3. %.”. º -.* *、、。（...）， **...* á |×* . :）-și; ſ.---- ---- -----&… *-（~&# ！ »· -¿?-º R\，\ſ*.* ** ,\ ！ ）,- ----. &# :------ -·， ！ »- ~~~~ !,# '. '…-» ----*|-* .· · ·* +--~~~~';.… " +jººº，，， ſ. *...„-º ſºrſ º.* # : ;*-\，\� *, , ; ,* --> 4|--24′ . 2- ~&Ņ（„-ºſ“， •ſaeſ!!!！！!!！!!！!！!！!!!!!!！!!!!!!！!!!!！!!！ſººſ IIII， IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ∞ √≠ √C）**** • • • r^ • • • • • • • • • • • ► įº, ſººſ || ∞∞[…] SººHIIHIIIHIII T Utiliſtiſſiſſiſt[liſt[[tſi][H[[[[[[[H[IIIIII.| *iſſillilillſ||||||||||||ſ: I987 tº a nº sº º is sº ºr * * * * * * * * * * * * ·*** $ yw} ·）， ſºº .* |- * * * * * tº as º ºr ºr ºn tº ºr w sº º se tº I9 OI THE GIFT OF SAMUEL L. BIGELOW IIIllinſmiſſilluminimummimimummittiliſimilmmiſſilſº PROFEssor OF CHEMISTRY 2 tº gº tº -º as tº was º ºs º º ºs • * * * º EIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllliſ … ? >~*-- .§:.· *·- !，*·· ■·. . . ' ●+ ~ vº-±· - -»*·. -*·- ș，* .· *-*·· -*·«; THE REALITIES OF FREE MASON RY. A fi : Y (9 @ Y FROM THE CATHEIDRAL OF STRASBURG. * A A}< # X – 4 FROM THE CATH EDRAL OF PRESBURG, HUNGARY. ^{/+% Y \tº Jºf M4 ×M FROM THE CATHEDRAL OF BRECHIN, SCOTLANI). + X*-ī-, 4 × (R- FROM ST. MARY'S CHURCH, YOUGH AL, IRELAND. A D-1}{1}{: Nºſ: $; XXi’ FROM THE CHURCH OF BATALHA, PORTUGAL. (Z. 3 (D|6.7. 70 º #/. Jºſh, h. 3Xt 0%. 42/2] J.7 |- 3 %, 3. FRENCH METHOD OF WAR ITING THE MASONIC ALPHABET. (1, A € 0 & # a B. |{2|{ % $º #jú , it # 1. , k ºf m n 0 10 ?? . . (770 (//-, 71. 0/0 97%. Jº W 3 < ENGLISH METHOD OF WRITING THE MASONIC ALPHABET. THE REALITIES OF F R E E M AS O N RY eit BY MRS. BLAKE A l; T H or OF “Twelv E MONTHS IN SOUTHERN EU ROPE.” LONDON : CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 1879. PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND CO., Io, LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LIN colN's INN FIFLDS, THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRY. ------> --— CHAPTER I. FREEMASONRy, in some shape or other, either in the form of a ball, a dinner, or a charity, has presented itself probably to all of us. There are few persons who do not reckon a member of the Fraternity amongst their friends or acquaintances, and most of us have speculated over, or marvelled at, the mysterious importance and all but pre-historic antiquity claimed by the brethren of the Mystic Tie. The reticence of its members respecting everything connected with the craft, may have inspired us with a certain amount of awe as to the terror-striking ceremonies attending admission into the sacred precincts of a lodge, or of distrust as to the nature of deeds which so carefully shun the light—a distrust which happily in these countries at any rate, may easily be stifled by recalling the high characters borne by the majority of the members. As to the nature of the ceremonies practised in lodge, we are either utterly ignorant, or we have drawn our ideas of them from the aspersions cast upon the society by its enemies, or such I Żl 2 7A/E REAZAZYES OF FREEMASO/VR Y. ludicrous descriptions as may have found their way into works of fiction, though but few of us non-masons who have laughed over the witty parody of a masonic initiation introduced into the adventures of the celebrated Mr. Verdant Green, can have refrained from wondering that the delightful hero, with all his simplicity, could have been so easily imposed upon as to believe in the authenticity of the audacious hoax played upon him by his jovial companions. Truth, however, is proverbially stranger than fiction, and to those who are acquainted with the forms and cere- monies of modern Freemasonry, Verdant's mistake may not appear such a glaring one. The highest authority has pronounced that “if our deeds are evil, we shall shun the light,” and with what still greater eager- ness do we shrink from its rays when our deeds are—not evil, but ridiculous. Perhaps nothing has more contributed towards retaining a certain shroud of mystery around modern Freemasonry, during the hundred and sixty-five years of its existence, than its members being conscious that, were the outer world to be admitted to a knowledge of what the “labour” done in lodge really is, the “sons of light” would appear somewhat ridiculous in the eyes of the profane. - Shielded from the prying eyes of a “cowan,” if honest Tom Smith, the country bumpkin, or matter-of-fact John Snooks, the city clerk, is conscious that as slipshod and scantily-clothed he is led into a lodge to be admitted to the mysteries of Freemasonry, he must present rather a ludicrous figure to the eyes of the assembled brethren, he has at any rate the consolation of know- ing that each of those brethren has in his time been in the like absurd plight; that none of them can point at him the finger of Scorn, as each would equally draw on himself a share of the fellowship of ridicule. And Tom Smith or John Snooks can comfort himself by the reflection, that he can’t look such a fool after all, when princes and peers from Solomon downwards have been alike eager to take part in similar rites. Besides the sheep-like tendency of mankind to follow the 7A/E A2 EA/E/ZZAZS OF FREEMASOMA’Y. 3 example of their companions, and the ambition of lesser fry to enter a society in which nobles and members of the blood royal may be addressed as brother, another reason that has tended to the spread of Freemasonry at the present day, is that, in the minds of most men, there is a certain love of mystery per se. Not alone is it delightful to be acquainted with a very unimpor- tant fact, if participation in such knowledge be denied to our neighbour, but deeply rooted in most minds is the belief that somewhere there exists in this world a mysterious and intangible something, the acquisition of which will. bring us—we cannot exactly say what—but something greatly to be desired. The Roman Church, ready to meet every requirement of the human spirit, abounds in symbolism and mysteries, and is, therefore, eminently suited to the vulgar mind, while the Protestant Churches, 3. sternly refusing to be “all things to all men,” are chary of symbols, and scout mysteries, and therefore we see that a society professedly mysterious, such as Freemasonry, finds most favour in the eyes of Protestants. We have said that Freemasonry in its present form has only existed some hundred and sixty-five years or thereabouts. To make such a statement is indeed the rankest heresy in the eyes of most masons, some of whom have even gone so far as to declare that to call masonry a modern institution, is the greatest insult that can be offered to its members; but facts are stubborn things, and setting aside the fantastic legends and preposterous histories with which masons delight to astonish and perplex the initiated, and uninitiated, we find that it was in 1714, during the reign of Queen Anne, that the society assumed its present form, in consenting to a proposal “that the privileges of masonry should no longer be restricted to operative masons, but extend to men of various professions, provided that they were regularly approved and initiated into the order.”” It is true that previous to this date a few entries of the admis- * “Symbolism of Masonry.” Mackey. I—2 4. ZHE REALITYES OF FREEMASO/VRY. sion of non-operatives may be found in the records of some of the lodges; for example, in that of Kilwinning in Scotland. As early as 16oo we find Thomas Boswell, Esquire, of Auchinleck— an ancestor no doubt of the celebrated biographer—mentioned as belonging to St. Mary's Lodge, Edinburgh; in 1641 Robert Moray, Quarter-Master General of the Scottish army, was installed as a Master Mason ; and the well-known antiquarian, Elias Ashmole, states in his diary that he was made a Mason on the 16th of October, 1646, at Warrington, in Lancashire, “by Mr. R. Penkett, the warden, and the Fellowcrafts.”* These are the oldest names that can be authenticated, of men not actual operative masons, who were enrolled in the Fraternity, and they were probably admitted as a mark of especial esteem by the brotherhood, as now-a-days we see the freedom of livery com- panies presented to certain individuals, whom the particular company may delight to honour. The rise of this so-called speculative Freemasonry sounded the death-knell of what had been really great and admirable in the craft, and from this out Freemasonry in England degenerated into an affair of ribbons and tinsel, good dinners and high-flown truisms, while on the Continent it occupied itself with the more serious matters of revolution and socialism. To estimate the wide difference between modern and ancient Freemasonry, we need only turn from gazing at the glorious monuments of Christendom in the middle ages, almost all, if not all raised by the early guilds or corporations of Freemasons, to listen with amused bewilderment to the “mysterious nonsense” and elaborate platitudes which constitute the lectures and instruction of the masonic lodge of to-day. The masons of mediaeval times did not restrict themselves to long-winded orations concerning the symbolic morality of the compasses or the square, theirs was a “lively faith and doctrine’’ which they worked into dumb stone and mortar, till they became inspired with the builders' own silent * “Origin and Early History of Freemasonry.” Steinbrenner. Z}/A2 REALAZYES OF FREEMA,SO/VR Y. 5 worship of the one great Truth; and instead of the sounding brass and tinkling cymbals of mere empty words, to which modern masonry gives birth, the great masons of old left behind them monuments that as long as they last must ennoble and purify all who behold them. The attempt to write a history, however slight and sketchy it may be, of Freemasonry, is one fraught with difficulties, if in doing so we strive to steer clear of the innumerable fictions and misrepresentations of facts with which Masonic historians have encumbered their writings, while endeavouring at the same time to avoid giving undue weight to the attacks and libels made on the craft by its enemies. To ignore the ceremonies of Masonry in such a history would be much on a par with the well-known story of the performance of the play of Hamlet, in which the part of that prince was omitted, but for a knowledge of those ceremonies we are forced to beindebted,to revelations made by members who have been expelled from the brotherhood, and whose statements must be, of course, taken cum grano salis ; to the accounts given by those who have either accidentally become informed of the rites practised in lodge, or who have gained acquaintance with them without taking the oaths; or lastly, to communications made by some who have ceased to belong to the order, and who, from conscientious motives, have deemed it their duty to serve him whom they con- sider God's Vicar, rather than to obey rules made by man, and who, therefore, on being reconciled to the Church of Rome, have made a clean breast of what they must henceforward regard as the abominations of Freemasonry. Rituals and Masonic literature in general are for the most part dry reading, and necessitate siſting a large amount of husks in order to gather a very few grains that are worth finding; it may, therefore, be acceptable to some persons who feel any curiosity on the subject, if it is endeavoured to embody the result of such researches in as succinct and readable a form as the subject allows. 6 THE REALITYES OF FRAEEMASOAVRY. If we consult the orthodox Masonic histories of the institution, we find that they usually begin with the creation of the world, and occasionally cite the adoption of the aprons of fig-leaf by Adam and Eve as the first recorded instance of a Masonic rite. “For mystic learning wond’rous able In magic Talisman and cabal, Whose primitive tradition reaches As far as Adam's first green breeches.” * The regular foundation of the craft of Masonry, however, is said to have taken place at the building of the Tower of Babylon or Babel, and the signs and tokens to have arisen under the following circumstances — - Amongst the most expert of the labourers at the tower that was to reach unto heaven, there was a certain man who had the mis- fortune to be married to a wife whose temper was none of the Sweetest. One night before retiring to rest, she had rated her husband with even more than usual bitterness, and had then resigned herself to slumber. No sleep, however, visited the eye- lids of her unhappy husband, who lay awake pondering over the grand design whereby he hoped ere long to escape from the misery of his present life, and the thraldom of his termagant wife. But as he pictured to himself the joy of the release that he believed the future had in store for him, overcome with delight, he burst into a loud fit of laughter, whereupon the wife awoke and demanded the reason of his unwonted merriment. Tormented to desperation by her threats and importunities, the wretched man confessed the cause of his untimely mirth, and his wife learnt that her unhappy husband had entered into a con- spiracy with the rest of the builders of Babel, to carry on the work till the tower should reach to Heaven, and that as soon as the tower had touched the skies, the masons were to make the best of their way to the celestial regions, and leave their wives on earth below to shift for themselves as best they could. * “ Hudibras.” THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONR y. 7 This conspiracy, he explained, was nearly as old as the world itself, and arose from the resentment Adam felt against Eve for having been the cause of his losing Paradise. This feeling of resentment was so strong that when he died he had left a charge to his male descendants, binding them to revenge themselves on womankind at the earliest opportunity; in short, they were to take every means to secure Heaven for themselves, and at the same time to do their utmost to exclude the female portion of humanity from attaining the Bowers of Bliss. It was in obedience to this command of Father Adam, con- fessed the miserable mason, that he and his companions had now bound themselves by an oath of secrecy to carry the tower of Babel straight up to Heaven. Of course, as soon as day broke, the wife lost no time in im- parting to the other women the sorry trick their husbands intended playing them; no sooner was the secret divulged than the whole camp was in an uproar, and the Confederate Body of Freemasons “broke up in such confusion that they understood not one another but by signs and tokens to depart; and so they left their tools behind. Now the learned do agree, those signs remain among accepted masons even to this day.” The accuracy of Masonic records may be appreciated from the fact that in one place Eachlid or Euclid is mentioned as an Egyptian scholar, the pupil of Abraham and Sarah, who are stated to have journeyed into the land of Egypt for the laudable purpose of instructing the inhabitants in the seven sciences. It is related that the patriarch had a “worthy scholar called Eachlid, and he learned right well, and was master of all the seven sciences.” In his day, “the lords and states of the realm had so many sons, some by their wives and some by their ladies of the realm,” that no suitable provision would be found for them, so the king assembled a great council, or Parliament, and “caused a cry to be made throughout the realm if there were any man that * “The Secret History of the Freemasons,” 1723. 8 7 HE REA/ATIES OF FREEMASOMA” V. would inform him” how to support the surplus population. There- upon Eachlid presented himself before the king, and undertook to bring up the young men in the way they should go, and teach them an art whereby they would procure a livelihood, on con- dition of having “a commission, that he may have power to rule them honestly, as the science ought to be ruled.” The king “granted them a vow, and sealed that commission,” and Eachclid proceeded to teach the “worthy science of geo- metry, practice to work mysteries of all manner of works that belong to building of castles and temples, and churches, with all other building. And he gave them charge in this manner: First, they should be true to the king and to the lord that they served, and that they should live well together, and be true to one another, and that they should call one another Fellows, and not servants, nor his knave, nor any foul names, and that they should truly deserve their payment to the Lord that they serve; and that they should ordain the wisest to be the masters of the work, whereby he should not be evil served, and they ashamed ; and that they should call him the governour of the work whilst they worked with him ; and many other charges which are too long to tell. And to all these charges he made them swear the great oath that men used to Swear at that time, and ordained for them reasonable payment, that they might live by it honestly; and also that they should come and assemble there together, that they might have counsel in their craft how they might work best to serve their Lord for their profit and worship, and to correct themselves if they have trespassed.”* Tales innumerable of a similar nature are related with more or less gravity by the Masonic historians, and tegether with dull minutes of the transactions of the various lodges form the bulk of the so-called histories of the craft. The confusion in dates is particularly puzzling, not even an attempt being made to reconcile differences of several centuries between periods at which individuals must have lived. * “Secret History of the Freemasons.” 7"HE REAC/ZYES OF FREEMASOAVRY. 9 Thus Mainus Graccus, “a curious Mason that had been at the making of Solomon's Temple,” is described as travelling into France, and teaching “the craft of masonry to a man of France, that was named Charles Martell.” ” Masonry having been introduced into France by this Methu- Selah, it made its appearance in England during the reign of Carausius, who employed St. Alban to “environ the City of Verulam with a stone wall, and to build him a fine palace, for which that British King made St. Alban the steward of his household and chief ruler of the realm.” St. Alban is said to have “cherished masons much,” and to have “made their pay right good,” as he gave them two shillings a week “and threepence to their charge,” whereas, before his time, “through all the land a mason had but a penny a day and his meat.”f So much for the legendary, or rather the imaginary history of Freemasonry, its identity with the ancient pagan and Egyptian societies being purely fictitious.: As the imagination of man is limited, all secret societies must be similar in many respects, such resemblances, however, being as frequently the result of accident, as the inherited features of legi- timate descent. It is to the middle ages that we must look for the first authentic records concerning the Freemasons. The state of society in those days, the constant petty warfare, the tyranny of the nobles, the ignorance of the masses, and the helplessness engendered by that ignorance, caused the rise of innumerable societies, or guilds, in which the powerless individual found the strength and support arising from union. In England, even during the Saxon period, we find these asso- ciations existing, to which the name guild was applied, from the * “Secret History of the Freemasons.” + “Constitutions of Freemasonry.” Anderson, 1722 # “Origin and Early History of Freemasonry.” Steinbrenner. IO ZłżA. REA//ZYES OF FREEMASOAVR V. Saxon word gildan, to pay, each member contributing a weekly or annual subscription to the common fund of the corporation.* At first these societies appear to have been formed chiefly with the view to mutual protection, the fraternity exercising at the same time a certain amount of control over the individual mem- bers, and enforcing obedience to the rules of the society by fines, or the threat of expulsion and exclusion from the benefits arising from membership. In an account given of a bond of fellowship amongst the thanes of Cambridgeshire, it is stated that any member who killed his fellow must pay a fine of eight pounds, not including, it is sup- posed, the wergild, or fine paid to the crown. Fines of various amounts were ordained for the murder of indi- viduals, according to their different stations. For a churl two ora, said to be equal to ten shillings, was the fine imposed, while the slaying of a Welshman could be atoned for the modest sum of five shillings. The members contributed towards the payment of these fines, should the deed that necessitated the fine have appeared to them to have been a justifiable one. In cases, however, where the gilda, or fellow, had committed the murder wantonly, he was forced to pay the entire fine himself. If a member used violent language towards a stranger, he rendered himself liable to a fine, and it was forbidden to eat or drink in company with any man who had slain his fellow, unless the king, a bishop, or an alder- man were present; probably the appearance of the erring brother in such exalted society being regarded as proof of his inno- Cell Ce. In the reign of Athelstane many such guilds were formed among persons of all ranks, and their statutes were confirmed by the king. In some of them, if a member of the society were robbed, it was enacted that the robber should be killed and his property seized and divided into two parts, one to be given to the wife of the dead man, while the other was shared between the king and * “Europe During the Middle Ages.” Hallam. ZHE REAZZZZES OF FREEMASONA. Y. I I the fraternity. In an association existing among the clergy and laity at Exeter, each member was entitled to a certain sum in the event of taking a journey or of having his house burnt down.” About the same period the various classes of traders appeared to have formed themselves into guilds, the desire to exclude out- siders from entering into competition in their various trades and professions, adding, of course, to the stimulus given to the guilds. The oldest of these trading corporations is said to be that of the weavers of London.* The desire of individual artisans and traders to form them- selves into corporate bodies being so general, it is not surprising that the masons whose profession, to a great extent, necessitated a roving life, should have felt the expediency of forming them- selves into a fraternity in which their wandering habits probably rendered some secret sign of mutual recognition desirable. Most of the great cathedrals and churches of Europe date from the I Ith century. The piety of the world had been wrought to a pitch of intense excitement by the expected end of all things unaccountably fixed by popular belief to take place in the year Iooo; and when the fatal year, and the following one, which some considered as the real date for the sounding of the last trumpet, passed without the arrival of the awful and dreaded catastrophe, the sense of general relief found expression in raising magnificent temples to the glory and honour of the Deity who had abstained from delivering the earth to destruction. The monks and clergy were naturally foremost in promoting this expression of zeal and piety; and in those days when the Church was the fountain of learning, the great patron of art and civilisation, and the principal bulwark opposed to the brutality and ignorance of the nobles, it was only to be expected that from its midst should arise the builders, skilled and pious enough, to undertake the erection of the mighty piles expressive of the devotion and gratitude of mankind. * “Europe During the Middle Ages.” Hallam. t Ibid. p. 156. I 2 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONR Y. Bitter as is the hostility of the Church of Rome to the Free- masonry of to-day, it was under the patronage of the Catholic Church that the fraternities of Freemasons first arose. As at the present day in Scotland, when engaged on a work that occupies any length of time, a “Cothy’ of masons erect a rude “bothy ’’ or “barrack’ near the building on which they are engaged,” in which barrack they reside till the completion of the work, so in olden times bands of artisans and workmen collected round the monasteries, inhabiting rude huts, which they raised near the spot where they were employed. These workmen, being in the employment of the monks, were necessarily under their control and direction, and gradually appear to have become per- manently connected with the different convents as lay-brothers; the monks instructed them in the art of building and carving, inculcated amongst them the preservation of peace and harmony, and regulated their social life by strict rules and statutes. These lodges or fraternities are said to have been first formed in Germany; one is mentioned as having been founded by Abbot William of Hirschau, Palatine of Sheuren, in Io8o, for the purpose of enlarging and finishing his “Convent of Hirschau.”f As time went on these lodges grew in numbers, and the mem- bers increased in skill and learning, till at length through their agency magnificent Gothic buildings were erected all over Europe. The lodges or assemblies where the masons met for the purpose of consultation and instruction in their art, were always opened and closed with a catechism or dialogue between the master and his men. In Germany the custom of commencing business in this manner is so old, that its origin can no longer be traced. For- merly it was the practice, not only in the different guilds and crafts, but was even found in the ceremonies of the Courts of Justice, the Weſtmi-Gerichte, and so on. * “My Schools and School Masters.” Hugh Miller. + “Origin and Early History of Freemasonry.” Steinbrenner. f Ibid. + THE REAAAZYASS OF FREEMASONRY. I3 In these lodges the rules of architectural art, such as the pro- portions to be followed in building, the construction of plans, and the mystical meaning of the various architectural ornaments were preserved as treasured secrets. These secrets were only com- municated to a member of the fraternity who had been duly initiated into the guild, after he had served his apprenticeship and had then travelled as a journeyman for a certain number of years. At the expiration of this term he was fully instructed in everything relating to the higher branches of the art of building, and in the symbolism and allegories of ecclesiastical architecture. When all this had been fully learnt, he was competent to act as a master himself. In course of time, when their work at a particular monastery or church was completed, the workmen formed them- selves into bands under the leadership of an experienced monk or architect, and travelled from convent to convent seeking work.” The greater part of Europe was then covered with vast forests and dangerous morasses, with little spots of reclaimed land scattered here and there, whilst large patches of cultivation were only found in the neighbourhood of towns, and perhaps of monas. teries. Bridle paths were the sole means of traversing the steep and treacherous mountains, amid whose fastnesses lurked bands of robbers to whom bloodshed and murder were the merest child’s play. Roads were few, and travelling was attended with many dangers; these bands of workmen were therefore always well armed, the disturbed state of the countries through which they passed rendering such a precaution absolutely necessary. The custom of dedicating individuals and societies to the honour of particular saints, whose patronage and protection such dedication was presumed to secure, was then universal, and these companies accordingly assumed the name of Confraternities of St. John.f Living under the constant supervision of the monks, then mostly men of exemplary piety and devotion ; depending for their * “Storia, Dottrina e Scopo della Framassoneria.” Vienna. Anon. + Ibid. I 4 Z}/E REAZAZYES OA' F/?A2A2 MASOAVRY. livelihood on the goodwill of the Church, which had not yet fallen into the corruptions that disfigured it at a later period, it was natural that the Masonic fraternities should have been distin- guished for their religious zeal and artistic enthusiasm. * Religious zeal and artistic enthusiasm went hand in hand in those days; religion regarded art as her most worthy handmaid, and art beheld in religion her protector, and the noblest source of inspiration. We know that Fra Angelico never began to paint without having first prayed for divine guidance and assistance, and so earnest was the conviction of the sanctity of all kinds of art, that Guido Arretino, an Italian monk, and the inventor of our present musical scale, considered that invention as having “atoned for all his sins.” - Music and painting being thus devoutly regarded, sculpture and architecture could not fail in meeting with equal reverence, and accordingly we find that in recognition of the masons' reli- gious zeal and devotion to art, the Sovereign Pontiff and the kings of the territories in which the fraternities worked, released them from rural servitude, from taxation, and from different other burdens imposed on the remainder of the population.* From this circum- stance they were called Free or Liberated Masons, though some persons have traced the origin of the name to the fact that they were Free-stonemasons; that is, masons who worked in free-stone, as distinguished from the rough masons who merely built walls and worked in rough unhewn stone,f while Anderson, in his “History of the Constitutions,” affirms that they were called Free Masons because they only taught their art to such as were free-born. As buildings were in course of construction in various parts of Europe, the Freemasons were divided into different companies, though all had their head-quarters or grand lodge at Strasburg. Individuals or small parties of masons went from one lodge to * “Storia, Dottrina e Scopo della Framassoneria.” + “Origin and Early History of Freemasonry.” Steinbrenner. THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRY. I5 another, as it may have suited them, but all who were members of the fraternity, that is, who belonged to a lodge, and had been initiated into its rules and secrets, held the simple labouring masons in contempt, and would have nothing to do with such as did not belong to their society.* They were, in fact, a trades- union of the strictest type. The Lodge of Strasburg was founded by Urwin of Steinbach, when he commenced the cathedral in 1277, and its authority was acknowledged by all other German lodges. At first the rules and regulations of the lodges were everywhere handed down by word of mouth, and were, of course, liable to the inac- curacies and omissions that speedily assail oral traditions. We have no authentic records of the first two centuries of the existence of the Lodge of Strasburg, but it would appear that the ancient statutes and forms had become confused and irregular, as in 1459 the Masonic fraternity found it necessary to call a general assembly of the brotherhood, in order to decide upon and to draw up a list of their statutes and institutions. The first assembly was held at Ratisbon in 1459, on Easter- day. Shortly after, another assembly met at Strasburg, in which the institutions drawn up at Ratisbon were finally adopted, and received the sanction of the Emperor Maximilian in 1498.f These statutes were kept secret from the profane, but were read at least once a year in all lodges which acknowledged the supremacy of that of Strasburg. The Strasburg constitutions were first printed in 1819, and were copied from an ancient manuscript in the possession of the Grand Lodge of Strasburg. CONSTITUTIONS OF THE GERMAN MASONS OF STRASBURG (1459). - In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and of our gracious mother, Mary, and also of her blessed servants, the holy four crowned martyrs of everlasting * “Storia Universale.” Cantu. + “The History of Freemasonry.” Findel. 16 THAZ A&E A/L/7/ES OF FREEMA,SOAVRY. memory; considering that true friendship, unanimity, and obedi- ence are the foundation of all good, therefore, for the general advantage and free will of all princes, nobles, lords, cities, chapters, and convents, who may desire at this time or in future to build churches, choirs, or other great works of stone, and edifices; that they may be the better provided and supplied, and also for the benefit and requirements of the masters and fellows of the whole craft of masonry, and masons in Germany, and more especially to avoid in future, between those of the craft, dissensions, differences, costs, and damages, by which irregular acts many masters have suffered grievously, contrary to the good custom and ancient usages maintained and practised in good faith by the seniors and patrons of the craft in ancient times. But that we may continue to abide therein in a true and peaceful way, have we masters and fellows all, of the said craft, congregated in chapters at Spires, at Strasburg, and at Regensburg, in the name and on behalf of ourselves and all other masters and fellows of our whole common craft above men- tioned, renewed and revised these ancient usages, and kindly and affably agreed upon these statutes and fraternity; and having by common consent drawn up the same, have also vowed and promised, for ourselves and all our successors, to keep them faithfully, as hereafter stands writ. Firstly : If any of the articles in these statutes should prove to be too strict and severe, or others too light and mild, then may those who are of the fraternity, by a majority, modify, decrease, or increase such articles, according to the requirements of the time, or country, or circumstance. The resolutions of those who shall thenceforth be observed, in accordance with the oath taken by every one : Item : Whoever of his own free will desires to enter into this fraternity, according to the regulations as hereafter stand writ in this book, shall promise to keep all the points and articles, for then only can he be of our craft. Masters, as well as fellows, must conduct themselves honourably, and not infringe upon the 7 HE REALIZIES OF FREEMASOAVR}^. 17 rights of others, or they may be punished according to these statutes, on the occasion of every such transgression. Item : Whatever regular works and buildings are now in pro- gress of erection by journey work, such buildings and works shall be continued by journey work, and in nowise by task work; so that nothing be not short of the work, to the damage of the contract, as far as possible. Item : If any craftsman who has had a regular work should die, then any craftsman or master, skilled in masonry, and sufficient and able for the work, may aspire to complete the said work, so that the lords owning or superintending such building may again be supplied with the requirements of masonry. So also may any fellow who understands such masonry. Item : Any master may, in addition to his own work, under- take a work abroad, or a master who has no such work may like- wise undertake it, in which case he may give such work or building in good faith, in journey work, and continue it as best he can or may, so that the work and progress be not interrupted, according to the regulations and customs of masonry. If a master fails to satisfy those persons who committed the work to him, and reliable information be given thereof, then shall the said master be called to account by the craft, corrected, and punished, after having been sentenced ; but if the lords are not willing so to do, then may he do it as they choose, be it by task or journey work. Item : If any master, who has had such a work or building. die, and another master comes and finds such stone-work, be the stone-work set or not, then shall such master not pull down the set stones, nor in anywise cast away the hewn and unset stones, without previous council and agreement with other craftsmen, so . that the owners and other honourable persons who caused such edifice to be builded, be not put to unjust expense, and that also the master who left such work be not defrauded. But if the owner choose to have such work removed, then he may have it done, provided he seeks no undue advantage thereby. 2 I8 THE REA LITYES OF FREEMASO/VRY. Item : Two masters shall not share in the same work of build- ing, unless it be a small one, which can be finished in the course of a year. Such a work he may have in common with him that is a brother. Item : If any master accepts a work in contract, and makes a design for the same, how it shall be builded, then he shall not cut anything short of the design, but shall execute it according to the plan which he has shown to the lords, cities, or people, so that nothing be altered. * Any master or fellow who shall take away from another master of the fraternity of craftsmen, a work on which he is engaged, or who shall endeavour to dispossess him of such work, clandestinely or openly, without the knowledge or consent of the master who has such work, be the same small or great, he shall be called to account. No master or fellow shall keep fellowship with him, nor shall any fellow of the fraternity work for him, so long as he is engaged in the work which he has thus dishonestly acquired, nor until he has asked pardon, and shall also have been punished in the fraternity by the masters, as is ordained by these statutes. No workmen, nor master, nor parlirer, nor fellow-craft, shall instruct anyone whosoever, who is not of our craft, in any part if he has not in his day practiced masonry. No craftsman nor master shall take money from a fellow for teaching or instructing him in anything belonging to masonry, nor shall any parlirer or fellow-craft instruct anyone for money's sake; but if one wishes to instruct the other, they may do so mutually or for fraternal affection. * Item : A master who has a work or a building for himself, may have three apprentices, and may also set to work fellows of the same lodge : that is, if his lords do permit; but if he have more buildings than one, then shall he have no more than two apprentices on the aforementioned building, so that he shall not have more than five apprentices on all his buildings. Item : No craftsman or master shall be received in the frater- nity, who goes not early to the Holy Communion, or who keeps THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 19 not Christian discipline, or who squanders his substance at play ; but should anyone be inadvertently accepted into the fraternity who does these things as aforesaid, then shall no master nor fellow keep fellowship with him until he desists therefrom, and has been punished therefor by those of the fraternity. No craftsman nor master shall live in adultery while engaged in masonry; but if such a one will not desist therefrom, then shall no travelling fellow nor mason work in company with him, nor keep fellowship with him. Item : If a fellow-craft takes work with a master, who is not accepted into the fraternity of craftsmen, then shall the said fellow not be punishable therefor, etc. But if a fellow would take unto himself a lawful wife, and not being employed in a lodge, would establish himself in a city, and be obliged to serve with a craft, he shall on every ember week pay four pennies, and shall be exempt from the weekly penny, because he be not employed in the lodge. If a master have a complaint against another master for having violated the regulations of the craft, or a master against a fellow, or a fellow against another fellow, any master or fellow who is concerned therein shall give notice thereof to the master who presides over the fraternity, and the master who is thereof informed shall hear both parties, and set a day when he will try the cause; and meanwhile, before the fixed or appointed day, no fellow shall avoid the master, nor master drive away the fellow, but render services mutually until the hour when the matter is to be heard and settled. This shall be done according to the judg- ment of the craftsmen, which shall be observed accordingly. Moreover, the case shall be tried on the spot where it arose, before the nearest master who keeps the book of statutes, and in whose district it occurred. Item : Every Parlirer shall honour his master, be true and faithful to him, according to the rule of masonry, and obey him with undivided fidelity as is meet and of ancient usage. So also shall a fellow. 2O THE REAAA 7TIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. And when a travelling fellow-craft desires to travel farther, he shall part from his master, and from the lodge, in such wise as to be indebted to no one, and that no man have any grievance against him, as is meet and proper. A travelling fellow, in whatever lodge he may be employed, shall be obedient to his master and to the Parlirer, according to the rule and ancient usage of masonry, and shall also keep all the regulations and privileges which are of ancient usage in the said lodge, and shall not revile his master's work, either secretly Or openly, in any wise. But if the master infringe upon these regulations, and act contrary to them, then may any one give notice thereof. n Every craftsman employing workmen in the lodge to whom is confided these statutes, and who is duly invested with authority, shall have power and authority in the same over all contentions and matters which pertain to masonry, to try and punish in his district. All masters, Parlirers, and apprentices shall obey him. . A fellow who has travelled and is practised in masonry, and who is of this fraternity, who wishes to serve a craftsman on a portion of the work, shall not be accepted by that craftsman or master, in any wise, for a less term than two years. Item : All masters and fellows who are of this fraternity shall faithfully keep all the points and articles of these regulations, as hereinbefore and hereafter stand written, etc. The master who has charge of the book shall, on the oath of the fraternity, have a care that the same be not copied, either by himself orby any other person, or given, or lent, so that the book remains intact, according to the resolution of the craftsmen. But if any one of the craftsmen, being of this fraternity, have need or cause to know one or two articles, that any master may give him in writing, every master shall cause these statutes to be read every year to the fellows in the lodge. Item : If a complaint be made involving a greater punishment —as, for instance, expulsion from masonry, the same shall not Z}/E REALIZYES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. 2 I be tried or judged by one master in his district, but the two nearest masters who are entrusted with the copies of the statutes, and who have authority over the fraternity, shall be summoned by him, so that there may be three. The fellows, also, who were at work at the place where the grievance arose shall be sum- moned also, and whatsoever shall be with one accord agreed upon by those three, together with all the fellows, or by a majority thereof in accordance with their oath and best judgment, shall be observed by the whole fratermity of craftsmen. Item : If two or more masters who are of the fraternity be at variance or discord about matters which do not concern masonry, they shall not settle these matters anywhere but before masonry, which shall judge and reconcile them as far as possible, but so that the agreement be made without prejudice to the lords or cities who are concerned in the matter. - 1. Now in order that these regulations of the craft may be kept more honestly, with service to God and other necessary and becoming things, every master who has craftsmen at work in his lodge and practises masonry, and is of this fraternity, shall first pay one florin on entering this fraternity, and afterwards each year four blapparts—namely, on each Ember week one blappart, or Bohemian, to be paid into the box of the fraternity, and each fellow four blapparts, and so likewise an apprentice who has served his time. 2. All masters and craftsmen who are of this fraternity, and who employ workmen in their lodges, shall each of them have a box, and each fellow shall pay into the box weekly one penny. Every master shall faithfully treasure up such money, and what may be derived from other sources, and shall each year deliver it to the fraternity at the nearest place where a book is kept, in order to provide for God's worship and to supply the necessaries of the fraternity. - 3. Every master who has a box, if there be no book in the same lodge, shall deliver the money each year to the master who has charge of the book, and where the book is there shall also 22 Z}/E REALITYES OF APRAEEMASOAVR V. be held divine worship. If a master or fellow dies in a lodge where no book is kept, another master or fellow of the said lodge shall give notice thereof to the master who has a book, and when he has been informed thereof he shall cause a mass to be said for the repose of the soul of him who has departed, and all the masters and fellows of the lodge shall assist at the mass and contribute thereto. - 4. If a master or fellow be put to any expense or disburse- ment, for account of the fraternity, and notice be given of how the same occurred, and such master or fellow shall be repaid his expenses, be the same small or great, out of the box of the fraternity; if also any one gets into trouble with courts or in other matters relating to the fraternity, then shall every one, be he master or fellow, afford him aid and relief, as he is bound to do by the oath of the fraternity. 5. If a master or fellow fall sick, or a fellow who is of the fraternity, and has lived uprightly in masonry, be afflicted with protracted illness, and want for food and necessary money, then shall the master who has charge of the box lend him relief and assistance from the box, if he otherwise may, until he recover from his sickness; and he shall afterward vow and promise to restitute the same into the box. But if he should die in such sickness, then so much shall be taken from what he leaves at his death, be it clothing or other articles, as to repay that which had been loaned to him, if so much there be. THESE ARE THE STATUTES OF THE PARLIRERS AND FELLOws. No craftsman or master shall set at work a fellow who com- mits adultery, or who openly lives in illicit intercourse with women, or who does not yearly make confession, and goes not to the holy communion according to the Christian discipline, nor one who is so foolish as to lose his clothing at play. Item : If any fellow should wantonly take leave of a grand Lodge, or from another lodge, he shall not ask for employment in the said lodge for a year to come. 7THE REALITYES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. 23 Item : If a craftsman or master wishes to discharge a travel- ling fellow whom he had employed, he shall not do so unless on a Saturday, or on a pay-evening, so that he may know how to travel on the morrow, unless he be guilty of an offence. The same shall also be done by a fellow-craft. Item : A travelling fellow shall make application for employ- ment to no one but the master of the work or the Parlirer, neither clandestinely nor openly, without the knowledge and will of the master. REGULATIONS OF THE APPRENTICES. No Craftsman nor master shall, knowingly, accept as an appren- tice one who is not of lawful birth, and shall earnestly inquire thereof before he accepts him, and shall question such apprentice on his word whether his father and mother were duly united in lawful wedlock. Item : No craftsman or master shall promote any of his ap- prentices as a Parlirer whom he has taken from his rough state, notwithstanding he may have served his years of apprenticeship, if he has not travelled for the space of one year, etc. Item : Whoever desires to enter this fraternity shall promise ever to keep steadfastly all these articles hereinbefore and here- after written in this book, except our gracious lord the Emperor, or the king, princes, lords, or any other nobles, by force or right, should be opposed to his belonging to the fraternity, that shall be a sufficient excuse, so that there be no harm therein. But for what he is indebted for to the fraternity, he shall come to an agreement thereon with the craftsmen who are in the fraternity. Although by Christian discipline every Christian is bound to provide for his own salvation, yet it must be duly remembered by the masters and craftsmen whom the Almighty God has graci- ously endowed with their art and workmanship, to build houses of God and other costly edifices, and honestly to gain their living thereby, that by gratitude their hearts be justly moved unto true Christian feelings, to promote divine worship, and to merit the 24 THE REAAATIES OF APRAEEMASOAVR Y. salvation of their souls thereby. Therefore, to the praise and honour of Almighty God, his worthy mother Mary, of all her blessed saints, and particularly of the holy four crowned martyrs, and especially for the salvation of the souls of all persons who are of this fraternity, or who may hereafter belong to it, have we craftsmen of masonry stipulated and ordained for us and all our successors, to have a divine service yearly at the four holy festivals, and on the day of the holy four crowned martyrs, at Strasburg, in the minster of the high chapter, in our dear lady's chapel, with vigils and soul masses, after the manner to be instituted. It was determined upon the day at Spires, on the ninth day of April, in the year counting from God’s birth, 1464, that the work- master, Jost Dotzinger, of Worms, workmaster of the high chapter at Strassburg, shall have an assembly of craftsmen in his district, when three or four masters shall be taken and chosen, to come together on a certain day, as they may agree, and what is there determined on by a majority of those who are so congre- gated in chapters, and who are then present, and how they may decrease or increase some articles that shall be kept throughout the whole fraternity. That day shall be on St. George's day, in the sixty-ninth year. These are the masters who were present on the day at Spires, on the ninth day of April, in the year 1464. Item : Jost Dotzinger, of Worms, workmaster of our dear lady's minster of the high chapter at Strassburg; item : Master Hans von Esselingen ; item : Master Vincencie von Constanz; item : Master Hans von Hezltburn; item : Master Peter von Algesheim, Master at Unhausen; item : Werner Meglon, of Basle, on behalf of Master Peter Knobel, of Basle, etc. etc. * The excellence of the work done by the Masonic Fraternities, and the benefit they were to the Church, had early attracted to them marks of the especial favour of the Popes. * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. ZTAZE RAEAZAZT/ES OF F/8 EAEMASOAVA’Y. 25 In 1270, we find Pope Nicholas III. confirming all the privileges previously granted, and bestowing on them further charters and especial indulgences.* Indeed, all the Popes up to Benedict XII. appear to have conceded marked favours to the Freemasons, even to the length of exempting them from the necessity of observance of the statutes, from municipal regula- tions, and from obedience to royal edicts.f. It is not therefore surprising that we learn that the Freemasons, ere long, took “Liberty” for their motto, and were accused of refusing to acknowledge the legitimate authority of the magistrates.f In England, their unruliness called for the interference of Parliament, and Statute 24, Edward III., entitled “Le Statut d'Artificers and Servants” was enacted, on account of the turbu- lent conduct of the masons who were employed at Windsor Castle, under the direction of William of Wykeham. These masons, considering their wages as too low, broke their contracts, and, as it would now be called, “went on strike.” As they still persisted in refusing to return to their work, in 1356, Statute 30, Edward III. was passed, ordaining that, “If labourers or artificers absent themselves out of their services in another town or county, the party shall have suit before the justices, and if he does not return after three months, and for falsity, he shall be burned in the forehead with an iron made and formed to the letter F (for false), but may be respited by the justices. No artificer shall take wages on festival days.” $ When the armed companies of workmen we have already men- tioned, travelled from place to place, they were distinguished by a peculiar costume, consisting of a short black or grey tunic, in Summer made of linen, in winter, of some woollen material, which was open at the sides, with a gorget to which a cowl or hood was attached; round the waist was a leathern girdle, from which depended a short heavy sword and a leather satchel. * “Storia, Dottrina, e Scopo della Framasoneria.” f Ibid. f “Letter of the Abbé Grandidier, 1782.” § “Origin and Early History of Freemasonry.” Steinbrenner. 26 THE REAAE/ZYAE.S OF APREEMASOAVRY. Over the tunic they wore a black scapulary, similar to that used by the priests; when working, they tucked it up under the girdle, but on high days and holidays, and when engaged at their reli- gious duties, it was allowed to hang down. It is probable this Scapulary also served as a coverlet at night, as was generally the custom in the middle ages, sheets and blankets being luxuries reserved for very great personages.* On their heads they had large felt or straw hats, and tight leather breeches and long boots completed their costume. - Attached to these companies were a certain number of youths called oblati, who had been adopted by the monks, and who were usually ultimately received into the monasteries. They acted as serving-brothers to the masons, fetching stone, mortar, and so on for them, when necessary, tending the sick, and performing all offices of a similar nature. When travelling, the tools and provisions belonging to the party were carried on a pack-horse or mule, which was placed in the centre of the convoy, and of which the oblatt had the charge. The dress of the latter was similar to that of the other masons, with the exception that they wore no gorget or cowl. This dis- tinctive costume was retained by the masons unchanged in its fashion, for no less than three centuries.f. In order to keep themselves distinct from the ordinary crowd of rough masons, who could merely build walls and erect the rude huts which formed the dwellings of the labouring classes, the Freemasons, who were acquainted with the science of their art, agreed upon signs of mutual recognition, and adopted the instru- ments of their profession—the rule, the level, the compasses, and the hammer—as their symbols, so that no mason, not acquainted with the interpretation of these signs, could gain admittance to their assemblies and obtain access to their knowledge by repre- senting himself as a member of the Fraternity who had worked at * “History of Agriculture and Prices in England.” Thorold Rogers. + “Origin and Early History of Freemasonry.” Steinbrenner. THE REAL/ZTIES OF FREEMASOAVR V. 27 a distance or in other countries.* Wherever the companies of Freemasons went, they made especial contracts with the inhabi- tants, containing such stipulations as, that every labourer was to be provided with a white apron and gloves, of a peculiar kind of leather, and that a lodge or hut, covered with tiles, should be built for their accommodation.* This demand for gloves was not a peculiar one on the part of the masons. Giving presents of gloves was a very general custom in mediaeval times. So common was it to give away gloves, that when the harvest was over, gloves were sometimes distributed to the labourers who had been employed in gathering it in, while when handsomely embroidered and sometimes enriched with jewels, gloves formed an offering gladly accepted by princes and great dignitaries. The bare hand thus came to be regarded as a symbol of hostility, the gloved hand as a token of peace and goodwill. The custom of bestowing gloves at weddings and funerals, which still lingers in some places, is a relic of the general fashion of glove-giving in the middle ages.f As the society grew in importance, it did not show more in- clination than formerly to obey the civil power. In England, as the statute of Edward III. was disregarded by the Freemasons, in 1425, during the minority of Henry VI., the Parliament passed an Act forbidding masons to confederate in chapters and congre- gations, because by “yearly congregations and confederacies made by masons in their general assemblies, the good cause and effect of the statutes of labourers be openly violated and broken, in subversion of the law, and to the great damage of all the Com- mons,” and if such take place, “they that cause such chapters and congregations to be assembled and holden, if they thereof be convict, shall be judged for felons. And that other masons who come to such chapters and congregations be punished by * “Storia Universale.” Cantu. f “History of Agriculture and Prices in England.” Thorold Rogers. 28 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASO/WRY. imprisonment of their bodies, and make fine and ransom at the King's will.” + - This statute does not, however, appear to have ever been very rigorously enforced ; the troublous times that succeeded, and the lawlessness engendered by the Wars of the Roses leaving little of public attention to spare for such minor matters as the un- ruliness of working masons. Masonic historians indeed assert that Henry VI. afterwards himself joined the masonic frater- nity, and an account of a conversation between him and a Free- mason, in the king's own handwriting, is said to have been dis- covered in the Bodleian Library. There is little doubt, however, that if such a document ever existed, it was a forgery.f In the reign of Elizabeth we again find that the masons were, for a time, in bad odour with the authorities. “Now learning of all sorts revived, and the good old Augustan style in England began to peep out from under its rubbish, and it would have Soon made great progress if the queen had affected architec- ture ; but hearing the masons had certain secrets that could not be revealed to her (for that she could not be Grand Master), and being jealous of all secret assemblies, she sent an armed force to break up their annual Grand Lodge at York, on St. John's Day, 27th December, 1561. But Sir Thomas Sackville, Grand Master, took care to make some of the chief men sent, Freemasons, who then joining in that communication, made a very honourable report to the queen, who never more attempted to dislodge or disturb them; but esteemed them a peculiar sort of men, that cultivated peace and friendship, arts and sciences, without meddling in the affairs of Church or State.j: ” * “Book of the Constitutions of Freemasonry.” Anderson. + “Histoire de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. it “Book of the Constitutions.” Anderson. CHAPTER II. PROTECTED beneath the shadow of the Church, on the Continent masonry does not seem to have aroused the animosity of those in authority till towards the end of the seventeenth century. During the sixteenth century, architecture, and with it Free- masonry, was on the decline. By that time most of the cities and towns were provided with churches more or less magnificent, and monasteries and convents covered the lands in mischievous abundance. The demand for highly-skilled architects and work. men was decreasing ; so, as a matter of course, in the meetings of their lodges, Freemasons began to lose sight of the main object for which such assemblies had been instituted, and gradually ceased to study the progress and development of their art, while devoting themselves more and more to the mere practice of peculiar ceremonies and eccentric customs, and to the adjustment of numerous squabbles that arose between the different lodges.* As it is a law of nature that those who do not advance must inevitably retrograde, the practice and science of architecture steadily degenerated in the hands of its now careless disciples, and after the blow dealt to the cause of art in general by the Reformation, the Freemasons almost all sunk to the level of the common workmen, and their forms and ceremonies being regarded as an end instead of a means, lost their significance, which was $ 48 origin and Early History of Freemasonry.” Steinbrenner. 3o ZAZE REA/C/ZYES OF /7 RAE EMASOAVR Y. no longer understood; in many places the lodges of Freemasons identified themselves with the guilds of the ordinary working masons, whom they had formerly held in contempt. It is probable that Freemasonry as a distinct society, would altogether have disappeared, had not a political colouring been given to branches of the institution by many of the Knights Templars having sought concealment and protection beneath the masonic apron, on the suppression of their Order by Cle- ment V., and Philippe le Bel.” When the suppression of the Order of the Temple took place, the wretched Templars, stripped of all their possessions, persecuted and hunted down like vermin, were glad to shelter themselves in any society that was willing to receive them. Whether a connection ever existed between the Knights Templars and the Society of Freemasons is a question that has been frequently argued. A connection between the Knights Templars and the Freemasons may be taken for granted during the palmy days of the former Order, while they were erecting the churches and preceptories, the names of most of which still testify as to their origin. Many of these churches are remarkable for their beauty, the richness of their ornamentations, and the mysticism of their symbols. Such buildings could not have been erected by the common masons, who understood little or nothing of intricate architectural rules; the fraternity of warrior-monks must, therefore, have had recourse to the assistance of the fra- ternities of Freemasons skilled in all concerning ecclesiastical architecture. - A certain affinity may also be traced between the two societies. A clause in the installation oath of the Masters of the Tem- plars obliged them “to aid all spiritual persons, especially the Cistercians, by words and by deeds.”f - The Cistercians had been founded by St. Bernard of Clair- vaux, who had likewise drawn up the rule for the Knights * “Storia, Dottrina, e Scopo della Framasoneria.” t “Secret Societies of Europe.—The Templars.” THE REALITYES OF FREEMASOAVA. V. 3 I Templars, which, with the sanction of the Pope and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, was given to the Grand Master, Hugh de Payens, at the Council of Troyes, in 1128. Hugh de Payens, and the eight other knights who founded the Order, had originally elected to follow the rule of St. Augustine, but the abbot of Clairvaux introduced into the rule drawn up by him many additions borrowed from that of the Benedictines, of which his own Order of Cistercians was a branch. The rich and noble Benedictine monks were the chief patrons of the Freemasons, who also owed a considerable portion of their ritual to the influence of the rule of St. Benedict. Thus we See a common origin may, to some degree, be traced between the rule of the powerful and warlike Templars, and that of the laborious and humble Masons. This affinity would probably tend to the promotion of a feeling of sympathy between them and their masters, when they worked in the employment of the Knights Templars. - A claim has frequently been advanced by the modern Free- masons, that their society is directly descended from the Knights Templars themselves, whose secrets and mysteries they allege, may be found enshrouded in the practices and doctrines of the higher Masonic grades. So anxious were the Freemasons to establish this claim, that when, in the last century, a German of the name of Moldenhauer published the original documents of the proceedings against the Templars, the publication was suppressed by the Masonic Society.* 2." The work did not exculpate the Templars from the various charges which had been brought against them : so the Free- masons, eager to establish the purity of their pretended ancestral source, bought up the entire edition, only a very few copies of the book finding their way into the hands of the booksellers. In 1751, a member of the fraternity re-published a version of a work on the Templars, by Dupuy, which had ap- * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. 32 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRY. peared a century previously. The original book had intended to prove the guilt of the Templars; but the edition of 1751 was revised, mutilated, and altered, till, on leaving the hands of the skilful Masonic manipulator, it might be adduced as affording triumphant proof of the innocence of the Order of the Temple.* This is by no means a solitary instance in which modern Free- masons have shown themselves adepts in tampering with docu- ments; indeed, a grave charge that may be brought against them as a body, is the facility with which they have repeatedly lent themselves to the production of forged or mutilated documents. But though the theory of the descent of Freemasonry from the Order of the Temple is utterly untenable, a connection between the two societies, in the sense in which an artist may be said to be connected with his employer, is more than probable ; and, as we have before observed, a similarity may be traced between the ritual of reception into the Order of the Temple, and that used by the Fraternity of Freemasons, both being derived from the same source, namely, the rule of the Benedictines.f When the blow fell on the once proud Templars, many of 3. them sought concealment and refuge among those they had once employed as their workmen. The Freemasons asked no questions as to politics or religion, but were content to receive among them men anxious to work and capable of assisting them in their architectural studies; and no doubt the Masons felt pride that men who had belonged to an Order rich and renowned as had been that of the Temple, now sought admittance into their compara- tively humble Society. - The Order of the Temple had consisted not merely of degrees, but was divided into three distinct classes, without reckoning the affiliated, or those who had attached themselves to the Order without wearing its distinctive habit, and while continuing to * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. + “Secret Societies of Europe.—The Templars.” Z}/AE REA/E/ ZYZS OF FRAEEMASOAVRY. 33 lead a secular life, in the same manner as at the present day persons living in the world may be affiliated to the Jesuits or similar societies. The three classes were the knights, the chaplains, and the serving-brethren. - The knights were of necessity of noble birth, but amongst the serving-brethren men of all ranks seem to have been found, and one class among them was especially termed handicraft brethren, or freres servons des mestiers.” It is difficult now-a-days to realize the wide-spread misery that in former times must have been occasioned by the suppression of an Order such as that of the Temple, for no Order now exists at once so powerful, and with such wide-reaching ramifications affecting all classes of the community. With the exception of Russia, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, there appears to have been no country in Europe in which the Templars did not hold possessions. The most moderate compu- tation has rated their preceptories at nine thousand, and estimated the revenues of the society as amounting annually to six millions sterling.t Lawyers, burghers, and artisans of all kinds had allied them- selves to the society, either by affiliation or in joining as serving- brethren. When the final disaster came and the great Order of the Temple was proscribed and annihilated, those who were merely affiliated were safe, for they belonged to the world and retained their pos sessions; not so such of the knights as survived the persecution, and the many thousands of serving-brethren to whom the confis- cation of the property of the Order meant utter ruin and abject poverty, rendered still more bitter by the suspicion and aversion with which they would henceforth be regarded, as more or less implicated in the infamous crimes urged against the Templars. “Secret Societies of Europe—(The Templars).” f Ibid. 34 THE REALITYES OF FREEMASOMRY. The clergy in general hated the Templars. The society, though originally springing from the Church, appears early to have acquired enlarged—and to a certain extent free-thinking— ideas, and to have been opposed to the over-weening claims of superiority advanced by the priesthood. # But the priesthood ultimately gained the ascendant, and the unhappy survivors of their triumph were repulsed and denied assistance on all sides. It would seem, however, that their protégés, the Freemasons, granted an asylum in their lodges to many of their former masters. As far as can be gathered, from studying their “Sermons in Stones,” the Freemasons, like the Templars, were more free- thinking and less trammelled by the general superstition of the age then was usually the case, d As they were brought into constant contact with the monks and clergy, they could not have remained ignorant of the immorality and corruption pervading the Church, the vices of which they frequently satirized in the carvings in churches and cathedrals. The roving life, too, led by the masons, no doubt had the beneficial influence on them which intercourse with men of various views and beliefs always exercises. Not as a society being blindly subservient to the guidance of the priesthood, and already from constitution and proximity being inclined towards sympathy with the Templars, the Freemasons in many instances admitted them into their companies. Though the Order of the Temple was formally suppressed on the 22nd of March, 1313, by the sole authority of the Pope in a secret consistory, and their possessions either handed over to other Orders or confiscated, the king of Portugal refused to exter- minate the Order in his kingdom, where the prelates had acknow- ledged its innocence; but in order to appear to yield a certain amount of obedience to the directions of the Holy See, the Order was directed to change its name, and the Knights Templars in Portugal henceforward were known as the Order of Christ, an Order which, it is stated, still exists.” * “Secret Societies of Europe—(The Templars).” 7THE REAL/TVES OF FREEMASOAVRY. 35 In Scotland the institution is said to have lingered on in obscu- rity and poverty, consisting merely of a few knights and serving- brethren, till the sixteenth century, when the members united themselves with a masonic lodge at Stirling, and were com- monly called the “Cross-legged Masons,” from their custom of crossing the legs of the effigies on tombs.” The disbanded Templars naturally burnt with hatred and in- dignation towards the Church and the princes who had suppressed their Order, tortured its leaders, and who had enriched them- selves with the spoils of their victims. wº Whether this suppression was unjust or iniquitous has ever been a matter of controversy. Doubtless, in many instances, the Templars had become vicious, and owing to the privileges granted them by various Papal Bulls—such as the power of appointing their own clergy, exemption from the blighting anathema of inter- dicts, and so forth—the Order was enabled to regard the wishes and feelings of the clergy with an indifference which, in days of universal bigotry and superstition, must have been little short of rank heresy in the eyes of a proud and intolerant priesthood. The intercourse the Templars had with the East, where they had more than once been on friendly terms with the Saracens, had made Unitarianism, as opposed to the absolute idolatry into which the Roman Church had sunk, no strange creed to them, and it is likely that they may have likewise become tinged with the belief in, or even practice of, magic and astrology, then so general. In an Order embracing such numbers of men of different nation- alities and modes of thought, there must have been individual members who were deists, and possibly infidels, and many of the preceptories had become centres of vice and immorality; but the probability is that the greater number of the charges brought against the Templars—such, for instance, as that they worshipped * “Lexicon of Freemasonry.” Mackey. 36 THE REALITYES OF FREEMASOAVRY. a grey cat and the image of a monstrous head, that at their reception they denied Christ, and trampled and spat upon the cross, that they burnt children alive, and carried on all manner of abominations in their ceremonies, the secret of which they bound themselves under pain of terrible penalties never to divulge,”— were absolutely false. The crimes for which the Templars in reality suffered were their riches, and their independence of the priesthood; the former excited the cupidity of the king, the latter has ever been, in the eyes of the clergy, the sin for which there is no forgiveness. The tendency of all secret associations has always been to merge either into societies for the indulgence of vice, or for the attain- ment of some political end ; and an impetus, such as would be given by the ingress into a fraternity like that of the Freemasons, of a number of men who had been robbed and persecuted by priests and kings, must inevitably give the society a prejudice against the persecutors of their adopted brethren, which, in course of time, may have taken the form of sympathies with the revolutionary principles that were beginning to agitate Europe. A large number of persons who regarded themselves as the victims of political oppression being incorporated with the Masons, could not easily have been prevented from imparting a certain bias to their society, and the probability is that from this out, the discussion of politics was no longer an unknown theme in the Masonic assemblies. Whether this be so or not, the institution eventually fell into bad odour with the Church of Rome. Louis the Fourteenth threatened to imprison all who became Grand Masters of the Order, in the Bastille; the authorities in all Catholic countries discouraged the association in every way; and the ancient society of Freemasons would have gone the way of most other similar mediaeval Orders, had not the lodge of St. Paul, in London, suggested the extension of the privileges of Masonry to non-operative masons, from whence arose the modern or * “Storia, Dottrina, e Scopo della Framasoneria.” Z}/E REALITIES OF FREEMASONR Y. 37 Speculative Freemasonry, which, in its present form, has spread from England to the continent of Europe, to India, to America, and to every civilized land. Emanating from such a heretical source, Speculative Masonry could not fail to inspire the Catholic clergy with distrust and aversion, and accordingly we find that wherever the Romish priesthood had power, Masonry was stigmatized, and sometimes persecuted. At Berne the magistrates issued an order desiring any citizen to abjure all engagements into which he might have entered on his initiation into the society; the practice of Masonic rites was forbidden; and fines and dismissal from any offices they might hold from government, were ordained for all who disobeyed this order.” At Florence, where the last Duke of the House of Medici was then reigning, the masons were forbidden to hold their lodges, and the clergy denounced them to Clement XII. as the propagators of damnable doctrines. That Pope despatched an inquisitor to in- vestigate the charges brought against them, and this envoy lost no time in causing several members of the association to be arrested and thrown into prison.f In 1738, the Pope further proceeded to fulminate a Bull against the Freemasons, stating that, “If their actions were irreproach- able the Freemasons would not shun the light so carefully . . . . these associations,” it mentioned, “are always injurious to the tranquillity of the State, and to the salvation of souls; and on this account they cannot accord either with the civil or canonical law.” Accordingly, the bishops and clergy were directed to proceed against the Freemasons, and to punish them “with the penalties they merited, as persons suspected of heresy; recourse being had, if necessary, to the assistance of the secular arm.”f At Munich, an ex-jesuit, the confessor of the Elector Palatine, preached against the society, which he denominated the “Judas of to-day,” and described the three grades as “Judas the traitor, * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. + Ibid. * Ibid. 38 Z}/E REA//7/ES OF APRAEAEM/ASOAVRY. Judas the hanged, and Judas the damned.” His harangue so influenced the passions of his hearers that they were proceeding to set fire to a house inhabited by some Masons, when the authorities intervened.* - In Spain many Masons were brutally treated by the Inquisition; and in the Book of the Constitutions,t we find in the account of the proceedings of the Grand Lodge of England, several entries of sums of money paid for the benefit of such persons: “A 20 paid for the relief of a brother, who had been cruelly treated by the Inquisition at Florence, on the sole account of his being a Mason, December 12th, 1739.” And again, “A Io Ios. for the relief of a brother confined at St. Sebastian, in Spain, June 24th, 1741.” At Lisbon, a Mme. Le Rude, whose husband was a French- man, a lapidary by profession, animated by a desire of seeing all the artisans who followed the same trade as her husband, expelled from the city, conceived the idea of denouncing them as Free- masons. She imparted her plan to another woman named Rosa, and they both repaired to the Holy Office and denounced several lapidaries, some of whom belonged in reality to the Masonic Society, the wife of one of the proscribed men having rashly con- fided to Mme. Le Rude that her husband had joined the brother- hood, and was in the habit of attending a lodge in Lisbon. The wretched men paid dearly for their imprudence, in ex- periencing the full horrors of those “tender mercies of the wicked,” which King David, who was himself not over-sensitive on the score of humanity, described as cruel. ** In Austria, some lodges had been formed during the reign of Maria-Theresa. Certain ladies of the Court having in vain endeavoured to ascertain what were the mysterious ceremonies practised by the Freemasons, were so exasperated at being baffled in the attempt, that they determined to be revenged on the Order, and accordingly applied themselves to inspiring the * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. t Anderson. it “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. ZTHE REALITYES OF FREEMASOAVRP. 39 mind of the Empress with doubts and uneasiness as to the aims and objects of the society. They succeeded so far that Maria- Theresa commanded the Masters of several lodges to appear before her and to reveal the secrets of Masonry. In this, how- ever they refused to obey the commands of the Empress, and accordingly, when next the lodges attempted to hold a meeting, soldiers were sent to disperse them." Although we have seen that modern Freemasonry was regarded with dislike by the Catholic Church, and crushed, as far as possible, in all Catholic countries, the partisans of the House of Stuart fancied they beheld in the society a weapon capable of being used as a political engine, which would be of service in their attempts to regain possession of the throne of England. The myth concerning Hiram Abiff having by this time made its appearance in the craft, it was utilised by the adherents of the Stuarts. The martyred and innocent Hiram, being made to represent Charles the First, who, like his prototype, was described as having suffered death rather than consent to betray a sacred trust, while the three wicked Fellowcrafts, Jubela, Jubelo, and Jubelum, who slew their master, were taken as types of Cromwell and the other regicides.f. It is said that in the Degree of the Elect of Fifteen the conspirators assume the names of Jubela- Kurmavil, Jubelo-Gravelot, and Jubelum-Akirop, the first being a corruption of Cromwell.f. When a lodge in this degree is held, it is described as being hung with black, and decorated with three skeletons, and one of the signs of recognition is given by a motion with the thumb as though cutting off the neck.S Michael Andrew Ramsay, a Scotchman, born in Ayr, in 1686, was the first person who endeavoured to turn Speculative Masonry into an engine for the spread of Jacobite doctrines. Ramsay had belonged to the National Church of Scotland, but Archbishop * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. + Ibid. t “The Freemasons' Treasury.” § “Manual of Freemasonry.” Carlyle. p. 268. 4o THE REA/ZZYES OF FREEMASOAVRY. ºn p z Fénélon had been the means of inducing him to enter the ancient fold, after his admission into it, he was appointed tutor to the sons of Charles Edward, in which capacity he accompanied them to Rome. º The Duke of Wharton, who had been Grand Master of the English Freemasons, and who, like Ramsay, had become a con- vert to Romanism, had several interviews with the Pretender and his adherents at Parma ;* and to this intercourse is most likely due the formation of the higher grades of Masonry, and the introduction of the different Masonic orders of chivalry, such as the Knights Templar, the Degree of Red Cross, Sword of Babylon, Knights of the Eagle, etc. The Jesuits, ever deep in political intrigue, were not slow in seizing on the idea of turning the hitherto proscribed society into a friend instead of a foe. They were themselves the inventors of the Rosicrucian, or Ne Plus Ultra Degree, in working which the lodge is decorated with the mystical crucified rose and a scroll, inscribed with “I. H. S.,” takes the place of the mysterious “G.” that figures so conspicuously in the other grades. Indeed, the . entire ritual of the Rosicrucian degree is an allusion to the doc- trines and practices of the Catholic Church. The three theologi- cal virtues are quoted as the means whereby a knowledge of the degree is acquired ; the jewel is embellished with a representation of a pelican piercing her breast to feed her young, which is ex- pressly mentioned as being used as a symbol of Christ; and one of the Secret greetings among the Knights is Pax vobis, to which the reply is Æoly ends. - When the third point of this degree is held, an altar covered with a white cloth is introduced, and on it are placed as many pieces of bread as there are knights present, a goblet of wine, and a scroll containing the Sacred initials. The knights make Seven circumambulations of the lodge, and at the last round each knight partakes of the bread, after which the Most Wise, as the master of the lodge is termed, takes the goblet, drinks out of * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. THE REALITYES OF FREEMASOAVA’Y. 4 I it, and then passes it round to the brethren. When the goblet has been emptied, the scroll, on which is the sacred word, is placed in the cup and burnt; the knights make the sign, and the Most Wise exclaims Consummatum Est /* It appears that the Jesuits were not without influence in regu- lating the Order of Knights Templars also, as the chapter by which it was worked in France was held in their college of . Clermont.f A lodge was held at St. Germain, and a centre of administration for the higher grades was established at Arras by Charles Edward himself, in 1747.j The higher degrees took root and grew rapidly in France, but when imported into Great Britain, the political colouring that had been given to them rapidly faded in the fresh atmosphere of liberty, and they were deprived of danger under the sway of a Constitutional Government. It is remarkable that among those who introduced the Royal Arch and Knight Templar Degrees into Scotland were some Irishmen, who were afterwards instrumental in forwarding the cause of the Society of United Irishmen in Ireland.S But the ill-luck that clung so persistently to the Stuarts, attended this as well as their other enterprises, and Freemasonry proved but a broken reed on which to rely for the advancement of their cause. However, the patronage of many distinguished Jacobites gave a certain amount of éclat to the society, and before long it became the fashion to join the Freemasons. Indeed, there seems to have been a perfect rage for secret societies of all kinds during the eighteenth century. Most of these societies owed their popularity to the conviction firmly implanted in the minds of the multitude that something analogous to the possession of the philosopher's stone was the secret boasted of as treasured in * “Manual of Freemasonry.” Carlyle. + “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. p. 215. it “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. § “History of the Lodge of Edinburgh.” D. M. Lyon. p. 298. 42 THE REA ZZZTIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. these associations, and in many of them alchemy was largely practised.* The hope of sharing in such inestimable secrets induced numbers to enrol themselves amongst the Freemasons, who were generally regarded by the profane as a mysterious sect, dating from time immemorial, and the guardians of all kinds of occult knowledge. These mystic societies rapidly grew in popular favour, most of them admitted women within their pale, and as they were excluded from Masonry, it had to run the gauntlet of a certain amount of dislike and opposition from the fair sex. In consequence, in 1774, the Grand Orient of France, acting on the principle of making to themselves “friends of the mammon of unrighteousness,” intro- duced a new rite, called the “rite of adoption,” into which women were admitted. The rite of adoption was under the control of the Grand Orient, and though men were permitted to attend the lodges, only those were allowed to do so who had previously been initiated into ordinary Masonry. Like the regular lodges, those of adoption were held under the warrant of the Grand Lodge, and were pre- sided over by a president or mistress, who was usually assisted by some brother Mason.f At the lodge meetings the members sat on each side of the room in straight rows, the sisters in front and the brothers behind them. At the end of the room was the throne, occupied by the presiding mistress. Every member wore a plain white apron and white gloves, and the brothers held swords in their hands. A gold ladder with five rungs was the proper jewel of adoptive Masonry. These meetings usually terminated with a ball or banquet. -- Their emblems and ceremonials were principally taken from Scriptural history, and bore a close resemblance to those of regular Masonry. These lodges of adoption soon spread from * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. p. 111. + “Lexicon of Freemasonry.” Mackey. “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc- Maçonnerie.” Clavel. %. THE E_4_LITIES OF FREEMASOAVR V. 43 France to other countries of Europe, and became popular in America, but in England they never gained a footing. As numerous forms of spurious Masonry sprang from the original society, so adoptive Masonry quickly threw up shoots and saplings of its own. Amongst the earliest was the Order of Knights and Ladies of Perseverance, which pretended to have an origin whose source was veiled by the mists of ages. In reality it was invented by the Comtesse de Potoska and some other ladies of the Court, assisted by Comte de Brotowski and the Marquis de Seignelay, who all gravely maintained that the society had been founded in Poland in the early ages, and had ever since existed there in the profoundest secrecy, till public attention was at length attracted to it by its recent introduction into France through the agency of some distinguished Poles. The Comtesse de Potoska, the inventor of this fable, was related to Stanislaus, King of Poland, who was at that time a refugee in France, and whom she requested to give his royal countenance to the story. This he willingly consented to do, and even went the length of himself writing a circumstantial account of the Order, in which he affirmed that in Poland it was a society held in high honour. Rulhières, who wrote the History of Poland, became one of the most enthusiastic believers in the antiquity of the Order, and being extremely anxious to impress the members with a due respect for his erudition, one day on meeting Madame de Caylus, a lady who had been active in founding the Order, he told her that he had had the good fortune to discover a great number of most curious historical facts concerning the society, and that it was now placed beyond doubt that the Comte de Potoska had revived it in Poland, in the middle of the fifteenth century, and that Henry III. had been nominated Grand Master on his election to the Polish throne. “Good heavens !” exclaimed the countess, “where can you possibly have discovered all this?” “In an old Polish chronicle entrusted to me by the Bene- dictines,” returned the historian, no doubt expecting numerous 44 TAZE RAA LIZIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. compliments on his research and learning from the brilliant countess, in whom, however, the spirit of mischief was stronger than that of attachment to the Order of Perseverance; and great was the mortification of the learned historian when the lady burst into a fit of laughter, and observed,— “Well, then, my dear chevalier, those monks ought to perform penance for having told you such a fib. I may inform you, in confidence, as you, of course, will allow it to go no further, that the story of the Order of Perseverance is a mere fable, and that you see before you one of the people who invented it.” The dismay and confusion of the learned man may be imagined. The secret of the Order of Perseverance and of his discomfiture would have been safe with him, but the story was too good a one to be lost, and the countess did not refrain from imparting it to her friends. The Order of Perseverance was established for charitable purposes, but others of these societies had less laudable aims. Amongst them may be cited that of the Knights and Nymphs of the Rose, the principles of which association appear to have borne considerable resemblance to those in vogue in Mr. Prince’s Agapemone. . The Order of the Knights and Nymphs of the Rose was established by M. de Chaumont, private secretary to the Duc de Chartres, who founded the society with the view of pleasing his maSter. The hall in which the initiations took place was called the Temple of Love. Its walls were decorated with wreaths of flowers, and embellished with paintings of Cupids, torches, hearts, and darts, and everything pertaining to the tender passion. The assemblies were presided over by a hierophant or high priest and a high priestess. A knight, who went by the name of Sentiment, and a nymph called Discretion, assisted the high priest and priestess in the ceremonial of receptions. The high priest wore a wreath of myrtle, as did all the brothers; while the priestess and the sisters were crowned with roses; and the high priest and THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONA. V. 45 priestesses were further decorated with a broad rose-coloured ribbon, on which two doves, surrounded by a garland of myrtle, were embroidered. When a reception took place Sentiment, if the neophyte were a man; Discretion, if the candidate were a woman; stripped the novice of arms and jewels, blindfolded his eyes, bound him with chains, and led him to the door of the Temple of Love, on which two blows were struck. Admitted into the hall or lodge, he was questioned as to his name, his country, and his social position, and finally asked of what he was in search, to which the reply was, happiness. The next question was as to the age of the neophyte, to which a man was directed to answer that he had attained the age for loving, while a woman replied that she had reached the age for pleasing. After some further interrogations, the high priest ordered the chains that bound the aspirant to be struck off and replaced by those of Love, the latter being represented by garlands of flowers. Thus bound the novice was led twice round the hall, in a path traced by love-knots, after which he was conducted to the altar of Love, where he took the following oath:— “I swear and vow in the name of the Ruler of the Universe, whose power is maintained by pleasure, never to reveal the secrets of the Order of the Rose. If I am false to this oath may mystery never add to my pleasures 1 and instead of the roses of happiness, may I find nothing but the thorns of repentance 1" During the rites music was heard at intervals, perfumes were offered up, in honour of Venus and her son, and verses were sung or recited in praise of the god of Mystery. It was not till the end of the ceremonial, which was entirely of a brilliant and sparkling nature, that the bandage was removed from the eyes of the novice, to whom the secret signs of recogni- tion were at length communicated.* Once Speculative Masonry was fully established, the various rites and grades to which it gave rise were as numerous as they were fantastic. * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie, etc.” Clavel. p. 117. * 46 ZHE REAZITIES OF FREEMASONRY. There was the rite of Heredom or of Perfection, the rite of Swendenborg, the rite of Mizraim, the Martinists, the Hermetic rite, and endless others. The Martinists were at one time widely spread in Germany, and even penetrated into Russia. r" The founder of the Martinists was L. C. de Saint Martin, a French officer who became a disciple of Martinez Paschalis, a Portuguese Jew, who dabbled in eccentric masonry, and from whom he derived the extravagant ideas that he engrafted in the rite to which he gave his name. Masonry he regarded as an emana- tion from the Deity,” and although aspiring to render mankind perfect,t the Martinists appear to have combined politics with mysticism, as in Russia, during the reign of Catharine II, we find that Prince Repnin, when out of favour with the Court, formed a club of these illuminati, which had for its object the reform of the Government, and a design of obliging the Empress to surrender the crown to her son. Information of the conspiracy soon reached Catharine's ears; several members of the society were arrested, and some banished to their estates or to Siberia. Prince Repnin was ordered to appear at Court, whither he repaired in no enviable frame of mind, expecting an immediate downfall; but Catherine, though she secretly hated him, deemed it prudent merely to place him at a safe distance, by appointing him Governor of Livonia.j: * When Dr. Mesmer first announced his discovery of “animal magnetism,” and described the great powers he attributed to it, the world at large, instead of looking upon the discovery as a scientific one, regarded it as a revival of the magical incantations of the olden time. The Masonic body, deeming they had at last found a means of securing the occult knowledge which had been so long ascribed to them by the profane, begged Mesmer to lecture in their lodges, and a number of Masons hastened to buy * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. p. 235. t “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie, etc.” Clavel, p. 171. £ Tooke's “Life of Catherine the Second.” THE REAL/7”/A2S OF FREEMASOAVRY. 47 his secret. On finding, however, that his system led neither to the discovery of the philosopher's stone, nor yet of the elixir of life, his theories were quickly abandoned for those of an adven- turer called the Comte de St. Germain, who declared that he was Some four thousand years old, and that at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee, he had been seated beside Jesus of Nazareth. This impostor was admitted into the Masonic lodges, where he drove a thriving trade in selling an elixir of life; but some of the persons who had used it, unhappily dying soon afterwards, the Masons lost their faith in him, and seeing that his game was up in France, he went to seek his fortune elsewhere.* Soon afterwards a more famous impostor appeared on the scene, the celebrated Joseph Balsamo, who in Paris was known as Count Cagliostro, and in Italy called himself the Marchese Pellegrini. A Sicilian by birth, he was obliged to fly from his native country at an early age, on account of the discovery of numerous frauds and Swindling transactions in which he had engaged; and after wandering through several countries in Europe and some in Asia, he returned to Naples with letters of introduc- tion from the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta. He after- wards went to Rome, where he married the beautiful Lorenza Feliciani, who was as unscrupulous as himself, and who proved a useful ally in the various artifices by which he imposed on society. He now claimed to be of fabulous antiquity, and invented descents for himself as numerous and as startling as those claimed by Freemasonry itself. Sometimes he announced that he was a son of the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta and the Princess of Trebizond ; at others that he was descended from Charles Martel, and again that he had been born about the time of the Deluge. He assumed stations as various as his genealogies. Occasionally he was met habited as a pilgrim, sometimes he appeared in military uniform, or leading the life of a grand seigneur. At Paris he inhabited magnificent apartments; he was sur- * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. p. 173. 48 7THE REA/C/7/ES OF FRAEAEMASOAVR V. rounded by a numerous suite, and entertained the beauty and fashion of the period. He announced that he was the possessor of supernatural secrets, and sold his various recipes for large sums. He speedily became the rage, and was everywhere treated with the greatest respect and consideration. It was the fashion to have his miniature and that of his wife on snuff-boxes, on rings, and fans; the great ladies wore their portraits in lockets round their necks, and busts of “the divine Cagliostro” found a place in the palaces of the greatest nobles. In Warsaw he obtained large sums of money from a Polish prince, by promising to give him power over the devil. At Strasburg he gained an absolute ascendency over the Cardinal de Rohan. His relations with that prelate having caused him to be implicated in the famous affair of the diamond necklace, he was at length imprisoned in the Bastille, but though acquitted on the trial, from lack of actual proof of his guilt, he was banished from France by Louis XVI, A man like Cagliostro perceived at once how much in credulous and agitated times like those, Freemasonry might be turned to his service. During a residence in England he had been initiated into Masonry, and instructed his wife in the mysteries of the three degrees at the same time, with a view of her being of service to him later on.* When in London he bought by chance some Masonic MSS. which had belonged to a certain George Crofton, whom he did not know personally, but from whose writings he drew the idea of the new Masonic ritual, called the Egyptian rite, of which he was the founder. It was in Courland, in the year 1779, that he first opened a lodge for the practice of the Egyptian rite. It admitted women as well as men, and Cagliostro succeeded in persuading Countess Elise von der Recke to join the society, by whose influence he did not despair of gaining the Empress Catharine herself. * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. p. 231. THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRY 49 Madame de Recke was for a time deceived by Cagliostro's address and plausible stories, and it is said she had actually recommended him to the Empress, but finally recognising him to be an impostor, she publicly denounced him and published a pamphlet unmasking his chicanery. This pamphlet was trans- lated into Russian, and was entitled, “Information concerning the sojourn of the notorious Cagliostro in Milan, in 1779, and of the magic arts practised by him.” After this, Cagliostro established lodges in Strasburg and Warsaw. Lyons was the first town in which the Egyptian ritual made its appearance in France; from there Cagliostro proceeded to Paris, where a lodge was established in 1782, to which the proselytes were numerous; and, two years after its foundation, he persuaded the Duc de Montmorency-Luxembourg to become Grand Master of the Order. The object of the sect professed to be the attainment of per- fection by means of mental and physical regeneration. Through the former, a pentagon, or virgin leaf on which the angels had set their seal and engraved their ciphers, and by the agency of which man was to recover his primeval innocence, was to be obtained; while physical regeneration promised the advantages of acquiring primitive matter, otherwise the philosopher's stone, and the acacia, which retains the strength of youth in whoever has the good fortune to possess it, and renders him immortal. In the ceremony of being raised to the grade of master in the Egyptian ritual, a youth or girl, called a dove, and supposed to represent the state of perfect innocence, was introduced into the lodge. The dove was attired in a long white garment, orna- mented with blue ribbons, and decorated with a red cord. Thus attired, the dove was led up to the master, while the members present addressed a prayer to heaven, beseeching the Deity to permit the master of the lodge to exercise the powers confided to him. The dove on his side responded by a prayer, that the * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. p. 232. 4 5O THE REAZATIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. Supreme Being would grant him grace to follow the commands of the master, and to act as mediator between him and the spirits. The master then breathed in the dove's face, and pronounced some sacramental words; after which, the dove was enclosed in what was called the tabernacle. This was a compartment sepa- rated from the rest of the temple, hung with white, and situated behind the throne of the master ; in the centre was a little table, on which burnt three candles. In the tabernacle there was a small aperture, through which the voice of the dove might be heard in the lodge. º When he had entered the tabernacle, the master of the lodge once more offered up a prayer, and commanded the Seven spirits, which were believed to surround the throne of the Divinity and to govern the seven planets, to make themselves manifest in the eyes of the dove. When the latter announced that he beheld the angels, the master desired him to inquire if the candidate possessed the necessary qualities for attaining the master's degree. If the response were in the affirmative, the ceremonies of the initiation were concluded in very much the same manner as those apper- taining to the same degree in ordinary Masonry. When a woman was raised to the grade of mistress, the lodge was hung with blue, sprinkled with silver stars; the throne was raised on seven steps, and over it was placed a white silk canopy, surmounted by silver lilies. 3. The grand mistress bore the title of Queen of Sheba, and twelve of the oldest mistresses present were termed Sibyls. The neophyte and all present knelt while the Queen of Sheba stood up, and, raising her hands and eyes to heaven, implored the favour of God for their proceedings; then, striking a blow on the altar with the sword which she held in her hand, the sisters all rose, the novice alone remaining prostrate with her face to the ground. The aspirant was next directed to repeat the miserere mei, after which, the Queen of Sheba desired the dove to cause an angel to appear. If the angel gave permission for the puri- fication of the novice to take place, three censers were placed ZTHE ACAA//ZY/ZS OF FREEMASOAVRY. 5 I around her, into which bay leaves and myrrh were cast, while the sisters chanted the Veni Creator. After the novice had been incensed, the Queen of Sheba took some sheets of gold-leaf in a vase and presented them to the neophyte, saying, “Riches are the first gift I offer you;” then, dis persing the gold-leaf by a breath, the mistress of the ceremonies added, “Sic transit gloria mundi.” The novice afterwards drank of the draught of immortality, and, while kneeling with her face towards the tabernacle, was decorated with the ribbon, the apron, and the gloves of the Order—garments which the angels were implored to consecrate, and on which Moses was petitioned to bestow his blessing. The ceremony concluded by the Queen of Sheba crowning the neophyte with a wreath of roses. In order to obtain moral regeneration, it was necessary to retire to a tent pitched on some mountain, and while there, to pass the time in various mystic practices: after which the votary was pre- sumed to acquire the power of beholding the seven angels; or else he might be filled with divine fire, and find himself endowed with immense mental powers ; or, lastly, it was possible that he might obtain possession of the mysterious pentagon. Physical regeneration was to be sought by retiring to the country every fifty years, with a chosen friend, at the time of the full May-moon, and while there restricting oneself to an austere diet and a simple life. Soup and herbs were the only food that might be eaten, and nothing was to be drunk save distilled water, or such as fell from the skies. On the seventeenth day, after commencing this regimen, the patient was to be slightly bled; after taking a specified number of drops of a certain mixture, morning and evening, for so many days more, another bleeding, just as the sun was setting, succeeded ; then the patient was directed to take to his bed and swallow a grain of primeval matter, which was declared to have been created by the Almighty to render man immortal. Of what its ingredi- ents were we are ignorant, but, judging by the effects it was said 4-2 52 THE REALITYES OF FREEMASO/VRY. to produce, primeval matter must have been anything but food to be desired. The patient, after eating a grain of it, was described as losing the power of speech, and even of reason, for some hours, after which convulsions ensued. This crisis over, he moved into another bed and partook of some soup. It appears to have taken eight or nine days to recover from the attack, at the expiration of which time the victim was presumed to feel re- juvenated and regenerated. Strange to say, some persons were credulous enough to attempt this course of physical regeneration, but, as may be supposed, they were unable to persevere in it till the attainment of the desired end. When Cagliostro was expelled from France he again went to London, where he inserted an advertisement in the Morning Aerald, announcing that, “the time had arrived to commence the construction of the new Temple of Jerusalem,” and all “true Masons " were invited, “in the name of Jehovah,” to assemble at a tavern in Great Queen Street, in order to form a plan for laying the foundation stone. A number of Masons answered to the summons, and Cagliostro might have had as great a success in London as he had attained in Paris, had he not embarked on a paper warfare with a newspaper editor; and the latter, having obtained information as to various episodes in Cagliostro's past life, retaliated to the abuse showered on him by the Count, by publishing the details of Cagliostro's career, a revelation which had the effect of forcing the charlatan to fly from London. After wandering through different countries he finally arrived in Rome, bringing letters of recommendation from the Bishop of Trent, on whom he had imposed by stating that he deeply repented of the errors of the past, and that he earnestly desired to return to the bosom of the true Church. Freemasonry, which had formerly been such a useful tool in Cagliostro's hands, ultimately proved his ruin. In spite of the censures of the Church a few Masons secretly belonged to the Society in the Eternal City. With these Cagli- THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 53 ostro soon established relations, and being in want of money, he suggested to two of them that they ought to be initiated into the magical secrets of the Egyptian rite. Unfortunately for him the two men whom he instructed in these mysteries proved to be spies in the pay of the police, who lost no time in denouncing Cagliostro and the Freemasons to the Inquisition. Cagliostro was arrested, and imprisoned in the Castle of St. Angelo. After lying there for two years he was brought to trial, and was pro- nounced by the judges of the Inquisition to be worthy of death; but, in the mercy of the Holy Office, and as an especial favour, on abjuring his heresies and submitting to salutary penance, instead of having to undergo the last penalty, he was only condemned to perpetual imprisonment. Soon after being con- signed to the prison in which he had been sentenced to pass the remainder of his days, Cagliostro petitioned that a confessor might be sent to him, as he desired to make a clean breast of all his sins. A Cappuccino monk was despatched to visit the penitent. When Cagliostro had finished his confession, he begged the monk to administer wholesome discipline by flogging him with the cord that bound his monastic habit. Hardly had the reverend father begun the flagellation, when Cagliostro seized the cord, threw himself on the Capuchin and attempted to strangle him. But the monk was a stalwart adversary, he fought fiercely for his life, and his shouts and cries soon brought the guard to his assistance, who overpowered his assailant, whose intention it had been to escape from prison, disguised in the habit of the Capuchin. This is the last we hear of Cagliostro, who was either put to death or died in prison. * His death is said to have occurred in 1795.t * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. pp. 178-181. t “History of Fremasonry.” Findel. p. 233. CHAPTER III. MoDERN Masonry did not at first take deep root in Italy, the lugubrious character of the ceremonies connected with its most important degree (namely that of a Master Mason) would be especially repulsive to the Italian nature; but the persecutions of the Church speedily gave the institution a political aspect, and in proportion as it assumed a political complexion, it became popular, till at length Freemasonry came to be regarded as a synonyme for liberality, and the Liberals joined the society almost to a man. The Freemasons assert that Pope Pius IX. himself, when Mastai Ferretti, and a member of the Liberal party, was initiated into the society in a lodge at Palermo in 1826, under the old Scottish rite. At a meeting of the lodge, in 1863, a charge of perjury was preferred against the said Mastai Ferretti, and a copy of the charge was sent to Rome, accompanied with a request that His Holiness would appear in lodge and vindicate himself, if possible. Of course no notice was taken of this missive by the Holy Father, and the matter was allowed to drop, till the Pope urged the Catholic clergy in Brazil to take further steps against the Masons. Then the charges were again brought forward, and a second and third notification of them despatched to Rome, which were treated with the same silent contempt as before. At the next half yearly meeting of the Grand Lodge, on the 27th of March, 1874, a THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRy. 55 decree of expulsion against the Pope was entered and published. The decree runs in the following terms: “A man, named Mastai Ferretti, who received the baptism of Freemasonry, and solemnly pledged his love and fellowship, and afterwards was crowned Pope and King, under the title of Pio Nono, has now cursed his former brethren and excommunicated all members of the Order of Freemasons. Therefore the said Mastai Ferretti is herewith, by decree of the Grand Lodge of the Orient, Palermo, expelled from the Order for perjury.” In Piedmont and Sardinia, Charles Albert protected the Masonic society, and under the leadership of Mazzini the lodges rapidly multiplied ; but before long Mazzini founded another society, which was purely political in its aims, and therefore more adapted to the requirements of Italy at that juncture. That its principles were more sweeping than justifiable may be gathered from some of the articles dictated by Mazzini for the organization of Young Italy, as the new society was called. “Article 1. This organization is instituted for the destruction of all the Governments of the Peninsula, in order to form one single State under a Republican rule.” “Article 2. Having seen the horrible evils of an absolute power, and the still greater ones of a Constitutional monarchy we ought to devote ourselves to founding one single and indivisible Republic.” “Article 30. Those who do not comply with the orders of the Secret Society, or who divulge its mysteries, are to be stabbed without fail. A similar punishment awaits all traitors.” “Article 31. The Secret Tribunal will pronounce sentence, and will appoint one or two of the affiliated for its immediate execution. “Article 32. Whoever refuses to execute the sentence will be declared as being perjured, and consequently is to be instantly put to death.” - “Article 33. Should the culprit escape he is to be unremit- tingly pursued, and he will be struck by an invisible hand, even if it be in the arms of his mother or in the tabernacle of Christ.” * “The Masonic News,” October, 1874. 56 7"HE REA V/ZYZS OF FRAEAEMASOAVR V. “Article 34. Each Secret Tribunal shall be competent, not alone to judge guilty adepts, but also to execute whoever is put to the ban.”% From these extracts it will be seen that the Society of Young Italy openly advocated assassination, the crime that has ever been the besetting sin of all secret associations. But though Freemasonry is too dismal in its ceremonies to suit the tone of mind of the fanciful and lively Italians, we find that fantastic associations of all kinds found a congenial soil and flourished in Italy during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Many of these societies were ridiculous in the extreme, both in their designations and practices. Some were denominated the Oziosi (the Lazy), the Fantastici (the Whimsical), the Insensati (the Madmen), the Furiosi (the Lunatics), and so forth. That eccentric names for associations still possess a charm for the multitude may be inferred from the titles given to certain societies at the present day, even in matter-of-fact England, where we find the Odd Fellows, the Order of Ancient Buffaloes, etc. At Florence there was a Society rejoicing in the appellation of the Umidi (the Damp), every member of which assumed the name of something aquatic or pertaining to humidity. For example, one brother was called the Pike, another the Roach ; the Swan, the Frozen, and the Moist, were also amongst the cognomens of the members of this whimsical association. The famous Florentine Accademia Della Crusca, or Academy of Bran, was so named to indicate that the members' object was to sift and purify the Italian language. When the Academy met, the room in which the assembly took place represented a mill and bakehouse. The director sat on a seat made to imitate a mill- stone, while the seats of the other members were millers' dossers or paniers, the backs of which were in the shape of the long shovels used in ovens. The orator's pulpit was a hopper, or boiler, the table was a kneading trough, and when an academician ad- dressed the assembly he had a flour sack hung over his shoulders.f * Storia, Dottrina, e Scopo della Framasoneria. + “Curiosities of Literature.” Disraeli. THE REA//ZYES OF FREEMASOAVR V. 57 The Society of the Arcadians, at Rome, was almost equally absurd in its organisation ; whoever became one of its shepherds received a pastoral name, and was presented with an imaginary farm which existed only on the maps of Arcadia. The Oziosi appear to have devoted themselves to the study of natural magic, and from them sprang the Secrett, some of the members of which embarked on prophecies and predictions, and speedily drew down the displeasure of the Court of Rome upon the society, so that their meetings were prohibited. Although most of these associations were merely literary insti- tutions, as they all, more or less, partook of the nature of secret Societies, they did not fail, from time to time, to attract the un- favourable notice of the authorities, and their meetings were frequently suppressed or interrupted by the various govern- ments.” - Even the Platonic Academy, founded by Cosmo de' Medici, and patronised by most of the noble and learned men of Florence, which had been established solely for the encouragement of literature and to facilitate friendly intercourse between men of letters, did not abstain from meddling with politics. Not content with their meetings beneath the ilexes and pine trees of the beau- tiful gardens of the Villa Careggi or Rucellai, where, refreshed by the Splash of sparkling fountains, and surrounded by marble statues and busts of famous men and beautiful women, they discussed the philosophy of Plato, or listened to the discourse of Machiavelli, or criticised the Decades of Livy, the learned brotherhood eventually lent a too willing ear to the voice of the political charmer. So celebrated and apparently free from taint was this Academy that when Pope Leo X. paid a visit to his Florentine relatives, he was present at a splendid fête given in his honour by the brethren in their renowned gardens; but six years later, in I 52 I, it was discovered that some of those brethren had been im- plicated in a political conspiracy against the life of Cardinal * “Curiosities of Literature.” Disraeli. 58 THE REA/.../7/ES OF FRAEAEMASOAVRY. Giulio de' Medici, and the Platonic Academy was, in consequence, broken up.” The number of social and secret societies already existing in Italy, thus leads us to conclude that the failure of Speculative Freemasonry to recommend itself at first, to any great extent, to the Italians, was due to their inherent dislike of the nature of its ceremonies, as it certainly could not arise from any aversion to such associations in general. Speculative Masonry prospered more in Germany, the birth- place of its parent-stock. The year after it had been introduced there, under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of England, it made an important ally in the person of Frederick the Great, then Prince Royal of Prussia, who was secretly initiated one August night in I 738. The dislike the reigning king, his father, had testified to the Order, and the announcement he had made that if it were intro- duced into Prussia, the utmost severity would be exercised towards its members, necessitated the secrecy with which Frederick's reception was conducted. In order to be initiated he repaired to Brunswick, where the annual fair was being held, it being deemed that the presence in the town of so many strangers, in consequence of the fair, would facilitate concealment from the king of the fact of the initiation of the Crown Prince, who was met in Brunswick by a deputation from the Hamburg Lodge Absolom ; and the ceremony of initiation was satisfactorily gone through, at four o'clock in the morning, without any discovery taking place as to what was being done.t. It was not till he had succeeded to the throne that the fact of Frederick having joined the Freemasons was made known to the world,; and his example inducing many other German princes to seek admittance into the fraternity, it soon came to be considered a sign of good birth and breeding to belong to the Masonic brotherhood. • , Life of Michael Angelo.” Harford. vol. 1. p. 10. t “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. p. 240. * f “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. p. 121. THE REA/C/ZYES OF FREEMASOAVA’Y. 59 In spite of the indifference avowed by Masonry as to the creed professed by its votaries, the only necessary religious belief exacted being that of the existence of a Supreme Being, in Germany, persons belonging to the Jewish faith are rigorously excluded from membership in lodges; and a Jew, belonging to a lodge in a foreign country, is not admitted, even as a visitor, to those in the Fatherland. The same exclusion formerly existed in France, but has there been abolished for many years.” In the beginning of the present century, however, under the protection of the Grand Orient of France, a lodge, composed partly of Chris- tians and partly of Hebrews, was established at Frankfort-on- Maine; but eventually political events forced the lodge to cease corresponding with the French Grand Lodge, and the brethren divided into two factions, one of the Christians, the other com- posed only of Jews. The latter demanded to be recognised as a lodge by the Grand Lodge of Berlin, but it refused to do so. The lodge of the Dawning Aurora, as the Jewish lodge was named, then applied for recognition to the Grand Lodge of England, and the favour was instantly accorded. In 1832 a new lodge, combining the Christian and Jewish ele- ments, was established at Frankfort, under warrant from the Grand Orient of France; but the other German lodges persisted in re- fusing to recognise its existence.f . The new institution of Speculative Masonry was introduced into France about the year 1721, when the Grand Lodge of London instituted a lodge at Dunkerque under the name of “Friendship and Fraternity.” In 1725 it is recorded that the unfortunate Lord Derwentwater, and some of his friends, held a lodge in Paris, at the restaurant of an Englishman of the name of Hurre, in the Faubourg St. Germain.j: - When first established the society seems to have been confined to a limited circle amongst the nobles and persons of distinction, * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. p. 11o. + Ibid. p. 277. # Ibid. p. 108. 6o 7THE REAZAZTVES OF APRAEAEMASOAVRY. and this being the case, saved it for a time from awakening the distrust of the Court. When, however, the lodges began to in- crease in number, and persons belonging to the middle and lower classes found admittance into them, rumours began to be afloat that the institution cherished designs of a dangerous poli- tical tendency, and Louis XV., under the guidance of his con- fessor, and with the approbation of the reigning favourite, in 1737, published an edict forbidding all his loyal subjects from holding any intercourse with the Freemasons, while any nobles who belonged to the fraternity were forbidden to appear at Court.* The English residents in Paris, however, paid no attention to the royal edict, and one of them had the temerity to make a public announcement that a lodge was about to be held for the purpose of electing a grand master. This attracted the attention of the police, and one night they surprised a meeting of the brethren assembled in the house of a wine merchant of the name of Chapelot. This worthy citizen, in Order to secure secrecy for the Masons, had walled up the door and had caused a secret entrance to be made to the room in which they met.f. But the vigilance of the police was not so easily baffled. The Freemasons were caught in flagrante delicto, the papers of the lodge were seized and carried off, and a ritual found amongst them was afterwards published by order of the Lieutenant of Police. The delinquent Chapelot was summoned to appear before the tribunal and answer for his misdoings, but failing to make his appearance at the specified time, he was con- demned to pay a fine of a thousand pounds, besides having his tavern closed for six months. § But in spite of threats of fines and imprisonment, the tavern- keepers found it so profitable to connive at lodges being held on * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. p. 201. f Ibid. p. 202. f “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. p. 141. § Ibid. THE REA/C/TIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. 61 their premises that they repeatedly ran all risks. It became a common practice for the tavern-keeper to be the master of a lodge, for which a warrant was purchased, and the lodges became centres for all manner of excess and license.* Except in the instance in which they endeavoured to use it for Jacobinical ends, the Jesuits have ever shown the most determined opposition to Speculative Masonry. In order more effectually to oppose it, several of the brethren of the Society of Jesus, caused themselves to be initiated into the mysteries of the craft, and with the penetration for which they are remarkable, perceiving that once the veil of mystery was lifted, the chief charm of the institution, in the eyes of the multitude, would have departed, they not only published numerous descriptions of the Masonic rites, but even brought caricatures of the ceremonies upon the Stage. It is the custom at most Jesuit seminaries, for the pupils to give theatrical representations once or twice each year. In 1741, at the College Dubois, in Caen, a theatrical performance took place at which a piece, called “Rhadamistes and Zenobia,” was first played by the scholars, after which a comic ballet was enacted, in which the ceremonies of a Masonic reception were represented and caricatured. The piece opened with a dancing lesson, given by a dancing master to a dandy of the period. A Dutch burgomaster and his daughter next entered, and seated themselves at the end of the stage to watch the dancing lesson ; these two were followed by a Spaniard, accompanied by his valet, who, seeing the dancing- master and his pupil, proceeded to exchange Masonic signs with them. The Spaniard, the dancing-master, and the dandy, over- come with delight at recognising each other as brother Masons, all three flung their arms round each other and exchanged a fraternal kiss. The Dutchman, who had all this time been contemplating the scene with astonishment, now advanced, and the three * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. p. 202. 62 ZTA/E AAA/C/7”/AES OF FREEMASO/WACY. enthusiasts, mistaking him for a Mason, began making the signs to him also. These he repeated, but caricatured them in such a manner that the others, perceiving that he was not a Mason after all, suggested that they should make him one. The Dutchman eagerly consented ; his daughter was directed to retire, and the Spaniard ordered his valet to make every- thing ready for a Masonic reception. The initiation of the Dutchman then took place, all the forms being gone through exactly as they are practised in lodge. As soon as the cere- mony was concluded, the burgomaster's daughter was recalled, when, to the consternation of the brethren, she appeared making accurate imitations of all their supposed secret signs. It then transpired that she had witnessed the entire ceremonial of the reception, having placed herself at a window the existence of which the brethren had overlooked. Great was the indignation manifested by the Masons at finding that their secrets and mysteries had thus come to the knowledge of a woman, but their anger was pacified on it being arranged that the Spaniard should espouse the Dutchman's daughter. The piece wound up with a comic dance, in which the performers made ludicrous caricatures of the masonic signs and tokens.” This play took place only twenty-seven years after the establishment of modern Masonry, and even before this an opera dancer of the name of Salé invented a dance called the Freemasons' Dance, in which nine men, attired as shepherds, were the performers;f so it appears that the mysteries of the Order, in spite of the supposed in- violable secrecy that surrounded them, very soon came to the knowledge of some, at any rate, amongst the profane. In Ireland a Grand Lodge was first formed in 1729, and Lord Kingston was elected Grand Master. Ireland has long been a fruitful field for secret associations of the most reprehensible. and immoral description, and for the last two centuries that unhappy Country has hardly been more than a mere hotbed of * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. p. 11o. + “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. p. 202. THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVRV. 63 secret associations; the Levellers, Whiteboys, Defenders, Right- boys, Ribbonmen, and numerous other lawless societies, being supplied from the ranks of the Catholic peasantry, while the Protestants, on their side, fought their opponents with similar weapons, and organised such associations as the Peep o'-Day- Boys and the Orangemen. The organisation of the latter society resembled that of the Freemasons in many respects, excepting that it openly avows its antipathy to the Roman Catholic Church, and the members make use of secret signs and pass-words only when “on the war-path.” However, the affinity between the two fraternities is so close, that when the Orange Society was suppressed by Parliament as an illegal association, the brethren consoled themselves by the reflection that the dissolution of their Order would, in point of fact, remain a dead letter, as they could continue to carry on the operations of their society under the cloak of Masonry, according to the rules of which it had originally been modelled.* - As Freemasonry has frequently been called “the mother of all secret societies” # it may be as well to glance rapidly at some other secret associations, before proceeding to analyse the masonic rituals, in order the better to judge how far this accusa- tion may be correct. . Amongst the more important of the secret political societies in the British Islands during the last century, was that of the United Irishmen. It was established in 1791, by Wolfe Tone and Rabaud St. Etienne, a Frenchman, and the bosom friend of Brissot, leader of the Girondin party. St. Etienne spent some time in that and the following year, going backwards and forwards between Belfast and Dublin, organising the society which professed to have for its end “forwarding a brotherhood of affection, an identity of in- terests, a communion of rights, and a union of power among Irishmen of all religious persuasions, and thereby obtaining an * “ Manual of Freemasonry.” R. Carlyle. p. 87. † “Storia, Dottrina, e Scopo della Framasoneria.” 64 THE REA/C/TVES OF FRAEAEMASOAVRY. impartial and adequate representation in the nation and Parliament.”* The Society of United Irishmen was instituted “with the secrecy, and something of the ceremonial, of Freemasonry; secrecy to pique curiosity; ceremonial to strike the soul through the senses, and, addressing the whole man, animate his phi- losophy by the energy of his passions.”f It met with warm support and sympathy in Ireland, a country still smarting under the infliction of the infamous penal laws that weighed alike upon Catholics, Quakers, and all kinds of dissenters from the dominant Established Church. But the Catholics, being the chief sufferers, were the first to organise societies to resist unjust op- pression ; and influenced by men such as Brissot and St. Etienne, who ignored trivial differences of creed, the Society of United Irishmen, as at first organised, was intended to embrace men of all religions who were alike suffering from tyranny and wrong. The association grew and spread with rapidity, and in the course of a few years numbers of lodges of United Irishmen were to be found in North America, all eager to assist their brethren across the Atlantic.: - But unhappily, in Ireland, religious intolerance is stronger than even resentment against political oppression, and before long the United Irishmen abandoned their pretensions of embracing Irish- men of all creeds, and united themselves with the Catholic De- fenders, a society which, like that of the Presbyterian Peep-of- Day Boys, originated in a trifling dispute between individuals, and spreading to a faction on either side, quickly assumed the proportions of two rival secret societies. The principal object of both parties was the accumulation of . arms, and each side visited the houses of their opponents for the purpose of robbing them of any weapons they might possess; often * “History of the Irish Rebellion.” Musgrave. + “The English in Ireland.” Froude. vol. iii. p. 2. † “Origin of the United Irishmen.” THE REAZAZTIES OF FRA. EM4 SOAVA’ V. 65 these foraging parties committed the most wanton outrages, insulting the inhabitants and smashing their furniture. From the early hour at which the Presbyterian party usually paid these pleasant little neighbourly visits they acquired the name of Peep-of-Day Boys.” - Sobriety and secrecy were amongst the obligations strictly en- joined on the Defenders, who were likewise bound to assist each other whenever called upon. They were under the command of a grand master in each county, who was annually elected at a general meeting of the lodges; the lodges also held district meetings every month. The affairs of the society were regulated by paro- chial and baronial committees, from which there was an appeal to a superior committee. But though their regulations appear to have been methodical, their practice was so lawless that, before long, complaints of their proceedings arose on all sides, and their outrages became so frequent and barbarous that in 1793 some of the Roman Catholics of the county of Louth “entered into strong resolutions against them,” which resolutions were signed by Dr. Reilly, Roman Catholic Primate of Ireland, by eighteen priests, and sixty of the Catholic laity.f The Society of United Irishmen, once amalgamated with an association such as this, naturally acquired a purely sectarian character. In 1795, two years after the protest of the Catholics of Louth, the Orange Society was organized by the Protestants, with the avowed object of protecting themselves from the system of robbery and assassination pursued by the Defenders. At first the Orange Society was recruited exclusively from the lower orders, but they were soon joined by members of a superior class, and a Grand Lodge was formed, which assembled in 1798, and during the unhappy times succeeding the Great Rebellion, the members of the Orange Society were forward in following the example of their Catholic brethren in bigotry and intolerance, * “Historical Notices of Irish Rebellions, etc.," p. 23. + “Historical Notices of the Several Rebellions in Ireland,” p. 23. 5. 66 ZTAEA ACAA/E/7”/AES OF FRAXAZA/ASO/VA’Y. and energetic in promoting hatred and uncharitableness in dis- tracted Ireland. In 1820 it was decided that proceedings which had taken place in Cavan and Westmeath had rendered a change necessary in the Orange system. A committee of thirteen gentlemen was then appointed to decide upon these changes, and on the Ioth of January their report was submitted to the Grand Lodge. The report was to the effect that “various and jarring forms of admission and initiation had found their way into different lodges, together with ceremonies, etc., not only unknown to the original simplicity of the institution, but in many cases repugnant to common sense and to the religious feelings of many most worthy brethren, and even to common decency.” + In order to remedy this undesirable state of affairs, the com- mittee drew up a form of admission and initiation, which they considered as combining, “with due brevity, a proper degree of the solemnity so necessary to be observed at the important moment of a man's dedicating himself, by a voluntary obligation taken in the face of his brethren, to the zealous discharge of his duties as a loyal Protestant.” - In the oath taken by an Orangeman he swears to “be faithful, and bear true allegiance” to the Sovereign so long as he or she is a Protestant. He also swears that he never was a Papist ; that he never has belonged to, and never will join, any treasonable society; that he will, as far as lies in his power, “assist the magistrates and civil authorities in the lawful execution of their official duties.” The remainder of the obligation is very similar to that undertaken by a Freemason. “I swear that I will be true and faithful to every brother Orangeman in all just actions; that I will not wrong or know him to be wronged or injured without giving due notice thereof, if in my power. And I solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will always conceal, and never reveal, either part or parts of what is now to be privately communicated to me, unless to a brother Orangeman, knowing * “The Orange System Exposed, etc.” THE RAEAZAZYES OF FREEMASOAVR V. 67 him to be so by strict trial and due examination, or from the word of a brother Orangeman ; or until I shall be authorized so to do by the proper authorities of the Orange institution. That I will not write it, indite it, cut, carve, stain, stamp, or engrave it, or cause it to be done, lest any part thereof might be known. Lastly, I do swear that I have not, to my knowledge or belief, been proposed and rejected, or expelled from any other Orange society. So help me God, and keep me steadfast in this my Orangeman's obligation.” + - The obligations taken by a Purpleman and an Orange Marks- man are of a similar nature, in slightly different words. Orangeism, like Masonry, has its different degrees and grades. A member swears, on being raised to each degree, never to reveal its secrets to the brethren of an inferior grade. An Orangeman also binds himself, on being served with a lawful summons from the master of his lodge, “to appear in ten hours' warning, or whatever time is required, if possible (provided it is not hurtful to himself or his family)”; he is to “keep a brother's secret as his own, unless in case of murder, treason, and perjury—and that of his own free will.” No Roman Catholic to be admitted on any account. Any Orangeman who acts contrary to the rules of the society to be expelled therefrom, and his expulsion reported to all the lodges in the kingdom and elsewhere.” + It will be seen how closely these regulations resemble many of those promulgated by Freemasonry, and how easy it is, therefore, for the two societies to coalesce. The following account of the initiation into the Purple Order is quoted to show that there is no great disparity in the rituals of some of the grades of the respective Orders:– - - “When a brother is to be introduced, the tyler shall first enter the room; after him two sponsors of the brother, each bearing a purple rod decorated at its top with orange ribands, and between them the brother himself, carrying in both hands the Bible, with * Appendix to “The Orange System Exposed.” Letter to Lord Wellesley. + Ibid. .- 5–2 68 THE REALITYES OF APRAEAEMASOAVR Y. the book of the Orange rules and regulations placed thereon. On entering the room, the chaplain or, in his absence, a brother appointed by the master, shall say, “We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is staid on Thee ; because he trusted in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah there is everlasting strength.”—Isaiah xxvi. 1–4. Then succeed verses from some of the other prophets. During the reading of these verses the brother shall stand at the foot of the table, the brethren all standing also, and strictly silent. The Master shall then say,+Brother, What dost thou desire in this meeting of true Purplemen? The Brother shall answer, Of my own free will and accord, I desire advancement into the Purple Order of our loyal institution. Master. Who will vouch for this brother that he deserves such advancement, and that he is qualified to receive it according to our rules and regulations? - (The sponsors shall bow to the master, and signify the same, each saying, I, N. M., vouch for all these things.) Master. What do you carry in your hands? Arother. The Word of God. - - Master. Under the assurance of these faithful Purplemen, we believe that you have also carried it into your heart. What is that other book P . Brother. The book of our rules and regulations. Master. Under the like assurance, we trust that you have hitherto obeyed them in all lawful matters. Therefore we gladly advance you into this Order. Purplemen, bring to me our brother. - - - (He then shall be brought by his two sponsors before the master, the tyler retiring to the door, and the two brothers s. ... is --> t Z}/A2 REA//ZYES OF FREEMASOAVR V. 69 standing one at each side of the centre of the table; during this, the chaplain, or brother appointed, shall say)— . “In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. ~ - “And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for all the glory shall be a defence.”* - (The brother shall then kneel on his right knee, and the master shall invest him with a purple Sash, and such other decorations as . may be convenient).” While this is being done more verses from the Bible are read. After which the Master addresses the following exhortation to the new Purpleman : “Brother, thou hast been weighed in the balance and not found wanting, therefore it has been judged right that thou shouldest be advanced into the Purple Order of our institution ; in the which dignity we trust that thy better means of serving this religious and loyal brotherhood will be duly employed. And as thine opportunities will now be advanced with thy station among us, so likewise would their neglect cause our more special injury. For this cause, brother, increase in thy diligence; be instant in season and out of season; for the higher we stand, the more we should take heed lest we fall. In the name of the Purple Brethren, I bid thee heartily welcome ; nothing doubting, but that thou wilt continue with great earnestness to fear God, honour the king, and maintain the law.”f 3. The Master then instructs the new brother in the signs and pass-words of a Purpleman, more texts of Scripture are read, and the certificate of the new Purpleman is duly signed and registered. As has before been observed, during the years that the Orange * Isaiah iv. 2–5. * - f t Article in “The British and Foreign Review,” for January, 1836, On the Report of the Select Committee appointed to Inquire into the Nature, Cha- racter, etc., of the Orange Societies in Ireland. 7o ZTHE REALITYES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. Lodges were suppressed by Act of Parliament, their principles, continued to be upheld by the brethren who joined the Masonic body, for Masonry practically often does not carry out its pro- fession of never interfering in politics; those politics, however, are different according to the country in which Freemasonry finds itself. Socialistic in France and Italy, in Ireland it is supported by the Conservative party; but in every land it is equally consis- tent in its opposition to Romanism, a position it cannot avoid assuming, owing to the avowed antagonism that the Church of Rome manifests towards it, for a society that advocates Catholic indifference to a man's creed as one of its fundamental principles, must ever “stink in the nostrils” of Catholicism. But in spite of the Orange Society having often been a curse to Ireland, its existence though an evil, is a necessary one, and shock- ing and repulsive as are most of the Irish secret societies, while blaming them, we cannot forget that they originally sprang from oppression and misgovernment. The Irish peasantry are doubtless debased and often treacherous, but their rulers have done much to debase them, and unfortunately have, on more than one occasion, set them an example of treachery, and the effects of the evils of bygone centuries cannot be blotted out in a few years. At the present day, by far the worst and most dangerous of the secret Societies in Ireland, is that of the Ribbonmen. It is an essentially Catholic organization, one of their fundamental rules being, that no Protestant, even though his disloyalty be undoubted, can be admitted amongst them.* The Ribbonmen, or Sons of the Shamrock, first made their appearance in the counties of Down, Armagh, and Antrim, but eventually their ramifications extended into Connaught and over nearly the whole of the centre of Ireland. They were organized to resist tithe-proctors, unjust evictions, and rack-rents,f but eventually they are said to have aimed at a general massacre of the Protestants and the subversion of the Government.: * “One Year of the Administration of the Marquis of Wellesley,” page 26. t “Historical Notices of the Several Irish Rebellions,” page 49. # Ibid. p. 55. - ZTHE REAAAZTIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. 71 In practice this society has been stained with a long series of terrible outrages. Assassination is its usual mode of punishing any infringement of its laws, and the members have not shrunk from nailing up the doors of farmhouses and deliberately burning to death women and children. To-day the object of the association is to secure fixity of tenure at rents fixed by the occupiers, and to inaugurate a reign of terror in order to enforce obedience to whatever mandates the society thinks fit to issue. The Ribbonman’s oath has more than once fallen into the hands of the police, and has been published. It is to the follow- ing effect:— “I, A. B., with the sign of the Cross, do declare and promise, in the name and through the assistance of the blessed Trinity, that I will endeavour to keep inviolate all the secrets of this Board of Fraternal Society, from all but those whom I believe to be the regular members, and bound in the same fraternal ties. “Ist. I declare and promise, without any dread or compulsion, allegiance to his present Majesty. “2nd. That I will be true and steadfast to my brethren of this society, dedicated to St. Patrick, the holy patron of Ireland, in all things lawful, and not otherwise; and that I will duly and regularly attend where any lawful superior shall think proper, and conform to the regulations made by them, so long as those who are or may be in trust, think proper. “3rd. That I will not knowingly or willingly provoke, challenge, or fight any of my brethren ; if a brother shall be ill spoken of, or otherwise treated unjustly, I will, according to circumstances, espouse the cause, and give him the earliest information, aiding him with my sincere friendship when in distress. “4th. I also declare and promise, that I will not admit or pro- pose a person of a bad or suspicious character into our honourable board, knowing him to be such ; and that I shall endeavour to propagate brotherly love and friendship among such of my acquaintance as may be thought worthy. “5th. That I will not, at any of our meetings, drink to intoxica- 72 ZTHE ACA2AAAZT/ES OF FREEMASOAVRY. tion, so as to endanger a disclosure of names, regulations, or members thereof. r “6th. That in towns and counties I will give the preference, in dealings, to those attached to our interest, according as circum- stances may answer me. - - “7th. Resolved, that I will not withdraw myself from this honourable society, or join in society where persons of other de- nominations are, under the censure of God's judgment in his com- passionate mercy (not meaning trade, society, or soldiers.) “I, A. B., having made the above promise of my own free will and accord, may God assist me in my endeavours to fulfil the same, and may God protect our friendship and grant us to live in a state of peace. Amen.” ” This oath sounds harmless enough, and as little likely to lead to murder and treason as that of the Freemasons, which, indeed, it resembles in many respects. The Ribbon Lodges, according to the original constitution of the society, held parish meetings and county meetings, from which last, delegates, accredited by a certificate from their lodges, were sent to the provincial meeting. The district lodges were governed by committee-men, who resigned their office quarterly, but might, if they pleased, stand for re-election ; the delegates, on returning to their respective lodges, communicated to them the regulations enacted at the provincial meeting; but each lodge might pass bye-laws for the arrangement of their private affairs, provided such laws were not opposed to the general rules of the fraternity. - - Every member paid a quarterly subscription of “50. or any sum that may be thought necessary by the parish masters to defray their quarterly expense; and any member refusing so to do shall be expelled and reported.” No person was admitted into the society or retained in it, who did not “yearly receive their sacra- ment, and perform their Christian duties in a regular manner.” The officials were bound to attend all meetings of their lodges, * “Letter to Lord Wellesley,”—Appendix. THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. 73 but should their absence be unavoidable they were obliged to send 3. trustworthy member to represent them, provided with the necessary credentials, or else “pay the following fines promptly.” A delegate to the provincial meeting was fined one pound for absence from the provincial meeting. For absence from the county meeting a fine of five shillings, and from the district meeting of half-a-crown, was exacted. A master who neglected to attend the parish meeting of his lodge, had to pay one shilling, while committeemen who failed to appear at a body meeting were fined tenpence, and ordinary members fivepence. Any master who struck a member of the lodge was ordered to pay five shillings, and if the offence were repeated “exclusion from friendship ’’ was ordained, which, in Ribbon phraseology, meant no slight punishment. If a master “provoked ”the lodge he was fined two-and-sixpence for the first offence, and five shillings for the next. For striking their brethren, delegates were fined respectively five shillings and eightpence and four-and-fourpence for first offences, while for repeating them “exclusion of friendship” and paying five shillings were the penalties. For “wronging, or speaking ill of each other,” members were to be tried and sentenced by a select committee. The delegates brought annual returns of the number of mem- bers belonging to the fraternity in their several districts, the members being then entered in the provincial registry; * but for the last few years this has been discontinued, as also the regular meeting of lodges, such being considered to afford too easy means of detection to the authorities. - The Sons of St. Patrick were a branch of the Ribbon Society ; their oath and regulations were discovered and published in 1833. The oath was in the following terms:— “I swear to allow my right hand to be cut off and nailed to the door of Armagh jail, rather than to deceive or betray a brother; to persevere in the cause I have espoused; to spare no one, from * “Letter to Lord Wellesley,” 74 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. the infant in its cradle to the old man on crutches; to regard neither the cries of childhood nor the tears of old age, but to steep myself in the blood of the Orangemen.” The brethren recognised each other by interchanging the following dialogue:— “God save you.” “God save you kindly.” “This is a fine day.” “To-morrow will be finer.” “The road is bad.” “It will soon be mended.” “With what?” “With the bones of the Protestants.” “What is your creed?” “The annihilation of the Philistines.” “How long is your stick?” “Long enough to reach them.” “On what tree did it grow P” “On a French tree, but it has budded in America, and now its stem shades green Erin.” “What have we in common P” “Love, our country, and truth.” “How do you rest?” “In peace, in order to rise in war.” “Courage 1" “Perseverance | * * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie, et des Sociétés Secrètes Anciennes et Modernes.” Clavel. p. 390-391. CHAPTER IV. HAVING thus briefly glanced at two or three modern secret societies, in order to see what grounds there may be for applying the name of “Mother of all Secret Societies '' to Freemasonry, we will examine, as cursorily as possible, a few of the associations of earlier days, to ascertain if there are any grounds for regarding Freemasonry as the daughter of the secret societies of antiquity. The early Christians were a secret society, secrecy being necessitated by the fact of their being surrounded by enemies. Amongst the Romans the introduction of a new god into their Pantheon would not have been a matter for persecution, as they were in the habit of adopting the divinities of the nations they con- quered. It was chiefly therefore from the circumstance of the new sect being accused of political aims, and being suspected of designs now known as Socialistic, owing to their practice of having “all things in common,” that they met with such cruel treatment at the hands of those in authority. We always dread the unseen ; and the fear with which a society working silently in their midst, and among all classes, to produce as they thought social anarchy, must have inspired the heathen world, may be estimated by the thrill of dismay which runs through society at the present day, when reports are current of the presence of teachers of Commu- nistic views in any country or city. The early Christians suffered more for the political aims imputed to them than for their faith, 76 THE REAL/TYES OF FREEMASOAVR V. which was a matter of comparatively little moment to the Pagan world. Relics of the secret nature of the ceremonies of the early church survive to the present day. The altar-screen in cathedrals points to the time when the “discipline of the secret” was observed, and when the communicants were forbidden to reveal the nature of the ceremony in which they had been engaged, so sacred and mysterious was it deemed. In the Greek Church the altar is always concealed behind a veil, and is only disclosed at certain periods of the service. But still more clearly does the institution of god-parents lead us back to the time when the rites of the Christian religion were shrouded in mystery, and when, before a churchman was admitted to the Sacrament of baptism, he had to produce two sureties to answer for him to the Christian brotherhood that the new convert did not seek admittance to their community with the object of betraying them to the heathens. - How secret the real doctrines of the Christians were kept we may judge from the absurd stories circulated concerning the rites practised in their assemblies. Tertullian mentions that in his time (the second century) the heathen mocked the Christians by representing their God as a man with an ass's head, fixed to a cross; and a few years since, when excavating on Mount Palatine, on the walls of a bath-room in the Palace of the Caesars, scratched in the plaster, was found a caricature of a man with the head of an ass, nailed to a cross shaped like the letter T, while a little below stands a man with a very large head in a mock attitude of prayer. A Greek inscription, “Here is Alexamenus worshipping his God,” was appended to the caricature, which is now preserved in the Museum of the Roman College, and affords a curious proof of the light in which the doctrines of the primitive Christians were regarded by the Pagans. Another story current against them was that in their secret ceremonials a new-born infant, covered with a kind of paste, was * “An Introduction to Early Christian Symbolism.” Palmer. p. 69. , THE REA//TIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. 77 placed before the newly-initiated brother, who was made to strike the seeming lump of dough several blows with a knife, and on the blood flowing it was eagerly drunk up by those present, who after- wards devoured the child's body.* The object of covering the infant with paste, was to conceal from the novice the murder he was called upon to perpetrate, and the common crime was a pledge of mutual secrecy. These facts may be quoted as a proof that all secret associa- tions, however innocent, or even laudable, may be their object, must ever render themselves liable to suspicion that their deeds are such as must perforce shun the light. The secresy with which the early Christians surrounded their doctrines seems not to have been altogether a matter of prudence, but to have been partly borrowed from the practice of the Essenes, the sect amongst the Jews which so closely resembled that of the Christians in many respects. Before initiating an outsider into their society, the Essenes demanded a noviciate of three years' duration. The first year the candidate was given a small hatchet, a girdle, and a white garment in which all the Essenes clothed themselves during their repasts; and he was required to follow the simple and frugal mode of living observed by the brethren, although not admitted to associate with them. Should he persevere in this for a year, the novice was made a “partaker of the waters of purification,” and was allowed to approach “nearer to their way of living;” but he was not admitted to full communion with the brotherhood till the ex- piration of two years more. Then, if he seemed worthy, he was made to take “tremendous oaths,” and was permitted to eat with the brethren, and allowed to participate in the knowledge of all their doctrines. The oaths taken were, first, that he should exercise piety towards God, secondly, that he should observe justice towards men. He was to harm no one, either of his own accord or by command of others; he was always to hate the * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie et des Sociétés Secrètes Anciennnes et Modernes.” Clavel. p. 341. 78 THE REAZAZTIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. wicked, and assist the righteous; to be faithful to all men, especi. ally to those in authority, as it was held that no one obtained the government without the sanction of God. If an Essene rose to a post of authority, he was not to “endeavour to outshine his subjects, either in garments or any other finery.” He must be a lover of truth, and a reprover of such as told lies ; his hands must be “clear from theft, and his soul from unlawful gains.” He was not to conceal anything from his brethren, or reveal the doc- trines of the sect to any of the uninitiated, even if they tried to compel him to do so at the hazard of his life. Finally, he swore never to communicate the doctrines of the Order to any one save in the fashion in which he had himself received them ; and the books of the sect, and the names of the angels (or messengers) were to be kept in profound secrecy.* Like the primitive Christians, the Essenes had all their goods in common; the most strict of the sect albstained from mar- riage, although they did not absolutely deem it unlawful. Before the rising of the sun they spoke “not a word about profane matters, but put up certain prayers which they have received from their forefathers, as if they made a supplication for its rising.” After this they were all sent away by their curators to exercise the different arts in which they were skilled, till the fifth hour, when they all met together, and clothing themselves in white veils, they bathed in cold water. This purification over, the brethren assembled in an apartment, from which all the uninitiated were excluded. It appears that here some peculiar religious rites took place, after which they were served with the frugal meal which was their dinner, con- sisting of bread, and a dish of one sort of food, a priest saying a grace before and after meat. Dinner over, the brethren laid aside their white garments, and returned to their various labours till the evening, when they partook of supper, a meal at which strangers were allowed to be present. The Essenes were permitted to succour all who needed it, * Josephus, “Wars of the Jews.” Book ii. p. 54. THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONR Y. 79 and to bestow food on those in distress at their own free will ; but no member was allowed to give anything to any of his rela- tions without the sanction of the curators. The sect were eminent for their fidelity, but refrained from swearing, believing that their word was as good as an oath. They studied the writings of the ancients, and were skilled in the know- ledge of medicine. A member guilty of any heinous sin was immediately cast out of the society; but so great seems to have been the influence of the sect, even over these unworthy brethren, that they still ob- served the oaths they had taken at their initiation, and, in many instances, rather than partake of food they deemed unlawful, resorted to eating grass, and often perished miserably, though when they were at the last gasp many erring brethren were, from compassion, received again into the fraternity. The sect was divided into four classes. The juniors were deemed so inferior to the seniors, that if a member of a junior class touched a senior, the latter had to purify himself by perform- ing ablutions, as if he had been in the company of a foreigner. The sect despised pain and the miseries of life, and looked forward to death as the entrance to glory, when they would be “released from a long bondage, rejoice and mount upward.” The object of their greatest veneration, after God himself, was the name of their legislator, Moses. Anyone who mentioned this irreverently was, by the rules of the Order, condemned to death. Philo of Alexandria describes the Essenes as assuming, in their assemblies, an attitude which they declared had been handed down to them from ancient times; and which, Masonic enthusiasts, with a slight stretch of imagination, have regarded as the origin of the sign used by an entered apprentice Freemason. While one of their elders addressed a discourse to the society, Philo states that the brethren sat gravely and benignantly, their right hands resting on their breasts a little below the chin, while their left hands were allowed to hang by their sides. * Josephus, “Wars of the Jews.” Book ii. pp. 53–54. 8o THE REALITIES OF APRAEAEMASOAVRY. The Kabalists were another Jewish sect, who are said to have been connected with the Essenians. Amongst the favourite symbols of the Kabalists were the famous pillars in Solomon's Temple, Jachin and Boaz ; and as Christianity itself first appeared as a sect amongst the Jews, it is not impossible that it num- bered both Esseniansand Kabalists amongst its converts, who may have introduced some of their favourite practices and symbols into the new society. Once assumed as sacred formulas and signs by the early church, they would be treasured and handed down to the later centuries, and, from the monks, may have been transmitted to the companies of Masons, amongst whom Jachin and Boaz were undoubtedly favourite symbols. - It is notorious how certain practices—such, for instance, as each passer-by casting a stone on certain cairns, or the habit of fastening shreds of cloth and linen on the branches of “fairy thorns” cling obstinately amidst populations who have long lost even a tradition of the source whence such customs originated. It is highly improbable that a fraternity of monks and of prac- tical workmen selected their symbols, rituals, and pass-words at hap-hazard. In the days when the Masonic Society was formed, an idea of some kind, however rude and uncultivated, usually lay concealed at the bottom of every strange custom and quaint device, in which men took so much pleasure in olden times; this it is which gives a charm to their works, for which we may search in vain in modern productions. - For a key to the symbols and practices in vogue amongst the Freemasons, it is not therefore so absurd as it might-seem at first sight, to seek amongst the early Christian beliefs and usages, and in the forms and ceremonies of the mediaeval times, especially such as originated in Germany, the birth-place of Freemasonry. Amongst the most celebrated of German institutions were the Vehm-Gerichte or secret tribunals of Westphalia, to which the learned and enthusiastic masonic historian Findel maintains that passages in the Masonic Ritual as preserved in the Sloane MS. plainly refer.” - * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. p. 65. THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVRV. 8 I The origin of these tribunals is veiled in the obscurity that enshrouds the rise of so many of the institutions of those times. They appear to have obtained importance about the beginning of the thirteenth century. Their name is said to arise from the Latin ſama, or fame, common fame, without any formal accusa- tion, being sufficient grounds for arraignment before the tribunal. These Wehm-Gerichte were also known as Freistühle, or free tribunals, only freemen being subject to their jurisdiction.* The Emperor was regarded by this tribunal, or secret society, as its head. He might, if initiated, summon and preside in a general chapter, or enter and preside in any court. He had the power of granting a safe-conduct to any zorºehmed person who desired to make a final appeal to the Imperial authority, and might even save a condemned man by issuing a command to delay execution of the sentence against him for a hundred years, six weeks and a day.f In the event of the Emperor not having been initiated into the Vehm-Gericht, he might appoint a substitute to exercise his rights of jurisdiction over the courts; but as the Emperors naturally preferred exercising such rights in person, it was usual for each Emperor, after his coronation at Aix-la-Chapelle, to be initiated. into the Vehm-Gericht by the Hereditary Count of Dortmund. In the laws respecting the rights of the Emperor, with regard to the Vehm-Gericht, it was especially stated that they only appertained to him provided he were initiated. Next in dignity to the Emperor came the Archbishop of Cologne, whose powers nearly equalled those of his Imperial Master, and who had the right of investing the counts with the powers of life and death. The Archbishop of Cologne was only made the Imperial lieutenant in the fourteenth century; previous to his being appointed so, there was no intermediate authority between the Emperor and the tribunal-lords, who ruled over districts in which they had the power of establishing tribunals, and of either presiding over them in person or of appointing a count to supply their place. The tribunal-lord, however, could * “Secret Tribunals of Westphalia,” p. 345. f Ibid. p. 374 6 82 THE REA/C/TVES OF FREEMASO/VR Y. not grant to another the powers of life and death, which were bestowed by the Emperor or his deputy. To the latter the tribunal-lords presented the counts for investiture, certifying, on oath, that the count so presented was a true and honest West- phalian by birth, both on the father's and mother's side; that no open crime could be laid to his charge ; that he stood in no bad repute; and that he was well qualified to preside over a county.* The Tribunal-lord was held responsible for the conduct of the counts whom he appointed, and should one of them misconduct himself the tribunal-lord was liable to forfeit his own rights. The counts, on receiving their investiture, had to take an oath that they would judge truly and justly, according to the law and regulations of the Emperor Charles, and the closed tribunals; that they would be obedient to the Emperor and his lieutenant ; and that they would repair, at least once a year, to the general chapter and give account of their conduct. Each Freigraſ, or Free-count, presided in a tribunal, six assessors, or Schöppen, acting as his coadjutors; besides whom, to constitute a Vehm-Court, it was necessary to have the presence of the Prohnboten, or holy messengers, whose duty it was to see that the accused were duly cited to appear before the tribunal; and of a clerk, who entered the decisions of the court in the Ziber Sanguinis, or Blood Book. The Schöppen formed the main body of the society. They were nominated by the count; and, on their admission, two persons who were already initiated, had to go security for the candidate being a fit and proper person to be admitted into the fraternity. The duty of the initiated was to go through the country tracing out and denouncing evil-doers, serving citations, and executing the decrees of the tribunals. It is said that during the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- turies the number of the initiated exceeded a hundred thousand persons, which in those days, of course, represented a * “Secret Tribunals of Westphalia,” p. 347 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 83 far greater proportion of the population than would be the case In OW. The Vehm-Courts were usually held in the open air, and were often denominated from the particular tree near which they were held ; as the Tribunal of the Broad Oak, the Tribunal of the Hawthorn, and so on. At Arensberg a court sat in an orchard ; at Dortmund the tribunal met in the market-place, and at Nord- kirchell and Südkirchen the court was held in the churchyard. At Paderborn it was held in the town-house, or, as it would be called in this country, the town-hall; but the common idea of the Wehm-Courts meeting in dark vaults and mysterious crypts is quite erroneous, as there appears to be only one case on record of a Vehm-Gericht being held in a subterranean place, which was at Heinberg, in the cellar of a certain John Menkin.* Only such persons as were initiated might be present at the sitting of a secret tribunal, and certain death awaited any inter- loper who might be found amongst the fraternity; but at a public Court, as the name implies, anyone might attend. The courts were held on Tuesdays, the count presiding; on his right and left stood the clerks of the court, and the assessors. On a table before the count lay a naked sword and a withy halter, the former to typify the cross of Christ and the rigour of the tribunal, the latter denoting the punishment that awaited the wicked, whereby God's wrath may be appeased. All in the assembly were bare-headed, to show, said the law, that they would proceed openly, punishing men only for their crimes, and that they would “cover no right with unright.” Their hands were also uncovered, signifying that they would do nothing covertly or underhand. The initiated wore short cloaks, symbolizing a warm love of justice; “for as the cloak covers all the other clothes and the body, so should their love cover justice.” They were neither to appear with weapons nor in armour, to indicate that they were under the peace of the Empire. The court opened, as was usual with German courts * “Secret Tribunals of Westphalia,” p. 354. 6–2 84 THE REA/./ZYES OF FREEMASOAVRY. by a dialogue between the president and his assistants, the count demanding of the messengers, or Frohnboten, if it were the day and the time for holding a court under the Royal authority ? An answer being given in the affirmative, the count proceeded to ask how many assessors there should be on a tribunal, and how the seats should be filled P. The answers, according to the proscribed . formula, having been made, the count proclaimed the Court open. When an accused person was unable to pay a fine imposed by the court he was obliged to place his two forefingers on the naked sword which lay before the count, and swear “ by the death which God endured on the cross,” that he was too poor to pay the almOunt. In cases in which the accused failed to appear, and was in con- sequence outlawed, he was worvehmed in the following terms:— It was declared that “he should be excluded from the public peace, from all liberties and rights, and the highest un-peace, un-grace, and halter be appointed for him ; that he should be cut off from all communication with any Christian people, and be cursed so that he might wither in his body, and neither become any more verdant, nor increase in any manner; that his wife should be held a widow, and his children orphans; that he should be without honour and without right, and given up to any one; that his neck should be left to the ravens, his body to all beasts, to the birds of the air and the fishes in the water; but his soul should be recommended to God.” If the sentence passed were a capital one, the court flung the halter over his head beyond the inclosure of the tribunal, the Schöppen spat upon it, and the name of the condemned man was entered in the Liber Sanguinis. When the culprit was present he was immediately seized,and hung to the nearest tree by the youngest Schöppe present. If the man on whom sentence was passed had not been present, hencefor- ward the hand of every initiated person was against him, and any Schöppe might put the unhappy wretch to death wherever he was met. The mode of execution was by hanging the victim to the THE REALITYES OF FRA. AEA/ASOAVR Y. 85 branch of a tree with a withy halter, but should the condemned offer any resistance, it was lawful to knock him down and kill him in any manner. The body was then bound to a tree, the Schöppen sticking their knives beside it, to show that the man had been executed in the name of the Emperor, and that he had not been killed by robbers or murderers.” In cases of fines, and so forth, there were several powers of appeal from the decisions of ordinary Vehm-Courts; besides which, the initiated could avert execution of a sentence against them by what was called “replacing in the former state.” To effect this a man, if initiated, who had failed to present himself before the tribunal, and on whom sentence had been passed, might repair to the place where the secret tribunal was sitting, and entreat that this favour should be granted to him. Should this be allowed, he had then to appear before the court that had condemned him, accom- panied by two Freischöppen, with a halter round his neck, white gloves on his hands, which were folded, and in which he held an Imperial coin and green cross. In this guise he had to fall on his knees, and his companions likewise, and implore that he might be placed in the same condition he was in before proceedings had been taken against him. In order to be admitted as a Schöppe, the candidate had to be a German by birth; born in wedlock and of free parents; he must belong to the Christian religion, and have been neither excommu- nicated nor outlawed, nor involved in any Vehm-Gericht process. Also, he must declare that he was not a member of any religious Order. The initiation took place with considerable ceremony. The candidate presented himself bare-headed before the tribunal, and after being questioned as to his qualifications, he was made to kneel down, and placing the thumb and fore-finger of his right hand on the naked sword and halter, which always lay before the Count, he repeated the following oath after that dignitary. “I promise, on the holy marriage, that I will from henceforth * “Secret Tribunals of Westphalia.” p. 358. 86 ZTA/E REA/C/T/ES OF FREEMASO/WR V. aid, keep, and conceal the holy Vehms from wife and child, from father and mother, from sister and brother, from fire and wind, from all that the sun shines on and the rain covers, from all that is between sky and ground, especially from the man who knows the law; and that I will bring before this free tribunal under which I sit, all that belongs to the secret jurisdiction of the Emperor, whether I know it to be true myself, or have heard it from trust- worthy people, whatever requires correction or punishment, what- ever is Vehm-free, that it may be judged, or with the consent of the accuser, be put off in grace; and that I will not cease so to do, for love or for fear, for gold or for silver, or for precious stones; but will strengthen this tribunal and jurisdiction with all my five senses and power; and that I do not take on me this office for any other cause than for the sake of right and justice; moreover, that I will ever further and honour this free tribunal more than any other free tribunals; and what I thus promise will I steadfastly and firmly keep, so help me God and His Holy Gospel.” The candidate was moreover obliged to swear that he would, to the best of his ability, strive to enlarge the Holy Empire; and that he would never undertake anything with unrighteous hand against the land and people of the tribunal lord. After these oaths had been administered, the count demanded of the Frohnboten if the candidate had gone through all the for- malities necessary to reception ; and on receiving a satisfactory answer, he communicated to the newly-made Frei-Schöppe the secrets of the tribunal, and the Secret sign by which the initiated made themselves known to each other. What this sign was has never been ascertained, but it has been said that when at table the initiated discovered themselves to their brethren by turning the point of their knife towards themselves and the handle in the con- trary direction. In an old M.S. protocol of reception which was found at Her- ford, in Westphalia, the letters “S. S. G. G.” occur, which some authorities maintain refer to the secret sign, and which they inter- THE REAL/TIES OF FREEMASOAVR V. 87 pret as meaning Stock, Stein, Gras, Grein ; that is, stock, stone, grass, grief. There appears, however, to be little foundation for this interpretation.* In the event of a Schöppe violating his oath and revealing the Secrets of the Society, the penalty awaiting him was, to be seized, a cloth bound over his eyes, his hands tied behind his back, and a halter put round his neck; he was then to be flung upon his face, and his tongue pulled out behind, at the nape of the neck; after which, he was to be hung seven feet higher than any other offender. The clergy, and those who had received the tonsure, women and children, Jews and heathens (to which latter class the natives of Prussia still belonged when Vehm-Courts were instituted), were exempted from the jurisdiction of these tribunals, though the clergy might, if they desired, voluntarily subject themselves to the Pehm-Gerichte, if they wished to participate in the advantages arising from initiation into the society. When first instituted the Vehm-Gerichte inspired evil-doers with fear, and implanted confidence in the minds of the upright and well-conducted. The verdicts of the tribunals were usually just, and their sentences frequently leant towards the side of mercy; but eventually the members departed from the original rules of the society, the institution became utterly corrupt and iniquitous, and such was the overweaning pride and presumption of the brotherhood, that in 1470, three Free-counts had the audacity to summon the Emperor Frederick the Third and his chancellor, the Bishop of Passau, to appear before the Free-tribunal, between the gates of Wünnenberg, in the diocese of Paderborn, “there to defend his person and highest honour, under penalty of being held to be a disobedient Emperor.” Of course the Emperor took no notice of the summons, which bears some resemblance to that despatched by the Masonic lodge, at Palermo, to Pius the Ninth. - - What principally led to the degeneracy of the society, was the * “Secret Tribunals of Westphalia.” p. 35o. 88 THE REA/AT/AS OF FREEA/ASOAVR Y. facility with which unfit and worthless persons were admitted into it. In the beginning of its career, each count or Schöppe, before being initiated, had to produce two witnesses as to the spotless- ness of his character and the blamelessness of his conduct; but, in the course of time, a sufficient amount of money paid to the Tribunal-lord or Free-count, ensured the admission of the most worthless individual; and a writer, in the reign of Sigismund, assures us, “that those who had gotten authority to hang men were hardly deserving enough to keep pigs, and were themselves well worthy of the gallows.” In 1512, in the Diet at Triers, it was pronounced “that by the Westphalian tribunals many an honest man had lost his honour, body, life, and property.” Soon afterwards the Archbishop of Cologne himself, the Imperial lieutenant of the Vehm-Gericht in Westphalia, issued a capitulation of charges against the tribunals, in which he declared that “by very many they were shunned and regarded as seminaries of villains.” In 1580, near the town of Münster, there lived a man of the name of Kerstian Kerkerink, who was accused of leading an immoral life, and violating the seventh commandment. The report of Kerkerink's delinquencies reached the Vehm-Gericht of Münster, and it resolved on punishing the offender. Accordingly one night the members despatched their emissaries to the house of Kerkerink, who prevailed on him to rise, dress himself, and accompany them, by assuring the unhappy man that they had come to bring him before the tribunal of a respectable councillor in Münster. Instead of taking him to the city, however, the ... Frohnboten conducted him to a place in the vicinity called Beck- man's Bush, where he was detained, while intelligence of his cap- ture was despatched to the Vehm-Gericht. As soon as day dawned, the Free-count and his Schöppen, accompanied by a monk and the common hangman, repaired to Beckman's Bush, and the count and assessors ordered the prisoner to be brought before them. The terrified wretch entreated that he might be granted the assistance of an advocate, but his prayer THE RAEAZAZTIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. 89 was refused, and the count proceeded to pass sentence of death upon the culprit, without more ado. The miserable man now implored for a delay of even one day, in order that he might arrange his affairs and make his peace with Heaven. A deaf ear was turned to this entreaty likewise ; the victim was told that a monk was present who would hear his confession, and that if he desired a favour he should be beheaded instead of hung, but that his death was inevitable, and must take place immediately. The monk was then called, and, the confession over, the executioner advanced and struck off Kerkerink's head. Information had meanwhile reached Münster, of the proceed- ings which were taking place in the neighbourhood, and the citizens began to pour out of the city; but on reaching Beckman's Bush, all that remained to show where the Vehm-Gericht had been held, was the headless trunk of Kerstian Kerkerink.” This appears to be one of the last instances in which a Wehm-Court exercised its power of inflicting capital punishment. The Vehm tribunals were never formally abolished, but all summary proceedings on their part were prohibited, and they gra- dually sank into insignificance; though, even up to the present century, some vestiges of the tribunals of the middle ages still lingered in Westphalia. * “Secret Tribunals of Westphalia.” p. 404. CHAPTER V. BUT if Freemasonry may claim some slight resemblances in its rules and formulas to certain Mediaeval Secret Societies, still closer is its affinity to the Guilds, or fraternities of tradesmen and artisans of those days, though most of these were legally incorpo- rated—which never was the case with the Freemasons, whose bond of union was deemed stronger than any that could be conferred upon them by a charter.” It appears that originally all the guilds, or trades-unions, on the reception of a new member, practised forms of initiation more or less secret. The guilds of saddlers, tailors, hatters, boot- makers, all had their own peculiar ceremonies of admission. These initiatory rites did not fail to excite the uneasiness of the priesthood, and, in some instances, the bishops solemnly adjured the fraternities to renounce such ceremonies and mysteries, which were deemed sacreligious and impious. So uneasy were the clergy at the secrecy with which admission into the different guilds was attended, that in 1645 the guilds of shoemakers and tailors were denounced to the authorities in Paris, on the plea that they were addicted to impious practices, and the ...Archbishop of Paris hastened to threaten excommunication against all who attended these “pernicious assemblies.” To escape from the jurisdiction of the archbishop, the meetings * “Europe in the Middle Ages.” Hallam. vol. ii. p. 42 1. ZTHE REALITIES OF FRAEEMASOAVRY. 9 I of these bodies were then held in the vicinity of the Temple, where the ancient privilege of freedom from the ban of excom- munication, which had been accorded to the knights, still lingered ; but a decree from the bailiff of the jurisdiction banished the assemblies of the guilds from this asylum in 1651.* In that year an anonymous publication exposed the ceremonies practised by the saddlers, and the publicity that was given to the rites of the different guilds, and the annoyances and persecu- tions to which they were consequently exposed, led many of them to abandon their ancient ceremonies, whilst others united themselves with the different building corporations. The forms in vogue amongst the hatters may serve as an example of those practised by the other unions, and were of a nature to attract the disapprobation of the clergy. A large hall was selected for the scene of initiation. In the Centre was placed a table on which lay a cross, a crown of thorns, a palm branch, and the various instruments connected with the death and Passion of our Lord. In the fireplace stood a bucket filled with water. The aspirant represented Christ, and enacted the ordeals through which Jesus passed from the time of His betrayal by Judas to His trial and sacrifice. This over, the candi- date was led in front of the fireplace, and there prostrated himself with his face to the ground, while water from the bucket was poured over him and called the baptism of regeneration, after receiving which he took the oath of secrecy and was taught the pass-words and signs of the Order. The forms of initiation into the fraternity of charcoal-burners, are curious, and are said to be still practised in the Black Forest, and in the Jura Mountains. When a new member is to be admitted, the charcoal-burners, who call each other good cousins, assemble in some convenient spot in the Forest; a white cloth is spread on the ground, and on it are placed a salt-cellar full of salt, a glass of water, a lighted Candle, and a cross. The candidate is led forward and made to * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie, etc.” Clavel. p. 363. 92 THE REAL/TVES OF FREEMASOAVRY. prostrate himself on the earth, with his hands spread over the water and the salt, and in this position he takes an oath to guard religiously the secrets of the fraternity. After undergoing a few tests, the signs and pass-words by which he may make himself known as a true and veritable good cousin charcoal-burner throughout the Forests, are communicated to him, and the presi- ding charcoal-burner next instructs him as to the symbolic meaning of the objects before him. “The cloth,” he explains, “is emblematic of the shroud which Some day will enfold us ; the salt signifies the three theological virtues; the lighted candle is to remind us of the candles that will be lighted at our death ; the water represents that with which we shall be sprinkled, and the cross is what will be carried before our coffin.” The neophyte is further informed that the cross on which Christ was crucified was made of the wood of the sea-holly, that it had seventy points, and that St. Thibault is the patron of charcoal-burners.” - St. Thibault was a native of Provins, in the province of Cham- pagne, and owes his position as the patron of charcoal-burners to having fled from the comforts and pleasures of the paternal roof, in order to adopt a life of austerity and self-denial. Being convinced that all men ought to support themselves by the labour of their hands, St. Thibault, who had taken up his abode in Germany, at a place called Piringen, supported himself chiefly by making charcoal for the forges, till his virtues and ex- emplary piety gained such renown that he had to fly from Piringen, to court obscurity and humiliation in a wood near Vicenza, in Italy, where he ended his days in the odour of Sanctity, covered with sores, and devoured by diseases arising from the severity of his fasts and penances.t Occasionally the fraternity admitted persons not charcoal- . burners by profession into their ranks, and a story is told of a * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie, etc.” Clavel. p. 362. # “Vie des Saints.” Mesenguy. vol. ii. p. 2. THE REA/C/TVES OF FREEMASOAVR V. 93 member of the Council of the Five Hundred, who had been initi- ated into the fraternity near Besançon, who, being outlawed and obliged to fly, took refuge in the army, and sought oblivion by serving as a private in a Hussar regiment. He was taken prisoner by the Austrians, in the neighbourhood of the Black Forest, but had contrived to make his escape from them, when he had the misfortune to fall into the hands of some Irregulars, who were about to plunder him, and by whom he would probably have been roughly treated, when he had the good luck to observe some honest charcoal-burners amongst the crowd of bystanders. He hastened to make them the secret sign of the society, and the worthy charcoal-burners, on perceiving it, immediately intervened for his protection, rescued him from his tormentors, and con- ducted him in safety to the outposts of the French army.* The forms of initiation were more or less similar in all the other guilds. That of the tailors was amongst the most ancient. In this fraternity the candidate first entered a room, in the centre of which stood a table covered with a white cloth ; on it was a loaf of bread, a glass filled with water, a salt-cellar overturned, three large silver coins, and three needles. As in most of the forms of reception in the other guild fraternities, the tailor, at his initiation, personated Christ, and enacted the scenes of His Passion, after which, with his hand resting on the table we have described, he took the oath of fidelity to the society. The ceremony of reception over, a banquet next took place in an ad- joining room, on the walls of which were hung pictures represent- ing various adventures in gallantry of three journeymen tailors. A lecture on these pictures was given during the evening, a dis- course which is described as having been coarse and disgusting in the extreme.* The building corporations, to which so many of the other trades-unions united themselves towards the close of the seventeenth century, like the Freemasons, lay claim to great * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie, etc.” Clavel. p. 363. t Ibid. p. 364. 94 7A/E REAL/T/ES OF F/O AEFAMASO/VRY. antiquity, and are asserted to owe their origin to the Roman Colleges of Architecture, into which, it is believed, secret ceremonials and peculiar doctrines, borrowed from different nations and religions, were introduced.* & When the Republic of Rome was overthrown, and other cor- porations lost their privileges, those of the College of Architecture were retained, in consequence of the anxiety felt by the Emperors to embellish and adorn their cities. These colleges had extended over the whole of the Roman Empire, and were even to be found in remote Gaul and Britain. Their members took an oath of mutual assistance; such as were poor were relieved by the cor- poration, and at their death were buried at the joint expense of the fraternity. Registers of the members were carefully kept, some of which still exist. Their meetings were held in secluded rooms or buildings, retained exclusively for that purpose, and the fraternity was divided into masters, wardens, (decuriones), fellowcrafts, apprentices, censors, treasurers, keepers of the archives, secretaries, and serving brethren. They had peculiar religious ceremonies, and priests of their own ; they were ex- empted from taxation ; they had distinctive seals, and their tools and working implements were invested with a symbolic signifi- cance.* On some of the tombs of the Roman Masons have been found representations of the compasses, square, plummet, trowel, and hammer; and also, frequently, a pair of shoes with a pair of half- opened compasses lying on them, an emblem, it has been sup- posed, of a well-spent life or of conjugal fidelity.j: The Roman Colleges fell with the Empire; but it is asserted that, though scattered and overthrown, their ruins still lingered on and maintained an existence, and at length revived under the form of the building corporations of the middle ages. The Freemasons, as we have seen, owed their rise to the * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie, etc.” Clavel. p. 82. t “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. p. 21. i Ibid. p. 22. Z'HE REAAAZTVES OF A RAE EA/ASOAVR V. 95 monasteries, and devoted themselves almost exclusively to eccle- siastical architecture; the other building corporations were there- fore more especially occupied with civil architecture. One fraternity, namely, that of the Frères Pontiſes was particularly engaged in the construction of bridges. They were established in Avignon in 1178, and built the bridge of that town, and also most of the bridges in Provence, Auvergne, Lorraine, and Lyonnais. They were a religious community, but admitted seculars amongst them. In 1469 it was enacted that the rank of merchant should be accorded to persons belonging to the Order. This society also existed in Italy. At Lucca it is to be met with in 1590, and in 1562 John de' Medici was the Master of the Order.* In France, three of these building societies existed under the designations of Enfants de Salomon, Enfants de Maître Jacques, and Enfants du Père Soubise. The Enfants de Salomon were also known as “Foreign Com- panions,” or “Wolves,” “Companions of the Right of Liberty,” or “Gavots.” The first of these names they adopted because “those among them who had worked at the building of the Temple of Solomon were from Tyre and the neighbouring countries,” and the term “Gavots” was said to have been given to them “because their ancestors, who came from Judea into Gaul, landed on the coast of Provence, where the inhabitants of Barcelonnette, who live near the place of debarcation, are called gavots.” In the mysteries of the Enfants de Salomon, the tragical death of the venerable Master Hiram, treacherously killed by the wicked fellowcrafts, is related to the aspirant, which, with but a few slight differences, is identical with the legend that now serves as the theme of Freemasonry.f The Enfants de Maitre 3 acques are divided into “Com- panion Passengers ” or Zoups-Garous, and “Devourers,” * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. p. 84-85. f Ibid. p. 364. 96 THE REAZAZYES OF FRAEAE/MASOAVRY. names that probably originated in the rivalry and dislike which existed between the privileged Freemasons and the corporations employed on civil architecture.* - The legend round which their rites are constructed relates that Master 9’ames, the colleague of Hiram Abiff, and one of the most distinguished of Solomon's masters, was the son of Jachin, a celebrated architect, and was born in the south of France. While still a mere child, he started on his travels in order to perfect himself in his profession and to study philosophy. He first visited Greece, and afterwards Egypt and Palestine. Having executed several great works in the latter country, more especially two pillars for Solomon's temple, he was raised to the dignity of master. When the temple was finished Maitre Jacques returned to France, accompanied by several architects of a similar degree, and landed in Provence. Amongst his companions was the Master Soubise, a man of a proud and jealous nature, who could not forgive his fellow craftsman for being his superior in talent. Impelled by jealousy, he sought to destroy him, and employed ten assassins to put him to death. Unexpectedly assailed by these wretches, while endeavouring to escape from them, Master James fell into a swamp, where he would inevitably have perished had not some rushes supported him, and enabled him to keep himself above water till assistance arrived. But Master Soubise would not let him escape thus easily from destruction. One morning, before the rising of the sun, when Master James had retired to Sainte Beaume to pray, Master Soubise appeared, greeted him affectionately, and gave him the kiss of peace, which was the treacherous signal for five assassins, the accomplices of Master Soubise, to fling themselves on Master James and cover him with wounds; and by the time his faith- ful followers reached the spot it was too late, their beloved master was at the point of death. When all was over, they stripped off his robe to keep as a precious relic of their dear t “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. p. 365. THE REA//TIES OF FREEMASOAVA’Y. 97 master; beneath it they found a reed which he had worn in re- membrance of the rushes that had once been the means of saving his life, and from this out the Companion Passengers adopted a reed as their symbol. The body of Master James was placed on a bier and carried into the Desert of Cabra, where it was embalmed. His obsequies were magnificent, and lasted for three days. A long and toilsome journey had to be undertaken, through wild and rugged moun- tains, in order to reach the tomb destined for the son of Jachin; , and having at length arrived there, his body was placed in the sepulchre with many mystic ceremonies. As for Master Soubise, remorse overtook him; and overwhelmed with repentance for his crime, he flung himself into a well in order to put an end to his miserable existence, and there the Companions covered up his corpse with stones.* The AEnfants de Maître Soubise were also called Fellows, Devourers, and Dogs. The latter name they assumed, as they alleged, in memory of the part they took in the punishment of the murderers of Hiram Abiff, whose body, hidden beneath a heap of rubbish, was discovered by a dog. It has been suggested that the name Soubise is a corruption of Sabazius, a name by which Bacchus was known in Thrace. It is certain that the priests of Bacchus early founded companies of architects and masons to erect theatres for the performance of dramas, in honour of their god Dyonisius or Bacchus. These builders acquired the name of Dionysian workmen, and eventually became numerous, and spread from Greece into remote lands. Such companies would certainly have practised the mysteries of Bacchus, and would possibly have preserved the name of Saba- zius; and it is not difficult to understand that a corruption of the name, held sacred by building-fraternities in Pagan times, may have descended to similar societies in the middle ages. The transformation of Sabazius, or Bacchus, into the Père Soubise would be analogous to the metamorphose undergone by many of the * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie." Clavel. p. 365. 7 98 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASO/VRY. heathen gods and goddesses, who to-day figure as Christian Saints, and to the numerous traces of Pagan rites that still linger in some of our most common customs and yearly festivals. For instance, the habit of celebrating the first of April, or April Fool's Day, which is a relic of the equinoctial festival celebrated at that time when the Sun enters Aries. In India, this festival is still observed, and the custom practised of sending persons upon ridi- culous and false errands.” Again, Allhallow Eve, still called in Some parts of Ireland, Oidhehe Shamham, or Vigil of Samhan,t Samhan, or the Sun, being, in Druidical times, one of the gods the most revered in Ireland. His festival was observed by the Druids as a day of intercession for the souls of those who had died the preceding year. According to the Druidical creed, it was believed that on that day Samhan summoned before him and judged those who had recently died; the wicked being con- demned to a re-existence in this world, as a punishment for their sins, while the righteous were allowed to enter the realms of bliss. In the Catholic Church, All Souls' Day is celebrated on the 2nd of November, and may clearly be traced back to the time when the Druids preached the doctrine that on that day the Lord Samhan judged the souls of the departed: this beautiful and touching custom of visiting the cemeteries to pray at, and deco- rate the graves of departed friends with wreaths and flowers, allying the Catholics of to-day with their progenitors of Druidical times. +. In England, we see vestiges of medieval days in the Livery Companies of London and elsewhere, which derive their origin from the early guilds, the latter having been originally divided into ecclesiastical and secular guilds, the former being societies for alms-deeds and devotion while the latter were formed purely for commercial ends. Such guilds, as we have shown, existed in England in the days of the Saxon kings, and, like the French * “The Celtic Druids.” J. Higgins. p. 152. t “Dublin and London Magazine,” 1825. p. 460. THE REAL/7/ES OF FREEMASOAVR V. O9 associations of a similar kind, the English guilds had likewise their own peculiar customs and privileges, which have long since become a dead letter. These associations were of great advantage, both to the indi- vidual member of a guild and to trade in general. In those days no patent laws existed ; and had it not been for the mutual obligations entered into by the members of a guild, an inventor would either have been deprived of the benefits and profits of his invention, or have been forced to keep it in profound secrecy. The results of the secrecy with which some of the arts of the middle ages were enveloped, we now experience in the extinction of many such arts; while others have only lately been imper- fectly revived. The guilds or trades-unions, were of immense advantage to society, by affording their members facilities of travelling and becoming acquainted with the methods employed in their respective professions in various countries, a mutual inter- change of knowledge and experience improving their skill and obviating the risk of the extinction of the different arts. The secrecy with which initiation was surrounded and the use of secret signs and pass-words were necessary, in times when the admission of an outsider into the councils or meetings of the fraternity might entail the loss of the fruits which a painstaking inventor or hard working discoverer had a right to expect as the reward of his labours. But as in many of these associations the candidate, on his admission, had to take an oath never to reveal the secrets of the organization, even at the Sacred tribunal of confession, it was inevitable that sooner or later the wrath of the Church must be hurled against them. The opposition they met with from the clergy was, in truth, far from unjustifiable. The secret ceremonies were often of a nature that admitted of their being practised in a profane and impious manner, and the animosity and rivalry existing between the different associations frequently resulted in fierce conflict between their respective 7–2 IOC THE REA/./7”/ES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. members, which constantly ended in the combatants being badly wounded, and occasionally even in death.* In Ireland the guilds seem to have attained considerable im- portance and to have exercised no small amount of influence till their suppression by the passing of the Reformed Municipal Act. Previous to this, twenty-five corporations or guilds existed in Dublin, each comprising its own masters, journeymen and ap- prentices, and each having its patron Saint, whose image was, on all great occasions, borne before the guild. Once in three years a procession of the guilds took place in Dublin, to perambulate the city within the limits of the Lord Mayor's jurisdiction. On this occasion the members of the different corporations vied with each other in show and splendour, and the procession was considered so magnificent that numbers of English people were in the habit of crossing over to Ireland in order to witness it; which, in days of slow and difficult travelling, and no steam, is no small proof that the show was a famous and imposing spectacle. Each guild provided itself with a large platform on wheels and surmounted by a Canopy. It was a sort of triumphal car, gorgeous with gold, ribbons, and hangings, and drawn by six or eight horses richly caparisoned. On these platforms some of the most expert hands were to be seen busily occupied plying their various trades, during the whole perambulation. The weavers wove ribbons, which they flung to the crowd; the printers struck off songs and ballads, which they threw among the spectators; the apothecaries concocted pills, and distributed them broadcast. The merchants displayed a large ship on wheels, manned by sailors; the master-tailors all appeared on horseback and a hundred and fifty tailors on horseback, and decked in ribbons and lace formed a spectacle that afforded the Dublin mob great delight and amusement. The skinners and tanners were closely enveloped in sheep and goat-skins; the butchers in hides, with horns on their heads and large knives in their hands. * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie, etc.” Clavel. p. 368. THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. IO I But the guild of smiths seems to have been the most striking parade in the procession. On their platform was exhibited a forge in full work, and behind it came a high phaeton, both vehicle and horses being gaily adorned with festoons of flowers and coloured streamers. In the phaeton the most beautiful girl that could be found was enthroned as Venus, her costume, if report speaks true, mainly consisting in a blue scarf embroidered with silver doves. At her feet sat four or five little Cupids, armed with bows and arrows, who aimed their weapons, as they passed, at the ladies in the windows. On one side of the phaeton, rode a huge smith, attired in black armour and wielding an enormous sledge-hammer, the representative of Vulcan ; while at the other side was seen Mars, in shining armour, holding an immense two-edged Sword, and adorned with feathers and bunches of horse-hair. Behind the chariot came Argus, decorated with a peacock's tail of stupendous proportions, while gods and goddesses, saints and Satyrs brought up the rear of the pageant. The procession took two hours in passing any given point, and eight or nine hours were spent in perambulating the city. On reaching a certain spot, where the Earl of Meath's liberty joined his jurisdiction, the Lord Mayor thrust his sword through the wall of a particular house; and the ceremony was brought to a close by his approaching the sea at low water, and flinging a javelin as far as he was able, to mark the boundary between his dominions and those of Neptune.* * “Barrington's Personal Sketches.” vol. i. p. 142. CHAPTER VI. FREEMASONRy, as we have seen, claims a great antiquity, but though doubtless descended from the Masonic fraternities of the middle ages, still the Masonry of to-day can only be said to have assumed its present being early in the last century. Masonry had already consented to extend its privileges to non-operative mem- bers; but, in spite of this concession, non-operatives did not flock into the fold in any number. Working Masons no longer cared to join a society, membership in which had ceased to be of any benefit or importance to them, and in consequence, Freemasonry found itself reduced to a very limited society indeed. In 1714, the resolution admitting non-operative members had been adopted. In London, four lodges still clung to existence, and held their meet- ings—which had degenerated into assemblies without aim or object —at four different taverns, namely, at the “Goose and Gridiron,” in St. Paul's Churchyard; at the “Crown Ale House,” in Parker's Lane, near Drury Lane; at the “Apple-tree Tavern,” in Charles Street, Covent Garden; and at the “Rummer and Grapes Tavern,” Channel Row, Westminster. In February, 1717, the four lodges met at the “Apple-tree Tavern,” in Charles Street, and constituted themselves into a Grand Lodge, declaring that henceforward no lodge would be regarded as regular or constitutional unless it were held under a warrant granted by their own self-constituted Grand THE A&EAZATIES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. IO3 Lodge.” It having been decided that the original constitution of the craft was to be superseded by Speculative Freemasonry, it became necessary to draw up a constitution for the new society, and to re-arrange its forms and ceremonies. Accordingly, in 1722, the Rev. James Anderson, a Scotch Presbyterian minister, in London, drew up a Book of the Constitutions of the Free and Accepted Masons, which received the approbation of the Grand Lodge of England, and was printed in the same year. These Constitutions professed to be collected from old Masonic records, and, besides the charges and so-forth, contained a history of the Society, replete with startling historical facts and assertions. Amongst the list of the grand masters of the craft are to be found Nebuchadnezzar, who is termed “a sumptuous Grand Master; ” Cyrus; Zerubbabel, “Provincial Grand Master in the land of Judea ; ” while in England, Austin, the monk, the first archbishop of Canterbury, St. Dunstan, Cardinal Wolsey, and George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, are among the notabilities who have ruled the Order. As these Constitutions, with but some unimportant changes, are the same as those in force at present, it may be advisable to give them here at some length, so as they may be compared with the older Constitutions of which specimens are quoted. The first charge is—“Concerning God and Religion.” “A Mason is obliged, by his tenure, to obey the moral law; and if he rightly understands the art, he will never be a stupid atheist, nor an irreligious libertine. But though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it was, yet it is now thought more expedient only to oblige them to be of that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves; that is, tobe good men and true, or men of honour and honesty, by whatever denominations or persuasions they may be dis- tinguished, whereby Masonry becomes the centre of union and * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel, p. 137-40. I oA THE REALITIES OF FREEMASO/WR Y the means of conciliating true friendship among persons that must have remained at a perpetual distance.” Secondly.—“Of the Civil Magistrate, supreme and subordinate.” “A Mason is a peaceable subject to the civil powers, wherever he resides or works, and is never to be concerned in plots and conspiracies against the peace and welfare of the nation, nor to behave himself undutifully to inferior magistrates; for as Masonry hath been always injured by war, bloodshed, and confusion, so ancient kings and princes have been much disposed to encourage the craftsmen, because of their peaceableness and loyalty, whereby they practically answered the cavils of their adversaries, and pro- moted the honour of the fraternity, who ever flourished in times of peace. So that if a brother should be a rebel against the State, he is not to be countenanced in his rebellion, however he may be pitied as an unhappy man; and, if convicted of no other crime, though the loyal brotherhood must disown his rebellion, and give no umbrage or ground of political jealousy to the Government for the time being, they cannot expel him from the lodge, and his relation to it remains indefeasible.” The third clause concerns Lodges, and ordains that, “The per- sons admitted members of a lodge must be good and true men, free-born, and of mature and discreet age, no women, no immoral or scandalous men, but of good report.” The fourth charge is—“Of Masters, Wardens, Fellows, and Apprentices.” It announces that “all preferment among Masons is grounded upon real worth and personal merit only,” and ordains that “no master should take an apprentice, unless he has sufficient employ- ment for him; unless he be a perfect youth, having no maim or defect in his body that may render him incapable of learning the art of serving his master's Lord, and of being made a brother, and then a fellowcraft in due time; ” he must also “be descended of honest parents.” No Mason is to be appointed Grand Master, “unless he has been a fellowcraft before his election, who is also to be nobly born, THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONR Y. IO or a gentleman of the best fashion, or some eminent scholar, or Some Curious architect, or other artist, descended of honest parents, and who is of singular great merit in the opinion of the lodges.” Under the clause treating of “Behaviour after the Lodge is over, and the brethren not gone,” the directions are a curious Commentary on the manners of the time, when it was considered a proof of good breeding to force one's friend to drink, molens volens. “You may enjoy yourselves with innocent mirth, treating one another according to ability; but avoiding all excess, or forcing any brother to eat or drink beyond his inclination.” In the event of a Mason being in the presence of strangers, and of the conversation taking such a turn as to render it likely that any of the Masonic secrets may be divulged, he is thus directed,—— “Sometimes you shall divert a discourse, and manage it prudently for the honour of the worshipful fraternity.” This direction is in force at the present day, as we find from the charge occasionally introduced at the closing of a lodge in the first degree : “Be cautious in your words and carriage, that the most pene- trating stranger may not discover or find out what is not proper to be intimated ; and, if necessary, waive the discourse, and manage it prudently, for the honour of the fraternity.” In one charge there are instructions as to the course to be pur- sued in the event of cases of disagreement arising between the brethren : “And if any of them do you injury, you must apply to your own, or his lodge; and from them you may appeal to the Grand Lodge at the quarterly communication, and from them to the Annual Grand Lodge, as has been the ancient laudable conduct of our forefathers in every nation, never taking legal course but when the case cannot be otherwise decided ; and patiently listening to the honest and friendly advice of master and fellows, when they would prevent your going to law with strangers, or would excite * “Manual of Freemasonry.” R. Carlile. Ioé THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRY. you to put a speedy period to all law-suits, that so you may mind the affair of Masonry with the more alacrity and success; but with respect to brothers or fellows at law, the master and brethren should kindly offer their mediation, which ought to be thankfully submitted to by the contending brethren; and if that submission is impracticable, they must, however, carry on their process, or law-suit, without wrath and rancour (not in the common way), saying or doing nothing which may hinder brotherly love, and good offices to be renewed and continued ; that all may see the benign influence of Masonry, as all true Masons have done from the beginning of the world and will do to the end of time.” The fifth charge treats “Of the Management of the Craft in working.” “All Masons shall work honestly on working-days, that they may live creditably on holy days.” From this Charge it would appear that Speculative Masonry did not at first contemplate its complete separation from the operative branch, but intended rather that the two were to work together hand in hand. It con- tinues, “The master, knowing himself to be able of cunning, shall undertake the Lord's work as reasonably as possible, and truly dispend his goods as if they were his own, nor to give more wages to any brother than he really may deserve. “Both the Master and the masons, receiving their wages justly, shall be faithful to the Lord, and honestly finish their work, whether task or journey, nor put the work to task that hath been accustomed to journey. “None shall discover envy at the prosperity of a brother, nor supplant him, or put him out of his work, if he be capable to finish the same; for no man can finish another's work so much to the Lord's profit, unless he be thoroughly acquainted with the designs and draughts of him that began it. “All Masons employed shall weekly receive their wages without murmuring or mutiny, and not desert their master till the work is finished. - - - - “A younger brother shall be instructed in working, to prevent THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. Io? spoiling the materials for want of judgment, and for increasing and continuing of brotherly love. . “All the tools used in working shall be approved by the Grand Lodge. - “No labourer shall be employed in the proper work of masonry nor shall Freemasons work with those that are not free, without an urgent necessity; nor shall they teach labourers and unaccepted masons as they should teach a brother or fellow.” From this it is evident that the original intention of those who first suggested the admission of non-operatives into their craft, far from contemplating that the Speculative would, like Pharaoh's lean cattle, swallow up the fat and well-liking kine, or the opera- tive and useful element of the institution, was rather that by admitting “gentlemen of the best fashion,” “eminent scholars,” “curious architects or other artists” into their society, the art of architecture, which had declined and languished from various causes ever since the Reformation, should, by the influence and the artistic and scientific knowledge of the new members of a superior class, be again raised to its original importance and grandeur. The low ebb to which architecture had fallen during the last century, the buildings of the period still unhappily testify. It was not, therefore, so absurd as it may at first appear, for the Masons—who, as we find, had generally sunk to the level of common workmen—to imagine that, by initiating men of superior rank and culture into their society, and teaching them such simple secrets as they still possessed, these accepted Masons of a higher order might raise the society to its former position of dignity and usefulness. The result, however, proved to be that so far from Freemasonry resuming its former character, it assumed a com- pletely new aspect, the accepted Masons altogether neglecting the original object of the society, and introducing hitherto unheard-of rites and ceremonies into the once simple ritual, and every day new and extravagant grades were added to the primitive degrees. The legend of Hiram Abiff appears to have been introduced into Masonry for the first time in the beginning of the eighteenth Io8 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVR V. century. Previously to this we find no mention of such a per. sonage in any Masonic records. In the British Museum there is a manuscript entitled the “Sloane MS.” the date of which is 1646. It professes to explain the entire Masonic ritual, but does not contain a single allusion to the legend of Hiram Abiff. We give this ritual in extenso, as allusions to it are frequent in all literature concerning Freemasonry; the spelling alone is modernized. . A narrative of the Freemasons' word and signs : — “First, they discover others by signs, next they go in private to discourse. One sign is by giving their right hand a cast across their breast from left to right, with the tops of their fingers about three or four inches below their chin; another is by pulling off their hat with their right hand, their two first fingers above, and the thumb and all the rest below the hat's brim, pulling it off and giving it a cast from left to right, then on their head ; another is of drinking, giving the glass a cast across under their chin from left to right ; another is taking their handkerchief by the corner with their right hand and throwing it over their left shoulder, letting it hang down their back, and so walk a few steps along, if any Mason see it they will follow and take him by the hand; their grip for fellow-craft, grasping their right hands in each other, thrusting their thumb nail close upon the third joint of each other's first finger; their master's grip is grasping their right hands in each other, placing their four finger nails hard upon the carpus or end of others' wrists, and their thumb nails thrust hard directly between the second joint of the thumb and the third joint of the first finger; but some say the master's grip is the same I last described, only each of their middle fingers must reach an inch or three barleycorns' length higher to touch upon a vein that comes from the heart. Another sign is placing their right heel to the inside of their left in form of a square, to walk a few steps backward and forward, and at every third step make a little stand, placing their feet square as aforesaid; this done, if any Masons perceive it they will presently come to you. If you come Z}/E REALITIES OF FREEMASO/VR Y. Io9 where any Masons' tools lie, lay them in form of a square ; they will presently know that a free brother hath been there ; or a free brother coming where Freemasons are at work, if he takes some of their tools and lay them in form of a square it is a sign to discover him, or if he takes one of their tools or his own staff and strike softly on the wall or work saying, ‘this bose or hollow P’ If there be any free brother at work he will answer, “It is solid,” which words are signs to discover each other. Another sign some use, bending their right arm in form of a square and laying the palm of their left hand upon their heart. Another is by hoisting their eyes towards the cast and twisting their mouth toward the west. Another is bending their right knee, holding up their hand toward the east, and, if it be night or dark they will give two little haughts and a great one, as if they were forcing a bone or lump out of their throat, they will say, ‘The day is for seeing, the night for hearing.' Another sign is by lending you a crooked pin or a bit of paper cut in the form of a square, on receipt of which you must move from what place or company soever you are in, by virtue of your oath, and by the aforementioned sign of the hat or hand you are to come, if it were from the top of a steeple, to know their pleasure and to assist them. And to let you know he wants money he will hold a bit of pipe (or some such thing) to you, saying, ‘Can you change a cole pence P’ If 5 you have money you say ‘yes; ' if you have none, say ‘no.’ Some will signify their want of money by pulling their knife out of the sheath and giving it to a brother, in company or alone; if the brother have money he takes the knife, putting it in its sheath and returning it; if he have none he will return it bare as he received it, which many of them do, notwithstanding their oath, and many other signs they reject, though by oath are bound to obey all. Another sign is by taking their handkerchief in their right hand and blowing their nose, then holding it straight out before them they give it two little shakes and a big one. Another sign is knocking at any door two little knocks and the third a big one. They have another sign, used at the table drinking; when the glass goes not fast enough round, they say “Star the guile.” I IO THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVRy. “To discourse a Mason in France, Spain, or Turkey (say they) the sign is to kneel down on his left knee and hold up his right hand to the sun, and the outlandish brother will presently take him up; but believe me, if they go on their knees on that account they may remain there, or any persons observe their signs, as long as the Jews remain in their belief to receive their wished for Messias from the East. “Here followeth their private discourse, by way of question an SWer : — Q. Are you a mason P A. Yes. I am a Freemason. Q. How shall I know that? - A. By perfect signs and tokens, and the first points of my entrance. Q. Which is the first sign or token P Show me the first and I will show you the second. A. The first is hail and conceal, or conceal and keep secret, by no less pain than cutting my tongue from my throat. Q. Where were you made a Mason P A. In a just and perfect, or just and lawful lodge. Q. What is a just and perfect, or just and lawful lodge P A. A just and perfect is two interprentices, two fellow-crafts and two masters, more or fewer, the more the merrier, the fewer the better cheer; but if need require, five will serve, that is, two interprentices, two fellow-crafts, and one master, on the highest hill or lowest valley of the world, without the crow of a cock or the bark of a dog. Q. From whom do you derive your principles P A. From a greater than you. Q. Who is that on earth that is greater than a Freemason P A. He that was carried to the highest pinnacle of the Temple of Jerusalem. Q Whether is your lodge shut or open P A. It is shut. Q. Where lie the keys of the lodge door? THE REAL/7/ES OF FREEMASOAVR V. I I I A. They lie in a bound case, or under a three-cornered pave- ment, about a foot and a half from the lodge door. Q. What is the key of your lodge door made of? A. It is not made of wood, stone, iron, or steel, or any sort of metal, but the tongue of a good report behind a brother's back as well as before his face. . Q. How many jewels belong to your lodge P A. There are three—the square pavement, the blazing star, and the dainty tassel. Q. How long is the cable rope of your lodge? A. As long as from the top of the liver to the root of the tongue. How many lights are in your lodge? . Three—the sun, the master, and the square. . How high is your lodge P Without feet, yards, or inches, it reaches to heaven. . How stood your lodge P East and west, as all holy temples stand. . Which is the master's place in the lodge? . The last place is the master's place in the lodge, and the jewel resteth on him first, and he setteth men to work; what the masters have sown in the forenoon the wardens reap in the afternoon. “In some places they discourse as follows:— Q. Where was the word first given P A. At the Tower of Babylon. Q. Where did they first call their lodge P A. At the holy Chapel of St. John. Q. Where stood your lodge? A. As the said holy chapel, and all other holy temples stand ; namely, east and west. Q. How many lights are in your lodge P A. Two; one to see to go in, and another to see to work. Q. What were you sworn by ? A. By God and the square. II 2 Z'HE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRY. Q. Whether above the clothes or under the clothes P A. Under the clothes. Q. Under what arm P A. Under the right arm. God is grateful to all worshipful masters and fellows in that worshipful lodge from whence we last came, and to you good fellow. What is your name? A. J. Or B. Then, giving the grip of the hand, he will say, Brother John, greet you well. A. God's good greeting to you, dear brother. “Another salutation is giving the master's or fellow's grip, say- ing: The right worshipful the masters and fellows from whence we last came greet you well. Then he will reply, God's good greeting to you, dear brother. “Another: They have called the master's word, and is Maharyn, which is always divided into two words and standing close, with their breasts to each other, the inside of each other's right ancle joints; the masters grip by their right hands, and the top of their left hand fingers thrust close on the small of each others' backbone, and in that posture they stand till they whisper in each other's ears, the one Maha, and the other replies Ryn. THE OATH. “The Masonic word and everything therein contained you shall keep secret; you shall never put it in writing, directly or in- directly. You shall keep all that we or your attenders shall bid you keep secret from man, woman, or child, stock or stone, and never reveal it but to a brother or in a lodge of Freemasons, and truly observe the charges in any constitution. All this you pro- mise and swear faithfully to keep and observe without any manner of equivocation or mental reservation, directly or indirectly, so help you God, and by the contents of this book. So he kisses the book, &c.” It will be perceived that this ritual, though evidently authentic, is probably compiled by a person not actually belonging to the Masonic body; and, moreover, by one who does not seem to have Z}/E REAL/TYES OF FREEMASOAVAQ V, II.3 altogether regarded the society with approbation, but who, most likely, took down the ritual from the verbal account given him by some member. Such a mistake as substituting the word Maha- ryn for the actual one of Mahabone, or, as it may have been pro- nounced in those days, Mahabyn, would lead to this conclusion. However, the original of this ritual is evidently one of the sources from which the present Masonic ritual has been derived, several of the signs, grips, and some of the questions and responses of the Catechism being identical with those now in use. It is probable that this ritual was known to others besides the compilers of the Book of the Constitutions, as, soon after the pub- lication of that work, a parody of some of the more absurd of the Masonic signs appeared, entitled, “A Short Dictionary ex-. plaining the private Signs or Signals used by the Members of the Society of Freemasons,” which dictionary was appended to the secret history of the Freemasons. This parody seems evidently to point to the ritual now known as the Sloane MS. as the source of its inspiration. We give a few extracts from it, as a proof of the ludicrous light in which Masonry was regarded by some persons, even on its first appearance in the speculative form. “Ancle.—A member to touch the right leg as he goes along the streets, brings a member (if he sees him) from his work on the top of a steeple. To touch the ancle of the left leg brings him down to talk from any other part of the church. “Back—To put the right hand behind him, fetches a member down from any other edifice that is not built to an holy use. And to put the left hand behind him signifies that the member must come to the public-house nearest the place where he is at work, whether it be tavern, ale-house, or the like. “Belly—To put the right on it, is a sign for the member to be in the Mall, in St. James's Park, in an hour; and to put the left hand upon the belly is a sign for his being in Westminster Abbey in two hours. “Breast—To clap the right hand upon the right breast is a sig- 8 I I4 THE AEEAZAZTIES OF FREEMASOAVR V. nal for a member to meet him that makes it in St. Paul's Cathedral at the time of morning prayer; and to clap the left hand upon the left breast signifies you will be in St. Paul's Cathedral at the time of evening prayer. * “Calf—To rub the calf of the right leg with either hand, the member to whom the signal is made must be walking, precisely at two, by the fountain in the Middle Temple; and to rub the calf of the left leg with either hand signifies you must meet him, at four in the afternoon, on the King's Bench Walk, in the Inner Temple.” To touch the chin, swing one's cane, hold up either coat lappet, to stroke one's dog, to hold up a glove in the right or left hand, to pull an inkhorn out of the pocket and hold it up, to touch either knee, to shake one leg or the other, to put money out of one hand into the other, to make either an odd or even figure anywhere with chalk, to send a piece of blank paper done up as a letter, to toss up a Snuff-box, to hold up the right or left thumb, to send a letter only containing the word Xenophon or Zachaz, and endless other absurd or ordinary contortions and proceedings, are quoted in this Dictionary as being so many Masonic signs and signals, many of them being hardly more comical than the actual ones in vogue in the seventeenth century, according to the ritual in the Sloane MS. However, we have seen that in it there exists no allusion to Hiram Abiff. Another very old Masonic ritual, which some authors have considered as the oldest ritual known in the English language, is equally silent concerning Grand Master Hiram. This other ritual is entitled, “Examination upon Entrance into a Lodge,” and is believed to have been in use at the time of the Masonic revival. The following is the Catechism or lecture as it would be termed in Masonic phraseology. Q. Peace be here. A. I hope there is. Q. What o'clock is it? * “The Grand Mystery of Freemasons Discovered.” London, 1724. ZŽ A&EALITIES OF FREEMASOMRP. 11 5 . It's going to six, or going to twelve. . Are you very busy P No. . Will you give or take P Both, or which you please. How go squares P Straight. . Are you rich or poor Neither. Change me that P I will. . In the name of, etc., are you a Mason P What is a Mason P A man begot of a man, born of a woman, brother to a king. What is a fellow P - A companion of a prince. . How shall I know you are a Freemason P . By signs, tokens, and points of my entry. . Which is the point of your entry? . I hear and conceal, under the penalty of having my throat cut or my tongue pulled out of my head. Q. Where were you made a Freemason P A. In a just and perfect lodge. Q. How many make a lodge P A. God and the square, with five or seven right and perfect Masons, on the highest mountains or the lowest valleys in the world. ... " * Q. Why do odds make a lodge P A. Because all odds are men's advantage. Q. What lodge are you of P A. The lodge of St. John. Q. How does it stand? A. Perfect east and west, as all temples do. Q. Where is the Mason's point? I 16 ZHE REALITYES OF FREEMASO/VRY. A. At the east window, waiting, at the rising of the sun, to set his men at work. Q. Where is the warden's point? A. At the west window, waiting the setting of the sun, to dismiss the entered apprentices. Q. Who rules and governs the lodge, and is master of it? A. II] y i Irah + Or the right pillar. Jachin . How is it governed P Of square and rule. . Have you the key of the lodge P . Yes, I have. . What is its virtue P To open and shut, and shut and open. . Where do you keep it? In an ivory box, between my tongue and my teeth, or within heart, where all my secrets are kept. . Have you the chain to the key? Yes, I have. . How long is it? As long as from my tongue to my heart. How many precious jewels? Three: a square ashlar, a diamond, and a square. How many lights? . Three : A light east, south, and west. . What do they represent P ... The three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. How many pillars? Two : Jachin and Boaz. What do they represent? . Strength and stability of the Church in all ages. . How many angles in St. John's lodge P . Four, bordering on Squares. Q. How is the meridian found out? THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. 117 A. When the sun leaves the south, and breaks in at the west end of the lodge. Q. In what part of the Temple was the lodge kept P A. In Solomon’s Porch, at the west end of the Temple, where the two pillars were set up. - Q. How many steps belong to a right Mason P A. Three. Q. Give me the solution ? A. I will. The right worshipful, worshipful masters, and wor- shipful fellows of the right worshipful lodge, from whence I came, greet you well. RESPONSE. That great God to us greeting, be at this our meeting, and with the right worshipful lodge from whence you came and are. . Give me the Jerusalem word? . Giblin. Give me the universal word P Boaz. Right, brother of ours; your name P M. or N. RESPONSE. Welcome, brother M. or N. to our society. i Q. How many particular points pertain to a Freemason 2 A. Three: Fraternity, fidelity, and taciturnity. Q. What do they represent P A. Brotherly love, relief, and truth among all right Masons (for which all Masons were ordain’d at the building of the Tower of Babel and at the Temple of Jerusalem). Q. How many proper points? A. Five: Foot to foot, knee to knee, hand to hand, heart to heart, and ear to ear. .. Q. Whence is an arch derived P A. From architecture. Q. How many Orders in architecture ? A. Five: the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Com- posite. 118 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONR Y. Q. What do they answer? A. They answer to the base, perpendicular, diameter, circum- ference, and square. Q. What is the right word or right point of a Mason P A. Adieu. OATH. “You must serve God according to the best of your knowledge and institution, and be a true liegeman to the king, and help to assist any brother as far as your ability will allow ; by the contents of the Sacred Writ you will perform this oath, so help you God.” º, As Jachin, Boaz, and Giblin figure in this ritual as established pass-words of the Order, as the five points of fellowship, and the three jewels and three lights of the lodge are introduced as symbols, which symbols are still retained in the ceremonial, it is highly improbable that had a personage who plays such an important part in the Masonic ceremonies of the present day as Hiram Abiff, been a prominent character in Freemasonry previous to its assumption of the speculative form, his existence would have been entirely ignored in both the rituals we have quoted, and that no mention of him should be found in any of the early Masonic records. t It has been stated by competent authorities that the legends concerning Hiram Abiff were borrowed from stories con- tained in one of the Jewish Targums, translations of which were first published in 1715, and that these translations were probably the source from which Anderson and Désaguliers, both enthusiastic Freemasons, drew the tales of the so-called grand master of their craft, and introduced them into the ritual and ceremonies of the Order. The probability of such having been the manner in which the “cunning man,” the skilful founder of metals, engraver, and worker in crimson, purple, lilac, and fine linen, was transformed into the greatest of architects, is heightened by the fact, that even during their lifetime, Anderson and ZTB/E REA LITIES OF FREEMASOAVRW. II 9 Désaguliers were accused by seceding Masons of inventing the master's degree, an accusation that, moreover, they never denied.* However, although it is almost certain that Anderson and Désaguliers introduced the ritual of the third degree into the craft, the legends concerning Hiram Abiff are found, previous to their time, playing a prominent part in the ceremonies and observances of the French secular building corporations known as the “Enfants de Salomon,” the “Enfants du Père Soubise,” and the “Enfants de Maitre Jacques.” It is probable that Désaguliers, a Frenchman remarkable for his learning and research, and a man who had himself suffered from the bigotry and intolerance of the Catholic Church, may have heard of the distrust and dislike with which the Romish clergy regarded the observances of the above- mentioned societies, and of the efforts they had made for their suppression, a circumstance that would naturally tend to raise, rather than lower, the objects of such antipathy in the estimation of the exiled Huguenot. The undoubted antiquity of the building corporations would possibly have led him to study their constitutions at the time he was reconstructing those of Free- masonry, and may have induced him to engraft some of their legends on those of the society he was remodelling. From internal evidence, and the accusation of which we have spoken, brought against the compilers of the Masonic institutions by some of their own Masonic contemporaries, it appears that not only all the higher grades, but also the third, or master's degree, which is generally acknowledged as the most important in Masonry, was the invention of the eighteenth century. Till then the only two degrees seem to have been those of apprentice and fellowcraft, the master of the lodge being chosen from among the most learned and skilful of the fellowcrafts, so that the term master mason meant only a dignity or office, in the same way as do warden or secretary, and was not applied to a separate degree or grade. * “Origin and Early History of Freemasonry.” Steinbrenner. I 2 O THE REA ZZ TIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. The anti-Romish spirit that is now so marked a characteristic of Speculative Masonry is not surprising when we remember that its two principal authors were a Scotch Presbyterian minister and a Huguenot exile. About Anderson's personal history but little is known, excepting that he was unfortunate enough to lose a considerable portion of his property in the South Sea Bubble. Désaguliers, who emigrated to England with his father in 1685, after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, was educated at Oxford, where he attracted considerable notice as a mathema- tician and a natural philosopher. He soon made numerous acquaintances, and ere long acquired for himself a position of importance in England. Having been an active promoter of Speculative Masonry, soon after it was established, he was elected for a year to the post of Grand Master, and in 1722, at the request of the grand lodge, he assisted Anderson in revising the Constitutions, in which he made several changes, in order to divest them of any lingering vestiges of Romanism.* Speculative Masonry was now fairly launched upon its career, and its adepts found it edifying or agreeable, according to their different temperaments; but it was deemed necessary to have some tangible grounds to exhibit in the eyes of the profane as a plausible argument for the raison d'être of the society. Accord- ingly, in 1723, the Duke of Buccleugh, then Grand Master, suggested the advisability of organising a committee of charity, and the suggestion was carried into effect by his successor, the Duke of Richmond, in the following year. The reputation of possessing mysterious and almost magical powers popularly ascribed to Freemasonry was no doubt considerably enhanced by its having at its disposal no small store of the root of all evil. The following songs are due to the efforts of the Masonic muse at the period of which we have been speaking, and were appended to the Book of the Constitutions:— * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. p. 136. “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie, etc.” Clavel. THE REALIZYES OF FREEMASO/VRY. I 2 I THE ENTERED APPRENTICE'S SoNG. To be sung after grave business is over. We brothers that are Assembled on merry occasion ; Let's drink, laugh and sing, Our wine has a spring, Here's health to an accepted Mason. All charged. The world is in pain Our Secrets to gain, And still let them wonder and gaze on ; Till they're shown the light, They'll ne'er know the right Word or sign of an accepted Mason. 'Tis this and ’tis that, They cannot tell what ; Why so many great men of the nation Should aprons put on, To mark themselves one With a Free and an accepted Mason. Antiquity's pride We have on our side, And it maketh men just in their station. There's naught but what's good To be understood - By a Free and an accepted Mason. We're true and sincere, And just to the fair, They'll trust us on any occasion : No mortal can more The ladies adore Than a Free and an accepted Mason. I 2.2 THE REALITYES OF FREEMASO/WRY. Then join hand in hand, By each brother firm stand, Let's be merry and put a bright face on What mortal can boast - So noble a toast As a Free and an accepted Mason 2 Chorus. No mortal can boast So noble a toast As a Free and an accepted Mason. “To all the Fraternity round the globe.” THE FELLOWCRAFT'S SONG. Hail Masonry ! Thou Craft divine ! Glory of Earth ! from Heaven reveal’d Which doth with jewels precious shine, From all but Masons' eyes conceal’d. Chorus. Thy praises due who can rehearse, In nervous prose or flowing verse ? As men from brutes distinguish'd are, A Mason other men excels; For what's in knowledge choice and rare, But in his breast securely dwells. Chorus. His silent breast and faithful heart Preserve the secrets of the art. From scorching heat and piercing cold, From beasts whose roar the forest rends, From the assaults of warriors bold, The Masons' art mankind defends. Chorus. Be to this art due honour paid, From which mankind.receives such aid. THE REALITIES OF FREEMASO/WRV. I 23 Ensigns of State, that feed our pride, Distinctions troublesome and vain, By Masons true are laid aside,- Art's freeborn sons such toys disdain. Chorus. Ennobled by the name they bear, Distinguished by the badge they wear. Sweet friendship from envy free, Friendly converse of brotherhood, The lodge's lasting cement be, Which has for ages firmly stood. Chorus. A lodge thus built, for ages past Has lasted, and shall ever last. Then in our songs be justice done To those who have enriched the art, From Adam to Carnarvon down, And let each brother bear a part. Chorus. Let noble Masons' health go round, Their praise in lofty lodge resound. “To the Deputy Grand Master and Grand Wardens.’” THE MASTER'S SONG, We sing of Masons' ancient fame ! So eighty thousand craftsmen rise Under the masters of great name, More than five thousand, just and wise, Employ'd by Solomon the sire, And gen'ral master mason too, As Hiram was in stately Tyre, Like Salem, built by Masons true. H 24 THE REAZ177ES OF FREEMASONRY. The Royal Art was then divine, The craftsmen counsell'd from above, The Temple was the grand design, The wond'ring world did all approve. Ingenious men from every place Came to survey the glorious pile ; And return'd, began to trace And imitate its lofty style. At length the Grecians came to know Geometry, and learn'd the art Pythagoras was raised to show, And glorious Euclid to impart. Great Archimedes too appear'd, And Carthaginian masters bright, Till Roman citizens uprear'd The art with wisdom and delight. But when proud Asia they had quell'd, And Greece and Egypt overcome, In architecture they excell’d, And brought the learning all to Rome, Where wise Vitruvius, warden prime Of architects, the art improv’d In great Augustus’ peaceful time, When arts and artists were belov’d. They brought the knowledge from the East, And as they made the nations yield, They spread it through the north and west, And taught the world the art to build. Witness their citadels and tow’rs, To fortify their legions fine ; Their temples, palaces and bow'rs, That spoke the masons' grand design. Thus mighty Eastern kings, and some Of Abram's race, and monarchs good Of Egypt, Syria, Greece, and Rome, True architecture understood. 7 HE A&AEALITIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. I25 No wonder, then, if Masons join To celebrate those Mason-kings With solemn note and flowing wine, Whilst every brother jointly sings. Chorus. Who can unfold the Royal Art, Or show its secrets in a song ; They're safely kept in Mason's heart, And to the ancient lodge belong. “To the King and the Craft.” THE SECRETARY'S SONG. Ye brethren of the ancient craft, Ye favºrite sons of fame, Let bumpers cheerfully be quaff'd To each good Mason's name : Happy, long happy may he be, Who lives and honours Masonry, With a fa, la, la, la, etc. Ye British fair, for beauty fam’d, Your slaves we wish to be ; Let none for charms like yours be nam’d, That loves not Masonry. This maxim has been prov'd full well, That Masons never kiss and tell. Freemasons no offences give, Let fame your worth declare ; Within your compass wisely live, And act upon the square : May peace and friendship e'er abound, And every Mason's health go round. As this was the age when toasts were in fashion, and when it was necessary that every glass drunk should be coupled with a sentiment, we find that toasts formed a not unimportant item in the Masonic ritual. There are several lists of them to be found I 26 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASO/VRY. in various Masonic writings of the period, of which the following are a few specimens:— “To the King good health, The nation's wealth ; The Prince God bless ; The Fleet success ; The Lodge no less.” “To each charming fair and faithful she, Who loves the craft of Masonry.” “To Masons, and to Masons' bairns, And women with both wit and charms, That love to lie in Masons' arms.” “To all the female friends of Freemasons.” “To the secret and silent.” - “To each true and faithful heart, That still preserves the secret art.” “To all social Freemasons.” “To each faithful brother, both ancient and young, Who governs his passions and bridles his tongue.” “A proper application of the 24-inch gauge, so as that we may measure out and husband our time to the best of purposes.” “To him who uses the mallet in knocking off those Superfluous passions that in any manner degrade the man or the Mason.” “May the brethren of our glorious craft be ever distinguished in the world by their regular lives, more than by their gloves and aprons.” “The humble beggar.” “May the morning have no occasion to censure the night spent by Freemasons.” “May the deformity of vice in other men, teach a Mason to abhor his own.” - c - - “May every Freemason find constancy in love, and sincerity in friendship.” . * * * “The Freemasons' Vade Mecum." ! 797. THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 127 Banquets and dinners have been one of the most important institutions of Freemasonry ever since it assumed a speculative form. Indeed it is probable that members would but rarely attend a meeting of their lodge, if “refreshment” did not, as a general rule, succeed to “labour.” In the United Kingdom a Masonic dinner, if not a “feast of reason and a flow of soul,” is a repast conducted, as is usually the case among ordinary civilised men, according to the class composing the lodge ; but on the Continent, a Masonic banquet is a meal organised with as much absurdity as the well-known Lion dinner itself. Whenever it is possible the table must be shaped like a horse- shoe, at the top of which is the seat of the worshipful master. Everything used at the banquet has a nom de guerre. If a brother wants some wine, he calls for “strong powder,” the drinking glasses are named “cannon,” the knives “swords.” When a toast is given, the master exclaims, “Place the cannon in line ! Stand to your arms!” Whereupon the company all seize their knives in the left hand, and their glasses in the right; the master continues, “Ready | Present (the glasses are raised to the lips), To the King and Craft (or whatever toast it may happen to be) Fire! (they drink). Let the firing be hot, the hottest possible !” on which the brethren empty their glasses, and afterwards applaud three times. The master strikes a blow with his hammer, and everyone resumes his seat.* Sometimes the mode of drinking a toast is varied, all standing with their cannon loaded (otherwise their glasses filled), each brother gives an end of his “standard ” or dinner-napkin to his neighbour on either side, receiving in return an end of each of theirs; this is called forming the chain of union. The master then proclaims the health to be drunk, and sings some verses in praise of Masonry, the brethren joining in the chorus.f At these eccentric banquets the plates are termed “tiles,” the spoons “trowels,” the forks “pickaxes.” Bread is known as * “Storia, etc., della Framasoneria.” + Ibid. I 28 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. “rough stone,” salt as “sand,” water as “weak powder,” pepper as “cement,” and so on. The invention of this slang is said to be of French origin. Any brother who neglects or forgets to make use of these terms during the dinner, is punished by being forced to drink a glass of “weak powder,” that is, water.* * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franç-Maçonnerie.” Clavel. p. 32. CHAPTER VII. * HARDLY had the forms and ceremonies of Speculative Masonry been definitely settled when, as we have already seen, wolves in sheeps' clothing entered the fold, and disclosed to the outer world the rites and mysteries of the flock. In France the Jesuits had been the first to publish these to the profane. In England, in 1734, a book bearing the title of “The Freemasons' Wade- Mecum” appeared, which, as it divulged the mysteries of the society, was formally condemned by the Grand Lodge “as a pyratical and silly thing, done without leave, and the brethren were warned not to use it, nor encourage the sale thereof.” Soon after this a pamphlet was published under the name of “Jachin and Boaz,” which disclosed the whole of the ritual, gave the pass- words, and described the secret signs and signals of the various degrees. Not long after the publication of this work, its author was found lying murdered in the street, his throat having been cut from ear to ear.” A Mason, more full of zeal than of discretion, had probably regarded himself as the appointed instrument for carrying out the penalty to which the backsliding brother had, at his initiation, professed to subject himself in the event of violating the obligations then undertaken. More recently, in 1826, a somewhat similar fate befell a man of * “The Broken sal." S. D. Greene, Boston. [3o THE REAL/TVES OF FREEMASO/WR V. the name of Morgan, who divulged the secrets of Masonry in America. Morgan had been originally a bricklayer by trade ; in the war of 1812 he entered the army, on leaving which he became a brewer, but apparently was an unsuccessful one, as he eventually returned to his original profession of bricklaying. Morgan was not a man of particularly good character; he found bricklaying not sufficiently remunerative, and being somewhat unscrupulous, he finally resolved on making a little money by publishing an accouut of the ceremonies of the Masonic craft, to which society he belonged. As soon as it became known that he was engaged on this work, the brotherhood endeavoured to hinder its publication by subjecting Morgan and his friend Miller to a series of persecutions and annoyances. Miller was a printer, and had undertaken to publish Morgan's book, and in order to destroy the manuscript of it an attempt was made to set fire to Miller's house. The attempt failed, and accordingly the following day Morgan was arrested on a charge of robbery which was brought against him by the master of a Masonic lodge. The man, however, was unable to substantiate his accusation, and Morgan was subsequently set at liberty, but was immediately re-arrested on a fresh charge. After he had lain in prison nine days, a man appeared at the gaol, paid the debt for which Morgan had been arrested, and induced him to enter a close carriage that was waiting at the prison-door. - From this moment Morgan disappeared. It is supposed, and indeed there seems strong evidence in favour of the supposition, that he was secretly conveyed across the frontiers of the United States, murdered, and his body thrown down the Falls of Niagara by Some of the offended Masons.# A body, by some people identified as that of Morgan, was found below the Falls, while other persons as strenuously asserted that the body was not that of Morgan. Whatever became of him, his disappearance caused a profound sensation, and threw much odium on Freemasonry throughout the United States. Anti-Masonic societies were formed all over the Union, and * “The Broken Seal.” S. D. Greene, Boston. THE REALITYES OF FREEMASOAVRY. I3 I these passed resolutions urging on the authorities the advisability of excluding Freemasons from sitting upon juries, and from all civil and political appointments. Even the women held meetings, at which they swore never to marry, or to allow their daughters to marry, a man who was guilty of being a Mason.* So virulent were the attacks made upon the society that the Grand Lodge felt itself obliged to publish a manifesto solemnly protesting that it had taken no part in the murder of Morgan, if murdered he had been, and declaring that the Masonic institution did not in any way countenance vengeance or assassination, but on the contrary, inculcated forgiveness and benevolence. However, the feeling against Masonry continued so strong that hundreds of the brethren renounced the society, and protested against its doctrines. The Masonic version of the story of the disappearance of Morgan is that, with the wiliness of the Yankee, he and his friends had arranged the whole drama of the disappearance with the object of increasing the sale of his “Illustrations of Masonry.” Those who took this view of the affair stated that he had con- trived to leave America secretly, and to betake himself to Smyrna, and an American sea-captain returning from the East was even found, who declared that he had seen Morgan there disguised in the garb of a Turk. This story, however, seems very doubtful. Morgan left a wife, many years younger than himself, and two children, and neither they nor any of his friends ever received any further tidings of him. Indeed, so convinced was his wife that he had been mur- dered by the Masons, that when she was in great poverty, and the lodge to which her husband had formerly belonged offered her some assistance, she indignantly declined it, stating that she would never allow herself to be indebted to those whom she regarded as the murderers of her husband.t The pamphlets, literary squibs, ballads, and so on, attacking * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie, etc.” Clavel. p. 2C2. + “The Broken Seal.” S. D. Greene, Boston. 9–2 I32. THE REAA/TIES OF FREEMASO/VRY. Masonry, which inundated the press, were naturally innumerable. As we have given samples of the flights taken by the Masonic muse in laudation of the craft, we subjoin two or three of the ballads which were written to decry it :— DEATH AND BURIAL OF THE OLD OFFENDER, COMMONLY CALLED FREEMASONRY. Mourn, mourn, ye mystic sons of woe, In sadness bow the head ; Bend every back in sorrow low, Poor Masonry is dead Alas, poor Jachin is it true That Masonry is gone To the dark shades, with all his crew, Boaz and Mah-hah-bone. And signs and grips, and idle words, And chisels, mauls, and gauges ; With sheepskin aprons, wooden swords, Which we have worn for ages 2 Oh, must he go to that dread bourn, With all his mystic pothering, From whence, alas ! there's no return, Until the final gathering 2 Now to the dark and silent tomb, With sorrow we resign him; And, with the cypress covered o'er, To infamy consign him. There let him lie beneath the load Of his own imperfection ; And, oh we pray, a gracious God Grant him no resurrection THE REAAAZYES OF FREEMASO/WR Y. I33 A MASONIC LAMENTATION. One night, at a late hour, 'twas twelve o’clock or more, I heard the Masons in a lodge most violently roar; Their playthings round they rattled, and one thus sighing said, Our craft, it is in danger, I’m very much afraid. Chorus :— Oh, Jubela 1 and Jubelo l and also Jubelum ! We're in a pack of troubles now, the times are troublesome. Half naked we must wander, slipshod for ever go, Or each true Mason hang himself in his own cable tow. Farewell to brother Boaz, farewell to Jachin, too, Our grips and words are all exposed ; Oh what shall Masons do P Poor Tubal-Cain, and Shibboleth ! their days are almost done, And, oh ! the hardest cut of all, is loss of Mah-hah-bone ! Chorus. E’en Chibbelum, the worthy must vanish with the rest, And the five points of fellowship become an idle jest; No more we’ll raise up Hiram, the widow's cunning son, Alas ! my loving brothers, our craft is near undone. Chorus. Oh, strike your throats with gauges, and beat your hearts with squares, And with gavels thump your pates, till you drive out all your cares; Our noble master battered was, nor mysteries would unfold, But we live on so abject, when every secret's told. Chorus. Let each one give the signal of trouble and of pain, For very much 'tis doubted if here we meet again ; We'll doff our sheepskin aprons, and fit them for our pates ; r To turn us into plummets, lo! Justice ready waits. Chorus. I34 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONº Y. A DESCRIPTION OF THE FREEMASONs. Promiscuously through every state, There is dispersed a certain sect, Who call themselves the Sons of Light, But darkened is their college; They seldon meet by light of sun, But wait until his beams are gone, And shades of night are stretched along, To hide their boasted knowledge. They vaunt, and say, “Our craft begun In reign of wise King Solomon, When Hiram there, the widow’s son, First built the brazen altar !” They pass between Jachin and Boaz, Stripped off is every rag of clothes, Nor boots nor shoes to guard their toes, Led by a hempen halter. The imprecations they invoke Would make an Algerine half choke, No Savage e'er Such language spoke, As they have packed together. When brought to where they see the light, They're furnished with a sheepskin white, Which round their waist is belted tight, A simple badge of leather. They use no post, or beam, or stud, No stone, nor brick, nor loaded hod, Nor yet a single ounce of mud . Is found in all their labour. When all is said, or learned, or done, No architect is yet begun, They push about the bowl of rum, Till scarcely one is sober. The fate of Morgan, far from deterring others from following his example, seems to have given an impetus in America to the Z}/A2 A3A2A/./ZYES OF FREEMASOAVA’Y. I35 publication of books disclosing the so-called secrets of Free- masonry. Several have appeared during the last few years. Amongst them is another book bearing the old name of “Jachin and Boaz,” the author of which, though never having been initiated into a lodge, was a Freemason to all intents and purposes. The account he gives of the manner in which he attained access to a lodge is curious. An uncle of his was a merchant and a Mason, who appears to have been more zealous in studying the peculiarities of the craft than in obeying its injunctions, for, contrary to all the rules of the Order, he committed most of the particulars to paper, doubtless intending that they should meet no eye but his own. Death, however, overtook the worthy man, and amongst his other goods and chattels his papers passed into the possession of his nephew. On looking over these papers the nephew felt his curiosity concerning Freemasonry so much excited, that he resolved on putting the truth of what he had read to the test. He had an intimate friend whom he knew to be a Mason, and when next they met, he made use of the signs, the description of which he had previously studied, to which his friend immediately gave the answering signals, and inquired when and where Mr. Prichard had been made a Mason. Satisfactory answers having been given, the latter received an invitation to visit a lodge to which some of his friends belonged. He succeeded in gaining admittance, without awakening the suspicions of the tiler, took his seat among the brethren, and that evening had the good fortune to witness two initiations or makings. Having succeeded so far, it was henceforth easy for him to pass himself off as a Freemason, and he afterwards frequently paid visits to different lodges without being detected. The results of his observations made during these visits, Mr. Prichard gives in “Jachin and Boaz.” As soon as the first edition appeared, the author received through his publishers, numerous anonymous letters, all contain- * “Jachin and Boaz.” Samuel Prichard. 136 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. ing the most bitter upbraidings and abuse, the writers of some of them even going so far as to threaten his life. In his rambles among different lodges, the author of “Jachin and Boaz" occasionally visited those held among the lower orders of Society. In some instances he describes the master of the lodge as having been perfectly guiltless of the commonest rules of grammar, and while conducting the solemnities of the Masonic ritual, that dignitary frequently made such absurd blunders in phraseology that it was a matter of difficulty to preserve a decent appearance of gravity. A question, propounded in the following fashion, must have been trying to the least susceptible of risible muscles : “Brethren, you have let a body know as how you cannot be raised but by the five points of fellowship, tell us which they be P’’ In some of these lodges, at the initiation of a master mason, during that portion of the ceremony where the candidate is made to represent Hiram Abiff, and to enact the scene of his death, the great delight of the assisting brethren was to administer the blows given by the wicked fellow-crafts with such goodwill, that the un- happy representative of Hiram was frequently not only terrified but considerably hurt into the bargain, and the greater his alarm the greater of course the pleasure of the spectators. It is easy to understand how prone rough and uneducated men would be to introduce horse-play into a ceremony of the kind. Mr. Prichard relates the manner in which, when drinking in society, or at an inn when strangers are present, it may be discovered if a Mason be of the company. He says the glass must be taken in the right hand and drawn quickly across the throat, either before or after drinking ; should one of the brethren be present and be willing to make himself known, he will acknowledge the signal by asking the man who made it some question in Masonry. If the answer be satisfactory, and the brother proceed to demand the meaning of the signal given, whoever has made it is to reply that it is the penalty of the obligation of an entered apprentice - THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONAY. I37 Although Deism is the only creed recognised in Masonry pro- per, if we may so term Blue and the Royal Arch Masonry, and in spite of some Grand Lodges having recently declared their abroga- tion of even Deism, and avowed their open preference for Atheism,_nevertheless Freemasonry still clings to two patron Saints, namely, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evan- gelist. As St. Thomas is the patron saint of architects, and is usually represented holding a builder's square as his attribute, it would have seemed more fitting had he been selected as the patron of the Freemasons; but St. Thomas the Apostle seems never to have been a popular saint with the Catholic Church, and the selection of the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist points back to the Middle Ages, when Freemasons travelled about in companies, and called themselves Con- fraternities of St. John. The legend is that from the building of the first Temple to the Babylonish Captivity, Masonic lodges were dedicated to King Solomon; from the Captivity till the Advent of the Messiah, to Zerubbabel; and from the birth of Christ till the destruction of the Temple by Titus, to St. John the Baptist. During the troubles and massacres attending the destruction of Jerusalem, Freemasonry sank into decay, and Freemasons were so few that the lodges could not assemble in sufficient num- bers to constitute their legality. Accordingly all the Freemasons met together in Bethlehem; and having come to the conclusion that the decline of their Order was owing to its having no Grand Master, seven of the brethren were deputed to wait on St. John the Evangelist, who was then Bishop of Ephesus, and to request him to undertake the office. At that time St. John was above ninety years old ; however, he received the deputation graciously, and returned an answer that though well stricken in years, yet having been initiated into Masonry in his youth, he would consent to undertake the post. Accordingly he was installed Grand Master, and his learning 138 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRY. completed the work that St. John the Baptist had accomplished by his zeal.” The festivals of these saints fall upon the 24th of June and the 27th of December; and as it was precisely about these periods that the great Pagan festivals in celebration of the summer and winter solstice were solemnized, those authors who claim for Freemasonry a descent from the mysteries of the ancients, point to the co- incidence as a proof that the Order still observes its ancient land- marks, the names alone being changed ; in the same way the modern Carnival is manifestly the Lupercalia of old, under another name, and that the Catholic Church still celebrates many of the heathen festivals, the name of the Virgin Mary, or one of the saints, being substituted for that of Venus or Apollo. But, as we have before remarked, there is no proof whatever of the existence of the Order of Freemasons previous to the Middle Ages, and the resemblances traced between that society and the mystic associations of antiquity are purely fanciful or accidental. Masonic authors have endeavoured to prove that the legend of Hiram Abiff is but another version of the death of Balder the Beautiful, and the murder of Osiris. That, in fact, the son of the widow of Napthali is a representative of the Sun, and that the three fellow-crafts who slay him, are the three winter months during which the sun is at its lowest. As we have seen, however, that the story of Hiram Abiff was only introduced into Masonry early in the eighteenth century, its supposed analogy with the myths of the Pagan world is, of course, no proof at all of the great antiquity of the Masonic institution. In arranging the forms, ceremonies, and doctrines of Speculative Masonry, Anderson and Désaguliers, who were both learned men, no doubt enlarged on such versions of Masonic rituals as were extant, and probably added to them aphorisms and illustra. tions from the ancients. To this source we may, perhaps, ascribe many of the allusions to be found in the Masonic ritual, such * “Lexicon of Freemasonry.” Mackey. 2THE REA/C/ZYES OF FREEMASOAVRY. 139 as traces of the doctrine of the mysterious properties attached to the science of numbers, and the moral qualities enshrouded in certain mathematical figures, theories which would have been most likely to have found favour with a man eminent as a mathematician and famed for his love of mechanics, such as was Désaguliers. 3. The Pythagoreans called a cube, harmony, because the lines, angles, and sides of which it is composed are in harmonious proportion. The equilateral triangle they termed Head-born Minerva, otherwise Divine Wisdom; the square was regarded as expressive of the properties of Rhea, Venus, Ceres, Vesta, and Juno ; while the dodecagon they deemed demonstrated the attributes of Jupiter.” In Masonry we find that the triangle is a symbol of the Deity; that the square is supposed to teach the regulation of the actions of life by rule and line, and the harmonising of the conduct of the disciple, according to the prescriptions of virtue ; while in Royal Arch Masonry, the double cube is men- tioned as the most perfect emblem of innocence and purity. Of course the use of such figures as the triangle or the square was commonly employed by Masons from the earliest times, as the Church seems to have used them as symbols since the days when the early Christians worshipped in the Catacombs,f but the peculiarly Pagan interpretations of such symbols is probably due to the influence of the learned Frenchman of whom we have been speaking. There is no doubt great fascination in tracing modern institu- tions to ancient origins, and the study is a useful one if we are careful to adhere as strictly as possible to facts, and so avoid being led astray by accidental resemblances. Had Masonic historians been content to ascribe a moderate antiquity to their craft, the time they have in general wasted in compiling fictitious histories of the society, might have been profitably spent in * “Ancient Egyptians.” Wilkinson. f “Monumental Christianity.” J. P. Lundy. pp. 91-401. I4O ZHE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. amassing information concerning the fraternities and guilds of the Middle Ages, from which Masonry may claim a legitimate descent, though it would appear that the Masons were never legally incorporated like other artisans,” probably because the wandering life which their occupation necessitated rendered such incorpora- tion comparatively useless to them, while their union, as a fraternity, was maintained by the obligations into which the members mutually entered, and the knowledge of their art possesed in common and carefully treasured by all. * “History of the Middle Ages.” Hallam. CHAPTER VIII. HAVING glanced at a few of the forms of initiation practised by societies akin to Freemasonry, we will now proceed to notice 3.S briefly as possible, some of the ceremonies observed in Masonry itself at the present day. Masonry has many rites or systems within its pale, each of which follows its own peculiar ritual. The most general of these are the Rite of the Free and Accepted Masons, which is that usually practised in England and her colonies, in parts of Germany, Italy, and Switzerland; the ancient York rite, which appears to be largely followed in America; and the rite of Zinnendorf, which is that of the Grand Lodge of Berlin.” Besides these we hear of the Scotch rite; the rite of Misraim ; the rite of the Rosicrucians; the Swedish rite, and many others too numerous to mention. Two-thirds, however, of the Masonic body practise the English Rite of Free and Accepted Masons, and as it is the original rite of Speculative Masonry, we will begin by giving a sketch of its ritual, in which, however, there are slight modifications and variations, according to the country in which it is found. The first degree is that of the Entered Apprentice. A lodge consists of the worshipful master, the senior and * “History of Freemasonry.” Findel. p. 297. - I 42 THE ACAA/C/ZYZS OF APRAEAE/MASOAVA’ V. junior wardens, the senior and junior deacons, an inner guard, and a tiler, the two latter being the keepers of the door. There are also past masters, or those who have served as worshipful masters, and who are distinguished as such in lodge. For the work of the lodge a secretary and treasurer are also elected, and in some lodges if a clergyman happen to join it he is appointed chaplain, a post which, in some instances, has been filled by a Jewish Rabbi. If a candidate is to be initiated as an apprentice, he remains outside the room in which the brethren are assembled, while the lodge is opened in the usual form, the master commencing the proceedings by giving three distinct raps with his hammer of office, which are repeated by the wardens, after which the follow- ing dialogue takes place :- Master: “Brethren, assist me to open the lodge.” Then, addressing the junior warden, he demands, “What is the first care in lodge?” - To which that official replies, “To see the lodge properly tiled.” Master: “Direct that duty to be done.” “Junior Warden : “Brother inner guard, ascertain that the lodge is properly tiled.” - “Tiled” is a slang word in Masonry, and the meaning of a lodge being properly tiled is that there are no “cowans,” of the profane within earshot. This, and the term tiler, applied to the guardian outside the door, is probably derived from the Middle Ages, when the Freemasons travelled in bodies from place i. e. none to place; and as it appears that the tilers were also migratory in their habits,” it is highly probable that one or two of them usually accompanied a body of Masons to perform their share of the work in covering or roofing the building. Tiles seem to have been the most usual materials used in roofing in those times. In England they were in such common use that in the reign of Edward the Fourth, in 1477, an Act was passed regulating the * “History of Agriculture and Prices in England.” Thorold Rogers. THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. I43 making of tiles of every description, in order to secure a supply of good tiles for the future. Even the time of year at which the clay for making them must be dug and stirred, is settled by this Act, and precautions are directed to be taken to secure the clay being good and free from stones. A standard measure is fixed for the various kinds of tiles, and “searchers” are appointed empowered to demand a penny for every thousand common tiles, a half-penny for every hundred crest and roof tiles, and a farthing for every hundred corner and gutter tiles certified. Tiles not made in conformity to the standard were liable to fines of five shillings a thousand, and six shillings and eightpence, or two shillings a hundred, according to their respective qualities.* Passing an Act such as this shows that the demand for tiles, in England at any rate, must have been considerable, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that one or more tilers frequently went in search of work along with a company of Freemasons, and that when the latter assembled in lodge to regulate their affairs, or for instruction, the tilers who bore them company, but who did not properly belong to their craft, were appointed to act as sentinels to keep off intruders; hence, in course of time, the name of tiler came to be applied to any Mason who acted as guard, and the word, once established in that sense, the use of it as a term for the exclusion of strangers would easily follow. “Cowan" is another slang word in the craft. Different origins are ascribed to it, some saying that it is derived from the Greek Äuon, which signifies a dog.f. In the early ages, when Chris- tianity itself partook somewhat of the nature of a secret associa- tion, whose mysteries were only communicated to the initiated, and carefully hidden from the unbaptised, the term dog was commonly contemptuously applied to those who did not belong to the true fold; so in one of his Epistles St. Paul warns the “saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi,” to “beware of dogs, beware of evil workers.”: The Jews also gave the name * “ History of Agriculture and Prices in England.” Thorold Rogers. + “Lexicon of Freemasonry,” Mackey. - 3. Philippians iii. 2. I 44 THE REALITYES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. to all Gentiles, a custom to which we find Christ alluding when he answered the woman from the coasts of Tyre, who entreated the Great Physician from Judea to cure her daughter, “It is not meet to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs.” ” At the present day the followers of Islam speak with disgust of “Christian dogs;” and in the same spirit, early working Masons are said to have given the name of “cowan’” to those who did not belong to their guild. Originally the name appears to have been applied to those who did the work of a mason without having been regularly trained to the trade, and “a builder of dry walls, otherwise denominated a dry-diker,” was also termed a Cowan.t When a company of Freemasons were erecting a church or cathedral, their lodge was invariably placed at the south side of the building, with a narrow passage between the north side of the lodge and the southern wall of the church. This space offered a tempting hiding-place for any workman not belonging to the fraternity who might have concealed himself there, and listened to the brethren discussing the treasured architectural secrets and lore of their society; hence arose the necessity for a tiler, or outer guard, a post which ended by devolving upon the junior apprentice present. : The term eavesdropper is said to have originated from the punishment which was reserved for the detected listener, namely, “to be placed under the eaves of the house, in rainy weather, till the water runs in at his shoulders and out at his heels.” $ To return to the opening ceremonial of the lodge. After the fact that no cowans are present has been duly ascertained and communicated to the master with the regulation number of knocks, the dialogue proceeds, the master asking, * St. Matthew xv. 26. t “Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language.” Jamieson. # “Origin and Early History of Freemasonry.” Steinbrenner. § “Lexicon of Freemasonry.” Mackey. THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. 145 “What is the next care, Brother Senior Warden P” “To see the brethren appear to order as Masons,” replies the warden. “See that duty done " is then the direction of the master of the lodge, and the senior warden proceeds to examine the brethren by the sign of an entered apprentice, and reports to the master that none but Masons are present. “To order, brethren, as Masons in the first degree. "And all present having made the entered apprentice's sign, he continues— “Brother Junior Warden, How many principal officers are there in a lodge?” The junior warden answers, “Three; namely, the worshipful master and his two wardens.” - “Brother Senior Warden, How many assistants are there?” “Three, besides the outer guard, or tiler; namely, the senior and junior deacons and the inner guard.” x- “Brother Junior Warden,” asks the master, “Where is the outer guard, or tiler, placed P” To which the official interrogated replies, “Without the door of the lodge.” “His duty P” demands the master. “Being armed with a drawn sword, to keep all cowans and listeners from Masons, and to see that the candidate for admission comes properly prepared.” - - - The next question is as to the proper position for the inner guard, who, as the name implies, must stand within the entrance of the lodge. His duty is, . “To admit Masons, upon proof, to receive the canditate in due form, and to obey the commands of the junior warden.” The master next asks, “Brother Junior Warden, Where is the junior deacon placed P “At the right of the senior warden.” “His duty P* “To carry the messages and commands of the worshipful IO 146 THE REALITIES OF FREEMASONRV. master from the senior to the junior warden, that the same may be punctually obeyed.” In answer to a similar question concerning the senior deacon, whose place is at the right of the master of the lodge, the senior warden replies, “To carry communications and commands from the worshipful master to the senior warden, and wait the return of the junior deacon.” * “Brother Junior Warden, Your constant place in the lodge?” “In the south.” “Why are you placed there P” “To mark the sun at its meridian ; to call the brethren from labour to refreshment, and from refreshment to labour, that profit and pleasure may be the result.” “Brother Senior Warden, Your constant place in the lodge?” “In the west.” - “Why are you placed there P” “To mark the setting sun; to close the lodge, by the Command of the worshipful master, after seeing that everyone has his just dues.” -> So far the dialogue has been carried on between the master of the lodge and the two wardens. The master next addresses the past master, and inquires,- “worshipful and worthy Past Master, where is the master's situation in the lodge P” and the past master answers, “In the east.” “Why is he placed there?” “As the sun rises in the east, to open and enliven the day,” returns the past master, “so the worshipful master is placed in the east to open and enlighten his lodge, to employ and instruct the brethren in Masonry.” This ends the dialogue. The master next makes a short address to the assembly generally, somewhat in the following terms: - - - “ Brethren, our lodge being thus duly formed, before I proceed Z'HE REALITYES OF APRAEAEMASOAVR V. I47 to declare it opened, let us invoke a blessing from the Great Architect of the Universe upon all our undertakings. May our labour, thus begun in order, be conducted in peace and closed in harmony.” t On this the past master exclaims, “So mote it be,” advances three steps, and opens the Bible which lies on the altar in the centre of the room, remaining, with his hand resting on it, until the conclusion of the ceremony; and the worshipful master proclaims the lodge open in the following words: “Brethren, in the name of the Great Architect of the Universe, I declare this lodge duly opened for the purposes of Masonry in the first degree.” He then gives three knocks, which are repeated in rotation by the wardens, the inner guard, and the tiler, and the lodge proceeds to whatever may be the business on hand. If an initiation is to take place, the candidate has all this time been waiting in the ante-chamber, and one of the brethren is now sent to prepare him for the approaching ceremony. This preparation consists in the applicant for Masonic honours being deprived of all the money and metal he may happen to have with him ; he is divested of his coat, so that the right shirt sleeve may be rolled up as high as the shoulder, while the left arm is taken out of the sleeve altogether, so as to expose the left breast. His left trouser is rolled up, leaving the knee bare, while the right foot is either put into a slipper, or else the shoe is made down at heel; his eyes are blindfolded, and a rope, called in Masonic parlance a cable-tow, is placed round his neck. This cable-tow, or halter, is supposed to be emblematic of the cord of affection that ought to unite the whole fraternity. As Masons endeavour to establish a remote antiquity for all their forms and observances, it is pretended that it is to a cable- tow that the prophet Hosea alludes when he says, speaking of the tenderness of Jehovah for his people, “I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.” + * Hosea xi. 4. IO-2 148 THE REAL/7 IES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. In this ridiculous plight the candidate is conducted by the brother who prepared him, to the tiler. The latter, seeing him duly made ready, announces his approval by three knocks on the door. The inner guard then gives the alarm, and is directed to inquire who knocks, to which the tiler replies, - “A poor candidate in a state of darkness, who comes of his own free will and accord, and also properly prepared, humbly soliciting to be admitted to the mysteries and privileges of Free- masonry.” “How does he hope to obtain those privileges P” asks the inner guard. “By the help of God and the tongue of good report,” is the tiler's answer. Originally, before a man could be made a Mason, inquiry was made as to the character he bore, and if the “tongue of good re- port” did not testify in his favour he was not admitted into the fraternity. Now-a-days, however, it is taken for granted that the morality of a candidate is unimpeachable, hence there is no impediment in the way of the most disreputable man being admitted to wear the Masonic emblem of innocence should he so desire ; and the fact that such a notorious evil-doer as George the Fourth should have been elected to the dignity of Grand Master, is in itself a proof that the claim to superior morality advanced by Freemasons is but an empty boast. - The master of the lodge, or his deputy,” having learnt the tiler's answer, inquires of the inner guard how the candidate hopes to obtain the privilege of admission; and the answers being given, the master announces that the tongue of good report has already been heard in his favour, and directs that he should be “admitted in due form,” whereupon the inner guard throws open the door, and exclaims, * Any past master may be deputed to “work” the reception of a candidate. As most Masons are quite unable to “work” a lodge, it is usual for some “ bright” Mason to conduct the ceremonies of initiation. A bright Mason is one who is well up in the ceremonials and catechisms of the craft. THE REALITIES OF FREEMASOAVRY. I49 “Enter, free-born and of good report.” The junior deacon now receives the blindfold novice, and leads him to the master of the lodge, who tells him that, “As no person can be made a Mason unless he is free-born and of mature age, he (the master) wishes to know if the candidate is free by birth, and has attained the age of twenty-one years P” Twenty-one is the earliest age at which a man may be made a Mason, except in the case of one whose father has been a Free- mason, the son, in that instance, if he wishes, being entitled to claim to be initiated when he is eighteen. On the Continent, if the father so desires, his son is adopted by the lodge to which he belongs, and receives what is called Masonic baptism when only nine days old. At this ceremony the infant is brought by its nurse into the ante-chamber of the lodge, where the two wardens, who act as its godfathers, and five of the brethren receive it and take it from her. The child is then laid on a cushion and carried into the lodge, where it is presented to the master, who demands what is its name, and what is to be the Masonic appellation bestowed on it P The sponsors state the name, adding to its Christian and surnames some such characteristic name as Truth, Benevolence, or Faithfulness. Then the master descends from his throne, and, spreading his hands over the infant's head, addresses a prayer to the Deity, beseeching that the child may one day prove himself worthy of the love and care bestowed on him by the lodge. Incense is next thrown into the censers, which are kept in readiness. The wardens repeat the oath of an apprentice in the name of the infant; the master fastens a white apron round the baby, and proclaims it to be the adopted child of the lodge, an announcement received with Masonic applause by the brethren. After a speech addressed to the wardens on the obligations imposed on them in their office of god-parents, the child is I 5o THE REAZAZYES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. carried out of the lodge, escorted in the same manner as at its entrance, and restored to the nurse. A child being adopted by a lodge obliges all the members, should it be necessary, to see after his education, and later on, to assist him in procuring the means of an honest livelihood if he be in distress. He is also privileged, on attaining the age of eighteen, to take part in the labour of a lodge, by merely renewing the oath of an apprentice taken for him by his sponsors, the ceremony of initiation being otherwise dispensed with.* This rite is never practised in England, and is manifestly entirely of modern origin. To return to the ritual of an ordinary initiation. The candidate, having answered the two questions as to his free birth and mature age in the affirmative, is directed to kneel down whilst the master invokes a blessing on the proceedings in the following terms :- “Vouchsafe Thine aid, Almighty Father and Supreme Governor of the universe, to this our present convention, and grant that this candidate for Masonry may so dedicate and devote his life to Thy service as to become a true and faithful brother among us. En- dow him with a competency of Thy divine wisdom, that, assisted by the secrets of this our Masonic art, he may the better be enabled to display the beauties of true godliness, to the honour and glory of Thy holy name. So mote it be.” - At the conclusion of this prayer, he demands of the novice in whom he places his trust in all cases of difficulty and danger ? and the latter, replying, “In God,” the master continues, “Right glad I am to find your faith so well founded : relying on such sure support, and since your trust is so firmly placed, you may safely rise and follow your leader with a firm but humble confidence; for where the name of God is invoked, we trust no danger can ensue.” “The brethren from the north, east, South and west, will take notice that (mentioning whatever may be the name of the neophyte) * “Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie, etc.” Clavel. p. 40. THE REALITYES OF FREEMASOAVA’V. I5 I is about to pass in view before them, to show that he is a candi- date properly prepared, and a fit and proper person to be made a Mason.” The candidate is then led round the lodge, shuffling along as best he can with his slip-shod foot. This circumambulation of the lodge probably originated in the days when it was important that each new Mason should be strong of body, and sound of limb, so as to be an efficient member in carrying on the works of the fraternity, and he was conducted round that all present might judge if he were so. - On coming to each of the wardens, the junior deacon who leads the novice takes his hand and gives three raps with it on the shoulders of the warden, and a dialogue, similar to the one that took place at the door before entering the lodge, passes between them ; after which, the aspirant is again presented to the master, who addresses the following questions to him, expressing a hope that he will answer them with candour – “Do you seriously declare, on your honour, that, unbiassed by the improper solicitations of friends against your own inclinations, and uninfluenced by mercenary or other unworthy motives, you freely and voluntarily offer yourself a candidate for the mysteries and privileges of Freemasonry P” “I do.” “Do you likewise pledge yourself that you are prompted to solicit those privileges from a favourable opinion preconceived of the institution, a general desire of knowledge, and a sincere wish to render yourself more extensively serviceable to your fellow- creatures P” w “I do.” “Do you further seriously declare, on your honour, that, avoiding fear on the one hand and rashness on the other, you will steadily persevere through the ceremony of your initiation; and, if once admitted, will afterwards act and abide by the ancient usages and established customs of the Order?” “I will.” I 52 7 HE REAL/ZYZS OF APRAFEMASO/WR Y. The senior warden is next directed to instruct the candidate to advance to the pedestal in due form, i.e. by taking three irregular steps. These having been accomplished, the master again ad- dresses the candidate. “It is my duty to inform you that Masonry is free, and requires a perfect freedom of inclination in every candidate for its mys- teries. It is founded on the purest principles of piety and virtue. It possesses great and invaluable privileges for worthy men, and, I trust, for the worthy alone. Vows of fidelity are required; but let me assure you that in those vows there is nothing incompatible with your civil, moral, or religious duties. Are you, therefore, willing to take a solemn obligation, founded on the principles I have stated, to keep inviolate the secrets and mysteries of the Order P’’ A response in the affirmative having been given, the novice is made to kneel on his left knee, keeping the right foot in the form of a square, his right hand is placed on a Bible, while with the left he holds the points of a pair of compasses to his breast, and in this position he repeats the oath dictated to him by the master. Absurd as is the appearance presented by a candidate at the present day, the posture in which it is said that originally an apprentice took the oath was still more ridiculous. He held a sword, instead of a pair of compasses, pointed against his breast, and while kneeling on the right knee, was obliged to keep the left foot in the air. It was difficult for the novice to maintain his equilibrium in this position, and doing it was so fatiguing that the present posture, while taking the oath, was substituted for the original one.* - The oath is to the following effect:— “I, N. or M., in the presence of the Great Architect of the Universe, and of this warranted worthy and worshipful lodge of free and accepted Masons, regularly assembled and properly dedicated, of my own free will and accord, do, hereby and hereon, most solemnly and sincerely swear that I will always hale, con- * “Jachin and Boaz.” THE REAL/ZYES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. I 53 ceal, and never reveal any part or parts, point or points, of the secrets and mysteries of, or belonging to, free and accepted Masons in Masonry, which have been, shall now, or hereafter may be, communicated to me, unless it be to a true and lawful brother or brothers, and not even to him or them, till after due trial, strict examination, or sure information from a well-known brother, that he or they are worthy of that confidence; or in the body of a just, perfect, and regular lodge of accepted Free- masons. I further solemnly promise, that I will not write those secrets, print, carve, engrave, or otherwise delineate them, or cause or suffer them to be done so by others, if in my power to prevent it, on anything movable or immovable under the canopy of heaven, whereby or whereon any letter, character, or figure, Or the least trace of a letter, character, or figure may become legible or intelligible to myself, or to any one in the world, so that our secrets, arts, and hidden mysteries may improperly become known through my unworthiness. These several points I solemnly swear to observe, without evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation of any kind, under no less a penalty, on the violation of any of them, than to have my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by the root, and my body buried in the sand of the sea at low-water mark, or a cable's length from the shore, where the tide regularly ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours; or the more efficient punishment of being branded as a wilfully perjured man, void of all moral worth, and unfit to be received in this, or in any other warranted lodge or society of Masons, who prize honour and virtue above all the external advantages of rank and fortune. So help me, God, and keep me steadfast in this very great and solemn obligation of an entered apprentice Freemason.” This oath, though modern in its present arrangement, is pro- bably engrafted on a more ancient one The introduction of such a phrase as “to hale, conceal, and never reveal” seems to point to some form of oath in use in the days of the guilds of operative Freemasons; to hale, in the sense in which it is here used, having ceased to retain the meaning in the vernacular. I54 ZTHE AC EA//ZYES OF FREEMASO/WRV. “To hale,” in this oath, is employed as synonymous with to conceal, and is derived from a Saxon word helan, signifying to hide.* The penalty to be incurred in the event of any part of the oath being violated, has also a savour of the barbarity of the Middle Ages, and resembles clauses in the oath administered to members of the Vehm-Gericht. % The newly-made Mason, having repeated the obligation, is directed to seal his oath by kissing the Bible ; and this having been done, the master of the lodge addresses him thus: “Mr. So-and-So, you have now been kept for some time in a state of darkness, What, in your present situation, is the pre- dominant wish of your heart?” To this query the answer is, of course, “light,” and the junior deacon is desired to restore that blessing to the candidate, whose eyes have remained blindfolded ever since his entrance into the lodge, but are now at length unbandaged, after which the master delivers himself of the following harangue: “Having been restored to the blessing of material light, let me point out to you what we consider the three great, though emblematic, lights in Masonry—namely, the Volume of the Sacred Law, the square, and the compasses. The Sacred volume is to rule and govern our faith; the square, to regulate our actions ; and the compasses, to keep us within due bounds to all mankind, particularly with our brethren in Masonry.” - “Rise, newly-obligated brother among Masons.” (The candi- date, who has all this time remained on his knees, now rises.) “You are now enabled to discover the three lesser lights in Masonry. They are situated east, south, and west, and are meant to represent the sun, moon, and master of the lodge. The sun to rule the day, the moon to govern the night, and the master to rule and direct his lodge. “By your meek and candid behaviour this evening, you have escaped two great dangers; but there is a third, which will await * “Lexicon of Freemasonry.” Mackey. THE Ae EA/E/ZYES OF FREEMASO/VR Y. I55 you to the latest period of your existence. The dangers which you have escaped are those of stabbing and strangling; for, at your entrance into the lodge, this sword was presented to your naked left breast, so that had you rashly attempted to rush forward, you would have been accessory to your own death by stabbing. Not so with the brother who held it; as he would have only remained firm to do his duty. There was likewise this cable- tow, with a running noose about your neck, which would have rendered any attempt to retreat equally fatal by strangling. But the danger which will avail you to your latest hour, is the penalty of your obligation, that you would rather have your throat cut across than improperly to divulge the secrets of Masonry. “As you have taken the solemn obligation of Masonry, I am now permitted to inform you that there are several degrees in Freemasonry, and peculiar secrets restricted to each. These, however, are not communicated indiscriminately, but are con- ferred on candidates according to merit and abilities. I shall now proceed to intrust you with the sign of this degree, or those marks by which we are known to each other, and distinguished from the rest of the world. I must first observe that all squares, levels, and perpendiculars (alluding to the positions of the body and its limbs) are proper signs by which to know a Mason. You are, therefore, expected to stand perfectly erect, with your feet formed into a square, your body being thus considered an emblem of your mind, and your feet of the rectitude of your actions. On your advancing from west to east you advanced by three irregular steps; irregular from the situation you were then in, not knowing where you were then going; but they allude to three more regular steps—namely, right lines and angles, morally teaching us upright lives and well-squared actions. You will now advance towards me by one pace with your left foot, bringing the right heel into its hollow. That is the first regular step in Freemasonry; and it is in this position that the secrets of the degree are communicated. They consist in a sign, a grip or token, and a word. ' “You will place your right hand in this position (level with the I 56 7//E FEA/AT/ES OF FREEMASOAVR Y. thumb extended in a square towards the throat, to the left of windpipe). The sign is given by drawing the hand quickly across the throat and dropping it to the side. This is in allusion to the penalty of the obligation, implying that, as a man of honour and a Mason, you would rather have your throat cut across than improperly divulge the secrets confided to you. That is the sign. -