The Builder Magazine

August 1921 - Volume VII - Number 8

 

Frederick the Great, and His Relations with Masonry and Other Secret Societies

TAKEN FROM THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE LADY CRAVEN

Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of the fourth earl of Berkeley, was born on December 17, 1750.  A sprightly and beautiful girl, she had many love affairs, and was finally married to William, 6th Lord Craven.  She was unfaithful to him, having relations with the French ambassador, Count de Guines, but was pardoned by her indulgent husband.  After Lord Craven's death she went to Germany and found a place in the train of the Margrave of Anspach, to whom, after an unseemly friendship, and within three months after the death of his wife, she was married.  There is no need to detail her history further, or print the long codicil of her titles, save to say that, after having seen life in many courts, among them Russia, and after having had a most mixed career of love affairs and intrigues, the Lady published her "Autobiographical Memoirs" in 1826, when she was in her seventy-sixth year.  From these Memoirs the following chapter, with a few irrelevant paragraphs omitted, has been taken: for what reason, the Masonic reader will immediately discover for himself.

 

The best edition of the "Autobiographical Memoirs" of the Margravine is published by John Lane under the title of "The Beautiful Lady Craven"; the two volumes are attractive in appearance, as most of Lane's books are, and halve been very ably edited by A. M. Broadley and Lewis Melville.

 

WE DISPATCHED a courier forward, after whose arrival at Berlin the King sent eight fine horses to draw us through the sandy plains of Prussia.  The frost and snow in Bohemia had much damaged the springs and wheels of our carriage; but we arrived without any serious injury or accident, from a journey which was the most terrific I ever underwent; for if any thing had ever happened to the Margrave, I and I alone, should have been accused of doing him harm.

 

When we arrived at Berlin, the Carnival being ended, all the Royal family were gone to their different villas; but His Majesty returned to meet the Margrave at his palace; while I was left to the discretion of the Princess Royal, afterwards Duchess of York, who had her own establishment in the Royal Palace.

 

We remained here only four days, during which time I saw but little of the Margrave, for he was constantly with the King.  He informed His Majesty that there had existed a mysterious correspondence among some of the nobility of Bareith, and others at Anspach the object of which he supposed was to form more distrusts between Austria and Prussia.

 

Frederick William II had succeeded to the throne on the death of his uncle Frederick the Great, in 1786. He made many salutary regulations for his subjects and established a Court of Honour to prevent the horrible practice of duelling in his dominions.

 

As I was willing to gain all the information possible respecting so great a character as Frederick the late King, it may easily be imagined that I lost no opportunity which could be afforded me during my residence among the Royal Family, and which, together with the Margrave's knowledge of this illustrious man, and that of Prince Hardenberg, afforded me much satisfaction.

 

After my marriage with the Margrave, we brought out from Anspach a full-length portrait of the late King, for which he himself sat, for the Margrave, whom he also presented another of his father, Frederick William.  The countenance and whole figure are striking resemblance of His Majesty.  The expression is surprisingly fine.  I had it placed under a canopy at Brandenburgh House, and those who have seen it can never forget it.

 

When Frederick ascended the throne he was only twenty-eight years of age. lt is well known to all Europe how this great Prince profited by the army left to him by his father, and the riches which he had accumulated.  He had been detested by the late King when he was Prince Royal, because he appeared to apply himself to the sciences and fine arts rather than to military affairs. Having followed his father to Wesel, he conceived the project of passing into a foreign country.  He had probably other motives than those of gaining instruction by travels; no doubt it was to escape the tyranny of his father: but the latter had gained information of his design, and arrested him at the moment of its execution.  He was tried by Commissaries who had the firmness not to condemn him to lose his head. It might appear to be a light crime for the presumptive heir of a kingdom to quit the realms without the permission of his Sovereign; but such was the law.  Of four-and- twenty judges, only one was found who voted for the sentence of death, and that was a person named Derschau; yet such was the magnanimity of Frederick when he came to the throne, that this man never experienced from him the slightest vengeance.

 

Frederick, his father, was on the point of renewing on the theatre of Europe the scene of Don Carlos, or more recently that of Czarowitz.  The Prince was pardoned; but the unfortunate companion of his flight, his friend and confidant, was decapitated.

 

Frederick has been accused by his enemies as having neither shed a tear nor used an argument to induce his father to save this victim from destruction.  But I have been assured, from those who were present at the scene, that when the unfortunate man was led to the scaffold, the Prince Royal demanded his pardon with the effusions of a heart broken by grief; and that he fainted more than once during the punishment, and in fact experienced the greatest anguish.  Before the execution he had tried every means in his power to save him.  In his despair, he had offered to his father to renounce the throne forever, in order to preserve the life of his friend whom he loved: but the inflexible Monarch, not satisfied with the sentence of the judges, who had condemned him to the galleys for life, with his own hand signed his death-warrant, alleging that there was no justification for the crime of high treason, and treating his son's entreaties with indignation and contempt. Katt was the grandson of a field-marshall, and son of a general of that name at that time both alive and in the service of the King.

 

Frederick the Great was born with sensibility, but he learned to suppress his emotions and his feelings; he saw how necessary it was to be just, as well as merciful, during his long military career; and perhaps the firmness which has been his reproach, was the greatest triumph of his nature.

 

After this event he retired to Rheinsberg, applying himself to all kinds of acquirements; and here he learned to play on the flute, on which instrument he excelled, not as a prince, but as an amateur of the first rank.

 

His allowance was extremely moderate, and his father had vigorously forbidden any one to advance him money.  This order was, however, ill observed, and it has been objected against him that when King he never repaid the obligations of his creditors.  But the fact was otherwise; he paid them in secret.  The Minister of his father's finances had refused to advance him money, and when the Prince ascended the throne this man was supposed to be ruined, and on his coming to give in his accounts demanded permission to retire; when the young King, to the astonishment of all round him, praised his fidelity, begged him to continue his services, and doubled his salary.

 

What a different fidelity from that of the judges of poor Katt, who considered blind obedience to the commands of their Sovereign as a proof of fit submission to his authority!

 

It is a singular circumstance in the history of the House of Bradenburgh, that during the space of 370 years, in which time the sovereignty was in their hands, there was never experienced one minority.

 

Frederick enjoyed an immoderate reputation, and to a certain point even the adoration of his contemporaries, not only as a warrior, but as a governor of his empire, and as a profound politician.  His assiduity was indefatigable, and his skill in affairs of government transcendent.  The Government of Prussia appeared to rise from the seeds of despotism, and formed a lesson of instruction to the world.  Notwithstanding his exactness and his inflexibility in war, he obtained the affections of his soldiers, who always denominated him their Father Fritz.  It was the name by which he was familiarly called through the army.

 

The severity of his conduct towards Baron de Trenck (1) has excited the indignation of mankind, and has been considered as a blot on his escutcheon; but arbitrary order and rigorous detention have to be exercised in other countries as well as in Prussia.  Without pleading this as an excuse, I shall endeavour, with impartiality, to remark on the leading points of the justification of Frederick's conduct, derived from those who were acquainted with the cause of such a punishment.

 

M. de Trenck had been forbidden by the King, whom he acknowledged not only as his Sovereign, but as his benefactor, to write to his uncle, who was a chief of the Pandours.

 

His injunctions were violated.  The King demanded of him personally whether he was in correspondence with his uncle.  M. de Trenck denied it.  "Do you give me your word of honour of it?" said the King.  "Yes, Sire," was the answer.  It was at the very time that Trenck had just written to his uncle, that this dialogue passed.  The discovery was made, and M. de Trenck was sent to the fortress of Magdeburg: it was a punishment usual in the Prussian service.  M. de Trenck plotted his escape, and fled with an officer whom he had seduced to desert, he killed those who pursued him.  The King's Resident at Dantzic, whither Trenck had fled, sent him back to his Sovereign.  Trenck had certainly violated every law - he had at first been disobedient, then perjured - a rebel, and a murderer.

 

At Magdeburg, Baron de Trenck recommenced his devices: his imprisonment was in consequence rendered more severe, and his confinement lasted for ten years.

 

Trenck was six feet two inches high, and squinted: he was popular, and always followed by thousands. After the death of Frederick he published his Memoirs.  At that period, all who were acquainted with the groundwork of his history were dead: on his own testimony depends the whole of his relation.  Those whom he cites in his narrative have probably forgotten the circumstances of so distant a date, but without recurring to vague conjectures regarding the truth of this affair, or of the cruelty exercised against him, M. de Trenck avows that he had intrigued with a person of illustrious rank.  If that person, as has been generally supposed, and which from good authority I know to be the case, was the Princess Amelia, sister of the King; if from this connection there were children who were deprived of life by means the most horrible - what strong inducements might not the King have had for visiting on Trenck a punishment of the severest kind, without being under the necessity of explaining (from motives of decorum and decency) the reasons which influenced him to such an act.

 

Frederick frequently broke his officers for causes light in appearance; but he always had heavier charges against them, which were unknown to the rest of mankind, and which he concealed for the purpose of preserving military discipline.

 

 As soon as Frederick ascended the throne, he invited into his kingdom all those who were called les esprits forts: Voltaire, le Marquis d'Argens, the Abbe de Prade, Maupertuis, and even the impious La Metrie. This example encouraged the literary Germans to proclaim their sentiments, Berlin became the asylum of the persecuted, and the nursery of truth.

 

The history of the secret societies of Germany was at that time little known.  It might be interesting to a philosopher, but the generality of people might regard it as a romance: all well-informed persons can attest the reality of it.

 

Towards the end of the last century an association, or secret society, existed, which was daily gaining ground.  It was the Order of the Illumines.  The chiefs of this Order had resolved to form an association which was to unveil the mysteries of superstition, to enlighten mankind, and to render them happy.  Their object was to gain a superiority over the lodges of Freemasonry, (2) and to turn these institutions from darkness to the benefit of humanity.  They proposed to extend the sphere of knowledge universally, not so much in depth as on the surface; to introduce reason and good sense; to ameliorate the condition of men by an insensible operation.  No Prince, however great or good, was to be admitted.  They swore to preserve, as much as was in their power, Sovereigns from the perpetration of crimes, and from the commission of errors; to abolish the slavery of despotism, to destroy ecclesiastical jurisdiction, to favour the liberty of the press, and to unveil mysteries of every description.

 

The project was great noble and sublime; but prudence was wanting in its execution.  They expected to see a sudden effect, whilst they forgot that the edifice was only building.  The society enlarged, the wicked and designing were admitted; the powers of bigotry and superstition saw the force of their enemy, and the arm of Government was called to their assistance.  Many of the chiefs were driven from Germany, others were imprisoned, and every thing but death and torture inflicted on them.

 

The dispersed members of this association soon formed another assembly; they were again surprised, their papers taken, and their doctrines published, without regard to the effects which they might produce.  Many sects arose from these, which rendered discord prevalent throughout Germany.  Their different Orders had little resemblance to Freemasonry - they were visionary, mystical, and cabalistic.

 

Frederick had too sound an understanding to be caught in the snares of enthusiasm. It is not known whether the attempt were made to conquer him, but it is most probable that he was never tried. Nor is it certain when the area or how the nature of the misunderstanding between this Monarch and the superiors of the Order of Freemasonry began.  Whether he was ignorant of the machinations of modern Masonry, of the visions and the horrors which were latterly raised, or of the general tendency of these mysterious associations; or whether having once adopted the Masonic costume, and having openly protected its Orders, he did not wish, even after having seen its evil tendencies, to retract and to separate from a society into which he had erewhile not disdained to enter - he refrained from excluding from his dominions these secret associations.

 

Masons of every denomination - Rosicrucians, Centralists, Illuminate - had all, under his reign, the liberty of establishing lodges and societies according to their fancy, provided they did not disturb the public order.

 

Thus Berlin became the receptacle of sects, of parties, of conjurations, of chemical mysteries, and of extravagances of every kind.

 

In the meantime instruction was not neglected, and Frederick supported and protected every institution which might extend education throughout his kingdom. Rousseau had written his Emilius - a work the most perfect of its kind, and which places the author incontestably in the rank of the first of benefactors to mankind; in Germany this production became as a torch which extended its light throughout; it opened to the system of education new views.  Youth was taught not by words alone, and those in an unknown language - but he gave them clear ideas of natural things, of moral and physical relations, of mechanism, of history, and of geography.

 

Frederick did not lose sight of the good effects of such a system of education; and to promote it, established a Consistory, which was to superintend every institution, and at the head of which he placed himself.  He procured masters, and did not blush to render homage to the superiority of the institution which he had promoted.  The example of the Sovereign excited the nobility and gentry of the nation, and Frederick inspired in his subjects an admirable and laudable competition.

 

It was in one of those moments which in human life are so contradictory to the general sentiments of the mind, that Frederick, hearing the news of the proscription of the Jesuits in France, by the public functionaries, exclaimed, "Pauvres gens! ils ont detruit les renards qui les defendaient des loups, et ils ne voient pas qu'ils vont etre devores."

 

Frederick had sanctioned and approved the writing of the philosophers; he had become a philosopher himself.  Heveltius had published his work De I'Esprit in France, and to avoid punishment had fled to England.  Le Contrat Social of Rosseau had found protection among the magistracy; and the Parliaments had defended Doderpt's declaiming against despotism.  The Court and Clergy had admired Voltaire's ridiculing the Parliaments.  There has been exaggeration, when it has been said that the philosophers proposed by a regular plan to subvert the foundations of societies and thrones: they worked to that effect without being sensible of it.  They did not wish to be the destroyers, but the preceptors, of monarchs: and had Montesquieu only produced his work Sur les Romains, and his Esprit des Lois; had Beccaria only written his Traite des Delits et des Peines; had Voltaire only refuted Machiavel, and defended Calas, Scriven, and Lally; had pleaded the cause of nature, of morality, and of religion; and had the Encyclopedists respected the principles of religion alone - they would have been entitled to the indulgence of the world. But the discussion of one subject led to a another, and in the correction of abuses they proceeded beyond the bounds which they had prescribed.  Then it was, that one of the greatest Kings who ever wore a crown figured in the correspondence of philosophy: then it was, that he pronounced in his Academy the eulogy of the man who wrote L'Homme Machine, ("Man, a Machine"-Ed.) and that he compelled his churches to celebrate obsequies of the man who had endeavoured to undermine the foundation of Christianity.

 

This influence spread throughout Europe: it penetrated into every class.  Diderot, D'Alembert, and Condoreet, united their forces in the operation.  Then the sects of the Illuminate, who had associated for the destruction of revealed religion, overthrew its foundations, as far as regarded themselves, and introduced a new code founded on natural morality, which led to the system of primitive equality.

 

Even Frederick himself proved that a king, though a man of letters, could not sustain with dignity the sceptre of literature.  Some unfortunate members defiled the character of his Academy; but Euler and La Grange were an eternal honour to it.  Some men of high estimation were associated with others of obscure and even ridiculous talents: their inequalities were great.

 

It was a prejudice generally spread throughout Germany, that the province of Prussia, and Berlin in particular, was peopled with Atheists.  Because Frederick encouraged freedom of thought in his dominions; because he collected and united about his person men of genius; because, under his reign, some irreligious books escaped from the Prussian press - this conclusion, as absurd as precipitate, was adopted.  M. Nicolai, a distinguished writer and bookseller of Berlin, (a union very rare, though it were to be desired that it were more general,) had depicted Berlin in a romance with great truth; and his work displays excellent notions on the manners of Germany.  He has shown, that if, in general, there are some Freethinkers in the Prussian provinces, the people at large are attached to the national religion.

 

Towards the end of the seven years' war, a man named Rosenfeld, in the service of the Margrave of Schwedt, quitted the service of that prince, and began to inform the populace that he was the new Messiah; that Jesus had been a false prophet; that the preachers were rogues and liars, who preached death; that for himself he preached life, since his adherents never died; that the King of Prussia was the Devil; that the time approached when he (Rosenfeld) should assemble together the twenty-four Elders, and should obtain the sword, and govern the world with their assistance.

 

Rosenfeld prevailed on some of his adherents to deliver over to him seven girls, of whom the zealous fanatics were the fathers.  It was, he said, to open the seven seals that he required seven virgins.  With these he formed a seraglio: one of them was his favourite Sultana; he made the others work, and lived upon the profit of their labours.  After having carried on the trade of a Messiah for twenty-nine years, under different mischanges; first poor, then imprisoned, afterwards entertained by the presents of his votaries, and living habitually by means of the wool which his mistresses spun; after acquiring disciples in Berlin and its environs, in Saxony, and even at Mecklenburg - one of his faithful followers, who had in vain expected to reap the fruit of his splendid promises - even one of those who had delivered over to him three of his daughters, accused him before Frederick; that is to say, denied his Messiah, who he believed to be the true God, before the King, whom he believed to be the true Devil. This very accuser always regarded Rosenfeld as the real Messiah, and only wished that the King could compel him to realize his prodigious offers.

 

The King sent Rosenfeld to a natural tribunal, which condemned him to be whipped, and shut up for the remainder of his days at Spandau.  The Supreme Tribunal commuted this sentence, and pronounced that this new Messiah should be sent to the House of Correction, where he should be flogged as often as he at attempted to have an adventure of gallantry, and after two years that a report should be made of his manner of conducting himself.  The defenders of the accused appealed: the King revised the process, and confirmed the severer sentence of the first tribunal.  He imagined, without doubt, that it was necessary that Rosenfeld should be punished in the sight of the people, to prevent them from being in future deceived through similar visions.

 

But the most absurd opinions are often the most tenacious, because they have no perceptible basis by which they may be measured; and this spectacle did not undeceive any of the adherents of Rosenfeld, a great number of whom remained attached to him.

 

He went afterwards to preach his doctrines at Charlottenberg, hardly a mile from the capital; but he found that this theatre was too small for two fanatics like himself and Musenfeld.  The Government, without doubt, tired with his persevering enthusiasm, overlooked his folly and left him in repose. . . .

 

Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, (3) the conqueror of Creveldt and of Minden, was induced, by the persuasion of the Baron de Hund, who was a Reformer, to place himself at the head of the reformed Lodges of Freemasonry, which has taken the appellation of the Strict Observance.  It was supposed to be an Order of Freemasonry which was a continuation of the Society of Knights Templer: the highest step was that of a Templar, with all the ceremonies of ancient chivalry.  Doctors of divinity and professors of Physic were received as Chevaliers d'Epee. It is hardly possible to conceive that reasonable beings could lend themselves to ideas so ridiculous; example, however, did everything, and enthusiasm was contagious.  In this branch of the Order there reigned a monastic despotism, and men who led away by rites and ceremonies. The members alone possessed the secret; those out of the Order could never tell where or what it was.

 

As no woman can possibly be a Mason, every woman has a right to endeavour to penetrate the mystery. (4) It is admitted that Adam was the first Mason; he founded the first lodge - he had all the instruments necessary for the purpose - he produced the mortar;- without Eve there would have been no lodge.  Where is the mystery of Masonry, if the idea be followed up? Having created the lodge, he made members for it: those members created others, and the society extended over the globe; and while the globe exists, members will never be wanting.  Over this secret I will throw the apron!

 

When the minds of men were sufficiently heated, the actor of this drama caused to appear upon the scene the Thaumaterges, or miracle-workers.  These appeared to have ordinarily no relation with Freemasonry in general, but attached themselves to personages eminent for rank or fortune.  One of the first of these charlatans was Schroepfer, a coffeehouse-keeper of Leipsic, on whom Duke Charles of Courland (5) had inflicted corporeal punishment; but who afterwards so fascinated this Prince, and a greater part of the principal personages of Dresden and of Leipsic, that he compelled them to act a principal part with him.

 

At that time were reproduced on the theatre of Europe the follies of Asia and of China - the universal medicine - the art of making gold and diamonds - the beverage of immortality.  The peculiar qualification of Schroepfer was the invocation of manes; he commanded spirits, and caused the dead and the invisible powers to appear at his will.  The denouement of his drama is well known.  After having consumed immense sums which he obtained from his adherents, and alienated their senses, when he found that he could no longer sustain the imposture, he shot himself through the head with a pistol, in a wood near Leipsic.

 

To Schroepfer succeeded Saint-Germain, who had been before announced by the Comte de Lambert.  This Saint-Germain had lived a thousand years; he had discovered a tea, before which all maladies disappeared; he made, for his amusement, diamonds of immense magnitude! He attached himself to Prince Carles of Hesse; (6) but, like his predecessors, he forgot not to die.

 

 In the meantime Gessner, religious miracle-worker, appeared in the environs of Ratisbon.  He did not belong to the Freemasons, nor did he attach himself to any of the principal members of the Order; but he was equally useful to it, - for all the prodigies of which he was heard to speak corroborated the general faith of miracles, which was one of the great springs of the machine.   In the heart of Switzerland lived a preacher of an ardent imagination - of a penetrating mind - of immeasurable ambition - of undaunted pride; am ignorant man, but gifted with the talent of speech - intoxicated with mysticism - eager after prodigies - and made up of credulity.  He imagined that, with faith, miracles might at this time be effected.  Servants, peasants, Roman Catholic priests, Freemasons - all combined in his mind as contributing to the gift of miracle-working, whenever he discovered the slightest appearance of anything extraordinary.

 

M. Lavater (7) gained a great party, particularly among the women; these brought him the men - and he had soon thousands, and subsequently millions, of followers after his visionary ideas.

 

After these, succeeded Mesmer (8) and Cagliostro (9) (whose tricks and extravagances are well known), without reckoning the crowds of madmen, of charlatans, of jugglers of every kind, who sprang up on all sides.

 

This concourse of knaves, far from appeasing the divisions of Freemasonry, augmented the fermentation.  A new branch arose in the dominions of Frederick: it was called the Lodge of Zizendorf, from the name of its founder.  This Zizendorf had been formerly a member of the Templars, from which Order he detached himself, and formed a great party, assuring them that he alone had the true rites and the true mysteries.  Each of these branches decried the other.  This new agitation attracted the attention of men of sound understanding (at least of the Order), who immediately formed a new association under the name of Eclectic Masonry.  They professed a general toleration of all sects of the Order; and this system, which was the only solid one (if any system of the kind can be so), gained in a short time many partisans.  This was the cause of the fall of the Order of Templars, who soon saw their machine in ruins.  Frequent Chapters were held, where the deputies of the provinces deliberated; and, with surprise, the first question they found they had put to the Grand Master was, What is the true end of the Order, and its real origin? Thus the Grand Master, and all his assistants, had laboured, for more than twenty years, with incredible ardour, for an object of which they neither knew the true end nor the origin.  Thus puzzled and perplexed, the system of the Templars was abandoned, and an Order instituted of the Chivalry of Beneficence.

 

Every secret association has something of resemblance to a conspiracy, and it is incumbent on every Government to watch over it.  But some consideration must be paid to the characters of the members.  If they will not bear the test of inspection, doubtless measures should be taken to prevent their increase, with moderation and prudence.  And when it is more-over remembered that Sweden lost its constitution from these associations, which are frequently composed of men profound in design and indefatigable in perseverance, no means should be laid aside which may develop their plans. . . .

 

(1) Frederick von der Trenck (1726-1794), a native of  Konigsberg. His arrest at Dantzic in 1754 caused a great sensation throughout Europe. He was not liberated until 1756. He was denouched as a spy in France, and guillotined July 25, 1794. (2) Frederick the Great was, however, an ardent Freemason, and as such was instrumental in arranging the initiation into, the Order of more than one member of the British Royal Foraily. (3) Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick (1735 - 1806) killed at the battle of Jena. He was an ardent Freemason, and entered into friendly relations with the English Grand Lodge. (4) The Margravine in this instance is mistaken.  Masonry of Adoption, or Feminine Freemasonry, was extensively practised in France and on the Continent.  Marie Antoinette and her sister Caroline, Queen of Naples, both belonged to the Order of which the unfortunate Princesse de Lamballe was for a time Grand Mistress. (5) Charles, Duke of Courland (b. 1728). (6) Brother of the reigning Landgrave William IX. Born 29 Dec, 1744. (7) Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801). (8) Friedrich Anton Mesmer (1734-1815). (9) Alexander Cagliostro (1745-1795).  His connection with Freemasonry is fully, but not exhaustively, described in Mr. W.R. H. Trowbridge's biography (1910). (10) La Metrie wrote a book called "Man, a Machine." It was published in this country by the Open Court Company of Chicago.

 

A Postscriptural Preachment by the Editor:

 

The editor begs indulgence of the veteran Masonic student while he administers a preachment to the young students in the Craft, using the above as a text for the same.  Those young students are asked to use the Lady Craven article as a kind of laboratory task whereby to examine two or three rather important canons of historical study.  They are asked, nay, urged to sharpen their young critical faculties on the intriguing paragraphs of the Beautiful Lady, for they will not soon encounter again so useful a specimen.

 

They are asked to note first, that the Lady Craven received nearly all her information at second-hand, and then not often from authoritative sources.  This, at one stroke, removes her narrative, which is so well-informed upon the surface of it, from the class of genuine historical sources, and renders all she says (with all due respect to the memory of the clever grande madame) more or less suspect.  What is gossip worth as evidence? Nothing! In history gossip is almost useless, more especially in those passages whereabout much controversy has raged.  When you undertake the study of Masonic authors bear in mind that you are ever to stand on your guard against the easy sin of accepting gossip at its face value.  Ascertain first of all if your author had access at first-hand to his sources of information: if he did not, next ascertain, if you can, how reliable were his informants.  Accounts of Masonry, no more than any other chapters of history, are not to be taken on anybody's mere say-so, even though the say-soer himself wore the apron.  In other words, the laws of evidence are in full force in the Masonic province.  Masonic Scholarship! what crimes have been committed in thy name by those who have forgotten this simple fact! In the second place, it is always necessary to ascertain the competency of the author himself (or herself) to deal with the matter in hand.  Facts themselves are useless to one incapable of thought.  What impression of the intellectual capacities of the Beautiful Lady do you gain from the above, especially from that diverting paragraph in which she develops a quite Jesuit bit of argument drawn from the eventful experiences of Adam and Eve? Does it anywhere appear that she knows anything about Masonry herself? Would a well-informed writer have mixed together the Illuminati, the Thaumaterges, the Messiah Worshippers and all that into one whole and dubbed the thing Masonry? It is evident that the Beautiful Lady knew nothing about her subject, even though more than once she clearly attempts to make the reader believe that she has seen behind the curtains of it all.  When one is being invited to receive a palpable deceit it is well that he become sceptic at once and read on with a grain of salt.

 

Note another thing, not closely connected with the above.  Suppose that you have read another account of Frederick's doings in Masonry, etc., and that, as would be very sure to happen, your author's account would violently disagree with that furnished by the Beautiful Lady: how would you decide in your mind which of the two to believe, or whether either one might be true in his (or her) statements? In such a dilemma it is wise to refer the matter to the experts.  The experts may disagree, that is true.  They often do, and in that case one must let his judgment hang in suspense: but usually on important matters, and where there is much available data, the experts are sure to be in general agreement, and if so it is seldom difficult to learn what are their conclusions. (THE BUILDER exists in order, among other things, to make accessible to Masonic students the work of Masonic experts).  It happens that THE BUILDER published. recently an opinion by an expert on some of the very things about which Lady Craven writes so engagingly.  In the month of December for last year you will find Arthur Edward Waite's reply (and what a thrilling reply it was!) to the canards against Freemasonry published by the London Morning Post.  Look up that article and read what that "master of those who know" had to say about Frederick the Great, and the Illuminati, etc. (Wouldn't it be "rich" to read a reply from Brother Waite to the article on Freemasonry published in the Roman Catholic Encyclopedia? Such a reply would surpass the one referred to above, and would be worth going miles to see!)

 

Lastly, when the beginner makes his debut into the field of Masonic lore he soon grows dizzy at the complexity of it all, begins to realize too keenly his own ignorance, and is tempted to abandon it all at the start.  Brother Beginner, do nothing of the kind.  Put up with your helpless sense of bewilderment while you doggedly wade through six or seven volumes of Masonic history: After awhile the country will begin very gradually to disclose itself; you will see the great landmarks emerging from the mist; and finally the highways will stand clearly revealed.  After that it is no trouble to walk therein.  You will gain confidence in yourself; you will not abase yourself any more at the feet of every author you encounter; you will come at last to have an informed judgment on Masonic matters and to trust that judgment.  Long before you have reached that satisfactory stage you will have learned enough to see that any writer who lumps together a great variety of secret societies, religious cults, and private fanatics and calls the whole thing Freemasonry, is not a writer whose pages are to be taken seriously.

 

ROMAN CATHOLICISM AND FREEMASONRY

 

BY BRO. DUDLEY WRIGHT, ENGLAND

 

PART IV

 

L. LORENTE, the author of the History of the Inquisition, who was himself secretary of one of the Inquisition tribunals, canon of the Primatical Church of Toledo, Chancellor of the University of that city, Knight of the Order of Charles III, and member of the Royal Academies of History and of the Spanish Language at Madrid, has left on record the following lengthy statement concerning M. Tournon's appearance before the Inquisitors.. He says:

 

"M. Tournon, a Frenchman, had been invited into Spain and pensioned by the government in order to establish a manufactory of brass or copper buckles and to instruct Spanish workmen.  On 30th April, 1757, he was denounced to the Holy Office as suspected of heresy by one of his pupils, who acted in obedience to the commands of his confessor.

 

"The charges were: (1), That M. Tournon had asked his pupils to become Freemasons, promising that the Grand Orient of Paris should send a Commission to receive them into the Order, if they should submit to the trials he should propose, to ascertain their courage and firmness; and that their titles of reception should be expedited from Paris; (2), that some of these young workmen appeared inclined to comply if M. Tournon would inform them of the object of the Institution. That, in order to satisfy them, he told them severally extraordinary things, and showed them a sort of picture on which were figured instruments of architecture and astronomy.  They thought that these representations related to sorcery and they were confirmed in the idea on hearing the imprecations, which M. Tournon said were to accompany the oath of secrecy.

 

"It appeared from the depositions of three witnesses that M. Tournon was a Freemason.  He was arrested and imprisoned on 20th May, 1757, at Madrid, The following conversation which took place in the first audience of monition, is of interest. After asking his name, birthplace, and his reasons for coming to Spain, and making him swear to speak the truth, the Inquisitor proceeded:

 

"Q. Do you know or suppose why you have been arrested by the Holy Office? "A. I suppose it is for having said that I was a Freemason. "Q. Why do you suppose that? "A. Because I have informed my pupils that I was of that Order, and I fear they have denounced me, for I have perceived lately that they speak to me with an air of mystery, and their questions lead me to believe that they think me a heretic. "Q. Did you tell them the truth? "A. Yes. "Q. You are then a Freemason? "A. Yes. "Q. How long have you been so? "A. For twenty years. "Q. Have you attended the assemblies of Freemasons? "A. Yes, at Paris. "Q. Have you attended them in Spain? "A. No. I do not know if there are any lodges in Spain. "Q. If there were, would you attend them?. "A. Yes. "Q. Are you a Christian, a Roman Catholic? "A. Yes, I was baptized in the parish of St. Paul, at Paris "Q. How, as a Christian, can you dare to attend Masonic assemblies, when you know, or ought to know, that they are contrary to religion? "A. I do not know that; I am ignorant of it at present, because I never saw or heard anything there which was contrary to religion. "Q.  How can you say that, when you know that Freemasons profess indifference in matters of religion, which is contrary to the Article of Faith which teaches us that no man can be saved who does not profess the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion? "A. Freemasons do not profess that indifference.  But it is indifferent if the person received into the Order be a Catholic or not. "Q.  Then the Freemasons are an anti-religious body? "A. That cannot be, for the object of the Institution is not to combat or deny any religion, but for the exercise of charity towards the unfortunate of any sect, particularly if he is a member of the Society. "Q. We prove that indifference is the religious character of Freemasons, that they do not acknowledge the Holy Trinity, since they only confess one God, whom they call T.G.A.O.T.U., which agrees with the doctrine of heretical Philosophies, who say that there is no true religion but only religion, in which the existence of God, the Creator only is allowed, and the rest considered as a human invention.  And as M. Tournon has professed himself to be the Catholic religion he is required by the respect he owes to our Saviour, Jesus Christ, true God and true man, and to His Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, our Lady, to declare the truth according to his oath, because, in that case, he will acquit his conscience, and it will be allowable to treat him with that mercy and compassion which the Holy Office always shows towards sinners who confess; and if, on the contrary, he conceals anything he will be punished with all the severity of justice, according to the holy Canons of the laws of the kingdom. "A. The mystery of the Holy Trinity is neither maintained nor combatted in the Masonic lodges; neither is the religious system of the natural philosophies approved or rejected.  God is designated as T. G. A. O. T. U., according to the allegories of the Freemasons, which relate to architecture.  In order to fulfil my promise of speaking the truth, I must repeat that, in Masonic lodges, nothing takes place which concerns any religious system, and that the subjects treated of are foreign to religion, under the allegories of architectural works. "Q. Do you believe, as a Catholic, that it is a sign of superstition to mingle holy and religious things with profane things ? "A. I am not sufficiently acquainted with the particular things which are proscribed as contrary to the purity of the 'Christian religion; but I have believed till now that those who confound the one with the other either by mistake or a vain belief, are guilty of the sin of superstition. "Q. Is it true that in the ceremonies which accompany the reception of a Mason, the crucified image of our Saviour, the corpse of a man, and a skull, and other objects of a profane nature, are made use of ? "A. The general statutes of Freemasonry do not ordain these things: if they are made use of, it must have arisen from a particular custom, or from the arbitrary regulations of the members of the body, who are commissioned to prepare for the receptions of candidates; for each lodge had particular customs and ceremonies. "Q. That is not the question; say if it is true that these ceremonies are observed in Masonic lodges. "A. Yes, or no, according to the requirements of those who are charged with the ceremonies of initiation. "Q. Were they observed when you were initiated? "A. No. "Q. What oath is necessary to take on being received a Freemason? "A. We swear to observe secrecy. "Q. On what? "A. On things which it may be inconvenient to publish. "Q. Is this oath accompanied by execrations? "A. Yes. "Q. What are they? "A. We consent to suffer all the evils which can afflict the body and soul if we violate, the oath. "Q. Of what importance is this oath, since it is believed that such formidable execrations may be used without indecency? "A. That of good order in the Society. "Q. What passes in these lodges which it might be inconvenient to publish? "A. Nothing, if it is looked upon without prejudice; but as people are generally mistaken in this matter, it is necessary to avoid giving cause for malicious interpretations; and this would take place if what passes when the brethren assemble was made public. "Q. Of what use is the crucifix, if the reception of a Freemason is not considered a religious act? "A. It is presented to penetrate the soul with the most profound respect at the moment that the novice takes the oath.  It is not used in every lodge and only when particular grades are conferred. "Q.  Why is the skull used? "A. "That the idea of death may inspire a horror of perjury. "Q. Of what use is the corpse? "A. To complete the allegory of Hiram, architect of the temple of Jerusalem; who, it is said, was assassinated by traitors, and to induce a greater detestation of assassination and every offence against our neighbours, to whom we ought to be as benevolent brothers. "Q. Is it true that the festival of St. John is celebrated in the lodges, and that Masons have chosen him for their patron? "A. Yes. "Q. What worship is rendered him in celebrating his festival? "A. None; that it may not be mingled with profane things.  This celebration is confined to a fraternal repast, after which a discourse is read, exhorting the guests to beneficence towards their fellow creatures, in honour of God, the Great Architect, Creator, and Preserver of the Universe. "Q. Is it true that the sun, moon, and stars are honoured in the lodges? "A. No. "Q. Is it true that their images or symbols are exposed? "A. Yes. "Q. Why are they used? "A. In order to elucidate the allegories of the great, continual, and true light which the lodges receive from the Great Architect of the world, and these representations belong to the brethren, and encourage them to be charitable. "Q. M. Tournon will observe that all the explanations he has given of the facts and ceremonies which take place in the lodges are false and different from those which he voluntarily communicated to other persons worthy of belief; he is, however, again invited by the respect he owes to God and the Holy Virgin to declare and confess the heresies of indifferentism, the errors of superstition which mingle holy and profane things, and the errors of idolatry which led him to worship the stars: this confession is necessary for the acquittal of his conscience and the good of his soul; because if he confesses with sorrow for having committed these crimes, detesting them and humbly soliciting pardon (before the fiscal accuses him of these heinous sins) the holy tribunal will be permitted to exercise towards him that compassion and mercy which it always displays to repentant sinners; and because he is judicially accused, he must be treated with all the severity prescribed against heretics by the holy canons, apostolic bulls and the laws of the kingdom. "A. I have declared the truth and if any witnesses have deposed to the contrary, they have mistaken the meaning of my words, for I have never spoken on this subject to any but the workmen in my manufactory, and then only in the same sense convey by my replies. "Q. Not content with being a Freemason, you have persuaded other persons to be received into the Order, and to embrace the heretical pursuits and pagan errors into which you have fallen. "A. It is true that I have requested these persons to become Freemasons, because I thought it would be useful to them if they travelled into foreign countries, where they might meet brethren of their Order who could assist them in any difficulty; but it is not true that I encouraged them to adopt any errors contrary to the Catholic faith, since no such errors are to found in Freemasonry, which does not concern any points of doctrine. "Q. It has been already proved that these are not chimerical; therefore let M. Tournon consider that he has been a dogmatizing heretic, and that it is necessary that he should acknowledge it with humility, and ask pardon and absolution for the censures which he has incurred; since if he persists in his obstinacy he will destroy both his body and soul; and as this is the first audience of monition he is advised to reflect on his condition, and prepare for the two other audiences which are granted by the compassion and mercy which the holy tribunal always feels for the accused."

 

 M. Tournon was taken back to the prison and persisted in giving the same answers in the two remaining audiences.  When brought before the court when the fiscal presented his act of accusation he confessed facts but explained them as he had done before. He refused to choose an advocate on the ground that Spanish lawyers were not acquainted with the Masonic lodges and were as much prejudiced against them the public.  He therefore thought it better to acknowledge that to was wrong and might have been deceived from being ignorant of particular doctrines; he demanded absolution and offered to perform any penance that might be imposed on him, adding that he hoped the punishment would be moderate on account of the good faith which he had shown and which he always preserved, seeing nothing but beneficence practised and recommended in the Masonic lodges without denying or combatting any article of the Roman Catholic faith.

 

He was condemned to be imprisoned for one year after which he was to be conducted under an escort the frontiers of France; he was banished from Spain forever, unless he obtained permission to return from the King or the Holy Office.  He also signed his abjuration with a promise never a again to attend the assemblies of the Freemasons. He went to France at the termination of his imprisonment and it does not appear that he ever returned to Spain.

 

In the same year that the foregoing occurred - 1757 - the Associate Synod of Scotland attempted to disturb the peace of the Fraternity.  Happily, these bigoted dissenters did not possess a fraction of the power of the Church of Rome, or of the Council of Berne, but their proceedings were prompted by a like fanaticism, and would have been marked with the same severity, but, fortunately for the Order, their power extended only to the spiritual concerns of those delinquents who were of the same sect as themselves.  At the beginning of 1745 a complaint was lodged before the Synod of Stirling stating that many improper things were performed at the initiation of Freemasons and requesting that the Synod would consider whether or not the members of that Order were entitled to partake of the ordinances of religion.  The Synod referred the matter to the Kirk Sessions under their inspection, allowing them to act as they thought proper.  In 1755, they ordered that every person who was suspected of being a Freemason should return an explicit answer to any question that might be asked concerning the Masonic oath.  In the course of these examinations the Kirk Sessions discovered (for they seem hitherto to have been ignorant of it) that men who were not architects were admitted into the Order.  On this account the Synod, in the year 1757, thought it necessary to adopt stricter measures.  They drew up a list of foolish questions, which they commanded every Kirk Session to put to those under their charge.  These questions related to what they thought were the ceremonies of Freemasonry and those who refused to answer them were debarred from religious ordinances.  The Act of the Associate Synod was in the following terms:

 

"Whereas the oath is one of the most solemn acts of religious worship, which ought to be taken only upon important and necessary occasions; and to be sworn in truth, in judgment and in righteousness, without any mixture of sinful, profane, or superstitious devices:

 

"And, whereas the Synod had laid before them, in their meeting at Stirling on the 17th March, 1745, an overture concerning the Mason oath, bearing that there were very strong presumptions that among Masons an oath of secrecy is administered to entrants into their Society, even under a capital penalty, and before any of these things which they swear to keep secret be revealed to them; and that they pretend to take some of these secrets from the Bible; beside other things which are ground on scruple, in the manner of swearing the said oath; and therefore overturning, that the Synod would consider the whole affair, and give directions with respect to the admission of persons engaged in that oath to sealing ordinances.

 

"And, whereas the Synod in their meeting at Stirling on the 26th September, 1745, remitted the overture concerning the Mason oath, to the several Sessions subordinate to them, for their proceeding therein, as far as they should find practicable, according to our received and known principles, and the plain rule of the Lord's word and sound reason.

 

"And, whereas the Synod at their meeting at Edinburgh on the 6th March, 1755, when the particular cause about the Mason oath was before them, did appoint all the Sessions under their inspection, to require all persons in their respective congregations, who are presumed or suspected to have been engaged in that oath, to make a plain acknowledgement, whether or not they have ever been so; and to require that such as they may find to have been engaged therein, should give ingenious answers to what further inquiry the Sessions may or cause to make, concerning the tenor and administration of the said oath; and that the Sessions should proceed to the purging of what scandal they may thus find these persons convicted of, according to the directions of the above-mentioned Act of Synod in September, 1745.

 

"And whereas the generality of the Sessions have, since the afore-mentioned periods, dealt with several persons under their inspection about the Mason oath; in course of which procedure, by the confessions made to them, they have found others, beside themselves of the Mason Craft, to be involved in that oath; and the Synod finding it proper and necessary to give more particular directions to the several Sessions, for having the heinous profanation of the Lord's name by that oath purged out of the congregations under their inspection. "Therefore the Synod did and hereby do appoint that the several Sessions subordinate to them, in dealing with penons about the Mason oath, shall particularly interrogate them - if they have taken that oath, and when and where they did so? If they have taken the said oath, or declared their approbation of it, oftener than once, upon being admitted to a higher degree in a Mason lodge? If that oath was not administered to them without letting them know the terms of it, till in the act of administering the same to them? If it was not an oath binding them to keep a number of secrets, none of which they were allowed to know before swearing the oath? If, beside a solemn invocation of the Lord's name to that oath, it did not contain a capital penalty of having their tongues and hearts taken out in case of breaking the same? If the said oath was not administered to them with several superstitious ceremonies: such as the stripping them of, or requiring them to deliver up, anything of metal which they had upon them - and making them kneel upon their right knee, bare, holding up their right arm bare, with their elbow upon the Bible, or with the Bible laid before them - or having the Bible, as also the square and compasses in some particular way applied to their bodies? And if, among the secrets which they were bound by oath to keep, there was not a passage of Scripture read to them, particularly I Kings vii, 21, with or without some explication put upon the same for being concealed?

 

"Moreover, the Synod appoint, that the several Sessions shall call before them all persons in their congregations who are of the Mason Craft and others whom they have a particular suspicion of as being involved in the Mason oath, except such as have been already dealt with, and have given satisfaction upon that head; and that, upon their answering the first of the foregoing questions in the affirmative, the Sessions shall proceed to put the other interrogatories before appointed; as, also, that of persons of the Mason Craft, applying for sealing ordinances, and likewise others concerning whom there may be any presumption of their having been involved in the Mason oath, shall be examined by the ministers if they have been so; and upon their acknowledging the same, or declining to answer whether or not, the ministers shall refer them to be dealt with by the Sessions, before admitting them to these ordinances; and that all such persons offering themselves to the Sessions for joining in covenanting work, shall be then examined by the Sessions as to their concern in the aforesaid oath.

 

"And the Synod further appoint, that when persons are found to be involved in the Mason oath, according to their confessions in giving plain and particular answers to the foregoing questions and professing their sorrow for the same; the said scandal shall be purged by a sessional rebuke and admonition - with a strict charge to abstain from all concern afterward in administering the said oath to any, or enticing into that snare, and from all practices of amusing people about the pretended mysteries of their signs and secrets.  But that persons who shall refuse or shift to give plain and particular answers to the foregoing questions, shall be referred under scandal incapable of admission to sealing ordinances, till they answer and give satisfaction, as before appointed.

 

"And the Synod refer to the several Sessions to proceed unto higher censure as they shall see cause, in the case of persons whom they may find involved in the said oath with special aggravation, as taking or relapsing into the same, in opposition to warnings against doing so.

 

"And the Synod appoint that each of the Sessions under their inspection shall have an extract of this Act, to be inserted in their books, for executing the same accordingly:'

 

In Roman Catholic countries, in particular, the persecution of Freemasons continued with unabated vigour.  In Portugal brethren were exposed to the penalties ordained by its bigoted rulers.  In 1766 Major Francois d'Alincourt, a Frenchman, and Don Oyres de Ponellas Pracao, a Portuguese nobleman, were imprisoned by the governor of Madeira solely because of their membership of the Order. They were conveyed to Lisbon where they were confined in a fortress for fourteen months until they were released by the generous and persistent efforts of other members of the Craft.

 

Towards the end of 1770 the governor of the Isle of Madeira, Jean Antoine de Sa Pereira, persecuted several Freemasons, his action being said at the time to be for vengeance.  His despatches to the Marquis de Pombal, some of which are now in the keeping of the Bibliotheque Nationale, are couched in bombastic and splenetic language, as may be seen from the following specimen:

 

"In discharge of my duty and as a faithful subject, I am compelled to describe to you the horrible scheme of the most monstrous crimes concocted by the most diabolical of sects and the most barbarous suggestions, such as in this enlightened age have never been placed before the pious eyes of His Majesty.  I call this sect diabolical, because under the title of Freemasons they open their arms to embrace all the nations of the world. They obey one visible head who bears the specious title of 'Very Worshipful,' who is said to have been elected to this position in Scotland, of which nation he is a subject."

 

On 27th November, 1770, the enraged Governor Funchal informed the Marquis de Pombal of the discovery of a group of Freemasons, which he proved to him by forwarding the documents seized, among which were some Masonic catechisms.  He added that these impious people followed the anathematized maxims posed by Father Joseph Torrubia in his book Sentinelle contre les Francs-Macons, a copy of which he also sent. Aires de Ornellas Frazao, head of the Funchal custom house, and a very large number of Freemasons in the island were the first to be arrested.  When interrogated, Frazao observed a strict silence, but in a letter to the magistrate, he indulged in threats and endeavoured to outwit him with subterfuges.  However, his wife, when she was questioned, declared than an engineer, Sergeant-major Francis d'Alincourt and Barthelemy Andrieux, both Frenchmen, were also members of Craft.  They were at once arrested.  She then gave the names of other persons whom she believed also be associated with the Order, among whom were Julien Fernandez da Silva, a physician; Eumolpo Stanislas; and Joachim Antoine Pedroso, who, in a letter sent London addressed to Barthelemy Andrieux had referred to "the memory of our good brothers." Frazao and d'Alincourt were sent to Lisbon but Andrieux asked to be interregated again, when he avowed heresy, and having told the Governor all he wished to know, was released.  This man had previously been denounced to the Inquisition as a libertine, because he had set the soldiers the bad example of eating meat on the fast days prescribed by the Church, not attending Mass, and belonging to the Freemasons.

 

On St. Januarius' Day in 1776 the blood of saint is said to have refused to liquefy in the customary manner and the agents of Tanucci, an unscrupulous and inveterate enemy of the Craft, attributed this to the machinations of the Freemasons and a persecution immediately followed.  But Ferdinand's queen Caroline, who is said to have "loved Masons well," interposed and in consequence of her advocacy the edict was revoked and Tanucci dismissed from office.

 

The original Lodge of John of Scotland founded France in 1778 on a warrant and constitution from the Grand Orient of Paris had as its first Master the Abbe Bartolio, while among its members were the Abbe Robinson, the Abbe Durand, Prior of Entraigne Dom Chabriet, a Benedictine of the Monastery of Cluny.

 

Aix-la-Chapelle was the scene of a severe persecution of Freemasons in 1779. A Dominican monk named Ludwig Greinemann, a lecturer in theology, endeavoured to prove, in a course of Lenten sermons, that the Jews whom he held to be responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus, were members of the Masonic Order; that Pilate and Herod were the Wardens of a Masonic lodge; that Judas before he betrayed his Master was initiated in a lodge held in a synagogue; and that when he returned the thirty pieces of silver he did no more than pay his fees for initiation into the Order.  A commotion was raised immediately among the people by these discourses, and the magistrates of the city immediately issued a decree which provided that "if any one shall offer a refuge in his house to Freemasons, or allow them to assemble there, he shall be punished for the first offence with a fine of one hundred florins; for the second offence, two hundred florins; and for the third offence, with perpetual banishment from the city and its territories."

 

Meanwhile, however, the Craft continued to grow.  In 1787 a lodge was again established in Rome, but the members were surprised by the officers of the Inquisition on 27th December, 1789, but the brethren succeeded in making their escape though the property and archives were seized.  On the same day the Inquisition captured that arch-charlatan, Cagliostro, whose evil repute had acted very prejudicially upon Freemasonry.  The lodges in Lombardy issued a manifesto - which was laid before the College of Cardinals - disclaiming all connection with him and defending the Craft from the charges brought against it by the Papacy.

 

(To be continued)

 

THE FINALITY OF MASONRY

 

BY BRO. LOUIS BLOCK, P.G.M., IOWA

 

SOME YEARS ago a great thinker and teacher, one George Burman Foster, now of sainted memory, wrote an epoch-making book which he called "The Finality of the Christian Religion." By this he did not mean the end of the Christian Religion in the sense of its coming to a termination, but what he did mean was an effort to set forth the true meaning and purpose of this great religion in its last and final analysis.

 

In writing this book this brave preacher performed a great service for Christianity, for he rescued it from being smothered to death by the caking and crystallizing process with which the creed-mongers were trying to encase it.  This he did by showing that real Christianity - the Christianity that Christ taught - was no mere matter of fixed formulae, of rigid legalism, of hard and fast creeds.  That on the contrary it was a natural religion, taught by reason and inspired by nature, which is after all but the visible garment of God.  It found its voice in the song of the birds and the brooks, in the murmur of the breeze and the majestic roll of the thunder.  It was a thing which, as Emerson put it, was in tune "with the blowing clover and the falling rain." It was a living, breathing force, one that could no more be confined within a creed, than a rose could be kept from bursting from its bud.  Christ cared naught for creeds but He was careful to "consider the lilies how they grow." He knew that forms and ceremonies, creeds and churches, towers and temples are not themselves religion, but the mere trappings of it - mere modes of expression by means of which human souls have striven since time began to make confession of the presence of God in the heart of men.

 

Forms fade and die away, creeds change and disappear, churches crumble to dust, but the Spirit abides, for it is not they.

 

Today a great and far-reaching cry responds from the Craft, calling for a leader who shall perform fro Masonry the same great service that Prof.  Foster rendered his religion.

 

For we face two things that are fraught with menace for our institution.

 

 One of these is a growing superstition that worships the ritual like an idol - that tends to look upon it as a thing and an end, in and of itself.

 

Another is a woeful failure of many so-called Masons to get any sort of real idea about the great lessons the ritual strives to teach, and a consequent wretched failure to make its meaning, manifest either in the life of the individual Mason or of the nation in which he lives.

 

Why is it so many Masons continue to think that Masonry was not only brought into being, but continues to exist, for the sake of the ritual and for that alone? All they seem to talk about, or think about, or care about is "getting the work." In their effort to become perfect in the letter of the ritual they would fain memorize the punctuation marks if that were possible.  Among them that man is the best Mason who comes nearest a phonograph in the perfection of his word memory.  All too few of them make much, if any, effort to understand the spirit of the ritual or to let that spirit have its perfect work in their thoughts and lives.  Ask one of these what a certain part or phrase of the ritual means, and he is not only at a loss to know, but even wonders what is the matter with you, that you should think it really had a meaning, or that he ought to know that meaning.  He has accurately committed his lines, repeated them without a mistake, and for him that's enough.  And it he can say them with fewer errors than you can, he thinks himself a better Mason than you are - despite the fact that he has little or no idea what those words mean.

 

Is Masonry an institution that exists for the sole purpose of putting a premium upon the mere ability to memorize?

 

Let us see.

 

From time immemorial we have been taught that the design of the Masonic institution is to make its votaries wiser and better and consequently happier, that we are to receive none knowingly into our ranks except such  as are moral and upright before God and of good repute before the world, because such men when associated together will naturally seek each other's welfare and happiness equally with their own. In order that they may  do so upon a common platform and become not weary in well doing we obligate them by certain solemn and irrevocable ties that serve to bind them together in this great and glorious work.

 

 Now it must be perfectly clear to any one who will give it a moment's  thought that the mere ability to commit words never made a man wiser and better, nor himself or his neighbours any happier. But that it is only when he comes to grasp the noble meaning that those words teach and makes that meaning to live in his daily life, that any real good gets done.

 

What a wonderful world this would be - what a heaven - life we would have on earth - if every Mason would try half as hard to know the meaning, and to live it, as he does to get the words of the ritual.

 

We are painfully careful about a new brother's committing the words - we  force him to learn them - won't be decent to him till he does - but once he's  got them, we let him go hang as far as their meaning goes. As far as the words went he was subjected to forced feeding, but when it comes to getting the meaning, he must forage for himself. Having ground the words into him we let him grope for the rest. Naturally he thinks his betters know  what they are about, and noting where they put the emphasis, he gets the words and - quits. Or if he goes on doing anything it is simply to help some other brother to get the words, words, words. In lodges where this sort of thing prevails real live men soon lose their interest and stay away, for there  is much better food for hungry souls to be found elsewhere. That is the thing that causes so many lodges to die of dry rot.

 

For there is something in the very  nature of formalism that tends to fossilization. The charm of novelty is a thing that cannot last, and endless repetition soon wreaks ruin unless there is repeatedly brought to the mind of the Mason a re-vivifying realization that there lies hidden within the ritual great thoughts and meanings to come to know which means comfort in hours of care, an inspiration that rescues life from becoming a dreary mill-round of fate, and reveals a path of individual service, to follow which is to sweeten and sanctify the whole life of the humblest mortal on earth.

 

But unless the Mason comes to see these things, unless he gets the vision, unless the spirit that lies within the letter be eternally made manifest, the ritual becomes like a system of electric light wires from which the current is cut off, so that even while crying for light, we grope in darkness, and Masonry fails in her function.

 

Of what avails our elaborate system of "types, emblems, and allegorical figures" if these have become as "sounding brass and tinkling cymbal" that strike upon deaf ears and stir no life in our sodden souls?

 

Oh, yes, I know - we are busily engaged in caring for our distressed, housing their bodies, clothing their nakedness, and filling their bellies, nevertheless, and despite all that, and until we go one step further, and systematically feed their starved souls, our own included, Masonry will continue to fail in her function.

 

There is a great hunger in the souls of men today - a lack and a want that neither food, clothes, or shelter can fill. If Masonry is to save herself it must be by trying to satisfy this want. To succeed it must be done systematically. Haphazard work always has, and always will, fail. The only salvation that really saves is systematic salvation. The only way to rescue and revive the ritual and restore it to the brethren is by a systematic scheme for educating them in the things for which it stands. Masons must be made to know that the ritual is no mere magic sing-song of empty words, but is the stern story of the struggle and travail of a human soul striving to attain light - that "Light that never was on land or sea."

 

One who has just come fresh from reading the thoughts of the leaders of the Masonic world will find a wonderful accord among them concerning the thing they think the ritual is meant to teach - things that make for nobler human life, in the home, on the street abroad in the nation, and round about the globe. It is like a mighty chorus singing, in unison -

 

"Hark to their voices, they utter one Name  One Lord, one Hope, one Brotherhood proclaim!"

 

It is these things which when taught systematically that have in them the power to save. And it can be systematically done, is even now being so done. You will be surprised to learn how hungry the Masons are to go to school - all they want is a chance.

 

Give them a course of study and broad-mind deep-thinking, forward-looking men - men with soul aflame with their faith in human brotherhood, to teach them, and you simply cannot drive them away from the Masonic study class.

 

In my own town, with my own eyes I have seen it. Have seen a Masonic college professor lecture night after night to an audience of three hundred brethren - men from all the walks of life - "the butcher, the baker and the candle-stick maker" - they were all there, they simply ate up that "high-brow stuff" and called for more. Sat for over an hour, hearing him talk about such a thing as the "Psychology of Architecture" forsooth! And the discussion and live debate that followed, the interest and enthusiasm that were show and the new friends that were made - friends of mind, heart, and soul! Why it would make you think Brother Kipling's "Mother lodge out there"! And out of it all there has grown a great revival of Masonry throughout the community. Interest in the ritual has revived, for now the brethren are coming to know what it is all about. Even the "phonograph" Mason has profited - has ceased being a mere mechanical  mouth piece and has become a living voice of the spirit.

 

The last lecture dealt with the subject of the Mason's civic and patriotic duty, and an audience of over a thousand Blue Lodge Masons were stirred to enthusiasm as never before. The spirit which ruled our brethren of the "Boston Tea Party" is now making itself felt in the civic life of our community, in a cleaner, a better, a truer, and a nobler life.

 

Finally, my brethren, let us render honour where honour is due. Be it known that the success we are achieving is due in larger measure to the real service we have received at the hands of the Masonic Service Association. Its plain and practical programs, its clear and carefully prepared courses of study, its helpful literature, and its prompt response to our every need have been for us a source of great inspiration and have set our feet in the path that has led us to doing sums thing really worth while.

 

Its service is free for the asking and lodges everywhere, both within and without Iowa, could do themselves no greater kindness than to avail themselves of it.

 

Here in Iowa its work is well seconded and furthered by the enthusiastic support of the Masonic Research Committee of the Grand Lodge, whose Speaker's Bureau has provided speakers and lecturers, who have put vim and snap, and fire and punch into the promulgations of this Great Work.

 

More power to the movement!

 

 

CO-MASONRY

 

BY BRO. JOSEPH H. FUSSELL, CALIFORNIA

 

The Headquarters of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society at San Diego, is one of the show-places of Southern California, so beautiful is it for situation, so striking in its arrangements, so manifold in its interest.  The educational experiments being carried on there have attracted a more than curious interest from educators.  As for the doctrines of Theosophy they are known everywhere.  Many of the men in residence at the Headquarters, and also a number of those holding official or teaching positions, are active and interested Freemasons, who find in the Fraternity much of the spirit of universality and toleration, and some of the tenets, which comprise the body of doctrines that they hold.  Among these is the Secretary, of the Society, Brother Fussell, whom it is a pleasure to introduce to our readers.

 

The following article is written in response to a letter received from Brother Robert I. Clegg, 33 degree, Editor-in-Chief of the Masonic History Company, Chicago, Illinois, through whom I learned of an Esperanto Masonic Convention held last year at The Hague, with the object of bringing about a closer relationship among Freemasons all over the world.  At the Convention a Committee of Freemasons was appointed from various countries.  It was felt best that the President and Secretary of the Committee should be residents of some neutral country.  Accordingly the new President is from Holland.  The new Secretary is from Antwerp, concerning whom Brother Clegg writes, "much to my sorrow I note that he represents a lodge of Co-Masons.  I have just written to the Chairman to tell him frankly that this will be a very serious handicap to English, as well as American, Freemasons.  So far as I am concerned I fail to see how I can possibly have any Masonic correspondence with any individual having such connections.  Nevertheless it may be that when they find out how unfortunate is this step they will do something to correct it."

 

Brother Clegg, knowing that I had given some attention to so-called "Co-Masonry," asked if I had any information that I could give.  I was happy to respond to his request, and in addition it has occurred to me to write the following, which I now offer for the consideration of the brethren.

 

 

The Author.

 

FOREWORD

 

THE SUBJECT of "Co-Masonry," so far as I know, has been treated hitherto mainly, if not entirely, from its outer aspect, on the supposition that the exclusion of women from Freemasonry is merely a matter of tradition and of rules and regulations and outer ceremonial; in other words, that it is a matter of form and not basic - superficial and not fundamental.

 

While it will generally be conceded that some women who advocate "Co-Masonry" may be actuated by a desire to learn something of the deeper spiritual teachings of Freemasonry which, apparently, they are convinced it possesses, others - those who are most insistent in their efforts to enter its portals - appear to regard their exclusion as an expression of man's selfishness, or as a (supposed) weapon by which he seeks to maintain a (fancied) supremacy over the so-called weaker sex; and on these grounds they are determined to assert their rights and break down this exclusion.  Others perhaps are actuated by other, more hidden, motives -of ambition, or - what?

 

To those of the first class who, it is assumed, are sincerely seeking for light, I hold that something more is due than merely to say that Freemasonry is a Fraternity for men only; and if there is a deeper and basic reason for excluding women from Freemasonry which may properly be made known, surely they are entitled to know it.  That such a reason exists, I hold, and the position taken in the following discussion is that women are excluded from Freemasonry for fundamental - not formal or fictitious - reasons, and that because woman is not and can never become man, so she can never become a Freemason.

 

"I believe in the equality of the sexes; but I hold that man has a mission and that woman has also a mission, and that these missions are not the same.  If woman is to understand the duties of real wifehood and motherhood, and to reach the dignity of ideal womanhood, she must cultivate her femininity.  She was born a woman and she must BE a woman, in the truest sense; and the contrasts between man and woman exist in life. . . . these contrasts hold within themselves, in the very undercurrent of human life, a superb and glorious harmony. Woman in her true place, her position, hand in hand with man in his true place, would bring about such a new order of things that we can hardly speak of, much less realize, the resulting possibilities." (1)

 

"I hold that man has a mission, and that woman has also a mission and that these missions are not the same." "Woman in her true place, hand in hand with man in his true place."

 

These are the words of one of the foremost thinkers and educators of the day, Katherine Tingley, Leader of the Theosophical Movement - successor in that office of H. P. Blavatsky and W. Q. Judge.  I have chosen them to introduce the subject because, first, they are from a woman; and, second, they are in entire harmony with the spirit as well as the letter and practice of Freemasonry, as I understand these.  Whatever be the ultimate origin of Freemasonry, whether to be searched for in remotest antiquity as some claim, and as I believe, or in comparatively recent times, there is no question as to modern Freemasonry and its practice - that it is an organization for men only, with the object (among others) of teaching and fitting the neophyte for his mission and true place in life as a man.

 

It is true that the great moral principles of Freemasonry are universal, applicable to all life, to the life of woman as well as to that of man, and equally so, being basic.  There is no secret made as to the moral teachings of Freemasonry; they are published openly and are for all who care to inquire into and study them.  The secrets of Freemasonry do not consist in these.

 

In what do these secrets consist? Many different answers have been made to this question, and I venture to make one more, and to say that the secrets of Freemasonry are such as pertain to the full knowledge of man's nature and his mission as man -  knowledge more complete than, generally speaking, is to be found outside the ranks of Freemasons, and which is had in varying degrees even within its ranks.  In this connection it must be confessed that not all Freemasons comprehend, or even apprehend the nature of, the secrets of Freemasonry, which can only become known and be understood by the individual Freemason as and to the degree that, through - his own efforts, he becomes worthy and well qualified, duly and truly prepared.  Such qualification and preparation are not outer but inner, and must be the work of himself alone, the fruit of his own efforts.

 

The real secrets of Freemasonry do not have reference to physiological so much as to psychological differences which exist fundamentally between men and women - distinctions of inner qualities which may be summed up and regarded as the foundation of true manliness in contrast to true womanliness.  The one is not and never can be the other; they are fundamentally different, being aspects of the root-differentiation of all nature, all manifestation and existence, and yet when rightly developed they are in complete harmony.  It is to be noted that harmony does not result from identity or sameness but is a certain relation existing between two dissimilars; and on the development and character of those dissimilars will depend the nature of the resultant harmony.

 

The purpose of Freemasonry then, as I understand it, is to fit man as man to fulfil his duties in life and to make possible his contributing his due share to that harmony on which alone not only a true home but the true state and civilization itself can be established and maintained, for the foundation of the state and of civilization is the home.

 

Why is it, then, that certain women seek to invade the Masonic Fraternity? (1) Is it out of mere curiosity? (2) Are they jealous because for centuries men have met in their Masonic lodges from which women are excluded, and have faithfully kept the secrets of Freemasonry from women; or (3) Do they imagine that in Freemasonry there is certain knowledge which they are entitled to have and which men have been withholding from them?

 

Is any one of these possible reasons worthy of true womanhood? Certainly not (1) or (2); but what of (3)? Is there certain knowledge in Freemasonry to which women are entitled?

 

The principles and ethics of Freemasonry, as already stated, are not secret; they have been again and again publicly proclaimed.  If women feel themselves entitled to such knowledge it is for them to take it and apply it to their own lives as women, just as Freemasons are taught to apply it to their lives as men.  There is nothing to prevent women from doing this, but such application must be made by themselves; for certainly and rightly, I take it, they would object to any line of application which men might lay down and insist upon for them.  Hence what need for women seeking admission to Freemasonry to obtain such knowledge when it is open to them?

 

Clearly, therefore, it cannot be the principles of Freemasonry that they are seeking, and yet these are at the very heart of Freemasonry and are the essential factors which make Freemasonry such a power.  What is it, then, that women seek in their effort to invade Freemasonry? Is it to participate in its ritual, to learn its obligations and, doubtless, other secrets which they are convinced must exist? But though a woman should participate in the ritual of Freemasonry and its obligations, she would be just as far as ever from being a Freemason, for it has secrets which a woman can never know.  Leaving aside, therefore, mere curiosity and jealousy, I am convinced that the desire of any good woman to enter the ranks of Freemasonry arises from a misunderstanding; and it is my endeavour, in writing this, to remove that misunderstanding.

 

The true womanly attitude, in my estimation, is that expressed by Katherine Tingley in a statement which she made on "Co-Masonry," published in "The New Age Magazine.,," June, 1914, from which I quote:

 

"I cannot understand how any true woman would wish to intrude into an order held to be exclusively for men.  There are lines of work which I hold are exclusively in the province of men, just as there are lines of work which are exclusively in the province of women.  I hold that woman can only wield her full share of influence in the world from a knowledge gained by using and fulfilling her opportunities as a woman and in her own sphere.  I consider that she steps away from her true position and greatly lessens her influence by seeking to invade the sphere of man. Why should women be disturbed that men have an organization which is exclusively for men?

 

"What is needed today by both men and women is a greater respect, first for themselves, in their true natures as men and women, and following that a greater respect each for the other - of women for men and of men for women. Such respect implies no invasion of one another's sphere, but the very contrary, and in fact can only suffer terribly from such invasion.

 

"If it were possible to conceive of the secrets of Masonry being given to a woman, from my understanding of the matter it could be only through some one unfaithful to his vows as a Mason, and no true or self-respecting woman would think of availing herself of such information; nor could it, by the nature of things, be held to be reliable, for he who is unfaithful in one thing will be unfaithful in others, and I prophesy that this attempt of certain women to seek admission where they do not belong can result only in confusion, disaster, and serious embarrassment for all such women."

 

Relativity and contrast are to be found throughout manifested life; they are the sine qua non of manifested existence and of all Progress.  It is relativity, contrast and, if these are rightly balanced, the subsequent harmony, between man and woman that make not only for the happiness of home but for true civilization. The Delphic Oracle "Man, know thyself," must be, to a degree at least, fulfilled, and equally "Woman, know thyself," if that harmony is to be attained.  If there is an invasion, or attempted invasion, of the rightful sphere of man by woman, or vice versa, the result can only be - not harmony but - confusion.

 

One of the greatest stabilizing forces of the present day, as it has been in the past, is Freemasonry.  It is, in the best sense, conservative, in that it is founded upon and teaches the highest ethics, the loftiest ideals, and fairest virtues, taught and practised by the noblest in all ages.  It is progressive in that while holding to, the highest traditions of the past, it relates those traditions to the present welfare of humanity, and by seeking to develop the highest qualities of true manhood it works for the spiritual upbuilding of the race.

 

The tacit assumption of "Co-Masonry" is that the woman nature is not different from but identical with the man nature and that therefore woman should have and be whatever man has and is.  But woman can never be man, nor can she ever have what man has in the same way that he has it.  Even the woman mind is different from the man mind.  As said above, it is a psychological difference, of which the physiological is merely an outer aspect.  In the normal man reason governs, in the woman intuition.  This does not mean that woman has no power of reason, or man no faculty of intuition, but in man the relation between reason and intuition is different from the relation between these in woman.

 

In the earliest years of life there is apparently no marked difference between boys and girls, and very naturally and properly they may be educated together.  But to develop the best in their natures as they pass through the period of youth and enter upon that of manhood and womanhood, while certainly they should not be deprived of mutual association, yet boys and girls should receive distinctive and separate training; and a part of their lives should be kept sacred to themselves throughout life if their finer distinctive traits are to be preserved.