TH I

RD E DI
TION

F i r st E d i t i o n , F i v e Tho usand
S e c ond E dition T we nty T h ou sand
,

T h i r d E dition , Six Th o usa n d

'

H5 L
f O S

ficé 0 N
'

rsbz

C o pyright , 1 9 04 , by W G Sibley
. .

C o ver D esign by Rob ert J Mills .

N i t s c hke Br o th ers P r e ss
7 5C.

(LP U B L I S H E R S
’
S TATE M E N T

H IS B ook h as b e en print e d
for th e Ent ertainm ent In
formation o f M as ons and
Oth er P ersons who d esir e
i n p ith y form su ch fa cts of
t h e P e culi ar O r i g i n Cu r i ou s
,

Stru cture U ni qu e H istory

o f Fre e mas o nry a s e v ery Int e l l i g ent M i nd
,

s houl d
( T h e vi tal sub stan c e of m any l arg e vo l um e s
h as b e en pack e d into th e s e pag e s in extrem e
l y readabl e s h ap e an d it i s c ertainly gratify
,

’
i ng to u s to b e abl e to put Mr Si bl ey s c om
.

p act c ompreh ensiv e an d tru stwort h y work

,

o n th e market i n suc h attractiv e styl e for t h e

n otably low pri c e of F ifty C ent s p er c opy W e .

b eli eve t h e Publi c i n G en eral th e M asoni c

F rat ernity in Parti cular will applau d our s er
,

vi c e i n s o doing . B ooks on Fre e m asonry are

n o t all eith er Int eresting or Inexp ensive .

T hi s valuabl e l ittl e bo o k i s
(I S O far a s w e ar e awar e th ere i s i n exi st
e nc e n o oth er pu b li c ati on t h an t hi s whi c h as
c onci s ely or for a s s mall a su m give s so
, ,

m uc h to th e P u bli c and th e Frat ern ity th at

i s worthy of P erman ent R e cord M e mory .

III
'
CL U B
’
T H E LION S PAW
 CO NTE N TS
I
Th e Initiation into th e Anci ent P ersian

A b i f Solomon an d th e
, ,
Q u e en of S h eba .

T h e Ord eal of Probation

A C andi dat e i n a D en of Wil d B easts .

T h e S erp ent in H i s B osom

H iram A b i f m e ets th e Qu e en of Sh eba .

H iram i n L ove
’
Solomon Plots H iram s D eath
II
Att empts to E xt erm inat e F re emasonry
Early Governm ents H ostil e to M asonry . 13
Presbyt eri an O pposition 15
Th e Ord er Ri di cul ed 16
S o C all e d Exposure s of Fre emasonry ” 17
Roman Catholi c H ostility 18
'
H orri bl e Torture of John Cou st o s m 1 74 3
by th e Spani sh Inqui sition 20
Edi c ts of Roman Po pes against M asonry 23

III
L eo T a x il s R emarkabl e Books about
’

Murd er z th e D evil W om en z th e Black

,

M ass i n th e H igh D egre es of Mason ry

,
.

L eo T a x i l s Early C are er
’

B egins Writing anti Masoni c Boo

ks ”

Charges all Masons with Murd er .

D es crib e s M asoni c M e eting Att end ed
by th e D evi l 32
D iana Vaugh n an d L u c i fe r a n M asonry . 33
‘ ”
T h e R e volting B l a c k M as s v 34
A nti Mas oni c C ongres s at Trent m 1 8 9 6 35
C o llaps e of T a x i l s E xtraordinary Tal es
’
36

IV
T h e Di sapp e aranc e of W illi am M organ
th e Anti M as oni c E x c i t m e n t whi c h
-

F ollowe d Al l O v er th e U nit e d St ate s .

D i sapp earan c e of W illi am M organ

A nti Masonry i n A meri can Politi c s
-

’
J ohn Quincy A dam s s D en u nc iati o n
R e c ent C riti c i s m s o f M as o nry.

V
T h e Tradition an d th e E v ol ut io n o f t h e
First T hre e D egre e s o f F re e mas on ry .

Fre emasonry D efin ed 52

T h e Tradi ti on o f it s An c i ent O ri gin 54
H istori cal M asonry 56
O n e D egre e E xp ands into T hre e 57
’
Fre em asonry s Evolution fro m M as onry . 58
A Uni q u e M ason i c L aw 59

VI

and S cotti s h Rit e s and T h eir R elations

, .

York Rit e D egr e e s

A dvent of M ason ry into A m e ri c a
First Lodg e u nd er Am e ri can Auth o rity .

H i stori c al Royal Ar c h D egre e

Origin of C ounci l D egre es
T emplar Masonry .

S cottis h Rit e D egre es

M od ern Growt h o f Fre emasonry
N egro Masonry in A m eri c a and Li b eri a .

Fundam ental Principl e s of Masonry .

D eportm ent R e quire d o f M asons by th e

Ordinanc es of 1 3 8 8 1 4 62 1 56 3 and 1 58 6
, , 77 .

Th e Famous An ci ent C harges .

79
Why Wom en ar e E xclud e d from M asonry 8 1
Wom en who Kn ew On e Masoni c D egr e e 8 3 .

B enjamin Franklin on Fre em a s o nry 87

Burial of a M ast er Mason 88
Burial of a Knight T emplar 90

VIII
Th e Landmarks o f M a so n gy D efined ,

Its Universalit y as a S e cret F rat ernit y .

T h e Landmarks o f Masonry
T h e Universality of th e Institu ti on
Its B enevol enc es .

Suggestion for Masoni c R eading .

 T H E ST O R Y

OF
FRE E M A S O N RY

I
T h e Initiation into th e Anci ent P ersia n
M agi an d a Curious L eg end of H ira m
,

A b i f S olomon and th e Qu e en o f S h eba

, , .

H O U S AN D S of years ago
th ere was a wond erful s e
c ret organi zati on i n P ersi a
whos e und erground quar
t ers and e quip m ent for th e
c ere monial a d mission o f
m en who sought m e mb er
s hip i n i t wer e o n s o larg e a s cal e and i n
,

volve d so muc h ti m e t hought skill an d ex

, ,

p e n s e t h a t compare d with it t h e most elab

, ,

orat e an d costl y sp ectacular produ ctions on

t h e m o d ern stag e s e e m p a lt r yflflfi
QI A man appli e d for initi ation i nto this so c i
8 T H E STORY O F

ety To test hi s sinc erity and fitness h e was

.

subj ected to a p erio d of probation whi c h

c ontinu ed through s everal month s and was ,

undergon e in utt er s olitud e in th e silenc e 8:

darkn es s of a subterranean c ave Thi s or.

d eal had d ethroned th e reason of more than

o n e who had und ertaken it ; and was c on
’
clud ed with a fast of Fifty Days duration .

Thi s i s what h app en ed t o th e c andi dat e

wh en fi nally admitt ed to th e Myst eri es
H e was l e d by a grot es qu e figure t o a dan
g e r ou s pr e cipi c e from whi c h h e felt hi s way
,

to th e d e ep i nt eri o r of a gloomy c avern ,

wh ere h e was c onfront e d b y a hi deous obj ect

whi c h direct e d h i m toward a pla c e wh enc e
c am e th e h owls of rav en ou s wild b easts .

Sudd enly s ei z e d b y uns e en hands h e was

thrust into th e faintly light e d d en of animals
and instantly attack ed by what s e e me d to b e
lions tig ers wolve s an d oth er vi cious b easts
, , ,

but were i n fact m emb ers of th e S oc 1 e t y cu n

n i n g ly ma d e up to r es embl e th e m .

T hrough thi s h orri bl e p lac e h e had b e en

directe d to m ak e hi s way and was tossed
, ,

pulled trampl e d upon an d buff ete d b efore h e

,

e scap e d cov ere d with brui s es an d g enuine

,

wounds i nto anoth er c av ern i n whi c h r e

,
FREE M A S O N RY 9

sound e d l oud p eals of thund er an d t hrough ,

whi c h s hot c onstantly t errifying b ursts o f

flam e .If h e faint e d from e xhausti on an d
horr o r h i s s ens e s return e d i n a comfortabl e
,

c hamb er wh ere d elightfu l musi c and s oo th

ing p e rfum e s qui et e d t o so m e e xt ent hi s

(L T h e n t hre e ven era b l e p ri e sts a p proa c h e d

him . O n e of t h e m thr ew a S quirming Snak e
i nto hi s b osom an d with th e loathsom e r ep
,

til e c hilling hi s s kin h e was condu ct e d t o a

door fro m whi c h i s su e d awful c ri e s of l am
e n t a t i on an d d esp air T h er e h e b e h eld a
.

dre adful r epr e s entati o n o f m en enduring th e

torm e nts of H e ll .

T hi s wa s fol l owe d b y s e v e n s ub t e rran ean

j ou rn eys t o t h e s c en e s of as m any appalling
p e r i ls e a c h likely to disturb th e stout est h eart
,

and arous e th e m ost t rying e motions T h en

.

if hi s str ength h el d out h e ent ere d th e H oly of

,

H o li es It was a s pl endi d ap art m ent in whic h

.

a bri lli ant su n an d b ea u tiful stars moved i n

a mini atur e s ky whil e m o st ravi s hing musi c
,

was h eard I n th e E ast s eat e d u pon a g o ld

.
,

en thron e was a pres e nc e b efor e whom th e

,

c andi dat e b ow e d an d t o ok t h e o at h of th e
O rd er S u c h was t h e i niti ation o f th e P e r
.
10 T H E ST O RY O F
sian Magi th e soci ety found ed by Z oroaster
, ,

whose extre m e anti quity i s c ertifi e d by both

A ri stotl e Plato T h er e w er e oth er Mys
.

t e r i e s in oth er l ands i n th e ti m e s of anti quity

,

- thos e of Isi s in Egypt of C abiri in Ph oenicia

, ,

of Sabazian i n R om e a n d th e El eusin i an i n
,

Gre e c e . And from among th em all F r e e m a ,

so n r y alon e has em erg ed a s a living influ enc e

on mod ern c ivili z e d soci ety and i s ri c h est in ,

l egend tra dition and hi stori c fa cts

, , One .

v ery curi o us tal e i s told by an Englis h a u t hor

and stud ent of anti quiti e s whos e d es cri ption ,

of th e initiati on of t h e P ersian M agi h a s a l

ready b e en r eh ears ed I t i s a l eg end of H i
. .

ram A b i f t h e m ast er arc hit e ct and engine er

,
’
at th e building of King Solomon s T e mpl e ,

who a cc ording to traditi on a ssi st e d Solo

, ,

mon i n founding th e M asoni c O r d e r flfi fl

( W h en th e Qu e en of Sh eba visit ed Solomon ,

that Pri nc e of Ri ch es and Glory who ha d an ,

appre c iativ e eye for b eauty i n Wom en a s ,

well as i n Arc hit ectur e fell a vi c ti m t o th e

,

s edu ctiv e c harm s of hi s vi sitor , an d sought

h er hand in m arri age Aft er c onsid eration
. ,

sh e ac c ept ed th e proposal Lat er w h en r e . ,

p e a t e d re qu ests had s e cure d th e pres entation

to h er o f H iram A b if whos e w o rk o n th e
,
FREE M ASO N RY 11

T emp l e w as a r evelation to h er o f e x tr a or di
nary a b ility , t h e son of t h e tri b e o f N a p ht h a li
c ast a look int o h er e ye s whi c h dr e w h e r
h eart to h i m . S olo mon wis e i n th e ways of
,

wom en instantly b eca m e awar e o f t h e i m

,

pre ssion ma d e o n t h e Q u e en b y hi s gre at

arc hite ct an d wa s stirr e d b y j ealousy
, C ha.

g r i n e d , h e s et a b out t o d estroy h i s fri end .

T h e Q u e e n m et H ira m i n a grov e n ear J eru

sal em wh en non e but h er m ai ds were pr e s
ent . H e was si l ent and th o ughtful , but soon
de clare d hi s l ov e S h e t h r ew h ers e lf i nto
.

hi s arms t h eir l i ps m et an d s h e rapturously

, ,

re spond ed t o h i s words o f a ff e ction .R e a li z

ing th at S olo mon woul d not appr o v e t h eir
mating th ey plann e d t o l e av e J eru sale m at
,

di ff erent ti m es and m e et in Arabia M e an

, .

whil e S o lomon h a d hint e d to c erta i n work

’
m en o n t h e t e mpl e that H ira m s d e at h w o ul d
b e pl easing t o h i m an d g av e th e m a n ex
,

cus e fo r quarr eling wit h hi m A s a c ous e

.

qu e n c e H ira m wa s sl ain w hil e s e eking exit

from th e t empl e .

Thi s l eg en d i s so at v ari an c e with M asoni c

tradition an d h istory t h at i t c ann o t b e a o
c e p t e d althoug h i t give s a dditional int erest
,

to a Bibli c al c h ara cter whos e m e mory wil l

12 T H E STORY O F

liv e as long a s Fr e emasonry e x i sts am o ng

m e n It i s pri nt ed a s a c uri o us sp e c im en
.

c hos en fr o m among many ap o c ryphal tal e s

whi c h found th eir way int o p rint in Eu rope
during t h e Eight e enth C e nt u ry a nd wer e
,

widely c irculat e d among rea d e rs o f b o o ks .

FRE E M AS O N RY 13

'

Att e m pts t o E x t e r mi n a t e F r e e ma so n
gy
.

R E E M AS O N RY h as at dif
fe r e nt
ti m e s b e en a tta c ke d
b y vi goro u s an d m ali c i o us
e n e mi e s whos e purp o s e
w a s D eadly .M any e ff ort s
h av e b e en m ad e by C hurc h
8: Stat e i n Europ e an c oun
tri e s t o suppr e s s an d d e str o y it a n o ta b l e
,

anti M asoni c p op u lar exc it e m ent o n c e ar o s e

-

and flouri sh e d i n t h e Unit e d Stat e s , an d th e

c losing years o f t h e ni n et e ent h c entury wi t
n e sse d i n Fran c e a r e markabl e my st i fi c at i on

of t h e e n e mi e s o f t h e
( H alf a doze n s e ri o us att e mpts t o anni hilat e
th e o rd er wer e m ad e wh e n its purp o s e s wer e
not so c l early u nd erstood a s th ey ar e n o w ,
14 T H E STO RY O F

and b efore th e Roman C ath oli c C h u r c h its ,

most invet erat e enemy , b e gan op e n l y and s e

t i v e ly its unrel enting warfar e agains t i t . An
a ct o f Parliam ent i n 1 42 9 m ad e fel on s o f all
M as o ns wh o c onfe d erat e d i n c h a pt e rs , and
subj ecte d the m t o puni shm en t by i mpri son
m ent and fin es but it was n e v er e nfo r c ed
, .

I n 1 56 1 Qu e en Eli zab eth o rd ere d th e grand

lodg e o f Englan d brok en up and fo r b ad e Ma
,

sons t o m e et i n th ei r lodges but th e initia t i o n

,

of a numb er of h er o ffi c ers into th e o rder and ,

t h eir subs e qu ent i mport u niti es to h er induc

,

e d h er to with draw th e obnoxious c ommand .

Fran c e passe d a l aw abo l i shing Masonry i n

1 63 7, owi ng to a suspi c ion that it migh t b e
d ang erous t o th e g ov e rn me nt b ut p u b li c o p in
,

ion nullifie d i t T h e E m p res s Mari a Th eresa

.

o f G ermany was i nfl u en c e d against M asonry

in 1 74 7 by ladi e s o f h er co urt wh o h ad b e en
unabl e t o cajol e o r e x ort its s e crets from
th eir husbands and i ss u e d an o rder that M a
,

sons should b e arrest ed whil e engage d i n

th e ir lodg e work but th e E mp e ro r J o s e p h I
, ,

wh o was a m e m b er of th e Fraternity p er ,

su a d e d th e mi sl e d w o man to give u p h er fo o l

i sh p r oj e c t t o th e int ens e di sapp o intm ent and

,

c hagri n o f th e c o u rt ladi es wh o s e h u sbands

,
F RE E M A S O N RY 15

p erhap s h a d r ea d L a F o n t a i n e s s ag e o b se r
’

vation th at nothing i s s o oppre ssi v e a s a s e

cret ; wom en find i t d i ffi u lt t o k e e p o n e
.
’

T h e Gre at C ounc il of B ern e 1 n S w i t z e rland a ,

Prot estant tri bunal d enoun c e d M as o nry i n

,
“
1 74 5 d e cre e i ng th at
, citi z ens an d s u bj e cts
who ar e a ct u ally known t o b e Fre e mason s
s h all b e oblig e d i mm e di at e l y t o abjure b y ,

oath th e engage m e nts t h ey hav e take n i n

,
”
sai d soci ety an d provi di ng t h at th o s e n u
,

k n o w n w h o di d not renounc e th e ord er v o lu n

,

t ar i ly , s ho ul d b e h e avily fin e d an d ma d e i n
e ligibl e for any e mpl o ym ent i n t h e R epubli c .

O wing t o t h e h o stil e a cti on of t h e s ynod at

Stirli ng i n 1 74 5 and t h e s yn o d at E dinburg
,

i n 1 755 th e a ssoci at e o f S cotl an d i n 1 757 or

,.

d ere d M asons to b e qu esti on e d a s to w h e t h

e r ou i nitiation t h ey w ere re quire d t o give up
all m etal on th eir p ersons if t h e B i bl e was
,

u s e d in t h eir sup erstiti o u s c ere moni e s and ,

if th e pa ssag e i n I Kings , vii 2 1 , wa s re ad

-

to th e m .A l l wh o r efu s e d t o ans w er w ere

“ ” “
r e p ut e d und er s c and al
- an d d e c lare d i n
”
c ap abl e of a d missi o n t o s e aling o rdinanc e s .

Th o s e wh o di d answer were p u rg e d by re b uk e
and ad mon i ti on and stri ct l y c h arge d not to
,

e nti c e o th ers i nt o t h e snare o f Fre e mas o nry .

16 T H E S T O RY O F

Fred eri c k I o f Sweden forbad e F re emasonry

i n h i s dominions i n 1 74 0 und er p enalty of
death following th e example of King Freder
,

i ck A ugust u s III of Poland th e year b efore .

In 1 751 C harl e s III of Spain prohibite d M a

soni c rit es i n N apl es A V eni c e lodge wa s
.

abolish ed by th e transportation of its m e m

b ers , and in 1 8 1 8 John VI i ssu ed a p r ohi bi
tory e di ct fro m
(L D u r i n g th e latt er part of th e eight e enth c en
tury Fr e e masonry was att acke d i n England
both by ri dicul e and by cl eri c al u tteranc es .

A t that ti m e th e fraternity s dignity and s er

’

i ous character were i n mark ed c ontrast to th e

frivolity of num erou s oth er socia l soci eti es
i n that country whi c h were alm o st with o ut
,

exc eption bi bulous bodi e s and g e n erally e n

,

vio n s of Masonry T h e m emb ers of th es e

.

convival organi zations of whi c h th e song

, ,

th e glass and th e racy ane cd o t e were th e

,

e ss enc e d elight e d i n deriding and satirizing

,

F re emason s on e o f th e num erous rh ym es

,

of th e p eri o d d e s c ri bing th em a s

A s et of ranting roari ng rumbling fellows

, , ,

W ho m e et t o sing old ros e and b u rn th e

b ellows .
FREE M AS O N RY 17

C hampagn e and c laret dozens i n a j erk ,

,
’
And th en t h e y say h o w h ard t h ey v e b e e n
at w ork .

N ext for th e s e c ret of t h e ir o wn wi s e m aking ,

H ira m and Boa z an d Gran d M a st er Jac hin "

,

Poker and t o ngs " th e sign " t h e wo rd " th e

strok e
’ ’
Ti s all a n othing an d ti s al l a j o k e
, .

T h ey wer e also c h arg e d wit h pra cti ci n g

“
black arts su c h a s R ai sing t h e D evil i n a
,
”
C ircle and branding i n i t a t e s with a r e d h ot
,
-

poker S evera l b ooks were print e d t o prov e

.

t h e trut h o f si milar f o olis h stori e s and on e ,

“
of th e m wa s s eri o usly entitle d M asonry th e
way to H ell ; a S ermon wh er ein it i s c l early
Prove d both fro , m
R eason and from S crip
ture th at All who profes s th e Myst eri e s are
,
”
i n a stat e o f D amnati on .

T h e hundre d ye ars pre c eding 1 79 3 were pro

li fi c i n a musing publi c ati o ns t hat profe s s to
b e exp o sure s of Fre e masonry writt en b y ,

Frenc h an d E ngli s h ro manc ers N o less

.

than forty fi v e of t h e s e produ c ti ons ar e to b e

-

found i n M asoni c librari es wh ere th ey ar e

,

pres erv e d as c ur i os1 t i e s; th ey b ear suc h titl e s

“ ” “
a s An A c co unt o f th e Fr e e mas o ns The ,
18 T H E STO RY O F

Grand Myst ery of Fre emasons D i s cov ered ,

“ ” “
Masonry Di ss e cted Th e S e crets o f M a
,
” “
s on ry M ad e Known A M aster K e y to Fr e e
,
” “
masonry , Th e T hre e Di stinct Knocks ,
“ ” “
Th e Fre emas o n Stripp ed N ak ed Fre e ,

m asonry o f t h e L adi e s and ,Th e V ail

( T h e Roman C atholi c C hurc h vi ewed Fr e e

m asonry with d e ep sus p i c i o n wh e n it first
b egan t o spread o ver Europ e a s a co nfess ed l y
o ath boun d s e cret organi zati o n
- W h en i t
.

l e arn e d that M asons would n ot reveal t h eir

s ecr e ts i n th e c onfe ssional an d th at th eir
,

soci ety taught Fre e dom of C ons ci en c e and

oth er tol erant and lib eral principl es th e s u s ,

p i c i on s ettl e d int o d e ep s eat e d h a t r e d w h i c h

-
,

wa s augm ente d from ti m e to ti m e by t h e

undoubte d participation of French and Italian
lodges in politi cal adventures ini mical to th e
t emporal power of th e Pop e T h e Roman
.

C hurc h h ad su ffi ci ent influ en c e to ca u s e th e

promulgation of a gov ern m ent e di ct for th e
abolish m ent of M asonry i n H olland in 1 73 5 .

A n Amsterdam lodg e d efie d t h e ord er and ,

c ontinu ed to m e et s e cretly T h ey were dis

.

c overed and arrest e d in th eir lod g e a c kn owl ,

e dge d that th e y w er e M as o ns swore tha t ,

F RE E MAS O N RY 19

t h eir soci ety t aught n o th ing r epugnant t o t h e

l aws of God or m an sub mitt e d a proposition
,

t h at t h e c ourt b efor e whi c h th ey w ere

b rought s hould s el e ct s om e m an i n whom it
h a d i m p li cit c onfid en c e for i nitiati on and
, ,

t h ey woul d abi d e b y hi s ju dgm ent T hi s was

.

don e t h e town cl erk b e c am e a M ason and

, ,

s o strongly a p prov e d t h e t e ac hings of t h e

frat ernity th at t h e magi strat e h i m s elf a p
p li e d for admi s si on an d was a c c ept ed to ,

h i s great s ati sfa cti on .

P op e C l e m ent X II i s su e d 11 i n 1 73 8 th e
,

first of a s eri e s of p a m whi c h

h e d enoun c e d Fr e e ma so it admit
t ed to its altars m en of A l l R eligions and ,

i mpos e d obligations it s m emb ers woul d not

r eveal at th e c onfes sional T h e following
.

y ear h e publi sh e d an edi ct t hr e a t e n i n g a ll who

’

vi sit e d lodge s with a fin e o f on e thousan d

c rowns o f gold and th e t o rture o f th e ra c k
”

U nd er thi s vi cio u s d e c r e e i n S p a in and P o rtu

,

g al s everal M ason s were i mpri s o n e d and t o r

,

t ur e d i c h first s o ught
to e x t o t he s ecr ets o f th e soci ety
“

b y th e i nfliction o f i nh u m an torm ent s and ,

failing to ac c omplish th at purp o s e s e nt t h e m

t o th e g a ll e ys , o n whi c h t h e y w e r e s ubj e c t e d
20 T H E S TO RY O F

to th e m o st o ff ensiv e i ndign i ti e s and fright

ful
( One Fr e emas o n John Cou st os live d to t ell
, ,

th e story o f hi s s uff ering from th e Inqui sition

at Lis bon , in Portugal H e wa s a native of
.

Swi tz erland , nts took hi m to Eng

land i n 1 71 6 . after
twenty two - don and ,

five in Pari s h e went t o Li sbon to work on

,

precious ston es T h ere , i n vari ou s privat e

.

h o us es h e pra cti c e d F re emasonry with his

,

brethren and an Inquisiti ve woman at c on

, ,

f e ssi o n tol d o f th e m e etings T h e pri est i n

, .

form ed th e Inqui sition whic h s ei z ed hi m in ,

M arch 1 743 and threw hi m into a dung eon

, , ,

wh ere h e wa s forbi dden to sp eak and c o uld ,

h e ar nothing but th e groans di sma l c ri es of

oth er prisoners A fe w days later h e was led
.

to th e Inquisitors and c harg e d with sp eak

ing injuriously of th e R o m an religion whic h ,

h e d eni ed an d th en r eplac e d in hi s dungeon

,

for r efl e ction T hre e days l at er h e wa s

.

again b efor e t h em an d wa s re qu est ed to ex

plain th e natur e oi F r e emasonry whi c h h e ,

di d so far a s consi st ent with hi s obligations .

T h en h e was taken to anoth er d e ep er dun .

g e o n
, w h e r e h e lai d in darkn ess s even we eks ,
F REE MAS O N RY 21

during w hi c h h e was tak en b efore th e I n qu i s

i t or s thre e ti m e s
. T h e first ti m e th ey insist
e d that h e s h o u l d r ev eal th e s e c r ets o f t h e
o rder , w hi c h h e d e clin e d t o d o T h e s e c ond
.

ti m e th ey threat en e d hi m c all e d hi m a h e r
,

eti c and sai d h e wa s damn e d , aft er a d v i si ng

h i m to turn Roman C atholi c b efore it was
too lat e . T h e la st ti m e aft er arguing man
,

fully fo r hi s rights h e was doom e d to suff e r

,

th e tortur e s of t h e h oly o ffi c e for not reve a l

ing th e s e c rets of M asonry H e wa s stri p
.

p e d nak ed ex c ept for hi s draw ers an i ro n

, ,

c ollar fa st en e d to a s c aff old wa s put aroun d

hi s n e ck , a ring fix e d to ea c h fo o t , an d hi s .

li mb s tightly stretc h ed . S m al l rop es w er e

wound around hi s arm s an d thigh s and pass
e d thr o ugh t h e h ol e s und er t h e s c aff old an d
drawn tight by four m en T h e s e rop e s cut
.

hi s fl es h to t h e b on e i n s everal pla c es Four .

ti m e s C u stos r efus e d to rev eal t h e s e crets ,

and at ea c h r efusal t h e utmost strength o f

hi s tortur ers wa s appli e d to t h e rop e s hi s ,

judg es d e claring th at hi s o b stinacy would

make hi m guilty of s elf murd er S i x w e eks .

later wh en hi s wounds w er e parti ally r e

c overed h e w as again co ndu c t e d to t h e
,

C hamb er o f H o rr o r s w h ere h i s arm s w er e

,
22 T H E STO RY O F

slowly drawn backward by an engin e until

hi s shoulders w er e dislocat ed and blood
c am e from hi s mouth Thi s h ellish torture
.

wa s infli ct e d thre e ti m es wh en h e was r e

,

turn e d to his c ell and ro u gh physi cians r e

d u c e d th e dislocations .

In two month s h e was again tak en to th e

tortur e roo m T hi s ti m e a h eavy iron c hain
.

was wrapp e d twi c e around hi s arms and body

t erminating at hi s wri sts T h e ends of th e
.

c hain w ere attac h e d t o rop es running thro ugh

pull eys whi c h wh en str etc h e d press e d and
,

bruis ed hi s body an d put hi s wrists and

,

sh oulders o ut of j oint Twi c e in on e day h e

.

was subj ecte d to thi s t o rture Four we eks

.

aft er h e was still unabl e t o lift hand to hi s

m outh , hi s body was frightfully swollen and ,

h e suffere d su c h dreadful angui sh a s may not

b e i magined H e was th en condem ned to b e
.

a gall ey slave for four years T h ere th e friars

- .

of th e convent of C orp o Santos o ff ered hi m

releas e i f h e would turn R oman C atholi c ,

b u t hi s stout Swiss h eart woul d not c o ns ent .

W o rd of hi s c ondition r e aching hi s broth er

'
ln law that r elative was abl e to int erest th e
-
,

D u k e of N ewcastl e i n th e c ase and finally,

Ki ng G e o rg e II thr o ugh th e British minist er

,
F REE M AS O N RY 23

C ompton at L isb o n , d e mand e d and s e c u re d

hi s re l eas e a s a Britis h subj e ct i n O ctob er
, , ,

1 744 , and h e arriv ed i n L ondon D e c 1 5 of .

th e sam e year , w h er e h e wrot e a d etai l e d

a c count of h i s
(LP a p a l constitutions , edi cts e p i st le s a lloc u
, ,

ti on s and en cycli c als of varyi ng d egre es o f

h ars hne ss w ere i ssue d against t h e ord er by
C l e m ent X II i n 1 73 8 ; by B ene di ctu s X IV in
1 751 ; b y P ius VII i n 1 8 1 4 ; b y L eo X II i n 1 8 2 5;
b yt P i u s VIII i n 1 82 9 ; by Gregory X VI i n 1 8 32
by Pius I X i n 1 846 , 1 8 6 5 1 8 6 9 and 1 8 73 ; an d b y
,

L eo X II I in 1 8 9 0 and 1 8 9 2 .

The f 1 8 6 5 p r on oun c e sFr e e

mas i m pi o us an d c ri minal ,
—
full o f snare s an d frau ds a dark s o ci ety ; t h e
en e my o f t h e C hurc h of God an d dang erou s
,

t o th e s e c urity of K ingdom s ; i nfla m e d with

a bu rning h a t r e d against r e ligious and le g i t i
‘

mat e a uth o ri ty , and d e sir ou s o f ov e rthrowing

”
all rights h u man an d di vin e . T h e epi stl e o f
1 8 73 was in n o b e tt er t e mp er .It a ttri bu t e d
Ma s o nry t o S atan , and d ec l are d t h e E vi l On e
found e d it an d c ontrive d its d evel o p m e nt .

T h e s e fi er c e d enunc iati o ns o f P i u s I X are

of p e c uliar i nt er e st t o M asons , b e caus e th e

r eco rds o f t h e Ita l i an Gran d L o dg e show H i s

24 T H E S T O RY O F

infallibl e H o l in es s to hav e b e en exp elled

from th e frat ernity aft er hi s el e ction a s pop e .

Vi ctor Emanu el having b e en ai d ed by Gari

,

baldi a 3 3 d d egre e M ason i n overthrowing

, ,

th e t e mporal pow er of th e papacy and e stab

li sh i n g r eligiou s and c onstitutional lib erty
in Italy wa s i nform e d that th e Pop e wh en
, ,

a young man h ad b e en Initiat ed Pass ed

, ,

Rais ed in a Masoni c l odge H e th erefore

.

caused hi m to b e tri ed for rep eat e d violations

of his obligations to t h e M asoni c brethren .

Pius I X was found guilty exp ell ed and th e

, ,

proclamation of hi s expulsion signe d by Vi c ,

tor E manuel th en king of Italy and gran d

,

m aster of M asons in that c ou ntry was s ent ,

all over th e M asoni c world .

“
T h e encycli cal H u ma n u s g enus of 1 8 84 d e
c la r e d that th e M asoni c ord er s ought to over

throw th e c hur c h o f G o d w h i c h insan e d esire

,

was recogni z ed by th e Pop e as th e quenc h

l ess hat e and t hirst for r eveng e of Satan
against God . Th e i mm edi at e e ffect of thi s
w a s to convinc e t h e cre dulou s that M asonry

was D evil w or sh i p a n d L eo s ac cusation was

’
-
,

given a ting e of excus e by th e extraordinary

action of th e M asoni c gran d ori ent of Pari s
a short tim e b efore That adventurou s body
.
F REE MA SO N RY 25

r emove d fr o m it s c onditi o ns of m emb ershi p

b eli ef i n G od an d i n i m mortality an a ct of ,

suc h gros s i nfid elity t o th e first p ri n cip l e s

and fun da m enta l laws of Fr e e masonry t h e
worl d o v er t h at t h e ju stly in dignant M as o ni c
,

auth o ri ti e s i n oth er c ountri e s at o nc e s u n

d ere d all r e l ations with t h e r e c r e ant and d e
g en erat e Fr enc h organi zation I n 1 8 9 0 and
.
,

again in 1 8 92 L eo X III i ssu e d a dditiona l

,

ex hortati o ns again st M asonry a s an organ

i z a t i on waging war against b oth r e lig io n
and c ivilizati on .

N aturally th e s e e xpr e ss i ons fr o m th e h e ad

of C atholi ci s m w er e e c h o e d b y i nfe ri or
authoriti es i n t hat c hurc h . T h e Bis h op o f
M alta in a di sc o urs e o n a M a lta lodg e i n
,

1 843 r e mark e d :
,

W e with angu i sh a t h ea rt h e ard lo ng ago

, ,

o f th e cr eation of thi s di ab o li c al lodg e t hi s ,

p estil entia l pulpit of ini qui t y and e rror Fl e e .

,

a s fro m t h e fa c e of a v enomous s e rp ent thi s ,

soc i e t y t h e common s ew er of a l l fi lt h e n d e a v
, ,

o ring th o ugh c ontinually i n vain t o vo mit

, ,

fort h th e th ings of h ell against th e i mm ac u

lat e pu rity o f th e h o ly C ath o l i c r e ligion .

T h e C ath ol i c W orld p e r h a p s t h e l eadi ng

,

literary magazin e publi sh e d b y t h e c hur c h

26 T H E STO RY O F

in Am eri ca in 1 8 75 spok e of th e hi deou s

,
”
loathsom en ess of this vil e association .

“
Six years lat er it sai d that F re emasonry ,

as a s ecret soci ety i s dang erou s to our fre e

,

institutions ; a s a craft it i s obnoxious to th e

tru e spirit of hu manity N o on e c an seri
.

o u sly qu esti on t hat t h e C atholi c C hurc h ,

in proh ibiting h er c hi ldren from be coming

m e mb ers o f suc h s e cret organizations has ,

d es erved w ell of th e country and in thi s

on e resp ect p arti cularly has don e muc h
for th e pres ervation of our p u bli c i n st i t u
” “
tions . In 1 8 9 3 it d eclare d that th e s e cret
soc iety i s th e d eadli est en emy to religio n
”
and social o rder .

Th e s e sw e eping and bitt er attack upon th e

character and influ enc e of F re emasonry ,

by th e authoriti e s of th e Roman C atholi c

C hurc h along with many oth ers from th e
,

sam e sourc e t oo num erous and l engthy to

quot e or even su mmari z e h ere h av e ha d
,

th e c fle c t on M as o n s whi ch might natural

'

ly b e exp ect ed . Alm o st without e x c e p

tion th eir attitud e toward th e C hurc h of
Rom e i s that of enmity W h en a Mason
.

b ecom e s a C atholi c h e renounc es th e

Ord er and wh en a C atholi c b ecom e s a
,
FREE M AS O N RY 27

M ason h e i s ex c om muni c at e d fr o m that

C hur c h.

T hat ha s b e en th e c ondition of a ff airs b e

tw e e n M asonry and Roman C atholi cis m fr o m .

n qu i si t i om
th e days of t h e foul unsp eakabl e I
,
28 T H E STORY O F

Leo T a x i l s R e markabl e B ooks about

’

Murd er th e D evil Wom en z th e Black

, ,

Mass in th e H igh D egre es of M a son gy

, .

H E most Absurd o f all t h e

entangl em ents int o wh i c h
th e Roman C atholi c C hur c h
has b e en drawn by its d e
—
t estation for th e soci ety a
tal e of ludi crous cre dulity
and blind fanaticism u n p ar
a ll e l e d in th e closing d ecad e of th e last c en

tury has b e en relat ed with mu c h parti

,

c u la r i t y by s ev eral

( Gabri el J o g a n d Pag
- es was born at M a r
s eill es F ranc e in 1 8 54 Fortunat e i n edu c a
, , .

t i o n a l a dvantag es during youth o n a rri ving

,

at m anh o o d h e adopt ed j o urnalism as his

FREE MAS O N RY 29

avocati o n T al ent ed audaci ou s and hold

.
, ,

ing both r eligion an d d e c en c y i n c ont e mpt ,

hi s writings attract e d s o mu c h att e ntion th a t
h e sought a l arg er fi eld i n P ari s wh er e h e ,

publish e d an i nfid el daily p ap e r an d wrot e

many irr elig io us b ooks th at obtain e d a wid e
c ir c ulati on On e of th e m was a s c andal
.

“
ous work entitl e d Th e S e cr et A m ours o f
”
Pius IX ,for th e publi c ati o n o f w hi c h h e
wa s h eavily fin e d .

In 1 8 8 5 t his r eckl e ss yo u ng man s aw in L e o

“
KI I Is H u m a n u s g e n u s a fi el d for both r e v e
’ ”

n u e and th e hu miliation of th e Ro man C at h

oli c C hur c h whi c h h e most h e artily d espi s
,

e d H e pr et en d e d c onv ersion suppres s e d h i s

.
,

sk epti c al b ooks an d wa s abs ol v e d by t h e

,

Pap al N uncio i n P ari s Mgr di R end e fro m , . ,

a nu mb er of ex co m muni c ati on s r ec ord e d

against hi m With ardor born of d e sir e for
.

money and a mbition to dup e th e c hurc h

whi c h had re c eiv e d hi m into it s fold h e pro ,

d u c e d und er th e p s eudonym o f L eo T a x i l a
, ,

s eri e s of b o oks c all e d C o mpl e t e R e v elation s

o f Frenc h M as o nry whi c h attr a ct e d great
,

att e ntion i n Eur o p e w er e trans l at e d into

,

G erman Itali an and Spani sh an d w er e r ea d

, ,

by hundr e ds of th ou sa n ds o f p eop l e In 1 8 8 1 .
30 T H E STO RY O F

h e had b e en m ad e an Ent ered Apprenti c e ,

but was s o on after exp ell e d from th e frat er

n i t y b e c aus e of indiscretions of whi c h h e

was guilty . With re ckl ess di sregard for

facts and unre strain ed by hi s ignoranc e of
,

Masonry h e gave hi s extraordinary i magina

,

tiv epowers full play and with a fecundity of

,

d etail and illustration truly remarkabl e rep ,

r es ent e d th e rit e s o i th e c raft to b e a hi deous

f orm of D evil Worship

- . On e en t ire volum e
h e d evote d to F emal e M asons on whi c h i m
,

p ossibl e foun dation h e constru ct e d a sham e

ful e dific e o f fiction full o f shockingly scanda
,

lous and b eastly fabri cations that were r e

c e i v e d with d elight by th e papal authoriti es ,

w h o saw in th e m p erfe ct justification for th e

a ttitu d e o f th eir c hurc h toward Masonry" "
( A n o th er o n e of hi s books of whic h two
,

hun dr e d t housan d copi e s were s old at 24

franc s a c opy c harge d every M ason with
,

b ei ng a murd erer i n spirit i f not i n fact

, .

T h e foll o wing translati on o f a passage from

i t explai ns t h e grounds up o n whic h th e
c harg e wa s ma de :
“
B efore a man i s a dmitt e d t o th e high er d e
g re es h e i s blindfolde d tak en into a room
wh ere a l ive sh e ep i s lying on th e floor Th e.
F REE M AS O N RY 31
’
ani mal s mouth a n d fe et are s e cure d and i t
i s cl ean sh aven so th at it s skin fe els to th e
,

touc h lik e that of a human b eing .

“
N ext to th e ani mal a m an i s pla c e d w h o ,

b reath es h eavily feigning to struggl e against

,

i maginary ene mi es T h e c andidat e i s gi ven

.

’
to und erstand that th e s h e ep s bo dy i s th at
of a di sloyal M ason who gave away th e s e ‘

c r e t s of th e order and must di e a c cordin g t o ,

s om e anci ent law th e candi dat e b eing m a d e

,

x e cutioner as a warning to hi m
e‘
, .

T h en h e i s gi ven a bi g kni fe and aft er som e

,
‘
c ere moni al i s p ersua d e d to kill th e traitor ,
’

t hat i s plung e th e knife re p e at e dly i nto th e

,

b ody of th e s h e ep whi c h h e i magin e s to b e

,

t hat of an unknown human b eing hi s broth er , .

“
T hus e very M ason i s a murd erer i n spirit at
l east if not a ctually for som eti m e s tre a c h er
, ,
”
o u s M asons tak e th e pla c e of th e ani mal .

T hi s story drew fort h deni als fro m su c h di s

t i n g u i sh e d Fre emasons a s B ismarck th e ,

Prin c e of W al es and E mp e ror Wi lliam I

,

w hic h s erve d gre atly t o sti mulat e th e sal e

o f t h e work .

Invigorat e d by th e cre dulity of hi s vi c ti m s ,

T a x il add e d S pirituali s m t o hi s s ch e dul e of

M asoni c pra cti c e s an d b eli efs and tol d of
tabl e s floa t ing i n th e air an d turning into
c ro c odil e s at M as o ni c m e etings and for hi s ,
32 T H E STO RY O F

suppos e d revelati ons was h onore d by Pop e

L eo X III with th e Ord er o f th e H oly S e p u l
c hre a distingu ish e d mark of th e hi g h favor
,

of th e Roman
( H igh grad e M asonry wa s t h e most fertil e
field of Ta x i l s grot es qu e fa lsi fi c a t i o n s H e
’
.

mad e C harl e ston S outh C arolina th e sc en e

, ,

of hi s L u c if e r a n M asonry b e caus e i t was th e

hom e of Alb ert Pi k e w h o se labors a s grand

,

commander of th e south ern supre m e counc il ,

for th e p erfe ction of t h e rituals an d c e r e mon

i a ls of th e S cotti sh Rit e h av e b e en exc ell e d
,

by no man T a x i l d e clared that in th e sol emn

.

rec ess e s of th e consi story at C harl eston H i s ,

Satani c Maj esty exhi bi te d hi ms elf without

—
disgu is e H oof H orns Tail and A ll in th e
, , ,

e x e mp li fi c a t i on of th e high gra d es A H igh.

Pri estess of thi s L u c if e r a n Masonry was

n e ed e d and adro it ly contrived for th e const er
nati on of th e Pop e and th e Publi c i n th e p er ,
“
son of Diana Vaughn S h e was sai d to b e
.

th e direct d esc endant of a man to whos e em

brac es th e las civious Venus A start e submit -

ted and whos e life h ad b e en extend e d thirty

,

thre e years for th e propagation of d emoniacal

d esigns . A s a girl sh e b etroth e d h ers elf to
th e D emon Asmodeus afterwards app eare d
,
F REE M A S O N RY 33

b efore S atan i n C harl eston an d wa s by hi m ,

cons e crat e d a s h i s M asoni c hig h pri e st es s

i n th e pres enc e of A lb ert Pik e S h e p o s s ess
e d sup e rnatural powers su c h a s t h e ability
,

to turn h ers elf into li qui d and pass t hroug h

a ston e wall and was a Ve ry T erri bl e P er
,

so n a g e

( All th es e and s core s of oth er absurditi e s

,

w ere publi sh e d month aft er m onth i n Pari s ,

and read w ith avi di ty in th e Vati c an W h en .

th e Roman e c c l esi asti c al authoriti e s ha d

b e en su ffi ci ently h orri fie d by D i a n a V a ug h n s ’

“ ”
d e vi l try T a x i l c a u s e d h er to b e c onverted
,

a s h e hi ms elf ha d b e en T hi s a stounding
.

c hang e i n a h eart familiar with wi ck e dn es s

wa s all eg e d to h ave b e en cau s e d by A lb ert
Pik e ord ering h er to S pit U p on Stab a
C ons ecrate d H ost i n on e o f th e M asoni c rit es ,

and to utt er repulsiv e blasp h e mi es deeds

w hic h would stir d e e p re s entm ent in th e
’
Pop e s breast Diana r efus e d to c omply r e
.
,

p e n t e d and wrot e a book w hi c h was s ent to

,

L eo X III i n 1 8 9 5 who by hi s s ecretary M gr

, , .

Vi c enzo Sardi wrote a l ett er thanking h er

,

and urging h er to c ontinu e in h er good work

against F re e masonry "
On e extract in wh i c h D iana d e s c rib e s a Ma
,
34 T H E STO RY O F

soni c Black Mass —on e

of s core s of tale s
e qually preposterous — may b e mad e from
thi s volum e ;

In a thi ck clou d of p erfum e s th e pri est as

c e n d s th e altar of Satan s Synagogu e
’
.
“
O n th e tabl e i s s e en a goat with a human
fac e already ex cite d by som e preliminary
homages intoxic ate d by p erfum e s and a d
,

oration .

Th e p ri est op ens a b ox and takes o ut som e

“

wafers .
“
Th e rit e s p erform e d and th e words spoken
duri ng th e continuanc e o f th e magic al c ere
mony are blasph emous i n c haract er and th e ,

sacre d vess el and i ts contents are subj ected

to insult and m ockery Th e goat plays th e
.

infernal part cursing and reviling an d last

, ,

ly th e following incantati on i s delivere d

‘
Mast er of th e E sclandre s disp ens er of th e
,

b ene fits of crim e intendant of sumptuous

,

sins and great vi c es sovereign of contempt

, ,

pres erver of old hatreds and inspirer of ven

’
e a n c e and mi sde e ds
g .

A t thi s c eremony th e c hildren of th e c hoir

are cla d in re d and wear scarl e t cap s sur
mount ed by two horns Th ey hold blac k
candl e s in th eir hands .

L arg ely a s a r esult of L eo T a x i l

’
s v o lu mi n
ou s works one of whi c h has
, page s ,
FRE E M A SO N RY 35

th e Vati c an and i ts pri e sthoo d throughout

E ur o p e w ere arous e d to a s ens e of i mp ending
dangers from th e fraternity an d an anti Ma ,
-

s oni c C o ngre ss wa s c al l e d to m e e t a t Trent

i n S epte m b er 1 8 9 6 to whi c h L eo X III t el e
, ,
“
g rap h e d hi s b l e ssing I ts purp os e wa s to
.

m ake kn o wn t o everybody th e i m m ens e mor

a l an d m at eri a l e vi l don e by Fre e m asonry to

t h e C hurc h and to s o c i ety an d to s e e k a,

r e m e dy by way of a p erman ent int ernati o n ,

”
a l organi zation against th e c raft A thou .

s and d el egat e s fro m Europ ean c ountri e s a t

t end e d a mong th e m b eing thirty si x Ro m an

,
-

C atho l i c bi shops who found a s afe r etreat

,

i n th e marbl e c ath e dra l o f th e Austri an c ity ,

w h ere M asoni c lodg e s ar e unknown owing

t o governm ental prohi biti on a s i s als o th e ,

c as e i n Russi a and Poland G abri el J og a n d

.

P age s b ett er known as L eo T a x il wa s th e

, ,

h er o of th e o c c asio n but hi s pre s enc e di d

,

n ot compl etely s ati sfy th e c ongre ss Di a na .

Vaughn , who fo r reasons obvi ous to T a x i l

a lon e coul d n o t app ear was greatly d esire d
, , ,

a s a suspi cion that s h e wa s a m yt h h a d d e

v e lo p e d i n t h e publi c pres s T h e congre ss
.
,

n o t entirely c onvinc e d b y th e plaus i bl e ex .

c us e s of Ta x il entru st ed an i nve sti gation of

,
36 T H E S TQ R Y O F

h er genuinen ess to a commi ssion of i ts m em

b ers whi c h of cours e was unabl e to s e cure
,

proof of h er e xi stenc e . T h e pressure on

M onsi eur J o g a n d Pages finally b e c am e s o
-

strong that h e announc ed s h e woul d app ear

i n th e h al l o f th e Geographi cal Soci ety i n
Pari s on E aster Monday A pri l 1 9
, ,

( On th at dat e and at th at pla c e th e pre ciou s

s camp who had so long revel e d i n th e a d
mi r a t i on and confidenc e of th e princ e s an d
pri ests of C atholi ci s m took th e pl atform i n
th e pres enc e of a large audi en c e that ha d
ass embl e d to s e e and h e ar D i ana Vaughn ,

form erly th e i nti m at e associ ate of th e D evil ,

n ow th e rep entant ac cus er of M asonry He

.

m ade a s p e e c h o f sup erb audaci ty i n whi c h

,

h e tol d hi s s hocke d h earers that hi s conver

si on tw elve years b efore was a pretens e that ,

Di ana Vaughn was a M yth an d that hi s r e

,

v e la t i on s o f Fre e masonry were all D eli ber

at e Li es put forth for th e sol e purpos e of

,

playing upon th e credulity of th e Rom an

C atholi c C hurc h and m aking i ts rul ers ri di
culo n s i n th e eyes of intelli gent m en .

H e adde d that th e Bi shop of C harl eston h ad

long ago assure d th e Pop e of th e falsi ty of
h i s stori e s ab o ut Alb ert Pike : and th at th e
FREE M AS O N RY 37

Apostoli c Vi c ar of Gi braltar h a d i nform e d

L eo XIII that th e all e ge d c ave s at th at p lac e
in whi ch h e had r epres ente d th e M asons as
engage d i n fou l an d atro ci ou s ri tes di d not ,

exi st. In hi s c h agrin th e P o p e h a d sin c e

,

kept s il en c e . T hi s awaken e d th e stunn e d

au di en c e whos e c urs es howl s an d thre ats
, ,

comp elle d M onsi eur J og a n d P age s to s e e k -

s e curi ty i n an o th er q u art er u nd er th e pro

t e c t i o n of th e p oli c e wh ere no d o ub t th e r e
,

su lt s of hi s dari ng expl oits afford e d hi m pro

found s ati sfacti on . T hat th e ab orti ve c h as e

o f tw elve ye ars und er T a x i l s gui dan c e after
’

proo fs of th e i ni qui ty of Fre e m asonry fill e d ,

th e c hurc h authori ti e s wi th d e ep est di s gu st ,

i s pl eas antly i ndi c ate d by a r e m ark attri but

e d to th e C anon M ustel i n wh i c h h e i s rep
,

r es ente d as d e clari ng th at wh en h ell sh oul d

s wallow Gabri el J o g a n d P age s as i ts filthy
-

prey th e damn e d th erei n woul d bow th eir

,

h ea ds und er a n ew
(LL at e r T ax i l i n an i ntervi ew s ays :
, ,

‘
Th e pub l i c ma d e m e wh at I am t h e arc h ,

li ar of th e p eri o d for wh en I first c om m enc e d

,

to writ e a gainst th e M asons my obj e ct was

amus em ent pur e and si m pl e T h e cri m es.

l ai d at th ei r d o or w ere s o gro t e s qu e s o i m ,
38 T H E S T O RY O F

possi bl e s o wi dely exaggerate d I thought

, ,

everyb o dy woul d s e e th e joke and gi ve m e

cr edi t for ori ginating a n ew lin e of humor .

B ut my re ad ers wouldn t h ave i t so ; th ey

’

a c c epte d my fabl es as gosp el truth and th e ,

m ore Ili e d for th e purpos e of s howing that

I li e d th e m ore convinc e d b e cam e th ey that
,
”
I was a p aragon of veraci ty .

S hortly b efore thi s di sturbi ng epi sod e move

m ent originate d among A m eri can C atholi cs
who w er e b etter i nform e d than Rom e of th e
c haracter purpos e and works of F r e e ma
,

so n ry and who found th e b an of c enturi e s

,

against th e fraterni ty a s tu mbling block t o ,

h ave it removed at l e ast i n Am eri ca T hi s

, .

agitation gai ne d su fli c i e n t forc e to rea ch t h e

’
Vati c an but was i n eff e ctive th e c hurch s
, ,

hi story i n rel ati on t o Fre e masonry b eing

wholly i ni mi cal to th e e stabli shm ent of
h armony b etw e en th e two organi zations .

A lthough a di sappointm ent to many i n th e

’
Roman c hur c h p erh ap s ti s b etter thus
, ,

“
For n ever can tru e re concil em en t grow ,

W h en words of deadly hate h ave pi erc ed

"
so d e ep .

T h e d e ci sion of th e H oly S e e was a n noun c

e d i a J anuary 1 8 9 5 by th e Roman C atholi c
, ,
FREE MA S O N RY 39

Arc h bi s h op of C i ncinnati an d i n clud e d

-
,

thre e s o c i eti e s b e si d e s Fre e masonry i n i ts

c ond e mnati on . It i ns tr u cte d t h e ordinari e s
“
of all th e di o c e s e s o f th e U ni te d S tat e s to
k e ep th e faithful away fro m all and ea c h of
th e thre e so c i eti e s call e d th e O dd F ellows ,

Knights o f Pythi as , an d th e S ons of T e m

p er an c e .

T h e first re ason gi v en was th at th es e so

c i e t i e s s e e m to h ave a d ec i d e d i nflu en c e to

l e ad C atholi c s toward Fre e masonry and ,

Fre e mas o nry i s u nd er th e absolut e c o n d e m

”
nati on an d ex c om muni cati on of t h e C hur c h .

T h e Ar c h bi s h op th en c all e d th e attenti on
-

“
of C atholi c s to th e d e clare d and i m pla cabl e
h atr ed of M as ons against th e C hurc h an d
”
all reli gi ou s i nter ests a h atre d h e as s ert e d
,
“
to b e 0 p e n ly an d angri ly avowe d by th e l ead
i ng M asons o f Europ e and manife ste d by
,

th e ir satani c warfar e agains t e verythi ng

”
C hri sti an . H e a dmi tte d that thi s sp iri t di d
not s e e m to prevai l i n A m eri c a but b e c aus e
,

o f th e p res en c e o f z e alous M asons i n th e

“
ot h er s o c i eti e s m e ntion e d , I f a C atholi c i s
drawn i nto on e of th em , h e i s i n continual
and fami li ar a sso ci ati o n with th e a d mirers
” “
of M as o nry a n d s o e x po s e d t o i mb i b e
40 T H E STO RY O F

th e ir s enti m ents a nd a c c ept th eir p ri n

( Although th e Fre e masons and som e oth er

s e cret fraterniti es a r e not tol erate d by C ath
o li c i sm
, an att empt to r estrain C atholi c s
from j oini ng th e Knights of L abor , a s e c ret
organizati on found e d by a Fre emason , aro u s
e d su ch opp osi ti on among C atholi cs that it
wa s abandon e d although it has passwords
, ,

gri ps ob l i gati o ns an d oth er featur e s t hat

,

are cond emne d as a p art o f Fre emas o nry .

T h e Grand Army of th e R ep u bli c also ,

organi ze d by Fre e masons an d m em b e rs of

oth er s e cret bodi es and l argely c ompos e d
,

o f th em i s not under th e di spl easure o f th e

,

Vati can although many zealous Fr e e ma

,

sons h ol d m emb ership ln i t .

W h enc e it app ears that diplomacy has a

pla c e i n th e diplomati c c ouncil s o f R om e .
F REE M ASO N RY 41

T h e Di sa pp e aranc e of W i lli am M o r gan

th e A nti M asoni c E x ci t e m ent w hi c h
-

Follow e d All O v er t h e U ni te d Stat e s .

H E M ason i c o rd e r i n th e
U ni t e d Stat e s m e t wi t h a
m i sfortun e i n 1 82 6 th at s e ri
ou sly cri ppl e d i t for tw enty

ye ars . In th e fal l of 1 82 5
th ere c am e to B a t a v i a G e n
,

e ss e e C ounty , N ew York a ,

m an na m e d W i l li a m M organ . H e wa s an
op erati v e m a son b y tra d e an in dulg er i n
,

strong drink and o f ba d di spositi o n

, . If a
r eg u lar Fre e mason i t h as n e ver b e e n di s
,

clos e d wh ere h e was m ad e on e a lt houg h h e

,

re c ei ve d t h e c apitular d egre es i n L e R oy ,

N ew Y o rk on th e av o u c h m e nt of a M ason i n
,
42 T H E STO RY O F

g oo d standing b efore th e local

(L B e fo r e thi s man s habits were known i n
’

B atavi a h e was p ermitte d to si gn a p etitio n

for a n ew c hap ter of th e ord er but b e caus e
,

of di scoveri e s mad e afterward whi c h r e fle c t

e d upon hi s p ersonal chara cter anoth er p c
,

tition was drawn and hi s nam e l eft off T hi s .

ang ered hi m and h e s e t about th e work of

,

atte mpting an exposure of th e s e crets o f

Fre e masonry , vi siting fre qu ently a man of
l iterary culture i n N ew York C ity wh o ha d
b e en e xp el l e d from th e ord er in 1 82 4 and ,

taking as a partner i n hi s v enture a Batavi a

n ewspap er e ditor nam e d Miller .

All c onc ern e d i n th e s c h em e exp e cted to b e

m ad e ind ep end ently w ealthy by th e s al e of
th e proj e cte d publi c ation and whil e it was
,

b eing surr epti tiously print e d i n M ill er s of

’

fi c e adv ertis e d it i n a way d esigned to ex ci t e

,

th e indignation of Fr e e masons generally .

Duri ng th e night of S eptemb er 1 0 1 82 6 th e , ,

p ri nting o ffi c e was fired pr esumably by Mil

,

l er hi ms elf as h e had pl enty of water stand

,

ing about in b arrels and tubs with whi ch to

exti nguish th e flam es and th e in c ident was
,

u s e d i ndustriously as a furth er advertis e

m ent of th e forth coming publi cati o n , whic h
F RE E M A S O N R Y 43

o n exami nati on pr o ve d to b e but a copy of a

book prev io usly printe d in England . O n th e
foll owing d ay M organ w as arreste d on a
c h arg e o f larc eny s ai d t o h av e b e en com
mi tt e d at C anandaigua , fifty mil e s fro m
B atavi a . H e was tak en t h ere , tri e d , and
di sc harg e d , b ut i mm e di ately arr este d for
d eb t and thrown i nto j ail .

H i s wife l e arning th i s w ent t o C anandaigu a

,

prep are d t o s e cure hi s r el e as e wh er e s h e

,

l e arn e d th at h i s N ew York i nd ebt e dn e s s h ad

b e en p ai d , and that h e h a d b e e n arre st e d
again o n th e sui t of a P ennsylvani a cr e dito r
and tak en away S h e was gre atly alarm e d
.

by thi s informati on h astily returne d hom e ,

,

and h er fri ends d esp atc h e d a man to t rac e

hi m . T h e m e ss enger c am e ba c k wit h th e
very di stre s sing n ews that wh en M organ w a s
rel eas e d fro m j ai l h e ha d b e en s eiz e d by t w o
m en wh o thru st hi m i nt o a c arriag e whil e h e
“ ”
s houte d Murd er and dr o v e off with h i m to
a pla c e after w ards l earn e d t o b e about thre e
mil e s fro m R o c h e st er . T hi s was t h e Las t
Ever S e en or d efinit ely known of th e man ,
who ha d di s app ear e d as c ompl et ely a s i f
swallow e d up in th e bowels o f th e eart h ""
flH i s ab du c ti o n was at onc e , and probably
44 T H E STO RY O F

with justi c e , regarde d by th e pu bl i c as th e

a c t o f Fre emasons and a gre at s ensation
,

e nsu e d . T h e Governor of N ew York D e w itt ,

C linton hi ms elf a M ason was app e al ed to

, ,

and di d all i n hi s pow er to dis cover th e miss

ing m an an d appreh en d hi s c aptors a s di d ,

m any oth er prominent m emb ers of th e frater

n i t y but all in vain
, M eanwhil e th e public
.

stirr e d t o fr enzy by t h e public ation of fal s e

'
stori e s i n whi c h M organ w a sxn a d e t h e v i c t i m
‘

o f a s ecret tri bunal a cti ng i n violation of l aw ,

and ex e cuting a h orribl e s entenc e o n th e man

who profess e d to h ave expos e d s ecr ets r e —
fus ed t o ac c ept th e prot estations of admitt ed
ly resp e ctabl e and h onorabl e Fre emasons
'
that hi s disapp earanc e was N ot an a ct d e
t e r m i n e d upon by th e M asoni c organi zation ,

b u t p ersi st e d i n d enouncing F r e emasonry as

a w h o le and demanding vi ctims for th eir fury .

In Apri l 1 82 7 s everal m en w ere arrest ed for

, ,

c ompli city i n th e affair tri ed and s ent enc e d

,

to i mpri sonm ent T h e next month s even

.

t e en oth ers wer e arrest e d and tri ed on a

c harge of removing th e mi ssing man t o fo r
e i g n p a rts but were a c quitte d
, .

T h e f ollowing O c to b e r , mor e than a y e ar aft e r

t he c el ebrat e d abdu c ti o n t h e p u tri d b o dy of
,
F RE E M A SO N RY 45

a drown e d m an was found o n th e b e ac h of

L ake Ontario a b out fo rt y m i l e s e ast of t h e
N i agara R i ver .A politi c a l c amp aign i n
whi c h anti M asoni c pr eju di c e ran high was
-
,

i n th e mi dst of its emoti ona l cours e and th e

,

clai m was m ad e th at t h e body was Morgan s ’

.

H i s wi dow vi ew e d i t an d t h en Positi vely

Id entifie d i t although th e c lothing on it wa s
,

not th at h e h ad worn w h en h e di sapp e ared ,

’
an d a coron er s jury sol e mnly d e clare d i t t o ‘

b e th e re m ains of W i lli a m M organ . Th e

fun era l was s ei ze d up o n by d esigning politi
c i a n s as t h e o c c asi o n for a big d e monstra

tion t o i nflu enc e t h e v o t e s o f citi z en s i n th e

ap p r o a ching el e ctions and was att end e d b y
,

t h o usands w hos e i mpre c ations an d curs e s

m ad e th e b uri al a trave sty on t h e s ervi c e s
t h at s houl d ac comp any th e int erm ent of hu
m an r e m ains , an d t u rn e d t h e c ere mony i nt o
a r e m arkabl e exhibition o f p arti san rancor .

T h e Fre e masons w h o v i e d with t h eir ene m

i e s i n hon e st e fforts to s e cur e an d p unis h
t h e m en who m ad e away with Morgan di d ,
’
n ot b eli e v e hi s widow s i d entific ation o f th e

b o dy was corr ect and institu t e d an i nvesti

,

g at i on
. T h ey l e arn e d t h at a man nam e d
M onr o e h a d b e e n dr own e d i n N iagara R i ver ”
46 T H E STO RY O F
s om e w e eks b efor e thi s corp s e had b e en
found and by qu estioning hi s widow and son
, ,

elicited th e fa ct th at th e clothing h e had

worn o n th e day of hi s de ath was th e sam e
as that found on th e b ody claim e d by Mrs .

M o rgan . T h ereupon anoth er i n quest wa s

h eld and th e body pr o ve d b eyond a doubt
,

to b e that of Monro e 1
An anti M asoni c politi cal party h ad b e en
-

f orm e d i n W est ern N ew York whil e th es e

events were happ ening its avowe d purpos e
,

b eing to dri ve fro m publi c o fli c e if not from

,

an honorabl e c onne ction with soci ety every ,

F re emason It poll e d
. votes i n 1 82 8 ,

i n 1 82 9 and , i n 1 83 0 spreading
,

over a majority of th e north ern states In .

1 83 2 it nominat e d a c andi dat e for Pre si dent

against Andrew Jackson and H enry C lay as ,

both of th e m were Fre e masons and past

masters Th e campaigns in N ew York and
.

P ennsylvani a o n t h e Masoni c issue s exc e ed

e d i n venom any ever known in th e country ,

not exc epting thos e of th e C ivil War p eri o d .

M asons were e xclu de d from c hur c h e s and

th eir c hildr en were d eni ed th e pri vi lege s of
th e s chools But i n th e Presi denti al e le c t ib n
.

o f 1 832 o nly on e stat e V erm o nt was c arr i ed

, ,
F RE E M AS O N RY 47

by th e Anti M asoni c party an d aft er that

-
,

b low to t h e hop e s of its mis gu i d e d followe rs

i t st eadily d e clin e d i n numb ers an d i n flu
e n c e a n d i n a few ye ars dwindl e d i nto in
,

significan c e an d finally n o thingn ess .

T h e m ost di stingui s h e d A m eri c an c iti ze n

who parti cip at e d i n t h e p oliti cal p ers e cution
o f F re em asonry during t h e s e years wa s E x
P re si d ent o f th e Unit e d Stat e s John Q uincy
A dam s . H e wa s gr eatly di sturb e d over th e
di sapp earan c e of M or g a n a n d wrot e a s eri e s
,

o f l ett ers and d elivere d an a ddre ss i n whic h ,

h i s gre at abi lity an d a d e ep s e at e d preju dic e

-

r emarkab l e i n a m an of h i s ex p eri enc e and

c ulture were given full play i n bitt er d enun
,

c i a t i on of th e frat ernity
. H e d e c lare d that
“
Masonry o ught fo rever to b e aboli sh e d It .

—
i s wrong e ss enti ally wr o ng a s e e d of evil
-
,
“
whi c h c an n ever produ c e any good The .

“
e xi st enc e of suc h an ord er ,h e sa i d i s a ,

f oul b lot upon th e moral s of a c ommunit y .

T h e co d e of M olo c h h o mi c i d e e mbra c e d i n
,

t h e laws o f m asonry will p as s to its appro

,

p ri st e r egi o n i n Pand e monium an d on e of ,

t h e so u rc e s of error an d gui lt p revailing ,

i n our l and wil l b e exh aust e d an d for ever

,
48 T H E STO R Y O F

(L i n lin e with t h e foregoing i s a v ers e from

a popular campaign s ong of th e ti m e s e t ,
“ ”
t o th e tun e of A ul d L ang Syn e whi c h
,

ran a s follows :
If aught on eart h can m en engage ,

If aught c an m ak e u s fre e ,

Ti s o n e suc c e ssful war to wage

’

Against F r e e M asonry .

Th e Mason s dark d e sign w e know

’

Th e M ason s bloody gri p and sign ;

’

W e ll l end a han d t o blot from earth

’

’ ”
Th e M ason s bloody shrin e .

T h e disapp earanc e of M organ s ho ul d n ever

h ave b e en mad e a politi cal i ssu e b e caus e if
,

h e was exe cut ed und er a M asoni c p enalty th e

d e e d was don e not b y t h e authority of that
ord er but by hot h ead e d m emb ers of it a ct
-

ing ind ep endently of any l odg e and contr a ry

,

to th e fraternity laws . But i n th e passio n s

whi c h th en exi st e d reason found littl e pla c e ,

and everything M asoni c was indi scriminat e

ly c onde mn e d L ik e M onro e s b o d y a n yt h i n g
’
. ,
“ ”
was a good enough M organ that would fan
th e flam e s of t h e p ers e cution of Fre emasons
among th ei r bi got e d
(L E x c e p t i n g th e c onstant opposition to Fre e
mas o nry wh erever Roman C atholi c aut h ori
F RE E M A S O N R Y 49

i s ob eye d and th e trifling e flort s of a very

'

ty ,

few weak Prot estant c hurc h es th er e i s now ,

comp arati vely littl e prejudi c e against th e

ord er i n th e c i vi li ze d wor l d A m eri c an
.

literat u re i s singularly fre e fr o m criti c i sm s

of it and but o n e Engli sh author d u ring th e
,

p ast quart er of a c e n tu r y i s worthy of quota

tion a s a criti c C harl e s W i lli am H e c k e t
.

horn i n h i s work o n S e cret S oc i eti e s o f Al l

,

A ge s and C ountri es says : ,

“
S e lfi shn e ss, an eye to busin ess vanity ,

frivolity , gluttony , and a l ov e of mystery

—
mongering th e s e are th e moti ve s that l e a d
m e n i nto th e l odg e T h e fa cility an d fr e
.

q u e n c y wit h whi c h w orthl e s s c haract e rs

ar e r e c eiv ed into th e ord e r ; th e manner i n
whi c h all its statut e s are di sregard e d ; t h e
disli ke with whi c h every b r o th er wh o i nsi sts
on reform i s look e d up on b y th e re st ; th e
d i fi i c u lt y o f exp elling ob noxious m e mb ers
all th e s e to o plainly s how th at th e lodge ha s
b anis h e d Fre e masonry Of tru e F r e e m a s
.

o n r y Fre e masons a s a rul e know nothi ng

, , , .

G enuin e Fre emas o n s are lib eral mind e d an d -

enli ghten e d m en d e vot e d to th e stu dy of

n ature an d th e pro gr e s s of m ankind m oral ,

and intell e ctual ; m en d e voi d of p oliti c al and

religi ou s p r ej u d i c e s tr u e co smopolitans
, .

T h e Right R everend H enry C Potter bi sh op .

,
50 T H E STO RY O F

of N ew York i n th e Episcopal C hurch in 1 9 01 ,

“
w rot e a l ett er in whi c h h e s aid : F r e e m a s
o n r y however i s i n my vi ew of i t a great
, , , ,

d eal more th an a mutual b enefit associ ati on .

I n o n e s ens e wil d an d extravagant as th e

,

words m ay sound it i s th e m ost remarkabl e

,

and altogeth er uni qu e i nstitution on ea rth .

W ill you t ell m e of any oth er th at girdl es

t h e world with its fellowship an d gath ers
all ra c e s and th e m ost an ci ent reli gions as ,

well a s our o wn i nto its broth erhood "Will

,

you t ell m e of any oth er t hat i s a s old or

ol der ; more brilliant i n its hi story ; more
h onore d i n its c onstitu ency ; more p i ctures
qu e i n its traditions " Today i t li es in th e
h an d of th e mod ern man l argely an unus e d ,

tool c apabl e of great a chi evem ent for God

, ,

for c ountry for mankind b ut doing very

, ,

l i ttl e For on e I b eli ev e th at circumstanc e s

.
,

m ay e asily ari s e wh en th e high e st and most

,

s acre d of al l fre edom s b eing threatene d in

t hi s l and F re emasonry m ay b e its most

,

p owerful d efender unifying all minds and ,

c ommanding our b e st citizenship .

“
Under such circumstanc e s fellowship i n ,

i t s houl d b e regard e d m or e an d more as a, ,

s acr e d p ri vil ege for whi c h our b est youth

,
F RE E MASO N RY 51

s houl d b e trai n e d an d to whi c h t h e y s houl d

,

b e a dvanc e d st ep by st ep through pr ep ara

,
”
tory form s an d d egr e es .

T h e great E dwin B ooth sai d

“
In e very r e al m of thought i n al l m y r e
,

s earc h and stu dy i n all m y c l os e analysi s

,

o f th e m asterpi e c e s o f S h a k sp e a r e,in my
e arn e st d et ermi nati on to m ak e thos e p lays
a pp e ar r eal u p on th e m i m i c stage I h a v e
,

n ever an d nowh ere m et trage dy s o r e al

, , ,

s o subli m e s o m agni fic ent a s th e l e g en d of

,

H iram . It i s substan c e wi th out s h adow

-
th e m anife st d e sti ny of l ife whi c h r e
q uire s no pi cture and s c arc e ly a word to
make a la sting i mpr e s sion u pon a ll who
c an unders tand T o b e a w o rs hipful m as
.

t er , to throw m y wh ol e soul i n t h at work ,

w ith th e c andi dat e for my au di enc e and t h e

l odg e for my s tage woul d b e gr e at e r p er
,

s onal distin ction th an t o r e c e i v e t h e p laud

"
i t s o f p e o pl e i n th e th eaters o f th e world.
52 T H E S T O RY O F

T h e Tradition and th e Evolution of th e

Fi rst T hre e D egre es of F r e e m a so n gy .

R E E M AS O N R Y i s a b eauti
ful syst em of e t h i c s w h i c h
,

c ultivat e s c ertain great fun

d a me n t a l Moral and R elig
i ous T r uths and i mpre sse s
,

th e m upon th e minds of i t s
votari es by elaborate sym
b oli c a l c eremonials whi c h point t o t h e Bibl e
a s th e gr eat li ght by whi c h m ankind shoul d
b e morally and spiritually gui d ed T h e Ori .

gin Purpos e s and H i story of this most an

,

ci ent famous enduring and cosmopolitan of

, ,
’
all t h e world s s ecret organi zation s has b e e n
i nve stigat e d di s cuss e d and s p e culat ed upo n
,

by M asoni c and oth er s c holars u ntil th e print

FRE E MAS O N RY 53

e d re c ords o f t h eir r e se a r c h e s, a r g u m e nt s and

c onc l u sions form a lit eratur e t hat could fin d
room o nly within t h e li mits of a larg e library ,

and woul d r e quir e a life ti m e o f study by a

p erfe ctly e qui pp e d i nt ell e c t t o w e e d out al l
e rr or r e c o n c i le e very di ff eren c e of opinion an d
,

mo ld th e great m as s of fa ct int o o n e c on si s
t ent and universally ac c eptabl e
(L l f M asoni c traditi on b e n o t ac c ept ed th e ,

explorer who s e eks th e b eginnings of th e O r

d er at on c e co nfronts a S p hinx t h e answer
,

to whos e enigm a h as b e en l ost i n t h e i mp en e .

t r a hle c lou ds of t h e D ark A g e s or re main s

,

hi dd en in t h e d e ep ly c ov ere d an d forgott e n
vaults of re mot e anti quity T h e first c rud e
.

writt en c onstituti on s an d r egulations of th e

F rat ernity now i n t h e p os s e ssi on of h istori an s
were mad e eith er i n th e thirt e enth or four
t e e n t h c entury aft er C hrist Th e w rit ers wh o
.

h ave giv e n M asonry c onsi d eration i n stand

ard E nglis h books o f r efer enc e and hav e ,

b as e d t h ei r c onclusions on vi si bl e e vi denc e
o n ly a r e almost unani mou s i n fixing its origin
,

i n o n e or t h e oth er of t h e p eriod s m ention e d .

On th e o th er h and th ere ar e l earn e d authors

,

who h av e studi e d and reason ed exhaustively

a s Fr e e mas o ns wh o b e l i ev e t h e so c i ety e x
,
54 T H E STO RY O F
i st e d as an a bsolut ely s e cret one two thous
and years b efore any manus cri pts or i n sc ri p
tions conc erning its sourc e and do ctrin e s
were p erm itt e d to b e mad e Th ey hold that
.

th e internal evi denc e found i n th e esot eri c

t eac hings of t h e Order prov es that it wa s
creat ed by S olomon king of I sra el H iram
, , ,

king of Tyre H iram Ab if a widow s son of

, ,
’

th e trib e of N a p h t h a li at th e tim e of th e
,
’
building of Solomon s t empl e at J erusale m ,

a thousand years b efor e C hrist .

T h es e writers without an exc eption b eli ev e

, ,

that through t h e i nstru m entality of Masonry

th e five books of M os es were pres erved aft e r
th e d estru ction of th e t empl e by N e b u c h a d
n e z z a r duri ng a p eriod of g eneral lawl e ss
,

n ess disord er lasting n early five c enturi es ,

and th en Discovere d and Brought to L ight .

With all du e resp e ct for th e stri ct re quire

m ents of ac curacy in h istorical res earch it ,

s e em s quit e a s r eason a bl e that Masonry

should b e transmitt e d through organi ze d
bodi e s of i nt ellig ent and r ever ent m e n fr o m ,

th e tim e of Solomon as that t h e voluminou s

,

po e ms of H om er should b e pre s erve d duri n g

hundreds of years in all th eir purity and ex
,

q u i si t e b eauty by bands of
,
F REE M AS O N RY 55

(L T h e di s cov e ry of Masoni c e mbl ems in th e

foundation st ep s to th e p ed e stal of t h e E g yp
ti an ob eli sk at Al exandri a kno wn a s C l eo ,

patra s N e e d le i s ac c ept ed by many as strong

’

evi d e nc e th at F re em asonry exist e d at l e ast

a c entury b efor e C h ri st T hi s gre at s haft i s
.

now i n C entral Park N e w York C ity wh ere

, ,

it was ere ct e d i n 1 88 0 aft er transportation i n

,

th e ho l d o f a v e s s el e sp e cially constru ct e d
for th e purpos e T h e ston e s and i mpl e m ent s
.

sh owing t h e M asoni c si gns an d e mbl e m s

were pla c e d i n th e sam e positions in whi c h
th e y wer e foun d i n E gypt wh en th e ob eli sk
,

was ere ct e d i n A m eri c a .

B u t it i s not t h e purpos e h er e eit h e r to in

d u lg e i n sp e culation upon U n c e rt a i n t i e s o r t o ,

att e mpt by conj e ctur e to arri v e at th e ti m e

hi dden fa cts o f anci ent eras T h es e page s
.

are int end e d to convey only su c h i nformation

of t h e hi story stru cture and c hara cter of
, ,

M asonry an d of t h e notabl e as sau l ts an d

,

criti cis m s t hat h av e b e en ma d e upon it a s ,

i s Fully Auth enti c a t e d and n e c ess ary for

tho s e who d e sire to b e w ell i nfo rm e d on th e .

subj e ct k e e ping i n mind all th e whil e with

, ,

som e appre c iation of its truth th e state m ent ,

“
o f th e C h evali er d e B onnevill e t hat th e sp an
56 T H E STO RY OF
’
of t en m en s l ives i s too s hort a p eriod for
th e ex e cution o f so formi dabl e an u n d e rt a k
”
ing a s th e production of a universal history
of th e Masoni c
( T h e ori ginal hi stori cal Masonry as distin ,

g u i sh e d from th e traditional had but on e d e ,

gre e as th e word i s us e d te chni cally by th e

,

craft and it was conferre d only on Operative

,

M asons who mad e us e of it as a m eans of

,

re cognition among th e ms elves to k e ep i m ,

p o st o r s from th eir couns els and to pres erv e ,

th e organi zation n e c essary for th e prosp erity

of th eir profe ssi on of practi cal arc hit e cture .

Duri ng th e M edi aeval p eriod of cath edral

'
building in E u r o p e wh e n m ag n i fi c e n t e d i fi c e s
,

were erect ed in Vi enna Rh ei ms Pi sa York , , , ,

Pari s L ondon Strasburg C ologne and oth er

, , ,

citi es by th e M asons th ey worke d und er

, ,

th eir own government in lodges stri ctly rul

e d traveling from plac e to plac e as work r e
,

quire d In 1 702 a London lodge adopted a

.

re gul ation extending its p ri vi l eges to m en of

d i fle r e n t professions provi ding th ey were
'

regul ar ly approved ac c ept e d and initiat e d

,
.

This exampl e was followe d by oth er lodg es ,

and O p ened th e door of Masonry to m en u n

skille d i n archite cture but enormously i n ,
F RE E MAS O N RY 57

creas e d th e s c op e and influ enc e of th e

so ci ety whi c h from th at ti m e d evel o p e d
,

rapi dly into th e pre s ent wh olly s p e cul ativ e

and cos mopolitan syst e m of eth i c s i n whi c h ,

th e H indoo t h e Pars e e th e J ew th e M o
, , ,

h a mm e d a n t h e Tri nitari an an d t h e U nitar

,

i an m ay cons ci entiously p art i cip at e .

T h e t hre e d egre e c eremonial s s e e m to hav e

com e into exi st enc e about 1 73 5 T en years
.

l ater th ey h ad b e e n revi s e d by Marti n Cl are ,

and i n 1 777 Pre ston s b eautifu l ritualisti c

’

s uggestions were ac c ept e d and adopt e d b y

t h e Ord er . T h e re quirem ent of a practi c al

knowl e dg e of th e s ci en c e of arc hit e ctur e
h avin g b e en aban don e d during t hi s era of
e volution a thoroug h und erstanding of t h e
,

lofty moral prin cipl e s i n cu l cat e d by t h e

symboli s m of th e d egre e s was exa ct e d of
t h e m ast e rs of th e craft Op erati v e ski l l
.

yi el d e d and finally almost wholly di sapp ear

e d in t h e soci ety u nd er th e sti mulus of th e
far gre at er i mportanc e of th e n o bl er virtu e s ,

t h e m o re wi d ely n e ed e d l es sons and t h e,

i nfinit ely hig h er moral wort h of purely ,

S p e c ulativ e M as onry .

M en o f promin enc e i n c hurc h and st a t e w h o ,

w ere n ev e r act ual ly e mp lo yed i n b ui ld i n g b u t ,

58 T H E STORY O F

whos e high c haract er and fine attainm ents

had mad e th em di stinguish ed w ere ac c ept ,

e d as Masons fre e from th e form er pre

,

r e quisit e o f op erative profici ency and so ,

b ec am e known as F re e and A c c ept e d M a

sons wh enc e c am e Fre emasonry as a n
,

evolution of M asonry Within forty year s .

th e organi zati on i n its i mproved and e n,

la r g e d form spread into Ireland S cotland

, , ,

F ranc e H olland Russia Spain Italy Ger

, , , , ,

many and A m eri c a attra cting to its rite s ,

in all thos e c ountri e s m en of profound in

t e lle c t by whom its nobl e principl e s were

d e eply
l i T h e thre e d egre es of symbolic Masonry ,

both traditional and hi st ori cal are calle d ,

Entere d A pprentic e F ellow Craft 8: Mast e r ,

M ason S even or more mast er m a so n s a c t

. ,

ing und er lawful authority constitut e a p er ,

f e c t lodg e th e nam e prop erly given both t o

,

th e Organi zation and to th e Plac e wh er e,

m emb er s m e et to practi c e th eir rit es T h e .

principal o ffi c ers of t h e lodg e are th e Wo r

shipful M aster S eni or Warden and Junio r
,

Warden th e mast er r epres enting So lomo n

, ,

king of Isra el th e s enior ward en p e r son a t

,

ing H iram king of Tyre

,
A m eeting of a .
F RE E MAS O N RY ~
59 '

lodg e i s c all e d a C om muni c ation and every

,

c andidat e for its d egre e s must b e ac c e ptabl e

to all its m e m b ers an i nvi olabl e l aw und er
,

whi c h no c o mplaint over t h e admi ssi o n of

n ew m e mb ers can ever ari s e in a M as oni c
lodg e T h e grand l odg e of E nglan d i n 1 71 7
. ,

wh en th e ballot box wa s unknown r e quir e d

,

m e mb ers to d e ci d e on th e ad mission of th e
“
c andi dat e in t h eir own prud ent way e ith er
,

vi rtually o r i n form b ut With Unani mity

, .

With thi s re quir e m ent go e s anot h er law

uni qu e am o ng s e cret organizations whi c h i s
,

that no M ason sh all ever s o li c it any p ers on

to b e com e a m e mb er of th e O rd er .T hi s
mak e s every appli cation absolut ely v olu n
tary and its enforc e m ent no doubt ha s c aus
,

e d many worthy m en t o wonder why th ey

hav e n ever b e en i nvit e d to b e co m e M asons .
60 T H E S T ORY O F

Th e and Stru cture o f th e York

and S c otti s h Rit es and T h eir R elations
, .

S now c onstituted F re e
,

masonry consi sts of two

s eparat e s eri es of d egre es ,

whi c h are conferred i n reg

ular ord er upon candi
dat es an d are known r e
,

sp e c t i v e ly a s th e York Rite

an d th e S cotti sh Rite both ha vi ng for th eir

,

foundati on th e first thre e

( Th e York Rit e d eri ves its nam e from th e
c ity of York i n th e north o f England wh ere
, ,

M acoy a M asoni c author of reput e says th e

, ,

annual and g ener a l ass embli es o f th e craft

w ere r e establi sh e d in 9 2 6 A D It includ es
-
, . . ,

i n addition t o th e symboli c d egre es Ca p i tu ,

FRE E M ASO N R Y 61

l ar , C ry p t i c , and C hivalri c grade s , conferre d

i n bodi es s ev e rally d e signat e d a s th e C hap
t e r , Cou n c il and C o m mand ery , w hos e m e et
,

ings ar e c a l l e d resp ecti v ely c onv o c ati ons ,

as s e mbli e s and c onclav e s

, T h e C h apt e r
.

ha s fo ur d egre es , m ark m ast er past mast er , ,

most ex c ell ent master and t h e R oyal Ar c h

, ,

with an honorary ord er o f h ig h pri e sthoo d

app end ed whi c h i s c onferr e d at m e etings of
,

gran d c hapt ers o n high pri e sts of sub o rdinat e

chapters T h e c hi ef o ffi c ers o f a c hapter ar e
.

th e high pri e st , king , s cri b e , an d c aptain of

th e host wh o r epre s ent J os hua Z e rub b ab e l
, , ,

H aggai an d th e g en eral of t h e troops

, Th e .

counc i l h as two d egre es , royal m a st e r a n d

s el e c t m ast er it s l eading o ffi cials b eing
,

thri c e i llustriou s m ast er , h i s d e p uty, an d

t h e prin c ipal c ondu ctor of th e work wh o ,

repre s ent S olo mon , ki ng o f I sra el H iram , ,

king of T yr e , an d H iram A b i f T h e C om
.

mand ery h a s t hre e ord ers , Knig ht o f th e

R e d C ross Knight T e mp lar an d Knig ht o f
, ,

Malta . It s most i mportant o ffi c ers are th e

e minent co mm and er , g en erali ssi mo c aptai n ,

general and ex c ell ent

(lS ym b o li c M asonry was introdu c e d int o
A m eri c a by th e Briti s h , and during th e c o
62 T H E STO RY O F
l on i a l p eri od of th e country was under Eng .

lish authority A fter th e D eclaration of In

.

d ep end enc e i n 1 776 th e qu estion of allegianc e

b ecam e a s erious o n e to A m eri can M asons ,

b u t th ey conclud ed t hat Masoni c must b e in

a c cord with ci vi l gov ernm ent and i n 1 777
,

c hos e th eir own Gran d M ast er to take th e

p lac e o f th e Briti s h o fli c i a l In 1 776 a c har
.

“
t e r was grant ed to a mi litary lodg e in th e
C onn e cti cut l in e ,c all ed A m eri can Union
L odg e ere ct e d i n R oxbury or wh erever its
,

body might r emov e on th e c ontinent o f

Am e ri c a A t th e c los e of th e Revolution
.

ary W ar th e m aster and a num b er o f th e

m emb ers of thi s lodg e of whi c h G eorg e
,

W ashington was a m emb er s ettl e d at Mari ,

e tta O hio
,
T h ey h ad th e c hart er and r e o r
. ,

g a n i z e d th e lodg e th ere i n 1 79 0 two year s

,

after th e s ettl e m ent of th at hi stori c city I n .

1 8 1 6 th e original c hart er h aving b e en lost

,

by fire th e lodg e was grant ed a n ew o n e by

,

t h e grand lodge o f O hi o und er th e nam e of

,

A m eri c an U nion L odg e N o 1 th ei r n ew .

,

c hart er showing i t to b e a re vival of th e old

lo d g e u n d o u b t e d ly t h e first one establish e d
,

under A m eri c an auth ority .

T h e first auth enti c histori cal re cord of th e

F R EE M A S O N RY 63

c ommuni cation of th e royal ar c h d egr e e i s

d ate d 1 74 6 wh en pr esi ding m ast ers an d past
,

m asters r e c eiv e d it i n a l odg e i n England .

T wenty two y ears lat er i t c a m e un d e r t h e

-

a uthority of a h igh er body t han th e lodge ,

an d app eare d in Philad elp hi a i n 1 758 an d i n

B oston forty ye ars lat er A gran d royal arc h
.

c h apt er of th e N orth ern Stat es of A m eri c a

was form e d of c h apt ers exi sting i n M assa
c h u se t t s R hod e I sland C onn e cti cut 8: N ew
, ,

York early i n 1 79 8 whi c h at a sub s e qu ent

,

c onvocati on h el d th e sa m e y ear c h ang e d its

nam e t o th e g en eral gran d c hapt er with a
,

n umb e r of d eputy grand c h apt ers und er its

authority .

T h e c ounci l degre e s ca m e to A m eri c a from

B erlin by authority of F red eri c k II king of
, ,

P russi a i n 1 78 3 an d w er e d ep osit e d i n th e
, ,

arc hive s of th e grand coun ci l o f prin c e s of

J e ru sal e m at C harl eston S out h C arolina
, .

T h ey w er e known at th at ti m e a s d etac h e d
d egre es and w ere c onferre d fre e of c harg e
, .

Gra du ally t h e authori ty and juri s di cti on over

t h e d egre e s c am e i nto th e h an ds of t h e com
p anions up on who m i t h a d b e en conferre d ,

u ntil in 1 8 2 7 a c om mitt e e was appointe d b y

t h e grand c h apt er to inve stigat e th e pro
64 T H E STO RY O F

p ri t e y o fhaving th e s everal grand roya l arc h

c hapters assum e j uri sdi ction over th em .

T his committe e found th e m to h ave origi

nally b elong ed to th e S cotti sh rit e a s si d e
d egre e s whi c h w er e c onferred by agents
,

o f th at ri t e wh o grant e d chart ers for th e e s

t a b li sh m e n t o f councils i n di ff erent stat es .

T h es e c ouncils finally form e d grand councils

whi c h threw off all egi anc e to th e S cottis h
rit e whi c h was prop er inas m u ch as th eir
, ,

o riginal c hart ers were n ever grante d direct

ly by th e Suprem e c ouncil of t hat rit e but
only by r epre sentative s . T h ey ar e now
pla c ed exactly wh ere th ey b elong as n e c e s
,

sary for th e i llustration of th e royal arc h

d egre e and no c onfli ct of authority over
,

th e m i s li kely ev er to
( F or m any years c om mand eri es of knights
te mplar w ere regard e d as having de sc end ed
dire ctly from th e C hri sti an c rusad ers of th e
twelfth and fourt e enth c enturi es A ddison
.
,

a l eading A m eri c an M asoni c authority dat es ,

th e origin of th e order bac k to 1 1 1 3 A D . .

,

wh en nin e knights w h o had nobly a c quitte d

th ems elves at th e battl e o f J erusal em form
e d a holy broth erhood i n arms th e purpos e
,

of whi c h was to prote ct and gui d e pilgrim s

F RE E M A S O N RY 65

on th ei r way to t h e H oly C ity T h ey w er e .

so poor th ey rod e two o n on e ho rs e and h a d ,

no fix e d pla c e of h ab itati on unti l t h ey w ere

give n quart ers i n th e enc lo sure of th e t e mpl e
by B aldwi n I I king of J eru s al em fiv e years
, ,

after taki ng t h e vows of t h eir ord er .

By th e end of th e twelfth c entury th ey num

b ere d thirty thousand an d h ad com mand er
,

i e s i n J eru sal e m Tri poli Antioc h

, C yp rus
, , ,

Portugal ,C astil e and L eon A rragon , ,

F ranc e England Ireland G e rmany Si c il y

, , , ,

and Italy A hundre d y ears l at er th ey ha d

.

ac cumulate d mu c h tre asure whi ch ex ci te d ,

th e cupi dity of b oth ki ngs an d c hurc h m en .

Th e grand mast er of t h e Kni ght s T e mplar ,

Jam e s d e Molay w ent t o Pari s at th e t e

,

qu e st of th e P op e i n 1 3 07 wit h s ixty kni ghts

, ,

b e aring flor i n s of gol d and all th e

silver twelv e hors e s c ould c arry hi s purpos e ,

b ei ng to conc ert plans for th e r e covery of

th e H oly Land A ll w er e arr e ste d by King
.

Phi lip who was d et ermin e d to ha ve th ei r

,

wealth . A c cus e d of spitti ng and trampling

on th e cross wors hipping i dols and th e d e vi l
,

in th e form of a c at of e ati ng t h e ash e s of

,

de ad comrad e s an d of t erri bl e d eb au c h eri e s

, ,

th ey w ere p u t to th e t o rture Fifty ni n e . -

66 T H E STO RY O F

knights t emplar wer e burn ed at th e stake i n

o n e day by Domini can friars . D e M o la y wa s
i mpriso n e d for years torture d rep eatedly
, ,

and burn ed to death by sl ow fire Marc h 1 8 ,

1 3 1 3 on a s mall i sland in th e S ein e

, But .

m odern res earc h has thrown much d o ubt on

’
A ddi son s opinion th e six hundr ed years b e
,

t we en th e t emplaris m of D e M o la y and that

first re cord e d in A m eri c a h aving yi elde d no
docum entary or ot h er unqu esti onabl e evi
d enc e of lineal conne ction b etw e en th e two .

T h e first publi sh e d written re cord of th e

i nvestiture of th e M asoni c ord er of Knight
T emplar i s date d A ugust 2 8 1 76 9 th e crea
, ,

t ion taking plac e in a Boston lodg e Wh ere

.

t h e ritual us e d on th at oc c asion c am e from ,

o r wh enc e sprang th e authori ty for it i s on e,

of th e many myst eri e s of Masonry for whi ch

n o positive solution h as b e en dis covered It .

i s c ert ai n that th e honors of th e order were

n ot b estowed upon candi dates in England

until t en years aft er th e c eremony in th e

B oston l odg e although possibly in exi stenc e
,

a few ye ars b efore in Ireland T e mplar M a

.

s o n r y i mm edi ately b e cam e popular b ecaus e

o f its di stinctively C hri sti an c h aract er its ,

p u rpos e b eing to p erp etuate th e tea c hings

F REE M ASO N RY 67

of C hri st
. It retains th e form s and p hras e
ology o f a military organi zation but th e ,

sacre d natur e o f i ts rit e s i s far diff erent

from th at of a m er ely ta cti cal syst e m of i n
stru ction . E arly i n t h e nin et e ent h c entury
gran d en c amp m ents o f c om mand eri e s c am e
i nto e xi st enc e i n s ev eral stat es of th e Union ,

and i n 1 8 1 6 t h e g eneral gran d en c amp m ent

o f knig hts t emplar of th e U nit e d State s of

A m eri c a was form e d in th e c ity of N ew

Y ork and si nc e th en th e nu mb er of knights
,

t emplar has multipli e d until th ey are now

t o b e fo und i n al most ev ery consi d erabl e
c ity o n th e glob e .

E ac h of th e i ndivi dua l organi zations of M a

s ons c all e d th e lodge c hapt er council and
, , ,

com m and ery are und er t h e authority of

,

grand or g en eral grand bo di e s whi c h l egi s

lat e for and govern th em by co d e s and con
st i t u t i o n s
. N on e o f th es e bodi e s confli ct s
with anoth er but al l work h armoniou sly
,

togeth er u n d er an a dmirabl e an d c l early

d efine d syst e m of int erd e p end ent juri s

( Th e S cotti sh rit e or high grad e Masonry

, ,

i s so c all e d b e c aus e th e found er of its c ere

m o ni es c lai m e d t o h ave di scovere d its grad e s
63 T H E S T O RY C F

in S cotland It was i n fact ori ginat e d about

.

th e mi ddl e of th e eight e enth c entury in ,

F ranc e whi c h for about fifty years aft er th e

,

introdu ction of symboli c M asonry into i t s

t erritory was a prolific fiel d for t h e produ c
tion of all sort s of all ege d Masoni c d egre es .

In 1 754 th e C h evali er d e Bonnevill e e stab

li sh e d in F ranc e th e syst emati ze d Rit e of
P erfection or H e r e d o m c o n si st i n g of twenty
, ,

five d egr e es Th e F r enc h l odges di sgust e d

. ,

by th e hundreds of bastard degre es that w ere

floa ting about and distracting th e attention
o f th eir m emb ers from th e l egitimate work ,

were inc ens e d over high grad e Masonry an d ,

in A ugust 1 76 6 th eir grand lodg e i ssu ed an

w
, ,

ord er forbi dding th e lodges ithin its juris

di ction to have anything whatever to do with
any high grad e s T his d ecre e was rep e al ed
.
,

however in O ctob er of th e s am e ye ar aft er

, ,

muc h quarr eling and num erous brawls in th e

grand lodg e wh ere th ere was a h ot confli ct
,

of opinion a s to th e l egiti macy and wort h of

th e high grade s with whi c h many of th e
,

disputants w ere unac quaint ed .

In 1 752 Fred eri ck t h e Great king o f Pru s ,

sia ha d ac c epte d th e p atronage of th e Scot

,

ti sh rit e and b e cam e its c hi ef i m mensely

, ,
F REE M A SO N RY 69

strength ening its i nflu en c e t hroughout Eu

r op e . But for thi s fa c t it i s prob abl e that
,

t h e grand l o dg e of Franc e woul d h av e r e

m ain ed hostil e to th e hig h gra d e s In 1 80 1 .

t h e supre m e c oun ci l of th e 33 d d egre e

o p en e d at C h ar l e ston S o ut h C arolina an d
, ,

a ye ar after i s su e d a c ircular c o ntaining a

l i st of th e t hi rty thre e d e gr e e s o f th e rit e
- .

E ight h ad b e en added t o thos e of th e ri te of

p erf e ction t h e 3 3 d an d l ast h aving undoubt
,

e aly b e en creat e d by th e Supre m e C ouncil .

It i s not d efinit ely known w h eth er th e r e

maining s ev en w ere s el e ctions from d egre e s
alre ady i n e xist enc e or t h e c reation of th e
,

p oun ci l its elf

.

T h e rite s of thi s council slow l y found a c c ept

anc e over th e M asoni c world not b eing p er ,
.

form e d in England unti l 1 8 4 5 but t h ey are ,

now i n great favor e verywh ere Its d egre e s

.

i n t h eir e stablis h e d ord er omitting th e basi c

,

S ym boli c T h r e e t h e p os s ession of whi c h i s

,

n e c essary for th e eligi bility of eve ry a p p li

cant for th e S cotti sh rit e are as follows
,

In e fla b l e grad e s of grand lodg e s of p erfe ction

-
4 S e cret m ast er ; 5 P erfe ct m aster ; 6 I
. . n .

t i m a t e s e c r e t a r y ; 7 Provost and j udg e ; 8

. .

Intendant of th e building ; 9 M aster el ect of .

70 T H E S T O RY O F

nin e ; 1 0 M ast er el ect of fifte en ; 1 1 Sublim e

. .

knight el ecte d ; 1 2 Grand m ast er archit ec t ;

.

1 3 Knight of th e ninth arch ; 1 4 Grand el ect

. .

p erfect and subli m e Ma son .

A nci ent hi stori cal and traditional grad es of

grand c ouncils of pri nc es of J erusalem 1 5 — .

K night of th e E ast or sword ; 1 6 Princ e o f

m
.

J erusal e .

T h e Philosophi cal a n d d o c tr i n al grad e s of

~

gra n d c hapt ers of Ros e Croix d e H R D M -

,
- - -

1 7 Knight o f th e E ast an d W est ; 1 8 S ov

. .

e r e i g n princ e of Ros e Croix de H R D M-

,
- - -
,

an d knight o f th e eagl e and p eli can .

Mod ern h istori cal c hivalri c and p h i lo sO p hi

,

c a l gra de s of grand consi stori es of sublim e

—
pri nc es of th e royal s e cret 1 9 Grand pontiff; .

2 0 Gran d ma ster ad vitam ; 2 1 N oac hit e or

.
, .
,

Pru ssian knight ; 22 Knight o f th e roya l .

ax e or p rinc e of L i b a n u s ; 2 3 C hi ef of th e
,
.

tab ernacl e ; 24 Princ e o f th e Tab ernacl e ; 2 5

. .

Knight of th e braz en s erp ent ; 2 6 Princ e of .

m ercy or S cotc h trinitarian ; 2 7 S overeign

,
.

com mand er of th e t empl e ; 2 8 Knight of .

th e Sun or princ e adept ; 2 9 Knight o f St

,
. .

A ndrew or patriarc h of th e crusad es ; 3 0

,
.

Knight of Ka d o sh or knight of th e whit e

,

and black eagl e ; 3 1 Grand insp e ctor in .

F REE M AS O N RY 71

q u i si t orc omm and er ; 3 2 Subli m e pri nc e o f

.

of th e royal s e cret .

T h e 3 3d and Last D egre e of all i s t h at of t h e

O ffi c ial grad e of th e supre m e coun c il 3 3 — .

Sovereign grand insp ector

(LA mo n g th e c hara cters repre s ent e d i n t h e
for e g o mg grad e s ar e M os e s A aron J oshua , , ,

El eazer , Solomon A doniram Ab da H iram , , , ,

king of Tyr e C yru s Artax erx e s Z erub bab el

, , ,

A nani as S t o lkyn Z e r b a l, T ito Z a do c a n d

, ,

Fre deri ck t h e Gre at o f Pru ssia T h e S cot .

tis h rit e re quires so many c ostly ac c e s s o ri es ,

suc h a s costum es furniture stag e sc enery , , ,

and prop erti es e sp e c ially c onstructe d bui ld

,

ings underground ex c avations and musi ca l

, ,

faciliti e s th at it i s pra c ti c e d only i n th e

,

larger c iti e s w h er e M asoni c t e mpl e s of larg e

s i z e e xi st O n e of th e fin e st S cotti sh rit e
.

c ath e drals i n th e w o rl d i s at C incinnati ,

O hio , wh ere th e sub l i m e work o f high gra d e

M asonry i s ex e mplifie d i n th e most profou n d
ly i m p ressi v e manner by m ast ers of t h e art s
ta ug ht th e c raft .

Fr e e ma sonry i s n ow firm l y estab l ish e d o ver

practi c ally th e entire glob e E u r o p e Asia .
, ,

Afri c a , N ort h and Sout h A m eric a Australia , ,

’
and a l l th e i mportant i slands of th e s ea ar e
72 T H E STO RY O F

d ott ed with lodges A lmost every nati on

.
,

r ac e and p eopl e fe el its influ enc e A s uni .

versal as th e princi pl e s it inculc at es it has ,

f ound N ouri shing Soil wh erever b eli ef in

t h e Suprem e B eing and fre edom of c on
sci enc e dwell togeth er It has given light
.

t o civili ze d p eopl e o f every rac e color and ,

s ect that supports li b eral pri nciples and in ,

d i fle r e n t juri sdi ctions th e wo rld over num

'

b ers its m e mb ers by sc ores hundreds or , ,

thousands as th e ju dgm ent and pru denc e

,

o f th e craft di ctat e .

R ac e prejudi c e e xists to s om e extent among

F re e masons although prop erly it c an have
,

no plac e i n so c os mopolitan an institution ,

and whil e it has n ot barr e d any rac e from

F re emasonry it h as d eni e d r e c o g n i t 1 o n in
,

som e loc aliti es to th e M asoni c bodi es of th e

N egro rac e and to indivi dual M asons of th e
,

H ebrai c divi sion of th e S emiti c ra c e Th e .

fi rst N egro es to b e mad e F re emasons were

Princ e H all and fourt e en oth er fre e color e d
c itiz ens of B oston I n 1 775 th e traveling
.

lodg e of a Britis h regi m ent conferred th e

symboli c degr e es upon th em T h ey appli e d
.

to England for a c hart er whi c h th ey r e c e i v

,

e d i n 1 78 7 and under its unqu estionabl e a u

,
F RE E M A SO N RY 73

t h o r i ty th e first N egro M asoni c l odg e wa s

institute d with Pri n c e H all as i ts m ast er
, .

In a p erfe ctly l egiti mat e way i ts o ffi c ers e s

t a b li sh e d anoth er N egro lo dg e in P h i la d e l
p hi a i n 1 79 7 an d yet anoth er at Provi d enc e
,

soon aft er In 1 8 08 th e s e t hr e e lo dg es form

.

ed a gran d lo dg e whi c h i n 1 8 2 7 d e clare d i t

,

s elf ind ep end ent of th e gran d lodg e o f Eng

l and and th ere are now over thirty grand
,

lodg es of colore d F re e masons i n t h e Unit e d

State s s prung fro m its ori ginal Afri c an
,

lodg e w hi c h hav e b e e n re c ogni z e d a s r egu

,

l ar i n h alf a doz en c ountri e s In 1 8 76 th e

.

gran d lodge of O hi o refus e d to c onsi d er a

re solution to re cog ni ze as regular th e color
e d gran d lodge o f th e sam e State by a vot e
,

—
of 39 9 to 3 32 a d e cisi on re markabl e for th e
narrow m a r g m by whi c h it wa s
( T h e first N egro c hapt er of royal arc h M a
s ons was form e d i n P hila delp hi a i n 1 8 1 9 or

1 8 2 0 and not long aft er a N egro c om man d

, ,

ery of knights t emplar was in exist enc e .

T h e A m eri can N egro first b e gan to pra cti c e

th e S cottis h R ite about 1 8 2 5 but it w a s not
,

until aft er th e War of th e R eb elli on that

muc h h ea dway was m ad e . Th ere are now
four supre m e coun c il s o f N e gro e s i n th e
74 T H E STO RY O F

United Stat es poss essing very sl end er

,

claims to l egiti mat e authority I n 1 8 9 5 th ere

.

w er e ninet e en color e d gran d encamp m ent s

o f knights t e mp lar wi th a bout
, knight s
enrolled whos e cl ai m s to lawful origin can
,

not b e compare d with t hos e whi c h sustai n

t h em in th e symboli c d egre es .

In Lib eri a on th e w est coast of Africa th er e

, ,

h as l ive d sinc e 1 8 4 7 a gallant littl e republi c

e stabli sh ed by N egro es whi c h ha s a coll eg e
,

whos e p rofessors are N egro es an d whos e ,

b e n e fi c e n t fre e i nstitutions hav e at l e ast

p artly c iviliz e d thousands u pon thousands of
Afric ans w h o dwell on it s b ord ers Li b eri a.

h as a l egiti mat e grand lo dg e c ompos ed of

black m en with subordinat e lodge s i n whi c h
,

th e pure rit e o f th e Engli sh craft i s prac ti c e d

by th e colore d ra c e and th e princ ipl es of th e
,

ord er prop erly and judi ci o u sly diss eminat e d .

In G erm any and i n som e localiti e s i n oth er

c ountri es J ews are n eith er admitt e d to Ma
soni c lodg e s nor r e cogni z e d a s M asons eve n
after b eing mad e su c h by l egiti mat e a uthor
ity els ewh ere .

But th es e d elinqu enci e s i n localiti es wh er e

rac e pr ejudi c e i s strong are exc eptions to th e
ru l e of tol eration whi c h t h é tr u e spirit of Fre e
 T H E ST O RY O F

masonry has spread ov er n e arly th e entir e

world and cannot ju stly b e h eld again st it
, .
76 T H E STO RY O F

H E bitt er antagonism to
Fre emasonry at various
date s in its history whi ch
,

h ave b e en relate d at som e

l ength m ak e fitting p a rt i c
,

u lar referenc e to th e C har

a cter of th e instituti on Its
.

fundam ental principle s are b eli ef in God th e ,

i mmortality of th e soul and th e

,

( Th e Rule s an d C harge s under whi c h th e

soci ety has op erat ed sinc e history first dis
c los e d its purpos e s t o t h e world are th e tru e

ind ex of its i nh er ent qualiti e s T h e Engli sh

.

“
manuscript of 1 38 8 whic h says Thys craft
,

c o m yn t o E n g lo n d y n t ym e of good Kyng e
F REE M A SO N RY 77

Ab e lst on u s day i s n o t d efici ent in religious

.

an d moral a dmonitions T h e crafts man was

.

“
instru cte d to m ost l ov e w e l G o d and h oly
c h ur c h e to r esp ect th e c hastity of hi s M as
,
“ "
t er s W ife and hi s fellows Con c u b yn e and
’
,

h e s c hal sw e r e n e ver t o b e no t he f and ”

”
stond w el y n G o dd e s law e T h e Torgau
.

( G erman ) ordinanc e of 1 46 2 re quire d eac h

fellow o f th e craft to give on e p enny a w e ek
’
for God s s ervi c e .

Every mast er wa s t o b e upright in all things ,

'

to inc it e n eith er ward en nor fellow n or a p

, ,

prenti c e t o evil a nd to k e ep hi s lodg e fre e

,

fro m strife an d pure a s t h e s eat of j usti c e .

N o mast er c ould allow a H arlot t o ent er hi s

lodg e or borrow and re main unwilling to
,

repay n o r could l e ss th an thre e m a sters

,

togeth er judg e of that whi c h touc h e d t h e

honor of goo d reput e o f on e o f th e craft .

T h e fellows wh o at e or drank to exc e ss ,

pilfered murd er ed or di sp o rt e d th ems e l ve s

, ,

i n th e land with U ngo dly W o m en wer e to ,

b e c ast o u t from t h e craft forever W h en

.

fellows w ent to lodg e th e ir gre eting wa s :

“
G o d gr e et y e God gui d e y e G od reward
, ,

ye y e h ono rabl e overmast er ward en and

, ,

tru sty
78 T H E STO RY O F

( Th e German Broth er B ook of 1 56 3 pre

-

s cri b ed i n s eventy thre e articles th e ordi

-

nanc e s adopte d by th e c hi ef lodge at Stra ss

b urg to ob ey whi ch th e masters and fellows
,

took o ath T h e re h earsal of a few o f th e m

.

will su ffi ci ently explain th e nature of all N o .

craftsman or m ast er c ould liv e i n adultery ,

on pain of losing c ommunion with al l Ma

sons nor could any mast er or craftsman em
,

ploy any fellow wh o consorte d with a woman

in adultery or wh o w ent not ac cording to
,
.

C hri stian di s ciplin e or wh o was s o foolish

,

as to gam e away hi s cloth es All th e fellows

.

p ai d faithfully a p enny a w e ek for th e si ck .

Every apprenti c e d e clar e d fre e b ecam e a

b roth er and promi s e d th e craft n ever to dis
,
’
c los e or communi cat e th e mast er s gre eting
a nd gri p t o anyon e exc ept to him to whom
,

h e might justly do so ; an d also to writ e

nothing of it .

T h e statute s of th e Masons r e enacted in -

Montp elli er F ranc e i n 1 58 6 provided that

, , ,

M asons shoul d n o t undertak e any work to

th e prejudi c e o f th e publi c or against ordi
nanc e s of th e King ; that wh en any master or
wi fe di e d th e oth er mast ers should a c c o m
,

p a ny th e bo dy t o th e b u rial ; that sho u ld a

F REE M AS O N RY 79

fellow com mi t a th eft o r any vi llany d e c ei t

, ,

o r forfei tur e i n th e h ous e o f a m aster agai nst ,

h i m hi s wi f e fa m i ly chamb ermai d o r oth er

, , , , ,

h e must m ake c o ndi gn re p arati on .

F ollowing th es e an d oth er regulati ons i n

forc e throughout th e M asoni c worl d i n th e
c e n t u r 1 e s o f op erat i ve M asonry cam e th e
A n c i ent C harge s t o M ast er Ma sons w h en
th e s p e cul ativ e s ci enc e of th e so ci ety wa s
d evelop e d T h e s e are now i ncorp o rate d in
,

t h e c onsti tuti ons o f th e ord er throughout

t h e worl d an d fai thfully b etok en i ts pres ent
,

r elati on s to God and m an t o th e state an d ,

(L T h e s e ven erat e d c harge s are a rrange d

und er th e followi ng s i x g en eral h e ads
1. O f Go d and R eli gi on .

2. Of th e C i vi l Magi strat e supr e m e an d

s ubordi nat e .

3. Of L odges .

4. Of M ast ers W ard ens F ellows and A p

, ,

p r e nti c es .

5. O f th e M anage m ent of th e C raft i n

w orking .

6. Of B e havi o r .

Und er th e first sp e c i fic ati o n a M as o n i s o b

’
l i g d by hi s T en u re t o ob ey th e m o ral l aw ;
80 T H E STO RY O F

and i f h e rightly und erstands th e A rt h e wil l ,

n ever b e a stupi d A th ei st nor an i rreli gi ous,

L ib ertin e .But though in A nci ent Ti m e s

’
M asons were c h a r g d i n every country to b e
of th e R eligi on of that C ountry or N ati on ,

wh atever i t was yet ti s now thought m ore

,
’

exp e di ent only to oblig e th em to th at Relig

i on i n w hi c h all M en agre e l eaving th ei r ,

parti cular Opinions to th ems elves ; that i s ,

t o b e good M en and tru e or M en of H onour ,

and H on esty by wh atever D enominations

,

o r P ersuasions th ey m ay b e d i st i n g u i sh d
’

wh ereby Masonry b e com es th e C enter of

Union and th e M eans of concili ating tru e
,

F ri endshi p among p ersons th at must h ave

’ ”
remai n d at a p erp etual Di stan c e .

A M ason i s define d under th e s e cond h ea d

“
as a P ea c e abl e Subj e ct to th e C ivi l Powers ,

wh erever h e re si des or works and i s neve r ,

t o b e c o n c e rn d i n P l ots and C ons p iraci es

’

against th e P e ac e and W elfare of th e N ati on ,

or to b e h ave hi m s elf undutifully to inferi or

M agi strate s ; for as M asonry hath al way s
b e en injure d by War Bloodsh e d and Co n fu
,

sion so anci ent Kings and Princ e s h ave b e en

,
’
mu ch d i sp o s d to encourage th e Craftsm en ,

b ec aus e of th eir P eac eabl enes s and L oyalty ,

FRE E M AS O N RY 81

w h ereby th ey pra cti c ally a n sw e r d th e Ca

’

vil s of th eir A dvers ari es an d promote d th e,

H onour of th e Frat erni ty wh o ever flou r ,

i s b d in Ti m e s of P ea c e So th at i f a Broth e r
’
.

shoul d b e a R eb el agai nst th e S tat e h e i s ,

not to b e c oun t e n a n c d i n h i s R e b e lli o n h o w

’
,

ev er h e m ay b e pi ti e d as an unh appy M an ;
an d i f c onvi cte d of no oth er C ri m e th oug h ,

th e loyal Broth erhood m u st an d o u ght t o

di sown hi s R eb elli on an d gi ve no U mb rag e
,

or Ground of Politi c al J e alousy to th e Gov

e rn m e n t for th e ti m e b eing th ey c annot e x ,

p el hi m from th e L odge an d h i s R elati on to

,

i t rem ains
“
(L A lodge i s d es cri b e d as a Pla c e w h er e
” “
m emb ers ass e mbl e and work It i s e ith e r.

pra c ti c al or gen eral an d wi ll b e b est und er

,

stood by attending i t In an c i ent Ti m e s n o

.
,

M ast er or F ellow coul d b e ab s ent fro m i t

wi thout i ncurring a s e vere C ensure until i t ,

a p p e a r d th at pure N e c es si ty h i n d e r d hi m
’ ’
.

T h e P ersons a dm itte d M e mb ers o f a L odg e

must b e good an d tru e M en fre e b orn a n d ,
-

of mature an d di s cre et A g e no Bond m en , ,

no Wom en no i m m oral or s c andalou s M en

, ,
”
but of goo d R eport .

T h e fa c t that W oman i s B arr e d fro m th e

82 T H E S TQ R Y O F

p racti c e of M asonry has b e en th e t e xt fo r

m any criti cisms and e xplanations T homas .

de Quinc ey i n hi s curious essay on R o si c ru

,
“
c i a n s and F re emasonry says : F or what
,

r eason wom en were excluded I suppos e it ,

c an hardly b e n e c essary to say Th e absurd .

spirit of curi osity talkati ven ess and l evity

, , ,

whi c h so di stingui sh that unhappy s ex w ere ,

obvi ou sly incompatibl e with th e grave pur

p os e s of th e Rosi cru ci ans and M asons N ot .

to m enti on th at th e familiar intercours e ,

whic h c o m emb ers hi p i n th e s e soci eti e s

-

bri ngs along with i t would prob ably have l e d

,

to som e di sord ers in a promi s cuous ass em

blag e of b oth s exe s su c h as might h ave
,

taint ed th e g oo d fam e or even threaten e d

”
th e exi st enc e of th e ord er T hi s i s a s evere
.

j udgm ent , and touch e d with injusti c e .

Th ere i s a b etter reason why s h e c an not

parti ci pate in th e rit es whi ch m ay b e found
,

i n th e fugi tive li nes whi c h follow

T i s not b e caus e sh e lightly is e ste e m ed ,

Or that unwort hy sh e i s thought to b e ,

N or th at h er mind incomp et ent is de em e d

T o appre ci ate th e glorious mystery ,

Or that sh e s wanting in fidelity

’

Th at woman is exclud e d f rom th e right

F RE E MAS O N RY 83

O f b eing numb ere d wi th th e S ons of Light

But ti s b e c a u s e that man alon e c an d o
’

T h e work whi c h on o ur trestl e board i s lai d - .

Y e t th ere i s good auth o rity for th e b eli ef t hat

t hre e wom en h ave known th e E A d egre e . . .

O n e was Mrs B e aton of N orfolk Eng wh o

.
, , .
,

a c q u ire d th e s e crets of th e d egre e by s ec ret

i ng h ers elf in th e wains c oting o f a lodg e
ro o m .Th ou gh s h e li v e d to b e 8 5 sh e n e ver ,

reveal e d what s h e l earn e d M a dam e d e

.

X ai ntrai l le s was i niti ate d a s Ent ere d Ap

p renti c e by th e F rere s Arti st e s lodg e in Pari s
-

a b o u t 1 79 5 Cu v e li e r d e Tri e wa s t h e M as
.

t er an d th e M a dam e fre q u ently t h ere aft er

,

p arti c ipat e d in first d egre e work T h e H on . .

Mrs Al dwort h also re c ei v e d th e Ent ere d

.

A pprenti c e d egre e Und er th e fourt h sp e c i fi

.

“
c ation all preferm ent am ong M asons i s
groun de d on rea l Worth and p ersonal M eri t
only ; that s o th e L ords may b e well s erve d ,

th e Brethren not put to sh am e n or th e Royal ,

C raft d e sp i s d ; th erefore n o M ast er or Ward

’

”
en i s c hos en by S eni ority but for h i s M erit
, .

“
N o M ast er s h o ul d tak e an Apprenti c e u n
l es s h e b e a p erf e c t Y o uth having no Mai m
,

o r D efe ct in h i s b ody and i s d e s c end e d of

,

h o n est Par e nts N o br o th er c an b e a gran d

.
84 T H E STO RY O F

master unl ess h e has b e en a F ellow Craft -

b efore his el e ction who i s also to b e nobly

,

born or a G entl eman of th e b est Fas hi on or

, ,

som e e min ent Sc holar or som e curio u s

,

A rchi te ct or oth er Arti st and who i s of

, ,

singu lar great M eri t in th e Opinion of th e

“
L odges .
”
T h e o fli c e r s of th e lodges are to
’
b e ob ey d in th eir re spe ctive S tations by all
th e Brethren with all H umility Reverenc e
, , ,
”
Love and L i b erty .

Th e c harg es conc erning th e m anagem ent of

th e craft re qui re that none shall di sc o ver
Envy at th e Prosp e rity of a Broth er nor sup ,

plant hi m or put hi m out of hi s Work if h e

, ,
”
b e c apabl e to finish th e sam e and that all ,

Masons e m p loy d sh all m e ekly rec eive th eir

’

Wage s without Murmuring or Mutiny and ,

n o t des ert th e Master till th e Work i s

( On th e b ehavior of brethren th e c harg e s

are expli ci t and s h e d mu ch light o n th e spi ri t
o f th e instituti on In th e lodge Masons are
.

n o t to talk of anything i mp ertin ent or u n

“
s e emly nor to b eh ave ludi crously o r j est
,

i n g ly whil e th e L odge i s engage d in what i s

s erious or sol e mn ; nor us e any unb ecoming
L angu ag e upon any Pret ens e whatsoever .
F RE E MASO N RY 85

Aft er th e lo dg e i s c los ed an d t h e brethren ,

a r e n o t gon e fro m th e h all th ey m ay enjoy ,

“ ” “
th em s elve s w i th innoc ent M irth avoi d ,
” “
i ng all Ex c e ss or doing or s ayi ng anything
,

off ensive or that may forbi d an easy an d

,

fre e C onversation T h erefore no pri vat e Pi

.

qu e s or Quarrels must b e brought within th e

D oor of th e Lodg e far l e ss t han Quarr el s
,

a b o u t R eligion or N ations or S tat e Poli c y

, , ,

w e b eing only as M asons o f t h e Ca t h oli c k ,

R eligion above m e nt i on d ; w e ar e a l so o f all

’
-

N ations Tongu e s Kindre ds and L anguage s

, , ,

a n d ar e re solve d against all Politi cks a s ,

what n ever yet c on du c d to th e W elfare o f

’

”
t h e Lodg e n or e ver wi l l
, .

At h om e and in th eir n ei ghb orh oo d M asons

“
a re t o a c t as b ec om e s a m oral and wi s e
“
M an not c ontinu e tog eth er too lat e or t oo
, ,

long from h om e aft er Lodg e H ours are p ast

, ,
“
to avoi d Gl u ttony o r D ru nkennes s Wrang ,

ling and Quarreling all Sland er an d B ac k

,
”
biting and t o d efend th e c h ara ct er of any
,

h one st broth er a s far a s i s consi ste nt wit h

H onour and S afety and no fart h er , D is .

o rd erly c ond u ct in th e Lod ge soli citing any ,

p ers on t o mak e a p plic ati on t o b e c om e a M a

son , i rreg ul ar l y c o m m u ni c ating th e s e c rets
86 T H E STO RY O F

of th e ord er or th e proc e edings of a lodge t o

,

p ersons oth er than Masons o r any conduct ,

that i s unb ecoming a good man and tru e are ,

Masonic o ffens es and s u bj e ct th e o ff end er t o

,

o n e o f thre e puni shm ents reprimand sus , ,

p ension or
,

th e C reator and 2 m ises qhe e ll w p

, 1 1
mm
form to the an c i ent u s ge s a n d e stma b li s“h e d
w w
y .

customs of t e e
( M erely to summari ze th e monitorial l e s
sons conveye d ln th e high er d egre es and
gra de s of Y o rk Masonry and th e S cot tish
ri te would re quire more spac e than c an b e
given h ere Enough has b e en p ai d it i s
. ,

b eli eved fairly t o ac quaint th e read er with

,

th e spirit purpos es and chara ct er of Fre e

, ,

masonry to whi c h Cunningham has given

,

thi s tri bute

H ail t o th e craft "at whos e s erene co m man d
i
T h e gentl e arts n g la d ob di enc e stand
a e
.

T o works of art h er m erit n ot confin e d ,

F R EE MAS O N RY 87

S h e re gulat e s th e m orals s quare s th e mind ;

,

C orre cts with care th e salli e s o f th e soul ,

And points th e ti de of passions wh ere to roll .

Of th e valu e of th e pos s e ssion of o n e branc h

of M asoni c t eac h ings B enj amin Frankli n
“
sai d : Th ey s erve as te sti moni al s of c h ara c
t er and quali fic ati ons whi c h are only c onfe r
re d after a du e cours e o f instru ction and
examinati o n . T h e s e are of n o s mall valu e ;
t h ey sp eak a universal language and act a s
a p assp ort t o t h e att ention and supp ort o f
t h e i niti at e d i n all p art s of th e world T h e y
.

c an n ot b e lost as long a s th e m e mory r e

ta i ns i ts power L et th e p oss e ssor of th e m
.

b e exp atri at e d s hip wr e ck e d and i mpri son

,

e d l et hi m b e stri pp e d of eve ry thing h e h as

,

i n th e world still th e s e cre d ential s re mai n

,

and are availabl e for us e a s c ircum stanc e s

re quire . T h e gre at e ff e c ts whi c h th ey h av e
produc ed are estab lis h e d b y th e mo st i n c on
r

t e st i b le fa c ts of hi story. T h ey h ave staye d

th e uplift e d hand of th e d e stroyer ; th ey have
soft e n e d th e asp eriti e s o f t h e tyrant ; t h ey
’
h ave sub du e d th e rancor of th e mal e vol ent
and broken down th e b a rri ers of politi cal
ani m o sity and s e ctari an al i enati on . On th e
fi el d o f battl e in th e solitud e of th e un c u lt i
,
88 T H E ST O RY O F

y ate d forest o r i n th e busy haunts of th e

c rowd e d city th ey h av e mad e m en of th e
,

m ost hostil e fe elings and most di stant relig

i ons and of th e most div ersi fie d condi ti o ns
,

ru sh to th e ai d of on e anoth er and fe el soci al

j o y and sati sfaction that th ey have b e en a b l e
to a flo r d reli ef to a broth er M ason
' ”
.

W i th th e b eauti e s and sublimiti es th e dig ,

n i t y and dramati c p ower of th e Esoteri c

,

Work o f Fre emasonry non e c an b e mad e

,

a c quai nt e d but thos e wh o witn ess and fe el

t h e m as A c c ept e d C andi dat es Th ere are

.
,

h owev er publi sh e d c eremoni als o f th e

,

f rat ernity from whi c h quotations may b e

( T h e d ead Fre emason i s always born e to

t he tomb by his brethren un l ess h e has ex
,

p ress e d a d e sire to th e contrary and th ere ,

’
t h e world i s given a l esson in th e fraternity s
practi c e s faith and b eli ef At th e obs e qu i es
,
.

o f a M ast er Mason thi s dirge written by ,

D avi d Vinton an A m eri can i n 1 8 1 6 i s sung

, , ,

t oft h e mournful tun e Pl eyel :

Sol emn strik es th e fun eral c hi m e ,

N ote s of our departing tim e

A s we j ourn ey h ere b elow
T hrough a pilgri mage of wo e .
FREE MASO N RY 89

Mortals now indulge a tear

, ,

F or mortali ty i s h ere
S e e h ow wi d e h er trop hi e s wave
’
O er th e slu mb ers of th e grave .

H ere anoth er gu e st w e bring "

S erap h s of c el e sti a l wing ,

T o our fu n r a l altar com e

’

W aft a fri en d and broth er h om e .

L o rd of all b elow above

, , ,

Fill our souls wi th truth and lov e ;

A s di ssol ve s our e arthly ti e ,

T ak e u s to T hy lo dg e o n high .

T hi s prayer follows A l mi ghty and m o st

m er c iful G o d b efore wh om all must ap p e ar
,

to r e nd er an a c c ount for th e d e eds don e i n th e

body w e d o m ost e arn e stl y b es e e c h Th e e as
, ,

w e now surround th e grav e of a departe d

b r ot h e r t o i mpre s s upon our minds th e sol e m
,

n i t i e s and l e ssons o f t h e day

. M ay we eve r
re m e mb er th at in th e mi dst of life we are i n
d eath ; an d may we so li v e and a c t o ur s e ver
a l part s as we m ay wi sh th at we ha d don e ,

wh en th e hour of our d epart u re i s at h an d .

“
Gra cious Fat h er vou c h safe unt o u s w e p ray
, ,

T h e e T hy divi n e assi stanc e to re d e e m ou r

, ,

m i ssp ent ti m e ; an d i n th e di s c harg e o f th e

d uti e s T hou h ast assi gn e d u s i n th e ere ction
o f o u r m o ral an d spirit u a l e d i fi c e may we,
90 T H E STO RY O F

have Wi s dom from on high to dire ct us ,

Strength c omm ensurat e with our task to sup

p ort us and th e b eauty of H olin ess to rend e r
,

all our d e e ds ac c eptabl e to T hy si ght A n d .

at last wh en o u r work on earth i s don e m a y ,

w e obtain a ble ss e d and everlasting rest i n:

th at spiritual hous e not mad e with h ands
, ,

et ern al i n th e h e avens A m en .

( A t th e interm ent of a Knight T emplar t h e

E minent C ommand er within a triangl e of
,

Sir Knights surrounding th e grave and th e

mourn ers s ays : ,
“
Sir Knights : In th e sol emn rites of our O r
d e r w e have oft en b e en reminded of th e grea t
,

tru th that we are born to di e

,
Mortality has .

b e en brought to vi ew that we might mor e

,

e arn estly s e ek an i mmortality b eyond thi s

fl e eting life wh ere de ath c an com e no more
,

forever Th e sad and mournful funeral knel l

.

h a s b etok en ed that anoth er spirit has winge d

its flight to a n ew stat e of exi st enc e An .

al arm has c om e to th e door of our A syl u m ,

and th e m ess eng er was death and non e pre ,

sum ed t o say t o th e awful pres en c e Wh o

‘

dares approach " A pilgri m warri or h a s

‘
b e en summon ed and th ere i s no dis charg e
,

i n that war A burni ng tap er of life in our

.
’
F R E E MAS O N RY 91

C ommand ery has b e en e xtingui s h e d an d ,

none save th e H igh and H oly O n e c an relight

it . A ll th at re m ains of our b el o ve d Co mp a n
i on Sir Knight li e s mute b efore us and th e
, ,

light of th e eye and th e bre ath ing of t h e lip s

,

i n t h eir l anguag e o f frat ernal gr e eting h av e ,

ceas ed for u s forever on thi s si de of t h e

“

grave . H i s sword vowe d only t o b e drawn

,

i n th e caus e of truth j u sti c e and rati onal

,

li b erty repos e s still in its s c abbard an d o u r

, ,

arm s c an n o more s hi el d hi m fr o m wrong or

( T h e Pr elat e says
“
Sir Knights th ere i s on e sa c re d spot upon
,

th e e arth wh ere t h e foot fall s of our m ar c h

,
-

are unh e e d e d ; our tru mp ets qui c k en no p u l s e

and inc it e n o fe ar ; th e ru stling of our bann ers
an d th e gl ea m of our swords awaken n o e mo
—
ti o n i t i s th e sil ent city of th e d ead wh er e ,

w e now stand Aw e re sts up on e very h eart

.

’
and th e st e rn warr i or s eye s are b e d ewe d with
fe e lings whic h n ever s ham e hi s m anh oo d It .

n e e ds no si eg e nor as sault n or b el eagu ering ,

host t o ent er its walls ; w e fe ar n o sorti e and ,

li sten fo r n o battl e shout N o W a rd er s c hal

’
- .

l enge gre ets th e e ar n or d o we wait awhil e

,

with pati en c e fo r p ermi ssion t o ent e r .

92 T H E STORY OF

H ith er must we all c om e at last ; an d th e

st out est h e art and th e m anli est form that

s urrounds m e will th en b e l e d a c apti v e

without titl e or rank i n th e chains of mor
,

tality and th e habili m ents of slavery to th e ,

Ki ng o f T errors .

“
But if h e has b e en faithful t o th e C aptain of
his salvation a tru e soldi er of th e cross ; if h e
,

h as ofle r e d suitabl e gifts at t h e shrine of hi s

'

d epart e d Lord and b ears th e signet of th e

,

Lion of th e tri b e of Ju dah th en may h e claim

,

t o b e of that pri nc ely hous e and b e admitt ed

,

to audi enc e with th e Sovereign Mast er of

H eaven and E arth Th en will h e b e stri pp e d
.

o f th e c hains o f e arthly c aptivity and cloth e d ,

in a w h i t e garm ent glist ening as th e sun and

’

, ,

b e s eat e d with princ e s and r u le r s an d partak e,

of a libati on n ot of d eath and sorrow but of

, ,

that win e whi c h i s drank for ever n ew in th e

'
F ath er s Kingd o m ab o ve .

“
W e c an not com e h ere without subdue d
h eart s and soft ene d a ff e cti ons Oft en as th e
.

c hall eng e c om e s whi ch take s from our si d e

som e loved associ at e som e c h erish ed com
,

pani ons in arm s and oft en as th e tru mp et

,

s ounds its wailing not es t o summon us t o th e

d eath b e d and to th e b ri nk o f th e s epu l chre

-
, ,
F R E E M AS O N RY 93
‘
we cann o t cont e mplat e th e l ast of e arth
u nm ov ed . E ac h su c c e s siv e d e at h not e
snap s th e fibre whi c h binds us t o thi s lower
exi st enc e and m ake s u s paus e and refl e c t
,

up o n that dark an d gl oo my c hamb er wh er e

we must al l t erminat e o u r pilgri mag e W el l.

will it b e fo r o u r p eac e th e n if we c an was h

,

o u r h ands n o t only in tok en o f sinc e rity

, ,

but o f every guilty stain and giv e hon e s t

,

an d s atisfa c tory answ ers to th e qu e sti on s

r e quire d .

“
T h e sa d and sol e mn s c en e now b efore us
stirs up th e s e re c oll e ctions with a forc e an d
vivi d power whi ch we hav e hith erto unfelt .

H e who now s lumb ers i n t h at last long ,

unbrok en sl e e p of d e ath was our broth e r

, .

With hi m w e h ave walke d th e pilgri m ag e of

life an d k ept watc h and ward tog eth er in it s
,

v i cis situ d e s and trials H e i s n o w r e move d

.

b eyond th e e fl
'

e c t of o u r prai s e and c ensure .

T h at we love d hi m our pr e s en c e h e r e
,

evinc es and w e r e m em b er hi m in s c en e s
,

t o whi c h th e world was n ot witn e s s an d ,

wh ere th e b e tt er fe elings of hu manity w ere

exhibit e d without di sgui s e T hat h e h a d
.

fa u lts and foi bl es i s b u t to rep eat wh at h i s

,

mortality d e monstrat e s that h e h ad a

94 T H E STO RY O F

human nature not divin e Over thos e e r

, .

t o rs
, what ever th ey may h av e b e en we ,

c ast whil e living th e m antl e of c h arity ; it

, ,

s hould with mu c h m ore r eason , enshroud

,

h i m in d eath W e who hav e b e en taught t o

.

e xt end th e p oint of c harity even t o a fo e , ,

wh en fall en c annot b e s evere or m ercil ess

,

toward a love d broth er .

“
Th e m emory of hi s virtu e s l ingers in ou r
r em embranc e and refle cts its shining lustre

b ey o nd th e portals of th e tomb Th e earth en .

vas e whi c h has c ontained pre cious odors

wi ll los e none of its fragranc e though th e ,

clay b e brok en and shatt ere d S o b e it w i th .

’
o u r broth er s m e mory

( Taking a Cross in hi s hand th e Prelat e ,

c ontinu es
“
—
Thi s Symbol of faith th e C hri stian s h a p e ’

a n d th e C hri stian s tru st w e again pla c e u p

’
-

on th e breast oi our broth er th ere to remain ,

t ill th e last tru mp et s hall sound and e art h ,

a n d s ea yi eld up th eir d ead Though it may

.
,

i n th e pa st hi story of our rac e hav e b e en p e r

,

v ert ed at ti m es into an ensign of O ppre ssion ,

a n d c ri m e and wrong ; though it may h av e

,

b e en mad e th e embl e m of fraud and sup er ,

.st i t io n and moral darkn ess y et its si g n i fi

, ,
FR E EM ASO N RY 95

c an c e still r e mains as th e b adg e of a C h ri s

tian warri o r . It c alls to min d G eth s e man e
a nd its sorrowful garden ; t h e j udgm ent ha l l
o f Pi lat e and th e pitil e s s crown of t h o rns ;
,

Golg o tha and C alvary and th eir unto l d agon

,

i e s t h at fall en man mi ght l iv e and inh erit

,

e verlasting life . If an i ns pire d Apostl e was

n o t asham e d of th e Cros s n eith er s hould we
,

b e ; if h e glori e d i n th e si gni fican c e of th e

truth s it shadowed fort h so ought we to
,

rej o i c e i n it as th e sp eaking witn e ss of o u r

relian c e b eyond t h e grave M ay thi s hop e
.

o f th e living h av e b e en th e anc hor to th e

s oul of our d epart e d br o t h e r — th e tok en t o

‘
a dmit hi m to that p ea c eful h aven wh er e
th e wi ck e d c e as e fro m tr ou bling and th e
,

w eary are at re st .
’

In th e s e bri ef extra cts t h e r ead er may find

t h e vital sp ark whi c h k e ep s Fre e masonry
g lowing with hu man int erest th e world over .
96 T H E STORY O F

Its Universalit y as a S e cret F rat ernit y .

E RTA IN c haract eristic s of

“
F re e masonry c all e d L and
”
marks h ave long b e en di s
cuss e d by Masoni c author
i ti e s among whom more or
,

l ess d i fle r e n c e of opinion has

'

ari s en Th es e Lan dm arks

.

ar e c ertain unc hang eabl e

“
( Dr M a ck ey says th ey are thos e p e culiar
.

marks o f di sti nction by whi ch w e ar e s epar

at ed from th e profan e w or ld a n d by whi c h we
,

are enabl ed t o designat e ou r inh eritanc e a s

‘
th e Sons of Light T h e universal language
and th e universal laws of Masonry are L and
marks but not so are th e local c eremoni es
, ,
FREE MAS O N RY 97

l aws and usage s whi c h vary i n di fferent

, ,

countri es T o att e mpt to alt er or remov e

.

t h es e sacre d L andmarks by whi c h w e ex ,

’
amin e an d prove a Broth er s clai ms to share
in our privil eg e s i s on e of t h e most h ei nous
,

o ffens e s th at a M ason c an c om mit T h ere .

are how ev er c ert ain form s and regulati ons

, ,

whi ch although not c onstituting L andmarks

, ,

are n evert h ele ss so prot e ct e d by th e v ener

abl e c lai m o f anti quity that th ey should b e
gu ard e d by every good M ason with r eligious
car e from alt eration It i s not in th e power
.

of any body of m en to m ak e innovati on in

”
Masonry .

T h e real Landmarks of th e ord er are t hus

sp ec ifi e d by Dr M ack ey .

1. Th e mod es of re cognition .

2. T h e divi sion of Symboli c M asonry i nto

d egre es .

3. T h e l eg end of th e Third D egre e .

4. Th e governm ent of t h e F rat ernity by a

pre si ding o ffi c er c all e d a Grand Mast er who ,

i s el e ct ed fro m th e b ody of t h eC raft .

5. Th e prerogative of th e Grand M ast er to

presi d e over ev ery as s e mbly of th e Craft
wh ereso ever and wh enso ever h eld .

6. T h e pr erogativ e o f th e Grand M ast er to

98 T H E STO RY O F

grant Disp ensations to confer d egre es at

irregular ti m e s .

7
. T h e prerogativ e of th e Grand Mast er to
grant Di sp ensations for op ening and holding
L odges .

8. T h e prerogative of th e Grand Mast er to

make M asons at si ght .

9. T h e n ec essity for Ma sons to congregat e

i n L odg e s .

10 T h e gov ernm ent of every L odge by a

.

M ast er and Ward ens .

11 .T h e n ec essity that every L odg e wh en

congregated s hould b e duly t y le d .

12 .T h e right of every M ason to b e r e p r e

s ented in all g eneral m e etings of th e Cr a ft ,

and to instruct hi s repre s entatives .

13 .T h e right of every Mason to app eal from

th e d e cision of hi s Brethren in Lodg e con
ven ed to th e Grand L odge or to a gen eral
,

ass e mbly of Masons .

14 .T h e right of every Mason to vi sit and

sit in every regular L odge .

15 .That no visitor not known to s o m e

,

Broth er pres ent as a Mason can enter a ,

L odg e without und ergoing examination .

16 .T hat n o L odge can int erfere in th e busi

n ess or labor of anoth er L odg e .
F REE M AS O N RY 99

17. T h at e v e r y F r e e ma son i s a m e n a b le to t h e
laws and regulati ons of th e M asoni c Juri s
di ction ln whi c h h e r e si d e s a n d this althoug h
,

h e m ay not b e a m e mb er of any L odg e .

18. T hat e v ery c andi dat e for i niti ation must

b e a man fre e born and of lawful ag e
, .

19. T hat every M as on must b eli ev e i n th e

exi st enc e of Go d a s th e Great Arc hit e c t of
th e Univers e .

20. T hat every M ason must b eli e v e in a r e

surre ction to a futur e life .

21. T hat a book of th e law of God must c on

st i t u t e an i ndi sp ens abl e part of th e furniture

of every L odge .

22. Th at all m en in t h e sight of God are

, ,

e qual an d m e et in t h e l odg e on on e com

,

mon l evel .

23. T hat F re emasonry is a s e cret so c i ety ,

in poss ession of s e crets that cannot b e

divulge d .

24. T h at F r e em asonry c onsi sts of a sp e cula

tiv e s ci enc e found e d on sp e culati ve art
, .

25. T hat th e L andmarks of M as o nry c an

n ev er b e
( T h e universali ty of th e L andm arks and of ,

t h e Instituti on its elf was ably and elo qu ent

,

ly s et fort h by C h arl es W hitloc k Mo ore of

1 00 T H E STORY O F

Massac hus etts in 1 8 56 at th e c entenni al an

,
’
n i v e rsa r y of St Andrew s L odg e in Boston
. .

H e s ai d
I suppos e it to b e entirely tru e in vi ew of ,

th e great ac c essions th at h ave b e en mad e

t o its m e mb ers within th e last two or thre e
years that th ere are many p ersons pre sent
,

who ent ertain at b est but a g en eral and i n

, ,

d efinite i d ea of th e anti quity extent and mag ,

.

n i t u d e of our instituti on A nd it i s e qually

.

tru e that many even of our most intelligent

and a ctive young Brethren not having their ,

att ention drawn to th e subj ect overlook its ,

hi story and th e ext ent of its influ en c e and

m
,

naturally com e to regard it in uc h th e sam e

li ght that th ey do th e ordinary associations
of th e day ; and thi s as naturally l ead s to
indi ff erenc e. M asonry lik e every oth er
,

s ci enc e wh eth er moral or physi cal to b e

, ,

rightly esti m ate d must b e und erstood in

,

all its r elations and conditions Th e intel .

li g e n t Mason valu es it in th e exact ratio that

h e h as investigat ed its history and studi e d
its philosophy .

“
But my i mm e diat e purpos e i s not to di s
cus s th e i mportanc e o f th e study of M asonry
a s a sci enc e but to show its universality a s
,
FREE M ASO N RY

a fraternity T hi s wil l n e c e ssarily involv e

.

to som e ext ent th e h i story O f its ris e an d

progre ss .

In th e b eginning of t h e fift e e nth c entury ,

H enry VI of England aske d of our bret hren

W h ere di d M asonry b egin "
‘
of th at day ’

and b eing told th at i t b egan in th e E a st h i s ,

n ext in quiry was — ‘

W h o di d bring it W e st
e r ly " and h e re c eive d for answer th at i t
-
,
‘
wa s brought W esterly by th e Ph oeni c ians .
’

T h e s e answ ers w er e pre di c at e d n o t on ,

a r c h a o log i c a l i nv e s ti gations ; fo r th e ar c h ae

ology o f Ma sonry had not b e en O p en ed b u t ,

o n th e tradit i ons O f th e Ord er as th ey h a d

,

b e e n transmitt e d fr o m g en erati on t o gen er

ation and from a p eri o d running s o far b ac k
,

along th e stre am O f ti m e th at i t h a d b e en
lost i n th e mi sts and ob s c urity o f th e myt h
ologi c al age s . R e c ent i nve sti gati o ns gui d
,

e d by mor e c ertain lights and m ore ext ensiv e

and cl earer d evel o p m ents O f hi st o ri c a l truth ,
'
have sh o wn t h a t th es e brethren w ere n o t mi s
l e d by t h e ir traditions a n d t hat th eir answ ers
,

indi c ate d with re m a rkabl e pre c i si o n wh at ,

th e most l earne d O f our brethren in thi s c oun

try and in Europ e at th e pr es ent ti m e b eli ev e
,

t o b e th e tru e o rigin of th e ir instituti o n .

 T H E STO RY O F

F re emasonry wa s ori ginally a frat ernity of

—
pra c ti cal builders archite cts and a rt i fi c e r s .

T hi s i s conc e de d by all who are to any ex

t ent a c quaint e d with its hi story or its tradi
tions T h e P h oe n i c i a n s w h o se c apital citi es
.
,

w ere T yre an d Sidon were th e early patrons

,

of that s emi religiou s mysti c fraternity or

-

soci e ty of build ers known in hi story as th e

,
‘ ’
Dionysian Archite c ts T hat thi s frat ernity
.

w ere employe d b y th e T yrians and Si doni ans

i n th e erection O f c ostly t empl es to unk nown
D eiti e s in th e building of ri ch and gorgeous
,

palac es and i n strength ening and b eautifyi ng

,

th eir c i ti e s i s universally a dmitt ed That

, .

th ey w ere th e cunning workm en s ent by

H iram king of Tyre to ai d King Solom o n
, ,

in th e erection of th e T empl e on Mount M o

ri ah i s s c arc ely l ess c ertain Th eir pres en c e
, .

in that city at th e tim e of th e building of th e

T e mpl e i s th e evi denc e O f hi story ; and H i
ram th e wid o w s son to whom Sol o mon i n
,
’

tru st e d th e sup erint end enc e O f th e workm en ,

as an inhabitant of Tyre and as a skill e d ,

archite ct and cunning and curi ous w o rkm an ,

was doubtl es s o n e O f th eir numb e r H enc e .

w e ar e s c arc ely clai ming t oo mu ch for our

order wh en w e suppos e that th e D i on ysi an s
,
F RE E M ASO N R Y 1 03

w er e s ent by H ira m king of Tyr e to assi st , ,

K ing S o lom o n i n th e c onstr uc t io n of th e

h o u s e h e was about to d e di c at e t o J eh o vah ,

and that th ey c o mmuni c at e d to th eir J ewis h

fellow lab o rers a kn o wl edg e O f th e a d v a n
-

a ge s of th eir fratern ity and invit ed th e m,

to a parti cipati o n in its mysteri e s and privi

l e ge s
. T h e J ews w ere n eith er ar c h it e c ts n o r
’
a rt i fi c e r s
. By Solomon s own a dmi ssi on ,

t h ey w ere not e ven skill e d enough i n th e art

o f bui lding to cut an d prep are th e ti mb e r i n

th e forests of L ebanon ; an d h en c e h e wa s
c omp el l e d to e mp l oy th e Sid o ni ans t o do that

w ork fo r hi m
‘ ’
T h e Tyrians says a l earn e d ,
‘
fo r ei gn Br o th er were c el ebrat e d a rti sts ;
,

S ol o m o n th erefore unabl e to find build ers of

, ,
’

s up eri o r skill for th e ex e cution o f hi s plans

, ,

i n hi s own do mini o n s e ngage d T yrian s wh o , ,

with th e assi stan c e of th e z ealo u s J ews who ,

c ont ent e d th e m s e l ve s in p erform i ng th e ln

f e r i or la b or fi n i sh e d th at stu p endou s edifi c e

’
.
,

And w e ar e told on th e a u th o ri ty o f Jos ep hu s

‘
that th e T em pl e at J eru sal e m wa s b u i l t on
t h e sam e plan in th e sam e styl e and b y th e
, ,

sa m e arc hit e c ts as th e t e mp l e s of H er c ul e s
,

a n d A start e at Tyr e
’
T h ey w ere do u btl e ss
,

al l thre e b ui lt by o ne o f th e co mpani e s o f
1 04 T H E ST ORY O F

Dionysian Ar c h i t e c t s who at that ti m e wer e

‘ ’
,

num erous throughout A sia M inor wh ere ,

th ey poss ess e d th e ex c lusive privil ege of

ere c ting te mpl es th eatres and oth er publi c
, ,

b u ildings Dionysius arri ved in Gre ec e from

.

Egypt about on e thousand five hundre d years

b efore C hri st and th ere institute d or intro
, ,

du c e d th e Dionysian myst eri e s

, Th e Ioni c .

mi gration o c curr ed about thre e hundre d

ye ars aft erwards or on e thousand two hun ,

—
dre d years B C th e e migrants c arryi ng with
. .

th em fr o m Gre e c e t o A s i a Minor th e myst e r

i es of Di onysius b efore th ey ha d b een c o r
,
“ ’
r u p t e d by th e Ath enians In a short tim e .
,
‘
says Mr L awri e th e Asiati c coloni e s sur
.
,

pas s e d th e moth er c ountry i n prosp erity and

s c i e nc e .Sculpture in marbl e and th e D ori c ,

and Ioni c Ord ers w ere th e result o f th eir in

‘
l
’

g e n u i t y . W ’
e know says a l earn ed e n c y
, c o

(
‘
f
’

p e d i,st that th e Dionysia c s o Ioni a whi c h

plac e has a c c ording t o H erodotus alway s
, ,

b e en c el ebrat e d for th e genius O f its in b a h

‘
i t a nt s ), w ere a great c orporati on of ar c hi
t e c t s and engi ne ers wh o und ertook and , ,

even monopolis ed th e building of temples , ,

stadiums and th eatre s pre ci s ely as th e fra

, ,

t e rn i t y o f Masons are kn o wn t o have in th e ,

FREE M AS O N RY 1 05

M i ddl e Age s mon o poli ze d th e building of

,

c ath e drals and c onventual c hurc h e s In .

d e e d th e D ionysiac s re s e mb l e d th e mysti c al
,

f rat ernity now c all e d Fre e mas o n s in m any

, ,

i mportant p art i c ulars T h ey a l lowe d no

.

s trang ers t o interfere in th eir e mploym ent ;

r e cogni ze d eac h o th er by si gns and tok ens ;

t h ey profe s s e d c e rtain myst eri ous do ctri n es ,

u nd er th e tui tion and tut elag e of B a c c hu s

a n d th ey c all ed all oth er m en profan e b e c aus e

’
n ot ad mitt e d to th e s e mysteri e s .

“
T h e t esti mony of hi story i s th at t h ey sup ,

p li ed I o ni a and th e surrounding c ountry a s ,

f a r as th e H ell esp ont with th e atri cal ap p ar

,

a t u s by c ontra ct
, T h ey also practi c e d th eir
.

art in S yria P ersi a an d Indi a ; and about

, ,

t hre e hundred years b efore th e birt h of C hri st ,

a cons i d erabl e num b er of th e m w ere i ncor

p or a t e d by c om m and of th e King of P erga
m u s who assign ed to th e m T eos as a s ettl e
,

m ent . It wa s thi s frat ernity wh eth er call e d ,

Gre eks T yrians o r P h oeni c i ans who built

, ,

t h e T e mpl e at J erusal e m T h at stup endous .

work und er God was th e result of th eir

, ,

g enius and s c i entific skill An d t hi s b eing .

tru e from th e m are w e a frat e rni ty lin eally

, , ,

d e s c end ed or our anti quity i s a myth and

, ,
1 06 T H E STO RY O F

our traditi o ns a fabl e H en c e th e answ e r of

.

o u r Englis h Brethren of th e fift e enth c en

tury to th e in qu iry of H enry VI that M ason

, ,

ry was brought W esterly by th e Ph oe ni c ians ,

indi c at ed with gr eat a c curacy th e pr o babl e

origin of th e Institution .

“
T h ey might ind e e d have sai d to hi m tha t
long anterior to th e advent of C hri stianity ,

th e mo u ntains of Judea and th e plains of

Syri a th e des ert s of Indi a and th e vall ey of
,

th e Ni le were c h e ered by its pres en c e and

,

enliven e d by its s o ng — th at more than a

‘
thousand ye ars b efore th e coming of th e S on
’ ‘
of M an a l i tt l e c ompany of cunning work
,
’
m en fr o m th e n eighboring c ity of Tyr e wer e
, ,

a ss embl e d o n th e pl easant Mount Moriah at ,

th e call o f th e wis e King of I sra el and th er e,

ere cted out of th eir great skill a might y

e di fi c e whos e spl endid and u nri val ed p e rf e c
,

tion and w hos e grandeur and s u blimity hav e

,

b e en th e admiration and th em e of all suc

c e e d i ng ages T h ey might have sai d to hi m
.

that thi s was th e craft w o rk of a fraternit y

to w hos e genius and discoveri es an d t o ,

whos e matc hl ess skill and ability th e w i s ,

e st of m en in all ag es have bow e d wi t h

res p e ct Th ey might also h ave sai d t o hi m
.
F REE MASO N RY 1 07

th at h avi ng fin i sh e d th at gr e at work an d
, ,

fi l l e d a ll Ju d e a with t e mpl e s and palac e s and

wall e d citi e s h aving enri ch e d and b e a u t i fi e d
,

A z o r G o z arra and Palmyra with th e re su l ts

, , ,
‘ ’
o f t h e i r g eni u s th es e cunn i ng workm en in
,

aft er ti m es p as sing thro u gh th e E s s e nian

-
,

asso ciations and finally i ss u ing out of th e

,

mysti c hall s of th e C ol l egia Ar t i fi c i u m of

‘ ’

‘ ’
R om e burst u pon th e dark ag e s of th e
,

w o rld l ik e a bright star p e ering t hrough a

black clo u d and und e r th e patronag e of th e
,

c h u r c h pro du c e d th os e spl endi d monum e nt s

,

o f g e nius whi c h s et at d e fian c e th e h i gh e st

at t ainm ent of mod ern art And if i n a ddi .
,

ti o n to al l this th e y h ad s ai d to hi m th at i n
, ,

th e yea r A D 9 2 6 on e of hi s pred e c essors on

. .
,

th e thron e of England h ad invit e d th e m fr o m

all part s o f th e conti nent t o m e e t h i m in ,

g en eral ass e mbly at hi s royal c i ty o f Y o rk ,

th e answ er to hi s in quiry — Who di d b ring it ‘

—
W e st erly" woul d h ave b e en compl e t e
’
.

“
H en c eforward for eight c enturi e s M asonry
, ,

c o ntinu e d an o p erati ve frat ern ity ; pr o du c ing

b oth in E ngland and on th e C onti n ent thos e ,

grand and unap proac h abl e sp e ci m ens of art

whi c h are th e pri d e of C entral Europ e an d ,

th e admiration o f th e travel er But it i s n o .

1 08 T H E STO RY O F
l onger an op erative asso ci ation W e of th i s .

day as M asons s et up n o pretensions t o ex

, ,

t r a o r d i n a r y skill i n th e p hysi cal s ci enc es .

—
V ery few of u s ac complish ed M asons as we
—
may b e woul d willingly und ertak e to ere ct
anoth er te mpl e on Mount M o ri ah " V ery
c ertain w e are that our own h onored M W . .

G rand Mast er — pri mu s inner p ares as all hi s

, ,

B rethren acknowl edg e hi m t o be would h esi ,

tat e a long ti m e b efore c ons enting to assum e

t h e duti es O f archite ct for anoth er W e st
m inst er A bb ey or a n ew St P aul s N o A t
, .
’
. .

t h e r e o r g a n i z a t i o n of th e Craft and th e e s
‘

t a b li sh m e n t of th e pres ent Grand L odg e o f

England in 1 71 7 w e lai d asi d e ou r op erative
,

c hara cter and with it all pret ensions to ex

,

t r a o r d i n a ry skill in arc hitectural sci en c e .

W e th en b e cam e a purely moral and b ene

vol ent a ssociation whos e great aim i s th e,

d evelop m ent and cultivation of th e moral

s enti m ent th e so cial princip l e and th e b ene
, ,

vol ent a ff e ctions a high er re verenc e for God

, ,

a n d a w a r m e r love for m an N ew laws and

.

regulations adapt ed to th e ch ang ed condition

,

o f th e Institution w ere th en made

— an en
, ,

tir e revolution i n its governm ental poli cy

t oo k pla c e ord er an d syst em obtai ned wh ere
,
F REE M ASO N RY 1 09

n eith er h ad pre vi o usly exi st ed and England ,

b e cam e th e gre at c entra l p oint of M asonry

for th e w hol e world .

“
F rom t hi s sourc e h ave L o dg es Grand and ,

Sub o rdinate at vari o us ti m e s b e en e stab

, ,

—
l i sh e d and still e xist an d flou r i sh i n Fran c e
,

and Switzerland ; in all th e G erm an State s

save Austria (and th er e a t di fferent ti m e s ,

a nd for short s easons ) ; and up an d down th e

classi c sh o re s o f th e Rh in e ; in Pru ssi a ; in
H olland B e lgi u m S ax on y H an ov e r S w e d e n
'

, , , , ,

D enmark Russi a and e ven i n fall en Poland

, ,

i n Ita l y and Spain (und er th e cover o f s e

cr e cy ) ; in v a rious p a rts o f A si a ; in Turk ey
i n Syri a (as at Al ep po wh ere an Engli s h
, ,

Lodge was e stablish e d more th an a c entu ry

ag o ) ; in al l th e E ast Indi a s ettl e m ents ; i n
B engal Bombay M adra s (i n all of wh i c h
, , ,

lo dg e s are num erous ) ; in C hina wh ere th ere ,

i s a Provin cial Grand M ast er and s everal

lodg es ; in vari ous p art s of Afri c a as at th e ,

C ap e of Good H op e and at Si erra L eon e ; ou '

t h e Gambi a and on th e N i l e ; in all th e larg er

i slands of th e P acifi c and Indian o c eans a s ,

at C eylon S u matra St H e l ena M auritius

, , .
, ,

M a dagas car ; th e Sandwi c h group ; in all th e

p ri n c ipal s e ttl e m ent s o f Australi a as at A de ,
110 T H E STO RY O F

l ai d e M elbourn e P arramatta Si dn ey N e w
, , , ,

Z ealand ; in Gre ec e wh ere th ere i s a Gran d

L o dge ; in Algeria , in T u ni s in th e E mpire ,

of Moro c co — and wh erever els e in th e Ol d

Worl d th e genius of ci vi li zation h as o btain
e d a standpoint or Ch r i st a n i t y has erect e d
,

th e B ann er of th e Cr o ss .

“
In all th e W e st Indi a i slands and in vari
ous parts of South A m eri ca a s i n P eru , ,

Vene z u ela N ew Granada Guiana Brazil

, , , ,

C hili et c M asonry i s prosp ering as n ever

, .
,

b efore . In th e latt er R epubli c th e Grand

Lodg e of thi s C omm o nw ealth has a flour i sh
ing subordinat e and th e Grand M ast e r h as
,

j u st authori z e d th e e stabli sh m ent of an o th er

Lodg e th ere .

“
On our o wn contin ent our ord er was n ever
more wi d e l y diff us ed or i n a more h e althy
,

condition . In M exic o even r e sp e ctabl e, ,

Lodg es are maintaine d in d e spite of th e ,

opposition of a big o te d Pri esthood ; and in

all B riti sh A m eri ca from N ew Foun d la n d
, ,
'

t hr o ugh N ova S c o t i a a n d th e C anadas to th e

i cy r egions of th e N ort h , Masoni c L odge s
‘
and M asoni c Brethren may b e fo und to fe e d
th e hungry cloth e th e nake d and bind u p
,

th e wounds of th e a ffli c t e d .
’
F REE M AS O N R Y 111

O n t h e co nditio n of th e In stitu tion i n our

own c ountry I n e e d n o t dw ell Every Stat e
, .

—
and T err i tory ex c ep t th e unorgani z e d t er
r i t ory o f Wa shington i n cl u ding even K ansas ,
,

has its Gran d L o dg e and n early e very co n

si d e r a b le town and villag e its on e or m o r e
,

su bordinat e l o dg e s . If w e add t o th e s e th e ,

larg e num b er o f Cha p t e r s Coun c i ls En c amp

, ,

m e nt s a n d oth er M asoni c asso c i ations wh i c h

,

ar e spread all over th e l engt h and bre a dth o f

th e la n d w e h av e th e e v i d en c e o f a p ro sp e rit y
,

unparall el e d in th e annals of any o th er h u ma n

Instituti on i n any ag e of th e wor l d
, .

“
M asonry i s ind e e d a univ e rs a l Instituti o n .

H i story do e s n o t furni s h its parall e l It.

exi sts wh ere C hri stia nity ha s not gon e ; and

its clai m s wi l l b e resp e cte d even wh ere th e
s u p e ri or c lai m s o f religion woul d fail It i s
.

n ever ob s c ure d b y th e darkn e s s of night .

T h e eye of day i s always up on it .Its foot

prints are t o b e tra c e d in th e most di stant
r egio n s and in th e re mot e st ag e s o f th e
e art h. A mong all c iv i li ze d p eopl e and in all
C hristi ani z e d l ands its e xi sten c e i s r e c og n i z
ed . It c am e t o our sh ore s at an auspi c i o u s
p eriod ; and it wa s h ere ro c k e d in th e C radl e
o f Lib erty by a Wa shin gton ,a Franklin a ,
1 12 T H E STORY O F
H a c oc k and a Warren Una ff ect ed by th e
.

t em pe sts of war th e storm s of p ers ecution

, ,

o r th e d enunci ations of fanati cism i t still

,

s tands proudly ere c t in th e sunshine and

cl ear light of h ea v e n wi t h not a marbl e frac
,

t ur o d n o t a pillar fall en
, It still stands like
.
,

s o m e patriarc hal monar c h o f th e forest with ,

its vi gorous roots ri vet e d to th e soil an d its ,

b ro ad limbs spre ad in bold outlin e against

th e sky ; and in g enerati ons yet to c om e as ,

in ag e s past th e sunlight of honor an d r e

,

nown will d elight to ling er and p l ay ami d its

ven erabl e branc h es .A nd if ever in th e ,

provi d en c e o f God lash e d by th e storm and

,

riven by lightning it sh all tott er t o its fall

, ,

around its trunk will th e i vy o f fili al afle c

'

t ion that has so long c lasp ed it still c ling

, , ,

and m antl e with gre enne ss and verdure its

ruin and
( In no sk etc h of Masonry p erh aps should
, ,

m enti on of th e C hariti e s o f th e Ord er b e

o mmitt ed . Masoni c b en evol enc es are well
s yst emati ze d th e world over Som e of th em
.

a r e n ec essaril y publi c but th e gre ater num

,

b er are n ever h e ard of outsid e th e Lodge It .

i s not th e poli c y of M asonry to disp ens e

b en evolenc e s to any but thos e w h o a ctually
FRE E MAS O N RY 1 13

n e e d th em T h e Ord er do e s not fo r instanc e r

.
,

pay any m e mb er a su m of m on ey m erely b e

c aus e h e i s si c k
. T h e a ctu al pin c h o f pov
e rt y m u st b e m anifest b efore th e c o ff ers of

th e So c i ety are op en e d . But wh en want

stare s a F re e mason hi s wi dow or h i s or
,

p h ans in th e fa c e th ey are lib erally as si st e d

,
'

to ti d e ov er th eir mi sfortun es .Pu bli c M a

s o ni c C hariti e s tak e di fferent form s in dif
f orent countri es . I n S w e d en twelve work
s c h o ol s in w hi c h poor c hil dren are taugh t
u s eful trad e s are m ai ntai n e d . In H ungary
l ast wint er a daily average o f p o or
p eopl e w ere eac h given a l o af o f bre ad and ,

a t milk d ep o ts numb erl e s s c hildren w er e

given ea c h a roll and a pint o f hot milk dur
ldg th e ri g o rs o f fr o sty w e ath er .

In A m eric a publi c M asoni c C h ariti e s h av e

larg e ly b e en in t h e form of M asoni c H om e s ,

gre at institutions in whi c h th e ag e d w i ,

d o ws and orp hans are give n a pl easant

,

hom e b e c aus e o f th eir c o nn e cti o n with th e

( A few w o rds in c onc lusion : It h as b e en

th e int e nt of th e writ er to c o n de ns e within
abo u t on e h u ndre d page s su c h a sket c h o f
Fre em asonry a s w ou l d i nter e st m e n a n d
1 14 T H E STO RY O F F REE M A SO N RY

wom en and yi eld to th em corre ct i deas o f

,

t h e Ord er . If a just ac count has b e e n given of

th e L egend and Tradition o f Mas o nry of its ,

e arly manife stations of th e Famous Atta c ks

,

u p o n it of its T eachings a n d of i ts Extent

, ,

th e auth or s purpos e has b e e n a c c ompli sh ed

’
.

T h ere ha s b e en no att empt to mak e th i s lit

tl e b ook c y c IO p a d i c monitori a l jurispru d e nt
, , ,

di s qui siti o nal argum entative or sp eculative

, .

T h e whol e purpos e h as b e en t o mak e th e

Story ac curate and bri ef F or thos e whos e
.

minds may not b e c ontent with th e Pri mary

m ethods ad o pt ed h erein th ere is a lit erature
,

whi c h will carry th e m t o th e high est pinna

c l e s of M asoni c l earning in a dozen di ff erent
branc h es an d to whi c h th ey may b e directed
,

by any inform ed m emb er of th e Frat ernity .

TH IS B O OK IS DU E O N TH E LAS T DATE
S TAM PE D B E L O W

AN I N I TI AL F I N E O F 25 CE N TS
WIL L B E A SS ESS E D FO R FA IL U R E TO R ETU R N
TH IS B O O K O N TH E D AT E D U E TH E P E N A L TY
.

WIL L IN C R EA S E TO 5 0 C E N T S O N TH E FO U RT H
D AY A N D TO O N TH E S EV E N T H D AY
O VE R D U E
.