| Please
consider making a donation to the Kena Shriners transportation fund
(transporting the kids to the hospital) Credit cards accepted through
PayPal. |
|
Enter your search terms Submit search form | ||
|
|
|
|
This file is copyright (c) 2000 by The Philalethes Society and all rights including any redistribution rights are reserved by the copyright holder. Permission to quote from, redistribute or to otherwise use these materials must be obtained from the copyright holder directly by contacting The Philalethes, Nelson King, FPS, Editor, 2 Knockbolt Crescent, Agincourt Ontario Canada, M1S 2P6. Tel:416-293-8071 Fax: 416-293-8634 or nking@freemasonry.org or nking@onramp.ca
Philalethes Magazine for February, CONTENTS by Robert G. Davis, FPS
by Nelson King, FPS
6 A Search For The Origin - Part II by Nelson, MPS
by Wlliam E. Parker, MPS
by Bobby J. Demott, MPS
by Nelson, MPS AIA
Sir Robert Laird Borden by Barry Dixon
22 Wild Man or Worshipful Master - The New Men's Movements - Part 3 by Paul Rick, MPSJGuillermon De Los Reyes
by Kenneth D. Roberts, FPS
by Robert G. Davis, FPS
With this issue of The Philalethes, Brother Nelson King will have already been installed as the President of our Society. It has been an honor serving as your President over the past two years, and I know Brother King will do his best to increase the awareness and visibility of the International Philalethes Society over the period of his tenure.
The only benefit of being an officer of this organization is the introduction one gets to some of the most thoughtful Masons in the world, and the opportunity he has to broaden his own Masonic knowledge through their influence. With the two meetings we have each year and the active dialogue we share on the Philalethes Internet Listserve, along with the bi-monthly publication of our magazine, we indeed make a difference in the overall arena of Masonic Education.
But our interest group alone will not cause our fraternity to grow, or even survive. As proud as we are to consider ourselves informed Masons, and as significant as that mission is to our future, Masonry is not a single thing. One interest group alone cannot liberate it. The ritualists alone will not save it. And our community service and overall benevolence will not be enough to cause us to grow.
Of course, that may not matter to many of us. We each enjoy our little peer group and we will feed on the feast of Masonic enlightenment, with or without organized Masonry.
But the world will lose a great stabilizing influence if Freemasonry does not survive. It will lose perhaps the only world model that can bring enduring values and the right structure for toleration to a society boiling with diversity. The quality of life our grandchildren will have may well depend on whether or not Freemasonry can become a central influence to the popular culture again.
It is easy to say this is not our concern. We can rest on the notion that we are only to be involved with improving the individual, and through his self-improvement, he will improve our society. That may have been true in the 19th Century when one of every four men were Masons. But when only one of every 100 men are Masons, and that 1% is not active in the leadership of society, then our effective influence only lives in the rhetoric of our words. It is not felt in the heartbeat that drives the life blood of progress.
So, what has this to do with the Philalethes? Perhaps nothing. Maybe you can dismiss this to the ramblings of an outgoing president. But, on the cusp of a new Century and the eve of a new Millennium, it seems significant to this writer that we begin to think about how we can actually connect the relevancy of Masonry, which is its wisdom and latent power to transform the individual and the society in which he lives, to a global understanding that we deserve to be a major player as a 21st century organization.
And perhaps we should strive now to place Masonry in the forefront of organizations that community, educational, professional, economic, governmental, religious and cultural leaders insist be included in the overall progress of things.
One thing is sure-the march of progress will not include us unless we are part of its vision for this new century. It is time we started letting the world know, by our own lofty examples and high vision, that our brotherhood of men will be essential to the collective definition of how people think and live and make decisions for the benefit of mankind.
That seems a strategic way to begin a new century ....and an adequate challenge to leave you as an outgoing president. Once again, thank you for the honor of serving the International Philalethes Society.
We are taught ". . .the covering of a Masonic Lodge is a celestial canopy of divers colors, even the Heavens. We hope to arrive at the summit by the assistance of a ladder, in Scripture called Jacob's Ladder. This Ladder has many staves or rounds, but there are three principle ones, namely Faith, Hope and Charity. Faith in the G.A.O.T.U., Hope in salvation, and Charity toward all men. This Ladder rests on the Volume of The Sacred Law, because by the doctrines contained in that Holy Book, we are taught to believe in the wise dispensations of Divine Providence, which belief strengthens our Faith and enables us to ascend the first round. This Faith naturally creates in us a Hope of becoming partakers of some of the blessed promises therein contained, which Hope enables us to ascend the second round; but the third and last, being Charity comprehends the whole, and the Mason who is in possession of this virtue in its most ample sense, may be justly deemed to have arrived at the summit of Masonry, . . ."
For many years your Society has quietly provided Charity. We have worked hand in hand with The Masonic Service Association of North America, by providing them with our resources in order that they may collect money by Credit Card on the Internet for their Relief Campaigns. We have made donations to many worthwhile Masonic efforts. The latest in partnership with Gran Logia de la Republica de Venezuela is to help bring aid to Brethren and the people of Venezuela. This is being done on our web site http://freemasonry.org
Kendall McAllister, who is a gifted cartoonist, has furnished us with the rights to sell his cartoons. Each cartoon will be printed on 81/1 x 11 photographic paper, and will sell for $25.00 each. The money raised will go to The Philalethes Charities, and Kendall's Masonic Charity, the California Masonic Homes. A selection of the Cartoons are shown with this article. To order either send a check and the name of Cartoon to:
The Philalethes P. O. Box 70 Highland Springs VA 23075 or on line at http://freemasonry.org/psoc, your donation will be thankfully received and faithfully applied.
by Nelson, MRS - Part 2 of 2
The birth of Freemasonry has been the subject of much speculation by historians and members of the Masonic fraternity. It is the subject of this paper and the author has selected only facts from historical records rather than the many legends that abound. Legends have placed the birth of freemasonry in the 10th century and each era after that into the eighteenth century. Documentation will probably never be found giving the exact year, or decade or even the century of this event, if indeed it was created in a single era. Most likely it was a gradual development that took place over many years, perhaps simultaneously in different locations and by different groups of people. However, from existing records it seems to have developed in the Middle Ages, after the Dark Ages and prior to the Renaissance and the Enlightenment; perhaps in the early Gothic period of the 1100's. Indications are that it followed the introduction of science to Europe. The research discussion of Part I is now continued considering the transition of the craft from the operative to the speculative
European Freemasonry
Many researchers agree that early operative freemasonry was probably the product of the Romanesque/Gothic culture. Modern or speculative Freemasonry arose from the European Renaissance period, that time known as the imitation and rebirth of antiquity, the intellectual and artistic movement that occurred during the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th centuries and took Europe from the Middle Ages to what is considered the modern era.
By the end of the 12th century most of Western Europe had formed into separate nations after having been under the domination of Rome. France, Italy and Spain had become separate kingdoms and Germany remained the center of the Holy Roman Empire. England still possessed large domains in France under the Norman kings. Sweden, Norway and Denmark remained largely unaffected by the Holy Roman Empire and were geographically isolated. By the mid-1500's the doctrines of the Protestant Reformation had weakened the Roman Catholic Church's hold on Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland and Sweden became the first to separate from the Church of Rome.
Masons' lodges, during much of the Gothic period (12th to 16th centuries), served as reservoirs for technical knowledge. That scientific knowledge, so necessary for the design and construction of buildings, fortifications and cities, had originated mainly in translations of Arabic, Latin and Greek studies. The Gothic architect had no standard means of measuring and neither did his craftsmen so he had to devise a method to describe the dimensions of a building. The method he used was to indicate a key or an initial dimension of length on the drawings so the images could be enlarged to any desired size by a geometrical method of transferring proportions and angles. That key figure and its practical application are believed to be the Gothic secret of freemasonry and were considered to automatically assure the beauty of the cathedrals. That method of mensuration is described vaguely in the extant manuscript (sketch book) written by Villard de Honnecourt and two other unnamed architects. It resulted in one basic dimension which was used in the building itself and was established by the architect. That dimension was applied to the actual building using geometrical proportions and a formula of squaring and using triangles (quadratura and triangulation). That dimension in turn determined all other building dimensions.
In 1459 masons met at Regensburg, Germany to standardize the statutes of their lodges. One of their decisions was that no one should reveal to the outside world the art of taking an elevation from a plan. That Regensburg Convention stated that, "no workman, nor master, nor journeyman shall teach anyone, whatever he may be called, not being one of our handicraft and never having done mason work, how to take the elevation from the ground plan." However, a German master, Matthaus Roriczer, in 1486 printed a document named Puechlein der Fasten Gerechtigkeit (Little Book about the Rectitude of Pinnacles) which revealed those secrets and explained the principle of plotting a pinnacle in correct proportion from its ground plan. That Regensburg Ordinance is also known as the Strasbourg Ordinance because it was previously discussed in Strasbourg and was finally stored there. In 1498 that document was confirmed by Emperor Maximillian I.
In The Cathedral Builders, Jean Gimpel mentions, when referring to freemasonry, that "What was a secret in the 15th century was not necessarily one in the 13th century", and there was a time at the end of the 13th century when, Architects organized themselves professionally and gradually came to agreements not to disclose technical and scientific knowledge which they had learnt through outside contacts . . . ." With this action in the 1500's architects began the gradual separation from the fraternity of Freemasons.
Paul Frankl writes that there is a distinction between a secret and an esoteric doctrine. The secret of the lodges was not a secret in the sense of a mystery, but was, on the contrary, an esoteric doctrine, intended for the protection of the lodge. He also says "that the maturing apprentice had to learn the lodge secret, that is, the use of quadrature and triangulation, as well as the Great Basic Measure; thus, he had to learn as much geometry as he would later need." His teacher in these professional secrets was the master of the lodge. Frankl too believes that the secret of Gothic freemasons was the method of mensuration, the key figure, and its practical application that was a rule for proportions that assured the beauty of the Gothic cathedrals.
The exposure of operative masonic secrets may have been the turning point at which lodges ceased teaching science and when that learning was transferred to the universities. Once the universities began teaching science, lodges lost their importance as centers of technical learning and the education of the architectural profession was transferred to the academies.
Another interesting document surfaced in the Netherlands entitled The Charter of Cologne, dated 1535. It is a masonic charter or constitution, similar to the Regius Manuscript and the Strasburg Constitutions. It specifies certain regulations of the Craft; that freemasonry is more ancient than the Knights Templars; that prior to being called freemasonry in 1450 it was entitled The Brethren of St. John; and that it existed in London, Edinburgh, Vienna, Paris, Madrid, Venice, Danzig, and many other cities. That same Charter of Cologne gave Dr. Oliver, in his Historical Landmarks of 1846, reason to affirm that there were nineteen grand lodges in Europe a few years after 1519.
By the 1550's the masters or architects, having become a professional class, separate and apart from freemasonry, were no longer directly connected to the lodges or guilds of stonemasons. They no longer provided the craft with an educated corps of leadership. (See Part I, The Architectural Profession) That form of ancient freemasonry had all but disappeared- from the Continent and control of the mason craft reverted to the guilds. In a very few years, however, a new fraternity called speculative Freemasonry was reintroduced by the British, outside the guilds. This group was not an operative craft and was not under control of the German or French governments. This new, modern Freemasonry appealed to men who were interested in the improvement of the individual and his culture - a speculative or philosophical masonry.
Freemasonry spread rapidly from London into almost every European urban centre. If Freemasonry in northern Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, the Holy Roman Empire, Austria, and among Britain's allies in the first half of the (18th) century is closely examined, we find within the lodges a social milieu enamored of British constitutionalism,stability and prosperity, that encouraged enlightened and strong government, dedicated to religious toleration.
Charles Radclyffe and Chevalier Andrew Michael Ramsay were two major personalities in the dissemination of early speculative Freemasonry throughout France. Both were affiliated with the Jacobite cause which created considerable trouble for the British government. Ramsay claimed, without authentication, that the origin of Freemasonry was in Templary and that Scottish King Robert I (1306-29), Grand Master of Kilwinning, had created the Royal Order of Scotland and that the Scottish brethren were descendants of the Knights Templars. According to legends passed on by Ramsay, the Royal Order of Heredom of Kilwinning under Robert I was reputed to have established lodges in France and England during the 1300's. One man appeared to bridge the gap between the English and French Freemasonry Chevalier Ramsay. These legends remain unsubstantiated.
The first lodge in France dates from March 25, 1688 and was established by the Royal Irish Infantry Regiment which had been formed by English King Charles II (Stuart) in 1661. Soon after that other English lodges spread Freemasonry to the Continent. Opposition of the Roman Church to Freemasonry began as early as fifteen years after the appearance of the Anderson Constitutions. At that time the Fraternity had already taken root in Italy, the Light having been brought into lodges in Rome and Florence in 1733. Catholic priests of all the hierarchical degrees became closely associated with statesmen, diplomats and artists in the Lodges. This did not remain unnoticed and created great annoyance in Vatican circles. Five years later, in 1738, Pope Clement XII issued his Bull of Masonic denunciation.
One particular Freemasonic system was used as a political instrument in an attempt to restore the Stuart family to the British throne. The Jacobites apparently surfaced in France where Irish military and pro-Stuart refugees formed a French-Masonic system. With its political agenda the Jacobites were not approved by the English grand lodges and caused considerable disunity among the Craft. The failure of the Jacobite Revolution of 1745 doomed this system and the use of politics and religion in regular Freemasonry. Out of the Jacobite system eventually evolved, in 1773, the largest Freemasonic body in France, the Grand Orient. The Grand Orient emerged as the chief repository of Freemasonry in France but is not recognized by regular grand lodges.
Variations of the Jacobite system, purged of political content and tempered by the English grand lodge, survived, in part through the so-called higher degrees offered by the French grand lodge. The early so-called higher degrees of Freemasonry seem to have involved aspects of Masonic ritual which were too politically volatile and had religious motivations that the English grand lodge could not accept. After 1745, when the Stuarts had finally ceased to be a threat to the English throne, the Grand Lodge in London finally consented to recognize some of those higher degrees.
Scottish Freemasonry
The Reformation of 1560 took place slowly in the Highlands of Scotland which make up a major portion of Scotland. This may have caused Freemasonry to remain concealed there longer than in England. The Roman Church in Scotland at that time was immensely rich and controlled more than half of the Scottish national wealth prior to the Reformation. A spontaneous popular movement of dissent against the Roman Church sprang into being among the Scottish common people. The Scottish royal family supported the Roman Church and refused to listen to the protests of the people about corruption in the Church. It was under these circumstances that Queen Elizabeth of England, despite being threatened by the French fleet which was about to aid the Scottish throne, opened negotiations with the Protestants and created the Treaty of Edinburgh. This treaty provided for the withdrawal of all English and French troops from Scotland, forced the Scottish throne to accept the Reformed Church, marked the first step toward ultimate union with England and changed the direction of Scottish freemasonry.
A primary change wrought by the Renaissance was the Enlightenment, that philosophical movement involving political, religious and educational doctrines. During the Enlightenment political revolutions engulfed Europe and changed governments, the Protestant Reformation modified the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, logic and human reasoning were finally adopted by schools and universities as the accepted methods of learning and knowledge. It was also the opening of the Age of Exploration and the historic impingement of Europe upon America and Asia.
From about 1320 to 1600 freemasonry in Scotland lived separately from English freemasonry because of the tumultuous political conditions of the period. An early mention of freemasonry in Scotland is the legend of the creation of the hidden Royal Order of Scotland by Scottish King Robert the Bruce in A.D.1314. According to legend, this Order of knighthood was conferred by Robert on freemasons who assisted him at the Battle of Bannockburn. That Christian Masonic Order continues as a royal honor to present-day Masons. It is conferred by authority of Scottish royalty and has spread to England, France, the United States and other countries. The legendary Sovereign Grand Master was the King Robert I of Scotland and membership in the Order still remains a royal appointment. By 1430 the population of Scotland was so decimated by the wars with England, that it was found necessary to import craftsmen from France and Flanders. With those craftsmen came the laws and precedents of the Continent.
Some early Scottish lodges of Freemasons eventually evolved into recognized, speculative lodges of symbolic Freemasons. Those lodges may have been operative (lodges of stonemasons) or speculative (in later years), or a combination of both. The members may or may not have possessed the Mason Word. There is no evidence of the Mason Word being in existence in early English lodges, yet much of Freemasonry today is descended from those same English lodges. Nor is there any evidence of the early English operative masons having had any secret modes of recognition.
Not surprisingly, Scotland has the oldest Masonic Lodge records and its lodges functioned as part of the stonemason craft until about 1600 when it evolved into a speculative fraternity. Legend indicates that Kilwinning Lodge dates back to the early 1100s with the building of the Monastery at Kilwinning, Scotland. Kilwinning Lodge is reputed to have been founded by King David of Scotland, 1124-1153. James, Lord Steward of Scotland, He is mentioned in some literature as being Grand Master of the lodge at Kilwinning in 1286. That lodge possessed some form of the Scots Degree which describes freemasonry's ties to Templary. Mother Kilwinning Lodge chartered a number of lodges and in 1736 issued invitations to about 100 of them to attend its annual meeting. It continued to function as a sovereign grand or head or territorial lodge and issued charters until 1807. Ancient individual
Scottish lodges were usually under the supervision of head lodges in a period long before the English grand lodges were established. Those head lodges were associated with a particular town or county and were different from lodge workshops at a building site. Scottish government statutes gave certain supervisory powers to territorial lodges at Kilwinning, Clydesdale, Glasgow, Ayr, Carrick, St. Andrews and Aberdeen.
Early Scottish records mention the Craft in 1483 Aberdeen. Masonnreys of the leige and the use of the word freemason appears in records of the Lodge of Edinburgh where it is described as the Society of Free Masons. It was Brother Harry Carr, the recently deceased English Masonic historian and lecturer, who said that Masonry is indebted to the Scots for the oldest lodge minutes in the world and the oldest complete ritual texts with descriptions of the admission ceremonies.
By about 1630 there appears evidence of public awareness that Scottish stonemasons had secrets. This takes the form of references in a variety of sources to the Mason Word. This Word in early Scottish lodges appears to have been first used in the 1300s or 1400s. It later found its way south to England but was never really defined. The Edinburgh Register House Manuscript of 1696 suggests that the matter lay in words, signs, a grip, and postures, which, together with the five points of fellowship were communicated to members.
The earliest record of non-operative masons being initiated into the secrets of Masonry was in 1575 when notaries were paid as clerks and admitted members of the lodge. Much of the esoteric work now used in the three degrees was communicated to Masons in one or two ceremonies. The handicraft apprentice in Scotland was a man admitted as an entered apprentice at the end of his period of servitude. The division of entered apprentice and fellow craft came in the 18th century. The third degree was not in operation prior to 1725 and the reason for its addition is unknown. Shortly thereafter the first specific Masonic lodges of the new type appeared and minutes were recorded of two of them, Aitchison's Haven and Edinburgh.
Politics and religion caused many changes in Scottish Freemasonry. The present Grand Lodge of Scotland is said to have evolved from the Royal Grand Lodge of Heredom in 1736, which in turn had been converted from the Kilwinning Order of Heredom (or Sanctuary) by King Robert the Bruce in 1314. The legend connecting Freemasonry and the extant Royal Order of Scotland seems to be the common thread of craft masonry. It was because of the Scottish Reformation that the Royal Grand Lodge of Heredom changed into the Grand Lodge of Scotland. The Protestant belief in the Hanoverian Succession was in direct opposition to the St. Clair covert support of the Jacobite, Catholic causes.
William Schaw is called the creator of modern Scottish Freemasonry. This is fact, not legend. Schaw developed a strong interest in architecture and in 1583 was appointed master of works by King James VI of Scotland. As master of works he supervised building work undertaken for the king, and controlled the employment of all workmen on such official building projects. As general warden and master of works Schaw issued two codes of statutes 137 years before the Grand Lodge of Scotland was formed. In these he laid down regulations for the organization and practice of the mason craft through a system of lodges. As general warden William Schaw claimed authority over Scotland's masons. And in 1600 or 1601 he signed the First St. Clair Charter whereby the masons recognized William Sinclair of Roslin as their patron and protector. But the St. Clairs (or Sinclairs) of Rosslyn, hereditary Grand Masters, were doomed by the Reformation, when the Scottish Parliament instituted a Protestant confession of faith, abolished the jurisdiction of the Pope, and prohibited the celebration of Mass.
William St. Clair (Sinclair) of Rosslyn surrendered his family's hereditary role as Grand Master of the Crafts and Guilds and Orders of Scotland in order to become the first elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of his country. This extant renunciation indicates that the St. Clairs were the bridges between ancient aristocracy and democracy, possibly the legendary connection between the ancient Knights Templars and the present Grand Lodge of Scotland. The Grand Lodge of Scotland and some British Masonic historians do not recognize those St. Clair claims to hereditary grand mastership, perhaps due to a Protestant belief in the Hanoverian Succession, which was opposed to the St. Clair covert support of the Stuarts and Catholicism.
English Freemasonry
The oldest, known extant Masonic document is the Regius Manuscript, written in Chaucerian verse, about A.D. 1390 by an early, non-operative mason, a clerk, a person who could read and write, probably a clergyman. Although of unknown origin it reflects the operative and speculative parts of a Christian masonic system and it indicates that some form of masonry was active in the 14th century or before. Other early English documents are the Cooke Manuscript (c1410) and the Manuscript Constitutions of Masonry which are valuable records of masonry in that period and tend to validate the Regius Manuscript in many respects.
The first recorded speculative lodges of English masons were Warrington Lodge in 1646 and Chester Lodge, both largely independent of operative control. Chichester Lodge was in operation in 1696 and the York Lodge of Antiquity was mentioned as early as, 1705/6 but there seems no definite continuity between the English masonry of 1539 and the English Accepted Masonry of 1723. The English Book of Constitutions, published in 1738, makes note of several grand lodges of that time period; The old Lodge at York City, and the Lodges of Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy, affecting independence, each under their own Grand Masters. This indicates that only 21 years after the Grand Lodge in London was organized in 1717 that Freemasonry was already well established in other European countries.
The similarity of lodge ritual in England and Scotland as well as certain architectural similarities suggest that freemasonry in both countries had originally been one fraternity prior to the 14th century. From the beginning of the 14th century the two countries were at war and each developed separately, masonically and architecturally.
The earliest recorded dates of English operative freemasonry was the Acception in the London Company of Freemasons in the year 1621. However there is no evidence of an English Mason Word or of the English operatives having secret modes of recognition until 1710 when London Freemasons were known to possess the Word, Mark or Token. The earliest extant lodge meeting minutes in England are dated 1641 (the earliest in Scotland, 1599). It was not until 1726 that there are found extant minutes of an English lodge which was purely speculative. The word speculative has been used to designate the addition of ceremony and is found in the Cooke Manuscript of about 1410.
The English Catholic crown died with James II when in 1701 a law was passed that excluded from the throne all except members of the Church of England. Masonry then experienced a resuscitation termed the Revival. In 1717 four time-immemorial London lodges assembled to create a Grand Lodge. As time passed other lodges were admitted. It was mistakenly named the First Grand Lodge in the World, probably to establish a base of legitimacy and antiquity. There were many grand lodges in existence before the Grand Lodge in London although most were not speculative. Some of the Scottish operative lodges that formed prior to 1717 later became fully speculative in nature. The movement that created the Grand Lodge in London was confined to speculative lodges.
There is no evidence of speculative English masons in operative lodges as was the case in Scotland. A few English operative lodges were reorganized as speculative assemblies in 1748 but specific Masonic lodges of the new type appeared and minutes were recorded of two of them, Aitchison's Haven and Edinburgh.
Politics and religion caused many changes in Scottish Freemasonry. The present Grand Lodge of Scotland is said to have evolved from the Royal Grand Lodge of Heredom in 1736, which in turn had been converted from the Kilwinning Order of Heredom (or Sanctuary) by King Robert the Bruce in 1314. The legend connecting Freemasonry and the extant Royal Order of Scotland seems to be the common thread of craft masonry. It was because of the Scottish Reformation that the Royal Grand Lodge of Heredom changed into the Grand Lodge of Scotland. The Protestant belief in the Hanoverian Succession was in direct opposition to the St. Clair covert support of the Jacobite, Catholic causes.
William Schaw is called the creator of modern Scottish Freemasonry. This is fact, not legend. Schaw developed a strong interest in architecture and in 1583 was appointed master of works by King James VI of Scotland. As master of works he supervised building work undertaken for the king, and controlled the employment of all workmen on such official building projects. As general warden and master of works Schaw issued two codes of statutes 137 years before the Grand Lodge of Scotland was formed. In these he laid down regulations for the organization and practice of the mason craft through a system of lodges. As general warden William Schaw claimed authority over Scotland's masons. And in 1600 or 1601 he signed the First St. Clair Charter whereby the masons recognized William Sinclair of Roslin as their patron and protector. But the St. Clairs (or Sinclairs) of Rosslyn, hereditary Grand Masters, were doomed by the Reformation, when the Scottish Parliament instituted a Protestant confession of faith, abolished the jurisdiction of the Pope, and prohibited the celebration of Mass.
William St. Clair (Sinclair) of Rosslyn surrendered his family's hereditary role as Grand Master of the Crafts and Guilds and Orders of Scotland in order to become the first elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of his country. This extant renunciation indicates that the St. Clairs were the bridges between ancient aristocracy and democracy, possibly the legendary connection between the ancient Knights Templars and the present Grand Lodge of Scotland. The Grand Lodge of Scotland and some British Masonic historians do not recognize those St. Clair claims to hereditary grand mastership, perhaps due to a Protestant belief in the Hanoverian Succession, which was opposed to the St. Clair covert support of the Stuarts and Catholicism.
English Freemasonry
The oldest, known extant Masonic document is the Regius Manuscript, written in Chaucerian verse, about A.D. 1390 by an early, non-operative mason, a clerk, a person who could read and write, probably a clergyman. Although of unknown origin it reflects the operative and speculative parts of a Christian masonic system and it indicates that some form of masonry was active in the 14th century or before. Other early English documents are the Cooke Manuscript (c1410) and the Manuscript Constitutions of Masonry which are valuable records of masonry in that period and tend to validate the Regius Manuscript in many respects.
The first recorded speculative lodges of English masons were Warrington Lodge in 1646 and Chester Lodge, both largely independent of operative control. Chichester Lodge was in operation in 1696 and the York Lodge of Antiquity was mentioned as early as-1705/6 but there seems no definite continuity between the English masonry of 1539 and the English Accepted Masonry of 1723. The English Book of Constitutions, published in 1738, makes note of several grand lodges of that time period; The old Lodge at York City, and the Lodges of Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy, affecting independence, each under their own Grand Masters. This indicates that only 21 years after the Grand Lodge in London was organized in 1717 that Freemasonry was already
well established in other European countries.
The similarity of lodge ritual in England and Scotland as well as certain architectural similarities suggest that freemasonry in both countries had originally been one fraternity prior to the 14th century. From the beginning of the 14th century the two countries were at war and each developed separately, masonically and architecturally.
The earliest recorded dates of English operative freemasonry was the Acception in the Londdn Company of Freemasons in the year 1621. However there is no evidence of an English Mason Word or of the English operatives having secret modes of recognition until 1710 when London Freemasons were known to possess the Word, Mark or Token. The earliest extant lodge meeting minutes in England are dated 1641 (the earliest in Scotland, 1599). It was not until1726 that there are found extant minutes of an English lodge which was purely speculative. The word speculative has been used to designate the addition of ceremony and is found in the Cooke Manuscript of about 1410.The English Catholic crown died with James II when in 1701 a law was passed that excluded from the throne all except members of the Church of England. Masonry then experienced a resuscitation termed the Revival. In 1717 four time-immemorial London lodges assembled to create a Grand Lodge. As time passed other lodges were admitted. It was mistakenly named the First Grand Lodge in the World, probably. to establish a base of legitimacy and antiquity. There were many grand lodges in existence before the Grand Lodge in London although most were not speculative. Some of the Scottish operative lodges that formed prior to 1717 ater became fully speculative in nature. The movement that created the Grand Lodge in London was confined to speculative lodges.
There is no evidence of speculative English masons in operative lodges as was the case in Scotland. A few English operative lodges were reorganized as speculative assemblies in 1748 but there is no other direct continuity between English operative masonry of 1539 and English accepted masonry of 1723. In Scotland some early lodges had accepted some speculative members but were unmistakably still part of the operative craft.
In 1723 and again in 1738 Dr. James Anderson, published Charges and Constitutions for this Grand Lodge (later termed the Moderns) which deChristianized the Craft ritual and abandoned part of the Ancient Charges which had invoked Freemasons, "to look upon Christ as the Savior of mankind." In his writings, Anderson used the myth, among others, that Freemasonry was known at the creation of the world. This statement has made the accuracy of his other historical statements suspect. Anderson "was ever ready to frame history out of legends". Other questionable statements by him refer to the antiquity of the Landmarks.
Anderson also had the audacity to criticize Gothic architecture as being a barbarous product of the Dark Ages despite the fact that he had never studied operative masonry or architecture. Gothic is that period of architectural history, long after the dark ages, characterized by pointed arches, a change in the method of vaulting that produced large openings in high masonry walls, buildings scaled to human dimensions and structural designs dependent upon mathematical and engineering studies derived from Greek, Roman and Arabic cultures. Gothic was a true departure from previous architectural styles and it exhibited an originality seldom witnessed before or since.
A few independent English lodges became disenchanted with the Grand Lodge in London and by 1739 had created a new Antients (Ancients) Grand Lodge, another Christian Masonic body. In 1756 Laurence Dermott wrote the Antients Constitutions, called Ahiman Rezon, which was largely based on Anderson's Constitutions of 1723. In that document he repeated the same myths. These statements have cast doubt on the reliability
of his writings too. The two writers, Anderson and Dermott, and their respective grand lodges were probably attempting to establish a base of antiquity and legitimacy, possibly because of earlier claims of Grand Lodges in Scotland. Antient Masonry however, did bring the fraternity to the common man and produced its greatest impact on towns in Scotland, Ireland and the American Colonies. As opposed to the Moderns, which had the backing of the Whigs, the Antients did little to advance the cause of the Enlightenment.
After differences of opinion the two English grand lodges, the Moderns (sometimes called Prince of Wales Masons) and the Antients, in 1813 signed the Act of Union to form the Premier Grand Lodge, now known as the United Grand Lodge of England. In 1815 the fabled history of Freemasonry was omitted from the official history of this new grand lodge.
The higher degrees of Freemasonry were developed in the Grand Loge Anglaise de France in the 1750's and were later condensed by the Grande Loge National de France. The Grand Loge Anglaise de France was created by the Grand Lodge in London. A descendant of these higher degrees, is the Ancient and Accepted Rite (known in the United States as the Scottish Rite), was formed in 1804 from the Emperor degrees (1758) and the Chapter of Clermont (1754). In the early part of the 18th century the higher degrees were not recognized in England.
A system of Freemasonry called the Strict Observance was introduced to the Continent by a Baron von Hund. That system was based on legendary Templar ties to Freemasonry and included the thirty-third degree. The Strict Observance rites are still practiced in several European countries.
Speculative Freemasonry, as it evolved from operative systems, made itself known to the outside world in the formation of 18th century grand lodges:
London - 1717 (Moderns)
Ireland - 1725
France - 1729 (Jacobite)
Scotland - 1736
England - 1751-1753 (Antients)
Sweden - 1760
France - 1773 (Grand Orient)
England -1818 (combined Moderns and Antients)
These speculative grand lodge systems of the 1700's were usually formed from unattached lodges whose origins mostly have been lost and which were usually not operative in nature. Some were preceded by head or territorial lodges, similar to present-day grand lodges.
Conclusions
The findings of this research indicate that Freemasonry is quite ancient and that much of its history is buried in time. Legend tells us that there were well established, extensive organizations of Christian stonemasons in Italy, France and Germany prior to the Renaissance and that their traditions were based on the Hiramic Legend and Solomon's Temple and similar to those of present-day Freemasonry. Sketchy evidence seems to verify these legends. The lore common to both ancient and modern Freemasonry is its emphasis on morality, its identification of the mason craft with geometry and the background of Solomon's Temple and the Hiramic Legend. These were the necessary ingredients in the formation of lodges of Freemasons in every period of history.
Prior to the Norman invasion of Brit ain most cathedrals and castles were constructed of timber and there was no need for stonemasons skills. Legend indicates that stonemasons were imported from the Continent for the construction of stone buildings in the British Isles. History recognizes that the Romans, the Egyptians and the Greeks have a much longer history of stone construction and it is from the stonemason craft that freemasonry evolved and it quite obviously came to Britain from the Continent. Any speculation about freemasonry prior to the Gothic period of the 1100's must be based on pure conjecture.
Masons' lodges, during the Gothic period (12th to 16th centuries), served as reservoirs for technical knowledge that knowledge so necessary for the design and construction of buildings, fortifications, and cities was translated from Greek to Arabic, to Latin and was taught to craftsmen in their lodges. In the 1500's, the European architects who were masters of their lodges, left the operative craft to start a separate profession. Governments assumed control of the building industry and universities began teaching the sciences that had been held as trade secrets in the craft lodges. These factors made it difficult for the fraternity of Freemasons to survive on the Continent.
Speculative or modern freemasonry in Scotland and England appeared when the fraternity surfaced about 1600. By the 18th century the British government had become quite liberal and promoted freedom of expression. Freemasons started accepting nonstonemasons as members, it deChristianized and gradually assumed the speculative aspects of the present-day Craft. Grand lodges were formed in the eighteenth century and have since become more humanistic, more tolerant and more democratic as society has likewise changed. If this search for the origins of the fraternity leads to a better understanding of Freemasonry and increases your desire for more Light, then my attempts will have not been in vain. I wish you Godspeed in your search.
Chronology
• 1124-1153 Kilwinning Lodge reputed to have been founded by King David I of Scotland
• 1196 Order of the Knights of St. John (Hospitallers) founded.
• 1314 Royal Order of Scotland reputed to have been founded c1390. Regius Manuscript or Poem (English Constitution).
• 1337- 1453 Hundred Years War, between England and France.
• 1459 Strasburg Constitutions published (French, operative).
• c1450 Book publishing began in Europe.
• 1517 Martin Luther broke with the Roman Church and translated the Bible into German.
• c1524 Swedish Reformation and creation of the Church of Sweden, (first country to break away from the Church of Rome).
• 1535 Charter of Cologne published (German Constitution, operative).
• 1536 - 56Dissolution of English monasteries by Henry VIII of England; creation of Church of England.
• 1560 Scottish Reformation and creation of the Church of Scotland.
• 1577 Accademia di S. Lucca founded in Rome (first architectural academy).
• 1598 - 9 First modern, speculative Scottish lodges created.
• 1598 Oldest recorded Scottish lodge minutes.
• 1600 French Academy of Architecture founded.
• 1618 30-Year War between Catholic and Protestant princes of Europe.
• 1621 Oldest recorded English lodge minutes.
• 1688 First Jacobite lodge established in France by Charles 11.
• 1707 Great Britain created by union of England, Scotland and Wales.
• 1714 George I crowned, first Hanoverian King of England (1714-1727).
• 1717 First modern, speculative grand lodge in London.
• 1725First modern, speculative Grand Lodge of Ireland.
• 1729 English Grand Lodge established speculative lodges in France.
• 1733 St. John's Lodge in Boston, chartered by Grand Lodge of England.
• 1736 First modern, speculative Grand Lodge of Scotland.
• 1737 Brotherhood of Freemasons established in Germany.
• 1738 First in a long series of papal bulls and encyclicals against Freemasonry by Pope Clement XII.
• 1745 Jacobite Revolution (final attempt to restore the Stuarts to the English throne).
• 1745 First modern, speculative Grand Lodge of Denmark.
• 1751 First Antients Grand Lodge (Athol Grand Lodge) of England
• 1756 First modern, speculative Grand Lodges of Finland and the Netherlands
• 1760 First modern, speculative Grand Lodge of Sweden.
• 1773 Grand Orient of France (evolved from the Jacobite Masonic system)
• 1789-1815 French Revolution. Napoleon seized power and destroyed the Holy Roman Empire
• 1813 The United Grand Lodge of England established, uniting Antients and the Moderns. \
Bibliography
European Freemasonry
John Hamill, The Craft, 1986
D. Knoop & G.P. Jones, The Genesis of Freemasonry, 1949
Paul Frankl, The Gothic, 1960
R.F.Gould, Gould's History of Freemasonry, Revised by Dudley Wright, 1936
Margaret C. Jacob, The Radical Enlightenment, 1981
Grand Lodge of Scotland Year Book, Freemasonry in Germany, 1957
Scottish Freemasonry
D. Knoop & G.P.Jones, The Genesis of Freemasonry, 1978
Ian P. Watson, Lodge of Jouneymen Masons, MSA Short Talk Bulletin, April 1993
RF.Gould, A Concise History of Freemasonry, 1904
Fitzroy Maclean, A Concise History of Scotland, 1970
Grand Lodge of Scotland Year Book, Lodge Mother Kilwinning No. 0, 1953
Lionel Vibert, Freemasonry in Scotland and England Before the Formation of Grand Lodges, QC.Lodge
Bernard E. Jones, Freemasons' Guide and Compendium, 1950
The Grand Lodge of Scotland, Historical Sketch of the Grand Lodge of AF&AMof Scotland, 1981
David Stevenson, The First Freemasons, 1988
Andrew Sinclair, The Sword and the Grail,
English Freemasonry
M.S.A., The Regius Poem, translation by Robert H. Baxter, 1991 M.S.A., The Short Talk Bulletin, Ancient York Masons, 1959 D. Knoop & G.P Jones, The Genesis of Freemasonry, 1978 R.F.Gould, A Concise History of Freemasonry, 1904 Fred Pick & G. Norman Knight, The Pocket History of Freemasonry, Revised by Knight & Smyth, 1977 Margaret Jacob, Living The Enlightenment, John Hamill, The Craft, 1986 Lionel Vibert, Freemasonry in Scotland and England Before the Formation of the Grand Lodges, QC.Lodge Bernard E. Jones, Freemasons Book of the Royal Arch, 1957 Baigent & Leigh, The Temple and the Lodge, 1989
Chronology
Grand Lodge of Scotland, Grand Lodge of Scotland Year Book, Lodge Mother Kilwinning No.O, 1953
Grand Lodge of Arizona, List of Lodges, Masonic, 1993
Sir Banister Fletcher, FRIBA, A History of Architecture, 1948
by William E Parker, MPS
Count or Charlatan, Saint or Scoundrel? If the 18th century saw a number of strange personages, some who professed secret knowledge and supernatural powers such as Messmer, the Count of Saint Germain, and others, history records none so intriguing as a mysterious and enigmatic individual known as "Count" Allessandro Cagliostro. Travelling throughout Europe, if he gathered devoted admirers and followers, he also garnered enemies who denounced him in no uncertain terms as a charlatan and swindler. But was the accusation just?
Often accused of nefarious schemes, but never imprisoned, it was not until 1789 that the Roman Inquisition had him arrested and tried, not for his alleged crimes but rather for his being a sorcerer, heretic, and most of all a Freemason. Never particularly concerned with justice or truth, the verdict was preordained as the Inquisition passed a sentence of death. He did not deny the charge of Freemasonry, but was he really a Member of the Craft?
While numerous works have been penned about Cagliostro, although much of the material is suspect, his origins, as indeed details concerning much of his life, remain shrouded in such a complex web of his fabrications that even today much remains speculative and may forever rest clouded in the shadowy mists of time. For example, he was elusive as to the date and place of his birth as well as his early years, asserting variously that his youth was spent in Medina, Alexandria, or Malta. His nationality also being in question, he was described as being Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Jewish, Arabic or Sicilian. Nor was the source of his money ever fully explained, funds some have described as virtually inexhaustible.
Adding further mystery, he even claimed to possess the elixir of life itself, fueling rumors as to his real age, many then sufficiently credulous to accept such a claim. There are also allegations, unsubstantiated, that he was a pupil of the notorious Count of Saint Germain, a noteworthy point for it seems Cagliostro's exploits closely parallel both in style and scope those of St. Germain to a startling degree. Indeed, one could almost surmise they were the same individual. If there is a common thread among the several 18th century adventurers, however, it would seem to be embellishment, exaggeration and/or fabrication of their exploits and life histories.
In "Casanova's Memoirs", the Italian adventurer reportedly made a Mason about 1750 in a Lodge in Lyon, France, tells of a 1770 chance meeting with Cagliostro and his wife at Easter at the Inn of the Three Dauphins in Aix-enProvence, France. As the story goes, the couple was apparently hiking through the country as pilgrims with knapsacks on their backs and living off of charity and sketches that he drew. A curious scenario if true, for Casanova's Memoirs are not always considered reliable nor was he an admirer of Cagliostro, and some believe the meeting never occurred. The story nonetheless presents a dramatic contrast to the "wealthy" sophisticated couple who appeared in London as the Cagliostros just eight years later in July of 1776.
According to Casanova, Cagliostro told of taking a family name and spending time in Malta where he had an ancestor who had been a high-ranking official of the Knights of Malta. Another story has Cagliostro the natural son of one of the Order's Grand Masters, Don Manoel Pinot de Fonesca, his teacher in many secret arts and the source of his fortune. And there are other exotic stories concerning his early years in the Middle East. Implausible tales perhaps, but consistent with Cagliostro's personality of fabrication and embellishment in the several versions put forth concerning his life.
Perhaps the most commonly held theory relating to his birth comes from Theveneau de Morande, editor of a French newspaper in London, possessor of an unsavory reputation and Cagliostro's enemy. In 1786, he claimed Cagliostro was in reality a Sicilian scoundrel named Guiseppe (Joseph) Balsomo, born in Palermo in June of 1743. It has been noted, however, that Morande was a paid agent of the French Government and the Balsomo allegation, coming in the aftermath of the 1785 "Necklace Affair", was very likely an attempt by French authorities to smear Cagliostro's character in England.
While Cagliostro denied the Balsomo allegation, most writers have nonetheless accepted the claim, although arguments both for and against the allegation still exist. It's almost as if the adventurer suddenly appeared out of nowhere like a shooting star with few or no facts about his past history. In the final analysis, however, if it is difficult to identify the Sicilian thief and forger Balsomo with the sophisticated and worldly adventurer known as Cagliostro, a more plausible theory has yet to be advanced.
Continuing the Morande thesis, Balsomo supposedly studied with monks at a convent in Caltagirone at age 13 where he apparently learned some medicine and chemistry, but his continual rules violations caused his departure and return to Palermo. Reportedly then forging a document involving a legacy and possibly also implicated in a gold swindle, he was forced to flee, some say to Egypt where he is said to have dabbled in alchemy and seemed to accumulate money. Travelling later to Europe, he reportedly used magic, alchemy and "confidence games" to again amass large sums of money.
In 1768, while in Rome, Balsomo met and married Lorenza Feliciana, the young and attractive daughter of a small merchant, who would prove a proper foil for Balsomo's escapades, aiding in his various schemes and deceptions. As they travelled, first in Italy, France and Spain, his talent in painting, while somewhat limited, was combined with a persuasive personality to gain entree with wealthy patrons and presumably a bit of money as a result. Interestingly, the dates and events appear to coincide with Casanova's version.
Some reports have the Balsomos in London and Paris in the 1772 - 1773 time frame at which point they were financially of somewhat modest means. During their 1776 visit, conversely, the "Count" and "Countess" Cagliostro entertained lavishly apparently never in need of funds, a startling contrast to the earlier visit if our protagonists are assumed to be one and the same.
One particularly intriguing but unsubstantiated theory, published in 1938, has Balsomo and his wife en route to London in 1776 in the company of an individual known as Cagliostro. At some point, probably during the Channel crossing, Balsomo conveniently "disappeared", Cagliostro then taking Lorenza as his own wife. Incredulous perhaps, but then the details of Cagliostro's life itself appear so. Were there indeed two individuals in the Balsomo-Cagliostro enigma, or does this curious scenario represent simply one more fanciful legend in the convoluted Cagliostro story?
If the somewhat schizophrenic blurring of identities presents problems to the historian, let us rather consider the man called Cagliostro and the years of his notoriety, that period reasonably, if not fully, documented. While the identity question remains nebulous, for the sake of clarity in this expose, let us temporarily set that question aside conditional upon further research and/or discoveries on the issue.
As to Cagliostro's physical appearance, he was described as being of medium height, rather stout, with a round face, dark hair and complexion and penetrating eyes said to delve into one's soul. Not just self confident, he is said not only to have been pompous, arrogant, and impertinent, but also a gifted and eloquent speaker with some accusations of theft and sorcery and, while later proven to be false, he left the country under a cloud of suspicion in late 1777 en route to Strasbourg and Bavaria.
His Egyptian Masonry, first propagated in 1779, was purportedly based on an old manuscript he "discovered" at a London book dealer's shop in 1777. he alleged author, George Coston, seems to have been unknown and speculation centers on Cagliostro having written the ritual himself. It appears he may have "borrowed" portions of a 1770 work by two German Masons, Von Kappen and J. W. B. Hymmen. Entitled "Initiations of Egyptian Priests", it was a highly complex rite comprising seven degrees but it's uncertain if it was ever put into actual practice. One source even refers to the work as "a scholarly fabrication." Cagliostro's ideas were also very likely influenced by Emmanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish savant knowledgeable in many arts and sciences and a proponent of the mystical. In brief, Cagliostro is alleged to have made use of whatever sources were available.
Throughout his Continental travels, Cagliostro stated that Egyptian Masonry was begun by Enoch and Elias in the far distant past and then had lost much of its purity and splendor. At different times, he claimed (1) that he had been charged by the Order's Grand Copt to act as Grand Master and restore the Rite to its original glory and (2) that he was the Grand Copt himself. The Order's aim was to conduct its followers to perfection through moral and physical regeneration and restore them to a state of innocence lost through original sin. The claim of "finding" the Rite in a bookstore, then the Grand Copt stories, together with his various embellishments, inevitably inject confusion and contradictions to his claims.
He also stated that women had been wrongly excluded from Freemasonry and part of his mission was to rectify that mistake. Paradoxically, however, in spite of his assertion of equality, his Rite not only had separate Lodges and different rituals for men and women, the ladies were eligible only for the Order's Lodges of Adoption, although men could attend as visitors. If one author claims Initiatory Rites were similar for both sexes, research now indicates otherwise.
It appears, therefore, that in reality there were only minor organizational differences between his Rite and the Continental Lodges of Adoption then in existence. And assuming his authorship, he may well have copied elements of such Lodges incorporating them into his own Rite. Considering the ladies' interest in Freemasonry, Cagliostro likely felt he could achieve more success in his endeavors by appealing to that interest. (Philalethes, June 1995)
Candidates could profess any religion but a belief in the existence of a God and the Immortality of the Soul were requisites, male candidates required first to be Master Masons in a Symbolic Craft Lodge. The Order composed the three grades of Apprentice, Companion, and Master, similar to Symbolic Masonry, and used much of the same symbolism including the legends of King Solomon and Hiram, King of Tyre. Added to that, though, was Egyptian symbolism and elements of alchemy, astrology, and magic, his Third Degree being what has been described as "virtually a seance of ceremonial magic." In the Third Degree, for example, a young boy or girl portraying the "Dove of the Rite" became an important part of the seance to act as a medium between the spiritual and physical worlds.
The Lodge of Adoption's First and Second Degree rituals, different from those of the men's, were based largely on legends connected with King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba and the serpent of Eden, the latter symbolizing pride with only the Third Degree similar to that of the men's lodges. His wife, by now called Serafina, was Initiated into his Egyptian Rite and declared to be the Grand Mistress and it's likely the high membership fees aided the Cagliostros in maintaining their luxurious lifestyle.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, French influence was felt throughout Continental cultures, the French language a good example in that it was used extensively for cultural, diplomatic, and business exchanges and was a "universal" means of communication among the several European nations. While Freemasonry was brought to the Continent from the British Isles, in time it would lose its English "flavor" as the Europeans gave the Craft a distinctly European look, often with a Gallic influence. Moulding the Craft along philosophic, esoteric and chivalric lines, there evolved a "quest" among European Masons for a deeper secret, perhaps obtainable only through further Masonic progression.
There being great interest in magic, alchemy and diverse mystical arts, the time was ripe for a man such as Cagliostro. As a consequence, he found fertile ground to "plow" and because of his growing reputation he and his wife were received as honored guests throughout their travels. In the mid1700s, medical practice was yet a primitive science, "secret" formulas for patent medicines made many rich, and bloodletting was still prevalent, causing thousands of unnecessary deaths yearly. Some sources indicate that Cagliostro was, in essence, simply a "snake-oil" salesman and not at all loath to line his pockets with money through his schemes, while others saw him as virtually a saint.
The adventurer Mesmer had his theory of astrological influence, magnetic waves and hypnotism, and we often speak of people being "mesmerized." Interestingly, "magnetic influences" are still accepted by some as being beneficial and have given rise to a thriving industry. As for Mesmer, it seems he was clever enough to eventually retire with substantial profits.
Cagliostro, reportedly a practitioner of Mesmer's hypnotic arts, additionally had "healing herbs and potions" and an "elixir of long life", but later admitted to using conjuring tricks and other deceits in his diverse activities. Yet, given the era's beliefs and superstitions, his audiences were often ready and willing to accept virtually everything he told them. While the 18th century did not lack for either medical "quacks" or "smooth talking" confidence men, in truth it seems little has changed for they are still with us as the 19th and 20th centuries have produced their own quotas.
In early 1779, leaving Strasbourg, he toured Eastern Europe, arriving first in the Principality of Courland, a Prussian Protectorate, in March or April. Initially well received, his stay lasted several months but circumstances surrounding his activities seemingly dictated his departure and he left for St. Petersburg in the autumn of that year. His St. Petersburg visit was abruptly curtailed in April 1780 and he left for Warsaw, his departure surrounded by several varying, if not always favorable, stories.
His Warsaw visit paralleled experiences in other cities and in spite of purported deceptions, his popularity lasted until a particularly crass deception in "making gold" was revealed to be an apparent fraud, causing another of his hurried departures, this one the evening of June 26th, 1780. Although still unproven, the claim has been made that he visited Moscow during his Russian visit.
Benefitting from Letters of Introduction, as always, he was able to ingratiate himself into the Masonic society and aristocracy of whatever city he happened to be in. While some were leery of his reputation and "farfetched" tales, through his "staged" seances and "mystic arts", he was nevertheless able to persuade many of his sincerity and convince them to participate in his ventures, at least temporarily. Whether in Russia, France, or elsewhere, he also took pains to assume the aura of a learned mystic almost inviting controversy to build his reputation.
Throughout his travels, while he participated in Masonic activities, he also engaged in propagating his Egyptian Rite and in assuring himself a reputation as a "healer". Much has been written on his "healing powers" and "medical miracles", but the issue is nonetheless unresolved with considerable doubt remaining among many.
Although he apparently never met Catherine the Great, his activities seemingly came to her attention and left an unfavorable impression, indeed perhaps the only one in Russia on whom he left a lasting impression. Some historians believe Catherine, who was initially somewhat neutral in her opinion on Freemasonry, perceived Cagliostro as a leading Freemason, began to see the Craft as a public danger and thus began a campaign against the society. For a period, she even penned several anti-Masonic plays.
Catherine was an astute monarch, however, clearly evidenced by the length of her reign in an often politically unstable nation. Holding power from 1762 to 1796 proved a significant achievement in that era of convoluted Russian politics where palace coups and assassinations were common. If Cagliostro's adventures may have been impressionable to her, it was undoubtedly the Craft's liberalism that she could not abide.
It is also highly probable that because the Grand Duke Paul, the Empress' political rival, was a member of and closely allied with Swedish Freemasonry, she perceived a potential danger to her reign from outside sources. As Sweden was desirous of increasing its influence in Russia, Catherine's fears were perhaps well founded and her later antagonism to Freemasonry undoubtedly stemmed as much from that view as any activities of the "Magus." (Phil., Aug. `97)
Arriving back in Strasbourg in the fall of 1780, Cagliostro made the acquaintance of the Cardinal de Rohan, Archbishop of that city and member of an illustrious Breton family, both an opportune and disastrous relationship as it would eventually develop. Benefitting from the Cardinal's friendship, the Strasbourg visit would last over two years. Then, in 1783, he made trips to Paris, to the Cardinal's home in Saverne and to Bordeaux in early November of the same year spending several months there. Leaving Bordeaux on October 11 th, 1784, he arrived in Lyon October 20th and then back to Paris in late January or early February 1785.
As there are periods of his life that are not fully documented, some believe he was Initiated into Illuminism during one of his Strasbourg visits, presumably the Bavarian group but this is conjecture. In that there was more than one body known as the "Illuminati", confusion often arises as a result. The two most prominent such groups were the "Illuminati of Bavaria" and the "Illuminati of Avignon."
The Bavarian group, a semi-secret society formed by Adam Weishaupt in 1776, had among other purposes the aim of opposing both the progress of evil and the Roman Clergy's influence on education. In that Weishaupt was both at odds with the Jesuits and had a violent opposition to clerical educational dominance, it is understandable his society was not looked at kindly by Church authorities. The Avignon group was a Hermetic Rite founded about 1770 to study spiritual questions. Closely associated with Freemasonry, the Rite achieved a wide reputation and was highly regarded although, in time, it would also disappear.
Also reportedly active in a group called the "Order of the Universal Aurora", founded in Paris in 1783, its chief objective seems to have been the support of Mesmerism. As Cagliostro himself was apparently adept in the hypnotic arts, the story is highly plausible. Perhaps through such means, perhaps due to a forceful personality, or perhaps both, it is undeniable that he was able to exert great influence over people.
During the 18th century, Continental Freemasonry saw a veritable proliferation of diverse Rites, Orders, and Degrees which, at one point, approached 1,200 degrees, mercifully most now long gone. It would be neither feasible nor useful to enumerate them, but the "Philalethes" perhaps does merit mention. (Phil., Oct. `95 and June `96)
A Member of the Lodge "Des Amis Reunis", Savalette de Lange was instrumental in establishing a study group between 1771-75 to search for the "truth", not just "Masonic truth" but "The Truth". An admirable quest to be sure, but unquestionably not only a difficult but perhaps an impossible task. The group's work eventually resulted in establishment of both a Rite of Twelve "Classes" culminating in that of "Philalethes" (Searcher for Truth) and a comprehensive Masonic Library, an innovation for that era. In 1797 however, de Lange passed to the Grand Lodge Above and the "Rite of Philalethes" and library eventually disappeared.
A Congress of Masons engineered by de Lange, then President of the Philalethes, was organized in Paris in 1785 in an attempt both to unify Masonry, the Craft being scattered among numerous bodies, and to investigate the origins, aims, and symbolism of the Craft. Amid considerable squabbling, however, much of it with Cagliostro, whom the Congress wanted as a major participant, the meeting eventually proved unsuccessful. In refusing to attend, he indicated his Egyptian Rite was the only true Masonry, other groups should be subservient thereto, and thus there was really nothing to discuss.
That same year, 1785, the "Affair of the Queen's Necklace" shook the French Monarchy to its very foundations and was to prove a momentous event in Cagliostro's life. While he would receive even more notoriety, the Affair foreshadowed the dimming of his star and would prove an "albatross" around his neck for the rest of his life. The Cardinal de Rohan, out of royal favor and wishing to redeem himself, burned with a fierce desire to become France's First Minister, following in the footsteps of Cardinals Richelieu, Mazarin and Fleury, and thereby hangs a strange tale.
Blessed with a sizeable annual income, de Rohan has been portrayed as a man with a weakness for young pretty women and "the good life". As a consequence, it was made clear in no uncertain terms that he was not among the royal favorites. In an effort to regain the Queen's favor, in a classic case of "cherchez la femme", the Cardinal was swept away by a Machiavellian scheme of Countess Jeanne de la Motte-Valoir, who some say was his latest mistress, others only a close friend.
Led by the Countess, a small group of conspirators duped the Cardinal into believing that Marie-Antoinette wanted an expensive necklace and could not purchase it openly due to its exorbitant price, but that he, de Rohan, would be the instrument whereby it could be secretly obtained. A farfetched tale perhaps but knowing of the Queen's penchant for extravagance, the claim was nonetheless believed and seemed de Rohan's golden opportunity. Unknown to him, however, the Queen had indeed seen the necklace but surprisingly contrary to her usual frivolous and spendthrift nature apparently felt it was both too expensive and ostentatious given France's precarious financial situation.
The devious plan also had a young girl, appropriately dressed, impersonate the Queen in a secret murky midnight garden rendezvous with the Cardinal. Accounts differ on the date but the scenario went off perfectly, the Cardinal was mesmerized by the charade and like a moth to a flame he flew blindly into the burning light. Reportedly made for Madame du Barry at the behest of Louis XV, who died before it could be delivered, the expensive 2,800carat necklace had been a financial burden on a local jewelry firm for years.
Asking few questions, in view of the Cardinal's status, and elated at the prospect of finally selling the necklace, the jewelers had confided the item to de Rohan. He, in turn, passed it on to Jeanne, who was supposedly acting as the Queen's agent, and shortly thereafter the necklace disappeared, undoubtedly broken down into individual gems and then off to England and huge profits.
When apprized of the swindle, by virtue of the jeweler's bill seeking an "overdue" payment, rather than quietly "burying" the politically sensitive affair as an astute monarch would have done, spurred on by a furious MarieAntoinette the inept Louis XVI went absolutely wild. He officially charged the Cardinal in the matter, charges and countercharges proliferated, a messy nine-month trial and scandal of gargantuan proportions ensued, all Paris howled at the Royal couple's plight and embarrassment, and another brick was laid in the Revolution's foundation. Indeed, the Affair could well be seen as the prologue to the Revolution.
When arrested, the Countess de la Motte implicated Cagliostro who claimed he was not a participant in the scheme but only an innocent bystander. His reputation, already that of a mysterious entity, was further tainted by being associated with those who carried off the theft. Arrested August 22nd, 1785, he was taken into "protective custody," spending nine months in the Bastille.
His memoir concerning the "Affair", written while in the Bastille, was circulated widely and created a sensation selling 17,000 copies in two weeks, "Memoirs" then a standard method of information dissemination in the absence of radio and television. Not only did he portray his innocence, he recapped virtually his entire life (somewhat after his own fashion naturally), his ministrations to the poor, his "bienfaisance", his connections with the leading personalities of Europe, called himself the friend of mankind, an unwitting victim of a group of thieves, and his incarceration a miscarriage of justice.
His wife, also in the Bastille, was released on March 26th,1786, due to ill health and after a trial Cagliostro was acquitted of complicity in the scheme and freed on{ Ye, , 1786, due to ill health and after a trial Cagliostro was acquitted of complicity in the scheme.
In reality, however, given the era's highly charged political atmosphere, the unspoken but underlying motive of the proceedings had been about the Queen and the Regime whose image and prestige plummeted immensely, never to fully recover. Ironically, although the Queen was innocent of having had a hand in the Necklace Affair, the populace nonetheless blamed her. When asked what caused the Revolution, Napoleon once replied "Marie-Antoinette'.
With little regard for Cagliostro, however, Napoleon reportedly expressed the opinion that man had no need of the supernatural saying: "Better to find it in religion than go looking for it in a Cagliostro." There is no evidence to indicate the Emperor was a Freemason but it can be unequivocally stated he both tolerated and favored the Craft during his reign, perhaps for political reasons. His Marshals and senior officers were often Members and his troops carried the Craft throughout Europe, military lodges almost a standard part of his armies.
Returning to England in June 1786, it was in September of that year that Morande's Balsomo allegations first saw light. With an unsavory reputation, prison record, and possibly for political reasons as noted earlier, Morande began a continuing tirade attempting to besmirch Cagliostro's character. Although there are inconsistencies in Morande's theory, his allegations have nonetheless apparently served as one of the foundation blocks upon which succeeding writers have penned Cagliostro's life. The continuing allegations were, however, so disruptive to Cagliostro's life that he left England in May of 1787, travelling to Switzerland and then Southern Europe.
In May of 1789, he began to practice Egyptian Masonry in Rome amid rumors he even wanted to convert the Pope to a believer in Freemasonry! The Bastille had been stormed July 14th, 1789, and the 'Catholic Church in France devastated by the Revolution with many believing the Freemasons were responsible. Given the charged atmosphere of the moment, an underlying suspicion that Italy might be next, and the Papal Bulls against the Craft, the Church in Rome was particularly apprehensive of any Masonic activities.
Not surprisingly, therefore, the authorities were less than receptive to the endeavors of the Magus and the Inquisition arrested him on St. John the Evangelist's Day December 27th
that same year, locking him in the Castle of San Angelo. Often noted for his shrewdness, practicing his Rite in the shadow of the Vatican casts some doubt on that claim, although perhaps in his supreme egotism he thought he could carry it off by losing himself and his activities in the vastness of Rome. There is also the claim his activities were denounced to the Inquisition by someone within his entourage, some say his wife, and some say a Vatican spy.
The acquittal of Cagliostro by the Parliament in the "Necklace Affair" had sorely disappointed Louis XVI to the point that Court influence was exerted throughout Europe to make the Magus' life as difficult as possible. As a consequence, continual political persecutions followed the Cagliostros from city to city, culminating in the Inquisition's actions, the many published derogatory tracts by his enemies added to the Inquisition's "investigation" and "trial". Where once he had been accorded the highest of honors, since the Necklace Affair, his fortunes had slowly diminished and the Inquisition's actions were merely the last act in a convoluted story.
The "trial" was, in reality, a statement of war, a warning that the Roman Church would not countenance Freemasonry under any circumstances. One historian indicates the Inquisition biographer's "Life of Joseph Balsomo", accepting the Balsomo-Cagliostro connection, is as much an attack on Freemasonry as a study of Cagliostro's life. As Balsomo was a known scoundrel, it was undoubtedly convenient for the Inquisition to accept the connection whether it was believed or not. Since the Inquisition's position was predetermined, some doubt is accorded the accuracy of the biographer who was undoubtedly not above adding mendacious details when necessary.
During his ordeal, Cagliostro supposedly confessed to a London association with a Masonic Order "occupied with the discovery of secrets in the hermetic art, more especially the philosopher's stone", and also to being an Illuminati. Considering the Inquisition's "methods" for securing confessions, however, Cagliostro's statements are not surprising! Like everything else concerning his life, however, such statements must also be looked at in the light of his other pronouncements; i.e. ever ready to utter whatever he felt most appropriate at the moment.
It is more than likely that in portions of his "confession", he was actually referring to the Rosicrucians which he also apparently joined at some point, perhaps in England. A mysterious sect arising in Germany in the early 17th century, while some suggest an earlier beginning, confusion surrounds the group and its origins and it is often mistaken as being part of Freemasonry. With their precepts of spirituality, alchemy, and healing, like "birds of a feather", it is likely Cagliostro would have inevitably been drawn to such a group.
Following his trial, on May 4th,1791, the Inquisition publicly burned his papers and other effects, a standard practice of the era for items to which they were opposed and reminiscent of the Nazi's later use of the same method. His death sentence was inexplicably commuted to life imprisonment and he was transferred to the prison of St. Leon, Italy, dying August 26th, 1795, after several solitary years in a dark cell reminiscent of a deep water cistern. Some say the cause was apoplexy although rumors also hint at a guard having a hand in the matter. Even in death, controversy arose, for other rumors have Cagliostro escaping and, through the use of his famous "elixir", among us still.
Whether or not he was a Mason is perhaps of secondary importance to the impact, if any, he may have had on 18th century Freemasonry. With but few exceptions, Freemasonry of the era was largely confined to the aristocracy and nobility, thus proportionately a small and select group. There were not only diverse Masonic bodies, often at odds with one another, but individual Lodges were usually more localized than today's Craft; i.e. there were no "instant communications" available with Masonic groups operating fairly independently.
As a result, lodges often only had periodic contacts with other Masonic bodies including Provincial or Grand Lodges where appropriate. Consequently, while Cagliostro received Letters of Introduction as he passed from one Masonic area to another, his dealings with one Lodge would not necessarily be fully known elsewhere. This isolation naturally proved a distinct advantage from Cagliostro's point of view.
The era saw other Egyptian influences at work though as the "Egyptian Mystique" had been a subject of interest for centuries. In 1791, Mozart, a Mason, wrote his Egyptian Masonic opera "The Magic Flute", in 1805 the Rite of Misraim merged portions of Cagliostro's Egyptian Rite into its high grade structure, the Misraim and Memphis Rites later merging, and there had been countless literary references. Clearly, the Magus was not alone in vaunting something Egyptian. Considering a myriad of factors, therefore, it appears that his Rite proved an ephemeral entity and if traces of his work have crept into certain esoteric workings, it's unlikely he left any significant influence on mainstream Masonry.
Some have indicated Cagliostro saw his calling as teaching the greater values of mankind; i.e. truth, virtue, goodness, love, social justice and aid to the downtrodden, while others saw him simply as a consummate con artist. He was apparently seen as what might be called a "faith or psychic healer" claiming knowledge of ancient secret methods of curing ills. Often professing a "cosmic contact with the universe", he was by turns an alchemist, occultist, philosopher, physician, psychic, clairvoyant, magician and perhaps a Freemason, Rosicrucian and Illuminati, seemingly all things to all people.
While his visits were not always as successful as he might have wished, still he had seen a modicum of success, having been able to implement his Egyptian Rite in several cities, including Paris, Lyon, the Hague, Strasbourg, and in eastern Europe. When the Mother Lodge of the Egyptian rite, "Triumphant Wisdom," was consecrated on July 25th, 1786 in Lyon , Cagliostro could not attend, by then being in exile.
In addition to his Egyptian Rite, he reportedly continued to dispense his elixirs and other potions, allegedly performing "medical miracle cures". Much has been written on his "healing powers" and "medical miracles", but the issue is nonetheless unresolved with considerable doubt remaining among many. It is likely he received money and jewelry from his admirers, but nonetheless denied ever having benefitted financially by his actions. Some say he received monies from unknown supporters, citing the Illuminati. Still, unless he indeed possessed the secret of "transmutation", his seemingly bountiful financial resources didn't just drop out of the clouds!
Undoubtedly recognized as a Mason of the era, in that he freely visited Masonic Lodges all over the Continent and in England and was active in propagating his Egyptian Rite, both his Masonic membership and life specifics remain obscure. In retrospect, was he a charlatan as history tends to generally regard him, an overzealous crusader who became a victim of circumstances, or was he something more?
Whatever the truth, there is little doubt he was a historical character whose star flashed brightly through a period of Masonic history before fading into obscurity. If the story of his life presents an enigma, his activities nonetheless intrigue us and present a fascinating glimpse into aspects of 18th century Europe.
Bibliography: 1. Histoirc Du Mavcilleser Dare La Temps Modcrnu -Louis Figuier - 1860 (Tome 4) Hachette, Paris. 2. Cagliostro and the Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry - H. R. Evans - Date Unknown -1994 Reprint. 3. Cagliostro - Maligned Freemason & Rosicrucian W. R. H. Trowbridge -London -1910. 4. Cagliostro-Franqois R. Dumas - Paris 1966 Orion, N. Y. 5. Cagliostro In Eastern Europe - A.Q.C. Transactions - # 40 -1927 - B. Ivanoff 6. La Franc-Maconnerie Templiere Et Ourtltiste Rene Le Forestier - Tome 2 -La Table d'Emeraude, Paris. 7. The Grand Copt - T. O'Neill - Gnosis # 23 Summer 1992 8. Encyclopidia Brittanica 9. Diuionrutire EncydopediyueQuillet -Paris. 10. The Story of Civilization - Vol X -Rousseau 0r Revolution Will & Ariel Durant -Simon & Shuster 11. Histoire Du Grand-Orient De France - A. G. Jouaust -1865 -Ed. 1989 - Teletes, Paris. 12. The History of Freemasonry - R. F. Gould -1887 London 13. The History of Freemasonry - R. F. Gould Yorston Pub. circa 1880s. 14. Goetlx In Palermo - M. R. Maggiore -A.QC. Transactions # 98 - 1985 - Visit to Balsomo-Cagliostro family) 15. Les Mytbes Maoonnifues - A Mellor -1974 Payot. Paris. 16. The Climate of European Freemasonry-1754-1810 - A.QC. Transactions # 83 -1970 -Tunbridge & Batham. 17. Histoire De La Franc-Afaaonnerie Francaia - P. Chevallier -Fayard,. 1974. 18. Catherine Empress -of All The Russians -V. Cronin -1978 - Morrow, N.Y. 19. Histoire De La Franc-Maconnerie Francaise-La Franc-Maconnerie Chezelle - A. Lantoine -1925 - Ed. 1981 -Slatkine, Paris. 20. Coil's Masonic Encydopedia - H. W. Coil -1961 -Macoy. 21. Machey's Revised Encyhxlopedia of Freemasonry -1946 -Macoy 22. MayiS Supernaturalism and Religion -K Seligmann -1948 - Pantheon, N.Y. 23. History and Practice of Magic - P. Christian -1963 -Citadel 24. Secret Societies of All Ages and Countries - C. W. Heckethorne -1965 -University Books, N.Y. 25. The Count of St Germain - Cooper-Oakley 1912 (Milan, Italy) 26. Toward The Brink -.age of French Revolution Vol 4 -C. Manceron -Simon & Shuster, N.Y. -1979 27. Citizens - S. Schama -1989 - Random House 28. Marie-Antoinette - D. Seward - 1981 St. Martins, N.Y. 29. MaritAntoinette - S. Zweig -1933/1988 Ed. Cassell, London 30. To Thin Scaffold - Life of Marie-Antoinette - C. Erickson -1992 - Robson, London 31. Le Collier De La Rine - A. Dumas -1910 Collier & Son 32. "The Magic Flute" - Masonic opera - Mozart 33. "The Magic Flute"-Opera Review-F. Smyth - A.QC.Transactions # 84 -1971 34. Mozart's Masonic Music - A. Sharp -A. QC. Transactions # 69 -1957 35. Freemasonry In Russia - B. Telepneff-AQC. Transactions li 35 -1922 36. British Freemasons In Russia During 77m Rein of Catherine The Great - A G. Cross - AQC. Transactions 19 84 -1971 37. A Few Pier From 77x History of Swedish 38. La FrancMarnnnerie En Russu - M. Warnery - GLNF Actualites # 30 - Nov-Dec. 1988 39. The Russian Syndrome ,4000 Years of Political Murder -H. Carrere d'Encausse -1992 Holmes & Meier, N.Y. 40. Land Of The Firebird - S. Massie - 1980 Simon & Shuster 41. Catherine The Great - National Geographic - Sept. 1998 - E. Zwingle 42. Miscellaneous Internet References
by Bobby J. Demott MPS
Johnny was brooding. His mind was full of anxiety for taking the watermelon from the grower's patch. He thought he could get away with it, but the owner told Johnny's parents that some boys had been in his patch. "But," Johnny reasoned, "Tommy and Jason were in on it too; only I was the one who carried the item from the patch. I am more guilty than they."
When the family conversation got close to discussing the deed, his anxiety became elevated. When the conversation drifted off, he felt relieved, but the thought was still in his mind, knowing the topic would return again. Each time the subject of watermelons came up his anxiety level increased, lest he would be accused of procuring the fruit from the neighbor's field. He wished people would just forget it and not say any more about it, yet that would not give him peace, for the knowledge of the deed would still be present. Some days he just wished to be caught and have the whole affair settled. Until this happened he would live in a state of anxiety; his conscience would haunt him.
The three boys decided to return to the watermelon patch and remove the rinds to destroy evidence. Then they discussed their next move. Tommy wanted to merely say nothing and hopefully the matter would be forgotten. Jason wanted to confess the crime and beg forgiveness for surely no punishment could be worse than the terrible mental anguish they were currently experiencing.
Probably all of us has at some point in the past committed a deed which we hoped would not "catch up" with us. Such feelings are not confined to children who think it great sport to relieve a grower the trouble of harvesting his own crop. But when an adult commits murder the dimensions of the crime takes on much larger proportions.
A sane person will have a sense of guilt after he has wronged another. If the sinner tries to conceal his crime or flees, such is indicative of the fact that he knows he has sinned and is guilty. This is when the power of guilt and self-conscience works on his mind. He will never find peace as long as he escapes answering for his sins.
Thomas B. Davis has written a one-act play entitled Defense of the Ruffians, in which the conscience of a murderer is examined.
John Bunyan, The Pilgrims Progress three centuries ago, described the many perils and the distressed mind of a man who knew he had sinned. Over a hundred years ago Feodor Dostoevsky wrote Crime and Punishment a novel of a man whose crime haunted him night and day. He could not find peace as long as he escaped answering for his sins. Subconsciously he desired to be captured and brought to justice which led him to leave clues as to his whereabouts. In loose conversation, he even described to a friend how the crime may have been committed.
One of Abraham Lincoln's anecdotes was of the old man in church who said "When I do good, I feel good, when I do bad, I feel bad; and that's my religion."
The thought processes of the criminal might be materially different than before the crime was committed. (Dostoevsky) He may reject friends who try to help him through his obvious distress, strangeness and inner turmoil. His nerves may be frazzled; he may be tired; his grief saddens him and he implores his friends to leave him alone. His friends may have a burden on them also in trying to cope with the sinner and may finally conclude that they must leave him alone to work out his problems by himself His sins preying on his mind, he may return to the scene of the crime from a state of curiosity and may try, in his mind, to justify his crime. He may have nightmares, suffer torment, misery, melancholy and have suicidal tendencies. He thinks of himself as loathsome, a mad man, a condemned man, full of fear and terror. His inner turmoil and remorse leads to the torture of his mind and to a delirious state. He is morose, morbid, excited, distressful, angry and ill. He cries for a means of escape from his anguish and, once he is accused of the crime, finds solace of mind. To obtain relief from his distress he will hope for heartfelt repentance. He may try to justify his crime; he may expect honor and grace for his act of crime, as did the assassinator of Abraham Lincoln.
The criminal might fear his imprisonment less than his being rejected and ostracized by his friends and fellow townsmen.
Subconsciously the sinner might actually desire to be captured and brought to justice. Once he flees he may leave clues as to his whereabouts, which may take many forms, even to the placing of a sprig of acacia at the site of a grave.
References:
Abrahamsen, David, Crime and The Human Mind Columbia University Press, New York. 1944. Abrahamsen, David. The Psychology of Crime. Columbia University Press, New York. 1960. Bunyan, John. The Pilgrim's Progress. J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., London, 1956. Davis, Thomas B. Defense Of The Ruffians, A Dialogue with Conscience. Mimeographed. Dostoevsky, Feodor. Crime and Punishment. Translated by Jessie Coulson. W. W,Norton & Co., Inc. New York. 1964. McKenzie, John G. Guilt; Its Meaning and Significance, Abingdon Press, Nashville,1962.
by Nelson, MPS
Each lodge building construction project necessarily requires a great deal of planning, both by lodge officers and by architectural/engineering professionals before the actual construction is begun. That planning cannot be done overnight and is a rather complicated process. Where to start ? If you have asked that question this article may be of help to you.
Most grand lodges in the United States exercise some control over the buildings in which the constituent lodges meet and have a committee that assists lodges in the planning. Their regulations are usually concerned with safety, privacy, appearance, and function of the building as well as the legal and financial aspects that will affect the lodge. To expedite the building process and preclude misunderstandings a lodge will benefit greatly by obtaining the assistance of their grand lodge building review committee.
Long Range Planning
It is the custom of Masonic lodges to elect new officers each year and each Master has authority to establish his program for that year. But it is a fact that most building projects last more than just a year. For a lodge to proceed with a building project without assurance that the succeeding officers are in complete agreement with the Master's project would be foolish. Several lodges and grand lodges have found that a solution to this dilemma is to form a long range planning team for the formulation of policy and long range projects.
To succeed, such teams are formed of the lodge line officers, the secretary, the treasurer, the lodge trustees (if any), an influential past master or two, and an influential member or two. Although the Master has control of his lodge, it is wise, because of the time factor involved in planning buildings, that the Senior Warden act as chairman of this team to assure continuity. He must be willing to accept change and work as mentor, chief negotiator, cheer-leader and communicator. Each member of the team should be interviewed separately, understand the overall team goals and commit himself to those goals. Teams work most effectively when every member has a voice in developing goals and in determining how they will be met. One other person that will help insure the success of your project is the District deputy. Approach him early and ask for his wholehearted support.
The membership of the team should be made up of men who will commit themselves to the project, rather than those who are available. Show them that they are truly needed and that there is a role for each in the project. Encourage each to perform an important function on the team. If they appear to be a real adversary it may be necessary to work around them.
Carefully communicate overall plans first to those who you consider advocates and plan one-on-one meetings with those you know will oppose the project. After deliberating for a time most long range planning committees reach agreement and will work together for the common good of the lodge. For this reason it is strongly recommended that a lodge contemplating a construction project form such a committee. Only after the team has agreed to the plan and is of one mind, it is time to communicate the final plans to the lodge members.
After the long range planning team is selected and the lodge approves of their work, the next logical step in the planning process is to define the goals of the lodge, its actual needs, its financial ability, the physical requirements of the proposed building and all of the other information that will accomplish the goals of the lodge. After that the team should assign a priority to each of the needs and wants. The team will receive assistance from an architect on some of these items and by working closely with him will arrive at a workable plan.
Financial Planning
Before attempting to design a structure or before purchasing land, it is necessary to determine whether the project is financially feasible. To do that a building program should first be established that will describe the actual needs of the lodge. This will give an estimator an approximation of what the cost will be. Direct costs will include land cost, building cost and services (surveyor, architect, etc.). Certain other hidden costs must also be budgeted in the lodge's long range financial plan; off-site and on-site utilities, street work, grading and paving, landscaping, insurance, loan costs and perhaps other items that are usually not included in cost estimates. An experienced financial planner can be of great value to the lodge in this field.
Land Acquistion
The land that will be used for building construction is the next topic for consideration. Location, lot size, topography, site drainage, cost, available utilities, and governmental regulations are of prime importance. Vehicular drives and parking requirements may also dictate the amount of land necessary for a lodge building. Seven to nine parking spaces plus driveways will be required for each ten seats in the lodge and/or dining room. This will probably satisfy most zoning requirements but parking placement, additional parking space, and landscaping may need to be considered to meet zoning regulations.
Before purchasing land it is wise to retain professional architectural or engineering planning services to ascertain the applicability of the contemplated site. A boundary survey, a legal description (showing easements and restrictions) and a full description of utility location and sizes should be available prior to purchase to confirm promises made by the seller.
If the lodge already owns land for the project, a careful study of the site should be made to make sure that it meets all criteria. A visit to the planning and zoning offices will be a good place to start. Their regulations are usually separate from those of the building codes. These officials will give guidance and advice at no charge but will not provide professional services. Often, there are local government landscaping requirements that will affect the use of the land. In addition, traffic and the surrounding neighborhood character should be considered.
Once land has been acquired, more information is necessary before a building can be planned. A topographical survey (locating grades, surface drainage, trees and other physical features of the site) in addition to the boundary survey, will be very helpful. Soil conditions may need to be investigated as well.
Planning The Building
• What is the anticipated life of the building? • Should the building plan be flexible to allow for future expansion? • How many groups will be using the building? • What is the optimum size of groups using the building? • Will the building be used every day of the week? How many hours? • Will the lodge and each group require both lodge room space and dining room space? • Will appendant bodies use the building and will they need additional space? • Will the building be used for civic functions other than Masonic-related meetings? Will commercial rental space be required? • Is particular orientation of lodge room (s) necessary? • What are the space needs for each room? • What are the seating needs for each space? • What is the desired relationship of each room to the others? • Will a complete kitchen for serving banquets be required or simply an efficiency kitchen for serving light meals? • Will the dining room need to seat more than the lodge room? • Will the dining room also serve as a meeting room for each group? • What is the desirability and availability of local building materials? • Are labor and/or material donations expected? • What architectural/structural features are important to |