Islam Allah, or science of the name of God, and Mohammed the King;
that consequently none but Mohammedans can attain to it; that it discovers
what passes in distant countries ; that it familiarizes the possessors with
the genii, who are at the command of the initiated, and who instruct them ;
that it places the winds and the seasons at their disposal ; that it heals the
bite of serpents, the lame, the maimed, and the blind."
In the oracles ascribed to
Zoroaster is a passage which pronounces the sacred Names used in the Mysteries
to be ineffable, and not to be changed, because revealed by himself.
Wilkins, in his notes on
Bhagvad‑Glta, says: "This mystic emblem of the deity, ' OM,' is forbidden to
be pronounced but in silence."
The first letter stands for
the Creator, the second for the Preserver, and the third for the Destroyer.
Maurice, || Indian
Antiquities," says, || The perfections of God are thus described in the last
book of the Ramayan, translated by Sir William Jones, ` Vishnu is the being of
beings ; one substance in three forms ; without mode, without quality, without
passion; immense, incomprehensible, infinite, indivisible, immutable,
incorporeal, irre sistible.
His operations no mind can
conceive, and his will moves all the inhabitants of the universe as puppets
are moved by strings.'"
Mr. Faber says that this
cypher graphically exhibits the divine triad, Batrama, Subhadra, and Jagannath.
In an old Purana, as we learn
from the Abbe du Bois, the following passage is found, which shows the
veneration displayed by the ancient Indians for this tremendous word : " All
the rights ordained in the Vedas, the sacrifices to the fire, and all other
solemn purifications shall pass away, but that which shall never pass away is
the word OM, for it is the symbol of the Lord of all things."
After the communication of
this word, the aspirant, now a priest, was instructed that he must meditate
upon it, " with the following HINDOOST.4N.
83 associations, which are the
mysterious names of the seven worlds, or manifestations of the power of OM,
the solar fire. OM ! earth, sky, heaven, middle region, place of births,
mansion of the blessed, abode Of TRUTH." The various emblems were then
explained to him by the Chief Brahmin, with the arcana of the hidden science
enfolded under the holy gloom of their mysterious veil, the names and
attributes of all the deities whose symbols were sculptured on the walls, and
the mythological figures were elucidated." The system of symbolic instruction
used in the Mysteries was very extensive and highly philosophic, and none but
the initiated could comprehend them.
Stukely says the first
learning in the world consisted chiefly in symbols. The wisdom of the
Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Jews, of Zoroaster, Sanconiathon,
Pherecydes, Syrus, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, of all the ancients that is
come to our hand, is symbolic. "It was the mode," says Sacranus on Plato's
symposium, "of the ancient philosophers to represent truth by certain symbols
and hidden images." In the method explaining the various symbols, religion and
philosophy were veiled in allegoric representations. To the profane
unintelligible, and which were calculated to lead them erroneously, these
symbols were displayed openly in the temples; and to the profane altogether
obscure, but streaming with beams of light to the initiated.
The principles, taught in the
lecture to the initiated, were : ‑ " The first element and cause of all things
was water, which existed amidst primordial darkness.
Brahma was the creator of this
globe, and by his spirit invigorates the seventy‑four powers of nature; but
the universe is without beginning and without end.
He is the being who was, and
is, and is to come; and his emblem was a perfect sphere, endowed with the
attributes of omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, and was designated;
'The great God, the great Omnipotent and Omniscient ONE; the greatest in the
world, the LORD.'" Captain Seely, " Wonders of Elora," says "there is no idol
in front of the great altar in the temple of Ekverah, or at Elora; the
umbrella covering rises from a wooden pedestal out of the convexity of the
altar. A Brahmin, whom I questioned on the subject of the altar, exclaimed, in
nearly the words of our own poet, `Him first, Hint last, Him midst, Him
without egad.' "
In alluding to the Almighty,
he nearly spoke as above described, placing his hand on this circular solid
mass.
He rejected all idea of
assimilating Buddha or Brahma with the eternal God, who, he said, was One
alone, from beginning to end; and that the circular altar was his emblem.
Colebrooke, " Asiatic
Researches," tells us this Being was identified with LIGHT; for the Brahmins
say: " Because the Being who shines with seven rays, assuming the forms of
time and fire, matures productions, is resplendent, illuminates, and finally
destroys the universe, therefore he who shines naturally with seven rays is
called Light, or the effulgent power."
Thus Brahm is Light; and light
is the principle of life in every created thing.
11 Light and darkness 84
ANCIENT MASONRY.
are esteemed the world's
eternal ways.
He who walketh in the former
path returneth not; i.e., he goeth immediately to bliss; while he who walketh
in the latter cometh back again upon the earth." We have devoted much space to
Hindooism because, in the country of India, the ideas concerning the creation
of all things, the deity, and religious observances, originated; and from
these the Mysteries sprang which were disseminated throughout the entire
world. The coincidences are so manifest that we must conclude that from these
Hindoo Mysteries were propagated all those in China and Persia, and that they
spread towards the west of Asia, and were carried into Egypt, and from thence,
as the Mysteries of Osiris and Isis, were imported into Greece.
A few facts of great
prominence may be adduced as sufficient to prove that, in those several
countries, the rites were derived from the same original sources.
Avatars of Vishnu.‑First.
Matsaya‑which is fabled to have assumed the form of a fish, to restore the
lost Veda which had been stolen from Brahma in his sleep by the demon
Hayagriva. This, and the second and third Avatars, seem to refer to the
universal deluge; and the present would appear as the announcement of it to a
pious king, Satyavrata, who is considered by some to have been Noah. He
appeared first in the shape of a minute fish to the devout monarch to try his
piety and benevolence, then gradually expanding himself he became one of
immense magnitude. He subsequently disclosed himself and finally announced the
flood.
"In seven days from the
present time the three worlds will be plunged in an ocean of death; but, in
the midst of the destroying waves, a large vessel sent by me for thy use shall
stand before thee.
Then shalt thou take all
medicinal herbs, all variety of seeds, and accompanied by seven saints,
encircled by pairs of all brute animals, thou shalt enter the spacious ark,
and continue in it, secure from the flood, on an immense ocean, without light,
except the radiance of thy holy companions.
When the ship shall be
agitated by an impetuous wind thou shalt fasten it with a large sea‑serpent to
myòhorn, for I will be near thee, drawing the vessel with thee and thy
attendants.
I will remain on the ocean
until a day of Brahma [a year] shall be completely ended." (Maurice).
When the deluge was abated and
mankind destroyed, except Satyavrata and his companions, Vishnu slew the demon
Hayagriva and recovered the lost Veda, or in other words, when the wicked were
destroyed by the deluge, sin no longer prevailed, and virtue was restored to
the world.
Second. Vishnu assumed the
form of an immense tortoise, to support the earth while the gods and genii
churned with it the ocean. He is represented as a tortoise, sustaining a
circular pillar which is crowned by the lotus throne, on which sits the
semblance of Vishnu in all his attributes. A huge serpent encircles the
pillar, one end is held by the gods and the other by the daityas or demons.
By this churning the sea was
converted into milk, and then into butter, from which, among other things, was
produced the Antrita or water of life drank by the Immortals.
An extraordinary belief
prevailed among the Iroquois Indians, in which the tortoise is imagined to
have acted an equally important part in the formation of the globe. They
believed that before that period there were six male beings who existed in the
regions of the air, but were nevertheless subjected to mortality.
Among them there was no female
to perpetuate their race, but they learned that there was one in heaven, and
it was agreed that one of them should undertake the dangerous task of
endeavoring to bring her away.
The difficulty was how he
should get there; for although he floated in oether, it appears he could not
soar to the celestial realms.
A bird, therefore (but whether
the eagle of Jove, or the Garuda of Vishnu, or of what other kind we are not
told), became his vehicle, and conveyed him thither on his back.
He saw the female and seduced
her by (what too many ladies at the present day are led astray by), flattery
and presents, but of what kind we are also unfortunately left in ignorance.
The Supreme Deity knowing what
had taken place immediately turned her, like another Eve, out of Paradise, and
she was received by a tortoise on its back, when the otter (a most important
party in North American legends), and the fishes disturbed the mud at the
bottom of the ocean, and drawing it up around the tortoise, formed a small
island, which gradually increasing became the earth. The female had, at first,
two sons (one of whom slew the other), and afterwards, several children from
whom sprung the rest of mankind.
China. ‑ In Maurice, " Indian
Antiquities," we learn that " the Chinese practised Buddhism in its simple
form, and worshipped an invisible God, until a few centuries B.c., after which
visible objects were adored. 600 B.c. a system was introduced similar to that
of Epicurus, and its followers were called `Immortals'; while the Chinese were
materialists, they were nevertheless worshippers of idols. In a very short
period of time the Chinese became as noted for the multiplicity of the objects
of adoration as any other nation." Confucius endeavored to introduce a
reformation of the abuses ; licentiousness however, long continued, would not
submit to his system of mortifications and an austere virtue. His admonitions
were not regarded; he was despised by the Mandarins for instituting a
reformation in their Mysteries, which were then, as practised, the main source
of all their wealth and of their power; and an attempt was made to put him out
of the way, and he was forced to flee from their society to avoid their
machinations to destroy him.
He then, in his retirement,
organized a school of philosophy ; and all who were in any manner inspired
with a love of virtue and science, were induced to follow him. The effects of
his system were reserved for posterity.
He made a prediction on his
death‑bed that there would come in the West a GREAT PROPHET, who should
deliver mankind from the bondage of error and superstition, and set up an
universal religion to be ultimately embraced by all the nations of . the
earth.
His followers supposed that
this was no other than Buddha or Fo himself, and he was accordingly, with
solemn pomp, installed into their temples as the chief deity of the Chinese
empire : ‑ "Other idolatrous customs were introduced, and ideal objects of
worship, attended with indecent and unnatural rites, accumulated so rapidly
that China soon became celebrated for the practice of every impurity and
abomination.
"The initiations were
performed in a cavern; after which, processions were made around the Tan or
altar, and sacrifices made to the celestial gods. The chief end of initiation
was a fictitious immortality or absorption into the Deity; and, to secure this
admirable state of supreme and never changing felicity, amulets were as usual
delivered to the initiates, accompanied by the magic words, O‑MI‑To Fo, which
denoted the omnipotence of the divinity, and was considered as a most complete
purification and remission of every sin.
Sir William Jones says, '
Omito was derived from the Sanskrit Armida, immeasurable, and Fo was a name
for Buddha.' " Much merit was attached to the possession of a consecrated
symbol representing the great triad of the Gentile world.
This was an equilateral
triangle, said to afford protection in all cases of personal danger and
adversity.
The mystical symbol Y was also
much esteemed from its allusion to the same Triune‑God, the three distinct
lines of which it is composed forming one, and the one is three.
This was in effect the
ineffable name of the deity, the Tetractys 'of Pythagoras, and the
Tetragrammaton of the Jews.
"A ring, supported by two
serpents, was emblematic of the world protected by the wisdom and power of the
Creator, and referred to the diluvian patriarch and his symbolic consort, the
ark; and the ark itself was represented by a boat, a mouth, and number $.
'Tao, or reason, has produced one; one hath produced two; two hath produced
three; and three hath produced all things."' 86
ANCIENT MASONRY.
There was a superstition for
odd numbers as containing divine properties. Thus, while the sum of the even
numbers, a + 4 ‑h 6 + 8 ‑f‑ 10 = 30, the number of earth, the sum of the odd
numbers, r ‑}‑ 3 + 5 + 7 ‑{‑ 9 = 25, was called the number of heaven.
This we presume gave rise to
the name of "mystic" to the odd numbers. The rainbow was the universal symbol
in all the systems of which we have any knowledge, and demonstrates that these
Mysteries must have referred to the deluge. The aspirant represented Noah; the
ark, which was called his mother, as well as his wife, was surrounded by a
rainbow at the time of his deliverance or new birth; hence he was figuratively
said to be the offspring of the rainbow.
Japan.‑"The Japanese believed
that the world was enclosed in an egg before the creation, which floated on
the surface of the waters. At this period a prickle appeared among the waves
which became spirit, from which sprang six other spirits, who, with their
wives, were the parents of a race of heroes, from whom proceeded the original
inhabitants of Japan.
They worshipped a deity who
was styled the son of the unknown god, and considered as the creator of the
two great lights of heaven.
"The egg was always esteemed
an emblem of the earth.
"There is a pagoda at Micoa
consecrated to a hieroglyphic bull, which is placed on a large square altar
and composed of solid gold. His neck is adorned with a very costly collar. The
most remarkable thing is the egg, which he pushes with his horns, and he grips
it with his forefeet. This bull is placed on the summit of a rock, and the egg
floats in water which is enclosed in a hollow space in it.
The egg represents the chaos;
and what follows is the illustration which the doctors of Japan have given of
this hieroglyphic.
The whole world at the time of
the chaos was enclosed within this egg, which floated on the surface of the
waters.
The moon, by virtue of her
light and other influences, attracted from the bottom of these waters a
terrestrial substance which was insensibly converted into a rock, and by that
means the egg rested upon it.
The bull observing this egg,
broke the shell of it by goring it with his horns, and so created the world,
and by his breath formed the human species." This fable may in some measure be
reconciled with truth, by supposing that an ancient tradition had preserved
among the Japanese some idea of the world, but that being led into an error,
in process of time, by an ambiguous meaning of the name of the bull, which in
the Hebrew language is attributed to the Deity, they ascribed the creation of
the world, to this animal and not to the Supreme Being.
To the prickle among the waves
" May be referred the Gothic idol Seater, which is thus described by Verstegan
from Johannes Pomarius ('Restitution of Decayed Intelligence').
First on a pillar was placed a
perch on the sharp prickled back whereofstood this idol.
He was lean of visage, having
long hair and a long beard, and was bare‑headed and bare‑footed.
In his left hand he held up a
wheel; and in his right he carried a pail of water, wherein were flowers and
fruits.
His long coat was girded on
him with a towel of white linen.
His standing on the sharp fins
of this fish was to signify that the Saxons, for serving him, should pass
steadfastly and without harm in dangerous and difficult places.
"The caverns of initiation
were in the immediate vicinity of the temples, and generally in the midst of a
grove, and near a stream of water. They had mirrors, which were to signify
that the imperfections of the heart were as plainly displayed to the sight of
the gods, as the worshippers behold their own image in the mirror.
Hence it became a significant
emblem of the all‑observing eye of the god, Tensio Dai Sin.
"The term of probation for the
highest degrees was twenty years;
and even the hierophant was
not competent to perform the ceremony until he himself had been initiated the
same period; and his five assistants must have had ten years' experience from
the date of their admission before they were considered competent to take this
subordinate part of initiation. The aspirant was taught to subdue his
passions, and devote himself to the practice of austerities, and studiously
abstain from every carnal indulgence.
"In the closing ceremony of
preparation, ha was entombed within the pastas, or place of penance, the door
of which was said to be guarded by a terrible divinity, armed with a
drawn‑sword, as the vindictive fury or god of punishment. During the course of
his probation the aspirant sometimes acquired such a high degree of enthusiasm
as induced him to refuse to quit his confinement in the pastos; and to remain
there until he literally perished with famine. To this voluntary martyrdom was
attached a promise of never‑ending happiness in the paradise of Amidas.
Indeed, the merit of such a sacrifice was boundless. His memory was celebrated
with unusual rejoicings.
The initiations, however, were
dignified with an assurance of a happy immortality to all, who passed through
the rites honorably and with becoming fortitude.
"Rings or circles of gold as
amulets were worn as emblems of eternity, virtually consecrated, and were
supposed to convey the blessing of a long and prosperous life; and a chaplet
of consecrated flowers or sacred plants and boughs of trees, which, being
suspended about the doors o. their apartments, prevented the ingress of impure
spirits; and hence their dwellings were exempted from the visitations of
disease or calamity." Persia. ‑To Zerdusht, or Zoroaster, were the mysteries
of Persia indebted for their celebrity.
Hyde and Prideaux, in this
connection, state that Zoro aster was of Jewish birth.
Such a person did live in
Persia some time about the latter end of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon.
The period is very uncertain,
but all authorities agree as to the fact of his existence in that region of
the East, and his great work in the 1| reformation," or change made in the
religious worship of the people in and around Persia.
Sir John Malcolm, "History of
Persia," says: ‑ " A Persian author has declared that the religious among the
followers of Zoroaster believed that the soul of that holy person was created
by God, and hung upon that tree from which all that is celestial has been
produced. . . . I have heard the wise and holy Mobud Seeroosh declare that the
father of Zoroaster had a cow, which after tasting some withered leaves that
had fallen from the tree, never ate of any other; these leaves being her sole
food, all the milk she pro duced was from them.
The father of Zoroaster (Poorshasp)
was entirely supported by this milk; and to it, in consequence, they refer the
pregnancy of his mother, whose name was Daghda." Another account is that the
cow ate the soul of Zoroaster as it hung on the tree, and that it passed
through her milk to the father of that prophet. The apparent object of this
statement is to prove that Zoroaster was born in innocence, and that not even
vegetable life was destroyed to give him existence.
When he was born he burst into
a loud laugh, like the prince of necromancers, Merlin, and such a light shone
from his body as illumined the whole room.
Pliny mentions this ancient
tradition respecting Zoroaster.
It is said by some that, being
a Jew, he was educated in the elements of the true worship among his
countrymen in Babylon, and afterwards became an attendant upon the prophet
Daniel, and received from him initiation into all the mysteries of the Jewish
doctrine and practice.
He also studied magic under
the Chaldean philosophers, who initiated him into their mysteries.
This account is from Hyde and
Prideaux, but Dr. Oliver expresses much doubt as to its probability.
Indeed, from the great
uncertainty as to the date of his $$
ANCIENT MASONRY.
appearance among men, some
authors placed him as a contemporary with Abraham, and others again made him
to appear long after the captivity had ceased. With this uncertainty as to
Zoroaster's true date, we must receive all accounts of his marvellous acts, or
matters connected with him, with many grains, if not ounces, of allowance.
He is after this found at
Ecbatana, and, making himself appear as a prophet, set about the task of
reforming the religion of Persia, which, like all other religions, had become
subverted from the original object, and by a series of gradual and
imperceptible changes its character had degenerated from the Magian form to
the Sabian system.
As a professed Magian, he was
soon surrounded by followers of every rank, who joined with him and gave
support to all his designs of reformation. Darius Hystaspis accompanied hire
into Cashmere, to aid in completing his preparatory studies, by instruction
from the Brahmins, from whom he had received the rites of initiation.
Cashmere has been called the
terrestrial para dise and the holy land of superstition.
In the Ayeen Akbery forty‑five
places are said to be dedicated to Mahadeo; sixty‑four to Vishnu; twenty‑two
to Durga; and only three to Brahma (Maur. Ind. Ant.).
Before the time of Zoroaster
the Persians, like the early Egyptians, worshipped in the open air, long after
other nations had constructed temples, as they considered the broad expanse of
heaven as the sublime covering of temples devoted to the worship of Deity.
Their places of sacrifice were much like those of the northern nations of
Europe, composed of circles of upright stones, rough and unhewn. They
abominated images, and worshipped the Sun and Fire, as representatives of the
omnipresent Deity.
The Jews were not exempt from
the superstitious worship of fire, saying, God appeared in the Cherubim, over
the gate of Eden, as a flaming sword; and to Abraham as a fame of fire; to
Moses as a fire in the bush at Horeb; and to the whole assembly of the people
at Sinai, when he descended upon the mountain in fire.
Moses himself told them that
their God was a consuming fire, which was reechoed more than once; and thence
the Jews were weak enough to worship the material substance, in lieu of the
invisible and eternal God. Zoroaster succeeded in persuading them to enclose
their sacred fire altars in covered towers; because, being on elevated and
exposed hills, the fire was liable to be extinguished by storms.
These were circular buildings,
covered with domes, having small openings at the top to let out the smoke.
God was supposed to reside in
the sacred flame, and it was never permitted to be extinguished. We may here
pause in our description of the Persian worship of the flame to recite the
following: ‑ "A Jew entered a Parsee temple and beheld the sacred fire.
'What l' said he to the
priest, 'do you worship the fire ?'
' Not the fire, answered the
priest, 'it is to us an emblem of the sun and of his genial heat'
' Do you then worship the sun
as your God ?' asked the Jew.
' Kpow PERSIA.
89 ye not that this luminary
also is but a work of the Almighty Creator?'
'We know it, replied the
priest, 'but the uncultivated man requires a sensible sign in order to form a
conception of the Most High, and is not the sun, the incomprehensible source
of light, an image of that invisible being who blesses and preserves all
things?'
' Do your people, then,
rejoined the Israelite, 'distinguish the type from the original ?
They call the sun their God,
and, descending even from this to a baser object, they kneel before an earthly
flame!
Ye amuse the outward but blind
the inward eye; and while ye hold to them the earthly, ye draw from them the
heavenly light!
Thou shalt not make unto
thyself any image or likeness.
'How do you designate the
Supreme Being?' asked the Parsee.
'We call him Jehovah Adonai;
that is, the Lord who is, who was, and who will be,' answered the Jew.
'Your appellation is grand and
sublime,' said the Parsee, 'but it is awful too.'
A Christian then drew nigh and
said,' We call him Father!'
The Pagan and the Jew looked
at each other and said, ' Here is at once an image and a reality; it is a word
of the heart.
Therefore they all raised
their eyes to Heaven, and said, with reverence and love, ' Our Father,' and
they took each other by the hand, and all three called one another '
brother.'" This is Freemasonry! We now resume our sketch of the Mysteries.
The building, in which was
placed the sacred fire, represented the universe, and the fire which
perpetually burned in the centre was the symbol of the sun. Pococke, "
Specimen Historiae Arabicze," informs us that Zoroaster remodelled the
Mysteries ; and to accomplish this, he retired to a circular cave or grotto in
the mountains of Bokhara.
This cave he ornamented with a
profusion of symbols and astronomical decorations, and dedicated it to the
Mediator Mithr‑As, sometimes denominated the invisible Deity.
That the knowledge of
astronomy, in that region and early date, was very extensive is well known to
authors generally.
Pliny says that "Belus," who
was grandson of Ham, `| inventor fuit sideralis scientue." That Mithras was
considered by the Persians to be the Supreme Deity, we have, " Mithras, the
first god among the Persians "‑ from Hesychius in Greek (according to
Cudworth's Intel. Sys.). "They were so deeply impressed," says Plu. Isid. et
Osir, " with this amiable characteristic of their god, that they denominated
every person who acted as a mediator between contending parties, 1Mitlzras."
They said he was born or produced from a rock‑hewn cave.
A splendid gem of great lustre,
which represented the sun, was placed in the centre of the roof of the cavern;
the planets were also placed in order around this gem in settings of gold on a
ground of azure.
The zodiac was chased in gold,
having the constellations Leo and Taurus, with a sun and moon emerging from
their backs, in beaten gold.
We are told by Diodorus
Siculus that " the tomb of Osymandyas in Egypt was surrounded with a broad
circle of beaten gold, three hundred and sixty‑five cubits in circumference,
which represented the days in the year."
(Note this, and the "starry
decked heaven" of the Masonic lodge room.) The bull and sun were emblematic of
the great father, or Noah, riding in safety in the ark ; for Noah was the sun,
and the bull was the acknowledged symbol of the ark.
Hyde (de Rel. vet. Pers.) says
that the Mogul emperors use this device on their coins; sometimes Leo is used
for the Bull.
9o ANCIENT MASONRY.
Our limits forbid any farther
description of this cave or grotto, which had every appliance for the workings
necessary for initiation, with the most elaborate machinery imaginable.
To give himself the proper
credit with the people, Zoroaster professed to have been favored with a
celestial vision, taken up into the abode of the Most High, ‑which was
evidently assumed by him in imitation of the interview between Moses and the
Almighty in the Mount Sinai, ‑ and permitted to hold converse with the Awful
Being face to face, who, he said, was encircled by a bright and perpetual
fire; that a system of pure worship had been revealed to him, which was
ordered to be communicated only to those who possessed the virtue to resist
the allurements of the world, and would devote their lives to the study of
philosophy and contemplation of the Deity and his works.
The fame of Zoroaster spread
throughout the world.
All those who desired to
obtain a knowledge of the philosophy taught by him resorted to this Mithratic
grotto to be initiated.
From the most distant regions
came many who wished to learn of Zoroaster.
Pythagoras, who travelled into
all countries to learn philosophy, is said to have gone to Persia to be
initiated into the Mysteries of Mithras.
"To prepare the candidate for
initiation, many,lustrations were required, with water, fire, and honey.
He passed forty days‑some say
eighty days‑of probation, and ended with a fifty days' fast.
These were all endured in the
recesses of a cavern, in perpetual silence, secluded from all society, and
confined in cold and nakedness, in hanger and stripes, and with cruel
tortures. We may be sure that in some instances these were attended with fatal
effects.
When one died under these
cruel inflictions and rigid penances, his body was thrown into a deeper cavern
and he was never more heard of.
According to a Christian
writer, in the fifth century A.D.,'the Christians of Alexandria, having
discovered a cavern that had been consecrated to Mithras, resolved to explore
it; when, to their astonishment, the principal thing they found in it was a
great quantity of human skulls and other bones of men who had been thus
sacrificed.
"Those who survived these
severe tests of endurance became eligible to the highest honors and dignities,
and received a degree of veneration equal to that which was paid to the
supernal deities. The successful probationer was brought forth into the cavern
of initiation, where he entered on the point of a sword presented to his naked
left breast, by which he was slightly wounded, and then he was virtually
prepared for the approaching ceremony.
He was crowned with olive
branches.
The olive, in the Mysteries,
commemorative of the olive branch brought by the dove to Noah, was the
propitious omen that the patriarch and family would speedily emerge from the
gloom of the ark to the light of day; so to the candidate, that he would be
able to exclaim,' I have escaped from an evil; I have found deliverance.'
The priests of Mithras, by a
like allusion, were called Hierocoraces, or sacred Ravens, and the oracular
priestesses of Hammon, Peleiades, or Doves; while, in consequence of the close
connection of the dove and olive, a particular species of the olive was called
Columbas.
"He was anointed with oil of
ban, which is the balsam of Bezoin, and clothed with enchanted armor by his
guide, who represented Simorgh, a monstrous griffin; whose name indicates that
it is of the size of thirty birds, and appears to have been a species of
eagle, and said to correspond in some respects with the idea of the phoenix.
The candidate was introduced into an inner chamber, where he was purified with
fire and water, and then passed through the SEVEN STAGES of Initia tion, which
is represented as a high ladder, with seven steps or gates.
From the top of this ladder be
bebeld a deep and dangerous vault, and a single false step might dash him down
to instant destruction, which was an emblem of those infernal regions through
which he was about to pass. As he passed through the gloomy cavern he saw the
sacred fire, which at intervals would flash into its recesses and illuminate
his path, sometimes from beneath his feet, and again, descending PERSIA.
91 from above upon his head in
a broad sheet.
Amidst all this, distant
yelling of beasts of prey, the roaring of lions, howling of wolves, and
barking of dogs, would greet his ears.
Then being enveloped in
darkness profound, he would not know whither to turn for safety, his attendant
would rush him forward, maintaining an unbroken silence, towards the place
whence the sounds proceeded, and suddenly a door would be opened and he would
find himself in this den of wild beasts lighted only by a single lamp.
Being exhorted to have courage
by his conductor, he would be immediately attacked by the initiated, who, in
the forms of the several animals, and amidst great uproars and howlings, would
endeavor to overwhelm him with alarm, and he would seldom escape unhurt,
however bravely he might defend himself.
"Hurried from this scene into
another cell, he was again shrouded in darkness.
Silence profound succeeded,
and with cautious step he was conducted onward to encounter other danger_ ‑ A
rumbling noise is heard in a distant cavern, which became louder as he
advanced, when the thunder appeared to rend the solid rocks, and the continued
flashes of lightning enabled him to observe the flitting shades of avenging
genii, who appeared to threaten with summary destruction those who invaded the
privacy of their peculiar abode.
These scenes continued until
the strength and endurance of the candidate being nearly exhausted, he was
conveyed into another apartment, where a great illumination was suddenly
introduced, and his strength permitted to recruit, and melodious music soothed
his outraged feelings.
"Resting for a time in this
apartment, the elements of those secrets were explained, and all of which were
more fully developed when his initiation was completed. When sufficiently
prepared to proceed, a signal was given by his guide, and three priests
immediately appeared; one of them cast a serpent into his bosom, as a symbol
of regeneration.
A private door being now
opened, howlings and lamentations were heard, and he beheld in every revolting
form the torments of the damned in hades.
He was then conducted through
other dark passages, and after having successfully passed the labyrinth of six
spacious vaults, connected by tortuous galleries, each having a narrow portal,
and having been triumphantly borne through all these difficulties and dangers
by the exercise of fortitude and perseverance, the doors of the Sacellum, or
seventh vault, were thrown open, and the darkness changed to light.
"In conformity with these
seven subterranean caverns, the Persians held the doctrine of seven classes of
demons. First, Ahriman, the chief; second, the spirits who inhabit the most
distant regions of the air; third, those who traverse the dense and stormy
regions which are nearest the earth, but still at an immeasurable distance;
fourth, the malignant and unclean spirits, who hover over the surface of the
earth; fifth, the spirits of the ' vasty deep,' which they agitate with storms
and tempests; sixth, the subterranean demons who dwell in charnel vaults and
caverns, termed Z.houls, who devour the corrupted tenants of the grave, and
excite earthquakes and convulsions in the globe; and seventh, the spirits who
hold a solemn reign of darkness in the centre of the earth (vide Maur. Ind.
Ant., Vol. IV. p. 642).
From this doctrine probably
emanated the Mohammedan belief in seven hells, or stages of punishment, in the
infernal regions; and seven heavens, in the highest of which the Table of Fate
is suspended and guarded from demons, lest they should change or corrupt
anything thereon.
Its length is so great, as is
the space between heaven and earth; its breadth equal to the distance from the
east to the west; and it is made of one pearl. The divine pen was created by
the finger of God; that is also of pearls, and of such length and breadth that
a swift horse could scarcely gallop round it in five hundred years.
It is so endowed that
self‑moved, it writes all things, past, present, and to come.
Light is its ink; and the
language which it uses only the angels can understand.".
The seven hells of the' Jewish
Rabbies were founded on the seven namer, of hell contained in their
Scriptures.
"The progress of the candidate
through the seven stages of initiation was in h circle, referring to the
course of the planets round the sun; or more probably, the apparent motion of
the sun himself, which is accomplished by a movement from east to west by the
south; " in which course every candidate in Masonry should be conducted.
The candidate was then
admitted into the spacious cavern already described, which was the grotto of
Elysium, which was brilliantly illuminated and shone with gold and precious
ston|.s.
Here was seated the Archimagus
on the east, on 92
ANCIENT MASONRY.
a throne of gold, having a
crown decorated with myrtle‑boughs and clothed in a tunic of cerulean color,
and around him were arranged the Presules and dispensers of the Mysteries. He
was received with congratulations, and having vowed to keep secret the sacred
rites of Mithras, the sacred WORDS were given to him, of which the ineffable
TETRACTYS, or name of God, was the chief." He was now entitled to investiture
and to receive instruction. Amulets and talismans were presented to him, and
he was taught how to construct them, that he might be exempt from all dangers
to his person and his property. Explanations were made to him of every emblem
which had been displayed, every incident by which he had been surprised; and
all were turned to a moral purpose by means of disquisitions, which tended to
inspire him with a strong attachment to the Mysteries and to those from whom
he had received them. He learned that the benign influence of the superior
light which was imparted by initiation irradiates the mind with rays of the
Divinity and inspires it with a knowledge which can be given in no other
manner.
He was taught to adore the
consecrated fire, which was the gift of the Deity, as his visible residence.
The throne of the Deity was
believed to be in the sun, which was the Persian Paradise ; but was equally
supposed ‑to be in the fire. In the Bhagavad‑GItA, Krishna says, " God is in
the fire of the altar."
He was taught the existence of
two independent and equally powerful principles, the one essentially good, the
other irreclaimably evil; and this was the cosmogony: Ormisda, the supreme
source of light and truth, created the world at six different periods.
First, he made the heavens;
second, the waters; third, the earth ; fourth, trees and plants ; fifth,
animals ; sixth, man, or rather a being compounded of a man and a bull.
This newly created being lived
in a state of purity and happiness for many ages, but was at last poisoned by
the temptations of a subtle serpent‑genius named Ahriman, who inhabited the
regions of darkness, and was the author of evil; and his ascendency on earth
at length became so great as to create a powerful rebellion against the
creator, Ortnisda, by whom, however, he was at length subdued.
To counteract the effect of
this renunciation of virtue, another pure being was created, compounded, as
before, of a man and a bull, called Taschter, or Mithras, by whose
intervention, with the assistance of three associates, a flood of waters was
produced to purify the earth, by prodigious showers of rain, each drop as
large as the head of an ox,‑which produced a general lustration. A tempestuous
wind, which blew for three days in succession from the same quarter, dried the
waters; and when they were completely subsided, a new germ was introduced,
from which sprang the present race of mankind.
SYSTEMS.
Therapeutae. ‑A pious " Jewish
" sect, who lived chiefly on the Lake Mareotis, near Alexandria, but had
numerous colonies in other places. Like the Essenes, they lived unmarried, in
monasteries, and were very moderate with regard to dress and food ; they
prayed at sunrise, having their faces turned to the east; studied the
Scriptures‑which they explained ANCIENT SYSTEMS.
93 allegorically.
They differed from the Essenes
in this: they lived a contemplative life, while the Essenes followed many
occupations, such as agriculture, arts, etc. ; the Essenes lived together in
common; the Therapeutx lived separately in cells. The Therapeutee knew none of
the divisions which marked the several degrees of initiation of the Essenes.
They held the Temple at Jerusalem in much higher veneration than did the
Essenes.
They resembled somewhat the
Pythagoreans.
Neither used animal food, and
both admitted women to their assemblies.
They were, perhaps, the first
to introduce monasticism and asceticism into Christianity.
Essenes. ‑ A religious sect
among the Jews, whose name, origin, character, and history are involved in
obscurity.
They bore a very important
part in the development of Judaism.
It has been asserted that John
the Baptist, as well as Jesus Christ, originally issued from their ranks.
More surprising than this, out
of Essenism, in the stage of Sabxism, has sprung Islam itself, and in this
last development of its tenets and practices are still preserved some of its
principal rites.
Notwithstanding that many
writers, since the days of the Fathers, have endeavored to throw light on this
association or brotherhood, nevertheless it has been far from satisfactory.
Josephus, Philo, Pliny, Solinus, Eusebius, and most of the Church Fathers were
the only sources from which the real history of this fraternity could be
derived.
But from strict examination
into this subject it has been found that only from the supposed writings of
Philo and the statements of Josephus is there any reliable information to be
derived. Of the two books of Philo, in which the Essenes are referred to, one
(De Vita Contempladva), it has been proved, was written three centuries after
the death of Philo.
The other (Quod Omnis) is of
doubtful genuineness, and is at variance with Josephus, in whose account it is
generally allowed that the Essenes stand in about the same relation to the
real Essenes as the ideal inhabitants of the Germania of Tacitus stand to the
real Germans of his times.
There were in Palestine, after
the return from Babylon, three different || sects,"‑the Pharisees, Sadducees,
and the Essenes. The Sadducees were a political party, and in religious
matters did not accept the views of their opponents, the Pharisees.
The Essenes appear to have
been similar to the Pharisees, but of stronger convictions, and more rigid in
all their observances. They were not known by the name of Essenes, which was a
late designation. The Mishna, Beraitha, and Talmud speak of them as Chasidim
(pious men), Nazarini (abstinents), Toble Shacharith (hemero‑baptists), Banai
(builders), and Chaberim (friends).
The Arabic book of Maccabees
calls them Assidaioi. It has been thought by some writers that during the
captivity in Babylonia, the Jews imbibed the notions of the Orient on all
religious and mysterious subjects; and also that they became strongly
tinctured in their philosophical speculations, with the then prevailing Maaism
of the Zoroastrians.
Also, that the asceticism
which prevailed so extensively among the religionists of the 94 ANCIENT
MASONRY.
Orient was adopted by the more
rigid adherents of the Levitical law, and ou their return to Jerusalem, that
these views were propagated among the more zealous adherents of that law.
Those who followed this course led an ascetic life, and what more natural than
that they should by degrees become mystical enthusiasts and fanatics?
They allegorized and
symbolized, and finally culminated in seeing the unseen.
In their attempts to fathom
the mysteries of the nature of God, they occupied themselves in the study of
the name of God; of that ineffable name which the High Priest only was
permitted to pronounce once every year, in the Sanctum Sanctorum, on the great
Day of Atonement.
"They thought that the
knowledge of that name in four, in twelve, and in twenty‑four letters would
give them the power of prophecy and of receiving the Holy Ghost." They derived
from the Magi their ideas of angelology.
They were sup posed by the
common people to be saints and workers of miracles.
A book of cures ascribed to
Solomon they had, and with it and various roots and stones, and by imposition
of hands, they healed the sick and cast out devils.
It is said that John the
Baptist lived among them, and that his habits were similar to theirs.
Eleusinian.‑The Eleusinian
Mysteries were celebrated annually as a festival of Ceres, at Eleusis. Many
traditions were given in ancient times, to account for their origin. The most
generally accepted was that Ceres, wandering over the earth in search of her
daughter Proserpine, arrived at Eleusis and rested on the sorrowful stone near
the well Callichorus. In return for some act of kindness she taught
Triptolemus the use of corn, and there instituted the mystic rites peculiarly
known as hers. The outward form of these Mysteries was well known, but their
inner meaning has been variously interpreted.
Modern speculation has run
wild in attempts to explain them. Bishop Thirlwall finds in them " The remains
of a worship which preceded the rise of the Hellenic mythology and its
attendant rites, grounded on a view of nature, less fanciful, more earnest,
and better fitted to awaken both philosophical thought and religious feeling."
There were two parts in this festival,‑the lesser and the greater Mysteries ;
the less important served as a preparation for the greater and was held at
Agrx, on the Ilissus.
The celebration of the Great
Mysteries began at Eleusis, on the 15th of Boedromion, and lasted over nine
days.
On the first day those
initiated at the preparatory festival were instructed in their sacred duties.
On the second day they purified themselves.
On the third, sacrifices were
offered.
The fourth day was devoted to
the processions of the sacred basket of Ceres, containing pomegranates, salt,
poppy seed, etc., drawn in a consecrated cart, and followed by bands of women
with smaller baskets, similarly filled. The fifth day was known as `1 the day
of the torches," which symbolized the wanderings of Ceres in search of her
daughter.
On this day the Mystm, led by
the 11 daduchos " (torch‑bearer), walked two and two to the temple ANCIENT
SYSTEMS.
95 of the goddess. The sixth
day was the great day of the feast, in honor of Iacchus, the son of Ceres,
whose statue was borne along the sacred way from the Ceramichus at Athens to
Eleusis, where the votaries spent the night and were admitted to the last
Mysteries. Thus far they had been only Mystce, but on this night they were
admitted to the innermost sanctuary of the temple, and were then called "EpoptV
" or " Ephori"; i.e., spectators or contemplators.
They were again purified, and
repeated the oath of secrecy.
On the seventh day they
returned to Athens with mirth and music. The eighth day was called Epidauria,
and was added to the original number of days for the convenience of those who
were unable to attend the grand ceremonial of the sixth day.
It was named in honor of ,Esculapius,
who arrived from his native city of Epidaurus too late for the solemn rites,
and being unwilling to disappoint so distinguished a visitor and benefactor of
mankind, this day was added. On the ninth day the ceremony of the " Plemochow
" took place, in which two earthen vessels filled with wine were turned, one
towards the east, and the other towards the west.
The priest, uttering some
mystic words, then upset both vessels, and the spilt wine was thus offered as
a libation.
The Ethics of the Mysteries.
‑" The origin as well as the real purport of the' Mysteries, which took no
unimportant place among the religious festivals of the classical period, and
which, in their ever‑changing nature, designate various phases of religious
development in the antique world, is all but unknown. It does seem, indeed, as
if the vague speculations of modern times on the subject were an echo of the
manifold interpretations of the various acts of the Mysteries given by the
priest to the inquiring disciple, according to the light of the former or the
latter.
Some investigators, themselves
not entirely free from certain mystic influences (like Creuzer and others),
have held them to have been a kind of misty orb around a kernel of pure light,
the bright rays of which were too strong for the eyes of the multitude; that,
in fact, they hid under an outward garb of mummery a certain portion of the
real and eternal truth of religion, the knowledge of which had been derived
from some primeval, or perhaps the Mosaic, revelation; if it could not be
traced to certain (or uncertain), Egyptian, Indian, or generally Eastern
sources.
"To this kind of hazy talk,
however (which we only mention because it is still repeated every now and
then), the real and thorough investigations begun by Lobeck, and still pursued
by many competent scholars in our own day, have, or ought to have, put an end.
There cannot be anything more alien to the whole spirit of Greek and Roman
antiquity than a hiding of abstract truths and occult wisdom under rites and
formulas, songs and dances; and, in fact, the Mysteries were anything but
exclusive, either with respect to sex, age, or rank, in point of initiation.
It was only the speculative
tendency of later times, when Polytheists was on the wane, that tried to
symbolize and allegorize these obscure and partly imported ceremonies, the
bulk of which had undoubtedly sprung from the midst of the Pelasgian tribes
themselves in prehistoric times, and which were intended to represent and to
celebrate certain natural phenomena in the visible creation.
There is certainly no reason
to deny that some more refined minds may at a very early period have
endeavored to impart a higher sense to these wondrous performances; but these
can only be considered as solitary instances.
The very fact of their having
been put down in later days as public nuisances in Rome herself, speaks
volumes against the occult wisdom inculcated in secret assemblies of men and
women.
"The Mysteries, as such,
consisted of purifications, sacrificial offerings, processions, songs, dances,
dramatic performances, and the like. The mystic formulas (Deiknumena, Dromena,
Legomena, the latter including the liturgies, etc.), were held as deep
secrets, and could only be communicated to those who had passed the last stage
of preparation in the Mystagogue's hands. The hold which the nightly secrecy
of these meetings, together with their extraordinary worship, 96 ANCIENT
MASONRY.
must naturally have taken upon
minds more fresh and childlike than our advanced ages can boast of, was
increased by all the mechanical contrivances of the effects of light and sound
which the priests could command. Mysterious voices were heard singing,
whispering, and sighing all around; lights gleamed in manifold colors from
above and below; figures appeared and disappeared. The mimic, the tonic, the
plastic,‑all the arts, in fact,‑were tasked to their very utmost, to make
these performances (the nearest approach to which, in this country, is
furnished by transformation scenes, or sensation dramas in general), as
attractive and profitable (for the priests), as could be. As far as we have
any knowledge of the Mysteries as scenic representations, they generally
brought the stories of the special gods or goddesses before the spectator,
their births, their sufferings, deaths, and resurrections.
Many were the outward symbols
used, of which such as the phallus, the thyrsus, flower baskets, mystic boxes,
in connection with special deities, told more or less their own tale, although
the meanings supplied by later ages, from the Neo‑Platonists to our own day,
are various, and often very amazing.
The most important Mysteries
were, in historic times, those of Eleusis and the Thesmophorian, both
representing,‑each from a different point of view,‑the rape of Proserpina, and
Ceres's search for her; the Thesmophorian Mysteries being also in a manner
connected with the Dionysian worship.
There were further those of
Zeus at Crete,‑derived from a very remote period,‑of Bacchus himself, of
Cybele, and Aphrodite,‑the two latter with reference to the Mystery of
Propagation, but celebrated in diametrically opposed ways,‑the former
culminating in the self‑mutilation of the worshipper; the latter, in
prostitution.
Further, the Mysteries of
Orpheus, who in a certain degree was considered the founder of all Mysteries.
Nor were the other gods and
goddesses forgotten Hera, Minerva, Diana, Hecate,‑nay, foreign gods, like
Mithras, and the like,‑had their due secret solemnities all over the classical
soil, and whithersoever Greek (and partly Roman), colonists took their Lares
and Penates all over the antique world.
"The beginning of the reaction
in the minds of thinking men against their mostly gross and degenerated kind
of veneration of natural powers and instincts, is marked by the per:od of the
Hesiodic poems; and when, towards the end of the classical periods, the
Mysteries were no longer secret, but public orgies of the most shameless kind,
their days were numbered. The most subtle metaphysicians, allegorize and
symbolize as they might, failed in reviving them, and restoring them to
whatever primeval dignity there might have once been inherent in them."
CHAPTER IV.
OCCULTISM OF THE ORIENT ‑AND
OCCIDENT.
Occultism.‑ When the Mysteries
of the Orient became degenerated, and the priests for the maintenance of their
order perverted them so that their original purity was corrupted, the
ceremonies were so changed that the people at large were led to look upon them
as of divine origin. Hierarchal governments were soon established, and, to
complete the subjugation of the people, no individual, in Egypt especially,
could be made a monarch unless he belonged to the priestly caste.
To keep up this system,
magical performances were introduced, whereby the populace were deceived into
a firm belief that the gods were realities, and that the archi‑magus was in
direct communication with the celestial, mundane, and infernal deities.
As we have shown in a former
part of this treatise, the Mysteries progressed from the simple names for the
various phenomena manifested in nature to that of a complete system of a
Pantheon, predicated upon the various myths which had been handed down
traditionally as realities. To show that the OCCULTISM.
97 priests were not at all
deceived, it is said one haruspex could not meet another without bursting into
a loud laugh.
The most abominable,
disgusting, and lascivious practices were introduced, and submitted to by the
people, because they were informed that it was by the order of the gods.
We believe, by all that we can
learn from various ancient writers, that magical rites, incantations, and
deceptive practices were introduced earlier than the days of Zoroaster, and
that they spread far and wide from the main centre in Chaldea, into which
country they had been introduced from the northern Turanian tribes, who, in
all probability, originated them from their natural fetichism. As that was
prior to all historic times, and those Turanians never had any records which
have ever been discovered, we are mainly dependent upon the remains of the
civilization of the Aryan races, who succeeded the Turanians, by the
incursions of the Medes and Persians.
We have not the space to
examine this point as we would wish, that our reasons for this conclusion
might be apparent to all. We must take for granted that, in the progress of
these magical practices ascending to a more cultivated and higher
civilization, the priests naturally improved upon the "magic" of an earlier
day, and gradually acquired such arts as to astonish all beholders, and made
themselves to be considered as in immediate communication with higher powers,
and enabled to control the laws of nature to a very considerable extent.
The Scriptures plainly
indicate that in of soothsayers and magicians. In Egypt formed miracles in the
presence of Pharaoh, he did the same things.
From these remote days down to
our Era magical performances have been kept up in India and in Egypt.
Prior to our Era the learned
men were in the practice of some form of "occultism."
What that was we are now
ignorant. There have, however, come down to us works written by learned
Hebraists, who tell us of the Kabala, and we have, to some extent, gained a
partial knowledge of what Kabalism was designed to effect.
At the present day there are
no Kabalists.
Succeeding to them were
learned scholars, who devoted nearly all of their lives to the study of
occultism, without producing, directly, one atom of usefulness in the world.
Like the astrologers, who were
to cast the nativities of all men, their studies led, however, indirectly, to
a better comprehension of the valuable science of astronomy.
The alchemists also were the
product of occultism.
The search originally for
those things thought so'valuable by the alchemists, developed into the most
useful science of chemistry; nevertheless, the physicists were in search of
that which would convert all metals into gold, and failed to find it; for that
which would prolong life indefinitely, and failed; yet they were succeeded by
men who became philosophers, and no doubt, under cover of astrological and
alchem Babylon itself there were colleges also, when Moses and Aaron percalled
for his magicians, who 98 ANCIENT MASONRY: ical researches, were endeavoring
to study out the ways of life here, and immortality, or a future state.
We do not doubt that, during
the Middle Ages, when all the learning in Europe was confined to the
monasteries, and all the manuscripts of the ancient world were to be found
only within those monastic walls, the works of the ancients were closely
studied, and literature was kept alive by monkish students and antiquaries.
Whewell (" History of
Inductive Sciences," P. zi r), on the "Mysticism of the Middle Ages," says: ‑
' "The examination of this feature in the history of the human mind is
important for us, in consequence of its influence upon the employments and the
thoughts of the times now under our notice.
This tendency materially
affected both men's speculations and their labors in the pursuit of knowledge.
By its direct operation it
gave rise to the newer Platonic philosophy among the Greeks, and to
corresponding doctrines among the Arabians; and, by calling into a prominent
place astrology, alchemy, and magic, it long occupied most of the real
observers of the material world.
In this manner it delayed and
impeded the progress of true science; for we shall see reason to believe that
human knowledge lost more by the perversion of men's minds and the
misdirection of their efforts than is gained by any increase of zeal arising
from the peculiar hopes and objects of the mystics." Upon the revival of
letters, and when the printing‑press was set in motion, books were printed,
and so multiplied that others besides the monks could gratify their tastes for
research ; then knowledge spread abroad, the mind of man was lifted from its
serfdom and servile attachment to old superstitions, and gradually there came
about a great release, larger liberty, and independent inquiry into the causes
of things. As each succeeding generation improved mentally, intellectually,
and morally upon its predecessor, so the laity became lifted up to a level
with the most advanced of those who had preceded them.
The Crusades and
Freemasonry.‑This progress was greatly accelerated by the thirst for knowledge
which followed the crusades. The great wealth of the Orientals, their manners
and customs, were adopted by the upper‑classes of the pilgrims, and brought
back with those who returned, so that Western Europe was taught the arts and
the sciences of life.
Immediately after the close of
the last crusade the great advancement of the nations in the west of Europe in
civilization required great improvements in all the arts, especially in
architecture. The monks had preserved the works on architecture, and became
the architects under whose supervision the building art was revived; and hence
resulted the magnificent structures which have been the admiration of every
succeeding generation. The societies of builders, to whom the names of Masons
and Freemasons have been given, then arose, and became the successors of the
old Roman " colleges," which had become extinct during the " dark ages," as,
in the rude manners and rough, uncouth structures which followed the decline
of the Roman Empire, there was no demand for any other than the ignorant
laborer for such structures as answered the purposes of northern hordes, who
overran the middle and south of Europe.
OCCULTISM.
99 We here present a sample of
occultism in the following extracts, for which we are indebted to General
Albert Pike, 33|, Grand Commander of the Supreme Council A.‑.A.‑.S.‑.R.‑.,
Southern jurisdiction, who many years since loaned the writer the manuscript
from which it is a copy: ." There are in nature two forces producing an
equilibrium, and the three are but a single law. Behold the Ternary summing
itself up in Unity; and adding the idea of Unity to that of Ternary, we arrive
at the Quarternary, the first squared and perfect number, source of all
numerical combinations and principal of all forms.
"Affirmation, negation,
discussion, solution,‑such are the four philosophic operations of the human
mind; the discussion reconciles the affirmation with the negative by making
them necessary the one to the other. So it is that the philosophic Ternary
producing itself from the antagonistic Binary completed by the Quarternary,
squared basis of all truth.
"In God, according to the
consecrated dogma, there are three Persons, and these Persons are but a single
God.
Three and one give the idea of
four, because the Unity is necessary to explain the three.
"Therefore in almost all
languages the name of God is of four letters [Jed, He repeated, and Vav],
since one of them is repeated; and that expresses the WORD and the creation of
the WORD.
"Two affirmations make
possible or necessary two corresponding negations. _ Existence Is," means
Notkin;ness Is NOT. The affirmative, as Word, produces the affirmative as
realization or Incarnation of the Word, and each of these affirmations
corresponds to the negation of its contrary.
"So it is that, according to
the expression of the Kabalists, the name of the Devil as Evil is composed of
the letters upside down of the very name of the Deity, or the Good "This Evil
is the lost reflection, or imperfect mirage of the Light in the Shadow.
"But all that exists, whether
in the Good or in the Evil, in the Light or in the Shadow; exists and is
revealed by the Quarternary.
"The Affirmative of the Unity
supposes the number four, if this Affirmative does not resolve in the Unity
itself, as in the vicious circle; wherefore the Ternary, as we have already
remarked, is explained by the Binary, and is resolved by the Quarternary,
which is the squared Unity of the equal members and the quadrangular base of
the Cube, Unit of Construction, Solidity, and Measure.
"The Kabalistic Tetragram
YODHEVA expresses God in Humanity, and Humanity in God " The four cardinal
astronomical points are relatively to us the Yes and No of Light, the East and
the West; and the Yes and No of HEAT, the South and North.
"What is in visible nature
reveals, as we already know, by the single dogma of the Kabala, that which is
in the domain of invisible nature, or second causes at all points proportioned
and analogous to the manifestations of the First Cause.
"Wherefore this First Cause
has always revealed itself by the Cross, the Cross, that unit composed of two,
each of the two divided to form four; the Cross, that key of the mysteries of
India and Egypt, the Tau of the Patriarchs, the divine Sign of Osiris, the
Stanros of the Gnostics, the Key‑Stone of the Temple, the Symbol of Occult
Masonry; the Cross, that central point of junction of the right angles
‑
‑1 of two infinite Triangles;
the Cross, which in the French language seems to be the first root of the verb
croitre (to believe, and to grow or increase), thus uniting the ideas of
Science, Religion, and Progress.
"(It is an apt emblem and
symbol of Infinity; because its four arms, each infinitely prolonged, would
infinitely diverge, the distance between them infinitely increasing). The
incommunicable axiom is Kabalistically contained in the four letters of the
Tetragram, thus arranged: in the letters of the words AZOTH and INRI, written
Kabalistically, and in the Monogram of Christ, as it was embroidered on the
Labarum, and which the Kabalist Postel interpreted by the word ROTA, from
which the Adepts have formed their TARO, or TAROT, repeating the first letter
to indicate the circle, and to give it to be understood that the word has
returned.
"The whole magical science
consists in the knowledge of this secret.
To know it and to dare without
serving is Human Omnipotence; but to reveal it to a profane is to lose it; to
reveal it even to a disciple is to abdicate in favor of that disciple.
I00 ANCIENT MASONRY.
"The perfect word, that which
is adequate to the thought which it expresses, always virtually contains or
supposes a Quarternary: the idea and its three necessary and correlative
forms; and then also the image of the thing expressed, with the three terms of
the judgment which qualifies it. When I say Being exists, I impliedly affirm
that Nothingness does not exist.
"A Height, a Length, which the
Height geometrically cuts in two; a Depth separated from the Height by the
intersection of the Length,‑this is the natural Quarternary, composed of two
lines crossing each other; there are also in nature four movements produced by
two forces, which sustain each other by their tendencies in opposite
directions.
"But the law which rules
bodies is analogous and proportioned to that which governs spirits; and that
which governs spirits is the very manifestation of the secret of God.
That is to say, of the mystery
of the creation."
(De la Haute Magic, Vol. I.
pp. 66‑97.) From the Book, ='fJiUM
or Porta Ccelorum of Rabbi
Abraham Cohen Sura, of Portugal, Dissertation VII. cap. a : ‑ 1 r. Jod ['ti or
'I], because simple is a one and first, somewhat, and is like unto the Unit,
which is prime to all other numbers, and to a point, which is the first of all
bodies; a point moved lengthwise produces a line, or Vav, 1 or j, and this
moved sideways produces a supevfacies, and so from Vav becomes Daleth, 7 ;
formation tends from the right toward the left, and communication is from the
higher to the lower, and this is the full expression [plenitude] of this
letter, Jod, thus: '11', Jod, Vav, Daleth, i.e., I or J or Y, V or U, and D,
making IUD, YOD, or JOD.
But Vav and Daleth are
numerically ro, as Jod, their principle, is.
Moreover, if Daleth becomes
more dense, and to it is added depth, then we have a body wherein are all the
dimensions; thus ,1, He, which is the symbol of profundity [depth].
Thus Yod is the point or
unity, Vav the perpendicular line, Daleth a super/icies, and He represents a
square.
3. Thence, one corresponds to
the point; two to the line, because a line is extension between two points;
three to a superficies, because the first of plain figures is a triangle
formed by lines connecting three points.
Four points constitute the
first body, which is a cube.
But in the Quarter nary [4] ro
are contained, thus r, a, 3, 4 = ro, and thus the Tetragrammaton is in itself
Unity, but contains in itself z; that is, the two letter " He" contains also 3
(i.e., its three different letters, Yod, He, and Vav) ; and contains also 4
(i.e., the four several letters,', 7, 1, 'T). It also contains in itself 5, of
which figure, He is the cypher, 6, of which Vav is the cypher, 7, in the mode
of writing called J=, 52, whose lesser number is (5 + z) 7 ; 8, because the
number of the NAME is 26, whose lesser number is z+6=8; q, in the modes of
writing, w, qa; MPG, 63; 7t, 45, and ~=; the final Nun denoting boo, and Beth
z ; and the lesser number of 702 being (7 + o + o + z) q ; and io, because in
the said Plentitude [YOD‑HE‑VAV‑HE] are ten letters. So that the
Tetragrammaton contains all the numbers; and as in ro all the numbers are
contained, so in the Quarternary are all bodies contained; and these numbers
are the two symbols of Universal Perfection, and by them all things are
measured and numbered, they being the similitudes of the Ten Sephiroth of the
zEnsophic World, which is the cause of the other four worlds [AZILUTH, BRIAH,
JEZIRAH, and AsIAH], ordinarily expressed by the word V'SX, ABIA, formed by
their initials.
The Magic Triangle of the
Pagan Theosophites is the celebrated ABRACADABRA A B R A C A D A B R A B R A C
A D A B A B R A C A D A A B R A C A D ABRACA A B R A C
Denary of Pythagoras. A B R A
ABR A B A
. . . .
to which they ascribed
extraordinary virtues, and which they figured in an equilateral triangle as
above.
OCCULTISM.
Numberofletters
66=6+6=12=3X4‑6‑1‑6‑{‑6=18=9
, 666.
This combination of letters is
the Key of the Pentagram. The initial A is repeated in the single word five
times, and reproduced in the whole figure thirty times, which gives the
elements and numbers of the two figures No. 5 and No. 6.
The isolated A represents the
Unity of the first principle, or of the Intellectual or Active Agent.
The A united with the B
represents the fecundation of the Binary by Unity. The R is the sign of the
Ternary, because it hierographically represents the effusion that results from
the union of the two principles.
The number of letters in the
single word (ii) adds one (Unity) of the Initiate to the denary of Pythagoras;
and the whole number of all the letters added together is 66.
Kabalistically 6+6 forms the
number 12, the number of a square whereof each side is the ternary 3, and
consequently the mystic quadrature of the Circle.
The author of the Apocalypse
that
of the Christian Kabala has
made up the number of the Beast, that is to say of Idolatry, by adding a 6 to
the double senary (66‑making 666) of the Abracadabra, which Kabalistically
(6+6+6) gives 18, the number assigned in the Jarot to the hieroglyphic sign of
Night and of the Profane.
The Moon with the towers, the
Dog, the Wolf, and the Crab, ‑a mysterious and obscure number, the Kabalistic
Key of which is 9, the. number of initiation.
On this subject the sacred
Kabalist says: " Let him who has understanding [that is to say, the Key of the
Kabalistic numbers] calculate the number of the Beast, for it is the number of
a Man, and this number is 666." [Rev.,xiii. r8.] This is in fact the decade of
Pythagoras multiplied by itself, and added to the sum of the triangular
Pentacle of Abracadabra; it is therefore the summary of all the magic of the
ancient world; the entire programme of the human genius, which the divine
genius of the Gospel wished to absorb or supplant.
These hieroglyphical
combinations of letters and numbers belong to the practical part of the
Kabala, which, in this point of view, is divided into Gematria and Temurah.
These calculations, which now seem to us arbitrary and uninteresting, then
belonged to the philosophic symbolism of the Orient, and were of the greatest
importance in the teaching of the holy things which emanated from the occult
sciences. The absolute Kabalistic alphabet, which connected the first ideas
with allegories, allegories with letters, and letters with numbers, was what
was then called the Keys of Solomon. We have already seen that these keys,
preserved unto our day, but completely unknown, are nothing else than the game
of JAROT, whose ancient allegories have been remarked and appreciated for the
first time in our days by the learned antiquary, Count de Gebelin.
The double triangle of Solomon
is explained by Saint John in a remarkable manner: "There are," he says,
"three witnesses in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and
three witnesses in earth, the breath, the water, and the Word." He thus agrees
with the masters of the Hermetic philosophy, who give their sulphur the name
of ether; their mercury the name of philosophical water; and style their salt
dragon's blood, or menstruum of the earth; the blood or the salt corresponding
by apposition with the Father,' the aortic or mercurial water with the Word or
Logos, and the breath with the Holy Spirit.
But matters of lofty symbolism
can only be well understood by the true condition of science.
(De la Haute Magic, Vol. II.
PP‑ 3r‑35.) The Holy and Mysterious Pentagram, called in the Gnostic schools
the Blazing Star (L'Etoile flamboyante), is the sign of Intellectual
Omnipotence and Autocracy.
It is the star of the Magi; it
is the sign of THE WORD MADE FLESH, and according to the direction of its
rays, this absolute symbol 24 represents Good or Evil, Order or Disorder, the
blessed Lamb of Ormuzd (Ahur6‑Mazda6), and Saint John, or the accursed Goat of
Mendes (see p. 49).
It is initiation or
profanation; it is Lucifer or Vesper, the morning or the evening star It is
Mary or Lilith, victory or death, light (day) or darkness (night).
When the Pentagram elevates
two of its points, it represents Satan, or the goat of the Mysteries; and when
it elevates one of its points only, it represents the Saviour, goodness,
virtue.
101
102 ANCIENT MASONRY.
The Pentagram is the figure of
the human body, with four limbs and a single point, which should represent the
head.
A human figure, with the head
downward, naturally represents a demon; that is to say, intellectual
overturning, disorder, or insanity. But if magic is a reality, if this occult
science is the veritable law of the three worlds, this absolute sign, old as
history, and more than history, should exercise, and does in fact exercise, an
incalculable influence over spirits freed from their material envelopes.
The sign of the Pentagram is
also called the sign of the Microcosm, and it represents what the Kabalists of
the book Sohar call Microprosopos.
The complete understanding of
the Pentagram is the key of the two worlds.
It is absolute natural
philosophy and science.
The sign of the Pentagram
should be composed of seven metals, or at least be traced in pure gold on
white marble.
We may also draw it with
vermilion on a lamb‑skin without spot or blemish, symbol of integrity and
light.
The ancient magicians drew the
sign of the Pentagram on their doorsteps, to prevent evil spirits from
entering and good ones from going out.
This constraint resulted from
the direction of the rays of the star.
Two points directed outwardly
repelled the evil spirits; two directed inwardly retained them prisoners; a
single point within captivated the good spirits.
The G which Freemasons place
in the centre of the blazing star signifies GNOSIS and GENERATION, the two
sacred words of the ancient Kabala.
It also means the GRAND
ARCHITECT, for the Pentagram, on whatever side we view it, represents an A.
All the Mysteries of Magic,
all the symbols of the Gnosis, all the figures of Occultism, all the
Kabalistic keys of prophecy, are summed up in the sign of the Pentagram, which
Paracelsus pronounces the greatest and most potent of all signs.
Those who heed not the sign of
the Cross, tremble at the sight of the Star of the Microcosm.
The Magus, on the contrary,
when he feels his will grown feeble, turns his eyes toward this symbol, takes
it in his right hand, and feels himself armed with intellectual omnipotence,
provided he is really a King worthy to be led by the Star to the cradle of the
divine. realization; provided he Knows, Dares, Wills, and is SILENT . . . ;
provided, in fine, that the intrepid gaze of his soul corresponds with the two
eyes which the upper point of the Pentagram always presents to him open.
(De la Haute Magic, Vol. II.
PP. 55‑62.) The whole revolutionary work of modern times was symbolically
summed up by the Napoleontc substitution of the Star of Honor for the Cross of
Saint Louis. It was the Pentagram substituted for the Labarum, the
reinstatement of the symbol of light, the Masonic resurrection of Adon‑hiram.
It is said that Napoleon
believed in his star, and if he could have been persuaded to say what he
understood by this star, it would have been found that it was his own genius;
and therefore he was in the right to adopt for his sign the Pentagram, that
symbol of human sovereignty by the intelligent initiative.
(Id., Vol. II. pp. 83, 84.)
One of these medals has become popular in our times, so that even those who
have no religion hang it on the necks of their children.
The figures on it are so
perfectly Kabalistic that the medal is really a double and admirable Pentacle.
On one side we see the Grand
Initiation, the Celestial Mother of the Sohar, the Isis of Egypt, the Venus
Urania of the Platonists, the Mary of Christianity, standing upon the world
and setting one foot on the head of the Magic Serpent.
She extends her two hands so
that they form a triangle, whereof the head of the woman is the apex; her
hands are open, and emitting rays, which make of them a double Pentagram when
the rays are all directed towards the earth, which evidently represents the
emancipation of the intelligence of labor.
On the other side we see the
double Tau of the Hierophants, the Lingam in the double cteis or in the triple
Phallus supported with the interlacing and double insertion of the Kabalistic
and Masonic M, representing the square between the two columns, Iachin and
Boaz. Above are placed on a level two hearts, loving and suffering, and around
twelve Pentagrams. (Id. Vol. II. PP‑ 84. 85ò) The culmination of all the
Mysteries of the Orient was accomplished in the coming of the "MEss1AH";
Hebrew, Afdshiah from Hashah, to Anoint; OCCULTISM.
103 hence the ANOINTED ONE;
Christos, Latin; Christos, Greek; Krishna, Sanscrit.
The whole world of man had
come under the domination of Rome, the empire of which had extended beyond the
utmost limits of the known world of the Greek Empire, which had followed that
of Persian kings. These several empires had been prophesied by Daniel when the
Jewish nation was in captivity under the king of Babylon.
The Rev. Dr. Nelson, who was
at one time disposed to become an infidel, took up, scientifically, the
examination of the prophecies to prove their falsity, and he became convinced
from the known history of all of those empires and the succeeding events,
since the commencement of the present Era, that the book of Daniel did, most
assuredly and incontestably, foretell the events connected with the world's
history from his day down to the present century. This is well shown in his
work, "The Cause and Cure of Infidelity." In the preceding pages it has been
clearly set forth that, from the very earliest records of the past ages, and
from all the sources of our knowledge of the " Spirit History of Man," it is
palpably evident that mankind acknowledged their "lost estate " and were
relying upon the promise made, that a "restoration" should come in and through
a" Divine Redeemer," who should be known as the ANOINTED ONE, Christos.
When it was noised abroad over
the Roman Empire that 11 Christ " had been born in Judea, heathen sacrifices
generally ceased, and all the learned men and philosophers hailed his Advent.
What has subsequently occurred is a matter of history, well known to all
intelligent men everywhere.
When the " Middle Ages "
became dark, and, through the all‑prevailing religious and superstitious
practices of the hierarchy of Rome, learning was driven from the homes of the
people and strictly confined to the clergy, and, as has been previously
stated, all the writings of the ancients were collected into the recesses of
the monasteries, the monks and priests were the only persons who possessed a
knowledge of the history of man. To thetas we are largely, if not wholly,
indebted for our knowledge of the Mysteries of the various ancient nations;
and when we compare the philosophy of the " religious idea," as it existed
during the middle centuries, and the forms and ceremonies of the Roman
rituals, we are convinced that they were almost entirely derived from the
practices of Oriental religious observances. A French historian of mathematics
says: " It is impossible not to reflect that all those men who, if they did
not augment the treasure of the sciences, at least served to transmit it, were
monks, or had been such originally.
Convents were during these
stormy ages the asylum of the sciences and letters." A recent clergyman of the
Church of England says: "Christianity is, in fact, the reintegration of all
scattered religious convictions, and this accounts for the adoption by the
Church of so many usages belonging primarily to Paganism, and for the
doctrines of the creed resembling in so many points 104
ANCIENT MASONRY.
the traditions of heathenism."
This is said of the
Christianity of man‑not of that of the Gospel and the Apostles ! M. Gilliot
says: "The use of the temple, of churches dedicated to saints and adorned with
branches of trees on certain occasions ; incense, lamps, tapers, votive
offerings made upon convalescence, holy water, asylum festivals, and ember
seasons ; calendars, processions, the benediction of land, sacerdotal
vestments, the tonsure, the marriage ring, turning to the East, devotion to
images, even, may be, the strains of the Church, the ` Kyrie eleison,' ‑ all
of these customs and many others are of Oriental origin, sanctified by the
adoption of, the Church." (Gilliot, L'Orient, 1'Occident, etc.) This is
essentially the fetichism of the heathen world transferred to the Church.
It has been the custom of
modern writers on Masonry to claim that our Speculative or Philosophical
Masonry is the outgrowth of the Operative lodges which existed partially down
to the early part of the eighteenth century, and that the Speculative system
was completed in r 717, by the organization of the first Grand Lodge. It has
been the opinion of the writer, that at that convention in St. Paul's Church
Yard, June 24, 1717, " Speculative Masonry " was revived out of the almost "
moribund " Operative guilds of " Masons " and " Free Masons," who, with all
the other guilds, and the "Twelve Great Corporations " of London, and all
similar associations in Scotland and Ireland, and also in France, Germany, and
Italy, derived their existence originally from the permission or charters
granted by the Church of Rome for the purpose of erecting religious houses of
every character.
There is a possibility that
the idea of such associations originated in the " Colleges of Architects " and
" Colleges of Artisans," which had been instituted in the time of Numa
Pompilius, 715 B.C. ; and hence it has been the hypothesis of writers that
modern Masonic lodges are derived from these colleges. It is only
hypothetical, and has not been proven. These colleges were probably organized
upon the plan of the ancient mystic associations which we have described.
That |` learning" or a
knowledge of the sciences, both natural and applied, was kept alive by the
clergy, we refer to Whewell's "History of Philosophy," pp. x86‑207 The history
of the guilds and great corporations has been repeatedly published, and our
limits forbid any extended reference thereto. That our present Masonic lodge
system is due to these corporations is perhaps correct, but that Speculative
or Philosophical Masonry, as it has been developed since 1723, when ritualism
commenced, derived any of its principles from Operative Masonry, we cannot
admit. It has never been demonstrated that in all the guilds, corporations,
and other associations of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there was
anything whatever that could serve as a foundation for the philosophy of
Masonry, as it has since been understood.
When we critically examine the
rituals of all the degrees, from the Entered Apprentice to the :Master in "
Blue Masonry," and all the succeeding degrees OCCULTISM.
105 from whatever rite they
may have been derived, we discover in the forms, the language, and the secret
words, everything has been taken from the Hebrew. Every word is KABALisTIc.
What, then, is the inference? The Kabalists were the inventors of the rituals
of the original degrees, and Kabalistic scholars in France and Germany have
multiplied the degrees by elaborating upon the || legends " of the first
three.
We have no space to devote to
a proper critical examination of this subject, and must leave it for future
explorers to fully demonstrate. Our own conclusion was long since made: that
there was originally in Speculative Masonry but one ritual, which was very
simple; out of that one trunk have grown all the branches, and the fruit from
these bears the resemblance of Hermeticism and the Kabala.
Every Mason who has advanced
beyond the Third degree, if he has paid any attention to Masonry as a true
system, a science, or a philosophy, must have discovered that those who
invented the succeeding degrees were endeavoring to teach, by emblems,
symbols, and allegories, the most important truths which could engage the
attention of intelligent minds.
It has been well settled by
our recent writers on Masonry, such as W. J. Hughan, A. F. A. Woodford, R. F.
Gould, in England, and D. Murray Lyon in Scotland, that as early as 1723 a
ritual was in use, but no reliable evidence, that prior to A.D. 1717, there
was more than one ceremony, with a word, or words, and signs. The Master Mason
was so called after he became the presiding officer of his lodge;' and when an
apprentice was to be " Crafted," two apprentices should be present to witness
the ceremony. Apprentices, then as now, in all countries but the United
States, constituted the membership of lodges, and in that degree all business
was, and is yet, transacted. About the middle of the last century, upon the
introduction of the Royal Arch degree into England from France by Chevalier
Ramsay, the ritual of the Third degree was changed, and the most important
secrets were placed in the Royal Arch; and hence, since then, a Mason who has
only received the Third degree is not a Master until he has been elected to
preside, and not even then is he a Master Mason proper, until he shall have
received the secrets of the Royal Arch, which can only be given to a Past
Master.
Now the loss sustained in the
Third degree represents the "Aphanisvn " of the Ancient Mysteries, and the "
recovery " in the Royal Arch represents the "Euresis." "Aphanizo" means to
"conceal"; "Euresis" means a " discovery." The Third degree, the Royal Arch,
and the Select of 2 7, are all designed to imitate the Ancient Mysteries, and
from the Hebrew character manifested in them we have thought they were the
result of the Kabalistic works which 1 Extract from " Constitutions " of Grand
Lodge of England, 1847.
"Ancient Charges," p. 7. "
N.B. In ancient times no brother, however skilled in the craft, was called a
Master Mason until he had been elected into the chair of a lodge." io6 ANCIENT
MASONRY.
were much studied during the
last century in Europe, from the middle to the close of which there were
invented and introduced many hundred degrees to elaborate the legends. Of all
these degrees none have survived except such as could contribute to the
advancement, intellectually and morally, of the Fraternity.
The various degrees of the
Ancient and Accepted Rite consisted of twentyfive degrees, or Rite of
Perfection, until the organization of the Supreme Council at Charleston, S.C.,
in 1802, after which that rite was called the Ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite, from the Latin Constitutions, "Antiquus Scoticus Ritus Acceplus," which
were divided into Ineffable, Knightly, and Philosophic, all of which, we
presume, will be succinctly described in the division of this volume devoted
to that rite.
Inasmuch as the building art,
at its revival in the latter part of the Middle Ages, was due to the progress
of scientific ideas, and which was the prelude to the period of discovery, we
may refer to their practical architecture and to the treatises of that period
: ‑ " The indistinctness of ideas which attended the decline of the Roman
Empire appears in the forms of their architecture, in the disregard which the
decorative construction exhibits of the necessary mechanical conditions of
support.
"The original scheme of Greek
ornamental architecture had been horizontal masses resting on vertical
columns; when the arch was introduced by the Romans, it was concealed or kept
in a state of subordination, and the lateral support which it required was
supplied latently, marked by some artifice. But the struggle between the
mechanical and decorative construction ended in the complete disorganization
of the classical style (order), 'the inconsistencies and extravagancies of
which were the results and indications of the fall of good architecture.
The elements of the ancient
system had lost all principle of connection and regard to rule. Building
became not only a mere art, but an art exercised by masters without skill and
without feeling for real beauty." When, in the twelfth and succeeding
centuries, architecture was revived in the beautiful and skilful forms of the
Gothic style, " the true idea of mechanical relations in an edifice had been
revived in men's minds, as far as was requisite for the purposes of art and
beauty." Willis, in his " Remarks on the Architecture of the Middle Ages,"
says that much of the Mason‑craft of those ages consisted in the geometrical
methods by which the artists wrought out of the blocks of stone the complex
forms of their decorative system.
In view of what has been said
upon the Mysteries, and the Mystic associations, we must not be surprised to
find among the earliest treatises on Architecture, "besides the superstition
and mistaken erudition which thus choked the growth of real architectural
doctrines, another of the peculiar element‑. of the Middle Ages comes into
view, ‑its mysticism. The dimensions and positions of the various parts of
edific|_s and of their members are determined by drawing triangles, squares,
circles, and other figures in such a manner as to bound them; and to these
geometrical figures were assigned many abstruse significations.
The plan and front of the
Cathedral at Milan are thus repre‑ OCCULTISM.
107 sented in Cesariano's
work, bounded and subdivided by various equilateral triangles; and it is easy
to see, in the earnestness with which he points out these relations, the
evidence of a fanciful and mysterious turn of thought." This work of Cesariano
was translated into German and published in 1548. Stuart (Arch. Dic.) says: ‑
"Those who have seen the exact accounts in records of the charge of fabrics of
some of our cathedrals, near four hundred years old, cannot but have a great
esteem for their economy, and admire how soon they erected such lofty
structures. Indeed, great height they thought the greatest magnificence; few
stones were used, but what a man might carry up a ladder, on his back, from
scaffold to scaffold, though they had pulleys and spoked wheels upon occasion;
but having rejected cornices,they had no need of great engines; stone upon
stone was easily piled up to great heights; therefore, the pride of their
works was in pinnacles and steeples.
In this they essentially
differed from the Roman mode, which laid all the mouldings horizontally, in
order to make the best perspective; and they made their pillars of a bundle of
little toruses, which divided when they came to the roof; and then these
toruses split into many smaller ones, and, traversing one another, gave
occasion to the tracery work (as it is called) of which this society were the
inventors (Freemasons).
They used the sharp‑pointed
arch, which would rise with little centring, required lighter key‑stones, and
less butment, and yet would bear another row of double arches rising from the
key‑stone; by diversifying of which, they erected structures of eminence, such
as the steeples of Vienna, Strasburg, and others in different countries." Sir
Christopher Wren, who was the last General Superintendent, sometimes called
the Grand Master, of that wreck of Freemasonry which had survived to his day,
in his " Parentalia," says that the practice of the pointed arch exclusively
belonged to the Fraternity of the Freemasons; and yet there is no evidence
that he had ever been initiated into the Order, until long after he had ceased
to superintend the great works of that day. ( Vide Gould's History of Masonry,
Vol. III. pp. 5 et seq.) From all the examinations which we have been enabled
to make, we have come to the conclusion that until the organization of lodges,
under the revival in 1717, what were called the " Mysteries of the Craft "
were the peculiar methods or rules employed in the special Art, and by which
the Craft was enabled to construct such magnificent buildings, which have
survived for hundreds of years, and have been the admiration of succeeding
centuries, and have also been the models for subsequent architects to the
present day.
Stuart says of Sir C. Wren : "
His distaste towards the attractive style used by this skilful association is
sufficiently known. It would appear that he could not fathom the rules of art
by which their work were governed, and politicly affected to despise that
which he lacked invention to imitate."
Yet he also says of Wren, whom
he calls " Surveyor General," and quoting from Mr. Hooke, || that since the
time of Archimides, there scarcely ever have met in one man, in so great a
perfection, such a mechanical hand and so philosophic a mind."
Conclusion.‑This treatise upon the Ancient Mysteries would not be complete
without some reference to the MYSTERIES, involved in the MOSAIC Dispensation,
which was established by the Authority of God, at Mount Sinai, 108 ANCIENT
MASONRY.
and continued until the ADVENT
of the promised MESSIAH, as believed by all of the Christian faith, and which
PERSONAGE IS yet looked for by the Jews, scattered as they are among all the
nations of the earth at the present day. Also, that special reference should
be made to CHRISTIANITY, which was established immediately after the
Crucifixion and Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST, as a distinct form of Religion
by his Apostles who had received their instructions from him while they were
his DISCIPLES, including all necessary instructions for the proper
establishment of his CHURCH in every region of the earth.
It was stated in the
introduction that there was a remarkable coincidence in the names of the first
ten patriarchs from Adam to Noah, which, being interpreted consecutively from
the first to the tenth, enunciated the very foundation of what is called the
Christian dogma.
The entire system of the
Mosaic Dispensation was designed to prepare the peculiar people of God, the
descendants of Abraham, with whom God made the Solemn Covenant that through
his SEED " the whole world should be blessed," which was to be the fulfilment
of the promise to Adam, that the " SEED Of the Woman should bruise the head of
the Serpent," but that the `| Serpent should bite his heel."
And all of these promises were
completed in the Crucifixion of the CHRIST.
Herein lie all Mysteries of
both dispensations, in completion of the " type " and " anti‑type " which had
been imitated in all Gentile Mysteries which have been detailed in the
preceding pages, under each distinctive head.
It is impossible, in the space
left in this treatise, to enter upon a comparison ; suffice it that the
suggestion be thrown out for each one to take up the subject for his own
examination.
We cannot, however, close
without stating that the Crucifixion of the CHRISTOS was a realization of the
figurative promise to Adam. Let us notice the Antithesis in that promise ‑ the
Serpent, the symbol of all Evil; the Seed of the Woman, the symbol of all
Good.
The Good should bruise the
HEAD Of the EVIL; but the EVIL, should BITE the HEEL of the GOOD.
The Evil was not destroyed,
only bruised; the HEEL or lowest extremity of Good was simply bitten.
The CHRIST was sacrificed, but
rose again from the dead, triumphing over all the EVIL; and in and through
HIM, by FAITH, shall all the world be made whole and cured from the bite of
the Serpent; as he, although bitten by the death of the Cross, survived and
ascended to his original place, so shall all the world, by the act of FAITH,
arise again from the death of sin, and ascend to the state of innocence, from
which Man fell when he disobeyed the commands of God in Eden; and each man has
since fallen by constant disobedience, which is figuratively represented by "
biting of the heel." To those who wish to proceed in such an examination into
the Mysteries involved in the Christianity which followed the Jewish
Dispensation, we append the following passages in the New Testament, that they
may read the context in each reference, and discover the pertinence thereof,
viz. : ‑ CONCL USION.
1:09 Mark iv. ix: Mystery of
the kingdom.
Rom. xi. 25: Not to be
ignorant of this Mystery; xvi. 25 : According to the revelation of the
Mystery.
I Cor. ii. 7: Speak of the
wisdom of God in a Mystery; iv. r : Stewards of the Mystery of God; xiii.2:
Prophesy and understand all Mysteries; xiv. 2: In the Spirit he speaketh
Mystery; xv. 51: I shew you a Mystery.
We shall not all.
Eph. i. q: Make known
Mysteries of his will; iii. g, 4: My knowledge in Mystery; 9 : Fellowship of
Mystery; v. 32: This is a great Mystery of Christ and the Church; v. rq : Make
known the Mysteries of the Gospel.
Col. i. 26: Mysteries which
have been hid, but; 27: Glory in this Mystery among Gentiles; ii. 2: To
acknowledge the Mystery of God; iv, g: Open a door to speak the Mysteries of
Christ. I Tim. iii. q: Holding the Mysteries of the faith; 16: Great is the,
Mystery of godliness. Rev. i. 20: Write the Mystery of the Seven Stars; x. 7 :
The Mystery of God should be finished.
ANCIENT MASONRY.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
Baal.‑Numbers : and 2 are
human heads, with symbols derived from the ox added to them. Some of the
Fathers thought the head only of the idol Baal had the bestial form.
These figures prove that they
reasoned from what was common in the forms of idols in their days.
In No. r the stars show how
the Israelites might " take up the star of their god "; i.e., portrayed on
medals, etc., carried about with them, as amulets for protection, as we have
shown was the custom in all the Mysteries of the Orient.
The garland of vine leaves and
grapes in No. 2 shows that it is allied to Bacchus, with two apples on the
head, whereby it is allied to Ceres or to Pomona; i.e., it indicates a
fruit‑bearing divinity, perhaps Isis fructifera.
No. 3 is from Montfaucon, and
the Greek inscription accompanying it says that this has been offered and
consecrated, at his own expense, by Titus Aurelius Heliodorus Hadrian, to
Aglibolos and to Malachbelus, the gods of Palmyra, with a symbol [or small
statue] of silver, for the preser vation of himself, of his wife, and of his
children in the year 547, in the month Peritus [February], A.D. 234.
These two figures no doubt
represent Baal and Moloch.
No. 4 represents the head of a
four‑horned goat, and shows the "Pentalpha" reversed.
No. 5 is the Venus of Egypt,
with the dove in the right hand and a staff in the other.
The dove was always the
insignia of Venus.
This medal is from Tentyra,
Egypt; Strabo mentions a temple of Venus at Tentyra.
No. 6 is also a medal of
Venus, represented as Astarte, having a long cross in her hand and the sacred
calathus, or bushel, on her head.
Dag‑on, or aun (Fig. y).‑The
Hebrew word dag, may be translated as a "preserver of any kind from the
dangers of the waters," as in the cases of Noah and Jonah.
From "Asiatic Researches,"
Vol. VI. p. 480: "The Buddhists say that it is Budd'ha Nar'ayana, or Budd'ha
dwelling in the waters; but the Hindoos, who live in that country, call him
Mach'odar Nath, or the sovereign prince in the belly of the fish. The title of
Mach'odar Natha properly belongs to Noah, for by the belly of the fish they
understand the cavity, or inside, ofthe Ark.
From Jonah ii. x, we make this
extract: "And Jehovah prepared a great dag to include Jonah ; and Jonah was in
the internal parts of the dag, and Jonah prayed from the internal parts of
this dagah "; viz.: He dag ah, where he is emphatic and demonstrative, THIS
dagah.
In David Levi's Lingua Sacra
we find besides his first definition of dag, a fish, the second, which says, "
a small ship, a fishing‑smack." Amos iv. 2 says, " and your posterity in
fishing‑vessels."
"Dr. Taylor, in his
'Concordance, renders it navicula, a small ship, dagah.
Targ. Jona. makes it, 'and
your daughters in the fisher man's ship.'
The Talmudical Hebrew makes
it, ' a cock‑boat, a skiff.'
The Chaldee makes it, a small
ship." From the root, dg, dag, dig, dug, thus variously spelled, there are two
senses, each of which signifies to preserve from water: rst, a fish, because
it is preserved under water; 2d, a ship, because preserved on the water.
Query, Could our words dig and dug be original words 1 Our first canoes were
dug out of logs.
Of the figure of Dagon there
is an ancient fable.
The Oannes, who was half a man
and half a fish, came to Babylon and taught several arts, and afterward
returned to the sea. . ..
"There were several of these
Cannes: the name of one was Odacon, i.e., O'Dagon [the Dagon].
Berosus said of him, 'he had
the body and head of a fish, and above the head of the fish he had a human
head, and below the tail of the fish he had human feet.
This is the true figure of
Dagon.
Etymologically, Dagon is
composed of dag, and aun.
Ammon is also composed of ham
and aun, which may refer to Noah, or Nau, and was originally ham‑nay, ‑a
transposition which is common in antiquity." Any means the generative power of
Deity, Divine potency or energy, the originai creative principle of the
Almighty.
"If Ham‑nau was in sense
equivalent to Ham of Natt or Noah, Dag‑nau might be equivalent to the Dag of
Nau, or Noah, i.e., the fish, as the Hebrew word dag imports, of Nau." If aun
be taken as generative power, as it means thus in Hebrew, Gen. Aix. 3; Dent.
xxi. 17,

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
113
it will equally lead,
personally understood, to the great second progenitor of the human race, i.e.,
Noah. Masons may hence find a correct meaning of the "Substitute," if they
will remove the initial of the last word to the end of the second, and prefix
the second with H', instead of H alone; it will then be " of the Father."
The meaning then will be the
same identically with the " TRUE." Aun is translated Aven when applied to
Beth‑el, where one of the " calves " of Jeroboam was set up‑" House of Idols
or Vanity." As Oannes came on shore, and after teaching returned to the sea at
night, to what did he return but to some vessel out of which he came in the
morning?
Berosus represents Oannes as
coming out of the fish.
As the word dog implies a
preservation from water, so Oannes coming out and returning to something which
swam upon the waters, symbolized by a fish, whose constant residence is in or
upon the waters, and passes in safety and is secure amid storms and tempests,
so the idea of a structure containing persons who were preserved from the
boisterous and perilous waves became connected with the idea of a fish, which
emblematically denoted safety from the waters.
"Properly to understand the
import of the figure of Dag‑aun, we must separate into two parts the ideas
which compose it. rst. We must consider the human part, aun or nau, as'
issuing out of,' and in itself entirely independent of, zd., his protection,
means of preservation, dwelling, residence; that which had safely carried him
through the waters; that from which he could 'come out,' and to which he
could'retire'; that which was symbolized by the form of a fish, and was
denoted by the word dog.
For it follows evidently, that
this dad was no part of the real person of Wait'; as a man's house, which he
quits in the morning, . . . and to which he returns in the evening, is no part
of that man's person. . . .
Accept, therefore, the idea of
'the preserver of Nau,' as implied in the compound word Dag‑aun, which word in
Hebrew signifies a fish, say the etymologists, from its fertility; and corn,
from its increase.
Dagon may also allude to
preservation, as a fish is preserved in the waters; to preservation, as corn
is preserved in the earth; both in reference to newness of life; for, indeed,
Dagon is called Siton, the god of corn.
By some Dagon was said to be
Saturn; others say he was Jupiter.
Represented as part woman and
part fish, Venus was indicated, whom the Egyptians worshipped under the form
of a fish, because in the war of Typhon against the gods, Venus concealed
herself under this shape.
Ovid and Diod. Sic. say, that
at Askelon the goddess Derketo, or Atergatis, was worshipped under the figure
of a woman, with the lower parts of a fish; Lucian, de Dea. Syr., also thus
describes her under this form." The Scriptures show that the statue of Dagon
was human in the upper part, as when that image fell down before the Ark of
the Covenant, in x Sam. v. 4, 5.
Sanchoniathon, apud Euse bius,
says that Dagon means Siton, the god of wheat.
Dagon in Hebrew also means
wheat.
Probably Ceres, the goddess of
plenty, was meant.
Elain says that among the
names of Ceres, Sito was one. She is represented in some medals, as those of
Syracuse, delineated with fish around her.
Ceres is sometimes described
with the attributes of Isis, who was the goddess of fertility among the
Egyptians.
We can arrive at no other
conclusion than this.
Originally the Sun was the
great central object of worship.
He was considered the
beneficent creator of all things earthly; because from his light and heat were
produced all vegetables and animals.
He arose from the SEA in the
morning; continued, during the day, shining and warming all things, producing
the beneficial results experienced by man, and at night retiring again to the
sea.
Now the ideas of men, at the
earliest dawn of civilization, were childlike.
The theory of Cosmos was very
simple.
The earth itself was an
extended plain, much longer east and west than north and south; it was
surrounded by the sea, so that the sun came from the sea in the morning and
returned to it at night.
In time the Dag‑aun was the
result, manifested in some form or other in all the Eastern lands.
No. 8 is from an Indian
picture, is said to represent Bramah sitting on a lotus after the deluge. It
is supposed by Calmet to be Noah and his three sons.
Nos. q, ro, and ii represent
Nergal, who was worshipped under figure of a cock; and, to make a pair of the
species, Succoth Benoth, say they, was worshipped as hen and chicken.
Ner is light, gal signifies to
revolve, a revolution, a circuit; the title, then, implies "the revolve
ANCIENT MASOLAR Y.
ink or returning light." Hence
the cock, which always announces the returning light, is emblematic of the
morning.
It is supposed that, as the
ancients did not confine themselves to one meaning in these symbols, but had
more remote, recondite, or esoteric explanations, this symbol may have
referred to some latent principle, and "expected to produce effects beyond
what hitherto it had done or was doing; i.e., they usually looked backward on
history, but sometimes looked forward in expectation." In Fig. q the cock is
holding in his bill two ears of corn; he is attended by Mercury, carrying his
caduceus in one hand and a bag of money in the other. Montfaucon, Vol. I. p.
128, says: "To see Mercury with a cock is common enough; but to see him
walking before a cock much larger than himself is what I have never noticed
except in this representation.
It may denote that the
greatest of the qualities of Mercury is vigilance."
"The cock holding the corn in
his bill we think has reference to the fact that proper care and vigilance
only can produce the products of the earth.
However, it may be that there
is a more recondite meaning, unknown to us.
We have no space to examine
this very interesting question in reference to the revivifcation which may be
implied in the term Nergal, 'returning light,' and which may refer to our
resurrection after death." In Fig. 1o, a gem of the Florentine Gallery, two
cocks are yoked to the car of Cupid, and it is found by other instances that
Cupid and a cock are no strangers to each other.
Montfaucon shows Cupid
victorious over a cock; he overcomes the cock as he does all other animals.
"Imo et S,allus plus cxteris
avibus est amori addictus." Another Cupid leads the cocks, as if they had been
running in the race and were victorious, for the driving Cupid carries a palm
branch as the reward of victory obtained by these his emblematic coursers.
Fig. 1r represents the "light
"strongly connected with the cock.
The car is drawn by two cocks,
as in Fig. ro, with a cock standing upon it in the attitude of crowing and
flapping his wings; the star is the star of Venus, making the car the
consecrated vehicle of that goddess of love and beauty; Hymen, the god of
marriage and conjugality, with his torch, and at his feet is another cock,
crowing, etc., like the former.
This symbol, or allegorical
representation, no doubt, "imports the influence of Venus and Hymen, the
genial powers of vitality, on the renovation of life in human posterity."
Socrates, before his death,
said to Crito : " We owe a sacrifice of a cock."
Did he hereby refer to a hope
of a future existence, to a: revivification?
This would have been
coincident with his expectation of a converse with the illustrious dead.
Christ compared himself to a
corn of wheat falling into the ground, but which afterward sprang up and
produced much fruit (John xii. 24).
Succoth Benoth (Fig. 12).‑This
deity was companion to Nergal, and was the favorite object of worship by the
Babylonians. 2 Kings xvii. 30, " And the men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth,
and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima." Ash,
fire, Shima, laid up; "the station of fire‑worship "
The Rabbins describe Succoth
Benoth as being typified by hen and chicken.
(See description of Nergal.)
Succoth signifies a tent or booth or temporary residence; Benoth is a Hebrew
word, and the Greek word is Benos. Oth is a Hebrew female termination; Os is
the Greek. On a medal of the Emperor Gordian, from Hierapolis, Syria, on one
side is his profile, and on the other is Cybele feeding the serpent of Hygeia.
The inscription around the
emperor's head is Adir Ben os.
"The word Adir is evidently
derived from the Chaldee dialect (of which the Syriac was a branch), in which
ader or adur signifies the inhabited, the dwelling, the residence."
Dan. iv. 312, " And the fowls
of the heaven dwelt in iderun; i.e., inhabited its branches."
Verse 18, " The beasts of the
field, tidur, dwelt under it." "The Benos of the Syrians was the Venus of the
Greeks and Latins, as it was also the Banu or Benu of Eastern Asia; so that if
the Indian Banu is the original, then the name may be traced Banu, Benu,
Benoth, Benos, Venus, and together with the name the worship may be traced
also; i.e., originally, perhaps, that of a person, but afterward of the
prolific powers. The full translation of the Adir Benos, or Succoth Benoth,
would be, 'the Venus of the temporary residence. " No. 13 is inserted to show
how the figure of a woman was combined with a fish, and to repre. sent the
Syrian goddess; and in No. 12 we see the representation of Venus rising from
the sea, attended by Tritons.
This is not the original
Venus; it is the story poetically represented and

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
varied by the imagination of
the Greeks from the ancient emblem, retaining the idea but changing the
figure, as they did in Dagon and many other idols.
No. 14 represents the Tyrian
Neptune with a trident, a medal of Phoenicia, an old man with a long beard,
clothed from head to foot, having on his head a bonnet with a high crown, not
unlike the calathus in Fig. 6. The head is Alexander 11. of Syria. The trident
in his hand is the proper sceptre of Neptune, the god of the sea, who is
always represented naked, neither bonneted nor clothed. It is certainly a
Syrian deity, but how can it be Neptune? Who was the original Neptune ?
Some suppose that this
character may be attributed to Japheth, who as Neptune had a right to wield
the trident.
The trident was a symbol
appropriated to Siva in India.
Can you trace any resemblance
between the attributes of Siva and those of Neptune ?
As a venerable patriarch, his
bonnet of honor, his ample clothing, and his long beard bespeak his dignity.
Fig. 15 represents Ashtaroth,
having the horns well developed, and two "lightnings," and around her are the
seven stars, implying her authority as regent of the night.
(See text, p. 64.) No. r6.
This is a medal from Sinope, which represents a man with a Phrygian bonnet on
his head, clothed in a short dress, a sword in his right hand, in his left a
man's head, which he has just severed from the body, the blood from which
spirts upward.
"Macrobius says the moon was
both male and female, and adds one particular, which we have referred to in
the text; viz., that the male sex sacrificed to him in the female habit, and
the females in the male habit, etc." (p. 65.) No. r7. Vishnu in second Avatar.
(See text, p. 84.) No. i8 is
an " Abraxas "; it represents a man with two faces, on his head the sacred
calathus, or bushel, as in Fig. 6, two wings on his shoulders, and two on his
hips, having a scorpion's tail, in each hand a staff.
Significance unknown.
No. rq. Vishnu in the eighth
Avatar, referred to in the text, (p. 8o).
No. 20 is another Abraxas,
which is represented with more emblems than No. 18.
On the head is the immortal
lotus; there are four wings, and with each wing is an arm; in each of its four
hands are different destructive implements which will be readily recognized by
scholars.
In his two upper hands weapons
of injury,‑a whip with thongs and a double battle‑axe in one band; in the
other an axe, a dagger, and a hammer, or another axe.
In his lower hands he holds a
rod and a pair of scales, to denote that he is not to exceed the just weight
and measure of the evils he may inflict.
It is supposed that this is
the ANGEL OF PUNISHMENT, the agent of retributive punishment, whose office it
is to distribute battle and murder and sudden death among the sons of men.
In fine, it may possibly be
the representation of SATAN.
DIVISION IT.
THE COGNATE ORDERS.
e4 Comprehensive History of
the Knights Templars and the Crusades; their patronage by the See of Rome and
subsequent anathema; the connection of these, if any, with the present Degrees
of Knights Templar in the United States and Great Britain; the Execution of
Jacques de Molai, Grand Master, and Supplemental Historic Notes.
BY WILLIAM STEVENS PERRY, 32|,
D.D. OXON., LL.D., D.C.L., Bishop of Iowa.
CHAPTER I.
THE ANCIENT TEMPLARS AND
ORDERS OF CHIVALRY.
The Ethics of Christian
Knighthood. ‑True chivalry has it source and spring of being at the foot of
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The study of the lessons of the great
biography‑the tracing of the foot‑prints of Him, the Son of God, who in loving
lowliness went about doing good when He was incarnate upon the earth‑won from
a quaint old English writer the acknowledgment that "Jesus Christ was the
first true gentleman." We, mindful of the fact that chivalry is self‑sacrifice
; that true knighthood is consecration, the glad and willing service of God
and man, founded on faith in God, designed for the service of the weak, the
oppressed, ‑ may reverently recognize in the Christ, the mirror of chivalry,
the pattern of all ;rue knightly, valiant, and magnanimous life. In the
exhibition of ineffable love, shown in the taking of our flesh, the living our
life, the bearing our guilt, the dying our death,‑all for us and for our
salvation,‑there was breathed into our manhood a new breath of life ; there
was given to us the high and holy purpose of living the life of this Son of
God, our Exemplar, our Saviour, the source of our strength.
From this period ‑ the coming
of the Christ into the world‑we date anew the history of humanity.
Gladly did the noble, the
valiant, the magnanimous of our race hail this exhibition of all that was
winning, true, and inspiring in the perfect manhood of the Incarnate Son of
II9 120
THE COGNATE ORDERS.
God.
In the life of loving service,
in the cross‑bearing, in the willing selfsacrifice, in the bringing of life
and immortality to light by His rising from the dead; in the triumphing over
all that was low and base, mean and guilty, and hateful to God or hurtful to
man in our erring, sinful nature, men found new strength for purity,
perfectness, and self‑devotion ; new motives for selfforgetfulness and living
for others' good; new incentives to elevate and improve themselves ; new
strength in their efforts to attain and realize the highest good. It is thus
that chivalry is Christian; that knighthood was never known till the Church
and faith of Christ were paramount on the earth. Inspired by longings for
holiness, recognizing its true example, adoring its divine Founder, the
chivalric heart, the valiant soul, the knightly man, enlisted, with a burning
enthusiasm, under the banner bf the Cross, to combat all kinds of evil, to
conquer all opposing forms of sin.
The knightly life was a
religious life.
The oath of utter and complete
self‑immolation was prefaced by the vigil of prayer.
In the dimly lighted chamber
of reflection, in silence and solitude, the neophyte was brought face to face
with the dread realities of life and death, of time and eternity.
The rough and rugged pathway,
trod ere the candidate was dubbed and created a knight, was meant to be a
faint transcript of that via rlolorosa over which the Lord of life and glory
passed on His way to Golgotha, that place of a skull, where He, our Immanuel,
suffered and died for us.
The willing service, pledged
and promised ere the Christian knight was admitted as a pilgrim‑warrior to
share the toils, the trials, and the triumphs of those who fought with their
good swords to recover the Holy Sepulchre, where the dear Lord had lain, from
Infidel or Moslem hands; was a perfect and entire devotion of mind and heart,
of will and purpose, of soul and body, to Christ and God.
"Half priest, half soldier,"
was the Templar's acknowledged characteristic.
"Holiness to the Lord " was
the rule and motive of his actions.
The defence of the right, the
punishment of the wrong, were his bounden duties as a true, leal knight. With
an unfaltering trust in God, with humility and lowliness of heart, and the
outward expression of that self‑abasement in which the sinful soul cannot but'
appear beneath the all‑searching Eye, there was still careful trial made ere
the applicant might wield his sword in defence of the unprotected and
assailed, and fight valiantly in the holy cause of Christ's religion.
The old‑time precept each
candidate heard sounding in his ears was this: "You who desire to become a
knight must pursue a new course of life.
Devoutly you must watch in
prayer, avoid sins of pride and idleness.
You must defend the Church,
widows, and orphans, and with noble boldness you must protect the people." The
first lesson impressed upon the applicant's heart was the love and fear of
God.
It was thus that the full
acceptance of the Christian religion became the very soul, the inspiration of
chivalry; and chivalry, true Christian knighthood, became faith, fidelity,
probity, mercy, love to God, gentleness to man, valor before the world,
‑everything, in short, that was pure, lovely, and of CHRISTIAN KNIGHTHOOD.
123 good report.
It was the consecration of the
whole man to the discharge of Christian duty, the practice of Christian
virtue, the crucifying of every evil thought, or word, or deed.
There was, there could be, no
keeping back part of the price.
"It is the will of God, it is
the will of God," had been the impassioned cry of one and all at the first
assumption of the cross.
The bearing of that cross‑ the
wearing of the blood‑red symbol of our redemption ‑implied the entire
surrender of the will to God's will and the giving up of all things‑home,
friends, wealth, country, life ‑ for the cause of Christ.
Faith inspired works. Devotion
was enkindled at the sight of the sacred sign.
There was victory in the cross
; victory over self, over sin, and over the enemies of the faith of Christ.
This love and service of God
which characterized the Christian chivalrythe old‑time knighthood of history‑
was, _for its day and generation, a true exhibition of the spirit of
Christianity. The faith of our Lord Jesus Christ deals rather with the motive
than the action, ‑ the thought rather than the deed, ‑though it would have
each and all alike instinct with the love and fear of God.
The religion of the days of
chivalry, of Christian knighthood, was a religion of motives, a religion of
the heart, the affections, the emotions, the feelings, rather than the
intellectual acceptance of a system of doctrines, ‑ the adherence to a logical
and carefully defined dogmatic belief.
Without doubtings or
questionings of heart, did the old‑time knights accept and practise the
teachings of the faith.
Passionately did they profess
their love for their Lord and Saviour.
"Non nobis, Domine, non nobis,
sed Nomini Tuo da gloriam " was the Templar song or shout of triumph when
victorious in the fray. The love and fear of God, the recognition of Him as
the source of every earthly good, the Giver of every grace, were fundamental
principles of Christian knighthood.
Life was consecrated by prayer
and service.
Death was welcomed for the
cause and cross of Christ.
The world had known nothing
like this disciplined, this resistless enthusiasm. 'The cross of Christ was no
sooner raised on high as a standard, ‑ that blood‑red cross telling of the
saving, cleansing blood of Calvary, was no sooner placed on the breast and
shoulder than the valiant and magnanimous soldiers of all Europe became a band
of brothers, bound by a single purpose, animated by a common and absorbing
devotion.
It was the 1| truce of God "
between rival and contending powers, ‑between man and man,‑that the Holy
Sepulchre might be redeemed from " Moslem caitiffs and Infidel hounds."
Influenced by no hope of fee
or reward, with no selfish expectations or care for personal aggrandizement,
the flower of chivalry went forth to defend and uplift this cross, and wield,
in the service of the Christian faith, the swords that had been belted round
each neophyte when the vows of knighthood were first uttered by lips
sanctified by their reception of the Sacrament of Redemption.
Inspired by this pure and holy
devotion, the annals of Christian knighthood abound in instances of 124 THE
COGNATE ORDERS.
heroic constancy even unto
death.
It is with pride that we
recall the heroism of that illustrious, valiant, and magnanimous knight,
Renaud de Chatillon, Grand Master of the Templars, who scorned when in
captivity to purchase life on condition of apostasy from the Christian faith,
and was beheaded by the hand of Saladin.
We cannot forget the constancy
and devotion of the crowd of knights of the two Orders, Templars and St. John,
who joyously accepted martyrdom at the executioner's hands in prison, rather
than renounce their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Gladly do we record the daring
of Jakeline de Mailliacus, that heroic Knight Templar, who, on the advance of
Saladin into Palestine, in a battle near Tiberiad rushed boldly into the midst
of the Saracens, one against a thousand, because, as the old chronicler is
proud to tell us, 1| mori pro Christo non fimuit,"‑he feared not to die for
Christ. Such was the religious enthusiasm of these valiant men, whose proudest
boast was to be " a true knight and servant of Jesus Christ." The Religion of
Chivalry. ‑ The religion of chivalry was not merely a blind and superstitious
acceptance of priestly teachings and ecclesiastical rites.
There was then, as now,
symbolism in the ritual and observances of knighthood.
There were then, as now,
dogmatic teachings breathed into the strained, listening ear, by prelate or
priest, amidst the solemn accessories of initiation and adoption into the
brotherhood of Christian knights. This symbolism, then as now, centred in the
cross of Christ; these teachings, then as now, brought out in startling
clearness and with no uncertain sound, the great historic truths relating to
the life and life‑work of the Son of God when here on earth.
The religion of chivalry was
founded on the teachings of the Incarnation, and the atoning death upon the
cross, of Christ. In the words of the Introit for the Tuesday in Holy‑week,
sung in sweet and solemn cadences in every preceptory or chapel of the
Templars, as the commemoration of the great day of atonement‑the Good Friday
of the Church Universal of Christ drew nigh, prelate, priest, and knight
united with consenting voice: ‑ " We ought to glory in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection; by whom we
have been saved and delivered." These knights of old may not have been
familiar with the folios of patristic theology burdening the shelves of the
scanty libraries of their day; but they 'knew and believed and lived the‑
legend, "Non est sales animae, nee sees aeternae vitae, nisi in Cruce,"‑there
is no health to the soul nor hope of eternal life, save in the Cross. They may
have known or cared little for the theories of the philosophers or the
teachings of the schoolmen; but they wore the blood‑red cross upon their
hearts ; it entered into their very life and soul; they fought and died under
the blazonry of the symbol of our redemption.
Their legend was that of the
Church's earlier days of triumph, " In hoe nkno vinces."
As Spenser, the poet‑laureate
of chivalry, in his 11 Fairy Queen," describes it: ‑ ORDER OF THE TEMPLE.
127 "A gentle knight was
pricking o'er the plain, Clad in mighty arms and silver shield; And on his
breast a bloody cross he bore, In dear remembrance of his dying Lord, For
Whose sweet sake that glorious badge he wore, And dead, or living, ever Him
adored; Upon his shield the like was also scored, For sovereign hope which in
His help he had." The Order of the Temple, and History of the Crusades.‑The
Order of the Temple was established to protect pilgrims to the sacred places
of Holy Land, when on their way to Jerusalem.
It differed from the
Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights in being, from its very beginning, a
military order.
`| Pauperes commilitones
Christi templi Salomonici "‑poor soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of
Solomon‑were they at the start; and their original purpose of affording
protection to the pilgrims who sought, after the first crusade, to visit the
sacred sites of Palestine, was kept prominently in view for many years. That
which in its origin was somewhat of the nature of a rural police, became, at
length, through fortuitous circumstances and from the nature and needs of the
society of the age, one of the most powerful organizations the world has ever
known.
The names of the founders of
the Order have descended to us with as much authority as could fairly be
asked.
In the
year
r r r 8 a knight of Burgundy,
Hugo de Paganis (Payens), bound himself and eight companions to the Patriarch
of Jerusalem, to guard the approaches to the Holy City; so that pilgrims to
the sacred places might have easy access ; to live as regular canons of the
Church, under the Benedictine rule; and to fight for the King of Heaven and
the Bride of Christ, in chastity, obedience, and self‑denial. The names of
these comrades of Hugo de Paganis were Godefroi de St. Aldemar (St. Omer),
Roral, Gundemar, Godefroi Bisol, Paganus (Pagen) de Montdidier, Archibald de
St. Aman, Andrew de Montbar, and the Count of Provence.'
The number of these knights is
significant, a triple trinity, banded together for the service of the
Triune‑God. Of these original members of the Order, the founder, Hugo de
Paganis, became the first Master ‑Magister‑of the Order of the Temple, in irrg.
Quarters were assigned them in the palace of the Latin Kings of Jerusalem,
which had, before the Christian occupation of the Holy City, been the Mosque
of Mount Moriah.
This palace was also known as
Solomon's Temple; and it was from this templum Salomonis that the Templars
took their name. The founders of the Order had all fought under Godefroi de
Bouillon, and from this circumstance commanded respect and influence among the
hardy veterans of these holy wars.
This was increased by the
efficient and valiant manner in which the services they rendered, first to
pilgrims and then to others in need, were performed.
It was not long before the
fame of these new 1 A Concise History of the Order of the Temple, with some
mention of those Bodies which claim to be derived from it.
By Sir P. Colquhoun, M.A.,
LL.D., Q.C.
8vo.
Bedford, England, 1878.
p. 23.
THE COGNATE ORDERS.
allies of the cross and Church
of Christ had spread over Europe.
The junior scions of noble
houses in all parts of Christendom soon sought incorporation into so
distinguished an order, which, from its start, received none but those whose
social standing entitled them to consideration.
The King of Jerusalem, who had
assigned to the Templars their abode on the site of the Temple of Solomon,
commended the new Order to the notice of St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, who
issued a pastoral, in which the saint praises the valor and extols the merits
of the Templars.
Under the patronage of this
holy man, the Papal legate, Matthew, Bishop of St. Alban's, presided at the
Council of Troyes, which assembled early in the year 1128, for the purpose of
determining the statutes of thop new Order. The rules of discipline and
obligation, numbering seventy‑two, then adopted, met with the sanction of Pope
Honorius II. and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and became at a later date the
groundwork of the more elaborate and complete " Regle du Temple."
Ere the death of their saintly
patron, Bernard of Clairvaux, the Templars had been established in every
kingdom, of Latin Christendom. Henry I. of France granted them domains in
Normandy. They are found established in Castile in 1129 ; in Rochelle in 1131
; in Languedoc in 1136 ; at Rome in T138; and in Brittany in 1141. Manors,
castles, and treasure were lavished upon them.
Louis VIII. of France bestowed
upon the Order a marshy field outside the limits of the city of Paris, known
in later, days as the Temple, and recognized for years as the headquarters of
the Templar Order in Europe.
Pope Honorius II. appointed
the white mantle as the garb of the Order, in contradistinction to the black
robe of the Hospitallers. In the year 1146 Pope Eugenius III. added to this
distinctive garment a red cross, to be worn on the breast as a symbol of the
martyrdom the Order was understood to court.
In the following year this
Pope, with King Louis VII. of France, met one hundred and thirty of the
brethren at a chapter held with great pomp in Paris, within the precincts of
the " Temple." After the Council of Troyes, Hugo de Paganis, the Master of the
Templars, visited England and induced a number of English . knights to follow
him to the Holy Land as members of the Order. Among these recruits was Fulk,
Count of Anjou, who was made King of Jerusalem in 1131. The founder and first
master of the Templar Order died about the year 1136.
He was succeeded by Robert de
Craon, who is said to have been a nephew of the celebrated Anselm, Archbishop
of Canterbury.
The third master, Everard de
Barris, won great renown for deeds of valor in the second crusade.
In the disastrous retreat of
the Christians from Laodicea to Attalia, the Templars alone maintained any
appearance of order and discipline, and their display of military prowess and
their fortitude under the most trying and adverse circumstances, led Louis
VII. of France to re‑organize his entire army after the pattern set by the
Knights Templars.
THE CRUSADES.
The Emperor of Germany, Conrad
III., spent Easter of the year 1148 at the palace of the Templars on Mount
Moriah, and in the summer of that year the knights of the Order took part with
him in the unsuccessful siege of Damascus. The phenomenal growth of the Order
had already excited jealousy on every side, and there were those who
attributed the failure of this expedition of Conrad to the treachery of the
Templars. Conrad repelled these accusations as unfounded, but suspicions and
slanders were ever afterward of constant recurrence.
The Crusades. ‑ From this time
the history of the Knights Templars is the history of the Crusades, and of
chivalry itself. Bred to the profession of arms, recruited from the noblest
and bravest knights of the time, the Order speedily attained a standing and
importance only rivalled by the Hospitallers ; while the two organizations
became the mainstay and support of the crusading army, the right wing being
the recognized position of the Templars, "and the left that of the
Hospitallers.
The election of a chevalier of
the Temple to the Crown of Jerusalem conferred on the Order a greater
consideration than ever before, while their unflinching fidelity to their
self‑assumed trust, and the reckless daring of their feats at arms, and their
willing sacrifice of life for success, placed the Templars at the very head of
the military orders of the age and won for them undying fame.
In the year 1149 the Knights
Templars were appointed to defend the fortress of Gaza, the last Christian
stronghold on the southern frontier of Palestine. Four years later Bernard de
Tremelai, but recently made Master of the Order, with forty of the knights,
made an incursion into Ascalon, and having been surrounded by the Saracens,
all were cut off to a man.
A chronicler of the age,
William of Tyre, records the current scandal that these knights merited their
fate by their eagerness to secure the spoils of conquest, but the greed of
gold did not militate against their bravery.
The following year the charge
was made that the Templars had surrendered to slavery and certain death a
captive, an Egyptian prince, who was well inclined to profess the Christian
faith.
In 1166, less than fifty years
from the founding of the Order, Amalric, the Latin King of Jerusalem,
ignominiously hanged twelve Templars, on the charge of betraying to an emir of
Nfir al‑Din of Damascus, a stronghold beyond the Jordan.
In the year 1169 the
chivalrous Saladin succeeded to the leadership of the Saracens. The year
following his ascension to power he was compelled by the Templars to raise the
siege of their frontier fortress of Gaza, and seven years later the Templar
Knights shared in the victory of King Baldwin IV. at Ascalon.
The building of the Templar
stronghold at Jacob's ford, two years afterward, was followed by an irruption
of the Saracens, and the defeat of the Christians at Paneas. In this
disastrous engagement, the youthful King escaped with his life, but Odo de St.
Armand, the Grand Master of the Tem 132 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
plars, was captured and never
redeemed.
Odo was succeeded by Arnold de
Torroge, who died at Verona when on a mission to arouse at the West a fresh
interest in the succor of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The rule of the Order was now
committed to Gerard de Riderfort.
In 1187 the rash valor of the
Templars provoked a conflict with an overwhelming force of Saracens. Defeated
and dispersed, Gerard, with three companion knights, escaped to Nazareth.
Again the Templars' rashness brought defeat and disaster, at Hittin. Gerard
and the newly crowned successor of Baldwin IV. on the throne of Jerusalem, Guy
de Lusignan, were taken prisoners by Saladin, while upwards of two hundred
Templars fell on the field of battle, or at the close of the strife ; for the
fight was scarcely over when Saladin ordered the slaughter of all the Templars
or Hospitallers in his hands.
The Holy City, now utterly
defenceless, was surrendered to the victorious Saladin, early in October,
1187, and the treasures in the coffers of the Templars were freely used to
redeem the poorer Christian captives. The Templars, mindful of their early
obligations, guarded a part of these poor wretches on their mournful journey
from Jerusalem to Tripoli.
On the release of Guy de
Lusignan from captivity, both Templars and Hospitallers flocked to his
standard and accompanied him to the siege of Acre. Under his banner the
Templars took part in the two years' investure of the stronghold, and shared
in the horrors of the famine of the years 119o91. The Grand Master, Gerard,
perished in the fearful battle of October, 1189, refusing to survive the
terrible slaughter of his brethren of the Order.
In the strifes for the Latin
Kingdom of the East which followed, the Knights Templars supported the claims
of Guy de Lusignan, and, in common with King Richard Coeur de Lion, were
accused of participation in the death of the rival claimant, Conrad of
Montferrat, which occurred in April, 1192. It was in the guise of a Templar,
and in a galley belonging to the Order, that King Richard of England left
Palestine. On the recovery of Acre, the headquarters of the Order were
established in this city, and a few years later they began the erection, on a
rocky promontory washed on every side but the east by the waters of the
Mediterranean, not far from Acre, of their stronghold of " Castle Pilgrim,"
the ruins of which may still be seen.
Early in the thirteenth
century the fifth crusade started from this fortress for the conquest of
Egypt. At the siege of Damietta, though the Grand Master, William de Chartres,
was killed, the Templars performed deeds of surpassing valor. True to their
jnotto, " first to attack and last to retreat," their dauntless bravery saved
the army of the crusaders from utter destruction at the fierce struggle on
August 29, 1219 ; and when the city capitulated, November 5, the only one of
its twenty‑eight towers that showed any signs of giving way had been
undermined by the Templars' enginery.
Frederick II. found the
Templars opposed to him and to his plans of Eastern conquest, from the moment
of his entrance upon Holy Land.
On THE CRUSADES, 135 his
landing at Acre, September 7, 1228, the King found the Knights Templars
unwilling to ally themselves to the fortunes, or march under the banners, of
one excommunicated by Holy Church. The Templars are accused of giving
information to the Sultan of the King's intended pilgrimage to the Jordan, and
they are known to have opposed the ten years' peace agreed upon by Frederick
and Al‑Kdmil, the Sultan of Egypt.
They carried their opposition
to such an extent as to refuse to be present at Frederick's coronation at
Jerusalem.
The indignation of Frederick
was aroused.
Leaving the Holy City
abruptly, he publicly insulted the Grand Master, and made a demand for the
surrender of the Templars' strongholds.
He even laid siege to Castle
Pilgrim, the Templars' impregnable fortress.
Leaving Acre in May, 1229, on
his return, he despatched orders from Apulia to confiscate the estates of the
Order in his domains ‑and to drive all Templars from the land. Again the tide
of war turned towards the East.
Theobald of Navarre and an
army of crusaders reached Palestine late in the summer of 1239.
On the 13th of November of
that‑year the Templars shared in the disastrous defeat near Jaffa, after a
bloody encounter their reckless daring had done much to bring about.
A ten years' truce was now
concluded by Theobald with Silih of Egypt, before the King of Navarre left the
Holy Land the following September. On the coming of Richard of Cornwall, the
following month, a treaty was concluded with the Sultan of Egypt, in spite of
the opposition of the Knights Templars.
Open hostilities now broke out
between the three Christian Orders: the Templars, Hospitallers, and the
Teutonic Knights. Victory attended the efforts of the Templars. Negotiations
were opened with SAllh of Damascus for the restoration of the holy places to
the Christians, and in the year 1244 the Grand Master, Hermann of Perigod,
announced to the Christian princes of Europe that after a "silence of
fifty‑six years the Divine Mysteries would once more be celebrated in the Holy
City." The anger of the Moslem hordes was now thoroughly aroused.
The Sultan of Babylon availed
Himself, at this moment of supreme need, of the K'hirizmans, a savage people
driven from their homes by the Mongolian invasions. These barbarians, sweeping
down from the north in multitudes, left behind them unassailed the impregnable
stronghold of Safed, lately built by the Templars to guard the frontier; and,
on St. Luke's day, October 18, 1244, annihilated the Christian forces in the
bloody battle of Gaza.
Of the three hundred Templars
present at this fight, but eighteen survived.
Out of two hundred
Hospitallers who engaged in this battle, but sixteen escaped alive. The Grand
Masters of the two Orders were killed or captured.
The Latin Kingdom of the East
never recovered from this wholesale slaughter of its knightly defenders. The
Holy City was lost to Christendom. The Holy Sepulchre and the sacred sites
were again in the possession of the‑Moslems. The prodigies of valor performed
by the Templars were all in vain.
The " Beauseant," the symbol
of success, was dragged in the dust.
The foes of 136
THE COGNATE ORDERS.
Christ were victorious over
all opposition.
The gains of years of battle
of diplomacy were lost on the issue of this single defeat. The conquests of
Theobald and the Lion‑hearted Richard were swept away forever.
Disaster followed disaster.
In Egypt, where the Grand
Master, William de Sonnac, with his companions of the Temple, sought to
further the military operations of the saintly Louis IX. of France, the bloody
struggle at Manstira left alive at its close but three Templars of all who
entered fearlessly into the fray.
The end was drawing near.
In June, 1266, the fortress of
the Templars at Safed was forced to surrender, and of its six hundred Templar
defenders, all, without a single exception, chose death rather than apostasy.
Other reverses followed in swift succession, internal dissensions arose, and
near the close of the thirteenth century Acre was lost; the Grand Master,
William de Beaujeu was slain, and the few remaining knights, after forcing a
passage to the coast, took refuge in Cyprus and reestablished there the
headquarters of the Order.
Attempts to regain a foothold
in Palestine were futile, and the beginning of the fourteenth century found
the Knights Templars driven for all time from the soil oú Asia.
The Templar Endowments and
Possessions. ‑ Misfortunes at the East had not stripped the Order of its
wealth and power in Western Europe. In rank and influence they had become
second to none. They were the almoners of monarchs ; their preceptories were
the storehouses of the national treasure ; their gifts were enormous; their
possessions yielded revenues that exceeded the incomes of kings.
De Molai, the last Grand
Master, when summoned to his fate, entered France in the year 1306, with
150,000 gold florins and ten horse‑loads of silver.
Persecution and Dispersion. ‑
For years there had been rumors in circulation affecting the orthodoxy, the
purity, and the loyalty of the Order. The charge received credence that, on
initiation, the neophyte was forced to disavow his belief in God and Christ,
to spit upon the crucifix, and to swear unquestioning obedience to the Grand
Master's behests. It was asserted that the words of consecration in the Canon
of the Mass, "Hoc est Corpus," were omitted in the Templar celebrations of the
Eucharist; that the cross was trampled under foot on Good Friday, and that the
avowed chastity of the Order had given place to the most infamous practices.
The worship of a hideous idol
I was attributed to the Templars, and blasphemous and shameless deeds were
ascribed to an order whose sole raison d'etre was the practice and the support
of the faith of Christ.
The alliance between Philip
IV. of France, who was under obligations for his life to the shelter from the
Paris mob, afforded him by the Templars, and Pope Clement V., who owed to the
French King's gold or influence his posses i Baphemet (Baffomet, Baphemet, or
Baffomelus).
Vide De Quinceys Inquiry,
etc., Works Edinburgh, 1879. XIV. 439.
PERSECUTION AND DISPERSION.
139 sion of the Papal tiara,
brought about the overthrow of the Order of the Temple.
Philip the Fair coveted the
possessions of the Order.
The Pope distrusted its power
and its fidelity to the Papacy.
An imprisoned Templar ,it
Toulouse offered to betray the secrets of his brethren.
His words were poured into
ears greedy for every possible accusation which would foment popular
indignation and further the schemes of King and Pope for the Templars'
overthrow.
On the 14th of September,
1307, orders were issued by the King for the arrest of all Templars in the
kingdom on the night of Friday, October 13th. The Grand Master and sixty of
his brethren were seized in Paris.
The following day they were
brought before the representatives of the University of the city to listen to
the enumeration of their alleged crimes.
On the next day, Sunday,
popular indignation was stirred up against the Templars, in the mind of the
Parisian mob, by the invectives of preachers who accused the prisoners of the
grossest iniquities.
The tortures of the
Inquisition were at once resorted to, and in the confessions wrung out of the
very agonies of death, every charge was easily sustained.
The inquisitors had all the
evidence they desired.
The suppression of the Order,
thus undertaken in France, was followed throughout Western Christendom. The
alliance of the Pope and the King of France gave the highest possible sanction
to the robbery of the Templars' possessions everywhere, and to the spoiling of
their goods was added the defamation of their characters, acid the loss of
life itself under the most agonizing tortures.
In Paris the trial began on
the 11th of April, 1310.
Its manifest unfairness called
forth indignant protests, but in vain. On Tuesday, May 12th, fifty‑four
Templars were burned at the stake by order of the Archbishop of Sens.
At the Council of Vienne,
which met in October, 1311, the Templars asked for a hearing.
The Pope, it is charged,
prorogued the assembly to prevent this proffered defence, and the seven
knights who presented themselves as deputies for this purpose, were cast into
prison. Early in March the King visited Vienne, and on the 3d of April, 1312,
occupied a place at the right hand of Clement, when the Pope delivered a
discourse against the Order, which had been formally abolished, not in the
general session of the Council, but at a private consistory, held the 22d of
March.
On May 2d Clement issued his
Bull Ad Providam.
This instrument transferred
the estates of the Templars, except those in Spain and Portugal, to the
Knights of St. John.
It is an interesting fact
that, although robbed and despoiled of all its possessions, though slandered,
persecuted, and proscribed, the Order of Templars was never formally
pronounced by the Papal authorities guilty of the fearful crimes laid to its
charge; the language of the Bull, Considerantes Dudum, providing fqr the
suppression of the Order, distinctly stating that this was done " non per
modum definifiv&e sententi&e, cum eam super hoc secundum inquisitiones et
processus super his habitos non possemus fere de jure sed per viam provisionis
et ordinationis apostolic&,." 140 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
It is conceded by modern
scholars that the charges brought againso the Templars were false, and that
the alleged confessions drawn from the wretched victims of the inquisitors'
power are unworthy of belief. Safed, with its martyred host, might well
countervail countless charges made ‑by renegade knights, and accepted by those
who were the willing tools of the interested King and his creature, the Pope.
It is indeed p,‑ ssible that
abuses had crept into the Order in France, which did not exist elsewhere.
It is a matter of history that
on the election of De Molai over his rival for its Grand Mastership, Hugh de
Peraud the visitor of the Order for France, which took place on the death of
the Grand Master William de Beaujeu, in 1291, De Molai announced in general
chapter his purpose of eradicating certain practices of the Templars, which he
did not approve.
This would possibly explain
the circumstance that in nearly all the councils outside of France, the
Templars were acquitted of the infamous charges brought against them. If
corrupt practices had crept into the Order in France subsequent to the death
of William de Beaujeu, and the spuitio super crucein and the oscula inhonesta
were features of the French initiation, the fact would go far to account both
for the confession of De Molai, under torture, and his subsequent denial of
complicity in their slanderous acts.
It is certain that this great
man not only sought to purify the Order of which he was so distinguished a
member, but that his martyr‑death for his principles and his professions of
innocence should give him an honored place among "the immortal names that were
not born to die." Connection with the Present Degrees of Knights Templar.‑The
theory that the Order of Knights Templars, on their dispersion and suppression
by the united power of Church and State, took refuge in the Masonic body, is
pronounced by high authority as without " the slightest historic foundation."
We do not question this
statement as it stands.
History fails to record much
that actually occurs; much that subsequent ages would gladly know.
We see no reason, however, for
the assertion, so often made of late years, that any connection between a
chivalric order, such as the Knights Templars, and a fraternity of Operative
Masons, such as certainly existed in mediaeval times, is out of the range of
possibility. The antiquity and the general prevalence of associations or
guilds for the practice of operative masonry is undoubted. That these bodies
of workmen were known to the Knights Teinplars and employed by them cannot be
questioned. The erection of their strongholds in Holy Land, the building of
their preceptories, priories, and round churches all over Europe, the evident
importance and value of skilled mechanics in all the operations of the Order,
whether offensive or defensive, afford evident proofs of interdependence
between the one and the other. What could then be more natural than that the
Knights Templars, proscribed, persecuted, despoiled of all things, should, in
their attachment to their old usages and organization, seek their perpetuation
among the affiliated bodies with which they had already a certain connection,
and of whose universality MODERN TEMPLZR Y.
143 and antiquity they had
abundant evidence, arising from their business relations ? Besides, the thirst
for vengeance on their unjust and cruel oppressors could only be appeased by
such an effort to perpetuate the calumniated and proscribed Order, to which
they were bound by most solemn oaths and the closest ties. All this, and more,
is surely possible ; and we cannot but claim that even if a direct descent
from the Templar Order after its suppression by the Pope of Rome and King of
France, in the fourteenth century, cannot be proved by historic documents,
still there is reason to admit the existence of a continuous connection, a
practical succession, making the modern Templary, where it is truly understood
and exemplified among us, the representative of the old chivalric Order;
perpetuating its doctrinal teaching of the Catholic faith, and preserving and
appropriating the general features of its ceremonies, its obligations, its
usages ; modified only as to the changes in belief, practice, and social life,
which the requirements of the age demand.
In other words, Templary in
our day and generation is a revival of the old Order, the old organization,
the old‑time chivalry.
It seeks to reproduce, as
nothing else does, or even claims to do, the knightly virtues, the chivalrous
spirit, the valiant and virtuous life, the holy teachings of the historic days
of the Templar's pristine practice. The modern Templar's warfare is, indeed,
spiritual, but the true Templar will recognize his duty to contend earnestly
for the faith once delivered to the saints. Striving to reproduce, represent,
and perpetuate in an avowedly Christian society or organization, the
principles, the usages, the ceremonial of the great religious and knightly
organization of mediaeval days, we best exhibit true Templarism; and we
establish most fully our connection with the heroic Order, whose name we bear,
by personal holiness, Christian profession, and the exercise of every grace
and virtue of the faith of our dear Lord Jesus Christ.
The Interregnum of Four
Centuries. ‑To establish the historic connection between medixval and modern
Templarism it becomes requisite to bridge over the period between the year
1209 when Walter de Clifton, Preceptor of the Scottish Knights Teinplars,
admitted the dispersion of his brethren; and the year 1745, when modern
Templary appears in the light. The tracing of the traditional existence of the
old Knights Templars during this term of four hundred and thirty‑eight years
is historically impossible.
It may, or it may not be true,
that the expelled Templars of Scotland, few in number and dispossessed of the
little wealth ever pertaining to the Order in a land of poverty, united in
entering the service of Robert the Bruce.
The war between King Edward of
England and the Bruce was raging at the time of this dispossession of the
Templars, and it is not impossible‑in fact, it is highly probable‑that the
army of the Bruce contained a few veteran quondam Templars.
That a preceptory or priory
was established at Kilwinning rests on no authority other than late tradition.
The estates of the Templars having passed into the 144 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
hands of the Hospitallers at
the period of the " Reformation," the possessions of the Hospitallers, both
those originally theirs and those acquired from the Templars, were declared
forfeited to the Crown, on the ground that the services required by the
Preceptor or Prior were to defend and maintain the faith of the Church of
Rome. In the case of the Priory of Torpichen in Midlothian, where, as some
traditions have it, modern Scottish Templary took its origin, the last Grand
Prior, Sir John Sandilands, embracing the reformed faith, surrendered the
estates of the Priory to the government, and then received a grant of them to
himself with the title of Lord Torpichen, in 1564, thus founding the existing
Scottish family of that name. A tradition that, after the dispersion of the
brethren who made up the Priory of Torpichen, a number of thetas united with a
Masonic lodge or guild at Stirling, and thus incorporated the mediaeval
knighthood with the Masonic body, has no historic foundation.
Like other ingenious theories
framed to, account for resemblances and correspondences between the old
chivalric Order and the Speculative Masonry of modern times, the tradition is
possibly true, but its truth cannot be proved by documentary evidence.
Roman Catholic Admissions. ‑
In a Roman Catholic authority, bearing the imprimatur of " Henricus Eduardus
Card. Archiep. Westmonast,"‑ Henry Edward Manning, Cardinal Archbishop of
Westminster,‑in treating of the subject of Freemasonry, we find the following
admissions: ‑ " The South of France, where a large Jewish and Saracenic
element remained, was a hotbed of heresies, and that region was also a
favorite one with the guild of Masons. It is asserted, too, that as far back
as the twelfth century, the lodges of the guild enjoyed the special protection
of the Knights Templars.
It is easy in this way to
understand how the symbolical allusion to Solomon and his Temple might have
passed from the Knights into the Masonic formulary.
In this way, too, might be
explained how, after the suppression of the Order of the Temple, some of the
recalcitrant. knights, maintaining their influence over the Freemasons, would
be able to pervert what hitherto had been a harmless ceremony into an
elaborate ritual that should impart some of the errors of the Templars to the
initiated.
A document was long ago
published, which purports to be a charter granted to a lodge of Freemasons in
England, in the time of Henry VIL, and it bears the marks in its religious
indifference of a suspicious likeness between Freemasonry then and now. , In
Germany the guild was numerous, and was formally recognized by a diploma
granted, in 1489, by the Emperor Maximilian. But this sanction was finally
revoked by the Imperial Diet in 1707 " So far, however, the Freemasons were
really working Stone‑masons; but the so‑called Cologne charter‑the genuineness
of which seems certain‑drawn up in 1535 at a reunion of Freemasons gathered at
Cologne to celebrate the opening of the Cathedral edifice, is signed by
Melanchthon, Coligny, and other similar ill‑omened names. Nothing certain is
known of the Freemasons‑now evidently become a sect‑during the seventeenth
century, except that in 1646, Elias Ashmole, an Englishman, founded the Order
of Rose Croix, Rosicrucians, or Hermetic Freemasons, a society which mingled
in a fantastic manner the jargon of alchemy and other occult sciences, with
Pantheism. This Order soon became affiliated to some of the Masonic lodges in
Germany, where from the time of the Reformation there was a constant founding
of societies, secret or open, which undertook to formulate a philosophy or a
religion of their own.
"As we know it now, however,
Freemasonry first appeared in 1925, when Lord Derwentwater, a supporter of the
expelled Stuart dynasty, introduced the Order into France, professing to have
his authority from a lodge at Kilwinning, Scotland.
This formed the basis of that
variety of Freemasonry called the Scotch Rite. Rival organizations soon sprang
up.
Charters were MODERN TEf7PLAR
Y.
145 obtained from a lodge at
York, which was said to have been of a very ancient foundation," 1 etc., etc.
We have quoted at length from
this work, on the principle laid down in Holy Scripture, viz. : " Our enemies
themselves being judges." We recognize, besides, the possibility of members of
the Roman Catholic communion having access to documents and papers unknown to
others, and we are confident that the evidently frank admissions of these
Romanist authors afford us a warrant for our conjectural connection of the
mediaeval and the modern Tem plary.
No one can doubt that the
Romanists have access to documents on this subject unknown to all the world
besides.
We claim that this connection
exists just so far as the Templary of our own day clings to its ‑knightly
practices, and is true to its Templar dogmas of the Christian faith and
teaching.
What is called Templary on the
continent of Europe is clearly traced to the " High Grade System of Masonry."
Absolutely no evidence exists
of its being in any sense a direct continuance of the mediaeval Order.
The pretence that De Molai
granted a charter to Larmenius rests alone on a clumsy forgery, and the claim
of Swedish Templars that the Order was‑introduced into their country by a
relative of the last Grand Master, De Molai, who had become a member of the
"Order of Christ" in Portugal, on the dissolution of the Templars, is equally
unhistoric.
Even in our own country there
is need of ritual revision, and a closer copying of the usages, the habits,
the traditions of the Order as it existed in its early, purer days; to make
the connection between the old and the new Templary the more apparent to all
men.
Any departure from the great
doctrines of the Catholic faith, and failure to conform to the usages and
ceremonial, the life and life‑work of the old Knights Templars ; any idea of
creating a system of degrees and teachings bearing only the name and not
reproducing the reality of the original Templarism, will, we believe, be fatal
to our modern Templary, and expose our claims to knighthood to the suspicion,
if not to the contempt, of all men.
Never may the true Templar of
this age forget that of old it was the highest glory of each belted knight to
be called and known as " a true knight and servant of Jesus Christ." The
Dogmatic Teachings of Templary.‑The dogmatic teachings of true Templary are
squared with the words of that Ancient Landmark, God's Holy Word. These
lessons of duty are in our modern Templarism to be symbolized in language and
carried out in life. The Templar must be a Christian, initiated in Holy
Baptism into the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, and if consistent, he should
remember the words of His Master: "This do" ‑ "Take and eat My Body and drink
My Blood"‑"in remembrance of Me." " Founded on the Christian religion " is our
oft‑repeated profession, and, if 1 A Catholic Dictionary containing some
account of the Doctrine, Discipline, Rites, Ceremonies, Councils, and
Religious Orders of the Catholic Church. By William E. Addis, Secular Priest,
sometime Fellow of the University of Ireland, and Thomas Arnold, M.A., Fellow
of the same University. Second edition, London. Large 8vo. 1884. In loco.
146 Christlike, nothing
Christian is foreign to it.
"For the practice of the Chris
tian virtues " is our avowed object in affiliating.
How pure, how holy, how
upright, how consistent, should be our lives !
Reverence and humility should
be ours when engaged in Templar duty.
Our vows and professions
should have a deep meaning, for they are made with prayer to the unseen God, ‑
they are vowed and pledged with every accompaniment of reverent looking unto
Him who is invisible.
"Non nobis, Domine," as of
old, is our motto. "In hoc signo vinces" is our legend, as it was in the early
ages of the faith. Our psalm and song of victory is that which was heard on
every field of strife where Templars fought for the faith of Christ, ‑"
Exsurgat Deus." " Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered; let them
also that hate Him, flee before Him.
"Like as the smoke vanisheth
away, so shalt Thou drive them away; and like as wax melted at the fire, so
let the ungodly perish at the presence of God. . . .
"O sing unto God, and sing
praises unto His Name; magnify Him that rideth upon the heavens, as it were
upon an horse; praise Him in His Name JAH, and rejoice before Him. . . . " For
thy Temple's sake at Jerusalem; so shall kings bring presents unto thee I "
THE OVERTHROW OF THE TFmPLARS, AND THE EXECUTION OF JACQUES DE THE COGNATE
ORDERS.
CHAPTER II.
Prefatory Note.‑It has seemed
best, even at the risk of some unavoidable repetitions, to give by itself and
without interruption the story of the Templars' last days and the record of
Jacques de Molai's martyrdom. It is of interest to note in this connection
that the latest researches of the late distinguished ecclesiastical historian,
Dr. Ignatius von Dollinger, were devoted to clearing the Templars from the
aspersions cast upon their lives and practices.
THE accession of Clement V. to
the Papal chair was the result of a bargain and a sale. It was not only the
headship of the Church that was thus traded off to one unworthy of any
spiritual preferment whatsoever, but there was included in this shameless
trafficking of ecclesiastical supremacy, the fate of the Templars, whose
possessions had aroused the greed of Philip the Fair.
In securing the Popedom for
Bertrand de Goth, Archbishop of Bordeaux, after a prolonged and stormy session
of the Conclave of Cardinals at P6rouse, the King demanded in return the
Pope's promise to accede to six requests. "The sixth, which is important and
secret, I keep for the present to myself," said the King to his creature,
Clement V.
"It shall be made known to
you," continued the crafty monarch, "in due time and place."
It is the conviction of all
students of the history of this period that the secret demand, withheld for a
time, but afterward communicated to the Pope, was the overthrow and abolition
of the Order of the Knights Templars.
Well knew the wily and
unscrupulous Clement how to persecute and destroy MOLm, GRAND MASTER.
OVERTHROW OF THE TEMPL.4RS.
147 those whom he chose to
regard as foes.
The pitiless King suffered
neither innocence nor excellence to stand between him and the vengeance he was
purposing to wreak.
There was no pretence that he
had just cause of complaint against the Order of the Temple.
He had from time to time
courted the favor of its members ; he had borrowed from their treasures ; he
had even applied to be affiliated with their organization.
During an outbreak of the
populace at Paris, in the year 13o6, occasioned by the imposition of a new and
especially distasteful tax, the King had sought and found a refuge in the
palace of the Templars, where the chapters‑general were held, and where the
treasures of the Order were kept.
It is asserted that the
monarch's avaricious thirst for gold was stimulated by the sight of his
protectors' wealth, and that the purpose of their overthrow was strengthened
then and there.
In the year 1305 the King and
Pope simultaneously summoned from the Isle of Cyprus to France the Grand
Master of the Templars, Jacques de Molai. For twice seven years had De Molai
held the Grand Mastership of the Order. By birth a Burgundian of noble family,
though poor, De Molai had entered the Order in extreme youth, and had won his
spurs and gained his preeminence among his. brethren and companions by the
display of distinguished bravery in contests with the Infidels in the East.
The sinister designs of King
and Pope were at first studiously concealed ; Philip, with characteristic
hypocrisy, professed that he desired the Grand Master's presence at Court to
discuss with him the plans of a new crusade. He asked his intended victim to
stand as godfather to one of his children, and showed him marks of
distinguished favor. On the I zth of October Jacques de Molai had been a
pall‑bearer at the interment of the King's sister‑in‑law. On the following day
he was arrested by the monarch's order, and thrown into prison.
Meanwhile the most horrible
reports were bruited abroad against the Templars. They were accused by popular
clamor, incited apparently by emissaries of the Court, of deeds impossible
even to mention.'
They were charged with
betraying Christendom for the advantage of the Infidels, of spitting upon the
Cross at their initiation, of abandoning themselves to idolatrous practices,
and of living the most licentious lives.
Philip and Clement had just
met at Poitiers. The King besought the Pontiff to authorize an inquiry into
the truth of the accusations now raised on every side against the Templars'
lives and practices.
In connection with the arrest
of De Molai, one hundred and forty of his brethren were committed to prison.
Three score members of the
Order met the same fate at Beaucaire.
Many others were imprisoned
all over France. Their great possessions were placed in the King's keeping,
and held at his disposal, ostensibly for the service of Christians in the Holy
Land.
On the 12 th of August, in the
year 1308, Clement V. issued a Bull, instituting 1 " Une chose am8re, une
chose d6plorable, une chose horrible, A penser, terrible A entendre; chose
ex6crable de scdleratasse, d6testable, d'infame."‑Michelet, Histoire de
Francs, III. p. lay.
148 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
a grand Commission of inquiry,
charged with the conduct of an examination at Paris, of the charges now rife
against the Order. Two recreant Knights Templars, ‑ the one a Gascon, the
other an Italian, ‑ already in prison for their misdeeds, professed their
readiness to reveal the secrets of the Order, and to attest the enormities
with which the Templars were charged. The Archbishops of Canterbury, Mayence,
Cologne, and Trtsves were named Commissioners in the Papal Bull, and the Pope
announced that he would deliver his judgment respecting the accused within two
years, at a general Council to be held at Vienne in Dauphiny. Twenty‑six
princes and laic lords, the Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, the Counts of
Flanders, Nevers, and Auxerre, and the Count of Talleyrand de Ptsrigord
offered themselves as the accusers of the Templars.
On the 22d of November, 1309,
De Molai was called before the Commissioners.
We are told that, at the
first, he stoutly denied the charges brought against the Order.
Afterward, it is said, that he
became confused and embarrassed. He pleaded, we are assured, that he lacked
the ability to undertake the defence of the Order at such odds,with the Pope,
the King, the nobles, the populace, all openly arrayed against him.
He claimed that he was a poor,
unlettered knight, wholly unable to cope with the learning, the skill, the
might of his open and avowed foes. It appeared later that his acknowledged
ignorance of Latin had been made the occasion of a wholesale falsification of
his professions of innocence and his explanations of the charges brought
against, him.
Tried, tortured, tormented, he
was, in his helplessness and friendlessness, the sport of his enemies.
On the 28th of March, 1310,
five hundred and forty‑six Knights Templars, who had announced their readiness
and desire to repel the charges against their Order, appeared in a body before
the Commission.
They were called upon to
choose proctors to speak in their behalf.
"We ought also then," was
their reply, " to have been tortured by proxy only." 1
It was not the purpose of the
Commission to establish the innocence of the accused.
The prisoners were treated
with the utmost rigor. 'Deprived of their possessions, they were reduced to
the most wretched plight.
Fees were exacted from them in
their absolute penury for the commonest offices; while they were made at
charges for the very necessaries of life.
The evident object of their
persecutors was to break their resolution and spirit by constant annoyance, as
they hesitated not to break their worn and enfeebled bodies upon the rack of
torture.
In October, 1310, after a
tedious examination, a few of the accused were acquitted ; others were
subjected to special penance, while more than fifty were condemned to the
stake as heretics. The burning of these victims of the monarch's jealousy, and
the Pope's willing complicity in the King's mur derous beliests, followed
close on their conviction.
They met their cruel fate on
the evening of the day of their condemnation, in a field close to the Abbey 1
Guizot's History of France.
Translated by Robert Black.
Large 8vo.
London, 1872, I. p. 6o5.
MARTYRDOM OF DE MOLAL 149 of
St. Anthony, in Paris.
The same punishment was meted
out to a number of Templars convicted by the Council at Senlis the same year.
"They confessed under
tortures," says Bossuet, "but they denied at their execution."1 Still the
business of extermination dragged slowly on.
The decisions of the several
councils, convened to consider the question of the Templars' innocence or
guilt, were by no means uniform.
At Ravenna, on the 17th of
June, 1310, the Templars were pronounced free from guilt. The same decision
was reached at Mayence the 1st of July. Later, on the 21st of October, the
Bishops convened at Salamanca rendered judgment in the Templars' favor .2 A
similar result was reached in Aragon.
There was a prospect of a
reaction of feeling in favor of the persecuted and despoiled Order.
Europe wearied at the
conflicting judgments of the various councils of inquiry, and all men tired of
the sight of the ignominious execution of these brave defenders of the Cross.
Even the servile Pope appears
to have felt some compunction at this pitiless persecution of men‑half
priests, half soldiers‑who had so often and so valiantly fought against the
common foes of civilization and Christianity in the East.
But Philip the Fair attained
his desire.
On the 11th of June, 1311, the
Commission of inquiry closed its protracted sittings.
The report of its procedure, "
drawn up by notaries in authentic form in the Treasury of Notre Dame at
Paris," was forwarded to the Pope.
It was not to be shown to any
one without special order from his Holiness; and the fact that it was thus
studiously concealed affords reason for the inference that the torture‑gained
testimony against the Templars it detailed, failed, even in the minds of those
interested in its acceptance, of establishing the guilt of the Order.
The Council‑general, announced
by the Pope in 13o8 as to be convened to decide definitely upon this cause
celebre, was opened at Vienne in October of the year 1311.
More than three hundred
Bishops assembled in response to the Papal summons.
Nine Templars presented
themselves for the defence of the Order.
They professed to represent a
large body of their brethren gath ered in the vicinity of Lyons, who awaited
the decision of the Council.
The Pope, perfidious to the
last, caused the arrest of these brave representatives of the Order.
It was evident, however, that
the temper of the Council was adverse to the schemes of Pope and King.
Clement therefore postponed
the final decision of the Council, and on the 22d of March, 1312, in a secret
consistory made up of the most docile, or rather servile, of the Bishops, and
a few Cardinals, creatures of the Pontiff, pronounced solely on his own
pontifical authority the condemnation and abolition of the Order of the
Temple.
This sentence, or rather
mandate, was proclaimed officially on the 3d of April, 1312, 1 Quoted by
Guizot in his History of France, 1. p. 6o6.
2 " Les pr6lats d'Italie,
moins un seul ; ceux d'Espagne, ceux d'Allemagne et de Danemarck ; ceux
d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse et d'Irlande; les Frangais meme sujets de Philippe (sauf
les archev~que de Reims; de Sens et de Rouen), d6larbrent qu'ils ne pouvaient
condamner sans entendre." ‑Histoire de Francs, par J. Michelet.
8vo.
Paris, 1861.
III. p. 167.
150 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
in the presence of the King
and the Council.
No protest was raised from the
cowed and subservient prelates.
The Grand Master, Jacques de
1Vlolai, in rigorous confinement at Gisors, survived the downfall of the Order
of which he was the head. The Pope had reserved for himself the task of trying
him, evidently with the purpose of blackening the reputation of the Order by
the pretended admissions and con fessions of its chief official.
Disappointed or disgusted with
his lack of success, Clement committed the further examination of De Molai and
the three surviving grand dignitaries of the Templars ‑ Gui, Commander of
Normandy, son of the Count of Auvergne, the Commander of Aquitaine, and the
Visitor of France‑to the ecclesiastical Commissioners at Paris, under the
presidency of the Cardinal Bishop of Albano, assisted by two other
Cardinal‑legates. Brought before the Commissioners, there was read over to
these unhappy survivors of their nobie Order the record of the confessions
they had made but lately when under torture.
It was on the 11th of March,
in the year 13 14.
The scene was the court in
front of the grand Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
Ere the predetermined sentence
of perpetual imprisonment could be pronounced by Albano, Jacques de Molai and
the Commander of Normandy broke in upon the Cardinal's address by indignant
protestations of innocence.'
The charges contained in the
accusation were vehemently repelled. It appeared that advantage had been taken
of the ignorance of the accused of the Latin tongue to falsify the ".proces‑verbaux."
This document, they asserted,
did not correctly represent the statements that had been wrung from them in
the agonies of the torture chamber.
Proudly did these two noble
men defy the wrath of their persecutors.
The knowledge of the wiles of
his foes restored to the enfeebled and emaciated De Molai all his early
courage.
The agony of the rack alone
had made him speak ill of his brethren.
Stoutly he now maintained that
" Of his grand Order naught he wist, 'Gainst honor and the laws of Christ."
The astonished and embarrassed judges remanded the two recalcitrant Templars
to the care of the Provost of Paris, and adjourned their further hearing till
the following day. But the King was not so easily balked in his purpose of
vengeance. Without consulting the ecclesiastical Commissioners, Philip the
Fair at once adjudged Jacques de Molai and the Commander of Normandy relapsed
heretics, and ordered that they should be burned at the stake ere the close of
day. At the hour of vespers, in the Ile‑de‑la‑Cit6, on the site of the present
Place Dauphine, in Paris, this brutal mandate was executed. It was indeed an
assassination? Godfrey of Paris, a rhyming chronicler of the time, thus
describes the final scene of the tragedy.
"The 1 We have chiefly
followed in this part of our narrative the full account found in the Histoire
des Franpaise, par .j. C. L. Simonde de Sismondi.
Paris, 1826.
8vo.
Vol. IX.
2 " Cette execution, A finsu
des juges, fut evidement un assassinat."‑Histoire de Francs, par J. Michelet.
8vo.
Paris, 1861.
II. p. 167.
HISTORIC NOTES.
Grand Master, seeing the fire
prepared, stripped himself briskly; ‑ I tell just ' as I saw; ‑ he bared
himself to his shirt, light‑heartedly and with a good grace, without a whit of
trembling, though he was dragged and shaken mightily. They took hold of him to
ti., him to the stake, and they were binding his hands with a cord, but he
said to them, ` Sirs, suffer me to fold my hands awhile and make my prayer to
God, for verily it is time.
I am pres ently to die; but
wrongfully, God wot.
Wherefore woe will come, ere
long, to those who condemn us without a cause.
God will avenge our death.' "1
It was doubtless in consequence of these last words, uttered in the face of an
agonizing death, that there arose the popular impression that Jacques de Molai,
from amidst the flames, cited Pope and King to appear with him before the bar
of God, the Pope at the end of forty days, the King within a year.
Clement V. died on the loth of
April, 1314; the King on the 29th of November of the same year.
Philip on his death‑bed
acknowledged his consciousness of the hurt he suffered from the curses which
followed him. "There will be no fine tales to be told of me," were among his
last words.
Years have passed.
Both King and Pope are now
regarded as infamous. The martyred De Molai is held in honored remembrance.
The latest investigations of
historical students confirm our belief in the Grand Master's innocence of the
charges alleged against him, and free the Order from the slanders concocted to
bring about its downfall.
Verily, " Truth is mighty and
shall prevail." SUPPLEMENTAL AND HISTORIC NOTES.
The Templar Organization into
Ranks, etc.‑The Order of the Knights Templars consisted of three ranks, or
classes, the knights, the clergy, and the serving brethren.
The Knights were required to
be men of gentle or noble birth, no person of low degree being admissible. The
priests were the chaplains of the Order, whose duty it was to conduct the
services in the churches belonging to its convents, and to follow the camp and
minister to the members when they were in the field. The serving brethren
acted as esquires to the Knights, both in the field and at home.
The Grand Master ranked as a
sovereign prince, and had precedence of all ambassadors and peers in the
councils of the Church.
Each country had its Grand
Prior, and these together formed a chapter whom the Master called together,
generally in Paris, when any great business required deliberation and counsel,
and local chapters were held in different districts under the care of its
Preceptor.
Besides these serving
brethren, the Knights had in their pay, and under their command, a large
number of troops, both cavalry and infantry. The government of the Order was
vested in the hands of the Grand Master, who resided at the Mother house in
Jerusalem.
The next in rank to him was
the Marshal, who was the Master's lieutenant, the acting general in the field,
and the Commander of the Order, during a vacancy in the office of Grand
Master.
The Prior or Preceptor of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem was the Grand Treas urer of the Order, and the guardian
of the chief house in Jerusalem.
The Draper had charge of the
clothing of all the brethren.
The Standard‑Bearer carried
the banner, Beauseant, to the field of battle.
The Turcopiler was the
commander of a body of light horse, called Turcopilers, mostly native
Christians of Syria, or half‑castes, who were clothed and armed in Asiatic
style, Guizot.
Black's Translation.
I. p. 6a7.
1,52 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
and were enrolled, drilled,
and officered by the Templars, and being accustomed to the climate, and
acquainted with the country and the Eastern method of warfare, were valuable
as light cavalry.
The Guardian of the chapel had
the charge of the portable chapel, which the Templars always carried with them
in their campaigns. It was around tent, which was pitched always in the centre
of the camp, the quarters of the brethren being disposed around it.
There were also Grand
Preceptors of Antioch and Tripoli, and Preceptors of the houses in Syria and
elsewhere, all of whom commanded in the field.
William of 'Pyre says of the
Order in his day, when in the zenith of its prosperity: " They have in their
convent at Jerusalem more than three hundred Knights, besides serving brethren
innumerable. Their possessions are so vast that there cannot now be a province
in Christendom which does not contribute to their support, and their wealth is
said to equal that of sovereign princes." In Palestine, besides their great
house at Jerusalem, they had many strongholds in different parts of the
country.
Gaza, the southern frontier
town; Saphet on the north; the castle of the Pilgrims near Mount Carmel; the
fortress of Jaffa, and that of Nere.
Indeed, the greater part of
the Holy Land was in their hands, or in those of the Hospitallers.
They had houses at Aleppo,
Laodicea, Beyrout, and many other places.
In Apulia and Sicily they held
estates, castles, and other property.
They had establishments in
Lucca, Milan, Perugia, Placentia, Bologna, and in other cities of Italy.
In Portugal they had estates
and castles, and were constantly in conflict with the Moois.
In Spain they had large
possessions, and in the Balearic Islands.
In Germany they were settled
at Mayence, and other cities on the Rhine.
They had a footing in Bavaria,
Hungary, Bohemia, and Moravia.
They had a house at
Constantinople, and then in Greece.
In France their possessions
were so large, and their establishments so numerous, that it would occupy too
much space to enumerate them.
Holland and the Netherlands
also had con vents of the Order.
In England there were a great
many Templar houses, some of which are still traceable by the'names of the
villages; e.g., Temple‑combe, Temple Rothley, Temple Newsom, etc.
In almost every country they
had either Preceptories or estates, and in Scotland and Ireland also they had
both.
Besides actual property and
convents, they received from kings and princes many privileges, immunities
from taxation, tithes, etc. The right of sanctuary was granted to their
establishments.
The Master of the Temple in
England had a seat in Parliament as a baron.
The first English convent of
the Order was near Southampton Buildings, in Chancery Lane, where some remains
of the ruins of the chapel were found some years ago. When the Order
increased, they purchased an estate just outside the city gate, and adjacent
to the Thames, where a magnificent convent was built; of this nothing remains
but the circular part of the church, which was consecrated by Heraclius,
Patriarch of Jerusalem, in A.D. 1184, in the reign of King " Henry II.,
shortly after the murder of Thomas A Becket, at Canterbury? The King often
held his court at the Temple, and it was sometimes used as a depository of
treasure. The same may be said of the Temple in Paris, which was also a very
extensive and magnificent building, all trace of which, however, is gone,
except in the names of the streets which occupy its site.
Before its destruction it was
used as a prison, and there the unfortunate Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette
were confined till released by death, and here the still more miserable
Dauphin, their son, and the heir to the throne of France, endured the
cruelties of the inhuman cobbler, Simon, to break his spirit and wear out his
young life by a system of revolting and degrading barbarities which slowly
tortured him to death. ‑WOODHOUSE'S Military Religious Orders, pp. 217‑221.
The Suppression of the Order
in England.‑ It would be tedious to follow the long and wearisome
questionings, and to record the replies given by the several brethren of the
Temple during their trial in London. One and all agreed in denying the
existence of the horrible and ridiculous rites which were said to be used at
the reception of new members; and whether they had been received in England or
abroad, detailed the ceremonies that were used, and showed 1 The body of the
Church, as it now stands, was not consecrated till A.D. 124o, in the reign of
Henry III., who was present at the ceremony.
HISTORIC NOTES.
155 that they were
substantially the same everywhere.
The candidate was asked what
he desired, and on replying that he desired admission to the Order of the
Knights of the Temple, he was warned of the strict and severe life that was
demanded of members of the Order; of the three vows of poverty, chastity, and
obedience; and, moreover, that he must be ready to go and fight the enemies of
Christ even to the death.
Others related details of the
interior discipline and regulations of the Order, which were stern and
rigorous, as became a body that added to the strictness of the convent, the
order and system of a military organization. Many of the brethren had been
nearly all their lives in the Order; some more than forty years, a great part
of which had been spent in active service in the East. The witnesses who were
summoned were not members of the Order, and had only hearsay evidence to give.
They had heard this and that
report; they suspected something else; they had been told that certain things
had been said or done.
Nothing definite could be
obtained, and there was no proof whatever of any of the extravagant and
incredible charges.
Similar proceedings tools
place in Lincoln, and York, and also in Scotland, and Ireland; and in all
places the results were the same.
And the matter dragged on till
October, A.D. 1311. Hitherto torture had not been resorted to; but now, in
accordance with the repeated solicitations of the Pope, King Edward gave
orders that the imprisoned Templars should be subjected to the rack, in order
that they might be forced to give evidence of their guilt. . . .
The Templars having been now
three years in prison, chained, half‑starved, threatened with greater miseries
here, and with eternal damnation hereafter, separated from one another,
without friend, adviser, or legal defence, were now removed to the various
gaols in London and elsewhere, and submitted to torture. We have no particular
record of the horrible details; but some evidence was afterwards adduced,
which was said to have been obtained from the unhappy victims during their
agony. . . .
In April, A.D. 1311, these
depositions were read in the court, in the presence of the Templars, who were
required to say what they could allege in their defence. They replied that
they were ignorant of the processes of law, and that they were not permitted
to have the aid of those whom they trusted and who could advise them, but that
they would gladly make a statement of their faith and of the principles of the
Order.
This they were permitted to
do, and a very simple and touching paper was produced and signed by all the
brethren. They declared themselves, one and all, good Christians and faithful
members of the Church, and they claimed to be treated as such, and openly and
fairly tried, if there were any just cause of complaint against them.
But their persecutors were by
no means satisfied.
Fresh tortures and cruelties
were resorted to to force confessions of guilt from these worn‑out and dying
men.
A few gave way, and said what
they were told to say; and these unhappy men were produced in St. Paul's
Cathedral shortly afterward, and made to recant their errors, and were then
reconciled to the Church.
A similar scene was enacted at
York.
The property of the Templars
in England was placed under the charge of a Commission at the time that
proceedings were commenced against them, and the King very soon treated it as
if it were his own, giving away manors and convents at his pleasure.
A great part of the posses
sions of the Order was subsequently made over to the Hospitallers.
The convent and church of the
Temple in London were granted, in A.D. 1313, to Aymer de Valence, Earl of
Pembroke, whose monument is in Westminster Abbey.
Other property was pawned by
the King to his creditors as security for payment of his debts; but constant
litigation and disputes seem to have pursued the holders of the ill‑gotten
goods.
Some of the surviving Templars
retired to monasteries, others returned to the world and assumed secular
habits, for which they incurred the censure of the Pope.‑ WOODHOUSES Military
Religious Orders, pp. 252‑255ò In view of the " pilgrimages " now made from
time to time to the Templar localities in the Mother‑land, we give the
following list of the Preceptories in England: Cambridgeshire : Wilbraham.
Essex: Temple Crossing, Hampshire: South Badesley. Hertfordshire: Temple
Dynnesly.
' Kent: Swingfield.
Leicestershire: Temple Rothley.
Lincolnshire: Aslackby, Temple
Brewer, Eagle, Maltby, Mere Wilketon, Witham.
156
THE COGNATE ORDERS.
Norfolk: Haddiscoe. ihropshire
: Halston. Suffolk: Gislingham, Dunwich. Sussex: Saddlescombe. Warwickshire:
Balsall, Warwick. Yorkshire: North Ferriby, Temple Hurst, Temple Newsome,
Pafflete, Flaxflete, Ribston.
The Order also possessed many
manors and estates where they had no Preceptories.
An eye‑witness of the exploits
of the Templars, Cardinal de Vitry, Bishop of Acre, gives the following
description of the courage and heroism of the Order: " When summoned to arms,
they never demand the number of the enemy, but only where they are; fierce
soldiers they are in war, monks in religion; to the enemies of Christ
inexorable, to Christians kind and gracious. They carry before them to battle
a banner half black and half white, which they call I3eauseant, because they
are fair and favorable to the friends of Christ, but black and terrible to his
enemies."‑ The Military Religious Orders of the .'Middle Ages, by F. C.
WOODHOUSE, M.A. London, 1879, pp. 215, 2i6.
The usual mediaeval expedient
was resorted to, and torture was used to extort acknowledgments of guilt.
The unhappy Templars in Paris
were handed over to the tender mercies of the tormentors with the usual
results.
One hundred and forty were
subjected to trial by fire.
The details preserved are
almost too horrible to be related.
The feet of some were fastened
close to a hot fire till the very flesh and even the bones were consumed.
Others were suspended by their
limbs, and heavy weights were attached to them to make the agony more intense.
Others were deprived of their
teeth; and every cruelty that a horrible ingenuity could invent was used.
While this was going on questions were asked, and offers of pardon were made,
if they would acknowledge themselves or others guilty of the monstrous
wickednesses which were detailed to them.
At the same time forged
letters were read, purporting to come from the Grand Master himself, exhorting
them to make a _all confession, and declarations were made of the confessions
which were said to have been already freely given by other members of the
Order. ‑WOODHOUSE's Military Religious Orders, pp. zoo, 241.
The Knights of the Temple ever
maintained their fearless and fanatic character; if they neglected to live,
they were prepared to die, in the service of Christ. ‑ GIBBON.
A carefully drawn and
accurately colored print of a " Templier, en habit de Guerre," is prefixed to
the rare and valuable " Histoire Critique et Apolog6tique de 1'Ordre des
Chevaliers du Temple de J6rusalem, dits Templiers, Par feu le R. P. M. J.
Chanoine, R6gulier de l'Ordre de Pr6montr6, Docteur en Th6ologie, Prieur de
1'Abbaye d' Ltival.
A Paris, MDCCLxxxix.
Avec Approbation et Privilege
du Roi."
This work is in two volumes,
quarto, PP. xx. gqo, xv. 354, and is in the library of the writer.
"A glorious company, the
flower of men, To serve as model for the mighty world, I make them lay their
hands in mine, and swear To break the heathen and uphold the Christ, To ride
abroad, redressing human wrongs, To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it, To
lead sweet lives in purest chastity." ‑ TENNYSON.
DIVISION III.
THE DOCUMENTARY EARLY HISTORY
OF THE FRATERNITY.
COMPILED BY THE
EDITOR‑IN‑CHIEF.
CHAPTER I.
THE ANCIENT BRITISH MSS. ON
FREEMASONRY.
Introductory. ‑ A late
historian has well said: ‑ " History must depend for credence on creditable
evidence.
In order to justify belief,
one must either himself have seen or heard the facts related, or have the
testimony, direct or indirect, of witnesses or well informed contemporaries.
The original sources of
historic knowledge are mainly comprised in oral traditions, or in some form of
well‑written records." Applied to Freemasonry, these remarks meet at the
outset with various difficulties. The antiquity of the society forbids the
test of personal witness to the facts attested, and the written traditions, as
they come down, partake so much of the legendary element that their evidential
value is greatly impaired, if not wholly discredited by scholars outside the
pale of the Order.
The Early Historians. ‑ In the
search after oral traditions to establish a history of Freemasonry prior to
A.D. 1717, one is at once met by the fact that the early Craftsmen did not,
usually, place on paper the customs and usages pertaining to the ceremonies of
their guild, and if, in some cases, they did do so, all those papers of
evidential value have long since been destroyed. Absolutely nothing remains
but the writings of the early historians of Speculative Masonry, among whom,
as the first, we place the Rev. James Anderson, D.D., and the |1 Old Charges "
of British Freemasons, together with those of the Stone‑masons of Germany.
The Mythical Assembly A.D.
926. ‑ In one of the apocryphal treatises of the Fraternity, we read that
Prince Edwin of England called a congvegation at York, in June A.D. 926, "And
composed a general or grand Lodge of which he was Grand Master.
And having brought with them
all the old writings, and records of the craft extant, some in Greek, some in
158 ANCIENT MASONRY.
Latin, some in French and
other languages, from the contents thereof, that Assembly framed the
constitutions and charges of an English Lodge, made a law to preserve and
observe the same in all time coming, and ordained good pay for working
Masons." These "Constitutions" of A.D. 926 are said by the same authority to
have been revised at two subsequent periods, the last one of which is of a
date late enough to possess authenticity had such an assembly actually been
held. We refer to it in this connection as contributory to the traditions
which lurk about the " Old Charges."
Several of these bear internal
evidence of having been copied from documents of a much earlier time ‑ from
originals now wholly lost.
Acknowledgment.‑In compiling
the documents and historic data following, the author has had the assistance
of Brother Wm. Tames Hughan, European Editor, and access to the publications
and "Masonic Reprints," of the Lodge Quatuor Coronati, No. 2076, London. He
has, also, freely availed himself of material from the " History of
Freemasonry," by Brother Gould, the Masonic Publications of Brother Hughan,
the treatises on this subject by Brother G. W. Speth, secretary of the lodge
above mentioned, and others.
The First Book of
Constitutions. ‑ The first " Book of Constitutions " was published in 1723,
and the author of it was the Rev. James Anderson, D.D., a minister of the
Scottish Presbyterian Church.
The title‑page read as
follows: "The Constitutions of the Free‑Masons.
Containing the History,
Charges, Regulations, Sc., of that Most Ancient and Right Worshipful
Fraternity.
For the use of Lodges."
The sub‑title was in these
words : "The Constitution, History, Laws, Charges, Orders, Regulations, and
usages, of Accepted Free Masons; Collected from their General Records, and
their Faithful Traditions of Many Ages. To be read at the Admission of a New
Brother, when the Master or Warden shall begin, or order some other Brother to
read as follows: " Then follows the first version of the "Charges," which is
familiar to all Craftsmen.
It will be noted that Dr.
Anderson gives the society the name of "Right Worshipful Fraternity of
Accepted Free Masons," but later on, in the same edition, the more lengthy and
appropriate title of "The Right Worshipful and most ancient Fraternity of Free
and Accepted Masons," the name by which it is frequently called to‑day.
The Second Book. ‑In the
edition of 1738 Dr. Anderson had added the words: "Antient and Honourable."
This edition, called the "New
Book of Constitutions," was approved by the Grand Lodge, January 25, 1738.
In the work, the author is
supposed to have reprinted the 11 Old Regulations," these being "The Charges
of a Free Mason, ordered to be printed in the first edition of the Book of
Constitutions on 25th March, 1722," and added thereto the "New Regulations" in
parallel columns.
".But again the insatiable
desire of Anderson," says Brother Hughan, "to modernize and alter is
conspicuous." Other criticisms have been freely made, but we incline to the
opinion of our European Editor that " Whatever may be its merits or demerits,
according as we look at the volume leniently or critically, the fact remains
that to it, and to it alone, are we indebted for a history of the Grand
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY.
159 Lodge of England from its
inauguration in A.D. 1717 to 1723, when the official Records begin, and from
that period for an able extract of the Proceedings; hence the work has been
described as the ' basis of Masonic History,' by Prof. Robinson, and its
author is termed by the Rev. A. F. A. Woodford 'the Father of English Masonic
History,' both titles being fairly earned in respect to the sketch of the
premier Grand Lodge." What were the " General Records " and " Faithful
Traditions," examined by Dr. Anderson, upon which he based the " Constitutions
" of the Craft? What became of them?
The reader is referred to the
|| Masonic Reprints," before noted, for reply.
Dr. Anderson, no doubt, had in
his possession several copies of the " Old Charges," while preparing the first
and second editions of his celebrated "Book of Constitutions"; the remainder
of our opinion is largely that of speculation.
Experts say that one of these
must have been the " Matthew Cooke MS.," which we give herein, and others, the
titles of which are not essential to our purpose.
The " Book of Constitutions "
has passed through various revisions, since its author's famous revision in
A.D. 1735‑38, the twenty‑two editions dating as follows :
I. 1723, II. 1738, 111. 1756,
Iv. 1767, V. 1784, V1. 1815, VII. 1819, V1II. 1,927, IX. 1841, X. 1847, XI.
1853, XII. 1855, XIII. 1858, XIv. 1861, XV. 1863, XVI. 1865, XVII. 1866, XVIn.
1867, XIX. 1871, xx. 1873, XXI. 1884, XXII. 1888.
Many of these editions are
extremely rare, and the last two are entirely new works, having been
thoroughly revised and rearranged.
The Ahiman Rezon. ‑ It may be
of interest to state that the ‑Regulations published by the "Ancient " Grand
Lodge, called by the English the 11 Atholl Masons," and known as the " Ahiman
Rezon," were eight in number, viz. I. 1756, II. 1764, III. 1778, IT. 1787, v.
18oo, vi. I8or, VII. 1807, vin. 1813, the last two having " Lists of Lodges."
Probably one of the most complete collections of these editions of the `1
Ahiman Rezon," in America, is in the Masonic Library, Philadelphia, Pa.
As the "Book of Constitutions"
became the model or standard for the government of Freemasonry by the "
Moderns," so the " Ahiman Rezon " was the law of the "Ancients." The history
of these rival Grand Lodges and subsequent union is given in another place in
this volume.
Destruction of the Ancient
MSS. ‑ The legendary writings called apocryphal, as well as those more
authentic, are said to have been destroyed after they were collated into a
volume variously called : "The Masonic Constitutions," " Constitutions," `1
The Legend of the Guild," the `| History of Freemasonry," "The Constitutions
of the Craft," etc., etc. ; all of which were designated by Dr. Anderson, in
these words: ‑ "The Free‑Masons had always a Book in Manuscript called the
Book of Constitutions (of which they have several very antient Copies
remaining),, containing not only their Charges and Regulations, but also a
History of Architecture from the Beginning of Time; in order to show the
Antiquity and Excellency of the Craft or Art." These writings have, by
Hughan's suggestion, been called the "Old Charges of British Freemasons," of
which an increasing number are still in 16o
ANCIENT Mf4SONRY.
existence, and an exact copy
of every known version, together with the references which have been made,
from time to time, by writers to " forms " now missing are to be given to the
world by the Lodge Quatuor Coronati, from whose publications we quote, in
part, what follows herewith.
Brother Gould in his History,
Vol. L, p. 56, claims that " By no other craft in Great Britain has
documentary evidence been furnished of its having inherited at any time a
legendary and traditional history. Oral testimony of any real antiquity is
also wanting when it is sought to maintain that the British Freemasons are not
singular in the preservation of their old legends." That there is something
not written in history, below the surface of all statements made as to the "
Old Charges," is evident from what has been read into these Manuscripts, |`
between the lines," so to speak. With one or two possible exceptions, the MSS.
consulted by Dr. Anderson are not to be found, and this is true also of the
documents collected and said to have figured at the mythical convention A.D.
926.
It is only within a
comparatively recent period that any considerable number of " Old Charges "
were known to be in existence.
The table we give, and which
constitutes a collection revised by our European Editor down to date, has
several entries not included in a similar Kalendar, published in England in
1886.
It follows, therefore, as
Brother Gould says, we may consistently presume, "The fact that the MS.
Constitutions are not elsewhere referred to in any literature that has come
down to us of the XIVth and XVth centuries, than in the Regius and Cooke MSS.,
is no proof that but few copies were in existence at those periods." Not to
speak of the natural destruction of manuscripts by dampness and other
auxiliaries, through which MSS. were being constantly destroyed, there was an
immense consumption of them following the invention of the art of printing.
Vast numbers of manuscript volumes and rolls, beautiful and ancient in their
time, were ruthlessly used by book‑binders for backs and bands, and even for
fly‑leaves.
Says Maitland in " The Dark
Ages," p. 231 : ‑ "Whole libraries were destroyed, or made waste paper of, or
consumed for the vilest uses. The splendid and magnificent Abbey of Malmsbury,
which possessed some of the finest manuscripts in the Kingdom, was ransacked,
and its treasures either sold or burned to serve the commonest purposes of
life. An antiquary who travelled through that town, many years after the
dissolution, relates that he saw broken windows patched up with remnants of
the most valuable MSS. on vellum, and that the bakers had not even then
consumed the stores they had accumulated, in heating the ovens." Palgrave,
also, in his '| History of Normandy and England," says of the destruction of
MS. libraries in France, that || the only knowledge we possess concerning this
spoliation in the six Episcopal sees of Gascony, arises from an incidental
allusion in a charter." In the light of these revelations, the wonder is not
so much that we have few Masonic MSS. remaining, but that any escaped the
printers, book‑binders, and bakers of the first century of printing ! What an
irreparable loss to the world was the destruction by fire of the Alexandrian
library!
May not the same be equally
true, of this wholesale DOCUMENTARY HISTORY.
destruction of valuable
manuscripts, to the Masonic Fraternity? Whether our traditions had their
origin in early times or not; whether they were handed down from mouth to
mouth, or in writing, it is exceedingly probable that some satisfactory
explanation could be found of the origin of Freemasonry had it not been for
the destruction of written evidence, both secular and Masonic, that " escaped
not the unsparing ravages of barbarous force." The Kalendar of " Old Charges."
‑The " Old Charges " generally consist of three parts : I., The Introductory
Prayer, Declaration, or Invocation ; ii., The History of the Order, or the
Legend of the Guild, which usually ends with the era of Athelstan, or about
A.D. (926 ; III., The peculiar statutes and duties, the regulations and
observances, which Masons in general, or the Craft in particular, are bound
carefully to uphold and inviolably to maintain.
The following Kalendar of Old
Charges is a complete list of the various " forms " of MSS. and printed
Constitutions that are in actual existence, or to which there is any known
reference to the present time ; together with their " custody," and other
important particulars.
KALENDAR OF MASONIC "OLD
CHARGES," 1891.
I. MANUSCRIPT VERSIONS.
NO.
NAME. DATE.
CUSTODY.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
A.
Regius, or Hal1390 (9)
British Museum................
Qtiatuor Coronati Lodge, No.
2076, and
ltwell Poem..
H. J. Whymper, x8qo
B.
Cooke ......... Be gtnning of
Idem
..........................
Ibid., and Spencer & Co.
C.
x 5th Century
West Yorkshire Library
........
Freemason, x891. [prints, Vol.
II.
Wm. Watson... x68,
Lansdowne .. 16th Century
Idem
..........................
Hughan's Old Charges, and Mas.
Re
Grand Lodge... x983
Grand Lodge of England....
....
Old Charges, and Sadler.
3
York, No. 1.... 17th Century
York Lodge, No.
236............
O. C., and Masonic Magazine,
Aug.,
x873.
4
Phillipps, No. i. Idem
Rev. J. E. A. Fenwick, Chelten
ham .........................
Masonic Magazine, April, 1876.
,6
Phtllip ,
Idem
..........................
Virtually a copy of No. 4.
ones.... No. 2. Idem
of
Provincial Grand Lodge Wor
Inigo x607 (?)
Masonic Magazine, July, 188x.
cestershire...................
Wood.......... :6to (?)
Idem
..........................
Ibid., June, x881.
8
Harleian, x942.. 17th Century
British Museum
................
Freemason's Quarterly Review,
x8g6,
and Old Charges, also M, R.,
Vol. II.
9
Harleian, 2054.. Idem
Idem
..........................
Masonic Sketches, and Masonic
Maga.
zine, 1873.
to
Sloane, 3848.... x646
Idem
..........................
Old Charges, and Masonic
Magazine,
11
Sloane, 3323.... 1659
Idem
..........................
Ma omit Sketches (Hughan).
12
Lechmere ...... 17th Century
Sir E. A. Lechmere, Bart.
......
Masonic Monthly, Dec., 1882.
13
Buchanan...... Idem
Grand Lodge of England........
Gould's History, Vol. I.,
chap. 2.
14
Kilwinning..... Idem
Mother Kilwinning Lodge.......
Lyon's History, Lodge of
Edinburgh;
and Masonic Sketches.
15
Atcheson‑Haven x666
Grand Lodge of
Scotland........
Laurie, 1859; and Lyon, 1873
s6
Aberdeen....... 1670
Aberdeen Lodge, No. 34
........
Voice of Masonry, Dec" 1174,
17
Melrose, No. 2. 1674
Lodge of
Melrose...............
Masonic Magazine, Jan., x880.
18
Hope .......... 17th Century
Hope Lodge, No. 302...........
Old Charges , (Hughan.)
19
York, No. 5.... Idem
York Lodge, No.
236............
Masonic Magazine, Aug., x881.
20
York, No. 6.... Idem
Idem
..........................
Ibid., IIlarch, x88..
21
Colne, No. 1 ... Idem
Royal Lancashire Lodge, No.
x16
Christmas Number of Freemason,
21
(a) Tew........ 1680
West Yorkshire Library ..
Ibid., 1888.
21
(b) Watson..... 1693
'rhos. M. Watson,
Sunderland...
Freemason, Oct. 5, 1889.
21
(c) Clapham.... 17th Century
West Yorkshire Library
........
Freemason, Mar. 2q, :8go.
21
(d) The Hub... x677
City of Boston
.................
Masonic Review, U.S.A., July,
x8go;
Freemason's Chronicle, Aug.
23, 1890.
22
Antiquity....... x686
Lodge of Antiquity, No. 2
......
Hughan's Old Charges.
23
Clerke ......... x686
Col. S. H. Clerke, Gr. Sec.
Freemason, Feb. 4, x888.
24
Dauntesy...... x690
R. Dauntesy, Agecroft Hall,
Key‑stone, Phila., Pa., March
2o, x886
Manchester.
. 162 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
33 34 35 3 378 3 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 NOTE.‑Three MSS. in this table appear
under new titles from those of former compilations, although their position in
the first numerical list has not been varied. These are the Phillipps,
numbered 4 and 5, formerly " Wilson," and the " Clerke," formerly Supreme
Council, No. 2.
II. PRINTED
VERSIONS,‑ORIGINALS NOT KNOWN.
NOTE.‑NO. 50 is an Apocryphal
Latin MS., sent to Schneider, of Altenburg, by a German then travelling in
England, and certified to be a " true translation of an Anglo‑Saxon document
existing at York."
NAME.
DATE.
CUSTODY. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
York, No. 4....
York Lodge, NO.
236............ Masonic Sketches.
Colne, No. 2...
:8th Century
Royal Lancashire Lodge, No.
1x6 A copy of No. 2t.
Alnwick........
1701
Alderman Robertson, Alnwick ..
Hughan's Old Charges, and American
Edition, Masonic Sketches.
York, No. 2....
1704
York Lodge, No. 236
........... Masonic Sketches.
Scarborough ...
1705
Grand Lodge of Canada.........
Canadian Craftsman, Feb., 1874, and
Masonic Magazine, Sept., 1879.
Stanley ........
1677 & 1713
Fred. Stanley, Margate
......... Not Published.
Papworth ......
1714
Wyatt Papworth, London.......
Hughan's Old Charges.
Spencer........
1726
E. T. Carson, Cincinnati
....... Spencer's Old Constitutions, 1871.
Woodford ......
1728
Quatuor Coronati Lodge, NO.
2076 Copied from Cooke MS.
Supreme Council
Idem
33 Golden Square, London......
Ditto.
Gateshead .....
1 731
Lodge of Industry, No. 48
...... Masonic Magazine, Sept., x875.
Rawlinson .....
Idem
Bodleian
Library............... Freemason's Magazine, 1855, and Ma
sonic Magazine, Sept., 1876.
Harris .........
18th Century
Bedford Lodge, No.
T57......... Freemason's Chronicle, April, 1882.
Probity ........
Idem
Lodge of Probity, No.
6x........ Freemason, Jan. and Feb., 1886.
Cama..........
Idem
Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No.
2076 Not Yet Published.
Phillipps, No. 3.
Idem
Rev. J. E. A. Fenwick, Chelten
ham .........................
Not Published.
Melrose, No. 3.
1762
Lodge of Melrose....
.......... A copy of No. 17.
Crane..........
1781
Cestrian Lodge, No. 425
........ Freemason, Oct. and Nov., 1884.
Harris, No. 2...
Idem
British Museum ...............
Not Published.
Tunnah........
18x8
W. J. Hughan, Torquay........
Idem.
Wren..........
1852
[Woodford]
.................... Masonic Magazine, 1879.
NO.
NAME.
DATE. FIRST PUBLISHED.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
46 Roberts........
1722
Pamphlet.......................
Spencer's Old Constitutions,
1871
47 Briscoe ........I
1724
Idem...........................
Masonic Magazine, Oct., 1873,
and
Freemason's Chronicle, 1876.
48 Cole ...........
1728‑9
Idem...........................
Hughan's Freemason's
Constitutions,
1869.
49 Dodd...........
1739
Idem...........................
Carson's Rituals of
Freemasonry, No.
III., x876.
5o Krause.........
x808
Dreialtesten Urk
...............
Englished in Hughan's Old
Charges.
51 Dowland.......
1815
Gentleman's Magazine..........
Hughan s Old Charges.
III. MISSING VERSIONS,‑USED
AND
REFERRED TO.
NO.
I NAME.
USED OR
FORMER CUSTODY.
REMARKS.
CITED.
52
Melrose, No. x.
x581‑1674
Lodge of
Melrose...............
Original of Nos. 17 and 41.
53
Plot............
x636
Masons of
Staffordshire.........
Natural History of
Staffordshire, p. 3x6.
54
Anderson.......
1723‑38
Dr. Anderson
..................
Forms used in the
Constitutions, 1723
and 1738.
55
Baker .........
x730‑40
A London Carpenter............
A roll seen by Dr. Rawlinson.
5
Langley........
1738
Batty Langley, London.........
"
Builder's Compleat Assistant."
57
Morgan........
1752
John Morgan, Gr. See.......
....
Named in (Schismatic) Grand
Lodge
Records.
58
Dermott........
Idem
L. Dermott. Gr. See.....
........
Ibid.
59
Wilson ........
1778
Mr. Wilson of Bromhead .......
Manifesto of the Lodge of
Antiquity.
6o
York, NO‑3 ....
x630‑1779
Grand Lodge, York.............
Inventory of the Grand Lodge
(York).
61
Hargrove ..... .
x818
Idem
..........................
Hargrove's History of York.
62
Mason's Com
pany ........
1839
Mason's Company..............
Edinburgh Review, April, 1839