The Builder Magazine

June 1927 - Volume XIII - Number 6

 

The Most High of the Craft

By BRO. JOHN W. HOUSE, Canada

ONE of the most promising signs of life within the Craft is the deepening interest of the brethren in the basic principles of the Order. Like wise architects who plan their superstructures in direct relation to the strength of their foundations, Masons are estimating the value of the fundamental truths upon which their moral edifice is to be built. Quite naturally, some of the vital truths in our foundation are easy to estimate, others are obscure and covered with such huge growths of fungus that they almost defy estimation to any but the expert. The outstanding example of this latter class is the knowledge of the Most High which stands at the corner.

 

That this stone exists is, to a Mason, beyond doubt; but the nature of it is a matter of much speculation. The fungus is so thick that nothing short of indefatigable exertion will suffice to lay the stone bare. Indeed, most men are so occupied with the philosophies of the ages under the name of Religion, and modern popular vagaries, that they are unable to tell the difference between stone and fungus. Of those who see the stone, few look at it from all angles before passing an opinion with decision and finality. Still fewer, in our age of presumption, born of a popular elementary education, will accept the help of ancient Past Masters in their estimation of its strength and stability. We Masons, by virtue of our initiation, take our stand with this latter group, and look to our Alma Mater for nourishment with the celestial Ambrosia prepared by the great minds of the past.

 

The genius of symbolic teaching lies in the effort required to arrive at the truth, and in this respect Masonry is unexcelled. One has literally to ascend the winding stair in order to enter the sacred shrine of her deepest mysteries. The search for a correct estimate of her Most High attains fruition only after much wandering along the path of research, but we will take to the path.

 

At the very outset, we are hampered in our search by an ancient charge which forbids every topic of religious or political discussion. On analysis, this soon disappears. Religion, in the eighteenth century, was by no means the comprehensive term it is today. It denoted then, what the word really means, a system which binds men to a definite course of thought and action. It was applied to what we now term denominationalism, and as such, I think, the compilers of our ritual included it in this charge. In that they showed their wisdom. Taken in the technical sense of the word, Speculative Masonry and religion are synonymous terms, for both denote a system of teaching which binds men to a definite course of action. If religion means, what most men think it means, viz., anything pertaining to God, then by our own regulation Masonry is an absurdity. Eliminate a conception of a Creator who is the embodiment of life, and who takes, or gives to man as he will, and we cannot explain our Sublime Degree. How foolish to solemnly declare that the Spirit returns to God who gave it, if the mystery of death has not given us a definite conception of God who is able to give ! Evidently then, the regulation concerning religious discussion cannot have reference to all discussion concerning religious things, but rather forbids that theology which causes dissension among religious bodies.

 

TRUTH, WHAT IS IT?

 

In order to understand nature one has need of both a microscope and a telescope. With the former he sees the minute wonders of the world, and with the latter he views the glory of the heavens. The use of one instrument alone reveals only part of the Universe. So it with Masonry. Continual study of the history of the Order tends to obscure the modern interpretation of our symbols, and on the other hand, the continual necessity of learning and explaining our ritual dwarfs the comprehension of the great truths of our system. We must endeavor to use both instruments.

 

As we survey the vista of the ages, and linger awhile at each bright vision of our ancestry, or as we penetrate the mysterious secrets of our modern Craft, we become convinced that a common factor permeates all. The unsung Watcher of the Nile and the historic High Priest of Amen, the Cathedral Craftsman and our modern Master Mason, are all alike banded together by a bond of brotherhood in the quest of something they call Truth. The significance and peculiarity of this word demands our attention for a while.

 

From the beginning of time philosophers have used the content of this word Truth as a mental football, and have invariably ended by kicking it into the metaphysical realm and losing it there. The Mysteries, however, clothe its ethic with a body and make it denote the Creator, in whom is embodied the Ideal of manhood and nature. As their God was, so was Truth, and in order to find the real standard of verity and life they concentrated all their energies in finding God. They succeeded in finding the moral nature of the Divine, and appropriated it; but they were baffled in their endeavor to lay hold of the very principle of life which was, and is, so sorely needed. Tradition informs us that they once had even this in their possession, but it was lost. They have spared nothing in their endeavor to regain this secret, lives have been wholly given to its pursuit in every age, corporate endeavor has been centralized in one grand effort to pierce the firmament and wrest the secret from the Creator Himself, but the Tower of Babel fell, and the principle of life is still a mystery.

 

The Omniferous, the All-producing Word has ever been the symbol of this Secret, and of necessity we find it looming large in all the Mysteries. The pathetic story of Isis lamenting her inability to find the generative organs of her lord Osiris, or the driving of Adam from the garden in Eden lest he should eat of the Tree of Life, dramatically portray ancient conviction with regard to this. The Hebrew Scriptures, nurtured at the bosom of Egyptian learning, continually use the term Word to denote the source of life and wisdom. The idea underlies that well-known phrase "God said, 'Let there be light,' and light was." The Omniferous Word came into operation and light immediately was. At the beginning of the Christian era this idea still prevailed, and we find St. John describing Jesus, who to him was the "resurrection and the life," as the Logos or the Word made flesh.

 

THE FUNCTION OF THE IDEAL

 

To the Ancients, this search for the Ideal in their God was vitally important to their system of morality. To them, morality was not an entity per se, but rather the natural result of a definite cause. They believed that as men contemplated the Ideal, it became part of their being, and tended to change them into a likeness of itself. It may be noticed here, that contemplation is a dynamic with regard to morality. This idea underlies all moral teaching in the Volume of the Sacred Law. A vision of God precedes every commission to work, King Solomon places "the fear of the Lord" at the foundation of Wisdom, the preacher in Ecclesiastes says, "Wisdom," which he describes as the knowledge of the Lord, "maketh the face to shine." St. Paul, the philosopher of the Christian dispensation, conveys this same idea when he says, "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from Glory to Glory." The Temple symbolism, at its beginning, pointed nowhere to morality, but directed the mind to the glory of God and so enjoined moral action.

 

Turning now to the Craft as it is today, we find a system which can be definitely traced in its present form to about the year 1717. Whether that date is correct or not, does not matter for our purpose, neither is the question of its origin of any great importance. It is sufficient to acknowledge that our brethren who gave us our system, gave it in such a way as to most adequately reflect the clear light of Masonry. We today accept their gift, and proudly declare it to be the genuine article. Our landmarks are the test of genuine Masonry the world over, and therefore a close study of the actual tenets of the system, as we have it, will reveal what our brethren of 1717 considered the fundamental faith of the Craft wherever found.

 

MORALITY IN FREEMASONRY

 

When we look into our system, it is easy to see that our brethren considered that Masonry still embraced the ancient ethic of morality. All our work leads us to the feet of the Most High who is the embodiment of verity and life, and our morality is the outcome of contemplating His nature. Nowhere is morality enjoined until the candidate is supposed to have found that very quality in the being of the Creator. Unfortunately, we moderns have become accustomed to demand so little of a candidate that it is quite possible for a man to go through all the degrees without really advancing one step in the actual science of the Craft, and in consequence of this the average Mason gets things a little out of proportion. Morality is gradually usurping the seat of the Most High in the Center, and in doing so saps its own life blood. Masonry, however, taking for granted a man's knowledge of nature and science, and only enunciating the results of such knowledge, puts the root of human morality in the nature of the Most High, and its dynamic in contemplation. A glance at our Ritual will make this evident.

 

At initiation a candidate is simply examined, bonded and prepared for his education in the mysteries. At the commencement of light, he is directed to that which is the written revelation of thy Divine nature, after surveying which he dons his working attire, takes the appropriate tools and commences labor. He penetrates the secrets of nature and science and discovers God at the center of all and ruling in justice and equity. After this revelation, he finds that he is needing the plumb and level to form his true square of morality. As a perfect Craftsman, he enters the confines of death, emerging with a holy confidence that the nature of the Most High is such that when time and circumstance permit he will restore to man the principle of life. This inspires the completion of his circle of morality in readiness for that day. Everywhere we find morality the consequence and reflection of the Divine Nature.

 

Now the knowledge of this relationship between morality and the Divinity supplies us with the key with which we can enter the secret recesses of the Divine Nature. Since morality is a reflection of the Most High, it necessarily follows that the God of Masonry can be correctly estimated by a study of the consequent moral system. This holds good in a study of every faith in the world, and a comparative study from sources, not opinions, leads to some startling conclusions. We declare our faith to be "Universal," and, popularly, that resolves itself into a belief that a Mason can accept any god as his God. But is this true? Can a Mason, for instance, accept a divinity whose consequent moral system enjoins cruelty and hate, and yet hold true to universal brotherly love? If the morality of such faiths as Buddhism, Confucianism, and so on, cannot be included in ours without contradiction, the gods from which it emanates cannot be the same as our Most High. Again any Volume of Sacred Law which contains moral directions in contradiction to our system cannot find a place on our Altar. Because our brethren of 1813 called the Bible by the vague name of Sacred Law does not do away with the fact that that volume must contain our morality. If anything in it contradicts our system, it ceases to be, for us, the "unerring standard of truth and justice."

 

Unless Masonry is a super-religion, infinitely transcending all religious beliefs of the world, which implies a special super-revelation of the Divine Ideal, our system must come from one or all of the existing systems of the world. If it is universal, it should be able to penetrate, without contradiction, all the Faiths of mankind, but it cannot do this.

 

ETHICAL DEFICIENCIES IN VARIOUS RELIGIONS

 

In truth, a part of our moral code is common to all religions and by the addition of a little local color a much larger portion could be so synchronized. Elastic conceptions like justice and uprightness are pillars of every great faith, but when the content of these words is properly understood, one realizes that they are not always used in the same sense. For instance, Justice looms large in the Greek Mysteries, as it does in our Masonic system, but when one hears Plato describe this virtue as "doing good to friends, and evil to enemies," one must admit that it is not Masonic justice that the Greeks embrace. Other moral precepts taught by Masonry not only will not fit all religions, but actually contradict them. Our concept of chastity, or temperance, would ruin the licentious orgies under the amiable patronage of Isis, Venus, or Bacchus. Mercy, with which we are commanded to reprehend, gives the lie to the venerable Confucius who, in spite of exhorting his followers to "apply the rule of the square to their actions," commands ruthless vengeance. "A man," he says, "should not live under the same heaven with one who had done him deadly wrong." Our positive uprightness is the direct antithesis of Hindu negative virtue, so is our universal benevolence to Moslem fanatical cruelty. Charity denies the selfishness which pervades modern materialism and pantheism. The greatest pillar of Masonic morality, viz., universal brotherhood, irrespective of "creed, rank or fortune," cannot fit into any religion but Christianity, without doing violence to it. It is sometimes believed that this was a belief of the ancient mysteries, but that is not true. The level simply represented inanimate earth, and not living men. It did not even symbolize the common lot of man in death. Christ alone, of all the founders of religions, revealed the level of mankind as we understand it. Adherents of other faiths, under the influence of modern education and communication, are unconsciously allowing its inclusion in their faith, but in doing so they do violence to their own system.

 

MASONIC MORALITY DERIVED FROM CHRISTIANITY

 

Without any doubt, our morality is Christian, and is only universal in the sense of our belief that it could be universal. That does not mean that it repudiates all other faiths, but on the contrary, it takes all that is good and great from every faith even as Christ did, and infinitely transcends them with Love. Then if we would know the complete nature of our Most High we should search the mind of Jesus of the Gospels.

 

It is very clear that our brethren of 1717 were not at all in doubt about the particular God whom Masons adore. They show this in four ways, first, by accepting, or inventing, the drama of King Solomon's Temple, secondly, by the specific signs they use for the Most High, thirdly, by the expression of their prayers, and lastly, by the acceptance of a system of morality which will only conform to the former ideas.

 

The Ancient Mysteries provide many dramatical representations of the search for truth. Most of them are much more vivid and awe-inspiring than ours, and yet our brethren chose an obscure tradition of the Jewish Temple. Evidently they considered that by so doing they were taking the system that most adequately fitted their conception of Truth. At the center of everything, the point from which a Master Mason cannot err, is placed a symbol of the divine name. This is not the sign for Buddha, Ra, Osiris, Jupiter, or a universal principle, but the technically correct symbol for the Jehovah of the Jews. The Yod or the Divine Tetragrammaton was used to denote the complete nature of Jehovah as distinct from the gods of Egypt and the East. That our brethren were aware of this technical significance is very evident by the exactness of their details, and yet the choice was made. The later inclusion of the doctrine of the Logos, that bright and morning star, shows beyond doubt that it was not just a case of fitting the right name into temple surroundings. The various prayers infinitely transcend any that were the outcome of ancient mystic thought. Even that masterpiece, the chant of Iknaton, lacks the very essence of our prayers, the belief in the personality of God. Ours are ludicrous if addressed to mere energy, and we who use them are foolish. They are evidently moulded by minds with a definite conception of Jehovah. If there was any loophole through which uncertainty could squeeze into our system, it was blocked by the choice of our morality of love. No god, and certainly no mere abstraction or force, can inspire such a system, except one the Father as revealed by Christ.

 

----o----

 

The Anti-Cerneau Movement in the American Grand Bodies

 

By BRO. CHARLES SUMNER LOBINGIER, Washington, D. C.

 

(Concluded)

 

CERNEAUISM became a live issue in the Masonic circles of Nebraska as early as 1889. On May 1 of that year the Grand Commandery meeting at York adopted a resolution (75) specifying the Grand bodies recognized by it and mentioning by name and commander, the Northern and Southern Supreme Councils. An attempt was made by a Past Commander to have consideration postponed, and after its adoption he announced an appeal (76) which, apparently, was never carried out. The Grand Lodge met on the 19th of the following month and Grand Master France declared in his address:

 

Two laws of jurisdiction are universally recognized and adhered to by loyal Masons of all rites:

 

1. That two Grand bodies of the same grade cannot lawfully exist in the same state at the same time.

 

2. That the first lawfully constituted body established in a state and duly recognized by corresponding bodies, thereby obtains exclusive jurisdiction in such territory, and that any other body of the same grade or rite entering later within such territory, is in itself unlawful.

 

These axiomatic propositions have never, to my knowledge, been denied by any intelligent jurist. It may be claimed that this Grand Lodge has no right to take any action with reference to the higher degrees and higher orders of Masonry. However this may be, many grand jurisdictions have established a precedent by which it seems to me we can be safely guided (77).

 

The Committee on Jurisprudence approved the two propositions quoted above but

 

expressly declines to enter upon any discussion of the history, use or legitimacy of any bodies claiming to confer what is known as the Scottish Rite degrees, or to be committed to the recognition of any such body, or to the recognition of any body conferring any degrees over which this Grand Lodge has no control (78)

 

That report was adopted on June 20, 1889. Exactly one month later a new and more aggressive Grand Master, who had meanwhile taken office, issued an edict declaring

 

that the only legitimate and lawfully constituted Masonic authority of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite within the State of Nebraska is that of the Southern Jurisdiction for the United States, presided over by Bro. Albert Pike; that all others not acknowledging allegiance to the said eouthern Jurisdiction are UNLAWFUL AND CLANDESTINE, and their creation and maintenance is a menace to the peace, tranquility and harmony of the Craft (79),

 

and enjoining

 

all brethren within our Jurisdiction to refrain from joining any bodies of the so-called "Cerneau Rite"; and if any have already become members thereof, to withdraw from such membership and association (80).

 

On Aug. 6, following, the members of Nebraska Lodge, No. 1, "the oldest landmark of Freemasonry in the state," adopted a manifesto (81), in the form of resolutions, to the other lodges, protesting against the edict and in effect declaring it ultra vires. Two weeks later the Grand Master, to use his own language,

 

suspended the Master and Wardens thereof from the exercise of their official functions, took possession of the charter, records and seal of said lodge, and directed the Treasurer of said lodge to retain all moneys belonging thereto in his possession, informing him that I would hold him personally and officially responsible for the same until called for by proper authority (82).

 

Here truly was a challenge to the followers of Cerneau

 

who had, some of them, been highly honored by the Craft of Nebraska by the election to some of the highest offices and positions of honor in their gift, and who justly prided themselves that they were prominent in Masonic circles among us (83).

 

Such an issue could be settled only in the Grand Lodge itself, and it was there settled at the ensuing session. The Grand Master devoted nearly twentythree pages of his address to the subject, reviewing exhaustively the action thereon of the various Grand Lodges. He also recommended

 

that Alexander Atkinson, Master; Augustus C. Osterman, Senior Warden; and William D. McHugL, Junior Warden, be proceeded against and disciplined in the manner and to the extent that in your judgment the gravity of their offence merits, all the circumstances of the case considered. (84)

 

The address and the action preceding it evoked a long and acrimonious discussion, as the following excerpt from the proceedings, relative to a resolution to "unequivocally approve, sustain and endorse the Grand Master," will indicate:

 

Bro. Lininger, 3, moved that the resolution be referred to the committee on jurisprudence. Bros. Chapman, 6, and Holmes, 55 addressed the brethren. Bro. Holmes, 55, moved, as a substitute, that the resolution be referred to a special committee whose members shall not be Scottish Rite Masons--ruled out of order, the motion to refer to a standing committee having precedence. Bros. Hastings 19, Warren, 2, Chapman, 6. Dunham, 3, Rayner, 75, Crites, i58, Furnas, 4, Coutant, 11, France, 56, Lowe, 95, Dinsmore, 49, Ehrhardt, 41, Davis, 21, and Phelps 34, addressed the brethren. Bro. Lininger, 3, withdrew his motion. Bro. Wooley, 97, moved reference of the resolution to a special committee of five, none of whom should be Scottish Rite Masons, which motion was lost. Bros. Owen, 19, Coutant, 11 Lininger, 3, Wheeler, 1, Lininger, 3, France, 56, Martin, 46. Chapman, 6, Cleburne, 3, and Warren, 2. addressed the brethren. Bro. Rayner. 75, offered an amendment to the pending resolution; Bro. Warren, 2, moved that all new matter therein be stricken out, and Bro. Rayner erased it; Bro. Wheeler, 1, moved strike out the first preamble, which motion prevailed. (85)

 

An amendment recalling the edict, censuring the lodge but restoring its charter, was defeated by a vote of 336 to 151, and the original resolution of unequivocal approval was thereupon adopted

 

by three hundred and forty-five (345) yeas to one hundred and thirty-nine (139) nays. (86)

 

Thus ended what was probably the most strenuous contest over Cerneauism of the many which raged in the American Grand Lodges.

 

The Indian Territory Grand Master closed that portion of his address devoted to the subject before the Grand Lodge which held its sixteenth annual communication at Muskogee on Nov. 4, 1890, with these words:

 

Cerneauism has thrown some of our sister Grand Lodges and the Craft within their jurisdiction into a state of confusion which for a time seemed to threaten their very existence. Let us profit by their experience, and so legislate in advance that our Grand Lodge may never feel disturbance from this clandestine enemy (87)

 

The special committee to which this portion of the address was referred, and whose report was unanimously adopted, recommended

 

That the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory, A. F. and A. M., reaffirm the declaration of Masonic principles set forth in the address of Grand Master Bennett, touching Masonic occupancy of the territory controlled by it--Indian Territory and Oklahoma --and hereby instructs its subordinates that it recognizes as legal occupants of the Indian Territory * * * the A. and A. Scottish Rite Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of which Albert Pike is the present Sovereign Grand Commander (88).

 

The last Grand Master of the Indian Territory Grand Lodge, before its union with that of Oklahoma, issued a circular (89), on Oct. 27, 1908, apropos of the Bayliss pamphlet in reply to the Louisiana edicts, and characterized as clandestine all bodies in the state claiming to be Scottish Rite and not owing allegiance to the Mother Supreme Council. The Grand Lodge laws on the subject were directed to be enforced against all Masons connected with such bodies.

 

Grand Master Conklin, of California, in 1891, called the attention of the Grand Lodge, in his address before it at San Francisco on Oct. 13, "to a spirit of rebellion which has sprung up in the state of Ohio," and was, he said,

 

the legitimate result of a clandestine and spurious organization of a so-called branch of Scottish Rite Masonry known as "Cerneauism " Wherever these people have acquired a foothold they have shown the seed of discord, and the harvest of discontent and rebellion have not been reaped. Our expression of condemnation cannot be too emphatic (90).

 

This portion of the address was referred to the Committee on Jurisprudence which expressed itself in agreement with the Grand Master's position but considered it sufficiently covered by existing legislation (91). The report, however, added the following:

 

Relative to a Lodge of the Scottish Rite reported to have been established in Los Angeles under the jurisdiction of a so-called Supreme Council of New Orleans, Louisiana.

 

Upon being advised that such a lodge had been established in that city, the Grand Master issued a circular cautioning our brethren against recognizing or holding intercourse with any person connected with that clandestine and spurious body. We approve the action of the Grand Master, and are of opinion that no further action need be taken at this time (92).

 

On Oct. 17, 1891, the Washington Grand Master issued a warning to "all Masons who love, cherish and wish to preserve, our ancient landmarks and the purity of our Institution" to the effect

 

that one Oliver F. Briggs, and seven others, are within our Grand Jurisdiction organizing Lodges, purporting to be of Masonic origin, of the so-called "Cerneau Rite," a rite which has not been recognized by the laws of our Grand Jurisdiction, nor as I am reliably informed, is it recognized by the laws of any regularly constituted Grand Lodge of Ancient Craft Masonry in the United States, but, on the contrary, I find that it is alleged to be clandestine (93).

 

At the ensuing session of the Grand Lodge, on June 14, 1892, the Grand Master quoted this letter in his address and added:

 

Believing that this matter has nothing to do with Ancient Craft Masonry, I do not deem it expedient that any action be taken by the Grand Lodge (94).

 

The committee to which the address was referred recommended however

 

that the position taken by the Grand Master on the Cerneau Rite be concurred in,

 

and this was adopted (95). It was in the same year (1892) that the North Carolina Grand Master was able to say

 

Cerneauism has not yet made its appearance in this Grand jurisdiction, though I have reason to suspect that efforts will be made to introduce it.

 

In the absence of Grand Lodge action, have determined to interdict it. Now that the Grand Lodge is in session, I present the question to you for consideration. In my judgment this Grand Lodge should emphatically condemn it (96).

 

The special committee to which this was referred reported a resolution which was adopted, that

 

no lodge in this Grand Jurisdiction shall recognize or hold communication with the Cerneau bodv or its members, and shall discountenance the establishment of any of its branches in this jurisdiction (97).

 

At the thirty-fourth annual communication of the Idaho Grand Lodge, opened at Boise on Sept. 10, 1901, a resolution was adopted after being reported favorably, with one member dissenting, by the Committee on Jurisprudence, specifying what bodies were recognized, including

 

the Supreme Councils of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Northern and Southern Jurisdictions of the United States, and the various bodies under their jurisdiction,

 

and declaring

 

that any Mason who is hereafter admitted in this Jurisdiction into any other orders, as Masonic, whether called the Rite of Memphis, or by any other name, is acting un-Masonically, and against the advice and consent of this Grand Lodge (98).

 

About a year later the Wyoming Grand Lodge adopted resolutions (99) recognizing the same Scottish Rite bodies and providing

 

That any Master Mason of this jurisdiction who has joined or who shall hereafter join or in any way affiliate with or recognize any so-called or pretended Masonic body of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, or any other body, commonly known as spurious, other than those specified in this resolution, shall be expelled from the lodge of which he may be a member; that any Master Mason belonging to a lodge of any other jurisdiction who has joined, or hereafter shall join, or in any way affiliate with or recognize any of said so-called pretended and spurious Masonic bodies, shall not be entitled to receive Masonic courtesies from or be allowed to visit any lodge in this jurisdiction nor to receive a Masonic burial.

 

In 1903, at the twenty-ninth session of the Imperial Council, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, a committee was appointed, consisting of William B. Melish, Harrison Dingman and Philip C. Shaffer, to codify the lawsl (100). Their work, which was completed and adopted two years later (101), provided for the first time that Scottish Rite applicants for membership therein must show

 

good standing in a Consistory * * * of the obedience of either of the Supreme Councils for the Northern or for the Southern Masonic Jurisdiction of such Rite in the United States and those Councils which are in amity with, and recognized by, them (102).

 

On Jan. 18, 1905, at the annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, the Grand Master, in an address, called for ampler protection against "Clandestine Masonry," which, he said,

 

is rearing its serpent head in our midst as never before, and clandestine lodges are springing up in almost every Grand Jurisdiction (103).

 

Thus by the opening years of the twentieth century, nearly one-half of the American Grand Lodges, not to mention a number of other Grand bodies, had passed upon and rejected Cerneauism. On the other hand, as the Iowa Grand Lodge committee reported,

 

We do not find that any Grand Lodge of the United States or elsewhere, or any Grand Master, has ever recognized the Cerneau body of the Scottish Rite as legitimate or duly constituted nor do we find that any such Grand Lodge or Grand Master has taken any action to prohibit or prevent the conferring of the Scottish Rite degrees by the Supreme Councils of either the Southern or Northern Jurisdictions of the United States (104).

 

Cerneauism seemed, therefore, at the end of its trail. But there were still sufficient adherents to make trouble and they were rallied for a desperate and final struggle by one, M. W. Bayliss, a Canadian by origin, having been born Nov. 8, 1848, at Picton, Nova Scotia (105). He removed to Providence, R. I., where, in 1869, he claimed (106) to have obtained the symbolic degrees in Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 4, and whence, in 1881, he was appointed a clerk in the Surgeon-General's office at Washington with a salary of $900 per annum. His name appears first on the roster of the Peckham Cerneau Council's Washington Consistory in the list (107) of spurious bodies within the southern jurisdiction issued by Pike in 1884. In the following year we find Bayliss writing letters (108) to parties in the south, signing himself "33d Deputy Inspector General at Large," assailing the Mother Supreme Council and its officers and seeking to advance the interests of the Cerneau body presided over by Dr. J. F. S. Gorgas, of Baltimorel (109). But he soon fell out with it and a bulletin which it issued about 1889, recites:

 

In December, 1888, charges were preferred against M. W. Bayliss, 33d, for a violation of his several oaths taken in his official position and as a Thirty-second and Thirty-third in the Cerneau Rite, and for Masonic treason. He was at once suspended and a copy of the charges with specifications was served upon him. He was duly summoned before impartial judges duly appointed to try him, but he did not appear, or make defense. And upon these, his own written letters to the enemy (which were allowed inspection), he was, on June 15th, properly found guilty and expelled from all offices, rights and privileges in the Rite. A copy of the facts found, and the judgment of expulsion was personally served upon him on June 18th, 1889.

 

The expelled was for a short time a member of the Council. In June, '87, he failed of a re-election and it is now apparent that hatred and treason toward the Rite (he has so often sworn to cherish and support) has ever since lurked in his heart (110).

 

Bayliss appears to have signalized his break with the Gorgas body by issuing a circular (111) in which he sets forth its connection with the repudiated Grand Orient of France; as a result of which, he declares, "this Sov. Gd. Consistory died Masonically," for

 

We cannot confer Scottish Rite degrees upon any except Master Masons in good and regular standing, and it follows that we cannot recognize as Scottish Rite Masons any whom we know to be clandestine Master Masons.

 

The Grand Lodges to which we severally owe allegiance have determined whom we shall or shall not recognize as Master Masons, and no one who is not a legitimate Master Mason can be a legitimate Scottish Rite Mason (112).

 

This was precisely the position he found himself combatting subsequently in the time of his greatest activity; for the burden of his and his followers' contentions was that the Grand Lodges had nothing to do with the Scottish Rite and that there was no propriety in their attempting to decide between its rival claimants.

 

Bayliss closed his manifesto with an appeal for

 

such action as would be necessary to place us before the Masonic World as Masons loyal and true to Ancient Craft Masonry, the foundation and mother of all Masonic Rites. Should such action not be taken, no alternative will be left me. I must remain loyal and true to Ancient Craft Masonry and sever my connection with the Rite (113).

 

No "such action" was ever taken but Bayliss did not sever his connection with Cerneauism; he merely changed from one clandestine body to another. For he tells us (114) that in 1896 (while still a clerk in the Surgeon-General's office, now receiving $1,800 a year) he became the head of a body styling itself "the Supreme Council of the United States and its territories and dependencies (115), succeeding in that capacity William H. Hershiser, who had taken the controversy into the courts of Ohio and had been expelled from symbolic Masonry there. For that body, Bayliss not only asserted (116) direct descent from Cerneau but put forth the modest claim that "all Scottish Rite Masons in this country are wrong except the body I have the honor of representing (117). He continued to find his favorite hunting ground in the south, for he testified at the trial of his action against the Grand Lodge of Louisiana:

 

I have been doing business in Arkansas; I have been doing business in Mississippi; I have done business in Maryland; I have done business in the District of Columbia. * * * I have done business in New York; I have done business in Rhode Island, and in numerous other places (118).

 

His reference to Arkansas recalls the anomalous fact that the Grand Lodge in which Albert Pike was once an active worker was among the last and least positive to declare itself upon this important question. As early as 1889, indeed, the Arkansas Grand Master, discussing Cerneauism in his annual address, held

 

that this Grand Lodge, in its legislative and executive power, is supreme over the symbolic degrees of Masonry in this State, and therefore has exclusive right, not only to warn its members against dangerous association, but full power to promptly and forcibly discipline her disobedient children.

 

A careful review of Masonic history will unmistakably disclose the clandestine character of this pernicious growth. They have not only sought to occupy territory already in the peaceful possession of others, but they did once, if indeed they do not secretly now, claim authority to charter Blue Lodges (119).

 

This portion of the address was referred to a special committee of Past Grand Masters (120), but no action seems to have been taken at that session.

 

At the sixty-fifth annual communication of the Grand Lodge, held at Little Rock on Nov. 19, 1907, Grand Master Trieber reported the existence of a Cerneau body at Pine Bluff in that state claiming to be a Scottish Rite Consistory and asked that the matter, together with a letter from Bayliss, be referred to the Committee on Masonic Law and Usage (121). Such reference was made (122) but the committee pleaded insufficient time and asked leave to sit during the recess, which was granted (123). It met again at Little Rock on Feb. 25, 1908, and heard Mr. Bayliss as the Cerneau representative and George F. Moore and John Brodie in behalf of the Mother Supreme Council; after which it went into executive session (124). The results of its deliberations were the following resolutions which were reported to the Grand Lodge at its ensuing session and adopted:

 

Resolved, That it is not expedient for this Committee or for the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, to take any action affecting the status, or attempting to determine the authenticity of any organization of which Masons may become members, unless it should appear in point of fact that such other organization is immoral in its tendencies or subsersive of the principles of Masonry. * * *

 

Resolved, Further, that inasmuch as the southern jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite Masons has been in active operation in Arkansas for fifty years to the exclusion of all other branches of the Scottish Rite, it is the sense of this Committee that it will be conducive to harmony if those Masons under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas desiring the Scottish Rite degree should affiliate with the southern jurisdiction. (125)

 

Bayliss appears (125) to have claimed this as a victory; but he was then making his last stand and anything short of complete rout was welcome. Moreover in the same year, 1908, the Bayliss body suffered the loss, by renunciation, of two of its most prominent members --James H. Curtin, who had been Secretary-General (127), and Joseph Cristosi, Grand Seneschal and member of the Committee on Foreign Relations (128). To offset such defections, heroic measures were necessary, and they were not, of course, confined to Arkansas. About the same time he was offering to confer degrees in North Carolina, and there he seems to have changed front; for the Grand Master who was appealed to by prospective candidates and referred the matter to the Grand Lodge, announced:

 

I understand the claim of the Supreme Council of the United States of America, its territories and dependencies, to be that it is not a Cerneau body (129).

 

The special committee of the Grand Lodge which considered the matter reported adversely to the claims of the Bayliss Council (130), and certain passages in the report were made the basis of a libel action by the Bayliss Council against the North Carolina Grand Lodge in 1914 in the Forsyth County Superior Court (131). Evidence and argument were heard for several days before Judge C. C. Lyon and a jury and the former then dismissed the proceeding on the ground that the matter complained of was of qualified privilege and that no malice had been shown (132).

 

About the same time Bayliss commenced another action for libel in the District of Columbia Supreme Court, this time against the Mother Supreme Council, on account of an article on "Recent Cerneauism" (133), which its official organ had published. To its plea of justification, plaintiff presented a demurrer thus challenging its legal sufficiency. The demurrer was overruled, and after being set for hearing upon the merits the cause was finally dismissed in 1915 on motion of plaintiff's counsel.

 

 The Texas Grand Master devoted something less than a page to "Clandestine and Spurious Organizations" in his address at the seventy-fourth annual Grand Lodge communication in that state, on Dec. 7, 1909, at Waco, observing that, while as yet no effort had been made by such organizations to establish bodies there, he was led to believe that one would be, and believed "that this Grand Lodge should go on record in the most emphatic manner as to what Masonic organizations and bodies are legitimate (134). The Committee on Jurisprudence, to which this portion of the address was referred, presented a report which was adopted,

 

that as Blue Lodge Masons we have no knowledge of Scottish Rite Masonry beyond the Master's degree, and as a Grand Lodge we are not called upon at this time to decide upon questions of regularity arising between different bodies of another rite, nor claiming jurisdiction over the Craft degrees. Like the Grand Master, we, as individuals, have a decided opinion upon the question, and regard so-called Cerneauism as spurious and clandestine, but we advise the Grand Lodge to keep out of this controversy until the concrete question is forced upon us by an attempt to establish this rite within our jurisdiction. We do not apprehend that any member of our Fraternity in Texas will be imposed upon by this illegitimate scheme, masquerading under the name of Freemasonry (135).

 

Meanwhile, Bayliss emissaries had been active in Mississippi (136) and the Grand Master there caused the issuance of a circular warning the lodges that the branch of Masonry represented by the former was clandestine (137). That action was approved by the Grand Lodge (138) but it proved unready to follow the ruling to its logical consequences. For when a member who defied it, by not only retaining membership in that branch but attempting to organize bodies, was tried and expelled by his lodge, the Grand Lodge, adopting the report (139) of its Committee on Complaints and Appeals, set aside the action and assumed to restore the offender. The succeeding Grand Master, hovvever, issued an emphatic and elaborate edict (140) reiterating even more strongly the pronouncement of clandestinism and declaring that the Grand Lodge had acted "very unwisely" and that the purported restoration gave the offender no other status than "that of a non-affiliate." This time the Grand Lodge reversed itself and approved the edict (141). More than that it adopted an illuminating report (142) of its Committee on Law and Jurisprudence to which the whole question had been referred at the preceding session (143), and which included a series of resolutions which in effect proscribed Cerneauism and provided the ceremony of expulsion for those who should hold any connection therewith (144).

 

At the annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, opened at Nashville on Jan. 28, 1914, Grand Master Comstock in his address (145) called attention to the invasion of Bayliss representatives, reviewed the action of other Grand Lodges, and recommended specific recognition of legitimate higher bodies and legislation against all others. The report (146) of the Committee on Jurisprudence, to which the subject had been referred, embodied resolutions defining the bodies entitled to recognition, among which was "the Supreme Council * * for the Southern Jurisdiction," declaring all others to be "mischievous intruders, menacing Masonic peace and harmony" and announcing that "any member * * aiding or abetting" them "thereby subjects himself to Masonic condemnation."

 

This appears to have been the last effort of Bayliss. He died on Feb. 15, 1919, and with him the organization which he represented and in fact largely constituted. Cerneauism in the United States had run its course. On few controverted subjects have the American Grand bodies gone on record so generally and so positively. The case was well summed up by Grand Commander Richardson when he declared:

 

There is nothing plainer than that the verdict of Masonic mankind is against Cerneauism, and no human power can alter or change that verdict (147).

 

NOTES

 

(75) Neb. Grand Com. Proc., 1889, pp. 1052, 1053.

(76) Neb. Grand Lodge Proc., 1889, p. 13. 

(77) Ibid. p. 57

(78) Ibid. 1890, p. 163. 

(79) Ibid. 

(80) Ibid. pp. 164-166

(81) Ibid. p. 167. 

(82) Grand Master's Address, Ibid., 1890, p. 161.

(83) Ibid. p. 167. 

(84) Ibid. 213. 

(85) Ibid. 215.

(86) Proc. Ind. Ter. Grand Lodge, 1890, p. 15. 

(87) Ibid. 46

(88) Reprinted, New Age, Ix, 549.

(89) Cal. Grand Lodge Proc., 1891, p. 11. 

(90) Ibid. p. 219.

(91) Ibid.

(92) Wash. Grand Lodge Proc., 1892, p. 32. See this warning quoted in the Manifesto of the Washington Bodies, Oct. 22, 1891. Off. Bull. Sup. Coun. X, 563-566; also in N. Y. Council of Deliberation Proc., 1908, pp. 73, 74.

(93) Wash. Grand Lodge Proc., 1892, p. 33.

(94) Ibid. 46

(95) N. C. Grand Lodge Proc., 1892, p. 13. 

(96) Ibid. p. 47.

(97) Idaho Grand Lodge Proc., 1901, pp. 50, 54, 55.

(98) Wyoming Grand Lodge Proc., 1902, pp. 66, 67.

(99) Proceedings, 1903, p. 90. 

(100) Ibid. 1905, p. 115

(101) Shrine Code, July 1, 1905, Const. Art. X.

(102) Conn. Grand Lodge Proc., 1905, p. 37.

(103) Ia. Grand Lodge Proc., 1889 pp. 327, 328.

(104) These and other biographicai data are taken from the War Department records through the courtesy of Surgeon General Ireland.

(105) New Age, XVI, 93. 

(106) Off. Bull. Sup. Coun., VI, 588.

(107) Reprinted, Ibid. VII 601-607. 

(108) New Age, XI, 280.

(109) Ibid 285, 286. 

(110) Ibid. 282-284.

(111) Ibid 283. 

(112) Ibid. 284.

(113) Testimony in Bayliss v. La. Grand Lodge, New Age, XVI, 609.

(114) Ibid. 89. 

(115) Ibid. XVII, 103.

(116) Ibid XVI, 411. 

(117) New Age, XVI 89

(118) Ark Grand Lodge Proc., 1889, p. li.

(119) Ibid 22

(120) Ibid. 1907, pp. 19-21.

(121) Ibid. 22.

(122) Ibid 77

(123) Ibid. 1908, p. 48.

(124) Ibid. 48 49.

(125) Testimony. New Age, XVI, 61d. 

(126) New Age, IX, 76.

(127) Ibid. 83. 

(128) N. C. Grand Lodge Proc., 1909, p. 41.

(129) Ibid. pp. 148-150. 

(130) New Age, XXI, 225.

(131) See Letter of A. B. Andrews representing defendant, Ibid. 218, A transcript of the proceediings is in the Library of the Supreme Council.

(132) New Age, VIII, 464.

(133) Texas Grand Lodge Proc., 1909, pp. 41 42.

(134) Ibid. 152, 153. 

(135) New Age, XVI, 486

(136) Miss. Grand Lodge Proc., 1911, p. 15. 

(137) Ibid. 105

(138) Ibid. 123-125. 

(139) Ibid. 1912, pp. 33, 34.

(140) Ibid. pp. 160, 161. 

(141) Ibid. 138-142.

(142) Ibid. 1911, pp. 126, 127.

(143) The outcome was materially aided by addresses (New Age XVI, 492, 598) in behalf of the report by Melville R. Grant, 33d then recently elected Sovereign Grand Commander in Mississippi, and Charles F. Buck, 33d, Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Louisiana Tenn.

(144) Grand Lodge Proc., 1914, pp. 84-87.

(145) Ibid. 126-129.

(146) Allocution, Trans., Sup. Coun., 1909, p. 66.

 

----o----

 

The Development of Papal Power in the Catholic Church

 

BJ BRO. FERDINAND OUDIN, Illinois

 

A STUDY of the Middle Ages becomes in the very nature of things a combined study of the Papal system and of the Holy Roman Empire, for the two are inseparable. During this period the Pope and Emperor were either at war with one another, or else conspiring together to overthrow some other ruler of church or state. Gregory I (the Great) is usually considered as the first medieval Pope, he was a man peculiarly suited to impress the world at this transition period. He was the son of Gordianus, a wealthy patrician, possessed vigor and administrative ability, and was reared in a time when little culture was left in Rome.

 

In 573 Gregory served as Prefect of Rome, this was at the time when the Lombards over-ran Italy and all but captured Rome. Desolation was everywhere, and no doubt these conditions were what finally convinced him that the end of the world was near; a belief that, in his sermons and writings, repeatedly comes to the surface.

 

In 578 Gregory was sent by Pope Pelagius II to Constantinople, to ask the Emperor for troops to defend the Roman See. During the eight years there he was still further strengthened in his belief of the coming desolation by the general corruption of the clerics and the fierce dogmatic discussions among them. His return to Rome in 586 was without troops, but he brought back with him an arm of St. Andrews and the head of St. Luke, which according to the belief of the Church was a far greater treasure. His austerity may be judged from an anecdote, told by himself, according to which one of his monks appropriated a small sum, violating his vow of poverty. Gregory refused the dying man the consolation of the sacraments, and had him buried in a dunghill.

 

Pelagius II died in 590 and the Romans rushed into the monastery where Gregory stayed and brought the news that Gregory was to be his successor. He felt himself unequal to the task and fled, but being the ablest man in Italy he was brought back to Rome and made Pope. He was a strict disciplinarian and did much to correct the evils of his clergy, and on occasions would direct the movement of troops that he sent out against the Lombards. Much of his time and ability was needed to control the vast Papal incomes and expenditures, for there were now immense estates and patrimonies scattered all over Italy, Gaul, Dalmatia and Africa; some of these were brought to the Papal See by himself, for, as mentioned before, he came of a wealthy family. An estimate of these holdings sets them at anywhere from 1400 to 1800 square miles. Gregory, however, deserves his title, "the Great," for his enormous wealth was used by him for the furtherance of the Church through charity and justice.

 

A picture of the corruptness of the Church, however, may be seen through some of his letters; in one of them he says: "I hear that no one can obtain orders in your provinces without paying for them." This refers to the practice of simony which even at so early a period was prevalent among the higher clergy, many of whom had been ambitious laymen who had purchased a bishopric and then lived a vicious and luxurious life by extorting illegal fees. In 599 he issued a letter to all the clergy, forbidding bishops to have women in their houses and ordering priests, deacons and subdeacons to separate from their wives. Information came to him that the clergy of Sardinia and Corsica were very corrupt and that Januarius, Metropolitan at Cagliari, was intemperate and avaricious, so Gregory gave orders for the latter to appear in Rome and stand trial.

 

Conditions in Italy were anything but suitable for the development of a spiritual Pope and so Gregory found that if he wished to succeed in some measure to reform the world, and especially his clergy, he would have to resort to force. He appointed military governors, and a considerable part of his correspondence was with military men, stirring them to action and outlining campaigns. His almost fanatical desire to convert everyone is illustrated by his instructions to the Archbishops, to raise the rents and taxes of those pagans who would not renounce their gods, and when this did not suffice, he enjoined physical persecution; slaves were to be punished with "blows and tortures" while free tenants were to be imprisoned, "In order that they who disdain to hear the saving words of health may at least be brought to the desired sanity of mind by torture of the body." Here he legislated for the medieval age. While he denounced simony he did not deem it inexpedient to grant the pallium to Bishop Syagrius of Autun when requested to do so by the willful Brunechildis, Queen of Austrasia, and withhold it from the learned and devout Bishop of Desiderius of Vienne who had gained her dislike for having upbraided her improper actions. Gregory, usually so well informed, could not help knowing the character of the woman whose influence he attempted to win, and it is not surprising that simony, drunkenness and vice continued among the Frankish priests and monks.

 

Now it was not only the Pope who meddled in secular affairs, as often as not the King or Emperor would interfere with those of the Church. The Archbishop of Salona, a very lax prelate, died and the Pope tried to fill the vacancy by having the archdeacon, a vigorous priest, elected. But neither the clergy nor laity desired a change of morals in the episcopal palace and procured an order from the Emperor permitting them to elect their own favorite. Gregory charged bribery and excommunicated the new Archbishop. In another casethe Emperor wanted to replace an invalid bishop with a more vigorous man, to which Gregory refused his consent.

 

GREGORY'S MISSIONARY ZEAL

 

Gregory's zeal for the extension of the Christian faith led him to establish the first Hierarchy in England. It is said that in his early days he saw a number of very fair complexioned youths among some slaves that were brought to Rome. They looked so angelic that he decided to convert the land, "Angel-Land," from which they came. He purchased a number of these youths and trained them as missionaries to return to their home land and preach the Gospel. He also, through the friendly relations established with Gaul, gained entrance to the court of Ethelbert, King of Britain. To this court he sent a mission of monks under St. Augustine, who in a few years converted the King, changed the temples into churches and had the King's subjects driven into them to attend Mass.

 

On March 12, 604, Gregory died, having striven hard during his life to correct the evils of the clergy and laity but with little success. He did, however, greatly strengthen the Papacy, making it a power that under proper leadership might have done great good in the world.

 

Two centuries pass by without much change, then Zachary, a most genial and diplomatic Pope, changed the Papal policy. At this time the strife between the Lombards and the various Dukes of Italy raged especially strong; the Pope stood to gain nothing by aiding the Dukes, the rightful Lords of Italy, so made overtures to Liutprand, the King of the Lombards, and loaned him his small army to aid him in suppressing the obstinate Dukes, and received in return four towns as patrimony, enriching the Papacy thereby.

 

PAPAL INTERVENTION IN GAUL

 

A little later came the notorious intervention of the Pope in the secular affairs of the Franks. Pippin, the mayor of the palace, turned to the Pope for moral council regarding his designs on the throne of Childeric III. Zachary was not slow to see his advantage, and so went much farther than the request called for and ordered the Franks to elect Pippin their King. This act established Rome's claim that she conferred the kingdom on the father of Charlemagne. Zachary's act was further strengthened by his successor, Stephen II, who in 753 went to France and induced Pippin to "take up the cause of the Blessed Peter and the Republic of the Romans" and annointed Pippin and his sons, pronouncing an anathema on all who would displace the family of Pippin from the throne. The grateful Pippin swore to secure for the Popes the Roman Duchy, "divers cities and territories," and the exarchate of Ravenna. This act is historically known as the "Donation of Pippin," and a latter renewal of the same as the "Quiercey Donation."

 

We may now pass directly to the Pontificate of Hadrian I, who diplomatically gained further patrimonies for the Papacy. In 773 Charlemagne came to Rome to celebrate Easter. Hadrian made hurried though elaborate arrangements for the reception and entertainment of his illustrious guest. In the Libei Pontificalis is a detailed description of this visit, in which we are told of the great piety of the Emperor; the writer further tells us that on the Wednesday the Pope and King met in the presence of the body of St. Peter and that there Charlemagne assigned to St. Peter and his successors forever the larger part of Italy, as we know it today. On this is based the Papal claims to the temporal power in Italy.

 

THE POPE AS A TEMPORAL RULER

 

The remainder of Hadrian's rule was so taken up with looking after the temporal rights of his See, that little time was left for spiritual duties. He was really more King than Pope. In the meantime the other prelates were not all in accord with the Pope's plans. We hear that shortly after Charlemagne's return to France, Leo, Archbishop of Ravenna, had seized the cities of the Archate, turned out the offlcials appointed by the Pope and by the use of troops took over the rule of the district. Hadrian did a good deal for art and charity, but this mostly in the confines of Rome. On the whole, his vast resources were used in laying the foundation for the future material grandeur of the papacy, and in supporting armies in the field to protect it against his rivals. He also is one of the first to establish nepotism, appointing his nephew Paschalis, a desolute and brutal man, to one of the chief papal offices. It was this Paschal who soon after Hadrian's death attempted, on the floor of a church, to cut out the eyes of Pope Leo III, Hadrian's successor.

 

Stephen V, successor to Leo III, occupied the papal throne for only one year. His short rule, however, was such that Charlemagne came to Rome to judge him on serious charges. He acquitted the Pope, who shortly after, on Christmas morning in the year 800, surprised Charlemagne by placing an imperial crown on his head. So now the Popes could also claim that they made Emperors.

 

THE POPE AS OVERLORD OF KINGS

 

The next seven Popes were men of more or less mediocrity, showing alternate flashes of spirituality and violence, but in general they indicated a papal degeneracy until 858, when Nicholas I became the wearer of the tiara. He was the son of a Roman notary, and fairly well educated according to the standards of his day. His was a gradual rise from the lowest rank in the church. His service had been such as to make him well liked, and so upon the death of Benedict III he was unanimously chosen to succeed him. On Sunday, April 24, 858, he was consecrated in the presence of Emperor Louis II. Soon after his ascension to the papal chair he showed that a different type of Pope had come to rule the church. He took his office very seriously, and sincerely believed himself God's representative on earth. To him all creatures were equal, be they beggar or king, bishop or monk, and he felt himself to be responsible to God for every wrong committed on earth. He gave kings their right to rule and considered them his subjects; and leading bishops, no matter how powerful, were expected to obey him or be deposed. No council or diet must be held without his approval. He left to the Emperor the rule of men's bodies, but he controlled their souls. To his credit be it said that he regulated his own life as well as that of those immediately near him with the same moral strictness. Then also the conditions were such as to require the rule of such a master. The prelates were many of them court favorites, members of princely families, arrogant and avaricious, who set up a sort of feudal aristocracy in the church, and oppressed priest, monk and people, even putting themselves against the very prince whose vassals they were. Nicholas I was the right man for the times, who did much to improve the morals of the world. But no matter how beneficial the centralization of spiritual power or how religious his purpose may have been, it cannot be gainsaid that at times he resorted to principles that set a dangerous precedent for more unscrupulous successors. He died in 867, having administered stern justice according to his light for nine and one-half years.

 

THE "IRON CENTURY"

 

We shall pass over the next century giving our attention to the tenth, that Baronius has forever branded "the iron century." It may be considered as opening with Pope Sergius III, who reigned from 904 to 911. Many causes united toward the decadent conditions of this century. It was an age of violent characters, uncontrolled; a constantly growing number of small principalities, the heads of which were in bloody rivalry. The Papacy's nominal independence from worldly princes, with its inability to protect itself without their aid, caused the Popes to dangle the imperial crown before the eyes of the rulers of Italy, France and Germany, trying to find a monarch who would protect the Church but not govern it. All this of course led to political intrigue and revolting practices. The morals were at their lowest. It is recorded that a nephew of Bishop Arsenius abducted the daughter of Pope Hadrian II and being pursued, murdered her and the Pope's wife. On one occasion the Pope had one of his officials blinded and caused the widow of another offlcial to be driven with whips, naked, through the streets of Rome.

 

During the iron century these corrupt families came more into light and the domination of the Papacy by the immoral Theodora and Marozia are just one of the many instances of corruption. Liutprand, Bishop of Cremona and an attache of the court of Otto I, a frequent visitor at Rome during the time of Pope John XI, says that Theodora was all-powerful, that she was "a shameless whore" and mistress of John X, in whose promotion to the See of Ravenna and later to that of Rome she was instrumental. That her daughters, Marozia and Theodora, were more shameless than she, and that Pope John XI was the son of Marozia and Sergius III, an unscrupulous man who resigned from a bishopric, returning to the rank of deacon, thereby bettering his chances of receiving the Papacy. He ruled as Anti-Pope in 898, was driven from Ror.e being charged with responsibility of the death of his two predecessors.

 

This immoral condition did not obtain only in high places, but judging from what Bishop Ratherius of Verona says, existed along among the lesser luminaries. Writing of the prelates he tells us, that they dress gorgeously, ride out to hunt on richly caparisoned horses, returning at night to sumptuous banquets, with dancing girls for company, with whom later they retire to beds inlaid with gold and silver.

 

But whatever vices John X may have had, he was not neglectful of his duty to the Papacy, for when he heard that the Saracens were still devastating Italy he formed a great league to combat them, and marshaling his own Roman militia, he rode at their head, besides Alberic of Camerino. There had been many fighting Popes, but John X was the first to take the field in person.

 

During John's later years there was considerable strife between the Papacy and the laity. John called his brother Peter to Rome and gave him so much power that it infuriated the nobles and former supporters. In 928 the Pope was taken from the palace and cast into prison, where he died the following year, whether of natural causes is not known.

 

INCONSISTENCY OF FAITH AND PRACTICE

 

As we read the history of the Middle Ages we are continuously confronted by seeming absurdities; men, stained with vice, proclaim full and sincere devotion to a religion that never departed from the purity of its moral teachings. This leads us to the conclusion that such persons have been either fools or hypocrites. Yet so to conclude would be erroneous, for we know that a man's action little conforms to the general maxims laid down for his guidance, and that he can hold to a belief without applying its doctrines. So though his thoughts are influenced his actions are not governed by them. This condition of mind was of course more apparent during the Middle Ages; men were more impulsive, more violent and reckless. Then also the moral code was of low order, so that what today would be a heinous crime, was then overlooked if not actually condoned.

 

Therefore, though all believed in the rights of the Empire, none would yield to those rights if they ran counter to their own passions or interests; but resistance to the Pope, the Vicar of God, was considered a mortal sin that few would care to commit. So in order to strengthen the imperial prerogative and give it a practical efficiency it became imperative to prop it up with the authority of feudalism, with a king at its head who with the support of feudal lords might combat the Popes. The Pope, however, considered himself above earthly rulers so it became imperative that Pope and Emperor be in accord. This condition led to continuous strife; sometimes the Pope being the stronger would select and crown an Emperor, at other times the Emperor holding the upper hand would place a Pope on the throne.

 

An account of the turbulent reign of Pope John XII will illustrate this condition. Otto I, Emperor and King of a feudal monarchy, could not enforce his regal authority in his capital, Rome; he could only rule it as Emperor. Here he never was safe from insult or revolt, so when after his coronation he returned to North Italy to subdue Berengar and his son Adalbert, Pope John XII, a restless youth of 25, renounced his allegiance, negotiated with Berengar and even sent envoys to induce the pagan Magyars to invade Christian Germany. Of his action the Emperor was soon informed, but affected to despise them. On his return to Rome he found the city gates shut and defended by a party that was furious against him, for John was not only Pope but the heir of Alberic and as such the head of a strong faction of nobles and a temporal prince of Rome. They, however, could not withstand a siege, and John fled into the Campagna to join Adalbert.

 

POPE JOHN XII TRIED AND DEPOSED

 

Otto convoked a synod in St. Peters and elected himself temporal head of the Church. He made inquiries into the character of the Pope and the assembled clergy brought in a tempest of accusations. Bishop Liutprand, who acted as interpreter for the Emperor, enumerated these in his writings, most of the accusations having to do with breaches of canon law, but he tells us also that

 

Bishop John, of Narmia and John, cardinal deacon declared-that he had defiled by shameless acts of vice the pontifical palace; that he had openly diverted himself with hunting; had put out the eyes of his spiritual father Benedict; had set fire to houses. . . . All present, laymen as well as priests cried out that he had drunk to the devil's health.

 

Upon being solemnly assured by the clergy and people that Pope John XII had committed all these crimes and even greater ones, the Emperor had a letter despatched to him, recounting the charges, and asking him to appear at Rome to clear himself by his own oath. But John refused; so then at a later deliberation over which Otto presided the Pope was deposed by the assembly because of his reprobate life, and with the Emperor's consent Leo, the chief secretary and a layman, was raised to the apostolic chair. After several revolts John XII returned to Rome but his career was soon ended by what was said to be a blow on the head given him by the devil.

 

The people now chose a new Pope, Stephen IV, in defiance of the Emperor. Otto thereupon suppressed the republican form of government and entrusted the governing of the city to his nominee, Pope Leo III, to act as viceroy, and who was not presumed to set up any claims to independence. Leo also confirmed the Emperor's veto on Papal elections which the citizens had yielded in 963.

 

THE FIRST REFORMATION

 

Ten Popes and Anti-Popes followed each other during the next 30 years and saw the people sink lower and lower into corruption from which Pope Gregory VII, better known as Hildebrand, endeavored to lift them. That feudalism which was encouraged by the Papal See, and which saved Europe from the barbarians, began now to inject itself into the Church. The spiritual offices became inheritable property of the ruling houses, and disassociated from religious duties. Bishops practically became barons in cope and mitre, and kings looked upon them as officials bound to serve them. Fortunately for the Church, at this time a strong reformatory movement developed, usually referred to as the "Cluniac Reformation"; it had foundits beginning in the Monastery at Cluny, Burgundy, and rapidly spread through the Benedictine monasteries throughout the empire. These various monasteries, through their abbots, who were responsible to the arch-abbot of Cluny, formed a unity of organization that exercised a control over a large portion of the religious world. This organization under the jurisdiction of Rome began teaching a doctrine of the high power of the Apostolic See. Their ideal was the separation of the Church from the State, the Pope to be the ultimate source of jurisdiction, the universal bishop, no cleric was to have any rights of his own that were not derivative from the authority of the chair of Peter. With this reformation Hildebrand was closely associated and from it sprung two centuries of conflict between Pope and Emperor. Then also the Pope's decree of celibacy for the clergy caused another great upheaval.

 

THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE

 

To what heights of power the Papacy had risen during Gregory's VII Pontificate may be gleaned from contemplating the abjectness of Henry IV who opposed the decrees of 1075 against simony and lay investitures, writing an accusatory letter to the Pope in which he demanded his abdication from the Papal throne. This letter was delivered at the great synod held at Rome in 1076. It caused a tumult. Henry was excommunicated and deposed in turn. The war thus declared between Pope and king waged for some time, but gradually the simoniacs deserted the king's cause and he finally had to plead for the Pope's pardon. Henry had to humiliate himself; for three days he waited, barefoot and fasting in the snow, outside the castle gate, in the dress of a penitent. The Pope admitted him on the fourth day, and the king threw himself at his feet with the cry, "Holy father, spare me !" The ensuing peace, however, settled nothing.

 

The spirit of religion, originally mild and loving, was now gradually assuming a character of extravagant and fervid devotion. The zealots sought the establishment of a heaven on earth, where the Pope acted as the Vicar of God, the immaculate priesthood being the angelic hosts and the Church heaven itself. The layman from the Emperor down was thus subordinated to this Papal system. The Empire, the Church, the whole world was to be governed by this great theocracy of which the Pope was the head. The "Sacksenspiegel," the ancient code of the Empire, says:

 

God sent two swords on earth for the protection of Christendom and gave one to the Pope, the spiritual; to the Emperor, the temporal one

 

The "Schwabenspiegel" was compiled at a later date, to fit in with the Papal scheme and to replace the earlier law, the sense of which was completely charged; thus

 

God, now the Prince of Peace, left two swords here on earth on his ascension into heaven, for the protection of Christendom both of which he consigned to St. Peter, one for temporal, and the other for spiritual rule. The temporal sword is lent by the Pope to the Emperor. The spiritual sword is held by the Pope himself.

 

The subordination of all the rulers of earth to a supreme Pontiff and the combining into one vast community all nations, was a grand and sublime idea; but as Henzel said,

 

unfortunately for its realization, the ecclesiastical shepherds allowed too much of earthly passion and of sordid interest to cling to them in their elevated and almost superhuman positions.

 

The zenith of Papal power was reached during the Pontificate of Innocent III. The eighteen Popes who occupied the chair of St. Peter between the death of Gregory VII (Hildebrand) and the election of Innocent were for most part men of high character who depended upon false Decretals, letters, canons and charters, that were accepted throughout the Church, to enforce their claims of the right to dispose of earthly kingdoms as well as to control the entrance into Heaven.

 

THE RULE OF INNOCENT III

 

The struggle between the Popes and the Romans had now lost its ardor, the nobles looking toward the Popes with greater respect. Then also Peter's chair was occupied mostly by men of illustrious Roman families. From one of these came Lothario de' Conti di Segui, whose mother belonged to a family which included several cardinals. He was well educated in liberal arts, theology and canon law. On January, 1198, he ascended the Papal throne, taking the name of Innocent III. During his eighteen years' rule he supervised the affairs of the world, nothing of importance occurred that he did not intervene in. During this time there was hardly a secular ruler from prince down to baron that he did not excommunicate, and most of the countries were at one time or other placed by him under an interdict. His work as he saw it was the ruling of the world, and his prodigious energy and high ability brought the Papacy t o its highest pinnacle. He had a strong dislike, almost hatred, for the Germans who would not bend under his yoke. He sent men and money to cities located in Papal fiefs, under the rule of the German Emperor, to be used in their fight against him. He also followed precedent in adding to his realm by inducing Constance, widow of Henry, to make Sicily a fief of the Roman See, and compelled this country to pay annual tribute to the Pope and give feudal service when called upon. Innocent encouraged the French adventurer Walter de Brienne, who had married a daughter of Tancred of Sicily, and who claimed Lecce and Tarentum as his wife's legacy, to bring French troops and help wage war more effectively against the Germans. During Innocent's pontificate the struggle for the imperial crown was waged by the followers of Phillip of Swabia and the supporters of Otto of Brunswick. Into this struggle the Pontiff entered seeing a possibility of eliminating the Hohenstaufens who he regarded as foes to the Papacy; while Otto professed loyalty to Rome. When the various parties finally came to settle their differences at the point of the sword, the Pope complained, and declared that only he could be the judge as to who should be Emperor. He sent warning to the German prelates not to choose an Emperor that was not his choice. In the meantime Otto had himself proclaimed Emperor at Cologne in 1198 and swore that he would defend the Papal possessions and in 1201 he was proclaimed by the Papal Legate.

 

The gigantic power that the Papacy built up was attainable only by undermining the German Empire, and the success of the Roman Pontiff in this can be traced to the treasonable defection of the great vassals of the crown, who being unable to assert their independence under the Empire, confederated with the Pope, whose power as Italy's temporal head might serve to counteract that of the Emperor. Had the unity and power of the Empire been maintained under the Emperor, civil and mental liberty would probably have reached a much higher plane sooner than was obtained under the Papal system. And so, as Menzel says:

 

By the destruction of the Hohenstaufen, the Popes at the head of the Italians gained a complete victory over the emperors who until now had been at the head of the nations of Germany but the means of which they made use in the pursuance of their schemes were exactly contrary to the tents of the religion they professed to teach, nor was their vocation as vicegerents of Christ upon earth at all compatible with the policy by means of which, leagued with France, they pursued their plans in Italy, and continually injured, harassed and degraded the Germans as a nation. For this purely political and national purpose, means were continually made use of so glaringly unjust and criminal that the measure of offense was at length complete and called forth that fearful reaction of German nationality known as the Reformation.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Histoire de la reformation by D'Aubignes.

Romanism in the Light of History by R. H. McKim.

Crises in the History of the Papacy by J. McCabe.

The Church and the Roman Empire by A. Carr.

The Papacy and Modern Times by W. J. Barry.

The Holy Roman Empire by James Bryce.

History of Germany by Wolfgang Menzel.

Empire and Papacy in the Middle Ages by Greenwood.

Italy by J.S.C. Abbott

 

----o----

 

The Vatican Talked

 

BY DR. LEO CADIUS

 

IN the April, 1927, number of THE BUILDER I find on page 126 a review of Ian Ferguson's book The Philosophy of Witchcraft. The following observation of the author on the stifling of thought by the Church is quoted:

 

The dim stirring of the intellect was evident in the speculative fields of astrology, a subject with heretical boundaries and for which Galileo was to die.

 

On this passage the reviewer comments:

 

Galileo of course did not die of anything but of a "slow fever" in old age, many years after his condemnation by the Inquisition, not for speculative astronomical theories, but for venturing into the realms of theology and attempting to prove his scientific doctrines by Scripture. He was indeed most leniently treated, and the imprisonment to which he was condemned amounted to no more than residence in the household of a Cardinal who was his warm friend.

 

In the Catholic Encyclopaedia (under Galilei) the English Jesuit, John Gerard, is not quite so lenient with the Roman Inquisition. Says Father Gerard:

 

. . . Then followed a decree of the Congregation of the Index dated 5th March, 1616, prohibiting various heretical works to which were added any advocating the Copernican system. In this decree no mention is made of Galileo, or of any of his works, neither is the name of the pope introduced, though there is no doubt that he fully approved the decision, having presided at the session of the Inquisition, wherein the matter was discussed and decided. In thus acting, it is undeniable that the ecclesiastical authorities committed a grave and deplorable error, and sanctioned an altogether false principle as to the proper use of Scripture.

 

Now when a Jesuit condemns the action of the Roman Inquisition, while a Protestant Freemason minimizes its culpability, it would seem that broad-mindedness, religious tolerance and good will are fairly progressing. One feels encouraged to hope that a few more sharp angles in religious controversy that have caused friction and strife may be cleared away, or at least be rounded off and smoothed down. I shall discuss here several pronunciamentos by recent popes that have aroused great animosity against the Roman Catholic Church. They will continue to engender distrust and hatred of her until the Vatican, in a Syllabus of Papal Errors, expresses its official regrets for them.

 

I. THE SYLLABUS OF POPE PIUS IX

 

This is a collection of errors condemned by this Pope and issued on the 8th of December, 1864. It had been prepared during the twelve preceding years by three successive commissions of theologians. These errors had been dealt with and proscribed sing]y by the Pope in his various Encyclicals, Consistorial Allocutions and Apostolic Letters. The Syllabus is a resume, in skeleton form, of these objectionable theses. As the then papal secretary of state, Cardinal Antonelli, explained in his concomitant letter, it was published chiefly for the guidance of the Catholic bishops some of whom, by chance, may never have read above Encyclicals and other papal documents.

 

Denzinger, in his Enchiridion, warns that in order to obtain the true sense of the Syllabus, it is necessary to consult the respective papal documents from which each condemned proposition is taken. Interpreted apart from the context, the Syllabus is bound to be misunderstood. As a matter of fact, countless readers have misunderstood it Gladstone and other discerning minds among them.

 

It may be a propos to suggest here that non-Catholics who are not theologians are venturing on slippery ground when they enter the field of Catholic theology and Canon law. Even Protestant theologians will do well to watch their step. Our Catholic theologians may often be lacking in ordinary common sense, and also in the ability to grasp the larger aspects of a problem. But they are trained dialecticians and thoroughly at home on the wide field of theology. A scholar who is not familiar with those grounds, nor trained in Aristotelian philosophy, takes his chances in engaging in a theological controversy with them.

 

I fully agree with Hillaire Belloc, the distinguished English Catholic literateur, that there is bound to be a conflict between the Vatican and the Washington government. When it comes, the Federal Government will make a bad mistake if it neglect to enlist the services of a few Catholic theologians. (No, I am not offering my services. I disclaim being a theologian!) Without them, it is almost certain to muddle the issue, aggravate unnecessarily a situation precarious enough, and probably arrive at an impasse. While, if the subject is broached cautiously, with the assistance of Catholic theologians, the Government may count on the support of the American Catholics and the Vatican will have to yield.

 

THE OBSCURITY OF THE SYLLABUS

 

A very common error in regard to the Syllabus is the following: the Pope condemns this thesis; therefore, it would seem, he holds that the opposite is the truth. This is not the case. A man who disclaims being a pro-German, does thereby not declare himself to be the opposite, that is, an anti-German. He may be a neutral.

 

The Pope proscribes proposition 55: "the church and state should be separated." From this many have inferred that he insists on the union of state and Church. This is a hasty conclusion. He merely maintains that Church and state do not necessarily have to be separated. The Lutherans in Germany and in the Scandinavian countries, the Anglicans in England, the adherents of the Reformed Church in Holland and Switzerland, will cordially agree with him. For these denominations are supported by the state.

 

Union of Church and state has invariably hampered the free development of the Church. Very frequently it meant the servitude of the Church under the state. The Roman Church is possessed of a perfect organization, of an extraordinary vitality, of an inexhaustible spiritual fecundity. She has a genius for creating, by her symbolism, ceremonial, ecclesiastical seasons, and external practices, a religious atmosphere in which religious interests tower over all other considerations and gradually permeate every phase of national life. A free Church in a free state has always ended in the triumph of the (Roman) Church and her ascendancy over the state. American patriotic zealots who fear that the papacy is aiming at the union of state and Church in